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How to secure install untrusted app
I need to use of Google Play Store app for my project. This app is prepared by unknown to me Chinese GPS devices' manufacturer and I want to use it to communicate with device.
App is published on Google Play Store but uses old type of privileges. With installation I would agree to share "Device & app history", "Contacts", "Location", "Phone", "Photos/Media/Files", "Camera", "Microphone", "Device ID & call information" and more.
I don't feel comfortable to share all that data with unknown to me manufacturer and with untrusted app (1 star in shop), but I need to use this app (because it connects to my physical device).
Is there secure way to install that app? Can I be sure that for example app won't copy all my contacts to some shady server? (I can't block network for app, because that would also block communication).
How can I mitigate some risks or limit app capabilities? Should I be aware of some other risks (like app accessing Android Pay)?
I have OnePlus 3 with Android Oreo (stock but in open beta).

What Android version you are running? Is your device rooted? Approaches are different if rooted or not. Do you depend on "smooth updates" for that app? If those are not an issue, the easiest way would be getting hold of the APK (e.g. using Raccoon) and re-pack it without some of the "nasty stuff" (block some of the permissions; start aggressively and block fewer if the app crashes) – see e.g. APK Rebuilder on my Android site.

@Izzy I have Android 8.0.0, device is not rooted. I don't care for updates of app. I was hoping for something less aggresive - like limiting app privileges after installation (before running), adding another user profile, adding some limits to app from OS.
Thank you for suggestion - I'll probably try that if there isn't simper way to do this.

Limiting app privileges (or OS limits to the app) on a non rooted Android is limited itself (Google decides what you can limit/withdraw). A different user profile might work (to some degree; e.g. to device IDs it doesn't change a thing), and has its inconveniences in use (you'd always have to switch back and forth). Of course someone might come up with a related solution; shall I write up an answer for my above suggestion meanwhile, so you then can compare in detail?

I think your idea is worth an answer. I'll definitely upvote it. However I'll wait with accepting - maybe someone has simpler/faster solution. Thank you one more time.

Fair enough! Expanded my comments to an answer, giving additional details. Good luck!

Available approaches differ depending on multiple criteria:

Are you using a custom ROM such as LineageOS? It might ship with tools for that. LineageOS e.g. includes Privacy Guard, which let's you restrict apps pretty well.
Is your device rooted? Then you could use tools like LBE to achieve the same – which unfortunately is proprietary, so you cannot really say what goes on behind the scenes.
Is your device rooted and has the Xposed Framework installed? Depending on your Android version, this might hold some power here. For example XPrivacy – which unfortunately is no longer maintained and not compatible with Android 7+

What's left if your answer is "No" to all above? What ships with "stock Android" doesn't really let you control much. For example, all permissions marked as "normal" can't be regulated – which e.g. includes network access. So to really limit an app here, you'd need to modify the .apk file before installing it. So called APK Rebuilder¹ can do that. Basically, they let you mark which permissions you do not want the app to have, and remove them from the Manifest declaration. That way the app doesn't get them granted. It might then crash when trying to access related functionality – or even might not work at all if you removed too much. So general advice is first remove as much as you think useful – and if things go wrong, make a second, less restrictive build. Continue until it works for you – or drop the app and find an alternative.
Another approach is using a "manager" that sandboxes things. One such is Parallel Space (see this answer for details²). But that approach always has another draw-back: such a manager app requires almost all permissions available, as it needs to manage them for the apps you want to restrict. Which requires a lot of trust – and such manager app better be open source (AFAIR the one I saw was not) so it can be checked by as many eyes as possible.

¹ disclosure: link goes to my Android site
² and thanks to Morrison Chang for helping my brain with the name!

LBE? Does that antique run on Nougat? I doubt it does.

@iBug Depends on which version. The international one definitely not (that stopped with JellyBean already). Not sure for the Chinese version. Just recently stumbled upon a request for Oreo ("after updating … will there be …") which made me guess the reporter was using it on the device before the update, which makes Nougat the likely candidate. Hm, last release 12/2015 makes Nougat unlikely indeed for the same reason as XPrivacy (Nougat API changes). But that's why I wrote "tools like LBE", and why I didn't link it – you'll notice I didn't link XPrivacy either :)

@Izzy Just for reference, I've linked to the 'sandbox' type app in this answer here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/169048/3573 along with a more technical link, but otherwise your analysis on those is correct.

Thanks @MorrisonChang – that is the one! I just remembered "Parallel something", which was not enough for a search :)

@Izzy Just went and checked. The current latest version for LBE Security is 6.1.2559 (available in China) while the GP version remains at 6.1.2215. Currently testing the new one out.

If there are newer versions, I wonder why they don't make it to Play @iBug …

@Izzy And as well, the permission control is totally failing (does nothing at all, thank God it doesn't crash the phone).

@Izzy FYI, the old version (6.1.2215) is no longer present on Play as well. Guess it's too intrusive.

Who are we to tell apps what they shall keep their fingers off! Let Google decide what's good for us … Well, I'd say that does it for LBE. Good to hear a new XPrivacy (XPrivacyLua) is on its way – though that's not a permission manager but a privacy manager ;)


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Unbootable OnePlus 5T
So, I rooted my device and everything was fine. It was like that until I used Freedom. It messed up my Play Store. There was nothing that could repair it. I tried doing a factory reset but my twrp did not let me do it, it said it cannot mount something. So, I thought that if I lock my OEM it will do a data wipe. So, I locked it, not my phone, when I want to load the system, it's stuck on the loading screen and when I try to boot in recovery it says "Your device is corrupt. It can't be trusted and will not boot".

Since you've installed TWRP, you cannot lock the bootloader. A locked bootloader will perform integrity check at boot time and if it finds anything tempered, it will refuse to boot:
The solution is simple: Unlock it again. You won't lose your data this time, so just proceed to connect your phone to a computer, boot into bootloader mode and run on the computer:
fastboot oem unlock

Exactly like when you did before rooting. This will make your phone boot up again.
Additionally, you may want to check for a newer version of TWRP and see if some bugs are fixed so you can do the data wipe.
For the problem of Freedom messing up Play Store, you can check out this answer.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Can't mount disc image file, "The Disc Image File is Corrupted"
Recently, I tried rooting my phone, a Huawei Honor 6x.
I had troubles when trying to flash the TWRP file, however.
I downloaded the disc image file directly from TWRP's website, here.
What I was supposed to do next was use Command Prompt to flash this TWRP disc file. It produced the following error:

Intuitively, I then opened the disc file directly, and it gave the error, "Couldn't Mount File, The Disc Image File is Corrupted"
I think this may be the problem, but on the directions I received, it said that I should download the "platform tools from the Android SDK", and "From the SDK Manager, download only the platform-tools to get adb and fastboot binaries." Now, I have already downloaded adb and fastboot, and once I finished downloading, it opened a program called Android Studio, with no information about platform tools.
I read about a similar question here, but the answer was unclear to me. If anyone could explain his answer, or figure out my problem, that would be awesome.

Could it be that the filename isn't twrp.img?

I renamed it to twrp.img. Thanks for your concern though!

It's simple - you chose the wrong recovery -the one you linked to is for Huawei P9 lite
Your device doesn't have an official TWRP but has a unofficial TWRP linked here
TWRP meant for one device model cannot be used for another. Period
That's exactly what the other answer was saying.
Please take the trouble of reading the relevant forums in XDA to be aware of the device specific techniques.
Next, TWRP cannot be opened at C:/ of your computer
You need to set up adb (press on that to read the wiki. You don't need Android studio for this - it's meant for developers and occupies memory unnecessarily. Uninstall that and read the next paragraph carefully to install what is required for this purpose
To set up adb see instructions here Is there a minimal installation of ADB? and How to install adb
It is strongly recommended that you read and understand what you are doing with a rooted device (as you say you have rooted it). Consequences can be very very unpleasant and you could end up holding a paper weight instead of a phone

Thanks so much! I never found that thread, and now my phone is rooted fine!

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


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Why there is one driver binaries file per android version?
As you can see on the first screenshot, Sony (it's the same thing for Google with his Nexus and Pixel devices) provides one driver binaries tree file per android version for each device to compile AOSP (here the Xperia M2) :

Why there is not one driver file compatible with all android versions ?
Secondly, how xda developers make to compile android 8.0 for the nexus 4 while android oreo 8.0 driver binaries are not available for the nexus 4 ?

https://www.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-4-android-oreo-port
Thanks !

"Questions about writing and publishing Android apps, writing custom ROMs, and other topics that are primarily of concern to developers are off-topic. Consider taking advantage of other resources that may be appropriate for your question."

Related post which explains Android's OS Update situation: Is there a technical reason Android update story is so bad?

Why there is not one driver file compatible with all android versions ?

Because it's not possible to write one driver that's compatible with all Linux kernels. The driver has to interface with the kernel, and different kernel versions change this interface for many reasons - to enable new features, to improve efficiency, and to fix security problems. This is what makes them "different versions". Each new Android version standardises on a different version of the Linux kernel, so the drivers need some source code changes to work with the new version.
There's also a lot of testing that needs to be done with the new versions, to make sure the changes didn't break something.

how xda developers make to compile android 8.0 for the nexus 4 while android oreo 8.0 driver binaries are not available for the nexus 4 ?

As the summary you've screenshotted clearly says, many features such as NFC just don't work with this port - likely because drivers are not available. Sometimes, even though a driver for the particular hardware in this phone might not be available for newer Android versions, there might be a newer version for desktop Linux, or a driver for a similar device, which is unsupported but can be made to mostly work with some fiddling.
Also, hobbyists might be more interested to try something even when it's not economically worthwhile for the manufacturer, and there's a lower bar for them. If Google or LG shipped a release where only half the features worked and even those had only been tested on one phone, you'd be pretty upset, but if some guy on XDA Developers does it, that's a success.
It really is a success: I don't want to detract from what Ziyan has done here. It's just that the quality bar is higher for an official port from the manufacturer, and they don't have free time to spend supporting old devices.


