text:
Where does LineageOs store stock browser bookmarks?
How could I export or backup my bookmarks in the LineageOS 14.1 default browser?

Several apps failed to retrieve bookmarks
The name of the browser doesn't appear anywhere in the browser itself
find /data/data | grep browser through adb doesn't give anything interesting
find /data/fata | grep "db$" does neither
Google doesn't help

It's a shame there isn't an "Export" option in the settings

The stock browser is named Jelly and its bookmarks are stored in:
/data/data/org.lineageos.jelly/databases/FavoriteDatabase
The bookmarks can then be exported to CSV with SQLite parsers like this one.


text:
prevent apps from changing status bar color
never cared much for this one way or another, until Firefox last update changed the status bar to white, of all colours.
now it really bothers me. my Firefox theme have darker navbar, like the branding on the desktop. they used white navbar on android now for the misguided reason of stealing chrome's look. I think the older darker navbar differentiates the browser UI from the page, and thats good from a usability point of view.
the correct fix for this will be for themes to select what Firefox paint the status bar too, so it doesn't look too weird with status bar in white with address bar in black.
but until then, is there any option to disable apps setting the status bar colour? (doesn't matter if per app or globally. consistency is good UX)

Yes, there are apps that allow you to override the status bar completely. I had the same issue with Firefox's horrid new UI choice and was able to solve it with the Status app. I can't say if it's the best app for the job, it's just the first one I tried. So far it seems fine although it took some time to get it set up how I wanted. If that doesn't do it for you there are plenty of other apps on the store that seem to do the same thing.

I might try that as the ultimate desperate resource. Those apps all write a brand new status bar on top of everything. It is a shotgun solution that might give more trouble than help. I will leave the question open for a while longer to see if there is a way to deny the styling by apps, which will be cleaner i guess.

@gcb: To me, last line of your comment indicates root requirement. Please edit your question to indicate root status of your device

this is for non-rooted, fully stock devices.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Apps like Viber, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. whitelisted from Doze mode on Samsung without asking
I noticed that some applications are whitelisted from doze-mode on samsung devices without having ever asked the user. I tested this on a galaxy s8, galaxy A5 2016, 2017 all running android 7.0 or 7.1. These apps are for instance Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger - they're what I have seen.
When I first noticed this on a samsung I was not 100% sure that I have not by chance given them that permission myself... So I have done a fresh test by hard resetting a Samsung A5 2016 and installing only Viber onto the fresh phone. After the install, I have not even logged into Viber (and it had not had a chance to ask me of any permissions at all), I immediately checked the Battery Optimisation whitelist and Viber was there.
So the first question is how - according to Android specs an app must ask the user to explicitly allow whitelisting (Am I wrong here)?
The second question - is this maybe possible on Samsung despite the spec.
The third question - maybe Samsung just knows some well known apps and whitelists them by default itself?
--EDIT
The initial research on this was hindered by the fact that if you google "samsung doze-mode whitelist" maybe with "not asking the user" it still serves you many links to the official doze mode specs and media articles, but not Samsung related. But then I searched with "samsung smart manager whitelist" and found the following

Question on SO (second answer gives a list of apps which are whitelisted)
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37205106/how-do-i-avoid-that-my-app-enters-optimization-on-samsung-devices

the list of apps in the second answer was of undisclosed source but I can confirm that I checked nearly 10 of them and they are whitelisted by default
2.https://seap.samsung.com/forum-topic/whitelist-app-batteryoptimization-smart-manager-application
Funny thing - the user asks a question and a part of the question is the same as mine - why Viber etc are whitelisted.
The answer is carefully avoiding that part and only answers the other part - that he should ask the users consent or use Knox (also asking the user for permission)
So answers to my own questions

According to the spec the app must ask users consent to be whitelisted - yes.
not possible on Samsung for a simple app, either
Yes, Samsung has a whitelist of well-known apps in its Smartmanager

2 more pieces of info
A. Samsung is reluctant to talk about it(see above SEAP link) or maybe not everybody there is aware of the fact.
B. If you have an issue with Samsung doze-mode, do not google for "Samsung doze-mode", google for smth. like "Samsung smart manager doze-mode" (add "smart manager"), because it will yield more Samsung specific results (And Samsung part of battery optimizations is pretty specific).

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) devices have a so-called "Game Enhancer" or similar mode, which pops up anytime WhatsApp, Telegram or well-known IM apps are installed. Given this, it is entirely possible that the odd behavior you see, be some kind of Samsung idea to avoid any delay in message delivery. Note that I have no proof of this.

thanks for your comment! Tell me, do you mean this "Game Enhancer" literally pops up like displaying some window? because I have seen nothing popping up when installing Viber on A5 2017. (neither did I see anything odd when installing the same on A5 2016).

It pops up in the same fashion as when you receive a notification of a new message. It may be dependent on specific versions of TouchWiz, though.

Thanks for the info, I never seen this and I do not know what a TouchWiz is, need to read about it. But anyways I do not seem to have it and the question is how Samsung really works with this whitelist and why it allows those certain apps to be there without users consent

@ketzal You can always accept helpful answers by clicking the grey tick beside the answer.

May I answer your question in a reverse order:

maybe Samsung just knows some well known apps and whitelists them by default itself?

Definitely. It's a common practice in China to have a built-in battery optimization whitelist to contain famous Chinese apps like QQ and WeChat (and Weibo and such) for convenience issues. So I suppose it's not restricted to China, but also that Samsung could make the same approach.

is this maybe possible on Samsung despite the spec?

Yes. Not only Samsung, but also OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei, etc. IMHO Samsung is very considerate when designing their ROMs.

according to Android specs an app must ask the user to explicitly allow whitelisting (Am I wrong here)?

Partially wrong here. An app cannot whitelist itself without user intervention. But it's not required that the ROM does the job instead.

thank you very much for your answer! I did some research as well and added what I found to the original question. There was in fact a similar question on SO (not Android SE) but I did not find it until I changed my searches. But this topic is not discussed widely - not at all. Strange, I think that this is an important topic. if Samsung has a way to whitelist the app, I guess it should give a way to apply for this to other developer companies as well. And they should inform users about this because there are lots of apps on that list and users did not contend to whitelist all of them

@keztal Do note that such "advanced" users like us is only a minority. Most people will only complain if their favorite apps keep getting killed in the background. That's the primary reason for doing so.

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


text:
How to export and import chrome://flags
I do not want to export the bookmarks and I do not want to export the passwords. I only want to export whatever is shown in chrome://flags.
Specifically I want to export from an Android 4.4.4 device with Chrome 62.0.3202.84 and I want to import that to an Android 5.1.1 device with Chrome 62.0.3202.84.
Manually scrolling through and comparing the whole list is not an acceptable solution.
Even better would be a way to find out which flags differ from the default value, just like Firefox does in about:config.

It's possible to do this manually by examining and copy/pasting the raw content where Chrome stores the flags, but root access is needed.
The file that stores the flags is located on:

/data/user/0/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Local State (according to Chromium's Official Documentation)
/data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Local State (based on testing and experience, possibly for single-account user)

The file Local State (without extension) is in JSON format, which is actually a normal text file and can be opened with any text editor having root access (Root Explorer includes text editor, but it's not free).
Thanks to Synetech's answer on Super User, the flags are stored under enabled_labs_experiment JSON array in the browser JSON object node.
Example (taken from the answer)
{
  …
  "browser": {
    "enabled_labs_experiments": [ "disable-gpu-vsync", "extension-apis", … ],
    …
  }
  …
}

Unfortunately I only have root access on the 5.1.1 device but not the 4.4.4 one. I tried both options given at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13006315/how-to-access-data-data-folder-in-android-device/17876731#17876731 but the first one doesn't work because of https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36976703 and the second one doesn't because for some reason zlib complains about invalid headers. I'll give you a +1 because your answer is still useful for future reference and possibly other users, but I can't mark it as accepted.

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


text:
How to downgrade Firefox without losing my settings
Firefox just got upgraded to version 57. Unfortunately this version breaks compatibility with an add-on that I rely on. Until support for add-ons improves, I want to stick with a version that works.
It's too late to block the upgrade, now I need to downgrade. I have an APK of the old version, downloaded from apkmirror (though I would prefer an official source of I could find one). But how do I install it without losing my settings?
After some fumbling with methods that rejected downgrades, I found a way:
adb install -r -d org.mozilla.firefox_56.*.apk

This did downgrade, but then Firefox systematically crashed on startup.
I guess it's too late for me --- I uninstalled and reinstalled, leaving I had to reinstall my add-ons, bookmarks, saved passwords, etc. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who got bien or is about to get bitten by the Quantum update. So how can one downgrade Firefox without losing settings?

Close to impossible I'm afraid, unless you happen to also have a backup of your profile folder from before the update. FF57 changed many things in the structures of that, too. Some things could be saved by exporting them before the downgrade (I'm sure about bookmarks, as they can be exported to HTML) and then import them again later. Another option would be, instead of downgrading FF, additionally installing Waterfox: at least on desktop, it can import from FF. And it's compatible to FF55 currently. Not sure how that works on Android, though (copying a profile).

@Izzy I hadn't heard of Waterfox, thanks. Does it even work of Android? I forgot to mention that my phone is a Fairphone 2, so not ARMv8, and it's running Android 5.1 (the latest version on FP2 :().

Waterfox just released an Android version a month ago. Haven't tried it myself. There's a Waterfox on Playstore, but I'm not sure if that's the very one (last version from 9/2015 – also the size of 1.5M hardly matches Waterfox' ~33M, website doesn't match either). Until it arrives somewhere (Playstore, F-Droid) you can find it on their homepage.


text:
SHARE saved Google images list from Android
Using my Android Acer mobile phone, I created and titled a list of Google Images under my Chrome account. How can I share this with others?

Can you explain what you did and where this list is stored? Did you simply download a bunch of pictures to your phone?

