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Does rooting phone affect online banking security?
I'm thinking of rooting my android phone (HTC Desire 300) and was wondering if doing so would affect the internet security with stuff like online banking. Is it still secure to do my banking on a phone that has been rooted? Does it make any of my other online passwords or details vulnerable or unsecured?

dup http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/164/are-there-any-risks-to-rooting-a-device

I agree with n00b – after taking a look at this answer. Perfectly fits your question IMHO.

Aww thanks so much guys, sorry I'm new to this site and didn't see that thread :) thanks everyone!

When your phone is "rooted", applications can be installed (intentionally or otherwise) that can do almost anything on your phone, including breaching the Android application sandbox.  Thus, by rooting your phone, you are removing a critical layer of the multi-layered security system.  This can be mitigated, to a degree, by restricting root privileges to only applications that you trust.
Typically, to obtain root privileges, you have to run code for which you don't have the source code.  This also lowers your overall security.
In the end, some people will choose to not root their phones because the risks outweigh the benefits, while others come to the opposite value-based decision.

"the opposite value-based decision" that's a good way of putting it! +1

Thanks for answering. Hmm that's definitely making me re-evaluate my desicion to root. This may seem like an oxymoron but is there anyway to root without the security breach?

You can try dual-boot and have one rooted and one "normal" ROM installed.

Okay cool, thanks TimoS. I will look into that :)


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Is it possible to call AT-commands in android?
I am newbie in android, I have a very simple question for android experts:-
" Is it possible to call GSM AT-Commands in android just like we use in microcontroller programming through USART".

Unfortunately the response is "it depends".
If the modem is used by the Radio Interface Layer (RIL), i.e. it is in use by the system, no, unless you stop the ril daemon. You can stop it by using the "service stop rild" command from the android shell.
Stooping the RIL will prevent all functionalities depending by the phone framework to work: receiving, making and detecting calls, texts, etc.
If you stop the ril, or if the modem is in a secondary serial port (for example, it is a secondary modem), you can open the port and send AT commands as you'd do in a standard posix system. You can also use pppd, chat, etc.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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HOW MUCH android OS TAKE MEMORY IN DEVICES
I need answer that how much memory would take any android os on devices.
can i root device and install kitkat os which device have already gingerbread .

That's a bit broad, as each Android version has different requirements. Additionally, different ROMs include different things, different hardware requires different driver-support, you might wish to integrate Google Apps as well (or not), plus several more things. So no generic answers possible.

There's no one answer to this question: each device has its own build of Android, so Android takes a different amount of storage on different devices. Whether you can install KitKat on your device depends only on whether there is a KitKat ROM for it. See When will my device get the Android 4.4 update (KitKat)? and Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?
Rooting the device is completely unrelated. You don't need to root the device to install a new ROM, but to install an unofficial ROM you will need to unlock the bootloader. Usually you do this with the fastboot utility, but details are different for different phones. See bootloader-lock to learn more about bootloader unlocking.

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


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Huawei G6 no longer enable USB debugging
My Huawei G6 can no longer detected by my computer. My phone charges but doesn't show any USB debugging in the notification bar. I tried many USB cables but it just charges. Any options how to debug my phone? Help!!!

Try other USB-Ports on your computer

I already tried it too. :(

Have you tried reinstalling the driver?

That phone runs android 4.3 so developer options hidden. (starting android 4.2_) to unhide read www.droidviews.com/how-to-hide-developer-options-on-android-devices/

Possible duplicate of Where are the developer options in Android 4.2?

ever found a solution to this? having the same issue and nothing seems to work

Clicking 7 times on the Build Number (found under About Phone) will give you Developer privileges.
This must be a feature to prevent kids or people who don't know what they are doing from enabling the Developer Mode.
I can confirm this works for the Huawei 560 as well.
Watch this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7swUjZm7y6c

Please explain how this answers the question, or include the details within your answer.

Ensure that USB debugging is enabled under Settings>Developer options>USB debugging.

click the build number 4 times in the "about phone" menu to unhide the "Developer options"
then "Ensure that USB debugging is enabled under Settings>Developer options>USB debugging."


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Chrome Remote Desktop doesn't run in 1080p
I connect to my laptop via my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet.  When I do I expect my tablet to have a nice sharp look to it, but I see blurring artifacts on screen - it seems that some sort of lower resolution is used despite my tablet being capable of 1600 x 2560.  I am able to control my laptop so I know the app works correctly, I just am disappointed with the visuals.
Is there someway to force Remote Desktop to use a crisp resolution?

I think they're just compression artifacts. I've remoted from a 1080p Windows machine into a 1366x768 machine and I still get some pixelation and blur, especially in gradient regions. CRD is probably trying to compress the stream aggressively (it uses VP8, apparently).

Unfortunate, but makes sense.


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HTC One detected as CD Drive
I am experiencing a similar problem as described there: Whenever I connect my HTC One to my Windows 8.1, it is recognized as a CD Drive.
So I tried the solution proposed by Macha's answer, but I cannot perform the step "Select Standard USB main controller" as I get only CD-Drives proposed int he selection no matter what.
Does anyone here have a hint how to solve the issue?
I tried to deactivate/activate USB Debugging without any success, but noticed, that whatever I select, the MTP still keeps running (at least my HTC says so). Furthermore I realized that in the device manager I see the "HTC Android Phone USB Device" in DVD/CD-ROM drives section and "MTP" in "Other Devices". Tried to update the drivers - either cannot find any appropriate drivers or does not change anything. Tried to disable MTP -> phone is not anymore connected as CD, but cannot see it in Explorer at all anymore.
Though, I cannot find any options to disable MTP. With my previous laptop (Windows 7) everything worked properly.
Does anyone have an idea how to solve the problem and again be able to see the phone as a storage device, access it, and to synchronize/exchange data with the PC back and forth?
Thank you so much in advance!

These Chinese originated ROMs have a Win installer in them, if you tap the CDRom icon on ur PC it will install a " partner" Win app on your PC.
Just ignore it! When you connect your Phone to PC under the ADB settings notification just tick connect as USB storage and the next time you reconnect ur phone ( depending on the ROM) it will appear as another 2 or 1 additional USB drive.
Mine is a home cooked Lenovo Vibe 2.0 ROM (S939) and Lenovo has in most of its ROM this Win app installers. But I don't use them because they are cumbersome Chinese chracters only app. I used MOBOROBO if you happen to transfer file a lot from external sdcard.


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Is ART on Lollipop the same as on KitKat?
I have issues with skype on my KitKat phone with ART enabled. None too serious, but launching is very slow.
Will the same issues plague me on Lollipop when my phone gets it?

I think ART (and the apps) have been improved a lot since KitKat. Many devs waited for ART to be finally released.

No. ART on KitKat is not ready for production use, and shouldn't be enabled unless you want to test apps you're developing (and even then, you probably only need it to test native code). ART on Lollipop is the finished, production version.


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can't make or receive calls or send text messages
I have an LG tracphone,not long after using was unable to get or make any calls or any text messaging,after looking at apps it looks like some have been force stopped or disabled please help.

If the apps are missing from your phone:
Settings>Apps>All Apps, then scroll down to whichever apps are missing from your app drawer (eg. Phone/Dialer, Messaging). Click on the missing app(s), then in the app info screen, you should be able to enable it.
If the apps are there but you can't use the carrier service: Power off your phone, remove the SIM card (if possible) and then reinsert it in the correct position. Then power on the phone.


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Android chrome print, how is it set up?
I'm looking to replace a mobile laptop with an Android tablet.
I noticed on my Android 4 phone, in Chrome, there is an option Menu>Print, which lets me generate a PDF, or select a printer. When I choose "All Printers", it says "Searching for printers", and does not list any.
I'm guessing I need to set up a WiFi printer. Or do I need Bluetooth? What should I search for to make sure I get a compatible printer.
Also, can this work without an internet connection? (assuming I managed to cache the page or pull up the page in Chrome) I need to be able to print reliable even in spotty internet.

Some printers come preinstalled with Google Cloud Print capabilities. Check to see if your printer already has Cloud Print: http://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/printers.html
If your printer does not support Google Cloud Print, but it supports WiFi printing, you need to install a printer service before you can use WiFi to print. They are available on the Play Store, and you can quickly get a list of them from Settings>Printing. Only printers that support WiFi printing or cloud printing will be compatible.
And, wireless printing will not work without an internet connection, unless you have your phone hard-wired to either your printer or a connected computer.


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How to connect to multiple VPNs in Android
My university has a VPN and we need to connect to the VPN in order to get access to the internet. But, I want to contact to a workplace using internet.
Is there any way to have multiple book in Android. I mean like a VPN through another VPN?

According to Android Developers - VpnService,

There can be only one VPN connection running at the same time. The existing interface is deactivated when a new one is created.

So, no, you can only have one VPN at a time on Android. You can switch between the two, though, when you need to use the other.

You can use two VPNs at the same time by using the Android Work Profile. The Work Profile has it's own "VPN slot"; this allows you to be connected to two VPNs at the same time. You can set up the work profile using either Island or Shelter (FOSS)
Do note though that the work profile does not work well in some specific devices. I've confirmed it does work in a Moto e6+ with stock Android 9

Depending on if your router has the feature, you could potentially connect your router to a VPN while connecting your phone to another, resulting at your phone connecting to two VPNs at the same time. BUT, this does not mean you can access two VPNs because VPN is an end to end encryption technology. You could however, effectively hide your packet from both router level VPN and your ISP (and therefore the NSA). It is a common technique for the cyber attackers.

using a VPN does not necessarily hide your traffic from the NSA. a VPN changes who you have to trust, not how much you have to trust them: instead of trusting your ISP, now you have to trust your VPN provider.

