text:
How to delete a file once it is created by an app?
This question applies to any file created by an app, but this is the description of my problem.
I have an app installed in my phone that creates a .nomedia file in the root of my storage every time a specific action happens in the app. This causes all media files on my phone not to appear in gallery applications because the media scanner ignores everything.
I have contacted the app but they still did not have managed to solve that problem. What I want to know then is if there is a way to immediately delete the .nomedia file as soon as it is created by the app.

Remove that app, simply

That does not provide an answer to my question.

that's probably why I choosed to comment instead ;)

I need to use the app, so deleting it is not possible.

This should be a bug or something with your app. an App shouldn't create a .nomedia file inside system media folders. May be it is not configured properly to use its own folder

Yes, this certainly is a bug. But while they not fix it I am trying to avoid having to delete the file manually every time it is created.

Apps like Tasker can watch a certain directory for changes and execute a command if a change occurs.

@Robert I ended up using Tasker as you mentioned. If possible, please create an answer so that I can accept it. Thank you.

Monitoring a directory for a newly created or modified file is a simple task for an app as Android provides an API for doing so.
Therefore a lot of apps include file monitoring capabilities, such as Automate or Tasker. In these apps you can monitor the file as add a trigger to delete the file that will be executed immediately when the file is created.


text:
Prevent a specific app from being updated on client side
I want to prevent a specific app from being updated by Play Store and Package Installer, preferably by refusing updates. Whenever I want to update it, I am supposed to be required to revoke the prevention manually, or the app cannot be updated. It should be a system tweak or a change somewhere in /data.
Things I've thought:

Tweak somewhere so the system reports the app to be infinitely new
Make the app "invincible" and cannot be modified

It doesn't matter if the app can be removed by regular means. Any thoughts?

Tried adding the i attribute on an app's APK location, to no avail. This sounds like something that would be accomplishable by Xposed.

@DeathMashSalesman See this question of mine. chattr +i definitely won't work.

Of course not. Sadly, no packages.xml mumbo-jumbo can help, either. Only Xposed.

An idea, but not sure how to do this or even if it's possible: change the versionCode inside the AndroidManifest.xml. Generally, lower version will be prevented to overwrite higher version with error "failed to downgrade" (see https://stackoverflow.com/q/24547924)

@AndrewT. Too bad my changes got reverted after a reboot.

Possible duplicate of How to get rid of update notifications for a given app in Google Play Store?

I just found that Titanium Backup has a "Detach from Play Store" option for apps (requires PRO version). After detaching, apps won't show up in Google Play and thus won't be updated unless you manually navigate to the page and tap "Update".

It seems as if you cannot turn off auto update for specific apps. But if the app updates independently of playstore, you can restrict background data for the app and it won't update as such

source: Stack Exchange

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

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sort: votes


text:
Where can I add xposed modules to systemless xposed framework?
I have installed Magisk and systemless xposed. What do I need to do to download and install xposed modules (not Magisk modules)?
I don't see any app for xposed only the Magisk Manager from where I can install Magisk modules (like systemless xposed).

From Magisk tap downloads and search for Xposed

Choose Xposed version corresponding to your Android version- choose the version by rovo89

Tap on the module, on the next screen it will prompt you to download an installer. Do that, give permissions for installing for external sources when prompted. Go back to the earlier screen and install. Let it do it's job and reboot.

You would get the familiar Xposed installer. You are now good to install systemless Xposed modules

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


text:
How to change Google assistant associated account?
If I have multiple Google account signed in. How do I change the associated account which Google assistant will use?
So Google assistant will load the personalized settings from the correct account.

Open Google Assistant by holding Home button.
Go to Explorer (Tap the Explorer icon on Top-Right Side).

Tap the Menu icon and choose Account, Then select your account.

Done.


text:
"App not found" for only applications in folders and on SD card
I rebooted my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge this morning, however, upon restart any applications that are on the SD card and in a folder get the message "App Not Found" when trying to launch. These apps also have the grey SD card icon.
Moving the app out into the root tray allows the application to launch. However, moving the app to internal storage doesn't.
Uninstalling and reinstalling an app doesn't help. Neither does clearing system cache.
Is there a fix for this? The workaround is to move all apps out of folders, but this means I can't organise them as well.

Solution appeared to be :

settings
apps
show system apps on menu
Samsung experience home
clear cache
force stop

I did this. It didn't work. I then set about moving the apps I'd moved back to the internal memory starting with iPlayer. As soon as I had moved iPlayer the icons for the other apps I'd moved to the SD card regained their colour (they'd previously been greyed out) and started working...
This was on Galaxy Tab Active.

1) Try Restart.
2) Unmount sd card, then clicked on mount sd card.
3) Try Another Launcher


text:
"Webpage not available" for some webpages but not all
I can not access all webpages on my phone. While some are working fine, others simply show "Webpage not available".
This appears to be independent of the webbrowser. It's always the same webpages that won't work and they won't work with neither mBrowser nor Tint Browser and I have also experienced this on my mother's smartphone with the default browser.
This is not a matter of misspelling or being temporarily not available: I have been experiencing this for months now (not always - there were times when I was able to access those pages) and the webpages are reliably accessible from a computer.
This happens both when I am entering the URL manually as well as when clicking on a link from google.
Removing the battery or clearing Tint Browser's cache did not help.
some pages that are not accessible:

https://wiki.archlinux.org
https://github.com
https://jisho.org

some pages that are accessible:

google
leo.org
wikipedia.org

I am using Android 4.0.4 (CyanogenMod 9.1.0), mBrowser 12.0, Tint Browser 1.8 (10). My mother's phone was a Sony Experia with the preinstalled OS but I can't check the Android version because it got lost.

Let's check the supported HTTPS protocol versions of the sites you mentioned.

https://wiki.archlinux.org -> only TLS 1.2
https://github.com -> only TLS 1.2
https://jisho.org -> only TLS 1.2
https://google.com -> TLS 1.0 TLS 1.1 TLS 1.2
https://leo.org -> TLS 1.0 TLS 1.1 TLS 1.2
https://wikipedia.org  -> TLS 1.0 TLS 1.1 TLS 1.2

Do you see the pattern? From my perspective I would assume that the used browsers use the old outdated web engine of your OS which does not support TLS 1.2.
My suggestion would be to install the Chrome app and use it (and may be even set it as default browser engine - was this already possible on Android 4.0?).
Chrome includes the latest SSL/TLS libraries with TLS 1.2 support furthermore it is not affected by dozens of security vulnerabilities which your outdated integrated web engine suffers from.


text:
Format 64Gb SD without cardreader
I've installed CM11 on my Sprint Note II, and that thing suddenly won't recognize my external 64Gb SD (whereas stock ROM used to).
I've googled - seems I need to fix the partition. I've tried different options of partitioning and formating in Clockworkmod recovery, still can't see my card.
Some people suggested to fix it on computer and I don't have neither a cardreader nor a machine with Windows at my disposal. And yet even with those, I still have to know what type of partition it should be. Fat, exFat, ext3, ext4?
So, I'm wandering - is it possible to fix a partition table without taking the card out, maybe using adb shell with fdisk or parted or something else?
UPD:
I've tried repartitioning it with fdisk. First I needed to figure out card's block device id. You can do it either by running blkid command (and in my case my card didn't even show up in the list). Or instead pull the card out and plug it back, and immediately run dmesg | grep mmc1 after that. And that gave me this:
<6>[  555.585323] c0 mmc1: new high speed SDXC card at address e624
<6>[  555.587975] c0 mmcblk1: mmc1:e624 SU64G 59.4 GiB

And then I used fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk1, pressed p and that shows me this:
Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk1: 63.8 GB, 63864569856 bytes
4 heads, 16 sectors/track, 1948992 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 64 * 512 = 32768 bytes

Now based on this information I have to create partition(s), but I have no idea what kind or type. fdisk supports quite a big list. Can you guys advise what to do next?

It should be visible within "Disk Management" (diskmgmt.msc) in Windows. From there you can create, delete, modify and format partitions.

I guess you type faster than you read...

The question hadn't updated when I submitted that.

The title specifically indicated "how to do that without taking the card out i.e. using card reader" since the initial submit. Sorry, but your answer is neither relevant nor really helpful.

Yes, and you can do this with the card still in the phone. Similarly, you comment is neither relevant nor really helpful.

You know what? I just found a Windows PC, connected my phone, mount the USB in recovery mode, and as you said it found it in Disk Management. I was able to successfully format it into exFAT and now my phone sees it. I am very sorry for acting rude. Although it's your own fault as well. You should've elaborated that in your answer. I had no idea it would work via USB. I do apologise and thank you

No worries. Glad its sorted anyways. Note to self; more detail next time!

AFAIK the most common standard here is FAT32 (which usually ships as format of the only partition with new cards). So using that, you should be on the safe side.
On the other hand: If you have no plans using the card via a card reader on Windows machines, you could also try EXT3 or EXT4. Both should be supported by CM (and also most other ROMs), as with current ROMs EXTFS is used internally as well.
For details, you might wish to check our file-system tag-wiki, which also links to more information.

remember the card is 64Gb. There must be some sort of limitations. I remember long time ago I've tried using older version on CM and was in fact able to see the very same card, but if I'm not mistaken I couldn't see the entire volume. And now I can't even partition it right, so CM would mount it

Yes, there are limits. Many device specs say they support "up to 32 GB". I'm not sure this is a device limit, it could well be the implementation.

