text:
Block audio and video playback in the browser in the background
Prehistory:
On the phone (android, xiaomi) of the child, "Google Family Link" is installed with a time limit for using applications (when the screen is on). But the child turns on an audiobook or video and turns on the screen lock - the media plays in the background and the time of using the phone does not increase.
Question: How to block media browser playback with a locked screen?
I did not find a solution in chrome://flag and phone settings (sounds, battery).
Turning off the sound in the tabs is also not an option (it's easy to turn it back).
Maybe I missed something and was looking in the wrong place?

Have you tried to block/restrict those media apps via https://support.google.com/android/answer/9346420?hl=en

You'll need to access the settings for the apps themselves. From your device settings to apps. Select your app. Find the battery usage Setting. In there you will be able to optimize battery usage. There should be an option to restrict or allow the app to continue running.


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LED indicator is on but it only works to alert charging is incomplete (red) or complete (blue), it doesn't flash notifications
I have Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on Android 8.0 Oreo (additional software information). Until yesterday, application notifications were flashing on the LED indicator, but from yesterday to today it stopped happening, even though nothing updated on the device.
It warns that it is charging with the red LED, and it warns when it has finished charging with the blue LED, but it does not flash to notify that there are new notifications as it used to do.
I checked if LED it's enabled, and yes it is.
I already checked if the applications are activated, yes they are.
I checked if it's in DO NOT DISTURB mode, and it's not.
I haven't changed any settings from yesterday to today, however, this is happening.
What can I check to try to find the problem?

Does it happen with a particular app or all of them? Does the issue persist if you restart the phone?

Hello @ReddyLutonadio , the answer is yes to both questions.

Hi @Robert Yes, I had already taken the test before asking the question but I repeated the test after the previous comment by Reddy Lutonadio, but the case persists unchanged.

Firstly, make sure that the LED functions properly. Go to your phone dial, and type in *#0*#.
This will bring up a test screen. press the 'led' option on the screen, and check the LED. Tap the screen to make the led change colours, if all colours are displayed, then the LED is functioning.

Hi, indicated test carried out successfully, LED working in its entirety, the case does not seem to be related to the non-functioning of the LED, including as stated in the question, it is working for options such as charging (red LED) and full charging (blue LED).

ok, was just checking. i am messing around with my closest phone to 8.0 oreo (my S5 lol - 6.0) to try to find something that might fix your problem.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Receiving notifications throughout user profiles
I'm using 2 user profiles on my Android 12: 1 for my work apps, 1 for my personal apps.
Recently I installed an app for my home security on my personal profile. Whenever my cameras recognize somebody (mailman, intruder etc.) I receive an notification in that app. However, at work I use my work profile, so I won't get any notifications from apps from my personal profile.

Is it possible to allow notifications from different user profiles, so that I get a notification from my security app from my personal profile, while using my work profile?
Is it possible to make my security app available for both profiles, without installing and setting it up twice?

When you say you have a Work profile, do you mean the same thing Google means about Work Profile? Because in a Work Profile this excerpt from Google support is valid: When your work profile is running, your work apps can run and generate notifications that appear alongside your personal notifications. However, from that screenshot in your question I think you have a separate user account which you use for Work related stuff. Correct?

If that's the case, than No, you can't get notification from your app installed in the primary user (Joe/You/Admin or any other name it has). When one user account is active other user accounts are suspended. So if Joe is active than Geek would be suspended and you wouldn't get notifications from it. Vice versa. See Multi-user System Behavior for more info on this.

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


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Very slow data transfer between my smartphone (Huawei Y6s) and Laptop (HP Elitebook 840G1)
So, recently I got a new Huawei Y6s and transferred all my data to my HP Elitebook 840G1. It is just 5GB of data with almost 45000 photos. It shows about 1 day on the PC transfer dialog box. I am very confused, I mean I transfer two to three movies up to 8GB of data and they transfer just fine.
I don't know, I think that maybe because of a large number of files, it makes the transfer slow. It is worth noting that a movie with about 4GB of data will transfer in just 10 minutes, but these photos though, are 45k in number but 5GB of data is taking forever to transfer.
What shall I do? What's a better transfer method?

firsly, if you are using a cable, check the inside of the usb side. is white, blue or black?

The estimated duration shown by Windows for MTP transfers are just wrong, ignore it. The overhead for a large number of files exists, not sure how large it is.


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Some app, whose mobile access is restricted, suddenly starts using data after switching mobile carrier
My problem is some apps I specifically disallow data access started to use mobile data after I switched mobile company. I didn't change any settings. It never happened with two previous carriers with the same phone.
I don’t know if my smartphone is malfunctioning, a malware is installed, or something else?
Here is what happened:

I use prepaid mobile plan with minimum data, so I always disable mobile data for most apps (set individually in the App section in the Settings). It worked fine for years.

On Nov 24th, I switched a mobile company (from Lucky mobile (Bell) to Chatr wireless (Rogers), both Canadian carriers) and swapped SIM cards. It took about 24 hours before I could use data.

While I still didn't know if the data was available, I used Google Map and Google Chrome, both are set to wifi only. They worked but I thought I was in a wifi hotspot that is everywhere in a city. Then I played a game I specifically disallow BOTH wifi and mobile data (so that I can play it locally without seeing any ad).  At the end of the game I saw an ad, it was the time I realized my data was finally available and the data was consumed. But why, the app is prohibited to use any data including wifi and mobile data.

I checked the Settings. The settings remain the same but the Google map and Chrome along with the game app consumed data. I restarted the phone but it didn’t make a difference.

I was afraid that my phone was hacked, so I installed Norton 360 and scanned a malware but nothing was detected.
I installed NetGuard so that I can control data access easily. For now I disable mobile data of the phone all together and manually enable it when I use data then disable it when I finish. It works for now but I am still puzzled.
Current situation:
When I open an app with restricted data, for most apps, I get this message: “** was restricted from using your cellular network. Remove the restriction?” which is normal and supposed to be like that.
However, there is an app, specifically Google Chrome, accesses mobile data without showing the message. Strangely Google Map and the game app that used data on the first day, now show the above message.
I understand that small data is still transmitted while mobile data is disallowed, but this is not the case.
My phone is 3-years old Huawei Nova 3, Android version 9, and I don’t have any problem with the phone except for a shorter battery life.
My biggest fear is that my phone is compromised as it happens when I swapped SIM cards. If my phone is just too old and malfunctioning, I can get a new phone. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Possibly related/dupe (but not answered yet): "3rd party apps designed to use mobile data" even when connected to WiFi

Thank you for your reply. I am aware that some apps transmit small piece of data background but I don't feel like it is the case.... Google Chrome is set to wifi only, so if I try to open it without wifi, it's supposed to show the message "Google Chrome was restricted from using your cellular network. Remove the restriction?", however. it automatically connects to the mobile network without asking me anything.


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Failed installing a large game (APKs) but still take up so much storage
I tried to install a large game (3.2 GB) in APK format from my SD card (the place where I save the APK file) using ZArchiver. I clicked install and waited for like 10 minutes but there was nothing, no app installed.
I tried many times (I think this is the mistake) installing the game but it is still the same. And when I see the storage, it takes 60 GB. Before is like 50 GB used. I check the app from Settings and I don't see the game installed.
What should I do? I don't want to reset my phone.

AFIK Android does not support APKs format on it's own, which installer have you used? Have you tried to uninstall the installer app?

Im using zarchiver to install, I tried to uninstall zarchiver but the storage still occupied. Should i use another installer app?

Would you please clarify the game you tried to install ends with .apk or apks in its file name? Need to know the APKs in question title is a plural for APK or the postfix of your game's file.


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On Android 12+, how do I disable mobile internet without disabling MMS?
My good old phone from 2013 is dying. I have been satisfied with it, but even if it was still sold nowadays, I would not buy more of the same since it’s becoming increasingly difficult to not have either an iOS or an Android phone. I don’t want iOS for reasons not pertaining to my question, so Android remains, however, constant internet access is blocking me.
There are a few reasons to disable mobile internet on one’s phone, but I’m not here to discuss these. I just want to be able to disable mobile internet.
There are tons of sites giving tutorials on how to do this, but as far as I’ve seen, none gives a correct reply, because :

Either they provide steps on how to disable mobile data, which indeed disables mobile internet, but MMS too in the process
Or give a per-app solution, which won’t really completely block all mobile internet traffic, let’s be honest

A few years ago, someone with a Huawei phone asked me for help on this very subject, and I was indeed able to help him, by defining explicitly which APN was for what, keeping only the MMS role for the MMS-only APN and removing everything else. And it worked.
But things may have changed, and I certainly don’t want to buy a phone only to find it’s now impossible. If it’s become impossible indeed, then well, despite the drawbacks I will definitely get an oldie.
So, more concisely :

How can I disable mobile internet ?
Not per-app, system-wide
MMS shall remain enabled
Android 12+ (I suppose that’s what all new phones are running nowadays)
I’m not afraid of using adb and going through a shell
No third party programs
Jailbreaking/rooting is a big no no, if I have to fight against the phone vendor, then I better buy somewhere else
Which brands leave it possible ?
Which brands block it ?

