text:
My WinXP Pro Doesn't See Galaxy S7
I've changed cables and USB ports, but it hasn't fixed the problem.
The My Computer/Hardware profile doesn't see the S7 at all.

I don't see it either – maybe my glasses are not good enough. Oh: as are your details :) Please add: Does it show up in the Windows device manager? Do you have the required drivers installed? For the USB ports checked: were all of them USB 3, or did you check on USB 2.0 ports as well?

Did you install the nessesary drivers for your device? If not, try that

The Galaxy S7 uses MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) which is not natively supported in Windows XP. You need to install Microsoft's Media Transfer Protocol Porting Kit to enable Windows XP to use MPT.

FYI, the link is bad.

@Android Dev Fixed link

I installed the drivers and I installed the MTP. No change.
Thanks.

@villaproject then I'm sorry, without more information it's impossible to help you.


text:
How to connect to Internet from Windows 7 laptop tethered over blue tooth to Samsung S4
Android Samsung S4: Tethering and Mobile Hotspots > Bluetooth (enabled)
Windows 7 laptop: Bluetooth enabled, paired with Samsung S4.
Windows Bluetooth Device Control window opens.
By default, the Samsung S4 has (Disconnected) below it, even though they were just paired & my laptop has no Internet connection.
My S4 has a working Internet connection.

If I try to click Connect, under Windows Bluetooth Device Control > Personal Network and Communication, a green tick appears over the Bluetooh icon located between the diagram of the laptop and the S4 at the top of the Bluetooth Device Control window. However, it reverts back to the default bluetooth icon, and the the S4 continues to display (Disconnected) below it.
I have download the Samsung Android USB Drivers for Windows, and the S4 displays as a device with no driver problems in Windows Device Manager.
How do I have my Windows 7 laptop use my Samsung S4's mobile Internet connection while tethered over bluetooth?

The steps which I follow:
1.Goto Settings then tap on more settings under wireless & network.
(Click the images to enlarge)

2.Tap on Tethering & portable hotspot under Network

3.Next tap on Bluetooth tethering to enable Bluetooth tethering

Now Pair your Device to your Computer, to do this...
1.Hit the Bluetooth Icon in the system tray

2.Click “Add a Device”

3.Wait for it to search for your Bluetooth Internet Access Point, then click to select it and press “Next”

4.Click “Yes” then click “Next”

5.Wait till your Computer to install the drivers.
(Click image to enlarge)

6.Now the Bluetooth access point has been setup.
7.Click the system tray, then right click on the Bluetooth icon and then hit Join a Personal Area Network

Else,

Goto Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Devices and Printers
Right Click your device and connect using Access Point

Note : Again your device have not connected means try these

Setting up the modem
On the PC, Click Control Panel
Right-click on the Bluetooth icon in System tray, click Add
An Add Bluetooth Device Wizard will appear
Select My device is set up and ready to be found
Click Next
Select the handset from the list and click Next
Select Let me choose my own passkey
Type 4 to 16 digit passkey (example: 1234) in the available field
Click Pair Now
On the handset, enter the same Passcode (Passkey) entered on the PC Press OK
An Accept connection request prompt will appear, press Yes
Ensure that Dial-up networking (DUN) is checked
Click Next
On the PC, click Finish
Then Click Control Panel
Double-click Phone and Modem Options
Click Modems tab
Select Bluetooth Modem
Click Properties button
On the General tab, click Change settings button
If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Continue
Click Advanced tab
In the Extra initialization commands field, type at+cgdcont=1,"IP","internet"
Click OK and OK again.
Setting up the connection
On the PC, return to the Control Panel
Double-click Network and Sharing Center icon
Click Set up a connection or network
Select Setup a dial up Connection
Click Next
If prompted, Select No, Create a new connection
Click Next
Click Dial-up
If prompted, click Bluetooth Modem
In the Dial-up phone number, field, type *99***1# or *99#
Leave the User name and Password fields blank
In the Connection Name field, type the corresponding APN (Ex: XXXX.com or YYYY.internet)
To Know APN :
On the Mobile, Goto Settings\More settings\Mobile Networks\Access Point Names and then Tap the required network to view it
(Click the image to enlarge)

Select from the available options
Setting up the connection
On the PC, click Connect
On the handset, an Accept connection request prompt will appear, press Yes
If a Set Network Location prompt appears, click Cancel

Sridhar, that's great, very comprehensive answer. The trick for me, was turning Bluetooth tethering on, before pairing the devices (I believe). Thank you! :-)

@Steve: Try BlueSoleil  (Third Party) also, which worked for me when windows 7 Bluetooth fails

Cheers Sridhar.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
My rooted phone won't turn on
I have rooted my phone earlier with KingoApp and then later changed the boot animation and shutdown animation with Root Browser after rebooting, it only shows the unit's logo and shows white screen for a while and then turn off. I don't think it's a bootloop, I also tried the recovery also but nothing seemed to help. Please can someone help me? My phone is Cherry Mobile Flare J1

Did you set the appropriate permissions on the boot and shutdown animations? This may be the culprit.

Tried reflashing the ROM again?

You most likely bricked it. If you have a custom recovery installed, (Hopefully you do) you can unbrick your phone by booting up into it and reinstalling the stock software. Can I ask what recovery (if any) you have?
If you have TWRP you can navigate to: Wipe > Advanced Wipe then wipe cache, dalvik cache, data, system. Then navigate to: install/flash then navigate to where your ROM is and flash it.

While this is partially an answer, it is also incomplete and a clarification question and, thus,  should be posted as a comment.

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


text:
Malicious hidden in root partition
Hello everyone :) excuse me for creating a new thread but i couldnt find any info on this matter.
As a gift, my parents brought Samsung galaxy s4 from someone i dont trust who sells it. I factory reset the phone thinking its enough to clean everything.
After a while i feel unsafe because the person knows things out of nowhere and i found out many $py software are more advanced now that its installed via root and very stealth.
I read wiping the partition and flashing the rom could help. But limited to only boot, data, cache, system while other such as /misc, /recovery remain the same?
What if its hidden in there. i want to make sure just to be safe. On a side note the person is a techie and also know im careful and observant.
Whats your suggestion on this?
Please help. Any inputs will be very much appreciated. :(
Thank you in advance.

The Galaxy S4 is a well supported device. So a safe approach would be flashing a clean ROM as well as a custom recovery. That should cover everything – as it's unlikely the radio image has been modified as well.

Stock Samsung ROMs generally include the radio image as well.

Thank your for your post :)However, do you think its really gonna wipe everything or is it better with the nand erase all? The difference is the pit file right? Which it uses for repartition. Ive read some people write tutorial. Im wavering. Because i read for full wipe and more secure we should use the nand erase all.

You'll need to "flash" the firmware on the phone to stock firmware to overwrite everything (including system files) that you had on it before.
Go to http://www.sammobile.com/ and enter your device model number. You'll be directed to a long list of each country variant of every Android version made for the device. If you have a preference for version, (AKA you hate 5.0 Lollipop), then download 4.4 Kitkat. This is a good 3 hour download, and you may have to download it multiple times before you get a perfect download (MD5 matching file). Also, sammobile requires you to sign up before you download. It's not a big deal, I used my real e-mail.
You will then download Odin v3 from XDA onto your computer as well as the Samsung USB Drivers (Official link) and install each.
Boot your phone to Download Mode (by pressing Power + Volume down) and hook it up to your computer. You'll then click on the PDA button in Odin and find your .tar file. If your download is a .zip you'll have to extract the zip. If you're below Windows 7, the zip extraction wizard will appear to have frozen for about 10 minutes. It takes much longer than usual with a single .tar file.
Make sure all the checked boxes are as so:

..And flash!
When finished, it may or may not boot right up! If not, go into stock recovery (by pressing Power + Volume up) and "Clear Dalvik Cache". Now, your phone should be up and running. If not, clear data as well.
Hope this helps!

Thank your for your post :)However, do you think its really gonna wipe everything or is it better with the nand erase all?
The difference is the pit file right? Which it uses for repartition.
Ive read some people write tutorial.
Im wavering. Because i read for full wipe and more secure we should use the nand erase all.

Yeah, it's possible to erase the entire file system from Philz recovery before flashing custom ROMs, but then your bootloader will be gone, and you won't be able to get into download mode. You'll be fine with a "clear data" after you flash.

The PIT file is good to use, but you have to be 100% sure it matches your model number.

Thanks for responding :) I google the pit file for i9500 samsung galaxy s4. And found some. So i guess it will be ok? I also google if os version makes a difference or not, but no info on that? Also i read you can also extract pit file.

Yes, they depend on Android version! Don't bother using the PIT file if you're not absolutely 100% sure. Sammobile firmwares are built to not use a PIT file. Some ROMs on XDA have a PIT file included which was verified for that ROM, for the purpose of increasing /system space for the additional features.


text:
I have locked myself out of my Samsung Galaxy S5
How can I get my Samsung Galaxy S5 unlocked without having to do a factory reset?  The phone is asking me to enter a back up pin number,  but I don't know what that is. I have tried EVERY password that I thought we set up on this phone but now it says that I only have 1 more try b4 it will factory reset and erase all my info....Please, HELP!!

Hmm. Did you install a custom recovery, and is your device rooted?

While waiting for answers, please check our locked-out tag-wiki. This will at least get you familiarzed with the topic, if not even give a solution.

Lanette, is your device T-Mobile or international version? Tell us your model number? Recovery will not be easy on Verizon or AT&T versions.

I think there is a way to remove the lock. While I don't own this particular phone, you can flash Aroma File Manager to the phone by copying a zip file containing the manager to your external SD card. Boot the device into recovery, and then install the package. Go into the system files of the phone. There is a file somewhere called password.key or pattern.key, depending on whether the lock is a pattern or pin/password. Delete it. If the system files are not showing up in Aroma, make sure the device has mounted the system files in options. Reboot, and the lock should be removed.

You need custom recovery.

