text:
What Messaging App Displays this Notification?
What Messaging App Runs this notification?

Disregard the darker app running in the background, that is just what happened to be open already when the text message was received.
My wife lets the kids play around with her phone and she has a million apps installed, including several different messaging apps, several of which I am not familiar with.
Whenever she receives a text message, there is the native notification that appears at the top of the screen (that is OK), but shortly thereafter, there is also an annoying popup that comes up, interrupting phone calls and everything, that displays the message and then only offers two options: 1) dismiss, or 2) reply with a voice to text message.
Above is a photo of her phone displaying the message.
This is a Galaxy 4 phone, running Android.
If I could just figure out what App is running the notification, I think I might be able to disable it...
Anyone recognize this?

First, you should consider editing your image to direct our attention to the parts depicting the issue in it. Second, have [tag:adb] setup in PC and whenever that popup shows up again, run adb shell dumpsys window windows. That output would contain the package name of the app somewhere in it.

Go to App manager>Running Apps to view all the apps running at that time without closing this popup. You'll get some clue.

Thank you gentlemen for your comments. They indeed did help me to identify what app was creating this notification...
The App is called Dragon. Our daughter installed without us knowing.
The notifications have been disabled. Thank you for your help.


text:
How to run some admin (Owner) root apps in background for all Users?
I'm using CyanogenMod 12.1 (Rooted)
I want to set up a multi User system with me as the admin. I want all or some of my root apps to run in the background. I don't want the root apps to be shown to the normal user if posssible.
Note: I need to run some apps in the background for datalogging and security, and scanning purposes. For Example I want to run a Linux Distro and some other apps that run Python Scripts. I figured this feature might be available cos it is in Windows PC and Linux. These apps autostart without user inetraction in the admin account. They have a GUI however.
If this is not possible then please suggest me alternate ways like locking or hiding the apps.
Is this possible at all or does the User isolation system make it hard or impossible.
Any workarounds will be OK too.
Thanks.

Your query seems unclear to me. If you're setting multi-user system, then other users wouldn't be able to see the apps  installed in your user account (user ID 0). What's the problem then? Why do you want to hide apps now? (Note that an app cannot be forcefully run in background.)

Please comment on why this is downvoted? I made sure it wasn't a duplicate.

@Firelord I actually want to run some python scripts and some other services in the background of other users. If this is not possible I'd like to know about the workardound. One of the main conditions however is that other users should not get root.

@Firelord So in Android or CM User system the apps are completely isolated and Admin or Owner can't make processes run on the other user accounts? Unlike in Linux and Windows desktops?

I don't know what you mean by "for all users", but what you're describing is just how apps work on a multi-user system. Say you have two users A and B on a tablet. A unlocks the lock screen and starts an app, which has a service which runs in the background to do something. Now A locks the screen again: his app is still running in the background. Now B comes along and unlocks the lock screen into his home screen. A's app can keep running in the background, completely separated from whatever B is doing on the screen.
The only interaction between A's background app and what B is doing is if B uses enough system resources to cause Android to start shutting down background processes to. This acts much the same way as a background app on a single-user system: if the system needs to reclaim resources, it'll stop those background services and reclaim their processes first.
So it doesn't matter if you're the owner user, or if the app in question has root privileges: your app can run in the background just the same, regardless of whether you're using the screen or somebody else is.

Interesting! So there is neither control nor security. For example I switch users to connect to Tor or a VPN and keep accounts seperated. The other user apps will still be accessing the internet and sending all the data they want probably through the VPN session I setup or directly. Either way is bad.

What about the processes of programs that always run in the background. Like Daemons. Like System Apps. I mean apps like SuperSu with deep integration and are never shut off. Will such processes keep running?

BTW I am not talking about online accounts. I'm talking about System Users that seems to create a new empy page without all the other users apps installed. Also there is no sign of other users apps running.

@Wally System apps can choose whether to spawn another instance or not for each user.  They could also choose to shut down when users are changed.  I've written code doing multiple variations of this before.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
What is the 'Chat' function on my Smart Prime 6
I just got my new phone (Vodafone Smart Prime 6) and have a function called 'Chat' when in Message settings.
The messages sent on this chat function are shown in green (compared to the blue ones when sending a standard SMS). They also show when somebody is typing and when the message was read.
First I thought those are Google Hangouts, but I could not find them under the Hangout webpage on hangouts.google.com, which leads me to the conclusion that those are not hangout chats.
Could you tell me which service this is, and more important -> is there any chance to back up those messages (either via textfile export or as a file that can be imported to a new -same model- phone).
I am running Android 5.0.2. You can see a screen shot of that settings menu on the link underneath.
Kind regards,
Mike
View image on imgur.com

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


text:
Connecting Raspberry Pi to Android Wear
I have a Raspberry Pi with a Bluetooth Dongle and an Android Wear Device (LG G Watch). How would I connect my G Watch to my Raspberry Pi via Bluetooth? Thanks!

connect it to do what? act like a phone?


text:
Fastboot is not providing a token when trying to unlock HTC One M9
I am trying to unlock my HTC One M9 following the instructions on the HTCdev website. When I get to the part where you're supposed to obtain the identifier token, it doesn't give me any errors, but it also doesn't give the token. I have the phone booted in 'download mode' (As far as I can tell from the HTCdev website, this is the equivalent of fastboot mode for everything M9 and later. There is no actual fastboot mode in the bootloader).
Below is what I get when I type in 'fastboot oem get_identifier_token'.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem get_identifier_toke
n
...
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!
OKAY [  0.059s]
finished. total time: 0.064s

Do you have any ideas about what I'm missing here?

Maybe you could try the command 'fastboot oem unlock'. Maybe that'll work?

(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!

This means that you need to enable Developer Options in your phone's Settings (go to About and tap the version number repeatedly), then go into those options and check Enable OEM Unlock.  This setting prevents a thief (who doesn't know your device password and thus can't change this setting) from unlocking your bootloader, flashing a new ROM, and gaining use of the phone.
See http://www.droid-life.com/2014/11/04/fyi-android-5-0-introduces-enable-oem-unlock-option-in-developer-options/
Note that not every phone has this setting: only those that can be unlocked by fastboot in the first place do. This answer applies to the phone in the question and other phone vendors that allow their bootloaders to be unlocked. Not all vendors do.

Just to add that on some devices (I had it on my HTC U11 Life), the "Enable OEM Unlock" option works for one reboot only. If you rebooted into the normal operation mode instead of "Download Mode" by mistake, you will need to enable the option again.


text:
Create a playlist of Offline videos in YouTube
YouTube's offline feature allows downloading selected videos so that they can be viewed later, without internet.
I downloaded few of these from different publishers and now have set of such videos in my device.
However, I could not find an option to create a playlist of these downloaded videos through YouTube app.
My intention is to create my own playlist from the set of downloaded videos.
Is this possible?

I suggest you download tubemate app. This downloads youtube videos to your device. Then,  you can easily make Playlist from downloaded videos.

Currently youtube Android app doesn't support creating play lists out of your downloaded videos for offline viewing.
The best deal that you've at the moment is simply creating the playlist with your desired video while you're online (connected to internet) and then follow these steps:

Create the playlist of your favorite videos when you are online and connected to internet. Give it a name. I named my playlist "My Favorites".
Now go to Library tab in the Android app.
On the new screen, check the section named Playlists (A-Z). You will see your playlist enlisted there. Click on the name of your playlist.
Now on the new screen simply click the download button (downward facing arrow icon) at the top of the screen as shown in the below screenshot.

It gives a warning - Downloading playlists may require significant time and storage.. Just press ok on this warning popup.

This warning isn't much of a worry.The download time totally depends on the number of videos you've in your playlist and your broadband connection. Prefer to try this option when you're on a Wi-Fi connection to avoid wasting  your cellular data.
These four steps will download the entire playlist as a new folder which is available offline even when you are not connected to the internet.
Note: If you had downloaded your favorite videos already for offline viewing then the same set of videos are now present at two places on your device, one under downloads folder and also inside the new folder named with your playlist. But the catch here is that file on disk is same i.e. they are not two copies of the same video, so don't delete it from either of the lists or it will delete it from both the playlists. The playlist will remain intact but videos will get deleted. If you  happen to do so then you will have to initiate the download again from your playlist view.

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


text:
How to delete hidden files consuming internal memory in Android?
I have 16gb internal memory in my Android phone (Asus Zenfone 5). I am using only around 3gb of memory and rest is being consumed by some hidden files. I am facing problem of memory shortage (only around 100mb left). I figured out there are two large files in DCIM folder of around 4.6GB in .thumbnails folder naming .thumbdata3xxxxxxxx . I deleted these files but the memory usage is still not reduced.
Are these files not deleted? How and where can I search for the hidden files consuming internal memory?
Thanks

There are lots of guides on the internet that tackle this issue. But be aware that some people refer to the phone's built in storage as "internal storage", but that's not what Android means. There is (at least on my phone which is on 4.2.2 still) a "root" partition that is only 1GB big. This is referred to as internal storage. The rest is called "Phone storage" in Android.
You can have a look at what's eating your internal storage using the tool DiskUsage from the play store. Usually it's all the apps. The properly developed ones will give the the option to move data files from the internal storage to the phone storage. This can be done from the app details page:
What I usually do is go to Settings->Storage. In the "Internal Storage" section, wait until it calculated the sizes, then click on the apps (app data & media content) bar. You'll be taken to a list of apps sorted by size. Now click on each entry starting from the top and select Move to internal storage wherever possible.
This should help quite a bit if you haven't done it before.
To make your phone do the right thing for new apps, go back to Settings->Storage and tap Preferred install location. Set it to Phone storage.


text:
How do I investigate the memory Usage?
I've a Micromax A74 with (rooted) Android 4.2.2. Recently I've faced the crashing of some application and started to analyze the usage of RAM.
Settings>Apps>Running is not helpful:

Sometimes I found only 2 MB free!
I want to know which applications are consuming the memory?
I've also tried top -n 1 -m 8:

But I can't figure out the top applications which cause for lowering the RAM.
On GNU/Linux I can run top -n 1 -o %MEM which displays the applications that consuming most of RAM but such feature isn't available with /system/bin/top or busybox top.
So, How do investigate which applications are consuming a lot of memory? so-that I can force-stop them.
Note: Don't suggest any app like ram booster, it is the different question.

