text:
Problems with long term rooting of phone, data loss and OS updates
I'm in the market for a new phone. I use a specific app for internal use that requires the phone to be rooted (or use a MediaTek chipset but they are mostly used in low end-phones and I want a medium-/high-end phone) and this causes me a lot of pain.
Currently I use a Oneplus 6T (before that I had an HTC M9+ - a highend phone with MediaTek) and the problem with this phone is that every update to its firmware "unroots" it (but leaves the internal storage untouched) but when I root the phone after an update the internal storage is deleted!!! (Actually, I think the key used for decryption is deleted, but the effect is the same) AFAIK, this is not specific to Oneplus but is how Android typically works.
I have done this twice and lost a lot of data - because the next problem is that there is no, AFAIK, good backup solution for Android that backs up everything to your local computer and lets you restore the phone after a factory reset (like how iOS-devices work).
So, now when I am about to buy a new phone I am not trying to find the right "hardware" but rather a complete "solution" to my use case. I guess I am looking for the right combination of a custom version of Android with, if necessary, an associated backup solution.
My question is:

does it exist a version of Android that doesn't "unroot" when updates are applied? (Or always is rooted)

or

does it exist a version of Android that doesn't factory reset the internal storage when rooted?

or

does any of the phone manufacturers (or third party) offers a backup solution that backs up everything (for example, WiFi-passwords are usually not backed up - they can only be backed up to Google's cloud) to a local computer?

or

Any other solution that lets me keep my phone rooted, updated and leaves the internal storage untouched? (This is actually the main question. The approaches above are just my suggestions for how a solution should work but I am agnostic to how my problem is solved as long as these three conditions - rooted, updated, internal storage untouched - are fulfilled.)

Finally, I don't want to spend a lot of time tweaking my phone and fixing odd problems (i.e., like using a custom version of Linux on a desktop often forces you to do).
Footnote: I have tried Helium for backup but couldn't get it to connect to my computer (a Mac). Besides, it required very old versions of ADB or something like that.

once device was initial rooted, you can backup all apps and data to pc or external MicroSD Card before each update, no data loss. That's what TWRP, Titanium, Migrate is designed for!? Of course Internal Storage must backup too

https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/ota.html

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3862763


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My HTC one M9+ doesn't perform background tasks when idle but push notifications work
I have an HTC One M9+. After the update to Android 6 (two years ago?) it stopper performing background tasks. For example:
FeedMe - an offline RSS-reader. 100 000+ installs. It is set to download new articles every 2 hours. Doesn't happen.
SMS Backup+ - backs up your SMS etc to GMail. 5 000 000+ installs. It is set to backup every day. Doesn't happen.
FolderSync - copies folder to cloud storage. 500 000+ installs. No schedules are run.
These apps are not battery (doze) optimised. Adding / removing them to doze optimization doesn't make a difference in the behavior
Push notifications from Facebook and similar work as expected. It is like cron or a similar service stopped working when I updated to Android 6. Does anyone know if HTC made something special with their version of Android? Any workarounds?
Edit: I can add another another popular app to the list, Pusbullet (1 000 000+ downloads). I also have a Sony Experia with exactly the same programs on, and there it works flawlessy. It also runs Android 6.
Edit: I can add Firefox to the list above. Even though I have logged in to my FF account and confirmed the login it doesn't sync.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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SGN 4.2.1 - stuck at < waiting for device >
I own Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it has been unlocked, rooted, I'm using CWM Recovery Touch and a few weeks ago I updated firmware to 4.2.1 (build JOP40D). It seems that Superuser is no longer working on 4.2 versions and I must use SuperSu (so I installed it from the Play, but probably it's not at all). Problems:

can't start Recovery in fastboot mode, it shows something like no command on some error screen (but in my language). Before this screen it tries to boot or something (Google logo for a while).
can't do anything with ADB or Galaxy Nexus Toolkit, after reboot to the fastboot I stuck at <waiting for device> message.
can't update CWM Recovery from CWM Rom Manager, probably due to su problem.

I haven't found any solution within discussions (useless as always), but everybody's asking about adb devices, so my output is: 0149A5310A021040        device
I can hack it with my Windows or Linux, but need some advice, thanks.

Seen this

Problem solved, but I don't understand what happened. While I got stuck on <waiting for device> message, I've tried Reboot bootloader option and process has been successfully completed. But I haven't to do this first time when I was unlocking, rooting, and installing Recovery and AOKP.

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


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How to access the internal memory of HTC Explorer
I have HTC Explorer and with Root Explorer put a file into /system/lib directory.
After reset, the phone will not boot. Now I cannot access to the internal memory via the phone and I need to access it via the PC in order to delete the file from /system/lib.
How can I do it?

What file did you drop in there in the /system/lib directory that caused it to not to boot?

I do this http://www.neopeek.com/viewtopic.php?t=7937#p26166

Do not ever overwrite libskia.so! That was the reason that it refused to boot! libskia.so is responsible for rendering graphics and font faces and is tied in directly with the ROM when it was built! Dropping in that on another ROM is simply not going to work! Think of it this way, compiling a library that has dependencies on Ubuntu in-built libraries, and drop that library on Debian is not going to work...

Before the overwriting i renamed the original libskia.so to libslia.so-back against potential problems. Now is there a way to restore it?

Remove /system/lib/libskia.so, rename the original libslia.so-back to its original filename and you should be good...hopefully.... am assuming handset is rooted and that you have cwm recovery?

handset is rooted, but what is cwm recovery?

at now i find http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager

ROM Manager is not a good idea....

If you had ADB debugging enabled, there is an easy way to do this using the SDK.
All you have to do is connect the device to the computer while it is booting, and type:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
rm -rvf /system/libskia.so
mv /system/libskia.so-back /system/libskia.so

To get the ADB binary you will have to download the Android SDK, or Google 'Android Mini SDK'.
If you didn't have USB debugging enabled, then the only thing you can do is flash a new ROM. You would have to install CWM recovery, and find a ROM for your device.
If your device has fastboot you can easily flash a recovery file that has been made for your device by using the fastboot flash recovery <recovery .img file path>.

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


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Is it possible to backup apk from an installed application?
I got some huge games which I don't play regularly but don't want to delete either. Is it possible to backup those apps as apk so that I can install them offline later?
I'm not talking about backing up only the app data, many tools exist for that purpose. I want the ability to install the app again offline at a later time.
Also, this is not necessarily an app suggestion request, any method to achieve this is OK with me.

Android automatically saves all the apk files of installed applications. If you happen to have root access, you should be able to get the APKs from /system/app (system applications) or /data/app/ (user apps)

A very easy way is ES File Explorer from Google Play Store.
Edit: This app ES File Explorer has been removed from Play Store and is no longer available (the app was sold an the new author added malicious code to the app).
You can browse to your

/system/app folder (for system apps)
/data/app folder (for user apps; requires root to be accessed)

and copy them to your /sdcard (or anywhere else).
Copying multiple files with ES File Explorer is very easy. Just long hold one of the files, then put check marks on all the files you want to copy.  Then browse to the folder (on your sdcard) where you want to place them.
Connecting to your computer via your usb cable will allow you to backup your sdcard content to your computer.
Update (Accessing the protected data/apps area):
I notice the /data/ directory is not readable. You can pull any of the content if you know it by name. I'll describe a command-line (cli) solution to get the names and the files. However, the backup tools suggested by Izzy are the easiest way to go.
This is a step by step method to get the list of packages and pull the packages using the commandline:

Download and Install the Android SDK package (or see Is there a minimal installation of ADB? for a solution requiring much less space, if you're not intending to develop Android apps). While you'll have access to just about everything in the world (Android), don't be too overwhimed... just focus on an immediate objective, and all the other features can be for a different day.

Add a path to these two directories of the package install ([installedpath]/tools and [installedpath]/platform-tools for a full SDK installation).

Now, with the Android plugged in via the usb, run this to get the full list of installed apps:
$ adb shell 'pm list packages'
You now have a  list the names of all your install apps.

Use the -f parameter to get the full pathname of a desired package by specifying a search string found in the previous list:
$ adb shell 'pm list packages -f reader'

Now pull the full pathname of the package you want to get with:
 ## adb pull [filepathname] [destination path] ##
 $ adb pull /data/app/com.ebooks.ebookreader-2.apk ~/mybackupdir

The steps might appear to be complicated, but they are easier done than said.  Once you perform it a few times, you'll find it very easy to pull any app from your device.  You can also write a script to do this as your own personal backup utility.
While there are gui alternatives as mentioned in the alternate answer, I strongly recommend looking at the features of the adb commands which includes full backups... the option for users to select precisely what they want backed up and where.
Installing the full Android SDK will give fuller access to components of your android device (from the commandline).
Look at the commands:
$ adb -help

Look at the backup section (of the help screen):
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]

     - write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
     If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
     to "backup.ab" in the current directory.

