text:
How do I change the Google Play country?
Can someone tell me how to change the country preference for Google Play? I have searched high and low but in most of the forums people ask you to go to Gmail settings -> edit profile and change the country there. But there is no place to change the country in settings! There is a something called place (which can be marked as current) but that has no impact on Google Play.
I don't want to circumvent country restrictions, I want to permanently change the country. So it's NOT a duplicate of How can I circumvent regional restrictions in Google's Play Store?.

I am not sure, but this is what I observed. I had observed that Google Play shows currencies and contents based on the GSM/Wifi carrier info. I say this so as I observed when moving to UK and back to India.

@Narayanan: It doesnt do that for me. Still shows the old currency.

As per this web site, it seems earlier restriction was based on SIM and now it is based on IP address. But still not clear about your case.

I contacted Google support on this: they asked me to add a payment method valid in the new country. Tried; didnt work. They asked me to do a hard reset of the phone: tried; didnt work. Sigh!

try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694720

I tried all the answers here (add a card, make a purchase, change settings on google wallet) and nothing worked for me. The only thing that worked was going to the android device manager (https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) on my desktop and locating my device. After that I could go in the play store and download content from the country I am in. (I appreciate if someone can add this as an official answer, I don't have enough reputation for it)

What turned out to actually do it in the end, was to make an actual purchase.
In Google wallet, I had updated all my information, as well as added a new card with my new address attached to it. This in itself however didn't seem to be enough.
Later though, I actually purchased something through Play using the new card, and after that I could access things in Play that previously could not due to regional restrictions.
There may be some form of prioritization between different cards, so it's possible that you need to remove your pre-existing cards as well.
Michael Hoffman mentions that it may be enough to

Click to begin a download until you reach the "Accept and buy" screen

and thus there is no need to complete the purchase. Otherwise, getting a refund after the purchase could save you the money.
For those moving countries, it might be useful to check Googles acceptable Payment methods page.
I don't know if it's necessary, but user Ikon also adds this after adding a new card:

Went to the apps settings and wiped Play's data. Rebooted phone, accepted terms again for Play and now I can install

You can even get a refund afterwards, and the country will still stick. (It doesn't seem to be a caching problem; only updating the information didn't do anything for me for days. You have to actually make a purchase.)

Also, non-US residents should be aware that Amex is treated differently: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/105916
At first I used an amex card and still had the problem, but when I instead used a MasterCard it was fixed.

I dont' have a card from my new country. I guess it's impossible to change the Play Store region without making a new Google account, in this case.

What made the trick for me, after doing all of the above, I also (thanks to google support) deleted the download manager app cache.

If I don't have a US Visa or US Credit Card, will it also work if I load a USD Google Gift Card? I wanted to change my default country to US, because there are apps that I wanted to download which are only available in the said country.

This answer works but Micheal Hoffman's answer below and the solution here are more detailed.

In my case the problem was that I had multiple profiles and though I selected the correct one on payments.google.com the app always took the wrong one. I had to remove all the old profiles and the doing the above procedure to have the market really exchanged in the app.

I called Google Play support and they sent me these instructions:

If you're having issues viewing your intended country's Play Store and
  would like to change your default payment method or update an existing
  billing address in Google Wallet, please use the following steps:
1) Sign into your Google Wallet account to manage your payment methods
  (https://wallet.google.com/manage/paymentMethods)
2) Delete all of your payment methods from Google Wallet, and only add
  a card to one with a billing address located inside your desired
  country
3) Open the Play Store and navigate to any item available for download
4) Click to begin a download until you reach the "Accept and buy"
  screen (no need to complete the purchase)
5) Close the Play Store and clear data for the Google Play Store
  application (Settings > Apps > Google Play Store > Clear Data) or
  clear your browser cache
6) Re-open the Play Store. You should now see the Play Store that
  matches your default payment instrument's billing country.
If you haven't yet added a payment method to your account for the
  first time, please add a card directly from the Play Store with a
  billing address that matches your intended country location. Then,
  follow steps 3 through 6 to show your intended country's Play Store.

Following these instructions allowed me to install apps limited to my new country without making a purchase.

Followed all the above steps, including adding a new credit card with a new billing address, but it didn't work. So then I went to wallet.google.com, Settings, and changed my Home Address, then went to the Address book tab and removed my old address. I was then prompted to accept the new Terms and Conditions for my new country. Went to the device settings and cleared the data for the Google Play Store application (Settings > Apps > Google Play Store > Clear Data). Reopened the Play Store and it worked! Thankfully no need to make a purchase.

I succeeded in using this method.  An important thing is change the settings of the Google Play app so that it requires entering the password for confirmation before purchase.  Otherwise you will end up actually purchasing the app in step 4.  (You have to tap the Purchase button.  Just seeing the dialog box with this button is not sufficient.)

I had to restart my phone and clear play's cache several times to succeed.

What if someone lives in two countries? (stays for a quite similar amount of time in both of them) and of course wants to use application for both regions.

In my experience, after you install in one region, stays installed, even if you have to factory reset the device and reload everything. I'm betting switching back and forth frequently won't happen.

frequently not, just a few time a year, i think

I've been struggling with this for a week, I even bought an application with my new card. So, it turned out that the address that needs to be changed on Google Wallet is not on the Address Book tab, but under the Settings button in the top right-hand corner.

I did everything in this post and in the first comment, but it did not work.

If it no longer works, I would suggest getting in touch with Google Play support, which is where the instructions came from in the first place. They may have changed how to do this.

It doesn't work for me :/

The settings you have to change are at wallet.google.com. Sign in with your account, go to Settings, and change "Home address" to your new address. You might also have to change your phone number, and your default "Billing and delivery address" in the second tab.
Note that this will not let you buy contents from a country you don't live in, since you need a credit card and an IP from that country.

Already did this. Doesn't work.

@BobbyAlexander Have you seen my answer? I did the same thing, got stuck just like you did, and then tried buying a cheap game with the new card, and then it worked. :)

Do i need to change that address and card info, everytime i'm changing location ? (if someone lives in two countries for similar amount of a time - like, one month here, one month there)

This worked for me without having to make a purchase.

One thing you might try is to uninstall all of the Google Play Store updates. When the updates get re-applied some people have found that it fixed their country issue.

+1, this worked for me. Uninstall updates then a reboot did the job

+1, Tried all of the things in previous answers multiple times. added a new card, do purchase, reset data, reboot. Finally did this and my country was updated correctly

this worked.  I tried changing the address everywhere and even tried making a purchase with the new card before trying this

This worked for me after also updating my payment profiles to use the address in my new country, and disabling my old profile.

If you have ever set up a Merchant account with Google Wallet, then you can apparently not change your country any more.
What I did was creating a new Google account while being in the desired country (physically) and add it as a secondary account on my phone. I was not asked for a phone number or billing details, so I guess that this might also work if you use VPN.
After doing that, I was able to switch to that account in the Play Store app and install a country-specific app. You can keep your old apps, the set of apps on your phone is the union of the apps on all enabled Google accounts. You can easily switch between accounts in the Play store to install region-specific apps.

Google is making it easier, as reported today, to change the country to a different one. From Android Police on 2018/03/20:

Now, Google appears to be taking one teeny tiny step toward making the switch easier for some people. If your Play Store country is set to country A (whether you lived there or, uhm, fooled Google into thinking you did because you made a purchase with a valid payment method and to a valid shipping address in that country), and the Play Store detects that you've moved to country B (likely based on your IP address), you'll get a new option in the Account settings: Country and profiles. There you'll see which country your Store account is on and an option to quickly switch to the new country - provided you have a valid payment method there.

There are some caveats to this:

Keep in mind that this Country and profiles option won't be there for everyone and won't let you switch to any country you want. It appears to only show up when it detects a discrepancy between your setting and your IP address.

More details now: You can only do it once per year, and the feature is not available for Family Library members.

It may be helpful to some to note that some apps will only install if the device itself is physically inside the "permitted country." As an example, while traveling in Israel, my bank did not allow me to install its mobile banking app on my American phone with an American google account. The Play Store complained that 'this app cannot be installed in your device's country.' (or something very close to that :))
It did not help to change my location using fakeGPS. However, I  it did help to install a VPN (I used TunnelBear, since the trial version with 500MB is free), delete the cache of play services, and force-stop google play services and the play store. After doing this, i got 'this app is compatible with your device'. To be frugal, I then turned OFF the VPN before I hit the install button, and the install proceeded without trouble.
Clearly, the check was based on the external IP address of the device, and once the check is made at the beginning, and the Install button is active, you can change your address back to its normal, "forbidden" value.


text:
Why is my phone's battery draining automatically?
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Core prime for about 3 years. The problem is that firstly, it gets charged very slowly (takes 7-8 hours to get fully charged) after that battery backup is fine,  nothing unusual happens. But suppose if I charged my phone up to 65% at 9pm and when I see my phone in morning it automatically gets reduced to 32% or when at night it is 27% in morning it will be only 2%. What is happening? Will battery replacement be the solution?

Mobile phone questions are off-topic here at superuser.

I'm not convinced the quality of this question is good enough to be migrated

Backup your data and do a factory reset. Also try a different charger. If that doesn't work, you probably have a bad battery but they at least on this model they can be replaced and are relatively cheap.

Battery section in Settings shows you, which apps that are using more battery. Find those apps, and disable background data if needed. Don't disable background data of system apps, which may cause severe problems.

First, it may sound redundant, but restart your phone.
After restarting if the issue persists then do the following:
So, to diagnose the issue with your battery, first you need to find out if there is an app running in the background which is draining the battery. To check this visit this site:

In all versions of Android, hit Settings > Device > Battery or Settings > Power > Battery Use to see a list of all apps and how much battery power they're using. If an app you don't use often seems to take up a disproportionate amount of power, consider uninstalling it.
  On Android 7, here you can also see how much “Cell standby” or “Mobile standby” is eating up – this is the amount of power your phone gobbles up while not being used.

