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Android - how to keep launcher setting after reboot
Instead of the preinstalled "Launcher3" I'd like to use "Microsoft Launcher" – but when I choose it as default, it only lasts until reboot. After reboot "Launcher3" is again set as default.
How to keep a launcher after reboot?
Where are such things stored in general?
(Android 5.0.2 - API 21)
EDIT:
My Phone is a Medion X5004.
I tried via the settings menu in MS-Launcher, and via system settings.
EDIT2:
I tested installing "Apex Launcher" and set it as default - also resets to Launcher 3. So it doesn't seem to be specific to MS-Launcher.
EDIT3:
MS-Launcher does not sit on SD-card.
EDIT4:
Wiping cache has no impact...
EDIT5:
Tried to chmod 440 /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml while launcher set to MS-Launcher - after reboot the file has write permissions again and Launcher3 "greets" me.

Not really an answer – but problem does not occur after factory reset.

Here's something to try:
Go into settings  → apps. In the menu, select show system apps →  launcher3  → set as default  → clear defaults.
When you go back to your homescreen, it will let you choose your default one. Choose Microsoft launcher as the default.
Reboot your phone, and see if it helped.
Edit:
If the Microsoft launcher is stored on your SD card, move it back to the internal memory, that should fix it.

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately still same behaviour.

This might be on Samsung device only, but try and see if you have it. Settings > default applications > home > Microsoft launcher.

Also see if the edit is relevant

TY again :)    MS-Launcher is not installed on SD-Card. I only got Settings -> "Homescreen/Desktop" (not 100% sure about the exact word, translated from german…).

Try wiping system cache don't worry, this will not clear your data.

Didn't work either - starting to think, I should just not reboot that often... ^^


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Almost every game crashed on Lineage OS
I've one big problem on my phone. Almost every game crashes on start without any reason. Currently I have only one game which works - Farming simulator 18. Even my game exported from Unity3D isn't working. All apps are working well.
My phone:
Lenovo P70-a
Lineage OS 14.1 (Android 7.1.2)
Log filtered only for *:F (Fault errors):

Does anyone know what to do with this issue?

Your lineage is Unofficial, maybe try and get Official one.

Unfortunately there is no official for Lenovo P70. I know that this issue is because of my ROM. But I hope, that it is somehow repairable.

This should rather be reported to the ROM's forum thread if there is one.

@AndyYan Where can I find one? XDA dev. didn't helped me (neither they didn't answer me)

Just posting it to XDA would be enough - don't expect a reply there, no dev is obliged to fix anything.

@AndyYan that's bad :(

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 stuck in Start Up Failed
After using the Official TWRP app to flash TWRP recovery to my Samsung Galaxy S4, I am stuck on a screen that says "Start-Up Failed" and "Secure Fail: Kernel." I think it is because I flashed it to both Recovery and Boot. Do anyone know how to get out of the screen? It does not matter if the phone is completely wiped.

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


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Method to block calls on dual SIM and block notifications from some apps (scheduled)
I recently got a Motorola G5S Smartphone with Android 7.1.1 with Dual SIM. One SIM is work-related, the other private. Also, every App on my phone is either work-related or private.
I'm searching for an app (or integrated function) which can do the following:

block all calls & messages coming into the work-SIM at night & on weekends
block notifications of the work-related apps at night & on weekends

The tricky thing here is that I do want to use the mobile data from the work-SIM, so disabling it completely is not an option.
I checked out Tasker but the description doesn't say anything about blocking calls coming in to one of the numbers/SIMs. On the other hand, the "Do not disturb"-option also cannot to block only calls to one SIM (at least on my phone).
Is there any other app or even built-in feature that I'm missing? Rooting the device would not be a problem, I guess.

@beeshyams That might be OK for an "internal" work number, but if the number of the work SIM is published, it might be getting called by people not in the contacts list at all.

Right, but the point is that an unknown contact might be a work or a personal call. Maybe the questioner is happy to treat unknown contacts as always one or the other; it would be helpful if they could come back and clarify.

An ideal solution would be to block or allow calls depending on the number/SIM. But I think, a block depending on the group (I have a private and a work address book) plus blocking unknown contacts would also be fine.

Caveats

OP is willing to reject unknown numbers in weekends
They have their office contacts and private labeled in their address book
Only office people call on office SIM , they are not aware of private SIM number and vice versa for private contacts
They can continue to use data from Office SIM
Not tested on dual SIM but should work

I don't think it is possible using SIM based approach, alternative non root automation approach using macrodroid which is simple and easy free up to five macros ( App link )
Blocking calls in off times
Create a macro and name, save it  (Add Triggers,  actions and constraints by pressing +)
Triggers

Call Incoming → Select Groups →  Office (office numbers stored in contacts and grouped by this name)
Call Incoming → Select Contacts → Non Contact (additionally select Unknown caller if required)

Actions
Call Reject
Constraints
Day of the week → Saturday & Sunday
add constraint of  AND /OR /XOR/ NOT → OR (ensure the little inverted triangle shows OR)
add constraint Time of day → set start and end time for example 2000 to 0800
what it does is that on weekends OR during specified times calls made by non contacts  / unknown numbers and office folks are rejected
Test it by changing triggers and constraints . Use the 3 buttons menu → Test Macro

Blocking Office app notifications
Trigger
Notification → Notification Received → select apps → choose office apps from drop down → Text content → Any
Actions

Volume change → Notification → Set slider to zero
Clear Notifications → select apps → choose office apps from drop down → Text content → Any
Volume change → Notification → Set slider to the level desired

Constraints As in above macro ( Hint: from 3 dot menu use clone macro to get a copy of macro to save repetitive selection)
What it does

Action 1 mutes the notification volume to zero ( you don't need to hear the ding when you don't want to be notified)
Clear notifications during the time / day chosen in constraints
Action 3 restores desired volume level so that you can hear other other notifications that you  want to

For testing: Long press on triggers for instance and disable it . add a trigger that is convenient like a friends phone . Once the testing is done long press to enable.

Haven't tested fully ,so let me know if there any issues

Reading your comment under question again, this macro can be modified to choose numbers instead of groups. Selecting numbers from a large list of contacts in the drop down is painful. I know how bad it was to select a dozen contacts, and created a group to facilitate this for myself. If that works better for you, you can go do that


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Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 Stuck at Samsung logo with no recovery and no download mode
Background:
I was having CWM recovery with custom ROM "CyanogenMod" and recently I flashed "LineageOS" successfully but I noticed that phone internal storage is being occupied by previous ROM files and folders so I tried to delete everything to have a phone in clean condition with only "LineageOS" files. By mistake I format /boot, /system, /data, /cache and /sdcard and after that I reboot to system.
Weird Stage:  (don't know if its soft brick or hard brick)
:( At this stage, my phone stuck at Samsung logo with no access to recovery mode and download mode. I tried

Volume up + home + power  = No recovery mode and
just Samsung logo
Volume down + home + power = No
download mode and stuck at warning screen with a yellow
triangle but pressing volume up is not entering to download mode

:(
 Also, phone is not detected by Odin or ADB in PC with having correct Samsung USB drivers and also tried Kies but phone is not recognized by pc at all.
I tried some solutions like

flashing debrick.img into SD card and try to boot with it but no success
pulled off the battery for many hours and after putting it back have no success to access download mode
Tried with different USB cables and different OS like Windows 8, 7 on different PC

Update:
With the help of @esQmo_
I just found that Volume up button is not working and thats the whole reason why Recovery and Download mode are not accessible. Can I do something directly from SD card to boot into recovery or download etc?

Does your volume up button work? If i'm not wrong, Download mode never fails to boot into.
Let's assume it is not working and in this case, you'll need a way to force boot in download mode.
There are two methods I could find:

Using a USB JIG (and here)
Using a software called Samsung 300K Tool (Video)

After that, flash stock firmware and everything should work now.
Other solution would be replacing the volume buttons flex cable or making jumpers from the volume contact to the motherboard. Schematic below:

And

Source: gsmhosting.com

Yes you are right. I just found that Volume up button is not working and thats the whole reason so Recovery and Download mode cannot opened. Unfortunately USB jig is not available in my area and I tried Samsung 300k tool but its not working due to mobile cant recognized by PC. I think at this time replacing the volume flex is the only solution to access Recovery or Download mode. Can I do something directly from SD card to boot into recovery or download etc?

There is a way to make your own JIG as explained from the video link I posted. Do you think the flex cable is broken or key button is simply not working caused by bad contact ? You should disassemble the phone to have a look. Look for video tutorials on YouTube

Yes I disassembled and checked and pulled the volume button and tried to press volume with tweezers and I found Volume down is working but volume up is broken, so I think flex cable need to be replaced to make volume work. Yes I saw that video and I am not so expert in hardware thing but I will try to get resistor and try once.

Or you could make jumpers from volume up to the motherboard, it requires only 2 wires

Can you explain a little more about jumpers way ?

I've attached schematic as what to make jumpers from. You need soldering iron and stain

So to be sure I need to connect wire one end to volume contact and second end to motherboard contact R427 right ?

If the only the flex is broken, connect one wires end to the contact and the other end to the cable  connector pin (see upper image)

Also, consider asking more help on the forum linked in the source.

I finally replaced speaker/volume flex and now volume up/down both working. I am now able to enter in recovery & download mode. Many thanks for pointing in right direction.

You're welcome, glad that I helped.


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Is there a known custom Android ROM without apps bloating

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

I am looking for a very scaled down version of Android similar to CyanogenMod but with much less apps. I think just the OS , a basic landing screen and App Store. Is anyone aware of such ROMs ?

There are quite a few custom ROMs out there. For older phones, look at YoshiGinger, which is basically what you're asking for in order to keep older phones running well.

@Richard : With all due respect, there can be a very very specific business requirement pertaining to the open source based OS and scaling it down for a specific purpose. So from a business requirement perspective there is a point.