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


text:
I can't find the boot/recovery partitions on my Android phone for backup - where are they?
I'm trying to back up boot.img, recovery.img, and system.img on my Android phone. I've found several mentions of running this command:
cat proc/mtd

and then just using dd to copy the listed mount points. Seems straightforward enough. Unfortunately, the output of that command is just this single line:
dev:    size   erasesize  name

df also doesn't list the usual "Mounted On" column, just the filesystem. This is the output of df:
Filesystem             Size   Used   Free   Blksize
/dev                   234M    52K   234M   4096
/mnt/secure            234M     0K   234M   4096
/mnt/asec              234M     0K   234M   4096
/mnt/obb               234M     0K   234M   4096
/system                640M   459M   180M   4096
/data                    1G   406M   898M   4096
/cache                 369M     6M   363M   4096
/protect_f               8M     4M     4M   4096
/protect_s               8M     4M     4M   4096
/mnt/cd-rom              1M     1M     0K   2048
/storage/sdcard1         1G    24M     1G   16384
/storage/sdcard0         7G     2G     5G   32768
/mnt/secure/asec         7G     2G     5G   32768

Some details about my phone:

It's a BLU ADVANCE 4.0
Board is Mediatek MT6572
Android version is 4.2.2
Kernel version is 3.4.5
I do have root access

So, to reiterate my question - where are the partitions? How can I find them?
While I'm not necessarily averse to using programs other than the shell it seems like I really should be able to do this from there.

EDIT: I used dd on the various mmcblk files I found in /dev/block. Most of them I terminated prematurely as they were 100MiB+, but two (mmcblk0p2 and mmcblk0p3) came out to about 10MiB each which seems more probable for boot and recovery. The contents of these when mounted are:

a directory labelled lost+found (ext?)
a directory labelled md, the subcontents of which differ

In mmcblk0p2 the contents of md are:

Two files of unknown type, one 4B one 2.0KiB, labelled MPOD_000 and ST33A004 respectively

In mmcblk0p3 the contents of md are:

One file of unknown type, 2.0KiB, labelled ST33B004

Well, the boot and recovery partitions aren't mounted when Android is actually running. Do you have a /dev/block/platform directory? Usually you can get your mount points by looking in whatever subdirectory is in there (varies by chipset) and looking for the by-name directory within that. So, e.g. on my N5 it's /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name. If I run ls -al there it shows where all the partitions map to.

I had noticed that directory but unfortunately there's no by name option. There are a couple called mmcblk0boot0 and mmcblk0boot1 - one of them could be the boot one but it's tough to say which, if either. There is a /dev/BOOT and a /dev/recovery but BOOT gives an invalid argument error to dd and cat and /dev/recovery keeps going way longer than it should (I stopped it at 800MiB+, bigger than the system partition).

Dylan, one typo: leading slash missing for cat /proc/mtd. Could that be the cause of the empty output? Also, df only lists partitions currently mounted (/recovery is only mounted when booted into, AFAIK).

This was intentional, I did it from the root. Trying with / beforehand has no effect. I've updated the question with some more information, resorted to just randomly copying and mounting blocks and seeing what's inside.

MTK devices usually have an item named 'recovery' under /dev. Have you tried dd-ing that?

Yes. It keeps copying at 800MiB+, which I'm sure can't possibly be right. The system partition for example is only about 650MiB.

Have you tried using the bs flag? Try something like dd if=/dev/recovery of=/sdcard/recovery.img bs=6291456c count=1 (from XDA)

It produces an image identical to the one from MtkDroidTools and one I found online if I pass in the same size as those images. The only comment I saw on those was that they didn't work, but that may have been user error as they provided no clarification beyond that. Is there any way to confirm the size of the partition from the command line?

aureljared : I was able to extract a ramdisk from the image produced by that command, so presumably it's valid after all. If you want to post that as a full answer I'll mark it as correct.

Running mount with no arguments should list both the "filesystem" and "mounted on" values you're expecting from df.

Just do "fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0" and it will show you all the partitions including their names, not only those that are mounted.

as aureljared already mentioned, proper configured MTK devices populate their recovery and boot partitions in /dev/recovery and /dev/bootimg. Just dd from there.


text:
How to add a new button to the button bar in Total Commander for Android?
I got Total Commander on my Android phone.
I need to check the directory size for a folder and the solution is:
Add a new button to the button bar, and then..
I understand that but my question is how to add a new button to the button bar?

Tap on icon (arrow). You get a +, add details as per link - you can see the button with KB, on the first line

Screenshot refers to the bottom portion on opening app. Pasted only relevant portion


text:
Bluetooth keyboards is not switching languages properly
I just bought a cheap bluetooth keyboard to use it with my Huawei MediaPad M3 lite (Android 7.0). It works pretty fine but when I tried to change the language it does not work, i.e. it stay on English (US) (and I have Bulgarian too in the virtual keyboard).
Here is how the settings for it looks like:

The problem is that I cannot add additional layout/language to the Gboard. It only allows me to select just one.
Strangely enough, the BT keyboard have a shortcut for switching layout (blue Fn + space) and when pressed the virtual keyboard switches the layout but the BT keyboard still uses English.
I want to be able to add Bulgarian language to physical keyboard. How to do it?
Is this problem solvable in Android 7.0?

I haven't seen that built-in any Android version so far but you can achieve it easily with a 3rd party software "External Keyboard Helper":
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apedroid.hwkeyboardhelper&hl=en_US
It includes support for Bulgarian typewriter and Phonetic layouts.


text:
replace internal memory
Is it possible to replace internal memory of a android phone ?
How difficult it is?
Is internal memory part of System On Chip itself, so that it is next to impossible to remove them ?
Have anybody tried this out ?
My device is "Redmi Note" - but you can consider this as a generic question. If these is any device where replacing internal memory is  possible, I will switch to that device :)
Thanks

Is it possible to replace internal memory of a android phone ?

Yes.
Lots of Taobao (think of it as Chinese eBay?) merchants actually offer services of enlarging RAM and internal storage by replacing the chip, and these are actually quite popular, at least around me. Most are for Apple and Xiaomi phones which are popular and often lacking in storage. For example, they could expand the storage of a Xiaomi MI 5 to 6GB+128GB, a configuration Xiaomi themselves never offered.
Here's a very simple search with the keywords "Xiaomi" + "capacity enlargement" (in Chinese):

The internal storage chip (eMMC/UFS) is not an integral part of the SoC, but on most modern phones, it's packaged together with the SoC, often stacked on top of it, as the picture below demonstrates:

(AP≈SoC)
(Source article - also worth a read)

Have anybody tried this out ?

There are several factors preventing you from trying it out, however:

The tiny size and mass amount of pins connecting the two together means you need professional devices to de-solder and re-solder them. The merchants above are usually situated in Shenzhen in real life - known for flourishing electronic industry, so they are well-equipped for such, but same can't be said for a random DIYer.
You can't handily buy replacement chips unless you are familiar with the supply chains, and even then you can't make sure what you bought is compatible.
You also need to load the blank chip with basic data (such as partition tables), which usually only professionals have access to.

Even if you are professional enough to overcome all of this, the stability of the modification is questionable - there are numerous examples of unstable re-solder job undermining the connection, causing the phone to fail. Such mods, naturally, are not covered within warranties, and therefore only you get to shoulder the consequences.
TL;DR: YES technically, but NO realistically.


text:
Battery drain RATE alert?
i've used multiple generations of Nexus devices, some more stable some less. It seems like there is always some combination of hardware, system image and installed app set that creates a situation where your battery suddenly just drains at a rapid rate.
I have seen the battery drop from what i expected 4-6 hours of life down to zero in fifteen minutes in a situation where i really, really needed the battery.
Normally you can take action if you notice this : close apps, switch off gps/bt/wifi/camera , shut down services, reboot or whatnot. The really sucky situation is when you DONT notice it and then are left with dead battery.
So, wouldn't it be nice to have higher than usual battery drain rate alert ? Havent found an app that would do this, but IMHO that actually should be a system level function.

For best results, don't ask about trying to find an app to do something; just concentrate on the problem you're trying to solve. See also: How do I ask a question that may require recommending a product?

Point taken. I think this describes a real problem - and i think i have done my research.

I'm about to try out this Battery Drain Rate Alert :)


text:
Android phones hangs -phone hardly usable
I have a moto g2 android phone with 5.0.2 android Lolipop.
It has started to hang so severely that the mobile is almost unusable.
The mobile never really had any hanging issues earlier.All of a sudden this problem popped up.
I tried :

factory resetting the phone
removing sdcard
removing junk files & folders from sdcard & internally memory
I have uninstalled most of the apps.(I have google keep,calender widget & watsapp)

Can this be a hardware issue?
I don't want to root my phone as it is still in warranty.
Please share how can I fix this problem .
Thanks
EDIT

when the problem popped up I was on 5.0.1 lollipop version
There is no common point when my phone freezes
After the rest the, when I linked the google account etc & installed watsapp , hanging problem started . Only when there was a fresh reset & no app or account was added the phone worked fine

"The mobile never really had any hanging issues earlier.All of a sudden this problem popped up." -- in that earlier scenario, was the OS Lollipop or Kitkat? 2) Have you noticed something common when the freeze happens? E.g. You're using some common apps, doing file transfer and more. 3) After factory reset and before re-installing the third party apps does your device freeze?