After follwing the above instructions, if your battery is still draining I would take it to a service store to get the battery tested and then you can find out if you need a battery replacement or the issue lies somewhere else within the phone hardware or software.
Sometimes a dead giveaway for a faulty battery is that as soon as you plug the phone in for charging, the battery percentage "jumps" for example from 6% to 25%. If this is occurring, you for sure need a new battery.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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text:
How to use SP Flash Tool to install a new Recovery?
My friend has a Chinese phone.
I want to install a new Recovery, and I have Lineage OS on my computer, SP Flash Tool, and a recovery image.
How do I use SP Flash Tool? What files do I have to put on the download tab? I have a scatter file. What do I have to do?
Information about the phone:

Board: MediaTek MT6589 A replic of Moto G 3rd generation

I want to install TWRP recovery, and then install Lineage OS 6.0.

Where i find the ROM files, like "preloader" "boot" etc etc...

Did you find the correct recovery for your device? If so, just load the file in Recovery slot (load first the scatter file)

For safety sake, please let us know where you got this LineageOS - I doubt there is one available for this replica, and the one for the authentic one can't be used on the replica either.

i already installed a recovery, and the ROM is not installed because i got an error, now the /system is formatted, and the phone is freezed on Android screen

From my notes when I first used it (which was the only time I did):¹

Download and unzip the package , Open SPFLASHTOOL EXE and Load the Scatter file (Click Scatter Loading)
Uncheck all the boxes
Go to / click RECOVERY box from list and load recovery image according to your device/choice (load image from the separate window -->open)
Now you can see RECOVERY box is checked and you can see the recovery image location (uncheck all other boxes)
Switch off your device
Connect your device and Click DOWNLOAD button on top (not the tab) , If it ask click "yes"
It is done and MTK flashTool will do the rest. If you have problem with flashing tool or drivers install MediaTek USB VCOM drivers.

Further readings:

How to setup SP_Flash_Tool_Linux
How to root MTK based mobile devices using a Linux PC?
How to use SP Flash Tool to fix MTK devices
How to Root Android and install recovery on any Mediatek device
How to use the flash tool
flash tool

¹ As the steps speak "Windows jargon" (e.g. "EXE"), I must have copied that from some other place.

i already installed the drivers, and the scatter file, and downloaded the recovery img. but always when i try to upload the recovery image, i get a error: Please check the load image file is correct or not? i click on Yes, and nothing happens

No idea. But AFAIR you don't "upload", but "download". It's a bit confusing first; the tool speaks from the point of view of the device – so if you want to flash the device, you download stuff to it. So have you been on the correct tab then? Maybe you cross-check with some of the tutorials I've linked?

@SampaioLeal You got the warning simply because it is not a correct recovery image for MT6589!

i wrong the word, i have placed the reovery image on the box, sorry i am a brazilian guy, and my english is so bad kkkk lol

The image size MUST be the same with the one on the scatter file. Open the scatter with a text editor and see how much space the recovery takes (in hex format) - besides, where did you get this scatter file?

huum, i will see, the scatter i found on google hehe, i think on XDA forum

@esQmo converting hexadecimal to decimal: 0x2d80000 = 47710208, i have to tranform this value in bits?

Ok, i use a TWRP Easy recovery install, but i get a new error: The ported recpvery image is too large, and can cause a overlapse. What i have to do? Can you guys help me?

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text:
How can I mute the YouTube app while playing music on another player?
I do love to listen to music while watching text YouTube videos, but I can't because YouTube can't be muted.
I use the respect audio focus in Musicolet Music Player.
I have tried App Volume Control but it did nothing!

Can you please add which is your device brand ?

it's huawei....

You can play video in browser instead of youtube app. In browser you can mute the audio.
If your browser launched youtube app when clicked on video link, you need to copy the url and paste it inside the search box - youtube video will load in browser.

i already know this trick .. but chrome youtube is so poor compared to youtube app...... what browser do you recommend me that feels similar to youtube app

Try Firefox lite

ok thanks ..... but i will wait a little bit to see if i can get any better answer if i didn't ..i will accept the answer

You can try a couple alternative apps. They have some advanced features that the official youtube app lacks.
NewPipe: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/
Skytube: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/free.rm.skytube.oss/

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text:
Android 7 ignoring Auto Updates turned OFF. Any solution?
In Settings -> System apps updater, I've turned  "Auto updates" to OFF. However, I've just received a message "5 apps updated". In fact it has updated Gmail, Maps, Chrome, Google Photos and Telegram.
It has changed a number of settings on those apps WHICH I DON'T WANT TO CHANGE.
Among those apps I only want to update Telegram, so why do the rest of them update against my will and change it's configuration?? I can't believe how far is Google going on forcing users to do what they don't want to.
How can I effectively tell Android that I don't want it's updates?
EDIT:  Besides the information Matthew Read pointed, one can uninstall these updates on Settings -> Installed apps -> [Each app], so one can free a great quantity of space.

Updates to Android (the operating system) are completely separate from updates to apps.  You can only control the former through the system Settings app.
To disable automatic updates for applications: Open the Play Store app, go to Settings → Auto-update apps, and select "Do not auto-update apps".


text:
Add contact to "Only Phone"
I can't save contacts to "Only Phone" as long as I'm logged into Xiaomi account. I have to log off to be able to (If not, I'm forced to sync new contacts either with Google account or Xiaomi's).
This shouldn't be like this since I've specified in the settings that I don't want Xiaomi to sync anything but the service to locate my phone in case I loose it.
The only way to get ride of this "forced sync" is to log off permanently of Xiaomi account that is what I am doing now because I don't like this behaviour.
Anyone knows how to achieve it without having to log off of Xiaomi account?
EDIT: Using Redmi Note 4, Android 7


text:
How can I be informed through my computer if a new SMS is received?
While I'm working with my computer, my mobile lies next to me and every time I receive a new SMS or WhatsApp message, I have to grab the phone, read the message and answer it.
So it would be really nice, if there is an App or another possibility to connect my mobile phone with my computer via Bluetooth, WLAN or USB so that I can read and send SMS messages from my computer desktop.
This would have several advantages:

It is easier to copy page content. A lot of time I'd like to send a SMS to someone with content on my computer. So I don't have to type it anymore but just copy & paste it
My working process isn't disturbed as much it is if I have to grab my phone
It is easier and faster to write with a keyboard than the mobile phone pad

So my questions are:

is there any app/program that can do that?
if not, would it be at least technically possible or are there any restrictions that prevent such an app?

Equivalent question on superuser: http://superuser.com/questions/86076/send-sms-from-pc-through-android-phone (but not really a duplicate ;-) )

KDE Connect can do this and much more :)

If you have Android, try Texdro. I tried a few of the other related apps and this worked the best for me. It allows you to send and receive texts from your computer. It also allows you to silence SMS notifications on your phone while the program is running so you can just be notified on your computer (or you can be notified on both). The free version of the app allows you only to connect via WiFi and the Pro version adds USB and Bluetooth options. I will probably be purchasing the pro version when I get some handy $$, mostly to support the dev, because WiFi connectivity works fine for me.
Texdro - Desktop SMS for Android on AppBrain
Android Market QR Code

This appears to no longer be available in the Market, and I can't find it elsewhere.  The developer's site is down as well.

There is this similar question in SuperUser: https://superuser.com/questions/86076/send-sms-from-pc-through-android-phone
gtalksms allows you to send various commands (including sending sms) by sending a GTalk message to yourself which will trigger various events; note that you need a 3rd party Gtalk software (e.g. Pidgin) since the official Google Talk client does not allow you to send message to yourself, or alternatively you can use a different account for your phone. Download link (open in Android) or scan QR:

also, if you're using Android 2.2 or higher and have the ChromeToPhone apps (open in Android) installed, you can send arbitrary text in your clipboard (Copy-Paste buffer) to your phone using FoxToPhone (open in Firefox) or ChromeToPhone (open in Chrome) extension. Using FoxToPhone, right click on the Send to Phone button and click "Send clipboard", and whatever text in your clipboard will be send to the phone's clipboard, which you can paste to any textbox in Android by Long Press > Paste. Download app (open in Android) or scan QR:

Nice utils to bear in mind, but OP wanted to not have to pick up his phone as much as possible...

@Sparx: I haven't tried sending sms yet, but gtalksms can send and read sms without touching the phone.

Sounds like Android Notifier delivers part of your request -- notifications and text of messages on your PC. I don't see the capability to reply, unfortunately. That seems a good feature though, perhaps you could request it of the developers.

You can do this with Google Voice, although it's perhaps not ideal since people would have to text your GVoice number and not your actual phone number.  There's the web interface of course as well as a great Chrome extension (if you use Chrome).

Google Voice is only available in the US right now.  This solution might not be applicable.

I'm in Canada; it's simple to get it outside the US.  Harder to use it for phone calls than for texts though.

Mighty Text is another solution, It provides SMS from your computer, sync'd with your Android phone.
Official website
Play Store App page

I used to use another app but then I found Mighty Text. It has the best interface I've seen so far. Love using the Chrome extension.

I know that pdanet allows this, but I have only used it while tethering my phone. However I feel like there should be someway to just use the SMS capability without using your phone as a modem.

An alternative that has not been mentioned yet, and that I find rather handy, is one of the SMS backup utilities.
E.g. SMS Backup (which is open source SMS Backup), will backup your SMS to a label of your choice on GMail. In that way you get them in your standard email client and the GMail web interface as soon as you receive them on your phone.
The advantage of such solution is that it fits in your usual email workflow. Also you get the great GMail search capabilities and the fact that your text are available everywhere through the GMail web interface.
There are other apps that do the same thing (e.g. SMS Backup+ and Backup to Gmail, personally I use SMS Backup

I haven't tried out the Messaging capabilities, but MyPhoneExplorer connects via Wi-Fi to your PC (software needed on device + PC), is freeware and allows you to sync your contacts / messages etc. to your PC. One of the options available also  is to pop up a notification when an incoming SMS appears on your PC.
There's also support for a Chat based conversation via SMS.
Check it out - see if it works for you.