What does adb shell dumpsys meminfo tell you? See if this document helps: http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/debugging-memory.html

@Firelord error: device not found. I don't have any connection to PC with my Android phone. I want to investigate using phone only. If you've any helpful solution/suggestion, you can post an answer.

Do you've root access? Do su -c 'dumpsys meminfo' in that case.

@Firelord http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/27726834#27726834

It seems you wanna order by ram usage, I believe that is
top -n 1 -m 25 -s rss

But I get it from your question. Thanks.


text:
How can I force-stop all user applications that are running?
I found that first of all System>Apps>Running is not helpful always and secondly I we stop the services, it may star again if corresponding application is running. The correct way to stop application is force stop. (that's why ram booster may not helpful sufficiently).
I've made an simple script that get the list of all user applications and then force-stop all one by one:
pm list packages -3 -f | sed /jackpal.androidterm/d > /sdcard/tbs/app2fs

while read -r line; do APK=$(echo $line | cut -d ':' -f2 | cut -d '=' -f1); PKG=$(echo $line | cut -d '=' -f2); echo "Forcing to Stop: $(aapt d badging $APK | grep "application: label" | cut -d "'" -f2)"; am force-stop $PKG; done < /sdcard/tbs/app2fs

The draw back of above command is it tries to force-stops all (doesn't matter running or not) third-party applications. But I want to do am force-stop only for the running user apps.
So, How do I get the list of all running user apps (not services)?
You may have better way to do this than my script/command, hence broadly: How can I force-stop all user applications that are running?
Note: I recommend the command-line solution. Because this type application (that can force-stop all running user apps) mostly runs constantly for monitoring which I don't like. If you've a suggestion for an app that can do such job and also favourable (should not run constantly for monitory) , then you can suggest it.

Note: This solution:

is tested on Android 4.2.1 and 5.0.2 (COS12);
requires a rooted device with Busybox installed and latter's applets available under PATH variable. You may see How do I install missing command line tools onto an Android device?

If an app is running (be it in background or foreground) then it must have a process assigned to it. In that case, it should show up under the radar of ps command. We can single out apps' processes from ps command and compare them with the list stored from pm command. Whatever comes out as common can be safely killed.
Here's a basic script to do that:

#!/system/bin/sh

HOME="/data/media/0";
mkfifo "$HOME"/ps "$HOME"/packages;
/system/bin/ps | grep 'u0_' | awk '{print$9}' | sort -o "$HOME"/ps &
pm list packages -3 | sed 's/package://g' | sort -o "$HOME/"packages &
comm -12 "$HOME"/ps "$HOME"/packages | while read package; do am force-stop "$package"; printf "Force-stopped: $package\n"; done
rm "$HOME"/ps "$HOME"/packages;

This script must be run with root privilege.
In that script:

I'm creating two named pipes, namely ps and packages under /data/media/0. (It is optional to do. You can safely remove the lines starting with mkfifo and rm). I'm relying on the output provided by native ps tool. If an app has a process, then its package name would be shown under the column NAME. I'm using grep to filter out processes running under user 0 (your user account has user ID 0) and then using awk to print the 9th field. That field in each line would show a package name.
Note that you can use Busybox's ps tool. It has a feature to show only a particular column. You'll have to tweak the script a bit but you can do away with hard-coded dependency (a particular field in a line).
I'm storing a list of user-installed packages (third-party) using pm tool.
I'm now comparing the content of ps and packages and listing only the common lines. Note that I used sort in earlier commands because comm requires a sorted file.
Each common line then goes through a loop where the line (a package name) is used to force-stop the corresponding package.

Note: am force-stop is useless against a device administrator app.

How did I miss ps!


text:
How to stop touchpal providing a daily summary?
I like this keyboard app as it has a lot of flexibility with accessing symbols for markdown that I use on stackexchange as well as its edit screen.

Click image(s) for larger version
But it also 'helpfully'(!) provides a daily summary of what apps you use (creepy?) along with a half-screen advertisement. I really don't want that.
Here's an example:

Click image for larger version
It's not even useful or accurate!
Is there anyway to stop it from doing that? I've not found a setting for this,  nor a way to roll back the installed version to before this feature got added.
I'm in lollipop if it matters, with an Xperia Z5 compact. It might be able to upgrade to marshmallow.
How can I disable this feature, preferably without rooting my device?

Give us a link of the app and the version you're using. Is your device rooted? Can you post a screenshot where it shows that summary or advert or both? As for rolling back, you can find its previous version (from some third-party website) which didn't have this issue and install it using [tag:adb] with command adb install -d APK_PATH.

@Firelord added a link to the app and specified I don't want to root my device to do this (I.e. it's not already).  Have snapped a picture is the pop-up but when I set it I will.

What is your Android version? If it's Marshmallow, disable the relevant permissions related to app management

Also, there should be an in-app purchase relating to a Pro version or removing ads.

@TamoghnaChowdhury alas I'm on lollipop

It seems they recently added an option to disable it:
TouchPal -> Settings -> General Settings -> uncheck Daily Summary
The new interface to disable daily summary (22 Nov 2016):
TouchPal--> Settings--> Look & Feel --> uncheck Daily Summary

General settings option is not there as of now, wondering if I have to login or is this moved to premium option? It's not there in free version at least anymore.

In Touchpal 2016, got to settings, looking & feel, and uncheck daily summary towards the bottom of the listing.

A more up-to-date answer than the selected one.

This is the correct answer as of Jan 2017, the other accepted answer is no longer valid.

Install an old version (eg. 5.7.8.8), you can search for it online. Mind that installing apps from outside the app store could be VERY dangerous. Please be careful.
You may have to uninstall Touchpal first and then install the old version.
Then in the Play Store app, disable automatic updates for all the apps. When you have some updates pending, do a "update all" and quickly open the Touchpal app store entry and cancel the update just for Touchpal.
This is my hand-made solution. I am "stuck" on version 5.7.8.8 and it works well so far. My touchpal has a christmas-themed icon but that's it.

I'm on marshmallow and have disabled TouchPals permission to draw over other apps so I'm presuming this is what will need to be done to fix the issue, I will update this is it works

And did it work?

You click on the hand in the upper left hand corner, scroll to the second page of options and click settings chick on the little square of bars in the upper left hand corner, scroll to settings, scroll to "look and feel" scroll down to "daily summary" and un-check the box. This will stop the annoying daily summary.

Is this an update to this answer?

you cant delete the floating icon if you are using the latest version. The easiest way is to download older version of touchpal. it will solved your problem instantly.

The questioner already said, "I've not found ... a way to roll back the installed version," so you should describe how to do this for your suggestion to be helpful.

They will make it an option to have that annoying screen pop up daily. Before the end of February they say there will be an update that fixes this. Saw that info on their Facebook page.


text:
Rebooting into recovery using ClockworkMod
Is there any big difference between rebooting into recovery using ClockworkMod and using Volume Up + Power button when wiping cache?

No, how you access Recovery Mode doesn't matter at all.  ROM Manager can pass arguments to CWM Recovery to (for example) automatically flash an update.zip file, but it's effectively no different than manually selecting that file to flash after entering recovery with the key combo.  Same deal when it comes to wiping the cache.


text:
Updated to CyanogenMod 12.1, tablet now stuck in bootloop with TWRP
I just updated my tablet (Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1) to the latest CyanogenMod 12.1 snapshot, via the built-in updater. It worked perfectly, and booted into my homescreen just fine. I decided to factory reset it because I had some issues with Google Play, but when it restarts, it shows the tablet's logo, then flashes the TeamWin logo, goes black for a split second, then shows the logo again. I waited a few minutes, but it doesn't stop that loop.
I tried restarting, then getting into recovery mode by pushing Power + Volume Down (as well as Power, volume up and the home button, and various combinations of that), but I can only get into the screen where it says "Downloading... Do not turn off target!!".
I've tried to look this problem up, but nearly all the suggestions involve getting into the recovery, which doesn't seem to work. This is probably a terrible question, but I'm unsure on how to proceed here, without making it worse.
I've tried plugging it into a laptop, and booting it into that download screen while it's plugged into a laptop, but that doesn't change anything. Do I need to reinstall TWRP in some way, then install CyanogenMod from scratch somehow?

I got the answer.
I installed Odin, then flashed the correct TWRP archive, from Download mode. When it restarted, it booted into CyanogenMod without any issues. I will only need to install GApps again because I did a factory reset, but that isn't an issue (I hope). I can only assume that the update messed up TWRP, causing it to loop.


text:
Is Xiaomi Redmi 2 truly 64-bit ? Seller says so
My Phone was sold to me as 64-bit architecture, but the Apps like device control, show that it is actually 32-bit. What is correct?
And if anything is wrong,  how should I proceed?

What phone do you have? What firmware (version) is running on it and what apps are you running? Note that 32-bit applications work perfectly fine on 64-bit devices.

Phone is Redmi 2, Xiaomi. Yes,  everything works fine. Its just device control and device info apps show it as a 32-bit architecture.

Than it's just the firmware that is not 64-bit capable. The processor (Snapdragon 410) is 64-bit capable but without firmware support, it's just not working (like 32-bit Windows on a modern PC that would support 64-bit Windows).

What do you mean by firmware? Its default firmware which Shipped with the device.

It should be 64-bit, if its written on the box.