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


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Update last checked ^ 1
When I navigate to settings -> about tablet -> system updates, it tells me updates were last checked "^ 1" instead of giving a date and time like I expected. Clicking on check now does apparently nothing. It's been like this since updating this Nexus 7 to 4.4.4. What does it mean and can I get it to show something meaningful instead?
After changing the language to English (United Kingdom), it now displays a time, and check now updates the timestamp. Placeholder error in the translation template, perhaps? Should I report this error somewhere?

What is your system language?. Try changing the language to English and check.

@sameer Finnish, I changed it to British English now and it seems to work. Translation placeholder error? Should I report it somewhere?

Sorry I don't know where to report it ?

What ROM are you running, stock or custom? If its custom, then post on the developers website. If its stock, then first read this Android Bug Reporting. There several important things. First is to search for the same bug, then how to have a "good" bug report. And where to report it.


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How do mobile companies change the boot animation?
I have been searching for an answer of how mobile companies and carriers get their branding like the bootanimation on a device. Do they do the same on every rom like go to /system/media folder and replace the bootanimation.zip file? How can they do this on a large scale? There must be another way also.

They don't have to change the ROM on every phone by hand. They have a relationship with the phone's manufacturer, so the carrier's customized ROM gets installed on the phones at the factory. This customized ROM might include their boot animation, bloatware, settings (e.g. APNs) for their network. These phones often also have slightly modified hardware: the outer shell badged with the carrier's logo, or in a different "exclusive" colour.

So how the manufacturer do it ? I need to know that if the bootanimation.zip file can be created after building the android source or it have to be copied manually.

Obviously they change it in the source as part of the build process.

Do you know how, or can point some tutorials on it..

I don't expect every company does it the same way. Since this isn't a programming site, and AFAIK nobody here works for a phone manufacturer, I don't think you'll get a more specific answer than that.

These carrier-specific modifications are committed to the source code and are automatically included during the build process through the build system to compile the source code and resources into a factory image (ROM as a flashable ZIP file or whatever format is used for distribution) or software update.
HTC released an infographic a few years ago illustrating why software updates took so long.

Google provides source code to HTC. HTC evaluates the new Android version's requirements.

So, Google releases the source code and the manufacturers evaluate which of their devices would be able to run the new software and how profitable it would be for the manufacturer to develop and ship the software update.

HTC assigns people and resources to support development of the new software version […]
HTC begins working with each carrier to define the scope of carrier modifications for that device including apps, services, and other requirements.
HTC incorporates carrier modifications into the code.

In point 6, manufacturers like HTC assign staff to work on different work items like device compatibility with the new software, but also developing new features. Which in HTC's case leads to a not very much AOSP-flavoured version of Android, but an HTC-flavoured Android.
At first, you would probably ask why a manufacturer would assign people from their staff to work with people from carriers in point 7. The manufacturer spends a lot of resources to create its own version of Android, but then someone else has a say? That's because to the manufacturer, a carrier is a customer with particular demands who is buying large quantities, and most manufacturers measure success by selling large quantities. So, assigning and paying a few more people to help carriers with branding devices to sell more devices through contracts to carriers (not to be confused with your carrier contract) suddenly makes sense from the perspective of a device manufacturer.
That's how different people from different companies like software engineers, quality assurance, network operations, and marketing staff come together to modify the source code.
The last bit here is to use overlays and similar mechanisms to maintain source code efficiently. So, you would have devices X and Y as well as carriers A and B, and changes/modifications are committed accordingly. You would just issue the build system to create builds for all possible combinations. This way, if people from the marketing of carrier A come up with a new bootanimation.zip and network operations of carrier B found a flaw in how device X behaves in the network, you would commit two changes but be able to build at least three new updated builds (if you didn't find that device Y is also affected). Of course, this is oversimplified.
You can download the source code of popular Android custom ROMs to your Linux box peek around and try it yourself. Here is the example for the Nexus 5 from the CyanogenMod Wiki, it's almost the same for all devices up until "Prepare the device-specific code". If you look into the shell scripts that follow after, you get a glimpse of what's going on.

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


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Recursive adb pull
How to copy a whole directory (and all of its content recursively) over USB with adb pull? For instance to backup the SD card.
Attempt:
$ adb pull /sdcard backup
failed to copy '/sdcard' to 'backup': Is a directory

The trick is to add /. to the name of the folder you want to copy:
adb pull /sdcard/. backup

This copies the whole directory recursively.


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if my phone shuts down, does my google incognito tabs stay up?
My phone received water damage and I had some stuff up that i don't want my parents to see if they manage to make it working again? Do my tabs stay open or do they close?

Well, @Izzy I guess instead of putting comments over here I guess I would remove this one out move forward and write my answer over the answer box! :D

@Izzy Comment CleanUp Completed ! :P

No,they will not remain open because in order to fix your device it needs to be opened up and that means battery of the device will be removed...etc ! So, no worries about it at all if it gets fixed your parents wouldn't be able to see the opened incognito tabs. because after a reboot they are usually not re-opened automatically !


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AnkiDroid - failed to Left Align Text
I'm trying to left align text in card but with no luck.
Tried changing text-align to left in Anki desktop, the card in desktop working fine, but it doesn't affect the card in mobile - it's still center aligned.
Also tried add html tag as follows, but still not working. (AnkiDroid version 2.3.2)

use p align / still centered (click images for larger variants)

Please also post a screenshot of your card template (seen in Anki Desktop). See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1j1Zx0mXME

Big thanks! Turning off "Simple interface" fixed the problem.

@DanHulme: Could you please post your comment as an answer, so that we can upvote/accept it? Thanks! :-)

@Deqing OK, since that worked, I've written it up as an answer. Please go ahead and accept it so other visitors can see the problem is solved.

To use any HTML markup but simple bold/italics in cards, you need to turn off the option Advanced -> Simple interface.


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Reformat damaged Card
My SD card is damaged and a message occurs "SD card is damaged. Try reformating it" what should I do?
Moto E
Android-4.4.4
SD card-kingston 16 GB (class 10)

Have you tried formatting it? If so, what happened?

I would buy a new SD card. You could run scandisk on it, or try to reformat it with gparted or similar, but if there is physical damage it's done. They have a limited life of read-writes.

Before using atomics, I'd try to attach the card to a PC with a card reader, and use the PC's tools to check and repair (i.e. fsck on *nix systems, or the corresponding tool on Windows – I'm using Linux, so I'm not familiar with the Windows part: chkdsk? ScanDisk?)
Most likely you've "unsafely removed" the card (e.g. plugged it out from your computer before having it "unmounted"), which left the file system corrupted (not being closed properly). Using fsck/chkdsk and similar tools, you might be able to "recover" without any (or with just minimal) data loss.
If however this occurs regularly without you having either "unsafely removed" the card (or hard-reset your device, cutting it off from power without having safely shut down), there might be an incompatibility between your card and your device (such are reported from time to time). In that case, it's rather adviced you by a new card of a different brand/size/specification and see if that's running more stable.
Please also see our external-sd tag-wiki, which even has a nice and easy-to-follow graphic for how to deal with SD card issues (congrats to me for that :)


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busybox ip link show doesn't work
I can't see the MAC address of my phone when I use command busybox ip link show on my rooted LG phone. Here is screen shot:

Does anyone know what seems to be a problem?

Try just busybox ip link. Also, netcfg is capable of showing your MAC address.

busybox ip link do the same thing, but netcfg showed MAC adress. thanks :D


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Recover data from non-booting Android
I have an HTC Once Mini that will not boot.
It has stock firmware on it (no root, no replaced bootloader, no custom recovery, just plain old stock HTC firmware).
It will start to the bootloader and responds to various fastboot commands, but will not boot to either Android or to the recovery. When I try to boot it to Android it simply reboots itself after a few moments. Likewise when I try to boot to recovery, but here it drops me back to the fastboot menu and says that bootup failed.
It is under warranty and will be returned to the shop, but I really want to extract the photos I took before it went belly up. There was no MicroSD card in it so the photos are on the internal storage.
I do not want to reflash anything or unlock the bootloader as it will be going back to the shop once I have recovered the photos and I don't want them throwing it back at me saying I invalidated the warranty.
All my searching seems to point to the same set of answers - using adb to retrieve the data, but as I can't get to either Android or recovery, adb is of no use to me here. I have read mention of some way to use fastboot to retrieve files, but my Google-Fu doesn't seem to help me actually find good set of instructions (and the fastboot help doesn't seem to give any clear indication of how you can use it to this end).
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Grant.:)

Our fastboot tag-wiki points to an article holding a List of fastboot commands. I've not tried the following (hence no answer), but what might work is booting a different "system" via fastboot boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] in the hope that works, then mount the storage, and try pulling its contents (or simply creating an image of that partition and pulling that, to extract data on your PC).

@Izzy, I like that idea. Any pointers on where to get a working kernel and initrd to boot from using this method? So long as it has the rudimentary Linux commands available, I'm happy to "adb shell" in (if possible) or ssh if adb isn't around.

I'd check at XDA in the area for the device, or take a look at Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? Sorry I cannot give you a direct link to those details, but I simply don't know. Keep us updated how it worked out :)

Ok, it would seem that I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place with this.
Because the bootloader is still locked it won't let me boot another image via fastboot. In order to unlock the bootloader it would seem that I would lose the data on the phone. I can get the kernel sources for this phone from HTC, and I can create my own boot image, but because it isn't signed, it still won't boot on a locked bootloader.
So, I can send the phone back to the store under warranty and lose the photos, or I can unlock the bootloader so I can boot an alternative image, and lose the photos that way. Ouch!


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What makes porting so difficult?
So now when the new Lollipop is on it's way we all have our feeds filled with magazines or sites telling us how awesome LG or Samsung is to release Lollipop so soon.
My question is,
Why is this such a hard thing to do?
How come it's much easier to switch from Windows to Linux on a PC? Or even switch hardware product and download a driver? Why aren't the drivers or hardware products in our phones compatible with every operating system or phone model just like a PC?
Okay, screen sizes may differ, but a vibrator will still work as a vibrator.
YElp!

