text:
Is it possible to use "unlock with fingerprint" feature, and be asked for (after boot) giving passphrase and fingerprint on encrypted Galaxy S6
I would like to purchase a Samsung Galaxy S6. One of the main reasons for the choice of device is the (apparently) good fingerprint sensor. I would like to / have to encrypt my phone (my employer requires this but, honstly, I would do it anyway) and I am very tired of typing my PIN every single time I want to unlock my phone. Hence a fingerprint sensor is a must-have on my next phone. Here are my questions Google could not answer for me:

Is it possible to use the "unlock with fingerprint" feature with an encrypted phone, or is this authentication method considered too weak? Strangely there is no information about that.
I would like the phone to behave in the following way (like an iPhone 6): After booting the device I am asked for my (potentially complicated) passphrase. After that I am allowed to use my fingerprints to unlock. After some time (configurable, maybe some hours?) I would be asked for the passphrase again.
Benefit: Convenience through the fingerprint unlock, increased security because if somebody tried to force me to put my finger on the sensor (or had a rubber copy of my finger) it would still be no good on a freshly rebooted phone or after some hours.
Basically this means having two unlock schemes configured at the same time, fingerprints and passphrase/PIN. Former would be used for convenience, latter for security. Putting in the passpharse a few times per day would be perfectly acceptable to me.
Is this possible with a Samsung Galaxy S6 with stock ROM?

Hi! I edited the question and fixed the title. You may not like it, but it better reflects the body than the previous one. Feel free to [edit] the question, if needed.

No problem & thanks! I'm interested in an answer and if a better headline will help it's fine with me. :-)

I found myself an answer to part one of the question: Yes, on the Galaxy S6 you can apparently use the fingerprint sensor to unlock the device after encrytion.
Infomation found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/fingerprint-unlock-device-encryption-t3081102
Has somebody something to say for part two? :-)
Edit 2015-10-06:
I got my S6 last week. Here is the story:

Encrypting the device and using fingerprint unlock does indeed work. :-)
When configuring fingerprints you have to set a backup password.
The backup password is used to encrypt the device's encryption key. --> Whenever you reboot the phone you must enter it. You cannot boot the phone using fingerprints alone.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to unlock the device using the fingerprint sensor the device forces you to enter the backup password.
I could not find some kind of timer to configure. If you want to force the input of the password you have to power down the device or use an unconfigured finger a few times in a row.

This is a near-perfect solution for me (except for the timer issue, but I can live without...).
Hope this information helps somebody!

The answer is it depends on the security policy settings deployed by your corporate IT. If you are giving corporate admin control over your device then their own security policies may require you to use a four digit pin or more complicated alphanumerical passcode and prevent you from using the fingerprint reader as a means for logging on the device (from a secreenlock).
If they also require full phone storage encryption you will have a separate password to use when booting the phone. You can not use fingerprints to authenticate on boot since the system hasn't booted at that point.
However, if your IT allows fingerprints to be used for lock screen authentication, then you will be able to use the fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone between uses. If the phone is turned off and back on, you would be prompted for the password that was set during the full storage encryption setup process and would then use your fingerprint for the lock screen until the phone is turned off and back on.

authors: พงศ์มร สุพะธีระ


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How to delete search history from Settings app?
In Android, it's possible to search for a specific setting by clicking the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the Settings app and typing. However, I haven't found a way to remove earlier search queries.
I have recently misspelled a word, and  it always pops up when I search for something else.
Is there a way to clear the search history, or, better, to remove a specific search?

Note: I've tested this solution on CM12.

Three answers saying the same thing but are rather extreme in their approach. I want to remove one query out of dozens I made. Why should I remove everything just to remove one?  Not fair!
First things first:

In Android, it's possible to search for a specific setting by clicking the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the settings app and typing.

I don't think that's true for any stock ROM. This seems to be a CM specific feature, and based on the tags, the ROM is CM12.1.
It is an assumption that if you're using Cyanogenmod then the device would be rooted. Considering it to be the case, install SQLite Editor.
The queries that you make using the lens icon are saved in a table saved_queries with time-stamp, under the database search_index.db, located in the data directory of Settings (/data/data/com.android.settings/databases/search_index.db).
Instructions

Launch SQLite Editor
Under Apps tap Settings (com.android.settings)
Tap search_index.db, or do a Full Scan if you don't see the entry
Go to saved_queries
Choose the search query you don't want to see in Settings, and select the trash icon at the top

Changes would take place immediately. If not, force-close the Settings app from Settings → Apps → All → Settings, and then proceed with aforesaid instructions. You may optionally reboot as well.

I heard that you like fancy stuff
You can use adb  to achieve the goal. The commands would be:

This command would give you the schema of saved_queries table:
adb shell su -c 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.settings/databases/search_index.db ".schema saved_queries"'

Output would be:
CREATE TABLE saved_queries(query VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL, timestamp INTEGER);

The columns are query and timestamp. Use this resource to know the details about sqlite commands.
List all the entries in the table saved_queries:
adb shell su -c 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.settings/databases/search_index.db "SELECT * from saved_queries"'

Output would be like:
pin|1437892238443
berserk|1438802356524
manga|1438802367295

The output is in the order of schema you saw in the last command.
Select and delete your search query from the table:
adb shell su -c 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.settings/databases/search_index.db "DELETE from saved_queries where query=\"pin\""'

You can confirm from the last command that your query is gone for good from the table, and so as from the search entries listed under lens icon of Settings app.
As said in first part, you can force-close the Settings app if needed. Do:
adb shell su -c 'am force-stop com.android.settings'

You can use a terminal app like  Terminal Emulator to achieve the goal as well. Simply do su, and then follow the sqlite3 commands (i.e. remove adb shell su -c '' from the commands).

Screenshots before and after tweaks:
(Click image to enlarge; hover to see detail)

For Non-rooted devices
No salvation other than doing Settings → Apps → All → Settings → Force Stop → Clear data, as suggested in other answers. (Don't bother about this step because your custom settings are saved in Settings Storage app (com.android.providers.settings)). You can't access the data directory of Settings app since you don't meet the privileges to access it.
Furthermore, you can't do tinkering with backup taken using adb backup either as android:allowBackup="false" is declared in Manifest file of Settings, which means no backup is allowed at all.

We're good to go now!

Clearing the Settings App data will not reset any of your settings to their original state, but should clear the search history.

In the settings, navigate to your apps and find Settings and tap on Clear Data. The app should close and when opened back up, the search history should be cleared.

You can try to clear cache or data of Settings application. Do this by opening the Settings application and opening Apps. Scroll sideways to the All tab and find the Settings application. There press the Clear cache button. If this does not help try pressing the Clear data button and confirming the action.

On Android Lollipop,
Settings > Apps > ALL > Settings > Clear Data

A confirmation dialog asking "Delete app data?" will open and on pressing OK the Settings app menu closes by itself and your previous searches won't be displayed.
Note: This will not change/affect your Phone Settings anyway but only clears the Setting's App Data.

Not only Lollipop. Same place/procedure at least since ICS :) // BTW: Have you noticed there are already two answers proposing the same? ;)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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How do I change from "Unknown" to show who is calling me?
I'm using Samsung Galaxy Mini S3. When one of my contacts calls me I see "unknown" on the screen.
How do I change it to show who is calling me? It used to be something that has changed.

That's got nothing to do with your device (or Android for that), and nothing you can do about. If that caller chose to not have the number transferred, you won't be able to see it.

Normally, it is the person calling you that chooses to call as unknown. Even if it is someone you know and that person is in your contacts, if they have their caller ID turned off, they will appear as unknown on your device.
However, if this happens for every single one of your contacts calling you, I doubt that it is them having their caller ID turned off. If their number appears, but not their name, then caller ID is turned on and it is your phone that is causing problems. Check if your accounts are synced and your contacts have their names set to the correct phone numbers.
If no number appears, no caller ID is coming through. I've heard about this problem before, and probably the problem is not your phone, but your service provider. Try contacting customer support and explain your problem to them. They should be able to help you further by enabling caller ID from their side.

+1 when this happened to me, I actually saw the number briefly before (probably) their caller ID setting asserted itself and the person became 'unknown' according to my phone.

you may have the contact linked to an "unknown" contact.  You'll need to unlink the two contacts and it should populate with the name on your contacts.

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

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


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I cannot backup the data between PC and ES file in bluestacks, windows folder shows question mark , not sure what that is

I can go to the sharefolder on my PC, but not in the ESfile of bluestacks

I finally found the solution on another site.  In Bluestacks under My Apps click on Settings, then Storage then Explore and from there you can access all the folders.

Shared folders between Windows 10 and Bluestacks 3N
BLUESTACKS :
/storage/sdcard/windows/BstSharedFolder/
WINDOWS 10 :
C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks\Engine\UserData\SharedFolder
To look for files in windows, use Voidtools Everything. I use it for years and there's nothing that comes close to its efficiency. Even with terabytes of small files.
Cheers.

Check whether the actual shared folder exists on Windows.  Either this folder is missing or corrupted, recreating the folder may solve this issue.

Navigate to this path: (Drive):\ProgramData\BlueStacks\Engine\UserData\SharedFolder (Enable "view hidden files" in folder options).
This shared folder normally has following files Data.vdi and SDcard.vdi (and another folder which typically appears on android device as the shared folder)
IF you have the above files only, then simply create another folder, which will be the shared folder - give it any name.
When done use the file explorer and navigate to /storage/sdcard/bstsharedfolder/BstSharedFolder (its automatically created) open this folder and you will see the new sharedfolder that you created earlier.

i don't have these files under windows folder :   Data.vdi and SDcard.vdi

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


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Is it posible for an android user to set up a work and personal profile and isolate whatsapp to personal profile
With the new GDPR regulations in Europe I see people freaking out and deleting whatsapp from their phone. I don't wish to get into the legal details of if this is legally necessary or not. However this seems only to apply to people using their personal phone for business purposes.
My question is, can you create two profiles for android. One for business and the other personal. Each profile should come with it's own address book / contacts list. Then the next question is, is it possible to sandbox Whatsapp to only use/see the personal address list and not the business one.
Is this
(1) Possible
(2) Easy to do for the non technical user ?

