text:
Lost open tabs from Samsung S21 Ultra Android
Lost open tabs from Samsung S21 Ultra Android.
I has about 98 open tabs I truly need for work and stuff and lost them all after I uninstalled and reinstalled chrome on my S21 Ultra. These tabs appear under my google chrome sync data but I cant seem to get them on any device, therefore I think they might be in some folders in the protected data folder of my device.
However I'm not sure how to access this folder as my phone is not rooted. I tried accessing the folder by doing an adb backup of my device through USB debugging but I cant seem to back up the folder. I am assuming the file are locally on the device on one of these locations: DATA → select com.android.chrome. And some other locations I read about online are:
The first folder to check is app_tabs, then 0. In this folder there should be a file called tab_state which contains a list of all your current tabs.
There are also other files in this folder called tab3, tab4, etc. that contain info about current tabs.
IMO, you need a special "text editor / sql editor" to read the content of some of these files as the encoding is different.
Next place to look is /data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/. In this folder you'll find a file called History. Depending on your situation, you may find a good list of recent site visits here.
Finally, navigate to the Sync Data folder.
The question is does anyone know how to access this files and folders? Or do you have any other solution you may think off?

I had this same question as chrome recently closed half my open tabs (1000s) whereby the data chrome reported halved from 8GB to 4GB.
You need root access however root will invariably wipe all your data, so unfortunately there's no means to non-destructively root your phone for the purpose of data recovery. The recovery can only happen if you had a rooted phone to begin with.

What if i did an adb backup would that include the data folder?

See for your answer. I checked Chromium's AndroidManifest.xml and it's configured as allowBackup="false.


text:
I keep seeing a popup in Android: "Install now to control when your device updates" - is my phone compromised?
I am seeing this popup displayed occasionally over more than one app (in this image, it is appearing over my calendar app).

This appeared on a Google Pixel 6 Pro, which is updated to the latest Android 12. It appears without any prompting action on my part, which makes me suspicious. Furthermore, it doesn't identify itself as a system popup.
I'm extremely suspicious of this and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen it in the wild.

You can try this app and see if it is able to find out which app is creating that dialog. You'll have to set it up and wait for it to observe the dialog. Alternatively, you can setup [tag:adb] and whenever that dialog shows up use your PC to issue this adb command: adb shell dumpsys window windows > dump.txt. Share the file with us. Another alternative is to take a bug report whenever that dialog shows up and then from that report share only the relevant part with us (dumpsys windows).

Previously posted on Stack Overflow. Ryan M (who was an Android employee at the time of writing) commented that "these strings are present in the Google Play Services codebase for the update functionality, so while I personally haven't seen that exact screen, I would believe it's real."

Kind of related with similar looking dialog from Google Play Services: How can I disable the "Install update to keep device running smoothly" notification?

It may be true that these strings are present in the Google Play Services codebase, but if I was a clever malware writer, I'd use them for precisely that reason. The point is, the dialog doesn't tell me anything about what I'm being asked to install. It doesn't come up in the context of updating my device. It randomly pops up when I have regular old apps running. These three points make me very suspicious of this dialog.

@PatrickBrennan it's been over a year and I see no answers here. Did you get a satisfactory resolution? I'm seeing the same popup and my 2-minute Google search suggests it's probably nothing serious but I'm wondering if you discovered anything nefarious?

@YevgenySimkin I received a support request from a friend who has received the same message.  Interestingly, they received this poorly worded, cryptic, and suspicious message at approximately the same time as when you posted your comment.  That leads me to believe it is organized malware (triggered by a server or a specific date) or legitimate.  Completely different possibilities, of course.  And naturally, Google is of no help.  They have a Pixel 6 (non-Pro) with Android 13 and all current security updates.  They have not allowed a recent "Hey Google" model update.  Have you?

@YevgenySimkin Looking at a list of apps installed on their device, I only see 2 that aren't common.  One is Cube ACR, which was installed from the Google Play store, and the other is called Cube ACR Helper which was reportedly installed from the Cube ACR website.  Have you ever installed either of those apps?

@YevgenySimkin BTW, their device stated "Install now to control when your device updates.  In one day, your device will automatically install the update and schedule a restart."  Adding to additional suspicion, the font colour for all the text was wrong: it was all light text on a light background except for the Install now icon and string that was at the bottom of the cryptic and suspicious popup.

@RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket I should have taken a screenshot - it came up twice and I *think your description of the text being "wrong" was what I saw but I can't swear to it. Both times it came up I was in WhatsApp. I don't have any unusual apps installed - I use almost nothing but Google products. I just looked and there *is a system update that is "paused". I'll let that run and see what happens next. Oh, and I'm on a pixel 6a

@YevgenySimkin Thanks for the further details Yevgeny.  BTW, in my friend's list of apps, they definitely do not have WhatsApp installed.

Google Play Services shows that popup.
Ryan M (an employee of Google/Android at the time of writing) commented:

[...] these strings are present in the Google Play Services codebase for the update functionality, so while I personally haven't seen that exact screen, I would believe it's real.

However, this doesn't really help the user to determine whether the popup they see is legit or not.

Eli Billauer posted a detailed explanation about preventing the Android system update on his website, including the popup. Quoting the relevant parts on how to check who is responsible for the popup (log output is trimmed for brevity):

Who’s behind the popup window?
The first step is to figure out what package initiates the request for an update.
[...]
Now some hands-on. When the popup appears, go
$ adb shell dumpsys window windows > dump.txt

That produces a lot of output, but there was this segment:
  Window #10 Window{28d0746 u0 com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.update.phone.PopupDialog}:
    [...]
    mOwnerUid=10146 showForAllUsers=false package=com.google.android.gms appop=NONE
    [...]
    mBaseLayer=21000 mSubLayer=0    mToken=ActivityRecord{577992f u0 com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog t26}
    mActivityRecord=ActivityRecord{577992f u0 com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog t26}
    [...]
    WindowStateAnimator{9e9cbdf com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.update.phone.PopupDialog}:
      mSurface=Surface(name=com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.update.phone.PopupDialog)/@0x223f02c
      [...]

Also, in the output of
$ adb shell dumpsys > all.txt

there was a much more to-the-point section saying (pretty much at the beginning of this huge file):
Display 4619827677550801152 HWC layers:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Layer name
           Z |  Window Type |  Comp Type |  Transform |   Disp Frame (LTRB) |          Source Crop (LTRB) |     Frame Rate (Explicit) (Seamlessness) [Focused]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [...]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 com.google.android.apps.nexuslaunche[...]exuslauncher.NexusLauncherActivity#0
  rel      0 |            1 |     DEVICE |          0 |    0    0 1440 3120 |    0.0    0.0 1440.0 3120.0 |                                              [ ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [...]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.update.phone.PopupDialog#0
  rel      0 |            1 |     DEVICE |          0 |   48  698 1392 2511 |    0.0    0.0 1344.0 1813.0 |                                              [*]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 StatusBar#0
  rel      0 |         2000 |     DEVICE |          0 |    0    0 1440  145 |    0.0    0.0 1440.0  145.0 |                                              [ ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 NavigationBar0#0
  rel      0 |         2019 |     DEVICE |          0 |    0 2952 1440 3120 |    0.0    0.0 1440.0  168.0 |                                              [ ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ScreenDecorOverlay#0
  rel      0 |         2024 |     DEVICE |          0 |    0    0 1440  176 |    0.0    0.0 1440.0  176.0 |                                              [ ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ScreenDecorOverlayBottom#0
  rel      0 |         2024 |     DEVICE |          0 |    0 2944 1440 3120 |    0.0    0.0 1440.0  176.0 |                                              [ ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is much better, because the window in focus is clearly marked. No need to guess.
Another place to look at is
$ adb shell dumpsys activity recents > recent.txt

Where it said:
  * Recent #0: Task{51b5cb8 #26 type=standard A=10146:com.google.android.gms U=0 visible=true mode=fullscreen translucent=true sz=1}
    userId=0 effectiveUid=u0a146 mCallingUid=u0a146 mUserSetupComplete=true mCallingPackage=com.google.android.gms mCallingFeatureId=com.google.android.gms.ota_base
    affinity=10146:com.google.android.gms
    intent={act=android.settings.SYSTEM_UPDATE_COMPLETE flg=0x10848000 pkg=com.google.android.gms cmp=com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog}
    mActivityComponent=com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog
    [...]
    Activities=[ActivityRecord{577992f u0 com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog t26}]
    [...]

This is interesting, as it says which Intent and Activity stand behind the popup, just by asking what the last Activity requests were. Even more important, if the popup was dismissed or disappeared for any other reason, it can still be found here.
So no doubt, it’s com.google.android.gms that stands behind this popup. That’s Google Mobile Service, and it’s a package that is responsible for a whole lot. [...]
Under the section “ACTIVITY MANAGER PENDING INTENTS (dumpsys activity intents)” there was
    #8: PendingIntentRecord{50a35f1 com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.ota_base broadcastIntent}
      uid=10146 packageName=com.google.android.gms featureId=com.google.android.gms.ota_base type=broadcastIntent flags=0x2000000
      requestIntent=act=com.google.android.chimera.IntentOperation.TARGETED_INTENT dat=chimeraio:/com.google.android.gms.chimera.GmsIntentOperationService/com.google.android.gms.update.INSTALL_UPDATE pkg=com.google.android.gms (has extras)
      sent=true canceled=false

which I suppose indicates that com.google.android.gms has requested to run its own .update.INSTALL_UPDATE at a later stage. In other words, this is the indication of the recurring request to run the INSTALL_UPDATE intent.

Thus, if com.google.android.gms/.update.phone.PopupDialog appears in the log output, then it should be a legit popup from Google Play Services. Otherwise, the package name of the offending app will also be shown.

Thanks Andrew.  Is your conclusion that this intrusive popup is a cryptic message (incredibly bad UX by Google) indicating that the Google Play Services is planning to update itself (even though the message itself gives no such information to the user)? It still seems unclear what is actually getting updated.  Eli has demonstrated that the message likely comes from GMS, but as Eli mentions, "it's a package that is responsible for a whole lot". Can we conclude that it is planning on updating itself?

