text:
Parental lock: use parental lock app on my profile, or use restricted profile, or use full account with parental lock app?
I want to use a single tablet for myself and the kids: 1 adult, a 6-year-old, and a 3-year-old. But whichever path I choose, I seem to run into problems. This is the only really related topic I found on this entire site, and it's 2½ years old and doesn't help me.
I have googled a lot but couldn't find a good resource to address this, so I'll try to summarize my options below. TLDR: What's the "best practice" for child-proofing a shared family tablet?
--> Which of these options is "best"? (use your personal interpretation of "good")
option 1: use my own profile + parental lock app
The tablet runs with my Google Account. I use this with many of my own apps and I certainly don't want the kids to mess with any of my apps. I installed the excellent parental-lock app "Kids Place" as well as a scheduler plugin to limit the time per day it will run.
Pros:

I can set up both kids inside the lock app, no further Android user accounts necessary.
I only need to install each app once.
I only need to pay for each app once!
The parental-lock app linked above is really sensible! (In particular: daily time limit, app selection, lock down the system)

Cons:

App data (game progress!) is shared among both kids and myself.

option 2: use restricted profile for each child
Pros:

Simple; no parental-lock app required.
Separate app data (game progress) for each profile.

Cons:

Restricted profiles are not good enough! Too many settings and features remain exposed. The entire "Settings" remains available, as well as lots of system things like Google Now. No time limiting available!
I need to install each app in each profile.
I need to pay for each app in each profile! WTF??
I can't turn a restricted profile into a full profile later on (when they grow old enough); would have to delete the profile and reinstall desired apps (losing all data).

option 3: use full profile for each child + parental lock app
Pros:

The parental-lock app linked above is really sensible!
Separate app data (game progress).
I can remove the parental-lock app, and they'll have a full account. Easy.

Cons:

I need to set up each kid's settings in their respective profile. Twice the work!
I need to install each app in each profile. Twice the work!
I need to pay for each app in each profile! (again, WTF??)

Most glaringly, I don't want to pay for any app several times over especially when it's all on the same device. And while Google's built-in restrictions are a good first step, they're really not enough. As I said, I can't believe nobody has asked or blogged about this yet - it must be a common challenge for parents?
No, I don't want to purchase a separate tablet for each person in the household. Even if I'd want to spend the money, I'd still be faced with most of the drawbacks listed above (but then it would make some sense to buy the same app several times; once per device).
So far, I'm going with option 1 simply because it's the least trouble and the drawback is the least painful to deal with. But I'm not happy with it - call me a perfectionist :-)

Update 2016-05-27:
As noted, I chose option 1, and it has served me fine. The tablet is locked with a pin code, and the parental lock app is also locked with a pin code. This works very reliably, and is really easy to handle. The one contra argument I listed still seems to be the only one, and it's not a real problem.
Incidentally, as it turns out, the tablet in question gets used very rarely - good thing we got a cheap one!

Which Android app and device are you using? Now, while I've never owned a tablet or used a restricted profile earlier, why can't you backup your paid app(s) and restore only the app (not its data) into restricted profiles? Is it not possible? // Are these profiles different from secondary users? // Is the device rooted? You can use some backup apps to restore your stuff without doing everything manually.

@Firelord, I'm using a 10" Alps TU-1491running Android 5.0 which is not rooted (and probably can't be)  so the idea about backing up the apps and restoring them elsewhere won't fly. "Profiles" are Android's term for what you call "secondary users." I linked the app in the text above; it's "Kids Place".

Any follow-up on this, Torben? Curious as to what you ended up doing as I'm facing the same issue.

Hi @eflat - I attempted all the listed options but gave up quickly, as option #1 seems to work just fine.

+1 I am one of the parents  with that problem  and just want to say thanks for this helpful article!!

@Bastl you are most welcome!


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Cannot get into recovery mode from boot-loop on BLU phone
I have BLU Life One X which is at 0% battery and in boot loop:

It shows 0%, then
"BLU/Bold Like Us", then
"Android is starting/optimizing app AAA of BBB", then cycles.

I tried to follow the instructions:

Pressed Power + Volume Up + Volume Down.
Got two teeny lines: Recovery Mode: Volume Up and Factory Mode: Volume Down.
No matter what I press, the screen goes dark and nothing happens.

What can I do now?

@esQmo: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/174514/48717

Bingo! Your phone has a Mediatek chipset (MediaTek MT6589 precisely), nothing is as easy as flashing an MTK device.
You just need a flasher and flashing files (ROM) and eventually have drivers installed.
[The process below is for Windows OS only]
Prerequisites:

Blu Life One firmware (ROM): Here (Requires to be registered to the site, takes less a minute) or here (Serous mobile phone forums).
SP Flashtool : Here (Grab the latest version, always stable)
MTK VCOM drivers: Here

Install the drivers. Otherwise your phone won't be detected by the computer.
Unzip the firmware (should be a .zip or .rar file).
Open SP Flashtool. Click on Scatter-Loading then browse to the folder that contains the firmware. You'll have a text file xxxxx-android-scatter, or similar. Select it.
SP Flashtool should load some files on the main interface. Uncheck the firmware field labelled: PRELOADER (very important), leave the other checked. It is sometimes recommended to only keep the field SYSTEM or ANDROID checked.
Now, click on the green arrow (Download) then connect your phone to the computer. Should be shut down with battery inside.
Windows should start installing drivers the the flashing process should start.
Wait until the end, a big green check-mark should pops.
Et voilà.
Please report any errors I'll try to help you.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

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Meaning of "Connected, no internet"
In Settings -> Wi-Fi, there's a connection listed that says "Connected, no internet".
What does it mean to be connected?  What does it mean for a device to be connected but without internet access?  I'm not trying to fix this state: my goal strictly is to find out more about it.

The status Connected, no Internet in Android's WiFi settings strictly means that:

You have a connection to the wireless access point and a valid IP configuration so connectivity to the local network is possible.
Your device has not (yet) established a connection to Google's connectivity check and thus determined that no internet connectivity available.

This does not mean that you don't have an internet connection, it just can't reach the Google servers (google.com/generate_204) to determine this.
This often appears shortly after connecting to a WiFi access point when the device is still checking the connectivity.
This can also appear if the network you are connected to is using a captive portal and you haven't authenticated with it, yet.
It is also possible that there isn't any internet connectivity on the WiFi AP, for instance when connecting to a drone or digital camera.

It can also occur when you have connected to a wifi access point that intentionally does not have internet, for example a parrot drone.

@shadow true, but then there would be no question as to why that WiFi AP had no internet.

Indeed - but I figured it was worth adding to your numbered list, for the sake of completeness.

@shadow you're right, I added this to my list.

What's "Google's connectivity check"? Does it ping something?

It sends an HTTP request to http://google.com/generate_204 to determine the full status (either connected, needs login or offline).