Doesn't seem possible https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/200967517

@beeshyams That seems to describe a problem with a strange feature that brings all mobile data on, including internet, when sending an MMS… that’s a really weird a dirty way of doing things… but if it’s still possible to define types for APNs as I did in the past, then there’s another way around

Now that I have an Android 13 phone, I can confirm it’s indeed possible (tested with a Samsung Galaxy A04s).
In the Android system, each APN has a defined APN type, which is a comma-separated list of roles attributed to the APN. An exhaustive list of roles can be found on Android’s site for developers. In the constants list, all the ones beginning with TYPE_. As of today, the list of accepted roles is : bip, cbs, default, dun, emergency, enterprise, fota, hipri, ia, ims, mcx, mms, supl, vsim, xcap.
The default role is special : it gives the APN roles that have not been given explicitly to other APNs.
The method is simple : keep the mms role for the MMS APN, remove everything else. If you have more than one APN, either delete the others if possible, or give them a restricted role such as emergency. An APN with zero roles defined seems to behave as having the default role.
WARNING : Some providers may depend on mobile data to provide emergency services, changing the roles may block or degrade such services. If there’s only one APN with the default role, replacing it with emergency may be a good choice, but it’s not 100% impossible that emergency services rely on other roles as well. One can’t foresee what all mobile operators do, be it good or bad.
More precisely :

In the parameters, go to the list of configured APNs : Connections => Mobile networks => Access point names
For each APN, check the access point type, remove all roles except mms
Remove APNs with no MMS roles, or alternatively, set their role to emergency
To restore the defaults, on the APN list screen, tap the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ on the top right and choose the appropriate menu option
System updates are likely to reset custom APN configuration

In my case I had two APNs, APN A with only the mms role, and APN B with default and mms roles. I left APN A untouched, and set APN B to emergency only. This made APN B disappear from the list but it’s still there, just hidden from the UI. Resetting APN configuration still works and brings back both APNs with their default settings.


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How can enable the Android Accessory Interface (USB) on Windows?
I would like to use the Android USB Accessory Mode. This allows to open a data connection between an Android app and an app on another USB device, like a Windows machine.
To start this communication, on the Windows machine, an App must start a USB Host mode. For this, it must send some specific data to the Android Accessory Interface, which will be shows as a USB device inside Windows.
Unfortunately, on my Windows machine, this Android Accessory Interface will not be shown. This will be identified by a device instance ID of USB\VID_18D1&PID_2D01&MI_....
To show this device, I updated my Windows 10 Pro installation and all drivers. Additionally, I installed a special USB driver from Samsung for my Galaxy A20e.
How can enable the Android Accessory Interface (USB) for my Samsung Galaxy A20e device?

A common mistake is to install the drivers to the wrong device. If ad and/or MTP is active at the same time you should see an USB compound device in device manager in Windows. Select an device that belongs to the Android phone and then switch View -> View by connection then you should see the compound device and below all the devices that belong to the Android phone. As USB accessory mode is designed to connect custom USB devices you may need to emulate a standard USB protocol on Android side or develope a matching Windows USB driver for whatever your app uses on USB level.

To switch to the Android Accessory mode, I enabled the USB debugging inside the settings of my Samsung A20e. After this, I was able to connect from my Windows App to the Android device to start the accessory mode with this procedure:

Get the device ID of the USB adapter (ADB interface) with the GUID f72fe0d4-cbcb-407d-8814-9ed673d0dd6b.
This can be used as the file name to get a file handle with CreateFile (please use FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED).
The file handle can be passed to WinUsb_Initialize to get a WinUsb handle.
Now you can request the protocol (51) and send some information (52) like manufacturer, model, etc. to the Samsung device with WinUsb_ControlTransfer.
After this, you can start the accessory mode with command 53.

This will disconnect my Samsung Galaxy from my Windows computer and connect again as Google device (VID of 0x18d1).
After this, I wasn't be able to use MTP or RNDIS furthermore.

Did it work for the android device to see the Windows machine as accessory? Were you able to obtain bi-directional communication? thx.

@GoranHoriaMihail: With this solution, the Windows machines see the Android machine.


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Apps are crashing after changing SIM
I changed my service provider a day ago and after that almost all the apps are crashing. I deleted the cache factory stop etc. Nothing has worked. When I restart my phone I am able to use apps perfectly but after 10 or 20 minutes later it's same again. Hope you got something for me.

Such errors are hard to understand without a proper log. Therefore my recommendation is to enable developer mode on Android, then enable ADB, connect the phone to a PC with installed Android SDK or minimal ADb and then check what error is shown in adb logcat when the apps start crashing.

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.


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Oneplus Nord file manager not able to open intent
On my Oneplus Nord I have multiple apps that aren't able to open a file manager to let me select files. There would be the Cryptomator app giving me the following error in their debug logs:
android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: No Activity found to handle Intent { act=android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE }
    at android.app.Instrumentation.checkStartActivityResult(Instrumentation.java:2114)
    at android.app.Instrumentation.execStartActivity(Instrumentation.java:1770)
    at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:5473)
    at androidx.activity.ComponentActivity.startActivityForResult(ComponentActivity.java:597)
    at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:5426)
    at androidx.activity.ComponentActivity.startActivityForResult(ComponentActivity.java:583)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.presenter.Presenter.requestActivityResult(Presenter.kt:214)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.presenter.CloudConnectionListPresenter.openDocumentTree(CloudConnectionListPresenter.kt:167)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.presenter.CloudConnectionListPresenter.onAddConnectionClicked(CloudConnectionListPresenter.kt:128)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.ui.fragment.CloudConnectionListFragment.setupView$lambda-0(CloudConnectionListFragment.kt:41)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.ui.fragment.CloudConnectionListFragment.$r8$lambda$pNdBGyr2z2kiliHSZlRXLnVhB8A(Unknown Source:0)
    at org.cryptomator.presentation.ui.fragment.CloudConnectionListFragment$$ExternalSyntheticLambda0.onClick(Unknown Source:2)
    at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:7488)
    at android.view.View.performClickInternal(View.java:7464)
    at android.view.View.access$3700(View.java:841)
    at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:28911)
    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:938)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
    at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:233)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:344)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8212)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:584)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1034)

In the app NewPipe if I want to select a folder on where to download videos to it says No suitable file manager was found for this action. Please install a storage access framework compatible file manager. There I was not able to get a detailed error message but I assume it's about the same. Since this appears in these two apps (and some others I have uninstalled) I assume this is a problem with the stock ROM of the Onplus Nord. I have the latest Version with Android 12 installed. I tried multiple filemanager apps from the playstore but none so far worked for all the apps.
However the Material Files App lets me use KeePassDX. Without that app I get a similar error message there aswell.
Is there any solution that gets rid of the error in all apps? The phone isn't rooted.

Did you disable "Files" app at some point? Check Settings app to find this app and see if it is enabled or not.

In the section Deactivated Apps there is only Google Pay

Have you tried Files by Google or Solid Explorer?

I installed both, still getting the same error message :(


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Retrieving Android phone's identificators
I will be publishing a fingerprinting app that shows its user how much access to their Android phone's identifiers it has. I haven't started writing it because I need to understand how can any Android phone be identified by using only its hardware as IMEI and software as Google Ads ID identifier. Even CPU model is considered an identifier. It must not use other identifiers as Internet Protocol addresses or user-generated data as email addresses. Therefore I have the following questions:

What identifiers can Android theoretically provide access to any app that requests them?
Which of them need user-granted access permission before the app reads the identifiers? Which of them don't? For example any app can retrieve phone model name without being explicitly given access to it by phone's user. But the request to read and write device storage be approved by user explicitly via Android GUI.
How can I know how a specific Android version impacts whether my app will be able to read the ID? For example, starting from Android 10 no app can read IMEI even if it possesses READ_PHONE_STATE permission as I read it from another SE question https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/224487/uniquely-identify-each-mobile-phone-of-android-10-9-and-below
How can my app's user consciously evade app's access to any of these IDs? Can they spoof all of them or just opt-out of revealing them?

Is there a unique Android device ID?

Best practices for unique identifiers

Cross-posted to Security.SE: https://security.stackexchange.com/q/266793/59741


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See the location for "moving" on Google Maps timeline
Google Maps says "moving" in the timeline, is there another way to see the location? I've looked in my Google activity & can't find any location for the time it says moving.

"moving" in the Google Maps timeline generally means that it can't pinpoint your location or doesn't have a point close enough to make a guess and ask you, so it just assumes you are "moving" around... This can also happen if the device can't get sufficient location data (GPS signal, WiFi signals, etc) to get a usable location. I have no reference for this (thus it is not an answer) but from personal experience, and I have used Timeline for many years daily as part of time-tracking for work.


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How can I get an audiobook from my PC onto my phone?
Not sure why this is hard.  I have an audiobook, which is a folder full of MP3 files on my PC, and I want it to be on my phone local storage in a particular folder.  I have it also on Google Drive, but I see no option to do anything but download each file on at a time (on the phone app).  Surely people who listen to audiobooks all the time don't do this.  What's the easy way?

This question is pretty broad... you could use Syncthing, Warpinator, USB cable, or any of a dozen other transfer/sync utilities to sync either folders or multiple files. You would need to clarify exactly what or how (USB, network, cloud, etc) you want to sync things. Most readers should just be able to point directly to your cloud folder on Gdrive though, and you can also sync a cloud folder to your device and maintain the sync... The question is too broad to give a single "best" answer.

You could take a look at other questions using the [tag:file-transfer] tag which have answers. But easiest is probably to simply connect the two devices with an USB cable, which should automatically pop up a file manager window on your PC to drop your files in.

You can plug your device into a PC using USB cable, select MTP mode, and transfer your preferred data to PC. This data transfer approach is used by many Android users and is straightforward to setup.

Point taken. I've never needed to manually store anything on local phone storage until now. [Edited by Moderator Firelord]


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Make google pixel look like samsung?
I have a google pixel 6a, I was wondering if I can make it look like a samsung android phone (like a samsung galaxy user interface)?
Like instead of scrolling down make it have multiple "pages of apps" or give it a "back" button
Thanks!

Horizontal app drawer can be obtained using a custom launcher e.g. give Microsoft Launcher a try
Navigation Buttons instead of Navigation Gestures can be obtained using these steps

Head into the Settings app and select Settings > Gestures to find a bevy of gesture-related options.
Once in the Gestures menu, tap on System Navigation to choose between gestures and a three-button navigation system.
Select 3-Button Navigation to activate the Go back, Home, and switch apps buttons.

