text:
App asks for Google account password (WhenHub) - how can I verify authenticity?
WhenHub is not the second app I've seen this happen, and it seriously rubs me the wrong way. When you start the app it given you a series of options to sign in (Google, Twitter, LinkedIn).

When choosing any option, the app prompts the user to enter the username and password inside the app. This presumably sends the user to the given provider site. However, having some background on building apps I can easily see how I could create a look-alike of the Google sign-in page to hijack the users data.

This is serious enough for me that I'm never going to be able to use this kind of app. Am I paranoid? Given the lack of a URL, is there any other way to verify that this page is indeed provided by Google and not being spoofed?

Asking the developer may help for getting a reason or at worst help him fix it is he is not aware of this concern

You could use a packet sniffing app to see if it is loading from Google, and then put in bad info and see if it's sent back to Google.  Without the app source you can't tell that is not being recorded by it as well, though.  But then again, how do you know your device manufacturer didn't add something to the OS to record everything anyways?  Bottom line is if you don't trust the software, its creators, or its publishers -- don't use it.


text:
What's the purpose of the data.info file in TWRP backup?
I've backed up the /data/ partition of my smartphone using TWRP recovery. It created 4 files on a SD card: data.ext4.win , data.ext4.win.md5 , recovery.log and data.info . I know what's inside of the first three files, but I don't really know what's inside of the data.info file. It looks like the file is a binary one, at least I can't simply view it in any file editor. Does anyone know what's the purpose of that file?

As you thought, data.info (and any file created by TWRP and with said extension) is a binary file. Given it, I've inspected it with the Linux tool hd, which lets me see an hexadecimal dump along with the decoded output.

Dump of the file
00000000  0c 00 62 61 63 6b 75 70  5f 73 69 7a 65 00 0b 00  |..backup_size...|
00000010  31 33 31 34 36 37 34 36  38 38 00 0c 00 62 61 63  |1314674688...bac|
00000020  6b 75 70 5f 74 79 70 65  00 02 00 30 00 0b 00 66  |kup_type...0...f|
00000030  69 6c 65 5f 63 6f 75 6e  74 00 05 00 37 31 30 37  |ile_count...7107|
00000040  00                                                |.|
00000041

As you may have guessed by looking at the rightmost column, those kind of files contain information such as backup size and type, as well as the file count.
Before you ask, do not delete those files. Should you do so, TWRP won't probably be able to restore your backup. Delete them only if you're brave and have a backup.

I'm not going to delete them. I was just curious what's in there. Thanks for the info.

@MikhailMorfikov You know, those answers are meant to be for future use, so I saw wise to mention that side note. Happy that my inspection was useful.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Titanium Backup unable to obtain root permission
I recently updated my SuperSU to 2.79. Titanium Backup has stopped working since then. I've tried reinstalling it and clearing data and cache too.
Strangely, it is trying to obtain SuperUser permission from a script in the location:
system/bin/.ext/.su
when I try to execute it using Android Terminal, it throws a Syntax Error.
Any help will be appreciated.

Super Su 2.79 is systemless root. This does not modify the /system to give root powers but modifies boot partition. I have a similar root and this sometimes doesn't go well with TiBu. The workaround for me was to go to SU settings and toggle mount namespace separation ( in my case it should be unchecked). Reboot and try TiBu again . Let me know if this solves

Yeah I was wondering it could be because of the systemless issue. And no toggling it didn't work.

Did you Reboot? If that also doesn't work try uninstalling and reinstalling TiBu with toggling

@beeshyams yes. I think I'll downgrade SuperSU to 2.64

Systemless root Had it's own advantage. If you care for that,  try going to earlier version of Tibu

@beeshyams I went systemless to check if I could make Pokémon Go work. Failed.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

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


text:
How do I get my Android to turn on?
I have a Motorola Turbo 2 Android. It won't turn on. It just stays on the Power By Android screen. I have tried turning it on by holding the volume up and power buttons. The screen shots up but I get lost at this point. It does not give me any option to start.
Now going from the Powered By Android screen... on and off.
What must I do to turn it on?
Might I be over charging it?

Hold down the power button for a while! It'll turn on. Comment back @owlswipe if that doesn't help.

I tried that several times. It did not work.

Next step: go into recovery mode and clear your cache. Let me know if that helps.

Seems like your phone is soft-bricked. You'll need to hard reset it.

Begin by switching off the device by holding down the Power key for a short while.
In the next step press and hold Volume Down + Power button simultaneously for a few seconds.
Press the Volume Down to select option "Recovery", and press the Power button to confirm.
When the Android bot shows up on the screen, hold down the Volume Up for a couple of seconds.
While holding the Volume Up hold down the Power key and after a short while release all buttons.
Afterwards press Volume Down to choose "wipe data/factory reset", and then push the Power key to confirm.
Select "Yes--delete all user data". Use Volume Down button to scroll and Power key to select.
To restart the tablet, select "reboot system now".

Your phone should boot normally.
Note that after a hard reset, the first boot takes several minutes, so be patient.
Please comment down if something goea wrong.

Will I use all my contacts in my phone if I do the "Yes--delete all user data"?

It depends on where you have saved them. Do you have a Google backup for your contacts?

@SharePointNY Try doing what esQmo said except do a wipe of your system cache (which won't delete your data like esQmo's plan will) instead of a deletion of all user data. Clearing your system cache should allow the phone to boot up.

I am trying the directions above. It's not working yet.

@SharePoinNY Where are you at?

This is so frustrating. I was just at my Android phone store. I showed the guy the problem. He said it's dead. I should get a new phone through my insurance. He did not try any of the restarts you suggested. So I did a restart to factory mode. NOW IT'S STARTING! Should I just keep the phone or get the refurbished one?

I can't tell whether you should or shouldn't, it depends to you now. You can mark this answer as accepted of the solution worked for you.


text:
Google play constantly asks for permissions
A few weeks ago my Xiaomi phone (MIUI 8) started showing a permission error, stating that more permissions are necessary. After enabling all of them, the error reoccurred after a few minutes, this time asking for other (previously enabled) permissions (mostly body sensors, storage, sms, etc).
It is somewhat annoying, since I get a notification every few minutes with the same error, which wakes up my screen. How can I fix this problem and make sure the permissions are always enables?

Try disabling Google Play Services and reenabling? Try clearing its cache? Force quitting it?

@owlswipe I did, and I also uninstalled all updates from google play services and framework and re-installed it (from here: http://www.mobipicker.com/fix-google-play-store-stopped-error-android-device/). I haven't tried a factory reset yet. Is there another way?

Try clearing the data cache of the Google Play Services app (Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services -> Storage -> Clear Cache and/or Clear Data) and then try clearing your system cache. And can you check for software updates?

@owlswipe Ha, I removed my google account, restarted the phone, logged back in and then cleared the cache as you advised. For an hour now there hasn't been such an error message, it seems that fixed it. Thank you! You could put this into an answer so that I can accept it and close the question.

Happy to help! Answered below, and if the issue comes back, feel free to comment back and I'll keep trying to help :D

This issue seems to me like a bug with Google Play Services, probably caused by some of your data within the Services app given that this isn't happening to everyone. Try these steps in order until the issue is resolved:

Check Google Play Services for an update in the Play Store, and if available perform it.
Force Stop Google Play Services in Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services -> Force Stop.
Log out of your Google account.
Restart your phone.
Log back into Google Play Services.
Clear its data and/or cache in Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services -> Storage -> Clear Cache/Clear Data.
(According to OP, not necessary): Clear your phone's system cache.

Note: See OP's comments above for how they fixed the issue.

Happy to hear this helped!!


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The 10.1 tablet charger
Does the 10.1 tablet have a special charger.
The one for the phone says adaptive fast charging with a electric symbol. It doesn't appear to work properly on the tablet. The tablet shows a symbol with a red x in it whilst the special one for the tablet is plain and shows the correct symbol while charging. The 2 different chargers are a puzzle unless you are aware and use only the dedicated one which is nearly identical to the others. Thanks Samsung for this hidden tidbit.

Do inspect the voltage and current labelled on the two chargers.

A little bit more information would have been nice e.g. charger models.
Anyway since the phone charger isn't charging your tablet i suspect that the phone charger does not deliver enough power. The Samsung adaptive charger i know of does support up to 2A although the website only list support for new samsung smartphones. I guess it will not recognise your tablet as a fast charge compatible device and it will charge it with the standard usb 2 power (500 mA) which isn't enough.
I recommend you to simply label your different charger to recognise them easier.


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LG G3 Verizon, No Boot
Last night I was using my Verizon G3, fully updated, not rooted, and it shut off and won't come back on.  If I remove the battery it will begin to boot then go to black screen before it gets to the "Verizon" screen.  The battery had about 40% charge left when it went off.
I can get to the system recovery screen.  Plugging it in prevents it from even beginning to boot and if I plug it in when it's on the system recovery screen it stops working then goes to black screen after a few seconds.  I've selected clear cache, factory reset and safe mode, none of which works.  Every time it begins to do something then goes to black.
The phone is almost 2 years old, I know I should upgrade but I'd really like this phone to work a bit longer before I get a new phone.  I've not had any issues with the phone recently other than the occasional slow-down that restarting would remedy.
The only recent app install was one I installed earlier that day from the play store called "Spread Sign" which is a sign language dictionary that was recommended to me and is very highly rated and seems completely legit. I've not heard of it causing issues with other or on my LG tablet and it had been working fine for hours before it shut down.

New symptom, now when I get it to the system recovery screen, the top of the screen is a little lighter than the rest and it's 'flashing' or 'blinking' really fast.  It almost looks streaked at the top.

Sounds like hardware problem, some shorts in the motherboard as it start acting weirdly whenever you plug it


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Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 keeps restarting as mad when charging (until airplane mode)
My Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 keeps restarting as mad when I charge it, but when the airplane mode is turned on, it tends to behave.
I suppose it's not a hardware issue, but something more complicated. I suppose the device tries to upgrade software when charging and it fails which causes software (it kept asking me about manual updates, each time I tried to update, it failed). My current MIU version is 6.1.14 beta, I have no idea how outdated it is. That misbehaviour makes it impossible to charge phone, because each restart eats more power than it was charged in the meantime, until airplane mode, which renders phone useless when charging.
Is there anything that can be done to save the phone, or it simply belongs to trash bin?
The phone is relatively new, it was used by about half a year.

