text:
How to install Google Services on a Garmin Fleet 790 Navigation Tablet?
I tried different approaches.
Installing the APKs: Login, Framework, Service and last but not at least Playstore wont work. (I tried it successfully on fire tablet)
In factory mode the menu Point: install from Sd Card wont be Displayed. To install Gapps from there.
Is there any other method to make Google Play Services run on the device?
the navigation tablet is  based on Android 6.0.1
i tried to follow the describtion from @izzy, but if I use the adb sideload i get:

"adb : sideload connection: closed .. trying pre kitkat sideload
  method..'

and than the connection fails again and is closed too.   starting the device in factory mode and try to install it says:

"failed to open driver control no such file"

underwards it says that i could use adb sideload, but when i try my computer says

"no connected device"

Please see: How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device? – this includes GServices. Best approach is OpenGApps (mentioned in an answer there). And you can probably use adb sideload if "install from SD card" isn't available.

@Izzy thanks. i tried to follow the describtion, but if I use the adb sideload i get: "adb : sideload connection: closed .. trying pre kitkat sideload method and there connection fails again and is closed'
starting the device in factory mode and try to install it says: "failed to open driver control no such file"

OK, that seem to be device-specific issues. I'll reopen this question so you get a chance to solve those. Good luck!

@Izzy thank you


text:
My computer doesn't recognize my phone, neither on ubuntu nor windows
I own an LG-K430T, and I use it to share internet with my Desktop PC through USB tethering. Or I did it for a year straight until today, when my PC isn't recognizing my phone anymore, neither on Windows 7 nor Ubuntu 18.04.2. It doesn't even allow to share files, since there isn't a pop-up(neither in the phone nor the PC), but the phone does charge. I thought it could be my USB cable that worn off, but using this same USB cable with my sister's Huawei, it does allow to share files/internet. Furthermore, I tried with 3 different USB cables and different ports, and my phone still isn't recognized. Then, I tried it on Ubuntu, and to my surprise, it's still not recognized. So, I think it's safe to say the cable isn't the issue, nor the operative system( Also, I restarted both the phone and the PC) Then , In ubuntu, I tried to enable USB debugging followed by lsusb and nothing yet. My phone was last updated in april 2019 and its android version is 6.0, so I don't have a clue about what's causing the issue, although I'd blame the phone..
On windows,I have tried to update drivers of the 'Unknown device' on Device administration, but it says they are already up-to date
EDIT:
Answers to comments: lsusb output:
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 1004:6344 LG Electronics, Inc. G2 Android Phone [tethering mode]
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f9:0413 Brother Industries, Ltd
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 04f3:0235 Elan Microelectronics Corp.
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

(THE LG PHONE THAT IS TETHERING IS ANOTHER ONE, DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM). So, in short, lsusb doesn't recognize it.
The MTP option looks already enabled
Further info
The other day a guy enabled USB debugging on my phone and got his computer to read its files!(He had a version of Windows). When I got home it worked too in my Windows! Then it downloaded some drivers and asked to reboot, which I did. After the reboot, I tried tethering and didn't work(The option to turn on was there, but when turned on, nothing happened). I thought it was because of the USB debugging and disabled developer options completely. Unfortunately, my PC stopped recognizing my phone. I said, "well, at least I can now share files..." but, surprisingly,when I turned USB-debugging back on nothing happened. Now, there is a difference which I observed between his way of activating USB-debug vs my way. It is that in his way the USB-debugging is shown active both on Settings AND in the Notification Panel(in a permanent way, i.e. it doesn't go if I press "clear all" notifications), while when I activate it,no message is shown in the notification Panel. He must have done it differently to give it more priority or something...

What is the output of lsusb. See this for help https://android.stackexchange.com/q/144966/131553

If your phone is not visible via lsusb it may have a damaged USB port (e.g. loose connection).

when connected, in developer options scroll down to usb configuration and select MTP

Just in case it's missing, download and install OEM USB Driver for Windows from the official LG site.

@AndrewT. Unfortunately there's nothing for my model there.

I think it should be universal, ignore the text box and the product category, just scroll down until you find "Popular Software" and "LG Mobile Drivers".

@AndrewT. Just installed them but nothing has changed.Curiosly enough, my other LG phone is recognized and some drivers are downloaded for it(Note:I disconnected both first, then installed the drivers, then tried with the bad phone, then connected the good one)

I had the same issue with my rooted LG G2 D802. I run a heavily modified by me stock KK ROM, Xposed, modified kernel, boot image, busybox, init.d, build.prop, system files, xml, apks, db... and everything you can think of. I like to understand what every single file on my system is and does, and thought I've gone too far and broke things.
Had Developer Options and Debug USB enabled, so at least I could see it tru adb devices and adb pull / push files to and from PC, also adb shell to explore it (for conveniece I use ADB Putty https://github.com/sztupy/adbputty/downloads). USB tethering would definitely not work though.
When in TWRP recovery, phone was recognized no problem in Windows, and I could browse tru sdcard as usual.
I also tried different cables, computers, usb ports, operating systems, drivers, but nothing. Now I'm reasonably sure the issue is to be found in some corrupt data inside the smartphone. I say this because now my device works again in MTP mode and all the other available connection modes.
How did I solved the issue? Unfortunately I don't know exactly.
What I can say is that I was trying to solve an apparently blatant hardware issue, with the screen flickering, freezing to white noise, especially when warm (not even hot), and when fast scrolling. This screen problem happened for the first time about one  month ago, the connections issue was more than a year old, so the two are not related.
Disassembled the phone, disconneted and reconnected the screen connector. White noise / freezing problem still there (disabled animations in Developer Options as a work-around to flickering issues).
Entered TWRP recovery, tried the usual stuff Wipe Cache / Wipe Dalvik, noted that /data partition was non mounted as r/w (infact /data/dalvik-cache was non actually deleted), tried Fix Contexts, rebooted. It took a long time, was rebuilding cache or something else, welcomed by the dreadly dialog
UIDs on system are inconsistent
You need to wipe your data partition or your device will be unstable
[I'm feeling lucky]

Ok, at this point found many /data/data folders empty, so I had to open every app interested and reset things to my likings, not a great deal. Fixing the inconsistent UID thing was a bit trickier, had to read into /data/system/UIDerrors.txt to find the culprit app, and changed UID accordingly in respective /data/data folder.
After this my system was stable and MTP connection worked again.
I know it's not what you want to read, but with a backup + factory reset you will restore MTP functionality.

This is one of those things that can be tricky to fix I think, because there are multiple points of failure (getting 2 different hardware devices to communicate over USB through 2 further operating system layers). But as AndrewT mentioned, my guess would be the drivers.
If I remember correctly I've had several episodes before of playing musical drivers + USB cables. I'm pretty sure what ended up happening most often was I'd finally get a successful connection upon switching cables (after focusing on reinstalling drivers over & over for a few hours). I also recall one time, the solution was switching from the USB 3.0 port I was using to a 2.0 port which fixed it instantly after hours of madness trying various drivers and cables.
You said you've tried a few of each of those though. One thing to keep in mind is it can be surprising just how picky your phone can be in terms of the cable you use. A couple times I've tried at least 4 or 5 different (microUSB) cables, switching back and forth and alternating with yet another driver install only for it to keep failing. Then when I eventually desperately dug a spare cable out from the couch cushion or something, it suddenly worked like a charm. I confirmed it on those occasions too by going back to each of the previous cables once I was 100% sure everything was indeed working, and sure enough, they all refused to work; only the weird, thin, chinese crap cable from who knows where seemed to do the trick. Android can be extremely picky, that's sort of the gist of what I've seen anyway.
Your "Further Info" makes me believe even more that it's probably your drivers though, if you know for sure that the connection stopped working following a driver update, and knowing that it DID work prior to that. The final thing I can offer is that I've ran a few LG phones over the years too, and I think they're particularly bad with fragmenting the driver situation with their own driver packages & LG-branded "Control Center" or "USB Tool"-type apps. While the android Universal Drivers have generally worked for most of my phones most of the time, I want to say you should try looking for any & all alternative drivers out there, especially if you can find some from LG's site specifically - that might be simply the only thing that will work, while all of the other usual "Universal" android software packages out there won't (for whatever reason).
But yeah... keep experimenting, try as many different connections as you can in The Trifecta (drivers, cables, USB ports), borrow some friends' cables or computers if you have to. I bet a single lucky one of them will suddenly work like nothing was ever wrong, and likely for no reason, as frustrating as it is.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is it possible to send and receive faxes over an Android phone?
Can an Android phone make phone calls in order to send fax? I mean, is it technically possible  with Android? Without using 3rd party servers.

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


text:
Note 3 "Security information" notification
I've just set up a new Galaxy Note 3 and I keep getting the following notification:

Security information
An application attempted to access system on your device without
  authorisation. This attempt has been blocked.

I have no idea what's causing this as there is no application listed as the culprit. Some forums point to disabling Knox as a solution, but I've done that and still get the same. (Anyway, the phone only includes a link to download the full app, so I doubt that would have been it.) I also know that I can hide the notification for 30 days, but that's just hiding the problem, not fixing it.
What is causing this to keep popping up and what can I do to fix it?

Have a google of Samsung Knox, and be prepared to get very annoyed. I had this on my S4 and just rooted the phone and flashed a Knox Free google edition ROM out of frustration. It's here to stay I'm afraid, in some cases it blocks WiFi as being not allowed. Official line: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/mobile/solution/security/samsung-knox   and the reality: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sprint-samsung-galaxy-s4/329874-galaxy-s4-strange-security-message-since-4-3-update.html

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


text:
Downgrade keyboard back to Jellybean?
I'm wondering if there is a way to downgrade back to the old 4.3 keyboard.  I use the apostrophe almost every sentence, and now it is gone.  Not the worst thing in the world, but it's ruining my flow.
So is there a way to go back to the 4.3 keyboard (I've not yet gotten 4.4 installed), or is there an app that works the same?

