text:
Samsung S6 Digitizer
I have been informed that the digitizer in my Galaxy S6 may be damaged. Is there any way to fix it? And is it even worth it to fix it or should I just dispose of the phone?
Edit: I no longer have this issue but can’t delete the question. This question may assist others who have this issue so maybe it’s a good thing I can’t delete it.

Yes, the idea of being helpful to others is exactly why you can't delete the question. We don't write answers here to just benefit one person :-)

There's no way to fix the digitiser, but it can be replaced. Your local phone repair shop can do that job for you. The parts and labour cost should be much cheaper than replacing the phone.

Thank you for this answer but I will be deleting this question as I have disassembled the phone to give the battery to a friend who has a functional S6.

(Just realized I cannot delete the question)


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Is it possible to set the default volume per application?
Some of the apps I use have very different output levels. One is only comfortable with volume set to the minimal and another is inaudible at that level, so I am constantly raising and lower volume between apps. Just like there is a separate ringer and media volume.
Is it possible to have some level set at a different level in every application? Some would have a default level until specified.

Would it be too cliché if I said “There’s an app for that.”? Here’s the link:
App Volume Control

Good. Works exactly as described.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Is it possible to switch out the voice for the Talkback-reader?
Can you switch out the voice of the Talkback-reader completely?
In car-navigationsystems you can download "funny" or different sounding persons (male, female, actor, ...).
But the for the Talkback-reader you can only change the pitch and speed that it should use.
I am not sure if Talkback is using voice-samples internally, which would make it necessary to record a real person like an actor speaking. Or if Talkback is using synthesized speech, with which parameters you can fiddle around.
So can you change the voice of the Talkback-reader? For instance into a funny voice, or Hawking-like, or your own, ...?

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


text:
What can i delete from my phone (android adb)
i am having problems with sone ads on my phone and i don't know what to delete anymore... i've already deleted on my DOGEE x5 phone
com.gangyun.beautysnap
com.lbe.parallel.intl
cn.xender
com.adups.fota.sysoper
com.vanzo.dreams.video
com.opera.branding
com.adups.fota
and now i have this...
https://pastebin.com/nDFu8YJQ
any advices? thanks
EDIT: these are the ads
https://i.sstatic.net/9gMgL.jpg

Just install Dr. Web Antivirus, Scan the phone. It might even be some system apps, a few framework files and one or two binaries and libraries. Everything the antivirus tells you just root it and delete it and you'll do away with the Adware. Once helped my Sony Xperia Z

Ads usually appear on your phone because you have downloaded a free app which is now sending ads to you.
There are many possibilities as to which app is the culprit in your case, it can be a flashlight app, it could be a fake antivirus app, it could be a game etc...
There is an app that claims to be able to find which apps have the ability to send ads. It's called anti adware. After downloading, go into the app and select 'scan now' and it will let you know which apps you might want to uninstall.

You can check in settings which apps have permission to "draw over other apps". You will find the culprit there.


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WiFi Calling is not reliably available
WiFi Calling is not reliably available on my Android phone. Sometimes it disappears and requires turning airplane mode on and off to re-appear. Rarely a phone restart may be required.
It is also unreliable when changing between, for example, home and work WiFi. The networks are different, both good quality, but frequently WiFi calling will work in only one of them.
Any ideas what might be causing this? The issue appears on two Xiaomi phones I have, same carrier. Phones are Redmi 9C NFC and Redmi Note 8 Pro.

The WiFi standard is evolving over time. May be the different Wifis implement different WiFi versions and features? The last few WiFi versions had many improvements for device stand-by without loosing connectivity. That can make a difference for a system that always needs to be connected like WIFI calling (for receiving calls in background).

I've done some experiments with the "Wi-Fi Scan Throttling" option in Developer settings. It is enabled by default. I tried disabling it and it seems it has made wifi calling almost perfect. To verify that was the cause, I re-enabled it, but the issue remains fixed! Wifi calling still works. Maybe turning that off and on "unblocked" it or something.

WiFi Scan Throttling can only have an effect if there are multiple Wifi around and you need to change the access point. Anyway the Wifi calling program is a system app and thus AFAIK not affected by this setting. May there was a problem on carrier side that is now fixed.

From some google searching it seems throttling affects system apps and services too. Maybe the wifi calling service needs to assess the quality of the network and it needs to poll that data to do it? Also I doubt the carrier fixed the issue, I've been dealing with it for months.

The quality of a Wifi network you are connected with doesn't have to be scanned. Scanning is for detecting Wifi APs you are not connected with. Thus it may have an effect if you are in a Wifi network with multiple APs (e.g. public or corporate Wifi networks for whole buildings) as it would simplify selecting the best AP.

I don't have multiple APs, just one.

After playing around with the "WiFi Scan Throttling" option in Developer Options, I have determined that it does make a difference. WiFi calling sometimes struggles to connect with Scan Throttling enabled.
If you face the same issue, write in the comments if disabling Scan Throttling fixes it.

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


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Can the administrator on a Nexus 7 unlock a secondary user's password?
I've forgotten my password for the family's shared Nexus 7. We assumed that the primary user would be able to access my settings and reset the p/w for me, but it appears not.  I would prefer not to have to delete my account, and then recreate it, because I don't want to lose the various apps I've installed, and – frankly – I don't want the hassle! Can anyone help?
P.S. Note to self: next time, don't pick a password I am likely to forget.

Are you willing/able to run adb? See the following page: http://www.matthewhollander.com/locked-out-of-your-android-phone/ -- although in the end a factory reset and a reinstall of the apps might be the quickest solution.

Is it your lockscreen password, or the password on your Googel account that you've forgotten? If it's the lockscreen password have a look at this question (and the ones linked from it): Cannot unlock tablet as have no internet connection?. If its your Google account that you don't know the password for then try going through the wizard at https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery/


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How can I set up email on my GS4 to handle both email and gmail accounts?
I just moved from iPhone to a Galaxy S4, and I'm trying to get it set up. I have a gmail account, and two NON-gmail accounts. What is the best solution to have all of my emails managed in one place/app? I would really prefer not having to switch between two apps to check my emails if possible. Thanks for any assistance.

This official Google support page tells you how to access Gmail from a normal email client using IMAP: you have to turn it on through the Gmail web interface, then add the account to your email client like any other IMAP server.
The standard email client on Samsung devices supports having multiple accounts. Press the + button in the Email app's settings to add an additional account. Most third-party email clients for Android (such as K9-Mail) support multiple accounts too, but the set-up will be slightly different for each.


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Changing (Forcing) Screen Resolution on OUYA
OUYA doesn't provide any built-in (UI-based) way to change or force a resolution. This is a problem for some (like me) who have no HDMI devices, and use HDMI to DVI adapters, or simply have devices which do not correctly display the best resolution. (For clarity, OUYA defaults to 640x480 if it can't display a higher resolution).
To clarify, I'm using a 20-something inch "normal" monitor (no HDMI input), so I see very pixelated writing that's hard to read in the OUYA menu. Some games, like Final Fantasy, appear to display decently though.
This XDA Developers thread found two methods that works for some OUYA users. It's not clear if these actually change the resolution though.
Method 1:

cat modes displays all the possible display modes. (cat mode displays the current mode.)
echo 0 > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/device/enable
echo (videomodefrommodesfile) > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/mode
echo 1 > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/device/enable

Method 2: Run am display-size (resolution). For example, am display-size 1080x720 should change the (virtual?) display size to 1080x720 px. But other users in the same thread report that this causes other display issues, like shrinking the display.
Is there a consistent way to change the display resolution?


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Is there a way to block USSD balance notifications on Android 4.3?
I'm trying out a H20 Wireless SIM on my Nexus 4 running Android 4.3.  One annoying feature of this service is that they send a USSD balance notification at the end of every phone call, text message, and data usage.  Is there any way I can disable or block these messages?
I found the "Balance Update / USSD blocker" app in the Play store, but it specifically states it does not work on 4.2+ versions of Android.
I also contacted H20 customer service and they will not disable the messages on their end.

You cannot certainly disable that as that is carrier specific regardless of what version of Android is used. But having said that, there was a USSD exploit last year which enabled remote execution of ussd codes to factory reset devices (this was on Samsung) by clicking on a linky, the newer Android versions since JB have sanitized the process in mitigating that exploit and subsequently handled differently. It would have held true in Eclair/Froyo/GB and ICS.

Try Out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sk.paco.ussd&hl=en
It blocks all USSD Notifications

this link may answer the Q but better you write a brief about it and also should disclose your association if any, with the app

Easy method (requires root)
Yes, there is an app for exactly that and much more called 'GravityBox' (it is an Xposed module).
For information on how to install it, view a similar post here
Alternatively (does not require root)
If you are lucky your Phone app should have a "Blacklist" to which you can add numbers and prevent calls and/or messages (notifications) from them. Normally found in the settings of your default phone app...
If you don't have it, then you could even try a 3rd party phone app that will replace your default phone app that will do the trick (There is a large variety that are more beautiful, simplistic, up-front and have features including black-listing options...).
Using a 3rd party phone app will leave all your contacts intact, but you may loose your speed dial settings.

