text:
Setting appropriate permissions on SU binary
I recently found a way to maintain root access on my android device using a dropbear SSH server that I modified to run at boot as root using init.d, a lil scripting magic & some config scripts I made. If you want you can check it out here. Anyways for an experiment I removed the su binary and Superuser.apk from the system. I've managed to get them copied back to the system but I don't know the appropriate permissions for the su binary. If I look in Super User app on another rooted phone and go to update it shows -rwsr -sr-x as the permissions on the binary. How can I set these same permission manually & what do they mean?

For setting file permissions, you can use the chmod command. The permissions shown are basically split in 3 parts, each consisting of 3 chars: a triple for the owner, the group, and for "others". Usually, each triple holds definitions for reading, writing, and executing a file; so rwx means "can read, write, and execute", while r-- would say "can only read".
The resulting 9 chars are usually preceded by another one, giving information of the type of the "file": (d)irectory and (l)ink are the most common examples. Again, if no "special condition" matches, a leading - indicates a "normal file".
Based on that, let's take your input: -rwsr-sr-x obviously describes a "normal file" (starting with -), readable (r) by owner, group, and others, writable by owner only, and executable by "others" – while owner and group have a s instead the x for execute. This stands for "suid", elevate the caller to the level of the file owner/group.
Taking advantage of the fact permissions can be set "bit-wise" (x=1,w=2,r=4, suid user=4, group=2), after my long "rant" finally the command which should do the trick:
chmod 6774 su

Should set the permissions your question shows. If I "mis-calculated", you've got all information to re-calculate for yourself now :)

Additional hints from the comments:
Instead of calculating the "bitmask", one can also use symbolic names – as Dan Hulme pointed out, and as explained e.g. on the chmod manpage:

defining whom to grant to: (u)ser / (g)roup / (o)thers / (a)ll
defining what to grant: (r)ead / (w)rite / e(x)ecute / (s)uid
defining whether to (+)grant or (-)revoke

So the following two commands should be similar, provided there haven't been other things granted before:
chmod 6774 su
chmod u+rws g+rs o+rx su

The difference becomes clear in case e.g. before "others" had also write permission: while the first command (using a bitmask) sets the permission explicitly to match the "grants" defined (and thus would remove that write permission), the symbolic one "makes a diff" (in the example, it just adds the permissions specified to whatever was there before, so that write permission would not be removed).

You don't need to calculate the numbers for chmod yourself: chmod u+rws g+rs a+rx su will do exactly the right thing, and doesn't require you to count on your fingers.

Sure that it's not chmod u+rws g+rs o+rx su (not "all", but "o"thers, see chmod manpage)? I always mess that up thinking whether was it "owner" or "others", which is why I prefer using the bitwise stuff, except when only changing stuff for group ;)

@DanHulme checking with the manpage again, a+rx would set "rx" for "ugo" (user, group and others). I'm not sure which confuses me more: calculating the bit-set, or interpreting recursing symbols :P

Yes, using a would make the command shorter, but as you've noticed, it makes it a bit harder to see what is going on, so I almost never use a.

@DanHulme I didn't even know about the a symbol. But thanks for kicking me into checking the manpage again :D The a switch can be quite useful sometimes, for things like chmod a+r public_info.txt.

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. Yes, when I wrote a in my first comment I meant o for others. I wondered why you brought it up!

Thanks for clarification, @DanHulme! With your permission (and credit given), I will include it with my answer, so nobody has to follow up all the comments for understanding.


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Checking mail on mobile data
i use roaming which is very expensive and I search some kind of script or way of solving my problem: there is a possibility to turn off checking e-mail when the android is connected via mobile data ? Any knows how to limit the transfer of mobile data to the minimum (disable apps which I do not want sync etc.) ?
Thanks in advance !

If you go into Settings -> Data Usage you can see which apps are using the most data. It's possible to turn them off using data in the background by clicking on the app and then selecting "Restrict Background Data". See this and this for pictures and further detail.
Also if it's just email you're using you can probably turn it off automatically checking depending on the client and email service you're using. If you're using Gmail then go into the Gmail app, go to the settings for your account and turn off "Sync Gmail".

Thank you very much for the answer ! It is very helpfull ! I check it tomorrow. I installed https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm&hl=pl and i see that the more transfer took OS Services and i do not know how to block it.

Yeah, now it works very good ! Thanks ! ! ! ! What a pity I cannot click thumb UP..

Next to the settings pointed out by Peanut's answer, it might be worth to check some special roaming apps like e.g. Roaming Control:

Roaming Control automatically enables or disables mobile data connection, airplane mode or auto sync based on the currently active network operator.

(emphasis mine). If your mail client obeys the sync settings, this should be an excellent alternative: have it checking mails in background usually, but just not while in roaming. Best explained by a screenshot:

Roaming Control (click for larger variant)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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What are the different signal indicators avalable on the notification bar?
The signal indicator on my phone often shows "3G" or "H+" in the signal indicator. When there's no connectivity it doesn't show anything.
I'm referring to the icons in the status bar like these:

What are the different signal icons that are shown in android? I've never used an LTE/4G handset or even been on one of those networks so I'm also curious to see what indicators are used for those.

Relevant: What does “H” mean in the signal indicator?

They are referring to the mobile data connection:

1x: 1xRTT (slow like a dialup modem (here: 80–100 kbit/s), shows up on US Cellular CDMA networks with Google Fi in Northern California)
G: GPRS (slow like dialup modem, here: 56–114 kbit/s)
E: Edge (enhanced GSM, about 400 kbit/s)
3G: UMTS (384 kbit/s to 7.2 Mbit/s)
H: HSPA (enhanced 3G, sometimes shown as 3.5G; up to 21 Mbit/s)
H+: HSPA+ (even more enhanced/faster HSPA; up to 42.2 Mbit/s)
4G: LTE (thanks to eldarerathis for confirmation); up to 300 Mbit/s
5G: not yet in the wild; up to 10 Gbit/s planned

The bars obviously show signal quality, and the arrows show whether data transfer is in progress. As for the colors (your pictures show blue and gray signal icons), please refer to What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?

Sometimes the signal strength indicator has an ! where the full strength bar would be. What does this mean?

@AlLelopath No idea, I've never seen that. If you have a screenshot of that, I'd recommend asking a new question, including the screenshot and a link to this question (for context).

Oh, found it here. The exclamation sign simply is a cry or remark by your network provider that it can't connect you to the internet at that moment. The reason can be low connectivity at your current location or you have simply turned the data connection OFF.

On CyanogenMod 10.2, I currently got R, which I think means Roaming.

Confirmed: R stands for Roaming, in the sense of being booked into a "foreign" network (i.e. that does not necessarily mean additional costs apply, unless you make/take a phonecall or have data-roaming active; it just signals you're booked into that network).

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


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Blinkfeed, what exactly it is?
HTC says best feature of the device. But what exactly is Blinkfeed?

Do they really say it's the best feature? I thought it was kinda fun to play with on the first day of purchasing, but soon turned it off on a phone I'm otherwise pretty happy with.

BlinkFeed—an aggregator of news and social network content [...]
BlinkFeed will always occupy the leftmost page of the home screen.

The default BlinkFeed home screen of HTC Sense 5

(Wikipedia: HTC One)
To explain the second line:

By default, there will only be two home screen panels out of the box: a "BlinkFeed" page and a classic Android home screen on the right.

This explanation is taken from HTC One software hands-on: Sense 5, BlinkFeed, Sense TV and new Sync Manager (Engadget), where Blinkfeed is further described:

This is simply a Flipboard-like tile interface that sits permanently on the main home page. Created in collaboration with Mobiles Republic, this tool pulls in content from various publications and social networks (Twitter, Plurk, LinkedIn, Flickr, Zoe Share and more), as well as your calendar and TV shows from the TV app (more on that later). You won't be seeing emails here, as HTC positions BlinkFeed as a place for more ambient info rather than critical updates. Regardless, the feed can be customized to suit your needs, though the first version won't let you add custom RSS feeds just yet.

Read more in the linked articles themselves.

So does that means, I will get all the updates in one page.

I cannot answer that part, as I don't have an HTC One to check myself. But from the description it sounds like "yes" for services supporting it.


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How to run a compiled binary which writes to /dev/evdev/event* without rooting the device?
I want to try this record and replay tool, but do not want to root my device.
Is it possible to run a binary which might need root access, without rooting the device?

Am I missing something? It seems like you're asking "Can I get root access without getting root access?" or something. In which case, the answer is no, you can't get root without getting root. Doing pretty much anything outside of ls in /dev/ requires root privelages.

I understand, also the down voting on the question is not without reason. The reason I am asking this question, is because I am not sure if writing to /dev/evdev/evnt* really needs root access. Also there are no updates on the RERAN project since last two years, hence I thought, things might have changed. Thanks for the inputs though.

RERAN is actually writing to /dev/input/event* and not /dev/evdev/event*.

After some searching and trial and error, I could run replay.exe from RERAN, without rooting my device.
For some reason I could not copy and exectute replay.exe to/from /data/local as the original article suggests, but I could do it to/from /data/local/tmp.
I tested it on 3 devices. HTC-One mobile, Google Nexus 7 tab, Samsung Galaxy tab 10.
Here are details.

I had to enable developer option and enable USB debugging
Install USB driver for Android on my Windows 7
Once I see the device in adb run following commands

.\adb.exe push replay.exe /data/local/tmp/ to copy the binary
.\adb.exe shell /data/local/tmp/replay.exe to run the binary

Now one thing I cannot understand but why does it run when copied to /data/local/tmp?

Is it a security hole or debugging aid?
Or writing to /dev/input/event* really do not need root access?


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Can I convert a Google Drive spreadsheet to Excel format from my phone?
My work has blocked access to Google Docs. I need to print off something which is on there.
At my laptop at home, I normally just export a google document to excel format but on the app version, it allows me to "send" it to an email address but it seems to send it only in PDF format.
Is there a way I can export it into excel spreadsheet from the android app and send it to my work email.