Related: Installing Applications in Isolated Environments

Also I think what you describe works better if work vice-versa (i.e isolating Whatsapp to "work/island" profile. But will have to hear from you and I won'd be taking down the answer until I get this feedback :)

Yes this is possible.  You can do that with Island (and the released official version) is now available on Google playstore.
"Island" is a sandbox environment to clone selected apps and isolate them from accessing your personal data outside the sandbox (including call logs, contacts, photos and etc) even if related permissions are granted. Device-bound data is still accessible (SMS, IMEI and etc).
How does it work

Island takes advantage of the "managed profile" feature on Android
  5.0+, which is the also the base of "Android for Work", to create an isolated sandbox for apps and their data. App needs to be cloned in
  Island first. Afterwards, the clone can run parallel aside from the
  original one. (even with different accounts signed-in) It can be
  frozen on demand by Island. (NO ROOT REQUIRED)

The goal of Island to improve security by isolating an application thus improving privacy at the same time allowing parallel running with those from "mainland"


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Cannot logon to a "captive portal" wi-fi network
I am unable to connect to any wi-fi networks that require a login through what I assume is captive portal. This worked fine for perhaps a year but has stopped working recently. I am running Android 8.1.0 on a Nokia 6.
I get the following response after attempting go to the login:

That looks like a captive portal detection url (i.e connectivitycheck.gstatic.com/generate_204, try some solutions here to resolve


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How to disable auto update Google Play Store and Google Play Service
My phone broken WiFi (couldn't scan WiFi around). So, I have to use phone data. However, I'm having problems with two apps: Google Play Store and Google Play Services usually updating, consume a lot of phone memory, and use more and more network data (I pay a lot of money for them).
I have gone to "Settings" and chose "Disable auto update" but it just didn't update the other apps but it kept updating the two apps themselves.
So, I hope people can give me some solutions to solve this problem okay?

Having a similar issue with one of my devices, but my workaround is using a firewall application to disable internet access for these apps.

I agree with Xavier. This works as long as you don't open an app requiring Play Services, such as Maps, in which case you would have to permit internet access to Play Services as well to use the former app's full functionality and thus have to bear the burden of updates too.

See this answer
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/197499/when-turned-on-wi-fi-something-unknown-uses-data-suddenly/197579#197579


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android 9 sdk compatibility with jdk 8
Is android 9 sdk installation not compatibile with jdk 8 for running avd ?
I tried running but got error of;
"emulator: ERROR: ANDROID_SDK_ROOT"
emulator: ERROR: This AVD's configuration is missing a kernel file! Please ensure the file "kernel-qemu" is in the same location as your system image.

It is compatible with jdk 8 (which is what I have in my setup). Perhaps you need to setup its path correctly in System Variables.
Not sure what the result of this was, but I have encountered the same error when I first ran android 9 on standalone sdk manager. What I did in my case was to upgrade the emulator, which altogether solved the issue, perhaps is the same scenario, firstly try upgrading the emulator and see if it solves the issue.
You can also try editing image.sysdir.1 value to a full AVD path e.g image.sysdir.1=C:\androidsdk\system-images\android-28\google_apis_playstore\x86\  as suggested by Akintunde
(I see some suggestions that you should rename kernel-ranchu to kernel-qemu in the system image folder but this didn't work as I hoped, the AVD screen just went black.)


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Replacing Ubuntu OS with Android OS
Is there a straightforward step-by-step instruction to replace Ubuntu OS with Google OS on a BQ Aquaris M10 HD tablet.
I know nothing about computer code and nothing can be assumed. These instructions need to be precise. I.e. do I need another computer to perform this operation If so, what kind? If it can be done entirely on the tablet, then exactly how is this done?

Short answer: No
I don't know your tablet, but a straightforward instruction will not be available. Your tablet is also provided with Android, so there exist the working android port. Normally the producer of the tablet don't provide the needed files to re-flash the device.
Normally the image is build on a development computer and the image is flashed on the device. To replace your OS another computer will be needed (if you have the needed files)
Technically it's possible to create a USB memory stick that update your OS without interaction, but that's normally not provided by the producer of a "consumer tablet"
(sorry for my bad english, hope you understand my message)


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My device's hotspot got unlimited range
Today after leaving home by taxi I decided to find out when my laptop would lose connection to my phone's hotspot and was very surprised. It looked like my laptop way staying connected despite the further I travelled . First disconnection I saw when I passed 200 meters from home. After that I got my laptop reconnected back to hotspot for few-second-sessions.
I have attached the screenshot of the tethering settings page, about 4-5 minutes since I left home. That time I was about 3 km away from home, that was at least 5th session, and the last one.
After that screenshot my laptop finally disconnected until I got back home.
Phone: Huawei P9 Lite (not rooted), laptop: Vaio VPC.
What that was?

This is an interesting observation, but I don't know what to make of this..if you left the phone home....then the laptop continues to connect....quite strange I must say

Could you access the Internet through the hotspot even when you were several kilometers away?

xavier_fakera, thank you for your edits and for the time allotted to the post.
Speaking that my laptop following me I meant I had the only thought about how that could happened and that was that someone (the person who was left at home) just took my laptop and following me by another taxi (actually moto-rickshaw). But thinking about reasons why that person may want to do that and understanding ability to that's person to get a rickshaw at that place and at that time (5 am) right when I had left home, I still tend to think that there was a some bug in Android. But even being a programmer for the last 20 years, I find it difficult to imagine how such a bug can be reproduced. Something like a cached ghost of my laptop ... But there were a few re-connections to the hotspot. Each re-connection is a verification of keys and other handshakes. WPA2-Personal connection is not such a trivial thing that could happened accidentally with cached... yes with cached what? With some object that can sign a package with it's private key to make that connection possible?

Zackary, I didn't try to send my phone far away from my home to personally test is there any connection to the Internet from laptop. But what I actually know that the person who staying at home when I leave it is very not happy at that moment since my phone's hotspot is the only way to have a connection to Internet.


text:
Phone shuts off in 3g
I have a Moto Z2 Play with Android 8.0.0, about 3 years old. Whenever I go out of range of 4g (to 3g), the battery goes from 100% to 80 or 70 in a couple minutes and then to single digits very quickly and the phone shuts down. The phone will not turn back on in this state. When I charge it, it returns to 70/80 immediately and it will turn back on. This never happens in 4g.
What is the problem? Is the battery just faulty?
--- follow up ---
I attached a power bank and went out. Here is what happened.
It lasted longer, perhaps an hour and then went to single digits and then turned off. I then restarted the phone with the power bank and it was quickly back up to full power.
What does this tell us?

Faulty battery cannot be ruled out but the problem looks with modem or RIL. In 3G mode it draws high surge current which the battery is unable to supply.

Try to get a power bank and connect it to your phone. If the problem persists the battery is not the main problem.

See edit to question for the follow up

It tells that your phone draws abnormally high amperage. Question is more about hardware and electronics than Android. But the root cause can be a bad RIL etc.

Sounds like time for a new phone.

I have a new phone now. What's the thing to do with this question? One of the comments could be turned into an answer. Or I could delete the question.

@AlLelopath you can answer your own question, it's encouraged.

@IrfanLatif: ok, but you are welcome to answer since you guided me in the right direction.


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Configure screen on/off: charging/time of day
I want to configure my tablets such that if the device is plugged into a charger and it is between, say, 7 am and 10pm, then the screen doesn't turn off, otherwise, it will. Is this possible?
Edit ------

You can add multiples triggers. See How to create a profile with multiple context in Tasker? Trigger one would be Time from 07:00-22:00 and the the action would be Display Timeout to maximum. Add another trigger by long pressing the first trigger, select + and set the trigger to State -> Power -> Power. Done! This results in AND logic.

@Firelord I was writing up how to do that earlier this morning but, got caught up in stuff, now you managed to get ahead of me in supplying the info.

You can create a profile with the criteria that needs to be meet for it to work. E.g Time and Power.

Create a Task
Choose Display -> Display timeout
set the timeout 59 Secs, 59 mins and 23 Hours or longer if you want

This is were the instructions differ from the above user

Go to your profiles tab
Create  a new profile
Chose the first Context/trigger as the time frame you desire, which is 7am to 10 pm
Chose the wanted task
Once the profile has been created click and hold on to the time setting context/trigger (The box within your profile that you created)
After that you get shown with a list of items, click add > State > Power and then chose the desired choice (I left it as any - this includes AC, USB and Wireless charging)
Click done. Now you have created a profile that activates only at a certin time while it is being supplied power

Hope I could help you get this working.


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Pixel C no longer connecting to wifi
The Pixel C (serial # 620*******) is no longer connecting to wifi. We have 3 wifi networks and it does not connect to any of them (it did before). It vacillates between saying "Obtaining IP address" and "Ip configuration failure". I've tried "forgetting" each of the wifi connections and reentering the password, but this does not help. Also tried restarting the device.
I discovered this on Tuesday morning, coming back from the holiday. During that time the device's battery went dead. Not sure if that is related or not. The battery is fully charged now.
What can be done?
Edit:
Just noticed the clock has been reset to Jan 1, 2000. Fixing that fixed the wifi problem.

Our network has a security feature that checks any connecting device for a correct date and doesn't allow connection if the date is not correct.


text:
Is there a way to know if the installed Android is official?
I know that if one has access to the firmware files, one can check if the firmware is the official stock firmware or not by looking at the SHA1.
Now, suppose that Android has already been installed on the device. Is there a way to check whether or not the installed Android is the official stock version or not?
Maybe there's some information that can be found in another identical device running the same Android version that can be compared?

My device is one Motorola Moto G 2014 XT1069. I didn't specify because I thought that there was a general method.