Connected generally means the devices in question have successfully established communication
between each other. In other words, they are able to sent data packets between each other.
Connected no internet means communication is established between the devices, but this communication is not established with other interconnection of "outside servers" (internet)
or outside world. In this way, data packets are still sent and received between devices and not "outside server".
One of the devices e.g router, mobile (mobile APNs) provide this gateway in order to allow sending and receiving of these packets to "outside servers".
Several factors prevent this connection to the "outside servers":

Firewall in one of the devices
Firewall by ISP
Blockage of the domain name system which translates host names to IP addresses
Invalid APNs
Incorrect DNS settings etc

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How to get rid of OTA software update notification?
I upgraded my Nexus 4 to Lollipop a few days ago but I don't like it. I'll leave out my reasons because they're not relevant here. I wiped my phone and installed a clean stock 4.2.2 version instead. I'm happy with this.
Not long after, Android automatically downloaded the 4.3 upgrade and notifies me with the choices "Later" and "Install". I don't want to do this upgrade.
How do I:

get rid of the notification, and
remove the downloaded update (to free up precious storage space).

I have already tried choosing "Later" but the same notification immediately reappears.
Based on Google search results, I also tried going to Settings > Apps > All > Google Services Framework and unticked "show notifications" but it still appears. Force stop or disable also doesn't seem to help, so I've re-enabled the service including notifications. I didn't see any other apps in this list that sounded relevant - did I just not see it?

Related: our ota-update tag-wiki / Is it possible to stop notifications of an OTA update? Guess you chose the wrong place to "disable notifications" – it should be Settings › Apps › All › Software Update according to the linked post. Does that work?

Thank you @Izzy - unfortunately there's no app named "Software Update". I have the list sorted alphabetically and there's nothing between "Skitch" and "Sound Recorder".

Might be named "slightly different" (manufacturers, you know – and you didn't name your device). I'd check all apps to see if there's something that might match. Have you? Maybe it's "OTA Updater", or just "Updater".

You're right - I forgot to mention that it's a Nexus 4! (How could I have...?) I can't investigate right now but will respond later. I believe I did scroll carefully through the entire list already but I must have missed it if there's really an app with a self-explanatory name.

Never hurts to check twice :) Please also [edit] your question to include the device name, as it might "get lost" in the comments. Thanks, and good luck!

You can disable these notifications by unchecking the notifications for Google Play Services [Not Framework]. This fixed my problem on the LG G3 and I assume it will on all other devices.
The best option is to click and hold the notification and then select 'App info', which will take you to desired app info for that update notification. Then uncheck the notification option there.

Go to Settings > Application Manager > All > Google Services Framework and then uncheck "Show notifications". source

For Lollipop, it is "Apps" instead of "Application Manager"

After un-check notification in "Google play service". The notification was still in panel. I did long touch it, then from menu select "app info" and force stop. Will see if it appear again...

Since my question was marked as a dupe.  This does not work on a Galaxy S5 nor on a nVidia Shield K1.  Both Google Services Framework AND Google Play Services have had notifications unchecked.  The popup upgrade still persists.  Log pressing on the notification takes me to System Updates app and the "Show Notifications" is checked but can not be unchecked.  I have force stopped but it, of course, comes back.


text:
"This device has been reset. Sign in to continue with the Google Account that was previously synced on this device."
I have a used Huawei P smart 2019 which has just received a "factory reset". I put that in quotes because during the new configuration it asks for the last used Google account:

Verify account
  Sign in with your Google account.
  This device has been reset. Sign in to continue with the Google Account that was previously synced on this device.

The problem is that the young user has lost his Google account access. There is no recovery phone number, no secondary email address... no way to log into this phone. That's why we're setting up a brand new account. The new account is ready for use but the phone is not.
--> How do I do a real reset on this phone??!

I have done the reset according to the official instructions:

At the beginning you switch off the device.
  Then hold the "Power Button" and "Volume Up" button until the Huawei logo and then the EMUI icon appears.
  Use the volume buttons to select "wipe data / factory reset" and confirm with the power button.
  The recovery mode then appears again. Now select "reboot system now" and the smartphone will be restarted. The device is then reset.

The problem is the last part in bold: it's not completely reset, it still wants a login using the previous account, but there is no way to provide that information.
I've found this 5-year-old answer saying "This is an anti-theft policy" but there has to be some solution for forgetful people that have not been robbed!

Following the trick described in this video starting at 4m09s, I was able to bypass the dreadful screen and continue with the Android setup process, but I eventually reached a dead end where it showed me a completely blank screen and briefly showed the toast message "Unlock device to continue". At this point I could only reboot or power off. That video continues with another trick at 7m20s that does not work on this phone because the popup browser window doesn't offer the "share" function (only "copy" and "select all").

Does this answer your question? How to bypass "Verify your account" (Factory Reset Protection)

Hi, no that doesn't answer the question because the options there do not apply to Huawei phones. They don't work.

i have recently done it one other huawei.. select some text from license info, mark it, send it, select gmail, add some email address, on final gmail setup you can reach settings menu, from there you can reach settings factory reset.. which will remove FRP (edit: seems like you found already on yt)


text:
Whatsapp workaround?
What I have:
- I don't want to install Whatsapp on my phone because I don't want it to access my personal data.
- There's an organisation that requires me to use Whatsapp to communicate with them.
- These two statements are mutually exclusive....
What I want:
- Is there any way for me to use Whatsapp without installing it on my phone? (I already have a Whatsapp user account.)
- Alternatively, is there a way to install and use Whatsapp without giving it access to all my data? (Contacts, calendar, camera, photos, etc etc.) I use Android 7.1.2 because there's no newer ROM for my phone.
I realize this might be offensive to some users ("use it or don't!") but please look past that. I'm trying to satisfy competing demands here.
Update:

I had another go at this. Installed the app again, did not give contacts permissions (or any other), and the app starts okay (on iOS it flatly refuses to start, so at least this is better on Android).
I cannot create a new message though. When I touch the "new message" button, I get a popup to share my contacts. No! This is not going to happen.
It won't let me just type in a phone number and send to that user. (This is allowed in Signal, for instance.)

It is possible to block those details from being shared with Whatsapp using this app, but I am uncertain whether Whatsapp would work. You can try and see for yourself.

@Firelord WhatsApp works if reading Contacts is denied using AppOps or XPrivacyLua.

Another way could be to run WhatsApp in another Work Profile / User Account using some app like Shelter. This way storage will also be isolated.

You can disable the permission given to WhatsApp from setting --> Apps and notification --> App info --> Whatsapp --> Permissions and then turn off the permissions which you don't want to share. Whatsapp needs a valid sim card to run which can be used on phone or desktop only. Hence, you can run Whatsapp on desktop having a sim card option.

