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Can't enable NFC on Samsung Galaxy S3
For some reason I am unable to enable / use NFC on my Samsung Galaxy S3 (i9300).
When I got the phone, it did work. A month ago, I wanted to use it again and it did not work. I am currently using a non-original battery in my phone, but I swapped the battery with one I've tested NFC with, and it still didn't work, and NFC with my battery in another S3 does work, so it can't be because of the non-original battery.
When the issue first appeared, I was using stock firmware (Android 4.3). After I flashed my phone to Cyanogenmod 13 (including wiping all caches, system, data, ...), I tried again and NFC still does not work. When I flip the NFC switch from off to on, it stays in the 'on' position, but it is disabled (gray), I can't switch it off or on again until I restart the phone, and any app trying to use NFC is telling me to enable it.
There is no warranty on the phone any more, first, because it's too old, second, because there is root+CM on it.
Is there any way I could get NFC to work again? Any "NFC reset" or whatever? Or would I have to buy a new phone? Could this be any software issue or is my NFC module probably broken?
EDIT: logcat says 2952  5203 E NFC-HCI : Could not open /vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so. But that file does exist ...

Hmmmmm. Someone else is having this issue? I have it too man. I never had NFC access in the first place. Ill investigate lthe details.


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Fastboot not flashing/erasing recovery
I am trying to fix my phone (LG G2, Lollipop 5.0.2) by reflashing a recovery (the old one was corrupted). I've managed to get into Fastboot however I cannot flash / erase it; this is the output:
# fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
target reported max download size of 1862270976 bytes
sending 'recovery' (9032 KB)...
OKAY [  0.335s]
writing 'recovery'...

And then it stays stuck there forever.. (The same thing happens if I try to erase it). I cannot access bootloader and neither previous recovery.. Also trying to install recovery from twrp / cwm manager throws an error (I have root in my phone though).
Any help is greatly appreciated, I am stuck with a basically unusable phone.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Why do apps from the play store get moved back to internal storage after update
I've got a good amount of apps installed on my phone's internal storage and I've moved the majority of them (anything taking up more than 15MB) to my SD card. My Android version is Lollipop now. After each update they get moved back to my device's internal storage, but In older versions of Android they would stay on the SD card.
Would it be possible to force the apps to stay on the SD card even after they update? Or is the only way to stop them from moving to never update them?

If it's system applications then what ever you update or download will be automatically moved to internal storage.
If it's not the reason then check your play store storage.

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


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Old Venue 8 tablet. Missing keypad
My daughter thought it would be cool to put a Russian keyboard on the Venue tablet. She didn't uninstall it correctly and now no keypad shows up. We cannot unlock it. I have tried going to the Play Store and uninstalling the keyboard, but I can't see how to. I have tried a hard reset but can't get the "dead android" to show up for the reboot menu. Can anyone advise?

Three options.

Use a USB-OTG adapter with a USB keyboard to unlock the device via password. Or a keyboard with a built-in OTG adapter.
Since you obviously have a Google Account, log into Android Device Manager, and wipe the device through there.
A Hard Reset via Recovery. Unlike some other Android devices, the Dell Venue 8 requires you press and hold Volume Down, press and hold power, then release power when you get the first logo. Do not release Volume Down until you see the Droidboot menu. Choose Recovery, and from there wipe data/cache and reboot. That's a Hard Reset, ALL your data will be erased.


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Block Android 6 upgrade?
I am getting pushes for Android 6 Marshmallow on a couple devices.  I do not want or need it, especially with some changes that affect how the USB popup now has no "Just Once" option in 6.x (according to other reports).
So, without rooting them, is there a way to block/disable/remove the upgrade pending notification push "Software update ready to install".  Frankly I didn't want it to download it in the first place.  I am perfectly happy with Lollipop on them the way they are and I need the "Just Once" option with what I do with them via USB.
Now frequently when I unlock my phone (Galaxy S5) it pops up full screen and only option is "Now" or "Later".  There is no "Never" option.
On my tablet (nVidia Shield K1), it pops up every time I turn it on.
Any way to clear this upgrade sans root?  I guess if I have to root to get rid of this update, I will.  If thats the only option, I can figure out how to root the devices.  Past that anyone have instructions on the upgrade removal once rooted?

It is not a duplicate.  The other Q about the update did not solve the problem.  I looked at the various answers there and none applied or worked.  Unchecking what was described in that other thread still results in the popup.  The other thread's answer did not solve the issue or I wouldn't have posted this specific to the S5 and Shield K1.

Since it appears the OTC is unblockable without rooting.  Its rooted.  Problem solved.


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Is there a way to delete my information permanently from my phone?
I'm using huawei mate 8 and I'm willing to sell it but I need to delete my information from it permanently. ( photos, videos, contacts....)

You need to factory reset your device. Either do it in recovery, or in settings.

I'm using Huawei Mate8 too, what you need to do for deleting information is to perform a "factory reset" of the device and then all of your phone data will be deleted from your Huawei Phone.
I would like to recommend encrypting your device before you are getting ready to wipe it. The encryption process will scramble the data on your device and, even if the wipe doesn't fully delete the data, a special key will be required to unscramble it.
To encrypt your device on stock Android, enter settings, click on Security, and select Encrypt phone. The feature may be located under different options on other devices. The next step is to perform factory data reset. Then would be kind of done already. If you are still concerned about the security, you can repeat the two steps above. To confirm it further, or you can download free data recovery software for Android to recover the data as to see if the software can restore them.

Thanks for your answer but could they be recovered with some special recovery software ?

@Selfsuf if you encrypt your device with a long enough password/PIN before you factory reset, no.


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How can I keep screen on ONLY while music is playing?
I drive typically 300+miles a day and my phone works both as my GPS and my media player through my work trucks AUX port. I drive to a lot of the same places so after awhile the GPS isn't kept on top and just stays running in the background to warn me if there's a faster route than usual due to accidents or traffic. Thus I'd rather let Google Maps run in the background and have Pandora on screen to make it easy to up and down vote songs without anything more than a quick glance, I drive a large truck so the whole picking up my phone, turning the screen on, entering my pin, etc is not a valid solution to me. Yet if Google Maps isn't on screen the screen will eventually dim and turn off. Does anyone know of an app or workaround that would keep the screen on while Pandora is running? Maybe something with extra features such as only if Pandora is running and the phone is charging. I'm aware of the "Keep screen on while charging" option but thanks to me having a crappy Samsung (Samsung Galaxy S5, Android 6.0.1) this means when my phone is finished charging at night the screen turns on and stays on waking me up. My only request is please only give valid answers, no "Sorry not possible.", "Don't mess with your phone while driving.", "Just deal with the screen turning on at night.", etc.

If you're using Pandora, you need to uncheck "Conserve battery option" option under the Menu > Settings > Advanced. Now the screen will stay on while the music is playing on Pandora.
You can also download the apps like KeepScreen and Stay Alive to block screen timeout when predefined applications are active.


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How do I use Android device with USB OTG device as MTP client for another device?
I want this setup:
[My Android device, MTP client] --USB OTG-- [other Android device, MTP server]

For acting as MTP server, one simply chooses something like "Share files with computer running Windows or Mac".
How do I run MTP client for USB OTG connection?
Workaround:

Get root;
Setup Linux chroot
Download and build AFT insde the chroot
Use aft-mtp-cli or aft-mtp-mount.

I expect some proper application to use root access to talk to USB and act as MTP client for another device.

May I know the purpose of doing this? Is it just for File Transfer?

Yes, for managing files on another device. I want my smartphone to be able to do [almost] all things with USB OTG like a regular computer.

I have a solution, which requires atleast the other device (which you're gonna connect to the OTG enabled device) to be rooted.. Is that rooted? Or if you don't want to root it, the only way would be using apps that enable file transfer via WiFi Hotspot or WLAN, without OTG

With other device rooted I can just force mass storage mode.

Yeah, that's what I was about to say..


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2013 Nexus 7 frozen screen/stuck on language set up/boot loop
I see similar questions here but none of them refer to being stuck on the language set up screen. I have tried to use ADB driver and Toolkit but I cannot seem to get my pc to recognize device half the time. plus it tells me to put my device on USB debugging mode and how can I do that when I cannot access my device? is there anyway out of this bullshit? honestly, ASUS needs to compensate/make good with the THOUSANDS of customers they have ripped off.

Are you trying to solve your problem, or are you just here to complain? If you want a solution, describe your problem fully. In what way are you "stuck"? What goes wrong? What have you tried to do with ADB?

I tried to comment but says I can't because of points/reputation. What I mean by stuck is the screen freezes when it reaches the light blue language set up screen. I have also downloaded and used the WUG tools and it seemed like it was remedied (Because I saw the screen say "Android apps loading" which I had never seen before.) But Again, right back to freezing on language set up. Everything seemed to go well according to the WUG and Nexus toolkit...but it's not.  Its a brand new device(never used)

If it's a brand-new device, why not just take it back to the shop?

Your bootloader is most likely corrupted. I'd advice you to thus restore the stock rom. Download this tool on your computer http://www.wugfresh.com/nrt/ from this link. Plug in your phone and run the programme. Download TWRP>unlock>back to stock and select softbricked/bootloop


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Detect Android device from BLE device (How bluetooth works ?)
I would like to know how bluetooth works with Android : when you turn bluetooth on, is it broadcasting data that other devices can detect ? If not, is it possible to detect from a BLE device if a specific Android with the bluetooth turned on is nearby ? And how ?
Thanks.

Is this a programming-related question, like how to use BluetoothSocket/how to connect it, or you just want the theory of how bluetooth works (which has nothing to do specifically with Android) ?

It would be possible with "classic" Bluetooth, but not with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). In BLE, the peripheral device (the beacon, keyboard, or whatever) broadcasts adverts. The central device (the phone) just listens for those adverts.
The central device only sends anything when it wants to connect to a particular BLE peripheral. You can detect that using a BLE sniffer device, but not with an ordinary BLE peripheral (other than the one the phone is connecting to), because the BLE hardware itself filters out packets that aren't intended for that peripheral.