No you don't. I did it on my last phone by simply installing using stock recovery.

Hmmmm, is it that easy? I would think then the device is way too unsecured to my liking. I might be wrong though. Because if simply by mounting the system and looking for a password.key and delete, then oooh, stealing phones will be that easy

Yes, it is that insecure. But the beauty of Android is that the insecurities result in flexibility, which paves the way for Google employees' trademark trait - creativity.


text:
When using a terminal emulator, why are there so many normal Linux commands that do not work?
There are a lot of standard Linux commands that do not work from a Terminal Emulator in Android. I thought Android is based on the Linux kernel, but it lacks so many functions like man, groups, find, etc.
Why are there so many normal Linux commands that do not work?

A kernel does not implement the binaries, as you should know. The latter are stored in /system/bin, /system/xbin or /sbin.

If you need additional commands, check for "Busybox". Though its installation usually requires root access, there's at least one that does not.

This is similar to asking why applesauce does not have a crust, because apple pie and applesauce are both based on apples.

This is not Bash. At the beginning of my journey in Android, I have seen that the Android shell is a little bit different from Bash.
The Android Shell
A "shell" is a program that listens to keyboard input from a user and performs actions as directed by the user. Android devices come with a simple shell program. This shell program is mostly undocumented. Since many people are curious about it, I thought I'd write up some documentation for it.
Built-in Commands
Every shell has a few built-in commands. Some common built-in commands are:

echo -- prints text to stdout
set -- sets shell variables
export -- makes shell variables available to command-line programs
cd -- change the current directory
pwd -- print name of the current directory

Futher Reading
Please check this question and this page for more details.

Android uses mksh. Here's an interesting read: http://www.all-things-android.com/content/mirbsd-korn-shell-android-shell

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


text:
Is it possible to know if an app has advertisements by analyzing permissions?
Or if not, how to see if an app has advertisements or not?

Many apps that do have ads, require access to Internet. On the other hand, many other apps without ads do require such permissions as well. So, no. There's no "foolproof" way to know if an app has ads by just looking at the permissions.

You cannot see that just by checking an app's permissions: those permissions ad modules require for their job are the same the app itself might need for another job. You can, however, look up the app at AppBrain: for each app, that site lists up what ad modules (and other libraries) are used. You find that scrolling down to the "Libraries" section. AppBrain distinguishes between "Development tools" (which also include analytic libraries like Google Analytics or Flurry), "Social libraries" (Facebook & Co), and "Ad network libraries" (Admob & Co).

Libraries used by an app as shown by AppBrain
Clicking on an entry also reveals details on that module/network.


text:
What percentage of screen power usage is healthy?
Using GSam, the screen uses about 50% of power compared to apps. Is this normal/healthy?

Yup. It happens. On my S5 I get at least 40% on the screen.

Yes, this is completely normal especially on high-resolution devices.  It takes a lot of juice to produce all that light, switch colors, etc.  Activities like watching videos will exacerbate this.
The only times you will usually see the screen not use the most battery is if you have the screen off for a long time, or if you play a really intensive game.

A really intensive game doesn't make the screen drain battery juice?

Not if you keep the screen off when playing it, no #D

@Rexford I said nothing of the kind, I said it will be exceeded by the use of the app.


text:
s6 won't fast charge or connect to pc
so i have an at&t s6.
suddenly stopped fast charging. and when i say "stopped fast charging," i mean charges slower than molasses now. takes literally about 4hrs to charge from 80% to 100%.
tried multiple known good chargers and cables and verified with both another s5 and s6 activ. found that the computer won't recognize it anymore magically.
i am rooted and have uninstalled a bunch of bloat. shouldn't matter right?
also in developer options- i can check usb debugging, but then in the secret menu (*0#*0) or whatever, mtp+adb is unchecked. if i check that, then go back to developer options, usb debugging is unchecked.
I even pulled apart the phone and put in a new daughterboard in case the thing port is broken and put in a new battery both to no avail.

First rule of thumb in a situation where charging doesn't work properly, and connection to PC doesn't work properly. Check your cable. The cable might be faulty

S6 uses fast charging which is by design disabled if you charge with phone with screen on. Is the behaviour same with phone switched off? 2. Measure the current using an app like Ampere on Play Store,  say 15 minutes after you plugged in from a low battery level and then when it seems to charge extremely slowly. Do this with supplied charger and other chargers as well and revert please

Reading the question again prompts this-1. are you sure  4  hours to charge last 20% is consistent? 2. Other adaptors you have tried, how long did it take for last 20%? 3. Changing cables didn't help?

It's about 2.5hrs if I don't touch it from 80 to 100. Charges the same screen on, off, and phkne off. Put in a new OEM battery and bought a new charger and cable from Samsung. Verified the charger and cable were good on another phone. Thought it might be the USB port. Put in a new one of those also. No change. With Ampere I'm getting 180-300mA regardless of what charger I use.

most probably this is an issue with your hardware, not software.
What you want to do now is

check your phone USB port. With rough usage and hard unplugging it tends to get damaged easily (hence the switch to better type-C ports in new phones). Check if a specific angle gives you 'fast charging' message. If so, service center can change it for you. \n
check your charging / USB cable. If it is faulty or is shorting then that can definitely be the cause. \n
Try connecting to an alternate power source. Maybe your PC ports are undervolting.

If you have changed everything [cables, ports, charger] and are still getting  300 mA, then something is wrong with your phone, likely hardware issue

Yep the problem I'm having is- before I even posted initially I had replaced the USB port/daughter board to begin with and found no joy. I am hoping I just swapped a broken one for a broken one. Have a new one on the way. Will report back.

Ok so put in USB port #3 wih no joy. I read somewhere that the USB drivers can break for no reason and the update to 5.1.1 is supposed to fix...but I can't get the thing to update. Stuck in 5.0.2. I am rooted. If I unroot then factory reset all should be kosher right?

Had the same problem.. sm-920v
 Solved: Just cleaned the usb-charging port.. pc detect and fast charge working again..
Note: cache partition erase didn't work

How did you clean it?

Ok so to update- now on my 3rd USB port/ daughter board with no success. Still charges about 20%/hr when not being touched while plugged in, no computer connection, and charges halfway normally when on the wireless pad. Did some more internet scouring and found this guy doing a power amplifier swap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x__8r-UiCSo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gonna give it a shot. Got one for $11 on eBay. Props to the Chinese for having really cheap stuff. Thing should be here in two weeks.

This should be added as an edit to your question instead of an answer unless you know that it works.

Did the power amplifier swap fix the problem? Mine does the same, charging ridiculously slow and won't connect to the computer.


text:
Concerned I may have dropped Malware on my phone via a redirect to an advert?
In short I think I may have a slight chance of having dropped Malware on my phone via an infected ad (redirect was to rdr.harbwire). Am just keen to ascertain the risk given some of the things I have on the phone. I think I am likely OK but would be greatful for a second opinion.
What I was doing;

Was surfing a wiki of a TV Show using the standard Android internet browser (on a Samsung). Java Script was on, Cookies were off.
Get re-directed to a pop ad over the browsing screen where you could only click OK (address was something like rdr.harbwire). Had seen these on PC's so knew not to click OK. Tried clicking back which didn't work - as I couldn't see how to close the pop up (tried to load in a new screen but re-directed me back to the ad).
Quit the browser, used History Eraser & went back in - and it is still there.
Found Internet in App.Manager (why did they have to hide it somewhat?) & cleared all data and cache.
Went back & it is now gone. Have then switched off all Java Script & Cookies etc.
Ran Avast Mobile Security a couple of times (which only seems to scan apps now?) which came back clear.
Looked at the internet which seemed to suggest nobody else is panicing (the fact I clicked back bothers me - one of the screens that tried to load in seemed to suggest Malware may have infected or tried to infect my phone).
Think I am OK - phone seems OK but I am slightly OCD about these things.

In short is there a way of telling whether I am in the clear or not? I don't do much with the phone but just want to know I am OK. I'm just concerned about the possible risk of a drive-by style download approach from the ad.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Sounds like you're in the clear. Remember that OEM web browsers are vulnerable to password sniffing, address spoofing, and XSS sniffing on Android 4.3 Jellybean and below. More info pt. 1 // More info pt. 2

Cheers. Am on 4.4.4 - was aware that everything has risks, so it's why I am about the only one of my friends that actually went with a virus checker above what was installed on the phone. Is there a way of knowing if I am 100% clear? Have asked this elsewhere & have had a similar response. Think I am OK. Was just concerned about the risk of an auto install & run.

You've kept a clean head in that situation – right steps. I'd say you've been in the clear at step 5 already (I don't think much of those AV apps).

Cheers. Agreed re: AV apps, but I prefer having something (e.g. I know a bulletproof vest won't stop you being shot in the head etc.).

Hmm. I don't trust Android AVs, at least not those wo/ an heuristic engine. You avoid responding to the popup, so you managed to not authorizing anything hidden below it. Good job.

@DeathMaskSalesman - I agree. Without root, an AV app can't do a thorough scanning job.

Thanks. I believe I am in the clear, but I'm grateful for all of these opinions. I would upvote them but unfortunately do not have enough points.


text:
Google Play not responding after CM13 install
Today I installed Cyanogenmod CM13 and Gapps on my Asus Zenfone 2. The install went fine, but when I booted my phone, I selected the language, then when it went to look for updates, a system message appeared "Google Play services has stopped". This has caused the phone to hang at the update page, and to top it off I forgot to install TWRP, so I think I'm going to have an issue installing a fresh install.
What can I do now?

What happened
You don't have TWRP, so your phone is bricked.1
How can I unbrick it?
Look at this website.
The website tells you

How to install ADB (which you can also find here on Android.SE: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?, takes less space)
And unbrick the phone from there. It also gives u the full ROM.

