text:
Why my Nokia 7.1 makes a sound every 30 seconds until I view the notification?
Since updating to Android 9 (Pie) a few days ago, my Nokia 7.1 makes alert noises every 30 seconds - 1 minute until I view the notification.
I think it has something to do with the Ambient screen notification setting. I used to have it set at "periodically" which is supposed to be every 2 minutes and would previously just illuminate the screen - not make noise. But now, I get a notification noise about every 30 seconds (37 seconds to be exact) until I acknowledge the notification.
I set the Ambient screen notification setting to be "once" and that seems to have resolved the issue of getting the notification sounds, which is why I believe that setting is no longer working properly.
I can live with that workaround for now, but it really would be ideal to have my screen light up every 2 minutes without noise in the many cases that I don't see it the first time.
I have seen a similar issue reported with a solution of "Tap your Settings, scroll down and tap accessibility, scroll down and tap notification reminder." but I do not have that setting.

This is no longer an issue since the last Android P update - the setting in question that wasn't working no longer exists.

Still an issue on Nokia 5.1 plus. Settings looks the same with the screenshot, but turning on "New notification" brings the ambient display on and notification sounds every 2 minutes, if we don't dismiss the new notification.

Considering the phone has no notification light, this is probably a "feature". But they really should give an option to just wake the screen once / when the new notification arrives only (instead of waking it, and ringing a sound, every few minutes)


text:
How to view recovered (deleted earlier) images?
I, sometime ago, formatted my memory card, and few days later I recovered the data in it. I then copied the recovered data to memory card again. However, I am unable to see many photos in my computer. I thought my Android phone would support this. But my phone also failed to show me those photos.
The images I want to see are of the previous size of the image, when I captured them. E.g. if I captured an image of size 1.2mb, the recovered image is also of the same size.
My phone is running Android 7.0, has 1GB RAM and internal storage of 8GB. The problem is with SD card. When I try to open those pictures I see this:

Include more details to allow the community to help you. What is the app you are using to see the pictures? What is the Android version? Did you update the app? What steps have you tried to solve the problem?

How did you recover those images? Can you actually display them on, say, a PC? Sometimes the recovering, especially if done much later than the formatting,  can yield to broken files.

I recovered.. Not only my phone but also in my PC I can't see the photos.. All are blank.. Tell me what I do.. Picture size is ok, picture properties same as previou..

Recovering images from a previously formatted media usually means that the images are "carved" from the RAW data by detecting the image headers.
Images that are not stored as one data block (image is fragmented on file-system level) can not be fully recovered using the carving method because the information which blocks belong together was erased by formatting the media. You end up in having image files of the original size but from a certain point on the images just contain garbage data, not the image data.
A good image recovery tool should detect those defect images and let you decide what to do with them. Looks like your software does not work this way and now you have broken images that can't be loaded fully - e.g. for generating the thumbnail.
You may find software that is able to display the remaining parts of the original image, and save it to a new file. But this software has be be able to deal with defect image files and I don't know what Android apps could be used in such a case.

source: Stack Exchange

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sort: votes


text:
How to fix crashes on "Checking info" screen when trying to add a Google account?
I had to remove my Google account to sign out of Gmail, but when I try to log back in I see this screen and then it crashes:

Without this, my Keep, Gmail and even Play Store isn't working and I'm unable to sign into YouTube.
I've tried restarting my phone, clearing app data for all Google apps. I thought this was a Google Play Services problem, so I tried to update it by installing via the latest APK but it always says that "the package is corrupt"
This started when my Gmail app started crashing out of the blue. I tried restarting my phone which didn't help, so I thought I'd sign out and sign back in.
I'm using Android 7 on Redmi Note 4

Although several months too late for OP, the problem described is exactly the same as one I just had to solve on my Mum’s tablet yesterday.
Note that there seems to be at least a couple of different problems that people are reporting that relate to the “Checking Info” screen. The problem I’m referring to is where the Checking Info screen just crashes and disappears, NOT the problem where it freezes.
The symptoms being seen were:

Almost none of the Google apps were able to run. The only exception to this was Chrome, which was working fine.
When trying to access Google Play Store, I was asked to sign in, but then the Checking Info screen was displayed briefly before it crashed and returned me to the sign in screen.
A number of other apps (a seemingly random selection) were crashing as soon I tried to open them.

What I did to fix it:

In Settings > Apps I selected the Chrome app and chose the “Uninstall all updates” from the 3-dot menu.
I was then able to successfully open the Google Play Store, login, and get past the Checking Info screen.
Finally, in the Google Play Store, I found the Chrome app and selected “Update”.

All the affected apps then worked correctly.
Why does this work?
The Checking Info screen has an embedded web browser window in it (called WebView). If Chrome is installed then it provides this capability. I think that during a Chrome update something happened to cause WebView to break. Taking Chrome back to its factory default version removed that fault. Not sure why updating Chrome back to its most recent version then doesn’t cause it to break again - perhaps some error in one of the earlier updates.

This answer was invaluable in helping me come up with the solution that did actually work for my father's issues with the Checking Info screen: rather than doing "Uninstall updates" for "Google Chrome", in Settings > Apps, select Android System WebView and in the 3-dot menu, select "Uninstall updates". From there you should be able to add a Google account in Settings > Accounts > + Add an account > Google.

I know it's too late to answer now but i hope someone else would find it helpful
Sometimes even if you switch account in play store it doesn't allow you to download anything.. it just keeps on showing Waiting for Download.
Go to Settings-->Accounts>Google-->(your email id you removed earlier)-->"Remove account" from top right corner. And then add it from start.

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text:
How to remove a persistent malware that downloads unwanted apps?
Some months ago, I purchased an Azumi cell phone from an official store in a shopping mall in Mexico and subsequently discovered its firmware contains a ton of malware. The malware connects with a server in China and downloads a load of malicious apps which then launch automatically and eventually render the phone so slow as to be unusable.
I have just done a factory reset for the fifth time and expect it to run smoothly for a few weeks until the problems return. I tried installing a new ROM but it did not resolve the problem, possibly because the malware is hidden inside a partition.
I am not at all literate with Android, but am willing to learn and do whatever is necessary to fix this phone. Can someone advise or point me in the right direction?
If I need to root it, how can I do this safely, and how can I locate the offending malware? What diagnostic tests can I perform to learn more about the problem? And if it's easier to flash a new system, what is the most effective way to do this, and where can I locate a reliable ROM?

This is a similar issue as this one

SiXandSeven8ths - Possibly. What I mean is, the hardware works perfectly well. It seems a shame to create more garbage for the world just because some gangsters chose to install dodgy software on it.

Parth Pandya - thank you for sharing the link.

What's phone exact model? Which ROM it has? Which ROM have you tried to install? It was probably originally made in China, so it could be possible to find original model and try to search for it's full stock ROM (or just some ROM without ads) which will overwrite everything.

Hi janot, thanks for getting back. The phone is an Azumi Iro A5 QL, Android 6.0, Software Azumi_IRO_A5_QL_MX_V01. I installed a stock rom from here - https://stockromfiles.com/azumi-iro-a5-ql-telcel-firmware/. The install appeared to be successful, then, a few weeks later, the same malware as usual turned up.

The app - NoRoot Firewall can be very useful for preventing unwanted malware / adware related app downloads. Cheap phones, tablets (particularly phones off the grey market) typically experience this issue.

You answer does not address the issue of the malware already being present.

Hi TestDeviant, thanks for getting back. NoRoot Firewall is a great app and I've been using it. However, sooner or later it crashes and lets the malware through. It's a good temporary solution but I'm looking for something more permanent.

@Workrobotwork - I switched from NoRoot firewall to NetGuard firewall, although paid because the former one was last updated in 2014 and these days it frequently crashes.

Thanks miroxlav. Looks good, will give it a go.


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Can't unlock screen after changing password
So one night i was using my Galaxy Tab A and realized that someone had taken my screen lock off, so every time I had opened my screen cover it would just automatically unlock my screen. So I decided to put a lock back on it and the password type that I was using previously was the "Direction swipes" lock and the combination I thought was just way too easy, and I really liked this type of screen lock. So I came up with an even harder combination and after awhile I had pressed the power button to lock the screen, and when I tried turning it back on I didn't even swipe up on the screen to unlock it and instantly realized I had already forgotten the new combination. So I've been using the guest user on my tablet.
So my question is, how do I get back into the main users screen without having to factory reset the whole device? Is there any chance of that?
Please help me somebody, anybody!!!

Check this link, for solved you not need enable debuging and root:
Why does Android Device Manager not changes my password?


text:
How to move navigation bar to the right in landscape mode?
I just got a Pixel 2, running Android 9. I've noticed that when I turn my phone landscape, the soft keys always go to the "bottom" of the phone, which is sometimes on the left of the screen. I'm used to the behavior of the soft keys orienting themselves on the right side of the landscape, no matter which way is up, like on Android 7 (I was using a Nexus 5 before this). It's hard for me to use my left hand on the keys as I am not used to it, and I'm used to swiping in from the right to bring them up as well.
Is there a way to adjust this setting?

This is something I've accomplished via modifying the source code, but frankly I'm not sure if it can be done in another way...

@AndyYan is it possible for you to teach me how to do this? I've been meaning to learn small UI tweaks for a while (like having a battery bar for Bluetooth devices) but never really got around to it. I have experience in programming android apps in Java, as well as C++ and Kotlin

Can you build the ROM you're running in the first place? If you're using the stock ROM then the patch won't work (as said, I work on the source), and some sort of decompiling/recompiling needs to be done, but I don't know of a way to reliably decompile/recompile Pie stuff as of yet.

Alright, I'll look into learning to build my own ROM first then

In the meantime I'll try to figure out apktool on Pie, if that works then I might have an answer for you :) Just don't expect it to come soon.


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How to use SD card's full storage capacity?