@Firelord please check the edit for the anwsers . Thanks

WhatsApp may be the problem

You might also consider flashing the factory recovery image. I've had issues with OTA updates causing performance issues, and this fixed it on 2 phones and a tablet. I'm sure Motorola provides instructions but just in case, this XDA guide for restoring stock firmware on Moto G might be helpful.


text:
New screen flickering when charged
i had my screen broken unfortunately. I received a replacement that i don't  know if it is an official one, that was excellent until i put it to charge. The screen lightly flickers.  I don't have an official charger and mine outputs 5v and 0.18A. when the phone is down the screen is ok. It flickers when i touch the metal to the side of the battery.
This happens even when minimal pressure which suggests a grounding issue? When non conductive materials touch the side - even if with a lot of pressure nothing happens. And finally, this happens only when charging. My phone is Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016).
EDIT 1: I can confirm it is a grounding issue because when i touch the metal surface with a metal connected to a GND, the flickering stops completely
EDIT 2: I went to the repair shop and got an official Samsung charger (5v, 1.55A). The flickering has almost vanished. You have to pay real close attention to see a very slight flickering when it charges and you touch the metal surface around the screen. Still no clue on what is happening.

Sounds like what you suspect but unless you change the charger and power point you are connected to one can't be sure. But flickering / ghost touches are attributed to grounding

tomorrow i will check with the official charger. what do you mean "power point"? do you think its solvable? is it a defect screen or a bad reassembly?

Power point = where you plug in the charger (try a different one since that could also have earth leak issues, unlikely though). I have no experience of changing screens so can't say and in any case such hardware issues are best left to competent people who have the skill and tools. I am only trying to rule out other things before that path of service centre

yes this happens in all power points with all (unoficial) chargers i have tried so far

To me it looks like a visit to service centre for a check and solution. Things can't be very different with official charger since you have tried multiple chargers

yes its just that i just received it back from service after a screen replacement....

I see no other course. Tough luck

Ah those Chinese replacement screens...

@esQmo so you think it is an unoficial screen? if so, the issue is unsolvable right?

i am hoping its just bad assembky

What's your question? You've done some good experiments here and it seems like you've already found what's wrong.

i dont know what is wrong actually. my question is "how do i stop this completely?". it is a groundinf issue. can i open up tge case or something and reconnect it?

If it's a Chinese replacement screen, you need to get it replaced. Your charger may also be the cause! Does this happen while charging from a computer?

Yes! It happens with every charger but with the original one it is barely noticable.


text:
Do I have to install every nightly on LineageOS?
Do I have to download and install every single nightly that comes up?
Are the later updates dependent on the earlier ones?

each nightly arrives with some big fixes and new features. Track the changelog, and update if required.

Every update would fully overwrite /system and carry all history changes, therefore just installing the latest build would sync you up to progress.
There will be (rare) occasions where the developer pushed patches that negatively affects the build (e.g. wrong CPU governor causing the phone to lag or heat up). On top of that, Android security patches, which are arguably the most important change for users, are only updated once per month. In light of these, although installing every nightly when it comes out is possible, I suggest updating monthly, plus making a nandroid backup and inspecting user feedback (e.g. respective device discussion thread on XDA-Developers) before flashing any build.


text:
Android camera "View details"
Few days ago, I was taking a picture of a machine and the camera app showed a tooltip saying View details I tapped on it and a new screen appeared saying Product in the title and a list of numbers in it.
I have not managed to get that screen/tooltip again, but I am curious to know what it was, any idea? It is on a Honor 5C with Android 6.

Honor 5C Camera App used for scanning the QR code and obtain the contacts !! explains this as a smart way to add contacts without typing

Go to contacts

Click on the QR code of the contact

The QR code will be appearing on the screen

Open the Camera App in the Honor 5C phone

Click on the View details. Click on Create new contact and Click on Add to contacts

I don't have that device but this seems to be what you saw and introduced in EMUI 4.1

It is not exactly the QR code of a contact (or a QR code at all), but I presume the app might have identified something on the machine and applied the same principle.


text:
Android 5.0: Create link in internal storage to SD Card
I have a LG G3 which I have repaired many times (actually by putting it into the furnace xD). Now I'm scared that my phone dies so I do a Titanium and Nandroid Backup every day, but none of these is backing up up my internal storage with my WhatsApp Photos and so on.
Now I had the idea to replace the WhatsApp folder with a link to my SD Card. I have root and tested it with ln -s /storage/external_SD/test/ /sdcard/test.
It returned ln: /sdcard/test: Function not implemented.
After some research I found out that links are not supported by the file system of the internal storage (I also tried to make a link to the /data/data folder and it worked so it has to be that).
My questions now:

Is is somehow possible to make a link in the internal storage to the SD Card (e.g. with an Xposed module which emulates a link or something like that)
Is there a better way of backing up my internal storage?

Thanks

There is an app called "Link2SD" on Google play store.
Link2SD uses a secondary partition on your SD card and uses it as another segment of internal storage.
Link2SD moves apk, dalvik-cache (.dex), lib and internal data files into this partition, which the OS mounts on boot, and creates a symbolic link in the original location.
This retains the file structure that the system expects but with the bulk of the data moved to the SD card.
Linking obb and external data folders of apps and games
- root permission
-Second partition on SD card is optional, folders can be moved to the 1st or 2nd second partition of the SD card.
Hope this works for u :)


text:
What controller is the one included in this picture?
I can't make out the writing on the controller because of the picture's quality. Can anyone identify what brand and model this is?

Android TV controller... There are many similar ones on Amazon but I believe this one is discontinued already.
http://www.businessinsider.com/android-tv-game-controller-2014-6

Oh okay, thanks! Sucks that it's discontinued.


text:
Is any of the Android rooting software open source?
As an example, the post here for rooting the LG G3:
http://www.reddit.com/r/LGG3/comments/2cdz0y/guide_rooting_roming_xposed/
Gives links to posts elsewhere for downloading APKs which do something and then allow su to work, I think:
Stump:  http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/orig-development/root-stump-root-lg-g3-sprint-verizon-t2850906/
PurpleDrake:  http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmobile-lg-g3/development/root-twrp-root-twrp-tmo-lg-g3-t2821005
Are there any more details about what these or other root techniques actually do?  Are any of them open source?

I'd guess it's unlikely (but just a guess) you'll find a working root method that's open source, simply because it would give the OEMs enough information to fix the loophole. Keeping it close to the vest helps to ensure tinkerers can continue tinkering. Also possible that a root method would have security implications, and could be disclosed privately to Google/OEMs.

I have to imagine that the OEMs and Google  have the resources to reverse engineer these binaries. I wonder if it's about the liability the authors are exposed to as a result of a TOS violation or something along those lines.

Reverse engineering still takes time, though, especially if the code is obfuscated well. Delaying the inevitable fix at least buys time for prospective rooters to take advantage of the exploit. Again, mostly conjecture, but it's common in other modding scenes. The Wii's exploits were often obfuscated (in part) for this reason.

I've been battling the same issue. Using closed-source from a private company is a huge mistake if you care about security and privacy. Open-source, though arguably not thst much more secure, has one benefit over closed source from a private company: paid programmers are expensive. What's their motive for paying people to do this? Money. Is the root software free/cheap? Don't use it.  Open Source, on the other hand, though while not totally free from malicious additions, is being handled mostly by programmers who, collectively, want to use the software they are helping create. That being said, here's what I've mustered up.
Most actively developed is by this guy, phhusson, who posted an article (https://www.xda-developers.com/the-importance-of-open-source-in-root/) about it in 2015. Then started this (still active) thread (https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/wip-selinux-capable-superuser-t3216394/page246)
Here's the repo:
https://github.com/phhusson/super-bootimg
Here's another
https://github.com/android-rooting-tools
Both of these are still under heavy development.

Also, flashing linux and running android inside android through an ssh session is becoming more of a possibility. Check : How to Run Debian or Ubuntu GNU/Linux on Your Android - http://whiteboard.ping.se/Android/Debian

And PostmarketOS: Aiming for a 10 year life-cycle for smartphones - https://ollieparanoid.github.io/post/postmarketOS/

I've found this: https://github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/Heimdall essentially an open source equalvalent of Odin.


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Help fixing odd AMOLED screen burn
I just picked up a used Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and when viewing light-colored screens, it's very clear that the keyboard is burnt into the panel with a pinkish hue.
What's the best (free/fastest) course of action to reverse this AMOLED screen's burn-in permanently, short of opening the phone and replacing the display assembly? Is there an app to try, or might inverting colors for a while help?

It would need replacement - apps in some cases can fix minor burn in but not of this nature

You have to replace the phone screen, Amoled is famous for not being able to fully recover, in most cases, from burning


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Phone answer or hangs up when it rings and I take the phone out of my pocket
When the phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket, most of the time it either hangs up or answers the call. I don't touch any buttons with my fingers. Sometimes it does this even before I start to take it out of my pocket. This is not in bluetooth mode. Phone is set to stay locked until I swipe the pattern or use fingerprint.
Ideally I want the phone to only answer when I explicitly tell it to do so.
Model SM-G930V
Android version 7.0

Do you any  gestures enabled? Lift to check phone enabled?

I don't know, how do I check?

I'm not 100% sure, but open Settings and navigate to Moves, which can be found in the System section.

There is no Moves section in settings on my phone

check answer below @user3561494

Ok, I dug a little deeper and read the user guide/manual for your phone. It might be some settings that are enabled in the accessibility settings, called Single Tap mode. Here is the link to the user guide. I included a screenshot of that section and added the text too.

