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Honor 8 : Is there a way of taking a screenshot without using the power button?
When I used to take a screenshot on a cell phone (Honor 8, not rooted, Android 8.0.0), I push the power button and the volume button together. But now the power button on a cell phone has stopped working (see How to fix the problem of power button stuck a bit inside and not working?). Is there a way of taking a screenshot without using the power button? Is there something similar to accessibility tools on an operating system (such as virtual keyboard in Ubuntu)? Thanks.

@beeshyams thanks. It's Honor 8. It is not rooted. Google and a large part of the Internet is censored and inaccessible here.

Since you mentioned that internet is censored in your country, here are two links, that describe how to take a screen shot without a power button.

Youtube, specifically for Honor 8

How to take a screenshot on HONOR smartphones? for Honor phones in general (from Honor forums).

a) Notification Bar Shortcut: HONOR makes it more intuitive to take a screenshot by giving you a shortcut in the notification area.(or quick setting tiles) It looks like scissors cutting paper. Select it to get your screenshot. GIF from the website.

b) Knock on the screen with your knuckle: Certain HONOR phones have a very fun and interactive way to take a screenshot. You can simply knock on your screen twice using your knuckle! This feature needs to be activated first, though. Just go to Settings → Accessibility features  Shortcuts & gestures → Take screenshot → Enable Knuckle screenshots. GIF from the website

Both these methods are mentioned in the YouTube video for Honor 8 as well
c) Three-Finger Screenshot: By using Three-finger screenshot, you can easily capture a screenshot on your Phone. Open Settings. Go to Accessibility features & → Shortcuts &Gestures → Take Screenshot , and Enable Three-finger screenshot. You can then swipe down on the screen with three fingers to capture a screenshot (some One Plus phones have this as I recall from OP7 I owned previously)
Hoping one of these works for you or someone else in a similar situation (also see How to take a screenshot with an Android device? for other methods of taking screenshots)


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How to find the culprit of "no internet connection"?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S22 phone with Android 13. About once or twice a month I'm facing with "no internet connection" issue while using mobile data (not a Wi-Fi). Switching off and on mobile data transfer doesn't help, but turning on Airplane mode and switching it off helps.
The question: how I can be sure is it a phone, or a carrier problem. Is it possible to find the culprit without using a SIM card from another operator?

Turning Wi-Fi OFF and ON (or Airplane Mode) must work as network_ID is destroyed and a new one is created // To my understanding, if this works it's got nothing to do with your carrier. But I am no expert. You can maybe add that portion to your question to get better results

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How to set image canvas size?
When you rotate an image, you might also need to adjust the canvas size to avoid cropping or leaving blank spaces. All I want is to have a picture, expand the canvas to a new size, and have the original pic pinned to either the bottom, top, or centrally. The free open-source software GIMP has had this feature for decades, easy to use, free, with no confusion and no pain:

Now, is it true that Google Photos on Android cannot even increase the canvas size, making it effectively impossible to rotate a picture a number of degrees and keep the whole picture without being forced to try and trick the software into doing a simple task? I just wanted the simple task of increasing canvas size, "adding head space", or adding white space, or enlarging the canvas but not affecting the image size, for so long.

I had to find a way with a separate app named Photo Editor. After several hours of non-scientific guessing, searching, and random fuzz testing, it appears that the function named fit (at the far right of the menu in the app) with "Don't Enlarge" will resize the canvas.

Now the canvas is resized.

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


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Google Pixel 6 sceenshot function has been replaced by Google Assistant
I have used Android for years and for most Android phones, pressing power + Volume Down together takes a screenshot.
I have used my Google Pixel 6 for 2 years now, and the screenshot function has always worked perfectly fine.
Recently, an automatic update added the Google Assistant function to my phone. Now, when I press  power + Volume Down, it no longer takes a screenshot but instead, the Google Assistant panel appears. Google Assistant is not available in my country, so unfortunately this panel cannot help me take a screenshot.
I tried turning off Google Assistant, and changing the default Digital Assistant app, but all the combinations of options I tried do not bring back the screenshot function. Here are the settings that I tried:

Default digital assistant app
Google Assistant
What Happens when I press Power + Vol Down

None
Off
Nothing

Google Assistant
On
Google Assistant launches, but Google Assistant is not available in my country so nothing happens

Google Assistant
Off
A panel pops up that says Google Assistant is ready, and an Activate button

How do I get back the screenshot functionality?

Possibly related/duplicate: my answer to "Long-pressing power button shows Assistant, how to restart the device?"

@AndrewT. Thank you for that link. That answer is definitely related. Thanks to it, I can now access the power menu. However, I do not think that mine question is a duplicate, since I am still unable to take screenshots after getting my power menu back.

I'm confused by this. Google Assistant was assigned to a long press on the power button, but power+volume down should still take screenshots. Is the problem perhaps that you are not pressing them simultaneously, but instead pressing power first, followed by volume down? If you do it too slowly, it will indeed trigger Google Assistant (due to holding power) and no screenshot will be taken.

Your problem is in two parts:

Unable to get power menu, which you could solve thanks to Andrew's answer

You have a non-functional Google assistant (why do they even roll it out to countries where it doesn't work?) and borks your ability to take screen shots using power + Volume Down. A four year old reddit thread offered a possibility. It asks you to install Screenshot Assistant from F-Droid with instructions:

Screenshot assistant is a replacement for Google Assistant with the sole purpose of taking, cropping and sharing a screenshot.

 Setup instructions:

Install the app
Set it as assistant via Apps > Default Apps > Assist app
Trigger Google Assistant

On my Pixel 6a , Android 13, Google assistant works fine for me, but I set it up as explained above:

And I was able to take screen shot using power + Volume Down. Hopefully this should work for you too. Using a third party app to do what is natively expected is rather stupid but in your situation may help given that the app is from F-Droid (reliable) and you want the old functionality back despite Google's shenanigans.

The screenshot shortcut has not changed. I have my suspicions that your issue stems from not pressing power+volume down simultaneously (at nearly the same time), but that instead you are likely pressing and holding power first, followed by volume down shortly afterwards.
Indeed, even a slight delay between pressing the two will result in either Google Assistant activating or the volume adjustment controls popping up. Maybe the power button changes made the screenshot button combo less forgiving.


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Samsung Notes - path for folder for Notes
I would like to have an synchronisation with my desktop computer of the folder containing my handwritten Samsung Notes documents. I use Samsung Galaxy Notes S22 Ultra. Where do I find the path containing these documents in the file system of my android phone?

Possible duplicate: How to back up notes from Samsung Notes app?. The answer mentioned several paths.


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transfer home screen folders from one phone to another
I transferred my Android phone backup from a Pixel 5 to a Pixel 6a today, but during the process accidentally selected a secondary Google account, which meant only apps associated with that account were added to the 6a.
Later, I added my primary Google account to the 6a, which also prompted Android to install apps associated with that account to the 6a.
The only problem is that my nice neat home screen app groupings are missing.
Most apps are not on the home screen(s) at all.
Do I have have to manually recreate these groupings, or is there a better way to do this?
Thanks

Unfortunately, I think your only options are to recreate them manually or factory reset and go through the setup process again with the intended primary account.

Some app launcher allow to export/import their configuration including app grouping.


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How can I get information from my Android 10 phone with a severed screen cable?
I have a Motorola Moto e.  The screen has been loose for a few months, but I've been able to manage.  An ill timed flip kick from a 6 year old sent the phone flying and severed the ribbon cable.  I'm trying to transfer my number to a new phone.  I need to be able to look at a text message on the phone.  I had previously set up google messages for web, but somehow it isn't working at the moment.  I haven't fiddled with any of the debugging stuff for a while, so I suspect that won't work because I won't be able to authorize the connection because the screen doesn't work.  Any ideas?

I was going suggest trying to plug it into an external display, but it appears it has a MicroUSB port, and I don't think Motorola does any video out via non-USB-C

Well, I managed to get my main mission of proving the phone is mine to family mobile by using a keyboard, an OTG dongle, and Google Assistant to eventually get an authorization code out of my text messages.  It was not a pleasant ordeal.

Wow! That's a pretty impressive journey! I'd suggest changing the title to "get a two-factor authentication text message" from "information" and submitting an answer to your own question with this method that worked!


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Wikipedia Sync Reading Lists not working?
I have been using the Saved Reading Lists feature on the Wikipedia Android app for a long time. At this point, however, I have different versions of my saved Lists on my Android phone vs. my Android tablet.
I noticed (in the Android app), that if you go into Saved and touch the top right-hand three dots, the last item is Refresh Sync with a Last Sync date. In my settings, I have Reading list syncing enabled on both my phone and tablet (in the Android app on both devices).
In the Wikipedia app, on both devices, in Saved, the categories are listed: first is listed Saved (the Default list), and then each category I created. The various categories that I created between my phone and tablet are now not synced: some of the category names are the same and some are different. Similarly, if I compare the Articles within the Saved category on one device vs. the other, some of the same articles appear in both, and some articles appear on only one device's Saved category. If I compare the articles within a Created Category that has the same name in the app on one device vs. the other, some Created Categories have the exact same articles, and some Created Categories have differences in the specific articles.
I was expecting that when sync is activated, it would at least sync up the specific articles within the Saved categories, and possibly, at least the categories that have the same names. In other words, adding the articles that are missing from Saved and same-named categories between the apps in the two devices. (If it would add missing created categories between the two devices also, that would be even better). Instead, when I touch Sync (in the app on either device) it does nothing! Even the Last Sync date does not change, even though I get the message (at the bottom of the screen): Reading Lists Synced.
I noticed in Settings, under Syncing, there is also a setting: Download Reading list articles. In the app on both devices, I had this enabled. To test whether this might be disabling syncing, I disabled this setting on both devices. Then Synced again, on one device - no change in the articles on the opposite device. Then sync again, the opposite device, and still no change in articles. I also added a new article to Saved, and a new one to the same-named category on my phone... Synced again on both devices, and again, the two articles were not added on the tablet side. (Thus disabling Download Reading list articles, does not change the result).
I also tried adding the Firefox extension Wikipedia Reading Lists to Firefox on my Windows 10 laptop. I tried adding a new article there - which apparently can only be added to the Default Saved list. I get the success message on the laptop, but the new article does not appear in the Saved category in the app on either device - even after running Sync on each app. Even closing and reopening each app on each device (after each operation mentioned above) after syncing does not help.
Lastly, I noticed there is an export function available after going into any category (the Default Saved or a created one), and this does create a .json file in the download folder in internal memory on the device you run it on. But I don't see any import function that you could use to transfer the articles from a category on one device to the same-named category on the other device!

