text:
Asus Zenfone Max Z010D - Bootloop problem
My Asus Zenfone Max Z010D on Android 6.0.1 suddenly started showing, "Unfortunately, Google Play Music has stopped" and it did the same for almost every app, and restarted on its own.
After some research, I came to know that it went into a boot loop because it is continuously loading and does not start after that.
With zero knowledge of Android and two days of Google search, I tried the following things, however, nothing has solved the problem and my phone is still not working.
I tried:

ADB sideloading: I switched the phone to recovery mode, and selected apply update from ADB. I found the firmware file for my model from the official Asus site and executed the following command from my PC: adb sideload UL-ASUS_Z010-WW-13.8.26.110-user.zip
However, it showed the following error:
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_install
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_install
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_install
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_install
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)

Original screenshot of the output
I was not able to find a solution to the error.

Secondly, I tried flashing the boot image available in the extracted firmware file as follows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb devices
List of devices attached
GBAXB700D719RCK recovery

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb reboot bootloader

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot devices
GBAXB700D719RCK fastboot

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash boot boot.img
target reported max download size of 26843546 bytes
sending 'boot' (9740 KB)...
OKAY [  0.339s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [  0.212s]
finished. total time: 0.552s

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot reboot
rebooting...

finished. total time: 0.003s

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>

Original screenshot of the terminal output
Even after that, it kept on loading with the logo on the screen and never started properly.

Maybe everything that I have said and done is wrong. Please help me to get my phone working properly.

I think this is a misunderstanding. The boot image is just a very small run-time which is executed at the beginning of the boot process. If it is finished it loads the system or the recovery. I assume that the installed bootloader works without problems, but your installed OS (containing the kernel and the system partition) is still broken. I would recommend to flash TWRP recovery via fastboot, boot it and then try to sideload the image you have. Alternatively search for a custom ROM with a more recent Android version for your device.

So, for me to do anything, I am not able to unlock the bootloader...it says access denied, even with the unofficial method. Can you suggest me any method?

Aside from ADB sideloading, there is a direct option on the phone called "Apply update from SD card" after entering fastboot mode. Maybe, you should try that.

Enter fastboot mode by pressing the Volume down and Power button at the same time.
Once you reach the main menu, look for the above specific option.
On the SD card, the correct firmware zip file required for your phone should be present. Do NOT rename it or alter it.
After entering the option, locate the firmware file on the SD card and select it, apply the changes.

If the problem still persists, I think you should dig deeper into how to unlock the bootloader of your phone.


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Which mobile company delivers Android system updates the fastest?
Basically, I am an Android developer. I am looking for a new Android mobile phone.
Could you recommend the mobile company which first publishes an update of Android system? I am tipping at HTC, but you may have a better suggestion?

Buy a Nexus S device directly from Google. They will be the fastest at updating to the latest firmware. And they will always ship with Stock Android. Everyone else is Way behind. most are behind because they add customizations to android and have to make their changes, then they have to go through the google approval process. Not to mention then having to go through the carriers testing process for deployment.

Good point.  The latest flagship device is always the best bet, not a particular company.

Does Google have any official devices with a hardware QWERTY?

no, the only one they had w/ a hardware keyboard was the ADP1 (HTC Dream / G1)

Is this available to non-US countries/citizens?

@Ryan, damn, I find touchscreen keyboards so frustrating to use :-(

LG promises but fails to deliver, Samsung comes up with the updates pretty quick. Tries to cover all phones that might show an improvement with new version.

Samsung? Their US versions of Galaxy S that came out ~6 months ago was released with Eclair, and just got Froyo recently. No official Gingerbread builds yet AFAIK.

@Ryan, so you do not recommend Samsung Nexus S? Just Google Nexus S?

Samsung is one of the better ones in India.

the nexus S is manufactured by samsung, for google.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is there a way to log network traffic on an Android device without rooting it?
I would like to know if its possible to log network traffic on an android device and to see what app is causing each bit of traffic without rooting the phone.

A surely working, but hard to achieve solution would be to set up an access-point where you log all the traffic and connect your phone to it.

This is easy to achieve with a desktop that has a "host-mode" or "AP-mode" wireless device.  For example, Mac OS X devices with AirPort can be put into access point mode, by enabling Internet Sharing.  From there, you'd use something like WireShark to trace all the traffic coming from your Android device through the Mac.  Windows and/or Linux hosts would work the same way, as long as your wifi adapter supports AP mode.

At lest some devices seem to have a setuid root copy of tcpdump installed

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


text:
Can I tether a Motorola Xoom w/o 3G to my HTC incredible phone?
I am considering buying a Motorola Xoom and would like to tether it to my HTC incredible phone for internet when there is no Wi-Fi available. I've already successfully tethered my laptop using either USB or Bluetooth and am wondering how I could do likewise for the Xoom?
Do I need to root either device?

If your incredible will create a WiFi hotspot it will work with the Xoom.  You can test this with your laptop before buying the Xoom.


text:
Sidekick 4g media volume doesn't save
Just recently got myself a t mobile sidekick 4g. I am loving it so far except for a few quirks. This device doesn't seem to remeber what volume I set for media playback. Since I use my phone to play music or podcasts while I drive this means every time I get back into my car I half to turn the volume back up. Is there someway to make this setting behave like stock Android?

For now I am using Tasker to solve this problem. Just set headset plugged as the context, and make the task set media volume to where I want it. If someone finds a better solution and posts here I will accept it as answer.
Note The market version of Tasker was force closing on my Sidekick. I emailed the developer and he got it fixed. Look for apk version 1.1b4 or above and it should work on Sidekick. This update will get pushed to the market sometime I am sure (or maybe it already has been)


text:
ADWLauncher: Go straight to default screen instead of requiring a second "home" tap?
I have CM7 installed, and am using ADWLauncher which comes pre-installed.
I know how to configure a "default" home screen, so that when I'm in ADWLauncher already, pressing "home" brings me to the default screen.  But when I'm in another application, pressing "home" takes me to the most recently viewed screen, and an additional tap of "home" is required to then move to the default screen.  What I want to do is be able to press "home" from ANY application and go STRAIGHT to the default screen, regardless of what my last viewed screen was.  Is this possible?
Thanks!

I don't think there is a setting in ADW that can do that. I use ADW.EX and I looked through all the settings and didn't see any way to achieve what your are asking for.
It is, however, open source, so someone could implement the option for this, or you could request it to anderweb and he might add it to an update.


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Why USB Tethering goes off after a while?
I use 3G, Android 2.2, LG P500 phone. I've tested it on Windows 7 and Windows XP, the result is the same. After several minutes the connection dies and I need to switch off/on the USB Tethering option to restore the connection.

I've found solution. I.e. I found how to organize stable internet through my Phone using 3G. It could be done by LG PC Suite, Tools->"Internet Connection Using Your Phone". It works without needing to switch anything in Phone. But I still wondering why simple USB tethering doesn't work.

If you've found a solution, you should post it as an answer then accept it. This will help future readers of this site who have the same issue find the solution.

I've found solution. I.e. I found how to organize stable internet through my Phone using 3G. It could be done by LG PC Suite, Tools->"Internet Connection Using Your Phone". It works without needing to switch anything in Phone. But I still wondering why simple USB tethering doesn't work.

This is most certainly due to network restrictions.
For instance 3G connections on Orange (UK) are dropped if you hit it with "too many" requests in a short period of time. This is very easy to do with a PC, just open a dozen tabs on a browser and the 3G connection is dropped.

is there anyway you know to determine the actual number of requests that is too many? i suspected it was something like that but if i knew how many was too much, then perhaps i could find a way to throttle chrome (or whatever browser) to only request so many things at one time

I'd say ask the network operator. Thing is some of them  don't actually (officially) support tethering, e.g. Orange UK. So asking might put you on the spot (depending on the guy on the phone, they might not care)

haha yeah well im on verizon in the us, im pretty sure i signed a contract that states specifically that i will not be using the phone for tethering, so i kind of figured that asking is out of the question. verizon does officially support tethering, but only if you pay $20 extra a month.

That's exactly why the drop the connection when they see PC like usage :)

haha i know, i just wish i could find a way around it, i very much need that $20/month, whereas i think verizon will probably be ok without it.


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Better keyboard to type '?' symbol
I was wondering, is there any better keyboard for me to type to following '?' symbol. Now, using stock android keyboard, to type '?', I need to

Press and hold ',' key, a list of symbol choices will shown.
Hold and move my finger to '?'.
Release.

I feel not comfortable on step 2, as most of the time, my finger is quite dry. I found it is difficult for me to hold and move my dry finger on the screen. Is there any way I can.

Press ',' key, a list of choices will shown.
Click on '?'.

In pre-2.2 stock keyboard, typing the ? is a two step process:

Alternatively, you can long press on . and a pop up menu will appear:

In 2.3 stock keyboard, the auto-correct bar will show common punctuations, including ?:

The old two-step ways of using the ?123 page and long-pressing on the . still works, although when you long-press on . now you only need to slide your finger to the punctuations.
In Swype, you can long press on the letter M to produce ?:

Alternatively, you can press Sym keyboard:

If you're using SwiftKey X Beta, the ? has its own dedicated key in the main keyboard:

If you're using HTC keyboard, you can long-press on the letter k:

Swiftkey is a keyboard that aims to reduce the amount of keys strokes you make by predicting the next word in a sentence based on your typing history - that means it gets better the more you use it.
In your case, it also has just one keypress to type a ? as you can see below:

Swype would be your best bet, just swype the symbol to the spacebar and voila! You have your question mark.
http://www.swypeinc.com/i/basic-keypad.jpg
Here's a link for videos of the tricks you could do with swype: http://www.swypeinc.com/tips-tricks.html (Search for how to swype punctuation!)
If you want in, register from here: http://www.swypeinc.com/myswype.html
Best thing is it's free!