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LOS Recorder without unlocking
It is possible to use the camera without unlocking the Phone (I am using Lineage OS 14.1 on Samsung S4)
But now I would also like to use the Lineage OS Recorder App without unlocking. I often use it for short notices to myself and its really a pain to always type my unlock code for 5 seconds of recording...
Is there a way to use the Recorder App that way? Or is there any other app on fdroid to do so?

Yes. You can start recording and lock the phone. Recording be continued without pause/stop

thats not what I want, I want to START recording without unlocking the phone, just like taking a photo without unlocking

Hmmm. Okay. Try use Termux application. Install it + termux api. Then you can take a photo from.script termux-camera-photo. Not requires root access.

mh, sorry can you say that again? :) so termux is a terminal for android, thats nice, but how should I use that on my problem? Your last sentence is confusing me

Ohh, sorry for my little english. I not understand what you want. Camera photo or video?

Considering there's no customization for LOS' lock screen, I think the only way is to use 3rd-party lock screen that allows shortcut customization


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How can an "official" ROM be verified?
I'd like to substitute the brand ROM on an huawei p10 with the official ROM one can find in the popular xda forum or alike.
I'm a bit paranoid in this regard so, in order to be reasonably sure no one tempered the "official" ROM, how can I verify it's actually the one that comes with unbranded Huawei phones since, as far as I know, Huawei doesn't provide the ROM itself nor the md5?

Many official ROMs embed some sort of signature and the stock recovery won't flash it at all if it's not genuine.

Most of stock recoveries has an option for verification of system integrity.
It checks your ROM and reports deleted, modified and added files or any unauthorized change.
It is labeled as 'verify system integrity' or similar in my moto phone, it should be available in your ROM.


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LineageOS - bug when text is copied
I upgrade my phone to LineageOS 14. When I try copy text (long press) or if i copy text to clipboard by button and try paste him - any application is crashed.
Drawable cannot be cast to VectorDrawable

Why it does?
Micromax Q415, default android lollipop, flash rom portable

Brand/model? I have 10 LOS 14.1 devices on my hand now and none exhibit this - looks device-specific.

You should probably report the bug on their bug tracker because we might not have any solution for this.

I known. People make port rom for my device. It bug porting process. I flash new rom with bug fix

It is occurring for me in second user profile. Not able to paste.


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How to unlock glitching fingerprint service forcing me wait for 30 minutes?
Samsung Galaxy S7 fingerpring is glitching: if my finger is wet or dusty, it is trying to detect this case and provide special processing for it. Unfortunately, it can't detect this well and this causing dead loop: it asks to push fingerprint, then it asks to wash button and push again and so on. Pin code entrance doesn't occur.
Today my phone was just lying on the sofa and locked itself for 30 minutes. I hate when irons disobey me! How to unlock it now?
How to absolutely guarantee such thing will never happen again? Both Android and Samsung are glitchy enough itself to have additionally locking for 30 minutes feature!
UPDATE
I was able to unlock my phone via Samsung web service. Then I disabled fingerprints and locked phone to try new unlock method and found, that waiting period is still not ended!

Unfortunately, based on Android Central's forum this seems like a relatively common issue on Samsung devices...


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LineageOS + Open Gapps: remove Gapps, dirty migration to "LineageOS for microG" fails
I've got a Motorola Moto G4. Bootloader unlocked, TWRP installed, LineageOS installed, Open Gapps installed, non-rooted. Been using it for about a year.
I want to try LineageOS for microG.
I want to keep my current data/apps (including some end-user Google apps like their PDF viewer) as much as possible and migrate to microG, removing only the "core" Google stuff a user doesn't generally care about directly that will be replaced by microG. So, I'm following the dirty install process.

I have none of the listed apps installed.
I have tried removing Open Gapps, but it doesn't seem to work. Using the aroma installer to choose settings until the config at the end is "Include" with no apps listed, some Google apps are still installed (notably, the Play Store) after rebooting. The Open Gapps installer process also mentions removing existing/obsolete apps for only a short time, then moves to the next step "installing Gapps" which takes a long time. This seems to contradict the settings I gave it, namely to leave none installed, but is consistent with the fact that they don't seem to get uninstalled.
I have also flashed https://github.com/CHEF-KOCH/Remove-Gapps to try to get rid of them, but some Gapps (like the Play Store) still survive.

After any combination of attempts to follow the instructions and remove the Gapps, I flash the key migration zip followed by the lineage-microG.zip for my device (athene). I also make sure to wipe the Dalvik and cache partitions before rebooting.
After all this, every time I reboot, my system is almost exactly like it was before I did anything: Google services installed (though the Play Store does not actually work, it's still there), the microG settings app is not installed, etc. A few things are broken (some notifications of apps crashing) but overall nothing noteworthy has happened.
I've resorted to even wiping /system before a migration attempt, but even this achieves nothing.

I got a partial success once by manually going through /system/app, /system/priv-app, and /data/app and removing anything that looked Google-y, then performing the migration. Upon rebooting, the microG settings app was present and the self-check section looked like it should look on a clean install, but the Play Store was still present. I don't know to what extent this migration was a success.
I'm not familiar with the Android/Google ecosystem's insides and app politics, just the userland, so when I'm manually going around deleting files, I have little knowledge of what I'm doing, so I don't consider this attempt a success.

Now that all the info has been laid out, could someone please help me cleanly perform the migration to lineage-microG, without excessive butchering of my system or leaving things that should not be left? Why does the dirty install procedure laid out by the lineage-microG team fail? Why do the Gapps removal tools fail? What exactly is necessary to correctly and cleanly migrate lineage to lineage-microG?

Will be a bit more effort but should work: Performing an adb backup of your apps (hopefully none opted out or you'd need Xposed an the BackupAllApps module; my tool Adebar may help you by creating a script for backup and restore) minus the GApps you want to get rid of, then wipe system, cache and data, install µG-LOS, restore the ADB backup. That's what I usually do for a "clean flash" – but it of course means some configuration to be done afterwards.

@Izzy adb backup/restore will reinstall the apps but their data will still be lost, basically resetting each app to a clean install state, no?

Apparently the command adb backup -f “x:\bla” -all -apk -nosystem will be useful, since they say it backs up/restores apps and their data. I can back up the internal storage separately. With that, I should have the essence of my phone backed up, that should be all I need to restore all my stuff after flashing a new system. Thanks @Izzy

Keep in mind that with the syntax you used it will result in one big archive – and might contain stuff you just want to get rid of. That's why I mentioned Adebar and the script it generates – which then creates separate backup archives, one per app (and the restore script considers that as well, of course). That way you could check the script before running it, and simply remove or comment out things you don't want (maybe not in the backup script, just in case, but at least in the restore script – as you could then restore "skipped stuff" any time later).

Unfortunately my OS is named after glass panes, which adebar is not a fan of

The ones used for light and fresh air here? Well, there's always the swan my stork sympatizes with. And for easy handling, MobaXterm (a portable application) even includes the swan (Cygnus → CygWin).

You can do this:

Flash the "microG unofficial installer" (Disclaimer: a flashable zip created by me) that remove the base of GApps from all partitions in addition to installing microG
Wipe /system to remove traces of the installer
Flash LineageOS for microG

worked for removing openGApps from an existing Lineage 14.1 installation on a Moto X Play (Lineage image 'Lux'). 2) had to do a factory reset since LineageOS for microG refused to install due to 'incompatible components'.

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


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Facebook Messenger - No ring tone for calls
I got a Lenovo Essential tablet. I have a problem that when someone call me via Facebook Messenger, the table only vibrates, it doesn't call any sound at all. But the sound for Facebook messenger's notification like - incoming inbox message, miss calls, still works. Looks like only the ring tone for calls is not working.
what I have tried that doesn't work:

Clear data for Facebook messenger.
Re-install Facebook messenger.
In Facebook messenger -> Notifications & Sounds, I enabled everything.

I check this article

Go to Settings-apps- messenger. In there will be an option
  that says notifications. For some reason it was set to low priority
  and silent. I changed it and it's been working perfectly

but I can't find any thing (I see "Show notifications" checkbox, but it has already been checked)

(sorry for the image's quality, I can't figure out how to take screenshot with this Lenovo Essential tablet)
So how can I enable ring tone for calls in Facebook Messenger?


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Is there a fully secure way to do speech-to-text?
Is there a secure way to do speech-to-text that ideally uses end-to-end encryption and guarantees my privacy on an android phone? A solution that requires root access is acceptable, as is a solution that requires self-hosting a speech-to-text service (if so please specify).
It would be preferable if this speech-to-text solution was accessible by using the microphone icon on the android keyboard.
Thank you.

There are some self-hosted solutions, but I'm not sure how reliable they are and what languages they support (I just remember one name: PocketSphinx). But I'm afraid that microphone icon hooks into Google's speech detection in a hardcoded way (not sure, though).

A "fully secure" speech to text application does not use networking (it would do it locally on the phone)), so "end-to-end encryption" plays no role. Also: Google encrypts your data between your phone and Google's servers, but then Google can (and does) read your data. So "end-to-end encryption" (well, actually depending what the "end" is) does not help.

As Izzy mentioned, PocketSphinx is  the best solution.  However, it is far interior to Google voice typing  in terms of speech recognition, accuracy unless  you are willing to train it on your voice and vocabulary. Anyway here's the link: https://cmusphinx.github.io/wiki/tutorialandroid/

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


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how do i factory reset my tablet that has no physical volume buttons
i have a TG-TEK tablet and i cant remeber my password and don't know how to factory reset my tablet because it has no physical volume buttons

Does the tablet have menu buttons at least?