The latter in short requires you to:

Download and install the drivers for your Zenphone on your Windows PC2
Get the latest ROM for it (e.g. Zenfone ZE551ML Stock ROM (4GB version) or Zenfone ZE550ML Stock ROM (2GB version))
use recovery-mode to install that ROM (via "Apply update from ADB", so you can use adb sideload file.zip to apply it)

1: for installing TWRP, see e.g. How to Install TWRP Recovery on Zenfone 2 and Root at Androiding.how. Before that, install the stock ROM and wipe cache+data (from recovery; a factory-reset should do the wipe as well).
2: not needed on Linux/Mac; for those OSes, see e.g. Configuring ADB on Ubuntu

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

A booting, working phone with an app issue is not "bricked".

@MatthewRead However, you can fix it with this guide, so I gave it to him


text:
Is there a way to enable the pass-through of the Windows key via VNC when using an external keyboard?
Im currently trying to get on a Linux machine via VNC with my Nexus 10 running the newest CM Nightly (Android 6.0.1) and using an external keyboard. It works largely fine, but the Windows Key doesnt register any X Event on Linux (meaning it isnt "pressed" via VNC), or simply acts as a shortcut on android (for example Win+Enters acts like the home button). This happens with all VNC Viewers ive tried so far. Things like alt+tab also only execute Android commands and arent seen via VNC. Is there any way to disable these shortcuts and make Android pass the Windows key to the apps?


text:
How to comprehensively back up user-significant data from Android device
I'm interested in making a thorough backup of all my customizations to my android phone. Perhaps not so far as to "image" the phone, because the phone itself is locked to a carrier and I would like to be able to restore the backed up customizations to a phone that has different service and a different phone number (but maybe the method that folks propose would restrict restoration to devices of the same make and model, which would be fine with me - it seems hard to conceive of a method that would allow a backup of a motorola to be restored to a Samsung). In other words, I would like to have my apps, the data saved by my apps, my system configuration preferences, and the files I've manually littered around the filesystem such as in the "Alarm" and "Ringtone" directories. Again, I'd like to be as thorough and low-level as possible without getting into the realm of carrier locks, carrier bloat, or phone number and carrier service account.
Any ideas? I'm a knowledgeable technology user new to the world of Android. The device in question is an ATT Moto E, and in the upcoming future, I might try to restore it to a Sprint or FreedomPop or Republic Wireless Moto E, that latter two of which make modifications to firmware. Further, ATT is GSM while all three of the other mentioned networks are CDMA, so I definitely wouldn't want to backup the "baseband," if that is the correct term,  for my particular imagined use case, but maybe this is best framed as two questions that may be combinable into one to some degree. How would one go about doing this in my particular usecase, and how would one go about it in case it was the exact same (sub-)model? Maybe the answer is the same, which would be great.
Thanks

This is kind of broad, but as a first step please check our backup tag-wiki. After that, you should be able to narrow down what you're trying to achieve and either close your own question as a duplicate or make it a bit more focused.

If you have a good enough backup program, why not just backup the entire file system on the device?  Under Ubuntu 15.10, my Android-based phone gets mounted at /run/user/1000/gvfs/.  I back all those files up with borg-backup.
A lot of the customization might also get backed up to your Google profile (I haven't switched Android phones yet).  My approach is very low-level and there might even be slicker ways to do it.
#!/bin/bash

# exit immediately on errors
set -e
# error out if uninitialized variable is used
set -u

REPOPATH=ssh://backups.example.com/backup/device/borg
ARCHIVENAME=tgh-usbdevice
if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
  ARCHIVENAME+="-"${1}
fi
ARCHIVENAME+="-"$(date +'%Y%m%d-%H%M')

echo "Creating: ${REPOPATH}::${ARCHIVENAME}"
borg create --progress --stats ${REPOPATH}::${ARCHIVENAME} \
  /run/user/1000/gvfs/

borg check --archives-only --last 10 ${REPOPATH}


text:
Is it possible for an application to deliver ads while requesting NO permission from the user?
I know that for an app to access the internet it does not need the "Full network access" permission. In the android system it says that an app can use the browser to access the internet. The permission is needed only for "custom protocols".
So is it possible to deliver ads without requesting permission from the user?

Ads can be inbuilt too.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/140808/is-it-possible-to-know-if-an-app-has-advertisements-by-analyzing-permissions

Apps do not require any sort of permission to show things on the screen — that is a basic function of the majority of apps, after all.  And there is no reason that what they show you can't be an ad.  Ads are just data that doesn't have to be treated differently from any other type of data.

Yes but most ads are downloaded from the internet. They are not regular data that an app has in it.

@yoyo_fun I have several apps with built-in ads that were not downloaded but, regardless, they ARE "regular data".  As you've already noted in your question, apps don't need permissions for basic internet access, which is transmitting and receiving data.  That data can include ads.  There is nothing special about ad data other than how it is interpreted.

Thanks. It is more clear now. I thought that ads are something generated by Google or other ad provider and they have to keep track of how many ads the user has seen to know how much money they have to pay to the app publisher. But I believe they can do that with basic internet access (if they do it)


text:
Power consumption of audio over OTG cable
I recently found that if I connect a USB pair of speaker/microphone using OTG cable to a phone, it becomes the audio device by default, and I can actually play audio over that. It happens that the USB headset has much better quality than the earplug ones that I connect over audio connector.
My question is, if I use this OTG-USB-Headset trick, will it drains the battery faster than just having my earplugs connected on the audio connector?

What you have tried now is known for long as you can see from Google search - connecting usb headset to usb on the go

USB on the go wiki (see Protocols section) talks of ADP and SRP protocols relevant to your usage, to conserve on the mobile battery power - translated what it means is that power is drawn from the mobile battery and not from the USB headset, even if it has battery source

.... will I drain my battery faster than just having my earplugs connected on the audio connector ?

Depends on the power rating of your USB headset- if it is more than the earplugs provided by the phone (common case), then yes it will drain faster
Additional Information

See avs forum for more insight for audio use case
Maxim integrated application notes for electrical details


text:
How can I transfer folders between two androids?
I have two Nexus 5Xs. I believe they have the hardware to transfer data via:

USB (via an OTG and regular USB cables)
Bluetooth (I assume NFC is the simplest or only way to start this)
WiFi (perhaps making one android a hotspot if there isn't a separate WiFi hub)
3G/4G/whatever mobile network via cloud storage/third party server

How can I directly transfer a folder with many files of around 1GB between androids?
Email, dropbox, google drive etc are pretty straight forward for the odd single file but not for many or big files.
USB would be fantastic for speed and simplicity, but I have no idea how it works software wise. When plugged in I get a notification about the USB mode to use, such as charging, MTP, "Picture Transfer" (??). Nothing I select causes the other device to be mounted. Does android not have an MTP client? If I plug a flash drive into the OTG I can instantly see all the files when choosing picture transfer (not just pictures :P). I guess I could go via a flash drive but it should be possible directly.
NFC/Bluetooth, also called android "Beam" needs an app (such as File Beam) to handle arbitrary files but seems to work in some cases. Occasionally I get a message saying it did not complete with no error or other info. It's also tediously slow for any files of reasonable size.
WiFi would be a bit faster but takes too long to set up. Some apps such as "File Manager +" will host an FTP server which provides complete file access via a browser with no security after you type in the IP/port. This only works if it thinks you're connected to a WiFi network and not the hostspot yourself. SSH servers are much more robust but require a client installed on the other device which takes even more time.

Is using a mini-USB or a microSD out of question?

I think that's currently my best option, but was hoping there was something simple I was missing.

Well I bought one of them and they made life easier for sure. Backing up and moving big files are much more easier now :)

Nowadays, you can use Nearby Share (equivalent to AirDrop). It uses the best channel available to maximise transfer speed (e.g. I've just ransfered 1gb in a couple of minutes).
I currently use this from Samsung's My Files app, but any file explorer that allows you to share folders should work; quite a few options available in Google Play.


text:
How is CyanogenMod's built-in root access different?
I don't know a lot about Cyanogen but realizing Snapchat fails to detect the root in it catches my attention. Does it have a different binary than su for root access? What mechanisms are different which grants an app root access?

Maybe the app assumes a different location. Maybe it looks for SuperSu. Basically the problem is with how the app checks for root, rather than the root binary itself.

Remember that although CM has root access, it is disabled by default on official builds. You have to enable the Developer Options menu, then go in there and enable root access for apps.

Some apps (Liveboot, Foldermount) don't work with the Privacy Guard. You need to have the SuperSu app installed for them to work.

Cyanogen has a different root method since version 11 upwards... It is now integrated with the stock privacy manager inside privacy guard !
I believe it doesn't recognize root for the reason that it can be disabled inside development options.
You need to manually configure it via development options, This means that snap chat wont be able to run a su or adb su / sudo command

Snapchat won't try to run su as far as I know but rather simply check its existence.


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Cameranext not saving pictures
I am using a non-rooted Oneplus One (cm12, all patches). I have to admit that I really dont use the camera very often, but on a family trip yesterday i noticed, the pictures i took  were not saved, except for two of them... Since it is impossible to recreate the pictures from our trip I am searching for any other alternative to get them back.
I found a bunch of topics on oneplus' support forums like this: https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/stock-camera-app-not-saving-pictures.286705/
Basically saying its not a bug, its a feature. While I think those answers are disputable at least, my question would be if there is any hope to restore the pictures (or at least parts of the album) from the cameras cache - which is about 60MB as I post this question.
Rooting the phone to get access to those cache files would not be a Problem if needed. Thanks for advice.

If the files got cached on sd card or internal storage, Android 5 + Never delete images fully..
Use a new photo recovery App like DiskDigger .. This will pull your images from any sector of the accessible storage devices without root.

I'll give diskdigger a try, thanks for the suggestion!

Note that this can only work if the pictures had been saved and then deleted. If they were never saved, there's nothing to restore from. Hence put some emphasis on the very first word of this answer: "IF". I've never heard a camera caches pictures it does not save – but there are at least slight chances the bug is working that way. Secondly, this will only work if those files were on the external SD card. For internal memory, you'd need to clone the partitions and use some forensic software against the clones (e.g. TestDisk).