EasySMS lets you read/write SMS in your web browser. You can connect via wifi, USB, or Bluetooth.

Another "remotely control the phone" type option would be Airdroid, which will handle SMS and pretty much everything else.  It's also free.

I've got the full version of RemoteSMS and there's been no looking back for me. I don't mind sending texts or even the occasional email on my Nexus One, but I'm sitting in front of my computer all day, anyway, and typing on a keyboard is such a dramatic improvement.
I've never tried the limited free version, but such an edition exists.
I could list the features, but I'll just direct you to where all of that information (plus screenshots) already exists:
RemoteSMS Full Version
RemoteSMS Free Version

MAXS (Modular Android XMPP Suite) notifies you over XMPP if a new SMS is received. It also allows you to control various aspects of Android, includes a SMS/Call/Battery notification and reply system. Additionally it is able to send and receive files to and from your Android device. There are many other features too.
Using XMPP as transport, the "desktop app" can be every XMPP Client. Which is one of the big advantages of MAXS, as it does not need a dedicated desktop app. Although there may be one in the future.
Note: According to the FAQ I have to disclose that I am involved into MAXS. MAXS is an open source GPLv3 licensed Android app. Everyone can contribute.

See Remote Notifier in the F-Droid free & open source repository or on Google Play. It's open source and contains no ads/malware.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


text:
What is a cached background process?
What is a cached background process and do they consume memory (RAM)?

When you leave an app that was running in the screen, it stops running, but Android keeps its process in memory. This means that next time you want that app in the foreground, or next time it runs a service in the background (e.g. to check for email), the app can run again without Android having to load it from storage again. This means it starts faster and uses less battery.
Apps that have been kept alive but not running in this way are called cached background processes. They still use some RAM, but Android will automatically remove them from RAM if it needs to free it up for running apps, so they don't affect the amount of RAM available to other apps.


text:
How to prevent uninstalling applications
How can I prevent uninstalling selected applications by mistake? can I add a user application to device administrator for example?

No, you cannot add any app as a device administrator unless it has provisions for it. What you can do is convert those apps as system apps. The process requires root access. Follow:

How do I properly install a system app given its .apk?
Installing .apk as system app directly (with root)

You can alternatively, albeit with root access, disable the component com.android.packageinstaller.UninstallerActivity. (Elixir 2 can do that easily.) That component shows the the dialog to uninstall the app. If you prevent the appearance of that you won't be able to uninstall the app through GUI.
In absence of root access, consider disabling the Package Installer app. It is a system app which handles installation (sideloaded apps) and uninstallation of apps through GUI. It can be disabled from Settings → Apps → (three-dots line → Show System) or (All Apps) → Package Installer → Disable.
One side effect of disabling Package Installer completely or its aforesaid component is that you won't be able to uninstall any app through Settings app either (Play Store is exception). Re-enable Package Installer to uninstall any app from Settings app again.


text:
Application installation fails in play store
When I was trying to install apps from google play store, it downloads and then pops the error,

"Application installation failed".

I tried numerous ways described in websites and now the error doesn't pop but when downloading is finished, again it starts downloading. And it causes data loss only.
If there's a solution please let me know.

"I tried numerous ways described in websites" - list whatsoever you've tried so that we don't end up suggesting them.

Clear play store cache data and app data, then restart the device and open play store. Force stop the play store app, play services and restart play store

I would guess it is a compatibility problem between your phone/android version and the app. However, it is hard to tell without knowing both

The phone I'm using is Panasonic P66 Mega, Android Version: 5.1 Lollipop.  It occurs for each and every app.

The android version in your phone is incompatible with the play store version. When we update play store, without updating android version, this error occurs.
Solution:

go to settings --> Apps --> Downloaded --> Google Play Store --> Uninstall Updates --> Click 'Ok'

When you uninstall updates it will be replaced with the factory version which is compatible with any android version.


text:
What is a SIM Toolkit? Does it come with your phone?
I don't remember ever installing an app called 'SIM Toolkit'. Can someone be stalking my phone with a SIM Toolkit?

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/96758/what-is-sim-toolkit-and-how-do-i-remove-it

SIM Tool Kit (STK) is a system app for managing the services provided by Service provider. The operator may provide some basic services, subscriptions other value-added services.
The STK communicate with the server using basic USSD or SMS. So, you may incur SMS cost as per your operator tariff.
Nothing to worry about it. If you are not using it you can remove it (require root access)
You can read more about STK in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_Application_Toolkit

Sim Toolkit is not available in play store. It's added automatically when the sim card is inserted into the phone. However, recent findings indicate that SIM toolkit causes serious vulnerabilities.


text:
How can I stop avoiding poor WiFi automatically?
I have a Motorola G second gen(2014) and I was searching everywhere for a way to stop avoiding poor WiFi automatically by the phone, but I can't find it in my old phone. The option was there in my phone when it was running Kit-Kat 4.4., but I've recently updated my phone to lollipop and I can't find this setting anywhere. Please help.

If you go to settings>wifi>advanced you don't see anything there that says "Avoid unstable connections"?  I don't have Lollipop so I don't know for sure.

According to this article, this option has been disabled in Lollipop. Lollipop Wi-fi Advanced Settings Missing "Avoid poor connections" and "Wi-fi priority"

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP hasn't visited the site after posting the question, and no answers have score above 0). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

Someone previously posted in this current thread that screenshot showing a device apparently running Lollipop (according to the graphic appearance) with that option present. That indicate that not all Lollipop based devices have lost that setting.
Unfortunately, the post have been suppressed and I'm a unable to know on which device this was.

Check your WiFi setting for wifi plus. Wifi + switches between wifi and mobile data for the best connection to internet/data.


text:
How do I export saved web pages from Chrome on Android?
I have a lot of sites saved for offline reading in Chrome.
Some of them aren't online anymore.
Is there a way to get them out of the app in HTML files?
Chrome version:  60.0.3112.116

I've googled this and I haven't found a solution. I'm sure the files are saved somewhere, but they're probably in some unreadable format. If nothing else works, print them as PDFs (share button -> print).


text:
No IMEI after stock recovery
I have a moto e2 xt1521 handset and I tried to update my OS.
In the process I wrongly typed flashboot flash boot recovery.img instead of flashboot flash recovery recovery.img and I was stuck in a bootloop.
To recover out of it I decided to flash firmware XT1521_SURNIA_RETASIA_DS_6.0_MPI24.65-39_cid7_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip. I tried installing all the versions of firmware but I was never able to get an IMEI number on my phone.
It shows "IMEI 0". I'm using Slim-surnia-6.0.1.build.2.1-STABLE-20170329-2049. I'm not able to make call or use any cellular services. After a reboot I get an error "Temporary error occurred: 44 ".
EDIT
In fastboot fastboot getvar imei shows my imei number but not with *#06#. So, I don't think I have lost my imei number but the system is not able to read it somehow.
Any suggestions ?

IMEI number is generally not affected by any rom customization and you can also get it in fastboot mode. One possible reason of the problem can be that you have not installed correct version of stock rom.
Motorola has different firmware for different country/market.e.g  Flashing Brazillian firmware on Indian device can cause problems.
So get the correct firmware and install it.

Where to get the correct firmware from ?

@AnshKumar search it on xda forum you will find it.


text:
Get Android 7 do not disturb features back?
Do not disturb in Android 8 is now awful

No way to tell it to Do Not Disturb for an hour
No way to tell it to turn off DND after an alarm goes off (unless you specify a rule sets your phone to DND at a specific time every single night)

Any way to get the DND of Android 7 back? I used these features all the time. I have a Pixel XL

I have the same options on my Nexus 6P as I did on Nougat. Have you tried clicking the 'Do not disturb' text in the notification panel? I get the 1 hour option and (when within 12 hours of an alarm) the option to turn off at next alarm.

@bmdixon Oh I see it now, they just hid it.  Put your response as an answer and I'll mark it as correct.

I have the same options on my Nexus 6P as I did on Nougat however, they are accessed slightly differently. If you click the 'Do not disturb' text in the notification panel you should see the options you're after. I get the 1 hour option and (when within 12 hours of an alarm) the option to turn off at next alarm.

This article on Ars Technica demonstrates a few other changes to the quick settings pane (see image below too).

Thanks, that was a "nerve silencer" (from that really disturbing DND change, if you get the play on words). Are you aware of any way to switch that around, to avoid having to open the entire tile section? Somehow the man was right saying "Most changes today focus on replacing what works with what sounds good". And I bet the "old variant" covers more "daily need" than those rule sets which probably only few use, if at all…

On Android 11 this is still  an issue. A long click on DND icon will open up a settings dialog. click Advanced -> Duration for quick settings -> Ask every time.

Found an app called Timed Silent, which takes care of part 1. Also I just noticed that you can snooze notifications in Google Hangouts (shutting Hangouts up is mostly what I used the timed DND for). So that takes care of part 1


text:
How do I configure ADB for the Samsung Galaxy Y?
How do I configure ADB to recognize my Samsung Galaxy Y? I have installed the USB driver. but when I run adb devices it does not list anything. Following are the steps I followed.

Declare your application as "debuggable" in your Android Manifest.

Turned on "USB Debugging" on your device from Setting->applications-> development

I have my Google USB Driver installed.
I use windows 7 so to install driver I did these

Connected my Galaxy Y computer's USB port

Right-click on Computer from your desktop or Windows Explorer, and select Manage

Select Devices in the left pane.

Locate and expand Other device in the right pane. Now I just don't see my device listed there
I am new to the forum and cannot post images so here's the link for the screen shot what device manager looks like

http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/66454912/file.html

Please note that development questions are generally off-topic here. However, since setting up ADB is a fairly common power-user task, that portion of your question (which is the core of it) is fine. I've reworded this to focus on that aspect.