BTW, the second link in your answer goes to a deleted page on StackOverflow.  I checked on Wayback Machine, and the page is not present there either.  Do you know if that page is available elsewhere?

@RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket based on the package name of the caller com.google.android.gms.ota_base and the download size (2.03 GB) from the screenshot on the blog, looks like it's about the Android system update OTA, not Google Play Services (GPS can and does update itself without the user's intervention). As for the deleted SO post, I'm not sure if there's an archive of it, but AFAIR that's the only comment that was related to this matter, before that question got closed and deleted (it's a cross-post that's off-topic on SO).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
WhatsApp restore problem: "Unable to restore your chats from this backup. Do you want to restore your chats from an older backup?"
I tried all day to move my WhatsApp from a phone to another. I had everything backed up, but when I verified on new phone, I realised that I forgot the password and the encryption key to restore from Google Drive, but it was too late to change them because I was already logged off the old phone.
So I verified again on my old phone, but the chats were already lost. So I wanted to restore chats on old phone with local backup, reset password, and then back up on Google Drive and do everything on new phone, but I get this error when I try to do the restoring.

Unable to restore your chats from this backup. Do you want to restore your chats from an older backup?
Skip Restore from older

Now, if I try to press on restore from older, I get prompted the following:

If you previously backed up to Google Drive and want to restore it, give WhatsApp permission to check your Google accounts for backups.
Skip Give permission

And when I press on give permission, I get asked to chose a Google account, and when I press on mine, it goes back to the same thing asking to give permission and it won't to something unless I press skip.
Please help.

Known bug. You cant do much.

Any Solution found?

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


text:
Shortcut to switch to physical keyboard layouts
I use Android Emulator on MacBook Pro M1.
I have trouble with a physical keyboard which works in a very odd way as it doesn't change the layout with ctrl + space and any other combinations. So I need to go to System -> Languages & Input -> Physical keyboard -> qwerty2 each time.
Is it possible to add a switch to GBoard or the bottom menu to toggle the physical keyboard layouts?


text:
Use adb to remove adoptable storage
I followed these steps (in brief, enable debugging and use adb to enable storage and format sd card) to enable adoptable storage on a Samsung A01 to make the phone more usable (device is not rooted). It basically seemed to work and some apps could be moved to the SD-card and freed up space.
It freed up enough space that I then tried to update the OS (to One UI 3.1 / Android 11) and am now stuck. After the install, most software just hung until I removed the sd card. I have since reformatted the card and uninstalled all the apps previously moved to it and tried the same command sequence hoping to re-enable adoptable storage.
The phone basically works now except the SD card isn't working correctly - I assume it's still looking for the now missing adoptable storage. It complains: "SD card missing" / "insert device again".
I'm wondering if there are similar adb commands to undo adoptable storage - even if the adoptable storage partition is missing. Hoping to avoid a factory reset.
Thanks for any tips!

I came back to this and found the magic incantation here:
Basically, connect back to the device and redo the earlier partition command replacing the word "private" with "public". In my case:
adb shell sm partition disk:179,64 public

Having said that - I then tried to redo the process and am discovering the phone may not play well with adoptable storage. Wonder how many phones get landfilled because of this design issue - all of 2yo.
Perhaps I spoke a bit too soon...
Wasted a couple more hours on this and found another nugget on reddit: buried in Developer Options is "force allow apps on external" With that I was finally able to free some storage and it seems to work - time will tell. Perhaps leaving this here may be of use to someone.


text:
Can I flash a different stock firmware's build number
Can I flash a boot.img file same model but different build number?
My device: Infinix Smart 5 X657C

I've tried this on a realme device and it worked. So you may try, at your own risk.

read boot.img off device with mtkclient

Hello, I rooted my phone successfully. But my wifi and bluetooth aren't working. Any fix for this?


text:
How can I extend the length of the batterystats history?
I am doing some power consumption analysis using Batterystats and Battery Historian. The problem that I am facing is that the length of history I can get from the phones varies widely form brand to brand.
On Samsung phones, for example, I have gotten history of up to 5 days, whereas with Pixel phones I can't get more than 1hr of history. Is there a way to increase the time period logged by the system?
Currently, when I do a power consumption test, I follow these steps:

Reset logs with adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset
Run adb shell dumpsys batterystats --enable no-auto-reset to prevent resetting of the logs
After the test, retrieve the logs with adb bugreport bugreport.zip
Analyze the logs in Battery Historian.

But I can't find any ways to get a consistent history from phone to phone. As stated above, the history length will be different depending on the brand, even if the test period is the same.
I would like to get at least 12 hours worth of data to perform overnight tests. Even better if I can get multi-day data for long term testing.
Edit: Edited the steps I take to test to add more detail and clarity.

In settings app on my Pixel4a I get 24 hours history. You should edit your question and post the full commands you are using, not only some parameters of an unknown command.

Thanks for the suggestion Robert, I have edited to add more detail. What settings are you referring to in your Pixel?

If I open Settings app -> Battery -> Battery usage I get power usage of the last 24 hours as graph and the involved [system] apps.

By keeping no-auto-reset enabled I've been able to get battery stats for months. Currently one of my device is at 131 days. See this. But no-auto-reset doesn't persist across device reboots. So it must be set before unplugging charger which may clear battery stats if some other conditions also meet.

@Robert, unfortunately the Battery Usage stats on the phone don't have the detailed information I need from the batterystats logs and it's the logs that I can't get long term data from.


text:
Screen fading and battery icon outlined in red
I've got a new Doogee S40 running Android 9.0.
A problem started when the battery level went down to 20%. The battery icon started to be outlined in red and the screen started dimming after around 5 seconds.
I ensured the following:

Screen saver was and is 2 minutes
Battery Saver is off
Battery Manager is off
Standby Intelligent Power Saving is off

I have restarted the phone more than 5 times since this began. There has been no change in the red outline or screen fading.
Does anyone have any ideas how this can be corrected?

You mention a full charge after setting the power saver. I am assuming, since you do not mention it explicitly, that a restart never occurred? Maybe the setting can be turned ON immediately, but OFF, once on, requires a restart. (Pure supposition, mind you). I only ask this because I am a long-time believer that restarts don't always NEED to happen, except under justification; turning this OFF might be a setting that needs an environment refresh.

I've restarted it 5 times now.  The problem remains.

SUCCESS! I went into Safe Mode. I found the app "Power Saving Mode" and sure enough, it was in "Super Mode" so I changed it to "Normal" and the phone righted itself!
Power Saving Mode seems to be an app built in to Android 9.0, maybe by Doogee as part of their package?
Here is the logo:

And here is a link with some info:  https://www.techrepublic.com/article/let-power-saving-mode-keep-your-battery-from-draining-too-quickly/

Just curious, is "Power Saving Mode" an app? If so, is it a system app or a 3rd-party app? Could you [edit] and expand the answer with more details about this app?

Here's another link, to add to the one I shared above.
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00079037/#:~:text=First%2C%20navigate%20to%20Settings%2C%20and,background%20network%20usage%20and%20syncing.


text:
Why must the charger be rated 24W or higher instead of 21W or higher to minimize the charging duration of a Pixel 6?
I read on androidcentral.com:

In order to attain the maximum charging speed of 21W on your Pixel 6 (23W on Pixel 6 Pro), the charger must support Power Delivery (PD, Programmable Power Supply (PPS), and be rated to 24W or higher. You also need an e-marked cable that can negotiate the exact current between the charger and the phone.

Why must the charger be rated 24W or higher instead of 21W or higher?

Based on: https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-charging-explained-2-889780/ it just be as simple as adding a performance margin since the PPS may vary slightly.

On electronic devices it is not the best idea to run it at 100% of it's specification, especially considering that al lot charger are cheap China products that may get 100% of their power but only reliable on "Sundays in leap years"...


text:
Recover Data from Boot Looping OnePlus6
I have a OnePlus 6 (all stock except developer options enabled) that randomly started doing a boot loop in the night, I CANNOT lose the data from this phone, any suggestions to recover it?
We are in the middle of renovating a house and the photos and videos on there are our proof to building control that certain things have been done correctly, without these we will be in some trouble.
Cheers.

try to get logcat for more info. don't try anything you have read - it won't work

Thanks, but I have no idea what any of that means, it's been MANY years since I've done anything remotely to do with command line etc.... I'd need talking through it step by step

you need PC and adb for logcat

Thanks for the reply, I understand that, I have downloaded ADB, what now?

logcat says no connected devices

I am afraid this is dead end. but you can view logs in recovery mode maybe

So is there no other way to recover the data?

@Mogs84 whatever data that was back up in your Google account is all that you can lay your hands on. It sucks but Android is designed in a way to not allow the owner to access their data for no fault of theirs. Just because of some software or hardware failure.

the way to recover data off device is, fix the boot-loop and let it boot into stage with access to data. your best options are switching slots (fallback to healthy slot) or install OTA zip from recovery (will hopefully fix it). sometimes only wiping cache partition is enough - you can try first

Thanks Alecxs, have tried all viable options via the recovery mode, reluctand to try factory reset from recovery just yet incase any other option turns up.
How would I install an OTA zip from recovery?

I am not sure. usually copy zip to MicroSD then chose "Apply update from SD card" but adb sideload may work with "Apply update from ADB" https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/3792244

I'm trying the guide here: https://www.thecustomdroid.com/oneplus-factory-image-creation-guide/ and got through everything required to get to flash stage, getting error saying "FAILED (remote: Flashing is not allowed in Lock State)
finished. total time: 1.628s"


text:
Why is a Chinese symbol on some of my WhatsApp contacts?
I have WhatsApp application installed on the latest version of Android on my phone.
I've noticed that for some contacts, a Chinese symbol (which I translated using Google Photos with automatic language detection and seems to mean "Telephone" in simplified Chinese) appears close to some of my contacts:

Why is that symbol appearing? I've tried to find a common pattern across these contacts but I couldn't find any: the symbol appears on contacts that I'm sure they don't have my number (but other contacts that I'm sure they don't have my number isn't showing it), and vice versa - some contacts that I am sure they have my number and still the symbol appears.
Would you have any idea of why that happens? I couldn't find any explanation on the internet and I wouldn't know where to ask if not on this forum.