Why not disable the auto update ?

@esQmo I can't find an option to disable miui auto updates. I can only disable google store updates, but they don't seem to be an issue.

In the About device section > Update ?

Your phone is in beta rom.Try to flash latest global stable rom by edl mode,maybe this may solve the issue.

How to do that? Is it possible without loosing data?

No, your all data will be erased,including internal storage.And you have to do this by a pc using mi flash tool.


text:
Remove/disable guest account on Android 6.0.1, but still allow restricted accounts?
I've been researching this exact issue and am aware of these 2 Q&A's on this site:

Is there a way to remove the Guest account?
Removing the default guest user account on Android Lollipop

Neither of these either cover what I'm asking or are wrong (the 2nd one mentions how to delete the guest account, but it continues to be shown if you switch back to the main account, for example).
I'd like to disable the guest account completely and still retain the ability to have multiple restricted accounts on my Samsung Tab A (model GM-T350).
We purchased these for our kids and find the lack of security to restrict them disturbing. I have a Nexus 7 tablet and am able to restrict access to restricted accounts there without issue, however on the Samsung version of Android this has proved challenging.
The method using the adb shell to set guest_user_enabled to 0 but this appears to only work if you have no other accounts, besides the administrator account, so that simply won't work.
Putting a password on the guest account will not work either, since you're able to simply "Start Over" and wipe the account and install whatever apps you like.
Deleting the Guest account will get rid of it, however if you slide the top level pulldown and switch to the administrator account, and then hit the power button and slide it down again you'll see the Guest icon show back up and you can simply start a new instance of the Guest account.
Worse still, when doing this same thing you'll be presented with a "Add User" button which blows my mind, since why would I want anyone to simply start making accounts on my device.

NOTE: The below reference is the best overview I've found thus far around parental controls in Android, but many of the screenshots are from non-Samsung variants, best I can tell.
References

What are Android’s inbuilt parental controls?

Create a restricted account named Guest
Sign into that account
Go back to administrator account
Delete the account that you made in step one

You can still access the Guest user in the user section of the settings menu but not from the lock screen. This works for me. I hope it works for you too.
As for the add user button that can be disabled by going
Settings>Users>...>Add users when the device is locked

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


text:
Smart Lock unreliable/not working with NFC tag?
I’ve been trying to get Smart Lock to work on my Android device (OnePlus One on Cyanogen OS 13.1.2, i. e. Android 6.0.1/“Marshmallow”).
I’ve configured an NFC tag as a trusted device and want to use this NFC tag to unlock my phone instead of having to type my long password every time.
The problem is that unlocking using the NFC tag is really unreliable. Most of the time, when I activate my NFC tag on the lock screen, nothing happens, even though the pulsing circle around the lock icon at the bottom of the screen is present (indicating that Smart Lock is active).
Sometimes, however, the NFC tag is recognized and unlocks the phone without problems.
I haven’t really figured out the circumstances under which it happens.
For example, when I turn NFC off and then on again in the settings and lock the phone then, unlocking using the NFC tag once always works without problems, but the next time, it won’t work again.
What could be the issue here? Am I somehow using Smart Lock incorrectly? Does Android perhaps turn off NFC or the process responsible for Smart Lock after a while when the phone is locked (Doze mode)? If so, how do I prevent this?

Note: Also tried on someone else’s phone running Android 7 (“Nougat”), same thing: after setup, unlocking the phone using NFC works exactly once, but immediately locking the phone again and then trying to unlock doesn’t work.

This is a known issue, https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/phone-by-google/DyxZwJpsOwY & https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/62268615.
In addition, the NFC Smart Lock feature has been removed from 7.1.2 (I think that was it) and is still gone in Android 8.0.0 Oreo.


text:
How can I stream all audio from my Mac to my Android phone?
I'm sick of switching my headphone jack from my Mac to phone and vice versa. Is there any way to stream all audio playing on my Mac to my Android phone, so I can hear any audio from either my Mac or my phone through the same pair of headphones, at the same time?

Airfoil is available cross platform:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rogueamoeba.AirfoilSpeakers

I can confirm that I got this solution working with minimal effort. It ain't free (I paid $29 after the free trial) but it gets the job done. You install the Android app linked about and then install the transmitter app on your Mac: https://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/ Interface was so intuitive and simple I needed no extra instructions.

Well, maybe not exactly what you want, but I can stream from my phone to my PC using standard Bluetooth A2DP profile.  I can't stream from my Linux PC to my phone :-(.
Just pair the devices and I believe there is graphical tool on MacOSX to choose the source device (on Linux I use pulseaudio pavucontrol).

Hmm, I googled "a2db mac android" and things like that, but I couldn't find much useful information. Exactly what tool are you talking about?

As I mentioned -- I am not sure how to do it on Mac, but for Android-Linux I use those tools: https://wiki.debian.org/BluetoothUser/a2dp

i used the SoundWire
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.georgie.SoundWire
but it has some kind of delay
i am not sure if it works on mac

There's no SoundWire for Mac, as they state on their website. There might be a way to get the Linux version working, but I'm not sure.


text:
is it possible for an app to crash the phone at the logo screen stage?
My wife has a Samsung Galaxy A5 running the carrier-supplied Marshmallow. Carrier is Tesco Ireland which I think is reselling the O2 network. Anyway the phone is completely standard in that respect, not even rooted, no custom ROMs or bootloader.
Edit: It may have just done an OTA update, as at some points it would start into the 'optimizing apps' sequence and get a certain number of apps into that, then reset again.
She had problems last week with it restarting itself and getting into some sort of boot loop. Sometimes it would just restart to the initial Samsung A5 logo screen, sometimes would start the animated 'Samsung' loading screen, and then restart again.
Initially I wiped first the cache then cache+data via the recovery menu, to no avail. It didn't seem like a battery or other hardware issue as it would quite happily sit in the recovery menu for any length of time.
As it's still under Samsung warranty I brought it in and got it back in a few days wiped and with Marshmallow on it.
She then went about reinstalling all her apps and that evening had it charging when it started into the reboot cycle again. The last app she had put on was the FitBit app. Eventually got it to start and removed the FitBit app and it has been OK since.
My question is - I can understand how an app could affect a successful boot later on in the process but could it affect things so that the phone won't even get past the initial switch-on splash screen which I assume is in the firmware?

Maybe there's a system issue with bluetooth? Maybe it was a coincidence?

Apps start only after successful boot of Android OS. There is no way in Android app can start before or while booting.
Your case looks unclear to me. The issue has to be of a system app.
Did you phone had a software update recently?

It is my wife's phone but it may have tried an OTA update to 6.0.1. See my edit to the question.


text:
adb 1.0.31 fails to detect device
I noticed a strange behaviour. I am fixing different bug, so I am trying different version of adb one by one on my phone.
I tried 1.0.26, 1.0.29, 1.0.31, 1.0.32, 1.0.36, all except for 1.0.31 are able to detect my device.
my phone is
MI4LTE
Android
6.0.1 MMB29M
and I am using MIUI
MIUI 8.1 | Stable 8.1.3.0(MXDCNDI)
Anyone has an idea what could possibly cuase that?

Problem was caused by phone not set in USB charging mode in settings
Settings > Additional settings > Developer options > Select USB Configurations > Charging only
This made 1.0.31 behave just like remaining versions of ADB mentioned in the question.


text:
How to find that I am rooted with Systemless
I have flashed, SUPER SU 2.79 SR1 on Oneplus 3 running OOS 4.0 (Nougat 7.0). How to find that I am rooted in systemless mode ?

I have systemless root and a few ways

The superuser su binary will not be found in  /system/xbin/, like in normal system-based root. See
Systemless Root
On your terminal emulator enter which su , it should show the location of su binary other than /system/xbin/ ( in my case it shows in the /su/bin/su location ). You can leave a comment to show the result in your case. Thanks
In Su app settings, option to install SuperSU as system app is greyed out and the text reads that this option is not available being systemless root

Some apps which have their path hard coded to search for su in above location will fail. ES Explorer is one such app, which will not work with root privileges, though rooted - not a reliable method, since the app can be updated

I haven't been able to confirm what it shows in case of normal root

I think someone in Kitkat can check

@Izzy responded in chat room saying that there is no output, in case of normal root, so for now we could take it that systemless root gives the output as mentioned


text:
Samsung s7edge- can't open attachments on emails
I'm having recent trouble opening up PDf and other types of files on my
S7. It was never an issue. I've tried freeing some storage, cleaning out the cache, and also one suggestion was to go into default settings in Applications.
can anyone suggest something more specific.My default for internet is AOL
PS. If I go to downloads and open an old pdf file , no problem, it opens

Folks, I figured it out. I deleted my aol account and re-installed it.
All attachments open up fine. So if its not your default settings or low
storage, try that .


text:
Motorola X Broken Digitizer
A while ago, I dropped my Moto X, and my digitizer slowly stopped working. I can no longer see my screen or unlock it. Is there anyway that I could get the files off of the phone without replacing the digitizer? It is not rooted.

I think that moto x supports usb-otg. so you can connect a mouse and copy the files to an sd card or send them through bluetooth to another device.


text:
Get the full Play Store on Tecno M7
How do I get Play Store on my Tecno M7 phone? It didn't come preinstalled.

To get the Play Store on a device that doesn't ship with it, just download the APK for it.
This should work on any Android phone, though you may need to get an earlier version if you're software version is too old for the current version of the Play Store.

Play Store app cannot work by itself without flashing the Play Services framework as system apps.

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


text:
Change Google Maps Navigation language
I use my phone in English (UK). But I would very much like to change the Maps navigation language to Turkish, since the English voice sucks horribly in reading Turkish place names (especially while using Android Auto). How can I do that without having to change the language of my phone?

