text:
Make Android open a page at a specific time every morning
I want to login to a site for 50 consecutive days. For this, I will have to visit their homepage for 50 days.
Is there anything that can be used to do this?

Using Macrodroid:

Add Day/Time trigger, then select Monday to Sunday and input the time.
Select the Open Website / HTTP GET action, then enter the webpage that should be opened.
Select Set Variable action. Choose "New variable", give it a name and select Integer.
On the Constraints tab, select Macroid Variable, select the variable create during step 4, select "<", and set Value to 51.
Give your macro a name, save it. It will look like the image below:

The macro will trigger daily at the exact time you entered opening the desired webpage for 50 consecutive days.
Disclaimer: I am not related to Macrodroid developer(s).

I really haven't used macrodroid that much, but your answer is very comprehensive +1

@xavier_fakerat Thanks. I wish I knew how to perform the same with other apps to post them also.

Working on 2024.


text:
How to have a single tap "App info" shortcut from Recents screen?
I'm looking for a way to launch App info of an app when its icon is clicked in Recents (Overview) screen. So far, my search has resulted in nothing fruitful.
I'm aware that Gravitybox prior to version for Nougat used to have this feature, but I'm on Android 8.11 and corresponding GravityBox [O] doesn't have such feature anymore. I also looked into InstallerOpt Xposed module, but to no avail.
I'm aware of long-pressing the icon there followed by tapping the info icon in the right but that requires two extra steps which reduces productivity with phone.
Edit: for the sake of clarity here: I'm aware of long-pressing on an icon in app drawer to get App Info option, but that is neither a single tap solution, nor is productive for me.
(Click image to enlarge)

1: On a rooted OnePlus 6 running stock ROM with Xposed Framework and Magisk.

Xbridge module had this feature but sadly it broke after Android 7 and was never updated

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How do I turn off "Retrain OK, Google" notification?
Almost each time I look at the phone or unlock it, I get this notification:

And it is really annoying. My phone is Huawei Mate 10 Pro, if that matters. Also, I checked into Settings, and Google Assistant is disabled. However, I am still getting these notifications.
How do I disable notification in the picture?

On your phone, touch and hold the Home button.
On the top right, tap More and then Settings.
Next to "Google Assistant," turn off the switch.

I don't have "more settings" option when holding home button...

It should open google assistant if you press and hold Home button. Or you can just open the google app

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


text:
How to run GNU utilities without root?
Is there any way to use GNU utilities like GNU's sed, find, bash, and awk WITHOUT root? Android's utilities that are provided by toolbox and the BusyBox applets provided by one particular application I have installed lack the kind of features necessary for them to be fully functional.
One problem I have in particular is that I have no way of converting characters that hinder processing data in a Unix environment (such as linefeeds and nulls) into their respective escape codes (i.e., a linefeed becomes \n, a null becomes \x00 or \0, etc.).
I am running Android 4.4.

Get or compile static binaries of utilities you need. Set a custom PATH to these binaries in any Terminal app and use

Try out Termux! (Note: I'm not affliated with it or its author)
Termux provides a full set of common Linux CLI tools like GNU coreutils, binutils, and popular software like imagemagick, ffmpeg, as well as development environment like Clang, Python and Ruby. Other nice gadgets also include Vim, Emacs, tmux, htop, etc.
All available without root.

Image from Google Play details page

I cannot install it. The Play Store says it is not compatible with the available version. I did say I am running Android 4.4.

@Melab Then I don't know any other alternatives. Maybe get another device that runs 5.0+?


text:
Is there a way to permanently delete specific (phantom) alarms using adb shell?
My phone has mysteriously created a phantom alarm meaning that no GUI app or widget shows this alarm on my phone and thus nothing allows me to see to set, delete, or view this alarm.
Using adb dumpsys alarm, I've found the offending alarm, which goes off M-F at 0630 HRS and it's incredibly annoying.
Using adb, I'm able to find the alarm daily, which means I'm able to find the Alarm ID, which in my case, right now, is ff691fe.
Is there a way I can delete this alarm permanently using adb? I'm assuming that this particular ID is likely not the root ID, but perhaps someone knows how I can find that? I'll keep looking around.
I just tried (with result from command)
b0q:/ $ service call alarm 3 i32 ff691fe
Result: Parcel(00000000    '....')

and this did not work, unfortunately. One thing I suspected and confirmed is that the ID changes after a timer elapses, but I've not yet determined how to get a parent ID (probably not correctly named there) for the alarm. Moreover, it's likely I'd need that ID to successfully permanently delete alarms.
Any assistance on this would be greatly appreciated. This seems like a huge bug in the android OS.

Doesn't dumpsys alarm also show the package name of the originating app?

Yes, that's correct. For posterity sake, I'm using this as a go-by: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28742884/how-to-read-adb-shell-dumpsys-alarm-output

I have learned that the phantom alarm is coming from sleep mode, which I deleted, but the alarm lives on. I don't have any way to delete this alarm as far as I can tell.

OK, it turns out that the service call did work, as far as I can tell. I just needed to tweak the command a little.
Most important thing was to correctly determine the ID of the alarm. Using the link here, one can find the ID. Note that the ID is in a specific section of the dumpsys alarm command. The format of the output for that command is confusing at first, but essentially you're looking for something like:
where ### in this is a number representing the number of alarm (not ### literally)
### pending alarms:
...
...
...
    RTC_WAKEUP #88: Alarm{5d74fad type 0 origWhen 1677671101000 whenElapsed 1028621179 com.sec.android.app.clockpackage}
      tag=*walarm*:com.samsung.sec.android.clockpackage.alarm.UPCOMING_ALERT
      type=RTC_WAKEUP origWhen=2023-03-01 04:45:01.000 window=0 exactAllowReason=permission repeatInterval=0 count=0 flags=0x5
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=+7h4m50s571ms app_standby=-1m20s270ms device_idle=-- battery_saver=-55s468ms tare=-2m1s488ms gms_manager=--
      whenElapsed=+7h4m50s571ms maxWhenElapsed=+7h4m50s571ms
      operation=PendingIntent{493d673: PendingIntentRecord{4efa417 com.sec.android.app.clockpackage broadcastIntent}}
      idle-options=Bundle[{android.pendingIntent.backgroundActivityAllowed=false, android:broadcast.temporaryAppAllowlistReasonCode=302, android:broadcast.temporaryAppAllowlistDuration=10000, android:broadcast.temporaryAppAllowlistReason=, android:broadcast.temporaryAppAllowlistType=0}]
    RTC_WAKEUP #89: Alarm{e3b8930 type 0 origWhen 1677671507448 whenElapsed 1029027627 com.samsung.android.rubin.app}
      tag=*walarm*:com.samsung.android.rubin.alarm.ACTION_PENDING_INTENT
      type=RTC_WAKEUP origWhen=2023-03-01 04:51:47.448 window=+2h0m0s0ms repeatInterval=0 count=0 flags=0x0
      policyWhenElapsed: requester=+7h11m37s19ms app_standby=-1m20s270ms device_idle=-- battery_saver=-55s352ms tare=-1h17m15s404ms gms_manager=--
      whenElapsed=+7h11m37s19ms maxWhenElapsed=+9h11m37s19ms
      operation=PendingIntent{e4639a9: PendingIntentRecord{84e3864 com.samsung.android.rubin.app broadcastIntent}}
...
...
...

In this example, RTC_WAKEUP #88 is the pending alarm. In that string, the output Alarm{5d74fad type shows the alarm ID, which is 5d74fad.
Now, executing:
service call alarm 3 s16 5d74fad

deleted my alarm. Whether this works for others or not, I cannot say. It worked for me. The output from the command is nebulous at best. I basically just had to wait for the next day. One thing I noticed, though, was when I ran this command, my phone switched to GMT (rather than localtime). Simply going in to settings for date time and toggling on/off the automatic daylight time and automatic date time fixed that.


text:
is there a way to run *.sh file by just touching it in a file manager?
I mean like it is when user opens an image file a pane opens where user can select app for given type. But when I'm clicking on *.sh file the first option that shows up is to open as text/audio/video/image and when I'm choosing to open it as text there is no terminal app in the list. I've installed Xposed framework but this app only allows to remove some of the apps from the list but I cannot find an option to add a terminal to *.sh file as allowed app.
What I mean is it to be like on desktop operating systems where a console shows up and prints and executes all the commands in file.
Now what I do is:
1. open *.sh file in text editor.
2. select all the code
3. copy to clipboard
4. open terminal app
5. paste code into terminal
6. don't forget to press enter to execute last line of the text that was pasted

You need both a File Manager that fires an intent to open a .sh file, and a terminal app that registers as a handler for such files.

Matthew Read is right in the comments, but you can still have a workaround for the goal.
Tasker offers a "Task Shortcut" feature that can be used to place shortcuts on home screen. You can use this feature to place task shortcuts for your scripts on home screen, if not in file manager. Many Launcher app nowadays allow folder creation on home screen so you can place and pack as many shortcuts as you like.
Instructions

To add a Task shortcut, go into Widget selection in your default launcher and choose Task Shortcut.
Enter a name which would be the name of the shortcut → + → Code → Run Shell.
Enter the details as per your needs. You may either paste the code into Command field, or type sh <SCRIPT_FILEPATH> where <SCRIPT_FILEPATH> should be your script's location.
Use Root if necessary. Save the errors or results into variables (can write into files too) because unlike desktop OS, nothing like launch of terminal window, printing of standard output ,and then auto closing of that window is going to happen here.
Save the task (pressing back key once saves things in Tasker).
Choose an icon and come back to home screen.
Tap the shortcut and it would now execute. Place as many shortcuts as you want. Also, you can execute those shortcuts as long as Tasker's service is running in background, which it would be unless you disable it manually or system force-closes it.

Use Root Explorer. It shows a dialog when you tap a shell file, asking you to choose an option from three: Execute, View and Cancel. That's what you want.
There's also a free (without root capabilities) version.

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


text:
Is there really no spell check on the built-in keyboard?
I am a new Motorola Droid4 (Verizon) user (from a blackberry). Moto is telling me that there is no spell check on the built-in keyboard, only on the Mutli-touch keyboard.
Is that right?

