text:
How to find the unboxing date of an Android device?
Someone told me that he has opened a phone only 4 days ago, but by the look of it, it is not less than a month.
When trying to buy a used phone, is there any way to check how long this phone is in use? Or the date when this phone is turned on the first time? Or the time of unboxing? Or the time of the first usage?

Define not less than a month?

@t0mm13b "at least a month" is the usual definition.

You can simply go the Service menu of your phone and see the total call time which is very hard to reset. By that, you can assume how long it has been used.
As of Android 4.3 Jellybean, that is the best you can get.

This answer was given by izzy on this question. I won't take credit for it so do not upvote this answer. please go to izzy's answer and upvote there.

with your Google account's credentials, log in to the Google Dashboard
Scroll to the section labeled "Android" and expand it (by clicking its title / the LGM [little green man])
Check the entry for the device you want to know the date for

Checking for the timestamps on various folders in internal storage.
Android folders might be created at the time of ROM installation (device manufacturing), but many app folders are created on the date of activation. Firmware updates don't generally remove this, though factory reset might. However, the issue is checking the correct folders which change from device to device, and a factory reset might also reset these dates.

Checking the age of the battery.
Counting cycles of battery use could be a rough way. Even checking the absolute battery capacity relative to original battery capacity could give an idea. However, if the battery is changed, this fails irrespective of the age.

Another option to find the date the device was physically built:
Settings (scroll to bottom) > About phone (scroll all the way down to the bottom again) > build date
Just checked this out on my phone. I unboxed the phone in November 2013, and the phone shows build date from September 2013, so that seems to be it.
model: Droid MAXX
Android version: 4.4

That's the date the ROM was compiled, not the date the device was  physically manufactured. Mine, for example, has a build date of May 5, 2014, but I purchased it in late 2013 (so clearly it was not physically built in 2014).


text:
Bypass 4GB limitation of Android File Transfer on macOS
Both my phone and my SD card (exFAT formatted) support big file sizes. However, the Android File Transfer app does not allow sending files bigger than 4GB.
Is there a way to bypass the limitation?

possible duplicate of download bigger than 4 gb file on android 4.0.4

The linked question is about the limitation of file system of the SD card, which I don't not have this issue. I am asking about the limitation of an app, the Google Android File Transfer app.

Did you ever find a way to get around the 4GB limit?

@geffchang not yet, it seems to be a limit (unnecessarily) imposed by the Android File Transfer app. For files larger than 4GB, I pull out the SD card and copy via a USB card reader.

2019: No longer an issue. I transferred an 8gb file to my OnePlus 6T phone seamlessly. Android File Transfer v1.0.12

According to Android.com:

Browse the files and folders on your Android device, add folders, copy
files up to 4GB to or from your Mac, delete files, and more.

As a workaround, install an FTP server on your Mac, and transfer the file via Wi-Fi or mobile data.
OR, via ADB using the Android SDK, adb pull to transfer from the phone and adb push to transfer to the phone. Source.

So how do you actually transfer the files from your Mac? I tried this adb pull /storage/sdcard0 ./Desktop/TheFolderIWantToMove but I get adb: error: failed to get feature set: device unauthorized..

did you want to say adb push? because we need to copy file to android device. I tried this but it doesn't work adb: error: failed to copy *': remote File too large

For me the storage path was completely different, you can use adb shell to connect to your phone then navigate around to file the correct file path you need

You can install android-platform-tools with Homebrew to install ADB.
brew cask install android-platform-tools

And then use adb pull or adb push like the geffchang's answer above.

A simple solution is to use the free app AirDroid to transfer files over your WiFi network directly to your tablet. All you have to do is install it on your phone/tablet, enable it, and then visit the device's IP address and port number from your web browser. You can then browse the device's file system and transfer files over 4 GB with no issues. The only downside is that the speed of the transfer is dictated by the speed of your WiFi network and especially your device's connection to it. Generally, I have found it to take about 1.3x as long on my 2013 Nexus 7 when compared to a USB 2.0 transfer.
There are also other apps besides AirDroid that serve as analogs, but I have found this app to be the easiest to use, the most reliable, and the fastest.
Hope this helps anyone who comes across this question as it is more of a layman's answer.

There are also other apps besides AirDroid that serve as analogs, but I have found this app to be the easiest to use, the most reliable, and the fastest.

For one reason I do not use AirDroid, it asks way too many permissions.

Use Xender (available for both iOS/Android). Worked like a charm. Can transfer on all platforms, provided you have WiFi connectivity.

Another limitation with Apple systems. Just install Windows via Boot Camp or Parallels. Connect and go.
Will save you time and effort.

Installing Windows just to transfer a file seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

On Mid-2012 MacBook Pro, Catalina (10.15.3), I couldn't use Homebrew; needed additional downloads that weren't found on the server.
Instead, I used Wondershare Dr.Fone (Mac App Store and USB-C cable). On Moto Stylus 5G (2021), Android 11, I got ~1 GB/minute (24 minutes for 23 GB) using the Export function.
Also, have "Android File Transfer" and "HandShaker" for smaller jobs.

The question is about the size not the speed.  It is not clear whether you are implying that your file was 23Gb large (or even larger than 4).

You are correct; my single file size was 23GB.  Different softwares and setups affect the transfer speed of data, and that is what i was trying to convey - that this setup was able to copy at a rate of 1GB per minute, direct from Android phone.

Try using a split archive.
You can make these with 7-zip (Windows), Keka (Mac), or using standard *nix utilities if you're good with the command line. By making the archives 4 GB, you can batch transfer and decompress on your phone using something like RAR, then delete the archives. Keep in mind you will be using around double the space temporarily (depending on the compression ratio, if any), so you need space first.
In Keka (which judging by your tags, you will use), put "4 GB" in for the "Split:" option. Copy all resulting files after compression (the ones labeled .001, .002, and so on to your phone. Use RAR on the first file, and the file will decompress. You can then delete the archive files from your phone.

Connect using an ethernet cable and copy it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150216012748/http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18710

How is this relevant to Android in any way?

source: Stack Exchange

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text:
How bad is my screen damaged? Do I need to replace the whole screen?
My dad has a Samsung phone. He dropped it once long ago and there was a crack across the screen as shown in the image:

Now he is having difficulty using the phone. There is always a touch at one spot automatically, which is very annoying. To show you what I mean, I have enabled "Show touch" in "Developer Options".
I have uploaded a video on youtube here showing how annoying it is.
Here are images showing the unwanted touch:

So how bad is the screen damaged? Do I need to replace the whole screen, as the guy at the repair shop said?
Update:

If there's a constant "touch" at one spot, the digitizer is probably damaged, along with the glass.  For some screen cracks, it's possible to replace the glass only (at least in some Samsung models including the Galaxy S4, which yours appears to be).  Unfortunately, that's probably not the case here.  A complete screen and digitizer assembly and labor to replace it cost about as much as a good used phone of that model, or a bit more than the insurance deductible if you carry insurance with service.  If you can do the work yourself, cost would be reduced by about 1/3, and it may be worth attempting.

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


text:
Did I just brick a non-rooted device?
I have a non-rooted Onyx Boox C67ML Carta running stock Android 4.2.2.
I just installed Orientation Locker. I transferred it from my phone using Shareit, but on my phone it had come from the Play Store.
Once installed, when I tried to run it, the whole device totally froze. See below for a picture of what it looks like.
When this device had frozen on me before, I had always been able to force a reboot by holding down the power button. That does not work in the current situation.
I carefully used a knife to take off the back cover to try and find the battery. The battery does not seem to be removable without physically breaking the device.
I suppose I could wait for the battery to run out. It was quite low when the incident occurred. It may actually be out already, and the device off, since e-ink screens may continue to display the last picture they showed when something goes wrong, even without power.
What should I do?

Shall we assume that USB debugging is not enabled in your device? For how long did you long-press the power button?

USB debugging was not enabled. The problem is solved too. I'm glad the battery was very low when it happened, otherwise I might have had to wait for quite a long time.

Oh and I didn't see the second question on your first comment: I pressed the power button for at least 30 seconds, far longer than what is usually required to force a reboot.

The device was not bricked. After a few hours I held down the power button again, and the frozen screen was replaced by the "no battery" screen. After charging, the device is back to normal. I caution users of this particular device not to use apps that try to force the systemwide screen orientation.
It was lucky that the battery was nearly empty when this happened. I suspect that if the battery had been more charged, the wait could have been significantly longer.

Yes, that happened because you took the app from someone else from Shareit. You have to install any app from Play Store (Highly recommended).
Because when you take and install the app from someone else, if the DPI does not match, surely your device will stuck as soon as you open the app.
Ex. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and I am taking an app from the Samsung Galaxy S2, and installing it on my device will get the device stuck. Not for every app, some will work perfectly.

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text:
Restore SMS messages from a rooted phone with a broken screen to an unrooted phone
I'm trying to restore my SMS text messages from my rooted Nexus 5 with a broken screen (no display or touch capabilities) to my functioning but unrooted Nexus 5X.
I can turn the rooted phone to recovery mode and run any adb command (I managed to pull the mmssms.db file using adb), however, I naturally can't run adb push mmssms.db /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db to my unrooted phone.
Is there any way to restore the text messages some other way?
Again, I have full root access using adb to my rooted phone.

Related: How do I backup data (SMS/contacts) from a device with a broken screen?

Instead of phone B you can use virtual rooted phone. See: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/141501/how-to-import-an-existing-mmssms-db-to-an-android-virtual-device

I managed to restore my text messages using a borrowed 3rd phone that is rooted!
Using:

The rooted phone with the broken screen that you want to restore from (Phone A)
The rooted phone with the intact screen that you borrowed (Phone B)
The unrooted phone that you want to restore to (Phone C)

Do as follows:

On Phone A:

Activate recovery mode and pull the mmssms.db file using adb: adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db mmssms-phone-A.db

On Phone B:

Activate recovery mode and do the same: adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db mmssms-phone-B.db (use this later to restore the borrowed phone's text messages. Note the different file name)
While still in recovery mode, push the file you pulled from Phone A to the Phone B: adb push mmssms-phone-A.db /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db
Change the file owner and permission of the mmssms.db file: adb shell then chown radio:radio /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db and chmod 0660 /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db
Restart to regular mode
Install any SMS backup app (I used SMS Backup & Restore but any app would do)
Run the app to backup the text messages
Copy the backup file to some cloud service that you trust or to your desktop/laptop

On Phone C

Copy the backup file from the cloud service or desktop/laptop
Install the same SMS backups app and use its restore function

Don't forget to restore the original mmssms.db to the 3rd party phone!