DriveDigger found only the pictures that got saved normally. I think its like Izzy suggests, if the pictures dont get saved, there is nothing to restore from. Bad bug, those pictures can never be retaken... I'm gonna check twice now if a photo is saved.

P.S
All CYANOGEN MOD VERSIONS FROM VERSION 11 UPWARDS INCLUDE ROOT ACCESS AS PART OF THEIR PRIVACY GUARD FEATURE INSIDE PRIVACY IN SETTINGS...


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Android copy file to /system/bin/sh, now devices can not booted
to day I add one daemon file to android devices, I use command:
 ./adb push XXXXX   /system/bin/sh

I say done, but when i restart the device, now it can not boot, no logo appear, just black screen, although I see the light is enabling. I can not know what can I do now, how can i fix it... plz

Instructions vary on phone brand/model, but you'll need to reflash stock firmware, which may or may not erase all your data. If you end up flashing the exact same build number, your data may still be there.

@AaronGillion Would you like to post that as an answer?

hello. My device is a board, then only connect to this by using "adb". The problem is now the device can not booted, and I can not coonect to device to, can not connect to recovery mode.
Sorry if I have a silly question, but can you explain more how can i solve it

USE FASTBOOT INSTEAD...Shell/sh has been replaced by
adb push  xxxx  /system/bin/sh

Shell controls the adb commands, So ADB is now disabled ! ...    What you need to do is reboot into FASTBOOT using the device specific button code while the phone starts
(usually home and volume up together for 10 seconds) or(power and volume up )
Once inside FASTBOOT you need to replace your boot.img and system.imgSystem then boot
fastboot flash system xxxx.img

fastboot flash boot xxxx.img

XXXX represents the .img file name

Hi, can i enable fastboot through other action, because my board does not have volume, home, back... botton, only screen... :(

What board are you using ?

the old board made by my partner, use your own SDK android, and does not have home, press, volume button... and used android 4.0 only

Fastboot can only be accessed with adb reboot-bootloader or button combination... Replacing SH shouldn't of caused a boot error however... You should still see a boot logo and a boot loop after that !...

hi, are your sure for "  Replacing SH shouldn't of caused a boot error however" , as I saw, the boot logo not shown, even I saw a light ( black screen ) in screen appear. I think the problem is the software. not by hardware.

When making the board, did you include a pre-boot recovery.. Some devices include a recovery accessible by removing the battery fully and plugging back in ... Then it loads the device in devices on pc... You need a driver .. I think it's called something like V-COM Driver

yeah, i think i have to contact to my partner to solve it,  thanks you very much for teach and explain me about this problem. Hmmm, I think i will back to ask you some thing more, sir :)

It sounds like you pushed xxx to replace your Shell Binary in bin...
Shell is not a folder but a binary file...
If you have replaced this on purpose with a custom binary, then you needed to run a
adb chmod 0755 /system/bin/sh
or
adb shell  chmod 0755 /system/bin/sh

Adb Shell Might work because you have replaced the shell in system, You can run a remote shell command..
If you can still connect in any way..

IM NOT SURE ABOUT THE EXACT PERMISSION, 0775, 0755, 0777

hello, I think the problem is I can not use "ADB SHELL" command, because the device not boot , just black screen.  So I can not connect to devices through " adb connect X.X.X.X"

Hi, if I wrong, please teach me, i am new about using linux command :)

Forget ADB and try using Fastboot ... Use Fastboot by holding the opposite button of Recovery... For example, if Volume Up is recovery, use Volume Down at boot , + the usual extra buttons - home or power ...

P.s   > ADB connect is not a command...( ADB DEVICES) - (ADB REBOOT )-(     ADB WAIT-FOR-DEVICE )-(ADB PUSH/PULL)........


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How to get Adoptable SD card encryption key with root access?
When I use adoptable storage on my device, then my SD card will be encrypted. Is there a way to get the  "encryption key" with root access? So if my phone dies, I can still retrieve my data from the SD card by using the key?
Related: How does Marshmallow encryption work technically?
I am running Cyanogenmod 13, rooted.

Have you read this: http://nelenkov.blogspot.in/2015/06/decrypting-android-m-adopted-storage.html?

@Firelord No, I did not. Thanks. I now can safely encrypt it, and still be able to retrieve the data, in case something happens..

Our adoptable-storage tag-wiki might lead you to the answer. It links to How Android 6.0 format as internal storage feature works?, where my answer contains the details you're after at its very end :)

There's some interesting pointer found in Decrypting Android M adopted storage (emphasis mine):

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

Also take a look at Corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage, which gives a quite detailed tutorial on how to do it :)

I see the file in ES Explorer. Its size is 16 Byte. How can I extract the key from it? Assume I am not a Linux user. Thank You.

@Royi assuming you're not a Linux user, I cannot help you. See the emphasized part of my answer: the proposed solution only works with Linux. Apart from that, the file content is the key, as far as I understood.

I installed Linux on a computer just for that. I meant I am not experienced. I can see the file on ES Explorer which states its size is 16 Byte. Now, how can I extract the key from the file in my Android? All say HEX editor. Which HEX Editor can ask for root access to access that file? Is the size of 16 Byte correct?

@Royi Have you seen the linked guide? Take a closer look at the first comment there, which should answer your question. I don't use adoptable storage myself (and don't plan to), so I cannot test and verify. And yes, 16 byte is correct – according to the linked answer.

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


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Unable to connect samsung device to pc
I'm having problem connecting my device(Samsung j7) to my laptop via USB port. Can someone help me?

Please be specific as to what you've tried and what behavior you're seeing.

can u understand it now @MatthewRead ?

I had no trouble understanding it.  We need you to be specific about what the problem is -- "problem connecting USB" could be any one of a dozen unrelated issues.  And as mentioned above, we need details about what you are seeing and what you have tried.

I've tried this solution and it worked!

Go to dial pad & type *#0808#
It displays USB settings
Select MTP+ADB option
Press OK button
Connect to USB cable to PC
It shows Connected as a media device.


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Can't view certain PDF documents on galaxy s7 Marshmallow 6.0.1
There are certain pdf files I cannot view on my phone no matter what pdf viewer I use. I'll get an error message saying that it's an invalid document (the message varies slightly from application to application) even though it's a pdf. I can view these files on my desktop and on an older phone I have. There are some pdf files I CAN view on my current phone, but I don't know what is different about those.
Why can't I view these files on my phone? How can I view these files on my phone?

Have you tried the official Adobe app?

Yeah, that's what I was using by default. I don't know what was causing it, but I cleared all of my default applications and it seems to be working now

even i am facing this issue.

@user3162859 Glad you were able to solve your issue! You could answer your own question and then later accept your own answer; that would help people with a similar issue to identify your post as solution.


text:
Enable a keyboard other than Google Keyboard via ADB
I have got 2 keyboards on my phone: Google Keyboard and AnySoftKeyboard. Google Keyboard is my primary keyboard. I want to enable AnySoftKeyboard as my primary keyboard via ADB (I use ADB because the 'Language and Input' subsetting crashes my Settings app for some reason). But the problem is that, although I enable it and it works while my phone is on, after a reboot it doesn't work and my primary keyboard becomes Google Keyboard again.
If I try to disable Google Keyboard so that AnySoftKeyboard has a hope of working, my System UI and Launcher crash at startup, making my phone go nuts (I can only unlock my phone and reboot it or shut it down).
However, because of past experience with this, even if Google Keyboard were uninstalled, a user keyboard app (unlike a system keyboard app) does not launch at startup (even when enabled via ADB), even if I go to an app like Messenger and try to type something (note: my system doesn't behave weirdly if I uninstall Google Keyboard).
So far I have used:
adb shell settings put secure default_input_method "mID of AnySoftKeyboard"
adb shell ime enable "mID of AnySoftKeyboard"

(just in case the first one doesn't work for some reason), then:
adb shell ime disable "mID of Google Keyboard"

This is when my phone had the problem with System UI and Launcher, in which case I re-enabled Google Keyboard (because it was a system app) with commands shown on this answer. Also, used
adb uninstall "AnySoftKeyboardPackageName"

to uninstall AnySoftKeyboard in case it was creating a problem.
I've also tried 'Languages and Input' sub-setting crashes Settings, need to enable it to install keyboard and it doesn't work. It executes the commands perfectly, the keyboard I want to enable works, but after a reboot, everything goes back to what was before I did any of this.
So, my question is, how do I make sure that, after a reboot, AnySoftKeyboard will both be a functioning and primary keyboard app? And why do my system UI and Launcher crash when I try to do a modification to Google Keyboard other than uninstalling it?
Phone: Acer V370
Android version: 4.2.2

Change Input Method without unlocking the phone? mentions the adb shell ime command you could try, e.g. adb shell ime list -s.

To make AnySoftKeyboard my main keyboard, I had to:

Turn it into a system app (with Link2SD)

Reboot as instructed

Put the following commands via ADB:
adb shell settings put secure default_input_method com.menny.android.anysoftkeyboard/.SoftKeyboard
adb shell ime enable com.menny.android.anysoftkeyboard/.SoftKeyboard

(I put both just to be sure, but I think putting only the first command will work fine)

Uninstall Google Keyboard (with Titanium Backup)

Reboot just in case anything had yet to be sorted out

And done.
The most important part was making it a system app because as a user app, it would either:

not be the primary keyboard after a reboot
flat-out refuse to function (even if it was the only keyboard on the device).


text:
Email syncing on WiFi only
I have a user with a new Nexus 5X. It is configured to sync his personal (Gmail) email and work (Exchange) email (using the Gmail app). Gmail syncs fine; however, Exchange will only sync when connected to WiFi. Even a manual sync will not download Exchange email.
I have installed all updates (he is on Android 6.0.1, security patch level March 1, 2016). I confirmed that "restrict background data" is NOT enabled for anything. Turned off battery optimization (Doze) for Exchange Services & Gmail. I've tried various sync settings for the Exchange account (Push, 15 min, 30 min, etc). No luck. Exchange email will not download while on cell service, but Gmail will. As soon as I have a WiFi connection, the Exchange email downloads.
Not sure what to try next; any ideas?

