text:
How do timers and alarms function while the device is sleeping?
I would like to preface this by noting that this is not a developer question, more of a interest to know how this particular aspect of Android works in relation to the hardware found in smartphones today.
My basic understanding is that when a phone is sleeping all CPU cores (for a multicore device) are in a battery-essential, very low-powered state.
However, when a timer or an alarm is set into some arbitrary point in the future, I assume the hardware needs to essentially monitor every passing second and act on whether to sound the alarm, or wait.
Does this mean that the CPU is doing the work (which I doubt), or is there some dedicated low-power hardware?
Thank you!

IMHO on "sleep" CPU frequency is just reduced to a minimum (e.g. one core runs at minimum frequency, the others might be "switched off" if available). That minimum should be sufficient to check the timers (if some "authority" can confirm this, I'd make it an answer).

@Izzy: That's interesting, coupled with the fact that Qualcomm has the dedicated alway-on-and-listening-for-voice-input core in their 8XX line and no noticable impact on battery life, it might be that it's very power-efficient to keep one core "barely alive".

Some Multi-cores even have a special core for that, so the quads are 4+1: for "power cores", and one "little brother" which is rather power-safe. The latter is the "permanently running" one, while the other 4 are only activated when needed. As for the "always listening", that's a special "NSA chip" ;)

All computers have a special piece of hardware called the clock (more fully, the real-time clock or RTC). The clock is connected to the CPU, but it runs even when the computer is completely powered down. On a desktop computer, a battery on the motherboard keeps the clock running even when it's unplugged from the mains. Mobile devices tend to have a large capacitor (which is a bit like a rechargeable battery), so even if you pull the main battery out, the clock can continue to keep time for some hours.
At regular intervals, the clock sends a signal to the CPU called an interrupt. It tells the CPU to interrupt whatever it's doing to process this signal. This is the same mechanism used by other parts of the computer (such as the touch screen) to send input to the CPU. The rate of the signals can be controlled by the kernel: it might be as slow as once per second, or as fast as a thousand times per second. This sounds like a lot of signals, but don't forget that today's computers take a fraction of a nanosecond to do a single operation, so even a 1 kHz clock only interrupts every few million operations.
Don't confuse the real-time clock with the CPU clock and the CPU's clock rate, which are typically a few GHz. The CPU clock is not a timekeeping device: it sets the number of operations per second the CPU can perform, and is a big factor in how much power the CPU draws.
On most CPUs, the kernel can decrease the CPU clock rate, turn off some CPU cores, and maybe even power down some caches, all to reduce power consumption. This is what happens when your Android device goes to sleep, but the exact changes are different from one phone to another. The CPU is still running, just more slowly, and drawing less power. As Izzy points out, if the phone uses ARM's big.LITTLE system, it might even be a completely different CPU core that runs in sleep mode: a slower one tuned for low power consumption.
Consider, then, that the RTC is still running in sleep mode, and the CPU is still receiving and processing clock interrupts. This is still necessary for the CPU to keep track of different processes and allocate time between them fairly. One of the processes is the system's alarm manager. This has a sorted list of all the apps on the system that have registered an alarm. The alarm manager doesn't run continuously: rather, it tells the kernel when the first alarm is, and the interrupt handler for the clock interrupts is responsible for checking the time and waking up the alarm manager when appropriate.
This way, the CPU only needs a few instructions per clock to compare the current time with the time of the next wake-up.
In addition, the alarm manager has its own optimizations to keep the device asleep as much as possible. When several apps want to run at intervals (e.g. to check email every 15 minutes), the alarm manager won't run them individually at the exact times they asked for, waking up the device several times over that 15 minute window. Instead, it will run all of them at the same time, so the device only needs to wake up once.
On top of that, many alarms won't run at all if the device is asleep. For example, if an app wants to run every hour to change your home screen background, there's no point in doing that while the device is asleep, because you can't see it. It will tell the alarm manager that it doesn't need to wake up the device to run, so the alarm manager will ignore that alarm when telling the kernel when it needs to run. That way, if the device is asleep when the time comes, the alarm will only happen when the device next wakes up.

Sorry for the delay; this is exactly what I was looking for!


text:
App to send group MMS without reply all
I am looking for an app that can send a text to multiple recipients without them being able to respond back to all the other recipients. And also not see who else received the message. Similar to sending out an email with BCC recipients.

Eduardo you are right, there is already a way to do this with the standard Messaging app. You have to disable the "Group messaging" setting in the Messaging app. Not sure if this setting is available on all versions of Android but I have v4.4.2

SMS and MMS are 1 to 1 messages. Doing what you want it's standard. Just send the message using the standard SMS client. It's lets you send to multiple recipients, but it sends a individual message to each.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Nexus 5 front camera not working
Yesterday my front camera on Nexus 5 stopped working. It doesn't show up in any app (& there's a bug in the new Google camera app - I can switch camera only if the HDR+ is on, but then it's stuck on "Can't connect to camera'). I'm out of options, I already tried: deleting cash, reinstalling camera, safe mode, factory reset... - nothing worked. Anybody got another idea how to get it working? Thanks in advance
Threads I found:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/6RVMvPaF80s
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/MATebxlFYyA

Take a look at my answer to a similar issue here:
http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/82300/camera-doesnt-work-on-nexus-5-running-android-l/96945#96945

I found a solution:
If you don't have a RMA option like me, it's possible it can be fixed with just disconnecting and reconnecting the front facing camera.
Try deleting cash, reinstalling camera, safe mode, factory reset, etc. before doing this.
Proceed at your own risk!
As shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPuCmfhzgbg)

Remove the back of the phone (beginning of the video).
Unscrew the top plastic plate (7:15 - 8:10).
Disconnect and reconnect front-facing camera flex cable (13:43 - 13:57).
Put everything back together and you're done.

Viola!
I hope it helps someone.
UPDATE: It stopped working again and this didn't help anymore. I had to buy a spare part and according to the video above replace it. The repair was succesful though.

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


text:
How to unbrick/reflash Nexus S using stock ROM, stock tools
I have a Nexus S that seems to have bricked itself.  I have never modded the ROM or phone, and it was totally stock.
Now, it boots right int the white Google logo and stays there forever (I let it sit like this overnight and for many hours during the day, with several hard reboots.).  The only way to get the phone to reboot from this state is to pull the battery.
I've downloaded the official Android SDK, and would like to reflash this phone back to a stock Google-provided ROM, using Google-provided tools.
Everything I've found on the internet is for ClockworkMod, Cyanogen, etc.  I don't want to mod my phone, I just want to reflash a stock image using the "official" tools, but haven't been able to find instructions on where to get the images and how to do it.
Any other help on how to unbrick this phone would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.samfirmware.com/WEBPROTECT-i9020.htm has the European 2.3.3 firmware. Maybe that'll help

@Sparx link broken.

You should try a factory reset before trying to reflash the phone.  AFAIK you need to unlock the bootloader (voiding your warranty) to flash a ROM, even on the Nexus S.
Instructions:

Turn the power off. If your Nexus S is frozen, pull the battery out and reinsert it
Hold the Volume Down button

Press and release the Power button
You are now presented with a menu that allows for Fastbook, Recovery, Clear Storage, and Simlock

Select Clear Storage by pressing the Volume Down button
Press and release the Power button
Now simply confirm your decision: Volume Up for YES and Volume Down for NO

Yup, tried this already.  No effect, phone still reboots to being stuck in the white Google logo.

@slacy OK, so after some research it appears Google does not provide the factory images. They do, however, provide the OTA update packages. Which means if you have anything but the latest version we could try applying the OTA. Do you know what version you have?

FYI I had to RMA the phone to get it back and working again.


text:
What's the difference between uTorrent and BitTorrent apps from the same developer?
In Play Store, there are two apps with almost same descriptions from same developer: uTorrent and BitTorrent. What's the difference between them?

Effectively nothing. The two desktop torrent clients, uTorrent and BitTorrent used to be developed by two separate groups. Late 2006, µTorrent was purchased by BitTorrent Inc. Since then, they started shipping BitTorrent as a re-branded uTorrent, but also kept uTorrent around. Wikipedia
Because of this, they maintain one program, but have two versions separated only by name, and it seems as though they carried this over to their Android apps as well.

The two programs share the same update description - but for some reason BitTorrent Pro is two times cheaper than uTorrent Pro.

I guess they do this to drive people away from µTorrent, and push them towards using BitTorrent instead, so they could phase out µTorrent completely in the future.

Agree with the user53233 that both were own by the same community but still feel that Bittorent is slightly better than utorrent. Following are the reason of my claim:

In my 10mbps connection, BitTorrent performs better than Utorrent.
when I checked both on MAC, Bittorent also feel slightly better than Utorrent.
Here is a guide which can also second my opinion. https://www.vpnranks.com/utorrent-or-bittorrent/


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How to disable auto hide navigation bar in cyanogenmod 11?
The navigation bar is automatically hidden in Cyanogenmod 11. Maybe it's a good idea but my tablet case does not let me swipe from bottom to show it.
Is there a way to prevent a navigation bar from hiding so that it is always displayed?

I think you're talking about Expanded Desktops. Can't you disable it from the Power Menu?

Image from phandroid.

Many thanks! What a great place to hide this setting!)


text:
Remove "Folder Open" "Folder closed" announcements without disabling Accessiblity
I have a Galaxy S3 4G.  I also have a Pebble watch.
The Pebble watch uses the Accessibility service in order to project messages etc to your wrist.  Unfortunately, this means certain other "features" apparently get enabled - like a voice announcement every time I open or close a folder.  Which is less than helpful.  And really annoying.
Is there any way to disable these particular advisories?  I'm leery of disabling all voice apps entirely, since I still occasionally want access to things like turn instructions from Google Maps.