@Moss: That sort of scenario is fairly well outside the purpose of this site. This site is primarily for helping users of Android devices.

And what if the business perspective does not include selling anything to anybody in the consumer market. What if it is part of any internal RND requirements. I can agree to what to you said above but only if that pertained to selling something.

The ones I know of are Android Open Source Project-based ROMs.
Clean as they can be, no pre-installed applications (bloatware), just a "pure" Android OS.
You may want to read this Community wiki.

"Where can I find a custom ROM that..." questions are considered shopping questions and are off-topic here. Please review the [FAQ]. I expect this question will be closed as a duplicate of the canonical question which Zuul has linked to.


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Trying to solve Problem: Huge Contacts Database
On a HTC Sensation running ICS 4.0.3, something caused my contacts database to rapidly grow.
The DB is now 580 megabytes and growing (sometimes over a megabyte per hour) despite the fact that I:

disabled all syncs (I found out that the Google Contacts sync had been not working for the last couple of months)
uninstalled all 3rd party sync apps (LinkedIn, FaceBook)
removed all all accounts but my Google accounts from "Accounts & Sync"
disabled all network access (no WiFi, no Data)

None of the above steps made the problem go away.
Looking with Contacts Remover, some contacts have about 300 LinkedIn contact links and photos.
My goal is to save as much information as possible, sync that to my Google account, then ditch the Contacts database and reload from Google.
The constant memory pressure makes it hard to run applications (I need to move apps to SD to get some storage memory, then run something, and hope that while running the storage memory doesn't run out).
Basically my phone is now useless.
My idea to try solving the problem is this:

export the Contacts to VCF on the SD card (success)
copy the VCF to a machine that can run the Android AVD (success)
install an AVD that allows to add a Google account for sync (success)
copy the VCF to the AVD SD card using DDS in Eclipse (success)
import the VCF into the People app of the AVD (success)
sync the AVD to Google (fail)

The last step fails, but doesn't generate any error.
The AVD is using these settings to be as close as possible to my physical device:

Target=Google APIs (Google Inc.)
Platform=4.0
API Level=14
CPU/ABI=ARM (armeabi-v7a)

Two questions (given that I want to sync back the contacts to my Google account):

How can I make the last step work?
What alternatives can I use if I cannot get the last step to work?

The VCF files total to about 3 megabyte (with about 3000 contacts that is about a kilobyte per contact, not close to 200 kilobyte as in the DB)

Don't fall for the XY-Probem and ask for the last emulator step. You already have a working VCF, just import it using GMails web interface. If this VCF is still bad, you can apply simple text processing (regex search & replace) to it before importing it to google.

Thanks! I wasn't aware that gmail could import VCF (hence my second question: alternatives). Please post the VCF import into Google Contacts as an answer and I will accept+upvote. These are the steps to import VCF into Google Contacts: http://www.ehow.com/how_8404844_import-vcf-gmail.html

You already have a working vCard file (.vcf), just import it using GMail's web interface. If this VCF is still bad, you can apply simple text processing (regex search & replace) to it before importing it to Google.
Here are the steps to import a vCard file into GMail using the web interface.
Here's an excerpt from Google's help:

Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose
Contacts.
Click the More actions dropdown menu and select Import....
Click the Choose File button and locate the vCard file you'd like to
upload.
Select the file and click the Import button.

You could also take a look at the Contact Cleaner app for an initial cleanup. Not sure how much help that will be in your case (with the LinkedIn stuff it doesn't care about).
Another thing to consider: temporarily remove the LinkedIn "provider" from your configuration->accounts (if it is still left there after you uninstalled the connected app) may get rid you of all the LinkedIn-connections (at least it works this way with some Xing stuff; not sure about LinkedIn as I do not use it) -- and probably restore them without duplication when you re-add it (make a backup before trying this).
I am aware this doesn't completely answer your question, but it may solve a big deal of your problem concerning the size of your contact database, giving you at least a "partly relieve" and more time to consider a final approach.

I forgot to mention that I already removed those providers (sorry for that, the edit corrects this). Backups fail too (probably because the low memory). I tried contact cleaner to clean parts, but it is such a tedious process (300 fotos and 300 links takes very long), and might not solve the underlying issue. Will try that if all else fails. Thanks for thinking in the same line I did. +1 for that.

Ah, OK -- was just a thought. Glad to know I caught your idea. As memory seems to limit your possibilities in this track, your best approach will probably be to import your VCF to a PC client (or via the WebIF into a separate address book on your Google account, as ce4 suggested above). That web client also offers you some tools for cleanup (e.g. merging entries).


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Meomo's path data
My phone has problem and I get the following error for many programs:

Now, I want to refactor my Android, But I need to save my Memo's information.
 Where are my Memo's information?
UPDATE:
I think my data exists on my disk, Because when I open my memos, I see the following data:

I found ShareMemo directory, But it doesn't contain of my information.

By "Memo", did you mean Samsung's Memo app? We have some questions related to it, perhaps some of them might help. Otherwise, please mention the device model and Android version.

Regarding your updates, apps' data are usually stored in Internal Storage that cannot be viewed without root access. Please refer to the duplicate question.

Do I have to root my cell phone?

If you attempt to root your device all of your data would be deleted. All you can do is to see if the app offers an export or backup option. Otherwise, see if it can be backed up using adb. Otherwise, you are out of luck.

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


text:
Android Settings xml
We have exported the Android Settings of a Device running Android 4.4.3
We want to use this settings.apk to make our own default build for my other android devices (same device, same Android Version).
We would like to get deploy customized preferences for all devices and we think that is possible to compile this app again with our new preferences included.
How can we deploy the same customized settings on a fleet of devices?
Device: Motorola TC70

What's your question? Bear in mind that making a custom ROM is off-topic for this site.

No, we would like to get only a customized Settings app with our preferences.

Are you aware that Settings has to be a system app? That means either it has to be part of the custom ROM, or you need to root the device and install it to the system partition. Does that suit your goals?

Sorry, I'm an android-Programming-starter. I didn't know that you have to root the device to install a system app.
A custom-rom is for us the best value, do you have a good documentation to build this?

Perhaps if you [edit] the question to ask how to achieve your goal (i.e. deploy the same settings on a fleet of devices), instead of focusing on a particular solution you've already decided on, you might get some helpful answers.

you are not entirely wrong. We should edit the question instead of focusing on a particular solution . Thank you.

This question asks how to do the same for rooted phones. Some of those answers might be helpful to you.

The problem is that we aren't allowed to root the devices.

What you want to achieve should be possible using adb backup (no root required):

Enable ADB USB mode on all devices (have to be done manually, AFAIK).
On the pre-configured device perform an adb backup of -all or if you know it only the relevant system settings app (I think it should be com.android.providers.settings?).
(optional) Decrypt and decompress the crated backup using Android Backup Extractor. You can now extract and edit the data in the backup, removing unnecessary/unwanted settings. Afterwards recreate the backup file using the modified data.
On each device perform an adb restore using the created backup from step 2 or 3.


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Is there any limitation on the number of times I install a custom-ROM to my android device?
How many times can I install a custom ROM to my android device? Can I do this an infinite number of times? The word ROM (Read-Only-Memory) makes me think that there must be some limitation to the number of times one can do this.

ROM refers to two things

The memory (non volatile) in the phone
The software or Operating System (OS) that is run on the phone and resides or is "flashed" on the memory portion referred above

In common Android usage when you say ROM, you are usually referring to the second such as stock ROM (one that came with the phone), custom ROM (one that is developed) which you flash
You can flash or install a ROM as many times but certainly not infinite number of times- something in the hardware / memory is bound to break at some point of time ! But yes, theoretically you can
Related What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc.?

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


text:
Why did my phone reboot after copying an so file to the system/lib folder?
I ran the following command and the phone automatically rebooted after copying. Why? Was it because the so file was in use?
$ adb shell 'mount -o rw,remount /system && cp /sdcard/libfoo.so /system/lib'

My phone is rooted and enters as root when issued the adb shell command. My Android version is 5.1.
I also tried the following commands and the phone still restarted.
$ adb remount
remount succeeded
$ adb shell 'cp /sdcard/libfoo.so /system/lib'

What's your Android version and model ? ... sometimes it can be caused by a protection measure that protects the system partition from modifications, it's now why new root programs use "systemless root".   You still have the ability to modify some aspects of the system, but changing files in specific directories can cause problems, this is because systemless root is still in the development stage and has many issue's still.

If you don't want the phone to reboot, push the so file directly to the system/lib folder. Don't make the sdcard folder an intermediary. So you do:
$ adb remount
$ adb push libfoo.so /system/lib


text:
How to upgrade an LG Stylus 2 to Android 7 / Nougat?
The phone I want to upgrade is the LG Stylus 2 with the model number LGK520K as it currently on android 6 and i want to upgrade it to android 7.
I'm after instructions that give me the steps required and the ability to download what I need for the upgrade.
From the LG versions and updates page it appears the software is available for phones in other regions but just not my region.

Koselas.com how to upgrade lg stylus 2 - Looks simple but the download link is very suspicious
apkmoded.com hot to upgrade lg stylus 2 - I'm not after a moded version
LGs opensource distribution - No idea how to use the source code

What region are you in?

@william my problem is I cannot find the distribution I can only find source code

@William the region is Australia

I have only upgraded/downgraded a Nexus before and it was much simpler.  If the OEM isn't wiring over the air I wouldn't know much.


text:
I bought app when it was paid, now it is free and I have to watch ads
I bought game a few years ago. I performed factory reset on android tablet because it was slow. Installed game after some time. Now I see ads. But I paid for that app? What can I do to get add free version? Or can I get refund?

A reboot does not change anything on the installed apps. Most likely you mean that you reinstalled your tablet (factory reset + reinstall), right?

@Robert  Right :-)

Are you sure you installed the exact same game app? The PlayStore name may change over the time. Use the "collection" app list in PlayStore which contains all apps you had ever installed.