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How to install Xposed on S6
I rooted my EE Samsung S6 (SM-G920F) (UK) (Marshmallow 6.0.1) yesterday evening using Odin (I followed the tutorial on Tom's Guide). I seemed to root fine. There was no bricking, boot looping or any other errors, and SuperSU installed as well.
It came to this morning when I decided to install Xposed (I don't want a custom ROM because Marshmallow is beautiful enough). I downloaded TWRP first from the Play Store, and installed the boot thingy from the app using 'Samsung Galaxy S6' as the device name, and 'twrp-3.0.2-1-zeroflte.img' as the recovery version. This installed fine, and if I booted in recovery, it went onto the TWRP interface.
I then downloaded the Xposed Framework .zip (from the XDA Forums) and the Xposed Installer (It had to be from a mirror because the link from the forums had been deleted). I DID NOT INSTALL OR UNZIP THE FILES!!!
I then flashed the .zip by booting into TWRP recovery. My device now does not turn on. It just stays on the breathing Samsung logo, with the blue notification LED on.
I can uninstall the framework by running the device in recovery again and flashing the uninstall .zip, which does fix the device.
So, how do I install Xposed Framework and Installer? Please provide links if needed.
Thanks :))

It's exactly the same for me. Except my device do not want to boot in recovery mode. How did you do this? Because I'm stuck on the black screen and blue LED.
Edit: There was an issue and I needed to flash again TWRP with Odin and sideload  Xposed uninstaller.
Edit 2: Solution
As it say on xda forum "Bootloops on Samsung stock ROMs. That's due to Samsung's changes to ART. There are unofficial builds that work around this by deodexing and adjusting the ROM." So we need a deodexed rom: XtreStoLite 3.3.1 FINAL Marshmallow Android 6.0.1 for example. Still, Xposed will no work because the official version do not support Samsung S6. There is an unoficial version for S6 here. It worked for me.


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Can whatsapp be accessed by websites?
I was wondering if it were possible for websites to send messages through my whatsapp without my permission, even if I mistakely clicked on an advert?
I read about whatsapp's API but it does not say much about this?
Any wisdom on this?

Close-voters: I don't think this question is Android-independent, because a website might be able to send a message by sending an Intent to the WhatsApp app, like how they can open app pages in the Play Store app.

No.
There seems to be no possible way for any website to do this without having your WhatsApp "security token".
What can a website do?
There is something called WhatsApp URL which lets websites build a custom link that upon pressing will redirect you to WhatsApp so you can share their content to any contact you select manually.
(See more on WhatsApp FAQ).


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How to use two whatsapp accounts on my rooted Samsung galaxy star pro device
Can I use two whatsapp accounts on same device?
If how
Note: my device is rooted

WhatsApp now officially lets you do it. More details here no root needed!

Download the Parallel Space app.
Tap WhatsApp icon and you'll be prompted to sign in to the second WhatsApp
When it gets to verifying your phone number, use the other number you want to use and select call verification after sms verification fails.
Voila, you have one WhatsApp account on your first number and to access the other WhatsApp use the Parallel Space App.

Do you have the duel sim galaxy star?
To my knowledge Whatsapp uses a phone number to create an account so if you have duel sim cards it could be possible.
For example;- You have your phone with your contacts saved to its local storage and used whatsapp with a first sim's phone number but then swapped it for a second sim with a new number, then opened whatsapp with that phone number the account would be different but obviously all the contacts wouldn't recognise your account as it would be a new one.
So, if you were able to set the default simcard for whatsapp in app settings, in theory, you should be able to have two separate whatsapp accounts on one phone but you would have to verify the number each time you switched account with the code it will want to send to the phone number you want to use at that time.
Do you want to have two official whatsapps installed on one device though? Using them at the same time send/receiving messages to/from both?

i would comment but i need more rep


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how to install play store on samsung galaxy ace?
How can I install the google play store app on my Samsung galaxy Ace?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Please see: How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device? Apart from that, doesn't ship the Galaxy Ace with the Google apps?

Since it's such an old phone, maybe it has "Android Market" instead, which will update itself to Play Store without any action.

There is a possibility your phone doesn't have any of the framework apps for google like maps, gmail, etc.  If this is the case then the below will not work and you will have to flash the framework.  The is already question here.  If you have a Chinese edition you might be out of luck
Now if your phone is supposed to have gapps or had google maps and the other framwork apps then try this:
All you need to do is download the APK file Here and follow the steps

Place the APK file on your SD card
Install the APK by finding it on your phone where you saved it and clicking it. This can be done by using a file explorer.  There should be one on your phone.
You may need to enable unknown sources by going to Settings ---> privacy and security and toggling the unknown sources setting

Installing the Play Store as a third-party app will most likely lead to repeated force closes.

I wish we knew what carrier we were working with. It depends on what is already on his/her phone


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What's infected my Android device, and how do I remove it?
This story of images occasionally pops up on opening new links in Chrome. These links are for legitimate websites such as imgur and reddit. When it happens, I'm on mobile data. When I choose the tab, and click the link again,  no pop-up appears.
Here's the relevant portion from chrome://version

Google Chrome 51.0.2704.81 (Official Build) (32-bit)
Revision
  211d45a5b74b06d12bb016f3c4d54095faf2646f-refs/branch-heads/2704@{#696}
OS    Android 6.0.1; E5823 Build/32.2.A.0.224

This is a screenshot of the pop-up:

How do I find out what caused this,  and how do I fix it?
It happened again, this time without clicking a link. I was in reddit, it just popped up.
URL: http://rcknmwcyct.pw/gaz6s9/x1psi.html?model=Xperia%20Z5%20Compact&brand=Sony&ip=86.181.166.144&voluumdata=BASE64dmlkLi4wMDAwMDAwMi01MjQ2LTQwYTItODAwMC0wMDAwMDAwMDAwMDBfX3ZwaWQuLmFlZTQxMDAwLTNmZjgtMTFlNi04NWQyLTZiNmI2ZjViZDYwNV9fY2FpZC4uYjFmNjYxMTMtNjBiNy00OGNmLTk4ZDktZjdkNTU3MGY1NjdiX19ydC4uSEpfX2xpZC4uODVjNzVhMTctZjYxMi00MTBmLWJlZTMtODE1MmU3NmVjMjMxX19vaWQxLi4wNGM0OTMyYS00ZWE5LTQwYzMtYTBmNy0wYWQ4MGE1YTc1YWRfX3JkLi5fX2FpZC4uX19hYi4uX19zaWQuLg#
Here's the pages without the pop-up:

When I try to click back,  I get to this page:

Which is something about appflood security. I haven't managed to teach it down to anything though.

You don't fix it. You ignore it. That's pure click-bait. You'll certainly have a bad situation afterward, that's true. That may be the only thing that's true, except your device brand. The message is delivered to sound highly specific and demanding.  or back out of it without clicking OK. Use RecentApps to force-close the browser session if you have to. Ignore them always.

Clear Chrome's cache and data from the app settings in the system settings app. Start there.

Even after your edit, it still sounds more like the site with the link is making its link look like a reputable site but the link is really to this scam website.

Have you tried uninstalling chrome, and installing it again?

I'm assuming this only happens in chrome and not any other browser or device. If it does happen on another device then the problem would be that a virus hijacked your router(on WiFi) and changed the DNS settings. Solution logon to your router and change the DNS settings to be automatically picked from your ISP.
You could

Head to settings and disable Javascript. Which disables the redirect link from functioning as long as Javascript is off but is quite hectic since genuine websites will most likely require Javascript  to function.
Check your DNS settings and ensure that it's either set to automatically pick DNS settings from ISP or on a DNS server you know of such as googles DNS servers(8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)
Root your phone and install Ad Blocker This would prevent the popup links from generating.

I was on data at the time, so not my router. By Java do you mean JavaScript?

Java is something else then JavaScript. You should edit your answer.


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I have forgotten my phone Password
I have forgotten my Galaxy A7 2016 running android 5.1.1's password.
How do I open my phone without losing my files in device storage?

I found the answer for you here in this question
Quoting the answer given by @petercarlos :

Well, I would say I don’t think you can’t do anything about it because
  the forgot password button isn’t available with the Lollipop , now
  what you are left with is you can try unlocking your device with the
  help of your Google account i.e. Log yourself over the Google account
  you are using over Laptop/PC once done head over to the Android device
  manager and using it try unlocking your device remotely, also in order
  to do that your device must be connected to the Mobile Data or Wi-Fi
  network. And if you don't have the access then I guess you are locked
  out and the only thing you can do now is factory resetting your device
  by holding the Power+Volume down button.


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My phone keeps unpairing with my watch when it gets out of range
I'm using a Pebble Time smartwatch (on Pebble OS v3.13) and Xperia M4 Aqua (on Android 5.0).
Whenever my phone gets out of range it unpairs with my pebble. I end up needing to forget my phone from pebble and pair again with my phone. This is becoming frustrating, and I can't find anything relevant on my watch's help page so I think that this is a problem with my phone. How can I fix it?

Is it also vanishing from the Bluetooth devices list?

@EthanZ yes, it is vanishing from paired bluetooth devices list

That would be a problem with your device then. Have you installed any system updates recently and can you replicate this problem with other Bluetooth devices?

@EthanZ I can still see my controller and PC on the list and they don't get removed when they are off range. I last installed system updates a few months ago- they are kinda rare.

That would make it point to Pebble then. Even if they cannot figure out what is wrong I'm sure they can help you out further.

From the extra information you provided in the comments, it would seem as if the Pebble app is malfunctioning, and if it isn't, pebble support will be able to direct you to who can fix this for you. While they can be a bit slow to respond, they are very good.
To contact pebble support, open the pebble app and tap the drop down menu on the top right corner (3 dots). Tap the "support" option. Choose "contact support" from the list of options that open after tapping support.


