text:
Why do I keep getting "not enough storage space"
I have an LG Stylo with a 32gb SD card, which is supported on my phone, and I have 29gb free. I try to move an app of any size and I am told there is not enough space. One or two apps move, but the majority won't. What is the point of walking someone through the steps and not allow it?
My system has been updated to 6.0 Marshmallow, but I was having the same issue before.
The Stylo has been great but I am starting to run low on space, which could be fixed using the SD card.

How disk space is used on Android device?

Your phone has 8GB internal memory this is low if you have many apps installed, including updated apps.

If you turn on automatic update in google play, turn it off.
If it was already updated some Microsoft apps, uninstall them. This will return some space.
Facebook app is the big app. You can use Facebook lite or browsers instead.
Clear cache. Setting -> Storage/Usage -> click on cache and clear cache.
If you have Line or other chat apps, delete chat history one by one.

Hope this help.


text:
Android 6 Update Changed SD Card Name
I have a Motorola Moto G3 Smartphone and I installed the Android 6 update yesterday. After installing the update, I found out that all my playlists, App preferences and basically everything that relied on the external Sandisk 16 GB micro SD card is Messed up or damaged. I found out the cause of this is that the base name for the SD card has been changed from 'sdcard1' to '3835-3237'. I am unable to change the SD card name in Mobile (using ES file explorer) or externally via PC (no matter what I change it to, it still shows those numbers on my mobile). I have a heavily customized my phone and I would prefer not to root it just to change the SD card name. Could anyone please tell me a method to change the SD Card name without having to root the phone? Or any way I can do it externally?

Android 6.0 now uses the volume serial number of the formatted partition as a unique identifier to distinguish which SD card you might be using.
I guess this could be useful in case you have a device that could theoretically support multiple SD cards.

Is this based on opinion? If not, can you provide us  means to independently verify your claim in first paragraph?

Here's a screenshot on my device, showing how my SD card is called in /storage (77EB-1515 in my case)
(Solid Explorer)
If I run the command blkid (root needed) to see all the attributes of all block devices, you can see the SD card has that UUID
(Console)
You could do the same in Windows or any other operating systems using OS-specific commands.

And it could also be extremely counter-productive: imagine your heavily-customized phone references /storage/1234-5678 in lots and lots of apps,  and then you buy a faster SD card. Now what? Reconfigure everything?

You could change the volume UUID to match the previous card if you don't want to relink everything to the new volume.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Backup/flash system and data without unlocking bootloader?
I was wondering if I can make a full backup of my system partition via fastboot or adb and re-apply the backup to a different phone of the exact same model? Or is this only possible if the bootloader is unlocked? Right now it sounds to me that the locked bootloader only prohibits flashing a new bootloader or recovery.
The firmware being backed up would always be an official firmware.
My case right now is about a Sony phone but it would be good to know if this is something that's generally possible or not.

The current set of commands in a typical fastboot binary supports only  partition flashing, which means, an image can be sent from PC to  Android but data of the partition can't be pulled from Android into PC. You'd have to use [tag:adb] for that, either from a custom recovery or when Android OS is running.

So it is possible to do a full system partition backup via adb without root?

I've not heard of any other method of creating disk images in a running Android other than of using dd utility with input as block device file. In order to create an image dd must have appropriate permission to access the block device directly. The simplest way is to read from the block device file /dev/block/mmcblk***. The permission on that file is restricted to root user and root group only, so non-root users definitely can't make an image.

You cannot do full partition backup via adb, but take a look at adb backup functionality which does not need root or unlocked bootloaders.

@Firelord put both your comments together, and you've got a fine answer :)

As Firelord asked me to sum things up, here we go:
First, you cannot do a backup using fastboot. Fastboot is like a one-way road: you can only use it to write partitions (either by flashing a corresponding image, or by wiping it) – but you cannot "pull" a partition.
Which leaves ADB. Yes, it's possible via ADB – but it will require root. As Firelord pointed out, to create a disk image one has to access the corresponding block device, which can only be done with root permissions, as root is who owns them. On rooted devices, one then can use the dd tool. My tool Adebar can prove helpful in identifying the partitions you might need, even creating a script for you to back them up (and to restore).
Whether that's possible with the bootloader locked might depend on the device. For some devices, directly replacing the recovery partition is even the recommended way to get a custom recovery running on it, while on others even that doesn't work. Certainly, the backup part would be possible in any case – but what you'll get is not a "pure stock ROM", but a "rooted stock ROM" – for the reasons pointed out. Only way around this would be doing so while booted into recovery-mode using a custom recovery (as stock recoveries usually don't ship equipped with ADB or other means to access the shell).

1: short for "data duplicator", "disk duplicator" – or "disk destroyer" (as you easily can end up that way if not being very careful)

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


text:
How do I disable Firefox Android's popup browser tips?
I'm using Firefox for Android. It keeps showing me popup browser tips at the bottom of the main screens, like bookmarks, top sites, history, etc. I'll close them, but then next time another new one appears. How do I disable these entirely?

Could you please add a screenshot of the aforementioned 'popup browser tips'?

1) Type about:config in the address bar and press enter
2) Find the browser.snippets.enabled setting and tap to switch the value from true to false.


text:
Why apps move from SD card to phone memory after upgrade and how to avoid it?
After upgrade of any app - apps move back from SD Card to phone memory.
After that, to save phone memory, I have to move upgraded app back to SD card.
Is any possibility to avoid this because it is very annoying?
I have Android 5.0.2 on Motorola E second gen phone.

Can you list the name of some apps which were moved back to phone memory after update?

Apparently this happens on Lollipop, and the only workaround for it is to set install location of the apps to SD card with adb. Run this command adb shell pm set-install-location 2 and see if it solves the issue.

I'm seeing this on Android 7.0, Samsung Tab A. For example FeedMe, an RSS reader, with a cache of 1+ GB.

It is an existing behavior found in Lollipop. (May be an marketing strategy to make you buy expensive internal storage phones)
According to Lollipop the phone internal storage is referred as  SDCard  and removable SDCard as EXTERNALSD.
The apps is designed to be reside in SDCard (to support phone without external storage ) and hence the apps are installed back to internal storage.
This is fixed in Marshmallow were the EXTERNALSD can be configured to be an InternalStorage(SDCard).
So you can wait for an Marshmallow update for the device.

The question appears to be about upgrade, not the first time installation of an app. Can you prove that Android Lollipop is not smart enough to respect the current settings of user (that the app resides in external SD card) and decides to put the new APK (from update) into /data/?

@Firelord even in case of  updates  the apk will be downloaded again and installed. I dont have personal experience but I can quotes several examples from XDA as this is most asked question for device having external storage and running lollipop

From Anroid Central -Apps on SD card moving back to device after update

Actually, it did not happen in KitKat. It is a new (and very
  irritating) phenomenon with Lollipop. Basically Google just keep
  forgetting about SD cards (probably wish they didn't exist); which is
  kindof annoying given that their subsidiary, Motorola, is still
  selling phones that have too little main memory (8Gb) to run
  effectively without having most of your apps on the SD card.

so, the only (not recommended) solution is downgrade the device from Android 5.0 to Android 4.4..

The quote reads like an opinion written as a technical fact. Can you support it with personal experience with both Lollipop and KitKat (explain the process you followed) or with credible and technical sources that we can use to verify your claim.

rfoster12 on androidcentral claims that it didn't happen with Galaxy S2, S3, S4 (and also S5 with KitKat) but happens only on S5 with Lollipop


text:
Make android phone as driver-free USB Webcam
I have a video call device which only works with driver-free usb webcams attached. Since I dont have a USB webcam at hand, so I wonder if I can make Android phone (rooted) emulated as a driver-free webcam via USB.
I knew some apk could work e.g. DroidCam, but they requires extra clients installed on Windows. I do not want IP webcam or wifi connection or http or VLC to view them, but plain old USB webcam.
Please note I am not asking for apps that can read videos from OTG usb webcams. It's the reverse, making Android output videos to USB.


text:
What is the difference between active notifications and push notifications?
I know what push notifications are. But recently, I saw the term active notifications and push notifications used interchangeably. I am confused if they mean the same thing or different things. Does active notifications means real time notifications?

Where did you see it?  Link at least one source.

Googling for "android active notification" returned this article as exact keyword, which seems to be lockscreen notification. Other results are related to Moto X's active display notification/dynamic notification... so, please clarify if this is what you meant.

Yup. saw that article. I want to know if it is more than that. Does active notification mean real time notification?


text:
how to reduce vibration density in my htc one m8?
whenever i have a message or incoming call my mobile upper speaker is making much vibration disturbance. I need to vibrate my phone but only to be normal?.It is making loud vibrations

Which Android version? If it is Android Lollipop, your question  may be considered a duplicate of  Changing vibration intensity for system on Lollipop?

android kitkat 4.4.2

If you are rooted you can install kernel adiutor (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grarak.kerneladiutor). This has a direct setting in the miscellaneous tab for decreasing vibration intensity.
Without root, I'm afraid it is next to impossible. You can flash the regular supersu.zip, it should work fine. More details on rooting can be found at xda's website.


text:
Can i open an Lg backup file on my desktop?
i had an LG G4 phone that i backed up all my photos and contacts to, and I have the file saved on my desktop. I now have a samsung galaxy note 4 and i want to open the files, and have been unable to. How can i extract the files without having an LG phone?