Sometimes (very rarely), manufacturers add 64-bit support to their firmware with an update (I'm pretty sure Xiaomi won't). 64-bit is just the processor. Check again with a more reputable app like CPU-Z and post the Kernel architecture (it should be a 64-bit capable one).

I think,  device control is more reputable and Advanced than CPU Z. But, I have used both,  they show 32-bit architecture.

Then your OS is 32-bit. Nothing you can do about without installing a custom ROM. If you buy a 64-bit CPU you are not guaranteed a 64-bit OS. Many PCs a decade ago could handle 64-bit OS's but did come with 32-bit ones. It doesn't improve anything on your end, though. Unless you have more than 3.5 GB of RAM and need those 64-bit.

Bro, lets talk about phones not PC

Where can I find a 64-bit OS.?

http://forum.xda-developers.com is my go-to website to find custom ROMs. Note that this usually comes with full wipes, loss of warranty and chance of bricking your device.

I have rooted it, and installed CM 12.1, lollipop . I can handle that stuff.

@GiantTree : can you summarize your comments into an answer?

Redmi 2 has a Chipset that supports 64-bit but the Bootloader is not 64-bit ready.
Technically the seller didn't lie as the device is 64-bit architecture but you cannot install a 64-bit ROM (yet) since the bootloader is not 64-bit ready.
Related MIUI thread 1, MIUI thread 2 and Issue reported on GitHub
There's a mention about Lollipop 64-bit version on Chinese MIUI forum

Isn't this false information ℹ from the seller side? This could be used against them.

@RahulParashar it's advertised of having a 64-bit capable CPU, this is not false advertising just because it's not used properly.

Bootloader is not 64-bit ready,  this is the false info. They advertise it as 64-bit.

Technically they're not lying as they're giving the info as 64-bit Chipset. If you see their official website, it says Snapdragon 410 64-bit and 64 bit computing.

But, since you say Bootloader is not 64-bit ready, then How can you put a 64- bit OS on the device?


text:
Trojan alert on my phone, real or fake?
so this pop-up appears even though I'm not doing anything and not even on the net
and it has a background of google sometimes and it says that 'google has detected viruses' on my phone and battery and such out of no where
and somehow now whenever I click on an app before launching it , it takes me to the app store to download an app  mainly games.
This pop up appears saying there's a virus or trojan on my phone.

Other info: Galaxy S5, battery keeps dying out of nowhere
even though I'm not on the web or using the phone.
I even get a notification sound from my phone when it's locked. How to get rid of it?

You could have tried with reverse image search. And the popup notes "Trojan" which is vastly different from a virus.

What you're seeing is the classic "Warning! Your device is infected" scam that tries to push you to buy an overpriced and ineffective "antivirus". (The message is in fact a JavaScript alert hosted at the website mentioned in the header, and there's no way it could have scanned your phone and detected a virus.)
You can find here more info about this particular malware.
However, the fact that this message keeps appearing on your phone makes me think that your phone has indeed some malware that hijacked your browser.  Download and install a legitimate Android antivirus, for instance Avast which is the top-rated one.


text:
Why can I write to a read-only system partition?
I have a rooted phone running android 4.4. When I check the output of 'mount' it says system is read only. My root file manager or terminal can't make any files or folders there, though only the file manager shows an error occured.
But I found I am able to copy files from my data partition to system, even overwriting system files if I want to. Why is this?
Another odd thing I noticed is that the system applets like mount and mkdir are actually symlinks to a binary file called 'toolbox'. For some reason I am not able to remount the system partion with the normal syntax, it says invalid option (using -o remount,rw /dev/xxx/system /system). This is preventing me from installing busybox with an installer app.

toolbox is not an odd thing. It is normal for Android.Anyhow, for remount issue, follow Can't remount /system in rw.

I saw that thread, it was not helpful. I tried all syntax variations, but it says invalid option.

after installing new firmware I was able to remount system like normal. But the odd possibility to write to a RO partition remains. OS is Flyme (from Meizu).


text:
Cable from charging port on Samsung S4 to full HDMI in car
I bought new Honda Civic 2015 and could not afford the model with GPS so dealer told me no problem, just hook up the android phone to the HDMI cable and use the phone GPS. I need to know

If the normal charging cable (see attached) is a micro cable
If so, is the micro cable to full HDMI cable called MHL
eBay micro to full HDMI
If the cable available on eBay work (see the website) and
Will my Sygic app work on my video screen in the car.

Yes that is Micro USB
Yes the Micro Cable to HDMI that you need is MHL
Strong Maybe that cable gets good reviews, so seems promising
Yes the Sygic app will work fine.


text:
How to tilt Google Maps in an emulator?
I am using the emulators (AVD) by Google to run an application which contains a Google Map Activity? On a real device I can use two fingers to tilt the map and see 3d buildings in certain zoom levels - as shown in the screenshot.

How can I tilt the map on a virtual device when all have are the input devices of my computer (keyboards, mouse)?

Thanks to Nicola's hint I searched for SDKController in Google's bug tracker. There I found a recent (Jan 28, 2016) and helpful comment:

Specifically, a pinch/rotate gesture was added in Emulator release 25.0.4 preview 5 - hold Alt to bring up the interface.

Then I tried the Alt and the right mouse button ... and it works!

the only thing I've found on normal emulators (AVD) is to use hardware emulation:
http://tools.android.com/tips/hardware-emulation
But I've never tried it. Honestly I prefer to use Genymotion devices which allows you to interact with just CTRL, ALT, SHIFT and mouse, no pain!

Thank you for the advice. However, the emulator crashes immediately when I enabled port forwarding from the device before. - Related post.


text:
LG G3 -504 bug (also cannot install .apk) of Facebook
my friend has LG G3, recently updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow and he gets -504 error code when he tries to install official Facebook app. I even tried to download .apk and tried multiple version but no progress. It doesn't looks like it's a gateway problem and he's pretty desperate. I looked at some answers and tried removing cache etc. but nothing has solved the problem. I look for any help.
Thanks very much for any reply.
-Feldrod

Have you tried uninstalling Facebook, rebooting the phone, and re-installing it from the Play Store?

He can't install Facebook anyhow. He just has Facebook Messenger and that's all. He wants Facebook app.


text:
touch screen and usb not working: any way to remotely control my phone?
I recently had my phone water damaged during my vacation. The phone still boots up but it doesn't respond to any touch input. When connecting to PC, a notification would appear on my PC that the device is not recognized.
So I'm wondering if there's still another way I can remotely control my phone. It is rooted but with ADB function not working because of USB damage, I can't use that feature anymore.  My phone is an Asus zenfone 2, looks like it doesn't have otg. Another option I thought was AirDroid, I can install it from google play. But then I would still need to input my udername and password to run the app.
Help! I just need to recover my data :(

I would recommend buying an exact model replacement and swapping the motherboards to be able to tap the screen or connect the USB. You'll have to do this anyway to fix the phone. You can sell the remaining parts.

You said that the phone is rooted. Does it has a custom recovery? If you have a custom recovery you can boot to that by using the hardware buttons and you can operate most custom recoveries with the hardware keys. If you are able to do this you can make a Nandroid backup to an external SD card and after that you can extract your data from the Nandroid backup to another phone. I didn't tried yet but with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h3r3t1c.bkrestore&hl=nl, maybe you can extract the data to another phone.

great idea! The external storage is still working. Actually a few moments after the water damage, it will only just boot up in recovery. A few days later, it would boot in normal mode. But now I can't seem to run it in recovery mode despite the volume down and power buttons still working. I'll keep trying, but I'm running out of options. :(


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How do I get MIUI to allow notifications for reminder apps?
I'm using an MI phone (Redmi Note 4G), it runs on MIUI v7. This is a problem that a lot of people have been facing for a really long time now: Push notifications for reminder apps (Say Wunderlist, Google Keep, Any.Do etc.) don't work. Mostly they don't work at all, sometimes they are delayed for random number of minutes / hours for absolutely no reason.
How do I get MIUI to allow these notifications?
Here is what I've tried:

I've tried "locking" the apps into the apps tray (So that when I clear the RAM, that particular app isn't cleared )

Result: Doesn't work.

I've given all permissions to the concerned apps. Even those permissions that were obviously not required for the app to do it's basic task: Remind me of my to-dos.

Doesn't work.

I've made sure that I've enabled allnotifications in both the MIUI settings and in the settings of the app

Doesn't work.
There is only thing that does work: Not force closing the app (by pressing the back button for a few seconds). Even if I do so, the reminders only work fine for a few minutes: say for half-an-hour or an hour. Reminders that come up later than that don't work.
Here is an ongoing discussion on the same topic: http://en.miui.com/thread-19270-1-1.html (miui forum)

On MIUI 8, under Settings, Permissions, you can add individual apps to Autostarts.  This is the only thing that worked for apps that I wanted to keep running in the background (eg Gentle Alarm).
The permission does more than autostart an app 'cos if I don't have that permission set for Gentle Alarm and start the app manually, the app doesn't work, so I think the term 'autostart' is misleading.
The other thing you might need to do is tell MIUI to not apply any battery saving methods (depending on the MIUI version).
Having said all this, I can't get Google Now to work.  I guess I need to find the right app/module to enable in Autostarts.


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Dolphin browser won't let me change default video player?
In Dolphin I had set "BPS player" to be the default video player when I selected the "Open in other apps" option in the dolphin Player. Now I want to change the default video player again but when I choose "Open in other apps" it just opens the BPS player! I tried to "clear defaults" on both apps but it didn't work. Do I have to uninstall Dolphin or BPS player? Help, searched all over google but didn't find anything.

What device, what android version? Possible duplicate of Where does Android store the "default application for file type (open with)" settings?