     (-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
     in the archive; the default is noapk.)

     (-obb|-noobb enable/disable backup of any installed apk expansion
     (aka .obb) files associated with each application; the default
     is noobb.)

     (-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
     shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)

     (-all means to back up all installed applications)

     (-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
     system applications; the default is to include system apps)

     (<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up.  If
     the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
     list is optional.  Applications explicitly given on the
     command line will be included even if -nosystem would
     ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

You can use the Android Backup Extractor to explore the compressed backup file created by the adb utility.
Restoring the backup to the android is a simple "-restore" command:
$ adb restore <file>

The Android Backup Extractor provides a way to explore the backup and pick out individual files (such as the apk's as in the OP's objective) to store or preserve.
The explorer package includes a variety of multi-platform tools, such as Java, perl, and cygwin.
You can extract the backup with (using the java extract opton):
## this line converts the android backup into a tar file ##
$ java -jar abe.jar unpack backup.ab backup.tar

Out side of my initial cli answer, the most precise GUI app to accomplish the OP's specific question is AirDroid.  It's free, extremely user friendly and intuitive to use.
To use, run the app. It gives a local IP address for typing into a web browser.  The link will give you a UI that resembles and Android home screen.  Click on the "Apps" icon and select one or more apps to download.  You can install or reinstall the Apps using the same interface.
There are several other GUI alternatives (graphical user interfaces) available, e.g. QtADB (multi-platform) or, for Windows users, also the excellent Droid Explorer by our member Ryan Conrad (see e.g. Full Backup of non-rooted devices; for more, also see our adb tag-wiki).

Can i access these folders without rooting the phone?

@BlueFlame Yes.

There are several apps specialized on this topic. The probably best known is AppMonster, which I use (in the Pro version) for years now, very reliable (and very active dev). For alternatives and more details, please take a look at:

Are APK files saved on my device when I install from the Play Store?
IzzyOnDroid App Lists: Backups: Backup Apps

Is AppMonster better than TitaniumBakcup? I backed up an app on my LG G3 and copied the backup to another phone and tried "restoring" it although it didn't belong to the second device and it failed.

@Shayan No. I'd say there's nothing better than TiBu. And I'm not sure whether Grigory is still actively developing AppMonster. I don't use it anymore (though I really like Grigory, knowing him personally).

Everyone is suggesting closed source softwares here which are perhaps Adware. One should rather use Ghost Commander File Manager  which has an Apps section. Copying apps to mounted (accessible in layman terms) storage is pretty straightforward.

For readers: poster did not mention it, neither did I see it fit to edit it, but the app concerned is actually an open source app, so that explains why he argued against closed source softwares.

I've got 'avg antivirus' installed.I just backup files from it and they get stored as apks.

Based on the answer from Mahesh Hegde, I can confirm that Total Commander can also save the apps's APK. It does not require root or any extra settings.
In the main screen, there is the "Installed Apps" section. Simply select and copy the app to any folder in the other tab.
The app is available as a direct download from the developer or from app stores.

There's APK Export which is good just for that purpose: it's only 112 kB and it's free with no ads or in-app suggestions to get the pro version.

App link is dead.

@Robert Yep, you're right. You might be able to find it elsewhere (but I cannot guarantee it's the right one), or I can upload it somewhere and share the link.

Why not using SD MAID?
I've been using this tools to backup my Android apps so far. It's lightweight, and easy to use to get the apk from installed apps (without root needed).
Step-by-steps :

Download the SD MAID from Google Playstore
Open SD MAID menu, swipe from the left side.
Choose AppControl to show app that installed on your Android phone.
Tap on that application you want
Then tap Exports the .apk menu
You get you want!

BTW, the default location of the output (APK) will saved in Download folder (internal storage).

Reference Bartolab, How to Export APK File From Installed Apps on Android

You can use  App Backup & Restore application to get the backup of application as an apk file.

No, it doesn't backup full app. Only the app data. Didn't work for Fifa14

Then back up your app data after that go to Settings->Application->->Clear data(Clear the app data). After that you can able to get the apk for the selected application with the use of APK Share/Send application.

Looks like a great deal: to backup the app, I have to delete my data? Thanks, but I doubt that's a good approach. And why the same answer twice?

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


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Phone uses 3G even when connected to WiFi
I've a Moto-G XT1033. When I connect the phone to WiFi, it connects fine, shows the WiFi icon but uses 3G for internet. H+ or E is shown over mobile signal icon and an exclamation mark on WiFi.
Here's a screenshot:

I've to manually disable mobile data to force the phone to use WiFi. Then it works just fine.
Here's with data disabled

Also, this problem appeared only after I upgraded from kitkat to lollipop official ROM. Now I've switched to CM12 but the problem persists.
My WiFi uses proxy to connect to the internet and this problem is only on WiFi networks that use proxy.
Any idea what causes this or how to fix it.

Just disable captive portal detection. In the terminal, or in adb shell, issue the command
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0

and reboot.

my device api is 15  and when I try this I get this error sh: settings: not found


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Is extreme battery saving possible on Android?
What is the most extreme battery saver method out there? I don't need anything (location, data, nothing) except phone calls when my screen is off. I know of greenify but even that's not good enough
I basically want to turn my android phone into a Nokia 3310 as soon as the screen turns off?
This is not just a question about app suggestion. I'm wondering if it's even possible on android. Google play services would probably not allow this sort of thing.
PS: I have a OnePlus 3 running Nougat.

Is your device rooted?

Try Macrodroid automation app. Trigger : Screen off; 1. Action : Battery Saver on 2. Launch shortcut of Greenify hibernate now. That way you hibernate plus launch battery saver mode. When if your device is not rooted , there is a workaround using adb for action 1

What version of Android do you have?

Yes, rooted. Running Nougat.
Willing to even install a custom ROM for this.

@beeshyams I tried a similar (same?) thing with tasker. Do you think Macrodroid would differ?

What is that you didn't like with Tasker? Are you looking for something else? Or it didn't run with Tasker ? Or you are not happy that this is the best battery saving option? BTW I don't know Tasker

I am battery saving myself as you can see fro my profile . This is exactly what I have on my device - it disconnects bluetooth, data (needs root), wifi, hibernates using Greenify shortcut , which is the same as using battery saver  plus hibernation

One suggestion, you may utilise Tasker to enforce aggressive battery saving by throttling CPU, turning off  location services (secure settings) when display is off

beeshyams, I wasn't happy with the results.
@xavier_fakerat Thanks for the throttling suggestion.

If you're rooted and using greenify then there's this option of aggressive doze. Once try it and if not greenify then use kernel Adiutor to tweak your processor as per your need.

Good recommendation, this would be more impressive if you give instructions on  using kernel auditor to throttle CPUs

Sure, after entering into kernel Adiutor swipe left and select CPU and now you can see the cores and their respective frequencies.Just scroll down and you'll find CPU governor, now change it to Powersave. I hope there'll be Atleast a small change in the battery life!

And one more thing in case of one plus 3 i guess there are custom kernels available in XDA maybe you should give them a try!

Since OP has Tasker, it is possible to intergrate kernel auditor into tasker as a plugin of some sort (I know Tasker alone has this functionality however)

Never integrated tasker with Adiutor.Maybe you can try it yourself.


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How can I use the Dolphin 70E's hardware scanner in an app?
I have a Dolphin 70E that has a hardware scanner. I would like to use this in a an app, but ZXing always uses the camera in the device instead. I have looked into Google Goggles as well, but running into the same issue here.
Honeywell has provided an example app that does exactly what I want, but I can't seem to find any documentation.

I have an experience with similar product (Android barcode scanner), and AFAIK, you don't need any "barcode scanner" app. The hardware scanner will automatically decode the barcode as text input (just like someone typing using keyboard). I don't know though with Dolphin device, but have you tried that?

You'll probably get voted down or put on hold as off topic since you're asking an android development question here.  I am curious about barcode scanning in android too, and I thought Andrew's answer was helpful.

Thanks Andrew! That is how I was expecting the device to respond and input the text automatically. However the laser does not even come on when the button is pressed so I am a little lost.

Finally found on the Honeywell knowledge base.
Under Power Tools > ScanWedge there is a toggle to enable/disable. When ScanWedge is enabled, the scanner buttons work as expected in any application (basically just keyboard input).


text:
Stream audio to Windows 10 through USB
I want to listen to the podcasts I have on my Android phone while I'm playing games on my computer and therefore, I want to stream the audio from my phone to my Windows 10 computer.
I'm wondering if it's possible to do that through USB?

While you probably can route audio to USB (I assume if you connect a USB device that identifies it as a USB audio receiver... thingy) your PC is a USB host.
So a better solution would be to get a USB audio adapter like this (may not be necessary if you have a mic in port), connect your headphone into the mic, and get something like VLC to play it.
Windows also allows to "Listen" to an input device which plays it out of your speakers so you don't need VLC or a special player.  (See image below). Note that this can be annoying if you do video conferencing as you will have to make sure this is disabled when you're on a call.

