text:
Pixel 5 OEM unlock disabled or greyed out?
Working on installing a new OS for a friend on their Pixel 5 they just bought.
This isn't a carrier phone.
When I go to developer settings the OEM option is greyed out.
It suggests to connect to the internet or contact the carrier.
I have the phone hooked up to wifi, so I do not believe that is an option.
I have yet to put a SIM card in the phone.
I was wondering what is a work around to get the OEM disabled option available for a Pixel 5?

Does this answer your question? Bootloader wont unlock on Google Pixel 2 (G011A)

you can install new OS by "Apply update from SD Card"

@alecxs Little hesitant to do that. All the suggested instructions I am following to install grapheneOS successfully do not suggest that.

of course only google official ota.zip can installed from stock recovery/on locked bootloader


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Does logging into multiple google accounts drain battery/data faster?
I have the Samsung a32 5g.
I'm logged into many G-mail accounts and twitter accounts, will doing so drain my phone battery and data faster simply by having them logged in? Do they do this only if they are running?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! It is preferred if you can post separate questions instead of combining your questions into one. That way, it helps the people answering your question and also others finding for at least one of your questions. Thanks!

This site expects that one question only be asked in a post, not multiple, unless very closely related. You can ask the second part in a separate question //First part, yes multiple accounts mean more battery drain because they have to sync for contacts, calendars, mails, messages etc. They do this when they have data connection, they needn't be running in foreground

My bad, I'll remove the extra question.

@beeshyams
What if you don't have sync enabled? Does it still have any affect if you open and use the applications/don't use them?

You can disable sync for Google accounts to save battery but then you can't use all of them, for instance you need to see new mails and similarly new social media stuff //unless the device is in doze,  apps will be active and consume some battery //you can search for doze on this site or Internet

See doze-mode tag info and questions under it

My phone already does have tools to put apps to sleep similar to greenify. I don't mind not having everything synced, I just wanna know if it will consume more data/battery or not and I'm assuming no based on what you said about sync.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Stuck on fastboot mode, usb debugging turned off
I rooted my Alldocube iplay 30 pro and uninstalled a few system apps before rebooting. Right after, it got stuck in fastboot mode and i cant do anything about it. USB debugging is turned off and I tried wiping cache/data but it's still the same.
What can i do?

Reflash system partition.

But doesn't it require USB debugging turned on?

No. It doesn't.

How can I do this? Which software do I need to install on my PC? I tried searching but they say they require USB debugging turned on. Can you maybe link me a guide if there is any? Sorry, I'm a noob at this

Thank! I flashed the stock rom through SP Flash tool and it worked

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


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Why can't I install anything since Google Play Store downloads don't reach 100%?
Recently after a hard reset I can't use the Google Play Store on my 5.1 Lollipop. Whatever I try to download from the Google Play Store it gets stuck at some percentage and never reach 100%. Plenty of space left in the internal storage, I tried switching between mobile data and WiFi. I've also tried starting a download and leaving it overnight but it just never reaches 100%. I've also noticed that after the reset, sometimes I'm asked to update my Google Play Services even though it has been updated automatically along with Google Play Store. So far I've tried the basics like clearing cache and data of Google Play Store, Google Play Services and Download Manager, rebooting my device, uninstalling updates of Google Play Store and Google Play Services so that they auto-update again since my Google Play Store is useless. I've also tried removing and re-adding my Google account, did another factory reset but back to the same spot. Could it be that the latest version of Google Play Services is somehow incompatible with my device and the device had some old working version installed before the first factory reset since everything was fine until I did the first reset?
Any help would be much appreciated!

It might be google released some broken update (again) wait for fix


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Restricting app permissions
If the specification for a given app states that a given permission is required, e.g., Noise Meter requires control vibration:

Is there a way to instruct Android to not give the permission to the app, once installed? (perhaps at the expense of a malfunctioning app).
Does this depend on which permission we are talking about? (perhaps network access permission can be restricted, e.g., and other permissions can't).
Can this be applied at the "Category" level? In each app description in Play I have seen permissions "grouped" by category... I still do not know if that categorization has any effect on what can or cannot be done, or if it is just for convenience of reading, developing, etc.

Related:

Is there any way to block permissions on apps?

Is your device rooted?

@beeshyams - No.

Try Pmx developed by Irfan that works better with root or with adb without root // see help //As you rightly guessed all permissions cannot be restricted this way e.g Internet for which you have separate solutions like Firewall

@beeshyams - I will digest your answer... In the meantime, it seems that e.g. network access can be restricted by means of a separate app, but not from within OS or affected-app configuration, right?

Right. Also point3, you have to deal with each permission on its own, can't club at category level

@beeshyams - Great. I am learning about Android, and concerned about privacy... Now posted as a specific question on its own https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/242692/permissions-categories-do-they-have-any-practical-implication


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Is there any way to retrieve webpage from local cache in Brave browser?
I viewed webpage on Brave browser that later was deleted. Is there any way to retrieve this webpage from local cache?
I know that there is soft like Nirsoft ChromeCacheView, but it can only extract files from cache on PC. I know, because I tried to use it on android cache of Brave browser (from folder /data/data/com.brave.browser/Cache/cache).

You can try to retrieve app data from a PC via USB (if the allows it) via adb backup com.brave.browser and then decrypt and unpack the created file via ABE (Android Backup Extractor). If the app denies backup you can only get the app data with root permissions. Unlocking and rooting a device deletes all data so if your device is not yet rooted this way is not an option.

AFAIK, cache is usually stored in the app's private folder. Accessing this folder needs root access.

Check if the webpage you are after was already archived on https://web.archive.org.

No archive of webpage anywhere, also adb backup not working. Looks like I will need to wait for some exploit for android or brave to get my files. Or to brave team to add something like view-cache.


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Permissions for Photos/Media/Files vs. Storage
I have seen apps requiring permission for

Photos/Media/Files

read the contents of your USB storage
access USB storage filesystem
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Storage

read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

This "grouping" somewhat puzzles me.
Questions:

Is the grouping meaningful for practical purposes?
Where is the specification of the container-group given? (I am not a developer, but a pointer might help as a "prospective trainee").
Why does this grouping seem to not match this (under Permission Groups).

Other specific Questions:

What is the difference, e.g., between:

Photos/Media/Files -> read the contents of your USB storage

Storage -> read the contents of your USB storage
?

What is the difference between:

Photos/Media/Files -> read the contents of your USB storage +
Photos/Media/Files -> modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Photos/Media/Files -> access USB storage filesystem
?

What Android version are you talking about? Since Android 11/12 access permissions for shared storage have been replaced by more fine granular permissions. https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage

@Robert - I have Android 11. does it help in providing a specific answer to the question?

@Robert while you're absolutely correct, what Sancho describes is how it's presented to the user on the corresponding websites. // Sancho: that "rabbit hole", yeah… I have no idea why it's displayed twice, but your list of 5 is basically just 3 permissions: READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE – and MOUNT_UNMOUNT_FILESYSTEMS (access USB storage filesystem).

@Izzy to me the phrases sound like SAF access (URI permission) vs filesystem access (android.permission.READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE). A screenshot of both UIs will make it more clear.

@IrfanLatif that would make sense for the grouping; so I need to put back the request I've edited out of my previous comment: I'd need the APK of such an app to verify. Both descriptions are identical to the letter, which is a quite bad practice (wouldn't be the first of this kind) if they shall mean different things. Why would it say "USB storage" when it means SAF? Doesn't match up. For SAF, as far as I know you don't need to request a permission (please correct me if I'm wrong).

@Izzy for SAF the user is asked to grant the permission (a dialog is shown), but it's not a manifest permission. The developer can persist the granted URI permission or may ask the user again next time it needs to access the storage. There are some restrictions though, pretty well explained in the documentation: https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/documents-files#grant-access-directory. A USB storage device can be fully accessed using SAF though, which seems to be OP's case. But it's not clear.

@Izzy - I just entered your rabbit hole. Let me try rephrasing your comment about Question #4... "The difference is NONE, they are the same permission". Is that correct?
Plus, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE are useless without MOUNT_UNMOUNT_FILESYSTEMS, is that correct?

Yes to the two duplicates, no to the other question: MOUNT_UNMOUNT_FILESYSTEMS is not required to access already mounted file systems – and the "average app" should not need this permission. Since around Android 5 it's recommended anyway to use SAF (Storage Access Framework) anyway, where no Manifest-Permission is needed for but the user can decide more granular which directories an app can access. A known disadvantage of that is that it's much slower, which the user only would notice when accessing many files at once ("batch operations").


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I'm looking for the scatter file for MT6771v/c
I'm looking to flash a stock ROM onto my phone but the SP Flash tool says it's invalid. My phone's chip is MT6771V/C. My phone is currently on Android 10.
The internet (this link, for example) has scatter files named MT6771T_Android_scatter, MT6771_Android_scatter 8.1 and MT6771_Android_scatter 9.0 and I'm not sure which one to use.
I tried making a scatter file using the MTK droid tools but the only that showed up when I clicked on the "Block Map" button is [1, bmtpool, 0000000000, 0000000000, 0]

Does this answer your question? Backup/dump kernel image (and full ROM) without root for Mediatek Devices

MTK droid tools is outdated, use Wwr_MTK


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Will deleted images be safe in thumbnails folder?
If I delete images with file explorer from DCIM/Camera and images are still in DCIM/thumbnails, will thumbnails images stay there? If they stay there, will something delete them in future? Does Xiaomi phones have something to delete thumbnails?

Hello. Why do you need thumbnails if you don't want their corresponding images? Alternatively, why do you care about them if they would remain or not? Those thumbnails are generated by your device's stock gallery app provided by Xiaomi. Do take into account that the source code of that app is not available in public domain and therefore, the answer you are likely to receive (yes/no) is going to be observational and version dependent.