Found a solution that worked for me.  From this page:

Go to Settings> Application Manager> All> Google Text To Speech Engine
Instead of disabling it entirely, hit "Clear Data"

Note: This solution may or may not be permanent (I have a feeling when I next actually use a feature with Voice, it will re-enable), but it's easily repeatable at need.  It's mostly viable for me because I don't use such features terribly often.  If you use Maps every day or whatever you might need to find a different answer.


text:
How to share contact via sms on Android 4.4.2?
I'm using Moto G with stock android running 4.4.2. I would like to share contact detail via SMS. I don't want to use 3rd party app for this basic functionality. Was this functionality available with previous versions?

Kitkat has only 3 defaults for this:

Bluetooth
Email
Gmail

Other options can be added with 3rd Party software, e.g. ES File Exploere adds "Share over LAN".
As per  the Google products page this is a know issue.

I too am annoyed that this issue is happening with the Nexus 5.I can only hope that they will have an update that will resolve this issue.I work in the transportation industry in which I often have to send forward a contact phone number to another driver and at this point is very cumbersome not to be able to quickly Share a recent calls number with another driver.I've been checking the Play Store to see if there is an App dialer that will resolve this issue for me.

From  this Android Central thread  it confirms that this feature is missing and the solution is to copy and paste, or install 3rd party app.
Without installing a 3rd party application, there is nothing you can do for now.

Thanks for the response. So Is there anyway we can report missing feature in 4.4.2?

Try Google Code pages here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list

Go to the contact details
Touch the vertical dotted lines for drop-down menu
Select share
Select messaging from the pull down menu
now the contact details will be in messaging application and ready to send as mms
remove the mms by clicking remove button and send

Using Hangouts I can send contact cards but I have to change MMS delivery using drop down menu on left.(Change from highlighted Blue to Grey MMS delivery. Basically changing from Google Voice to Carrier*)
*On Sprint so my Google Voice number and my Carrier number are the same. Doesn't make sense that I have to change delivery method.
Trying to suggest they smooth out this delivery process, as it should be more fluid to perform a simple task.

Try Contacts via Sms. It is a simple option to solve this problem in version 4.4.2

The OP specifically mentioned "I don't want to use 3rd party app for this basic functionality".

Hi go to the contact you wish to share and there you can see the option share aand click it and select via message .

From the Log of the calls..select Name -> and select Send number


text:
How to install apps by connecting to the desktop
I was just wondering is that possible to install apps on my tablet by connecting it to my dekstop from google play.
Thanks for any help

Actually, it shouldn't be necessary to connect the tablet to your desktop. All you need to do is to log into Google Play on your desktop with the same account that's registered on the tablet. Then navigate to an app and press the Install button (or Installed if it's already installed on one of your other devices):

Once you click Install, a dialog will appear which allows you to select the device to install to:

After clicking Install, click OK on the next dialog that pops up. Then connect your tablet via WiFi, wait a bit, and the app will be installed!


text:
Brightness below system minimun
Is there tool or application that can set the brightness of the screen below the system minimum?

Use screen filler pro

My personal favorite for this task is ScreenFilter, which is completely free (no ads, even) and has Tasker integration.

Yes there are a dozen of them, go to the below link and download the app.
Vote up and choose answer if I helped :D
NightMode


text:
How to Custom install a Custom ROM?
The Custom ROM has several apps and features that I will remove and settings that I will set (just like any other ROM) This wouldn't be a big issue if I wouldn't flash a rom every few hours
So how to custom install a custom rom?

Unless the ROM is specifically designed to allow some kind of default set-up (and I don't know any that are), you can only do this by building the ROM yourself from source. You can edit the build scripts to remove any apps or features you don't need, and the source code to change the default settings, then compile a ROM image yourself.
You don't say why you're flashing a ROM every few hours. Obviously if you're flashing different ROMs, changing the source each time is going to be harder than just setting the settings on the device. If it is essentially the same ROM you're flashing each time, then you can keep your settings across flashes by simply not wiping the userdata partition when you flash the new ROM. Bear in mind that if the ROMs are significantly different, this may make the new ROM unstable, because it's trying to use settings files that were written by the old ROM.


text:
Are Amazon "Parental Controls" redundant if I disable "In-App Purchasing"?
In the Amazon Appstore settings, there is a preference to enable Parental Controls. When set, this causes all apps (that are installed via amazon appstore) to require the amazon password before being able to make an in-app purchase. You can also specify an optional PIN to use in lieu of the full amazon password. According to the details, this only affects in-app purchases, and it does not hide 'mature' apps or enable any filtering.
Another setting is In-App Purchasing. This preference is active by default, but it can be disabled to completely remove the possibility of in-app purchases.
By default, no password is needed for in-app purchases, and the in-app purchasing ability is active. For both of these permissions, you are required to enter your amazon password to change the permission.
My question is this: If I disable in-app purchasing completely, is there a need to also enable parental controls?
Since the preference itself cannot be altered without typing in the password, I feel like the Parental Control preference is redundant for my purposes.

"In-App Purchasing" is an on/off toggle for disabling the functionality altogether, whereas "Parental Controls" allows you the option of having in-app purchasing under a password/pin.  If you disable it completely, putting the password on is indeed redundant.  I don't see why Amazon couldn't combine these two setting into one, with 3 options: Disable, Allow, Allow with a Password.

In short, you are correct.  Disabling in-app purchasing completely via In App Purchasing option makes password-protecting under the Parental Controls settings redundant.
It's definitely confusing, and could have been better accomplished by having just one setting with 3 options: Disable, Allow, Allow with a Password.  It's possible that these two settings used to work differently on older versions of this app, and developers decided that keeping the settings separate would be less confusing to existing users than combining them.

Almost the same question: Do parental controls do anything besides require a pin/password for in-app purchasing? Do they also limit anything else (such as hide mature apps)? If parental controls only control in-app purchasing, then this answer is perfect.

I have not seen any evidence that parental controls filter out apps by rating or any other criteria. To test this out, I enabled the parental controls and was still able to find and download "3D Kamasutra - Sex Positions from KamaSutra" app, with rating of "Adult Content".

Now I need to find a way to remove this app from the list of my purchased ones :)

You can do that on the desktop site. Go to "Your Apps and Devices" when on the app section. You have to manually page through all your apps 10 at a time, but the app in question will likely be at the top (numerics before alphabetics, or just sort by purchase date).

And I applaud your devotion to the scientific method. Testing a hypothesis, even when the test is undesirable, is important in finding the right solution. I, however, will trust your result instead of independently verifying it. :-)


text:
Can't flash ClockwordMod onto Verizon GS4
I just got a warrentied Galaxy S4 (running VRUEMK2) and am trying to install ClockwordMod and CyanogenMod onto it like I had on my previous GS4. I rooted it, installed ROM Manager, and flashed ClockWorkMod Touch 6.0.4.4, and ROM Manager shows that it is in fact installed (top of the app shows current recovery as ClockworkMod 6.0.4.4). Problem is, when I reboot into recovery, I still see the stock Samsung boot loader. I think this is the root cause that is preventing me from being able to install CyanogenMod.
Tried installing it manually as well through here, but didn't do anything.
Any ideas? I've scoured most threads on multiple message boards and still haven't figured out what the issue is.

ROM Manager is crap. Try flashing the recovery using Flashify. Then, let me know how it goes.

Also, make sure to flash the latest recovery.

Tried using Flashify to flash ClockworkMod 6.0.4.4 Touch. It worked, but now after rebooting the phone I get an error "System software not authorized by Verizon..." and I can't boot the OS. I'm googling around to see how to fix this, but in the meantime help would be appreciated.

Since you've flashed CWM Touch via Flashify, have you tried booting into recovery mode? Then, flashing CM and GAPPS?

It's not letting me boot into recovery mode. The only screen I get is the Verizon unauthorized screen, and I can't get anywhere from there.

Ah, it looks like you have a locked bootloader. You'll have to unlock that first. See if this helps: http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-to-Root-and-Unlock-your-Verizon-Samsung-Galaxy-S4_id43539

VRUEMK2 - is not Bootloader unlocked. So no CWM and custom ROMS for this. You only have root via SafeRoot method. There isn't a known bootloader unlock yet for the past 2 or 3 OTA releases.

Seems I figured this out the hard way, unfortunately. Hopefully an unlock gets figured out soon!


text:
How can I remove/hide the Skype Status notification?
Skype, like many applications, uses a persistent notification to keep from getting killed by the process manager. Usually, I would just hide this notification by going to the app's "App Info" screen and unchecking the "Show notifications" box. However, I want to get message notifications. Just not the constant "Available" notification.
Here's a screenshot of the notification I'm talking about.
After some Googling, I've found people who suggest disabling the "Skype Status" notification in the app settings. However, that doesn't seem to be an option on my device.
I use Android 4.4 on a Nexus 5.
How can I remove/disable the Skype login/status persistent notification, without disabling other Skype notifications?

This is now possible:
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA12359/how-do-i-enable-or-disable-the-status-icon-in-skype-4-for-android-phones
Just tried it on my Nexus 7, works fine.

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! I thought this question would never get revived. You, sir, deserve a Necromancer badge for your fine answer.

I found the answer by accident, I was trying to do the opposite of what you described in your question!

Ah, I see what you mean. The default option now seems to be to hide that notification.

Apparently this does not work any more. Or rather: The icon is disabled by default. And the option to turn it on (as described in the answer) is not there any more. Suggestions where/how to enable it welcome.

If it's not available from inside the app, you can always:

long touch the notification
touch "App Info"
Untick show notification
this should do the trick.

As I mentioned in my question, I already considered this. However, I don't want to disable all Skype notifications. Thanks though!

sorry for not noticing. I don't of another solution then.


text:
Normal Internet surfing, without being redirect
Disclaimer: I'm new in the smartphone world.
So, I  have my new smartphone (LG5), I open the browser and I would like to surf internet as I do from my laptop.
I go to google, search a site, for example a newspaper page, I click and... I'm automatically redirect to a page starting with and "m" like m.normal.site.addres which is the page for mobile devices, and which is often a pay-service.
How can I see the normal web page without being redirect?
Thanks in advance for help!