On Phone B

Restart the phone to recovery mode
Push the mmssms.db file you pulled from Phone B back to it: adb push mmssms-phone-B.db /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db
Change the file owner and permission of the mmssms.db file: adb shell then chown radio:radio /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db and chmod 0660 /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

Enjoy your restored text messages and return Phone B to the friend you borrowed it from ;)

This is not possible, as you need root to access the /data folder (for unrooted Nexus 5X).
This question is similar: Can adb be used to recover SMS messages while in permanent “Safe Mode”?

Who said anything about directly accessing the /data folder? It is a bold claim stating that "This is not possible".

@Firelord Well, the SMS DB is in the /data folder. If he were to access / modify the files there, he'd need to have root access. Looking at the accepted answer, a rooted phone had to be used in the end.

The third rooted phone was a mediator because the original rooted phone was busted. The second phone was never rooted. That's the point.


text:
What info does Google backup?
Does anyone know what exactly does Google backup (and restore) when you enable that option?
Also, are we able to see this list somewhere? (Maybe hidden n-levels deep in Google Account information?)
Reason I ask is I've had the unfortunate experience of my SD Card dying on me, put in a temporary SD Card and allowed Google to do the auto-restore.
Some things that were restored:

Saved wireless networks
Background
Some apps - strangely enough only a subset of my apps were restored (some with data, some without). All previous apps were installed via Android Market.

Then finally got my new SD Card, put that in and the following were restored

Saved wireless networks
Some apps - again, same problem... only a subset (different subset, even fewer apps). This time no data seemed to have been restored either.

I think it would be very helpful to be able to view/manage a list of what is backed up, and thus would be restored (but I have yet to find this list... if it even exists).

I don't think Google backs up anything on your SD card, but even if it did, I'm pretty sure your wireless networks aren't saved there, and your background also isn't unless you use a picture from your SD card, so they wouldn't be affected at all by swapping cards. Do you have a lot of apps moved to your SD card?

When I used the app restoring feature the last time I observed that some of the App downloads failed as they sometimes do in the Market. The problem is that the Market does not retry to download those Apps. Therefore after a restore you have to carefully check the notifications for failed downloads and retry them manually.

For Honeycomb (Android 3.0+) devices, the official Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb) user's guide says:
Page 13

Backing up and restoring your data
...
Many kinds of data are backed up, including:

Your Android settings, such as your Wi-Fi networks and passwords, user dictionary, and so on
Many Google application settings, such as your Browser bookmarks
The apps you download from Android Market

Some third-party apps also make use of the backup service, so if you reinstall one,
its settings and data are restored.

Page 132

Back up my data Check
to back up some of your personal data to Google servers, with your
Google Account. If you replace your tablet, you can restore the data
you’ve backed up, the first time you sign in with your Google Account.
If you check this option, a wide variety of your personal data is
backed up, including your Wi-Fi passwords, Browser bookmarks, a list
of the applications you’ve installed from Market, the words you’ve
added to the user dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most
of the settings that you configure with the Settings application. Some
third-party applications may also take advantage of this feature, so
you can restore your data if you reinstall an application.

As for your list of apps, you can easily see which ones are linked to your Market account by going to https://market.android.com/mylibrary

Ah yes, that seems about right (flashed my phone with custom ROM so do expect some discrepancies). Though I do really wish they had a list somewhere! Re the market mylibrary... that list doesn't correctly reflect what I have installed on my phone :(

Nothing on your sdcard is backed up, unless you have app that syncs data between your sdcard and a "cloud service", like picasa for example which saves images on the sdcard and does "back up" to the picasa service.
Your apps are backed up, I don't know if the data is, but it could be as that would make sense to be something that is backed up. The reason you could see only a subset of apps restored could be issues with not being able to download them all at the point of restore. I have had that happen when I would flash a new ROM after a clean wipe and some apps did not automatically come back.
It also does back up settings like wireless network settings, again, you opt in to back up the data so if it has to be restored, it can be, and this would be something that, i would think, should be backed up.
There is no official (or unofficial) list, that I know of, of what is backed up. If turning on a feature to "back up your device" so it can be restored if needed, you should assume that it is going to back up all settings and app data. But it will not restore any information that is saved on the sdcard.
As eldarerathis mentioned, swapping sdcards should not cause a "device restore" from the "backup service", nor should your network settings or backgrounds or anything like that change. I can see it wanting to restore apps that you previously had installed on the old sdcard to the new sdcard but it shouldn't be restoring anything else on the device or sdcard.

In my experience, the answer is "almost nothing". See http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=17354


text:
External USB Bluetooth does not work in Android 4.0.4 kernel 3.0.8+
I have inserted an external USB Bluetooth dongle into a Tablet via the USB port and try to turn on the Bluetooth in the Android but fail.
So, how does one know if the USB Bluetooth dongle can be supported for a tablet that has a USB port? (Given that the USB Bluetooth dongle has been tested to work fine in a desktop PC and there is no further information on the tablet manual on which Bluetooth dongle is supported for the tablet.)
This is the problem with all tablets which do not have in-built Bluetooth support.
Is there any application that can compile/root/install Bluetooth device driver to my Android tablet so that I can use it for headphones/file transfer, etc?

I don't think that Android supports external Bluetooth adapters. From this Google+ post, it seems like CyanogenMod is adding support for it soon. Depending on what device you have, you may be able to root and install this.
If this is not an option, then you would need to provide more details on what device you are trying to use the dongle with.


text:
Is it possible to browse files on a powered-off Android devices from a PC?
My Sony Xperia Z doesn't boot, so I may need to flash it, but I want to have a backup from files on internal storage before flashing.
Is it possible to connect (Android) phone to a PC while it's powered off and browse files on the phone?

If it's turned off, it's turned off -- so you can connect the cable fine, but nothing will happen.

No, while the phone's powered off you can't read the files on it. If your bootloader is already unlocked, you might be able to find a custom recovery that just lets you mount as a USB drive. In that case, booting into the recovery would be sufficient even if the main OS doesn't boot. Of course, if your bootloader isn't unlocked, unlocking it to flash a custom recovery would wipe the storage anyway.


text:
Why has my location history stopped working?
From the time that Google Maps updated to the newest version, my device (Samsung Galaxy S3) no longer logs my location history althrought I have turned it on. I have tried uninstalling updates and installing them again, turning off and on location history but it still doesn't work.
Is there something I'm doing wrong or is it just some kind of bug? Anyone?

Maybe connected to Latitude, which no longer is part of maps (and will be completely shut down in August)?

I have been connected to Latitude, but I don't think it has something to do with Maps & Location history, does it?

I never used Latitude, but AFAIK this was responsible for the location history as well. I'm not 100% sure, however; but it would explain things well, as the timing fits perfectly (the update broke it -- and the update removed Latitude).

So location history won't work anymore? Why don't I see anyone screaming about this? I bet I'm not the only one

I've seen them screaming in the forums. I myself never used that functionality (which is being moved to G+ btw), so I wouldn't even have noticed. I'm rather screaming for the crippled playstore (web) and now also the playstore app obviously having its "WiFi only" option removed and eating my data plan :(


text:
Extract app name from app-store:// and intent:// links
From time to time i encounter in links such as:

android-app://com.sudaytoz.kakao.wbb/stzkakaowbb/sundaytoz

and i want to understand what is their play.google name
the previous example answer is:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sundaytoz.kakao.wbb

is it always like this? I guess i don't really get the "android-app://" prefix.
Same goes for links like:

intent://adjust_reftag=c7L1pVanNIjjt#Intent;scheme=yandextaxi;package=ru.yandex.taxi;end

The application ID is essentially a regular Java package name that follows these 3 rules:
1.It must have at least two segments (one or more dots).
2.Each segment must start with a letter.
3.All characters must be alphanumeric or an underscore [a-zA-Z0-9_].

As you can see in your links, the URL on Google Play contains the application ID.
https://developer.android.com/studio/build/application-id


text:
How to remove persistent "Mi Band is Connected" notification in Android?
I have Mi band 2 from Xiaomi, always connected to my Android device for fitness activity tracking. In the notification drawer, there is always a persistent(unclearable notification) - "Mi Band is/isn't connected - which is annoying. Is there any way I could make it disappear and receive other notifications from the Mi Fit App, if any?

Do you have the right to move this question to move there?

Profile -> Settings -> Show Status in Notification Shade

August 2018
Android version 8.0
MiFit App version 3.4.4

Just to note, I used this to "fix" an annoying feature of Mii Fit, where there was ALWAYS a badge on the icon, to show a notification.  Obviously the notification was that the band was connected, but it was driving me mad trying to clear the number and make my home screen "clean".

As I remember, in Mi Fit application at the Profile -> My Devices -> Mi Band 2 exist special option for this notification.
Unfortunatelly, right now I'm using Mi Fit at IOS and cannot check it, but earlier I switched this notification off, if I am not mistaken.

No, there is no such option under the devices option.

It is there :) Check: Status -> Setup -> Show status ....

Please mention the full location of the option. Thanks.


text:
How to bypass an app's ability to know is being run on an emulator rather than a real device.
I would like to install an app called entrust (from the play store) and be able to use it. My last try was to use an emulator called "Genymotion", but the app can detect that the app is being run on an emulator because I get this error:
"Error: Manual Activation is not supported on an unsecured device."

which I don't get if I'm running the app on a real device. Are there any ideas about how can I bypass this check and be able to run it using an emulator?
Thank you!

