text:
Ultra slow speed while transfer files between PC and Samsung S5
I just got my new Samsung Galaxy S5, original ROM with version 4.4.2. It uses a new Toshiba 64GB speed U3 micro SD card.
When I transfer my WhatsApp folder from PC to GS5, it took me more than 24 hours!!!
The WhatsApp folder has about 3GB in size, and thousands of received/sent images.
At the first time, I transfer them from PC to the (fast) SD card in the phone. It really took me more than 24 hours. At the second time, I tried transfer them from PC to the phone internal memory. It seems to be a little bit faster. I did not wait it to complete. But I assume it will take 20+ hours also.
When I use the file manager in GS5 to copy the entire 3GB folder from SD card to phone internal, it takes only 5 minutes or less. (It's a U3 card afterall)
I did a small test. I transfer only the database files from PC to the SD card (in the phone). There are 7 files, in total 1 GB in size. It takes only 1 minute.
So my guess is, the transfer speed will be ultra slow when it contains many small files.

The same issue happens in different fast computers.
I used the original USB cable, and tried on other short and average quality cables.
I prefer not to pull my SD card out every time. Even if i do, transfer from PC to phone also have the ultra slow speed issue.
I know there are threads suggesting to transfer file by other methods. But my concern is: Why is it so unreasonable slow? And I prefer using the USB method.

Is my phone a defect?

Are you using USB 2.0 or USB 3.0? As the answer below indicates it will be slow no matter what because of the way MTP is however speeds are suppose to be better with a USB 3.0 cable

I suppose that is a 3.0 (but not 100% sure). However even if it is a 2.0 it still should not be that terribly slow

IF your using the original cable then it is most likely a USB 2.0, for some reason USB 3.0 isn't supplied with the phone.

Hmm... Thanks for your suggestion. I will find an USB 3.0 cable and try again. :)

While @midnite has given a perfect explanation of the problem. To solve this, you should enable usb debugging in your android and then the transfer rates are as expected from usb.

I had this problem too in my OPO. It iss very frustrating when you find that your time is getting killed by such stupid things. Ultimately, I found some solutions and the best ones are listed here. You may try it sometime.

oh yeah big help USB 3.0 to go from painfully slow to just under a snail's pace and still just as painfull, again I say, useless

Wikipedia is our friend, again. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol#Drawbacks
Quote:
MTP allows no parallelism, unlike USB mass storage or NAS. MTP has been built to only allow a single operation at a time (for example, read, write or delete operation), while no other operation can be executed until the previous operation is complete.
By design, MTP devices (like PTP devices) are not treated as a traditional removable drive. The actual file system is implemented by the device, and not by the computer's operating system. This also means that file system recovery tools on the computer will be of no use. In addition, most other programs on the computer will not recognise the MTP device, limiting the user to software from the device manufacturer or other MTP specific programs.
When opening a file, the user must wait until the file is copied to the host computer/device before it can be viewed; the file remains on the host computer's storage after viewing and after removal of the device.
Devices that are limited to MTP transfers do not allow or support instant access or multitasking.
The MTP and PTP standards do not support direct modification of objects. Modified objects must be copied out of the device and reuploaded in their entirety, which can take a long time for large objects. Google's MTP implementation in Android includes extensions to deal with this limitation; however, these extensions must be supported by the host operating system, and are not available by default. This blocks the direct creation of files on the device from the host computer; files must be first created on the host computer and then copied over.
...
Most MTP-compatible devices are not assigned drive letters; instead, they appear as "devices" in applications such as Windows Explorer.

I found out the solution for that. first creat a zip file of the images or whatever you want to copy then paste that zip file to your phone and then unzip the files to the respective folders. Use xplore file manager for that which is best file manager which i m using since last more than 10 years

one more thing. before copying it to the phone just change the extention from .zip to something else anything unusaul which cant be recognized by system then copy that file. after successfull copying change extenstion back to .zip.

@jayesh Your last comment seems to be a CRITICAL step in the supposed solution. Why can it not be EDITED into the defacto answer? Comments are considered transitory and can be deleted at any time. The original post can contain this supposed CRITICAL step permanently.

Hi, and welcome to a Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Compared to other forums, the structure of this site is basically questions and answers, with additional comments. You can always [edit] your post to expand and add more detail, while comments are generally used only for additional info. Consider taking a quick [tour] to understand more how this site works. Thanks.

I found someone with the same issue as the OP, so don't worry your phone is not defective.
I would like to first add a few thoughts in response to the answer above. While it may be correct that MTP is a slow protocol, this speed reduction is exclusive to the WhatsApp folder transfer only. Any other folder containing equal size transfers in minutes. So there has to be something in the nature of the WhatsApp folder itself, or its structure/specific files that are causing the slowdown.
This brings me to my solution to the problem, I personally use the SuperBeam app both on the phone and PC. You do need the pro key for $1, this reduces the 24+ hour transfer to like an hour, so this helps greatly. I would like to point out that this takes much longer than any other folder of the same size.

It's the humungous no. of small files that's the issue. (I'll ping the technical reason for this issue later.) Any other folder with similar files will give the pain as well. It's not about just Whatsapp folder. Try copying or deleting such folder from partition to partition in a good spec PC, you'll feel the misery again.

authors: Роман Александрович


text:
How to permanently disable priority interruptions setting?
I'd like to revert to the pre-Android 5.0 Lollipop behaviour of having all notifications (including calls, messages and alerts) come through at all times. The problem is that whenever I configure the device to "always interrupt" after some time (usually in the order of hours) the device reverts to "priority" mode. This happens regardless whether I use the setting at  Settings / Sound & notification / Interruptions / When calls and notifications arrive / Always Interrupt or Volume button down / ALL. How can I make the "always interrupt" setting stick permanently?

Perhaps you accidentally set the downtime? Check Settings > Sound & notifications > Interruptions > Downtime

Thanks. Downtime is not configured (Days: None and Start time and End time are grayed out).

I found the solutions to this. I use the Llama Android app to modify the volume, however, unfortunately there is a bug in Android 5.0 lollipop whereas silent profiles put the device in priority notification mode, but setting the profile back to normal volume does not change the notification priority mode. There is a fix in newer yet unpublished versions of Llama.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How do I skip an Android system update and stop its notifications?
I get a message
Android 5.0.1 System Update Available

but no option to skip the update.
In frustration, I click "download". It's not better after the download. I still get
System update downloaded

with no option to avoid the update.
How do I signal that I am perfectly content with KitKat 4.4.4 for the time being? I use my phone for development and want to be certain my development tools are ready before upgrading. In the meantime I also want to stop  the continuous harassment via notifications. Is this possible? I am using a Nexus 5 and the phone is not rooted (I prefer it to stay that way).

As a pop-up or as something in the notification bar? What happens when you go to settings > apps > goggle services framework and turn off notifications?

@LivedWithOtters Your suggestion did indeed stop the notifications briefly, but they soon resumed appearing (even though the notifications remain turned off for g.s.f.). The notification is permanently visible in the notification bar and also permanently visible in the notification screen (the double-swipe-down screen).

@LivedWithOtters you were right in the direction, but instead it was Services not framework.

I just spoke to Google directly. The Nexus 5 under settings, apps has something called Google Play services. Not store. If you uncheck the notification box in Google Play services and restart the phone the notification for the Android system updates will stop in the notification bar. Worked like a charm!

Please correct me if I'm wrong but  it seems you must be rooted to do this.

After updating to Lollipop 5.1.1, the notifications checkbox is rechecked for you. Thankfully, it's still there, and it does stop the new ongoing messages to update to 6.0.

Worked fine on my Nexus 7 2012. Not rooted.

@stevensmith absolutely NOT. That is an option available in all apps that have notifications.

You can long-press the update notification, then, click on the "i" icon, and you'll get to the same place to toggle block all. (No root needed. Tested on 6.0.1)

I have just downgraded from 6.0.1 to 5.0 because after the update I was getting random lock screen crashes and then reboots (which meant I had to use my password next time I used Android Pay, very annoying). Now on 5.0, instantly got the software update notification, did as said above, works perfect. Galaxy S5, not rooted.

If you happen to be rooted, you should be able to install Disable Services and find the SystemUpdateService under Google Play Services disable Google Services Framework.

They moved the service under "Google Play Services". At least it's true for Android 6.

@McTrafik is right. On Android 6, go to Disable Services → Google Play Services → disable SystemUpdateService (and possibly SystemUpdateGcmTaskService too).

You need to clear data for downloading application (DMClient)

open system nofitication bar
hold touch on system downloading bar until it pop up app info
touch App info it will go to DMClient app info
touch clear data button under Storage
then touch OK for Delete app data question

I figured it out :D :D
If you get the notification and have not yet downloaded the update. Simply Press the notification in the notification bar and Hold for 10 Seconds. It will give you two options. Click on the Settings button. From Settings select "Turn off notifications update" :)

As of 2021 there's an option to turn off automatic updates in the Developer Options 1 2. It seems to be available since Nougat 3 4

Is this for everybody or is it restricted to just a number of device manufacturers? Source of this "fact"?

Thanks for pointing it out. It's available in Mi A3 and Android One devices. Since all Android devices have Developer Options it should be available to most up to date devices. I'll update the post accordingly.

On my LYF Flame 2 device in India, I tried Krystalblue's answer and could only limit the software update to  "weekly", "wireless only" and disabled "Allow auto-update over WiFi...".
Hope that works!

Found it on Nexus Grand Prime:
Settings - About Device (bottom) - Software Update (top) - Set 'check for updates' (Auto-Update) to Off.
The update wanted 530mb free space! Like hell, that space is reserved for game recording :).

Turning off auto updates in Google Store did not stop the phone updating, even after a reset.
I pressed on an updating app until download manager appeared, then I disabled it. Seems to have stopped.

This sounds like a helpful suggestion, but I don't quite follow. Do you mean you long-pressed the notification to get the app info, and then disabled the download manager from there? If you can [edit] your question and explain a little further, it'll be more helpful.