In Chrome for Android, you select "Request desktop site" from the menu in the browser.
I don't know if your phone ships with Chrome as the default browser or something LG have cooked up, so the option might be named differently, but there should be an equivalent.
Most sites will respect this, but you might find that if a site is redirecting you to push you to a pay service, they have another way of redirecting you anyway.

Thanks! If my default browser does not have this choice, how can I install a clean version of chrome?

You can install it from Google Play.

Worth noting that dolphin browser, boat browser, opera etc are great alternatives to Chrome (I do NOT like Chrome, long story) and have this option also!

Maybe your smartphone does not support Chrome browser. By the way, you can do the thing suggested by @Dan Hulme with almost every "custom" browser on the Play Store.
Opera is a good choice (you must consider the lightest one) but Firefox, expecially in the last updates, is another good choice.
If I remember well, the stock andoird browsers has this option too: try to check in the settings!


text:
What does it mean when I see "Throttle limit exceeded" in Dialer?
I made a call to a local pizza place by dialing their number on my Nexus 5, running ParanoidAndroid 4.2 Beta 4.
The normal behavior that I would expect is the following:

Dial, then do all those phoney-things that I'm not interested in like connecting. (I just want pizza)
Conveniently(?) do an internet lookup of the phone number, then display the business name in my dialer so I know who I'm calling.

However, something weird happened today. It apparently tried to do the lookup, but failed. Instead of displaying "Blah Blah Pizza" in the Dialer, it displayed "Throttle limit exceeded". Everything else worked fine.
There's also a screenshot I managed to take very quickly.
Is anyone else seeing this? What's causing this? More importantly, how can I fix it? I'd rather not see "Throttle limit exceeded" all over my call history.

The dialer may have hard-coded the API key for the lookup service. The error occurs when too many requests are sent using a single API key in a short interval.

This seems likely. Any information about the API it's using?

From the source and from using this API in the past: https://www.opencnam.com/


text:
SMS sending is auto-blocked, how to fix?
To a specific number, when I try to send a SMS, it is automatically/instantly blocked and fails.
Once, by mistake, I blocked sending messages to that number, but even after unblocking, the messages are still being blocked as if that number is still blocked.
I have deleted all old messages to that number, and also deleted all data and cache of the Messages app.

I have also tried to block and unblock again.
I went to application settings for this app but all looks ok.
I can send SMS to other numbers, it shows a waiting spinning icon and sends properly. But for the problematic number, it fails instantly, as if it doesnt even try to send the SMS at all, is blocked locally, by the Messages app...
Galaxy J7 Marshmallow.

@beeshyams after reboot, on the 1st try, it will show the spinning wait icon for about 3s and fail. All subsequent retries will instantly fail. Could this mean it was ,in some way, configured remotely on the provider as a blocked number, and my phone just retrieves that cfg and insta-blocks on sunsequent tries?

Mmm.. if I could send sms thru other apps that would be a workaround! bbl

Worked! And I set the new app as default! Should have tried that 2 years ago  :/. Thx!

I didnt find a fix the bundled messages app.
As workaround I just installed google's one and after 2 years I can send messages to the specific number again, thx!


text:
How to get to Torch on Moto G / Marshmallow 6.0.1
I have two copies of Motorola Moto G with (now) Marshmallow 6.0.1. One of them has recently "removed" Torch icon from notification area:

Now, I don't have access to it at all. Neither in Settings menu, nor among installed apps.
How can I start it on the other phone or how can I "reset" notification area on the other phone to the same state like previously / like on the first phone?
EDIT: I have enabled and made use of System UI Tuner > Quick Settings, but it brought no help. I can see Torch icon enabled there, but I still don't see it in quick access area, where I saw it just a week ago and for the past year or so.
The same story goes for Broadcast Title and Invert colours icons, which I can add to my layout in System UI Tuner > Quick Settings, but which actually never appear in quick access area.
I have just made a test photo with flash light enabled to double check that there are no hardware issues that could be causing Torch icon to disappear.
My current system:

Android version: 6.0.1.
Android security patch level: 1 September 2017.
Baseband version: M8916_20250106.08.05.14.02R HARPIA_APAC_DSDS_CUST.
Kernel version: 3.10.49-g5531188 hudsoncm@ilclbld71 #1 Mon Sep 25 05:50:06 CDT 2017.
Build number: MPIS24.241-15.3-26.

Exactly the same on both devices that I own.

Does it allow you to edit the layout when you press and hold the gear icon top-right?

This appears to be an old problem cited two years ago wherein torch light and cast icons as in case of OP go missing. Reason attributed is some icons disappear if not used for long and reboot brings them back as it happened in OP's case.
Probably this is a bug that is continuing and not found in latter models - I don't see that on Moto X Play (also maybe because I use  Gravity box Xposed module interface for quick settings)
It sounds stupid, but it looks like you have to remember to use those icons to be able to find them when you need them :(


text:
Twitter app with pic.twitter.com upload
The official Twitter app uses an external service for image upload instead of its own image service. I want a app which uses the official twitter image upload service. The reason is that I don't want to show my uploaded images the whole world.
Any suggestions?

I don't know any too :/

You can use Twicca with the plugin "Multi Image".

The current version of the app defaults to the official service.


text:
Xiaomi Mi A1 proximity sensor not working
I just got a new Mi A1, not even a week old, and in the middle of calls my cheek is turning on the loudspeaker, muting, etc. Clearly the proximity sensor is poorly calibrated/not working.
Is there any easy way to fix this or should I return for a refund?

this answer mentions calibrating the proximity sensor (not sure if that's available on all devices – the post was about a Yureka); but same answer here for a Micromax, so it might be worth checking. Other probable causes: sensor dirty (clean it), or you use a cover which is, ahem, covering the sensor?

There is a miA1 tag :) ; added that to your question

I have also faced the same issue with my MI A1. I think there is some kind of software issue that MI needs fixing.

Answer was actually pretty simple. This post suggests a couple of solutions, but the first one worked for me:

Restart your phone.

@RahulGopi The correct code is *#*#64663#*#*. I think your text treated the outside asterisks as italic formatting ;-)

The latest December 156 MB update seems to have resolved this issue.
The problem is with AOSP Phone app. If the latest update has not resolved the issue, install google dialer apk & make it  default.

I couldn't download December  update, and now it even doesn't appear in system updates!


text:
How can I use browser userscripts on my Android phone?
I am a passionate Stack Exchange user and I have a lot of userscripts in my desktop Chrome browser, installed with Tampermonkey. I want to use them on my Android phone, is it possible?

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/242847/how-can-i-install-greasemonkey-tampermonkey-or-similar-in-firefox-android

Also related: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/229969/how-can-i-use-userscripts-on-firefox-for-android

Google Chrome on Android so far doesn't support plugins, of which Tampermonkey is necessary to run userscripts, so here I recommend Firefox for Android. You can install Tampermonkey addon in Firefox and then start with your favorite scripts. Note that all userscripts are not compatible with Tampermonkey such as  SE-AutoReviewComments for which you need
USI- Unified Script Injector addon.
Where can I find scripts to play with?
Stack Apps is a Q&A site for apps, scripts, and development with the Stack Exchange API. People discuss about developing around SE, and publish their projects there. You can find a lot of userscripts in the scripts section.
One of my scripts isn't working
beeshyams asked me this question before, but I wasn't a Firefox user then, so I installed Firefox fresh and installed that userscript, and found nothing wrong.
When you encounter some issues with userscripts, try removing and reinstalling them, as well as clearing/resetting your Firefox addon, and see if the issue resolves by itself. Usually this solves 99% of them.

There's also Greasemonkey which is the original such add-on for Firefox.

FF 81 (mobile) has disabled the TamperMonkey addon (it's listed as "Not Yet Available"). Apparently it's in the pipeline

Firefox doesn't let any other add-on be installed other than those recommended ones.

It is possible with the help of Xposed framework.
I am the author of ChromeXt which adds support of UserScripts to Android Chrome:
https://github.com/JingMatrix/ChromeXt.

The situation changes all the time, I was using Firefox 68 for that but later versions drop add-on support. And using old version 68 is not very safe.
But hopefully Kiwi Browser took the relay of Firefox for browsing with userscripts on Android:
Since 2021 or so, I've been using for months without problems tons of userscripts with Violentmonkey (open source) and many userstyles with Stylus with Kiwi Browser!
It can install and run also other extensions from the Chrome Store.

Tampermonkey or any other userscript manager can no longer be added to Firefox as of writing this answer. It was never even possible with Chrome. However, You can instead install actively maintained android firefox fork iceraven that supports extensions like tampermonkey, greasemonkey etc.

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


text:
Google calendar force closing after OTA update (SM-G930A)
I have a G930A, un-rooted, running AT&T's version of Oreo (8.0.0). I received an OTA update over the weekend and cannot use Google Calendar since--app force stops.
I also cannot do a calendar insertion from Tasker.
I have, of course reinstalled, cleared system cache, twiddled permissions, even factory reset, but am getting nowhere. Wife's phone has same update, but calendar is working fine.
Baseband G930AUCS8CRK1
Build R16NW.G930AUCS8CRK1
Security patch level November 1, 2018
Any thoughts?

Uou could could try but first Sync your calendars by going into Settings/Accounts/Google/menu in upper right corner and tap sync now. Also, just to ensure all basses are covered. Go down to calendar once it finishes synching untick calendar and then re-tick calendar. Also back up calendars data if wanted. This will erase all calendar data but once it re-sync it should come back. Go to Settings/Apps/upper right hand corner menu click show system app. Go down and find Calendar, Calendar Storage and Google Calendar Syncronization apps. In this order Clear cache, Force stop, Clear data.