Unfortunately you can't do that on your mobile device but is possible on your computer . See map help
Language selected on device is common to Google map. If your device is rooted , you can use Xposed App Settings to change language of apps


text:
"Google Now" and Moto Assist not providing Voice feedback when in Hands-free mode
I'm not sure if this is caused by Google Now or Moto Voice.
This is a Moto X (1st Gen).
I am using Moto Voice.
I have Moto set to Speak to me at Home and when driving.
When I am driving (or at home) it still does not provide voice output (" text from blah blah"  or prompts in response to my speech (Text Bob, "What message do you want to send".). It no longer provides those voice prompts, Just a beep.

From Moto app menu go to voice and then driving and see if that is checked

Also update your Moto app if not done


text:
Enabling Google Maps inside TripAdvisor app on CyanogenMod
I have recently flashed my Asus Zenfone 2 Laser with a custom CM ROM. I am going abroad and will need offline maps. I have decided to use TripAdvisor, but when I want to open an offline map I get the error message that you can see below:

Themes on devices running Cyanogen OS are known to cause crashes with embedded Google Maps. Maps on TripAdvisor will be disabled on this device.

Has anyone found a workaround this issue?
(I am also using offline maps from Google Maps, but they seem to be limited badly in China.)


text:
Unable to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy S7
If I swipe with the edge of a palm, it is very unreliable -- sometimes screen is pressed and I do some operations instead of screen shot.
Pressing Home + Power simultaneously doesn't work.
What else can be done?
UPDATE
I am trying to take screenshow of an application, which I am debugging. When I run debug, it requests to close device monitor, so the third way of taking screenshots via device monitor also doesn't work.
UPDATE 2
Disabling swipe didn't help. Now it is impossible to take screenshot from within device at all.

Press POWER a wee bit earlier than HOME.

Descibes 3 steps here : http://www.androidcentral.com/how-take-screenshot-samsung-galaxy-s7

Possible duplicate of How to take a screenshot with an Android device?

@AndyYan doesn't work

Did you see the Google Now option in the answer linked as possible duplicate above?

You can use adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/screenshot.png

If taking a screenshot with hardware keys don't so seem to work for you, you can use gestures to take a screenshot instead:

Activate gestures: go to Settings > Motions.
Inside the Motion menu, look for Hand Motions.
Check the Palm Swipe to capture.

Once you have activated the gesture, you can now grab a screenshot:

Go to the screen that you want to take a screenshot of.

Now swipe the edge of your hand from right to left and vice versa, horizontally.

This edge-to-edge swipe gesture may take you a few tries to master, but it makes taking screenshots so much easier and quicker.

In words, this feature sounds great.  Unfortunately, I have only been able to get it actually work about 1 in 10 times.  Similar problem with Samsung's "shake to turn on the flashlight" functionality.

Please check your toggle notification, maybe you have an option to trigger screenshoot, or you can use a third party app for that, that enables you maybe a notification icon that when you press, one screenshoot is taken.

Actually, I had the same problem and for me this worked:
Pressing Volume down+Power+Home
But unfortunately, it looks as if Android does not make screenshots when the phone is locked. This is no problem on the iPhone.
Samsung S7, Android 8.0.0


text:
How to get search of different location?
On android device, whatever we do Google search, we get search content of nearby location.

Is it possible to get search content of another location?
If yes, what I need to do in my android device?

Regards
GNS

Google supports "other nearby location" partially by adding a keyword "near LocationName" (e.g. "Hotel near O'Hare airport"). Is this what you meant?

You can use applications like FakeGPS.
Using which you can mock your device's location. Hope this helps you

Will Fake GPS affect other features and services related to locations? Using Fake GPS, may I get search content of desired location? If it'll affect all features and services related to locations, can it be turned off also?

It's just mocks your location so the device doesn't have to be physically present at that location. Once you are done you can simply close the app so your device again fetched your current location.


text:
Cannot switch between users on Android 4.4 (CM11)
I have enabled multi-user support on a phone running CyanogenMod 11 (KitKat) by adding the following to /system/build.prop:
fw.show_multiuserui=1
fw.max_users=4

and I was able to create a new user after that.
However, I still can't switch between users because there is nothing on my lock screen that would allow me to do this (no user switcher or whatever it's called), same in Power menu. I rebooted the phone multiple times.
I can only switch between users via adb or a terminal app using am switch-user <user-id>, and only as root (so not from non-owner user).
After reading this question:
How do I switch between multiple users in KitKat via Lockscreen?
I additionally added lockscreen.rot_override=true to build.prop in order to enable rotating into landscape mode for lock screen but it didn't work.
How do I enable the GUI for switching between users?

what happens while  tapping on avatar on notification panel

@RahulGopi Not much, it just goes to lock screen

It turns out I forgot to disable rotation the lock in display settings. This was preventing lock screen from rotating.
(Still nothing in Power menu though.)


text:
what is amigo in gionee s6? how to update android version?
what is amigo in gionee s6?
whenever i do update it updates system version.
Currently android version is marshmallow.
How to update android version?


text:
Phone won't reflash or won't let me install a rom (Galaxy S5)
I forgot the password to my phone, and I didn't have anyway to restore it, so I tried to do a factory wipe, but it made my phone stuck in a bootloop (with the samsung logo), and the thing is -
I tried to reflash the phone, and even tried to make a firmware upgrade and initialisation, but the phone won't let me do so. I finish downloading, everything is fine, the phone starts to install the firmware or something (it's has a loading bar and says install... charging... and then it says erases and everything is the same again).
I got it in a video so you can see it clearly and understand what I mean:
https://youtu.be/QxZ-mEo4sRg
so, what should I do in order to not let the phone erase upgrade or reflash I am trying to do.
Thanks so much in advance!

If you can acces the Recovery Mode and acces the storage via usb, you can try to flash a new rom, like a Custom Rom. You can search online, there are plenty of them. Or if you do not stole that phone, you can contact Samsung Support, i'am sure that it's gonna be helpful.


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What limits the stated maximum capacity of supported microSD XC cards in smartphones?
microSD XC specification technologically supports capacities up to 2TB. However, a sizable number of even the top smartphone models are stated to only support capacities up to a lower boundary (but still higher than 32GB which is the hard limit for microSD HC).
What specifically is limiting this number? Logically speaking, if the onboard devices conform to the new standard, they shoudn't have any additional limitations, no? E.g. can this restriction be lifted with an alternative firmware?
A side question (comment if you feel it warrants a separte question): What would happen if I insert a larger card into one of these models?

Well, first of, that's a good question.
Periodically members of the industry come together and publish a standard that specifies how a device must perform if it's going to be, say, "Micro SD." This includes a range of capacities that a device must support if it is going to claim to support that kind of device.
Eventually, technology catches up and the original standard is no longer sufficient. For example, the original SD standard supported the FAT 12 and FAT 16 file systems which are good up to 2 GB but no higher. When this was no longer viable they went and modified the standard, which became "SDHC". This standard uses the FAT 32 file system and can use up to 32 GB.
The SDHC standard is now starting to not keep up with the available technology, so there's SDXC which again introduces a new file format and a new range of sizes (up to 2 TB now).
If you have a device and you program it to be able to read FAT 12, FAT 16, and FAT 32 then you can read SD and SDHC cards but not SDXC. You could publish this as "Can read microSD and microSDHC cards," but most users don't realize that there are different generations of card at play, so it's easier to just say "Works with cards up to 32 GB."
It's just the format of read/write, and not the actual hardware that limits the size.

If I'm not mistaking, the readable formats depend upon the installed kernel, hmm? If this is the case, then a custom kernel might lift this limit (depending on the removable media's format).

I'm specifically asking about the devices that claim to support microSD XC, and with the stated limits higher than 32GB.


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Allow certain contacts to ring when phone on silent/night mode?
My WinPhone had this feature to set my phone silent at fixed hours of the night, but whitelist certain contacts for calls/texts.
I've recently switched to Android (OnePlus3) and while I'm sure this must be possible (iOS does it too IIRC) I can't see what its called or where to configure it.
Can someone tell me what these features are called on Android?
My phone is running OxygenOS 3.2.8 atop of Android 6.0.1

Which version of Android? See settings>about phone and you will likely see something like 6.0.1(guessing since it's a a new model), that's Marshmallow. In that case, you have a Priority Mode orDo Not disturb (settings>sound and notifications>do not disturb,) where you can your own rules.

@beeshyams sorry yes my phone is running OxygenOS 3.2.8 atop of Android 6.0.1. The settings app is pretty awful though I can't find anything useful.

Priority mode (Android 5.0 and higher) : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-android-priority-mode-get-back-silent-mode/

I can't find those settings. The 1+3 has a hardware slider normal/priority/silent and the settings I see are different. Anyway I don't want to stop most calls in priority... I want to allow a few contacts to break through silent

In Priority only starred contacts will be notified, rest will be in silent only

Yes, i clean forgot about that hardware slider - this, a random Google pick shows how you can use it, I am sure there would be you tube videos as well.  From what I read here, those contacts whom you wish to permit calling should be starred callers as @samnaction mentioned

what about android 7? i don't see a do not disturb on my htc one

look at your settings for Do not disturb mode.
it will make your phone silent for everything, except your favorites contacts.

Will this work even if the ring volume is set to zero?

what about alarms? there is no way I can explicitly put an exception for alarms

I have verified that alarms work with do not disturb mode

Look in sounds and vibrations. Scroll to the bottom. There should be a do not disturb setting. In there you will find allow exceptions. Customize to you're preferred settings

This does not work when the phone is on vibrate.

"Silent" mode is sometimes conflated with Do-not-disturb mode, but they are different. Under standard Android, you can set certain contacts as able to bypass the DND mode. But if the phone is on silent (volume set to zero), then you still won't hear the call.
If you need a certain contact to be able to call you, audibly, even when the phone is on DND and silent, you can do this:

Add the contact to the DND exemptions.
Install an app such as MacroDroid. Create a macro so that whan that person calls, the volume is set to 100%.


