text:
Network unlock a cyanogenmod phone
I have a Galaxy S4, SGH-I337M. I installed an unofficial CM 12.1 ROM because they've only released official CM ROMs up to 11.0. I brought it into a store to get it network-unlocked from Telus Mobility, and they told me that since I installed CM, they'd have trouble finding a working unlock code. Will they be able to find one eventually (they said give them 24 hours to find one) or should I go back to a stock TouchWiz ROM temporarily?

Yes, you should always be on a stock ROM when attempting a network unlock.

It is better to install your stock rom and recovery because your phone will be originaly supported by the seller. Now they will probably contact CM somehow and this will cost you more time and money.


text:
Change Settings' color scheme in Lollipop
Someone was fiddling with my Android (version 5.1.1) phone and somehow managed to change the Settings' color scheme.
I've tried to reset the theme to no avail. I've also noticed some notifications come through with white text (assuming related issue).
(Click image to enlarge)

From the screenshot, looks like you are using a phone with CM based rom.
Make sure you don't have any theme applied.
A dark/light theme mode option might be available in Display, personalization or Developer settings

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Greenify kills apps, including system apps
How to fix my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 when Greenify close all apps, even system apps in my phone? My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 cannot open anymore. How can I fix my phone?

Power your Device into Safe mode, Uninstall the Greenify App, Exit Safe Mode and Check if your phone is working.

Power the Device Up in Safe Mode - Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
Website
[Device-Specific Instructions]
Safe Mode puts your phone in a diagnostic state (returned to default settings) so you can determine if a third-party app is causing your
  device to freeze/reset/run slow.

With the device powered off, press and hold the Power button
  (located on the right edge) until the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 logo
  appears then release.
With the logo on the screen, press and hold the Volume down button
  until Safe mode appears in the lower left of the screen then
  release.

Note: The Phone goes through entire boot up process before showing Safe mode. This may take up to 45 seconds.

Sidenote: If you actually froze an app like titanium backup does, you'll have to reset your phone as you probably have frozen all the
 apps.

There is nothing wrong in linking the original source. See How to reference material written by others

@Firelord I was in a rush and forgot to link the original material, will link now. Thanks for the heads up.

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


text:
How to enable root on my Device without using a computer
I've been try my hardest these past couple months to figure out a way to root my Device without a computer(Got wet in April) and no success. The problem is , my Device is a BN Nook HD and Unknown Sources is blocked since software version 1.4.1 . So I can't use Kingroot etc. and It appears I can't do anything without a computer.
Any Help or Advice would be largely appreciated.

Don't you have a friend with a laptop? Ask a friend to borrow you his laptop or just call him over for a couple of hours until you root it. It's hard to imagine not being able to get across a PC today and with a PC you get plenty ways to root it...

Actually You don't need the Computer to Root using kingRoot just download KingRoot Apk from Open link to Download and Just network connection is enough to root the Device It's easy one click root and it works ;)

OP wrote: "Unknown Sources is blocked since software version 1.4.1 . So I can't use Kingroot etc."


text:
Note 5 freezes and restarts
First of all, no root since I didn't want to mess with knox bricking my phone. The problem started tonight when I wanted to buy PlayStation Plus from the PlayStation App. For some reason, the app hung my entire phone so I had to do a soft reset. After that, it would boot up, but before everything would load up, it would freeze and then restart again. I tried to figure out what process was doing this by going into the running applications, but I could only get there sometimes before it froze, and the times I did get there I couldn't get any worthwhile information.
Next thing I tried was a factory reset by holding the power and volume down button during boot and it sat there for about an hour stuck at installing system update. The animated Android had stopped moving and the phone was basically melting the table it was on, so I soft reset it again.
After that I booted into the Android system recovery to try a factory reset from there so I wiped the cache partition and went to "wipe data/factory reset" the readout looks like this.
#MANUAL MODE#
-- Appling Multi-CSC...
Applied the CSC-code : VZW
Successfully applied multi-CSC

--Wiping data...

Formatting /data...

Formatting /cache...

-- Set Factory Reset done...

-- Copying media files...

-- preload checkin...

E:failed to mount /preload (No such file or directory)
Data wipe complete.

Also the recovery freezes up after a while as well...
I tried just a normal boot again and it seems like the phone has been reset to factory but the phone freezes during the setup and then resets. I am at a loss of what to do next I can't really be without a phone for a long period of time as I need it for my job. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Consider downloading the factory image and flash manually by connecting through a PC.

Will flashing the factory image manually flag the knox counter?

Flashing an "official ROM" shouldn't trigger Knox AFAIK (as that's intended to show inofficial tampering). But I'm not a Samsung user, so you might wish to wait for a "higher authority" on this.

I just got done talking with VZW support and they are just going to send me a new one... I don't want to mess with it to much and accidentally flag Knox and screw with the manufacturer warranty. If this were a nexus I would have just flashed it and got all my stuff back with Titanium backup

Use odin with official Samsung firmware, in download mode. It is knox safe.


text:
Fastboot not showing device, adb finds it
I'm having issues trying to get Fastboot to find my device.
Interestingly ADB finds it.
My specs are below:

Computer: Ubuntu 14.04
Phone: One Plus Two Oxygen OS 2.1.1
james@james-Aspire-3830TG:~$ adb devices
List of devices attached
3778baee    device

james@james-Aspire-3830TG:~$ fastboot devices
james@james-Aspire-3830TG:~$

If this is better for ask Ubuntu  please let me know /  move it - Thanks

Make sure you are in fastboot mode before using fastboot devices for device to show up.
If it still does not show up, looks like you don't have the fastboot driver properly installed.
Use the  following to install fastboot drivers:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-fastboot

If the repository isn't available add it using: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phablet-team/tools && sudo apt-get update
Note: The commands are for distributions using apt. Specifcally Ubuntu and variants. Commands for others may vary.


text:
How to use OTG cable in Motorola Moto G2?
Recently, I purchased an OTG cable model S-K07 to use with my Moto G2 mobile. When I connected the OTG cable with 4GB pen drive, FAT32 formatted, it did not work.  After some time, the pen drive got heated up and I removed the pen drive from OTG cable.  When I plugged the pen drive into my laptop, it was not recognized by the computer.
How can I use the OTG cable with my mobile?

The device should be visible to use on any file manager that supports OTG (eg. Solid explorer). If your flash drive is not usable anymore, maybe your otg cable, phone or flash drive has/had an issue and burnt the flash. Its usually plug and play unless its an ntfs partition, in which case if your OEM/file manager does not support it properly you may have issues.

"maybe your otg cable, phone or flash drive has/had an issue and burnt the flash" -- I'd like to see sources backing your claim (all should be related to Android).

maybe. I came to this conclusion because the OP stated that the flash drive got warm. IF you send power on signal line, it may burn the flash/NAND chip inside. A faulty, poorly engineered OTG cable, which are fairly common can have such issue.


text:
Can't change dialer default app
I installed Full Screen Caller ID (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androminigsm.fscifree&hl=en), but it doesn't work.
I searched about it, they say you should clear defaults of the default dialer app, but I can't find it in Manage Apps.
I have a Huawei Honor 3C, Android 4.2.2, EmoutionUI 2.0.

Try with settings -> application manager -> your default dialer, you should see a 'clear defaults' button

I cannot find my default dialer in settings>manage apps (like I said in my question).


text:
Mail app bug - resents non existing failed emails
My friend has a weird bug on Samsung Note, when he turns on the phone, in his mail app he has 4 messages that marked as failed and it keeps trying to resend them.
When I am trying to navigate to the failed emails I am getting to empty failed mails tab.
This is really killing him, specially when he is abroad and he doesn't has a 3G connection - the phone tries to send those messages (which doesn't exists), so its finishes his battery very quickly..
Any Ideas, except mail app reinstallation, factory reset and such ?

Is it possible to delete those messages from Mail app? Also, can you tell him to check his email from browser to see if there are outstanding mails/drafts?

No you cannot delete those messages - cause they doesn't exists in the app. It's 4 emails from last year.  I'll try to check if you can see them from the browser


text:
Bulk manage Google Contacts with dual SIM card
I have a Archos NEON 45 with a dual sim option. Never had a use for it until my business phone stopped working. So I transferred the business SIM-card to my Archos NEON.
I also added by Google Business accounts in order to have the business contacts available on my phone. Now I have to choose which SIM-card to use when making a phone call.
There is the possibility to link a contact to a specific SIM-card. By now I have to edit all the business contacts manually to specify this link to the correct SIM Card. Is there a desktop app or Android app that can do this based on the groups I have specified in each contact?

Accidentally stumbled upon a useable solution. In the Settings menu on the top is a menu item 'Manage SIM". This is meant for setting up names and defaults for the SIM cards. At te very bottom there is a menu item 'Link contacts' (translated from the dutch 'Contact verbinden'.
Next step is to select the SIM card and then you can select contacts to link to the selected SIM card. (Don't forget to press the 'Add contact' icon at the top-right after selecting the correct contacts, instead of the checkmark at the top-left.......)


text:
Find applications causing a particular advertisement and get rid of latter?
See screenshot:
(Click image to enlarge)

That  ad seems to be the the one causing any application to die abruptly for absolutely nothing.
I saw that ad when I was using Skype. I also saw it when I was playing Clash of Clans and other games.
How do I get rid of it? What applications have that ad?
EDIT:

I restored factory settings and an app tried to ask permission to send ads. I click cancel. After a while that app tried to ask permission again. I have no idea what ad it is.
I did a factory reset. Now the ad is gone. However it is replaced by annoying permission request.

The problem with the permission is it's not clear which app ask for that permission.