Doesn't appear to be, no. It doesn't even look like going to  drive.google.com in the browser would be viable.

@AlEverett - i found a way but yeah it's pretty convoluted

seems the only way to do it was to open up the document through the browser, selecting desktop mode.
Then "View spreadsheet mode" right at the bottom.
Then it'll load it up like it would if you loaded it from a computer. Then you can select File -> Email as Attachment.
Bit of a crappy process...


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Protecting my Google identity in case my Android device gets stolen?
My devices are all linked to my main Google account. This is encouraged, almost required, by Android, for example to make my Google Play apps available everywhere. However, it requires me to store my main Google password on the device, which provides access to a ton of sensitive data: all email, Drive documents, Google Wallet.
What can I do to protect myself in case one of my devices gets stolen?
The devices I currently have are Google Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Minor correction: AFAIK the password itself is not stored on the device, it's just an AUTH token. So you could simply visit your Google account's website, and revoke permission for your devices. Or (if it works) use the mentioned device manager to locate/lock/wipe it.

@Izzy: thanks. Can you tell me where exactly I can revoke that permission?  I logged into my account page, looked under Security, and it doesn't seem to be there.

As to my understanding: on https://security.google.com/settings/security?pli=1 scroll to the very end (Connected applications and sites), click the link next to it (Review Permissions). On the next page, you can "Revoke Access" to Android Login Service. While each device seems to have its own entry here, which one belongs to which device seems to be a lottery unfortunately :(

Google now has a device manager as part of Google services where you can do a remote wipe:
https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager
At least put a pin lock on your device so that it will be harder to access.
Don't enable Developer Options / keep adb on all the time.

Thanks. Insofar as password-locks on the device itself go, that pin code is the most I can do, right?  There's no option for a more secure lock, or encryption of the entire drive?

I'm not sure when it became available but you can encrypt your device under Settings->Security->Encrypt. I've got that option on both a Samsung Note with 4.0.4 and a Nexus 7.


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Enable and disable system apps via ADB
Is there any adb command to enable/disable a system app?
Thanks

Yes. The command is pm disable <package name>. You must be root in order to do this:
Open shell and get root:
PC> adb shell
shell@hammerhead:/ $ su

List all enabled apps, filter by "calculator":
root@hammerhead:/ # pm list packages -e | grep 'calculator'
package:com.android.calculator2

Disable app:
root@hammerhead:/ # pm disable com.android.calculator2
Package com.android.calculator2 new state: disabled

List all disabled apps:
root@hammerhead:/ # pm list packages -d
package:com.android.calculator2
package:com.google.android.apps.inputmethod.hindi
package:jp.co.omronsoft.iwnnime.ml
package:com.google.android.inputmethod.pinyin
package:com.google.android.inputmethod.korean
package:com.google.earth
root@hammerhead:/ #

Some other things worth noting:

In my testing, apps disabled in this manner disappear completely from the Settings > Apps list. They do not even seem to be displayed in the "Disabled" tab
You can re-enable apps with pm enable <package name>. In fact, this seems to be the only way to re-enable them, in my experience.

Is it possible to avoid hiding of the chosen app when disabling it?

@androiddeveloper No. Hiding the app completely, including from the UI, is the entire idea behind it.

@Izzy I see. Is it possible to do the opposite, meaning just hiding, without disabling?

Theoretically yes I guess; but I've got no idea how to do that. There are some "apps" on the stores which do appear nowhere when installed (as they e.g. only provide additional settings in some other apps, or offer some "invisible services" like "account managers" for specific services), which proves it should work somehow; but I'm afraid that's to be done in the app's Manifest or the like (I'm no Android dev, so I cannot tell).

it's possible to enable the app by it's playstore page.

if you dont have root access
pm disable <package name> might throw error "Exception occurred while executing 'disable'"
try this to disable the app without root access
pm disable-user --user 0 <package name>

This should work regardless whether the app is a system app or a third-party app (user installed).

See my answer at Determine the package name of your app to get the package name of the concerned app and use adb shell to execute these commands (requires root access):

adb shell
su
pm disable PACKAGE              # disables the app and hides it in Settings -> Applications
pm hide PACKAGE                 # alternative; for Android Lollipop and above
cmd package suspend PACKAGE     # alternative; package remains visible in Launcher and Settings app but cannot be used; a feature of Device Administration

PACKAGE refers to package name of the app
To reinstate the app, replace disable with enable, hide with unhide, and suspend with unsuspend in the said command and execute it with root privilege.
If you've Android KitKat or above and do not have root access, use adb in PC to execute this command:

adb shell pm block PACKAGE         # for Android KitKat
adb shell pm hide  PACKAGE         # for Android Lollipop only
adb shell pm disable-user PACKAGE  # alternative to `pm hide`; for Android Lollipop and above; this works just like disabling an app through Settings app

To reinstate the app:

adb shell pm unblock PACKAGE   # for Android KitKat
adb shell pm unhide PACKAGE    # for Android Lollipop and only if you used `pm hide` earlier
adb shell pm enable PACKAGE    # for Android Lollipop and above

Changes would take place immediately.

out of everything else on this page, only cmd package suspend <package> worked as expected. Everything else would throw exceptions

@iSWORD which Android device and Android version are you using?

I'm using a Lenovo P2a42 running AOSP 11

It may be a launcher issue, but for me the pm disable-user command doesn't hide an app's icon immediately, I have to restart the launcher for changes to take effect.

Further to the answer by @eldarerathis, you can disable an app for a specific user. I used this method to remove some apps from a restricted user that weren't listed on the user settings screen. All commands from an adb shell. Root access is required to make the changes.
First, get the user's id:
$ pm list users
Users:
  UserInfo{0:Alice:13} running
  UserInfo{11:Bob:18} running

Then
$ pm disable --user 11 com.cyanogenmod.filemanager
Package com.cyanogenmod.filemanager new state: disabled-user

To re-enable
# pm enable --user 11 com.cyanogenmod.filemanager

In this example, Alice can use the file manager but Bob cannot.
You can do a similar thing with hide instead of disable. I am not sure which is best, but see this answer. The converse of hide is unhide (a reboot may be needed to effect unhide).
You can list packages with pm list packages --user 11. Give -e to list enabled packages or -d if you want to see disabled ones. There would appear to be no filter for hidden packages.
FWIW: I tried the above on Lollipop with CM 12.1 on an Amazon Fire (KFFOWI).

A root access isn't mandatory, I disabled a  LineageOS system app by running pm disable-user --user 0 org.lineageos.audiofx (in adb shell).

^ Android 13 / LineageOS 20; may "hide" instead of disabling.

I wanted to disable the playstore on Vivo phone because my niece always installs multiple gigabytes of games. For some of you this might work, no root is required.
To disable playstore:
$ adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.android.vending
Success

This uninstalls the app. But there's also a way to restore the app:
$ adb shell pm install-existing com.android.vending
Package com.android.vending installed for user: 0

Of course, playstore is an example. This should work for most system apps. From the PC, you can directly run this, or if you're in an ADB shell, run the command after adb shell.
You can use adb shell pm list packages, pipe that to grep to search for the package easily.
Note that this uninstalls the app, the -k flag should keep the data. But in my case all data was purged/deleted. So there might be data loss during the process of uninstallation of system apps.

You should use cmd install-existing com.android.vending on modern Android. On android 8 pm install-existing won't work. On old Android versions (4.2) not having cmd you can try pm install -r to force the reinstallation

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


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Connecting a USB stick: OTG cable required or will standard USB (charging) cable work?
I am wondering if it is necessary to buy a USB OTG cable to access a USB stick from an Android (4.4) phone, or if it suffices to take the Micro-USB-to-USB cable that comes with the phone (for charging) and connect it to the USB stick (via a female-female adapter)?

Have you tried using the female-female adapter? Did it work? Before, I tried to use a USB hub, and plug the USB stick there; it didn't work. But it works if I just use an OTG cable.

Hi, thanks for helping. I don't have a female-female adapter, that's why I couldn't test it. I also connected the smartphone (Nexus 5) to a (externally powered) USB hub with a USB stick, but it also didn't work. It seems like the OTG cable is required. One thing I'm still wondering: Does the following connection work? Phone - OTG cable - (USB extension) - USB hub - USB stick. My idea would be to also charge the phone while being connected to a USB stick (although I've read that not both might work simultaneously)

I've tried the Phone > OTG Cable > USB Hub > USB stick combination. It didn't work. So, I assume adding a USB extension wouldn't work either. Your best bet would be Phone > OTG Cable > USB stick.

I would do away with a lot of connections, and just do a Phone > USB OTG > USB Stick connection. An OTG Cable is very cheap anyway. You can get one for a USD1 (at least here in the Philippines), or less.

No. An OTG cable has two of the five pins shorted together at one end. This is how your phone knows whether it is being a USB accessory or a USB host; that is, how it knows whether it's being a USB memory stick or a computer. It doesn't matter what USB adaptors you use: if you're plugging in the accessory end of a USB-OTG cable, or if you use a normal (non-OTG) USB cable, then the device will act as an accessory, not a host.


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Turn off the notification sound at system level - Android Marshmallow
I have an OPO 3 and I was wondering if there is a possibility to turn off the notification sound for all app, but I would like to retain ringtone sound as well as vibration.
Normally on Samsung S6, there's a possibility to do this when you press the Volume rocker key.
My device is rooted and have Xposed installed. I tried Ringer & Notification Volume unlink xposed module but that doesn't seem to work.
This is something that I miss very badly, it's tragic that google didn't encompass this feature by default.

Try Macrodroid  1. Trigger: application launched ( choose few to start with) 2. Actions: notification sound - none 3. Constraints None..see if it works for you

@beeshyams Thanks for the reply. That actually did the job. Can you add the comment above as an answer below, so I can accept it.