Using Xposed requires root and the OP did not give any indication of status of rooted device.

Sorry. I have taken it into consideration and have edited my answer to be a little more broad.

Please mention how to use GravityBox to block those USSD notifications/messages. I do not see any relevant option inside it.


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SD card limit says 8gb, Can I get a larger sd card to work?
I'm thinking a buying a new phone, but it says the external sd card size limit is 8gb.  Can I do something to increase this to 16 or 32 gb.
Details:  phone: I-Mobile IQ 5.3
http://product.i-mobilephone.com/preview/53/1312
Android 4.2,  4gb rom, 1gb ram.
I don't want to root this right away.
The price is less then $200. unlocked.. Don't have $600.

Generally, you need to follow the max external SD card size limit. Otherwise, your phone might not be able to read the bigger-sized SD card.
Source: Comments on using 64GB card on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1


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Thousands of NlpWakeLock entries eating through my battery when on WiFi, but Location Services are off
I get several thousand entries a day of the NlpWakeLock under Google Play Services (I'm using Wakelock Detector Free). It's draining my battery significantly. I have found it occurs when I'm connected to WiFi (I'm certain about my home WiFi, will check with the university WiFi) and not when connected through mobile data or not connected to the internet at all. I have also ticked off all options in the Location Services sections in Settings. What do you think is going on?
Please, also note that I'm aware of solutions according to which you reduce or completely stop the wakelock. However, before doing that, I would rather try to figure out what's going on. Thank you.
UPDATE: I'm on Android Jellybean.
UPDATE #2: It seems like my download speeds on my phone are very low compared to other times. Just in case, I downloaded an antivirus to do a virus scan. It didn't find anything.
UPDATE #3: I tried disabling find my device, as well as re-adding my Google account and removing two other email accounts. The problem was not solved.
UPDATE #4: I tried the University WiFi, the problem remained.
EDIT: Added the wakelock doesn't appear when offline.
UPDATE #5: I tested it on a third WiFi network, the problem remained.

Well, I tried enabling some of the Location options in Location services, the "Google's location service" and the "Location and Google Search" option, to see if that would fix the issue. I enabled them and the wakelock issue disappeared. I disabled "Location and Google Search" at first and then "Google's location service" and the issue was still gone. All Location Services are now off and the nlpwakelock appears at logical rates. My download speeds are higher as well.

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


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How to delete Skype history?
How to delete Skype history?
I saw two methods declared: (1) delete Skype application data and/or (2) reinstall Skype.
But both methods are compromised by an idea and saying, that Skype history is (maybe partially) stored on Skype server.
If so, then History will resurrect after both actions.
So, my question is: how to really delete history?
Also I need some explanations about the cases where history was resurrecting. For example, this can be because parallel client was holding history...

Go to Settings - Apps, find Skype in list of installed apps and click on clear data button and clear cache.

Also I need some explanations about the cases where history was resurrecting. For example, this can be because parallel client was holding history...

Skype archives your chats for you and stores them locally on your computer (or device), if you have enabled this option. Chat histories are not stored anywhere on the Skype network. source

This is not true. Try to login to Skype under one name from different computers simultaneously. You will get your history on both.

That's right. Because skype stores history locally on computer, if you receive for example skype message, any computer that is on will store the data locally. And if you was offline, then you will receive messages from users you had communicated on other computers if these users are online.

No-no, you will also see some messages, which came BEFORE computer was online. Ones, another computer received.

If you have an Android phone, you can follow the below steps for deleting Skype history,
Settings >> Applications >> Manage Applications >> Downloaded Apps/All >> Skype >> Clear Data
For your PC,
Open Skype >> Tools >> Options >> Privacy >> Clear History
Hope this helps!

The questioner doubts whether that really clears the history, because "Skype history is (maybe partially) stored on Skype server". Can you offer some justification for why that idea might be wrong?


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Nexus 4 not getting 4.3 update
I have a Nexus 4 Device. I had got 4.3 update in System updates about 15 days ago. But I didn't update that time.And now I want to update it so if I go and check for updates, its showing that your system is up to date, while I have 4.2.2 in my phone. Can you please tell me what should I do to get 4.3 update? please guide me.
Thanks!

Have you tried rebooting? That might force your device to check for system updates

As far as I know they're still working the phased rollout. What country are you in?

You can try clearing the Google Services Framework data. Disconnect from Wifi and mobile data, go to Settings -> Apps -> All Apps -> Google Services Framework and tap Clear data. After this, restore data connections and go to Settings -> About phone -> Software Updates and tap Check for updates, and the update should appear. If not, the update is still in rollout for your region.

You can force an actual update check (the "check for update" thing doesn't necessarily do a real check for updates) on some phones by dialing the MMI code ##2432546## (the numbers spell "checkin").  Don't push the call button after entering the code, just wait a few seconds.  A notification saying "checkin succeeded" should appear.


text:
How do I edit a post on Facebook either through the app or through a browser from an S3?
I know you can edit a status post if it has a picture in it on the desktop but when I try to do the same thing through a browser on my S3 or through the app it doesn't work.  Any tips on the problem?
OS: 4.1.1
S3

Sounds more like a Facebook issue rather than an Android related one. Anyway, did you try accessing the desktop version of the page from your phone's browser?

Yes, I have but it's something sbout the Android OS though or the touchscreen because it works on PC.


text:
Watch WWDC session videos on Android
Does anyone know how to watch Apple WWDC session videos on Android (not the keynote)? They are like Google I/O sessions videos but on Apple platforms.
On the Mac, one can watch it with Safari (not Chrome). And on iOS, Apple has built native apps for that. I didn't find WWDC apps in Play Store, neither does Apple allow watching the videos in Chrome.
For example, WWDC 2013, WWDC 2012.
I'm an iOS developer who just bought a Nexus 7 2013 for fun. So I do watch WWDC session videos :)

It might be easier to help if you say what is special about these videos or website that stops them working in Chrome.

I'm not sure, the links are above. Maybe it's checking HTTP header for browser?

It certainly appears to be a deliberate choice on Apple's part not to allow other browsers. You might have better luck trying to find a pirated copy with Bittorrent or similar.


text:
Android SDK: Using the emulator to browse local websites
I'd love to be able to develop mobile websites on my windows 7 pc be able to see them instantly in mobile chrome/opera inside the android emulator.
I own an android phone, but uploading to my site and then browsing to it on my phone is just way too cumbersome.
I've downloaded the android sdk, but I have no idea how to start the emulator. I know nothing about java or android, and I can't make head nor tail of anything. Inside:

adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20130729/sdk/tools/

there are a bunch of executables that seem to suggest they launch the emulator, but they just launch the command line and nothing happens.
All I want to do is have a little graphic of an android phone floating on my screen, and be able to browse to my local websites inside its browser.
Is this possible?

From inside the emulator, you can access the localhost of the host machine by using the IP address 10.0.2.2 (source).
For further info about creating an AVD and using the emulator, check out the documentation.


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Lost internal storage
I am using a spice Mi 502 android phone with 4.0.4 ICS. It has a internal storage of 141 MB but 120 MBs is utilized by preinstalled apps and only 21MB free space is available.
I have rooted my device and deleted some unwanted preinstalled apps from my phone using RootAppDelet app. Now, the space utilized by preinstalled apps is 100 MB and the available free space is still showing 21 MB. I wonder where did the 20MB space go?
I am not a pro androider and have learnt only through helpful forums like these.
Please help me get my lost space back.

With this little internal storage maybe it would be better to move /data to your sd-card.
You can accomplish this with a second partition, which is formatted with ext2, ext3 or ext4 file system and a int2ext-script (source), if your ROM is compatible.

Please first take a look at Android Folder Hiearchy for some background. Pre-installed apps reside on a partition mounted as /system, which in "normal mode" is read-only. User-space is a different partition, /data, which you didn't really touch when deleting system apps (only the data from those apps, if they had any, would be stored on and thus deleted from /data). So you didn't really free any space you could use.
The only ways to gain some space on /data are:

uninstall (user-) apps you no longer need
move apps supporting this to SD (see: app2sd)
clean caches, browser history, etc (only temporary relief)
buy a device with more memory (in practice, the most promising variant)

Further suggestions: Check the insufficient-memory tag and its tag-wiki for some remedy.


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Route pulseaudio to phone speakers in Termux without proot or rooting+chroot?
Question: How do I get the pulseaudio command play from the Termux app to emit sound over the phone speakers (without rooting the phone or using a proot installation in Termux)?
Specifics:
I have a Samsung Galaxy S21-U
running Android 14
and Termux 0.118.1
(retrieved from F-Droid on 2024.08.22)
with TigerVNC 1.10.1-41. TigerVNC and associated required packages retrieved via apt in termux, and I followed these steps to bring up an xfce4 desktop environment.
I cannot find working instructions, but I did find the following:

The following solutions successfully played MP3 files over USB-C speakers:

The command play-audio from this answer (mpg123 and play produce no output, but see [2] below);
These instructions on reddit for the mpv command;
I cannot get output over the phone speakers from either of the above.