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Internal storage has been wiped out in blink of an eye
I connected my phone (Redmi 1S) to my PC (Windows 7 64-Bit) as media device to view and copy files from PC to phone's internal storage. I saw some unwanted files & folder are present in storage and decided to delete them. i deleted some junk folders and disconnected my phone from PC. After that i opened gallery to see i recently transfered photos from PC. I just felt shocked to see that the gallery is showing photos only present in SD Card and my internal storage is empty. I opened file manager to check files and there is only pre defined folders are only present like Android, DCIM remaining files and folders are just gone. i don't know what happened. Please help me guys what just happened? and How the files are gone?

You've most likely deleted the storage folder seen in the PC view.
This folder isn't necessarily present in the root of your internal storage, it's more like a link to your whole internal storage. I don't know about how it's generated, but since Windows disrespect links, deleting it is effectively wiping the internal storage itself. I had this happened to me on my own Nexus 4, and restoring data was a painful process, and in most senses failed - most of my music files are only available as 8MB fragments, and pictures are distorted or simply unreadable.
Do check out the data-recovery tag wiki for tips on attempting to restore it, but as I said, don't get hopes up on restoring data in one piece.

Many thanks for answering my question as well. I experienced this on the 25th of December, and lost both my external and internal storages.

@DeathMaskSalesman Bad Christmas - sorry to hear that...

That was what I thought in the beginning, but then I realized that, out of those GBs, many of them I didn't need.


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How do I make my phone fully customizable?
Recently my friend1 who knows how do stuff with phones has made friend2s phone fully customizable. At least that's what he said. The other day friend2 made everything in his phone to show Hodor. Time, letters, applications, everything.
I asked my friend1 how he did it and he spoke about it but I remember only that he did some stuff, flashed friend2 phone a couple of times and BOOM done it.
I'm listing these if you need to know:

My phone is Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III min
Version 4.1.2
Has Kingroot
Has fx installed

If you need to know anything please ask me.
Sincerely,
Seagullman

After rooting you can install custom ROM.. and can customize functions.

The Hodor trick is done using this Hodor Xposed module, which requires Xposed framework.
For a rooted device, installing Xposed is indeed a good way to customize without stepping into the realm of custom ROMs, but it comes at the usual risk of bootlooping and other problems. If you're only looking to do it for fun, and have no idea of how to recover from such failures, I advise you against it.


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Can a Samsung galaxy prime be upgraded from 8GB to higher without adding an SD card?
Can a Samsung galaxy prime be upgraded from 8GB to higher without adding an SD card or am I better off to upgrade to a phone with more internal memory? I currently have a 30GB SD card installed and have moved as many apps to it as possible.
Also is there a way to move all my pictures and videos to the SD Card?

Only the most popular phones (e.g. Xiaomi ones) have unofficial storage expansion service, which replaces the eMMC on board with one of a bigger capacity. The quality of the chip and soldering can't be guaranteed, and the replaced original chip could potentially mean private data leak. Don't think twice about this way.
You could move pics and vids to SD card just fine - in fact, doing that is more plausible than moving apps, since many apps can't be moved nowadays.


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HTC One SMS Backup File with no Extension Restore issue
I backed up my SMS an year ago via HTC One phone's messaging application. The backup file that was created on SD card had no extension and its name is "SMS_nai_SD_20160625_701301_0".
I was never able to restore that backup but I now need one of the messages in backup and have already lost the phone. If I open the file in notepad, it starts with "HTCMSGBACKUP_V1" and rest of that are special characters. There is another thread related to same issue that suggests either restore the messages or use emulator. I was wondering is there any other way to handle that if we know the starting characters of the file.
Thank you.

Just changing the file extension will not help. As far as I know it's just some kind of encrypted text file. It's either a htc or an android specific file. In order to restore a message from that file you need an android device. It might work with the stock android sms app in an emulator but probably not. I suspect that it's only going to work with htc sms app.
[edit]:
The backup file is an encrypted sqlite database file not just some text file.

I think you are right, it must be an encrypted file. I do have Huawei 5X which is also an android phone. But this file is not recognizable on that even. I have also tried "SMS Backup & Reset", "All SmS Secure", "Super Backup" and Huawei built in SMS app for the purpose. None of them is working. Can you please suggest how would I do this via emulator?

Based on your test it's not going to work with a stock android emulator. You can try to install the htc sms app (htc messages) on your huawei. http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/htc-corporation/htc-messages/messages-8-00-756259-release/messages-8-00-756259-android-apk-download/

2 out of 4 available versions could be installed. App kept restoring for some time, when restoring finished, it shown me blank messages from correct contacts. Message body was missing. It was a close miss! Thank you for the help. Any other tip?

I believe the only remaining thing you could do is to get a hold on an htc phone and to restore the backup with that phone.  If you are into "cracking/hacking" you could also try to crack the file. The backup file is an encrypted sqlite database file so you would need to crack the encryption. I cannot help you with that.


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ADB Sideload Password Reset on Samsung Galaxy J3 2016 on Sprint?
My Problem
A few days ago, I forgot my 3 by 3 pattern password and backup pin for my Samsung Galaxy J3 2016 (using the default home and lock screen). I don’t want to factory reset or flash a custom recovery, because I still have my warranty and I don’t want to risk bricking. One post states that in  “Apply Update from ADB”, commands can be executed via a ‘updater-script’ in an update.zip file. Can I use that  to mount enough partitions and access enough commands to follow a password reset tutorial? (Like this one?) Is there a zip ready-made for that purpose?
Unavailable Options

The phone runs Marshmallow. No Google-Account unlock.
Android Device Manager will not replace the current password.
I do not have a Samsung Account. No using findmymobile.
I have not enabled ADB normally, when the phone is fully booted.
‘ADB devices’ does not show my phone when in recovery unless I use “Apply Update from ADB”.
I  cannot use ‘fastboot boot’ or any other fastboot command, as Samsung phones only have ODIN Mode.
I don’t want to use Odin or Heimdall, as they seem to be unstable and risky.
Kies3 can’t unlock my phone, but it will see it when locked and fully booted.

You can't expect that - even though ADB sideloading is possible, the zip still has to officially signed, which is of course not the case for anything we create.

@AndyYan I forgot about that, thanks. I would assume then that only custom recoveries allow me to  flash any zip I want? Know any other ways to reset a password without wipe?

None I know of - wait for others to answer.

I ended up just factory resetting it. Thanks for the information, @AndyYan.


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Preventing a single app from updating from Play Store
I have a single app (ES File Explorer) that I want to prevent from updating and I don't quite understand what is happening.

Removed the app from My Apps in the Play Store
Turned off my network connection
Uninstalled the new version
Side loaded the old version
Immediately unchecked the auto update within the app  (maybe about 30 sec later)
Turned my network back on

If I now check My Apps, there is an update for the app waiting and if I turn auto update back on, it will update to the new version.
If the app is not listed on My Apps - All (and I rechecked) and auto update is turned off within the app, what is causing this app to update and how do I prevent it?

By "auto update within the app", did you mean the one on ES File Explorer? Have you also unchecked the auto-update on Play Store? (From Play Store, go to ES File Explorer's page, open the overflow menu (3-dot) on the upper right)

Please see this new article 2017/02/10 10 most useless apps and games for Android. Most prominent, but specifically named in the list: ES File Explorer (along with quote-Booster apps, Anti-Virus apps, and Task Killers-unquote)

@wbogacz That's why they want to prevent it from updating

I've tried using Titanium Backup "Detach from Market" but it still shows up again later.  Re-signing the package is supposed to work, but when I tried that, the app broke. https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/permanently-stop-any-app-from-updating-play-store-no-computer-needed-0184063/

Isn't there a way to do this by making the app Immutable ? I tried to make the base.apk immutable in /data/apk/, but the new update gets installed on a different folder, with a different unique ID

Self sign the application that you don't want to be updated. If the signatures are different then for security reasons the app will never be updated.
Check this article to know how you can perform this within your smartphone.

Get the apk of the app you want to resign 2) Resign the apk via an app e.g apk-signer (This app has an option to do steps 1 and 2 in one go by selecting sign an app - but I didn't try it since I already had the apk). 3) Uninstall the original app 4) install the newly signed app via the new apk 5) Completely close Google play store and open it again it should no longer offer to update the app at all.

This really should be the accepted answer good job @Sparkzz

Doesn't work with all apps

If you search the app on Play Store and open the app detail page you'll see three dots on upper-left corner (overflow menu).
Click on it. Then uncheck 'Auto-update'

Click image for larger version

This setting is updated along with global Play Store auto-update setting, so it's no use, it cannot be regulated individually.

Unfortunately, APK-signer is no more usable (it sends you to create an account, verify it with VISA, and watch ads to add points to unlock the "free" feature)
BTW, I found APK Explorer & Editor on F-Droid:

Install & run it
Select installed APK you want to remove from PlayStore.
Hammer icon -> Prepare a signed APK
Create & note the path where it's created
Uninstall your app
Reinstall from modified APK
The app is no more present on the Play Store.

Thank you very much - after being forcibly updated by Google multiple times, this finally saved my life!

For those still looking for this:
Update Locker
Needs Xposed
Direct link to the module
But don't skip the instructions from the link above

Initially, I unchecked auto update both within the app and in the Play Store. I still got the update.
I then removed the app from My Apps, uninstalled, reinstalled the APK, quickly unchecked the auto-update box. I can no longer uncheck it in the Play Store as I have removed the app from the list.
I do not get an auto-update, but there is an update waiting for me to click on the update button. Since I removed it from the Play Store and uninstalled the app from my device and reinstalled the old APK from a flash drive, how does Google know to send me an update?
I am afraid that at some point I will forget and click on the update all button.

Play Store regularly scans all apps (by comparing the package name) on the device, including one that is installed from APK.

Well, turning auto update off shall prevent the update. Though there is another way of doing it:

Uninstall the app.
Download and install the apk from any website other than playstore.
Now you are good to go!

Playstore now shouldn't list your app under the installed app section. So, no more updates!
Hope it helps.