Do these people live in China or speak Chinese?

@TheMovieMan, no, not at all. They all live in Europe and do not speak Chinese. I've just noticed that I have the same symbol in my list of missed calls (in the native phone app in android, just close to the date of the missed call), and for those two people I am sure they have my number saved in their contacts. Though what I know is that these 2 people have themselves an Android phone.

Cursory research returned Quora mentioning 1) that's how the contacts are saved on the device, and 2) yes, 电话 means "Phone", so it could be possibly the default value stored. Though, WhatsApp Business v2.22.16.75 on my Pixel 3a Android 12 and WhatsApp v2.22.16.75 on my Nexus 5, Android 7.1.2 (both using Google Contacts) don't show anything that says "mobile" anywhere... so just in case, could you also mention the device model, Android version, and the default Contacts app?

@AndrewT. Well caught! Indeed I opened the contact on my phone and saw that the number was saved under this section with the Chinese symbol. The common pattern that I found across all these contacts is that they have been imported into my phone from an iPhone (I had an iPhone before switching to Android), so apparently that operation did something that those contacts now show "mobile" in Chinese!


text:
wDisplay Android hotspot in macOS Wi-Fi menu
Preface: I suspect the answer is "no", but I reckon I'd shoot my shot.
MacOS has an auto-discovery called Instant Hotspot feature for shows nearby iPhones that are available to provide a hotspot. These are listed in the WiFi menu along with their battery level and cell signal strength.
Crucially, this appears before a hotspot has actually been started. Clicking on the menu entry will remotely enable the hotspot on that iPhone.

Has anybody managed to make an Android app that let's an Android play ball with this feature?

If this feature relies on iCloud accounts (I don't think it does, I can see strangers' hotspots) or some central registration server, then this will obviously not work. On the other hand, if it's just using some local WiFi frames, then it seems plausible to reverse engineer and spoof. Is there any existing work on this?

I don't know exactly how this feature works, but based on your description it can not only works using WiFi. My guess is that is uses Bluetooth to detect nearby devices. As MacOS and Icloud are closed source systems and Android devices don't contain an Apple certified secure enclave (which is used most likely by the Apple devices for mutual authentication) I don't see high chances to port such a functionality.

@Robert I think it's most likely that they're using 1) They could be broadcasting availability with special frames at the PHY layer (802.11 WiFi), 2) they could be using Bluetooth. It's possible to lock down the feature using a private key only found in legitimate iPhones, but if it's not, it should be possible to replicate on other systems. If no one has already done so, I could look into myself and share my findings!

There's a comment on a slightly related question, Make iPhone hotspot always detectable on Android phone on [Apple.SE]: "Apple devices know the hotspot is there, because they're all logged into the same Apple ID, and use BTLE to ask the iOS device to actually turn the hotspot on."

According to this answer on Apple.SE, the feature is called Instant Hotspot and it relies on both WiFi and Bluetooth enabled on Apple devices.

Ah yes, I'll incorporate that name into my question, thanks for sharing! "... because they're all logged into the same Apple ID, ..." I'm skeptical of this. In crowded public spaces I often see multiple strangers' iPhones who most definitely (hopefully!) aren't on my Apple ID


text:
How can I install NikGApps on a fully unlocked Android 12 system without being refused by signature verification?
I have an Android 12 installation loaded onto an ARM SoC "super" SBC (Firefly ITX-3588J) and want to try and get Google Play working on it, as the stock A12 image does not come with it. Because this is a full computer system and not a smartphone, I both have full access to the memory, bootloader, root, etc. yet also, pretty much all instructions I've found online for installing things like that seem to presume a smartphone with varying degrees of restriction.
My best approach so far has been to get the package "NikGApps" (), instead of Open GApps, because the latter does not currently support Android 12, but the former does. However, I have no idea how to load the package into the system. Looking it up, most people on smartphones seem to do this using something called TWRP, but TWRP apparently does not support Android 12. Yet obviously the author of that package somehow intended for it to be installed on Android 12, but the instructions they provide for doing that are extremely terse and simply say "flash" it to the board with no details of how you do that.
Further digging seems to suggest the answer is to use adb sideload after booting to the stock (i.e. not TWRP) recovery mode, however the problem here is that when I do that I get an E:Signature verification failed error and the system refuses to complete the installation (at somewhere between 40% and 50%, I believe 47%). Presumably, and from what I can gather online, this is a problem relating to the fact it is not some officially "blessed" package for the Android system (i.e. it has to be signed and OKed by some "trustworthy" source).
And so my question is, is there some way around that? How can I install this package successfully and correctly?

You don't need TWRP recovery, you just need a custom recovery that allows to disable signature verification to flash the GApps package.

@Robert: How do I get that for Android 12?

Previous question for additional context: How can one install Google Play Services on an Android-running device that does not have it by default?

I'm using OrangePi 5 and had the same problem.

E:Signature verification failed error

Based on my research, this error is caused by not unlocking the bootloader.
Here are the steps I took, hope it helps you.

Get adb/fastboot-tool (I assume you already know)

https://androidmtk.com/download-minimal-adb-and-fastboot-tool

Boot the device into fake fastboot mode (fastbootd or fastboot daemon)
adb reboot fastboot

After the device has booted into fastbootd mode, use the following command to check if Windows has installed the fastboot driver or not.
fastboot devices

If you do not see the device list display, or -waiting for any device- error, then download and install the fastboot driver according to the following link:

https://github.com/fawazahmed0/Latest-adb-fastboot-installer-for-windows

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/official-tool-windows-adb-fastboot-and-drivers-15-seconds-adb-installer-v1-4-3.2588979/

Boot into real fastboot mode (bootloader mode)
fastboot bootloader

Unlock the bootloader
fastboot flashing unlock

After this step, you should try flashing Gapps again
adb sideload gapps.zip

Note: I haven't actually unlocked the bootloader yet, because my device freezes when booting into bootloader mode (still researching).

Okay, I have found a solution for how to install Gapps for Orange Pi 5 Android.
It turns out that to unlock Android's bootloader, we have to enable the "OEM unlock" feature which is not implemented (SCB's Android images).
This is a link to the step-by-step guide of Discord user snowdrag2020: https://discord.com/channels/934722269522059335/1040242609626554408/1056234247628800101
I just copy/paste it here for a better search engine result.

Install Aurora Store. Search for “Device ID” and install
Search for firefox and install.
Open firefox, download
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/download/v25.2/Magisk-v25.2.apk and install.
Open Magisk App. It will tell you that you have installed MagiskApp but not yet Magisk core. Press Install Magisk and reboot.
Open firefox, download https://sourceforge.net/projects/magiskgapps/files/android-12L-ALPHA/17.10.2022/MagiskGApps-a.12L.BASIC.10.16.2022.zip/download remember to download a12 version not a13 since orange pi 5 rom is Android 12.
Open Magisk App, it will warn you about a duplicated ‘su’ is found, ignore it.
Select “module”. Select “Install from Storage”. Choose the MagiskGApp a12 zip file. It will install it and then reboot itself.
This reboot will take much longer than it used to be since GAPP is being loaded.
After reboot, try open Google Play Store and click “Sign In”. It will warn you your device is NOT Google Play Protected Certified. I forgot the steps, just follow the steps to get to a page to register your device.
Open “Device ID” , find the entry of “Google Services Framework (GSF)”, copy the HEX id to the registration page and register.
For my own experience, it takes ~5 mins to complete the registration even after it tells you your device is registered. Keep trying signing in the Google play store until it works.
Congratulation, your GAPPs is ready.

All credits goes to him!


text:
Gray link pop-up on my Android device screen

Why my Android device keep gray link on the screen? When it's get rotated it will show bunch of gray link, I don't know how to make it's disappear.
I just use mouse and keyboard on my Android and the issue those gray link appear. I don't have any ideas to stop it.

Could you mention the device model and Android version? Also, if this is a screen overlay, then you could try Determine which app is drawing on top of other apps?,

I use local phone with android 10. I've been checked Im not gives other apps to draw over apps.. I just using browser chrome and via, sometimes when I click a link that's grey link appear.. this issue happen since I use mouse and keyboard on my Android


text:
How can I install Magisk alongside LineageOS on my S10?
I have an S10, which was not bound to any carriers. I managed to install LineageOS and GApps following the steps from LineageOS' official site for my model and everything seems to work perfectly. Before installing LineageOS, my phone had the stock Samsung Android 12 installed and, looking at the install instructions over at Magisk's official website, it seems like I have to perform a particular type of installation to be able to install Magisk.
What I am wondering about is:

Do I have to use Odin? I am a Linux user and over at the website it states that Odin only runs on Windows.
Watching videos online, none of the video tutorials seemed to use a Samsung + LineageOS when installing Magisk; they installed Magisk + stock Samsung Android, which brings the question if I need to download and install the official firmware from the Samsung servers or can I just get away with flashing Magisk directly on the device?

Yes Odis only runs on Windows but there is Heimdall the open-source cross-platform version that is more or less a replacement for Odin. Usually for installing Magisk you need the boot image that is modified by Magisk and then you can flash it. As you have LinegeOS running getting the boot image should be that hard.

@Robert Oh, okay. Heimdall was what I used to flash LineagOS and GApps onto the device in the first place. So I can basically just follow the steps in the instructions and substitute them with the relevant ones in Heimdall?

As far as I know, yes (but I don't know exactly what differences between Heimdal and Odin exist). From my understanding Heimdall is the "Linux version of Odin" (from a user perspective).


text:
FindMyDevice without having access to the device
This is a bizarre question to have to ask but: how am I supposed to use FindMyDevice if it requires my device to confirm it's me who's trying to find my device?
I recently lost my phone (I luckily got it back another way) and absolutely couldn't get FindMyDevice to work.
Here is what I attempted:

start FindMyDevice on my friend's phone

sign in as a guest

now I'm getting "2-step verification" displayed on my friend's phone and im getting a push notification my own phone (which I didn't have access to)

when I pressed "Try another way" I got four options:

Tap yes on your phone or tablet, which I couldn't
Use your phone or tablet to get a security code, which I couldn't
Get a verification code at my , which I couldn't
Try account recovery, which sends just yet another push notification to my phone, which I couldn't confirm either.