The VNC subset of this answer does not work for me

A virtual pulseaudio sink auto_null.monitor exists.
The commands play and mpg123 seem to attach to this sink.
With the above inputs attached, the sink auto_null.monitor switches state from SUSPENDED to RUNNING.
With audio playing, the xfce4 volume control panel shows the volume fluctuating.
No sound is emitted over either the phone or USB-C speakers.

Related questions and forum threads
This reddit thread contains some links.

There is a comment which others say does not work. For me, specifically, the error from those commands is User-configured server at 127.0.0.1, refusing to start/autospawn. I gather this is connected to the existing configuration set to achieve [1] and [2] above, but am not sure about the safe/correct steps to redress it.
There is a link to LinuxDroidMaster's Termux-Desktops github. The approach I'm using is consistant with what they call a termux native desktop. I couldn't find mention of sound beyond a passing pkg install pulseaudio line, but let me know if there's more there.
There is a link to these instructions, which seem to assume the proot installation approach has been followed. It seems to download a .sh file, but its content appears to be binary and I do not know how to extract it into a human-readable form to understand what it is doing.

This reddit user is strugging with a chroot termux setup

Their posted solution may contain important clues even though I am not using a chroot setup. I get the same User-configured server at 127.0.0.1, refusing to start/autospawn error when I enter their commands, but presumably I need to go back and undo something in the setup for failed solutions [1] and [2]] to tidy things up.

Another reddit thread

The only reply suggests using termux-media-player play from the termux-api package. This produces no sound for me, from either the phon or USBC speaker, when run from either the termux terminal or the xfce4 VNC session.

Pursuing the User-configured server at 127.0.0.1, refusing to start/autospawn error,

I ran apt remove pulseaudio --purge, noted the packages this would remove in the console output of said command, and then reinstalled all these packages along with pulseaudio.
This cleared user edits to configuration files in ~/../usr/etc/pulse/. I browsed for other suspicious *rc* and *profile* file names that might contain leftover configuration and found none.
I opened a fresh shell to clean out any export VARNAM=FOO cruft.
pulseaudio --start runs.
I typed  pulseaudio -k and export PULSE_SERVER=127.0.0.1
Now pulseaudio --start prints the (presumably desired) refusing to start/autospawn error.
I returned to termux and ran pactl load-module module-native-protocol-tcp auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1 auth-anonymous=1
At this point, /u/allanrps reported

You should now be able to return to the chroot environment and play audio. The clients will connect to the pulse server running in termux and you will have sound!

But, no sound is heard (although pulseaudio controls register audio being sent).

Edit 1 on 2024.08.23: Is Termux 0.118.1 supposed to be able to output audio on its own?
Are these hypotheses true?:

Even when given permissions to play audio, the Termux app does not have access to the phone's speakers (unless perhaps on rooted devices with chroot?). It can only natively export sound over USB-C audio devices?
Most of the tutorials for the VNC desktop environments use pulseaudio, and the instructions above are not for routing pulseaudio output to external USB-C speakers.
The commands play-audio and mpv do something else to access USB-C speakers via termux (bypassing pulseaudio), which is why they work?
There is probably a way to get apps talking to pulseaudio in the xfce4 session to play to USB-C speakers as well, but exact methods are not documented?
In principle there is no reason a pulseaudio server with access to the phone speakers could not be incorporated into the termux app. Indeed, I imagine there may be forks or newer versions that do this. But, it is not (AFAICT) implemented in the F-Droid version? Or it is there and I can't get it to work?
For playback through phone speakers using termux on a non-rooted device, one needs a third Android app to serve a network pulseaudio sink, and connect termux to this as if it were a remote machine. I need to ensure that the pulseaudio client settings in termux are set correctly to match the pulseaudio server app started on Android. I will attempt this with PulseAudio Rtp Receiver version 1.0.6?

That said, even some of the older content I'm finding on the internet suggests that Termux can route pulseaudio output to the phone speakers on its own. I just can't find any tutorials that work. The information from forum posts are usually from people half-way through attempting a proot or chroot installation of a more expansive Linux distribution under Termux. I want to interface play in Termux with the host Android Linux as lightly a possible.

I couldn't get this working in Termux alone—despite rumors of support. But, a third app to receive a pulseaudio network stream did work.
Configure a RTP receiver app
Sticking to prebuilt FOSS solutions, here are settings that work with the app PulseAudio Rtp Receiver v1.0.6, downloaded from F-Droid on 2024.08.23. Open the PulseAudio Rtp Receiver app graphical user interface and enter these settings:
IP:               127.0.0.1
Port:             4712
MTU:              1500
Max Latency (ms): 100
Channel Count:    2
Channel Mask:     0
SampleRate:       48000
framesPerBurst:   192

Then press the Play button at the bottom of the app user interface and switch back to Termux.
Configure pulseaudio in Termux
Start with a fresh installation of pulseaudio.
apt install pulseaudio

OR, if you've messed with the pulseaudio configuration, wipe the slate clean with
apt remove pulseaudio
rm -rf /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/etc/pulse
apt install pulseaudio

Add the following lines to
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/etc/pulse/default.pa:
load-module module-null-sink sink_name=rtp format=s16be channels=2 rate=48000 sink_properties="device.description='RTP Multicast Sink'"

load-module module-rtp-send source=rtp.monitor destination_ip=127.0.0.1 port=4712 loop=1

Test it with these shell commands:
pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start
play -n -c1 synth whitenoise gain -50

After these changes, the phone speakers were available (via the RTP stream) in the xfce4 VNC session. Volume control was exposed and e.g. Youtube sound playback from firefox worked.


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I deleted an important application on my rooted phone
After rooting my phone (HTC Bolt), I foolishly deleted some bloatware applications without backing them up. One of them was TouchPal, a preinstalled keyboard app. I didn't think this would be much of a problem because I already had it disabled in settings and was using a separate keyboard app for other purposes.
However, when I restart my phone, it always asks me to type my pin and "decrypt" the phone. I'm not sure why it does this (previous cell phone didn't), but apparently (this is only a theory) it uses this keyboard application, so I can't actually type my PIN in to decrypt my phone.
I could be completely wrong, and I might have accidentally deleted some other important file from my phone, but either way, I don't know how to fix my phone right now.
I did a bit of research and found out I was supposed to flash a ROM onto my device. However, I don't think I can even connect my device to my computer because normally I would have to enable USB debugging and file transfers.
Update: I booted up my phone in recovery mode (TWRP) and it was able to connect to my PC.

Based on your update, all you need to do now is flash your keyboard app again. You can create a custom flash package and have the keyboard app within it. I think you can reuse any of the flashing packages that write to your system apps directory.

@blueren There's no need of a flashable .zip if OP has TWRP: they just need to place the .apk of the keyboard in the correct directory inside the /system partition, and adjust permissions and ownership accordingly to the other apps.

Where would the correct directory for the apk be? Also how would I adjust permissions for the apk?


text:
My tablet will not turn on. Please Help!
The screen on my tablet just won't turn on, but I was told there is a fix for it. I made sure it was charged but it did nothing.
It didn't turn on when I tried to get on it, and I hadn't got on in 2 weeks.
Please Help!!!
NeuTab N7 Pro is the tablet.

"I was told there is a fix for it" Presumably you were told this by someone you described the whole problem to? There's not enough information here to help you. Please [edit] your question to describe when the problem started and what you've tried.

Is that better??

If you could unhold this so I can answer this. I found the issue.

The problem was that there was a rip in the connection from the charging port to the battery. The solution is a new battery.


text:
Tablet says "SD Card Mounted"
For some reason, my tablet has a notification that says there is a sd card mounted, although it doesn't even have and sd card.
Is there a reason for this, if so how do I rid myself of the notification?

No, it won't swipe and when I click on it it takes me to settings, although it isn't in a specific menu.

Try "tap-and-hold" (long press the notification). See if there's an option to "silence" it.

Okay. That seemed to work.

Though I've never seen this kind of notification sticking (or even appearing): It's obviously informing you that your SD card was mounted. Note that almost all recent Android devices come with an internal-sd card – so even if you have no external card, there's still one that should be mounted.
The other part of your question is a general one on notifications. First, there are two kind of notifications: the best known are those just giving you a one-time information, and you can simply "swipe them out". The other kind are so-called "ongoing notifications", and they "stick" (i.e. they cannot be "swiped out"). The only way to get rid of them is "silencing" the app giving them. Long-pressing a notification gives you a menu to do exactly that: telling the system you don't want this app giving you notifications.


text:
What are the criterias Google Maps Navigation uses to suggest a route?
I'm asking this question because of a very specific issue I'm facing a lot of times. Google maps suggests me a longer + more time consuming routes sometimes when it has the shorter, less time consuming routes. What is the logic behind this suggestion.
I will share a screenshot of this happens in the Google Maps Web (since I have to match the perfect timing to make that happen in mobile but in the web I can change the departure time and reproduce the scenario. I will update the post as soon as it happens the next time on the mobile.)

Hi @SiXandSeven8ths , updated the post with an screenshot. It is a screenshot from web since I cannot reproduce the scenario on my mobile but I can do it on the web via changing the departure time. But I can assure you that this is the result I get if I try it on the mobile at the set time.

