text:
Recover broken smartphone
My Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro broke and 3/4 screen is completely black, I can't see anything but a little part below

Other than that, the touch doesn't work AND sometimes the screen triggers some random coordinate touch.
If that's not enough, Xiaomi devices must be unlocked at least 1 time after startup with pattern, but can't. I usually use biometric unlock such as fingerprint sensor and facial recognition but, again, can't.
I want to still use it anyways as a mobile hotspot. I managed to turn on mobile data on adb but, trying to activate hotspot like suggested in this post, so adb shell service call connectivity 24 i32 0, I receive this output:
Result: Parcel(
0x00000000: fffffffc 00000019 00610063 006c006c '........c.a.l.l.'
0x00000010: 006e0069 00500067 0067006b 00630020 'i.n.g.P.k.g. .c.'
0x00000020: 006e0061 006f006e 00200074 00650062 'a.n.n.o.t. .b.e.'
0x00000030: 006e0020 006c0075 0000006c 00000330 ' .n.u.l.l...0...'
0x00000040: 00000193 00610009 00200074 006f0063 '......a.t. .c.o.'
0x00000050: 002e006d 006e0061 00720064 0069006f 'm...a.n.d.r.o.i.'
0x00000060: 002e0064 006e0069 00650074 006e0072 'd...i.n.t.e.r.n.'
0x00000070: 006c0061 0075002e 00690074 002e006c 'a.l...u.t.i.l...'
0x00000080: 00720050 00630065 006e006f 00690064 'P.r.e.c.o.n.d.i.'
0x00000090: 00690074 006e006f 002e0073 00680063 't.i.o.n.s...c.h.'
0x000000a0: 00630065 004e006b 0074006f 0075004e 'e.c.k.N.o.t.N.u.'
0x000000b0: 006c006c 00500028 00650072 006f0063 'l.l.(.P.r.e.c.o.'
0x000000c0: 0064006e 00740069 006f0069 0073006e 'n.d.i.t.i.o.n.s.'
0x000000d0: 006a002e 00760061 003a0061 00320031 '..j.a.v.a.:.1.2.'
0x000000e0: 00290038 0009000a 00740061 00610020 '8.).....a.t. .a.'
0x000000f0: 0064006e 006f0072 00640069 006e002e 'n.d.r.o.i.d...n.'
0x00000100: 00740065 0043002e 006e006f 0065006e 'e.t...C.o.n.n.e.'
0x00000110: 00740063 00760069 00740069 004d0079 'c.t.i.v.i.t.y.M.'
0x00000120: 006e0061 00670061 00720065 0065002e 'a.n.a.g.e.r...e.'
0x00000130: 0066006e 0072006f 00650063 00650054 'n.f.o.r.c.e.T.e.'
0x00000140: 00680074 00720065 00680043 006e0061 't.h.e.r.C.h.a.n.'
0x00000150: 00650067 00650050 006d0072 00730069 'g.e.P.e.r.m.i.s.'
0x00000160: 00690073 006e006f 00430028 006e006f 's.i.o.n.(.C.o.n.'
0x00000170: 0065006e 00740063 00760069 00740069 'n.e.c.t.i.v.i.t.'
0x00000180: 004d0079 006e0061 00670061 00720065 'y.M.a.n.a.g.e.r.'
0x00000190: 006a002e 00760061 003a0061 00300032 '..j.a.v.a.:.2.0.'
0x000001a0: 00330035 000a0029 00610009 00200074 '5.3.).....a.t. .'
0x000001b0: 006f0063 002e006d 006e0061 00720064 'c.o.m...a.n.d.r.'
0x000001c0: 0069006f 002e0064 00650073 00760072 'o.i.d...s.e.r.v.'
0x000001d0: 00720065 0043002e 006e006f 0065006e 'e.r...C.o.n.n.e.'
0x000001e0: 00740063 00760069 00740069 00530079 'c.t.i.v.i.t.y.S.'
0x000001f0: 00720065 00690076 00650063 0073002e 'e.r.v.i.c.e...s.'
0x00000200: 00610074 00740072 00650054 00680074 't.a.r.t.T.e.t.h.'
0x00000210: 00720065 006e0069 00280067 006f0043 'e.r.i.n.g.(.C.o.'
0x00000220: 006e006e 00630065 00690074 00690076 'n.n.e.c.t.i.v.i.'
0x00000230: 00790074 00650053 00760072 00630069 't.y.S.e.r.v.i.c.'
0x00000240: 002e0065 0061006a 00610076 0033003a 'e...j.a.v.a.:.3.'
0x00000250: 00300033 00290038 0009000a 00740061 '3.0.8.).....a.t.'
0x00000260: 00610020 0064006e 006f0072 00640069 ' .a.n.d.r.o.i.d.'
0x00000270: 006e002e 00740065 0049002e 006f0043 '..n.e.t...I.C.o.'
0x00000280: 006e006e 00630065 00690074 00690076 'n.n.e.c.t.i.v.i.'
0x00000290: 00790074 0061004d 0061006e 00650067 't.y.M.a.n.a.g.e.'
0x000002a0: 00240072 00740053 00620075 006f002e 'r.$.S.t.u.b...o.'
0x000002b0: 0054006e 00610072 0073006e 00630061 'n.T.r.a.n.s.a.c.'
0x000002c0: 00280074 00430049 006e006f 0065006e 't.(.I.C.o.n.n.e.'
0x000002d0: 00740063 00760069 00740069 004d0079 'c.t.i.v.i.t.y.M.'
0x000002e0: 006e0061 00670061 00720065 006a002e 'a.n.a.g.e.r...j.'
0x000002f0: 00760061 003a0061 00380033 00290031 'a.v.a.:.3.8.1.).'
0x00000300: 0009000a 00740061 00610020 0064006e '....a.t. .a.n.d.'
0x00000310: 006f0072 00640069 006f002e 002e0073 'r.o.i.d...o.s...'
0x00000320: 00690042 0064006e 00720065 0065002e 'B.i.n.d.e.r...e.'
0x00000330: 00650078 00540063 00610072 0073006e 'x.e.c.T.r.a.n.s.'
0x00000340: 00630061 00280074 00690042 0064006e 'a.c.t.(.B.i.n.d.'
0x00000350: 00720065 006a002e 00760061 003a0061 'e.r...j.a.v.a.:.'
0x00000360: 00330037 00290035 0000000a          '7.3.5.).....    ')

I also wanted to install an application on the phone to control it through the pc, but can't because it needs confirmation from phone itself.
After I tried to use a screen unlocker bash file (through windows ubuntu subsystem) and, finding the coordinates for the points, the screenshots from the phone lock screen are blank so I can't see which coordinates they are.
After that I also tried to use AdbControl (written in Java), which should stream the phone to the pc , but it gives me errors for every single frame.
I tried also Mi Suite with no luck: although I connected my device it shows this:

Any thoughts?

for adbcontrol you must escape backslash in windows path and specify a writeable path on device for example /storage/emulated/0 which probably fails because location isn't available during unlock/decryption. depending on permissions you can maybe use external MicroSD card instead
adbCommand = C:\\platform-tools\\adb.exe
screenshotDelay = 100
localImageFilePath = C:\\adbcontrol\\adbcontrol_screenshot.png
phoneImageFilePath = /storage/4D47-9860/adbcontrol_screenshot.png

you can also use scrcpy instead

another manual method for unlock/decryption (only works for password)
adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_SPACE
adb shell input text <password>
adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_ENTER

another option is physical keyboard connected via usb-otg adapter

btw you are lucky that you previously enabled usb-debugging :)

Yes, I made some apps and needed to do it ;) btw I haven't got an OTG, I'm gonna try the first two methods

I am getting this error and this is config. I watched the source code and there shouldn't be errors...

changed to  /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/ADBC/adbcontrol_screenshot.png. This doesn't resolve anything: exact same error

Thank you so much, with scrcpy works the first time! The last thing I ask you is: how can I disable touch since the phone, with the broken screen, keeps interfering with the touch?

Can't find a way to do this, I made another post to solve this "forever", but I found a temporary solution since all I want now is the hotspot and I managed to activate it. Thank you again!

scrcpy --turn-screen-off


text:
I have bricked my android phone. Is there any way to go back?
I just bought a new android phone running Lollipop 5.1. flashed a custom recovery (a modified recovery based on clockworkmod recovery). Then flashed a buggy custom ROM. In which many of the functions does not run properly Including many options in settings. Power off restart is not working, plus; there's no baseband installed which affects the inactivity of the SIM, wifi, Bluetooth and MicroSD card also not shown as well.
I accidentally tried to install the original clockwork mode recovery with the "Android One Toolkit". there's no original clockwork mode recovery for the phone the only one is I have flashed before.
Somehow it erased the recovery and do not installed the new recovery I was trying to install. There's no recovery anymore, when every I tries to boot into recovery by hardware buttons it never starts and brings the system to that buggy custom ROM. either there's no way to boot into bootloader or fast boot.
I have tried everything including many apps "Rom manager" "king root" for gaining access root but all are failed to do the task due to the non-availability of wifi or internet on the phone. this buggy custom ROM is not doing anything properly which can lead me to the solution, not even reboot. I have to force reboot it by pressing buttons vol+,vol- and power button. after the options came onto the screen. "vol up for recovery" vol down for factory reset options". both options bring me to that buggy custom ROM after some time.
I am stuck, is there any way to get back in the phone? I have never used the backups before flashing.
The phone is "Qmobile Z10" MTK 6753/35 I think. The custom recovery I flashed was "Clark Recovery etc", I forget the exact name, but after the name was written "A recovery based on Clockwork mode recovery". The custom ROM I currently have in my phone is "experience ROM for TT175 by EMRESAYGIN"

Have you tried the ADB?