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. I have a suspicion that the sync feature might be per-device (i.e. same device backup & restore), not global (i.e. all-devices synchronization), but I haven't used the app, so it's only a guess.

Thanks for your comments Andrew, and thanks also for migrating my question. I just notice, that actually there is an import link. It is available after touching the 3 dots when you first go into Saved (and viewing all the lists). So I think I'm going to try using that along with the export I found before. I'll post the results after trying it...


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Why won't Pixel 7 accept voice recognition?
I activated my Pixel 7 on September 21.  Voice recognition worked for two days, now hasn't worked since September 22. Phone calls work, people can hear me.  The Camera successfully captures sound when recording video.
However, voice recognition no longer works for apps where it is the primary purpose of the app.

I open Google Assistant, the screen indicates it is listening for my input, but nothing changes or comes on screen when I speak to it
When using GBoard, I click the mic icon to begin speech to text.  The phone dings, the mic flashes indicating it is ready for me to speak, but does not transcribe any text as I am speaking
I hit record in Recorder, and it doesn't capture any audio when speaking to it
Now Playing doesn't work, no songs have been captured since 9/22 despite being around plenty of music

Here's everything I've tried:

Install all latest system updates
Ensure all Google Assistant and voice permissions are enabled
Restart phone in Safe Mode and out of Safe Mode
Factory reset phone and log in with a different Google account

The phone has never been dropped or seen any liquids. Everything else functions as expected.
Does anyone have advice on how to correct this? (I would assume it's not a hardware issue, if phone calls and video audio capture work with no issue)

Do you see the green microphone notifier in the upper right corner in apps where recording doesn't work?

Your mic could still be faulty. I sometimes get issues, but I  suspect are due to apps competing for yhe microphone.

@Robert yes I do


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Youtube plays a video when my phone is locked and when it should not be playing anything
On my Samsung 20 FE 5G I'm getting a bad problem with YouTube on a browser. If I watch a video and it ends you get the standard auto play next video in 10 seconds. If I click on the youtube icon, to stop the autoplay, then close down the phone, after ~10 seconds, I'll hear a video has started to play. This is annoying as it can catch me out where I browsed away, closed the phone and expect it to be silent rather than start blaring sound.
Is there any way to disable this behaviour? It seems like a bad enough bug. I see it in both the Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Update
Just experimenting, if I browse to the end of a video, see the 10 second autoplay, and close the browser (i.e. With the home button), then after ~10 seconds it's start playing the next video. The audio does not stop which it normal would when the browser is not in focus. This only happens with the ~10 second play next video, if I close the browser while playing a video then the sound stops.

You could close the browser app. And this has nothing to do with android. Autoplay exists on windows desktop too. And requires several presses to stop.  I suspect the culprit is javascript.

I havent flagged it as off topic because there may be an Android only solution.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. If the autoplay is not needed, then I believe you can turn it off by toggling the switch on the video. As for the video keeps playing, it looks like you're playing a playlist which is then queued and can be played in the background while browsing the other sections of YouTube. In that case, I believe you have to press "Cancel" rather than tapping the YouTube icon.

AndrewT. I see no option to turn it off. @Rohit Gupta I have not seen this on my desktop. It may exist on iOS but I've no way to test it. It seems like strange behaviour for Android as normally when you close the browse it stops all activity. In this case, even when I "exit" out of the browse, this behaviour still occurs. Note: By close I mean using the home button.

@ShaneGannon does this switch not appear when tapping the video on the browser?

@AndrewT. Thank you. I expected an option like that on the first screen. But it shows after pressing cancel.


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Export Recorder tracks preserve file dates
I need to copy tracks from the system app Recorder (apk: com.android.soundrecorder) onto Google Drive and/or Linux PC with file dates preserved. I've tried Send and Save options to phone SD and Google Drive card but the date is lost. (Also it would be very beneficial to convert them from aac to mp3. The default export makes them aac)
Another related question is whether I can find those files in the app data folder directly without exporting ? I've tried to browse /Android/data/com.android.soundrecorder but there are no files and warning message that "files are inaccessible due to Android R restrictions ..."

Please link the app from Play store. It can be confusing to know which app you are talking about or is it a system app of miui


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Android TV removing app
I downloaded and installed a 3rd party app which was not on the app store
The problem I have is that every time I turn on my TV, it gets removed and I am forced to reinstall the app
I have found that after reinstalling, on occasions, when I am using the app, if the app gets closed and removed.
I have turned off play protect and it still happens
What is the best way to stop this from happening?
**
I have sldo tried using a different installer (apk mirror installer) same outcome

Have you tried other apps? May be the TV has a function to uninstall all "unauthorized" apps? What TV brand and model do you own?

The best way to stop this from happening is to know the cause first. If possible, get the log when it happens. Otherwise, it will mostly be a guesswork.


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How to download and keep local copy of google photos album on android phone
Is there a way to mark that a local copy of an album should be preserved (on an android phone)? If not what is the easiest way to download the album locally? (3rd party tools?)
Is there any other photo backing up service that does have this functionality?

"what is the easiest way to download the album locally?":   https://takeout.google.com ?

@Luuk, that does not seem particularly easy. It requires downloading everything right and not one album. Also it will lead to problems with google photos when I use these to put an album on my phone's storage because it will try to back them up again right? And since you have to download everything each time it seems like it would be super complicated to keep an album up to date.

But it is the easiest way, I did not claim it was easy....

Had a look at locked folder?

@beeshyams, that seems counter intuitive to use (since it seems for hiding private photos) but it might work in the future. For now it has the problem that you cannot backup the locked folder in the cloud (a backup for the locked folder seems to be coming though, with some users already having access to it). For now as a work around I guess you could copy the album to have it both as a normal album (so that it gets backed up) and as a hidden folder. This does seem like it would have tedious synchronization issues.


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Screen is entirely black. How do I diagnose what is wrong?
Phone details
Pixel 5a. Purchased April 2022. The display glass shattered in Jan 2023, and I got it replaced through a 3rd party repair. Only the glass was repaired, not the display unit. The phone worked fine after.
The problem
2-3 weeks ago the screen cracked, but the phone was working fine so I just continued to use it. Earlier this week I was watching a video on the phone when it stalled. I thought it might have overheated so I just switched the display off with the power button and waited. But since then, the display has been completely unresponsive.
What I have tried

Long-pressing the power button (or combination of power and volume up/down) does not bring any response.
If I connect the phone to a PC (I use Ubuntu), the PC detects and recognises the phone as a Pixel 5a. But if I try to interact with it I get an error message saying Unable to access "Pixel 5a". Unable to open MTP device "001,007"
If I run the command adb devices then I get no devices attached.
If I scan my fingerprint, then there's a slight vibration, which is familiar to how the phone would respond under normal circumstances.
If I insert my SIM and try calling the number, then at the caller end, I can hear a ring. However, the phone instrument shows no indication of a call being received, i.e. there is no vibration or ringing from the instrument.

I originally thought the phone was bricked, but based on the fingerprint and the call going through, I wonder if it's just that the display unit is fried but the instrument is otherwise fine. What can I do to find out?

Correct, its the display unit

"If I insert my SIM and try calling the number, then at the caller end, I can hear a ring"  When you turn that phone off, you will also hear that ring... That is just an indication that you are connected to the network of your provider.

@Luuk: Yes. My assumption is that if I am connected to the network with the Pixel 5a, the instrument is working. By contrast, even if a working instrument is switched off with the SIM inside, calling that number will result in a message from the network provider saying "the number you are trying to call is switched off", or something to that effect.

This sounds like a bad display, the phone is not "bricked"... but there is a well known issue with the 5a where a motherboard problem causes the display not to work. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11833075?hl=en


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Typing other password to start other Android launcher
On an android 8 phone, I would like to be able to open a different launcher (or user session) depending on the password that I type (or the pattern that I draw).
Example :

when I type "real_password123", my phone opens with all the usual apps and documents.
when I type "fake_password123", my phone opens and shows only a selection of apps and hides documents. But it is not visible that the current session is a fake one.

Usecase : If relatives or authorities put pressure on you to reveal your phone password, you may want to give in, and still protect your privacy.
Tried so far :
The Automate automation app that has a "When login failed" event, which can be used for instance to take a picture when the wrong password is given; but I can't get it to start an alternative launcher or session.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. This is a long outstanding problem: How to switch user profile based on password / lockscreen pattern.