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Finding Downloaded APK files in nexus 5
I have a unrooted nexus 5 and i want to analyze google play downloaded app source code but i cannot find any of my apps when i connect my phone to the computer...
any one know how can i:

Save google play app without extracting the apk file...
finding the app when connecting in to computer.
check the app source code in the computer

the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ignite.lottosheli

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to look at the source code of a lottery app?

Achieving your request ("check the app source code") is simply not possible since an APK doesn't contains any source code, only Java bytecode and/or native compiled code for different processors architectures.
More details here: Android application package


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Samsung Note 4 charging cable (ECB-DU4AWE vs. ECB-DU4EWE)
Unfortunately, my charging cable for my Samsung note 4 is broken, so I have to buy a new one. I have seen two different charging cables:

ECB-DU4AWE which is 1m long
ECB-DU4EWE which is 1.5m long

Is the length the only difference?

From the data on internet, there appears to be no difference. One thing that could be different is the thickness , measured in AWG. Lower  the AWG figure, lesser resistance is offered and hence better suited for quicker charging. In the absence of figures one has to assume they are both of same AWG, which leaves length as the only differentiator.
Since electrical resistance is directly proportional to length, the 1 m cable would permit more current flow and hence is preferred


text:
Getting Google to know I got my phone back
My phone was stolen so I remotely locked it and now I can't open it(I managed to recover it) as it says  'the phone you are using is lost or stolen' How can I unlock the phone again?

Your phone was stolen and so you shut it down --> How? Also, please work on adding more detail to your problem description. Right now it's not giving too much of a picture. I've edited your post slightly, fixing your spellings and sentences. :)

Also, take a look at this locked-out wiki to see if it helps you with your scenario

I'm assuming you locked the device through Android Device Manager. But yes you need to really edit your question to make it more understandable. Shut down is also not an appropriate term to mean locked.

If you indeed used Android Device Manager to lock the device then you were requested to enter a password . You will use that password to unlock the phone.
If you forgot that password then your other option would be to perform a hard reset on the phone. Again you haven't informed us of the phone model but most android variants require the phone to be off first then press the on key simultaneously with home key and volume down key. You will then boot into Recovery mode. Select wipe data/factory erase through navigating with your volume keys and selecting using the on key. Note this will erase everything on your phone on the internal storage.


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Importing custom ringtone
I have downloaded a ringtone and now would like to put it on the list of available ringtones on my Maxx2.  How do I put it on the ringtone list?  What is the proper format?  .wav, .aiff?

Related: Add New Ringtones, Notifications and Alarm tones on Nexus One

It simply done by having it as an mp3, which is to be put into either the "Ringtones" or "Notifications" folder (please do both to be sure) from the phone's internet storage. If one or both are not present, you can always make the folder yourself then place the files there. It should appear in the right settings menu that's right for it!

You can also use some apps from the Play Store which can help: a good one's this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.herman.ringtone


text:
Non-Rooted Android Emulators for Mac
I was running some apps on Android Emulators for Mac.
But one day they stopped working. The error said that I was using a rooted device.
I tried to unroot the emulators but they all did not work.
So I was wondering if anybody could tell me Non-Rooted Android Emulators or ways to unroot emulators completely
These are the emulators I used to use:
Genymotion, Andy, Bluestacks


text:
How to install Google Play services on an Android 7.0 emulator?
I have the stable version of Android N Preview SDK released last month. The emulators are working perfectly but there is no Gapps available for Android N and there is no way I have found to install Google Play Services in the Android N emulators.
Can someone please assist me with installing Google Play Services and/or Gapps on an Android N emulator?

Did you ever get Google Play Services working on a 7.0 emulator? I can get it to work on 7.1.1, but the same method does not work on 7.0.

@gavsiu not yet

I would suggest using OpenGApps and ADB, but there's probably a better solution.


text:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i, can't make calls but can receive them!
We have a phone at work that when ever the user makes an outgoing phone call it rings once then stops.
It was coming up with a message saying Call Forwarding is Active. So I disabled it to see if that was what was stopping it but that hasn't helped.
Has anyone had a similar issue? or know what to do?
He can receive calls on the phone just not make them.
Thanks for your help in advance!
Lewis Neville

Might be signal or network problem. Sometimes it also happens to me. While I have strong signal but still not going calls. It says your call is forwarding but not making calls.

Since Disabling the Call forwarding settings that message hasn't come up. Now when I make an outgoing call, it rings once then just hangs up. And I can receive calls fine.


text:
How to sync subtitles with video?
If we have an .srt and a video file that are out of sync, how to correct it? (Like we would do with Aegisbub on a desktop OS.)

Use MX Player.
It has an option to sync by specifying the time to adjust (in seconds).
Go to Options (3dots) ->Subtitles-> Synchronization while playing a video to adjust it..

Do I have to repeat the correction every time I view the video?

No, not needed... But make sure Player->Resume is enabled


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I can't install a custom recovery
I'm trying to install a custom recovery on my phone. My phone model name is LYF LS 5014(LYF Wind 4). But I can't find the model name of my phone in any website to download the custom recovery. What should I do now.....

Ethan Yonkers (Dees Troy) the Developer of TWRP has your answer, build it yourself, as long as the manufacturer follows the GPL license guidelines and releases the kernel source it isn't super difficult... https://plus.google.com/+DeesTroy/posts/iyyM1kYULEa

Requesting TWRP for unsupported devices
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what devices we
  support and why we choose to support certain devices over others.
  Official support for a device usually comes about in one of two ways:
  1) We somehow get our hands on the device either through someone or a
  company donating the device to us or occasionally we save up enough
  money to purchase a device ourselves. 2) Another developer who
  actually owns the device steps up and ports TWRP to their device, then
  they work with us to get their device added to our official
  distribution.
Occasionally there's a third method where we work with a remote tester
  who owns the device to get the device working in TWRP. This third
  method is not used very often because by and large, remote testers are
  epic failures. Remote testers often need tons of hand holding and
  line-by-line directions. Remote testers often fail to know how to get
  things like adb and fastboot working. Remote testers often fail to
  make themselves available when we need them and they disappear before
  we're able to finish verifying a completely working build. At this
  point, we usually only work with remote testers that we already know
  and have a relationship with so that we can ensure that we're not
  wasting our valuable time working with someone who doens't know what
  they're doing and will disappear before the job is done.
Sure, you can offer files and to be a tester and offer to provide
  everything we need, but most likely you'll be ignored because we
  simply don't have the time.
You can compile TWRP yourself by following this guide:
  http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1943625 To put it
  short, you will need:
  -A Linux environment, either virtual or native
  -A full Omni build tree, about a 15 or 20GB download
  -A copy of the stock recovery and/or kernel source for your device
  -A basic knowledge of adb, fastboot, Linux command line, make files, and strong ability to figure things out on your own via searching on
  Google
If none of the above works for you, feel free to donate the cash or
  ship us your device and we'll try to work on it when we get a chance.

Remember that to use custom recovery, your bootloader must be unlocked.


text:
No keyboard on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 running on Unofficial CM 13
I have a 'Rooted Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 NT-N8000'(tablet) running Unofficial CM 13 Marshmallow 6.0.1 and a TWRP touch recovery. After I flashed CM13, I had no keyboard anymore, so I couldn't log in to WiFi and Google Play Store.
Then I made a free WiFi hotspot on my phone and logged in (so I had WiFi) so I could use the microphone to search for an app, but I needed to log in to the Play Store. I also can't download the app to my tablet from the PC because I haven't logged in with my Google account on my tablet yet.
Then I downloaded a keyboard app on my phone, extract it, email it to my computer, on my computer transferred it to an SD card, and then plugged it into my tablet and installed it, but it still doesn't work. I tried Google Keyboard and Chrooma keyboard but none work, and the settings are all fine.
How to fix this?

Download keyboard application from third-party websites. Put it in SD card and install. Must work.

I remember there are issues with the AOSP keyboard on some CM13 builds (see e.g. this thread). Did you already install GApps and, if so, did you use OpenGApps for that? Then it might be related.

Ok, i installed swiftkey and the keyboard sorta popped up, the keyboard itself didnt but the suggestionbar did so thats kinda strange... any help ?

Yes i used OpenGapps for ARM, android 6 and the pico package (first i used the stock/full but i got alot of crashes so i formatted everything including cache and dalvik and flashed pico)

I had the same issue. Just go to the right, choose language, and then you slide "Hardware show input method" to On. Should work.

CyanogenMod has a keyboard built in, did you try going to Settings -> Language & Input and make sure you have a keyboard set as "Current Keyboard", the default keyboard in CM is Android Keyboard (AOSP)?
If there is truly no keyboard installed, you can go to http://www.apkmirror.com/ and download any number of keyboards, such as Swiftkey Keyboard or Google Keyboard as examples, then install them manually. You may need to make sure that Unknown Sources is enabled in Settings -> Security

i tried to do that but i still have no keyboard and i cant download a keyboard cuz i dont have a keyboard to search or type that in

@Julian Is the keyboard listed in Settings->Language&Inputs?

@Julian sure you can. Just visit Playstore with a web browser from some other machine, login with your Google account, find some keyboard, and push the "install" button. As long as your device has any network connection (mobile or WiFi), you should see the install starting within seconds.

@Izzy Also if i havent logged in to my google account on my tablet yet ?

@acejavalin yes its listed in language&inputs

@Julian Umm. Of course, if you never logged in to Playstore with the current ROM it cannot work, you're right. Then it only leaves side-loading from a (hopefully) clean source. I'd recommend checking with F-Droid then – or using Raccoon to download an APK from Playstore.

I solved this problem. I think it occurs because there is a default physical keyboard configured called "sec_keyboard". The OS thinks this is available, so it doesn't choose to make the virtual keyboard appear - and I can't see how to remove it.
Fortunately, if you click on the settings for "Physical keyboard" one of them is "Show virtual keyboard" under "Keyboard assistance". Enable this.
The OS then puts up the virtual keyboard (whether the original AOSP or Gboard or something else) on the screen when keyboard input is needed, and you can then type on it! It's a bit of a kludge, but it does seem to deliver the desired result by a devious method. I trust there is a better way (probably using a different gapps installation), but this is a simpler solution once you have done this installation with the suggested files.