Try the following:

Press the power button to get the option menu and dislay:

Power off
Reboot

On that menu, hold down that power off option on your touch screen while also holding down the home button on the side of your tablet.
This should bring up a screen to reboot into safe mode.
Hit yes for safe mode and then hold down your power and home buttons till the logo appears.
Release both buttons and hit the power button one time and then hold only the home button down till a menu option appears.
Use the home button to move down to factory reset and press the power button to select. Once it says complete then use the power button to select reboot.

This works on tablets without physical buttons, but have menu button. Should work on yours too.
If the above doesn't work, there still the computer solutions where one can just flash the firmware.


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SSHDroid cannot write sd card
The title says it all.
Running android 7.1 not rooted device, I am running sshDroid on android device, ssh into it from my laptop.
When I ssh into the device and check the permissions for the SD Card it's owned by root.
Without ROOT access, can I ssh and copy files to the SD Card from my machine?

Have you granted the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE to SSHDroid? Some apps have trouble requesting it correctly with runtime permissions. Solution often is to check in Settings › Apps and granting the permission manually. As for ownership of the SD card: the group (which also has write access) is the clue here. Once an app has been granted the write permission, it gets added to that group.

The permissions screen for the app asks for SD Card access and it's granted, still cannot make any edits while connected via ssh or scp.

That's strange. I remember a similar issue with another app – but I don't remember how it was solved in the end … So let's hope someone comes up with a lightbulb.

I have the same problem now with SimpleSSHd

And the same with SSH Server by Banana Studio. What a wonderful world.


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Do older Android versions support SHA-256?
We are updating our certs. for our MDM program, and that includes rolling out SHA-256. That being said, do all Android versions support SHA-256 (especially 4.0.3 and 4.1.1)?

According to the Globalsign support pages SHA-256 certificates work in general since Android 1.0 and full support since 2.2.


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What will happen if I tap "Fix Now" in Device Maintenance?
In Settings > Device Maintenance, Android says that I can tap Fix Now to improve my tablet's maintenance status.  What is Android actually going to do when I tap Fix Now?
I don't want to press it until I know what it is going to do.  I'm running Android 7.1.1 on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017).

Details from app manual

View the status of your device’s battery,
  storage, memory, and device security. You
  can also automatically optimize your device’s system resources

Further, it says optimise instead of fix

Quick Optimization
The quick optimization feature improves device
  performance through the following actions:
• Identifying apps that use excessive battery power
  and clearing unneeded items from memory.
• Deleting unnecessary files and closing apps running
  in the background.
• Scanning for malware.

Thank you, but how do I tell if I'm indeed running that app?

What else can you be running when you click it. Not understood.Incidentally Google says that Samsung has moved this app as standalone app in play store for Samsung devices. Didn't check that since your device had this built-in.

Yeah, I guess my device has it built in because I access it simply by Settings > Device Maintenance.

Yes. That's what the manual says too.Besides, if you have grounds for suspecting if that is actually running , that could be a different question.

You can run it and see what it does and add your answer if it varies from what the manual says as posted.

We're you able to check?


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How to "tell" Android to output/mirror its display?
With inspiration from this question, I purchased this docking station to be used with my new tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017), running Android 7.1.1):
StarTech HDMI and DVI/VGA Dual-Monitor Docking Station for Laptops - USB 3.0
(USB3SDOCKHDV)
Top:

Rear:

Side:

The docking station has multiple inputs (DVI, HDMI, VGA, USB 3.0), and I am able to connect the docking station to the Samsung tablet via a USB 3.0 to USB C adapter.  The docking station does not explicitly support Android, but I thought I would give it a try.
I know that the docking station is working -- to some extent, at least -- because if I connect a USB mouse to one of the USB 3.0 ports, I am able to access Android with the mouse.
However, when I connect a VGA monitor to the docking station, nothing appears on the monitor.  Likewise, when I connect an HDMI monitor to the docking station, nothing appears on the monitor.
Is there any way to "tell" the Android OS to output its screen to the docking station, via the USB C output on the tablet?  In other words, before I return the docking station to the retailer, I want to make sure that there is nothing else I can try.
When I go to Settings > Display, I don't see any option "Export screen to external display via USB C output" or something like that.  Is there any such option?

To output video via USB the device itself has to support MHL, which most devices don't.

@AndyYan Thanks. How can I tell if my device supports MHL?

Just look the device up - I don't think there's a reliable app for checking on-device.


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want to see WhatsApp chat msg from old number
My old number is recycled and now I have my whatsapp back up with that old number in my google account. how to catch up with old msg with that one group that still exists and just one person.
Please help.. I am in such a dilemma as I asked the mobile provider company. But they already recycled my old number and now it is in use with some other person.
Thank you

"how to catch up with old msg with that one group that still exists and just one person." Can you explain this line in more detail?

Yes.. I made a group, whose I was the only admin. I have never deleted the group as my phone was not working well with the data I had to update the software.  So I transferred all related to my google account and saved with google drive.  Now I want to see all msg I had on this group and my then fiance and now husband (one person) that's all.

Use the email option mentioned in the answer below, to have the history of chats. There is no way to fully restore your messages. As mentioned below

Phone number recycling is the worst thing since social security numbers. Everytime I get a new phone number I inherit tons of debt collectors or ex-girlfriends I never wanted to hear from.

In order to restore your messages from Google drive, you would need access to the same number that was used with WhatsApp during the backup.
From WhatsApp's FAQ

In order to successfully restore a Google Drive backup, you need to
  use the same phone number and Google account used to create the back
  up.

You can always ask the people that you chatted with, to send you a copy of the conversation by email, with the feature that WhatsApp providers for that here
Depending on how desperate you are, you can call the number that you used to use with WhatsApp, and ask the person to help you restore the chats. The person would have to send you the verification number that he receives from WhatsApp, and after you successfully set up and restore your chats, you can change your number back to the new number that you have now. (Good luck with that)


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Trucaller unable to send media files (images/videos), only contacts
I'm using Truecaller on my Samsung Galaxy Ace J1 SM-J111F and I'm apparently unable to send images or video files, only location and contacts.

How do I rectify the issue where I am able to send videos and images?

Trucaller disables this feature when the phone in question lacks sufficient storage space, typically there is only about 100 MB left.


text:
Connect USB stick using fdroid
I know there is stickmount on PlayStore to connect a USb stick to android, but is there an alternative on fdroid?

Not sure why you need it specifically from f-droid but you can get it from other stores like aptoide, chainfire (the author) is currently temporary retired from developing, so dont worry about missing a new update for now.


text:
System update notification but system already up-to-date
I've had the Google Pixel XL for over a year now (it's awesome) and I just received a notification to upgrade my OS to 8.1.0. Problem is, I already have 8.1.0 installed. I updated it a couple weeks ago. What is going on here?
This is also not the first time this has happened. I haven't been keeping track of when it's occured, but the same thing happened with 8.0.0 as well as a couple other times. Each time I've just went forward and reinstalled the udpate that I already had.
From what I can tell, there is no way to dismiss the notification and ignore the redundant update. I know that I could disable the system update notifications altogether, but I would like to have them, only just the first one.
This is not a major huge deal, but I'd be curious to know if people have thoughts about this. Thank you.

I don't own a Pixel, but are you sure it's the same update, instead of ones with the same Android version but newer monthly security patches?

Maybe a carrier specific update that comes with their bloat or add ons ? The first one is straight from Google and second is carrier is my guess. Otherwise it shouldn't alert

@AndyYan It has the identical version #, so I assumed it that same. Does Android put out security updates with the same version #? That would be odd, but I guess it could be that. Thanks!

@beeshyams I have Verizon and I don't think they have an OS version for the Pixel, but maybe: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/10/12/13258286/verizon-google-pixel-fast-android-updates. Thanks for input!

You can always check with carrier !

That one you linked is 4 months old

Does Android put out security updates with the same version #?

Yes. Version number changes generally correspond with new features or new APIs. Occasionally it will also be incremented for major bugfixes, but this has been somewhat less common now that Google has tried to increase their release cadence (around Android 6.0-ish or so). Security updates will change the build number, but not the version number. See the list of factory images for your device for an example of this (note all the repeated version numbers, followed by build IDs).

If you go to Settings > System > About phone you can find the "Android version" (circled blue below) and the "Build number" (circled red) of your current system. You can also check the "Android security patch level" on this screen to determine which security update you've received. They generally occur during the first week or so of each month, and they are outlined in the monthly security bulletins. Most likely you're receiving a notification for the January security update.

Picture from https://wccftech.com/android-oreo-for-verizon-pixel/


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Super resolution photos for phones with dual cameras?
Is it possible to use Android phones that have a dual camera system to combine both images to come out with a higher level of resolution and less noise?
And is there already an app/program that can do this?

You should probably be aware that not all dual-cam systems work the same way. 2 major configurations are color + B/W (to enhance night performance) and normal + wide-angle (to offer optical zoom). In both configs, the secondary camera does not capture the same type of image as the main one, and isn't even used in the majority of situations.

In my case, both cameras have the same focal length and aperture. Difference being the megapixels and one being designed for low light capabilities.


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Can cellulardata & WiFi be on while charging? Sporadic case of meager increase in charging while both were on
Last night cellular data & wifi were on. Previously IN THIS STATUS, my mobile charged 100%. Last night my mobile was in charging. To my surprise, I found charging had improved from 7% to 17% only. After this I turned off wifi & cellular data. NOW charging is improving slowly. Is this right solution? Any alternatives?