A solution to the problem is to use something like parallel space. It allows you to run clone versions of apps.
Install, configure and use sensitive apps inside there. On login, the user will see the normal space only. When required, you run parallel space and use the sensitive apps.

Make sure you don't leave a shortcut for parallel space on your home screen. And put a password on it.

Using an automate style app to run parallel space automatically for all users, wont work, because you can always access normal space.


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Safe to fastboot boot twrp?
Is it completely safe to fastboot boot twrp.img on a version of TWRP that I do not know if it will work?
I will fastboot flash recovery twrp.img after verifying it works, or abort the flashing if it doesn't.
I have a Samsung SM-P205 with firmware P205DXS5ATL1, which I am not certain that it is supported by TWRP (supported Samsung devices).

Usually just booting should not cause problems even if it is not impossible to damage something by booting a non-matching recovery ROM.


text:
Is backed up system with TWRP safe for reflashing?
Suppose I have a device that has TWRP installed, and a complete backup performed to internal storage via TWRP.
Is it always safe to flash a custom ROM (for example, LineageOS) given the above conditions, even ROMs that are not compatible with the device? (since it should be possible to restore via TWRP's backup)

Safe against what? If the backup is saved in internal storage a simple "clear storage" will delete the backup.

@Robert safe against flashing a new ROM, like LineageOS. That is, will TWRP be inaccessible for restoring to a known-good config after flashing a bad/incompatible ROM?

When flashing anew ROM "clear storage" is a checkbox - I don't know if it is check by default or not. But in general you should not store important data on the phone when you flash something new. Some ROMs even contain empty user data partitions, which is effectively the same as "clear user data".

"safe" is subjective here... if you mess up the system, then you may not be able to restore the system. Flashing an incompatible ROM could cause damage beyond what a nandroid restore can fix, as flashing a ROM may repartition the system, change filesystem formats, or overwrite things not in an nandroid backup. There is no generic answer to your question...


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Nokia x100 error no devices/emulators found
My Nokia x100 turns on but never goes passed the Nokia logo, USB debugging wasn't turned on when this happened so I'm stuck on how to either put into recovery mode or try to flash phone, have kali Linux. I plug in phone but my computer can't find it

May be using one of the common key combinations like holding Vol-Down+Power?


text:
Does Heimdall verify compatibility?
I want to flash TWRP to my Samsung Android device. I do not know if there is a compatible version of TWRP (device model not listed).
Does Heimdall verify compatibility before flashing with sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp.img?

How should Heimdall know which image is compatible or not?

I don't have any evidence for this other than personal use, so I am not listing it as an answer, but the answer is no... Heimdall or Odin does NOT verify anything, if you tell it to flash something and it's the wrong thing, it will happily do so and any ramifications from that are purely on you, which could be just a flash of the correct one or a complete bricking of the device. There is no safeguard to protect you in Heimdall, so make sure you know exactly what you are doing.


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Android on TV vs Chromecast built-in (official Android TV)
Recently, I have seen TVs announced as official Android TV (Android 11)  with Chromecast built-in. But these TVs are hardly usable without setting up a Google account.
However, I am aware of TVs with Android 9 completely usable by adding a Google account, that includes a media player/web browser, access to external storage, and even a specific store for apps.
I can't find a comparative but at least I found some differences and big limitations:

The lack of a preinstalled web browser
A limited and restricted Play, no Chrome or Firefox
Not possible to install APKs from external storage
Some apps installed from APKs are not recognized by the default launcher (requires a sideload launcher)

Is there information about all the limitations introduced by Google?
Is it possible to move to standard Android/Play?
Would future updates of Android TV remove potential installed APKs?

So a few notes, and TDLR:

Devices with Google Play Services/Google Play Store are expected to follow the Android Compatibility Program and specifically the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for the version a particular device is released with.

As you can see the television section of the CDD for Android 9 has fewer requirements that the CDD for Android 13, but more importantly for Android 13 there exists a CDD for Android 13 - TV Android - Developer Compatibility section which means the adb must be available.

Your post in detail
So lets go through your points:

the lack of a preinstalled webbrowser

I'm not aware of a requirement in the CDD for a preinstalled web browser. The fact that Chrome comes with Google Play Services is a contract issue between Google and Device Manufacturer (OEM/ODM).

a limited and restricted Play, no Chrome or Firefox

At a guess those apps don't support Android TV as specified in the Developer documentation which calls out using android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER in the Android Manifest file. These values are baked into the app at compile time.

some apps installed from apks are not recognized by default launcher (requires a sideload launcher)

Enforcement of the above rule as you have seen appears to be circumvented by alternate launchers.

Not possible install apks from external storage

So in the CDD, Section 4 for Application Packaging Compatibility

SHOULD provide a user affordance to grant/revoke the permission to install apps from unknown sources per application, but MAY choose to implement this as a no-op and return RESULT_CANCELED for startActivityForResult(), if the device implementation does not want to allow users to have this choice. However, even in such cases, they SHOULD indicate to the user why there is no such choice presented.

The requirement from installing for unknown sources is optional by the manufacturer.
The saving grace is that adb / developer mode appears to be hard requirement, so developers trying to debug their app on a particular device have the ability to do so.
As for your questions:

Is there information about all the limitations introduced by Google?

See prior referenced documentation about what is mandated for a device launching with a specific version of Android.

Is it possible to move to standard Android/Play?

Unlikely and will probably require root access.

Would future updates of AndroidTV remove potential installed apks?

No for apps installed via adb as those would be used by developers for testing/debugging. If a published app via the Google Play Store is found to be malicious, Google has been known to remove those apps. Individual app publishers may set API toggles within their app, i.e. a streaming service is turning off support for older versions of their app.

Thanks Morrison, your reply contains very useful information. And I 'll pay attention to the changelog of the android upgrades.


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How to move everything from Samsung Galaxy S20 to S23?
I tried built-in feature (Smart Switch?) but it left most applications gray. How to copy everything? Are there any working solutions?

You should get the best result when old and new phone are connected directly via USB-C cable and then start migration. But a lot of app data is most likely bound to the device and thus can not be migrated.


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Recovering Whatsapp crypt8 file
I would like to re-read some old whatsapp chats that are in a .crypt8 file; I have put the database in my new phone after reinstalling the app and so on (I was already able to use this procedure for some cypt12 databases), but even using the same sim number it doesn't read the database.
Were the crypt8 files not linked to the phone number? How can I read the file?
Many thanks :)


text:
Samsung Galaxy suddenly installed many unremovable keyboards
Today, I looked at my Samsung Galaxy and found multiple "Keyboard downloaded" notifications. Afterward, I had many unwanted Keyboard languages instead of the previously configured Hebrew-English-Russian. I hadn't installed any apps or updates lately.
I went to Settings => General Management => Samsung Keyboard settings => Languages and types => Manage input languages and found many languages there.

I could disable the unwanted languages, but when trying to delete I got "Can't delete preloaded languages".
Why did these languages become "preloaded" suddenly? They weren't before.
How can I remove them?

Device: Samsung Galaxy A52, SM-A525F/DS, not purchased from a carrier
OS: Android 13, One UI 5.1
Samsung Keyboard version: latest - 5.6.10.31

If something is preloaded and can not be removed this is an indicator it is part of the system firmware. May be there was a firmware update installed before you recognized the download notifications?

As I wrote, I haven't installed any firmware update


text:
Remove orphaned media files in WhatsApp
I have many orphaned files in Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media. Although many images and videos have been removed from chats and are no longer visible within WhatsApp (neither in the chat info screens nor under Settings/Storage and data/Manage storage), the files still consume space and are visible in the gallery app.
Interesting fact: Manage storage states that WhatsApp is using 15 GB, but does not reveal any more details. All chats are very small.
How can I delete the orphans permanently without losing all the other media files from important chats? Is there some way to tell from the directory structure which files belong to which chat and remove them manually?

I dont see how you know they are orphans.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. "Manage storage states that WhatsApp is using 15 GB" I believe you should be able to tap that menu to see the breakdown of how WhatsApp counts its storage usage.


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Family payment method for Google Family Link
I'm trying to set up in-app purchases for my child's Android game. We use Google Family Link. Google Play mandates setting up a family purchase method for our family group before allowing the first purchase.
I've attempted to follow Google Support's instructions on how to do so on the Google Play app, but the specified option doesn't seem to be available in my settings.
Can anyone provide guidance or a workaround for setting up a family purchase method?

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. "but the specified option doesn't seem to be available in my settings" could you [edit] and provide the link to Google Support, and which specific step you had been stuck on? Otherwise, the community might suggest the same step that you have been trying to do.


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Gmail notifications stopped working (Android 9)
There are already questions about this, but they are quite old and the answers didn't work for me, so I think there should be a separate question for newer Android versions. Also in my case it's intermittent.
Gmail notifications do not arrive most of the time, although very few times they do, for example after a reboot. I have updated the Gmail app, I would also update Google Play Services but it doesn't show up as an app so I guess it's integrated and updates automatically. I have also cleared the Gmail app cache data.
The notification options are all activated for this app (I have checked in the system's notification options and also in the Google options)
Any ideas for something else that I could try?
EDIT:
@Andrew .T's comment seems to be the key. I wasn't able to stop the system from killing my apps, so I installed another email app with Gmail support. Then that app showed the notifications, other times both of them show notifications, and now funnily enough Gmail is showing notifications and the new app is not :/

Since Gmail uses push notifications, they usually depend on whether the app is still running in the background or killed. Without knowing which brand/device model, we usually refer the users to Don't kill my app! for self-help. In summary: check the settings for the battery life optimizer.