@beeshyams The question was tagged motorola-moto-g2 and I assumed that was correct, thus my Motorola specific answer. :)

To add other methods

Samsung phones have an app that can check. Possibly other brands may also be having similar apps
If the device OS is Lollipop and above and it accepts OTA , it is offical since it has passed  block based OTA as explained here How do I verify my firmware is legitimate?.
One can also check by using the update app of your device. If it returns "update available" , I suppose it verified the existing firmware

Solution of acejavelin is perhaps the easiest

Look at the bootloader screen, there is a field that says Software Status, if it says "Official", well, then it's official.
You can access the bootloader screen by powering off, then hold Vol Dn and Power until together until the screen appears.

Thanks for the suggestion @acejavelin. Are you sure this works for Moto G XT1069? I accessed the bootloader screen but I found no field "Software Status" there. Is this for some specific version of Android?

Does it not look like this: http://imgur.com/a/fK5Rk

@user1620696 Hmm... it seems the 1st and 2nd Gen G's use a different bootloader screen layout. Look at the Status Code, if it is 0 or 2 and the bootloader is locked, it is Official. If it is unlocked or a different code then there is no way to be sure and reflashing the stock image would be recommended if you doubt it's authenticity. In theory if the bootloader is locked on Moto devices, it must be official software, it should not be locked or relockable unless the software digitally signed.

Try the checkey app in the play store think it maybe exactly what your looking for.

Could you [edit] your answer to add a link to the app you're recommending, and explain why you're recommending it? That would be a lot more helpful.


text:
Outlook Android word suggestion not working in LG keyboard
I have an LG G3 phone with Android 6.0. It works okay, and I like the built-in LG Keyboard as it uses word suggestion (meaning that when I type I lkie my dosg it corrects every word, so I get I like my dogs in my native language - it is not English).
Recently, I've downloaded Outlook Android and tried to write an email to my co-worker.
Imagine my surprise when I wrote the following: Dera Freind, This is teh new Andorid Outluk... and no word were suggested in my LG keyboard.
There are no keyboard related settings in Outlook settings (as a matter of fact, those 3 settings don't relate anything other than the account).
When I type in the subject field, it works normally, but in the letter body, no suggestions appear.
So, can you tell my why Outlook suppresses the LG keyboard settings?
Can I enable word suggestion without installing any custom keyboard?

I have reported the issue to Microsoft's feedback forum, and a few weeks later they fixed it and now it picks up the suggestions that the keyboard offers (I fancy that it was because of my report but can't confirm it :)
So, as of version 2.1.125 (170) mainline, the issue is fixed.


text:
Exchange service polls every minute and drains the battery
Two days ago my Sony Xperia J phone's battery began to be drained very quickly. It seems, the Exchange service has gone mad (it uses 57% of the battery time). It polls constantly, I get a new mail every minute according to it (I have only 1 new mail actually). I already restarted the phone.
It even polls when it requests a security update.
What have gone wrong? Did Google release a new version of it?

No idea, but a request for clarification: Are you using an Exchange account with that device? That service indeed polls every minute, even with no account created. I simply disabled it, as I don't use Exchange at all. Solved it for me.

I do use this device, but it worked very well until now. What changed? I need to use it to get my workplace emails.

It gets even worse, it uses 64% now, and used up my 3G package as well.

If you can afford it: Try resetting the apps related to exchange (Exchange, plus maybe the Mail app used) by going to Settings→Apps→Manage Apps, force-closing the app, delete cache and data, reboot. You will then have to re-configure it, and if there were any local data they will be gone, but that might solve the issue. If your device is equipped with a custom recovery: boot into it, wipe cache and Dalvik. Nothing lost that way, but that solved some mysterious issues already in the past.

I switched to a 3rd party Exchange app and set the built-in Email application to Manual sync. It seems to work now.


text:
How to change incoming call notification size in Nexus 5X
I use a Nexus 5X Android phone and it is quite good.
The only problem I'm experiencing is that when I get an incoming call, it shows only a tiny notification at the top of the screen so I can't normally see who is calling (all my previous phones could show a full screen caller).

Can I modify it to have a full screen screen of it without installing any lame dialer or caller id app?

That tiny caller ID is not customizable. Full screen caller ID is only shown when on home screen or when the phone is idle.

@MANI I think the image shows the home screen... and I can confirm, that when I am on Home screen, I still get that tiny thing. Only when the phone is locked I get the full screen. This is an obvious stepback from Android 4.0.

This smaller Caller ID banner does appear only when on the home screen and when using an application. I assume this was done so as not to cover the whole screen in case the user is doing something critical or the like.
While on the lock screen, an incoming call will take the whole screen to show Caller ID, presumably because the user wouldn't be doing anything if the phone is locked.
I looked through my devices Phone and Accessibility and other settings, and I was not able to find any way to change this. A third party app would be your best bet.
Using Android 6.0.1 to test.

Unfortunately, the third party apps are either full of ads or provide themes so lame and ugly that my toddler nephew could draw better. I guess I have to accept that uncolored, minimalist notification.


text:
Viber notification doesn't disappear
I use Viber on Android and when it is in the background, it shows a notification in the notification bar when I get a message.
However, sometimes when I click that message and it opens Viber, the notification stays there no matter that I'm actually reading it.
If I go to the message list, it shows unread messages, no matter I just read it.
If I dismiss the message, it'll get back in a few minutes as it detects it is not yet read.
You can see here the notification is there and the message is already read:

What should I set to make it show the notifications properly?

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.1.

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.0.2.12

I confirm, the issue is still present in version 5.2.2.478

This happened to me in my VIBER FOR DESKTOP (Windows).
(In my case the problem was caused by an unread CALL on viber; but I couldn't find it!!!)
This is how I located and solved the problem:
1.  I clicked on the conversations tab.
2.  Then clicked on the small triangle that appears in the corner
3.  I chose from the options:
    "Unread messages on top"
4.  Voila!!! The conversation came at the top, I clicked on it and the 'unread message' disappeared!


text:
Play Store updates downloaded on 3G network by ignoring settings
On my Xperia J phone Google Play Store setting of automatic updates is set to: Wi-fi only.
To my greatest surprise, yesterday it started to download 50MBs of updates when I was on 3G and my 200MB package was almost exceeded.
I checked the Data usage of Google Play Store on my 3G network and on Wifi: Wifi has 432 MB traffic, 3G has 82 MB (with wifi-only settings).
My question is: what settings should I use to prevent the abuse of my 3G package? Have you experienced similar behavior?

No, it is not. It has low internal storage (about 70 MB), but it is not rooted.

Exact same symptoms here, also using a Sony Xperia phone, Android 4.1.2. And it is using far and away more 3G bandwidth than anything else on this handset. ...Just found the same behaviour on my Android 4.2.2 cheap Chinese phone.
We will try switching off google play updates completely, and see if it stops it. (If I forget to report back, please ask!)

If you haven't done so already, try going to Settings - Data usage, then press the menu key and choose "Restrict background data".
This sets all sync functions to only work on Wi-Fi, maybe it also helps with your Play Store problem. Be careful though, if you rely on sync to work even when you are not on Wi-Fi (Gmail for example), this is not the right option for you.

You're missing the final step, keen: what you write just establishes a general data limit. After enabling that, one has to scroll the list of apps below it, and deactivate (turn-off) background data usage for the app in question explicitly. Other apps are only affected then when the set limit is reached. But yes, that's the right path :)

You can also make use of No Root Firewall if you want only some apps to access the Internet from your phone if your device is not rooted. If your device is rooted you can use AFWall+


text:
Would uninstalling Play Store and Play Services delete user data on phone?
If I uninstall Google Play Store and Play Services will that delete files such as texts, pictures and more. My issue at hand is this error continuously appearing on my phone: "Google Play Services has stopped".

No, it would not delete your files.
You should always keep a backup of your data anyway. The error you are seeing is because these services are defined as system services and there could be some of the other background services which are are trying to access it.

Google Play store and Google Play services are system apps which require root permissions to be removed.
If you have root permissions, yes you can remove Play Store and Play Services completely and doing so will remove your google account from the device and might break other Google propreitary apps on system, if any. And no, it will not delete any texts, pictures, videos, or any files on sdcard. And if your device is on lolipop, removing Google Chrome might remove WebView and break Messaging app (it fails to open complaining about WebView). But messages are not deleted, once you restore Chrome they are back.
And if your device doesn't have root permissions, you cannot completely remove Play store and Play services as they are system apps. All You can do is to remove google account from device and uninstall updates for them. Be aware that if you don't remove Google account and uninstall updates for them, they still get autoupdated on their own. And no, uninstalling updates for play store and play services will not delete any texts, pictures, videos, or any files on sdcard. It should be safe.


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Wi-Fi works well in other devices but shows "limited connectivity" in my Sony Xperia Mini Pro
I have a BSNL router in my house. I can connect and browse using Wi-Fi in my laptop and my brother's and dad's mobile but it shows limited connectivity in my Sony Xperia Mini Pro.
It has WEP security. I've used that Wi-Fi earlier but now it shows as limited connectivity to mine alone. Even if I enter the wrong password, it shows "obtaining IP address" and shows "limited connectivity". I've also  used static IP address option in that. It gets connected in that case but I can't browse.
How do I solve this issue?

Mybe You have a firewall app that it limited your internet access
Check it

use dynamic ip address ..and forget network and restart  your mobile  and then enter correct password in wifi network .and  stay in wifi router range.


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How to transfer ClockworkMod backup to PC?
I'm trying to transfer files on my Moto G x1032 (recognized by ADB) from /data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup(confirmed location) to my PC, but adb pull gives me remote object /'location' does not exist.
I can't copy the backup to storage with any file manager I've tried, and hence can't see the files on my computer.
This seems relevant but /PB doesn't help.