The hardware is different on each device. In addition there's added value software like more advanced camera functionality from the manufacturer which needs to look good on the new release.
LG has features loke knock-code.
Samsung has skins and special hardware like a wacom digitizer on the note series.

But they have their own version of Android. Why wouldnt they want to 'release' these drivers (or what you call them) for all phones? Why do they care if only their brands model uses it? It's like saying an AMD's graphics card can only be used with 1 specific model of PC. I can install drivers or software to a LG webcam even though I don't have one. It's my decision. How can the company make profit of not releasing the 'drivers'?

@JonasB having a customized version of Android with closed-source features is how they keep a "competitive edge". Your example is exactly what happens in the mobile industry: manufacturers partner with companies to create hardware that is only compatible with specific builds of Android because the drivers are closed-source; they then can build features on top of this. This usually means that only that company can boast that feature, like a 16 MP camera with ultra image stabilization. Some companies still release the source anyway (HTC, for example).

@filoxo I understand. This is in the PC-world as well. Dell, Sony, Packard Bell are all using the same OS but with different hardware parts. There's the'competitive edge'. There is none. Why is this so different? Why don't they add all drivers to Android's massive library, like in Microsoft Windows, and then if you have a Xperia phone which has a specific camera you have all the drivers from the Android Library instead of what comes with the phone and that specific version of Android? It's so sad they ruin the one thing thats awesome with Android - You can do whatever you want. Almost.

The cool thing about phones id that they usually works. After upgrading Windows i lost all the special keys, one noe laptop the processor just stats in a slow powersave møde, camera doesn't work. All the festures On the gfx card doesn't work. I really like getting testes software from the original equipment manufacturer. ;)


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Chrome's Development Tools on Android
Is it possible to open Chrome's Development Tools in Android? Is it possible to do so with Java?
I tried going into the settings and such, but is it possible to access the console and create cookie for the browser?

Directly on the device? I don't think so. If you have a computer running chrome, and a usb cord for your phone, then you can use Chrome's remote debugger to access a web console on your computer that can inspect pages open in chrome, and any in-app webviews that have debugging enabled.
Basically, you just enable the developer options and remote debugging on your phone, and go to chrome://inspect in your computer's browser.
To debug an app's webview you'll need to modify the app to enable debugging.
See Google's documentation for more information and detailed instructions.

You can override the console.log function to save the contents of the console to a local variable. Then output the contents in a div at the bottom of the page.
Alternatively, you could use a bookmarklet to toggle a div that shows the contents.

Please explain how to carry out your suggestion to the OP's effect.


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Security of Android cryptography in versions < 5.0 against government agencies
Recently, both Google and Apple announced their new OSes encrypt the device by default. This caused a lot of complaints from government agencies. Let me quote an article
http://trendblog.net/fbi-worries-android-l-ios-8-data-encryption-going-too-far/

Apple, for its part, has made iOS 8 so thoroughly encrypted that the company itself can’t unlock either iPhones or iPads for police or anyone else unless they have the user’s passkey.
Google is mirroring the same procedure by making the latest (not yet available) version of Android encrypt all user data by default instead of having the encryption as an available option. Just like with Apple’s data protection update for iOS 8, the new version of Android will also be uncrackable without access to the user’s passkey, even by Google itself it seems.

Currently, Android features a cryptography function to protect the sdcard partition and extSdcard too so that the device can be decrypted on boot and unlocked during usage only with a password (you cannot have a pattern lockscreen enforced, for example: certain devices require you a minimum password complexity level).
Here comes my question: given that Google and Apple only announced "by default"-cryptography, and given an expert user can encrypt the device by himself, and given that the FBI deals with people with great expertise in proptection technologies [the criminals, to clarify], what is the real Android security level when using cryptography?
With regards to versions < 5.0

Does Google have ways to unlock or decrypt the device without user key? (Maybe, because you can unlock your phone with your Google account, and Google has technical control over your account)
Is the widely-announced feature a revising of the classic sdcard protection or a brand new way to encrypt the device?

Unlocking the device with your Google account isn't the same as decrypting it. Which are you asking about?

Sure, but if you hold an unlocked phone in your hands you can inspect it. So I'm asking for both

What is the real Android security level when using cryptography?

The cryptography is strong itself.
Its application can be weak in systems of many applications and heterogenous hardware.
Many outdated applications can also increase the risk of security tweaks.
I can say that the security level of Google Pixel (sorry Android 7.x) can be strong because of both hardware and software control in the development of the product.

Does Google have ways to unlock or decrypt the device without user key? (Maybe, because you can unlock your phone with your Google account, and Google has technical control over your account)

There are no standard ways to do this.
Secondary ways may exists but they are because of other reasons, than Google.

Is the widely-announced feature a revising of the classic sdcard protection or a brand new way to encrypt the device?

I think no. I see no revises on the classic sdcard protection system here.

No doubt secondary ways (i.e. vulnerabilities) may exist. San Bernardino and Tiziana Cantone's iPhones were both cracked exploiting a vulnerability, but at least the spirit was to make both strong like steel


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ADB disconnect while using adb forward
I'm using JADS HTTP & HTTPS Proxy application along with 'adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080' to setup an HTTP proxy/tether setup on my laptop.  This works fine for most of the time, however some sites seem to overload the connection and the device goes offline, then back online, and my adb forward command has to be re-issued.  I've tried changing the number of connections in about:config in Firefox thinking that was the issue but it doesn't seem to help.
Here's my logcat of a disconnect when trying to connect to drive.google.com:
I/System.out(22946): Connection from /127.0.0.1 accepted.
I/System.out(22946): Connection from /127.0.0.1 accepted.
I/System.out(22946): Connection from /127.0.0.1 accepted.
I/System.out(22946): 127.0.0.1 CONNECT lh4.googleusercontent.com:443
I/System.out(22946): Connecting to
lh4.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
I/System.out(22946): 127.0.0.1 CONNECT lh3.googleusercontent.com:443
I/System.out(22946): Connecting to
lh3.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
I/System.out(22946): Routing SSL to
lh3.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
I/System.out(22946): Routing SSL to
lh4.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
I/System.out(22946): 127.0.0.1 CONNECT lh5.googleusercontent.com:443
I/System.out(22946): Connecting to
lh5.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: iptype =3
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: query_ipv4=1, query_ipv6=1
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: iptype =3
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: query_ipv4=1, query_ipv6=1
I/System.out(22946): Routing SSL to
lh5.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: iptype =3
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: query_ipv4=1, query_ipv6=1
I/System.out(22946): Connection from /127.0.0.1 accepted.
I/System.out(22946): 127.0.0.1 CONNECT lh6.googleusercontent.com:443
I/System.out(22946): Connecting to
lh6.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
I/System.out(22946): Routing SSL to
lh6.googleusercontent.com:443[Protocol=HTTPS, Priority=1]
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: iptype =3
D/libc    (  270): _dns_getaddrinfo: query_ipv4=1, query_ipv6=1

At this point the device disconnects and reconnects to ADB (it vibrates).  Logcat continues:
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to www.gstatic.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to clients2.google.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to apis.google.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to plus.google.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to lh4.googleusercontent.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to lh5.googleusercontent.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to lh6.googleusercontent.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to ssl.gstatic.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to www.google.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to lh3.googleusercontent.com
I/System.out(22946): Closed connection to drive.google.com
D/qcom_sensors_hal( 1079): hal_time_data_cb: msg_type 2
D/qcom_sensors_hal( 1079): hal_time_data_cb: Sn 24, msg Id 3, txn Id 0
D/qcom_sensors_hal( 1079): hal_ts_offset_is: Apps:
1415721384416465123; DSPS: 596345578; Offset: 1415703185393699010
I/Atd     (  565): got usb DISCONNECTED event
I/Atd     (  565): ustate is ATD_USBSTATE_UNPLUG
I/Vold    (  264): [LGE][VOLD][NetlinkHandler.cpp][onEvent()]
subsys:android_usb, action:3

I'm running the latest version of Adb.exe with AdbWinApi.dll and AdbWinUsbApi.dll (all dated 10/17/2014 7:36pm).  I've tried other version of Adb without any success.  The phone is LG G2 model and the machine has the LG Unified Mobile Driver on it to recognize the phone when connected.  I'm running Android v4.4.2.  I've tried all the USB ports on my laptop and all of them are doing the same thing.  I tried on a desktop computer as well, multiple ports and I was able to reproduce it (the disconnect on certain sites).
I've tried Tetherbot and Internet Sharer as well and they also do the same thing (disconnect).  I don't remember having this issue with my old EVO LTE however.
Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?

It looks like I may have stumbled upon the fix for this.  I was looking through about:config for Firefox and noticed a network.http.pipelining.maxrequests variable.  Althought it's set to false by default for ssl and proxy, lowering the value to 1 seems to have completely resolved my issue.  I set it back to it's default (32) and the issue happened again.  Lowered to 1, and again page loaded without ADB being disconnected.  This seems to be a bug in Firefox.  I'm running the latest version 33.1.


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Can a locked phone's data be accessed when being repaired?
I had an HTC One S device which suddenly turned off and refused to start. On giving to the service centre, it turns out the device needs replacement of an item 'PCBA-MAIN BOARD WITH SKU ID MS' which alone is costing me Rs 10000. I chose not to repair it with them. So i plan to visit a local phone repair shop and give it to them to repair it.
My query is, that the phone had some important private stuff (phone was locked though) before it went kaput. Now this local repair shop, can it in any way access this data while/after repairing the phone in anyway?
HTC service centre would not do that because they are bound by legal terms.
Please advise.

