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Forwarding incoming calls to landline when connected to specific wifi-network
I have the following problem: In my house, it is practically impossible to take a call on the mobile phone due to very bad mobile network connection. As soon as I am more than 2-3 meters away from any window both me and the person who called me cannot hear each other anymore. Probably the walls are made of a lot of reinforced concrete which creates interference. I wonder if there's any possibility to forward incoming calls to my landline phone whenever I am connected to the wifi in my house?
I read this article and came upon the app Call Divert but it seems that this app is full of ads. Is there any open source solution that does the same thing?

My first thought for such things usually is [tag:tasker] (not open source, but no ads etc. either). There might be other [tag:automation] tools capable of that. They can act on events and states (in your case, "WiFi connected, SID xxx") and perform tasks. Not sure if any 3rd party app is allowed to do call divert in recent Android versions, with Google always taking away such things in the name of security (and yes, Call Divert is full of ads & trackers).

Hmm, I installed Tasker but it seems not to be straightforward to divert incoming calls with this app (diverting outgoing calls is fairly easy). I found these two pages that lead might lead to a possible solution but I don't know how to implement these suggestions into a working task (tasker-homepage, google-groups-page)

Also, found out that my question is a duplicate

Yeah, Tasker has quite a steep learning curve. Took me several months for the basics (and now I always have to research again – as once set up I never felt the need to touch it again :D) // Shall I close this question as duplicate then? I'd say yours is a little more specific (certain number PLUS certain WiFi).

"Shall I leave this question as duplicate then?" I guess based on your reasoning you could leave this open, as my question is basically building up on this question

there is a straight forward app that automatically redirects your cellphone to landline based on WiFi connection  Forward My Calls

Yet, It seems to be very old and unsupported, so tell us how you found it

Rather strange that there are no similar apps as far as I searched
Location based automatic calls forwarding


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Reboot loop for Moto Z2
Recently my moto z2 play stuck in "reboot loop".
I couldn't able to move further due to "Developer option" was not enabled. I've tried the following methods, but no luck 0 still the restart is persistence

Tried "Restart Bootloader", and from PC done fastboot to wipe the User Data / Cache
Tried to enter "Recovery mode", no luck

Do we've any work around to get it fixed, as I don't want to waste the hardware resource

you have wiped userdata / cache from fastboot, does it mean your bootloader is unlocked?

for locked bootloader there is EDL mode. i have recently linked some collection, there are three prog_emmc_firehose_8953_moto.mbn you can try https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/231754/any-way-to-root-a-crushed-phone-and-get-encryption-file-from-it#comment305554_231754

nothing much working

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Switch to speaker when using a headphone with wearing detection
I have a headphone with wearing detection, which pauses playback when I take off the headphone. However, with it off, I am not able to hear any notifications from the phone. I know iPhone has the feature of sending audio to the speaker when one takes off airpods. Do we have this feature in Android? Is it a problem of the phone or the headphone? In case it matters, I am using a SonyWH-1000XM4.

It depends on how the notifications are handled.. For system notifications - Android 11 and recent versions handle notifications separately from media, so you should be able to hear notifications. I can hear them using Jabra 65T Elite Bluetooth buds 2. If you are talking of app notifications, it depends on how the app is designed to handle // Assuming you are referring to first case of system notifications (please [edit] your question to make it clear) it is an issue with your headset. If it's case 2,contact the developer

I am actually looking for a way to redirect all audio back to speaker, including notifications and media sounds.

Not possible AFAIK

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


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"System Memory" taking up too much storage
I have been facing this problem recently, my Samsung S 10+ has the storage information as shown in the image below. I don't know why the system memory is taking up 20 GB of storage. I cannot access it as well. On clicking it nothing happens. Would really appreciate help.


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What can be done with a phone that has an encrypted bootloader
I am trying to get a rooted android phone set up for reverse engineering purposes. I tried to root two separate phones (SM-G925A and a Google Pixel 2) but they both turned out to have locked (meaning, encrypted by the carrier) bootloaders.
Is there really no way to get around this without finding an exploit? I have tried everything short of taking the phone apart and flashing the ROM in (whatever device you use to flash a ROM chip.) Would that even work? I can't even find a single example of someone doing this for any model of phone on the internet.

A bootloader does not encrypt or decrypt anything. Hence a bootloader is never encrypted. I assume you are referring to the digital signature that can be checked by the bootloader but again neither the bootloader nor the checked software is encrypted.

@Robert indeed bootloader lock state is encrypted, but that's different topic

@alecxs Are you really sure you mean encryption and not cryptographically tamper protected?  Do you have any reference for the encryption in bootloader?

@alecxs If the bootloader is OEM locked, you can't unlock the bootloader without using an exploit. For both the pixel 2 (verizon model) and SM-G925A, there are currently no known exploits. I'm 100% sure about this.

@Robert I'm not completely sure how it works honestly, you could be right about that

@Robert the latter one. gklsodascb right, verizon is a different story, kindly include that info in your question

some older unlock stories, just linking https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unlock-bootloader-on-verizon-pixel-2-confirmed.3730076

regarding samsung try to re-brand SM-G925F with modded Odin https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/patched-odin-3-13-1.3762572 or find combination rom according to your bootloader version https://samsungfirmware.net/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-sm-g925a-combination-firmware


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In theory can Samsung devices get root without tripping Knox, for example by exploit?
According to Wikipedia article

Before booting in the main Kernel, Samsung runs a "pre-boot"
environment where it checks for the signature match of all elements of
the OS.

If a method to get root that does not rely on the bootloader existed, would this bypass Knox? For example if an exploit was found? After the e-fuse for Knox is tripped, can it be untripped, or no because it's physical?

No, you can think of Knox as being a part of TEE, so bypassing that is theoretically possible but practically impossible (if you could tinker with TEE you'd be a rock star of that world) // Knox isn't physical, it's an electronic fuse. Once it's blown, you need to replace the chip, which is beyond a user

@JonDon I think your question is misformulated, therefore beeshyams answer is no. "Knox" is not only the bootloader check, Knox is the name of the whole security system of Samsung devices. I think your real question is "will the device be able to detect if I do something with temporary root permissions gained by an exploit".

not possible https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/bounty-sm-n975u1-note-10-usa-unlocked-version-bootloader-unlock-and-root-method.4006249/page-12#post-82510563


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Parts of touchscreen not working and progressively getting worse - what's causing it?
First it was like this, then this, and now this. The white part is the part that's not responding to touch. Notice how it increases by an entire row in each picture. This is over a span of 3 weeks.
It's driving me crazy! What's causing it? I didn't drop the phone or get any water in it (as far as I can remember). It just happened suddenly. Does the digitizer go bad by itself without any physical damage? And why is it increasing like this?
It's the same in safe-mode and recovery. How do I diagnose this? I already ady cleaned the connector. I really don't want to get a new digitizer and then it turns out to be not it.
Thanks for any help!
Moto C Plus | Android 7 | Rooted

As already pointed out this is most likely a hardware damage. I am sorry but if you really want to know why your touch screen does not work correctly you should better ask some electronic experts. The screen as an electronic component is unrelated to Android.

Any idea where online would be the best place to ask?

You don't have to drop the phone or get it went to cause hardware defects. Electronic chips have internally components that degrade just by using it. Additionally humans are from a perspective of an electronic components really "hazardous entities". They emit sweat, dust, fat, use creams, and other chemicals and a lot of other things that can corrode or harm electronics.

You may try it on https://electronics.stackexchange.com (not sure if it really fits there) or may be on reddit.


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a process deleted some vital folders and files how do I track it down
admittedly I am rooted on a phone with unlocked bootloader & a Havoc custom  GSI rom  Android 10
I have hidden magisk root from all applications  - every application except the ones that need it
in spite of this and entire folder on my internal storage - download folder as well as documents folder - the document folder itself was deleted and the download folder was emptied completely

I have access to logcat and logcat does not reveal any information

I regularly run a malware check and it comes out ok.

the corresponding data on my external micro SD card is all right

just yesterday sent folders of my WhatsApp image    (  /sdcard/WhatsApp/media/WhatsApp Images/sent   ) directly got emptied without me doing anything. earlier I saw WhatsApp 's message that it is backing up my data kind of 40% of 6 GB
and it was taking forever to do that on a 10 MBPS high speed internet connection .  so I stopped the backup process  - but why would it want to delete everything in the sent folder ?
( btw my WhatsApp folder on /sdcard     is bind mounted to a special partition on my micro SD card which is ext4 ... now you know why I wanted custom rom and root   !  )
here are my questions
--- how do I trace back as to what process caused these deletions
--- in the future so as to avoid this or have better traceability what what should I I be installing or modifying or taking as preventive steps.

Does this answer your question? How to identify the app/process which re-mounts partitions R/W, creates files and changes file permissions?

For simple monitoring of directories you can use inotify tools which are also available for Android.

It could also be caused by errant Magisk modules. I had a similar experience with Whatsapp and few days later saw others complaining on the module thread. May not be the case with you but just sharing


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Is a rooted phone still required to pass '-k' in ADB's package remove command?
I successfully ran pm uninstall --user 0 packagename without the -k argument on my phone which isn't rooted, despite the XDA article saying it's needed.

Does this answer your question? How to re-enable apps using ADB?