When you say "built-in keyboard" do you mean the physical one as opposed to the soft (on-screen) keyboard?

If you have your keyboard input method set to Multi-touch Keyboard, then you should continue to get word suggestions even when you have the hardware keyboard open and are using it. If you have your keyboard input method set to Swype, you won't receive suggestions.

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


text:
How can I get a random image on my lockscreen?
Could you recommend me a simple solution to set a random image for my lockscreen?
I have the stock Samsung launcher, stock ICS rom and I don't want to install any custom launcher. I'm just looking for an app to switch the image every few hours.

Not sure why the Close vote. This seems like a reasonable and on-topic question to me.

There are lots of background switchers on Google Play. Are they not switching the lock screen image too?

You can use a live wallpaper that downloads new images periodicaly.
This one has a lot of built in image sites (like national geographic, nasa, ...):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dngames.picofday
It looks like a normal wallpaper and is battery friendly.
The only problem I see is that most of the built in sources update once per day not every few hours, but you can define your own source of images.
You can also try searching for other similar solutions. I think the livewallpaper way is the best beacuse it has a lot less issues with lockscreens (you just choose the live wallpaper as the lockscreen wallpaper and it should leave the normal background intact.

I prefer to use images from SD card.

Not to mention he has already mentioned that he doesn't want to change the wallpaper; only the lock screen. It's not possible with the current applications on Google Play and his additional requirements peppered throughout the comments sections.

On both of my Samsung phones, changing the walpaper brings up a menu with 3 options: "home", "lock" and "home and lock". You can only change the lockscreen wallpaper to the livewallpaper which changes images and have whatever you wish on the home wallpaper.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.j4velin.wallpaperChanger
From Google Play:

Change your wallpaper with one click or automatically every X minutes!
  This app allows you to quickly change your wallpaper with one single click on a widget!
  Additionally, you can enable a timer to automatically change your wallpaper on a predefined time.
  Images can easily be added to the rotation list by using the Android Gallery app or a file manager like FileExpert.
  This app is optimized for battery life & performence, so it might take some seconds to actually change the wallpaper after a click on the widget!
  Features:

easily add images or even folders through the Android gallery & other file managers
change wallpaper with a timer, on each lockscreen unlock or through a customizable widget
3 widgets: change to next wallpaper in rotation list, select the wallpaper you want to see or change the album with one click
ordered rotation or random wallpaper
very low memory and battery consumption: doesnt need any background services running and is not implemented live wallpaper
no ads

Discription clearly explains that this is a wallpaper changer. No use for lockscreen.

It works on both my OG Droid and my GNex. Please give it a try and let us know if it does not work for your phone somehow...

Maybe works, although I don't want to change the normal wallpaper, just for the lockscreen. Same as on Kindle Fire.

The only other way is to program something or root and get a ROM that supports what you want. Why the down-vote? I actually answered your actual question.


text:
Enable "Install via USB" without creating MI Account
I am trying to create some apps on my xiaomi smartphone (MIUI 8), but when I try to run an app, the error INSTALLATION_CANCELED_BY_USER appears. I found that the problem is that I must enable the "Install via USB" option from developer settings. When I try to do so, I get a screen that says I have to login/signup with an MI account in order to enable this option, which is something I am not willing to do. So, I have 3 questions:

Why did they make it neccessary to provide an account for enabling an option like this?
Is there any way I can bypass the MI login screen and enable the option?
The reason I don't want to connect my phone to an MI account is that I am concerned about personal data being uploaded. Is it a logical concern?

Instead of adb install app.apk use adb push app.apk  /sdcard/ and then tap the apk from a file manager on the device to follow the usual side-loading install. Of course, Unknown sources must be enabled in settings. Not a solution per se, but a cheap workaround.

Possibly related on Stack Overflow: Install app via USB: The device is temporarily restricted

If you manually copy the apk to your device, you can install it there. After that updates etc will push fine from android Studio.

Bulid in Android Studio. Verify apk produced  (on dev machine) eg
build/app/outputs/apk/debug|release

connect phone to dev machine (permit usb file transfer)

in android studio, device explorer, "upload" the apk to phone.

on phone, file manager, click the apk file uploaded, and confirm installation.

from then on the usual build/run cycle seems to work fine from android studio

What I didn't want was to continue having an MI account connected to my device. So I just created a temporary account, enabled the "Install via USB" option and then logged out from the MI account. So, now I hope the option stays enabled :)

Just want to add that in my attempt to enable Install via USB MIUI v9 asked me to insert SIM card.

@ADNow Xiaomi seems to be going further than most other phone manufacturers, though. My Mi Mix 3 is the first phone I've owned requiring me to sign into the company's service to enable usb app-installation, as well as the first requiring a SIM card to be inserted. They must specifically have added those requirements, and I don't see a legitimate reason why.

These steps worked for me for Redmi 8 Pro. Follow them in the exact same order.

Enable Developer Options.
Settings -> Additional Settings -> Developer Options -> Disable MIUI Optimizations
Reboot Phone
Settings -> Additional Settings -> Developer Options -> Allow USB Debugging
Security (system app) -> Manage apps -> Permissions -> Gear icon (in top right) -> Install via USB (true)
Reboot Phone
Settings -> Additional Settings -> Developer Options -> Enable Install via USB

It will ask for MIUI account. Don't close it and reboot from there. From next run onwards you can install apps either using adb install or via Android Studio.

Also works on (based on the commenters' feedback): Redmi 8 Pro, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi Note 10, Mi 10T Pro,

Didn't work for me on Redmi S2. I rebooted after 7th step and Install via USB option is still unchecked. And adb install filename still results in the same error, [INSTALL_FAILED_USER_RESTRICTED: Install canceled by user].

Thank you, worked for my Redmi Note 10 Pro as well. Even though "Install via USB" is still unchecked after completing the steps, I could install an app via Android Studio.

On a Redmi 9, in order to have "Disable MIUI Optimizations" switch, I had to click multiple times on "Restore default values" in developer menu.

On Xiaomi Mi Pad 6 (Tablet) Android 13, MIUI 14.0.2: Already signed with Xiaomi account, still can't install apps through ADB. 1: I can't find "Disable MIUI Optimizations" under Developers Options, 2: Permissions -> Gear icon (in top right) is missing; There's "Install via USB" entry but there's nothing to enable/disable there, 3: USB Debugging and Enable install via USB are enabled. If anyone got a working solutions, please message me. Thanks. Jun 27, 2023

On my Redmi 9 Power, apart from this, step 5 was also different. 5. Settings -> Apps -> Permissions -> Install via USB -> Gear icon (in top right) -> Install via USB (true).

For those who have already inserted their SIM card into the Xiaomi phone, the other answers would work. But, if you are using Xiaomi Redmi 5 only for development purposes, you will need to do as below:
You will need to sign up/sign in for a Mi account before you continue.

Extract the SIM card from your non-Redmi phone. (It should be nano SIM. Contact your telecom provider to get one if you have a micro or normal SIM).

Insert the SIM card into the Redmi phone.

Go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> Developer options.

Under Debugging, click on the 'Install via USB' option.
The phone will enable this.

Remove the SIM card.

That's it. You should now be able to install your apps via USB from Android Studio.

Please remember not to disable this option, otherwise, you may need to re-insert your SIM card.
PLEASE NOTE: The above steps are guaranteed to work on Xiaomi Redmi 5 phones.

Also works on (based on the commenters' feedback): Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, Redmi 8, Mi 9 Lite, Redmi Note 9.

None of the other solutions floating around the internet worked for me (Chinese VPN, Disabling MIUI optimization...). I also could not temporarily sign into a Mi account, since I'd uninstalled as many MIUI system apps as I could and thus sign-in wasn't working anymore (and I just didn't want to sign in to begin with).
YMMV - it worked for me when I did it in early 2019, but it may not work any more if they changed something. I changed to custom ROM and can't test it anymore.
If you want to change it back, just re-run the commands with a 0 at the end and remove what you added to the text files.

This requires root, shell access with su, and a way to edit text files as root. I used Termux and and an android root file manager that can edit text files.
First, run the following command (su first, to switch to root):
setprop persist.security.adbinstall 1

If you also want to enable "USB debugging (Security settings)", for granting permissions, simulating UI input, etc. via ADB, run the following command too:
setprop persist.security.adbinput 1

Next, we need to edit the file
/data/data/com.miui.securitycenter/shared_prefs/remote_provider_preferences.xml

so that MIUI actually lets us do these things:
Add the following line to the XML file (with all the other ones, before the closing  tag, or change it to true if the line is already there):
<boolean name="security_adb_install_enable" value="true" />

Or, if the line is already there, you can can use sed to change it from false to true:
sed -i 's,"perm_adb_install_notify" value="true","perm_adb_install_notify" value="false",' /data/data/com.miui.securitycenter/shared_prefs/remote_provider_preferences.xml

No reboot necessary. MIUI annoyingness circumvented :-)

I get Security Center crashed message, when trying to install apk after these actions.

@ArtemMostyaev Hmm, maybe this doesn't work for everyone then.. If you can upload a logcat somewhere, I could have a look at it and see if I can figure out why it's crashing.

Here is the logcat https://pastebin.com/XAjmqAWq
I also deteted miaccount app, maybe I touched something else too..

@ArtemMostyaev It looks like the system can't start the part of the "security center" app that handles this. Did you uninstall the "security center" app, or one of the other "security" apps / components ? Or perhaps you uninstalled some other system app that I didn't, hence it works for me.

Yes, now I remember. I uninstalled some 'security' app in hope to get rid of that, but the 'security center' still presents on the phone. Looks like ROM reinstall is the only choice for me.

I reinstalled my ROM and this way is working :)

the last line is wrong. use sed -i 's,"perm_adb_install_notify" value="true","perm_adb_install_notify" value="false",' /data/data/com.miui.securitycenter/shared_prefs/remote_provider_preferences.xml

This method worked, but instead of editing the existing "perm_adb_install_notify" parameter, I added this line - <boolean name="security_adb_install_enable" value="true" /> Here's the source - a post on xda-developers.com

"Install via USB" wont work if your Xiaomi phone is running MIUI 8 or above. Looks like when you try to Enable this option, your phone trys to connect to some chinese server and fails.
I got a work around and it worked for me. Idea is to connect to Chinese-Shanghai server through VPN. Try the following:

Install PlexVPN from Playstore and login into it. You will a 24 hr free VPN service.
Select China-Shanghai server and connect.
From developer option in your Xiaomi phone, Enable "Install via USB".