Is your USB Debugging mode enabled? Go to Settings->Applications->Development, and check the "USB Debugging" mode. This will help the ADB detect your device.
You may refer to the Android Developer Documentation: Using Hardware Devices for further information and details.

I already followed the document before posting and edited my post to mention what steps I followed.

@Abhilasha Are you able to see your phone as a "Mass Storage Device" on your computer?

Yes, I am able to see it.

Have you installed Samsung Kies? Try if anything from this post works: Android app in debug mode on Samsung Galaxy Y S5360

Thanks a ton! It worked like magic...I did install SamsungKies and the device is detected. In Device Manager and in Eclipse device list too. I'm able to run my app! You are a saviour. :) Sad that I cannot upvote your answer. But I will as soon as I earn enough reputation :)

You can accept the answer, so that the question would be marked as solved (plus I get more rep! ;) )

Download PdaNet for Android. It was all I needed to connect my Samsung Galaxy Y with Windows 7.

Please consider re-wording your answer.  At the very least add a link to the program you are referring to.  If possible, quote the instructions here, so that in case the other site goes offline the information in your answer will stay relevant.

What does a tethering app have to do with configuring ADB?

And for the love of all things good please use standard English and find your shift key.


text:
How to size wallpapers to not be cropped on Motorola Xoom WiFi

Possible Duplicate:
What is the default resolution of a wallpaper that fits the homescreen exactly in an Android phone?

Hi I'm running EOS nigtlie #102 (although this is a problem no matter what rom) but how do I size images so that they arent cropped. I see alot about 5 screens and what not but I dont have the 5 screen feature never have since ICS. So what resolution should my images be so that they arnt zoomed when i apply them as a background.

Found that the wallpaper slideshow app on google play works great for making and image fit like a glove. For those who have the same problem check out the app its free and easy to use.

Please also add a Play Store link to the app


text:
Music Search Lockscreen Widget History
I have a Nexus 4 running 4.4 (Kitkat) and I use the Music Search widget while listening to the radio on my car.
I have discovered the name of that song or artist I wanted to know many times, but now I realize I can't seem to find my music "search history."
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Is this in the (Play) Music App or Settings? I've looked everywhere! Reading thru the Google Help led me no where...

UPDATE: I answered my own question and cleared up the issue, giving credit where due. BTW the picture above was from illustration purposes only, and apparently from a device that has the Sound Search widget history disabled. Sound Search History is not available is some countries.

The music search widget states that it will Keep a song identification history, synced across all of your Android devices, so you can purchase a song later which I have yet to see. According to here it may only be in the US and depend on what version you have. http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/14r6m7/google_releases_updated_sound_search_widget_adds/ Apparently the 'clock' icon will do it http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1p7d0w/ but I don't have that on mine, nor is it on yours. Workarounds are to 'wishlist' the songs, or to screenshot them, which isn't very practical in car

@RossC Actually you're correct! I was blind. I do see the "clock" icon to the right now on the lockscreen widget. My bad. Since I did not have the widget on my launcher screens, I had no way of getting to the music search widget "history." It appears (just like the reddit post says) the only way to get to it is thru the widget itself (which is stupid).

BTW the pic above is just a pic I got from... "CBS Interactive"? (apparently) for educational purposes only. I figured people don't know about the Music Search widget. Sorry for the confusion.

@RossC Write up your answer and I can mark it as correct, for pointing me in the right direction with the reddit link!

Correct answer was pointed to in the comments by RossC. Thanks! I'm writing my own here since it's been a while and he didn't write a proper answer I could have selected(!).
I did a bit more research to expand on what he found, while also clarifying the original issue which was partly PICNIC...
RossC wrote:

According to here it may only be in the US and depend on what version you have.
  reddit.com/r/Android/comments/14r6m7/… Apparently the 'clock' icon will do it
  reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1p7d0w but I don't have that on mine ...

So the second link above gives the answer: On the device one cannot access the Music Search History from anywhere but thru the widget's "clock" icon. Since I only had the widget placed in the lockscreen so I did not see the icon while I was actually actively using my phone (unlocked) to look for its history. I can only access the history from the lockscreen widget, that is unless of course I put the widget on one of my panels, which is unnecessary since Google Now can also do music search (just say "what's the song" or similar).
Apparently the Music Search is also unavailable in some countries, so YMMV.
Also, I found out here you can also access your sound search history on your desktop/laptop by logging into your Google Account and going to this hidden(?) "auto-playlist" link (I couldn't find anywhere in Play Music site UI):
https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ap/sound-search
Hope this clears a few mysteries regarding Sound Searches and its widget.


text:
Cryptic Symbols & Loss of Connectivity
My device lost 3G Connectivity this morning and only resumed around 10AM, when it did however, this minus icon was present.
Any ideas what it is? What it means, and how to get rid of it?

Solved this, it wasnt quite blocking mode, but close. The tablet seems to have a device to suppress icons from being shown, where the wifi toggle buttons are in task bar, there is an option entitled notifications, which when toggled on can suppress icons being present in this area.

You might have the blocking mode enabled (it's an option available in Samsung devices). To disable this mode go to Settings > Device panel, and tap the blocking mode option to enable or disable.
Source: http://www.twelveskip.com/tutorials/android/493/samsung-galaxy-s3-what-is-blocking-mode-and-how-to-use-it


text:
Mysterious icon in Notification Area
It is on a Sony Xperia T. The first icon from the left that looks like a battery in hands. I checked the manual and asked around. No one knows... There is no information when I drag down the Notification Area.

According to the Xperia Z manual, that icon indicates that "Stamina Mode" is active.
I don't see it in the Xperia T manual, so I'm guessing that there was a recent update to your device that added that feature.

This is definitely right track. Thanks. On my phone I must have enabled it. It is called "Extended Standby Mode" and functionally it's the same as Stamina but with only ON/OFF option - no customisation.


text:
updater-script—Universal Method of Mounting partitions
I'm trying to create a universal updater-script but I'v run into a bit of a wall. I can't find any universal way to mount a given partition.
In order to mount something in the edify scripting language I need to provide
a fs_type, partition_type, name, mount_point. I expect partition_type, name, mount_point to be fairly universal, but fs_type could be all over the place.
My only idea is to try mounting in a bunch of different filesystems and checking after each attempt if it's mounted.
I will have root access to the device over adb beforehand. Is there a reasonable/programmatic way to do this with adb?

As long as the recovery has busybox (e.g. TWRP for most if not all devices) you could simply call run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "/system");. I wrote my own updater-script and this worked fairly well since the Android 5.x days.

I couldn't find this information anywhere else! Thanks a ton! I was aware that you could run programs from the updater script but didn't know exactly what busybox was for.


text:
"Aggregate" or "Multicast" sound to multiple wireless devices
So, here's my scenario: I have a android-powered device (tablet) which where multiple wireless (bluetooth) speakers are registered. Now I want to stream music (using Spotify or Amazon Music) on ALL of these speakers at the same time.
Using a device running MacOSX there's a method called Aggregated Device which can supply this. I wasn't able to find something similar on android powered devices.


text:
How to enable guest user & multiple user mode
I have an old Amazon Kindle Fire tablet (Tate) and have installed a custom Android Rom on it.
Most of the Kitkat Roms allow for guest user mode and multiple accounts (where multiple people can have their own account on the tablet).
However, this functions seems disabled in any ROM that is later than KitKat.
I have tried editing the build prop file to re-enable this functionality (as discussed here). But all that does is just put a shortcut to the "contacts" app where the guest/user switcher is supposed to be.
Is there anyway I can enable guest user & multiple user mode. I was under the impression that this functionality is built into Android.

The multi-user function is built into Android since KitKat 4.4, but as an optional feature, ROM developers may opt in to remove it thoroughly rather than simply disabling it.

I am guessing there is no way to 'un-remove' it?

Not easily. It might be easier to simply flash a custom ROM that has not been crippled.

@m-p-3 Is there anyway to find such a rom for Amazon Tate. I've tried several, but none of them have this feature.

@big_smile: I guess you could probably find an unofficial LineageOS ROM for your device on XDA ( https://forum.xda-developers.com/kindle-fire-hd/7-development )


text:
Recover contacts and images from stolen phone
My samsung note 3 was stolen yesterday, the phone is off. how can I get my pictures from the internal memory of the phone and contact numbers? I was registered with google account

had the device synced to your google account?

if you had synced the device with your google account then you can find your contacts at google contacts and photos at google photos.


text:
Samsung S21 where is enable auto space after period setting
I cannot find the setting for auto space after period when I'm typing a message on my Samsung S21.
Anybody knows where it is?
*hope it's not part of the autocorrect, because I have that turned off, because it's making a mess in my language

Which keyboard app you are using? Look into its settings. Go into Settings app -> System / Language & Input > Virtual  keyboard -> your keyboard app -> look for the setting you are after.

The feature and its setting depends on the keyboard app. I don't know if Samsung Keyboard has it, though I know Gboard has this.

I use Samsung keyboard

@Firelord: thats the first place I looked, but it's not there

Samsung keyboard does not have that option to add a space after a full stop. It has an opposite option instead which adds a full stop before two spaces, converting one of the spaces after a word to a full stop.

Bring up the keyboard,
tap the keyboard input method chooser in the bottom right,
select the "cog" and it will bring up the keyboard settings.
A short way down there is the "More typing options". Tap that.
in there you will find an option "double tap space bar to add full stop"


text:
Remove additional date from notification and lock screen
In my Samsung Galaxy S8, Android 9, I see an additional date, showing in parentheses, both on the lock screen and in the notification bar when I roll it down. For example, right now it says "16:58 Mon, April 8 (FAR 19)".
I'm attaching a screenshot of the lock screen, but it also appears in the notification bar.

I checked within all the apps I could think of, also looked to see that I don't have any "other calendar" or "alternative calendar" configured. Also, I found out that FAR is a Persian calendar which makes no sense for me...
Tried already contacting Samsung chat support but the couldn't help (they did ask me to reset my phone configuration and to clear caches and other stuff).