Hope this helps!


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Google Drive not recognizing wi-fi connection
So, Google Drive for Android decided to deny me access to my files, saying I've no connection. I do have a good connection as I am able to watch videos and check out forums in the mean time.
The thing is, the moment I connect to a friend's WiFi, it works. If I go back to my own WiFi, Google Drive suddenly stops working.
Again, I have a perfectly good connection with everything else but Google Drive. What on earth is going on here?

Try clearing the cache of drive app and then connecting to WiFi


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Check 32 and 64 bit support individually on Termux
With Google Pixel 7 lineup ditching 32 bit support, I think it is now necessary to check for 32 and 64 bit support individually.
From what I interpret, the Google Pixel 7 series will not be able to run 32 bit (ARM) executables. It breaks my script which downloads a 32 bit executable.
If phone supports 32 bit, download the 32 bit executable. Otherwise, download the 64 bit one.
I know it is strange to download a 32 bit executable on a 64 bit device supporting 32 bit. But please, ignore it.
I think we can use getprop but I don't know how.
Anyway, please help.

Does anyone have a Google Pixel 7? Please run lscpu and help me see CPU op modes line.


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Personal hotspot turns off as soon as screen goes off
I have Nokia G21 and I'd like to share wi-fi with my PC. The problem is that as soon as my phone's screen goes off the hot spot turns off as well. How to fix this problem?

Use USB Tethering.

@Firelord why should I use USB Tethering if I can use personal hotspot? I doubt that my problem don't have any other solution.

Most likely a barres saving feature that collides with the hotspot feature. On earlier Android versions there was on option to configure how and if Wifi should be shut down when screen is off, but on newer Android versions I have not seen such an option. I would contact Nokia so that it is files as bug.


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Is time in Exif or other metadata in a Nexus 5x video?
I have some MP4 videos taken with a Nexus 5x.  I no longer have that device.  Which of the Exif or XMP or the metadata (if any) contains time in UTC that the video started or ended?  I'm trying to get them in chronological order with all the still pictures I took.


text:
Is there any chance I could get my phone touchscreen working again?
I have a Pixel 4a smartphone and some water mixed with disinfectant fell on it yesterday. I turned off the phone and wipe it within 30 seconds and let it off for about 30 minutes.
Now the middle part of the touchscreen won't respond to touches eventhough the rest of the phone seems fine. I removed the sim card tray, it doesn't seem to have any signs of humidity. Is there any chance I can fix the issue whithout unmounting the phone or do some expensive repairs?
Thank you in advance for your help !

You can power off the device for a few minutes and the boot it up again or perform a vectors reset. If this doesn't help the problem is most likely a defect hardware.

I think it is unfortunately. It's close to two days and still no answer from the middle part of the touchscreen.


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"cannot add library libvulkan.so" when trying to start emulator
This is my first time attempting anything Android. I have installed Android Studio 2021.3.1 Patch 1 on Ubuntu 22.04 and created an Empty Compose Activity as a test.
The Device Manager looks like this

But when I try to run it I get
The emulator process for AVD Pixel_XL_API_33 has terminated

idea.log contains
INFO -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - [...]android-sdk/emulator/emulator -netdelay none -netspeed full -avd Pixel_XL_API_33 -qt-hide-window -grpc-use-token -idle-grpc-timeout 300
INFO -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - Android emulator version 31.3.13.0 (build_id 9189900) (CL:N/A)
INFO -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - emulator: INFO: Found systemPath [...]/android-sdk/system-images/android-33/google_apis/x86_64/
WARN -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - Failed to process .ini file ~/.android/avd/Pixel_XL_API_33.avd/quickbootChoice.ini for reading.
WARN -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - cannot add library [...]/android-sdk/emulator/qemu/linux-x86_64/lib64/vulkan/libvulkan.so: failed
INFO -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - WARNING: lavapipe is not a conformant vulkan implementation, testing use only.
INFO -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - Process finished with exit code 139 (interrupted by signal 11: SIGSEGV)
ERROR -      Emulator: Pixel XL API 33 - Emulator terminated with exit code 139

This happens with Android 5.0 and 8.1 projects.
As per this question I have tried sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall which gives
"/usr/bin/ubuntu-drivers", line 187, in command_install
    UbuntuDrivers.detect.nvidia_desktop_pre_installation_hook(to_install)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UbuntuDrivers/detect.py", line 839, in nvidia_desktop_pre_installation_hook
    with_nvidia_kms = version >= 470
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'version' referenced before assignment

and mesa-vulkan-drivers are already installed.
How do I fix this error and run a basic project out-of-the-box in an emulator on Linux?

I don't really have a solution, but a workaround: I had the same problem on openSUSE Leap 15.4 and could solve it by choosing "Software - GLES 2.0" for "Emulated Performance" when creating an emulated device.
It seems, the problem with libvulkan.so only occurs when using "Hardware - GLES 2.0" or "Automatic" which in my case seems to also choose the Hardware setting.
So as I said, I don't know how to fix the problem with hardware rendering, but for me the software rendering is good enough, though probably slightly slower.

If mesa-vulkan-drivers is already installed (sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers)

try to update your NVIDIA driver: sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
then reboot your system

If the ubuntu-driver command fails with this error:
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'version' referenced before assignment

You can try the fix from here but in my case it selected a driver which did not recognize my display anymore (wrong resolution), so I selected the latest proprietary driver myself:

Open "Additional Drivers" in the Ubuntu Launcher
Select the latest proprietary driver listed here
Apply (this takes a while) and reboot your system

Tested on Ubuntu 22.04


text:
How to use WhatsApp to pick pictures from Dropbox on a Samsung device?
Recently, my old phone broke and I switched to a new Samsung phone. I noticed that the default file viewer and photo gallery app on my old phone would happily connect to Dropbox, this is not the case with the Samsung Gallery/Photos app. I also found confirmation of this on the Dropbox website https://help.dropbox.com/integrations/samsung-device-app.
However, this does make it annoying to send and use pictures that are backed up on Dropbox using WhatsApp and other apps. I wonder if there is a way to select pictures from Dropbox directly. I.e. some apps that will show up in the following list of apps in WhatsApp and other apps:

P.S. I do know that it is possible to use Dropbox and send something from Dropbox to WhatsApp. However, I find it inconvenient to have to open another app to be able to send pictures. So I would like to be able to instead use WhatsApp to open pictures from Dropbox directly like I used to do with the default gallery app on my previous phone.

Could you mention the device model and the Android version of the previous phone and the current Samsung phone?


text:
Get rid "Start voice call?" confirmation dialog on WhatsApp voice call
Every time I want to call someone on WhatsApp, a popup appears asking:

Start voice call?
Cancel Call

When I click on the call button, clearly I want to call that person, this pop-up is an unnecessary extra step.
How can I get rid of this pop-up?

It seems like this appears 5 times and then disappears by itself. You cannot turn it off.
The 5 counts are only if you press "call" 5 times, not "cancel".
Simplest way - find someone you don't mind them being notified a few times of a missed call and call them 5 times.

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


text:
How to backup BirdNET?
I'm using BirdNET application to collect data about birds. However, the app does not support registration and data synchronisation, or even import/export.
I asked support if they provide the way to backup data, but there is no such way; info from the support:

Thanks for reaching out to us. Users can save and text/email the sound file of their recordings from the app; however, it does not offer the option of backing up the observations and transfer them to a new device. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Question: How can I backup that data? Is there any app that would do that auto

On unrooted devices you can only use what the app offers. So if the developers tell you that backup is not supported then that is your answer.

It is possible to export and import all observations in the BirdNET application now:
☰ > Show observations > ⋮ > Export Observations


text:
Is OpenAI ChatGPT available for Android?
Is https://chat.openai.com available as an app for Android or even mobile in general?
When asking it directly, it claimed it can be installed as a service inside Google Assistance, but since I wasn't able to do it is that true? If so, can you provide screenshots?

OpenAI has published the official ChatGPT Android app on July 2023, but there's no integration with Google Assistant (yet).
It is because:

Saying "talk to OpenAI Assistant" on Google Assistant will do a web search as expected.
Google Assistant doesn't have "Services", "Assistant", or "Apps" menu.
Google Assistant doesn't support 3rd-party assistance service.
If there was such an OpenAI Assistant/ChatGPT on Android, even in the closed/private beta phase, then it would have been making news all over the place. Alas, there's none. ChatGPT for Android finally arrives next week.

Please be aware of possible hallucination.


text:
WiFi problems with DNS.adguard.com
At home I can use the AdGuard DNS via settings -> WiFi & network -> private DNS -> private DNS provider hostname, and setting that hostname to dns.adguard.com.
In many public places where I do have WiFi without using this DNS, using AdGuard gives the error "Private DNS server cannot be accessed" and WiFi is not used.
Specifically the EduRoam university network does not work with the AdGuard DNS.
It means I often switch back to private DNS -> automatic, but in practice that seems to work the same as private DNS -> off: even at home where the AdGuard DNS would work, it is not being used.
Does anyone know if there's another setting that would make AdGuard usable in those public places, or at least to have an "automatic" option that does at least use AdGuard when possible?

You are probably better off asking in the adguard forum or raising a ticket through their app//I found both to be good options though the service is slow//AFAIK there isn't any other setting

For the AdGuard-specific bit I will, thanks. I find it strange though that the settings 'automatic' and 'off' are basically the same. Not sure if that is only for AdGuard.


text:
Whatsapp Chat not sorted chronologically after a message delete
Previously when I used to delete a message from a chat, Whatsapp automatically use to resort the chat list according to date. Starting for last week, when I delete a message, it does not change the chat list by date. For example, if someone messaged me last month and then again today, if I delete today's message, his chat will not move down to last month. In fact, it will remain on top of the list with last month date on the right.
But if I do the same action from the Whatsapp Web, all is working as expected.
Also, in another phone I do not have the "undo delete message for me" option, and the behaviour is as expected.
Does anyone know how to fix this issue?