@Firelord Hello. My friend deleted images from Pictures folder, and image is still in thumbnails folder. He is calling thumbnails folder "copy of images that take storage space" so he deleted original.

Well, I wouldn't expect the system to keep thumbnails of images I've deleted. I assume it should clear it from time to time. However, I don't know how Xiaomi handles those folders...

Your friend has wrong understanding of thumbnails! That said, I think Xiaomi's default gallery app has some sort of trash/recycle bin feature which doesn't acually delete the images in first instance. See if you can access that. Restore the images then. Otherwise, if you have sync setup for photos hope that those pictures were synced up with your account before being nuked by your friend. Lastly, don't give your phone to this friend of yours

Thumbnails are not really the exact images you deleted. They are just the cached images of extremely low quality which your phone used to show you images with more speed. Your phone save a Thumbnail of image you open in your phone so that next time you open that image, it takes less time. Thumbnails have very small resolution and quality than original.
Clearing your cache memory will delete the thumbnails. Usually, phone don't have any automatic thumbnails deletion.


text:
What exactly does carrier services do and should I allow it to use mobile data while data saver is on?
I'm using the samsung a32 5g.
Just wondering if it's worth allowing it to use my mobile data since I'm on a tight plan and why it would be important. All I use is SMS messages, I read that all it is used for is RCS or any android related messaging apps.
If that's the case can I disable background data usage if it does nothing for me, and even go further to disabling the app? Would doing so disrupt SMS or any other messaging service?

A first indicator of what this app does is it's package name: com.google.android.ims
IMS is usually the abbreviation of IP Multimedia Subsystem, which is dedicated to do communicate with the carrier over IP, instead of special protocols as this was in 2G/3G.
Another hint gives us the description in Play Store:

Carrier Services enables the latest communication services from mobile
carriers, including battery-optimizations and support for enhanced
features in the Android Messages app.

Therefore this package seems to implement the client side of "RCS Messaging", the successor of SMS.
I am not sure how many carriers already support RCS and how widely this is used. In general I would allow background usage, otherwise the app would be pretty useless if you every receive an RCS from someone (you never know who might send you something).
From my understanding plain SMS should not be processed by this app.


text:
Reliable information on permissions required
Whenever I look for an app in Play Store, the description states the list of required permissions.

Is that list (taken from the Manifest?) up to what the developer declares, or is it automatically generated in some way?

In other words, can that list be not representative of what actually happens?

If so, is there an alternative way to get a reliable such list?

Have you read the link in beeshyams comment on one of your previous questions? https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/242692/permissions-categories-do-they-have-any-practical-implication The linked post answers more or less your question. For the rest feel free to check the Android developer documentation on permissions

@Robert - I just entered the site (and I actually had done it before), but I did not read it in full. Thanks for the (refreshed) pointer.

@Robert - My question #1 is a YES-or-NO question, and I don't see it answered in the link... did I miss it?
(Besides, I guess a YES/NO posted here would be very much aligned with the spirit of SE).
Plus, question #2 is also YES/NO (with extra info also useful).

The permission list shown to the user bases on the data in AndroidManifest.xml, which has to be built by the developer and also is extended automatically if the app uses certain libraries. But that is irrelevant for you as Android enforces the permissions, which means if the developer forgot to ad a permission to AndroidManifest.xml the app will fail to use methods that require this permission.

@Robert - I put together an answer based on your comment. Would you mind correcting it if I misunderstood anything?

List of app's permissions in the Play Store description is not a one-to-one mapping with the actual permissions an app is using. It's just a high level description in layman's terms. So is the description of a permission shown to the user when asking to grant a revocable permission. The actual permissions are in the manifest file. But technically speaking, only manifest permissions are not a comprehensive list of an app's privileges. There are other ways to analyze and control what an app can do. URI permissions (for storage access) and AppOps are two examples.

@IrfanLatif - Still more to learn. A few questions:

Would you mind posting as an answer?
I tried to understand the comment/answer by Robert, then rephrase it in my answer in a more obvious way for beginners like me. Would you mind pointing out whether that answer is accurate, where it is wrong, etc.? I usually find that, for beginners (and for not-so-much as well), questions of the type YES/NO help a lot... and yet the answers often do not state that clearly.
I posted a separate follow-up question here.

The permission list shown to the user on installation time bases on the data in AndroidManifest.xml. Apps like App Inspector can display what apps request what permission.
Permissions in AndroidManifest.xml have to be added by the developer. But Android development systems also all libraries to define permissions and if the app includes the library the permissions are automatically added to AndroidManifest.xml when the developer builds the app.
But from user perspective it is irrelevant how the permissions are added to AndroidManifest.xml as Android enforces the permissions. This means if the developer forgot to add a permission to AndroidManifest.xml the app will fail to use methods that require this permission.

Is that list up to what the developer declares?
Yes. That list is in AndroidManifest.xml, and it is edited by hand by the developer.
Is it automatically generated in some way?
No. Part of it is not, which implies that, overall, no.
Can that list be not representative of what actually happens?
Yes, but only for "false positives". I.e., a permission listed in AndroidManifest.xml, but not actually used by the code, will be granted by the OS to the app (with no use).
"False negatives" would not happen. I.e., a permission not listed in AndroidManifest.xml, but required by the code, will not be granted by the OS to the app. So it will probably not perform as intended.
TL;DR
The permission list shown to the user, e.g. under View details

bases on the data in file AndroidManifest.xml included in each apk installer.
That file contains a list of required permissions, which is composed of:

A hand-edited part by the developer.
An automatically added part from the list of permissions required by each linked libraries. (Each of these lists follow "recursively" the same criteria here).

The OS will give the App the permissions in this list, and nothing else.


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Samsung a32 5g - Does auto sync take up a significant amount of data?
I am synced to 5 gmail accounts, 1 facebook account, office, onedrive, reddit, soundcloud samsung account, whatsapp and 2 twitter accounts.
I only really receive a decent amount of emails from two of my gmail accounts, and some notifications some reddit. I notice I still get notifications from reddit regardless of having auto sync on, as well as whatsapp, twitter, and facebook. I don't use soundcloud often so I'm not sure what I would even use data from auto-sync.
In general does auto-sync only really take up data if I get emails, and other apps that normally send notifications are not part of auto-sync? If I got about 100 emails on mobile data with auto-sync on, about how much data would that take up? What other usage auto-sync uses mobile data other than what I mentioned?

Use app mentioned here, enable sync and find out for yourself, what it takes on your device //I don't think you can get a general answer on this

Also see this https://android.stackexchange.com/q/203868/131553

Thanks! I'll try it out sometime :)

@beeshyams
Also do you know if allowing background data and allow background activity are necessary for Gmail to send notifications on mobile data or is it just auto sync that is required? If not, what is the purpose of enabling these two options?

AFAIK, they are needed for you to receive mails and show you notifications pertaining to those mails.

Thank you, it seems background activity doesn't do much at all, however background data usage is required to get notifications on mobile.

Background activity for one generates wake locks to keep the app alive though it's in background //maybe other things too

Thanks, from what I know it's useless for gmail if all you want from it is notifications and opening it. Might only be useful for making it open faster and that's it.

Nope never mind my bad, you do need to allow it in the background for notifications. Not sure why things like twitter and reddit don't.


text:
Send A Notification To Android 9 Device Via ADB/shell/Script
wondering if it's possible to send a notification to an Android 9 device when a script finishes?  I have a custom Magisk script that runs on first boot for my rom releases that does some things like set some useful device settings and such and I have exactly what I want for Android 10+, but I can't seem to find anything similar for Android 9
I found and use this for Android 10+ and it works great
Send Notifications- Android 10+
Working Android 10+ Command:
su -lp 2000 -c "cmd notification post -S bigtext -t 'A-Team Notification' 'Tag' 'Post Boot Install Script Complete, Enjoy!!'"
My problem is, I'm now working on an Android 9 device and obviously the Android 10 command does not work on Android 9.  Does anyone know of a way to achieve the same thing without having to use a 3rd party app?

You need to use a third party app. There's no other way.

Does this answer your question? Send a notification (or just vibrate) to phone via ADB/shell


text:
How can I add a default alternative spelling to voice dictation?
My SO has a different spelling (but same pronounciation) of a common name. Every time I use voice dictation (which is all the time) and I say their name, I have to correct it with the keyboard. Is there a way to switch it to use the "correct" spelling by default? I am on Android 11

Sorry I  posted a near duplicate of your question: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/243090/12202  same question but for Android 12.


text:
How do I eliminate the left-swipe Google Snapshot page from my home screen? (S21 Ultra)
Recently got a Samsung S21 Ultra.   When I swipe left from the home screen I get Google Assistant "Snapshot", which I have no use for.
So I disabled Google Assistant via Google app > Settings > Google Assistant > General
So now when I swipe left from the home screen I get an EMPTY page with Google Snapshot at the top!   I don't want ANYTHING left of the home page.   How do I get rid of that?

Maybe this function doesn't work if you change the launcher? Some functionalities are baked in with the default browser and don't work with third party browsers. You could try Nova launcher to check

The page left to the home screen is for sure part of the launcher app. Just use a different launcher.

I can give you an answer that worked on an earlier device, so should work on the S21.
The Snapshot that you see is simply a widget of the app.  Press and hold the Snapshot, a recycle bin icon will appear, drag the Snapshot to the bin.
That will leave you with an empty page.  You can add the launch icons or widgets of your choice.