I had problems with the keyboard on CM13 because of Gapps. You should delete this file /system/lib/libjni_latinimegoogle.so right after flashing ROM and the Gapps. You can delete it from TWRP's file manager.

if you are installing any custom ROM, then go for the Stock Gapps rather than Pico or Nano. Stock Gapps cover all the Google services including the keyboard. I had the same issue when I have installed Resurrection Remix with Gapps Pico, but after installing Stock Gapps the issue was solved.

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


text:
How to find my recovery version
I am using CyanogenMod with CM-Recovery. my phone is encrypted. So I update my ROM using sideload.
But I want which version of recovery I am using.

Did you start recovery and look? Most recoveries show you quite clearly...

installing something like ROM Manager might help.
check this screenshot: https://lh4.ggpht.com/mCWZ9q9niBabx-HBbrlez8hFxAh0VrhNl2y0_diCmxbmj93BF36nuPR_KcACgYXuXstd=h900-rw


text:
No mobile data with CM13
I have flashed CM13 onto my Samsung Galaxy S3, and since then, mobile data does not work. I am logged in into the network and I can make calls and receive SMS, so the IMEI / EFS data is still there and working. Connecting to the mobile network works, too, the "mobile data" button is enabled.
No matter which app I try to use, none of them can connect to the internet with mobile data. I only get error messages. However, resetting the mobile data statistics and then trying again still gives me error messages, but a few kilobytes of data usage appear in the statistics.
I already tried:
- Wipe Cache
- Re-flash CM13
- Restart phone a dozen times
- Enable and disable Airplane Mode a dozen times
- Deleting the APN and re-entering the exact information I got from my provider
- Completely disable and uninstall AFWall+
- Disable any "data restriction" / security / privacy settings I could find that could possibly cause this
What else could be the problem? Why does my mobile data not work?

i followed the steps on this youtube video... it worked for me after trying many alternatives.....hope it works for u guys as well.........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Cy0oyN1Pg

If someone still has no mobile data, delete all APNs except the one you need. That fixed it for me after a lot of time of investigation

Last night I installed cm13 ROM and had the same problem
And I read the above about deleting APN which works fine thanks a lot #copa07 you saved my time thank you so much..
Hats off...

@Siije you are very welcome, thanks a lot for the feedback (don't forget to vote, will help others to see it)

My phone is LG G3 (D855) with xosp 6.0.1 (Based on cyanogenmod)
I fix it
-Go to google play store
- Type apn
- Download apn settings
- Download Link2Sd
- Run link2sd
- Choose APN Settings
- Make system app.
- Reset phone
- Run APN Settings and get your settings
- Reset phone.
I hope that helps...
Sorry for bad English :))

Well it happens to be APN problem, I contacted my network provider and did apn reset and everything works fine.


text:
Nexus 5X: How can I use custom ringtones /alarms without installing additional apps?
I have a Nexus 5X with Android 6.0.1 and latest security patches (June 2016). I try to use my own soundfiles for alarms and ringtones. I tried a lot of suggestions, but I can't get it to work. When I want to select my sounds, only the default sounds appear in the list.
First I tried to add them to the folders (/Alarms and /Ringtones) with the built-in file explorer. I could copy the files, but only the alarms were selectable, not the files in /Ringtones. So at that time alarms were fine, ringtones were not.
Here someone suggested that it could make a difference if the files are copied from a PC via USB cable. So I tried that, but it did not make a difference.
Someone suggested that the files might only be selectable after a reboot. So I rebooted and now it is worse than before: I cannot select my own alarms and ringtones. For both settings, only the default sounds appear.
I don't want to try the recommended "ES File Explorer" or the "Zedge ringtone & wallpaper" app. This problem must be solvable without any additional software. Does anyone have an idea how to find out why this is not working?
By the way: I tried sound files in different formats (mp3, flac, ogg). All files can be played on the phone. They worked perfectly as ringtones and alarms on my previous phone. The filenames do not contain any special characters.

Have you seen Add New Ringtones, Notifications and Alarm tones on Nexus One and its answers? I'd also ask whether you've made sure the media-scanner was run to pick them up, but it would be strange if that one picked up only one of the folders and not the other.

Yes, I have seen this. I also tried to put the ringtones and alarm folder in /sdcard/media and /sdcard/media/audio, but that also does not work. I am not sure how to manually run the media-scanner. I restarted the system process called "Media Storage", cleared it's cache and rebooted the phone. No difference, only the default alarms and ringtones are selectable.

For how to trigger the media scanner, take a look at our media-scanner tag-wiki (I recently figured at least with CyanogenMod, there's even an entry in the developer settings for that). But yes, a reboot should definitely take care of that. Sorry, then I'm out of ideas.

I finally found a solution: I deleted all files in /Alarms and /Ringtones and rebooted. Then I copied just one mp3-file to each folder with the built-in file explorer (I guess it does not matter which app you use or if you do it via pc/usb). This mp3-file could be selected in alarm and ringtone settings.
My first idea was that one of the files that were in /Alarms and /Ringtones before was damaged or in a not supported format. So I copied back the other files. To my surprise it is still working and I can also select the other files. So I don't really know what caused the problem, but this work-around solved it.
So if you have a similar problem, it may help to delete all files in that folders (make a backup somewhere else), reboot and then copy the files back.


text:
Does a CWM factory reset, wipe internal sdcard? Does a ClockWorkMod recovery backup, backup my media?
The story to this is that one day I booted up my phone (Samsung Galaxy S5) and all my system apps crashed right after I booted my phone, so for example a box would appear saying something like 'Unfortunately, Touchwiz has stopped'. The phone was already rooted, so I installed CWM for my phone and I backed up the phone to my external SD card.
The whole reason why I backed up the phone is to tray and get my documents and photos back, but I don't know what exactly has been backed up, I know the system files has been backed up and the ROM. Has my media been backed up?
I also need to factory reset my phone to use ODIN, but does a factory reset in CWM delete my internal sdcard? I researched this, and some people say yes and some say no.

Check the backup directory. Usually there's one "archive" per partition there, with their names indicating the source: system and data are usually part of the deal, which should cover your internal card. The external card IMHO is not backed up, at least not per default. Also see our nandroid tag-wiki, as that's what's usually performed by custom recoveries ("NANDroid backup").

Thanks for the reply, I have a couple of questions, is my media in the data folder or the system folder?
Is there a way of putting the media from the backup to my computer and after fixing my phone, I can then transfer my media back on to my phone?
I backed up the phone to an external sd card

Have you checked with the wiki link above? It a.o. tells you how to extract/restore parts of a Nandroid, so you can check what's in there ;) It's too long ago that I've dismantled one. Depends also on the device structure (i.e. whether the internal card is a separate partition with its own file system, in which case it's usually not covered by "data" – or just a directory inside /data that's then served via FUSE; just checked with some of my Nandroid, and there it's the former case).

Oh and if I was to factory reset using CWM, I won't lose my internal sdcard data right?

Depends. I'm using TWRP meanwhile where you can select what to wipe (and e.g. exclude the card). IMHO in most cases, internal and external cards are left untouched unless explicitly told otherwise. No guarantees however, better check the one for your device (might help to [edit] your question and include details on that).

It depends on what to delete or not to delete my internal storage?
Thanks :)

It's all good now, I installed CyanogenMod and my data is still there, thanks :D

Thanks for the feedback! I've summed up everything in an answer now you might wish to "accept" (tick the check-mark next to it to indicate it is the "accepted solution", so others can identify it as such). Would you agree to cleanup above comments then, or is there something you rather wish to stay?

Usually, factory-resets do not touch the SD cards (neither internal and explicitly not external) unless there's an option to explicitly do so and one has checked that. In my experience (as far as I can remember from CWM) my cards were never touched. I'm currently using twrp where one has to explicitly check the corresponding boxes if one wishes to wipe them as well.
However, some vendors have configured that differently on some devices, including the internal SD card with the wipe by default. I don't think CWM adapted that on those devices then, but it cannot hurt to check.
If you backed up your phone to the external card, that backup should be safe there. However, you didn't tell what kind of backup you did. Talking about CWM, I assume you meant a nandroid backup1. As long as you additionally copied all content from the internal card to the external, you again should be safe. If not, it then depends on the "disk layout" of the ROM used whether it was covered with the "default Nandroid": if the card is just emulated from a directory located inside /data using FUSE, it should be included with the data.* backup. If it uses its own partition, it might not be covered (not sure if CWM gives an option to include it).
As it turned out in your case, the cards have been left untouched by the CWM-triggered factory reset as I had expected. But I'm not entirely sure if that's always guaranteed (though being the usual case). So it never hurts to "have a safety-net and a double bottom" ;)

1 Check our nandroid tag-wiki for details on that


text:
Note 4, cannot turn on wifi
It started when I factory reset with twrp and flashed a new ROM. I tried different ROMs and stock when I noticed that I couldn't turn wifi.
I ran ifconfig with the terminal emulator app and found out I was missing wlan0. Running "adb shell ifconfig wlan0" gave "ifconfig: wlan0: No such device."
I was looking at the logcat live while tapping to turn on wifi and it was giving me "Supplicant not running, cannot connect" and the drivers weren't able to be initialized. Going through the phone and entering in ##4636## for the wifi information, wifi state was stuck on enabling and the supplicant state is uninitialized. The MAC address was 02:00:00:00:00:00 if that is of any importance. After searching some more for help, I found out /sys/devices/virtual/net/ was missing wlan0 as well. I think that the wlan0 firmware or drivers are missing, but I'm not sure. I tried "fixing" the permissions on the supplicant file and renaming the file, but to no avail. I would like some help on this. Thanks
Note 4 (N910T variant)
The ROMs I tried
TekHD ROM (5.1.1)
CMRemix 13 (6.0.1)
Resurrection Remix 5.6.9 (6.0.1)
Stock (6.0.1)


text:
my text messaging app is suddenly displaying all my contacts with no conversations
My text messaging app instead of just displaying all my recent text messaging conversations has suddenly included ALL my contacts. My recent SMS conversations are swallowed up in the midst of all my contacts. How do I delete these contacts  with whom I have no text message conversations from my message app? I want to keep the phone numbers in my contacts but I don't want the contacts stuck in the middle of my text message conversations...help!