When an alarm sounds or a call comes in, tap the button to stop the
  alarm or answer the call instead of dragging the button.

On the Apps screen, tap Settings → Accessibility, and then tap the Single tap mode switch to activate it.

Change the method of answering or ending calls.

On the Apps screen, tap Settings → Accessibility → Answering and ending calls. Select the desired method.


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Can I transfer my sms messages from my old phone to my new phone WITHOUT using any third party software?
The only answers I have been able to find want me to download third party software. It is NOT an acceptable solution to expose all of my SMS history to a third party. Maybe there's an open source solution?

With root
If you're rooted or willing to root, you can check out this method: Where on the file system are SMS messages stored?
Note: If you're transferring between different versions of Android, or even ROMs, I would check if the SMS format is the same.
Third party app

There's SMS Backup+, which is an open source app I found - GitHub, Google Play.
I'm using SMS Backup & Restore for a long time (maybe years) - from their Privacy Policy, it seems that the only data they send is anonymous usage data to Google Analytics.

Note: You can use a well reviewed and popular third party app from play store (bonus if it's an editors choice), and after installing it (before even opening) - move to flight mode, backup locally, remove the app and transfer to your computer or other phone.

thanks, I didn't realize that sms backup+ was open source.


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Re-Installing google play
I got my google play and google play services deleted from my rooted phone.I had moved all the apps on internal apps to my partitioned sd card,which got corrupted.Tried installing google play apk and services from other sites but they would not install.
Phone model:Galaxy Y S5630
Need your help.

Reflash gapps from recovery. This will install all the necessary google applications that have been deleted.
You can find all gapps on Goo.im, you just have to choose the ones relevant to your android version.


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Limited App Storage?
I was trying to download a HQ TTS voice and I got the insufficient storage error. I then noticed that only about half my memory is reserved for apps only. I have 3.03GB left while only 288MB for apps? Why is there a difference? And how can I increase or change this limit so I could use more space for my applications?
Edit: when I ran DiskUsage I noticed there was such a thing as App Storage. Why is mine limited to 2 GB? I have 4GB internal and 4 GB SD card btw.

If you've ever partitioned a disk, you might know how one partition can fill up, even though the disk itself has plenty of space. This is one of the drawbacks to partitioning.
Well, Android partitions the disk, and then mounts the data partition onto the filesystem so that it all looks like one disk.  The data partition is usually called, confusingly, "sdcard" (the reason for the name is another story).  This partition is mounted on the directory "/mnt/sdcard".  The size is fixed by the manufacturer, and can't be easily changed.  It would require root access, and a program to resize partitions.
Recent versions of Android allow programs to store parts of themselves on the sdcard (named "extsdcard") if you have one.  I don't know why you can't use the data partition instead, but apparently you can't do it this way.
The result of all this is that without root access and knowledge of disk partitioning and the Android filesystem, there's not much you can do except delete what you don't really need.

I heard rooting voids waranty though. So i guess im stuck with 2GB of app space... Ill contact the manifacturer just in case

Good luck with that.  I kind of learned the hard way myself with my first Android device; I thought the ability to use an external SD card would give me plenty of memory, but I found out otherwise.  Next device was a 32GB LG G2.  I've got about 3.5GB of apps on it right now.


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How to migrate Android device, including SD card?
I have a Huawei Ascend G6, which uses a 32GB SD card to store most app data. I now bought a Huawei Y6 to migrate to and want to retain as much app data as I can. How would I go about to transfer my apps (data) to the new device?
The Y6 has Lollipop, so when booting the device, I was asked which apps to install. So I got all apps installed now. So how do I go about transferring configuration data? I assume I can't just put my SD card into the Y6 and be done with it?

Depending on the manufacturer there is some sort of migration wizard/helper. As with all Android devices, only system apps have the ability to read/write other apps' data and thus users rely on the availability of a service that has full access. Samsung offers such a helper in the form of Samsung SmartSwitch. Maybe Huawei offers something similar. If all fails you need to root both devices and copy/paste all the data manually and fix ownership in the end (only as a last resort)

Related: Is it possible to migrate apps and their data from one unrooted Android phone to another? Btw, I'm using adb for this, via its backup. Creating separate backups for each app, those can be restored across Android versions and devices.

@Izzy How would this work with the SD card. I have many apps that have their data partly stored on the SD card. Should the SD card be in the old or new device? Or should I get a second SD card?

I have never done that (not using App2SD or the likes), but adb backup should pick all the data along. If you've got a new card in the new device, leave the old one in the old, do the backup and restore, and see the outcome. Should work IMHO.

You can try using Helium backup on the older phone in order to make copies of your apps and their settings. These can then be migrated to the new phone through the Helium backup interface. Alternatively, you could take an ADB backup of your old phone and restore it to your new phone. All this is on the assumption that you don't have root?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! This is a question-and-answer site, not a forum: please don't add comments as answers. Invest some time in the site and you will gain sufficient privileges to upvote answers you like, or to add actual comments when seeking clarification of any issues.


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Cannot see SSIDs except for mobile hotspots, why?
I have no idea why, but I cannot see any of the SSIDs, except for mobile hotspots from phones or laptops. I am from Belgium and am in the USA now, if that matters. Someone told me, it's because I can only see 802.11n networks and they are probably broadcasting 802.11 b/g, not n. Am i really not able to connect? Or can I change my settings somewhere to find those networks. This is really inconvenient :/
Edit: Could it be related to the channel it is sending out? Are they sending over different channels in the USA and Europe?

It seems they were broadcasting in 5GHz only, which my phone cannot receive...


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Make more internal storage available
I'm running a SlimKat ROM on Sony Xperia Z Ultra. Officially the device has 16GB storage installed, but only 11.79GB are available to the user. I know that all the rest is reserved for the OS needs. May be the official Sony ROM really needs 3.5GB of space to function properly, but since SlimKat is a very compact ROM, I'm sure it doesn't need so much storage (am I right?).
So is there any way to make more storage available for the user needs and less for the OS? May be there are some ways to repartition the device memory.
When I tried to google the question, I learned that there are some tricks to make the device treat the external SD card as internal storage, but that's not what I'm looking for now :)

Yes. It is possible to have more space allocated for personal use.
First, I would suggest that your download Terminal Emulator and run the command df in it to get the memory allocated for each partition (ie /system, /data etc).
The space allocated to /data partition is only space you can use. Rest is for system/firmware that you cant use. There are three ways to get out of this problem->
1) Repartition
We will reduce the amount of memory allocated to /system and give that memory to /data. Manufacturers often give /system partition a farily good amount of space for future os upgrades. But when you use custom roms, they are relatively lighter and use much less space, so we can shrink this partition. But unfortunately, there isn't any such method made yet for xperia z ultra as far as I know. So this is a rather difficult (almost impossible, considering working of sony phones, the TA partition etc).
2) Installing as "system app"
You know that /system partition has a lot of unused space. So how to use it? Install apps inside system partition! They will become system apps and you will need special app managers to uninstall them (you can use some app manager to install app and move it to /system partition. Not all apps will support doing this). Downside is that apps will still store their data in /data partition, so again, this isnt a very good option. (You can also just create a random folder inside /system partition and probably store a few things like songs inside that? Ok that might be a stupid idea, even though I do practice this on my Nexus 4, which has relatively even less memory).
3) App2SD
This leaves you with only one efficient option as this. Use some app like
Link2Sd to move apps and their data to external sd card. Hence more space inside internal. Again, not all apps are supported, but most are.

Well u did not specify your Android OS so let's go by the default answer

Basically in Android Device the operating system(jelly bean, Kit Kat)
occupies a lot of space for the phone to operate(drivers for Wi-Fi, HD display etc.) and remind you its pre determined and can also vary after an update.
Due to which the internal memory will decrease after the update takes place.
To increase the internal memory  there's no way without downgrading the operating system of your phone as the storage space of the operating system is reduced.
Another way would be to move all your applications to the SD Card
storage which will boost your speed as well as memory.

Look netimen , i particularly don't know much about Slimkat ROM but what works for other android devices is that if you have a spot for micro sd card then what you do is that you transfer every possibly movable app to your sd card. To do that go to SETTINGS>APP MANAGER. Now choose the apps you want to move and if there is an option for MOVE TO SD CARD click on it. The app had been moved. Now if you want other files also to go to sd card, head over to your FILE MANAGER and simply move the apps. This will make a lot of free space in the internal memory of your device. Hope it helped :D . Thanks is always appreciated.


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Write Error during flashing stock ROM through SP Flash Tool
I am trying to install the stock ROM of my xolo a500s ips by using the Smart Phone Flash Tool. i downloaded the stock ROM of my device from this link http://androidxda.com/download-xolo-stock-rom-model. The SP Flash tool and USB drivers were also included in the zip package.
When I try to flash the ROM, the progress is stopped at 70% and then this error is displayed on the screen: BROM ERROR : S-DA_SDMMC_WRITE_FAILED (3149).
Anyone knows how to fix this issue?


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Camera isn't available - Trusted Face ( Android Lollipop - Nexus 5)
Sometimes I've noticed that the Smart Lock - Trusted Face feature doesn't work, no matter what the lighting or the position of my face relative to the phone.
I thought that an "Improve face matching" should do the trick, but when I go to do that, I get this:

Click for full size
Usually a restart fixes things, but this isn't a really good solution. The camera app works normally even when this happens. Has someone found a way to fix this somehow, or should I just wait for the next update from Google?