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"Screenlock didn't work" error message on "Verify it's you" for Google Password Manager
My passwords are kept in https://passwords.google.com.  When I am on my Android 12 / Pixel 5a, I need one of my passwords, and I go to Google Password Manager to get it, Android asks me to "verify it's [me]."  I understand that I need to get past "use [my] screen lock" so Google knows it's me.
I want to use my fingerprint to authenticate - that is fast and simple.  But when I click on the "Continue" button, it says "Screenlock didn't work."  I can click on the "Try Again" button, but the screen lock doesn't work again, and I get caught in an endless loop of being denied.  (There is a login with password option, but my password is long and very random and very slow and tedious to type.) This is very frustrating and keeps me from getting my passwords stored by Google on my Google phone.
What is the solution/fix for this?

I am able to log in from my account using Chrome // I just downloaded this app and it works fine //

Maybe network issue? Try clearing the app cache and see

I don't understand the hype of fingerprint, police can force you to unlock so easy. all they need is a finger. I guess when google ask for screen lock PIN/pattern is expected, fingerprint is insecure

@alecxs I wasn't clear.. doesn't ask for fingerprint, only account password. That's why I downloaded app to verify what OP is saying that it asks for fingerprint. Only password on both web and app

Related: Reddit - Screenlock works for everything but passwords.google.com, Google Support - "Screenlock didn't work" error when logging intk Google account from Samsung S20 Ultra


text:
Can I delete old trichrome library under /data/app?
I have around 50 trichrome library folders in /data/app using around 3 gb.
What varies is the alphanumeric string after the package name denoting version:
com.google.android.trichromelibrary_410408383-VgzblS0EY8swXcjTqN6reQ==
Can I delete all but most recent to clean my system and regain some space?
Or is it like WinSxS folder in Windows where all revisions of the same dll are stored for different programs to use?
###UPDATE AUGUST 2022###
Latest Trichrome updates (I'm now on 511.209.733) seem to take care of old versions disinstalling them and leaving only the latest, no more need to manually delete in /data/app and /data/data

+1, After posting comment, checked on my phone to discover the same. The same question has been asked on Google support forums though the answer lacks details as to why so many versions

Related.......

Uninstall all versions of trichrome library by typing pm uninstall com.google.android.trichromelibrary_410408383 (replace the ending version part). Then update Chrome/WebView from Play Store. // Even simpler: stop using Google products as much as possible.

@beeshyams every new version of trichrome library is installed as a separate package. So uninstall them specifically, not Chrome/WebView. Update the latter both if they break due to missing library.

I get Failure [DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR] when trying to pm uninstall

even adding --user 0 i get NOT INSTALLED FOR THIS USER

Is this a problem on rooted phones only? Do the different versions of trichrome appear in the list of pm list packages -f (or is there another way to check existence of such libraries on unrooted phones)?

using pm list libraries you can see one trichrome entry but no more details afaik

@JuTutt Yep, you do not see build number that is needed for uninstall. But you can look it up on apkcombo using Es Explorer that shows build number. See: https://github.com/entr0pia/trichromelibrary-squoosh

I deleted all but last using rm -r com.google.android.trichromelibrary_41*(then 42, 43, 44...) in /data/app/, /data/data/, /data/user_de/0/, /data/misc/profiles, /data/system/package_cache, working fine, 3 gb freed.
Should be safe to issue the rm command of above straight in /data just for convenience.
Then you should purge your /data/system/packages.xml file from orphaned entries as explained here: Purge /data/system/packages.xml from manually deleted packages

+1, confirm it works on Android 12 too, though I found them in first & third location only. Had to update Chrome and web view to get them working (I had unistalled updates before deletion)

do you think is it possible to purge old versions on a not rooted device?

Unlikely IMO. Especially with scoped storage since Android 10. Even on earlier versions one can't access /data/data without root and if Chrome is a system app it's out of bounds

of course doing this brutal rm delete thing instead of a more graceful pm uninstall leaves all of the old Trichrome versions entries as leftover in /data/system/packages.xml. Is there a way to purge it automatically? Reboot doesn't clean it.

On a rooted phone, one can use Trichrome Squoosh Magisk module

authors: Валерий Заподовников


text:
Where is the main website connection log?
Is there a log/database of all the sites visited on my device, across all apps even in private modes? If not specific sites, just the domains/IPs connected to?
If so, where do I find it? How far does it go back? I would like to see it.

There is nos such think as a app overall browsing history. Webbrowsers do maintain a browser history but only if they are in non-private mode.

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.

@Robert is there no system-level log of connections, then? Not even just the domains connected to?

No main stream OS (Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux, ...) maintains a connection log. Having one is just a wet dream of politicians and people from police and intelligence.

@Robert oh, I guess that makes sense. I thought that Windows did maintain one though, as I believe that I've accessed one before in cmd. But I think it gets wiped every time it shuts down.

@Robert may I just confirm, that is true of all Android devices (ie. Sony, Samsung, Motorola etc)? I believe the OSs of each of these can be quite different from each other?

Related: How to view network traffic requested by a specific app?

@user1829u2 Not sure about those Chinese brands but in general such a log or database would decrease phone speed and cause flash degrade therefore no manufacturer would implement something like this at free will, only if forced by a government would bring a manufacturer to implement this.


text:
Grouping of permissions
The topic of permissions appears to be a rabbit hole.
I am an Android beginner, and I am trying to enter it and not die trying.
Apparently, the list of an App's permissions in the Play Store description is not a one-to-one mapping with the actual permissions an app is using.
It's just a high level description in layman's terms. So is the description of a permission shown to the user when asking to grant a revocable permission. The actual permissions are in the manifest file.
So we have:

A list of layman's-terms permissions.
A list of OS permissions.

Notably, both are organized in groups.
At least grouping #2 appears to be a "partition" (i.e., each permission belongs to exactly one group), is grouping #1 also such?
Question:
Is that mapping documented anywhere?
Note: The layman's terms description may help at one point, but it may make things a little obscure at the same time...
Related

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission_group
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17371326/what-is-the-use-of-permission-group-in-android?answertab=votes#tab-top
Permissions categories... Do they have any practical implication?
List of all actions protected by given permission
Better description of permissions
Permissions for Photos/Media/Files vs. Storage
Restricting app permissions
Application Permissions

The permission grouping has been introduced years ago. Not sure if there is still some site online describing it. Also keep in mind that some permissions are not shown at al like INTERNET permission. Considering how may questions you already have asked about the install time permissions I don't want to know how many you will ask when you discover that there are additionally a whole bunch of run-time only permissions...

I'm not sure if I understand correctly what you mean by "permission groups". Being the developer of PMX, I've been using getAllPermissionGroups and related APIs for years. I don't think PermissionGroupInfo is something to get very serious about; it's just a small list of not very meaningful / helpful names defined in AOSP or third party apps' manifest files.

On a normal device more than 90% permissions belong to group UNDEFINED. Just run adb shell pm list permission-groups and pm list permissions -g to see. If you wan to learn about Android permissions, in my opinion you can safely ignore permission groups. Go for individual permissions.

@Robert - So far that number is 6... Let's see what I can learn, with all exceptions and undocumented feturas about permissions.

@IrfanLatif - This or This - TL;DR is what I mean by list of groups #1 (that only shows the groups relevant to each app, not the complete list). For list #2, I already gave the link to Izzy's site.
Does this clarify your "I'm not sure if I understand correctly..."?

Yes it does. I commented on it already.


text:
Questions Before I Sell My Phone (Too Late To Encrypt Drive?)?
I'm pretty strapped for cash and I need to sell my phone (Motorola Moto G7, Android 10). However, there are some... sensitive... photos of myself on it that I'm not suuuper comfortable with the next owner recovering. I'd also rather not have them recovering my search history, emails, passwords etc.
My original plan to "sanitize" my phone was to factory reset it, fill the drive with large files to overwrite everything, and factory reset it again. However, I've done a bit more research into SSDs and have realised that, because of wear-levelling, this will leave as much as 15% of my drive unaffected.
My new plan is basically to do this multiple times. In my head, this should accommodate for the wear-levelling, and will eventually result in almost everything being overwritten.
Will my method be at all effective? If not, any suggestions? By the by, encrypting the drive doesn't seem to be an option for me, as I have already factory reset my phone once, so that data is already deleted-but-unencrypted.
Please keep in mind that a. My phone needs to be working as normal and b. I can't root it if I want to sell it.
As a side note, I saw in an earlier post that there are some read/write Android partitions that remain even after a factory reset. Should these be of any concern to me?

We can provide details if you tell us phone model and android version. Most likely factory reset is enough. I recommend to delete a single file and try to recover right after, you will get a feeling what we are talking about

@alecxs sorry, done.

@alecxs so I'm already okay? I don't need to do anything more?

Does this answer your question? Note 20 Ultra, deleted files

@alecxs that's helpful, but I don't quite understand the linked discussions. Is FBE and F2FS already on my phone by default?

Yes, according to fstab that is the default for Moto G7 (river)

@alecxs awesome, thanks a lot. Out of interest, if those security measures weren't in place, would my method have worked?

Not quite sure. if you fill up whole storage with random data (up to 100%) everything get overwritten regardless of wear-leveling, but depends on what FTL declares as 100% (might be there are 300% reserved cells extra to increase life time, idk)

@alecxs alright, thanks. Any way to check how much is reserved?

practically? no. from hypothetical perspective it would probably require access to controller firmware. some links in chat will lead you to more advanced users than me (no clue)


text:
Is it possible to run KVM-Accelerated VM on Android Devices?
I am trying to enable KVM on the Android kernel so that I can run KVM accelerated VM on my Android phone. However, after enabling KVM, checking the dmesg, I get this:
[    1.039716] c3       1 kvm [1]: HYP mode not available

Do you know why this is happening? Is it possible to somehow enable KVM on Android?