Thanks - but if I don't grant the contacts permission then the app refuses to start. If I leave it on even just once, the contacts data is taken.

Hey, I just tried doing this thing and for me, the app still works. It does not show the name of the person but the app still works.


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Adding prebuilt APK to Android system.img (stock firmware from manufacturer)
Can someone help add a prebuilt APK to an Android system.img for me? I’ve obtained boot.img, system.img, etc. (the full firmware) from the manufacturer of the device. I’ve been trying for hours to add the .apk files to the system.img. (I’ll share it here)
My steps:

What I did was extract the image, add my apk to /app, or /priv-app, or vendor/operator/app.

Convert the folders/files of the extracted image to an ISO.

Convert the ISO back to .img file using WinISO software

Added the system.img converted in step 3 back into the main folder where all the original firmware images are.

Flashed the new firmware with the modified system.img back to the device.

Problem:
The device boots up to the brand logo. However, it just gets stuck at the brand logo. VERY IMPORTANT => If the flash is successful, then the brand logo turns into brand logo animation, but every time I flash with my APK, it just gets stuck at the unanimated boot logo. Thus there are two stages:
Boot logo = if stuck, then flashing/APK adding failed
Boot Animation = everything works (I know this because the stock flash works just fine)
= extra info=
Android: 4.4.2
Flash tool: MTK SP Flash Tool
XDA Forums attachment link: https://xdaforums.com/attachments/mx2-wvga_tm-wv3-22-20230418-rar.6039930/
(The above link is the firmware I was able to obtain from the company)

Some backstory to what im doing: https://xdaforums.com/t/timmkoo-so-close-yet-so-far-android-root-twrp-help-needed-hardest-device-to-mod.4643045/

Android does not use ISO format. ISO is for CD/DVD. You should better mount the system image on a Linux system and then perform the modifications. Don't extract the image or you will destroy necessary information that can never be recovered.

Hi @Robert I actually solved this the day before you commented but thank you for your help!! By chance do you know what application/android process is responsible for block installations from outside sources? I read in multiple places that settingsProvider.apk  is the one that determines if an app is installed or not. my goal is to remove this, and install directly to my device.

Hi, looks like you've found the solution by yourself, which is great! Consider posting it as a proper answer since self-answering is not only allowed but even encouraged. Thanks!


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Can't find ro.securestorage.support
I want to see my wifi passwords. I have a Samsung Galaxy M31 with Android 10, rooted with Magisk. I was told I could find my passwords on the wpa.supplicants.conf file, but it's practically blank. I only just now discovered that they are actually in the WifiConfigStore file, but are encrypted. Then I was told I could decrypt my passwords by editing the line on my build.prop file where it says "ro.securestorage.support" to false. But that line is nowhere to be found on my file. I would like to know how to make my wifi passwords non-encrypted, whether by editing these files or otherwise.

On recent Android versions you can simply display a QR code in Wifi settings to get the Wifi password. Just use a second device and a QR code reader app and point it on the QR code and you get the password. BTW: changing settings like ro.securestorage.support will not decrypt the password file, it will simply disable encryption support so all encrypted files are then unreadable which means you have to make a factory reset. FBE encrypted files should be automatically decrypted if you access them after entering the device PIN.

@Robert, thank you for the heads-up, glad it didn't work, then. But my android device does not show any password on the QR code screen - that was the first thing I tried. I am running Android 10. As for decryption, I can confirm that the password list in WifiConfigStore is encrypted, as my own password is a long string of numbers there instead of what it should be.

Sorry, I misunderstood you. If you can read the file and it doesn't contains binary gibberish then the file is not encrypted, only the WiFi passphrase in the file may be encrypted/protected. But it could be simply that the passphrase is never saved and instead the raw key is saved (which is what is actually used by the WiFi stack). The key is generated from the passphrase.

@Robert, it's fine, I should have mentioned it in the main post. But if it's the case that the passphrase isn't saved, then does that mean there's no way to view saved wifi passwords on my device at all?

If it is really the WiFi key then there is no good way back. If you just want to establish a connection to that WiFi you can simply use the key. The WiFi stack should recognize that you have entered a key and not a passphrase and simply skip the conversation to the key and directly use the key.

I see. I think you're right; the WifiConfigStore section listing them says "PreSharedKeys". Strangely enough, the Wi-Fi Password Viewer app shows entirely different strings of numbers, so I guess it's either showing the actual, encrypted passwords or it's lying to me. But anyway, I'm not sure how to do what you suggested of using the key as a password. Any advice on how to do that? Or a way to find and read the actual passwords?

I believe Robert's statement about the QR code is to scan the QR code because the standard format (almost) always contains the passphrase. Just make sure that it's not a QR code from Samsung's Quick Share because it's Samsung's proprietary link.

What is it that you are trying to do?  Why do you need to see the "stored passwords"?

Well, it's like this: my phone has a lot of passwords stored from various places, and I wanted to be able to simply check those passwords and so connect to them with my computer as well. I have tried finding the passwords with the QR code screen (doesn't show them, which is apparently a Samsung issue), accessing the WifiConfigStore (doesn't have them, it seems) and using an app (which appears to show them in encrypted form). I just wanted to be able to see my phone's stored wifi passwords with the same ease as I can on a computer. And thus be able to access them on other devices.

Sorry, it's just that it's been a while. @Robert? @RohitGupta? Can you help?


text:
Where is "Back up my data" stored? Can it be edited?
Anybody know how to get to it? It's not on the Google Dashboard, or linked to from the developer docs. I've even dug through the code, but it's confusing. Anybody know a way to download it, and better yet, upload a replacement?
For context: My phone sometimes starts acting weird (random hangs and/or reboots), and one theory is that some part of my backup is getting periodically corrupted, because even with a hard reset some problems persisted, but went away when I cleared "Back up my data" before doing another factory reset. Now that things have started to get weird again, I'm wondering if I could download that backup data and keep just certain parts of it.

There isn't any way to get to it. It is basically turning on and off a developer facing backup feature. Each app can write what it wants to into a certain amount of space, and Google takes care of sending it back to the app when it is reinstalled.
Even if you were to write an app for it, you'd only be able to access the storage linked to that developer key, not the other apps that use the service.
For more info on what that option does, see my answer here.

Yup, that's what I thought. How about any way to list the packages that are valid to 'adb shell bmgr wipe'?

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text:
Micro SD card physically damaged?
it seems to me that my sd card is damaged so I wiped/erased it from android few times but it did not help.
Right now what happens is that if the card is present the phone freezes (not always) at the same time. SO it seems to me that the card is physically damaged.
Can I somehow find out if the card is damaged? The best from my phone.
Is there any low lever format of micro SD cards that might help in such case? Mark bad blocks so something similar?