How did you make a backup of the photos/contacts?  Was it a certain program?

it was with lg backup. Ive tried downloading the desktop version, but without an lg phone, it wont open for me

I am no LG user, so excuse my lack of knowledge. Does your backup have a .IMG extension, a .ab extension, or none of the above? IMG is a nandroid backup, and ab can be restored with adb

.lbf file extension


text:
Apps crash when tryin to go online, /data/data/hotplug/cmd is missing
All of the sudden, some of my apps (not all of them) have started crashing and crashing the entire OS when trying to go online. The logcat shows:
E (675) could not open '/data/data/hotplug/cmd' file is missing
This happens with facebook messenger, Gett, facebook itself ( who doesnt crash but cant go online), and more. Browser, whatsapp and others arent affected.
Another issue started at approximatly the same time, where my wifi switch widget refuses to go offline. Turning wifi off through the settings shows to be ok, but the outside widgets stays on, and suddenly finds new networks and the wifi goes live again by itself.
Any ideas or other information I can provide?
Cheers
BTW a rooted thl 4000, but there was a long time since I rooted.

If this second issue is unrelated, you should probably ask a new question. If you think it's related then please specify this in the question.

As I stated, i don't really know if it's related but it started at the same time, so it probably is :)

In respect to your first question try changing your CPU governor with No-frills CPU Control app.
Change it to performance for higher performance. Just be careful as you could cause harm to your phone if you play around too much.

Thanks, but that didnt seem to fix the problem. It appears more and more like a link2sd internet-related problem.


text:
prevent google play from showing books only
I want to prevent google play from showing any books because there are some inappropriate books and google play's parental control didn't work perfectly(as they said not 100%).
I don't want to disable all google play, I still need to install apps .
I've seen this question and looked under Settings -> Apps -> All, I see google play store and google play services but I don't see "google play books" or anything like that(I see "content share" but I don't know if this is what I want).
I have device sony xperia P android 4.0.4 but I need instructions for a Samsung device as well(my aunt's one, don't recall device version).
I prefer not to "root" the devices(but I'm ready to do this if it's the only option).

AFAIK, there's no option to remove some section from Google Play Store; it's controlled by Google, not your device. Hopefully someone else can prove me wrong.

If the Google Play Books app is installed then you can disable that using the method you linked to in your question. However, the store-front of Google Play Books is part of the Google Play Store and cannot be disabled. Maybe it could be hidden with some root modification but I doubt whether such a modification to do this exists. I suspect much of this is managed on the server-side (as Andrew T.) mentioned and so hiding it would be the only possibility.
You can make sure that no books can be downloaded without the password for the Google account by opening up the Google Play Settings and setting Require password for purchases to For all purchases through Google Play on this device. Note that this also affects apps, music, etc.
Sorry this isn't possible! I suppose you could always send a feedback request to Google...


text:
Remove the Reminder feature from calendar
Awhile back my phone asked me if I wanted to turn on the Reminder feature on my Google Calendar app. I answered Yes. Now I'd like to go back and choose No. How can I get rid of the Reminder feature from my Android Calendar app?
What I don't like about it is that

It adds an extra click when creating an appointment
Unlike an appointment, it doesn't appear at calendar.google.com


text:
Lockscreen is missing, can I reinstall the lockscreen somehow?
On boot my mobile phone goes to the lockscreen background but doesn't show the unlock symbol.
I've tried dragging the button blind but it's not just that it's not visible, it's not there. Neither does the "emergency dial" button show. The rest of the UI shows; the time, alert bar with wifi symbols and such. I've also tried using the Google Android device manager (ADM) code reset, the numbers don't show to allow input of the code; Safe Mode doesn't show the numbers either.
The phone is an Acer Liquid E3 (E380) running Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat?) and somehow I've managed to remove the lockscreen - I think perhaps it was with [correction:] System App Remover when trying to remove wallpapers after rooting with Kingo Root; but I had just changed to allow voice unlock so it may have been that.
How can I unlock if the buttons don't show? I know the passcode and the voice unlock commands.
The phone is online, Wifi is activated. When entering Safe Mode it showed it was downloading something, for example.
Developer mode is active but I think that USB debug is off (adb devices shows the device but says "offline" next to it).
I can access the recovery menu (power + volume-up at boot) - is it possible to "adb sideload" something that will help (like a replacement lockscreen?). Like I said it's not the code I have problems with, just the UI not showing.
I've seen use of adb shell input text 1234 to enter codes, but presumably this needs USB debug to be enabled; can I force send text that way? If I plug in a USB keyboard is there a button press that operates the "unlock" onscreen button?
Occasionally when I bring up the power off menu the number keys will show underneath (suggesting the software to show them is installed still) but touching the screen dismisses them with the menu leaving me on the broken lockscreen.
Any suggestions other than a factory reset? Thanks.
Edit: sometimes the voice unlock screen is shown behind the "power off" dialog, again it is dismissed as soon as one closes the dialog.
Edit2: I did a full data wipe [ie factory reset], ensured PIN access was set, used a different theme, etc., am now in same position but have managed to enable USB debug. However, using adb shell to provide input doesn't unlock, it will turn screen on but entry of unlock code appears to fail.
Edit3: tried again with ADM, it puts up a black lockscreen with a padlock symbol that looks like a drag-button but I can't interact with it. Also since wiping I put a widget (messaging) on the lockscreen which I can interact with.

Do you notice a change in screen resolution?

No, screen seems normal.

Do you have a custom recovery installed?

@AaronGillion - no, it's stock recovery, I tried to load one (CWM) through fastboot but it wouldn't let me write the recovery partition.

Now that you have USB debugging enabled, you can try resetting some of the database flags associated with the lockscreen...
You will have to adb push sqlite3 to your device, the only independent binary that worked for my devices I pulled from here: XDA - sqlite3 binary June 2015
adb shell
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
sqlite3 settings.db
update system set value=0 where name='lock_pattern_autolock';
update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockedoutpermanently';
.quit

If you happened to accidentally delete Keyguard.apk and the above does not work, you will have to get another Acer Liquid E3 off ebay or the like (about $80, all we need is the apk, then resell) and adb pull from the source phone and adb push to the destination phone.
I would recommend just flashing stock firmware, or pulling the apk's from stock firmware, but unfortunately that does not exist.

Acer list a file on their website as being the OS for the phone, wondering if this is flashable? Also I have the .apk files that I removed backed up - how would I know what files to pull-push?

Well geez, you backed up the apks? Adb push them all back! A factory reset cannot account for those deleted apks.

So I just do adb push recovered.apk and it will put them in place, or do I need to do something more nuanced? FWIW I've reinstalled twice now and am no closer to getting a lock screen that works.

Actually, there is a little more to it, if those apk's were under /system. Here are the system app commands answered here on Android Enthusiasts. If those commands fail then just adb install them as user apps (easier)

So I downloaded the OS zip given on the Acer website and trawled the /system/app and /system/priv-app files looking for image files that matched the lockscreen. They turned up in /system/priv-app/AcerLiquid.apk.
From there I did adb install ./AcerLiquid.apk (initially I tried with adb shell pm install ... but that failed with a permission error). On rebooting the phone I was then able to see AcerLiquid listed in the system apps; then enabling the lockscreen worked and the phone is returned to full working order.


text:
How to Root Sprint Galaxy S6 5.1.1
How to Root Sprint Galaxy S6 5.1.1 with build G920PVPU3BOL1?

Flash the following kernel to get root
Uni Kernel
Updating the answer based on comments.
Download latest version of Odin (Google for download link)
Turn on USB debugging mode on your phone (Google again)
Install Samsung USB drivers (Locate your phone on Samsung support site to download)
Restart the phone in download mode. Connect your phone to the computer and turn on Odin
Once Odin recognizes your phone, select the kernel by choosing AP.
Flash the kernel.

Mind to include how to do that? Some instructions would be nice especially for those doing this the first time.


text:
Nexus 5 hangs after few minutes with screen off
So, recently, I've got myself a few broken Nexus 5 phones to try to repair them. One of these, however, eludes my attempts to diagnose/fix the problem.
A few minutes after i press the off button to turn the screen off, the phone ceases to react. Experimentally, I found out it was about two minutes. Before that limit, pressing the button again wakes the phone ok, everything works.  After that time, the phone doesn't work anymore, and requires long button press to force restart.
It doesn't happen if the phone is connected via usb to charger/pc, no freeze whatsoever, only hangs on battery.
I've limited the scope of the problem to the mainboard - after transplanting it to different phone, same thing happens.
OS version doesn't matter, tested on KK, Lollipop, and Marshmallow, original ROM's - all the same.
Once when I connected frozen phone to PC, I entered a "DBI Apps Watchdog Reset! DemiGod Crash Handler" screen. (Not reliably reproducible behavior)

Anybody has any idea what's going on and how to fix it? I have some experience with SMD soldering, so if it's something purely hardware related, I can attempt a fix myself. I also have a donor mainboard.

It doesn't happen if the phone is connected via usb to charger/pc, no freeze whatsoever, only hangs on battery.Have you tried replacing with a good battery?

Yes. I've replaced everything (as I mentioned, i moved the board to a different, 100% working phone, same thing happens)

I've experienced something similar, when I put my phone for charge and when I unplug after few minutes, it hangs for some time, the lock screen doesn't respond at all, and the battery icon shows still charging. If the alarm is on, it's unable to switch off the alarm, remember this is for about a minute or 2 then everything goes back to normal

have you ever resolved this problem? Do you know any method to fix it or do you know what is causing this? If so, please edit your answer and include this. Otherwise this answer might not be a big help I fear.


text:
Is it possible to have two Android phones with a single phone number?
Specifically, I am currently using a Samsung S6, but would like a second S6 that would share the texting across both devices.  If one phone texted someone it would appear on the other phone as if that phone had sent/received the text and vice/versa.
I'm assuming that this would mean that the two devices would need to share the same phone number, but I'm open to other options of sharing the same texting on two devices, and I'm open to other devices besides the S6 as well.

Google Voice would make this possible, if that's an option.

There are other ways to sync texts too, but one device would be the primary and the other would be sending/receiving through it.  You can't have both phones on the network with the same number unless you duplicated the SIM card, which would just ensure neither phone worked properly.