Traffic conditions , private roads could be one reason. Other reason in Maps settings > Route options - have you selected any that prevent showing the shortest - like Avoid Motorways or avoid toll roads? (accessible from 3 dot menu on the app)

@beeshyams Nope, I have not restricted any result with those options. And for sure, the route the map suggesting is the best from my experience. I am just curious on how the map gives this suggestion and what might be the ingredients beyond the distance and duration?

It looks like traffic - I just checked on my app . Click steps at the bottom and see the congestion reported Vis-a-Vis the other route

In one case it was orange-red while the longer route had yellow - indicating less congestion

I have no evidence for this, but I think that for UX reasons it's designed to offer you worse alternative routes so that you can choose to reject them and you feel more agency in the navigation, instead of simply doing as you're told. It's like the IKEA effect, but for decision-making.


text:
How to unbrick Samsung Galaxy Y Duos
I just wanted to upgrade my phone to jelly bean and I tried by viewing the tutorials. But when it got reboot it shows the samsung logo only. How can I make my phone working??

you need to describe how you tried to upgrade your phone to jelly bean. Which tutorial did you follow. What did you do exactly...otherwise it will be difficult to offer any help as we won't be able to pinpoint the actual issue.

at least you soft bricked it, you can try installing the stock rom again and trying the tutorial again, you might have missed something. It's also possible you did not use the correct rom to flash your device.


text:
Can I get my Galaxy 4 to put sent emails on my server?
Just got a Samsung galaxy S4 mini (had an ancient Nokia before).
When I go back to my web email (its Yahoomail), all my emails are marked as read even if I havent looked at them on the galaxy, (I can live with that though its annoying as I'm likely to miss stuff)and emails I've sent are not copied back onto the server so the only place I will ever have them is on my phone. Thats not what I'm used to - the Nokia put them onto the server so I could see them in the web application. Any idea if I can get it to do that too?

Are you using the web mail through a web browser, or using an email app on the phone, and if so which email app?

How have you configured your emails? Is it POP3 or IMAP? Yahoo have a guide to explain the differences. I'd recommend using IMAP as it should sync read status between phone/webmail. You can find the info and steps needed here.
As for sent emails there is probably a setting to sync sent items (or you need to put them into the correct folder). If you provide more details about the app/how you configured it we can help further

Thanks for answering! Yes - I'm using an app on the phone. I just went into email on the phone and put in my email address and password, I dont actually know which app it is - I didnt knowingly download it, think it was supplied on the phone. Frankly was delighted by how easy it was t get it going!   I use webmail on PCs generally, but at home on my main PC i have outlook so when I access emails there they get deleted from the server so my webmail doesnt get clogged up. Outlook doesnt sync my sent mail, so I'm used to having that in two places, but increasing that to 3 is not ideal!


text:
why my htc status goes back to its rom defult settings after restart?
i have HTC status
i had unlock and root my phone
and also i created a 2nd ext3 partition which i linked it with Link2SD in order to improve internal memory.
then i installed a bunch of different apps
but then there sth odd had happened
once it goes off because battery didn't have enough charge , when i re start it again it come up with the basic settings just like it's the first time that the Rom is starts and all the customizations i made were gone
it runs a basic wizard that asks for basic settings and then when i check for those apps i had installed before they weren't there. also i check to see how much of the internal memory is occupied , i found it just 32M (or sth) just like there's no app installed on it
I'm wondering whether i could get back to all the customizations I've done on my phone or get all those apps back to my phone ?
it's very upsetting that every thing goes wrong this way... :-(
and i would be very thankful if you could clarify that what exactly goes on my phone
and how i can prevent this happen again.
the Rom which i had installed is custom build based on OTA update -> 1.57.415.3
Android version 2.3.5 - build (1.57.415.3)
Thanks for your help in advance!


text:
Can I place calls with my Google Voice credit from Android outside of the US?
If you are outside of the US, Google Voice is merely a service to place calls from inside... apparently just GMail and Hangouts, much like Skype is. Unlike Skype the quality of service seems to be good. Also unlike Skype, though, I can't figure out how to make this happen from my Nexus 7.
When I try to add a phone number to an hangout, the Hangouts app on Android tells me it doesn't know about that number and proposes to send an invitation text message. Of course this happens even when I put in my own mobile number (which afaik is connected with my Google account) and from what I can tell the sending happens from the device itself - and thus obviously fails.
Is this something that can be done?


text:
Migrate contacts from iOS WITHOUT using Gmail
I am new to Android and have been an iOS user for a long time. I've seen a lot of tutorials to migrate my contacts from my iPhone to Android however all of them say I have to use gmail.
I take privacy very seriously and don't like the idea of have to upload all of my contact details into google's database especially after all of the leaks in the media as to how they are used.
I've never used Apple's cloud service for the same reason.
Question: How can I add my contacts from my iPhone as a flat file or perhaps via my Apple Address Book (on my mac) directly to my Android (Galaxy Nexus) WITHOUT having to give all of the data to Gmail (which I seldom use).
Thanks very much

A couple of cloud-free solutions can be found in answers to How do I transfer iPhone contacts to an Android phone?, How can I transfer my contacts from an iPhone to an Android device?, and How to transfer iPhone contacts to Android Samsung without using iTunes?. Additional sources here can be obtained via an easy search for contacts iphone :)

thanks for this sorry it was so simple to answer, I googled and just came up with repetitive results about using gmail or cloud services

You don't need to apologize for an easy to answer questions :) And as a new user, you might not have known about our excellent search facility. So now you've got two answers in one (limited offer for new users :D)

Sadly no solutions there for taking contacts from my Mac or my iPhone WITHOUT some kind of disclosure to google. I adamantly do NOT want to share my address book with any kind of gmail or cloud syncing service... seems like google managed to make this impossible

Just a guess: You probably can export your contacts in VCard (*.vcf) format? If so, you can import that file directly into the contacts app on Android. Keep its sync off to be on the safe side, in case you cannot select the target contacts book ("Phone" wouldn't be synchronized at all).


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HTC ONE hung and can not restart the phone
I have a HTC ONE. While using the phone it got hung. And when i tried to use the power button the Display as well got switched off.
Now When i try to hold the Power button for ten seconds and try to hard restart its of no use. When i connect the phone to a pc via USB i get the device detected sound on windows but HTC One doesnt show its mass storage.
Any way to solve this problem ?

As per XDA here you can perform force restart by doing this.
To reboot the phone without ADB, just hold down the Vol Up and power button for 9 seconds, the phone should shut down.

If this doesn't power down the phone, you can try this. Lot of people has reported success in this method for most of the HTC phones.
Put your phone under a bright light then hold power+volume down.

If both of them fails, you have to wait till the battery die and let it charge and power on the phone normally.
Hope this helps you. Good luck.

i gave it to the service center waiting for them to get back to me :(

Looks like a hardware issue.

As odd as it may sound, I found a solution in the net and it worked for me twice already !!
Put the phone in a bright light, strong bulb or direct sun, and do a hard reset!!
Worked twice for me.

It worked for me too, just using another phone lighter and pointing directly to front camera and sensors.

I've had the same problem with my HTC One M7, but the vol down or vol up with power button didn't force it to reboot.
I was messing around with the phone and a call came in.  I was able to answer the call and after the call my phone went back to normal!  So I'd suggest trying to call the phone from another phone.


text:
Galaxy s2 is recognised by computer but doesn't charge
This is an odd one but today I noticed by S2 wasn't charging while plugged in. I tried connecting it to the computer and it came up as a media device as normal but still didn't charge, the battery percentage went down until it was 0% and the phone shut off.
Is there any way I can fix this myself?

Can you get your hands on another S2 USB cable and try that first? Then look into a new battery and other solutions after that. It's often something simple like that. I had a damaged and a generic Micro USB for a HTC phone and I could copy to and from it but not charge with either, same as you, and when I used the mains outlet it took about 16 hours to charge!

Does it charge when you plug into AC? It could be that the USB port simply doesn't provide enough power.

@RossC Will look at getting another USB cable but I don't think that's the issue because charging my Nexus 7 with the same cable works fine.

@AlEverett Doesn't work over AC either. The battery icon in the status bar looked as though it was charging (had the lightning symbol) but the phone said 'Please connect your charger'.

I suspect a bad battery, then.

@AlEverett Good suspicion! Cleaned the battery contacts and it appears to be charging as normal. :)

@Sam Great! Glad to hear it's fixed. It is often something small like that at fault. It's easy to go wild flashing ROMS and going down the complicated route. I had a friend spend 4 hours reinstalling kernels, drivers, etc etc and his brother came along did a battery pull and everything that was wrong was fixed immediately!


text:
android tablet locked after too many unlocking pattern attempts
After too many unlocking pattern attempts, my android tablet have locked me out..
How do i fix this? Is there a manually direction on how to unlock my tablet?

Try resetting the tablet by using reset button, usually this button is not very visible and would need a pointed object to press it, check manual to find location.

How can you suggest this without knowing what tablet it is?  A guess at best. I've never actually seen a tablet with one of these, usually a hard rest is done by holding down the power button for ~20 seconds.