What's the full adb command you're entering? Perhaps it just needs a small adjustment.

adb pull /sdcard/PB/data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup /C:\Users\ArtyNinja\Documents\Backup/1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1/

The leading / in front of the local directory is not right. Your local path should be something like C:\Users\ArtyNinja\Documents\Backup\1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1\ Windows doesn't use the / character in path separators.

Try:
adb pull /sdcard/0/clockworkmod/backup C:\Users\ArtyNinja\Documents\Backup\1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1\

or
adb pull /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup C:\Users\ArtyNinja\Documents\Backup\1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1\

`Nope. The X1032 doesn't have external storage by the way.

External SD would be something like /external_SD.
Try your original command, but put a space after backup and C:, and make sure all of your /'s are pointing the same way, so try:
adb pull /sdcard/PB/data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup/ C:\Users\ArtyNinja\Documents\Backup\1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1\

Tried adb pull /data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup /C: /Users/ArtyNinja/Documents/Backup/1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1/, but still doesn't exist.

@RMarkwald adb pull expects two arguments, so your answer looks incomplete (rather like a comment) :) Furthermore, both arguments must be of the same type (i.e. either both a file, or both a directory). For me it always worked with the /sdcard/* path on the Android end.

@Izzy You are correct, I edited my original answer providing the full command.  /sdcard/* has always worked for me as well.

Thanks! I've done a bit formatting. But the first command looks wrong: shouldn't that start with adb pull /storage/sdcard0 or adb pull /data/media/0/?

@ErljaJkdf. There's a space too much in your last comment, and a slash too much. Should read adb pull /data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup C:/Users/ArtyNinja/Documents/Backup/1970-01-01.10.07.09_LXB22.46-28.1. Could you please include the full and exact error message?

I've tried the edited command RMarkwald gave, and your command Izzy. The first returned remote object '/sdcard/PB/data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup/' does not exist, and your's returned remote object '/data/media/0/clockworkmod/backup' does not exist.

2) The Pro and NO needing Computer Aroma mode:

Download AromaFM.zip from HERE (despite the name, is a File Manager, not a Radio app). Put the apk into the root of your ExtSD card memory (if any).
Boot your device from CWM recovery (I use PhilzTouch, but I'm sure works also on CWM).
Navigate to “Install zip from SD card” and select the AromaFM Zip file.
After the AromaFM loads, you'll see a File Manager. Then copy your Backup folder to your external SD Card. If you previously connect a USB Pendrive or Card reader adapter to your USB port, then you can copy your info to any external media, since the AromaFM support the OTG method from the USB Debug.
After you finished the whole process, exit the app and turn off your device. Disconnect the Pendrive/Card reader adapter (if any) and turn ON your device. Now you have a Backup in another location than the original ones. Later you can to dump this data on a computer if desired.

.
Possible troubles using Aroma:

You don't have a ExtSD card (or your device doesn't have a physical reader).
Any of the Backup files have colon in the name (such as “Backup2015-10-10_12:00:00”).

The solution it's quite simple; use the Ubuntu method since GNU/Linux (Ubuntu) works perfectly managing files from Windows or another Linux distro (Android in fact is a Linux distro). Using the Ubuntu method you can not only copy the colon files on NTFS partition, but also can rename if its needed (you can't rename it from Windows. Even you can't move or open a file from Windows if in his name have a colon or exclamation; just an example).

Your Filesystem is FAT32.
If any of the backup files is higher than 4GB, then you're out of luck.

The only solution is format your SDcard/HDD partition (backup all important data before this, otherwise you'll lose all your stuff!) to NTFS format. Forget this message if you're using Vista or higher, since the Filesystem is NTFS. If you're on XP, then you could be using a deprecated Filesystem such as FAT32. If the trouble comes from your SDcard or external HDD, then format it to NTFS or make a partition and format it with NTFS filesystem. Again, you can do this using Gparted; a partition tool that comes by default on Ubuntu LiveCD you can download using the first method. Nevermind, sorry for sparing my comment, but  I can't send it in only one comment; the text editor said "It looks as spam". Anyway, hope that it help you!
Regards,
Benny.

Since you mention “C:\”, I'll assume you're on Windows OS. I know 2 possible solutions for your trouble:
.
1) The easy and safe Ubuntu mode:

Download an Ubuntu ISO from HERE, burn the file on DVD/USB using the instructions you'll find at the bottom of above link and shutdown completely your computer. After a couple of seconds boot it using the LiveCD Mode where you don't need to install anything in order your Android device can be detected (and HDD's, Wifi, etc) after you connect it using your USB cable. Just ensure your computer is able to boot from DVD/USB device before your internal HDD (see your manual or BBS BIOS Post if a message such as “Pres F9 key to select boot device” appears).

Copy the Backup folder from your Android device to your Internal HDD (or external USB drive if you want). Reboot after you've finished the process, remove the Ubuntu DVD/USB and Voilà; you're again on your Windows OS with your Backup folder safe on your HDD. Keep safe this DVD; maybe one day you could need it in order to recover your info stored on your HDD's if your computer wont work caused by any kind of viruses or other software problems.


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HTC One M8 Sprint doesn't connect to roaming partners India
I am currently in India, and I'm not able to get roaming data with my HTC One M8 Sprint. I have tried several settings and several carriers but to no avail. I have called Sprint but their solutions haven't helped. I have registered for roaming and I verified this on the website. I can connect to carriers to make calls, but I cannot get roaming data.
Is there any way I can fix this without having to call Sprint Customer Support again?
EDIT

Available network operators: Aircel, IND Airtel, Vodafone IN, CellOne
Network Modes: CDMA Only, LTE/CDMA, GSM/UMTS Only, Automatic
All roaming guards are disabled.
Access Point is default Sprint World.
CDMA roaming mode is set to Automatic
Domestic Voice,  Domestic Data,  International Voice, International Data, and GSM Data is all enabled.

In India, The Official partner of Sprint in India are MTS(For CDMA/800) and Bharthi Airtel,Aircel for GSM(900,1800). Since you are using CDMA,MTS(Sprint partner) supports basic 1x data. and MTS will only work when you are in Main cities in India. :(
http://www.sprint.com/popups/pop-gprsCarriers.html

I tried this but it still doesn't activate 3G. I connected to IND Airtel and the network mode is GSM/UMTS only. GSM Data is enabled.

Go to Settings->Mobile data->APN. In the menu select'Reset to default'. It will get the latest GPRS/3G settings from Service provider. IF problem still exist  Then try calling '198' which is Complaint no. for  Airtel where u can get Help


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Unable to disable password on Android screen lock
I would like to disable the PIN/Password of my Android screen lock but I am unable to  do that as the relevant option is greyed out. Please see screenshot:
(Click image to enlarge)

Please read the subtitle of every remaining button...
"Because you've turned on an accessibility service, your device won't use your screen lock to enhance data encryption."
You need to turn off accessibility services before you can change any settings here.
Settings-> System section-> Accessibility->
Turn off each process using the accessability services until you are allowed to change your password again.
A second cause may be what Journeyman said, but you seem to be running an older android version that doesn't support that.

Yeah, man... That's exactly what it was. Accessibility.

It looks like your options for a non-secure lock screen are grayed out due to a security restriction. If you have, say, a work email account on your phone it probably requires to password protect the whole phone for security reasons. If this is the case, a possible solution would be to use a different mobile email client like Touchdown which only locks the app itself instead of the phone.

This is making an assumption, yet you have posted it as an answer. Can you validate this statement? See the answer from Ethan - do E-mail accounts have the availability to act under the accessibility service and prevent the "no password" option being selected?

@MichaelNancarrow - To answer your question: YES, email accounts do have the ability to disable non-secure lock screen options. For instance, if you use the Outlook or similar app or sync your Exchange account through the stock email app you will probably be required to have a secure lock screen. This has nothing to do with the accessibility service. As shown in the screen capture above, the two lock screen options the OP wants to use are "Disabled by administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage". We should wait for the OP to clarify before you criticize.

I have had that happen because I had a second/guest account setup (and that was a pain cause I use a third party lockscreen and I had two lockscreens to contend with). Remove the guest account, and that option should reappear.

This can happen because an app has added a user certificate to the credentials and requires a screen lock as part of it's security policy. MITM proxy apps or VPNs that support https do this. Once the app is removed often the user certificate is left along with the restriction making the option to remove the screen lock appear disabled.
To fix this go to settings->security->credential storage then select 'clear credentials'. this will remove user certificates and security restrictions which will allow you to remove the screen lock. If you select 'trusted credentials' to display the list, the CA certs from the installed android package should be reloaded.
This worked for me on Android 4.1.2.

Go to Settings → General → Security → clear credentials. Now, you should be able to select any of the screen lock options.

Go to settings - fingerprint and password - smart lock - on body detection - turn it off


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Google Play accidentally uninstalled. How to get it back?
I rooted my phone recently. Then my brother came and uninstalled Google play. I factory reset my phone but the app  didn't come back. How do I get it back?

@Firelord 1) the device is rooted. 2) the app didn't become visible again after factory-reset. Cetero censo: the app was really removed. // jose: Please see How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device?

The solution to your problem can be found in this XDA link: Google Play Latest APK
Try pushing it to your system  Give the permissions 644 or rw- r-- r--.


text:
If I can access bubble of Messenger like apps from home screen then does it not mean any other app can also access that app? Is Android safe then?
In Android phones, we can access Messenger and many more apps similar to it from home screen ( like bubble-heads, lyrics etc). With this we let one app in your phone access another app, (we can use messenger chatting from every app in an android phone).
So if the other app running uses this information taken from a app which is running through bubble-heads, won't that be dangerous?
Does android have any security measures to prevent this?