There is a possibility that there is an app that is still running and using the camera, and hasn't released the resource (resource leak). You probably need to check 3rd-party apps that use camera and make sure they are closed properly.

I thought of that, but since the Google camera app, Instagram etc. work normally, I don't think that's the case.

How did you upgrade to 5.0, through OTA? If yes, did you do it after a factory reset?

@VishnuPrasadKallummel Yes, through OTA. No, no factory reset just prior to updating, neither after.

Ok, I think a factory reset would do the trick, as I have 5.0.1 and the face unlock is working fine. By the way, how are you getting the battery percentage on the battery icon?

Thanks, I'll try a factory reset if there's no other answer by someone else. As per the battery percentage, I used http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/themes-apps/app-enable-battery-percentage-android-4-t2516913

I'm also sometimes affected by this issue. When it starts, the camera app works normally until I switch it to the front-facing camera. After that it crashes and I cannot use it any more. only workaround is to restart.
Did you try the factory reset? I'd prefer not do that…
Nexus 5 with Android 5.0.1 installed through OTA.

I believe that this is an issue with the Smart Lock app itself. When I enabled the face unlock I started getting this error. The camera ceases to work after some time, when I notice that the smart lock icon just blinks on the lock screen (which shows a failed attempt to access camera). Then neither the camera app works nor can I access the camera via Smart Lock settings. I started having this issue whenever I enabled face recognition and I stopped having this issue altogether when I disabled the said feature.
It's a shame that despite being an extremely efficient and fast feature, this causes such a problem that it needs to be disabled.


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NOTE 10.1 (2012) HDMI not displaying correctly
I have an official HDMI adapter for my Note 10.1 and it displays the android desktop perfectly fine, there are side bars but I assume these are due to the resolution of my device not being 1080p. However any circular icons are perfectly circular on the tv so it looks absolutely fine. The issue is that as soon as I play video the aspect ratio is completely screwed! Some films display almost correctly but look a bit stretched vertically, there are never any verticle bars like there are on the device (obviously to display widescreen films) so on the tv the film is displayed full height but not full width..... To make it worse if I use a third party video player like BSPlayer the aspect ratios are even worse! The films are practically playing 4:3.
What is strange is that although on the desktop the output is an exact mirror of the display, when playing video it is a separate output (ie the display on the TV does not match what I see on the device. For instance the overlayed play, pause controls and progress bar never appear on the screen.....
What is going on?

Update
Found something else strange.... If I play a film through google play movies which I have bought from google play the aspect ratio is perfect! However if I play a personal film from my sd card through google play movies it is the same aspect issue as the other apps....
How can it play one film correctly and one completely screwed up? (are they purposefully crippling the video output for personal videos?)

"What is strange is that although on the desktop the output is an exact mirror of the display, when playing video it is a separate output (ie the display on the TV does not match what I see on the device." That's not strange, it's a deliberate feature. Apps can use the Presentation API to decide what to show on the external display.

So why does the bundled Samsung video player and Google play movies screw up the aspect ratio then?

Sounds like a bug. Without seeing your movie file it's hard to guess. It could be something like the movie file has the non-square-pixels field set and the player is not respecting it.

I have fiddled around and found that altering the decode mode from HW to SW or System player in BSPlayer fixes the issue! This also works for MXPlayer too.
This results in the correct video ratio although it is not full width on a 1080p tv (just like my desktop) it is at least not stretched. I still don't get why Google Play Movies can play its native videos full width on my tv.


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How to install Amazon FR app alongside Amazon (US)
This might be as simple as: It cannot be done.
I am an American living in Europe. I have an android phone with multiple accounts (one for each country where I reside).
I would like to be able to install the Amazon FR app alongside the regular Amazon app (US).
Attempting to do give me the following error: duplicate provider authority
Can I get around this?
Update: Each app as well as each URL (amazon.com vs amazon.fr) provides a different set of vendors, items, previous orders, order tracking, invoices, etc.  Both apps are in the Google Play App store and you can search for the Amazon FR app but you can ONLY install it if your logged in account while accessing Google Play is registered in France.

They are probably sharing the same package name. Is your phone rooted? On rooted devices you can disable and enable any app, not just pre-loaded system ones (some backup utilities such as Titanium Backup refer to this as "freezing/unfreezing"). You could disable the US app and enable the FR one, and vice-verse. It's not the cleanest solution, but it beats uninstalling and re-downloading the two apps each time you want to swap.

possible duplicate of Is it possible to have multiple instances of the same app (logged in to different accounts)?

@geffchang I don't think this is quite a duplicate, because he's not just running one app with two accounts, but different regional variants of the app.

@DanHulme Are there different Amazon apps in the Play Store? What differences do they have? I suppose he can just use the US app, and log-in/log-out to his different accounts. That would still work, and Titanium Backup's Profile feature can help him manage that.

For a start, it's not clear to me what exact app is the problem. My first thought was that it's the Amazon App Store, but who knows?

I was assuming Amazon Appstore, which must be side-loaded. Perhaps OP can clarify for us?

These are indeed 2 different apps. My phone is not rooted but I have been looking for an excuse to do so...
Each app gives you access to a different list of orders and invoices.  Pretty much like logging into amazon.com and amazon.fr in your browser.

The most recent versions of the Amazon app allow for changing countries.
My current version:
6.0.0.100
Build:
6.0.61.71

Can you include which version of amazon has included this change? So everyone in the future knows which version has added support for this function - thanks in advance! :)


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Why can't I install safestrap on galaxy s4 nc1
I am on a galaxy s4 on KitKat and I am rooted with towelroot. When I tried to install safe strap I downloaded 3.7.2 but when I hit install it says it is installing but once its done it says that the recovery is not installed and I confirmed that by booting to recovery. What am I doing wrong? Does safe strap work on galaxy s4 nc1 build

Found this on XDA:

You can solve Safestrap installation issues by downloading the Selinux Mode Changer app from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrbimc.selinux&hl=en. Install the app and set selinux to permissive. Done! Please thank @Maribou for this great find!

Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2787681
I had the exact same issue and this worked for me.


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Browsers Zoom In and Out while Scrolling
Every time I open a page in either Chrome, Opera or Firefox and try to scroll with the tip of my finger, the browser seems to suddenly zoom in and out while scrolling, interpreting the scroll down as a pinch AND scroll gesture. This is f****** annoying.
This problem does not occur at all on Android's built-in browser, so I must advise this is not a problem with my touch screen.
I experience this issue on my LG Optimus L3, with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
EDIT 1: The problem is probably inherent to the cell phone model, as only I and a friend, who owns an identical phone, have this same problem.
EDIT 2: The problem seems to be solved for the last Google Chrome update, but Opera unfortunately still behaves in this way. This means that it isn't a user interaction problem, but a bug.

I've had this happen occasionally, but I don't remember which browser or device. I believe though that I see plus sign when it happens, which I don't see with pinch zoom.  Do you see anything different than when using the pinch zoom?

No, when pinch zooming nothing different happens on the screen, plus it's also buggy, it scrolls while pinch zooming.

I'm not sure if this will help, but check out the following links. This and this

Check how you are holding the tablet perhaps you have another finger on part the screen.

No, I straightly hold it with one hand and with the other I only touch the screen with my index finger. Check my edit, the problem is solved for the last Chrome update.


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Only 2GB of Device Memory is shown on Samsung Galaxy S2
I have Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100. As it has 16GB internal memory but it only shows that it has 1.97GB of device memory. I am not talking about the memory that is free after using some of the space. This is the max memory that it is showing.
I have tried resetting to factory settings and erasing everything. Also, I cleared cache and dump logs. Nothing have helped me yet.
When I connect it to my laptop, it shows that phone has 8.56GB used out of 11.4GB. But that is USB storage, isn't it?
Under settings > storage > device memory [Total space = 1.97 GB].
The problem arises when I install few of the applications and it starts showing that you are running out of storage.
I don't understand what it is showing only that much space.

The reason why you are having issues with memory is because even though the phone has 16g internal memory only 1g. Is available to the user the rest is being used by the os and preloaded apps. If you go to settings and then phone storage it will show you the available internal memory.

Yes I have checked all that and I understood that it was the issue. What I wanted to know is how could I increase the device memory size and this link has helped me.
http://techotv.com/samsung-galaxy-s2-internal-storage-apps-space-tutorial/

Ok Please answer your question here so that if any body else have same problem they then know how can they achieve it.

@talzal Your question is not clear about you looking to re-partition internal space.  You may want to update your question.


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Turning on SMS delivery report on Android 9
How can I turn on SMS delivery report on Android 9? In messaging section, I go to settings, but there's no "advanced" option. I'm using Huawei Y5 2019.
Here's a screenshot and there's no double-check (which is a sign of a delivered message)

As far as I know, whether to show delivery reports or not is to be implemented in a messaging app, and is independent of Android version. If you don't see any such option in your stock messaging app, than it doesn't have that functionality. I suggest you try a third-party messaging app from Play Store or F-Droid. It should work out.


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number of downloads
How can we find that how many times a specific app has been downloaded? For example, in this page I cannot see any information about that.

Scroll down and you will find it inside "Installs" under "Additional Information" section. It will show you the range of number of downloads.
Right now, that app shows a range of "10-50" installs.