Google Play Services do not show up as app in your app list but you can manually open it's Play Store page by using the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gms

Google updates its apps at will, mine a couple times last week alone. Is it possible your "intermittent" active notifications occur during the wakened state caused by the updating process? Consider "Play Protect" processes also as an active period; some others.

Try running the checklist below - To make sure the settings are correct:

Long press on the Gmail icon to reach its app info page. Allow all notifications from it.

Launch the Gmail app. In the top left, tap Menu. Tap Settings. Select your account. Tap Notifications and select a notification level.

Long press on the Gmail icon. Find Battery > Optimize battery usage > Change the setting to Unrestricted

Turn on: Settings > Accounts > Automatically sync app data (at the bottom of the screen)

Further reading


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Qualcomm / others NAND partition table layout
For a new Android board, who defines the partition table layout?
Is it the SOC vendor or the customer of the board?
Which tools are used to make the partition in the QC board? Is it QPST?
In the AOSP code, is there a mapping file for the partition info?

Android defines the specification for partition layout. SoC vendors and OEMs are android partners that work with Google to comply with Compatibility Test Suite & Vendor Test Suite certification of the device in order to be eligible for Google app licensing and using the android trademark in their products. The certification defines mandatory (MUST BE) and optional (SHOULD BE) requirements that cover both hardware and software standards.
There are industrial UFS flash chip programming machines that factory load the UFS storage in masses during assembly of the device. Aftermarket flashing tools that you use to flash images are not industrial but the protocol to communicate with the storage is same. Before SoCs are flashed with partition images, chipmakers burned primary bootloader (also called Boot ROM) on CPU die that communicates with the UFS programmer. This is where EDL mode in Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs lives. It is immutable and acts as root of trust for secure boot.

In the AOSP code, is there a mapping file for the partition info?

Device tree overlays

A device tree (DT) is a data structure of named nodes and properties that describe non-discoverable hardware. Kernels, such as the Linux kernel used in Android, use DTs to support a wide range of hardware configurations used by Android-powered devices. Hardware vendors supply their own Device Tree Source (DTS) files, which are compiled into the Device Tree Blob (DTB) file using the Device Tree Compiler. These files are then used by the bootloader. The DTB file contains a binary-formatted flattened device tree.

I would upvote but I don't want to destroy your current reputation count :)


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How does an A2-rated microSD card perform as adoptable storage in 2023?
Here's a small backstory. A relative of mine owns a pretty low end Android phone (Redmi 9T) running Android 12. They got the 64gb storage variant which, of course, wasn't the best idea since there was a 128gb variant of the phone for not that much more money.
It is what it is, the bottom line now is they got a 128gb SanDisk Extreme that is A2 rated and was asking if it can expand their storage. I told them they can only store photos and videos at best on that card, along with some downloaded files but they wanted to also be able to install more apps.
I was about to suggest they format the card as adoptable storage but upon looking more into it, it seems to be a one-way ticket without any way to revert back. With that in mind, I don't have any idea how it will affect the system's responsiveness as I've never tried it myself.
Based on the specs of the phone that I linked, and the fact that the card is A2-rated, do you think it'll be fine? I've read about some musings on the internet about how A1 rated cards are better than A2 because A2 has more tolerances for slower performance than A1 and A2 relied on certain things the host will do in order to benefit its supposed better performance. However, those discussions happened years ago so now in 2023, has this situation gotten better?

The internal storage of the 64GB version is UFS 2.1, the sd-card UFS 1.0 and that requires the internal reader also to support UFS, which I am not sure if this is the case in this model.

@Robert if it does support it, what would that mean for the performance? And is there a way to test it without jumping to adoptable storage immediately?

May be you are thinking too much about the performance. If the phone user want's more space then give it to them. How much this drains performance is not your problem just warn them that is may happen and that it is a one-way road. I would check if you can find a micro-SD card performance comparison of a trusted source (e.g. technical magazine). In the end IMHO what is even more important is that a micro-SD card can fail much easier which will most likely in data loss. So think about buying a reliable larger card and before first use check 100% the flash memory for functionality!

You're right. I'll go with that then!


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Some apps re-enabling themselves in my Redmi phone
I use Redmi Note11 with MIUI14
For example, I disabled Xiaomi account app and Music app from "Modify system settings" and I disabled Phone permissions from MIUI security components app.
But around 2 days later, those apps re enabled themselves.
Is it a system bug or something I should be worried about?
Thank you.

Why consider this a "bug" when the simpler reasoning is that it is programmed by the app provider to re-enable itself, overriding your actions? Plenty of precedent around - plenty of precedents reported on this board - search for it.


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flash a firmware of HTC device with different main version? FIX HTC corrupt - relocked - s-on
I have an HTC U11 Life, bricked, CID 332, Telcel operator, main version 2.16.600.1, and S-On. Unfortunately, there is no firmware with this build.
I found firmware for this phone, but the only problem is the main version is different.
How can I flash the phone with a different main version? Or even unlock the bootloader without enabling OEM unlock because the phone won't fully turn on?

I searched on the internet for months and nothing because there is no RUU or firmware for my phone's main version. Finally, I found a way by myself:

Decrypt the RUU file with "HTC RUU decrypt" software. When the program asks you to keep firmware files, press yes. Or use "HTC OTA downloader" software for downloading OTA ZIP files and extracting IMG files for flashing. Note that your file should have the same CID. If you modified your CID, it might work.

You should disassemble the phone, remove eMMC, and put it on the Jtag interface of the UFI box. If you are not an expert, go to a repair shop and ask them to do it.

When the UFI box recognizes the eMMC and shows you some info, skip it and go to the "Userarea partitions" section. From the "Special tasks" menu, choose factory reset and wait for the operation to finish.
After that, look at the partition list. Next to each partition, there is a text that says "click for load image". Click on each partition that you want. Necessary partitions are "system", "boot", and "recovery". If you want, you can backup them from your eMMC.
Load those partitions (do not touch other partitions, you may damage your network). After the images are loaded, just check the checkbox and press the write button.
After that, from the "Special tasks" menu, choose factory reset again.

Put the eMMC back on the phone and boot normally, the job is done!


text:
Auto-fill on WiFi Captive Portal
Is there a way to auto-fill the username/password when connecting to a Wifi's Captive Portal? If possible, I would like a method that does not require root access.
The portal opens with the system's default "HTML viewer" and not with Firefox/Chrome which would solve the problem since these browsers offer auto-fill.
This question has been asked in the past and users suggested:

Captive Portal Controller app (but requires root)
CaptivePortalLogin app which claims to do this, but is in beta and does not seem to work for me.

Version: Android 11 / MIUI 12.5


text:
Block URL by VPN
I am using an MDM (Mobile Device Management) service that has a web filtering option built inside the management console.

The problem is it can block URLs only on the browser level (like Chrome or Firefox), so you can still get around and view unwanted sites via the app's inner browser. The MDM service also has a VPN function and a global HTTP proxy, I need to know if it will be possible to block URLs completely via VPN or HTTP proxy. I don't know exactly what is VPN or HTTP proxy is, but someone told me it could do it.
Or someone has another idea?


text:
How do I restore newer messages to old phone?
I purchased a new phone that I don't like so I am returning it. I'll temporarily have to use my old phone. How do I restore just the new messages on the new phone too the old phone?
Edit for more detail:
I only want the most recent messages because the phone already has most messages so those messages would be duplicated.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. By "messages", did you mean SMS or other social messaging apps? Also, could you mention both device models?

One option would be to wipe your old phone, then set it up as if it were new and be sure to use the option to bring over all the messages from your previously new phone.


text:
Is there a way to reboot a Pixel 4a with a broken power button?
Power button broke months ago. I've been very careful to never let it shut off, but last night it finally happened.
Is there any way to make it reboot? I tried pressing Volume- and plugging in, and that brought up the boot menu, but you need to use the power button to select anything from the boot menu so now I'm stuck. In fact, I may be worse off because now I'm stuck in the boot menu.
I tried adb restart, but adb doesn't see the device. (It can see other Android devices, so I know adb is installed and functioning.)

According to Addictive Tips, you can do this on a Pixel phone in the method you started on:

Press volume up and/or down (varies by manufacturer) and plug your device into your computer. Use the following as an outline.
Nexus and Pixel Devices: Press and hold the volume down and plug in the device. When the Google splash screen appears, release it.
If your device does not go into Bootloader using the above method, drop a comment with your device name and model and we’ll try to figure out how to work that one out.
Once the phone is in bootloader mode, run the following command in ADB (must be connected to a PC);
fastboot continue
It will immediately boot your phone.

Please note the error from the provided site noticed by @Robert in the comments below: ADB commands are different than fastboot commands. When the device is in fastboot mode, you use fastboot rather than ADB when targeting the device. You can obtain the drivers necessary from Google or somewhere like XDA.

The last part about run the following command in ADB is nonsense. A phone can only be in adb mode or fastboot mode. Therefore you can never run a fastboot command "in adb". What you mean is execute fastboot continue from within the command-line respectively terminal of the PC.

I did try all that. Unfortunately, once in the boot menu, adb cannot see the phone. I finally gave up and took it to a repair shop to have the power button replaced.