HTC Desire + CM 7 RC2 + Kingston 16GB Type 4

Have you tried formatting your SD Card in a dedicated reader, as opposed to doing it directly on the phone?
Most phones (and even most laptops' built-in SD Card readers) have problems writing SD Card partitions.  I usually format my SD Cards in a stand-alone card reader hooked up to my PC via USB.  Also, it's probably worth re-partitioning it with Partition Editor from Ubuntu LiveCD.

I haven't tried dedicated card reader, I will try one. Actually the card became "faulty" few days/weeks after I partitioned it using my built-in reader in my notebook under Win7.

why do you think it is good idea to partition the card? I am not sure if it's a good to use ext on my card.

I wasn't suggesting creating an extra Ext partition, I meant only re-creating the existing Fat/Fat32 partition.

what would 're-creating' do?

By deleting an existing partition and creating a new one, you would be overwriting the SD Card's partition tables, in case that is where the corruption occurred. Again, this is just something else to try in case re-formatting in a stand-alone reader doesn't resolve the problem you're having.

well I did re-partitioning via external reading and everything works now. Thank you.

Probably the best way to test it is to write data to all of it and see if one of the following occurs:

The write fails
The data/files don't show when you look for them
The data cannot be read
The data is corrupt

You can't flag sectors as bad as far as I'm aware, though, due to the FAT filesystem of SD cards.

what if nothing of above happens? my android freezes because of this card. Was ok for 6 months but now ...

is there any difference to do the testing under android or on my laptop?

It's probably much easier to do it on your laptop.  If the only problem seems to be that it's the phone, I recommend doing a factory reset and seeing if it still happens.  Or trying a different SD card, if you have access to one.

I already tried factory reset and wiped all I could. It didn't help. I can try my  second card and adapter so I can insert micro sd card in my notebook in few days ...

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text:
Phone won't connect to mobile network
As of yesterday my phone was okay as I know I had a missed call and checked it on voicemail, but today I noticed that it is showing no signal when there should be one.
The last thing I know I did was to try *#61# to check the voicemail numbers as I was thinking of setting a longer timeout, but I didn't actually change it.
If I go into Additional call settings I get 'Network or SIM card error', but I expect that is linked to the lack of network. However, I wonder if something on the SIM is messed up.
I've turned it off/on a couple of times. Also tried a different SIM from a different service and that worked. It there anything I can try resetting?
It's an htc Tattoo on Android 1.6.

How long have you turned your phone off for? From my days on Blackberry support I do remember that while turning off for 30 seconds resets the connections on the phone itself. But if you leave it switched off for about 30 minutes then all the connections on the phone companies end are reset, and this can sort out some odd connection problems.

My phone has been off the original (Virgin UK) network for several days whilst I used a different SIM. Putting the old one back did not resolve the issue. I've mailed Virgin, but have yet to have a response.

I would bring the phone to your carrier's local store.  If a different SIM card from the same carrier works, then it's possible that your SIM card is damaged or corrupted.  The carrier may need to replace it for you.  Keep in mind that some carriers (or authorized reseller outlets) will charge you for this.

Don't know of a local store or of someone else using that carrier. The phone has been working fine with a different SIM, apart from another issue I raised. I'm considering changing carrier anyway.

Check your APNs.  This might help: http://www.htc.com/mea-en/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=949&news_id=654
Note: APNs are provider specific, the linked walkthrough covers KSA Mobily Postpaid Subscribers, but if you Google search: (Your Provider) APN Settings, it will turn up what you need and then just substitute THOSE values for the ones in the walkthrough.
Good luck!


text:
Synchronize the contact's default phone number
I've upgraded my HTC Desire to a Galaxy S. In the HTC, I had a default phone number for each contact (typically, the mobile number).
After linking the new device with my Google accounts, the default settings are gone, and I have to redefine them manually in my Galaxy contacts.
Is there a way to sync the default number attribute with my Google Account, so that they will be copied from one phone to another?

I believe if I understand your question, the linking between your Google account  happens automatically (as it should) when you log into your Google account on your handset, and your contacts all synchronize. However it sounds like some of the merging of duplicates, and what number is the "default" number get lost? For this I would definitely recommend the Gmail application online.  All you need is to login from a computer and select "contacts". Then just go under "more actions" and do "find and merge duplicates" That should give you just one contact per person. This is your best option if you have lots of contacts, some are duplicates, or other information not entered or organized correctly. It can be quite time consuming and tedious to do editing from the handset. If this is not what you are asking, you may have to rephrase the question slightly.
When you say "sync the default number" that is rather ambiguous sentence. For example, I log into Gmail, click contacts, and then select one of my friends. There it shows me the numbers stored on my phone (in the Google cloud). If I were to change the numbers shown, that change would be reflected when I grabbed the handset next. Are you looking to make one number the default number for that person? And have it do so automatically?
Edit: After doing a little more research, it looks like this question was addressed here at the Google forums. The last comment in the list (by ratgurrl) mentions exactly this frustration. And despite what you do on the phone, when you resynchronize you lose the preference settings you put in the handset, and the 'DEFAULT' will revert to whichever contact number is at the top of the list on that contact in Gmail. So the REAL answer until Google addresses this: log into Gmail, and move the one you want as the "default" contact to the top of the list.

Any app that exports/imports contacts while preserving the 'default phone number' setting?

Google Contacts on the web browser currently doesn't allow moving numbers: to do that, you need to (1) add a new number and paste inside it the number at the top, (2) replace the number at the top with the one you want to be the default.


text:
Why does taking a screen shot require root access?
I was thinking about this and I don't understand the reasoning behind it.  iPhone users have this capability out of the box, and yet Apple is far more protective of their devices.
Whether this turns into a philosophical discussion or a technical discussion (or maybe both) I'd still like to understand why this limitation exists in Android.

No idea why it wasn't available before, but as of 2.3.3 non-rooted screen shot support was added for system apps, at least. As eldarerathis noted, there are some articles out there implying that this would let any app capture a screen shot now, but according to an android engineer this permission is only granted to apps signed by the system image's keys - it is only available to be rolled into the OS, not as a feature 3rd party apps can access.

I tend to think it is more of a security issue. But I've never actually seen a statement one way or the other.

The articles (and commits, in a way) are somewhat misleading. Third-party apps will still not be able to take screenshots, because the permission required to do so can only be obtained by system-signed apps. There is a question on SO where one of the Android engineers states this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5161544/how-to-take-screenshots-in-android-2-3-3-without-root

Thanks. I wonder if that means they intend to make it a standard OS feature in the near future.

I'm marking this as the answer since it pretty clearly indicates (at least to me) that the only reason we needed root before 2.3.3 is because there was no system app designed to do it for us.

I wouldn't be surprised to see that, or at least manufacturers rolling their own apps for it.