You can share photos, videos, albums, and movies, with anyone, even if they don't use the Google Photos app.
Share to your contacts

On your Android phone or tablet,  open the Google Photos app
Sign in to your Google Account.
At the bottom, tap Sharing.
At the top, tap Create Create.
Choose photos to share, then tap Next.
At the top, tap Type a name, phone number, or email.
Select people to share with. If you're part of a family on Google with at least 2 other people, select Family group to share with your
  family members.
Tap Done. You can add a title or message, then tap Send.

Send a link or share to other apps

On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Photos app Photos.
Tap the photo, album, or movie to share.
Tap Share Share.
Select another app to share or send someone a link. You can also enter or select a name, phone number, or email address.

Source: Google Photos Help


text:
Samsung Note 8 Firmware
I'm just new to android as i have been using ios for all this time, my question is, I have recently bought a Note 8 in the UK, due to cost and I'm now back home in Australia, can I change the samsung firmware from the UK to AU Firmware if i have been able to download the AU version?

Do you ask out of a real need to do so? Doing this may be more trouble than it is worth.

Both UK and Australia are slated to get the SM-N950F (international) variant, so theoretically you are free to change the firmware. Firmware for this variant is available on SamMobile, where you can see both UK and Australia firmware listed.

Additionally: why you'd want to change the firmware, though? It's true that the baseband might be optimised for the region using specific firmware, but aside from that, different firmware are not much more than different sets of carrier apps and locales.


text:
"Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped."
Android 5.1.1
Whenever I open Play Store, I recieve the message "Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped.". I can't seem to make it go away, I've tried restarting my tablet and clearing cache and data of Play Store.
Disabling and uninstalling Google+ doesn't solve it.

Have you seen our google-play-store tag-wiki – which interestingly linkes to a question titled Unfortunately Google Play Store has stopped? The solution proposed there is almost the same as in Nikhil's answer below, just differently phrased.

Yes, I've seen that tag. Posts around here not helped me solve my problem.

Use the Aurora Store!

From my personal experience, clearing the Google Play Store App cache may restore functionality. It's a very simple and quick fix that might help! :)

We chose Download manager and cleared cache and data. Seems to be working now.

Try going to application manager and go to Google play store and select u install  updates

Download ApkPure apk from HERE.. Install it and update google play services from it..
HOPE IT HELPS...


text:
Android O, failed to mount /system, /dev/block/dm-0 is read only
I try to mount /system in Android O to RW using the command mount -o rw,remount /system, and i got this feedback on terminal dev/block/dm-0 is read-only
*Already in adb root
Any idea? Thanks

Looks like dm-verity is in effect, which by the way can only be disabled by modifying the kernel if the OS is not a debug build.

@AndyYan Hmmm, i tried disable-verity and it mounted successfully

You should then put it as an answer. I do doubt that your build is a debug one though, you should probably look inside /system/build.prop.

@JeffPang I agree with Andy. When setting up your answer, please include a short step-by-step guide – not everybody is familiar with that verity stuff :)

Don't forget to accept your own answer :)

For debug build, user have to disable-verity at first.
adb root
adb disable-verity
adb reboot
adb remount
adb shell
mount -o rw,remount /system

In order to know build type of your android, in adb shell enter the following command
cat /system/build.prop | grep build.type

after the adb reboot you will have to adb root again. Apart from that, works fine

It should be: “only on debug build, user can disable-verity”.

When I run adb reboot, the emulator goes offline permanently :( I can only restart it manually.

same issue as user3738870 ...

I noticed (using -shell option) that the VM is stuck in a reboot loop. [    4.404721] EXT4-fs (vdd1): recovery complete [    4.407789] EXT4-fs (vdd1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: [    6.472377] cfg80211: failed to load regulatory.db [    6.567761] reboot: Restarting system with command 'bootloader' [    6.572103] reboot: machine restart [    0.000000] Linux version 5.4.47-01061-g22e35a1de440

since android 10/11 it's not possible, you have to create a tmpfs: https://medium.com/@anthony.f.tannous/android-10-emulation-of-magisk-supersu-on-an-aosp-avd-de93ed080fad

adb disable-verify did not work for me.  I received an error: avb_ops_user.cpp:217: ERROR: Error writing data. avb_user_verity.c:205: ERROR: Error writing to partition 'vbmeta' Error setting verity


text:
Add Smart Lock screen security options to Amazon Fire HD 8?
Smart Lock is present in vanilla Lollipop 5.* but isn't included in Amazon Fire HD 8, which is based on Lollipop.
Can Smart Lock be added/enabled on Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet devices?

If app-based solutions are acceptable, there are some "smart unlocker apps" available, see e.g. my related app listing Unlock with WiFi (also includes apps additionally supporting Bluetooth).

Only a few devices support Smart Lock(mainly Motorola and Samsung)
If you are having trouble finding Smart Lock, try

Go to Settings > Security > Screen lock > Set the Pin Lock
After setting the Pin Lock go back to the Security Menu, at the Bottom of
security menu you will find Trust Agent
Go to Settings > Security > Trust Agent
Enable Smart lock ( Google )
Select Smart Lock

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


text:
Is it possible to set volume presets based upon Android TV input source?
Is it possible to automatically set the volume to a specific level when switching input source on the Android TV? I have several input sources (cable box, PS3, PS4, ...) but the volume on PS4 is massively loud whilst the same volume on the cable box is ok.
I'd like to automatically adjust the volume when changing the input source but I'm not sure if that's even possible. Any solution is ok (installing an app for example).

Currently There is no way to do so, as Android TV does not differentiate input sources based on the devices you use. You could alternately set different volume on different devices if possible.
After thinking for a while , it could be possible by writing a bit of code and rooting your Android TV. If you are using HDMI to connect the devices, the TV detects the Graphic Card used to display content, if you have different Graphic Cards in you devices this will be possible. You might get help on xda Developers


text:
Does the OnePlus 3 Oreo update remove the engineering tool backdoor?
The OnePlus 3 and other other OnePlus models had a engineering tool left in it that could allow root access without having to unlock the bootloader and flash custom recovery. The OnePlus response said that this tool would be removed in an upcoming update.
Now, Android Oreo is rolling out to the OnePlus 3 and 3T. Does this update remove the tool?

No, the latest Oreo update 1f602 for the 3 and 3T have not removed the EngineeringMode or the OnePlusLogKit. This is as of 11/20/2017 at 9:30 pm.


text:
android TV box give error during flashing
I'm trying to flash android 7.1 TV box t6 s905x using USB_burning_Tool_v2.0.6.2 and while I'm trying to do flashing I'm getting following error.
[16:19:56 234][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed

this the log got from USB_burning_Tool
    [16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Scan USB host controller complete
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update data center with HubMap
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update hub1 device data
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-1 \\.\USB#VID_05E3&PID_0606#5&3478949&0&1#{f18a0e88-c30c-11d0-8815-00a0c906bed8}
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-1][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-2
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-2][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-3 \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-3][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-4
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-4][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-5
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-5][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-6
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-6][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-7
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-7][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-8
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-8][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-9
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-9][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-10
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-10][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-11
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-11][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-12
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-12][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-13
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-13][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-14
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-14][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-15
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-15][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-16
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-16][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-17
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-17][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 419][Global][Inf]--Update HUB1-18
[16:19:49 419][HUB1-18][Inf]--Update device path
[16:19:49 435][HUB1-3][Inf]--Open device handle \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}  0x0000088c
[16:19:49 488][HUB1-3][Inf]--CloneImageProxy
[16:19:49 604][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed
[16:19:49 604][HUB1-3][Inf]--Close device handle 0x0000088c
[16:19:53 851][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:53 883][Global][Inf]--Burning thread HUB1-3 start
[16:19:53 936][HUB1-3][Inf]--Open device handle \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}  0x00000c10
[16:19:54 098][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed
[16:19:54 098][HUB1-3][Inf]--Close device handle 0x00000c10
[16:19:54 985][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:55 001][Global][Inf]--Burning thread HUB1-3 start
[16:19:55 054][HUB1-3][Inf]--Open device handle \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}  0x00000c10
[16:19:55 211][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:55 226][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed
[16:19:55 226][HUB1-3][Inf]--Close device handle 0x00000c10
[16:19:55 429][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:55 461][Global][Inf]--Burning thread HUB1-3 start
[16:19:55 530][HUB1-3][Inf]--Open device handle \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}  0x00000c10
[16:19:55 614][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:55 645][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed
[16:19:55 645][HUB1-3][Inf]--Close device handle 0x00000c10
[16:19:55 977][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:56 009][Global][Inf]--Burning thread HUB1-3 start
[16:19:56 065][HUB1-3][Inf]--Open device handle \\?\usb#vid_1b8e&pid_c003#5&3478949&0&3#{a5dcbf10-6530-11d2-901f-00c04fb951ed}  0x0000088c
[16:19:56 216][Global][Inf]--User click refresh button
[16:19:56 234][HUB1-3][Err]--[0x00000fff]Get key failed
[16:19:56 234][HUB1-3][Inf]--Close device handle 0x0000088c

what is meant by [0x00000fff]Get key failed ?

This seems to be a common issue. Uninstall the USB Burning tool. After Re-installing copy the license before starting the operation.The 2.0.5.15 works just fine. You click the middle (2nd) Chinese writing on the upper left corner and select "English." Remember to open, load, start, then, connect.

Open the USB Burning Tool as an Administrator
Load the Firmware image file
Press "Start"
Connect your box via USB

got the same error, I tried v2.0.8_x86, v2.0.7.2 and v2.0.9

@nu123 Did you copy the license key before starting the process?