Look at MTK Droid Tools and SP Flash Tool....
MTK device's are virtually unbreakable ! so don't be too worried.
Try to flash the custom recovery ( clockworkmod ) and then use the recovery for installing a new os ....
ClockWorkMod will overwrite your old recovery when flashing a new ROM,
So I'd suggest TWRP a.k.a TeamWin Recovery Project,
as TWRP will keep root and recovery installed when flashing new ROM

If you still have trouble, Look up Unbrick any MTK Device ..
This takes you through the steps to installing a rom on any mtk device !

I would write more details but each rom needs specific installations !

!   YOU NEED AN FREE ACCOUNT ON NEEDROM.COM FOR MOST MTK ROMs !
Flash Files For SP Flash Tool for Z10
Lollipop ROM for Z10

DO NOT USE FIRMWARE UPGRADE !
FIRMWARE UPGRADE WILL DESTROY IMEI NUMBER AND NV RAM ...
ONLY EVER USE DOWNLOAD MODE !
ROOT YOUR DEVICE FIRST IF IT'S POSSIBLE !
ONCE ROOTED, USE MTK DROID TOOLS ( IN LINK [MTK REPAIR FILES ])
AND BACKUP A FULL ROM ( INCLUDES NV-RAM, IMEI, SYSTEM, BOOT ETC....)
USING A MTK DROID TOOLS BACKUP IS THE ONLY SURE WAY TO RESTORE NV-RAM (IMEI NUMBER - MAC ADDRESS )

MTK Repair Files
- SP Flash Tool
- MTK V-Com Drivers (generic)
- MTK Droid Tools
If you can't access recovery, you need to use
V-COM Drivers, And Pre-Boot software SP Flash tools ....
• INSTALL V-COM DRIVER FROM LINK ABOVE
• Take out the battery ( power off completely )
• Start "SP Flash Tool" and load the custom rom above by selecting the "MTxxxx_Android_scatter_emmc.txt" File
• SP Flash tool will auto load rom from scatter
• Untick preloader or Pre-Loader
( this is what you are flashing with )
• Press on [ DOWNLOAD MODE ]  NOT UPGRADE!
• NOW Plug in device and wait for download to finish and a green Tick to appear  √

IF YOU GET ERRORS, Please tell me,
I'll try my best to respond quickly !

Errors

"Device doesn't show anymore"
This is because you need to flash Pre-Loader again !
- Preloader needs fixing with SP MDT SP MDT.rar and the correct files. (preloader from previous rom) . You can use an old version of
SP Flash tools Like V3 SP Flash Tool V3 to flash the old Backup of PRELOADER with MTK Droid Tools Hopefully ..
I have equal luck with both, If one doesn't work, the other does !
IF it still doesn't work and phone seems bricked,
You probably need to do a Firmware Upgrade, But this means you need SN Write Station and IMEI Writer to repair the IMEI, Mac adress, Bluetooth Adress etc ( On the original box or a sticker with the device )

but how can i flash a new recovery coz i dont have access to the one i just installed. coz it was erased in the attempt to install original cwm recovery?
Even i can not access to the factory reset or fastloader/bootloader by hardware buttons or either does not have acces it by adb commands. adb commands get stuck when i try to reboot the phone in fastboot or any other fastboot command.or sometime phone doesn't even detected by the adb devices. i have installed all the drivers needed before opening oem lock before installing this buggy rom or recovery. !

MTK Devices have an Extra boot for this problem   ... You need to install CDC Drivers ( V-COM)  to access the pre-boot loader... I'VE UPDATED MY ANSWER

but i have no scatter file right now. how can i get?

You should have it with the Flash Files link   ... HERE'S A STOCK ONE ! https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=45sO&id=0B_Wm2RQP1PtfcnVpaG1oVmhPLTQ

thanks. i will try and give it here if i will have a problem.that must is a sure for me :p as i am not that much of a geek :D

i have a fixed battery in my phone. so what about the step in which the battery should be t taken out?

I have fallowed the upper given steps.downloads from the given link of qmobile z10 stockrom file.loads scatter file. all the options were selected there like recovery, system,cashe, user data etc.. then i press the download button (download only was slected in the dropdown list) then i connect the phone. after installing it gives me tick mark i disconnect the phone and try to on it but it doesn't turned on by pressing the power button neither by forcing it to be in the selection of recovery or factory restore options by pressing vol up vol down n power. now what? is it hard bricked?

No it's impossible to break / brick MTK Handset's ... This usually happens straight after Flashing.. It sometimes needs to be put on charge immediately, this will initialize the boot to charge, Then it should react to power button !... MTK HANDSETS ARE STRONG FOR SOFTWARE PROBLEMS, THAT'S WHY I RECOMMEND THEM !... USING SP Flash Tools, You WILL Fix it !

now how can i fix this problem?

Now when ever i connect the phone with the pc. it doesn't recognize the phone despite all drivers have been installed already. and gives unknown device. when i opened the device manager it gives this "Unknown USB device(Device descripter request failed)". I have googled it and found some solution to this generic problem by changing the power options etc and all the solutions on the internet. but it remains the same. Is there any solution to this problem is it the hard brick? if it is how can i overcome this problem.?

You must of removed Pre-Loader !... I'll update the answer with Meta-Flash tools to reflash preloader

Yup please do it asap. As, then i have to go to my warranty if needed today.

The rom site i posted should explain that Your warranty is void upon flashing !... This is just a tutorial on how to use the links and roms to fix an already Warranty void device

Don't Worry Anyway, All MTK Device's are Un Brick able ... Using The stuff i have posted, you should recover it, Or else you can do a search on UNBRICK ANY MTK DEVICE !... They're all the same process however.. It's long and time consuming but it always works ! Its like their is always a boot before the one you broke, so you can flash it back again !

can  you please update the steps to flash the preloader or the above u are talking about?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to revert back from Marshmallow 6 to Lollipop 5 in Samsung Note 4?
My Samsung Note 4 is updated to 6, but I don't like it and I want to go back to Lollipop. Is it possible to do it easily?
I heard that there are many problems with 6.

Unfortunatelly the downgrade isn't so easy at all.
You have to download a proper official Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop system image from SamFirmware and install it from Odin (or Heimdall on OS X). You have to read about this process before you do anything (eg.: enable developer options, USB debugging, etc)
It will be a clean install so if you have any important app or app-data you should backup all of them (I prefer TitaniumBackup Pro, but you have to be rooted.) with Kies (if you aren't rooted).
If you stuck there is a guide for a Samsung Galaxy S6.

It is generally better to include the full explanation of the procedure in an answer, rather than just links. Those may get outdated and thus become dead-ends, so it's advised to use them only as references.

One more thing - Samsung's bootloaders typically disallow downgrading, though I don't know if that the case with Marshmallow -> Lollipop. Care to back up with successful examples? OP will have more incentive to take the risk if you do.

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


text:
How to access GNURoot Debian executables from outside the app?
I've just setup GNURoot Debian and I could install Python 2.7.
However, I'd like to run Python 2.7 outside of the GNURoot Debian Terminal Window.
For example, if I ssh into the device, I'd like to be able to simply run Python.
Here's what I've naively tried so far:
root@odroidc2:/data/data/com.gnuroot.debian/debian/usr/bin # ls python*
python     python2    python2.7
root@odroidc2:/data/data/com.gnuroot.debian/debian/usr/bin # ./python2
sh: ./python2: No such file or directory

Any hints on how I can use Python 2.7 via ssh ?

You can't usually execute anything from the data partition.  You could try copying them to /system/xbin/ or something like that.

Thank you, I didn't know that. I've tried creating a symbolic link, but I get a Read-only file system error:
ln -s /data/data/com.gnuroot.debian/debian/usr/bin/python /system/xbin/python
ln: /system/xbin/python: Read-only file system

Any tips on how I could get around this ?

mount -o remount,rw /system.  Must be done as root.  I'm not sure if a symlink will work but it's worth a try.


text:
Adoptable Storage not using full SD card space since changing cards
I've got a strange issue going on with my adoptable storage setup. I have a SONY Xperia XA Ultra.
I initially got it working with a Sandisk 32GB Class 10 card. I adopted the entire card, and the Device storage went from "Total used of 16 GB" to "Total used of 48GB".
But then I had the bright idea to use one of my 64 GB cards, also Sandisk Class 10.
I repeated the process again, after reverting the 32GB back to portable of course, and adopted the entire 64GB card.
This time however only 16GB of the card was adopted, with the rest of the card basically lost. I couldn't see or access the rest of the card. Even with the Freespace app that part of the card just didn't exist.
So I reverted that and tried to adopt just 32GB, thinking maybe there is a limit to how much can be adopted. Same problem, only 16GB was adopted.
So I gave up, reverted that and went back to the 32GB card and adopted the whole card again. Only 16GB was adopted.
I tried 2 other cards a 64 & a 32, same problem.
And yes, I did migrate data and reboot each time. I even did a software repair before my last attempt.
Does anyone know how I can fix this?

This was sorted out by formatting the sd card in a PC, and not in the phone itself, then repeating the adoptable storage enabling process.


text:
How do you cast video/content to your television from Amazon Prime Video app?
I would like to get my video and content to my television from my Android phone or tablet but the Amazon Prime Video app does not support Chromecast.
How do you cast video/content to your television from Amazon Prime Video app?

this question has 1000+ views... but no upvotes... if you viewers find this question useful... please upvote.

Latest Prime Video android app has the capability to cast videos ..pls check

@TechDog thanks for the tip! i can't check right now but I will when i get home. (maybe the cold war between amazon and google is over...???)

Amazon Prime Videos now supports casting to Chromecast straight from inside the official app, it does have a stupid problem that you can't use the phone to adjust the TV volume like you would usually do with Chromecast, it comes up with a stupid surround error when you try, and you have to use the actual TV remote to adjust the volume, but for the sake of this question, it works as mentioned above.
For future reference, I am using an HTC U12 Plus with the lasted firmware, which for this device is Android Pie, and I am using the latest version of Amazon Prime Videos, which is 3.0.268.28447.