Whatsapp fixed this issue with the release 2.23.1.76 for Android.


text:
How to restrict content inappropriate for children on the Android Kindle app?
Google play books, and Amazon devices like the Kindle, have parental controls that allow parents to stop their children from downloading explicit sexual/violent books and comics.
But the Android Kindle App does not seem to have any. (Despite being a far more popular way for children to read books than either of the above).
Does anyone have a solution for this?
(I googled a lot but only got useless info: instructions for how to do it on Kindle Fire or other Kindle hardware; a family feature on Amazon https://parents.amazon.com.au/ to which you can add neither your kids Android devices nor their accounts; etc).

From what I can tell the feature you desire is Amazon Household which would require separate accounts, however it doesn't appear to be available in Australia (from what I can gather).

Thanks. It looks like this has some parental control features, yes. But I get "Your account is ineligible to add a teen". No explanation, but as you say, it looks like it's region locked. Once again a major tech company fails to understand the basics of the internet and restricts critical features to USA only for absolutely no reason at all. :(


text:
Cell broadcast for emergency warnings in Germany - why is Android 11+ required?
Germany is preparing to use cell broadcast messages for emergency warnings issued by the government. A first country-wide test is planned for December 8, 2022 as part of the Nationwide Alert Day 2022.
Many publications claim that reception of these cell broadcast messages will only work under Android 11 or newer:

Warnsystem Cell Broadcast: Deshalb erhalten alle Handynutzer JETZT eine SMS von ihrem Provider
Cell Broadcast: Kaum kompatible Smartphones – Generalprobe verschoben
This discussion on XDA Forums also mentions problems: CellBroadcast and Emergency Warnings on Android - is it a mess?

However, as far as I understand, the underlying technical standard is about 20 years old, and Android has supported cell broadcast for ages (since at least Jelly Bean / V4.1, release 2012).
So why should there be a problem with Android versions before 11?

I found 2 articles mentioning Android 11 specifically: One2Many - Why cell broadcast is more important than ever for emergency alerting! (PDF) and Samsung Newsroom Deutch - Cell Broadcast auf Galaxy Smartphones: Samsung Nutzer*innen sind auf den Ernstfall vorbereitet both mentioning that pre-Android 11, it must be manually enabled. No guarantee that this is the reason, considering that many are as confused on the Twitter discussion thread.

Also, a thread on XDA Devs that may enlighten some and/or add more mysteries about Germany's cell broadcast and Android's cell broadcast: CellBroadcast and Emergency Warnings on Android - is it a mess?

@AndrewT.: Thanks for the helpful links, I put one into my question. Hopefully someone can answer.

I'll try to answer my own question :-)
tl;dr
This seems to be a misunderstanding. With Android 11 or later, cell broadcast messages for emergency warnings are pretty much guaranteed to work, but they work on many devices with older versions, too.

Source of the claim
This claim seems to be based on a misunderstanding - probably some press release that got misquoted or incorrectly abbreviated somewhere along the line.
It is unclear where this claim originated. Many news sources have published it (see links in question), but the sources I found all do not attribute the claim, and use similar wording, so they probably copied it from some press release or article somewhere. The official site of the responsible German government agency (Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe  - https://www.bbk.bund.de/ ) does not mention Android 11 specifically - instead, it lists individual phone models that are or are not supported (Kann mein Gerät Cell Broadcast empfangen?).
Technical details

Each Cell Broadcast message contains a "message identifier" or "message ID" (also called a "channel" on some phones), a number from 0-65535. That message identifier tells the phone the type and content of the message, such as a weather report, a technical message, or a warning message.
For emergency warnings, specific message IDs have been reserved for different types of warnings, in particular IDs 4352 – 6399. The technology, along with the message IDs, is contained in the standard ETSI TS 123 041, at least since version 9.2.0, published in January 2010. The new German warning system, specified in the offical standard Technische Richtlinie DE-Alert, basically follows this standard.
Support for emergency warnings via Cell Broadcast mainly requires that the phone reacts to Cell Broadcast messages with these message IDs. The offical Android source code has supported these emergency warning message IDs since at least V4.2/Jelly Bean (see source code).

Conclusion
The offical Android source code (as published by the Android Open Source Project) has supported cell broadcast emergency warnings with the standardized message IDs since at least V4.2/Jelly Bean, so in principle emergency warnings should work at least with all phones running Jelly Bean or later..
However, phone manufacturers (and even mobile network operators supplying phones to customers) can and do customize the official Android source code they put on their devices. It is possible that some of them removed or deactivated warning messages, either entirely, or specifically for German phone networks, as these warnings were not previously used in Germany. For example, on older Samsung phones warnings are supported, but must be manually activated (offical Samsung page).
This changed with Android 11. Before, emergency warning support was part of the general source code, which manufacturers modify and ship to end users. In Android 11, a new Cell Broadcast module was introduced. While the actual functionality seems mostly unchanged, the new module can be updated individually by Google via OTA updates (specifically as an APEX package). That means Google can push updates without requiring a complete Android OS update, and independently of the manufacturers (who may not want to provide updates for old phones).
That means that phones which

run Android 11 or later, and
are up to date with Google updates

are practically guaranteed to support emergency warnings, as Google has provided a suitable update. However, many phones running Android 4.2 or later also support these warnings.
Check settings
To see if your device supports warning messages, check Android settings, or the message app settings (depending on device).
If the configuration is available in the settings (look for a section called "emergency alerts" or "wireless emergency alerts"), and if the alerts are activated there, the phone will most likely support the warnings (unless the manufacturer made complicated changes, which is possible but unlikely).

You can find the Message-IDs for CMAS / EU-Alert Level 1-3 even in the source for Android 2.3.6.
CellBroadcast warnings might also be supported if the option is nowhere in the settings. The OEM might just have removed/forgotten the link.
The App "Activity Launcher" can still find the settings if you search for "cellbroadcast".

That's not an easy to answer question. According to reporting Germany extended the GSM standard that already was provided by most mobile phone vendors, by insisting on a message-identifier length of four instead of three digits. Germany formerly relied on a bunch of apps like

NINA
BIWAPP
Katwarn

to only name the best known ones. Neither of them were widespread enough to provide propper warnings for all citizens, nevertheless the Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK) pushed for these apps instead of an app-independent solution so much that some vendors even removed the CBS functionality completely if the device ought to be sold in Germany (my LG for example does not provide it). This would be another obstacle to overcome now anyways.
Interestingly enough does section 9.4.1.2.2 of TS 123 041 specify the four digit message-identfier 4370 to 4393 used by DE-Alert even in version V11.4.0 of 2012 for PWS/EU-Alert. So why this shouldn't be implemented in most phones for years, I don't understand. Perhaps I have misread the whole thing but for me it represents as a lack of pressure from other countries to implement the standard. Additionally, as the working group for critical infrastructure (AG Kritis) in Germany states: the practice (in other countries) in the past were three digit message-identifier (reserved for operator messages according to TS 123 041). But the BBK amended it's requirements in a way that older devices would also receive a message-id 919 in parallel for highest severity, unfortunately they did this too late for other providers than T-Mobile to comply before alert day was due.

TL;DR: Other countries used existing functionality in phones to implement PWS while Germany relied on apps for years. Which is the reason they decided to drop backward functionality for older phones until it was too late for the test on alert day.
Sources:

Technical realization of Cell Broadcast Service TS 123 041
Technical realization of European Public Warning System
Technical realization of DE-Alert
Press release of AG Kritis

Yes, the three-vs-four digit thing was mentioned in other articles as well. However, as far as I could find, that is not the real problem - as you write, four-digit message identifiers were already specified in TS 123 041 back in ~2010, so every phone from that last ten years should support them. The problem is only with very old phones (20+ years).

I assume that the cell broadcast message id which has a limit in former implementations is not the message id that the standards talk about. Because it's a fact that during alert day older mobile phones were not working, even though they'd support CBS in other countries. Now that you've answered your question yourself, I see that the question actually wasn't "Why should there be a problem with Android versions before 11?",  because your analysis seems to be that there is no problem. I trust the analysis of AG Kritis more than yours, though. I'm just missing the origin of the id length issue.


text:
How to use a single WhatsApp Business number on two different phones?
I'm trying to use two different phones for one WhatsApp Business number due to them only allowing the use of one phone.
How to use a single WhatsApp Business number on two different phones? Can I do it by making an app think I'm using a tablet?

Why not install a Work profile and install Whatsapp Business in it too?

@Firelord, what is a work profile?

This might be an XY-problem because WhatsApp doesn't support Android tablet. Also, I think the wording "use two phones" is a bit unclear. Did you mean 1) you want to use the same WhatsApp account (phone number) on different devices? (AFAIK, not possible), or 2) you want to use different WhatsApp accounts (phone numbers) on the same device? (use parallel space)

@AndrewT. I clarified


text:
I deleted my .asec files, what happened to the apps on my SD-card?
I have a phone with Android 4.4 kitkat and a 32GB SD card on which I had noticed the .android_secure folder was taking up 1.5GB of storage so I decided to free up some storage. There were apps in the folder that I didn't have installed on my phone anymore so I thought it'd be safe to delete them as they were not used by my phone anymore. Many apps also had their creation and modification dates set to a couple days ago instead of the date they were actually installed which I thought was odd.
I didn't expect anything to go wrong, but after deleting some asec files and putting the sd card back in the phone, I noticed not a single app from my sdcard loaded. I waited a bit but even after it was mounted my apps weren't there. To my horror when I went in settings and looked under the apps, all my apps were gone. I tried recovering the deleted asec files and putting them back but the apps don't appear anymore. Luckily the asec files only contain the apk files of the app, and the data is stored on the phones internal memory right?
How can I get the phone to read the asec files again? Or if I can't get it to load the asec files, can I reinstall the apps and will the data still be kept or is the app data deleted? Lastly I want to know if it's safe to put an sdcard with apps from one phone onto another phone and be able to swap the sd card between the two phones or if that might also cause the phones to reject the asec files?