Also, I do not think this question is a duplicate because I got the problem even after factory reset and I see that this app is supported by airpush notification. Obviously, as a user, I just want to delete the app. What app?
Furthermore, I can't scan my Android. Every scanner, malware anti virus, airpush detector fails and crashes.
I think some apps are embedded in my ROM. That's why the price is a bit cheaper.

This is the second question I have seen of you dealing with sketchy behavior of your phone. You might want to flash on a new ROM, seeing from your comments on the other post. Your device is obviously a rip-off, and may be filled to the brim with adware and spying programs.

How do I flash on a new ROM?

I think you're right. I restore factory setting and "an app" tried to ask permission to send ads. I click cancel. After a while that app tried to ask permission again. I have no idea what ads it is.


text:
Google Keyboard crashing caused by latin input
PAC ROM 4.4.4 SGS3 & N7
Google Keyboard keeps crashing with this stack trace:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Error receiving broadcast Intent
{ act=android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDEDdat=package:com.snapchat.android flg=0x4000010 (has extras)}
in com.android.inputmethod.latin.DictionaryPacklns1allBroadcastReceiver@43223ccO
at android.app.LoadedApk$ReceiverDispatcher$Args.run(LoadedApk.java:776)
at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:733)
at android.os.Handler.dispatehMessage(Handler.java:95)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:136)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5158)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
at com.android.internal.os.Zygotelnit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(Zygotelnit.java:732)
at com.android.internal.os.Zygotelnit.main(Zygotelnit.java:566)
at de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge.main(XposedBridge.java:132)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.android.inputmethod.latin.DictionaryPacklnstallBroadcastReceiver.onReceive(DictionaryPacklnstallBroadcastReceiver.java:91)
at android.app.LoadedApk$ReceiverDispatcher$Args.run(LoadedApk.java:766)
... 10 more

This stack trace seems, that it crashes after all updates / app installs.

Seems the problem is either on SnapChat or Google Keyboard's dictionary, though I'm not sure why.

I don't think it's Snapchat • think also its the dic


text:
How to reset Google Keyboard language using ADB?
So I have to add an automation step wherein the keyboard language needs to be reset in case someone changes it.
I have used adb for this and it works well on Samsung phones, but it doesn't work on Moto X and Nexus phones.
This is the adb command I use for Moto X and Nexus phones, but this doesn't have the desired effect.
adb shell pm clear com.google.android.inputmethod.latin

For Samsung phones, which is working, the command is
adb shell pm clear com.sec.android.inputmethod

Anyone can help? The only constraint is that I cannot root my phone.

@Firelord just this particular app mentioned com.google.android.inputmethod.latin.

or in other word, the keyboard is the stock Google Keyboard.

@AndrewT. Yes you are correct.

@Firelord Any idea how to solve this?

@AndrewT. have found the answer. Thanks for your help!

Just found out that the command won't work for Google Keyboard because the selected languages are saved in the key ENABLED_INPUT_METHODS of the Settings.Secure table.
You can reset the selected languages of Google Keyboard with this command:
adb shell settings put secure enabled_input_methods com.google.android.inputmethod.latin/com.android.inputmethod.latin.LatinIME


text:
Malwarebytes stuck at `com.baidu.appstore`, which I'm unable to find in Android
I tried malware apps and lookout ad network. The malwarebytes stucked at com.baidu.appstore which I can't find  in file explorer when I connect the Android to PC. There is no such app. The application also often crash.
There is one directory in /android/com.baidu.appstore. I have deleted that directory but problem didn't go away.
What should I do?
I suspect that I am using Zend 2 which uses Chinese ROM and is refurbished for international market.

You won't be able to see this file unless your device is rooted. Its location is most likely something like /data/apps/com.baidu.appstore.apk (on internal storage, which is not exported to your PC) – and everything below /data requires elevated privileges to be seen. The directory you've deleted is probably located on your SD card; it holds nothing but data from the corresponding app.

@Izzy would she be able to set USB connection charge only, then search using ADB?

@HasH_BrowN Depends on how you define "search": using adb shell with ls won't work (for the same reasons). adb uninstall com.baidu.appstore on the other hand would work, provided it's not a system app (which it most likely is). Afraid the scanner found the Baidu SDK in that app, which lately hit the press containing malware.

I suspected the hard drive crash


text:
How to use multiple whatsapp, paytm, hike and more accounts in an Android phone?
How to use multiple whatsapp, paytm, hike and more accounts in an Android phone? Or any other android app which uses authenticated single user login apps.

Same thing: Support for Multiple Users on same device

You can login with another user, by adding multiple user in your Android device. We can Enable Multiple User Accounts on Android 4.2 and Above.

Create another User Account by opening the notification by double pulldown notification to get the other quick settings.
In that other quick settings, on top-right corner you'll find a round icon. That is Admin user icon(if you're using it for first time).
Click on it and create a new user(it'll remain until you delete it) or use a guest user(it'll be deleted after using it, but you can also keep it).
After creating new/guest user. Just go to Google Play Store, install whatever app you want. Don't worry it'll use your existing same app files but not users data, so it won't download a new one.
You can login those apps with another id. Like this you can use Whatsapp, hike, facebook, twitter, paytm and more...
Before that, go to more settings Click and open that created new/guest user's settings and enable Allow phone calls and SMS. So that you'll get verification SMS or call.

If any help you can comment it, i'll keep on updating it if any change or improvement.


text:
720p or 1080p - How to verify the same?
All,
I recently bought a cell with 1920 x 1080 resolution. When i search for a 1080p video in Youtube ad play it, it plays fine. However, the same video is playable in another cell with only 720p screen resolution. How can that be possible? How can we verify if the video played in youtube is just HD or Full-HD?

You could use a system info app to show the device's specifications.

"How can that be possible?" -- why not? Scaling can be done by a software. Related: What are the differences of watching a 1080p and a 720p version of the same media on a 720p screen? / On a 720p monitor, should it be possible for me to see 1080p? Or at least the difference between the two? / Does 2K or 4K media look better than HD on 1080p monitor?

You tube videos while titled Full HD do not appear to be playing at that resolution.  When you click the three button vertical bar on top right, you get a menu option and the central one which is a gear icon displays resolution, which is lower.
For downloaded videos,  you can always check the resolution using VLC player properties listed under video track
Some cell phones like mine Honor 6 have an option to lower the screen  resolution  to achieve better performance and battery life. Hence, as suggested in comments, please do check the properties of resolution


text:
Phone stuck at boot animation after Andriod 6.0 Update
The four dot animation is endlessly running after Android 6 update in Nexus 5.

I had this same problem on my Nexus 6 when I 'upgraded' to Android 5.0 and there was unfortunately nothing that could be done by the technicians I sent it to so they replaced it for me, free of charge.
What I would suggest you try first is doing a hard reset of your phone (Instructions to do so here) and see if that works.  Failing that, talk to someone at Google (who'll probably tell you to do the same thing) and then, failing that, take it to a phone repair place and ask them to take a look at it for you.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge scroll stuttering
I have just bought an Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone. After updating the firmware to 5.1.1 version, which is the latest Android software for this phone at this moment, there are some issues with scrolling through applications.
When scrolling through applications such as Settings, Facebook, Twitter, Google Play Store or the application manager (for multi-tasking) the phone has these small lagg spikes. It stops at a random point (the lagg) and then just continues.
There are a couple of video's that shows this problem.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

My device is not rooted and at most of it's factory default settings. There is no custom themes installed and I've tried disabling some of the "bloatware".
I've read some articles about this same problem, and what I can get from it is that the phone is handling to much background-applications. From what I could have seen, people rooted their phones to fix this problem. But I dont want to do this, because this is a new phone.
I couldn't yet believe this is because the specifications of the phone, because they are alot better then my old phone, which didn't had this issue.
How can I fix this problem without having to root or use 3rd-party applications/tools?
Note: This problem is not so bad, but for a > €600 phone, this is kind of annoying.

Maybe a buffering issue? Although I doubt it if no other S6 Edge users have reported something like this.

@Joe What do you mean? And yes, but I couldn't find a question/solution for it, so I posted it.

If the Scroll View (basically what allows you to scroll up and down) is dynamic, it could load parts of the list you're scrolling through dynamically when you need it, and get rid of things you don't. So, if you were at the top of a list you were scrolling through, it would load the entries for the list at the top, then as you scroll down it would load the ones further below and get rid of the ones further up to free up memory for the ones its just loaded below, if that makes sense. This is just a possibility, however I'm not sure if I think it is the issue. Software bugs do happen though.

@Joe Ofcourse, I understand that, but when buying an > €600 phone, you dont really expect it to be "laggy". My friend has an Galaxy S5 phone (with ofcourse lower specs) and he doesn't experience the issues, doing the exact same thing. He's running android 5.0.2 though. Could this possibly fall under my product warranty?

No, I completely see your point. Different device too, I'm not sure - if it's an issue with your phone, it might, but if it's a software issue there's not much you can do (I don't think at least). Samsung might not release a patch for this as it isn't much of an issue in their eyes. Do you know any other S6 Edge owners who have the problem? That might help in identifying whether it's just your device or (presumably) all S6 Edges.

@Joe Do you mean it could be an hardware issue aswell? I'd suppose not, unless the CPU or RAM might be bad. I dont know anyone with the S6 edge device, but i've read alot of articles about it on the internet. What would be more logical, the hardware or the software?

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Have you tried booting into stock recovery then formatting system and caches? If this is a software issue this might fix the scroll issue. be sure to backup important files on your phone like contacts and messages.

@Hexxed What do you mean by 'stock recovery'? If this is a hard factory reset, i've done this already.