CyanogenMod and other custom ROMs still offer it as part of their ROM packages, and some people have posted the keyboard apk online. This version will not update like Google's keyboard and can be installed on pretty much any ROM. You'll need to enable it Settings > Language & input.

AOSP Keyboard (4.2.1)
AOSP Keyboard w/ number row (4.2.2)

Either of these will work and give you back the old layout.

You could try Hacker's Keyboard.

There is an app called Jelly Bean Keyboard by VLLWP but there is a pro version to if you want.

I think I just figured it out, after having this complaint myself: Go to Language and Input in settings and turn off Spell Checker.  The keyboard still suggests proper spellings for me, and it inserts apostrophes automatically again.


text:
Set an alarm for tomorrow
On my Nexus 5 I want to set an alarm for tomorrow but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do this with the build in Clock application.
I'm sure it's me because I'm sure this couldn't be an oversight by the developers?

Stock clock app doesn't have date reference like today or tomorrow. You can however set alarm for the particular day like Sunday or Monday by clicking the particular days.

While there's no Date specifically in the Clock app, if you set an alarm without repeat, it will automatically set it as a one-time alarm. So if it's after 7am today, and I set an alarm for 7am, it will happen tomorrow and not repeat.

So, setting an alarm on Monday for the coming Friday means I need to set a repeat for Friday and once the alarm has triggered (on Friday) I need to delete it. Clumsy but could work..

@Luke, or you could set a reminder in Google Calendar - but that's definitely not a very intuitive solution. If you use Google Now and say/type "Set an alarm for 5:00am on Friday", it will automatically create a Calendar reminder. Still, it would be nice to have it all contained in the Clock app.

Use voice and say 'Wake me at 7am' and it should set a one time no repeat alarm for the next instance of 7am.


text:
Google Drive crashes on start
I has happened 4 times now, I change some setting, delete the sheet open in the app from the PC, create a wrong function, and from then on, the Google Drive app crashes on start. I can not close the faulty document, so it keeps happening until I remove the application. You would think a restart of the phone should help, but it does not.
Is there a setting somewhere that lets me open the list instead of the most recent document?

Have you tried clearing the data (via App Manager) for the Google Drive app? See if that helps.

Clearing Cache is not enough, however clearing the Data solved the problem. Of course then you have to set offline availability of your documents again.


text:
Huawei Mercury stuck in boot loop
about 4 weeks ago, i was developing a paranoidandroid rom for my huawei mercury. well, after the download, i needed to unzip the .zip file (using the base/port method). well, that was taking WAY to long, so, i decided to just flash the rom to my phone. well that didnt go so well. ever since then my device has been stuck in what i beleive to be is a boot-loop. i can access CWM-based recovery version 5.0.2.7 and DownloadMode (the screen you get while combining power and both voluume rockers, giving you access to the /image folder). i am not getting the blue screen of death, just the stupid huawei logo. if anyone can help me, and beleive me, 4 weeks of google can get tiring, can help me fix this, i would be soo happy. Thank-You much.
--Daniel

Try flashing the stock ROM for your phone. That will usually fix things. Let me know if it works so I can add it as answer. :)

triied. stays stuck :`( is there any way to fix thhis

Try it again and again. Sometimes I've had to flash more than 3 times before it succeeds.

ok, so just try it like 5 times, and if that doesnt work, ill tell you?

Yep. Try it. :)

it didnt work :,( any other ideas


text:
Why can't a keyboard on the Samsung Galaxy S3 collect passwords?
When I enable an input method (a keyboard app) on a Nexus device, I see the following confirmation message:

This input method may be able to collect all the text that you type, including personal data like passwords and credit card numbers. It comes from the app Highway. Use this input method?

I understand this warning. Because of the way an input method works, it has the ability to collect everything I type, and I have to trust the author not to abuse this ability. But when I enable an input method on my Samsung Galaxy S3 (and maybe other Samsung devices; I haven't tried), I get a different message (my emphasis):

This method can collect all of the text you enter, except passwords, including personal data and credit card numbers. It comes from the app Highway. Use anyway?

I've checked entering a password into a web form, and setting the device password. In both cases, it still uses the (3rd-party) input method I choose to enter the password. So why does Samsung claim that the input method can't collect passwords? Are they doing something incredibly clever in their version of Android, or are they just talking nonsense?

I guess it's the latter, or a variant of it: rewrite their statement to "it will not collect passwords" might be believable. It can not is a lie IMHO, though hard to prove (except counting the example of the user writing a text like "my password is foobar", as how shall the app recognize that?). How can Samsung be that sure to always know where a password is entered?

TBH, my guess is that it means you can't use a 3rd-party keyboard to enter the lock screen password when unlocking the screen. But if it still uses the selected keyboard to set the password, that's no security benefit.

It's simply not honest to suggest a keyboard has no access to passwords you type using it. That's a contradiction in itself. The keyboard app has access to everything you type (if that would exclude passwords, you couldn't type them), and thus can collect everything. If it does do so, is a different issue not fitting the phrasing. I don't say they intentionally placed a "false claim", but it simply cannot be true. Correct would be "can collect all of the text you enter, but will possibly/hopefully/... exclude...". For 3rd party apps, they cannot be sure. Write one, blame them :)

As a programmer I find this interesting.  Password fields can be (and usually are) treated differently than normal text boxes.  Given that Android is open source I guess it's possible that Samsung has at least attempted to include code that prevents a password field from passing information typed in it back to the keyboard application, but like others have stated I am skeptical.
In order for a keyboard application to collect your data it has to include the extra step of capturing your input, storing it somewhere, even if it's just temporarily in an instance variable, and then sending it on to a third party.  I would be interested to hear what Samsung says about this and how they supposedly prevent it, but I'm guessing that's an answer we aren't likely to get.


text:
Samsung 7 active, #*#*4636#*#*?
Hello when putting this code into the phone dialer ,under the usage time ,is that total time used or just that time?anyone know,thanks in advance

The usage time is the total time when the app is/was in the foreground; meaning the total time when you are/were interacting with an app. When the app is in the background, although in use (for example, a music app), that time is not included in the total time under "usage time".

Thanks that was a important  question, but how do I know the time frame for this time used ?instead of total

@TinaHopkins Can you re-frame the question? I don't understand this part "the time frame for this time used" because time is used many times :)

Hello thanks for responding ,but honest I am not gonna waste my time or yours on something I know is true  .my other is hiding shit ,I have been a fool long enough ,making excuses for stuff on his phone that he doesn't know how lol,so thanks again ,wish me luck .regardless the pain of a break up was my last choice

I tried to upload a pic to further explain but it want load

This should explain why I choose to let it go but if it helps I was referring  to the second pic on the time used

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


text:
Text communication with iphone users
What are the non-voice options for communicating with iphone users to and from an android phone? Strengths and limitations of said options?
I don't have a smart phone but am thinking of finally taking the plunge. At least half of my family and friends are iphone users, and have been extolling the virtues of apple messaging. Watching them use it, especially involving multiple people at once, I see the attraction. However I don't want go the iWhatever route as I don't like the lock-in, but if by using a non-apple device I'm exiled from their conversations I may not have much of a choice.
So how about it, are there usable gates in the walled garden?

You mention iMessage, which is important to understand that it's a proprietary solution from Apple. There is no way to communicate with iMessage from Android, and there probably never will be. That said, there are a very large amount of third party cross-platform messaging apps, and if your friends and family would accept getting these (they might already use them), you could communicate via these. There are probably hundreds of them, but some of the most popular ones include WhatsApp and Viber — both of which offer iPhone as well as Android versions of their software.
The obvious strengths of any kind of IM software like this, whether it's iMessage, WhatsApp or Viber, is that all of your data is sent via your data plan, or even via WiFi if available. You'll be able to send images without paying an MMS fee, you'll be able to send audio without being charged for a call (VoIP) and you'll be able to send text without being charged for an SMS (via e-mail or IM).
There are no drawbacks as I see it, except for maybe backwards compability with non-smartphones, SMS definitely has the edge there.

When using something like WhatsApp and Viber, does everyone need to be using the same app? Can android-using-viber talk to iphone-no-3rd-party-apps, without being restricted to SMS? Thanks for the heads up about MMS, which was a new term to me. Now I have a new fee to watch for while scoping providers.

Yes, everyone need to use the same app. No, android+viber can't talk to iphone+nothing. If I were you, I would just ask people what seems to be the most widely used among your friends and family and start using that. It could be anything really. Viber, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts (fingers crossed), and so on.

SMS works on any phone. On Android, your phone will have an SMS client built-in (probably called "Messaging", but it varies between manufacturers), and you can also choose from many third-party SMS clients.
As well as plain old SMS, there are many instant-messaging systems that work on Android and iPhone, and other platforms too. Your iPhone-using friends may well have one or more of these installed already. Some examples are Skype, Jabber, Whatsapp, Google Hangouts, and Facebook Chat.
What you describe as "apple messaging" is probably what Apple calls iText: it's the SMS app on iPhone. It also has its own closed chat system built-in, so that if it knows the recipient of an SMS is an iPhone, it'll silently send the message through Apple's servers instead of through the SMS system. It still uses SMS for people on other phones, so you don't need to worry about being exiled.


text:
Is there a way I could click photos using the volume button without opening the camera app?
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 on a custom ROM. (Alliance ROM - ICS)
Is there a way I could capture photos using the volume button without opening the camera app when the phone is sleeping (Locked)

I haven't encountered any app that could do this yet. It seems looks like an uncommon use case even among spy apps.

Its possible to click a photo by pressing Volume button using an App. But how could your OS determine volume button's extra functionality without using an App? OS can't determine other than Just Increase/Decrease volume.