text:
How to list pathname of all files using adb
On most of my devices I'm able to use the find command to get the full pathname of all the files on the device.  However I have two tablets that don't have the find command.
I tried various combinations using the ls command, however, it doesn't output path names.  It'll put a directory on line line, then a list of files that are in that directory below the directory name.
The output that I'm trying to get is the same output that you would get using find or locate on the PC.
An example of the output that I'm trying to get is:
This is output from a Tablet that has the find command:
adb shell find /sdcard/

/sdcard/backups/.SystemConfig /sdcard/backups/.SystemConfig/.cuid
  /sdcard/backups/.SystemConfig/.cuid2 /sdcard/backups/system
  /sdcard/backups/system/.confd /sdcard/backups/system/.confd-journal
  /sdcard/backups/system/.config /sdcard/backups/system/.timestamp
  /sdcard/backups/apps /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/.nomedia
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-16_06-41-10.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-16_10-36-12.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-16_10-36-17.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-16_14-01-15.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-17_06-42-20.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-17_10-34-25.wav
  /sdcard/EasyVoiceRecorder/2016-06-19_09-42-31.wav

This is the output using: shell ls -R /sdcard/
/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.documentsui:
files

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.documentsui/files:

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.htmlviewer:
files

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.htmlviewer/files:

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.nfc:
files

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.nfc/files:

/sdcard//Android/data/com.android.providers.calendar:

I have been looking at other adb commands, but I'm only seeing commands to pull or push files from the device.  I'm not seeing a way to just get the full pathname of all the files.

i found a workaround resolution of mounting the device using adbfs-rootless.
The process is simple.  Install the package which is easily build-ed with the two packages from normal distro repositories(the the package's readme):
$ sudo apt-get install libfuse-dev android-tools-adb

then mount with:
$ adbfs ~/mnt

Once mounted the find command from the PC can be used to process the files.


text:
How can I add a contact WITHOUT choosing an account to sync with?
First of all, know that this has NOTHING to do with stopping contacts from Gmail being added to my phone's contacts. I am trying to add a contact, but it keeps presenting me with a list of accounts to choose from to sync it with. I don't want to sync my contacts with any service. I just want to add them on my phone.
My phone is a Droid Maxx running Android 4.4.4. Do not assume that I am rooted.

If there's an option "local phone account" or something similar, then choose that instead of any Gmail account.
I can see this when I select "More Fields" in the "Add new contact" screen. Marshmallow, OnePlus One.

Feel free to expand this answer.

Install the MyLocalAccount app.
Go to "Settings → Accounts → Add account" and choose "MyLocalAccount".
Now in your normal, stock Android "Contacts" app, you can switch between accounts using the top-left hamburger menu "☰". Select the "MyLocalAccount" account from the top of it.
All contacts you will add will now land in the "MyLocalAccount" account, that is, on your phone only, without being synced to any server.
If you want to sync these local contacts to your computer, you can use the MyPhoneExplorer Windows application, which is the companion desktop software of the MyLocalAccount app. This will sync directly, without the involvement of any servers on the Internet.

Source: another answer here on Android Stack Exchange, and some own tests.

Nice find... This is actually a pretty cool idea I had never heard of for phones like Nexus, Pixel, and Moto, that do not have "local" accounts for storing contacts and such.

I use MyLocalAccount app for >6 years. Now I am about to use a new phone. How can I move the contacts stored in MyLocalAccount to the new phone if I don't have windows? I use only linux systems.

@ZoltánSüle Please ask a separate question on this site. That's how things are supposed to work here :)


text:
How to keep 4G on while on WI-FI
My home Wi-Fi connection doesn't have Internet access, so I need to keep my 4g on while connected to the WI-FI. I tried "smart network switch" and it doesn't work, it is kicking the WI-FI off because it doesn't have Internet access. Also tried the "Download Booster" same thing. It kicks the WI-FI off.
Any way to have them both connected? My Wi-Fi as LAN and my 4g for Internet navigation.
Thanks

As of until Marshmallow, stock Android does not support connecting to both WLAN and Data network simultaneously.
You may keep them both turned on, but the OS will then choose to connect to WLAN or Data depending on Internet access and network quality.
Reference: Personal experience only.


text:
Is there a way to have phone screen display more contents?
I moved from a 4.5 inch screen to a 5.5 one (Moto G4 plus), hoping to look at more things at once on a larger screen. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm rather looking at more or less the same amount of content even on a larger screen. It's just that everything just appears magnified - icons and list sizes are huge, instead of smaller icons and text, thereby fitting more things in the screen.
Would tweaking the pixel density help? Is it advised? Is that even possible without rooting?

Possible duplicate of Why can the Nexus 7 display so much more content on-screen than the Galaxy Nexus?

The actual size of a screen is less important than the resolution, i.e. number of pixels on the screen. For instance, if you move from a 1920×1080 4.5 inch screen to 1920×1080 5.5 inch one, there are chances things will appear the way they did before, but just larger.
When choosing to buy a new device, look at the dots per inch (DPI) or pixels per inch (PPI). Higher DPI means that the pixels are smaller, or, in other words, if two screens have the same size, the one with higher DPI will have more pixels. In general, higher DPI leads to “nicer” screens, which is especially noticeable for text and vector graphics.
There could be benefits to get a larger screen with the same DPI: for instance, reading small text on a tiny screen could be very problematic; the same text on a larger screen would be more readable, even if DPI stays the same. However, lower DPI could make the text much less readable even on a larger display; for instance, after using for a year an old HTC phone at 469 ppi, I found Samsung Galaxy Tab A with its 132 ppi to be absolutely unusable for reading, even if its screen was much larger than HTC's one.
I'm unaware if it's possible to change the resolution on Android devices without rooting it, but it would be a bad idea anyway. What would happen is that a single pixel will have to display, say, what would correspond to 1.3 pixels. As a result, you will be able to see more icons and text, but it would be terrible visually.
For the same reason (as well as to reduce the impact on the GPU), most PCs do let you change the resolution, but won't allow you to set one which is superior to the native resolution of your monitor.
Another issue which appears when changing the resolution is the fact that some applications on Google Play may be marked as incompatible:

Keep in mind that altering your DPI may cause the Google Play Store to incorrectly label your device as incompatible when downloading apps. This is caused by developers limiting their app's compatibility based on a device's DPI value.

I take it then there's little point in purchasing a phone with larger screen, except for the visually impaired?! I should have known better :'(

@Jeenu: not necessarily. I edited my answer to add a few details about DPI/PPI and the benefits of a larger screen. This being said, in your case, you were indeed looking not just for a larger screen, but for a larger screen with the same (or higher) PPI as the old one.


text:
Unable to login to facebook due to Network Exception
In HTC m7 . When I login to facebook . It shows me an error
Please check your network connection or try again later.
(HttpNetworkException: AsynSocketException: connect failed, type = Socket not open errn= 101(Network is unreachable)

What kind of network are you on: Wi-Fi or mobile data? Do other internet apps work on this network? Can you get to facebook.com in your web browser on this network?

Yes everything else is working fine. Google play let me install any app and I am able to open google chrome and can serf it


text:
Google's backup service: what is it for?
I don't understand the goal of Google's backup for Android devices.
I always thought that the automated backup was used to make sure that if anything happens with my device, I won't lose my data. In other words, if the device is stolen or lost or simply stops working, I can purchase a new one (eventually identical to the old one), tell Google to restore everything from the old device, and lose only a few hours/days of data, depending on the frequency of the backups.
Recently, I purchased a tablet with Android Lollipop. Since it had a few hardware defects, I sent it back for an exchange, after checking that “Back up my data” was checked in “Backup & reset”. There was no important data on the device, but I spent an hour installing and configuring different apps, and would have preferred avoiding doing it again.
To my surprise, when I received a new tablet, there was no options to restore the backup, neither from the old tablet (same model, same version of Android Lollipop), nor from my Android phone (that was expected, especially since the Android version is different as well).
The questions of people being in similar situations seem to indicate that Google's backup doesn't cover this sort of cases. Similarly, a Google search seems to indicate that a third-party backup tool should be used for those situations.
So:

If the device is stolen or lost or stops working, one cannot restore the backups to another device.
If the user messes with the device so much that he should reset it, restoring the backup will mess the device once again.
If the user wants to restore the device to a previous state (say a week ago), there is no such thing in Google's backup/restore: only the latest state can be restored.

Therefore, what is it for? What could be the actual case where the Google's backup would be of any use?

Additionally, for those who are interested in doing nearly-full backups of their non-rooted device on a PC, the answer to “Full Backup of non-rooted devices” may be helpful.

I think you misunderstand what Google backup is and does, and it varies by Android version and app... I know this can be confusing but prior to Lollipop the only information backed up was system info (wallpaper, WiFi passcodes, etc) and Google info like contacts, calendar, notes, and stuff. Beginning with Lollipop, the installed apps (not their data) are backed up and can be restored from a list on a compatible Android install. In Marshmallow, application configs (not data) that are designed for MM are backed up. Many vendors/carriers have their own backup tools as well.


text:
Move viber to another device without activation?
I want to transfer viber from old phone to new, but i don't want viber to send a notification to all my contacts that i joined viber. I hate this option. How can i avoid it? There has to be a way...I've tried Titanium Backup and obviously the activation windows popped out anyway, but how exactly does it detects that it' a new device?