Anyone with physical access to the device can potentially do that. If the device was completely encrypted, that would be pretty tough to do (and hence really unlikely) – but all unencrypted stuff can be accessed. After all, you expect them to dis- and re-assemble the device – so put in easy terms, they could also "plug" the storage into "some of their readers" and copy all the content – no screen-lock or whatever prevents that. And a little more hardcore: those tech-guys should be expected to be able handling a JTAG device.
So the question is less whether it's possible (it perfectly is), but how easy and how likely it is. If you feel your data being more sensitive than your trust is high, that poses a problem.

Based on this answer it seems that on later phones this is close to impossible.

@cipricus the reason is that with recent devices, encryption is default (it wasn't back when this answer here was written, 7 years ago). So my answer still stays true, as it takes that into consideration: "if the device was completely encrypted…"). Chances are very, very low in such a case – but nothing is perfect, so the gov might have ordered a backdoor (well, just an example; could well be some other bug or security hole). Forensics with full knowledge and physical access – you'd be surprised what they can do. And at what price :D Due to the effort needed, it's unlikely to happen to ø Joe.


text:
samsung galaxy prevail download mode drivers
I have windows 8.1 and a galaxy prevail running 2.3.6.
I can put the device into download mode, but windows says device not properly attached or something. I'm guessing I don't have the download mode drivers, but i do have the Samsung drivers installed, and it connects normally. Am I missing download mode drivers? if so, where do I get them?

I had to enable adb on my s2 for download mode to work correct.

I have usb debugging enabled

Did you goto download mode through adb on PC or through hardware buttons?

And are you going through wired or wireless adb?

Hardware buttons (pwr,vol-,camera) and wired


text:
Can I perform phone tasks through a Windows 7 PC directly?
As an developer and QA tester, spending hours on my Xperia Z1 Compact isn't too cosy. Therefore, messing around with android emulation software like BlueStacks, I run into compatibility problems, mostly GAPIs (Graphic Application Program Interface).
Therefore, I was wondering if there is a way to connect my phone to my Win7 PC with the USB cable, and have the phone do all the android processing, and all the PC will do, is enable USB keyboard and mouse as input devices for the phone, and an external monitor as the output device which the PC will boost the resolution from the phone into something that's a decent resolution on the monitor.
But I don't know if the USB poll rate on the Z1 Compact is high enough to deliver all that information both ways without too much latencity.
So, is this possible and is is already done?

I'm not sure whether there's an app to "really rule them all", but you might check for yourself. A good starter is my "Remote Droide" collection of apps, for your case especially Remote Droid 2: Control your Droid from your Computer.

What you want to achieve is nearly impossible.
You can get some approximations by using Airdroid app (lets you see your phone on the web browser from your desktop pc) or installing vnc server on your device and vnc client on your desktop pc, or using Pushbullet app. This last is used for notifications rather than absolute control, but you could give it a try


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Aptoide has update for Google Play Store?
Installed Aptoide and noticed that it had some updates on some of the independently installed apps and updated it. But I noticed it had an update for the Google Play store, yet the Google Play Store program hasn't got an update in its own store?
How can that happen?
I assume Google has a longer approval process for apps so some apps in Aptoide will have updates sooner, like SuperSU, but Google's own app store app? Sounds odd...

How can that happen? Some Android user in the world receives the Store update in its rooted device, then get the apk and uploads it to Aptoide.
Google Play Store updates automatically. Some devices get the update faster than others but it's entirely not recommended update manually the Play Store.
There are a lot of bad guys out there...
Just wait. Sooner or later the update will come because Google doesn't like older versions of their own apps.


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Is there a way to get a disk image of the user storage space on modern Android devices?
I want to know if it's possible to get a "disk image" of the storage space on Android devices when they don't use external storage like SD cards.
I'm mostly interested because my kids factory reset my Kindle Fire HDX and I was hoping I could get a disk image (using something like dd in Linux) and then try to recover some of the user data like photos and videos (using something like PhotoRec, http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec).  I've done this lots of times with SD cards and hard disks by simply mounting the storage device in a desktop running Debian, and executing something like:
# dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=image.iso

Then you can use PhotoRec and/or TestDisk, depending on what you want, to get useful stuff out of the image file.
Even some of my very old Android devices seem to allow mounting a storage device in this way (without removing SD card from the phone) and following this process.  Unfortunately, it looks like many new devices that don't have removable storage (like my Kindle Fire HDX and my Nexus 5) only allow you to interface with a computer using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP).
Can I use these protocols to get a bit-by-bit copy of the storage in the device?  Is there a way to add the older storage device capabilities to new phones?

Related: How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?.

After doing some more research, I think I've found a partial solution here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2450045

First, you need to get ADB set up on your computer.
In Linux it's pretty easy.  Something like running
# apt-get install android-tools-adb
or downloading and extracting a directory.
Find your partitions.
Run something like:
adb shell
cat /proc/partitions
There are other options in the link for how to find and identify all the partitions.
Copy the data
The dd tool should be available.  You can run something like
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 of=/sdcard/image.img

Unfortunately, I have two problems with this. The first is that the permissions on partition devices might require root access. The second is that the Kindle Fire HDX and many other modern devices that don't have "USB Mass Storage" also don't use SD cards. So there is no easy location to write the image you want that isn't already used for something else on the device.
I'm trying to find a way to mount network devices or transfer data over USB between the device and computer (adb push and adb pull won't do what's needed as far as I can tell). I'll update this if I can find a good solution. Otherwise I'll ask some other questions about it.
Edit: This page has a great description along the lines of what I have above: http://www.df.lth.se/~jokke/androidfilerecovery/
As noted below, root is necessary, but there are usually lots of ways to get that easily. Unfortunately, I was working with the Fire HDX 8.9. Halfway through my copying data to an image file, the thing auto downloads an update to 4.1.1. Next thing I know, root access disappears and I don't think there's an exploit out for it yet. I probably lost any recoverable data after the update was written to the internal storage anyway. I'm so frustrated with Amazon lately...

You're correct: No way to get a dd dump without root access. As for the copying, AFAIK there are ways to "bridge" it via USB to the other end: I've seen an article describing that somewhere, but don't remember where that was :( Basically: re-directing the output of dd like adb shell "dd ..." > /localdir/file.dump, where localdir resides on your computer.

Thanks. That looks like the ideal solution.  I've updated my answer. There's a great page on this process at: http://www.df.lth.se/~jokke/androidfilerecovery/ (I still can't believe how long it took me to find it).

Yes! Exactly that was what I had in mind. Glead I could at least provide the correct pointer :) // Btw: as it is preferable to include the essentials with your answer (the link might die one day), mind to do so with your answer? Or would you prefer I put a separate answer doing that?

It would've been nice to include the exact procedure from the link, instead just linking to it. Links die sometimes. Also, the update goes to the system partition. There's no reason why It'd have overwritten the data partition as well.

Joshua pretty much answered the question. However, Izzy gave extra insight to tackle them odd/rare variations of the same problem.
I would like to contribute (my first contribution post in over 10 years) for those who would stumble into the very same scenario as I did. Anyways, 24 hours later, with persistent and determination, the following command will shed some light (assuming you've intermediate/advanced skills already).
Btw, I won't be explaining it, as the command itself is pretty obvious.
adb shell "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p37 of=/dev/pts/0" > part37-img-dump.dd

These are the tools I used to get the job done.
C:\HTCOneRoot\
 |--\adb.exe (version 1.0.31 21/05/2013, latest was buggy)
 |--\fastboot.exe (version fc2a139a55f5-android 24/04/2016)
 |--\AdbWinApi.dll
 |--\AdbWinUSBApi.dll
 |--\part37-img-dump.dd (output from the 'adb' command)

Note:

dd will output stats to stdout after completion (BusyBox related)
find a tool to trim the unwanted offsets at the EOF (not a must to do)
mount the image using the preferred data recovery software or whatever
/dev/pts/0 should work straight up, but if you happen to be running multiple adb shell command from multiple console/terminal, then be careful of the dev pointer ref number as it will be different. By using the following command, you can simply figure out which one: pts:0, pts:1, ...

adb shell "ps -l"

In my case I've used adb shell su -c "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0" | pv > backup.dd ... if haven't pv... apt-get install pv or remove of the line

This line: adb pull /Dev/block/device-by-name/userdata data.img should work. I didn't test it out but should be close.  This would pull the whole image which you could flash or maybe push later in the process of restoring. It only works if you're rooted. I won't work when you aren't. Permissions error. I am guessing if you did fastboot with TWRP and not rooted, if you get decrypt working, you can copy the image that way. I am avoiding rooting right now. Seems to be more stable with Android 10


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Where is the NFC element located in a Moto X?
I have a Moto X (2013 version) -- and use Google Wallet's tap-to-pay at merchants that support it.  With certain readers, I end up moving the phone around over the reader until it works; knowing where the element is might make it easier to line it up correctly on the first try.

You can check iFixit Moto X Teardown. Looks like it takes up most of the center of the back.


text:
Can't access internet in Chrome, Internet Browser
The problem is little weird, I'm unable to access internet via Chrome and Samsung's default internet browser.
The error that appears is : Connection Refused. Whereas I can easily access from other Apps like Opera and UC Browser. Everything else is working fine.
For example -  When I open facebook in app it works fine whereas when I try to open in Chrome/Browser. I get this error. This happens both on WiFi and mobile data.
Please help.
Device Information -  Samsung Galaxy S4 - I9500, Ozcan ROM, 4.4.2.

Have, you tried clearing the cache and the data stored by the Chrome and the Facebook application by heading over to the settings>application manager and see if that works out for you !

Tried that, still getting the same issue :(

Are you using any adblocker service over your device??

@PeterCarlos - Oh yes!! I installed it yesterday. But that time the net was working fine. What should I do now?

@PeterCarlos - But.. I don't want to uninstall it as I'm getting lots of ads on my browser. I can't even browse either way. Is there any other way/alternative. So can use them both?