It would take a couple of seconds before the camera app is loaded and a picture is clicked. Is there any app, running in the background would help take pictures by hitting the volume button at any point of time.


text:
Volume too loud at the start of every music track
This is on a Moto X with Android 4.2.2. Not rooted, no EQ installed or enabled.
I primarily listen to music through DSub (streaming audio from a Subsonic server), but I've talked to their devs, and they don't perform any volume changes of any kind. Likewise, the Subsonic server doesn't make any volume changes, and I haven't experienced this volume issue when streaming to other devices.
Every time a song starts, it plays very loud for a few seconds, then drops slightly to normal. If the song starts loud, it can be quite a jolt for a few seconds before it drops down. It's almost as if it starts at max volume, then drops to the volume level I have set, but I haven't tested that.
As far as I can tell, there are no Equalizers enabled. Turning off the "Audio Effects" settings panel doesn't seem to have any effect on music playback.
Any idea what would be causing music playback to start off at a different volume?


text:
Vibrate-only mode for google voice
I'd like to keep my mobile number private & give out the Google voice number for business.
Is it possible to see the caller number for a google voice call, but set it so that it is in silent mode?
I don't want to silence the phone if the call is to my private number. This is to ensure that I do not miss a call if my private number is dialed (it is an emergency number due to medical reasons). But since I am in a lot of meetings etc, I want to keep it on silent for all other calls. I hope this makes sense.
I have looked around online, but cannot figure out a way to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately, this is not possible with setting Google Voice to forward the caller number to your phone.
When someone calls you using your Google Voice number and you set it up to go straight to your phone, the system spoofs the caller's number and sends it to your phone; the VoIP part of the call ends when Voice connects your caller to you, it's your basic forwarding service.
You cannot control any part of that with the settings from either the webapp or the Andorid app.
EDIT: There's a potential solution to this, depending on whether your emergency contacts have fixed numbers or not. You can set your default ringtone to "None", but for those contacts who do have your number, assign an actual ringtone to them and keep your phone's ringer on loud. Of course, this would not include emergency calls from numbers that you would not know, like hospitals or police stations.

Since Google Voice calls themselves can't be differentiated from standard calls (They both reach your phone over the same protocol), an alternative option may be to set your default ringtone to something silent, and add a custom ringtone to numbers you expect urgent calls from.

I added that EDIT right as you commented. Thanks, though, added to my answer.

You could get a second google voice number that you also forward to your phone, and use that as your emergency number. So you would never give out your real cell, just your normal GV to everyone and your emergency GV to specific people.
On the emergency GV number, change the settings in GV so that it doesn't display the caller number but instead shows just the emergency GV number as incoming. Then, set a specific ringtone for that emergency number. You won't know exactly who is calling, but assuming you only hand out the emergency number to a few people, it won't matter. It's an emergency.
Note that to link your phone to two google voice accounts, you must specify the real cell number as a home number on both accounts. Otherwise, adding the real cell on one GV account removes it from the other. The downside to specifying the real cell as a Home number instead of a Cell number is that you won't be able to forward text messages to a Home number (though you can still use the Google Voice app to send and receive messages).


text:
I want to root my phone
Can anyone tell me what is the easiest way to root my phone.
I have a Samsung galaxy note 2.
And what does it mean to flash a new Rom?

Also see: What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc.?, What do “NAND”, “ROM” and “to flash” mean?

There are many methods to root your device.
I just did a quick search and came up with this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2143479. Try following that and see if it works (the process I took for rooting my tablet was pretty much just 'try every guide that I can find until something works', so really just keep looking through guides on the internet).
The term ROM is traditionally used to mean Read Only Memory. Over time, it has come to mean (in the Android world) the OS that your device runs, because the OS is thought to be read-only by some people. Flashing a new ROM just means replacing stock Android with something else.

What are the pro's to rooting? I wanted to do it so I could use a backup app titanium.

@user46862 Please take a look at our rooting tag-wiki, which will answer most of your questions.

The biggest (and really, only) cons that I know of are 1) voiding the warranty (but they usually don't check to see if it's rooted when you send it for repair), and 2) the slight possibility of bricking your device. As for the second part, I have done everything short of intentionally bricking my Android (including boot loops, rooting, custom ROMS, custom recovery) and it still works fine.

As for pros, you have full access to everything. Enough said. ;)


text:
Is there a way to have pattern lock that doesn't prompt for X minutes yet still requires some action other than pushing a button (e.g. like iOS)?
I want the lock screen for my Android (currently running a CyanogenMod 10.2 nightly) to behave more like that of iOS, where I can have a delay on when I need to re-enter the pattern/pass-code, but still require a swipe every time screen is turned off.  The existing "Automatic Lock [after X time]" feature lacks this additional swipe I describe.
My goal is to have the phone locked down after X minutes (e.g. 15), yet not be susceptible to easy unlocking during this time (e.g. power or home button getting pressed accidentally while in my pocket).
I would prefer to not use a 3rd party app, but I suppose that can't be avoided unless there's an existing setting that I'm not seeing.  If there is a reputable 3rd party lock screen app with this functionality, I'll take that as well.


text:
Android SMS path
I can't find the path of SMS database files in android os.
where is the right path for SMS database files?
I already tried these values and these values are not right:
/data/data/com.jb.gosms/databases/gommssms.db
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

It works : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20162129/android-sms-path/20162464?noredirect=1#20162464

And a quick on-site search for "databases/gommssms.db" reveals: Where on the file system are SMS messages stored? / What is the path where GoSMS stores the SMS messages :)


text:
Re-installing Android
Mobile phone technology has been growing rapidly. Nowadays, we have mobile phones with the same configuration as a Pentium-1,Pentium-2 processor + 1 GB Ram  20GB Hard disk as we had a few years ago for Desktops.
For eg: I have just ordered for Galaxy S-III, which as 1 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM and 16 GB Permanent storage.
So, my question is : can we format (same thing as we do on a Desktop) such mobile devices and install whatever OS (Android only for now) we like ? If so, I would like to install latest Android version on my mobile. Similar to the CD-Rom drive that can hold the OS that we are going to install on our fresh Desktop, for mobile devices can't we use any USB storage drives that has the latest Android (installation source) ?

Please see: How do I update the OS on my device? / Doing a clean install of Android on Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 7 / Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? / Is there an official Android “Google” ROM? / Can I install any ROM for my Android device?

It depends on the device you are using. Some devices have a locked bootloader, meaning you cannot boot into a mode which allows you to overwrite the part of the persistent memory which holds the operating system image.
The steps you usually take are the following:

Flash an advanced Recovery Image
Use that recovery so you can upload an alternative Android version to your ROM

Let me clear up some of the terms:

ROM is the part that contains the operating system and cannot be written to while the device is running. You have to override it by flashing over USB or using an aforementioned Recovery Image
Recovery is an alternative mode you can boot into which enables you to create backups of your system or write to the ROM to install a different operating system

Every alternative Android version comes with tons of tutorials and help. So just search for your device model in conjunction with "cyanogenmod" or "custom ROM".
Edit:
I just saw that you have ordered a Samsung Galaxy S3, so you will have little trouble installing an alternative Android.

So you mean Samsung does NOT lock their mobile's boot loaders and we can re-install any version we want ?

Also, can you please guide me to a place (site) where I can find detailed info about this re-install process ?

It really depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to skip the wait for an updated Samsung firmware, you can flash it yourself (search for "Galaxy S3 flash odin"). If you want to install an alternative system like cyanogenmod without all the Samsung software, search for "cyanogenmod install galaxy s3". Just do google searches, you can find all the information you need by sourself instead of asking online.


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Where to find info on the "service call" shell command?
Using adb shell or a terminal emulator on the device, entering this will clear all notifications (requires su)
service call notification 1

This will send an sms (doesn't require su)
service call isms 5 s16 "PhoneNumber" i32 0 i32 0 s16 "BodyText"

Where can I learn more about service call? I've found this question on StackOverflow and appreciate the answer's breakdown as to what everything means. But where can I find info on what method notification 2 might be trying to call?
Running service call was incomplete and printed this usage:
Usage: service [-h|-?]
       service list
       service check SERVICE
       service call SERVICE CODE [i32 INT | s16 STR] ...
Options:
   i32: Write the integer INT into the send parcel.
   s16: Write the UTF-16 string STR into the send parcel.

I ran service list and it came back with 78 services for my device including isms and notification and for most services will print what seems to be a namespace (com.android.internal.telephony.ISms for isms and android.app.INotificationManager for notification). How can I use this information to find out what I can do with each of these services?

also asked at http://stackoverflow.com/q/20227326/7552

Exactly. And even answered here: Where to find description of all “/system/bin/service” calls?


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How applications read /data directory on not rooted devices
To access directories like /data in file managers the device should be rooted. My phone is not rooted but I see that anti virus applications can read and scan such directories. If reading these directories need root access to the device, how this applications can read them?


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How to save all contacts to Google with a broken SD card?
Today my SD Card broke. I do not have a replacement. I have some important contacts on my phone which were not synchronized with Google. Before formatting the sdcard (as a last restort to see if I do have to buy a replacement) I'd really like to retrieve them, however all the import/export options are about phone internal memory, sdcard and SIM. Is there any way to export all my contacts to Google?
I do have access to the internet and I do have all synchronisation options available enabled.
Can I do something better than spending some hours writing the contacts manually on GMail?

Doesn't the GMail web frontend offer an export option? Being firewalled, I currently cannot check, but I'm pretty sure there is such an option.

@Izzy I just looked and cannot see anything that resembles what I'm looking for. The google contacts are synchronised, but I couldn't care less. I want my phone and SIM contacts to be transferred on the google account and searching on the net I can only find solution that require first exporting on sdcard.

Your SIM contacts might pose an issue, as they are not syncronized. You might need to first import them (convert them to Google contacts); not having tried that, I cannot say for sure. For the rest, see my answer below.