I just bought a new 32GB mini SD card to make more space for my video files and put them into my phone.
When I turn on my phone the system just mounts new SD card to /sdcard0,  then it begin to use it as system internal storage. Even when I try to change default write disk to internal storage, it shows as /sdcard1.
How do I use SD card in full space?
System: Android 5.0
Kernel ver. 3.10.54

I may have ended up changing the intent of this question. Editors are encouraged to correct my edit, because I had difficulty understanding this post, but it was in dire need of an edit, so I had to edit it.

Your device is automatically using the SD Card as internal storage, this makes the mount directory change from storage/sdcard1 to storage/sdcard0, this is how Android utilises the SD Card as Adoptable Internal Storage...
You will still have the space you want,
If you would like to continue using internal storage as your primary storage location, you should select Phone Storage.. This will use a Fake SD Card emulated on User Data, Mounting the Fake SD Card  @ /storage/emulated/legacy and storage/sdcard0, however if you want to use the real SD Card as internal storage, it will mount the Fake SD Card @ storage/sdcard1 and the Real SD Card @ storage/sdcard0 ...
The main directory that changes is the sdcard directory, If you send a file to /sdcard/ it will write to the External Storage selection, either Real or Fake SD Card, depending on your selection.
I'm not sure how you are planning to use the card, but I imagine you may have thought the OS merged the available storage into a single larger storage device.. this isn't the case.


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Why does my Android 2.2 powered Samsung Galaxy I5510 receive duplicated messages (SMS)?
I own a brand new Samsung Galaxy I5510 (Android 2.2). Everything works fine and I really like the device.
My problem is:
Every time Some times I receive a message from a phone number that is not in my contact list, the phone continues receiving it every few hours.
Facts I pointed out:

The time between those messages is not constant.
It never happened when the number was in my contact list.
Deleting the thread does not solve the problem.
The senders do not fool me and send the message again and again.
It seems to stop after a day or two.
restart of the phone does not solve the problem.
I am not sure if it really receives the message again or if it just copies the old one.

Does anybody has an idea what could cause the described behavior?
Thank you!
EDIT: Another point why it is not likely to be a provider issue: I never received a duplicated message while the phone was turned off. Means: I never switched the phone on in the morning and received one or more such messages instantly.
EDIT 2: I looked through all the phone log. It happened by now for two numbers. Both were not in my contact list. The occurencies and their time of day are:
+491773**4537
15:38
17:23
19:19
21:41
00:37
phone off
13:20
16:12
20:48
phone off
09:59
10:16
14:10
phone off
12:46
21:04
--------
13 times

+491635**4554
23:39
phone off
12:20
13:09
14:44
16:16
17:51
19:28
21:02
23:39
phone off
07:28
08:16
09:32
10:51
12:17
15:28
17:00
18:27
20:04
21:21
22:47
--------
20 times

Message from numbers that did not repeat:
+491762**21169
+491797**1598
+436508**7821
+336782**105

What's your carrier?  I experience "duplicate" messages all the time on Verizon.  I believe it's a carrier issue.

@Al Everett: Why did you remove the android tags?

@Bryan Denny: My carrier is www.o2.de (Telefonica). But I don't think that its their issue: I didn't change my simcard and had no problems on my old phone. Maybe the I5510 does not confirm the receivement of a sms which sender isn't in the contact list...

@Simon Android tags are considered redundant here (because you're already on a site about Android, there is no need to tag it unless you're tagging a specific version of it, 2.2-froyo, etc.)

@Bryan Denny: Ok, I thought tagging it 2.2-froyo might be right as I thought it could be a issue to the OS (at that specific version). Why do general android tags exist?

How many times does it repeat? Does it always stop after a certain number or does it last until you shut the phone off?

@Kyle — First 13 times, secound 20 times. Shutting down and restarting does not help! Please see my edit! Thanks!

@Simon: Android tags exist primarily because when questions are migrated from other sites they are (correctly) tagged "android" there, and the tags are maintained in the migration.

The problem simply disappeared after a few weeks. I guess the carrier changed something or my phone got updated without informing me... Who knows.

Those are the worst. Glad you got it sorted.

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text:
What do "root," "flash," and "ROM" mean?

Possible Duplicate:
What is the meaning of “flashing a custom ROM”?

I have been looking for some good explanations of some words that have been frequently used the android developer communities like the XDA forums.
Some words I've seen but do not understand are:
root - (as far as I know it's the way of getting the super user access)
flash - don't know what this is
ROM - don't know either
I need a more descriptive explanation about these words and the related tools, mechanisms, etc.

Looking around the site will give you lots of answers.
Rooting:

What does "to root a phone" mean?
How do I root my Android device?

ROMs and Flashing:

What is the meaning of "flashing a custom ROM"?
Does flashing a custom ROM require root access?
Does rooting require a custom ROM?

root - you are correct
flash - is to replace the OS that is installed on your phone with a custom ROM.
ROM - is a 3rd party created custom version of the Android OS.

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

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text:
How to factory reset without data loss and undue pain?
I ran into a serious SMS bug, which knowledgeable users seem to be saying means the SMS message database is corrupt (source 1, source 2).  This is consistent with my current experience.  In my case I lost all ~1000 messages and still have some issues after that.
So I want to factory reset my phone.  While I have not rooted my phone, I have performed significant customization, and have somewhere around 150 apps installed, including a few paid apps (UltimateJuice, ...).  What things do I need to explicitly backup?  What can I do to minimize the pain?  I don't care about save points in games.
Surprisingly, I cannot find any good documentation of this using any obvious Google search terms.  (I am aware of How do I perform a full pre-rooting backup of an Android phone?, which doesn't really offer an answer to my question.)
For Google cloud things such as contacts, do I need to backup the cloud version just in case, so the phone doesn't wipe them from the cloud?  Fortunately, most of my personal notes are stored in cloud applications like Catch and Evernote.  I presume these should be unaffected.
As far as I can tell the BackupMySettings option is not available for my phone (Samsung Epic running 2.1).  My paid apps come back from Market anyway, right?  I guess I could pay $4 for MyBackupPro if it really made things simpler, but there would need to be some way to NOT backup the corrupted SMS database files.  Also I am assuming carrier-bundled apps such as Swype will automatically work.

P.S.  I have Marigold Android Backup and backed up to the SD card (except SMS/MMS).  I also have mIQ but I'm not sure I trust that to do a restore.  Factory resetting the phone will not affect the SD card, correct?
P.P.S.  I have AppBrain.  Is that automatically remembering all apps I have on the phone, so it will suggest installing all of them if I just install AppBrain?  Or will it only do that for apps installed through AppBrain?

You don't need to backup your "cloud" contacts.

AppBrain will make it easy to restore your apps. After the reset, install AppBrain first(ish) and use it to get back all the apps you had before. (Sync before you reset.)
Market will remember your paid apps so you'll be able to get those without having to repay.
Your Google app data (e-mail, contacts, calendar) are backed up to the "cloud" already, so you shouldn't have to do anything special with them. If you REALLY want to you could export them to a CSV file, but you shouldn't have to.
You probably don't need to, but I would copy the contents of the SD card to a temporary location. Just in case.
As for other apps that keep data only local...I can't speak to those. I know that for myself everything important has a backup somewhere else. (Yay Dropbox!)
Unfortunately (or, actually, fortunately), I don't have any personal experience with a factory reset. Everything I've read says that it's really not that bad, excepting those apps that don't have dynamic storage strategies.
Good luck!

For Google cloud things such as contacts, do I need to backup the cloud version just in case, so the phone doesn't wipe them from the cloud?
If you set your contact list to sync with Gmail's contact list, you do not need to backup your Gmail's contacts list; just like every cloud-based services you would need to change how you think about where data is stored, Gmail's contact list is NOT a backup of the phone's Contact list, the Gmail's version is the primary reference copy and the phone's contact list is just a local cache of the online version.
Unfortunately (or, in your particular case, fortunately), SMS storage is not a cloud service. If you do a factory reset, you lose all your SMS messages. Therefore, you need to do manual backup of your SMS messages. There are multitudes of SMS backup apps in the Market, both free and paid; I don't know which ones plays wells with the SMS bug since I don't experience the bug myself.
Hard resetting the phone will not affect the SD card, correct?
Yes. Your SD card is your own data, Android will not touch the SD card in any way when doing factory resets.
My paid apps come back from Market anyway, right?
Yes, Android Market purchases are tied to your Gmail account, and you should not need to repay any of your paid apps as long as you used the same account. However, if you purchased apps outside of Android Market, you may need to contact the developer of those app or the alternative market where you made the purchase and ask their policy on this.
P.P.S. I have AppBrain. Is that automatically remembering all apps I have on the phone?
Yes, including those you install directly from the Market. Just make sure you sync your app list with AppBrain before you do a factory reset.

While you're not currently rooted, then, assuming you can get your device rooted, I can recommend Titanium Backup.
The basic version is free, and allows you to back up whichever apps and settings you want to your SD card.
I have used this myself when upgrading from 2.1 to 2.2, and it kept every single app setting in the condition it started.
If this sounds interesting, an easy and painless way to root your device, is by using z4root, which lets you one-click root on a lot of devices, including the Galaxy S, which Wikipedia tells me the Epic 4G is a variant of.

Well, Titanium Backup is a great choice for you. Besides that you can backup your data, settings and APN to some safe place or move them to your SD card. Although, it is not necessary don't keep your SD card in while doing a factory restore.
As mentioned earlier, your data is already stored in Google Play account, so you do not need to pay multiple times for the app you purchased. The other issue would be backing up games and other data so you do not have to start from the scratch.

Factory restore? Do you mean "factory reset"?

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text:
Call from Skype with front speaker
My phone has two speakers, one in front that is used during normal call, and one in the back (the "loudspeaker") that is used to play music and in hands-free mode. When I'm using Skype for Android, it uses the loud speaker. This is very uncomfortable if I want to make Skype call in public place. I could use headphones and mic, but I don't always have them with me.
Is there a way to call on Skype just like normal voice call, with the front speaker?
Eventually, any other app would be good, that can make calls to PC using any of major protocols (Skype, GTalk, MSN), and that uses front speaker.