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Can't boot because of deleted com.android.launcher2
Stupid me deleted the com.android.launcher2 apk file (located in system/app) thinking that my tablet will boot with another launcher I installed and now it doesn't boot up (gets stuck in loading screen).
Now, the tablet's chinese, so I haven't installed a custom bootloader.
I can only get to recovery mode.
I have a backup of everything, (made with an app) on my external SD card, so I did a fac reset (and a cache one), just in case. It did't work.
So now:
I need to manually copy a file in system/app via system recovery, without a Custom Bootloader.
I tried making a custom update.zip, with launcher2.apk in it by I get an error "Installation aborted" right after it starts authenticating it.
Is it possible to copy that file without having a custom bootloader, or is there another way to do this (adb commands).
PLEASE help me, I'm really frustrated right now.

You might wish to take a look at this answer. Though it's not about a launcher, it's about how to copy something to /system using ADB.


text:
Message app doesn't merge messages sent/received from same number but different format
My network provider usually sends incoming SMSs with number format like +84123456 (equivalent to 0123456), but sometimes 0123456, and I usually save in my contact, and send SMS to 0123456.
In my old Android phones running 2.3 and 3.0, the Message app can regconize and merge them into 1 thread. But with my new Android running on 4.0.1, they are seperated into 2 threads, 1 for +84123456, and 1 for 0123456.
Can I make it merge them?

What phone are you using?

FPT F9, a local one in my country.


text:
Play Store Not Downloading Large Apps
When I try to download any large app from the Play Store (v 4.3.11), it stays at "downloading" and doesn't go anywhere. I'm able to download small apps such as Angry Birds without a problem.
My GApps is version 4.3 gapps-jb-20130813. I'm using CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3) Nightly on a Droid 4.

Is it on auto-update? In the Google Play settings, make sure Auto-update apps is set to Auto-update apps at any time. Data charges may apply.

Since many phones have lower memory and the Android OS is designed to kill apps that are in the background for a while when it needs memory for foreground apps - it is common practice for the OS to kill the Google Play app as well, even while it is still downloading an app (it will usually be later restarted and the downloading of apps will resume).
This can be solved by keeping Google Play in the foreground while your preferred app is being downloaded.


text:
How to view the year of a date in Google Calendar for Android
I would like to know, something very easy. How do I figure out the year of a section of the scrollable list of days I am viewing in the Google Calendar app for Android?
Here is a screenshot.

I don't see the year anywhere.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

Google Calendar only displays the year when it is not the current year.
Compare the following screenshots when it is not the current year (previous year and next year)

with when it is the current year.

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.


text:
WhatsApp: how to use downloaded sticker collection from messages in Gboard
This question is about how to use a particular feature in WhatsApp.
Someone sent a message on a group in WhatsApp, and the message was a sticker. Clicking onto it gave me a better view of the picture, and three options. I clicked on the first one to download the sticker. Then the sticker onto the WhatsApp group almost seemed to turn into a big emoticon giving a smile with a heart hovering off and to the side, on top (actually, this was just WhatsApp scrolling, a bit below, would be nice if this spurious scrolling were fixed).
But now, I don't know where to go in Gboard to find the sticker collection I downloaded in WhatsApp in this manner.
I think I am confusing WhatsApp stickers with Gboard stickers.
How do I transfer WhatsApp stickers to Gboard, to view the stickers downloaded from WhatsApp?
Or, alternatively, how do I just open the stickers in WhatsApp?
Thank you for your help.
Stickers viewed in Gboard when I click in WhatsApp:

Stickers viewed in Gboard when I browse Gboard stickers:

To open the stickers in WhatsApp, click on the emoticon to the left of the space where you enter messages to be sent.
To open stickers in Gboard, click on the smiley or sticker icon above the keyboard or on the smiley above the comma selected by long pressing, and click on the sticker icon below.
Thanks.


text:
What do the TalkBack reading controls do?
I am trying to use TalkBack on a Realme 6 Android 11 phone.
When I activate TalkBack by pressing the volume up and volume down keys simultaneously, I can then iterate through the following entries by swiping up then down to move forward, or down then up to move backwards:

Spoken language
Speech rate
Windows
Links
Controls
Headings
Paragraphs
Words
Characters

However, I don't understand what these entries are. What are they, what do they do, or how do I use them, using TalkBack?
Thank you for your replies.

After selecting the desired entry by swiping up then down to move forward, or down then up to move backwards, you can select subentries (for instance, for spoken language), by swiping your finger up (to go back), or swiping your finger down (to move forward). In the case of spoken language selection, this will select the language used to read the text. You can then tap on the screen to read the text under the finger, with the language in the selected voice, or move the finger forward or backwards to read the previous or the next entry.
Other settings in the swipe up/swipe down menu can be activated similarly.


text:
Which phones ship with manufacturer-provided root?
I'd like to buy a phone that either ships with factory-installed su, or where the manufacturer provides official instructions/downloads for installing one. Do such phones exist?

If you buy a nexus phone, You get official instructions from Google on how to root the phone. I'd recommend you hold on a couple of months for the phone that will replace the nexus 4. I have had a nexus 4 for half a year and it's pretty good for the money I paid for it.

NO. Most phones come with "stock" ROMS, possibly stock Android or stock manufacturer-modified ROMs. Most manufacturers, if not all, will not give you root access because they don't want you to play around with your phone, which may give them headaches (a metaphor) in case you go to them to fix it. Some may not even fix phones that are rooted.


text:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 can't pair with Bluetooth keyboard after update to 4.2.2
Updated last night. Tablet can't find the keyboard when Bluetooth is turned on and tablet is visible.
This is the keyboard that came with the tablet in the student edition. I can't find anyone with this problem yet except in version 4.3. But this is 4.2.2.

I got it to work by going to the Bluetooth settings screen, then holding down the Bluetooth button on the back of my keyboard for about 5-10 seconds.
After that, the keyboard showed up on the available devices and it allowed me to pair it with my Tab 2.

To clarify what this process does - holding down the button clears device pairings from the keyboard, and puts the keyboard back into discovery mode for the tablet to detect.


text:
How to search within the app that I bought in Google Play?
I bought an app (.99 cents) a few years ago. I try to use a keyword to find the app in my Google Play, but it is not easy. In the last couple years I downloaded/installed 200+ free and paid. If I go to that 200+ app list to find search one by one, it is very time consuming. If I search the keyword within Google play directly, Google Play will give me ALL apps with the keywords no matter I downloaded or not. How to search within the app that I bought in Google Play? Thaks

This might help:

Login to your Google account from your PC
Go to https://play.google.com/apps
Hit Ctrl+f (or command + f on Mac) and type the name of your app, and look for it.
Click the app name when you find it.

Now, you can either note down the exact name of the app and the publisher and install manually from the Play Store on phone, or, just click the Install button (make sure your phone is on and has a data plan/wifi), select your device, click Install.

Is there any solution that works on phones too?

Using "show desktop version" in Chrome/Firefox on Android, maybe? (I haven't tried this.)

Yes, that works, but: One has to click "Show More" then scroll down until new items stop appearing (this is similar on PC too).

Ok, this is bizarre! The search bar says "0 of 0" results, yet the page has jumped to the first app that actually matches the exact text I typed.  Unfortunately, I'm not able to find the "next" app this way...

@Michael Hmm, seems this is happening because it is dynamically loading entries... if I keep scrolling to the bottom until there is nothing else to load, then the search works properly.


text:
Why does my Nexus 7 (1st gen) never let me copy my files to my PC?
I have a 1st gen Nexus 7 and I've been having trouble copying files to and from my Nexus 7.
The first problem is that when I plug my N7 into my Windows 7 PC, using the factory cable, the device shows up in My Computer, then immediately disconnects, then reconnects then disconnects and finally connects. This is so infuriating as for about 15 seconds it's just showing then disappearing constantly.
Once its' finally connected, I'll navigate to a file and drag it to my PC, to copy. As soon as that happens, an error box saying "A device attached to the system is not functioning". Then the explorer window disappears and my device has to reconnect.
It's driving me mad, it's not worked for about 6 months and I'm at the point of smashing it with a hammer. I've completely re-installed Android from Google's stock ROM. I've re-installed the drivers on my PC, got rid of the ADB drivers.
Any ideas?

This doesn't seem to be a software issue. Everytime I had an issue like that, it was because of the cable, try getting another cable and see if it works.

I've been able to use ADB successfully to push stock roms, so I'm really not sure if it is. Though I'll be sure to try another cable.

I was having a similar problem.  What I did was install ES Explorer on my Android and use the LAN option.  On the PC I setup a share folder(s). In ES Explorer I went to the folder with the file(s) I wanted to transfer, I copied them. From there I went to LAN page and tapped on search, takes a few seconds, then tapped on icon for my PC (192.168.x.x.x). Then choose where I want to put the file. Real easy work around
You can also use ES Explorer to transfer between other devices (wifi hotspot, Bluetooth, FTP...)
Good luck!!!