The WiFi + Mobile data should not eat up so much energy that the charging is slow, except if you have an ancient phone/charging device that has no quick charge technologies.
I would suggest:

make sure you are charging from a wall charger (i.e. not from PC USB port) and try to use a quick charger (QC 3.0 or similar)
make sure your cable is of good quality (official, or some other, try different cables if charging is still slow)
make sure your phones CPU is not on and running all the time because of some background app/process. That is the only thing that could drain it faster than it charges.

+1. Deleted my answer, your answer makes more sense


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Using SD card from Android 7 in Android 6
I got a new 'phone, with Android 7. I don't like it and plan to continue to use my Android 6 phone.
When I put the SD card into the Android 7, I vaguely remember something about it formatting - and encrypting? - it, and saying that the data would only be accessible on that 'phone.
When I put it in the Android 6 'phone, Settings/Storage and USB says that there is no SD card inserted.
It also offers me the option to "forget" the card and says that if I do so, all data on the card will be lost forever.
Two important points:

I don't care about the data & don't mind losing it; but I don't want the o/s to believe that there is no SD card slot.
the SD card & SIM slide in together on a little tray and that tray is stuck. So, it is quite probable that the SD card is not physically recognized.

Before I use brute force (and a thin knife) to get the tray out, is there any way to tell the 'phone "hey, you might have an SD card which is encrypted, and I am quite happy with reformatting it, just so long as you recognize it"?

Afraid not. If the device recognises it it will ask for formatting. If it is not mounted, there is nothing you can do except use your knife skills

Second thoughts - if they're is an option in your device (Incidentally do mention device in question) to decrypt try that. I had similar issues. MM SD card not recognised in N and vice versa. Simply copied data to PC, formatted card in phone and copied back

I can't see how to format the SD card in the new 'phone, as it is not recognized :-(  Time for some knifery, methinks

I was only illustrating that MM and N behave differently with SD cards. But do see if decrypt his

Try to connect your old phone to your computer and copy the data from the SD card to  the computer. Then choose forget on your old phone, try to get the SD card out and put it in the new phone. It will prompt to format the SD card. If it doesn't, go to Settings > Storage and tap on the SD card. It will ask to format it. If that still doesn't work, put your SD card into the computer and format it from there, preferably FAT32.


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Strange system app called Helper eating too much battery , data , CPU and freezing device
My phone usually work well until recently it turned out that battery gets really hot and camera Section that the phone starts popping that I should remove battery . when I look at battery usage I realise that Helper was the second after screen . what is even strange is that it is not found in system apps but there's no way to uninstall it .can only force stop and disable. But that doesn't help as though disabled , it still wakes up and I have to keep force stopping a disabled app.
It doesn't want me to connect to WiFi . A soft reset doesn't do anything only a hard reset does .but once I start reinstalling my apps it starts again .All my apps are from play store and i m no longer using beta apps .
Also the app is not package helper . what's this  app and how can I stop it
Device is android 6.0 unrooted

It's certainly not a helper ;). This is with no doubt a malware that has installed itself as a system app. If this is the case, you'll ne to be rooted to be able to remove it.

There's just no way to identify the app to uninstall it with root. It is not found in system apps under setting /apps/show system apps. Even es file explorer can't locate it under system apps

I wonder why it's even using so much data. Is there a way to see its data packets traffic without root?

The app is there, you need to know its package name. Try finding it with Uninstall (a system apps remover) - Download from Google play.

Thanks so much. Was able to find the app. Will be rooting the device and get rid of it. Thanks


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Disable Audio device?
I bought a phone in Japan(Huawei P10) and in Japan by law the camera app has to make shutter sound. But, when I am back to my country, I want to disable that, because it's obviously annoying.
Do not disturb doesn't work. I already renamed the shutter sound files, which disabled it in apps like snapchat and whatsapp, but the stock camera app still makes a sound.
So I thought, that I maybe could disable the audio device and enable it again if I need it. Do you know how?

I have magisk and xposed if that helps.
I want to use the stock camera app and an open-source way (especially with an "accessibility service"-app)


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Icon Disa on status bar
Is there a way to remove the Disa's icon on the status bar?
It stays and when I scroll down to see, it says "Everything is running smoothly".

Can we remove this and have this icon only when I receive message?

I have added a screenshot to improve clarity

According to Disa FAQ that's foreground feature.

The persistent notification is created by the Foreground setting,
  found in the General tab of Disa's settings. If your device is fairly
  new and has plenty of free memory then this setting does not need to
  be enabled. If you choose to disable it remember to restart Disa for
  the change to take effect.
The persistent notification was enabled by default for older devices
  which cannot run Disa in the background without it. However, if you
  feel that everything is working fine, i.e. you are not seeing the
  splash screen every time you start up Disa and/or you have no delayed
  notifications or missed messages, then you can turn this off in
  Settings.

Go to the General tab and then untick Foreground. You may need to restart Disa before the notification goes away;

Note: Some devices (EMUI, OxygenOS and devices without Google Play Services) get delayed messages without this feature enabled.
Credits:"Disa everything is running smoothly" won't clear


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Is there an Android equivalent of Linux command "xinput --list"?
I'd like to disable the physical keyboard and touchpad of my 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop when I use it as a tablet running on Android-x86, and so far I've managed to disable the keyboard by naming it in the file /android-7.1-rc2/system/etc/excluded-input-devices.xml, which is called AT Translated Set 2 keyboard.
But I couldn't properly name the touchpad :-(
I guess I need Android equivalent of Linux command xinput --list (if something like this exists at all).
Any ideas/suggestions please?

Since Android-x86 is installed alongside Linux on the same laptop, using the name given by the linux command xinput --list (ELAN1200:00 04F3:3058 Touchpad) worked in Android-x86 as well ! :-) But I might keep the question still to see if there's a similar command in Android...

Enter the command su root to gain root access.
Enter the command getevent -p to see a list of devices - which will match and even provide more detailed info than the linux command xinput --list


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Mi A1 fast charging is baffling
Mi A1 when it was launched (Nougat) did not have fast charging capability , though the Qualcomm chip is capable of it. It was speculated that this was done to keep the cost to fit "budget" phone model
This year it was upgraded to Oreo .Beta testing reports in December last year highlighted that fast charging has been enabled but required a Quick charger
To my utter surprise, after Oreo upgrade miA1 gives fast charging with conventional 5V 2A chargers! Read that again. It's true and I have tested with all chargers I have , which are mostly normal chargers . The  same charging rate I see with the only fast charger I have (Moto Turbo charger). As an example with 60 % of charge it shows 1800 mA which is typical of fast charging with any charger
It's well documented that fast charging requires a special charger which negotiates with the battery the power requirements and here you have the case of fast charging happening with normal charger
It's driving me crazy and I have searched Internet but couldn't find how it is possible
Question: How is this possible?
Fun fact : This is not the only strange thing with this device. Unlocking boot loader doesn't wipe data


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A grey stripe has appeared right above the nav bar
This morning after some regular use a grey stripe suddenly appeared right above the nav bar. The stripe follows the nav bar, so if I collapse the nav bar the stripe is moved down to the lower edge of the screen. Se attached images:

It's semi transparent and a nuisance...
The device is a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus

Hi @beeshyams I uploaded another screenshot, Chrome has nothing to do with the error, just used it for screenshot background.

@beeshyams This has nothing to do with styling the nav bar. some bug has appeared and I wonder if anyone knows how to remove it, hopefully without reseting the device.

I found out what the problem was.
As a side note I work as a designer for a company with a dedicated Android app. The current builds from the development team are pushed to my device where I can test the builds and provide input.
In the latest builds from today the team had integrated a third party lib which produced a on-screen server communications log. This log appeared as a grey stripe wherever I was in the device without me knowing, and only started printing logs when I started the beta app.
So, no problem with Samsung on this one, I guess this is a problem no one else ever will encounter. :)


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New screen flickering when charged
i had my screen broken unfortunately. I received a replacement that i don't  know if it is an official one, that was excellent until i put it to charge. The screen lightly flickers.  I don't have an official charger and mine outputs 5v and 0.18A. when the phone is down the screen is ok. It flickers when i touch the metal to the side of the battery.
This happens even when minimal pressure which suggests a grounding issue? When non conductive materials touch the side - even if with a lot of pressure nothing happens. And finally, this happens only when charging. My phone is Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016).
EDIT 1: I can confirm it is a grounding issue because when i touch the metal surface with a metal connected to a GND, the flickering stops completely
EDIT 2: I went to the repair shop and got an official Samsung charger (5v, 1.55A). The flickering has almost vanished. You have to pay real close attention to see a very slight flickering when it charges and you touch the metal surface around the screen. Still no clue on what is happening.

Sounds like what you suspect but unless you change the charger and power point you are connected to one can't be sure. But flickering / ghost touches are attributed to grounding

tomorrow i will check with the official charger. what do you mean "power point"? do you think its solvable? is it a defect screen or a bad reassembly?

Power point = where you plug in the charger (try a different one since that could also have earth leak issues, unlikely though). I have no experience of changing screens so can't say and in any case such hardware issues are best left to competent people who have the skill and tools. I am only trying to rule out other things before that path of service centre

yes this happens in all power points with all (unoficial) chargers i have tried so far

To me it looks like a visit to service centre for a check and solution. Things can't be very different with official charger since you have tried multiple chargers

yes its just that i just received it back from service after a screen replacement....

I see no other course. Tough luck

Ah those Chinese replacement screens...

@esQmo so you think it is an unoficial screen? if so, the issue is unsolvable right?

i am hoping its just bad assembky

What's your question? You've done some good experiments here and it seems like you've already found what's wrong.

i dont know what is wrong actually. my question is "how do i stop this completely?". it is a groundinf issue. can i open up tge case or something and reconnect it?