-k is option to keep cache + appdata:
/data/user*/0/<pkgname>
without that option only the .apk file remains on the device:
/system/app/<pkgname>/base.apk
pm install-existing <pkgname> will re-enable app with/without appdata depending on -k
(explained in section How to Re-Install)

I know, but what confuses me is that the articles I read say that you need to be rooted to be able to leave out the -k, but I excluded it on my unrooted phone (just to try) and it worked fine, so I don't know if root's still a requirement.

So what happens when you exclude -k? Does anything other than the app get deleted?


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How to stop WhatsApp from deleting media from gallery when the sender deletes that message?
When someone sends me media (photo/video) on WhatsApp, I can download it, and it gets saved to my phone's internal storage, in a gallery album created by WhatsApp called "WhatsApp Images".
If the person who sent the media then deletes that message from the chat, the media file is then deleted from my phone's internal storage too, although I have already downloaded it. However, if I move the media file out of the "WhatsApp Images" gallery album before the message is deleted, then the media is not deleted from my phone.
Is there any way to prevent WhatsApp from deleting media from the "WhatsApp Images" album after I have downloaded them, if the sender deletes the message?

You can't prevent this in official WhatsApp. Use some modded WhatsApp app. Or use inotify based commandline tools or an app to watch newly created files and then copy/move the images to some other directory before it's being deleted.

I think there are some apps that can automatic copy any new picture that comes in. You can also use a service like Google photos which is free (till the summer) and have it back up any new picture. This way, even if it's deleted, you'll still have it


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fasboot devices not getting attached xiaomi mi a3 no sound of attaching no nothing
I have the Xiaomi Mi A3 and I'm currently on both phone and PC latest stock update. I am using Windows 10 20H2 and I have tried everything – but still don't get it.
I tried another Mi A3 and it got attached normally. I've tried installing all kind of drivers and different ports, nothing. When suddenly it worked and I installed the stock ROM – but because the stock ROM is kinda laggy and ugly I want to change it. But I can't because I am also on stock recovery and I can't install another recovery because my device isn't recognized in fastboot mode.
My device is recognized in adb mode and in edl mode as well, only not in fastboot.

Does this answer your question? Fasboot Devices not getting attached XIAOMI MI A3


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Is it possible to get assistant voice on Android Auto sounding good without data?
I don't use data to use AA (I have offline Spotify and offline Maps) for the most part.
As a result the assistant voice sounds like a robot from the 1970s.
Anyway to "download" the good assistant voices or force Android Auto to sound good?
I have tried to set the voice sampling in Android Auto up to 48kHz.

Google's text-to-speech engine is an AI based cloud system: https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech Typically such systems make use of special AI hardware chips. Without them speech generation would require a high-end computer. Some recent high-end smartphones also have AI chips, but I don't know if Google's offline speech generator can make use of them.

Still, why does it sound so so much better on bluetooth with using Android Auto? That is all I want.

1.It's an old Google issue with no solution here 2. Re: Your comment above . Some people in link above complained about the same thing (sounding fine on Bluetooth) 3.  Asking why it sounds better on Bluetooth is off topic IMO, because it is Android independent


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Restricted profile can't unlock tablet in android 10
On a Samsung SM-T290 (Galaxy Tab A 8.0") with Android 10, there is regular user account and also a restricted profile for users to use in order to restrict what apps can be used.
In previous versions of android, the restricted profile could unlock the tablet. However, in android 10, I can't seem to switch to the restricted profile user on the lock screen, unless the regular user account unlocks it first.
Is there a way to allow the restricted user account to unlock the tablet, so the main user doesn't have to login/unlock it first?

As far as I know there is no other way. The primary user have to log in to unlock the encrypted files. On previous Android versions Full Disc Encryption was used and entering the password as part of the boot process was mandatory. Now the decryption is bound to the primary user first login.

Ah, bingo--that was it. Once I disabled encryption, the restricted user could unlock the tablet. In this case, file encryption isn't necessary. Settings > security > other security settings, turn off "strong protection". Thanks!

Yes! Thank you!


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Connecting to a private IP over WiFi and public IP over LTE simultaneously
I'm designing an Ubuntu app for Android which is running through a Termux chroot jail. The app requires the phone to be connected to a drone through the drone's generated Wifi network. This network does not provide internet access (obviously). Unfortunately, I still need the app to have general internet access while connected to the drone network. This means I need to be able to designate certain address accesses to use LTE and others to use Wifi. Any idea how to set this up from within the chroot jail (or externally)?
Note: I saw a question similar to this one answered 4 years back. However, it doesn't seem like an up-to-date answer was provided. Here's the post.
Thanks for your help!

There's a similar situation asked recently: Unable to communicate to a local WiFi with mobile data enabled. The linked questions on there also explain the difficulty of supporting this on Android devices.

What if you would run the phone in AP mode, and so you would contact the drone? You can identify the drone by its MAC (more hardcore would be to use some zeroconf solution like bonjour).


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How to increase the size of the system partition?
I have an old Google pixel 1 and I was trying to install a GSI but I get this a message on TWRP saying Size of image is larger than target device, so I went to wipe > advanced wipe > selected the system partition > and clicked repair partition and it said that it only has 1.3 GB of space, and the GSI file is 2.3.. Is there a way to increase this partition size ? thanks.

"if you don't know it - don't do it." seriously, messing with partition tables can permanently brick your device

read the introduction first. then search here for keywords repartitioning, gdisk, sgdisk or parted. don't follow any steps, just try to understand. basically read a lot. after few hours go back to the install instructions where you downloaded the ROM and follow the repartitioning tutorial for your device. Be aware don't screw up fastboot - there is no flash tool available for google devices!

You can do partitioning on Android exactly the same way you do on a Linux machine. The same tools and concepts are used. But it's far more complicated due to many more factors involved. As @alecxs suggested, avoid it if it's avoidable. Android devices are highly brickable. Also please note that on recent devices there is super partition. On such devices trying to modify system/vendor partitions is not recommended at all as it gets even more complex, rather impossible.

Check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgJgqjsfeM


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Locking bootloader after vendor build change
So, I have a Mi 10 Lite with the MIUI 12 EEA, and it's not the stock ROM but the Vodafone build (QJIEUVF).
As there's the new Android 11 update coming, I'd like to have that and not wait for Vodafone to release its build, as that's notoriously slow.
I tried the official Updater app, to install the XM (non branded) build, but it says the network carrier is different. Seems like the only way is to unlock the bootloader. However, I read that means losing Netflix and Google Pay support?
Now, can I unlock the bootloader, flash the QJIEUXM with XiaoMiToolV2, and then relock the bootloader with Clean and Lock? Would that lead to a softbrick? Any other downside to doing that, such as losing OTA updates?
I tried to find info, but it's really hard to find any reliable information anywhere

try to flash fastboot ROM on locked bootloader via EDL mode https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/miui/monet


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Setting Android 10 Dark theme on and off with adb shell - how to do it without reboot?
To Enable Dark Mode:

adb shell settings put secure ui_night_mode 2

To Disable Dark Mode:

adb shell settings put secure ui_night_mode 1

For Auto Dark Mode:

adb shell settings put secure ui_night_mode 0

and then

adb reboot

My question is how to change Dark mode without abd reboot ?

This worked for me, no need for root.
adb shell "cmd uimode night yes"

On root devices
To Enable Dark Mode:
adb shell "su 0 cmd uimode night yes"

To Disable Dark Mode:
adb shell "su 0 cmd uimode night no"

For Auto Dark Mode:
adb shell "su 0 cmd uimode night auto"


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is there a way to reboot device without any keys and usb debugging turned off
I had been using my phone for last 1.5 year ( Lava z90). But recently it's power off button and volume buttom are not working and also my usb debugging is turned off.2 days back my phone is switched off and I am not able to swich on it. Is there a way to turn it on?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. consider repairing the power button. you can try to readback something, as most flash tools have auto-reboot functionality. with this trick you should be able to reach fastboot mode where you can configure charging behavior. if you don't afraid of permanently bricking your device you can also flash modified para partition (experts only)


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how to take screenshot and disable flag_secure
I am kind of surprised that there seems to be no clear way to do this.  I have a rooted pixel 4 with android 11. I can't pass ctsProfile but it is rooted.
I have also tried to use Taichi apk to create an app with disable flag_secure but the newly crated apk does not work.
Please can anyone show me how to disable flag_secure exactly? I did not know it is this annoying even after rooting.

A simple workaround even for non-rooted devices is to enable adb, connect your phone to a PC and use scrcpy to mirror the phone screen to your desktop. This works even for apps that use flag_secure and on the PC you can simply make a screen-shot of the scrcpy window.

Did you try this: https://repo.xposed.info/module/fi.veetipaananen.android.disableflagsecure? It worked for me when I used it last time. Not sure on Android 9 or 10.


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Phone keeps rebooting on Volume Up + Power (trying to install ROM)
I tried to install Android's ROM and got ERROR 7, then I wiped out cache, data, internal storage, where was twrp.apk installed.
After that I cant get into boot menu (with Install, Wipe... buttons).
Then I copied twrp to the phone:
sudo fastboot flash recovery <twrp.img>
Tried versions 3.2.1-0 and 3.4.0-0, because I heard for certain phone (I have Xiaomi Mi4) it's necessary to use proper version, though I don't know which.
What's going on now:
I can successfully can get to the nice splash screen using Volume Down + Power, then on my PC I give sudo fastboot reboot command and press Volume Up + Power and here is the problem: It has no effect, it just keeps rebooting (I see only Xiaomi's logo).