I guess Swype will actually be the the worst keyboard for OP since he had problems swiping on the screen.

I'm not sure if he has a problem with "holding and moving" or "swyping", they are similar but different animals altogether. I guess it's all up to him to decide which keyboard fits him best. :D By the way, very nice instructions, very well documented. :D

For anyone interested, it appears Swype is no longer available or maintained.

MessagEase has the "?" symbol directly available in one-touch from the default screen:

Press the "Sym" button, then press the "?" button, no dragging required.  You can also do a medium press of the button to get the symbol without the menu appearing (long press).  You'll see the symbol appear when you've held the button long enough for the medium press.

Sorry. But, what is "Sym" button?

In the stock keyboard, it's between the swype button on the left and the space bar.  If your stock keyboard isn't the same as in the swype tips videos that Cygnum linked, then you'll want to specify your Android version in the question.

I cannot c swype or sum button. i am using nexus s android 2.3

Then it doesn't appear that you're on the stock keyboard.

@B Mitch Swype is it's own keyboard and has a different layout and usage to the stock keyboard, see Lie Ryan's post for how differently some of the common English keyboards are layed out.

Thanks GAThrawn, since it came out of the box on G2, I had assumed it was the stock one.  I've got to stop assuming things.

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


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USB Driver for HTC Dream G1 - 64 bit Windows 7
I have a HTC Dream G1 (T-Mobile) - android version 1.5 and I have 64 bit Windows 7 on my laptop. I am unable to access the memory card in my phone through my laptop. Can someone tell me how to install the USB driver for my phone?
Thanks in advance.

Go and download the Android SDK installer.
When the SDK setup tool runs, you can select the USB Drivers
The drivers will be in <install_directory>extras\google\usb_driver
find the android_winusb.inf and right click it
click install

if right click -> install doesn't work, then try the following

Start Menu -> Right Click Computer -> Click Properties
Click Device Manager (on the left)
Find the device in the hardware list, will probably have a "warning icon"
Right click the item and select Update Driver Software
Select Browse my computer for driver software
Select the usb driver directory noted above
Check Include subfolders
Click next
finished...

your device should now have usable drivers so you can mount the sdcard.
For reference, the android sdk documents also has a page with links to many of the different OEM drivers too.

Thanks for your reply. I tried both the methods you suggested, and they do not work. Can you suggest any other solution?

if you already have drivers installed, uninstall them first.

I installed Android ADB interface, Android Bootloader Interface, and Android Composite ADB Interface - all 3 drivers, but still it doesnt work :(

once you have the drivers installed, open a command line and navigate to the SDK directory. then navigate in to the platform-tools directory, so your command line should look something like: C:\android-sdk\platform-tools. now type: "adb devices", no quotes. does it return anything?

It says list of devices, and the next line is blank. No devices are listed.

your driver is not installed correctly. uninstall all the android devices, then try to reinstall.

Tried again. It did not work. Note that I added the drivers as a legacy device, as direct installation of the drivers did not work

just follow these directions to install the android driver... very easy ! how to install Android driver

Answers that send readers off to other sites are generally not considered useful.


text:
How can WhatsApp show me an image/video if I didn't download it to phone?
If I send an image/video via WhatsApp and the other person doesn't download it, how can he still see the image as a blurry image?
From looking through the app's database, I found out that the local path of the image that was downloaded is located in the thumb_image column in the messages table. However, if the image is not downloaded, I don't have any information about the local path.
Does WhatsApp store that image as temporary image data on the device?

Thumbnails are stored in WhatsApp's database as BLOB in the message_thumbnails table, under thumbnail column.

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


text:
Dock Gboard keyboard to the bottom
I think Android pushed an update on to my Pixel 3 phone running Android 10, and now the Gboard keyboard is small and floats around.
How do I dock the Gboard keyboard at the bottom of the screen?

On the keyboard, click the three dots "..." and click on "Floating" to unfloat/dock

Thanks for this! I know it's a bit older but it was exactly what I needed. Wanted to give it the upvote it deserves. :)


text:
Zoom app won't cast audio via Miracast
I have a Huawei Mate 20 Lite that uses Miracast for screen mirroring. So far I've been successfully able to share Zoom video calls to my TV, but the audio stubbornly refuses to share to the TV.
I've also shared Facebook Live calls and casting Facebook Live will send both audio and video successfully.
Any idea on Android settings to check for?

I have the same problems when I cast the screen - some apps cast audio and some don't. It's probably dependant on how apps internally use audio

Same problem here. Audio from phone is not mirrored. Even with a notebook connect throught hdmi the audio comes from the notebook. Even connecting a bluetooth speaker the sound still comes from the phone.

This article https://support.google.com/chromecast/thread/41716778?hl=en may answer your question indirectly.
I have similar problem on TV Box. Skype works but Zoom has no audio. I have posted question in this forum.
I guess that one solution is to route the "call over internet" to HDMI. I am doing research on how to do it now.

The article solution, to use a bluetooth speaker,  does not work. Since there's a delay in miracast , the audio and video becomes unsyncronized.


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Enter EDL mode in Motorola devices
I have a bricked Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) XT1527 which throws a preflash validation failed error whenever I try to flash any of the files included in the stock firmware. Some guy told me to enter EDL mode, and I would prefer not to disassemble the device.
Searching through the internet, I found a way to enter EDL mode with a modified fastboot.exe, but it seems to work only for Xiaomi devices.
Is there some way to do this in Motorola devices? USB debugging and OEM unlock are disabled, and the bootloader is locked.

These days no new phone will allow you to trigger EDL via key combos or a custom fastboot. Not even Xiaomi. Disassembly will be your only way to enter EDL.

@singhnsk do you know where can I find the pins in order to access edl mode in moto devices? I have dissasembled the phone but can't find them and every tutorial I find is for xiaomi devices. Do you know how the pins look like?

You can always make an EDL cable.  Simply take a usb cable you want, take the top layer off to expose the wires.  Usually they are color coded, and if so, strip the black and green cables, but keep them separated.  Use a PUSH switch between the green and black cable, so when pressed, it will SHORT the black and green cables, thus throwing the device into EDL mode.
To activate EDL mode, some devices use different method.  Power the device off, plug the cable into the phone computer.
Method 1
plug the cable into the phone and when the battery status shows, press the button.  The device should reboot.  Most devices will blink the led red when in EDL mode.
method 2
press the button to short the cables and keep it pressed while you connect the phone.  The phone should start EDL mode and blink the led.
Hope that helps.


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Recurring "Allow USB debugging?" popup during a test run
Per my work-around here ./gradlew test connectedAndroidTest erases my getFilesDir() folder, I test on two ONN tablets using a Ruby Rakefile that looks a little bit like this:
task default: [ :unit_test_and_install, :espresso_test ]

task :unit_test_and_install do
    sh './gradlew --console=verbose test installDebug installDebugAndroidTest'
end

task :espresso_test do
    devices = `adb devices`
    serial_numbers = devices.split("\n")[1..-1].map{|q| q.split("\t")[0] }

    threads = serial_numbers.map do |sn|
        Thread.new do
            sh "adb -s #{sn} shell am instrument -w -r -e package com.mycorp.myapp -e disableAnalytics true " +
                    "com.mycorp.myapp.test/androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner | tee tests_#{sn}.txt"
        end
    end

    threads.each &:join

    serial_numbers.each do |sn|
        grop = `grep "^OK .*tests" tests_#{sn}.txt`

        if grop == ''
            sh "cat tests_#{sn}.txt"
            abort 'FAILURES on ' + sn
        end
    end

end

The problem is the adb -s WHATEVER shell am instrument line. Even though it launches the JUnit tests correctly, sometimes the tablet puts up its "Allow USB debugging?" requester. (The one that says "The computer's RSA key fingerprint is...")
The tests run whether I tap the requester or not, and it usually does not pop up. Test runs and debugging runs from Android Studio or ./gradlew don't trigger the popup. But how do I get rid of it?

does the fingerprint change each time the dialog is shown? Please note that development questions are off-topic here.

this is just initial pop up for each new host, should not happen. adb does generate new keys in .android under certain circumstances in home folder, maybe you did run your tests from different users? in any case you should grep connection state and wait for authorize in your script. if you want to skip this you need to modify devices ro.adb.secure

please stop editing this question. This is not wikipedia, Third parties should only edit a question to fix a typographical error or something


text:
Turn off "double-tap to unlock" on Samsung Galaxy S7
For some reason, whenever someone calls me, the Samsung Galaxy S7 now shows the phone put, tells me to double-tap to unlock, then it does it a few seconds later. I have never seen this before, never wanted to double-tap.
I have gone to the talkback and it is off.
I don't know why it started doing this but how do I make it stop?

Go to Settings -> Display -> Double tap -> Turn on
double tap is enabled.

Also try this.
Go setting / accessibility / talkback. Turn off talkback. When talkback is on, it will prompt to double tap to unlock. But this double tap is using two finger and swipe up.