So i did it! Here is how:

Both phones need to be rooted.
Install Titanium Backup on both phones (I used the pro version). Also install Device ID on old phone
On old phone back up Viber with Titanium
On new phone install Xposed framework and the module Xprivacy
Move the backup file from old phone to new and restor it (dont launch Viber)
Open Device ID on old phone and Xprivacy on the new one.
In Xprivacy open settings, and there you can enter the fake info you want to send to apps. We need to copy from old phone Hardware serial, Android ID And advertising ID (advertising ID can be found in Android Settings→Google→Ads). After that tap on viber icon, find Identification and check the first box.
If all done right the viber app will launch in same condition as on old phone. After that you need to uninstall Xprivacy for better stability of viber.

@YvetteColomb There's one negative review out of hundreds. That's much more likely to be a confused user than a malicious app. And regardless of whether the app turns out to be malware or not, there's nothing to indicate that this is anything other than a genuine recommendation by another user. That's not spam.

@YvetteColomb I fully agree with what Dan wrote. Especially consider the "a genuine recommendation by another user" part: onupirat wrote to have used that solution successfully, and might not have noticed that comment. Thanks for your insight – maybe you could name an alternative to obtain those IDs in a safe way? I could e.g. think of some ADB commands, but that might not be the easiest way for a non-techsavvy user :)

@Izzy you can use apps for them (iv'e written them myself to find the ids of phones I'm using), but not sure how to advise consumers to do so safely. I would never advise people to root their phones and it's something most developers cringe at on SO. so that's where I'm coming from. Whenever you delve into the types of software you need to do that, you compromise your phone and cannot remove it, whether it be the app being recommended here, or the app used to root the phone. You don't need to root a phone to get the deviceId using an android app.

@YvetteColomb no, not for that. But you need root to install TiBu and also the XPosed framework with Xprivacy in order to fake those data to the Viber app (plus apart from that, the device was already rooted anyway, see the question text). I'm not 100% sure, but isn't that "Device ID" the app-in-question shall give the same one you see when running adb devices? So shouldn't one find it even in Settings › About phone › Status as "Serial", so that entire "Devide ID" app wouldn't even be needed at all?

@Izzy It's unclear to me, what ID they are actually using, that's why I'm hesitant. There's quite a few ids and people misname them. So can't answer. Possibly. And yeh it's the whole rooting thing, and it's possible that rooting the phone is what caused the problem with the second app. It's just you can't get the app you use to root your phone off your phone and you don't know how your security is compromised after that. Sorry to cause trouble here, I meant to act in good faith. I'm going to bed now, but am happy to continue a chat tomorrow \o :)

@YvetteColomb Thanks a lot. May I suggest you then join us in our chat room, so we don't misuse the comments for our discussion? Until then: Good night!


text:
Restore Whatsapp data
I have formatted my mobile and have backed up my Whatsapp Messenger,  but unfortunately my pics and videos were not backed up in the process. I do not have old backup file of Whatsapp messenger in my mobile memory as I had it formatted.
I tried to restore from Whatsapp messenger backup from google drive but its restoring only few of the images
Kindly help me to recover all my lost video and images.

WhatsApp lists only 2 ways to restore previously backed up WhatsApp data.

Google Drive
Local Backup
The following is an excerpt from a chat with WhatsApp customer support team with regards to chat restoration.

You may only restore your local backup by using the same mobile telephone number as stored in your previous backup. If you are trying to restore from Google Drive, please make sure you are using the same mobile telephone number and Google account used to create the backup.
    Please make sure your WhatsApp backup files are stored in WhatsApp/Databases folder. The location of WhatsApp folder is determined by your device. It is normally located in your “Internal Storage”, or if you have an older device it may be located in your “SD card”. Please note, when changing to a newer handset, you may have to move the folder from your SD card to your internal storage.
    We are unable to merge your backup files, you may only restore from one file at a time.
    Backup files are only readable by restoring them in WhatsApp.
    If your device is plugged into your computer at night, low on storage space or is set to sleep with no background data; WhatsApp will not be able to backup your chat history.
    If your restoration is successful but you are missing some chats, it is possible that your database backup was corrupted and these are the only messages we can restore for you.
    If you cannot uninstall WhatsApp on your device, you may go into your phone's [Settings] > [Applications] > [WhatsApp] > [Clear Data]. Once you open WhatsApp again, it will prompt you to set up as if it were a fresh install.
    Please note, if you are unable to restore your chats, we can not restore your chats, contacts, call history, or multimedia files for you.

Note If your restoration is successful but you are missing some chats, it is possible that your database backup was corrupted and these are the only messages we can restore for you.
If your backup was successful but not all images were restored then likely your phone did not fully backup your images or the backup itself was corrupted.There's really no reprieve for this. I'd advice you to store your internal backup in an external storage device when you're about to format your phone.


text:
How to close "Location access" screen after enabling GPS?
There's an application I use that prompts the user to enable GPS, but then I'm stuck in this screen not knowing how to close it:

As there's no check/OK button, how do I actually enable GPS and get on with it?
Thank you.

Just click Back (the sideways triangle at the bottom), it should take you back to your app and just work. Note that if you are on Marshmallow, some apps do not understand the permissions (Best Buy app is like this) and it can't locate you properly. The only fix for those is to have the developer update the app for Marshmallow.

@acejavelin isn't that supposed to be an answer, despite of being short? ;)

Just click Back (the sideways triangle at the bottom), it should take you back to your app and just work. Note that if you are on Marshmallow, some apps do not understand the permissions (Best Buy app is like this) and it can't locate you properly. The only fix for those is to have the developer update the app for Marshmallow.


text:
Transfering contact information from one phone to another using SIM card
I have a LG Optimus L70 phone that will no longer turn on. I have a new LG K7 phone. How can I transfer my contact information to the new phone using the SIM card. Or is there any other way that I can get my contact information and pictures off of my old phone and put in to my new phone

How do you want to "transfer" something from dead phone? If the contacts are on the SIM card already - just insert it to the new phone.

AD apparently you did not understand my question. I was inquiring as to whether this was possible and how to do it. On top of this the sims card for my old phone is to big to be placed in my new phone. I detected just a little bit of sarcasm in your comment. And between me and you I don't need that from you or anyone else.

Wrong detection :) Anyway I don't see any option how to do this or to transfer anything from something which is not working. Please add as much info as possible for others.

Is there anyway to get my contact information and pictures off of my old phone and into my new phone if my old phone will not turn on or power up

If you installed a different contact application that isn't using the normal Google android system you would have to specify the program and someone familiar with it will chime in.
Your contact information, by default is stored in Gmail's contact.  Activating your new phone and setting up the same account on the new phone as the old phone will automatically sync your contact information to your new phone.
You make a reference to sim card, where I believe you are trying to refer to an sdcard.  Many phones, especially the newer ones, will allow you connect to an external usb drive.  You can do two things to get the data off your sdcard.  You can alternatively get an adapter for your computer (which generally cost between 5 an 8 dollars), transfer the date from the card to your computer.  Then connect your new phone to your computer VIA a usb cable and transfer the data from the computer to your new phone.

L. D. James I cannot retrieve any information from my g.mail account and neither can Lookout which is a recovery app that I had installed on old phone and that I also have installed on my new. I did not have a SD card in my old phone either I was just curious about whether my information might have been stored on phones sim card but now I know that it wasn't. As my old phone will not turn on I guess that my information is not retrievable and is gone forever now

@Hogleg You don't manually retrieve information from a gmail account.  When you set up the account on your phone using the Settings feature to add or setup an account, the contacts and emails will be synced to the phone from the associated gmail account automatically.  The contact information that you were using on your old phone is stored on the Google server.  You would have to have a gmail account to have full access to the features of the phone, such as installing apps from http://play.google.com.  Add the account to your new phone and your contacts will be on it.


text:
I need to reinstall (OS? and gapps) after a part-wipe of internal memory of Manta, 5.1
After a failed change to CM13 ROM, my Nexus 10 booted to show only its screen still alive but with lots of green Androids (its name is..?) and unconnected icons.
Inside are only 5 apps, no keyboard, no file manager, but there is 'Settings', 'Terminal IDE' and TWRP (2.3.3.0).  I do have a usable USB keyboard, I'm pleased to say.
I can run TWRP in Recovery and can see into the device with Android File Transfer running on my iMac. TWRP shows 'cm-13.0......zip' and '...open_gapps...aroma...zip'. AFT shows 'twrp...img'.  I can put a replacement stock Manta 5.1 .tgz on it via AFT, 'tho I can't remember if I need to 'un-tgz" it first.
In order to avoid a bricking, what is the safest option?

Can I just install and run Aroma to replace the lost bits of the
Gapps?
Should/Can I transfer the Android stock to the nexus and    install
that?
Be brave and install the Cyanogenmod 13 and Gapps?

Your help will be appreciated!

In order to avoid a bricking, what is the safest option?
You're not going to brick the device by installing stock or cyanogenmod.
Should/Can I transfer the Android stock to the nexus and install that?
This is the safest option but will wipe all your data. You don't need to "un tgz" it. This will take you back to 5.1.1 that was updated earlier this year
See https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images for instructions
Be brave and install the Cyanogenmod 13 and Gapps?
If you are going for a 6 custom version of android also look at the early AOSP builds or OmniROM. I'd recommend a factory reset in recovery, flash SuperSu  (if you want root) & GApps then flash the ROM. OmniROM have started doing v7 builds
CyanogenMod deals with SU for you.


text:
Factory resetting a locked chinese clone without a built-in recovery (Android 4.4)
Being the only knowledgeable person in reach, I was asked by this lady to reset this phone after the owner forgot its password. It's an unnamed model apparently powered by a Spreadtrum SoC and built to imitate the LG G4. Judging by the lockscreen blocked by a Google account password prompt, it seems to run on Android 4.x.