Caf:
I had what I thought was the same issue upon receiving the 6.0.1 update this past week on my Galaxy  S5. However, I realized that I was plugging my phone in when I returned to the office which was disabling power saver mode which I typically leave on. After turning this off, I was able to sync over the mobile network. Interestingly, changing the doze settings had no effect (I tried them on and off with the power saver). I would see if your user leaves the power saver mode on as that was not explicitly mentioned above.


text:
Android stopped informing me about app permissions. Why?
Since I upgraded to Marshmallow (Verizon LG-G4), I never get the little dialog that asks me to approve new permissions for applications I'm installing/updating, nor even the "no new permissions needed" notice.
Is this a Marshmallow issue? Did I accidentally do something to turn those off? If so, how do I turn them back on? I can't find any settings that govern this.

Marshmallow comes with a new feature that asks for app permissions when opening the app. It has the new apple-esque asking for permissions feature. You can choose if an app can use these permissions or not.
If you want to change the permissions later, go to settings and search "Permissions"
If the app requires no permissions, it will not inform you of that.
However, if it requested access to something, it will tell you.
For example, if I just installed Skype and started using the microphone, it will ask if the app can use the microphone. You can decline it or accept it.

When I downloaded SpanishDict it didn't mention permissions on download or on opening.

@Robusto Hmm, that's funny. Maybe LG took it out or its not Marshmallow optimized. Also try going into settings and look for permissions, even if it's not M optimized, you can still change it there

@Robusto without a link to the app it's hard to say, but the app could a) not request any permissions or b) only request permissions Google says are "normal" and "undenyable" (such as Internet so they can make money via AdMob ;)

Here is the app's home page. But it happens with other apps as well.

@Robusto Just checked the app permissions (I'm still on lollipop :P) and it requires no permissions.

@lolreppeatlol: Then shouldn't it say that?

No, not until you do something that makes it access something. For example, if I just installed Snapchat and started using the camera, Android would ask me "Allow Snapchat to access your Camera?" @Robusto

@Robusto There, it's edited ;)


text:
Is there a way to prevent background application updating on both wi-fi and Mobile Data?
For mobile there is an option to prevent it but I would like to block the updates and background data on Wifi also because I am connected to a Hotspot that uses Mobile Data from another mobile phone.

You can define that hotspot as being a "mobile hotspot", so Android would deal with it as if it were using mobile data:

Open Settings
Go to Data Usage
Tap the "overflow menu" (the 3 dots in the upper right)
From the menu opening, select Mobile Hotspots
Put a check-mark next to the hotspot you're using.

The mobile hotspot I am using does not appear in the list. However other mobile hots[pots I have used appear and have been automatically selected as "mobile hotspot". Did it ever happen to you that the mobiel hotspot does not appear in the list?

No. All hotspots I've used were always listed there. But I don't use the hotspot feature that often.


text:
Display Name of Connected Cell Tower
On older Nokia phones, the name of the cell tower you were connected to was displayed, often the name of the neighborhood you were in. Is there a way to view this data now?

OpenSignal have an App which will give you a lot of information about the tower that you are connected to, which direction it is in, which other towers are available in the area, including ones on other networks, etc.

Free App
Gives all the information that you have asked for
Allows you to monitor your coverage through the day
Allows connection testing
If you are willing to share your data it is added to the data available to everybody.


text:
Gmail App, non-google domain sign in
Suppose I want to add an account and my company/school/organization/etc uses a gmail based solution for their email services.  After telling the gmail app I want to add another account.  My thought would normally be that the sign in should be something like this:
username@company.com
password
But, currently getting a username and password do not match error.  If I attempt to login directly on the gmail.com web page, it redirects me to my company's sign in page and then works.  My guess is the app isn't smart enough to do/handle a redirect to a specific authentication server and thus fails.  Is there some other way I might be able to use gmail?

You have to add the account in system settings, not the app. When you add a Google Account in Settings, you have the option of hitting the menu key and "Browser Sign-in" to handle the redirects.

You can Add your account as "Personal(POP/IMAP)" and your Mail Server ID has to be 'mail.company.com' and SMTP server as 'smtp.company.com'.
And select the certification accordingly.


text:
Android always shows **Emergency Calls Only**
I have an Android 5.1 phone and since about 2-3 days, my phone always shows Emergency Calls Only in the Notification area:

I know that this is not an issue, it doesn't bother me and my device works normally, I am just curious why its happening.

It's either "BSNL Mobile's" fault or you just have a faulty SIM card. Try removing the SIM card while the device is on (so Android realizes the change) and reseating it.

Could it be your SIM is data only? Then it doesn't allow for "normal calls", and you can do "emergency calls only". Which is why it says so. Though that wouldn't explain why it happens only since 2-3 days. Was it different before? Have you tried rebooting the device? Can you, despite of the message, make and receive normal calls?

Yeah i can make and receive calls and my sim is not data only and I have tried rebooting..


text:
Any way to disable Slide to Call/Message?
Is there a way to disable the Slide function to call/Message contacts in Phone on Lollipop 5.1.1?
My phone specs:
SM-G925F
Android Lollipop 5.1.1
Thanks in advance!

Have you tried opening dialer then select Menu -> Settings -> Contacts -> uncheck "Swipe to call or send message"?

Wow, I'm such an idiot. Thank you so much, Aaron Gillion!

There's a hidden option on the newer Samsung devices.
Open Dialer, then select Menu -> Settings -> Contacts then uncheck Swipe to call or send message.
Hope this helps,


text:
Available space is more than total space on the memory card
I recently purchased a 16 GB memory card. But my android shows available space is more than Total Space and when I try to install a new app it says insufficient memory.

Total space: 8GB.
Available space: 13.88
Device: Swipe Elite 2
Android Version: 5.1
What's wrong here?

First you might wish to take a look at our insufficient-memory tag-wiki to find out that this error has nothing to do with space on the SD card, but with internal storage only. Unfortunately, your question has no details on that, so please [edit] and add it.

Android version is lolilop 5.1
device: Swipe Elite 2

Thanks, I've integrated that with your question. Please also [edit] in the other details (how much internal storage you have altogether, how much is used, how much available).

I spoke to the SanDisk customer care and it seems to be known issue. By using the SD Formatter Tool it's possible to restore full capacity on SDHC/SDXC cards.
The below Help center article has more details on it.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14827/
Thanks,
Arun

Thanks for contributing to Android Enthusiasts :) You could improve your answer by citing important steps from the article so your answer won't be useless when the link is dead.


text:
How to get 2 android apps working simultaneously?
I'm using a Using Samsung Galaxy S7, Android 6.0.1. and I'm having trouble using apps in parallel. Here's what triggered this post:
I got myself and iRig2 to practice playing guitar silently, downloaded AmpliTube, plugged in the guitar and it worked, I could hear my guitar back and apply effects, change amps, etc..
On to the next step, to play over backing tracks. IK Multimedia advises to use apps like Riff Maestro with AmpliTube running in the background. And this is precisely my problem, I can't get AmpliTube to keep running on the background!
Here's what I tried so far:
Test 1:

open AmpliTube (app), plug in the guitar and check it's working. If it is:
press home button
open Riff Maestro (app)
as soon as I click the home button, AmpliTube stops sending guitar sound out

Test 2:

open AmpliTube (app), plug in the guitar and check it's working. If it is:
press the home button (AmpliTube stops sending sound out, as per Test 1)
open Riff Maestro (app)
press the "Recent applications" button
swap to AmpliTube, it starts sending guitar sound again
press the "Recent applications" button again to swap for Riff Maestro
AmpliTube stops sending sound again

I tried splitting the screen but none of the apps supports split screen.
The question is, how can I get 2 apps (in this case AmpliTube and Riff Maestro) working simultaneously so I can hear my guitar on AmpliTube AND play a back track on Riff Maestro?
Many thanks in advance!

That's a really good question! Thank you for asking it though.
On Android Programming, There is something we call, Activities LifeCycle
Imagine, when you pressed the home Button, The current Activity is going to onPause() method which it stops the Activity and it's not longer active because this is the Android Activity's lifecycle.
So, for better underestanding, The developer or those Application's programmers have to use something like Services which it can perform long-running operations in the background and does not provide a user interface.
And after that, you should be able to use those features together.

Hi there, thank you for your reply. Is there a way to make apps that don't run as services to run as services?

AFAIK, There is no way yet except changing the codes and adding them into Services on java codes.

AFAIK, thank you for your answers, truly appreciated. One final question from my side. I saw a few apps suck as Multitasking or Multi Window that seem to run apps in parallel. Is there an app that can have the same functionality for custom apps like AmpliTube or Riff Maestro?