I have a Galaxy S7 SM-G930U and had the same issue. Both during incoming and outgoing phone calls my phone would display a padlock symbol and a message reading "Double tap to unlock." This would overlay the call information screen behind. When the message was displayed, I was unable to hear a ring or voice on the call.
The workaround was to quickly double-tap and press speaker to allow the phone call to function.
I had recently installed a new head phone jack inside the phone and had also received a software update. Trying new phone apps did not solve the problem, so I suspected it was a hardware issue. I went through all of the steps necessary to remove the back cover, disassemble the phone and removed and reattached the battery connection. I had taken this step to replace the headphone jack. Somehow the battery connection must have been loose because reattaching the battery solved the 'double-tap' issue for me. Disassembling your phone is a process, be careful, or take your phone to a shop to check it.

0
I have a Galaxy S7 SM-G930T and had just changed the battery. When looking for an answer to the double tap to unlock problem, one answer suggested proximity sensor problem and then found Androi_toulouse answer. Both these suggested to me that the problem might be with the ear speaker not being connected properly since that was what was not working even when I double tapped. Removing the back cover which I had only seal light at the sides, I inspected the area at the top end of the fone and found that the small top circuit board was not seated correctly. A couple of tabs at the top needed to be tucked under the frame. Remove the board and loosened 3 screws on the speaker/batt cover to lift and help accomodate the board so that it laid flat and secure. Turned the fone back on and made a call ... everything worked fine after that.


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Can I root Android by booting from an SD card?
Digging for that, I found various resources on the net to boot Android from SD cards. Doing that would make possible many things that are generally unavailable on phones.
For example, it would be possible to dump the whole content of the flash or get to root without the need to reformat some partitions. Effectively, it would be like unlocking PCs by a boot pen drive.
Is it possible? Can I simply burn a firmware image into an SD card and then boot my Android phone with it?
This question already gives some insight into repairing a specific model with SD card booting, but it has little to say about SD card booting in general. It does not answer my question.

A locked bootloader only executes an system/kernel image that has been signed by the manufacturer. Therefore even if your device would support boot from SD (most device AFAIK do not support this) the software still would have to be the original manufacturer image.

@Robert Thanks, it helps a lot! So, I need to switch to a new bootloader, like TWRP?

@peterh No, TWRP is a recovery ROM. The bootloader is loaded before either the recovery or the system OS is loaded. To "update" the bootloader you have to unlock it (if it is possible on your device) and this is the step that erases the device. Unlocking the bootloader is usually the first step for rooting.

Booting from SDCard cannot be answered in general. It's a device specific thing. I have been able to boot a few devices from SD card but it's not possible by simply burning a firmware image. You need to create an exact image of internal eMMC/UFS chip on SD card. SoC, bootloaders, TZ, modem etc. related partitions are still read from internal storage (because those have hard coded paths in firmware). All you can do is to modify post-kernel (init's) configuration to start booting from partitions on SD card. But from your question it's not clear what benefit you want to have by doing this.

Also some devices (at least some from Samsung, or all, not sure) allow booting from SD card for some recovery purpose. SoCs on development boards almost always allow this. So do some MTK devices. But I haven't got a chance to use any such Android device so far. I've made successful attempts only with Qualcomm devices. And technically it's not "completely booting from SD card". If something at pre-kernel stage (like a bootloader) breaks, device won't boot (unless recovered, if possible). And everything that loads before Linux kernel is signed and cannot be modified, as Robert said.


text:
Google Translator does not appear automatically anymore
When I was using WhatsApp and chatting with my foreign friends, when I copied their text, the Google Translator was automatically appearing.
But now, after the Android update, it doesn't happen. I tried settings in the translator app but there is nothing to enable that.
Settings > Tap to translate > Enable
did not work.
How can I make the translator app button automatically appear whenever I copy a foreign language text?

Have you tried clear data and followed the procedure again?

Just in case it's related, could you also mention the phone model and the Android version?


text:
Add a friend in Line by username without ID or phone number
In the Line app, Is it possible to search for friends by their username without ID or phone number?

There is no such functionality due to privacy reasons. Your only options are ID, QR Code or phone number.


text:
Cannot connect to xfinitywifi on Google Pixel 3a
I just bought a Google Pixel 3a phone, I cannot connect to xfinitywifi. I have no problem with many other Wi-Fi.
What happened is like this:

When I tap xfinitywifi at the Wi-Fi list, I can see that it comes to the phase of acquiring an IP address.
Then it shows I need to log in to the Wi-Fi.

At this point, I encountered several different problems:

I am led to a sign-in page, wifilogin.comcast.com, but before I can finish typing user name, I am led back to the Wi-Fi list interface and it shows either "not connected" or "connected but no internet"
I am led to that sign-in page, but before I even have a chance to type, it goes back to the Wi-Fi list interface
It does not leave from the Wi-Fi list interface at all. I can see some notification at the top saying login is needed, but it does not change to that login page

At the first start of the phone, it asked me whether I want to transfer everything from my old LG phone to this phone, I did that. The LG phone connected to xfinitywifi automatically.
I tried the following:

Open the browser and go to wifilogin.comcast.com, it only gives me a blank page
Click Forget the wifi and re-connect
Power down and on
Go to setting and delete all the user credentials.

None of these works.
Any suggestion?

Did you tried to connect in safe mode?

As a work-around you could try force the login-page to appear by surfing to a HTTP only site such as http://neverssl.com.

If you go to Settings - About phone - Android version, what security patch level are you on (this should be a date)? This was a known issue with the 3A and 3A XL with wifi networks that used a separate login page, until about the December security patch. You should be on "February 5, 2020" patch level.

Using http://neverssl.com/ only works if you have a data connection.  Maybe the problem is that Private DNS is enabled?

It is an obvious Pixel bug.  I can't connect my Pixel 3XL to xfinitywifi hotspots either.  I am totally gobsmacked that Google allows such bugs to exist in perpetuity.  It is totally unbelievable that in some ways Google's stuff is trash and they don't care.
It should be noted that my provider is Google Fi.  There own stuff does work together... Unbelievable.


text:
How to modify Bash shell prompt in Cyanogenmod?
Has anyone had any success modifying the shell prompt in Cyanogenmod? Presently, # is pretty useless, it would be much nicer to at least display the working directory. Also, is tab-completion possible?

Usually the bash shell prompt can be modified by changing the environment variable PS1.

I'm not too keen on the why, but sh on CyanogenMod is a bit watered down. As Joachim noted in the comments, usually you can modify PS1 to change your prompt, but it doesn't properly expand prompt variables:
# ps $$  <-- Just showing that the current shell is /system/bin/sh
ps $$
USER     PID   PPID  VSIZE  RSS     WCHAN    PC         NAME
root      1055  129   756    340   c006abb8 afd0c44c S /system/bin/sh
# echo $PS1
echo $PS1
#
# PS1="\w # "
PS1="\w # "
\w #   <-- \w should be PWD

However, CyanogenMod does ship with a modified version of sh called ash (I believe this is for Android Shell), which does support a subset of these prompt variables. Here's some examples of what does and doesn't work, with local echo removed for the sake of clutter/space:
# ash
~ # echo $PS1
\w \$
~ # PS1="\u \w \\$ "
root ~ # PS1="\t \w \\$ "
         ~ # PS1="\l \w \\$ "
l ~ # PS1="\H \w \\$ "
H ~ # PS1="\h \w \\$ "
localhost ~ # cd /sdcard
localhost /mnt/sdcard #

As for tab-completion: I don't personally know of a way to make this work. I imagine the main problem is actually that the adb shell buffers input up until you press enter, so the tab isn't actually sent to the shell program when you hit it. A good illustration of this is to open a file with more. The q key exits the more program, but you actually have to press q and then hit enter to quit because the initial q keystroke isn't sent until you press enter to send the whole buffer.

Okay, SSH is a different beast. Assuming you have a reasonably sane client ash will give you tab-completion along with the prompt variable expansion noted above. If you're using dropbear (the ssh daemon that ships with CyanogenMod) then you can configure ash to be the default prompt by logging into your device (either SSH or adb shell works here) and doing the following:
# echo "/system/xbin/ash" > /data/dropbear/.profile

This assumes /data/dropbear/.profile doesn't yet exist, because it will overwrite any existing version (this file is not created automatically, though). It can be edited instead if the file already exists, of course. Then restart dropbear and log in again. You should land at an ash session:
login as: root
Authenticating with public key "rsa-key-20110718"
TRACE (1391): entering fake-getpwnam
TRACE (1391): leaving fake-getpwnam
TRACE (1391): enter sign_key_free
TRACE (1391): enter dsa_key_free
TRACE (1391): leave dsa_key_free
TRACE (1391): enter rsa_key_free
TRACE (1391): leave rsa_key_free
TRACE (1391): leave sign_key_free
/data/dropbear # ps $$
USER     PID   PPID  VSIZE  RSS     WCHAN    PC         NAME
root      1392  1391  1084   416   c006abb8 afd0c44c S /system/xbin/ash
/data/dropbear #

So how do I change SSH on the phone to have the default shell of ash rather than sh?

@TKKocheran: Oh, I was thinking adb shell and not SSH. You'll get tab-completion with ash via an SSH connection. You're using dropbear, I'm guessing? To use ash by default you can just echo "/system/xbin/ash" > /data/dropbear/.profile and then restart dropbear.

@TKKocheran: This assumes you don't have a /data/dropbear/.profile file already, of course. Just edit or append if you have stuff in there that you don't want to overwrite.


text:
Fixing "Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card" issue
I recently had a problem that prevented updating any application installed on the SD card. When trying to update the application in the market, the update failed and the following message was given as detailed error:

Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card.