You can then disconnect the VPN and logout from PlexVPN.
Enjoy!!

I tried this, it still ask me to sign into MI account.

First question: I think it's a bug
Second: The are some workarounds (suggested in Mi forums)
Try the following steps to bypass mi account requirement for USB installation:

Settings > Additional Settings > Privacy: Check the Unknown Sources option.
Settings > Additional Settings > Developer Options > Turn On USB Debugging
Settings > Additional Settings > Developer Options > install Via USB
Settings > Additional Settings > Developer Options > Turn off MIUI Optimization.
Restart your Mobile.

Third: Yes is completely logical and justified to protect your privacy, you never know the 'intruders'
Acknowledgements

Install Via USB not working - The device is temporarily restricted
Android Install on Device Failure [INSTALL_CANCELED_BY_USER]

Thank you for your answer, but my main problem (bypassing MI sign in) wasn't solved. When I try to check the install via USB I still get the sign in page. I checked the links you provided but I did'n manage to enable install via USB.

This solved the problem - Was able to enable installation via usb this way without network access or SIM card. Device: Pocophone running MIUI Global 11.0.5. adb install my.apk now works as intended.

On a Redmi 9, in order to have "Disable MIUI Optimizations" switch, I had to click multiple times on "Restore default values" in developer menu.

I managed to enable Install via USB on MIUI 14, device: Redmi K60.
The problem: The option to enable "Install via USB" in Developer mode requires a Xiaomi account.
Solution: Go to Settings -> Apps -> Permissions -> Click the icon settings on the top right corner. Here, you can see the option to enable "Install via USB" without any Xiaomi account request.
This method is similar to the solution other users already posted. However, the steps are a little different because MIUI changed the layout.
Note for POCO F3 (maybe others too):
the icon in the top right corner of "Install via USB" will not show until Settings > Additional settings > Developer options > Turn on MIUI optimisation (at the bottom) is OFF.

I have a Redmi 10C with MIUI 14 and can follow Settings -> Apps -> Permissions but not Click the icon settings on the top right corner - can you add a screenshot of what it should look like?

Awesome, this fixed the problem for my Pad 6! :)

On my Mi Note 10, the Install by USB permission was in Settings -> Apps -> Permissions -> at the bottom (the last option). Once there, I clicked on the top right icon and enabled it. It worked like a charm, now I can install stuff from Android Studio. I have a MI account but this is my old phone, so no SIM in it, and didn't want to bother swapping sims.


text:
Oneplus 2 Soft-Brick
I bought a Oneplus 2, two years ago and it was running quite well. A couple of months ago, I decided that I didn't like the way that Oxygen OS 3 was running so I decided to root my phone.
I successfully rooted it, added TWRP Recovery and added Resseruction Remix. It was working perfectly for the last few months without any problems. However, when I rebooted it yesterday, out of the blue, it went into a boot loop.
I can see the Oneplus logo and the boot animation that I have, but the animation runs indefinitely. I did some research and I believe this is known as soft-bricking. I tried to clear the Cache and Dalvik from my recovery but that doesn't work either.
How do I get my phone to work properly? I don't have a recent backup and would prefer not to factory reset my phone.

flash the rom again preferably a previous build which was working perfect

yeah i did that and it works well now. It is running Oxygen OS though.

flash the rom again preferably a previous build which was working perfect.
Dirty flash will do the work but if it doesn't then clean flash it.


text:
Can 5GHz wi-fi be disabled in Nougat?
I have an ASUS Zenpad 10 that I travel with a lot, as in I'm connecting to other people's networks where I have zero control over the router settings.
Since upgrading to Nougat 7.0 the tablet now permanently prefers connecting to the faster, but usually weak and spotty 5 GHz networks instead of the slower but much stronger and much more reliable 2.4 GHz networks. They're still fast enough to stream Netflix so they're fast enough for me.
The tablet won't upgrade beyond 7.0, I assume this is controlled by my carrier, Verizon?
I would love to find a way to convince my Tablet that 5GHz simply doesn't exist. Is there a third party app for this or something?

I don't think Verizon is controlling your updates, but rather ASUS just hasn't released any updates for your tablet

Following this discussion with Izzy, I think your scenario is the opposite of the described problem in that post, it seems you simply want stick to the 2.4GHz connection because it is associated with better signal strength (although slightly slower when compared to 5GHz).
As such I'd recommend  this tool called, Wifi Band Switcher on this thread. This app has been reverse engineered from the code from that gives advanced wi-fi menu since it essentially uses some standard AOSP hidden APIs. So the developer created an app that uses these same hidden APIs. With this you can force the WLAN band to be always the 2.4GHz.
Note: the app must be installed as system app.
Usage:
Just extract apk and using root explorer paste in system/app set permissions

rw-r--r-

Not the prettiest interface but could possibly do the job, it is essentially the same implementation found in native android ROMs:

Alternatively you could try using using Wi-fi analyzer by farproc (to analyse the available bands) in conjuction with its open source plug-in Wi-fi Connecter Library to selectively connect to the 2.4Ghz band.

If you are viewing the AP list of networks in Wi-fi Analyzer which
  shows you both the 5.0Ghz and the 2.4Ghz, with this plugin installed
  you can then tap and connect.

Additionally as suggested by Izzy in that discussion, you could also try
Smart WiFi Selector(trial)

The Wifi Band Switcher seems to have done the trick, I didn't even need to use a terminal to install it properly, Thank You!!

On my android nougat the Wifi Band Switcher crashes.


text:
Termux trying youtube-dl with aria2
I'm newbie and experimenting,like the title said i wanted to use youtube-dl with aria2
So this is my youtube-dl config
--cache-dir /sdcard/Download

--all-subs

--external-downloader "aria2c"

--external-downloader-args "--dir=/sdcard/Download --split=16 --max-connection-per-server=16 --min-split-size=1M --continue=true"

--merge-output-format "mkv"

--embed-subs

-f "bestvideo[width=1280][fps>=30][vcodec=vp9]+bestaudio[acodec=opus]/bestvideo[width=1280][fps>=30]+bestaudio"

The thing is when i try to download https://youtu.be/kUd9act5EP4 (pewd's new video) around 141mb(avc1 with opus audio) and 112mb(vp9 with opus audio) its downloaded with aria2 but when I try to download https://youtu.be/FKhtrdd6p4Q (random lengthy video) around 764mb(avc1 with aac audio)its downloaded without aria2(idk what its downloaded with(native termux downloader?)).
So what is my error in this?(I have  attached a screenshot)
Oh and one more thing,how to change youtube-dl download location?

Are you sure this is a purely Android-related question? As Termux emulates a Linux environment, this issue should be fully reproducible in a Linux machine, therefore Android-independent.

If you ask sure or no,then nope,I don't have linux machine in the first place,hence this is termux problem on android...I think,I mean I just try this in my android phone.I'm new to this,and just read the manual and my config should work based on my reading.

But yeah if its like you said then where should I ask this?

Ah after more reading it seems that aria2  does not support segmented DASH.


text:
What are RAM , ROM and their types used in Motorola smartphone?
Well I know some basic information about RAM and ROM.
RAM is Random Access Memory with two main types i.e. SRAM and DRAM.
Whereas ROM is Read only memory. There are five basic ROM types:
1.ROM
2.PROM.
3.EPROM.
4.EEPROM.
5.Flash memory.
Below is the screenshot taken of Motorola G5S which says smartphone have 4GB RAM and 32GB ROM.
I want to know little bit more about particular types of ROM /RAM (from the types given above) used in the smartphone and reason behind using them. Can anybody tell me?

RAM is volatile, so the premise of your question appears flawed.

Moto G5S uses LPDDR3 DRAM, which is volatile (cleared on power cycle) Random Access Memory which can be confirmed with an app like DevCheck, and a 32GB flash storage chip which is non-volatile high-speed electrically programmable memory that is common to most modern cell phones although sizes can vary widely.
Modern cell phones do not have a "ROM" or Read-Only Memory so to speak, although the term ROM is often used as a misnomer for the operating system... such as "My phone is running the custom ROM called LineageOS." which in this case is referring to a custom operating system residing in the /system partition.
That said, many OEM's use the term "ROM" for the embedded storage in the device. Technically, this is not the correct the term for it at all. The storage, or ROM as the OEM is referring to it here, is the embedded storage flash chip which is usually partitioned with some parts accessible to the user and others protected from normal user access for use exclusively by the system.


text:
How to share clipboard between Android devices, preferably without need for internet connection
Is there a way to share the contents of the clipboard between Android device similar to how it is done with Windows?
Basically I am looking for a similar method as asked here: How do I copy text from my PC to my phone?, but I want to to this with my smartphone (running Android 7.0) and tablet (running Android 4.3).
From the post above (and many others already posted on Android Stackexchange) there are many tools to do that with Android/Windows devices and I use Clipsync for that, nevertheless I was unsuccessful when I tried to setup with Android/Android devices.
Things I have tried

I recently tried to do that with Join but its is not working and I can't login to access the features (also it needs internet).
Also I tried to use Roamit which looking promising but it is not supportes on Android 4.3 devices.
I tried to setup Autoremote with Tasker as described here but I am stuck in setting up the task.
I was hoping to also use to QR code method but couldn't find a working one

I am looking for a method that uses bluetooth/local access to share clipboard contents between android deviceswith no creation of additional files such as .html files.

I recommend Clipboard Actions & Manager also on Izzy's list. It can transfer the content of the clipboard via Bluetooth and more. A html file will be transferred between the devices with the clipboard content.