Have you tried Android-x86? You could install the ISO using Virtualbox.

In general there are three ways to bypass an emulator check:

Modify the app and remove the emulator check.
Modify the emulator so that it pretends to be a real device.
Modify the system calls the app does for detecting it is running on an emulator

As you can see all three ways are not that simple, however the third way may be the easiest as there are some tools that can help you.
Back to option 1 - it requires a lot of development skills to decompile the app (e.g. using apktool to decompile it to Smali code), identify the emulator checks (and to bypass app integrity checks that may exist).
Option 2 is even harder as it requires you to patch and recompile the Android emulator (which is available as source code).
Therefore from my point of view only option 3 is realistic for you. However it still may require some Java development.
You can install the XPosed framework onto your emulator. It allows to modify system calls the app uses for identifying that it is running on an emulator.
There are a some existing XPosed modules for hiding that a device is rooted or that it is running on an emulator. If you are luck there is an existing module working out-of-the box, letting you run your app on an emulator.

surprised to know there isn't an emulator out there yet that the app cannot tell. Supposedly, an emulator should be able to make it a virtual device, so the app shouldn't be able to tell

The app needs a closed boot loader and doesn't allow root. The app doesn't know anything about the emulator.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

boot-loader state is only relevant if the app uses Google SafetyNet verification. And as an emulator never will get an Google Android certification by Google it will always fail the "CTS profile".

Depending on how the emulator is built, an app can certainly detect if it's running on an emulator or not.


text:
How find large files with QDirStat on Android 11 with root?
I want to list all files in my phones /data volume using QDirStat, or something simular.
On my phone, I've used DiskUsage (com.google.android.diskusage) before, but I find the visualization lacking.
I want to apply the steps described in this guide with my phone as the remote server:
https://github.com/shundhammer/qdirstat/blob/master/doc/QDirStat-for-Servers.md
Technical details

OnePlus phone running Android 11
Root via Magisk
SSH server with key-files
GNU/Linux desktop PC
Working SFTP mount of my phones / (FS root) on my  PC

Goals

Create a reading on-device using the QDirStat server script

Run the script (folder & file indexer) on-device
Don't index from the PC via an SFTP mount
The script is headless: it does not contain a GUI

Index every file & folder in /data (as root)
Import the index-dump into QDirStat on my PC

Analyze the index on PC
Manually delete some files using Nautilus' SFTP

Questions

The script seems to require Perl

How can Perl be installed on Android?
If it's installed in Termux, can it index everything?
What would be the (most-)proper way of doing this be?

Can I run QDirStat on an ARM arch?

Will cross-compilation be required?
Will cross-compiling the Qt framework be required?
How do I provide the required libs for QDirStat?

Thanks for reading

Compiling QDirStat for ARM is not the problem, the main problem is that there is no X-Window system so you have to port the application to Android: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/porting-to-android.html Unless you have experience with QT I don't think this will be easy.

Thanks for responding @Robert; please note that the script is headless (edited the question to clear that up), meaning it doesn't have a GUI. (Quote: QDirStat can be used for headless (no X server, no X libs) servers) from here

Run the qdirstat-cache-writer script with root on Termux. Forget about running QT application on Android. For those who are comfortable with CLI, du + sort is great. For Android GUI lovers, SD Maid is a good app for storage analysis and cleaning.


text:
From nightly to official
I'm currently running a CM 12 nightly on my OPO, but after hearing of the CM12S update which is coming in a matter of days, I decided I wanted to go back to receiving official OTA's.
I've read a couple of tutorials on the forums of OPO, but all the methods include returning back to CM11S which is painful.
So I was wondering, if there were any other ways to receive the official CM12s update without returning back to CM11s?

On a side note, there is a fuss on OnePlus forums that this is a Cyanogen OS 12 from Cyanogen Inc. and not the official CM 12S update from OnePlus.

You can flash the CM12S update over the CM Nightly. I did it myself.
Just make sure you have a custom recovery installed and make a backup just in case!


text:
Dialer lags when making a call in Yu Yureka running Lollipop
I upgraded my Yu Yureka to Lollipop using the inbuilt update, and ever since I am seeing a lag while making calls. It takes up to 10 secs to show the call screen after I make the call. I tried clearing the app data, but no luck. Anyone else facing this issue? Any help would be appreciated.

During this 10 secs (before Call screen appears) , do you see a blank screen or the dialer?

this update might solve the bug
Update Size: 130Mb Android version: 5.0.2 Software version: Cyanogen OS 12 (YNG1TAS1K0)
"We are excited to announce a new software update for Yureka which will lead to improved battery performance for YUREKA. (with Cyanogen OS 12 YNG1TAS0W0).
This performance update has been rolled out post feedback from our beta testers community and the roll out process starts today.
Over the next few days ALL users who have official Cyanogen OS 12 YNG1TAS0W0 software on their YUREKA, will receive the update."-YuGod
Click here for the original post on yu forum

Perform a factory reset so that it cleans the phone. Check if the phone lags before installing the extra apps. It won't lag.

It won't lag. -- but if you're certain then why this -- Check if the phone lags


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Droid Explorer Setup problem : cannot start service exception
When I try to add the SDK path I always end up with an error message. I have checked that the path is correct, added the platforms required, etc.
This is the message:
System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot start service DroidExplorerService on computer '.'. --->
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion

 --- End of inner exception stack trace ---

at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.Start(String[] args)
at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.Start()
at DroidExplorer.Bootstrapper.Panels.StartServicePanel.StartService()

Does any one have any ideas?

What is the path you gave for the sdk?

Disclaimer: I am the developer of Droid Explorer.
This message is typically not about the SDK. This usually happens when you try to update your version of Droid Explorer. It happens because Droid Explorer first removes the Service and then creates the new service. Sometimes, Windows does not completely let go of the original service and the installer is unable to start the new service.
Usually a reboot will allow the new service to start successfully. If you got that far, you don't even need to reinstall after reboot, just a reboot will suffice.

Is there a way to fix it without a reboot?

@bgmCoder no, because windows will not allow you to create the new service until it can safely clean up the old one. And when it gets in this state, really a reboot of the PC is the only option.

I mean, how can I do it manually?  kill/stop the service and then run the installer again?

The only way to fix it is to reboot. windows will not release the service and allow it to be installed until it is released.

And if a reboot does not fix it?


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My Macbook doesn't import or copy photos from Galaxy S3
There are 663 photos in my camera. I want to share some of them them via computer with my mother who does not have a smartphone.

My phone and computer are connected via USB cable.
The Android File Transfer app is installed and working up to the point of showing me a window on my computer with choices of files to transfer.

However, when I click on DCIM or Pictures nothing comes up. Similarly, nothing happens when I click on Camera.
What am I doing wrong?  How do I get those photos from my phone to show up in my computer? And will they be in both places?  I'd like to keep them in my phone also.
Thank you.

Does you Macbook supports wifi?

If yes then see this guide by Google to know how to enable Wi-Fi hotspot in your Android device.
If not then no issues. We can use USB tethering here to get the job done. See this answer to know how to setup USB tethering between a Mac and an Android phone.

We're going to use AirDroid to stream the images from Android to Mac for viewing, or optionally choosing to download them into computer for any later use.
Instructions:

Install AirDroid from Play Store.
Enable USB tethering or Wi-Fi hotspot in your phone (connect Mac to this hotspot as well).
Launch AirDroid, go to Tools → Tethering (Others) and you'll be shown a URL which would be:

For USB tethering -- http://192.168.42.129:8888
For Wi-Fi hotspot -- http://192.168.43.1:8888

(The URL might vary depending upon how your device's OEM changed Android's code (details irrelevant here).)
Enter the URL in a browser of your Macbook (AirDroid supports Google Chrome more) and choose Accept on the Android screen.
The default screen would look like:

Using this app now is trivial since options are easy to understand and use.

Anyhow, open Photos icon to see images inside your Android device. You can double-click any image to see in full-screen and use direction keys of keyboard to browse them full-screen.
You can choose to download individual or multiple images by clicking the checkbox on desired images(s) and choosing Download option.

Objectives achieved:

Photos can exists on both sides.
Photos can be viewed without transferring them in computer.
No internet connection is needed to view/transfer images.

Connect the mobile in Mass Storage (MSC) mode instead of MTP mode. You'll find this setting in Connectivity section. MSC mode will mount the memory card to the PC just like USB storage. You can now copy contents more easily (or)
Use the Samsung's KIES software for handling all the media.

If your phone and computer are on the same network there is no need of USB cable. Just install WeLine(or airdroid) and transfer files between your phone and computer as it is supported on PC and MAC. If you are not on the same network follow the steps below,

First of all, if you are Windows user you should download the USB driver for the Galaxy SIII and install it to your computer. While if you are a Mac user you do not need to install any drivers or software.
Connect these two devices using a micro USB cable.
On your phone's screen the prompt will appear informing you that you have connected to the computer.
Drag down the notification area and select the option you want to use for your device. The options include:

Connected as a media device -> Media device (MTP) -> Use this option if you want Windows Explorer or Mac Finder manually transfer files between PC and your phone or if you want to utilize Windows Media Player.
Connected as a media device -> Camera (PTP) -> Use this option if you want to use your phone as a camera.

Once selected the option as MTP or PTP you can use your device as either MTP media device(file transfer) or PTP media device(camera)

Reference


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How can I block unknown contacts from sending messages in Whatsapp?
Are there means of blocking unknown contacts from sending messages? Unknown contact here refers the time when someone sends you messages  (contacts displayed are in the form of letters, and are in similar digits like mobile phone). Unfortunately you cannot reply or save the contacts.
Are there means of blocking this,  only allowing messages from people in your contacts only?

When you receive an initial message from an unknown contact, you will have the option to Report Spam and Block.
If you just want to block the contact, simply tap on Menu Button > More > Block.
So, in other words, When you receive the message on WhatsApp from a number and that number is not yet in your contact, then WhatsApp will show BLOCK option at the top which should allows you to block that number from sending you FURTHER messages.
To block an existing contact on your Android phone, you can try below steps:
1.Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats screen.
2.Tap
Menu Button > Settings > Account > Privacy > Blocked Contacts

.
(This page displays all contacts that you have blocked)
3.Tap the Add blocked contacts icon in the top right.
You may Want to check FAQ for more details.