I would think it's so that rogue apps can't transmit pictures of what you're doing.  Of course, that doesn't explain why apps that read SMS or whatever don't require root :P


text:
Why does the screen come on when my phone is plugged in but idle?
Sometimes when my Nexus One is plugged in with the screen switched off, the screen turns itself on (showing the lock screen) seemingly randomly, and I have the "Stay awake" Development option turned on, so it stays switched on until I manually switch it off again.
I suspect that some app is inappropriately obtaining an ACQUIRE_CAUSES_WAKEUP WakeLock. Is there a way to get a log of WakeLock activity or some other way of debugging this?

I'm suspecting a bad charger; most home screen I've used turns itself on when you just plugged the device in or plugged the device out, if a bad charger somehow causes the device to think that it had just been plugged off and/or plugged on, it could cause the symptoms you're having. Have you tried with a different charger and different wall socket?

Hmm, that sounds quite possible. I normally have it plugged in to a powered USB hub that isn't 100% reliable, so I'll try it with the charger and see if the same thing happens. Thank you!

I eventually tracked this down using the app "Task Identifier". It's a bit awkward to use and has an odd interface, but it also has the useful feature of showing an alert if apps activate when the phone is sleeping.
It turned out that the problem was the sync service from the doubleTwist app, and it appears that it was indeed caused by an inappropriately-used ACQUIRE_CAUSES_WAKEUP WakeLock. I've e-mailed them a bug report.

The same happens occasionally on my Galaxy S, usually about 5-10 minutes after plugging in. If you can handle the dev tools, you could try charging the phone from an USB port while running logcat and checking what goes on around the time the phone activates, or if the screen turns on only when charging from a wall socket you could run aLogcat on the phone while charging and then try to see the reason, but it can be a bit tricky on the phone.

Thanks for the idea. I'll try logcat next time I notice it.

I had this problem when I had SipDroid installed -- every time its connection dropped and came back up, it would turn on the screen.  You could use an app like Titanium Backup (requires root) to "freeze" an app, and see if the problem stops.  If it does you know what app is the problem.  Then uninstall it, or turn off background sync for it or something if that might be the problem.  TB can uninstall system apps, but be careful which ones.


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Screen turns on when I bump phone
I have a Moto E 2015 LTE (surnia) running Lineage OS, Android 7.1.1.  Every time I bump the phone the screen turns on to tell me the time.  I can't find a setting to turn this off.  I couldn't find such a setting in the stock Android either.
Does anyone know if there is a hidden setting somewhere to control this?  I'd be willing to build my own Lineage ROMS if that is what it took.  It looks like modifying com.android.systemui will be necessary.  Does anyone know how to download that code, and build that APK (perferably without building an entire ROM?)
EDIT: A friend clued me in to the fact that this is sort of standard behavior for android phones these days (it's been a while since I had one).  But the question still stands.  I would even be ok with some way to disable the accelerometer completely, if that's what it took.
EDIT 2:  I found out that I can disable this behavior by disabling com.android.systemui.  I am afraid that is a bit too drastic, so perhaps I will browse some source code to see if I can modify just that app, instead of the whole Lineage ROM.  The question remains though, in case anybody knows how I would go about finding and building source code for com.android.systemui.

What do you mean by when bump the phone?

I mean it is sitting on the table, and if it is lifted or moved in almost any direction the screen lights up, and becomes touch sensitive.  I find this very obnoxious; I don't want it on unless I turn on the power.

By "I don't want it on unless I turn on the power", I mean "I don't want the screen to be on or touch sensitive unless I press the power button".

IDK about your OS, not having used it. I am wondering if this behaviour is triggered by an app. To identify the app - Charge the phone fully and run wake lock detector for a few hours (when you don't expect the phone to be used ) watching out for Screen Wakelock (clock menu of app). Look out for which apps are trying to keep the screen awake. If nothing shows up, move the phone and immediately go to this screen to see which app is triggering it (I am guessing it to be some exercise monitor app ) . //

// you could start with installing the app and moving it to see before doing the long test. If you are lucky you can home on to the app. This app can run on non root devices also. If this hypothesis of it being caused by app is correct, uninstalling that app is far less drastic than what you are prepared for. If not, you have rooted out one possibility !

Also, in settings maybe under move or ambient display, see if you have sung like raise or move to wake- i see that pixel phones have it from Google

@beeshyams, thank you for helping.  I checked for those options, but I don't seem to have them.  After installing Wake Lock Detector (which didn't seem to catch what I am observing), I was inspired to start disabling packages en masse to find the package that causing the problem.  Turns out it is com.android.systemui.  I will edit post again.

This sounds awfully lot like Ambient Display at work. It should be in Settings - Display if it exists.

@Andy YES!  got it.  It was under settings -> display -> ambient display, as you say.  I suppose that beeshyams was talking about the same option but for some reason I didn't see it.  If you post an answer, I will award the bounty.

Good it's solved

The behaviour sounds a lot like Ambient Display at work. The toggle for it should be in Settings - Display, if it exists.

EDIT the following screenshots are from the OP's phone.  Notice, the "Ambient Display" element does not have a toggle switch in the image below.

The image below is the submenu that appears upon clicking "Ambient Display".

This was annoying me to no end, thank you.  On my android, "ambient display" item doesn't have a switch, but instead opens a sub menu with an option called "Pick-up: pulse notifications on pick-up", which does have a switch to turn off.  However, the "Ambient display" item on my phone has the same sub-text, which is why I had not considered it might be the problem earlier.  I think this a very confusing UI, because I do want "wake screen when you recieve notifications", but that is not all that "Ambient display" does on my android.  Thank you so much!

@rexroni Motorola phones are known for Moto Display, their own, more powerful implementation of Ambient Display, and those enhanced subfunctions you mentioned are part of it, presumably backed up by extra sensors. That's why they are also getting more than just a simple toggle even when on a custom ROM.

@rexroni good to hear that the issue's solved! If possible, could you provide the screenshot for Motorola's Ambient Display setting? You may also edit this answer and update it with your screenshot to make this answer more correct!


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How can I remote support an Android tablet?
My mother is considering to get an Android tablet - probably a Nexus 7 or 10. Because I don't live near her, I might need to provide some remote assistance -- and you probably know that talking her through things on the phone is not very efficient, especially when I can't actually see what's on her screen.
I don't want to access the file system, read SMS messages, download photos, etc.
I just want to see what she sees so that I can talk her through whatever she needs help with.
Is there an Android equivalent of running a VNC server so that I can see the exact screen my mom is currently seeing? The "VNC server" apps I've seen in the Play Store are more like remote desktop apps and they all seem to require to launch an app from the device -- then you can see Android on your pc but not on the device which wouldn't help my mom.
Is it possible to do some kind of screen-sharing on Android, similar to a PC running VNC?
Could this work via a PC (Windows, Linux), or would I need another Android device, or perhaps even an identical Android tablet?