@EdwardFalk That what I was talking about. When you are in boot menu the phone is in fastboot mode, so it will never ever be accessible via adb. You need to install fastboot drivers and use fastboot binary on the PC.

Edited to include the distinction and clarification, thanks, @Robert!


text:
How can I auto-send all calls (not in my contact list) on Galaxy S20 (Verizon) to Voice Mail without ringing?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S20 (Verizon) phone. Contacts that I blocked create new telephone numbers online to call me constantly. I want my normal unblocked contacts to ring (family, friends, doctors, others). My goal is for all numbers not in my contact list to go to voice mail before the ring. So I can use my device normally without the distraction of unknown callers.
Research shows:

Airplane Mode inhibits the full use of my phone.
Do not Disturb limits my notifications.
Spam blockers do not block the new numbers people create.
Premium voice mail only works on a known contact (I have this).
Block from the phone or the website only works on a known contact number.
Setting a ringtone only works on a contact already in the list.
Changing my number is only temporary so not an option.

Many solutions have to do with a known number to manipulate. An unknown number is the bane of my existence. Can anyone help?

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts. Looks like there's an existing Q&A about the same problem: How can I send incoming calls from unknown numbers directly to voicemail?. Consider trying the answer and let us know the result. Thanks.

The question is the same but the solution given sends all calls to voicemail. I would like my contacts to ring and if I do not answer, have them sent to voicemail.  I would like all other calls, not listed in my contact list to go to voice mail.  My x creates new phone numbers to contact me.  76 calls right after another.  sending non contacts directly to voicemail before the ring stops 6 hours of harassment ringing.  PFA's, harassment charges, and changing my number does not stop it.  I;m open to a pay service too.  looking for a solution.


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Lost old MMS images; can't find in Google Photos
I have years-long Google Messages text threads that have many, many photos. I've changed phones a lot, and the images have always been retained in the threads. I believe I have always selected the Android Device folder for Messages to be backed up
But I just noticed those images are gone from my text threads, and I cant find any of them in Google Photos. I just to the date the photos came in, and they're not there.
So I'm wondering where these could possibly reside. It's hard to imagine they're all gone forever. I thought I was intentionally backing them up. (My pet sitter always sends the best photos. My dog recently passed away, and I'd like to find the photos without having to ask the sitter).
TL;DR: Lost photos from Google Messages text threads despite frequent phone changes and thought I had backed them up. Can't find them in Google Photos.


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How to detect which site is being displayed in the TikTok app's proprietary browser?
I am looking for a way to find out the address of a website that is being opened in the integrated (proprietary) browser of the TikTok application.
I am trying to stop some fraudulent visits to our website through Google ads. We have reported these videos for a month on TikTok, but they are still active. We have contacted Google Ads customer support, and they say it's not their responsibility. Google hides the HTTP_REFERRER in the clicks that come through Google Ads, and our server only receives a client ID "gclid" and Google as the referrer.
The modus operandi is as follows:
The attacker runs an ad campaign on TikTok with videos offering fake jobs with very high salaries, no experience required, and excellent conditions (impossible ones, to be clear). Just to attract visits. At the end of the video, the ad says "swipe left" ... there, a page opens containing only links to Google Ads' paid ads. Because this page opens in TikTok's browser, no information about the website (the page) being displayed can be found.
This is causing a triple harm:

Fraudulent clicks that we paid for.
Annoyance from calls (60-100/every day) regarding the fake job offers.
It seems the attacker is paid by Google Adsense when someone clicks from their page.

Any solution ideas will be welcomed.
Thank you.


text:
Google Timeline: Force a finer-grained breakdown
When I go to my college campus, Google Timeline just says I was at the college campus from 9 AM to 9 PM. However, the college campus spans several blocks and buildings. Ideally, it would say I was at building X from 9 AM to 10 AM, and then walked to building Y from 10 AM to 11 AM, and then went to restaurant Z from 11 AM to 12 PM, etc.
However, the fact that there's a college campus here seems to have blinded Google Timeline to the possibility of doing a finer breakdown. Is there any easy way to just tell it to go finer, instead of manually editing everything in?

You might get better location accuracy if you use Google Maps between activities. See the answers to Can I improve accuracy of Google Location while hiking

Can someone migrate this question back to Web Applications Stack Exchange? Not sure why it was migrated in the first place (there are already several questions on the former site about Google Timeline, and Google Timelines is not
necessarily an Android application -- in fact, I use it purely on iPhone and desktop).

@MorrisonChang to clarify, the location is being tracked accurately. If I click "edit" on the web UI, I can see my location bouncing around. It is the classification in Timelines which just regards this entire period of time in these locations as being 1 event instead of several different ones.

If the location is accurate, but the labelling is not then it is a Google issue, i.e. it doesn't recognize each building at your campus as a place of interest (POI) or not labeling your track as such even if the buildings are in the GMaps POI data set. At best send feedback either in Google Maps or where you are viewing Timeline.


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Contacts synced when a Google account is added, how to remove them after removing the account?
I have a Realme phone. I added a Google email to the phone, and the contact numbers saved with that email got synced with the phone. Now I removed that email, but the contacts from that account are still there on the phone.
How can I remove them?

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Looks like there's a Q&A for the same problem: Deleting unwanted contacts after accidental account sync. Consider reading and trying the answers there and let us know the result. Thanks.


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How to allow execution and creation of files on a filesystem mounted to /mnt
I have a rooted device with Android 11 (LineageOS) and Termux. With root permission an app (that's EDS for crypto containers but should not matter) mounts an ext4 file system to /mnt/eds/Data.
The mount options for Data seems to include a flag that determines the SELinux context and could be problematic: context=u:object_r:fuse:s0.
That Data directory and all its parents, for testing, have read and execute permissions for others and also write permissions. I have also tried to set respective permissions for the owner group such that the Termux user is part of that group everybody.
For some reason, I cannot create files in Data, nor can I execute files as the default Termux user. I can also not create files with file manager apps, although I can read and write existing files. It may be noteworthy that I can execute and create as su with Termux.
Something prevents it for the regular users. I found that on my device /mnt is mounted with options noexec,mode=755, but remounting with exec,mode=777 has not changed the behaviour.
Since I do not want to further escalate the permissions, I would like to avoid running the binaries I want to execute with sudo. Therefore, how can I get the permissions to execute and create files in Data when the filesystem permissions appear to allow that?


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Android 13 configuration stops on picking screen lock
tl;dr My phone has become "bricked". After wiping all the data it regain normal functionality, but I cannot complete Android initial configuration due to phone stopping on selection of a screen lock.
Am I correct that this is due to malfunctioning encryption chip or key store? That caused Android to not being able to read encrypted data in first place (when becoming a brick). And then to encrypt it again (after reinitializing Android)?

Suddenly, out of nowhere (while resting in a pocket), my Redmi 11S has become a perfect brick. Unable to do anything except running over and over again into recovery mode. No option, except "Wipe Data", no solution found in the Internet worked.
I used "Wipe Data" and phone has become again operational. It went through all the steps of initial Android configuration and stopped completely on selecting screen lock security element.
No matter what I pick (password, PIN or pattern), I provide it for the second time (to verify), I tap next and phone stops there with nothing happening for the next many hours. It isn't hanged, I can always go back and select another screen lock solution, but I always hit the wall and phone does not continue after verification.
Since Redme 11S / Android 13 doesn't allow to have no screen lock at all, I cannot continue with installation / configuration of Android and phone is pretty much useless.
Am I correct that electronic chip that is responsible for encrypting data or key store has died in this phone?
My assumptions:

Dead encryption chip or key store caused phone to reset in first time and being unable to read (unencrypt) data and start Android in the first place.

No recovery option or solution could work, because all the unencrypted data in storage was seen as a total garbage

Wiping data removed that garbage and allowed Android to start, but it hangs on selecting screen lock, because it is unable to encrypt data due to malfunctioning encryption chip / key store / encryption solution.

Is the above somewhere near possibility? Or is it a complete false shot?
I am going to ship this phone to the repair shop, but I want to be able to tell them something else then just dully "I can't select screen lock pattern".

Special security hardware is not used often on Android (Google and may be Samsung have one). But the common way to implement security bases on ARM TrustZone (TEE) a special virtual mini system that also uses the main CPU. Anyway security and file encryption should be already active when you reach lock screen config option.

Thank you! So my assumptions are wrong. Thanks for claryfing.


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Why does Samsung Internet perform poorly compared to other mobile browsers?
I'm experiencing performance issues on my e-commerce website, particularly on Android devices. When analyzing loading times, I've noticed that Samsung Internet takes about 2.5 times longer to load compared to Chrome and Safari.
Given that Samsung Internet is based on the Chromium project, I was surprised by this inferior performance. I would like to understand the possible reasons behind this. Could it be due to memory management, differences in JavaScript compilation, or other unknown factors?
If anyone can provide information or tips on how to improve performance on Samsung Internet, it would be greatly appreciated for enhancing the user experience on our website.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Please note that website development is off-topic since Android Enthusiasts focuses on end-users and power users (who are not necessarily developers) solving their issues. Thus, while this community might explain the technicality of your queries, developer-side solutions are out of the scope of this community. For development questions, you might want to try our sister site [so].


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My music goes from headphones to speakers when the cable is in a weird angle
I have a pair of AKG K371 headphones, and when I twist the cable in a weird way, the music stops on the headphones and plays on the speakerphone, even though the device audio with headphones disconnected is 0.
Is there a way to completely disable the speaker when headphones are connected? I have root and Tasker.