@Bas, see this info to know what Hexxed meant by stock recovery: http://android.stackexchange.com/tags/recovery-mode/info / http://www.howtogeek.com/193055/what-is-a-custom-recovery-on-android-and-why-would-i-want-one/


text:
taking control over a phone with broken touchscreen
I have an old sony xperia z with a broken touchscreen, the phone holds a lot of important data but with the broken touchscreen I cant get the data.
I've tried a lot of things but I do not have  usb debugging enabled and it is not rooted.

When you say broken touchscreen, is it only the touch input feature that is broken, or the actual display that doesn't show anything?

If your phone support OTG
Then connect your phone with mouse,copy your all data..
Hope it will solve your problem...

It won't solve it if the screen doesn't show anything. OP didn't clarify whether that's the case.

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


text:
How to bypass Factory Reset Protection (FRP) or "Verify your account" screen?
I won a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, signed into it with my Google account, played around with it, wiped it, and sold it.
Now the person can't get past setup because it's saying he must log in with an account previously synced to the phone.
Is there anything I can do from my side to remove this lock?

The previous owner of the phone can easily fix this problem by turning off 2FA as described here: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2016/10/31/Android-verify-your-acccount-problem

two new methods i would name it both SIM method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PETExW5IwAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtcpnIjzqDw

There are full guides for several devices from RootJunky on YouTube. This first method works on some Samsung and LG devices.  Your user can probably start at step 4.

Reboot into Recovery mode (hold Home, Volume Up, and Power, releasing Power when you see the device turn on/reboot).
Perform a Factory Reset (press Volume Down until wipe data/factory reset is selected, press Power, scroll down to Yes -- delete all user data and press Power again).
Proceed through the device Setup Wizard until it prompts you for the Google account credentials.
For a Samsung device, save this RootJunky APK onto a USB flash drive, and connect it to the device via OTG.
For LG:

Back up, connect to Wi-Fi, then back up again and hit Accessibility (Yes to the prompt that follows).
Turn "Switch Access" on, then enter its Settings and set a key for Overview, such as Volume Down.
Back out to Accessibility again,  go to Vision → Talkback → Settings → Privacy Policy to open the browser, and download the APK linked above (rootjunkysdl.com → Apps).
Press the key you set up for Overview, hit Dual Window, and select the file browser.

When the File Explorer launches, browse to and tap the APK to install it.  When you get the prompt about unknown sources, choose the Settings option and enable the Unknown Sources option.
Complete the install and choose to Open the application, which will open Settings.
For LG:

Add a new user account under Users, switch to it and add your own Google account via Setup, then switch back to the main user (Owner) from Settings → Users, and back out from there to the main Settings.

Go to Backup and Reset and do a Factory Data Reset.  As per my other answer, this will remove FRP from the device.

The APK in (4) is very simple and just opens Settings, you could use any other that does the same if you don't want to trust that source.

Nexus 5, 5X, 6, and 6P running 6.0.1; Goclever Quantum 2 400S running 5.1:
Insert an activated SIM card and call it from another phone.  Answer the call, hit the Add Line (call conferencing) button, and enter *#*#4646#*#* or *#*#4636#*#* (worked on Nexus 5X).  Tap "Usage Statistics", then hit the back button, and you're in Settings and can do a factory reset.
If Factory Reset is disabled thanks to a security patch, you can instead create a new user account (going through and setting it up), then follow the very next guide below for the Turbo, starting at the second paragraph.
You can also do this without a sim through this exploit.

Motorola Droid Turbo running 5.1:
Go through the Setup Wizard until you encounter the "About your privacy" page (you might need to connect to Wi-Fi).  Hit the "Privacy settings" link, then "View Motorola Privacy Policy".  On that page, select any text and hit the Search button, which will open the browser.  Type Settings into the address bar, and tap the suggested Settings app.
Enable developer options (by tapping the version code in About Phone seven times), then go into Developer Options and turn on USB debugging.  Connect your device to a PC with ADB installed (from here) and run this in a shell window:
adb shell content insert --uri content://settings/secure --bind name:s:user_setup_complete --bind value:s:1

Now you can go into Settings and do a Factory Reset.

Motorola Droid X Pure running 6.0:
Navigate through the Setup Wizard to the Wi-Fi connection screen, and select a password-protected network.  Select "Show password", then type in a password and select the password text.  Hit "Share" in the menu that pops up and select Gmail.  Add a POP or Exchange account (not a Gmail account), and (from the message pre-populated with the text you "shared") select Settings from the 3-dot menu and then choose "Manage accounts" from that same menu.
You should now be in the Settings app.  Follow the above Turbo guide starting at the second paragraph, and you're done!

For devices where none of the above or similar methods work, or after these exploits are fixed, see my other answer.

The rootjunky link is broken. please fix it.

With latest updates, Nexus 5X doesn't allow Add Call for conferencing.
So it doesn't work

I managed to remove the FPR from a Huawei P8 lite (PRA-LX1) on Android 8, with the method using « Share » to access the phone settings (similar to the one described above for Motorola Droid X). I replicated exactly the steps of the following video: https://youtu.be/MX_6iKveFqE?si=koq0J5iWEhqHmr6d

Pretty much all these exploits have been patched since 2017. You may have luck with devices with an older security patch.
For those on a journey with an LG device like I went on today. You should look at using the 'LGUP' tool and Download mode (volume up), which will properly reflash the device, including the FRP section. Worked for my Nexus 5X. The video that finally did it for me https://youtu.be/watch?v=3h0XW8ZWzuA

Use this code to unlock in an emergency call: *#812#. After calling it, the phone unlocked and I was shown the home screen. After that, I went to the setting and added a new Google account. Since then, the phone works perfectly and thus is absolutely safe.
If you have the same problem, just try it. If it unlocks, then good for you. If it does not, then just nothing happens.
It worked beautifully on my OnePlus2.

It worked on a OnePlus3, thank you! Even though this does make me question the safety of the phone...

Interesting. On OP2 it seems like a bug to get you to another screen where you can sign in with a Google Account, but not get to the home screen. From there I rebooted and it logged in. I did a factory reset from within Android, rebooted, and resumed setup as I would normally expected.

Didn't work on my Samsung A70.

No, there is not (or there shouldn't be).  Factory Reset Protection uses a protected storage area located at /dev/block/*/by-name/frp that can't be wiped without special privileges or initiating a Factory Reset from Settings.  If the user was able to root the device they could manually launch Settings via adb and do the reset themselves, but rooting is typically not possible when you can't even get past the initial setup wizard.  If your bootloader is unlocked and/or you've already rooted the device, however, they could overwrite that FRP partition in order to bypass it!
If he sends the phone back to you: Log in with your Google account at the prompt in the Setup Wizard, finish the wizard, and then go to Settings and do the Factory Reset from there (rather than via recovery, etc.).
See this Android Police post for more details on the feature: What Is Android 5.1's Anti-Theft "Device Protection" Feature And How Do I Use It?

Isn't there a factory reset option in recovery?

@Joe The Factory Reset option in recovery does not remove FRP; only a factory reset from Settings does that.  This is to ensure that the user performing the wipe knew how to unlock the device, which is a reasonable proxy for ensuring they were the owner.

Can you please shed some light (possibly verify) on "protected storage area that can't be wiped without special privileges or initiating a Factory Reset from Settings"? I'm asking this because the linked article doesn't contain anything useful regarding it and I flashed the stock image on my Nexus 6 in entirety yet I'm being asked for device verification. I'm wondering now where is this "protected storage" located.

In CM, at least, it's /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp.

So could there be a way clearing that via a custom recovery (e.g. fastboot boot twrp_recovery.img and do something from there – either from within TWRP or via ADB which would then be available)? I'm thinking of Lg G4 email verification bypass cant do anything where your other approach got stuck in step 4 (unknown sources being grayed out).

IF the phone has a Google keyboard, the following may look pretty lengthy but it doesn't require OTG cable or PC so it's worth a try.

Boot your device and select preferred language
Connect to Wi-FI network.
You will be prompted to enter email, then tap on it as if you want to type something to bring up keyboard.
From the keyboard, tap and hold the “@” button until it pops up gear icon to input options like Google keyboard settings, languages.
Choose Google keyboard settings.
Tap on the 3 vertical dots at the right top part of your screen
Now Select the Help & Feedback
From the screen displayed, look for Settings in the text, select it, copy it and tap on the search icon.
You should see Settings menu on the search queries. Tap on it to open device settings
Scroll down to About Phone or About device  and tap 7 times on the Build number to enable Developer Options
Return to Settings and open the Developer Options that you just enabled
Allow OEM Unlocking and tap Back two times
Restart your device
Connect your Wi-Fi again. You won’t be prompted to log in the previous Google Account and instead the phone will ask you to ADD a new Google Account. Instead Skip it.
Continue to set up your phone.

The "@" key doesn't behave that way for me (ZTE Axon 7)

@Pointy That's because your phone is using a different on-screen keyboard, but you may still be able to do this: mess around with your keyboard, looking for something like an option to download themes or more emojis or whatever. This may open a browser on your phone, where you can select some text, and get to the phone's search feature, where you can paste or type SETTINGS and get to your phone's settings screens (then continue from step 10).

FRP bypass for ZTE instructions

Reset the phone and power it back on.
Choose your preferred language, then tap on Start.
Connect the phone to a WiFi network (preferably your Home network).
Skip several steps of the setup until you reach the Verify Account screen.
Tap on the email field, in order to activate the keyboard.
Most ZTE phones come with the Swift Key keyboard, so you need to tap on the keyboard’s menu key.
Select Settings from the menu.
From the Settings menu within SwiftKey select Languages.
Minimize the menu on the screen, then go to the Google search bar.
When prompted to sign in with a Google Account, choose "No, Thanks".
In the Google search bar, type Settings and select it. If the SwiftKey menu pops up again, tap on Got it, then Not Now.
From the Settings menu select Backup and Reset. (read the comment below for Huawei Y5)
From this submenu, choose Factory Data Reset. Go through the entire process and reset your handset again. However, this time you won’t see the FRP lock.