First off I wholeheartedly agree this isn't a cable issue. There are all sorts of bugs I'm finding with android kitkat. I also got this error. I was copying about 5 folders of music and a single song. Two folders copied fine before i got the error. Brute force re-attempt and the second time it started but timed out, at which point it lost connection to computer.
I had to reenter the password to unlock the device and it showed in windows again. This time, instead of letting the screen timeout, I purposely pressed the power button to put the screen to sleep. This time the connection stayed and the transfer completed successfully.
Try turning the screen off after it is connected to the computer.

In addition to FTP server for file transfer, you can also try an app like Airdroid or ES File Explorer which will allow you to transfer files using wifi. MTP protocol is cumbersome and not very stable. There might be an issue with Nexus drivers on your PC. Have you tried copying from another PC?

This problem is related to drivers installed by windows for the usb to nexus, there are  solutions for the nexus 4 and 5 which require you to remove this in hardware settings, and replace with someone other than microsofts driver, wifi is probably an easier solution if you have a router

This certainly isn't a cable issue, as Raghd Hamzeh suggets. I have (had) exactly the same problem with 2nd generation of Nexus 7 tablet. In my opinion, it is a very poor, weak and unstable MTP protocol, that you have to use on any Android 4.x, which is responsible for your problems.
The only fix or work-around to this problem (to not to break my tablet with a hammer), I found out, was as stupid as setting up local FTP server (Baby FTP Server was ideal for this kind, one-time solution) and installing FTP client to my Nexus and then copying files that way, through FTP protocol.
I know, that MTP protocol is very, very unstable and forcing users to use it (i.e. removing native USB support in Android 4.x) is a Google very not funny joke. And it thrills me, that I have to use such stupid solutions, to solve such obvious things, like copying files to my own mobile device.

Try a different USB port.. I worked beautifully for me!!!


text:
Connect Samsung Galaxy tab 2 P3100 to a GPS dongle/ Receiver
I have a Samsung galaxy tab 2 p3100. I have an android application which uses its internal GPS to get Latitude, Longitude values. But the lat, long values getting from this tab is not accurate. So I want to connect an external GPS Dongle / receiver to tab and get lat, long values from the external device instead of from tab.
I want to know is there any external GPS Dongle / receiver device that supports Galaxy tab2  or any other android device? And if yes, which is the device and how to connect it?

There are several options available to you, but make sure that you know that the app you're using supports them!
You can go with a Bluetooth GPS receiver like this one. Reviewers mention that it works with Android, but not iOS. One reviewer says it works perfectly, another says that not all apps work with it. (I'm inclined to believe that the user who mentions that it needs an app is mistaken)
You can also get a USB bluetooth receiver like this one with an OTG Cable like this, but these are designed to be used with PC hardware, so support for Android may or may not be very good.
I would personally go with the bluetooth option for convenience and because there are others who have done it with Android devices already.

Thanks for the reply. But I am afraid these devices are not available in India. I am trying to find out if I can get these in any shopping site in India. I will get back to you if I get any one for more info on these.

The same kind of devices are probably available in India, even if it's not the same brand name. The links I included are only examples.

authors: صابر فتح الهی


text:
Screen turns black during call after adding SD card
I have a Colours X120Q (Shine II) running Android 4.2.1.
Phone calls worked fine before I added a SD card in the device, after which the screen started turning black (shutting off) during calls. This behaviour continued even after I removed the SD card. There are no apparent setting for proximity sensors nor are there any options in the call setting of the phone application.
What can I do other than restoring factory settings?

This is expected behaviour. The screen turns off during a call to prevent you from accidentally pressing on the screen.
I don't know if it possible to turn this off without rooting. It seems on some Samsung firmwares there is an option within the phone app but if you have checked there then I don't think it's possible.

Thanks. Shouldn't this behaviour activate only when the proximity sensor is activated? Shouldn't this behaviour cease whenever the power or other button is pressed? Currently AndroSensor shows 0.0in proximity.

I removed the film where the sensor is at. The problem is practically solved. However I don't get why it started only after I added a SD Card?


text:
Changing to an SD Card
Because my internal storage didn't have enough space for new applications and updates I decided to change where applications were being installed to my SD card.
I used the adb commands and a message informed me that I changed to the SD card. However when tried I was unable to download applications due to insufficient space which means that my primary memory is still my internal memory.
How can I change to the SD storage?
I am using a Samsung Galaxy 2 7.0, OS 4.0.4

Just switching the default install location does not free up storage. If you follow up to the insufficient-memory tag-wiki, you will find the explanation:

First thing you should check when encountering this problem is how much internal storage is left on your device (space on sdcards, internal or external, is completely irrelevant to this problem). As a general thumb rule, you need at least 25 MB free

So regardless where apps are to be installed: Google Play first needs to download them, and stores them in /data/local before installing them. This is in internal storage, hence it will check there for "sufficient space".
For things to do, again the insufficient-memory tag-wiki is a good starting point, and should be sufficient to solve your issue (basically, you need to free up some space, e.g. by moving some apps to SD or deleting some you no longer need). If that still didn't solve the issue, please indicate (and update your question to note what you tried, what the outcome was, and where you're stuck).


text:
Google Assistant not properly answering questions about people's age or birth date (foreign names misheard)
I am running Android 11 on a Realme 8 5G phone. I would like Google Assistant to answer basic questions about people's age and birth dates, including my own.
I don't understand why it doesn't do this. When more than one user is present on the phone, it should recognize the person speaking on the basis of the voice being used, and answer the question (even providing more than one answer if it cannot disambiguate between voices).
Questions such as:
"What is my age?"
"When is my birthday/birth date"?
"How old is X?" (it should retrieve this information from the Contacts app).
"When is X's birthday/birth date?"
It is not uncommon for people who get older or develop some learning disability or dementia or other mind problem or who are simply lazy or forgetful to not be able to subtract the date of birth from the current date to compute their age.
The same goes for other people's data. A feature was introduced at some point where you could define kinship in the Contrats app and then just say "call mom/mum". This is also an Accessibility feature. But it would be just as useful if Google Assistant could answer "What is mom's/mum's age?".
Why is this important accessibility feature missing from Google Assistant?
When will it be added?
Is anyone willing to add it?
It would be highly appreciated.
(Here are some screenshots that display for Google Assistant is currently failing when I address the issue in Italian):

UPDATE;
Perhaps this is just a flaw of Google Assistant in Italian. Perhaps, it does not work very well in other languages. Ad a matter of fact, it does not understand correctly non English names. For instance, when I ask Google Assistant, how old is Imma Bonuomo, an Italian name for one of my contacts, Google Assistant does not understand the mixed English and Italian speech (wouldn't it make sense that it did, looking in my contacts first, and, only then, searching on the web? It could even ask me "sounds I look in your contacts?",0 if it was unsure. Or alternatively, it could ask, back, "Search from contacts, or search from the web?", (not sure if Google Assistant has access to any other data sets, then these two places. Perhaps other apps may make data available though a content provider. Or, perhaps, it could ask, back, "Imma Bonuomo found in contacts. Use this result?" and you could specify back, "search the web", if that is not what you wanted. A list of other places to retrieve the data associated with or computed from the name, could be specified in the horizontal scrollable area of Google Assistant.
In any case, Google Assistant hears "Emma Barnett" instead of "Imma Bonuomo", and fails (with the result given in the image below).
Indeed, it gives me this result, when I run such search:

Why is Google Assistant giving me this wrong result?
Thank you for any contributed improvements to Google Assistant.
And thank you for your answers.
UPDATE: I had placed the birth date in the notes, rather than in a separate field (due to a complication where two birth dates were existing separately for this person (the real birth date, and the one recorded at the registry office. Google Assistant was unable to search the notes field for this contract and find the birth date using DeepL (or something similar).
Thanks.
In any case, after reinserting the contact's information in the birthday field instead of in the notes field, the Italian counterpart answers properly to "quando è nata Imma" and "quanti anni ha Imma" (but the English counterpart still mishears). But when asking "how old am I?" In English, it works, but in Italian, "quanti anni ho io", which, is the same thing, doesn't work.
Thanks you for your contributed improvements.
Thank you for your answers.
Thanks.