You have a faulty cable. When the audio cuts out in the headphones, the 'phone thinks there is no longer a cable connected. Replacing the cable should fix the problem. Forcing it to always use the headphones won't work if headphones "aren't connected."


text:
Transferring music from laptop using usb cable
I tethered my galaxy s9 to my Asus windows laptop.  How do I transfer my.laptops music files to my galaxy memory card?

What have you tried so far? Usually if you connect the phone via USB there is a notification that leads you to the USB mode chooser where you can enable file transfer mode.

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. By "tether", did you mean simply "connected using USB" to the laptop? There's also a term "USB tethering" meaning "sharing internet connecting using a USB cable", but it shouldn't be needed to transfer data from a PC directly using a USB cable.


text:
How to add US international keyboard on Android?
I bought a Bluetooth QWERTY external keyboard for my Android tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab S8) running Android 13. But I need to make the French accent and special characters.
I know it's possible to put the US International keyboard option but unlike Windows, this keyboard layout doesn't exist in the parameters of Android devices.
Is there another way to install it?

Just making sure you've seen/tried: cannot change languange on external keyboard Umlauts (Ö, Ü, Ä) on English US-International keyboards on Android with a physcial keyboardand Switch language on Android device with bluetooth keyboard Please note that you were not clear if the external keyboard was USB or Bluetooth and the version of Android OS your tablet is running.

I edited my message to add the missing infos and yeah i read those topics, one is pointing to the us international keyboard layout that i know of but my problem is this layout doesn't exist on my device it seems

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Possibly related/duplicate despite the title: Romanian Layout for Physical Keyboard is absent; you probably need to install and test some 3rd-party external keyboard apps.


text:
Is there a way to disable "National/Presidential Alerts" on Android devices?
According to the FCC (emphasis mine):

WEA alerts only cover critical emergency situations. Consumers can receive four types of alerts:

"National Alerts" issued by the President of the United States or the Administrator of FEMA;
"Imminent Threat" alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life;
"AMBER Alerts" about missing children; and
"Public Safety Messages" conveying recommendations for saving lives and property.

Participating carriers may allow subscribers to block all but National Alerts.

The latest "National Alert" (formerly known as a "Presidential Alert") was conducted on October 4th at 2:20 Eastern Time and iPhone users couldn't turn it off due to the law above. Is there a way for users with an Android phone to turn off such alerts?

Actually for the last big flood in Germany there were complaints that users did not receive alerts on the phone, so German telecommunication providers worked hard to improve the situation, and we had two "test alerts" since then. My phone did not receive the first one, but the second one. Kind of fun when everybody in the department receives it within a few seconds ;-)

@U.Windl perhaps this one? Cell broadcast for emergency warnings in Germany - why is Android 11+ required?.

For non-US readers: the "National(/Presidential) Alerts" category (which is what was tested in the US this week) only happen once every 3 years. They are testing the ability of the government to notify people in event of outbreak of war, etc.

@smci they're a part of the GSM protocol and are used in other countries as well. In Ontario they're apparently abused because even Amber alerts are sent with the highest possible priority.

@JonathanReez: the question is only about the "National(/Presidential) Alerts" subcategory (which is what was tested in the US this week) only happen once every 3 years. Not about Amber Alerts.

@smci correct but apparently in Ontario they abuse the classification of alerts by using the highest ("National") level for every notification. Scattered information online says that other countries similarly abuse the protocol.

@JonathanReez: didn't know that, sounds insane. But your question cited the US FCC, referenced the iPhone post about the US, I was only aware the 'National Alert' test was US-wide and you didn't include any of that Ontario context in your question. Useful to include. Good luck silencing the devices...

According to Reddit this can be done without root:

Stock Android ships with a package called
com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver, which is responsible for handling
alerts. You can check the source code here.
You don't need to be root to remove this package with adb. You can
uninstall this package from your phone by running:
adb shell

pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.cellbroadcastreceiver

For people on Samsung Phones:
Samsung doesn't include com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver on their
phones - as far as I can tell, they handle WEA messages in the Samsung
Messages app, which is the default SMS app on the S9 and other Samsung
devices. Fortunately, this makes things even easier:

Install Android Messages,
and set it to be the default SMS handling app.

Navigate to "Settings," then select "Apps." From there, find and select "Messages" (Samsung). Scroll down to "App Settings." Revoke all permissions and block all notifications. Ensure the default messaging app is set to "Messages for Android". Disable the "Appear on top," "Change system settings," and "Install unknown apps" options. Lastly, force stop the application.

Enjoy peace and quiet.

This technique works because the Android Messages app expects the
com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver package to handle WEA message (so
Android Messages doesn't have any code to receive them), and the
Samsung Messages app (which you can't remove, which does have WEA
support) no longer has any permissions to receive anything, so it
can't alert you even if it wanted to. This deadlock basically ensures
you won't get alerts, provided you never enable Samsung Messages ever
again.

And according to HackerNews there's also an alternative method for rooted phones:

For folks with rooted devices, all alerts can be disabled with:
adb shell su -c 'pm disable com.google.android.cellbroadcastreceiver'

and reenabled with:
adb shell su -c 'pm enable com.google.android.cellbroadcastreceiver'

For folks on custom Android builds (or older stock Android builds
without APEX module support), the package name is
com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver (without the .google).

If you're using Graphene OS you can also disable such alerts thanks to this commit in their repository.

Note to mods: the FCC regulation only binds cellphone manufacturers and cellular carriers. It's perfectly legal for the end user to disable "National Alerts".

In Android 13 (German, sorry), you have settings at "Sicherheit & Notfall" ("Safety & Emergency" or similar in English), and within there is "Drahtlose Notfallalarme" ("wireless emergency alerts", or similar in English).
And finally there, you have "Extreme Gefahr" (extreme danger), "Erhebliche Gefahr" (significant danger), "Gefahreninformation" (information about danger), and "Testwarnung" (test warning).
There is also a main switch "Notfallbenachrichtigungen zulassen" (allow emergency notifications).
You can toggle each on and off.

Yes and these settings are also present on iPhones. But there’s an additional type of warnings that cannot be turned off without hacks.

And what "type" is that?


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Memories in Peril: Strategies for Data Redemption on Android 12+
I attempted to cut/paste the Camera folder, which was over 70GB in size, from my Samsung Note 10 to my PC. Copy/paste was taking forever, with a message saying "Preparing to copy files" for more than 2 hours, despite having 1TB of free space on my PC. So, I decided to try cut/paste instead. After a while, my PC went into sleep mode, and when I woke it up to check the progress, I was horrified to find that only the folder name had been created at the destination, and not a single file had been copied. Moreover, the entire space was freed up at the source.
I've tried numerous methods, including undo, refresh, checking the recycle bin on both Android and PC, and using third-party software for scans, but none have resulted in any file recovery. Now, my last option seems to be rooting the phone and performing a deep scan. I'm a fan of the Autopsy tool, but for it to work, my Android internal storage needs to be mounted as a disk drive. So, my questions for the experts in this field are:

How can I mount the internal storage as a disk drive, with or without using third-party software?
Given that the incomplete cut/paste activity likely freed the folder pointer for other files, the phone no longer seems to have the folder name to point or display. Is there any way to retrieve this information using ADB or other tools?
I've lost three years' worth of precious memories, so are there any reliable paid third-party solutions for data recovery that you would recommend?
My last resort is to root my phone and then attempt recovery with tools like Recuva and Disk Drill, with root access.

Any suggestions or guidance on this matter would be highly appreciated.

While it may seem obvious what 'cut and paste' mean, it may help to describe what you did exactly (i.e. "plugged phone into my Windows 10 machine, click yes to xxx dialog option on phone, open up the phone in Windows File Explorer, selected all directories in  and dragged it to PC directory"). You may want to check if your files are available via adb, see: How to use ADB to list remote directories? and should you find those files would imply that the Android MTP/MediaStore may be out-of-sync with what is on the device.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. I'm sorry to hear that, perhaps How to recover a deleted file from /data partition? might help.

Rooting your phone is not an option as it requires bootloader unlcking which will erase all data in a way that makes it unrecoverable.

Thanks for the response. Appreciate it.
@MorrisonChang - I plugged in my Note 10 using the stock cable to my Laptop & Cut pasted (DCIM/Camera) via PC>>Note10>>Internal Storage.
Update: I reconnected my Phone and as I could not see the camera folder in my phone, I created a folder to see if I could somehow link to the missing Directory. I was wrong and I realized when I restarted my phone. Also, in an attempt to recover, I did install disk drill, dr.phone & Recuva on my phone, but none were able to recover any.
ADB also does not show any files in the dir(Camera)


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Launch settings in work profile
Recently I was issued a device with a work profile installed. (A Samsung Xcover6 Pro, if that helps). During initial setup, I was prompted to configure some of the extra hardware buttons inside the work profile, and doing so opened the settings app inside the work profile.
I later changed my mind about what setting I had made, but due to a bad decision by either my employer or Samsung, the settings app is not available inside the work profile. Dishonorable mention goes to Samsung for having the physical hardware buttons do different things when I have a work app open than when I have a personal app open and no way to configure both scenarios.
Initially, I thought this could be done with adb shell am start -a android.settings.SETTINGS --user 10, however that just launched settings as the default user and displayed the message "You're using this app outside of your work profile."
Eventually, I discovered that I had to specifically specify a compatible page to directly open that page. For example, for whatever reason I cannot access display settings, but the settings page for the xcover key could be accessed. An imperfect solution, but it solved my immediate need of remapping the key as desired. For the record, the adb command I ended up using was:
adb shell am start --user 10 -n 'com.android.settings/.Settings\$UsefulFeatureMainActivity'
Which on a Samsung device with an extra hardware key should allow you to remap those keys when the work profile is open. If anybody has a more generalized way to open the whole settings app as the work profile user (or, I suppose, any user profile enabled on your device), I'd love to hear it. Bonus points if it's something that could be configured to run without being connected via adb.