Find My Device can be accessed from the web, but this is assuming that you already have a browser that is logged in to your Google account.

@AndrewT Okay, but the app is useless? Or do I need the app on my phone so the browser can find it?

The app can be useful if you have multiple Android devices connected to the same Google account already. The app doesn't need to be installed for the device to be found. For your specific case, Google Account Help mentioned this: "If you used your lost phone for 2-step verification, you must have a backup phone or backup code."


text:
Add pkt, apt or any other packet manager onto the Oneplus Nord
On my phone any kind of packet manager is missing. With that - presumably - it is possible to install python on Android. Not even dpkg or rpm are available (curl would be available though). Is there maybe some kind of magisk module or are there any online-ressources available where I can download the packet manager binaries that would be executeable on an Oneplus Nord? I know it's available on other phones, like the Fairphone 4.

apt is Ubuntu's package manger. dpkg and rpm are also package managers for Linux distros. What is pkt and “packet manager”? What's exactly available on Fairphone? What you want to do with a package manager on Android? Did you try Termux? Also see the first paragraph here.

If you want a Linux like environment install Termux from F-Droid store (not from PlayStore that version is no longer maintained).

Regarding termux: Yes I tried pkg install python. But then I got an error saying that pkg was not found :/

The fdroid version was working! Thanks!


text:
Lenovo P11 Plus - Only admin can log-in into table at first after restart
I got a P11 Plus (Android 11) for my son, and I am having troubles with a behaviour that is extremely frustrating.

When setting up the tablet, I first set myself as the owner/admin (i.e., the first account to be set-up in the table was mine).
Then I proceeded to set my kid's account (child under 13). I got kids space working, family link, etc.

What I noticed is that if the tablet is restarted, only my account can unlock the tablet.

My kid's account (or any other account besides my own, the admin) is greyed out and cannot be selected at this point.
If I unlock the tablet, then other users will be able to log-in with their accounts.
This renders the tablet usless to my family unless I am around after a tablet reboot!

Now, had I made my son the first user in the tablet, he would have been the admin. The result is a ridiculous situation in which he would be able to log-in a temporary guest account and bypass all restrictions, EVEN IF I BLOCKED HIM FROM CREATING ACCOUNTS. Indeed he wouldn't be able to create accounts, but he would be able to mess around with the guest access all the same.
Anyway, I'd say it is perfectly reasonable to expect that a parent would be the first account (admin) of a tablet, before it is handed over to a child.
So how can I allow my kid to log-in into the tablet after a reboot?
Thanks.

As far as I know it is a built-in requirement of Android that after a reboot always the first/admin user has to log in. AFAIK this is because otherwise the necessary encryption keys are not available. https://android.stackexchange.com/q/245732/2241 The only work-around I see is to let your child learn that the tablet should not be shut-down or rebooted. Instead set it to Flight-Mode to save battery.

@Robert Thanks. Maybe there is a work around in which I don't have a lock on my account, but there is a locked "shell" that restricts access to everything, including system settings?


text:
Force discard Chrome tabs?
It seems there is a performance issue that Chrome on Android consistently exhibits with tabs that share two characteristics:

They share the same origin.
They make heavy use of Javascript to load content dynamically.

An example is having multiple tabs displaying different pages under reddit.com.
When Chrome visits a lot of these tabs, it appears that Chrome will not discard data loaded from most of the tabs as long as one tab from the same origin remains open. After going through a dozen tabs or so, this results in very high memory use, as well as old tabs still being loaded when they are switched back to.
Interestingly, an OEM tool on my device still shows Chrome in this case as using only a relatively low amount of memory, around 300MB. However, the same tool also shows available memory as extremely low, with no user applications other than Chrome using significant amounts, and ending the Chrome process or closing all the offending tabs in Chrome immediately produces a major improvement in UI responsiveness along with a very large increase in available memory. Perhaps it is some system-level web rendering process that is holding data from common origins in memory. But Chrome is clearly still choosing to retain those pages.
The expected behaviour, which is what happens when you have lots of JS-heavy tabs from different origins, or lots of tabs from the same origin that don't make heavy use of JS, is for Chrome to silently discard unused tabs from memory while still keeping them open and reloading them if they are displayed again.
This is quite frustrating as I believe I can see quite clearly what is happening, and the fix should be so easy, but there simply aren't any UI controls exposed for it, so it can still lock my phone up for tens of minutes at a time. Additionally, I've made a habit of doing most of my web browsing in Incognito Mode, so when Chrome freezes and then has to be closed, I can lose pages that I still wanted to read.
Is there a way that Chrome can be forced to discard open tabs? Not close, only discard, as I may still want to go back to them.


text:
Can't boot into bootloader on Oppo F1s
I can't get into fastboot mode on my Oppo F1s (A1601), Android 5.1.
Here is what I'm doing:

adb and fastboot are installed on Mac
I have developer options and OEM unlock enabled
In the terminal, adb devices shows my phone
I enter adb reboot-bootloader but it does not say "fastboot mode" on the screen like I have read it is supposed to. It just restarts my phone. (note I have tried variations like reboot_bootloader; same result)

Am I doing it wrong or is fastboot not on this phone? Or is it hidden somehow?
The solution should be Mac supported, also I have windows 10 on a virtual machine.

Have you tried adb reboot bootloader instead?

1, 2, 3


text:
Installed OpenVPN server on rooted Android, but routing is not working
I wanted to install OpenVPN server on rooted Android and found a solution on StackExchange. I rooted my phone, installed Linux Deploy, installed Ubuntu in it and compiled latest OpenVPN server and EasyRSA.
When I start OpenVPN server on my phone and I can connect to it with a client, but I can't ping anything but myself. Below is my server configuration (same configuration works fine if I set it up on real Ubuntu server):
# server 10.10.1.0 255.255.255.0
# push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"
# topology subnet
# push "topology subnet"
# push "dhcp-option DNS 84.200.69.80"
# push "dhcp-option DNS 84.200.70.40"
# duplicate-cn
# data-ciphers-fallback 'AES-256-CBC'
# keepalive 10 120
# persist-key
# persist-tun
# explicit-exit-notify 1
# log-append /var/log/openvpn.log
# verb 3

I haven't installed iptables or ufw so that's not a problem.
My router LAN ip address is 192.168.2.1 and my telephone ip address is 192.168.2.28 (wlan0).
My OpenVPN server is on 10.10.1.1 (tun0) address and my OpenVPN client gets 10.10.1.2.
On the StackExchange link I posted, guy said that Android ignores main table at all, so we should create custom rules and insert routes.
Without adding any routes to server, I can't even ping 10.10.1.1 from my client, but when I add sudo ip route add 10.10.1.0/24 dev tun0 table 5000 ping started working for 10.10.1.1 and 192.168.2.28 and that's it, I can't get to 192.168.2.1 or any further.
I tried adding sudo ip route add 192.168.2.0/24 dev wlan0 table 5000 but nothing changes.
I even tried sudo ip route add default dev wlan0 table 5000, but when I add that, I can't even connect from my client to my server any more.
Anyone have any idea how can I fix this?


text:
Sys can't boot, recovery broken, adb disabled, zero ideas [Oneplus 5T]
I tried to update from crdroid 7 (Android 11) to 8 (android 12) with a clean flash (no format data though) and now my situation is the following:

System is stuck on boot animation
in fastboot, my device is not recognized, adb devices  shows nothing, and fastboot flash waits for devices. I tried reinstalling adb and drives, but my guess is that system is sorta installed and disabled usb debugging, which is off by default. I also tried from another pc, device is not found by it.
twrp is broken, it remains stuck on the twrp logo. Every 5 minutes or the screen flashes black.
I uninstalled magisk before flashing anything.
The devices is not encrypted, I removed the password before starting the process

Now, the only hope: the devices is recognized in recovery mode by the pc, even though windows does not mount the storage. Here is what I tried:

adb root says adbd is already running as root, but I'm unable to access the root in the adb shell.
I tried adb pull \data\media\ but it fails to copy: open failed: Required key not available.
adb sideload the recovery or a rom or magisk ends in error: closed
adb pull /system/build.prop ends in remote object '/system/build.prop' does not exist

So I have not idea how to get the required key to pull the data or enable the usb debugging through adb (so I could reflash the recovery). I have zero clues on how to recover the data and/or the phone so here I am. (I also have to head out from home so I won't be able to reply today)

Even if the phone has no password it can still be encrypted. Modern Android devices are always encrypted no matter what you do. Your device is from 207 initial with Android 7.1 i am not sure if default encryption was enabled on devices at that time. Required key not available also indicates that your user data can not be accessed be cause the default encryption is active but the necessary decryption key is gone or not accessible (assuming you have a recovery that supports user data decryption).

fastboot is unrelated to adb and doesn't require usb-debugging 2. TWRP provides a set of terminal commands (I would start with 'adb pull /tmp/recovery.log')


text:
BenQ RP7502 won't update Apps
We are using BenQ Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) at school, and we are having issues with updating the apps.
The firewall rules we have set up should bypass all authentication, but when it comes to updating the apps, the download either just hangs (i.e. when using DMS) or immediately fails (when attempting a download on the device).
System version updates work without issue, but a reset will not "download" the system version, this must be run off a USB instead.
We have reserved the DHCP IPs (both Wifi and Eth) and assigned them to the firewall rules listed below (provided by BenQ):

App
URL/DNS

EZWrite
https://ezwriteupload-eu.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/https://ezwriteupload.s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.comhttps://ezwrite.benq.com/https://ezwrite-relay.benq.com/https://service-portal.benq.comhttps://iam.benq.com*.pubnub.com*.pndsn.com*.pubnub.net*.pubnub.iostun.l.google.comstun1.l.google.comstun2.l.google.comstun3.l.google.comstun4.l.google.comstun.services.mozilla.com23.21.150.121stun01.sipphone.comstun.ekiga.netstun.fwdnet.netstun.ideasip.comstun.iptel.orgstun.rixtelecom.sestun.schlund.destunserver.orgstun.softjoys.comstun.voiparound.comstun.voipbuster.comstun.voipstunt.comstun.voxgratia.orgstun.xten.com