It took a bit of testing but I found what I was looking for.
I reinstalled some of the apps from apk files I had on my sd card and both surprisingly and unsurprisingly my data is actually still there! Even the installation date of the app is the date still the same as it was before its asec was deleted, I assume the installation dates are then stored in the app database, which is stored as /data/system/packages.xml. This answers the most important question: If you deleted your .android_secure or deleted your .asec files, the app data will likely still just be safe in the phone memory, luckily. For data recovery I would suggest testdisk and photorec or recuva, so if you don't remember what apps you had installed to your sd card you can actually partially recover the asec files and see what apps are deleted and the dates of when they were last edited. The files themselves are hard to recover but the original folder structure can be restored. The reason I think the recovered asec files don't work is they are most likely fragmented files and the recovery tools have a hard time puzzling the pieces of a fragmented asec together as it's encrypted and not a clear structure of data. Reinstalling the app from the same apk you had before pretty much writes the asec identically to how it was before it was deleted.
Asec files keys are stored under /data/misc/systemkeys/AppsOnSD.sks and I assume it's safe to move the sd card between different phones and the apps on sd card should be fine. If you install one app on the same card from different devices it'll store multiple dm-crypt volumes with each device's separate key. I don't know yet why the .asec files appear to be rebuilt or modified sometimes, they seem to have their creation dates all updated at once at a seemingly random dates in groups.
Conclusion: It's no big deal if you delete your .asec files, you can always reinstall the apps from a .apk file and it will create a new one for the app and it leaves the app data untouched after reinstalling. The app data and cache is kept even if the .asec file for it is missing, so also if you want to delete an app, make sure to properly do it from settings because deleting the asec or apk files leaves the app data under the /data/data folder where you can't access it or delete it when you don't have root access.
I couldn't find much useful information about this online so I hope this info helps or teaches someone a bit about how this app2sd works.


text:
How to disable the screenshot sound effect on Android 12 (and above)?
To my knowledge there's no such setting in AOSP, having combed through the system options in several major LineageOS (19 at the time) and CyanogenMod releases.
The only method I know is to delete the related file (I've also wiped the entire folder contents) in /system/product/media/audio/ui/ using root or alternative using the 'do not disturb mode' at all times.
The stock camera app (e.g. com.android.camera2) may or may not have an option to turn off the shutter sound.

a question about Android 11 and Google Pixel 3


text:
Unable to register new passkeys for Android 13 with error message "Your encrypted data is locked on this device"
I was experimenting with the passkey support for Chrome on Android when I came upon this error while registering a new passkey:

Your encrypted data is locked on this device
For security, you can no longer access your encrypted data on this device. Try again using a device you've recently used to sign in to your Google Account.
Visit https://g.co/OnDeviceEncryption to learn more.

Screenshot of the error message
I am running Android 13 using a Google Pixel phone. I believe that Google uses Google Password Manager to save the passkeys. But, I am not sure how to correct this. I have tried to sign in to another phone with the same account, but this keeps on happening.

Have you tried enabling "on-device encryption" on the phone first? Open Chrome \ Settings \ Password Manager \ Settings \ Click Set up under On-device encryption.

I have the same issue on Galaxy S23. Trying to enable On-device encryption fails authenticating Google account with fingerprint, but succeeded with manually entering password. Adding new passkey still fails though.

Same issue with Google Password Manager on Motorola Edge and HP Envy PC


text:
Ota update and factory reset after rooting
In Galaxy note4 910k ,After rooting ,
I did *unrooting using Magisk or super SU to prevent the bank app and rooting check app from detecting rooting.
but if I do the factory reset or OTA update in this situation, will the bank app stop working?
I saw many cases that after reset, root checking apps cant detect root, but banking apps dont run


text:
ADB sideload lineageOS Samsung J530F: E3004 This package is for device: j5y17ltexx; this device is
Context
While trying to sideload  this LineageOS from this link, on a Samsung J530F I'm getting the error:

E3004 This package is for device: j5y17ltexx; this device is .

Normally that message can be used to indicate you are trying to install the wrong/an incompatible operating system on the phone. However, in this case the this device is . does not show what the device type actually is. And when I rebooted the phone into its original recovery mode, it said on top:
Phone type is:
j5y171texx/j5y171te.

So I think the lineageOS package is the right one for the right phone.
Image with Error:

TWRP version
TWRP version is: 3.1.1-0 from the Team Win Recovery Project
Question
Why does the phone not indicate what type it is/how can I ensure the lineageOS file is installed anyways?

Possible dupe: E3004: This package is for device: gprimeltexx,fortunafz,grandprimelte,grandprimeltexx; this device is (missing entry in build.prop), E3004: This package is for device: gts210vewifi; this device is (outdated TWRP)

The answer was to update the twrp version to version 3.2.x. I tried roughly 14 TWRP versions until I found a working one. Additionally on that one I installed TWRP 3.2.x from TWRP 3.1.1-0 (which was installed on the RECOVERY partition), onto the BOOT partition.
Within that new TWRP, the error on installing the Lineagos zip changed from the above to error 7, which also implies the image and the phone are not compatible. One could overrule that by unpacking the image, taking out some asserts, and repacking it. However, I did not do that, instead I found an /e/ os image in this link which did work.


text:
No widgets show in Android 12
I just noticed that no widgets display on my phone. I updated to Android 12 a few weeks ago, but honestly, I don't make use of widgets, so I don't know if they worked before the upgrade.
Troubleshooting after I was not successful in resolving the issue, I saw that I can select a widget and place it on the screen, but it still doesn't display.
What setting can I check that could cause this problem besides the 'normal' ones, like allowing the widget to overlay programs?

Could you mention the device model? Have you tried different home screen/launcher apps? Is the device by chance using Android Go?

The phone is a Moto G Power.


text:
How to make `/system` dir files readable using `sepolicy-inject` tool?
In enforcing SELinux state, Android /system files become unavailable to read in explorer. How to make /system dir files readable using sepolicy-inject tool?
Also, need sepolicy-inject command for setting read-write permission to a single file in the /system dir.

For those who are not familiar with sepolicy-inject, is it this tool: https://github.com/phhusson/sepolicy-inject?

Yes,https://github.com/xmikos/setools-android


text:
Why is rooting most Android phones "difficult"?
Why is rooting relatively difficult/manual-labour intensive?
I assume phone-sellers would like to

keep collecting data (for themselves or others)
and keep the users safe.
Be sure that warranty calls are not activated due to damaging homebrewn software.

So I assume that is why most manufacturers make it quite difficult to root an Android phone. Based on my experience, the following steps are required for rooting most Android phones:

Enable developer mode.
(Allow unlocking oem/bootloader)
Enable ADB
Find a TWRP/bootloader that works for that specific phone
Use some leaked/hacked tool like ODIN (for Samsung) to push that TWRP/bootloader over the existing recovery mode, whilst rooting the device.
Or an open source tool like Heimdall.
Or using some rooting app, which I assume use some security exploit in the factory-default phone/OS.

Because if the issue were merely point 2 and 3, decent support for rooting may be provided with a simple prompt asking the user: "Are you sure? Are you really really sure?"
I think there is quite some consumer value to be reached in rooting phones automatically, so I would like to better understand how this ecosystem works, and what the perspectives of the manufacturers are on rooting.

The simple answer to your question is: "because this part of Android is not standardized". Every manufacturer can have a different bootloader and also unlock mechanism. E.g. Motorola (and Huawei before they disabled unlocking) implement a variant where have to generate a device specific unlock code you have to enter in the fastboot oem unlock process so they can track which device was ever unlocked.

Phones are not using any hardware specification like UEFI so every chipmaker is doing its own thing. UEFI consolidates multiple bootloaders and offers a generic way to bootstrap bootloader and recovery. UEFI also offers secure boot toggle which is permanently enabled in phones. Even new OEMs like Nothing and Fairfone give no attention to this aspect.

Android Security is quite different from Computer OS and heavily depends on isolated apps. This is done by each app becomes a "user" with its own uid (file system permissions) so every app can only access its own directory /data/data/pkgname.
For the same reason it's forbidden to grant access to /data as that is apps internal data not intended to mess up.
Indeed that's what you expect on iPhone, iPod, Smart TV or wifi router as these are embedded systems devices running precompiled firmware.
I don't agree normal consumer could benefit from rooted device, especially not Samsung devices where this would break Samsung Knox which is must have for privacy.
The fact that some OEMs still allow unlocking bootloader is a gift to android community, it hands over the risks and responsibilities to the customizing developer and excludes warranty, which is not what most consumer want.


text:
Touch to awake screen only
I'm using Android for a HMI touch screen that is embedded in an electrical cabinet.
It runs a kiosk app with a web browser that connects to a web interface. The interface has buttons that does stuff.
The screen is set to sleep after 2 minutes. And is awakened by touch.
But I dont want the touch to activate any of the buttons in the interface, if the screen is sleeping.
So the first touch only awakes the screen and doesnt register as input in the interface.
Is there an app for this? That could extend/replace the built in screen saver.


text:
Where does Magisk look for image files?
I'm attempting to root a Nexus 5x.  I've installed Magisk 25.2 but I don't know where to place the image file so that Magisk can find it.  When I select "Select and Patch a File", Magisk allows me to select from "Recent", "Audio", "Downloads", and "Photos".  Where are these folders on the file system so that I can move to the image file with adb push?

