text:
Adb backups save no data
I want to reinstall the OS on my OnePlus phone running Android 12. Before I do that I would like to backup some of my apps which don't store their data in the cloud. The phone is not rooted, so I have tried using Helium which is apparently dead, but I still tried it. While trying to enable it I found that my phone wasn't recognized by adb as a device, but this was fixed by adding the backup password, but the app just crashes when trying to backup briefly displaying this:

As you can see it also clicks on the "set password" option which just opens desktop. The funny thing is: I don't think I can disable the password now, so...
So after this didn't work I tried looking into backing up with ADB in PowerShell on my Windows 11 pc, but It seems to have issues with doing backups.
To list the files I just do:
adb shell pm list packages -f -3

Let's say that out of those I would like to backup this one:
package:/data/app/~~yCw1hZQNzK2LConsvhuejg==/com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD-pMe0TFd1aaE5-WduzwZ1Zw==/base.apk=com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD

It pulls the .apk file no problem with this command:
adb pull "/data/app/~~yCw1hZQNzK2LConsvhuejg==/com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD-pMe0TFd1aaE5-WduzwZ1Zw==/base.apk" ".\BP.apk"

Although, a little suspicious that it is only 58MB when it should be more like 170.
But trying to make a backup with this line:
adb backup "/data/app/~~yCw1hZQNzK2LConsvhuejg==/com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD-pMe0TFd1aaE5-WduzwZ1Zw==/base.apk=com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD"

generates an empty backup.ab file (literally 0B) even if I pass just com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD as an argument.
I have also tried using the advice from this post and adding quotes around the arguments, so ideally it I want something like this since I need both an apk and data:
adb backup "-apk com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD -f C:\Users\name\Desktop\app_backups\

But this just spits out Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation. and stops instantly without doing anything.
I have even tried:
adb backup "-apk -shared -all -f C:\Users\name\Desktop\app_backups\full_backup.ab"

I don't need all apps, but this generates an empty file too.
What is the cause of this issue? I am at a loss since there are no error messages.

Lets get through your questions:
Using adb backup on Android 12+ devices
adb backup is mostly useless on Android devices running Android 12+, it will only work for apps that have been developed and released before Android 12.

For apps that target Android 12 (API level 31) or higher, when a user runs the adb backup command, app data is excluded from any other system data that is exported from the device.

For more details see my answer to Does adb backup/restore still work because it says it's deprecated?
Pulled APK file via adb is a bit small

Although, a little suspicious that it is only 58MB when it should be more like 170.
adb pull "/data/app/~~yCw1hZQNzK2LConsvhuejg==/com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD-pMe0TFd1aaE5-WduzwZ1Zw==/base.apk" ".\BP.apk"

On recent Android devices apps are not downloaded from Google Play Store as single APK file but as bunch of split APKs. You can see that in adb shell pm path com.example.someapp as it will output multiple APK files for one app. You need all of them, otherwise the app will not work.
For details how to extract split APK files from a device see the question How to get a split apk from a device via adb?
adb backup adb backup /data/app/<somepath>/base.apk does not work
The command adb backup does accept as arguments only app package names, never a path to a file on the device. Therefore this command will never work.
Backup everything (data+apps) via adb creates empty file
If you execute a command like adb backup "-apk -shared -all -f backup.ab and it does create an empty file, it could be that the backup binary bu is bugged or missing on your device.
If you execute a command like adb backup <arguments>, an adb connection will be established and on the device the command bu <arguments> will be executed. I have seen devices where the bu command was simply defect. You can test this by opening adb shell yourself and then try to execute bu --help.  If this prints an error message or may be even /system/bin/sh: bu: inaccessible or not found then adb backup can not work on your device.

Thanks for the detailed response. It seems like bu is fine since It outputs the manual as it should no problem. And the app in question was released in 2012, so I doubt it was made for android 12+ :). Also, are you saying that there is basically no way to backup data on 12+ and if you need to switch to another phone or reset the current one you just lose all of your in-app data? There must be another way, right?

@user9102437 Even if the app is old it can simply deny backup in it's manifest, then adb backup will also create an empty backup. If you need to switch to a new phone you can use direct USB-to-USB connection. This is the way Google want you to transfer data to a new device.

Fair enough, but what If it is the same phone like in my case? Do I actually need a separate 256GB phone to not lose my stuff? This is ridiculous. No amount of security is worth this stupidity.

@user9102437 From Google perspective of course they prefer GDrive cloud backup. To my experience most apps deny backup (allowBackup=false in AndroidManifest.xml) so no matter which backup or migration technique you try you will loose most app data when reinstalling the phone or moving to a new one.

Thanks for clarifying. I hate the idea of using GDrive because I don't think this will work on the apps which are not from the play store (which I have a quite a few of). And, this also means that I still need to backup APKs because god knows which version of the 3rd party app did I install. This honestly feels like the kind of thing Apple would do, but they at least give you iTunes for backup which DOES save app data. I guess I will be looking at other ways. Maybe will update something here if I succeed

As an experiment I have decompiled the base.apk for com.rovio.BadPiggiesHD and actually in AndroidManifest.xml it clearly states  <application android:allowBackup="true" but the file size is still 0... Could it be an issue with PowerShell maybe? I have redownloaded the sdk from the official site and tried using cmd too to no avail.

Holy shit, I think I figured it out. I used adb logcat > log.txt to find what was going on and found this: BackupManagerService: Backup password mismatch; aborting. So this whole time my phone was asking for a password and I just didn't see it. I was just pressing "Allow backup" and since now I have set the password, leaving the field blank no longer works... Now the file is full of data) Hopefully, it will be able to restore from this. I will check this.


text:
"Laser" Android 7-inch tablet connects to the internet without WiFi access to router
I have a "Laser" 7-inch Android Go tablet, model # MID-789.  I do not normally use it for internet work, but it is useful as a 2FA device, for which I usually wake up the WiFi and use my router for the connection.
Some weeks ago I lit it up and without thinking I touched the Okta icon and did my business.  Shutting it down, I realised I had not used the WiFi at all.  I tested this deliberately this morning, same result.  The tablet will even look for updates regardless of the WiFi status.  (There aren't any, it's that basic.)
I have searched through the Settings, very thoroughly indeed, but I cannot see anything that looks or even smells like connectivity.  It did occur to me that maybe there's a 4/5G sitting in there, but definitely there is no SIM or similar device.  So what gives?  Do all tablets have this magical ability?

Based on your description I don't see the point why you think the device had some sort of network connection. May be this is related to Okta - whatever that is. In case of third party apps please always include a link to the app in an app store.

@Robert - Okta is a 2FA verification app, at < https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.okta.android.mobile.oktamobile >.  I fail to see how an app can manifest a wireless communication channel.  If WiFi is off so my router can't see the tablet, then how does the tablet manage to communicate with Okta?  That's all I'm asking.

I am not sure how Okta works, but for generating a TOPT codes 2FA apps don't need internet access. They simply generate it based on the current time. So if the shown 2FA code(s) change periodically (e.g. every minute) then most likely it is a TOTP code.

Welp. Problem resolved.  The Okta app is the digital version of your bank's security key: the one you press the button and it gives you a sequence to type into your banking app. NO CONNECTIVITY NEEDED. This is a saga of poor design:

Okta's GUI is uninformative, although it doesn't actually SAY it doesn't need to be connected;

The Google Search Bar which auto-loads at start-up doesn't help as it continuously cycles through search suggestions, and this already had me wondering;

There is a backgound pervasive assumption that the user will always be connected so the need to remind the user is never asserted; and

I blindly assumed I needed to be connected.

The Laser tablet only cost me Au$70.00 in 2021, so I don't expect much from it. But given that Okta is a major player I did expect MUCH better GUIdance.
Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom.

Connectivity does not happen by magic. The most plausible answer is that your Wi-Fi was not as turned off as you thought.
To test this, power down your Wi-Fi hub, and then see if you have connectivity. If you do, check if you're mistakenly using a neighbour's Wi-Fi.

When I go to "Settings>Network&Internet>WiFi" and WiFi is greyed, "Off" in text and the switch icon is greyed, then WiFi is very definitely no enabled.  FWIW, Bluetooth is also disabled.  I did run a test of my router.  The GUI shows a list of connected devices, which in normal circumstances would be my PC and a telephony ATA for VOIP.  My Laser tablet would have shown up as a device had it been detected.  I know this because I have seen it previously several times dating from when I first set it up.  It would also have been visible in the DHCP routing list.

Your suggestion about mistakenly using a neighbour's WiFi is quite rational.  I have seen several networks listed as "unsecured", and I always wonder why anyone would be so careless.  But if the tablet's WiFi is OFF, then how can it make any connection?

@SomeBloke: When you seem to have something impossible happening in the real world, then one (or more) of the pieces of information you're using is wrong. You seem to be in that situation, so it's time to suspect the information you are using. If you have connectivity when the tablet says its wi-fi is off, try powering down your wi-fi hub, and see if you still have it. If you do, take the tablet three miles away, and see if you still have it.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Nexus 5 won't connect to PC
I have a Nexus 5. It is fairly new - I bought it about 2 weeks ago.
I have previously plugged it into my Windows 7 PC and been able to access the files on it.
However, today when I plugged it in, the PC couldn't find it. Some googling and investigation found that the device driver wasn't installed - and then it said that it didn't exist.
I have downloaded the Google USB Driver from the official site. But when I told it to update/install this driver, I was told the driver didn't exist.
The LG Driver installed, but the PC still doesn't "see" the phone to let me use it as a USB.
I don't want a complicated solution. I just want to be able to get my photos off my phone and onto my computer.

The LG driver installed, but the PC still doesn't "see" the phone to let me use it as a USB.

LG driver found here: http://www.theandroidsoul.com/nexus-5-driver-adb-fastboot-installation-guide/

Check this link. This solved my issue :)

Option 1:

Go to device manager in Windows and delete anything having to do with your phone (LG, Google, Android etc)
Plug in your phone, the drivers should install automatically

Option 2:
Download Airdroid on your phone....you can transfer files over WiFi

Device Manager doesn't show ANY phone-related drivers - I can't see anything called LG, Google or Android, despite knowing some of these MUST be installed. I suspect this may be part of the problem.