EZWrite OTA
http://qspublic.s3.amazonaws.comhttps://qspublic.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/

FW OTA
http://vod.benq.com/tvservice_api/api/response.phphttps://d3bx1fc1zkxy8q.cloudfront.nethttps://donglefw.s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/update.xmlhttps://qotaapi.benq.com/api/v2/https://vod.benq.comhttps://benqqota.firebaseio.comhttps://d1m7bten765ify.cloudfront.net

AMS
https://ams.benq.com/api/*https://www.googleapis.comhttps://api.dropboxapi.com

InstaQshare/InstaShare
http://h1.ee-share.com/

BenQ Suggest
http://vod.benq.com/suggest/public/

Easy Setting
https://smartdms.benq.com/ESApi/publichttp://relaysmartdms.benq.com:443https://smartdms.benq.com.cn/ESApi/publichttp://relaysmartdms.benq.com.cn:443

X-Sign
https://Relay.benq.comhttps://Apiservice.benq.comhttps://X-Sign.benq.com https://logapiservice.benq.comhttps://qspublic.s3.amazonaws.comhttps://xsignbdp-eu.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.comhttps://vod.benq.comhttps://sa900-api.elasticbeanstalk.comhttps://api.openweathermap.orghttps://Relay.benq.com.cnhttps://Apiservice.benq.com.cnhttps://X-Sign.benq.com.cnhttps://logapiservice.benq.com.cnhttp://qspublic.s3.cn-north-1.amazonaws.com.cnhttps://benqxsignbdp.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.comhttps://benqxsignbdp.oss.aliyuncs.comhttps://vod.benq.comhttps://xsignbdp.s3.cn-north-1.amazonaws.com.cn

DMS
https://dms.benq.com/https://vod.benq.com/http://staging2.benq.comhttps://dms-relay.benq.comhttps://cmota.s3.amazonaws.com/https://dsdownload.benq.comapexd90h2t5wg-ats.iot.eu-central-1.amazonaws.comhttps://benq-dms-eu.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com

Qtouch
reg.wittydog.com.cnwww.wittydog.com.cn

Blizz/TeamViewer
*.teamviewer.com*.blizz.com

Android Time Sync
time.android.com2.android.pool.ntp.org

Broadcast
https://x-signbroadcast-relay.benq.comhttps://x-signbroadcast-api.benq.comhttps://X-Signbroadcast.benq.comhttps://qspublic.s3.amazonaws.comhttps://broadcastbdp-eu.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.comhttps://vod.benq.comhttps://x-signbroadcast-relay.benq.com.cnhttps://x-signbroadcast-api.benq.com.cnhttps://X-Signbroadcast.benq.com.cnhttp://qspublic.s3.cn-north-1.amazonaws.com.cnhttps://vod.benq.comhttps://broadcastbdp.s3.cn-north-1.amazonaws.com.cn

InstaShare2
https://vod.benq.com/On your Windows firewall, allow access to the following application: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\InstaShare 2\BenQShare.exe

IAM
apitest.benq.comiam.benq.com

For those who are not familiar with this device, by "updating apps", did you mean updating from Play Store? Or any other sources?

The default apps in the BenQ store - even though they are an Android device they don't have access to the normal Android app stores


text:
Samsung: switching to new phone
I recently switched phones for the first time in several years. My vague recollection from past switches was that it was fairly smooth. Here is what happened this time.
I switched from a Galaxy S9, Android 10, to a Galaxy S9+, also Android 10.
After starting the already factory-reset S9+ I entered my Google account details and followed the prompts.
Said prompts led me to use Smart Switch, which I have used several times in the past. Texts, call logs, screen background, icon placement all transferred successfully in a few minutes. The phone then finished installing all the apps and that was it.
But soon I noticed that no app settings have been transferred; this ended up cascading in a couple hours of looking for passwords, re-loading my credit cards in my pay apps, having to manually backup some apps, and even having to call the IT department at work to reset the MFA settings and register the new phone. And several minor problems with other apps.
All in all, not terrible but it was quite a task to be fully functional again with the new phone. My original plan was to switch phones again fairly soon, and now I'm dreading that moment. My question is, did I do something wrong? Is there a way to have a  smoother transition between Samsung phones?

Most security related apps are bound to the device and thus can't be migrated.

I don't doubt it, but makes little sense to me. Google/Samsung already transferred all my texts, calls, and browser passwords to the new phone with no qualms. Anyone with full access to the phone can reset any of my passwords. What's the logic of some app forcing the change manually? In any case, I'm surprised I seem to be the only one with the issue. I was ready to buy a new phone (the change was to a temporary one) and the hassle that was switching phones has made me decide not to buy one. Really surprised there is no backslash with this.

There's no reason why app settings which aren't security related should not be transferred.  Some of them may even have functionality for it in-app, in places rarely - if ever frequented, - until - alas it's too late!


text:
How can I install a system app without restarting the device?
I have a requirement to install two APKs in the /system/priv-app directory. But I can't restart the device (this is due to business requirements).
So, is there any way I can install the two APKs in the /system/priv-app directory without restarting the device?

This is a bit strange. To install an app as a system app a user needs to have root access. And rooted devices and businesses don't go hand in hand. Second, installation of an app as a system app is technically a hack, not something system provides as a feature to use.

Yes, it's really a bit strange. But now there is indeed such a situation.
Although we can install an apk as a system app by modifying the android image, this is more troublesome (requiring cooperation departments to schedule).
So I want to ask if there is a way to install the system application without restarting.

Try restarting the Android framework i.e. system_server and zygote (with stop and start commands). I think it should rescan the system partition. Never tried though. If it doesn't work, other native services may also be restarted. I can think of installd at the moment.

Previously posted on SO for possible additional context: https://stackoverflow.com/q/73356758/2821954; there's a comment by Martin Zeitler: "It is not true that one would have to restart; while leaving the block device mounted."


text:
Slow internet connection on Android phone, while no issues on other home devices
I'm having an issue with the WiFi connection on my Android phone (OnePlus 6, Android 11). For the past few days, some apps started to work slowly, I see spinners all the time, indicating that the contents of the apps cannot be loaded.
As soon as I switch to mobile data (LTE) everything is OK. Also, other home devices (2 laptops and an iPhone have no internet issues).
What I tried:

Changing the position of my router. No luck.
I used a WiFi Analyzer app to find more optimal channels to use and I manually set them on the router. At first, setting a channel helps (the slow apps start working well again), but after a while, the problem comes back and the apps become slow again.

The router provides both 2 and 5GHz frequencies, applied automatically whenever possible. My internet speed is ~500Mbps.
Is it my phone or is it my network? No clue. How can I troubleshoot this further?

When you connect on your phone are you using 2.4g or 5g?  What standard are you using for your WIFI connection (ie 802.11n + AC or something else?)   It sounds to me like you are trying to connect your phone in the 2.4 gig band which is congested - with other AP's changing their frequency to get more bandwidth.

@davidgo When connected, I'm using 5g. The standard used is 802.11 a/n/ac (another available in the settings is 802.11 n/ac)

drop 802.11a.  It peobably wont fix the problem but its obsolete.

Just want to confirm that the issue is with the slow internet connection, not no internet connection, right?

@AndrewT. Exactly. Oddly enough, my internet speed is high, but the problem on my phone remains.


text:
Find text within web page from Samsung Internet browser
Similar to this question, but for the Samsung Internet Browser (which is opened from the Google app).
As is the case with PC desktop Chrome, using the never-fail CTRL-F and F3 combination does yield the hit count in the search box along with the highlighted hits in the right-hand scrollbar. On the tablet, however, most of the resulting page gets covered by a new layer of white nothing over it, which cannot be removed, unless it is then closed, upon which the search items are lost.
As to the alternative, some suggestions directed us to click on the Google "Home" area to acquire the search bar. Somehow, the device does not present as a candidate for Google Home, there may yet be another way to find text on a web page in the Samsung Internet browser.

A screen shot (may be with added annotations from you) of the described situation would make it easier to understand what you are talking about.

Is your question about Chrome for PC?

@Robert: Will try. Reddy: It applies to what is launched from the "Google" icon adjacent by default to the "Chrome" icon in the "Google" collection of icons found in the S10 galaxy tablet "desktop" area.

I tried to clarify the issue because while there's "Google" app, it's not usually called "Google Browser". However. Google may use another browser to open the web page (e.g. Chrome Custom Tabs if there's a "Powered by Chrome" text and "Open in Chrome" option in the menu), so a screenshot might really help.

After testing a little bit, it might actually be about "finding text within web page from Chrome for Android" because the behavior is similar to the one described in the question, but some clarifications would help much more.

@AndrewT. , apologies for the confusion- have some difficulty pulling screenshots off this device, however on the browser page launched by the Google search, (the page where the text is sought) there is a menu option "Open in Samsung Internet." So it may not be Chrome, thus the issue in the linked question at the top of the OP may actually be the case here.


text:
Upgrade to Android 7.0 but keep old built-in apps, user apps, etc
How can I upgrade my Samsung Galaxy S5 from Marshmallow to Nougat without changing the built-in samsung apps, losing user apps, settings, and keeping the Samsung Marshmallow UI? I mean, only updating the kernel and SDK to install newer apps.

As far as I know Android 6 is the last official version for that phone. The only way to update the OS to a newer version would be to unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM. As unlocking the bootloader will erase all your data keeping anything is not an option at all.

In Windows XP, if the hardware is fine you can make a Windows 7 Virtual machine and install new programs there, so could the same possible for android? Setting up an android 7.0 Virtual machine in 6.0?