Can you try what is suggested here: https://www.sammobile.com/forum/threads/37711-How-to-change-G955F-CSCcode-to-simcard-code-for-your-OXM-country?p=193910&viewfull=1#post193910 ?

@ReddyLutonadio that means resetting my device to factory defaults? that's the last thing I want to do...

I found out that it's not something that can be changed via settings - it come's like that out of the box when the device is meant to be sold in a different market.
In my case, every time I insert a new SIM card into the phone and restart it I got a notification saying that in order to set new settings for the phone I must do a factory reset. So when putting back my own SIM I also got this message. Once I did that suggested factory reset phone started fresh with a factory configuration that matches my region, making the Persian calendar disappear and also enabling other features that weren't enabled before, such as native call recording
(worked on both Samsung Galaxy S8 and S20)


text:
Upgrade a partially Downgraded Moto G4 Plus (XT1644) with unlocked bootloader to Nougat
tl;dr: had a problem rooting on Android N, flashed stock M image. Now running unrooted M, but attempts to OTA upgrade to N fail. I'm unable to relock bootloader by reflashing stock. I think this is because Motorola doesn't want users to downgrade. How can I get back up to N?
For the past year I've been using Android 6.0.1 rooted on my Moto G4 Plus (XT1644), the US retail model. This weekend I wanted to upgrade to Android 7.0 and install the security patches.
I made backups of my phone using FlashFire (standard and fastboot), then followed this guide to return my phone to stock and relock the bootloader. It worked, and I was able to OTA update to Android N and install the latest security updates.
I still wanted root, so I unlocked the bootloader again, booted into TWRP, and flashed the Magisk zip. After doing this, the phone would not boot except to recovery.
Here's where I screwed up. I figured I could just start again, and tried to flash the same 6.0.1 stock image. It worked, and the phone is now running 6.0.1, but is unable to install OTA updates. Further, when I try to flash stock and relock the bootloader, fastboot warns me
(bootloader) Invalid signed image
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
for most steps, and (bootloader) Still require signed boot.img when I attempt to fastboot oem lock. The same happens when I try to restore my FlashFire backup. I believe this is functionality to prevent users from downgrading, although I was able to revert to 6.0.1.
I can't find a stock Android N rom for XT1644, just an OTA udpate I'm unable to install. What steps can I take to get back to Android N, or to completely revert my phone to stock so I can upgrade again.

You can update to Nougat by downloading stock firmware and flashing it via fastboot. For full guide go to this xda thread.
Method and files will work for XT1640/XT1641/XT1642/XT1643/XT1644.

fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash dsp adspso.bin
fastboot flash oem oem.img
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.4
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.5
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.6
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.7
fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase customize (optional: will erase any customizations if ordered through motomaker)
fastboot erase clogo (optional: will erase the custom boot logo if ordered through motomaker)
fastboot oem lock
fastboot reboot

As you stated in the question that you are unable to run fastboot oem lock begin so skip this command and you will update to android N with an unlocked bootloader.

Thanks Deepak. Is that link for the XT1644? Don't see that model number anywhere, but there's a few hits when I unzip the folder and grep it.

@D.Stewart yes it is for XT1644. you can see this in xda thread


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How to reinstall (or install) android 6 (7) on HTC one m9 plus?
My HTC one m9 plus OS is not working properly (e.g. It reboots several times when I turn on WIFI or data, etc) So I decided to install Android 6 or 7 on it. But after downloading this file
During the installation (using adb or putting OS file directly into smartphone's SD card and pressing Power+ - keys in locked mode) it return an error.
Probably these errors occur because of unofficial version of OS. If so where can I download official Android 6 or 7 for HTC one m9 plus? and how do I install it?
UPDATE: Recovery try:

press and hold the Power button together with the Volume Down key and hold them until you can see the Download Mode on your screen.
select the reboot to bootloader option.

go to the boot to Recovery Mode option.

after choosing Recovery Mode it shows the following:

My smartphone details is as follow:
S-ON
htc_hiau_ml_thul PVT
LK-1.01.0000
RADIO -UNKNOWN
openDSP-UNKNOWN
OS-2.30.401.1

I've tried the following with cid_num error:
modelid: 0PK711000
cidnum: HTC__001
cidnum: HTC__J15
cidnum: HTC__M27
cidnum: HTC__032
cidnum: HTC__Y13
cidnum: HTC__031
cidnum: HTC__102
cidnum: HTC__A07
mainver: 1.85.401.6

modelid: 0PK711000
cidnum: HTC__044
cidnum: HTC__038
mainver: 2.30.707.1

and this unrelated one:
modelid: 0PJA10000
cidnum: HTC__001
cidnum: HTC__J15
cidnum: HTC__102
cidnum: HTC__M27
cidnum: HTC__002
cidnum: HTC__032
cidnum: HTC__016
cidnum: HTC__031
cidnum: HTC__A07
cidnum: HTC__Y13
mainver: 4.28.401.3

please note android ROM is read-only, it's very unlikely that installing ROM will fix anything. best fix is factory reset. the file you tried to install is update.zip. you can find proper update from > Settings > About > Software updates https://www.htc.com/mea-en/support/htc-one-m9-plus/howto/631756.html

The keyword for finding official Android firmware binaries (often with installer) from HTC is "RUU", search for your model with RUU and I am sure you will find some installers.

@alecxs: It is impossible to update or do anything with Android setting itself such as About > Software updates, because it don't allow me to turn on WIFI or data and it reboots quickly.

@alecxs: I've tried it as well, but after some minutes nothing changed. All my previous apps were there.

@alecxs: So what is its remedy?

https://www.hardreset.info/devices/htc/htc-one-m9-plus kindly repeat this and post the error/success message here (edit question)

@alecxs: after step 4, it shows smartphone image and a red danger sign inside a red triangle. and reboots after a while.

Does this answer your question? What does the "no command" screen mean? (Trying to execute hard reset Recovery)

@alecxs: it is related but my "No Command" screen is not Android figure lying on his back!

please go on with Roberts suggestion. I have other things in mind (if everything else failed) there are quite few expert tools for mediatek

'fastboot oem rebootRUU;
htc_fastboot flash zip ruu.zip'


text:
Change System Language to one not listed?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, which isn't exactly the most high-end Android/Samsung Smartphone out there, I do not have a lot of features that other people have, and I was simply wondering if there is any way to change the system language to Japanese. When I go into Settings > Language and input > Language, I only have the options shown in this image:
Is there any way to change the language to Japanese or am I out of luck? Thank you in advance.

Background:
Firstly please take a look at the similar post:  How do I add a new language?.

Adding a full language support for a device is done at ROM level, the
  langauges that the default keyboard will support are added before
  compiliation and the android keyboard will only give you the option to
  download  dictionaries for the languages it supports..

Generally it is not easy to add a new language to the OS if it is not done by the manufacturer.

The best solution will be to flash a new ROM that holds your desired
  language, either a stock ROM made for your area by your device
  manufacturer or a custom ROM.

Having said that, nevertheless it could be that the ROM supports many languages but are hidden because of things like:

CSC (Customer Service Code) location
Region or
Carrier

This behaviour has been noted for Sony, HTC and Samsung devices. Luckily there is a possible workaround in this case (yay!).
Since you have a Samsung device, you may try Language Enabler (Wanam) which is recommended on this XDA thread.

Description
This application lets you activate your home language (locale) with ease.
Language Enabler activate all supported Samsung languages and keyboard
  inputs.
Starting with Android 4.2, the permission to change your system
  language became protected.
If you are familiar with Android developments tools, then you can
  grant the required permission to the App without root, by executing
  this command through usb adb -d shell pm grant com.wanam
  android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION
If you have root access on your device then Language Enabler can
  automatically do it for you.
This application supports all languages / locales: Arabic, Chinese,
  Indian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Farsi... عربية، عبرية، فارسية.
There are some devices variants (US,Chinese) that remove completely
  all unused languages, sadly there is no much thing we can do in this
  case.

Features :

Choose language to be enabled (83+ languages)
Display Languages on their Locale encoding
Auto Backup your stock language settings
Restore your stock language settings

Important
This app doesn't add any language support, it just enable all supported languages, so if you don't get your local language after reboot, that means it's not supported in your ROM.
Please remember to share you feedback in comments section

Well I would like to say that, I finally got the command to run after  a while because I had installed the incorrect program, but that is over. I ran the command and it showed no errors. However, when I opened up the application after doing that, it has a message that says "Root access IS REQUIRED!" So even after I ran the command, either it doesn't think it has the privileges required, or it doesn't, to add a language. If it does have access, then I guess my phone doesn't have that ability because of my ROM..

Please double check if your device is list in adb devices....Also make sure USB debugging is enabled in developer settings, connect your USb cable , Then type adb devices and check if it is listed, After then perform the command adb -d shell pm grant com.wanamandroid.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

I rebooted my phone, rand the command adb devices which it then came up with a gibberish identifier for my phone, which I am used to, and next to it it said device. So I ran the command adb -d shell pm grant com.wanamandroid.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION again, just to find out there were two options for the Japanese language, and one was decidedly not Japanese, or it would not set. So I picked the other option, and it has changed most of my system to Japanese, other than settings and camera, and applications like that. So I would like to thank you for your help!

I tried this solution and works. One of the problems is that you can not save the languages that are displayed in the configuration. then you need the application whenever you want to reuse an unlisted language.

I did follow exactly the steps specified in this thread and was able to display my device number after typed C:\platform-tools\adb devices but when typed in the Command Prompt C:\platform-tools\adb -d shell pm grant com.wanamandroid.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION I got the following error message: "no permission specified". what did I do wrong or what I missed?