Went with the Airdroid option. Thank you, it let me get the photos I was after.

My Nexus 5 was under "Other Devices". I right clicked on it, hit "Uninstall" and then reconnected my phone and it detected it.

My Nexus 5 was listed as "Asus Device" in its own category.

To me it was listed as "Acer Device" in its own category. [Windows 8].

The solution given in the below link helped me to resolve the issue http://stackoverflow.com/a/25417236/185758
If the problem persists, right-click the ACER ADB Interface and select 'Update driver...', then 'Browse my computer...' then 'Let me pick from a list...' and you should see two options for the Nexus, Google Nexus ADB Interface and another called MTP USB Device. Choose MTP and hit 'Next' to install the driver, then it should show up as a portable device on your computer.

go to settings
then storage
click the 3 dots in the top right hand corner
click USB computer connection
choose one of the 2 options

I'm not sure why this was downvoted.  The accepted answer didn't work for me, but this answer worked great!

Agreed. The accepted answer did not work for me either, and furthermore, I would never advise someone to delete drivers that they can't even properly identify... all I had to do was swap from Media Device to Camera, and back again, though I suspect disabling Media Device and re-enabling it would have worked just as well. Then again, the OP only wanted to xfer files, so I guess the Airdroid solution was enough for s/he.

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


text:
How can I add a visual effect on where I click on the screen on Android?
How can I add a visual effect on where one clicks on the screen on Android?
Similarly to what can be done in Windows:

I don't see any Show Touches in Developer Options:

Developer Options -> Show Touches seems like a possible way, unless you're trying to do it for a single app.

@l3l_aze thank you, I don't see any Show Touches in Developer Options: https://i.sstatic.net/L7VQu.jpg

Interesting, usually Android's Developer Options has a lot more -- is this not Settings -> Developer Options, or is it a preview release, emulator, or Android-x86?

Screenshot is of Accessibility Settings Developer Options. You need to full adb Developer Settings. Settings (Gear icon) -> (at bottom) Developer Options -> Input section, Show Taps.

@l3l_aze I use the Android 10 on Samsung Galaxy S9. I don't have Settings -> Developer Options. I'm starting to wonder if the application my employer asked me to install for security purposes is hiding Settings -> Developer Options.

Yeah, it has to be enabled by going to Settings -> System -> About Phone -> Software Version, and tapping "Build Number" until it says you're a Developer. Sorry, lol -- forget it's not available by default because it's an autopilot thing for me on a new phone.

@l3l_aze that worked, thanks! You're welcome to copy your comment into an answer. Thanks Morrison too for your help.

First, enable Developer Options by going to Settings -> System -> About Phone -> Software Version and tapping "Build Number" until it says you're a developer.
Then, go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable "Show Touches".
This shows the small pointer/dot when you press on the screen, as is often seen in emulators.
There's some possibly-dangerous options here, so please make sure you understand what they do before trying them! :)

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


text:
How to stop Stock ROM overwriting the Custom Recovery?
I was trying to flash a Custom Recovery (TWRP) on my Friend's phone (Realme 3).
It was officialy supported by TWRP and was listed on their website so I downloaded the Custom Recovery. Then I unlocked the bootloader of his phone but yes a strange thing happened there:
After it asked for pressing the volume button to be pressed it unlocked the bootloader – but after that there was option "Select boot type". It had three options: Boot to Bootloader, Boot to recovery and last Normal boot. Further there was a arrow on the bootloader option. And there were some instructions something like volume up for select and volume down to move.
But I tried every button but the arrow was stuck on the bootloader option. So I connected it to my device and used the "fastboot reboot" command to restart the device. After restarting at the realme logo it was saying "You are unlocked you cannot be trusted". But after that it booted normally and the phone was Factory Reset.
After this in the Developer options the OEM unlocking was grayed out saying Bootloader is unlocked. Ok so we were successful in unlocking the bootloader.
After that I pasted the twrp img file in the platform tools directory and put the command adb reboot bootloader and after the device was in bootloader I used the command fastboot flash recovery name.img to flash the recovery. It said sending and then writing in my terminal.
After that I used the command fastboot reboot and the the key combinations (power+volume down) for the device which used to get into recovery for that phone – but this time, instead of going into recovery, it was in the bootloader.
So again I tried fastboot reboot command and this pressing the power+volume up but the phone booted normally. So this time I tried adb reboot recovery – but it booted into stock recovery. So again I tried flashing the recovery and tried using fastboot reboot recovery but it didn't work.
And yes I know that after flashing the custom recovery the phone should first boot into the recovery but as I said neither the key combinations nor the fastboot reboot recovery command so what can I do to prevent the system from overwriting?

Anway, after flashing TWRP, disconnect from laptop and then boot into recovery. This helped me with a similar problem with MiA1

The recovery is written as part of the boot process of the main system. To disable you have to modify the system image (not sure what exactly has to be changed on your phone). A common workaround is not to flash TWRP, instead when you need it just boot it via fastboot: fastboot boot <path to TWRP image>. In that case the flash is not changed but TWRP is directly loaded via USB and started without changing the flash.

Ok @Robert and beeshyams I will try out both of them and let you know after reaching home...

it's curios that this TWRP is official but the xda support thread is closed. furthermore there are no instructions to solve this. at minimum you must disable dm-verity and delete/rename [system_root]/system/recovery-from-boot.p (if exist) This thread gives better support than the "official" https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3944022

I have no idea what this was question was even about and from the answer it doesn't even follow. The answer implies you couldn't get to flash, the question implies it was overwritten when it was flashed. This should be deleted.

Ok I was able to install the TWRP Recovery using my device's stock recovery's install method... And it worked!!!!


text:
Show sender of WhatsApp conversation converted into SMS
I come from here: Send a SMS for every Android notification (goal: get notifications on Garmin Edge 1000)
I have a Forerunner 30 that I only receive SMS notifications on. I have managed to convert a WhatsApp notification into an SMS and am able to read its content, but I am not able to show the sender, I only see my own phone number. Does anyone have any ideas?

I don't know what I was thinking, I had the solution in front of me, I just needed to add a space between variables

Looks like you found the solution by yourself, which is great! But I think it can be improved a little bit more to directly answer the question, which parameter is the sender? You can [edit] your answer to add this information :)

I would suggest that Whatsapp is being secretive about it (for security reasons).  It sounds like a programming question to me.  Asking Tasker support may be the way to go.


text:
Minimal working vibration time on all Android devices
I'm developing a game, I do offer an optional setting with periodic vibrations for a specific game mode. To make this work well, I need a very short vibration.
On my device, 20ms vibration duration works very well but on other devices, it appears to don't vibrate at all, while 50ms works but is too long for my preference. My guess is that some devices have a specific minimum time.
So my question:
What is the lowest vibration duration which will work on every device?

There is no standard for the lowest vibration duration because it's not in the Android specification. Moreover, there is no requirement for every Android device to have any vibrators at all.
According to the Android 13 Compatibility Definition, one of the important thing about vibration is:

3.8.3.1. Presentation of Notifications
If device implementations allow third-party apps to notify users of notable events, they:

[C-1-1] MUST support notifications that use hardware features, as described in the SDK documentation, and to the extent possible with the device implementation hardware. For instance, if a device implementation includes a vibrator, it MUST correctly implement the vibration APIs. If a device implementation lacks hardware, the corresponding APIs MUST be implemented as no-ops. This behavior is further detailed in section 7.

(Italic emphasis added)
Other than that, each device is free to determine how the vibrations/haptics are implemented since the specification doesn't set the minimum duration.
Related on Stack Overflow: What is the shortest duration Vibrator.vibrate() can be called with where the device will still vibrate?

This answer may be disappointing, perhaps as disappointing as the linked Stack Overflow Q&A. However, this is the truth. Other than that, users are free to test their Android device and find the biggest value for the minimum vibration duration...

Ok thanks for your answer, saved me many hours of useless googling for a value. Do you might have your own idea of vibration duration which could cover around 90-95% of devices ?


text:
"Close all" does not always close all on Samsung's recent apps list
I have noticed something peculiar regarding the "Close all" option, that appear when you press the three vertical lines (recent apps list) in the lower left corner:
Often, all visible apps slide upwards, and everything close as it should.
But sometimes all apps slide sideways off the screen, always to the left, and disappear. However, none of them are closed down, and reappear when pressing the three lines again.
Can anyone recognize this behavior, and explain what happens and why?
This is a Samsung Galaxy A21s, Android version 12, and I have not seen this behavior on any previous phone (all Android).

It is the same on my Lenovo tablet running Android 9.

Never seen it on any of my devices.  It is possible that the phone interpreted the press as a slide and slide back to homepage.

#Rohit Gupta, no I'm pressing the same way all the time. Some times the open apps slide left several times before going upwards (and then finally closing)

This question does really not have much attention, but nevertheless, today I found out (by accident) what the difference is:
When the three lines are pushed (show recent apps), there appear a button saying 'Close all'.
If I hit that button precisely, all apps closes as they should.
But if I am not careful, and hit the top part of the button (which technically is above the button) or the area between the button and the listed apps, then they go left, blanking the screen but without closing any of them.
I still doesn't know why this difference is there, but now I at least know how to make a 'close all' that closes all every time...
EDIT: Aaand, for everybody who have followed this so far, poking the screen besides the showed open apps (and not hitting the 'Close all'-button), I have found out this just cancel the 'Show all' function and return to the main screen - by sliding all open apps to the left...!
Mystery solved!


text:
Are password saved in Google Password or other third parties also stored in Knox Vault?
Passwords saved in Samsung Pass will be stored in Knox Vault. So, are the passwords saved in Google Password or other third parties also stored in Knox Vault?

The question as you have posted can be answered easily - it is a clear NO.
In Knox vault there are never passwords stored in. The documentation states that Knox vault is used for storing:

Cryptographic keys to protect biometric data
Blockchain keystore credentials
Samsung Attestation Key (SAK)
All data in Credential Storage is encrypted using a Knox Vault-unique key. This prevents the data from being decrypted in other devices.