A possible workaround is to move the application back to the phone, update it, and then move it to the SD card again.
How can we fix the error permanently?

A fix I've found and that works is to mount the SD card on a PC, open the *.android_secure* folder and delete a file named smdl2tmp1.asec.
It seems that it's a leftover file from a previous (failed?) installation/update that prevents another update to run correctly.

After moving the app off the SD card to the phone I didn't even have to take the SD card out, it updated fine.
Check with following links
1: http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/19/fixing-the-couldnt-install-on-usb-storage-or-sd-card-problem-on-android/
2: http://www.newbiehelper.net/2011/05/solve-install-on-usb-storage-or-sd-card.html

You can find the file smdl2tmp1.asec in the folder /mnt/secure/asec/. As Dario said erase it :)


text:
My phone vibrates 2 times, as some application crashes inside or background
I have Samsung Galaxy Ace running Froyo.
While writing text, installing/removing app or doing any kind of play. My phone vibrates 2 times. Where as I am not using vibration for any event. You have also expirienced this vibration with a popup message that some application stop responding. But I didnt get that message. So that i can identify the porblem area. I guess some inside applicaiton crashes and this vibration happens.
Can any one give some pointer on it? How can I fix it.

Its difficult to find the Problem without the Device.
But you can Activate the Debug mode (Preferences->Applications->Development->USB-Debuging)
Then you can start Eclipse.
Open the DDMS Perspektive and there LogCat.
Perhaps you find there the BuggyApp.

I will try this.


text:
Are there any custom ROMs that can be upgraded without a wipe?
I'm considering putting a custom ROM on my SGS.  Are there any ROMs that enable me to install updates without wiping the entire phone?

Have you had specific problems with this? Many ROMs will work fine when updating from one version to another. For example, the instructions on CyanogenMod's forums (taking the EVO as an example) say:

Upgrading from earlier version of CyanogenMod 7?

Perform a NANDroid backup of your current ROM.
Flash CyanogenMod (your Google Apps will be backed up & restored automatically).

Specifically they're referring to a case such as upgrading from say 7.0 to 7.1. The NAND backup is just in the event that you want to roll back or something goes wrong, but in reality you could even consider that optional (though highly encouraged).
Again taking CM as an example, you usually only need to wipe your phone if you're going from one major version to another. A good example would be if you're going from an Android 2.2-based ROM to an Android-2.3 based ROM. This is because there are some significant changes under the hood to Android, and is not really related to the specific ROM itself in most cases. The exception to this is typically carrier OTA updates since they specifically tailor them to play nice with the previous versions (end users wouldn't want to wipe their phone for every OTA, obviously).
Edit: Just to clarify, what I mean by the above is that CM won't wipe your /data partition (or /cache, I believe) on its own, as described here. It will also backup Google Apps and reinstall them to /system during the update. You can wipe /data manually from your recovery or ROM Manager, but you certainly don't have to. I have read, though, that using ROM Manager to flash an update will automatically wipe /data. There may be a setting for this or this may not be exactly true - I am not sure because I do not install my ROMs this way (I boot into recovery and do it manually).

I haven't tried it yet.  I want to know if there are versions I should avoid.

@Nathan: I can't speak for most ROMs, then, since I've been using CM for a long time, but as noted above, CM does fall into this category. The only exception is moving between major versions (like 6.x to 7.x) since they change the base Android version at that point. I suppose you could always try making a backup and updating a ROM you're interested in without wiping. If it works, great! If not, restore and try another.

I use a custom ROM called Bionix and new versions, even minor updates, wipe most everything.  CM sounds like it wipes too, it just has built-in restore of some apps.  I'm not sure this is exactly what Nathan's looking for, it sounds like he's looking more for an OTA-like update that normally does no damage.

@Matthew: CM doesn't wipe /data (or /cache to my knowledge) when you install it, only /system, but it restores Google apps on /system if you already have them. It's pretty much like an OTA in that regard (settings, contacts, Market apps, etc are retained). I'm not sure exactly what OTAs to do /system, though, so I don't know how different that is.

Ah OK, that's good :P


text:
Is it possible to make tasker events conditional on whether I'm roaming?
Using 'Tasker', I have a task set up to dial my mobile phone balance enquiry number at 7pm each night, put in the right options, then hang up.  That results in a text being sent to me each evening with my remaining minutes - great!
However - I'm about to go abroad for three weeks and, left in its present state, it will rack up quite a bill if it does manage to dial.  How can I make this action conditional on roaming?  I considered using the location context but it crashes above certain ranges and isn't that reliable.

If you are usually home at 7pm, you could make it conditional on the presence of your home Wifi network (using "Wifi Near") or a cell tower near you (using "Cell near"); if you use a dock at home, you could make it only fire when docked instead.
You could also make it dependent on a calendar and just set the dates for your trip now.

TomG:  Thanks.  Good workarounds - especially using wifi near as it's likely to be more robust than using location.  The dates idea is also nice but I go away quite frequently and it would be tough to maintain and expensive to forget!  I'm keen to hear any other means of detecting the roaming but will probably settle for your wifi idea Tom.  Thanks.

There's a Locale plugin (that you can use in Tasker) that might handle your needs.
And here is another plugin for Locale.

Try this:

Profile context triggers on set variable CELLID with task check if ROAM matches off.
Set a variable ROAMING accordingly. Now you can have other profiles use the ROAMING variable to change settings like calls to accept or limiting data.

Tasker may not update CELLID instantly so you nasty be roaming a little while before it fires. Maybe a minute.
Try and let me know. Here is an export:
 <class cl="TaskerData" sr="">
    <tv>1.2u2m</tv>
    <class cl="Profile" sr="prof5">
        <cdate>1328389747604</cdate>
        <id>5</id>
        <mid0>25</mid0>
        <nme>Roaming Monitor</nme>
        <class cl="EventContext" sr="con0" ve="2">
            3050
            <pri>0</pri>
            <class cl="StringArg" sr="arg0" ve="3">
                <val>%CELLID</val>
            </class>
            <class cl="StringArg" sr="arg1" ve="3">
                <val></val>
            </class>
        </class>
    </class>
    <class cl="Task" sr="task25">
        <id>25</id>
        <pri>10</pri>
        <class cl="Action" sr="act0" ve="3">
            37
            <lhs>%ROAM</lhs>
            <op>2</op>
            <rhs>off</rhs>
        </class>
        <class cl="Action" sr="act1" ve="3">
            547
            <lhs>%ROAMING</lhs>
            <op>10</op>
            <rhs></rhs>
            <class cl="StringArg" sr="arg0" ve="3">
                <val>%ROAMING</val>
            </class>
            <class cl="StringArg" sr="arg1" ve="3">
                <val>1</val>
            </class>
            <class cl="IntArg" sr="arg2">
                <val>0</val>
            </class>
            <class cl="IntArg" sr="arg3">
                <val>0</val>
            </class>
        </class>
        <class cl="Action" sr="act2" ve="3">
            43
        </class>
        <class cl="Action" sr="act3" ve="3">
            549
            <lhs>%ROAMING</lhs>
            <op>9</op>
            <rhs></rhs>
            <class cl="StringArg" sr="arg0" ve="3">
                <val>%ROAMING</val>
            </class>
            <class cl="IntArg" sr="arg1">
                <val>0</val>
            </class>
        </class>
        <class cl="Action" sr="act4" ve="3">
            38
        </class>
    </class>
</class>

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


text:
Musicplayer that shows BPM information and allows sorting according to BPM
Is there an music player that shows the value in the BPM tag? I would also like it to sort according to BPM.

Unfortunately I find almost all of Androids media player apps lacking support for any sort of advanced sorting.

As far as just showing BPM, PowerAMP does that quite nicely while the song is actually playing and in the info section. Sorting is a different story (though lots of other great sort options). and of course this is a paid app. Now that you've mentioned it though, I might email the dev about it.
Neutron MP is also an interesting program that shows everything from BPM to sampling rate to crossfade sliders to a bunch of other advanced dj controls that you'll probably never touch. It's slow as molasses though and while it's uber advanced, it's not particularly user-friendly. Also I could find no sortation options at all.
I tried (unsuccessfully) to find BPM info in the following music apps: 3, WinAmp, BoomBoxoid, Meridian, Zimly, and MixZing. I also tried the tagging programs iTag & Pimp My Music with no luck.

You could try Droid DJ. It says its got a beat countneed I don't think it'll sort by bpm but it may be worth a try if you don't find exactly what you need.

My files are already tagged with BPM data. I need software to simply read the data from the tag. I don't see that Droid DJ does that.

I can't say with perfect certainty, but I've not seen anything like this in any of the major music player apps, which all struggle each in their own way to provide any extra-functionality. However, winamp for android was just released and is supposed to be fairly feature rich. Check there, maybe.

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


text:
Is it possible to record a video as avi or mp4?
I've recently bought a Motorola Milestone 2 (Froyo) and I see that when I record a video it produces a .3gp file.
Is there a way to have it produce an avi or mp4 instead? Would I have to root the phone?

Root won't be necessary, the Android API allows Apps to set the output file format to .mp4. So you just need to find an App that makes use of it.
But, as with most video file extensions, .avi and .mp4 are just container formats. Therefore the actually used video codec, that is responsible for the quality of the video, isn't changed by changing the container format. The Android API itself recommends to use .3gp as container format for better compatibility.