@ReddyLutonadio thanks but I was hoping for an option which doesn't create additional files like .html, something more like clipsync

Thanks to Izzy's trove of curated apps
Paste Easy (that can be downloaded from Aptoide) was suggested. Reason being that this app caters to early versions of KitKat which is OP's requirement. I didn't try the app but OP has confirmed that it meets the bill.
For alternatives, see Multi Device Clipboard
on Izzy's list.


text:
How can I determine the cause of random device reboots?
After being annoyed with my previous ROM, I thought I'd install ICS on my SGS2 (until CM9 comes out). But, sadly, it now reboots several times a day without any real reason. The device is just lying there on the table doing nothing and every now and then the screen turns on and I can watch it reboot.
So, how would I start to analyse this issue? Obviously I could try to flash different ROMs like a mad man until the issue resolves itself, but I would prefer a more sensible approach.

You can install the android SDK and use DDMS to monitor the logcat. The thing with a logcat, it is cleared when the device reboots, but you may be able to get an idea of what is crashing if you are monitoring it before it reboots.
You can probably also find unofficial CM9 nightlies for the Galaxy S2, but I am not sure what issues still exist for that device.

To my knowledge, these are the current CM9 alpha issues: http://teamhacksung.org/wiki/index.php/Experimental:GT-I9100:Known_issues

I had a similar random-rebooting problem, and after one such reboot, I hooked up the phone to my laptop and ran "adb bugreport" on it.  I got what looked like useful information, and attached it to the bug.  So I think at least some log information survives a reboot.
Here's the bug, btw: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24118

Oh wow, that generates a TON of output. I'll run it again after the next reboot and see what it spits out.

I've been going crazy trying to figure out a random reboot on one of my test phones. I'm not the OP, but this is extremely helpful, thanks for posting it!

My answer is three years old.  Since then, Android has gotten a built-in way of submitting (what I assume are) crash reports: Settings / About phone / Send feedback about this device.  I used that a number of times on Android 5.0, and when 5.1 came out, I got a little note from Google saying "thanks for helping us make 5.1 more stable" ... and it hasn't rebooted since I upgraded to 5.1!

The first thing I would try to do is to retrieve the logs of the errors via ADB, and/or crash dumps.
Retrieving the logs is tricky, since the log cache gets erased on reboot.  If the phone reboots even while sitting on a charger, try running adb logcat continuously (you will need Android SDK and USB drivers installed and configured on your PC.)  When the phone reboots, look at the last several pages in the command prompt window for any errors or abnormalities.
If you can't reproduce the reboots while the phone is hooked up to USB, I suggest installing an app like aLogcat, and setting it up to write logs to the SD Card on an interval.  Hopefully you will get lucky and catch the errors that way.
You can also try pulling out the crash dumps via the following commands:
su
cat /proc/last_kmsg > /mnt/sdcard/last_kmsg

This should create a file named "last_kmsg" on your SD Card that contains last few debugging messages from the kernel.  Open it with any text editor and see if anything obvious shows up.

Either I'm using the ADB shell incorrectly or /proc/last_kmsg is non-existent on my phone.

@OliverSalzburg have a look at https://stackoverflow.com/a/10525021/529977 /data/dontpanic

@DerHochstapler Not sure if it's the same thing and I realize your comment is 9 years old, but my Android 11 device has /proc/last_log/kmesg (can't read it, have to figure out how to get su lol.  Wish android was linux)

In order to use su you first have to root your android device. I would check for non-root options maybe the mentioned /data/dontpanic

You can try aLogrec, and if you like it, the donate version. Written by the same programmer that wrote aLogcat, it continuously records the log (logcat) to your SD card. I haven't tested it for how it reacts with restart from a crash, but I tested with a manual restart and the recorded log survived the restart and could see the shutdown sequence being logged. One downside is the log does not include timestamps.
My T-mobile S II had been crashing (restarting) when using basic features - ending a call (once), taking a picture (once) or using navigation (3 times). I upgraded from ICS 4.0.3 to 4.0.4. So far it has been good. I wish I had known about aLogrec while I was having these restarts.

supposedly doesn't work in 4.x according to the reviews

Logcat Extreme works in 4.x though. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scd.lcex&hl=en

I had the same problem but in the few minutes it gave me each time I experimented and found that it stopped crashing if I went to the network update in the settings, even though there is no update available. It now works but I'd annoying needing to do that every time.


text:
How to get back pattern lock with Exchange/ActiveSync account?
I have added an Exchange/ActiveSync email account to my Android phone. This required me to set the email application as a device administrator so that ActiveSync can control certain features of my phone.
One of the controlled features is the way I can unlock my phone (from the lockscreen). Exchange seems to limit me to the "PIN" and "Password" options. But I prefer to use a pattern lock.
Please note that I have administrative access to the domain in which the Exchange server is running and I would like to control this behaviour from the server side. I do NOT want to circumvent restrictions on my device.
I have already created a new ActiveSync profile (which doesn't enforce any password restrictions) for my user account, but it doesn't seem to affect the issue. It seems like ActiveSync in general restricts me to a password/PIN unlock and the profile can just control the complexity rules for those.
I realize this isn't really an Android issue, but I assumed this would be the best place to ask.

Update: Please note that this seems to be a new feature introduced with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). When I was using Android 2.3, I was able to use pattern lock just fine.

I have an exchange account on my device, and I can use pattern lock. If you remove the exchange account, it lets you use pattern lock?

@RyanConrad Yes. This only started happening after I flashed ICS on the device.

The only way to get this to work was for us to do the following in our Exchange server.

Create a new Exchange ActiveSync Mailbox Policy in the Client Access Organization Configuration.
Make sure that Require password is disabled for the policy.

Go to the mailbox of the user in question, in the Recipient Configuration and open the Properties for the mailbox. In the Mailbox Features tab, select Exchange ActiveSync and open the Properties.
Select your newly created ActiveSync Mailbox Policy and confirm your selection.

You might need to remove and re-add the the account on your phone to make sure that it no longer asks you to set a password.

My work account limits me from using pattern lock. The way I get around it is by using Swype and a password that is a real word, that way you Swype the pattern of the word to unlock your phone.
Get Swype from beta.Swype.com.


text:
How to automatically force stop a user-specified application after every reboot
One of my phones is a Samsung Galaxy Edge S7. One of the apps, Samsung Pay, is uninstallable bloatware. The problem is that when Samsung Pay is running it takes up the bottom edge of the home screen such that it interferes with the upward swipe operation when opening the home screen after the screen is locked. I discovered that I can get rid of that problem temporarily by force stopping Samsung Pay. However, at some point in time either via a reboot or a system update or something else, the Samsung Pay app gets restarted. Then, I have to hunt through the menus every time and force stop Samsung Pay again, manually, which is a hassle.
So, how do I arrange it so that Samsung Pay is forced stopped at some point after each reboot, or better yet, every time that Samsung Pay is running? I searched the Google Play Store for app killers, and none of the ones I examined explicitly state that they provide a way to kill a user-specified application after each reboot. Or, if there is such an app, it would force me to try hundreds of ad-infested apps before I found the right one, which is also a even more annoying hassle.
I would be happy if I could install an app on the home screen that, when clicked upon, would force-stop only the Samsung Pay app. That would not be fully automatic, but it would suffice.
Buying a new phone is not an option.
Rooting the phone is not an option.
Any method that requires signing into Samsung Pay which requires creating an account which is tied to the phone is not an option. For example: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-disable-samsung-pay probably would disable it, but my experimentation shows that it is requiring an account just to get to the screen that allows you to disable it:
thus is a email harvesting scam.

Have you tried https://www.androidcentral.com/how-disable-samsung-pay

Disable autostart on boot and restrict background execution

@Robert Your helpful comment revealed a gross omission in my question that I've since updated to correct: procedures similar to https://www.androidcentral.com/how-disable-samsung-pay are not an option, because it gives Samsung exactly what it wants in the first place: to harvest the phone owners email address and tie it back to their phone for tracking and upselling additional unwanted services. So, that is unfortunately a "no". Granted, had Samsung NOT required an account to make that simple change, then it would have been perfectly viable.

@IrfanLatif that was very helpful comment as it ultimately led me to the adb shell. I managed to uninstall all of what seem to be the Samsung Pay related apps except for com.samsung.android.spayfw as  adb uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.spayfw hangs the adb command with no output whatsoever explaning why it hung up, nor is there any promptings on the phone's screen which was unlocked.  Reference those apps at https://technastic.com/remove-samsung-bloatware-safe-to-remove-apps/


text:
Upload an APK to a non-rooted galaxy s4 mini
I'm trying to copy an .apk to a non-rooted galaxy s4 mini both though adb install (with development mode on) and through windows explorer and in both cases it hangs on uploading the apk.
Is there a way to change this to allow uploading apks? Only rooting?
(An obvious workaround is to copy apks over dropbox but ideally I want to be able to use adb install for debugging my apks)
Edit:
I have unknown sources allowed, I've a couple of apps I've installed by downloading the APKs bypassing Google Play
I've tried with a couple of APKs with the same result. I've successfully installed the same APKs by sharing them via Dropbox and installing on the phone from a file explorer
I'm on windows but the same adb executable works fine with my Kindle Fire (rooted) tablet installing the same APK without a problem
adb install application.apk just hangs for a while until I terminate it
Occasionally after I terminate it and try to restart it would give me the following:
error: protocol fault (no status)
error: protocol fault (no status)
error: device not found
- waiting for device -
rm failed for /data/local/tmp/application.apk, No such file or directory

Then adb install application.apk hangs again when restarted.
The phone is recognized with adb devices
I cannot check if I have /data/app-lib/application or /data/data/applicaiton.apk as I don't have root access (I can navigate around with adb shell but get access denied trying to ls contents of /data/app-lib and /data/data), but I think this is unlikely (I've tried with APKs I've never had installed on the phone before)
adb install -r application.apk and adb install -s application.apk hang the same way as adb install application.apk
adb push application.apk /sdcard gives me protocol failure
Installing from sdcard with a file explorer (for apks previously downloaded from the internet) does work but I would like to be able to install and debug them with adb (through Android Studio)

First, do you have unknown sources checked under Settings --> Security???
Also, have you tried another APK? If it is one you, or someone else developed you may need to uncheck Verify Apps in that same spot.
Second, do you only have windows? I don't know about permissions on Windows, but Linux requires sudo adb install or adb install as root user... actually any use of adb requires root or sudo permissions.
Second, does it just say failure? Does it say permission denied? Have you ever had that app installed before?

adb install application.apk

will give a failure response if you have a left over /data/app-lib/application folder or /data/data/application folder, or if you copied the apk to /data/app first without installing it, and then try to install it with adb, because the place is taken up already.
If that is the case try (reinstall flag):

adb install -r application.apk

You should also try (install to sdcard flag):

adb install -s application.apk

or last:

adb push application.apk /sdcard

and then install from sdcard with a file explorer, or package installer.