Messenger bubbles are an overlay. Messenger isn't actually interacting with the app running in the background, it's just drawing over it. Even this is a permission that can be denied.
Android as an operating system is secure, but like all systems, it's as secure as the code running on it. Android sand boxes apps and only allows them to interact with each other through the system in predefined ways ( ex: intents to share or open with another app), and has a robust permissions model to boot.
However if you use an app that wants permission to read your messages (like an SMS app), and you grant it that permission, then if the app does something malicious with that data, or the app itself is not secure, then it's not really the operating systems fault.
Like I said, a system is as secure as the code and applications you choose to run on it.


text:
I can not transfer my app into sd card on Huawei Y9 2018
There is no such option in the device and it is running on android 8.0

Go to Settings -> Apps -> info/App info -> Storage
Here change the storage to SD card
Reboot the phone after this, if required.


text:
Andoird P - How to join mp4 files splitted by the camera
I've done multiples videos larger than 4GB with my Pixel 2XL installed with Android P. The camera as splitted my video in 2 files from continuous shooting. In all cases, the first file is readable but, for the second, I can only see the lenght of the video:

Is there a way or a tool to join these files or to repair the second one ?
I've already try a binary copy with "copy \b" and "cat", a join with ffmpeg -f concat and an append with avidemux without success.

Have you tried this : https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2402650

It doesn't work because the file system used by android don't support files larger than 4GB

Finally I was able to recover my video using "recover_mp4". I lost a bit sound quality, but at least my video is readable.
Morevoer, I've opened a bug report and this trouble should be fixed for the next release. (https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/80199853)


text:
WiFi Connection Problem!
I have an an android phone. The problem is that when I connect my phone, which is android Jelly Bean, to my Wi-Fi connection it works and the internet connection doesn't have any issues.
However, when I open my PC the phone loses the connection and no internet is established on the phone, while it works at the same time, very good on the PC and any other phone connected on the Wi-Fi. I hope you help me find the cause.
I tried to find the issue but I couldn't!
Thanks in Advance

Have you checked if there if any IP conflicts between your phone and any of the other devices which are connecting to the wi-fi.

Are you using DHCP? If not and if you can, do so. DHCP should take care of things like @xavier_fakerat mentioned, however when using static IPs and the PC and phone tries to use the same this can cause conflicts. In addition, check the MAC addresses of both devices. It's highly unlikely that they are the same, but you never know.

@confetti I checked the phone and it uses DHCP, but I tried to stop the antivirus for an hour and it worked. I use Avast, and when I susbended its work for a while the wifi connection works as it should be. So, should I remove the antivirus app or not? As if I removed it, the PC won't be safe!

It seems that you have allowed only one device to be connected at a time in your WIFImodem, kindly check that there is an option in your modem of connected devices in which you have selected 1, change it to as maximum as you can and then try


text:
Android phone lost, Data wipe after password change
Here's an urgent situation regarding phone robbery:

My android phone (note 8) gets robbed and as far as i know it has not lost its way to some general person. It was robbed by force, so people handling that can misuse it, so am very concerned.
It all happened in a very unexpected fashion and very fast. In a hurry to secure device, i immediately login to my nearest computer when possible (after 15-20 mins), googled how to clean the lost device and followed the steps. From the very moment it showed these two options:
a. ) Play Sound
b.) Enable secure and erase

I repeatedly click on enable 'secure and erase', google showed an alert that a request to secure and release has been sent.  But i guess robbers would have switched the phone off, so google might not have been able to delete it immediately.

I read that as a first step, i must change my account password. So immediately i changed my account password from the phone.
Meanwhile, i kept trying for secure and erase and searching for other safe options. On searching for how would i confirm if the device have been wiped, i came to find that after 'secure and erase' google supposedly sends an email to ask for further multiple options.

Now here's my concern:

Having already changed the password, when those robbers do turn the phone on, will google would be able to still secure and erase the phone? Or have i hurt my own cause after changing the password immediately.

The emails contain lots of personal information as i have been a heavy user of email on phone and of professional email as well. Also the phone's gallery contains more than 2k photographs of family members and close friends. Am really concerned about this. I know similar question have been asked before but the answers to that arent very clear. So I'll be really greatful if on or more of you can share any further information on this.

The phone will be erased as soon as the phone is connected to some form of internet (either through mobile data or WiFi). Changing the password does not effect this procedure, the device will still be wiped.


text:
How can I keep a folder backed up online with continuous syncing?
I've found that the dropbox support for Titanium Backup never works for me amd I've also tried using ubuntuone and idrivesync but neither of these support setting a directory to keep in sync.
Does anyone know of a free service, that can keep any directory of your choice backed up online?
The best would be a scheduled task so that the battery isn't drained by continuous sync.

By "titanium" do you mean Titanium Media Sync? (That's the accepted solution for this related question: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/complete-dropbox-implementation-for-android )

Actually I didn't know about titanium media, I've edited the question to be more specific about titanium backup. Seen as it's from the same people, I'm not too confident in the dropbox support working for me, much as I love their backup solution

You can use DropSync. It can sync any specified folder and you can setup a schedule. Recent update of free version of the app removed limitation for the schedule.

This appears to be the solution! Currently syncing thanks!

Didn't dropbox native client worked for you?

The dropbox client doesn't appear to work for me unfortunately. I can browse files remotely and open them but I can't keep a whole directory of choice in sync automatically.


text:
Android Market auto restore apps not working
After some problems I had to restore my phone. Before doing it I had enabled the option of google's security copy. Now I've linked my google account and market does nothing, it doesn't restore apps. So I've decided to enter the market through the browser and in "My market account" I could only see the three apps that are native to the phone (youtube, gmail and google maps). How can I get all the apps I had before?
Thanks,
Diego

Did you look in your "library"? https://market.android.com/mylibrary I recently did a factory reset and I can see all of the apps that I'd previously had installed, not just the ones I've only just gotten around to.

Yes yes!!! They are there, thanks. Please post this as an answer.

Sure. Done. (I was happy to find them there, too.)

Did you look in your "Library"?
I recently did a factory reset and I can see all of the apps that I'd previously had installed, not just the ones I've only just gotten around to.

this is cool, i didn't know you could do this! is there any way to do it from the phone market?

Unfortunately, if you didn't pay for them, i don't believe the market saves any record of your downloads. If they cost money, the should show up under My apps in the market after a fresh system wipe, but free apps should be backed up with Titanium Backup or Astro File Manager, both allow you to simply reinstall your apps at any time.

I would add AppBrain (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apps ) to that list.  Combined with Fast Web Installer (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.appspot.swisscodemonkeys.apppusher ) it allows you to create a list of your apps either by syncing from the phone, or via their web site.  You can then re-install them onto your device with one click.

@jlehenbauer Actually, Market saves your installed apps, because when I got my Galaxy Tab 10.1 it automatically installed the ~80 apps I had on my Galaxy S. But this has never happened then I've wiped the phone (for example when flashing). Maybe it only works for new devices that use the same Google account?

Yes, I know about that apps but they need root access and my reinstall was made by tech service, if I rooted my phone to backup they wouldn't take it.

cool! i didn't know about @Al's solution, i like it. And only Titanium Backup requires root, Astro doesn't.


text:
Can my Andoid access an external SD card connected by USB C?
I am speaking about an external SD card, attached by USB C cable; not any internal SD card.
I realize that access speed would not be great, but I am just looking for a cheap way to carry around 256gB or so in my pocket, for quite infrequent access to large files.
Can my Android 7 device recognize that external storage, either alone, or with help of an app?

[Update] The device is a ULEfone Armor 2. I would want to use a USB C cable to connect to an external SD card reader (unless anyone knows of a cheaper way to connect lots of external storage (physically, not requiring network access))

It depends on the phone. Please [edit] your question and mention what phone you have. Also, I assume you mean the SD card is in a USB-C card reader, but the question makes it sound like you are expecting to attach the card to the cable directly.

A phone supporting OTG should recognize it as a regular storage device like any other USB drive, but if you're looking to have it recognize it as a SD card inserted into the device (e.g. so you could adopt it as internal storage) then that's not it.

I just want to be able to show a few photos or movies from an SD card which I carry around in pocket, along with an adapter/reader & USB-C cable. I think that you are correct, and that OTG will cover it. I was hoping that someone could confirm this.

For that purpose it should work if USB OTG works on your device. I have seen that images (in a DCIM directory structure) from an OTG SD card reader even appear in the gallery app. Just buy a cheap USB 2.0 sd-card reader plus OTG cable and try it out.

I tried this on a Pixel 3 with a VAVA Usb C hub and it did not work for me, even though other USB devices were recognized correctly through the hub.

Welcome aboard, and thanks for the feedback, after all this time :-)


text:
Dimming service still works after app uninstall
I have installed a sleep monitoring app (Sleep as Android) on my LG G3.
It has a feature that dims the screen when the monitoring starts.
It was very annoying, so I disabled it in the settings of the app.
In the mornings I stopped the monitoring and resumed using my phone.
For a few days now, in normal usage (even if I read emails, or even play games!), my screen dims until it becomes dark grey (it is not locked) and I can't undim it, just lock and unlock.
I stopped the application but the dimming kept happening.
So ultimately, I uninstalled the app.
The dimming still happens, so I presume the app had some service installed that makes the screen dim.
When my phone tries to lock itself (after 2 minutes of idle screen time), the dimming wakes it up and they fight! You can see how it looks:

Can I somehow uninstall the dimming service?

Did you reboot the phone after that?

@esQmo_ Of course, many times. It did not help.


text:
Android Bluetooth profiles missing with paired devices
I have an Android 6.0 device and an Android 4.1 device.
I used Bluetooth to pair them (only a numeric code was shown, no input needed) and it worked, I can send files via Bluetooth.
However, when I click the paired device on either phone, I can't see any profile.
This is what I see:

As Internet Access is a crucial profile for tethering, it must be present.
Can you tell me why they are missing?

Have you enabled the "Bluetooth-Tethering" setting on either of the phones (the one which should share the connection)?

@Robert Yes, it says Sharing Internet connection…

It seems that my old Sony Xperia J phone does not have this feature: either by hardware limitations or by carrier modifications.


text:
How to upgrade Galaxy Nexus to android 4.3
I am trying to upgrade Galaxy Nexus to 4.3 from factory image.
I reboot my phone using adb reboot-bootloader. It boots to a screen with the android robot.
And then I go to the directory with the build, and I type 'flash-all.bat'
But then the prompt just sits and says 'waiting on device'.
How can I fix this?