Thank you, Bo, for the reply! Sadly, this did not do the trick. I did notice, while looking at your response, that I do not have a "calendar" entry among the sync options--is just not there. I wonder if there's a way to force the OTA update to re-download and install.

That is odd, calendar is the first option on all my devices under account -> google -> calendar sync.would think it would be a must syncing ability along e-mail. I wonder if that's part of the problem. I will look around the world wide web.

Going through the Google calendar support forum. It appears that if there is no syncing options and accounts then there is am issue. The fix all that seemed to be mainly suggested is settings > Accounts > Select Google > Tap Menu  at the top right corner > Click Remove account.

Restart your device.

Add your Gmail account back: Go to your Phone settings > Accounts > Select Google > Tap Menu pat the top right corner > Click Add account. (Follow the prompts to add your Google account back to your phone)

Thanks, Bo! I tried re-adding the account after removing and rebooting, but still have no option for calendar sync. It's as if something was munged in the update. I'll also continue to look. Please feel free to hit me with any other thoughts--I appreciate them!

I am able to access the calendar using Outlook. Any thoughts are welcome.

Ended-up flashing the old firmware (links on xda) and redoing the OTA upgrade. Worked fine this time, which makes me think the first OTA file was munged. Doesn't AT&The have any error-checking built-in to their upgrade script?!

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


text:
Refund Google Play apps but haven't got my money back
I had purchased a game on Google Play but later I realized that it was too bad, so I requested a refund. I've received a refund email from Google but I haven't received my money back. Is that a problem?
When I opened the Payment History page, it writes Canceled next to that game. I purchased that game using my phone bill.

No
It's not a problem. Sometimes it takes time to refund. It's happened to me earlier.
Nothing to worry about since you got your confirmation mail as also transaction is cancelled
If you wish to be doubly sure, you can call or chat with Google help from the Google Play Settings → Help and feedback
Edit: Just stumbled on this from
Google Play Refund help.
If the status shows cancelled it means

If the status is "Cancelled," the order was never charged and so you will not see a credit on your form of payment.

There is also a detailed table for refund timelines. Summary below :

Credit or debit card - 3 to 5 business days
Direct carrier billing (prepaid / pay-as-you-go) - 1 to 30 business days
Direct carrier billing (postpaid / contract) - 1 to 2 monthly statements
Google Play balance (gift card or credit balance or Google wallet - one business day
Online Banking - 1 to 10 business days
PayPal - 3 to 5 business days


text:
Can I use ODIN to just back up my phone's data?
The goal here is to be able to quickly get all my settings and apps back when moving from ROM to ROM, but do so without overwriting the kernel, themes, etc., in the new ROM.  I know I can use Titanium Backup, but ODIN would definitely be faster (and half the time with my Droid Charge, it's what I'm using to flash the new ROM anyway).

No, Odin is just for flashing.  The Dump command doesn't seem to work, at least not as of Odin3 v1.85; see Can I make a full backup of my phone with Odin and without root?


text:
Mobile network not available on unlocked Active
I purchased a "new" unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-I537 phone on E-Bay. Everything works fine except when I use the phone with my local carrier SIM card. When I insert the SIM card and turn on my phone, the carrier name appears and I get full bars. I can make a call or two, but then the carrier name is gone and no bars. At times I get the message: "Mobile network not available". I can’t make any more calls and if I try to the whole phone freezes and I have to do a hard reset.
When I first turn it on and don't try to use the phone app, I can go into Mobile Network and see the list of my local carrier in Network operators. If I try again to go into Mobile Networks, the network bars go to zero and get the message "Insert SIM card to access network services."
I’ve tested the SIM card on my old phone and it works perfectly. I have checked and the frequencies are the same for my local carrier and AT&T's.
I would appreciate any help on this matter.
Thanks.

First, make sure the APN settings on your phone are correct for your carrier. Then try cleaning the SIM card's and phone's contacts. Then, I'd suggest trying a different SIM card. If the problem persists - it could be a hardware issue with the phone's SIM card connector.

I cleaned the conectors and I can see the APN settings in Mobile Network, but only after a minute or two after that I can't see it and gives me the error message "Insert SIM card to access network services." When I CAN see the APN settings they seem to have come from the SIM card and seem fine.

I've tried multiple SIM cards and the exact same thing happens.

Sounds more and more like a hardware issue. You may want to get in touch with Samsung to send the phone in for service. It should still be covered by their warranty, even though you bought it on eBay.

Yeah. That's what I ended up doing.They sent me a replacement.

I will make this the answer then.

First, make sure the APN settings on your phone are correct for your carrier. Next, try cleaning the SIM card's and phone's contacts. You should also try a different SIM to rule out a broken card (also try your current SIM in a different phone.)
If the problem persists - then it's most likely a hardware issue with the phone's SIM card connector.  You may want to get in touch with Samsung to send the phone in for service.
The SIM card contacts on the phones are notoriously fragile, and can be easily damaged by using an adapter (Micro-to-Nano for example) that is either defective or simply improperly manufactured. If the adapter is not an exact fit, the contacts can get "caught" in the gap and bend or even break off during removal.  It's possible this is what happened to the previous owner of your Galaxy S4.
This type of damage is usually not covered by manufacturer's warranty, but it won't hurt to try anyway.  Worst case - there are SIM housing kits available for sale for the Galaxy S4, and ste-by-step replacement instructions on YouTube.  It's fairly easy to replace this module on your own.


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unable to connect i9100 in cwm recovery mode
phone; i9100 maguro galaxy nexus. From CM, I got a message stating a new update was available: the CM11. I accepted. The update failed to install. Now on reboot the phone enters CWM Recovery mode. BUT IT WILL NOT CONNECT TO MY PC TO ENABLE ME TO TRANSFER ANY ZIP FILES to my phone, and so I cannot install any older CM10 versions. HOW TO CONNECT THE PHONE TO PC IN CWM RECOVERY MODE?

You could give adb a try, and use adb push </source/on/PC/file.zip> <target/on/Nexus/file.zip> to transfer the files.
I you don't have ADB installed on your machine yet, and don't want to install the full SDK, take a look at Is there a minimal installation of ADB? Also, for more information on ADB, there's always our adb tag-wiki as a good starting point.

Thanks for reply! Well, I can find the path and file on my PC. But the phone does not show as a mounted device, so have no idea what the location and path could be to the phone.  Interestingly, Heimdall will connect to the phone when the phone is in "download mode", but no path is given.  The trouble I am having with Heimdall is finding any valid tar.gz file that can be downloaded and flashed to the phone. I thought the easier approach was to somehow get a CMxxx.zip file onto the internal SD card and then unzip via the CWM recovery mode. But cannot push the file to card yet.

The device does not show "mounted" with ADB. You can see whether it is connected using adb devices. You can explore it via adb shell at the command line. For details on that, please see our adb tag-wiki and command-line tag-wiki – a complete excurse on command-line usage and ADB would be a bit out of scope here, but those wikis hold some first-aid and links to further information.

"adb devices" shows no devices connected.

"adb shell" returns "device not found".

Many thanks for your reply. I got my phone working.
Step 1: follow the adb configuration guide per the tag-wiki above.
Step 2: mount the data...
$ adb shell
~ # mount /data
~ # exit
Step 3: push the file to the right place!
adb push cm-10.2.0-maguro.zip /sdcard/0/
Step 4: on phone in recovery page, install zip from sdcard in the /0 directory

Glad to read you've managed to solve the issue! To indicate it's solved, mind to "accept" the answer by ticking the check-mark next to it? Only the OP (you) can do that :)


text:
How can I disable "app is running in the background" notifications?
I've a notification from Android system that I can only snooze, not remove permanently, about an app running in the background. It's specifically about Keepass2Android:

Keepass2Android is running in the background

I know it's running in the background so I don't need to be reminded about it constantly. Most annoying is that it takes up unnecessary space.
Is there a way to disable this notification?

I am on Oreo 8.0.0 and couldn't find a setting for this so ended up using this Hide  "running in the background" Notification
I have several apps running in background and disabled them all using this app, as it serves no useful purpose for me to know
Auto Notification is another app that has this feature amongst other Tasker oriented features if you are interested.
I preferred the first one since I don't use Tasker
Edit: These are Bye the way notifications

Long press/Hold the application name is running in the background and toggle the switch available, like seen in the below screenshot (option is currently enabled, turn it off to disable the running in background notification)
Or you can go to Settings > Notifications (enable show system apps option found in  menu) > Android System > Disable Apps running in background (options enabled in screenshot for viability)

There's no switch available when long pressing, and the one from your second screenshot is greyed out. What version are you on?

Android Oreo 8.0 on OnePlus 5, so the option is visible? What phone are you using?

I'm using a Nokia 8.

Hmm, Quick look around suggests the option will be available in 8.1 http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/26/android-8-1-feature-spotlight-can-hide-running-background-notification-without-third-party-app/ Also to note, all my other options are locked as well, so that sucks


text:
Redmi 3s Prime stuck on logo (Not Rooted!)
Redmi 3s Prime is stuck on Mi Logo (My phone is not rooted I haven't tried flashing anything at all).
Another strange thing is When I am calling from other mobile call is getting placed.

I went to recovery mode by pressing Power + Volume up  then selected recovery mode. Pressed blue button (It was written in Chinese)  selected reboot to system it booted normally.


text:
bluetooth headphone can't pair
I have LG e975 , android 4.1.2 and a bluetooth stereo headphone Pyle PHBT5  which supports A2DP.
The problem is that bluetooth can't find the device.
Is there something I can try?

What have you tried so far? Toggling bluetooth? Turning the headphones on and off? Can any other devices pair with them?