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Cyanogenmod: Google Play Services keeps crashing after update
a few weeks ago I updated the Google Play services of my Oneplus One (Android version 5.1.1, Cyanogen OS version 12.1.1). From an apk that I downloaded online. Since then it keeps crashing. Sometimes every few minutes but sometimes also multiple times per minute. I can still use the internet but my instant messaging apps seem to receive messages with a delay. Probably because the push service of GPS is not working properly.
The crashes especially occur when connecting to a wifi, using other apps that connect to internet and sometimes also when writing text messages (SMS)
I didn't set up a Google account and disabled almost all my Google apps except for Google One Time Init, Google Play services, Google App and Google Services Framework. (because disabling them caused some problems).
The Permissions for Google Play services switched off, especially the Location permission was denied very often (~ 62000 times). Wake up, Keep awake and Auto start are allowed.
My phone is not rooted.
Google Play Services versions:
previous version: 7.5.71 (1955121-438)
current version:  8.4.89 (2428711-270)
I also tried version8.4.89 (2428711-438) from xda-developers but could not it install due to Parsing error.
This is the error message that shows up in the crash report.
java.lang.RuntimeException: An error occured while executing doInBackground()
at android.os.AsyncTask$3.done(AsyncTask.java:304)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.finishCompletion(FutureTask.java:355)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.setException(FutureTask.java:222)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:242)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:818)
Caused by: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: dalvik.system.PathClassLoader[DexPathList[[zip file "/system/framework/com.android.location.provider.jar", zip file "/system/framework/com.android.media.remotedisplay.jar", zip file "/data/app/com.google.android.gms-1/base.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/vendor/lib, /system/lib]]] couldn't find "libgmscore.so"
at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary(Runtime.java:366)
at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:988)
at com.google.android.gms.org.conscrypt.NativeCrypto.<clinit>(SourceFile:53)
at com.google.android.gms.org.conscrypt.OpenSSLContextImpl$TLSv12.<init>(SourceFile:152)
at com.google.android.gms.org.conscrypt.OpenSSLContextImpl.getPreferred(SourceFile:55)
at com.google.android.gms.common.net.SSLCertificateSocketFactory.a(SourceFile:272)
at com.google.android.gms.common.net.SSLCertificateSocketFactory.a(SourceFile:292)
at com.google.android.gms.common.net.SSLCertificateSocketFactory.createSocket(SourceFile:552)
at com.android.okhttp.Connection.upgradeToTls(Connection.java:175)
at com.android.okhttp.Connection.connect(Connection.java:155)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpEngine.connect(HttpEngine.java:276)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpEngine.sendRequest(HttpEngine.java:211)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpURLConnectionImpl.execute(HttpURLConnectionImpl.java:382)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpURLConnectionImpl.connect(HttpURLConnectionImpl.java:106)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpURLConnectionImpl.getOutputStream(HttpURLConnectionImpl.java:217)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.DelegatingHttpsURLConnection.getOutputStream(DelegatingHttpsURLConnection.java:218)
at com.android.okhttp.internal.http.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getOutputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:25)
at com.google.android.gms.checkin.k.a(SourceFile:366)
at com.google.android.gms.checkin.k.a(SourceFile:238)
at com.google.android.gms.checkin.g.a(SourceFile:711)
at com.google.android.gms.checkin.g.doInBackground(SourceFile:678)
at android.os.AsyncTask$2.call(AsyncTask.java:292)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:237)
... 4 more

Does anyone have an idea how to solve this problem? Before the update my phone worked fine. Did I install the wrong version of Google Play services? Or do I need to setup a Google account?

I don't know many places online with good apks. But this one is pretty well [http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-play-services/] and I trust their apks.

@Rexford, thanks for the tip! I just downloaded and installed Google Play services again and it seems that the crashes stopped :)

So from now on, you know where to download your apks @Onion (sorry, I don't have your letters on my keyboard, but nice username!)

One of the good places to downloaded your APKs are from APK Mirror (run by Android Police).
It is important to download your APKs from trusted sources for safety. In your instance, the apk is probably faulty, and as a result, giving you the errors.

That solved the problem! The version I installed was the wrong one for my phone. Version 8.4.89 (2428711-248) from APK Mirror is working for me, and I guess any other Oneplus One!


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Difference between flashable firmware files of 2 same model phone with different internal SD size?
I have a Gionee m2 8gb which is in a bootloop, so I downloaded flashable firmware files for it, but mistakenly I downloaded gionee m2 4gb flashable firmware files. Is it possible to use this files for my phone with some minor changes?

Its a difference in the files (partition images) responsible for determining the partition table and size. You can use it, but you would end up getting your 8GB device a partition layout for a 4GB device. This would cause half the available app storage (i.e., the data partition's size would be approximately halved). I suggest you redownload the correct firmware, as otherwise you will have to repartition your device which is a very (hard-brick) risky proposition.


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Can't install TWRP on Note 4
I'm trying to install TWRP ("openrecovery-twrp-2.8.1.1-trltetmo.img.tar") on Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N910F with Android 5.1.1 . I tried to do it with Odin versions v3.09 and v3.10.7 using different USB cables and ports. The process always seems correct: it shows 'ID:COM' and finishes without errors, showing green and ends up resetting the device, but after that I try to boot into 'Download mode' and after pressing "volume down" + Home + Power it keeps showing the default recovery, it doesn't boot on TWRP.
I've uploaded here five screenshots showing what's happening. Here's one of them, showing that apparently everything has worked fine and the device is beeing rebooted:

PC configuration:

Windows 7
Already installed Drivers "SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.zip"
from here

Device configuration:

'USB debugging' is enabled
Security => 'Reactivation lock' is disabled.

How can I install and boot correctly TWRP?
Any help will be appreciated, thanks in advance
/Angel

Uncheck "Auto-Reboot" in Odin?

Uncheck auto reboot 2. If your device has a removable battery, remove that and boot into recovery. 3. if not  fastboot reboot them boot into twrp recovery. Reason:  see Odin section last paragraph here https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html. Also, make sure you are flashing the correct TWRP

Once you are done, you can use quick boot to launch into TWRP recovery IF you find recovery key combination tricky to handle

thanks you all for your answers. It was a mistake of mine when pressing the key combination. I told I was doing "volume down" + Home + Power, but that's to boot into 'download mode', to boot into recovery the combination is "volume up" + Home + Power.
Thanks,
/Angel

I was facing similar issue.
I flashed TWRP using ODIN but my Note4 (N910G) wouldn't boot to recovery.
Then I used TWRP Manager from Playstore (Not the official TWRP application), this had option to boot to recovery , this allowed me to boot to TWRP successfully.

I installed it using odin and it was stuck in recovery booting.
Then I removed the battery and rebooted in recovery and there was a script running that reinstalled stock recovery.
I flashed it once again using odin WITHOUT auto-reboot.
I removed the battery once the flash was done.
Put it back in and used Vol+ + power to boot in TWRP and voilà !
Flashed supersu 2.79 , it patched the root and I'm now fully rooted :)


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Backed up and formatted SD card, now "app isnt installed" error
So i was having this error on my laptop which didnt allow files to be copied or moved to and from my SD card. The error happens mostly when copying to my sd card. When i try it says something like the device disconnected or isnt responding
Anyways after googling the problem, i came across a solution that said to format my SD card, so i backed it up onto my laptop, formatted the sd card and put the original files back onto the sd card (it didnt fix the problem, putting the files back on was a struggle and eventually had to put them on my web server on my laptop and download from my phone)
While the sd card was formatted, i got the problem with not being able to load any of the apps, it said "app not installed" (this was expected since most of my apps were on the SD card) and i thought the problem would be fixed when i put the files back on however i still get the "app isnt installed" error. I cant move the apps to the internal storage from the settings since it says the app doesnt exist
So
Issue #1: how do i get the apps back? Re downloading them is a pain since my internal storage is pretty full already and i dont have much space for downloading apps
Issue #2: how do i prevent the error message from happening when copying files to my SD card? Ive tried using different cables, ports, uninstalling drivers and even tried it on a different laptop but it still doesnt work which makes me think its something to do with the phone. For some reason it allowed me to copy the sd card content to my laptop so im not sure why that was.
Thanks for reading, i hope someone is able to help. Thanks

Did you try formatting the sd card from your Android phone (or a linux machine)? Did you try another sd card?

Yes i formatted it with my phone. I havent tried a different sd card but i will do tomorrow. Im not sure it is the sd card however since the whole phone disconnects

When copying stuff back, did you include the .android_secure (note the dot at the start) directory? Because that's where (parts of) your moved apps reside. This directory is usually not exposed on the device, and probably neither shown when mounted from your device to the PC (also see these posts on this directory and issue).

My windows explorer is set to show hidden files and so is my file explorer on my phone so that folder should have been visible however all the times i browsed my SD card before, i've never seen this folder, not even when i copied the files to my PC


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If we upload video to youtube using youtube official video, should we keep the app foreground?
I did  a few tests. it seems that if I go to another app, then the video is not uploading.
Can youtube app keeps uploading videos while it's not the foreground app?

in an ideal world, it should upload it, even when user goes to another app. This upload of data(YouTube video) is a network operation and in Android app, this is usually done in background using something Called Service. When this service is RUNNING, and uploading the content, user can switch to another app and Android will keep this Service running till it's DONE. One corner case might be that this Service is KILLED by Android because of Low Memory in your device and hence video is no longer uploaded. http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html

it seems that it's not the case

by the way, it seems an issue specific to your device and YouTube app. I could upload videos without any issue using official YouTube app.


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IS there any emoji keyboard available to support custom sticker?
Many emoji keyboard available on the internet.
but any keyboard not support all emoji sticker.
otherwise it isnt possible.
but everyday new emoji sticker coming.
so,any keyboard available to support custom sticker.

Please note that recommendations like Is there an app for X are off-topic here (see What topics can I ask about here? for details). For where your question might fit better, you might want to look into Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions? and Where to ask for app recommendations?.

This isnt off-topic question.It is related on android.