According to the GMail help pages, you should be able to easily export your contacts using a web browser:

Sign in to Gmail.
Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
From the More drop-down menu, select Export....
Choose whether to export all contacts or only one group.
Select the format in which you'd like to export your contacts' information. Please note, some of these formats can lose some contact information.

To transfer contacts between Google accounts, use the Google CSV format. This is the recommended way to back up your Google Contacts.
To transfer contacts to Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or various other apps, use the Outlook CSV format.
To transfer contacts to Apple Address Book, use the vCard format.

Click Export.
Choose Save to Disk then click OK.
Select a location to save your file, and click OK.

This (and some other details) are also described in a post titled How to Create Mail Merge in Gmail Contacts.

Now you write you have some contacts which are not synchronized with your Google account, but stored on your SIM card. Of course, you first need to "convert" them to "Google contacts", which is described in How do I import all contacts from a SIM-card to an Android phone?:

open the contacts app
press the "menu" key
navigate to Import/Export → Import from SIM card
click "Select All" (or manually select the contacts you wish to import)
when asked where to copy the contacts to, select the appropriate option

This procedure can also be found in a tutorial at AndroidAdvices, together with some screenshots to visualise the process.
Your broken SD card should not matter here, as it isn't involved anywhere in the process.

See also:

Transfer all Contacts in Phone and Sim to Google Contacts
How to move phone contacts to Google?
Good idea to transfer all phone numbers from SIM card to google contacts?
How do I import all contacts from a SIM-card to an Android phone?

From the mobile view I don't see any "Contacts" tab at all. Using the Desktop view I cannot see any more... for point 3. Also by "sign in to Gmail" you mean to sign in into mail.google.com or into the Gmail app? My comments refer to the website and the app has even less options available (Note that I use gingerbread).

Anyway I believe you are answering the opposite question... I don't care of exporting Gmail contacts. I want to import some contacts in Gmail from the local phone storage and SIM. The gmail contacts are already synched, but they do not include local phone contacts and SIM contacts. That's the point of my question.

Oops: Sorry, I in fact missed that. Updated my answer accordingly.

I'd like to point out that from my phone there is absolutely no way to import the contacts into Gmail. The browser doesn't display the option to import them from a file, not even when asking explicilty to use the Desktop website. I had to boot in recovery mode, setup USB and copy the contacts from the internal memory to my PC.

You are aware that the "import from SIM" part is not talking about the GMail, but about the contacts app? The GMail app does not deal with SIM cards, that's right, nor does the browser :)

Yes, I know that but it's pretty much useless to import them into contacts, since afterwards they are not synchronized with the google account. I had to 1) Import all the various contacts to the phone contacts (creating tons of duplicates) 2) Export the contacts to the phone 3) Boot in recovery mode and copy the data from the internal memory to PC 4) Import the contacts file to Gmail from a browser 5) Format SD (and I had to reinstall the ROM too due to other problems) 6) Synch with Gmail.

The tutorial I've linked (and other sources as well) say differently: you should be able to define the target when importing from SIM, and when imported to Google contacts, they should automatically sync (that's what's described there: Now your SIM card contacts will be saved as your Google Account i.e, it will be auto sync to your Google Account.). If that doesn't work out for you, I'm sorry for the false hope I've made (I never tried that myself) – and have to leave the task to someone else, as I'm out of ideas.

The only options I have when exporting from SIM are phone (i.e. internal memory) and SD card. Also phone contacts are not synchronized with google contacts. Maybe they solved this (probably worth defining it "bug" or at least missing feature) in new android versions.


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Can I reduce app space by deleting unwanted files?
Specifically, I'm an artist and use PicsArt photo studio a lot, which is a great app. The issue is that my phone is ALWAYS low on space (thanks a bunch, sprint bloatware!) So this app is awesome, but they add around 10 MB of extra crap like clipart, most of it stored on the SD card. I've googled this multiple times, but I've only come up with results like "how to delete apps" which are useless to answer my question.
I'm scared to go around deleting things casually, so I'd love to hear if any of you Android enthusiasts have tried the type of app customization I'm proposing.

What do you mean by 'reduce app space'?  Yes, you can delete unwanted files and free up space on your memory card or internal memory.

@shanabus - I think they mean to delete some of the files from a particular app (the clip art files from the PicsArt app).  About the only answer I have for this is to make a backup of the files in question, delete the originals and see if the app still works or not.

Can't figure out how to reply directly, but yes, @Compro01, that's right, and I suppose I'll just take your advice and test it out after backing up the files. I guess I can always uninstall and reinstall if I screw the app itself up somehow ...

All apps store its data @ /sdcard/android/pacage name.  you can delete from there.


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how do i deny a caller the option of leaving a voicemail?
I don't want to completely block a #. I want to be able to answer, but, if I don't answer, I don't want that particular caller to be able to leave a voicemail.
can this be done? the only apps I find allow you to either send directly to vmail or it auto-answers and hangs up.

In my view redirecting a call to voice mail is a feature provided by the carrier/service provider and the phone plays only a very small part in it. The part that the phone plays is to inform the carrier that the user cancelled the call. To prevent a call to reach voice mail, it has to be answered. And to send it to voice mail, it has be either cancelled or unattended. Hence I doubt any app or software solution could help.

Sending to voicemail is a carrier service, and what you can configure depends on the features your carrier offers.
If you're able to configure this, it'll be via the "call forwarding" settings. On my Nexus 4 running stock KitKat, you can access these by opening the Phone app, tapping the menu icon, then Settings, then Call settings, then Call forwarding.
On UK mobile networks (I presume it's the same worldwide, but I'm far from certain), the behaviour when you deny a call is controlled by your "forward when busy" setting, so you'll want to disable call forwarding for that case. That'll also, obviously, disable voicemail when someone calls you and you're already in another call.
For contrast, "forward when unanswered" configures what happens if you let the call ring out, and "forward when unreachable" covers your phone being turned off or out of signal.
Some networks don't respect how you configure this through the phone menu. This may be because they don't support letting you have that choice, or it may be because you need to configure it a different way. This is frequently by dialing your voicemail number and pressing * or # to get a menu, but each network operator will have their own ways.


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Can I use an external GPS receiver by connecting both GPS and Android device to a PC?
I have an HTC One X which I like and carry everywhere, but the GPS is atrocious.  It takes tens of minutes to get a position, loses it easily and it's not even very accurate when it has a signal.  However, I also have a Garmin GPS which is fantastic at gaining and holding a steady and accurate GPS location.  I'd like to use the Garmin as an external GPS in combination with android's mock-location feature, in my car.
It is definitely possible to drive gpsd on a pc with the garmin - but I don't know how to use that to provide location data to android.  The phone is already rooted and I'm not averse to hacking it a bit more, but of course simpler solutions are preferred.  Initially I would be happy plugging the Garmin and HTC into a laptop but I'll move to a Raspberry Pi as soon as I know it works.  Not really bothered about using USB OTG to connect as this is for in-car use.
So: Can I use gpsd running on a PC to control a mock-location on Android?  If so, how?

Does your Garmin support Bluetooth, so you could use it as BT GPS mouse? If so, there are easier methods than fiddling with cables and a PC, plus running around with a big rucksack to carry it all.

No - it's a ForeRunner 205. https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/sports/discontinued/forerunner-205/prod348.html  Very basic but extremely lightweight, good accuracy and battery life.  BT GPS mice cost, and seeing as I carry the Garmin all the time anyway, seem a bit pointless.

Besides, I'm really talking about in-car use and I already use the phone's BT to connect to the stereo :)  Not sure if the phone could connect to both stereo and GPS mouse.  To be honest it's pretty flakey with just the stereo.

I don't know if you can do this with your PC. Likely the easiest way would be to hack up a custom script on your PC to respond to new positions coming from gpsd, and use the following command to mock those locations on the phone:
adb shell setLatLon latitude longitude
You need to have previously turned on USB debugging and mock locations in the phone's settings.
However, this seems unnecessarily complicated. If you search for external gps on Google Play, you'll see a zillion apps that allow you to connect your Android device directly to an external GPS receiver. There's no need to involve your PC at all. Try a few and report back which one works best for you.

Sounds good.  To keep them charged up I usually have the Garmin and phone plugged into a laptop when I'm driving anyway.  So a simple script to scrape GPS data from the Garmin and send it to the phone would really suit my needs perfectly.  I'll see what I can hack up...

If I search for external GPS on google play, I don't really see anything helpful.  Can you suggest a specific app to check out?

A tenner will buy you a USB charger that plugs into a lighter socket. If you're looking for an excuse to buy yourself a raspi, find a better one!

Thanks for your update and indulging me :)  setLatLon: not found though :(  This person had the same idea though: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11729767/setting-android-mock-locations-in-a-script

While most "external GPS" apps seem to be specifically for BT mice, I've just found RtkGPS: high rated, and the desc says USB is supported as well. A second candidate would be You are here.


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How to Clear notifications once and not be bothered/repeated again?
Simple yet annoying behaviour of Android (Galaxy S3)
Notifications appear for many apps (email, games, messages etc.,) but once I view them (by a slide down, not by opening/responding to each of them ) I want them to be gone. They keep on repeating & appearing again and again until I respond to the notification.
ie., If it is a new email, I'm being notified repeatedly until I open the Email program!  I find this extremely annoying. I don't want to Turn off Notification because they are useful. But, I don't want to be bugged by them as well.
Good, show me once & then disappear.
How do I get this behaviour (View once, clear notifications & the same notifications don't repeat?

Interesting. This isn't normal Android behavior. I wonder if it's a midification Samsung made.

Having same issue on lg g2x


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How can I enable calling over Wifi for a T-Mobile based Moto X?
T-Mobile allows for unlimited calling when I'm tethered over Wifi, on my old Blackberry Bold this was called "UMT" or something like that  (it would appear in the status bar).
Since I still have poor reception I rely on wifi calling to get signal in the basement of my house.
How can I enable this T-Mobile specific (and no it's not Skype) wifi calling to work over a standard Wifi connection?