Windows is a general purpose OS that works independent of the hardware (can be installed on a large set of hardware systems). Android on the other hand is an embedded system OS which has to be adapted to every hardware you want to install it. This means every Android version on every phone model is unique as it only contains those drivers and services it needs for that specific hardware.


text:
bootloop in Ulefone Armor 8 pro
I've installed successfully TWRP recovery, but after installing Magick, in order to root it, I have a bootloop, with this message:

Your device has been unlocked and can’t be trusted.
Your device will boot in 5 seconds

I cannot enter recovery mode any more.
Only I can enter in fastboot mode, and issue fastboot commands.
I've tried to restore the recovery partition with the original one:
fastboot flash boot recovery.img

but even though the flashing terminates with success, I cannot access recovery.
I've downloaded the stock ROM for my Armor 8 Pro, but the SPMultiPortDownloadProject doesn't recognize my phone, when I hit the Scan button. It does recognize the scatter file from the stock ROM.

I've tried unsuccessfully other tools like mtpclient, and SP Flash Tool.

The solutions here don't help, as my phone isn't recognized:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/armor-7-ulefone-twrp-and-roms.4116603/
The phone uses MediaTek chipset (MT6771 Helio P60 (12 nm)), and I've installed the MediaTek USB VCOM drivers.
Specs of the phone
UPDATE:
I'm using Linux and Windows 10 in Virtual Box.  I've made accesible the USB device to VirtualBox.
Only when activating fastboot, I can see the device with the lsusb utility in Linux.
When trying to switch on the phone, also there is a 2 or 3 second period of USB port visibility, but this isn't enough.
Bus 003 Device 028: ID 0e8d:201c MediaTek Inc. Android

Additional info I've found useful:

Similar case
How to unbrick with the SP tool
SP Flash tool

The message is just a warning that the bootloader is unlocked. Afterwards it should continue to boot. I am not familiar with that device or MTK devices but modern phone use a secure boot and as you have modified the kernel image (by Magisk) the boot verification fails. Usually you can fix this by disable DM Verity.

Thanks @Robert for your explanation.  How can I disable DM Verify?
What I can do is to use the fastboot tool.

I don't like this solution, but I've sent it to external repair service.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
Access Mega Cloud Storage from File Manager on a non rooted device
Is there a way to mount Mega cloud storage from file manager. Mega has some option to do that as Webdav Server for Desktops but is there a way Android Phone with TLS encryption. I am even comfortable with using CLI on Termux. It would be even enough if I can make that available in termux. I am trying this because I have less storage in my device.

Looks like MEGA has their own mobile apps, any reason why it can't be used? Otherwise, they force you to use their MEGA SDK for C++ (no other languages available).

Yes the do have an app. But I can't access my files from file manager. I am trying this because I am running out of storage.

Yes, there is a way to have your Mega cloud in the file-picker/file-manager (and any related Storage Access Framework).
The point is, since your device is not rooted you cannot mount the cloud directly in your system.
Therefore, what I recommend is to use the RCX app: thanks to it, you'll be able to acces any "Rclone's cloud" (Mega, GDrive, MSDrive, ...) by using SAF (once set, you will see you Mega cloud like you would see an USB stick).
You will be able to pick files from you Mega cloud within Termux by using termux-storage-get, but you will need to install Termux-API first.
If you really want to stay with Termux (and don't want to install RCX app), you can also just install rclone in Termux, set your Mega account, and access it using rclone tree remoteName:. But your cloud will be only available in Termux.


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How to view which apps are using the most RAM?
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy M52 5G. Now for the past few days, it has been slow/erratic even though I don't have that many apps. The most troubling is that Android reports my RAM usage is high even though there are no background apps, or at least that should be the case when I just rebooted the phone.
Is there any way to tell which apps are taking most of the memory?

See "Running services" or "Memory"  section in "Developer options". If you want an app, see How to view RAM and swap usage on Android?. I'm the author of the app: WhatsRunning.


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Android Emulator Performance is Extremely Unstable
First of all, hopefully this is the right place to post this type of question - if it isn't, do let me know.
I have a relatively new PC with 16 GB RAM, 10th Gen Core i3, 4 physical and 4 virtual cores (hyperthreading), I do not have an SSD. It runs Linux Mint and uses the KVM.
The first year or so after buying my computer, the emulator worked great - it was fast and I was having a great time working on my apps.
A couple of weeks ago, I realized that the emulator would occassionally become slower (around 50-60 percent, to be exact) for around  a minute or two, before then becoming very fast for around 1-3 minutes.
It's very strange, it goes like so:

Boot up emulator
Starts off blazingly fast
2 minutes later it suddenly drops by around 50-60 percent in speed for around 1-2 minutes
Becomes blazingly fast again for some time

Here is my emulator configuration stats:

(I sometimes use AOSP emulators, but in this case I will just give an example of the Google API emulator.)
This is incredibly frustrating - I use the emulator so many times, and I have a relatively new PC.
PC info:
Architecture:            x86_64
  CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
  Address sizes:         39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
  Byte Order:            Little Endian
CPU(s):                  8
  On-line CPU(s) list:   0-7
Vendor ID:               GenuineIntel
  Model name:            Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-10105 CPU @ 3.70GHz
    CPU family:          6
    Model:               165
    Thread(s) per core:  2
    Core(s) per socket:  4
    Socket(s):           1
    Stepping:            3
    CPU max MHz:         4400.0000
    CPU min MHz:         800.0000
    BogoMIPS:            7399.70
    Flags:               fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mc
                         a cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss
                         ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art
                          arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_
                         tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cp
                         l vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1
                          sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsav
                         e avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault
                          epb invpcid_single ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced
                         tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase t
                         sc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid mpx rdseed a
                         dx smap clflushopt intel_pt xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsa
                         ves dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_wind
                         ow hwp_epp md_clear flush_l1d arch_capabilities
Virtualization features:
  Virtualization:        VT-x
Caches (sum of all):
  L1d:                   128 KiB (4 instances)
  L1i:                   128 KiB (4 instances)
  L2:                    1 MiB (4 instances)
  L3:                    6 MiB (1 instance)
NUMA:
  NUMA node(s):          1
  NUMA node0 CPU(s):     0-7
Vulnerabilities:
  Itlb multihit:         KVM: Mitigation: Split huge pages
  L1tf:                  Not affected
  Mds:                   Not affected
  Meltdown:              Not affected
  Mmio stale data:       Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Spec store bypass:     Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
                          and seccomp
  Spectre v1:            Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
                          sanitization
  Spectre v2:            Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS, IBPB conditional, RSB fillin
                         g
  Srbds:                 Mitigation; Microcode
  Tsx async abort:       Not affected

Things I've tried:

allocate more RAM to the emu (5 GB and 8 GB) it actually felt slower and more incosistent with more ram
turn off other programs
different tweaks (none of which worked)

I am looking for help as to how I can improve the emulator speed, as it feels as though you need some sort of NASA computer or 32 GB RAM Core i9 12th generation with an RTX 3090 these days to actually get consistent QEMU performance - very frustrating!
Any help would be appreciated -- the only fault I can think of with my PC is that I'm using a HDD, which may or may not be the root cause of this issue.

How much is "more RAM"? Considering Android hardware devices a phone with 2GB RAM would be low-end hardware. A typical Android phone has 4-8 GB RAM. That the emulator starts so fast is because it does not start-up, instead it uses a sort of hibernate (suspend to disk) technology. Have you checked that your HDD is not the problem? PCs nowadays use SSDs - even a middle-class SATA SSD is usually 400% faster than a HDD.

@Robert I tried 5 GB RAM as well and no difference I also now just tried 8 GB ram no difference still incosistent. Also I did not understand what you said about hibernating.

@Robert  I don't know how I can 'check' whether the problem is with my HDD without comparing it with an SSD. Unfortunately I presume it's probably due to it being an HDD, but I find it hard to believe that there aren't any optimizations I can make so it runs faster. If I could buy an SSD i would, but I can't as my parents will not let me because I come from a very strict family ! Very frustrated. If there is anything I can do so it is more consistent, do let me know.

The common way to check if an HDD is used intensively is look at it's usage. On Linux AFAIK there is iotop. And if the low-speed times correlate with the high HDD usage the with a high chance you know why the emulator is slow.

@Robert Thanks!

@Robert I think it's cause of the disk, have you got any tips to improve performance without buying a SSD? I have 16 GB Ram, there's no way it can't run faster, any tips on how to improve KVM/QEMU speed would be appreciated

@Robert I don't think it has to do with disk, the disk doesn't work any harder (from my observation using that tool) when the emulator is lagging.

You mention you are using Linux Mint. Just checking what version of Mint/which desktop GUI (and if you tried a lighter GUI version to see if it helps). Also assuming you've seen: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-troubleshooting#emulator-slow-after-update

@MorrisonChang I am using latest Linux Mint Cinammon, I tried updating my graphic drivers emulator is still unstable.

Although the question is on-topic here, the problem seems more or less related to hardware and software configuration that is independent of Android Studio. Sorting out these sort of problems is where [su] community excels at. Maybe check with their chat room if they would have this question there. Then you can post this question there with a little bit of re-framing.

You are looking for a bottleneck.
So you need to understand your software first and what it does. In games your would check GPU or CPU for bottlenecks, for instance.
Your i3 only has 4 cores, just because it's new, doesn't mean it's good. For decent developing, this is way to little. This will be a bottleneck. A HD in 2022 for developing is a desastre. An AVD can get 15 gigs big over time. Your poor old HD has to read and copy all that to ram, partially. Upgrade to SSD.
Do the following:

Triple check you updated the emulator from within AS
create a new device, don't modify any settings, they are usually fine.
open two consoles and run "atop" in one ( bottleneck detection cpu + storage) and "htop" (multi threading cpu , memory overview) in the other. Get familiar with those tools.
now start the fresh and new emulator device from AS and wait until it's fully booted and did it's software update checks( the Google image will try to update all its internal apps once it's online!)
monitor htop + atop during all this and also once you run your app.

If the HD is the bottleneck (atop shows it in red) try to disable hibernating / snapshots inside AVD settings. The emulator stores snapshots constantly by default.This is fine for fast SSD, but might be slower with hd. (Guessing)
If your cpu is the bottleneck, there's hardly anything you can do. The best solution then would be to plug in a hardware Android device via USB and use the computer only for Android studio. In short not run the emulator at all. That's how I do it on my backup laptop (also a weak Intel i3). I upgraded my main to an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. That has 12 cores,24 threads. Just to give you an idea what people use for developing. Good luck

Thanks for your answer, but I can't find the option for disabling snapshots inside the AVD settings.