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How to detect if bootloader is unlocked when fastboot doesn't work?
I have this tablet that runs on RK3168 (Rockchip) SoC.  The problem is that fastboot doesn't recognize the device, but after so much toil, I managed to find Finless' flashing tool and flashed CM Recovery image unto the device.  The flashing worked because when I rebooted to recovery mode, it showed CM recovery screen instead of the stock recovery screen.
The flashing tool is a windows GUI.  It doesn't have an unlock bootloader function.  But since I was able to flash the recovery image successfully, my question is, does this mean that my device bootloader is already unlocked?

Edit: (more details)
Using Finless' flashing tool, I backed up all the NAND partitions and named them accordingly, e.g. backup.img, kernel.img, etc.  Then I reflashed them all back into the device but reflashed a different recovery.img.  I reflashed a generic CM that I got from this site instead: http://androtab.info/clockworkmod/rockchip/
I did all this with the assumption that the flashing tool actually works.  After all, I used it to make the backup as it was the only tool that detected the device in fastboot mode because fastboot just doesn't detect it.  (It could be that the bootloader interface driver doesn't work properly for fastboot on Win x64, but I don't have the luxury of setting up a 32-bit OS.)
When I rebooted the device, everything was fine.  Rebooted into recovery mode and CM recovery screen showed up.
I'm still new to all this android flashing stuff, I don't really know what an unlocked bootloader means, and I just read from other guides that in order to flash a custom recovery, I need an unlocked bootloader first.  So I'm presuming that if I was able to flash images, that my bootloader is already unlocked?  But I'm not sure, so that's why I'm asking (albeit a very naive question...)

Unfortunately no, the bootloader is a separate entity that will need to be unlocked on it's own. Flashing a custom recovery doesn't automatically unlock it. What is the model of the tablet?

It's a Starmobile Engage7+ tablet.  It's one of those cheap >$100 tablets.  The problem with these devices is that there's hardly any "official" technical support.  Took me days to get adb to detect the device, and I just gave up on fastboot.

I gotcha.  I can't find any information in the modding community for that tablet.  I think you're out of luck with unlocking the bootloader.  Towelroot should work for rooting, and other than that, I think you're stuck on the stock ROM.

But I'm wondering, if I was able to flash NAND partitions while the device was in fastboot mode, not just the recovery partition, doesn't that mean the bootloader's already unlocked?  Edited question to add details.

Close.  The bootloader runs before the OS is loaded and makes sure that the installed system is "approved."  So, for example, on Samsung devices, the bootloader checks to make sure the system is written by Samsung.  (Almost) every Android device has access to fastboot to help recover the device in case of damage to the OS.  By flashing the stock backups, the bootloader still sees the OS as the original factory OS (which, well, it is).  Does that make sense?  My apologies if I'm talking confusingly!

I see what you mean.  So it doesn't necessarily mean the bootloader's unlocked.  It could just be that the bootloader allowed a CM recovery to run but it's still unlocked.  Anyhow, I'll keep on reading and searching for other means to figure out how to detect bootloader lock status without using fastboot.  Or maybe even write some script and run from within the device if it needs that stretch.  I hope not!

Correct!  The recovery is separate from the bootloader.  For example, on my Samsung Galaxy S4, I had custom ROMs and recoveries, but by bootloader was locked (I was still technically running the original Samsung kernel).  I did some looking around and can't find any surefire way of detecting lock status... I'll keep researching and report back if I find anything!

Give Koush's Universal ADB Driver a try.  It's worth a shot.  https://github.com/koush/UniversalAdbDriver  Then from fastboot you can run fastboot oem unlock and see if that works.

Thanks, I downloaded Koush's universal driver and tried every bootloader interface entry in the list, but fastboot still doesn't work. It just stops at the  message. =(

Sounds like you'd need Starmobile's drivers. :/

Hehe, I don't expect anything from Starmobile. But the flashing tool I'm using works, so I'm not worried. I can always reflash the stock images if anything goes wrong.

Gosh, I almost bricked my device. I got curious and used the images I extracted from the backup.img partition, but those images don't work at all! So I re-flashed using the original boot/kernel/misc images I made earlier, and it's working again! Rockchip definitely has its own flash tool in place of fastboot.


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Can't have G,E,3G,H+ in the network bar (thus no internet connection unless on wifi)
I have a new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo, I have a question. Since I bought it 2 days ago, the internet connection is fine (with or without wifi) and it shows either G/E/3G/H+ symbol.
But, I once get into a basement (which I got no signal), and then, when I came out (this morning), the internet network coverage shows no symbol.
What I did wrong? I might accidentally pressed something unconsciously since I am new to this device (and android smartphone generally).
The signal bar (aside G,E,3G,H+ symbol) shows full bar, though.
Thanks. (I haven't call my service provider, since it might be device problem)
Additional notes :

On : Wifi, Vibrate, Screen Rotation, Mobile Data, Multi Window, Smart Stay, Sync
Off : GPS, BT, Blocking Mode, Power Saving, Screen Monitoring, Wifi Hotspot, S Beam, NFC, Air View, Hands-free mode, Smart pause, Smart scroll, Airplane mode
Android version : 4.3

How long did you wait? Sometimes it takes a bit for the mobile network to figure out what protocol it can use. You might be able to "kick it" by putting the device in "Airplane mode" then turning "Airplane mode" back off.

for about 6 hours. and yes, i have "kicked" it. But it shows no difference.

There are many things that can go wrong when messing around with the network settings, but the main ones to check are:

that you have enabled Packet Data and is not Roaming on
different network
and that you have not set and exceeded your data limit. This can be
    both from your provider and also as a user defined setting.

idk, it suddenly normal some hour after i post this


text:
Save (not just show) device contact only in device
Device : samsung galaxy note 3 neo
Os : kitkat 442
Short : I wanna get rid of every non-device contact (mainly gmail) from my device. So they won't shows up even if I use the search.
Long : So, I want to SAVE only my device contacts in my device. I want to get rid of all facebook and google contacts.
I've succeeded in unsync and removing facebook contacts. But it seems my google contact (the gmail contact) is still there, while not seen if I browsed through the contact, if I use the search feature (in contact) the gmail contact still shows up.
Checking or unchecking "show contact with phone number only" doesn't affect this at all. Neither with unchecking sync contacts via setting > account.
If I want to delete the contact, it said that the original source will also get deleted when sync turned on again.
Any idea??

Are you asking about where new contacts are saved, or showing & hiding existing contacts? It's not clear, as the start of your question mentions saving, but the rest talks about contacts "showing up" and deleting.

Not new contact. But existing ones. Saving the existing device contact only in device.

I have edited my post. Pls check it out


text:
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:
Android DHCP Port Redirection
I am working on a MirrorLink implementation for the Google Pixel (Android 8.1.0). I must implement a DHCP server; however, Android applications cannot listen on reserved ports.
The Android application is listening for DHCP DISCOVERY broadcasts on UDP port 6700. My intent is to port forward the DHCP traffic to 6700 so my application can handle the DHCP request.
I cannot find a combination of iptables rules that result in DHCP traffic reaching my application. If I send a DHCP DISCOVERY directly to port 6700 I receive the traffic.
# iptables -S

-P INPUT ACCEPT
-P FORWARD ACCEPT
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT
-N bw_FORWARD
-N bw_INPUT
-N bw_OUTPUT
-N bw_costly_rmnet_data0
-N bw_costly_shared
-N bw_costly_tun0
-N bw_data_saver
-N bw_happy_box
-N bw_penalty_box
-N fw_FORWARD
-N fw_INPUT
-N fw_OUTPUT
-N fw_dozable
-N fw_powersave
-N fw_standby
-N natctrl_FORWARD
-N natctrl_tether_counters
-N nm_mdmprxy_doze_mode_skip
-N nm_mdmprxy_iface_pkt_fwder
-N oem_fwd
-N oem_out
-N st_OUTPUT
-N st_clear_caught
-N st_clear_detect
-N st_penalty_log
-N st_penalty_reject

# iptables -t nat -S

-P PREROUTING ACCEPT
-P INPUT ACCEPT
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT
-P POSTROUTING ACCEPT
-N natctrl_nat_POSTROUTING
-N oem_nat_pre

I have tried various combinations of the following rules:
iptables -A INPUT -i ncm0 -p udp --dport 67 -J REDIRECT --to-port 6700
iptables -A FORWARD -i ncm0 -p udp --dport 6700 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i ncm0 -p udp --dport 6700 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -i ncm0 -p udp --dport 67 -j REDIRECT --to-port 6700

I suspect either a dire misunderstanding of iptables configuration (likely), special considerations for DHCP traffic, or Android/device specific conflicts.
I would appreciate any help getting this to work. It's the last barrier to achieving the MirrorLink implementation.
I have root access to the device if that wasn't clear already.
For absolute clarity - the MirrorLink device sends a DHCP DISCOVERY request (UDP port 67) to the Android device over a USB ethernet connection (CDC-NCM). The Google Pixel and probably most AOSP devices expose this interface as ncm0. Android applications can't listen on IANA well-known reserved ports, hence the need for internal port redirection to the 1024 - 49151 range. The Android device is reponsible for operating a DHCP server and returning a DHCP offer to the MirrorLink device.