I believe you should be able to switch between Loudspeaker and Earpiece like this in the screenshot at the bottom while in a call. On my Samsung Galaxy 3 running a custom 4.0.3 ROM, it's working fine.
But after searching on Skype Forums I found this - Speaker only on Android device
Looks like a lot of people are having the same issue from initial releases of Skype for Android. Devices and OS are different in each case, so there really is no solution for users other than to wait for a fix from Skype.
You should perhaps look for alternative apps like these-

Fring (Fring Google Play)
SIP  (SIP for Android)
GTalk for Android app. (Supports Video/VoIP from Android 2.3 onwards). See here - xda-develoeprs GTalk w/Video & Voice for 2.3.3 roms


text:
HowTo : Android ICS Tethering & sending SMS from desktop
I'm a long time Nokia user (currently on an E6) who is now considering the move to Android. I'm almost sold on the HTC One V. I will be buying the phone from a reseller, so no carrier restrictions will be in place.
Before I make the switch I wanted to know if the following are possible via Android apps or those specific to HTC.

USB and Bluetooth Tethering. Am not interested in WiFi tethering since that is definitely going to be a battery killer.
Sending and receiving SMS/text message via a desktop app for Windows 7 (over USB and Bluetooth)

Nokia Suite currently handles these two functions quite well. And frankly, these features are a must have for me to switch to Android on my primary phone.
Additionally, I'm not too keen on having to flash the phone with a custom ROM to enable these features.
Thanks for any suggestions!

My three years old HTC desire does both of them perfectly. But for number 2 you have to install some third party apps. No root or custom ROM is required.

Please don't ask multiple questions at once. AFAIK Bluetooth tehtering is supported since ICS. For more information ask a new question or browse the related tags: usb-tethering and bluetooth-tethering

Don't accuse wifi of battery destroying before you try it.. Bluetooth could easily be just as bad. I have wifi on all the time and it uses less power than when it is off as there is no 3G searching

Hey CJK, based on my previous observations with WiFi tethering with Joiku hotspot - I've found that it drains the battery much faster than with Bluetooth tethering.

Please only ask one question per post. Thank you

The nice thing about Android is that there are many geeky Apps available. Some of them are even open source and free. So there are many different Apps for your task. Here are the ones I am aware of:
Android Remote Notifier
Project Page - Play Store
Forwards and send text messages via bluetooth
GTalkSMS
Project Page Forward and send text messages via XMPP
Other
Can be found in the related questions on Android Enthusiasts:

How do I send SMS from PC through Android Phone or to Android Phone?
How can I be informed through my computer if a new SMS is received?

USB and BT tethering are available, provided your carrier hasn't modified Android to disable them - some carriers charge a premium for tethering.  Contact your carrier to find out for certain.
DeskSMS is a great remote SMS app.  You can view, send and receive SMS from any web browser on any computer; the app then receives the request on your phone and sends the SMS from the phone itself.

Ah, but it looks like DeskSMS sends SMS over the Internet to the phone. Not quite what I'm looking for. The thought of a random 3rd party app getting access to my messages doesn't seem right to me.

True, it does go through a third party server (though it is that of a highly respected developer). For me, the convenience outweighs the other considerations (especially since I don't use SMS for anything other than trivial things).


text:
Mail app stuck at "in progress"
I'm trying to configure the mail app in Android 4/ICS with my IMAP account, but I get stuck at "in progress" after setting up the SMTP server.
These are the exact steps I'm going through:

Open the mail app.
Go to settings.
Click the plus sign in the top right hand side corner.
Enter my email address and password. Check "Push notification" and "Send from this account by default". Click "Next".
It says "Retrieving account information" for a while before giving up and asking me "POP3 or IMAP account?" I choose IMAP.
I enter the correct IMAP server name and check "Use SSL". The port changes to 993, which is correct. I leave NTLM authentication unchecked.
I enter the correct SMTP server, which just happens to be smtp.euromail.se. I leave the port at its default of 25, no SSL, no authentication.

Now it just sits there saying "In progress..." forever. I've tried starting over several times, but it always chokes at the last step. How do I solve this?  These same settings work just fine in K-9 Mail.

Are you in the Mail app choosing accounts or in the Accounts area of the Settings list?

@damd: Per your flag: It would be better to edit this question than to create a new one if you have new details/clarity to add.

Open Email.
Enter your email credentials (the address and the password).
Choose Manual setup.
Choose IMAP.
Enter server settings.

What mail program are you trying to configure? Gmail, your carrier's 3rd party app, or the native email app?

If there's no 'manual setup', untick the 'automatically configure' check box and then click Next.

You need to go into the Mail application and set up an account through there.  The Accounts area is for syncing accounts for the phone (like your Gmail address).


text:
What kind of data is stored in website settings?
While looking at my Android browser settings, I notice there is this advanced setting for individual websites.

So far I have only Twitter using this special setting on my browser. But I do not know what is inside. I can clear history, clear cache, clear forms, clear passwords for all websites at the click of a button. But I need to clear this website data individually.
Does anyone has any idea what is stored inside this website settings? And how do I read the data in it?

It varies from website to website. HTML 5 has a feature called local storage, which lets websites store a modest amount of data in the browser for future visits. They're a bit like cookies, but can be used to store more data. Like cookies, different sites use it for different things.
Some sites (most commonly web games) use local storage to save the Javascript and other files the site uses, so that you can keep using/playing it even when you don't have an internet connection. Or they might use it as a cache for icons on the site, so it loads faster next time you visit.
Some sites use it to save your preferences on the site (e.g. search options, or what posts you've read) to give you the same view or content on multiple visits without you having to login and save preferences on the server. They might even use it for your content: for example, a forum site might save draft posts/comments in local storage before you post them, so your work isn't lost even if you lose connection to the site while writing.
Because the data aren't meaningful outside of the site, and only the Javascript on the site knows how to interpret them, Chrome doesn't offer a way to view or edit the data for each site.
CSS Tricks has a brief description of local storage, along with some examples of what sites do or might use it for.

I don't think it is HTML5 local storage. Because if you fire up Chrome developer toolbar and examine this site under the Resources tab, you can see that local storage is used to set a value for se:fkey. But there is no website preference for this site.

Perhaps I've misunderstood your question. Could you add a screenshot of the thing you're asking about?

Sorry, it should be website settings. I have uploaded a screenshot. On my another phone it is labelled as website data.

Yeah, that's local storage. The confusing name "settings" is because the list also includes sites with permission to access your location, record video and sound, &c. Each site is listed once, with a row of icons listing the permissions/features it's using, and the box icon is for local storage: it fills up according to how much storage the site is using.

But if that is the case, then why isn't Android SE or any other sites that use local storage listed here?

Open the website from a windows pc with firefox and this addon to view exactly what is saved into localstorage...


text:
How to call GTalk to GTalk from Android?
I need it badly. I know Google voice is there, but it's not available in India.
Clarifications
Need any good client application (Google Talk / Jabber client) that supports voice calls to and from GTalk users.
Thanks @Matthew

Does it have to be gtalk to gtalk, or will any voice chat app do?

I've skype too. I use it for office purpose. But my friends remain online on GTalk so doesn't make sense using anything else.

Have you tried through the web browser?

As far as I know, you can't do voice chat through gtalk on Android

To clarify: He needs a Google Talk / Jabber client that supports voice calls, he does not need some way to use the official Talk app to do voice calls.

Will try @Matthew and let you know

Hi @Matthew! I tried opening Gmail in browser. It opens mobile version first. At the bottom I selected HTML Basic (no standard view option available). On HTML Basic view at the bottom of page, I selected Standard view and it took me back to Mobile version of GMAIL. So in short it doesn't work in android browser on Froyo.

@Ismail You can try setting your user agent to Desktop to trick the website: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6233/how-can-i-change-the-user-agent-for-the-stock-browser

Fring or Nimbuzz apps from the market place both allow you to do voice calls using gTalk.

Does it work with Froyo?

The descriptions of the apps say they work for all android versions so should be ok.

@Ismail They work with Froyo in general but sometimes they may not work on specific devices.  Try them :)

They both worked on my HTC Magic so I imagine there shouldn't be any problems on the more modern devices.

Nimbuzz works on my device. :)

Google Talk Video/Voice support will be rolled out shortly on all Android 2.3 Gingerbread devices or on the Nexus S now (but as an OS update, not an app update, so you would find it in Settings, not in Market)

See this for more info from the official Google Mobile Blog http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/04/video-chat-on-your-android-phone.html

When you say all android 2.3 devices. Do you really mean all or do you mean at the discretion of the manufacturer and cellular provider. Because if so a lot of android 2.3 devices wont ever get it.

It might be at carrier discretion but you would get this faster than you would get 2.3 if you now had 2.2 (like me :( )

Use Fring. It can connect to gtalk and enable you to talk to your gtalk buddies. But it mutes in Samsung galaxy 3.

can it connect to gtalk with voice?

@nathan What do you mean by that?

the gtalk client on android can only do text chat, while the talk client in the gmail website can also do voice.  Does Fring have the same limitation as the native android gtalk client, or can it also do voice like the gmail version?

Of course it can do voice. That is what the OP wanted to do. That is also what I meant when I said "[Fring]..enable you to talk to your gtalk buddies"

You can do video chat through Google Talk on Honeycomb (Android 3.0), which is only available on the Motorola Xoom at this point in time. No word on when this feature will trickle down into newer versions of Android (2.4+) or if this will become a standalone/updatable market app like Gmail, YouTube, etc.


text:
What is the difference between GSM and WCDMA when switching to manual Network Mode?
I was reading this answer and I need to comprehend this better:
What is the technical difference between "selecting GSM" and "selecting WCDMA" in Network Mode settings menu? To save battery life, I'm planning to switch from the automatic to the manual mode, and I want to know what happens if I stick to GSM or WCDMA.
I am on HTC HD2 with Android 2.2 FroyoStone.