This is no surprise as hardware protected systems usually have very small storage (I assume a few KB), not enough to save a large list of passwords.
Even if the storage would be larger it wouldn't make sense to use it as password storage, because in difference to ´cryptographic keys which can be used by a HSM without letting the key come in touch with the less secure  Android OS system, a password always needs to be processed by the less secure Android system as it has to be sent to the server which processes and compares the password.
But as you can se from the documentation the cryptographic keys that are used to protect the passwords/credentials are stored in Knox Vault.
Even if you don't use the Google credential system instead of the one from Samsung the protection bases on the cryptographic keys from AndroidKeystore which is saved in Knox Vault, as described in this Samsung blog post:

The newly introduced Knox Vault is integrated into Samsung devices starting from the Galaxy S21, and its components are evaluated at EAL4+ and higher. By default, Knox Vault can:

Store sensitive data such as hardware-backed Android Keystore keys, the Samsung Attestation Key (SAK), biometric data, and blockchain credentials.
Run security-critical code that authenticates a user with increasing timeouts between failures and controls access to keys depending on authentication.

Thanks for the answer.


text:
One site is blank in Android Firefox
I just got a new phone, a Pixel 9 Pro XL. Warhorn.net main page loads without CSS, and all the other pages are blank on my phone, even if I request the Desktop site.
This only happens on Firefox on this phone, it works without a problem in Chrome on the same device, and in Firefox on all of my other devices.
All other sites seem to load just fine.
How can I fix this?

If you think this is a bug you should post it into the Mozilla bug tracker for Firefox Android.

I wonder if Firefox has a setting/extension related to privacy that may accidentally block some resources. I often heard about similar issues from Firefox users.

Clearing the cache solved it
I find it really strange, as it never worked on the new phone. I would expect clearing the cache only to work if something gets stuck from a previous load, but here there were no previous.


text:
What is the default browser in Android?
What browser runs on Android? Is it Chrome or a modified version of it?

The default browser is, as far as I can make out, simply called 'Browser', and is based on the WebKit rendering engine.  Android 2.2 and above use the V8 javascript engine.  The combination of WebKit and V8 makes the browser very similar to desktop Chrome.

The default browser is based on WebKit (the same as Chrome). It also has the same V8 Javascript engine. So I would say Android's default browser is a modified version of Chrome.

Every version of Android has an "Android browser" that is basically a cut of the open-source Chromium browser. For example, the Android Browser that lives in the AOSP v4.4 (KitKat) is based on the same code as Chrome v30.0.0. Applications that use WebViews use this Android Browser (not the user's default browser).

Date
API Version
Android version
Codename
WebKit

2009-04-30
3
1.5
Cupcake
528.5

2009-09-15
4
1.6
Donut
528.5

2009-09-26
5
2.0
Eclair
530.17

2009-12-03
6
2.0.1
Eclair
530.17

2010-01-12
7
2.1
Eclair
530.17

2010-05-20
8
2.2
Froyo
533.1

2010-12-06
9
2.3
Gingerbread
?

2011-02-09
10
2.3.3
Gingerbread
533.1

2011-02-22
11
3.0
Honeycomb
534.13

2011-05-10
12
3.1
Honeycomb
534.13

2011-07-15
13
3.2
Honeycomb
534.13

2011-10-19
14
4.0
Ice cream sandwich
534.30

2011-12-16
15
4.0.3
Ice cream sandwich
534.30

2012-07-09
16
4.1
Jellybean
534.30

2012-11-13
17
4.2
Jellybean
534.30

2013-07-24
18
4.3
Jellybean
534.30

2013-07-24
19
4.4
KitKat
537.36

Original table
https://developer.chrome.com/multidevice/webview/overview
https://decadecity.net/blog/2013/11/21/android-browser-versions


text:
Google contacts sync issue with Lenovo Vibe K5
I have Lenovo Vibe K5. I have several contacts in my Google account, and tried to sync them to my phone. I'm suffering from two issues.
Issue 1:
Contacts with same name (with possible permutations) were not syncing. Look at the examples to understand better.
Example 1:
In google, if I have these contacts:
Ram Kumar - 9876543210
Kumar Ram - 9876543211

then, only one of the two gets synced to my phone. I got only Kumar Ram synced in phone.
Even though, after syncing, if I delete Kumar Ram in Google contacts, and re-sync in phone, only Kumar Ram gets deleted and Ram Kumar doesn't appear though. It appears only after deleting the account from phone and re-add and sync again.
Example 2:
In google, if I have these contacts:
Rahul Sharma - 9876543210
Mirza Sania - 9876543211
Sharma Rahul - 9876543212
Sania Mirza - 9876543213

then, only Sharma Rahul and Sania Mirza gets synced.
Again, just deleting the Sharma Rahul in Google contacts, and re-sync in phone won't fetch Rahul Sharma to my phone. I need to delete my Google account from phone and re-add and sync again.
Note: All contact numbers are unique. Also, tried syncing in other android mobiles, it works perfect. The issue only happens in Lenovo Vibe K5.
Follow up issue:
When I add some contacts (similar to Issue 1 with such contacts) to my Google account from my phone, the contacts gets added, synced to Google accounts, but, got DELETED from the phone's contacts (under google account). It appears only in Google contacts website. Syncing again and again, but it doesn't appear in phone's google contacts area.
Add these two contacts in phone under Google account :
Ram Kumar - 9876543210
Kumar Ram - 9876543211

Sync now, and both gets added to Google. But, one among them or, sometimes both gets DELETED from phone (under google accounts contacts). [Issue 1's case again]
Case 1: Add first contact, sync, and then add second contact - now only one contact will be deleted in phone. (In the above example, Kumar Ram gets deleted.)
Case 2: Add both contacts, and then sync - now both contacts gets deleted from phone.
It will only appear in Google contacts web version. Never ever in your phone. If you remove the account from your phone and re-add and sync, then Issue 1 will occur.
This issue happens only in Vibe K5. Tried same Google account on other phones, it synced perfect.
How can I fix these?

Added examples for each cases. Please ask if you need more information.

Due to name similarities Google must be syncing the contacts thinking they are are duplicates of each other hence it's syncing only one. Try login to Contacts Google and check if they suggest to merge duplicates to you.

No, the numbers are unique. Google do not merge such contacts too. Also, this issue happens only in Lenovo Vibe K5 with their custom Vibe UI (dialer / contacts). Tried the same in other phones, but this issue doesn't happen.

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


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Internal storage displays as empty when connected to PC
My HTC One M9, when connected as a MTP device to my PC shows the correct portion of free memory to used memory, but when I try to access the files, it says this folder is empty. Any ideas? I am running android 6.0

Sounds dumb but do you have the MTP drivers installed

The drivers appear to be installing correctly, it registers as an HTC & MTP device

Hmm probably a simple fix thats escaping me. i should not be doing this but you can always try XDA fourms

This topic has been discussed already please refer to this thread: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/134230/sd-card-not-showing-files-when-connected-to-pc

SD card not showing files when connected to pc the first answer fixed my problem, just clear media storage and external storage, and boom, it shows all files in internal storage.


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SD card root access
Hey I just wanted to ask how it is possible to access my sdcard data with command lines on a rooted phone ? I tried to ls in /sdcard, also in /mnt/sdcard/ but my files are never displayed, yet a simple file manager shows those files exist.

Provide some more details like phone manufacturer and os version ...

Or you can also find correct path by using the below link: http://stackoverflow.com/a/23737335/3303075

It is a Logicom Lement400 android 4.4.2. I don't understand, from the link are you supposed to compile those code ? I need to access these files from sh

I have an rpm file that I need to install. I could just copy it somewhere else with file manager but I don't want to leave too many understanding behind.

What tool are you using to access the commandline? A terminal app, or adb shell? I'm using the latter normally, and contents are always shown. // Btw: You cannot install RPM files on Android :)

Then try them one by one you can get result from one of the paths.

Izzy: if the file is build for arm why shouldn't it install ? I'm using a terminal emulator, adb is when you command from your computer ? Thanks I will keep trying

RPMs are for a specific type of package manager for Linux systems... Android is not Linux although it is based on it, and does not have an rpm package manager. Android uses APK packages and runs then in a sandbox java VM, standard Linux applications even if for the correct architecture do not work.

If so why did I get a rpm binary from a busybox apk ? My intend was to install tripwire

One way to do this is to mount the phone onto the filesystem of a Linux computer over a USB connection. You don't even need to root the phone.
$ mkdir mnt
$ jmtpfs mnt
$ cd mnt/Card

authors: Матвей павлов


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How to see apps which were granted for root access in cyanogenmod or LOS?
It's not a problem to set root access in cyannogenmod.
But how to see which apps have root privileges?

I've found this in: Settings->Privacy->Privacy Guard->Advanced->Swipe right to the last Tab 'ROOT ACCESS'.

Good find – and thanks for sharing! I was already asking myself what I've missed, and never got the idea to look for it in "advanced". Well hidden it is!


text:
Sony Z GPS issue (maybe after root)
Apps on Sony Z could not find location using GPS after even like 15 minutes (about max I waited). I did not use location for some time, during which one thing I did is making root via Wondershare MobileGo.
Factory data reset did not help - neither it undid root access.
System check via *#*#7378423#*#* finds GPS location - in less then a minute.
I disabled and hide root via SuperSU app and still maps could not find location.
What could be done to help apps find location?
ADDED:
Installed GPS Test app. GPS Test is finding satellites after several minutes. After satellites are found by GPS Test, maps (e.g. MAPS.ME) start working (Pokemon Go still says 'No GPS').
Still interested why location is not working w/out such trick and what can be done about it.


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How do I know if I can use LHDC in my Android phone?
I have a Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE and I would like to know

Whether it can support the LHDC function provided by Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro.

If the above is a yes, how do I know I am using that codec? [Will the word "LHDC" be displayed alongside with the Bluetooth device?]