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

I guess the problem is with the adblocker, try uninstalling the adblocker services and try restarting the device, and open Google Chrome to see if that works out for you !

For everyone who is facing the same issue: I had the same problem, I couldn't use Chrome with mobile network and turning off the adblocker didn't help. What I did to resolve the issue was to set up a new APN. Try every possible APN for your provider.


text:
Automatic turning on an android
i have found a solution of the problem of automatic turning on an android (not samsung), when battery is charging for this i've inserting the line
/system/bin/reboot

in the file
/system/bin/ipod

on android 4.2 everything worked fine. now, i'm working on 4.4 Kitkat, and the same trick didn't worked. can you tell me, what could be the problem, and how to reach a final goal: automatically turn on the phone, when battery is charging?


text:
Deleting messages in whatsapp with mobile data off
i sent a whatsapp message with my mobile data off. And then deleted it before turning on my mobile data. does this message get delivered?

This question is the same to this question

The message can be deleted based on the status that is shown in whatssapp.
1.That is there is clock symbol is shown it can be deleted safely (iff internet connection is off).
2.Otherwise that is a single tick mark is showing means it is now at whatsapp server so if you deleted or not it doesn't matter it will reach at the receiver whenever internet connection is available.


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KitKat 4.4.2 error 'unfortunately, the process com.android.systemui has stopped working
On Android KitKat 4.4.2 an error comes up 'unfortunately, the process com.android.systemui has stopped working.
Now I can't turn it on or off as the error keeps popping up and won't let me do anything.

I finally found out that holding the power button down turns it off. Hopefully this will help others.

Hi @philw I edited both your posts to neaten it up, you can roll them back if you're hot happy with them. No need to apologise for answering a question. I'm not sure why you've been downvoted. It was a legitimate question, and these error messages aren't the easiest at times.


text:
How do you remove app icons from screens on a Galaxy Pocket?
Just how the heck do I remove unwanted app icons from my home and other screens? On my Galaxy S4 I just slid them off the side, but on the damned Galaxy Pocket, they just bounce off the side back onto the screen, or slide across to the next screen.
Do I have to use Applications Manager and actually uninstall them, or is there some better way?

When you start to slide them does a trash can or X appear on the top?

Oops, never saw the trash can.

When you long press the icon you will see a trash can. To remove them from the screen, drop them on it.


text:
Removing Root for Sony SP
A while ago, I decided to root my Sony Xperia SP (c5303) the downfall is that the operating system it's self was stuck on Android 4.1.2 with the build number of 12.0.A.2.254, now the time has changed and I wish to remove the root and update to the latest android version available for the phone which is currently 4.3 to my knowledge. I have lost the tools which I used previously to root the device it's self & Have found a few threads on the XDA Forums containing a few stock ROMS, the only tool which I have managed to find is the flash tool for old phones models of the 2011 family (MT15I for example)
With trying both the OTE update and the Companion update options, they both fail. Companion gives the error stating that

Software cannot be modified

I'm assuming this is fired from the Super User application which was installed on the root.
I'm at a block on how to proceed further after looking over google for unrooting methods, they all revolve around clockwork mod to install a custom ROM, this is not present on my device.
So the question i'm asking today, is that are there any viable methods on how to unroot the device and upgrade to android 4.3? Using the Sony Tool emma seems to be out of the question as it's not letting me create an account to use their tools!

You can try repair option in Sony PC companion or SUS(Sony Update Service). If none of this works try the steps given below
Download the ftf file from here.
Using flashtool flash the ftf. The tutorial on flashing can be found here


text:
WiFi “Network Notification” greyed out
I have a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact running Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
I am unable to un-check "Network Notification" under Settings -> Wi-Fi -> Advanced as its greyed out. Is there a way of un-checking that box?

Click image for larger version

Did you turn on WIFI ?

Yeah the problem was wifi was off but as Chirag64 pointed out there's no reason it should be on... Anyway turning the Wfi on before trying to uncheck works. Thanks.

You need to enable your Wi-Fi for that option to be available for checking or unchecking. Seems like a bug since I don't see any reason why the Wi-Fi should be enabled for the option to be available for toggle.


text:
Help with Photo app / Gallery
I deleted the photo app that actually comes pre-installed on Android and have been just using gallery. Is there any way  to download the photo app?

I thought (but I could very well be wrong) that this was part of Google+. Worth uninstalling and reinstalling maybe? I cannot find an apk for it here.

@RossC only with Kitkat AFAIK. It was a separate app before, and was subject to be split-off again with Lollipop (no safe informations on the latter, though).

You can try "gallerie pro" from the play store. i assume that this is a branch of "the original google Gallery app" - at least on my android 4.2 it looks nearly the same

I did this also, and found an app in the Play Store. It's called Google Photos, but you don't need to search for it that way. Opening the store and typing "photos" will bring it up as the first option. The icon looks exactly the same, so you'll recognize it right away. The download is free and easy.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy 4 running Android 4.1.2. I may be wrong, but I think any phone which has previously had the app will be able to download it again.


text:
How to root Vodafone 858 (froyo) / Huawei u8160
I have a Vodafone 858 smart phone running Froyo (Android 2.2). Manufacturer is Huawei (u8160). How can I root this device?

While waiting for an answer, you might wish to take a look into our rooting index, which names some "generic methods" including those working with Froyo – maybe one of them works with your device. If it did, please come back here and answer your own question to let other users of this device know :) Thanks!

Apparently the recommended tool would be SuperOneClick. It seems that this is malware infested though. Apparently most sites took down their downloads, so maybe it is indeed bad.  I tried to find another tool and found this:
http://www.kingoapp.com/android-root.htm
I tested it with an online scanner and it got 6 hits out of 65, so use at your own risk. However I tried to find information about it and it seems to be ok and the alarams are claimed to be false positives. I used it successfully to root my VF 858, so it works. However if somebody finds out that this is indeed infested with malware then remove this answer or drop a note.
Usage is pretty simple as you just have to connect your device, enable USB debugging and then press the buttons in the Wizard.

The device you mentioned (Vodafone 858 Smart) has a Qualcomm MSM7225 Snapdragon S1 and android 2.2 (from GSMArena).
As far as I know most Qualcomm soc can be rooted. But as you already have a lower android version I won't suggest getting hands dirty. Instead use one click root tools from XDA. Famous ones like dirty cow, one click root, and frama root, etc like old days.
If you still can not root your device use Qualcomm edl method to dump boot img, then use magisk to patch it.


text:
Recover data of app not on Play anymore?
Seems I deleted an app or a directory too much from my Android 2.3 phone. In particular I remember removing an app called App2SD or similar. Now, after booting the phone, I cannot see the apps anymore that were installed on the MicroSD card. However, I would like to access data from one app in particular. This app is called Epistle, and I was thinking about simply reinstalling it. However, it is not available on the Play store anymore.
What strategy can I use to get access to the data of that app?

Solved. I found a copy Epistle on the web, and installed it using:
adb install 2388.-Epistle_v1.2.1.apk

Now I can see old data again!
Warning: I was aware of the risk that during installation the app may reinitialize its database. If that had happened, then bad luck. The data was comprised of some notes that, while nice to have, would not have been terrible to lose.

I have a suggestion. In fact, some recovery programs can help you like excellent Tenorshare Android Data Recovery. It can recover lost apps data, photos, contacts etc within several seconds. Of course, you can try others


text:
How to see download count of an Android app on Google Play store?
I cannot see the download counts of one app on Google Play.
How can we know that number of one app?

As an end user, there is no way to know the exact number of downloads. But you can see a range if you scroll down the app page and look at the Installs section within Additional Information.


text:
Root Xperia Arc S
Root to phone is harmful or not?
I've XperiaArcS & some files of it I want to transfer in Sdcard but it require RootHelp. So please give me advice what should I do?

to root or not to root is an individual preference and largely based upon skill.  that being said i always have preferred to take the easy, reliable way out.  first download and install clockworkmod from the play store - google your device and android version to find out how to access the menu without using the app from the ui at first, usually some combo of power, the up volume key, and the home key.  make a backup using cwm, very first thing you should do in case of fu.  next go on a pc browser and dl this app --  http://www.kingoapp.com/
you should install it and then open it and it will create a dialogue box on your desktop.  at that point plug your device into your pc using it's usb cord.  when that is done and the drivers are installed if they haven't previously been so hit the blue "root" button and watch.  about 5 minutes later your device has root, unplug the device from the pc, and close kingoapp.  all done.


text:
Samsung tablet keyboard gone
Its my mums tablet she recently downloaded the new update on her tablet and since it downloaded the keyboard has gone and all she can do is speak to the mic but its not working properly and its too hard for her to use and now we cant connect it to the internet either.  any help please???

may you please specify which tablet,what version she WAS running and is now running?

Go to Settings -> My Device Tab -> Language and input and check if the settings are correct. If the default keyboard is set properly and still not working, try to install another keyboard application like SwiftKey and make it default keyboard.


text:
Google Play Error Retrieving Information RPC:S-2:AEC-2
Whenever I try to update an app, I get the error in the question title. I am also unable to view my installed apps. I've already tried wiping the store's data and cache, and removing and readding my account. Nothing helps.
I'm using a Droid Turbo running 4.4.4. Anyone know what the problem is?

I am having the same problem. I have a nexus 9, running Lollipop. It only happens with the Google+ app. Research I've done says it might be a problem on Google's side. There were a couple of people who signed in using another Google account and downloaded apps that way. Haven't tried it yet.
Update: tried using another account and it didn't work.
Update: it's Google's problem. Read comments in Google Play.

Could you please share some link. My app is also struggling by this issue.

I uploaded a new APK to the store today and I'm having the same problem with my application (BeepMe), I tried to install it on various devices and got the same error.
My guess - it's a problem on Google side, maybe on a recently uploaded APKs.