Sorry, never heard of it.But it depends on the applications.For example, if you are listening to a music with music player on android and you press the back button, the music is still listenable that's because those codes which do the play is in the background (Using Services maybe) and it doesn't have a problem with Activity's lifecycle and nothing to worry about the Activity's State.AFAIK, there is no way yet, And don't have any information about those custom apps.

tl;dr

Get a device with multi-window support. Recent Samsung devices have this feature. The upcoming Android 'N' will support this as well.
Use apps that run in the background, or use apps that work with the above multi-window support (and if the two you want to use don't do either, you're SOL)

Long explanation
Android traditionally only allows one foreground app to be displayed at a time.
But apps (if the developer of the app chooses) can run in the background, as long as a UI is not required. For example, a music app playing music but leaving only a notification as a UI.
There is a special permission to allow some apps to 'paint' on top of the current foreground with their UI, but those are rare, and again, require the developer to enable and use the feature. Most don't use that unless they are trying to make some always-on-top widget UI, like a 'most recent contacts' widget that Samsung uses for example.
Some devices customize the Android OS code and do allow for multiple apps to run side by side. For example, most Samsung devices running Android 5+ allow for multiple apps to run side-by-side, but it depends on a few things outside your control for them to really work together. Among them, for example, if they are audio apps, they both need to support not requesting exclusive audio access; otherwise one will mute (or at least 'duck') the other.
The upcoming Android 'N' version is going to support multiple app 'windows' a little better than the Samsung hack, but it is still in Preview (at this time) and therefore not on any production device for you to use. They will still probably have the same limitations that the two apps may or may not work together, depending on the apps.
All that to say, it is possible for multiple apps to work side-by-side together, but it is rare and there isn't much you, as a consumer, can do about it for now. The best you can do is try a recent Samsung device or wait for Android 'N', while hunting for apps by trial and error that happen to work together like this. But there are no guarantees since it is such a new feature in the Android ecosystem.
In this particular case, since you say you've tried the screen-splitting feature with the two apps, your only solution is to petition the app developers to support this behavior. It is up to those two developers to change their code to enable background audio and/or UI support, or to work with the new split window features better.


text:
Insufficient space on Android 6 with SD-Card mouted as internal storage
I've got a Motorola Moto G 3 with Android 6.0
I installed a 32 GB SD-Card and I mounted it as Internal Storage (the new feature in Android 6). After installing some apps I get the error 'Insufficient memory' in the play store. Looking in the memory tab in the settings menu I saw that the internal storage is nearly full but with a filemanager I see that I have 25 GiB of storage left.
I have enabled the device encryption and I have enabled remote debugging in the developers setting.
(UI-tweaker is enabled too)
Has anyone an idea?
Thanks for your help!
Regards Microgamer

Have you tried moving some of the apps to the SD Card?  I believe you still need to do this even though you format the card as adopted storage.

It works logical as one storage...

Oh ups. It works logical as one storage and you can't move all apps. I can only move some but it doesn't helps much.

The correct way to do this is navigate to
Settings -> Apps -> select a large app -> Storage
Here it appears some apps have the option to Change the storage, while others do not - developers have to implement this.
If you have a Change button, then a menu appears where you can select the SD card and transfer the app.
I fear you'll have to go through all your large apps manually and try to free up space.
Another option would be to delete the cache of the apps on your internal storage.

Here you can read about how Android deals with adoptable storage.

In the meanwhile I moved to Android 7.1.2 and some time ago I found that button too. But that confused me because my understanding of one storage is not two storages that are separated for the OS but together for every other app. Maybe the implementation or description of Android is wrong. I don't know. The storage thing was and still is strange for Android.


text:
If a micro USB charger supports data transfer for one Android device, should it then support data transfer for any Android device?
In particular, I bought "1M Micro USB Charger Charging Sync Data Cable For Samsung Galaxy S2 S3 S4 WJ" on ebay, assuming it should work with any device despite the specific brand in the title. Testing on a Huawei and a Mpie Android device, 2 of the cables do nothing, 5 only charge, 1 is detected by one device prompting option to connect as storage -- however it is not deteced on computer so effectively only charges.
Note that I have successfully data transferred with other cables on these two devices.
Failed to find info online except on distinction between charge-only and charge+data micro USB cables.

Related: Why are USB cables of two different OEM's different / Micro USB cables that only charge but no data, no mounting etc (Samsung Galaxy S)

A USB cable functions the same, no matter the device. It is just 2-4 wires in a casing.
Often, cheaper cables sold on eBay using thin, low-quality wiring that breaks easily, so it is possible that you got a batch of bad cables.


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How to cure "the screen saver syndrome"?
When I close the flip cover or the screen saver goes on (screen goes black) some applications often either stop working, work irregularly or not at all. These include

ES File Explorer (ftp/cloud)
Canon Camera Window
Video recording (I think it was stock app Camera)

Of course I could experiment with turning off the screen saver and leaving the cover open. But I would prefer a more thorough solution. Once I wasn't able to rig up the phone for a video shoot, due to this problem.
For some reason it is also very irregular. When connection is good ES File Explorer has no problem with or without screen saver on. But with a slightly slower connection, FTP and cloud copy breaks after every 3-4 files about. But with cover open also slower connection works ok. I've already checked the "WiFi policy", and it's set to "Always on" – so that's not the factor here.
Galaxy Note 3, Android 5.0

So what goal do you want to reach? Keeping the screen alive when a certain app is running in foreground?

The apps should work w. cover closed or screen saver on.

That leaves contacting the developers to implement the tasks as background activities. Not much you can do about how apps act when the screen is "shut off". But if you check e.g. our automation and tasker tag-wikis you'll find there are apps keeping your screen on when a defined app runs in foreground (I e.g. use Tasker for that when my eBook or RSS reader is running in foreground). That way you at least have not to take manual actions each time.

Indeed :) Also see: How do I keep my camera active on Android even when the phone is locked and screen sleeps? / Turn screen off without Android sleeping / How to turn off screen without affecting anything else? / Is there a way to force an app to remain running in the background no matter what?

Thanks for the links. / For some reason it is also very irregular. When connection is good ES File Explorer has no problem with or without screen saver on. But with a slightly slower connection, FTP and cloud copy breaks after every 3-4 files about. But with cover open also slower connection works ok. / Maybe also other factors involved.

With FTP/Cloud there is another problem superimposed: Sometimes the Android client just breaks after each 3-4 files even w screen on. But Filezilla in a computer will continue transfer. When you read Filezilla logs it reset the connection all the time. Android client (like ES File Explorer) do not have this capacity yet, as far as I know.

Another finding: How can I keep an app (not made by me) running in the background continuously (I've just added the background tag to your question while integrating facts from the comments above).


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Is it possible to exclude apps from the "open with" dialog?
I have two browsers on my device, Chrome and Opera, but generally always want to use Chrome. But even if I select Chrome for opening weblinks and press the "Always" button, it might still ask me again which browser I want to use for some other links.
My phone is rooted (it's a Fairphone). Is it possible to just exclude Opera once and for all from being suggested? I only want it to appear when I deliberately start it via the drawer.

Unfortunately, I think not. The code that tells whether the app will appear in that list is in the app itself: Documentation.
However, you state that you are rooted, so maybe you could use Titanium Backup (Pro) to "freeze" Opera.


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Remove stock android apps via file manager
I have a rooted HTC One (M8). I want to remove some pre installed apps like Play Newsstand, Play Movies, Fitbit etc.
I tried uninstalling them using System App Remover by jumobile, and Titanium Backup.
But after uninstalling, even removing the backup of the app, and then rebooting my phone, I find the app still there and it opens and works too. I deleted the apk of an app that was the factory version. So it's apk was not there in /data/app, I checked. So basically it reappeared in /system/app after reboot.
I read somewhere that if I delete the app folder in /system/app via root file explorer then the app will be uninstalled. Is this method ok? Or are there drawbacks? And if its fine, will it work on Android Lollipop?
If there is any workaround or alternate method, please suggest.

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention. I deleted the apk of an app that was the factory version. So it's apk was not there in /data/app, I checked.
So basically it reappeared in /system/app after reboot.

OK, thanks – that was an important piece. I've integrated that with your question directly, so we can cleanup the (now obsolete) comments – makes things easier to identify :) // So it sounds like the answer of aureljared explains what happens here. Have you checked the SECU_FLAG? When in doubt, it's usually set. A speciality of HTC. So please follow the advice in that answer and then let us know if it solved the issue (in which case you should "accept" that answer ;)

Assuming your HTC One is running Sense, it sounds like your phone is S-ON (locked). Naturally, with S-ON, any change you make to the system will be undone on the next reboot.
I'm not sure if there's a working S-OFF (unlock) method available for your device, as a quick Google search turned up varied results for S-OFF methods on the M8. Take a look at SunShine S-OFF, if you want.
If you don't want to go that way or if your phone's already S-OFF, you may want to try Titanium Backup's "Bloatware Melter" feature (TB menu > Preferences... > Bloatware Melter) specifically made for NAND-locked devices.
You can also try to delete the app files themselves inside /system/app and/or /system/priv-app, like you said; but do be careful if you do this - you might accidentally delete something else.


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How to only get email notifications for one Yahoo account Samsung Galaxy 7 Sprint?
I only want to get email notifications on home screen (Samsung Galaxy 7 Sprint phone) for one of my yahoo email accounts. HOW can I change this?

Are you using Samsung's built-in e-mail client, or Yahoo's own Yahoo Mail app?

I just set-up phone last week, and I think I am using both. (Maybe that's the problem?). I downloaded Yahoo app and Yahoo icon on home page is how I get to inbox. (BTW, I also still can't figure out how to sign-out of inbox it opens to get to my other yahoo email accounts).

Continued...Galaxy 7 home page is notifying me of incoming messages from all 3 yahoo email accounts I have, but I only want to receive notifications from one...And I need to know how/where I go to be able to get to all 3 accounts to quickly check messages.  I can't find anywhere to log out and sign in to other yahoo email..I get into it through both Yahoo icon on home screen and through Yahoo app icon. (BTW, So far I hate this sprint galaxy 7 phone--hardest phone I've ever had to customize/set-up.


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Can't disable one SIM card in my dual SIM phone running CyanogenMod 12.1
I have a dual SIM Galaxy S Duos 2. I'm unable to disable individual SIMs. There's no option in Settings. Is there any way to do this?