Please follow the links to find out the truth. There are several topics which are about Android and still off-topic here. To make the links more obvious to you: /help/on-topic explicitly mentions as off-topic: Questions asking the community to find or recommend something for you (a device, app, ROM, website, etc)

Now i understand.but, i need this question answer.

Then please check the other links as well, there is a place for that: Where to ask for app recommendations?

how many stackexchenge site available?like:  (android.stackexchange.com) ,  (meta.stackexchange.com) ,
(stackoverfollow.com) .etc

Please note this is not a forum, so no place for discussion (you can discuss things in our chat rooms once you've reached 20+ rep). As for available SE sites, see here.

@nomito: This isn't a paid help line to answer all your doubts. You have asked a question, you have been told it's off topic here, you've been directed to a site where you can ask, provided if it fits the rules of the site. That is enough spoon feeding. Please learn to do your own research too

@izzy: you are really patient :)

@beeshyams I try my best, but there are limits :)

SwiftKey Keyboard - Android Apps on Google Play.
or
Go Keyboard supports emoji sticker but you have to update further sticker for that in keyboard pannel at + sticker click.

Thank you, for your attempt to help out here, but please avoid  answering off-topic questions. Answers to such questions tend to encourage users to ask such off-topic content again. Off-topic content diminishes the desired usefulness of a website. Visit [help/on-topic] to know what's on-topic and off-topic inter alia.e, but


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Does Google Drive replicate files before uploading?
When I upload files by Google Drive on my Samsung S4, I get full storage notification, so I need to know if G-Drive replicate any file on Android before or after uploading it.

You haven't given enough information to analyse if Google Drive and your notification are related. Like the size of file you want to upload or your total storage size or your occupied storage size etc.

But why would google drive replicate your file, which means, you'll end up with two copies of same file on phone, then extra copy in the cloud?

I'd say so. When uploading large files (~200 MB), I have gotten "Low memory" errors, even though I had over 500MB (out of 16 GB internal) free.
This notification would go a few seconds after the upload completed.
Typically, about 300 MB causes low memory errors for me. I have a Moto G3 running the CrDroid custom ROM, 6.0.1 (Marshmallow).
I don't know the Google Drive code, but it certainly seems to be so. Whether the data is cached as app data or on the SD card, I can't comment.

One can't really know what Google Drive does without going through all the codes but there is no need for it to do so. It's a simple upload procedure. I believe your problem is not related to it.


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How to view own story in snapchat
I'm not very good at SnapChat. Is there a way to view your own story? My friend helped me set a picture and now I can't find it.

If you'd like to view your own Story, follow the below steps :

Swipe left on the Camera screen to the Stories screen ;
Tap 'My Story,' or the circular icon of a Snap to the left of 'My Story.'

Source : Snapchat support.

I forgot to mention I tried these instructions and they're non-sense. I swipe left and get to my received snaps. I swipe right and I get to everyone's stories, except mine. There is no "my story".

I don't know if it is possible, but maybe you could try to add yourself as friend and maybe you'll be able to see your own story.
Also have a look at this : http://visihow.com/Edit_Who_Can_Send_You_Snaps_and_View_Your_Story_on_SnapChat


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Some Google contacts are not synchronized
I am a long time user of Android and Google and have all my contacts in Google Contacts, synchronized on my phone. So do my wife and my children.
Within the same domain (managed via Google Apps) I have one other account which behaves differently (my father's - the only person who does not do anything fancy with his phone).
Almost all of his contacts in Google synchronize to his phone. There are a few (10% maybe) which do not. They exist in his Google account and do not get synchronized. They belong to "My Contacts", like others which do synchronize. They are not special (the name is in ASCII, there is a normal email address and a normal phone number associated).
When creating a new contact on the phone,  it synchronizes to Google.
When creating a new contact in Google, it synchronizes to the phone.
Contacts from all accounts on the phone are set up to be displayed (and they do).
I deleted and recreated on Google one of the contacts which does not synchronize. It synchronized to the phone.
In other words, I am stuck with some contacts which for an unknown reason refuse to synchronize from Google to the phone (the other way round it works). What could be the reason?
Is there a way to reset the synchronization short of deleting/recreating the offending contacts (this is cumbersome as I do not know which contacts are missing, except if I review all of them one by one).

Where  were these contacts created, in Google-contacts, or imported (via gmail)? Maybe you find something from this point of view.


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Touchscreen partially not working, digitizer broken? (image included)
I have an Xperia V and two rows on the touchscreen are not responding. I dropped my phone but there's no scratches on it, so I don't know if its software issue or hardware as I noticed this problems hours after the incident. I Guess it's the digitizer. I opened it but everything seemed intact. Anyone had the same issue? How can I repair it or the display should be replaced?
Many thanks in advance.
P.S. I´ve factory reset my phone but the problem remains. Some repair shops told me to replace the whole display but I´m not sure if that´s necessary.
Here's the touchscreen test image, almost half of the screen not responding to touches(although works with a mouse attached to phone via OTG cabel):

I guess it's not much use if you get a bunch of "me too". So maybe you [edit] your question to include which direction you want to go: Repair? Work-around the "blind area"? In the latter case: which part is affected (soft buttons maybe)?

I don't think we can really help you without more info -- you'd have to open it up and see if a ribbon cable was disconnected, or if the digitizer was damaged, or if it's separated from the glass, etc.

@MatthewRead I opened it and every thing is fine nothing seems broken. btw I didn't disassemble the PCB and anthena and etc, just opened the screws and ribbon cable and other parts were connected.


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Access to smartphone with PC
I've reset my phone (Android 4.3) but because the touchscreen is not fully responding, I can't go through the initial tutorial and therefore using some apps  like airdroid to remotely control my phone via PC. How can I control my phone using no apps?
Kind regards

Buy an otg cable and plug in a USB mouse

@faf Vysor could be of help: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/137530/27870

Is USB debugging enabled? You can use key events to do the initial setup in AirDroid.

@Firelord yes, USB debugging is enabled. I used OTG cabel which solved my problem.

Buy yourself a USB OTG cable. You will be able to access the phone using a mouse.
Sources:

1990clb suggestion
personal experience
Update:
You should make sure your device actually supports USB OTG first.

How do you know OP's device supports USB OTG?

That is actually a good point. I assumed an Android 4.3 device would have that capability but I was wrong.


text:
Prevent USB data transfer (when phone is in use) and being charged
I would like to know how to protect my data when I use public battery charger in public places. I know that if I do not unlock my screen when  charging, my data is safe, but what if I would like to use my phone while connected to  public charger?
I would like to know how or if it requires to have an app that can help me block data transfer via USB , even if I am using the phone.

What Android version and what phone are you using? Some manufacturers as well as newer stock Android versions have this built in.

Android 4+ you could follow this http://stackoverflow.com/a/21712630/1757321

I got Samsung Dous2 (os 4.2) Samsung J7 / A5 (os 5.1). I have checked on USB connection setting but there are radio button to choose between MTP or PTP. None of option to turn off.

If possible, switch to Marshmallow. Done. If the device is rooted, you can use [tag:automation] with this answer: How to disable MTP and PTP file sharing via USB on Android 5?

Thank you Firelord. However I do not want to rooted my phone, because I have read that if phone is rooted, some apps can retrieve password's account from the phone. I think it does not safe.

I have taken the liberty of editing your question to ask for ways to achieve and not just seek for an app solution, so that the question is not closed on account of seeking app recommendation.

How about just turning your device off when charging.

Edit: While reading up on this after answering, stumbled upon the name for this threat- Juice Jacking, defined as (emphasis added)

Juice jacking is a term used to describe a cyber attack where wherein malware might be installed on to, or data surreptitiously copied from, a smart phone, tablet or other computer device using a charging port that doubles as a data connection, typically over USB.

Further, mitigation section of wiki says

Juice jacking is not possible if a device is charged via the AC adapter shipped with the device, a battery backup device, or by utilizing a USB cable that has its data cables removed

The simplest way would be to use a cable that only charges but does not allow data transfer. Such a cable is non-standard, since it does not adhere to standards wherein data connectors / cables also play an important role of negotiating the power requirements (1)

These cables come with a disadvantage- charging speed is very slow (often by a factor of 10x as reported in some forums). A work around is to buy a cable of 20 AWG thickness (2)  Since 20 AWG is the thickest cable permitted and by virtue of its thickness offers least resistance , and therefore faster charging.  Such cables are available on ebay as an example. While these cables may charge at a reasonable rate, they are not recommended for regular use, as charging current rate is constant and not negotiable (as desired by battery charging logic)

Other Possible Methods

adb commands/ tweaking your system OS: These may or may not work since it is highly dependent on the way device OS is designed. To get a flavor, see my answer , which is the opposite of what you want to achieve.

Edit: Thanks to Firelord's answer, found a way that hasn't been documented anywhere AFAIK.

You can run this command:

adb shell svc usb setFunctions
This should reset the USB mode/configuration to charging only.

DIY methods modifying the cable or end connectors: Not recommended unless you have a good knowledge and are adept at such tinkering. For example,  How-to-make-a-USB-no-data-charger-cable- Google search will give you many more

USB Condoms:  I didn't make that up :). These are  implementation of DIY methods, sold as ready for use.  SyncStop/ USB condom is one such product- many are available

Note:  All above methods result in sub optimal charging and IMO not recommended for regular use since charging power can't be negotiated
Interestingly, there is a product Charging Safely over USB marketed last year (currently out of stock as per website). This recognises that doing away with data connectors is a bad idea, and permits power negotiation to happen (although slowly) while denying data transfer  by using capacitors to limit bandwidth only for power negotiation
Bottom Line  Use 20 AWG cable recommended right on top, and as sparingly as possible

(1):  USB charging specifications in conjunction with Battery Charging Revision 1.2 lays down " standard for establishing the proper way to charge a battery from a USB port "
(2):  American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a reference for thickness of cables. In this system, larger numbers indicate thinner wires. USB specification above makes reference to AWG numbers of 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28

Is it not possible to use a powerboat ( spare battery) and charge that from the unsafe source and then later charge your phone from the bank

@Willemien: Of course, it is another possibility but the question talks of directly charging. Yes, you have a point . Thanks

authors: ปรีดา ตั้งนภากร


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How to show my devices in my custom google map
I have 5 mobile devices with me, all these devices have GPS. On my map i need to view all the devices wherever it is located. And GPS will be turned on. Please help me

not like that..I have a separate fragment in my application, with map.