If it is a popular app there are lots of sites on Google that displays past app downloads/versions.  Try "app name apk"

Follow these steps

Contact the app developer if they are not able to resolve your problem follow other steps.
Use Net Guard app or any other network blocker app to block that app's internet access.
Use LuckyPatcher and remove google ads package (before you try this step I tell you in 3 option google-play-store give you warning to remove the lucky patcher app). Try 3 option at your own risk.

If you are going to recommend Lucky Patcher to anyone, you should let them know that it is pirating software, and is not supported by any respectable developer... In most legitimate developer circles, anyone using Lucky Patcher is labeled a thief as the software has little other use.

Their might have been an ad supported version released after you purchased the Paid version, Usually looking through your purchased apps on the PlayStore you'll find the Paid version to download again.   I use My Paid Apps on Google Play to reinstall any of my purchases.


text:
Is there a way to browse encrypted files when using Android's File Based Encryption (FBE)?
I've learned that my Google Pixel 2 uses File Based Encryption (FBE) to encrypt my files. I was wondering if there is some way to see these files in their encrypted form. Can I mount the encrypted and decrypted on a rooted stock rom at the same time?
If so, can I decrypt my files on any other device than my Pixel? What about a pc?

Is your device unlocked (oem unlock) or rooted? Because on a regular locked stock device without root I don't think that you can get access to the unencrypted data.

My device is unlocked and rooted with the latest stock rom.

Then I think the best option would be to install and run a custom recovery ROM. Some custom recovery ask for the password, however if you don't provide the password you may be able to get access to the RAW encrypted data.

What I am trying to archive is a way to backup my files in an encrypted way. Thus, I can't use a custom recovery ROM, because I want to upload those files somewhere.

Usually you do a backup because your device can get lost or defect. As the encryption key is AFAIR usually bound to your device the backup would be useless in such a case. Better backup the decrypted files and encrypt the data in the backup files.


text:
SMS sort-by-date mixed up after transfer from Nokia (Symbian) to Android
I know this question has been asked quite a few times. However, please read ahead.
I have tried a lot of apps such as VeryAndroid SMS Backup, SMS Backup & Restore, WonderShare MobileTrans. I also used an android app called SMS Tools which took the .csv file created by Nokia OVI Suite. Most of them work. The SMS messages were threaded as per the contact name. However, they were not sorted as per date & time. In other words, what I would expect is to get the latest SMS (sent or received) at the top, followed by the next latest.
Is there any way we can transfer the SMS messages in such a way that latest appear at the top & the hierarchy is followed? I've already tried the solutions offered by How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 to Android for free?, this answer on SMS transfer, SMSes from Nokia 6300, and How to move contacts and other data from Symbian to Android? to no avail: They all restore the messages, but they are not ordered as per time. Even editing the .csv file accordingly did not have the desired effect.

Which of the sms+nokia questions on our site have you checked already, so we can rule out their solutions? There's e.g. How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 to Android for free? / this answer on SMS transfer / Import SMSes from Nokia 6300 / How to move contacts and other data from Symbian to Android?

@Izzy: I tried this How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 to Android for free?, this answer on SMS transfer, SMSes from Nokia 6300, How to move contacts and other data from Symbian to Android?. They all restore the messages but they are not ordered as per time,

I also looked into 26 other results from sms+nokia questions on our site. Has anyone successfully restored SMS to Android from Symbian keeping the messages ordered by time?

Just a thought: I did not see those .csv files, and especially not their order. Maybe pre-sorting that file would do the trick? You could e.g. import it into Libre/Open-Office Calc (or Excel), sort it by the date/time column (if there's one, which I assume), export it back to .csv, and then restore the sorted file to your Android device.

@Izzy: Tried that too. Did not work.

Oh – that's bad. I've updated your question accordingly – but with that ruled out, I'm out of further ideas, sorry.

If your Android is Samsung, you can try http://samsung.com/smartswitch. The imported threads appear sorted by date latest->oldest in my phone.

I think the sorting problem depends on your messaging app. Many stock messaging app doesn't sort messages by date but by received time.
The AOSP messaging app does sort by date (in cyanogenmod at least). Textra does (4.0+), Go SMS too, and also the new Hangouts app (4.0+).

The app need not sort by itself. But if the restoring is done such that the messages are shown in sorted order, it would be good. For instance, if I use only Android & back up and restore messages using MyBackup Android app, the order is maintained.

So have a look at the format that your Android backups have and see if you can mimic it for the Nokia messages.

Download Mobiletrans, run it.
Connect your Nokia and Android at a time via USB
Click "Start Copy" to transfer contacts, text messages, photos and videos from Nokia to the Android.

It was developed by Wondershare, you can download it from here
Edit: Maybe you can have a try with Samsung Switch Mobile, created by Sumsang

What's your relationship with this software? Promoting your own products is OK on this site, as long as you admit that's what you're doing.


text:
Change ROM Samsumg S7 Edge
I have a Samsung s7 Edge cell phone, I bought it in the US with the Verizon company,
I returned to Mexico and I am working with the Telcel company, the model is GS G935V, my question is: I Can install a ROM SM G935F Telcel?

Verizon? Give it up.

I Change mi ROM of SM-G935V to SM-G935U and all Verizon applications have been removed.
I share the ROM link in case someone wants to change it.
SM G935U

of that list, wich g935U firmeware do i Have select? there are a lot of firmeware, wich do you use?

I selected Unknown(XAS)


text:
How to disable certain system notifications?
I am getting "your wifi calling was optimised" popup repeatedly. How to disable it?
My phone is Samsung S9+ running android 9.
Notification comes whenever the phone switches to WiFi calling.

Can you follow up the first part of my answer here: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/206394/96277

Could you add more info, like the device model, Android OS version, whether you're using a 3rd-party phone/VoIP app, and possibly the carrier?

@Andrew, added to the question.

@Firelord, that solution is irrelevant because my question is about an OS notification, and the question you quoted is about app notifications.

A notification is a notification, doesn't matter if it comes from Android OS, a system app or a third party app. That solution works for any type of notification. Anyhow.

Found a solution on another forum:
Settings > WiFi > Advanced.
Uncheck "Network notifications."


text:
What about Android App Bundles' language support?
You can find out everything you need to know about Android App Bundles here. As this is a new way to deliver apk's I am very interested in how it works.
When taking a look at the explanatory video provided on the linked site you will understand that the App Bundle will only send the appropriate language resource files on download from Google Play.
Now, what happens when I change the system language after installation? Will the application not translate even if in the original App Bundle there was my language packaged?

According to a Google I/O '18 talk Google Play will download all "typically used languages" and retrieve others on demand.

In the rare case, where a user switches to a new language that we weren't aware of before, Play will dynamically deliver relevant splits to their device. (https://youtu.be/0raqVydJmNE?t=13m9s)

Is there documentation about this? Can a programmer provide functionality that lets the user change the language from within the app and only for that app?

Suppose your app supports two languages English And Spanish.
Case 1 :
You are uploading APK both languages will be shipped it is upto user to select what they want to use.
Case 2:
You know that certain user will always use Spanish so rather than whole package apk you can send Bundle with spanish support only.
If you have shipped app with Spanish but user wants English google will dynamically ship those split apks for English.
But if user opts for French it won't be supported since your app have English and Spanish support only user can use third party if they want to translate.
Answer :
Yes , if you're app has support for that language google will ship it even if it is not in bundle.
No , if you don't have support for selected language.

In the I/O session I linked in my answer they stated something different. They said that they would be downloaded after installation automatically.

Thanks @creativecreatormaybenot for pointing out mistake, I have rectified the answer.


text:
How do I stop others from remotely controlling my phone
Other people are remotely controlling my phone. How do I stop them and get my life back?
Sometimes I will see the screen being navigated when I am not even touching the phone. Swiping motions, back button presses and menu selections happening automatically without my finger even touching the phone or my voice interacting with Google Assistant.

What do you mean by remotely controlling? Please clarify what is happening

Could you add detail such as : your phone model, is it rooted, and what software have you installed recently? It's hard to make a specific answer without these details.

@esQmo_ sometimes my screen is being navigated by somebody else's finger. Maybe it's a ghost that I don't see in front of my face? Probably not. Most likely somebody else is navigating through my phone remotely.

@Zackary we are using the Moto E4. The updates are current. We are only using apps that came with the phone and a few other big-name apps that are very common. The phone is not rooted, was purchased directly from Verizon and has been on the same Verizon service the whole time. The phone came with Android 7.1.1 and it is still running Android 7.1.1 with Motorola updates.

Are they doing specific actions? (I mean those you think are hacking yout device),  such as accessing your infos: SMS, call history, social networks activities... Or the "touch" seems randomly? Eg an area being touched whatever screen you are at at the moment?

@esQmo sometimes I try to make a call and somebody else is already on the line.  They appear to be impersonating me and my wife or simply jumping on our cellular connection so they don't have to pay for one

Is this even possible with a cell phone? I doubt but who knows... ?

Yes it is possible.  You can either believe me or do more research on the internet.  We have had this experience.

Have you turned on developer mode ?

@ArjunVK No I do not use developer mode and have not turned it on. I develop on my PC and through a secure and private Google Play channel without ever using developer mode on my Android device.

It's a really broad question but this could solve any remote control issues.

(try this method first):

Force power off your phone (hold down the power button until the screen does black)
Turn off your Wi-Fi, and remove any SIM cards.
Power on the phone.
Look in the Downloaded folder for any suspicious software (such as com.google.daemon or "Service of Google Play") and remove it (if there is only an "Uninstall updates" button, then it is real system software).
Power it off, turn on your Wi-Fi, insert your SIM card(s), and tun it back on.

(only try if #1 didn't work):

Turn your phone off, and put it in recovery mode (can't say exactly how without your phone model). Navigate to wipe data/factory reset > Yes - erase all data (WARNING: you will lose all data on the phone).
Turn it back on. It should be fixed unless the R.A.T (stands for Remote Administration Tool or Remote Access Trojan) is a system app.