I have searched many websites but cannot get a definite answer.
In my phone, I discovered the following: Settings > ... > Developer ... > Bluetooth ... and besides "SBC", "AptX" and ...., "LHDC" is an allowable choice.

In my phone, I discovered the following:- setting > ... > developer ... > Bluetooth ... and besides "SBC" , AptX" and ...., "LHDC" is an allowable choice.

If "LHDC" is mentioned in the settings then your phone supports LHDC. So...

Yes, it supports LHDC (most Xiaomi and others support it since at least 2021).
Yes, the acronym "LHDC" will appear at the right of the Bluetooth audio device's name. That said it may not be selected by default. If that's the case then you need to tap the arrow (>), scroll down and enable the codec.

Unfortunately, after pairing Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro with Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE, the codec can only go up to AAC but not LHDC. Sad. This is because the HD audio has been factory pre-set as deactivated. Methods of re-activating it are welcome.


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Prevent notifications on SMS messages from a contact during off hours on Google Messages
I'm using Pixel 7a and Google Messages. I wonder if there is a setting or an app to stop notifications on texts message coming from people I cannot block during off-hours in a systematic way: e.g. Every Monday morning.

Playing with MacroDroid as suggested, I wouldn't mind getting feedback on the multiple options to set this up. For instance, an initial walk-through of the app has led me to place the phone on "Do Not Disturb" for any incoming messages, which is not what I was after.
Here is a macro trying to approximate the intended outcome, i.e. any text (SMS) from Jack received on Tuesday morning will stop the notification sound that I have as a default.

Is this correct? After it triggers, will the notification sound be disabled for all incoming messages regardless of the sender's name (or number) until I reset it in my phone settings?

Using an automation is one option. See this answer //In constraints section of the macro, you add the conditions under which you want the macro to run (day of the week And (logical operator), time)

@beeshyams I can't figure out how to stop the audio notification sound just for that specific person on MacroDroid.

I suggest you edit the question to include what the notification text includes (person's name) and from which app do you get the notification(sl) / It's doable but right now I am not inclined to spend efforts(hint: see the options under notification received trigger for apps and the notification text)

@beeshyams OK. I did edit the question to make it more concrete. Ty

Depending on your phone model, you may be able to accomplish this via Do Not Disturb. Here's how I did it on my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 13:

Open Settings > Search 'Do Not Disturb'
Click "Schedules"
Click "Add more" and choose "Time"
Customize the Days, Start and End times
Click "Do Not Disturb behavior" > "Create custom settings for this schedule" (see screengrab below)
Use the "Calls" and "Messages" settings to determine who is allowed through the Do Not Disturb settings

There are a lot of ways to accomplish what you want from here. The easiest way for messages (if you're using Google Messages) is to choose "Priority conversations" in Messages, then pick which texts threads are allowed through. Another way for calls and texts is to add people to your "Starred contacts" and only allow those during your chosen time.
Note, instead of "Schedules" in the second step, you can also choose "Event" to use your Google Calendar to decide when to apply these settings, which may be better depending on your use case.

I must have done something wrong. It blocked my alarm clock, and media sounds, etc.

Be sure to look inside the "Create custom settings for this schedule" (press the gear) under "Do Not Disturb behavior" when creating the schedule. This is where you'll find toggles for turning on Alarms, Media sounds, Touch sounds, etc. I'll try to add a quick screen grab.

Depending on the Android version, users have more control in 13 & up over Notification Permissions. Can be controlled per App or Notifications for all apps link below M. Android device Settings will give an option of which all apps to allow Notifications at all, popup, or silent, etc.
Google Help topic: Change app permissions on your Android phone.
You can also use the "Manage notifications" screen to block notifications from specific apps or to change the priority of notifications.
Maybe will help.

To mute notifications from an individual contact in the Messages app:

Open Google Messages with said contact in mind.

You can either open a temp new chat message to the contact without adding input, or
Open an already existing (*ongoing or archived doesn't matter) as long as desired contact name is showing.

In either scenario, go to the upper right-hand corner (on Android) or DETAILS on a different device:

Tap DETAILS

Tap NOTIFICATIONS

Select: SILENT

This will mute all notifications from this contact while using Google Messages app. Temporarily at least until you mark at the bottom of the same screen where it says "Set this as not a conversation." That will move it back from Conversation to Chat; normal chat contact status. That Conversation might be found in the All or possibly even Archived category, but it hasn't been deleted unless you did.
I don't use the individual notifications conversation windows, but you can also set a NOTIFICATION SOUND per Contact if you wanted.  The Settings is in that same Detail screen and Menu.
Hope this does it.

I believe there might be another option and it was partially answered above.
As a user, I believe your best bet is to first organize your Contacts into Groups and add Labels for ex; "Trainees" or "Company partner" etc. Then you can easily scroll through and tag each quickly as a FAVORITE (star it).
When you're off yet can't block 1 contact or several, you can still set DND yet make the allowance of Allow Notifications and/or calls from certain people or your FAVORITES. This might take about 30 to organize contacts but I believe it will work. I hope so. Although I am still researching a bit. it should not change or mute alarms.
Google Help topic: View, group & share contacts.


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Reading a text in two voices
Is there a way to read aloud a text in two voices automatically?
For example, male voice for questions and female voice for answers.
Or, even paragraphs with one accent and odd paragraphs with a different accent.
Preferably in French.

I did not find a free and easy solution. Free readers seem to offer only single voice reading.
There are some paid solutions (with free trials).

murf.ai mobile and web-app with a convenient editor and script. For French, 2 male and 2 female free voices. Canadian French voices are only available for a fee. I did not figure out how to change voices to paragraphs automatically, had to assign voices manually via GUI. The free trial (no credit card) allows one produce up to 10 min of dialogues.

tableread PRO app - several days trial, need PDF script, formatted professionally (such as on simplyscript.com) and some voice assistant already installed on the device. The free version of the app seems single voice.

Also, I imagine there is a way to use a voiced GPT version to get help here. There could be a way to generate voices for each personage separately and then mix everything in one file.
There is plenty of free reading tool but in a single voice.


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Set Calendar default reminder to "none" for new appointments
When I input a new appointment on my HTC Desire S (running Android 2.3) the meeting has a 10 minutes reminder by default. I can manually set it to none for each appointment.
However, as I rarely want a reminder, how can I change the default to be None?
Thanks all
Andrew

Open the calendar app then select:
Menu->More->Settings->Default Reminder Time
and set to none.

This offers me options from 1 minute to 1 week but not none. If only it was that simple. The coder forgot to include none in the dropdown list.

Bummer. I'm on Android version 2.3.4 and on my device it has none right at the top above 1 minute.

I'm on Android 2.3.3 and HTC Sense 2.1 on my HTC Desire S (bought very recently unlocked from Amazon).


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Is there any contact information on the SD card?
I found an sd card that was definitely in someone's android phone. Is there any file within the card that would have it's owner's info, so that I might contact them somehow and return what they've lost? Just going out of my way to be a good samaritan here....

wow, thanks for the quick reply! My first thought was to just keep it, but when I looked inside (just over the surface) there seemed to be a lot of information, so I kinda felt bad for the guy who lost it. I left my # @ the place I found it in, so if someone comes looking for it, they'll find it. If not, I'll reformat it after a week or so.

If you used skype not some long time time, it saved all contact data into SD card...

Not by default, no. You can export contacts to the sdcard, but that would only contain "the owner" if they have themselves in their contacts. But you would also probably have no clue which one is them.
While it is a grand gesture on your part, I think you are the new owner of a used sdcard.

I agree.  Google most likely went out of their way to not store any user identifiable information on removable storage for security and privacy concerns.  Although you might find some left over app data or cache, I'd be very surprised if it contained anything useful for tracking down the previous owner.

Android by default doesn't save any personally identifiable info to the SD card, the system backs up/syncs important data to the web, not the SD card but there may be a chance that an app has saved something useful to there . Most apps store their main settings (which is where things like login names/email addresses would be) in the phone's internal memory, only using the SD card for storing larger files and cached data.
The most obvious would be to look for pictures, but depending how they use their camera, etc that may not be any help. They may have files with identifiable info in the Download folder, from saved email attachments, web pages, etc.
For some common apps that may be likely:
If they've used an app like LifeSaver to back up their call log or message log to their SD card, then you could open that and look for frequently contacted numbers. This would be a text file in a folder called LifeSever or LifeSaver-F that can be opened in Notepad.
If they use Dropbox, they may have saved files with useful info into the Dropbox folder.
Possibly the photos could be helpful

I don't think I saw any folders under that. I did go through a few pics, and if a magically bump into the guy I'd probably recognize him.... thanx again

As Ryan said, you can export the contacts to the card, if you were to put the card in your phone you could potentially look at the contacts and maybe they have someone in their phone listed as  "mom" or "girlfriend" or something that would help you identify them.

I have a BB, so.....

the exported file would already be on there probably saved as "contacts.csv" or something of the sort. if it's not there, then they never exported and you would be spending more time then the cost of a new sdcard trying to find data to identify the owner.

I assumed you had an Android phone, my bad.

I just found someone using Spotify data on the SD card at path:
/Android/data/com.spotify.music/files/spotifycache/Users/<10-digit-user-id>-user
Then check the URL:
https://open.spotify.com/user/<10-digit-user-id>
That was their Spotify account.


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Largest HTC Desire SD card?
My phone keeps telling me that my storage is low and I barely have any apps on my phone because it tells me this at least three to four times a day. I downloaded this app and moved all my apps (which is a total of three- not including this one) to my SD card and it still keeps telling me that my storage is low. So I deleted some pictures and all my messages. But it keeps telling me the same thing. And I was wondering if I could get a bigger SD card. Mine is a 8 gig. I also was wondering if I can get a new SD card, what is the biggest SD card for my Desire? If I do get a new SD card, can I transfer all my stuff from my old SD card to the new one? Thanks for the help in advance! :)

I believe the biggest SDHC cards are 32GB, there should be no reason your phone can't use one of those.  Martin's answer is right, though.