Oops, I accidentally voted to close this.  Please ignore!

@Matthew Read: No problem :)

What the phone's essentially asking you here is, do you want to use only 2G data networks, only 3G data networks, or automatically switch between them depending which is best?
The GSM setting will give you access to 2G (and 2.5G) data networks using GPRS or EDGE data standards and speeds.
WCDMA will give you access to 3G networks (using either normal 3G or HSDPA standards and speeds).
The normal setting would be Auto, which lets the phone automatically select the best (normally fastest) data network that it can pick up in the area that you're currently in, but as this involves using all the 2G and 3G chips and antennae this uses more power than forcing the phone to always use one or the other.
The downside to picking GSM is that it will stop your phone connecting to high speed 3G data networks, but will save power as the 3G (WCDMA) chips and antenna won't be used.
The downside to picking WCDMA is that it will stop your phone from using 2G networks at all (so if you're in an area with no 3G support, then your phone will have no data signal) but if you're in an area that you know has good 3G signal, then selecting this will save power.

You are talking about data signal, does this also affect the call signal? Are they the same?

...What about 4G?


text:
Why is my Samsung Galaxy S not utilizing all of its RAM?

Possible Duplicate:
Why is my device not utilizing all of its available RAM?

Samsung Galaxy S GT I9000 comes with 512 MB RAM but it shows only 326 or less. Why?

Install Terminal Emulator from Market and run free -m command. What does it say?

Just noticed i gave wrong instructions to check RAM usage previously. I use Quick System Info PRO found on Google Play to check free RAM. On "Basic Info" tab you should see that and if you want additional details,  just navigate to "Memory".

Wrong.
Galaxy S does have 512 Mb. the problem is that you cannot use it all for programs.
From that 512 Mb of memory 128 Mb are reserved for graphical purposes and for phone modem.
You don't want any call to end because programs running took all that memory, do you?
The problem with the Galaxy S is that if we take into account that 128Mb we should have 384.
But for some reason it display 326 and 304 in some cases. That black hole is the mistery.
Still I could not find anyone that explains that to me.
Hope this eases your soul. You have 512 Mb. They just did not told you that you could not use it all. ;)

some source says that android 2.1 does not support 512 mb RAM thats why it shows less and 2.2 support 512 mb RAM. Is it true ?


text:
Can gmail notifications be customized by label?
I have filters configured on my gmail account to add labels to incoming messages based on sender, subject, etc.   I'd like to configure the default gmail client to apply different notifications based on these labels.  This post suggests setting up multiple gmail accounts, but that would quickly become unworkable, IMO.   I've tried to change the notification settings while in a label view, and long-pressing on the label name in the label list screen, but neither leads to the desired result.   I'm hoping there's something I've missed...

By "tags" do you mean "labels"?  And I am pretty sure this can't be done with the GMail app.

One thing you CAN do is put a shortcut to a particular Gmail label on your homescreen. That'd make it easy to jump in to a particular label quickly.

Do you need the notification to specifically identify the label of the email that you receive or do you just have some labels that are a higher priority and only want to know when any email bearing any of those important labels comes in?  If you are looking for the latter, I have a suggestion, if you need the former, I do not.

@matthew read - I did mean labels.  @matt - I want to have a small number of labels use a different ringtone (or none in one case).

I just happened upon the GMail Label Notifier app.  I think this will do exactly what you want.

It looks like it's working pretty well.  Accepting this answer instead of the other.   In addition to customized sound and LED color, it creates a notification that takes you straight to that label in your inbox.

This has recently become a feature in the native GMail app.

Thanks Paul.    I've retired GMail Label Notifier since this update (Version 2.3.5).

No, not in the native Gmail App.

Hopefully they'll add this at some point.

Take a look at the other answer I left, I think that'll work.

Yes they can!
Open GMail App
Settings
Select Account
Manage Labels
Select Label
Select "Sync Messages"
Customize!


text:
Rooted Phone but still can't uninstall Apps
So I finally temp-rooted my HTC Desire HD and set about trying to uninstall some of the stock apps that came with it (Stocks (no pun intended), Facebook for HTc and so on). But it won't let me - the 'Uninstall' link is disabled inside Settings-> Applications.
Do I need to do a 'full' root to achieve my goal or am I missing something?
Thanks for reading.

I would be extremely careful about removing seemingly unneeded system apps.  In most manufacturer overlays (HTC's Sense, Motorola's BLUR, Samsung's TouchWiz, etc.) some of these apps might be very closely integrated with "core" apps such as Contacts or Phone/Dialer, for example.  Removing things you might think are useless (e.g. Happenings.apk on MotoBLUR) can cause instability of the core apps and make them Force Close on launch.  Try to do a search on this site (or better yet appropriate section on XDA-Developers forums) for a list of apps that can be safely removed from your handset.

TouchWiz is actually fairly loosely integrated, fortunately, but it's always best to make a backup.

The Settings application doesn't let you uninstall system apps; it's got nothing to do with root.  It doesn't check for root, or anything like that.
I recommend using Titanium Backup to remove system apps, it works wonderfully.  I even had a regular app yesterday that the Market just couldn't uninstall for some reason, and TB took care of it.

Cool, many thanks. It looks like Titanium Backup requires root access to work so I'll give it a try with temp-root.


text:
Why is application data of the same application stored in different locations?
I have installed the same application on

a device running Android 7.0 (not rooted) and
on a tablet running Android 4.4 (root),

but nevetheless I noticed that the application data (databases/files etc) is stored in different locations on each device:
On the tablet device the files are located at: /storage/sdcard0/Android/data/com.packagename and can be easily manipulated (i.e copy, back up etc) but not on the smartphone which likely leaves the storage location being: /data/data/com.packagename which I have no access to.

I understand that it is usually stored on /data/data (protected internal app storage) or /storage/sdcard0/Android/data (storage on user's internal storage partition), else on a SD card if present. In addition, a related question has been asked here: Where Android apps store data?
My biggest surprise is why is this happening on the same application (same version - sideloaded)?
This reference page also explains how a developer can configure the default location of application data. It  would have been  understandable if there were different versions of the application, but here I am only dealing with the same application (i.e .apk file). Is there something I am missing here or things have changed in recent versions of Android?
My concern is that I can't access these files on /data/data without root and since these are large files and I need to back them up just in case the app data is accidentally cleared (and I have already done that by mistake :(.
Most importantly  I don't want to continuously download them over again.
Note: Both devices have no external storage attached.
From the look of things the biggest obstacle is not being able to access files on /data/data  (device 1), hence no backup possible...(I would appreciate if there is another reliable workaround to achieve this)

Hasn't it always been /data/data?  Can you tell what location app data is being stored at? Do you know if the files are data files? Also how do you really know without root?

I'm certain clear data also wipes data at /sdcard/Android/data, in fact I just tried it on a certain app and it did so. Also, I think /Android/data and /data/data have different purposes. I've found that /Android/data is used more for caches/files related to ads whereas /data/data is more for private things (eg storing login info).

@SSS I get your point,but at least on the tablet I can easily back up its data, even if I clear it by mistake it won't have too much harm :)

As strange as it sounds, I had a successful workaround to this issue:

I had to manually move the necessary application data (files) from /data/data to /Android/data (with exception of shared_preferences folder and database folder i.e the normal config).
Second I had configure the app to use a private directory by modifying the userDefault.xml file (maybe different depending on application in question) and adding this necessary line of code:
<int name="app_private_dir"value_"1"/>

I temporarily magisk'd to fully achieved this :)

All apps have private storage in the protracted /data folder. Some apps choose to temporarily store data in public locations. Unfortunately I cannot say for certain what the exact results of this were, but I know the way shared data is handled changed in Android 7 for security reasons.

so can I possibly back up the app data stored in /data folder on this non rooted device


text:
Restore WhatsApp Data from Internal Storage on Moving to a New Phone
I have WhatsApp installed on my old Phone.
WhatsApp is backup both to Google Drive and to the local storage.
The Google Drive backup is for text chat and images only (The default).
The local backup includes everything (Audio, Video, Documents, etc...).
I want to move all my WhatsApp data to my new phone.
Usually it will be done as following:

Copy all files of the WhatsApp folder from the old phone to the new phone.
Install WhatsApp on the new phone.
Start WhatsApp on the new phone and when asked for restoring data click restore.

The Problem
The restoration process of WhatsApp will restore information from Google Drive and not from the local storage.
How can one force WhatsApp to restore all data from the local storage?

Local backup includes everything? Do you mean the entire Whatsapp folder or the msgstore.crypt file? I thought the latter only backed up text chats while the rest are just present in the other folders.

Yea. They are present in the other folders. But I assume the msgstore.crypt in the local folder includes links to those (On the chats) while the online doesn't.

Assuming you have your local files all, databases and images.
First deactivate google drive.

Open google drive.
Top left menu, backups, deactivate Google Drive WhatsApp backup

(option to delete also, not necessary)
Copy all files over to WhatsApp folder on phone

Re-do the login procedure as usual.

In theory that's it.


text:
Salvaging Google Authenticator data from water damaged LG G5
I have an LG G5 that has water damage as well as a cracked screen. There is no guarantee that the water damage can be fixed. However, I have an app called Google Authenticator on that phone, and I need to transfer the app to my new phone that I will get.
I am thinking of getting a new LG G5, and I will use the same google account, would it then be possible to get my google authenticator app on the new phone aswell?
Is there anyway to get my google authenticator from 1 phone to the other?

It would help if your question was more specific as to what services you authenticate with through Google Authenticator. Most services require you to have at least one "fallback method", normally something like a one-time code, or sending an SMS instead (Google has both of these, and more).
If you have a valid fall-back method, it is vastly easier to disable/re-enable this functionality instead of salvaging the app and its contents.
Furthermore, even if you could salvage the app contents, Google Authenticator has protections against migration between phones. This is a security feature of that specific app. If you don't like this (like me), you can use another app, for example Authy which syncs your 2FA-keys in the cloud.
In short, my recommendation is that you investigate resetting your 2FA instead, and if you wish, sync your keys with a cloud solution this time instead, to avoid this happening in the future.


text:
What are these dumpstate logs?
So, these files were filling up my /data/logs directory, causing me to run out of storage space rapidly.
What are they, why are there so many and how can I stop them clogging my storage?