On my OnePlus9 Pro I disabled the auto updates in the developer mode menu but apparently they are still forcing me to do an update. In fact so much that the phone says "If you choose not to do so now, this update will take place AUTOMATICALLY between 2 AM and 4 AM starting May 4th, 2021." WTF.

Found option to disable automatic updates in developer menu on Android 7. (click many times on build number in about phone to enable that menu)

This seems specific to some vendors/models; there's no option to disable automatic updates inside the developer menu on Nexus devices line.

@AndrewT., possible. vendors can add/remove anything. I see it on samsung phones.

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

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


text:
Blueish Screen and blue stripes
My phone has a blueish layer over everything, differing from app to app, also blue stripes. When I make a screenshot it doesn't show on the screenshot. It's a Motorola Moto G 1st gen

Sounds like a hardware issue, not software. Hence the clean screenshot.

After doing a reset with no result I contacted Motorola, they are going to replace the screen.


text:
The easiest way to root a Moto G (XT1032) Android v. 5.0.2
I have just rooted a samsung Lite 3 tablet...and it was simple. Really simple. Used Odin to install CWM, then installed a superuser app from a zip file. Really straightforward.
So I decided to look into how to root and get super user access to my Moto G. That's when I realized that rooting a moto G and getting super user access will be a pain.
Does anyone have a straightforward description with the apps/zips necessary to root and gain super user access to a moto G XT1032?
Cheers

Related: Root a Moto G running 4.4.4 KitKat

Steps :

Install custom recovery TWRP(Download link)

Install SuperSU from recovery

also, take a look at this :
[GUIDE] Root XT1032/XT1033 Moto G Running Android Lollipop
just do it with above link instruction.

But the SuperSU cant be installed without a custom ROM, right? So, I will need to install CWM to onlock the bootloader (if I am not wrong). But it seems to be pretty difficult to install CWM on moto Gs. Odin only works with samsung phones, right?

There is two SuperSu - (apk file - Zip file) and you need to zip file for install on custom recovery.yes, you need custom recovery.Odin for samsung, yes.use below link for install custom recovery - you need to ADB & Fastboot tools  for install if your bootloader is unlocked : Custom Recovery for Moto G Running Lollipop another questions in ASK Question .this link show you , how you can install the custom recovery.TWRP - Philz touch or other something...

@Elysium Zip flashing is the prerogative of custom recovery. Custom ROM (not CWM) doesn't do anything in it. SuperSU zip can be flashed easily on any ROM using a custom recovery (TWRP here).


text:
Alternative Lockscreen with Fingerprints
Is there a way to use the fingerprint sensor on my Samsung Galaxy s6 with a costum lockscreen like AcDisplay(no root)?

You can use it on CM Locker. They said. And it will be compatible to S5 next month, but it's supported by S6.


text:
Android 5.0 display keeps turning on with black and white notifications
I have an Oneplus One which just got its Android 5.0 version released.
It is known that there are still plenty of bugs issues, but a very annoying one is that if I have notifications and turn off the display, after a few seconds it turns on (only black and white) and off, on and off, a many annoying times.
If I turn my display off, I want it to be off, regardless of notifications I haven't seen/dismissed. I suppose it is consuming a lot of battery since the display is being on much more often than the usual.
I could not find anything regarding this issue on the Internet.
Anyone has seen it before/can help me?
Thanks in advance!

I once encountered similar behavior which was triggered by Ambient Display feature inside Settings. There is a guide on OnePlus Forums here (see Usage of Privacy Guard & Built in Settings (All Users)) which mentions this:

Ambient Display – this is again another option under the Display section of the Settings, when turned on (is ON by default) splashes notifications on the lock screen in black & white, every time you grab your phone off a table or something. This is a built in feature of Android Lollipop and is very useful. However, it is not that every time you grab the phone you wanna view notifications. You could be heading some where and want to keep the phone in your pocket or mounting the phone onto your car dashboard and the list goes on. So every time you do this, the ambient display comes and goes. While this may not eat up a whole lot of battery, turning this off will do something good.

Now that you know its under Settings →  Display & lights , you may try unchecking it and see if the issue ends. I had this issue when I flashed Lollipop and it ended right after unchecking it.

Thanks, that was indeed the issue! It seems it uses accelerometer data to infer whether the phone was grabbed or not, but it must be pretty inaccurate as I left it on the table and it would turn the display on and off a couple of times.

It also seems to do it when new notifications come in (and seems to cycle a couple of times before finally staying off). I've observed this on a CyanogenMod 12.1 nightly (based on Lollipop 5.1; 6/24 build for Sprint Galaxy S3) so I think it's an Android 5.x thing.
It'd be nice if they divorced the "turn on and off multiple times when you get a notification" option from the "wake up when you move your phone if you have notifications" option. I might actually like the latter. The former is flat-out annoying though when my phone is sitting on my desk in sight and keeps blinking.

@DoktorJ Thanks for the additional information. You can try filing your said opinion as a feature request here. You can see this as well to know a bit more about feature-request.


text:
How can I access multiple user spaces from adb?
I am running KitKat on a tablet with two users: primary (owner) and secondary. I need to access a file generated by an app of the secondary user.
When I plug the tablet into my (Ubuntu) desktop via USB, it mounts as a media device (MTP), and shows me the base folder for the currently active user. [1] But the file I want is elsewhere on the system, so I connected from the command line via adb shell instead.
Connecting via ADB gives me access to deeper folders (/mnt /proc etc) but I couldn't find the file where I expected it [2], so I looked in /sdcard anyway. To my surprise I recognised the contents as the base folder of the owner account, even though the currently active user is the secondary user.
This also tells me that, if I ever need to, I won't be able to access the base folder for the secondary user via adb shell.
How can I access the tablet from adb shell as the secondary user, rather than the primary (owner) user? (Being able to access the secondary user's files is good enough.)
[1] I'm not sure what the proper term here is. I mean the folder with Android, Download and Pictures, specific to a particular user.
[2] FWIW I am exporting an OPML file from Flym. Flym reports that the OPML export is generated at /storage/emulated/10/Flym_123456789.opml but I can only get as far as /storage/emulated - there is no subfolder called 10, only legacy which is the same as /sdcard (the primary/owner's base folder, not the secondary user's base folder).

For those who ends up at this post with same or similar issue, see How can I access the emulated sdcard for another user on a rooted nexus 10

The legacy/ locations are always pointing to the data of the currently active user. Let me first point to a few related questions/answers explicitly dealing with those multi-user storage issues for some background:

Why did /sdcard/ turn into /sdcard/0/ with 4.2?
Confusing internal memory folder structure

So to find the files of the secondary user:

list the sub-directories of /data/media and /storage/emulated
restrict your search to sub-directories whose names are simply "numbers"
the 0 candidates belong to the owner, higher numbers are of secondary users
external storage is something different: /sdcard/0 points to the internal sdcard, while /sdcard/1 should be the external (if available). Similarly for storage attached via OTG

Remember you might need to be root to access data of a user other than the one currently active on the device.
Also see:

Android Folder Hierarchy
our tag-wikis for file-system and files

this helps me understand what I should see, but what I actually see is just /storage/emulated/legacy (no numeric folders) and I don't have access to /data/media (permission denied) - I'm going to try restarting and never logging in as owner

As I wrote: "you might need to be root" (which explains the "permission denied"). Is your device rooted?

it isn't (a bit scared to, seems like there is no reliable process?)

but I can confirm this: reboot device, don't log in as owner, log in as secondary, hook up usb, access via MTP: can see secondary user folder, access via adb shell: can see /storage/emulated/legacy as owner user (not secondary user) - no other folders appear under /storage/emulated

When logged in with the secondary user, emulated/ should point to the secondary user's data. No way to access all without root. And correct, there's no official process to root your device; you might want to check our rooting tag-wiki and rooting index to check for generals and for your device. If not listed, be welcome to ask a new question for this.

thanks re rooting :) just to check I'm not being dumb: when I adb shell I am not picking a user (like when you ssh user@host) - I did try running am pick-user 10 once on the shell, but that had no noticeable effect - but it sounds like rooting solves all problems :)

When you adb shell, you're the user shell. Almost all users on Android correspond to some app, root being an exception – so you can think of it as being in the realms of the "shell" app. Switching to a different user might be restricted to root again (I have to admit I never tried, so I cannot be sure about that). But yes, having root makes many things a lot easier :)

In Android 13 I finally found the folder at
/data/media/USERID


text:
How to stream audio_out from pc to android using wifi?

Possible Duplicate:
Can I use my phone as an audio device via Wifi?

Does anyone knows if is there a way I could stream the whole audio from my computer to my Nexus S via wifi?
I'm not looking to share my song library (which winamp does quite well). What I want is to make every sound that my computer does to be streamed to my phone.
The idea is to use my droid as wireless receiver. That way I could play, lets say, grooveshark on the PC and have my droid connected to the stereo or whatever.

I am merging the answers from this question into http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/21861/can-i-use-my-phone-as-an-audio-device-via-wifi#question, mostly because that one has an accepted answer whereas this one does not (but the questions do cover the same ground).


text:
Android Power button shortcut
I am using android Marshmallow. I want to know about a shortcut method to power off my phone without power button. Without using any external emulators as explained here. I searched it for many hours couldn't find any solution.
I like to use a solution without any app using.
Thanks in advance.

On Huawei GR5 and Huawei Y7 models, I found a solution using default Android settings.
Settings -> Smart Assistance -> Scheduled power on/off
There I can tell when to switch off the device.