2018-09-13 update
Short answer is: you can't. You can use a laptop (windows/linux/mac/chrome-os) with Chrome browser to cast. Or you can buy an Amazon-Fire hardware device.
Long answer: the "cast your screen" solution now seems to be broken.
Broken? Exactly how?:

the audio plays from the TV screen
the video does not play form the TV screen (TV is black where the video should be)

So for android devices, I don't know of any way to cast from your Android device to a Chromecast.
2017-12-12 Use the Android feature called "cast your screen".
how to use "cast your screen"

turn on your TV and Chromecast
make sure your chromecast/phone are connected to the same wifi
unlock your phone
pull down the "quick settings" drawer from the top
touch the "cast screen/audio" button
your chromecast should now display what is on your Android device's screen
open the Amazon Prime Video app
play your content on your phone and the audio/video will show up on your television

Official directions from Google on how to cast your screen: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2865484?hl=en
background
The Amazon Prime Video app does not support streaming to Chromecast from the app.
However a less well-known feature of newer Android versions is the ability to "cast your Android device's screen and audio" to the television. Or to put it another way you can "mirror your display" from your Android device to the television.
The "cast your Android device" feature is supported for later versions of Android 4.x (I don't know what version exactly).
caveat

The "cast your screen" requires your Android device to be on, screen on, unlocked
because "cast your screen" mirrors your android device

the battery usage is high
the wifi bandwidth used is high (has to send the audio/video from the internet to your phone, then from your phone to the router, then from the router to the Chromcast)

the resolution on the television depends on your phone's pixel resolution
"cast your screen" can cut out for various reasons and does not seem to be as reliable as normal Chromecast

non-android solutions are: (1.) buy a product that connects to the TV and download the Amazon app (i used to use an xbox with the amazon app before I found this solution) (2.) use an Amazon-Fire product (3.) use a laptop with Chrome browser and click "cast to screen"

As of now, it is possible to cast the contents of that app using Miracast, provided that both the Android phone and the TV supports that. I know for sure OnePlus 5, OnePlus 6, Redmi 5A and Redmi Note 5 Pro and Sony Bravia (don't know model number) supports Miracast, but Motorola G4 Plus doesn't.
I have used Amazon Prime app on the four devices personally to cast them using Miracast. I used inbuilt cast option under Settings app to cast, instead of doing it through the app.
Note: It is also possible to cast Netflix using Miracast, though you won't get any video, but only the audio.

Just like Chromecast, there are sticks in the market (such as on AliExpress) which  provide Miracast support when the TV doesn't support it.

The new Amazon Prime Video app does definitely not support Miracast!
My Android Device is a Huawei P10 Lite with MirrorShare function. My TV is a Sharp with Miracast function and they can be connected.
There was no problem with the former Amazon APP (shopping) which Prime Video was a part of.
I can mirror other content e.g. Netflix, private videos, whatsoever, I can see my Android display on TV, can launch the app but only the sound comes from TV and I can see all of the Android-related displays like "stop", "continue" "forward and backward" and so on but the video is not shown.

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


text:
Application Images
So I am creating this website for an app from Google Play and I am currently trying to find where it's storing the image files on my phone. I've tried to search it with FX file explorer and searched in /data/data and found the app but I'm not sure where to find the images. I know that some apps hide them as another file type so if anyone can help me with trying to get the images, the app is called PC Creator if you would like to try it yourself.

Does this answer your question? Where Android apps store data?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! It would help could you detail what images you are talking about – as the term is quite ambiguous: pictures a) contained in the app, b) downloaded, c) created by the app; d) AppImages in terms of a "bundled backup" of the app and its data; e-z) some other kind of image. As you didn't link the app, it's hard to see for oneself (you cannot expect potential answerers doing a web-search just to figure what you're asking ;)

Images are contained in the app
If the images are not downloaded they are contained in the app respectively it's APK file. You can download the APK file from your device (some file explorers allow to do so) or you can download it from an external source like ApkMirror, ApkPure, ...
Once you have downloaded the APK file you can simply unzip the APK file and then manually browser the directory structure or use your favorite file serach to to identify images and other useful files.
If you want to "dig deeper" (e.g. for extracting some string resources or other resources that are not directly accessible as a file within the APK file) you can decompile the APK using a tool like ApkTool (note Apktool is a Java tool and there requires an installed Java-runtime - JRE):
apktool d <path to the exported APK file>

You will get a directory containing thousands of files, containing the code, XML resources and images contained in the app.
Alternatively you can use a GUI program like Jadx (also needs Java, there is a version available that has an integrated JRE, hence does not require to download and install a Java run-time).
Using Jadx you can browse the path Resources/res/drawable* to view and save a contained image of the app.
Images are downloaded
If the images are downloaded while the app is running the are usually stored in the private app-data directory in /data/data/<app packagename>.
For more details on this topic see this question: Where Android apps store data?
To access this directory you need root permissions.
Searching for a specific file on-device especially if the file uses a wrong file extension or a different measure to hide it can be quite tedious. Therefore I would recommend to tar (tar is available on all Android devices by default) the whole directory, export it to a PC and there examine the content:
tar cvf /sdcard/app_data.tar /data/data/<app packagename>

Afterwards you can download the created tar file via adb (execute the command on your connected PC):
adb pull /sdcard/app_data.tar

As you are searching for images you may try to directly run photorecon the tar file. photorec does not care about file extensions it directly operates on the data, if the image is in a known format and not obfuscated on data level it will be able to find and extract it.

Apk files can be extracted using a zip explorer. Why would one need to decompile the app just to extract image files? Are they encoded too?

@IrfanLatif Of course you are absolutely right. Just unzipping is enough. Looks like I decompile Android apps way too often. For me decompiling became the standard for looking into an app.

As an addendum to your already excellent answer, I'd like to point out that file is usually able to guess common file types, as well.

@Grimoire using file or directly reading file signature works only if the app is saving files as normal image files (with or without extension). Carving methods like photorec also work if the app is obfuscating files by prepending some unknown signature, or by combining multiple image files to a blob which is recognizable only to the app itself. Data carving works - there are limitations though - even if there is no partition and no filesystem and the data is written directly to raw storage device.

@IrfanLatif Doesn't carving depend on e.g. magic bytes, or headers and footers being untouched?

@Grimoire correct. But carving can find out where a standard header begins, even if you prepend something to its beginning (not damaging the original header obviously). file utility depends on the existence of a FILE. It looks for signatures at fixed offsets only, won't carve through the whole file looking for signatures/headers. But there are conditions. A major factor is file fragmentation.

@IrfanLatif You learn something new every day, it seems. Thanks for the info!

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


text:
How do you list all apps in an adb backup .ab file?
I did a backup of my phone and produced an .ab file

G:\phonebk>adb backup -apk -shared -all -f backup.ab
WARNING: adb backup is deprecated and may be removed in a future release
Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation...

G:\phonebk>

How do you list all apps in an adb backup .ab file?
I have read that adb restore com.identifier.name.ab will restore a particular app, but suppose I want to see the name of the app,  And moreso, the names of all the apps?

Restore individual apps from a full backup
adb restore always restores the full content of an Android backup file. Therefore if you want to restore apps individually you have to make individual backups so that you get one backup files per app:
adb backup <packagename> -f <packagename>.ab

Alternatively you can use Android Backup Extractor (abe) to convert an Android backup file to an TAR archive, modify that archive (e.g. delete all data and apps you don't want to restore) and then convert the TAR archive back to an Android backup via abe.
Getting the package name of an app without using a Android device
If you want to know what package name has a particular app you can simply use Google Play Store web site. Search for the app you want to know the package name of - for example Twitter.
Check the address bar of your web browser and you will see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android.
The package name comes after the id= section (it ends at the next & character or the end of the address). Therefore the package name of twitter is com.twitter.android.


text:
Mark all messages as read in Gmail
Using Gmail version 86.0.04240.198 on my Samsung Galaxy A30s with Android 10.
From the documentation we can read

You can't mark all messages as read from the Gmail app.

I know this is a task that can be done in a computer but that's not an option for me ATM.
I tried going to gmail.com and from there activate "Desktop mode" but I was getting a responsive view with less functionality.

The way I've solve it was to

Open Google Chrome.
Activate Desktop mode.
Navigate to Google.com.
Search for Gmail.

Click in the Gmail. In my case was the first item in the result list.
Once in Gmail, click in the select all button which then opens up a message saying to select all (note that the image from this step was taken after the one in step 7, that's why you don't see a number of unread messages in the Inbox which shows up slightly in red)

Click in that message to select all, then go to the three dots and "Mark as read". Once it's done, you'll get a snack bar in the bottom right informing it's finished.

Now there's no unread messages

Note: in my case then going to the Gmail app I could see that the emails were all marked as read even though the browser wasn't showing right away.

Another workaround can be using Outlook's app.
All one needs to do is configure the email in Outlook, according to one's requirements, in order to have access to the email account in Outlook.
Then, access that email and filter the mails by pressing the button on the top right

Filter by Unread

This will only show the unread emails

Now select all the emails and a top menu will appear

Press the three dots in the top right corner and select Mark Read


text:
unlock developer options for new user?
is it possible to enable/unlock developer options for a second user
Android-version: 7.1 nougat
does it reqire root access to enable it

i am not aware of how android handles multi-user but i can imagine only user 0 is allowed

@alecxs is right.
Enable developer settings you want as the main user; then it will be the same across all users (at least, this is what worked for me). Note that often if you are connecting to something there will be a prompt on your device asking if it's okay to connect to the computer/application. You need to switch back to the main user to accept the prompt, then it should work on all users
Source
Another similar thread


text:
Do phone manufacturers use AOSP as their base?
Do phone manufacturers like Samsung use AOSP as their base and customize that, or does Google provide a special vanilla version of Android and they customize that?

I worked with a couple of OEMs and know for a fact that when the OEMs start off working on a new version of android the Software Configuration team picks the latest stable version of the AOSP and then various teams start work to put their customizations in place.
So say a Samsung will have the Touchwiz team start work to customize the UX. The Baseband team will route the Radio Interface layer to the proprietary RIL or vendor-Ril as it is sometimes called. It takes months of effort to roll out phones with the latest software. And contect with google minimal. Google does a compatibilty test suite (for new handset launches) upon failure of which Google proactively supports. Google also works very proactively with OEMs on the Nexus line of phones.