You can use scrcpy and your Android audio goes through your PC by default.

This application mirrors Android devices (video and audio) connected via USB or over TCP/IP

I'm not trying to this anymore but for people still wanting to this might be something to try.


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Stuck at "Checking info" when trying to add an account to a new Android Studio Virtual device
I am trying to add an account to my new Android STudio virtual device, but when I click on Google from the account options it shows a blue screen with "Checking info..." message. Stuck here as it was checking for a few minutes now.
PS: I received an error "Error communicating with Google Services" and that is it...


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Google Play Store: "Country not supported" error when making Family Library
I see a few related questions but I still ask this question (android.stackexchange.com#246629 mentions the same error although the situation is not exactly the same with mine).
Issue
On Play Store I see this message and doesn't seem to be able to set up Family Library.
Country not supported
Confirm the country associated with your account

Operation to reproduce the issue
On Play Store, choose Setting -> Family -> Sign up for Family Library -> SIGN UP then move on choosing yes or equivalent.
Things attempted but didn't seem to take effect

VPN (nordvpn) to a US location before doing what's in operation section above.

Environment

All of my payment methods are in a country A. I'm seeing this issue in country B where I came for a week-long vacation.

Country A: the US, B: Canada
I've never tried the operation in my home country A UPDATE 2024/01/03: Now I'm back to my home country and tried the same operation but still seeing the same issue. VPN disabled.

I tried from both of the following:

Android
ChromeOS 119.0.6045.212 (Official Build) (64-bit)

When back in US, did you disable your VPN?

@Rohit Gupta Yes, as I updated my post, VPN was no longer used for awhile.

Do you have payment profiles in multiple countries? https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/161631495?hl=en&msgid=161632931 suggests deleting all but one.

Not exactly sure what was a fix, but today after the following things are done, signing up "Family Library" finally went through. Not I'm back to my home country for 4 days by today.

Made sure VPN was off. Btw today I used Ubuntu Linux while I used ChromeOS for my OP. Hope this OS difference is irrelevant.
On another Google account of mine, I found a "Family Group" was set up with someone (my siblings) who might be based on yet another country (say country C). I removed them from this "Family Group", which I don't recall we've ever used.
On the Google account in question, on Chrome web browser I went to "Family Sharing" setup page (myaccount.google.com) -> In "Other products and subscriptions you can share" choose "Google Play Family Library". Then follow signing up process -> Success.

So, sorry as I don't have definitive solution but hope this helps others who run into the same issue.

Country not supported
Confirm the country associated with your account

Please ensure you set your home country in your google account. Your home country is the country where you live permanently and where your official government and banking documents are sent to. When you publish apps, answers to the questions asked by the google app store wizard will set the regulations your apps will be subjected to. That's the reason the app store is giving you a hard time and will continue until you match your home country (the one you set when you created your google account originally). Your IP locale does not apply here since you mentioned that you're back home and are no longer using your VPN.

Thanks for comment. In my case though, my Google account's country was already set to my primary country.

@IssacS anytime. I understand.

I had the same problem. I have an existing Family Group but when I tried to create a Family Library, I got the Country Not Supported message, on both web and Play Store app.
I deleted and re-added my payment method. I didn't use a VPN and my country settings were consistent across all apps in my Family Group.
I contacted Google for Families Help and began a multi-week process of being moved from one support agent to another. Mostly they either said they were transferring me to another team or they asked for information I'd already given. Sometimes they told me things that flatly contradicted Google's own support pages, but I stayed polite and persistent.
Twice Google Play Support told me I had to delete my Family Group. I pushed back against this, as it would result in my children's Google Accounts and all their data being deleted.
I regularly checked whether I could create a Family Library but always saw the Country Not Supported message until one day, just after I received a message  from "product specialists" (the 12th Google had sent me), I tried again and it finally worked.
I don't know if it was a coincidence or if someone had finally looked at my account and fixed something, but if nothing else helps, I suggest contacting Google support and being very patient indeed.


text:
Twitter client tends to redirect to web browser
When clicking a Twitter's link on GMail client, Twitter client is included in the list of possible applications to process. So I click Twitter but then the list window pops up again but this time without Twitter in it. I really like to open a link to Twitter with Twitter client. How can I do that? Thank you!
A sample of those Twitter links looks like this:
https://twitter.com/i/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRescue_moco%3Frefsrc%3Demail&sig=d4724ad41f731911a0eeacd4eb0764b30186d3af&uid=37758565&iid=am-1618412813699712373452051&nid=23+1100&t=1
Nexus 10, Jelly Bean, Twitter client 4.1.0

@Dan Hulme I updated my question to add a sample URL.

The Twitter app registers an intent filter for http and https URLs to twitter.com, to tell Android it can open those URLs itself. That's why you get the first chooser (the list of possible apps).
However, it seems that the Twitter app can't actually understand those "redirect" links, so it asks for a web browser to handle the URL. That's why you get the second chooser, with only web browsers.
Since the page does in fact redirect to a Twitter user (which the app can handle), after you've opened the URL in a browser you should get a third chooser, which does include Twitter, allowing you to open the user in the Twitter app. However, Firefox currently has a bug that means it won't offer a chooser in this case. If you pick Chrome in the second chooser, it should give you the third chooser.
I'd call this a bug in the Twitter app. You should complain to Twitter and ask them to fix it.

Good explanation. However, I just found that Chrome does the same.

In what way? Do you mean that if you pick it in the second chooser, you don't get a third? I'm afraid I don't have the Twitter app installed to test this out.

Yes with Chrome I don't get 3rd chooser, and the 2nd one only suggests web browsers (Chrome, FFox). I've sent a request to Twitter from the link you provided (their ticket No. is #9797760 if there's a way to refer to it online).

That's interesting. I'd have expected it to work like youtu.be shortened URLs, where clicking the shortened URL gives you a chooser of just browsers, and then Youtube redirects you to the full youtube.com/watch URL, and you get a second chooser including the YouTube app. Maybe Twitter's redirects work differently.


text:
What does the symbol after someone's name mean in the Snapchat app?
In the Snapchat app, I'm not really sure what this symbol after the name means.

Could someone help me out?

That icon is a horoscope icon. I believe it happens when you enter your birthday into Snapchat it adds the corresponding horoscope icon.

♒ Aquarius
♓ Pisces
♈ Aries
♉ Taurus
♊ Gemini
♋ Cancer
♌ Leo
♍ Virgo
♎ Libra
♏ Scorpio
♐ Sagittarius
♑ Capricorn

Note: refer to Wikipedia for the alternative if the emoji is rendered correctly.


text:
Can't download the ZIP file of CWM Recovery from its official site, why?
I recently found an old phone (Samsung Galaxy S2) and wanted to download the fitting ClockworkMod Recovery.
Well, when searching for the .zip files on http://clockworkmod.com, I found out that something changed.
What happened to CWM? Why aren't the .zip files not accessible anymore through the browser, and how can I get them anyway?

Discontinued since 6.0.5.1.
There should still be (many) copies scattered around the web, including PhilZ ones, but it's still suggested to switch to TWRP as it's actively maintained, especially if you want to flash KitKat and above.

Flashing TWRP would be an option and I already recognized it if it wouldn't need SecRec (or something like that) in the system which isn't supported with the stock firmware of named smartphone

@Ov3rfl0w IsoRec, right? Indeed... I found this one on CM's wiki guide for i9100 (yours is an i9100, right?): link, hopefully it's usable.


text:
Rooting nexus 4 failed
I was trying to root my nexus 4 by the following steps:

Download and copy the file UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip to /sdcard/
Download the file CWM 6.0.3.5
Got into Fastboot/Bootloader Mode on Nexus 4
Execute the command fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.5-mako.img
Choose RECOVERY from the Fastboot menu and enter Recovery Mode
In ClockworkMod recovery “flash zip from SD card”
Then selected “choose zip from sdcard”
Now I should see the copied file UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip but there was none, and I got the output `Can't mount /sdcard/

Then I tried to use Install zip from sideload

I sent the file with adb sideload UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip
I get the output:
Restarting adbd...
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_install`
E:failed to open last_install: Invalid argument
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...
***********
SuperSU installer ZIP
***********
Mounting /system, /data and rootfs
Disabling OTA survival
Removing old files
Creating space
Extracting files
Restoring files
Setting permissions
Unmounting /system and /data
Done

Then I go back and choose reboot system now but when booting only the GOOGLE sign pops up and then the X (I was waiting for about an hour)
SOLVED
I did a full reset by downloading the original factory image from google
here
And then I followed the steps in this tutorial:
here

I don't know about your method, which seems pretty complicated and you might have done something wrong. But here is the method I've followed and it worked like a charm.