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Data protection (making files persist across time)
In this post I am addressing a real issue that Android users may face.
Suppose, over the course of my lifetime, I have been storing my files in Google Drive. These, may be important files. Perhaps I have taken years to put them together, and put them together well.
Storing my files, as a backup place, in Google drive, has allowed me to keep my stuff in one place, through college, as I moved apartments, as I went to hospital, and as I moved households.
Alas, the files were not safe. For example, changing partners, is a tough one for your files.
For example, your partner may go into a fit and take your Android device, use the shared accounts feature, log into your Google drive, and delete your files.
Perhaps you were sick at one time, and needed to share your password with your partner. You may even develop some mind disabling condition, your partner may become your carer, and your files will not be safe because your partner may do whatever they want with your files, including deleting them, while you are too disabled to access them manage them and go through them.
Or, perhaps, you moved households. Your new partner is your only resort. Perhaps your parents won't keep you at home, and you need someone to live with, you cannot handle being alone.
But your partner won't talk to you or get into conversations.
One day, they log in to Google Drive, and, decide there is not enough space for Google Pictures, and, without even understanding anything about space or file sizes, and, without even asking you, deletes all your important files from Google Drive.
Perhaps, at your former home you bought a safe, with a hardware lock, to place copied USB keys into it, so that you may not lose your files and others may not take it. Perhaps you have placed the safe key into a hardware device with a programmable numeric lock, so that you do not lose it.
Perhaps, your home is not a home.
It is just a place where people do whatever they want with your stuff. They break hardware devices at times, so that your always have to buy cheap ones (and always make sure you store your data in a safe remote place so that when your hardware breaks you do not lose everything).
Perhaps, you need one apartment for yourself, and one for living with the rest of the family, but that is not affordable.
Well, all of this may seem of topic. But these are real social problems, and it would be nice if Google and Android somehow solved them.
I have asked on the Information Security stack exchange, but they don't seem to care less that my files could go lost.
The question is, can I store my files in the Google cloud from Android, so, that they cannot be deleted (not even from my Android device)? Why doesn't anyone provide such a service?
A service that would require phone verification to delete your files in the cloud, with voice recognition, or fingerprint access, and, even then, the files are moved, but not deleted.
A service where you pay for storage of files that once stored cannot be deleted, where storing a file in the cloud requires voice or fingerprint access, because, you have to prevent someone from uploading files that will take up too much of your file quota as a malicious action.
Please don't delete my post, or migrate it to the psychology stack exchange. I need a solution really badly. This would be really important.
It would be nice for people to have more support with regards to file handling and household file handling and safety.
Please don't just delete my post and leave me with no support. Give me a solution. I cannot change household just to protect my data.
Thanks.
Thank you for being a good fellow programmer and sharing or providing solutions to deal with these use cases.
Why do I care so much about my files? Because it's my work. It's my lifetime. It's my time. It's my intellectual investment. What have I been working for if I must lose everything?
Perhaps I am even concerned that my children may one day find themselves in the same situation.
Why doesn't anyone implement a solution?

If you care about your data that much, you should keep multiple backups. And the best form of backup (from multiple aspects) is a local drive, not the remote backup services. Keep at least 2 portable SSDs and backup your data to them on daily, weekly, or monthly basis, depending on how much data loss you can afford at maximum. Want to avoid the hassle of connecting drives? Run a small server like Raspberry Pi (which you can also use as a home router and) which you can connect to from your mobile phones and PCs for backup purpose even on hourly basis. Or you can get a server in cloud computing.

Why doesn't anyone read what I wrote. I need a storage solution that backs up, does not store files at home but remotely, and does not allow file deletion.

We are not Google, we don't control the access policies for Google accounts. Anyone authorized by you via Google data access rights to delete/modify files/data can do so. 2) Be aware of Does adb backup/restore still work because it says it's deprecated? which means that for those apps without cloud backup/exporting data support,  app data may be lost. 3) Please look at How to automate regular Google Takeout backups to cloud storage if you still wish to use Google services.

I found the following site iDrive Google Workspace Backups. However, I'm not sure whether I understand whether that takes care of my problem.

Because you can automate a Google Takeout, but you still have the problem of figuring out a place where to put it where nobody deletes it or gets rid of it.

Hi. iDrive does not solve my problem because you can still accidentally delete backups on the servers it someone can log into your account and delete them. No solution yet.

Perhaps what I need is an immutable backup service.

Unfortunately veeam only services companies, not individuals searching for an immutable backup solution.


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Downloading everything from Google Drive and putting everything in a USB key
This post is related to my former post on internet security and Android.
I want to download my entire Google Drive and put it on a USB key.
The USB key will not be safe. It can be lost. It can be formatted and overwritten.
However, I could store it in a safe in a bank, if I had the money.
Alternatively, I could just take my chances.
However, I am afraid Google Drive won't let me do this, because doing so would just take up too much bandwidth.
Other apps such as Google Keep may not even provide the support to do this (a backup from which notes could be restored).
Is there a way to achieve what I'm looking for, without having to download one file at a time.
Thanks.
Is this a use case that Google has been taking into account to catering to.
I don't think that Google, a big giant concerned with user friendless and customer support, would be concerned about losing customers by catering towards bulk data downloading.
If anything, users would appreciate it.
Some users could be concerned about someone logging in and downloading all of their data at once.
If this is the case, they could make the bulk download accessible though phone voice verification or fingerprint verification on a separate date section, is it not so?
Thank you.

If you want to download everything from Google Drive, then I believe Google Takeout should help.

You forgot one way of losing data stored on an USB stick: as USB sticks typically contain the cheapest available flash memory chips available on the market a lot of them simply go defect after some time. So keep I mind that USB st.icks is the most unreliable way to store data. Also keep in mind that flash memory is not a good long term storage. Flash memory should at least be powered on one a year so it can detect corruption and try to fix it before it reaches a critical level.


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Theoretical and practical categorization of camera switches: categorization and implementation: techniques and strategies
This post has some overlapping with UX, so I could have posted it on the UX stack exchange, but I wanted to make it specific, to, camera switch support, in Android. That is why I have posted it here. Camera switches are an accessibility feature, that allow, people, disabled or not, to control the phone via face movements and gestures. An example of this, is ALS (amiotrophic lateral sclerosis), and/or where the body has undergone paralysis, and only the eyes, and, perhaps, other parts of the face, as can vary with medical condition and physical physiology, and as may also be affected by medication, are available.
The system, should, allow, the user, to configure which switches they want to have configured or want configured.
....
Switch access could present a list of switches you wanted to try to configure.
It, could, present, an animated, video info graphics animation, to show what the switch was.
The switch could involve a configure and hold, functionality.
The switch could involve a transitory, gesture, functionality (more or less, something, moves, and then goes back into place).
The switch could involve a head movement. In this case, position, speed, and acceleration, parameters, as the head traces a path on the the polar coordinates sphere, must, be manageable
By granularity
By gesture shape
.
So, for example, you could configure a head path.
....
Do we need a website where people can list their camera switches, as pictures, and names, alongside their medical condition, or disability (perhaps, even listing, medication, they take)?
This way people working with camera switches can make decisions, based, on, what the switches are, or could be.
For example, one person could have a mouth muscle to allow a distinction between smile a little and smile a lot. Or, they could have muscles to allow nostril flaring (they, may even, have been able to train the muscles). Other people, may, have, other, possible camera switches, at their disposal.
But, if we cannot learn, what these are (or may be), then we cannot program, cater, and support them.
Thank you.
The question is, how can we cater to more camera switches uses, users, and use cases. With regards to what has been written in this post, what can we do, what can be done, or how can we improve and implement what has been written here? Has, anyone, been working on this?
Thanks.

Reminder, that requests for features (we are not Google or any third-party app developer) and speculative type questions ("When will...", "Do we need...") is considered off-topic. While the goal of the post may be admirable, Android Exchange isn't the right forum for such a topic/set of open-ended questions. Take a look at Where can I ask questions that aren't Android Enthusiast questions? for a more appropriate forum.


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Prevent upgrade to 4.3 on rooted 4.2.2. device
I have just rooted a Nexus 7 with Android 4.2.2. I now receive a notification for system upgrade to 4.3. I don't want to do this, probably ever, as I want to keep 4.2 for app testing purposes. In Settings > About tablet > System updates
and in there it says:
Android System 4.3 Update
[Restart & Install]
How do I prevent the upgrade, ie how to I get rid of that Restart & Install button and to I prevent future upgrades & notifications?

I don't know the answer to your question but Google provides system images for testing purposes so that you can restore to any supported Android version for your Nexus device: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

@wawa The system images will try to upgrade again.

Go to this XDA-Developers thread and follow the instructions. You have to download an APK from there and install it as a system app.
[How-to] Disable OTA updates on Stock + Rooted ROMs - xda-developers

Worked for me when trying to keep my Nexus 7 on 4.2.1


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Nexus 4 (Android 4.3) doesn't have "Advanced Settings"
The majority of tweaks I see people mentioning online are in the "Advanced" settings panel, which my Nexus 4 lacks. Also missing are "Lock Screen" settings. Why are they missing from my Settings app, and how can I get them back? (preferably without having to mess around with custom ROMs/Cyanogen mod)

What kinds of tweaks specifically are you looking for? It sounds like they simply aren't available on vanilla Android. That's part of the draw of custom ROMs - they provide extra options and features that standard Android does not. I don't think you'll be able to easily "add" them to your Settings, and even if you did they would likely not work correctly since the underlying implementation (in the frameworks and what not) would be absent.

For example, the lock screen interface can have 5 points to which the lock can be moved, with each one being assignable to an application to launch (or to the right to unlock). I've seen this on many of my friends devices (not running CM) under settings>lock screen which I don't have on my N4

That's not a standard feature of Android. It's either added by the manufacturer's UI components or they're using a lock screen replacement app.

Strange, it seemed REALLY well integrated.

@XAleXOwnZX the source code for Android is available, so it's easy for custom ROMs such as Cyanogen mod to add features in a "well integrated" way. For instance the Cyanogen way of implementing t9-style selections from the contacts felt better integrated than the actual feature as implemented in Android 4.3!