@ZnewmaN:It's ok now , I had to insist on the 6 seconds I think.Thanks

You need to put the headset into a pairing mode. According to the manual, the procedure is as follows:

Turn the headset off
Press and hold the MFB (Multi-Function Button) for 6 seconds until the LED flashes red and blue alternatively and you hear a beep
Search for Bluetooth devices on your phone and select the PHBT5
Enter 0000 as the PIN if asked
When the pairing is successful and active the LED will flash only blue regularly

:But it can't find it . That's what I am telling :) .

Does the headset go into pairing mode correctly? Can you find other devices on your phone, or can you find the headset on another phone?

:No , it can't pair.Unfortunately I don't have other devices to test and I have  exactly the same LG phone.

:It works!I was holding the MFB button  but I released it before pairing.Now it's ok,thanks!


text:
Problem with notification bar in rooted droid
I just now rooted my Galaxy Pocket S-5300. Now when I rebooted,my notification bar is vanished! I could not Find it anywhere. Besides when I try to open "About Phone" In settings it force closes. Please help me fast!

What steps did you take to root it? Likely that's the source of the problem.

I followed the steps from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rQYt19P_coE . Please help!

I would try reverting back to stock and redoing the rooting procedure.

My advice, backup /data/ and sdcard (not external), use OTA ROOT KEEPER, do a factory reset, and restore data and the root.
Instead of rk, try first Framaroot.

Ya,I unrooted it,will do the next step soon!


text:
Android OS update - Directly or step-by-step?
I'm about to buy my first smartphone ( I've chosen Nexus 5 ), and I don't really know much about Android.
Nexus 5 comes with Android KitKat 4.4, and from what I read, the newest version is 4.4.3.
Now my question : do I have to first update to 4.4.1, then 4.4.2, and then finally 4.4.3 , or can I just directly update to 4.4.3 ?
Also, though a bit unrelated, is the mm-qcamera-daemon issue present in all versions, or just in the latest versions ?
Thanks.

The question-and-answer format of this site works best if you put each question in a separate question post. Please [edit] your post down to one question, and create new posts to ask any further questions. You'll get better answers that way.

The update is cumulative , it will directly be upgraded to 4.4.3
Unfortunately the latest update doesn't address that bug.Source


text:
Associate a file type with an application
I want to change the default application starting when opening e.g. an mp3 file.
Now the android music player starts when I open an mp3, I want e.g. spotify to start instead.

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Music player -> Clear defaults. This will clear the association between the Music player and MP3 files. Now, if you open an MP3 file, it will ask you what app do you want to use to open it, and you have the option of setting a new default app.
PS: This works with any application you have installed

It's also worth noting this default is cleared every time you get a new app that can perform the action you want to take, giving you the option to launch the new app instead of an old default.


text:
Dual SIM device : How to configure data usage on per app basis (Rooted device)
My Moto X Play (6.0.1, rooted, Xposed installed ) has dual SIM options, which I usually don't use. Recently, I had a need to use two SIMs, borrowed one with generous data allowance and second (personal ) SIM which was halfway to hitting the data cap.
My need was to configure data usage on a per app basis so that :

I don't exhaust data on my personal SIM while being able to use mobile number linked accounts like WhatsApp, Uber, banking accounts etc.
For all other apps , use the data from borrowed SIM

I couldn't find an app  to do this, as is evident from this similar question, which has no responses yet -Is there a way on a DUAL SIM Android phone to configure on a per-app basis, which app uses which sim card to access internet?
How do I configure SIM data usage on per app basis ?
(This is a self answered question to share one way of doing it. You are welcome to post alternate solutions )

Requires Rooted Device, Xposed framework installed,  latest version of GravityBox Xposed module and an automation app - I use Macrodroid
Create a macro in Macrodroid
Trigger:

Application Launched → select from the drop down list, all apps you want to use on SIM card linked to banking, WhatsApp, Uber etc (5 apps in example below )
Application Launched → select from the drop down list, all apps you want to use on second SIM card (16 apps in example below )

( Make sure that apps don't appear on both lists !)
Actions:

If → +  → Trigger Fired  →
Application Launched 5 apps
→
Tap End If and add this action - Launch Shortcut  → GravityBox actions  → SIM settings  →  SIM 1 for data

Repeat this for second set of apps and choose SIM 2 for data
Constraints:   Leave blank
Done !


text:
Remote control widget
I am looking to develop a remote control widget on the Android platform which is similar in concept to the JustABlip remote control widget on iOS. So wanted to know whether the android architecture can support such kind of widget development.
https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/justablip-remote-control-widget/id944174429?l=zh&mt=8

The Smart Remote/Peel remote apps work well. can't remember, but one of them is a messenger-style bubble.

Questions like that are off-topic, man. However, there is already an app like it.
ONLY ONE CAN REMAIN
Ahem,
Try the Smart Remote app. Now, I know it's by Samsung (So you are choosing to install crapware) but it Has all sorts of features, including having the remote-get this!- in the notification tray. Try it out some time.
Disclaimer- An android phone may need an IR blaster, or the target device to control allow control over the internet. Like a sky+HD box.
Suprsingly useful: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2015/03/18/how-to-use-the-galaxy-note-4-as-a-remote-control/

@stud91 No problem.

But isn't Samsung discontinuing IR blasters? Your app might be for personal use only or have a very short shelf life.

@user145490 true, but it can work on non-samsung phones. Also, it's been out for quite some time, so it already has a decent shelf life. Samsung may stop supporting IR, but I doubt it will just be cut off by other devs too.


text:
Google Play Store downloads won't start
I ran a speed test and I'm getting a full 4Mb/s. However, when trying to download an app, it's stuck on the indeterminate progress"Downloading" bar. 20 mins later it gives me an error saying it couldn't be installed. It's not just one app, it's EVERYTHING I try to download.

Under settings > apps > show System apps > you will find download manager > storage > clear data and cache , reboot and try again. May fix

Just tried, didn't work

Did you reboot?

Yes, I did reboot

Hmm.. clearing data /cache of Google play store and framework?

Are you using a package disabler of some sort? Make sure you are not freezing components used by Playstore i.e download manager, google play services etc. Also try removing and re adding Google account. Another good fix is unistaling Playstore updates

You could try the following steps to troubleshoot the issue:

Ensure components used by Playstore are not disabled

Check if download manager, Google play services or Google services framework is not disabled or frozen by package disabler apps.
Freezing/ or disabling such can result in failed downloads.
Re-enable them as necessary

Removing and re-adding Google account

Sometimes perfoming this this step acts as a way of "refreshing" Google Apps including Playstore and may fix failed downloads.

Uninstalling Playstore updates.

You can try removing Playstore updates and then update to latest version which can solve the issue, as a certain version can have bugs. Do this:

Reinstall Play Store updates

Open your device's main Settings app.
Touch Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different).
Touch Google Play Store > Uninstall updates .
When prompted to change the Play Store app back to the factory version, touch OK.
Open the Google Play Store app Google Play .
Go back to your device's home screen. As long as you have a strong Internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile data), your Play Store app will
  update to the latest version within a few minutes.

Clearing Playstore data

You can restore Google Playstore to default by clearing its data, which can hopefully solve the issue of failed downloadsn

Clear cache and data

Open your device's main Settings app.
Touch Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different).
Touch Google Play Store > Clear cache > Clear data .

Source: Google Playstore Help - Play Store won't load or download apps


text:
What is this "shadow" called and what's the purpose?
When you slide Chrome browser (or FireFox) to extreme left, right or upwards, you see this shadow (for want of a better word) for a few seconds, as shown

What is it called and what's the purpose ? (Can't Google since I don't know what it is :)
It's on Moto X Play and it's not the jelly scrolling reported on some recent phones

I can see this happening to other apps, such as Stack Exchange itself and the Nova Launcher. Curiously, the phenomenon does not manifest itself inside "rétro" apps such as K-9 Mail, therefore I'm tempted to define it as an aesthetical quirk of Google's Material Design.

This appears to be called EdgeEffect and is used as a visual indicator when the user over-scrolls.

See relevant images on Google Images here.
A book commenting on the glow effect produces.
A question on Stack Overflow.

As suggested already, this graphical "shadow" effect is Edge Glow colour, and its part of the material design by Google.

After the introduction of material design by Google many new UI elements have been introduced. Material design is based on the interaction and movement of colours and objects in real world rather than synthetic unnatural phenomenon. Sometimes it gets messy when we try to keep up with our material aesthetic. The most popular example of it is edge glow colour.

The effect was introduced in the ice cream sandwich (api 14) android version. Its part of Material design's aesthetic appeal.
The edge glow colour of ListView, RecyclerView, ScrollView and NestedScrollView is managed by the accent colour declared in the styles.
Source

I thought it's purpose was to replace https://duckduckgo.com/apple+rubber+band+patent without being suable?
https://developer.android.com/training/gestures/scroll.html recommends the OverScroller for giving better feedback


text:
Charge & data mode when connecting phone to PC via USB (Nougat)
When I connect my phone to my PC via USB. It automatically enters charge mode.
If I want to transfer files (which is almost always what I want to do when connecting my phone to my PC), I have to select charge & data mode --> transfer files.
Always doing this when connecting my phone to my PC is slightly laborious, and I was just wondering is there a way to connect my phone to my PC & cause to autmatically default to charge & data mode?
I used to have a Moto G Gen 1 (Kitkat), which did this by default, why can't this be the case on Nougat.

The default behaviour in Marshmallow upwards is to charge and other options have to be manually selected
Being an OS behaviour, you can't modify it without rooting device. If your device is rooted, you can install this Xposed module - USB for Marshmallow

Set MTP or PTP as Default USB Connection on Marshmallow with this app.
Once you connect the phone to the computer and select the USB option from the notification and selected option will be retained for every reconnect your phone to computer.
For example if you select the USB file transfer option, This app will retain that file transfer option for every reconnect your phone to computer.

It's also available on Play Store as an Xposed app
If you are on Nougat, this option may not be possible till Xposed framework is released - see Where can I find the Xposed Framework and installer for Nougat?