Have you looked at How do I access by android phone from web browser and control it?? I think there's similar ones as well (can't find them at the moment).

Thanks; that topic didn't show up in my searches nor while I composed my question. It's very relevant. If that one weren't specifically aimed at working through a browser, I'd say mine is a dupe -- but perhaps non-browser solutions also exist?

I ended up using Team Viewer as mentioned above, but I didn't get much chance to use it. And when I did, the image was rotated 180 degrees, but not the touch signals, so remote control was impossible!

I attempted to get VNC options working, but they're all buggy.  In particular the keyboard mappings and clunky and the screens never seem to render correctly.  I even wrote to an author offering money for improvements but never got anything back.
Teamviewer 8 is the only solution I've found where it actually works the way it is supposed to (i.e. seamlessly).  Teamviewer is free for personal use, which is a bonus, but it is by far and away the best solution I have found.  It properly supports the Android home/nav keys and has complete and properly mapped support for keyboard input.
To use it, install Teamviewer 8 on your PC/Mac, and "Teamviewer Quicksupport" on your Android device.  As far as I know, root is not required.
No, I don't work for Teamviewer.

As you already put it into your question: You might consider installing a VNC server on your mother's device. Admitted, most of them require root access, so this could be a problem. However, at least one claims to do without root: VMLite VNC Server. But it comes at a cost: There's no free version available, so you'ld have to pay about EUR 6.
To give you a closer idea, some quote from the app's description:

This app works on rooted and non-rooted android devices. However, for non-rooted devices, every time after turning the device completely off and on, you will have to connect your device to a Windows PC or Mac using a USB cable, then run a free desktop program, VMLite Android App Controller, to start the server on your device. Once the server is started, you can disconnect your device. If you don't turn your device off (but just let it "sleep"), then the server will continue running for months, if desired.

As that should definitely work, there are some other apps which might be working as well: VNC Server Ultimate¹ writes The app normally requires root but on some devices it works without root., so you could give it a try -- it's free, and a paid version is available for just EUR 2.

¹ VNC Server Ultimate was unpublished in 5/2015, so consider it a place-holder for the fact that "similar apps might exist"

Download TeamViewer: Quick support and the add-on for the device you want to manage remotely.


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How to root Samsung S6 using Linux?
All the guides that I can find online refer to the Windows-only "Odin" software. I also found an open-source alternative "Heimdall" but the Samsung S6 is not supported (and apparently it's not compatible with the .tar.gz file format).
I have installed WinXP on a VirtualBox virtual machine, and then I installed the Samsung USB drivers and the Windows Odin software. I then made sure to route all Samsung USB devices to this virtual machine, but still neither Windows nor Odin sees the phone - neither in its normal operating mode nor in its "Odin" download mode.
Chainfire's CF-Autoroot also uses Odin, which means I'm still stuck at the above problem. I also tried running Odin in Linux (using wine) but again it couldn't see the phone, and I didn't expect it to work anyway).
I have not been able to find a description of how to root the S6 (or any Samsung) directly in Linux, or via virtual machine. Is that simply not possible? Do I really need to install my old WinXP license on a physical computer?

Scroll down to the comments, it shows somebody did it with Linux http://www.androidguys.com/2015/04/22/5-reasons-you-shouldnt-root-your-new-galaxy-s6/. And Google threw this up for a different model http://www.all-things-android.com/content/how-root-samsung-mobile-device

There is a program called "Jodin" It might do the trick.
http://www.xda-developers.com/meet-jodin3-a-web-tool-that-flashes-your-samsung-device/

@BoLawson: thank you! With JOdin, I came closer than ever. This runs on my Linux (in Firefox, after installing Oracle Java 8), and it reports "connected". But it does not succeed in getting the PIT file from my phone, so I'm stuck at that stage now (and the JOdin support seems to be a 24+ page long forum post). I dare not download a "random" PIT file from the Internet; the risk of choosing the wrong one is too high.

@BoLawson, I'd love to give you credit for your suggestion. Care to submit JOdin as an answer? I would revice/remove mine instead.

There is a cross-platform version of Odin called JOdin. It can run in a web browser, or locally after downloading the JAR file. Either one requires Oracle Java 8 to be installed first.
Web version: https://builds.casual-dev.com/jodin3/
Offline version: https://builds.casual-dev.com/index.php?dir=JOdin3%2F  '
The offline version is started with $ java -jar /path/to/JAR/JOdin3CASUAL-r1035-dist.jar.
Both versions work well - but now I run into the next problem which is that the PIT file can't be obtained.

The links you provide are dead. You might need to update or delete this answer.

here is a updated link for JOddin3 after downloading extract the zip file, you can run the JAR file in the folder. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZC2H74coZrREE2NzU2NVZPSEE/view

I know this is old, but you need to make sure you present the USB device to your VM ;) (at least if you still want to do this from a VM) --- At least for anyone finding this off of the googles


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Where in the Nexus 4 is the wire wireless charging coil?
I've just received a "smartfox qi" wireless charger as a gift, but it won't charge my Nexus 4 despite its indicator light turning on, and the Nexus 4 says "charging wireless". Still, it doesn't charge, the battery graph shows a power depletion just as if it were just lying on a desk.
It's running stock 4.2.2 without a case.
The charger has the exact same dimensions as the Nexus 4, so I just placed it exactly on top. I'm thinking that the wireless coils didn't match up well enough. So my question is:
Where in the Nexus 4 are those charging coils? How do I have to place it to ensure maximum-efficiency charging?
Bonus questions:

Wireless charging heats up the Nexus 4 a lot. Is this really healthy? Won't it significantly reduce the lifetime of the (non-replaceable!) Nexus 4 battery?
What specific product would be a good recommendation, specifically for the Nexus 4?

Is it a stock N4 (rooted? custom ROM?) Do you use a case, or is it "naked" when you place it on the charging pad? Do you have the charging pad's manufacturer and model number?

Added above: It's running stock 4.2.2 without a case, and Amazon link to exact charger model.

That charger is listed as putting out only 500mA. That is kind of low, seeing how a USB port usually outputs 600mA. Are you actively using the phone while it's on the pad (i.e. screen is on, playing music, etc.?) If so, it's possible that the pad doesn't provide enough "juice". Personally, I would't use any chargers under 1A (example ).

Of course, there's always the possibility that the charging pad is simply defective.

I personally had that charger previously.  It's a piece of junk.  Slow charging and it wouldn't function through any kind of case, even a thin plastic thing.

Thank you @Chahk, it seems it's just a poor product. I'm not using the device while charging. I agree 500mA isn't much.