The Moto X does not support T-Mobile's WiFi calling. Customer support reps have stated that this is because it is not a carrier branded device, meaning they have not modified the system ROM to add this feature:

The Moto X does work on our network but because it is not a T-Mobile branded device we do not support WiFi Calling on it.

You'll either need to set up some other VoIP service or get a different phone that supports this.


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contacts app makes calls with a voip app instead of normal phone app
I installed a voip app, Talkatone, and now Contacts always use Talkatone instead of making normal phone call. Any workaround? Sometimes I would like to place normal call, because Talkatone is not making call to some numbers. Android Go Edition.
Curiosly, Fongo app, another voip, allows one use Contacts within app, but does make call itself, not through Talkaton, like regular Phone app. Regretfully Fongo sms messages are not free.

Is Talkatone set as the default phone app?

Do not know, perhaps. Should I install some default app configuration utility and change it back to phone?


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Can Google Lens or other app translate separate words or phrases rather than whole sentences
I need to translate puzzles/exercises where one need to insert missing words, translating sentences result in rubbish.
I think translating texts word by word could be more useful.
Is it doable with Android device? Perhaps, Google Lens or other app can be configure to translate separate words or phrases individually rather than whole sentences?
I think one solution could be apply OCR, copy text and ask chatGPT translate word by word. Are there any better alternatives?

I don't think that is possible because there's no such setting in any translating app. Translating a partial sentence often results in inaccurate and even absurd translation when translated to another language that's why it's not practical.
The only thing you can do is scan the first half before the blank and then the other half, sacrificing your accuracy and any hope of solving the puzzle (kidding, this should help since human is but the best AI. Goodluck)


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Stuck on "Bootloader is unlocked" screen, can't boot into recovery
So I wanted to root my OnePlus 6 after updating to android 10
(OnePlus6Oxygen_22_OTA_041_all_1911142043_dde113e5 3cd0f9.zip)
I tried booting into twrp via fastboot using fastboot flash boot twrp.img
(twrp-3.3.1-x_blu_spark_v9.101_op6.img, my bootloader is unlocked).
I then tried rebooting directly into twrp, but now it's just stuck on the "Bootloader is unlocked" screen.
I can still boot into fastboot, but I can't boot into recovery or reboot normally since it just gets stuck on the bootloader unlocked screen.
Please Help!
Edit1: Changing my boot slot from b to a gives me access to the stock recovery. not sure where to go from here though.
Edit2: Fortunately, ManikandanGuru over at xda had uploaded the stock boot.img, which works perfectly.

the above fastboot command does flash twrp recovery permanently into boot partition, you can't reboot normally because boot.img is gone


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How can i run Wifi direct in my andrioid ICS tablet?
i have an android ICS tablet (no bluetooth) , I want to share files wirelessly...
but in ICS wifi direct is not there.I heard that wifi direct is not any hardware plugin - it is based on OS and can be run in android ICS.
So please if u know tell me step by step instruction.
...

Install and run ES File explorer on both Android devices and connect them both to one Wi-Fi access point. Long press on the file and use Send option and choose scan. After some lag the target device will be listed and just selecting it will prompt for confirmation on the target device. Once confirmation is accepted, the transfer will take place.
You can see ES File Explorer's help page for more info.

If your intention is sharing between multiple Android devices (which is what WiFi Direct is for, amongst others), you might want to take a look at apps like SuperBeam or Fast File Transfer. Both are directly connecting two devices (which both have the app installed) via WiFi, without any intermediate.


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Ad-hoc support in Cyanogenmod 10.x?
I flashed Cyanogen 10.1.3 to my Samsung GT-P3113 (the P3110 version which is compatible) in the hopes of getting IBSS ad-hoc support that was added in CM-10.1 alpha2. (see the release note item for it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2214042)
However I can't see my ad-hoc network in the wifi list. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

That thread is a changelog for a different device. I don't know that CM has ad-hoc networking on every device they support, so the changelog there is probably not indicative of general CM features/changes. Commits to their review system imply that IBSS support is dependent on the WiFi driver, which will vary by device/kernel: http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/33728/

Alright! Thanks for the help. You should have answered, I would have given to the credit. (you still can ;)

So just a dumb Q, but I assumed that Cyanogen included their own kernel and device drivers. I mean the kernel had to come from somewhere first off. Are they basing their device builds on the manufacturer provided rom/source/kernel? And how can you confirm if your device doesn't support something like this? (said it was a dumb Q)

I'm not really sure of an easy way to check (for that reason, I can't say for certain that your device does/doesn't support IBSS ). CM does have their own kernel repos, and they are generally based on the kernels released by the manufacturers. Different devices typically have different kernel code, though some similar ones may share (e.g. the espresso kernel is used by several variants of the Galaxy Tab). Consequently, features that require kernel driver modifications may not necessarily be available to all devices.


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remove RC4 from SSL/TLS ciphers
is there a way to remove RC4 from SSL/TLS ciphers in android system wide such that also apps and not only the browser doesn't use them anymore?
Thanks


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Show time with seconds
How can I see the time with seconds on a Nexus 4? The settings give me the option to only change the date format, but not the time format.

You'll need to be more specific. Do you want time with seconds in the clock app? In the status bar? On your lockscreen? Somewhere else?

@dotVezz Anywhere possible. I looked in all those places and couldn't find a way to show seconds. So, I'm looking to be able to just see the seconds.

Changing to Analog will show seconds hand, that's the only way I could find.

@dotVezz In the status bar how do I display hh:mm:ss?

Try a Terminal Emulator app:

$ date
Fri Mar 27 16:00:15 IDT 2015

Not really what I was asking for, but a good idea.

Try any of these:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=smsr.com.acc
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.ne.topaz.psy.androidapp.SecondStatus
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gridred.digitalclock.custom.lite&hl=en
This one claims to show the time including seconds in the Status Bar
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appsynapse.bottime&hl=en
Be advised that displaying seconds will consume more battery.

Besides installing a new app, what other options do I have?

Well if you are comfortable with programming..give this a go.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2058151

this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appsynapse.bottime&hl=en link is not active anymore :(


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local cloud storage solution
I have got a 1 terabyte external hard drive, and I would like to find a seamless way for my android device (an HTC one mini) to be able to access that hard drive.
In the old days when I wanted to do "cloud", I would plug such a device into my always-on-always-connected-to-the-internet linux and just share the device -- let other machines mount it. Of course this still works fine -- but I don't know how to do this via Android, or via Windows.
Nowadays we have cloud solutions like Dropbox, which works great on my Android device, but I have limited storage space (unless I pay -- but I already paid for the external hard drive).
Ideally I am looking for something with the simplicity of Dropbox but with everything under my control. I considered git for a while, and there are ways to get an android device to run git, but you seem to only have a limited end-user experience, and you seem to have to actually upload projects rather than being able to access them from afar -- and my android device doesn't have that much memory.
I tried sparkleshare, but I can't find a client for Android.
I tried every option that ES File Explorer offers, but they all seemed to involve losing control of the cloud storage.
Is it possible to do this via LAN somehow? The problem is that my Android device will typically be moving from wireless network to wireless network and will not always be on the same network as the external drive.
Basically I think I am asking for a way to plug a terabyte hard drive into my phone in a wireless way. This problem has surely been thought about seriously!

Did you take a look at OwnCloud and similar solutions? Not (yet?) as comfortable as dropbox, but open source, runs on Linux (so you can stick with your Linux-mount solution), and it has an Android app. For a quick overview, you might want to first take a look at this Wikipedia article. If that sounds interesting, next source to investigate might be e.g. How to Set Up Your Own Private Cloud Storage Service in Five Minutes with OwnCloud :)

I did not! This looks most promising. Your app link is to a non-google-play-store app -- I wonder why it's not on google play?

It is of course on Google Play. But since that place got converted into a "tile store", slow, and hard to manage, I use AppBrain as alternative frontend. You will find its install links go straight to Google Play. But if I want to see tiles, I prefer going to my bathroom ;) Sorry for the confusion. Simply follow the playstore links on Appbrain, if you prefer.


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What is the correct way to exit an app
When I open an app and then I'm dong using it I usually just push the home button. The problem is that leaves the app open and if you do that too many times it slows down your phone. My question is what is the correct way to close an app after you're doing using it without pressing the home button?
Or is pressing the home button and then sliding it away the correct way of closing an app?


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Safely "unmounting" USB for Galaxy?
I wanted to delete all of the music (not pictures or apps) off my phone, and I read that you should just plug it into the computer and delete them from there. I plugged it in, and though my phone is charging, it hasn't recognized my device. I want to unplug it, but there is message warning me to unmount the USB before I unplug. Will it delete all of my memory if I do? Can I just back up and reset my phone while in this mode, or will my things be deleted?

No, nothing will be deleted if you chose to "unmount" first. As your device was not detected, it should not even be mounted, so there's nothing that could "break".

A short explanation on that "mysterious unmount", though:
If your device is "mounted" (i.e. you can access its files from your computer), for faster reaction and other performance reasons all data transfered is "buffered" (instead of being written to the storage immediately). So "unmounting" tells the system to "flush" those buffers, and thus "commit" (write) all buffered data to the storage.
If you would simply "plug the line" without unmounting first, not-yet-written data were lost. Imagine what that would mean if some larger file was only written partly (it gets corrupted), or if you moved files to the phone which where not yet written at all (they are "lost in space").
So it's always a good safety measure to "unmount" first before plugging out the cable.