If it's a Chinese replacement screen, you need to get it replaced. Your charger may also be the cause! Does this happen while charging from a computer?

Yes! It happens with every charger but with the original one it is barely noticable.


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Unlocking boot loader **doesn't** wipe data. How is it a security threat?
MiA1 is probably the only one of it's kind that doesn't wipe data when bootloader is unlocked (tested by me and widely known)
It is said to be a security threat. I am not clear how
Say my device is stolen and one wants to access data how does this feature make it easier given

I use 6 digit PIN and fingerprint. One has to get past that before adb can be activated and  used to transfer data to a PC.
The device is encrypted (Oreo 8.0.0)
Debugging turned off

(I am not  talking of risks of unlocked boot loader. I understand that)
This is not a hypothetical question but something I need to understand, this being my daily use device.
I don't have information that calls for three letter agencies to use sophisticated tools , so that angle can be ruled out while answering (though useful to know).
I am looking for realistic threat assessment

As soon as they can flash a custom recovery with fastboot, the device is essentially completely theirs, including all of that data. Encrypting the device  will stop them being able to access that data unless they know the password to decrypt it though.

@Sonickyle27: you are right but the device is encrypted. Added that to question. Thanks

@Sonickyle27 also what you say is possible for any other device which has unlocked boot loader already

And what if they can decrypt those data without your password, say they have tools that break this encryption?

@esQmo_ that's why the last paragraph - is not with the effort :)

With the custom recovery a root shell can be invoked and then USB debugging can be enabled. As far as encryption it depends on the level of security type and where the key is stored. If a key is stored on-device it does not protect the application data from root users. The key has to be eventually provided to an app and thus be vulnerable.

@BoLawson : Standard OS encryption (Oreo) and the key I suppose is in the RAM and I have read about methods that dump RAM for key extraction - last paragraph rules out sophisticated methods of this kind

As a side note, I was able to unlock the bootloader of my P880 back then without wiping as well, as someone on XDA came up with a specific method – so yours is not the only one. But so far I haven't heard of many devices falling into this category (only our two and I vaguely remember a third one).

Using twrp decrypt password one can easily write a simple brute force script to guess your password. And as I can see it, there isn't any limit on how many times this command can be executed, so depending on the strength of your password, your device will be unlocked one day or the other.
Having debugging turned off doesn't make any difference in TWRP

Theoretically possible but vague in terms of how much time it would take. Need figures to substantiate what you are saying. In the meantime, what's stopping me from wiping my data using Google account?

Also your answer in the present form is speculative. Nothing to show how it can be done as you suggest or proof that it is tried and tested

@beeshyams time is very relative to your setup, but definitely nothing too huge. Take a look at this article. And the device can be kept switched off for the entire process, wiping using your Google account won't do anything. And what I said is the simplest hacking technique, doesn't require any 'proof of concept' in this day and age. Like the article I linked above, millions of people try this everyday.

In case you didn't know, the fappening was a result of a similar attack I posted as my answer. So its a tried and tested method in the wild.

Thanks for clarifying. It still is a special set up which is required. Please read again the last two paragraphs. I am looking for how I am at risk in the absence of such tools. Next, if the password were to be cracked this way, any device is at risk equally isn't it? But yes , your point of Google wipe is pertinent

@beeshyams this is not a special NSA level hack. Its barely 10 lines of code any noobie could write. And no, only your particular model is at risk. Because any normal device would wipe it's internal memory when I unlock bootloader and install TWRP on it. On your device it doesn't, so your data isn't safe when you lose your device.


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Unknownn, unnamed and blank icon app show up in app drawer?
I am using FDroid on a XPeria XZ.
Today I had problem updating Street Complete.
Since, I have a unnamed, blank icon showing up in my app drawer. I can't seem to remove it even via settings.
I have tried to uninstall StreetComplete to check if that would fix the problem, no dice.
Is there any way to known how it appeared, and how to remove it?

Clearing the launcher cache and rebooting device was suggested and it fixed the problem
This was recommended to clear from the memory the remanants of aborted download which  included the icon on launcher


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How can I determine if my device supports MHL?
I'm an Android novice.  I want to determine if my Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017) supports MHL.  Two obvious ways of doing this are:

Consult the manual.
Connect the tablet to an HDMI display using an MHL adapter, and try it!

But, I don't see any mention of MHL in the manual, and I don't have an MHL adapter.  Is there any way I can tell from within the Android OS if my device supports MHL?

If it is not mentioned in manual, it won't. Won't they like to publish all features ?

answer is no, after checking i can inform you that galaxy tab 8.0 2017 do not support MHL connection

A little Google search brought up the device specs which explicitly state: No MHL for this device.

Perhaps you should try checking here first: MHL Devices
Another way is using a third party tool: Checker for MHL (HDMI)

your device do NOT support mhl. for almost a decade every time when i need any "obcure" info about any mobile device  i just go to gsmarena web page, very dependable source of information.

While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference.  Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review

@wbogacz It was me who provided the link. And the details are "no support for MHL". In case you don't know the site: GSMArena lists the device specs for many devices. Makes no sense to include them all with the answer – and the essential part (no MHL support) was included already ;)


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Is tethering/hotspot dangerous for your Android phone?
Is using your Android phone as a portable hotspot/tethering dangerous for your hardware part?
In our dormitory we do not have good internet connection and I'm forced to use my phone as an internet spot 24/7 (we basically can't even search a thing on Google)
How dangerous this can be? I am not talking from a security point of view, but rather from an hardware point of view (short-circuit, not being able to use Wi-Fi in the future etc)
I am aware that keeping my phone connected 24/7 to my laptop will drain battery's life

The phone is designed to have this functionality, it should have zero effect on the hardware other than the fact that you know it could effect battery life... Why would you think it would be of any issue?

I am using it for hours daily, and because I do not know how exactly it is built, I'm afraid not to burn a piece inside or something like that

Some people use it all day, every day... You have nothing to worry about. The only possible issues are if you are charging it simultaneously and for some reason it gets too hot, but this isn't the fault of the hotspot it the design of the device if it occurs. You have nothing to worry about.

I agree with acejavelin, only the  battery may be degraded a little bit as a result of overheating.

There isn't enough/real evidence suggesting that tethering is harmful to device hardware. AFAICT this is a feature-by-design that any android device (supporting tethering) should be able to handle without detrimental effects other hardware except perhaps that the battery may be degraded a little bit due to overheating.
(Just like using your PC to play high graphics games 24/7 with a gaming PC, even though the PC seems to be "overworking", you'd agree with me that's what its designed for. Isn't it?)


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My phone is dead in my house how do I find it
I had it in my bedroom and then got up for food and it disappears in the morning I ask everyone but they have not seen it or touched it not that they now of.

lol.. is this a serious question? How do you find anything you lost... look for it.

Ask your mum. Moms know about everything in the house.

@GokulNC: wish I could upvote your comment a million times :)

That is seems to be a question for Life Hacks Community

When the phone battery is dead, there is no app or Android system that's going to help you find it, unless prior to losing it you have installed an app that collects and saves the location of your phone. In that case, use the app instructions on how to check the last possible location of the phone.
You can also have a look at your Google maps timeline. unless you have disabled this feature, it collects all of your locations and travels. It could be useful in a case where you're not sure which house You've left your phone at, I'm not sure that it's going to be too helpful in telling which bed your phone is under.
Keep looking. Don't give up. Remember, it might be in the least expected of places.


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How can I use Activity Manager to request alerts/notifications/etc via ADB?
I am working on a project where I need to provision a large batch of phones (Samsung S7/S7 Edge, unrooted, no SIM, if that's relevant) for use in the GearVR at a semi-public event. I need to disable any and all alerts/toasts/notifications/etc so that our application is not interrupted while the experience is running.
I believe I have already determined all the required settings and services I need to configure/disable, and have been able to automate applying these settings via ADB. I now need some way to test that they are actually doing what I want.
I think the way to do this is by using Activity Manager to launch various intents, but after reading through the AM and Intent docs I'm still confused on how to do this, or if it's even possible.
A basic example of AM control from ADB is something like this:
adb shell am start -a "android.intent.action.VIEW" -d "http://developer.android.com"

How could I leverage Activity Manager to do things like:

Raise an alert dialog with an arbitrary string, or ask the system to show me some kind of dialog from an existing app with the right manifest permissions?
Raise a toast/heads up/alarm/etc with an arbitrary string, or request a toast/heads up/alarm/etc from some existing system application or setting?

Am I even on the right path? I've tried exploring service calls, but that only left me more confused.


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Add a custom word to Google Japanese keyboard
I am wanting to type a word in Japanese that has a unique reading (not the standard onyomi or kunyomi). As such, I'd like to add it to the Google Japanese keyboard so that I can simply type the kana, and the desired kanji will show up. At the moment I have to type out each individual kanji by their standard readings to write the desired word.
How can I add a custom reading to the Google Japanese keyboard?
For clarification, please see Tip #9 on this page for an example of how to do this in Windows:
http://nihonshock.com/2010/04/12-japanese-ime-tips/

Gboard (Google Keyboard) has a very simple way to add new words to it.
Open the Gboard app, go to 'dictionary' > 'personal dictionary' > [Japanese] > plus (+) symbol on the top right. Now, type the desired word, and add a shortcut, that way every time you type the shortcut, it will give you the option to switch to the desired word.
For example, if I want to type the word
Привет in Russian, but I don't want to switch my keyboard from English to Russian just to type that word, so I made a shortcut that every time I write the letter P the word will show up in the suggestion bar. See screenshot below

Unfortunately, I have tried this, but when I type the hiragana that I have listed as the "shortcut", the desired kanji doesn't show up in the list of options.