If you device is rooted, you may use Tasker app to run a command as root to enable tethering when USB is connected.
The command can be found here: Is it possible to activate the “USB Tethering” Android setting from the command line?


text:
How do I install systemless SuperSU in Samsung?
I'm currently using a custom Android 6.0 ROM on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900. I need to put suhide in my device and it need systemless SuperSU to be installed, Google didn't help me at all. Any of you guys know how to?

If you are using stock Android 6 and newer you can only have systemless root because of security restriction. So if you root your phone running stock Android 6, you will have systemless root.
Because you are using a Samsung phone it might be a bit more tricky. It could be that your custom rom has it's own su installation in the system partition. Then it's not systemless. To have a systemless root installation it's required to install su in the boot image. This requires your device's bootloader to allow flashing the boot image.
On most devices you can somehow flash the boot image by unlocking the bootloader.
For more information about what systemless root is have a look here.

Sometimes the need for a systemless installation of SuperSU is not detected by the installation script, to force this to occur follow the following steps.

Start TWRP 3.0 or higher on the device
Go to Advanced - Terminal
In the terminal, enter echo SYSTEMLESS=true>>/data/.supersu
Press Enter
Exit to the TWRP main menu
Flash the current SuperSU as per normal

When flashing SuperSU, you should see in the TWRP recovery log screen mentions of system-less installation and patching of the boot image.

My ROM is currently already rooted. Do I need to unroot before doing all these?

Guess I am confused... Why do you want systemless root? Some devices require it, others do not... There is no technical advantage of one over the other. But yes, you would have to fully unroot, then do this process. If your on a custom ROM it likely won't work though, have to go back to rom dev, if stock it should provided you are on Marshmallow or newer. Systemless root does not work on older Android versions.

Welp, ok. Guess I'm not able to install systemless root then. My stock ROM is Android 5.1.1, I just need systemless root to hide root form Pokemon Go lol. Thanks for your answer anyway :)

@Yayy Systemless does not hide root from apps... That is done by suhide, rootcloak, or Magisk, but recent changes to SafetyNet (mandatory part of play services) have made it impossible to hide root.

Wow ok, I'm gonna use my Ipad then :D


text:
Can s7 Wall charger be used on s8?
Can I use Samsung Galaxy s7 wall Charger on S8?
I'm concerned about damaging the s8. and could not find real solid specs online.

Shouldn't be a problem. I always used a charger from different phones, never had a problem

As a supplemental answer to what @beeshyams already wrote...
S7 comes with a EP-TA20 series charger, capable of QC 2.0, rated for 9V 1.67A or 5V 2A.

On the other hand, S8 comes with a EP-TA200 series charger, which is near identical to the former one, except that its USB port has been moved from the side to the top, and comes with a USB-C cable by default.

Safe to say that as long as you get the USB-C cable right, the two makes no difference.
(Pictures courtesy of chongdiantou.com, a Chinese forum dedicated to chargers and batteries)

+1 Andy. I saw something similar researching he specs but couldn't obviously decipher Chinese :)

Samsung says

....You can charge your phone using any Samsung-approved wall charger, but charging speeds may vary depending on the charger....

Further this reddit claims that S7 and S8 use the same charger
I am not sure what is the difference in charging speeds
In the absence of specs , it is not possible to say for sure, but I wouldn't hesitate since both chargers are Samsung and apparently similar as pointed in the reddit.


text:
Why can't I save an emergency phone number in my addressbook?
I live in Thailand, and the emergency medical response number to dial here is 1669.
When I try to save this number in my address book on Android, it says "Emergency Number Cannot Be Saved".
What gives? It's probably the most important number for me to save, and I can't. Is there any way to fix this?

My device isn't rooted.
I'm saving to an address book that is synced via CardDAV.
I'm running Android 8.0.0 on a Xiaomi Mi A1.

Must be carrier related, check with them. On the same device I can add any number

And probably it gets dialled automatically from power menu > emergency . Check that. If that is the case because it is programmed to dial automatically you may not be able to save it as a contact. Guess work

It could be carrier-related: It wouldn't surprise me. What is the "Power Menu"? Do you mean the lock screen?

When you press the power key you have three options, one of them is emergency (others being power off and restart). Select emergency and see which number is being dialled. In my case there is no number assigned

Pressing the "emergency" button just brings up a dialpad, I have to type a phone number manually.

I don't know why this is happening but can offer a workaround, if you're able to create a new contact in a web browser and have that sync to your Android phone. After sync, the number is functional on the phone.
For Google Contacts, create a new contact on https://contacts.google.com/ and it should be synced automatically.
Also tested using Fastmail (relying on a third-party app to sync CardDAV contacts).

Google contacts on the web browser works the same way. Confirmed.

Using google contacts from browser helped as well, it is a weird thing that they restrict adding most important numbers to contacts, has someone investigated why this happen?

Thanks for the workaround. But do you know why Google Contacts doesn't let you save an emergency number?

@Flimm Truly I don't. They must be working on the assumption that everyone knows the emergency numbers, no-matter where they live in the world. Maybe those people have never lived abroad.

My guess is that Google takes on legal liability somehow if it has emergency phone numbers in the contacts app. It doesn't want to be sued if someone tries to phone an emergency phone number and blames Google for a bug.


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program to resize image?
I'm looking for an image editor that I can use to do a wide array of resizing tasks including canvas size (expand/contract the image canvas), image size (enlarge/shrink the entire image), and cropping. So far, all I can find are cropping tools in the apps I'm finding, but I want the others as well. Does anyone know of any apps that provide all three tools?

Just a part-answer: i'm using a nice app for resizing images: Image Shrink (there's also a lite version).
It works via the share intent - you "share" an image to it, the app does its job and the result can be shared again (e.g. if you want to send a large image via mail and want to resize it first, easily done with that app).

If you have a tablet, Adobe have just released a whole suite of tablet focussed (paid) apps, including Photoshop Touch.
Whilst I haven't tried it out yet, it does look like it should be able to do resizing tasks, I can definitely see a "Resize" menu option in one of the screenshots on the Features page.


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Foreign phone won't connect to mobile data
I got a Moto G (2nd gen) in an asian country. I have brought it to the US now and use a AT&T sim card, that has a 300MB monthly mobile data plan. I'm not able to use the internet although I keep mobile data switched on all  the time. How can I fix this?
Yes, I tried turning the phone off and back on.

https://apn.gishan.net/settings/754_4_att_apn_settings_for_motorola_moto_g.php

Your phone may not have the correct APN settings in it in order to connect and use the data properly. Check and add these settings if necessary.
Access the Settings menu.
Locate and select Wireless & Networks or More Networks.
Select Mobile Networks.
Select Access Point Names.
Locate and select the option to add a new APN. This is usually accessed by a + symbol on the screen or by tapping the menu button.
Under name, You may write what you choose. I would probably write "ATT" or similar
Under MMSC, write http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
Under MMS Proxy, Write proxy.mobile.att.net
Under MMS Port, Write 80
Under MCC, Write 310
Under MNC, Write 410
The rest of the settings remain unchanged.
After these settings have been entered, Turn off the phone, take out the battery and SIM and allow 5 Minutes to rest. After this, Turn the phone back on and see if you have data.
The settings I used can be found under "Correct Data Settings" at: http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB424489&cv=820.
My knowledge comes from years of experience with many different devices and Operating Systems.
Have an awesome day and Thank you! xD

Thanks man! the android devices part on link did the trick

You are very welcome! Glad I could help!!


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How to transmit calls only (not the rest of the device's audio) to a bluetooth receiver?
When my phone is connected via bluetooth in my car, I'd like the Phone app to be the only one to output through the car's sound system, and let the rest going through the phone's speaker.
Right now the whole phone's audio goes through the car's sound system which prevents me from, for instance, listening to music from a USB key (plugged in the car) and listening to Google maps (running on my phone) instructions at the same time.  I have to chose between the bluetooth and the USB media.
Devices infos:

Phone: Android 5.0.1 on Nexus 4
Receiver: Volvo Sensus Connect (I think)

Perhaps SoundAbout is the solution ?

As far as I know, the sound protocol is A2DP and the phone is HFP, therefore, they are different. It should be possible to connect only one of them to the Bluetooth device (in this case, your car).
In the Bluetooth devices list, you should have a settings icon next to your car's name where you can disable audio. It should be possible to disable one without disabling the other. I'm not sure of that because I have never tested it and the labeling is quite poor in this place.
If the problem is Google Play Music auto-start, it is possible to force Google Play Music to disconnect from the Bluetooth by clicking on the "Cast" icon in the app itself.


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How can I determine the block size of the filesystem on my Android?
I'm creating a bunch of flash cards for use with AnkiDroid and many of them contain images or sound files.
I would like to find a balance between image/audio file size, and clarity, without wasting a ton of space with files that exceed a block boundary by just a few bytes.
So I'd like to know how to determine the filesystem block size on any given android device. Is there an easy way to do this?

You can use tune2fs (shell command) for this. The target output entry is 'Block size'. The corresponding block device (mmcblk1p1) depends on your hardware and needs to be replaced respectively.
tune2fs -l /dev/block/mmcblk1p1


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Can I change the *maximum* brightness from a system file/apk?
My old Asus TF101 has a faulty backlight and cuts out if it goes above (roughly) 60%. Therefore, I am hunting for a way to change (lower) the maximum brightness that the tablet will reach - both in auto brightness and by using the brightness slider.
Following this XDA thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/themes-apps/mod-lower-auto-brightness-levels-to-t1235212 I've discovered where to change the auto brightness (the framework-res.apk) but wondered if anyone knew where the other brightness settings were stored?
Obviously I'm rooted and fully prepared to decompile system apks!
Cheers.