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Moving cache to SD Card? Is it possible?
Is it possible to move app cache which is stored o Internal Storage on android to sd card? I have limited space on my device, and I want to free up some space (Well, actually the cache is taking most of my internal space) by moving my application cache to the SD Card.
Well, i know that cache can be deleted easily, but it's a pain to delete it every few hours to ensure that there's no "Low Memory" notification hanging..
There's also my Browser & Chrome cache, which could fill my Internal Storage in a matter of minutes.

it is possible, but you will need to get a root.
FolderMount allows to transfer not the apps but their cache. This program requires root access. If you don’t know what root is then go here and here to read about how to gain root access.
Cache transfer is performed in a few simple steps:
Open FolderMount and press “+” in the top right corner.
Name an app that has leftover cache in the internal memory.
Press “Source” and indicate the folder with the app’s cache. It is located in Android/obb/the folder with the app’s name.
Press “Destination” to choose a folder on the SD card for the transfer.
After every field is filled out, press the check mark in the top right corner and select the “pin” next to the Name field.

Read here http://droidguides.com/applications-to-sd/

FolderMount becomed a GREAT facility to move out some things and bypass the main problem with Internal/External storage. Not all phones does swap them, and sometimes Internal memory is fullfit with garbage while SDCard remains free. Actually, space for app's and some other things are a total shame. Who needs 8gb free while you cannot install anything else because of factory partitions?

Taking a look at our app2sd tag-wiki, there is a solution to that – but it requires your device to be rooted. Simple2Ext (S2E) offers to move apps, their data, and some cache to the SDcard.
Alternatively, as cache resides on its own /cache partition, you could also use DirectoryBind to move that to SDcard entirely. Again, this requires root.

According to Google Play, S2E requires custom firmware.

@intuited you mean root? it is S2E different than other x2sd app's?

@erm3nda quoting from the description: "S2E works only with CyanogenMod7, CyanogenMod9 and CyanogenMod10". So: custom ROM. Apart from which, S2E hasn't been updated for about 4.5 years. The last CM was CM13 (now: LOS 13/14). I'm not sure if this app still works on recent versions (note my answer was posted in 11/2013).

You Should clean cache regularly, a Lot of cache can make your device Slow, you can use Auto Cache Cleaner Free to Clean all the cache quickly, you can also schedule an automatic clean up too!
Android maintain caches and removes un-needed caches
however, I've read in Google developers docs that the App should maintain the Cache itself and the developer must not rely on Android to maintain the cache
but some Apps doesn't maintain cache as needed, and so you need to clean them, usually Cache shouldn't be more than ~25MB per App, and shouldn't be more than ~75MB in all the device (however, it Depends on the number of apps..)


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Send blind calls to voicemail?
I'm getting more and more blind calls on my cellphone from telemarketers.
Is there an application that can send all incoming blind calls to voicemail?
FWIW, I'm running Cyanogenmod on a Galaxy Nexus.
Thank you.

Do you really need an app for that? AFAIK there's a "call block handler" integrated with the dialer, where you can blacklist numbers. If you insist on an app, please remember that Is there an app for X questions are listed as being off-topic (see our [help/on-topic] for details). A playstore search for "call blocker" (better done at AppBrain as GPlay got quite limited) will present you with a mass of apps to chose from.

By blind, do you mean all Unknown/Blocked-ID numbers, or any number that isn't in your address list? "blind" is a bit ambiguous.

I don't know the correct term: I meant people calling as "hidden number", ie. I don't know who's calling. I want all such calls to be automatically forwarded to voicemail.

I just saw that you don't want to block the calls, but send to voicemail.
My mistake.

As easy as one, two, three :)
Call settings -> Blacklist -> Small icon at the bottom corner -> Private numbers

That is for cm-10.2.0
Might be a little different if you have another version, but you get the idea.


text:
Bluetooth Tethering issue Galaxy S4 to Samsung Note 10
Hi I tried to tether from my S4 to my Note 10.1, via bluetooth, even though I am able to pair both, on the galaxy note 10.1 it says No Internet Connection.
Would really appreciate your help.

It would be good if you could tell us what method you're trying to use for bluetooth thethering. Tell us the steps that you're taking on the devices when you try.

Plus: which device acts as the access point, which as the client?

on the S4 (Access point): Settings->network connections->more connections-> Tethering -> check the box for "Bluetooth tethering"

Can you add to your question what version of android are on each of the phones and if your phone is rooted?

You need to do 3 things, to get a running bluetooth tethered connection:

Pair both devices as usual and enable Bluetooth on each
Enable BT-tethering on the access point device (needs to be set each reboot):
Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> More..-> Tethering -> Enable Bluetooth tethering`
Activate Bluetooth tethering on the client device:
Settings->Bluetooth->"John's Phone"-> Options"-> enable "Internet access"

If it doesn't work the first time, switch off/on Bluetooth on both devices and retry.
These are the steps as I use them to tether my Nexus 10 to my Google Galaxy Nexus.
PS: If you don't like to manually enable BT tethering each reboot, use Bluetooth Auto Tether to have it enabled automatically during boot.

So, I also forgot to mention couple of points: I am able to connect through tether to the internet (IF MY PHONE IS CONNECTED THROUGH WIFI), but I can't connect to the internet on the Galaxy Note 10.1 if my phone is connected just through my Data plan.

OK, got it. Seems like a routing issue in the network stack, strange behaviour. Have you tried switching on/off/on wifi during an existing bluetooth tether connection? My Galaxy Nexus allows that, it just "works" and routes traffic over whatever connection is primary at the moment (wifi or data plan). However, sometimes it doesn't work right at first and I have to disable/re-enable bluetooth on both devices before it connects.


text:
Google Play does not recognise updated firmware
I have updated the firmware on my Samsung GT-s5570 to Android 2.3.4. Google Play does not recognise that I have upgraded and will not install apps that are for 2.3 or higher. Still thinks phone is on 2.2.
HELP PLEASE

How are you certain that is the reason they won't install? I don't believe the Play Store gives you a specific message that tells you that your version of Android is too old. Are you sure it's not region restrictions or hardware incompatibility?

Thanks, app is a simple heater control, say needs 2.3 or higher. My phone was on 2.2 so I upgraded firmware usinh Kies no problem. Google Play it seems only recognises phone model and not firmware status if different from factory default??

Google Play should have no problem identifying your Android version. It can check that when you launch it. Again, did it tell you specifically that it could not be installed because your version of Android was not supported? There are many, many reasons an app may be incompatible with your device; the version of Android you have installed is only one of them. I would wager the app requires some hardware feature you do not have. See also Why are some apps on the market incompatible with my device?

Thanks provided GPlay can see firmware version I guess you are correct. I;ll contact the developers and ask questions.

I have the same phone and the same problem, running android 4.2 (flash), so google play does not watch your Firmware level, but your phone's name.
Just try to find your apps on the internet or try other markets (like GetJar).
Just now I was trying to find a solution for the problem :)


text:
GPS showing double the speed? System setting?
I use a "Enco B039" android-run in-dash car stereo. When using the gps the speed I drive in is showing double the speed. So if I'm going 50km/h the gps software tells me I'm going 100km/h and so on. All the settings in the software are set to km/h so I suspect it's the android system that communicates with the gps-module fault? I read in another forum of a guy that discovered that his android phone was giving him the speed reading in nautical miles (nots). Maybe this is whats happening with my unit? I found the system file "gps.conf" but I can't see any settings in there that I can change when it comes to speed. Any suggestions? In what file in the system is this setting located? Cheers.

Have you tried with different apps first? Concluding a system fault from just a single app's output would be a bit brave ;)


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Can I Upgrade My Samsung Tablet From Ice Cream Sandwich To Jelly Bean & How ?
I bought a Samsung tablet with Ice cream sandwich installed, can I upgrade it to Jelly Bean & how ? Please advice.
Thanks

Please take a look at How do I update the OS on my device? / When will my device get the Android 4.1 update (Jelly Bean)? / When will my device get the Android 4.2 update (Jelly Bean)? / When will my device get the Android 4.3 update (Jelly Bean)?

Which model?
Try checking from the
Setting Menu > About Device (or your Tablet) > System Updates.
You will be prompted if there is a firmware update.
Hoped it helps.


text:
When extactly does the hangouts_video_call.ogg extracted from hangout.apk?
Two ringtones are extracted from Hangout.apk to /storage/ringtones folder during some system setup phase.
To analyze that,  I manually deleted the ringtone files from my_files >> Ringtone. Now, no hangout ringtone in settings->sound->ringtone.
Then, done "Factory reset" from settings. Now, hangout ringtones didn't restored.
Now, i did "Factory reset" from recovery mode.Those hangout ringtones are restored again. That is visible through MyFiles as well as RingtoneChooser.
So, it turned out that "Factory reset" is somewhat different between "recovery mode" and from "settings".
I need to know when extactly does the hangouts_video_call.ogg extracted from hangout.apk? How can i find the log ? Any clue will be highly helpful.

That does not necessarily mean the two factory reset methods are different. There are multiple reports around of "incomplete factory-resets", where the first run seems to have not done its job completely, but a second run (from the very same place) finally did.

this in not happening once. this is happening always :|

Which still is no proof the one way or the other. If it always happens when running it from Settings, but always works fine on the first run from recovery (without running it from Settings before), that would be something different.

Why do you need to know? What are you trying to achieve?


text:
Does AOSP support font alises? If so, how/where are these defined?
As https://superuser.com/revisions/1512700/2 explains, Windows supports this functionality:

Font substitution is set via the registry under the FontSubstitutes registry key at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes

Likewise, almost all desktop-focused Linux-based OSes do, with fc-alias. As an example, on my Fedora 40 KDE Spin installation:
fc-match monospace
fc-match sans-serif
fc-match serif

returns

NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf: "Noto Sans Mono" "Regular"
NotoSans-Regular.ttf: "Noto Sans" "Regular"
NotoSerif-Regular.ttf: "Noto Serif" "Regular"

However, I see absolutely no information online regarding whether the AOSP supports this functionality, nor how. Irrespective, I've reason to believe that support might exist, because when I view an HTML message via the official GMail, Outlook, and Proton Mail e-mail client applications with text content set to monospace, the typeface utilized appears to be monospace, and consistent across the clients.