@Elessar make sure that the shortcut is added to the same language as the one that you use when typing. Try different shortcuts, otherwise I'm not sure why it's not doing it

I've tried adding the shortcut in English, Japanese, and even the "All Languages" dictionary. I've also tried restarting the phone after adding the shortcut, however, nothing seems to work. Thanks anyway!

In Google Japanes Input settings, goto Dictionary tool. Click on + (plus).
Add the word, then the "Reading". Select a Category for the word you have entered (noun, first name, place, etc).

I found the correct way to add words with their readings to the Japanese keyboard.
Tap the ">" expander on the left side of the candidate word area, tap on the settings icon, then tap on "dictionary tool" and you can add words with their proper readings.


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Does hibernation keep an app's memory locked and unusable by other apps?
Is it possible that hibernating too many apps (with Greenify or the like) might lead to memory allocation problems via each hibernated app's memory getting locked until the app itself is woken up and frees that memory again? Or does the app's RAM get dumped somewhere on hibernation, making this a non-issue?

Possible, sure... Likely, no. But I think your confusing what "hibernation" is in Greenify with device hibernation like a laptop. Hibernation of an app is essentially closing an app that doesn't normally close and preventing it from restarting automatically, which in turn frees it's resources like RAM. What is the problem you are trying to solve?

If you see the related question it becomes evident that Greenify kills apps which means that the memory space used by those apps is available for any other apps. When the app and it's resources are killed, how does memory allocation clash happen? It can't

@acejavelin The problem is I'm getting out-of-memory behaviors like web pages in the browser always having to reload from scratch just because I've switched to another tab and then back, or background services like ViPER4Android randomly crashing(?) and restarting. On further consideration, I rather suspect this is all from the Opera browser itself - an older version (36.0.2126) that I returned to in order to get rid of some background-running bloatware they added in 2017. (I may have gone too far back in the version history.)


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ro.adb.secure=0 device still shows as unauthorized over adb Windows 10
I recently purchased a tablet that is a cheap allwinner a33 based Chinese product. I wanted to connect to it over adb but the RSA key popup would not come up.
The build.prop shows the ro.adb.secure=0 which should mean that the device requires no rsa authentication but my Windows 10 machine still shows the device as unauthorized.
How do I get the device authorized so I can use adb?
I have no root access and would need adb to root.

Does it show in device manager? Did you install adb drivers?  Also enable developer options in settings.

yes, yes and yes

Did you try with Linux? Or is that only with Windows?

I tried with both

I don't think ro.adb.secure is the reason why your phones shows up as unauthorized.
ro.adb.secure is a switch to allow adb to launch at boot (or not). relevant discussion.
Your problem sounds more like a local problem with your adb setup on your laptop. You should try the following steps:

download/install correct adb drivers for your linux/windows machine, which are released for this specific chipset (allwinner a33), possibly you won't find much, but something that is compatible hopefully
try lsusb (linux) to find the USB vendor/product ID for the tablet and search for compatible adb drivers
having the vendor and product ID you should be able to understand whether the USB mode for adb is actually enabled on the phone, i.e. if the phone runs USB with mtp,adb / ptp,adb or with just ptp etc.

example with a Moto G4 Play (msm8916):
shell@harpia:/ $ getprop sys.usb.config
mtp,adb

pi@pi:~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 22b8:2e76 Motorola PCS
................
shell@harpia:/ $ getprop sys.usb.config
ptp,adb

pi@pi:~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 22b8:2e84 Motorola PCS

depending on the USB mode selected on the android phone, the USB product ID is different.
All that is closely related to udev rules (link to relevant discussion), although setting up or manipulating udev rules never solved my problems (and my Raspbian 9 doesn't even have the file /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules).


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Phone reports insufficient storage despite having a lot of free space
The problem I'm having regards a cheap Chinese phone which is rebranded and sold in my country as Manta MSP94501 Easy Selfie. It runs Android 5.1 (with a KingRoot which I installed) and lately, it started very aggressively reporting lack of free storage - the widgets don't want to start, I get constant alerts that this or that couldn't be updated because of insufficient storage, that Google Play Services won't work until they're updated (and yet they don't want to be updated cause - again - insufficient storage), I can't install any new app either and the phone started getting a bit sluggish on top of all that.
The problem is, this phone has 8GB internal storage (half of which is allegedly the one for the phone and not the system) and is virtually empty (a few photos and videos, literally not more than a few apps). When you go into Settings->Storage, it reports that there's 4.51GB total for the phone storage, with 252MB free and yet the specific list below doesn't reflect that at all, as it reads: 3MB for Apps, 601MB for Photos and Videos, 40KB for Sounds, 348KB for Downloads, 24MB for Cache and 8.3MB for Other. As you can see, this does not sum up to 4.3GB at all - and the coloured bar above the list shows the storage correctly (that is, 3/4ths of it is marked grey as empty space - which is the truth!) but still, all the readings show otherwise, alerting about the 252 free megabytes.
What can I do? I've tried clearing the cache from recovery, clearing Google Play cache - but all to no avail. Here are also the pictures of what I described above (in Polish but those are pretty self-evident I think and I also translated above): https://i.stack.imgur.com/lnsWs.jpg
Any suggestions? :(

Execute df via adb shell to display the partitions and their free space - see this answer for an example.

Also see our insufficient-memory tag-wiki. A similar sounding question is listed there: False “low on space” (internal storage) warning on HTC Incredible which might shed some light.


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WhatsApp not working with mobile data S7 Edge
I use a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with Android 6.0.1 . My WhatsApp works perfectly over wifi, However when I switch to mobile data it stops working.
I have Googled and found some "solutions" that do not work and have things to do with APN manipulation. Other "solutions" found on Google only seem to have worked on older Android versions, but have no effect here. I want to know what's wrong and how to fix this problem

Does the browser work fine over mobile data

@Abochur yes it does

Please check if you have installed/ pre-installed any firewall app, which is preventing WhatsApp from using mobile data.

I don't have any firewall apps


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How can I disable "app is running in the background" notifications?
I've a notification from Android system that I can only snooze, not remove permanently, about an app running in the background. It's specifically about Keepass2Android:

Keepass2Android is running in the background

I know it's running in the background so I don't need to be reminded about it constantly. Most annoying is that it takes up unnecessary space.
Is there a way to disable this notification?

I am on Oreo 8.0.0 and couldn't find a setting for this so ended up using this Hide  "running in the background" Notification
I have several apps running in background and disabled them all using this app, as it serves no useful purpose for me to know
Auto Notification is another app that has this feature amongst other Tasker oriented features if you are interested.
I preferred the first one since I don't use Tasker
Edit: These are Bye the way notifications

Long press/Hold the application name is running in the background and toggle the switch available, like seen in the below screenshot (option is currently enabled, turn it off to disable the running in background notification)
Or you can go to Settings > Notifications (enable show system apps option found in  menu) > Android System > Disable Apps running in background (options enabled in screenshot for viability)

There's no switch available when long pressing, and the one from your second screenshot is greyed out. What version are you on?

Android Oreo 8.0 on OnePlus 5, so the option is visible? What phone are you using?

I'm using a Nokia 8.

Hmm, Quick look around suggests the option will be available in 8.1 http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/26/android-8-1-feature-spotlight-can-hide-running-background-notification-without-third-party-app/ Also to note, all my other options are locked as well, so that sucks


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Android 8.1.0 slows down after last update 5th Jan
Do you know the reason of totaly slow down of Adnroid 8.1.0 (Nexus5X) after last update 5th Jan? It seems it was security update about CPU vulnerability. My phone become so slowly as never before.

It seems it was security update about CPU vulnerability.

That's putting it mildly. You may have heard in the news recently about the Meltdown and Spectre exploits, which demonstrate vulnerabilities in all Intel CPUs. Some variants of these attacks also work against Cortex-A ARM CPUs from about 2005 onward: the CPUs in almost all Android phones. Here's some discussion on the Infosec Stack Exchange site.
All OS vendors - desktop, server, and mobile - are shipping updates that mitigate against the vulnerabilities, but because the problem is in the CPU itself, and relates to the performance optimizations that the CPU performs, the mitigation slows down the CPU significantly. Some people have reported 50% slowdowns on some types of program, though 20-30% is closer to what most people are seeing.
I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with the slowdown. It's the only way to avoid the security problem. Not patching the update would mean any app on your phone, scripts on any website you visit, and scripts from ads in apps or websites, can all read any memory of your phone - including your passwords, credit card numbers, and access tokens used by Android to control what apps can do. The attack is undetectable, so you wouldn't know it has happened to you.
All but the oldest Android phones and tablets will need this patch: it's not just for the Nexus 5X, and not even just for Nexus phones. If anyone else has a phone whose manufacturer has stopped updating, they need to install an up-to-date custom ROM, or get a new phone.


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Is there any comprehensive way of hiding an app entirely with or without root access?
By "comprehensive" I mean a method likely not easy to detect.
Is there any way to hide an app icon from any and every launcher?, it is not a problem if such a way requires root access installed. people around me are super geeks and theres little chances my methods will go unnoticed. I'm looking for a comprehensive solution to this problem so the usual "hide-app-from-launcher or change-its-icon or disable-this-app or use-an-app-to-hide-this-app" methods riddling the internet are ineffective for my situation.
To add context, I'm trying to install SSHDroid (an ssh-server) on my phone running Resurrection Remix with Magisk 15 and Nougat. the problem is I can't find a way to hide SSHDroid universally (I don't think there is any way to hide it from the Installed Applications list under Settings though). the server needs to be running day-in and `out without anyone noticing for my purposes.

Sure way would likely require root. If you are using Google launcher you can try this Xposed module. Not verified

There is this app too

Why don't you use termux and set up a boot script to run sshd on start to create a ssh server?