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How do I revert back to stock recovery after unrooting on Nvidia Shield Tablet
I need to update my Nvidia Shield Tablet (running  Android 5.0.1) to the latest version so that I can check if it contains a faulty battery type. To update I presume that I needed to remove root access and CWM that I installed using a guide.
I have ran a full unroot on SuperSU. Now, all that is left is to return to the stock recovery. How do I do this?
The guide I used is here.

No need to unroot or to flash stock recovery. I dont have the link to the LTE version, but this is for the WIFI ONLY tablet, you can download the OTA from here. And flash using your favorite custom recovery. I did this last night and I flashed it through TWRP no problems, It took a little longer than normal to flash, but it did go through after about ~3 mins. On a side note, mine is one of the recalled ones. =(
You can find all of the OTA's for both the LTE and WIFI here. You do have to sign up, but it was quick and painless to sign up.
Edit: For those that are wondering, After I flashed the OTA via TWRP. I flashed Supersu and had root when I booted the tablet back up.
Edit2: After some more digging and reading, it appears that all the wifi only versions of the tablet use the same firmware, Only the LTE images are different for the US and the rest of the world.

I upvoted this because I had your idea in mind too when I edited that post, but OP seems to be in other direction. I say you advise OP to somewhat edit the post and allow your answer to become perfectly valid, though it's not invalid of course, as of now at least. :) Although it's odd to me how updating would help in checking the faulty battery type, which is the objective to achieve. Any ideas.

@Firelord From what I was reading. Installing the update enables another field in the battery section of the settings > about device > status. To let you know if your batter is Y01 or B01. Y01 seems to be faulty. They also built in a recall "form" that's needed to start the recall process. Furthermore, it seems the update adds a remote kill switch. At least that's what I understand from the RMA email I got from Nvidia. As a reminder, when you set up your new tablet, your old tablet will be deactivated and no longer function.

I haven't had any problems with heat or anything. I am hoping maybe I can put a custom rom on the tablet before turning on the new one and bypass the remote disable that way... =p


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How do I lock my HTC whenever I want?
I have a HTC Wildfire S and set up the screen lock pattern for it. This triggers after some time but sometimes I want to lock it myself, for example if I leave the office and let my phone on the desk.
In Settings | Security | Lock phone after I can use the "Immediately" option but this closes every time the screen turns of.
Is there some way I can keep it to lock after some time as it is now but also lock it whenever I want?

You can press the power button or use program like Screen Off and Lock. The advantage of software lock is it will prevent wear and tear of your hardware button.

Try using Temporary Lock. It allows you to lock the phone on an as-needed basis. (There is a free trial.)

I have a Samsung S3 mini (Android 4.2.2). I prefer to lock the device manually. I also prefer to turn the display on and off manually without locking the device. To keep these functions separated, I made three configuration changes.

I set a long lock timer (15 minutes).
I set a long screen saver timer (10 minutes).
I installed a widget called Screen Off.

Touching Screen Off locks the device instantly. Pressing the power key turns the display off and on, but does not lock the device. The long timers eventually turn off and lock the device when I forget.

The setting you have mentioned there will work when you manually turn off the screen - on my HTC Desire it is pressing the power button.
With "Lock phone after" set to "Immediately" it will lock the phone once the screen turns off (manually or after timeout)
To set the screen timeout go to Settings | Display | Screen timeout and set it to however long you want the screen to stay on for until it automatically turns off.
The two timeouts work separately:

Screen timeout is for when the screen turns itself off (for the battery conscious)
Lock timeout for when the lock screen will be shown (for the security conscious)

For example, I have Screen timeout set to '2min', and Lock timeout set to 'Immediate'.  So if I leave my phone without touching it, 2 minutes later the screen will turn itself off. If I immediately turn the screen back on, I will be challenged with the lock screen.
If I keep Screen timeout as '2min' and change Lock timeout to '5min', then like before without using the phone, the screen will turn itself off in 2min. However if I immediately turn the screen back on, there will be no lock screen. Only after 5min of not using the phone will I be challenged with the lock screen when I turn the screen back on.

Won't that keep my screen on for the entire duration? (i.e. If I set the lock to 15 min and the screen timeout to 15 min, won't the screen stay on 15 min?). Won't that suck up my battery?

The two timeouts work separately - updated the answer with examples to make it clearer.

All you have to do is make sure that it is set to 'Immediately' and then when you turn your screen off (by pressing your phones power button once), the phone will lock at the same time - and the screen will still be off.

This should be possible using Tasker. While it might be a bit expensive if used for this one purpose only, there are so many other things you can solve with it, so it finally is definitly worth the money. A free trial is available at the dev's website.
But back to your question. I didn't try it out (yet), but basically it should work like this:
Tasks
You first need three tasks, to enable/disable/delayed_enable the lock:

Task "Activate_lock":

Display -> KeyGuard: On
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 1

Task "Deactivate_lock":

Display -> Keyguard: Off
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 0

Task "Delayed_lock":

Task -> Wait (configure the delay time here)
Display -> KeyGuard: On
Variable -> Variable Set -> Name: %MyLocker, To: 1

Profile
A single profile should take care for the automated locking:

Condition:

Variable -> Variable Value -> Name: %MyLocker, Op: "Math: Isn't equal", Value: 1
State -> Display -> Display State: Off

Task: Delayed_lock

Widgets
Tasker allows you to create widgets for tasks. So you create two of them: one for "Activate_lock", and one for "Deactivate_lock". Configure your system for immediate lock.
What will happen?

If you hit "Activate_lock", your screen will be locked. Unlock it and work as usual, and as soon as you turn your display off, it is locked again. This is the "immediate lock" you wanted.
If you hit the "Deactivate_lock", you get your present state back: Once you turn off your screen, both conditions of the profile are met -- and after the configured delay, keyguard (and thus the locking mechanism) is switched on again -- your screen is locked.


text:
US Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet in India - mobile data
I bought Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 32GB from US andI am now in India. I have a vodafone 2G SIM. How can I connect this to my Thinkpad?
And I have a M blaze data card. Can this be connected to the thinkpad ?

If the SIM card doesn't work out of the box in your TPT, it's very likely that your US tablet is not compatible with the mobile communication standards used in India. What happens if you put the SIM in the TPT?
Mobile data USB sticks can't be used with the TPT, afaik.

You may need to manually specify the network and/or APNs in Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile networks->Access Point Names - vodafone's tech support for vodafone should be able to provide these for you.  I have to do this when I use my WIND Mobile SIM card in Canada on my phone.


text:
How can I restore the display of the battery status on the lockscreen?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Fit - GT S5670 model. When I charge the battery, there used be a percentage on the pattern screen. Somehow it is not showing now. All it is showing the word "Charging" but no numbers. Any ideas how can I get back the percentage status?

I have noticed that when I connect my phone with high voltage socket for charging it always shows charging percentage, but when I use a low voltage socket(using extension box, spike or similar things) it shows only "charging".

Open the Phone app. Tap the number *#*#4636#*#* Before you can hit Dial, a screen with some info will pop up, including an option for Battery Info. Tap that and it will list.
source: Droid Incredible

That doesn't cause the percentage to be shown on the lock screen ...

@Kevin : it doesn't seem to be working. I tried tapping ##4636## on the phone, but nothing happens.

@MatthewRead : do you have any suggestions for me to try?

@Kaustubh The only thing I can think of is changing the unlock screen in Settings -> Display, but I don't know if that will help.

i don't know how, but somehow it started displaying the percentage as of now. so, for time being, the issue seems to be resolved. :)


text:
How does one disable the media scanner? (obviously on a rooted device)
Running a rooted Galaxy S2 with DarkyROM2 2.3.5 & SuperCore kernel. I have a 32 GB microSD card in addition to the 16 GB internal storage, and it takes ages to scan both when the phone boots. At times when I connect USB mass storage mode and later turn off, it goes into an infinite reboot loop. Have tried this, but it doesn't appear to work. Any other workarounds?

Did you enable USB Debugging? The app just sends one system command so if it doesn't work I don't know if anything does (see the relevant XDA Thread).

Yep,it's on, you can't use mass storage mode otherwise! That's the thread I originally got it from.

Is it possible to do it without rooting the device ?

Via the command line:
$ su
# pm disable com.android.providers.media/com.android.providers.media.MediaScannerReceiver

Does this method require rooting the device ?

Yes. su is the super user command.

is it possible to do this without rooting the device?

pm disable com.android.providers.media/.MediaScannerReceiver is enough.


text:
My HTC Desire HD has been stolen. What data can still be accessed by the thief?
I have contacted the network and had the phone barred, I had applied a screen lock.  I am concerned however if the thief can still access all my numbers, texts, saved passwords and most importantly the pictures/videos of my daughter which were stored to the handset?  It terrifies me to think that some horror could access these for all kinds of use.

Since it is a Desire HD you should have "HTC Sense", if you log in via the web, I believe you can wipe data from the phone? As for what data (taking a stab here)... assuming they've gotten access, I guess any of the apps/sites you have already logged in. Also I assume anything on the SD Card is accessible (they can insert it into a computer and read the contents of the card)

If the data was not encrypted: everything.
The data on the removable SD-card can be easily accessed, just like a lost USB-Memory-Stick. The internal flash storage can also be read out via some, admittedly sophisticated but practical possible, approaches.
AFAIK no Data that you sync with the Google cloud is encrypted.
It's always wise to install some remote wipe tool, like pyko said. Even if they are not foolproof and can not provide a "secure delete" functionality, they provide some security and raise the bar to read out your data.
Hint: The AN.SX security tag provides some further related information for such cases.