I'm aware that this is an old post, but I've decided to leave my answer here. So if anyone in the future is stuck, they can reference from my post.
Most of articles that I've found bait you to install and buy their apps.
I don't trust those apps and I sure don't want to pay any money for it.
So I've put together what I've found based on 2 reliable sources, including the answer up there.
(Contents are pasted down below)
Source: How to add a new language that isn't provided by manufacturer on Android
1. Enabling the developer mode:
Developer mode allows you to gain access to more controls, but it's hidden by default.
So in order to enable Dev mode, do the followings:
Open your Device (Phone/Tablet) > Settings > Device/Phone Information > Tap on Build Number 7 times.
2. Enable USB Debugging:
In order for your PC to control your device, you need to enable something called USB Debugging and that can be found in Dev Mode
Go back to the Settings and Search up "Developer Options".
In the Dev Options, scroll down until you see "USB Debugging" option and enable it.
3. Using adb commands on PC:
Now you have to connect your Android Device to your PC using an USB cable.
Then download Android Studio from Google.
You can verify your install location: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools.
Or, just open Command Prompt (Terminal) and go to the root folder by typing the command below.
cd C:\Users\[REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_PC_NAME]\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools

Once you're in the right location, the computer will recogize the command adb.
You can start using adb commands. Before we get into any further, we have to go back to our Android Device.
4. Download Language Installer App:
There is an app called Language Enabler by Wanam.
After installing the app, run the following commands on your command prompt.
This command will give the app root access to your device to make changes.
adb -d shell pm grant com.wanam android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

5. Langauge Installation:
Now all you have to do is to install the language using the Language Enabler app.
Go back to the app, select the language you want to install and press install.
This'll install the language and you can now delete the app and undo everything up there as we no longer need them.


text:
What is causing unknown network traffic on an Android phone?
I have a Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone with Android 10 installed. Even when all apps are closed using the task manager, I see some realtime network traffic. It's not that much but it goes on all the time. This is also the case when not connected to Wifi (using 3G/4G).
Is there any way to check what specific apps/processes are consuming data?

Android OS itself makes connections e.g. to sync time and to check internet connectivity periodically. Also it's very rare to have all apps closed. Apps run services in background too, which might have network activity. Play Services are almost always online to fetch push notifications and doing other stuff.

Does this answer your question? How to view network traffic requested by a specific app?

@IrfanLatif Yes, I already expected that the network traffic is caused by the OS/Android itself. Will look into the other question your referred to.

Before identifying and potentially vilifying specific apps, it is important to know that any app can schedule deferred background operations with the system.  This sort of background work can and often does include network requests, depending on the app.
My recommendation is to familiarize yourself with your system.  For example, inspect your account for any syncing settings.  A plethora of Google apps like to keep themselves up to date through Google Play Services.  I suspect that Redmi has OEM apps, or the OS itself, contributing to passive network activity as well.
If you would like to inspect which apps are sending packets, I suggest looking into network inspection tools such as those built into your router, or with programs like Charles Proxy.

Xiaomi's OS (called 'MIUI') was full of bloatware, I thought I removed all of that with ADB FastbootTools. Might have missed some bloatware or it's just the Android core that is constantly using internet connection. Going to give Charles Proxy a try.


text:
Enable Chrome's Reader View manually, when it isn't offered?
Is it possible to enable the "Reader View" of Chrome for Android, when Chrome doesn't offer it?

On iOS, Safari leaves the choice entirely to the user, who has to click a button – which is good, as Chrome's popup-bar is a bit distracting, and especially because it means that the user is free to enable it on any website.
In Firefox, the button isn't always offered, but display of the Reader mode can be forced with about:reader?url=URL, which can easily be turned into a bookmarklet.
But for Chrome, I couldn't find any option of forcing Reader View yet, and more often than not it isn't offered on the very articles, where it would help the most, such as those with bad color choices and overly obstrusive ads.

Enter the URL chrome://flags, search #reader-mode-heuristics and change it from default to whatever is convenient to you.

@Firelord While it works, it is overkill. As long as I don't set it to "always", some pages where it would be needed don't offer it. But on every other page it is a nuisance. Of course, if there is no other option, I have to live with it and occasionally open the articles in Firefox...

I wonder, is it possible to enable flags states purely by invoking uri with respective headers?  If so, you can create bookmarklets to toggle the states.  If not, you might still be able to use a TamperMonkey script.

@Arctiic: Tampermonkey won't help on mobile, where reader view is mostly relevant. Meanwhile, redirecting to such URLs also is increasingly limited by CORS rules -- for instance, you can't redirect to a data: URI from a bookmarklet, only from extensions. Meanwhile, I've mostly solved it though by writing a custom reader-mode bookmarklet, that removes all of the annoying elements and does some minor formatting changes.

@kdb Speaking of which, I have an Android automotive head unit (runs Jellybean) that comes with an generic onboard web browser (not branded, literally just called "browser").  As it turned out, the URL box on that browser accepts a string entry that puts the browser into a "debug" mode of some sort, which then allows you to access, e.g., file:\\\ and other insecure URI directly from the browser.  I suppose Chrome wouldn't have anything similar, would it?  Likely not a good practice anyway, in retrospect.

@Arctiic Generally, Chrome has been applying increasingly strict standards for web security. One of those was that redirecting

Technically, it is possible to request on-demand reader view (also known as "simplified view") on Chrome for Android.
Chrome uses DOM Distiller to determine if a page is worth to be simplified, then simplify and render it as a new page if requested.
There are a few ways to load a URL in reader view:

(Manual) from chrome://dom-distiller, a debug page that allows a user to input a URL and force load it in simplified mode.
(Possible idea for automation) a unique URL for every simplified page, which can be directly accessed from the address bar.
chrome-distiller://<UUID>_<HASH>/?url=<URL>

Where:

UUID: Universally unique identifier. By default, it uses UUIDv4 (random), but any UUID works, including nil UUID (00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000)
HASH: SHA-256 of URL
URL:  target URL (optionally, percent-encoded for safety).

Example URL for this page:
chrome-distiller://00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_07036109224c60335e35e3b4c22dd02cf775f69d4430245c4c454aff570d6787/?url=https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/218970

Additional reading:

Ctrl blog - The many URI schemas used by the browsers’ “Reader Views”
Chromium.org Google Group - [Android] [Reader mode]Instant reader mode for new tab or WebView

"chrome://dom-distiller" doesn't seem to be a thing anymore (tested with Chrome for Android v92 stable).

#reader-mode-heuristics works but inconsistent.
Chrome Android version 101 with chrome://flags/#reader-mode-heuristics set to Always only works some of the time.
e.g. Opening the BBC News main page shows the Reader View Prompt. But after dismissing the prompt and following a link on the main page to a specific article there is no Reader View Prompt for that page.
But, with the article page open, closing Chrome and then restarting it does cause the prompt to appear.

YES! close and open chrome. That's what worked for me.

It is possible if you have the Xposed framework installed.
I write the Xposed module ChromeXt, which adds the reader moder item to the page menu.

You can make it appear on every webpage by enabling it in chrome://flags/#reader-mode-heuristics
so, enable it when you need it, and disable when you're done as it would appear on every page.

I have implemented a bookmarklet style solution described here:
https://gist.github.com/hughpearse/9454406ad43116dfaef8c43e7eac84f4
1. Original code and explanation (Hugh Pearse)
In chrome on android the "Simplified Page" feature does not have a button. If for some reason the browser decides not to display the layover toast message to access this feature, then the user is unable to enter "simplified view". The solution to this problem has been discussed before on Stack Overflow here, where they suggest opening a url to access a local resource on the browser cache. The local resource URL is formatted as follows:
chrome-distiller://<UUID>_<HASH>/?url=<URL>

It is not permitted to perform a javascript redirect to a local resource in the browser, however it is possible to display the URL as text.
javascript:function customModulo(r,o){const a=Math.floor(r/o);const t=r-o*a;return t}var sha256=function r(o){function a(r,o){return r>>>o|r<<32-o}var t=Math.pow;var n=t(2,32);var v="length";var f,e;var c="";var i=[];var u=o[v]*8;var l=r.h=r.h||[];var s=r.k=r.k||[];var h=s[v];var d={};for(var w=2;h<64;w++){if(!d[w]){for(f=0;f<313;f+=w){d[f]=w}l[h]=t(w,.5)*n|0;s[h++]=t(w,1/3)*n|0}}o+="\x80";while(customModulo(o[v],64)-56)o+="\0";for(f=0;f<o[v];f++){e=o.charCodeAt(f);if(e>>8)return;i[f>>2]|=e<<customModulo(3-f,4)*8}i[i[v]]=u/n|0;i[i[v]]=u;for(e=0;e<i[v];){var M=i.slice(e,e+=16);var g=l;l=l.slice(0,8);for(f=0;f<64;f++){var m=f+e;var k=M[f-15],S=M[f-2];var p=l[0],A=l[4];if(f<16){M[f]=M[f]}else{M[f]=M[f-16]+(a(k,7)^a(k,18)^k>>>3)+M[f-7]+(a(S,17)^a(S,19)^S>>>10)|0}var C=l[7]+(a(A,6)^a(A,11)^a(A,25))+(A&l[5]^~A&l[6])+s[f]+M[f];var b=(a(p,2)^a(p,13)^a(p,22))+(p&l[1]^p&l[2]^l[1]&l[2]);l=[C+b|0].concat(l);l[4]=l[4]+C|0}for(f=0;f<8;f++){l[f]=l[f]+g[f]|0}}for(f=0;f<8;f++){for(e=3;e+1;e--){var j=l[f]>>e*8&255;c+=function(){if(j<16){return"0"+j.toString(16)}else{return j.toString(16)}}()}}return c};var readerUrl="chrome-distiller://00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_"+sha256(window.location.href)+decodeURIComponent("/%3Furl=")+window.location.href;window.location=readerUrl;