Found the answer myself and it's a 'yes'. I'll share it here in case it's useful to someone else.
This XDA thread was the basis of the fix http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/themes-apps/mod-lower-auto-brightness-levels-to-t1235212 main points extracted here:

Here is a guide on how to perform this mod on any framework-res.apk using apk manager (thanks for the guide goes to desean):

Download APK manager and unpack somewhere
Grab framework-res.apk from your phone under \system\framework\ (e.g. adb pull) and place it in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder
Run Script.bat and select option 9
Once done, go to projects\framework-res.apk\res\values\arrays.xml and edit your values as per first post.
Once edited, compile the apk using option 11
Qn: Is this a system apk. Ans: y
Qn: Aside from the signatures, would .... least. Ans: y
Prompt: In the apk manager folder u'll find a keep folder..... done then press enter on this script. Press any key to continue . . . You have to go to "keep" folder and delete resources.arsc because arrays.xml have been changed. After this You can press any key in apk manager window.
Once done, input 22 in apk manager and select "unsignedframework-res.apk" by entering the number that stands for it. After selecting it You should see in apk main window in the top right corner "Current-App: unsignedframework-res.apk". Now press 5 to zipalign apk. You will find your completed, zipaligned apk under place-apk-here-for-modding\unsignedframework-res.apk. Rename it back to framework-res.apk and adb push the file back to your phone

Some of those points are inaccurate (particularly points 6 and 9), depending on the version of APK Manager you use, (if you use it at all, APK Multitool has replaced it in development and I used GanGs_KiD Kitchen) but are corrected later in the thread.
Anyway, instead of editing arrays.xml (which is where auto-brightness is controlled, though I edited that too) head to integers.xml and edit the values of "config_screenBrightnessSettingMaximum" down to whatever you need. 255 is the brightest (and what it's likely already set to), I needed to go down to 150.
Then follow the instructions to re-compile and zip-align your framework-res and adb push it back to the device. Hey presto! No more screen cutting out!


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ParanoidAndroid can't make bluetooth call
I recently installed ParanoidAndroid onto my Note 2, and since then I can't make bluetooth calls from my car.  It worked before with the stock ROM, so I know it's the phone that's the problem.  It syncs fine and music plays, just the calls that are the problem.  If I make a call, it goes through but both sides just hear loud white noise.  After a bit of experimentation I found that I am actually hearing myself and the car noises through the speakers, not the other person.  I tried disable all the DSP options in case they were causing but it doesn't make a difference.  It there something obvous I've missed, or is it actually a bug?  If so, how would I go about debugging it?

I had exactly this problem "actually hearing myself and the car noises through the speakers, not the other person" - ie feedback.
This is with "stable" Paranoid Android release 4.45 on Galaxy Note 2 N7100
I upgraded to beta 4.6 beta 5 - problem is gone now. Hurray! Thanks!

This certainly sounds like a bug in the ROM. In the first instance you should report it to the system integrator (the person who ported the ROM for that device).
Debugging and developing device drivers is not for the faint-hearted, and it's well beyond the scope of this site!

This issue seems to be in cyanogenmod for some time. See this bugdescription.
A fix for MTK-compatible phones was posted here

Could you add some more information to your answer? Like what the bug description is, and a description of the fix. It is fine to link somewhere else, but a person should be able to actually get the answer to the problem here, not just be linked somewhere else. The main reason is links tend to disappear over time. If those links are dead in the future, your answer tells people nothing.


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Bridge Wi-Fi through router > Galaxy S3 > desktop Windows
I'm usually hooked up to a wall Ethernet port on my PC, but I'm away for a little over a week now and I only have access to Wi-Fi. The signal is just barely out of range. I can use Skype and whatnot with my poor connection, but can't browse the web.
I set up a mobile hotspot on my S3 and have a speed of roughly 5 Mbps (download), so that's wonderful, but I figure I'll run out of data quickly (I've already used 40 MB in the past minute) -- I'm unable to connect to Wi-Fi while my phone is a hotspot, so I don't believe I can continue using the hotspot without running out of data if it's going solely off of my data plan.
My phone has a better wireless card than my desktop, and can browse the web, etc perfectly -- since my phone has such a good connection, I figure I can bridge the connection from it to my PC and not have to use up my data plan. While researching why I couldn't use Wi-Fi and the hotspot at the same time, it turned out that since my phone only had one Wi-Fi antenna it couldn't handle both of them at the same time. I'm not sure if bridging the connection from my phone to my computer would require more than one -- maybe it will, maybe it won't. Is this possible?
Windows 7
Non - rooted Galaxy S3
Android Version 4.4.2

Simple solution, connect your phone to your computer via a good quality usb data cable.
Disable your computers wifi, connect your phone to your wifi.
Go to settings on your phone and enable 'Usb-tethering" (it will be in the same place as wifi tethering was. Wait a couple of seconds for your computer to recognise it, and you're done


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Songs on memory card does not appear in music player on Samsung Galaxy S2
I recently bought 16 GB SD card to store music on my Samsung Galaxy S2. I transferred about 500 songs from my pc to this new SD card but when I open the default music player app on my Galaxy S2 I can see only 15-20 songs. Where are the rest of the songs? Same SD card works perfectly on my brothers Sony Xperia Z1. Can anyone please help me to figure out what is wrong with my Galaxy S2?

Have you rebooted your device? Check whether the Media Scanner successfully scanned your SD card and make sure that no .nomedia file is present in any of your folders. Also make sure none of the folders have a . (dot) as their first character.

You are right. There was a .nomedia file in the folder. Thanks!

Check if those songs are in a format which is supported by the music player you are using. If they are in Mp3, this is obvious. If not, check your app's compatibility.
Check if the SD card is recognized by your phone at all: open a file manager and see if you see it and can navigate through it
Check if your media player is looking in the SD card: go in your player's settings and check your library options. Note that music players offer filters (to avoid ringtones and such be included in your library): they go from name, to format, to length, to folder. Check all those filters. Then do a library rescan
Check for .nomedia files inside the main folder of your SD card or of your music archive: if such a file is included, your media player is told to skip that folder in order to avoid including ringtones and such, again
Check if your songs are properly tagged. Music players will organized your library with tags (informations about Artist, Album, Genre, Year, Track Number and Title) rather than location and filename.

Thanks! This .nomedia file was the main culprit. Everything is working fine now.

What if it's none of these? The only thing that ever works for me is to use a third party rescanner. Is this how Android is supposed to work?...

My best solution would be to open up the "MyFiles" Application (I believe the S2 has this) and transfer those songs to the default mp3 folder. If you experience issues with that I would recommend downloading and using a  different music player application.

I tried transferring music files to default MP3 folder but it didn't work. Same issue with the other Music apps like Poweramp.

This solution worked for me on Android 6 marshmallow:

Go to USB storage settings, unmount then mount SD card (no need to physically remove)
Go to app settings, clear cache and data for the music app
Open the app again. Bingo! It worked


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Does Android have a terminal like Window's Run?
I have often hated the idea of looking for apps among tons of glossy icons and running them that way. I wonder if there is a terminal capability in Android like that of Linux or Windows (Run window) for faster and more seasoned app access. Is such a thing in Android inherently?

Depends on your Android version & launcher, you can type the name of the app in Google Search Omnibox on the launcher. You have to allow Google to search apps when doing phone search though (on "Google Settings" app).

@AndrewT. I am using KitKat

It doesn't have a terminal built-in.  I use the same app that sameer linked.

Does it need root access?

Yep there is this
You can use the following command to run apps
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n package/class_fullname

Where should I enter the command?

Open the terminal emulator app and you can run the command

SecurityException: Permission Denial

@JasonStack, you need root access to launch apps using am command unless you're running Android 5.1.1 then only ADB would be fine too.

Saw this post accidentally three years after I asked the original question. I knew nothing of adb at the time.

I recommend using Termux. You can find it on Play Store. I find it better than Terminal Emulator because it has a rich repository from which you can download a lot of useful programs.
I had no idea what Bash Script, Unix, Linux commands were or how to use them.
After playing with Termux for 1-2 years (in my own rithm and just with stuff I want curious about plus experimenting), I saw some advanced bash scripting videos on YouTube and I was like : Hey I knew that! Thank you Termux :)
Mainly you need root for a lot of the things (playing with system files), but you can do a lot of other things as well, without it. Finding duplicate files, listening to online radio, downloading videos, you can even play some text based games :)
If you know terminal commands well (linux, unix, Android) you will soon discover that you know a bit of coding as well :D


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Does "test-keys" mean device is rooted?
I have Android phone that fails to boot after working happily some time.
I'm trying to install official firmware update zip from manufacturer's site, but update fails with errors:

  E: footer is wrong
  E: signature verification failed
  E: install package error, result = 7

Google results suggest that official updates can fail integrity verification only if the device is rooted (yes, I've re-downloaded the update several times, the file is ok). As the phone does not boot, I cannot use the "root check" app or terminal etc. On top of the recovery menu, after the ROM version (I guess) there's a line: user/test-keys.
Is this a sign that the device is rooted?

I don't think so but which device?

HOMTOM HT16 Purchased 3 months ago. The user does not remember rooting it but I guess it could be remotely hacked.

It means that firmware on your device is not signed by release keys and is vulnerable

Signing Builds for Release  |  Android Open Source Project explains test keys as compared to release keys in building a ROM or OS

The Android tree includes test-keys under build/target/product/security. Building an Android OS image using make will sign all .apk files using the test-keys. Since the test-keys are publicly known, anybody can sign their own .apk files with the same keys, which may allow them to replace or hijack system apps built into your OS image. For this reason it is critical to sign any publicly released or deployed Android OS image with a special set of release-keys that only you have access to.