Trust me my friend, using Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit v2.1.4 is the way to go with ALL nexus devices. Double check your drivers too (toolkit will do this)

Put the Solved part in an answer, and copy down relevant details from the links to prevent a link rot. Then after 2 days, accept your own answer.


text:
Reinstalling Samsung Home on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos
I had removed Samsung Home and made another launcher as the default home screen. I now need to reinstall Samsung Home; and I have tried moving both the APK and the ODEX file for Samsung Home into the /system/app folder, and tried to set the proper permissions, but this didn't work.
Any other suggestions (other than restoring the Nandroid backup with CWM)?

A suggestion for next time: you don't need to remove the default launcher to start using another one. You can choose between the two with a chooser the same way you can for web browsers or any other kind of app.

@DanHulme: Frankly speaking, I went into an uninstalling spree after rooting my phone. And I do know of the chooser

That's good. I'd still like to make sure that anyone else who finds this question knows there's an easier way.


text:
Sound stops in mid-call (incoming sound only, outgoing sound is fine)
I have a bizarre problem and I don't know whether it's my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4), my Bluetooth headset (Plantronics Voyager Legend), my carrier (T-mobile) or our corporate conference call system (AT&T).
In the middle of a conference call, the sound I hear on my end will just stop. The call is still active, however, and other people on the phone call can still hear me. This has happened four or five times now. It has never happened with any of the personal phone calls on the same setup.
When it happens, if I turn off my headset and go to use the phone itself, the problem still occurs. So it makes me think that it's not related to the headset.
No one else on the conference call seems to have this problem, so maybe it's my phone rather than the conference call system. Update 4/29/2016: Just confirmed it's not the conference call system, it happened on a long call (90 minutes) direct from another phone, without involving AT&T conference calling.
I don't know what to search for on the internet. Has anyone heard of something like this happening, either to Android or to Samsung phones?


text:
use wifi for data but not phone?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 and figured out how to connect to WiFi, but I want only the data to go through WiFi, not the telephone calls. (I have had trouble w/ phone over wifi; the data is fine though + it saves me money going through WiFi.)
Is there a way to do this?

Since when do phone calls go via WiFi? Are you talking about some VoIP app (e.g. SIP)? Standard telephony goes via your mobile provider, WiFi connected or not.

It's builtin to my phone. Not a VoIP app.

aha, found it:
under apps -> settings -> connections, I can turn overall use of Wi-Fi on or off.

Then if I select "More networks", I get this screen:

and I can turn on or off "Wi-Fi Calling".
Tmobile has a note about it here: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-5864

All the telephone calls go through Mobile network not Wifi. If you have any VoIP application like Viber or Skype installed. Then while making call, it asks whether you want to use Phone or Viber/Skype. I guess you might have selected one of these apps with "Always" settings.
In this case, go to Application Settings & Clear Defaults. And next time be sure of selecting Phone Always.

No that's not true. My phone can use wifi for regular phone calls, I'm not using skype or anything like that.

But that's quite unusual: cell phones use phone cells (to phone phones at other cells, yeah ;). Do you have a reference link, so we can better understand what it is about?

I wonder if it's a Tmobile thing only. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417990,00.asp "The S 4 also supports T-Mobile's excellent Wi-Fi calling system."

http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/4g-wireless-broadband-service


text:
How to write Android shell history to file?
Using Terminal Emulator for Android, is there a way to enable a persistent command history?
So far, I've tried the following:

Initial command of export HISTFILE=$HOME/.mksh_history

User mksh profile /data/data/jackpal.androidterm/app_HOME/.mkshrc containing export HISTFILE=$HOME/.mksh_history

System mksh profile /system/etc/mkshrc containing export HISTFILE=/data/data/jackpal.androidterm/app_HOME/.mksh_history (though preferably the solution does not involve writing to /system)

I'm able to get other Android shells (ash and bash) to write histories into app_HOME without issue. I'm also able to get mksh to write HISTFILE on Linux without issue.

I believe you cannot, but I'm not 100% sure.

you can use a project ive built, https://gitlab.com/rafi-gana/superadb just install the requirements and run it.

mksh developer here.
We disabled persistent history for mksh on Android, in order to not tax the flash memory with too many write requests.
You can re-enable it in a custom ROM by setting -DHAVE_PERSISTENT_HISTORY=1 in LOCAL_CFLAGS in Android.mk. You can also recompile mksh like that and copy that onto your ROM, if it’s rooted and the base OS version is the same.
Furthermore, you can copy any statically-linked binary for the same architecture on the phone and use that. The mksh-static binaries in the Debian package, however, also exclude persistent history.
If you really think this feature is worthwhile, persuade Google to enable it; for that, they need to edit mkmf.sh and remove the following lines…
# even the idea of persistent history on a phone is funny
HAVE_PERSISTENT_HISTORY=0; export HAVE_PERSISTENT_HISTORY

… then rebuild Android.mk from it (which they do for every new version anyway).
Oh, and you could ask the Terminal Emulator for Android developer to bundle a version of mksh with history enabled. This is probably no bad idea anyway, as it’ll be newer than what you get in the stock ROMs, and it won’t overwrite the system shell /system/bin/sh, but be available to CLI users.
That all still won’t enable persistent history by default (I’m strictly opposed to it, as it’s a surveillance feature), but enables users to set $HISTFILE themselves to enable it.

I agree, bundled with Terminal Emulator for Android would really be the proper place. JuiceSSH does it, but with bash instead. Anyways, in the meantime I've just compiled it and copied it over. Thanks for the info!

GNU bash is tricky due to possible licence issues (GPL); also, mksh is much smaller and smoother. Furthermore, mksh builds with bionic (Android’s libc) much more easily, so the bundling has low effort needed. Glad I could help!

"a surveillance feature"?

I've created a hacky workaround for the history feature in mksh. As the developer (@mirabilos) stated, history was removed from the mksh build options in android.
But, you can emulate the same using PS1, history (fc) and print built-in functions:
HISTFILE="/sdcard/.adb/.history"
# first, do `print -s` for each line of the file.
# `print -s` is printing to the shell history file,which doesn't exist in this case. so its a virtual one.
if [ -f "$HISTFILE" ] ; then
    while read -r p; do print -s "$p"; done < "$HISTFILE"
fi

# after each command, we will run `add_to_history` which add the last command to the history file
add_to_history(){
  # fc -ln -1: get the last command from history without numbers.
  last_command=$(fc -ln -1 2> /dev/null)||return
  last_line=$(tail -n 1 "$HISTFILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
  if [ "$last_command" != "$last_line" ]; then # dont add the same line
     # Append the last command to the file
     echo "$last_command" >> "$HISTFILE"
  else
     return
  fi
}
# add the function to the prompt, so the shell execute it after each command
PS1="$PS1\$(add_to_history)";

I've also implemented that in my adb-shell repo. Look there if you want to understand how to set up the .mksh config file with adb shell

It’s cool that there are community contributions to the shell like this! Thank you. This way, people who want it can still use it.

To write Android shell history to file from Android terminal, type
history > /path/to/file/history.txt
If you use Termux instead of Terminal Emulator, then your history is preserved.

I built a working custom mksh from source on an Android device using Termux and replaced /system/bin/sh with it (rename or backup /system/bin/sh first). You need to install build-essential in Termux, then:
wget http://www.mirbsd.org/MirOS/dist/mir/mksh/mksh-R57.tgz
tar -xvf mksh-R57.tgz
cd mksh
mkdir build
cd build
sh ../Build.sh -o CFLAGS="-Wall -Werror -Wno-deprecated-declarations -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -fno-strict-aliasing -fwrapv -DDEBUG_LEAKS -DMKSH_ASSUME_UTF8 -DMKSH_DONT_EMIT_IDSTRING -DKSH_VERSIONNAME_VENDOR_EXT=\" Android\" -DMKSH_BUILDSH -D_GNU_SOURCE -DSETUID_CAN_FAIL_WITH_EAGAIN -DHAVE_STRING_POOLING=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_BOUNDED=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_FORMAT=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_NORETURN=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_PURE=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED=1 -DHAVE_ATTRIBUTE_USED=1 -DHAVE_SYS_TIME_H=1 -DHAVE_TIME_H=1 -DHAVE_BOTH_TIME_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_BSDTYPES_H=0 -DHAVE_SYS_FILE_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_MKDEV_H=0 -DHAVE_SYS_MMAN_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_PARAM_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_SELECT_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_SYSMACROS_H=1 -DHAVE_BSTRING_H=0 -DHAVE_GRP_H=1 -DHAVE_IO_H=0 -DHAVE_LIBGEN_H=1 -DHAVE_LIBUTIL_H=0 -DHAVE_PATHS_H=1 -DHAVE_STDINT_H=1 -DHAVE_STRINGS_H=1 -DHAVE_TERMIOS_H=1 -DHAVE_ULIMIT_H=0 -DHAVE_VALUES_H=0 -DHAVE_CAN_INTTYPES=1 -DHAVE_CAN_UCBINTS=1 -DHAVE_CAN_INT8TYPE=1 -DHAVE_CAN_UCBINT8=1 -DHAVE_RLIM_T=1 -DHAVE_SIG_T=1 -DHAVE_SYS_ERRLIST=0 -DHAVE_SYS_SIGNAME=1 -DHAVE_SYS_SIGLIST=1 -DHAVE_FLOCK=1 -DHAVE_LOCK_FCNTL=1 -DHAVE_GETRUSAGE=1 -DHAVE_GETSID=1 -DHAVE_GETTIMEOFDAY=1 -DHAVE_KILLPG=1 -DHAVE_MEMMOVE=1 -DHAVE_MKNOD=0 -DHAVE_MMAP=1 -DHAVE_FTRUNCATE=1 -DHAVE_NICE=1 -DHAVE_REVOKE=0 -DHAVE_SETLOCALE_CTYPE=1 -DHAVE_LANGINFO_CODESET=1 -DHAVE_SELECT=1 -DHAVE_SETRESUGID=1 -DHAVE_SETGROUPS=1 -DHAVE_STRERROR=1 -DHAVE_STRSIGNAL=0 -DHAVE_STRLCPY=1 -DHAVE_FLOCK_DECL=1 -DHAVE_REVOKE_DECL=1 -DHAVE_SYS_ERRLIST_DECL=0 -DHAVE_SYS_SIGLIST_DECL=1 -DHAVE_PERSISTENT_HISTORY=1 -DMKSH_BUILD_R=571 -DMKSH_DEFAULT_PROFILEDIR=\"/system/etc\" -DMKSHRC_PATH=\"/system/etc/mkshrc\" -DMKSH_DEFAULT_EXECSHELL=\"/system/bin/sh\" -DMKSH_DEFAULT_TMPDIR=\"/data/local\" -static -PREFIX=\"/system\""