@user218076 sshd binaries from SSHDroid have been working very well for me on all my devices, other servers are not as good.

I understand. I was just wondering if you can perhaps add the sshd binary file to your path, would propably need root or perhaps in /data/local. And have a init.d script start it, or use a file manager like FX to launch it. So that there is no app noticable on your device.

Errr... a running SSH server is noticeable by scanning the network. Don't even need to turn on the phone display to see it.

@derobert not if they're oblivious that I'm running sshd. The question is generalized, sshd was just my case.

@user218076 I haven't tried that yet. Will get back to you. Thanks.


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VCF files to Galaxy S7
I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 running Android version 7 (Kernel Version is 3.18.14.12365438). I want to import my PC contacts from Outlook 2007 or my iPhone 6S. I also generated the .vcf files, which include photos of the contacts.
All the files have been in the download folder on the phone. How to continue and update the contacts?

As you have the contacts in form of .vcf file(s), you can use the Contacts app's native import functionality:

Start the contacts app
Tap the "3-dot-menu" (top-right of the screen)
From the drop-down menu that opens, chose "import/export"¹
On the next page, chose "Import from SD card"²
A file browser should open and let you chose the file to import. Pick your .vcf file
Now your contacts should be imported. If you have multiple files, repeat above steps.

Visualisation of the process (click image for larger variant)

¹ if there is no "import/export" directly in that menu, check the sub-menus – e.g. Manage contacts or Settings
² might be phrased slightly different, like "import from internal storage"

Dear Izzy. Thanks for your answer. I wrote this issue after many attempts using the CONTACTS and the import command. It starts working, but there is no outcome.

So something is wrong with either your VCF file or your contacts app, it seems. To include an alternative approach: are you open to use Google stuff for that? Or some self-hosted software on your PC (I'm thinking of ownCloud/Nextcloud here)?

Dear Izzy, I think that the whole installation of the  phone was bad. Maybe is to ignore this installation(I think that the vendor has revised it), and install a fresh one. How to do that? BTW,  Can I interest you with new technology which enhance performance and reduce power consumption. How to pass it to you? Best regards, Yehuda

Depending on what you mean by "install a fresh one", please see our installation tag-wiki (the "firmware" section) or our factory-reset tag-wiki. If neither answered that question, be welcome to ask a new question. A Q&A site works a bit different than a forum, so we don't switch topics on the same page :)


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Samsung Ace 4 Unable to charge message, but it does still charge
I have a problems with my phone. The phone dropped and since then I got an issue with charging it. When I plug in the charging cable I get the following message:
"Unable to charge. Charging paused. Battery temperature too low."
The Battery Sign on the screen is blinking, but the percentage will not go up. When I unplug it after lets say an hour it still shows the same, but when I either plug in the cable again or restart the phone, the percentage will suddenly go up. So it shows me that it charged, but it does not show it while it is charging nor when I unplug the cable and it keeps coming with the above Error Message. I assume that the USB port is still fine otherwise it would not charge, but what could be the problem?

Could be hardware or software. Flashing stock will help decide. If it persists, it is hardware (which I suspect is more likely)

Thanks for getting back. If you think it's a hardware problem, would it be the battery or the USB port board? I finally got it up to 86% but it seems stuck now on that since 2 hours. so it does seem to charge, but not as I thought all the time instead it seems to stop in between.

Honestly I can't say. It could be many things- I wouldn't hazard a guess with the information available but let's first rule out other things by flashing stock

Well the phone is actually from a friend who is in hospital and I am not sure I can flash his phone since then everything will be lost. If it most likley the USb port then I would just order one and if it more likley the battery I would get that, but I just wonder because it does seems to charge partly, but comes with that message all the time and I am still not getting it above 86%

Like I said , too many possibilities - USB, battery terminals not making contact correctly /broke, battery sending information correctly but OS unable to register because OS issue, all above fine but battery dying, who can say? If you can't flash ROM best is to take to competent service folks. Afraid I can't help beyond , much as I would like to

Well thank you anyway,. I,might just get the USB Port and see from there.


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Message "Uninstalling...", but no result
I can't uninstall an application from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. I go to Settings -> Applications -> Application manager, select any application and uninstall. I see a message "Uninstalling..." for a very long time, but no result. Sometimes the phone restarts without any reason during this procedure. How to solve this problem?

Is it any system application?

No, it might be any application

Did you try to uninstall from Google play store? If you open that app in play store there is a uninstall option.

Uninstalls fine from play store. Than you! But why no uninstall in regular way?

You can simply have a hard reset and if that problem occurs again. You can take your device to Samsung Service Centre. There can be a virus which would be stopping your device from uninstalling any application from your device. Having a hard reset is the best option you have which have a great probability of solving your problem.


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Is it possible to create a Google Play Family group using a Google Gift Card?
When attempting to create a Google Play Family group, Google asks for credit card information.
Is it possible to create a Google Play Family group using a Google Play Gift Card?

Not possible
From Google support Google Family plan Without Credit Card?

Currently, you HAVE to have a credit card on file to use as the Family Payment method.  Even if everyone in the Family then uses their own payment method or the credits redeemed to their own accounts instead.

IMO, it sounds logical - a credit card establishes owner traceability and prevents two family accounts being operated by same person (which is not permitted - see family group requirements
) whereas a gift card doesn't

Thanks!  BTW, why does Google need "owner traceability", given that having sufficient funds should be all that matters?  Also, could a pre-paid credit card be used?

I really can't answer why it needs but going by a) normal business modus operandi b) you cannot be a part of two family accounts as I understand , so that may be a check that you don't use the same credit card again. Regarding pre paid I have no idea. All this is from Internet. Family accounts are not permitted in my country so can't say for sure

Possibly pre paid CC can be set up as a family payment method to restrict purchases

Welcome. Updated answer including aspect of one person not being a part of two family accounts

"Owner traceability" is a key factor to determining that the locale of the transaction is never associated with an account holder in export-restricted countries. There was a question related to financial transactions from Myannmar (Burma), which is on the restricted list, on this stackexchange just within this past week. Gift cards are transient, so there is zero assurance of this.

Also owner traceability is important because family group is not available on all locations. I could use a VPN and pretend to be in USA and use International CC

I had this problem when my son got a Google play card for his birthday. It wouldn't allow him to add the balance to his account, only mine. So I did. And then I couldn't set the family payment method to anything but our credit card. I FINALLY figured out how to use his credit. He wanted Minecraft which I think is about 10 bucks. So I downloaded it to my phone, paid with the play card balance,  and added the game to our family library. Then I downloaded it on his phone with no extra charge. I just disabled the app on my own phone afterward. Now if he wants to spend credit, I download what he wants, use his play card credit, then he can get the same app on his phone.

"added the game to our family library" - and how do you create that family library (w/o cc) in the first place? That's what OP asked.


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Sending audio from phone to computer
I'm trying to record audio played by a phone by routing it through a computer running Windows 7. Specifically, I want to record voicemails playing from a Galaxy Note 4, which I was trying to do by playing the audio through the computer and recording with Audacity.
I have one male-to-male 3.5mm cable. By connecting that to my computer's mic jack and the phone's headphone jack, I can get a different phone (Galaxy S6) to play through my computer's speakers and can record like I want to, no problem. Also, plugging headphones into the Note 4, the audio plays perfectly through them. So, the cable works, and the phone's jack works.
But when I plug the cable into the Note 4, only half of the audio gets sent; I hear all the high-pitched parts through the computer's speakers, and all the low-pitched parts still come through the phone. Bizarre, to say the least. I would try using a different cable, but I only have the one, and it works fine on the other phone.
The voicemails are stored on my provider's server, not the phone, so I can't just copy them through USB, and trying to record them through the phone's speakers hurts the quality too much (lot of background noise here).
Ideally, I'd like to know what could be causing this strange problem and how to fix it, but any method of saving these voicemails will be enough. Can anyone help me out?


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How do i screen record on my device?
I have an Amazon Fire HD8, and I need to know how to screen record the best way possible! Please help, because I'm a fairly newer youtuber, and I don't know what I'm doing, honestly!

You would need a third party app to record your screen. Install any screen recording app from the play store and enjoy.
I personally like one that's called AZ screen recorder it records your screen, and gives some nice options with it.

There are many screen recording applications on Google Play Store. Try various apps and find out which one best suits you. Use this Android Authority link, where you can find some apps.


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NANDROID backup without warranty voiding?
Is there any way to do a 100% NANDROID backup without any warranty voiding?
If there is a way to temporarily root or install TWRP, that would be fine too
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1964607
I do rooting experiments (eg. processor clock battery runtime) on cheaper phones, but I better do not sacrifice the more expensive ones.

Is there any way to do a 100% NANDROID backup without any warranty voiding?

Nandroid means using custom recovery (TWRP or CWM ) and in turn unlocking boot loader (on most devices). Whether this voids warranty or not depends on a) OEM b) Country / region specific laws. It depends on case by case so a general answer is not possible but in most branded devices it would void warranty

If there is a way to temporarily root or install TWRP, that would be fine too

Again depends on OEM and the Android version it is running. But by and large this is becoming increasingly difficult to do with OEMs and Android security features preventing this
Without rooting , if you wish to back up (not Nandroid) see this Full Backup of non-rooted devices


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How to bypass 20 item limitation in clipboard?
The Android clipboard by default has a limitation of twenty items.
How can this limitation be bypassed?
For dessktop PCs, there is Ditto clipboard. But for mobile phones, there is nothing like that, as far as I know.
Mobile phones are heavily restricted compared to desktop PCs.

@beeshyams I would like to upvote your comment, but I can not see the upvote button. Do I need some reputation to do that?

I see, @beeshyams. I already have the small triangle on RC.SE (retrocomputing). But I have 20 reputation there.