Automation is the preferred option. Many apps are available. I prefer using MacroDroid , since it is free (upto 5 macros) and easy to learn. To understand how MacroDroid works and required settings,  my answer here

Your macro would look like this

Macro : Kill Notification (name of macro )

Trigger:  Application Launched ( choose from the drop down the apps for which you want the macro to run)
Action: Notification Sound  ( select none, since you don't want any)
Constraints: None ( which means this macro always runs whenever chosen apps are launched)


text:
I have an unrooted stock Xperia Z Ultra, should the LED turn off when the battery is fully charged?
I got an Xperia Z Ultra unrooted and still running on the stock ROM (Android Lollipop 5.1.1). My question is, when I'm charging it and the battery reaches 100%, is the LED indicator light supposed to turn off to notify that it's fully charged? So I'm kinda asking what behavior I should expect from it.

User guide doesn't say it should be switched off on full. Expected behaviour below

Battery notification light status
Green   The battery is charging and the battery charge level is greater than 90%
Red     The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 15%
Orange  The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 90%

Edit: If the LED turned off, you wouldn't know whether it is fully charged or charger isn't connected, color coding this way makes sense

What is the convention for other Xperia phones? Is it safe to leave it plugged in without worrying it will overcharge the battery?

For any Android phone, keeping it charged overnight is not advisable, as it tends to keep the battery at high temperatures, adversely affecting battery life. They don't overcharge as modern chargers take care of that

You will find plenty of articles on the net saying it is safe to charge overnight but for best charging range, see this http://android.stackexchange.com/a/156538/131553

Welcome. Glad to help. Didn't understand both of you :)

Derp, I thought the other person who commented was a different person


text:
Soft buttons disappeared
At one point screen just become bit higher. Buttons gone, and it's not that funny, as it can seem. Phone become literally single-task and I had to reboot just to switch application. Found some software emulator that helps me to survive at the moment, but question is how to get buttons back? No, reboot obviously didn't help, I also flashed new version of CM just in case (was CM 10.1.3 stable, upgraded to 10.2 M1). Same shit.
Thought about may be I'm darn stupid, and somewhere there is just single option in setting. Either there is no it, or it's name really differs from what I expected (or I'm really darn stupid).
Any clues, guys? Next obvious step is factory reset, but I'm not mentally ready yet.
P.S. Phone is Nexus 4, firmware mentioned earlier.

Is it in "Expanded Desktop" mode? (Long-press power, CM has an "Expanded Desktop" option). If you're not sure, try toggling it.

Yes, it was. Thank you. Please, add this as separate answer, you deserve reputation for accepted answer.

p.s. It looks like originally I've missed airplane mode button :)

Glad I could help! Answer added. =)

There is a mode in CyanogenMod and other ROMs called "Expanded Desktop". If your phone is in Expanded Desktop mode, then the navbar will not be visible (The notification bar may also be hidden, depending on your settings).
The easiest way to check if you're in Expanded Desktop is to try toggling it. Simply long-press the power button to get CyanogenMod's expanded power menu, then tap "Expanded Desktop" to toggle it.
If your buttons showed up after doing this, then you're set! If not, it's something else.

Maybe you upgraded instead of a clean install. It will just continue with the settings made earlier. Take a backup and factory reset. That will surely get back those buttons.

Yes, that was intentional upgrade. Factory reset/clear install would be next obvious step.


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Why Were My Timezone Definitions Updated?
I just got this update notification

Update time zones
New time zone definitions are available.  Time zones will be updated the next time your phone restarts.

Did any real time zones actually change or was this a bug fix?  What changed?
[

Usually the time zones change because one country has changed their daylight saving time start/end date. Of course other changes are possible but happen very seldom.

Easily found through a simple Google Search. The Kingdom of Morocco changed it DST initiation date to May 31, 2020 where currently it was established for May 24. The update establishes the new rule.

See Android source for Time Zone Rules
Thanks to wbogacz who pointed out in comments the latest change (Morocco) which is likely the cause of this update or the IANA update of 23 Apr 2020
Update Mechanism
Time zone updates (Android 8.1–9)

APK-based mechanism to push updated time zone rules data to devices without requiring a system update.

Android core libraries team provides the necessary data files for updating time zone

OEMs can choose to use these data files when creating time zone updates for their devices or can create their own data files

Time zone updates (Android 10+)
Updates use the following process:

IANA
releases an update to the Time Zone Database releases an update in response to one or more governments changing a time zone rule in their countries.

Google or the Android partner prepares a Time Zone Data module update (APEX file) containing the updated time zones.

The end-user device downloads the update, reboots, then applies the changes, after which the device's time zone data contains the new time zone data from the update.

Edit : For latest changes as of date, see APEX-based module update mechanism and Time Zone Data

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


text:
Set native Jelly Bean dialer and contacts for Samsung Galaxy S3
The stock Samsung dialer and contacts (developed by Samsung) is waaay too laggy for me to use it. Actually it takes seconds to navigate through the tabs of logs, favorites or the contact list. (Got about 10 pictures and 10 custom ringtones in 70 contacts, so there's not that much data to handle.) It was actually laggy from the first time I used it. Got Nova launcher instead of the crappy and laggy TouchWiz. In my opinion, every Samsung application is a piece of something brown.
Can I - somehow - force the OS to use the stock Jelly Bean dialer and contact app, or is it got replaced by Samsung's crapware?
Thanks for the input!

I don't thing the "stock jelly bean dialer" is part of the system. What about trying with a rom?

The Samsung ROM doesn't have the stock AOSP dialer and contacts app. It has Touchwiz themed dialer and contacts app. This is one of the most glitchy and slowest of dialer apps out there.

Try the Swipe Dialer if you care to. It has good reviews and seems to be working fine across the board.
Another option will be to port AOSP dialer as in Cyanogenmod. This is advanced stuff and you'll need knowledge of ADB. Try it out if you want.
The easiest way out is to flash a custom ROM. Try Cyanogenmod, AOKP, Paranoid Android, etc. There are several others too. Try XDA Developers forums for more in depth info.

Thank you for your input, I accept it! I'm going to try out your first two suggestions.


text:
Display media from HTC One on a computer display
The title says it all. I am wondering if I can display slideshows among other things on a computer display.
I know that it has to be a DLNA compatible device, which I believe most of computer displays are not, and I also know there's this companion HTC Media Link HD device (which is a wi-fi dongle kind of thing).
I have a Mac OS X 10.8.2 Macbook Air, and an old Linux laptop, and some time to kill on a cold November weekend, so what I am asking really is whether there is a way to turn my Macbook or Linux laptop into a DLNA compatible device so that I could play slideshows on 24" display without investing any extra money.

You don't necessarily need DLNA for that, nor HDMI. WiFi and the right app might do as well. Take a look at e.g. Remote Gallery 3D, you cannot only have a slide show on your PC, but even manage your photos remotely. The app runs a web server on your device, which then can be accessed via any web browser (i.e. completely OS independent). Only requirement is Flash capability. For a presentation, also have a look at Youtube.
This way you can even take your photo gallery with you when visiting friends or family: no installation on the PC required. So as long as WiFi is available, you're fine. The app is free, so it comes without investing any extra money, as requested ;)

Alternatively, you could setup a DLNA server on your Android device (BubbleUPnP would be a good choice for that). Nex, you would need a client to access it from your Mac (take a look at this Wikipedia list to pick one). Start the server on your Android device, then start the client on the Mac. The Client should automatically find and list your Android device, and let you browse your media. What features are offered (just pick single entries, make a slideshow, have background music played along) depends on the client chosen.

A third variant would be investigating in Airplay. As that's Apple's own stuff, your Mac should surely support it. There are a bunch or apps supporting Airplay you could chose from; not having a Mac, I cannot be of assistance in this area.

Fazit by ILIV:

BUbbleUPnP is a very nice software. I'm having a lot of fun trying out various combinations. One thing I learned this morning is that I can use VLC to browse and play all content on my phone: video, music and pictures. Video playback intermittently stucks for a split second, very rarely, but it does. That is unfortunate, but I'm wondering if it is a VLC or BubbleUPnP issue, or maybe it's just that two don't get along well.

I also found out yesterday that I can display photos from Gallery via XMBC quite easily, including slideshow in a dumbed down version, i.e. no sound and fancy transition effects. Video and music can also be streamed from XBMC to HTC One, but this always puzzled me.. I mean, who wants to watch videos on a tiny screen or listen to music for too long on a batter powered device when they're at home and their computer/HTPC device is right there. Anyway, yeah, XBMC was a very easy to configure solution. Thank you for the tip, I will try Remote Gallery 3D too.

If you prefer a DLNA based solution, I could update my answer to include that as well. No big magic involved, and no "extra money" either.

Unfortunately, Remote Gallery 3D failed to work. And yes, if you can explain how DLNA (or rather UPnP in caxe with XBMC) can be configured that would be amazing.

See my edit. DLNA is basically a lose description for UPnP, and simplified one could even say it's a "lose synonym". A buzzword to sell stuff, it just defines the minimum standard for media use via UPnP. So if your device is capable of UPnP, it at least supports DLNA, usually much more.

Thanks, BUbbleUPnP is a very nice software. I'm having a lot of fun trying out various combinations. One thing I learned this morning is that I can use VLC to browse and play all content on my phone: video, music and pictures. Video playback intermittently stucks for a split second, very rarely, but it does. That is unfortunate, but I'm wondering if it is a VLC or BubbleUPnP issue, or maybe it's just that two don't get along well. Anyhow, great answer Izzy. Thank you very much for pushing me into a right direction.

Glad it helped! And thanks for your feedback, which holds very useful details. I hope you don't mind if I include them into my answers (with credits to you, of course) :) // Besides: Thanks especially for the hint to VLC! I wasn't aware VLC can handle DLNA. Very good to know, that's something I can use to check my DLNA server :)


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Help with intents: MacroDroid
Further to this Problem with intents :MacroDroid, the solution in the accepted answer works but sadly only for the first time (app error) . I have reported this to the developer
Meanwhile, I thought of trying to see if a broadcast intent would solve the problem. Lacking understanding of how intents work, I tried this and other combinations (ON in square bracket, Action same as class) , but couldn't get it to work.