Source: How to bypass Google Account Verification (Factory Reset Protection)

Steps 12 and 13 worked for my old Huawei Y5 (Y560?), I just had to get to settings by messing with the on-screen keyboard. Something like "download more emojis" or "help with touch keyboard themes" eventually opened a screen where I could select text, and a search icon appeared in the top right. I clicked that, typed settings, and was able to follow steps 12 and 13 (I also enabled Developer Mode and OEM Unlocking first, so if this fails for you, try those too - they are in other answers on this page).

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


text:
How do I change the storage directory for Playstore apps in a device running lollipop?
Just wanted to change my storage directory from internal storage to SD card, unfortunately , I am unable to do this.Could anyone provide a solution ? The device I am using is Samsung Tab S running lollipop!

Are you rooted?  See http://android.stackexchange.com/a/12633/1465

No, my device isn't rooted.


text:
CM12.1 - My lock screen is not working at all!
I recently updated to the CM 12.1-20151024-NIGHTLY-d851 build (I have an LG G3, D851) and also flashed gapps with the a recent "nano" version. Since then, I have noticed that the lock screen does not work at ALL. Whether I choose PIN or swipe or whatever, it will not lock the phone. (The option for "none" disappeared too, but it became available again after removing an active guest session on the phone.)
I've tried rebooting the phone after choosing different lock screen settings and enabling the PIN again. I also tried updating to 12.1-20151101-NIGHTLY-d851 (thinking maybe it was a nightly bug that got fixed). I also reverted to the earlier working version of gapps, but that did not help. And let's not mention the other "solutions" I stumbled across via Google which did not help either. The phone simply will not lock at all. This is driving me crazy.
The only thing I can think of is that it MIGHT be related to an error I saw while flashing my phone during the upgrade: unable to mount /radio (or something like that).
What can I try next?
EDIT -- UPDATE: The other day my lock screen started working again, without me having to change anything. I suspect that the problem was due to some type of app that has an ability to block the lock screen (for example, I think Google Maps can disable the lock screen temporarily so you're not fiddling with unlocking your phone while driving, as that would be rather dangerous). I'm guessing some app (hopefully not malware!) was blocking the lock screen and got updated in the background, and it started working again. I have no clue how to verify this. At least I did not have to downgrade or flash back to an earlier builld. I am presently running the 12.1-20151104-NIGHTLY-d851 build.
EDIT #2 -- UPDATE #2: I just noticed in my quick settings (i.e. the pull-down from the top of the screen) that there is now an icon to turn lock screen on/off. I guess this is a new addition that I failed to notice, and 99% sure this is what caused the "problem" -- which was really a feature. I must have accidentally tapped it off and then back on before even noticing it was there.

I'd flash back the last build you had that was stable.

@EthanZ I'll give it a shot; I'm just afraid it might make the phone unbootable as I have read from others than downgrading has caused problems as well. Oh well, I've had to deal with this kind of stuff before. Will report back later.

Yeah. Its a risk. Your choice if you want to take it or just flash the new nightly tonight.

@EthanZ See, the thing is: I flashed the Oct 24 nightly and then the Nov 1 nightly. If the problem was with the nightly build and the issue was basic lock screen security, I can't imagine it wouldn't have been fixed in that time. Makes me wonder if the problem is somewhere else.

@EthanZ I flashed the new nightly (12.1-20151104-NIGHTLY-d851) and the lock screen is still not working. If nobody else chimes in with any other solutions I guess I will try flashing back to the last build where it was working, but that was a few months ago and I'm not sure what might happen.

Answering my own question here, so I can mark it as the solution. (I also posted this in the original question as EDIT #2).
I just noticed in my quick settings (i.e. the pull-down from the top of the screen) that there is now an icon to turn lock screen on/off. I guess this is a new addition that I failed to notice, and 99% sure this is what caused the "problem" -- which was really a feature. I must have accidentally tapped it off and then back on before even noticing it was there.

Thanks for posting. Just got into this a day ago, and like you, this was driving me crazy.


text:
I Deleted files on internal storage but free space remains the same
I noticed I had 623MB free in my internal storage so I connected my Android to my Laptop and navigated to the Thumbnails folder which had lot of files and was big in size. I selected all files and deleted them, it was about 300MB. Now when I read the available internal memory space, it reads 623MB...
What happened here? the files are no longer there but for some reason Android is not reflecting the increased available memory..
any clues?
Thank you!
Matias.

which phone? some services sync with the cloud so it may be back. try clearing caches and see with your file manager which files/folders are taking space.

CCleaner's app will get rid of those files properly.

I found a way to release the memory:

Connect you phone to a PC.
Open the memory with the File Explorer. Either "Card" or "Phone"
Open the file LOST.Dir
Erase the files in that folder.

This seems to be the recycle bin for Android.
Best!

I did a search for "LOST.Dir" nothing showed up though :(

Sometimes it may not reflect until restart. Moreover, thumbnails would be recreated once you open the images again. Perform a restart or reboot.

Thanks for the response. I restarted the phone and still the same amount of free space. I opened the Sdcard0 with an explorer within the phone and I can't see some folders, I know because the Sdcard0 shows 1..57GB used and when I enter the folder, select all folders then get properties, it's only 70MB so there are hidden files I can't see... Do I need to root my phone?

No I wouldn't recommend rooting your phone unless you know what you are doing cause that voids the warranty and can mess up your phone

I had the same problem on my ancient ZTE blade 2.2 device that i use for listening to audiobooks. When i deleted some files using linux file browser, the amount of free space on the device did not increase.
After some digging, i found the "removed" files inside a folder called ".Trash-1000". Deleting these freed up all the lost space.
Hope this helps.

Thanks, I figured how to delete files IN the internal storage.


text:
The power of galaxy tab 4 7,0 charger
Please what is the power of tab 4 7.0 charger
Is it like 1 or 2 Amp

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! This question doesn't appear to be about Android specifically, so it may not get answered here.

The charger that came with my tablet is rated at 5V and 1.0 amps.


text:
Recover From Bad Flash, Recovery Gone, ODIN no go Galaxy S6 Verizon
I have a GS6 on 5.0.2. I wanted to get rid of my root and go back to stock firmware while upgrading to 5.1.1. So I flashed official 5.1.1 using odin but it failed. Recovery mode no longer works.
Odin seems to always fail. I can go back to download mode or be instructed to restore via Verizon's software assistant. Verizon's software is not supported on Windows 10 and won't detect my device on Windows 8.1. Smart switch is not recognized.  Here is what odin has to say. It fails at the system.img
Verizon G920V
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Binary Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)
<ID:0/004> Added!!
<ID:0/004> Odin engine v(ID:3.1100)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Initialzation..
<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/004> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/004> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/004> sboot.bin
<ID:0/004> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/004> cm.bin
<ID:0/004> boot.img
<ID:0/004> recovery.img
<ID:0/004> system.img
<ID:0/004>
<ID:0/004> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

I have tried multiple firmwares. If I could find a pit file to flash I would.
Anyway, I went to Verizon and they are sending me a replacement in two days. In download mode it still says that the firmware is official. However it also says samsung custom. (Assuming the root) I don't know if Verizon will backcharge me for this. Is there any way to get rid of the custom status? When I put it in the box to return it I'll leave it on the System Software Update Failed screen.

Just in case anyone finds this in the future. I figured out how to fix this. I had have a working phone to install verizon's upgrade assitant. It would not work from the exe I found on the internet. From there I had to install it in a virtual machine because it did not like Win 10. From there I simply plugged in my device and it restored it. Use this method if odin doesn't work. I WILL NEVER ROOT AGAIN!


text:
my phone is asking for a previous google account after reset
i reset my alcatel one touch and now it wants the previous google account to continue after I reset it and I don't know it how do I get passed this plz help so annoying

Press 'skip' or similar?

Hi! Please read How do I ask a good question? Did you thoroughly search/research for an answer before asking your question?  Tell us what have you tried so far and why it didn't meet your needs? This demonstrates that you've taken the time to try to help yourself and it saves us from reiterating obvious answers.

Go to youtube and look for this video. It'll show you how to bypass Google's FRP Security. Take it from me, I had the same problem but this method actually worked on my Alcatel Acquire+ from At&t.

They might not know the credentials, and as such this would be useless

This is more like a comment than an answer. Please read How do I write a good answer?


text:
"Insufficient Storage Error" when updating and Downloading
My question is probably the same as many other questions like "Fix Google Play insufficient storage error without rooting my phone", and similar to that one, i want to do it without rooting my phone. I've used cache clearing apps, uninstalling google play updates and clearing the data and cache from it, but to no avail.
I have about 6 GB of free SD card space and about 250 MB of free internal storage. I use an Alcatel One Touch Pop Icon.
Build version: 6G1M-UDM2
The funny thing is, it's only with these apps. I can update my other apps, I can even download new apps!
I'm seriously confused and can't find anything else on the web that relates to my problem. Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
*EDIT: Never mind, everything can't download or update, so hopefully the new info helps.

Better way is to root your device and use LinkToSD app, hence you'll be able to install more apps and integrate new updates over the apps...May be there is any other way... so good luck


text:
Titanium restore vs. ADB restore. Which one is better after a system update?
I backed up my phone (HTC ONE M7, Android 4.4.2) with ADB backup -all -apk (one with -nosystem and once without it). I also backed up by Titanium Free (option system + apps). I also copied the media, download, music etc files into my computer.
Then I wiped my phone, factory reset and updated android to 5.0.2.
What would be the best way to restore the apps and the data that I had backed up?
I am worried that by restoring the apps, some of them might be incompatible with the new android version, or the old system files might overwrite the current system files and cause problems, or the residues of the uninstalled apps from the old system are also restored and make my new installation slow.
what would you recommend for the restore procedure?