Screenshot (click image to enlarge)

Liams related previous question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/48277/where-has-all-my-storage-space-gone

I googled the file name and found this post on XDA:

i'm still having the storage is running out error from 3.8. I found
  out it was caused by the signal lost issue because inside the log
  folder located in data folder, it will generate many dumpstate ril
  reset by........xxx..once my signal is lost. so, i'm wondering what's
  the best worldwide modem for 3.8 or lates nightly that won't cause
  signal lost thus my phone won't generate the dumpstate ril reset error
  and indirectly generating many dumpstate ril reset. I'm using dxlpa
  modem.

Looks like your phone might be affected by a bug in CM. I would switch ROM and see if it goes away, if not, you could try an app like GetRIL to find out what Radio Interface Layer you are using, and if there is another you can use that might help you not lose connection over and over.

I believe the problem is you have enabled the dumpstate in your mobile, please enter the keystring *#9900# and press SEND.
Will be open a new screen with some options, verify if SILENT LOG is OFF and DEBUG LEVEL is DISABLE/LOW.
This capabilities are used by developers to verify fails and debug application running in the device, as user you will never use it.

Dial *#9900#, and delete all your log and dump files.
Note: Only works on Samsung.

That doesn't explain what they are?


text:
Display multiple app screens at the same time
Is it possible to display multiple apps on the screen?
Normally, apps load fullscreen, and app-switching switches between fullscreen apps. Is it possible for an app to use only half of the screen and another one to use the other half?

You could use Floating Apps

Android N will support multi-window (if your device get it...)

If you have a Samsung phone, there is a split screen option. I personally have not used it, so you would have to look into it. The option is not available as stand, no.
There are some third party ROMs, that are capable of doing it but you would need to root your phone.  Have a look at the link below. I had a quick look out on the web and found this:
How to Get Multi-Window Multitasking on Any Android Phone or Tablet

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference. Otherwise, your answer becomes useless in case the link dies. For further hints, please see: How do I write a good answer.


text:
Not able to install google play services!
I can't install google play services, either from play store or from a downloaded APK.
When I downloaded it from play store, the following error was displayed:

incompatible with other apps using same user id

I can't login to my Google+ account.
I can't factory reset my phone as my progress in game clash of clans will be lost so other solutions are preferable.
I'm rooted.
Android version: 4.0.3
Model: xoloA500

If the error you're getting includes an error code (usually a number), you could check our google-play-store tag-wiki for a possible solution (it lists the most common errors).


text:
How to repair-unbrick-solve my Galaxy Tab 3 10.1" after rooting
I was trying to root my device, but I think something went wrong. I may have bricked my Galaxy Tab 3 10.1.
When I noticed that the device was in loop, I tried to root with the CF-Auto-Root file a few times with Odin3-v3.07
The tablet doesn't start up. The only way to turn it on is to plug the USB cable in, then it starts and doesn't pass through Loading Screen where it says 'Samsung Galaxy Tab 3' something like that.
And when I connect into my PC, it starts up but keeps itself in a loop.
By loop i mean -> Turn on, Show Galaxy Tab 3, restart and show again...and again...and again...
Now i think i could get him to charge his battery..i hope at least, cause when he was in a loop i think he didn't charge as well as it should...
I try to go Recovery mode, to try to wipe those sys folders that we know can help in this loop scenario, but it just won't start recover mode, i think it did just now, but battery was low so to avoid further problems, he just says battery low or voltage low...something like that...too fast to read...And then he just turn off...
I do have TWRP to recover, i did a sys bkp before, is on my ExtSdCard, but i took it off from the slot for now...When i first saw on web that if not enough free space is available it can get to startup loop, but as i choose my ExtSdCard to save my Sys BKP i don't think that is the problem...Should i put it back in?
Sorry
Can someone give some hint, anything really?
Oh and i downloaded the ZTO version of firmware already to try out later...if i can't get it to at least work for boot...if...just if...
But i saw here that some have been able to unbrick so i'll die trying :D
I hope not literally..haha
Firmware that I downloaded is
ZTO-P5200UBUAMF6-20130801180132.zip ~1.1Gb
There are a few different types of bricked devices: hard brick, soft brick or coma brick. Which one applies to my situation?

I live in Brazil, so English is not my native language, sorry for any mistakes I might have made.

If you have access to a custom recovery, just flash any ROM for Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
If your phone doesn't even boot, try flashing the stock image using ODIN.
This might help: [HOW-TO] Unbrick Galaxy Tab 3 10.1

Ok, but in oder to do that, shouldn't  be on download mode?
apparently i can't set DownloadMode, so how can i do that...not even recovery mode....
Let's way for full charge of the battery and a'll try that...
Also, when i plug it on my PC, he just start up already by him self, i hear the  win sound when connects something on usb, and them imidiatly  the other sound, when is disconnected

It looks like you bricked your phone. Fortunately Samsung devices are generally easy to recover from a Brick.

"I do have TWRP to recover  i did a sys bkp before, is on my
  ExtSdCard, but i took it off from the slot for now"

Good thinking. Insert that External SD card and perform a recovery from that.
A website that is essential for anyone rooting their phones is xda developers. There is a thread dedicated to what to do to recover from a bricked device [HOW-TO] Unbrick Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 by Zachisimo.
This will take you step by step on how to recover to stock android. Once you recovered, you can always root again and install a custom rom (if you want to)


text:
How to edit and merge two different sms backup from two different phone?
I have my SMS backed up using SMS Backup and Restore, and also my girlfriend's SMS was backed up using the BlackBerry Desktop tool.
I converted the BB SMS back up to an .xml file.
I just want to know how can I edit the converted back up (from BB) so that the sender will be me, because due to unfortunate crashing of my SMS app, some texts are deleted.
So I want to restore that deleted text but from my GF's SMS and merge it to my backed up (Android) file. How can I best accomplish this?

Can you post the format(not contents) of the BB SMS which you converted into .xml file? and This question might be helpful? Merging multiple SMS databases

The file of the BB SMS back up is .bbb. I used Blakberry 2 Droid to convert it to .xml. That question does not solve my problem. I have a non-rooted device and I only used the SMS Backup and Restore app.

authors: Борис Петров


text:
LG G2 D802 (NO DOWNLOAD MODE) after Flashing
I'm am trying to install Lollipop on my LG G2 D802. I have used TWRP to install it. All goes well but it says on boot that fastboot mode started. So I reverted back, but now I have recovery with no Download Mode.
Can anyone tell me how I can get my Download Mode back?


text:
How to fix 'Android is starting' optimization on every boot?
I recently updated to Lollipop on a Moto G (1st Gen).
It was running a bit slow, so I wiped by cache then performed a factory reset as recommended.
I now receive the 'Android is starting optimising app xx of xx' every time I boot.
Obviously not life and death, but it's annoying to have to wait 10 minutes for every reboot.
Is this a known issue and is there any way to fix this?

This is common when using Xposed Framework beta for 5.x.  Do you have this installed?  Was the cache and wipe preformed within Settings, from stock recovery, or a custom recovery?

Run adb logcat > log.txt while booting and look for a line containing dex2oat.

I just had the same exact issue on the same exact phone. After doing some digging it seems like this happens when Android has a problem optimizing one or more apps, so it stubbornly retries all of them. So I uninstalled apps one-by-one and rebooted, and the problem went away after uninstalling SuperSU.
Not wanting to leave my phone unrooted, I noticed I had installed the latest SuperSU (2.79 SR3), so I went here and downloaded the latest stable release (2.79):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu
After installing it I no longer had any issues.
During my troubleshooting I also cleared the cache, although I'm not sure if it helped or not:

Boot to recovery
For the Moto G 1st generation:

Power off the phone
Press and hold volume down button, press and hold power button, wait for about 4 seconds and then release both buttons
Press volume down to select Recovery and press volume up to boot to recovery

Clear the cache
For the Moto G 1st generation (stock recovery):

If you get to a screen that says "No command"

Press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds
Without releasing power button, press volume up button and release the volume up button
Release the power button

Use the volume buttons to move down to wipe cache partition and select it with the power button
Wait for it to finish (it can take a while) then reboot

For my 1st gen moto X , I was able to resolve the issue by:

clearing up disk space
updating all apps
boot through optimization (~130 apps)
clear cache (2.75MB remains)
power off (shut down)
boot through optimization (2 apps)
clear cache (3.5MB -> 2.84MB remains)
power off (shut down)
boot -- No Optimization!

I was at 500MB of free space and increased that to 5GB by deleting photos and downloads.
A few other ideas from around the net:

Clear cache
Clear up diskspace
Boot into safemode How to use Moto G safe mode (applies to Moto X and Moto E safe mode as well )? | Moto G Phone Guide

It's because Android clears optimized dex files when it needs disk-space. Hence it's re-created during boot. You can read more in-depth debugging  details here.
If you have rooted device, you can try the following app; it locks the dex files, thus saving a lot of time:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.giis.optimisingappfixer


text:
I forgot my phone pattern and need to reset it or at least retrieve data from it. how can i do this?
I forgot my phone pattern. Unfortunately, in the lollipop update as there is no forgot password option, I do not seem to get any other solutions.
I am unable to change the lock password using android-device-manager because it only changes passwords and not patterns. (ring feature works though)
I am able to connect to the WiFi at home, since it is already saved.
I badly need the data on my phone. Any possible solutions?
My phone is not rooted, able to connect to already saved WiFi networks and also connected to google accounts.

Is there any solution to this?