I would try to directly boot into recovery without flashing: fastboot boot recovery <twrp.img>.

@Robert error: cannot load 'recovery': No such file or directory. I did Down+power, then waited till fastboot picture appears on the screen and then executed your command with path to twrp.img.

Sorry my fault the recovery was too much. Just execute fastboot boot <twrp.img>.

@Robert FAILED (remote: dtb not found)

which chipset your Mi 4 have? MSM8939 (ferrari), MSM8974 (cancro), MSM8992 (libra)

@alecxs I made a search on my model 2014215 and it seems cancro.

flash official TWRP for Xiaomi Mi 3 and keep holding Volume Up while rebooting from fastboot. in TWRP disable dm-verity

@alecxs I forgot about disabling dm-verity, now I have powered by Android booting. What does it mean if I have forgoit it?

@alecxs anyway, I've made it, it works. Thanks a lot. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthumbs.gfycat.com%2FFrailLeafyArcticduck-max-1mb.gif&f=1&nofb=1


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Can't write to internal storage on a rooted phone
I have a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) which I rooted with Magisk.
Now in the process of installing TWRP and customizing my phone, I might have run some shell commands, like mount or sudo in a place where I shouldn't had.
So now some folders in my /sdcard/ are now "locked". Apps can't write to them like Whatsapp, Telegram, Camera, for example the messaging apps can't download any media, I can't take any picture with Camera.
When I try to delete a folder or a file with the built-in File Manager, it just doesn't succeed.
With adb shell I tried this command: rm -r /sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Images but I get permission denied, but running it as root works: su -c rm -r /sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Images.
What I did was, I checked ownership and read/write accesses with ls -al and I compared the results with a normal phone, EVERYTHING looks fine! User owner is root and group owner is sdcard_rw, folder permissions look like this drwxrwx--x and file permissions look like this: -rw-rw----.
This issue has been hunting me for a couple of months, my phone is almost unusable, sometimes app work, sometimes they don't. Please tell me how I can provide more information to help solve this problem, thanks very much.

sdcard Fix Permissions script

In most cases restorecon -R /data/media should fix this. Details here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/218409/218526

btw 'rm -r /sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Images' actually will remove two files/directories namely "/sdcard/Telegram/Telegram" and also "./Images" (from your current pwd). you must quote paths containing whitespaces "/sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Images"


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How to save specific WhatsApp video when by default Media Visibility is off?
I normally have the Media Visibility setting off so it doesn't store WhatsApp media on my phone but recently a friend sent some videos I want to transfer to computer/email. I cannot find these anywhere - I looked in the File Manager for all possible WhatsApp folders, both internal and SD card. I changed the Media Visibility to "on" but it's not a "new" video so it still doesn't save them. It's gotta be downloaded somewhere on my phone - is there any way to transfer them? The "Share" function only allows forwarding to other WhatsApp contacts and not email etc

Okay, finally found a way. From the chat, I have to click the group of videos, then tap and hold on one specific video, then the "Share" button shows up to share through email. Gotta do the videos one at a time - it won't show the Share button for multiple videos selected, only the Forward button.


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Laptop doesn't recognize phone connecion
My Samsung a20e is not recognized by laptop.
When connected,phone is charging but nothing changes in computer. No notification, nothing in device manager. Phone is in mtp mode and I installed all drivers.

Try a different USB cable. May be the cable you use is defect or supports only charging.

I have done it and my laptop died. Thats fault of bad usb but is there any possibility i can fix it and motherboard is not gone??


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ADB - Not able to wipe data. Tried a lot of things
I tried wiping my old Lenovo tablet using the following methods but none work

Factory reset through the phone

Erase all data using Google's Find my Phone

'wipe data/factory reset' -> 'Yes -- delete all user data' reset using the bootloader

So I installed ADB through android-tools on my latest Manjaro Cinnamon as well as android-udev and tried the following but they don't work either.
$ recovery --wipe_data
/system/bin/sh: recovery: not found
127|shell@android:/ $

$ wipe data
Wiping /data
Error opendir'ing /data 'Permission denied'
Done wiping /data
shell@android:/ $

$ adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR
Broadcasting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR }
Broadcast completed: result=0

The device won't load as fastboot nor is there an option to fastboot under recovery or developer tools. So 'adb reboot bootloader' or 'fastboot' devices does nothing either. No root access option in developer tools either. So:
$ su
/system/bin/sh: su: not found
127|shell@android:/ $

and
$ adb root
adbd cannot run as root in production builds

$ rm -rf /data/*
rm failed for -rf, No such file or directory

So I don't know how to proceed and feel like I am out of options. Can someone help me please?

your device is in read-only mode because of emmc wear-out

@alecxs Okay. Is that a software or a hardware problem? And how do I fix that?

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/225078 https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q/5891

Alright @alecxs. Going through the link you sent and then will try mount and to flash userdata partition. Thank you. Will revert back soon

@alecxs I cant use mount because adb root won't work prior to it. And flashing the partition won't work because the tablet does not have a fastboot mode

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/203283 https://android.stackexchange.com/q/220584


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Turn off google contacts sync in Redmi Note 5 Pro
I have multiple accounts in my redmi note 5 pro and the contact names are getting changed due to same contacts in multiple accounts. I want to stop syncing contacts in one of them. How do I do so?

I don't use multiple Google accounts but when I open Android Settings -> Accounts -> Google account x -> Accountsynchronization I can specify what should be synced. This should allow you to disable contacs sync selectively on some Google accounts.


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How can we trick an android device that the device does not get our real location?
Is it possible to make the Android Operating System  receive false location data or not receive any data about our geolocation at all. And how we can do it in the  maximal clean way so that the third-party applications that are installed on the phone could't even suspect about it?

The phone has a GPS sensor and the OS can read the values from this sensor. Thus, the OS knows your real position.
However, the apps have no access to the direct OS reading - they can only ask the OS to give them the position. And the OS has builtin support to give them fake results.
To do that, do the following steps:

Enable developer mode (as described here).
In the developer mode, enable "Allow mock locations". This allows for apps to override the GPS sensor input by a fake position provided by them.
Install any app with exactly this feature, like Fake GPS Location.

It works a little bit differently on some phones, for example on my Moto G8 there is no "Allow mock locations" option in the developer mode. In most cases, it is possible even on them, but a little bit differently.
Extension: apps can know if it you did these, but they have probably no way to know, if the actual position they've got is mocked. Probably it can be prevented only by rooting the phone. Thanks @Robert for the info.

Note that apps can query if mocked locations are allowed and thus "know" that the location they get is "untrusted".

@Robert Wow, that is sad. I think, only rooting can really hide it.

In this case, can the third- party Applications find out that the received location datas are fake? And can we do anything to fix  this issue ?

@MariaWilson If I understand Robert's answer well, the apps can only check, if such location mocking is allowed (did you walked over the list in the answer). They have still no way to know, if the location is mocked or not.

@Robert Is it possible to revoke this permission from the apps without rooting? Maybe by some access control finetuning?

@peterh-ReinstateMonica What permission do you talk about? A lot info about mocking detection can be found here: https://www.klaasnotfound.com/2016/05/27/location-on-android-stop-mocking-me

@peterh-ReinstateMonica  Yes i did.I tested it and it worked. But i have a question .


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Some websites not reachable using cellular data but working perfectly using Wifi
I a have a Xiaomi mi 9 se phone and I am not able to access some websites using their IP adress. To give you some context, I have some servers I wish I can access but it not possible, I receive a ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE in chrome for android when using cellular data but the same IP address works fine using Wifi. Using another phone (Google pixel) the same address can be accessed without any problems using cellular data.
I though it could be a carrier issue but I tried the sim card from the Google Pixel putting it in my Xiaomi phone and still it does not work.
I tried tweaking with DNS configuration but still nothing.
Do you have any idea on what can be the cause of this problem ?

Are you talking about IPv4 (four numbers connected by dots) or IPv6 (multiple numbers connected by colons) addresses? If it the latter your cellular provider might not yet support it. If you enter the IP address then the DNS configuration is not used at all.

Yes it is IPv4 format. Indeed, you are absolutely right about the DNS ans IP addresses, my bad.

Can you give us the first three numbers of the IP address? May be the address belongs to a subnet that was originally restricted but later because of the small number of remaining IPv4 addresses was opened for use but your cell provider still thinks it is restricted.

In fact any ip address will not work when I try to access it from my phone. For exemple I can't access cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 IP address using cellular data while accessing using wifi is not a problem. Also if I put my SIM card in my google pixel phone, I can access any IP address normally.

This source says that ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means a DNS resolution problem. Can you somehow find a way to use a different DNS? 8.8.8.8 works often much better.


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Backup / Restore Titanium Backup's labels
When I move to a new phone, I only want to install my previously installed user apps.
I use a label to identify which apps are currently installed, vs old ones, vs system apps.
How can I backup and restore my TiBk labels?

From the old ROM, save a copy of /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/databases/custom.

Settings->Apps, force stop TiBak, wipe its data.
Run TiBk (this creates an initial set of databases). Check busybox, etc are OK.
Again: Settings->Apps, stop TitBak.
Replace /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/databases/custom with the copy from the old ROM
Restart TiBk; profit.