The waiting on the device means that your phone is not being located.
Try the following code:
fastboot devices

And check if there are some devices recognized. If not, it probably means that you don't have the correct drivers installed. What O.S. are you using? I guess that Windows. Which version? x86 or x64?
EDIT: Explanation about drivers of Android Phones in Windows. This is a general idea, so some technical mistakes are allowed, but in general, an Android phone, when plugged to the PC, identifies itself as several devices. One is to mount the data (dependeing on the version, it uses MTP, or mount the SDcard), another is the Android Phone to use the adb, and two more are when the phone is connected but in recovery or in bootloader. For each of this "Virtual devices", the O.S. needs a driver, usually a different driver. So you might have the adb drivers installed, but not the fastboot.

Confused question: If the correct driver is missing, how comes the adb reboot bootloader command did work? Does fastboot require a different driver? I'm not the Windoze guy, so I might have missed something here.

@Izzy Just updated my answer to explain a bit this. Fast answer, yes, fastboot usually requires a different driver.


text:
Nexus 4 - suddenly lost access to all Google sites
Nexus 4, stock 4.3, rooted. WiFi only for data, strong signal
Suddenly today, for no apparent reason, every app requiring access to a Google site stopped working:
Google Now gives "Network error"
Google Chrome gives "This webpage is not available" for any Google url, but works fine for any other url
Android Weather sits on "Updating"
Finance gives "Error. Network connection unavailable"
Google Maps gives blank screen
Play Store gives "Server Error"
The one exception to this is that Firefox can access any Google url, no problem. All other apps accessing the internet work fine.
I have tried rebooting - no effect.
Anyone have any ideas how to solve this problem.
Thank you.

I suspect that it's indeed some localized Google issue. Is it still happening?

Is it only Google services or all HTTPS sites? In any case, make sure the clock, date, and time zone is set correctly on the device.

It is probably a problem with your host file, located in "/etc/hosts".
To fix this you need root rights, then edit the host file and delete the line which says "android.clients.google.com"

I had this problem, too. Found a good answer, finally, here:
http://www.galaxys4forums.net/forum/12-galaxy-s4-help/3671-problems-after-4-3-update-2.html
It's a matter of settings for the WiFi network you are connecting to.

Can you add some details to your answer? When that link no longer functions there's nothing useful here at all.


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Galaxy S4 Android 4.3 is repeatingly asking about TouchWiz
Every time I press the home button Android asks me to choose between Standard and Simple. How can I can rid of this annoyance?

update 131130 16:26 CET
I installed another launcher and tried to clear and disable everything with TouchWiz and still it's repeadingly asking me the same question every time I press the home button.

Update 131201 10:47 CET
I read that rebooting the phone and/or uninstalling the google search update could resolve the problem and after rebooting the phone the question hasn't popped up for a while. I'm clicking around to verify that it won't appear and the solution at this time seems to be that rebooting the phone will do it and I might not have to uninstall the search update which was mentioned.

Wouldn't this be Android 4.3?

I'm assuming you selected Touchwiz and then 'Always' (I'm guessing Alltid means always) and that didn't work. Maybe go to settings > more > application manager and clear the touchwiz defaults and try it again. Could you install Nova Launcher (it's free) and try to set your default home in Nova Settings (you can select TW in there).

@RossC Rebooting the phone seems to have solved it.

I found the solution on another blog, seems to be working. http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/334381-touchwiz-wont-stay-default-launcher.html

I have found the solution for uninstalling the Touchwiz from S4.

Press and hold on the home button. (the centre button on your Samsung mobile)
You will see a screen with a bar below, on the bar. There is 3 icons. Press on the pie icon.
Select clear default, and press the home button again. (Just press and release, do not hold)
Once you see the Touchwiz appear with 2 selections. Touchwiz Home Easy and Touchwiz Home. Select only Touchwiz Home and press always.
The Touchwiz will not bother you again.

You need not reboot or anything. The only thing you have to do is go to settings and select from default applications touch wiz home once and forever.


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Unable to restore WhatsApp chat
I have followed all the possible ways to restore my WhatsApp chat, but I'm unable to do so.
I uninstalled and reinstalled WhatsApp three times and had my WhatsApp data in my SD card even after I moved it to my new phone. I'm unable to get my data back. I'm even unable to rename the backup files.
How do I restore the chats?

WhatsApp encrypted database needs same phone number to be decrypted.

Back up your chats on your old phone.
    Go to WhatsApp > Menu Button > Settings > Chat settings > Back up chats.
Transfer your External microSD card to your new phone if your WhatsApp/Database folder is located in your external microSD card.
    Please see below if your WhatsApp folder is located in your device's internal memory.
Install WhatsApp on your new phone.
You must have the same phone number in WhatsApp that you had when you backed up your chats.
Click Restore when prompted to restore your message history.

Note: You cannot restore chat history from any other phone type to Android, or from Android to another phone type.
Related discussion: I'm getting a new Android. How do I move my chat history over?


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No app icons on home screen for newly installed apps in Galaxy Tab S 10.5
My Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 running Android 4.4.2 is not creating app icons for newly installed apps, I have checked the settings in Play Store, and they are correct.  What's wrong, and how do I correct it?

For how long have you been facing this issue? Did you change your launcher app meanwhile?

If you are using any third-party launcher apps in your phone then make sure you have your desktop unlocked in your launcher settings page.

Have you checked to see if your tablet started a new homepage?  I have a SGT-S 8.6" Wi-fi (T-700). When I started using mine I noticed that it will put new icons on a new page even when there is room on the first page.
On your homepage; bottom center, above the app tray symbol (circled dots), there are dots in a row indicating which home page you are currently using and how many pages there are.  If you are using the Google Now launcher it's page will also have it's own dot to the left off the one you are on.  If there is another dot just swipe left to go to the next page.  Now you can drag your new icon to your homepage and drop it where you want.  You might want to check into grouping your icons into folders.
Here it's a link to the manuel:
http://www.samsung.com/us/business/support/mobile
hope this helps!


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How do I cast my Android phone's display onto a large screen in real-time?
Is it possible to cast the screen of an Android phone onto a large display screen while playing a game on it so that every action and move of the person playing the game shows on the screen in real time?
What I want is that the gamer plays the game while looking at the phone and touching the phone screen only but a large number of people are able to see his game in real-time on the large screen.

Why not Chromecast or Miracast?

Check out NITROME TOUCHEY...http://www.nitrome.com/touchy/

Please update your question with the phone and OS version

@Lucky I am asking possibility. Is it possible in general?

Yes it is possible using chromecast or Miracast feature as george suggested. But not all phones have this feature to cast their screen onto a bigger screen. So it depends on the device capabilties.

You can do this by using an Amazing app called Shou. You can record, broadcast, and mirror your device screen.
As about mirroring, real time mirroring is available, to view on any device with a browser.


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Is there a way to disable/remove screenshot soft button or remap it for some other function?
I have 7" 4.2.2 tablet for everyday use and it have 2 additional soft buttons. Rightmost one is a "screenshot" soft button (please find picture below). My problem is what I rarely take screenshots intentionally (Vol- + Power is more than enough for me and produces better quality screenshots) but this button and its position causes literally a tons of accidental screenshots. Even worse, this button remains fully functional even when device is locked.
(Click image to enlarge)

It there a way to disable this soft button (at least for lock-screen)? Or remove it completely? Or even better, to bind for some more useful function?
FWIW, tablet is Mediatek-based and I have a root.

Does your device have hardware keys as an alternative for those important soft keys? If yes, then try Gravitybox. It would create its own navigation bar and allows you to choose which keys would you like to show at the bottom. Can't say whether it would work in your case, but it's worth a try.

@Firelord, no, just basic Vol+ Vol- and Pwr.

Yeah, as @Firelord said, if you have Xposed installed, you could try using a custom navigation bar that's available in GravityBox.. Moreover, if that doesn't help, if you really know how, try editing the SystemUI.apk by decompiling using APKTool


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What is "Assistant 1.0" app and how do I get rid of it?
I have MetroPCS and a ZTE ZMAX Z970 phone with Android 4.4.4
This app appeared, I don't know exactly when, and it's got some worrisome permissions and I want it off my phone, but it has no uninstall option and there's nothing on Google Web Search about it.
It looks goofy enough to be malware.
(Click image to enlarge)

Is the device rooted? If not, then you can't install that app easily. If your device has never been rooted then assume that your OEM has shipped that app in the device. Also, give us its package name. Install [tag:adb] and give us the output of pm list packages -f -s | grep "Assistant".

ZTE ships with a smartphone management tool name Mi-assistant. Could this be that? Google ID: com.zte.heartyservice

Keep in mind that uninstalling this app could eliminate some core feature of your device.

@DanHenderson, thanks for the warning. I would have to root it to uninstall it, and I don't think this phone can be rooted.

@Firelord, it's not rooted. I don't think this model can be. I'll run pm list packages and let you know. Thanks!

@Manubhargav, I don't think so. The icon is not the same and my app can't be ran or interacted with. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zte.heartyservice

Giving the package name would help as @Firelord suggested. Also if you're not comfortable with adb,  you can install System Info for android and see package name.

@Manubhargav, thank you I will install that. Signal too bad at the moment, but I'll check it when the icon hits my android desktop.


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How to export a chat thread in Tinder app?
I have a chat on Tinder that I do not want to lose. Is there any way (even against payment) to export that chat thread to pdf, txt, excel, etc.?

Are you on rooted phone?

All the Tinder messages are stored in /data/data/com.tinder/db/tinder.db.
Use Root Explorer and extract the data.

You can save a "full page screenshot" using a third-party app like LongShot.