I would prefer restore apps using Titanium, for the reason that it gives you total control on which user apps you want to restore.  In your case restoring system apps is not a recommended option since you have upgraded OS. It would lead to a mess up. Hence, while restoring choose the option of restoring just user apps with data. Answer how to restore only user apps is covered here
As a general guideline, best not to restore system apps after upgrading or changing ROM. After changing ROM also it is better to verify and update only those user apps which are not included as system apps in  new  ROM. You may often come across this situation while flashing Gapps recommended with new  ROM


text:
Forgot password. What to do?
I recently forgot my password on my perfectly working Motorola phone. I tried everything but nothing worked.
What  should I do?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! I'd suggest starting with our locked-out tag-wiki, which is specifically for that :)

Did you forget the lockscreen password or your google password? I'm assuming the former, but just making sure. And if the first, have you enabled the Android Device Manager?

"I tried everything but nothing worked" -- that's a lie!
Please read How do I ask a good question? Did you thoroughly search/research for an answer before asking your question?  Tell us what have you tried so far and why it didn't meet your needs? This demonstrates that you've taken the time to try to help yourself and it saves us from reiterating obvious answers.

Follow the below steps if you forgot lock screen password.

Enter a wrong lock screen pattern five times (shouldn’t be hard if
you don’t remember the correct one)
Select ‘Forgot Pattern’
Now you should be able to enter a backup PIN or your Google account
login.
Enter either your backup PIN or your Google login.
Your phone should now be unlocked.

You can also follow Device Manager by Android steps

On a computer or other mobile phone, visit:
google.com/android/devicemanager
Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your
locked phone.
In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it
isn’t already selected).
Select ‘Lock’
In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have
to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.
If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box
with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
On your phone you should now see a password field in which you
should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen
settings and disable the temporary password.
That’s it!

I tried doing that, however I was not able to unlock back my device through ADM, only lock it.


text:
Determine which app is drawing on top of other apps?
Is there a way to determine which application is drawing on top of other applications?
For example, Facebook Messenger app can draw the chat bubbles on top of everything, but how do I know which app is doing this?
My problem:
I have an app which is drawing ads on top of everything and I wanna know which app is doing this. Not just to uninstall it, but to warn everyone that uses this app. (I didn't install any application recently and I already verified the recent updates.)
I tried to use the Dump View Hierarchy for UI Automator from the Android Studio, but it seems that the applications that draw on top can't be selected this way.
(Click image to enlarge)

Just to add to issues noted in answers below (to try keeping it complete). In TouchWiz (Samsung Galaxy, mine is Note 4) turning side key panel off solved this problem for me.

For non-developers, just check here for a list of apps: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/154274/screen-overlay-detected-dialog-turned-off-everything-doesnt-work/157029#157029

Note:

adb should already be setup in PC.
For Android earlier than version 4.4.x, root access may be required.
Some commands would not work on Android earlier than version 5.1.
Jump to heading "Apps for apps" if you're unfamiliar or uncomfortable with command-line and/or the command-line fails to solve your issue.

Edit: cut the chase in the earlier solution and follow this edited section only.
Setup adb and run this command:
adb shell "dumpsys window windows | toybox grep -i system_alert_window"

You would get the output of all the active overlays on the screen. Example of an output with DU Screen Recorder, Tasker and AZ Screen Recorder showing active overlays on screen:

bash-4.3# adb shell "dumpsys window windows| toybox grep -i system_alert_window"
    mOwnerUid=10087 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=net.dinglisch.android.tasker appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10604 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.hecorat.screenrecorder.free appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10604 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.hecorat.screenrecorder.free appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10649 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.duapps.recorder appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10649 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.duapps.recorder appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10604 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.hecorat.screenrecorder.free appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10604 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=com.hecorat.screenrecorder.free appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
    mOwnerUid=10638 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=ninja.sesame.app.edge appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW

The highlighted text next to package= and before appop is the package name(s) of the app(s) currently drawing overlay on the screen. In your case, the output including the package name(s) would differ.
Note down the package name(s) (henceforth as PKG) and execute this command:
adb shell am force-stop PKG

Replace PKG with the package name you noted down. If you had multiple package names, repeat the command with one package name at a time.
The command would forcefully stop the app and thereby discard the overlay. This should work. You may alternatively strip the permission of "Draw over other apps" (screen overlay in short) from the apps using this command:
adb shell appops set PKG SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW ignore

Again, replace PKG with package name as necessary. Furthermore, you may have to repeat the force-stop command for the PKG. If you decide to revert the changes, replace ignore with allow in aforesaid command.
You may alternatively use App Ops to manage the permissions from GUI.
To know which package name corresponds to which app you could try an open source app like Applications Info. Search by package name and you would get the App's name.
Edit finished
You really need not to read anymore now. I'm leaving the earlier solution (i.e. following section)  intact because 21 people who voted it did find that helpful and I don't want to mess up anymore.

A simple way would be to find out all the apps having the permission "draw over other apps" and then single out them from the ones currently active on the screen. Afterwards, engage in force-stopping those common apps until you pin-point the app responsible for the active overlay.
Enumerate apps having permission for overlay
The permission required by an app to create an overlay is android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW (draw over other apps).
We need to find out all the installed apps having the said permission. It is up to you to find out a method for this. My answer here may aid you.
Note that we need the apps' package names and not their labels.
Cherry-pick from active windows
Execute the command
adb shell dumpsys window windows

This would give you details on whatsoever causing something to be displayed on the screen, including the component name of an app causing it.
How you would extract the name is up to you. You may try this command however
adb shell 'dumpsys window windows | grep "Window #"'

If you receive the error: 'grep' is not recognized as an internal or external command, on Windows try this alternative command:
adb shell "dumpsys window windows | grep 'Window #'"

Demo output

Window #4 Window{42065d50 u0 com.android.phone/com.mediatek.phone.UssdAlertActivity}:
Window #5 Window{42197468 u0 ginlemon.flowerpro/ginlemon.flower.HomeScreen}:
Window #6 Window{420fdb58 u0 com.android.systemui.ImageWallpaper}:
Window #7 Window{421e3b88 u0 com.android.contacts/com.android.contacts.activities.DialtactsActivity}:

In the above output, anything succeeding  u0  and preceding / is the package name of an app. An app can have multiple components displaying something on the screen.
You've to create a list of those package names. If you have BusyBox installed, you can do
adb shell 'dumpsys window windows | grep "Window #" | sed -e "s/.*u0 //g" -e "s/\/.*//g" -e "s/}://g"'

Anyhow, now you would be having two lists:

First list contains all the apps having the permission android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW.
Second list contains all the apps actively displaying something on the screen.

Compare these two lists and single out apps which are common in both the lists. This third list would constitute of apps having the permission to draw overlay and are currently drawing an active overlay on screen.
Time to kill
Kill each of the apps from the third list one by one and notice the state of overlay. You can use am force-stop PACKAGE_NAME --user 0 or any other method that suits you. PACKAGE_NAME is the package name of the app.
EDIT: It is not necessary to kill an app. You can consider denying the app the permission to draw over other apps. Use this command:
adb shell 'appops set PACKAGE SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW deny'   # replace PACKAGE with package name of the app

To revert the changes, replace deny with allow in the said command and execute it.
If you're running Android Marshmallow, this answer by Andrew T. can be used.
Note: The aforesaid command is successfully tested on Android 5.1.1 and 6.0.1 (CM builds). It is also possible that the command works on Android 5.0.x but I can't guarantee. Execution of that command on Android version released prior to Lollipop would cause failure.
Since often the overlay is perceivable, it would instantly disappear the moment the app causing it is killed, hence, you would know which app was causing that overlay.
Apps for apps
Originally suggested by Izzy, you can use an app which has the functionality of listing permissions granted to installed apps, to single out the apps having the permission  "draw over other apps". You can either search such an app on your own or use the the list Permission checker maintained by Izzy on his website.
You would also need a process/app manager to force-stop/kill some processes. I recommend OS Monitor but you're at liberty to use any competent app. See related apps under System Info.
For demonstration purposes only
I tried Advanced Permission Manager to list apps with permission to "draw over other apps". Afterwards, I switched to OS Monitor to see the apps running in foreground and background. I matched the output from both the apps and individually force-stopped the apps common in both. You can kill a process from inside the OS Monitor, so no need to switch to App settings.
(Click image to enlarge)

Thanks, the window list was a lifesaver when I was trying to find an adware app that seemed to be able to draw over everything ... without having the "draw other other apps" permission.

If you're using Android 6.0 Marshmallow, you can use its native permissions manager.
From an article on BGR,

Android 6.0 Marshmallow has a lot of highly anticipated new features and one of them is something iPhone users have had for years: Granular app permissions. Phone Arena installed the latest developer preview of Marshmallow and posted some terrific tips to help Android users make sure they’re only sharing data with apps that they specifically want to share.
To access Marshmallow’s permissions management feature, you’ll want to open up your Settings menu and then click on the Apps section. From there, click on the Gear icon that will then give you the option to go to app permissions manager.

To list the apps that can draw over other apps, go to Settings - Apps - Advanced (menu with gear icon) - Draw over other apps.
You can also enable/disable the feature temporarily by tapping the app, and toggle the "Permit drawing over other apps".

Image courtesy of Sebastiano Gottardo on Medium

For me, the Advanced (menu with gear icon) was missing, but instead it is at the top/right dotdotdot icon, then ; app configurations.