Related: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/kernel-stock-android-pie-kernel-with-kvm.3916145/

The error seems pretty obvious. KVM/ARM requires HYP mode - a special hardware support in CPU (virtualization extensions) - which is not available on your device, or your kernel is outdated. Kernel doc: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.15/Documentation/arm/booting.rst


text:
Having trouble flashing an Asus Zenfone 5 Lite (ZC600KL, X017DA)
When turning on Asus Zenfone 5 Lite, it was stuck on the Asus Logo and would not go any further.
I have tried the normal attempts to get it working again by hardware keys into recovery/factory reset, but it shows absolutely no options. The only thing that will appear is CSC fastboot mode. Tried different combinations of keys and nothing.
I have downloaded firmware for the device and it came with the instructions on how to fastboot the firmware, but I kept getting an error about write-protected, and also very little happens. Before that error, the phone is also detected as fastboot devices will bring up the serial number.
I learned that I may not be able to use fastboot to flash the phone due to the fact the phone's bootloader is locked and have NO way in unlocking it as the known methods require an actual working phone.
The next step I tried was using Asus flash tools and it does detect the phone but crashes if I try to load the firmware files into the tool. I assume because the software can see the phone's bootloader is locked as I realised the tool requires fastboot.
The next step was using Qfil and again I get errors on that. Some of the errors seem rather random. For example, one error I will copy the report here maybe someone can make sense of the below report
12:14:05: INFO: FH_LOADER WAS CALLED EXACTLY LIKE THIS
************************************************
C:\Program Files (x86)\Qualcomm\QPST\bin\fh_loader.exe --port=\\.\COM3 --sendxml=rawprogram0.xml --search_path=C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user --noprompt --showpercentagecomplete --zlpawarehost=1 --memoryname=emmc
************************************************

12:14:05: DEBUG: Binary build date: Oct 31 2016 @ 22:51:02

12:14:05: DEBUG: Build Version: 16.10.31.22.51.02

12:14:05: INFO: Current working dir (cwd): C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\Qualcomm\QFIL\COMPORT_3\
12:14:05: INFO: Showing network mappings to allow debugging
12:14:06: DEBUG: New connections will be remembered.

12:14:06: DEBUG:

12:14:06: DEBUG: There are no entries in the list.

12:14:06: DEBUG:

12:14:06: INFO:

12:14:06: INFO: Trying to store 'rawprogram0.xml' in string table
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: INFO: Looking for file 'rawprogram0.xml'
12:14:06: DEBUG: 1. Calling stat(C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\rawprogram0.xml')
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\rawprogram0.xml') with AccessMode='rb'
12:14:06: DEBUG: Trying get filesize, calling fseek()
12:14:06: DEBUG: Found 'C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\rawprogram0.xml' (22215 bytes)
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\rawprogram0.xml') with AccessMode='r'
12:14:06: DEBUG: Trying get filesize, calling fseek()
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: INFO: Looking for file 'cache.img'
12:14:06: DEBUG: 1. Calling stat(C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\cache.img')
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\cache.img') with AccessMode='rb'
12:14:06: DEBUG: Trying get filesize, calling fseek()
12:14:06: DEBUG: Found 'C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\cache.img' (6553820 bytes)
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\cache.img') with AccessMode='rb'
12:14:06: INFO: Reading through sparse file 'cache.img' and pulling out relevant header information...
12:14:06: INFO: File cache.img is a sparse file, being split up into 5 separate XML tags
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: DEBUG: ==================================================================================
12:14:06: INFO: Looking for file 'system.img'
12:14:06: DEBUG: 1. Calling stat(C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\system.img')
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\system.img') with AccessMode='rb'
12:14:06: DEBUG: Trying get filesize, calling fseek()
12:14:06: DEBUG: Found 'C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\system.img' (3890031856 bytes)
12:14:06: DEBUG: 2. Calling fopen('C:\Users\Me\Downloads\[up_vnROM.net]_WW__ZC600KL(630)_14.0400.1801.031_20180313_Phone-user\system.img') with AccessMode='rb'
12:14:06: INFO: Reading through sparse file 'system.img' and pulling out relevant header information...
12:14:18: INFO: File system.img is a sparse file, being split up into 7980 separate XML tags

     _____
    |  ___|
    | |__ _ __ _ __ ___  _ __
    |  __| '__| '__/ _ \| '__|
    | |__| |  | | | (_) | |
    \____/_|  |_|  \___/|_|

12:14:22: {ERROR: StoreXMLFile:8039 2. Too many XML files in XMLStringTable, max is 8000

To the above error, Google has not been very much of help, though some suggestions have said try downloading different versions of the flash tool namely the latest and work down as well as making sure the drivers are up to date and they are.
I tried different firmwares as the first one I got was based on research, but the device has never applied any system update, so I figured I will try an older version from when the phone came out.
The interesting point to make with the last firmware, the older one, is there are differences in how it responded. For example:
I tried the fastboot method again. There was a little more activity as in something seems to be happening, but then this time it failed with "cannot flash in a locked state" whereas before the error was "write-protected".
With Qfil, the same thing happened. There was a lot more activity as seen in the above details I copied whereas before on a different firmware was a lot less.
So as it seems my only option is to flash the device under EDL mode, but how do I go about this if the flashing tool keeps throwing up too many XML strings?
Sadly, research and other forums have been not so helpful so far and its been rather data-consuming.
Any advice, tips, and instructions?

Does this answer your question? Bootloop issue and can't go to recovery mode

I can only imagine "ERROR: Too many XML files in XMLStringTable, max is 8000" means too many bytes? reduze the path length by running from C:\QFIL

Does this answer your question? Recovering data from Mi 4c able to get only to fastboot

You could run linux from pendrive (rufus/unetbootin) and flash with edl.py

If everything fails you could try to unlock bootloader by hexpatching devinfo and flash TWRP


text:
How to handle Play store accounts in a medium sized company
What is the best way to handle Play Store in a medium company where it is not needed a google account for each user?
We have about 30 users with Android, they don't have and don't need a google account, the only problem we are facing is to install and keep updated all the apps.
I don't like the solution to let them register with a new google user account because so they will start using google address-book, mail, drive and not the official tools of the company.

You need a Google Account for downloading apps from Play Store and you can't use one account for all because of the device limitation: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/42506/is-there-a-maximum-number-of-devices-allowed-on-a-google-play-account

You are looking for MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions. Asking for which one meets your needs, comparison etc is off-topic AFAIK

Either use an MDM -mobile device management- or send them link of the APKs files through whatsapp-telegram or gmail.

currently I'm sending apk, but applications will not update


text:
What does a Wi-Fi reset actually do?
For spotty WI-FI connections, a recommended way to fix is to re-boot or toggle airplane mode to reset the connection.
Now, in Android 12 one has a feature to do that by clicking the icon with wrench

Pressing that icon resets the Wi-Fi (also mobile data) but one doesn't need to sign-in into previously connected network.
Is disconnecting and re-connecting is all that is achieved by this or other means (reboot, toggle airplane)? Or is something more happening like clearing cache etc and what's that? How does it fix the spotty connection issues?
I could not find any documentation around this

Dis- and reconnecting to a Wifi could be useful if there are multiple access points for the same Wifi but the Wifi does not support seamless handover (not sure wich 802.11 standard it was).

@Robert maybe but in a single access point situation?

Looks like this icon (labeled as "Fix connectivity") only appears when Airplane mode is off. I didn't find it before because I always turn on Airplane mode but also manually turn on WiFi on my Pixel 3a, Android 12.

Related source code. Don't have time now to investigate further.

@AndrewT indeed your observation is correct. Verified. That makes it more interesting to figure it out.. Whenever you or any one else can from the code :)


text:
Firefox for Android: How to change upload app?
I'm using 94.1.2 on Android 11.
For upload handling I accidentally set a file manager app.
Now I want to change the app or at least get the request popup back, which asks me which app (Google Photos, Camera, File Manager, ...) I want to use.

Solution here should work https://android.stackexchange.com/q/228920/131553

@beeshyams I resetted it, but this only brought back the "open with" prompt for web links, the upload  action is still associated to the the file manager.

Maybe uninstall that file manager? If it works you can install that file manager again and not associate with upload?

Unfortunately the file manager can't be uninstalled (MIUI system). Erasing its settings didn't affect the upload prompt in Firefox.

Try disabling the file manager and choose using better open with app

I can't disable it. I can end it but will automatically start again once I tap a file upload button.

Last try - uninstall Firefox and then install and see if behavior changes


text:
Where is the installed applications are stored in android 9?
I have seen few examples in the internet but couldn't find the right answer about my phone. In my phone how does a file manager app finds the base.apk of an installed app? and how can I find them using adb or terminal apps?

Any app can query the list of installed packages and their apk file paths (with some restrictions added in recent Android releases). Run: adb shell pm list package -f

how do they start adb server in the first place .and they have to get the APK file. What's the adb command for that.im curious.

Apps use Android APIs, not ADB. See getInstalledApplications and sourceDir.

I have root and non rooted Device. In rooted phone (android 7) I just can look up the internal directories and that I did /data/app/. But the same folder didn't work on my non rooted phone (android 9). And can I get the source directory printed out using a terminal like termux? The APK files should be readable.

there is at least one app in google play (Dev Tools) that will show you exact install path of apps

@alecxs that's what I was looking for. In my Android 7 (rooted) the path is data/app/com.package.name-1/base.apk and in non rooted instead of 1 it's some kind of base64 string.

that's the newer android version, I believe since 8 or 9. anyway /data/app/pkgname-*/base.apk would do it

Yep any idea what that * could be?

IMHO SecureRandom() was added to make more unique dirname for each version of app


text:
WhatsApp didn't restore local backup, where can I find them?
I wanted to clear & restore WhatsApp to make sure it deploys encrypted Google Drive backups. I've never done a Drive backup, only local. I made a local backup on the fly, then wiped WhatsApp data using app settings.
I re-registered to WA, but my chat history was totally blank! I found that the local directory /sdcard/WhatsApp was missing in Google Files app.
Panic again. I am now restoring a NAS backup of my WA directory, but I am surprised to see that, while the last synchronization occurred one week ago, all backup files are dated April 25th, 2021.
Does WhatsApp still store data in /sdcard/WhatsApp? Does it get deleted automagically when you clear WA data from settings? If I have to format my device and don't have Google Drive backups, what directories should I back up? Have I lost months of chat history?
If it matters, the device is Google Pixel 5, Android 12.