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"SD card is blank or has unsupported filesystems" message in Samsung Galaxy S4
My Samsung Galaxy S4 showed  "SD card is blank or has unsupported filesystems". It then gave me the option to format my SD card, to which I reluctantly consented.
After having done so however, it proceeds to present me with the same message, "Blank SD card", regardless of how many times I insist in formatting.
After searching on Internet, I  found that apparently I should format the SD card from my computer. I don't have an adapter for microSD cards, so I connected my phone with a USB cable to my computer, and apparently my SD card refuses to show up there.
Also, for your information, it seems that neither my phone wants to recognize the SD card, for example if I try to transfer apps to my SD card my phone tells me I don't have a SD card.
So, is there anything I can do to resolve this issue? Should I buy a microSD adapter and hope that my computer will recognize the SD card then, or should I just buy a new SD card? Or is there something else I can do?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! Please see our external-sd tag-wiki and take a closer look at the graphic there :) Have you tried the card in a different device? Sometimes there are incompatibilities.

Well, as previously mentioned I don't have a microSD card reader so I can't really follow that graph if connecting your phone to a computer with a USB cable is not sufficient.

That was just one point. Have you tried the card in any other device? Have you tried a different card in your device? Hard to tell which side the error is on without at least testing that. Whether the "other device" is another phone, or some SD card reader, depends on what's available – though using the latter makes it much easier.

Sometimes your phone may not recognize your SD cards properly. Unfortunately, my phone is also one of them.
While each time it gives me the option to format my SD card, I tap "No" and then everything will be ok. All contents on my SD card can be shown normally. So, I think you may choose not to consent to format the card. Just shut down your S4 and power it on to have a try. Good luck.


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Wifi hotspot giving "No internet, secured" on Huawei P10 with Android 8.0.0
This is driving me bonkers. I've been on a chat with Vodafone and they sent me APN settings, but that hasn't helped. I've tried the settings in this thread.
And that hasn't helped this time (it did a few months ago!!)
If I drop to a CMD prompt, on Windows 10 I can see that DNS is not working.
C:\Users\music>nslookup google.com
Server: UnKnown
Address: ::1

*** UnKnown can't find google.com: No response from server

which is really odd.
So, I tried to hit the IP address of one of my own web sites, which works.
It's definitely a DNS problem, and I guess the DHCP on the phone is not giving me any DNS server address to use, but how do I force it to do that? I've tried putting static details, and just using 8.8.8.8 and 4.4.4.4 as DNS, but it didn't help at all.

Is chrome browser what you are only trying to search with or have you tried other browsers? If only chrome maybe clearing/flushing the DNS cache might help. Url Address: chrome://net-internals/#dns

I've tried within a Windows CMD prompt, and I can ping 8.8.8.8 for example, but if I try to ping google.com I get the error message shown above.

Also I have tried in ms Edge and I got the same behaviour.

This might help: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/205740/218526

This always happens if Vodafone send an update to the APN ... to fix it, just reset your APN settings back to default and select either pre-pay or post-pay, whatever's appropriate for your sim.

I tried that. Also, tried changing the APN type to various combinations of "default, supl, mms, ia, dun" but NONE of that seemed to help. The weird thing is if I try to ping a known IP address on the internet it works just fine. It's only my DNS that isn't working. Obviously speaking to Voda they weren't much help. I got them to sent me a new settings OTA, but it didn't help. I've got it working using a USB cable, but it will not play ball using Wifi hotspot at all.


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Troubleshooting wifi issues
Suddenly the wifi of my Xiaomi A1 stopped to connect my home's wifi :-/
There is no update, either phone or router, I'm aware off. But  at some point yesterday I realized I was not connected. So I tried to manually connect. First weird thing, Android doesn't have the password saved. I enter again the password, and I just get "failed to connect".
All the other devices (iphone, ipad, macbook, google home, chromecast, etc.) keep working as normal.
I've rebooted the router just in case, but no outcomes.
Any idea how can I troubleshoot that?

Have you also rebooted your phone?

Yes, I did that too.

It might be drastic but try to reset the network settings (found in Settings). Mobile & WiFi settings will be reset.

Yeah, I already tried that, with no results :-/

Create a hotspot on one of your other devices, and test if the xiaomi will be able to connect to it, to rule out a faulty WiFi chip

Damnit! It doesn't connect to that hotspot either... So the wifi chip has died. I'll try to make a hardware check.

This may be extreme but have you already tried a factory reset on your device?

As discovered in the comments thread, my issue looks to be a hardware issue on the phone itself.


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How to disable viber in-app sounds

Hi everyone, appreciate your help on this. How can i apply in android the similar viber setting in iphone to disable the in-app sound?
Basically i still want to hear the viber notification when my phone is locked but i do not want to hear the ding sound when a new message comes in while I'm in the chat thread already.


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Help setting up my phone or tablet as a hotspot
Can someone help me on how to use my phone or new tablet as a hotspot, so I can connect my old tablet? (using either my phone, or new tablet) I just found my old Tablet, a Galaxy Tab E.  An old guy would really appreciate it.

Please mention your Android version by [edit] in your question also details of your phone

Options for mobile hotspot/tethering are usually found under Wireless & Networks section in Settings.
Depending on your target device you may need to navigate to:
Settings → Wireless & Networks → Personal hotspot (or Tethering & portable hotspot)
Alternatively, recent versions of Android allow you to search a particular setting that is "hidden" you can use the keyword "hotspot" or "tethering" to get to the required screen, thereafter simply toggle to activate the hotspot (you may need to configure the hotspot setting first).


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How can I read OL Chiki characters on Android?
OL Chiki characters are not displaying on Android phone whose Unicode range is [1C50-1C7F] .
I know of only two processes to display such characters:

By installing OL Chiki Unicode font. But my Android phone does not support font installation.
By rooting the phone for installing fonts. But I do not want to root.

So, how can I install these Unicode, or how to read or display these Unicode characters on my phone?

Not all android mobile handsets support Ol Chiki, may I know which brand & model phone you are using, and whether you want to see the menu in Ol Chiki or just want to write in Ol Chiki.
If you just want to see the menu, try out this video link & if you want to type in Ol Chiki, visit this site for fonts download search on google.
Note : By implementing these steps not all locations may show Ol Chiki as some are system driven & which cannot be override by these methods.

If your device is rooted, you can install Santali Ol-Chiki Font (a Unicode font).

Not a bad idea, but how to achieve that? Which steps are required to install the font – assuming the device is already rooted?


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WhatsApp error when trying to reinstall
I have installed and restored WhatsApp a million times or so when flashing and switching between ROMs.
Last night I tried something funny, and it cost me too much. I tried to install WhatsApp for another number (my phone has dual SIM). While SMS verification was happening, it got registered via my previously registered WhatsApp number.
Now even after I deleted the new no. account, I am still not able to get my old account back. When I give my old number, it doesn’t ask for SMS verification, and goes to local backup directly, but fails there and throws error.
On the other hand, I can verify the account, but cannot restore all my messages.
My messages are quite important.

The title is all about the error, but what's the error? Please post a screenshot or exactly quote it.

There is one way I hope will fix your problem:

Go to your phone settings
Open Application manager
Scroll and find WhatsApp and then click it
You will see a screen with application detail
Click on Clear cache and then click on Clear data buttons

It will make your WhatsApp as a fresh application. Then try to log in with your old account .

Hi, thanks for your reply .....I have tried all that, i even uninstalled and installed latest version..the thing is that...after verification of sms, it does not complete the restoration...it unfortunately stops...and quits

it might be related to back-end synch problem .. do one thing completely uninstall the application and then install the fresh what’s App from google play.

@firelord :- ok I will keep in mind in future

hi, yes.. i installed fresh app..alone..i even reset my phone....and then after number verification, it asked for restoring backup, after it started around 80% of restoration..it stopped unfortunately.and from then on.its the same issue..doesnt restore any message

@sriniketan :- I think this issue is related with device memory .Please check whether your device have available space .Hope this will help you rest you need to post your problem on whatsapp

i have plenty of memory, i even tried this after factory reset and wipe, and also used aftermarket apps like whatsapp+ aswell, still no use. Its the same, i guess the problem is on server.


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Error: package x.x.x is unknown, for "run-as (classname)" command on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 running Android 4.4.2
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, Android 4.4.2.
As a developer, I need to be able to see my files in /data/data/(classname), but I don't want to root my tablet.  Found out one can read files in /data/data/(classname) by using run-as (classname) after getting into the shell (i.e., adb shell), but this is giving me "package x.x.x is unknown".
Seeing, upon searching, that this is a Samsung issue, perhaps with this particular Android release.  Went to Samsung support chat, but the 'technical support' could not help.
Has anyone seen this issue?  TIA.

Same problem with Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (model SM-T230), which also runs on Android 4.4.2 and probably won't ever get another update.


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Why are characters turning into blocks?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. On the lock screen and on pop up messages some of the characters are blocks.
Here is a screen shot of it:

Screenshot - Block Characters (Click to enlarge)
I'm not sure if it's one of my apps that is doing this or if it's something else.

If you restart, does this persist? Looks like a corrupted font file to me.

@LieRyan The OP commented, it solved after a restart and forget to mention you. Could you post that an answer?

@Lucky: reposted the comment as an answer and expanded a little on the possible reasons

It looks like a glitch in the font rendering process. If it is an in memory glitch, you may be able to resolve it by restarting the device. If it persists across restarts, then it is possibly either a corrupted font file or there's a bug in the font loader. In either case, you'd want to try to see if a restart resolves it.


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Data connection keeps turning on in Alcatel One Touch?
I have an Alcatel One Touch. The data connection is turning on by itself in the past couple of months.
I went to see Bell today, and the guy said it could be an app that's turning it on?
How do I check this? I really do not want to delete my apps or loose all my important texts messages. Is there an app that I can check which  is turning on my data connection?

There are many phones named with Alcatel One Touch. Which exact model are you using?