If you are rooted, you should be able to set up a Tasker task to do that, and then create a shortcut to that task.
In Tasker, click Tasks > Add new task (call it "ShutDown", or whatever) > select "System" > choose "Reboot" > set its option to "Shutdown". Then you need to give it an icon (click on the icon in the bottom right corner to do that). Now you can create a task shortcut on your home screen to that task


text:
Sync contacts and calendar from Outlook 2010 on my laptop with Android phone, avoid data in cloud?
I'm looking to buy a new Android phone, but before I do, I need to know that there's a reliable way of keeping the contacts and calendar data on the phone in sync with the data in Outlook 2010 on my laptop.  For the past 8 years I've been using windows mobile phones, where Microsoft's ActiveSync etc worked well.  Simply connecting my windows phone to my laptop via USB meant that everything almost always sync'd fine without any issues.  I'm looking to get as close to that experience as possible.
I also need to avoid putting any of my data in the cloud (e.g. gmail), because my outlook data contains too much sensitive information.  Security breaches may be highly unlikely, but the potential consequences are too dire to imagine.  One answer to this sync question (Sync setup question: will Android, Outlook 2010, Gmail, calendar and contacts sync?) has a comment which says that Android phones will always sync with google, so I need to disable that.  Is that possible?
I'm aware of Samsung's Kies, but I've never tried it.  If anyone can assure me that Kies works well for what I need then I'd be quite happy to restrict myself to buying Samsung.
I've done other research and found a pcmag.com review from Feb 2012 that suggests in general this isn't an easy problem.  However, that link (and answers that I've found here) are all over a year old, so what's a good way of achieving all this in June 2013?

See: Is there any way to sync my Outlook calendar to my Samsung Galaxy S without Kies?, Sync setup question: will Android, Outlook 2010, Gmail, calendar and contacts sync?, Using Android only with Outlook and not Google Calendar, How can I sync my Outlook calendar with my Android phone calendar?

See also: How to sync contacts with Outlook, WITHOUT Exchange?

I finally ended up getting a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini i9195 LTE 4G, so I tried Samsung's Kies.  As far as I can tell after just 1 day's use, it syncs the phone perfectly with my Outlook 2010, and avoids the cloud too (as long as the cloud sync to my google account is turned off on the phone).

How have you found this Stochastically? I've found it to stall with any decent amount of data after a couple of days/a week of use! It worked perfectly until then! :(

You can easily turn of Google Sync for any Android phone.  Just go to Account Settings, Sync.  One problem is that whenever you get a new ROM, or Google does an update, these settings get turned back on.  So you need to check periodically.
There are a number of 3rd party sync products, with free trial periods.  Just give them a try.  You can find them online.  The best for security may be DejaOffice which has an encrypted mode to really lock down your data.

Thx vm :-).  I've marked your answer as "useful", and when I get an Android phone in a few weeks time, I'll remember to come back and mark it as correct if I go with DejaOffice!


text:
How do I bookmark the sms: scheme?
I use a local town public transport service and it also offers an SMS ticket service that I find pretty easy to use. One thing I dislike about it is remembering every single code for particular routes (the codes are simple unless I'm on the street). I would like to bookmark it somehow and register in my (web browser?) bookmarks or my contacts. RFC 5724 suggests a special SMS URI that generally is:
sms:$SERVICE_PHONE_NUMBER?body=$TICKET_REQUEST_CODE

e.g., sms:1234?body=5678 in my case. I was trying to add such a bookmark in Google Chrome hoping to add a bookmark widget to the home screen, but Chrome interprets it as an HTTP URI trying to open a web site. I was also trying to add the bookmark to Google Contacts as a special "web site" field for the dedicated contact, but it didn't work either as if it were an HTTP URI.
My question is, is it possible to bookmark an sms: scheme URL on Android so I could use predefined SMS messages with predefined recipients and predefined text bodies?
If it's worth noting, I use QKSMS. It seems to declare sms and other protocols intent filtering, but for whatever reason it does not work for me.

Edit 1.
As a test workaround I've just created a simple HTML page, and it seems to work:
5678

Saving the page to the device and adding a shortcut to the file on the home screen seems to do what I want very and very closely, and clicking the link opens QKSMS with proper recipient and text body. I only don't really like the idea of having a static HTML file on my device because it may be hard to maintain in case of necessity. So it turns out that Google products do not work well here?

@Robert thanks for the idea, but unfortunately it won't work too: Chrome and other apps would still think it's an HTTP URL. I've just described a workaround I was thinking of earlier, but I find it an overkill to some extent. BTW, adding double slashes to the href attribute won't work properly: QKSMS parses it as a part of the recipient number.

@Robert thanks for a great idea! I probably could also create a bunch of concrete scripts to start the default SMS app just like you're suggesting (this comes to my mind first but with some security concerns, not sure if such an intent app exists, but there are tools like SManager that allow to add script runners as widgets). Or, as an option of last resort, I could just write a simple Android application with hard-coded intents.

@Robert I just found how I can create favorites in Intent (krow.dev.scheme) and create home screen shortcuts that do exactly what I want! Your idea is truly brilliant! Thank you very and very much!

Does the sms scheme work as I posted with sms://1234it or did you use sms:1234?

@Robert QKSMS, at least on my real device, is unable to parse double-slashed URLs properly (the recipient number would consist of prepended // and appended ?, literally //1234?). However, I also quick-tested the am command you suggested on an Android x86 5.1 virtual machine and the stock SMS app can parse double slashes leniently as if there were no slashes.

I converted my comments to an answer. Please check if this is the correct way.

On Android the communication between the web browser and the sms app bases on "Intents".
based on your description the problematic component in this set-up is the web browser.
Hence using a different app that can send Intents to other apps or using the adb shell can be helpful for testing out SMS links directly.
There a a lot of apps in Google PlayStore that can send Intents to other apps, for example Intent.
If you want to try adb (Android Debug Bridge) use the following command to sens an sms intent:
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d sms:1234?body=5678

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


text:
When will my device get the Android 4.4 update (KitKat)?
Android 4.4 (KitKat) was officially announced on October 31, 2013.
(You can review the high level changes in KitKat at the official Android Developer's site or the announcement on the official Android blog.)
Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release.
When will each device get Android 4.4, either officially or unofficially, if ever?
See also:

When will my device get the Android 4.3 update (Jelly Bean)?
When will my device get the Android 5.0 update (Lollipop)?

This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded

Phones
HTC

Droid DNA

"HTC says it plans to update the handset to KitKat by the end of Q1 2014, 'pending certification from your carrier.'" AndroidCentral

One

Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 (+Android)
Unlocked and Developer models: 2013-11-29 (@HTCUSA)
North American models: "Within 90 Days" (AndroidCentral)

One Max / One Mini

"the update for both will arrive in the near future." DigitalTrends

One X and One X+: Never (source)

LG

G2: December, 2013 (confirmed)
Nexus 4: 2013-11-19 (AndroidCentral)

Factory Image available here and Proprietary Binary available here.

Motorola

Atrix HD (AT&T): "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Droid Bionic: "Will remain on Android 4.1.2" (upgrade status)
Droid Mini/Maxx/Ultra: "Will be upgraded (upgrade status)
Droid Razr HD Developer Edition/Droid M Developer Edition: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Droid Razr M/Droid Razr HD/Droid Razr Maxx HD: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Electrify M (US Cellular): "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)
Moto G: February 2014 (AndroidCentral)
Moto X: "Will be upgraded" (upgrade status)

Verizon: 2013-11-19 (confirmed)
T-Mobile: 2013-11-21 (confirmed)
AT&T: 2013-11-22 (confirmed)
Sprint: 2013-12-12 (AndroidCentral)

Samsung

Galaxy Nexus:

Official: Never (source)

Galaxy Note 2 and 3: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.
Galaxy S3: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.
Galaxy S4:

Google Play Edition: 2013-11-25 (+Android)
Sprint: 2014-2-13 (Engadget)
Others: no official announcement. Rumoured to be after the Galaxy S5 launch.

Sony

Xperia C: never (confirmed)
Xperia L: never (confirmed)
Xperia M: never (confirmed)
Xperia SP: never (confirmed)
Xperia Z: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia Z Ultra: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia Z1: planned, no date given (confirmed)
Xperia ZL: planned, no date given (confirmed)

Tablets
Asus

Nexus 7: 2013-11-13 (confirmed)

Nvidia

eVGA Tegra Note, Advent Vega Tegra Note, etc. : 2014-02-18 - released

Samsung

Nexus 10: 2013-11-13 (confirmed)

Sony

Xperia Tablet Z: planned, no date given (confirmed)


text:
How can I connect my phone without a HDMI port to a non-MHL TV?
I have an older LG p990 that has a HDMI port, and with the right cable I am able to show movies on it on the TV.
My new phone is a Nexus 4, it has no HDMI port. Based on this question and answer, I know how to connect it to an MHL compatible TV. But how can I use a TV without MHL capability? Is there an adapter for that? How is it called, where can I buy one?

MHL compatibility on a TV only means that it will supply sufficient power (500mA, 900mA, or 2000mA, depending on which version of the MHL spec it is compatible with) through the HDMI port to power the adapter and charge the phone.
An MHL adapter will work just fine with a non-MHL TV.  You just need to supply your own power from a regular charger.  This is what the female microUSB port on the MHL-to-HDMI adapters is for.  You plug the charger into that, plug the HDMI cable into the TV, and MHL cable into the phone and you're off to the races.
Not all phones support MHL however, the Nexus 4 in the question supports SlimPort instead.

authors: عبدالله يحيى


text:
Android Remote Desktop thru Wifi Only
I need a remote desktop solution, where it doesn't need an internet connection and I could see the desktop. So:

TeamViewer is not an option as it needs an Internet connection
Unified Remote is not an option as I cannot see my desktop
Same as Gmote

Any suggestions?

Just to clarify: You want to control your PC from your Android device?