In the end, it was because the Android file system policy has changed. I'll share it for reference.
Before Android 11, WhatsApp saved files under /sdcard/WhatsApp.
Starting from Android 11, and anyways since someday around April 25th, 2021, WhatsApp now stores data under /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp to comply with A11 storage APIs.
I had FolderSync to sync all my /sdcard directory. In my own case, except for /sdcard/Android because of file permissions issues. So while the /sdcard/WhatsApp folder was already gone on my device, the last sync was made on April 25th (WA backups chats every day).
In the end, I lost 6 months of chat, not 10 years.
More, there's a pitfall. Deleting app from settings wipes /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp, wiping backups and media. Uninstalling WA prompts for keeping or deleting data, but when you uninstall/reinstall WA, you have to register again.
In the end, I'll have to open another question why WA didn't deploy e2e encrypted backups.

"*Deleting app from settings wipes.. *"... How do you delete an app from settings? Guess you meant Uninstall). This and the next sentence need clarity (when you say uninstall which prompts you to keep data, are you uninstalling from Play store?)


text:
Will background sync on chrome take up extra mobile data?
I have the samsung a32 5g.
I noticed there's an option called background sync on chrome that supposedly makes sure interactions between others are done securely done without error. I know it probably uses more battery, but what about mobile data? Is it worth keeping it on if I'm mainly just going through the web, and will it affect data usage if I'm not sending emails?

Not sure if this description of backrgound-sync refers to the same functionality but based on the description this seems to be a feature that can be used by web-sites to provide an offline-functionality for actions that sends data to a server. Data sending is just delayed and stored on device until you are online again.

I see, would it really matter for battery life or data?

For data it just a delay, if you send something now or in 10 minutes doesn't really care. For battery I don't know, the amount should not be really significant, as long as you don't use it with 100MB+ uploads.

Sorry to clarify you mean there will be a delay until there is a stable connection to send something if the sync is turned ON? I don't know how this would affect data but wouldn't it refresh some web pages or something while you're not using it and that's how extra data would be used?

What I wrote was only for the case where you are offline but perform an upload. If you are online ai don't know if data is sent directly. I would assume that depends on how the website is implemented.


text:
How to factory reset when /data cannot be mounted?
My phone shows "Encryption unsuccessful" message after trying to open and the "Factory reset" button below it does nothing. I tried to boot into recovery mode (Power + Volume Up + Home) and chose "wipe data / factory reset", but it results in messages like this:
- wiping data..
- failed to mount /data
- wipe complete

Although it feels like the wipe is not complete, since the same errors keep happening..
I wonder if I should (if it is even possible) connect the phone to my PC with a USB cable and manually delete everything? Other than that, I'm not sure how to do a factory reset. Assuming this is not a hardware failure of course..
My phone is not rooted, and I don't care about data loss. I just want a way to reformat and be able to use the phone..
Edit: If possible, I would prefer to format the phone so that it does not encrypt the file system anymore, in order to prevent a future error of the same kind.
Thanks for any help!

I'm not sure, what that is :) The phone is not rooted. I just want to factory reset it. I can install ADB to my PC, I guess, if that's necessary. Although I prefer to do it with a built-in Ubuntu tool like dd or something if it's possible.
Edit: the device is 5ish years old i think, and it has been turned off for a while so it might have caused hardware issues. It got stuck while trying to open and I removed the battery, maybe that's what caused the encryption issue.
I could try Odin, I guess.. Not sure how to check the bootloader..

Sure, it wasn't a great device to begin with so I don't have my hopes up :p Just trying to see if it's saveable.. OK, I will try Odin. Thank you so much! I wish I could upvote your comments, though at this point, they are as good as any answer.. So you might want to post an answer :)

Will Odin root my phone? I don't really want to root it unless it's absolutely necessary. Edit: That's OK, I could work with another encrypted installation, if it works :p

I guess. The phone is not a Samsung, I actually doubt if i can even find its model since I cannot open the phone :) Wish there was a way to backup/restore the current firmware..

Connecting the phone to PC, Windows started downloading MT65XX drivers but I'm not sure what the XX part is..

Does this answer your question? Backup/dump kernel image (and full ROM) without root for Mediatek Devices

I found that the phone model is MT6572. Phone brand is ZTE but I'm not sure about that.. I'm trying to find a stock rom for MT6572 now.. I think I need to use SP Flash Tool for this phone. The recovery screen looks very similar to this one: https://forums.androidcentral.com/attachments/general-help-how/84075d1380718778t-android-recovery-3e-3e.jpg

Mine doesn't show that. it just says "Android system recovery <3e>" then "Volume up/down to move.."

you can enter bootloader mode, install bootloader interface drivers and type 'fastboot getvar all'

could be ZTE Blade with unlocked bootloader - 'fastboot format:ext4 userdata' should work. or create your own scatter file with Wwr_MTK and format userdata from SP Flash Tool

how/where do i enter that command? thanks by the way :)

enter bootloader mode, install Android Bootloader Interface drivers, download platform-tools and type 'fastboot devices' in cmd.exe


text:
How to Block an IP Address on Android
There's an IP address keeping ICMP my network every minute.
I've already blocked the IP on my router, I'd like to know how to configure traffic control on Android if possible.
Please tell me if there's a way or app to control access from/to a specific IP address.

The incoming ICMP is IPv4 or IPv6? If it is V4 then it can not pass your router anyway.

@Robert it's V4, my network is under the CGNAT of ISP. It seems  my WIFI connections has got SynDrop DoS attacked, which I'm not pretty sure though.


text:
Why didn't WhatsApp deploy end-to-end encrypted backups to me?
It looks like the e2e encrypted backups are rolled out in production since a while. You can essentially encrypt Google Drive backups with a key that is unknown to WhatsApp/Meta Inc.
I found that once she changed phone, my mum had this option. I still don't have it. I never enabled Google Drive backups. I tried to authorize Google Drive, hoping that WA will display me the option to encrypt backups.
Nothing happens.
I also tried to reset WA data and restoring a backup, but I can't still encrypt my backups.
I'd really like to use e2e encrypted backups.
My WA folder weighs more than 3GB over the last 10 years.
Is there a reason why WhatsApp doesn't offer, despite keeping the app up to date, e2e encrytped backups to all users? What can I do to enable such feature?

Did you do these steps? From the question it looks like you didn't. https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/how-to-turn-on-and-turn-off-end-to-end-encrypted-backup/?lang=en

There is no option for encrypted backups, that's why I said 'deploy'

Yet to be rolled though announced in October

Which version is your whatsapp messager? Mine is 2.21.22.26 and it has it.


text:
Total Commander for Android : multi rename tool
I am sure I am missing something here and a quick fast dirty attempt yielded nothing.
I would like to rename all files in a specific directory using total commander for Android multi rename tool so that all extensions have JPG and only the first five letters of the filename are included in the rename.
asssdd.0
sloppyjoeontop.0
gghhhh.0

results
asss.jpg
sloppy.jpg
gghhh.jpg

How can this be done?
I tried to replace everything aka * with  name placeholder aka [N1-5] and then the extension. This respects the extension and changes it but there is no change in the name.See screenshot

Source
After breaking my head for an hour figured it out and it turns out to be quite simple!(see source)
From my call recorder files in mp3 format, I picked up two records and changed the file name to conceal identity/number in the file name . I wanted to convert them to jpg files with only the first five letters in file name.
That is
 nonsense name 914850098765678902345.mp3 → nonse.jpg
abracadabra 2021-09-24 14.19.44_O_P330.mp3 → abrac.jpg
All you need to do is to enter [N1-5] in the name mask, which means retain first five characters in the file name and enter the desired extension. Nothing else.
Click START! and you are done!

Here are the changes in the folder for these two files

You can also undo the changes by selecting the changed files, going to Multi-rename tool and ... → undo last operation. If you need to do these operations frequently, from the 3 dots options save as a profile and use that profile to save yourself the bother of setting it up again.


text:
Pixel 6 can't access certain websites on wifi, but the Pixel 3 works fine
My Pixel 6 can't connect to a few domains like api.reddit.com, api.bitwarden.com, WSJ images, etc. I'm using PingTool to run ping and tracert to certain domains.

Phone
Domain
Network
DNS
Result

Pixel 3
api.reddit.com: DNS -> IPv4
home wifi
203.0.113.2, 203.0.113.3
✅

Pixel 3
api.reddit.com: 151.101.57.140, IPv4 direct
home wifi
203.0.113.2, 203.0.113.3
✅

Pixel 3
api.reddit.com: 2a04:4e42::200::396, IPv6 direct
home wifi
203.0.113.2, 203.0.113.3
❌

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: DNS -> IPv6
T-mobile
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: 151.101.57.140, IPv4 direct
T-mobile
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: 2a04:4e42::200::396, IPv6 direct
T-mobile
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: DNS -> IPv4, before IPv6 kicks in 30 seconds later
home wifi
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: DNS -> IPv6
home wifi
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
❌

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: 151.101.57.140, IPv4 direct
home wifi
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: 2a04:4e42::200::396, IPv6 direct
home wifi
203.0.113.1, 203.0.113.2
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: DNS -> IPv4
gym wifi
?
✅

Pixel 6
api.reddit.com: 151.101.57.140, IPv4 direct
gym wifi
?
✅

There's something going on with IPv6 DNS and it affects a number of sites: Reddit, WSJ, Fitbit, etc. How do I disable IPv6 for wifi? Most of the instructions I've found only apply to mobile networks.