Android Device Manager is perfect for this.
Just download and set up the app on all of these devices (if the app isn't already on them), and you're pretty much ready to go.
As long as all of these devices are signed into the same Google Account, and the GPS is on on all of these devices, you won't find it very hard to locate them.
click here, and you will see just what I am talking about. You can also use the app to lock your device, ring it on full volume, and even wipe the phone completely.  It is basically Google's "Find My iPhone"


text:
link2sd. Most Apps were gone after restarting
I just rooted my phone and successfully link all movable apps to my external sd's 2nd partition (ext4) using link2sd.
I did a restart and everything's fine, same on the second restart...
but the third time most apps disappear, only system apps are there...
When I try to use messaging app to text someone, it'll crash. It will say: "Unfortunately, Messaging has stopped".
What should I do except from restoring my backup or doing factory data reset?


text:
Mic doesn't work during calls!
I have Honor 3C.
My phone records sounds, in sound recorder app or capturing video with camera.
But when I call someone (or someone calls me) mic doesn't work unless I enable speaker. When it's on speaker, the mic works!!!
What should I do?

My first guess is that your phone has two mics - one for "computer-like" use, one for when you're holding it to your face - and the second of these is broken (i.e. a hardware problem). If that's right, then you should get it repaired, either by taking it back to the shop, or by finding a repair centre near you.

It was a hardware problem with the second mic.

A temporary fix is to put it on speaker then back to internal mic I've had this problem with three different phones all different name brands.

Try going to -> Settings -> APPS -> Permissions -> Microphone -> When Recorder is enabled, disable it.
If this does not work, you can try to disable all other checkmarks "screenshot it first", if none of this has helped, you have to contact a repair service.

I got the same issue before. And I solved. The mic is controlled by other apps during your call. Just deny apps having permissions to use microphone and phone.
Go to settings-apps-all apps-tap each app, check it's permissions and deny microphone and phone.
Ofcourse don't deny for apps like whatsapp, skype etc.


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How to choose my SD card type based on transfer speed?
i have a cheap Kingstone SD card and an Android phone with small internal space. when it told me to free some space i partitioned my SD into 2 partitions one fat32 for personal data and the other ext2 for extending my internal memory. using the app "Link2SD" i moved all the apps and games, but i noticed that apps performance had a dramatic change of speed (to the worse of course) Facebook app for instance it lags alot when i scroll, like, comment and move between tabs. for games they worked fine but they have the loading screen for a longer time.
my phone is Sony Xperia M2 (if it matters). is there any SD card that has the same transfer speed as the phone's internal memory or even better.
Thanks

You will likely not find an SD card which will outperform the flash in your phone, however there are substantial differences between memory cards.
Generally memory cards are labeled with a "Class" - which equates to the minimum speeds of the cards - Class 4 cards can handle 4 MB/Sec, Class 10 = 10 MB/s, UHS Speed 1 10 MB/s and USB Speed 3 30 MB/Sec.
Even within the classes though, there are huge difference in read and write speeds, and a good Class 6 card could outperform a bad class 10 card.   There is a good section on speed ratings in the Secure_Digital Wikipedia article.


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Rooting Samsung Galaxy S3
Is there any particular danger (apart from bricking) that may stop you from rooting Samsung Galaxy S3? Anybody has a good tutorial? And if something goes wrong what to do?

Besides "bricking" your device, most people don't do it because it voids their warranty on their phones/devices. But if you want to remove a lot of the "bloatware" "lagware" from the device to free up more storage space, then rooting is the way to go... if you don't care about your warranty on your device.
Now, here is how to root the S3...
The first process posted by XDA Recognized Contributor mrRobinson works for the AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint US variants. This method typically does not trip the flash counter, but can take some time. The second method is by XDA Elite Recognized Developer Chainfire. This works for the three aforementioned US variants and the International version. This method is quick, but it does trip the flash counter. Finally, we cover the use of XDA Senior Moderator and Recognized Developer mskip’s toolkit. You can find versions for the four previously mentioned variants of the toolkit. This is a semi-automatic method and does trip the flash counter.
The rest of this can be seen here => How to ROOT Galaxy S3 (all versions)
All the files/apps/drivers etc. that you need are on the website posted. Pay attention and follow the instructions.

You can use https://root-apk.kingoapp.com/kingoroot-download.htm to download an one-click method of rooting your phone. If you root your phone, you will void your warranty.


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Tasker App Factory Generated app - Not reacting to variable set %CLIP
So, I created a tasker profile that monitors the %CLIP variable with the "Variable set" event, and if it's contents contain what I'm looking for, it puts up a notification. It all works in tasker, but when I export the App Factory Generated app, it doesn't provide realtime monitoring. If I launch the App Factory Generated a from the app drawer it will check the current contents of the clipboard and if it's meets the requirements it will post the notification, but it fails to monitor the clipboard and react to changes in realtime.
Do I need some sort of UI or permission for the the App Factory Generated app to run in the background? Are "Variable set" profiles not functional for App Factory Generated apps?

Instead of reacting to an event go for the state. Event → Variables → Variable Value → fill it.
I was not given an option to export the profile as an app so I moved the profile into a new project and exported the whole project. I disabled my profile, installed the app and whenever the clipboard contained the desired value, the app triggered the task.
Note that the app must be launched at least once to monitor the changes in that variable. Also, if you launch the app, it would execute the task regardless of the conditions put in place for profile.


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(Nexus 5X, Marshmellow) Gmail app: how to see separate notifications for each new email?
I have a Nexus 5x with Android Marshmellow. The Gmail notification I see on my locked screen groups all the messages together and shows "5 new messages". Can I see each new email as separate notification, (so, 5 notifications)so that I can know who sent the mail, the subject etc. instead of only knowing that there are 5 messages?
I recently moved from iOS and missing that feature. Thanks!

I think you would have to switch to a third-party lock screen app. See if this helps: http://phandroid.com/2014/03/08/how-to-get-ios-lock-screen-on-android/

@Ron You can also hold and swipe down the single notification to see the other details you mentioned.

Thanks for the replies. @Lucky's solution is pretty close to what I wanted to achieve. Thanks for this helpful suggestion!

@Ron Cool. That's not just for Gmail. That's how Android notifications usually work. Notifications from the same app merge into a single notifying which don't cluster your notification bar. You could try the same on other apps too. And sometimes it works on single notifications too.


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reboot needed to refresh MTP list?
using Terminal Emulator I created a file;
cd /storage/emulated/0/Downloaded
echo test > test.txt

Then using Android File Transfer I can see files in the same dir but not the test file. ls -l indicated it's not a chown chmod issue;
-rw-rw---- root    sdcard_r      3323 2016-02-22 15:15 other.txt
-rw-rw---- root    sdcard_r         5 2016-02-22 15:15 test.txt

sync, repluging, killing the client, and changing to PTP then back to MTP did not help but a reboot did so what's up with that?

While I do not have an answer for this strange behaviour (which I'm experiencing as well), I can say that a whole reboot may be skipped. In most cases, in fact, renaming the file you wish to transfer will make it visible on your PC as well. Additionally, if you wish to embark in the journey of installing adb on a Mac, you'll find that:
adb pull "android_file_path" "path_to_copy_the_file_to"

will be able to copy the desired file to your computer, regardless of it being visible on Android File Transfer or not.


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How to fix sudden charge drop in stand by?

I have an android device running Lollipop 5.1 (the brand is local in my country) which has a battery draining problem in stand by mode.

It drains about 10% of battery every hour or so without having any custom launcher
The battery capacity is 1850 mAh
WiFi is turned off. I only use one SIM
I have been monitoring the phone since I bought it, I haven't used it to call someone and my network signal is completely stable and the only time spent on screen is to check battery percentage.

Should I be worried or is it okay for such a device to consume this much battery in stand by mode?
Note: I tried installing launchers which seem to be causing more battery consumption in stand-by.  I uninstalled all third party battery saver apps and turned android integrated power saver on.I also tried factory resetting the phone twice.

Did you check Battery section under Settings? See what apps are consuming so much battery.

I've uploaded a picture.See if it helps you to get the idea...I can't customize as it drains more battery in stand by

You can try checking if the behaviour repeats in safe mode. If it does, more likely it is battery issue. If not, it could be driver corruption issue and re-flashing ROM could fix

@beshyams I have a few days of replacement warranty left and don't know if reflashing would void it.....I forgot to mention that the phone has an integrated launcher....but it's very similar to stock android.

In which case replacing the battery would eliminate one problem (worst case) or solve the problem (best case). Suggest you get replacement done within warranty period. Current behaviour is definitely NOT normal

@beeshyams (Sorry to bother you again) I took my phone to the official outlet they kept it for nearly 17 hours.They said that they had re-flashed the ROM and used it.It was working fine and there was battery usage data.When I got home I did a factory reset and same problems showed up again. Used wifi for about an hour and yet it still shows "battery usage data isn't available".....So,would re-flashing it again be a good idea?

After they returned your phone, did you install any apps? Why did you need to reset? Not clear on that. If you installed apps and they messed up battery history-this is something possible if it is rogue app and you need to check all apps. Best is to reflash and keep it under observation longer without installing any apps. If you didn't install Any apps , return device and insist on replacement

@beeshyams  the phone was lagging a little bit and they had used it so I did a factory reset just to clear up data and accounts.After the reset I updated some apps like facebook,youtube,viber which were pre-installed.