Uninstall and then reinstall, copy the files , then start the process. Run as Administrator

the issue was the  license key.thanx


text:
Do android phones have hardware chips for encryption? If it's software only, then what is the performance/battery impact?
Do android phones have hardware support for the OOTB full phone encryption or is it entirely done in software?
If there are phones which have hardware support for encryption then where could I find a list?
In case if it is purely software then what how much degradation I can expect in terms of performance and battery life?
This and this articles claim that encryption comes at a significant performance price.
And this XDA thread suggests that samsung phones might have dedicated encryption chips as part of their proprietary(?) On-Device Encryption. Is there a clear answer available as to which devices have what support?
Update
I have found a thorough explanation on the state of android hardware encryption support in this article, which says that google failed to introduce proper hardware support in Android 5.x, and then, for android 6.x they decided to go with 'software acceleration' whatever that means.
The article quotes Dave Burke, Google’s engineering lead as saying that:

“Encryption is software accelerated. Specifically the ARMv8 as part of 64-bit support has a number of instructions that provides better performance than the AES hardware options on the SoC.”

Yet, on the practical side: full disk encryption on android 7.x is faster than on 6.x but the performance hit can still be between 2x to 4x slower compared to an unencrypted phone.

The Android Open Source Project has a entire section on Security:
https://source.android.com/security/
As you asking about encryption the minimum standard for devices with Google Play services is defined by the Android Compatibility Definition Document:
https://source.android.com/compatibility/8.0/android-8.0-cdd#9_9_data_storage_encryption
While there doesn't appear to be any hardware mandates there, once you get to Keystore related items:
https://source.android.com/compatibility/8.0/android-8.0-cdd#9_11_keys_and_credentials
Provided solutions include Trusty which a separate microprocessor or virtualized instance separated from the rest of the Android OS and only accessible via a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL).
With regards to Full Disk/File Encryption, see:
https://source.android.com/security/encryption/full-disk

Reading the links you provide it is still not clear if there is any hardware support present in any of the phones on the market. But according to the first link it appears that as of Android 5.0 Lollipop encryption is enabled by default, yet looking at settings in Android 7 I see that full device encryption is not enabled.

@ccpizza well maybe someone disabled it because it comes in feature called 'forced encryption'. Also maybe just your SD card isn't encrypted. And one more thing if it's a custom ROM on the device then maybe it's not enabled by default. What is your device?

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје: it's a xiaomi redmi, made in china, running miui 9

@ccpizza Xiaomi Redmi covers a number of different phones over the years (what you told us was the equivalent of Samsung Galaxy, but not saying if it was a 5, or 7 or a note). Internally the models can even differ between regions like North America and Asia. If you can find out what the CPU chipset is and what level of Android OS it started with, that may inform if hardware encryption support is available. I do recall though that the early version of Android with encryption didn't have hardware support so made normal operations slower.

It's a relatively recent rooted redmi note  4 - it has the option for full phone encryption as it originally came with android 6, and I've been thinking of enabling the encryption vs using EDS lite which can mount truecrypt/veracrypt containers.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Google Play Music can't see WMA files on Pixel 2
On my PC, I have a library of WMA files that I have ripped from CDs using iTunes.
About 6 months ago I got Google's Pixel phone, and wanted to load a bunch of the music onto my phone.  A quick online search told me I should just be able to copy it to the Music folder on my phone.
I did so, and I got a popup telling me it might not play in its current format, and did I want to convert it before copying?  I clicked "Yes", and the music was copied, and showed up in Google Play Music.
Recently I got the Pixel 2, and went through the same steps to copy music to my phone, but after copying it I don't see any of it in Google Play Music.  I installed VLC and it can see/play the music, but it has very limited capabilities as a music player and isn't compatible with the Google Assistant, so I'd really rather use Play Music.
I tried copying an MP3 file onto the phone, and that shows up in Play Music, so it must have something to do with the format.  I'd really rather not have to convert my entire music library en masse to MP3.
I'm running Android Oreo 8.0.0.
I've verified that there is no .nomedia file in the Music folder.

Is there some difference between the Pixel and Pixel 2 that prevents Google Play Music from seeing WMA files on the Pixel 2?
Is there something else I might need to do to be able to play them?

EDIT:
I tried @Abochur's suggestion in the comments of playing a file via the file manager, and it would not play from there, which indicates to me that there is a problem with the file.  I tried re-copying one of the files onto the phone, and again I was asked if I wanted the file to be converted so that it could be played, but again it was not recognized once it was on the phone.
I would still like to know why this method worked on my original Pixel but doesn't seem to work on my Pixel 2, and if there's any way to have my music appear in Google Play Music without mass-converting all of it to a different format.

Find out if Google music doesn't support this music, by going into your file manager and playing the music from there. If the music works through Google music then it must be that it supports wmv, and something else is the problem


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Can I Delete a WhatsApp Message After 7 Min. Deadline?
So I know that if I send a WhatsApp message to someone, I can delete the message on the recipients phone within 7 minutes, using the new "delete for everyone" option in WhatsApp.
Is there a way to get passed this limit, and delete the message a few hours or days later?

Yes, there is a simple way to trick WhatsApp into thinking that 7 min. haven't passed yet.
This would involve A few simple steps.
(Note: this will only work within 5 days of sending the message)

disconnect WhatsApp from internet connection. You can do that by going into airplane mode, or disconnecting from mobile data and WiFi.
Change the date of your phone. in settings -> date and time turn off "automatic date and time" and change the date to within 7 min. of sending the message or even before that.
(If you sent a message on nov. 20 at 7:30, then just change the date on your phone, to nov. 19)
Force stop the WhatsApp app. Go to settings>apps>WhatsApp>force stop.
delete the message. Open WhatsApp and find the message that you want to delete, long press on it and now the "delete for everyone" option will appear, press on it.
Change the date back to normal
Turn off airplane mode or enable data/WiFi

As soon as WhatsApp gets network connection, the message will be deleted on the recipients phone. But you will not get any notification that it was deleted.
If for whatever reason there is a red exclamation mark next to the message, make sure you changed the time, and then press on the exclamation mark and press "resend message" that will delete for the recipient.


text:
How do android check for apps notifications? Can I change the frequency between checks?
I want to make my phone (6.0.1) check for notifications each hour (instead of each minute, or whatever it's set as default). Is it possible?
I'd like to change this value for notifications in general.

There is more than one kind of notification.

Poll: IMAP email normally uses polling. Your mail application checks for mail periodically, and if there is a new message it displays a notification. The polling interval is configurable, but this is on a per-account basis.
Push: Your Android device maintains a connection to Google's cloud messaging server (Firebase or GCM). All applications use this single connection. When an application server sends your device a message, it is relayed through the cloud messaging server and given to the corresponding application, which handles it immediately. As far as I know, there is no way to limit when this occurs short of disabling the data connection.

In summary, you can change poll notification frequency as the applications allow, but not push notifications.

It was the push one I was looking for. Thanks for the explanation!


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Duplicate video files in WhatsApp Sent items
Is there any scenario where WhatsApp copies video twice in sent items (with different sizes) that was sent to the single recipient? I had a scenario where I am sure I have sent the video to single user, during the sent operation I got Retry options for few times ( due to disk was full and/or for network) so I remember I have retried 3-4 times to deliver that message, but now I can see two copies of the same video with different sizes. Is this scenario possible to occur or have I sent to another user by mistake. Cant check because later I have changed by phone losing all messages history.

It might be possible that the file failed in the middle of uploading for some reason and the uploaded part remained as an incomplete file in your sent items. Then when you sent the file again, instead of resuming the upload, a complete file was resent seperately. I'm not a 100% sure but it is possible.


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Fingerprint unlock and password multiple-attempt security
I have noticed that fingerprint unlocking on Android is pretty insecure. If you make 5 failed attempts (which is quite a lot), the phone just disables the scanner for 30 seconds and then re-enables it. I would like to reduce the number of attempts before disabling the scanner, and then set it to require the password before unlocking. Google searches for this have revealed many pages of results of people wanting to make their phones less secure by increasing the number of attempts or disabling the horrific 30 second waiting period, but am I the only one concerned that it is pretty insecure as it is? I don't want to have to disable fingerprint unlock, as I have a very secure password set that would be a bit of a pain to enter every time I unlocked my phone.
Likewise with passwords, the "Automatically wipe after x failed password attempts" option seems to have disappeared from my phone as of the Oreo update, and there is a fixed 30 second waiting period every 5 attempts, which means that with a reasonable pool of guesses, anyone could brute force my password with enough tries.
What can I do to make my phone more secure?

Certainly not an answer, but in lieu of achieving middling security via a long password plus the fingerprint option, you could potentially disable the fingerprint altogether and use a more manageable password.


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Youtube android app with fine speed controls
I know the youtube app has the option of playing videos at 0.75x, 0.5x and some other speeds.
I am looking for an alternative youtube client that can play youtube videos at a greater range of speeds. Particularly, I need 0.9x and 0.8x
One possible solution is to download the video and play it in a native player, but this solution is too complex (for my elderly father, who wants to listen to videos with slower speed to increase comprehension) and often demands too much space on the device.
Any ideas?

This looks like a request for resources, which is usually offtopic.

@NVZ Yes it's off-topic. I'm voting to close.

Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see What topics can I ask about here? for details). For where your question might fit better, you might want to look into Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions? and Where to ask for app recommendations?.

There is one open-source project available, which comes with many useful features,
You can play youtube videos on any native player such as VLC.
Please check out NewPipe NewPipe Github


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How to root VIVO Y31L
I have tried all the apps like king root,kingoroot and I tried to flash manually also but it fails anyone please try to help

As suggested on XDA Developers, you should first get the firmware of version 1.9.22, then you'll be able to root with KingRoot.


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Repeated "Tabs" when editing contacts
I am using Android 6 on a Samsung J7.
When I edit a contact there are several "Tabs" that can hold information, e.g., DEVICE, VIBER, WHATSAPP, etc.
For some contacts, I see two or three DEVICE Tabs (which seems puzzling to me), and two WHATSAPP Tabs (equally puzzling).

Why is this, and how can I get rid of repeated Tabs? (I suspect I would like to do this, but I am not sure)
Morevoer, for one contact (say, George T.), one of the WHATSAPP Tabs holds a phone number that is not shown as George T. in Whatsapp itself. On the contrary, this phone number shows both in Contacts - DEVICE Tab, and in Whatsapp, as belonging to John W. (the number belonged to George before, but not anymore).
WHy is this, and how can I fix it?