Afraid ~24h later Playstore picks it up again and the update will be back. Doesn't matter you've installed it from a different source, it does so even with pre-installed apps.


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How does Factory Reset Protection Lock work?
I'm trying to bypass the Factory Reset Protection Lock on one of my phones running Android 6.0, but all of the tricks found on the net simply don't work. I basically tried two of them: Factory Reset from the Settings menu (this doesn't remove the lock) and unlocking the bootloader, which also doesn't work because I can't simply get the developer's options by pressing the compilation number several times. So I don't think I will remove the lock, but I'm just wondering how this security feature works.
Basically when you do a Factory Reset, you simply format /data/ and /cache/ partitions. So no user data is available on the phone after the process is done. So what's the difference between doing Factory Reset via Settings and via recovery mode? What other partitions are involved and what Android does to them in order to maintain the lock? If I formatted that partition (or partitions), would that remove the lock?


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Read/Send SMS and Make Calls on Flip Phone via Rooted Android?
I have a Verizon LG-VN251S Cosmos 3, and a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 (rooted; custom android 7.1 Nougat ROM). The Cosmos states in its Bluetooth menu that it has the following "Supported Profiles":

Headset
Handsfree
Stereo
Phonebook Access
Object Push
File Transfer
Message Access

So-far, I haven't been able to find an app, program, or terminal command that can achieve this. Does anybody have a lead?


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Gallary issue in marshmallow OS
I have updated Marshmallow OS from Lollipop OS in my galaxy J5 mobile. since I updated this, All folders are not seen in gallery. All images are displayed in only one folder. Also there is no option for moving images into another folder in gallery.so I wanted to know how to get back all the folders in gallery instead showing in one folder???

Download a file manager from Google play. Open app and navigate to where your photos are stored. Make new folders and move photos in to them. I wood look at this list provided by Izzy https://android.izzysoft.de/applists/category/named/file_fileman

ES File Explorer has an exploitative reputation for bloat lately, by installing mal/adware that is hard to escape.

@SeanBurk maybe you [edit] your answer and adjust it accordingly? If you don't have a specific file explorer in mind, be welcome pointing to my list for a selection :)

@ Izzy thanks I did edit it but it didnt changewill edit it again


text:
Can I run an Android emulator on a computer with an AMD processor?
I was trying to create an Android emulator on my computer but the AVD Manager is telling me that my computer doesn't support a required feature for the "VT-x or SVM." My computer has a AMD A6-5350M processor with radeon graphics with 8GB of memory. I was wondering if there was any way to run an emulator with this configuration.

I found out that it seems that the state of enabling and disabling the virtualization on my computer is flipped in the BIOS. While trying to run the emulator did succeed is getting to the home screen when the virtualization was actually enabled, it was too slow to actually try to run anything from the Android AVD manager so my CPU itself is to blame. However I did manage to get a decent emulator running with Genymotion's free edition after discovering the fault in the BIOS.
You can download the free genymotion from the link:
https://www.genymotion.com/fun-zone/

VT-x is the Intel virtualization technology while SVM is its equivalent for AMD.
I think either your computer doesn't have such feature or it is not enabled.
Go to the BIOS and see if it is supported.
If the feature is not supported, you can test your app with ADB though.

It seems that my computer supports it since the option for virtualization is was in the BIOS but it was disabled. After enabling it and retrying the emulator the same message of not having the required features is still there.

My Laptop has also got AMD processor, I tried with Android emulator many times but always get it running slow or not opening at all... So I switched to other Android emulators and I found "Xamarin" cool.. even Genymotion is cool but not all feature you get for fee :P.
So what I suggest is to use "Xamarin".


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How to use Dirty COW exploit?
I got Sony Xperia M4 Aqua with a locked bootloader, Android 6.01, and July 1, 2016 security patch, but no DM verity. I would like to freeze a few factory apps via ADB's pm disable command (or any other way possible). I've tried to run su pm disable package.name but the su command is not recognized for some reason.
I am a Linux noob but I got Android Studio with SDK and NDK installed on a lubuntu machine (got it also on Windows 7 machine).
Can someone explain to me the steps to take in order to gain root shell access with the Dirty COW exploit (or any other way) to be able to freeze apps?

Did you root your device? You can't call su when your device is not rooted. Besides, you can disable any package instead of uninstalling with pm hide package_name and it doesn't require root.

No, my device is not rooted. I need root shell in order to install superSu apk. I am trying to get to root shell using dirtyCow exploit, but I am not sure how to do it (I'm not so good with Linux).

There is a thread on XDA-Developers about rooting Sony M4 Aqua: https://forum.xda-developers.com/m4-aqua/general/root-t3421932

I saw it, its only for devices with unlocked boot loader. Mine is locked, so I can not flash any recovery or replace bootloader.

This seems to be an XY problem. Isn't your real question how to root your device? Wouldn't you accept other methods, if available?

There are also guides everywhere on how to unlock the bootloader, such as this one: https://forum.xda-developers.com/m4-aqua/general/guide-unlock-bootloader-twrp-touch-t3247939

I've tried those, doesn't work because my device has "bootloader unlock aloowed: NO" sett by manufacturer.

The reason the command isn't working for you is because "su" is a binary that gets installed by rooting your device. Without a proper root, you have no "su" command.
In order to use the Dirty COW exploit, you have to compile the binary for your device's architecture.

Head over to https://github.com/timwr/CVE-2016-5195 and download or git clone the files.

(Optional) If you do not know your device architecture, then on the phone, install the "Droid Hardware Info" app from Play Store, open it, and swipe left to get to the System tab. Next to the label "Instruction Sets" will be your supported architecture.

On your computer, open a terminal and navigate to where the Dirty COW files are (extract if needed). Then simply type make (insert architecture here). This will create two binaries inside the folder at libs/(your_architecture)/ called dirtycow & run-as. Alternatively, if you have USB Debugging enabled, then simply attach the device and type make root and it will push the binaries into your device at /data/local/tmp, then automate a few ADB commands to exploit and grant you a limited root shell.

If you don't see the terminal user icon as # and instead see a $, then the exploit didn't work at some point. Since the files are still on the device, I would suggest to then try and manually patch run-as by using adb shell and typing the following...
chmod 777 /data/local/tmp/*
dirtycow /data/local/tmp/run-as /system/bin/run-as
/system/bin/run-as

If this doesn't prompt you as root user (#), then the exploit won't work for your device in this fashion and you'll need to do some digging into why not. If this happens, try opening an Issue on the Github repo, it's still pretty active so you should have an answer before long.

I managed to get LIMITED root shell, but it can not execute any command I type in, it just shows #root... Do you know how can I use this root shell to freeze or delete system apps, and also do you know what is the purpose of having this limited root shell on android?

I'm not really the guy to be asking... I just know how to use it somewhat. BUT the fact that you have got it working enough to get the limited root shell means that your device is exploitable. At this point you don't need to use the shell to remove system apps. Watch my video on using dirtycow to bypass FRP lock and you'll see a perfect example of how to remove system apps with dirtycow https://youtu.be/iSsjeI7DV-k

To supplement therealjayvi's answer, note that compiling and using CVE-2016-5195 from timwr requires both ADB and NDK to be installed as well, prior to make [architecture] and make root, and that this must be done from a Linux environment.
All were either assumed that the prerequisites were obtained before doing this, prerequisites may have been added after comment, or little to nothing was known about exploit CVE-2016-5195 from the person who made the comment.
Anyways, this can all be done through: first, being in Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, ext.) and assuming that adb is in your list of repositories for apt as it usually is by default but not all the time. If sudo isn't present, use su.
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb

Get latest Linux download from here, then extract and run:
export PATH=$PATH:/root/directory/of/ndk/

You may need to re-run export if you close the current terminal, as I cannot find a solution that stays.
Once all that is done, then you can follow @therealjayvi's way of going about this.

Dirty COW on Marshmallow cannot do anything because of SELinux restrictions.
therealjayvi's answer is a good explanation of 'how to compile the Dirty COW proof of concept'. But it cannot even ls the current folder where it is run.
/data/local/tmp$ run-as
/data/local/tmp# ls
opendir failed, permission denied

dirtycow works on any android phone that has a security version patch of October 5, 2016 and older. Android version (LP, MM, nougat, etc) none of that matters at all for dirtycow. but no, probably not in the way you're looking to use it. dirtycow enables the ability to write over "read-only" files. So as long as your firmware is vulnerable, and you can "see" a file with ls, then you can write over that file with any other file, binary, apk, anything at all and it will behave as if it is the original if you call the original by command/name.

@therealjayvi I think for Android 6 and above, if you use dirty-cow exploit directly to get root access and modify the /system partition or any other partition like boot which's signature is verified by 'Android verified boot', the device won't boot up when you reboot since verified boot will fail when partition's root hash is altered. That's what @MetNP tried to convey by his statement I guess.

@GokulNC You're definitely right about the boot chain, though what's cool about dcow is that it only changes the files in memory. This is why there's such a challenge with rooting a device with it, because any changes are removed upon reboot without utilizing other built-in features to do so. LG V20 has an example of using built-in features, as well as my video provided above. MetNP nobody said you'd be able to use the shell to read areas you are restricted from regardless. do ur homework yo ;)


text:
How can I see my NFS share in any file manager on Android 6.0.1?
I mounted my NFS shares successfully in Termux with busybox. I mounted the network folder to /data/media/0/Music.
I'm also able to see the content of the network share in the terminal with ls -l /data/media/0/Music. But when I click the location in my file manager the location is empty. I tried different file managers as well but all display nothing.
Is is a permission issue? What do I have to change in Android to make it work?

Did you create that mount as root? Then it might very well be a permission issue. What does ls -l /data/media/0 | grep Music show on ownership and permissions?

ls -l /data/media/0 | grep Music says drwxr-xr-x 16 system system 4096 2016-08-27 20:58 Music. I tried 2 ways to create the folder Music. 1. In File Manager as a normal user. When I was trying to access the folder after mounting I got a permission issue. 2. I created the folder in the termin as a root user. In that case the folder is displayed as empty in any File Manager.