Yes, we have done some things like you have suggested

There is some DM apps on the phone by default.  Also some strange VPN apps.  We have tried to disable them, but the list of 150 unusual apps is so long and convoluded that we havn't been able to solve the issue.  We don't have the R.A.T. but there are various other apps that may be producing similar results.

What we have done to some success is remove our account from the android phone and stop using many apps that have more advanced functionality.  We have seen some success at being able to make and receive phones calls a little better.  We are getting text messages sent from us and to us that we never wrote and the other person never wrote.

@EeshwarDas You could root your device and install an app that can remove system apps (like Titanium Backup) to remove those apps. Be careful what you remove, though - system-independent apps are OK to remove, but system apps could soft-brick your phone (it can be recovered from that, but it requires the stock ROM and an understanding of fastboot).

Hey Zackary, the at function is not letting me shout to you.  Maybe something wrong with Stack Exchange in my region.  Yes, I could root the device, but my understanding of being an Android Device Admin is not sufficient enough to get past this significant amount of Malware on my first try rooting a device.  I would definitely ruin the device if I did what you say.  It would be possible to learn, but I don't have the time or the money.  There are many apps posing as system apps that are clearly not system apps, so it would take an Android surgeon to be able to fix this device.

Download an app calldd 0permission and verify your kernel module is correct.
Exposing a bootloaderand rooting is in the past.
People like to expose your initrd
(initial ramdisk) and backdoor their shell command off that

user332372, why a new app? Shouldn't Google simply prevent this issue without any need for third party apps?

these ghost touches are a well known hardware failure of touch screen. replace the digitizer or whole screen

https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-fix-the-ghost-touch-problem-on-any-android-device

alecxs, good suggestion, but in my case I have seen enough proof that this issue was due to malware. The hardware worked very good on my device.


text:
How to stop Android 12 or 13 asking for password every time after lock screen
I just upgraded from Android 11 to Android 12 and now It asks me every single time I unlock the screen. Before, it would ask me for the password only once every half an hour as I had configured it.
How can I get back to that behaviour in Android 12 that only ask me for the password once on a while?
UPDATE: Same situation in Android 13.

On Pixel 3a, it is on Settings - Security - Screen lock (the cog wheel) - Lock after screen timeout. The "Power button instantly locks" switch may also be relevant.

In Android 11 I could see that option, but I can't find it anymore in Android 12.

Could you mention the device model?

Yes: One Plus Nord Community Edition


text:
android how to remove white square shortcut icon from screen
I am using phone with android 4.4.4 version. yesterday suddenly one white square appeared on my screen which looks like shortcuts for keys. It is very much annoying as it appears in all screens, no matter which application I am using. I want to remove/disable it as it permanently.
I searched a lot on internet and I tried to check in settings also but nothing worked out. please help me as this is too irritating. I wonder how google could make such bad feature. Please find the screenshots below.
Problem marked in red circle.

When I click on square button

Please note , There is no mobility tab under my "settings>System>accessibility>"

Since your phone is a Lenovo, as can be seen from your screenshots. The feature is called as Wide Touch which adds a floating button on your screen, allowing quick access to system functions.
You can disable Wide Touch in your device's settings. I cannot talk about the exact location of the setting, but for most Lenovo phones, it is in Settings > Features > Wide Touch.
The feature can be list item within settings or a separate tab. So, please look carefully through the settings.
Here is the link to Lenovo website explaining the feature for S90 smartphone. Your P70 might have it the same way or with minor changes.
https://support.lenovo.com/in/en/solutions/ht102904

Go to settings > System > accessibility > turn off assistant menu under mobility
Hope this will help.


text:
Why can't I browse the internet while using my mouse?
I recently got a Galaxy J7 (2017), and it's running Android 7.0. I chose a Galaxy because I can plug a mouse directly into the phone. I can't access the device otherwise.
Everything was working great for the first few days, but then last night I began experiencing trouble browsing the internet. Instead of being able to click and scroll through a website, it's as though the arrow became a text cursor. Each time I attempt to scroll I am only able to highlight the text on the screen.
It looks like this:

Any ideas what's going on here and how it can be resolved? I'd really appreciate your feedback. Thanks!
UPDATE: After several factory resets, I think I've identified the problem. The system is preloaded with internet browser 6.2. This version works fine. After about a day, the internet browser updates to version 7.2. This is when the problem occurs. I have turned off automatic updates in Google Play, but it still updates on its own. I'm assuming because its part of the system. Nevertheless, I'm stuck yet again.

Does this only happen in the browser, or in other apps too? Try the Gmail app, and look at a document in Google Docs.

@DanHulme - It happens in other apps too. I am able to navigate around the inbox of the Gmail app, but once I open an email, I can't scroll down the message; it just highlights the text as if I were in a word processor. It seems like this started after I copy/pasted some phone numbers while adding new contacts. I have cleared the clipboard, but the problem remains.

It's ages since I've used a mouse with Android. It could be that this is a deliberate feature because you would use a scroll wheel instead of dragging. After all, this is how a mouse behaves on a PC.

@DanHulme - That could be, but it worked as a drag and scroll for the first few days. Makes me think I unknowingly changed a setting.

@DanHulme and beeshyams I've updated the original post with additional information. The problem seems to be related to the latest version of the internet browser. Is there a way I can prevent it from upgrading?

You can factory reset again, switch off the internet, and force stop, disable the app from settings and activate internet. This may stop auto updating

@beeshyams This is my first time working with Android. Can you point me in the direction of a tutorial that outlines what you just described?

See this https://android.stackexchange.com/a/75885/131553


text:
Andriod Emulator can't find ip link set
I am currently using an unrooted Huaweii LYO-LO1 and I am trying to change my mac address using Andriod Terminal Emulator. I found a website that told me to find out things like my current MAC address and I did all that. The last part told me to type the command:
"ip link set AAAA address XX:XX:XX:YY:YY:YY"
I did that by typing "ip link set wlan0 address 84:9F:B5:0A:95:1F" but the output said
/system/bin/sh: ip link set wlan0 address 84:9F:B5:0A:95:1F: not found
I tried reinstalling the app, rebooting my computer, everything but it's the same result. Still the same MAC address. Anybody know the solution?

Don't type the double inverted commas ("") around the command. The command should be
ip link set wlan0 address 84:9F:B5:0A:95:1F


text:
Unable to connect to Raspberry Pi3 by hostname from Android VNC Viewer

I installed VNC Viewer on my Ubuntu from here. Then, I could connect to my Raspberry PI by both hostname and IP address.
However, I can't do the same from my Samsung Note 8 I can't connect by hostname - I'm getting something like "Cannot resolve hostname". If I use the IP address then I don't have any problem.

Ubuntu PC, Samsung Note 8 and Raspberry PI3 are all connected to the same WIFI network.
Can someone explain what is wrong here?


text:
What are physical partitions on Android device?
I'm new to Android system. I'm trying to understand how it is installed to internal memory to eventually have it fully backed up and capable to be restored. To accomplish it I need to know what to back up. Is /data & /system partitions all I have to care of? One of my root apps list these partitions on my device:
/mnt/media_rw/xxxx-xxxx (mounted external SD card, Idk how to treat it)
/data 5.51GB
/system 1.08GB
/cache 534.12MB
/fsg 1.5MB
/firmware 64MB
/persist 8MB
/pds 3MB

What is the full list of physical partitions on Android device?
Can the list differ between devices?
TWRP, Titanium, oandbackup and (adb backub/restore) do not create full backups of Android device (system with data). What is a complete solution on Android devices similar to Acronis True Image on PC systems?

Strong related: Android Folder Hierarchy.

In general, a clear AOSP Android contains these physical partitions: Boot, Cache, Data, Recovery, System, Vendor and dozens of mount points more (linux style). I suggest everyone interested start reading about Android drive structure on XDA:  https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/info-android-device-partitions-basic-t3586565

The list certainly differs between devices, and thus no exhaustive list can be provided.
For most if not all devices, there is no need to backup partitions other than system (system), data (user data), boot (kernel) and vendor (for Treble devices, a separate vendor stores hardware drivers, etc.).
Many of those extra partitions are not user-accessible and/or store data for non-OS components (e.g. modem for baseband, logo for 1st splash logo on boot), and no procedure would touch them in daily use other than system updates. On top of that, without root access you will not be able to perform full backup/restore even on data.
Currently the common way of doing a full-enough backup is just backing up the ones listed in the backup menu from TWRP, which already covers more than just "system with data" as you required. Depending on the maintainer/builder of the TWRP in use, other partitions might also be available for backup/restore, though for the reason above there's no point in doing so (and is why most TWRP builds choose to hide them).

I'm afraid TWRP backup excludes /data/media, thus it is not full data backup. https://twrp.me/faq/backupexclusions.html

True, I guess as seasoned ROM flashers we tend to just take "data" as /data. What prevents you from just copying it out though?

I thought about simple e.g. "adb copy/paste (/system, /data) /path" command. I don't know if it would be achievable, though. I'm not familiar with adb and its reliability. Someone, give me complete instructions and specific adb commands to perform copy/overwrite, please. I bet there will be a hundred obstacles.

It'd be some serious loophole if it were as easy as that. Closest I know is using dd to dump/write individual partitions, but I remember seeing some examples that using this doesn't always work (might result in bricked device). Besides, this doesn't help with backing up internal storage either.


text:
Speed of WiFi file transfer from PC to phone
I have WiFi router set up. Both my phone and Windows PC connects to the same WiFi. So I tried ES File Explorer to copy shared folders from my Windows PC to my mobile.
However transfer speed goes as high as 570 KB/s but not more than that. Since I configured my WiFi router to allow speed as high as 300 Mbps I am guessing why it cant hit the Mbps speeds. What can I do improve on my speed since I move movies worth in GBs and it takes almost an hour or more. Is it limited by the speed of the mobile and its internals?