HTC phones tend to be a bit anemic with storage.

Your phone (as most other Android phones) have two kinds of persistent storage -- internal and external. The internal storage is fixed into hardware, and is not intended to be user-serviceable. Your SD card is the external storage, and is very much replaceable -- it is very accessible and can be swapped for another one, including greater capacity ones (see this question for some additional information).
However, replacing the SD card won't help in your case -- your phone complains that its internal storage space is low. This is a problem that has plagued HTC Desire, which is otherwise a great device.
Some things you can do:

Move applications to the SD card
Remove unneeded applications (from your words, not quite possible)
Clear up some messages, drafts, application caches, and in some cases application data
Downgrade some of the preinstalled applications that you do not use. See this question for more details

If you don't have a problem with voiding your warranty and getting your hands a little dirty, I can recommend the use of a custom ROM with support for App2SD(+), D2Ext(+) or D2W.
I'm also a Desire owner, so I really know what you are talking about, this has annoyed me for weeks, until I finally decided to see what all the fuzz with rooting and custom ROMs was about.
So I rooted my Desire and flashed this rom in the Data2Whatever-version (D2W), which makes use of a partitioned SD card with an extra partition that, according to my understanding, works as an extension for the internal storage.
So, after all of that, my internal storage capacity has increased to around 240MB instead of ~140MB (yet the effect depends on the size of your SD card (mine is 4GB) and the size of the dedicated sd-ext-partition.)
It may seem tricky (but it isn't really), voids your warranty (which you might need some time), and things like D2W over at XDA-developers is, well, in development, so there might be the occasional bug, but it's been working fine for me for a few weeks now, and as I said, it is really paying off.
So… IF you want to read and test and learn a little, then XDA-developers your way to go.

Turn off your facebook auto updates and auto sync and delete from the phone. Be careful though. Make sure your phone has been synced because all your contact info will be deleted. Recync the phone and reload contact info. This appears to have fixedthe problem on my phone. Also do not use HTC sync to load music as it will fill all available space on the phone. Copy music separately to the micro SD card.


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How to fix broken display on Samsung Galaxy Tab?
My Samsung Galaxy Tab felt on the street and the glass on the touch screen is broken. The display still works fine, but it is "danger to touch it", especially for kids.
When I visited repair shop, they asked for the price almost equal to the price of new device.
As it seems to work still fine, my hypothesis is that only the glass is broken, and actually display (electronic device) behind it is ok. And if I would be able to remove the broken glass and get new one (from some ordinary "window maker") and glue it on the display, everything should be ok.
Is that crazy idea or do I have a chance?

How is it an Android issue?

@Richard It doesn't mean this one becomes on-topic. Those questions should be closed too.

but, only if Android isn't responsible for those battery issues...

Well, maybe it is not Android issue per se, but "Android Enthusiasts" are the most likely people to give reasonable answer (and indeed answers below are correct ones). The best fit of the question topic and audience, who might know the answer, is something evolving and not necessarily following the definition of "right question". What should we do with these questions, which are not right, but otherwise they are perfect fit for audience?

If the glass is the only thing broken, and not the digitizer, you can replace the glass for probably less than $30. With that said, it requires patients, time, a heat gun, and a careful hand. You have to separate the glass from the digitizer by heating the glue, then slowly pulling it away with a playing card or something firm but thin. Most samsung devices become expensive to replace the screen when the digitizer is broken. Glass ~$20-$30, Glass+Digitizer ~$250. The digitizer includes most of the components to "make the phone", that is why it is so much more expansive.

You can get a new screen through eBay. Here's one for ~$77.
Also, here's a YouTube video that shows how to dismantle and replace the screen and digitizer.

Ok, it looks interesting (and challenging) :-)
But I will try and let you know how it worked...
Do you know anyone who tried and succeeded?

You can pick up a replacement on eBay for ~$80. It looks like they all come with the glass + the digitizer, from what I have read, they are a "combo" item. Then you can find tutorials on how to replace the screen.

If the digitizer still works and the only issue is the sharp edges, I know a bunch of folks that have (device agnostic) cracked screens with a screen protector serving as more of a finger protector on them.


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Control Android with broken screen from PC
My rooted Galaxy Nexus has a broken screen. How can I use my PC (ie, via ADB) to control the phone?
androidscreencast would be the ideal solution, but its keyboard/mouse control feature does not work in Jelly Bean. Perhaps someone knows why and we can patch the code? (see: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/androidscreencast/BAeW5iG55FI/ebTFodV-BZsJ)
Installing a VNC server is another, but for the love of me I can't get it to work. Eg, using Droid VNC Server, I install the apk, and am supposed to execute /data/data/org.onaips.vnc/files/androidvncserver but there is no files directory inside org.onaips.vnc (instructions from here: https://github.com/oNaiPs/droid-VNC-server/issues/14). VMLite is another VNC server that can be started with a special Windows utility (and doesn't need root!) but it's not OSS so I can't get the apk in order to install (Google Play is not pushing apps to my phone prob because I disabled some service--let me know if I can force Google Play to update itself from ADB or install the app). fastdroid-vnc is a binary (not apk) and it runs fine via shell, but something is broken and it shows nothing.
What are my options? Let's make this a community wiki, to help anyone who's broken their screen!

See also: Broken Screen + Using adb shell to run vnc server, What can I do with an Nexus One with a broken LCD?, Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb?

Looks like these days the best solution for controlling an Android phone from a PC is scrcpy. It is being actively maintained, has very high performance (framerate, latency), is available cross-platform. It also does not require root on the phone.

This application works in real time (no waiting for screenshots) and can even work with the lockscreen on non-rooted devices. This is exactly what I needed to recover a phone with a broken touchscreen. Thank you!

adbcontrol can do this. It opens a window containing the phone screen on your computer, so you can use it when the phone screen is broken, and you can click and type in the window to control the phone. To install adbcontrol do:
wget http://marian.schedenig.name/wp-content/uploads/adbcontrol.zip
unzip adbcontrol.zip

Now edit config.properties and change:
adbCommand=/your/path/to/adb
localImageFilePath=/home/youruser/adbcontrol_screenshot.png

Save config.properties and run java -jar adbcontrol.jar which will open a window to remote control your phone. Make sure that adb works (adb shell opens a shell), and that the phone is awake so the screen is on (even if it's cracked/broken) otherwise you'll just get a black window.

One word: Vysor
Using the vysor to control my Xperia Z2. See the state of my phone, but Vysor came to the rescue.

*if phone reboots and won't connect after plugging in, try removing the micro sd card.  Mine wouldn't work at all until I did so - random phone smasher

I wonder what it needs. It tells me on my Android 4.2.1 and 4.4.2 that screen is unavailable and a restart would fix it, which of course is never fixed. On which Android version did you test this tool?

@Firelord Android 5.1.1. You've tried different usb ports? Its hard to tell where the problem lies, but perhaps it might be as a result of the OS version.

You could try to use AndroidScreenCast for you purposes - it's maintainable version of original androidscreencast.
It requires only Java and ADB, no phone client, so just run it and use it.
I've just tried it with Nexus 4, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean emulator.
And, actually, I'm currently the maintainer of the project, so if you got any questions or issues - contact me via github.
And here's link for Windows bundle: androidscreencast.7z of latest release.

Webkey is a great app for this. On top of being a VNC server, it is also a web host. You go to your phone's IP in a web browser, and you control your phone via the page's VNC viewer.
It also has services for file transfer, GPS location, and a bunch more. And, it lets you define users and passwords, along with different services each user is allowed to access (view only, view and control, gps, etc). And the web server can be accessed over https as well as http, so you can encrypt your connection (it's a self-signed cert).
The only downside I can think of is that I don't know if it can be initially configured without having access to the touchscreen. Perhaps if you configure it on another phone, then you could side load the apk and copy the settings to your broken phone. About the only thing you would need to figure out in that case is how to add the app to SuperUser's list of allowed apps.
For those who care, WebKey is open source and free. Just icing on the cake.

Thanks, but it's really the ability to start it from the command-line that is key.

use MyPhoneExplorer. This fits all your requirements, however for the first time when you connect you should have enabled ADB Debugging under developer Options  you can make call, hang call, SMS, read contacts, backup, start an app, play a game. what not. I have been using this for past 5 - 6 years.

But you can't remote control the phone using mouse

This is the my absolute favorite method so far out of everything I have tried for countless hours of Google surfing for this exact same answer. It requires a bit of configuring, and honestly I have no idea if it works on Windows, so you may have to borrow a friend's Mac or install Ubuntu inside Virtualbox or something, but it's well worth it.

Download STF (Smartphone Test Farm) from github https://github.com/openstf/stf.
This requires a ton of dependencies, and while the instructions are pretty simple, it may seem a bit hazy so I'll try to simplify. If you are using OS X then you can use homebrew (navigate to brew.sh for homebrew) to install all dependencies with a single command:
brew install rethinkdb graphicsmagick zeromq protobuf yasm pkg-config
If you're on Linux then manually install the dependencies via the provided links:

Node.js - https://nodejs.org/
RethinkDB - http://rethinkdb.com/
GraphicsMagick - http://www.graphicsmagick.org/
ZeroMQ Libraries - http://zeromq.org/
Protobuf Libraries - https://github.com/google/protobuf
yasm - http://yasm.tortall.net/
pkg-config - http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/pkg-config/

Extract the STF-master folder from the Github zip and navigate to it from Terminal npm install then npm link.
Next, type this in from a terminal still inside the same directory rethinkdb. Minimize the terminal window and open up a new terminal window and navigate to the STF-master folder again. This time type in stf local. Minimize this window as well.
Now connect your device via USB to the computer. Open up any internet browser from the computer, not the phone and type in the URL localhost:7100. This will bring up the STF interface. Simply provide any username and email you like and you will see your connected device in a panel and be able to control it like never before. Clicking simulates touch functionality, typing is automatically sent directly to the device, take screenshots, send shell commands, create your own Oauth services and keys; the possibilities are endless.