It is also tricky to open a bookmarklet in Chrome on Android. The process is described here.
To use:
Save this bookmark to Chrome in Android, then open a web page you want to read, then search in the address bar for the bookmarklet, and then open it.
2. Extended code and explanation (kdb)
Changing location.href is disallowed by security policies. I updated the script to use the clipboard instead.
2.1. Minified version for bookmarklet use
javascript:/* Chrome Reader View.js - 10:25:07 2023-07-31 */(function(){ main();function main(){document.head.innerHTML="";document.body.innerHTML="<input id='reader-url-input' style='width: 100%25'/>"+"<button id='reader-url-button' style='width: 100%25'>Copy to Clipboard</button>";let inp=document.getElementById("reader-url-input");let but=document.getElementById("reader-url-button");inp.value=readerViewUrl();but.addEventListener("click",copyReaderUrl);copyReaderUrl();function copyReaderUrl(){inp.select();inp.setSelectionRange(0,99999);navigator.clipboard.writeText(inp.value);}location.href=readerViewUrl();}function readerViewUrl(){return"chrome-distiller:/"+"/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_"+sha256(window.location.href)+"/?url="+window.location.href;}function customModulo(r,o){let a=Math.floor(r/o);let t=r-o*a;return t}function sha256(o){let r=sha256;function a(r,o){return r>>>o|r<<32-o}var t=Math.pow;var n=t(2,32);var v="length";var f,e;var c="";var i=[];var u=o[v]*8;var l=r.h=r.h||[];var s=r.k=r.k||[];var h=s[v];var d={};for(var w=2;h<64;w++){if(!d[w]){for(f=0;f<313;f+=w){d[f]=w}l[h]=t(w,.5)*n|0;s[h++]=t(w,1/3)*n|0}}o+="\x80";while(customModulo(o[v],64)-56)o+="\0";for(f=0;f<o[v];f++){e=o.charCodeAt(f);if(e>>8)return;i[f>>2]|=e<<customModulo(3-f,4)*8}i[i[v]]=u/n|0;i[i[v]]=u;for(e=0;e<i[v];){var M=i.slice(e,e+=16);var g=l;l=l.slice(0,8);for(f=0;f<64;f++){var m=f+e;var k=M[f-15],S=M[f-2];var p=l[0],A=l[4];if(f<16){M[f]=M[f]}else{M[f]=M[f-16]+(a(k,7)^ a(k,18)^ k>>>3)+M[f-7]+(a(S,17)^ a(S,19)^ S>>>10)|0}var C=l[7]+(a(A,6)^ a(A,11)^ a(A,25))+(A&l[5]^ ~A&l[6])+s[f]+M[f];var b=(a(p,2)^ a(p,13)^ a(p,22))+(p&l[1]^ p&l[2]^ l[1]&l[2]);l=[C+b|0].concat(l);l[4]=l[4]+C|0}for(f=0;f<8;f++){l[f]=l[f]+g[f]|0}}for(f=0;f<8;f++){for(e=3;e+1;e--){var j=l[f]>>e*8&255;c+=function(){if(j<16){return"0"+j.toString(16)}else{return j.toString(16)}}()}}return c};})();undefined;

2.2. Formatted source code
// Script overall based on [hp01]. Updated 2023/07/31 by kdb.
//
// Usage
//   1. Add minified version (one-liner starting with javascript:) as a bookmarklet.
//   2. Invoke the bookmarklet by typing the name into the address bar on mobile.
//   3. On mobile, the cliboard should now contain the chrome-distiller:// URL.
//      If it does not, click the copy-to-clipboard button.
//   4. Paste into the URL bar and press Enter. Beware: "the link you copied" does *not* work,
//      as that will extract the http[s]:// part out of the URL instead of using the chrome-distiller:// URL.
//
// References
//   [hp01] https://gist.github.com/hughpearse/9454406ad43116dfaef8c43e7eac84f4
//   [w301] https://www.w3schools.com/howto/howto_js_copy_clipboard.asp

main();

function main() {
    // We cannot directly write to the clipboard without a user interaction context,
    // so an <input/><button/> pattern is used.
    //
    // On Chrome for Android, invoking a bookmarklet already enables
    // permissions for writing to the clipboard, so the function is invoked immediately.

    document.head.innerHTML = "";
    document.body.innerHTML =
        "<input id='reader-url-input' style='width: 100%'/>" +
        "<button id='reader-url-button' style='width: 100%'>Copy to Clipboard</button>";
    const inp = document.getElementById("reader-url-input");
    const but = document.getElementById("reader-url-button");
    inp.value = readerViewUrl();
    but.addEventListener("click", copyReaderUrl);
    copyReaderUrl();
    function copyReaderUrl() {
        inp.select();
        inp.setSelectionRange(0, 99999); // For mobile according to [w301]
        navigator.clipboard.writeText(inp.value);
    }
    // Changing the href will most likely fail due to security
    // policies of Chrome, but is left in case it works at some point.
    location.href = readerViewUrl();
}

function readerViewUrl() {
    // Code from [hp01], but simplified/reformatted.
    // The pattern "/"+"/" is a hack due to my minification script stripping out "//..." patterns.
    return "chrome-distiller:/"+"/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_"
          + sha256(window.location.href)
          + "/?url=" + window.location.href;
}

function customModulo(r, o) {
    // Unchanged from [hp01].
    const a = Math.floor(r / o);
    const t = r - o * a;
    return t
}

function sha256(o) {
    // Unchanged from [hp01].
    const r = sha256;
    function a(r, o) {
    return r >>> o | r << 32 - o
    }
    var t = Math.pow;
    var n = t(2, 32);
    var v = "length";
    var f, e;
    var c = "";
    var i = [];
    var u = o[v] * 8;
    var l = r.h = r.h || [];
    var s = r.k = r.k || [];
    var h = s[v];
    var d = {};
    for (var w = 2; h < 64; w++) {
    if (!d[w]) {
        for (f = 0; f < 313; f += w) {
        d[f] = w
        }
        l[h] = t(w, .5) * n | 0;
        s[h++] = t(w, 1 / 3) * n | 0
    }
    }
    o += "\x80";
    while (customModulo(o[v], 64) - 56) o += "\0";
    for (f = 0; f < o[v]; f++) {
    e = o.charCodeAt(f);
    if (e >> 8) return;
    i[f >> 2] |= e << customModulo(3 - f, 4) * 8
    }
    i[i[v]] = u / n | 0;
    i[i[v]] = u;
    for (e = 0; e < i[v];) {
    var M = i.slice(e, e += 16);
    var g = l;
    l = l.slice(0, 8);
    for (f = 0; f < 64; f++) {
        var m = f + e;
        var k = M[f - 15],
        S = M[f - 2];
        var p = l[0],
        A = l[4];
        if (f < 16) {
        M[f] = M[f]
        } else {
        M[f] = M[f - 16] + (a(k, 7) ^ a(k, 18) ^ k >>> 3) + M[f - 7] + (a(S, 17) ^ a(S, 19) ^ S >>> 10) | 0
        }
        var C = l[7] + (a(A, 6) ^ a(A, 11) ^ a(A, 25)) + (A & l[5] ^ ~A & l[6]) + s[f] + M[f];
        var b = (a(p, 2) ^ a(p, 13) ^ a(p, 22)) + (p & l[1] ^ p & l[2] ^ l[1] & l[2]);
        l = [C + b | 0].concat(l);
        l[4] = l[4] + C | 0
    }
    for (f = 0; f < 8; f++) {
        l[f] = l[f] + g[f] | 0
    }
    }
    for (f = 0; f < 8; f++) {
    for (e = 3; e + 1; e--) {
        var j = l[f] >> e * 8 & 255;
        c += function() {
        if (j < 16) {
            return "0" + j.toString(16)
        } else {
            return j.toString(16)
        }
        }()
    }
    }
    return c
};

They just seem to have moved and renamed it.
You can now find it under Settings | Accessibility | Simplified view for web pages
(thanks to enquirer at reddit for pointing me in that direction)

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange! While this might help other readers who never see a prompt for simplified view anymore, I'm afraid this doesn't help the asker, since as stated by its description: "Offer to show articles in simplified view, when supported". However, as the asker has mentioned, some websites are not compliant with the requirement and thus the prompt will never appear...


text:
Can I mute sound notifications, but allow chat heads on Facebook Messenger?
On Facebook Messenger, on my Android phone, I want to permanently mute audio notifications for new text messages, but I would still like to receive a chat bubble.
Is this possible?

The trick is to look in the Android settings for this, rather than in the Facebook messenger.
In Settings -> Notifications it will list all of your applications, and the notifications settings they have.
Some applications will have several notifications tfor the given app.
In the 'chat and calls' notifications - you can disallow sound. The downside here is that this will also prevent Messenger calls from making a sound.


text:
Preventing auto login to the default email on an android tablet
When using an android tablet for the first time, I have to set a default email google account.
When I click on the Gmail icon, it automatically log into my gmail account.
Is there a way to prevent the system from automatic logging in to the default gmail account by clicking on the Gmail icon.
I am seeking a way to force the system to ask for my gmail login password each time there is a try to login to my account by clicking on the gmail icon. This is to prevent anyone who could manage to use my tablet from logging in to my gmail account.

Turn off Gmail sync from settings if that's bothering you.

If it is possible to sign out, the login will appear the next time you try to sign in like signing out from the desktop or laptop.
However, it is not possible to sign out of Gmail for Android unless you remove your account as stated in Sign out of Gmail

The only way to sign out of the Gmail app is to remove your entire account from your phone or tablet

A possible solution to add a security layer before opening Gmail app is to install an app lock from Google Play Store or any market of your preference. These apps allow to lock individual apps. You will still be login to your Gmail account but before opening the app, you will be prompted to enter a pin or pattern.


text:
Opening an .apk on Android shows a file list instead of installing
For a client I build a private app which their employees can download on their tablet and use. To get the app, the employee opens Chrome on his tablet and navigates to an URL to start the .apk download.
This approach worked fine for the last few years, till a few weeks ago. Instead of installing the app, a folder is shown with the files of the .apk.
The only difference I noticed is the source that's stated in the 'Downloads' screen. On June 16th everything worked fine, the source says 'chrome-native://newtab'. As of July 1th, the source changed to the domain where the .apk was downloaded and this problem occurs:

The tablets are only used for this particular app. The company buys a tablet, navigates to the URL, downloads the .apk and installs it. It would like to keep it as simple as this.
I've searched everywhere, but still have no clue what causes this problem. Any ideas?
This problem occurs on Android 8.1.0, the upgrade form 8.0.0 to 8.1.0 may be the cause of the problem. But I still have no idea how to solve it.