Here is the Tasker intent that works

Request help in constructing broadcast intent.
NOTE:Please don't edit to make the images smaller for the sake of readability, let them be

The URI you use in class is (as far as I can read this tiny screenshot) wrong. The hostname needs to be on_off but using online URI parser your URI does not have a host because of the missing /. Therefore I would try out_loud://on_off/?state=[state] However it still may not work because the app author have chosen an invalid scheme. out_loud:// is not a valid URI according to the RFC3986: underscores are not allowed.

What do you mean by only for the first time?

@Firelord No fault of yours :), though it sounded like that and now edited. As you can see in the linked bug report, it worked fine till I updated MacroDroid. After that, whenever I create a macro, it runs for the first time and thereafter doesn't. FairEmail is sending intents fine, this bug is getting my goat :(. I did all the usual stuff, clear cache, reboot, permissions, battery optimization exclude. Just now, added Tasker intent (ya, figured out how to do this) - hope that points to a solution

This works. No idea for the logic behind it. Any body knows why, please edit to explain or answer

The "Action" needs to be filled according to the same action, set as the intent filters for the broadcast receiver in the manifest, as shown on the example of sending broadcasts

@AndrewT Thanks for the clarification. I will bear this in mind next time I try. This particular attempt is abandoned because it's not needed and FairEmail has added this feature (of reading aloud mails based on sender rule)


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Google maps bicycle navigation
A year back, when I opened "Directions" on my phone, below the start and end point, where 4 options:

Driving
Public transport
Walking
Cycling

Now cycling is replaced by "Ride Services" which I never use, and do not care about. How can I get "Cycling" back?

From Google maps support, Platinum product expert treebles says (2/5/20)

If your issue is that the bicycling mode of transportation is not available to you, it means that it is not available in your country. There are few countries where this mode of transporation is enabled.

In the same thread you find instances of it being available earlier but not anymore.

So, Google decides when and where to activate and they won't tell you list of countries in which it is available :(

Sadly there's no list of supported areas and Google never announces where it's rolling out beforehand.


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Family link setup prevents making phone calls and using Messages app
I got phones for my kids, and I set them up with family link. Because I'd previously had a similar setup and they would continually factory reset the phone to get rid of the family link supervision, I set these phones up with an account I own and used that to enable "Find my phone" so that if they factory reset the phone they still can't use it without my pin.Then I turned on multiple user profiles, and created a second profile that's managed by family link. All of this works fine. (The phones are Pixel 7s with the stock carrier ROM.)
What's odd is that they can use everything except the phone app and Google Messages. When they try to place a call during allowed time, the phone app says that only emergency calls are allowed. And when they try to open Messages, it says This app isn't allowed by the device owner, even though I've got it set to always allowed.
How can I enable these to allow the phone to actually be a phone?

It does not seem to have to do anything with family link but with default behavior of multiple user profiles.
As mentioned in answer to Hide call logs across user profiles, the default behavior is not to permit the secondary user to make or receive phone calls.
Tap the cog icon on right of the secondary user and disable
Turn on phone calls and SMS
That's it.
If you enable, it gives you a warning that your calls and SMS would be shared as shown and they can use phone and message apps.

@Line,Thank you for catching the typo, fixed it


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Can broken screen and USB cable in data transfer mode influence each other?
This sounds so weird that I can't believe I am asking about this.
I have two exactly the same Redmi 11S (same in terms of purchase date and software installed). One of them has fallen a couple of times and has about 25% of the screen broken, though still fully usable. The second one has screen intact.
Each time I connect an USB-C cable in data transfer mode, the phone with broken screen gets wako:

I cannot start photo app from the lock screen, I cannot draw an unlock patters, I cannot even unlock it, screen is totally unresponsive.

When I unlock the screen before attaching an USB-C cable and only then I attach it, then screen gets wako; "something" is randomly changing launcher pages and touching icons, the phone lives on it's own.

When I connect the very same cable in charge mode (i.e. attach it to the wall socket charger instead to the PC) or connect the second Redmi 11S (using the same cable), the phone operates normally.
Tested on both Redmi 11S, on two different cables and three different USB ports on the same PC.
What am I missing. How can a broken screen and USB cable influence each other?

Thank you for all your time and very impressive research. Though this is a guessing game, I still would suggest that you turn these comments into answer. Thank you again.

Note: This answer is an educated guess based on my understanding from Guide to USB-C Pinout and Features and anyone with a better understanding is welcome to improve

From a historical perspective USB standards evolution is as depicted

Since USB Type-C is the de-facto standard, the answer is based on this standard.
Figure below shows the configuration of USB-C receptacle (plug is similar with minor changes)

OP says that both devices charge fine with a wall socket charger. VBUS(A9) and GND(A12) are responsible for this charging so it's working fine.

Without getting into technical details, what is of relevance here is Alternate Modes
This mode of operation allows us to implement third-party protocols, such as DisplayPort and HDMI, using the USB Type-C standard. All Alternate Modes must at least support a USB 2.0 and USB Power Delivery connection
DisplayPort & HDMI are highlighted because the problems faced by OP are around this. especially with the broken screen. If we analyze this further:

The document linked talks more in detail about Alternate Modes. They can be unidirectional (One side deciding the source or host) or bi-directional. But when side is connected to PC, PCs always run in host mode.

With the PC in host mode and undamaged device connected , it works fine (implied in the question)

With the PC in host mode and damaged screen device connected the behavior is   wonky and changing cables, ports doesn't make a difference.

Conclusion: The broken screen HDMI(maybe digitizer damaged too) is the culprit and needs to be repaired for it work normally. Unable to open lock screen or if the lock screen is open but exhibiting unpredictable behavior are at best symptoms of the underlying root cause.

Electronics SE could have provided a more technically valid answer but I am not sure if you can cross post there, given it's been answered here but I surely would like to hear them experts

After spending more time in figuring out the documentation, I am fairly sure of my conclusions (though not 100%sure) // In any case getting the broken screen fixed is worth it if plan to use it (no idea of cost comparison vs new device)


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Where is default navigation app (Blue Arrow) in custom ROM?
I recently installed the Hyperdrive Android custom ROM version RLS12 on my Samsung S4 and cannot locate the blue arrow icon for navigation.  I do have the Google Maps installed.  Is this something I failed to check off in my install options or is this just gone in RLS12 (I had it in an earlier Hyperdrive release from around October 2013) or is it just hidden and I need a pointer?

Navigation has always been a part of the Google Maps application. The icon was essentially a convenience shortcut, but not a separate app, and was removed around July 2013 in the Maps 7.0 update. It's possible you still had the old version of Maps on your other ROM. Either that, or the ROM author added some kind of shortcut "app" to re-create the old Navigation icon or something of that nature.
If you want to use your phone to navigate somewhere, open Google Maps and type the address in the search bar, then hit the button in the bottom right (the exact text/icon may vary depending on distance).

If you really want the separate Navigation icon, you could possibly downgrade to a version of Maps earlier than 7.0. A custom launcher could also let you create a shortcut directly to the Navigation activity on your desktop, but probably not in the app drawer. Apex Launcher, for example, can create a shortcut on your home screen by long pressing on an empty space on one of your home screens, then selecting Shortcuts -> Activities -> Maps -> Navigation.

Does the new one include voice to text specification of the target address?  What about directions for biking, walking, and public transit?

@WilliamKF: I'm pretty sure it has all of the same navigation features that it's always had, unless Samsung did something different with it (but I do not think they did). Again, it's literally the same exact app. It previously had two icons, one that took you to the main Maps screen and one that took you to directly to the Navigation screen. All they took away (AFAIK) was the second shortcut icon.


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Where is reboot and shutdown power menu functionality in Hyperdrive custom ROM?
I just upgraded to Hyperdrive custom ROM RLS12 and now the long press power button is reassigned to control mute/vibrate/sound.
Where do I locate the normal power menu functionality that used to be on the power button held down to choose reboot, shutdown, etc.?

Please comment on the downvote so that I can improve future questions.

Looking through the Hyperdrive ROM page for Note 3 at XDA, power menu toggle can be adjusted by the following steps.

Open the application Hyperdrive Tweaks included in the ROM.
In the app goto General Mods > Extended Power Menu
Select the options you want for power menu toggles viz (Shut Down /
Restart / Recovery etc).

However, I cannot find out where to disable the Volume settings control from the power button, my assumption would be under Audio Mods of Hyperdrive Tweaks.
Reading further down in the thread, few have mentioned that enabling the power toggle in the Hyperdrive Tweaks app should override the current volume control toggle behaviour by power button (long press).


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How big is Gingerbread 2.3.5 on internal 8GB memory?
How much space does the Gingerbread version 2.3.5 occupy on the internal memory drive ?
I've bought the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 and it promised  8GB, when I checked the size it said 5GB and only 4.85GB are actually available. What's going on ?

This seems pretty normal. The 8GB iPod Touch is similar - iOS takes a significant portion of its storage.
The device itself has 8GB of storage, but any OS takes space - particularly Samsung's flavor of Android, which has a lot of stuff added (Which, unfortunately, they don't want you to be able to remove).

Thank you for your answer and taking the time, dotVezz !! I appreciate it. I think I can live with the fact that you explained, just for being able to use my Samasung Galaxy which is a fantastic little device, helping me avoid cell phone bills, and so many other things.  Thanks again.

@Christian If you're happy with the answer, please feel free to upvote it and mark it as accepted =)

Do note too, that your standard device formatting stuff also applies (i.e. how you don't really get 1tb of hard drive space from a 1tb hard drive) Formatting eats up a chunk of it as well.  Fortunately the Galaxy Player has a microSD card slot, if i correctly recall, so that can be used to extend the capacity of the device, should you need more space -- microSD cards are also relatively cheap too, provided you're not looking for a ton of space.