You don't have a SIM option like in this picture?:http://www.asus.com/zentalk/data/attachment/forum/201507/13/082546qba47ujdfupx4bu4.png.thumb.jpg You could try this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.joaormf.mtkcontrol&hl=en

@AndroidDev This app is for Mediatek devices I guess.. N my device is not compatible with it,I saw the list. Mine is broadcom


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Hide media on external sd card, lollipop and above
I want an app that can hide/encrypt selected pictures and video on the external memory card without moving them to internal storage where space is at a premium. This is the problem with Keepsafe and other popular apps in this category. I have rooted my phone & am using the Xposed media scanner module to exclude a hidden directory on the memory card, and done the platform.xml workaround to make the external card writable.
I've also wanted to try the symbolic link trick by placing the files on an ext2 formatted partition on the memory card used for link2sd and then ln -sf from the internal storage, but that doesn't work either. The media scanner exclusion works, but the files themselves are still readable on the memory card. Is there any app, even a root requiring one, that can encrypt or hide the files as they are despite the stupid restrictions put in since Kitkat?

If you just want to hide the file / folder, you could put a . in front of the name.

Already done that, still leaves the files readable when connected to a PC.

You could try marking the folder as "hidden" in the Windows properties dialog.

Hy,maybe uncheck USB debugging and lock your phone with password

I believe SECRECY will do what you want; I haven't used it for a while, but from what I remember it encrypts files on the SD card and doesn't need root.
Note: the app is no longer available on Play Store and the link directs to XDA Forums.

It's also now open source, although I don't know which repo the app is built from. I would edit my answer, but I don't have enough reputation to add more links.

It looks like it might do the trick, but it's still alpha and hasn't been updated in 18 months. User feedback says that it's unstable and one might be unable to decrypt files. Pity, because it might have been just the thing. Thanks for sharing though.

@Rex I just installed it, and it still seems to work fine (although I don't have an actual SD card, so I have no idea if that part still works). I think most of the issues were when it was still being updated and the vault format was changing every update.

Tested this with a few files, seems like the best thing to use in the short term

by renaming a file from filename.txt to .filename.txt (add a dot "." before the name) you will hide the file. I.e. it will not show up on any file explorer, (unless it is set to show hidden files.)
If you want to hide, say movie files from appearing in your media player, or music files from appearing in your music player, or even photos from appearingin your gallery, (or any other type of file from showing in an app except a file explorer), you can change the file extention to anything else or remove it completely.
I recommend just changing the dot "." to a blank space, that way you can still identify the file yourself and you wont forget the file extension in case you ever need it.
like so: from "filename.avi" to "filename avi".

Yes, i've already done that by putting the files inside a folder named like that. But the files will still be readable if you connect the phone to a laptop, and I haven't come across anything that can encrypt them without moving to internal storage.

@Rex you can connect it to a computer, right click on the folder and click properties, and set the file to hidden on a computer. this should hide it on PC as well (do this as well as renaming the file with a . before it)

And it's trivially easy to make your computer still display hidden folders.

@Rex i know you can encrypt files/folders with ES file explorer but its a bit annoying, because every time you want to open it, you have to decrypt it and when you finish using it, you have to encrypt it again by inserting a password twice.
You can do this, aside from the other 2 steps mentioned previously, for maximum security

I've   opted to use Secrecy as Josh mentioned above, plus hiding the directory as a workaround.

Use file locker app. This is very helfull app for ur problem.. I also use this and my problem has solved. Now I can hide my SD card file very easily. Only file locker app can do this. Once try brothers...

This app is 3.35 mb. Don't install any other app of same name

Why don't you provide the link to it on play store?


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How to revert Androidone X510 to Lollipop
I am making use of Androidone,
Model:X510
Version: 5.1.1
Recently, my phone received a system update, so I installed the system update, and my device upgraded to Android Marshmallow 6.0.
After this update, I started having problems with most of my apps. These apps have refused to run.
For example, I installed Modern Combat 4, but after the update, the game doesn't display, it just shows a pink screen.
I have tried everything I could, but I am still having this problem, and there is no way I can contact the manufacturer, because the phone is made by Google.
My main question is this—
How do I uninstall this new update of 6.0, and return my device to its former stage, which is 5.1.1?
Thank you.

Search for custom ROMs or stock firmware and flash it.

I'll try to help you, maybe it's not relevant to your answer (but I think it's kinda). So, yesterday I've got a little problem too when try to installing Modern Combat 4 on my lollipop device. I downloaded the Modern Combat 4 from this link
http://apksaurus.com/modern-combat-4-android-apkdata-download.html
Unfortunately, Modern Combat 4 isn't working normally on Lollipop device, yeah the model will become a pinky object like this.

And then I'm doing a quick search on Google just want to know how to fix this, and voila. Maybe you can try this youtube.com/watch?v=m7qj16vnutM
To be noted, it's not a promotion, that's not even my YouTube channel nor video, I just want to say that if you want to play this game on your 6.0 device, you can.


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Custom (or native Android 5) Notification Center on Android 5 device with ZenUI
My ZenPad S 8.0 comes with Android 5.0 and ZenUI launcher on top of it. I can replace the launcher and desktop environment with something like Nova Launcher that feels more native, but when it comes to notification center (the dropdown thing with notification descriptions), I could not find any reasonable alternative that could replace the (imho, ugly) ZenUI notification panel with something custom or just revert back the default\native Android 5 one. The only thing I found is the Material Status Bar Lollipop app for Android 4.* that does the job (replace the dropdown notification area with custom - more native looking one), but does not work very smoothly on Android 5.
So I'd love to replace this:

with this:

Thank you.
udp I have found the slowball app that somewhat does what I want (not very smoothly, but still), but I'm still wondering if there're any other custom notification center apps for Android 5 or any way to use the stock one instead of ZenUI?

It won't come as an app. You'll have to decompile SystemUI.apk, change the xml files (for icon sizes, colors, etc.), or if you just want to change the graphics, no need to decompile, just replace the .png files after renaming .apk to .zip.

@AaronGillion , thank you! I don't actually know how does it work, but it seems to me that snowball somehow manages that by "hooking" a slide-down gesture and running itself as a custom notification center; I suspect ZenUI notification thing works similarly - that is not the "skin" over stock notification center (with icons or fonts replace by custom ones), but must be a standalone app, I guess?


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Auto completion dictionary won't remember words
I dated a girl named Kristi for over a year, and to this day, no matter how many times I type her name correctly, it will autocorrect to Kristen. A year. A full year.
How do I get android to remember custom additions to its dictionary?
IOS will remember after the third time typing it.

Settings -> Language & Input -> Personal Dictionary looks like what you want, although your keyboard may have its own settings (accessible through Settings -> Language & Input).


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Where does Opera Mini save its "Saved pages"?
When you save a web page in Opera Mini, it must be saved somewhere.
I want to know where can I find these pages, specific path or anything?

Can you post an app screenshot of this "saved pages" feature you're talking about, for reference?

Users of Opera mini can Save web pages for later viewing, by Tapping the + button on the search bar to save a page.
Once pages is Saved, one can actually access the Saved pages from Opera mini browser app itself.
Once you Save web pages for offline viewing, these Saved pages are added to a Speed Dial group named Saved pages
This can be accessed by clicking on the Saved pages tab as shown in screen shot below.

I think OP asked about the physical location (i.e. "specific path") of the saved pages, but I might be wrong.

AndrewT.  - Is right, The OP asked about the path.

@AndrewT. The op asked like this : "I want to know where can I find these pages, specific path or anything" So basically, OP wants to find these pages. my Post should help to address that.


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Samsung s5 server password has been changed. Input the changed password
Suddenly my phone keeps popping up with this message in the notifications bar >sign in failed<.  I go to the email and the message says >password has been changed.  Input the changed password<.  At first I put in my password and it did not work.  I went to the internet to login and could not and then changed my password.
Everything seemed fine for about 20 mins and then the message popped up again.  This time I have not typed in the password and I can still access my email from the gmail app on my phone. But everytime i get an email my phone brings up this message!
I had just deleted an app that my phone said was a security risk so I am unsure if it had anything to with that? Although I can still use my account on both phone and tablet I am only getting the message on my phone.
Can you help?

yes I changed the password and signed in again to my accounts again including this one and then a little while later the message come up again.
I have often been confused by my email account on my phone so I will try my best to explain....the gmail on the phone is the one that says I can't access until I put in the changed password but the gmail widget on my phone works fine and I have this email address attached to Outlook with another email address (all working).

When you changed your password from your computer, did you input a different password than the one you had before?

Sounds like someone hijacked your account.

yes I changed the password to a different one.

Then hijacking of your account is unlikely, unless of course there is an app on your phone with the permission to log into your account and change the password.

My mom was having the same problem you have to log off from gmail and sign in again which means going to settings manage accounts and tap remove account then you log in again and you should be good


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Duplication of cellular phone Android 5.1.1
I think I have been duplicated or hacked. Google Maps time line shows me present for three days consecutively and me amd device were at another location, home. Is this possible what info /action have I allowed if it is possible? What I need to stop or solve the problem

If only one device is on the timeline, there is a high possibility that you GPS is not good.
My device thinks often that I am in a city about 20km away. I is a bug with google.
To get really save, you can open the Android device manager in your web browser and get a list of all Android devices logged in into your account.

Consider all info in question

You have written that you ask yourself why Google does have the wrong Position, haven't you?


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Read the chip info from a built-in NFC chip in mobile phone
As I know, there is a built-in NFC chip at the back of a mobile phone such as Samsung. So I would like to read the built-in chip info from that mobile phone.
Is that possible?

Why do you think that your device has a NFC-Tag?
Devices have normally a NFC-Reader with which you can read/write NFC-Tags

After googling, I found that Android bean use NFC chip to transfer data.  And S Bean use wifi-direct. Is that right?

You mean Android Beam and S Beam. Yes S Beam uses wifi-direct and Android Beam uses NFC.

So is there any chip on the back of phone to use Android bean feature?

No there is no chip but the android Beam feature writes the information 'to the air' and the other device reads it.

http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/108776/does-nfc-enabled-phone-means-the-phone-has-an-nfc-tag-inside?rq=1 This answer said there is built-in chip.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

What are you actually trying to achieve? There's no "fixed data" to read like with an NFC tag, the phone just transmits the data from some running app.