Disable ipv6 on your router.


text:
GSI-GMS image bootloop, non-GMS works fine
Flashing the ARM64 version (Android 11 or 12) from here works fine on my Blackview BL6000 Pro.
However, flashing any ARM64+GMS only boots into the bootloader (not fastbootd).
In general, how would one investigate why this happens?
I can boot into the Stock Recovery, however, I cannot adb into the device because it shows up as unauthorized (perfectly authorized in the OS though).
Unfortunately, afaik there's also no custom recovery available for my device.
I thought about reading logcat or dmesg but I don't see a way to access them without having
adb access.
Thanks for any hints.
Here's my procedure:

SP Flash the stock rom
Unlock the bootloader in the dev options
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flashing unlock
fastboot reboot fastboot
fastboot delete-logical-partition product(this is necessary because the GSI is larger than the stock rom system partition)
fastboot erase system
fastboot flash system aosp-system.img (automatically resizes system)
fastboot -w
fastboot reboot which lands me in the OS for the non-GMS version, and in the bootloader for the GMS version.

I didn't figure out this issue but I ended up using CAOS11 https://github.com/eremitein/treble-patches/wiki/CAOS11-Project.


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100ANDRO folder visible over USB but not on the phone
I've migrated a Sony device to a Pixel 4a. I've got an 100ANDRO folder inside DCIM. This folder is visible over USB connection. I cannot delete this folder (or the files inside) because "The device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected" (which is not the case). I cannot see the 100ANDRO folder from my phone itself. How do I get rid of that folder?

Solved myself: created 100ANDRO folder on the phone and that made the old one to disappear. 20GB+ sorage recovered!

Most likely the Android Media Database had not yet processed the files in this folder. A device reboot or just waiting should had also "recovered" this folder.

Hi, looks like you've found the solution by yourself, which is great! Consider post it as a proper answer since self-answering is not only allowed, but even encouraged!. Thanks!


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Are contacts stored in Contacts Provider under one application's account visible to all other applications?
I have read about the Contacts Provider API, but it is not clear to me how applications interactions are regulated. If an application stores contacts in an account specific to that application, can any other application given permission to access contacts still read the information of those contacts (i.e., of the other application)? Or does each application have access only to its own accounts and any contacts manually entered via the (default) Contacts application?

Yes, all data stored in Contacts Provider is visible to all apps with READ_CONTACTS permission and if the user has given the permission. From the official documentation of Android Developers - Retrieve a list of contacts,

Request permission to read the provider
To do any type of search of the Contacts Provider, your app must have READ_CONTACTS permission. [...]

This is why contacts apps can generally show multiple account types for the same person (e.g. Google, WhatsApp, Microsoft), and also why social messaging apps (e.g. WhatsApp) and social media apps (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) can detect registered accounts based on phone numbers and/or emails stored in the Contacts Provider.

Whenever you start using an app, it asks you for permissions to perform the tasks the app is supposed to do - like access to camera, to contacts, and so on. Those permissions are app specific. You can view the permissions when you go to your phone's configuration -> privacy -> manage permissions.
If you wish, you can revoke permissions of any app you think it shouldn't have that specific permission - it will not harm the app itself, and when the app needs that access again, it will ask you.


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synching a contact edit across various Google accounts & Samsung account
this may be a familiar situation with many  .
you may have multiple google accounts and one propriety phone provider account e.g. Samsung account

exemplifying the above

g1 - Google account 1

g2 - Google account 2

s1 - Samsung account
so  when a contact is added  it may reside in g1 & s1 or g1 or  g2  &  s1
if I edit the contact in g1 , the edit will not show up everywhere including WhatsApp unless and until I edit the very same contact with exactly the same update,   on g2  &  s1 manually.
what I would like to do is if I edit contact in g1 , the same number in g2 and s1 should automatically get the cascading edit.
how do I achieve this ?

Not possible AFAIK, both are separate containers synced to separate servers and there is no interface that is possible, unless you manually export contacts from one and sync into other and keep doing it periodically

how about between Google accounts forget the propriety

Again not possible, separate accounts have everything separate contacts, mail, drive etc

understand cm'ly is there any playstore app that will do that

Not that I am aware of

I guess so.... another one I thought might interest you.                               https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/242902/cold-blooded-hotspot-frequent-internet-connection-failures-why-do-they

Sorry, but that's beyond me!

No issues ...   thanks & much appr'd your earlier replies.


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Why does Signal is not availlable for installation on Samsung Tablet
I want to install Signal on a Samsumg Galaxy Tab A (2016) with Android-Version 8.1.
According to Signal official page, Android 4.4 or superior is required (so, this should be no problem)
But in the Google Play app on the tablet, I can't find it.
And on the website ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms ) , it clearly shows that Signal is NOT 2 of my tablets (the Tab A above, and a even younger one)

( x sign to show the Signal app is not availlable on this device, and the "v" sign for availlable)
I have 2 ideas to explain this fact:

I installed Google Family Link on these tablets. But as Signal is not age limited, I really don't understand
these tablets has no SIM card slot. They are "WIFI version only".

Could someone help me installing Signal on this Tab A ?

https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/10432

https://signal.org/android/apk download the Signal APK directly

Signal is only available for devices with built-in cellular functionality. But you can install and activate it manually. Note that for people using Signal as default SMS app it will get bit more complicated to send you an SMS instead of an Signal message as by default Signal prefers a Signal message instead of an SMS if the recipient is activated in Signal.

@Robert But Signal is installable on my laptop and desktop computers, which don't have cell phone connection.

Here is a good related feature request for me to track. https://community.signalusers.org/t/allow-android-ios-devices-e-g-tablets-but-also-phones-to-be-linked-to-the-primary-device-i-e-used-as-secondary-device-like-the-desktop-app/2884/223


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How to get MX Player to show .gif files in file lists?
MX Player is able to play .gif files, but does not populate its list views (i.e., internal file explorer) with them, even when explicitly defined as an extension through the relevant settings page (it accepts the change and refreshes with no error message, but nothing new loads on the front end and going back in reveals the added entry does not persist).  The only way to play them is by opening through another app as video, and then selecting MX Player.  I've reached out to the dev team but they have advised that as far as they are concerned, this behavior is in line with their expectations according to their categorical interpretation of the .gif file extension not qualifying as a "video" media file container (a distinction I fail to comprehend, much less concur with).  In any case, I'd like to see if there's any method to take matters into my own hands, e.g., any .cfg files or similar preference store that can be modified directly to "force" persistent recognition and enumeration of the file extension?

I would recommend to ask questions about MX Player as suggested in the app description on XDA: on http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/mx-player or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MXPlayer

If the developer didn't mention any solution/workaround, then it's unlikely there's any configurable setting that can be modified by the end-user. Looks like it's the logic in the app, which means that it needs to be modified and built from the source code (or reverse-engineer and modding, but that's outside of the scope of this site).


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How can I remove a PIN password form a backup?
I forgot the PIN to my Huawei TIT-AL00 android device. So I backed up my user data to a backup file.(user_data__20150913_075028.backup*) I couldn't use ADB to backup as it wasn't enabled in the recovery mode. I had to use the backup user data option from the recovery menu.
Is there a way that I can remove the PIN password from the backup file so that when I restore it and just use the phone without having to type the password? I tried the solution mentioned here : How to extract .backup files created by android stock recovery? But this didn't work either.
I am aware that if I had ADB access to the device, I could have removed the password by editing the /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases or by deleting the /data/system/gesture.key. Since I didn't have ADB access to the device I couldn't do this.
Is there a way that I can extract the backup file, delete/edit these files by mannually and then compress so that I can restore it?

check with hex editor if userdata_20150913_075028.backup is encrypted or plain disk image

I am not sure whether it's encrypted or not. I used the hexeditor and I can see the hex values. But when I run the "file" command against it, it just tells me "data".

According to how I understood, if the 0xef53 exists at 0x638 offset of the hexdump it's not encrypted. Correct? If so, mine is not encrypted.

I was able to bckp2cwm.sh and extract the files and remove the password(as it said). Has the script made required changes to the backup file as well or just extracted it? Can I now just restore it like a normal backup file?

Unfortunately, there is no way to restore from stock recovery as I don't know how to calculate checksum. you can however restore from custom recovery TWRP

Actually, I can't access fastboot for some reason. So this is not the way for me. Thanks anyways.

Okay, I will try. Tbh, I am not that familiar with android work. Anyways, I will try to follow the linked answer. Is there anyway I can reach you if need help?

Does this answer your question? Backup/dump kernel image (and full ROM) without root for Mediatek Devices

try Wwr_MTK and SP Flash Tool. your device most likely is not Qualcomm but Mediatek chipset. instead of EDL mode it has preloader mode which is similar


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Is there a way to unaccept WhatsApp's new terms and privacy policy?
As you may know, WhatsApp's new terms and privacy policy are currently optional, as "we currently have no plans for these reminders to become persistent and to limit the functionality of the app".
But those reminders are easily clickable. So if someone that I know accidentally clicked them, is there any way to "undo" it and return to "reminder mode"?

Go to settings and force - stop the app

@beeshyams umm, did you mean "clear data"?

That said, I don't remember if this privacy policy is per account, per device, or per installation. If it's per account, then I doubt there's any way to reset since it's stored on the WhatsApp server. If it's per device/installation, then clearing data may reset the value (warning: untested, may also remove all chats).

It's a good question, but not worth testing due to this risk. I wish someone maybe like a newspaper/blogger were to test it by buying a new number to avoid the risk of losing anything.