Thank you for your detailed answer, nothing of this appears to work for me unfortunately. See the details in my edit of the question.

This issue should be fixed by opening Task Manager in Windows, searching for adb.exe, and right clicking on it, and then clicking on end process.

I also had the same problem. Try doing this:
First, try pushing the apk package to sdcard:
adb push test.apk /sdcard/

Then, install the apk from sdcard:
adb shell pm install /sdcard/test.apk

The adb push gives me a "protocol failure" or hangs.


text:
Is there a way to preview RAW photos on an Android tablet from a PC over a network?
Is there a way to share RAW (Canon) photos over a network and preview them on an android tablet (Kindle Fire)?
I want to be able to quickly preview new photos without having to convert them to JPEG and copy to the tablet.
One potential possibility I can think of is exposing the photos as an RSS feed and using an android app like Just Pictures to consume the feed, but I don't know of a way to create the feed in Adobe Bridge or Lightroom.

There are Apps which allows you to connect to your PC and control it with your Android device. These are generally referred as Remote Desktop Applications.
For Android, there are many remote desktop apps, one that I have tried is called Splashtop. I know LogMeIn, which is quite famous among remote desktop softwares, also has Android/iOS version available.
However these Apps are usually not free.
While these Apps can do exactly what you want, it can also do much more than just viewing RAW photos, basically it enables you to use your Android device as your PC's LCD monitor, so you can run any programs, open any files etc. Therefore these Apps tend not to be cheap.

you should check RawVision:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caketuzz.RawVision
It will allow you to check your photos without converting to JPEG, but there is no way you will check pohtos without sending them to the tab first. Now there are several means to have the photos on the tab, it mainly depends on the tab itself and its connectivity.
Usually, you will want to share the photos after checking them, rather than the other way. So that's what the app will allow you.

Thanks! This may be an option if I find a way to mount an SMB share no Kindle Fire.


text:
2.4 GHz wireless headset connection to Android for calls
Got one of these radio wireless 2.4 GHz headphones with a USB dongle (not Bluetooth) - HyperX Cloud Stinger Core Wireless 7.1 PC.
Tried plugging the dongle into my android phone (Galaxy A40, Android 10, 4.4.177-18598463) via an OTG cable and the headphones work with the media output.
But for calls in Skype and Teams the sound goes to the phone's speaker.
I guess there might be a standard with these 2.4 GHz wireless headphone dongles because it just works with Android with no additional apps or drivers.
What is the name of the standard?
Is there a way to make calls with an Android with these headphones?
Edit: I think the headset gets detected as a USB headset (I checked using the "Device Info HW" app), so the question becomes how do I configure Android to use the USB headset for calls (Skype, Teams).

Have you seen/tried: How to enable USB “Audio Source” option on Android 9+?

@MorrisonChang, thanks, took a look at that, but it doesn't answer my question. It says USB audio source has been deprecated in android 8, so not sure how it's relevant to Android 10. I may need to read up on "USB audio source" to get a better understanding I guess.


text:
LG Optimus G and Mac OSX
I just got an LG Optimus G from my carrier, and was extremely excited for it! I finished recovering my documents and such, and then I went to load my music and pictures... But my Mac isn't recognizing it!
I checked my phone, and it was set to just USB Charging. That explains it... I tried the LG Software option, but couldn't find it on their website for Mac OSX. I emailed LG Support, and they said their software does not run on OSX. OK, I got another 3 options to try...
USB Tethering wouldn't transfer files... Maybe Media Sync (MTP)? It says that I can transfer files or synchronize with Windows Media Player. I select that, but nothing appears on my computer, and iTunes doesn't read it. Finally, I tried the Camera (PTP) option; this brought up my iPhoto asking me to download pictures. It doesn't let me add files to the phone though.
So my question is, how can I transfer files easily (preferably via a sync) between my phone and my OSX 10.6 MacBook Pro?
EDIT: I received an email reply back after they told me they do not have their LG software available for a Mac. They told me to try Salling Software to do the sync, along with instructions. However, my phone is not listed (actually, no LG phones are listed) as being compatible with the software. I followed LG's instructions, but it did not help (instructions below)

EDIT 2: A friend suggested Winamp for Mac. I'm just trying to get it to properly import all my media, then I will post the results

What is your Android version?

@Liam 4.0.4. 15 character minimum

Is there not a USB Mass Storage option? Try System Settings->Storage->Menu->USB Computer Connection. This will mount is as a pen drive like device.

No menu comes up on the storage menu

I found a few work arounds, although not too elegant.
Music
I used Winamp for Mac, and the Winamp app to transfer the music from my iTunes library. I loaded Winamp, and told it to import my iTunes media, waited for it to finish, then created playlists. I can then right-click the playlist on the left, and click Send To->LG Optimus G. The transfer took a while over Wifi, but it moved my library over
Other Files
I used the Bluetooth Exchange program for my Mac. In hindsight, I learned eventually I could have transferred via Wifi with ES File Explorer's FTP or SMB sharing. But again, this is how I solved it. Bluetooth was deadly slow, but it did eventually work.

The way it works for me is that I use the "MTP" transfer function on my LG Optimus G, together with the Android File Transfer, which is downloadable here:

http://www.android.com/filetransfer/

And tadaaa! It works.

Download an application called "Android File Transfer". The application should pop up automatically whenever you set "Media Sync" once you connect the Mac to your phone via the USB. Then, you should be able to drag and drop files to and from your phone to the mac.

Please provide a link to the app.


text:
How can you determine what programs you installed last?
Following my question about logs I wonder if there is a way to determine the last updates and applications which have been installed.
Does Android keep a chronological list of installed programs and updates ?
I am running Froyo 2.2.1 if that should make a difference.

AFAIK, Android Market shows the list of installed apps in chronological order. So the latest app you've installed should be on the top (first) of the list. The app that was installed before this - should be the second.

This is only so when you only have one device. And, although much more unlikely, you can install applications outside the market , or come to think of it, you could use f.i. Amazon market ( not we in Europe, but even so ).

Note: This is a partial answer.

Android keeps a note on when an app was last update or first installed.
Setup adb in PC, enable USB debugging in the device, connect the device into PC using USB cable, launch a shell on PC and enter:
adb shell dumpsys package | awk '{if(/pkg=Package/) {print $2} else if(/firstInstallTime/) {print $1" "$2} else if(/lastUpdateTime/) {print $1" "$2"\n"} }'  | tr -d '}'

dumpsys package gives detailed information about all the packages installed in the system. Each package et al. is listed with firstInstallTime or lastUpdateTime.
Your output would be like:

com.estrongs.android.pop
firstInstallTime=2015-07-04 15:49:50
lastUpdateTime=2015-07-04 15:49:50

com.google.android.syncadapters.bookmarks
firstInstallTime=2013-04-24 13:33:43
lastUpdateTime=2013-04-24 13:33:43

com.sika524.android.quickshortcut
firstInstallTime=2015-06-01 01:14:17
lastUpdateTime=2015-06-01 01:14:17

com.google.android.youtube
firstInstallTime=2013-04-24 13:33:47
lastUpdateTime=2015-06-26 18:29:27

After every blank line the first line is the package name of an app (e.g. com.estrongs.android.pop). Follow the bullet points at the bottom of the answer here to know how to get the app's title/label from package name.
As for sorting the time in descending/ascending order, I don't know anything about that.

OK you will probably tell me why do I bump an old thread, but this is still relevant and comes up in google.
I use application Nofitication History which acts as a kind of event log because it records all notifications. In cathegory com.android.packageinstaller you can see history of all system installations and updates.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evanhe.nhfree

You can also search by keywords like added, removed or updated

I use the App Brain app on my phone, https://market.android.com/details?id=com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apps&feature=search_result you can choose which order to show installed apps (name, date installed, size, storage location)


text:
How may I submit a WiFi hotspot to Android's database for a better triangulation?
As we know, in order to locate our position indoors, Android utilizes the nearby Wi-Fi Hotspots' location for triangulation. But how may I submit the Wi-Fi hotspots in my neighborhood to Google's/Android's database to benefit from better triangulation? I live in Turkey, and Google Street View Cars-which are claimed to collect these Hotspots in USA-don't exist here. For further info in triangulation take a look at similar threads here:
Why does google maps need WiFi?
How does Android get the coarse location?
Thanks in advance.

TL;DR version: Just use the GPS.
Long version: Turn on Wifi positioning ("Location & Security > Use wireless network"), turn on GPS ("Location & Security > Use wireless network"), use Google Maps (or other GPS applications), then walk/drive around your city.
When you turn on both of these services, before the GPS acquires a "fix", Android will send the Wifi's MAC/SSID and Cell Tower base stations CID/LAC around you to Google's server and Google's server will send back your location information; after the GPS acquires a "fix", your device will send the Wifi MAC/SSID, Cell Tower CID/LAC, and your GPS location to Google's server and Google's server will collect this information to refine their own Wifi database.
note: I believe the device could also be sending other data, like signal strength and possibly ping latency; but I'm not sure about the specifics of these.
Also from Google's support forum:

by Christopher (Google Employee)
If your location is being incorrectly
  detected by a Google Maps or Latitude
  using Google's cell ID (cell tower) or
  WiFi (wireless network) location
  database, you can help provide updated
  info to correct Google's database
  using Google Maps for mobile. At this
  time, you cannot provide individual
  updates to Google's location
  databases, though they are being
  updated and improved constantly over
  time.
Open Google Maps on an Android
  2.0+, Windows Mobile, or Symbian S60 phone and enable GPS. While Maps is
  simultaneously connected to a GPS
  satellite and a cell tower or WiFi
  router, you will be providing updated
  anonymous geographic data for the cell
  tower or WiFi router to which you're
  connected. Please note that this data
  is anonymous and may require a
  significant amount of data from you
  and other users before changes are
  made to Google's location database.
Android: You must enable Settings >
  Location & security > Use wireless
  networks and have previously given
  consent for anonymous location data
  collection. You can check if you've
  given consent by un-checking and
  re-checking the 'Use wireless
  networks' setting.