OK, that says the folder is at least readable by everyone, and everyone can change into it (plus it belongs to the system user and group). Now please repeat the same with a minor adjustment: ls -l data/media/0/Music/* and pick a single entry from the output. If it has the same ownership (system), it should at least have 3 times "r" in it so other apps can read it.

All files in there have ownership system and all files have 3 times "r" in their permission properties. They should be readable by owner, group and others. But still I can't see any files in a File Manager or Music player app for my nfsv4 mount.

Not seeing them in the music player could have to do with the media-scanner not having them picked up (yet). Nevertheless, that should not affect file managers, which confuses me. Have you tried 1) different file-managers, 2) examining that directory in a terminal with a non-privileged user (e.g. via adb shell as the "plain shell user")?

Yes, I did try different file managers like CM File Manager v3.0.0, SolidExplorer v2.2.5 and Amaze v3.1.1. No success!
Examination of the folder structure with a non-privileged user via ADB gives me the following: ls -l /data/media/0/Music (Permission denied), ls -l /storage/emulated/0/Music (Permission denied) and ls -l /sdcard/Music gives me an 'empty' result. ls -l /sdcard/ | grep Music gives me drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw     4096 2016-08-27 20:58 Music.

I'm pretty much out of ideas then. Maybe the file manages must go via the "storage provider" for that directory? Or they don't belong to the sdcard_rw group? That then would explain them seeing nothing, as "others" can only change into the directory but not list its contents.

Turns out an option in SuperSU blocked me from seeing the content of my mounts. I needed to disable the "Mount namespace separation" option in SuperSU app. Only then the mounts will be visible to other apps! Disabling namespace separation may cause security flaws, but I don't see any other solution yet. Reboot the device, mount your shares and everything will be as expected.
Found the solution here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/33611664


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How to not share Goals in a shared Calendar?
My Google calendar is shared with my wife; she can see all event details in my calendar. As a New Year's resolution, I started to use Goals (Android suggested this). Now my wife is totally freaking out because on her phone, the Calendar app is completely filled with her events, my events, and my goals. She does not want to see my goals.
My question is: how can I keep using Goals in a shared Calendar, without the Goals being shared? All other normal events still need to be shared.
I tried setting the events as private, but because of the sharing level, she can still see the Goals.

To answer my own question, because I found a working solution through trial and error.
First, you need to know that Goals are always added to your first calendar. You can add many calendars to your Google Calendar account, but when you add a goal, you cannot choose to which calendar the goal should be added. I tried adding a separate "Goals" calendar, but I could not add any goals to it.
So I did it the other way around.

On PC, go to the Google Calendar website (it's easier to do it on PC than on Android. Trust me. I tried.)
In My Calendars on the left, click on the little arrow next to your primary calendar and choose Calendar settings.
Rename your primary calendar to "Goals"
Unshare your primary calendar
Again in My Calendars, create a new Calendar
Name the new calendar "Shared Calendar"
Share the new calendar with whoever you had originally shared your primary calendar

This is just the setup. Now comes the fun/boring part:

For every current event in your calendar, edit the event and change the calendar from "Goals" to "Shared".
Don't bother doing this with past events, you'll get bored soon enough.
From now on, every time you add a new event, you'll have to remember to add it to your "Shared" calendar.

End result:

Android Goals are in the "Goals" calendar and aren't shared.
Events are in the "Shared" calendar and are shared.


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Does Forcing GPU Rendering Affect Battery Life?
I'm currently unsure about this and haven't found anything concrete while searching on the internet. I just recently got my first Android phone a week ago and started tinkering with the developer settings, I am currently using a OnePlus 3T with Android Nougat. Any answers will be appreciated.
TLDR: Does enabling force GPU Rendering affect battery life on the OnePlus 3T with Android Nougat?

Almost all updated apps have GPU Rendering coded into the build. The reason you have an option under developer settings is simply to test the feature as a developer.
Unless you are ok with the minimal performance increase at the cost of battery life keep it off, if an app can utilize the function it will.


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How do I set the timer tone on a Galaxy J7?
My previous Android phone, the Galaxy Note S5, had an option for setting an MP3 ringtone for both the alarm and the timer.  I'm now using the Galaxy J7, and it appears to allow a ringtone to be set for only the alarm, by tapping on a set alarm and changing the "Alarm tone" setting.  How can I set a ringtone for the timer?  I tried tapping the timer duration, but that didn't do anything.
EDIT: Here is what the Timer screen looks like.

EDIT: I downloaded the Google Clock app and that works ok--less friendly UI, but I can set a timer ringtone.

Add a picture? And can you be more specific about which clock app you're using?

@owlswipe, I'm using the Clock app that's included standard on the J7 (the one that has Alarm, Stopwatch, and Timer options).  I'll get a screenshot and add it.

If there's no settings menu within the clock app, try looking inside Settings -> Sound.

@owlswipe the clock app has settings for the alarm, but not for the timer.  Changing the ringtone in Settings->Sound does not change the tone for the timer.


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Relationship between CPU Usage and Battery Usage
I'm comparing the resource consumption of two Android Apps.

App A uses accelerometer
App B uses both accelerometer and    gyroscope

After reading these sensors, these apps does some processing on the sensor values. Now I measured their CPU usage using dumpsys cpuinfo as well as top command.
In general, App B uses 3-4 times more CPU than App A. The actual numbers are as follows: These results for single CPU and my phone is using Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU (Samsung Galaxy S2).
App A (Average CPU Usage: 5%)
APP B (Average CPU Usage = 20%)

Then I measured the percentage battery usage for these two apps. I kept the Android phone in Aeroplane mode and only one of these two apps were running at a a specific moment of time. After running them for one hour, I get the following results:
Remaining battery level after one hour of use:
Idle mode: 99%
Running App A: 96%
Running App B: 93%

I was expecting the same ratio with these battery level as I observed with CPU Usage.
I also tested these apps on a smartwatch ( CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7) and I observed even smaller difference between the battery use. The observed results for one hour use are as follows:
Remaining battery level after one hour of use:
Idle mode: 99%
Running App A: 87%
Running App B: 85%

So my question: Why the ratio of CPU usage for these apps is not reflected in their remaining battery levels? Or Shouldn't the CPU Usage be linearly related to the battery use ?
Could the reason be that multiple cores are active at the same, that's why I observe small difference between the their battery levels?
PS: I use partial lock in these apps.

The CPU frequency may play a role here. Power consumption is not linear to frequency, and frequency scaling depends on the load. If B gathers more data but has to wait for it frequently, the CPU freq scaling may not reach the threshold for acceleration. -- This is of course just a basic consideration of a potential factor which has the potential to lead to what you observe.

Okay.. My misunderstanding. I can't help with what you are asking- that's way beyond me. Deleting that answer

Its fine. I expect that there is some kind of relationship between the reported cpu values from top/dumpsys cpuinfo with the cpu load but I can't find anything on it. Its the only way to explain the cpu usage going down when the cpu load goes up. Lets see how the community members respond.

Tell you what. User Mobile Power on this site is from the Qualcomm team who made those apps. You try to seek his help, maybe in a chat?

I already had a few email conversations with him on his official email :) After all those conversations, I rolled back to using these utilities instead of trepn/app tune kit. I'm just curious about this specific behavior.

All the best then:)

Long story short, battery comsumption depends not only on CPU but also every other part of your device.
Full version. An SoC consists of CPU, GPU, modem, north bridge, south bridge and RAM (on a discrete semiconductor chip but packed together into the same shell) altogether. Also the battery powers not only the SoC but also sensors, screen (which is usually the most power-consuming part) and wireless connection antennae.
A CPU has its own algorithm to control it's power and performance, which is called a 'governor'. A radical CPU governor tends to provide better CPU performance at the cost of high battery consumption, whereas a gentle governor will try to reduce battery consumption, resulting in lower CPU performance. The same applies to GPU and other parts of the SoC.
The screen is often the most battery-consuming part of a device, and the most decisive factors of a screen's power are size, resolution, brightness and technology (LCD or OLED). Cheaper phones and watches use LCD screens while high-end ones use OLED screen, as OLED uses significantly less power than an LCD one of the same specifications.
A watch usually has significantly less battery capacity but not-so-little screen power, which will decrease the draining difference in its battery stats while the screen is on.  Besides, the sensors used on the phone and the watch may not be exactly the same, causing various differences.
The bottom line, the battery cost is determined by all parts of a device rather than only CPU. If another part is draining too much battery, you can't find large differences even though the CPU's power is highly variable.

Thanks for the explanation. I kept the screen off in all these measurements because my app acquires the partial lock. I guess the power usage of cpu might contribute little to the overall power consumption so may be that's why I don't see the same differences in battery level.

Power-saving features are an important element to understanding power consumption on an Android device. The Android Doze and App Standby documentation describes power-saving features introduced in Android 6 (Marshmallow). While dozing, Android delays application actions and reduces use of network connections to reduce power consumption.
If the device is not in doze mode, it will consume considerably more power than when in doze mode. If you have an application that keeps the device awake when it otherwise would not be, this will cause other applications and communications to consume more power. The amount of power directly consumed by the application can be very small relative to the power consumption over the doze state.
There are also other battery-saving features (standby, for example), but I have not found documentation that is as good as the doze and app standby descriptions. I assume these other features exhibit the same kind of on/off power consumption characteristics.

Android battery usage not only depend on CPU status, but also depends on wifi status, sensors, bluetooth etc. Different device may lead to different result. http://androidxref.com/9.0.0_r3/xref/frameworks/base/core/java/com/android/internal/os/BatteryStatsHelper.java
FYI

. As already explained. Your battery usage depends on multiple factors not only on CPU.
. Secondly, when device is sleeping it drains very low battery whereas if you use wake lock, more battery is drain.
 . According to documentation it is better to bundle tasks and run them in one go rather than calling wake lock again and again - because after wakelock is released it takes some time for phone to go back to idel state.
. Please check out following documentation
https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/power/


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Is there a way to display when Wifi/Data is being used on the Google Pixel?
I've just recently switched over from an LG G3 to a Google Pixel and I've noticed a slight change in the top status bar between the two phones.
On the G3, both the Wifi and Data icons showed little arrows to indicate when data was being transferred (see picture below, the arrows have been circled in red):

These same arrows are not there on the Google Pixel, is there a way to display them?
Note: These arrows are visible if you pull the top menu down (see picture below) so the feature does exist. I'm just not sure if it can be enabled when the menu is not pulled down.