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Why hasn't my Galaxy S3 received the 4.3 update?
The title explains it all. I have an year old Galaxy S3 which runs Android 4.1.1 (stock ROM). Yesterday, my friend received the 4.3 update however, I haven't. Samsung Kies says that the latest firmware is already installed.
Why is it so ?
Is this because the phone was purchased in a country different from where I reside currently ?
Also, how do I update to 4.3 if it is a country issue?

Actually, I believe Samsung has suspended the 4.3 update for now.  Have a look here.


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Can an app installed from the Google Playstore install another app with different permissions?
I installed an app for custom notifications from the Playstore. The app requires sensitive permissions (camera, contacts, and storage), but has no network access. When I selected a setting the app said I needed to install another app and then my phone displayed a window prompt asking if I will install an app from an untrusted source. My concern is if this app could be spyware with internet access to steal my data. Is this possible if the main app has no network access and no downloading permissions?
I contacted the developer and they told me that particular setting requires an "older API level" that is not possible for main apps to have. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if this is a valid reason.

There is relationship between the permissions of the app that installs an app and the app that is installed. For publishing apps on Google Play Store Google enforces that the "targetSDK" is the latest API versions which disables certain compatibility settings that would get active if the targetSDK would be lower. Therefore the "older API level" could be a valid reason for side-loading an app.

It's not common but it's not unusual either. I use this MacroDroid automation app. It requires a helper app that can't be published on Play Store and therefore developer provides a link to download, with this explanation:

In order to toggle Wifi on devices running Android 10+ a new helper file is now required. This helper file is built against an older target SDK allowing it to still invoke the Wifi functionality. It cannot appear on the Play Store since they no longer allow apps built against older SDKs to be uploaded.

When a WiFi toggle action is triggered, the installed app (from Play Store) sends an intent to this helper app, thereby circumventing Android 10+ restrictions. So it's a win - win for all because the app functionality is not degraded.
So, if you trust the developer and are sure you need that additional app, you can go ahead. As an added precaution, download the apk and examine it's permissions before installing (Mixplorer does that).

Thanks for the answer, but I don't know if I trust the developer and if I need the additional app. The app I'm using doesn't ask me to visit a website (maybe the button is a hyperlink to a website?) The developer's first language isn't English so I may have misunderstood, but they said the second app is already downloaded with the main app.

In that case don't use that app, find an alternative. There is no point in having an app on your phone if you don't trust//There are apps that install a second app straight away, I can think of helper app in the same automation app. It is installed straight away but if you need Wi-Fi toggle you need to replace the original helper app with this

Thank you I ended up not installing it.


text:
Chrome - swipe to dismiss articles on home page missing
As in title
With the latest version 80.0.3987.132, I noticed you can't swipe to dismiss articles. Instead you need to tap 3 dots menu next to each article and "hide story". Articles also take up much more space then before.
How to fix this?

After trying various flags, this worked - enter in address bar
chrome://flags/#interest-feed-content-suggestions and in options disable and relaunch chrome
Also see Chrome - how to swipe to dismiss articles on home page for a fix for version 84.0.4147.89

This doesn't work on subsequent versions :(


text:
Can I use these chargers interchangably?
I happen to own two android devices, a Huawei P30 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e. Both devices came with a charger, the specifications can be seen here

I'd like to charge both devices with one charger, is this safe to do and which one should I use? Does it make a difference?

Does this answer your question? Is my phone liable to explode if I charge it with a charger that came with a different phone?

Both tablets support fast charging, which means they are capable of charging faster than the earlier standard USB charging of 5V,2A.

"Samsung uses "adaptive fast charging", while Huawei uses "super charging". They are proprietary technologies of respective OEMs, with specifics not made public (how fast can your device charge has become a selling point) . OEMs always advise that one uses the charger supplied with the device only, because fast charging is a complex interplay between the charger, device, battery level and cable. Using them interchangeably is  not recommended. It's not likely to cause an explosion or something like that if you use the same charger but it would not charge with the same speed as designed. If this is fine with you, I would suggest using Samsung charger for both devices since it has a lower maximum power rating (approximately 15 Watts = 9V x 1.67A) compared to Huawei rating of 40W (10V x 4A).

However, if fast charging is not a priority , it is  perfectly safe if you charge at 5V,2A. To do this, you would need to buy or use an old 5V 2A charger from pre-fast charging era and use that for both devices. It will charge much, much slower. Alternatively, see if Huawei P30 has a setting to disable fast charging (Samsung devices have this option from Android 6.0 onwards). I couldn't find it on internet but it may well be available. You can disable fast charging on both devices and use any of these two chargers to charge both devices safely.


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How to install Advanced Charging Controller (acc) module?
I have a phone that's been rooted using Magisk. How to install something like the acc module? The instructions state running acc commands, but where from?

I've been using this for several years now and it's a great app for your battery.
Installation

It's a Magisk module. Install it like any other Magisk module and it's better to reboot though not always required for this module.

You can get the latest version and help from Telegram group. The telegram group is very active, with the developer often answering questions.

Forget about the front end app mentioned in Github notes. Those apps are outdated.

Commands

Use  Termux (not the Play Store version which again is very outdated) . Get it from Github or F-Droid. You can use any other terminal emulator of your choice.

You need to use su before running the commands

Documentation:

acc -r g: Full (HTML)

acc -h g: Condensed (plain text)

Some simple commands:

acc: Wizard : gives you an interface to get started.

acc pause resume: Set pause and resume % (e.g., acc 80 70), defaults are 75 70.

acc -s mcc=milliamps: Set charging current limit (no value means default)

acc -s mcc=millivolts: Set charging voltage limit (no value means default)

acc -f: Charge once to 100% without restrictions.

I mainly use it for idle charging (see Don't charge the battery but use connected power to run the phone). Also, I configured the voltage supplied to the battery to be low enough not to cause heating, which is a well reported problem with Pixel 6 series (thankfully, it's alleviated on Android 14).

"It's a Magisk module".

It is, but github documents installation methods besides that as well. Including terminal-based ones.

Yes, I was keeping it simple and the way most use it. One can build it too I think but the end result whichever way you do, is that it appears as a Magisk module. Hence, the mention of it as a Magisk module//The amount of customization one can do in a single terminal command is mind boggling for me

Also a word of caution. ACCA is a front end spp by a different developer that initially was in use but now very outdated. Yet, you will find commands like acca -spwhich are valid and not to be associated with front end  ACCA. There are variants of ACCA too but sadly haven't kept pace and hence crippled. Using the terminal is the best way

Cheers, will stick to the CLI.


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How to disable bloatware for secondary users?
I have a rooted Samsung A7 Lite tablet. I rooted it and installed Ice Box from Google Play store. It is given root access in Magisk and I use it to disable some Samsung bloatware.
However I realize that these apps are installed on the secondary user that I created. In the secondary user, Magisk app does not detect root status and Ice Box cannot obtain root access either. Non root mode of Ice Box doesn't work either because that requires that there is no additional users (according to its doc) so that defeats the purpose.
I wonder if there's a way to disable the bloatware in the secondary user from the owner user, or delete them completely.

To enable root on the secondary user:

In Magisk settings → multi user mode, select user-independent.
Install Magisk Manager only on secondary user (in case, it's not present) , optionally reboot and check if secondary user has root.

You can then use Ice Box to debloat.

On my device, Magisk was already installed in the secondary user. Before setting it to user-independent, it did not work in the secondary user (that it did not detect the root). After changing this setting as suggested in this answer, once switched to the secondary user, Magisk can detect root and can grant root access to apps that request for it.

Thanks. Edited the answer to add your input


text:
Does Android update and Google services still work on Huawei P30 Pro?
It's one of the best smartphone in the market, with all the top specs, is it a bad time to buy it in 2020 given the fact of US Government bans?
I am concerned about Google services and future Android updates. Can anyone  provide some insight on these matters?

The situation is fluid and likely to change but,  based on available information :
It looks safe to buy

Huawei P30 & Pro: Release Date, Price & Specs - Tech Advisor

Note that the P30 was announced before Huawei was put on the US trade blocklist (aka its 'entity list'), and therefore continues to have full access to Google apps, services and security updates.

It's emphasised by this XDA blog

(entity list)... prevented Google from licensing Google Mobile Services (GMS) for new Huawei device models made available after May 16, 2019.

Speculatively speaking, given that Huawei's market share outside China has taken a hit, it's unlikely they will do anything to damage their product line business

Caveats

From the same XDA blog

As we explained last week Huawei won’t receive support from Google if any changes they make to their future software builds break compatibility with Google apps.

SafetyNet status-unknown

We reached out to Huawei, though, to clarify if the company can continue to implement GMS into software updates for its existing devices indefinitely without collaboration from Google, and also to find out if existing devices will continue to pass SafetyNet Attestation following an update

(Emphasis added in quotes)
I suggest you keep a track of the XDA blog which is frequently updated and take a decision, if these inputs don't suffice.


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Magisk manager doesn't show any modules
Android 11, Pixel 4a
I did something obviously stupid (and worse, don't remember what) and ended up in a situation that Magisk manager wouldn't respond, in the sense it wouldn't show any modules. I tried changing update channels to download another manager but no luck (this was canary manager)
Edit: uninstall option isn't available
My thought at this point of time is to side load the OTA and start afresh with rooting.
Are there any simpler alternatives?