For fixing this issue just do as following:
Settings -> Application Manager -> Google Play Store -> Clear data.
And then try again...


text:
How works exactly the option disable App notifications
Some Apps like Facebook also when aren't used slow down the device because of their associated autostart tasks.
In android settings in Apps section there is the option to enable or disable the notification.
This works only on notification or disable also the associated task completely?
How works exactly?

It only hides the notification when the app creates it. It doesn't affect what the app might do in the background or stop the app spending battery and data to create it in the first place.

What a pity! Android needs a way to disable autostart task

It really doesn't, unless you like your apps crashing or not working in confusing ways. If you don't like the way the app works, don't install it, and be sure to tell the developer why.

Not exactly. I need some apps but not their notifications and when are installed awfully slow down my device, with a native way to disable their associated autostart task this problem is solved at the root


text:
How can I resize my window in bluestacks?
I just downloaded bluestacks, but it's unusable because it refuses to size itself to something that will fit on my screen, and I can't resize it.
I've tried the regedit method (all references to seem to be out of date, since I have GuestHeight/Width and WindowHeight/Width instead of just "Height" and "Width"). I can get the loading screen to come up with my specified dimensions, but after initialization it reverts the size back to something else. I did make sure to kill all the bluestacks processes via the task manager. I'm in windows 7, and I should mention i have 3 screens, one of which is a different resolution.
So how can I reliably change the size of the current version of bluestacks?


text:
Where is the start button in Alcatel Idol 2 (6037)
I've just bought Android Smartphone Alcatel Idol 2 ( 6037 ) but I don't have the button that display all the apps.
I've tried and tried, and I've seen some screenshots in the web with this button, but I can't get it working! Any idea?

Could you post a screenshot of your home screen? Alcatel phones usually have a grid-like icon in the bottom right to display the all apps screen, next to the messaging app.

Resolved installing a custom launcher

If you solved your issue, you might wish to answer your own question (that's perfectly fine) and accept that answer thereafter – so other affected users can see there's a solution. If you do so, please add a few more words – one-liners without explanation might be hard to some readers ;) Thanks!


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How do I clear clipboard contents on Samsung Galaxy Tab S?
I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet running the official non-rooted ROM based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Sometimes i copy-paste sensitive data (like passwords etc) that i would prefer to disappear from the clipboard once i'm done using it. So i was looking for a way to clear clipboard contents on demand.
I've tried looking for existing answers to this question, but most of them share the same misconception: that clipboard can only hold a single element, and one should copy something new into it to clear what's been there before.
It's not true in my case. For example, look at the screenshot from my device, it shows something i would call a "clipboard panel" that contains eight of the most recently copied elements. This panel appears to be the only way to actually clear the clipboard contents, i.e. the 3rd party apps like Clipper or Clipboard Contents can only clear their own copies of clipboard but never the system one.
Unfortunately, getting access to the clipboard panel is a somewhat convoluted process for me. It can be accessed via Samsung Keyboard (which i don't use in favor of SwiftKey) or via some other apps, but not in a straightforward way.
So my question can be summed up to two items:

Is there a way to clear the clipboard contents other than with help of the clipboard panel?
If not, then is there a way to access the clipboard panel directly, e.g. via a shortcut on the Home screen?

Thanks!

Long click on the search bar (from google for example) as if you were pasting ...pick the clipboard...pick edit...delete what you want by clicking the trash can on the images or material.
.

First off, there is no "clipboard" when long tapping on a search bar. Second of all, I stated in my question that I know several 3rd party apps that allow accessing the clipboard, but that's not an approach that i find viable when dealing with a system resource like clipboard. So, unfortunately, the solution you're offering is not feasible.

that answer works great on my S5 Galaxy running 4.4.2

@Semisonic, I think what zeke is aiming you towards is the text controls that appear when you are in a text field. Search box is just a convenient one. I saw a similar forum post that suggested - Tap any text field to start text entry. Tap the cursor to evoke the slider under the text. Tap the slider to evoke editing controls, including the clipboard icon. Does that work? If so, maybe we can just edit this since zeke was pretty close.

@Saiboogu, my point is that in my particular case the text controls that appear when working with text fields don't include any "clipboard icons". To illustrate that please see the screenshot taken on my device - http://imgur.com/GNcMfm8. Like I said earlier, in some 3rd party apps the text controls do include the clipboard icon, but that's by no means a default behavior.

Understood. Not having a Samsung device I couldn't double check if he was on the right course or not, and I saw a possible point of confusion to clarify.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S and I clear my clipboard like this:  go to Google (the website, not the quick search bar) long click in the search bar, choose clipboard and touch clear, then confirm. This is pretty much what the others said, so I think that you are trying to use the quick search bar that is on the tablet home screen instead of actually using the website search bar.  This should work

I honestly don't know why, but this just doesn't work. I opened the Google website in both Chrome and Firefox: Chrome only shows "paste" popup on long tap, while Firefox opens a clipboard panel on top of the screen, but only the "paste" icon is present. Maybe my tablet is cursed, I don't know =/.

Okay.  Another way you could try is long click in the Web address bar.  You'll want to long tap after it turns blue.  A small group of icons pop up, like :  select all,  cut, copy, etc.  You can swipe them to the left and there should be a clipboard icon.  Click clear, confirm, then you're done.  Hope this works for you.

Follow the instructions:

Go into text message, type in your phone number so that if you accidentally send it, it goes only to you.
Click on the empty message box →  click the little blue triangle → then click clipboard. All pictures will be lit up now, along with any copied text.
Simply long click any picture and select delete. It took me a while messing with my phone to figure it out, but this one actually works.

As you probably noticed, my device is not a phone. It's a tablet.

I just open up a Samsung app, like s planner (calender), and select a random date to put a "note" in. Then I long press in the title/note area and the paste/clipboard icon shows. I go to clipboard and delete all. I had the same issue as you and no clipboard showing on things like my browser. I have the same tab s as you do.

when you go to paste and you get the little clipboard panels at the bottom of your screen you'll have two buttons press the edit button and little locks and trash cans will appear over each one of your panelsPresti press the trash can buttons to delete that particular panel


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gapps install on CM11 failed- or did it?
Verizon Droid Razr Maxx
cm-11-20141112-SNAPSHOT-M12-spyder.zip
gapps-kk-20140606-signed.zip

I got this error when I flashed the gapps zip:
Updating partition details...
E:Unable to mount '/osh'
Installing '/sdcard-ext/gapps/-kk-20140606-signed.zip'....
checking for MD5 file...
Skipping MD5 check: no MD5 file found.
**********************************************
          Google Apps for Android 4.4.3
**********************************************
Installing files...
Cleaning up and setting metadata...
set_metadata_recursive: some changes failed.
E:Error executing updater binary in zip '/sdcard-ext/g....'
Error flashing zip '/sdcard-ext/gapps-kk-20140606-sign....
E:Unable to mount '/osh'

After wiping the dalvik cache and rebooting I got an "Android is upgrading" message and I saw google maps and other apps.
Haven't dug into this yet, but I guess it worked? Whats the deal with that error I got? What part of the install failed and caused it to report a status of failed?

(I assume you are root user)
I don't know the error but I think you could extract the APKs from that zip and install them manually.
Then, with a tool like Link2SD you could long press each Google App and select the option "Convert in System app". That's pretyt much the same like flash the apps via recovery and zip (in this case).

But it looks like they did install and seem to be working ok. I just want to know what the cause of the error was in case there is something wrong I don't see yet.


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What DNS servers are used when connected to wireless data?
What DNS servers are used when connected to wireless data (not wifi)?
Is there a way within Android KitKat to tell?

Out of curiosity could you tell me why you're asking this? Is it to do with security/privacy concerns? Have you looked into DNSSEC/DNSCrypt?

Run "nslookup google.com" from Terminal Emulator and the first result should be your DNS. Also you could run a standard test from dnsleaktest.com from your browser.
Edit: I just noticed this answer is kind of outdated for newer Androids because nslookup doesn't seem to run if you install Terminal Emulator. The modern method seems to be to install Termux and then install dnsutils in Termix pkg install dnsutils and then run the same command nslookup google.com.

Does running the command involve downloading a Terminal Emulator from the Play Store, or is there one built-in to stock Android?  There are many apps in the Play Store claiming to be the real Terminal Emulator.  If a download is required, is one of those considered to be the standard?

There won't be many stock roms out there witb terminal emulators as standard, you will need to get one from Play. Get the one by Jack Palevich. Searching his name and terminal should  get you there.

Thank you!  Answer accepted!  Given the info provided by m.chinni below, I decided that the website you provided is probably the best answer.  Hopefully it is reliable.

While the setprop method to change DNS does not work, the getprop method to read those values should be still valid today:
shell@A0001:/ $ getprop | grep dns
[dhcp.wlan0.dns1]: [192.168.1.1]
[dhcp.wlan0.dns2]: []
[dhcp.wlan0.dns3]: []
[dhcp.wlan0.dns4]: []
[net.change]: [net.rmnet0.dns2]
[net.dns1]: [208.67.222.123]
[net.dns2]: [208.67.220.123]
[net.rmnet0.dns1]: [208.67.222.123]
[net.rmnet0.dns2]: [208.67.220.123]
[net.wlan0.dns1]: [208.67.222.123]
[net.wlan0.dns2]: [208.67.220.123]

To clarify my answer: using a terminal emulator app (like Terminal Emulator for Android), as a normal user (no root permissions needed), you can execute the command I showed (getprop | grep dns) and get an output like that.

@mchinni Thanks. Can you enhance your answer to explain how and where to use that command?

This just  gives a list of DNS servers that are in the config, it doesn't  tell you with any certainty which is in  use. My method  works better here imo.