Using an MPEG-4 container format may confuse some desktop players.

Source
I'm not aware of an Android video recording app that actually saves the video with H.264/AVC compression. I think that this is because of the royalty fee one has to pay to use the codec.

Do you know if it's possible to save as .AVI? My phone (Motorola Razr) records in .MP4 and I'd like to edit it w/ windows movie maker, which doesn't recognize .MP4


text:
Can't start clockwork recovery image lately
"Lately" (like in the last few months), I'm unable to start the Clockwork Mod recovery image on my Nexus S with Oxygen 2.2.1. When I select "boot to recovery mode" (or want to start a ROM backup) in ROM Manager Premium, it reboots and I see the Android icon. The very first line is red and reads:
FASTBOOT MODE - NO BOOT OR RECOVERY IMG
I've (supposedly…) reinstalled the recovery image multiple times and ROM Manager tells me, that I'm on the latest version already (5.0.2.0).
Well…
How do I install the Clockwork Mod recovery image? My phone is rooted, if that's important.
Thanks,
Alexander

Try flashing the Recovery image manually via fastboot, as described in this guide:

Download the latest version of the ClockworkMod Recovery from here.
Place the ClockworkMod Recovery Image in the same folder as fastboot (the /tools folder with the Android SDK folder).
Power the Nexus S down, and hold Volume Up & the Power button until booted into the bootloader. You should see a white screen with
  three skating androids.
Connect the Nexus S to the computer via USB. On the computer, open terminal and run: fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-crespo.img

The ClockworkMod Recovery should now be installed on the Nexus S.


text:
Google Calendar on Android opens to old date by default
When I open Google Calendar on my Android phone, it starts up showing October 1 2011. The phone knows the current date; pressing menu and then the today button goes to the correct day. I'd just like it to default to today like it did before 10/1. Any ideas?
This is Calendar 2.3.6, Android 2.3.6 GKR39F, on a Nexus s.
This forum thread seems to describe the same problem, but it's unresolved.

Similar: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6821/calendar-agenda-view-wont-stay-on-today

It's worse than that -- when I go to create a new appointment, the default date of the appointment is typically sometime last week.  As if I needed to remind myself to do something in the past.  Grr

looks like this is a bug caused by agenda view and multi-day calendar entries. if you have one that includes the current day, calendar opens to the first day of that entry. fortunately, i think the bug is fixed upstream: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=21605
simplest workaround is to delete the multi-day entry. :/


text:
Using other block device when conecting Android device to computer as USB storage
When I connect the device to computer, it makes sdcard available to it, as in card reader.
How to make it share not sdcard, but other block device or file?

I would assume that this is highly hardware dependent and impossible without writing and replacing drivers, at best.

How it works? How to make "Use USB connection to transfer files" action manually, from console?

On my device (Sony Ericsson Xperia X10) it is, for example:
echo /sdcard/debian.ext2 > /sys/devices/platform/msm_hsusb/gadget/lun0/file

After it the content of file becomes available on the host. Can write to sdcard file without unmounting it from android.


text:
Where is this Twitter App hiding?
I changed my twitter password a while ago, and periodically, when my phone has been off or totally offline, I'll get an alert: "Twitter sign in failed" but the Icon looks like a twitter icon, not Seesmic or Tweetdeck, the two apps I use. I'm assuming the problem from the app perspective is that my password isn't working. From my perspective, the problem is that I can't even figure out what app is sending these prompts. Seesmic and Tweetdeck have my new password, and I don't see a "Twitter" app in my applications anywhere.
How do I even begin to figure out where this alert is coming from?

What phone? OS? Carrier? Some have it pre-installed. Did you check under Accounts & sync?

It's probably the Social Networking Service (SNS) or a similar application, rather than a Twitter-specific app.  I have this service on my Samsung phone and there's a widget that can display social networking posts on the home screen.  You can manage it via Settings -> Accounts and sync, as Al said.


text:
Sync contacts to more than one google accounts
I have two gmail accounts on my android. When I first use it, I synced all the contacts to the one account. Now I want to sync all the contacts again(I have added many contacts since then) to the other account. But I cant, although the gmails contacts have synced to my phone. Sounds dummy but I am confused.
Any help appreciated...

You cannot do this on the phone.  Any contacts created on the phone that were added to one Gmail account, cannot easily be "copied" to the other Gmail account, especially not in-bulk.
You can however, do this quite easily on Gmail's web site:

On your computer log into your Gmail account that has your latest contacts, and click on "Contacts" link.
On the upper-right side click the "Export" link, select "Everyone (All Contacts)" and "Google CSV format" options, and click the "Export" button.
When prompted, save the "google.csv" file somewhere on your computer (e.g. C:\ drive.)
Log off your Gmail account, and log into your second Gmail account.
Go to Contacts, click on the "Import" link, click on "Choose File" button, browse to your C:\ drive (or wherever you saved the file in step 3,) select the "google.csv" file, click Open, and finally click the "Import" button.  You may also choose to add these new contacts to an existing group, or create a new one.

After a few minutes, these contacts should sync to your phone under the 2nd Gmail account.

But I want permanently to store my contacts on the second account. should I do the same procedure every time?

@peraueb8921: after you perform this manual transfer once - your second account will properly sync all existing contacts.  When creating new a contact on the phone, the Contacts app will give you an option to select an account, so choose the 2nd one.

Hmm...interesting, I will try it :)


text:
Enabling logcat in a ROM that has it disabled
I'm running Liquid Smooth 3.2 on my Motorola Droid 1.  This ROM comes with logcat disabled (/dev/log/main doesn't exist).  I tried starting the logcat service myself by adding the following to /etc/init.local.rc:
#start logcat service
service logcat /system/bin/logcat -f /dev/log/main
   oneshot

However, this didn't seem to work as /dev/log/main still doesn't exist on boot.  I'm getting...
$ logcat
logcat
Unable to open log device '/dev/log/main': No such file or directory

Does anyone know how to re-enable logcat in a ROM that has it disabled?

Looks like Franco's Kernel is another that doesn't let you use logcat. Is there any way around it for Franco's? https://www.facebook.com/franco.Kernel/posts/289634051051987

I figured it out.  It was the kernel that came with Liquid Smooth ROM.  The kernel developer, chevyno1 (of Simply Stunning MOD), disabled logging in the kernel.  I switched to a different kernel by JDLFG and logging immediately turned on with the next boot.

Switching kernels helps - in my case Goldenleaf works instead of the old Franco's.

The ROM might call "rm /dev/log/main" during init to cripple logcat. If you can find that line and remove it logcat should be happy.

Thanks for the hint!  I'll do some grepping and see if that's the issue.

Why would a rom do that?

@NoBugs There's a slight speedup if the OS isn't logging as it's running.


text:
Which older version of YouTube for HTC Hero?
I just put CM7 on my HTC Hero. Now I'm in the process of isntalling all the apps and the problem is that the YT app that's on the market is not compatible with HTC Hero. Does anyone have a clue which is the oldest supported YT app for Hero, and where I might get it?

Apparently, it could not be installed because of market country restrictions.. So in case someone needs a solution - I tried using market enabler, and got it (YT) installed without problem.

What you need to download and install is called GApps, which is a package with all the Google applications that come built in with Android, but those are flashable and you can't just install them.
I suggest you to take a look at [ROM] Hero CyanogenMod 7 Nightlys-Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread (2011-02-27), download the GApps provided there(gapps-gb-20110120-signed.zip) and flash that using the Install update.zip on your unlocked bootloader menu.

hm.. well, I did install gapps from the link that I found here and I did not get youtube with it - although it asked me if I wanted it to be installed

Maybe it helps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1028581


text:
The name of the default android browser
does anyone know if the standard Android browser that comes pre-installed on the cell phones has its own name? Every browser on the market has one - Safari, FF, Fennec, Dolphin, etc. But the "standard android browser" seems lacking it. Or I'm wrong?
I'm writing small blog posts about JavaScript and Android and I'm really tired of writing "Standard Android browser works differently from Fennec" instead of "Foobar works differently from Fennec"

"Default" is another adjective you could use.

Not as far as I know; it's name is just "Browser". To distinguish it from the other browsers, sometimes I call it "stock browser".
btw, it's called Firefox now (or Firefox Mobile), and no longer Fennec.

I've also seen the Android Browser referred to as...the Android Browser.

@AlEverett: I've seen that too, but IMO that is still kinda ambiguous that Android Browser does not mean the other browsers, especially in an article which also mentions browsers in other OSes.

You can use a ActivityManager to get the message about process
in my phone,Browser is "com.android.browser",it's the same in all the android.
Is different OS,the name we see may be different , like different language,and so on.
In English,it's Browser.
Hope the answer is useful.


text:
How can I prevent the YouTube application from constantly showing a pop-up for YouTube Premium trial?
How can I prevent the YouTube application from constantly showing a pop-up for the YouTube Premium trial? I'd like to never have this window.

This answer is from Quora:

Tap “channel icon”, top right hand corner. This will lead to “account”.
Scroll down to “settings”, and select “notifications”.
Scroll down to “Product Updates”, and turn the ‘switch' off by tapping on it. It shall turn grey, and point to the left.
While you're there, you can also change any other settings that may have been bothering you.
This may reset whenever YouTube updates, so remember to switch it off again if the adverts re-appear.

For the past 6-8 months, I have not been using the Youtube app (I prefer NewPipe to access Youtube). So, I can't confirm if the above suggestions work 100% of the time.