For "sharing the same phone number", some providers offer a special SIM. But that wouldn't mean a message sent from one device appearing on the other one as sent as well (though it might work for incoming messages). Intention behind that "secondary SIM" mainly is two devices reacting on incoming calls. You'd rather need some "message syncing tool" like Forward SMS texting w/ 2 phones or mySMS Sync.

Tried Pushbullet?


text:
Android 6.0 Do-not-Disturb: how to go to vibrate only in certain hours?
I'm trying to familarize myself with my newest Nexus 6p, which runs Android 6.0.1 now.
Do I understand correctly, that currently Do-not-Disturb cannot manipulate calls and notifications volume so that I could set it to go to "Vibrate only" during hours I am in the office?
If not, what is the appropriate method to achieve this? External app only?
ADDED 13.05.2016
I solved the problem via Tasker.

If you want your app to do it automatically try Tasker

Can you explain the question in bit different words? I may be able to help out.

Firelord - my understanding is OP is asking whether "do not disturb" can be configured to permit vibration or whether it will always disable it.

If you could find the time to write up what you did with Tasker to achieve your goal, it would be really helpful to other visitors with the same problem. Helping each other is what we're all here for.

You are right. Do-not-Disturb cannot manipulate calls and notifications volume.
I think the only way to go to "vibrate only" is to hold volume down key all the way down. But you also need to turn the volume up manually.


text:
Open firefox and start typing to the address bar immediately
Is it possible to set up firefox such that whenever it opens, it is "focused" to the address bar? So that whenever I open firefox, the keyboard opens as well and I can immediately start writing to the address bar?

Android version and Android device? Is it rooted?

If you use Google search you can start typing and web address and it should open in your default browser (Firefox if you have it set like default)
You can also add the Firefox search widget to your home screen as well if you want to get Firefox search suggestions.


text:
insufficient space although of available space!
My tablet shows "insufficient space" error message whenever I install new apps (Clean Master) although it has enough storage!

Default write disk: phone storage
Internal storage 3.87GB: available 385MB
Phone storage 27.73GB: available 18.80GB
Android 5.1

Note: I tried to fix this issue by using SD Card and set "Default write disk" to it but it didn't fix the problem.

Have you already checked with our insufficient-memory tag-wiki? This sounds a bit like the (admittedly a bit older) False “low on space” (internal storage) warning on HTC Incredible.

@Izzy The wiki page doesn't contain on similar problem because my tablet has a free space while I get error message of insufficient space

I got that. Have you seen the second link to FALSE low on space warning? That link was taken from exactly that wiki page :) Have you checked with that post?

Please see this new article 2017/02/10 10 most useless apps and games for Android. Most prominent, but specifically named in the list: Clean Master (along with quote-Booster apps, Anti-Virus apps, and Task Killers-unquote)


text:
Disable notifications of some emails
I daily receive many emails. I need a better control of emails. I want to disable notifications of some emails. A notification means for me that my phone vibrates and my smart watch vibrates. To filter those messages out of my inbox is not a possibility because I want to review them later. I think smartly disabling notifications of some emails would be great. Sometimes, I receive 30 emails in a row from one sender, for instance, what I do not want i.e. 30 vibrations in your phone and/or smart watch. I would like to have a feature that:

disables notification for 3 hours if more than 2 emails received in one hour from one sender; and
disable notifications for 3 hours if two emails received in 5 seconds from one sender.

How can you disable notifications of some emails in Android 6.0?

Tried Tasker and related apps? IFTTT maybe worth a try. I'm not sure, though.

You could review which labels you want notifications for.

@rds What do you mean by labels? I would like to have the feature in all incoming emails behaving as described.

I find the plugin Do Not Disturb and its Now mode more robust than eNotify because it is will disable all notifications of all applications by one button. However, it cannot do it for some applications only. I think eNotify could work for that but do not like its cost, its appearance, ... Its userbase is too small to get my trust.

@beeshyams I did a small edit. Please, feel free to contribute too. It is community wiki.

Sure will do when I can add. Thanks for wiki. As requested, please link the apps too


text:
Why do I get "IMS Service Has Stopped" Message after update
I've got an Galaxy S5 neo with Android version 5.1.1. and a recent Android software update has brought with it an annoying popup message that reappears 3 seconds after being dismissed.
It reads:

Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped

I've hunted around for suggestions which range from device cache clearance, to uninstalling Facebook Messanger/WahtsApp to taking the battery out, but none of these has helped.
Short of a factory reset which I'm very reluctant to do, is there anything else I can try?

Settings → Applications → Default Applications and I set the Messages from Messages to Client, this stopped the pop ups.
Further to this having set Messages to Client I then found out the offending app was myMail, which I uninstalled and was able to set Messages back from Client to Messages
Hope it helps.
The Client is the default message service of Android I believe and the Messages is Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo's own software, I could be wrong, I'm not an expert, I just know how I fixed mine. So following the above, this Client app should be available. Beyond that I'm sorry, I cannot help.

Further to this having set Messages to Client I then found out the offending app was myMail, which I uninstalled and was able to set Messages back from Client to Messages.

I don't get a Client option, just 'Messages' and 'Hangouts' . 'Messages' is the selected option

Try choosing any one of the other options that you CAN see. The pop ups should stop. Then change back to Messages. The pop ups should not return.

Sorry. The pops up returned after continued use of Messages app. Looks like we will have to choose another default app permanently.

I have a S5 Neo. Try this, it works — I just did it 5 minutes ago.

Click into messages
Click more
Choose settings
Choose chat settings
Then rich communications
Uncheck rich communications

You just won't be able to send large files.

I had the same problem, it was driving me mad. So I did as Geoff's answer suggests, but there was no Client option so I changed it to a Call+ & Message+ and it seems to have worked.


text:
Nexus 5x connected external HDMI/DP - how?
I want to connect my LG Nexus 5x to an external HDMI or Display Port (in mirror or extended desktop mode).
Is it possible? Which connectors/cables required?

It won't work with slimport!  The Nexus 5x has a USB type c port.  Also google has stated that the 5X will not work with USB type c to HDMI adapters. The only way currently to get the video signal from the 5X or 6P is to use screen mirroring with a supported device (chromecast or Nexus player).

I'm not sure but I think you can try connecting it using slimport adapter
but as I mentioned before I'm not sure

Chromecast is working fine. The only bad thing regarding chromecasting it strongly drains battery and loads GPU/CPU for screen encoding to stream.


text:
Fastboot not working?
I have a Huawei Honor 6. I have an unlocked bootloader, and I am trying to install marshmallow. I have flashed TWRP before (and I can boot to it and use it), so fastboot has once worked. Now when I try to do anything. Even to lock the bootloader, it is not possible. If I try to do anything it gives me Command not allowed error. Here while flashing:
D:\android sdk tools (adb and fastboot)\platform-tools>fastboot flash BOOT "D:\android sdk tools (adb and fastboot)\platform-tools\img\BOOT.img"
target reported max download size of 471859200 bytes
sending 'BOOT' (10272 KB)...
OKAY [  1.084s]
writing 'BOOT'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 1.089s

I have searched around, but no answers. The phone shows up in fastboot devices. The only command that works correctly is fastboot reboot. fastboot unlock works, but it's already unlocked.

Have you updated your Android SDK Tools?

These XDA threads may help Honor6 HONOR MultiTool](http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2963060) and (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2433454). I own same device and get my answers from XDA or India specific fb group, needs signing up. Also see Pantomath

Android SDK is up to date.

Also, there are no solutions to the problem on XDA

I'm going to try and run the unlock command again and see if it fixes it. Wish me luck.

It says it's already unlocked, and like I said, I cannot relock it, as it gives me Command not allowed error. Help please!


text:
816G (indian dual sim) no rom installed, only cwm-recovery
I searched for a solution to this problem since yesterday, but without any success so far.
My situation is the following:
I bought a HTC 816G (MT6592) with no rom installed. Only thing accessible is CWM recovery.
When I want to charge the phone, it shows a battery icon idicating that it's being charged and then reboots and shows it again. It does this over and over again with seemingly no progress in the charging process.
When I unplug it and try boot it normally, it shows a "Mi.com" icon, but then reboots again and again.
The only thing I can do is booting to recovery. Even though it does not seem to be charing, I can still operate the recovery mode without it being plugged in to a charger.
In the recovery it says "rua1 CWM v.5.5.0.4 for HTC Desire 816G d" at the top of the screen and "CWM automade 03.01.2016 01:12:51" at the bottom of the screen.
From there I tried installing roms which either failed to install or did not boot up properly after successful installation.
In the recovery menu under "advanced" and then "show log" it says:

ro.hardware=mt6592
ro.revision=0
ro.emmc=0
sys.usb.vid=0BB4
init.svc.recovery=running
sys.usb.config=mass_storage.adb
service.adb.root=1
init.svc.adbd=restarting
sys.usb.state=mass_storage.adb

I appreciate any advice, I just want to have this phone operational.
Many thanks in advance

I found the solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/desire-816/help/816g-indian-dual-sim-rom-installed-cwm-t3302234
Basically, the backcover needs to be removed and the battery needs to disconnected in order to prevent a bootloop when connected to the pc via usb cable.
Flash this rom (http://www.needrom.com/download/htc-desire-816g-dual-sim/) using the SP Flash Tool for mt6592 (for example this tutorial: http://bm-smartphone-reviews.blogspot.de/2014/05/mt6592-flashing-tutorial.html)
Good luck


text:
Cyanogen dialer not working after flashing C-apps bundle
Recently I installed CyanogenMod on my phone. I also decided to flash Cyanogen's new C-apps bundle.
After I did that, the new Cyanogen dialer keeps crashing whenever I try to make or receive calls. Does anybody know what's going on?

If I were you, I'd be contacting the development team first, if possible. Have you tried that, friend?

@NVZ I'll try right now

Is this a Cyanogenmod 13 build? Capps only work in 12.1

@xangua Oh, well, there my problem. Yeah, this is cm13. Do you know how to revert it?