Install Connectify on your PC, then open it (doesn't require net connection)
Connect your phone to the Wi-Fi network created by Connectify
Use a Remote Desktop app to connect to your PC's IP address

If you're asking for a remote desktop solution that allows you to view/control your desktop/laptop from your Android mobile device over local wireless network, the answer is: Any RDP/VNC app.
Personally I use PocketCloud by Wyse. It supports both RDP (Microsoft Windows, built into the OS) and VNC (cross platform, if you have a Linux computer or Apple toy you want to view/control, or you prefer VNC on Windows) protocols.
Either RDP or VNC will work over a local network and, if you have proper firewall configuration and DNS setup, can be used over the public internet as well with reasonable security.
VNC requires a server to be running on the computer you wish to control. There are several "flavors" of VNC out there, and many of them are free (as in beer). Check out TightVNC for a pretty solid version.
RDP requires you to enable Remote Desktop on your computer. In later version of Windows it is disabled by default.
The good thing about both these tools is that they are protocols, not confined app systems. As in, you don't need a Microsoft App on your Android tablet to view an RDP session, and you can install any VNC viewer app on your tablet/phone to view any type of VNC server. (Note: With certain types of authentication in VNC, I've found some viewer apps don't work. Just find the right combination for what you need.)
If, however, you're asking something different, please clarify your question to indicate what it is you're actually asking.

there is a option of lan in teamviewer which u can use as an intranet (INTRA NET) and lan and doesnt require internet

Try use PC Remote. You can view the desktop screen on phone and can also project mobile screen on computer. It has a lot of options to work with computer like PPT Tools, Power Tools, Multi-media Tools, Gaming Tools etc.
https://www.monect.com/pc-remote


text:
forecast.io format for tasker
I am trying to get hourly precipitation probability from forecast.io 's api.  I am very beginner with tasker, without any idea of JSON.
So as given in the first profile of the blog http://blog.artesea.co.uk/2014/06/one-line-weather-summary.html,  I have changed the info.minutely.summery to precipProbability.hourly.data,  which is not working.
Kindly help.

You're close on the syntax, but there's an error based upon the .api's structure.  Instead of  precipProbability.hourly.data, you'll need to use hourly.data[0].precipProbability.  Replace the [0] with any value between 0-48 for the number of hours into the future you want the data.
Also,it's helpful to get a json viewer to help interpret the structure for selecting the correct values.  I use json viewer which allows you to enter your forecast.io api call direct and see your data live.  You can also use the timemachine functionality and test your parsing against different weather conditions (e.g. severe weather alerts).


text:
is there a reliable source of charging current?
I am testing several chargers and cables to find the optimal combinations for a fast charge.
I was so far using CurrentWidget and was getting just a few values, (independently of how much the battery is charged, for several cables and the same charger, as if there was no losses, etc.). I then tried Charging Report which was giving the same value, but also a "Max" and "Avg" one.
I finally discovered that these values most probably come from
/sys/class/power_supply/battery/current_*

Since in my case Current > Max (1698 vs. 500) and the max current I get is always 1698 mA (and it is always that for a given charger) I have some doubts about the accuracy of the reported values.
Should I trust them?

Why do you say 500mA is the max? Typically on a phone it'd be at least 1000mA, and higher on a tablet.

I am just saying that these are the values reported in the various files. They do not make much sense,  thus my question.

I was trying many Apps, I quite liked 3C Toolbox, or an alternative smaller, but the same: Battery Monitor Widget
But most phones which I tried didn't have an access to the real Current readings from battery's chip, and value of Current was just calculated based on changes of voltage in time.
So I bought few testers like THIS

Use this to search for it on the Internet "USB Charger Data Cable Current Meter Tester Test for Samsung HTC Andriod E1HG"
You'll also find one without a cable, just connectors, one male and one or two females. And some showing also voltage, with LED segmented display.
I bought few different models, just to cross test them. There are also models, I didn't buy that, which shows mAh value.
The pictured one costed me $4.65 inc shipping.
The LED segmented with connectors type starts at $1.8 but you won't get good quality cable with it and this in the picture is also the only one which proved to show reliable current values.
For Samsung phones/tablets, I tested 8 different models, none of those testers with connectors would charge with a current over a half of an Ampere. I think it's because some resistance in those connectors would influence sense signal. Or that the LED display and tester is using more current itself.
I used original cable and charger, which is otherwise charging by 1.6 A
Other phones, including couple of Sonys were charging at currents from 500 to 1500 mA using any type of tester, but not showing the same values after each re-connection, except for this LCD type tester.
Anyway, I don't care how precise it is. I know what I wanted to know, which was exactly what you want to know. That is which chargers are really 'fast chargers' and to confirm that even if a cheap Chinese USB cable is working on my external disk, it's not good enough to charge a Samsung phone.
Phones and even iPhones are using data wires from the USB to check what kind of power supply is on the other side of the cable. Chargers have resistors as voltage dividers inside them, phone can sense voltage levels on middle, data pins and decide what kind of charger is used. If none, or if standard data voltage levels or if some other unrecognized levels are sensed, charger will use 'classic' USB charging current of no more than 500 mA.
Samsungs are extremely, stupidly sensitive to sense not only non-Samsung charger but also bad quality cable. I bought around 20 cheap wall and car chargers, none wall charger is charging over 400 mA and only one car charger is charging at at least 800 mA

Please consider these facts before jumping to conclusions:
The latest Fast Charge uses 3 voltages, 5, 9 and 12V. A higher voltage means a lower current thus a lower drop in voltage and losses, hence the whole point of increasing the voltage. If you have a standard 5V USB charger then all of the above has a sense (measuring just the current). However, if you are using a fast charge system, you need to consider the voltage also (if at 9 or even 12V) and not just the current when measuring externally.
Long USB leads for 5V charging are a no-no. Good quality copper wire is a must for power hungry devices (1600mAH+ devices). Samsung non-fast charge adapters are bundled with short cables (2 feet max) for this reason. The device does not control the remote charge current, it just is limited to what the cable can handle due to resistive losses. This means that to charge the phone correctly you need at least 5.1-5.2V ON THE PHONE SIDE. The charge circuit in the phone and battery are responsible for providing the correct amount of current depending on the battery and limit the voltage on the battery (max 4.3V with HV Li-Po or Li-Ion cells) and cut off the charge when full.
Charge reporting applications are only as good as the hardware used to monitor it. Different phone manufacturers use different vendor charge control circuits or make their own. This means that if this circuit is not provided with a SHUNT where you can physically SENSE the voltage drop across the calibrated shunt thus calculate a precise current, the current is only estimated based on some voltage drop sampling in time and may vary greatly. What you access through the android power supply class is what this hardware reports, and you cannot know if it is a precise value or not based on the above assumptions. You must know what kind of hardware is used in the device you are monitoring else you are walking in the dark. HTC and some other manufacturers use shunt based current detection while Samsung does not (at least not on its S4 S5 and S6 series), the current reported is based on an estimate that is calculated based on a prior measured voltage and its drop in a certain amount of time (usually a sample per second). This is greatly dependent on the battery state (new, old, defective) but it does give a rough estimate of what the current use is, however, it is NO WAY near the precision of a shunt meter. So please be aware of this fact and know that power reporting applications can only handle the data that is given to them by this hardware, there are no exceptions.
Having said this, the only way to be sure of current usage (current, not power) is using a shunt based meter in series with the charging device. If you want to know if your USB cable is good quality or not, you can easily test this by connecting a source Power supply and voltmeter on the output and see what the voltage drop is on the phone side. The higher the voltage drop the worse the cable. An alternative and easy method is using a sensitive Ohm Meter and measuring pin by pin (just the 2 external pins suffice) what the resistance is.
    5V 1A/h = 5Watts. If your cable measures more than 600-800milliOhms (0.6Ohms) it is a very bad cable. This is equivalent to a 0.2Volt drop when charging 1Amp, hence the phone will revert to 500mAH which is fine for standard USB plugs but half of what a 1Amp charger can charge.
Additional note: a 5V 2Amp charger will charge any phone or device fine if the device requires less or equal to that current. If the device needs a more powerful charger (3+Amps) and it is still a phone or tablet, the charge limiting system will limit that current to what the charger can handle (2Amps) as it will reduce current until the voltage stays at around 5.2V so it will charge but not as fast as it should. For ex. use an old 5V 700mAmp charger with an S7 will work, but it will take much longer to fill up the 3600mAH battery than with its original Fast Charge charger.
Fast Charge note: Fast Charging is only beneficial when the battery is under 60% charge (50% on some models). When the battery is over 60% it won't be charged at or near its Capacity rating (less if its over the Charge rating) as this will limit the battery life (this has been discovered over years of testing with Lithium Ion technology). The last 10% of charge (so 90% SOC) is well under the rated capacity current as keeping a cell charged too much for too much time will eventually lead it to dehydrate its Hydrogen and expand (bulge). It is best not to discharge Lithium Ion batteries under 40% and not keep them charged for too long over 90-95%. This explains why in recent phones the charge of the battery is sometimes reported 100 but can drop quickly to 95 after disconnecting it, it is merely a safety precaution to prevent overcharging and no defect.
All these things may not appear straightforward, and in fact, they are not for the not privy. Suffice to say that it is a long studied and rather intricate discussion. Charging phones is much more to what meets the eye as there are several components involved and not just the battery itself. It depends mostly on the hardware (phone brand) type of battery (Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer), charging circuit (phone side and battery) and lastly USB cable used and charger quality and type. Keep all these things in mind when you want the best from your phone's battery life and safety. There is also a difference with sealed phones and user replaceable/removable battery types. This is part of legislation for safety precautions - but this is another story.

Try Ampere, its a new app i was using to test wireless charging, so far it shows diferences between some cable/charger combinations i made

It is unfortunately not compatible with my Note 2, I will check with a tablet. Thanks for the hint, I will be back with some feedback.

The value in the current file is 100% accurate. It comes directly from the hardware so there is no doubt about those values being accurate.

In that case how is it possible they the Max value is lower than the current one? And that the current value is that stable (independent on the cable and charge level of the battery,  to the single mA?)