There is no "Product Updates" or anything similar (anymore).

Directions seem legit on the current Android app.

I have never been disturbed with these popups so far in the modded YouTube app named YouTube Vanced so I suggest you try this app. The app also has background play feature that can be used without a YouTube Premium subscription.
Head over the XDA thread here to know more about this app and learn about its installation.
Note: the app automatically blocks ads served by YouTube.


text:
Using Gboard's phone layout on a tablet (or vice versa)
I use Gboard on a phone and a tablet. My preferred language is Maltese. With exactly the same settings, I get two different layouts. In particular, there's a missing button on the tablet that comes very handy when typing Maltese.
Here's the difference between the two layouts:

How to get the same keyboard layout on the tablet as on the phone?

Have you checked that both devices use the same version and the settings regarding language and layout are the same? https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en


text:
History of unlock patterns
I have a Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) on Android 5.1 Lollipop unlocked (with ADB and TWRP). I want to see an unlock pattern that I used a few months ago.
Is there a way to see the previous unlock patterns that I've been using before?

A few months ago, I broke my phone with a pattern lock. Until that, I had been using another phone and I used the same password. But months later, I changed the pattern and I forgot the previous one, which I used on my broken phone.
A few days ago, I have my phone, but when I try to put my pattern, it was incorrect. Now I'm trying different methods, like bugs or tricks, doing backup, and more, but none of them works.
Also, do you know a way to unlock the phone? Normally, I use the fingerprint, but anyways, you restart your device and it asks you for the password. It's a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and I think the USB debugging is on.

Hello. What problem are you trying to solve with this? Also, it is unlikely system would store this thing even in memory, let alone the persistent storage.

A few months ago, i brake my phone, with a pattern lock, until that, i been use another phone, and I use the same password, but months later I change my pattern and i forgoted the previous, which i use to my broked phone,a few days ago,i have my phone, but when i try to put mi pattern, it was incorrect , now im trying different methods,like bugs or tricks,do backup and more, but any of them works. Also, you know a way to unlock the phone? Normally i use the fingerprint but anyways you restart your device its lend you the password.. Its a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and I think the usb debugging is on.

Even I have the same problem. I have forgot my pattern on Motorola One Power(having stock android) when I switched to my new Samsung phone. Now I want to access some files on my old phone but I cannot unlock it. I have already entered 32 wrong patterns.


text:
Change vibration pattern
So there is this thing that has annoyed me since my Samsung Galaxy S8. The default vibration pattern for notifications (when on vibrate mode) seems to be two short vibrations.
This is driving me nuts as I always have my smartphone on vibrate but I want it to only vibrate once, one short "bing" kind of vibration.
I tried several apps which allow you to control the vibration pattern, but they all seem to work only if not in vibrate mode or for older types of OS (< 8). Mind you that this is pretty much only about WhatsApp, as I don't receive many messages via SMS or anything else. Changing the pattern in WhatsApp does nothing (it keeps vibrating literally exactly the same), external Apps do something sometimes (sometimes 3 vibrations, sometimes 1, most often still 2, and nothing is really reproducible). Finally, Android itself does not really give you any control over vibrations unless I miss something.
I even had a look at the source code which (if I understand correctly) hardcodes the vibration pattern fallback for vibrate mode and does not allow any changes.
I know that it sounds really stupid but this is such a big grind for me, that I even consider switching the OS, as it drives me insane. So if anybody has any help it would be much appreciated.
If relevant, the device is an Essential Phone running Android 10. There is no "Sounds and Vibrations" setting, there is only a "Sound" setting which allows me to change the call and notification sounds but not the patterns.

Added the device model and Android version because each manufacturer can customize their own Android, as shown on the answer for Samsung devices.

Go to Settings --> Sounds and Vibrations. There is an option "Vibration Pattern". Change that to "Basic Call".
As pointed out in a comment to this answer, probably this setting is available only in Samsung phones. I haven't checked devices from other manufacturers.

I would, but there is no "Sounds and Vibrations" setting, there is only a "Sound" setting which allows me to change the call and notification sounds but not the patterns. (This is on Essential Phone with Android 10)


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A hub's USB-C port doesn't allow the phone to transfer files
When I connect my phone to my laptop with the original cable, I get the option called transfer files. Now, I have Huawei Matedock 2,

and when I connect the phone to its USB-C port, I don't get the option. It's just charging the phone.
Is it possible to charge and transfer files using this hub on USB-C?

Please update your post to include the Android device, Android OS version, and how you are connecting the dock to the pc/laptop and the Android device.

Looking at the Matedock 2.0 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Huawei-Matedock-Matebook-Devices-Connection/dp/B075MWC9VS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
It seems like that USB-C port is kind of unclear on what functionality it supports or doesn't support.
I'm probably wrong on this, but my first thought was that since the USB-C port is right next to the VGA and HDMI outputs, it could be that it's only meant to be used for video output (with a USB-C to HDMI cable or something like that). I'm not even sure that could be the case technically speaking though, as USB-C should transfer data indiscriminately, I don't think it can be "video-only" like HDMI or displayport are.
It's more likely that the dock is just built cheaply, and doesn't support the proper data bandwidth necessary for data transfer on your phone (or at least, as much as Android would like. Android can be really picky with what data connections it accepts over USB, as I've seemed to notice). Also could be that your phone or USB cable has problems with data transmission over USB 3.0, which is sometimes the case with regular USB-A 3.0 ports/cables - I know I've had trouble connecting some of my android phones to USB 3.0 ports on my computers before, and they worked fine as soon as I switched them to a different 2.0 port instead.
I would suggest you try using the USB-A port on the back of the dock instead. Get a USB-A to USB-C cable and use that to hook your phone up to the dock, and then the dock to the computer's usb-c. The problem might just be with some kind of weird miscommunication along the signal path between the computer's USB-C port, and the dock's USB-C port.
EDIT: Also, try a few different USB cables. You may just need a higher-quality USB cable in order to get full data transfer capability. A lot of the time Android will refuse to connect with data transfer if it doesn't like the particular USB cable you're using. It is weird that the one you have won't work through the Matedock if it would otherwise work plugged directly into the computer, but it can't hurt to swap it out anyway and see if a different one fixes your problem.

Next to any other reasons other people mentioned, I noticed that in some cases with some devices and some hubs, it does matter how you attach the USB-C cable.
While normally you can plug it in in any direction, some devices will only work when you plug it in in one specific direction, especially if it is a USB-C to a different type of USB cable, the hub also might do that kind of despite having a physical USB-C port since internally sometimes they use the old interface, as many of them are USB 2.0 internally.


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Call Recorder not using microphone to record the other side
Any Call Recorders that are digital - not using my microphone to listen to what is said in the other end?
What about recording calls over Bluetooth?
(It seems most most of these applications record what goes into my microphone, and listen to the other side through my microphone, often turning up the speaker to do that)

possible duplicate of Is there a way to easily record a phone conversation in-progress?

No its not a duplicate because most of these apps are using the microphone

I think they work by recording anything going into the mic, and they turn on the speakerphone, to listen to the other side.

I'm confused about what you're asking for. Are you looking for an app that only records one side of the conversation?

No, but the difficult thing is the other side.

Did a rewrite to stress the problem with existing apps.

Call Recorder - Boldbeast does all the above - record via bluetooth and both sides of the conversation. You may want to check if your specific phone needs to be rooted.

This is something that has to be enabled in the kernel. Some custom kernels do implement this, depending on your device.

This is the most correct answer here. With proper custom kernel support, you very much can have 2-way call recording, often abbreviated as 2WCR.

Some Android phones have following issues:

Can't record calls.
Can record calls, but in recordings the sound of your side is very weak.
Can record calls, but in recordings the sound of the other side is very weak.
Can record calls, but during recording you can't hear the caller's voice.
Can record calls, but during recording the caller can't hear your voice.
Can record calls, but when you play back the recordings they sound like fast forwarding or fast rewinding.
Some other issues maybe.

These issues are not caused by the call recorder, actually they are caused by the manufacturer intentionally - the manufacturer disabled the call recording feature of your phone. You should install a powerful call recorder that can fix this problem, for example this Call Recorder.
About bluetooth call recording problem

Some phones support bluetooth call recording perfectly, just install any call recorder and go.
The hardware of some phones don't support bluetooth call recording, for example Galaxy Note 2 GT-I7100, GT-7105, Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 etc that use the WM1811 audio chip. In this case all call recorders don't work.
The hardware of some phones support bluetooth call recording but the ROM doesn't support it, for example Galaxy Note3, Galaxy Note4, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S5 etc. In this case you should root your phone and install a call recorder that can fix this problem, for example Boldbeast Call Recorder, it can fix this problem for many phones.
Please note Galaxy phones have many variants, they are different from each other, for example Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 doesn't support bluetooth call recording, but Galaxy S3 SGH-I747, SCH-I535 may support it, or can be fixed.

How manufacturers disable the call recording feature
Indeed almost all android phones' kernel support call recording perfectly, manufacturers usually disable the call recording feature out of the kernel (not in the kernel). If the recorder gets root access and it supports your phone it can fix the recording problem, no need to change the kernel.