Credit


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Screen unlock pattern fails
After a system crash, it black screen and reboots, i am unable to unlock using a pattern, it is correct but is not recognised. I don't want to exceed the retry limit as things get more complicated...
How to fix it?
I'm stuck with android 6.0.1 on a galaxy j7 2015.

This happened 2 times already. I just had to calm down and think: the reboot was forced, in a non safe way. So something went wrong.
To solve it, i just did another, but normal reboot, and it fixed itself.


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Proper USB micro splitter?
For my noname low-cost android tablet i'd like to power and use keyboard at the same time - both have USB micro connector on it. But the problem is, that the tablet has only 1 usb micro socket, which gives me lotta trouble. I tried to do male - female - female adapter on my own (without OTG) and it just didn't work out. Guess that even charger uses communication lines to the tablet.
What can I use then, is there any finished solution out there, that's ready to use for this situation?

Micro USB has special pin that is dedicated to USB OTG. If it is missing the device can not recognize that an USB OTG device is connected.

Yes, I'm well aware of that. But is there a finished product for this kind of USB "splitter" or is too specific to be "bought"?

it will never work. that are two different modes that can not used simultaneously (except for some corner cases) https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=otg+charge

i have two of these OTG charge HUBs (micro USB, USB-C) it has switch for easy changing modes. you can't charge while in host mode, but it provides external power for connected mouse + keyboard + hard disk drive (helpful to increase battery up time)


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Remove WhatsApp images from OneDrive Photo library
I'm trying to remove WhatsApp clutter from my private photos folder on OneDrive. I'm using OneDrive on Android and it seems it is being used as the backup target for WhatsApp and Viber.
I really need a suggestion on how to remove the whole WhatsApp lot from the OneDrive and stop syncing new ones.
If there is an API and a WhatsApp tag of some sort, I'm open to creating a shared script on github.

Can OneDrive stop syncing certain folders? WhatsApp images are located in /sdcard/Media/WhatsApp Images

I'm trying to remove all Whatsapp Images already synced to OneDrive.


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Could Static Electricity interfere with HP Pavilion Active Pen?
My HP Active Pen worked for two months with my new HP Pavilion x360.  They are sold together.  Then it stopped.  I changed batteries and it worked again, for a day or two.  Then it stopped.  Changed batteries again, but it would not work.  Put it aside a few days, now it works again.  I am wondering if placing it on the end table by the couch with my cell phone, my cell phone QI charger, or possible drips from drinking glasses could have short-circuited it.  Also, there is a lot of static in the house this year,  Every time I pet the cat, he backs up from the static.  Could that interfere with how the pen works?  This pen does not use bluetooth, only a single AAAA battery.
Can anyone explain this to me?


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use selected photo or video as camera
Some applications do not allow you to choose an application such as fake camera to take photos (such as verification app), they only allow you to use the default camera of the smartphone. Is there a way to set photos or videos as the default camera? so that any app that has the use of the camera only see the photo I selected? the phone model is indifferent, please tell me the most suitable.
Thanks for your suggestions :)

Related (but no answers yet): Creating 'fake' microphone and camera inputs on an Android mobile, How to emulate camera input in Android?


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Sharing image makes phone very unstable
I think that Motorola One can be considered a quite powerful phone with its octa-core 2.0 GHz Snapdragon 625 and 3 GB or RAM. It also produces a fairly small images of 4160x3120 pixels and approx. 3-5 MB in size. Based on that specs, I'd say that sharing image should be an instant experience.
Yet, in fact, it is a nightmare in my case:

attaching single image to Gmail (to share it via email) takes 20-30 seconds, sometimes more and often hangs Gmail itself for a moment (i.e. I can write an address or message content during adding of image) or permanently,
attaching image to Messages app (to share it via MMS message) takes 30-50 seconds or even more, often hangs Messages app and on a few rare occasions hanged entire phone.

Is there anything I can do about this except for uninstalling Gmail and Google Messages and start using another email and messages app?
BTW: We could say that my slow network (which is not slow) can be considered as a contributing factor in case of Gmail. But could it also explain MMS experience? Which has nearly nothing to do about data transfer over Internet during MMS message creation?

When you send the image via GMail does the recipient get the original image or ist it somehow processed (resized recompressed,...)?

Does this happen with all source apps or only some apps? I remember Wikipedia app needed to download the image first before sharing to other apps (including uploading the image again on Gmail case).

@Robert No, neither I (sender) see any dialog asking me to resize image prior to sending it nor the recipient gets it modified. It is 1:1 / 100% exactly the same image as captured by my camera. There's no processing AFAIK.

@AndrewT. I cannot answer you this question directly, because I am using orignal (stock) Messages app and Gmail on all brands and kinds of Motorolas that I've been using for years. However, I am pretty sure that this has nothing to do with downloading or network speed, because I have it quite fast. For example yesterday I managed to download and install two huge game updates (approx. 1 GB each) in just a few minutes. I have a stable approx. 30-50 Mbps upstream and downstream so downloading or uploading these images during share shouldn't be a problem.

@trejder Why don't you just send an image top yourself and compare the files? That would be the easiest way to determine if the image is processed.

@Robert Seems my comment is confusing to you, sorry for that. These images are 100% the same. I am sending them via email to myself only. And I am doing so only when I am too busy (or too lazy) to do this via cable. But I am sure that there is no processing and image is changed in no way. So, it lands on my PC exactly the same, no matter, if I use Gmail or USB cable.

you could try if other app will make a difference (i personally prefer mail.ru for sending pictures as attachments, no size limit)


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Non-native network interfaces
I have these strange non-native network interfaces popping up on my phone... and mind you, this is after factory resetting my phone 5 times in a row. Can anyone help me make sense of these?
Instead of a screenshot I'll just post the interfaces. They are:
v4-ccmni2
v4-ccmni0
Or is that the cellular network interface?
I logged onto wifi and then back off and got v4-ccmni2 when it was 0 before. Any clarification would be appreciated.


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wifi speed is perfect in laptop but very low in mobile why?
isp : gtpl
phone : poco F1
plan : 40 mbps down and half of it upload
router settings : channel 6 and frequancy auto
security : WPA - Personal
note : both test were on wifi, laptop was not connected with LAN
all basic i already did like reboot resets phone wifi setting resets nothing worked

Wifi antenna(s) in smartphone have to be small to fit into the remaining space. In a laptop there is large free space for placing one or more long antennas (often in the display). Therefore a smartphone can never compete with a well-designed laptop.


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Retrieve DCIM folder deleted from internal storage, no backup on Google and phone is unrooted
I accidentally deleted files including photos from file manager. I tried multiple recovery apps like Dr. Fone, disk digger, etc. but nothing seems to work as my thumbnails, cache and everything from the recycle bin has been deleted. Google photos also doesn't have backup. Can anyone suggest how to retrieve data, especially the DCIM folder without rooting my phone?

not possible. but you can search for trash or thumbnail folders https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.i8dudata.imgrecover.free

Does this answer your question? How to pull data from internal memory on an unrooted phone?


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Need Help Making 7" Monitor Display Android Screen
I got a 7 inch ultra thin TFT LCD Color Monitor that has HDMI, AV, VGA, and is DC12 volt - USB 5 Volt by TOGUARD D701.
I want to use it in my car with a android device (phone or tablet) to display things like GPS or music.
So far I can not get any android device (only phones so far) to display. I have also tried an old iPhone 5s and an iPod that is 5 years old with HDMI adapters for both apple and android products.
I can't seem to get anything to display onto the dumb monitor. (Dumb meaning no OS to it besides the device trying to connect).
What do I need or am I doing wrong? I need to set this monitor up so my father can plug his phone in and have a GPS he can see. The monitor is brand new and can connect to an Xbox one. So why won't an any android phone display when connected. The phones support MHL HDMI. Do I need a different type of supported HDMI connection?

MHL needs to be supported by both devices. As this display does not seem to support it you need an MHL to HDMI converter. In the end the combination of smartphone, adapter and display is not very portable. Wouldn't it be easier to use a 7" phablet?

while external monitor should work on every MHL device with proper cables, most devices can't be charged simultaneously https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q/34741
it's worth mention that charging with these cheap otg charge hubs didn't work on any of my devices https://android.stackexchange.com/q/220032 make some tests before buying phone


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Can't flash a recovery image on device with red state
noob here. I cant flash a recovery image on my Tecno Camon 12 phone. Its in a boot loop showing red state error and cant get past the logo. Trying to flash it with sp flash tool doesn't work since it cant detect the phone.

unlock bootloader first

How do I unlock the bootloader?

follow the unbrick guide first. when your phone is working again, enable oem unlocking in developer options (required for unlocking from fastboot) https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-31989.html

https://www.getdroidtips.com/download-tecno-flash-tool or https://androidmtk.com/flash-stock-rom-using-smart-phone-flash-tool will both work only when installed MT67xx VCOM preloader drivers while phone is connected completely powered-off

The problem is that the device cannot be recognized by my pc for flashing.

i don't believe that. that would mean physical damage of usb jack. are you sure you doing it right? make sure device is powered-off completely (remove battery if possible). on windows 10 disable driver signature verification. open windows device manager and see what is happening when usb cable is connected. preloader is just visible for ~ 1 second. within this time, pick up the yellow triangle and install preloader driver (different from adb drivers). here is example video

i recommend to do a readback first (see step 11+12) before trying to flash anything. also it is good idea to create your own scatter file based on your current ROM. it is a good exercise to learn how flash tools work, and good to have a backup before flashing anything. Remember these golden rules: 1) Do never flash preloader  2) Always flash in 'Download only' mode only 3) use only scatter file matching your exact device model + ROM version + partition layout
https://android.stackexchange.com/q/203283