The charging coil is embedded into the back panel of the phone and is located directly over the battery, as shown in steps 7 and 8 of IFixIt's teardown.
The battery isn't quite non-replaceable, as the above mentioned teardown shows.  It's somewhat involved to replace it (you'll need a Torx screwdriver, a Philips screwdriver, a plastic opening tool, and some patience), but it's perfectly doable.
If you're wanting something that will work for sure, the official wireless charger would probably be your best bet.  However, it's not exactly cheap at $50.  I personally use this charger with my Galaxy S3, which I added a wireless receiver to.  I find it works well and charges right through my lifeproof case.


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Why can't music players find my audio files?
On my Nexus 4, there's a folder called /sdcard/Music/ (or just /Music when browsing the phone's storage; Windows 7 calls it Computer\Nexus 4\Internal storage\Music) and I've put a lot of songs in there but the music player doesn't see any of my songs.
Why can one app (the file manager, and e.g. Dropbox) see the files, but not another app (Play Music, Apollo, Jukefox)?
Notes:

LG Nexus 4 16GB, unlocked, with CyanogenMod 10.1
(nightly build 20130212 because nothing more stable is available but there are no crashes.)
The songs are stored in the path format /sdcard/Music/Artist/Album/Song title.mp3 (simply because that's how they're stored on my media drive).

Computer\Nexus 4\Internal storage\Music\Eagles\On the Border\1 Already Gone.mp3
Computer\Nexus 4\Internal storage\Music\Kashmir\The Good Life\10 Kiss me goodbye.mp3
Computer\Nexus 4\Internal storage\Music\Christina St眉rmer\Freier Fall\1 Geh nicht wenn du kommst.mp3
(yes there's a Chinese character in there and I don't know why; it's a German ü (umlaut u) on my original Windows media drive)

I know that the songs are present and that they work because the CyanogenMod File Manager shows them and I can play them individually. They do exist!
Running Rescan SD as suggested below didn't make the files appear in any of the player apps.
I'm fairly certain there are no .nomedia files: The CyanogenMod File Manager doesn't display files that begin with a . (I renamed an existing TXT file and it promptly disappeared :)) but I used the Root Browser Lite to look through /Music and subfolders -- the only match I found was the one I had renamed, and I have deleted that now.
My Windows pc at work couldn't see the files either, but after unplugging/replugging the USB it now can see+open+play the files. (I've now revised this question to remove the Windows part.)
I'm still mystified by the fact that file-browser apps see the files but music-player apps don't.

Do you have ROM Manager installed?

@GreenGuy: Yes - why does it matter?

As GAThrawn mentioned, there may be a .nomedia file, which might be related to ROM Manager. Look for this .nomedia file and delete it.

Apollo is the Cyanogen music player. As for your files: Can you mention some example file names? Might be a compatibility issue, and before one asks for the type, the next for special characters in the names, etc., it might be easiest to have some "full examples" available ;)

Examples added in the post. I would expect all files to work that don't contain special characters in their path, even if other files have weird names?

Just my guess: The media scanner could have "crashed" at those. For a test, try removing/renaming files with Umlauts and other special chars (luckily we are not French or Turkish, or it would be more :) Those "Chinese" thingies most likely turn in when Windows doesn't care and simply uses its own charset (MSANSI or WIN-1252 or whatever), while Android thinks it is UTF8. That's why I avoid Umlauts etc. in file names (though the word "Gruesse" looks really weird this way ;))

@Izzy: You win! I rebooted the phone and, as the very first thing, started Play Music -- now it does see all the files. The media scanner must have crashed. I did not remove any umlauts. Would you post that as another answer so I can accept it?

@TorbenGundtofte-Bruun Done, see below :) Glad it solved your issue!

Seeing a file name like Computer\Nexus 4\Internal storage\Music\Christina St眉rmer\Freier Fall\1 Geh nicht wenn du kommst.mp3 points to a special problem with "special characters" (such as German Umlauts) which got messed up on data transfer: While Windoze uses its own character set (MS-ANSI or wone of the WIN-12xx, depending on configuration), Android expects UTF-8 -- which is why it's a good custom to use only 7-bit ASCII characters in file names.
Due to this mismatch and the "unidentifyable character", the media scanner most likely has crashed. Which resulted in the media database not being populated, from which follows: The players think "no media files there".
Proposed actions
I'd suggest to either temporarily delete or at least rename all affected files, so that no file with "special characters" in its name remains. Then have the media scanner run again (e.g. triggering it with Rescan SD). Once that's finished, I'm pretty sure your media player(s) will find something to play (with).
That being approved, you know what to look for in the future. As said before, I strongly recommend to restict characters in file names to 7-bit ASCII -- that avoids a lot of problems, though some names might look a little strange ;)

Accepted: Because everything worked just fine after a reboot, your hypothesis about a crashed media server was probably correct. I'd hate to have to limit my files to 80's-era ASCII names so I'll leave them alone for now -- it seems to work, and the characters actually show correctly as umlauts in the app (no Chinese!).

The app most likely uses the ID3 tags of the MP3 files, which might at least explain that part. I still wonder that the files still appear, and did not crash the media scanner on subsequent runs: if they crashed it in the first place, why did they work at all? But most important: issue solved :)

To rescan the media, one can also use a clearly open-source app, SD Scanner, from F-Droid.

After the rescan, it helped me to kill the Apollo app (with long-pressing the "back" button in CyanogenMod) and starting it again -- to get the updated list of albums in Apollo.

Thanks for the answer! It was useful for me after I uploaded a music album to my CyanogenMod device through ssh, and couldn't figure out how to make Apollo see and play it (as a whole album).

Hmmm. My players (all of them) have quit seeing new songs. I wonder if this is why? Searching my huge collection for a single badly-named file is not gonna be fun...

Might well be something different, @T.E.D. – take a look at our media-scanner tag-wiki, maybe that thing stopped working properly.

Once again - WHY Windows, WHY?!

In the stock ROM the Nexus 4 default music player should be "Play Music" with an icon that looks like yellow headphones, never heard of Apollo but it's possible this is something your custom ROM's changed.
Most music players on Android get their "media library" from the built-in media scanner service, this should pick up MP3 files stored in any user-accessible storage location on your phone and add them to the scanner's library. Sometimes the media scanner doesn't "notice" new files you've just added and needs to be told to do a rescan, there are apps on the store that can do this, such as Rescan SD, you can find a selection of them with a search of the Play Store if you run one of those and wait a couple of minutes all of your media should be picked up.
It's unlikely from what you're saying, but it's also possible that a hidden .nomedia file may be sitting in your Music folder, or one of it's parent/child folders. The presence of this file tells the media scanner to ignore the contents of that folder and it's child-folders. If you find that file somewhere in your Music folder's hierarchy, delete it.

Oh, I also have "Play Music" but when I launched it, I thought it was a music store (buy songs from Google Play) -- my mistake. I launched it again just now and it says "No music kept on device." The Settings menu just has two non-touchable lines: open source licences and music version v4.5.9101.560208.