Thanks a bunch @Firelord ! I have finally found the app which has been preventing me from installing apk's and performing adb backups.
For me I found it was an app called Battery Mix Read on to see what I did and how I did it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.smapho.battery_mix
Many people have had issues with Installing apk's and not being able to press 'Install'. All answers I could find were mainly down to display dimming,tinting,power-saving apps. As I didn't use any or had removed all similar apps I had been struggling to find what was going on and which app was the culprit. And finally! After one simple command and a quick search, it has been solved :D
The offending app Battery Mix is a simple battery monitoring app which had the function I used to displayed a thin line across the top of the screen to show the state of the battery level (a great little app).
So to diagnose, I used a command from Firelord (above) to dump a text file and then to search for the app which was causing the android system to prevent me form clicking that Install button.
Execute command from PC
adb shell dumpsys window windows > dumpsys-windows.txt
Search for
SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
To find any offending applications I searched for the above string
Which gave me the line:
mOwnerUid=10129 mShowToOwnerOnly=true package=jp.smapho.battery_mix appop=SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
(See image upload for the section of text file)

immediately I could recognise which app it was referring to: jp.smapho.battery_mix
So now I know to kill that app whenever I plan to sideload or befor adb backups.

And what if the alert window is shown by com.android.systemui? :) My Oukitel Y4800 (Android 9) refuses to enable accessibility services because of this obscuring window


text:
Lost 3G/4G signals, 2G works only; factory reset or downgrade or changes in network settings didn't help
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE working on Lollipop and I completely lost the 3G and 4G signals. I can only use the 2G signal.

When I choose in the network options (Only HSPA) there's a stop like circle appearing instead of the signal scale up there.
I tried the factory reset, but it didn't work.
I also downgraded to Android 4.3  but the problem persisted.

What should I do?

you downgraded? Are you running a custom firmware or an aosp based rom? When did the problem occur?

Yes I tried various firmware versions but nothing helped. I think the problem happened when I was using 3G in a place where the signal was really bad so I switched to 2G only. Then when I got back home I tried to switch it back to the normal network settings and it received only 2G network. Knowing that when in the 2G/3G/4G mode the 2G is lost from time to time; "Emergency calls only" appears.


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Using 64GB SD card, yet Play Store doesn't install apps because of insufficient memory
I am using Android 5.0 with a 64GB SD card  and I have approximately 500MB of memory left in the internal storage, but I am unable to install apps from Play Store on account of "insufficient memory for app size".
How to resolve this issue? Is there any way to install apps directly in SD card?

Maybe if you had 6.0 Marshmallow we could try something along your suggested lines, but not now.

The wiki of the tag [tag:insufficient-memory] should help you understand the issue. Also,  did you thoroughly search/research for an answer before asking your question?  Tell us what have you tried so far and why it didn't meet your needs? This demonstrates that you've taken the time to try to help yourself and it saves us from reiterating obvious answers.

There are two solutions to your problem:

Moving apps from internal memory to SD card (not necessary external SD card).
This will allow you to install apps on the internal memory while the data of the apps (which is usually bigger then the app itself) will be stored on your SD card. This is will give you a lot of free space for more apps of your choice. Downside is, every app you move to the SD card will not have a widget and will be slower to use. You can do this by installing App2SD from Play Store or any other app that can move other apps.

Different approach requires more technical skills.
You can root your device and manually change the partitions so you get more space on your "apps partition", but less in system partition or cache partition. This procedure is a bit tricky and is different for each device. If you decide to do this a good starting point is the XDA developers forum or simply Google it for your specific device.

Go to Settings > Apps. Choose already installed applications and move them to SD Card. (Preferably apps other than Play Store, Google Apps, etc, which may not be movable )

I use AppMgrIII, I ALWAYS root my devices therefore enabling me unrestricted access to my devices. You can move apps to your SD Card in bulk with root access within AppMgrIII. Even those that fault under "boot complete" call.

Link to the app please?

When you uninstall an app from your Android phone it doesn't actually remove everything. The APK is hidden away still, therefore, using unnecessary storage.
I'd say the simplest way to resolve this is to clear up some space (photos, videos and more) and download CleanMaster. It clears out anything that doesn't need to be there and can even improve performance.
If you can't clear enough space with CleanMaster, it's probably worth your time to plug your phone into your PC and navigate through until you find the APKs and manually delete them yourself.

Well that's odd. With my old Sony Xperia M2 it used to tell me I had insufficient storage, despite uninstalling all of the apps I downloaded from the play store. The only way I resolved this was by plugging it into my PC and delete the APKs myself.

How did you navigate to the apk files while connected to PC? PS. No one is rude to you.

That is factually incorrect. Uninstalling an app installed from the Play Store does delete its apk file unless it had been sideloaded and the original apk was left on-device in the internal or external SD card and/or backed up to the SD card, using an app say ES File Explorer.


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Editing the apps within factory reset
Much like flashing a new custom Rom that's been de bloated, there are some factory apps, and some are stripped. My question is, can you edit the apps that are within the factory reset? So when you DO factory reset, the modified apps that you changed will be the apps replaced into the system, and not the plethora of useless bloatware.

Haven't understood what you mean by editing apps but factory reset implies setting the  cell to the condition it was in when you purchased the cell  bloatware and  all

What I seek is to modify the apps themselves within the factory reset, allowing me to factory reset to a de-bloated state.

Ah understand.  Answer is same. Factory reset brings the phone to the condition it was in when it was bought. What you are trying to do requires root and custom recovery like  TWRP or  CWM which makes a nandroid copy and restores exactly to that state.  If  this answers you let me know so that it can be upgraded to answer

Somewhat, but the answer is not quite satisfactory. If the device pulls a list of predefined apps to reinstall upon a factory reset, then there must be a way to modify that list of apps.

Then you are looking at  modifying recovery image built into the phone and I am yet to  hear  a way of it being done and IMO is  not possible

This isn't satisfactory, I have root on all of my devices, there isn't anything that I can't modify. I understand what you are telling me, but I am certain there is definitely a way.

Understand your point.  Let's wait for a knowledgeable person to show how it can be done

Possible duplicate of How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

Well, why not?
Whenever you write a change, such as a modified or deleted app, to /system, which is where most factory bloatware resides, it cannot be reversed by a simple factory reset. Why?
A factory reset just does a perfunctory wipe of /data and /cache. This removes any user-specific info done after the initial configuration, as well as user-installed apps. This does not affect the system partition in any way, so any changes made there will persist after a factory reset is done.
My recommendation:
1) Take a NANDroid backup.
2) Delete whatever you need to from /system.
3) That's it, its not coming back even if you do a factory reset. Now, if you need to restore the backup, that's a whole different story.


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Apps' (those moved into external SD card) icon vanishes from home screens after every reboot
My Moto G (2014), running CM12.1, has only 8GB internal storage (5.5GB free to use). This is insufficient for normal use. Therefore, I shifted most of my apps to the external SD card (32GB, class 10, ext4).
But after every reboot all the icons of apps on the SD card vanishes from the screens (they are still available in the drawer).
I think the SD card is not ready when the screens come up and therefore I need to slow down the boot process.
I tried it unsuccessfully, with following little script (/data/local/userinit.sh):

#!/system/bin/sh
sleep 60


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How can I make on viber those who call me to hear them normal and not slow motion?
I have Xperia z3. I know that I have a function so that the people who call are speaking slow and I ve turned it off. But for some reason on viber it does the same and there isn't anything to make it stop. Can you help me please..?

If you know you have a "function", please state what that function is.


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Comixology comic store to SD card, not internal storage
Comixology insists on storing its downloaded comics on the internal storage.  This is clearly rather annoying since it is tiny compared to gigantic external SD card that is installed. The OS version is Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Using ES file manager, I can see where the comics are downloaded just fine.  I could move them but that will not help as the main application would have no idea where the directory went.
Does anyone know of a way to move the existing data to the SD card and have the Comixology application use the SD card?

Are you rooted?

@beeshyams: No, I am not.

I have not tested this as all my phones end up being rooted within a week.  In case  it  helps, will upgrade to  answer status after your confirmation.    How To Install Apps Onto Your SD Card (No Root) http://m.instructables.com/id/How-to-install-apps-onto-your-SD-Card-No-Root/

Welcome. Also suggest edit update your question to show Android version, as the  answer to this varies and  to  get the correct response

I don't believe even if you follow @beeshyams method, you'll be able to have what you want.

OP, were you able to check out ? Quite forgotten about this till the above current that it may not work @SarpSTA you may be right but reasons?

@beeshyams If the application itself doesn't support the feature of choosing the directory to look for comics, it means it most probably is hard-coded. Which means where the app is installed is completely independent from where the comics are installed. OP wants to set the download directory for the comics (or at least that's what he asks for in the question).

@SarpSTA you have a point. Let's see if OP cares to revert

I tried. It did not work.  The application itself is installed on the SD card but the comics themselves are installed on the main (tiny) drive.


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Need help recovering data from corrupted userdata partition (Galaxy S3 International)
Phone: Galaxy S3 International i9300
The phone started bootlooping, and I tried to do a factory reset, but it seems my phone went off during the process.  I'm trying to obtain images etc. off the phone.
I could connect to the phone using adb after some help.  All the other partitions except the USERDATA (/dev/block/mmcblk0p12) mount fine.  Trying to mount this partition gives an error about a bad magic number on the superblock.  I pulled the ext4 partition with adb pull, and none of the other superblocks have a valid magic number: the lower numbers report invalid magic numbers, while for higher numbers I get:
e2fsck: Attempt to read block from filesystem resulted in short read while trying to open mmcblk0p12.img
Could this be a zero-length partition?