I figured out a workaround.

Go to Settings < Apps < Work profile < Settings App < Storage < Clear Data
(I don't know if anything else is deleted, so do at your risk, but I didn't lose my original hard key assignments or notice any adverse effect)

Restart your phone.

After the restart, you should see a notification to set up your phone's xCover and Top keys.


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How do I bypass ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_PRIVATE_YES?
https://www.androidpolice.com/android-14-review/ says:

In another attempt to limit the havoc false accessibility services can wreak, Google offers a new option for app developers to limit the visibility of their apps to disability-focused accessibility services only. This new option only allows accessibility services that are officially screened by Play Protect and the Play Store to see what you’re doing in potentially security-focused apps. Since malware and phishing software often use accessibility services to get around security features, this is a welcome change, even if it may break a few legitimate apps that rely on accessibility services in the process.

I don't need Google to protect me from myself. If I want to let a non-disability-focused accessibility service access an app that its developer doesn't, I should be able to since at the end of the day, it's my phone. How can I bypass this? I'm willing to do things that need ADB and/or root.

I think the description fro AndroidPolice is a bit misleading. The one in this blog is better. Based on this information in my understanding this feature works this way:
ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_PRIVATE_YES is a security feature an app developer can enable for views in their app. The flag is a bit similar to FLAG_SECURE which disables screen shots of a view which has this flag set.
But ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_PRIVATE_YES
disables that third party apps can remote control this view using accessibility services except from those third party apps which had been installed from Google Play Store and thus are compliant to the usage rules Google has formulated for that apps should only use accessibility services to support disabled people.
That means this flag is not designed to protect you. An app developer can use it to protect their app (or parts of it) from automation tools without blocking really disabled people, which makes it an security feature.

But since it's my phone, I should be able to bypass it anyway. I'm asking how to do that.

@JosephSible-ReinstateMonica If it is a flag like FLAG_SECURE then you can hook the setFlags and addFlags method e.g. using an Xposed module or Frida and remove the flag. But at the moment I think this flag never made it into the final Android 14 release because I can not find any reference to it in the Android API documentation from Google, only this page  which tells me the flag was removed.

@JosephSible-ReinstateMonica It may be possible that the flag was renamed to ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_SENSITIVE_YES Final Android API 34 knows  ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_SENSITIVE_AUTO, ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_SENSITIVE_NO and ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_SENSITIVE_YES.  https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/View#ACCESSIBILITY_DATA_SENSITIVE_AUTO


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How do I deny the DETECT_SCREEN_CAPTURE permission?
If an app requests the DETECT_SCREEN_CAPTURE permission (new to Android 14), how can I deny it that permission? I don't want the app to get a SecurityException or anything like that; I just want to make the screen capture callback never fire. Solutions that need ADB or root are acceptable.


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Finer control on battery running out and having to recharge it
Using a smartphone is nowadays vital to work.
When my battery reaches 2%, a notification, from the bottom of the screen (this, was well thought. The battery, and battery charger is on the bottom, so it is very well that the message is from the bottom), triggers off.
However, I would like it if you could program both the trigger, for when the battery message were to come up, as well as the time intervals of possible successive warnings of when to remind to charge the phone. These, must have defaults, for instance:

I may choose to trigger the charge battery alarm at 40%

And subsequently every 5% of discharge.
Or subsequently every five, ten, twenty, or forty minutes.

You should be able to configure this in the settings.
This would help me in situations where I am walking outside not far from home, in which I would return, within forty minutes.
In these cases, I should also be able to turn the reminder for the battery off. I may just want to have the phone on until it drags out all the battery. Or I may want to turn the warning off, turn on the phone, and then turn it back on just before a phone call is expected, or just before needed.
...
But, because, sometimes I may go out of home for a short time, sometimes for a long time, sometimes I may be out driving, or sometimes you may be at a day center, or in an office, or at the dentist or to the doctor's, and more time may be required (silencing may override the battery warning),...
Because of this, you might want to be able to override these settings in the battery warning notification that shows up.
For instance, just as with alarms, for appointments and meetings, you may want to specify a specific battery discharge interval or time warning interval before dismissing (or even set a specific one, overriding the settings, and then dismiss).
For instance, you may be in a car, and your friend Matt be already using the car charger and you do not have a USB hub in your car, so you cannot plug in your phone as well, and in this case you may want to postpone, say, two hours, so that you will know the prompt to charge your phone may kick off when you are at home, where, hopefully, everyone has a charger. And if even there a charger is missing, because, perhaps, over broke and they are all in use, then you can use the same battery discharging prompt to set the next battery (perhaps your companion is using theirs while hooked up to USB but you just care that your phone will not run out of battery because you are expecting an important phone call, so will choose a percentage drain parameter instead of a time drain parameter).
Thanks.

Sorry but your question is bit long to read it fully, and the used sentences are also very long (the last section are only two sentences). In the end you are searching for an app that has a very flexible battery notification system. What apps from Play Store have you tested so far?


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Battery notification, overriding do not disturb and playing alarm at night, though settings
Many of us go to sleep with the phone next to the bed or on the tabletop next to the bed.
When at night, the phone enters the do not disturb mode, and we sleep.
However, it would be nice if the user could configure in the settings to be disturbed if the battery was running out.
This could be done, even overriding the notification mechanism and actually playing a special "night wake up" alarm.
This is important, because, in the morning, the phone needs to be charged.
It is important that this be configured in the settings, because sometimes you are on vacation, and you may be sleeping next to someone that may want to sleep and not be disturbed for no matter whatsoever.
Thanks.


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Displaying the battery discharging notification in a larger font through settings for configurable greater chance of user charging phone in response
It would be nice if there were a way in the Android settings to display the battery discharging notification in large or extremely large letters.
This is because when the notification is displayed, especially, when in the middle of an intensive task, or when in between an intensive task with someone else or when working as part of a group, we simply tend to ignore it and dismiss it.
Instead, if the notification text was presented as larger text, it would increase, first, our level of alertness, and, then, our level of engagement, with such notification.
In such cases we would put the battery to charge, in situations, where we might ignore it (and end up with a phone with a discharged battery).
It is also true that such a notification would be easier on visually impaired users, which are also likely to increase their responsiveness to a discharged battery, and charge it.
In the case TalkBack was enabled it would be good if the notification stuck to the screen, so the user, could then hear, it, several times (because they might forget what they hear, and then dismiss it by hovering over it and double tapping).
When will this functionality be supported?
How can I enable such functionality on my Android phone?
Thank you for your support.
Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for your answers.


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Is there any way to show the last times Android was rebooted?
Is there any way to show the last times Android was rebooted?
I'm using uptime -s for the last time, but I would like to see a list of the last times it was rebooted.
I'm on Android 9 and Termux.

Just to clarify, do you need to specifically use Termux? Also, probably related: Does Android keep a log of when it boots?


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Is there a way to select Editions when playing MKV files on Android?
MKV video files have a feature called editions, which allows you to string together multiple chapters into a sort of playlist all within one file. For example, a single file could contain the chapters for the extended cut of a movie, and an extended edition and theatrical edition that selectively include those chapters.
On Android I have tried two video players, VLC and MKV. I can't figure out how to choose an edition to play in either of these. Is there any way to play an MKV file on android and be able to select an edition to play, before or during playback of a file?

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

@AndrewT. Do these edits make it sufficiently broad?

That should be fine, thanks. P.S. you might want to edit the title to reflect the issue you want to solve too :)

So I was able to find a repo with different forms/features of MKV files: https://github.com/hubblec4/Matroska-Playback/tree/master/files And I think what you want is similar to OrderedChapters ('Title' in Playback menu on VLC for PC) but given the lack of discussion I've been able to find about it may be a low priority item for media app developers/lack of user feature request.


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Can an Android tablet act as a speaker for an iOS device?
I've seen a lot of apps that claim to use an Android device as a "wireless speaker", but they all end up needing some kind of PC client as the audio source.  I have a "smart display" that runs vanilla Android (8.0, as a tablet), and can use the Play Store.  I'd like to install something that lets me send audio directly from an iPhone.  Is this possible?  If it only works from specific iPhone apps, that would still be better than nothing.


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Running a console app on non-rooted Android Phone
I was able to run a console app (compiled with NDK) on a rooted Android phone, but can't run it on a non-rooted phone.
I tried:
adb push MyApp /mnt/sdcard/temp
adb shell
cd /mnt/sdcard/temp
chmod a+x MyApp

but chmod did not work and the file remained non-executable:
tulip:/mnt/sdcard/temp $ ls -l
total 33904
-rw-rw---- 1 root sdcard_rw 34713488 2023-10-05 19:49 MyApp

The files are uploaded as root, but the commands are executed as shell:
adb shell "id"
uid=2000(shell) gid=2000(shell) groups=2000(shell),1007(log),1011(adb),1015(sdcard_rw),1028(sdcard_r),3001(net_bt_admin),3002(net_bt),3003(inet),3006(net_bw_stats),3009(readproc),3011(uhid) context=u:r:shell:s0...

tl;dr:  You're trying to do root-things without root.  Getting root in android is extremely difficult and dangerous.  Given the scope of your question, I would not recommend that you continue attempting what you're asking about.
Just so you're aware...