Thank you for the instructions. To help clarity, format commands as code, usually on a separate line (check out the Markdown help). Don't tell readers to "minimize this window." (Too much detail, and terminals can have tabs, tiles, etc.) If necessary, just say "in a new terminal, execute the following" (meaning, the previous command is long-running). Lastly, it's not clear what "type this" refers to in step 5.

i have to add this new tool, works perfectly and without java! Has been a savior for my broken screen: seversquare
https://github.com/yangh/sevensquare
Install very easy on linux ; don't know for windows.
Cheers

It would really be helpful to point out a few more details, so folks don't have to waste their time: 1) there are no binaries, you have to compile it yourself; 2) you'll need a Linux machine to compile it; 3) last update was about a year ago, so not sure if it's still maintained; 4) it requires ADB on the computer. It claims to run on Windows as well, though (but certainly will need the appropriate drivers for ADB and your Android device).


text:
How to run two Messenger applications logged into different accounts?
I have done a bit of research, and that, coupled with some programming knowledge, leads me to believe that it should be perfectly possible to run two separate applications of Facebook Messenger.
Is it as simple as changing the manifest file name? Or is there more to it? How do I run two separate Messengers?

I think the question can also be asked as how to run an app with two separate instances running with separate profile? More like Sandboxie application in Windows or Chroot environment in Linux.

Yes, at the very least that will have to be done. You may also have to re-sign the apk, and also change any absolute references to the Application context inside the java code and/or machine code. This will require lots of effort, you might as well build your own Messenger interface via Facebook's API. Facebook does have a developer API for this kind of stuff, you may want to look into that.
Facebook Developer SDK
I would try renaming the package first, without even decompiling anything, if it crashes due to internal package pointers, I would probably try to build a plug-in.
Hope that helps,

There is also other ways to do this. Simply download other messenger apps like Nimbuzz to have multiple Facebook accounts.
If u need only Facebook's own messenger application,Try these simple steps. It may works.

Take the facebook messenger apk.
Decompile apk. Decompile android will do this for you.
Just change the package name.[from orca.facebook.com to anyother name]
Change the name in the manifest.
Recompile & build the app.
Install it in your phone.

Now, Facebook only support multiple accounts. You can run more than one facebook account in facebook messenger app.
Follow this simple steps to add, remove and switch multiple accounts in facebook messenger.
Disclosure: I'm the author of the linked article.

I use one account with the APP and the other account with the Chrome navigator,

This seems like a possible answer. Could you elaborate on this and maybe add the steps for successfully using two accounts?


text:
Faster way to copy slot B back to slot A after update
After update into Slot into B, is there any way to mirror the contents of B back to slot A? So that both slots have the same versions.
How do copy complete updated slot B back to slot A efficiently?

Search android rsync as a possible solution ?

https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/twrp-keep

I have had to do this while installing Lineage OS on my Moto X4. You can find the "copy partitions" ZIP file on the official installation site here:

Pre-install instructions
In some cases slot b can be unpopulated or contain much older firmware than slot a, leading to various issues including a potential hard-brick. We can ensure none of that will happen by copying the contents of slot a to slot b. This step is NOT optional.
To do this, sideload the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip package by doing the following:

Download the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip file from here.
Sideload the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip package:

On the device, select “Advanced”, “ADB Sideload”, then swipe to begin sideload
On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb sideload copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip

Any clue how does copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip works, like what it contains what special thing it contains it copies slot A to slot B ?


text:
How does virtual A/B software update work?
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/virtual_ab
is there any additional information or links related to the topic of software update in virtual A/B partition?
Asking for a virtual A/B update not A/B seamless update.
More info of this link details https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/virtual_ab

@beeshyams its for A/B  update, this is about virtual A/B https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/virtual_ab ending part of this document but very little is there


text:
Not able to access /dev/block/sdbx in system app?
is it possible to copy /dev/block/sdax to /dev/block/sday in c++ with using system call,
example this should happen
dd if=/dev/block/sdb20 of=/dev/block/sdb43 bs=4096

without using system()?
I am not able to access /dev/block even though handled avc denials in repective .te file and running in permissive ?
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:319): avc: denied { read } for name="sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:320): avc: denied { open } for path="/dev/block/sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:321): avc: denied { write } for name="sdb46" dev="tmpfs" ino=1142 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.259  4173  4173 I update_engine: type=1400 audit(0.0:322): avc: denied { getattr } for path="/dev/block/sdb43" dev="tmpfs" ino=13472 scontext=u:r:update_engine:s0 tcontext=u:object_r:block_device:s0 tclass=blk_file permissive=1
01-01 00:00:04.146


text:
Discretionary Access Control (DAC) for sockets?
How to add DAC for sockets in config.fs?
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/config/filesystem
after making user and group of non-root, using the config.fs changes as mentioned in the page, with non-root user our application creating a problem with network I/O error so read we have config for sockets as well but no example is given in that page.
Anybody has an example of adding sockets in config.fs page.

What is the specific difficulty you are querying about? I admit you have driven my attention to the page now 3 times. Is this the ultimate goal?

@wbogacz after making user and group of non-root, using the config.fs changes as mentioned in the page, with non-root user our application creating a problem with network I/O error so read we have config for sockets as well but no example is given in that page


text:
Unable to connect to websites which donot start with www
I have created hotspot from my Andriod mobile and using Internet on laptop Windows 7 but I'm unable to connect to websites which don't start with www..
The error:

If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web

Should the settings be done on mobile or laptop? What should I change?
Note I am using mobile data. Websites starting with www. are working fine. The problem doesn't occur on my phone. Also everything is OK when my laptop uses LAN.
Mobile(alone with data) and laptop(alone with LAN) works fine , it is only when mobile hotspot is used in laptop, i am not able to access websites which don't start with www.

Check the Firefox setting in the about:config for browser.fixup.alternate.prefix. It's default is 'www.' (uncluding the period), unless changed.

@wbogacz can please suggest any link how to do it?

How do I prevent Firefox to use: www.foo.bar instead of foo.bar? suggests setting browser.fixup.alternate.enabled to disabled to be a working solution
Steps Involved Source

Turning off Domain Guessing

In the address bar, type about:config and press Enter
The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue to the about:config page. (There's no warranty with Mozilla so I suppose this is to just a warning joke)
In the Search field, type fixup.Double-click the browser.fixup.alternate.enabled preference to set its value to false.

Changing the prefix (to www )

In the about:config page, double-click the browser.fixup.alternate.prefix
In the pop up menu enter www.  ( if that doesn't help try www without . )

This is perhaps what was suggested in comment

ok will try , but one thing websites without www. is working with other LAN network on my laptop , it does not work only when connected to mobile data hotspot , so i was thinking settings should be done on mobile ,also please note that websites works on my mobile.

will check today , was using proxy websites..

1)Go Wireless Network connections Status.
2)Properties
3)Networking
4)Configure

After doing this there was error DHCP not there , I gave auto fix in windows.
And all websites started working.


text:
How can I find CID from ADB shell?
I need to know the CID of an HTC 10 but,
adb shell getprop ro.cid

is unresponsive. Also
$ fastboot devices
FA**********     fastboot
$ fastboot oem readcid
FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')
fastboot: error: Command failed

Also, grep -ril cid is unsuccessful on root.
How can I get the CID info on my Android device?

It's possible to get cid info with following command.
adb shell getprop|grep cid
$adb shell getprop|grep cid
[ro.boot.cid]: [HTC__M27]

Why not simply adb shell getprop ro.boot.cid?

Generally, getprobe ro.* commands are not efficient in my scenario.


text:
Remove buggy bottom padding in Gboard
My phone woke up in my pocket, I don't know how long, and now I have this big margin in Gboard.

All other functionalities look ok. Tried rebooting, but no luck there. The phone is a Poco X5 Pro.
How can I fix my keyboard?

This looks like a new keyboard resizing feature introduced since Gboard 13.2.05.x.
According to 9to5Google - Gboard rolling out an easier way to ‘Resize’ and customize your keyboard,

“Resize” appears as another toolbar/tray option. Tapping takes you to a UI that starts by letting you make Gboard taller or shorter, [...]
[...]
If you’re not taking up all the available space, you can move the keyboard. If you drag it up, you’ll see empty space beneath the last row/spacebar. [...]

(Emphasis added)


text:
Long-pressing power button shows Assistant, how to restart the device?
The long press on the Power button that I used on my earlier Android (Oreo) is now popping up the assistant. So what is the secret gesture?
This is for a Pixel 7 if that makes a difference.

On a Pixel Device
Power + volume up  pressed simultaneously will give you options to restart amongst others

Note: You won't find the bug report option unless you enable it from developer options (enabled by tapping build number 7 or more times)

For Samsung users. the gesture is Power + volume down , per this comment

For Samsung users. the gesture is Power + Volume Down, instead of Power + Volume Up

@CSM, thanks , added your inputs to the answer

Long pressing the power button is still the standard gesture to show the power menu, including the restart option. However, the Assistant is likely due to the system gesture setting.
At least for Pixel devices with Android 12 or later: Settings  → System → Gestures → Press and hold power button → Hold for Assistant.

Toggle
Description

Off
Press and hold for the power menu

On
Press and hold for the Assistant

Note that since Pixel 6, the default is set to on (Assistant).

This is new for me// I don't use assistant so this is easier!

From what I can recall, at one point they changed long-press to ONLY do Assistant, and only later added the option to change it back. I spent quite awhile very annoyed about this.

@beeshyams Yeah, I just noticed that it's been turned on by default since Pixel 6.

@GlennWillen I didn't find any info about that though. It would be helpful if you could provide some more info, like which device model and Android version.

@AndrewT yes, confirm on 6a and therefore likely on OP's phone

Note that not all phones have this setting. My phone (Moto G71 5G, stock android) doesn't have this setting as it has a separate button for the assistant. The power/lock button by default does show the power menu on long hold.