You haven't mentioned wether there are two numbers saved under the same name, or not
If you have two numbers saved under the same name, all you have to do is unlink them.
In the above screenshot you'll see that i saved two numbers on my phone and then i linked them together and in that case when editing this contact I'll have two tabs for Google contact and two tabs for WhatsApp. This also explains why gorge is in the wrong place - because you have him saved twice.
To un-link them, simply press the "link" icon which appears under the orange envelope. And press on the minus.

It worked. I still do not know how this appeared in the first place...

You linked them at some point by mistake or on purpose. Happens to the best of us. Glad it worked


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How to disable installing from unknown sources?
Is there a way to disable the phone from installing apps from unknown sources?
I know that it is possible by just going to.
settings->security->unchceck "unknown resources"

But when kids install apps, a dialog appears:

By just tapping on settings, they can Enable it again and install the application.
is there a way to disable it and the dialog won't come out or make it grey so it won't be clicked/tap it again? Without putting password on my Settings.

Speaking of "Kids" the first things coming to mind are: 1) using a restricted profile for them, 2) using a specific "kid protection" app. For the latter be welcome to take a look at my corresponding app listings: Child protection and App Locker: Child protection.

If you have Android OS Lollipop and above, you should create a guest mode for anyone you wish to hand over your cell phone, you can define the rights in the guest mode.

How to create a guest mode? any tutorial site please?

@kiLLua some phones don't have guest mode option but if yours does, check the link to see how to access it https://www.greenbot.com/article/3056569/android/how-to-switch-to-guest-mode-when-you-let-someone-borrow-your-phone.html

My phone's OS is Nougat

Drag down the notification to the full then you will see a profile icon and besides that an edit icon (Pencil Icon), click that and you will be guided accordingly.


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Android 8 Oreo - No more "pause feedback" for Talkback in accessibility?
I am developing apps for Android and now have started to use Android 8 (Oreo) on my Pixel 2-phone.
While working on the accessibility of an app I've noticed that a certain entry in the "Global Context Menu" is missing when you use the gesture to open the menu (Swipe down -> then right while Talkback is enabled).
Namely the entry "pause feedback" is gone, which ... well ... paused the Talkback-reader, so you could click normally around in your app. The entry is still mentioned here by Google.
This makes it somewhat harder to work on accessibility for an app, since you need either to click around a lot more or constantly enable / disable the Talkback-reader.
Is there another way to pause the Talkback-reader temporarily or to get the "pause feedback" entry back?

You can suspend TalkBack by pressing both volume buttons for a couple of seconds. You can un-suspend it by doing the same thing.

This definitively helps, but a "software-based" solution would be a bit nicer I feel. This way I have to lift the phone up and sometimes I turn up the volume by accident. Thanks for the hint!

I used to do that at first but with some practice you don't turn up the volume any more.

I am working in a company so we have several (around 30?) different smartphones. Most of them are not Android 8, but soon we will get another batch of different Android 8 phones, so this will take a while until I hit every key on every phone correctly... a genereic gestures therefore would be preferable, but the volume key has to do for now.

I'm in a similar position (QA) with lots of smarphones to test on. I haven't found a better way to quickly turn on or off TalckBack.

It's far less convenient. Can't understand why they changed this. Using this function all the time helping my blind relatives with their phones. I can only say that setting up a phone for a blind person is painful and things do not work as reliably as one would hope :/


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Microsd card slots: shared vs dedicated - What is the difference?
When I look at detailed specifications of android devices sometimes it is possible to filter them by choosing if a microsd card slot is shared or is dedicated.
Unfortunately I am not able to find a resource describing what that means and what the difference is.

MicroSD storage will be shared between what?
MicroSD storage will be dedicated to what?

Internal / external storage? SIM-modules? Anything else?
And whats the pros and cons?

You're most likely looking at DualSIM devices. If they come with a dedicated SD card slot, you can use 2 SIMs and an external SD card. If it's a shared slot, it's either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM + SD card – i.e. the SD card slot is shared with the slot for the second SIM.

So I can plug in 1 SD card and at any time either a second SIM card or an SD card because there is this "shared" or hybrid slot and not 2 SIM card slots + one extra slot for SD cards, right?

Make the first SD card a SIM ("I can plug in 1 SIM card"), and that's it, yes.

Ups, of course you're right.


text:
Intrusive ads on Google Chrome for Android
I've been using an Android phone for 4 years (Nexus 5, LG G3, LG G4) and I recently swap to an iPhone.
Yesterday, a friend tweeted 2 photos of an ad when he was trying to read an article about a keyboard:

"you've been selected by Amazon (...) in order win a Carte Cadeau Amazon of 1500€" (mistakes and missing words are intentional in order to translate in the best way)
 "you have 2 minutes to answer blablabla"
Then, I remembered that I had that kind of ad when I was using Android with Google Chrome on mutiple websites. I've never get this on Google Chrome Desktop neither on Safari iOS.
I didn't find anything on internet about that and I think this is an Android problem, does someone have it too? Do you know what is the problem (is it an adware)? Do you have a solution?

Where did he read that article? It's probably that site 'feature', I get ads like this on particular sites not everywhere. It shows on android because android devices are targeted to see this on desktop you would see different thing if it's even shown for desktop.

The article was on a french PC hardware website and they told us on twitter that it didn't come from them. But it's not the only website where it happened to me

Try cleaning cache and data for chrome and visit site again to see if it happens. They probably lied

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје The problem is that it doesn't happen everytime. This might appear two times in a row as it might not appear for a week

My suspicion is adware. You should delete all settings in chrome, and including cache, cookies, history, etc. These kinds of spam happen when you think you are clicking something, but an invisible link is clicked instead, leading you to popup sites. Be careful about what sites you visit and what you click.

Good point but deleting history/data won't help since this invisible links will continue existing on those sites.

I thought about adware but MalwareByte/Kaspersky for Android didn't found anything. Also, this kind of spam load themselves even when you don't click anywhere, just when you load a website sometimes

You can install firefox, and install uBlock Origin extension for mobile to disable a lot of ads

You should install an adblocker app, as AdAway (link, very effective to block and prevent ads. Requirement : rooted device.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Android is draining the battery on Kitkat 4.4.2
I have a little bit unusual case of Android draining the battery.
Mobile: LG40, Android: Kitkat 4.4.2
Mobile phone was never connected to any data network (wifi or GSM). No updates, no new apps, no GPS, no Bluetooth. No playing games or using other apps. Just a couple of calls and SMS. Battery could live in this for 10 days nonstop. After 2 years battery changed (for original piece). New battery again could live for 10 days.
Until now. After 6 months after battery change, something is wrong with the process "Android OS". It consumes more than 80 % of the battery, which drains it in 24-30 hours. Even without any call.

Sometimes the restart can help for few days, but after that it starts again draining. Storage is ok, more than 1GB free, SD card is completely free (2GB). I have never done a factory reset on this phone, it is about 2,5 years from the buy.
Any idea?

You have to find the culprit with the app : BetterBatteryStats (link)
Requirement : rooted device

Thanks for an advice, I hope it can be solved without rooting and even without the internet ;-)


text:
Empty variables in termux' bash
I want to perform a test: if a certain variable exists, is non-empty, and its value matches an existing directory, then "exists" should be outputted.
I did the following:
$ echo $var

$ if [ -d $var ]; then echo "exists"; fi
exists

I got "exist", although I did not assign any value to $var. Why did this happen, and how do I test this properly?

If @WillW answered your question, please mark it as accepted! :)

I think you need to wrap $var in quotes.
if [ -d "$var" ]; then echo "exists"; fi

[ -d FILE ]   True if FILE exists and is a directory

You probably want to use one of these tests instead:

[ -z STRING ] True of the length if "STRING" is zero.
[ -n STRING ] or [ STRING ]   True if the length of "STRING" is non-zero.

From https://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/fto.html

how do I test this properly?
  if a certain variable exists, is non-empty

This question is discussed in detail https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3601515/how-to-check-if-a-variable-is-set-in-bash here.

its value matches an existing directory

This code [[ "${F1AR[@]}" =~ "${NAME##*/}" ]] checks if values match existing directories.  From https://github.com/BuildAPKs/buildAPKs/blob/master/scripts/bash/build/build.github.bash#L59


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Apps not showing from other Google account in the Play Store
I had one main Google account on my phone, I installed all of my apps through the play store on that account. I am running HTCs version of Android 7.0
I recently changed to a new Google account (removed the old one and signed into the new one). I look on the play store to update my apps and it gets stuck on looking for updates. It also gets stuck on loading when I tap on installed apps.
How do I get app updates back?
EDIT: All android pre-installed apps are showing up now (chrome, Google, etc.) But apps installed on the other Google account are still not showing.

Afraid only by switching back to your original account – as that's what your apps etc. are bound to. What you missed to include with your question: Have you replaced the account on your device (i.e. dropped the old one and setup only the new one), or configured the new account additionally?

Completely dropped the old account. No longer on device

Then there you have the cause. You could add it back as secondary account – at least if you had any apps bought with it and want to keep those working. If it's only free apps, you could just wait a little; it should find them pretty soon (usually takes no longer than 24h for this). At least that's what happens with apps installed from other sources; I'm not sure if the framework gets confused with apps it had already bound to a (no longer existing) other account.


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Make website think you have a different size screen
If you really want a desktop version of a website to load you need it to think you have a desktop size screen.
The resolution of your screen is irrelevant

I've been told that changing the user agent isn't enough.
I've been told asking for desktop version does not work 90% of the
time.

The website measures the actual size of the screen. It does not care about DPI.
So, this  Change the screen size and dpi does not answer this question.
How do you change the screen size in android. Or trick it.
I'm open to any suggestions. I would like a rooted and unrooted method if possible. I don't mind downloading 3rd party applications either to get this to work.
End goal is to get desktop website to load.