Have you checked the connection speed of both in your router? Maybe one of the two is not connected at "full speed". Also consider that CIFS overhead eats some of the theoretical possible throughput.

what about FTP or HTTP transfers?

Your phone seems to be a bit older as it runs Android 2.3 - therefore I assume it does not support any faster WLAN connection than 54MBit.
Hence the theoretical maximum would be 54MBit = 6.75 MByte/sec but only if you have just a router and a phone. With your PC in the network each device gets less than that.
Depending on the network protocol used you also lose a lot of speed. SMB/CIFS as used by Windows shares is very ineffective. Better use FTP protocol and suitable client for the best speed.
If that does not improve the performance I would suggest using an sd-card in and sd-card reader directly attached via USB 2.0 to your PC.

Well about the phone, its not from a big vendor but quite a local one. Its Karboon A5+. It has 1GHz processor and somewhat ~430MB RAM. I did bought it 5 months ago and it was new model then though cheaper one.
About using SD card reader, am afraid it will damage my expensive microSD, I bought class 10, 32 GB SanDisk.
Exactly which parameters I can look for to determine max Wifi transfer speed supported by my phone.

Sorry but you are totally wrong. A SD-card reader does not damage anything as long as you handle the SD-card carefully.

I have the same issue on Google Nexus 10. And I've recently find out that this happens only in ES File Explorer. I've downloaded movie using Google Chrome and the speed was 7 000 kbps, but the same file from the same site through ES Exp - < 500 kbps...


text:
How to free up space to install apps?
After installing a 32 GB SD card, having trouble installing apps.  Because the OS is 5.x and not upgradable then adoptable storage isn't an option.
How can I install apps when the system reports insufficient free space?  Every app I've downloaded has been moved to SD card, yet, the prompt is to uninstall these apps.  To reiterate, every app which I'm being prompted to uninstall has already been moved to external storage.
Seems a conundrum.

After resetting to factory default I then installed Disk Analysis for defrag on the system storage.

You don't defrag solid state storage... it just wears on the chip which has limited write cycles. Even when apps are "moved" to external storage, only a portion of that data is actually moved. Before an app can be moved, it must be installed on the internal storage first, that is why the OS is telling you that you have insufficient space. A third party tool is normally not necessary, use Settings - Storage to see what is using space and uninstall, delete, or move the files to free up space.

Also, force stop those system apps which you don't use and uninstall updates for them. They will free up some space

You can move the app to the sd-card, however the OAT files (the ART compiled code that is actually been executed) will still be placed on the user partition. Therefore deleting unused apps is the the best option.

If you have root, just disable internal memory and use SDCard as internal memory. It's a bit hacking stuff but simple. I use a 64GB SDCard as internal memory on an older phone with 16GB eMMC.


text:
Huawei Ascend P7: "Log In WiFi Network", but WiFi works well, and a very strange issue
I have a problem with my Huawei Ascend P7
The cell phone connects perfectly to WiFi but I have several problems related to this:

Repeatedly asks me to "Log in WiFi network".
Certainly, it connects to the internet, but only for a few moments, the speed
of the connection goes down until it is constantly lost (for long periods of
time).

EDIT: Well, I tried connecting in my cousin's WiFi and worked, now I
  know that the issue happens only in my WiFi

Important data:

This problem does not happen when I connect to a HotSpot, or a public network
(which asks me to login)
My router works perfectly.
Update the ROM (officially) to Lollipop 5.1.1

"Strange" things that happen in this case

The notification of "start session in wifi network" appears for a few seconds, and then disappears.

Once I was able to open the notification, I could even "log in" to my Wi-Fi
       network with Google Sites, but nothing happened

The problem suddenly appeared, I do not know when it happened.

I tried:

Change to static IP.
Check the "Wireless" section of my router
Reset my phone.
Wipe data

I hope to find help to solve this problem, this is the only phone that I will have for a long time (that's why I updated it)
Of course, thank you.

Check to see if wifi service is actually an app called tispy ..
It hides under the name wifi service


text:
Adb says "Error: Device offline" everytime
Please see this question for background information.
Problem:
Whenever I run adb devices it says Error: device offline - This appears even when no device is connected at all. It won't even let me start the adb server. Therefore solutions like "run adb kill-server first" won't have any affect.
Things to note:

This is adb on another android device. I can not "re-install the android SDK platform" or something like that. It took me a long while to find the ARM binary for adb that works.
From googling around, I suspect it might be that the adb binary is outdated, however it seemed to work recently for other people on XDA-devs. If anyone can provide me with a newer version of adb as a binary that will run on an ARM platform (android), I'd be happy to try it out.
Yes, I do run adb as superuser (root). Other commands (like adb --help work).

The tablet runs android 4. The phone runs android 7 but that shouldn't matter since even without anything connected I can't even start the adb server on the tablet.

Edit: Using the adb binary from here solved the error, but presents me with this now:
# adb devices
List of devices attached
* daemon not running. starting it now at tcp:5038 *
* daemon started successfully *
** daemon still not running
error: cannot connect to daemon at tcp:5038: Success

Please clarify. If you already have gained root access, why are you bothering with adb at all? You can use dumpsys command on that tablet using root, save the output and upload or share it with other device. // BTW, You can use adb.bin from here. Use Termux app and install busybox in there. Afterwards, copy adb.bin in its HOME directory, set executable bit on the binary and then run it.

I need to use dumpsys on my phone (which I can't root), that's why I need an adb host. I sadly don't have a PC at the moment. I'm going to try your latter steps now.

Did you give RSA authentication to it? Offline is shown often when device is found but not authenticated.

I couldn't get to that point yet. It shows that error even when nothing is connected and it doesn't even start the adb server. Trying what you suggested now. Can you tell me how to install busybox in termux? Online sites say it's already included and I already have regular busybox installed, is that enough?

Run pkg install busybox in Termux. BTW, you can use adb.bin from here as well. https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/adb-Installer/tree/master/bin (Use adb.bin not adb binary, if you must)

@Firelord Termux on f-droid says I need at least android 5.0 - Is there another version that runs on android 4? (I'm not using play store) Should I try running the adb binary you sent me using connectbot or do I specifically need termux?

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


text:
How to restore app data backups like logging in to a new device?
Basically, I have lost 60% of all my events in google calendar on both desktop and on android. I know there is a backup of the android app data from yesterday which should hopefully contain the events, how can I restore this backup from google drive?

Even if the Google calendar is included in the backup you may face two problems: 1. app backups don't have to include all the data - the developer can specify which data to backup and which not. As the google calendar data are just a local copy it may be excluded from the backup. 2. even if you manager to restore the app backup the data from the server is newer and will override the restored data.


text:
What are the Wi-Fi disconnect reasons on adb dumpsys wifi?
adb dumpsys wifi gives me, among many others, lines like this:
Event [IFNAME=wlan0 CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=X reason=7]

What does reason=7 mean? What other reasons are there?
If this applies to Android aswell (I guess so since Android does use wpa_supplicant), reason 7 would translate to "Class 3 frame received from nonassociated STA" - Now what does that mean?
(I'm trying to debug WiFi disconnects that shouldn't happen.)

Have you considered that this is a Wifi deauthentication attack? AFAIK in such an attack you will encounter a lot of those messages. See also this paper which describes the attack.

@Robert While researching this issue, I saw something related on serverfault... It's not impossible, but highly unlikely. This WiFi is part of a business that has two APs - One is open for customers, one is locked for employees. The device connects to the locked one. This doesn't happen often by the way, 1-2 times a day (at most), hours apart.

@Robert Cool thing. Didn't know that exists. While I sitll find this highly unlikely in the place the AP is. Let's say this did happen - Is there any way I can set up Android so that my phone will automatically re-connect again?

@Robert Is there really no way to simply have the phone re-connect again? I don't mind the deauth itself, nor a few seconds or even minutes without Wi-Fi, but any sort of automated re-connect attempt would be great. I do have root access on the phone. (Android 5, by the way)

@Robert I've opened a new question to keep this one about finding the cause and fixing the issue itself, and the new one about re-connecting.

Most likely your problems are caused by one or more attackers performing the Wifi deauthentication attack. Due to a weakness in the Wifi WPA2 protocol it allows to deauthenticate any client ("kick" it out of the Wifi it is connected to).
There are even tiny portable deauther devices  which can deauthenticate any client in Wifi range. It does not matter if the Wifi is open or protected by a passphrase. Even if the Wifi is visible or hidden (hidden BSSID) is irrelevant for this attack.
May be some attacker using a deauther is driving by (car, bus, ...) and every time your device gets disconnected.
The only counter measure to prevent such attacks is the new WPA3 protocol which is supported since Android 10. To use it support for WPA3 has to be present in the Wifi AP and the Android device.


text:
Is there a way to run adb as host on android without root?
I have an android phone and an android tablet. Both not rooted. I want to use adb as host on the tablet and as client on the phone, using an USB-OTG adapter.
I downloaded connectbot as terminal emulator on the tablet. I also downloaded the ARM binary for adb onto the tablet. However I'm getting the following error when I try to execute the binary:
user@tablet:/storage/sdcard0/download $ ./adb-arm-binary.bin devices
/system/bin/sh: ./adb-arm-binary.bin: can't execute: Permission denied

Is there anyway to get ADB as a host to run on an android 4.4.2 tablet without root?
OR: Is there any way to root said tablet without a PC?
The whole reason I need this is because I need to access dumpsys logs from the phone but I do not have a PC or laptop. A way to get dumpsys logs directly on the phone without root would suffice too, but AFAIK dumpsys is impossible to access for non-system application.

if somebody wants to root their phone, they'd use adb and run various commands, so no you don't need root to use adb. I can't comment much on the rest.  But, you can download a terminal app and run linux commands like ls, see how far you can see without 'root', you may need to 'root' your phone, to see what you want to see, I don't know. You won't need a PC or adb to download a terminal app and ls and look around and see limitations e.g. try cd / see if it works

It's trickier than that. I need root to run adb as a host on android. I can't use a terminal app on the phone because they don't have the permission to use dumpsys, only system apps do. I need root to make an app a system app.