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Skype app on Android
I have temporarily moved to a new university for a research project, and I'm now using their wifi Internet connection. While everything seems to work fine with the Windows 10 laptop, the Skype app on my Android phone keeps "freezing". What I mean is that although I seem to be connected and I can see my contacts, I cannot make nor receive any calls. Even if I turn off the wifi and use the mobile connection on the phone, the situation does not change.
After many attempts, I have found out that if I logoff from the app and I login again using the mobile connection, the app starts working again. At this point I can even restore the wifi connection and everything works for a while. But eventually it freezes again...
The weird thing is that this trick doesn't always work. Sometimes after I logoff from the Skype app I cannot login back even if I'm connected with the mobile data. I keep getting the error message "unable to sign in. Please check your internet connection". Also, if I try to login to my Skype account using Chrome for Android I cannot reach the page and get the message "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN". But everything else seems to work fine and I can browse other websites or use different apps.
I understand that this might be due to some strange settings of my host university. While this is annoying, I can live with that. But what I really would like to understand, though, is why my phone behaves so strangely even when I'm switch off from the university wifi and I'm using my private mobile data connection...

Could you mention the device model and the Android version? Also, while it's probably not really related to the Skype issue, there are some troubleshooting comments for DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on How do I solve DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on android and to the extent of Why can't I browse to my desktop using its .local hostname?

@Andrew T. The phone is a Sony Xperia XZ2 compact with Android 10, but the same problem appears on my wife's phone, which is a Honor 9 Lite with Android 9.  Regarding the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN, I mentioned it because it seems to appear only when the Skype app is frozen. As soon as I manage to restart Skype (by logging off and in again with a different Internet connection), this problem seems to go away as well

I still don't fully understand how, but the issue appears to be solved now.
After I changed the DNS settings from automatic to private towards dns.quad9.net, not only the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error on Chrome disappeared when trying to connect to my Skype account, but also the Skype app stopped freezing.
I suspect that with the previous settings the DNS request for the Skype IP (via the NAT done by the university) was somehow unintentionally lost, and the app could not reach the server nor Chrome the account webpage.
Also the apparent random behaviour was probably due to some form of caching of the DNS, by which when I switched to the mobile data connection I had to wait for some time before the app could unfreeze, and similarly when restoring the university wifi the app didn't freeze immediately...
Anyways, the issue is solved, but if you have a more sound explanation, please consider writing a better answer. Thanks.

It sounds like the skype ports are being blocked
Ask the IT staff if these ports are being blocked.
For Skype to work correctly, the following ports need to be open in your firewall:
443/TCP
3478-3481/UDP
50000-60000/UDP
For the best possible call quality experience, these ports are needed too:
1000-10000/TCP
50000-65000/TCP
16000-26000/TCP

I suspected something similar. But if this is the case, shouldn't the firewall also block my desktop Skype on Windows 10?  Which on the contrary works OK...

@iwakun As far as I know Skype uses firewall hole punching technique to establish certain connections. May be network access on Windows does allow a deeper access that simplifies hole punching and on Android the network access is only possible on a higher level? Alternatively the Skype desktop app may use a different server/API that has been white-listed by the network admins.

Would be interesting to see what the IP of your desktop is versus the IP of the phone.

@MarkScheck The IP changes depending on which lab or area within the university I am. But I double checked, and the issue with Skype still appears on the Android phone and does not on the PC, even when both devices are connected on the same wifi and share the same public IP.

Are they on the same subnet? can you post both IP's?


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EMUI 8: Where is the downloaded OTA located?
I downloaded the latest version of EMUI 8 for my Huawei Nova 2i (RNE-L22), the file size is 3GB.
Before installing the update, I'm planning to do a factory reset but that means I will need to re-download the update. The problem is I have a very limited internet connection, so I wanted to move the file into my SD-Card and flash it later.
I couldn't find where the file is located, anyone knows where it is?
Anyway, I downloaded the update by navigating into the Settings > About Phone > System Update.

See this related question. If the location is Huawei specific inside /data/data then you don't have access on un-rooted devices. In any way it does not matter if you first do the factory reset or afterwards. Just to be sure I would remove all accounts in Android settings -> accounts so that you can do a factory reset later without running into FRP (if the device does not boot up correctly after upgrade). Therefore if you don't want to redownload the update apply it before doing the factory reset.

I don't understand what's with Huawei. This should be easy and should be accessible with a root or unrooted device. Anyway, I just update it and do a factory reset later.


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Save all radio communication to file
I have a rooted phone. So, your phone has a radio right? It does calls, uses network, et cetera. Can you access the radio with root permissions?
How could I log all raw radio communication to a file?

You cannot access modem. It's completely isolated from the Android OS. The communication between Android and modem is through Radio Interface Layer (rild) which is closed source, specific to OEM. You may however check logcat -b radio to see what's already being logged. Or reverse engineer the RIL daemon.

On a rooted device you may be able to use Xposed and hook all calls to the RIL for logging them. But this would have an significant impact on your device speed. Some functions may even fail because due to Xposed and the hook taking too much time.


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How can I charge Motorola One normally?
tl;dr: Every setup that I tried so far ends up with "Charging rapidly" or "Charging slowly" on my Motorola One. What kind of charger (or power source) and cable should I use in order to charge this phone at a standard charging pace?

I was always told that to charge phone rapidly / use QC etc. you need:

correct rather good quality cable,
proper charger, 2 A at output at minimum.

The thing is that on my Motorola One I am getting "Charging rapidly" even on cheap 0.5 USD cable connected to:

1 A charger (which needs 5-6 hours on other phones),
2.0 and 2.4 A charger (which charges other phones in about 2-3 hours) and
10 A QC 3.0 charger (which charges other phones in about 1+ hour)

Actually my Motorola One is the only mobile device (out of 15+) in my home that reports "charging rapidly" on every of above setup, even on cheap cable and 1.0 A charger (which isn't able to quickly-charge any other device).
On the other hand, when I connect it to a regular (non-QC) USB, I am always getting "charging slowly", even on very new and expensive PCs (which are told to have 1 A on USB) and even on high-quality, QC-ready cables.
So my question is, what is the correct setup to charge Motorola One "normally"? Is it possible at all in case of this device?
This question is entirely on getting correct setup to charge Motorola One neither quickly nor slowly (if possible). I don't want to discuss here any related issues like "quickly charging doesn't make your battery weaker anymore, so why you're asking, go ahead and quickly charge every time". Please, don't post comments like that. Thank you.

Kind of related: Wattage for charging status (customizable per device model)

When I search for "Motorola One" I only get results for multiple devices like "Motorola One Zoom" or other words after "One". Different devices may use different fast charging technologies, therefore you should exactly name your device.

Does this answer your question? How do I design a 2A or more power supply for my consumer USB devices?

@AndrewT. Truly, related. It clearly defines meanings of "charging rapidly" and "charging slowly", based on wattage (some could even say that my question is a duplicate of that linked one). You could use this information to answer my question (use any cable with 5-7.5W charger). I won't be able to make any use of this answer, because for some weird reason none of my chargers provided any information on power in watts, it delivers. Only output voltage and current. But, the question will truly be answered.

@Robert Well... I bought it in Poland, titled exactly "Motorola One 4/64GB Dual SIM white". Here is the link (destination page is in Polish) to the shop and actual model that I purchased. I assume that this is simply "first edition" of Motorola One. When shipping it to the market they didn't know, if this "will hit", whether there will be some other models or continuations and simply didn't care to add it some special catchy name, I suppose.

@alecxs Not at all, sorry. I don't want to design my own charger! :>

if you look at the schematics you will see all it takes is some resistores on the data pins to control charging protocol. these do not necessarily have to be inside the cable. some short circuit (dirt / water) could have same effect. it might also possible this devices comes with resistores on pcb charging dock

@alecxs It is possible that you're getting me all wrong. I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Please, take a look at my last sentence in the question, where I am asking if this is possible at all. Maybe not? Maybe, due to information that Andrew T. shared with us, no matter which cable and charger I'll use, my phone will always report "charging quickly" and when I use USB port for charging -- will always say "charging slowly".

yes, and i gave you another possible reason why

pc won't deliver more than 500 mA no matter what charging mode is requested on data pins, that's limitation in usb protocol. see High-power device https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Low-power_and_high-power_devices

you may find one of these apps helpful https://android.stackexchange.com/q/232920


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After a factory reset the restore of SMS, call-history etc. fails
I turned on "backup to google drive" using an account on a "legacy free edition of Google Apps" domain and then factory reset my Pixel 3. When I worked through the re-configuration, at the very end, the restore failed with a message saying "Couldn't finish restoring the backup". Several attempts at re-running this didn't change anything.

My working theory is that the failure is due to the default installed version of the apps in question, after a factory reset, being older than the version that created the backup before the factory reset. What is needed is to defer the restore-from-backup (which seems to be impossible to directly trigger once the initial setup is "done") until after they are all updated.
What ended up working was to do the following:

During the initial setup bypass adding an account at all and defer as much setup as possible (remind me later, skip, etc.). As soon as possible, get a home screen. (I just left the setup screens idle in the background.)
Once at a basic home screen,use the app update screen and prompt an immediate update of everything,
Wait for those updates to completely finish.
Then, add the primary account.
Finally, resumed the setup, hope and pray that that it will now attempt the restore from backup using the newly added account.