Currently I don't know. I'm investigating further on that but on my device it seems to be the same. The current_* files on my device also only show the charging current, not the battery current (460 mA for all files).


text:
Droid Turbo Bluetooth Microphone with Touchless Controls?
Can you use a bluetooth microphone to activate the touchless controls on the Droid Turbo? ("The "Ok Google Now" feature)

No, you cannot. It's built entirely to listen ONLY through its built-in microphones, as it can do so with minimal power drain. Activating touchless control through any normal Bluetooth headset would require that the Bluetooth headset's microphone be always listening and always transmitting to the phone, resulting in a massive power drain to both devices.
The only exception that I'm aware of is the Motorola Hint Bluetooth headset which is specifically designed for this, as it uses similar technology to the Droid Turbo and Moto X line to always listen with minimal power usage, has its own voice commands, and can tap into the Google Now voice functionality. Presumably, with time, we'll see other devices add the same or similar functionality.

Ok, is there a way to activate "Ok Google" by pressing a button on a bluetooth device like the SonicRider?

Looks like you can tweak it out to get the phone to respond to the bluetooth button in a custom way, and launch "Ok Google" on some phones: http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-m8/451856-can-i-make-my-bluetooth-activate-google-now-instead-voice-dialer.html

I have spent an incredible amount of time talking to tech support and nobody told me this, because they clearly didn't know.  BTW, it appears there are apps that also do not use the bluetooth mic, and I believe that's due to (my) device's profile as an audio distribution device, which might not include having a mic.


text:
Upgrading Sony Xperia E to Android 4.3
I have the Sony Xperia E and want to use a Bluetooth Smart/Bluetooth Low Energy Heart Rate Monitor with it.
Unfortunately this requires Android 4.3 and Sony stopped upgrading it at Android 4.1.1
Is it possible to install a later version on Android on this phone? I looked at the Cyanogen website (http://download.cyanogenmod.org/) but couldn't see the Sony Xperia E listed, the phones product number is C1505.
I'm happy to root the phone, flash it etc as long as I have good instructions to follow.
Thanks,
Andrew

Note: Partial answer to address Cyanogenmod unavailability.

The reason why you couldn't find your device here is because Cyanogenmod(CM) didn't port it on your device model for some reason. To be precise, there is no official CM for your device. That said there are some unofficial custom ROMs (including CM) available for your device.
(Click here to know the difference between official and unofficial CM.)
According to a user in this link, the official XDA thread for your device is here, and the relevant ROMs are:

CM11 (4.4.4): http://forum.xda-developers.com/xper...-11-0-t2648316
AOKP (4.4.4): http://forum.xda-developers.com/xper...4-4-4-t2795440
CarbonRom (4.4.2): http://forum.xda-developers.com/xper...icm11-t2783757

(The instructions to flash are mentioned in the corresponding links. Otherwise, you may go to the official XDA thread.)

Be cautioned to check the "Status:Stable" for any unofficial ROM that you want to flash.

Unfortunately I won't be trying the OS upgrade as the phone hardware only supports Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (see page 9 here http://www-support-downloads.sonymobile.com/c1505/whitepaper_EN_c1505_xperia_e.pdf) Thanks for the advice about doing the software upgrade, hopefully it will be useful for someone else!

Also Sony never open sourced this phone's drivers, so the video camera doesn't work, for example.


text:
Privacy/Security concers for setting up business email using Gmail app on Nexus devices
I need to set up my business email*(non gmail email)* on the mobile devices (Nexus 5 and Nexus7). The business has its own private mail server. The way I can do it is by using Gmail app on these devices. The question I have is does Gmail app on the mobile devices store the IMAP emails(non gmail emails) on the gmail servers? Or Gmail app is just a client and does not bother storing the IMAP emails(non gmail emails) on its servers that are not gmail emails? Thanks for the insight...

The gmail app is just a client and nothing is stored on Google's servers. The use of IMAP simply means that the email is stored on your company's servers and your phone, as compared to the older POP where the email is pushed to your phone and deleted from the server.
The emails might show up "mixed" if you show all inboxes but you may be rest assured that they do not reside on Google's servers.

do you know whether this is documented somewhere by Google?


text:
ownCloud Alternative on Rooted Samsung Galaxy Note II
My question in short:
I want a cloud storage, but on my own servers. I know there's Owncloud for Android, but it's quite limited. Is it possible to get a similar "user experience" like with other cloud services, with your own "cloud resources"? How could that be done?
Please note that the phone is rooted.
Closer explanation:
I have tried searching for an alternative on alternativeTo but didn't find anything particular to my scenario. I'm mainly seeking to find a solution that does not require the installation of an app.
I'd like to be able to:

Instantly sync photos taken by camera to owncloud
Sync latest Titanium Backup files
Selectively sync other files and folders

I realize owncloud's Android app can do all of the above, but I'd like to know if this can be done without an app.
The screenshots below may give you an idea of what I have in mind. Can the function in the first screenshot at the left be replicated in such a way that we can use ownCloud? The other three screenshots show that I can add a server, but not a file sync server - which is what I need - ownCloud in my case.

I'm afraid that falls into the Is there an app for X category, which our [help/on-topic] lists as being explicitly off topic. Reading it a 3rd time: maybe we can re-phrase that into "how can I achieve this with OwnCloud on a rooted device"? Would that match your request? I'll transform that for now (to prevent your well-researched question from being closed), you can always "revert" my changes.

If I remember correctly, OwnCloud does include support for either FTP, SFTP or FTPS? If so, I might have a working combination I'm even using myself on multiple devices, though not directly with OwnCloud.

Just realized my typo. I meant "but I'd like to know if this can be done without an app." Fixed. Does this render my question valid? If not, you may migrate it to the proper sub-forum or delete it if necessary.

...and no problem. Your edits are welcome. They made the question clearer.

No, I think it's perfectly fine now: you're looking for a solution, not specificall for a certain app. Could you answer the question in my last comment: Can you access your OwnCloud server via FTP/SFTP/FTPS?

That's great. Moving on, I got carried away and didn't answer your question! No, ownCloud does not support FTP, SFTP or FTPS. It includes support for WebDAV.

That seems to do as well. Let me write an answer :)

Combining several apps you most likely find useful for other means as well, this should be accomplishable. So first, let's list the components:

Tasker: the mighty automation tool will trigger several actions for us
FolderSync: will do the real copy/sync jobs
Titanium Backup will do your backups (well, it does already).

No need to elaborate on Titanium Backup, as you already use it. Most likely together with its integrated scheduler, so you have an idea about what time that job has finished.
So the next candidate is FolderSync. It obviously can do with OwnCloud, as described e.g. in Use the Android App FolderSync with ownCloud – using WebDAV, in fact. Which means you've first to setup your OwnCloud account in FolderSync (as described in the linked short-tut), and then define "folder pairs", i.e. which folder on your device should be sync'd with which on the OwnCloud server. Recommendation: configure it for manual sync; as nice as the integrated scheduler might sound, I experienced it woke up the device all 5 minutes 24/7 even with only one daily sync configured. So better leave that integrated scheduler off, we either need something else to trigger your "instant photo upload".
Third candidate: Tasker. You can use this to schedule your regular sync intervals (easy to do, as it's just a time interval as condition, and the FolderSync pair as the task; note this might require the Pro version of FolderSync for Tasker support). But Tasker has also means to detect whether a file/directory has been modified. This is what you can use to trigger your "instant photo upload", by watching your DCIM folder(s) and trigger the corresponding "folder pair" to be sync'd.

I know you prefered "without an app", but I don't know about such an alternative. However, one of the 3 apps involved you're using already, and once you've got used to Tasker you will ask yourself how you could do without. True, it's "payware", but worth every cent. For testing purposes, a 7-day-trial can be obtained on their project site; export all your config from within the app on day 6, uninstall, re-install, and import it again gives you another 7 days (recommendation by the dev himself). FolderSync requires 3 bucks as well; but it supports so many services, and has Tasker integration, I'd say it's worth the investment. So altogether ~7 bucks for a good solution, and other uses reserved.

This is such an elaborate clear-cut concise answer. I will most probably purchase FolderSync and Tasker as per your suggestion. Many thanks for the great effort Izzy!

Glad you like it! That's how my backup strategy works :) Besides: Tasker will take you some time to really get used to (but you'll never regret having spent it). In case you get stuck, remember we have a tasker tag (wiki) as well ;)


text:
Share PC network with phone when connected with USB

Possible Duplicate:
How to set up reverse tethering over USB?

So, I know about tethering where I can share the mobile network with my PC.
I'm in the reverse situation - no mobile network and no wireless.
But my PC has a network connection. Can I share that with the android phone when the phone is conencted to the PC through the USB cable ?


text:
I've rooted my Galaxy Nexus phone, but "/data/data" is empty
As a follow up question, I rooted my Galaxy Nexus phone using Kingo, but when I tried to explore my phone using an application like ASTRO, I found out that the /data/data directory is empty. Why is it empty? Am I missing something? Where are application data stored?

Does Astro request SuperUser (root) permissions? If not, it cannot look inside those directories. You need the so-called "root explorer" feature, offered e.g. by ES File Explorer.

@Izzy That should be it. Thank you! Please post your comment as an answer.

Done, with some additional background information. Enjoy!

To use "root powers", an app needs to explicitly request those from the system. To my knowledge, Astro File Manager does not include this feature, but e.g. ES File Explorer does.
For most of the newer/updated apps, you can tell that by their permissions: if those include android.permission.ACCESS_SUPERUSER, they request "root powers". Alas: as this permission is not "mandatory" yet, its missing does not necessarily mean an app will not request root access.
The feature you need is called "root explorer". Mentioned ES File Explorer offers this, but you may have to manually enable it in its settings. That done, it should show you everything in the file system.

I could also explore the /data/data directory using Terminal Emulator installed from F-Droid.

/data/data itself is accessible to all apps, some of its sub-directories as well. But the apps' data folders below are not. Also: if the terminal emulator displayed a # as prompt, you've been in root mode, and thus have been able to access everything. You could have reached that by entering the su command, terminal emulator itself must not necessarily do that itself. If the promt showed a $ instead, you've been in "user mode", and thus should only be able to see "open things".

You are right, before accessing the /data/data directory, I executed the su command.