Related: How do I fix monospace fonts once and for all? and Why has Android made it impossible to install system fonts?


text:
Can an APK be installed from a URI via `adb`?
Question

As an example, I've tried the undermentioned:
adb -s "$DeviceName" install -t 'https://github.com/HomeZz/Current-Activity/releases/download/v1.5.9/app-debug-v1.5.9.apk'

However, this fails:

Performing Streamed Install
adb: failed to stat https://github.com/HomeZz/Current-Activity/releases/download/v1.5.9/app-debug-v1.5.9.apk: No such file or directory

Does anyone know of an alternative method which eliminates the necessity to download the .APK first?
Rationale

I ask because when prototyping APKs on a device from multiple locations online - which is something that I commonly do - needing to download them first - especially over a slow internet connection - can be bothersome.

When I first tried, I was surprised that this failed, because dnf5 install "$URI" is perfectly valid and normal.

You can directly download and install APK files inside the adb shell. Equip your Android phone with a tool like curl (e.g. extract it from Termux), download the APK file into Android flash storage and then install it using pm command (the same would be possible on PC side). IMHO you are simply dissatisfied by your manually process of installing APK files but don't want to spend the effort to automate it.

@Robert, why on Earth would you assume that I've no desire to "spend the effort to automate it"? I've provided no insight into what, more broadly, I'm trying to accomplish, nor my efforts toward it, because they're irrelevant. Irrespective, I'm thankful for the advice to use curl. However, the reason I'd not considered curl or wget to be an answer is because I use a multitude of devices that I can't necessarily modify willy-nilly. Being able to use adb (or pm, if I don't need to add any binaries) would be more convenient.

@RokeJulianLockhart pm is standard on Android devices, and wget is available in busybox (though it only supports http or ftp, not https). So adb shell 'cd /data/local/tmp ; busybox wget http://wherever/the.apk ; pm install -r /data/local/tmp/the.apk' works well. But you need a non-https server.

@jcaron, are you referring to https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/8917? I see issues on GitHub that would appear to indicate that BusyBox does support HTTPS. Is this an AOSP-specific deficiency? Thanks for the examples.

@RokeJulianLockhart I meant "the version of busybox in Android", or at least on the tablets I tried it on (quite a small sample, so this may not be universal, and may depend on the Android version and/or on build settings).

A bit of reading the ADB source reveals that no, there isn't another way with ADB. As of today, the key function that does the work is do_sync_push() in file_sync_client.cpp and that does an ordinary stat() call on the source file(s).
The adb install processing is quite simple: push the APK to /data/local/tmp, invoke pm on it, and then delete the pushed copy of the  APK.
ADB could doubtless be extended to do this, and it's possible to make requests and report bugs against it. I suspect it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of dnf5 simply because a lot fewer people use it.

Thanks for this. I've filed https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/363984099#comment1 consequently.


text:
What are the names for the AOSP boot states?
Most importantly, I'd like to know the name for the boot state wherein the device merely reports whether it is charging (or not) and how much capacity remains in its battery. However, I'd also like to know the correct name to use for when it's completely booted, in order to differentiate it from the aforementioned.
I would have expected sleep states to describe this, but initialising into a sleep state is improbable. Unexpectedly, this information is absent from official relevant documentation at https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/verifiedboot/boot-flow.

In case what I'm referring to isn't evident, it is the AOSP equivalent to i(Pad)OS's

which appears when an unpowered device commences charging.


text:
How to change which user is the owner?
How can I change which user profile is the "owner" profile? Possible?  Running 4.4.2.

I read from a forum that for security reasons, the only way to change the owner is to do a Factory Reset.

For security reasons, the only way to change the "owner" account is through Settings>Backup & reset>Factory data reset.

I just kept removing other Google accounts (all in this case) until the one I wanted was listed as owner. Not sure how the owner was changed from the initial Google account. It should selectable.

I suggest that you file a https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=190923&template=845103 about this.


text:
Must APPLICATION_IDs (package names) be reverse DNS?
I always thought that com.google.android.packageinstaller or pm would refuse to install an .APK if its manifest didn't include reverse DNS for the package name.
However, adb shell cmd package list packages returns package:android within the list of standard package names. It's the sole exception, which actually makes it more startling.
Within comparable package managers which utilize such a structure (like flatpak) the rDNS is mandatory in the package manifest. I expected pm to be the same.
Consequently:

Is this rule true for applications which the user installs but not the system, perhaps? Or

Can a package merely be named anything, yet the convention exists due to the Play Store, or another driving force within the ecosystem?

Sorry but I don't understand what you mean by this question. The package name of an Android app can be chosen freely just as you want. There is no requirement to match it to anything. It is also not clear why at the end you write something about flatpack, which is totally unrelated to Android as it is only available on Linux distributions (and Android is Linux based but not a Linux distribution).

@Robert, that's indeed what I wasn't aware of and wanted to confirm. I've solely ever seen package names conform to a reverse DNS structure. I mentioned flatpak list merely as a comparator, to demonstrate why I'm surprised, since seeing such an example there would be equally as unusual – though I suppose that in retrospect, it isn't, per your comment. Can you seriously name a package anything? The DNS is mere convention? I've modified the question significantly to make it more comprehensible – I hope it remediates your qualms.

The instructions for setting the application ID in Android Studio make it clear that this name has nothing to do with DNS names. It looks a little like a DNS name, but they have no significant relationship.
It is related to the Java or Kotlin namespace used within the app, but it is not synonymous with that; they often are the same but they need not be.

Every Android app has a unique application ID that looks like a Java or Kotlin package name, such as com.example.myapp. This ID uniquely identifies your app on the device and in the Google Play Store.
Although the application ID looks like a traditional Kotlin or Java package name, the naming rules for the application ID are a bit more restrictive:

It must have at least two segments (one or more dots).
Each segment must start with a letter.
All characters must be alphanumeric or an underscore [a-zA-Z0-9_].

It is recommended that you do the following when setting the application ID:

Keep the application ID the same as the namespace. The distinction between the two properties can be a bit confusing, but if you keep them the same, you have nothing to worry about.
Don't change the application ID after you publish your app. If you change it, Google Play Store treats the subsequent upload as a new app.
Explicitly define the application ID. If the application ID is not explicitly defined using the applicationId property, it automatically takes on the same value as the namespace. This means that changing the namespace changes the application ID, which is usually not what you want.

For the reasons for bigger-to-smaller ordering, the reverse of DNS' smaller-to-bigger order, see this Stack Overflow question.
I have never personally set up an applicationId for an Android app, but I have had to use the very similar app identities in iOS. When I did that, I deliberately avoided using the DNS name for the company because that had changed several times in the previous decade. It seemed better to use the long form of the company name, the line of business (which has moved between divisions several times) and an identity for the individual app.
You will find that executive management in large companies don't care about any relationship you may create between DNS names and Android applicationId values. They have people to take care of such things for them, the application developers. If you complain they're creating problems by re-organising the company, they'll hear that as "I can't do my job properly and I'm fool enough to make that obvious."

I'd also use this official documentation, but unfortunately it doesn't mention about the (reverse) DNS convention anywhere. Just wanted to add Stack Overflow: Android - Package Name convention for the naming convention following from Java's practice.

@AndrewT.: Thanks, added.

Summarily, am I correct that as long as I've no interest in publishing an application, I could set its package name to something like myPackage instead of com.MyPackage and pm would be quite happy to install it?

@RokeJulianLockhart: I don't know if pm will enforce the "one or more dots" rule. Try it?

@RokeJulianLockhart your last comment is a bit unclear, whether you're still referring to the reverse DNS requirement (com...) or if it can be a single word. If it's about reverse DNS, then there are many apps in the Play Store that don't follow this convention (example: pdf.tap.scanner).

@AndrewT., I wasn't aware that any applications in the Play Store didn't adhere to rTLD naming - I'm surprised that Google permits that, considering it makes the whole point of enforcing two dots redundant.

@JohnDallman, I'd like to, but I don't actually know a thing about Android application development - it's the reason I ask instead of ascertaining for myself. I want to know this irrespective of that because I maintain a few Android devices, and thus need to frequently create scripts that interact with them via the CLI. The naming scheme being inconsistent makes automating certain processes just a little more difficult.

@RokeJulianLockhart: I don't think you can call this "inconsistent." It does not conform to a pattern you spotted, but if it did, you'd see lots of national TLDs as the leading elements of app IDs.

@RokeJulianLockhart: "... makes the whole point of enforcing two dots redundant." The point of it is to prevent naïve developers creating single-word names and classing with each other. There are several million aps on the Play Store, and without enforcing multi-part names there would be many clashes.

@JohnDallman, strange that they would choose that method instead of generating a GUID, right?

@RokeJulianLockhart: GUIDs aren't very human-readable.


text:
Google play website shows all Apps under "My Apps" as "Installed" even uninstalled ones
I am looking at "My Apps" in Google Play Store and Google Play website.
In Google Play Store, it marks properly the apps that are currently installed as "installed" and the apps which have tried earlier and uninstalled shows up with a "x" mark that deletes the selected app from "My Apps" list.
But in Google Play website, it shows "installed" for all apps under "My Apps".
Is there any option to see the uninstalled apps in google play store?

Encountered the same here. From my limited research it seems that it has to do with 'syncing' to Google Play when an app is uninstalled.
Your device just looks at which apps it has in the internal memory. Google Play website needs this info being synced to it.
So when you install an app it shows correctly on both platform. When you uninstall it and have a working internet connection on your phone, it also shows correctly on both platforms.
Now if you install an app and for example hard reset your device (or your device is by other means unable to sent to the server that an app is no longer on your device), then it still shows as installed in Google Play website. As far as I know, there is no way to make your device 'resync' the installed apps. Only way would be to install the app again and uninstall.