"Please note that this data is anonymous and may require a significant amount of data from you and other users before changes are made to Google's location database." So walking near to HotSpots isn't a guaranteed way to send  their locations to Google's Database. Yet it is the only one that I can make use of? Do you think there is a minimum duration of walking near to them so that their locations will be saved from Google? If not, how may I check if my Wi-Fi's locations are sent? Is there any way to query Google's db to check for my HotSpots? I asked a lot. thanks for your help.

@Comptrol: No, your data is always send to Google's database when you are using Wifi positioning and GPS simultaneously; however, your data may not be immediately used until several other users confirmed that the particular hotspot exists on that particular area. Google's will "cluster" all the data points for a particular MAC/SSID from various users and calculate the most likely position of the Wifi station. If you want to help map your location, tell everyone you know that have GPS-enabled phone to drive around your area.

Note that Wifi was originally never meant for positioning, therefore there is no way for a single device sitting in a single location to determine the position of a Wifi's access point (or even estimate the distance between the device and the access point).

"Is there any way to query Google's db to check for my HotSpots?" I don't think so, as far as I can tell. However, Google Gears have Geolocation API that allows developers to query their database, you might be able to try to send a query that consists only of your own hotspot, though I never used Gears, so I can't tell you if that would work or even be possible.

although Wifi was never meant for positioning, its limited range (10s of meters, compared to cellphone towers' 100s to 1000s of meters) means that a good triangulation isn't necessary for a coarse location. A lot of the time, just being able to pick up the wifi signal already gets your rough location reasonably accurately.

Apart from Lie Ryan's great answer above, I think this Wireless Location Bug Form is quite suitable for correcting mislocated Hotspots and as a result for submitting new ones. Has anyone tried this? :)

Please use this form if a Google
  product reported a very incorrect
  location (e.g. wrong city, state, or
  country) while your device was
  connected to a WiFi or wireless
  network and using Google's WiFi
  Location database. You'll need to use
  a computer on the same wireless
  network you were connected to when
  your location was incorrectly reported
  to submit this form.
Note: Submitting this information may
  not immediately correct your specific
  router or access point's location in
  Google's WiFi Location database but
  will be used to improve the overall
  quality of Google's products and
  services, including the WiFi location
  database.

I have used it once and it didn't seem to change anything. Even after six month or so I was located where I lived before. :) The link shows now: This form has expired.

Why don't you just update the SID of your wifi AP? I believe location will then be free from previous data.

How do you update the SID? The answer is too short. Might be best to re-edit to give a summary on how to achieve this?

If you have access to your router, you can clone its wireless MAC address.
I did it on mine with DD-WRT, and now I get the correct location.
All I needed to do was to change part of the MAC address.
Two things that can go wrong, though:
1. Your router may not enable you to do it (and you may be unable to install DD-WRT on it)
2. The wi-fi network that's causing the wrong location is not from your router.
Other than that, its a quick fix.

Cloning MAC addresses just tends to cause problems later on, and is very rarely a good solution to a problem. Especially in this case, where just using the GPS in Google Maps near the wifi point (with wifi switched on in your device) will get the new AP registered, and the more devices that use GPS near your building, the quicker the database will update.

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


text:
How to update HTC Wildfire to froyo (android 2.2)?
This is not duplicate of "When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?" as I read there that official UK update was on 20 December 2010. I have phone in 3 and I cannot find any way to update.
If I enter into settings and try to do scheduled check it informs that phone is up to date. Firmware version is "2.1.-update1".
How to update to froyo

You do realize that we're not omniscient and only posting what other news sites are reporting? They could be wrong.

@Al Everett: I do realize. I cannot find any reference in my post that you have deceive me.

I expect the same way as any other update.
Menu | Settings | About phone | System updates
If it tells you that "Your system is currently up to date" then your carrier hasn't released the update for your phone yet. (They usually do staggered rollouts so as not to overload anything.)

Probably it was delayed :(

There are sometimes options for getting the update manually, but I don't that I've seen anything for the Wildfire.

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


text:
Motorola Defy Plus - Apps are automatically closing few minutes after screen switches off
This is driving me crazy.
I just bought a new Motorola Defy Plus (MB526) this week and plugged in a 16 GB SD card to it. Like the features it offered like Moto-Blur and all that.
So after 2 days of use I dumped some songs to listen while traveling to office. I started the playlist (in Connected Music Player,i.e., the stock music player provided in defy plus) to listen to music. But after 30 seconds or so phone goes to standby and song continues. But before song duration is complete, the sound shuts off. If I check the phone there is no app running. I tried listening to radio, and it was same thing with radio as well. I thought it was some sleep timer problem in music player, but I did not find any settings to do so. I browsed for solution in many places in Internet. But could not find solution. I found similar problem for Android v2.2. But my phone has Android v2.3.6. In between I tried using other apps such as Live 365 and Remote for VLC. Live 365 felt like it ran for little longer but even that closed too. Same problem persisted for Remote for VLC also, i.e., it's active for a while. After 5-7 minutes or so the app has closed completely.
Can I solve this problem by enabling Factory Reset? If I reset using that, I know that apps I installed will go away, and that is not a problem with me. But will the stock apps provided by Motorola go away too?
Sometimes I found the irritating Voice Command(I dont know what is called exactly, maybe - Listen app) window popping up. How should I turn that off?

Are you using any task killers or "RAM free-up" type of apps?  Those may be interfering with Android's built-in memory management.  Also, if I remember correctly, MotoBLUR has its own version of a task killer (forget its name) which may be set too aggressively and is causing the phone to end active tasks.

Yes there is stock app - Task Manager. In that Connected Music Player, Live 365, Remote for VLC along with other apps were in auto-end-task list. I removed them from that list. In Live 365 there is delay in playing for every 2 minutes or so. Remote for VLC is ok now. But problem still persists for Connected Music Player

Installed MixZing Media Player just now. It is playing fine in stand-by mode (played 3 songs in standby mode, thats around 10 minutes). Now I think, I should use this third party player only. Even for FM Radio should I depend on third-party app?

Go to task manager icon from round lighted main icon at bottom center of phone. Once task manger is running , click on auto end list and remove your connect music app or any other app that plays music. Thats it.
Also notice before you do the operatino above that musics would stops playing after about 2 minutes. Because that is the default setting for the auto end list in the task manager app.

Yup you are right. I did that long time back. And its working. I almost forgot about this post thanks for the answer.


text:
Trouble rooting my Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2(gt-s7582)
I have tried to root my device with odin 3.3 and everything went well. The software showed the result 'pass', but there is no su application. I have also installed ConnectBot and tried the command su but it hasn't worked. Please help me, I need to root the mobile because my device has got some problem, I lost my photos and to recover the images I have to root my mobile.

Try using Kies2 or Kies3, it's good and will install samsung's firmware!

What package were you using in Odin to flash your phone?  I don't think flashing a new OS in ODIN will help much with rooting.
Download towelroot on your phone, and root that way:  Towelroot.com
Download and install the APK.  Click the lamda, and then install SuperSU from the Play Store.


text:
How to disable sensors on-demand to reduce power consumption?
Nowadays, any Android device has a big sensor amount implemented. It is true that most of the sensors do not require a considerable amount of power for their operation. But the sum of the power consumption of the whole sensor set may be noticeable.
I already saw, some of the sensors are written/read through SPI interface by using linux SPI driver
So, is it possible to access the SPI driver at runtime to make sensors enter off/disabled/idle state to reduce power consumption? More specifically, I want to write/read SPI bytes through sysfs or command line
This should be achieveable in any rom, being rooted or with a custom kernel

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts, this site is primarily for end-users of Android. I assume you found the page on AOSP - Sensor Batching Not sure if you are speaking about a stock device, rooted device or custom ROM.

I think the answer would be kernel and device specific mostly. It would be best if you mention the device, Android ROM and kernel you are using. And sorry for misjudging your question and closing it earlier. :)


text:
How to remove a persistent malware?
My Samsung Note 8 has gotten very weird lately. I get programs I never have installed, and when I try to reboot/reset my device with no backup they still come up after I'm finished with the reboot.
I also have in my "SIM" 2 cards, but I only have 1? And I can't access number. It also shows 2 different IMEIs.
The programs with weird names have all the permissions in my device. Some of them I can't delete, and some can't force stop, and they start running after some time.
Facebook was already installed when I did a reboot and the programs started coming in. I have a secure file on my phone. But this program has permission to everything.
How do I get rid of this problem? Do I root my phone? Can some of you guys please help me with this? This is making me a little paranoid.
Some of the programs:

Dagger
Customrabsclient
flexbox
istrumentzip
OpenCenus
rxandroid2
agera
customclient

I have used many anti-viruses like McAfee, Bitdefender, etc. I have factory reset my computer 2 times, but nothing changes. I have now downloaded AFWall+ to try to stop all these files, but I want to delete them all.
And when I check root manager it says that my phone is not rooted in the proper way. I never ever have rooted this phone.

Backup your useful data on an secure laptop or cloud and than factory reset your mobile device. Rooting is not an option to solve the virus thing. Rooting your device will make it less secure and more vulnerable to those kinda malware.

I have already backup'd everything i need. And factory resett my phone 2 times, but it seems like i have a spyware or malware that gets root accsess.  When i check with root checker basic it says " Sorry root access is not proberly innstalled on this device"   and i found here on the forum to use AFWall + and there i can see all the proccesor and diffrent apps and what they are doing, i have blocked them all now, but i want to get rid of everything.