Executing su in a terminal is "equivalent" to the terminal app requesting superuser, so that explains things :)


text:
Android 2.3 for HTC Wild Fire

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?

Is there any update on Update for HTC Wildfire to Android 2.3 . I have android 2.2 .

From the list of when phones will get 2.3:
HTC Wildfire (buzz)

OTA: never (source: official mail from HTC support; cause: doesn't meet the min. requirements, eg. 1GHz)
Unofficial:

2/15/2011 (CyanogenMod)


text:
Upgrade Samsung Galaxy Tab to Android 2.3.3

Possible Duplicate:
When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?
How do I update Android on my device?

I live in Uruguay and I've recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The device's system is Android 2.2 and I want to upgrade it to 2.3.3 so I can deploy an app I've been working on, that won't run on previous versions of Android.
I've read on the internet that it's possible to upgrade the device by doing it through Samsung Kies or on the device settings. The problem is that the device says that it's up to date and that there are no updates available. I'm positive that the device's firmware version is 2.2 so I'm starting to think that this upgrade is not available on my region.
Does anyone knows how can I upgrade my device or the reason why I can't upgrade it?
Thanks in advance.
Mikywan.

In May Samsung begin rolling updates to 2.3.3 for European devices, starting with Italy.
At this time (June 2011) there is no word of an update to 2.3.3 being available in South America or Netherlands, so you will have to wait some time, or you can go to XDA-Developers forums and follow the instructions to manually update your Galaxy Tab


text:
What internet browsers are able to provide text wrapping (fitting the screen) when zooming (beside Opera)?
I am not sure I am using the proper terms, therefore I will exemplify them with screenshots. Please help me improve my terminology if I am wrong.
(I'm not sure Browser which always allows scale/zoom? is about the same topic, as I don't grasp the meaning of terms like " viewport metatag parameters user-scalable" and "meta viewport tag".)

Taking a Wikipedia page:

Simply zooming it - whether with forced zoom enabled or not - would give this (like in Chrome), where the font size appears larger but the text body is not seen in its entirety, as it doesn't fit the screen:

while what I would like to see would be this - what I call text fit or text wrap, where the font is enlarged without losing the entirety of the text body, which in this case fits the screen:

I know this is available in Opera. I would like to know what other browsers have this feature.

Re: migration flag, questions cannot be migrated after 60 days even by mods. Feel free to repost it on [Softwarerecs.se]

I will also try to answer my question - and update the answer if possible.

Beside Opera, which seems to provide this by default, I have seen this working in the Yandex browser, but not by default. I has to be enabled under Settings - Text zoom and auto-fit. (It also has a feature that I personally like, of sliding horizontally across the scren to switch tabs.)

UC Browser has this text-fitting feature by default. (Another interesting feature it has is that sliding horizontally across the screen would navigate within the same tab to previously visited pages: left-to-right=Go back one page; righ-to-left=Go forward one page.)

Samsung Internet Browser does it too, but the font size has to be set manually in settings (it won't re-fit the page by simply zooming).


text:
WhatsApp Messenger zero-day exploit: How to upgrade?
It turns out that WhatsApp Messenger is affected by an exploitable buffer overflow vulnerability, which can be used to take over the phone with "zero clicks", by placing a call using specially crafted packets:
The Register:
It's 2019 and a WhatsApp call can hack a phone: Zero-day exploit infects mobes with spyware
also
The Verge:
Update WhatsApp now to avoid spyware installation from a single missed call: NSO Pegasus spyware can turn on a phone’s camera and mic and collect emails, messages, and location data
and, originally the Financial Times (sadly, paywalled):
WhatsApp voice calls used to inject Israeli spyware on phones
Reading the article from The Register:

A security flaw in WhatsApp can be, and has been, exploited to inject
spyware into victims' smartphones: all a snoop needs to do is make a
booby-trapped voice call to a target's number, and they're in. The
victim doesn't need to do a thing other than leave their phone on.
Engineers at Facebook scrambled over the weekend to patch the hole,
designated CVE-2019-3568, and freshly secured versions of WhatsApp
were pushed out to users on Monday. If your phone offers to update
WhatsApp for you, do it, or check for new versions manually. The
vulnerability is present in the Google Android, Apple iOS, and
Microsoft Windows Phone builds of the app, which is used by 1.5
billion people globally.

Ok, cool. I'm not in the target population of poor sods protesting their nasty governments or nasty sods protesting their governments by different means, but I want to upgrade anyway.
Facebook gives out this mini-advisory:
CVE-2019-3568

Description: A buffer overflow vulnerability in WhatsApp VOIP stack
allowed remote code execution via specially crafted series of SRTCP
packets sent to a target phone number.
Affected Versions: The issue affects WhatsApp for Android prior to
v2.19.134, WhatsApp Business for Android prior to v2.19.44, WhatsApp
for iOS prior to v2.19.51, WhatsApp Business for iOS prior to
v2.19.51, WhatsApp for Windows Phone prior to v2.18.348, and WhatsApp
for Tizen prior to v2.18.15.
Last Updated: 2019-05-13

Note that CVE-2019-3568 is not (yet) in the NIST database: CVE ID Not Found.
Now, I'm a bit confused. I have checked the WhatsApp application version on my Samsung:

Start WhatsApp
Go to the menu with the triple dot (︙)
Select "Settings" in the menu that appears
Select "Help" in the menu that appears
Select "App Info" in the menu that appears
You will see something like "WhatsApp Messenger" Version 2.19.134

(Why is this so complicated? Google should demand that applications deposit their version string in an easily perusable database, as sanity would command. Anyway...)
So I have Version 2.19.134. According to the Facebook advisory, that should be good.
But when I check in the Play Store, I see "Last updated 10 May 2019", i.e. before the weekend. No version information is given here, somebody in the design office needs to be given the lash. And is there a change log somewhere?
Finally, when I go to https://www.whatsapp.com/android/ I am told that I can "Download now" Version 2.19.137, which is three minor ticks up from the version I have.
So:

Should I just not worry because I'm at the safe version (about which I have now contradictory information).
Should I just wait until WhatsApp Messenger updates itself (which presumably will happen soon, or maybe can be explicitly triggered).
Should I install the version at https://www.whatsapp.com/android/ instead of using the Play Store (I'm not even sure that would work).

Update
For added lulz, the "Update Notification" screen: It shows that Whatsapp Messenger has been updated "2 days ago" (i.e. somewhen around Monday), but doesn't give the new version number and coyly doesn't really say anything about any security problem.

Kaspersky says at One call on WhatsApp is enough to establish surveillance: Our best suggestion at the moment is to make sure your WhatsApp is up to date. To do that, go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, look for WhatsApp and hit Update. If there’s no “Update” button, but you see the “Open” button instead, that means you have the latest version of WhatsApp, and it is already patched against such attacks. This means I have "a latest" version but not "the latest" version. I find this lack of info disturbing.

In cases of proprietary software vulnerability coupled with a lack of proof-of-concept and detailed technical information about the exploitation you have to rely on the word of softwares' developers, follow their instructions, and be content that you are safe.
If your WhatsApp shows that you are on v2.19.134, than it must be that. I understand that there are discrepancies in the versions shown to users on Play Store and WhatsApp's website. On Play Store, it shows 2.19.134 as the last version to me as well, and that too updated on May 10, 2019. On APKMirror, there is no stable 2.19.139 as of now, and Appbrain agrees with you here with 2.19.134 as the last update on May 10 it tracked.

Should I just not worry because I'm at the safe version (about which I have now contradictory information).

You do not have contradictory information. Your Play Store shows 2.19.134 and so as the app itself. It would have been contradictory if these two mismatched.

Should I just wait until WhatsApp Messenger updates itself (which presumably will happen soon, or maybe can be explicitly triggered).
Should I install the version at https://www.whatsapp.com/android/ instead of using the Play Store (I'm not even sure that would work).

The Facebook advisory clearly mentions that versions prior to 2.19.134 are affected. As long as you have 2.19.134 or above you are safe (according to Facebook). There is no need worrying about why the official website has some higher version available. You can always try installing that one. If the signature mismatches with the sideloaded version the app won't install, and you should put this matter to rest. If it matches you would have the latest app and that should definitely work.

As far as I know, the WhatsApp on the Play Store is stable, while the site hosts beta versions.

@DeathMaskSalesman Is there a way to know whether my apk is a beta or other version? I tried looking into the manifest of the apks from both Play Store and the website of WhatsApp and I don't know what else to look for. Package name is same for them.

Sounds like good advice. But the Facebook advisory is utter shite. 2.19.134 came out before the weekend (on Friday), and every churnalist says "they worked on it during the weekend". Hence, contradictory information: Someone is lying or the advisory is wrong.

@DavidTonhofer agreed. Media has caused profound confusion on this matter.

@Firelord It's been a while since I last used the app, so things might've changed. In general, I used to look in the Play Store for stable releases, and interpreted the releases on WhatsApp's website as beta, since they didn't show up on the store. If they use semantic versioning, though, the website ones might simply be bugfixes.

I recommend you go with the latest version available (2.19.137) from https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
That's where I usually upgrade from anyway. I tried it out a few hours ago, and it does works.
But I have no way of verifying it fixes the issue, as no release notes found.

I'm not sure that the Play Store version of WhatsApp is compatible with the website's. If their signatures are different, OP won't be able to upgrade without uninstalling the app first.

Can't confirm as I don't use playstore.... I get apk from alternative places and install. But you need to set android to allow apk from other sources. But I am able to install on top of older versions.