How so? It's not like phone / tablet / PC resolutions are far apart these days.

@AndyYan It has nothing to do with resolution. It has to do with screen size. The website is measuring your screen in inches. Or I guess millimeters if you are in smarter parts of the world. I added that to my question to make it more clear


text:
Two copies of an app taking space
My old HTC M8 is running very low on space, and I noticed it has 2 copies of several apk installed in /data/app for example com.twitter.android-2 and com.twitter.android-3. All in, this appears to be taking 1Gb.
This phone is rooted, so I can fix it, but is this a bug or just an artifact of the phone being old and having had several OTA updates in its time?
Would I be able to test/fix this without being rooted (except for factory reset).
OS version is 6.0
com.twitter.android-1:
-rw-r--r--    1 system   system    33495510 Nov 14 20:41 base.apk
drwxr-xr-x    3 system   system        4096 Nov 14 20:41 lib
drwxrwx--x    3 system   install       4096 Nov 14 20:41 oat

com.twitter.android-2:
-rw-r--r--    1 system   system    38637594 Aug 13 08:31 base.apk
drwxr-xr-x    3 system   system        4096 Aug 13 08:31 lib
drwxrwx--x    3 system   install       4096 Aug 13 08:32 oat

The expected behavior, from Lollipop onwards, is for Android to incrementally rename the directory in which an APK is placed, each time an update occurs. Is your device rooted? If yes, could you show us the permissions, ownership and attributes of com.twitter.android-2 and com.twitter.android-3?

updated. Maybe relevant that the phone rarely sees wifi for any length of time, I keep it in the car (so it may often get partial updates).

@DeathMaskSalesman is it normal that the second directory is kept after the update completed? To my understanding, as soon as that step is finished the "older directory" is removed. In my case, if it was not, the result was a bootloop (remember?).

@Izzy It is not normal indeed. As I said, the directory is normally renamed once the update is completed.

To my experience, the older one is removed. If I list contents of /data/app, some directories end on -1, others on -2 – but there's always only one directory per app. But be that as it might: 2 directories per app is not normal, on that we seem to agree – so something must be going wrong there.


text:
Are these adb commands safe?
my phone gone locked after hard factory reset, waited for 3 days but still can't login. I've found a solution on internet that works, i need to use adb and use following commands on my phone:

adb shell content insert --uri content://settings/secure --bind
  name:s:user_setup_complete --bind value:s:1
adb shell am start -n com.google.android.gsf.login/
adb shell am start -n com.google.android.gsf.login.LoginActivity

what are these commands doing(especially first one)? Safe to use or makes a backdoor on my phone?

The first one just tells the device that the setup wizard was completed I believe, so it will skip the initial configuration wizard... Seems to me this was a potential bypass of FRP on Lollipop on older HTC devices, it is relatively safe and doesn't open a "backdoor". The other two are just starting normal services. Not sure how the last 2 would help at all, but it shouldn't hurt anything to try.

yes, It is safe. the first one code is about to validation on user: name as 'true', the others starts Login and jump it..
about the codes its ok. but if you use another one soft, it might be not safe.


text:
Can I install apps to adopted SD card from recovery?
WhatsApp is stubborn about not installing to SD card. I have an unlocked bootloader, but have not rooted or installed a custom recovery yet. I am trying to avoid rooting because of SafetyNet, and because I need it pretty much only for force-moving WhatsApp (etc.) to an adopted SD card.
Since my bootloader is unlocked, is it not possible to:

boot into custom recovery without flashing it
create a flashable .zip containing WhatsApp
instruct the installer to locate it in adopted storage, ignoring the app's installLocation setting

?
Why is it said that we need root for force moving apps, when the bootloader being unlocked should be enough? I don't have a problem with flashing a custom recovery, just ... why flash when one-time boot should be sufficient?
Likely I'm missing some limitations of fastboot and the recovery here.
Edit: Trying out @DanHalli's answer gave me an error
P:\Software\Management\SmartPhone\apks>adb install -s WhatsApp.apk
3644 KB/s (38480037 bytes in 10.311s)
        pkg: /sdcard/tmp/WhatsApp.apk
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE]

I don't know your device and whether it has TWRP available. If so: one-time fastboot boot twrp.img, then flash Magisk – et voila: systemless root, passes safetynet (not by hearsay, I did that on one of my devices).

Thanks for trying my answer, that error usually occurs when there isn't enough storage on the device you're trying to install to, check how much storage is left on the SD card

If you have the APK for WhatsApp on a computer and USB debugging on you can do
adb install -s path/to/APK
I might have my syntax wrong, if you have it already installed you might need to add a -r after the -s  to have it reinstall, I've noticed it works kind of like a force install

Adoptable storage allows use of a specially formatted (partition on an) SD  Card for use of apps on it : http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/135716-how-to-use-adoptable-storage-on-android-6-0-marshmallow

Gave an error, check edit.

Sorry, thought it was obvious... I have 14GB+ free on my adopted partition and 14GB+ free on my portable partition.


text:
How to change the temperature unit of Google's weather notification?
I have my Google Now weather set to Celsius, but when it showed on the notification bar, it's still Fahrenheit.

How to change this?
If it matters, the device is Motorola X Style with Android 7

Tried this and was able to get Celsius after a while on a Nexus 7 running Android 5.1. If possible, OP should update question with device/OS version.

I don't know why but after some phone restart the notification bar is showed in Celsius now. So I post this to close question.


text:
how to move photos to sd card on VFD 300
I can browse my photos on the phone's HD, it even says at the top select destination, but there doesn't seem to be a way to actually do that! I've set it so all new photos are saved to the SD card, but the ones already on the phone I can't seem to move.

You can use either the gallery app or your file manager to manually move your pictures/videos
Gallery

Open your gallery
Open the album you want to move
Long press on any picture
On the top left of your screen, press "select all"
I'm the menu press "move" or "cut"
Select a folder on your sd card to move the items to, or create a new one

File manager

Open your file manager
Find the pictures you want to move
Long press on one of them, and press "select all"
In the menu press "move" or "cut"
Select a folder on your sd card to move the items to, or create a new one


text:
A questions about "wipe" in CWM Recovery
CWM Recovery has a many options for wipe and format partitions, and the options are:

wipe data/factory reset.
wipe cache partition.
format boot, system, data, cache, sdcard or sd-ext.
wipe dalvik cache.
wipe battery stats.

I wonder What is the difference between a wipe and format In terms of safe deletion of data?
How can I Completely Wipe Data from all partitions of phone device?
(I want do that before install a new ROM).
What is the overwriting Standard used in the wipe? ,thanx in advance.

Note: I don't know version of CWM Recovery but I'll use CWM Recovery from here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-4c/development/honor-4c-root-cwm-recovery-inshaalmirza-t3177770

I wonder What is the difference between a wipe and format In terms of safe deletion of data?

A wipe is, in any method, removes selected data from filesystem. It can be plain deletion or formatting the partition.
A format is a complete reset of a disk partition, by cleaning everything up and re-build its headers, inode records, file allocation tables, etc.

How can I Completely Wipe Data from all partitions of phone device? (I want do that before install a new ROM).

Use the 1st option wipe data/factory reset. That's enough.

What is the overwriting Standard used in the wipe? ,thanx in advance.

AFAIK there's no overwriting. It simply deletes files and/or formats partitions of your phone.

Add to 1.: the Format option is intended a.o. to change the file system. You can e.g. format a partition previously using vfat to ext4, or from ext4 to f2fs (not checked which systems CWM recovery supports, so don't nail me on that). Wipe usually is format without switching the fs (faster than delete) unless you define otherwise, at least with TWRP. // 2.: to be on the absolute safe side, one would also wipe system – but aggreed, that's optional and usually not needed.


text:
Emulate Menu button Nougat Galaxy S8
I miss using the menu key that I used to have on older phones.
I'm able to remap the Bixby key to a Tasker program or any app activity or shortcut, I'm wondering what I would need to do to emulate the menu button if I need something other than Tasker or what I need to do with Tasker to get this to work.
I've tried holding the back button and the recents button which used to work on older Samsung phones
Any help would be appriciated

Holding just the recent button on the s5 opens up the menu. If you're holding back and recent together that might be why it's not working. Have in mind that the menu will only open in apps that designate something as a menu. I'd be surprised if they removed this feature in s8

@Abochur with the S7 i believe you had to hold back, but neither work on the S8

And I know that it still accepts the input correctly from a keyboard, I've tested both Bluetooth and wired, both execute the menu key as they should.

AFAIR there was a way to modify the navigation bar and e.g. add the menu button back. But I don't remember if that was just in Gravity Box (Xposed module), or also availabe without root.

I'd prefer not to be to root my phone

You can do it with the xposed module : Xposed Additions (link). It allow us to remap any buttons to any effect. Requirement : rooted device + xposed framework installed

You don't need root to remap keys, I have the Bixby button and the volume buttons are remapped (the single press function is fluctuating until I can use it as menu)


text:
How to deactivate headphone's buttons
I think my headphone or phone jack broke, and if I move the jack a bit, somehow the headphones activate the google assistant or pause the music, so this is from the button.
Can I deactivate it on a non rooted Huawei P8Lite (Android 6.0)

Software wise: HeadsetBlocker & Wizdroid both attempt to block headphone buttons. However both are very outdated. Can install and try.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.idunnolol.headsetblocker&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yifandroid.wizdroids&hl=en
Hardware wise: You can try a 4 pole to 3 pole adapter to remove the microphone (I am not positive this will work)
https://www.amazon.com/LEMENG-Female-Headset-Extension-Cable-2Pack/dp/B01LRWO9GU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1510759624&sr=8-6&keywords=3+pole+adapter

I downloaded the WizDroid app, I hope it's going to work, i'll update in the next days.  And about the adapter, I won't try anyway beacuse I can't, Amazon is not in my area, but I'll search for one if the app won't work

+1 for hardware and software fix

Wizdroid isn't working and tge other app is not compatible :(

This solution certainly won't work for everyone, but if your headphones happen to have a removable cable: trying turning it upside down (plugging the phone end into the headphones and vice versa). With my particular cable this disables the controls.


text:
Can't figure out this icon on me status bar

This cross in a circle on top.