After that, edited /system/etc/mkshrc to include export HISTFILE=/sdcard/Android/.mksh_history.
This was a permanent solution, so it worked with remote adb shell and persistent after reboots. You could copy the binary to the Terminal Emulator home folder and set it as the shell command, but ~/.mkshrc ~/mkshrc ~/.profile does not appear to work, so you will also need to add export ENV=/sdcard/Android/.mkshrc to /system/etc/mkshrc.
Download the compiled binary here: sh for Android with history enabled.
*Got most of the compile flags from here.


text:
Receiving app notifications from apps that are blocked by a network firewall
I am currently on my company's wireless network which prevents apps like Twitter and Facebook from connecting, etc. However, I still receive notifications from these apps when someone posts to my wall or follows me, etc.
Is there a simple reason for this such as a poorly configured firewall?
If it matters, the device is Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

Notifications for applications like Twitter and Facebook are sent through Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) or its later versions such as Firebase messaging. This is one of the ways that Google can reduce power usage on your phone, by channeling all of the periodic checking through GCM. Unless your firewall is blocking GCM, all such notifications will be let through the firewall. For notifications your Twitter app is not accessing Twitter servers directly; a Twitter server is leaving a message for your phone on a GCM server, and your phone is checking the GCM server and delivering that message to your Twitter app.
When you are actively using your Twitter app, it will directly access Twitter servers, and a firewall will be able to block it. This is distinct from notifications.


text:
Why, and how to increase 16-character lockscreen password limit?
This is a problem that has annoyed me, as the password that I have memorized is around the 20-character mark, yet Android limits it to 16 characters
Why, and how to increase, 16-character lockscreen password limit?
If it's relevant, the Android is running on 5.1 Lollipop.

Check the build.prop if you can find any edits ....there are tons of stuff you can play around with in the build.prop file..just have a look and let me know :-)

@user87552 Their aint no mention in build.prop, i already have looked their.

From Android Security Internals: An In-Depth Guide to Android's Security :

Android doesn’t have a dedicated setting to manage the encryption pass-
  word after the device is encrypted, and changing the screen lock password or
  PIN will also silently change the device encryption password. This is most
  probably a usability-driven decision: most users would be confused by having
  to remember and enter two different passwords at different times and would
  probably quickly forget the less frequently used, and possibly more complex,
  disk encryption password. While this design is good for usability, it effectively
  forces users to use a simple disk encryption password, because they have to
  enter it each time they unlock the device, usually dozens of times a day. No
  one wants to enter a complex password that many times, and thus most users
  opt for a simple numeric PIN (unless a device policy requires otherwise)
Additionally, passwords are limited to
  16 characters (a limit that is hardwired
  in the framework and not configurable), so using a passphrase is not an
  option

(Emphasis supplied)
I don't know more about this limitation and would be glad if somebody can amplify (Edit: Andrew T has clarified here to an extent)
So, that rules out increasing password length to beyond 16 ( how to increase, Androids 16 character lockscreen password limit )
Since you are on Lollipop , you may like to related pitfall (claimed to be fixed) of long passwords here Android lockscreen can be bypassed by overloading with massive password
Note:

For earlier versions (Lollipop and below), Cryptfs Password by Nikolay Elenkov, allows you to set a separate password for disk encryption or if your device is rooted
su -c vdc cryptfs changepw new where new is your new  password.
Source: http://nelenkov.blogspot.be/2012/08/changing-androids-disk-encryption.html
Nikolay Elenkov is the author of the book Android Security Internals: An In-Depth Guide to Android's Security and runs a blog here

The length limit is mentioned on this line of Android source code, where it will be checked on this line when validating the password. Aside of that, there's no reason mentioned why it's 16 characters.

Note as well that it is technically configurable -- that is only the default.  The intent to create that activity can specify a different max length; it's probably up to the manufacturer to do so.

@AndrewT. In response to your comment, is this a changeable aspect of a compiled Android system that is already running, or is this a type of chnange you have to do before compiling the Android system, meaning I would have to create myself an custom ROM?

@Matt07211 as mentioned on the answer, it's hard coded, and there's no way to change it after it has been compiled. However, as Matthew has commented, there should be an Intent generator to configure (and thus, bypass) the limit. Whether it's possible to be used by end-user - conveniently - or not, I haven't researched it.

@AndrewT. Thanks for the reply, I really just wanted to know that if it's changable by an end-user, which it seems it isn't but seems like its changeable, if let's say I built my own cuutim ROM for my phone :) thanks for the info

Answers to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10316130/cant-call-com-android-settings-chooselockpassword-activity indicate that calling that intent is not possible from outside of the Settings application.

From the commit comment max password length symbols is limited only for UI reasons.
Maybe there is no other reason which requires the lockscreen password to be up to 17 symbols (16+1)
EDIT: I created android build and tested with max password length 100 symbols and it is working for lock screen and also for encryption password
Fix 2504863: Use password min/max constants in ChooseLockPassword
This fixes a bug where the system was defaulting to 8 digits max password length.
The UI is best for N <=12, but works for more. I set the default limit to 16 which is more than most humans can remember.
That also seems to be the practical limit for the small sample of DevicePolicyManagers I checked.
DevicePolicyManagers can always specify more digits if they really want.
Change-Id: I8637e0c9366800886759424b5a28f48dca15c535

https://osdn.net/users/zhicai_peng/pf/packages-apps-Settings/scm/commits/70d5c3a0139899e5f4d425c8ab2d68f0dfc5c6da

Thanks for the extra info, tad annoying though, I geuss I'll just stick with the current max password limit :-/


text:
After upgrading my Nexus 7 from Android 4 to 5.1, it is so slow as to be unusuable. What can I do to make it usable again?
I've seen reports here and there online where users have reported similar frustrations. Has anyone had success fixing whatever issue is crippling the tablet after upgrading to Android 5 (Lollipop)?

I did a factory data reset and everything is running much more smoothly:
Settings > Backup and Reset > Factory Data Reset
I had to log back in and reinstall my apps. This wasn't too onerous in my case since my tablet usage is limited mainly to the Amazon Kindle and Pandora apps.
For a more nuanced approach, see this Tuning Guide for the Nexus 7.

I had the same problem and did the following. Switching back from a Material keyboard back to Holo drastically improved performance.

Open the Settings menu on your device.
Under "Personal," touch Language & Input.
Under "Keyboard & input methods," touch the Settings icon next to "Google Keyboard."
Touch Appearance & Layouts.
Touch Theme.
Select either Holo White or Holo Blue.

Changing your animation speeds may not be as effective as switching to a holo keyboard, but can slightly improve your tablet's performance: (whether this is psychological or not has yet to be proven)

Open Settings
Tap on About Phone
Find Build Number and tap on it repeatedly until a message which says "you are now a developer" appears.
Go back to the main menu in Settings
You will now have an option called Developer Options . Open that.
Enable Developer Options  by tapping the slider on the top right
Find Window Animation Scale in developer options, and tap it
Select .5x (or you could just turn them off completely)
Do the same to Transition Animation Scale and Animator Duration Scale

I do not own a nexus 7. However, my moto g was slower when I upgraded to L. It seems that booting in recovery mode and wiping the cache helps a lot. You can google for the specific instructions for nexus 7. I just finished wiping cache on my phone. It definitely is snappier.
See this link for more info enter link description here

I did that cache cleaning on my Nexus 7 2012 - it didn't help. Both 5.0 and 5.1 are very slow.


text:
Does using Android Instant Apps count as installation on Play store?
As I saw yesterday, Google I/O 2016 Keynotes with an awesome release of many new features.
One of the best feature which I like most as an Android Developer that is Android Instant Apps.