I'm likely missing a number of details so you may have to try this several times to figure out exactly what things take.
Another thing I did, which might have an effect, was to restore only the thing I actually needed, ... but my gut says that wasn't the big difference that made it work.

Your approach sounded promising, but unfortunately did not have any positive effect for me. There was also (in Android 13, so probably a few versions later than what you used) not much to update, while the rest required a login to the Google Account, which then of course kicks off the remaining flow we're trying to delay. So I updated those ~5 system apps, even rebooted once, then started the actual restore process, but it would still fail with the generic message.

This problem appears to be caused by Google Workspace domains which have policies set which require connected devices to have passwords/PINs/patterns. Which is the default for Workspace domains. But during initial setup on many phones, this happens before one has the chance to set a password/pin/pattern/whatever.
The method above presumably works because you have set up a PIN before trying to conenct a Google account - and it's probably the best way to do it.
An alternative solution, which I just followed successfully, is to turn off this requirement for the domain using the instructions at https://support.google.com/a/answer/6328679. This does, of course, require you to have permission to adjust admin settings for the Google domain.


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Reading corrupted android internal memory sd card
Please I have a Huawei p8 lite phone and I mounted an sd card as internal storage since I don't money for phone with a bigger memory. After using it for months with most of my important documents inside, it's telling me that the sd card is corrupt and need to be formatted but I can't do that because of my stuffs inside. Please how can I access the card to save my data? I tried using huawei Hisuite, it installed on pc but can't install on my phone, telling me my device is outdated. Can I use p20 to do it, will this card from p8 be read in p20 or any possible way for me to save my data? Thanks so much.
Ps. I'v also installed an older version of Hisuite on my phone but it didn't work.

When formatted as internal the SD-card is encrypted and can only be read by the device that has encrypted it. Therefore all attempts to access it on a PC can not work by definition. You can only use the PC to make sure the whole SD-card can be read on raw level using a tool like Win32DiskImager.

buy another MicroSD Card and 1:1 clone with gddrescue. if you are lucky the new MicroSD Card is decryptable on unrooted device https://android.stackexchange.com/q/222394

@Robert wrote "When formatted as internal the SD-card is encrypted...". To clarify, for which versions of Android is that valid? All of them or just more recent ones?

@RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket As far as I know this applies to every Android version. "When external storage media is adopted, it’s formatted and encrypted to only work with a single Android device at a time." ("with a single device" means that it is bound to the device).

@Robert Thank you, Robert, for the quote and the link.


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How to find an exact string on contacts either on Google or Samsung Contacts
I just migrated from Apple to Android and transferred all of my contacts.  Each one of my clients is entered as a contact and under the notes section of the contacts I enter the date when I talked to them and I also enter the date on when I need to contact them again, the dates are entered as a string with no spaces, for example today's date would be entered as February3,2021.  Every day I see who I need to call by just entering the date string into search on my contacts App., for example, tomorrow, I will enter February4,2021 and I will see the names of the people who I need to speak to.
Now that I am on Android I do the same thing but when I enter February2,2021 I am also shown February20,2021, February21,2021..... February29,2021.
I need to find a way to search for an exact string to solve my problem, I tried entering the string under " " and that doesn't work and I have not yet found a way to do this.
I would appreciate your help.


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What are all these Google internet hosts (domains) and why is stripped-down Android connecting to all of them?
Technology users are faced with a challenge: Allowing our tech devices to work without them invading our privacy.
Obviously choosing products carefully is a critical step.  Unfortunately, the two main players in the smartphone space, Google and Apple, are well known for their questionable data collection and harvesting practices.
LineageOS and /e/OS are up-and-coming providers of privacy-friendly smartphone operating systems.  Until they become more commonplace, I thought it would be worthwhile to create a compendium of internet hosts to which Android connects by default.
To do this, I let an Android device run for 5 hours and captured all packets trying to leave the device.
The Android device was configured never to share contact data, calendar data, task data, map data, location data, or any history of any kind.  It also was configured to not transmit or receive email at all.  The internet search function of the launcher was removed.  Furthermore, Google Chrome and the Google's Android Assistant were both disabled, as were all the various "Google Play" apps (such as Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Google Play Movies & TV, Google Play Music / YouTube, Google Play Newsstand) except for the Play store.  Within the Google Play store, automatically checking for new app versions was disabled.  Finally, a non-Google keyboard was installed and set as the default.
Even after doing all this, within just 5 hours of the phone sitting without being used, the Android device attempted to connect to all the following Google-owned hosts:
history.google.com
mtalk.google.com
alt1-mtalk.google.com
alt2-mtalk.google.com
alt3-mtalk.google.com
alt4-mtalk.google.com
alt5-mtalk.google.com
alt6-mtalk.google.com
alt7-mtalk.google.com
alt8-mtalk.google.com
android.clients.google.com
www.google.com
android.googleapis.com
play.googleapis.com
cloudconfig.googleapis.com
connectivitycheck.gstatic.com
footprints-pa.googleapis.com
mobilemaps.googleapis.com
people-pa.googleapis.com
www.googleapis.com
www.googletagmanager.com
play-lh.googleusercontent.com
smtp.gmail.com
What is the purpose of each of these hosts, and why are so many connections still being attempted given that almost everything Google-related is supposed to be disabled on the device?
Note that I don't expect a single answerer to know the purpose of every host listed, but hopefully we can work together to use this QA to create a quality reference resource.

It is interesting that, after two years, this posting has produced only partial results. Clearly, the purpose of many connections made to Android devices is deliberately hidden. Legitimate companies would publish technical details of their operations. By using AdShield, which lists connections, and then disabling them and seeing the results, I've determined that the majority of connections when playing games are for the purpose of serving ads. That doesn't answer the OP, because in their case they were not playing games.

I don't know the purpose of all hosts, but here is what I know:
connectivitycheck.gstatic.com
On this host typically only the URL https://connectivitycheck.gstatic.com/generate_204 is used. It is used by the Android device to determine if there is Internet access or not.
android.clients.google.com
Primarily this host serves Google Play Store for all sorts of queries, e.g. search for apps, periodical device registration, ...
history.google.com
The purpose of this host is not quite clear. The used service is called "history recording" and the server responds if it should be enabled or not. Potentially this is the host for the Google location history recording?
play.googleapis.com
Obviously this API is used by Google Play Store. For example if an app should be downloaded this server is used (besides some other servers).
android.googleapis.com
As far as I know this server is used for authentication purposes and for Google push notifications.
www.googleapis.com
Used by various Google services such as Google Calendar, Drive, Chat, Hangouts, User Location, Android Video ...
Inspect the traffic on your own
If you are interested in more details and have a rooted spare device I recommend to you to install Xposed + TrustMeAlready plugin (this disables SSL/TLS server check for every app - hence makes SSL/TLS totally insecure therefore don't use this on a regular device). Then install an HTTPS intercepting proxy such as Fiddler/Mitmproxy/Charles, ... on your PC and configure your PC as proxy in Wifi settings. Afterwards you can see all the data transmitted by your device.

Thank you Robert! That's a great start.  The one that you write about that I find most curious of those is history.google.com, as it doesn't seem like a call should be needed when history collection is disabled.

@StevenPenny The only alternative I know would Frida/Objection and it's anti TLS pinning scripts. But for using that you need to attach specifically to each process which can get complicated when it comes to Google processes as you have to handle multiple at the same time. And 2 years is not that old. It has some known problems with obfuscated apps that use OKHTTP pinning but that is nothing you can be fixed in a universal anti pinning plugin.

I mean you posted this recommendation pretty recently - have you actually used TrustMeAlready recently, or was it something you used a while back, and are not sure of the current effectiveness of the tool?

@StevenPenny I used it just a few weeks ago on an Android 11 device. Therefore I can verify that it still works.

@Robert has already given an answer to several addresses. I will just add my 2 cents for the following:

history.google.com: relates to your account activities (searches , youtube, location, etc). That URL sends you to https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity?pli=1
mtalk.google.com (and alt*-mtalk.google.com): is related to GCM/FCM (Google Cloud Messaging/Firebase Cloud Messaging). This link explains  Why does GCM needs to connect to mtalk.google.com ?:

OK, so basically the idea is the following: your system makes one connection to Google servers, specifying some kind of AndroidID to be recognized.
On the other side, every apps that use GCM has a server part somewhere, that also makes a connection to the Google servers, specifying an app identifier. Then, when one event is to be sent to you, it is send to the Google servers with your AndroidID, allowing the server to thus relay it to you.
The idea behind that is to have only one open connection on your phone, instead of one per app, allowing for much greater battery life. The cost is privacy, because that means all messages are going through Google servers. App can work a bit around this by having either encrypted messages content or minimal amount of information inside. But at the very least Google will have the following information: you have received a message from this app at this given time.

Note that GCM is deprecated. Considered the web address only for FCM now.