Just tried on my own device; dumpsys works as long as the app has root, no system application required. The permission problem is, the entire sdcard is mounted so that nothing on it is executable, so you can't run any binary from it.

Thanks for that info, I only got my information from google and XDA-devs. Sadly, I don't have root on that phone. It's a motorola E4 by the way. AFAIK no way to root it without a computer.

Which tablet is this?

See if this method works for rooting. I would be surprised if it does but give it a try please. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71218028&postcount=2

I actually got root using kingroot. Right now I'm trying to figure out another problem. I placed the binary for adb in /system/bin and chmod 755'd it. /system was mounted as rw. That did work and ls -l /system/bin/adb shows that it's there with correct permissions (everything done on tablet ofc) but when I try to run it adb or /system/bin/adb it says File not found. (Trying to run it as root). which adb also reports File not found. I'm not sure whether to make a new question or edit this one or what is even causing this or I dont know......

Ask a new question please and self-answer this one on how you rooted your Android device.

@Firelord I will post some comments from OP here on the wrong thing that rostami posted 'cos it had some info .  "It is possible to create adb connections from android to android via USB-OTG, but it seems to require root on the host side. Is there a way to root a motorola E4 or an astar y3 without a computer? "   I can't retrieve other comments

@Firelord  yeah a new q, but with a note on this one that there is an issue he faced  that might be connected to rooting it that way.

I won't be able to test it until tomorrow, but once I did I will either self-answer if it worked or open a new question with a link back to this one if it doesn't, and self-answer this one with rooting instructions that worked for me.

It's possible to do this without root, there are multiple solutions, such as using an app(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.sisik.hackendebug) or using it through WebUSB https://webadb.com through Chrome(you need to have relatively recent versions though)

Alright, I got it to work, here is what I did:
1. Rooted the tablet
I was able to use kingroot to root the tablet.
2. Install adb on the tablet
I basically followed these instructions, however the files in the OP there are outdated and not downloadable anymore. So I used a file someone posted much later in that thread, this file seems outdated though, but I'm unsure about that and will open a new question about that.

Downloaded the adb.bin file on the tablet (in /storage/sdcard0/Download)
Downloaded Connectbot from f-droid and setup a local shell connection to the tablet
Ran the following commands (everything after (including) the # is just a comment)

su # gain root priviledges
cd /storage/sdcard0/Download # change working directory to download folder
mount -o remount,rw /system # re-mount /system partition so we can write on it
cp adb.bin /system/bin/adb # copy it to bin folder so it's accessible as a command
chmod 755 /system/bin/adb # make it executable

Rebooted tablet

3. Enjoy adb as host on android!
This worked for me and got me an executable adb running. I still can't connect to my phone but since this is another issue I opened a new question.

Previously  root may be the only option to use an Android device as an ADB host. However, there are applications that allow us to do this without root now.
You can achieve this through ADB through WebUSB.
Chrome (including Chrome Android) supports WebUSB, which is a protocol for websites to access USB devices.
Note: I'm not the creator of this platform.
Make sure you're using Chrome, if not this wouldn't work.

Go to https://webadb.com
Click "Start"
Click "Add device" in the side menu

Connect to your device

Press the "Connect" button next to the "Add device" button.
Allow the ADB prompt on your client device
Press interactive shell at the left sidebar.

Enjoy your ADB access!
Edit: I found an ad-free version here:
https://yume-chan.github.io/ya-webadb/


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Ext4 partition clockworkmod recovery backup
Successfully installed CM7 on ZTE Blade and simple2ext (S2E) made me excited.
I've partitioned my SD in CWM recovery and I guess it was Ext3 partition.
But one thing was mistake. I have checked in S2E checkbox says mount sd-ext partition as Ext4 and everything was okay until I wanted to make backup from recovery.
All part passed succesfully but /sd-ext and I've googled this thread says:

"clockworkmod doesn't support ext4 on the blade. ext3 works."

Unticking that checkbox makes all unworkable.
What can I do now to make ext-partition to ext3 back and backup it succesfully by recovery?
At this moment I want to make wipe or hard or factory reset to check something with clean android installation and then go back to my phone's current state.
Maybe it's no need to make partition from ext4 to be ext3?
ROM: CyanogenMod-7.2.0-RC1-blade-KANG (2.3.7 by BurgerZ)
Kernel: 2.6.35.7-perf+

Not a specific Android question (rather file-system specific) -- but in short: That seems to be a no-go. See Convert an ext4 partition to ext3 without formatting the HDD at Server Fault. PS: You might want to flag your question for migration to serverfault.

Think you should be asking that specific question over on modaco under ROMs & ROM Customization

thank you all for the replies. I gone by longest way and all is okay now. It's not convenient way to tell it here. But thank you for trying to help me.

If you have TWRP recovery for your device, try replacing CWM with it. It supports ext4.

Most secure way:

Backup all apps with their data with TitaniumBackup. Backup all data from sdcard.
Delete some apps to free space on device's memory.
Check if all transfer-checkboxes in s2e are available now. If not - free up some more space.
Transfer ALL apps, data etc back to device's memory in s2e.
Format sdcard again with setting sd-ext partition size bigger or equal than current.
Restore all data to sdcard.
Reconfigure s2e WITHOUT ticking "mount as ext4" option!
Restore all apps in TitaniumBackup.

Please, be very careful. I'm not responding for any damage or data loss.
Please, correct me if something missed or excess here.


text:
Will Rooting android give me access to Google Play?
If I were to get an android tablet that uses an app market like GetJar, would rooting it allow me to use the google play store?
I want to get a Android Hipstreet Flare, but I am hesitant because it uses GetJar.
If I'm going to dive in to the android world, I want to be able to use the legit app store.

When your Android device is rooted, you should be able to flash images. There is a "gapps" package that contains the Google applications (like Gmail, ...) that is delivered with most AOSP roms, so you can flash that through recovery.
If I'm not mistaken, this enables the Google Play Store on the given rom. I think the gapps package must be (somewhat) compatible with the rom it's being flashed on.
There are also separate apk files that you can install directly (without flashing), though I have no experience with those. And again, they probably must be compatible with the rom you're currently running.
Please refer to xda-developers.com for more information.


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After upgrade to 4.2.1 how to get "settings" and "screen lock" back in pull down menu?
After upgrading my Nexus 7 to 4.2.1, which was an adventure in itself, I noticed that in the pull down menu at the top of the screen (notification bar), where you get to see notifications about updated programs or even available updates, I don't see the icon for "settings" and for the screen lock (so it doesn't readjust when I tilt the screen) anymore. Up to now I was able to use this as a convenient and quick shortcut to go into the settings. Do I now have to pin it to my dock or the home screen in order to have a quick way to access the settings?
How can I get this back in Android 4.2.1, or was this functionality completely stripped from the new release?

Swiping down on the left side of the screen should bring down the notification window shade and swiping down on the right side of the screen should bring down the new "quick settings" window shade which has the settings icon and some other handy settings easily available. As far as the screen adjusting, this is known as auto-rotate and can be changed in the quick settings as well (Shown below).
Notification Shade:

Quick Settings Shade:

Oh, so it does. Thanks for the advice. This will take some getting used to, but it's exactly what I wanted.


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Confused about Nexus 7 failing system update to 4.2
During the day today, I got the notification about the available system update to 4.2. SO I confirmed it after ensuring that SuperSU was set to "survival mode" and then it looked like it was actually doing the update. However, when I now check the system version it states 4.1.2 just like it did before. I also rebooted once more in between just in case something wasn't complete or so.
Any ideas? How can I force the update through. There was no indication that anything went wrong during the update, yet I am stuck at 4.1.2 and checking for available updates shows none.
Note: I have encrypted the contents of the tablet (standard option). Can that be an issue here?

I managed to work it out with the Nexus Root Toolkit in the end. However, I didn't get around scrapping the existing contents this way. So what I did was to back up all my data and applications and then flash a new stock ROM (4.2.1). This worked fine, but it means I needed to re-encrypt the device and restore from the backup whatever I wanted.
So it was more tedious than expected, but well worth it in hindsight. Especially the multi-user system is worth it for me.

Had the same problem. Fixed by full reset and manual flash by fastboot, but all data need to backed up and restored.
Don't flash system partition only, or you will get bootloop!
There's not caused by encription, but maybe by SuperSU (not tested, because of rooting-unrootng for me was need more time, than clean install and configure for 2 users).
P.S. And get ready, what some apps not working with secondary users - I have crashes with Tapatalk, for example...

I'm getting the same problem and have not encrypted my nexus 7's storage (but it is rooted). Any luck? I've attempted to update it several times with no success.
To reset the "check for updates" and allow you to attempt the update again, try the following:
In Settings > Apps > All (tab), search for Google Services Framework, clear it's data and kill it. Then go to Settings > About tablet > System Update, and it will find the update.


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How do I disable notifications for a second Gmail account?
I have two Gmail accounts, one that I use for mailing lists and signing up for online services and whatnot, and the other one for more important stuff like work and friends.
I'd like to set it up so that my phone doesn't play the notification sound when an email comes in for the mailing list account. I only want to hear notifications for the account that has the more important email.
I can't find any setting to differentiate notifications between the two accounts.
Is this possible, and if so how?

What version of Android? That might make a difference. Also, are you using the Gmail app or getting your Gmail messages with a different email app?

This is what I did in Android 4.1 and Gmail:

Open Gmail
Tap the Overflow menu (three vertical dots) and select Settings
Tap the account for which you don't want to get notifications
Uncheck the Notifications option

That should be all you need to do.

An Update for Android 12 or 13 Beta. Both versions were tested and confirmed.