Basically flash the ROM again. The capps installer deletes and replace the dialer and other apps.

@xangua Can I just uninstall the dialer and other corrupt apps, than reflash gapps?

The wiki mentions that in order to use capps you need Cyanogenmod 12.1, what doesn't mention is that is not compatible with Cyanogenmod 13.
The wiki also comes with uninstall instructions. (You don't need to wipe and flash add I thought first).
Uninstall
Note: Requires Root
You will need to enter the following commands to remove C-Apps.
Connect your device to your computer and open a terminal or command prompt.

adb root
adb remount
adb shell rm /system/addon.d/01-cyngn.sh
Reflash CyanogenMod zip for your device

https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Cyanogen_Apps


text:
Cyanogen's new c-apps dialer not working
I recently installed a CyanogenMod bases rom called AICP one my phone and everything was working fine. Then a couple months later I found CyanogenMod's new c-apps. I decided to flash that. Now whenever I try to make/receive calls the new cyanogen dialer app crashes. Anybody know what's causing this?

@NVZ Yeah. Sorry, I posted it twice, I will delete this one


text:
Nexus 4 end of support
I think I've read that Nexus 4 will not receive monthly security updates any more. But I couldn't find the official information, other than this general page. Can you help me with this ?

Nexus devices will also receive updates for security issues documented in our Public Nexus Security Bulletins for at least the following periods:

Three years from when the device first became available on the Google Store

Or, 18 months after the device stopped being sold on the Google Store

Source
As Nexus 4 was released on November 13th 2012 it is outside this time frame and will likely not receive many more monthly updates.


text:
Can't use chmod to alter permissions on emulated phone
So, I'm trying to make an app in android studio and I need to reference a particular file in the app, cascade.xml. I've pushed it onto the emulated phone no problem using adb (it's in the storage/sdcard folder). However, the app still can't access it and I think that's because the file permissions are -rwxrwx--- (which means no global access). These permissions are verified in ADM and using ls -l <filename>
I try to change the permissions of that cascade.xml file by going back into the shell (adb shell) using chmod 777 /storage/sdcard/cascade.xml, but it fails quietly and doesn't do anything. Tried doing other chmods, and nothing happens to it at all. If I do su and then chmod 777 /storage/sdcard/cascade.xml, same thing. Trying to do other chmods like chmod 700 and the like also do nothing (quiet fail).
Now, if I try to make a directory in the folder, I can do that using mkdir - mkdir /storage/sdcard/cascades works fine, and the file permissions of the folder are drwrwx---. However, if I try to use mkdir chmod to create the folder and end up with the same permissions - like mkdir chmod 770 /storage/sdcards/cascades2 - the shell says mkdir failed for chmod, Read-only file system. I can also make text files doing something like echo 'Hello World.' > /storage/sdcard/foo.txt (which creates it with permissions of -rwxrwx---), but if try to chmod it afterwards, nothing happens.  If I try to do `echo 'Hello World.' > storage/sdcard/foo2.txt chmod 777, it's the same permission but the file size is 24 instead of 14.
I've done every iteration of mount and remount I can think of, and I still can't get chmod to work properly. I've tried running su in front of everything, and nothing. I've tried starting with adb root, and it says I'm already in root. I can also push stuff the emulator using ADM and adb push. Unfortunately, all of my environment is on a Windows 7 device, so I can't just make a file with -rwxrwxrwx permissions and just transfer it across (unless there's a permission setting in Windows that will make it transfer over as a 777 permission that I don't know about).
Edit: Forgot to mention, the emulated phone is running API 19, target Google APIs (x86 System), running KitKat.

Figured it out - seems like you just can't change permissions for files on sdcard. Moved it to data/local and chmod worked like a charm.


text:
Access media files on NTFS formatted USB OTG drive (preferably without rooting)
I have a physically small but digitally large (128GB) USB key on my keychain. Unfortunately since I intend to use it for Easy2Boot and to support large video files, it must not be FAT32. I know that with FAT32 everything would be easy.
Now, since I have >4GB ISO files and video files on here which necessitates the use of NTFS, since Easy2Boot doesn't support exFAT, I was hoping that I could use Total Commander and the Paragon NTFS plugin for it to "stream" and watch my video files in VLC or some such. That way I can place any file I could otherwise watch on my PC or Mac onto the drive to take these files on a trip for instance.
However Total Commander does not provide an "Open With VLC" option, and VLC is not able to see the "mounted" NTFS partition because it does not have an NTFS plugin.
So I am completely stuck here. My Android-fu is lacking... I'm usually an iOS user but this USB OTG storage media leaves Android as my only choice ;)
What are my options? Will my problem be elegantly solved if I root my Nexus 7 (2013 model) and install some NTFS drivers? Are there any other solutions that I can pursue without rooting?
I would consider the approach of "downloading" the file to local disk to play the video as a non-solution because video files could exceed the total storage capacity of the device (e.g. 20GB mkv file).

You could use the workaround I mentioned in MIUI forum, to use a pendrive with a NTFS format, needing no root.
To do that you need a some custom OTG drives which are bundled in some File manager apps such as MiXplorer.

The Custom USB OTG driver works well this these additional
filesystems: FAT32 (R/W), exFat(R/W), NTFS (R).
Simply open the app,
tap on the three dot menu → More settings → Enable Custom driver for
USB OTG (tick the box to enable)
Done, now insert you OTG cable and
place the pendrive on the port.

E2B does support exFAT if you prepare it using RMPrepUSB, but some payloads such as XP, Vista, Win7RTM won't work if booting from ISO. You can make FAT32 .imgPTN files of these though.

Hmmm. Okay, good info, thanks. Could you please (if you know) comment on whether exFAT has any good support under Android? I just tried rooting my Nexus 7 with disastrous effect. But i have been able to factory restore at least.

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


text:
Cannot turn on WiFi - says "Turning on WiFi" and returns to OFF state
Since today I am not able to turn on the WiFi on my phone. When I try to turn it on it says
Turning on Wi-Fi , but nothing happens and it just returns to OFF state.
I would highly appreciate a solution for this problem.

Are there any other wireless connections affected? What device, OS, etc. are you using?

Same problem is mentioned here: Wifi won't turn on after rooting. There, OP suspects rooting caused it.

If it's a Samsung device, see this qeustion: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201327/wi-fi-and-bluetooth-doesnt-turn-on-samsung-galaxy-a5-2016-a510fd

Try turning Airplane Mode off (if it's on).


text:
Is it an hardware or software issue
I rooted my android phone using MTK,then it started displaying horizontal shaking lines,and the phone didn't fall or crack,Pls is that an hardware or software issue?

Take a screenshot of the screen. If it doesn't have the lines on it, it's a hardware issue.

This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. - From Review

Beeshyams, there is no way that they can tell whether the lines on the screen are hardware or software related without either taking a screenshot or watching the boot process.  My answer does provide a method that allows the OP's question to be solved. The OP also doesn't request a solution to fix the lines. If they want an answer to that, then they can edit their question as such.

Can you please quote reasons adequately supported by sources for your reasoning? That would differentiate between an answer and a suggestion/ opinion. Please do not misinterpret as a criticism on your attempt to answer but that is how answers are expected to be on this site. Please do look around and see other answers on site


text:
Galaxy S5 mini - Locked and I don't know the alternate password
For some reason my Galaxy S5 mini (SM-G800) is locked and asking for the alternate password instead of my fingerprint. I already restarted it, took of the battery, but it always goes to the same locked screen on boot.
I also tried the Android Device Manager on my google account. I tried the Lock option, changing the password, but since the phone was already locked, it is not working. By the way, the phone WiFi is on.
I searched a lot and found no solution besides resetting my phone and loosing everything. The are a lot of photos and stuff that I don't want to loose! So the reset is still not an option.
It seams so stupid that I own the google account registered on the phone, I own the fingerprint to login and I know everything is inside the phone, but I cant login! Any simple email account have a forget password option! Why the fingerprint login does not come back!?? Stupid programmers!!
Some sites says that after about 20 incorrect passwords tries it would give me an option to logging using my google account, but I already tried a lot of password and the only thing that happens is a wait 30 seconds countdown !
Edit 1: Just found out this site www.unlockscreen.com but I don't know it is some kind of fishing/trojan or the real deal.
Edit 2: It seems my version of Android and/or fingerprint does not have the "forgotten button". It never appears. Also, I don't want to loose the warranty.

Do you know your email? Maybe, it's possible to change your password using a computer and your phone might sync to it.

If you're afraid of your photo, you can go to http://photos.google.com

@ChristopherAngelo I know my email, but the alternate password is not linked to it, it is internal to the phone fingerprint. My photos are not synced

Try all the methods in a similar question on here: Izzy's Answer on Unlocking Android Devices via Google, ADB, and Recovery - Android Enthusiasts

Thanks @AaronGillion, I did not try everything that is listed there, but most of it does not work. I was thinking, ins't there an app that I can install through google.play site that does a full backup of my data?

I searched using a lot of keywords and surprised that I couldn't find an app. That just means I have to make one. Will be on Play Store soon!

Currently developing the app. Everything is going my direction except on Jellybean up, the RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED doesn't fire the app automatically after Play Store installation until the app is explicitly launched for the first time. Do you have access to your notification pulldown to hit the "app installed" text to launch the app?

@AaronGillion no access, but I have access to always on top (floating) app, like the remote TV app icon. But i think this doesn't help the first time launch problem..

Once you're in the remote app you can't pull notifications either?

No I can't. It is all locked.

Ok. Try opening Emergency Dialer and call 411 or 911 and see if pulldown works while call is in session.

also no, didnt work

Don't lose hope! Do you have access to the keyboard, along with the key to swap default keyboards? While on topic, try plugging in a USB keyboard with an OTG adapter and start hammering away with the keys to see if you can find a hole in the dialer/lockscreen.