Suggest inform the dealer about this and insist on replacement

Sounds like your battery is trash. Sometimes you buy a new phone and get a bad battery.
Take it back where you bought it and tell them the battery is bad. They should give you a new battery free of charge.


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Unlocking a broken-screen Nexus 6
I have a pretty stock Nexus 6. It has Full Disk Encryption turned on, AFAIK (I didn't change any settings from when I first got it, and it requires the PIN to boot up). I dropped it yesterday, during which time the screen completely died and the phone rebooted.
The screen is just plain black, and as far as I can tell is also not registering any touches (no tactile feedback, etc). The phone is now in the "waiting to boot" mode where it ticks every second to remind me to enter my PIN.
I've already ordered a new phone, but I'd like to wipe this one before I recycle it. Has anyone had any luck with alternative methods of entering data into the phone? All I really need to do is get the PIN entered so it can boot up. Then (hopefully) it'll find service or WiFi, at which point I can send a remote wipe command. It's just that I can't do anything over USB while it's still partly booted the way it is.

the screen is just plain black, yet you see waiting to boot but ticks every second to remind you to enter PIN, thus if not registering any touches how can the pin be entered?

No. There is no way to enter the PIN on that phone if you cannot use the touch screen. The only thing you would be able to do to that phone now is doing the "hard master reset" by pressing the button combination for that phone. That would also delete all the data stored on that phone.
To find the master reset button combination for that phone, try using Google or going to XDA Developers.

FWIW, I had hoped to either recycle or resell the nexus. I'm not wild about just destroying it outright, which is what I had done to earlier phones I owned. I did find the hard master reset combo for the nexus6, but of course there's no feedback on the screen (or audible) that this has occurred. Alas.

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


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Every microphone app for using with AUX has a loud noise in the background
Every app that I download for android with the function of using android as an external microphone (For example, attaching the fone to pc using an AUX cable) produces an noise that is very loud, and I not even need to connect the phone, the app itself produces the noise. It's a weird, very loud noise. I've already disabled wifi and GSM to see if there was any interference, but it wasn't the case.
Is there any hack, app, or configuration to fix that? I can't find a solution anywhere.


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Cannot download "Office 365" because it is not compatible with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
I have Office on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, but I cannot upgrade it to Office 365. I can't download it from Google Play Store because it tells me that

Your device isn't compatible with this version.

This is a high-end tablet, so I expected it to be compatible.
Is Microsoft still going to support this issue out, or do I, in fact, already have 365 without knowing it?

Your device isn't compatible with the application you want to download

Based on my memory and this article, there was an old "Microsoft Office" app that was replaced by individual Microsoft Office apps:

Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
and more...

However, there are no "Office 365" apps. "Office 365" is a subscription plan that enhances the user experience of individual Office apps with advanced mobile features.

For this particular case:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 was deemed as "not compatible" by Play Store. The exact reason cannot be known because there are too many possibilities. However, the download is only prevented on the Play Store. You can still find and download the APK file from credible 3rd-party sources (e.g. APK Mirror) and try to install it, and see if it's compatible (working properly).
Regarding the status of your "Office 365", that depends whether you have subscribed to it or not previously. But the migration from the old Microsoft Office app to the newer individual Office apps didn't affect the status of someone's "Office 365" subscription plan.

The type of Office 365 subscription plan you have determines the availability of some mobile apps and what you can do on them. For a plan comparison, see:
| Home plans | Business plans | Education plans | Nonprofit plans |
The information you seek is right here => Office 365 Mobile Setup

I'm not sure that's the case. AFAIK, anyone should be able to download all Office 365 apps regardless of their subscription plan and as long as the apps are compatible with the devices. Microsoft and Google Play Store aren't able to limit the availability of the apps based on external limitation (e.g. Office 365 subscription plan). However, the check will be done when the Office apps are run on the device, in which Microsoft is able to check the license after login inside the app.


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After update from Android 5 to 6 new permission model does not affect application

I had an application installed on HTC M8 Android 5.1, e.g. app was able to read Contacts.
Device was updated to Android 6.0.
I want to check how new permission model works so in app's settings I disable Contacts.
Then I go to app and try to read Contacts and ... it works but AFAIK it should not.
However I can't make phone calls from within the app (SecurityException happens).

Why is that?

Link the app here and mention the version you're using. It is possible that you're not using the updated version or the latest version isn't targeted at SDK 23, the reason why it is able to read contacts.

Yes it may be the case - can you please link to description of your statement and make it answer as it probably is the answer?

Can you please link the app and the version you're using. I don't think I was correct. Google noted here: "Beginning with Android 6.0 (API level 23), users can revoke permissions from any app at any time, even if the app targets a lower API level. You should test your app to verify that it behaves properly when it's missing a needed permission, regardless of what API level your app targets."

I can't because it's not released anywhere (I'm developing it right now).

OK, I see that I can only read Contast's name not the number, see details here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/35572694/android-6-read-contacts-permission-allows-to-read-contact-name-when-permission-i


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Unfortunately Google Play Services stopped
I am using Xiaomi Redmi 3. All of a sudden, I found it continuously displays 'Unfortunately, Google Play Services has stopped'.
It happens so often, that I can't do any other work. I uninstalled that, then installed again from play store. But after installing, again that error message shows up
What can I do?

What did you uninstall? What is your Android version? Is your device rooted?

Please see: Google Play Services Has stopped message continually popping up on my Samsung phone / Google Apps crashing, Play services crashing.

Are you using a custom rom, if so flash twrp and do a factory reset. i had the same issue and did every thing but doing a factory reset fixed the issue. do a back up in twrp first just incase.

I faced this problem last two days ago and was pulling my hair out of this since none of the solutions found from internet are worked.
I solved by using this way:

Check your android version
Download playstore again, make sure your android version support the google play store apk.


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Front camera not working after a while, issue with Smart Lock
This is basically the same issue as described here:
Camera isn't available - Trusted Face ( Android Lollipop - Nexus 5)
Im running Marshmallow on a Nexus 5.
So yesterday i enabled password protection and Smart Lock with "Trusted Face".
This worked great so far.
However, after some time (like 4-8 hours) the front camera will stop working.
This will cause Smart Lock to not recognize me obviuosly and i have to use my password every time.
When launching the camera app, i am able to use the back camera, however switching to front only gives me a black screen and the app does not react to input anymore.
Rebooting the device will fix this, until it starts againt after the mentioned time-span.
Anyone got any ideas?
EDIT:
Clearing the cache (as advised in an answer) did prolong the time the front camera worked to about 36 hours but did not fix this permanently.

I had issues with my nexus 5 front camera not working randomly (switching to front camera would give a blank screen). wiping cache fixed it. I suggest you try it.

I just rebooted and wiped my cache. Works now obv. Will keep you updated.

@awadheshv consider posting that as an answer since it also helped OP (and yourself :)

I had this problem too. Extremely annoying!

I had issues with my nexus 5 front camera not working randomly (switching to front camera would give a blank screen). wiping cache fixed it. I suggest you try it.

You already posted this as a comment.

@AaronGillion yeah he did, however it was suggested to post as an answer, as this was actually what fixed this (to my surprise) as my smart lock still works (running since yesterday).

Unfortunately the "error" or misbehaviour of the front camera came back yesterday evening. So clearing the cache did make it work longer, but is not a permanent fix.


text:
Got stuck with a Pop-up on the main screen
I have Samsung Galaxy E5 (SM-E500H) with Android 5.1.1. Recently, I installed few apps and after that, I encountered an annoying little pop-up below the screen sometimes. I got into uninstalling some of those apps but the pop-up didn't go away. How can I get rid of that? More technically, how can I find out which process is the cause of that?

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

Thanks for all the helpful comments. Answer to: Determine which app is drawing on top of other apps? helped me a lot. I monitored the apps having special permission to put an overlay on top of other apps. I waited until the pop-up showed and with a little compare with the preceding apps list I could find the causing app. Thanks @Firelord.
So, I want to expose the app that caused this unwanted and annoying pop-up:

Official name: Premium Wallpapers HD
Package name: com.pixign.premiumwallpapers
Play Store link:
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixign.premiumwallpapers&hl=en

Interesting. So you finally found the troublemaker. I vaguely remember that the poster of the question where the linked answer exists also found the same app as the troublemaker. They mentioned it in a (currently deleted) comment. There's more. The same app has been discussed here: Why does this ad keep showing up below my notification bar and how do I stop it? I advise everyone to use that app carefully.

Yeah, finally! It's interesting to say when I was watching videos, it sometimes paused the video for no reason and strangely NOT showing its popup (maybe doing other malicious things!?). Btw, thanks @Firelord, your answer really helped.

That AD seems similar to the Google ADs. It's not related to TouchWiz. My suggestion is to search through your installed apps for something that may seem suspicious, or that requires too many permissions, and uninstall it.
Furthermore, I know of no apps that do overlay an existing application with ads, so be careful to not have installed some malware. Since I can see the CM Security antivirus, you should enable the heuristics in the app and scan your system.
Lastly, if your device is rooted, I recommend to install an AD blocker app.

I did all of what you said; I uninstalled 3 malicious-look-a-like apps; I activated real-time protection and deep heuristic lookup of CM. But at last, the problem still didn't disappear.

Is your device rooted?

Yes it is. I forgot to say, I also installed AD Blocker but for no reason it didn't block this popup (or at least the inner advertisement that popup held).

If this is the case, my only other idea is to both install an app called "Lucky Patcher", which will tell you what applications are loaded with Google Ads, and another called "Titanium Backup", which (since you're root), can backup a whole app plus its data.