@warsong You are right, but starting from Android 4.2 if you type nslookup google.com the Server line will be like Server:    0.0.0.0 because the name resolution is performed locally and forwarded to the DNS only if needed. With getprop (which is not future proof), today you receive the current DNS values.

@m.chinni Thank you.  I was thinking I was doing something wrong.  I gave your answer a +1 because it is also very useful.  For now, I hope the website warsong provided is the most reliable.

I agree. My commands show the configuration, but if your carrier perform some kind of DNS hijacking, with the site @warsong provided, you'll see the "real" DNS servers you are using. It's your choice the kind of information you need.


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Is it dangerous to keep my phone plugged in indefinitely?
I just recently got a new phone, so my old one has been sitting in a drawer for the last month. However, a friend recently suggested the Sleep Cycle alarm to me, and I'd like to try it out, but I'm not willing to put my nice new phone under my bed every night and run the risk of it overheating or breaking.
However, my old phone, a ZTE Valet (Incredibly cheap, all-around low quality phone), I couldn't care less about. So my plan is to plug that in next to the wall, and use it exclusively for the alarm. I go to bed, I set the alarm, I wake up, I turn it off. It never leaves the wall.
However, I'm concerned about safety. It'll be in airplane mode and I'll disable other background apps that I can (probably just factory reset it before doing this), but is it dangerous to keep my phone constantly plugged into a wall on top of bedsheets? I know this might be bad for the batter (don't really care, I'm not doing anything else with the phone anyway), but I'm much more worried about any potential overheating problems that could burn me or start a fire. Should I be?
EDIT: I don't think this is a duplicate. I really couldn't care less if the phone is harmed by the constant charging, I just want to know if it's dangerous.

As you've said it is "incredibly cheap, all-around low quality phone" yes there are chances of overheating and all. I suggest you to charge it only at nights as you need it only for alarm.

Under certain conditions it's very dangerous to Keep Phone Plugged in for charging for long time .The battery may Over heat And May explode I suggest you to Charger Only when it's required and then unplug the charger

The sources in Does constant charging harm my Android cellphone? would seem to disagree with this general claim (the possible quality of the charger notwithstanding). Do you have any references for this assertion?


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Google Process Location Accessing location for whom?
I am seeing google.process.location is always running in my phone and whenever I tried to google it, all the posts are related on how to fix an error in this not what I want to know.
Is it the process responsible for giving Google Maps location data or generally serving the location requests in Android ?
Thanks in advance

That process is used for all Google apps — Maps, Chrome, Google+, etc.  It does not provide location info for independent apps like MapQuest.


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Android version updates for Motorola and Nexus phones
How long will Motorola and Google provide Android updates to their models Moto X(2013) and Nexus 5? Is there a limit or a deadline to these updates rolling in?
Google has said that the newer versions will be able to run even on low-end smartphones, so this means that the updates should come for at least to years to these mid-range phones but is there any confirmation to that?

Motorolla has already started rolling out lollipop updates for Moto X(2nd gen) and Moto G(2nd gen). Nexus updates will be coming soon as well. Moto X (2013) is going to get an update, but it might be 1-2 months down the lane.


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How can I set different notifications sounds for different WhatsApp groups?
How can I set different notification sounds for different WhatsApp groups? I can set different notification sounds for different contacts individually, but I want to know whether I can set different notification sounds for different groups.

I don't think that can be done as WhatsApp doesn't allows doing that !

WhatsApp doesn't support different group notificaion sounds for groups as of now. There's no way to do it.

There should be. i have a very noisy group so i need to silence that but now i get no alerts from other contacts. must use another app for those communications like text or email. Seems like a simple enhancement to make the app a lot better.


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Nexus 10 stuck in bootloop after Lollipop flash no ADB and no Fastboot
So .... I flashed the mantaray-lrx21p image from Nexus Factory Images on my Nexus 10 (16GB Wifi) and it's stuck in a bootloop.
No problem, I thought, I can get into fastboot and fix it, right? Maybe do a wipe and try again? Yeah, not so fast. I get the bootloader screen, but the only option is 'Start' which just boots into the system that bootloops.
That's OK, I'll just use fastboot to wipe it. Nope. Fastboot doesn't detect a device.
I've tried both ADB and fastboot on Mac & Linux. Same issue.
Ideas?

How long did you wait? I had to wait >5 minutes for my Nexus 7 2012 just now. It's working fine.

Over 25 minutes.

I was trying to enter the bootloader with the USB cable plugged in. Once I unplugged the USB cable and held power + Vol Up + Vol Down it booted into bootloader and I was able to get fastboot connected.

Had the same issue right now. fastboot oem lock didn't find the device.
Disconnected the device from USB and held the power button for 10s to reset. Booted like a charm afterwards

I'm having this exact same issue. I'm going to try flashing 4.4 again and see if I can at least get it up and running again.
Edit: I was able to get it booting my locking the bootloader. (run fastboot oem lock from bootloader)

I can't get fastboot to detect it so I can't flash 4.4 again ... or wipe.

Had exactly the same on my Nexus 7 2012 just now.
Flashed the factory image, device remained stuck at the boot logo. went to bootloader and did "fastboot erase cache" along with "fastboot erase userdata". Still the same never ending boot logo.
Put the device back into bootloader mode again, ran "fastboot oem lock", restarted and the device quickly started loading the OS as normal. Currently staring at "Android is Upgrading...." .
locking the bootloader is a good way to go. you can then backup any data you want off the device if you didnt originally erase it all before running "fastboot oem unlock".

Had the same problem and decided to turn it off and after it turned itself back on and fixed the problem. (So dont everyone freak out it might just need to be turned off really quick)

I'm seeing the same issue. Booted into download mode, and neither fasboot nor ADB see the device (MacOS 10.9). They are working for me on my Nexus 5, so it's not an ADB/fastboot driver issue or anything.


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Removing junk files from my Android device
Previously I had installed an application for cleaning junk files from my phone, but the app no longer works with my device.
What is the best way to find and remove junk files from my phone in order to save space and increase performance. Is this something I can do on my own (And if so, how?), or is it best to use an app from the Play Store (And if so, which one?)?

Well, I can't talk much about maually cleaning things up but what you can do is try installing a app that can be of mutiple user like it will act as app locker, antivirus, call or sms blocker, RAM cleaner, Junk Cleaner etc and it should be small size app, then do one thing try using 360 Antivirus once stop app which can be founded over the playstore. I have been using it for a while and think it's something which you can give a shot !

-Clearing junk depends on the memory limitations of the device.If you have more memory(4Gb or more then you can avoid it but at some point of time you have to clean) then you don't need to clear the junk files as the device will simply store it on board.But if the device's on board memory is less <=2Gb then you have to clear the junk files quite often.(In case you have 15-30 apps installed then your phone may start responding late/worst case stuck)
-Junk cleaner applications usually clean the cache memory/files >10 Mb as well as the files which are left after uninstalling an application.
So in order to them manually you can follow these steps
-For simple tasks like clearing images/videos you can delete it from the gallery directly as the gallery sorts them based on the app.
-For cache you need to clear the cache separately from app menu.
Only for removing un-instaled app data you need the cleaner.
-Ex:-If you use whats app then you can manually delete the videos/pictures shared from the whats app folder by Videos/Images section.But if you directly delete whats app folder then you will lose all the chat data/backup as well.
Note:-If cleaning each and every applications cache is cumbersome then you have to use the cleaner application.Having more on board storage space does not remove the necessity of cleaning it only delays the frequency of cleaning.
Caution:-Do not delete any file blindly from your device.Cross check the file name with the existing list of applications.As deleting files may cause loss of data to that particular application.By time you will be able to identify the file structure

@ user285oo6: So you're suggesting I should use a cleaning app?

@AaymanKhalid please state your device specifications? also like i said if you are not familiar with the file system then for a safe side go for cleaner app initially once familiar you can delete it all by your self

@AaymanKhalid check the updated answer

@ user285oo6: the processor is 1.2 GHz and the internal memory is 4GB.

well in that case the cleaning app is not required provided you do not have many applications/heavy game applications that take up 1GB space.Just follow the above simple steps to clean and you are better.Clear the cache only once in 1-2 weeks.

@user285oo6 your first note needs a revision: Boot to recovery, select "wipe cache", wait for the task to finish, reboot, done :) And yes, both stock and custom ROMs support this, no root required.

@AaymanKhalil I can only second what's already stated: If you're not familiar with the system (and especially with the file system), you're much better off using a good cleaner app. If unsure which to trust: Visit our sister-site Software Recommendations (before asking there, read the post I've linked – they've got some quality guidelines to be met ;)


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(ROOT apps, tweaks, roms, scripts, hacks) cydia like app for android?
i was wondering if there was an app for android that is like cydia. i want an app that has a huge collection of tweaks, hacks, roms, scrips, apps, themes; just like how cydia (for ios) has. im not looking for apps like app-toid or 1-market.

Xposed Framework is an alternative to Cydia on Android. but that doesn't work on Android 5.0 just yet. An Alpha-Version was just made available. The installation process is different though and it is still buggy. Only works on Arm7 chips so far.
http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer

I have xposed but its pretty limited tge only good themeing apps it had were xblast, wanam, gravity box... it doesnt have alot, unless im using it wrong :|

I can't really comment on Cydia bcs I never tried it, but I know that Xpoaed has 508 modules. And you were asking not just for themes but for tweaks and hacks as well. I could find out how many apps are there for cydia, but Android doesn't really need a hacked "play store" since anyone can sideload apps. Another alternative for the Play Store is F-Droid.

i just need an easy way to find the mods, themes, tweaks, ect. btw cydia is pretty much an intaller that has a whole bunch of  repository(u add the repos)and the repos have the hacks, mods, ect

I guess Cyndia App is already available over the PlayStore for Android.
PS: Correct me if, you are talking about something else.

Lol the tweaks and apps for that is for ios. I clicked on a couple of the featured tweaks and it says compatible with ios (version). Isnt it just for ios devices?