If it were to happen to me, my preferred approach would be:
Step 1: Clear data of Magisk Manager app
Whatever way your Android supports, open the App info page for your Magisk manager app, force stop the app, and clear its data/storage. Reboot (optional). Now launch the Magisk Manager app. If the problem still persists, follow the steps below.
Step 2: Uninstall Magisk (the boot image modifications) and Magisk Manager (the app)
You can do so from Magisk Manager app by chosing "Uninstall Magisk" at its home page/launching page. While you're at it, also remove the Magisk files and modules saved under /data/adb. I don't know whether they would be automatically removed by Magisk Manager app upon uninstallation, so it doesn't hurt to purge the directory by yourself.
If the uninstall option is not available in Magisk Manager app, than manually restore the stock (unpatched, that is) boot image to your currently active boot slot. You can restore the stock boot image using a custom recovery, or using fastboot, or if su (root access) is still working, than using dd. If you don't have a custom recovery, you may find this Q&A helpful: How do you root a device with Magisk when it doesn't have a custom recovery
Whatever means you choose, do remove the Magisk Manager app beforehand. It would not make a difference if you do it later, by why wait to do it?
Note: if you had installed Magisk using a custom recovery earlier or had upgraded Magisk from Magisk Manager app, you would be having a backup of stock boot image under /data/ with directory name(s) starting as magisk_backup_ followed by some random characters. If you fail to find that backup, than search the internet to get a legitimate full OTA / fastboot image for your currently installed Android build. The boot image there is your stock boot image and can be flashed instead.
Step 3: Patch the boot image with Magisk modifications
Assuming that you have successfully restored the stock boot image and rebooted the device to a running Android, you need to install Magisk again. Magisk is a work in progress, and its preferred method of installation may change in future, so I suggest you follow its FAQ for installation.
If you have followed the installation steps, you should have a working Magisk modified boot image and a companion Magisk Manager app. Try launching the app to see if everything is working as you would want it to be.
At this point you should be able to install/sideload a Magisk module through Magisk Manager app.


text:
Does google maps personalize the walking time to your destination?
Google maps has a lot of data about how far and how fast you move around. When you search for a walking route to your destination is the app calculating the walking time based on your average walking speed?

It does not take into account your walking speed but assumes a normal walking speed. From Google Maps help

What is the Google Map walking speed? Is this a constant value or does it change depending on slope?

Normal walking speed is about 3 miles per hour - It does not adjust for distance travelled, nor for whether you are on a road or footpath.
It does adjust slightly for slope - it decreases more for uphill than it increases for downhill.

A user wanted customized speed, like you do and they were suggested to raise a feature request.

I am usually incensed by suggestions that I do Google's work for it by telling it which features need to be implemented, mainly because I know that Google has never and never will actually implement any of my suggestions and it is a waste of time to think otherwise (for me).  However, there are some serious issues the lack of this feature causes, namely underestimating my walking speed causes it to suggest sub-optimal routes because it thinks it would take to long to walk to a particular public transportation pick up point or between points.

Also in general it ticks me off that every thread I find on Google's "support" page has already locked me out of adding my comment by the time I find it.  In part on principle (there is no reason to ever disable commenting short of inability to prevent spam, etc.) but also because the fact that I am still having these problems so much later indicates the Google is not doing a good job at these things.

Quite agree. They don't listen, don't discuss and implement what they think users need

Also 3mph is ridiculous considering a male in mid sixties is expected to do 5KM jog in 30 minutes


text:
S10 draining over 10% battery per hour while idling
My phone is less then a year old and I had my Screen replaced by Samsung about 2 months ago.(they also changed the battery and aluminium body).So the battery is almost new. About a week ago something happened to my phone while i was using google maps and and it started daring battery at extremely high rate. it's was using almost 20% battery per hour with no use at all and it was getting hot while idling. Since like 4 days ago phone wouldn't even charge to 100%, it would get stuck at 70-80% because it was discharging faster then it could charge.(maybe it was getting too hot and stop charging). I had to revoke alot of location related permissions to slow the discharge to get battery to 100%.
It's not as bad as before but it's still completely discharging from 100% to 0% is less then 10 hours with no use at all. It used to last almost 2 days with quite high usage before this bug.
here's what I tried so far.

restarted the phone,
put every app to sleep and deep-sleep,
disabled allow location to apps even when location is turned off (same for Bluetooth and wifi)
turned off Bluetooth and wifi scanning even when they are turned off
disable the google app and google play services app.
did a settings reset.
factory(data) reset the phone.

non of this fixed the issue. Even put the phone on medium and maximum power saving and the did nothing, discharge rate is still exact same about 10% per hour while idling.
I took a few bugreports and viewed them in battery historian (online version). I don't know what I should be looking for. Is it safe to post bugreport file here, i don't know what kind of info is in it.

I would suspect a hardware problem causing an electrical short causing a battery drain. Could have happened when the battery /body was charged without proper care, water or fluid causing short, some burnt out diode on any of the boards ; reasons could be many //get it checked out by authorized people //You did ask that is possible including factory reset

it worked completely fine for over 2 months after repair, and repair was done by Samsung under warranty.

sounds like a weak usb connector to me and it's not really charging. how is battery drain while in recovery or odin mode compared to system mode? Why don't you claim under warranty of warranty?

Haven't tested it in odin or safe mode. there's only a few Samsung repair centers in UK, closes to me is 2 hours away. So i have to send the device through mail and whole process usually takes over two weeks but because of COVID-19 it can take even longer.

Sent it to Samsung for repair and they changed the whole motherboard. it took over two weeks for repair because they didn't had the motherboards at the repair center. The issue was mostly due to the bad repair they did when they changed the screen battery and the body.


text:
Enable Magisk Hide on Magisk 20.4
Magisk 20.4 release notes say

Please be aware that MagiskHide is no longer enabled by default

(Emphasis supplied)
Default probably means there is a workaround to enable it but I couldn't find a way to do it or find anything on searching
Edit:Enabling Magisk Hide in Menu does not reveal the settings option to select apps for applying hide
How do I do that ? (Please don't suggest installing earlier versions, which I may well do, if I don't find a way )

Does the "Magisk Hide" option remain active once enabled?

Yes it does @Robert

You can find the option to enable "Magisk Hide" in the settings of Magisk app:

Afterwards the side menu has a new entry:

@beeshyams If I enable Magisk Hide the settings side menu gets a new entry.


text:
TWRP for new 2020 Samsung device
I wanted to buy a new phone, but one that I could install TWRP on. I searched and found that the Galaxy A01 CORE is cheap and good and I almost bought it.  I tried to search for TWRP for the device unsuccessfully.
I have not found any guide or website that explains how to install TWRP on this device. Is it because it's new and only came out on 6/8/20?
The question is basically about new phones and TWRP, since the phone came out it has been about 4 months, how long does it take until a version of TWRP is released that is suitable for the phone? If I want a phone with TWRP I will always have to buy an old one? Because new phones are always released every year, and the problem is that stores are no longer selling phones from 2019, so what can be done?
Is there some way to install TWRP on Galaxy A01 Core?

for this device you probably won't get source code. but you can port TWRP recovery from another MT6739 device (BLU Vivo ONE or
K-touch i9)

TWRP is not released by OEMs. It is developed independently by volunteers after the device is marketed and it's kernel and ROM sources are released  (they are legally obliged under GPLv2.0) .

Not all devices have TWRP because they are not suitable for development for technical reasons like bootloader can't be unlocked, SoC not suitable, OEM releasing source late etc. Also, developers make TWRP for devices that are popular and suitable for development. OEMs at times give out free devices to developers to make their devices popular.

If you are keen on buying a device that has TWRP support, keep a tab on the device forums on XDA
and based on the TWRP /kernel /ROM support from developer community, take a decision to buy or not.

This site doesn't give buying recommendations. If you can't find the device in stores, look for alternatives like on line sites etc. Google is your friend.

Or else, learn how to develop (this site doesn't support questions on that) and make your own TWRP. Note that TWRP is specific to the device & device variant (Samsung makes several variants for the same model) and you can't use TWRP meant for some other device, irrespective of similarities in devices.

Ty man! You know how I can find out if the OEM released the source version of my device or is it late?

Again your best bet would be device forums on XDA and some other sites like Android authority etc. I am not keeping track of Samsung devices

Even though this site does not give recommendations for specific phones, maybe you know which company is usually easier to put TWRP on? Because I heard that Samsung and Google for example have an open bootloader, so you do not need to unlock bootloader?

For all modern devices, you need to unlock bootloader to root your device and install TWRP.. You can start off by reading tag wiki of rooting, bootloader, Unlocking to get basic understanding //Google devices need to be unlocked //Not sure about Samsung devices //Just because they can be unlocked, does not mean you have TWRP

My current device is Pixel 4a which can be unlocked and rooted but no TWRP //Read the tag wiki of TWRP (you tagged that to question) and decide what exactly you want, why, your budget and look for popular devices //Welcome to Android Enthusiasts SE :)


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Android 12 unknown system status bar symbol:Pixel 4a
I updated my Pixel 4a to Android 12 a few days ago.
Today, all of a sudden, I saw this screen like symbol on the right side of status bar, which wasn't present after updating.

It is not app related because it can be seen in safe-mode also. There is nothing in the notification bar that corresponds to this symbol. Strangely, Google search didn't help. Nobody else seems to have this problem.
Any idea what this symbol means and how to get rid of it?

Since the symbol suggested it may be screen related, I went through all screen/display options and discovered that it is related to auto-rotate screen. If this is disabled this symbol shows up!
Goggling more on this, I learnt that this is a feature available on some Pixel phones, introduced in Android 12. This uses face detection (that needs to be enabled). So instead of using accelerometer to determine how the phone is held, the front facing camera determines how your face is aligned and rotates screen accordingly. It seems to work well. However, none of the articles I read mentioned this icon.
Something new learnt but it still beats me how the auto detection got disabled (I never enabled it in the first place)

This system icon is available at least in Lineage based ROMs for years: https://www.androidpolice.com/2016/03/09/android-n-feature-spotlight-system-ui-tuner-expands-status-bar-options-with-auto-rotate-status-symbol-clock-battery-and-others

As someone on a Pixel 3a that doesn't have face detection, this icon doesn't show even if auto-rotation is enabled or disabled. Looks like this is specifically related to the face detection feature.


text:
Which phones have the purest Android?
I'm looking for phones with stock Android. I was able to find articles on the internet, but they mention mostly new phones, and I'm more interested in older (cheaper) versions.
I have Google Pixel (one) and from what I read, it's the one with "vanilla" Android. But there are some preinstalled apps on it - like Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, which I cannot uninstall (without rooting). I neither need nor use them and consider them bloatware.
Is it possible to find a phone from a manufacturer which does not have even such Google apps?  Or they just must be there?