Next, edit Titanium's preferences, by finding an option called "Backup app external data", and set it to "Always". Then, by looking at Lucky Patcher, firstly backup and then uninstall any app which uses Google Ads, one at a time. Anytime you uninstall something, reboot your device and check if the problem has been solved. If no, then restore the deleted app, and proceed this way till the problem is solved.


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How does the "Format as internal storage" feature work in Android 6.0+?
How does the "Format as internal storage" feature work in Android 6.0+? See screenshot below:

Screenshot (click to enlarge)
Why is it the case that "this USB drive will only work in this device"? Is it due to a partition format? I have tried to read it in Windows but the file format is RAW; is it in EXT4 format so Windows can't read it? What will happen if I insert this card to another Android 6.0 device? Will the other device able to read it?

If you use this feature, your external SD card is replacing your internal storage. In the process, it will be encrypted. You no longer can "simply unmount" the card to read it in any other device (including a card reader attached to your PC), as in that case the file system would be unreadable in the latter (due to encryption – which is done "for security", so a thief cannot simply remove the card to circumvent your device's lock screen and get straight to your data).

Reference: Android 6.0 can treat SD cards as internal storage… at a cost

Choose internal storage and the microSD card will be reformatted and encrypted. Once this is done, the card can only be used as internal storage. If you try to eject the card and read it on a computer, it won’t work. All data on the card will also be erased, so you may want to back up anything important first. Android does provide an option to migrate it, but early reports suggest it’s unreliable.
[…]
You can still choose to have apps installed to either the true internal storage or your microSD card that’s been formatted to behave like internal storage. But if you had a phone with 8GB of storage and a 32GB microSD card, you’ll only have 32GB of space for music, movies, games, or other files, not 40GB.

Reference: Adoptable Storage: Android Marshmallow’s hidden feature that your phone probably can’t use:

Notice that the space is not increased by the size of the sdcard, but to the size of the sdcard. You’re basically swapping out your internal storage (which is typically eMMC, which is fairly quick), with your sdcard (which is typically slower than the built-in storage chip). You’ll be trading speed for capacity. In some cases this is a fair trade.
There is one more interesting tidbit: with a little bit of work, adoptable storage extends beyond just microsd cards. You can technically mount any USB OTG device as adoptable storage. In theory, this would let you have a 1TB hard drive attached via USB OTG. Of course you’d never be able to remove that hard drive, so the uses are very limited – but very interesting.
If you’re interested in forcing “any” storage device connected via USB OTG to become adoptable storage, here’s the command you’ll need to know. We haven’t tried this, so proceed at your own risk.
   adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

Where AndroidCentral in Inside Marshmallow: Adoptable storage continues:

   adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

But you probably shouldn't.
Once a storage device is adopted, it becomes part of the system and is no longer removable. Sure you can physically remove it, but you'll be prompted to put it back while apps and services crash on your phone or tablet. It's adopted — taken in and loved by the system, and made part of the whole.

An interesting comment there reads:

Glad I read this, I was thinking adoptable storage was a great idea and I could buy a 16GB phone and simply throw in a big microSD card and beat the system. But, probably not a good idea now that I understand more of how it works.

Plus, to underline what I wrote about factory-reset:

You can remove and reformat the card whenever you like, but doing so will force you to factory reset your phone.

Plus:

I opted to keep it as normal external storage. At least that way if the phone has a failure i still have access to my SD card files. The other way keeps it encrypted and if the phone were to experience phone ending glitch the card would be useless as its encrypted and the only device to see it is dead. No taking it out and inserting into a computer to recover my pics or vids or music.

According to Android 6.0 Marshmallow tip: ‘Adopt’ your MicroSD card as internal storage [Video], there is a "way back":

Thankfully, it’s not completely permanent. If you decide you’d like to use it just to store media, you can change it back by heading to Settings>Storage & USB, then selecting the card, hitting the top right menu and then select ‘Format as portable’.

But read between the lines: Format means all data on it will be erased. So if you want to do that, you'll need to make sure having secured your data beforehand. No easy "USB card reader" way here, you'll have to copy everything via USB or network.1 And if the card breaks, no way to use the card reader and some recovery soft to rescue at least parts of it; encryption makes that impossible. If it's broken it most likely won't even mount on the device anymore – so everything you haven't backed up elsewhere will be "gone for good".

As long as the card is "good", there's some interesting pointer found in Decrypting Android M adopted storage (emphasis mine):

Android M allows for adoptable storage, which is implemented similarly to internal storage FDE -- using dm-crypt with a per-volume, static 128-bit AES key, stored in /data/misc/vold/. Once the key is extracted from the device, adopted storage can be mounted and read/written on any Linux machine. Adoptable storage encryption is done purely in software (at least in the current preview build), so its performance is likely comparable to encrypted internal storage on devices that don't support hardware-accelerated FDE.

Further readings:

Understanding Adoptive Storage in Android 6 (Marshmallow)
How SD Cards Work with Android Marshmallow / M / 6.0 (YouTube)
Corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage (incl. tut on how to decrypt it)
How to decrypt adopted storage?
How to split adopted storage?

1In Storage › Internal Storage you should find "migrate data" which will move your stuff back to internal – if you got enough space left there. (thanks to Barleyman for pointing this out)

Thanks. It seems a little odd that both file systems cannot be read ? What happens if ext SD gets corrupted ?

@beeshyams then congrats – and pray you've got a decent backup: factory-reset, put in a new card, restore. Guess why I'd never use this "feature". And you forgot one more issue: what if your 16GB card gets filled up, and you want to replace it by a 32GB or 64GB card? Hint: the same … // Further readings: Android 6.0 can treat SD cards as internal storage… at a cost

@beeshyams See my update for more details :)

+1. Educative and seems to be a cr***y idea to use it except as in earlier versions. Bookmarked this for reference

Me too, @beeshyams – and feel welcome to our new adoptable-storage tag-wiki :)

+1. Very detailed explanation for including the master key part. Just one more thing in curious, let say if I want to upgrade the 16GB SD to 32GB SD, if I had backup the master key, I should be able to replace it then restore the master key to make it functional without factory reset?

I doubt that it works this way. It's rather: 1) backup the entire SD card (might require root for some hidden parts), then 2) format it back to external, 3) replace and optionally "adopt" it again, 4) restore. As soon as you plug in a different card, Android will either ask to adopt that again (new encryption), or refuse it altogether (as it needs the adopted one). Have not tried that (am not crazy enough to), so I cannot tell for sure which one it will be.

So does the "real" internal storage become completely wasted, then?  Or is it added to /system or something?

@MatthewRead As far as I understood, rather the former. It's definitely not added to /system (or melted into any other partition), neither is it "swapped" (so it could be dealt with as "external storage"). It's even difficult to access at all from what I've read. Cannot speak from my own experience, though: Don't have MM – and if I had, I'd definitely not use adoptable storage. But that's me and my use case, it would simply make no good sense to me: more cons, no pros left (I have no "huge apps", etc.).

It's worth noting that removing the sd card does not actually require a factory reset. Android is sort of smart and you basically lose access the data on the card. For apps that were entirely on the card, they just don't appear anywhere in the system anymore. For apps that were still installed on the internal storage (system and some user installed apps) and had data stored on the adopted storage, you'll get error messages and app crashes.

@Izzy: My experience directly contradicts your assertion that the "real" internal storage becomes "wasted" when an external SD card is adopted. On my phone it shows 15.69 GB available (14.96 GB used of 30.66 GB). 14.69 GB = 6.85 GB (internal) + 2.80 GB (adopted). It also doesn't square with what I learned from this comprehensive Reddit post on adoptable storage.

@MilindR I wrote this up when the feature became available with MM about 2 years ago (and that Reddit was written about 1 year ago). Things might be different with later updates/Android versions – and from feedback I've received within the last few weeks, it certainly seems they are. Be welcome to write up a more up-to-date answer and ping me back then to update mine; as I'm not using adoptable storage myself (and don't plan to), I don't feel qualified enough :)

A second answer to have some points more easily accessible.

Yes the internal storage is still accessible, to android at least. After you've done "migrate data" to external storage, everything moveable goes to sdcard but some things still remain on internal. On galaxy S5 you can find these in /data/app/
You can reverse the process by opening "internal storage" from storage settings and there's "migrate data" that will copy everything back to internal nvram.
If (when) you don't have enough space to move everything, you can still do it the hard way by going to app info and using the change (location) button.

Titanium backup does restore everything to internal storage. Since in Galaxy S5 at least the reported available storage is wrong, it'll fill it right up. At that point you start getting constant popups from crashing apps and you have to work your way to appinfo for some large app and either uninstall it or move it to external to regain control.
There is a way of batch moving apps between internal and external, apps2sd all in one. It's a bit slow to process the files but it's a hands off process.

Ok, here's what I want to know.  How to I start using the external SD card instead of the internal storage without moving anything?  I understand my internal data won't be available until I detach adopted storage, and I'm fine with that, but the adopted storage is smaller than my internal storage (even just the stuff on internal storage) so I cannot move anything.  What I see is that Android has added 2x the space of the external device to total available, but then claims it's 100% used by "System", making none of it actually available!

There is an excellent post on reddit Let's clear up the confusion regarding storage in Android once and for all, including adoptable storage in Marshmallow.
But as far as I understand the sticking point is still that developers still control whether their app is movable to SD, in this case the extended internal storage. So you can still run into the limitation of the phones build in storage. At at least I can allocate all free space to the /data partition by repartition it (there are more handy .pit files for Samsung device), since I won't need any /media partition since as far as I understand, Android will move all user data, pictures, offline files of streaming services etc to the integrated SD card; please confirm or correct.

There is NO /media partition : the "fake" /SDCard/ folder which holds data that you can view from a computer via USB connection with the phone is just one directory in /data, usually /data/media/0 . This folder is moved to the adopted SD card. The space freed up in /data is automatically available for other apps.