A list of your "nothing" can be found on my Android site: Clipboard Tools. Quite a lot of nothing, by the way :) @beeshyams could write up an answer which you then could accept (resulting in +2 for you – getting you closer to the vote-up privilege).

There are plenty of apps  that can store far more than 20. Search forClipboard on Play Store . One such app which doesn't require extra / suspicious permissions is Clipper which I found to be very effective in organising clipboard
You will find plenty more apps in Clipboard Tools, from the curated repository maintained by Izzy , as he noted in comments . Also note that Izzy has pointed out better alternatives in his now deleted comments, needing fewer permissions:

Clipper requires permissions to "test access to protected storage, modify or delete the contents of your USB storage, view network connections, full network access, receive data from Internet, receive cloud messages, run at startup". From a privacy point-of-view, all those network permissions should not be there as they are certainly not required for the functionality of a clipboard: Keep in mind you might copy sensitive information like passwords. Not saying the app intentionally does something bad here – but who knows what some integrated ad/tracking library might do (Clipper contains at least 3 of them)?
So better choices would probably include:

My Clipboard: only requests "run at startup, reorder running apps, draw over other apps". Not sure why it needs to "reorder running apps" – but at least it doesn't ask for network access, so the danger of transmitting sensitive data is much lower (if existing at all).
CopyClip: only requests "draw over other apps, ACTION_MANAGE_OVERLAY_PERMISSION" – perfectly understandable, as it needs to draw its action buttons (for copy/paste) on top of the app you're copy/pasting from/to.


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Number of Applications vary in Oreo
I am using Motorola Moto X4 regular variant running android oreo 8.0.

device not rooted
not given permission for Unknown sources to install
using stock launcher, stock os
reset after oreo update

Before Oreo, device running in nougat with 66 apps installed (shown in Settings). After Oreo update I have done a factory reset, and skipped restoring one app with data, then settings showed 61 apps installed. But, if you count them it will be only 55 showed there. I don't have previous experiences with moto devices. Why such differences occur?

If you mean the differences between pre-Oreo and Oreo: Different versions ship with different apps. If you rather mean the 55 vs 61: some might be "hidden". That's usually the case for apps specific to a provider you are not with, or to a country you are not in.

That means they will be activated for specific country/service provider? @Izzy previously, few months ago,  I have asked a question about hidden app after installing apk. So  I got afraid that same may have happened here. But, that was in custom ROM, but this is stock ROM(which may never happen).

Exactly that, yes. They are restricted either to specific countries or providers (or both). For example, if you're in India, you have no need for an app specific to services by, say, a German provider. And some "legal stuff" might forbid you accessing some content served in the US. So those apps would be of no use for you.


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How to send notifications based on location?
I  have multiple places I visit Home , Office , Church and 2nd office.
Every time I reach any of those,  I  need to call my parents. I am trying to have a notification sent as soon as I reach any of those locations

You could use one of the plenty Location Alerts & Reminders (disclosure: link goes to my Android site).

There are many many apps on the Google Play Store that do this.
If you want to stick to a basic and free app, you can use Google Keep.
Simply create notes for each event and add the location to the note, Google will then remind you.
Here is a tutorial, on an external site.


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How can an Android smartphone pretend to be a tablet? (App UI like tablets)
Smartphones have heavy restrictions, compared to tablets.

Many applications, even homescreen and lockscreen, enforce vertical rotation. http://www.quora.com/Its-2016-Why-wont-my-homescreen-and-my-lockscreen-rotate
YouTube mobile: Comments and related videos can not be browsed in horizontal view on the right display size like this on tablets:

If I use my phone via MHL-HDMi or Miracast/Screen Mirroring on an external display, vertical rotation enforcement is highly annoying.
Some applications can override rotation enforcement, but the running application still thinks it is running on a smartphone, and keeps DPi low.

How can I make an application such as YouTube think that the device appears as tablet, so that it can show a superior user interface, instead of the crippled mobile UI which nobody can stand?.

I'm also looking to transform my device into a tablet, see here. Unfortunately the only viable solution for UI change seems to be Xposed + App Settings, which requires root / custom recovery, and doesn't seem to apply to SystemUI anymore, so my target can't be established, but it might work for you.


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Device fails to install provisioning app
I'm trying to provision a Huawei Y6 (MYA-L11) with a custom Device Owner app via NFC after a factory reset. However, once it has downloaded the admin app, I get a message box: "Oops! Couldn't install the admin app." and the only option is RESET which repeats the factory reset.
I have tried this method with a Motorola Nexus 6 without any issue. I have also been able to install third party Device Owner apps (e.g. SureLock) via NFC in this way on the Huawei Y6; the issue seems to be with custom apps.
I have also tried provisioning the sample apps in this way without any success. Is there something I'm missing from my apps and the sample app that third party apps aren't?
Provisioning the device manually works but I'd like to make the process do-able by non-technical staff. Manual provisioning can be done by going through the initial set-up process, skipping anything that can be skipped. Once set-up is complete you have to turn on Developer Mode in the settings, turn on USB Debugging, install the app via ADB and then set the Device Owner via ADB to the receiver specified in the app manifest. Waaay too complex for our non-technicals.

I've run into the same problem.  Did you ever find a solution?

No, we just went with doing it over ADB.

Had the same problem and it was because the App I was trying to install was self-signed.  I signed it with a real certificate and then the problem went away.
It should also be noted, that I'm using QR codes instead of NFC as the tablet I'm working with does not have NFC.


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Samsung S8 always on display timeout?
For the purposes of this question, I want to clarify my terminology.
Always on display The screen feature Samsung has when the screen dimly stays on to show you stuff even when the phone screen is "off". This screen shows you simplified notifications.
Lock screen This is the screen you see that says "Swipe screen to unlock". This screen appears after hitting the power button. The always on display disappears and the lock screen appears. This screen shows you detailed notifications.
Security screen This screen appears after swiping from the lock screen. This will ask to type in the pin or enter a pattern to unlock the device.
The issue I have is the time between the lock screen and the always on display. I see I have a notification on the always on display. I'll hit the power button to go to the lock screen to read the notification. The lock screen then only stays up for 2 seconds (not exaggerating, I timed it) and then transitions back to the always on display. This is super frustrating. Trying to read a notification and boom here comes the always on display.
I have the screen timeout set for 2 minutes. I have the security lock timeout set for 5 minutes. I can't find any other settings for this.
How can I extend the amount of time the phone takes to move from the lock screen back to the always on display?

did you ever find an answer? I have the exact same question

@wellspokenman No, I did not find an answer.


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Options after opening a phishing website on my android
Someone sent me a link in WhatsApp claiming I can get a chance to get two free Emirates plane tickets, at first I just thought of it as a hoax but I was curious at the same time so I opened the link and followed its instructions to share the page with 20 people and answered a few questions. Yes I was stupid. My question is what can one do after visiting a phishing website on Android?  Like scan the phone for virus? I didnt find anything strange installed on my phone...

That's not a phishing site I guess. And, it will not affect you in anyway, since that's just a spam page (unless you entered your credentials ofcourse). And there is no way it can install a virus like you suppose. So just move on..

Clear your browser cache, as first step and if you want to be doubly sure run a malware detection app from Play store. Malware bytes is a good idea since it gives you pro features free for one month
It may or may not be a phishing site but since you are rightly concerned, this should be enough.


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Wifi stuck in "Obtaining IP address", but connects in another area
When I am at my desk at work the Wifi does not connect to my phone and I get stuck looping in "obtaining IP address". However if I step away from my desk to another part of the building, my phone connects no problem. I noticed that if I download a large file somewhere else and get back to my desk, my phone stays connected (although at a lower signal which is fine) until the download is finished, and then switches back to "obtaining IP address". This being a work environment I don't have access to any of the routers. Is there anyway I can force my phone to connect to the router in the other part of the building? thanks.
Some other notes. I am using a Oneplus 5. I have tried changing to a static IP, the same IP that works when my phone actually connects somewhere else in the building, but the phones says "connected, no internet".

It might just be a weak signal at your desk. Can you confirm that a different phone works at your desk? If not you might have to talk to IT at your company to have them take a look at it. Not sure if you can do anything phone side that will make a difference.

different phone does not work at my desk. IT cannot help as they are not responsible for personal devices...pretty sure they are lazy lol. Is there no way to stop the phone from automatically switching to the closest router?

Unfortunately, if another phone also doesn't work, that is a configuration issue of the network. Nothing you can do phone side. IT should care, it is their mess up.  As someone who has spent a lot of time doing networking I can tell you it wouldn't be that hard of a fix for them to move the router location a little, or even add another one due to poor coverage.


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Access /data/data per Symlink
I have the following question:
I have an App on my mobile phone and on my tablet, and I would like to synchronize the data. Unfortunately the App can not do it. I know, the App stores all the important data in the /data/data sqlite Database. So here is my idea:
Is it possible to symlink (or hardlink) (with adb terminal?) the sqlite Database into a directory, which I can access, and then I could use folderSync to sync that file, so I would have synced the appData. Is Something like this possible? This is the only possibility to sync it, without root.

No, that wouldn't remove the requirement for root. Symlinks don't get around the permission system in that way. If you try to access a file via a symlink, you still need to have permission to access the target of the link. Hardlinks don't check permissions when you access the file, but they do when you create the link, so you would still need root.
This would be a bit of a security vulnerability if it worked that way, not just on Android, but on Linux desktops and servers too.
Apart from that, it's a bit of a flaky way to sync data. If you make a change on your phone while it's offline, and then make a change on the tablet before the sync happens, whichever one doesn't sync first will lose its change. You need to manage that very carefully, and it's very easy to get caught out by accident. If the app developer adds the feature, they can consider changes separately and work out a useful way to merge them.