Power + Volume down lands on the screen on the left, which contains just generic test routines.
Power + Volume up gets you into what seems to be the fastboot mode. I'm planning on attempting to flash generic recoveries but I'm slightly wary of USB connecting it to my mission-critical notebook. Either way, I wouldn't know which recovery to flash or, if it comes to, which ROM to flash in it.
Ironically, this might as well be the most secure device I've touched.

Good to know that you have fastboot on it.
I suppose your goal is to wipe the data and reset  and not Porting a recovery or a ROM that it might run.
use the fastboot commands to wipe the userdata and the cache
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase cache
 Good Luck!

Apologies for replying late but thanks for answering!
I had no idea it was possible to do it without an usable recovery routine.
Either way, I returned the phone untouched a few days later. I got a bit suspicious and some flags were raised, so I decided not to take part in it.


text:
Can system apps be enabled/disabled directly from the filesystem?
System apps can be disabled by using pm disable [appname] and re-enabled in the same fashion. But is there a way to accomplish the same thing by editing some file(s?) somewhere?

Context: My Android-x86 virtual machine is on boot-loop caused by disabling the Google App. That's the main reason I'm asking this question.

Whether an app is enabled or disabled is stored in a single file /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml.

I took the following steps to re-enable the Google App and solve my bootloop problem:

Boot the Android-x86 virtual machine in debug mode (i.e. append DEBUG=2 to the GRUB entry)
mount the filesystem:
su

cd /dev    # these are necessary to "refresh" the environment
cd ..      # otherwise the following commands wouldn't work

mkdir temp
mount /dev/block/sda1 temp

Edit the package-restrictions.xml file with vi:
vi /temp/android-6.0-rc1/data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml

Find the entry containing <pkg name="com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox" enabled="3" enabledCaller="com.android.settings">
Move the cursor to the end of that line (Line 13 in my case) and press a to begin editing (see Basic vi commands)
Remove the enabled and enabledCaller attributes. The resulting line should be <pkg name="com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox">
Press Esc and type :wq and press Enter to save and exit vi

Type exit and hit Enter (twice) to boot to Android normally.

It is also safe to simply remove the package-restrictions.xml file — a new 'clean' file will be recreated on next reboot.


text:
reverse tethering - offline for some applications
I try to get internet on my phone from my computer without instlling any tools.
My configuration looks like :
mybox -----(Ethernet)------[my computer]------(USB)-----[the phone]

I enabled usb tethering so I have two interface on my computer : eth0 and usb0.
I read
How to set up reverse tethering over USB?
and I have done :
One the computer:
sudo ifconfig eth0 0.0.0.0
sudo ifconfig usb0 0.0.0.0
sudo brctl addbr br0
sudo brctl addif br0 eth0
sudo brctl addif br0 usb0
sudo ifconfig br0 up
sudo dhclient br0

On the phone :
su
netcfg rndis0 dhcp

After that I have :
IP of rndis0 on the phone : 192.168.1.22/24
IP of br0(eth0 + usb0) on my computer : 192.168.1.21/24
IP of the box : 192.168.1.1/24

When I try to do a ping on the computer and on the smartphone, it works :
ping 8.8.8.8

But if I try to ping on a domain it work on the computer but not on the phone:
root@hammerhead:/ # ping google.fr
ping: unknown host google.fr

Ok so maybe a dns problem of the smarphone? (I don't believe on it because it is obtain by dhcp and the ping work on the computer):
root@hammerhead:/ # getprop | grep dns
[dhcp.wlan0.dns1]: [192.168.1.1]
[dhcp.wlan0.dns2]: []
[dhcp.wlan0.dns3]: []
[dhcp.wlan0.dns4]: []
[net.change]: [net.rndis0.dns2]
[net.dns1]: [212.27.40.240]
[net.dns2]: [212.27.40.241]
[net.rmnet0.dns1]: []
[net.rmnet0.dns2]: []
[net.rndis0.dns1]: [192.168.1.1]
[net.rndis0.dns2]: []
root@hammerhead:/ # ping google.fr

Also, some applications (youtube, chrome) say I'm offline.
Then my questions are : why these applications say I'm offline when I can do ping 8.8.8.8 or another addresses? and why the ping of a domain doesn't work?
Of course, I can give you more informations if you want
EDIT (new information)
Also when i delete all rules except unreachable :
root@hammerhead:/ # ip rule show
32000:  from all unreachable

and if I try ping 8.8.8.8 it give me connect: Network is unreachable which is normal. but when i try ping google.com I get ping: unknown host google.com. So a ping to a domain just doesn't reach the 'routing stage'. I can have the same behaviour on a linux machine where /etc/resolv.conf is empty but on my android I get the DNS from the dhcp server of my box. When i connect my phone to my box with wifi it work fine with dhcp...
Thank you

just an additionnal remark : when i do ping google.com there is nothing on usb0 (unlike to ping 8.8.8.8) So it seems there is something blockink my ping when it is a domain...

I solved the dns problem by using ndc. but know I can browse any website with chrome application but youtube application still tells me I have no connection. I don't know why

Can you tell how you solved the dns problem using ndc?


text:
How to manually transfer entire Whatsapp installation to another device (the hard way)
I'm using Whatsapp from a virtual machine since I lost my phone, and now need to transfer it to a new VM.
The easy way would be to use the backup feature native to Whatsapp, but it is disabled since the VM is connected via Ethernet (and Android thinks it's a Mobile connection). In fact the very "local backup" feature is not available. I have a ton of messages which I really wouldn't like to lose.
There's an Xposed module which could possible fake an Wifi connection in the Android VM, but at this point I really want to do the entire transfer locally as my internet is painfully slow right now.
I tried the built-in adb backup feature, only to find out it's disabled for Whatsapp and can't be easily enabled (requires decompiling the apk file).
So, how can I manually transfer Whatspp app data to the new "device"? What folders do I need to copy, and what files must be modified in order for the transfer to work seamlessly?
I do of course have full root access.
[Update] Neither of the following work:

Copying the entire contents of /data/data/com.whatsapp/databases after installing Whatsapp, signing in and closing it. It will crash when opening, without any error message.
Copying the same directory, but without opening Whatsapp and signing in after installation. Same error as above.
Copying /data/data/com/whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db after installing Whatsapp and signing in. An error message is presented: "Something went wrong with your chat history"
Copying the entire /data/data/com.whatsapp directory, after installing and closing it. It will crash when opening, without any error message.

The concept would be to create a TAR archive of anything under /data/data/com.whatsapp (in order to preserve the permissions and ownerships). Then, you'll need to install WhatsApp on the new host machine, and lastly you should untar the previously created archive under the /data/data/com.whatsapp directory of the new machine, overwriting all of the files that'll be already there. This should emulate the backup operation performed by a dedicated app, but remembered that this is a mere concept I didn't test yet.

@DeathMaskSalesman I did try, unfortunately that doesn't seem to work. The app will crash when I try to open it.

Don't you have root? If you do, you could use some application like Titanium Backup.
It's been a while since I last used Android, but copying apps, especially Whatsapp, will hardly work for apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook or Messenger.

I was encountering the crashing behaviour trying these approaches too, but @DeathMaskSalesman seems to've been on the right track—the crashes are indeed a permissions issue.
If you remove WhatsApp entirely, reinstall it, and copy /data/data/com.whatsapp over and adjust the permissions correctly before launching it the first time, then it should just need to reverify your number to work.  This worked for me.
To adjust permissions, first use ls -la to check the permissions on what's put in the /data/data/com.whatsapp directory upon install, e.g.:
drwxrwx--x   3 u0_a105 u0_a105  4096 2018-07-14 00:55 cache

Then use the username and group (here both u0_a105) to rename the files after you've copied them in:
chown -R u0_a105:u0_a105 /data/data/com.whatsapp/*

Then WhatsApp should launch okay without crashes, and retain settings, messages, and multimedia.

Thanks, I'll try this the next time. Makes sense and should work, I'm accepting this answer.

@Brune, this sounds like something worth asking as a separate question.

This works perfectly! When I only move the data the app crashes if the devices has different users/groups names from original device. But after I set the username and group it works, thanks @JonathanW.

If you have root, you can use TitaniumBackup to save Whatsapp data.
If you don't have root, you can downgrade to Whatsapp 2.11.431 (you can find it here) which was the latest version with adb backup feature activated, and then proceed backing up with adb (instructions).

It's been quite a few years since this answer - can anyone confirm if the downgrade still works without corrupting data?

THX to this guide here from xda I was handle to perform a manually transfer of my entire Whatsapp conversations (120000 messages :D).
Simple:

Make a full TWRP Backup of your old rom if possible +pull it with adb or MTP from your phone
Copy with TWRP Terminal, TWRP Filemamanger, ADB or with your running system with root access this file: /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
Check the filesize of that key-file. It should be 158 Bytes. If there are multiple, choose them all. But later you need the one with 158 Bytes.
Copy the key file and the Folder /sdcard/Whatsapp to your local-machine.
On your new phone: Install Whatsapp and open it but do nothing more. Let it open and hold the power-button to shutdown or restart into your TWRP recovery.
Within TWRP push "Whatsapp" folder with all it's content to your /sdcard/ folder and psuh the key file (that one with 158 Bytes) into /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/
Start your new phone again and start Whatsapp. Press restore, if you got the message that it does not found anything in "/sdcard/Whatsapp/backup", go ahead and verify your number. In my case WA found the database then and restored my 120000 messages.

If I understand that right:

/data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
Is the encrypton key for your database with all your messages.
/sdcard/Whatsapp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt12
Should be your database with all your messages in it. There could be some more with a date in the filename. These should be smaller and older then the msgstore.db.crypt12.
/sdcard/Whatsapp/Media
Contains media :-P
If you lost this, only the messages would be there and the media had just nothing to link to it.

I am happy now. I was able to switch from Android 7 (LineageOS) to Android 8.1 (CarbonRom) without using Google-Apps anymore. So no Backup from the cloud would be needed. MicroG has a bug with that.