So you can't even unlock your phone, I assume? If so, I'm not 100% sure if this will work, but: if you get the password wrong enough times it will disable your phone for however long (30 seconds I think). Then on your lock screen I believe you should have an "emergency pin" option or something similar. Just enter your pin and that should unlock your phone.
Is this what you mean?
Hope it helps.
Or this might have something:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/97840/p/30,6720,9102

This phone I had is number pattern locked.   Luckily it is also rooted.
So the answer is easy:  Use Android SDK's adb to "cd" to /data/system directory, and remove two file: password.key and gesture.key.
Once removed, just enter "reboot" (while still inside the adb shell connected to the phone via USB) to reboot the phone, and number pattern is now unlock.


text:
USB and charging port is not working after rooting
I have rooted my HTC Desire 620G with kingoroot. After rooting the phone is not getting charged while its switched on.
The phone can be charged by switched it off. Also the phone can not be connected with Laptop via USB, hence I am unable to unroot it again.
It seems like kingo has blocked the charging/USB port.battery is draining very fast. I have reset the phone but no luck. Can anyone help??

How did you reset the phone? Did you reboot? Or is this a factory reset, in which case your phone should no longer be rooted?

After factory reset still it showing rooted.I rooted it with Kningo root.After rooting one app named Kingo SuperUser has been installed in my phone which can not be removed even after factory reset. Now I have having two issue. 1.usb/charging port not working ,2.battery is draining very fast

Are you willing to flash stock ROM or a custom ROM in your phone? If yes, then install a custom Recovery in your device (it is rooted so you can flash the Recovery from inside the Android, no need for ADB/USB cable). Once done, find the stock/custom ROM recovery flashable zip for your device and flash it from the custom Recovery, and do a full wipe before it -- all the data, apps, that Kingo superuser, all these things would be gone, so do take backup before proceeding.

it sounds very complicated.I can not proceed with all these until get detailed information.looking in to it.


text:
How to make phone play a custom sound after pressing physical button?
I have LG G2 Mini with Lollipop.
In Settings there is an option that allows the phone to quickly launch apps at the locked screen. So when you press and hold volume down it can open the Camera, and with volume up it can run QuickNote.
I want to replace this volume up gesture. Instead of running QuickNote I want it to play a custom sound.

Could you send a screenshot of the settings panel which contains that option?

OK, I found an answer by myself :-) To add action to volume button I used Key Plus app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptuners.keyplusapp). Then I created a task with Tasker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm&hl=pl) which set media volume to max, play a sound, wait till it ends and revert volume to previous value:


text:
If ROM and firmware and OS are the same thing, can one be upgraded without the other?
These terms still confuse me: operating system (Android), firmware and ROM.
From CyanogenMod's website:

Whether you call CyanogenMod a "ROM" or a "firmware" or an "operating
  system" or a "distribution", it all means in this case the same thing.

Does that mean you can't upgrade your firmware without simultaneously upgrading the ROM and operating system? For example my device has CM but says it's Android 5.02 and I was wondering if it's possible to update the OS without losing CM? Also, the firmware is out of date, so should I be searching for the update to the firmware or CM (since the above quote claims it's the same thing)?

They're saying that those terms all literally refer to the same exact thing. They are simply different terms with the exact same meaning, like "car" and "automobile". Upgrading your "ROM" and your "operating system" are the same statement.

What is Android?
Android is an Operating system, like Windows or Ubuntu are Operating systems. It has multiple version release like 1.x, 2.x, 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, and so on, just like Win XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, or Ubuntu 10.04, 12.04, 14.04, and more.
What is a ROM?
A ROM is a pack of files that are meant to run a device. These files are taken from Android Open Source Project (AOSP), modified to suit a particular Hardware, and then packed into something which is referred to as a ROM. When you flash a ROM, you're flashing an Android release specific to your device.
How does CyanogenMod fit in?
CM is a ROM which is a direct fork of Android Open Source Project (AOSP). In essence, it took what was offered by the AOSP, added its own tweaks, packaged it and named it CM. It's still inherently Android, just a derivative version. The different versions of CM correspond to the Android versions it's forked from. CM11 is based on Kitkat (4.4). CM12 is based on Lollipop (5.0).
What about Firmware?
Talking about firmware, the link you mentioned already says that it is an age old term being misused and is very ambiguous nowadays. Mostly, people use the term firmware to refer to areas in your device which a normal user isn't supposed to reach/touch/edit. They are those areas which your Android OS requires to boot and function normally and satisfactorily. (E.g. If you mess up Modem/EFS partition, you won't have Basesband/IMEI and you won't be able  call or use internet).
They are meant to be read-only (not literally though). Modem, EFS (IMEI), aboot, and so on, are just few names that people consider to be firmware because they aren't usually touched when you flash a typical ROM.
It is to be noted that many OEMs consider the warranty void if you flash firmware. Do check your OEM's policy before considering flashing.

Is that to say you can't upgrade your firmware with simultaneously upgrading the ROM and operating system?

See the list here as an example. You can upgrade or downgrade those firmware partitions as long as the device allows it (I've heard that devices like Yureka doesn't allow flashing some parts, as it will result in hardbrick). You can flash the firmware with or without the ROM .zip, in the same manner you would flash a typical ROM. At least this is how it works in my OPO.
This file (fastboot .zip) is a ROM which can be used to flash your device's current ROM as well as the firmware. On the other hand, this file (flashable .zip) is a typical ROM which can only be used to replace your current ROM. (This is only an analogy. You should only flash the ROMs meant for your device.)

Also the firmware is out of date, so should I be searching for the update to the firmware or CM?

Firmware is usually provided by the OEMs because they interact directly with the Hardware and OEMs know it better than any other party. Unless a ROM demands a firmware upgrade (like Exodus ROM) you shouldn't worry about upgrading it. It could be real problematic if something goes wrong during flashing them. Be ready for wild adventure (aka hardbrick) if you intend to flash firmware. :)

Try this:

Inside your phone, go to "Settings"
Scroll all the way down to the very bottom
Select "About Phone"
Select "CyanogenMod updates"
Look at the very top of the screen where it says "Updates"
Select the circular arrow button to the right of "Updates"
Cyanogenmod updates will be displayed below "Available updates"
Select the downward-facing arrow to the right of the newest update
Back up your phone or any important files while the update downloads
When the download finishes, select "Update"
Wait while your phone auto-updates itself to the newest version.


text:
KitKat upgrade for HTC Desire 616
I can't upgrade my HTC Desire 616 to KitKat 4.4.4 but my phone is absolutely capable of running this update! How can I update it?

More information needed for this post. Is it a system update or you're trying to flash a custom Rom?

If you are rooted and modified system files you cannot upgrade through official OTA anymore. You can always flash a custom ROM though

That may be true, but can you explain how did you reach this conclusion? A source would be very nice to link here.

If the system files are modified the OTA installer doesn't "recognize" the ROM. There's plenty of people who have had this problem. Just Google it.

No, I don't have time to Google nor would a frustrated user would have. Please add more info as explanation and source since the answer isn't any worth right now because of no evidence to back the claim.


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How to ssh into an unrooted Android device using sshdroid from a Linux computer
I can't seem to ssh into my Android device. I have not rooted the device and I don't really want to. I tried connecting to it via the terminal using the following command:
ssh root@ip-address:port-number

the error I received was:

name or service is not known

How can I resolve it?

First, if you have not rooted your device, you obviously cannot login as root. Second, have you configured and started the SSH service on your Android device? Have you verified the IP address and port number are matching?

@Izzy I have thought of that. Then how can I check for my username in my android device? I use sshdroid and it starts a ssh server for me. I am not sure how to verify that.

run id, your regular user id would be something like uid=10061 [u0_a61]

This answer states to use ssh <user>@<ip> -p <port> instead of the "colon syntax". Then, you can define a port (default: 2222) and password in SSHDroid's "options". To connect, according to the screenshots on the app's playstore page, you can use any username with that password. Thus, e.g. ssh me@<android-ip> -p 2222 should do the job.

PS: No need to add "solved" to the title (which is done on a forum usually). On SE sites, the "check-mark" is used instead – thanks for ticking that :)

Summing up from the comments

This answer states to use ssh <user>@<ip> -p <port> instead of the "colon syntax"
In SSHDroid, go to "Options" and check/define the port (default: 2222) and password to be used
According to the screenshots on the app's playstore page, if not using root mode you can use any user name to connect. Thus if you followed above steps, this should now work (of course with <android-ip> replaced by the real IP address of the Android device):
ssh me@<android-ip> -p 2222


text:
How can I remove a MultiRom ROM?
I have a secondary ROM I'd like to remove, but trying to remove it using the TWRP Multirom menu or the Multirom app in the primary ROM fails (shows failure and force quits respectively). Is there any other way to remove the ROM?
One possibility is to completely remove multirom and all associated  secondary ROMs but that's really overkill and I'd like to avoid that as far as possible.

I'm not entirely sure why this worked but what I did was to:

Wipe data from the secondary ROM I wanted to remove
Reinject the current boot sector

Then I rebooted and was able to successfully remove the ROM via TWRP.


text:
How can I install Marshmallow?
Apparently there's this really fun flappy bird game built into Marshmallow that's even better than the one in Lollipop. I've got a Nexus 5 and really want to play it ASAP. How do I go about doing this?

I'm looking for both a Multirom-compatible zip and the conventional way which involves wiping your device.
How can I upgrade my Nexus 5 to the latest and greatest version of Android?

Can also be done with an emulator by installing the Android 6.0 SDK along with Marshmallow(API 23) images using the SDK manager.

Yes indeed, now you can play on your computer as well. Multiplayer is best BTW.