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Hotspot connection lost to PC every few minutes
My only internet connection at present is via a hotspot on Moto G7 (running Android Version 10) connecting via GiffGaff (which runs on the O2 network). I keep the phone data on 3G as 4G seems slower when the network strength is low.
I have had a connectivity problem between my phone and my Asus laptop running Win 10 Home (build 19042.1348) for about the last year.
Sometimes the connection is fine running at 1-3 Mbps download but frequently it disconnects. I can often get a reconnection by disconnecting and reconnecting my connection to the phone hotspot on my laptop and/or by running Windows' network Troubleshooter. This disconnection happens every 3-10 minutes so having to reconnect 10 times an hour is not unusual.
I would be grateful for two things:
Firstly if there is an obvious solution I would love to hear it;
Secondly I am unfamiliar with this area and would be grateful for a recommendation of diagnostic tools.
I emphasise this is a problem of connectivity between the laptop and the phone via wifi. This is not a problem of the network to the phone.
Thanks for your time.

I actually have the same problem on a phone (samsung grand prime +) that i am using to wifi hotspot my to simcardless tablet. The wifi hotspot keeps on disconnecting periodically after about 5 minutes. What I do is that every time I reboot the phone, firstly i switch on wifi, then switch on mobile hotspot and then switch off mobile hotspot and then switch on mobile hotspot again. Turns out that this simple procedure solves everything and there are no more disconnections. Try it and maybe it will work for you too.

Yep I have had some success with rebooting phone and PC but does not always work but sometimes cures it for quite a while. When you say you "switch on wifi" do you mean on the computer? Anyway I'll give it a go as have not rebooted for about 5 hours.

Sadly worked for 1 min 58 seconds :-(

@BeNice I meant that switch on wifi first then switch on mobile hotspot on the phone that you are using to hotspot to the pc.

I am actually using my phone now which has the same problem but it has been on for an hour.

After switching on phone (1)switch on wifi (2) switch on mobile hotspot (3) switch off mobile hotspot (4) switch on mobile hotspot amd you are good to go----   [After doing all this im certain that it will not switch off again. You may want to do this every time you switch off your phone

It does not work for me. (Just checking you do mean switch on the wifi on the computer. Just wondered if you meant data on the phone... In any case not working here sadly.)

I dont think you are getting me. Maybe my english is bad. After rebooting your Moto G7 switch on wifi (on your Moto G7 not on your pc), on your Moto G7 switch on mobile hotspot, on your Moto G7 switch off mobile hotspot, then lastly switcb it on mobile hotspot again amd you are good to go.

@Silent thanks - it was a language thing. You mean switch off the data on the phone etc. (The wifi (IEEE 802.11 stuff) is only between the phone and the computer.) I had tried switching data on and off in many ways already. As it happens I have found a robust solution for my situation but thanks for trying. I'll post the answer in a day or so. Thanks Steve

@BeNice  Oh you have found a solution am glad you found one. I thought we had the same problem but turns out its not so. So the problem is between your phone and computer but for me its global whether the client is a phone or pc it will always disconnect. Not exacty disconnect but the phone will stop broadcasting the wifi network and at the same time the wifi hotspot notification would still be on.

I had this same issue with my Redmi Note 4 (mido). In my case, the hotspot turned off automatically after 3-5 minutes of use. I was running a custom ROM (Lineage OS 17 - Android 11). This was easily fixed by flashing a new kernel (suggested by the developer of the RO himself).
However, if you are not familiar with terms such as TWRP or fastboot, you should wait for the next software update or keep looking for some other ways people might have fixed this error.
Meanwhile, you could use USB Tethering to solve your issue. You can use the internet on your PC with 3 simple steps.

Connect your phone to your PC.
Open Settings on your phone.
Tap Network & internet > Hotspot & Tethering, then tap the switch to turn USB tethering on.

I got the same problem and finally got it fixed! Please change the password encryption to WPA2/WPA3 Personal or WPA3. My Android access point had WPA2 Wi-Fi encryption enabled and my laptop was dropping the connection every 2 minutes. Now it works perfectly.


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Alarm is silent because "Unable to play during call" because of facebook messenger
This morning, the alarm did not wake me up.
When I change the ringtone, I cannot hear how the new ringtone sounds (the phone is still silent) but I get the message

Unable to play during call

My conclusion is that the phone did not sound when the alarm went off earlier this morning because the phone was "in a call".
An alarm should not be blocked by anything (and there was no call).
How do I fix it?
I closed apps one after another and when I had closed facebook messenger, I could hear ringtones again.
But as long as the phone thinks running a particular app makes it being "in a call" and as long as being in a call blocks the alarm sound, the question remains.

User Pmx app, grant it permission over adb and deny all permissions of that app related to CALL// That also means don't use that app for calling


text:
Change keyboard's language with ADB?
I know there is a way to detect the current enabled_input_methods:
settings get secure enabled_input_methods
com.samsung.android.honeyboard/.service.HoneyBoardService;65538;2621440:com.samsung.android.svoiceime/.SamsungVoiceReco:com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.voicesearch.ime.VoiceInputMethodService

Also, there is a way to get the current default:
settings get secure default_input_method
com.samsung.android.honeyboard/.service.HoneyBoardService

I'm using Samsung Keyboard, and those two numbers: 65538 and 2621440 seems to be the current languages enabled.
Moreover, the first one of them seems to be the default, because if I change the language, they will change their positions.
However, I can't seem to change enabled_input_methods via ADB, because my setting is not being stored:
settings put secure enabled_input_methods 'com.samsung.android.honeyboard/.service.HoneyBoardService;2621440;65538:com.samsung.android.svoiceime/.SamsungVoiceReco:com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.voicesearch.ime.VoiceInputMethodService'

Here I changed those two numbers, but it stays the same:
settings get secure enabled_input_methods
com.samsung.android.honeyboard/.service.HoneyBoardService;65538;2621440:com.samsung.android.svoiceime/.SamsungVoiceReco:com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.voicesearch.ime.VoiceInputMethodService

Can I somehow do this?


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How can one disable incoming videos on Zoom?
How can one disable incoming videos on Zoom? I use Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android 10.
E.g. in MS Teams one may do it as follows:

From Zoom support-How to stop incoming video-Android

Start or join a meeting.
Tap the More ... option in your meeting controls.
Tap Meeting Settings.
Find and tap the toggle next to the Stop incoming video option.
To resume videos, tap the toggle next to Stop incoming video to disable.


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Force resize widget smaller than allowed
The default launcher on Google Pixel Android 12 does not allow some widgets to be resized as small as they could be. Chronos fit+ for instance is a 2x2 sized widget, so even when configured as a small 1x1 icon it still takes up extra space:

This is likely an application issue, but you use to be able to resize them as small as needed. Any workarounds?

Looks like it has something to do with the additional behavior on Android 12.

This post found a workaround where you change the Display Size option in Android settings to Small, resize the widget, and then change back your display size.


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Phone's download speed doesn't go over 10 Mbps(1.2 MBps)
I have an ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1(X00_TD). Lately, I have noticed that my phone's downloading or uploading speeds don't go over 10 to 15 Mbps. It has a 2.4 G wifi and easily used to give me 40-60 Mbps 2-3 months ago. But now I don't know why the speeds never go above 15 Mbps.
Initially, I thought my ISP maybe down or the server may not be giving off above 15, but I cross verified it 50 times with other devices.
It doesn't go above 15 Mbps even on cellular data.
The ISP is fine(100 Mbps).
It doesn't go above 15 even in speed tests. How can I fix this?
Thanks in advance

Try clearing download manager's cache and data (it's a system app and you will need enable "show system apps" in app listing //If that doesn't help try a download manager from Play store // last resort clear wifi data//If nothing helps verify if the behavior is same in safe mode (Google how to enter safe mode for your device)

Nothing helps, and the behaviour is the same in Safe Mode. What to do? @beeshyams

If it is the same device which is mentioned in your previous question, I would backup data and do a factory-reset

Trying the same now. Thanks.

@beeshyams Did a factory reset, it didn't bring any improvement.

That's unfortunate. Try flashing the stock ROM if it is possible or head to the service centre //unless you want to root it and try flashing a custom ROM // Factory reset is a nuclear option and if that doesn't fix things, I doubt there is a solution

Thank you so much, will go to the service center. @beeshyams

The issue got fixed, the issue was with the ROM. I had flashed a stock ROM from ASUS' website a month or so ago and due to that even factory resetting didn't help. I flashed a new Pixel Experience ROM on it by unlocking the bootloader and it fixed the issue. I'm now getting full speeds, 50 Mbps+


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Cannot install app from Play store - fail to connect
Installing an application from the Play store fails to download, a brief message states

"please open my apps to establish a connection with the server"

Search and update work as expected. Only downloading fails.
This issue pertains to any application on both Wifi and cellular networks. Restarting the phone or connection (e.g. Toggling flight mode) fail to resolve this particular occurrence of the issue (but worth trying first!). Also if it was a generic connection issue search and update would likely be impacted. Hope this helps someone in the future.

Sorry but this question can not be answered, as it misses all relevant information (what app, what connection, ...). Please update the question or delete it.

@Robert those are not omissions, the issue was clearly the play store app. So every application and every connection. I could of course make this point clearer. It is brief but my Google foo found no good Q&A so it wanted something future people could find

Clear play store data, and try again. On samsung device, S7 specifically go to:
Settings > Apps Manager > Google Play Store > Storage
Clear data
(Clear Cache is also an option but does not seem sufficient to resolve this error)


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SD Maid installed service - Is it actually useful and doesn't take up much battery?
I found out about the app's installed service, I'm not sure if it would take up more battery by enabling it to clean memory and stop apps. Has anyone found this installed service useful? Will it unexpectedly close apps like sleep cycle that acts as an alarm and snore recorder overnight?

@beeshyams Yes, under that is installed services. Do you know if it actually helps in clearing up RAM properly, and therefore saving battery? If you played pokemon go, does it conflict with adventure sync by forcing the game to stop?