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short battery life
I have a gs3 running slim bean, and the battery life seems horrible to me. I woke up this morning at 8:00am with 100% battery life and by 1:30pm it has gone down to 23%  I have been I barely use the phone throughout the day too. The entire time the phone is probably being used for 30 min to an hour the rest of the time the screen is off.
What causes this?

Hard to say without hard facts. Have you checked the consumers in battery stats? Tried to check if anything keeps it awake all the time (using e.g. Wakelock Detector or BetterBatteryStats)? Or monitored your system using an app like SysPanel? All these things provide useful clues.

Also check the battery-life tag-wiki for similar top-rated questions, their answers might help you tracking down the culprit.

Does your GS3 have LTE capability?  If so, are you in an LTE service area?

It does use LTE, but usually I only get zero or one bar when I am at work or at home.

You have to remember that GS3 has a quad core processor which uses quite a bit of power.  Also you have 4 radios (GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi and Mobile data.  If you are leaving all the radios on during the work day, you are consuming battery power.  Did you listen to music sometimes during the day....?  Did check Facebook or take pictures?   Which apps to do you have running?  All these features consume power.  You might need to adjust your features - turn off bluetooth and/or GPS and WiFi if you are not using them or close some of the apps. If I am away from a charging station and am listening to music and don't need my GPS or WiFi, I usually turn those features off to conserve battery poweer.

Even a quad core processor only uses lots of power while it's running at full tilt: if the device sleeps as much as it should, it shouldn't use that much power. Also, merely having GPS turned on in the settings doesn't make the GPS receiver burn energy: it's only powered when an app is actively using it (when the GPS notification is displayed).

I wasn't implying that just having GPS on uses a lot of power.  I was looking at usage as a whole.  I find that I have a shorter battery life when I have ALL the radios on, just as the user was complaining about.  My suggestion was to turn off any of the un-needed radios in order to conserve power when away from a charging station.

That's great. I just want to make sure other visitors don't get the idea that having GPS turned on draws power even if no apps are using it, as that's not true.


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Why is all sound suddenly gone with HTC One S?
All of a sudden I have no sound with my HTC One S (running Android 4.1.1).
No sound is heard when someone tries to call me, and, curiously, the microphone is also muted; the one who's calling me doesn't hear anything either. I also cannot play audio (it says something like Cannot play this type audio file).
What on earth is going on? And how to solve it?
PS: I have not spilled coffee or something over my phone; no unusual things happend to my phone, as far as I know.

Rooted? Recent apps added? Does everything look "normal" under Settings > Sound?

Maybe some "Silent Mode" or profile enabled? Or (might sound stupid) headphones plugged in?

Have you tried a factory reset?

Everything looks normal under sound settings. Also, the silent profile is not active and there are no headphones plugged in. I have once applied factory defaults. Nothing helped. In addition, the phone has not been rooted.
Is it maybe a glitch in the software (either Android or HTC SDK version)?


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How to get Waze alerts in Google Navigation?
I'm new to Android and I like Google Navigation. I really appreciate how the indications are displayed and how the application works.
I also discovered Waze, which is a very convenient app to show alerts that other drivers report.
I've seen Google Navigation sometime displays some Waze alerts as tiny icons, but is there any nice way to use Google Navigation as a GPS and hear Waze sounds and display alerts? (Accidents, traffic jams, police...).
Thanks for your advice.

They've only just started to integrate Waze functionality into Google Maps, and vice versa. The functionality you're looking for is probably coming.

FYE: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-features-ahead-google-maps-and-waze.html

@AlEverett : This is what I have for the moment but it's not very visible and I don't hear alerts...

I have both loaded, but always use GMaps, and as of today the Waze alerts are appearing in Gmaps. I didn't do anything to make it happen. Doesn't look like I can create a Waze alert from within Gmaps though. That would be nice.

@EricHiggins, is there a sound every time you get close to an accident or other alert?

No sounds, but icons appear on the Gmaps route. Then you can click on the icon and see the detail, i.e. "traffic incident". And it notes in the pop up it was applied by the Waze app. Pretty cool.

Ok, that's not very convenient as you have to keep an eye on the map. I also experienced disappearing alerts on some levels of zoom. Not very practical. Let's wait and see :)

@everyone Anyone who has not installed the Waze app seeing Waze notifications in GMaps ? If so, where / how ?


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Restoring stock Rom to HTC desire S
OK, I know there's stuff out there on this - but tbh I can't understand it.
I have a UK HTC Desire S on T-mobile. I used the official HTC download to upgrade to ICS last year (it was not OTA but on their website). However, when I came to unlock the phone recently (to allow my daughter to use it on another network) I cannot get it to prompt me for the unlock code.
I've performed a "factory reset" but that didn't help, and the best advice I can find online seems to indicate I should  restore the original OS. But I've not the faintest idea how to do this.
I'm not sure what other info to give - it is currently running 4.0.4 and Sense 3.6.
IF there's a dummies guide to this somewhere, I'm happy to be pointed - but I can't find it.

Isn't your question rather "how to sim-unlock the device"? If so, rather check the questions tagged sim-unlocking, and (if still needed) ask for that. And try avoiding the XY problem ;)

Thanks. I looked there. However, I seemed to understand the problem was that I needed to restore the original T-mobile related OS, and I don't have a clue how to do that. So that's what I'm asking about. First post here, so sorry if I've got the format wrong.

Our premise is: Don't ask how to achieve the "possible solution" you have in mind, but rather ask for a solution to your direct problem. There might be something else even working much better, and saving you a lot of headache.

Frankly, I only asked a question best way I could. Obviously didn't read up on house rules enough to do it properly. OK, I'll go ask somewhere else. But this is not a good way to encourage participation in your club

No offense meant, Alistair. I just tried to help the best way I can. If you are not interested in alternatives (which might prove the better approach or not), you do not need to heed my recommendation. Just leave the question as-is, and I even wish you the best answers to it. You might even end up with the original ROM successfully installed (keeping my fingers crossed for that), but still not be able to unlock – which is what I am afraid of.


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I can't use my Galaxy S3 storage on my laptop
When I plug the USB on my galaxy s3 sprint it charges normally but no notifications appear about using the mass storage.. so how can I fix that and transfer the data from PC to my phone.
NOTE:  I cant find this option connected as media device one the notifications.

The Galaxy S3, like other jelly bean Android devices, doesn't use the mass storage class.  It works via MTP.  What OS do you have on your laptop?

I'm using windows 8.1 I plugged Samsung note 2 with the same cable and it works just fine!

@Compro01 all my JB tabbies mount using UMS (as shipped). So there are exceptions :)

Do you have Kies installed on your PC?

@geffchang no but I am downloading it now

I installed Kies but when I plug my device in shows only CONNECTING and that window never changes

OS: Win 8.1 x64 with latest updates.
Phone: Samsung galaxy S3 (GT-i9300).
I got it working without manually installing any driver.
When I plugged my phone in the computer it automatically installed the driver for me.
After that I didnt see any popup.
What you need to do is leave the phone plugged in your pc/laptop while restarting the phone (don't be to hasty here, give the phone some time to boot up completely).
After that go to control panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers.
In here look for the multimedia tab and you should see your phone (GT-i9300).
Right click on it and you should see the menu browse files > GT-9300.
Voila you are in your phone.
After that you don't even need to repeat the steps before again, because the popup suddenly comes back(don't switch to another usb port here, just keep using the port where you performed your phone reboot). Incase you accidentally plugged your phone in another usb port you need to repeat the steps above.
Thats how I got mine working. I hope it helps you!


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Having Google Assistant return app results instead of web results
I am running Android 12 on a Realme 8 5G phone.
It used to be that when I swiped up and keyed in an app name I would see the list of apps I wanted that matched that name on my phone, as I keyed the letters in, and I could then click on the app I wanted.
On the other hand, now when I swipe up and key in keywords Google Assistant shows me a list of web results, and, often no apps.
The web is where all the stuff I don't want to see, lies. It is hardly something that doesn't do me in (when I go to it). I find even that my phone would present me with the list of such results a bit offensive. It is, what I am using on my phone to not access in favor of what I really want: what I downloaded (through Google Play), and, is available, on my phone. When I type in keep, I should be promoted with the Google Keep app, I should not be going though the extra step of going through web search results, and opening/launching the Google Keep app from the web. This extra step, is distracting, slow, and burdening.
If I really wanted something from the web I would type in what I want in chrome. I would type in the name of the website I wanted to access to interact with it socially most of the time, if not, all the time. I know the names of the website I use, I already have chrome history, and, chrome, shows me icons of the body often accessed websites. I don't need (and I don't want), assistant, to do this (not when I type things into my phone, but really, since some mute people cannot speak, we need a switch that displays search apps or search web (you may want things like recipes or cooking times)). However, ad it stands, Google Assistant is unusable.
But when I swipe up on my phone screen I'm really looking for apps, not web results.
So, I wonder whether there is a setting in settings which allows me to control this behavior, favoring results consisting of apps, on my phone (or, in a list of controllable length, optionally, also from the Google Play store), instead of web results.
I want to do this from settings (because there is a lot of things Assistant can do, but web results is not what I want).
Thank you for your support.
Thanks.