(Emphasis Supplied)
This SO question supports

Release-Keys and Test-Keys has to do with how the kernel is signed when it is compiled. Release-Keys means it was signed with an official Key from an official developer. Test-Keys means it was signed with a custom key generated by a third-party developer. From a security standpoint Release-Keys generally means the kernel is more secure, which is not always the case

and hence is a security risk as reiterated in this XDA post
Does it mean my device is rooted?
The fact that you have not been able to apply official firware updates ( which check for root  ) indicates that the device may be rooted  (in addition ).  You can verify in alternate ways (other than apps ) as mentioned here How can I tell if I have root?
Related Can I 'trick' my device into thinking it's unrooted?

beeshyams, I didn't remember installing other firmware updates on this phone before. What official updates do you mean: apps from the Google Store?

So, the line "user/test-keys" does mean that the current firmware (whatever it is) built with these test keys?


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Moto G5 Plus: Can you use a different USB cable (with the original charger) for charging?
I know using a different adapter than the original one can cause problems later on, but is that the same for charging (USB) cables?
This guy here says it's fine

It's perfectly fine as long as the cable supports charging and not data only
For help on choosing non OEM cable see my answer here How to choose micro USB cable for my device?
My wife has the same device and it works perfectly fine with cable recommended above (or any other cable that supports charging)

Edit: If you are wondering if they support turbo charging - yes they do. Verified on my previous device Moto X Play and my wife's G5plus. Search for cables that support fast charging as they are usually thicker and more efficient

Edited to add more detail about Turbo charging

Did you try as suggested?

You can use any kind of good data cables (good means original ones made by a registered manufacturer), but make sure those cables are not bought by roadside vendors or a product of local Chinese manufacturer.
As Chinese data cables are very low rate of data transfer and they really don't prevent from shocks or electrical glitch, that can seriously damage your phone.
You can also use different Adapters for charging your phone, but make sure that the Input and Output parameters (mA or Amp) are same as yours. As phones are made for specific Input Amps.


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Application Installed Not Found in Android Folder?
I am not sure if i am missing something here, what i did was i installed an application and i want to batch some files inside the installed application folder. Usually all applications  installed are in the Android folder but the application i installed is not there, i even tried to see the size of the folder before and after installation and no difference.
The application installed create a shortcut and when i run it, it asks to download some data from the INTERNET, that is the nature of the application i am trying to locate.
Can anybody tell me if there is any other folder i should be looking in ?

Depends on the application. In case of applications downloading additional data, some applications create their own folder on the SD card, or they to their appropriate folder in the Android folder on the SD card (either in data or obb), or even somewhere else. Application itself (without the additional data) should normally be stored on the /data partition.

Is there a way to now where is an app is installed ?

Well, first you'll need to see what the actual name of the application is. To do this, find the app under Application menu in Settings app. Look for the name under the usual name shown (it's com.google.android.calendar for calendar app, for example). After finding out, try to search the system by that name, by either using searching engine of the file manager, or doing it manually, by looking in /data/app, /sdcard/Android (look in both internal and external SD card).


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Nexus 5 gives Status 7 error when flashing 5.1 OTA
I've been trying all day to install 5.1 OTA via ADB. In my struggle, I tried installing TWRP to try to get it to work, but it didn't. I since flashed the stock recovery.
When trying to flash via ADB, this is my output log:
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Verifying current system...
"System/bin/install-recovery.sh" has unexpected contents.
E:Error in /sideload/package.zip
(Status 7)

Installation aborted.

Your clue is in the output log:

"System/bin/install-recovery.sh" has unexpected contents.

Since Android 5, OTA installs verify each partition as a whole so any changes will result in verification failing even if the file is not changed by the update. Something has changed the install-recovery.sh file, so you will need to revert the change or copy the original file back from a backup.

On my OP, someone said this was a possible duplicate of another question. Would flashing the system image from the 5.0.1 factory zip fix the recovery issue?

Yes, although you could just flash straight to the 5.1 factory image.

That erases everything, doesn't it?

It can but doesn't have to. If you follow (and adjust the  names for the relevant 5.1 file) the steps here you can flash without wiping (assuming you have a unlocked bootloader).

authors: Βεϊσόν Σούλι


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Add a shortcut to a different home screen?
Is there a way that I can add a shortcut to another home screen?
What I'm aiming for is having my primary home screen that includes a shortcut to various topical home screens where I can have both widgets and app shortcuts.
Adding a number of home screens in this manner makes it difficult to navigate, which is why I'd like to add shortcuts to them.
For example, right now my primary home screen has a finance folder and a social media folder, etc that each contain app shortcuts. I then have a separate home screen that has a couple finance widgets on it, another home screen that has a couple widgets from my social media apps, etc. I am not using as many widgets as I'd like because I don't want to have to scroll through home screens to get to the widget I want.
My goal is to have my primary home screen contain a shortcut that goes to a home screen that has my finance widgets and app shortcuts, as well as another shortcut on the primary home screen that goes to a different home screen containing my social media widgets and app shortcuts, and so on.
(I'm using a non-rooted Samsung Galaxy Edge running 4.4.4.)

That might work with specific "Launchers" which support a direct "go to screen X" (not all launchers do). A launcher that does support this is Apex Launcher, even in its free version:

Screenshot of Apex actions and shortcut edit (click images for larger variants)
On the homescreen, press an empty space as if to add a widget/shortcut. From the popup, select "Apex Actions" ("Apex-Aktionen" in the screenshot). Scroll to the end of the list (red box in the screenshot), and you find a shortcut to each of your homescreens.
Note that after having selected the screen you want to link to (say, "Screen 1"), the link will be immediately created as shown and with the name "Screen 1" – which probably is not exactly what you had in mind. But we're not done yet: Long-tap (tap-and-hold) the new icon on your homescreen, until a context menu appears. From that, select "edit" – and you should see something similar to the second screenshot. Here you not only can change the description shown below the icon, but even the icon itself – to e.g. replace it by a coin for your "financial screen". You can chose from "standard symbols" included, and also from your own pictures.
Enjoy :)


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Any way to kill a crashed app on a non-rooted CM11s device?
Every once in a while, I find my phone battery draining unusually quickly, and the 3rd-party "OS Monitor" tool shows some app running in the background, using lots of CPU when it's not supposed to. Sometimes, it's a music app actually playing audible music in the background, despite no evidence that the app is running - no notifications, and nothing in the recent apps list. Invariably, if I open the app info screen and click "Force Stop," it does nothing at all.
Certainly an enthusiast-friendly, developer-friendly system like CM has some way to kill a frozen app... right? Without rooting my phone, is there anything I can do other than rebooting when this happens?


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Lg g3 smart cleaning stops working occasionally
I use LG G3 and I periodically cleanup my phone with the inbuilt smart cleaning but from 1-2 weeks now when I click on delete temporary files the app stops working and every time I try to do that it happends. One more thing it is also trying to delete apps chache could it be because of this? Thank you in advance!

Go to Setting
Open Developer Options
Under Apps, uncheck the box Don't Keep activities
Voila....


text:
Copy pictures to Windows with some files broken/corrupt
I want to backup my pictures from my Android 4.4 phone to my Windows PC but I'm struggling to copy them the normal windows copy way. It seems that at some point many of the images have somehow corrupted and since I have hundreds of pictures on my phone, finding the images one by one in File Manager (CyanogenMod) is a real hassle.
The normal windows copy mode fails when I try to copy the files off the device through USB which actually crashes the entire Windows Explorer process and I have to restart it from task manager.
Then I thought trying to copy in segments by going in to the Camera folder and copying piece by piece. But windows fails to fully read the directory (probably due to corrupt files) and again crashes Windows Explorer.
I also tried creating a zip file from the folder on the device but it seems to also fail making it.
How could I copy the folder to my windows pc even if it has some files corrupt/broken?

I am experiencing the same issue on Android 9. Some of the JPG images that were about 3 MB on the file are "corrupt" according to the picture viewer, and are 20 MB to 50 MB

Sounds like the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) isn't working right on your phone. In that case, you have two options:

transfer wirelessly using an app
transfer manually with debugging enabled

Wirelessly
This is the more straightforward method. Using an app like AirDroid, you get a GUI for transferring files from your phone to your computer wirelessly.
ADB
This is significantly more involved. You've got to install Android Debugging Tools on your computer, enable USB debugging on your phone (after activating developer mode), then install the relevant drivers (google!). Following that, you do something like:
adb pull /storage/sdcard0/DCIM

to transfer all the contents of DCIM to your computer.

AirDroid didn't work as well. it failed to open the Camera directory and also when I tried downloading the folder, it at some point failed. But with ADB (I already had it configured on my device) I managed to download all of my images. I had to download two broken images on the way but I finally managed to get them on my PC. Many thanks :)


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Send a SMS for every Android notification (goal: get notifications on Garmin Edge 1000)
I am wondering if there is a way, or an app, to send a SMS for every notification the Android phone is getting.
My goal is to try to find a way to send all the Android notifications to my Garmin Edge 1000 device. That device does receive SMS and Phone notifications, but nothing else.
So I was wondering if some feature or app could do that for me. It could send an actual SMS, or it could create a SMS event without actually sending one (not sure if possible).
Any ideas?

I was about to write an answer using IFTTT but apparently it can't capture notifications. Only send out notifications as reaction to another trigger. I think it is possible with tasker but I'm not sure. Maybe there is a way around it. IFTTT (and tasker also) can definitely send SMS on certain triggers though.

If someone can answer the question in the following link, it can answer your question. Trigger actions on notification received with IFTTT

Thanks guys, but IFTTT is limited, so I found that I could do exactly that with Tasker

In fact, the best way I found to do that for any kind of event that can occur on the Android phone is by using the Tasker application.
You have to create a "Notifications Events" profile. Then you can select all the applications by leaving the first field empty, or select an application for which you want to catch the notifications. Then you can filter the notification events by defining a title and a particular matching syntax. Once your event is created, then create a "Send SMS" action where to send the SMS. Once this is in place, the mobile will forward the notifications events as SMS messages that it will then receive, and then Garmin Connect will catch these and forward them to the Garmin device.
That way, I can choose what notifications will be sent as an SMS, and then the Garmin device will be promptly notified.