Open Gmail App on your Android phone.

Choose the account to view.

At the top left there are 3 lines, tap the 3 lines.

Scroll down to Settings and tap Settings.

Choose the email you want to change.

Tap Notifications.

You have a choice of All, High Priority only, or None.

Once you make your choice, you're done and can back out of settings.


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No Zoom and Google Meet on Android 7/8 TV
I have Sony TV X82E 2017 model. Today MiTV Webcam got launched. It says in the specs that the webcam supports Android 8 and above which I think my TV has.
But when I tried to install Google Meet and Zoom from the Google Play TV store, it said that this was not available for this device. So there's no Google Meet and Zoom for my Android TV, then there is no point in buying this webcam.
Is there any way to get Google Meet and Zoom on my Android TV?

Have you tried to side-load those apps onto your TV? The Zoom app defines in it's AndroidManifest.xml that it uses the camera but it also says that a camera is not required (-> hence it is optional). A lot of apps are not available via Play Store because their developer simply have not tested it for AndroidTV compatibility.

Google Meet is a Google product. Is there a reason why Google Meet isn't available for the TV ?


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Find Exact Install Date of A FREE App From The PlayStore On A Older Phone
I'm looking to find the instillation date of an app I had on my old phone.
I've tried looking on the play store  here  however it only shows be previous paid purchases.
I've also tried using a android emulator on my pc to view Google Play Games achievements, as it appeared it used to show you the time those achievements are unlocked, however checking it now just shows the achievements and not the times.
EDIT: To clarify the app is no longer installed, hence all answers in the other question are worthless as this is not the same question, as these only answer the question to when the app was installed on the current device, not when they were installed on another phone but are still linked to the account.

See if this is what helps your case than: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/196543/96277

@Firelord thanks but that only works for a phone you still have access to, I'm looking to find it from googles own data.


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When Flashing Firmware, Do you need correct PDA, Etc
Please Help, I had a FPR lock and I removed it with a custom rom, I was following a tutorial and I needed a stock rom firmware for my model. I was reading something about you can get any Firmware but just need the right model, is that true . I'm not that good at phones and stuff so just look at this. On my custom rom this it what it comes up with
Model : SM-G930F
PDA : G930FXXU1APL3
Phone : G930FXXU1APJ1
H/W : MP.0700

you can download the firmware from its official website
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s7-edge/SM-G935F/

Hi. Thank you for finding time to contribute here. May I suggest you go through our [help/on-topic] to know what's  on-topic and off-topic here. The question concerned is an off-topic one and we do not encourage answering them, as they lead to waste of answerer's  time and deviates site's usefulness from its intended usage.

It's also important to note that the website you linked is not Samsung's official website. It's a third-party website hosting Samsung ROMs.

Good of you to link to those fucking scammers


text:
Prevent VPN disconnect
I installed DNS66 to use a custom hosts file to prevent access to certain websites. However it's easy to disconnect from it because a notification shows up permanently. I could use a blocking app to block access to the DNS66 app but I don't have a way to block access to the notification. Is there a way I can keep the VPN on permanently and make it difficult to disable?

Samsung S7 on Android 8.0.0

What android versions is in use? You should be able to hide the notifications entirely on newer versions by going to the Settings > Apps > DNS66.

The notification is from the system rather than the app itself. I've added deatils about the is.


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New SD card and won't let me transfer apps
Bought a new SD card to use on my Samsung Galaxy Emerge and formatted it. I was able to transfer videos and music and I have 28GB free storage left  but when I try to transfer apps it comes up as not enough room. How do I fix this problem?

Provide screenshots.

I assume you mean "install apps" not "transfer apps". In this case the SD-Card is of little to no use as apps are not installed to the sd-card. See insufficient-memory wiki.

The apps can only be accessed on the device that SD card was in when apps were saved onto card.

Not so. One can access that specific "hidden folder" on any Linux machine that can mount the card. So if you want to switch to a new card, simply switch off the device, take out the card, use a Linux machine to copy all contents to the new card, put that new card into the device, boot it up again. The only possible hinderance (except from a broken card) would be if you encrypted the card – no idea if that would work then.


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Persistent Problem: Internet may not be available
I have a J7 (SM-J730F/DS) and noticed a while back that I can connect to WiFi but that on some networks I got the message "Internet may not be available" .... and it wasn't. This message started to appear more and more frequently and on a trip last week I could not connect to any airport, hotel or other WiFi network, with the exception of 1 network at the conference center. Upon return home, I now also get the message at home and at work. Using data roaming to get on the net is not a  problem.
I searched the web and found a number of potential fixes. I did the following:

Reboot (didn't solve it)
Forget network, then retry (didn't solve it)
Switch to static IP (didn't solve it)
Changed time/date and then back (didn't solve it)
Cleared Cache Partition (did't solve it)
Factory reset (didn't solve it)

I'm now out of ideas. Anyone any suggestions?
Thanks.

Turn off automatic updates. Google Play throttles the network.

That seems more like a comment, especially because it appears to be a wild suggestion instead of a carefully considered solution. Can you tell us how automatic updates from Google Play are linked to the problem?

Honestly, this is a bold (and scary) statement if Google Play indeed throttles the network (why, though?). We need more credible references for such a bold statement like this.

What are you saying? Of course they throttle it. All isps throttle requests when overloaded. It's just server and bandwidth management.
As to references, I'm simply commenting on my experience. Almost every time I update an app larger then 30mb, the network drops out. It only happens on Google Play.


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How to always show the status bar?
All is in the title: I want to always show the status bar, even in fullscreen mode (basically, I want a deactivation of the fullscreen mode). Ideally, I would like to display it in portrait mode when I am holding my phone in landscape mode.
The reason is because I have a notch and I do not like it visually, so I would like to use it as a permanent status bar.
I searched on the Internet, in the play store, but I found nothing so far.
For information, I am using the oneplus 6 with android 9.
I read this question: Always Show Navigation Bar Nougat / Disable Immersive Mode but it is about an older version of android.
EDIT: the latest Android version (10) made it worse. Now this isn't even possible to keep the bar black.

https://9to5google.com/2018/03/07/how-to-simulate-display-cutout-notch-android-p-developer-preview-1-android-basics/ Is this settings helped you?

@RahulGopi This article explains how a developer can simulate a notch.

"I would like to display it in portrait mode when I am holding my phone in landscape mode." - that would require a massive rework of how the statusbar / notification panel works, since the panel will now have to come out from the side of the screen. As for disabling immersive mode permanently, I'm sure it can be achieved by moderately modifying Android source, but for a built ROM, if even Xposed can't get it done, then I guess there's no way out.

For information, there is no standard way to even keep the bar black on the current android version. For people like I who do not want to see the notch, the "Nacho Notch" is a good app!


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Getting rid of "Tethering Detected" popup on Android ICS 4.0?
I just got a Samsung Galaxy S3 that runs Android ICS 4.0.8. When I connect the Galaxy S3 to my Mac laptop and use PDAnet to tether, I often get this popup on the Galaxy S3 screen:

Tethering via PDAnet works great, but the popup can get annoying. I can close the popup, but it comes back a few seconds later.
How can I get rid of this popup permanently?

I suspect its some crapware your provider put on there.

This to me looks like something your provider has added in to stop you getting free tethering on your data plan.
If you are rooted (which I assume you are as you are using a tethering app), then you can attempt to freeze the app that is responsible for this, using an app freezer such as App Quarantine ROOT.
If it isn't an app, then it may be part of the ROM directly, in which case you would have to install a custom ROM such as CyanogenMod. You should look at forums such as XDA-Developers to find a ROM for your device.
Using a custom ROM will definitely remove the message.

In the end, I rooted the phone and installed the Cyanogenmod distribution in place of the cell phone carrier's OS. :)


text:
Hardware ID missing on Galaxy S3 after Windows update
A few days ago I accepted Windows Update's Samsung drivers for Galaxy S3 running rooted Jelly Bean. It worked fine as USB MTP device until then.
Now, every time I connect the USB cable I get the error "Hardware ID missing. Contact manufacturer..." and I can't see my device's file system.
Switching to PTP or enabling Debug doesn't work.
How to fix it?

Make sure your device is connected. Open Device Manager. In USB Devices, find a SAMSUNG composite device (can't capture a screenshot because it goes away).
Right click, choose Uninstall and make sure to check "get rid of that sheet of driver software"... Well... I mean "delete driver software too".
Disconnect and reconnect USB, or clik Detect Devices button

Windows detects the phone and installs the plain old MTP driver.
Optional step: report to Samsung
Optional step 2: upvote :)

lol @ Optional Step 2!  +1 from me :)

Community wikis can't be upvoted :)

Nah... If they can't be upvoted, my +1 will be invisible LOL


text:
Can I prevent the Android 2.2 browser from inserting "www" at the beginning of URLS?
I'm loving my Android phone (Incredible) but I cannot stand when the browser automatically inserts "www" at the beginning of any URL I'm trying to type. I am a web developer and work a lot with sub domains (not to mention blind usage of "www" is bad practice) and it gets frustrating.
Any ideas?

Then how would you know that you are on the world wide web?

I have never seen this behavior.  It must be Incredible-specific.

Is it entering it as you type or after you hit Go?  It is also helpful to mention what browser you are using when you see this behavior.  The Dolphin Browser HD doesn't do this to me however certain sites automatically redirect to the www. when no subdomain is submitted.  This is controlled at the site level by any url rewrite rules they have.

@Matt: He does say that he's using the Android browser. I've not seen this behavior either.

@Joel, I don't have this problem here either (Android 2.2 on HTC EVO).  Is it simply remembering a previous URL?

@Al: where does he say that?

"Can I prevent the Android 2.2 browser..." I definitely could've been clearer, sorry!
Thanks for the answers, guys!