You can find WhatsApp data in the directory /data/data/com.whatsapp, just copy all the contents of subdirectory databases with adb pull /data/data/com.whatsapp/databases and transfer it onto your new VM with adb push path/to/saved/databases/directory /data/data/com.whatsapp/databases, be sure the target it's empty.

Thank you for your answer. I'm guessing I must first install Whatsapp on the new VM, right? Or should I create the /com.whatsapp/databases manually as the first step?

Yes, you must install WhatsApp, then register your account as usual, that will create the com.whatsapp folder and its contents.

Unfortunately it didn't work. I get the following message when attempting to open Whatsapp: "Something went wrong with your chat history".

There is any difference between WhatsApp versions in both VMs?

No, it's the same version.

Ouch. Something did go wrong. It worked previously, don't know why but I just tried that on my account and I had the same result. I'm sorry :/

Altough I don't think it could work, as it's like copying the entire com.whatsapp folder: I had another idea. Try copying (very carefully, do backup of both "key" files) /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key to your target VM at the same location, and then try the procedure in the answer. (I can't test this because I have not a backup key, but it's a theory)

I used to backup only the  msgstore.db  file located in /data/data/com.whatsapp/files before uninstalling, and copying it to the same folder after new installation. But this doesn't seem to work anymore since version 2.19.xx.
From the comments, I think key file is the new factor here. Will try.

Was the key file the new factor? I also used to backup msgstore.db but then realized it had become insufficient. Now I'm not sure what to backup to avoid saving the whole com.whatsapp folder

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


text:
my lgl16c "lucky" is stuck optimizing apps after I changed the runtime
my lgl16c was behaving very poorly to the point of which I went to the developer options and swapped the runtime from dalvik to art on android 4.4.2...and now it got stuck "optimizing app 1 of 1" after countless reboots...it's been stuck on this for days without anything changing, and there is no answer on google...is this a special case or what?

What OS version are you on? Lollipop? You changed from dalvik to art?

I did change from dalvik to art and I'm on version 4.4.2 Thank you for pointing that out BTW, I have made the appropriate edits.

How did you do the change?

The Lucky does not have enough internal memory to use the Art runtime. You can remove the battery if it is stuck, and it should come to the conclusion that it has insufficient memory for the switch, and revert to Dalvik. Had the same issue last night. It will revert you to the default wallpaper as well, but other than that, it will be fine.


text:
Volume settings keep changing automatically- driving me nuts
I am running Andoird 6.0.1 on a Samsung Note 4.
In the past few days, the phone will change the four volume settings on its own! I usually keep the notifications and system volumes off, as I don't want to constantly be disturbed by the phone. However, several times a day those volume setting will change. I also keep the ringtone and media volumes at levels that I like, and they too are changed.
Any ideas what can be causing this? I haven't installed any new apps (though not sure if some apps may have updated automatically) lately. I can't seem to be able to get my preferred volume settings to stick.
Please help! Thanks.

Everytime they change, do they change to the exact same volume levels? If so, then there could be something that is changing the profile based on location / devices connected / wifi / charging etc. Do you have any such app or built in settings on the N4?


text:
How do you change name of the internal storage memory in an Android device
I am using Android 4.4.4 on a device called GPD XD.
Right now, I see that when I connect the device to the computer via USB, both the internal memory and the external memory card are called "SD Card". This is causing some issues to the OS, since it can't see the folders on the SD card, due the fact that both internal and external memory has the same name.
How do you change the name of the internal device? I did search but found nothing relevant. I believe some app that I downloaded (emulators from the google play store), did change the name, because last time that I did use the device, it was working fine and the name of the internal storage was not "SD Card" for sure.


text:
Can Google Hangouts send out text message under data?
I found that on my android, google hangouts seems not able to send out text messages i.e. SMS to a phone number, when it is on data service.
Is it the same for others, or is it just my problem?
Thanks.

You can send text messages through hangouts to phone number. For this You have to go to Settings > Messages > Default messaging app > Hangouts.


text:
How do Android Communicate with Storage or External Storage?
I Wants to know that how the android os is communicating with the storage devices, as because I have two USB Devices from same vendor (ScanDisk) and of equal size (8 GB) and having same File System (FAT32).
Scenario is, I am trying to use those USB Devices using OTG Cable With my MOTO X Play. Lets say USB-A is working fine but not USB-B. Even i Tried to format them using Windows OS to NTFS / FAT32, but still the result is same.
In next attempt I made copy of default folder / directory that usually created by android system to external storage to both USB's, then the Scenario get reversed. with FAT32 / NTFS USB-B works fine but not USB-A.
Surprised? I'm too but I wants to find the reason. Both USB are working fine with other OS like Windows / Linux(Desktop version) as I checked already.

Do you realise that NTFS and FAT32 are not the same thing? With that in mind, could you [edit] your question and make it clear exactly what filesystem you've used on the two USB sticks.

I tried with bote file system. First i tried with FAT32 and in next attempt i tried with NTFS that's what I want to say.

So are you saying it worked with FAT32 but not with NTFS?

I tried with bith file system first the observed USB-B is not working and in next try i copied default folders of Android os those are usually gets created to storage location to the both USB's then the scenario gets reverse means USB-B worked fine.


text:
CELLPHONE (ANDROID) TO PC WIFI SHARING
I Just want to ask if its possible for a laptop to share the internet connection of an android phone.The phone is using vpn connection to get internet from my simcard newtwork provider? And HOW?
Thanks!
Monsai

Just to clarify, you want your PC to connect to your phone's internet connection?
Tethering, more like it, right?
If so, then there should be an option in your wireless networks settings (Tethering/Mobile Hotspot) which you can enable to allow your PC to gain connectivity to your phone's internet connection.


text:
Increase swap space for RAM
I have Micromax canvas 2.2 with android 4.2.2 & kernel version 3.4.5. I have already rooted my phone. Now, to increase swap space I partitioned sd card using mini partition. Then tried to link it using Link2sd app. But it didn't work. Everytime I try to mount that partition phone restarts but the effect is gone after restarting. Means nothing actually happens.
Please help.


text:
cant download ANYTHING on My LG G2 anymore
My phone went in for repairs and since then I am unable to update or re-install whatsapp or chrome. I go to google play store to download whatsapp but when I click the install button nothing happens, its the same when chrome prompts Me to update, I click updaye but nothing happends, I can see that the button to install is responding when I press it but nothing happens after. is this something to do with settings or drivers or what?

my android version is 4.4.2

This may seem outrageous but sometimes unsteady internet connection can cause this problem too. Take it from the guy who has actually experienced this problem.

This can occur sometimes when your phone is doing a large amount of updates. Especially after a factory reset. Check to make sure there are not a large amount of apps being updated. You would check that in the play store under my apps. If there is a large amount of updates in que, you may want to stop them and download them over wifi only.


text:
adb device always unauthorized
I'm running Ubuntu 16.04
adb version
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.32

However, when I plug in my devices for testing via ADB, I always get an unauthorized error.
adb devices

List of devices attached
LGD855a1098057  unauthorized

adb works flawlessly on Windows 7 x64 SP1 with Koushik Douttas Universal ADB driver and my friend's Macbook, this singles out the Ubuntu 16.04 as the problem.
Things I have tried:

I tried revoking previous USB authorizations: nothing happened.

Switching adb debugging on and off: however, the CLI just keeps telling me with the unauthorized error.

Switching ports: each port on my 16-port development rig has been tried.

Updating adb:
android-tools-adb is already the newest version (5.1.1r36+git20160322-0ubuntu3).
android-tools-fastboot is already the newest version (5.1.1r36+git20160322-0ubuntu3).

Same problem here with exact same Linux Ubuntu version. The solution for me that works well is

adb kill-server
sudo adb usb

After this, your mobile will ask for authorization and work well. So, adb needs root privilege.

This is the reliable way to do it. The other answers may work fir a while, but this one keeps going.

Kill the adb server if running:
adb kill-server

Remove ~/.android directory with all its content:
rm -rf ~/.android

Don't forget to Revoke USB debugging authorizations in developer options on your Android device.
Start the adb server:
adb start-server

Search for devices:
adb devices

rm -rf ~/.android fixed a similar kind of issue for me. thanks

This worked for me:

I revoked previous USB authorizations

I killed and restarted the adb server using these commands:
adb kill-server
adb start-server

I restarted the phone

And ran adb devices

And the device didn't appear as unauthorized!


text:
How to lock down WhatsApp permissions?
A number of friends are using WhatsApp for communication. So I'm thinking about installing it. However when I read the question about its permissions I'm asking myself if there is a possibility to lock down the permissions.
I'd like to do have a solution where some permissions are always allowed, some are always blocked and some are blocked, but can be enabled on a temporary basis (like a popup menu which asks). Is this somehow possible? Do some custome ROMs have such a feature? If yes, which?

CyanogenMod has its Privacy Manager, for example.

You can try Donkey Guard the Xposed Framework module from which you can manage permission for apps.
DonkeyGuard allows blocking access for any installed application on your phone to the following data separately:

device_id
phone_number
sim_serial_number
subscriber_id
incoming_call_number
outgoing_call_number
gps_and_network_location
impi_impu
cell_info
accounts
accounts_credentials
read_contacts
read_call_log
call_phone
read_calendar
receive_sms
send_sms
receive_mms
send_mms - not implemented in alpha
record_audio
use_camera
read_bookmarks
wifi_info
switch_mobile_network_state
switch_wifi_state
sim_info
network_info
android_id
access_media
read_external_storage - not implemented in alpha
write_calendar
write_call_log
write_contacts
write_bookmarks
write_external_storage - not implemented in alpha
account_authenticator
read_sms
write_sms
read_mms
write_mms
network_state

Edit:
Alternative Module : Xprivacy (suggested by @beeshyams)

Perhaps you missed the fact at XDA that the module doesn't seem to be supported any more? Suggesting alternate like Xpiracy may be more helpful (haven't checked that lately though)