Thank you for the help, I'm not referring to app cleaner as that is a PRO option only. I apologize for the ambiguity as I'm not quite sure how SD Maid works exactly, but it doesn't seem to freeze Pokemon go at the least. What I'm concerned about is adventure sync, which tracks your Km distance walked despite not having the app opened, it syncs based on your location and where you go. I was just not sure if the game actually does work in the background for adventure sync to work or something when the game is not launched, but I'm assuming SD Maid won't interfere with that.

@beeshyams
In case you are wondering, this is what I meant: https://imgur.com/a/DNBxMSl
I did not find anything where it asks me to "force stop" apps, so I have no idea how it really works. It seems to clean RAM at random times at most for me.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


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Setup localhost proxy
I am hosting a PWA in a local network. The network is not connected to the internet and is for internal use only. As service-workers require https, which is tricky (at least for me) to set up in a local network, and service-workers are allowed to run from localhost or 127.*, I wondered if I could proxy the local IP of the server hosting the PWA (it's in the 172 address range) to an IP of the 127.* address range on the android phone trying to access the PWA, thus mitigating the requirement for SSL encryption. As it's not connected to the internet and only for internal use, I don't worry about security issues.
Is this possible or is there a smarter way? How would I do it?

What you are trying to do is far more complex that simply set-up an https server for your network (and import the used certificate on Android. For web browsers like Chrome this works). Because you would not only have to redirect/proxy the traffic but also modify the hostname contained in each HTTP request. Last but not least I don't understand why you post this on an Android site or is the server running on Android?

Well, there's multiple ways to achieve it and I don't know what's the easiest way. One solution I thought of was the one I proposed here with redirecting/mapping IP ranges on an android device, hence the Android site. If it's easier to setup https on the server and somehow import the certificate, I will do that. Do you know a good resource I could have a look at for that?


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Soft bricked my Samsung Galaxy j2 Prime. I need help!
First of all, I must clarify I'm not tech savy, I have some really basic knowledge but it's the same as nothing. I will do however try to follow up.
The problem:
I followed this guide on how to quickly and effortlessly root my Samsung J2 Prime G532M. What I ended up getting was that system apps every half second stop working, making my device inaccesible through home screen, slowing it down and making it almost unusable.
I have looked into tutorials but I just get completely lost, and all of them require to wipe all data, which I really don't want to. In case it's not possible, how do I know which one of these stock firmware will work on my device?
The main goal
Is it possible to restore my firmware to how it was before without loosing my data? I didn't do a firmware backup because the tutorial never mentioned to.
I tried moving files to my PC from a USB cable, but most folders appear as empty when they clearly shouldn't (my Whatsapp stickers folders for example)

I think you should better ask the guide authors.

I did, they didn't reply so far. Besides, I don't think the author answers, it's a """"updated""" guide from 2016

About stock firmware version. I would try to flash the most recent one. Or it seems PDA column may refer to specific model modifications. Try to check whether Setting -> About phone includes a similar number. If yes then select firmware based on it.

get your files off device via 'adb pull -a /sdcard' or if your device is rooted get a dump of whole userdata partition via 'adb exec-out "su -c cat /dev/block/dm-0 2> /dev/null" > userdata.img' (or /dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.msdc0/by-name/userdata if not encrypted). If not rooted dump userdata partition from SP Flash in Tool (if not encrypted) you can mount ext4 disk image afterwards

btw there is TWRP linked in last post of the guide you followed. once you have dump of dm-0/userdata you can restore it from TWRP via 'adb push userdata.img /dev/block/mmcblk0p29'

Hey @alecxs thank you! Unfortunattely I have already flashed it with a stock (but not approved) firmware. Still, thanks for taking your time


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Running a python script on an Android device
I need to control an android app using a python script. Currently, I connect my phone to my laptop and use adb (android debug bridge).
Process:

Laptop sends an adb shell command to android to take a snapshot of the screen
Android sends the snapshot to my laptop for processing
Python/laptop will process the snapshot by analyzing a series of pixels to detect a change in shapes on screen and decide what action to take (tap, swipe, ...)
Python/laptop will send an adb shell tap or swipe command to the android device
Android will execute the action

The problem is that this process is a little slow and it binds my phone to my laptop.
Is there a way to have the python script live on the android device directly making decisions and taking actions? The closest I have found so far is using Termux, but what library could I use to replace adb? (To analyse the content of the screen, send tap/swipe actions?)

Your problem is not only to run the script but also to gain the necessary permissions. Termux is an app and everything you execute within is also restricted by these app permissions. Making screen shots of other apps and sending touch commands is disallowed for apps. There are techniques to enable ADB after a reboot via USB so that afterwards apps can make use of ADB on-device. That could be a possible workaround.

Note that app development is off-topic since Android Enthusiasts focuses on end-users or power-users (but not necessarily developers) solving their issues, so library suggestions are out of scope.


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Converting images to ext4 format and back creates bad flash file
I am trying to create a Rockchip custom ROM by getting an existing custom ROM, unpackaging it, making small modifications, then packaging it back up again.
There is a problem with me converting the system.img file from sparse android format to extformat and back again. There are no errors, but when I flash the resulting pacakge, the device fails to start.
Here's an experiment I've done:
simg2img system.img system-raw.img
img2simg system-raw.img converted-back.img

If I type file system.img:

system.img: Android sparse image, version: 1.0, Total of 1048576 4096-byte output blocks in 697 input chunks.

If I type file converted-back.img:

converted-back.img: Android sparse image, version: 1.0, Total of 1048576 4096-byte output blocks in 9674 input chunks.

Should I be adding some parameter to img2simg, or should I be using a different tool to create the sparse image file?
To confirm it is actually the sparse image conversion that's the problem and not something else, I have successfully done the following:

Used rkImageMaker to unpack the original firmware image (which produces a bootloader and a new package file with the header 'RKAF')
Used afptool to unpack this package file to a number of different files, including system.img
MODIFIED NOTHING
Used afptool to repackage these image files into an RKAF file
Used rkImageMaker to package the bootloader and the RKAF file into a RKFW file.

This newly create RKFW image file can be flashed to the device, no problem. It's only when I add simg2img and img2simg into the mix that things go wrong.
More details:

I am getting aftptool and rkImageMaker from here: https://github.com/rockchip-android/RKTools
I got simg2img and img2simg by typing sudo apt-get install android-sdk-libsparse-utils

Do not use the tool img2simg to convert the raw image back to a sparse image. (Even though it seems logical to do so).
The tool that you use to create the sparse system img file is make_ext4fs.
I got this tool by building the entire android source tree for the version and target architecture. (Which took days to figure out)
Here's how I finally invoked the make_ext4fs application. (The build was in the subfolder ~/aosp_build).
sudo mkdir /mnt/system
sudo mount -O pipe system-raw.img /mnt/system
sudo ~/aosp_build/out/host-linux-x86/bin/make_ext4fs -s -l 4096M -a system -S ~/aosp_build/out/target/product/generic_arm64/root/file_contexts.bin ./converted-back.img /mnt/system

Here is my sketchy understanding of the parameters:
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
|  Parameter                  |  Meaning                                 |
+=============================+==========================================+
| -s                          | Output to be in sparse image format      |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| -l 4096M                    | Target size of the output image          |
|                             | (I wanted it to be the same size as      |
|                             | the source image, to avoid packaging     |
|                             | complications)                           |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| -a system                   | Something about setting an android mount |
|                             | point.                                   |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| -S <path>/file_contexts.bin | Something to do with permissions         |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| ./converted-back.img        | The output image name                    |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| /mnt/system                 | The source folder (generated by mounting |
|                             | the raw image)                           |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+

Other things I discovered:

There is a Ubuntu package android-sdk-ext4-utils which includes make_ext4fs. But this doesn't work! It was built without Android support. (See this discussion )
There are a number of forks of the make_ext4fs packages on github. (eg here). These are pinned to a specific android version. I don't know if the tool differs much from version to version. I still needed the file_contexts.bin file, so these were not useful to me.
I opened up the device and saw the motherboard had a serial DEBUG output. After buying the necessary USB adapter I could read the bootloader debug output through PuTTY. This was extremely useful.


text:
What does Chrome try to tell me? (aka red dot always appears on Google Chrome without apparent reason)
For a while now, there is a permanent red dot over my Google Chrome app icon:

I don't have any tabs open (had many, closed them all trying to get rid of the dot) and checked all possible settings of the app.
When I open the app and close the default tab it shows, the app close, dot disappears for a second then showing again.
Why is there a red dot, and how can I get rid of it?
Device and OS: realme 6 pro V2.0, android version 11

That's the Chrome app icon badge, which is a notification alert. You should be able to access the notification details in the notification panel.
In this case, it turns out be a download complete alert,
which wasn't swiped away:

Thanks, worth to add a follow-up of my case, I didn't notice the notification because I have several Google accounts on the device, which aren't used frequently, and each sending notifications that I just ignore. Hence, this download complete notification was buried down the list, and I didn't notice.


text:
Cannot find Telegram folder on Android 11
I have a Samsung A52S 5G with Android 11 installed on it. I have installed Telegram messaging app and have downloaded some files from groups.
In my old phone, I could find in the File Manager the Telegram folder with all the files downloaded through the app. Now, in this phone I cannot find the Telegram folder anywhere. This makes it difficult for managing the files especially the ones downloaded from groups.
Does anyone have any idea on where Telegram is saving the files in my phone?

These are stored in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/org.telegram.messenger/files/Telegram.
You can't access them because of scoped storage introduced in Android 11,for improving data privacy. If your device is rooted, you can access using a rooted file explorer

My phone status is official so apparently is unrooted. Do you know any procedure to root it?

Sorry, no and you are better off searching XDA

you can access scoped storage without having to root, use x-plore app. and just approve permissions when asked

Great, this really solved the issue