I just tested the external keyboard on my S6: the media buttons launch default music app in background (could be helpful), and Ctrl+Alt+Delete immediately reboots the device from lockscreen, no warning. Legendary!

My warranty expires at day 11. So I'm running out of time, I guess I will end up flashing some kind of recovery OS. I don't have an OTG adapter. :/

I don't know if this works or not, but according to this post:

just unlock it via findmymobile.samsung.com
  you either need to already have an account there or just setup one.
  you can simply unlock it via this service.

Since it's an official Samsung service instead of a sketchy third-party one, it seems like it's worth a try. I don't think it will work though, unless if you've already set up a Samsung account on your phone and given it remote access.

There is the need to setup the account inside the phone first. I've never done that, so my phone is not listed on the findmymobile!

I know this seems kind of dumb to ask, but have you given the fingerprint sensor a thorough cleaning? Some people reported that doing this fixed their problem.

The phone is not trying to use the sensor I guess. It is clean.

Normally Android has a password forgotten button. Maybe you have to enter a few times a wrong password. Then you can use your email to log in.
Another option is to root your phone. You will lose your guaranty and normally I don't recommend this to people who don't know what this is or what they do.
I think there is a possibility to root your phone without loosing data (but I am not sure) and then it should be possible to reset the password or to make a backup from your data. If rooting is an option for you you can search for it.

It seams my version of Android and/or fingerprint does not have this "forgotten button". It never appears. I don't want to loose the warranty.

Is it possible to root a locked phone?

It depends on the phone but Samsung phones can be rooted using Odin and for this you have to be in download mode. So I think it's possible to root a locked phone


text:
Using an android phone as a server for PC LAN gaming
So me and my friend wish to play tf2 using our phones as the server when we are in college. We tried using WiFi hotspot on the phone to connect but couldn't find any way to forward a port. So we tried downloading the app- "Port Forwarder". That didn't work too(or maybe we are just idiots who don't know what we are doing).
Is there a way to play the game using our phones as a server? I have a rooted Moto g and my friend has an unrooted OnePlus Two.
Here is the app we used: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.bherbst.net&hl=en


text:
Which devices can run xmod coc?
I have zenfone 2. The guy that root my phone told me that I cannot run xmod coc there because zenfone 2 uses intell.
How do we know which devices xmod support?
Note: I tried and it didn't work.
I got that oops mod not working now
Also I already checked
http://m.xmodgames.com/faq/72.html
I am not sure if it's up to date. It says it doesn't support bluestack. Yet I've heard people playing coc with xmod with bluestack. It didn't work on my bluestack.
I am going to try xiaomi.

Check this FAQ: http://m.xmodgames.com/faq/72.html It seems you have to do something extra or whatever for MIUI phones (like ZenFone)

Zenfone devices have intel cpu. If you can root your phone so you can use xmod ,check your device support in xmod website!

I tried it doesn't work.


text:
Google Photos did not compress a few items, even on high quality mode
As the title suggests,

My settings on my Android app is high quality, not original size
Most photos are getting compressed, very few photos are left uncompressed
Most videos are left uncompressed
The uncompressed items aren't eating into my Google Drive space
For checking, I uploaded with these individual files on another test Google account and found out that they are getting compressed.

I want all items to get compressed since it's the algorithm is best of both worlds - retains 99.99% quality and reduces space by >50%.
I can't delete these items from the cloud since that would immediately delete it from my phone, not allowing another attempt of uploading. What can be done to compress these missed items?

It's best to forget about it since the storage for the uncompressed items isn't coming out of the 15 GB Google Drive limit anyway; although the unlikely wish of downloading the items would mean downloading uncompressed items - a very small price to pay for a free service.


text:
Link2sd showing app on sd but it is not
I have a query regarding the way Link2sd is supposed to work. I came across this today. As the screenshots show when entering the Link2sd app. The app is supposed to be linked to the sd card, but, if you enter into the details of that link it show that none of them are on the sd card. The 3rd screenshot shows that everything is on the internal memory. I tried to unlink but it came up telling me that nothing is linked to begin with.
The screenshots are below:

I have gone part of the way to answer my own question. I noticed that it says on SD Card and not Linked -> SD Card. The app must therefore be moved to the SD Card no linked to it. I tried to move it back to the phone and although it allows me to go through the motions of moving it, even after a reboot it is still on the SD card. It seems like link2sd is moved to the SD card by default.


text:
Why are there so many duplicates on my phone after using Link2SD
I have noticed that the internal storage of my tablet is filling up even though I have tried to link as many of the apps as possible to the SD card using Link2sd. I did a quick search for duplicates using Search Duplicate File(Super). What I found was that 1117 files where duplicated in both the /mnt/internal_sd/ and /mnt/external_sd directories. Any idea why this has happened, and how I can free up this space?
I have searched both paths and none of them are symbolic links to the other. These are actual duplicates of the files.

I also did a listing using adb shell of both the /mnt/internal_sd/... and /mnt/external_sd/... paths and they both show up as no symlink. So as I understand the data must be duplicated. Unless someone can prove me wrong. A screenshot of Link2sd properties of the app is below this.
shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/bind/data/bbc.iplayer.android/files/b05zrbt6/                         <
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw 42955904 2016-01-17 11:38 bUnknown-90d1525f-3702-46eb-b1d7-a400a1b82884_b05zrbt4_1446672608107.ismv
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw    13348 2016-01-17 11:38 bUnknown-a46b887b-4a7a-4c8b-9e56-b0075cc3771a_b05zrbt4_1452896225597.xml
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw     1798 2016-01-17 11:38 details.xml
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw    37475 2016-01-17 11:38 p02tcd2c.jpg

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/bind/data/bbc.iplayer.android/files/                                  <
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-17 11:38 b05zrbt6
...
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/bind/data/bbc.iplayer.android/                               <
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 19:09 files

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/bind/data/                                             <
...
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2015-12-14 23:00 bbc.iplayer.android
...
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/bind/
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 12:09 data
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/Link2SD/
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2015-12-25 11:34 bind
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/external_sd/
...
...
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2015-12-22 22:26 Link2SD
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/
...
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 11:17 external_sd
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 11:17 internal_sd
...
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/bbc.iplayer.android/files/b05zrbt6/                         <
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw 42955904 2016-01-17 11:38 bUnknown-90d1525f-3702-46eb-b1d7-a400a1b82884_b05zrbt4_1446672608107.ismv
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw    13348 2016-01-17 11:38 bUnknown-a46b887b-4a7a-4c8b-9e56-b0075cc3771a_b05zrbt4_1452896225597.xml
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw     1798 2016-01-17 11:38 details.xml
-rwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw    37475 2016-01-17 11:38 p02tcd2c.jpg

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/bbc.iplayer.android/files/                                  <
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-17 11:38 b05zrbt6
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/bbc.iplayer.android/                               <
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 19:09 files

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/                                             <
...
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2015-12-14 23:00 bbc.iplayer.android
...
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/Android/
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2016-01-30 12:10 data
...

shell@rk312x:/data $ ls -alF /mnt/internal_sd/
...
...
drwxrwx--- system   sdcard_rw          2015-11-24 18:10 Android
...
...

Link2sd iplayer link properties. 720MB is supposed to be linked to external_sd but shows up as duplicated in the listing above:

This app may make new apk files like backup from apps or something like this , you can use another link to sd apps that arnot make new apk files.

What's the point of having an app that duplicates data that is supposed to save space? Find it hard to believe.

LINK2SD makes symbolic links, one file would just be a pointer to the real one. If you go to a terminal prompt and cd to that directory and do a "ls -alF" command, you will see one of these files is a zero size link, the other the actual file. This is how LINK2SD works.

I amended the question to include a listing as you said. I see no zero size link anywhere on the path. I used and example path for which I know there is supposed to be data on the internal and external sd partitions.


text:
Is apkmirror.com safe?
Is it safe to download and install Google Play from apkmirror.com? How can I check this is a safe download?
Backstory:
I had to factory reset my original Samsung Galaxy Tab as it refused to start up. After the reset, I haven't been able to update Google Play. Every time I try, it crashes with '(process com.android.vending) has stopped working'.
I've seen multiple references to the site, but nothing official from Google.

www.apkmirror.eu is a site that locks your browser and asks for money. Be careful of which you use.

www.apkmirror.eu has no relationship to apkmirror.com... Just to be clear, the .eu site has no connection to the "real" apkmirror or Android Police.

Apkmirror.com is run by the same people behind AndroidPolice.com, one of the biggest Android news websites. All uploads are manually vetted and approved, and only free apps are allowed so you won't find any 'cracked' apks or 'warez'.
As you already have the Play Store installed, only an apk signed with the same key as the currently installed version will be able to upgrade the app so this is an extra verification of the apk you download. Therefore, if you download the app from Apkmirror.com you should be safe.
Personally, this one of the only sites I would trust to download apks from.

How do we verify that the APK available from APKMirror is exactly the one available in Play Store? Can you provide a method? Your answer relies on trust and trust is something which gets exploited and reaps benefit when lots of users get used to some product. // (Remember that *ell and *enovo sold out their customer's trust by using fake SSL certificates in computers they shipped to customers. They are very big companies in certain regions.)

If you don't have a copy of the apk from Google Play then that's very difficult. If you do, then you can verify the MD5 checksum matches for both apks. You're right though, it does depend on trust. Considering the site exists purely to allow downloading apks, any doubt that the files are safe would result in the site losing a lot of trust within the Android community and likely the end of both AndroidPolice.com and Apkmirror.com.

Good answer. How reliable are the signed keys? Could someone fake it?

@bmdixon Can you confirm that if the app is signed with Google's key, it's definitely legit? The fact that this is the app that controls all the apps on my device is making me ultra cautious.

If it's signed with Google's key then it is almost certainly legit. If someone else got hold of Google's key it would be possible to sign apps using it but that would be a huge security risk for the whole of android, not just the Play Store. You can be pretty sure that no-one has access to Google's key.