I will give you the bounty now since it expires in 6 hours and no one has actually given an answer. I will mark it as the correct solution if you can assist me as to where/how I can find the option of disabling hibernating/snapshots as I cannot find it thus far. Thanks, also your PC build is insane lol

@thebluepandabear there's two options: first the avd settings. Select cold boot: screenshot: https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lk14v.png  secondly while the emulator is running in the floating menu hit the three dots for the emulator options (extended controls) here's the full documentation , jump to snapshots > extended controls

I find it quite strange when you say that the emulator stores snapshots constantly by default. From my observations, the emulator only stores a snapshot before you exit the emulator as per their description: "Starts from the state when the device last exited". Storing snapshots constantly doesn't make sense if the user hasn't exited yet, so I think what you're saying is incorrect. I will report to you back and tell you if I get performance improvements.

I'm at 'snapshots' > 'extended controls' -- what should I do now? I don't see any options for hibernating inside the snapshot settings: https://i.imgur.com/NL6AibV.png

Did you do the bottleneck test? this was my advise. Otherwise you are just wasting peoples and your own time.(if you'are cpu limited i.e.) Did you triple check you are running latest emulator? because I can clearly see in your screenshot that the text is not  from latest emulator Thirdly just disable snap shots, use comon sense here . I can't give 24/7 support. If emu can take a snapshot "on exit" it can take one every time, it wants, technically. I booted the emu, and it took another snapshot directly AFTER booting. this is proof I am right. imgur.com/a/By7qF5R + imgur.com/a/fC8mib6


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Google app is crashing when trying to link Google Home with Tuya Smart life
I want to link Google Home with Tuya Smart Life, but when I click the accept prompt in the Tuya app, it shows "Google has stopped".
I tried removing the app and linking it with the browser, but it also showed an error. I also tried updating the Google app but it still crashes. Any help is appreciated.
Update: I updated my phone to Android 9 and Google is not crashing anymore at that point, but the agree link button in the Tuya app opens Google Home's home screen.

Make sure the Tuya device(s) have the latest firmware installed.

I can control them with the original Tuya app but i cant connect to google home as google crashes

Just to confirm, is this what you are trying to do? Quick Guide of Using Google Home to Control Smart Devices

Yes. @AndrewT.  This is what I am trying to do.


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Symlink temporary file
I'm attempting to backup my Signal chats totalling almost 15GB, which presents a challenge in my 32GB phone. I simply have no space to do it, and even stripping the system of pretty much all apps except Signal is not quite enough, and naturally would be quite a lot of work.
So, I was trying to create some sort of symlink between my external SD card and the Signal backup directory. I managed to do it via a su -M session (via adb shell but Termux also works) by using mount -o bind /storage/<sdcardID>/Signal /storage/emulated/0/Signal (having previously created that Signal dir on main storage). Files I create are perfectly mirrored and actually live on the external storage, however, the temporary file Signal creates for the backup is nowhere to be found. It doesn't even appear when I ls either path, yet it does appear when I navigate to it using any file explorer app.
How come? Is there a way to correctly link that?
Thanks in advance!
PS: Backups have been improved for Android 10, but I am on 9, so that's a no go.

Have you read https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/203951/how-can-i-make-a-symlink-or-equivalent-inside-storage-emulated-0 (even if it is about an pretty old Android version)?

Yes, that was what lead me to su -M (equivalent to su -mm), correctly setting the Mount Namespace Mode in Magisk and using mount binds. It works well except it seems to not "track" temporary files.


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Keep user settings/cache after updating app without Google Play
I have developed an app for the school where I work. It is hosted on Google Play, but some of the students have Huawei phones without GMS. I would like them to have the option to download the apk from the school's website. I can implement the notification logic, but I would like to know if a manual update keeps all the app's settings and cached data or not.
So if I notify the users about a new version, direct them to the website, make them download and install the new apk, will they get a fresh installation of the app, or have all their user settings from the older version?
I know there are alternative stores, but it would be easier to handle it on my own, than forcing them to install a second app just to update the other one.

Android in general does not care how you install an app or where the app came from. The older Android versions did not even save the information from where the app came from, only recent Android versions record for each app if the app has been installed from PlayStore or not.
The part that Android uses to decide if an app is allowed to install as update for an existing app or not is the APK signature.
As your app is new I assume you were forced to let Google generate and save the app signing key for you, is this correct? So most likely you only are in possession of the upload key but not the app signature key.
In that case you will have to maintain two different versions of your app:

The app versions that are published via Google PlayStore are signed with the app signature key that is saved in the Google Cloud (where you can't access it directly).

The app signature key you use for locally signing the APK file.

Both versions can't be mixed, that means you can not install a APK file from (2) as update to an app installed originally from PlayStore (1).
I would recommend to specify two flavors in your build script and set a different packageName for the version that is directly distributed. Then it is clear to the users that there are to app versions available that are incompatible to each other.

Thanks for the detailed answer. It might be a lame question, but can't I just upload the same apk to the website? Most of the users have Google Play, and they would use it anyway. The manual downaload and install would be just a backup solution for the very few.

@Nekomajin42 If you are (still) allowed to upload your app to Google Play in APK form then yes. But on new apps upload in APK form is no longer allowed therefore I was assuming that you are uploading your app as App-Bundle signed with the upload signature key.

Sorry, wrong wording on my end. Of course I upload an aab to Google Play. But in the same menu I can also generate a signed apk. I would like to upload that to the website. So to sum it up, is it possible to upload that apk to our website, notify the user about new versions in the app, direct them to download and install the new apk every time I release an update, and keep all the app's internal settings and cached data?

@Nekomajin42 As I wrote that depends if you have the APK signature private key or not. Of course you can create a signed APK but if the used signature key is not the one used by Google then both versions are incompatible to each other (the one can not update the other version). If you use different keys then both variants can be updated by subsequent updates (PlayStore version vs. website version), website to website. To avoid user confusion I strongly recommend to use different packageName for those different versions (use "flavor" feature in gradle project for different packageNames).

But those, who use the apk build, don't have Google Play. And those, who installed the app from Google Play, won't get in-app notifications to update, because the store handles that automatically. So updating one from the other source should not be a problem.

I've discovered that I can download the signed apk from Google Play, which is generated from the aab. This way I can distribute the same package from our site, and it is compatible with the one installed directly from Google Play. Anyway, your answer helped me to understand how it works. Thanks!

@Nekomajin42 What tool do you use for download?

There is no need to use any 3rd-party tool. You can open the Play Console, select a bundle in the Package Manager, and find the signed apk on the Download tab.

@Nekomajin42 Good to know that Google allows you to download the APK from your own app. Unfortunately this is a very rare use case...


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F-Droid v1.15.2: archive.newpipe.net/fdroid/repo: Error getting F-Droid index file => null All other repos didn't create errors
I'm trying to add the custom F-Droid repository, and when I do I am getting this error?

archive.newpipe.net/fdroid/repo: Error getting F-Droid index file => null

All other repos didn't create errors.
What am I doing wrong? I've tried a few times always the same thing. Each time I remove the repo. How can I resolve this error?

This worked for me,

Remove the NewPipe installed by F-Droid.
Remove and reinstall repo.

If this gives you any problem, try separating the Hash from the URL when you add the Repository
Then I was able to install the new NewPipe. Not sure what happened here. My guess is this was a change with the F-Droid v1.15.2,

Stay safe by checking repo index signatures and APK hashes


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New method for enabling Developer Options in Android 13?
I'm on a Pixel 6a with an OTA release of Android 13 stable. I had Developer Options with 13a beta 4 before I upgraded to a stable release, but now the menu option is no longer visible.
I tried tapping "build number", but it does not respond to touch interaction (no focus, feedback, etc.). Tapping it 7 times does nothing.
Is there a new way to enable Developer Options in Android 13 stable, or am I experiencing a bug?

When I tap the Build number on Android 13 (stable, Pixel4a) I get the toast that I am already a developer. I am using Settings -> About this phone -> Build number (last entry just below "send feedback"). As workaround you could try to get into developer options as described here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/206783/2241

Thanks @Robert, it looks like it just needed a restart. Very grateful.

It looks like my pixel 6a required a restart, now that I have power cycled it, the "build number" box has focus and responded to touch. 7 taps got me to developer options as expected.


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Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite does not boot after Odin flash (stock rom)
I have tried different firmware (original and updated - two each) different usb cables and different usb ports.
I have factory reset and cleared cache numerous times, but every time the tablet only boots to the screen "Samsung Galaxy Powered by Android" and goes no further. I can boot to Recovery, Fastboot mode and Download, but not to System. The firmware is correct - downloaded with Frija.
Please , Can anyone help

How long did you wait for first boot?

I left it for about one hour.

It would probably help others that try to answer your question, if you'd added the model to your question.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/4480193


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How to stop Android 12 or 13 asking for password every time after lock screen
I just upgraded from Android 11 to Android 12 and now It asks me every single time I unlock the screen. Before, it would ask me for the password only once every half an hour as I had configured it.
How can I get back to that behaviour in Android 12 that only ask me for the password once on a while?
UPDATE: Same situation in Android 13.

On Pixel 3a, it is on Settings - Security - Screen lock (the cog wheel) - Lock after screen timeout. The "Power button instantly locks" switch may also be relevant.

In Android 11 I could see that option, but I can't find it anymore in Android 12.

Could you mention the device model?

Yes: One Plus Nord Community Edition


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Is there any way to have audio output through one Bluetooth device and input through another
I have an Android phone and Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling earbuds.
These work great when listening to music or making calls over Discord. However, I'm often in high noise environments where the mic pickup does not work and I have to use a different boom mic.
However, if I am using the earbuds to provide audio output, I can't use the bluetooth mic for input. And vice versa, I can tell my phone to use the mic but then no sound comes out of the earbuds.
I can connect both devices to my phone simultaneously, is there any way to tell Android to use one Bluetooth device for output and another for input at the same time?