I think for cydia you should look at this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.saurik.substrate

and another link to Cydia Substrate: http://www.cydiasubstrate.com

There are many app repositories available for android besides the play store. A Google search will reveal them. There are apps on the play store that only work with rooted devices, too. The iPhone is more closed than an android device. For the iPhone, Cydia is the source for alternative apps. That problem does not exist with android.

authors: Андрей Яндуганов


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How I can root Asus Padfone T00C?
How can I root my Asus Padfone T00C?

Have you tried any of the standard rooting methods, like towelroot?

Not knowing the Android version running on the device, it's hard to give any recommendations. As eldarerathis suggested, Towelroot is a good one to start with. For more, take a look at our [rooting index], which names a couple of them – often along with the information on which Android versions it's supposed to work.


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How to play MIDI with Android device?
So I have an Android Galaxy S5 and I'm wondering - is there a MIDI player that I can use for my MIDI files?
Thanks!

Yes there is try using Fun Fun MIDI player available over the Google PlayStore

The basic music player app should play a MIDI file, mine does. It will play back using the on-board GM voices and you can make a playlist just as you would with MP3 files.


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Why does Android require porting to each device, unlike Windows?
Why does Android require porting to each device, unlike Windows? Or rather, why isn't there a way to simply download a setup program for pure AOSP and install it in any device?
I already read this question, and it says that Android requires specific porting to each device configuration (hardware setup) to even work at all. But my question is, why was Android designed in such a way that requires modification of its base source to suit the device hardware (adding drivers, etc)? Why doesn't it support installation of original AOSP from Google with basic drivers on any hardware, which can then be enhanced to work better with device-specific drivers from the manufacturer?
In contrast, Windows has been designed such that the same setup program can install it on any variant of a hardware configuration. You can come up with a configuration that no one has ever come up with before, and Windows will most likely install and run on it just fine. The chances of a complete failure to run Windows on a particular configuration are extremely low and likely only because of niche hardware.
Even if the correct drivers can't be found for a device, Windows will attempt to find the closest match for the device and attempt to run the device in a basic mode anyway - and the user can then upgrade to the correct driver after Windows installation is complete. And the chances of certain devices failing completely may be higher but still very low, and such failures can usually be resolved by installing the missing drivers.
By contrast, Android doesn't even have a concept of "driver installation", but drivers are added at the source level in a process called porting, which leads to many different ROM variants, including stock ROMs from device manufacturers, and vanilla ports like CyanogenMod, MUIU, etc. This brings the problem that if no one is porting Android for your device, you don't have a ROM to install on it (except the stock ROM it came with) - unless you build one yourself.
I understand that Android is fundamentally very different from Windows and even Linux (which it's based on), and I don't mean to compare apples with oranges. I merely want to understand why such a paradigm shift in device support was necessary for Android.

Thanks @DanHulme. It's an enlightening read. I also want to mention this link: Why you'll never have the latest version of Android

Windows has been built for working on multiple device types and has the ability to load drivers from removable devices and from a big online reposity (Windows Update). Windows has MANY inbuilt drivers.
Android is much smaller (which is better for smartphones.
So you have to include drivers and other device specific things in your ROM.

Basically a very short summary of the links :)


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I bought a rooted LG g2 phone on ebay should I be worried?
As the title says. I bought a new lg g2 from eBay. After playing around with it for about 2 weeks I noticed that it is rooted and has a Chinese superuser app installed. I heard a while ago that some phones bought from eBay had viruses on it so I am wondering for what other purpose would the phone come rooted other than to install certain programs that I wouldn't notice. Also, is there a way to unroot it and remove all rooted permissions that might have been added without having to delete all data on my phone? Thank you.

You didn't write in which area you live, and from which eBay domain/seller location you've bought the device. But assuming you're not living in China, I'd be worried. Not for the device being rooted in general – but a Chinese superuser app sounds pretty suspicious.
Now other answers suggested unrooting and wiping. But I'm afraid that might not be enough: Once rooted, the "rooter" could have installed other malicious apps as system apps (see: system-apps and its tag-wiki for an explanation). Neither unrooting nor wiping (or performing a factory-reset) would remove those. So to really be on the safe side:

Get yourself a fresh ROM image to flash (see: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?) This can be either a "stock ROM" (the official one from LG in your case), or – as the device is already rooted – any custom ROM (the latter having the advantage of being more up-to-date in most cases).
If you decided for a custom ROM, this might require a custom recovery (see: recovery-mode and its tag-wiki for details). Check whether that's already installed (boot into recovery, and see if the "title line" reads something with <3e> (which indicates the stock recovery), or some other name like "ClockworkMod" or "TWRP"/"TeamWin Recovery" – which are the two major custom recoveries). If not, do so.
Flash the new ROM. This should basically overwrite everything except for user-data and cache.
From the recovery menu, chose to "wipe" /data, /cache, and (if offered) also Dalvik-Cache. That should remove all remaining stuff from the device.
Optionally: Deal with your SD card, if there was any inserted. Malware could have placed something there, so best is to format this as well.

Now you should have "wiped off" all potential evil from the device – as far as you can do so yourself. The only remaining part is the radio-firmware; but I doubt anyone would have tampered with that. If you want to be "absolutely sure", check above link for a radio image as well, which you optimally should flash before the other parts.

Thank you for your guide. I will definitely follow these steps.

Good luck, elsa! If any questions arise during that process, you're welcome to consult us again!

I said wipe by formatting the system folder. Thus, the phone stays without operative system at all. There is absolutely no chance to left any software installed. Did you try sometime to format that folder? I did and when booting the device stays on the first screen (usually the brand screen at the very begin)

@joaquin I don't agree, for reasons pointed out above. A real evil guy could have placed something in the radio image, on the /boot / /recovery partitions, on SD card, or somewhere else. While maybe "unusual", it's not impossible – and was found in the past in all of the mentioned places (yes, including radio – though in that case it was the manufacturer himself placing "evil things"; but who knows who did it here? After all we know, it could be a "China clone" instead of a genuine device.)

Well, I think you are right. But why we are bad thinking about Chinese people? I'm losing part of the big story

I'd say because of "news" like this: Xiaomi Phones Secretly Sending Users' Sensitive Data to Chinese Servers. I know, it sounds like prejudice – not meant it that way. But still, it always raises suspicions.

@Izzy Stack Exchange gives a lot of ideas... LOL, thanks for the data!

Definitely. SE is always my first address when looking for (computer-related) information. It never let me down :) Enjoy your stay!

You could try supersu from play store to unroot your phone. If you are afraid of viruses after this you can use standard antivirus to scan whole phone(without root there is not much to be afraid of viruses) to be sure you can do factory reset what will delete your files but you can backup them with various programs.
You should always do factory reset/wipe after purchasing used phone (especially if rooted)
Read more info from http://www.xda-developers.com/

There are some risks of buying  rooted phone as it might contain some malware.
Before unrooting please create a backup of your data.
First you can do a factory reset or in case if does not work you can install third party apps from Google play store.
Here are some apps
OTA Rootkeeper
 , Root Uninstaller

I wouldn't unroot it. I'd just install a custom recovery and from there I'd format system, data, external sd folders. I'd clean all the caches and I'd install a fresh new copy of cyanogenmod. Then, the phone would run nicely and without absolutely any risk at all.


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how to get xperia m by default notification tone
I've galaxy grand neo. I like a notification tone of xperia m. So how I will get the tone?
Already I've tried so much to download the notification from web but I didn't get.

Go to /system/media/audio/ringtones in your Xperia M and copy the notification tone and place it in media/audio/ringtones in SD card in your grand neo phone. Restart the phone. Also refer to Izzy's answer in this link


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Unable to add corporate account with same email address as google account on Lollipop
Just upgraded my Nexus 5 to Lollipop and have bumped into a serious issue with account management.
I have my Google account registered to a non-gmail domain, and use Exchange Online to host it. Up to Kit-kat, this presented no particular issue: I would  log in to Google’s services using my Google account and then add a corporate account to handle email.
Lollipop prevents me from doing so however: whenever I try to add the corporate account I get an error message saying the account I’m trying to create is a duplicate (this happens at the very first screen, when the only available field is the account’s email address - which of course is going to be the same).
Has somebody found a way around this? If not, what is the best way to submit a bug report, since the Gmail App is not part of AOSP?

I was able to get around this by putting in an invalid email address on the first step (e.g. myname@mydomain.com.exchange) then clicking the button to set up the account manually. I wanted to set up an Exchange account and was able to enter my proper corporate credentials in the following steps. This seems to have worked.


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Can't find shortcuts for downloaded apps
I have a Galaxy Tab S. At first, I could download apps and the shortcut would appear on the screen.
Now this has stopped happening. The app is there as I can find it using S Finder, and I can use the app. There is just no shortcut. How to get the shortcut?

Creating that shortcut is done by the Google Play Store app, which has a setting for that. So:

start the Google Play Store app
go to its settings page
check the setting for creating shortcuts (and enable it).

I currently can't tell you what exactly that item is named (I have no device with Google apps installed available at the moment), but it should be easy to identify. On the other hand, there's always a Google Image search :)

Google Play Store settings (source: ProgrammerGuru; click image for larger variant)
For a detailed description, please see the source of that image: How to create and remove shortcut for Android application?.

I accidentally found the way. Find the app in “manage apps“ and disable it and then enable it back.

I have a Galaxy S7 edge and after some other issues, had to reset my phone. In doing so, I somehow lost the icon for my Kindle app. The app was installed on my phone, but I could only access it through the play store. I was scared to disable it, for fear of permanently losing it somehow. However, after reading the above answer, I found that it works!! Go to your app manager, disable the app, then enable it again. The icon was then back in my app drawer :)
Thank you so much to the other person who "accidentally found the answer." :) :) :)