Have you tried Plan B? You can install it from the market after you've lost your phone and use it to find it's current location.
For your next phone, I would recommend Cerberus - I reviewed a bunch of security apps, and it's definitely the clear winner.


text:
Note2 Update to 4.4
I linked my phone Samsung note2 with my PC , I find there is a new Update for the phone.
the problem kies don't tell me wich version is avaible.
I want to update my phone directly to kitkat 4.4 because 4.3 I think there is some problems with it.
Kies give me just some information about the update but I want to know if the update shown on the picture is 4.4 or 4.3 please help !

The PDA:NA1 firmware is kitkat 4.4.2


text:
Is it possible to install Chromium on Android?
I really like the Chromium browser, it's quite speedy, but I can't find any functioning downloads for Android.
All the sites I've tried so far have the following error while trying to install the APK file:

Parse Error
There is a problem parsing the package.

I've tried Download Chromium (which was invaluable in getting Chromium working on my Desktop) and Github's paul99/clank, but neither source seems to work.
Does anyone know where I can download Chromium? (not Google Chrome!)
I'm running a non-rooted Android 2.3.4 on Droid X.

Chrome only supports Android 4.0+, so I would not be surprised if that is also the case for the Chromium builds you are trying to install (unless they are heavily altered). It may be failing to parse the package because it declares things in the manifest that Android 2.3.4 does not implement, so this could very well be impossible barring significant code modifications.

You could possibly get Chromium if you install a custom mod that has it built in.

I think you can only get it in a newer version of android

As mentioned on Eldarerathis' comment, no matter what, you are going to need a newer version of Android, which probably means (CyanogenMod will only get you to 2.3.7) that you'll need a newer phone.
The good news is that from 4.0+ it only gets easier to easily run Chromium safely on Android. For Android 4.4, there's a free and open-source app getChromium that installs/updates the Chromium browser on Android.
FULL DISCLOSURE: A lack of trust in http*://chromium.woolyss.com, and other, equally sketchy non-Google vendors giving away "Chromium APK", together with a passion for malware-free Chromium APK was actually what motivated me to put together getChromium as an open-source means of getting builds directly from Google's repository over here: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromium-browser-continuous/Android.

Yes, it's possible, but you need devices running on Android 4.1 JellyBean or above (as of testing). Otherwise, you'll get "Parse error" message when installing it.

Note: I'm using the APK from here. I checked the content of the manifest using aapt and on line #31649:
E: uses-sdk (line=12)
  A: android:minSdkVersion(0x0101020c)=(type 0x10)0x10
  A: android:targetSdkVersion(0x01010270)=(type 0x10)0x16

Note the value of android:minSdkVersion, it's 0x10, which is 16 in decimal, and it corresponds to Android 4.1 JellyBean.

You could try building it yourself, following the instructions on the official site: https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/android-build-instructions
Again, though, you will need a higher version of Android.

Chromium for Android can be found here (multiple and platform specific versions available too).

authors: يوسف عبدالله طاهر شراعي


text:
Different terms in build.prop file?
Can someone please explain in detail about different properties in build.prop file present in Android OS? Location of file: /system/build.prop


text:
Can I connect a pen drive to my Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini using USB OTG?
I am using Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. Can I connect my phone with a pen drive using an on-the-go (OTG) USB cable?

I would assume, YES.
Currently, my Samsung Galaxy S4 (using the latest stock ROM) supports USB OTG.
Before that, I had a Samsung Galaxy S2. Using the stock ROM, I could not use USB OTG. So, I installed USB OTG Helper, which requires your phone to have root. When I changed to CyanogenMod (CM) ROM 10.1, I did not need USB OTG Helper; it had USB OTG support.

Maybe.  Chainfire's USB host diagnostics reports shows some instances of the Galaxy S3 Mini (model GT-i8190) as working with USB OTG on the stock ROM, but also about as many reports of it not working.  It looks like just about all instances of the successful OTG tests are on rooted devices.
About the only way you'll find out for sure is to try it for yourself.  Worst case, you're out the couple dollars the cable cost you.

I have found Samsung Galaxy S III mini use USB-OTG with Total Commander video on YouTube.
There video author shows how to enable USB-OTG in Samsung Galaxy S III mini using USB-OTG cable with power support (micro-USB male, micro-USB female for power or USB male for power, USB female) -- supposedly all you need is reboot the phone while providing power via USB-OTG cable.
The same solution is described in [HOW-TO][TRICK]USB OTG ON S3Mini post on XDA-Developers forum -- this recommends USB OTG cable (which you need anyway to connect pendrive) and USB male to USB male cable to connect power via USB OTG.
Phone will show charging indicator (but actually not charging) while USB OTG is active.

Advantages of this method:

Doesn't need root
No need to install additional apps like USB OTG Helper (Samsung Galaxy S3 mini (GT-i1890) is on the list of USB OTG MSC confirmed devices), or switching to CyanogenMod ROM.

Disadvantages of this method:

Needs reboot, extra hardware and access to charging to turn on
Phone cannot be charged while USB OTG is active ('till reboot)
Battery drain
Restarting / rebooting turn it off

Not tested myself, as I don't have any such cable myself at this time.

Since this product exists, I assume that you can connect memory devices (such as a thumbdrive/pendrive) to your phone with just a USB connection, the OTG cable that you mention is just an adapter for two different kinds of connectors of what is essentially the same type of connection (USB).
YMMV, but it should technically be possible to connect memory devices to your phone this way. Which ones work and which ones don't probably depends on many factors, such as the ROM running on your phone, the thumbdrive/SD card reader used and so on.

Note that the S3 and S3 mini are entirely different devices.  It uses an entirely different SoC than any version of the regular S3.


text:
Sony Xperia Z corrupted photos in LOST.DIR folder inside microSD
I have a curious problem and I hope someone can help me
I was traveling and took about a hundred photos with my new Sony Xperia Z 6603 phone which were saved on my Sandisk 32GB microSD card
Some photos would not show, so I rebooted the phone (unaware that this may result in corruption). Yes, all the photos were corrupted and appeared under LOST.DIR in my SD card under titles 8216, 8217, 8219 and so on. They have no extension (original should have been jpg)
They still take up the normal space for a JPG photo and there's exactly a hundred. They are just simple files, no extension
I tried to change the extension to JPG, JPEG, PNG for photo formats, ZIP, RAR as I read they may be compressed. I also tried to repair them with JPG repair software. They do not open with any photo viewers, photo editing software either
They do not show up under Recuva, ZAR, Wondershare Dr.Fone, or any other recovery programs that scan the SD card FAT32 sectors. They just stay there in the LOST.DIR folder. They are not overwritten as I have removed the SD card
Can they really be gone and are only just ghost files? Or are they still my holiday photos that I so desperately need to recover? Is there anyone that experienced a similar problem and is there any way to recover? I wouldn't mind taking my microSD to a specialist should it come to that, as those photos are really important

Usually, the tools you named should be able to recover them, also a simple rename to .jpg in most times should work. A few more options include Scalpel and PhotoRec. But apart from that, it looks like you already covered all possibilities :(

well the 4.1.2 was in the fat32 format however the 4.2.2 wants a "exfat" but becarefull since this format is very weird because in not always working due to the fact that the master table very messy therefore it might asking for the deframenting often. so it can lock it self 0x....
So re format to exfat and everthing should will be fine and there should be no issues .

Any sources to back this up? Android doesn't do exFAT afaik.

As far as I know, exFAT is not supported. You deliberately need to install an altered firmware that supports this ( see this XDA thread)


text:
How to downgrade an app if it has been updated via Play Store?
I have an app installed on my phone, which I've installed from the Google Play Store.  If I update the app and don't like the upgraded version, is there a way to undo the update and downgrade back to the version of the app that I had previously installed?
I tried searching a bunch on this site, and I found lots of questions about downgrading the OS/ROM/firmware, but nothing about downgrading app versions or reverting an app update.

The best way I think is to have a backup of the app (at least its APK if not the data files; APK of earlier version of an app can also be obtained from some websites (beware of malware) if you updated the app and doesn't have the backup) so that if you end up disliking the updated version, then you can simply use that APK to revert back to previous version. That was for non-rooted devices. For a rooted device, well, use Titanium Backup to take complete app backup.

There is an idea  by Firelord in the comment here which I think should work:

The best way I think is to have a backup of the app (at least its APK if not the data files; APK of earlier version of an app can also be obtained from some websites (beware of malware) if you updated the app and doesn't have the backup) so that if you end up disliking the updated version, then you can simply use that APK to revert back to previous version. That was for non-rooted devices. For a rooted device, well, use Titanium Backup to take complete app backup.

Yes it is a great comment, it's not really an answer. Rooting would work, but it's more of a work around, as opposed to a solution. Cause unless you root(which isn't officially supported by google/manufactures unless you are on a "dev" device) downloading apk's from 3rd party websites and etc could lead to all kinds of problems and isn't recommended unless you know what you are doing. Maybe that's why it was a comment and not an answer. But to each their own, I guess.

@jer3my May be I'm misunderstood in the comment because of its length, but I focused very less on rooted solution. Android device be it rooted or unrooted will allow at least the backup of user installed apps (APK). There are many third party apps on Play Store that takes  backup (APK) of user installed apps. I mentioned about websites considering when the user updated the app from Play Store and is in dire need of downgrading it. -- not a  mention of root anywhere, right!  :)

@Firelord, True. While my devices have and will always been rooted. I have only heard bad things about non-rooted backup apps. Maybe I should try them before pushing people to root. XD I'll look into them! =p

Brian: Adding to Firelord's upvoted comment on this answer. If a comment seems to hold an answer, the approach at SE usually is: 1) leaving another comment asking the commenter to make that an answer, 2) wait at least a couple of days for the commenter to react, 3) if there's no reaction for a reasonable time (say 2 weeks), then write it up as an answer and consider making it community-wiki unless you significantly add to it. What you did is considered an "attempt to steal rep" – though that might not have been your intention ;)

My apologies. I'm new to posting on SE. Thanks for the polite criticism. I edited the answer to restore Firelords intent.