I worked at BlackBerry while they were developing the Priv, and we worked directly with AOSP plus some libraries provided by the chipset manufacturers.  IIRC we also got a little bit of advance access to new versions, but nothing from Google that was developed specially for us or manufacturers in general.
Please note that this is based on my personal opinions/knowledge and I do not represent BlackBerry in any way.

Other than a few exceptions, such as OnePlus with CyanogenOS, most manufacturers use AOSP code for their base and customize it.


text:
" Unfortunately, CloudAgent has stopped"
When viewing images in the Gallery, the message "Unfortunately, CloudAgent has stopped". Then the screen goes black.  How can I fix this?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Pro 8.4 tablet, model SM-T320. The Android version is 4.4.2. This just started today.

I found the answer to this on another Android site. Just open the Dropbox app and sign out. This fixed the problem for me. You can then sign back in to Dropbox.

Glad to hear you solved it.  You can post that as an answer below so other can see that this has been solved and vote it up.

To Log Out of Dropbox

While in the Dropbox application, tap on the Menue Bar (the 3-horizonal bars icon located at the upper left-hand corner).
After the Menue List populates the screen, tap the Gear icon (Dropbox settings) located at the upper right-hand corner.
When the Dropbox settings window populates, tap on the list item "Sign out of Dropbox" which is approximately the fifth item down on the list.

This will log you out of the Dropbox phone application.


text:
Log what an application does and accesses
I'm a bit paranoid about the permissions that certain applications require to work on an Android phone. Specially the "Access to your storage" permission. What I'm scared of is if an application is able to access the internet and is able to access my personal data, it could simply upload it to a unknown destination.
Since I don't know much in Android, I wanted to ask if it would be possible to "log " what an apps is doing on your phone, something like:

ThisApp entered this folder
ThisApp used this file
etc...

Is there any way to do something as I've described above?

Download a terminal emulator, run *logcat > /sdcard/log.text" ( no quote marks), press enter, then home while nothing is happening. Everything is now being logged to a text file on your internal storage

i guess i have to be root to do this ?

No, actually. It's a fairly low-level job. But with root, it will show more


text:
S7 Edge RAM usage is extremely high, why?
Why is my S7 Edge using 87% of the RAM  all the time? It's not the apps because I use Greenify for stopping background tasks. I see under Developer mode → Running services that my system takes 2 GB of RAM, but why?  That's not normal, the S7 Edge has 4 GB of RAM and I can use only 600 megabytes.

I'd say that is absolutely normal. Because: What benefit would you have if your RAM is empty? You have RAM to be used for caching and hibernating apps. Unused RAM is useless. :-)
Do you experience performance issues? Any lag? No? Then the S7's memory management works as it should. :-)


text:
Why does my Nexus 6P's "Show CPU Usage" option only show com.android.systemui (and system apps)?

It only ever shows com.android.systemui and other system apps. Here I'm loading a complex page:

Are you using a custom ROM? I'm getting the same on my Moto X 2013 but only on Marshmallow custom ROMs.

Yup, 100% stock.


text:
How do I transfer a started game to a new phone and resume where I left off
I want to backup and move all of my downloaded games on my old Android phone to a new Galaxy 4 Android phone.

Many apps will be configured to automatically back themselves up with Google, and so signing into the same Google account as the old device on the new one will be sufficient.  You can see this for more details: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/2819582
Other apps sync specifically with Google Play Games, or with other account services.  You should connect the games to the appropriate service on your old phone, and then sign into the same service on the new phone.
My preferred option is to root both phone and install Titanium Backup, which allows you to easily back up and restore any app.  It would just be a matter of copying over the backup files to the new device and using TB to restore them.
For unrooted devices, there's also Helium Backup which automates Android's built-in backup service to make a local backup, but it can also sync with your PC so that you don't need to do any manual copying.  I believe that this won't work for some apps that don't support this backup method.


text:
How to fix android-x86 install on VMware?
Using android-x86-4.4-r3.iso, I created a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 11.0.0 on Mac OS X.  I just clicked Create virtual machine, chose my Android ISO, and just hit Next repeatedly until finished (just like I do to create Windows VMs).
I'm not a master at VMware. What did I do wrong in there? I ran into trouble, as in this picture:

I wait, but it doesn't change. If I am supposed to enter a command, I don't know what command. Can anybody help me?

You need to follow the instructions.  Specifically:

You have to change your virtual disk type to be IDE because the default type in VMware is SCSI, and [the] Android-x86 kernel is not configured to support SCSI. You can follow these steps:

Create a virtual machine.

Edit [the] virtual machine settings after the virtual machine [is] created.
Choose the hard disk and remove it.
Add a hard disk to create a new virtual disk, then you can choose IDE as your virtual disk type.
When finished, you can install android-x86 normally.

Thanks you so lot, Matthew Read. It really helpful for me. It work!

On windows, installing the recommended iso for vmware (android-x86_64-9.0-r2-k49.iso) let you stuck at command prompt.
And if you try the debug startup, you might get stucked with a confusing message

random: 7 urandom warning(s) missed due to ratelimiting

Since the live boot vesa start mode works, the urandom error is not the problem.
Rather, the required video acceleration seems to be missing from vmware.
As a result you need to configure grub to start androïd in vesa mode.
This can be accomplished following a procedure described here with some mistakes or incompletness or a little outdated.
After the standard install, you need to

reboot,
On grub boot choice (white text on black background), keep first choice and type 'e'

After that, you can see existing boot commands in the boot sequence.
- Select the upper item and
- press e once more
To edit the boot command for GRUB, Use arrows to reach the right position

replace the word "quiet" by "nomodeset xforcevesa", you should have:

kernel /android-?.?-r?/kernel nomodeset xforcevesa root=/dev/ram0
  androidboot.selinux=permissive SRC=/android-?.?-r?

presse enter to save. then b to boot.
For the grub configuration to persist upon restart,
edit its configuration file:

mkdir /mnt/sda mount /dev/block/sda1 /mnt/sda vi
  /mnt/sda/grub/menu.lst

Press "i" to use insertion mode:

replace the word "quiet" by "nomodeset xforcevesa",
escape to go back to command mode.

Then
ZZ or :wq!
to save and quit
You now can restart your vm using your custom configuration.
If ever you wait too long without any action,
your screen might turn black, entering the sleep mode.
Use your keynoard's menu key to recover a usable screen.


text:
I downloaded Angry Birds but can't actually find it on my phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace)
I downloaded Angry Birds onto my phone, but I now actually can't find it anywhere. Does it go into a certain folder?

you just downloaded the APK? if you did , you need to open it to install it... or try to install it from android market

how did you download the app? Are you using the Android Market, through 3rd party market, through through GetJar (or other 3rd party providers), or through desktop browser?

Have you looked at your app drawer?

It may have been downloaded, but has it been installed?
Open up the Market app and click "My Apps". If it isn't listed there - i suggest you reinstall it.
Also, is your device capable of running it?

Better to look at Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications.

You're right. Assumed it was obtained via Google Market.


text:
How to sync calendar with android without google?
is there a way to sync an Ubuntu calendar application like Thunderbird Lightning or Evolution with an Android device without using google-calendar?
At the moment I am syncing my Thunderbird-Lightning calendars on different computers via Dropbox, what is much more reliable than google-calendar. Another big advantage over google-calendar is, that I can access my appointments offline as well, since the calendar files are synced onto the harddrive of each computer by Dropbox.
I'd like to access those calendars via my android device as well.

The Dropbox-app for android does not support automatic syncing yet, so it seems like I have to use another service.
Apart from that I guess I need to know an android app, that can access a calendar-file stored in ics-format.

Thanks in advance
YSN

This is a duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/2863/how-to-sync-contacts-and-calendar-with-linux-system-without-using-gmail, but there are more answers here.

You can also sync Google Calendar with offline applications.

If you use a CalDAV server such as SOGo or DAViCal with Lightning, you can then use CalDAV-Sync on your Android device to sync your calendars there as well. SOGo also has CardDAV support, and CardDAV-Sync will keep your contacts in sync as well.

There are many CardDAV servers but not all pairs of server and client work. You need to check your intended combinations before choosing a server.

So I was trying to do this with my Outlook Calendar (at work).

Export a ICS file to a Dropbox folder
Use DropSync on Android to keep the file in sync on the local sdcard
Use ICSSync to parse the ICS file and add it to the native Calendar app

The above approach works for me, ofcourse you'd have to find a way to schedule/automate the export of your calendar from your Calendering app on Ubuntu. For Outlook, I am using Outlook2ICal.

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


text:
What adds "Translate" item to selected text's context menu and how to get rid of this
I am trying to figure out which application or which application's setting is adding "Translate" button to the selected text's context menu in Wikipedia app:

Wikipedia mobile app's developers says that this is not their problem and that this item comes from some other place, not from their app.
I do have Google application installed. I don't have Google Translate app installed. I have never used translate functionality out of Google app (to be honest, until now I wasn't aware that there is such). And certainly I didn't enable such damn thing intentionally.
My gear:

Phone: realme GT 5G (RMX2202)
Android: 13 Kernel version 5.4.147-qgki-ga616720f33728

Can someone tell me, if it is possible to turn this thing off?

Two options to try:

Uninstall the Google app. If this is not possible,next

Disable the Google app

These were suggested since Google Translate is baking itself in the option menu.
The second option worked for the OP

I can confirm that the Google app added this feature. On my Pixel 3a, the "Translate" context menu is overloaded by 3 apps: Google, (Google) Translate, and a 3rd-party Chinese dictionary app.

However, there should be an option buried somewhere to disable such behavior.

@andreszs unlikely, and it's a known fact that it's not possible to modify them either (ref: How to set which options appear on the text selection toolbar?, How to edit the Android context menu?)

And certainly I didn't enable such damn thing intentionally.