@parthu_panther was suposed to be edited

I case factory reset does not help the only way left is to install a new factory image e.g. via Odin software. https://www.thecustomdroid.com/download-install-galaxy-note-8-stock-firmware/

If bloatware (pre-installed system apps) is your concern, then I wouldn't recommended rooting just for that purpose. If your Note 8 is out of warranty, then rooting wouldn't be a problem. But still, if only uninstalling the pre-installed system apps is all you want, then you can use ADB to get rid of them, once and for all.
A few months ago I published a guide on my blog to do the same for the S10 series. Although, the method is generic and will work on an Android device. I have owned the Note 8 and moved to the S10e this year. Can confirm that it works flawlessly on the Note 8 too.
Here is the link: https://www.thecustomdroid.com/uninstall-samsung-galaxy-s10-bloatware-guide/
In case the above link goes down, here are the exact steps you'd need to perform:

First of all, download and install Android SDK platform-tools (This
includes adb.exe, which you will need) on your PC.
Make sure USB debugging is enabled on your device.
Connect it to the PC using the USB cable.
Launch a command prompt window inside the same folder
where the SDK platform-tools are installed.
Initiate the ADB shell using the following command:adb shell
Now, find the packages of the app that you want to uninstall using: pm list packages -f microsoft
Here "mircrosoft" is the keyword. You can replace it with the name
of the app, you want to uninstall and it will enlist all the related package names to the app.
Then use the following command to uninstall all those packages: pm uninstall -k --user 0 app-package-name
Make sure that you replace "app-package-name" with the exact name of the app package that you want to uninstall.
Repeat the previous command for every package that you want to uninstall.

Voila! All the undesired pre-installed system apps will be gone.


text:
How to merge text conversations from multiple numbers into a single one?
I have a handful of people who have more than two numbers they contact me from, and I find it annoying to have so many different conversations for one person. I'm looking for a way (preferably, an app) that would let me just have one 'conversation' and just change the number.
I had a phone that did this automatically. I'm 99% sure it was a dual-sim phone, so I'm pretty sure it's possible to do.

To answer your question

Open Contacts
Find Contact A's Name.
Click Edit and add an addition number to contact A, number Two.
Click Mobile, Home or Work phone.
Save the contact with multiple Numbers.

It's all pretty straight forward for an experienced human being... :)

Reloading messages should attach the two conversations as one, if not, future conversations will be marked as the same contact.

This seems to no longer work on current Android versions (i.e. Android 9 / Pie).


text:
How to setup a finger specific app launch?
On my ZTE Axon 7 I had four fingers configured to start specific apps when the corresponding finger was pressed. That was very practical to be able to start an app like Evernote directly. On that device that could be specified in the setting and that setting seems to be missing on Pixel 3.
Is there a way to do something similar on the Pixel 3 (with Android Pie)? (It's even okay if I have to write code.)

Are you using Android 8 or 9? For Android 8, there is an Xposed module which might suffice as an alternative to your requirement. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-fingerprint-action-pro-quick-t3724493

Also Gravity Box Xposed module can be used


text:
How to recover deleted photos which are shown as 0 bytes by data recovery softwares?
A relative of mine accidentally deleted the "DCIM/Camera" folder with all her photos, and asked me if it's possible to recover them.
I copied the 'userdata' partition (ext4) to a VHD image at once and tried to recover the files (Recuva, R-Studio, Photorec, DiskDrill, DiskDigger, DiskGenius, etc., were used but to no avail). Nearly all the photos were of 0 bytes in size, like they were securely deleted.
Several years ago I encountered a similar issue (the photos just vanished, I believe it was some SD card issue) and recovered files were 0 bytes in size too.
Is there any way to recover the files?
Unfortunately, sync with Google Photos cloud was not set up as well.
Edit: this is how I pulled the image:

Installed BusyBox in the phone;
Installed Filezilla Server on desktop. Settings: listen on those ports: 40, all timeout settings: 0, create new user ("user", "pass") and give him rights for the chosen shared folder ("read write delete" for files and "list + subdirs" for folders);
Disabled Windows firewall;
Checked adb (adb devices);
Enabled USB tethering, got the new desktop IP via ipconfig (192.168.42.79);
Found the userdata partition (mmcblk0p17):
adb shell
cat /proc/emmc | grep userdata

Pulled the dump:
adb shell
su
mkfifo /cache/myfifo ftpput -v -u user -p pass -P 40 192.168.42.79 mmcblk0p17.raw /cache/myfifo

And then:
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p17 of=/cache/myfifo

Voila! We've got a 27 GB mmcblk0p17.raw image.

Not sure how you copied the "userdata" partition unless you have TWRP or an unlocked bootloader, nor did you state your device. If you are trying to access a partition or directly to the "disk" via USB, that hasn't been possible since prior to Android 5.0 and only MTP access is available, which is accessing a database of files and using the OS to transfer then with a different protocol, you can't access the DB directly. Assuming you did pull a good image with dd or similar tool, and those tools or testdisk under Linux found nothing or just zero byte files, unfortunately they are just lost.

Yes the ext4 image seems to be pretty good, I even managed to restore 4 photos out of several hundred, and all other files were intact. I tried testdisk as well (so called PhotoRec).

How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?


text:
How to root Honor 9 lite?
I have bought a new Huawei honor 9 lite and I want to root it.

Model No: LLD-L21
Android version: 8.0.0
Software build version: 8.0.0.123 (C185)

How can I do it?

To root your device you first need to unlock your bootloader, and Huawei no longer provides bootloader unlock codes. There are several possible options, but all of them are paid, ranging from €3 to $55 depending on your choice.
I'm not affiliated with or responsible for any of the services mentioned below.
Read unlock code from phone:
(Keep in mind that these methods are not guaranteed to work in Android 8.0.0 or newer, but if it doesn't work you can ask for a refund)
DC-Unlocker €3: You can buy 3 credits (one credit=one euro) from their website https://www.dc-unlocker.com, download the software for your PC and get the unlock code by connecting your phone to your PC. You can follow the tutorial in their website for a complete step-by-step.
HCU-Client €3: This is associated with DC-Unlocker but supports some newer devices, so it is generally recommended over DC-Unlocker. The website is https://hcu-client.com and you can follow the same steps above.
Order unlock code by IMEI:
(This method works for any version, but is more expensive)
Global Unlocking Solutions $20-$22: The website is https://global-unlocking-solutions.miiduu.com/bootloader-unlock-codes-choose-model-below .The website looks sketchy but plenty of XDA users have had success with them. The ordering process is straightforward.
FunkyHuawei $55: The website is https://www.unlockhuawei.com .The advantages of FunkyHuawei are: If it doesn't work you can ask for a refund, and they just have a very reliable track record.
You can just Google how to install ADB and Fastboot. There are plenty of guides. Also install Hisuite (for drivers) too.
After you order the code unlock the bootloader with fastboot oem unlock ******** (replace with the code, also that will WIPE ALL YOUR DATA)
Download TWRP from https://forum.xda-developers.com/9-lite/how-to/honor-9-lite-twrp-3-2-1-0-available-t3771358, rename it to twrp.img and to flash it use "fastboot flash recovery_ramdisk twrp.img".
Google "magisk xda download" and download the Magisk ZIP from the XDA thread. Boot into TWRP (You can Google how to do that in Huawei devices) and go to Install, and choose the ZIP you downloaded, and confirm, and you have rooted your Honor 9 Lite.
So that is there to it. A lot of work and some money is needed, but there are no other choice for now.


text:
Why does Android 7 reset default Home app after boot?
Edit: I've got an app that was set as the HOME app that suddenly isn't set as the HOME app. My question is in two parts:

Does Android 7 have the capacity to do that on its own?
If it does, what sorts of misbehaviour might cause that to happen?

I've installed an app and set it as the default HOME app by selecting it and "ALWAYS" from the popup window you get when you press the HOME button.  It works most of the time - if I press the HOME button then the app runs, or if I switch the phone off/on then the app runs.
However, sometime when I switch the phone on, I get the "Use XXXX as Home / JUST ONCE / ALWAYS / Use a different app / Launcher3" popup.  Why would Android stop running a 3rd party app as the default HOME app?
I only get this problem on Android 7 devices - I haven't seen it with 4.4 to 6.0 - has something changed in 7 that makes it more picky about this sort of thing?
The app is on a private channel so, sorry, I can't give you a link to it. And the devices are from Tokie and K-Mobile so not off-the-shelf consumer products.

I've noted that the app is on a private channel, and given the make of the devices.

Could you clarify which launcher? If the app/launcher crashes Android restarts it. Could be possible that the app is reverting to the default launcher as a fallback mechanism because something is wrong

@verdant the app isn't on the play store so I can't give you access to it, sorry. The logs don't show any signs of a crash. Fundamentally I'm trying to find out whether Android will ever remove the "Default HOME" attribute from an app. If it won't then there's no point in asking about circumstances - something else must be going on.


text:
How to check what file formats Google Docs app supports?
I went to All apps in the Settings app, and then when looking at one, for example, Google Documents, I was gonna disable it but I got to looking at the information on the app. It says, some defaults set. Now, I do let some family members use my phone. I don't use Google Documents, never have.
My question is how I can know which apps are using Google documents as a default?

Now I have to check why Google Docs is a synonym of Google Drive tag.

Google Docs app can handle a large number of office text format files (.e.g MS Word .doc .docx .rtf ...).
If you try to open such a file format using an app that can't read those format itself it sends the document to another app that supports this format. Which app is used is not app-specific, the association is saved for each document type system wide. Therefore there is no such thing like a setting for apps that are "using google documents as a default".
You can see see and mange the file associations in the system settings.
Also any app can make use of Google Docs, e.g. a mail program that uses an external program to view attachments. Therefore there is no way to detect apps that can make use of Google Docs. Therefore theoretically any installed app can make use for Google Docs. To narrow it down you can say that any app that handle files (from file-system, mail, chat, file sharing, ...) can make use of Google Docs.

Um ok thanks im stupid lol. I want to down load my archive data from my google account but i cant never can figure out how to open up all the different formats they use for all the data when downloaded...any way i can get some insight on this. And can i do this by my phone and not a desktop?


text:
Video freezes but audio plays on YouTube
For the past two days YouTube on my OnePlus 6 has been glitching. Everytime I click on a video I can hear the audio but the video doesn't play (it doesn't go black, it just freezes with the audio playing in the background). Also, the new update allows me to swipe right to see the next video, something which isn't there on my brother's phone even though he has the updated version of YouTube (as per Play Store).
I deleted cache and storage in settings and also restarted my phone. The app works fine but again goes back to glitching after a while. The glitch starts with the home screen and slowly stops the operation of all the other features on YouTube.
Can someone help me with this? The problem seems to be only on my phone because the app works fine on my friend's OnePlus 6. I have checked the answers for this question and they didn't work for me.
Note: I am using the latest software and an updated YouTube.