@Brian I appreciated that you want to learn and follow SE culture by editing your answer. However, your edit now invalidated the answer, and as such is not an answer anymore. In this case, it's probably better to delete your answer instead, unless it's rollbacked to previous state (honestly, considering for the site's moderation, I'm a bit confused what to do on this post before any participating users notice your latest comment)... [cont'd]

My suggestion before deleting this answer is, go to chat, tell participating users (Firelord and Izzy, possibly) that you will delete your answer acknowledging the mistake (though I honestly see it as a new user's misunderstood), and then delete this answer (deleting answer also remove reputation, in which you need 5 rep to be able to chat). Let's see what they'll think, and if they are ok with it, you may undelete, rollback and perhaps expand this answer.

@Brian I've rolled back to revision 1 with slight edit. But it's not enough to help the question. You might wanna add some input from you like how to take app backup (root/non-root) before updating it on Play Store, what are the safest or community trusted sources to download APKs if the app is mistakenly updated on Play Store. Both points are discussed already on this site, so you just have to search a little here.

@AndrewT. I bear no grudge towards Brian here (agree with you on "new user's mistake"). As it is currently put, it makes no sense: If a comment is an answer, the commenter should be the one converting it (and then, optionally, remove the comment). If Firelord agrees, I'd say we leave it as that for now (no need to make it a "big deal" – count it as "lesson learned" by Brian). To finally "save the day", I'd recommend Brian meeting us in chat: let's improve the answer to make it stay – and then the comments go away ;)

I have successfully downgraded an app just now. I have the old apk file, but when I try to install the apk, it won't install, because it's an older version (logcat tells me this).
I have to uninstall the app and then install the old version. This will lose all the app data, but fortunately I have that backed up too. I ssh into my phone and manually replace the configuration file because the app doesn't provide a way to export / import configurations. This step requires root access. I have the backups because I have root access, too.
UPDATE:
I followed Firelord's suggestions, but it succeeded a little different:
adb install -d -r xxx.apk

The two switches should be used together (-d for downgrading, and -r for replacing the existing one; so -d would mean to downgrade a non-existent app...). They can't be subtracted to -dr like GNU tools.
I'm using Android 6.0.1.

For system apps, there is a way to revert back to the version that initially came with your phone.  If you updated a system app from the play store and want to revert the app to the original system version, you can do so by opening it up on Play Store and click 'uninstall update'; this will revert it to a system update. Furthermore you can't even uninstall system apps through Google play, so it's a fail-safe method.
If it's a non-system app, this doesn't work.

Check out this website.
http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/apps
On this website you can find freeware applications and many older versions.
Other alternative is F-Droid who allows you to choose which version you want to install. And all available apps on F-Droid are here.

I can figure one way to test if the applications are identical and it goes this way...
After the update let's say, and the user is not happy with the version of the application, but on the freewarelovers.com website is an older version. He can easy check if the application is the same. First leave the updated one, and then download the one from the website. he starts the installer. If the installers asks does the user wants to "update" the application that means it's the same app, if not it means it's the opposite.

Since most apps on Google Play are not open-source, I don't think this can be considered an answer of how to downgrade apps from Google Play.

authors: Александр Брук

authors: محمد البباوى


text:
Nvidia Shield OTA Updates and Rerooting
I own an Nvidia Shield tablet, and Nvidia has released an update to Android 5.1. I have a rooted device and may upgrade soon. So I have some questions:

Will I be able to install this while rooted?
If I tried, could it brick my device?
If I installed it would it unroot me?
If so how would I re-root? I rooted by unlocking the bootloader and installing CWM by the instructions at here.
I unlocked the boot-loader, if I re-root, would it erase my data or brick my device?

Probably Not.
Android updates before Lollipop checked each system file and replaced them but after Lollipop, the updates check the whole system block as a part and update it. Since rooting modifies the system files, the System Block won't match and the update will abort.
Since you have a custom recovery, the update won't even go that far because you need Stock Recovery to install it.
TL;DR: Attempting to update won't brick your device; but why leave it to chance?
On the off chance you install stock recovery and proceed with the update and it works, yes, you would loose root. You can reroot the same way you did it before.


text:
How to root ZTE Zinger (Z667T) running Android 4.4.2?
I've tried looking around, but I can't figure out how to root my ZTE Zinger (Z667T) running Android 4.4.2.

Towelroot is a good rooting app with no need of a computer.
SuperOneClick uses the computer but still reliable.
Can't 100% guarantee that it will work, but it has a possibility. Good luck rooting your phone!


text:
How to root Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0?
I have been trying to  root my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 (SM-T217S; Firmware version T217SVPUBNH4).
Since the September update I can't re-root my tablet, I have tried apps like Vroot(app), towelroot, and pretty much all the rooting apps available for Android.
I also tried programs like Kingo Root, one click root, vroot for PC, and many alike. I haven't tried flashing the TWRP or ClockworkMod Recovery. I tried a while back with TWRP but it failed.
How do I root my device?
.

Here's a way to do it using TWRP

Put the superuser.zip file in your tablet and Boot into Download Mode (Hold Vol Down +Power to turn on the Device).
Unzip the TWRP Recovery Image after downloading it below.
Connect your tablet to your PC, unzip and run Odin, click the PDA button and select the TWRP md5 file you just unzipped.
Begin holding the Volume Up button on your Tablet and hit the start button in Odin (this will ensure you reboot into the new recovery)

Once in TWRP if you select the reboot option under advanced you should be prompted to root your device if it's not already rooted. If that doesn't happen for some reason you can use adb to sideload the SuperSU zip I've attached, or put it on an sd card and find the flash zip from sdcard option in TWRP to flash it.
Download files

 Odin307.zip
SuperSU-v1.93.zip
TWRP-2.6.3.0-recovery.tar.zip

it's simple, flash TWRP using Odin, boot into recovery and TWRP will prompt you to root.
1.Boot into Download Mode (Hold Vol Down +Power to turn on the Device)Unzip the TWRP Recovery Image after downloading it below.
2.Connect your tablet to your PC, unzip and run Odin, click the PDA button and select the TWRP md5 file you just unzipped.
3.Begin holding the Volume Up button on your Tablet and hit the start button in Odin (this will ensure you reboot into the new recovery)
4.Once in TWRP if you select the reboot option under advanced you should be prompted to root your device if it's not already rooted. If that doesn't happen for some reason you can use adb to sideload the SuperSU zip I've attached, or put it on an sd card and find the flash zip from sdcard option in TWRP to flash it.
odin.zip
SuperSu.zip
hope I helped..

If you put a space between X. and your content, then you would see a numbered line. E.g. 1. Begin contrary to 1.Begin. That would help us in readability and help you to present it in pure numbered list, even if you mistake in the number system would correct it. :)


text:
Is there a way to reinstall a built in application in my Android phone?
I accidentally  (unknowingly )  disabled  built in apps, I recently realized that I really need a few of them back. How do I reinstall them or bring them back?

If you really just DISABLED the apps, you can go to the Settings> Application Manager> All, and find them alphabetically to re-enable them. Just bring up the setting screen for the needed ones, and turn them back on. If you REMOVED the apps some way (which generally required ROOT), some re-installation is needed.

You can find disabled apps in Settings, Then App Manager(might be named something similar, per your device) Then you should be able to swipe left and right to find Downloaded apps, Apps on SD Card, All Apps, Then there should be one for disabled apps. Select the app and it will bring up the menu you used to disable them. Then you can re-enable them.


text:
Recover data from Moto X with broken display
I have a Moto X (Lollipop 5.1) whose display is broken. I have some files and photos in it which are very important. Unfortunately, I didn't use Dropbox or Google Drive to backup my content. I tried the following ways to recover the data but with no help:

Control a device with a broken screen but unfortunately USB debugging is not enabled. Also, the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux).
The phone doesn't have any apps like AirDroid installed to allow it to be accessed remotely on a PC.

The phone works and I was able to locate and ring it via Android Device Manager. Is there a way to get access to the phone's data in my current situation?

Good research already I see. Have you checked with our broken-screen tag-wiki also? Some useful links there.

Look at this answer you may find this helpful to atleast enabling the USB-debugging.

@Lucky quote: "the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux)" – fat chance if it's not even detected by lsusb.

@Izzy I'm guessing the OP hasn't installed the driver software for Moto X on his Linux PC. On my Windows sometimes I need to install the Motorola device manager software to get my Moto G2 detected. But here I can only find device manager for Windows and Mac. So I guess OP has to install the drivers for either Windows/Mac and then enable usb-debugging for further progress.

@Lucky no need for "drivers" on Linux (though one would need some special software to deal with MTP). And think of lsusb here in terms of "device manager" on Windows: even without drivers installed, the device would show up there – and if it doesn't, installing drivers doesn't help (as those drivers wouldn't find a device to "drive").

Archit: does the Moto-X support OTG, and does it have an HDMI port?

@Izzy It does support OTG, doesn't have an HDMI port though.

Yuck. With half a bridge one can't cross the big river. Thought about attaching it to a TV via HDMI, and controlling it with a mouse attached via OTG. Is the display totally broken, or just not reacting on touch events – i.e. can you still use it to "see what's going on"?

Nope I can't see whats happening. The display is totally gone. But that's a nice idea. Would it be possible if I connect it via a USB to HDMI adapter?

If the device supports that (e.g. via MHL – but I didn't see that in the specs; though an AndroidCentral thread suggests it does), yes. But then, where to put the mouse? I doubt it would work via some USB hub (though it can't hurt to try).

I just tested connecting USB Hub via OTG and then connecting mouse to it. That works. But I couldn't find any USB to HDMI cable for Moto X. This reddit thread more or less confirms it. Does MotoX support output via USB at all? If that's possible then I could even try out USB to VGA.

From what I've read so far, I'm afraid there's no way attaching an external display to the Moto-X via USB, sorry :(

Most if not all Android phones will connect via USB cable to a computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) as a mass storage device or media device; either should let you use your computer's file manager to copy the files from the device to the computer's storage.
The device needs to be powered up to do this, but you don't (in my experience) need to make any settings changes in the device, so it shouldn't matter that the display is destroyed -- that is, if it works well enough to ring, you should be able to access and copy your files.
If the device won't mount as mass storage or media on a USB cable, you may still be able to recover files if they're stored on an SD card -- you'll just need to power down the phone and pull the SD card, then insert it in a compatible reader connected to your computer.