Of course you didn't. Google keeps adding + enabling useless features endlessly, as you can see in the dedicated Google entry in the Settings menu. If you are lucky enough, such setting can be disabled somewhere here. Good luck finding the relevant option though.

I only keep the Google app for its QR scanner and camera translation feature, so disabling it would be quite an extreme option. Other people may use it for 99% of their daily tasks including searching and browsing from the app's crippled, built-in webview that disguises itself as Chrome, something which I did manage to completely disable (for now). As a side note, I'm probably the only Android user that browses the web with Opera and not Chrome nor the Samsung Browser.

Well... I have QR scanner and camera translation feature provided by 3rd party solution, but I must keeping Google app since uninstalling or disabling it is not an option under my gear! :) #loveGoogle


text:
I can't send captured screenshot on Redmi 11S
I have two copies of Xiaomi Redmi 11S. On both phones I have a weird problems with sending captured screenshots when mobile data is off. And with the system in general.
In Redmi when I capture a screenshot, it appears for approx. 10-15 seconds as a small overlay in one of the corners with "Send" and "Scroll" buttons below. Second one allows capturing a screenshot bigger than the current screen / viewport. First one does what it says it does.

On one of these phones, when I press "Send" nothing happens. No share / compose message, no nothing happens. To send any screenshot I must open up any file browsing app, locate the screenshot and send it from there. Second phone has no problems with this.

On both phones I cannot send screenshot (nor any MMS) when mobile data is turned off. I have a constant, stable and fast Wi-Fi connection in parallel, able to stream even 4K videos efficiently, but I can't send and MMS. This is as weird as it can be for me.

On both phones I have a completely empty list of applications. I can change any application settings (i.e. enable, disable system app, uninstall some 3rd party app) only if I manage to find it through settings' search. Because all the tabs in Applications → Manage Applications are all the time empty.

Both phones are guarded by Google Family Link, but the described behaviour appears all the time, irrespectively of the fact whether Family Link is active or I disable it using Parental Access option.

Note that:

Enabled state of the "Scroll" button is misleading. The button is enabled, but tapping it on one of the phones does nothing.

Error message given by Messages app is also misleading. I have found not option in the settings that would correspond to using mobile data for sending MMS messages (or actually no mobile data-related option at all).

I was 100% sure that my phone simply gets wako and I must do the factory reset + clean install. But then I found this question and also beeshyams has provided this fabulous answer to my other question. All these information put together suggests me that nothing is wrong with my phones and that Redmi 11S can be unpleasantly surprising to its end user.
So, my question is, if this is normal (and can be observed on other phones) that the app list is all the time completely empty and that sending an MMS requires mobile data even if device has Wi-Fi connection to the Internet?

MMS (multimedia) is an extension of SMS (text-only); thus, it uses the mobile network, not Wi-Fi (AFAIK, unless I missed the news about related technology).

See if installing this app help in locating apps

Not really related but this came to my mind since I answered it yesterday

My first comment was actually an answer here //pm commands at the end of the answer may be useful too

@AndrewT. See my comment under answer for more info.

Part answer

(Does) MMS requires mobile data even if device has Wi-Fi connection to the Internet?

Quoting from SE Software Engineering Why do MMS require "mobile data" to be sent/received?

Yes, by way of explanation see IMSoP's answer (as also other answers)

MMS was conceived as a way of adding multimedia capabilities to SMS, not as an internet messaging platform. It uses a set of technologies which made sense in the mobile ecosystem of the time, but are definitely not how you'd design it today

In particular, it is built entirely on top of WAP, an internet connection protocol that has otherwise been completely superseded. Every part of the process is standardised around handsets connecting directly to their carrier's servers over WAP, not via any other internet connection.

While it would be possible to build an "MMS over TCP/IP" protocol, there would be little motivation to do so: the expense for the carriers is maintaining the complicated services which store, forward, and re-encode the messages, and the original protocol would still need to be supported for older handsets.

There have been attempts to replace both SMS and MMS with a more modern protocol, notably RCS, but it is hard to compete with services like WhatsApp which don't need the investment from carriers to implement.

OTOH, Samsung help MMS NEEDS MOBILE DATA?

MMS does require a data connection. It always has.

If your carrier supports Wifi calling and it is enabled on your phone, MMS may use that connection instead of mobile data.

So my conclusion is that you need mobile data to send MMS unless carrier permits to send it over Wi-FI calling. On my Pixel 6a, I have RCS feature available (which can be sent over Wi-FI or data) but it doesn't work maybe because of Google limitations or carrier or both,

I accept your answer, because it is comprehensive and backed by many sources. Though, I still don't understand how (from SMS/MMS app perspective) sending data through mobile channel and through Wi-Fi can differ. In perfect world, any app shouldn't even know (be interested in) from which source it has Internet access, as long as it has it. Data transfer is a data transfer and at this (application) layer it should be no different whether you use mobile, Wi-Fi, USB etc.

I would totally understand, if it would need mobile network to be enabled (which I has enabled in this scenario). I.e., if it would require some non-data, celluar-network-based protocol. But... data is a data. I am not disputing with you, just expressing my very high surprise here.

@trejder the details is explained thoroughly in the Wikipedia that MMS depends solely on the mobile carrier. Not sure I can't explain it better than Wikipedia, except to add that WiFi is going through an ISP, not a mobile carrier (different protocols).

@trejder thanks for accepting. This was news for me as well! Another answer covers what AndrewT said


text:
How does adb shell differ from a terminal emulator?
I have a couple of tasks I want to accomplish on Android 6.0.1 and they need root access when I run them on the device. This target device is not rooted.
Can I use adb from a PC to run commands just as if I would using a Terminal Emulator on a rooted Android?  I thought adb gives some sort of unrestricted temporary access (like temporary root).

I thought adb gives some sort of unrestricted temporary access (like temporary root).

When you open an ordinary terminal emulator app, you're shown a terminal and are automatically logged in as a particular user. The User ID of this particular user is the user ID of your displayed terminal emulator app. Such user and app is considered untrustworthy and is not allowed to do quite a lot of things. You can see the blacklisted items in the source code of untrusted_app.te.
ADB on the other hand when interfaces with the device gets to use the user ID 2000. This user is called shell and can do quite a lot of things for the purpose of debugging but still cannot meet the intricate demands of an end user1. Unless the Android offers a mechanism to switch to another user at will (such as 'su'; not graphical but console), the end user is limited to make any good use of shell user only when device is connected to PC in debugging mode. Follow the source code of shell.te to know about the privileges shell user enjoys.
In short, if the Android is not rooted shell user obviously comes as a winner because of privileges granted to it in contrast to an untrustworthy user, but it does not serve as a good substitute for superuser (su). In addition to that, as I noted above it comes with a cost.
Related resource: user IDs which come defined in Android

1 Temporary or otherwise, root user always have the user ID 0.

adb does not grant automatic root access unless you modify the system to run adbd as root (and if you're able to do that, you probably have root anyways) or if you are running an insecure development ROM (typically only for Nexus devices) and run adb root.
So normally, you have to be rooted and run su within adb shell just like you would within within a terminal emulator app.
ADB does run with some extra permissions, however (see this comment).  A terminal emulator app could request some of those permissions, but if it doesn't then you'll need root to make use of them.


text:
How to reset my LG Rumor Reflex if I forgot security pin
How do I hard reset my LG Rumor Reflex? I forgot my security PIN, please give me steps to fix it.

Open phone's Dialer [ like how we do emergency call]
Type the following code: 2945#*#
Confirm the whole operation by pressing Call key.
Success!
Your phone is unlocked.

My answer is updated...

Pres Volume down + power button for 10s.
Then it will enter into boot loader.Then select recovery option.
If it is Stock recovery then it will show "Command not found" message then press power button + volume up button once.
Then you will get reset phone option and hit 'yes' to reset phone.


text:
How can I manage data use based on different periods of the day?
I have a monthly pre-paid data plan with this detail:

1.2GB from 00am to 12pm (24 hours)
11GB between 0-9am (9 hours)

Is there a data manager app or other method that can monitor data usage with those hours parameters? I tried several apps but they're all using 24 hours parameter.

App recommendations are off-topic here, so I broadened the question slightly -- I'm sure you would be open to a method to do this within Settings if it exists, for example.  (Answerers might still suggest an app, but we want to help them focus on explaining how to do it rather than providing just a link with no detail.)


text:
Problem related to pictures not displayed in gallery
In mi note prime pictures downloaded from any media like whatsapp are not displayed in gallery but are present in system and are shown in file explorer

If update for gallery app is available, then update it.
Else go to > setting > apps > gallery app and clear the data and cache.
And then open the gallery app.

Possible duplicate of How do I make older images in my /sdcard/DCIM folder show up in Gallery?

The answer cannot be absolutely foolproof, but, since you mentioned media files downloaded from WhatsApp as your example, I'll tailor my answer against that specific issue.
Now, there does exist a file whose behaviour is to act as a flag. Whenever said file is put into a folder containing media files, such media won't be indexed by a gallery-type of app.
This flag's name is .nomedia, and, as the period at the beginning of its name implies, it's also invisible by default. It can, logically, be created even from an app, it consists of a mere blank file, and its simple deletion (as tested by myself on a CyanogenMod 12.1) won't make the stock Gallery display the media previously hidden by it flawlessly (in my case, I needed to reflash the whole firmware).
There does exist a gallery that is able to ignore a .nomedia file, though: its name is QuickPic (and my intent is not to advertise, but to explain a way of resolving the issue that avoids a complete reflash: wiping the stock Gallery's data won't suffice), and, if you search in its settings, you'll be able to display every single folder containing media files, even those potentially unwanted, such as profile photos and avatars.
Summary: if your gallery does not display a media you know to exist, use a file manager to check if a .nomedia file exists in the same location. If it does, and you wish to view such media, either reflash your firmware (hard way), or try another gallery app (soft way).


text:
How does changing IP and mask by ifconfig work?
I am sorry for this rudimentary question, but I cannot find a good answer.
Here is the effort to change IP and mask:
# ifconfig eth0
eth0: ip 192.168.0.133 mask 0.0.0.0 flags [up broadcast running multicast]
# ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.144 netmask 255.255.255.0
# ifconfig eth0
eth0: ip 192.168.0.144 mask 255.255.255.0 flags [up broadcast running multicast]

Everything appears to work based on the responses to the commands.  However, when I check the IP and mask on the Android device (Settings > WIRELESS & NETWORK > MORE... > Ethernet > Advanced Configuration), nothing changes.  After rebooting the device, "ifconfig eth0" returns the old values 192.168.0.133 and 0.0.0.0.
DHCP is disabled.
Could anyone shed some light on this?