It seems to be specific to the HTC Droid Incredible. When I first tried to search from the stock browser, I'd get an error page (I didn't notice the "http://www"). So I asked this question which gave some options in the form of browsers which are ready for search queries. (It turns out you can search from the stock browser once you delete the "http://www")
You may want to use another browser. In the Dolphin HD browser for example, the "www" isn't there so typing "android.stackexchange.com" works fine.

On the HTC Desire HD (2.2, standard browser), the behaviour when you tap in the address bar appears to be:

If the URL currently in the address bar already starts with www. then everything after the www. is auto-selected, meaning that whatever you type will replace it, leaving the www. in place.
If the URL currently in the address bar doesn't start with www. then the full URL (everything following http://) is selected, meaning that what you type will form the full URL.

I can't find a way of disabling this, and quite regularly end up trying to go to www.www.google.com.

I don't have my phone here to try ... but can it be a specific keyboard which is selected ( and where words are automatically inserted ). F.i. using SWYPE and having word prediction on ?

Two things to try:

Delete everything from the url textbox and enter the url, for example "android.stackexchange.com"
Remove the www. part and enter the rest of the url behind http://.

Both of these methods work on my Droid Incredible running stock 2.2 (rooted)

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


text:
How do I set the Home Time Zone that shows up on the Dual Clock?
I'm currently traveling with my phone, and my lock screen shows a dual clock with Roaming and Home times. Which is very useful!
Except the Home time is actually from the timezone I originally registered the clock in, NOT the one where I currently live - I've moved timezones since I bought it.
Is there any way to set the Home timezone to where I actually live while keeping the dual clock?
I'm on a Samsung Galaxy S7 with Android 6.0.1

And of course right after I finished writing this question, I figured out the answer. Go to Settings, Lock Screen and Security, Info and App Shortcuts, Dual Clock, and that has a "set home timezone" option. It would've made more sense to put it somewhere in the "Time and Date" Settings section, but oh well.

Of course. Setting the time is under "lock screen"... face palm

On 7.1.1 settings, lock screen and security, information and face widgets, roaming clock, set your home time zone, along with the roaming clock on.

On Android 13, on Samsung Note 10, it is

Setup
Lock Screen
Roaming Clock
Home Time Zone


text:
How to remove device from Google?
I have given away one of my devices, I'd like to remove it from my Google account entirely. It seems, there is no longer a way to do this (which, if true, probably breaks GDPR).
I'm aware I can "hide" the device at https://play.google.com/settings/ by unchecking "Show in menus" but I actually want to remove the device from my account entirely.
Edit: I'm also aware I can remove the device from Recent Devices at https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity, to prevent that device from accessing the Google account. The device is already not in that list. This does not remove the device from all of Google's databases, as it still exists in Google Play, for example.
I've checked https://www.google.com/apps/mydevices/b/0 which used to be the place to do this, but it no longer works, and there is notice to use https://www.google.com/android/find However, that does not provide an option to remove the device from your account - only to erase it etc.
Any idea how to remove a device, or contact Google to remove a device?

Log into your account and click this
https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity
Source
It works for me. I don't think GDPR
 should make a difference, else that would have been widely reported

(Click to enlarge)

The device I want to remove isn't in that list, but is in the list at https://play.google.com/settings/ Furthermore, removing any other device from that list, also doesn't make it disappear from the list at  https://play.google.com/settings/ So it appears they're not connected. Seems like devices that have access to your account vs devices listed on your account are different things in Google's eyes.

updated answer from horse's mouth (google) so that there is no doubt (see source linked)

That link just removes it from device activity, hence /device-activity in the URL, and the title on the page "Recently used devices". It removes that device's access to the Google account, it does not actually remove the entire device from all of Google's databases, as it still exists in Google Play, maybe other places. My question is not specific to Google Play, but that's certainly one area I can still see my device. I do not simply want to remove the device from recent devices, if I did, I would have asked that, I want to remove it from everywhere.

It's also pretty clear I didn't mean just Google Play, because I can also see the device at https://www.google.com/android/find


text:
Why do everytime I move a picture to a certain album, it always appears on top of the photos on an app like Instagram or LINE?
For example, I move a picture that I downloaded some times ago, from the "Download" album to "References" album, so it's not the latest photo I have. Then when I open Instagram to upload a picture, the picture I mentioned before is on the top of all photos, meanwhile usually the ones which are on the top should be the recent photos, right? My phone is Vivo V9. How should I fix that? Thank you.

When you move files from one folder to other it changes date and time of a file when it was moved and I think there is no way to fix this


text:
Google Play Authenticate to complete purchase, multiple accounts
I'm using a device running Android 8.1. I'm trying to complete a purchase using Google Play where I'm facing a problem while authenticating myself after I selected my payment method. I have 4 Google accounts linked to my device. I wish to use my primary Google account to authenticate myself, yet the Google Play application picks the account I've added most recently (which is my dads').
For a few hours today and last night I have searched the internet and the settings of my phone trying to find out how I can change the account that Google Play requires me to authenticate with, but I couldn't find a solution.
Now I do have the password of the Google account that Google Play prompts me to use (because my dad gave it to me), but I do not want to use that account to authenticate as I want the purcahse to be logged/added to my own (primary) Google account.
How can I modify the behavior of Google Play so that I can choose what account is used to authenticate whilst completing a purchase?

After some searching through the Github issues I found this issue regarding in-app purchases using Android/Google Play. Neto Martin, developer at Google, states the following regarding multi accounts in combination with the in-app purchases:

The purchases are always related to the user that was selected on Play Store app when you installed the app.
  So, if an user A installs the app, all purchases will be done on it's account, even if you have the account selector in your app.

Knowing this I knew the only solution for my problem was to reinstall the app (which was my last resort as I would lose some data), making sure my primary Google account was selected, which fixed the issue for me, the app now prompts me to authenticate using my primary Google account.


text:
Why does my screen still turn off while charging?

Possible Duplicate:
Where is “Stay Awake” option in Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy S3?

I used to have an HTC Evo Shift. If I plugged it into a power cord, the screen would stay on until I explicitly pushed the power button. Now, I have a Samsung Galaxy S III. The screen turns off after a certain timeout regardless of whether it is plugged in. There is an option to change the timeout, but I would rather not be switching it all the time based on whether I have it plugged in. Is there an option I am missing?

Stock Samsung devices with TouchWiz (Samsung's version of Android) do not have this option to Stay Awake, and it is a good thing they don't. especially when they use the Super AMOLED screens. The image can burn in to the screen very quickly.


text:
Difference between ways of rooting device

Possible Duplicate:
Why can't the su binary simply be copied (techical response please)

What is the difference between flashing device with root ROM and simple pushing su utility to device using adb without flashing it?
If I don't need to launch applications which need a root functionality, but just need to relocate some files in android file system, using su, do I need to flash my device?

In my understanding, the end result is the same in both cases, it's just the rooting methods that differ. Some devices have vulnerabilities that can be exploited in order to push the su binary to the device via adb (example), but these do not exist in all devices. This is why flashing is required sometimes.
TL;DR: It depends on your device.

Correct me if I wrong. Flashing device, you change it's file system and inflate it with some new system tools such as su?

Yes, you basically copy the su binary straight to the file system with the correct permissions, bypassing Android's file system security.


text:
Is there are a way to change Android's default screen orientation?
I have a general purpose Android computer that has no sensors.  It requires an external monitor to view output via HDMI.  It always displays in landscape unless the app running specifies portrait.

The screen PHYSICALLY needs to be displayed in portrait.
The OS always displays in landscape, unless an app overrides orientation.
How to change the default (currently landscape) orientation to portrait in the OS?

Is there a setting in Android that determines default orientation or does this require a hack?  I have root access.

Run this from adb shell or from a root terminal:
content insert --uri content://settings/system --bind name:s:user_rotation --bind value:i:0

Change the value to 1 if you want to go back to Landscape (2 and 3 also work for upside-down portrait and reverse landscape).

Confirmed to work, but does not require root (at least on Lollipop). Make sure the app supports portrait mode and remember to disable automatic screen orientation.

@GiantTree I've clarified; Terminal Emulator on my device requires root because it does not request ACCESS_CONTENT_PROVIDERS_EXTERNALLY.

ADB has extensive permissions because of the context it is running in (userid 2000). It can be treated like a system app with just debugging permissions (like ACCESS_CONTENT_PROVIDERS_EXTERNALLY).

For me, this is not persistent on Android 13. When running the command, the device rotates. When I lock/turn off the screen by pressing the power button and unlock it again, screen orientation is back to "normal". Automatic screen rotation is turned off.

There's an app called Set Orientation which looks like it does what you need:

Set Orientation allows you to force your device into a particular screen orientation.

Screenshots of Set Orientation (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
As the screenshots show, this app let's you override the sensors (which you don't have) and tell the system which way your screen is oriented.
Update: the app was unlisted from Play, but you can find some alternatives here.

That's an interesting option, but no third party apps are allowed in the environment.  This is going into an industrial application.

Sorry for that. But maybe you could get in contact with the dev to see if there's another way to trigger that?

How does this app work? Looking at the permissions, it has permission to draw on top.

@androiddeveloper I have no idea about the underlying functionality, never used the app myself – so sorry, I cannot detail on that. Neither do I know what for it might need the "draw on top" permission. Though the screenshots give a clue: What you see in background is the launcher, but in foreground are the dialogs of the app. So apparently it draws its dialogs "on top" of whatever app is running.

@Izzy The dialog can simply have a transparent background around it. Disabling this permission still shows the dialog, and yet the app doesn't really do its job. I suspect they show an on top UI with just one transparent pixel "seen" (so that it won't be noticed), and do something about the orientation.

In Settings -> Accessibility -> Auto-rotate screen, there is an option that is stronger than the display options.

On Android 6+:

Check "Auto Orientation"
Select the desired orientation
Check "Lock Screen"
Deselect "Auto Orientation"
Close
Reboot to check

I tried this on two devices and was unable to make it work (both on 7.X). If this is a device specific answer, please include your make/model of device.