I tried regenerating the superblocks, but the subsequent e2fsck could not find the root folder so everything gets hosed that way.
I've also tried using foremost and recoverjpegas per https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery , both of which recovered zero files.
However, from what I have read (can not currently find source), I understand that the virtual SD card on the Galaxy S3 is a partition on the
USERDATA partition, so I'm not sure if it may be mountable in a loopback fashion, in which case it's possible these tools will not detect anything even if the data I'm looking for is there.
Questions:

What else can I try to repair/recover the file system?
Is my understanding about a partition within a partition correct, or am I grasping at straws?  (i.e. if foremost/recoverjpeg can't find a .jpeg, should I assume it is gone?)

Output of mke2fs -n mmcblk0p12.img
mke2fs 1.42.9 (4-Feb-2014)
mmcblk0p12.img is not a block special device.
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
1703936 inodes, 6809600 blocks
340480 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296
208 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8192 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
        32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
        4096000

Have you checked with our data-recovery tag-wiki? Especially the last link there might prove helpful in your context: One Way to Use a Linux Computer to Recover Files from an Android Device.

Don't see anything on the tag-wiki that would help me unfortunately.  Had also tried testdisk on the partition image already, without any luck.

Could it be that partition is encrypted? // Concerning the virtual SD: It's certainly not a "partition inside a partition", but rather a FUSE mount of a directory residing on that partition.

I got the phone from someone else, so I can't say it is not encrypted for sure -  but I am not aware of anything like that.  Does the FUSE mount basically just duplicate access to the underlying directory at a specific mount point, then?  In this case, it basically seems like I'm at a dead end...

In this case, AFAIK that's exactly what happens: to avoid "clutter" (the classical "insufficient storage" issue, where internal storage runs out of space while there's plenty on the internal SD card), both share the same partition – and the "internal SD" basically is a directory on "internal storage", presented as "separate mount point" for compatibility reasons.


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Disable vibration of the phone, but leave it on smartwatch
I'm trying to figure out the best setting for my Android 5.1 phone during my working hours.
When I'm at my workplace, my phone is constantly docked and in set to the Priority mode (this is automatic). When someone calls me, I get notification on the smartwatch. I set up Hangouts to vibration only and let it notify me in Priority mode (it is in the exceptions list).
I don't like the vibration of the docked phone, which may distract my colleagues, especially given the fact, that the only vibration I need is one of my smartwatch. At the same time I believe the smartwatch notifications are duplicates of phone notifications and if the latter are disabled, the former get disabled too.
Is there a possibility to disable docked phone vibration notification, while left smartwatch notifications intact? Any other suggestion to set up the phone in a workplace-friendly manner?

Android Wear -> Settings  -> Mute phone alerts & calls

I don't want notifications on the phone to be disabled all the time. I just want them to be disabled only when the phone is docked.


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SMS shows service center as null and send date well in the past
I got this SMS today (actually twice in a gap of an hour) which had an empty body and shows as from contact number 0 with all other information being vague, like:

Sent on 10 September 2011
  Received: 3 November 2015.
  Service center: null.

Does anybody have any explanation for this?
I'm using Android phone and MSP is Airtel India. Below is the screenshot.

I'm not sure this is related to Android, it seems like a carrier error or some kind of control message.

I contacted carrier today but he said they're not having any kind of technical issue. I've got twice again after posting it here.
You just said it may be some kind of control message. Could you please elaborate it a bit so that I may search for it more.

Seems that the issue was with the built-in Messaging app which was not showing the message as expected. I re-flashed the OS and it worked fine.


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adb shell -> su: not found

How can I overcome this problem?
Devices:

Samsung Galaxy TabS - Android 4.4.2
HTC M8 - Android 5.0.1

The two devices have the same problem.

Are the devices rooted? su binary doesn't come with factory shipped devices. You need to root the device (which involves finding and pushing the su binary into /system/bin/ or /system/xbin/). See What is rooting?

no roots in the device. Is this procedure is not done without roots?

The procedure I told you is part of rooting. In order to switch to UID 0 (the userId of root user) you need access to su and in order to access su it has to be present first. How would you move the binary depends upon the device you're using. Some methods are mentioned here: How do I root my Android device?

Had the same issue after deleting my "device" which Visual Studio 2017 created and made a new one. Solution was to make sure to leave "GooglePlayStore" ticked off.

Your device is not rooted.  To see what Rooting is and how to go about doing it:

http://www.androidcentral.com/root
What does "to root a phone" mean?

Once you have rooted your device, you will be able to access the Super User state of your device (SU). Just be aware that rooting could brick your device if done incorrectly, as could and tampering with files in the root directory.


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Why doesn't Note 2(N7100) recognize external hard drive but Honor 6 does?
I have two cell phones Note2 and Honor 6. Both are rooted, and run 4.4.2
Both have a battery of same capacity 3100mAh.
I can connect any of two external hard drives WD passport and WD Elements of 1 TB capacity (both are NTFS formatted and do not have provision for external powering on)  through OTG cable on  Honor 6 and transfer files
But when I connect to  Note2 through same OTG cable,  the  external hard drive LED flickers and can't view the  contents of either drive.
Changing OTG cables,  using multiple apps from play store to manage OTG  mounting did not change anything
I read on some forum that  note 2 battery capacity is not enough to power on the external hard drive for normal operations and is just enough to recognize the  drive,  hence the flickering. This was not substantiated by any technical explanation.  Besides,  Honor 6 also has the same battery capacity!!! So this explanation doesn't sound logical unless am missing something
Would welcome a technical explanation for this please
Edit: situation is the same if the external drive is formatted in FAT32
Thanks

Most likely it's the file system being used. NTFS support rarely is available on Android devices. To verify that, you could create another partition on that drive using a supported file system, such as FAT32 or EXT3, put some files on it, and try if those are seen.

Honor 6 have 3 GB RAM, But Note2 have only 2 GB RAM

Thanks @izzy .  Should have clarified this in the question. I have yet another drive formatted on FAT32 and even that is not recognised.  BTW are you suggesting that honor 6 has the added capability to read NTFS?  Purely my opinion, without any technical backing but Huawei phones aren't really that inclusive

@TintuMon thanks.  Agreed. Does RAM play a role in this?  Would like to know more

Well, if the drive is formatted using NTFS, and the Honor can read it – isn't that the logic conclusion? If it would not support NTFS, it were not able to. So either the drive doesn't use NTFS, or the Honor supports it, or you're seeing ghosts. Your choice :)

@izzy. Guess I didn't word my  earlier response appropriately.  Sorry for that.  It comes out as rude without meaning to.  But that doesn't clarify why note 2 can't see the FAT32 formatted drive

No offense meant or taken – so nothing to apologize for :) And yes, I fully agree: it does not explain why the FAT32 drive is not recognized. I'm out at that point, and have to leave the scene to someone more familiar with the "hardware related part".


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What system data can I purge from my LG Tribute Android phone?
I own an LG Tribute Android phone, with Virgin Mobile service.  The phone has 4 GB of storage and despite the fact I only have a handful of apps installed (Acrobat Reader, Starbucks, OpenTable, Skype, Uber), I have run out of storage on my phone.  Here is the breakdown ...
Available - 124 MB
Apps - 1.45 GB
Pictures, videos - 112 MB
Audio - 148 KB
Downloads - 336 KB
Cached data - 13.8 MB
System data - 2.3 GB

What system data can I delete wihtout screwing up my phone and how can I do that?

Freeing up system memory by deleting system apps might not help in my opinion. You wouldn't be really able to use it... The partition size will not change by deleting bloatware so you'll gain next to nothing.

My question references system "data" so if there are other things I can delete besides apps to free up disk space (not memory, don't care about memory), what is safe to delete?


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Complete silence on Lollipop
Until KitKat I was able to silence a device completely by simply pressing volume-down. Repeat presses first reached "vibrate" and then "not even vibrate". This is very handy just before meetings/lectures/..
Now with Lollipop pressing all the way down reaches just "vibrate".
How do I recover the ability to completely silence Lollipop using the volume-down button?
I am aware of the power-saving widget, but I'd still like to sync while the device is silenced.

Enabling the 'do not disturb mode' silences all notifications and alarms. Press the volume down button and you'll see the 3 categories "None", "Priority" and "All" Notifications. Choose none should do the trick

"None" works for meetings/lectures/theaters/.., but is not suitable for sleeping. It also disables alarms. Thoughts?

I am using the priority notification mode over night which mutes all messages/calls but leaves the alarm as it is.

@benjaminS That makes sense. So really "None" should be interpreted/functions as "in a meeting", and "Priority" functions as "sleeping". The labels are somewhat machine-tilted rather than meant for humans, but they are sufficiently general in case, for instance, one still wants to be interrupted during a meeting or while sleeping.


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Permission denied
[ASL] gives this error in library installations:
%ANDROID%\platform-tools\adb.exe push %NATIVE% /data/local/asl-native

--->RUN
'/data/local/asl-native':Permission denied

How can I overcome this problem without roots in the device?

You can't. The /data partition is write-protected for any non-system process (including adb).

So how can I do this? not that I've tried a lot of things

Root your device, type adb root, execute your command. If it doesn't work, you will need to change one line in build.prop: ro.adb.secure=1 -> 0.

is not it possible to do without the root?

No, I'm sorry but this is not possible. It is meant to secure the system from unauthorized modifications.

Do not have any way to give this permission?

I'm sorry but this is not possible without full control (root) on your device

You can use /data/local/tmp, does not need root.