The new Android Instant apps lets you access apps from anywhere without installing. It will let you run Android apps as seamlessly as loading a web page. And, it is compatible all the way back to Jelly Bean.

I have a question in my mind that, if it will be accessed without installing then will it be counted as installation on Play Store? And if it won't, then what is the meaning to use it from the developer side. What will be the benefit to the developer?
P.S. I don't oppose this feature, just want to know how it will work.

I guess it will be similar to app streaming from Google Search

@AndrewT. Yeah may be.

Quoting from XDA (emphasis supplied)

Android Instant Apps is an evolution to the way Android has done applications traditionally. Rather than downloading a full-blown application, Instant Apps allows users to “stream” apps to try it out (in reality, it’s a partial code download), without going through the hassle of downloading and installing it

So, if it is a partial download for users to try it out, it logically won't count as installation

If Play store will not count then what is the meaning to use it from developer side. What will be benefit to the developer?

This allows app developers to reach out to an even wider audience, as they can now project a native Android app experience to the end user with something as simple as a URL: click and you’re in the app

What makes Instant Apps good for the developer outside of the increase in app range is that they don’t need to build a whole different app. Devs do need to update their existing Android apps in order to get the advantage of the Instant Apps functionality....

Android Instant Apps extends all the way back to Android Jellybean, so you aren’t restricted to only a handful of users on the latest Android version.

From a developer perspective, I suppose that Firebase Analytics also announced yesterday, will be integrated with this. Other features of Firebase Analytics:

Instead of focusing on page views, impressions or sessions, developers can see what users are doing inside the app, how paid advertising campaigns are performing with cross-network attribution and where users are coming from

Defining audiences

Better crash reporting

Notifications and Dynamic Links to to help developers grow and re-engage app user bases

Storage- Google’s cloud-to-device push messaging service Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is being integrated into Firebase’ s backend and has been renamed as Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)

Monetization- AdMob has been integrated into Firebase

Just like portable apps on windows ;D

Play store will count Installation or not

Definitely won't be count an installation.

If Play store will not count then what is the meaning to use it from
  developer side. What will be benefit to the developer?

The key behind Android Instant Apps is that devs won’t have to go back and create a separate version of their app to make this work. All that’s required is a simple update to their current application — about a day’s worth of work in all, says Ficus Kirkpatrick, Engineering Director for Instant Apps
Google to make sure majority of Android users get access to the Instant Apps feature has made it compatible with Android Jelly Bean OS and later versions. This way the Android Instant Apps will reach over a billion users.


text:
How to Search within SMSes in Hangouts App?
The default messaging app on Android provides the search feature, which allow users to search within SMSes. But I wasn't able to find Search in hangouts app. (as I have Sms integration with hangouts, I need to search within SMSes on some occasions)

It is not possible to do a search within Hangouts from the app.  Google, the king of search, still hasn’t added this most basic of features.

I have found the best way to search through my SMSes is to switch app temporarily. You can go back to Hangouts afterwards.
Lets hope Google realizes this is a needed feature for Hangouts.

authors: Людмил Стефанов


text:
Dump google authenticator keys
I have a lot of entries in the google authenticator app. Those entries were originally entered by scanning QR-codes. If I lose my phone, those entries are lost, and my experience tells me that some services can not be reset at all without access to 2 step authentication (one service specifically requested a convoluted process with high associated fees in order to verify my identity. I ended up creating a new account - luckily no important data was in the old account)
According to this site (I have not found a better place describing the data needed to generate a QR-code for Google Authenticator), what I need is:

a label (I assume free text)
user (does this need to be the real user linked to my account?)
a key: this is the important part
a url (is this important, or only for documentation purposes?)

My questions are:

how do I dump all that data from my current Google Authenticator installation?
What happens if I enter that data into a new Google Authenticator instance? Will the old stop working? How is this mechanism implemented?

EDIT
I do not want simply to backup the Google Authenticator database so that another instance of Google Authenticator can read it. I do not want the data in any proprietary or binary format.
I want the data in human readable form, ideally as a .txt file, so that I can readily use it for other purposes, be it back it up as I please, enter it in another application (Google Authenticator or any other application), use it manually to generate QR-codes with the service provided above, ...

@bmdixon if by backup you mean "save the data so that another instance of Google Authenticator can read it", then no, that is not what I mean. I do not want the data in any propietary or binary format. I want the data in human readable form, ideally as a .txt file,, so that I can readily use it for other purposes, be it back it up as I please, enter it in another application (Google Authenticator or any other application), use it manually to generate QR-codes with the service provided above, ...

Several of the answers on that question include how to read the data as text so you can use it as you wish. Not all the answers are relevant in your situation (mine included) but the ones by Anon and dchapkine are, as well as several others.

@bmdixon indeed you are right. Particurarly, the answer by dchapkine seems ineresting

You should also be storing the OTPs each of the services gave you for use in resetting TFA when you enabled it.

@MatthewRead I do not understand what you mean. Can you clarify?

When you enable two-factor authentication for a service/website, they should provide you with several one-time codes.  Those one-time codes can be used when you lose access to your authenticator in order to remove two-factor from the account, and then re-enable it with your new authenticator.


text:
Root Samsung Galaxy S2 with unconventional kernel version
My Galaxy S2 is running Android 4.1.2. I am following the howto here. I am trying to look for the corresponding CF-Root download, by looking in the xda-developers forum. The problem is that the kernel version of my device does not match the format given in the forum. Here are the details of my kernel:
Model Number     : GT-I9100
Baseband Version : I9100BULS1
Kernel-Version   : 3.0.31-889555 dpi@DELL228 #3 SMP PREEMPT Thu Jan 31 14:48:54 KST 2013
Buildnummer      : JZO54K.I9100XWLSD

How can I choose a CF-Root download based on that kernel version?

Following the rooting tag you've used brings you to our rooting index (first item in "faq" there), which links two guides for the S2. Have you checked if one of those fits your needs? If not: At the end of that index, several rooting methods are listed, some of them covering multiple devices. Anything fitting there for you? If still "no", which model is your S2 (GT-I9100P, GT-I9100G)?

@Izzy From the buildnumber in the quote in the question, it seems like OP has i9100 - the International S2.

@Izzy: I have added Model Number and Baseband Version. With the guides you link to I have the same problem as with the xda-developers forum: the codes in my phone do not match any of the codes covered on any of the guides, so I am not able to choose any of the available guides to proceed. Since rooting is dangerous, I am reluctant to simply try one of the guides. My phone has been acquired in Germany, in case that matters.

If a factory-reset isn't "dangerous" for you, I'd say rooting isn't, either. I'd try one of the "root many" methods for JB -- in the worst case it doesn't work, then it cannot mess up anything in the system (just in "userspace", which is cureable by a factory-reset).


text:
File transfer between Windows 8 and Nexus 7
I'm struggling with it for ages and I can't seem to get it working. Every solution on the internet just lets me to install ADB drivers. But besides of developing I'd also like to use my Nexus as a regular user, for example send some files from my Win8 PC to the tablet. Soe I'm enabling MTP.
But this is no-go. Nexus7 is displayed with conflict on the device manager. Automatic install won't install nothing. Drivers from asus website won't install (these are just ADB drivers). Basically no drivers I found over the internet won't install.
For god sake, it's world most popular Android tablet. Is it Windows 8 which is so retared?
MTP not recognized, PTP aswell. No drivers found anywhere.
EDIT:
I found a "solution" - it's called "Sell the bloody Windows machine and buy a Mac" - works like a charm. There is also another one I tested: "get back to Win7" worked too...

Have you checked for similar questions here? I recommend a search for "nexus mtp windows", and go over the 24 results found. I'm pretty sure one of them will solve your question.

Please check: Nexus 7 won't show up as a drive on Windows in MTP mode after update to Android 4.2, Unable to connect my Nexus 7 to a PC, and Problem connecting Nexus 7 as mass storage device on Windows 7.

None of this solves the problem. It's not like I've asked the question right away. But guess what. It all works like a charm on Windows 7

So it seems the culprit rather comes from Redmond. Not using anything from there for decades (I rawly remember the last Windows I used was some 3.11, then I jumped ship), I hardly can help you with that, sorry...

Have you tried going a different route and just use AirDroid?