"After rebooting the device" is the key here. To permanently apply changes, you'd have to integrate that into the boot process (change the default values which otherwise will override yours). Depending on the ROM this might require modifying the boot image – or just the build.prop (e.g. the value of net.rmnet0.local-ip if rmnet0 is your WiFi). I'm not 100% sure as I've not tried it yet.

@Izzy The strange thing is that I can change those parameters via the UI of Android(i.e. Settings > WIRELESS & NETWORK > MORE... > Ethernet > Advanced Configuration), and the change will stay after rebooting.   I thought ifconfig would do exactly what the UI does.  I was wrong apparently.

I'd expect the UI to store changes in a config – so it's like what I wrote before: on the next boot, that config would be used. If it's for a specific WiFi, it should go to /system/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf in the details for that network AFAIK. Not sure for "default" settings not bound to a specific WiFi.

@Izzy It looks like that the changes are stored in directory /etc for Ethernet, but I cannot see the contents of the directory with File Explorer.  "chmod 777 /etc" failed.

/etc is a symlink to /system/etc, and /system is mounted read-only – so simply chmod 0777 /etc won't do anything here ;)

@Izzy Thank you for the tip.  I was looking at the directory because I read this post: http://superuser.com/questions/564797/change-ip-address-permanently-with-ifconfig-in-debian  I did not see any Ethernet settings in your mentioned file.

Of course not. Let me quote myself with emphasis set: If it's for a specific WiFi, it should go to /system/etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf (WPA stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access, so this is for per-AP-config). Moreover I simply expected it to go there if it's for a specific WiFi. I've not verified it, sorry. I'm pretty sure it is stored somewhere from the UI (and that's the place the UI stores AP data); it might well be other IP settings go to some settings database.


text:
My device isn't booting after moving an app to /system and then uninstalling it
I have Huawei p8 lite ALE-L21 dual sim running Lollipop. I downloaded an app called Game Killer which I converted to a system app.  It didn't seem to work so then I deleted it by using link2sd. It asked me to reboot the device, and afterward it was stuck on the Huawei welcome screen. I thought it would need some time then open, but it's been like this since yesterday. I tried so many ROMs but non are working. Does anyone know how to I could fix my device?

Could you add more details about what ROMs you tried, and how you installed them?  Flashing the stock ROM ought to have fixed this issue.

Did you try to hard reset your phone after installing the ROM? Turn your phone off and press volume up and power key until the device starts. Then factory reset it. It may help.

First, plug it into a computer and see if you can connect to it and pull stuff you might need off of it, although I would hope you have photos and contacts already backed up. If it won't connect to your computer, I'm not sure what to do about that.
Does your phone have a recovery menu? I don't know what ROM you're running, but this page here details how to boot into it, or find specific instructions for your ROM or phone, which I would expect to be in the manual or online. If you can get here, try resetting to factory settings.
If it did connect to your computer, wipe it clean through the recovery menu or otherwise and flash either your ROM or stock on to it.
If you can't connect it to a computer for one reason or another, you might be able to load a ROM onto your SD card and flash that from recovery, but no guarantees on this.
And if you haven't, try restarting it once more.


text:
My S5 stock email flag due date
My S5 stock email app flags emails for 'next week' when should be 'no date'. how to fix this?
Other email apps flag ok.
I can see this in my s5 tasks and notes and in my outlook to do.
I tried samsung support and they had no solution.
I have seen other S5 users with same issue...and have seen others without but have a slightly different 'look' to their stock email despite same software version.
Flag on the go is important for those messages you do not want to miss but no time to read on the go.. and to view using your 'to do' on desktop or mobile task manager later


text:
Phones wifi turns off automatically when im in wifi
When I am using my wifi, after many minutes it disconnects and it will show in my screen that I am connected to my wifi again. What do I do? I checked everything.

This happens to me as well.
Try Disabling power saving apps and see if it works out, if not backup your data and try factory resetting your phone or reflashing it (android) or reinstalling the phone's software via your phone manufacturer'sPC software. If that doesn't solve your problem your phone might have a problem with the antenna.


text:
How can I fix a boot loop after replacing the Power button?
A couple days ago my phone started boot looping and just showing the Samsung logo. I was told that my Power button was the problem, so I replaced it but I'm still having the same issue.
I have a Samsung S4 Mini i9190.

Did anything else happen before this issue occurred?  Have you tried a Factory Reset from Recovery?  You may need to flash the stock ROM.

You should get it inspected by an Authorised Samsung Service Center. Similar issue happened with one of my Samsung Galaxy Device too, they diagnosed that due to over heating of device while gaming or heavy usage sometime device CPU mounting on motherboard (which is done my lead balls) gets cracked causing connectivity issues between CPU Chip and motherboard, resulting in boot failure, or boot-loop. So in my case they had to replace the motherboard to fix the issue.
Though in your case its not necessary its happening because of same reason as of mine, there can be numerous reason for similar fault. It could be something very minor connectivity issue as well, as most of the Samsung devices cause this error due to corrupt OS and at time due to a faulty charging connector too.
Bst thing is to get it checked from Samsung Authorized Service Personnel/Center.


text:
My notes in Google Contacts are gone since I my new phone synced them
I use the note area in my Gmail contacts to record a lot of information.  I got the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and now the notes are missing.  The Gmail contact app isn't compatible with the new phone.  It has synched across all of my devices and the notes are missing everywhere.  Google blames the Samsung Contacts app.  I did go into Google Contacts and restored to prior to getting the new phone and they are not there either.


text:
Is it possible for an application to deliver ads while requesting NO permission from the user?
I know that for an app to access the internet it does not need the "Full network access" permission. In the android system it says that an app can use the browser to access the internet. The permission is needed only for "custom protocols".
So is it possible to deliver ads without requesting permission from the user?

Ads can be inbuilt too.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/140808/is-it-possible-to-know-if-an-app-has-advertisements-by-analyzing-permissions

Apps do not require any sort of permission to show things on the screen — that is a basic function of the majority of apps, after all.  And there is no reason that what they show you can't be an ad.  Ads are just data that doesn't have to be treated differently from any other type of data.

Yes but most ads are downloaded from the internet. They are not regular data that an app has in it.

@yoyo_fun I have several apps with built-in ads that were not downloaded but, regardless, they ARE "regular data".  As you've already noted in your question, apps don't need permissions for basic internet access, which is transmitting and receiving data.  That data can include ads.  There is nothing special about ad data other than how it is interpreted.

Thanks. It is more clear now. I thought that ads are something generated by Google or other ad provider and they have to keep track of how many ads the user has seen to know how much money they have to pay to the app publisher. But I believe they can do that with basic internet access (if they do it)


text:
Can't disable one SIM card in my dual SIM phone running CyanogenMod 12.1
I have a dual SIM Galaxy S Duos 2. I'm unable to disable individual SIMs. There's no option in Settings. Is there any way to do this?

You don't have a SIM option like in this picture?:http://www.asus.com/zentalk/data/attachment/forum/201507/13/082546qba47ujdfupx4bu4.png.thumb.jpg You could try this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.joaormf.mtkcontrol&hl=en

@AndroidDev This app is for Mediatek devices I guess.. N my device is not compatible with it,I saw the list. Mine is broadcom


text:
Googly Play Store won't open. I'm unable to get stated with my MM installation, please help
I have a OnePlus One. I installed CM 13 nightly, the relevant Slim GApps Nano, and Xposed v80 last evening. Ever since the setup screen, the pop-up saying "Unfortunately, Google Play Services has stopped working." has been harassing me. It goes away before I press the OK button.
Here are the things I've tried:-
- Clear Dalvik/Cache again
- Couldn't clear App Data because it's a fresh installation containing the latest versions.
- Manually installed Play Store and Services using APKs from APK Mirror.
- Restarted my device countless times.
Here is the crash log/bug report:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to create application com.google.android.finsky.FinskyApp: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'void android.app.AppOpsManager.checkPackage(int, java.lang.String)' on a null object reference
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4754)
    at de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge.invokeOriginalMethodNative(Native Method)
    at de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge.handleHookedMethod(XposedBridge.java:681)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(<Xposed>)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap1(ActivityThread.java)
    at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1424)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5461)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616)
    at de.robv.android.xposed.XposedBridge.main(XposedBridge.java:117)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'void android.app.AppOpsManager.checkPackage(int, java.lang.String)' on a null object reference
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1626)
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1573)
    at android.content.pm.IPackageInstaller$Stub$Proxy.getMySessions(IPackageInstaller.java:385)
    at android.content.pm.PackageInstaller.getMySessions(PackageInstaller.java:415)
    at com.google.android.finsky.installer.v.<init>(SourceFile:77)
    at com.google.android.finsky.FinskyApp.onCreate(SourceFile:18023)
    at android.app.Instrumentation.callApplicationOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1014)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4751)
    ... 12 more

I have absolutely no idea what else I can do, except wait for Cyanogen OS 13. Please guide me towards a quick, and efficient solution. Thanks in advance! :D

What SDK version of Xposed did you install?

Did you flash Gapps for marshmallow?
The problem you r facing typically is encountered if you flash non compatible version of Gapps to the OS that is installed.


text:
What bootloader/recovery firmware can it be?
I have a Wiko Jerry phone, after some bootloader install has already happened on it.
Volume down + poweron gives this:

It looks like some test firmware, but it has no name/version info.
What is that?