"root" in *nix-based environments (including android) is the singular user that has absolute authority.
"rooting" your phone means you have the ability to run commands as "root".
If you're not "root", security restrictions will not allow you to perform certain tasks... like changing permissions on files.
If you look at the file permissions, the file is owned by "root", and the "sdcard_rw" group.  Unless you're the owner you have no permissions to modify the permissions on that file.  You cannot set the execute permission on that file without ownership and/or root permissions.  Since you're not root, and you're not the file owner, you're out of luck.
If you're simply trying to side-load a valid app... you'll need to enable installing apps from 3rd parties in the phone's security settings... and use an appropriate installer to install the .apk to the device.  If the apk contains things that would violate the security checks of the device, (like an app that contains some sort of exploit or requires elevated permissions outside the normal scope of what an app can do) you're out-of-luck.
If you force your phone to accept whatever you want to do... you'll need to essentially hack/exploit your phone in some way that would give you elevated permissions.  Be careful when attempting to exploit a phone... as you can modify certain bits that would no longer pass the security checks of the bootloader... which might give you root access temporarily, but will also make it no longer able to boot after power-cycling the phone.

I noticed that file MyApp is owned by root. All the files that I push with adb are owned by root, right?

That may be true... but when you attempt to run commands... you're not root.

I also tried this adb shell "cd /mnt/sdcard/temp && chmod a+x AwlTest && ls -l", but without a success. So files are uploaded as root but the commands are executed as not root.


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How to get USB debugging on ZTE Z233VL?
I've been trying to get USB debugging on the ZTE Z233VL, to possibly install apps. The issue is that I've been trying to look up "Where does Android keep the configuration on if USB debugging is enabled", and all it tells me is how to enable USB debugging on every Android device but this one.
Most of the Android test codes don't work, no debugging features work, and the APK package installer app (the GUI for the installer, not the "pm" tool) isn't bundled. It shows the icon for the app, but it doesn't have a program to run it, it says. Also, it has no WiFi.

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. I'm afraid this situation looks similar to other Android-based flip phones like Can I enable USB debugging on Fig Flip II (Kosher OS)?

This phone is like complete Android, but it's been stripped of some of the features for installing apps.

So I looked up the model and a ZTE Z233VL is a flip-phone based on Android OS.
Android OS is open-source which means that any manufacturer can create a Custom ROM and use it for their devices. However if the manufacturer wants the Google Play Store they need to enable things like developer mode and adb so that Android application developers can test their apps on the device.
What this also means is that if the manufacturer doesn't use the Google Play Store, they have no obligation to add in the side-loading or developer mode options.
TL;DR:

While the phone runs Android it isn't running Google Play Services supported Android.
The manufacturer doesn't need to add in side-loading as they are using a custom ROM and from your account they didn't add side-loading or developer mode.
Unless someone finds a way in, you won't be able to side-load apps or enable developer mode.

According to the manual the phone has only 512 GB RAM and 4 GB flash. So I would assume the OS is an Android 2.x OS stripped down to the bones, just the minimum to provide the UI and apps like settings, camera and a gallery, phone, contacts https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HiEAAOSwAK9iPz-2/s-l1600.jpg

@Robert For reference I have a different model Android based flip-phone with 4GB storage. My device states it is Android 8.1, and similarly only the most basic of apps along with a carrier store. Probably an Android Go variant.

This phone runs Android 4. The reason I know that, is because it's in some piece of version info I found, hold on...
Also, the device has a way to push updates to it via ADB. I could try that, but it's risky.


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Transfer storage from stock recovery to PC
I made my backups and everything before attempting to upgrade to the latest security patch on my rooted phone (SM-G781B), but because of laziness ("it's gonna work 100%"), I didn't transfer them to my PC or my external drive.
After flashing BL, CP, HOME_CSC and Magisk-patched AP it now got into a boot loop (I don't know why, maybe it's because I downloaded the firmware via another way since Bifrost didn't seem to work anymore) and I only can access stock recovery and download mode.
I am going to need to do a factory reset or clean flash, but before that I'd like to obtain my backups stored on the internal SD card. ADB displays "unauthorized" but I can choose to sideload something. Is there any way to do that or is it impossible?

As your phone is rooted I assume your bootloader is unlocked. If this is the case you are free to boot or flash a different recovery ROM which offers more functionality than the stock recovery ROM.
I know that some recovery ROMs like TWRP have support for accessing encrypted user data. This way you should be able to access and copy/extract the backup files that are still stored on your user data partition.


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I want to receive Google Chat messages from my work account but I don't want work emails showing up in my Gmail app
I use the Gmail app on my phone for my personal accounts. My work uses Google Chat and Gmail for all communications. The problem is, adding my work account for Chat causes it to also bring in my work emails, which I don't want on my phone.
Is there any way of getting Gmail to ignore an account? Or maybe a way to get the Chat notifications without adding the account to my device?

There's no way other then use a phone (e.g. some Xiaomi) that allows managing and switching between different users/profiles. With different users you can have personal and work separated as you want.


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No setting to set default home app on Doogee Y9 Plus
I have an old Android 9 (it's a Doogee Y9 Plus) device on which I would like to set Nova Launcher as the default home app, but there doesn't seem to be a way to set it through the device's settings.
Every guide I could find states that you can change your default home app under Settings > Apps & notifications > Default apps > Home app, yet "Home app" isn't an option in Default apps on this device.
When I navigate to either the device's default home app (which is called "Aurora Launcher") or Nova Launcher in the settings, "Home app" is there and is set to "Yes" and "No" respectively, but when I click on the option there, it takes me back to "Default apps" where the option doesn't exist.
My question is: Is there a way to bypass this and forcefully change the launcher? Btw, if possible, I'd like to force uninstall or at least disable the native launcher after the change. I've been finding things about ADB, but since I've never used ADB before, I want to know if there are some other ways and if not, how to use ADB to fix it.

What happens when you open Nova settings, then click on "Select default launcher"?

I've tried that too. It takes me to the "Default apps" section in my settings, and as previously mentioned, "Home app" doesn't exist as an option that I can change there.


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Golden Dict problem with Android 12?
I have Golden Dict lite ver 1.6.6 installed on a Denver tablet (Android 8) working fine, but when I tried on a new tablet (Lenovo M9), it just stopped whenever I tried to use it, since this dictionary is not under development any longer, there's no way for me to get a newer verion.
problem: Golden dict and Moon Reader are installed on my device, whenever I tried to use Goldendict within Moon Reader, it pop-up then a message came up saying that the dictionary stopped working, then quit the app.

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

Thanks for your comment.

If an app doesn't work on a newer Android version and the app is no longer maintained there is only one thing yo can do: uninstall it. The app was developed for about Android 6 and between 6 and 12 a lot of fundamental changes have been introduced to Android that require changes on code level within an app.


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How to use Pixel 6 as webcam on Android 14?
Many reports in the tech press said that Android 14 would include an option to use Android phones as a webcam when connected to another device over USB.
Here it is mentioned on the official Android 14 website

Upon installing Android 14 on my Pixel 6, I don't see this option. It's supposed to come up on the USB menu when you plug in the phone.
I contacted Google Support as a Google One user, but they were useless as usual - hadn't even heard of the feature.
Has anyone gotten this to work?

Sidenote: Google One is not a part of the Android team. So, it should be understandable that they don't know about latest Android features other than their Google products.

Related questions, independent of the Android version: Can I turn my Android device into a webcam?, How do I turn my Android into a USB Webcam?

It's there now, thanks!

The feature should/will be available in December feature drop (also known as Android 14 QPR1), not Android 14 release that just started rollout.
So you either need to install a Beta OS or wait for a couple of months for it to rollout.
When that happens, you'll plug in the phone into your computer via USB cable, tap the "Charging this device via USB" notification and select webcam as the option.

Thanks! I guess that's what "you can soon use your Android phone as a beautiful webcam" means!


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Firefox cannot access internet with mobile data (but does with Wi-Fi). Chrome works with both
My phone is a Xiaomi Poco X3 pro, running Android 12 (QKQ1), and it says it has MIUI Global 13.0.4 stable. Firefox is version 118.1.1. With Firefox, I am able to access the internet through Wi-Fi, but not using mobile data. With Chrome, both work.

I have checked the permissions (Wi-Fi and mobile data are allowed), and even deleted and re-installed Firefox, and also reset the AP settings associated with my SIM card. Nothing helped.
I should say that in the past no such problems had occurred, but I do not know when exactly this problem started to occur.
Another observation is (and I am not sure whether that could be related) that some apps seem to sometimes lose network connectivity until I restart them. For example, I have a public transport app to search for connections and buy tickets, which sometimes hangs until I remove it from memory and restart it. This problem seems not to occur with other people using the same app at the same time and place (but on another phone).
What else can I check to solve this problem?

AFAIK, Firefox has its own certificate store, and looks like the screenshot shows that it failed to connect to the website securely. Not sure if it's due to DNS hijacking by the cell provider.

You can check which DNS mode is configured in Firefox: How do I enable DNS over HTTPS on Firefox for Android?

I feel really stupid, but it seems for some reason my mobile data AP was configured with a proxy (I did not do that, so this must somehow have happened automatically). Since I removed the proxy, everything works.