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Cannot sign in Mi account after MIUI 12 update on Redmi Note 8

Recently I updated my Redmi Note 8 to the MIUI. Since then, I get this notification.
I've tried "signing in" again but it doesn't work.
Also can't sign in more than one google account anywhere on the device.
Help!

remove the bonding and add the account again


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How to add custom passwords to the Google Password manager?
I’m using a OnePlus and want to add a custom password for a pdf I open frequently, I want to save this so I can easily access it and not type it over again. The native Password manager is not allowing me to do so, please help. Thanks

Based on Android Developers, I don't think there's a way to add custom passwords to Google Password Manager (service) since the prompt depends on the apps (clients), not files or anything else.

Thanks for the information! Well, do you have a third-party app you can recommend? Or maybe some other native service for OnePlus Phones?


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Why is it that the Zoom app on tv box don't have a video icon?
I already installed USB camera app to my tv box and the camera is working. But when I try to call on messenger the camera icon in messenger is not working the recepient cannot see me but I can see him.
I try calling on zoom but there is no camera icon in the app. I can see the other participants but they cannot see me.


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How to run hostapd on Redmi 8
I have been trying to run the hostapd with my own hostapd.conf but it's refusing to work and keeps saying segmentation fault and I am wondering how to get it working on Redmi 8 running Android 10
I have been testing everything and it always ends up with the same error
The hostapd it self is located at /vendor/bin/hw/hostapd
and also here is the default config from /data/vendor/wifi/hostapd
max_num_sta=1
vendor_elements=dd0411223301
ssid2=776e3133
wpa=2
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_passphrase=
acs_exclude_dfs=0
channel=11
ht_capab=[SHORT-GI-20] [GF] [DSSS_CCK-40] [LSIG-TXOP-PROT]
vht_oper_chwidth=0
ieee80211n=1
hw_mode=g
interface=wlan0
ctrl_interface=/data/vendor/wifi/hostapd/ctrl
ieee80211ac=0
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wowlan_triggers=any
accept_mac_file=/data/vendor/wifi/hostapd/hostapd.accept
deny_mac_file=/data/vendor/wifi/hostapd/hostapd.deny

also from what i noticed that file always gets generated when I enable hotspot.

Android's hostapd is somewhat limited. Try a fully custom built binary. Download link is available in my answer to this question: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/215514/218526

@IrfanLatif it didn't work you sure there isn't a way to get the original bin to work since android is already using it when i enable hotspot

I can't remember exactly but some time ago, a year or so, the Android binary didn't work for me. So I checked the AOSP source code and some features (which were not used in Android) were disabled at compile time. Then I compiled my own binary, and that worked. But I can't remember exactly what I was trying to do. You've to do some experiments with it. Segfault is a general failure. Narrow down the cause of failure. Use strace, check logs, SELinux, capabilities, etc.

Oh I see thanks well will do as soon as i get the chance to do so


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Is it possible that I unrooted my device after changing the build.prop?
I had rooted my device, I have Titanium Backup, Superuser, and ES File Explorer.
I changed the android version, phone model and sdk version in the build.prop file. Now I can't open any app other than Titanium Backup, which tells me it wasn't granted superuser permissions, and that I should check if my ROM is rooted.
When I access the files through my computer with Android Studio, I can see the root files.
Is my phone not rooted anymore or is Superuser just not working properly due to the build.prop change?

Most likely your changes (e.g. the Android version) broke something in a component of Android which is used by Superuser and other apps.

You could restore the original build.prop using the root powers of the custom recovery installed – of course provided there are such things as "backup" and "custom recovery"…

So yeah, it turns out my device was always rooted. As Robert said, I probably broke something that SuperSU used.
If anyone finds this helpful, I got it back to normal through recovery, like Izzy said.
I had previously backed up the build.prop file to my SDcard, so I created a zip file with build.prop and a meta-inf folder that I found in a custom ROM (I actually found it in this question from the XDA forum https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/copy-build-prop-with-flashable-zip.2986827/
However, this https://www.reddit.com/r/FirmwareDevelopment/comments/1iut7m/howto_understanding_the_metainf_folder_for/ says you can get it from any custom ROM). Flashed the zip file through CWM recovery and after rebooting, my phone was acting like nothing ever happened c:
*If you didn't backup build.prop, I'm sure there's ways to retrieve it through ADB, pretty sure you can copy it and paste it somewhere. Either way, you can still see the content of the file in Android Studio, and I'm guessing Eclipse and other programs I don't know of; and I'm a n00b, but I'm pretty sure you can make a brand new build.prop by copying the contents of the existing one on a text editor, of course changing what you had previously modified, hence leaving it the way it was before you messed it up.


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Importing group associations _only_
(Following question to this one)
Suppose I have an .xls or .csv file with associations of contact names to groups (or firstname, middlename, lastname to group).
I want to import these associations  - applied to existing contacts; I don't want to create new skeleton contacts based on these associations. Is this possible? If so, how?

The SA Contacts Lite application, which can import and export contacts more generally, can be used specifically for this purpose:

Download & install SA Contacts Lite application; it is available on places where you don't need an account, e.g. via APKPure.com.
Remove all columns from your the file except for the names/name components and the group associations (i.e. remove all the columns you don't want to import)
Save the whittled-down file to the root of your phone's storage hierarchy
In SA Contacts Lite, click Import.
Choose SD Card as the location in which to search for the import file (or someplace else, if you put your file on Box/DropBox/Google Drive and have that configured in SA Contacts Lite; I didn't do this); press Next.
Select the .xls file in the dialog which comes up; press Next.

That's basically it. Your existing contacts will now also have the group associations.
Notes:

I've tried this with an Excel file: .xls, not .xlsx. Not sure if it also works with .csv files.


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Samsung galaxy j6 plus stolen, lockscreen bypass possible?
My phone was stolen and there is alot of sensitive data in it
There was a lock screen in pin format, it was not a third party app
There was not sd memory card
Developper mode was not enabled
The phone was not encrypted
Android was up to date
Can the thief access its contents like apps contents and pictures ?
Thanks alot

"phone was not encrypted" is contradictory with Android 8.1 (Oreo) can't be true. have you unlocked bootloader and modified your phone to remove encryption? if it is a 5 digit pin your data is safe for a week. the only access is incoming calls and notifications. if your SIM card has no own pin protection it can be misused. btw normal thief usually is not interested in your data. check Find My Mobile or Find My Device there you can remote erase (if not visible device is most likely factory reset already)


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Undo effects of adb screenrecord
I tried out the screenrecord command through adb and executed it while my device was still locked (not sure if thats what caused it).
Now my lockscreen is in landscape mode with black bars around the side, and I can't use my touchscreen. I tried rebooting, but the problem persists. I currently can't use my device because of this, does anyone know how I can resolve this?

I finally manage to fix it using adb shell wm size reset


text:
Bluetooth disconnects with Miracast
When I share my phone screen with an LG monitor through Miracast, the Bluetooth disconnects and I need to reconnect it to keep the music playing.
How do I stop this?

This is behavior-by-design, although a choice to the user in this would be nice. If your phone's casting settings don't offer an option to keep BT enabled, than you can only look for a workaround. A reasonable workaround is to have an automation app automatically connect to you BT device once disconnected. The problem is the trigger: how to detect screen is being casted?


text:
How to decrypt Shelter/work profile without access to the app and no credentials?
I am referring to the topic How to decrypt Island / Work profile and Parallel Apps user in TWRP?
After installing a work profile (via Shelter) I wanted to install a backup of my LineageOS 17.1 via TWRP. My backup did not work and resulted in a bootloop straight into TWRP again:  failed to decrypt user 10.
My problem is: I do not know the user 10 password and I cannot start Android again. I cannot put in the password in TWRP or access the settings like advised in the answer of firelord… stupid me.
Does anybody have a suggestion? Is there a way to wipe the user 10? Any help would greatly appreciated.

Before restoring Lineage backup, did you make backup of the than state of the device? If yes, you might be able to restore it successfully and then follow my answer.

I did take a backup of the than working LOS (I am using the microG fork, as far as I know it does not have any influence there). After the last OTA update phone calls and sync were an issue, so I wanted to restore the TWRP backup, no success. I even got rid of some data to free the space on the phone (thought it might be the reason), but the restoring process got stuck at the same percentage again. That is when I restored a completely new nightly, same issues as mentioned above. I flashed the newest TWRP (3.5...), interestingly the MIUI 12.1 is starting (flashed it to get the current vendor).

It was possible to get rid of the encrypted work profile/user 10 with the MiFlashTool. It wiped out everything. But thanks a lot to Firelord for his first response!


text:
Super old email contacts suddenly appears in my phone contacts
When I woke up this morning I suddenly had 6 new contacts added to my contact book on my phone. All of them were emails, some of them I recognize from WAY back but I sure haven't had contact with them in a LONG time. I guess they were added in some kind of sync activity, but I'm pretty sure none of these addresses that were added, is featured in any of the accounts I'm currently using (gmail, yahoo) etc. I had contact with these people way before this
Why did this happen?
Is there any way to find out where a specific contact were synced from?

Probably not. If it is google contacts, maybe contacts.google.com might offer an out-of-android solution.