If you click the three dots in the top-right corner, you'll see the option "Show Internal Storage".  Once you click on that, the "Internal Storage" item will show up in the side bar.  Clicking on that, you'll see various subfolders which are contained in /sdcard (at least, on my phone).


text:
How to run a WiFi speed test periodically and log results?
I would like an app (or some other method) that will run every N minutes and check the WiFi speed and log the result.
I tried this using Open App Scheduler to run a speed test (from speedtest.net) but this fails because the speed test requires the user to press "Go". Speedtest does keep a history log.
So I need a way to log the result but does not need user input. If it's an app, would it also need to exit the app after each run?
Thank you.

Those online tests allow you to test your internet connection. Your Wifi speed is usually faster than your internet connection speed. For checking your Wifi speed install an iperf3 server in your local network connected via ethernet to your Wifi router and execute the iperf3 client on your phone. Using termux you should be able o use a script that performs the test periodically.

Do you really want to check your WiFi speed?  Or do you want to check your Internet speed that is available via your WiFi connection?

For the internet speed test, there's a Q&A about running Speed Test from CLI: Install Python to run speedtest-cli on Android phone with no access to device - via adb. Perhaps it's possible to write a script and run it periodically.

@Robert I had to install openssl, too.


text:
Changing boot & shutdown screen on Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus
Can anyone help me with how to change the boot screen and shutdown screen on my Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus? It seems to me that I cannot change the files in the system. It won't let me edit them or replace them etc.
I've tried for hours with this and got nowhere. I tried changing files in system files but they're locked up and can't be edited or overwritten, etc. I tried an app that's meant to write over them for you with new animation files for start-up and shutdown, but that won't do the trick either.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Does this answer your question? Disable avb/dm-verity manually on super partition

A similar question hints that it needs root access to change the boot animation.


text:
Audio from Edge started to stutter when Edge runs in background
I have been listening to music through a web application in Edge for over a year. A few days ago, sporadically the sound has become stuttery. I noticed that this is happening when Edge is explicitly going into background mode. When I show the recent apps, there is a link named "1 active in background".

When I tap the link, an option appears to stop Edge.

As soon as I open Edge normally, the stutter disappears, so the sound turns normal.
How can I stop the stuttering? Or is there a possibility to tell Edge not to go in background mode?
This happens on Samsung Galaxy S21, Android 13, Edge 108.0 . Sound output was any time over bluetooth.


text:
Export all opened chrome tabs from android phone to desktop/laptop
I have a lot of chrome tabs opened (both individually as well as in groups) in my Android phone. I am having a lot of problems in accessing them and navigating between them all one by one in my Android phone. I want to export all of them to my desktop or laptop as I think I will be able to better manage my tabs using a computer. However, I was not logged into my Google account in Android chrome till now so none of the tabs in my Android phone are synced with my Google account. Also, I don't think that logging at this moment with my Google account in Android chrome will sync them all with my Google account. How do I get all my open Android chrome tabs exported to my lappy or PC?


text:
Maps for Planning Daily Itineraries
I am trying to use google 'My Maps' to build daily itineraries and have them accessible offline. Saved 'My Maps' are accessible in Google Maps via a diminutive button under the 'saved' menu, however seemingly without a offline functionality. Alternatively would be to export the kmz file and use it within another app such as OsmAnd. However, this would be easier automatically synced with changes without needing to download a static version of the map. (Network-linked kmz files currently not supported). Has anyone found a workable solution for what ought be a common and intuitive use of maps API / GUI?


text:
Mobile network does not work after flashing a custom ROM on Samsung Galaxy J7
I've flashed Lineage OS 18.1, 17.1, and Havoc OS to Samsung Galaxy J7, but it seems that every custom ROM I flash on my mobile changes my IMEI to 350000000000006, thus my mobile network doesn't work. WiFi still works properly.
I've tried:

Formatting the device with TWRP first, instead of just wiping.
Installing the recovery of the Lineage OS 18.1 itself and making things by it.
The MTK tool to repair my IMEI, but my mobile is not MediaTek-based, so it doesn't work.
A bunch of apps that promise to repair your IMEI, but no success.
Fastboot, but it seems that this mobile does not support it.

Specs:

My mobile: SM-J700M
Brand: Samsung
OS: Lineage 18.1
Country: Brazil
Country code: 55
Mobile service provider: TIM

Any clue on how I proceed after this?

For certain Samsung devices it is necessary to backup one of the partitions before installing a custom ROM and afterwards restore this partition to retain mobile network/IMEI functionality. Not sure if this is also required for your phone model.

@Robert explain better, please. By official version (that works mobile network) i have just the android 6. Should i install android 6 and make a backup and recovery in lineage 18.1 ?

I am not sure if the situation is the same for your device, therefore I postet it as comment. I had once a Samsung device that had large warnings in the tutorial for installing a custom ROM that first you need to take a backup of a special partition (don't remember it's name) that is otherwise lost. Without that partition cellular does no longer work (IMEI invalid). Once the partition is lost it is very difficult to reconstruct or finding an alternative version that works because that partition is device specific and thus not included in any official system firmware package.


text:
Why does the fingerprint sensor trigger the screen?
When I touch the fingerprint sensor while I watch YouTube in the app it activates the controls on YouTube, like I was tapping the screen. Somehow the YouTube app and maybe other apps listen to the event of the fingerprint sensor and reacts to it. This is very annoying to me since the fingerprint sensor is in an easy to reach place so it happens often. This is reproducible on different phones and android versions. Is there a way to disable this behavior somehow?

Is there a "swipe fingerprint" in settings that is enabled? On my Pixel 4a you can swipe to read notifications. Maybe something like that is enabled and is triggering the behavior?

Also mention the phones with Android version. It could be some setting specific to the OS

There's no option for this in settings. It seems to only trigger the event when the fingerprint is recognized or at least it successfully read the print. When I touch the sensor briefly or incompletely it does not trigger. I tried it on Android versions 9 and 12, it's the same. Only common factor is Mediatek CPU. In the video the first activation was touch on the screen, the rest were triggered by the sensor. video

@ÁdámBozzay please mention the specific device model because each manufacturer can customize their own Android, thus doing different behaviors on different devices.

After watching the video, it looks like a hardware/software-related issue. Otherwise, this is just a guess, but it could also be related to the accessibility feature (e.g. MacroDroid Fingerprint Gesture Detector). You might want to check the Android's Accessibility settings.

I checked the accessibility settings, there's nothing relevant there. I don't think it's an "issue" since 2 completely different phones have the same behavior. But I'll check it on more. These 2 are noname chinese phones (no relation between the two) with completely stock android.

The purpose of fingerprint is to wake up the screen (unlock screen lock).
fingerprint sensor is designed to unlock screen. it is (usually) only touched when screen is in locked state. But it does not harm to "unlock" screen each time fingerprint is detected, even it's already in unlocked state. From developers point of view there is no need for extra coding routine to ignore requests in unlock state. Like there is no need to ignore staircase light button while light is on.

Yes, when the screen is in sleep. But not when it's awake

my fingerprint sensor always wakes screen no matter what mode (I don't even have set any fingerprint, my device is secured with pin only)

While this answer may be true (that is: it wakes the screen), I don't think it's related to the question, which (according to the video on the comment) is like the screen being touched physically.

Since we don't know how YouTube is implemented, we don't know what event it subscribes to. But I would think that it does not specifically subscribe to the fingerprint sensor, because why would it? It's more likely that the fingerprint sensor triggers some more generic event (like wake up screen) and that's what YouTube reacts to. My question is why would the sensor generate an event like this when the screen is already awake?

"why would the sensor generate an event like this when the screen is already awake?" - question is why not? imagine you have a staircase light button that ignores all time increase requests until the light switched off

Contrary to a staircase light switch this does not really serve a purpose. You are saying that the user would tap the fingerprint sensor every now and then to keep the screen from going into sleep. I don't think that anybody does that, it's just not designed for that. Besides, the YouTube app already prevents the screen from going into sleep. It just does not make sense. And I'd be interested in what causes this behavior and how to prevent that, because it's annoying.

fingerprint sensor is designed to unlock screen. it is (usually) only touched when screen is in locked state. But it does not harm to unlock screen each time fingerprint is detected, even it's already in unlocked state. From developers point of view there is no need for extra coding routine to ignore requests in unlock state. Like there is no need to ignore staircase light button while light is on. I didn't say user would tap the fingerprint to keep screen awake - it's a side-effect. I think you got it ;)

This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - From Review

@jlehenbauer there are two questions. while it may not answer "Is there a way to disable this behavior somehow?" it actually represent an answer to "Why does the fingerprint sensor trigger the screen?" ;)

It doesn't relate to the behavior being experienced in this case though, only what the theoretical behavior could be surrounding this situation. If you're indicating your answer was based on a reading of the title rather than the question itself, then yes, we could consider changing the title to be more representative of the question being asked.


text:
Avoid waiting for short text speech recognition
When I use Google speech recognition on the keyboard with a short sentence, I have to wait on Google to know this is the end of dictation.
example : I tap the microphone, then I say just "ok, it's noted". I have to wait about 5 seconds. If I touch microphone icon, it stops the recognition and nothing is inserted.
Is there a way to force the end of dictation and the recognition of the short text I have pronounced ?

Maybe something here can help https://support.google.com/android/thread/22906479/how-do-i-get-voice-typing-to-to-type-a-period-question-mark?hl=en


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Change main Kodi source
tl;dr How to change a Samba source in Kodi that has become invalid, to make it valid again?