A quote for you as well: "the pc doesn't recoganize the device (I figured that out with lsusb on my linux)" If lsusb doesn't show the device, no MTP/UMS/whatever will pop up: the computer doesn't see it at all.

Hence the third paragraph of my answer.  If it won't mount on USB, that's the only way to recover files, short of hacking the phone hardware to read out its internal storage.

As @Izzy pointed out the computer doesn't see the device at all. Also, Moto X doesn't support an external SD card.

follow these approaches

PC does not recognize device ? device drivers are missing. Install 'em

3rd party software Easus or  fonepaw might do the trick - they install the drivers under the covers

There's always an option of buying the cheapest screen you can find (used preferably), dismantling your phone and replacing the screen - just for the purpose of data recovery.

I would install AirDroid or something similar via the Google Play website, you can select which device you want to install on.
Alternatively, I would connect it to a PC, copy everything and if there's still something missing I would connect it to a new Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and use that phones transfer features, http://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/

I was in a similar situation, find a USB OTG online and connect a USB mouse to it. If you can at least see your screen, you're in luck. If it's a dead screen you'll have to use your muscle memory and guess work to figure out where to click. Good luck!

authors: Дмитро Дмитришин

authors: ارمین جاویدی


text:
How do I install CM11 on YU Yuphoria?
I have recently bought YU yuphoria which came with CyanogenOS 12 . But I am having so many issues with Android Lollipop like many other users.
Now, I want to install CM11 which is working great on my friend's YU Yureka. I have downgraded YU Yureka from CM12 to CM11 by following this link.
Can I do the same with the YU Yuphoria?

"I am having so many issues with Android lollipop like many other users" what issues? Who else is having this issues?

calling app is taking time to lauch, heating problem. IMHO, Kitkat is better than lollipop.

As far as I've seen the news, this phone of yours was (when launched) came with CyanogenOS 12 (Lollipop), so it is very unlikely that a KikKat build would be available. At least not a stock build because that would not make any sense for your OEM, and I wouldn't bet on custom ROMs either since people move forward usually. // May be you should find that ROM available for your device, and then possibly, someone else would provide a tutorial if you don't end up finding one, that is.


text:
Google Response Sound (Ding sound) on clicking google mic or saying Ok google
Why after turning off all the accessibility services the sound is disabled  and immediately after enabling accessibility of any third party app or inbuilt app ,this sound is enabled.
I (perhaps everyone , I tested 3 phones at my home ) am facing this issue since two year.
This is not an OS issue  as it occurred in Marshmallow, Noughat as well as in Oreo.
I have found only one solution on the internet reagarding this & it is "Turn on Accessibility fpe at least one app"

Could you [edit] your question and clarify it, please? As it stands it's not at all clear what the problem is. Describe the steps you took, what you wanted to happen, and what actually happened.

I am saying about the sound which Google gives on saying "OK GOOGLE".

https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/17/tip-get-ding-sound-ok-google-command-enabling-one-accessibility-service/


text:
How to convert a number to words in MS Excel Android app?
Excel Macros are unsupported in Android and there is also no SpellNum Function in Android .
I want a function which can convert a number to words.
Is there any way we can achieve this ?
eg -  40004  , should be converted to Forty Thousand Four


text:
android 8.1.0 - unable to reinstall apk
Pixel 2, Android 8.1.0
I have an .apk which has been signed by a developer on our team. The first time I install one of the builds, it installs fine. If I uninstall the app and try to reinstall it again from the .apk, this is what happens:

I have tried clearing the data/cache of the Package Installer app as has been suggested elsewhere on google, but it did not help.
Any tips/ideas?
I should note that I am not an android developer, and our android developer does not know what's causing this or how to fix it. He is also a remote dev, so I can't just have him come have a look. I am not able to physically connect my phone to my computer, as it is a USB-C phone and I don't have a USB-C => USB-A cable.
EDIT
As requested in the comments, I am uninstalling the app by long-tapping the appicon and dragging it to the top of the screen where it says "uninstall". I have also tried uninstalling it from the app settings to the same effect (Settings -> Apps & notifications ->  -> Uninstall)

I've removed comments that are speculating on the business organisation and people's motivations outside the question. Let's keep things focused on solving the Android problem, not on blaming when we have none of the details.


text:
My Aristo Android 7.0 does not have a clock widget
I've followed every link I could find in the last 75 minutes.  Nobody addresses the real issue I am having.  Every one of them tells me how to get to the widgets list, that I should select the clock there and install it to my home screen.
One problem: THERE IS NO CLOCK WIDGET TO INSTALL.  So how can I put a real live ticking clock on my home screen, the way every other phone I have had had one.

What's the hold-up? Search and install one you like from the Play Store.

With a brief search I saw that there are lots and lots of clock widgets in google playstore. Install one from there and then go to the widgets list and at least one will be available.
examples:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.egert.clock&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.andreas1724.bigdigitalclock&hl=en
Just search the term 'clock' in google play and you will find many.


text:
DNSCrypt error: could not load library "libsodium.so", on Asus Zenfone 2 running Android 5.0
I tried installing DNSCrypt on my Asus Zenfone 2 device. But when I try to run it it gives me this:
root@Z008_1:/ # dnscrypt enable
Enabling dnscrypt...
iptables: No chain/target/match by that name.
killall: dnscrypt-proxy: no process killed
CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE: could not load library "libsodium.so" needed by "/system/xbin/dnscrypt-proxy"; caused by library "libsodium.so" not found
Done

Did i forget something? I already put all the files in the correct directory, including the libsodium.so.

I have compiled DNSCrypt for x86 sucessfully, here to download binary file for Zenfone 2.
Follow the instruction.
about libsodium.so, you should copy it to folder system/lib/


text:
How to find and access "device folder" using PC?
I have a rooted Android phone. I would like to access the device folder in order to find all these other folders: acct, cache, config, d, data, dev, efs, ect, factory.
Here's a picture in order to be more clear:
(Click image to enlarge)

However, when I connect the phone to the PC (running Ubuntu) using the USB cable the only thing that I find are the Card and Phone folders:

If I try to look for the folders listed previously, I cannot find anything!
I already know how to find and access them using apps like ES File Explorer, however, my goal is to find and access those folders using my PC without using apps! What should I do?

That "device folder" is actually the actually the root (/) directory (not root user's directory) of your system. Just like the / you see in your Ubuntu. You can't access them using MTP or UMS since they are controlled by Android and it doesn't have any provision to allow them to be seen. You may try the answer posted below by JustMe. Also see this answer by Izzy. If you happen to change your mind, and decides to use an app then see my answer here.

What You see is output of libmtp (Media transfer protocol) and appropriate plugins for file-manager. To access root directory of Android device from Linux, you might use
a) adb shell (using terminal - easy solution)
b) several mtp packages listed nicely here
steps described in b) should allow You to mount root of Android device and access it from file manager, however it requires some non-trivial system modifications.


text:
Most of the apps crashing after editing platform.xml
I tried making writing to SD possible, so I edited platform.xml to add <group gid=”media_rw” /> to “WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE“.
When I rebooted everything started crashing. I cannot open any apps. It says it connects to Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet.
I tried:

Restoring original platform.xml - nothing good.
NAND backup -> restore to previous backup -> copy .xml from there and restore it - nothing good again.
Dirty flash the ROM which made me unable to even go to Recovery - had to re-flash TWRP.
Backup all apps via ADB and restore them on my previous backup, but all the settings are messed up.

Is there anything I can do to fix the platform.xml issue? What could be causing everything to crash like that? I restored the .xml, so why is it still broken?

Did you try digging into the logs? See [tag:logging].

What kind of logs? System? Boot? I doubt app specific logs would be of any use

Those Xml files are deep within the system anyway go into twrp then go into the mount menu. Next mount the system as read/write. Use the file explorer put the correct folder factory reset.

Do logcat, and search for kernel logs.

Ended up resolving the issue by doing a factory reset and restoring all the apps from an old backup. Some loss but everything works at least.


text:
How do I unlock the screen when forgotten password?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. My daughter put a screen lock on and doesn't remember the code. How do I unlock it?

Welcome to stack exchange! Try not to explain the problem in the title(your title could have been "daughter locked out of Samsung galaxy 2") :)

If you log on to android device manager, you can send a lock request, allowing you to change the password. Just be sure to change it after!
As a alternative, keep getting it wrong until "forgot password?" and login in via google. It will then let you reset the password

First off the tab. Then
1. Power key
2. Volume up key
3. Main key
Press same time. After come option then select wip aLL  data . Your tab will reset.
Rember. After reset you lose all data . Which have in your tab memory.

There is no "main key" on the tab. Other than volume and power, all keys are software keys. (part of the systemUI)


text:
Difference between WhatsApp audio and WhatsApp voice notes

What is the difference between WhatsApp audio and WhatsApp voice notes?
If I record a voice conversation, where is it going to be stored? Is it in WhatsApp audio folder or in WhatsApp voice notes?
In which folder  all of my received voice notes get saved?

The folder WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Audio/ contains the downloaded audio files that you received as an attachement from a contact. The file names usually start with AUD-.
The folder WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Voice Notes/ contains the voice files that you recorded using your Whatsapp. They usually start with filenames containing PTT- and stored under corresponding folders with date of the recording.

With reference to Whatsapp Document
Choose Audio to record a message or send an existing audio from your phone.
But
WhatsApp voice notes - To send a voice message.
Folder WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Voice Notes/
Folder WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Audio/


text:
Send Shift+Enter to Facebook comment field?
What would be the easiest way to allow me to send Shift+Enter to Facebook comment field from my Nexus 10 running Android 4.2 JellyBean, to write multi-paragraph comments?
The built-in keyboard doesn't seem to be able to do this.