I have seen google play website doesn't mark apps as uninstalled even having a working internet connection while uninstalling the app. And feel it's not worth to install and uninstall just for resync to google play website.

Wow, that makes it work even worse than I thought. And totally agree that re-installing and uninstalling just for this status to show up correctly isn't by any means worth the effort... :(

This a list of ALL the apps that you have installed since the beginning of time. including the uninstalled ones.


text:
Why does "Xperia Keyboard" use up mobile traffic?
I checked Settings->Data Usage, and an app called "Xperia Keyboard" has used up 513 KB of mobile traffic.
Why would the keyboard app need to use 513 KB of mobile data? It's a keyboard app, why does it need an internet connection at all?

Community shared dictionary for spell-checking maybe? Just a guess, I don't know.

Is there an option to turn of data for that keyboard app?


text:
How can I record video with lossless audio?
The stock video recording app has some preset lossy compression audio setting and I can't find an option to adjust it. I don't like that "tin foil" sound, due to the compression.
Is there a way to have lossless audio when recording video?
(My phone is a two year old LG-P690)


text:
What is exynos5-fb.1 wakelock?
Samsung Galaxy S4 running stock Android 4.3. This wakelock is mysterious. What is it? It's taking up a big chunk of my Awake time. How do I stop it? Thanks

possible duplicate of How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks?

Seems like it's the frame buffer kernel driver of the Exynos chip used in Galaxy S4 (which basically means you can't do anything about it), but it's just a hunch, maybe someone can supply better information.

It is You Tube.  Even after turning my tablet off, while charging, or not, You Tube starts running, on it's on, and wont stop until I force stop it.   Everyday when I seen battery drain or battery not charged after hours of charge time the first thing I do is check task manager and there it is, You Tube running.

Credible sources to back your claim would be appreciated


text:
My LG G2X P999 doesn't boot into APX mode
I have a LG G2X P999 phone and as with most of my phones I root them. I have seen many tutorials on how to root my version (Gingerbread 2.3.3) and in all I must boot the phone in APX mode in order to install the Nvidia drivers.
The method is NvFlash which installs ClockWorkMod (CWM) which then serves as a basis to root the phone. But before CWM can be installed the phone battery must be removed, the volume up & down button pressed simultaneously and then connected via the USB cable to the computer. According to the tutorial I should see APX device with a yellow triangle. The tutorial already provides the necessary drivers to install. The problem is when I connect my phone I just hear the traditional windows sound which indicates that something has been inserted. Checking the device manager reveals no unusual device. It is really baffling me why the phone is not booting as it should into APX mode. This is fairly a straightforward process so I guess I most be missing something.
FAQ

I have several USB cables and I have tried them all.
I have a clean install of windows 7 which I can revert back to a previous state. I have tried the process several times.
USB debugging is checked.
The phone doesn't have any physical defects; all buttons respond as should be. Everything is working.
I have several computers and in all I get the same results.


text:
nfc tag compatibility with google nexus 5
does anyone know if samsungs tec tile 2 (note the 2!) are compatible with the google nexus 5? in fact, does anyone have a list of compatible nfc tags?
(i thought the whole idea of nfc tags is that they are compatible, but it appears that the tectile 1's are compatible with even the newest samsung phones)

According to this article Tectiles 2 tags are based on the NFC Forum Type 4 tag standard (though the article does not mention an exact chip). Also Samsung explicitly released Tectiles 2 for use with devices that have non-NXP NFC chipsets (like Galaxy S4). This means that these tags are compatible to all current Android NFC devices including the Nexus 5.


text:
Does Android support a default terminal application?
Considering that both KDE Plasma and Windows 11 support a default terminal, and the availability of brilliant terminals like Termux, this seems like it would be an obvious feature, at least configurable via Developer Settings. However, I don't see any obvious method exposed via com.android.settings's GUI.
Undermentioned is a screenshot of how it is done in KDE Plasma 6.0.4's kcmshell6 kcm_componentchooser:

That apps like Termux still work is only because they use some sort of "compatibility mode" for older apps. That is the reason why Termux isn't updated in Play Store - Google doesn't allow to use recent apps to use this compatibility mode anymore (apps now have to follow the Write xor execute rule). So form Google perspective terminal apps are insecure and outdated and some day they will stop working at all.

@Robert, I expect that you mean that Termux targets an old API version. However, were the application installed into /system, it would surely be able to function? Anyone running a custom ROM could do so, so I doubt your assertion that such applications shall eventually cease to operate on the AOSP entirely.

No, Android does not support a default terminal application.
According to AOSP, categories that have default apps (as of Android 13):

Browser app
Emergency app1
Digital assistant app
Home app
Phone app
SMS app
Caller ID & spam app2

A few reasons to consider why there are settings for default apps:

Features that are considered core for common users, as well as used by other apps (browsing, calling, texting)
User convenience to change when needed (home/launcher)
Additional privileges to the selected app, or restrictions imposed by Android to the rest of the apps in the same category (caller ID, digital assistant, phone, SMS)

However, terminal apps are not (yet) considered for the above reasons, as observed that there is no built-in terminal app even in common stock Android ROMs (including AOSP). It is also unlikely that there are multiple terminal apps installed that need to be restricted, or other apps that interact directly with a terminal app.

1 On AOSP but not observed on Google Pixel 3A (Android 12) and Samsung Galaxy M12 (Android 13)
2 Not on AOSP but observed on Google Pixel 3A (Android 12) and Samsung Galaxy M12 (Android 13)


text:
What is (a) Firehose (file)?
Question
What is a "Firehose file" (or its counterpart, the mere "Firehose", if that's more applicable)?
Rationale and Research
I ask because, in threads like the undermentioned:

forum.fairphone.com/t/trapped-in-fastboot-mode-with-locked-bootloader-and-corrupted-custom-rom and
xdaforums.com/t/does-twrp-function-with-non-aosp-oses.4692346

...I have been informed that it's necessary for the Emergency Download Mode (EDL) to work, which itself is necessary to recover a soft-or-hard-bricked AOSP device. However, what it actually is isn't well elaborated on.
You can see an example of this at github.com/bkerler/edl/discussions/577, where the tool is entirely about "Firehose", yet doesn't appear to explain much about how to acquire the data necessary to operate it.
Understanding this would be useful to me because I've an Amazon Fire tablet which is currently bricked, due to a failed superuser elevation after a Recovery partition wipe (in preparation for TWRP installation) leaving me with an entirely inoperable device. I don't want this to accidentally occur to a device which I care about more, without me having a way to restore it to a usable state.
(Lack of) Duplicates
Searching for "What is Firehose?" in android.stackexchange.com returns two mostly irrelevant results:

Flash avb_custom_key using EDL
Need help unbricking my Google Pixel (sailfish)

Guess you already know what it is, you're asking for qualified answer. this will help to identify your device

@alecxs, regarding "Guess you already know what it is", I have very little idea of what they are. My best estimate thus far is some kind of cryptographic signature. That post which you've linked to uses a significant amount of terminology which I'm wholly unfamilar with.

https://alephsecurity.com/2018/01/22/qualcomm-edl-1

An Firehose Programmer file (Factory Loader file) is an external bootloader. The file is provided via USB during early boot / EDL mode.
"Loaders are made by phone manufacturers from standard editions of xbl (the secondary loader) released by Qualcomm."
Source: #11
As every bootloader, the file is specific to the phone model / SoC. Manufacturers add their own security.
Firehose Programmer files aren't publicly available due its low level powers.


text:
Do AOSP users have "usernames"?
As this relevant Stack Overflow question revision demonstrates, calling $USER inside a terminal (like Termux) provides a username like u0_a272. However, every application developer I've spoken to about this who was able to discuss this informed me that that value differs for each application, and the AOSP documentation appears to corroborate this.
Consequently, should I consider the u0 section as the user identifier, and the _.* section as the identifier for the application, or is an entirely different method utilized to refer to a user?

While there's nothing wrong with the question, I have a trouble understanding the context of ”AOSP" in the title, because I thought "AOSP" as the project/source code as a whole, not the OS/app. Perhaps it's only me?

@AndrewT. I use AOSP to refer to the OS in its unmodified form, since unlike most Linux-based OSes, "Android" has an official base form. If you know of official guidance which contradicts this, I shall rephrase it.

It is well known that Android uses the Linux user system as simple sandbox system to separate the apps form each other.
The Android user id like u0_a272 (UID 10272) can be interpreted this way:

u0 means it belongs to the first user-account on the device (this time to the Linux user account but human user).
a is may be the identifier that the user account belongs to an app (not 100% sure)
272 is the Linux UID modulo UserHandle.PER_USER_RANGE.

The UID is computed as:

UID = UserHandle.PER_USER_RANGE × user + app + Process.FIRST_APPLICATION_UID

Constants in Process specify range of UIDs allowed for use by the applications. On Android M, the range is from 10000 to 19999.
The user accounts are created dynamically on app installation and then saved to a XML file where this and many more details if all installed apps are recorded. This way Android can lookup which app belongs to which uid and the other way round.
For more details on this topic see the related questions and their answers:

How does the Android interface work Unix permission wise?
How can I find app name by UID?
How many apps can be installed on an Android device?

This is mostly correct, however the part after the underscore is not (directly) a Linux id nor is it hex.  Both numbers are decimals, and the first part identifies the human Android user (u0 = the first account set up on the device; u1 would be used if you add an additional profile, and so on), and the a123 identifies the app number, which is assigned in the order the apps are installed.  So u0_a12 would be the 12th app that the main user installed, and the answer to the original question is "yes".

@josh3736 Thanks for the additional info. I just checked reality and regarding the part after the underscore we are more or less both correct. Checking my /data/data directory using ls -la and ls-lan I can see e.g. that u0_a29 has uid 10002 and u0_a266 has uid 10266. This pattern was valid for all apps I have checked.