This is the factory test menu (test all device features before it leaves the factory) which can be triggered by a pressing certain key combination at start-up. On most phones it is shown in Chinese language like shown here: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219469/2241

As comment says, it is the factory test firmware of this specific model (wiko jerry 1). There is no documentation, or practically anything for it. It is used mostly by the manufacturer, to initially test/setup the device after production; although it is also an useful test tool in the case of mysterious hardware problems.


text:
Android keeps disconnecting wifi when the signal is weak/poor
I've recently bought a pixel 4a 5g phone and I'm running the latest version of Android. I'm really happy with the phone but there's one thing that is really bothering: it will use mobile data when the wifi signal is considered weak/poor.
In the old days there was an "avoid poor quality wifi networks" (or something like that) in the advanced wifi settings which used to control this behavior. However, it seems like that option is gone. Is there any way to tell Android to stop transitioning to mobile data when the wifi signal is weak?
Thanks.

Check the Wifi advanced settings. There you should find an entry named "Adaptive Connectivity".
Disable this entry.

This option on Android 13 on a Pixel 7 is in Network & Internet settings, not Wi-Fi settings. I couldn't find it at first.


text:
Device or resource busy when deleting Youtube folder from /data/app
I am trying to delete my /data/app/com.google.android.youtube-DVUYe6iX9r5J1nYk8PlC2w== folder to fix the bug described here; however, I keep getting a "Device or resource busy" message. I tried using this command
adb pull /data/adb/service.d/vanced.sh > %UserProfile%\Desktop\vanced.sh

and also Total Commander file manager but received the same error. How can I delete the folder?

Is your device rooted?

A reboot has a good chance to solve this resource busy thing - do the deletion before starting youtube. But as Andrew suggests, probably you have simply no permission to delete that folder without rooting.

Yes. I am rooted with Magisk. I tried deleting it as soon as I rebooted but same problem.

Checking with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joeykrim.rootcheck also confirmed I had root access.

The problem was caused by the Vanced-related files in /data/adb and /data/adb/service.d operating on the Youtube folder hence it being busy. The solution was to delete all of these files, reboot, then delete the Youtube folder. It seems the Vanced contributor failed to realize this and instructed me to delete the Youtube folder while Vanced was still operating on it.


text:
Dial phone, screen blanks -> can't hang up
My Nokia 4.2 (Android One 9, security patch for December 5, 2019) is lately exhibiting a very weird behavior. If I dial a number, either using the keypad or from history or a contact, the screen blanks. I don't mean the autoblank when it's held to my face, I mean it goes black immediately. As a result, I can't hang up a call (or conference a third person, or anything).
If I tap power ... nothing happens. If I hold it to my face and remove it ... nothing. If I hold Power down, the phone doesn't turn off. When the other person hangs up, the screen turns back on. Sometimes if I press Power repeatedly I can get the screen on. Sometimes not.
Of course, I can plug in earbuds and use the earbud button to hang up, but for a quick call I hate having to do that.
Otherwise the phone mostly works OK. No other obviously incorrect behavior.
Odd. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Please check if it happens in safe mode too:

If the problem is not resolved, factory-reset is next step.
If it is resolved, it implies one of the installed apps is the culprit. First step could be to remove all apps having telephony related permissions and then check. Add apps one by one and check. Painful process, yes, or go nuclear and factory reset after backing up your data.

Experimenting by removing recently-added apps, Facebook Messenger Lite appears to have been the culprit. Removing that seems to have resolved the problem. I'm going to try the non-lite version and see if it has the same bug.

@CarlF:Thanks for inputs

Messenger (non-Lite) does not cause this issue.


text:
How can I sync the Google keyboard's clipboard with Android's clipboard?
How can I sync the Google keyboard's clipboard with Android's clipboard?
Google keyboard's clipboard:

Android's clipboard:

I use Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android S9.

The actions in these answer are from a Galaxy Note 8 which is nearly identical to your device. Unfortunately I do not know any way to sync them and as far as I know, it is not possible. However, I can explain this behavior.
The clipboard is a feature of the keyboard which is nothing but an application that registers itself as an Input Method with the android operating system.
What you are referring to as the android clipboard is actually the clipboard from the Samsung keyboard. This keyboard is better integrated with the Samsung environment. Here's how you can switch to the clipboard from the Samsung keyboard:

Long Press on the globe like button:

Click on the Samsung keyboard in the list that opens:

Find the clipboard icon from the options on the keyboard, possibly in the extended list that is visible upon clicking on the 3 dots:

Particularly in certain text boxes like the email compose section, this clipboard is disabled for some reason:

Which is why you cannot use this clipboard everywhere even when you longpress in the area to bring up the clipboard shortcut.
To switch back to Google's keyboard, you can bring down the notification area and click on the change keyboard button:

However; since these are 2 different applications; there seems to be no way to synchronize them since the clipboard feature is probably not universally standardized.


text:
how to *really* kill adware app
the BLU Dash X2, Android 6.0, has a known adware app shown as Preinstall Data2 in the Settings | Apps list, and I finally figured out this is the same as com.android.packages.oseasapps shown in pm list packages -d by disabling and reenabling it. the problem I'm having is that recently killing it with Force stop and Disable no longer seems to do anything. it's still injecting ads into other apps which I can see happening using adb logcat, and still is shown in the process list using adb shell ps.
how can I kill it for real without having to root the phone?

thanks to the supererogatory efforts of alecxs my backup phone is now adware-free. he went above and beyond to help me in the comments.
to eliminate vendor-installed adware without rooting phone you need SP Flash Tool, which is available (at least) for Windows and Linux; and an unofficial TWRP image available from https://romprovider.com/2018/12/blu-dash-x2-root-twrp/. you'll also need the scatter file, obtainable from any firmware file for your model phone. I got mine by googling BLU D110L Firmware Download, finding not my version 21 but both v12 and v22. I extracted both firmwares and the scatter file was the same in each, named MT6580_Android_scatter.txt.
power down the phone, fire up SP Flash (flash_tool.sh) and point it to your scatter file. then select recovery in the Download section (misnamed, IMO, because you're really uploading to the phone from the computer), and double-click in the Location column in the recovery row, and select the TWRP image. it should look like this:

click the Download button, and it will just wait there until you briefly pulse the power button (about 0.5 second). then in about a second, you will see the progress bar zoom across the screen, and hopefully you will get a popup indicating a successful write.

after done flashing, disconnect the cable, as it won't (at least mine didn't) power up with it in. holding the volume UP button, hold the power button about 10 seconds and release it. after you see the phone starting, you can then release volume up. it should be booted into TWRP. you will need to slide the bar right to allow writing the system image; but the language can be confusing, and if you wait too long, a big padlock icon will appear, at which point you need to slide twice, once to unlock the app, and a 2nd time to allow writing to /system.
then connect the cable, adb shell and you should have a root prompt! however, /system won't be mounted, but you can do it simply: mount /system. from there I navigated to the folder where the evil app resided, and appended .evil to both the .apk and .odex files:
~ # find /system/priv-app/ -name '*Preinstall*.apk'
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-utm_source-utm_campaign-oem_BLU_us/PreinstallProvider-utm_source-utm_campaign-oem_BLU_us.apk
~ # cd /system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2/
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # ls
PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk
oat
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # mv PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_
us2.apk PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk.evil
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # find oat
oat
oat/arm
oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.odex
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # mv oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-
oem_BLU_us2.odex oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.odex.evil
~ # reboot

when the phone came back, the app was gone. and since I didn't actually root the phone itself, I hopefully won't have any other problems with it.
note that if you fail to boot into TWRP, and instead reboot normally, your modified recovery partition will be gone. the phone will have automatically overwritten it, and you'll have to start over with SP Flash Tool. also: if you get it into FASTBOOT or META modes you may need to actually open the phone up and remove the battery to powerdown. this was not a painless process. and a couple of times I managed somehow to get it into a 4th mode, Factory mode, which is useless but at least had Reboot and Shutdown options.

This might actually work better, if I can figure out how to get it reliably into Fastboot mode: https://stackoverflow.com/a/49287932/493161

But only if you've unlocked your bootloader, which involves wiping out all your data. I guess I'll stick with SP Flash Tool.


text:
Can I mount dead phone's partitions in VM?
Dead phone. Have all partitions saved/read off internal memory including data partitions, all not encrypted, phone was rooted. Android 11 custom ROM, crDroid.
Need to mount data partition if possible, in Linux or Windows, doesn't matter.
Is there a way to mount all partitions in some ARM Android VM to recreate the phone with data? Had trouble mounting data partition in Linux. Thanks.

Partitions and data files are not CPU dependent and Android usually uses common file-systems like EXT4, thus you don't need a special VM. Just try to mount the data partition using a Linux system.

You can mount unencrypted partition image on linux:
check file system whether is EXT4 or F2FS
$ xxd -l 1088 userdata.img | grep 53ef
$ xxd -l 1032 userdata.img | grep 1020.f5f2

for F2FS install additional package
$ sudo apt install f2fs-tools

mount the image with /dev/loop? created from losetup
$ mkdir data
$ sudo losetup -vf userdata.img
$ losetup -a
$ sudo mount -t ext4 -vo loop,ro,noload,noatime /dev/loop? data
$ sudo mount -t f2fs -vo loop,ro,norecovery,noatime /dev/loop? data

Note: WSL kernel doesn't support F2FS by default, linux only


text:
How to run two copies of youtube?
I can not find an option in the setting to allow dual youtube. any ideas ? I tried to install and clone app but did not work. I use Android 13.

Would running another YouTube client eg NewPipe be ok?

@FranckDernoncourt yes newpip work fine

I would also recommend NewPipe, it's essentially youtube premium for free. The issue with running NewPipe is that you cannot use your actual youtube account, you could import your subscriptions but it's not ideal. You are losing out on commenting and such.