It's barely a solution - just a workarround. I've used another workarround which was geting rid off this horrid OS which Win8 is and got back to Win7

I agree. I hate Win8 (use it on laptop) but love Win7 (use on main computer). Still, I use AirDroid because I need to transfer even with a Mac. Wish I had a better solution for you.

The main disadvantage of this that the transfer speed is slow compared to usb.


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Mix two audio files mp3 in Android
After a period of research, I found that Android seems in no way to mix two mp3 audio files together. I have suggested using SoX & Lame. Sox by default does not include mp3 support because of licensing issues with mp3 format. I have successfully run the installtion command line mix two audio files mp3 on Ubuntu after install SoX & LAME in terminal.
sox -m inputa.mp3 inputb.mp3 mixed.mp3

The last issue is now integrated to run in Android Sox with Lame. Do you have any way to make the mix two files audio mp3 in Android? We are discussing here, but everything is still unresolved.
https://github.com/guardianproject/android-ffmpeg/pull/2
Can you help me! Thank you very much.


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Windows 7 Laptop unable to recognize Samsung GT-S7562 and Micrommax A116 Android Device
I have two Android phones: a Micromax A116 and a Samsung GT-S7562.
I am able to connect both of the devices on an XP Machine at the office. But at home I have a laptop running Windows 7. When I try to connect it, both of the phones are not getting detected.
I have installed Samsung Kies for GT-S7562 and I have also installed the Micromax A116 drivers on both XP and Windows 7.
I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling all the drivers. But no use.
I need help. Thanks in advance.

How many USB slots do you have? Have you tried moving the data cable to those slots?

It has 3 USB slots. Yes I have tried in all the slots.

Any android phone can be easily detected based on the purpose of connection.Just check and ensure the type of USB driver you download is for the correct purpose.
Basically we have two modes of connecting an Android device to a system.
1.As a Personal user(can be any,file transfer,update,backup etc.)
2.As a Developer(to debug,deploy an application etc.)
1.As a personal user
If you basically want to connect your device for personal use.Then you need the simple USB drivers which can be downloaded from Samsung.Depending on your Operating system you need to install the required file.For Samsung.Contact micromax for the USB drivers as i didn't find any.
Ex:-If you have a windows 7 Operating system then it will automatically download and install the USB drivers and if it's Linux then you need to search for the respective drivers regarding Linux and install based on your procedure.But if it's Windows XP then you need to manually search for the USB driver's download it and install them  as and where required.Once installed you can connect your device and do your work
2.As a Developer:-If you need to connect the android phone as a developer/tester then you need to download the special ADB debug drivers.These drivers are way different from the normal U.S.B drivers as they provide you to test/debug the application on the device but not for file transfer or any other use.
After downloading manually or automatically from the SDK Manager you can connect your device but you need to configure it .Check this site for more details.Once done your device will be detected by the eclipse software and then you can do you work.
Based on the use of yours you can select the choice of connection.
Note:-The basic connection setup is the same for all the devices irrespective of their manufacturer.Although there may/may not be any slight changes based on the Android Version.
The difference is may be you have restrictions/U.S.B drivers are missing in Windows XP machine.So just check whether the U.S.B drivers are not disabled and you have access to the U.S.B as well


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How to stop this type of service in Sony Xperia MT27i?
I have an Android 4.0.4 device Sony Xperia MT27i.
When this device connects in Mac then it looks like this.

(click image to enlarge)
Some services are started and also it displays an unwanted screen.
I've searched all the settings and tried to stop this, but no success.
Please can any one help me?

Those are due the debug settings enabled in Settings menu. Since I am not with any 4.0 device, I am unable to tell exactly what to be switched off.  Probably while switching on the USB debugging, you might have experimented with with other settings. Turn off all other than USB debugging to see these to go off.
Take a look at this similar question with similar answer.


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HTC One S won't boot after battery fully drained
Today the battery of my HTC One S got completely empty and when trying to reboot it's just stuck on the splash screen.
I am rooted and have Trickdroid 8.1 installed. This is an 4.0.4 ICS ROM.
I've already wiped cache+dalvik and reflashed the boot.img to no avail...
What could be wrong?

Too bad Android SE is not as active as other SE sites, just did a nandroid restore from when I just installed the ROM and so far I haven't set up titanium backup. Well that'll teach me... At least it boots again.


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could not set ad-hoc mode on wlan0. operation not supported on transport endpoint
Triing to use Barnacle Wifi Tether on Samsung Galaxy Note2 GT-N7100. And when I press start wifi tether, got error: could 'not set ad-hoc mode on wlan0. operation not supported on transport endpoint' And then: Could not connect to NAT, will retry later. Using other wifi tethers apps also got troubles. My phone is rooted and got custom firmware android 4.2.2

Barnacle Wifi Tether printscreen: could 'not set ad-hoc mode on wlan0. operation not supported on transport endpoint' (click image to enlarge)

install  this wifi tether and configure it according to video. It's working


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How to take a picture and uploading it with a comment to Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter?
I am coming from the iPhone, and there was using an app called Camera+, which worked well for my workflow. On Android, I am now looking for a way to:

On the go, take pictures, and store them somewhere. (I don't care where they are stored, they could very well be in a private store specific to the app.)
Allow me to go through the picture I took, delete the one I don't like, and for the others, enter a description, and upload them to a combination of Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. I want to just enter the description once, click on checkboxes for Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter to select where the picture will go.

I could do this with the standard Camera/Gallery, with the Flickr and Facebook apps installed, but it requires way to many steps. I'm looking for something simple, that allows for a fast workflow, not for an editing workhouse. Is there any solution out there that would allow me to do this?

As questions like "Is there an app for X" are off topic (by our [FAQ]), I took the freedom to re-phrase it to prevent it from being removed. Hope you don't mind :) What you want is not necessarily an app -- you want a solution, right?

I don't know what you exactly meant by the 'description'. Did you mean some sort of metadata (EXIF?) or renaming the file? Or just a body text for social sharing?

@Izzy I was unaware of that rule, and will keep it mind for the future. Thank you for rephrasing my question; your version indeed better reflects the question I really have :).

@Power-Inside Maybe I should have said "title" instead of "description", i.e. the main text that Flickr or  shows under or next the pictures. It may also be stored in the EXIF metadata, but this is not really the part I care about.

@avernet I thought so, so I happily adjusted it. Though my answer turned out to be an app: We prefer the question to be open to "home-made" solutions as well, if possible. Sometimes you'd be surprised what's possible without including an app :) (Well, basically apps are always included, if you count those belonging to the pre-installed system ;)

This solution doesn't require any app:

Upload pictures by email to Flickr. As a one-time setup, find your private Flickr email address and I recommend you add it as a contact in Gmail. Then, from the Gallery, share by email, and send it to your Flickr email, optionally typing a description in the email subject.
Setup an IFTTT rule to upload to Facebook pictures you send to Flickr. To make it simpler, you can reuse this recipe.

Benefits:

You're not relying on any third-party app, and can use the standard Android tools.
You can queue images for upload (sorting, entering descriptions, deleting locally), even if you are offline, say abroad with no WiFi or data connectivity. The pictures will be queued in your email outbox and will be sent when you're back on the grid.

One solution would in fact be using a specialized photo app: Fotor for Android. Next to a bunch of features for taking and editing photos, the app description mentions:

Using Fotor you can easily share your amazing photos with friends and family! Share photos via email, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, with just one touch.

Which is exactly what you asked for. This app even supports HDR, and much more... So this would be your all-in-one solution. Seems hard to beat...

I don't know if it works for Flickr but you can use applications like Molome or Instagram to quickly share photos on both Facebook and Twitter.


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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Eye detection on non-native apps?
Although I feel that the eye detection still requires a lot of tweaks and performance improvements by Samsung, I would be more tempted to use it and test it if it worked with non-native apps.
For example, although Google Chrome comes pre-installed on the device, the eye detection will not work with it.
It would also be nice if the feature worked with messaging apps such as HandCent SMS.
To put it simply - Is there a way for this feature to work with apps you install on the device?

It works with actually 'native' apps: Samsung Intenet, Samsung SMS, Samsung Gallery etc. It is built into the Samsung Touchwiz itself so cannot be used 3rd party apps at present. Air gestures can, see Flipboard. This is for the smart scroll etc, the 'keep screen on' works over apps, so the screen shoulnd't lock while gaming etc. I havn't found any Xposed or other modules to override this. Just to clarify I mean native to Samsung Touchwiz, not native to Android itself. There's a subtle but very important distinction there.

That clears things up a lot as I assumed it was apps that was native to android or Samsung, not Touchwiz. I guess that answers my question.

yeah it's annoying. The way I look at it is: There's Android, then there's Samsung's version, HTCs version etc, and they are all different versions of the OS, but in a way are almost their own little OS. It drives me mad!

@RossC looks like you should sum that up to an answer, as Petay already wrote: I guess that answers my question. Give him a chance to upvote/accept :)

@Izzy done, and I added a bit more detail.