Android phones cannot be pure more than roughly, say, 70%. A huge codebase working at backend, not very much visible to the user, is hardware-specific (and so vendor-specific) and isn't part of pure/stock/vanilla Android (AOSP).

There are some Android brands (AFAIK, mostly Chinese brands) that don't have Google apps (because Google is blocked in China), or maybe non-certified devices that cannot have Google apps preinstalled. Otherwise, fsfe - Free Your Android, Liberate Your Device!

You should look for devices running "Android One". Even phones from different manufacturer running Android One it is guaranteed that nothing is changed because this is not allowed for Android One devices.

Interesting, my Samsung Galaxy S10+ let me uninstall Google Play Music/Movies. However, there are plenty of things which I cannot uninstall like Bixby, AR Emoji for whatever f'ing reason, Verizon Cloud, etc.

@Robert as far as overall user experience is concerned it's correct to say that Android One devices are nearly identical. But they are far from stock Android. For instance on Mi A2 Lite out of 216 system packages almost half are not from AOSP, including 46 from Google, 47 from Qualcomm and the rest from Xiaomi or hardware vendors. Similarly out of 107 native daemons 74 binaries are from /vendor/bin. Vendor specific bootloader, modem etc. are in addition to this. So I don't think we can call it a pure Android device.

@IrfanLatif absolutely right though I wasn't aware of such technical devices //I owned MiA1- unlocking bootloader won't wipe data (they corrected later), factory reset using key combo will not invoke FRP,  adb backup not possible etc. So broad brushing Android One = Stock Android isn't right

@IrfanLatif Actually, it’s theoretically possible to be higher than that. The only stuff that needs to be proprietary are the drivers for the baseband processor, it’s technically possible to design a phone that has all other required drivers in the upstream Linux kernel, though I don’t know of any companies that actually make such phones.

@AustinHemmelgarn yes you are correct. There are modular phones like FairPhone claiming to use open source hardware, and also open source OSes like PureOS. But I don't think any of those is 100% open-source.

Can you explain what you consider "bloatware"? For example, my grandmother gets very anxious about any icon that she doesn't immediately understand the use of, even though some of those are doing important things like backups. So I installed extra software to put all the icons she doesn't use on a separate tab in the app drawer and now she's happy. OTOH there's really unnecessary stuff like "theme support" right in AOSP and impossible to remove, but she never complained about that because access to it is in the settings menu so she never noticed it.

@user3067860 I gave two examples from Google. I basically mean apps which I don't use, and that's true that they annoy me the most when I see their icons. not sure how it looks in case of your grandmother, but on Xiaomi/Huawei I can put all those icons into one "not needed" folder, it is only one annoying icon then, but I still know they are there and it kind of disturbs me :) what you did is rather workaround, they still take space on the memory. I was interested more in the matter of approach to this.

@Line OK, but things like "themes" don't bother you? Because that still takes system resources. More system resources than an application that is installed but never opened/running. I ask because things like LineageOS, etc., often have even more features built into the OS, even if they also usually let you remove all visible "apps". Or things might be classified as system apps and not show up as apps even if they technically are (fun fact, "com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver" is a system app).

@user3067860 hmm, maybe that's stupid and lazy but there is something in it, if I don't see an icon, I'm not annoyed that much :) maybe it's more about the simplicity of usage. I don't know much about this theme which you mention, but I'm anyway not considering LineageOS, because I was looking for a manufacturer phone, and those won't be easy to find according to fraxinus answer.

tl:dr; Google phones have the purest Android. They come with Google apps
In Android ecosystem, phones launched by Google are stock Android (aka vanilla). It's the purest form of Android because Google developed the OS and tightly integrated with the hardware (earlier Nexus and now Pixel). They come with Google apps, you can't avoid them, unless you root your device and uninstall.
If you are looking for a phone that is running Android LineageOS -XDA launched a phone that ran LineageOS /Ubuntu out of box. Such devices are more of an exception to the rule (running LineageOS out of the box, as you mentioned in the last paragraph of the question, though LineageOS doesn't qualify as pure Android)

A modern smartphone with true Linux and HDMI out? Color me impressed, and now there is one less early model left to snatch :)

thanks. but then how come there is for example Google Clock preinstalled on Pixel while it isn't on Xiaomi?

@Line That exactly proves the point. Stock Google has a framework and apps that are defined. Other OEMs are at liberty to add system apps or remove them, modify the framework, add their own tricks, bells and whistles, etc, etc. All that is permitted as long as they stick to the framework in principle. It's not just OEMs, even carriers add their own apps, sometimes make bootloader unlockable//The list is endless and that's what makes for a chaotic, fragmented Android eco system //That's one reason some prefer stock stuff, it works as it was designed to and yet gives you flexibility //

Flexibility to play around with things, mostly if you root your device. If you don't, stock works and they are happy with it // Aside, after many years of owning devices by multiple OEMs, I own now a stock Pixel device and an liking it :)

@beeshyams I'd say, even not modifying the core AOSP framework, Google devices are far far from pure Android (AOSP) like Android One devices are (see my comment: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231628/which-phones-do-have-the-purest-android#comment304588_231628). Google doesn't make changes to core AOSP framework is their plus point (though some good changes aren't always a bad user experience, see Lineage, Omni etc). But I think we should not accept Google's additions to AOSP a standard set of changes. After all Google is an OEM, like others are.

@IrfanLatif It's not my point that Google is ideal or right or a gold standard (it might have come across like that though). Those observations are only to underline what is stock and what isn't//Also see my comment just below yours adding to what you said!//Edit : Aosp vs Google comparison is a different ball game, isn't it?

This answer completely ignores the existence of AOSP. -1

@Ave yes, it completely does that on purpose. OP is looking for "manufacturers" phone (last para of question).  Does any OEM give AOSP out of box? // That's what I also mentioned in the comment above yours

why are you claiming that LineageOS is not Android? I read everywhere (in the comment to the KERR Answer, on LineageOS site, even when I follow the link from the site you mentioned)

@Line I never said Lineage isn't Android . Question asks for two things 1. Pure Android - Lineage isn't 2. Phone from manufacturer- Lineage normally isn't shipped as out of the box OS, one installs it. There is an exception to that, which is mentioned in my answer// Lineage is Android plus a package of useful features which Irfan mentioned above// I was answering to the terms you set out in your question:)

@Line Since you seem to be interested in Lineage , please have a look at my answer here

@Line To support my point that Lineage isn't pure Android, see this comment

thanks, but still I don't get why did you state "if you're looking for a phone that is NOT using Android..." (then take a look at LineageOS) :(

@Line Thanks for correcting me on my mistake. I fixed it and it should be clear now. Apologies for the confusion// I appreciate the seriousness with which you followed this up, sadly I didn't take that care when writing it up

How about looking for models supported by LineageOS? This is a ROM you can flash to your device, and you can even use it without the Google Apps (or flash them later)

Although they are not included in LineageOS as such due to legal
issues,[44] users can flash the normal Google apps, including the
Google Play Store and Play Apps, with a Zip package, usually referred
to as gapps, while installing LineageOS.

You'll need to make sure that you can unlock your phone's bootloader/root the device (double check before you buy it).

thanks, but the question was about Android.

@Line LineageOS is Android, and it sounds exactly like what you want.

I'm going to be an antagonist here. I would say that LineageOS isn't a "pure Android" experience, merely it is stock Android with a bunch of modifications which made it more customisable than stock Android.

The question has quite deep implications.
Android is not an OS, it is an "ecosystem".
There is Android Open Source Project. This is the "base" of the Android OS.
Hardly usable and you will not find pure AOSP on any factory phone.
Vendors get AOSP and build over it to make some phone firmware that fits their business model (it may as well be useful for the user, but this is completely optional).
Then, there is Lineage OS - a community-built Android OS made for selected phone models. In general, it is built just like the vendors' firmwares, except for not having a real business model and driven more or less by the contributors' understanding of usability.
LineageOS comes without any Google apps (not even Google Play, so you cannot directly get apps from it). But you can use OpenGApps to get either the bare minimum of Google stuff (like "pico" package with Google Play only), something more, or a full-blown Google suite.  There are also great sources to obtain open-source apps, such as F-Droid.
Or you may skip this step and use some other means to get apps (a lot of limitations apply).
It's worth mentioning that neither Google nor phone vendors are happy with people installing LineageOS (or other similar packages). This breaks their business model. The process of replacing the phone vendor's software is intentionally made complex and challenging. In most cases, it also voids phone's warranty.
There are also a niche phone vendors that ship phones with LineageOS.

thanks! could you mention such vendors?

Just came over https://www.fxtec.com/ myself. I never tried one, but looks promising and I intend to order any time now.

p.s. looks like Google Pixel 1 is supported by LineageOS.

Sony Xperia Phones have a very close to Stock Android UI eg Sony Xperia 1 II
You can learn more about the latest update to Android 11 for the aforementioned phone in the following Youtube Video:
Sony Xperia 1 II Update Android 11 | 15 New Features.
Hope this helps & Merry Christmas !

In addition to the Pixel phones from Google, Android One phones also enjoy a clean interface and receive timely software updates and security patches. Currently, Nokia and Motorola phones are the most prominent Android One phones (see, e.g., Best Android One Phones in 2020.
Some phone brands like OnePlus and Realme keep their Android flavor light but I would not call them vanilla Android.

and would you call Android One vanilla? I saw this article and exactly - those are prominent phones. and I don't want prominent one ;) (like I mentioned in the question)

Since Android has to be adopted to the hardware you will always have some modifications to vanilla Android. I think that Android One is close enough but for me personally a light version with timely updates are the priority.


text:
Is it possible to upgrade Pixel 4a to Android 14?
My dayjob wants me to upgrade for security reasons. The System Update portion of the settings app isn't offering it to me, but web searches seem to indicate that it's an option.
Does anybody know for sure, and if so, how?