SO, it turns out these contacts were infact imported from a google account I actually deleted about a week ago (20 days for it to get permanently deleted). I looked into my sync settings on my phone and saw how this old gmail adress were still there with sync activated. I had to re-create the google account, and logon to find these contacts in there.
So apparently my phone suddenly decided to add 6 contacts from a deleted google account. This google account had actually a HUGE contact list synced from WAY back on my old phones and accounts. Now all deleted though


text:
How can I control volume of Zoom app?
I have installed official Zoom app for my Motorola One / Android 10.0 to be able to join meetings directly from my mobile phone as an alternative to the regular PC connection.
However, I have each call very loud and I cannot control volume in any way:

I have both Media volume and Call volume set to 0 (mute?) and still can hear Zoom call's audio (and still can hear it very loudly)
Changing any of these two params does not change Zoom's volume even a tiny bit.

What am I missing? Is this some kind of bug? How should I control1 call volume in Zoom app for Android?
I understand (correct me, if I am wrong) that:

Call volume is specific to Phone app only and to an actual over-the-phone calls / cellular networks' calls
Media volume should control in-media volume of all apps so this would mandate (?) Zoom's in-app audio call's volume as well

If I am correct then the good question is, why any of these two working?
Of course, I have this problem in Zoom app only. Phone's volume buttons are working correctly. All other apps responds to Media volume correctly and I can control any other aspect related to volume in my phone without any problems. Zoom only seems to be the exception here.
1Note that I am talking about controlling / decreasing volume of Zoom calls. I am aware of this question and mine isn't a duplicate. I don't want to disable the Zoom meeting's totally (I know how to disconnect audio out of any Zoom meeting). I just want to make it a way, way lower. Because right now I have to keep my headphones on my chins, at least 5-10 cm from my ears to not get deaf.

Is it possible that you have an app running that provides a permanent transparent overlay on all apps that passes touches to the visible app but may be prevents Zoom app to correctly configure the volume keys (as it is not the top-most app)?

Such possibility exists. Zoom (in my case) is an office app, available in work profile in Android 10. I don't have issues with my apps in my private profile and I don't have any other audio-related app in my work profile, to test your theory though...

Does nobody else have this issue? It drives me absolutely nuts! And I have the same issue - I wear my headphones around my neck to lower the volume. It's ONLY Zoom. i can control anything else.

I figured out that it is a bug in Zoom app.
Alternative connection methods
Uninstall Zoom app and:

Use browser call-in feature on your mobile browser, if that's an option in your company.

Use call-in feature. You can't see video this way, but at least you can participate in meetings without destroying your ears and boiling your brain.

I use mobile device for participation in Zoom calls at a very rare basis. The most times I use PC to be able to share my computer screen. So both options work in my case (i.e. I don't need Zoom app as it turned out).
Physical volume control
Get a new headphones or extend your existing ones with any kind of solution that allows you to use physical volume control (irespective of volume control in your phone, which is not working in case of Zoom app):

Get a cable with such element, if your current headphones supports detaching and replacing audio cable:

Get an extension cable to your existing headphones cable that does pretty much the same:

Get a new headphones with volume control built-in:

In my case the first option was a dream come true, not only with Zoom app, but in many other scenarios. You can get cables like that for a 1-2 USD on Alibaba or Aliexpress, so I've got ten of them in one package (assuming that half will be DoA which turned out to be not true).


text:
How to transfer Triviador World app so as not to lose the progress from one device to another without rooting
I try to transfer Triviador World app so as not to lose the progress from Lenovo (K6 Note) to a Motorola device.
I tried this by using the app Helium. However I found that this up is not compatible with Motorola. So I need something else.
Would you like to share your knowledge in this regard.

Are you talking about this game? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thxgames.triviador If yes this game seems to allow local backup via adb as well as backup into Google cloud.

In fact, I want to transfer Triviador Romania as well as Triviador World

How can I do this via google cloud? @Robert

Your Lenovo device is a bit old, not sure if cloud backup was already that good on Android 6. Have a Google account active on the device and enable backup to cloud. Then set-up the new device using the same Google account. In the set-up phase the device should ask if data should be restored.


text:
Gmail: How do I mute ALL coming mail *except* mail from certain senders?
I have a gmail account and I am getting too many inbox notifications. It wouldn't work to create a blacklist, because they come from many places. I would like to whitelist 3 or 4 senders and only receive notifications from them. Thank you.

If Gmail app doesn't offer this feature, your best alternative would be to automatically get unwanted inbox notifications automatically cleared instantly. I suggest you look into automation app than. I don't use Gmail app so can't confirm, but I think MacroDroid app can exclude certain notifications from its notifications filter. That way, excluding certain senders of your choice pretty much all notifications would be dismissed.

I use the "open mail" app to access my gmail, but it is muted. To get beeps for specific mails, I forward the important messages to another account, and the beeps are doing by the "enotify" app. I do not use the gmail app.

You might try:

whitelist a couple of email-addresses and mark them as important.
On the general tab of gmail settings choose: Important mail notifications on.

Hope this solves your issue.


text:
Is there a way to make a folder you CAN'T share images from?
I'm constantly scared I might accidentally "butt-dial" share my girlfriend's sensitive images, is there any way to make a folder for images that won't include a share function?

Creating a .nomedia file with any file explorer hides the folder, in which images are stored . Try that and see if your "share" apps can access it or not (I guess they shouldn't but to be sure) pr use one of the many apps on Play Store that  hide photos and test


text:
USB Tethering only SOMETIMES working
Hello unlike all the problems here which is related to their USB Tethering in android being grayed out or not working at all when connected, mine is an odd case
I use usb tethering with my android Xiaomi Mi9 since my PC doesn't have LAN and the wifi dongle reads my wifi as "Hidden Network" and inputting SSID still doesn't work
I can toggle on and off USB Tethering but the tethering doesn't work all the time. There are times where I tether and it gives my PC internet. There are also times where nothing happens even though my tethering is turned on and i have to turn it on and off multiple times until it does.
Now It's even worse because i have to on-off it multiple times like 5-10 times already.
I didn't use USB debugging and I don't have any VPN applications
I tried using a different wire and it's still the same.
Can anyone give me insight on what the problem might be?

Need to narrow it down a bit, potentially three items assuming that your phone network operator is not at fault
Phone itself
Data cable
The PC
Can you if possible try your phone and cable on a different PC.
Do you have any data transfer issues with the phone on the PC ? such as backups etc,  worth trying another cable if possible.
Daft one but try the cable in a different USB port too.
Finally if you are able to try a different phone on your PC to test if tethering works.
It may not matter but others could need to know what OS your PC is running.


text:
Punctuation in Google Voice typing on Android 11 in other than english language
I'm trying to use Google's voice typing but compared to iPhone it's really rude.
I'm already on Android 11. But it is still not able to detect my punctuation words, so everytime I want a . or , I need to stop the voice typing, switch back the keyboard to normal, enter the punctuation sign, and switch back to voice typing.
This requires as much effort that I turned off completely the dictation function.
Is it somehow possible to enter the word-mappings into the voice typing? I don't usually say "point" in a sentence for anything else but closing it.

Is it somehow possible to enter the word-mappings into the voice typing?

That's not currently possible with Gboard  voice typing. Make sure to enable the auto-punctuation: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/244528/12202


text:
My SD card got damaged
iam unable to format it not use it. i need an app that will help me recover my data please anyone can share light to this.
Thanks in anticipation

Interesting - since when does the community bot close questions? Especially as the question does not contain any indicator regarding "internal memory" at all?

@Robert I suspect, if there are no close votes, but a lot of close flags arrives, then the community bot does the task. But I am not sure - it might worth some digging or a question on the MSE.

@Robert There is also a change in the question closing system. It is a recent development. If a close review is started (either by a close vote, or by a close flag), then the OP gets a message asking him if he gets the answer in the orig candidate. If he clicks yes, then maybe also Community bot does the closure.

@Robert someone flagged the question as a duplicate and the OP agreed with it.


text:
How to actually delete SMS/MMS messages using third-party SMS applications like Pulse SMS?
A while back, I switched from Samsung's default SMS app (Samsung Messages) to Pulse SMS.
For many months, I've been using Pulse SMS to delete old SMS and MMS messages.  After deleting almost all MMS messages and thousands of SMS messages, I backed up Android's SMS/MMS database using Epistolaire.  Much to my surprise, the backup was over 500GB.
Given that SMS messages are tiny, I immediately knew something was wrong.  So I loaded up Samsung's default SMS app, and sure enough, every one of my supposedly-deleted SMS and MMS messages are still technically on the Android device (even though thousands of them had supposedly been deleted by the Pulse SMS app).
Besides going through tens of thousands of SMS and MMS messages again, how can I remove all the supposedly-deleted SMS/MMS messages from Android without removing the thousands of messages I want to keep?
Also, how do I prevent this mess from happening in the future?

i know Textra deals with mmssms.db and keep it syncronized. for Windows i recommend MyPhoneExplorer it has a nice gui to filter + delete on keywords (like e-mail program)


text:
Custom vibration patterns for notification types
I'd like to set different vibration patters for different notification types.
For example something like: 2 short buzzes for a private Whatsapp message, 2 long ones for a group message, long and short for calendar, etc. I can set custom sounds for each of these in settings, but vibrations can only be turned on or off. Is there some way to add custom vibration functionality to this?
To be clear I'm not looking for contact specific vibrations, though it would be a nice addition.
I'm using a rooted device running lineage 17.1 btw.

As an Android app developer, I believe that is not possible unless the app itself implements something like that. You do not have any system settings for this feature.

@WrichikBasu I was afraid that would be the answer. Sad since it seems like such an obvious feature to have.