Phone make and model please, plus Android version, is it stock firmware or custom ROM?

Goodday,
This icon appears when data saver has been turned on.
I found this under settings - data usage - "right corner 3dots" - data saver.
Android 8.0.0 OnePlus 3t OxygenOS OpenBeta 17


text:
Files not visible on MTP mount, but visible in adb shell
To offload some media files from my phone, I connected it to my (Linux) PC through USB, and set it to file transfer mode (MTP) so that the internal storage gets mounted. I see many files, which I can copy without a problem, but there are also many files that I don't see at all on my PC.
Exploring the file system with "adb shell", there turn out to be many more files in the same file system.
Does anyone know why they don't show up and what I can do about it? The file permissions seem to be the same as those of the visible files.
Thanks.

Anything those "invisible files" have in common the "visible ones" don't have – e.g. file type or "file name pattern"? And as you're using the linux tag, would you be open to solutions other than MTP (I'm thinking of user-space adbfs here, which maps the file system transparently and is, to my experience, much more reliable)?

I'll check out adbfs, thanks! For now I just used "adb pull". I didn't see any pattern, but I'll have a closer look.

Check out my ADB list, it mentions some items in this context. I'm personally using adbfs-rootless, but it currently has an issue with some Nougat ROMs unfortunately. So aafm (a Python based ADB file manager) might be a good choice, or one of the general GUI tools like QtADB.


text:
Is it possible to restore Google Authenticator on another phone?
Suppose I lost the phone with Google Authenticator on it. How do I restore it on another phone?

Possible duplicate of Is it possible to recover Google authenticator database

If you use an app like Authy it can sync 2FA codes to other devices, but otherwise you're going to have to go to each of your websites and set up 2FA on the new device again.

I don't think it's quite the same question, because that other question is about having deleted the files but still having access to the phone.

Unless you have previously backed up the QR code/secret key while initially setting up your Google Authenticator, this is not possible. Otherwise, you can contact each account's support team for help.
Alternatively, you can use another Authentication app like Authy (iOS and Android) or TOTP Authenticator (iOS and Android). These apps provide the feature to securely backup your codes and account details, so you can switch phone easily.

Yes, it's possible, if you had stored the initial QR code of your service. In that case, just scan your initial QR code when creation in the Google Authenticator.

But what if I didn't? Actually I'm pretty sure I didn't.

@jayarjo: then no way to retrieve your data

If you saved QR codes or secret keys in the moment of token enrollment, you should use them to restore your tokens on another phone. Otherwise, you should contact the Support team of the service which you protect with the Google Authenticator. They will help you to restore an access to your account. After this, you can issue tokens on your new phone.

Copy com.google.android.apps.authenticator2 from data/data to a safe backup location.
Locate the databases file in com.google.android.apps.authenticator2/database/database and view it with SQLite database viewer (included natively in Root Explorer)
Select accounts - it will display all of the registered accounts along with the secret code next to it
Open the Google Authenticator app and select "Enter a provided key" and copy the desired account code.

These codes gets changed over time, and in most cases are not reusable.

Thanks @Sixx, but the secrets column is encrypted, so that data is useless. What way can I restore it or is it all gone? I've the app backed up with 3 different ways, but couldn't restore it with any...


text:
Google Calendar app constantly missing notifications
Since I got the new phone Google Calendar app on it had been abysmal at making notifications it is supposed to. Most of the time they just never happen or happen late at the wrong time.
Sometimes opening the app triggers some overdue notification from an hour ago.
As far as I can tell Calendar is the only app that has any issue with notifications, all notifications from all other apps work perfectly.
Is there anything I can try to do to knock some sense into it?

Use a different calendar app then? There are tons of them (link goes to my list).

Well, I have everything in web version of Google Calendar so that sort of works for me... I imagine other calendars can sync with it, but not to keen to sink time in research and testing. Basically all I want is reliable notifications in this app. :)

Are you speaking of the web version of Google Calendar – or of the Android app? In the latter case: it's not the app that stores the calendar data – that is done by the "calendar provider". So regardless which calendar app you use, it has access to the very same data (with very few exceptions which explicitly use their own storage).

In any case I'd like to focus question on how to fix notifications if possible. I am aware I could try another app altogether.

Are you using greenfiy, or any aggressive dozing? android OS can put calendar into deep hibernate, preventing notifications.

@WillW nothing like that, pretty much clean Android 7 on this model and I don't mess with it.

I've noticed in the reviews section on the Play Store for the app that other users experience problems with notifications as well.  But no telling what version of Android or make/model phone those users have.

EDIT: before trying the solution below, first try disabling battery optimization for Calendar.
Note that the following is only my experience and opinion based on limited observations.
History of events
I've seen this happen after upgrading to a new 5.8.x release. The last (mostly) reliable version I'm aware of is 5.8.38-200532405-release. After I noticed the missed notifications on the upgraded version, I downgraded (using my backed up apk).
I didn't upgrade for a while, and during that time, at least one new version was released; I decided to give it another chance. This upgrade took me to 6.0.x. It sort of worked ok for a while - notifications were sometimes late by a minute or two, but that was acceptable to me.
Then a couple days later, I was doing some intensive work on my phone, with a lot of apps open at the same time. Calendar was starting to get flaky and not trigger notifications, or only trigger sporadically.
My theory
Newer app releases are possibly taking more memory than before - or not as robust at restarting the background service when the OS kills it due to low memory conditions. The more memory in use by apps, the more likely any particular service will be killed (not necessarily Calendar's, but a memory-bloated service or app will make the problem worse).
I'm not at all familiar with Android development, but ideally Calendar would keep a list of the recent notifications (maybe in the last hour?) that have successfully triggered. Then if the service is killed and gets restarted, it should compare recent notifications that should've triggered with its list of those that actually did trigger. It should then trigger the ones that were missed and add them to the already-triggered list. I have a feeling the app is not doing this.
Suggestions
Avoid having too many apps running. Swipe away those you're not using.
Failing that, try downgrading Calendar. You can try APK Mirror (use at your own risk!). Out of curiosity, I downloaded 5.8.38-200532405-release onto my desktop and compared it to my own backup. The apk file wasn't the same (because it's a zip file with possibly different compression ratio & file modification times, etc), but the unzipped contents were identical (compared using diff -r). The sha256 of the APK Mirror apk is 30340b7e95e5e71f8183cc53af376efd27b10e11d75e8dd4b957b03a45c3dedf.
Caveats
The last reliable version (mentioned above) for my device and usage patterns may not be the same one that works for you. I said "mostly" reliable because once in a long while I still miss notifications. Keeping the list of running apps small seems to help.
Miscellany
I used information from answers here to backup my device's apks.

Please note: after getting a new Android device, the problem completely disappeared even on the latest Calendar versions. My old device was on Android 6 - I'm guessing that there's some compatibility issue with older versions. I've also seen issues with other apps like Microsoft Teams on Android 6.

1) Double check: Settings > Apps > All > then to Calendar "show notifications" is checked and then Google Contacts "show notifications" is checked also.
2) Make sure your calendar is not an external calendar.

reference:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/android-5-0-lollipop/522084-getting-no-notifications-google-calendar-app.html

Double checked, all enabled everywhere. :\ Definitely my main calendar too.


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I am getting the notification: Disable harmful app. On disabling it, I am still getting back the notification. What do I do?
From the past few weeks, I am getting the notification:

Disable harmful app
"System Notification Service" can damage your device.

On tapping on the notification, I am getting two options:

Keep Anyway (Unsafe)
Ok

After pressing Ok,  a few minutes later, I am getting back the notification again.
In google play store app, in the play protect section, it has this detail:

This app can download potentially harmful apps.

My mom too has phone from the same brand; it too has started getting same notification.
Is there a problem? What do I do?
Edit: Model Number: Gionee P5L;
Android Version: 5.1;
Android security patch level: 2017-03-05;
Kernel Version: 3.10.65+;
Build Number: [SW VERSION]
P5L_0301_V5557
[HW VERSION]
P5L_Mainboard_P3;
System Version: amigo3.1

We will need more details in order to identify the app you're having trouble with. Did you download it off the Play Store? Can you share a link if that's the case?

Thank you for the reply. I didn't download the app (System Notification  Service) from the playstore. It seems to be a system app, I can only disable or force it to stop.

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/173926/uninstall-harmful-app-mobile-tracker-can-damage-your-device
Might just need to reinstall OS (to be safe) and then avoid suspect websites

@WillW: Have updated the post. Okay, I will see on reinstalling it. From both the phones, common sites visited seems to be that of kodi video pairing sites.

You really should reinstall android if you're seeing this about a built in app to be safe like @WillW said

This could be spyware app disguised as a system app. Google is rightly pointing you to uninstall it. But if you are installing this app on another device and you dont want that to show this notification then you can disable it as per this link: http://trackmyphones.com/b/disable-android-app-is-harmful-security-alert/

You can disable the security popup by Settings -> Google -> Security -> (Play Protect) And uncheck “Scan Device for Security threats”
If there are more details under that tab, then comment below.
For safer app installation, you can disable Unknown Sources in Settings -> Security -> Disable "Allow installation of apps from unknown source"
For safer browsing, you can install firefox for Android, and add ublock origin as an adblocker extension when browsing the web.

I have disabled app installation from unknown sources option, in both the phones. I am using firefox with ublock origin in one of the phone. App seems to be of system's, which can only be disabled.

The first step can be used if you think the app is a false positive.  Think you can whitelist the notification app.