Try changing the video quality. Start from low quality to high and check if the issue remains.

What phone is it? Have you tried disabling and enabling the app?

@shamsul, I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. Not sure what you mean by disabling and enabling the app. I tried everything, I'm just worried if it's a bug that crept into my phone when I visited certain shady sites. Could that be a problem?

@shamsul, it's a OnePlus 6

I think, system app such as Youtube cannot be uninstalled completely (without root access). If you uninstall, it is essentially uninstalling the updates.I own a One plus 6 (oreo 8.1 OS). By disabling I meant, going to settings->apps, then click youtube, then find the disable button. Disable the app, then the button will change to Enable. Now, enable the app.

@shamsul, did that. Now do I update the YouTube app?

Are still facing the freezing problem?

@shamsul, I'm still facing the problem. The home page freezes but audio plays sometimes. Otherwise the whole thing freezes

@shamsul, so this is what problem is. After disabling and enabling the app, the swipe feature wasn't present even after updating the app. Everything worked fine. Once the feature came, the glitch arose when I used WiFi but doesn't when I use mobile data.

I guess, it is basically a bug. Until then, use the Old version. Also, you can find some recent version apk in the internet.

How did the bug come? Is it some virus or something? Should I be worried? And any chance when it'll correct itself?

I don't it is a severe bug/virus. It's just sometimes new version of an app shows some problems with limited mobile devices(there are numerous android devices out there). I hope it will get fixed soon.


text:
Verify google account synced on factory reset
Did a factory reset by accident and now can't get past the sign into to verify with last google account synced to device.

Just put your Google account credentials, assuming the device is yours. Simply like that.

The account is a link between your device and Google,
You need to log into the Google account associated with your device...
If you used the Create New Account option while setting up your device, you'll need this account details.
However if you selected Log In ( I already have an account ) and used a current Google account, you'll need its details.
The password is not device specific, it is your Google account password, so if you are having issues remembering the password.

Open a google service on your computer ( YouTube, Gmail, etc.. )
Select forgotten password
Follow the steps to recover your account
Change your password ( the final step )
Use the new password to log in.

If you are unsure on the account you used when setting your device up, you'll need to go through all your accounts and try to recover each one, until you get the correct account.


text:
How to change language to English in Oppo A59s?
All the RAM result are in Chinese, and I can't read it. I have an OPPO A59s running Android version 5.1, and a ColorOS version 3.0. All output is really difficult to understand and operate. What to do?


text:
Does "Not Found" error always mean the app is unpublished or not active on Play Store?
I am having difficulty finding some apps in Play Store. A lot of times, when I come across a link on the older posts of this website and I load it, I get "Not Found" error on Google Play. I explicitly get:

We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.

I do double check with the app on AppBrain and usually, it shows that XYZ app unpublished on some ABC date in the past, so I end up believing that the app is really dead on Play Store. However, sometimes, a user, whose post I deleted because of dead link tells me that the app is live on Play Store.
I do a check using Opera browser's free VPN service (regions: Europe, Americas, and Asia), and also with a Chrome Extension for American/British VPN service. I again and again get the same dead link. I also ensure using Private Browsing to rule out browser caching.
Recently, a fellow moderator notified me that while I was not able to load the link, he could easily load the app Google Goggles on Play Store. AppBrain still shows the app is no more active on Google Play though.
Similarly, I came across the app MyAndroidTools which does not load in Google Play Store, also seems inactive on AppBrain, but had a fresh beta version, as seen on APKMirror.
How do I ensure that the app is inactive on Google Play for everyone? Alternatively, if it is active on Google Play, how do I load the app's page on Google Play?

I cannot answer the question, but Appbrain isn't always up-to-date. I found cases where Appbrain showed the latest release being years in the past, while an app had released a newer version just weeks or months ago. It certainly helps, and if it says "unpublished" that app definitely was unpublished on that day. Facts are right, but just not always recent. // Then, if an app has a new release at <name.it> doesn't necessarily mean it has on Play. With G's sometimes stupid rules, some devs already decided leaving it alone.

From my experience I think that it does mean that the app is unpublished or non active on Google Play; which could be conditional.  This could be due to the users locale, the app was removed (made inactive or no longer published), not -- or no longer -- available for specific AOSP versions or device type/size/ect.
In my case I had a violation of something involving the payment policies and my app was removed (unpublished by Google) until I resolved the issue and uploaded and new version.
As @Izzy mentioned, I've also found that Appbrain is not always up-to-date.

Well here's something that I know since I have experienced it in the recent period. Apparently, it so works that when an app is "unpublished", then the app is still downloadable by existing users (those who own the app, either because they paid for it or because they acquired it when it was free).
The users who already own an app will see it in Play Store (app and web) while logged into the same Google account using which it was acquired.
It would be a different outcome when apps are removed (deleted) due to violations. Deleted apps should no longer be available for installation to any user. But since I know that Flamingo was unpublished because it did hit the API limit from Twitter, it is still there, regularly updated, but not available to the public if they never owned it before when it was live and available for purchase (download).
Screenshots (the flamingo example):
App direct URL - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samruston.twitter

As it is entirely dependent on the Google account and whether the app was owned by the user in the past, there will be no 3rd party api which can tell you if an app is still downloadable from the Play Store. Play Store throws a direct 404 for such apps which are not downloadable unless you are an existing user.
So, I believe you should remove such links because well, these apps are not available for new users to download and these are basically the ones who need the app. Existing users will already have it. With the exception that such apps do not appear anymore in Play Store search, even if you own the app and are logged into your Google account.
And as much as I know, apps locked to certain countries are still browseable in the web version of the Play Store and even within Play Store app. On the mobile app, it is not downloadable and marked as "This item is not available in your country". So, a VPN or location change will not help you to access a Play Store app which throw a 404. You should remove such links without thinking twice.

"NOT FOUND" means it is not active on Play store or by your country location. and if you want to download any app , try some mirrors like apkmonk, apkmirror, etc.

Would you please read the bounty note? I have explicitly mentioned what details an answer should have. Furthermore, please see [answer].

the details is always in answers and comments.


text:
Accessing a USB device in phone in absence of compatible drivers / modules
My android device has an MTK6797 Soc(Xiaomi Redmi note 4x mtk version), and the company never released the kernel source, now I want to connect a USB device through OTG and control it from a chrooted Linux environment inside android, the problem is that the precompiled kernel that ships with the android device doesn't include the driver for the USB device, the kernel also has CONFIG_MODULES disabled so I can't compile the driver as a module and load it to the kernel, so now my only option is to run a completely emulated Linux VM(kernel and userspace) inside android and connect the USB device to the VM and load the required module from there(just like you would do on a PC with something like Virtual Box).
The problem is that I can't find an arm emulator that runs on android, I found Limbo PC emulator which is based on Qemu but it emulates X86 and not arm, running an X86 VM inside Limbo PC is very slow so I instead I want to run Arm VM hopefully that would provide a bit of performance push compared to emulating X86.
I can't seem to find any thing that can emulate Arm inside android, Qemu is an open source project so It's hard to imagine that no one ever though of running Qemu arm emulator inside Android.
Regards

Have you checked this source code release? https://github.com/MT6797

@Robert Yes I've already compiled https://github.com/MT6797/kernel-3.18 and tried to run it on my device and no joy, the source doesn't contain the config and device tree for my device, and even if I spent two week trying to get it to boot by decompiling  and reverse engineer as much as i could from the original kernel I will probably be disappointed eventually by the lack of some critical driver (e.g touchscreen driver).

Hello. I have edited the title to point out the actual problem, instead of going in XY direction of finding an emulator. On a side note, can anyone tell me if this is even possible for a VM (assuming on a PC) to access a USB device for which the host machine OS has no drivers to  communicate?


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How to remove this annoying mobile data pop up?
Whenever I toggle off mobile data, this pops up. Does anyone know how to remove it? It occurs every time I toggle it off.

It is a warning message provided by the system. If you want to remove it, you need to root your phone. I don't know about the process, that's why I wrote this in comment.

Alternatively, an OS update could remove it should they have done so. If there will be another for the device then maybe it will in time.

Can you provide a bit more information, which device and version OS are you running? For general reference, it would be worth checking out this thread to see what other samsung users have been experiencing https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-tab/727756-how-remove-mobile-data-turned-off-notification-notification-list.html

To me i get prompted this when I disable data from settings but when I disable it from status bar tile it doesn't so try that at least.

You could use a package disabler app, find out the name of the package(some apps will show the packages, use adb, or by Google Search) and then disable that message. Most package disabler apps require root but some don't.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Gingerbread with ext4: will it burn my flash?
2.3 Gingerbread will use ext4 instead of YAFFS.
My question is: YAFFS is for flash based filesystem, but ext4 is not. Will it lead to premature death of the device due to wear leveling?

Not likely, the flash storage itself usually have built-in hardware wear leveling, YAFFS2 is only advantageous when the flash storage does not have hardware wear levelling.
However if you're reformatting a flash storage, do check that the flash storage have hardware wear leveling; most flash storage that originally ships with ext4 (e.g. Nexus S) should come with hardware wear leveling, but if the device originally ships with YAFFS2 or other file systems that does not do wear leveling, they might not have hardware wear leveling. On these file systems, you might need additional steps to ensure that a lower level driver do software wear leveling if you want to safely install ext4 (or other filesystems that does not do wear leveling).

Where did you see that all Gingerbread devices will use ext4?
The Nexus S uses ext4 and that is because the Galaxy S devices uses a very slow and laggy file system developed by Samsung called RFS. Google decided to change the file system on the Nexus S from RFS to ext4.

Here: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/12/ext4-filesystem-hits-android-no-need-to-fear-data-loss.ars AND http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/12/saving-data-safely.html

@Alexandru Luchian: his question was "Where did you see that all Gingerbread devices will use ext4?", which is clearly not true. I don't believe there will not be any Gingerbread that does not use ext4.

You are right. But still, in the context of the question - most of the new devices will ship with ext4.