As I thought before, if there is built-in chip in phone, I don't need the extra NFC tag and I can also use this built-in chip as a identifer for my app.

There isn't an NFC Tag (as the hardware device) but there is a chip which can act like an NFC Tag and provide data.

I found the one of nfc modes: NFC card mode in phone. It is used as a identifier for phone.


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Choose whether to connect to a Wifi network by more than just SSID
I know of 2 networks with the same SSID but different credentials (via a "sign in to network" webpage). I only have an account for one of them (and it happens to be somewhere with little-to-no 3G/4G so I can't just turn this network off completely).  Of course, when it connects to the network I can't use, it turns off my 4G.
I've seen this answer suggesting it could be done using tasker.  I don't currently have tasker but could buy it for this.  But I have a few issues with that approach:

I don't really want my GPS polling all the time for (mainly) battery life reasons.
So: Will tasker do this with network-based locations (especially as one location has poor mobile signal - the same place is inside a big building so GPS might not work)?
The answer I've linked to wasn't accepted despite seeming to answer the question pretty well, and has no upvotes.  It doesn't make me confident it would work.

I'm on a non-rooted Xperia Z3 compact, bought from Amazon so it should be Sony's stock Lollipop.

In case the hesitancy is caused because of the app being paid, you can consider the 7-day full trial version of Tasker.

@Firelord thank you. 7 days starting on the right day might do the trick.

And you can extend it in 7-day intervals (export config, uninstall, reinstall, import config – the dev himself says so). As for GPS: use other conditions as e.g. "WiFi near" (which should match perfectly as you only want that task to fire when the specific WiFi is in reach – no need if it is e.g. switched off ;)

@Izzy I used to do that with DOS shareware but never thought of trying it on Android assuming the play store would make it more hassle than it's worth.  Plus I don't mind paying for stuff I use, but if the dev says it's OK...

@ChrisH if you feel you really need that to evaluate you can do so (sometimes one starts checking, then lacks time, and then trial is over before one finished checking). Once you've decided you like it, you should of course buy it :)

@Izzy, if I use Wifi near (with a MAC address) to switch off WiFi, how will it know when the WiFi is no longer near and turn it back on again?  Does it allow WiFi polling with WiFi off?  I tried this morning with the task set to "wifi disconnect" with no success, so "wifi off" has to be the way to go

Combine conditions then. In this case, I'd use either "CellID" (collect IDs of towers, uses no extra power as it needs those anyway for calls/mobile-data) or "network location", and "WiFi near" as second condition. Tasker is intelligent enough to then check WiFi only if the other condition is met. You also could have a second profile turning your WiFi on if {location} is met.

The solution was indeed to use tasker but there were some subtleties.

WiFi off doesn't appear to work if the "sign in to network" alert is active.
This can be solved by using a task consisting of WiFi disconnect followed by WiFi off.
Such a two-part task doesn't undo itself when the profile is no longer active, so an exit task is needed to turn the WiFi back on.

"Cell near" seems to work better than "Network location", which can sometimes jump by more than the distance between the 2 locations I'm worried about (~1km) due to some strange singal effects.

I've put in a self-answer as the subleties may be handy for others - but credit should really go to @Izzy for getting me over the first major hurdles.

Note that as of 2021 this will no longer work on a non-rooted device.  Google don't let you automate control of your WiFi any more (I did indeed pay for Tasker, and now use it for something comparable on long bike rides - a battery-saving process that sets aeroplane mode for 14 minutes, connects for 1 minute, and loops)

You can use the free 'WLAN' App from AVM. With it you can choose your hotspot connected to. But it does not work automatically.

I was really looking for an automated solution. The many WiFi switching apps would mean manual switching several times a day and as I want to maintain data connectivity wherever possible the chances of forgetting are too high.


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Asus Zenfone 2 Stuck at White USB Logo
My device has stuck displaying a white USB logo on boot. I have already tried a hard reboot (press power + volume up and select 'reboot') but the logo remains.
How can I get past this and boot the device properly?

A few things you can try without risking any data loss: Can you boot into safe-mode? Can you boot into recovery-mode? From the latter, you can delete the cache ("Wipe Cache") and see if the device is able to boot then. The former lets you uninstall "problematic apps" which might be causing the issue (unlikely here if stuck directly at the boot logo, but still helpful to know if you can get there).


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Why can I move apps to sd card when using adopted internal storage (sd card)? Does it makes sense?
I formatted my sd card as adopted internal storage as possible in Android 6.
However in the settings I can still move (some) apps to the "external storage".
This is quite confusing as I thought they would be automatically placed on my sd card as this sd card is my "fake internal storage".
So I have three questions:

Why can I still move them there?
Where are they moved exactly to?
Currently I noticed that the app data was stored in /storage/emulated/0 respectively /sdcard (which is a symbol link to /storage/emulated/0)
Does it make sense to move the apps like this?

That's an interesting question indeed. Is your device rooted, so you can check where such an app goes to? I have a suspicion here: App2SD doesn't necessarily move to the external SD card (the physical one), but to the "primary external storage", which usually is the internal SD card if such exists. Your mentioning of /storage/emulated/0 seems to confirm this: "emulated" is the internal card. So if that's the case here, it indeed makes sense, as that "internal card" usually is a bit faster :)

Yes I have root. However as I mentioned AFAIK there is a symbolic link from /sdcard to /storage/emulated/0 and this is the polace where the app data seem to be saved by default.
However I don't exactly know where the apps itself (the apks?) are saved. Which directories should I check?

APKs usually go to /data/apps on internal storage. App2SD would store them in a hidden folder on the SDCard (.android_secure). And as I already wrote: Yes, that's the emulated/internal SDCard your /sdcard symlink points to – and I suspect that's the target here. So you could use your "root powers" to check for the folder there: make yourself root (running su in a terminal/shell) and then do an cd /sdcard && ls -a (the hidden folder will be shown to root only).

Okay, ls -a there only shows my usual "internal storage" content. There is no folder called .android_secure.
However when booting into my recovery (TWRP) I noticed that in external_sd there are some directories: app, local, media, misc and user. And app indeed contains my apllication I moved to the sdcard.

App2SD never moves apps completely, so it is to be expected something remained in your internal/adopted storage. Strange however you cannot find any hidden directory on the internal SD card, which is what App2SD would use here. I know the system tries to hide it, but it shouldn't hide it from root. Could you check for /mnt/secure/asec, which should be the equivalent (asec is the abbreviated form of android_secure)?

/mnt/secure/asec is empty.

OK, then I'm out of ideas, sorry.


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Micromax Canvas Gold A300 "out of space"
Whenever I try to install an app, my device displays the error message "out of space", even though I have 16gb of free space. I have deleted all odex files, uninstalled all large games, and cleared the cache partition.
How can I remove this error message?

You are asking an off-topic question. Questions about electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones are off-topic, except insofar as they interface with your computer, See On-Topic.

This question has been migrated so that it is now on-topic here at Android.SE. I suggest you look at the insufficient-memory tag wiki for information that might be helpful in resolving your issue.


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Broken graphics on some games
On my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime VE, running Android 5.1.1, the game's graphics are not displayed, but the sound plays. This happens as soon as the game starts.
What might be causing this and how can I correct it?

can you please include more information? On what games are these glitches orruring? Looks really frightening to me. Does it only happen after a certain amount of time or directly when you start a certain game?

This happens with me every time I play Clash of clans with charging. But usually it happens after an hour of charging. So try to cool down the device. If this happens on starting the game then thanks for reading.

That is not working still same problem


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Cant see call log on Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
This is all I get when I follow the instructions for viewing your call log.
When I get a missed call, the notification shows at the top and when I click it then I get this screen. I can't find anywhere else on the phone to view my call log.
Please help!!!

Click on the image to enlarge

When you tap the "overflow menu" (the "three stapled dots" at the upper-right corner), do you get the option to switch to the call log? If so, does it show up, or does it stay empty as well?

I finnaly found the solution.
Turn off guest mode option in your mobile. DONe

One of the ways is to factory reset your phone,if that problem appears again you should do a hard reset. Check some tutorials if u dont know how to hard reset.

Just restart your mobile. I also had same problem but it's resolved after restarting my mobile


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How to flash factory firmware on Motorola Moto G 2015 XT1550
I am currently using Motorola Moto G 2015, that is Moto G third generation smart phone. (XT1550)
I updated android 6.0 .
But it's not that much of great.
So I tried to flash factory firmware which is android 5.1.1, referred from  here.
But after installation also I am getting android 6.0 itself.
I want to flash factory firmware. That is android 5.1.1

Without rooting my phone can I flash factory firmware ?

Yes, you can flash the firmware without root using ADB and fastboot.

I tried twice through ADB and fastboot by downloading the proper indian version of firmware and mfastboot. But after the installation firmware will not change.

So what's your problem here? You write you got "Android 5.1.1", but you wanted "Android 5.1.1". Isn't that the same, or do I miss something here? Maybe a mis-typing, and you got 6.0 again? Which would be understandable, as the manufacturer will have provided the latest version for download. In that case, check the download page for "previous" or "older" versions, and see if you can find 5.1.1.

Sorry, I will edit the question. After release of android 6.0, I updated and It's not good. So I want to flash factory firmware which is 5.1.1 . So I downloaded proper firmware from xda-developers website. And i tried to flash using ADB commands. It will show flashing /writing system and all those things. and after the reboot firmware willl not change. I mean it will be the same android 6.0 .

@VTVishwanathBhat then your doing it wrong. Perhaps you should read the dozen or so threads on XDA (where you got the software) about downgrading... There is a very specific procedure which must be followed, factory reset, flash every piece except gpt.bin, and I believe to downgrade you must have an unlocked bootloader. And after downgrade you must never take an OTA update... It's all clearly spelled out on XDA

Then I can't downgrade without unlocking bootloader, right ?

Actually I want to downgrade without voiding the warranty. And I tried the steps to flash stock ROM without unlocking the bootloader.