I talked to the developer and mediarecorder_voice_call works if properly implemented in phone firmware, however many disable it out of fear (mostly in the US it seems).
Some (like skvalex's) rely on root/alsa/kernel support, which is not for the masses.
At the same time, even with proper voice_call support, bluetooth doesn't work because of android (or linux?) limitation.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?can=2&start=0&num=100&q=&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars&groupby=&sort=&id=60323

Sorry to inform you: But that's a limitation in the system itself. Android simply doesn't allow this, and offers no API to record the "remote side" -- which is the reason it's hard to find any app doing so satisfactory. You will find several developer discussions on this topic, and it seems it turned out "being hard to work around that limitation" is a big euphemism.

I still find it bewildering how old Nokia phones can and has the option to record voice calls built-in to the phone whereas, something as advanced as an Android would fall short of such feature.

It's clearly not a hardware issue, and I agree with you: every old-fashioned analog fixed-line can record calls, so this can't be some legal issue either. To not spy on you, there could be some permission used (the permission system IMHO could also use some overhaul -- e.g. permission.INTERNET could be a bit more finegrained) -- so I really see no reason to completely block this. Unfortunately, I have no say in this area -- I'm not important enough to make Google listen...

We should start a petition then :)

Which one? Just take a look at all the tickets currently open on Androids bug tracker. There already have been plenty, and for years -- but they simply get closed with the argument "works as designed"...


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I got semi-invisible Google Play 1-star rating
Recently I saw 1-star rating on an app. It was invisible to me when I selected any language other than English(US) in my phone. And the comment was empty.

Image of rating in Russian / in English (click images for larger variants)
What to do with that. This is a bug?
Thanks!
P.S: Can't view the profile of that "Google user".

Comment in Google Play store separate for different countries.
You can simply add to URL &hl=en where en is two-letter language code defined in ISO 639-1
For example:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader&hl=en
(English)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader&hl=pl
(Polish)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader&hl=it
(Italian)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader&hl=fr
(French)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader&hl=es
(Spanish)

Source
What is a google user comment ?
If we go through what is written here, we get that after updating review profile by user, play store simply replaces old user name by new entry A Google User. This can also be because of some reasons like reviewer changed his name or deleted his account.

Thanks for that. But I can't view the profile of "A Google user". Also, I did not have any ANR/crashes on Google Play Console mobile app.


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Software update never worked in Samsung Galaxy S2
Whenever I try
Settings -> About Phone -> Software Update -> Check for update
I get the error message "Connection failed"
More Information -

I am connected to Internet. and Internet works in my phone.
I have configured Samsung account in my mobile.

How are you connected to the internet?  It needs to be over a data connection, not Wi-Fi.

Seconded - I've tried over a data connection as well as WiFi. Same error. Hoping for an update for India from the current 2.3.3

@MatthewRead Yes its over data connection only

Galaxy S2 doesn't support OTA updates...so it's unlikely that you will be able to check for updates from your phone. The same "Connection Failed" error comes to me when I try that in my phone.

then what are the other ways to update the phone software?

@emaillenin download Kies for your computer and connect the phone via USB, it should prompt you for updating.

Dial *#8736364# to check for an update.

same error "Connection failed" when tried using this way


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Background apps and the battery
Every time I use Google Search, the browser or the music player of my Samsing Galaxy S II (Android 2.3), even if I push the back button until it brings me back to the home screen, the apps keep running in background (seen in the "Active Applications" widget).
Do they consume my batery? Do they enter in some kind of supended mode, so they don't consume the CPU? If they do consume, is there any configuration to make them really close when I push the back button?

I've asked a similar question about my browser.  The consensus seems to be that these apps are normally pretty dormant when in the background, and my browser was behaving strangely.  Android's designed so that you don't need to exit apps (the system manages suspending and killing them); so, unless you notice an app consuming an abnormal amount of CPU time while in the background, it should be safe to leave them be.


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Micro USB cables that only charge but no data, no mounting etc (Samsung Galaxy S)
Not all cables seem to be created equal but I've never got to the bottom of why so many (cheap) cables I try only charge - no data. Anyone know why? Certain pins not connecting?
I do know that longer cables or car to usb converters fail to transmit enough power for the phone to register and not charging but I'm getting the opposite. I don't think I am alone (same problem for Nexus One users here)

Others say any cable is good for charging but no mention of data: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/9464/alternate-usb-data-cable-for-charging

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/4494/are-android-chargers-universal-in-terms-of-power-voltage-amperage

Broadly speaking, if you have a "USB" cable that only connects pins 1 & 4 then you will get power and no data (Best Buy was selling cables like that as Universal USB Charging Cables a while back, not sure if they still do). Likewise, if you have a cable with only 2 & 3, you will get data but no power. If you're curious, here's a Wikipedia page with the standard USB Pinout.
Note: Micro uses the same pinout as USB A.

Thanks. I checked those pins and they were good. Seems like my phone had dirty 2 & 3 connections and after a lot of wiggling about the cheaper cables seem to work most of time where previously they never worked.

As devnul3 says, a power-only cable is a USB cable where the data pins are not connected.  The main reason they exist is because they can be made ever so slightly cheaper by virtue of only needing 2 connections instead of 4 (and also because you don't need to worry about preserving the quality of the very high frequency signals on the data lines).
This said, there are cases where a power-only cable is preferable to a "fully featured" USB cable: when you want to charge your device from some random USB connector somewhere.  As is becoming more widely known, a USB connector can be used for many things besides the ones the user expects, so if you use a "normal" USB cable, you may end up unwittingly providing priviledged access to your device.
IOW when you're charging from a USB connector that you have no reason to trust, a power-only cable is not only ever-so-slightly cheaper, but it's also a bit safer.

Sorry to disagree with the other answers, but those assumptions are simply wrong:

To be compliant with Battery Charging Spec. or any other comparable charging mechanism, the data lines require certain voltages or a shortcut (e.g. BC with <200 Ohms) to identify the charger type, i.e. the charger provides that signals - hence the data lines are required for the attached device to identify the charger.
Even if only data shall be transmitted, at least data lines and GND are required (see USB 2.0 Spec. Figure 7-19). Hence, is no good reason to keep the VCC line disconnected.
If the cable-connectors have the USB logo on them those cables HAVE to be compliant with USB standard, which in turn means that all pins have to be connected.

Interesting. Charging has changed since this question was asked so it seems faulty/fraudulent cables will fail to negotiate a higher current and take much longer to charge or not charge at all depending on the devices


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I've bricked my HTC Thunderbolt with Cyan... help?
Well, this is totally my fault.  I had a little extra to drink last night and on a whim decided to upgrade the Cyan rom on my HTC Thunderbolt.  There appeared a later version in my Rom Manager so I clicked the buttons, gave permissions and off it went... next thing I know, the phone does not get thru the white HTC screen.
Help?  Can anyone provide a simple step-by-step?
Thank you kindly!

I would try flashing a RUU

Are you able to get into the recovery boot menu? (On my phone, it is accessed by holding down the vol down button when turning on the phone). If so, there may be something that can help you. I have had this happen to me, and what I had to do was to try re-installing the ROM from the zip file, using the process described here (scroll down to Flashing CyanogenMod - method via recovery). On that page, it also states "As of right now CyanogenMod is not officially available for the HTC Thunderbolt". I did a bit of digging, and found that the only available CyanogenMod roms for the Thunderbolt are unofficial. At this juncture, I would suggest flashing a different ROM, or an earlier version of Cyanogenmod, if you still have the ZIP file you used before the update.


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VW car bluetooth - Android 2.3.6 (Nexus S) phonebook display
I have had great success using my Android Nexus S 2.3.6 with my new 2012 VW GLI Autobahn with RCD-510 stereo, which has bluetooth integration for A2DP audio thru the stereo and phone, as well as the built in speakerphone of course.  I'm very happy with how well it's worked except for one problem.
The display of the phonebook via the car's MFD (multifunction display, between the speed and tach gauges), shows all my contacts EXCEPT those on my favorites, like my wife, best friend, mom, brother, i.e., the people I call most often.  I can usually find them thru recent calls, but it seems silly that those don't show up in the phonebook when people I haven't talked with for years show up by virtue of not being favorites.
Anything I can do to help the phone show the favorites to the car as part of the phonebook?  I have done phonebook update a couple times, but no luck so far.
Thanks!!

For some reason this just worked itself out.  One day I did "update phonebook" in the bluetooth menu, and then everyone showed up.  Before that, I thought I was going to have to remove my wife, brother, mom, etc, from favorites to get them to show up in the car's bluetooth menu.
So, if this happens to you, try "update phonebook" in your VW/Audi bluetooth menu.


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Is there any known memory leak in Gingerbread 2.3.3 fixed by occasional reboot? Related to battery usage?
I notice that when I reboot my Samsung Captivate, it runs smoothly for about 2 or 3 days.  After that, I notice that there is a lot more lag with various apps, and the launcher screen is more likely to die and restart, mostly after running the browser.  After I reboot, it seems to behave fine.
Today was one of those days where I needed to restart.  I also noticed that the battery drained much more quickly today (down to 45% after 3.5 hours).  Looking at battery usage stats, Android OS used 41% of the battery.
From talking to friends, battery usage issues are fixed temporarily by a simple reboot.
From other questions on here, people who have issues with lag use various type tools like Watchdog, only to see Android OS using most of it.
Is the battery usage issue and occasional lag issues related?  Is this an issue that is fixed in 2.3.4, or a subsequent version?

I've noticed the same thing with my Droid X. A reboot fixes things but rebooting every couple of days is far from ideal.

I upgraded to a 2.3.4 ROM.  I no longer have the battery drain issue, or the lag issue.  The question is whether or not it was the specific ROM or the 2.3.3 OS, but based on multiple links, here and here, I believe it is a 2.3.3 issue fixed in 2.3.4.