Introductory: Have you tried going into Settings >> Mobile Data and de-selecting Mobile Data? Normally, when you install apps from Google Play, the App Permissions will tell you what apps have network access. Having said that, it could be any number of applications turning on your Data.
Second Possible Solution: You may also want to try disabling automatic connection by pursuing the following action. go to Settings >> More Connections > Mobile Networks > Network Mode. Make sure that none of the modes have automatic connection enabled.
Answering Your Questions: As far as I'm concerned, you can download Permissions Explorer to see what apps are capable of accessing your Data.
Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank you for the advice, I've downloaded the app you mention. What exactly am I looking for ? Access-data-statues?

Not a problem. Well, yes, anything that has the word 'network' in it should be of some relevance, but you'll really have to play around and see what you think could be causing it.  There is also an app called MobiWol. It's a no-root Firewall app. So, once you find the potential apps, download MobiWol and disallow it from connecting to the internet.


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Error 1240: Boot certification verify on LG Optimus Exceed 2
I've a LG Optimus Exceed 2. It won't turn on. When I plug it into my computer and try to factory reset it is always good to the LG start-up screen. But then in the top right corner it says "error 1240" and shows a boot certification and some thing about verification.
Is there any possible way to get this fixed?

Yes there is. Its fairly simple.
YOU WILL NEED A COMPUTER OR LAPTOP TO DO THIS.
You need to go to the LG Exceed 2 Resources at AndroidForums, and download the "LG Flash tool 2014" plus a matching KDZ file.
Once you download ask the files you need, open the lg flash tool 2014 out it's pretty much self explanatory... where it says kdz file you select the kdz file you downloaded at the link I posted earlier. Out will be a fairly large file just so you know.

Becky, as stated above you really need to [edit] your post – for cleanup (which I just did for you now) and for additional details: What should be downloaded (apart from the flash tool, which seems quite clear)? Which KDZ especially?

you have to get the one that starts with your phone model number


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Very high battery drain by Android OS, Android System, and Screen in Samsung Galaxy Note 3 running Lollipop
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N900) running Android 5.0.
The battery life is terrible. Most of the battery is taken by Android OS, Android System, and Screen. The moment I switch the screen on, the phone doesn't even last an hour.
What should I do to fix this drain?
(Click image to enlarge)

The other questions with the battery-life tag might be useful.

This can be caused by numerous things.
Do you have any background sync going on? e.g. Google sync, few email account and so on?

Don't sync every 5 min, try to increase the sync interval to 30 min e.g.

Do you have a bad signal reception most of the times?

It can help to change to 2G network if thats the case.

Some other tips:
Try apps like "Greenify". It works even when you are not rooted and can terminate background processes when you don't need them.
The last thing you can do is to perform a factory reset and see if that changes anything. But you'll loose all of your data.
An other option would be to try a second battery and see if that one performs better.
I hope one of these advices can help you a little bit.


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Asus Fonepad 7 Tablet stuck on boot logo, and can't be booted into Recovery mode
My Asus Fonepad (k019/FE375) running stock Lollipop suddenly won't get past the Asus (boot logo) loading screen.
I've tried draining the battery and turning it on again, but the issue persists. I also can't access the Recovery mode.
I have done nothing -- no rooting or flashing.
How do I resolve this issue?

Can you enter the droidboot mode by pressing the volume up and  power key, simultaneously. If yes, than you can install the firmware by using either   asus flashtool or adb command or using IntelAndroid- launcher.bat.
If you are unable to enter the droidboot mode, than you need to used the xfstk tool.


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Default mode with USB, charging + USB Tethering?
Is there anyway to make it so that my phone, when connected with a USB Data Cable to a computer automatically turns on USB Tethering?
Currently using Cyanogenmod 13.
I tried changing the option in Developer Options to RNDIS however it doesn't seem to work (by that I mean it doesn't seem to do what USB Tethering does), and it doesn't hold when I unplug and plug back in.

Yes, that's quite easy to do but  would more or less require root access. Use Tasker with Secure Settings or just Automate (llama) or provide us the information of your Android version and device.

I'm using CM13, rooted.

Android 6+ permissions changes made this impossible, this settings in Developer options is a hold over from older versions of the Android source code which likely just hasn't been removed yet, as far as we can tell it has no real world function, other than to allow some modes that may not appear in the regular USB menu if the device is equipped/capable. Regardless of the setting, the connection will return to Charge Only mode on the next connection.

Dang. Not possible isn't what I expected from an Android. It's a pain in the ass to click through 3 menus to turn on USB tethering. I just want to plug it into my router and have it work.

Is there anyway to make it so that my phone, when connected with a USB Data Cable to a computer automatically turns on USB Tethering?

Yes. Use automation. I successfully tested my solution using Automate v1.1.13 on CM13 (build:ZNH0EAO1QE).
You would need to make a flow and it should fairly look like this:
(Click an image to enlarge it)

Alternatively, you can use Tasker to detect the USB connection and then run this command with root access:
service call connectivity 30 i32 1


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Tricking the file system to mount a LINK2SD drive as mnt/extsd
I've got a device that is using the brilliant LINK2SD to expand the system memory onto the SD......all good.
As part of the implementation, the app mounts the two SD card partitions as:

FAT32 /mnt/extsd/179_49

and

EXT4 /mnt/extsd/179_50

Of course a regular FAT32 SD card mounts as /mnt/extsd so the problem then presents itself with some apps that are hard coded to look for /mnt/extsd for SD storage.....apps like Camera fail with errors similar to can't find SD card etc.
My question is how can I mount/trick the system to mount the FAT32 partition /mnt/extsd/179_49 as /mnt/extsd ???
I've got root access, terminal etc.
Any ideas folk ?
Cheers
David

What Android Version is your device? Mention it in the question, because if it's JellyBean or below, you can do that by simply editing the vold.fstab, or for KitKat and above, I'm afraid you'll need to edit the ramdisk in boot.img

/mnt/extsd/179_49
/mnt/extsd/179_50
/mnt/extsd

some type of round-robin.
Your going to have to move your data in '49 & '50 to someother directories. mkdir /sdcard/externalData
rmdir '49
rmdir '50
rmdir extsd

cd mnt
ln -s /sdcard/externalData extsd

cd extsd
ln -s /sdcard/new49 179_49

ln -s /sdcard/new50 179_50

Whether this will work will depends on the capabilities of ln.  This would work in normal unix  / linux boxes.
R

It's not that easy in Android even if we have root access.. @historystamp


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WiFi Disconnecting (Special Issue)
I could not afford my Internet this month, it has happened before, but I am turning it back on next week.
Anyways, so on my PC (which is connected to the Internet via Ethernet), the Internet works but blocks websites obviously since I didn't pay the bill, but if I use SSH tunneling, or use a VPN I can reroute the web traffic and visit any website I want.
On my laptop, which uses WiFi, I can do the exact same thing...
Now on my Android device (Galaxy S4), when connecting it says "Sign In Required" or something, and when I click Chrome to sign in, it just goes to Google and stuff, and every other site is blocked as expected. I can use a VPN like Betternet to unlock the other sites like I would on my computer. However, the WiFi on my Android disconnects every 3 or 4 minutes, whether I use a VPN or not, and I am not sure why this happens exclusively to my Android, and not any other device such as my laptop.
Any ideas on what is happening? Any router changes I can do, any Android changes I can do?


text:
Proof for the application XYZ is never installed on a non-rooted Android phone
With adb, we can list the applications. In the documentation, the -u option also lists the uninstalled applications. I'd tested and this is not working!
I need at least one way to prove or at least convince someone that in a non-rooted Android phone the XYZ application is never installed!

There may be residue from that app's temporary files or cache on the internal storage but if you reset the phone, all information about this is wiped. If the app was installed through the Google Play Store, there might be an entry left in My Apps -> All, however, it can be easily removed.

Does Google keep an audit, at least for statistics?

Once it's removed, it's gone. If that app, however, offers to log in with your Google account, that entry about the app's access to your account is kept separately in your third-party accesses (this doesn't track the device, though)

There is the Avast Fronsic, but it is not %100 and may require experts.

Yeah, I'd say if it's not in your Google Play "All" list, then it's plausibly never been installed. However, this would not alone constitute proof. It sucks that you have to prove a negative though, it should be up to this person to prove the app was ever installed!

Does Google Play list the third party apps?


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GET_ACCOUNTS Permission, Email Privacy
Any app with the GET_ACCOUNTS permission, may retrieve all registered accounts and email addresses stored in Account Manager. I understand this imposes serious privacy and security issues, as a phone compromised with a potentially malicious app, could have ALL of their email addresses collected, and sent to unintended parties.
To tackle this issue, I know one could be prudent in choosing the apps I install, and use a 3rd party email app that does not use the Android account manager to store account/email credentials. However, there do not seem to be many of such email apps available to choose from. Most of them use the Android account manager, including of course the stock email app.
My question is, what are the best ways to tackle this issue? Since the choices one have is extremely limited.

You can deny permissions requested by apps when using Android 6+ in Settings --> Apps (or Apps & notifications) --> Your_app --> Permissions.
However if you are "forced" into accepting the permissions that may infringe on your privacy, it is better if you have a rooted phone or tablet to install apps that can feed them with fake data. Thus, reducing their ability to access your private information.


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Are there other ways to enter fastboot mode if the power button is broken?
I've dropped my phone (ATRIX HD) and now it isn't turning on. The thing is when I connect to charger it shows the green light and start to boot (Motorola logo appears) but then it keeps restarting forever.
I've read that to solve this you've enter fastboot mode and do some modifications. The problem is that I'm unable to enter fastboot when the phone is connected to the PC instead of the charger.
Since the power button broke it gets even harder because I have to use a mini screwdriver to press it (and it is very hard to press the "Volume Down" at the same time also).
So, is there any other way to pass the files needed for recovery or to enter fastboot mode?

Have you tried adb reboot recovery already?

No i haven't @ott-- , i thought the phone should at least be recognized by the computer to use adb. Have you any suggestions on that direction?

Did you already enable Developer functions in your Settings? There you can enable USB debugging.