Conventional Way
This is what you want if you have a Nexus device but you've never heard of/don't use MultiROM. You should have an unlocked bootloader. If you don't have this, take a look at the useful CM guide to unlock your bootloader.
Also, make sure you have adb and fastboot installed and know how to use it. Backup any and all data beforehand (doing a nandroid backup is probably best)

Grab the Marshmallow factory image from here. The Nexus 5's codename is hammerhead and you're looking for the 6.0.0 (MRA58K) file.
Check the checksum of your downloaded file against the one listed on the page just to be safe. This ensures the download went smoothly and you don't accidentally flash corrupted version onto your device
Untar the downloaded file, extracting recovery.img, bootloader.img, system.img, etc.
Connect your phone to your computer via the microusb cable. Use adb devices to make sure  adb is working fine (turn Developer mode and USB debugging on first).
Use adb reboot bootloader to enter fastboot mode
In Linux/OSX, cd to the folder containing the extracted files and run sh ./flash-all.sh to flash everything. If you're running Windows, double-click the flash-all.bat file.
Your device should automatically reboot to your new Marshmallow system. (Note that the first boot might be agonisingly long)

MultiROM
Here's what you want if you use MultiROM. This method has the benefit of allowing you to keep your old system and all your existing data. You can then easily switch between Marshmallow and whatever you were running previously.
You should have an unlocked bootloader and a custom recovery like TWRP installed, of course.

Grab the MultiROM-flashable zip from this XDA thread. (You may also want to grab and flash the radio.img if you didn't install the Developer Previews.)
Reboot to your custom recovery and add a new ROM in the MultiROM menu.
Use adb sideload hammerhead_mra58k.zip (or adb push beforehand) to transfer the zip file to your device
After installation, reboot and choose the Marshmallow ROM to boot into


text:
mm-qcamera-daemon causing massive battery drain
Recently, mm-qcamera-daemon has been causing massive battery drain on my Nexus 5, and making it become rather warm. At the same time, the camera appears to be locked, meaning opening the default camera app (or any camera app) causes the alert Camera is currently in use to appear.
Numerous forums around the web site apps such as Snapchat and a Yahoo video app as the issues, but I've never installed these apps before.
Restarting the phone does seem to fix the issue, but after awhile (more than 12h) later, the battery starts draining again.

UPDATE: Like the top answer says, this problem should have been fixed by the 4.4.4 Kitkat update that rolled out.

Something is definitely accessing the camera. Do you have any security software like Cerberus installed that takes pictures when you get your pin/pw wrong? It could be accessing the camera and failing to release it when done. Or it could be another app with camera permissions. If you are rooted, you could probably see in the log files what is accessing the camera, although know that this can be tedious.

@abqnm its nothing to do with that, see the answer below given by piotrpo, its a firmware problem on Nexus 5.

@t0mm13b thanks. Hadn't seen that issue. Also from the looks of it, it has only started in the last few days. This would lead me to believe that it may have something to do with a recent Play Services update.

I have 4.4.4 and problem appeared after some app update. Are there tool to monitor which app is causing issue? Is it skype again

Solution:
Wait for the next Android maintenance update:
Comment #475 on issue 60058

Thanks, everyone, for reporting about this problem.
We believe we have fixes for the current high CPU reports on N5 due to
  mm-qcamera-daemon, and they will be included in the next maintenance
  update. At this point, we don't need more reports of the problem, with
  some exceptions I'll detail below.
More details:
We've had scattered reports of persistent high CPU usage of
  mm-qcamera-daemon since our last maintenance update, and based on
  those, found a number of bugs that were then fixed.
More recently, there's been a significant increase in the frequency of
  reported problems. These may be related to a recent update to Skype,
  which seems to access the camera regularly from its background service
  in some way that triggers this bug (note, we don't currently believe
  there's a bug in Skype itself). Investigating this, we've identified a
  few additional fixes that we hope resolve this issue for good.
  However, since the high CPU usage is an intermittent problem, we're
  continuing to test our fixes to verify the problems are gone.
Unfortunately, I can't provide an estimate for when the maintenance
  update will be ready, due to all the testing we need to do for this
  and other fixes. Until then, rebooting the phone is the only way to
  stop the high CPU usage/lack of camera function once it starts.
Uninstalling Skype may substantially reduce the likelihood of this bug
  appearing, but I realize Skype is a very important application for
  many people.  Other camera-using applications may trigger this bug as
  well, but that's been relatively rare. Most applications also do not
  access the camera when not in the foreground, so they will only
  trigger issues when actively used.
I'd also like to note that instances of high CPU use of
  mm-qcamera-daemon on other devices besides the N5 need to be reported
  to their manufacturers - while those devices also use a Qualcomm chip
  for their camera processing (and thus have a mm-qcamera-daemon
  process), each has differences in their software and issues with them
  do not necessarily mean the N5 has the same problem, and vice versa.
If you are seeing high CPU use of mm-qcamera-daemon, and you have not
  used the camera at all, or installed an application like Skype that
  has a background service that accesses the camera (typically,
  applications that provide video chat may do this), we would like to
  know about it.
Otherwise, for Skype and other typical camera applications, we believe
  we have fixes identified, and you don't need to add more information
  to this bug - remember, any note added here will send updates to
  dozens of people.

Yes, Google has acknowledged this bug, and should be in the next KitKat update. Reference: Cult of Android: Google Vows To Fix Android 4.4.2’s Camera Battery Drain Bug

FYI - Skype has just updated to v4.7 which includes a fix for battery drain on 4.4 devices. "Workaround for the KitKat bug which caused a runaway process when the camera was synced in the background." Source

I had this problem - after uninstall of Skype and phone's restart problem disapeared.
More information you can find here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=60058
I have N5 4.4.2 - I understand that some camera apps can cause this issue - for me - Skype is camera application. At this moment the only non-system application with camera access is zxing code reader.
All I know is that this error occured while I had Skype installed, and had not occured since the uninstall of Skype. I do not know if is it coincidence, or I "solved" the problem.

Why are you assuming the OP has Skype, gave no indication of that either.

I don't know that - simply - this fixed problem on my nexus (as far as now) - I don't know what is the matter of issue so I can't say if skype was really draining or it was just coincidence.

I highly doubt its to do with Skype or any other video app, from reading the above linky (thanks for that) in your edited answer - its more prevalent issue on Nexus 5 and KitKat, which would go some way to explaining the issue, see #358 onwards, snapchat/instagram or any other, is not the source, its firmware issue with KitKat. You have Nexus 5 with Kitkat? +1 from me for that linky! :)

I do have Skype installed but I've used App Ops to revoke its camera permissions, yet this isssue is still occurring.

I had the same issue on my Nexus 5 (stock). mm-qcamera-daemon was draining 50% according to battery stats. The issue started when I tried to take photo from Hangout app, camera could not started. I don't have Snapchat or use Skype for video call from my phone.
I went to Apps and cleared data for Camera app.
Old:
By far, I now see the percentage dropping to 24%. My phone does not get hot when using other apps as it did while qcamera service was running.
New:
mm-qcamera-daemon is not even in the battery stats list. 2 days by now. I regularly use Hangout app, which initially triggered mm-qcamera-daemon.

I can't say this is a fix or workaround.

I feel your pain.
In the Google bug thread, someone suggested a temp fix that worked for them. Install Disable Camera device ICS/JB.
While not being able to take pics without enabling the camera is a pain, randomly having a dead battery on your N5 is worse.
I have installed the app and will see if it helps me any.

Update: Since I installed the disable camera app I haven't had this problem so far.


text:
Does camera clarity vary with to the app?
I own an old HTC Wildfire A333. I recently switched it back to the HTC Sense ROM and I saw that the quality of pictures taken with the default HTC camera app seem better. Not slightly. Quite a considerable amount actually.
I know that picture clarity is related to the camera hardware. I switched back to CM9 again and when I turned the camera app on, I could see the clarity was bad (without taking pictures, just through the app interface. I did take pictures though and the quality was bad. The settings were all accounted for).
Even when I used another camera app the quality was pretty bad. Sadly, I couldn't flash the HTC camera on the CM mod to see if that's what makes the difference.
Does software affect the picture quality? If so, how?

Digital cameras do apply post-processing to the image (some more than others) - so it's quite possible that different software/firmware will produce different images. Although why the "clarity" (focus?) should be so radically different, even on the preview screen (which is very low res by comparison) is a bit strange IMO - I wouldn't have thought focus should be so dependent on firmware!? Do you have side by side comparison photos? No grubby finger marks on the lense?!

http://s9.postimage.org/ptzlkuo9r/135122_1736840068454_7957218_o.jpg - That's with HTC Sense
http://s15.postimage.org/6wjnskjpn/IMG_20120804_190941.jpg - That's with CM9 default camera. The third party ones don't make a difference.
They both are the same size. I don't get why there's so much difference. Btw, sorry. I don't have HTC Sense installed anymore, so can't take a recent pic of the same object with two different ROMs.

Wow, the difference is dramatic! The HTC Sense (pic#1) is much better. I notice pic#1 is 771px high, whereas pic#2 is 768px high - is that intentional, or just another anomaly? Also, there is not EXIF information with either photo?

Are you sure you did not edit any of those photos? Sure, both have EXIF information -- but none of them reveal "Make" or "Camera model name". I also own a Wildfire, and it stores such information (both stock as well as CM7 - I didn't have CM9 on it). Resolution is also different; maybe you could also include the settings used?

5MP, Super fine. The settings were set to max for both the pictures and I haven't meddled with the photos after they were captured. I think I'll flash HTC Sense back again and see if the camera's fine.

I'm not familiar with the CM9 camera app, but have you tried tapping on an area of the preview to focus on before taking a picture? Some camera apps require that to focus.

Yes, software tweaks have a massive effect on image quality, and the htc sense version was optimised for you sensor, whereas the cm app wasn't, this is the difference between a well optimised app written to play to the strengths of a specific platform, and a general app written to give a moderately good experience on average. This same thing can be applied to cm more generally, with apps that use specific hardware (e.g. dialer) often having a worse experience compared to stock.

Yes they do. Software configurations play a huge role in how the camera will function and display. Anything to work properly has to be optimized for your system's requirements to display well.