It seems your hitting a software issue in that Android' Bluetooth profiles are preventing you from doing what you want.  Whilst it's possible for some devices to share a profile like a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard on the HID profile, it isn't possible with audio devices generally unless you have a specific device that has been designed to do things that way such as some of Samsung Galaxy devices that allow dual audio devices in the Bluetooth settings.  This is the rub in that in each audio profile you seem to be able to have one active device at a time, meaning you have have 1 not both.

@Archerbob - Is there any reason for this limitation? I can't think of one. And is it a hard OS limitation or is it possible within current Android specs with a custom app?


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How do hackers change (mask) IMEI numbers?
Recently, I saw a "Google Pixel 3XL" with a seller, and he claimed that its IMEI number had been changed. When I asked, how did he know that? He said this is because of the "Magisk" app installed. Then he verified it through our official country's website and it was an IMEI of another smartphone, "Sharp Aquos r2." He also mentioned that upon factory resetting, the IMEI number will be lost.
So how can the Magisk app change the IMEI number? I think it just masks the IMEI.

"Magisk indicates that IMEI is changed" is nothing more than a joke. IMEI cannot be changed from AP. You need to have access to BP. Usually it's done through some commands. But the communication protocol is closed source. Either someone from the OEM technical team leaks the information, or it's hacked. Then software are developed and sold in black to change the IMEI and make other low level changes like network unlocking etc. Related answers: this and this.

Related comment: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/248071/can-imei-number-be-changed?noredirect=1#comment333298_248071

@IrfanLatif what about this website: https://gcprobox.com/ ?


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Moving Screen Position Entirely
My phone screen broke (I dropped the phone) - I wanted to repair it, but it costs a lot.
The company where I bought fixed the screen for me, but it doesn't work properly still - at least not 100%.

Marked part of the screen on the image is not responding to touch.
The solution I came up with is to somehow in Android Developer settings move the screen these 50px down, so it starts under the camera, and so I can use the phone like nothing ever happened.
Do you guys know how it can be done?
I looked everywhere but didn't find a solution ;/
Thank you in advance!

PS. The image below shows basically what I want to accomplish:

Have you tried this https://mashtips.com/hide-display-notch-and-cutouts-on-pixel/ ?

I did it, thank you very much, but sadly it's more than I thought it is. I also changed screen DPI, that's how it looks like, but it still has to be moved down to work properly: https://i.postimg.cc/Rh6r82xL/298362512-430104902505949-7469116080281976904-n.png

Ok, I was able to change screen resolution via ADB shell commands, not it looks like this: https://scontent.fpoz4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/299264174_742590493489957_9171596892222942583_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=2gnF4R8zn1oAX9_xw9J&_nc_ht=scontent.fpoz4-1.fna&oh=03_AVIz0sfmHtqJYczmfp__KQUJPAd3VfWh8_XaVER9hMy4AQ&oe=63245F37

But I have no idea how can I change placement of the screen to move whole screen down, then it would be perfect

I find out the solution (ALMOST) - it's overscan option, for example: adb shell wm overscan 0,0,0,-200

Sadly, it does not work since some Android version (unknown command prompt)


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Samsung A50 user data partition downsized from 128GB to 3.7GB after rooting and flashibg android 11
I have a Samsung A50 (A505F).
I flashed it with stock Android 11,
then rooted using Magisk,
then flashed again, using the magisk patched AP.
How can I restore this user data partition to maximum size again?
There's no GParted for android.
I don't mind to delete and recreate this partition. The data is fully backed up.
Before the whole process the storage space was 128GB.
Now it's only 3.7GB.
~ $ df -h
Filesystem                                        Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                                             1.7G  1.2M  1.7G   1% /dev
tmpfs                                             1.7G  3.6M  1.7G   1% /dev/5Q1
...
/dev/block/platform/13520000.ufs/by-name/userdata 3.8G  2.8G  923M  76% /data
tmpfs                                             1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /system/bin
/dev/5Q1/.magisk/block/system_root                5.0G  4.8G  191M  97% /system/bin/abb
/dev/fuse                                         3.7G  2.9G  903M  77% /storage/emulated

OTOH:
phone:/mnt/big # fdisk -l /dev/block/sda
Disk /dev/block/sda: 119.2 GiB, 127943049216 bytes, 31236096 sectors
Disklabel type: gpt

Device             Start      End  Sectors  Size Type
/dev/block/sda1     1024     2175     1152  4.5M Microsoft basic data
/dev/block/sda2     2176     4095     1920  7.5M Microsoft basic data
...
...
...
/dev/block/sda30 1863168  1864447     1280    5M Microsoft basic data
/dev/block/sda31 1864448  1869567     5120   20M Microsoft basic data
**/dev/block/sda32 1869568 31234815 29365248  112G Microsoft basic data**

I mounted that partition:
mount /dev/block/sda32 /mnt/big
but the size was still 3.7GB !
phone:/mnt/big $ df -h
Filesystem                         Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                              1.7G  1.2M  1.7G   1% /dev
tmpfs                              1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /mnt
/dev/block/sda27                   387M  136M  251M  36% /product
/dev/block/sda26                   775M  412M  363M  54% /vendor
tmpfs                              1.7G  3.6M  1.7G   1% /dev/5Q1
tmpfs                              1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /apex
/dev/block/sda29                    45M   24K   45M   1% /omr
/dev/block/sda28                   390M   60K  390M   1% /cache
tmpfs                              1.7G     0  1.7G   0% /mnt/sde
/dev/block/sda7                     16M  0.9M   15M   7% /efs
tmpfs                              1.7G  1.2M  1.7G   1% /system/bin
/dev/5Q1/.magisk/block/system_root 5.0G  4.8G  191M  97% /system/bin/abb
/dev/fuse                          3.7G  2.9G  880M  78% /storage/emulated
/dev/block/sda32                   3.8G  2.8G  900M  77% /mnt/big

there is parted for android but you must not use it (dangerous). it is known bug with Magisk, not with actual partition itself

You need to recreate / resize the filesystem, not the partition. Partition is already of good size; 112 GB. Related answer: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/216443/218526

I have solved it by reflashing all the available images, at the same time, instead of flashing only AP image  (in Odin).
The explanation I had read, is that flashing only a single partition can cause incorrect filesystem sizes.
Others (like @alecxs who commented here) claim it's a bug in magisk.
thanks.


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How to setup CleanBrowsing app properly?
I installed the CleanBrowsing app on my Redmi 9a (Android 10) phone and it asks for accessibility permission. I give that permission, but when I activate the family filter, it goes to Private DNS on Settings and asks me to save it, and then it does nothing, just goes back to the family filter option again. It should ask me for device admin permission but it doesn't.
On my other Samsung (Android 12) phone, this app works very well.

Could you clarify the issue, like is the problem with setting the Private DNS, or it doesn't ask for device admin permission? For Private DNS, I'd assume it's possible to manually set using the official documentation.

I mean,when i press activate family filter it show me directly the setting with Private Dns and to aave it,i press save and then it does nothing when after that it should direct me to the device admin option.Idk if you understand?!

I can't use the Playstore version of the app because you can easyly uninstall it that why i need the device admin permission and with this web version i can't set it


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Android 12 popup over the keyboard (screenshot)
I'm having an issue with Android 12, on a Samsung Galaxy 22 Ultra.  It is showing some kind of popup over my keyboard and it sits there way too long so I can't continue with what I was doing and I have to wait for it to decide I've looked at it long enough.

I've turned off all the notification settings I can find.
App Notification is OFF or everything not DM related
Alert when Clipboard Accessed is OFF
Searching the for solutions to the problem only shows me ways to turn of notification, which I have done.
How do I fix this?  Meaning, turn this off, or alter it so it's not in my way, or make it not display so long that I feel close to m*rder because it's stepping all over my flow.

It is called a Toast. You can turn off Toasts only if the app provides this as a feature or by using ADB or some power user app which offers this as a feature. But you need to find out first which app is creating that toast. If it is the app which is in the foreground of above image than see if there is a setting to turn off toast. Otherwise, see if this app is able to identify the toast. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evanhe.nhfree After that this app might be able to turn off toasts from the culprit.

@Firelord thank you for the suggestion and telling me what it's called, that has helped more than you can know!

No problem. Do self-answer whenever you manage to solve your question. :)


text:
Compose key (multi key) on physical keyboard
Is it possible to configure a key, say for example Right Alt, to work as the Compose key on a physical (Bluetooth/USB) keyboard?
I'm used to a Compose key on my desktop computer, and having it on Android would be extremely useful.
This question seems to have been asked almost a decade ago here, but I believe a lot has changed since then, so I hope that now there might be a way.

Perhaps use an app like Key Mapper to change a specific key' function to make it do what you want.


text:
How do I disable the ESC key when using a bluetooth wireless keyboard with Android 12?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, running Android 12. I use a bluetooth wireless keyboard.
No matter what app (or Android UI screen) I'm on, pressing the ESC key acts like pressing the Back button (which looks like a "<") on the Navigation bar.
I want to disable this. (My use case: when I wake up in the morning, I dream journal with my wireless keyboard underneath the blankets, with my eyes closed. But sometimes I accidentally press the ESC key, which ruins all the journalling I type after the accidental keypress).
How do I disable the ESC key acting as the Back button?

Note: I've tried using an open-source app (findable on the Google Play store) called "Key Mapper", to disable the ESC key. This works, but frustratingly, my tablet has killed this app in the past (to save memory or battery life, or for some other reason, I don't know).

You could try ExKeyMo (disclaimer: I'm the developer). It allows you to build an app with custom keyboard layout built in.

Enter code below in the ExKeyMo's form:

type OVERLAY

map key 1 WAKEUP

Click Download.
Install the app.
Select ExKeyMo Layout in keyboard's layout settings.

Note: it works for en-US keyboard layout. If you use other layouts you should check the instructions on ExKeyMo's page.
UPDATE:
ExKeyMo web app is not available on Heroku anymore. You'll have to run it locally. See the project's page on GitHub.