Do you mean the Facebook app or website?

@TimoS Website, but I think this issue has been fixed. I'll have to check later.

In the Facebook app you can write multiline-comments. At the wen you can try to tap and hold the submit key on your android-keyboard. There are sometimes some extra options.

Isn't there an option to defer sending messages on pressing Enter? As seen here.

The Google keyboard has a "newline" key (looks like an arrow with a 90 degree angle) that appears only when you enter "shift" mode (eg when you want to key in a capital letter).  In this mode, the emoji smiley face key changes to a newline key.
On some ROMs, you can set an option to change between the emoji key and the newline (aka enter) key, from within the messaging app settings, under "Soft keyboard type".


text:
Running own executable on Android shell
I need a specific command line tool and I have made a C program in my Linux shell. I have compiled the program with an ARM cross-compiler. I have then moved the program into the Android file system and tried to run it.
The output is permission denied.
What do I have to do, in order to run my own compiled programs in Android file system?

Tried chmod +x pgm and then ./pgm also?

Possibly you placed it on your sdcard -- which is mounted with the noexec flag. You either need to move it into the phone's internal storage, or run it via a shell (e.g. sh /path/to/myexecutable).

How to compile C into an executable binary file and run it in Android from Android Shell?

I assume that you used adb push for uploading your executable to the sd-card. Unfortunately the sd-card is always mounted with "noexec" which means that you can't execute anything from here.
Therefore you have to copy the executable to the local filesystem, e.g. to /data/local. In case the device is not rooted or you don't have BusyBox installed there will be no "cp" command. You can simply use cat: cat /sdcard/myprog > /data/local/myprog.
Then you have to set the executable permission on the executable. Chmod on android usually does not support the "u+x" syntax. Therefore you have to call chmod 555 /data/local/myprog.
Afterwards you can execute your executable: /data/local/myprog.
Alternatively the directory /data/local/tmp can be used. Via adb shell you have full access in this directory. On modern devices (Android 11+) apps can't list files from this directory, but they are still able to execute executables from there if you provide the full path of the executable.
Update: On Android 10+, apps that has a targetSDK of 29 or higher can no longer execute anything that is located in their app private directory: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/10/behavior-changes-10#execute-permission

Thx for your reply. In fact the problem was on the binary generation. It was not being generated correctely! ;)

I have busybox on my device, but this command: shell@n200C:/ $ busybox cp /storage/external_storage/sda1/ffmpeg /data/  ------ show error= cp: can't create '/data/ffmpeg': Permission denied

tmp-mksh: /data/local/workspace/clang+llvm-5.0.0-aarch64-linux-gnu/bin/clang++: No such file or directory though the file is present

/data/local requires root access on my device. Use /data/local/tmp instead

First, you have to push it into a directory, such as /data/local/tmp. Then, you have to set permission for that using chmod 755 executable. After that, you can run it as ./executable.
Complete steps are as follows:

adb push executable /data/local/tmp
adb shell
cd /data/local/tmp
chmod 755 executable
./executable

Alternatively, if you want to run it from your asset folder, you have to copy the file to your data folder /data/data/packagename/. Then using File class, set the setExecutable flag to true for the file and run it by the Process class or third party packages like Root Tools .
UPDATE
if you are targeting sdk 29 or higher you CANNOT use the binary from your asset folder ! you have to copy your binary to jnilib folder then run it from native library directory ! context.getApplicationInfo().nativeLibraryDir


text:
"Read phone status and identity" permission to set firewall?
I would like to use Q-See QT View to enable remote access to a security DVR from an Android phone. The app requires permission to "read phone status and identity".
I'm not an Android developer, but that doesn't seem like an appropriate permission, since the application has nothing to do with the phone number or the phone operation. It would work equally well without any phone functionality.
I contacted the developers, and they say:

The application makes that request to get through the firewall on the phone.
The program does not store or use that information.
If you manually set permissions in the firewall then the program will need the permission."

Does that make sense to anybody? Is there a "firewall" in Android that is somehow related to phone state and identity?
Before I call BS on this response, I wanted to check here with experts just in case there is some obscure relationship.

While the permission might make sense, the explanation does not at all.
To my knowledge, READ_PHONE_STATE has nothing at all to do with a firewall or networking. It is a READ permission (so what could that have to do with passing a firewall?),

giving access to your IMEI/IMSI and phone number
lets the app figure out whether a call is in progress
if a call is in progress, gives access to the phone number of the remote device

I bet the app has the INTERNET permission as well (confirmed as per Google Play link you provided). The app is free of charge. Minimum Android version is 2.0, so READ_PHONE_STATE was not forced on it (it is enforced for Android versions up to 1.6). So I rather assume it carries some ad module which requires this permission: the combination of INTERNET and READ_PHONE_STATE is very common to those (it needs to obtain the ad information, and most likely uses your IMEI to identify you -- in a positive sense, to see what ads have already been shown; but of course it could as well be used otherwise).
If you've already installed that app, you can verify this using e.g. Lookout Ad Network Detector or TrustGo Ad Detector. You could also check with Addons Detector to see if it carries any other module piggie-back (e.g. for analytics, which again would explain READ_PHONE_STATE to identify your device).
Second thought: Why would that app need to get through the phone's firewall (if there were any)? Isn't it supposed to do connections to the outside? If that would require anything else but the INTERNET permission, what should the INTERNET permission stand for?

Great answer, my rule of thumb is: if the permissions don't make sense, don't download it. The explanation is very fishy in this case. Cell communications don't go through firewalls, only network communications get protected by a device's firewall. It sounds very strange.

@John I wouldn't have doubted the app for that permission (as said, that combination is typical for ad modules). What makes me sceptical is the fishy answer of the devs, which makes absolutely no sense. As if they've got something to hide. And that in connection with a security-related app simply makes it a little creepy.


text:
How to store all photos to one folder like in iPhone?
iOS saved all photos in one folder, but Android saves them in different folders which is difficult to organize.
I am using a Samsung Galaxy S3 with custom ROM 4.2 & using the QuickPic app for photos.
How to make Android save all photos in one folder?

More information is needed.  Which phone do you have and which Android OS version is it running?  Which app are you using to take photos?

added more info!

Photo saving location is up to the individual apps.  Stock Android camera app, for example, always writes to SD Card's DCIM\Camera folder.  Other photo taking apps may have a different default location, but you should be able to change that in those apps' settings.
Various photo managing apps will try to scan your entire SD Card for images, and may pull in folders that belong to various other apps, not necessarily Camera/Camcorder.  Such apps usually have setting to specify which folders to include or exclude during such scans.


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Copy synced videos in/from Dailymotion
Is it possible to access the sync'ed DailyMotion videos somewhere else?
I know they're saved somewhere in the cache (\mnt\sdcard\Android\data\com.dailymotion.dailymotion\cache\videos). If you clear the cache, they're gone.
Is it possible to move them to somewhere else, e.g., on your SD card or even PC and watch them there?

What file format are they in the cache? They could possibly be protected with DRM. Have you tried to open the files in the cache with a video player app (try MX Player)

File format is unknown - no filename extension. Doesn't open in MX Player.

Go to the cache, and find the file that you want to play. There will be 2 files with the same name, one will be only a few kb, the other will be the video (should be a few MB).
Long press on the file until you get the menu. Then select "open as", then "video", then select a video player.
I used the stock one that comes with the phone even though I have several others I thought I would try that first, and it worked first time (this was on a Galaxy S3).
If they play then copy them where you want, pc etc. You might need to rename the video files (adding the .mp4 file extension).

I had to rename the file first (added .mp4 to the end). Worked perfectly in MXPlayer

How does this answer the question?


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How to prevent a Tasker profile from toggling back-and-forth?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Tasker 4.0u1 installed. I have a "Low Light" profile which activates ScreenFilter when %LIGHT == 0 (and I'm not in certain apps which don't react well to the filter being turned on).
In dark situations, this works quite well and prevents the S3's bright (even on minimum brightness setting) screen from hurting my eyes.
The problem I have is that in dim-light situations, the filter keeps turning on and turning off, which gets so annoying I have to pop into Tasker and shut the profile off.
How to prevent the profile from toggling back-and-forth?

Would a WAIT at the end of that task improve the situation? You could delay the task's ending for, say, 30s. Another idea would be to set a user variable (e.g. %LIGHT_FILTER) to 1 when the filter is triggered on (don't forget to delete it in the exit task), and add an IF with something defining when the filter is on it should not trigger back unless %LIGHT exceeds a given threshold (e.g. trigger only when it's at least 3, you might need to play with that value).

Based on Izzy's suggestion, this is what I've come up with:
Profile: Toggle Screen Filter
Primary Context: Variable Set %LIGHT
Secondary Context: Not in Netflix, Safe in Cloud, etc.
Task:
1. Perform Task `Distance` Priority 8 Parameter 1 %LIGHT Parameter 2 %OLDLIGHT Return Value Variable %lightchange
2. If %lightchange > %LightThreshold
3.   If %ScreenFilterOn = 1
4.     Perform Task `Screen Filter Off` Priority 8
5.   Else
6.     Perform Task `Screen Filter On` Priority 8 If %LIGHT = 0
7.   End If
8. End If
9. Variable Set %OLDLIGHT To %LIGHT

Task Distance:
1. Variable Set Name %rval To %par1 - %par2 Do Maths True If %par1 > %par2
2. Variable Set Name %rval To %par2 - %par1 Do Maths True If %par2 > %par1
3. Variable Set Name %rval To 0 If %par1 = %par2
4. Return Value %rval

Task Screen Filter On:
1. Screen Filter 48.6% Soft-keys On
2. Variable Set Name %ScreenFilterOn To 1

Task Screen Filter Off:
1. Screen Filter 100% Soft-keys On
2. Variable Set Name %ScreenFilterOn To 0

I had to fiddle with the value of %LightThreshold a bit. I started out with it set to 30, but that turned out to be so high that Screen Filter never activated. With it set to 10, things seem to be working well for now. I'll report back in a couple of days.