If I recall correctly, they pulled the ability to see activity in the notification bar in favor of when it's pulled down from vanilla Android back in version 4-something. That your LG showed it is almost certainly a customization added by LG.

It looks like there might be some apps in the Play Store that will show the activity in the status bar.


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Can the video chats on Messenger or WhatsApp be hacked?
I am using the Marshmallow version of android and often use the newly launched video call feature on WhatsApp and that of Messenger to talk to my family and friends. So usually a question arises, given there are lots of cyber crimes happening now-a-days, can my video chats be hacked ? If so how can I protect my phone from that? What are the tricks or ways hacker use to hacked the camera on my phone? If anyone can explain these things to me then it would be really helpful. I hope this question is allowed in this site. Thank you.

In theory there is no way hack any video call because whatsapp include a point to point encryption.


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How to reach Google Servers to complete the setup from China
My phone fell from my pocket while on a bike. After a while it was giving me some problems so I decided to resetting it. I'm in China now and I forget that I have to do through all the processes but China is blocking Google's servers so I can't complete the connectivity check.

Set up a VPN / Shadowsocks on either your PC or a router, then proxy it through. If you have neither... just buy one, you'll eventually need it.

how do i use it if incase i get it on my pc

I will detail this in an answer later.

I don't get it. You can use your device without a Google account, so you don't need to connect necessarily to complete the initial setup.

@BálintBabics Problem is, the setup wizard checks for connectivity to Google servers, and since we Chinese can't access it normally, this step will take forever. Worse, on recent devices this step cannot be skipped by normal means.

@AndyYan But if you do not grant any network (data) connection (2G/3G/LTE or WiFi) the phone can't and won't check Google servers due to there is no available data connection so the phone won't try to force reach Google's servers. But maybe I am wrong.

@BálintBabics No it still will - it's just that stubborn. Else we wouldn't have to devote such efforts to it...

As seen in other answers, VPN is the best solution.
In case you don't have a VPN or it fails to connect, do as follows. This won't do any harm to your phone.
    1. Unlock bootloader (if needed) and flash a custom recovery (if TWRP is available for your phone, go straight for it) and boot into it
For TWRP:
    2. Tap 'Mounts' and tick 'system'
    3. Tap 'Advanced' and 'File Manager', locate
       Android 4.1 & before: /system/app/SetupWizard.apk
       Android 4.2~5.0: /system/priv-app/SetupWizard.apk
       Android 5.1 & after: /system/priv-app/SetupWizard/SetupWizard.apk
    4. Rename it to SetupWizard.bak
Other custom recovery like CWM:
    2. Navigate to 'Mounts' using volume buttons and press power button to enter
    3. Again navigate to 'mount /system' and press power button
    4. Get a PC (with adb available) and run
adb shell mv /system/app/SetupWizard.apk /system/app/SetupWizard.bak
Change the path to SetupWizard.apk respectively according to the information above. Then reboot.
After rebooting from recovery, you'll find that the setup screen is gone and there's no more troubles.
Edit: For most highly customized ROMs in China like MIUI and Huawei's EMUI and ZTE's, there may be other setup wizards called mi_SetupWizard.apk or hwSetupWizard.apk or ZSetupWizard.apk, respectively, which exist along side the AOSP's one (usually located in /system/app regardless of ROM version). Remove them as well.

Nice one, this is actually exactly the one I used before I learned how to share a VPN. OP's phone might not be rootable or have a custom recovery though. Still, +1.

Also, to OP: if you were to try this, remember that after passing the setup wizard and going into homescreen, you should revert this change, i.e. put the setup wizard back into where it was and set correct permissions. Not doing so might give you weird problems, e.g. Home key not working, notification shade empty, etc.

@AndyYan For myself, I always purge (remove completely) the setup wizard directly without hesitation, and so far I have never observed any malfunctions in anywhere else. I'm the one who dares testing out the side effect of the removal of almost everything, and to my surprise, in most cases, there's hardly any side effect beside the disability of the removed function.

More or less the same, but it did cause issues on some ROMs, and CyanogenMod is one of them. Before one of the commits popped up last spring I remove the wizard too, but from then on I'm starting to experience issues and had to trace back. Anyway, life of us barebone users :)

Assume you already have a VPN, or a Shadowsocks connection that works globally (i.e. not just for your browser - all applications on PC must be able to use it). If using Shadowsocks and don't know how to do it, look up another (paid) software called Proxifier. I will leave this part out since this is not so relevant.
Connect PC and phone to the same network / same router. Install Privoxy and start it up, the default working port is 8118. Also get the local IP of your PC, for example 192.168.1.2.
Now, on the phone in setup wizard, it will initially ask you to set up wireless network. At this phase, choose something like "options" or "advanced" so that you could tweak the network's advanced settings. Choose "manual" for proxy type, fill the IP into the hostname field and port into the port field, presumably like this:

Done. Save this settings and you should be able to proceed with the rest of the setup.


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Should SD card be formatted before putting into new phone?
I got a new phone and want to put the SD card from my old one into it. Should anything be done to it, such as formatting or deleting files? There is a lot of funky stuff on the SD card, from TWRP and Titanium Backup etc. On the other hand I'd rather not delete just for the heck of it as there's a lot of stuff and some I do want to keep.

There isn't a need to format it. However, depending on how the SD card is formatted (file system), it may at times not readable by the new device, in which case it is best to format it using the device if it has that facility or a laptop. FAT 32 is pretty much recognised across devices but be aware that it can't store files bigger than 4GB. As always, it makes sense to backup your SD card on your laptop, as you say data contained is important
In short, if the new device can read the SD card, don't bother
Additional information on compatibility of SD cards - Source

Should you decide to format and are unsure about the file system, information here should help you ( also consider which laptop OS you would want to work with ) - How many files can I put in a directory?

Is this true even if the new device has a different version of Android?

Yes. Version doesn't affect . Format of the sd card and ability of device to read that format is ask that matters.  Being a new device, it should be able to read earlier card ( backward compatible) so you should be good

I'm thinking about something... Apps do generate data in the Android folder of storage, and those created with a newer version usually can't be read by an older one. What if one of those SD cards with new data are plugged into a device with old apps? Just curious.

@AndyYan: I haven't tried that yet but the fact that the media itself is not compatible would render the app data unreadable, isn't it so? I have no idea if developers address this differently. Interesting

Yeah, too bad nowadays there are almost no SD-card equipped devices to emulate this on. Might as well try this on an internal storage when I have time.

@AndyYan: Yep. Do update your findings in a self answered question- it would be educative. Thanks

Curious. Was your problem resolved?


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Difference between Lineage os and Cyanogenmod
I want to know if there in big difference in Lineage OS and CyanogenMod ROM's ?

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/165453/cyanogenmod-to-lineage-os-how-does-it-affect-current-users

At the birth of Lineage OS, it's a direct fork (i.e. full copy) of CyanogenMod sources at that time, so it's obvious that LOS is a continuation of CM, not a replacement to it. Thus, aside from differences introduced by individual maintainers, and a few renames here and there in the OS, all that's left is the ROM's age - a CM ROM is definitely compiled before the incident, while a Lineage one is after.
What this means for you is just like what a newer CM version compared to an older one - most likely, the newer the better.

To put it into numbers: CM ends with 13.* while LOS starts with 14.*. Apart from that (and what one expects from newer versions of the same tree – as that's what the term lineage refers to), one key element is that root access no longer ships "out of the box", but must be added (flashed) manually in addition to the ROM itself.

@Izzy There were official builds of CM14.1, and LineageOS for older devices (example) or unofficial builds can extend back to 13 as well - in fact I was building and using them until last month. As for the su stuff... I always build with WITH_SU=true, but what you said is correct.

Oh – I wasn't aware of the exceptions, thanks for the notice! And sure, if you build yourself it's a different thing (root) – my comment was toward "official builds" :)

There will be differences between the two. The only major one I'm currently aware of is that LOS will not be allow root access by default whereas CM does.

Good point, but there will be a separate add-on that restores built-in root; home-builders like me can also enable it when building easily.

Los os mean Lineage OS it came after cyanogenmod both LOS and CM have root access depend on your choices but in some official/unofficial Los rom need to download su zip file to flash in recovery(if there's only ADB gain root access)
CM got many tweaks setting but Los add some security to make your device safe*it got many features I am sure that Los got better security than CM.

Advantages of security Los better but if performance CM better.

-1 just for the last sentence: concrete proof?

@AndyYan I didn't think it was a secret that newer versions had more dropped frames.  That in my opinion implies a slow down or bottle necking of code.  I didn't upvote or downvote because it is written poorly but thought this was known.

@William Don't take the picture out of its context. The chart within the original article discusses the performance and battery deterioration within the use cycle of the same phone hardware/OS - there's even explicit mention of the reason, "presumably from the user installing more apps", hence the introduction of more effective mechanism of background app management in Android O. The evolution of LOS itself is not a part of the problem. I gotta say there are some aspects of the evolution that I dislike, but they interfere with performance much less than the greedy 3rd-party apps.


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Can we screen record without any android app in Android version 4.1?
I search a lot on Play store but did not find any screen recorder app in play store which compatible on Android version 4.1

If you're rooted, there's SCR Screen Recorder. Otherwise, I've never heard native screen recording from the OS itself.

No it is not possible because in android 4.1
there is no such facilities have been provided


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A Daydream of OnePlus 3T
According to Carl Pei (OnePlus CEO) are there no plans to add support for Google's Daydream VR platform to there latest smartphone, the OnePlus 3T.
So my question is, is the OnePlus 3T nevertheless capable of running the Daydream VR Environment (App & Controller) without hacks?
There is a hack for the OnePlus 3, which involves rooting and side-loading, which i would really want to avoid.