It means the signatures are the same.


text:
Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 stuck on boot screen (bricked)
This is going to be a long story because my tablet is just having problems left and right.
Firstly, I received this tablet (SCH-i905) as a gift with cyanogen mod already pre-installed. Thus, in attempts to remove it, I tried to do a clean format in the android settings, but that didn't work.
Then I tried the manual restore to factory settings, holding down the volume button + power button. Selected wipe data/factory reset. This didn't work either, cyanogen mod was still installed.
Then I decided to unmount and mount the system and some other things. That's when I can't even start up my Tablet anymore. It is stuck at the load screen Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 .
Now I am trying to flash the original hardware to my tablet using Odin, however I cannot find the rom. I also look into the official samsung page, and downloaded the EXE for the USB drive, but can't run ADB.
Where do these ROMs exist or what other alternatives do I have?
EDIT: In the advanced menu, if I select show log, I get the following:
Checking for extendedcommand
Skipping execution of extendedcommand, file not found...
Can't partition no vfat: datamedia
can't format unknown volume: /external_sd
can't format unknown volume: /emmc
unknown volume for path [/sd-ext]
can't remove '/sd-ext/dalvik-cache' No such file or directory
EDIT 2 :
I also tried using Odin with PDA_SIGNED_P7105.tar.md5 . Now my device is in an infinite boot loop.

All I want for xmas is to restore to factory version

There is only one possible way to restore your device after unmounting system and/or bricking it.
And that is to flash (via Odin) the original stock firmware in a file named : PDA_HC31_EG01Ba_AP352081user_CP1033580_LTE20110704_0708.tar
Nothing else will work. Only this one file will be able to unbrick this device.
The procedure is quite easy.
On the device

Hold volume up + Power
Select Odin mode (right icon)
Connect USB to device and computer

On the computer

Download and run Odin 1.85 (This is important because diff versions of Odin support diff files)
Check off PDA and select the above tar file
Click start (3 boxes should be checked, 2 default and PDA)

The Odin software will then transfer the stock firmware to the device and shut off when the transfer is finished. User must boot up the device again. When the device boots up, it will automatically install the firmware. The device is now officially unbricked.

Part of the problem I had was finding the original firmware because every website provided dead links. However I eventually did find it. I am not sure if I violate any SE rules by posting a link to a file host here, so just send me an email if you need this file / leave a comment here.

This is a perfect example of a user answering his own question awesomely, with great instructions and everything. Feel free to [edit] the question and put the link up as it could be useful to someone in the future (and it's so hard to find!). And stick around on Android Enthusiasts!


text:
Micromax A88 too many pattern attempts issue?
My CellPhone MicroMax A88 locked and it is showing
Too Many Pattern attempts
To unlock, sign in with your Google account.

My 'WiFi' is Off and my Mobile Data is also not enabled. I am not able to start internet on this phone.
Then I press Volume Key Up + Power Button + Home Button and reset my phone but still same issue.
I already saw this question but nothing worked. Can anyone tell me is their any other alternative to solve this problem

Possible duplicate of Can not unlock my Android device as have no internet connection.

I have tried maximum solution provided by this link but no any solution thats why i asked question

@dotVezz Are there any other alternatives, given that the answers in that link didn't work for him? Should we leave this question open?

I agree to leaving it open considering that, yeah.

I already mentioned i used worst condition factory reset but same issue any solution?

I found the solution What I did?
1- Press Volume Up+Power+Home Button it show three option

Fast Boot
Normal Boot
Settings

2- Then i clicked Settings then it have lots of option i selected Factory reset/Delete and click on Menu button ,this button you can see with Home Button then it again show Delete User Data then again Menu Button Some more option and then Ok to delete User Data.
It Resolved my Issue.


text:
Is there any custom firmware for the LG Optimus U?

Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

A quick search shows that I'm the only one on this site with an LG Optimus U, or the only person who's ever curious about them, but maybe I'm wrong.
I was wondering, does anyone know of any custom firmware / ROMs for the Optimus U? There are a ton for it's brothers, Optimus T, Optimus V, Vortex, Phoenix and Thrive, but none for poor little US Cellular, as far as I can find. :(

Is it actually different from the Optimus One?  As far as I can tell it's just the name and carrier.

I've read things about how the various brothers all differ and can't necessarily use eachothers tools. I just got my phone replaced so it has no apps or anything on it right now anyhow, so I might as well give it a shot. Thanks :)

Places to look for: Where can I find a good comparison of available custom ROMs?, Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?


text:
s3 bootloop switching to cyanogenmod with cwm
As i managed to mess up, I need your help!
I wanted to switch from samsung s3standard 4.3  to cyanogenmod11nightly:
What I did:

with odin flashed CF-Auto-Root-m0-m0xx-gti9300.tar.md5 to get root
backed up data,apps,efs (no nandroid, didnt know at which point that would be done)
because I could find out ho to get the cm-11-20140121-NIGHTLY-i9300.zip to install without a custom recovery, I
reflashed philz_touch_6.07.9-i9300.tar.md5
deleted everything (data/factory reset, then "clean for new ROM", cache, dalvik)
went to Install from .zip -> SD Card -> no CM11 zip file there anymore!! I put it directly in the root of the sdcard

=> now bootloop. In the recovery I see only the standard folders, no usefull .zip
How do I get the CM11 zip again on the phone (or show it up if it is still there)?? And where exactly do i have to put it this time, as my "just in the root" option seemed bad.
I tried this
Problem with updating CyanogenMod - Phone will no finish booting up
but i cant get the ZIP to the phone, its not recognised in Windows as Phone/Folder =(
What is the next step before I brick everything?

As your device supports an external microSD card: take that card, put it into a card-reader (if you don't have one: now's the time to buy it; they come for less than 10 bucks), attach the reader to your PC. Now, copy the file to the root of the card, safely unmount, then put the card back into your phone. You should be able to flash it then.
For what possibly happened: you might have placed the file in the root of the internal SDCard. Recovery is looking on the external card.

Thank you, worked great! =) I thought external sd cards can not be mounted.

Glad it helped! And yes: all storage can be mounted. Question is just "where" :) And issues like yours are why I'd never buy a device without external card support. Try a similar fix with a Nexus (no way).

Just if someone steps into the same problem: A friend told me there is also an other way with "sideload", but didnt used it as my problem was already solve with izzys advice!

That's correct: you can use adb sideload to update your device (see the CWM/TWRP ADB Sideload Guide on XDA for the S3 Mini).


text:
Stock dialer app on Andorid Kit Kat does not like to bring up the num pad

Device: Note 2 (Verizon i605)
Rom: CyanogenMod 11 (Kit Kat 4.4.2)
App; ASOP dialer

Whenever I fire up my phone app to call someone, and click on the keyboard, a white box (1/5 of the screen) pops up. I have to click on it again to make it go away, then click on the dial button and the buttons show up. Does anyone have any thoughts and suggestions how to go about fixing this?
Screenshots (click images for larger variants):

dialer / phone app // pressing the num pad on the bottom gives me this little box

pressing BACK (or tapping anywhere else) shrinks the little box, and then I can hit the num pad to get the numbers back up

A screenshot would help enormously.

Sure, just added some above. :)

Looks like some kind of bug, did you try a fresh install of Cyanogen Mod?

Yes, when it first started I thought it was some screw up from going from 10.2 to 11 (4.3->4.4) so I did a brand new install wiping everything from the phone. Still, this little screw-up popped up.

@Zlatty: Looks like an incomplete, customised error dialog box. If you perform a clean install and it still occur, I'm guessing it's an error thrown by the app or the service used by the app that was killed unexpectedly by Android. Check with the CyanogenMod developers - maybe they can shed some lights into the matter.

I had the same issue, not with Cyanogen, but stock android in Nexus 5 phone. I solved the issue temporarily as follows :
Go to Settings > Developer Options
Change Animator Duration Scale to 0.5x (may be more. At first I set it in None, so it didn't work. Changing to 0.5x solved my problem. I didn't check other options like 1x etc).
This method solved me in Nexus 5. (Not sure about Note 2, try it and let's know)

Bingo was his name-o!
I turned all of my animation settings off in Developer Settings. Changing the ADS to .5x fixed the issue I was having. Also, the keyboard is KitKat like, and not Halo-ish like before!

Good to know it worked for you. I wonder why it happens and why google doesn't correct it. It was there in Android 4.4 and still in 4.4.2.

How often do you see people enabling Developer Mode AND disabling animations? I think we are .00001% of the whole userbase. Also, your solution solved my issue in Hangouts. I gave you props: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/61486/why-are-my-messages-hidden-under-the-keyboard-in-the-hangouts-app

It would be nice if this bug in the animation framework were fixed... Now I have to figure out what's more annoying, animations everywhere or this bug in one place.

@romkyns: Truly annoying. Sometimes it gives me a feel like I am standing between "sea and devil" :).

I can't find this problem anywhere else, not even on the CM forums.
My advice would be to install another version of CM for your device, maybe try a nightly or the previous stable/mr/rc version.


text:
Treble devices not same as A/B devices and vice-versa. Why?
This XDA blog How A/B Partitions and Seamless Updates Affect Custom Development on XDA has some Q&A's, of which :

My device supports A/B partitions, does that mean I can make use of a Project Treble Generic System Image?

Not necessarily. Project Treble and A/B support are unrelated. The Motorola Moto Z2 Force doesn’t support Project Treble, yet it supports the A/B partition scheme.

My device supports Project Treble, does that mean I have an A/B partition scheme?

This is not always the case. The Honor 9 Lite is a prime example as it supports Project Treble yet does not have an A/B partition scheme.

(Emphasis added)
I thought Treble and A/B devices are synonymous in the sense having one implied other. That's not the case
Why is this? What are the differences?

Both technologies have nothing in common, really, so everything is unrelated:
The A/B partition technology is the horizontal separation in the following image, whereas Project Treble defines the vertical separations inside each partition.

Project Treble diagram source
A/B partition scheme
Basically the A/B partition scheme for "(Seamless) System Updates" is nothing more that two operating systems installed side-by-side, each in its own system partition. The unusual part (compared to e.g. having multiple OSes installed on a PC) is that both OS installations use the same user data partition. Also, when installing updates the active OS installation applies modifications to the other, inactive OS installation, instead of to itself.
The A/B partition layout does not make any assumptions about the OS that is installed inside the partition, hence it does not matter if the OS is Project Treble compliant or not.
Project Treble
Project Treble applies to the internals of each OS installation and how the different layers within the OS communicate with each other. Hence for Project Treble it is totally irrelevant if there are one, two or many OS partitions. The A/B partitioning scheme is compatible with, but separate from, Project Treble, and vice versa.