I solved this problem using DNAT redirection instead of port redirection, due to some limitations of REDIRECT involving broadcast traffic.
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 67 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 6700 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I PREROUTING -t nat -i ncm0 -p udp -src 0.0.0.0 --dport 67 -j DNAT --to 0.0.0.0:6700


text:
Shell: get battery voltage_now if power were not connected
I am trying to make my device stop charging (echo 0 > /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charging_enabled, the easy part) when the battery's voltage reaches 3920000 µV.
Using cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now or dumpsys battery, I can also tell that the battery is at a certain voltage, like 3916000 (in µV). When the device is not charging, this number is the battery's charge voltage, the number I want. However, when the device is connected to a charger (DC out is normally 5V), this value is neither the battery's voltage, nor the input voltage, but some value in between, because of how charging works.
Because the voltage_now does not reflect the battery's rest voltage when charging, and this number is dependent on which charger I use, I cannot obtain the number I need (3920000) whenever the device should stop charging. So apart from pulse charging and sampling, how should I get the battery's non-charging voltage from the shell while charging?

Note: "manually calculating the battery percentage when the voltage is 3.92V, and then stopping charging when /sys/class/power_supply/battery/capacity reaches that number" is not a satisfactory answer or workaround.

I don't know if voltage can be read and not sure that is a reliable way of doing it (what if the battery ages and cannot reach full voltage on full charge?). Alternate method to do that is mentioned in my answer here https://android.stackexchange.com/q/167260/131553

The voltage is reported by voltage_now and it is the battery's current voltage as advertised, but I want the "rest voltage" of the battery if the cable were unplugged at that instant. The rest of the task involving charging_enabled is already implemented the same way as your previous answer.

You may like to look at the Magisk module used in this answer. But the kernel needs to support this https://android.stackexchange.com/q/223812/131553


text:
what will happen if i leave my smartphone(samsung gt8150) with an already ruined battery a whole day plugged into the computer?
I use my smartphone for tethering and i have a ruined battery which will keep the device on for not more than 1 minute but can be plugged in to the computer or charger.Is it ok to leave the device for a  whole night or a whole day for tethering? Will it damage the smartphone?
I edit to specify that im using usb wifi tethering

Definitely a yes based on the conditions of the battery.
If the battery is not more then  1 year old(frequently charging or extreme usage of the device for the most of the time)
If the battery has any dent's etc.
If the battery is showing early signs of disfiguring.(Battery starts to swell due to overcharging which leads to overheating and thereby it will not fit in your device leaving your device useless for any purpose you desire which require using the battery i.e. dead phone without battery)
If the your battery satisfies anyone condition from the above then you have to replace the battery with a new one.

thanks very much for reply, i understand but will using long time tethering with broken battery ruin ?

its surely deteriorated becouse is bigger than usual and doesnt work ok at all. i have another i wanted to use it only for downloads too big for the smartphone

yes Replace now don't wait further for any untoward incident may happen

Well, its okay to leave the device plugged over to the charger with a ruined battery. Let me tell you a little secrete I am doing the same thing thing from last month, What I need was a router so, I got the idea the same way like you are talking about I plugged my s2 with the charger with tethering switched on and viola I no need of spending few extra bucks for router. I use it to tether the internet over my notebook and s5. Still no sign of any unusual problem, I usually switch the charger off when I am at my workplace. So, I would say instead of keeping it switch on continuously switch it off when not in use you will never encounter any problem.


text:
How to activate band aggregation all thee time when available (4G+ at all times)?
The 4g+ network only activates when network is under big load.
I'd like to have 4g+ activated as soon as it is available and as long as it is available.
Does anybody know where I can change the aggregation settings ?

Are you taking about multiple 4G links or the combination of 4G+5G? Which phone do you use?

I mean multiple 4g links, I'm using a one plus 7t pro it runs fine but only activates on network load


text:
Can you reset a password for a restricted profile?
I have a restricted profile that is asking for a password, and it is not taking it. As the owner, I would like to be able to reset this password.
Long Story: The restricted profile is my son's. Since it was setup we have always used a pattern to unlock. I made the mistake of locking his tablet remotely using Android Device Manger, and setting a password. That password did not work on his profile. I switched to my owner account, and it worked fine. Now, however, his profile is asking for a password to be typed, and nothing works. I assume he set it to something he has forgotten since he has used pattern lock for a long time. ADM seems to have reset the screen lock to password instead of pattern on the profile without resetting the password itself.
So, any way to fix this short of deleting and creating a new restricted profile?

you can login to ur account right? why dont to reset device from there?

There is the nuclear option. Wipe out his profile and start over, but then he loses all his data. I'm trying to do something short of that.

I spent three hours on the phone with Google yesterday for the same issue. They said there is no way to reset the password.  They said I have to delete and add the user back, losing all data, pictures, game progress, etc.  There is also no way to prevent a child from setting a password.  Clearly the people at Google have not thought this through. It is definitely not a "kids mode".


text:
Multi-window: prevent the out-of-focus app from pausing?
Android 7.0 introduced the native multi-window API which allows apps to be viewed in split-screen mode globally.
However, in actual usage, one downside prevents it from being as useful as some users would imagine. Many apps, when in the multi-window view but not in focus (i.e. user is interacting with another app in the multi-window view), pauses its activities: IM apps would no longer update incoming messages; music/video apps would pause playback; games would not proceed with their actions.
The official developer guideline briefly mentions the pausing behavior, and from what I understand, apps need to be programmed with this in mind so as to not exhibit it. But is there a way I can force the way around the limitation as a user? From what I've heard from fellow users, certain manufacturers' Android forks such as MIUI do not show such pausing whatsoever.
TL;DR: Can I prevent the out-of-focus app from pausing in multi-window?

@beeshyams YouTube is one known example of respecting multi-window (well-written), not sure about MX Player. I only asked this because some of my friends asked me about it when they're playing games (popular in China), and I did some tests and noticed some of my IM apps pausing as well. It probably is just Chinese developers not abiding by the guidelines, but the question stays the same.

Early this November, Google has confirmed that multi-resume - running two apps simultaneously without pausing - will be part of the next major Android release (Q), thus indirectly confirming that this functionality is currently not a part of AOSP Android.
However, Google also stated that...

To help developers provide the best user experience on multi-window
  with minimal effort, we're allowing device manufacturers to keep all
  apps resumed when in multi-windows in P.
To opt-in to this behavior in Android P, add the following meta-data
  in your app manifest:
<meta-data android:name="android.allow_multiple_resumed_activities" android:value="true" />
How to test: There are no device at the moment with this behavior but
  device manufacturers are working to update existing devices to allow
  developers to test. Stay tuned for more details from device
  manufacturers.

This implies that such functionality will be available in Android P at a later time. As of now (December 2018) though, there is zero reference to allow_multiple_resumed_activities in AOSP Android code, meaning that the time has yet to come.
Sources: Google Blog, XDA-Developers

Android Q beta was released on March 13, 2019, marking the first public debut of the multi-resume feature on non-OEM Android. Unfortunately, there's still no reference to allow_multiple_resumed_activities in AOSP Android P code (Q not open-source yet, obviously), and the "There are no device at the moment with this behavior" statement didn't change in the aforementioned blog either - the situation remains unchanged for the majority of users and the custom ROM community.

As of the formal release of Android 10, multi-resume has been made the default behaviour, as indicated in the multi-resume design page.

No that's not something you can effect as a user, or a developer. The multi-window behavior is defined by Android and any device that calls itself "Android" has implement the rules for multi-window life cycle.
The bottom line is the app needs to be coded to respect the resume/pause vs. start/stop differentiation. Prior to the invention of multi window the distinction between the two was tenuous at best. Now it actually matters.
In my experience, Google apps do a great job of working with multi window and it's hit or miss with everything else. YMMV.

I would actually live with the explanation, if it weren't for some users reporting that some Android forks have worked around it...

@AndyYan is right, some forks seens to "ignore" this life cycle.

I'd be really surprised. To be called "Android" you have to test a comprehensive test suite and I'm sure a little something like violating the Activity lifecycle would fail it. The start / stop / pause / resume semantics for multi window / display are well documented. https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/multi-window#lifecycle


text:
Modifying android system apps
Does anyone know a good articles or tutorials explaining how to go about it?
Do I need to recompile android sources after modifying system apps and then install them on my emulator device somehow?
Or maybe the process is much simplier than I imagine? (What I mean is just creating an apk and then just installing it on the phone?)
Thanks a lot in advance!

If you've got the AOSP source, then just import the app into Eclipse/Studio from packages/apps in the source tree.  Then you can modify it an run it on one of the emulators (a/k/a AVDs) or a real device connected via USB.
If you want to replace the system app in the build, then put your modified code back into packages/apps and rebuild the system image.  Otherwise you can just install and run it alongside the 'real' app.
FYI, if you get into this and have more involved programming questions, you should probably post in StackOverflow with an Android tag.

Paul, I am so sorry for posting too many questions today. Maybe I should have asked it right here within comments section. Here is the link http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/85617/cannot-import-a-project-androidstudio The question is about how to open such projects. With which IDE. Thanks in advance!


text:
Music Manager(s) cannot find certain album
I recently added a new album on my phone and my music manager (neither doubleTwist or the system music app) have indexed it.
(Failed) Attempts

I have tried deleting the whole album and re-uploading it
I have recently replaced my whole library and while they found every other album, it could not find this one
I have tried the "Reset doubleTwist" button.

Additional Information

The album is located at "HTC One\Internal storage\Music\Slipknot\The Grey Chapter".
It does have every other album in the HTC One\Internal storage\Music\Slipknot\ folder. and every other album I own
I can find it in my phones file manager and from there use it to play the song
It IS in MP3

Does anyone know why this is happening and/or how to fix it?

How did you "add" it?