Without One Plus guys adding support there will be no direct way to do this.
however rooting is one of the ways but I would prefer not to do so.

Some videos say it's enough to just root and change the xml config file. Some forums say it won't work without unlocking the bootloader, which means full backup and wipe. What's the truth? And does the 1+3 trick work on 1+3t?

Supposedly the hack for O+3 (2 extra XML config lines) should work for O+3t as well. Rooting + side loading part: How to flash and root OnePlus 3T on Linux?

I managed to get it working during the summer, but during the fall the hack stopped working after an OS update :(.


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Fastboot - what to install on Windows Desktop?
I have an older tablet Motorola Xoom Wifi (MZ 604). The tablet stopped working suddenly (while playing a game on it) and it cannot be restarted now. I have tried step described on Motorola XOOM MZ604 hard reset:

I have tried soft reset (Volume Up + Power), this brings the Motorola logo but nothing more.
I was able to enter "wipe data/factory reset" option, but the reset did not finish
I am able to enter a fastboot mode, however no matter what I have tried, I do not see any tools on the PC to connect to the device (or even to list it)

Now before I declare the tablet dead, I would like to try fix it using fastboot. What should I install on my PC (Windows 10 x64) so that I can communicate with the device?
Most guides I have seen want me to install Motorola Drivers from locations like Motorola Support, when clicking through the links, all I get are messages like  "File not found" or 404 errors. If I need any drivers, are there any generic drivers I could use?

Driver: Motorola End User Driver Installation - choose 64-bit.
Fastboot binary: Minimal ADB and Fastboot - Google now does have an "official" package, but it's unintuitive to install and use, so this one is still recommended.


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How to transfer Whatsapp to new phone
I had been using Whatsapp on my old phone. I would like to transfer the messages to the new one. I had disabled uploading to google drive as I consider this too insecure. On the new phone I installed whatsapp but no messages were there.
I remember being able to do this in the past as Whatsapp integration with google drive is a relatively new feature, how did it used to work, did it download the saved messages from the whatsapp server? Since they're still on my old phone I hope they're retrievable. I'm considering using Titanium Backup to make a copy. Would this work?
When I try to open whatsapp on my old phone, it said the number cannot be verified (because I took the SIM card out and put it in my new phone) but I can still see in the background all the old messages.

https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/20887921#restore

you can try this: (1)Backup old phone WhatsApp using Titanium backup. Copy the WhatsApp folder of old phone. (2) Restore WhatsApp into new phone using Titanium (Do not open it now), Place WhatsApp folder(oldphone's) to internal storage of new phone. (3) Open WhatsApp, it will start from beginning setup process, and restores upto today's 2AM backup.

There is two ways you can restore your whatsapp messages from old phone to your new phone.
1) Using Titanium Backup

Backup Whatsapp app+data in old phone.
Copy the titanium backup of whatsapp to the new phone.
Restore data in new phone.

2) Copying Manually the messages

Copy the contents of SDCard/whatsapp/Databases from old phone to new phone
Paste the files in exactly the same location.
Verify using your number

Should highlight, it only works to restore data to new phone, not app + data.

Actually you can restore app+data also. I don't see how app version is relevant here ?

When I tried app+data it didn't work, but when I tried just data it did. Though I had already installed and tried using Whatsapp before so maybe that messed it up.


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How to open protected files from LG devices?
I sold my LG G4 and I used the content lock on my files. Now, I switched my mobile to Huawei P8 Lite, but the files which were protected from my LG G4 couldn't be opened, and their format is some 'dm files'.
How to open these files?

If you have used the LG phone system encryption tool for protecting your content , then it can only be unlocked from the same device.

To unlock files locked via the LG Gallery app, you have to do the following:

Get any LG phone. Doesn't matter what model, it just has to have the "lock" feature.
set up the Google account you used on the previous LG (the one you used for locking the content)
Set the "lock" feature (if not done already) and make sure the Google account you set up is used for the lock (Settings - Security - Content lock). You can set the lock by simply locking any file.
Copy the locked files you with to open over to the phone.
Gallery > Show locked files > Unlock > Done


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Apps install data in phone storage instead of sd card
This is really annoying me. I had deleted a 1GB game to free up space and install a game but I set all download and install locations to sd card but the app store downloads the game to the phone storage and the game spreads out it's data in there aswell! Why does it not install on sd card when I set it so?

sometimes the games app are configured in a way that they store their data in the phone storage for security or for getting smooth performance. there is nothing you can do about it.....it is more of an developer choice of storage location.

You're wrong. I had the game before installed on sd card and no significant update has happened to modify that.

the same game you are talking about

Yes, I am talking about the same game!


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Are battery monitors accurate ?
I use GSAM battery monitor. i have flashed a few roms,
I get this reading:
~91% battery. 460ma current consumption with regular use(full brightness). 3:40 hours time left(avg last 5 minutes).
So this means that my 91% battery should hold around 1800mah-2000mah (460*3:40) , but this is strange because my battery is a 4100mah battery, and i have it only for 8 months.
Another strange thing: when i look at Android's battery statistics, the sum of percenatges of the battery that goes towards each app(including screen) is only at ~50%.
As a fix, i tried to recharge my phone to 0% and than fully charge. but the problem stays the same.
So what does this mean ? and are my battery problems due to software or hardware?

Which Android version?

Android Marshmallow 6.0.1

Yes. i figured that but wanted to be sure. Will post a reply

Are battery monitors accurate ?

Battery monitors are  an approximation and not accurate :

They are usually based on Voltage measurements
You need Voltage and Current measurements to get an accurate picture. Most phones have only Voltage sensors. Current sensors ( Coulomb Sensor) are available in some at OEM discretion ( Honor 6 for example).  Even if the device has it, the kernel ( since you mentioned flashing ROMs) need to support it. For more details, see this How does the Android estimate the battery level without a current sensor?

I don't know about your device but let's assume that it has only Voltage sensor as is common. Problems with accuracy using voltage sensing ( apart from current sensor bit)

How often it needs to be updated (and reflect on the status bar), AFAIK is left to OEM implementation.  Is the battery icon on your Android phone telling you the truth? says that
updating battery SoC information is manufacturer dependent and not Android driven (emphasis mine and I haven't found any other source to dispute this)

We contacted Google about this, and the indication is that the battery data given in the Settings is the correct one. The updating of the icon happens "every so often", we're told; quite how often is entirely up to the manufacturer, rather than being part of the Android code

Further voltage is NOT a true indicator of the amount of charge. This will explain in detail why
Yet another problem with Voltage based measurement is battery behaviour. Li Ion batteries display a "flattish" voltage drop even though the amount of charge falls relatively steep as seen here at Fig.2

Your app like other apps uses Voltage and inherently plagued with inaccuracies, so at best gives a rough estimate

Starting from Lollipop Android gives you an estimate of how long your battery is going to last, so the interpretation in other answer is valid

Another strange thing: when i look at Android's battery statistics, the sum of percenatges of the battery that goes towards each app(including screen) is only at ~50%.

Measurement of consumption per app and therefore total can also be misleading. This post, though old sheds light on this How does Android calculate battery consumption by apps?
Now coming to your concern of battery problems - it's hard to say. I would suggest that you revert to stock ROM and then observe to establish ,if, there is a problem ( Could be custom ROM, kernel too)

Thanks for accepting . Answer is a tad heavy in theory but then required for correctness

Most popular battery apps including GSam, Ampere, Power Tutor, and Better Battery Stats do not report accurate current readings. OEMs and SoC manufacturers must be able to measure power consumption using hardware and software-based methods. Every mobile device has one or more power management ICs (PMIC) and battery fuel gauge software. If a developer understands how to access this data and interpret it, they can get accurate voltage and current readings, which can be used to calculate accurate power consumption. I know this because I’ve tested software like Trepn Profiler and Battery Mentor using a $700 Monsoon Power measurement hardware and found them to be within a few percentage points off in most use cases. It’s important to mention that newer chipsets and operating systems have made power measurement much harder and in some cases even these apps are now having problems. Some OEMs (e.g. Samsung) also prevent access to this data. [Disclosure: I work on the team who created Trepn and have given advice to the person who created Battery Mentor.]

+1. What about those devices ( which are in majority, of I am not mistaken) whose chipsets don't support current readings? This would be a bigger problem than complexities of OS or Samsung like tricks?

The software I recommended estimates power consumption on devices that don't report accurate direct power readings. This is based on screen brightness, CPU utilization and frequency of every core and GPU utilization. It's not as accurate as direct power, but more accurate than most battery apps in Google Play.

Specific to your case
First of all I think your assumption is wrong. When the app states:

~91% battery. 460ma current consumption with regular use(full
brightness). 3:40 hours time left(avg last 5 minutes).

This rather means you have 91% capacity left, or in your case 3731mAh from 4100mAh. It's currently drawing 460mA with regular use having screen on full brightness. And based on the average of the last 5 minutes you have 3:40 hours left.
So the 3:40 hours is not linked to the 460mA the way I read this information.
I didn't go through it but this user guide from the authors might give you more insight.
In general
I have no experience with that app but first of all you'd want to know how that app calculates these numbers. The app doesn't look like open source so reverse engineering it or contacting them seems like valid options.
The time left on these apps are always an indication based on what you did up to that time (and often starting from the time you stopped charging the phone). Nothing more than a prediction. If you use the phone more/less for the next hours it won't match reality for sure.
This app has some ratings in the store indicating there are bugs:

Martijn Kösters  5 januari 2017 Starting app Has to be done manually
after fully charging. Otherwise fine. Strange?
robert zegers  21 oktober 2016 Bug The widget keeps getting stuck on a
certain percentage.. I have to reboot my phone to fix it. Ive got a
Oneplus 3

See play store link for more.
If this intrigues you you could always do tests and see how accurate these numbers are. How long does it last you in real life? Are you having issues with battery life? If so try to find out what app causes it by using the Android battery statistics.