Operating System on Android devices consists of two major parts:

The generic Android code (AOSP) and
The code specific to hardware, provided by OEM/SoC vendor (mostly based on AOSP reference implementations).

Project Treble is targeted to separate AOSP code from vendor code so that each can be compiled and updated independently. HIDL (the communication layer between both code layers: HALs and AOSP framework) was specifically designed to achieve the goal. So now we have necessarily separate system and vendor/odm partitions. It resolved (or tried to resolve) the problem of delayed or no OTA updates from OEMs after device release.
A/B partitioning puts AOSP + vendor code on two identical pairs/slots of partitions (including boot, system and vendor). So that if OTA update fails on one slot, the other one continues to work. Also it makes updating the inactive slot possible while OS (active slot) is running, so doesn't affect user's work flow. This approach encourages OEMs to send more frequent updates, without any fears. As the official documentation states:

This approach reduces the likelihood of an inactive device after an update, which means fewer device replacements and device reflashes at repair and warranty centers.

At design level both are independent of each other (except that both involve partitions). Treble is relevant to OS (mostly userspace) i.e. how running processes from AOSP and vendor interact with each other (includes IPC based on binders). While A/B partitioning replaces the OTA update phenomenon which was previously based on recovery and cache partitions. So it involves necessary changes even to bootloader i.e. the logic: how it boots from different boot/system partitions, particularly after a failed OTA update. Once OS is loaded, A/B isn't of much concern (except when OTA update occurs).
So both innovations address different but somewhat related problems to achieve the same goal: more OTA updates. Also they collectively set the ground for dynamic partitions which let OEMs resize system/vendor/odm/product partitions during OTA updates as the AOSP and vendor code grows or shrinks.

Thank you for adding inputs and clarification. I liked the linkage to dynamic partitions. These are the kind of answers that enhance value of site content :-)


text:
Using Google Voice Recognition offline
Question
How to force Google Voice Recognition working in offline mode even if an internet connection is available?
Background
I know Google Voice Recognition has an offline mode1, using "speech recognition packs" one can download.2 I'm also aware that this offline-mode is limited, compared to what it can do via Internet. Still, being a little paranoid on Google's data collection I rather avoid using its online facilities – and so I currently don't use Google Voice Search at all.
I'd like to give it a try, though – but always switching to airplane mode for that is not practical. My devices are all rooted, and have the XPosed Framework installed. I know about the GoogleOfflineVoice module – but that hasn't been updated since 9/2014 and is reported to be non-operational with the current Google Search app (plus it's unclear if the dev will pick up the work; I've just asked about that, answer was "Honestly no idea" (dev lacking time)).
Other benefits
It's reported that Google Voice Search is much faster in offline mode. So if one doesn't need the "extended capabilities" of its online mode, faster reaction will certainly be welcome – which makes this question interesting not only for "privacy fetishists", "conspiracy theorists" and "paranoid users" :)
Question (refined):
So I'm looking for alternatives: simple settings preferred, adb commands definitely accepted, root-solutions are fine. If it requires an app, that app itself should require none or only minimal permissions itself. I'm also open to speech-recognition suggestions not involving Google Voice Search as long as they work offline and don't invade privacy3.
Note:
I'm mainly interested in giving voice commands and maybe doing some dictation.
Related information

How to enable offline Speech To Text in Android
How to use speech-to-text offline?

1: see: How to use speech-to-text offline?
2: see Google Voice Search requiring internet access even when offline speech recognition pack is installed
3: Internet permission just to download voice-packs is OK, as I can block it as soon as the download is completed. Manual download (placing the files on the SD card) preferred :)

What I've found thus far indicates that any third-party apps ought to set the android.speech.extra.PREFER_OFFLINE extra to get this behavior.  I'm looking into how a user might control it.  Blocking the IP range does not seem to be feasible since it overlaps with other Google services like the Play Store.

Hmm, something is broken.  Voice Search was originally working for me offline (limited as you mention) but now it refuses to work at all, just saying "Can't reach Google at the moment."

@MatthewRead Maybe that's the reason GoogleOfflineVoice stopped working: Exactly the same error was reported on that. So it's not the module broken, but Voice Search. Yuck. // BTW: Thanks for the edit!

Raw idea of a work-around: 1) block the INTERNET permission of the Voice app (whichever that is). Probably won't work as it will utilize Google Play Services I'm afraid. 2) Using a firewall app to block the specific servers. That would require to know which servers that are. If that triggers something for one of you, a solution on that path would be nice to know as well :)

Looks like there is no solution for this (2 years later)

@distante or noone has tried. I could e.g. think of restricting network access for the responsible parts (permission manager, firewall). If it thinks there's no Internet connection available, that should force it using offline mode. As I already pointed out in my previous comment …

I don't really believe that Google Voice is designed to run offline. It is meant to learn and compile our preferences by recording what we say.

@Karlomanio while that might be the idea behind, it still works when no network is available – so it doesn't really need the connection. (apart from that, my device meanwhile runs completely without Google apps, so for me this question has only theoretical interest left to me).

I have been able to block the shady online service and force offline mode (for termux-speech-to-text) by identifying the user which (only) runs the offending googlequicksearchbox processes (from a root shell):
# /system/bin/ps -Awo uname,cmdline | grep -m1 -E " com\.google\.android\.googlequicksearchbox:search$" | cut -d" " -f1
u0_a41

(note: I specified Android's built-in ps path to avoid conflicts with other user-installed versions of ps which don't take the same parameters - ie. on Termux)
...and adding a firewall rule to block all outgoing traffic for this user's processes:
# iptables -A OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner u0_a41 -j DROP

(this rule will go away after rebooting or running the same command with -D instead of -A)

Nice idea! One could use AFWall+ (or an init.d script) to persist that rule. Could you please include why exactly that user/app is the one to be blocked? Is there e.g. some documentation saying this app is providing the voice-recognition functionality?

I didn't find this in any documentation, but by analyzing the overall traffic with tcpdump -n while running termux-speech-to-text (which uses the same service) I saw lots of UDP packets going to a Google IP (which would change when blocked) at port 443 (If I blocked all UDP traffic going to a :443 it would fall back to TCP). Then, from netstat -tunp I found that the process opening the matching connection was always "com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox:search" (which in my case always belongs to the "u0_a41" user).

Thanks a lot! Though I no longer use GApps (my devices run Google-free for years already) and thus cannot test/verify it, it sounds fit – so I'll accept your answer \o_

I have examined this issue and found the following to be true:
Google's Android OS seems to be configured to send all voice recognition tasks to the "cloud", as there are no provisions in the OS to allow for hardware voice processing, even if your device supposidly supports this nonexistent feature.
In other words, Google has taylored their Android OS to send all voice commands to their "cloud".  This provides them with the ability to constantly update a user's voice profile with every command by processing audio data on their servers, giving them access to a great wealth of data for analytical and commercial uses.
Remember, personal data as well as "group" data is an assett to Google and its affilliates.  The "big data" industry, which includes the sale and processing of all types of personal data (digital photos, live video, video files, voice recordings, web search/visit history, online purchases, etc...) is projected to be a 500 billion dollar industry by 2025.
Google needs Android to capture audio and video data (and all other usable personal digital information) and send it to their servers for analysis. Their business model is heavily dependent on the analysis and sales of your personal data, without restriction.

Well, it's known that it works that way. Hence my question was not "why is it thus", but "how to avoid this". So thanks for your explanation, Justin – but it does not answer my question. Still useful information for some. // Btw: no longer for me, I've meanwhile totally ditched Google stuff on my phones – which now run without the GApps package, so I'd have to rephrase my question to "how to achieve offline vouce recognition (without Google, only using FOSS)".


text:
How to root Samsung Galaxy S10/S10e/S10+
Samsung Galaxy S10 unfortunately comes up with apps that I don't need:

Unfortunately [...] the South Korean smartphone maker decided to bundle tons of apps inside the firmware of their flagship phone.
Majority of the bundled apps inside S10 are part of the Samsung ecosystem, although third party apps like Facebook can also be found there. Some of them can be disabled from the Settings, but not all.

I also want to use a few root-only apps, and need write access to /data/data/ for backup/restore purposes.
Question: How can I root my Samsung Galaxy S10e as easily and risk-free as possible?
(I generalized the question to all S10 variants, but please let me know if methods differ enough that separate question are required)

there is nemesis kernel meanwhile, no need for pressing buttons on boot

I had never heard of this, but it sounds interesting! Feel free to propose an answer :-) Unlike Magisk it does not look open source though?

I managed to root my Samsung S10e using topjohnwu's Magisk-based work. Here is the procedure, it also works for S10 and S10+:
https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html#samsung-system-as-root
The procedure is rather complex, but fortunately a YouTuber has made an easy-to-follow video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3a8YnWT3yk
The video is directly based on John's instructions, so I recommend reading/watching both before each operation to make sure you understand correctly before executing.
The only drawback of this method is that when you want to reboot your device, you will always need to press simultaneously Bitxby+Power+Volume Up until the logo appears. If you boot normally, it will start normally but you won't have root.
Dedicated xda thread (including donation links for John): https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s10/development/magisk-root-galaxy-s10-series-t3918699

Perhaps unrelated (and a subject for an full blown SO question) but how do you in fact OEM Unlock a device when this option is not available at all in dev options? I've seen too many to count "guides" out there and NONE address this issue. Are you aware of a tool/software/terminal incantation that will enable OEM unlocking a device that won't show it in the UI (and actually works?) Many thanks!

@AlexanderF: Is your question for a Samsung Galaxy S10/S10e/S10+ device?

Indeed @Nicolas. Mine is S10e.

@AlexanderF: Interesting! For me OEM unlocking is between Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log and Running services. Could you please create a new question, including a screenshot of developer options? Thanks!