Your employer seems to misunderstand the Android update strategy: it is not important to have Android 14 on your device, it is important to have a device that gets the latest security updates. As Google fixes security issues in all supported Android versions it doesn't matter if you are running 13 or 14, you just need a device that receives security updates. In your case the Pixel 4a is out of support and does not receive Android nor security updates but for other devices it may be different.

OK, thanks. I did accept the security updates.

Pixel 4a is only supported till Android 13. See end of life for Pixel Devices or Google website.
You can flash a custom ROM to upgrade to Android 14 but that involves unlocking bootloader (in the process wiping data in your phone)
Unlocked bootloader may not be acceptable to your employer given that they are insisting that the latest Android version running on your device. But if it is, flashing a custom ROM is the solution ( XDA is a good place to search for custom ROM's).Make sure you follow the installation instructions
IMO it's better to go in for a new device that supports Android 14 and maybe 15 or more rather than getting into flashing a custom ROM to upgrade.
BTW, Pixel 4a is my standby device.

Thanks. 4a is my carry device; Pixel 2 is my standby :). I guess it's time to upgrade. I see Pixel 7s for a decent price.


text:
Is there a way to force Google Podcast App to play podcasts in chronological order?
Looking for a way to autonomously play podcasts in the order they were recorded using Google Podcast Application.
But, irritatingly, Google Podcast always plays the latest (newest) episodes.  Even if it was already played (specifically, Google Podcast always plays the last few minutes of the latest previously listened to podcast).
This might be OK for news, but if you are trying to learn something, it may be all you can do from throwing your Android out the car window.

Anyways, I've been binging a several years old pod-cast (Ologies) driving to work and finally had enough frustrations trying to listen to episodes in order.  It's nuts!  Practically everything is hands free ... except for this order problem. (comment edited by a moderator)

OMGoodness, there are 100s of Ologies podcasts.  I was really hoping for a "do this one thing" solution. (I assume, for Ologies, I would have to do this 100s of times to play podcasts in order.) Thank you for your suggestion, but I'd like to hold out a bit more before asking you to turn this into an answer and accepting it.

This is interesting - I jumped back into Google Podcasts and selected an old podcast with an episode from 2022, and after it finished it moved automatically to the next released in chronological order.

Caveats

I don't use podcast apps or listen to podcasts but I was intrigued by the poor UX feature to investigate.

Solutions proposed have undergone limited testing, yet posting it as an answer since it has an alternative app suggestion too.

Google Podcast app

Going by the Google community help How to organise queue in Google podcasts since update (on Android)? of 2021, it appears that ordering podcasts was an existing feature but was removed after an app update. Two solutions have been proposed as working solutions:

Manually arranging podcasts

If you click the green checkmark on an episode in the queue, then select "Play Next", it will move the episode to the top of the queue.  It also remembers this new order.  Inexplicably, you can now sort that episode into any position, and it will remember.  Repeat this process for every episode in the queue, and you will be able to rearrange the episodes freely, and the app will retain the new order.  The worst part is that you have to do this every time you add an episode to the queue (you only have to do it for the added episode) if you want to change the position of the new episode.

One needs to use = on the left to order

Using a PC to manually arrange podcasts

User jlehenbauer commented

I jumped back into Google Podcasts and selected an old podcast with an episode from 2022, and after it finished it moved automatically to the next released in chronological order (not tested by me)

Since the OP listens to a channel (Ologies) having 100s of podcasts, these solutions are not optimal

Therefore, an alternative app solution is proposed below (I am not affiliated with it)
Podcast Guru

Select "Ologies Channel"

On opening the podcast sub-topic list , by default it shows newest first

Click on the arrow buttons to reverse order to show oldest first

Additional features that would help OP

Create a home screen shortcut to a podcast.
"Hide completed" or "Mark all completed"
Play chronologically, without the last few minutes of previous podcast being played

Thanks for putting this answer together.  I'm going to try the suggestions and if that doesn't work out the alternative Podcast Application.  Thanks.

Please feel free to edit the answer to improve it. A user's perspective matters much more


text:
How to migrate playlists (for local music library)
My old and new Android phones have SD cards, and the entire music library (mp3 & flac) is on the SD card.
On the new phone, the playlists are all there, but they have no songs in them.
I use BlackPlayer EX on old and new phones.
Old phone: Android 10 with SD card
New phone: Android 11 with SD card
(Both phones are Sony Xperia models, fwiw)
How to get the playlists to migrate properly?

@beeshyams Your comment about scoped storage appears not to apply. On the new phone, the music player sees and plays all the music just fine. AND it is able to read all the playlist names from the db where that is stored. (The db must have been migrated by one of the migration processes.)

Good, at least scoped storage isn't the problem. Not sure what can be done

You can try this app or some others on Play Store

@beeshyams That app seems to be for streaming services. My library is local. I don't see mention of support for local music libraries?

@beeshyams I solved it. See answer below.

OK, I figured it out.  Black Player on both old and new phone, local MP3 and FLAC files on SD card (in /music/ folder on old and new phone). Old android phone on android 9/10  New android phone on android 10/11/12.
Steps:
(Assumes Windows laptop, adjust as appro for Mac)

On old phone, in Black Player, export all playlists to m3u
On new phone, in Black Player, delete all empty playlists (if they migrated), and create one new test playlist of two or three tracks
Install the WebDAV Server app (the free one by "The Olive Tree") on both old and new phone
Start WebDAV server on old phone, give permissions, ignore warning that is made for older version of Android
On laptop, in Explorer, right click on My Computer, choose Map Drive, and enter the full url to the webdav (http://:8080 -- this is shown in the WebDAV app)
The newly mapped drive, say Z:, open in Explorer, scroll all the way down, you should see your playlists as m3u files
Copy all of them to local laptop (Say to c:\temp\oldphone)
Now do steps 3 and 4 on NEW phone, and then copy over the test playlist
Using VSCode or Notepad++, open the test playlist from the new phone, note the path to the files
Now do a global replace on the playlists to adjust the path to the mp3/flac files in all the m3u files
Now copy all the m3u files to the NEW phone
Now in Black Player, at the bottom of the Playlists area, select Import Playlist
Select ALL the playlists, and select Import

TADA!


text:
How to prevent display to turn on when tapping:Pixel 4a
When I turn off the display of my Pixel 4A using the power button and tap the screen, the screen turns back on. It's locked and I have to slide the screen to unlock it. Still, from time to time the screen unlocks in my pocket because of this.
How can I prevent this? Is there a way I can configure the phone so that it only activates the screen when I press the power button?

Disable tap to check phone (Display →Lock Screen →Tap to check phone)


text:
Restoring purchase of premium features after reinstall
I was searching for a nice-looking Android app that can keep track of my expenses and I found Expense Manager. The app itself is free and it looks like it suits my needs, but it also has some premium features that I want. They can be unlocked through an in-app purchase. Before I pay money for them, I wanted to figure out how I can restore this purchase in case I ever have to reinstall the app after a factory reset.
Is there a standard procedure to restore this in-app purchase? Does it happen automatically? Do I have to do it manually through Google Play?

Applications often have a Restore In-App Purchase option in the settings.
Other applications may ask you to "buy again" the item, but you're not actually spending any money again.
It is often mentioned how you can restore your purchases in the application's description on Google Play or in the help category of the application (if any). You can always contact the developer for more information.
(Note that we are talking about Non-consumables purchases, it means purchases that are permanently associated with one's google account. More Information.)

I cannot find any sign of a 'Restore purchases' button. There's no documentation available as far as I can tell. How can I find out whether a purchase is a consumable or a non-consumable?

It is straitforward in theory : a virtual currency is a consommable and something lile a "remove ads" purchase is non-consomable, but in fact it all depends on the way it is programmed by the developer(s), so your best bet woild be to contact them.

I did contact the developer a few weeks ago, but unfortunately I did not hear back from them. If there's no other way to find out if the developer implemented premium features as a non-consumable, then I guess there's no way for me to find out beforehand.


text:
Factory reset after purchase
After purchasing a phone from the store should a factory reset be done to erase anything that the store or someone might have put in?

If the phone is new and in the box, then it has probably never been turned on. You can tell because the first time you turn it on (after fully charging the battery), it will go through the initial setup process, inviting you to enter or create a Google account, and showing some pop-up tips about adding shortcuts to the home screen.
If it's second-hand, then the shop or the previous owner should have factory-reset it already, but you can tell in the same way. If you turn it on and get the initial setup process right away, then you're already starting from a fresh state. If you just get the home screen, with no setup screen inviting you to enter or create a Google account, then you need to factory-reset from the device settings.

While with a used device, the previous owner or at least the shop should have factory-resetted the device, they don't always do: my very first Android phone was such an example. In those cases, you should also make sure to check the SDCard, if any was inserted, to remove any unwanted files. To do so, you could even remove it from the device, attach it to your computer using a card reader, and completely delete all its contents. After safely unmounting, put it back to the factory-reset device. Also check the internal SDCard, if any.


text:
How can I monitor bandwidth capacity over time?
I know that I can use some applications such as Speedtest to check my current bandwidth capacity. However, I would like to monitor bandwidth capacity over time as I would like to assess the quality of the wifi connection around me throughout the day. Is there anyway to do so on Android?
I use Samsung Galaxy S3 with Android 4.1.2 and Nexus 7 with Android 4.4.2.

That's a pre-destined case for apps like OpenSignal, which are designed for mapping signals around you. Network Signal Info offers it as well. Both tools can be used to get a coverage map for WiFi and mobile signal, and also offer you to log signal strength.