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Can you dump the contents of your phone (os + apps + data) and run that in an emulator/Android Studio?
Is there a way to dump the contents of your phone (OS + apps + data) and run them on a PC in an emulator of some sort?
I feel like there are security implications to being able to do this but with physical access to a device my experience has been that for the most part security simply disappears. I'm not knowledgeable about how custom ROMs etc are made but feel like there might be tools to do what I'm speaking of.
Backstory: Basically, my phone's screen died and I am in the process of pulling contents off of the phone. I'm using AndroidScreencast to interact with the GUI. This is a slow process as the update of Android Screencast is a bit slow. I'm using adb shell to simply cat files to the sdcard.
This process made me wonder if there was an easier way.  Is there a way to use dd (or some other application) to pull the entire ROM and then emulate that such that I don't have to use the android screencast?
The device in question is running an unrooted version of Android 2.3? (I don't have the device in front of me now so I can't post that.)  I have been able to get root access using exploid and that is how I've been sending files to the sdcard for retrieval.
To reiterate in a slightly different way, can you backup your os+apps+data via a dump and then run them locally on a pc somehow?

Backing up data and emulating the OS are largely entirely separate things.  Do you have data encoded in a proprietary format for which there is no PC app, or something?

Not that I recall. The phone being old, I mainly used it well, as a phone and not as a smartphone. I am just trying to retrieve my data (texts,contacts, and some personal notes) and  in the easiest way possible. Using adb and cating to the sdcard isn't horrible, I just wish it was a bit easier. I think I got all the data off that I wanted to but there is always that one app/note/etc that you rarely used but had crucial information that you forget about until you really need it.

No, generally speaking there is no way to do this.  Your ROM is customized for your phone and is pretty tied to that specific hardware.
You could, of course, pull the apps and install them into an emulator, and then back up the data for them on the phone and restore that data on the emulator.  With root and 2.3, the simplest way to do this might be via an app like Titanium Backup.


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Unable to mount a 64Gb SD card on Qualcomm's SnapDragon 810 MDP smartphone
I tried to google but didn't see the problem reported anywhere yet.
I was playing around with a Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 MDP smartphone, while developing an app which makes heavy usage of data stored in the SD card.
I have a San Disk Ultra 64GB, formatted exFat. It works without problems in a Note 4 (where, in fact, I also re-formatted it), but, although detected, I cannot get it mounted in the Snapdragon device. So far I could only mount an 8 Gb and a 16 Gb SanDisk card there.
Applying the Upgrade Package 2.2 available here (after registration) did not improve things.

I was in contact with Intrinsyc Support, apparently "only FAT32 is supported for that size".
Now the problem was to format with FAT32, as Windows (arbitrarily) doesn’t support formatting FAT32 above 32Gb.
I tried this tool but it didn’t work:
http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/
What worked was:

Mount SD card on the phone
Settings -> Storage -> SD card -> Erase USB Storage

Apparently this doesn't just "erase", but also format the drive FAT32 (as I could verify afterward mounting it on Windows). The SD card is now mounted and running!


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Disable "Get google play services" message
So I have a rooted Lenovo P780 with VibeUI 2.0 KitKat, without google play services.
Some apps give the "Get google play services" popup, but don't actually need it.
It's a bit annoying and I remember seeing an app someone made that disables that message.
I remember seeing it on the xda-developers forums, but can't find it.
Does anyone have any idea where I could find it, or something similar?
I'm aware that such an app wouldn't fix anything, I just want to disable the message so I don't have to dismiss it every time. Especially since it pops up without warning, so I sometimes accidentally click it.

Here's one way that you can try and remove the Google Play Services dependency using Lucky Patcher. Install lucky patcher (a simple search should give you it), give it root permissions, and then you can do one of the following next:

Create a modified APK file which has the dependency removed
Or directly patch the app

Creating a modified APK file
Open up Lucky Patcher. Find the app you want to patch, tap on it, and select Open Menu of Patches. Select Create a modified APK file, then APK without licence verification. Near the bottom of the list there should be an option labelled Remove dependencies. Make sure that only it is checked (ie: all others are unchecked), and then select Rebuild the app at the bottom of the dialog. Wait until it's finished (it may take a while), and voilà, you'll have an APK which shouldn't require Google Play Services. With this method, chances are you'll have to uninstall and reinstall the app with the custom APK, thus loosing all data (unless you somehow back it up).
Directly patching the app
This method is (probably) simpler and doesn't require you to uninstall or reinstall anything. First, if your app has been moved to the SD card through the normal method through settings, move it back to internal storage. Next, open up Lucky Patcher like the above instructions, and find your app. Tap on it, select Open Menu of Patches, then select Remove licence verification. You'll want Auto Modes here, so select that. Now check the Remove dependencies box and make sure any others are unchecked (however, if you want to, you can select Backup APK file in case something goes wrong, because then you'll have something to revert to). Select apply, wait for it to finish (again, it might take a while), and there you go, you should be done.

My root is messed up I think. The app fails to get root permissions for a lot of commands. Originally I tried rooting using this tutorial, but I couldn't get the flashtool to work, so I eventually ended up using Kingo root. I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with the binary end of the su...  When I installed TWRP recovery using mobileuncle tools, I could only access it by rebooting into it, but if I shutdown first it just goes to the Chinese stock recovery. (cont.) ->

-> I mention that, because that certainly isn't normal and I don't see what else would be the point of failure, but the su root. I've had problems with root permissions on some other apps as well, but then others work just fine.

@1N07 Have you tried flashing something like SuperSU through recovery? It's probably the widest used root management app out there, but I'm not sure what would happen if you over rooted the kingo root. Recovery should always really be installed from a PC using fastboot, and then stuff flashed from the recovery when you need to.

I seem to remember trying that as well and not getting it to work, but I'll try again at some point


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Viper4Android and OxygenOS 2.1.1 OnePlus 2
Does V4A finally work with OxygenOS that comes preinstalled with OnePlus 2? I managed to get it to install but the sound is very distorted, also whenever I try to open V4A it crashes Google Play Framework and other apps. I managed to uninstall the driver by rebooting the phone and quickly entering V4A before any other apps load. If you can't do that the apps will start to crash leading to the phone being unusable until another reboot. Any ideas ?

It is not compatible with OxygenOS but you can give a try to Custom ROMs like CM13


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Date and time resets to 1970 after every shutdown
I'm having trouble with date and time on my Droid Razr M running Android 4.4.2. Every time my phone shuts off it goes back to 1970 and I can't get on the internet or any of my apps.


text:
What can happen when you flash a bootlocked device?
This will probably not be done in practice, but I like hypotheticals.
I believe that when you flash a custom recovery on a bootlocked device the stock recovery will just be flashed back on reboot. This is because stock ROMs have a backup image of the stock recovery. But what happens when you flash a custom ROM without touching the stock recovery? I doubt it can be flashed back.
I can think of two ways to flash the custom ROM: 1) fastboot 2) boot into a non-flashed custom recovery image (using fastboot), then use that to flash the ROM.
What will happen if either method succeeds in flashing the custom ROM on a device with a locked bootloader?

Also see this for another example.

Yes, with root it is typically possible to edit/remove/replace the image that is restored by the bootloader and thus prevent the ROM/recovery restoration.  Whether that is done with a custom ROM or not isn't actually relevant.  I've done something similar (editing the script that verifies/installs the recovery) on my Dell Streak with stock firmware; check out this answer.
Of course, it's always possible for the bootloader to refuse to boot the phone after you do this, though I don't know offhand of any that are that strict.

So typical bootloaders don't care if you hack your stock recovery. Probably because they were designed with the assumption that you can't get root to do that. But if you leverage that by using the custom recovery to flash a new ROM/kernel, then the bootloader should notice, right? So do you get a bootloop? a warning? stuck in recovery?

@jiggunjer That will completely depend on the particular bootloader.  All of those are possible, as is the case where it errors out and just lets you boot anyways.


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Is it possible to pre-download a YouTube video to view it later?
Is it possible to pre-download a YouTube video to view it later offline? I know this is a duplicate, but the functionality has been removed for a year, and no (automatic) alternatives to the problem.
So here is the problem I take the train 2 hours everyday, and I dont have Wifi and 3G would just have its download limit busted in a day.
Si I would like to have my 'Watch Later' playlist (or could be another playlist) automatically downloaded to my phone when I have WiFi so I can watch it later, when I have no network.
The current solutions would be to manually download every video, then transfer them to my phone. Any app that does it automatically?

It seems pressing a watch later button is as much work as pressing a download button. Or do you want an auto-generated playlist too? Edit: I just realized you don't download with an app but with your desktop!?

Possible duplicate of Is it possible to pre-download a YouTube video to view it later offline?. Since there's no in-app feature, the rest of the answers on the dupe are also applicable to this question.

Youtube's help on the subject - looks like this may be a YouTube premium feature now.

You should try to download Youtube Go from playstore, it has the ability to download the video you want and watch it wherever you are. This works offline too and when you prompt the download you can set the quality of the video you want to download
Take a look at here
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.youtube.mango&hl=en_US

If you are planning to download the videos through the YouTube app: yes, you can!
YouTube has that functionality present internally at the moment, so no need for third party apps.
Screenshots (Click to enlarge image)

You forgot to mention that this option is only available to specific videos and offline storage of videos are limited to a specific period of time.

Yes...its true!! good thing you pointed out @Lucky!! and again...this affects your internal storage space

Dont seem to have that option. What version of the YT app do you have?

my app version is the latest available on the playstore 10.43.60

You can also open the youtube video you'd like to download in your browser and then add "dlv" in front of youtube in the URL so that it becomes dlvyoutube.com
Not sure how much more smooth this will be compared to working on your computer + transfer if you want to download several videos..


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Where are my lost photos
I had a few years of photos on my phone. they were backed up onto google+. Google had gone into them and put some together making a video. My phone was recently reset but that should not have anything to do with google+. But yet my photos are not there from  and on. Just recent ones. Where did they go and how did it happen? Can I get them back?

Try checking at 'Google Photos' app...Google had recently announced that they were no longer going to support g+ photo backup...but not to worry!! All your g+ backed up photos would've been shifted to Google Photos