Also note, that if you can't find the setting through search, it's probably because it's under a different name. Mine, instead of giving you the option to decide what happens when you long press the lock/power button, there was a gesture to open assistant, and inside it, you disable the long press power button.


text:
Does Samsung Galaxy Note 10 support USB C-to-HDMI?
Can Samsung Galaxy Note 10 do video over USB C to HDMI?
I called one of the companies that makes a USB C hub with HDMI and they said no. They said my phone does not support DisplayPort Alt Mode, but the Samsung website shows an adapter like that.
How can I display my Note 10 on a monitor or TV? My Note 10 screen is broken, so I can't make any changes on the phone.

If the Samsung website shows such an adapter why don't you include the link in your question? Furthermore is the adapter shown in combination with a Note 10? Because some Samsung phones may have support for such adapter but may be not yours (e.g.. those with full Dex support).

@Robert added the link to their article. Note 9 and 10 has dex without special cable. But I not talking about dex. Talking about connecting directly to monitor not a pc.

I talked to Samsung reps and they give me a wide array of answers. From yes to no to yours was an earlier model and only new 10s support it then back to yes  and no. Even got it depends on your monitor. So was hoping someone here has a real answer

Seems you need an answer from someone who owns a Note 10 to get a definitive answer. As this is a place not specific to Samsung or Note10 the chance is a bit low to find someone who knows the answer. In my opinion your chance would be higher when posting in a forum that is Note 10 specific but there you should name you exact model name e.g. SM-N970F as gsmarena lists 8 variants for Galaxy Note 10.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and my screen is also broken.
I've been using my phone through Samsung DeX for the past 3 years with the screen broken.
So the answer is yes. You can get a Type C to HDMI cable or a Type C HUB and connect your phone to an external monitor and use your phone while the phone screen is broken.


text:
How to fix Kali NetHunter app crashing every time?
Kali NetHunter app is crashing on a rooted Android. Root installed with Magisk and Kali NetHunter installed with nethunter-generic-arm64.
Phone details: Redmi Note 11 (MIUI 13 - Android version 11)
I'm opening the NetHunter app - it opens for first time - takes location & storage permission - it exits (closes app) automatically - till here is fine, everything goes as per many tutorials show - then after reopening, it asks for root permission - after giving root permission it again closes - then for the last time when we open the Kali NetHunter App (latest version - tested with both the APKs - one which gets per-installed while installing from Magisk and generic zip file & one downloaded and installed from NetHunter store) - it shows black screen and then exits after few seconds.
Someone have solution for this?
Here is a issue related to it, that I can relate or is same as mine a bit: Gitlab issues
(another issue - not so relatable but could help : not so helpful issue)
Update
OLD version (specifically v2019.1, Github repo) the NetHunter app is working - means not crashing (but not able to download chroot- says some Javax...SSl... error) - I haven't got any version from 2020 but after v2021.4 nothing is working.
Download Log

The first step in fixing a bug or bypassing the problem is understanding why and what happens. I would recommend to check logcat if you see an exception or a problem. One the the cause has been identified you can try to bypass the problem or open an Gitlab issue that has the chance of being fixed.

I have already created an issue on their official Gitlab repo, but don't have any response.
I'll surely check logcat and share the log here.

Without any debugging details the chance of your issue is very low that it will be resolved. Tom my experience issues without debugging details are mostly not resolved, unless some developer has very similar device and thus is able to reproduce the issue. So if you want the issue t be resolved you have to provide more detailed debugging info and logcat is the very basic information. As you have a rooted device logcat shouldn't be a problem for you.

Here is the logcat's log download file (size:8.62mb). The log is captured from the steps mentioned in problem description till last (apps crashes)

And how should we know when the error occurred? You have posted a logcat that covers a few weeks instead of just that part when the error occurred. Clear the logcat using logcat -c then start logcat, reproduce the error search the error in logcat based on the shown time and extract it and add it to your issue.

thanks to telling - I'm new to use logcat, here is the new log download link - one more update the OLD version (specifically v2019.1, github repo) the Nethunter app is working - means not crashing (but not able to download chroot- says some javax...SSl... error) - I haven't got any version from 2020 but after v2021.4 nothing is working!!\

The StackOverflowError starting at 64949 looks very strange. I would add the logcat starting with that line to your issue at Github. The rest is up to the Nethunter app developers.

I have created an issue on the gitlab - on official repo of nethunter app!
here is the link - redirect - you can also refer to this also other similar issue

Solution for this you may try this https://youtu.be/WQuGGlcuZa0

The issue was of permissions - to solve the issue, run the following commands in AndroidSU
pm grant com.offsec.nethunter android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter com.offsec.nhterm.permission.RUN_SCRIPT

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter com.offsec.nhterm.permission.RUN_SCRIPT_SU

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter com.offsec.nhterm.permission.RUN_SCRIPT_NH

pm grant com.offsec.nethunter com.offsec.nhterm.permission.RUN_SCRIPT_NH_LOGIN

The above commands are given by developer of NetHunter App, @yesimxev. You can check the discussion on GitLab.
You can also check this video, Gdrive link, to see what was the problem.


text:
How to set MTP mode on phone with broken screen in USB charge-only mode
My phone’s screen broke from a 30 cm drop. The touchpad is dysfunctional while the display itself still works (i.e. I can see everything).

USB mode is charge-only, so connecting to the PC is not working (./adb devices yields empty results)
Developer mode is enabled, USB debugging is enabled
A MicroUSB to USB (OTG USB) cable is available, I can control the phone with a mouse
Phone is a LG G2 with Android 5

Now since the USB mode is charge-only, I cannot set the mode to MTP because I can't control the phone while it is plugged into the computer.
How can I switch to MTP mode or have my computer recognize the phone so I can retrieve data from it?
(I guess I could just move the data I have on there to a cloud storage, but I prefer to do it via computer)
(Honestly, not being able to set the preferred USB mode without a active USB connection is a pretty big design flaw for scenarios like this. It would be so simple.)

As it's still Android 5: Try switching that via OTG with your mouse (while not connected to the computer, obviously): Settings › Storage, tick the menu (3 dots), check if you can switch the USB mode there (screenshot – see Disabling MTP/PTP/all USB stuff except charging).

@Izzy That bugged because there is not an additional menu (i.e. the three dots) in the storage screen. Also, it reads Storage Management.

Unfortunate. Have you already checked with our broken-screen tag-wiki, especially with its data recovery section?

I have the exact same problem with a friend's phone, with the addition that it doesn't support OTG, so I can't connect a mouse or keyboard to navigate to switch on MTP...

Probably its too late. I had exactly the same problem and i used a Bluetooth keyboard with a touch pad / a Bluetooth mouse should also work. Use the OTG to connect the Bluetooth device then disconnect the OTG. Connect it to the Computer and you can change the mode with the Bluetooth device.

this is probably an old question, but if you can still see the screen, download a "Remote control" program, such as Teamviewer. you can use your mouse via OTG cable, turn on TeamViewer App [or whatever], connect via the PC you're going to be using and download/run the remote control program [Teamviewer]. connect to your phone, make sure it's all working, then move your phone from the OTG cable to desktop. use Teamviewer to switch the mode over to MTP and you're good to go.

not to mention you could use a remote desktop such as teamviewer to do the file transfer as is without the phone being connected via cable.

Thank you for documenting that. By the time I got a new phone and managed to reset the one in question.


text:
WhatsApp sends messages before I've finished typing
I've had a BQ Aquaris M4.5 phone with Android 5.1 for months and have never experienced any problems. However, since last week and without having changed anything that I know of (and not having installed an update from WhatsApp), my phone sends the message before I finish writing it on WhatsApp only. I can only write one or two letters before it sends the message, without me pressing the send button. It continues doing this until I close the app and open it again, but it happens dozens of times throughout the day and I have no idea why. I have erased the cache, used cleaning apps to clean the phone, etc., but nothing solves it. I installed yesterday the latest update and the problem seems even more frequent now. I have searched online but I can't find users experiencing the same problem.
I've thought of doing a factory reset for my phone, as I would like to do it anyway for general cleaning. However, if I have a Google backup and another backup on my SD card, will everything be exactly the same when I restore the phone? Will I actually clean it?
Thank you

1.In whatsapp chat settings option Enter is send has a tick box . If it is enabled, it sends message as soon as you send, if disabled , it allows you to enter a new line in message. Maybe, it is enabled and every time you intend to add a line, you hit enter and the message is sent instead? 2. One Question at a time is preferred in this site but doing a Goggle backup and restoring in most cases will NOT bring it back to current state as far as apps/settings go and certainly not all your data. Only way out for that is to root and take a [tag:nandroid] backup (Press that tag to read more)

Thanks for your help but no, I don't have the Enter is send option enabled and anyway it's not that problem. I only have time to type one letter or two before the message is sent automatically. The same happens with emojis, I type one emoji and the keyboard is therefore not showing and the message is sent on its own.

wild guess- tried changing the key board?

Yes, I did, still nothing :(

Funny enough, changing the keyboard while the problem is occurring solves it (until next time it happens).

As @beeshyams suggested, the problem was not WhatsApp but my keyboard (I am using TouchPal). I don't know what exactly was causing the problem, but uninstalling and reinstalling the keyboard solved it completely.

uninstall touchpal app and all other touchpal's keyborads if any on yr mobile app and just try, i have same problem which is now solved in whatsapp after doing above.

I was experiencing the same problem and finally found the solution!!!
Here is what you have to do:

Turn off your phone
remove battery, sim, sd card
put them back
Turn on your phone

It should solve the problem... It worked for me.

Thank you for your help, but this didn't solve my problem. The solution is already posted.