There's an important distinction to be made: Android in its stock form, and Samsung's version of Android, with the Touchwiz framework.
The Touchwiz functionality for the eyeball recognition works with only with apps 'native' to Samsungs Touchwiz version of Android. Apps like Samsung SMS, Samsung Internet, Samsung Gallery etc.
Air Gestures can be ported to 3rd party apps, Flipboard is an example of this.
Fore the eye recognitions stuff, like  smart scroll etc. the app needs to be embedded in Touchwiz. However, the 'keep screen on' functionality works over apps, so the screen shouldn't lock while gaming etc.
After looking into this myself, I havn't found any Xposed or other modules to override this for root users. Also, on the S4 Google Edition (running almost1 stock Android) there is no eyeball recognition whatsoever, and cannot be implemented.
Also, from a developer's point of view it, even if it was possible to access this functionality, would it be worth implementing it for only one device, and not being accessible on any other phone? It's a good idea in a way, but I don't see it expanding for a while, until other OEMs decide on similar tech perhaps.

1 Techincally the Touchwiz framework is there to enable the S-View cover. On the HTC One Google Edition HTC Sense is there to allow Beats Audio to be built in.


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Smaller internal memory, than expected
I have buyed an Alcatel One Touch POP 8 tablet and found, that it has only 2 GB internal storage instead of announced 4 GB(I have seen this on Android Settings page). What causes this problem? Can you offer me an app or something like this, that can show precisely the memory size?

It's expected behavior. Your tablet has multiple partitions, just as computers do. Total storage is 4 GB, but internal storage partition is ~2 GB. Remaining space is dedicated for system partition, recovery and cache.

It's partitioned into lots of separate partitions. Many are hidden from the user on a non-rooted device. You lose about 1.5 Gb to the operation system and /system folders, there's the cache partition and often more on various devices. A 16gb Galaxy S4 shows 9gb out of the box. It's a pet hate of mine

Also: why is this tagged [tag:ram] ? Internal storage and RAM are completely different things.

Sorry, but these are not my original tags, when it was migrated, these have been changed. I have used more tags.

As said in the comments the device is partitioned and you can't see all parts of the device on a non rooted device.
As an example a Galaxy S4 is advertised as a 16Gb device, and out of the box shows 9.1 Gb available. This is a common practice in Android OEMs it would seem. (Desire X from HTC 4Gb, shows 1Gb)

(source: techblogon.com)
Just to give you a scale of what you are dealing with from addictive tips:
Let’s start with a list of standard internal memory partitions on Android phones and tablets. These are:

Note: It says "Standard" partitions. Different companies come out with their own partitions. A good example is the Galaxy S4, and the Galaxy S4 Google Edition. They are absolutely identical hardware in every way. Until recently (with so called 'merged ROMS') no ROM from one could be installed on the other due, mostly, to the partitioning of the two devices being totally different.

/boot
/system
/recovery
/data
/cache
/misc
In addition, there are the SD card partitions.
/sdcard
/sd-ext
Note that only /sdcard is found in all Android devices and the rest are present only in select devices. Let’s now take a look at the purpose and contents of each of these partitions.
/boot
This is the partition that enables the phone to boot, as the name suggests. It includes the kernel and the ramdisk. Without this partition, the device will simply not be able to boot. Wiping this partition from recovery should only be done if absolutely required and once done, the device must NOT be rebooted before installing a new one, which can be done by installing a ROM that includes a /boot partition.
/system
This partition basically contains the entire operating system, other than the kernel and the ramdisk. This includes the Android user interface as well as all the system applications that come pre-installed on the device. Wiping this partition will remove Android from the device without rendering it unbootable, and you will still be able to put the phone into recovery or bootloader mode to install a new ROM.
/recovery
The recovery partition can be considered as an alternative boot partition that lets you boot the device into a recovery console for performing advanced recovery and maintenance operations on it. To learn more about this partition and its contents, see the ‘About Android Recovery’ section of our guide to ClockworkMod recovery.
/data
Also called userdata, the data partition contains the user’s data – this is where your contacts, messages, settings and apps that you have installed go. Wiping this partition essentially performs a factory reset on your device, restoring it to the way it was when you first booted it, or the way it was after the last official or custom ROM installation. When you perform a wipe data/factory reset from recovery, it is this partition that you are wiping.
/cache
This is the partition where Android stores frequently accessed data and app components. Wiping the cache doesn’t effect your personal data but simply gets rid of the existing data there, which gets automatically rebuilt as you continue using the device.
/misc
This partition contains miscellaneous system settings in form of on/off switches. These settings may include CID (Carrier or Region ID), USB configuration and certain hardware settings etc. This is an important partition and if it is corrupt or missing, several of the device’s features will will not function normally.
/sdcard
This is not a partition on the internal memory of the device but rather the SD card. In terms of usage, this is your storage space to use as you see fit, to store your media, documents, ROMs etc. on it. Wiping it is perfectly safe as long as you backup all the data you require from it, to your computer first. Though several user-installed apps save their data and settings on the SD card and wiping this partition will make you lose all that data.
On devices with both an internal and an external SD card – devices like the Samsung Galaxy S and several tablets – the /sdcard partition is always used to refer to the internal SD card. For the external SD card – if present – an alternative partition is used, which differs from device to device. In case of Samsung Galaxy S series devices, it is /sdcard/sd while in many other devices, it is /sdcard2. Unlike /sdcard, no system or app data whatsoever is stored automatically on this external SD card and everything present on it has been added there by the user. You can safely wipe it after backing up any data from it that you need to save.
/sd-ext
This is not a standard Android partition, but has become popular in the custom ROM scene. It is basically an additional partition on your SD card that acts as the /data partition when used with certain ROMs that have special features called APP2SD+ or data2ext enabled. It is especially useful on devices with little internal memory allotted to the /data partition. Thus, users who want to install more programs than the internal memory allows can make this partition and use it with a custom ROM that supports this feature, to get additional storage for installing their apps. Wiping this partition is essentially the same as wiping the /data partition – you lose your contacts, SMS, market apps and settings.


text:
view detailed permissions
Recently, Google grouped its permissions making it nearly impossible to tell what an app was asking for.  Is there anyway to tell what fine grain level permissions are being requested from an app before it's installed? What about after?

Well, I would say those permissions are way more simplified now once you tap install button over the app all the permission that an app requires in order to work is shown. I guess before installing the application you can hover through then individually. Looking over your question really shocked me because previously I am finding difficult to have a close look over it ! But now its way more simplified then previously it was, just try going through once more over it and you will get an idea about what I am talking about.

Yes, they are much "simpler" now but what they've done is grouped benign permissions with some pretty dangerous permissions.  So now if you ask for a benign permission it gives the entire category, making the permissions listed meaningless since you can't distinguish from say read-only storage access and the ability to format your phone.

Well, @user1816847 I guess then I don't think we can do much about it ! I haven't users Avast to see permission so can't talk much about it !  Anyway maybe other users have something to help you out with it !

I waved Good-Bye to the Google-Play website right after their last relaunch already, as it became pretty inconvenient: slow to load, and lacking important details. Luckily, there are some good alternatives available:
For my "research", I prefer AppBrain, which is an "alternative front-end" to the playstore one could say offering a "retro design" – as if it were the Playstore-a-while-back. Not only do you find all permissions listed separately again, they also place a "red triangle" on the permission tabs if an app requests permission (combinations) possibly raising concerns. Only draw-back I recently noticed is their dropping of the app-developers website link.
If you want to check directly on your device, for one AppBrain also has their own app. But as I haven't checked that lately I don't know how it lists permissions – so I rather recommend you Galen's StripSearch app. This not only shows you permissions, it also lets you filter your search by them:

StripSearch (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
The app comes with some pre-set filters to use straight away. You can modify them, or even create your own (as the one in the second screenshot). The app works pretty well, I'm using it myself.
As a quasi-companion I might mention my own site, which offers app listings by real-life categories as well as an app search similar to that of Galen's app – with the difference that my site only covers about 10.000 apps (corresponding to about 1% of the amount GPlay has). But my listings also link to reviews and other related information for its apps, so it might be worth a look still :) And if you click on an app's name there, it also reveals all its requested permissions – additionally linking each permission to detailed explanations of its meaning.

You can just install Avast antivirus to see all the permissions of apps
And for the uninstalled apps you can click read more on the description


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Does GT-I8262 Galaxy Core Support OTG?
I am using GT-I8262 (Galaxy Core) android 4.1 does it support OTG?

As this comes up a lot I would recommend an app to check this, like this one
The GT-I8262 (Galaxy Core) does not support OTG. I cannot locate any custom Kernels that support it either.
There is no mention of it in the specs for the device either.

I used an USB OTG Checker on my mobile (Samsung Galaxy Core i8262) and I get the message "Your Device OS has USB OTG API!"

Thanks for the detail! Could you please [edit] your answer to include which Android version your device is running? Does it match that of the OP?