I am using Kodi 19.3 Matrix on board Android 11. My entire library is based on a single SMB source in my home network (a NAS drive).
I have updated my NAS' disk. The new one has a different label and thus network path pointing to it has changed a little bit.
How can I edit (or delete) that single source in my Kodi?
No matter where I go (library, settings), no matter what I choose, Kodi is shooting me with errors messages that path is invalid or playing given item has failed. But offers me know way to edit that source.


text:
Installing "wrong" WhatsApp on Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite
My friend purchased a new tablet, "Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite", to replace their current "Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2016)".
I am trying to help them move WhatsApp over. However, all my installation attempts are installing a weird beta version of WhatsApp that acts like "WhatsApp Web" only.
In other words, instead of asking for a phone number upon first access, it is showing me a QR code and requesting me to go to the other device and link it, just like WhatsApp Web does.
What I want is to make the new tablet the new "main" WhatsApp application, replacing the current tablet. How to do this?

are you asking about how to install WhatsApp?

@alecxs How to install it correctly, yes, since the installation from google play is incorrect in this case. Maybe google play is detecting the device incorrectly?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp

@alecxs Thanks but same problem happens. I suspect your link points to the same place I started from.

click on DOWNLOAD APK
49.43 MB button (other buttons are adds) and install apk yourself (permissions required)

Whatsapp is linked to the mobile number. If you install it on a non-mobile device, then it can only be a mimic of another device.
That is why it's behaving like a web version. This version has to link to a main device with a sim card / phone number.
You may have to wait a while for the truly windows version, according to this report from indianexpress

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a desktop version of the app that may allow users to use the messaging platform even when the phone is not connected to the internet. The information comes from a reliable leaker WABetaInfo, which claimed that WhatsApp is building a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) that would work even when the phone is off.
For those who don’t know; WhatsApp can be accessed on a computer via WhatsApp Web app for PC or web.whatsapp.com address on a browser. All you need to do is log-in into the WhatsApp Web and you will be able to receive and send messages via PC without the need to touch your phone.
However, in order to use WhatsApp on PC, you need to have WhatsApp installed on your phone and the device must have internet connectivity.

Additionally, Whatsapp can no longer be installed on several phones after Nov 2021.

Currently, we provide support for and recommend using the following devices:
Android running OS 4.1 and newer
iPhone running iOS 12 and newer
KaiOS 2.5.0 and newer, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2

from Whatsapp faq
On another site, S3 mini is listed as one of the devices that it will not work on.  If your tablet has a lower version of android, then try to update it first.

Thanks! But although it is a tablet, I put a SIM card on it and even tested a standard phone call to my mobile phone which worked perfectly. Therefore, I suspect that Whatsapp is incorrectly assuming that the device is non-mobile. Any ideas with this?

Is the SIM still in it ?

I wonder why the Windows version is mentioned here even if the device is Android...?

OP here.
It somehow worked. We uninstalled WhatsApp from the old tablet, and then tried again to install it (normally, from Play Store) on the new tablet and then it just worked. I have no idea how this was possible though, I can't explain it.
Note: This was done a few days after I posted the question, but I am only adding the answer now because I forgot to do it.


text:
How to keep my Android phone asleep until I press the power button
When I am done with doing something on my Android phone, I put it asleep with the Power Button. I expect it to stay asleep until I press Power again, or perhaps until a phone call comes in. This is to minimize draining the battery.
However, the phone wakes up when putting it away, e.g. in my trouser bag. After several seconds the screen goes dark again. But why? Is this a 'feature'?
When walking in the dark, the phone backlight will shine through my clothes.
Is it possible to turn this 'feature' off?
I might be old fashioned, wanting to be in control in turning this thing on and off when I, the owner, want this.
This behaviour happened with my previous phone, Motorola Moto, with android 11, and with my current Moto E32s with Android 12.

Does your Settings app have an option which is something like "Lift to wake up" or "Lift to check phone"? If yes, disable it and see if the problem goes away.

Kudo's to
@Firelord: disabling Lift To Wake was very important, thanks!
In the same settings page I found Peek Display to be somewhat important, to keep the phone asleep. Peek shows the time on a black screen in small font every once in a while during sleep.
Both settings can be found by searching Settings for Lift, or by going to Settings, Display, Advanced.


text:
Wireguard Android: How to configure secondary DNS?
I'm using the official Wireguard app and configured a DNS Server in the app that is only reachable via the VPN. How can I configure a Fallback DNS when the VPN connection is not working or the DNS is not reachable? If I add a second DNS as a comma separated list, both DNS seem to be used randomly. Some apps use the first element others the second, but I like to use the second DNS only as a fallback.


text:
Disable Whatsapp group notifications except from one person in that group
I want to turn off all sorts of group notifications from a specific group in Whatsapp, except if a specific person in that group sends a message there. Is there any way to do so?

AFAIK, it's impossible to do that, at least not from WhatsApp directly since it only provides a custom notification for the whole group, or mutes the notification for all messages, but no in-between/more sophisticated notification customization.

I don't think that's possible.


text:
Scanning huge audio files is slow, but does it have to be?
I am using Musicolet player which has an option to use Musicolet scanner or system scanner for media scanning. I wonder why scanning some single huge file is so slow? Does the scanner have to scan each file byte by byte or what takes so long?


text:
Can I check for multi-process apps on a device using adb?
I have an Android device and I want to know either:

whether there are currently any apps running in multiple processes
whether there are any apps installed with the ability to run in multiple processes

Is either of these possible with adb?


text:
How to open Google Assistant from lock screen without voice command?
On a Samsung phone, I cant find a way to open/command Google Assistant from lock screen with a touch button or even side keys. Looks like only way to open it from lock screen is "ok google" voice command. I'd like to start it via touch button or side key, not voice. Thanks.

What model, doe sit have Bixby ?

@RohitGupta , a52 a32 applies to all models with android 11 i guess.  It has bixby. Having problem with g.asistant though.

On Android 13

Open Settings
In Search, type in Side
Click on Side key
Enable Double Press
Select Open App
Select Google

Now a double press will launch it.  On my Note 20, it is the Power Key.
On Android 11
I cant test it, but this is supposed to work. You need to make a quick command, change Bixby to double press and assign Google to single press.

Open Bixby
Press on three dot menu
Select Quick commands
Press the + button on the upper right of the screen within the Quick commands page
Enter Google in the field under "What Bixby does"
Press Type a command
Enter Launch Assistant  exactly
Press Bixby key once
In Settings
Enable Double Press to Open Bixby  Now Bixby will launch with double press
Select Use single press
Enable it
Select Run quick command
Select Google

Now Google should open with one click of the Bixby button.
Ref gadgethacks

Thanks but it didnt work. It only opens after unlocking device besides Google app opens not assistant.

I think thats the closest you are going to get.  The Google window has the Assistant at the very top.  Its one step closer.


text:
Set per-app language with adb shell?
I was looking forward to using per-app languages with Android 13.
However, my OnePlus 8T does not feature the necessary settings item for that on OxygenOS 13.
Is it possible to set a different language with an adb shell command?
adb shell settings get global settings_app_locale_opt_in_enabled returns null, so I'm not sure if it's even implemented at all.
Smartphone is rooted with Magisk.

9R user here. my native lang is ua, but I mainly use en. wanted to set ua for one particular app and also was seeking for this option. it seems that oneplus turned it off
https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/zfgoy5/just_updated_my_op9_pro_to_oxygenos_13_but_cant/
$ ~/w/own [255]> adb shell settings put global settings_app_locale_opt_in_enabled false

Exception occurred while executing 'put':
java.lang.SecurityException: Permission denial: writing to settings requires:android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsProvider.enforceWritePermission(SettingsProvider.java:2562)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsProvider.mutateGlobalSetting(SettingsProvider.java:1562)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsProvider.insertGlobalSetting(SettingsProvider.java:1516)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsProvider.call(SettingsProvider.java:495)
    at android.content.ContentProvider.call(ContentProvider.java:2511)
    at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.call(ContentProvider.java:525)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsService$MyShellCommand.putForUser(SettingsService.java:384)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsService$MyShellCommand.onCommand(SettingsService.java:280)
    at com.android.modules.utils.BasicShellCommandHandler.exec(BasicShellCommandHandler.java:97)
    at android.os.ShellCommand.exec(ShellCommand.java:38)
    at com.android.providers.settings.SettingsService.onShellCommand(SettingsService.java:51)
    at android.os.Binder.shellCommand(Binder.java:1073)
    at android.os.Binder.onTransact(Binder.java:901)
    at android.os.Binder.execTransactInternal(Binder.java:1331)
    at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:1268)
$ ~/w/own [255]>

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

Alright, that confirms it. My solution in the meantime has been LineageOS 20.0, which was release just before 2023. It supports the native per-app-language which works well one you disable the opt-in setting.

just attempt to delete the setting and create it afterwards.
delete settings:
adb shell settings delete global settings_app_locale_opt_in_enabled
Deleted 0 rows

create it and assign the value:
adb shell settings put global settings_app_locale_opt_in_enabled false

confirm it's in place:
adb shell settings get global settings_app_locale_opt_in_enabled
false


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dumpsys battery in Termux
I am trying to get battery info in Termux.
I granted android.permission.DUMP and android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS via ADB for com.termux (Termux app)
Then I opened Termux and types in /system/bin/dumpsys battery. It displays this error message:
Can't find service: battery

and exits with code 0.
I can confirm that I can get those info via ADB using the same command (e.g. getting battery level with /system/bin/dumpsys battery | grep level)
Am I missing some permissions for Termux app? Or are there some more fixes? Please help.
Edit: I am aware of the existence of termux-battery-status command in Termux. It's output is not too informative. So I will not accept answers telling me to use the command.

It's restricted by SELinux. Apps cannot access u:object_r:battery_service:s0 context.

So this has no workaround?


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Where are original photos in Samsung Gallery stored?
In the Samsung Gallery app, we can edit photos and overwrite the original. Yet, we can somehow revert it. So the app seems to be saving original photos somewhere.
2 questions:

Where are they stored?
How to remove them?