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How to share files between a regular account and a work account?
How to share files between a regular account and a work account?
I've researched and I can't find anything. What I am missing?

It might not always be possible to transfer data between multiple users/profiles. It depends on the Device/Work Policy Controller app, installed by you or your IT admin.
Android device can be managed in two ways: fully managed (which is setup at the time of first use or after factory reset on a company owned device) and work profiles (which can be added or removed anytime without affecting primary profile on a personal device / BYOD). Both requires a  profile owner app (MDM/DPC/EMM) installed and registered as an administrator. Fully-managed devices may further have work profiles and it provides more isolation and control on device-wide policies than the latter. See a comparison of both modes under Building DPC (1, 2, 3, 4) and Employing Managed Profiles (5) in Android documentation.
Multiple users can also be added if enabled in ROM by OEM/ROM developer. Being more isolated than profiles, interacting with users requires INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS which is a permission with signature|system protection level. So third party apps cannot use it at all.
Irrespective of if the secondary user is a human user or personal profile owner or work profile owner, the primary intention is data isolation. As defined here:

"A work profile securely isolates work apps and data from personal apps and data."

And as explained here, file sharing between device owner and work profile must only be through intents (fired with content URIs), not file paths. But a profile owner may completely disallow data sharing (and IPC/intents) between users/profiles. For instance see DISALLOW_SHARE_INTO_MANAGED_PROFILE, DISALLOW_USB_FILE_TRANSFER, DISALLOW_MOUNT_PHYSICAL_MEDIA, addCrossProfileIntentFilter.
Since Android 9 adb is also disallowed to access file belonging to secondary user/profile. For details see How to access multi-user storage in adb shell on Android 9+?

However if the sharing is not disallowed, you'll see options to switch to other profiles (tabs in Share Sheet on Android 11+) when sharing files:

Shelter - a free and open source app (I've no affiliation) that leverages the "Work Profile" feature to provide an isolated space for cloning apps - acts as a content (media) provider and provides "File Shuttle" option which lets you access Work Profile files from Personal Profile through "Storage Access Framework":

You can also run a small http/ftp server for file sharing on either side, or sync to cloud storage, if not restricted by policy.

So it entirely depends on the profile creator's policy if file sharing is allowed or not, usually not desirable in a corporate environment. However following method may work in all situations:

The most widely used trick for file sharing among multiple users is Android/obb directory which is shared among users to save storage space. Sharing was managed using bind-mounts in early days but then handling was added to FUSE/sdcardfs internally. However sharing is deprecated in Android 10 introducing mount option unshared_obb in sdcardfs.
So up to Android 9 you can use obb directory for file sharing among users/profiles:
~# mkdir -p /storage/emulated/*/Android/obb; touch /sdcard/Android/obb/test_file
~# ls /storage/emulated/*/Android/obb/* /storage/emulated/obb/*
/storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/test_file  /storage/emulated/10/Android/obb/test_file /storage/emulated/obb/test_file

On Android 9 I was able to access files from work profile with root permissions. On Android 11 i can't even with root. Access is blocked by selinux probably.

@Qkiz fully working root solutions like Magisk provide a fully permissive SELinux context. You can always access all users' files from /data/media/. Not sure how you are doing it.

Second user is work profile without root permissions so it can't reach /data/media for write files

Found a very simple way, just using web browsers in both work and regular profiles.
Open a browser in each profile and browse to snapdrop.net URL, which should open a session with a random username that will appear on the other brother and vice versa.
By clicking the username icon you can send a file which should show up in the browser from the other profile. Then you can accept and download the file.
This doesn't need any third party app or server setup and data only transit on the phone (snapdrop only being used as a synchronization server for websockets).
During file transfer, clients directly talk to each others and do not send data outside.

I think this can also be done using the app. https://f-droid.org/packages/com.fmsys.snapdrop/

The only configuration that seemed to work for me is opening the snapdrop app in the work profile, and opening snapdrop.net in the brave browser (with shields disabled) in the user profile.  If it's still not working, try android's multi-window feature to show them both on screen at once.

Use Total commander for Android or other 3rd-party file managers where you are able to use "Share via.." and the app will save the files in a new destination.
E.g. the steps:

In the work profile via the internal "Files" app, select the file and use the "Share" option
In the Share dialog, switch to "Personal profile" sharing options
Select the file manager app
Select the personal profile folder in the file manager dialogue
Voila, the file is in your personal folder.

I just solved this for myself by -

using a file manager (Solid File Explorer) (no affiliation) to create an FTP Server on work profile,
accessing FTP server through file manager on personal profile, and simply
transferring files between both.

Quick fix!

I do this with a different app to transfer files between the phone and windows.

I found a simple solution which doesn't limit you to one file at a time and allows sharing with anyone anywhere. Just upload your files from the Work profile to a free cloud service. That's it.
I found this thread while searching for a way to access Work files directly, using adb. It all seems so complicated to do.
I tried Etienne's suggestion using snapdrop.net between Work and Regular profiles. It is OK but is limited to a single file at a time.
I then tried FX File Explorer and Total Commander but couldn't reproduce the results given by sanchez0x or on GitHub.
I then read on another thread a suggestion to install Google Drive in the Work profile and then upload and access files anywhere, not just on your device. There would be no restrictions in the Work profile on uploads to a server. I decided to transfer them to OneDrive since I already have an account and I can just use a browser (Firefox), even while using a VPN, to upload an entire directory of files and access them anywhere in the world and share them as well. I tried it with a directory of 99 files. I was able to download them to my Mac and delete them and empty the trash on OneDrive to free up limited (5GB) free space. It won't cost you a penny, or lots of time trying to 'game' adb.

I managed to transfer files via Total Commander's WiFi plugin. Both users should have TC + Wifi plugin installed. One of them is set up as a server and will present you with a QR code. Take a photo of the code with your phone.
The other user then scans this QR code from the phone and you can transfer files easily between the to users as long as the server is running.


text:
Tagging images/photos for quick searching
I've got a bazillion images that I have no time to scroll for if I need to show something, and I'm considering to give them tags to identify them.
For example, I have a photo of a receipt. I want to add tags of the name of the store-purchased, name of the brand, name of the item. So if I have to show an accountant or tax guy, I can quickly retrieve the image using its tags.
Is there any way to tag photos and later search for them? 3rd-party apps are also allowed.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange, a Q&A site for Android end-users to solve their issues. Explicit app recommendation is off-topic here. The question has been reworded to suit the site's policy while still allowing answers to recommend apps. On the other hand, if you're only interested in apps, you might check our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange, but please ensure to follow their guideline to get the most suitable app to your query. Also, consider taking a quick [tour] to get familiar with the site.

Asking for app recommendations would be on-topic on our SoftwareRecs sister site ;) And there are several gallery apps supporting tags (disclosure: link goes to my Android site). Just search the linked page for "tag" (I pointed that out for some, while others might have the feature as well).


text:
Remove “Recently opened apps” from "Apps & notifications" screen in Android 8 or later
Using Android 8.1:

Tap Settings.
Tap Apps & notifications.
This displays a list of "Recently opened apps."

I would like to prevent the phone from storing, tracking, or otherwise remembering any app that has been opened. Ideally, without having to install yet another app. Rooting the phone is okay. Clearing the list is a work-around, but not a long-term solution.
How do you remove the "Recently opened apps" list from the Apps & notifications screen?


text:
"Certificate not secure" error on Samsung Email app on Note 8
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (Android 9, One UI 1.0) and am using Samsung's Email app (which comes preloaded on Samsung phones) to access my work email.
Recently, I went abroad and had to rely on various Wi-Fi connections (hotels, airports, etc) for Internet connectivity. Suddenly, I started getting an error when I launched the Email app, which said:

Certificate not secure for [my email address]
The certificate isn't from a trusted authority.
If you continue with this certificate, your emails and account may be at risk.

The error keeps popping up if I click on "Cancel".
If I click on "View", all the important fields related to the Security Certificate are shown as totally blank, so it is difficult to know which certificate is causing the problem:

Since this happened, the email is not syncing now, i.e. I am now unable to send or receive new emails from the app.
I googled a lot to resolve this problem and the two main solutions were (though I have no idea how well any of these would work):

Uninstall the Email app and re-install it. But I don't want to go down such a drastic route without getting to the bottom of the problem.

Find the offending certificate (Settings > Biometrics and Security > Other security settings > View security certificates) and delete that certificate. However, my problem is, that the Email app is not showing the details of the offending certificate.

What is going on here and how do I resolve it? Have some "rogue" certificates been installed by those free Wi-Fi connections I used recently? If so, how harmful could those be and how do I get rid of them? Hopefully nothing serious!
And how do I get my Email app to work normally again?

Not exactly the same problem, but similar.
Can't send => no connection to mail server, can't receive => certificate not secure (or similar).
We did not remove the app, but only the account. Create the account new and all went well.
Hints: Samsung Android 8.0/9.0, Samsung Mail App (stock), Exchange Active Sync Account.
Reason: probably Android or Samsung November-2019 Updates.
No idea why the certificate (mail server certificate) is no longer valid? Maybe it is not the certificate itself but a technology used with certificates.

Same issue here after november 2019 update

I have the same issue... i just realized that the cert presented is the one of my corporate company website... Certificate info is empty too... my device is patched january 2020
My mail app is up to date too. I guess mail is using some autodiscover feature and go to your route company domain...