You forgot to explain the "how" part of the question.


text:
Copying files from a android phone without display or touch
My Oneplus X phone fell and the display and touch are not functional anymore. When I connect to my Linux laptop, an empty "Android" drive and "OnePlus X drivers" drive gets mounted. I tried copying the contents, but been unsuccessful. Is there a way to get the contents?

The only possibility I see is buying a new touch display (may be a cheap display from China) and connect it (temporarily) to the phone.

You could trying plugging in a mouse to your device via an OTG cable. Then you should be able to access your notifications bar and configure your phone to communicate with the PC.

Using a mouse in "blind mode" (without a working display) will be very very difficult.

Ahh I didn't spot that - good point.


text:
Identifying icon with phone on speaker mode or titled Wi-Fi under a rectangle
It just appeared today. No idea what it is. When I pull down my notification screen there's nothing new.
I use an LG G6, running Android 8.0.

Perhaps somebody else can make a better title for this question.

Also see: How to determine which app is creating a notification. If that helped you figuring for sure, don't forget to let us know here: either accept Firelord's answer if it hit the nail, or answer your own question if not. Thanks, and good luck!

While I am not fully convinced, user chuckdawg1999 of Android Central and Community Manager vzw_customer_support replied that the icon is for Wi-Fi Calling or Wi-Fi/HD calling through Verizon.

Its there even when I disconnect the Wi-Fi

As I said I am not fully convinced but this is what I could find.


text:
Managing Contacts without linking any accounts
A friend gave me her Samsung Galaxy S7 when she upgraded her phone.  We ported my number onto her account, and now I (a long-time flip-phone user) am trying to figure out this new device.
Important context: I do not intend to sync up my gmail account to the phone.  I am combating an internet addiction by refusing to have the internet in my pocket constantly.  Plus, I find it creepy when devices "talk" to each other; it makes me feel powerless and confused if what I do in one setting has effects in another, unrelated setting.  In other words, I want the improved reception and the threaded text messaging of the new phone, but otherwise want it to be as "dumb" as possible for my peace of mind.
I spent all last night manually adding contacts to the device.  The whole time, my friend's gmail was still synced up, and her emails kept popping into my view.  So this morning, she removed her linked accounts.  As soon as she did, all the contacts I had manually entered the night before disappeared, the contacts I had edited the night before reverted back, and a bunch of them became "Read Only" contacts!
This presents several problems/questions:

Did the contacts I manually entered go into HER gmail account?  She doesn't need all my personal contacts!
Do I have to manually re-enter them, and if so, how can I be sure that they are being saved to my SIM card?  (In case I ever get a new device, it would be nice to simply move the SIM card and keep the contacts.)
The "read only" contacts are a good mix of ones I want to delete and ones I need to edit (fix misspelled names, add new numbers).  How do I manage them?  If she un-linked her accounts, why are these "read-only things" still there?

Again, I am looking for solutions that involve only my phone and do not involve linking external accounts!  It would be super weird if all my gmail contacts appeared in my phone.  Phones are for phone stuff and email is for email stuff, and having them bleed into each other seems like poor management.
Incidentally, there is now a message on my phone telling me that my data is not backed up.  This confuses me, because while I thought "data" meant "bits of information", all my friends corrected me that nowadays "data" means internet usage, and I should just be able to "turn data off" so my phone isn't constantly online.  But obviously it means "bits of information" if it is something that can be backed up.

Did you find answers useful? Please post feedback, vote, accept, comment, to reflect the experience. That's how the community as a whole benefits from Q&A!

The locations mentioned below where you can find settings may vary across Android versions.

Did the contacts I manually entered go into HER gmail account? She doesn't need all my personal contacts!

Where do contacts go can be selected with Contacts -> Three dots menu -> Manage contacts -> Default storage location.

Among other options, you have Samsung account (if set), Phone, SIM card, Google (if set), Outlook (if set).
This is exactly what I see in my phone (I have actually three Google accounts).

I guess (did not try it) that if the default storage location is a Google account, and it is removed, the default changes automatically.
So your current setting would be probably not indicative of what it was before.
The best way to check that is entering her gmail account in a web browser, and see if the contacts you added are there.

Do I have to manually re-enter them,

If they went to her Google account, you have several options to avoid manually re-entering them. Depending on the number of such contacts, the economics equation on what is most convenient may vary.

You can take advantage of Contacts -> Three dots menu -> Manage contacts -> Import/Export contacts.
I have used that to transfer csv-formatted contacts list from an iPhone to Samsung, avoiding any additional app.

and if so, how can I be sure that they are being saved to my SIM card? (In case I ever get a new device, it would be nice to simply move the SIM card and keep the contacts.)

See above.

Plus #1:
You can use Contacts -> Three dots menu -> Settings -> Contacts to show.
You can select any contacts source to be used when showing contacts. You can even select a Custom combined list.
This is what have.
Then, whenever you change the source, you would be showing/hiding contacts, and that can tell you the location of each one.

Plus #2:
Whenever I Edit a contact, at the top of the screen I see the source of that Contact (Phone, Google, Skype, WhatsApp, etc.)
You should have to tell first the appropriate contact display list as in Plus #1.

The "read only" contacts are a good mix of ones I want to delete and ones I need to edit (fix misspelled names, add new numbers). How do I manage them? If she un-linked her accounts, why are these "read-only things" still there?

Not sure. Never faced this, but I found a variety of culprit sources of Read-only contacts out there, and correspondingly different solutions.
E.g.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-delete-read-only-contacts-from-my-Moto-G2

Thanks, sancho.s! That was very detailed and helpful (at least the bits I understood... I think you over-estimated my tech-savvy when you got to importing csv-stuff). I set up a gmail account so the android would work properly. Now when I add a new contact it asks me whether I want to save it to the phone or to the google account. Since I intend to use the phone mostly offline, I'll save to the phone. Before I go to that effort, should I do a factory data reset? I think that would wipe any vestiges of settings, contacts, and accounts from the phone's previous owner, and maybe give me a blank s

@Karen - It is hard to tell whether it is convenient to perform a reset. It would give you the convenience of a clean slate, but you would lose whatever you have there and is useful.


text:
How do I safely flash a new rom on an infected android phone?
Is using a live cd a good idea? Will it keep the rest of my computer including storage and installed OS safe?

Flashing ROM on an Android phone doesn't necessarily need a PC. What have you tried so far or how do you plan to flash new ROM? What kind of infections do you have on Android phone?

A live CD has access to all HDDs on your PC unless they are encrypted. Therefore a live CD has only a security benefit if your HDDs are encrypted or if you disconnect  them (e.g. the SATA cable) prior to booting the live CD.

It seems you are having a hard time here. I recommend you acquaint yourself with the functioning and rules of this website. [help] is a good place to start. I'd like you to note that posting duplicates is not okay. Unlike forums, our site permits the original poster to edit their post to fix mistakes or add information to make it more clear. Since this was a duplicate, I marked it as a duplicate. What you can do is, read the help centre, then go back to your original question and reduce its scope. This is a win-win for everyone. :)

You are right to be cautious.
Android malware cannot directly run on a Windows PC. Android malware CAN be used as a dropper for Windows malware, however, and this is why you should be careful about hooking up your phone. But there is one method of restore that should be safe:
Fastboot
Boot your phone into Fastboot mode (sometimes called 'bootloader' mode) and use the fastboot command on your PC to either:
a) Flash your new image directly (usually only works for OEM images)
b) Flash or tempboot TWRP and use that to wipe your phone COMPLETELY (remove /system, /data, cache, Dalvik cache, the works) and transfer and install your new image. (usually works for custom ROMs). You can use ADB safely here as well.
Even root-access malware cannot mess with fastboot, and by extension a booted-from-fastboot recovery partition, so you should be safe restoring your phone like this.

Well, I think you should further tighten the security up more, my suggestions are:

Get into Safe Mode (if you are using Windows OS)
Fire up VM software, and do the process in there

The best is do it on Linux OS. Even though imho the malwares from phones are different from the PC ones.

Flashing from within a VM via USB is theoretically possible by redirecting the device into the VM, but based on my experience USB forwarding is usually not that stable enough for flashing.


text:
Unlocked bootloader, not booting
I unlocked the bootloader on my Nexus 5X phone. When I tried to boot into recovery mode, I get the standard message that my device isn't being scanned for corruption. I expected it... but then nothing. It doesn't boot, it doesn't change. I tried relocking the bootloader in an attempt to fix my mistake, but then I get a message that my device is corrupt. Still doesn't let me boot. Tried unlocking and relocking again. Same thing.
If I hold the power button down long enough, I can go back to the broken Android screen. The Start option has the same problem as above. Restart bootloader just shuts the phone off for a split second, then goes back to the broken android screen. Recovery mode doesn't work as described above. I'm afraid to go with "Power off", I'm afraid it might ruin my phone.
I can re-re-unlock the bootloader and go back to the "can't check for corruption" message. Re-re-locking it makes the "your device is corrupt" message again. What do I do? I'm afraid I might have already ruined the phone.

It seems that fastboot mode is working and bootloader is already unlocked, so what you can do in such a case is flash the stock firmware in the device. You can either flash it via fastboot itself or via recovery. The one with recovery is a bit safer.
Full OTA image for Nexus and Pixel devices can be found here along with the instructions. If the instructions there do not work for you, here is what to do:

Download TWRP (a custom recovery) for your device and follow the instructions there to flash it. You can alternatively directly boot into TWRP by using this command:
fastboot boot recovery.img

Make sure to rename the downloaded TWRP image to recovery.img and provide the full path to wherever you have downloaded it within the command.
Download the full OTA image in the PC.
In TWRP, go to Advanced → Sideload, and push the slider to begin sideloading. In the PC, issue this command:
adb sideload FULL_OTA_IMAGE.zip

Replace FULL_OTA_IMAGE.zip with the actual name and path of the full OTA image you have downloaded. Once it reaches 100%, your sideloading is finished. You can now issue the command adb reboot or reboot from the TWRP.

Your phone should boot fine now. Note that this would remove TWRP if you had installed it earlier. This does not locks the bootloader though.