As of right now, Android does not have this functionality included. Dev previews suggested for this to launch for Android 14 but this was not the case. Android 15 might get it, but that is just a guess.
However, depending on your device manufacturer, there might be options such as Dual App, Parallel Apps, etc. by Samsung, Vivo, OnePlus, etc...
As Frank suggested, another Youtube client such as NewPipe might be the solution for you, if adding a second account in the youtube app is not a acceptable solution for you.
Just as a warning: Google is cracking down on third party ad blockers for YT
and / or might go after 3rd party clients. Some say that using NewPipe can be riskty to use and result in an account ban, but that is something you need to decide

Yes I have dual app feature in my tablet but it list every app except youtube !

Try grayjay, it also allows you to get feeds from other streaming services, not just YouTube, and no ads.

Please link the source of grayjay


text:
How can I export my Location History now that this data is only stored locally on the phone?
Google has been migrating phones to only store Location History data locally on the phone. Once an account has been transitioned, you can no longer export the data using Google Takeout since it is no longer on Google servers.
How can I export my Location History data after my account as been transitioned?

Go to the settings app, then Location->Location Services->Time Line->Export Timeline Data and pick a folder and filename to export to. Wait a little while and then go check the folder and a new JSON file with your complete location history should be there.
Credit to vijaykes for finding this (I would have never found this new option on my own)...
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/1chlsst/export_google_maps_timeline_data_on_android/la6n0k2/

The answer provided by @bigjosh only works on a small percentage of Android devices, AFAIK. For example on my OnePlus 10 there is no Timeline concept anywhere in the settings, so I have no means of exporting my timeline data now that it's locked away on the phone itself.

Worked on Samsung S21 Ultra/One UI 6.1

Does not work on Google Pixel.

@user Does work on my several google pixels. Has your account been migrated to local location history storage? When you say it does not work, does that mean that you do not have this option, or that you do have this option but when you pick it then you do not get the expected output? If so, do you get an error or just nothing happens? Keep in mind that it takes a while after you execute the menu pick before the generated file shows up.

The option isn't there. My phone has updated and I had the on boarding process for on device location history. No option in the settings menu though. Thanks.

 - it's still available, or at least for me.

Check the file that actually gets exported by Google takeout. For me, the file was empty.

This will probably go away in May next year when they remove web access to your timeline.


text:
Can one use Android apps with HarmonyOS 3? If so, are there any restrictions or limitations?
Can one use Android apps with HarmonyOS 3? If so, are there any restrictions or limitations regarding which app can run, or whether running them on HarmonyOS can make them slower?

It appears from the Wikipedia pages that you should be able to run apps that work on AOSP. But you won't have Google Mobile Services, which many Android apps require.
HarmonyOS.NEXT does not provide the AOSP environment and definitely can't run any Android apps.


text:
How to block YouTube in general on my daughter's phone while allowing her to follow her favourite YouTubers?
While YouTube Kids app is allowed on my daughter's Android phone, YouTube app is blocked. Recently I realised she still accesses youtube.com through her web browser so she can follow her favourite gaming YouTubers (on YouTube Kids app she can't follow their channels, she can only find their videos one by one through a general search, which is extremely annoying and unsatisfying).
Is there a way to either follow a channel in YouTube kids or to allow the following of a channel in YouTube app or in web youtube.com while blocking YouTube in general?

There is a "combined approach" that should work for you, requiring multiple components:
1. Block youtube.com
As alecxs successfully tested, blocking youtube.com will only affect the web browser, but not the YouTube app (and thus neither the YouTube kids app). You could block that in your router, but then it would only apply when your daughter is home and not using mobile data. Do do that directly on-device, you can use e.g. Netguard (yes, the one from F-Droid – the one from Play Store doesn't have that feature as the Play Store policies do not permit, see here).
2. Use a child-protection app
While 1. would work, it would not prevent your daughter from simply "quitting Netguard". So you need something that restricts the apps she can use. For this there are plenty of child protection apps¹ – but you should choose wisely: many of those come with a bunch of trackers (Analytics, Ads etc), which is an absolute No-Go in this context. JoLo seems to be a good choice – it got very good reference from MobilSicher.DE, which never just scratches the surface (aka "looks great and has many features") but also checks what apps do "behind your back" (aka tracking, calling home, extracting data…). With such an app, you can establish a "Kiosk": only the parent can change settings – and the child only gets access to what the parent configured.
So combining 1+2, youtube.com would not be reachable from the browser, the kids app would still work, and the official YT app could be hidden. On top you get an ad blocker (less traffic, and also protecting your child against "unwanted content"), which you'll certainly welcome.
3. Put the YouTube app into "restricted mode"
You could try putting the YT app into restricted mode and see if that works for you, so the girl can "follow her channels" from there. Not sure how well that works, or how you can keep your daughter from changing that setting (probably only by using Google Family Link which from a privacy perspective can not be recommended, as all data will be logged with Google (again, found out by MobilSicher.DE).

¹ disclosure: link goes to my own Android site

Thank you, that is very helpful :)

Glad I could help – enjoy!

I find Kaspersky Safe Kids to be very good. In the app store. You should be able to block sites under the internet tab.

thx but the question is about following a channel in YT kids (while blocking youtube)

Plus, that Kaspersky app comes with trackers (e.g. AppsFlyer and Crashlytics – also see its report at Exodus) – a no-go for a security app, and an absolute no-go for a security apps for kids. Especially when it comes to privacy, make sure there are no trackers.

And I suppose being of Russian origin doesn't help! But yes, you should be able to block social sites (YouTube etc) but permit a single path address (eg a channel) on the internet tab.


text:
Does android keeps a system log about location and networks?
I'm working together with the local authorities to try to identify where a phone was during the last few days. Some pictures were taken but GPS was turned off. Is there any clue that we could get from the local logs about the location of such images, like available networks? If so, where should we look at?
Device using: Android 8.0

By default Android does not save any local logs, even the logcat log is just a ring buffer that contains only the last log elements that fit into the log buffer (often this buffer has ~65KB).
Typically such abuffer is overwritten after a few hours, if the device use not used it may last up to one or two days but that is very device specific. Some devices log dozens of messages per minute even in Air-plane mode without any app active.
First you should check if the location services are activated at all. If they are not activated there is a high chance that they aware deactivated all the time and hence no app was able to access any location.
As far as I know Android itself does not record data on available or used mobile network  bases or Wifi access points. Only if Google location services are activated such data is collected and uploaded to Google.
If you have support of the local authorities the easiest way would be to contact the mobile network provider the used SIM-card is from and use their log which antennas were used in the specified time span.

Thank you, I will trust your answer. I didn't thought about the SIM card. Thanks!


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My Android phone does not start - how to isolate hardware issue?
I use Moto G6 ALI with a custom ROM Pixel Experience running Android 11. So far so good and I was using this setup for almost two weeks as my daily use phone.
Today suddenly the phone froze when opening Whatsapp. No further response on the screen was observed. I had to restart the phone by pressing the power button for more than 5 seconds. Since I have unlocked by bootloader several years ago, I saw the boot locker unlocked warning. This usually stays for 5 seconds and then after I usually the boot animation.  But this time there is no movement beyond the unlock warning.
I had flashed TWRP recovery and tried booting with it by pressing Vol-Down+Power button and then choosing "Recovery".  The phone started the recovery mode but stuck with TWRP logo.
I then restarted to bootloader and gave the command "fastboot devices" and my device was recognised. So I downloaded the 64bit version of the recovery image and temporarily booted with the command "fastboot boot mali.img".  This too stuck at the same point.  Any clues on how to go ahead?

thanks, @alecxs, I am not worried about the user data as I have a back up of all app data and all that I am worried about is to make use of the phone. An Interim update: Ran fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase userdata - boot loop and running some script in recovery - TWRP
fastboot boot 1\malix64.img - boot loop again. Yet to check further.

Thanks @alexcs the two format commands restored the device; I was able to boot into PE11 well. Of course my apps and files and data are lost, but I am not worried as I can restore them. I have my device useful again. Can you please remove these comments and post as an answer so that I can accept it as a solution?

To be precise, I had further issues in booting to PE11. All wiping through TWRP did not succeed. Since I have PE11 install ZIP in my SDCard, I initiated the installation which went smoothly and I have a fresh working device now. Thanks again.

If your device received update recently which was already scheduled waiting on reboot, the instruction is placed in /cache/recovery/command TWRP may stuck on that instruction. this can be cleared by formatting cache partition
TWRP Commandline Guide
If device stuck on TWRP splash screen you still might have command line access via adb. Note daemon has 30 second delay on start, adbd is not ready when TWRP is boot-looping
adb shell format cache

or manually if partition is not in fstab
adb shell
find /dev/block -name by-name
mke2fs /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cache

If bootloader is unlocked you can also format from fastboot
fastboot format:ext4 cache

For further analyzing boot-loop usb-debugging is required. On unlocked device you can enable by modifying default.prop

download ROM according to your version
unpack boot.img and extract with AIK
modify ramdisk/default.prop and repack
flash image-new.img into boot partition

(you can read how it works here)
Why "adb root" does nothing?
  ro.adb.secure=0
  ro.secure=0
  ro.debuggable=1
  persist.service.adb.enable=1
  persist.service.debuggable=1
  persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb

If your device is booting far enough you should be able to capture some log during boot. For details and more information on debugging refer to the logcat wiki
Reading and Writing Logs


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What counts as "Connected Media" for the Music player?
In the music app, there is a Connected Media tab. It shows up my router, a Belkin Play Max, but it does not show up my NAS device, which has an iTunes server and a "Media server" of unspecified protocol (at least it's not stated anywhere in the web interface). Neither of these show up.
What does this tab connect to?
EDIT: The device is the Desire HD running Android 2.2 as installed on it by default.

From the HTC Support Page:

What is Connected Media and how do I use it?
This is a new application that allows you to play pictures, music and videos stored on your phone or on a media server to DLNA supported device such as a TV, Music player or even speakers. To access Connected Media All programs (button on the lower-left of the screen) > Connected Media.

So, anything that is DLNA compliant should show up as a connected device.
Here is more information on Connected Media from HTC.

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