Thank you for your help. It seems like it should be a safe place to download the APK from providing the key matches the current version of Google Play on my device.

To be precise: the free here has nothing to do with freedom, or liberty. It's the free of free beer.


text:
does LBE security work on android 4.3?
how do i make LBE work on and android 4.3 stock touchwiz rom? i have tried a few versions but they were in chinese. is there any working English version?

Be careful with what version you pick here. The (original) LBE Privacy Guard (English) worked fine up to Android 4.1 but would cause a boot-loop if installed on 4.2 or up. The LBE Security Master is only available in Chinese, as you've already noted.
Now, there are multiple ways to get it localized:

There are patched versions available at XDA, which you then had to manually update each time a new version is available (and rely on the XDA member providing a patched update then)
If you're running the Xposed Framework, there's a module called LBE Security Master - Translation International which you could load. That way you could simply use the updates from Playstore, and the module would take care for localization. Naturally, that would leave some original terms "shine through", especially with new stuff added to the app and the module not yet updated – but hey, one can live with that as long as it's below the threshold.


text:
Does xiaomi red mi note 3 support kill switch?
Xiaomi uses android. I wonder what the operating system is. If it's based on lolypop, it should have kill switch right.
Is it?
I just want to make sure before buying xiaomi red mi note 3
This is what I found so far:

Kill switch – Android 5.0 Lollipop introduces ‘Factory Reset
  Protection’ which is supposed to make stolen phones unusable. In this
  scenario, it would require a unique password (different than your
  4-digit pass-code) to unlock the phone. Your data would still be on
  the phone, but thieves wouldn’t be able to access it, or perform a
  factory reset.

Okay I am still not sure whether it's available on Android 5.0 or Android 5.1
Google just announced a new version of Android, Lollipop 5.1, which it says includes some “tasty additions” along with improved stability.

One of the major new features, called Device Protection, fulfills a
  pledge Google made to the law enforcement group Secure Our Smartphones
  last year to add a kill switch to Android devices.
Device Protection lets you remotely lock and delete all the data from
  a lost or stolen device, and even freeze the device completely.
You can get the device back into working order, but a simple “factory
  reset” is not enough, so even crooks who steal your phone for the
  phone alone, and don’t care if it’s wiped, are out of luck.
It’s the Android version of what’s known on the iPhone as Activation
  Lock or Find My iPhone.

This articles say that kill switch exist on Android 5.1 https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/03/11/android-lollipop-5-1-brings-promised-anti-theft-kill-switch/
Xiaomi OS, MIUI, is based on android lolipop (again not sure which one). Is lollipop all 5+ or just 5.1
So I figure that xiaomi must have had that kill switch.
How do I know?
I know a computer can't have a kill switch. I can always reformat the hard disk or replace the hard disk. Not sure about cellphone.

There is no Xiaomi OS but MIUI.

Yea it's called MIUI.

What do you make out of the very first line starting with This information here. The article is about device protection and it covers that so called 'kill switch'.

The article is for nexus. I am talking about xiaomi.

The feature is of Android, not of particularly Nexus.

Okay so it should be in xiaomi too? How do I know? Does that mean my lost xiaomi already have that feature too?


text:
How can I wipe an encrypted device?
My HTC One (M8) is a little soft-bricked being that the drive is encrypted.
I can't factory reset in CWM recovery because it says
formatting /sd-ext
E: Unknown volume for path /sd-ext
Formatting /sdcard/.android_secure
Error mounting /sdcard/.android_secure
skipping format
formatting /storage/sdcard1/.android_secure
Data wipe complete
press any key to continue

I can flash ROMs but my Hboot is 3.16 and I have S-ON. Since firewater is discontinued I can't use that to S-OFF and update.
I have a feeling that my options are to get a Lollipop ROM and then unencrypt (KK uses password not pattern) or have to wipe the device some how.
I do have a custom recovery installed, and the device is rooted.

Ah! Then the first one might be the way to go: Can you try to manually format the corresponding partitions (/data, /cache) from within the custom recovery? That should equal a factory-reset (background: factory-reset tries to delete the contents, which it might fail not being able to decrypt the FS; a format doesn't access the existing FS but replaces it).

Yuck. What for does it need to mount a partition in order to format it? Makes no sense, as it must be unmounted for that action. Well, the other approach might be a bit risky: Can you adb shell into the device while in recovery? You could try to run the corresponding mkfs commands manually from the command line. For that, you'd need to know at least the FS used (most likely ext4, but it might be something different) – and I'm not sure about other parameters, so this might need some research in advance.

I wrote to mount /system, not /data. Remember: /data is encrypted (/system hopefully not). If /system is already mounted (as you write): can you locate mkfs.* somewhere in the places mentioned? Then again, you need to know what FS data and cache partitions are using, and whether there are some specific parameters needed. If you cannot figure that, and as you're "locked out" anyway: if there's only mkfs.ext4 and mkfs.vfat, it's safe to assume data and cache are using EXT4, and you could simply run /system/xbin/mkfs.ext4 <device>. AT YOUR OWN RISK that is, I'm not 2B blamed :)

Can you somehow figure out what it was formatted with currently? Sounds strange to me. Speaking of "encrypted" and "Lollipop", I'd indeed be surprised if it still used ext2. You could (theroretically, again your own risk) format it ext2. ext4 is basically ext2+journal, and my guess is OS will use tune2fs to adjust that (just checked 1 of my devices: same: only mkfs.ext2 and tune2fs but using ext4). I've never played with that, so I'm no reliable source for further details I'm afraid.

Cool – congrats! If you "cannibalize" on the comments here, maybe we can do a cleanup afterwards? :)

Wow – that dead easy! Price: USD 500: 0,95 for doing it – but 499,05 for finding out where #D

I think the problem was it was below everthing and surely it would just run the same command? but w/e it boots, I've just got to find a lollipop ROM that works with HBOOT 3.16

So, to do this I went to the mounts and storage and used the format /data and /system option. Apparently the other options by themselves (/data and /system) do a different thing. I have a feeling this rebuilt my partition table.
As Izzy suggested I had a look at manually formatting it but it seems that that route is a little short-lived. I'd reccomend for anyone reading this to make sure they try the /sdcard format on the recovery.
in CWM is has these options format /data format /cache and one that says format /data and /data/media (/sdcard) the latter works the former doesn't.

Strange: wasn't that the first thing I've recommended before we started to go through the other options? Quote: "Can you try to manually format the corresponding partitions (/data, /cache) from within the custom recovery?" And didn't it fail then? What did you differently here?

Ah! OK, that explains. Mind integrating that into your answer, and we cleanup comments here as well?


text:
Searching for a way using ICS Calendar files from dropbox
So I currently use Thunderbird with Lightning and have imported several ICS files there on my Windows system (more details on how I did this here). This works great. But for Android there does not seem to be a simple app for this.
To sum up: overall I already have Dropbox for syncing. So I would just need a app that let me choose the ICS files and let me use it just like in Thunderbird. I already tested 20 apps. None was able to do my task so far.
I also don't need just an import app for ICS files. Because then the Dropbox wouldn't sync anymore for sure and I would have trouble on my Windows system. So just an editor that accesses ICS files would be perfect. As I have currently 7 ICS files, it would be great if the app would show them together like Thunderbird does.
By the way I already tried to open an ICS file with the Android Calendar app and it actually showed me an event. But I was not able to show all and the behaviour was very strange.
Update from the comments

I found ICSDroid which allowed me to add ICS files from Dropbox correctly
these Calendars where correctly added to the Calendar system
the problem is that they are not added to "My Calendars", instead they are added to an external list, which is read-only!
also the Sync is kind of broken on these calendars, updates in thunderbird are not shown on my Android calendar apps (I tried the normal, aCalendar, Planner Plus)

BTW: Be welcome to check with my list of Calendar Tools. ICSdroid seems to fit your description: "ICSdroid allows you to add/subscribe and manage external (web) and local (i.e. Dropbox, adb push etc) iCalendar/ics files on your Android device." If you can confirm this, feel free to flag a mod to have your question migrated to SR, so I will setup an answer there.

Well it's not free. Before buying and it does not maybe not work, you might know some others that are for free? And sure if this question does now fit here, move it. Maybe it's also possible without an app, so I changed the title :)

I just found 2 similar questions. But none of the answers worked for me: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/10085/how-to-sync-calendar-with-android-without-google?rq=1 and http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/64333/sync-android-calendar-tasks-with-calendar-from-pc?rq=1

I've never been in need of that, so I didn't check for this specific feature. But besides: If you look up that app in my list (which I linked), you might note it's available for free from F-Droid (from the list, you could even download the .apk directly to try it out).

Installed ICSDroid and tested it. Actually adding ics files works well. I can see all the events from different ics files in the usual Calendar app. But somehow I'm not able to edit them on my phone. It just says I have no Calendar chosen? I'm new to Android maybe I'm using the Calendar in a super unusual way? I think this is a non ICSDroid issue :)

I've no idea with that part, sorry. ICS files are plain ASCII – but editing them with a text editor might not be convenient (nor recommended if you don't know what you do). They are thought as a format to exchange informations rather than to be edited directly. The preferred way is editing the events within your calendar app, and then export that calendar again to .ics.

Sure sure, that's the way I want to do it, too. Reading ICS file and editing the events directly in the Calendar app. I don't want to edit them in an editor for sure. I also now tried to change an event on my Windows system. Then the ICS was updated by Dropbox. But anyway I can't get the new Event on my Android Calendar. Synced anywhere it was possible. Any idea on this? I mean if this does not work that app does not make sense for me =/

Why do I get the impression we're having some kind of XY problem here? Could it be your real question is "how to sync my calendars between Win and Android without using a 3rd party service"? Because in that case, answers might be very different.