I cannot find any info online about this.

it's in Samsung Gallery app data

Then can i remove those data only?

yes, if you clear app data from settings this won't touch DCIM/Camera directory

@alecxs it doesnt work

on my (MIUI) Gallery there is no such option to revert edits. instead, each edited file is saved as new file in original location with different name, while the original file remains untouched

Its a mystery to me too.  I suspect it may be in the cloud

Where in the cloud? I dont think so
Edit: there is another app for Samsung photo editing (not gallery). clearing data there doesnt help either


text:
Download official Samsung phone firmware
Does Samsung provides official firmware (old phones included)? I have found only user manuals on the web page. I'm looking for equivalent of Google's https://developers.google.com/android/images which allows full reinstallation with Linux (I know that fastboot was replaced by Odin, thus I'll have to use https://github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall).
I've found these sites, but these aren't official, right?

https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/
https://www.sammobile.com/
https://updato.com/

The reason I want is that I'd like to test postmarketOS (https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_J5_2016_(samsung-j5x)) and then I'd like to revert back.
UPDATE: the question is not "which tool should I use" (although that is useful to know), but "what is the official URL for downloading images. Is there any for updating by user clicking on the web page? (there might be just REST/other API for devices).
Looking at

SamloaderKotlin:

https://www.odinrom.com/samsung/ (https://github.com/zacharee/SamloaderKotlin/blob/9fee3940855d1a4cd565ae2f6896cdb0ee826782/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/tk/zwander/common/util/Firmware.kt#L27)
https://fota-cloud-dn.ospserver.net:443/firmware/ (https://github.com/zacharee/SamloaderKotlin/blob/9fee3940855d1a4cd565ae2f6896cdb0ee826782/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/tk/zwander/common/util/Firmware.kt#L45)
https://neofussvr.sslcs.cdngc.net (https://github.com/zacharee/SamloaderKotlin/blob/9fee3940855d1a4cd565ae2f6896cdb0ee826782/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/tk/zwander/common/tools/FusClient.kt#L76-L89), document: "Make a request to Samsung, automatically inserting authorization data." - is this really Samsung official?

samloader (already deprecated):

https://fota-cloud-dn.ospserver.net/firmware/ (https://github.com/samloader/samloader/blob/95d2ac8fb9027b7908d201e4ce807a5b338f923a/samloader/versionfetch.py#L20)
http://cloud-neofussvr.sslcs.cdngc.net (https://github.com/samloader/samloader/blob/95d2ac8fb9027b7908d201e4ce807a5b338f923a/samloader/fusclient.py#L40)
https://neofussvr.sslcs.cdngc.net/ (https://github.com/samloader/samloader/blob/95d2ac8fb9027b7908d201e4ce807a5b338f923a/samloader/fusclient.py#L19)

There are local tools that directly load Samsung firmware files from Samsung download servers. Samloader is (or was?) a very popular tool. Now there are other tools like Samloader Kotlin.

Thanks for adding Kotlin version, I knew only the original Samloader. I updated the question, because I really want to know the URL of the official storage. Without that how can I trust the tools they are downloading the official?

Unless you have unlocked the bootloader (or better has allowed to unlock it in developer options) Android devices will not allow to install non-matching or modified firmware.

@Robert Yes, that's true (I've done it on several non-Samsung aosp based devices), but how is it related to the question of official URL?

Well if you have an genuine original firmware it can be installed, if not the device will refuse to install it. So in the end after tryna Ng to install a downloaded firmware you will know if it is an original one or not. I know that this is not a good solution but I don't know how to verify a Samsung firmware offline (without device). As Samsung does not provide official download servers with a web UI I don't see an alternative than to trust samloader and successors.

Did you ever get Heimdall to work? It never worked for me ...


text:
Disable Kodi's mini-player. Force Kodi to stop playback when you press "Exit"
tl;dr How to prevent Kodi from continuing playback when you press Exit button on remote controller?

When you're playing a video file in any Android TV player that I have tested so far (about dozens) when you press Exit button on remote controller, your player stops playback. This is as obvious as it can be. "Exit" means "Stop".
Someone at Kodi's development team doesn't understand that and figured out that it will be so cool to continue playback when in Kodi 19.3 user presses Exit button. Kodi truly exits to the menu, but continues to play current movie in the background in something that I call a "mini-player".
This is as stupid as it can be, because usually I need to browse 5-6 menu screens until I get back to the home screen when I can turn this damn thing off.
Is there any configuration switch that controls this? Is there any way to disable this stupid behavior?
I think I have browsed each and every configuration section in Expert mode and found nothing. So I just want to get myself confirmed that I must learn myself to live with this.


text:
How could I find a recovery image for an obscure phone?
I have a phone (Alba 6), and it will not boot into the OS. I tried to go into recovery mode by holding the power and volume up buttons. This would have worked, but in place of the recovery menu coming up, a screen came up that said "No command". Apparently, to fix this, I need to flash a recovery image to my phone using fastboot (because I don't have USB debugging enabled and I obviously can't enable it currently). The problem is, I do not have a recovery image to use, nor can I find one. I came across TWRP, but my phone is very obscure, and there is no image available for it. Do any of you have an image, or know where I could find one? Is there a standardised image I could use? What are the steps I could take to get this phone fixed?

the no command screen is part of stock recovery.

@alecxs Oh. In that case, how do I navigate to the actual recovery menu so that I can back up and reset?

regarding unlocking bootloader and TWRP maybe ask in that thread

for backup you need SPD Research Tool (and some files)


text:
Getting google/google play to work on an android 4.04 tablet
Currently, the tablet seems to be in a chicken and egg situation:
Can't login to google (presumably) because of outdated software (we get a "invalid login" message, but the credentials are valid -- we tested on a computer), can't update the software because of lacking login to google.
So I ask: what should be installed to fix this? Perhaps a new version of google play, or that google services package? Would it be prudent to download those APKs from somewhere else instead of the google store?
I also presume that the most recent versions would not run. So what would be the latest versions that would accept to run on 4.04?

Plain Android 4.0 does not support TLS1.2 which is required for PlayStore access. Google has developed a workaround with a custom TLS library but I don't know how it is deployed. The only way I see is to install an updated version of Google Play Services and Google PlayStore. As updates have to have the same signature you can not install a manipulated or otherwise non-genuine app as update so matching APK files from third party websites are not a big risk (if the downloaded app is really an update).

According to this news, Google Play services dropped support for Android 4.0.x ICS in December 2018 with v14.7.99 as the last version. There's v14.8.49 on APK Mirror that still supports Android 4.0+, you might want to try it. However, the TLS 1.2 issue is more concerning since it has only been supported since Android 4.4.


text:
How to fix "android.process.media keeps stopping" - error re-appears in a 10-second loop
On a Galaxy Tab A on stock ROM the last update was the June 1 2022 patch for Android 10 received from Samsung in Oct 2022 and also brought with it some Samsung updates.  The update has introduced a serious error for me.  When the tablet boots and whenever I access a file (e.g. when I save a file from the web browser) I receive the error
android.process.media keeps stopping

(i) App info
 x  Close app

as a popup in the lower area of the screen.  When I click "x Close App" the error immediately re-appears.  If I wait instead the error message is removed after a timeout of 10 seconds and then also immediately re-appears.
Often, though after a few minutes the error message disappears.  Clicking the "x Close App" a few dozen times will apparently not accelerate the end of the error loop, however.  The next time internal or SD card storage is accessed by an app the error loop will start again.
How can I make this error disappear for good?  May I try to disable android.process.media?  I mean what does it do, do I need it?  What is the connection to Sec(ure) Media Storage?  I used to have errors about Sec Media Storage, too but they have disappeared somehow.
I have used the tablet for a few years and I have many files on it that I do not want to lose.  So, any fix or suggestion may not include a data wipe or reset of the tablet.  I cannot move files from Internal to SD Card storage - the file manager will just crash and the error message appear.  MTP is also dysfunctional and no connection to the computer is possible.
I have disabled lots of pre-installed apps I do not need or use but no new one when the error appeared.
EDIT 1:
Following the recommendation by mmmatey I went through all items in their list of steps to perform.  Here are the results:

Deleted the Google Play Store Cache (Data cannot be deleted)
I cannot Reset App Preferences because it would literally take hours to re-set everything (also, none of these settings were changed when the system first appeared so it is perhaps not likely to help)
There is no Contacts app but I cleared the Cache of Contacts Storage (again, Data cannot be cleared)
I tried disabling Media Storage but it cannot be disabled
There is no Google Sync option in Settings so I could not change anything here
Media Storage holds the photos on the device so I won't be able to clear it without losing data I still need.

Afterwards, I rebooted the tablet.  No change, sadly.
Digging through these options and setting shows to me again how many unneeded apps Samsung pre-installs.  Also many unused items cannot be disabled and other things are locked.  One would at least hope that then "everything works" because the user cannot change an important setting but this is clearly not always the case.

The solution might be to clear the cache for Google Play services and Application Manager app, check on this link with provided steps: https://appuals.com/android-process-media-has-stopped/


text:
Customize Chrome to show the count of tab groups instead of tabs
When Google Chrome rolled out the tab group feature on Android, it used to show the number of tab groups.
Ever since a recent update, they made it so that Chrome shows the total number of tabs instead. Is there a way to revert this?


text:
How to prevent additional user from sharing SMS?
I have a Google Pixel 4A 5G phone running Android 13. I added an additional user with System -> Multiple Users and enabled calls and SMS for the user. I am surprised that my messages are shared with the user. The documentation states that messages and apps are not shared. I chatted with Google Support but the person wasn't helpful. How do I prevent my messages from being shared with the additional user?
See https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2865944?hl=en which states the following:

You enabled calls and SMS for the user  so why are you surprised ? (I am surprised that my messages are shared with the user)

Are you talking about that messages that has been received in the past are shared or just new messages that are received after you created the additional user?

Both messages I received in the past as well as any new messages I receive are shared with the additional user.  See https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2865944?hl=en which states, Files and messages, like texts, email, photos, music, and more are not shared.