How do I know it as false positive? Do I use antivirus or antimalware apps?

if you fresh installed the OS and still see the message, its probably a false positive.
I have never had luck with antimalware apps on android, but malwarebytes is great on PC.


text:
Whatsapp not installing after factory reset
I have done factory reset on my phone Samsung (galaxy Y duos) android version 2.3.6 and after that Whats-app is not installing. Its showing your device is not compatible .
But, how can be that, when factory reset is done updates are removed totally so it must be , but it is not so.
Anyone can help ?

I'm not really sure what your question is. You have a really old Android version and modern apps won't install.

Here is the newest version of WhatsApp I found that is compatible with Android 2.3.3+ (WhatsApp Messenger 2.16.382)
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/whatsapp-inc/whatsapp/whatsapp-2-16-382-release/whatsapp-messenger-2-16-382-android-apk-download/
I suspect since your phone is old, you will need the x86 arch variant.


text:
What are the radio band present in the hidden phone menu?
Not locked to it or anything (plenty of efs backups) just wondering what differences there are between say, the US band and the Cellular 800 band.

Your question is not entirely clear, you just what to know differences in bands  only?

The difference is in the range of frequencies that each carrier use. The usage of these frequencies is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The usage of the different frequency bands varies around the globe
  although there is a large degree of standardisation. The GSM
  frequencies available depend upon the regulatory requirements for the
  particular country and the ITU (International Telecommunications
  Union) region in which the country is located.

For instance, in North America the USA uses both 850 and 1900 MHz bands, the actual
 band used is determined by the regulatory authorities and is dependent
upon the area.
Since spectrum is a finite resource, the FCC distributes spectrum licenses geographically into a number of areas, and mobile operators must bid on each area individually. A license owner can use any technology within the licensed area and frequency range subject only to the band rules defining the limits.
Here are the  charts that includes the 3G, 4G (LTE) network technologies, bands, and frequencies of all five major U.S. carriers:

NB: bandwidth — refer to the range of frequencies that can be contained within a signal.
For more information read here and here
Acknowledgements

Smartphone bands explained


text:
water damaged Tmobile Revvl
I dropped my android in the toilet last Thursday November 9, 2017 and it turned off and it kept going to the powered by android screen, on and off. It came back on that Saturday and I have been using it since with no problems. Today I got to work and was talking to my sister on it and it turned back off and has been doing the same thing it did the day I dropped it in the toilet with the exception of it will turn completely back on, but when I go to text someone or do anything with it, it turns right back off.

What's your question?

Possible duplicate of My android device has been splashed/soaked by sea water

My apologies, How can I fix it? What might possibly be wrong?

You have to take it to a repair shop that has an ultrasonic cleaner.
You can't put it in rice or any other ridiculous mythical magical fix.
There is one option for you. ultrasonic cleaner.
Why does rice and those other methods not work?
CLICK HERE FOR CITATION
Water is not harmful to electronics, it's the impurities in the water that hurt the electronics and cause corrosion.
Tell me what rice is going to do? Nothing. Don't use rice. Don't buy kits at the 95cent store. Don't do anything you read online. Don't follow YouTube videos. It's all fake stupid advice that doesn't work and can cause more harm than good.
If you don't have access to a repair shop and you just want to try to fix it yourself you can try to take apart the whole phone. Get to the circuit board and painstakingly clean every single part of the phone with high grade alcohol and a toothbrush. This is not as effective as an ultrasonic cleaner.
Also keep in mind an ultrasonic cleaner is not a guarantee. Water damage is the worst possible thing you could do to your phone. You are 99% screwed. Even if you take it to a repair shop keep in mind they will have NO GUARANTEE for water damage. That means that if they don't feel like cleaning it they don't have to. They can just take your money and do nothing because there is no guarantee with water damage. Even if they clean and fix it afterwards the problem could come back. BE CAREFUL PICKING YOUR REPAIR SHOP. GOOD LUCK!

Keep in mind that ultrasonic cleaner can help only if oxidation get small part of hardware.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје what do you mean?

Look on components under microscope if a lot of components are white than ultrasonic cleaner can't do much.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје Oh right I agree! That's what I meant by "Also keep in mind an ultrasonic cleaner is not a guarantee." I figured the average person wouldn't have access to a microscope.

Ooh sorry I was too lazy to read whole question so I just commented

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје Well anyone with a microscope will appreciate your comment :D

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Is there a way to detect if there is a power management issue with an android phone?
Is there a way to detect if there is a power management issue with an android phone?
I'm rooted on KitKat if that helps.
The phone in question is  a galaxy note 4 if it makes a difference.
The symptoms I have are new batteries purchased for the phone going from 40% to dead in a matter of seconds. Recently the phone refuses to charge more than 70% even on a new battery.  I'm assuming these are signs of some kind of power management failure.
I'm willing to install any suggested apps if that will help to determine the cause.

My first hunch would be to calibrate the battery: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blogspot.superthomaslab.batterycalibration&hl=en
it could be possible that when you are at 70% you are actually at 100%.
After calibration, we'd hope to see a more linear decline of battery.

Wow, that might actually be my issue. I'll try to confirm this either today or tomorrow. If it works please make this an answer so I can accept it.

Afraid you're following a myth. All what the app does is deleting the batterystats.bin file (read the app desc). That file only holds stats on battery usage of apps (i.e. which app used how much battery) – NOT on the battery itself. Everything else (charging up to 100% and/or letting the battery drain to below 10%) can be done without an app. Though the problem here is the battery won't even charge up beyond 70%, as the question text says.


text:
How to get Feitian MultiPass FIDO U2F working with OnePlus 3T?
Feitian MultiPass FIDO has 3 ways to work as a hardware token: BLE, NFC and USB. I'd like to use it either with NFC or BLE because the USB input can be occupied, and I have a feeling anyway that the USB usage would require some udev rule modifications (https://github.com/Yubico/libu2f-host/blob/master/70-u2f.rules) just like it did with my other token for my Linux desktop.

NFC: simply didn't work. I held the key to the back of the phone, moving it around a little (not sure where is the NFC sensor exactly). Since I read somewhere that the NFC is very weak in the key (which can be an advantage for security because an attacker would have a harder time to pick the signal up from distance), I even stripped my phone of it's thin OnePlus carbon protective cover, but didn't help either.
BLE: I press the button long and the BLE pairing icon starts to blink on the key. The Google U2F BLE setup page shows the device. Here you'd click on the device and you'd need to enter the 6 digits on it. When I select the device from the list though, the app errors out with the very descriptive "Something went wrong" error message. (That's what the Linux desktop Chrome did as well, extremely descriptive error message for sure).

So how can I get this to work? Here is some logcat: https://pastebin.com/X6HLK7a0
Two errors I see:

Not sure how related it is:
E WCNSS_FILTER: do_ioctl,tty_clock_flag=USERIAL_OP_CLK_OFF,clock=USERIAL_OP_CLK_ON
Related for sure:
E BluetoothEventManager: Got bonding state changed for 78:8C:EB:56:23:F1, but we have no record of that device.
D StatusBarManagerService: manageDisableList userId=0 what=0x0 pkg=Window{3d9a72b u0 Something went wrong} token=android.os.Binder@20e9287 which=1
E BluetoothEventManager: Got bonding state changed for 78:8C:EB:56:23:F1, but we have no record of that device.

The debug entry wedged in between the two errors might be accidental. I don't see it always. Any help is appreciated, I'd like to transition to hardware tokens to be protected against SIM hijacks.
One more thing: my OxygenOS is rooted because I had to use a hack to be able to run DayDream apps. Because of that I cannot use Google Pay. I hope rooting is not the reason why I cannot pair the key.

The "Something went wrong" error message was an indirect result of the fact that the device was rooted (+ I have custom bootloader (TWRP), although I'm using stock ROM). I also couldn't use Android Pay in the past because of the rooting although I tried SU Hide techniques for SuperSU. Tonight I reflashed and this time I used the latest beta 14.3 Magisk, which has auto hide feature.
This Magisk could successfully cloak the custom boot loader and the rooting from SafetyNet, which framework+API is used by Android Pay to see if the device is stock. I assume that the U2F key addition uses the same library as well, because now I could get the BLE part working. NFC is still no bueno. Also, after many tries it become clear that I had to add the MultiPass key first on my desktop using a Chrome browser, and only after that I could complete the rest of the procedure (BLE pairing, ...) on the phone.
The workflow on the phone is weird, because at some point the Bluetooth pairing view got into the background abruptly. I thought something failed again and kept retrying, until I realized that the view is there in the background.
Overall it wasn't an easy ride, but now I removed the phones from my 2FA configuration, and I only have the security keys and the Google authenticator app. You cannot remove that latter one, it's needed for 2FA.
I assume other devices than OnePlus 3T would experience the same thing: if you don't hide the custom bootloader and rooting adequately, software which query SafetyNet will be trippin'.

More than two years later I'd just emphasize the part that you'd first have to add the key to your Google account 2FA using your desktop. This is what Chrome tells as well these days if you try to register the device through the phone.


text:
Chrome getfileattachment download failed due to missing sd card
I am running Android 7.0 on a Huawei P8 lite 2017 (brand new)
Every time I try to download a file from Google Chrome I get the error message:
"getfileattachment download failed due to missing sd card".
What I know right now:
1) The SD card works (Pictures from the camera are saved there)
2) I tried the workarounds consisting in force stopping chrome, denying and reenabling permission, and clearing cache as shown on several youtube videos such as this and this
3) Gmail can download attachments (it stores them on the internal memory, though).
4) When I first inserted my SD card, I received a warning that the card is old and this might result in suboptimal performances.
Can someone help me?

Follow from chrome are by default downloaded to your internal memory, and i don't think there is a way to change that. Did you by any chance try forcing it to download to sd and what were the methods

Try clearing data of the chrome app
Go into your phone settings>application manager (or apps)>chrome>storage>manage space>clear data
Have in mind that clearing data in chrome will delete all your history in the app, unless you were signed into your Google account, in that case it will all come back as soon as you sign back in

Try ERASING (reformatting) the SD Card while inserted in the phone.