Yes that would be the abstract way to describe my issue indeed. But I really want to use Dropbox and ICS files for some reason. So this is very important for me as well. What would you say, how can I improve this question? And many thanks man.

Ohh I know understand why I was not able to create or edit events. You can just edit events that are under My Calendars. But there is no way to move the external Calendars to that section. Wow that really frustrating =(

Uh-oh. Well, first off it might be a good idea to keep things separate then: having this question dedicated to your Dropbox approach (where I've to resign from), asking a separate generic one as suggested with my previous comment, and finally mention "the other question" in each (linking them together) to make clear why they're no duplicates. In the generic question, include your environment (PC and Android versions etc.) and whether applications/web-server components (I think of ownCloud here) would be acceptable as well. Keep it as "how-to", not "which apps" ;)

Alright my friend, gonna do that tomorrow. Thanks.

When on it, may I suggest you try to include the essence of our comment chain with your [edit] of this question – and then ping me for a comment-cleanup? Looks like a mess already :)

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/135793/how-to-move-icsdroid-calendars-to-the-phone-section is this fine? Feel free to improve :) No let the comments here. I don't need to delete my friend.

I now solved with installing ownCloud on my server. It was not difficult and is easy to setup. Also it gives the possibility to enable even more features.
So in Thunderbird I just add the online calendar URL to the specific calendar. That's it. The only bad thing is that Thunderbird(Lightning) does not get the colors from the server. So you have to set them manually.
And on Android you need a special app like CalDAV which is really cheap and as well easy to setup.
Now you can use any calendar app like the of your Android. Planner Plus or aCalendar. This is totally up to you. I really like Planner Plus somehow.
For me this is a really good solution. Synching is working perfectly even with different users on it at the same time. You can also manage the rights the users have in your ownCloud which was impossible with the row ics Dropbox solution.
I also use the Tasks app of ownCloud, what is called the app OpenTasks under Android, which makes it pretty easy also to use tasks on Android.


text:
Portable storage that handles for file size greater than 4GB
I have to frequently copy paste files that are greater than 4GB. With marshmallow, we have to either stick to vFAT/FAT32 to use as portable or use it as internal storage. Is it possible to mount exFAT/NTFS/ext3/ext4 in the rooted marshmallow and use it as regular sdcard that is capable of handling max file size restriction?

Depending on the kernel, you are able to use exFAT formatted storage without any problems. Samsung supports this for example and many modern high capacity storages come preformatted that way (like my 64GB USB stick).

Motorola Moto g3 isn't currently able to handle exfat in marshmallow while it did back in lollipop. May be other phones are not able to use exfat formatted cards after marshmallow upgrade

As I already wrote: It depends on the kernel. My SIII LTE did not handle exFAT or NTFS without a custom kernel. My S6 Edge handles exFAT but not NTFS.

On Marshmallow you can add the SD card as adopted storage, making part of internal storage... This formats it as ext4 which would support the larger file size, but you can't take it out and copy to it since it's encrypted, you would have to copy it via USB, but it should support your larger file size requirements.


text:
Force desktop version of websites?
Chrome has a feature that requests the desktop version of sites, but some websites don't oblige, and continue giving the mobile version.
Is there any way to force them to give the desktop version? I'm open to using any Android version, any browser, root permissions and Xposed Framework.

It would help if you give links for some websites which are not following your command.

@Firelord I will post it here the next time it happens to me.

Some sites redirect a mobile device to a specific mobile site. These are usually prefixed with the m. or mobile. subdomain (e.g. m.foo.com).
If you get a desktop version of one of those sites, you'll still get the mobile version because that's all they can give you.
So make sure you switch the flag before going to the site and see if that works.


text:
Tab key on Google Keyboard?
Any way to get a tab character out of a Google Keyboard on Android? The goal is to indent bullets in Google Keep to make sub-bullets.
Checking through the various character sets, etc. find nothing. Searching the Internet finds nothing relevant.

I can't find a Tab character on Google keyboard. Read somewhere that it's available on Swiftkey keyboard by double pressing Space key

You can insert a tab as follows:

Copy from somewhere (I used Simplenote) a tab.
Go to Parameters → Dictionaries → Personal dictionaries from the Google Keyboard.
Choose your language and click on "add".
Paste the tab in the first field and define some shortcut.

Now if you type your shortcut, Gboard will propose the tab in the auto-correction bar. I tried with Simplenote and Keep and checked on my computer (using both the desktop and web apps) that the tab has been correctly inserted.
This is similar to what suggested in a previous answer (but now it works).

this is a good idea and almost worked but is not indenting bulleted lists in MS Outlook app for android

Here's a tab: https://wiki.c2.com/?CopyAndPasteTabs

Short answer
I could not find a Tab key native within the Google Keyboard on Android Phone.
I suggest two workarounds
Your question relates to Google Keep, but these could be applied to other apps.

Open Google Keep on your PC. Pressing the Tab key is not helpful. However, the ASCII for HT (Horizontal Tab) code can be entered using Alt+09. Resume work on your Android phone and select and copy the blank tab space entered in your note. Paste where needed.

The personal dictionary within Google Keyboard allows the addition of words and shortcuts. Unfortunately, pasting the Tab code as a word and adding a shortcut HT did not successfully create a working method. However, this autocorrect type function was successful using an alternative product Texpand Pro.

Interestingly, the tab code showed only as a single space when viewed in Google Keep on my Android phone; but the same note showed as a complete tab when viewed on my PC. The tab code shows as expected when entered into a Google Doc on an Android phone.

Note: Within Google Keep, you can create nested dot points:

Primary bullet point hierarchy

secondary bullet [double space indent]

tertiary bullet
another tertiary bullet

Reference: https://plus.google.com/+MichaelMichelmore-Fegg/posts/QirAmXdRDFv
Note: Texpand from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.isaiasmatewos.texpand --- there are links to a paid Pro version too.

Where do we arrow or bullet icons? Can't post screenshot but there are neither in Android Keep

Thanks! this should be the accepted answer.

If you are trying to tab right or left for bullets, for example, you can use the icons with right and left arrows, respectively, at the top of the screen (just to the right off the bullet icon.)

This answer may not satisfy yours but it may satisfy others looking for a way to add a tab character in a Google Docs script.
If you are trying to add a tab via script, the tab character is the escape character \t
If you were using the Google scripting API, it might go something like this:
var doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument();
var doc_body = doc.getBody();
var doc_paragraphs = doc_body.getParagraphs();

(Identify the paragraph number requiring a tab by using a for-loop and a Logger.log call-out.)
Once you've found the right paragraph, append it with a tab character.
doc_paragraphs[<the paragraph number you identified>].appendParagraph("\t");

That'll add a tab to the end of that paragraph.

NextApp's Technical Keyboard (available on Google Play)  may do what you want.

Horrible hack, but good enough for my note-taking using Google Docs and Google Keyboard:
Press bullets button, then press back / delete button.

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


text:
How to change date and time format on Marshmallow?
I'm using a Nexus 5X with Android 6.0.1, patch level January 2016. I'd like to change the system language to English but like to keep my local date format. In versions prior to Marshmallow, there was an option to set the date format, but I can find it anymore...
How do I set the UI language to English and the date format to DD.MM.YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD?

I recently downloaded android marshmallow on my phone and there is only one English to select for language but you can select English UK, English US or English AU for keyboard input. Unfortunately changing the keyboard input to another English than US does not change the date format from US layout mm/dd/yyyy. Selecting another language changes the layout but the only English available to pick must be US version.

In Android Marshmallow you don't seem to be able to change the date format. Instead it chooses automatically what's appropriate for your locale.
In your case, you seem to want the English (UK) variant and not the English (US) one. So go to language settings and change it. Any other English variant should work since I'm pretty sure only americans use the MM/DD/YYYY variant.

But dd/mm/yyyy is not sane either. How can I get ISO 8601 dates (yyyy-mm-dd)?

I want the ISO format which is the proper standard format. I don't think Android is guessing correctly when it displays the date in the worst format it could choose. The one who decided that it shouldn't be allowed to choose the format and that the system could guess such preferences don't really know much about software design and development.

I was having the same problem.  Go to Language settings and check if your set on English  (United States).

How does that change the date format to something sane?

@MaxRied I think greg's trying to make the point that English (United States) uses MM-DD-YYYY, while English (UK) and some other English locales use DD-MM-YYYY. If a non-US English locale suits your needs in other ways, you can choose it to get the date format you want.


text:
Integrating outlook and android
I currently use Outlook on the desktop and I am trying to integrate my outlook data with my android phone. Samsung S5. I don't sync with the cloud with office 365 as I have my own domain. The old days allowed for a USB sync between the desktop and the device. This would appear the best way to do it given my circumstances. There are a couple Microsoft apps but they do not sync all data with the Android system. They keep the data within the app, and not all data is available like contacts. Situations like this make we think about apple products again, which goes against my grain.

By Outlook on the desktop you mean the mail client?

Yes. The outlook client application for Windows.

You can easily sync your desktop Outlook with your Samsung phone using the Samsung Smart Switch software.  You can find the program at http://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/.
The only thing I do not like about it is there is no way to just sync your calendar from Outlook to your phone.  It insists on syncing in both directions.  The contacts can be forced to just update from Outlook to your phone which is what I like.


text:
How can I use the Dolphin 70E's hardware scanner in an app?
I have a Dolphin 70E that has a hardware scanner. I would like to use this in a an app, but ZXing always uses the camera in the device instead. I have looked into Google Goggles as well, but running into the same issue here.
Honeywell has provided an example app that does exactly what I want, but I can't seem to find any documentation.

I have an experience with similar product (Android barcode scanner), and AFAIK, you don't need any "barcode scanner" app. The hardware scanner will automatically decode the barcode as text input (just like someone typing using keyboard). I don't know though with Dolphin device, but have you tried that?