If you downloaded and installed a key pad from the google play store, just uninstall and its done.
You can install any other key pad if the earlier one behaves the way it did or stick to your original key pad. It worked for me. All the best
Conrad, Ghana

Thank you for your help, but I already gave this as a solution. Cheers


text:
Cannot send Audio files on WhatsApp
I just recorded an audio using an app on my phone, The audio file has an extension .WAV, but when I try sending it via WhatsApp, I get this error

Failed to process audio, please try again later, If you keep seeing this message, please restart your phone

Things I tried so far:
1) I restarted 4 times
2) Updated Google Play Music and WhatsApp as given in this site
3) Cleared Data, Cache and restarted WhatsApp
But nothing seems to solve the problem
I have enough memory on the phone, I can successfully send instant voice messages, PDFs, pictures and videos and contacts, I have read that WhatsApp supports .WAV so I dont think its a problem with the audio format, the audio plays well in my phone, so the audio file isnt corrupt or anything,
I have a strong Internet connection too.
Surprisingly I did not find any info on this particular error on the internet, It would be great If someone could tell me what the problem is.
Phone Details:
Phone: Xperia L
Android version: 4.2.2 (JellyBean)
WhatsApp version: 2.16.207

Date/Time problem?.  Maybe resetting would help

@beeshyams Date and time seem alright, If i'm not wrong WhatsApp would specifically open an error dialog asking the user to correct Date/Time, again thanks for your interest.

Have you tried sending other audio files (not recorded by the app you used for that)? Maybe that app puts some small errors into the WAV file that WhatsApp can't comprehend.

@ValentinKuhn just figured out that WhatsApp doesn't support WAV, I tried with a different app which can record audio in MP3 and WAV, the mp3 works.

you should add that as an answer and accept it, just so that the question does not stay unanswered

WhatsApp (at-least the version 2.16.207 on Android version: 4.2.2 - JellyBean) doesn't seem to support audio files with WAV extension, I tried sending an mp3 and it seems to  work fine
However I found that WhatsApp with a same version on Andriod 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) has no problems in sending WAV files
In any case you can always use a WhatsApp File Sender as mentioned in this answer.


text:
Install a fully functional Audible app on Android older than Android 6.0
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini, featuring Android 5.1. However, I cannot install the "Audible" audiobook app via Google Play (no search results).
I know that this should work, as I have the exact same device (bought earlier) where Audible is running (automatic app updates are switched off)
I tried downloading an older version (Audible-2.16.1) from www.apkmirror.com (not sure if the website is trustworthy) and installed it manually using ADB and USB debugging. The app kind of worked. At least I could log in and see my audiobooks. However, when trying to download any of the books, I get error messages.
I assume that the app tries to connect to the wrong (old) server when downloading.
Does anybody else have similar problems and knows how to get Audible going on older devices?

Audible 3.0.1 (APK Mirror) is the latest version that supports Android 4.1+ before it jumped to requiring a minimum Android version of Android 6.0.

Some additional clarifications to the question:

Since Audible 3.1.0 (March 25, 2021), the minimum Android version jumped to Android 6.0. This affects the app's visibility in the Play Store since incompatible apps will not be shown when searching directly from the app.
The major version jump from 2.x to 3.x possibly indicates a breaking change including on the backend server-side, thus Audible apps before 3.0.0 might not work properly anymore.
Last but not least, APK Mirror is considered trustworthy.


text:
Relocking bootloader on Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (ZB601KL/ZB602KL)
After a few dozen unsuccessful attempts to make TWRP recovery work and almost bricking my Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (ZB601KL/ZB602KL), I gave up and decided to relock the bootloader. But this turned out to be a problem on its own. Rigorous googling didn't yield any solution. No fastboot command helped.
How to relock its bootloader?

I stumbled upon relock_bl.cmd file. After trial and failure with different command lines, I found the remedy. Here is what helped in my particular case.
fastboot -s !deviceId! flashing lock
fastboot -s !deviceId! flashing lock_critical


text:
Firefox for Android refuses loading any website
I wanted to give Firefox for Android a try (I'm a long-time Chrome user), but after installing it from the Play Store, I discovered it refuses to load any website, always showing this security warning that cannot be ignored:

This happens on all sites and only on Firefox for Android, the same sites load correctly in Chrome and also load correctly in Firefox running on a Windows computer that is on the same network as my Android device.
Any clues as to why this is happening? I'm running Firefox 105.1.0 on Android 12.

Check the system date. If it is wrong HTTPS connections will fail because the used certificate is not yet or no longer valid.

AFAIK, Firefox uses its own certificate store, not the Android native certificate store. What happens if you try setting security.enterprise_roots.enabled to true on about:config?

@Robert: thanks but date was ok, problem was a different one, check my answer for details

@AndrewT. Thanks for the comment, it pointed me in the right direction to solve the issue, see my answer for details

@Master_T So your device is rooted (-> not mentioned in question)? because otherwise you could not have installed a root CA certificate.

@Robert reading the AdGuard's official documentation, looks like root is not needed.

@AndrewT. That description can only work for Chrome. For apps this can not work as they don't accept user installed certificates. May be AdGuard only applies HTTPS interception to Chrome and other white-listed apps.

@Robert: no it's not rooted, you can manually install a ca certificate on any modern operating system, android included. Also, apps can use them just fine, it's just that in Firefox they're excluded by default, but if you check the link in my answer you will see how to enable if via the advanced options menu

@Master_T Yes you can install certificates but Google has changed the behavior starting with Android 6. All apps that target this version or newer have to explicitly opt-in user certs in their config. Otherwise such certificates are treated by the standard Android functions as untrusted (like the cert is not installed).

@Robert: indeed I needed to opt in with Firefox. What I don't know is why it's a hidden setting in the debug menu, but whatever, it works and that's the important thing

Have you tried Pale Moon Web Browser, it's based on Firefox source code but is not affiliated with Mozilla, that is my limited understanding of it.  The only time I've seen that sort of error your getting is for using an outdated version of a browser

After doing more digging, it seems the problem was my adblocker (AdGuard). It uses a locally installed CA certificate in order to filter HTTPS traffic. By default Firefox ignores local CA certificates, it has its own list of trusted CAs. Quite dumb in my opinion, but luckily local CA certificates can be enabled by following this guide:
https://kb.adguard.com/en/android/solving-problems/firefox-certificates

Instead of using a VPN app you can avoid issues like this by setting your private DNS to their server. https://adguard-dns.io/en/public-dns.html

@Tanath: that is not nearly as effective though, a lot more ads get through if you only use DNS filtering...

It's DNS filtering either way, and my experience has barely any ads getting through. It's even the same provider so the filters should be the same.


text:
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro shows Samsung logo on boot
I just noticed that my Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro shows the Samsung logo while booting.

The phone also shows the Samsung logo in the About Phone section.

Does anyone have any clue why is this?

Are you sure the phone is genuine (may be the phone is forged and the original phone is a Samsung phone)? From the hardware specs of the Xiaomi mi 10T Pro I don't see a point why there should be any Samsung logo.

@Robert I've got the phone directly from slovak branch of https://www.telekom.com/en. Btw i also stumbled across this video on youtube /shorts/ft0YJpmYS80 but that's the only notice of something like this i've found on the internet

It seems you have installed the One UI 3.0 theme.
"Samsung" and the Samsung logo are part of its design because it tries to imitate the Samsung's UI.


text:
How to change the voice of Google Assistant when configured with more than one language? (Android 13)
Android 13 Google Assistant using English and Spanish languages. Opened the Google app, tap my profile, Settings, Google Assistant, English (United States) was already listed and español (Estados Unidos) was then added. Then selected “assistant voice and speech output” and from there I can select the voice that I want to use, but only for English. The option to change the Spanish voice is not available.
Had to remove English leaving only Spanish and then I was able to select the Spanish voice, but after adding the English language back, all I get is the option to change the English voice but not Spanish.
How can I select the voice for English and the voice for Spanish without having to remove one of the languages?

As of current writing (November 2022), the settings for "Assistant voice and speech output" only affect the primary language. Note that the primary language is the first language in the settings.
There are 2 known ways to change the primary language:

Use "change the language to <language>" voice command to switch the primary language, or
Change the first language from the settings, but it will remove the second language if it's the same language, thus not really different than removing and re-adding it back.

Note: The "Assistant voice and speech output" settings won't automatically refresh when the language is changed, the user needs to navigate back and reopen the settings to see the change.


text:
Mass install apps using FTP/HTTP
I would like to mass install few apps at one time from a single FTP server - from Android phone, without using adb command.
The phone will be rooted and will have and the option to install non-Market apps turned on.
I know it is possible to install many apps using single adb command (http://www.androidsim.net/2011/06/how-to-18-mass-installing-multiple.html) but I would like to do this using an Android app that would download all the apps and install them.
I am looking for a ready-made solution (app/code snippet) or a clues for implementing FTP connection.

This is a way of programatically installing APKs
the code snippet you're looking for is:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/download/" + "app.apk")),"application/vnd.android.package-archive");
startActivity(intent);

Thanks, I've searched Android SE archives but didn't search SO archives.


text:
Why does an app read my phone's IMEI number? An awful lot of them do
What reasons should an app have to need my phone's International Mobile Equipment Identity number?  I noticed that unreasonably many of ordinary apps have the "phone state and identity" permission.  For example, Remember the Milk.  What do they ask it for?  Am I insufficiently paranoid?

possible duplicate of Why do so many android applications require permission to use the phone?

See this answer: http://android.stackexchange.com/a/3368/440

Many apps use the IMEI for analytics purposes, for example counting users. Most tools like Google Analytics or Flurry need a unique ID per phone, so the IMEI fits quite well.
Note that this doesn't work on non-cellular platforms (like tablets), and the IMEI can also be faked: this is why some apps choose a different system (see this article).

It's often used to identify the unique phone, but often this is actually quite a bad idea. Most apps would be better off identifying you as a user, who can use multiple different devices on one account.


text:
Can I download whole folders in Dropbox app?
Is it possible to sync whole folders in Dropbox app? I currently download file by file a slow process

Some alternatives to be found here: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/complete-dropbox-implementation-for-android

Sync isn't possible and the "download folder" function is also missing on Android.
You can support this feature request: https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/2133/android-download-upload-folders

As answered here, you can use file explorers such as ES file explorer to achieve this functionality.

I use the dropsync (comp.ttxapps.dropsync) app to keep full synchronization on my big dropbox which I have shared on several computers and several android devices. I've rarely had problems getting large volumes of files per directory trees in my dropbox handled.
The only issue I've encountered is when the particular device had a default bandwidth limit applied, which I generally reset to unlimited.