Back up your data
Go to device “Settings”, then select “Storage”.
Select your "SD Card", then tap the “three-dot menu“ (top-right), now select “Settings” from in there.
Now select “Format as internal”, and then “Erase & Format”.
Your SD Card will now be formatted as internal storage.
Reboot your phone.

Reference:
http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-3325411/download-due-card-missing.html

It's worth letting the OP know that this method will totally wipe their sd card.

Yes, it is a rather "extreme" method! I will try it as soon as I am convinced that there are no other workarounds.


text:
How does Wi-Fi sharing in Samsung Galaxy S7 work?
Starting from Galaxy S7, Samsung added a new cool feature called Wi-Fi sharing, by which you can connect to an Access Point and turn on your hotspot at the same time. That means, you can now turn on your Wi-Fi and hotspot at the same time, something that was not possible in any other phones till date. So, how do they do it? Is it something possible to do in code, or you have to have a special hardware?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! I happened to ask a similar question which wasn't well received (months ago), but what I did eventually was to dig up, researching and fortunately found a solution. I was trying to mimic this feature on a non-samsung device, in case you wish to see my findings see here:  What is the functionality concept behind Wi-Fi sharing (aka Wi-Fi Profile share)

Software, not hardware
Thanks to the brilliant research of xavier_fakerat
If you look here, What is the functionality concept behind Wi-Fi sharing (aka Wi-Fi Profile share)?
You will see that software can accomplish this. So it's not just a special hardware thing.
You can use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kha.prog.mikrotik&hl=en To get similar results that the S7 produces


text:
Where do Android apps store data that survives uninstall?
TL;DR On non-rooted devices, where do Android apps store data that survives uninstall?
Backstory: I installed an Android app a couple months ago and configured it to my liking.  After a couple weeks, I no longer needed it, so I uninstalled it.  After the uninstall, I didn't see any files left behind in Internal Storage, and the device had no microSD card installed, so no files were stored there either.
To my surprise, when I reinstalled the app, it remembered all of it's configurations.  I use a firewall, so it didn't download the configurations from the cloud.
Thus, the question: On non-rooted devices, where do Android apps store data that survives an uninstall?

It's either on Google backup or on /data partition

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје Definitely not Google backup... have that disabled!

Well then is something left after uninstall on /data

Apps are supposed to store their data and related files either in /sdcard/Android/data/com.app.id or /data/data/com.app.id; however, many apps (especially ones from China) don't abide by this guideline and create folders in storage individually, that store various information.
For example, apps using Aliyun SDK will generate .DataStorage, .SystemConfig and .UTSystemConfig directories under the root of the internal storage, primarily for storing device ID info. Such info can be used to identify users even if they haven't registered an account of respective apps.
As for what you described - fully-locally-stored data (no access to cloud) - it also is possible. I have one such example on my phone which is a 3rd-party app to a forum (I prefer not to disclose what exact app it is), with several features like signatures, custom ID flairs to enhance the original app. It stores all settings related to those enhancements under .db files in a folder under the root of internal storage. When the user changes device, he can just copy the folder over to the new device, and upon opening these customizations will be read and appear intact. Below shows one of the pages of its main .db file, storing key setting values (sensitive info redacted):

This is the only way known to me for an app to have its data survive an uninstallation. +1.

Some applications may leave the application residues in /data partition specifically, /data/data/com.packagename where package name represents the particular application package.
In these directories that's where you usually find app's databases, configs as well as preferences files, which are normally preserved during reinstalling or updating etc (which is the reason I suspect they might be preserved even during uninstalls)
In any case, you can actually scan these residual or "corpse" files with 3rd party applications such as sd maid to have a clear breakdown.
I tested on Android 4.3 perhaps things have changed since then, but at in basing my answer on that

Xavier_fakerat, Does that mean non-rooted devices can not delete the residual files? How does a 3rd party app have access to files the user doesn't?

From Lollipop onwards, I've never seen examples of /data/data/com.packagename app data surviving the parent app being uninstalled, unlike what happens on Microsoft Windows. Could you provide some examples of this behavior happening in the wild?

@Death what I meant is that the  /data directory is not visible is your device is not rooted and additionally, one needs root explorer to view this directory. FYI I tested on Android 4.3 which I'm using, so this explains why. There are chances that residual files may remain after uninstallation its just a possibility which you can't count out

@LateralTerminal basing my explanation on Android version Im  using, in the first place you need root, to view the /data directory, well you can use shell commands to delete the files

So, can apps like SD Maid clean the residual files without root?

AFAIK This  app requires root access. Without root access, functionality within the app will be extremely limited.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
What is "FQC" test app in Nokia 6?
There are some dialer codes in Nokia 6, e.g: *#*#4636#*#*,*#*#2486#*#*, *#*#372733#*#*. The last one starts an application named "FQC". In this app, there is a menu containing "Receiver test", "LED test", etc.
I think this is for factory testing, but after starting this test mode, did my device change to a test device? If yes, how can I stop and exit this test mode? Do I need to factory reset?

As far as I've searched, it's used for testing your device from a computer. Here's an example usage of the application: Bypass Nokia Google Account

Just quit the app and it's ok.
If you change some settings (e.g in *#*#4636#*#*, setting priority to "Only GSM" or "WCDMA"), this will be set on your device. But if you only run it without changing the settings, quitting is enough.
To get your phone on "running test mode" you have to do it on "fbootloader" screen and set it to "factory mode", but restarting the device will get out of that.


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Automatic do not disturb on second calendar
I've got multiple calendars on my google account, like one for family stuff, one that I use for shared events with my girlfriend, one for uni etc. I tried to set up my devices running android 7.1 and 8.0 to use automatic do-not-disturb rules so that it only activates silent mode while I am at university, but when I try to select the calendar I can only choose between "'s calendar" and "any calendar" (note that I use german android, so the options might not be called exactly this in english). Is there any way to select only my uni "sub-calendar", preferably without using apps like tasker?
Thanks in advance!


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Unable to install new virtual keyboard language
After I recently reset my Samsung Galaxy S7 to factory defaults, several perplexing issues have occurred. Most notably, when I try to add an additional language to my Samsung virtual keyboard, the progress bar remains at 0%. This only occurs for certain languages such as Chinese and Safe Mode does not resolve this. How do I resolve this issue?
My path is:
Settings->General Management->Language and Input->Virtual Keyboard->Samsung keyboard->Languages and types->Add input languages.
Device: Samsung Galaxy S7 (Latest update), Developer Options enabled (However no changes were made) , 60 GB SD card and No Services Installed in Accessibility.
Side note: After the factory reset, when the device started up, there was a screen which asked for a password, followed by a padlock icon in a spinning circle. This did not occur before the reset. Does this have anything to do with the issue I am experiencing? ( After doing research, this padlock screen indicates that my phone has encryption protection, however I did not enable this option in settings and I am unable to find it in settings.)
Attempted solutions: Clearing app data.

If the answer to this will be too long, is there a more appropriate website to ask this question?

See if clearing keyboard data helps. Settings>application manager>in the three dots menu, select 'show system apps'>scroll to Samsung keyboard>storage>clear data

I just tried it. Issue remains.


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How to find out learned words in Gboard?
Where can i find the words learned by google keyboard? I can't find nothing on the internet about where it is saved or how to find saved words that GBoard learned automatically.

If you're looking for the words that you have manually added, those you can find in Google keyboard app>dictionary>personal dictionary. If you're looking for words added automatically after using them many times, then i have the same question as you

Unfortunately it isn't possible. If you're talking about personal dictionary rather, it is in GBoard settings> Personal dictionary


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Is it possible to remove OAT files for unwanted system apps? [rooted locked device]
I have not enough free space on my Moto X, so I want to free up some space in data partition used by system apps bloatware. For example, disabled Slides with uninstalled updates still consumes 31 MB of space (App=Total storage usage, not data). 27 MB of it is OAT file in /data/dalvik-cache folder. I'm trying to delete that file in way that does not trigger its recreation by ART on next boot. But even replacing OAT file with blank file triggers recompilation. And using pm uninstall --user 0 command also didn't help.
And I have no idea, what is remaining 4 MB.
I have rooted, but locked Android 5.1 device (and unable to unlock – AT&T Moto X). Xposed FW installed.
Does exist way to delete permanently these OAT files of unused system apps?
Best thing occurred to me is that I can delete these files by script after every start, but it would mean huge penalization of boot time every boot.
Thanks for response.


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Xiaomi Mi Unlock "Not connected to the phone"
I am going insane here and I need help now.
I am trying to unlock my Xiaomi Mi Note 4's bootloader since almost 2 weeks, but I am stuck in this problem where the Mi Unlock tool can't recognize that my phone is connected.
Yes, I already have applied for and received permission from Xiaomi to unlock my device. Yes, I have waited for more than 4 days already.
The problem here is that the Mi Unlock tool simply can't see my device in bootloader mode. And it is connected, as I can see it in the Device Manager:

Mi Unlock simply can't see it:

If I click on the gear icon on the top, it says that the drivers aren't installed:

But if I click to check, it says they are installed:

Fastboot also sees the device:

What's going on here? I really need help.
I am on Windows 10 Professional 64-bits, all latest updates installed.
All help appreciated.

Are you on an USB 3.0 port? Sometimes phone fails being detected on Windows 10 x64 (Can't link to the article ATM). Or You should try on Windows 7, works without a problem.

@esQmo_ I just tried all of my USB ports, but honestly, I think all of them are USB 3. I'll try a Windows 7 32-bits VM, thanks for the tips.

I had the same problem, figured it out eventually.
Just extract the Mi unlock tool files into a new folder directly in the C Drive.
Hope this helps.

Yes, this does actually work. Also try a USB 2.0 port.

Try using 15 seconds ADB Installer but remember to turn of your windows defender or any other antivirus and you are all set for detecting and unlocking your device.

I manually selected the WinUsb -> ADB Device as the driver, when in Fastboot mode, and now it suddenly works.