You'll probably get voted down or put on hold as off topic since you're asking an android development question here.  I am curious about barcode scanning in android too, and I thought Andrew's answer was helpful.

Thanks Andrew! That is how I was expecting the device to respond and input the text automatically. However the laser does not even come on when the button is pressed so I am a little lost.

Finally found on the Honeywell knowledge base.
Under Power Tools > ScanWedge there is a toggle to enable/disable. When ScanWedge is enabled, the scanner buttons work as expected in any application (basically just keyboard input).


text:
TWRP backup directly to network drive
I am trying to create a TWRP backup of my phone, but I don't have enough storage space to create the backup.  Is there some way to backup directly to an external drive on my local network, like I do with PC backups, or is that not possible on Android?

Came looking for the same answer.


text:
How do I turn off my Samsung Galaxy a3 if my screen has stopped working?
My phone screen suddenly just stopped working it comes on but the touch screen isn't responding. I think I need to switch it off and back on again but I can't without touching the screen! Does anybody know how to do it another way?

Hold down the power button for 10 seconds or take out battery

Galaxy A3  have a non-removable battery (check GSMArena) so "take out battery" isn't an option here.


text:
Where is the file description field on the Android Drive app?
I'm looking for the description field which is easily found when using Google Drive on the web (from a desktop). The field is shown here: http://gappstips.com/google-docs/add-a-description-to-your-google-docs/
When going to the Drive app (on Android 5.1) and going to the file information I just don't see it. I've been using the field extensively for my files and not being able to use it on the mobile version just renders the whole app useless for me.
Much appreciated.


text:
Lenovo s860 Bricked, Recovery Crashes, No OS
The following things happened, leading to the "bricking" of my phone, lenovo s860 with android ver 4.4.2:
1) I got a virus, associated with an app from the play store.
2) The virus was inside the FirewallService, thus unable to be blocked or uninstalled
3) The only decisions I found online included rooting of the phone, because even after complete data wipe/format this virus still survived http://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/621569-firewall-service-keeps-showing.html
4) So I tried with the following rooting method, which did not work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnZE7knrNVw
5) I followed all steps carefully but when I finally restarted the phone and downloaded the Root Verification app it said that the root has failed
6) Tried with other apps, all said that the phone was not successfully rooted
7) The virus was still messing with my phone, it even started installing apps
8) Then I did the amazingly stupid thing to go into recovery and wipe System, without making backups
9) When I tried to restart, a message followed "Are you sure, there is no OS installed"
10) Connected to PC, re-installed recovery using the same video, but now recovery shows a flashing picture instead of going to the menu
Please help me, I really need the phone for work and I can't afford waiting a month or two for Lenovo service

I managed to repair it.
1) I installed the following android verion http://www.needrom.com/download/lenovo-s860/, but it upgrades to a chinese Vibe 2.0, which is very customised and has no Google Play Store, as weall as all other Google apps.
2) So I used the "Upgrade Firmware" option on the PC program (SP Flash Tool) instead of the "Download" one to install http://www.needrom.com/download/rom-stock-4-4/ (this site contains very precise instructions, check it out before doing any of the steps)
3) Now phone works perfectly, but it has IMEI connection problems - IMEI Invalid - Lenovo S860, rooted android 4.4.2, nothing works
4) KingoROOT seems to fix the IMEI problem
5) Phone up and running perfectly


text:
How can I get Helium to work on my One?
I'm trying to backup apps on my OnePlus One using Helium.
When I open the Helium Windows Desktop application, it works some magic and tells me Helium is now activated on my phone, but the app still shows a spinner and says it's waiting to be activated.

As noted in the thread [How to] Helium Backup by Bassick, one should use the Helium Chrome app to activate Helium. Then it will works just fine.


text:
How to change input method on 5.1.1
I cannot see the "select input method" command in the pull down menu like in Android 4.
By experimenting, I discovered you can select the input method if you long-press the space bar in Samsung keyboard.
I used this to switch to Hacker's keyboard.
But that keyboard doesn't support the space bar long press convention.
So, I cannot change back.
Edit: the long press method is a feature of Google Japanese Input, not the Samsung Keyboard, sorry. I can change the input method via Settings/Language and input/Default Keyboard. That is far too inconvenient for regular use.
Edit: I remember seeing on some Android version a good mechanism for this: a little keyboard icon displayed while in input mode. I feel it must be somewhere; I'm just not looking in the right place.

Settings -> Language & input. What options do you see there? Is there an option named "Selector icon"?

@Firelord No such thing there.

Found it. Stupidly, you have to pull down, then scroll through the entire stack of notifications. "Select Keyboard" is buried at the bottom!


text:
Why my device is giving the error "Kernel Panic Upload Mode"?
I have a Samsung Galaxy P5100 Tab 2 10.1 running Android 4.2.2. I have been using it for around
two years and I have been getting the error "Kernel Panic Upload Mode" twice, almost every year, and when I update the software using ODIN it disappears completely. But now it keeps appearing once a day.
I tried everything here to no avail:

update the software
hard format
delete cache
unplug the battery jack for 10 seconds

Have you modified the kernel of this device? It sounds like a corrupted kernel.

I dont really know how to modified it but I have only update my android version and when I ask on facebook some people tell me that the problem is my battery I dont know what the connection between this error and my battery

The first time you saw this the best thing would have went call in a warrantee repair, although there's not much that can be done there now. Because you are flashing rooms I'm assuming that you are not running the stock rom and that the device is rooted. A kernel panic would suggest that your device is struggling to run the rom or the kernel itself is not starting properly, more likely the kernel. You can look at this, but flashing a kernel can be extremely risky if not done correctly. (We're talking hard bricking) http://www.tomsguide.com/us/overclock-android-device,review-1762-4.html

When i bought it , it was used before and there is no warranty , and the rom is a stock rom but it's the newest one , and yes i think it's really was happening after i root the device  but now it's happening without root, do you know how to flash a rom on odin and delete the old files at the same time?

Unfortunately I've never flashed an android device before. I'm waiting until there's a major security patch that my moto X 2013 is not receiving to justify the risk. Have you tried using a custom recovery such as twrp? It simplifies that quite a bit.

I don't really have that much knowledge of flashing android bu maybe i will thanks

Begin your search again, from here: https://www.google.co.in/search?q="kernel+panic+upload+mode"

Strange but easy, please believe.
The first way is to remove the battery, press the power off for 1 minute, then put the battery and try it again. The second way is to remove the battery and all screws, then put the battery and try it again. If it works fine, maybe something is broken inside.
My Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has the same problem. It is now working fine but no screws.


text:
Messenger pics iv sent to friends move sometimes to gallery
Samsung Tab 4. Pics I send to friends on messenger (facebook) have started showing up in my gallery under messenger app , but only sometimes.Even ones I delete show up there sometimes . My second problem is stuff under messenger ,screensshots and Facebook apps in my gallery vanish . Please explain in easy terms if anyone got any idea as I don't know all the jargon yet . THANKS .

On Facebook Messenger,
Go to Settings › Photos and Media.
There uncheck the two options, if you wish to. This will stop messenger photos from appearing in the gallery in the future.
My Messenger is version 55. I think this option exists in all recent versions, too.


text:
Internet is not working except Whatsapp application
In Xiaomi Mi 2 mobile, I can't connect to internet except Whatsapp application which is running smoothly.
I can't open any website on any browser also Gmail and other apps are not working.
This happened after phone reset and changing sim.
I called AirTel customer care, they say that internet is fine from their side.
Please suggest something to fix the issue.
Thanks

Have you confirmed that your plan has access to use internet outside of WhatsApp? Are you by any chance using WhatsApp-only plan?

Have you confirmed that the problem persist with both Wi-Fi and mobile data? Related: Some apps cannot access the internet (happens only on Wi-Fi)

Related: my android phone can't access to any google related sites and services (for mobile data only).

Yeah, There is full fata plan.
Btw I found that in APN setting, proxy was set. I removed it and net working now.

I finally found that proxy was set to some ip in APN setting.
    I removed proxy and saved APN setting. And Internet is working fine now.

Mobile Networks > Access Point Names > open the one APN > delete the
  content in Proxy

Removing the Proxy worked for me! Mobile Networks > Access Point Names > opened the one APN I have > deleted what was under Proxy. Hope this helps!

removing proxy under APN names in Mobile Networks, worked great for me on redmi note 3 32 gb

This worked for me on Samsung S8 as well

You saved me, Thanks. Xiaomi Redmi note 8

select mobile office instead of airtelgprs
 in the column of access points. it will work

First check the data settings and allow all apps to get connected.
next change access point names.
watch it
https://youtu.be/RRfSZkLQ3-w


text:
ADB failed to detect Nexus 5 running Android Marshmallow
File transfer is working properly.
Latest drivers are installed.
Settings -> Developer options (Enabled)
Android Debugging (Enabled)
(ADB Detects my phone when it is in Recovery mode)
So probably there is something wrong in the system.
I'm using Pure Nexus ROM + Nethunter
I'm not sure what the problem is.

Which build of PureNexus ROM are you using?

I would highly advise to install Universal naked drivers on your Windows system as in windows only we encounter such driver issues.
Refer this link for Universal naked drivers: http://www.xda-developers.com/universal-naked-driver-solves-your-adb-driver-problems-on-windows/
Being a Nexus 5 user, I have encountered this problem and after great efforts, UND helped.
You can install the drivers by downloading zip file, unpacking it.
Connect your N5 to your PC, go to "Device Manager" in windows, uninstalling the already installed Nexus 5 Drivers. Install drivers by provided options and use the location of unzipped files when it asks for manual installation of drivers.

OP wrote "ADB Detects my phone when it is in Recovery mode", so definitely, the problem doesn't appear to be about drivers.

Your problem can be resolved switching the USB mode to only charge/data transfer via MTP. It works on my device.

And how is the OP supposed to do this? Please elaborate your answer by editing it.