@DanHulme I plugged my phone into my computer and copied it from my desktop into the respective folder

Check if there is a file in the same folder that is called ".nomedia", if there is delete it. Better look for it on a PC, or enable the option to view hidden files in your phone's file manager to see it. The presence of such a file informs the system media indexer to ignore this folder.

You could re-run media scanner after removing the .nomedia file (if there is one). Can you move it to Internal storage\Media and see if that helps? HTC can be a bit... weird indexing media sometimes.

Sweet! Sometimes it's something simple that makes no sense, no HTC sense wah wah

Try these:

If there is a hidden file named .nomedia in that particular album folder >>> (unhide the file and delete it).
Move the folder into some other directory and refresh library.
Check whether .mp3 files have proper tags (IDv3 tags) >>> (or else they go to unknown album category).


text:
Do Android phones require a data connection to work?
I'm looking at buying a new phone, the oneplus one specifically(pre-orders open again November 17) and my current phone plan I do not have data, just calling and texting, and I was wondering if the oneplus one works without data and I could just use wifi, or if I would need to purchase a data plan for the phone to work. so it would be as simple as putting the sim card from my current phone into the oneplus one and done? all help is appreciated, thanks.

Only thing I would be careful of is if your current "plan" will use data on a PAYG basis when outside of your plan? If it does and this is expensive then you can turn "mobile-data" off in settings (so that it only connects on WiFi).

No. You don't need a data connection plan to use OnePlus One or any android phone for that matter. Calling and texting will work irrespective of internet connection.
However, having a data connection will be useful if you want to use some apps on the go.

Just to clarify, using data on WiFi is perfectly OK and doesn't require a mobile-data plan.

so I can just disable "mobile-data" and I would be fine and I would not use any?

Yupp. That's what I do on my test devices if they have a SIM inserted.

You will not need a data connection to use any Android phone. Wifi can do most of the things a data connection will do and more.  But sending pictures/video/audio via texts will not work unless you have data.


text:
Can't receive WhisperPush Messages on CM11
My Phone runs CyanogenMod 11. I registered in WhisperPush via the Settingsentry and got the verification code. I do have a Google Account, the phone is new and I haven't installed any apps yet.
Now I wanted to text with my contact (he's using TextSecure) via WhisperPush/TextSecure. When he sends me a message using TextSecure, it's shown to him that it's sent encrypted, but I won't receive any message at all. On the other hand, when I send a message, it's send as a normal text without any encryption at all.
I tried to enter the verification code somewhere, but can't find anything, permissions should be also fine, at least I allow WhisperPush everything.
How can I get WhisperPush to work?
Hint: WhisperPush is integrated with CyanogenMod, so Google Cloud Messaging shouldn't be involved.
Update: I tried it with another contact, who uses TextSecure as well. While I still won't get any encrypted message and the messages I send are still plain text, after unregistering and re-registering from WhisperPush I noticed that I've the public key of my contact in my list, he had mine as well. So it seems there was a key-exchange, but somehow the messaging app(?) doesn't know it can communicate with this contact using WhisperPush/TextSecure.
Update II: I just installed the TextSecure (now Signal) app from the Google Play Store. Works flawless.

I can't find that app (could you provide a market link?), but it might be it uses Google Cloud Messaging. CM doesn't ship with the GApps, which are required for that. Do you have the Google Apps installed on that device?

@Izzy WhisperPush is directly shipped with CM article. I do have (I guess all) Google Apps like GMail, Maps, PlayStore etc. It would be a bit weird if CM includes software which needs something you have to install afterwards...

Yupp, you're right. I wasn't aware of that fact (your question didn't state it ;) In that case, GCM shouldn't be involved here.

Yeah, but still don't know what to do. There was no other window or form I had to fill out/enter passphrase or so after receiving the verification code. I don't even know where to put it. So far it doesn't seem well thought through...

@Izzy: CM's WhisperPush implementation actually does require GCM. A ticket was filed at one point asking them to remove this requirement but it was marked as "won't fix".

@eldarerathis That might answer the question then! Though I guessed it, you've got the proof. OP is unclear on whether Google Apps are installed (having an Google account doesn't necessarily mean to have GApps installed). If not: Mind making it an answer?

@Izzy, I'm quite sure I've the GApps installed. On the link eldarerathis provided they talk about the Play Service Framework. I guess it's the Google Service Framework which I have and according to the Privacy Guard has all permissions, not sure if there lies the problem.

Ok, I found an interesting thing. According to the App ops (advanced menu of the Privacy Guard), the Service Framework is said to be able to receive SMS, but when I look at the actual settings there is no option there to either restrict it or not. Seems like there should be this option, but actually it's missing. Could this be the problem?


text:
How to completely clear my device of a particular company's apps?
Owing to a recent Motley Fool report of Google's actions pertaining to Cheetah Mobile apps, it occured to me that I would like to either uninstall or disable (in case uninstall fails), the apps related to this company, and other companies, if need be. Now exposed as employing questionable techniques on even one app, it is unlikely I would ever trust any installed app from that company.
What easy technique to recognize a company's apps are on my device and uninstall them, even if their app names, or their developer names, or their company names are obscure?

The easiest way is through the web for Google Play. Using the seach bar, bring up the name of one of the suspected apps like Clean Master or any of the apps listed in the article like Kika. Using this page, click the hyperlink for the COMPANY, below the appname. This will bring up all apps for that company, and the card for each app that you have installed will have a green check mark in the bottom right of the card. Selecting in this fashion allows the user some confidence that all his apps from that specific company can be identified. Unfortunately, while the specific app card yields a pseudo-button "Installed", it does not allow uninstall or disable via the web interface. Using the list however, the user would search out, uninstall (or disable) the now-exposed apps directly from the device.
Settings > Apps > <selected app> > Uninstall or Disable

+1. Also, if you know the publisher's name, just use in Play Store (for web portal and app both) this query: pub:PUBLISHER's NAME  (case sensitive). E.g. pub:Cheetah Mobile and pub:Kika Tech Inc.

This might be more imperative to do based on a new report out about Cheetah, and Google Play actions against them. See this: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-bans-600-apps-play-store/.

Android package identification is not easy.
I can call a new application anything i want to, their is no designated spot to write the company name for searching.
Ok for example,
 i could call my app region.company.appname as the guidelines encourage developers to use this format when naming application packages... com.company.tester  for this example, COM is the region ( Commonwealth ) , Company is the company name and tester is the app name.
To identify applications made using the same naming rules and using the same company name, you'd need to look at the package name for all application's and find the corresponding company name.
This won't show you everything because the developer can easily call the app anon.unknown   now the region has been removed, the company is Anon and the app name is unknown...
This makes it extremely hard to recognize all package's by a specific developer.
Back in the day, Google's Play Store only required the application to be signed by a developer key ( used for all apps ) however now developers need to create a new key for each application that doesn't share userID's.
You could have previously checked the Key Hash for all applications and the one's using the same Key are from the same company ( developer )   ... however this has changed.
In my experience, their isn't any regulation on leaving a footprint from your company.... If you wanted, you could make your company name the same as you application name ... For example, Facebook is by Facebook, The company may have been created specifically for the application, therefore the company is the same name, meaning each and every application will be made by development team for that application.
So, other than relying on the developer to use the same naming rules for every application... It's not possible to find all applications made by a specific company...
The company may have side projects that use their respective names as the identity of the creator.
The only possible way is if the IDE ( Integrated Development Environment ) places some sort of digital fingerprint on the software using information from the hardware of the computer... this can still be avoided by using a different computer to develop on.
So as far as i know, it's not entirely possible.
The best alternative is to read the package names and find corresponding companies ( shared user ID's & package names ).
If the application is installed in your System, you can't uninstall it without root access, so you'll need to Disable the app instead.
System > Apps ( Samsung's it's More > Apps ) > ( Selected App ) > Disable.
I hope the developer hasn't used different naming rules for each application etc .... good luck finding them all.

Thanks for all of that. I designed my question and placed it here to be for the casual user, rather than a developer. Your answer has a clear "let's dive into the code" feel, especially the parts about developers keys, Key Hashes, and IDE fingerprints. Your answer does coalesce alot of what a developer would consider employing to make easy name detection difficult if not impossible, giving this question's target audience (Cheetah/Kika victim) a bit of additional information to be successful.


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How to revert to tabbed overview in Chrome?
I recently updated my Chrome for Android (currently on v68) and noticed that tapping on the box icon (next to address bar) gives a tab list instead of SystemUI type overview that Chrome used to give. See the two images below for comparison.
I know that I can get that same view by swiping downwards from the address bar but I'm habitual of getting it from that box icon.
So what can I do to get back that view from that box without reverting to a previous version of Chrome and without switching to an another browser (unless it is Chrome based)?

You just need to uncheck the "Simplified view for open tabs" box under Settings → Accessibility in Chrome app.

Per beeshyams's comment
 the culprit appears to be the flag Accessibility Tab Switcher. However, I also did a fresh install to reproduce the issue with all flags untouched and it was ruled out with that.
Talking about Accessibility as he mentioned, I attempted Safe Mode and found that the issue was gone. Later, I tried to stop all accessibility services under Settings → Accessibility, and using trial and error, found AutoInput to be the culprit causing the overview to flatten out. Stopping its service immediately solved the problem.

Type chrome://flags in address bar, search and disable Accessibility Tab Switcher

I fixed the issue by going to chrome://flags and enabled "Enable horizontal tab switcher"...
Cheers