The issue happens with an incorrect HTTP header.
If the request has the right Content-Type header: application/vnd.android.package-archive, the APK will be installed correctly.

I just had the same problem and was looking for an explanation.
If you tap on an .apk in that list a message (Toast) pops up saying it can't open the file, right?
A workaround I found is to open the file explorer app and manually navigate to the Downloads folder and tap on the .apk there. You'll be able to install the app without issues.
Or you can just use another browser, like Firefox.
My guess is that Google restricts Chrome from opening APKs. Funny enough you have to explicitly allow Chrome to download APKs but now you can't install them anymore… Still trying to wrap my head around this.
I'll edit this answer if I find out more.

@Thijs Thank You, you've taken me in the right direction. A colleague set application/apk by mistake. However it only solved another problem (download not working), the problem with Chrome still persists. Do you know where else we need to set the Content-Type? We only added the MIME-Type in our IIS-Server. The APK is generated via the usual Android Studio function. It's the same with debug or signed release versions.
One more thing i just noticed: Downloading it from a site works (virtual IIS directory, clicking on file), but opening a direct link to the apk seems to cause the problem.

Okay, thanks nonetheless. I really think it has something to do with the latest Chrome version or Android security. Because it works with every other browser or file explorer. Just not with the Chrome- or Downloads-App. I'll leep an eye on this.


text:
Removing apk of inbuilt apps completely (without rooting)
I'm working on Samsung Galaxy On7, Android 6.0.1-Marshmallow.
My internal memory is 8 GB, due to which I have disabled several inbuilt apps which I do not need at all.
The problem is that, these disabled apps are still taking up space, even though they are disabled and replaced by their factory versions.
Is there any way I can completely free up the space the Google apps are using up (like Facebook and its Manager, which are taking up almost no space):
(Click the image to enlarge it)

Please note that I do not want to root my phone. I had previously rooted my other phone with kingo root, but could never unroot it.

Possible duplicate of How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

Don't be too stubborn. You can never remove a system app without root. Also it doesn't occupy the space for your personal data so you don't have to free them up.

"I had previously rooted my other phone with kingo root, but could never unroot it." But why would you want to unroot it anyway? As a power user I make a lot of use of root, and would never buy a phone that can't be rooted. The first time I ever got a smartphone, I rooted it within a week and never wanted anything else. It's like having a restricted user account in Windows corporate environments. Hell no, this is my device.

I had read that rooting makes the phone more vulnerable to security threats, and that's why I tried to unroot it.

Unfortunately, that is just not possible. The apk of system apps resides within system partition. The privileges (access rights) required to make changes in system partition are not given to ordinary users. We can only gain such higher privilege through rooting.
That said, if you are dealing with space issues than you are looking at wrong front. System partition has nothing to do with those space issues since only a system wide update/upgrade makes changes in it. They are caused by data partition. It is possible that you may have updated some system apps, so now, they would be having an apk in system partition and another apk (the latest update) in the data partition (now that is one precious space). You can delete the ones in data partition by disabling that system app. When you attempt to do that you would get something like this:

OK, and the apk from the data partition would get deleted.

Can't you use ADB to mess with that partition without rooting?

I don't think so. AFAIK, the system partition is mounted as readonly. To mess with that partition would require adb remount which requires the root access.

You could argue that this is like single-boot rooting, but you could boot into a recovery image that will allow you write access to the system partition. You'll need to have an unlocked bootloader (look up a guide for your system—note that this is different from rooting and carrier unlocking), and doing this will take some familiarity with adb and fastboot. If your concern is just space, I would stick with Firelord's advice, as doing this would be a lot of effort for very little space saving.

Good point. With a recovery basically OP could just have the phone rooted easily, though, and that's what he didn't do, plainly out of the fear of failure to root.

Some apps like Ghost Commander off the Play Store can allow you to get Root Access within the Root Folder without having to Root your phone, but I don't exactly know if it could delete such files within the root folder, but it might be able to.

You should be sure that your method works; at least you should have tested it somewhere. "but I don't exactly" - shows that you have done no testing. This would be better as a comment, not an answer.

try sd maid, it will find large files, eg it  found thumbnails from 'gallery
' . I also changed to camera360 app that dont leave thumbnails so large in size.
use osmonitor app, it  will find the apps that at are using up ram , and you can remove them.
Finally use a firewall, i use 'no root firewall' and it disables access to the internet by app, you whitelist  the apps you need to access internet. eg Gallery was pinging the net, and why? photos are local

Hello. Can you please explain how SD Maid can find system apps' apk and delete them? The asker is looking to solve that. As for the last two paragraphs, though helpful in general, they are rather irrelevant with respect to the scope of the question.


text:
Unable to install ADB or any USB driver for lenovo k3 note
I have tried everything that I can think of here, but somehow my Win10 PC won't finish the driver installation.
I tried fastboot mode, recovery mode, MTP connection, USB debugging mode. Win10 fails to recognize the drivers at all. I also tried the universal drivers, they failed too. Just "Install failed" message when I use universal drivers.
I also tried removing all USB device drivers, but that didn't work either. So, right now, my phone is stuck in a weird position. I can't fix my IMEI issue because I can't connect to PC. And I can't connect to PC because it does not get installed properly. Device is getting detected but the device manager just shows error saying "A file could not be found", or "An installer cannot perform installation". No proper error code available here, but I can definitely provide exact error messages, if that helps.
Error Message in Fastboot/Recovery Mode: Device USB\VID_0BB4&PID_0C01\8PR8EMEEWCOFQ8AI requires further installation.
Edit:
Tried removing every usb driver, then reinstall, then use Lenovo usb drivers. Same problem. The drivers do not get installed.

Disconnect device from PC, Remove all drivers from the PC,  reboot , plug in the device and install recommended /device specific drivers

Okay, let me try rebooting after deleting the driver. Will get back to you in a bit. BTW, Windows automatically installs some random driver as soon as I connect.

Yes, that's the lousy part of windows - suggest you first install whatever are the recommended drivers for your device as suggested in your device forums . If that doesn't help, install what windows Recommendations. If this also didn't help, please update your question and let others help

Another option could be to install Linux in dual boot mode - you don't need to bother about drivers. Android is automatically recognised

Done. Tried your suggestion. Nothing. Stupid windows won't let me install drivers. BTW, I am trying to update imei, because my imei is null after the update. It was still working fine till I rebooted. Now, I can't connect to network, or connect phone to pc to just start from scratch. Funny thing is, phone is still rooted. So, I tried using "chamelophon" app. But nothing. It didn't work at all. It showed message saying, "please shutdown phone now". and when i started it again, no sim detected. even the sim settings got disabled.

Not sure about linux. Because I need to use the flashing tool to flash the phone to stock firmware. and finding flashing tool for linux will become another issue.

Yes you have a point. I am out of suggestions. All the best


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Fix null IMEI on rooted phone without pc
So, the biggest drawback is I can't connect phone to PC (drivers not installing on Win 10, separate issue). And in my current ROM, I have already got root setup. Problem is I am getting null imei.
As you understand, I cannot go back to stock, or make any changes in this setup. Because if I mess it up, I can't connect to PC to fix it. I can however copy files to sd card and fix the imei that way.
How can I add the imei info using rooted phone, without a pc?
Edit:
I tried MTK engineering mode app as well. But the engineering mode contains no option for radio information.

Have you tried xposed imei changer? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vivek.imeichanger

tried it just now. app keeps closing. tried chamelophon, and for that changes are not sticking. after reboot, imei becomes null again and again

Your phone's EFS partition(s) is probably damaged. You may want to download the stock ROM and flash that partition.

Okay, I tried that too. After starting from scratch, same issue. But funny thing is a specific rom works fine, the one I was using earlier. Any other rom gives me this problem.


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My phone talk by Android auto even without a car and android auto uninstalled, help!
I have a blackberry key2 with android 8.1.0. I often rent cars with android auto, so I connect my phone to different cars. It's a month that randomly my mobile phone starts to say louder "Sorry, I didn't understand". It happens at home, in the office, during the night.
I checked on Google activity and it says that it's activated by android auto. So I removed android auto app from the phone, and the problem continues.
How is it possible?
How can android auto app activate the phone, even if android auto app is not in the phone?
I don't talk to the phone, I don't touch the phone, but it happens randomly.
This is the screenshot of the activity:


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Can not uninstall an app(hi app lock) which has device administrator rights
I have installed "hi app lock" application 2 year ago. But rarely used it. Now when i open it, it doesn't open. So i decided to uninstall it, but first i have to revoke its administration rights. So i try to unchecked it, but that action is crashing. Attached image of uninstall steps. Please let me know how to remove this app. I don't want to factory reset or root my android device(oneplus one, OS: Cynogen OS version: 13.2.1....)

Boot into safe mode and than try disabling the administrator.

@firelord, same problem when unchecked device administration rights in safe mode.

Fixed the probem.

After viewing report's call stack, got to know that android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
for this app is not enabled. So, i enabled above setting by help of this link, https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28947878/How-to-enable-android-permission-SYSTEM-ALERT-WINDOW-in-marshmallow.html and then successfully revoke device administrator right and uninstalled it.

@ChetanRaiyani Please post that as an answer and mark your question as solved.. Also, edit the question title and include the app name so that it'll be easy to find for others searching via Search Engines.

After viewing report's call stack, got to know that android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW
for this app is not enabled. So, i enabled above setting by help of this link, https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28947878/How-to-enable-android-permission-SYSTEM-ALERT-WINDOW-in-marshmallow.html and then successfully revoke device administrator right and uninstalled it.