Apollo is the default player of Cyanogen, is also available on Play store. Just for clarify.

I've updated my question: Rescan didn't help, and I'm fairly certain there are no .nomedia files. Intriguing!

It might be unsupported formats as well. Not sure which formats are supported by what player, but I could imagine that some don't support .ogg, for example, while others do. Another cause might be the sampling rate/method -- but that should not affect the "being seen" but the "playing fine" part.

@Izzy: I see what you mean, but the file manager can play the files so I would think that both the path and the format is valid and works. It's just that the player apps seem oblivious to it...

Had the same problem on Android 4.4.2.
My solution:

move sdcard/Music to sdcard/media/Music
reboot to recovery mode
wipe cache (system cache, not the dalvik one)
reboot system

enjoy with Google Play Music! ^_^

move
sdcard/Music
to
sdcard/Media/Music
reboot opo.
All files showed up on players.

What is  'opo' here?

Neither the pre-installed android music app nor Apollo music player could see the files I side-loaded until I flattened the directory hierarchy to one-level.  For example, Music/Band/song.ogg works, Music/Band/Album/song.ogg does not.  If only music players could see through those shallow id3 tags and get back to basics!

This. All contemporary music players seem to take ID3 as gospel, when the fact is that such data is frequently misspelled, corrupted, misleading or just plain wrong. If only my android player could just play a folder, and sort the entries by file name. Corrupted sorting due to bad ID3, or a "deep" hierarchy, has made entire audio books entirely unlistenable to me, frequently requiring me to merge 200+ 5MB .mp3's with custom made single use scripts.

Your music library might not be set up to scan even the /sdcard0/Music/ folder.
Connect your android phone the your computer and active "USB Mode"
On your computer access the SD card on your phone over the USB cable. So on windows it might look like "F:\Music\" as a drive letter.
So, in this instance my issue looked like this "F:\Music\Music_aa\"
I renamed it to "F:\Music\Music_ab\"
The Android USB helper service on the phone automatically starts a new scan for all media inside /sdcard/Music/Music_ab on the phone once you disconnect from USB mode.
Hope this helps.

I experienced the same thing on my Samsung Galaxy S3 mini.
I just used Rescan SD/Rescan (used them both because I wasn't sure where my music was SD card/Internal SD)
After that - it just worked and my Samsung stock music player worked!!

Create folder media/Music. Put all your media folders and files. Make readdressing and rescanning in your player (I use VLC) Problem should be resolved.(LinageOS 15.1 on Nexus 5X)

I had this problem and I found the solution, when you go to your phones "file manager", disable "show hidden files". Then the installed players will not recognize your mp3 files. So make sure the hidden files are hidden in the file manager.

Seems weird, as I can't find any relation with that setting. Just my 2 cents.

Ok guys.... Last night out of the blue my stock android media apps album and music player could not find any of the photos or songs that were actually in my sd card. After escaping a stroke by a little....and four hours letter after readind a lot of forums I found a solution:
For the music player I used an app called "Next music" which could actually see the songs. I went to an option called scan by hitting the refresh button, did a full scan and magically my songs were readable by every other app including the stock player. Without any rebooting
For the photos I used quickpick. It was the only one that could actually see the photos. I opened each folder in my album then by pressing the hard menu key there was an option called" Fix Date". Did that for every folder and tbey appeared on my stock album app. Without rebooting
Ps :deleting every .nomedia I found did absolutely nothing...

"Next music" found only sound recorder files (on the external SD card). No other music found (stored on the internal SD card). The My Files app does see the music files, as well as AirDroid.

Delete the .nomedia found on your music folder. Internal and external sd card music folder. Install player pro media player. Go to settings and point it to where your music folder at on your external sd card. Once your songs showed up, it will show on your stock music player too. Good luck

Could you please include a link to the mentioned app? It will be hard to find otherwise, as many apps have "player pro" in their names/descriptions. Thanks!

I had the same problem with the Samsung Galaxy s5 running cyanogenmod. Here is what i did. I put the music into my internal storage and it was working fine. Then i copyed the files over to sd\media\Music, if you dont have these folders, create them. Then test and see if the file shows up by deleting one of the songs in the internal storage. if it doesnt pop up, then unmount and remount the sd card.

Rename the folder or move your files to Some new folder like (Music/). It will automatically fetch your mp3 files.

.nomedia - I had 2 of them files on phone and one on sd - deleted all three and Hay Presto Music player now sees all songs on SD card and phone - all good thanks - using Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 lite - had tried reformatting SD - reboots of phone - different media players - but by deleting all .nomedia files was the only solution that worked - worked a treat - didn't even have to reboot phone - just a quick rescan from media player

I mounted and un mounted my sd card and all apps recognized the files again


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How to install custom rom on completely broken screen
So I have a samsung S7 with a broken screen. It's completely black and no longer responsive. I've been using scrypy to control the device. It has twrp installed and its rooted. However, I want to install a custom rom on device (I play games on it using keyboard and there's a game I want to download but it requires android 10 but samsung s7 stops at android 8) but obviously there going to be a problem here because twrp requires touch plus I cant even see anything, Also, scrypy doesnt work in recovery mode. Is there a way I can do a blind install of a custom rom and also re-root the phone if I lose root access. Keep in mind that the device has black screen and the touch no longer works so even if I manage to get a guide on how to do it, I still need scrypy to use the device on boot after installation cause the phone would've been wiped by then thereby resetting the usb debbuging setting (I's assuming this will be the case). Any guide on how to do this?

For flashing you could use Odin/Heimdall on a connected PC, so you would not need the phone display. And there are customROMs with pre-enabled adb. However there is still a significant risk to "brick" the phone (get the phone into a state where you would need the display to understand and solve the problem).

you can see something in TWRP: make screenshots and pull them.. TWRP also has a bunch of adb commands https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html install LineageOS that comes with adb enabled


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Android multi-user - switch users from lockscreen based on solely on PIN or biometrics
Xiaomi and its sub-brands run an Android skin called MIUI (recently updated to HyperOS). MIUI/HyperOS has a feature called Second Space. This is an excellent feature, it is like you have two completely separate phones in one device.
I believe that Xiaomi Second Space feature is an impllementation of AOSP Android multi-user functionality.
The unique aspect of Xiaomi's implementation is that the phone will launch one or the other of the "spaces" from the lock screen, based SOLELY on the PIN of fingerprint used for authentication on the lock screen. I.e., there is no need to select one or the other space (user) before authenticating to the selected space. It knows which space you want to go to, based on your authentication.
This is an incredibly convenient feature.
I have played with bare Android multi-user functionality on and older vesion of Android (Pixel 3, Android 12). The multi-user implelentation is clunky. The clunkiness is best described by example. I will use the terms User1 for the main user and User2 for the subsequently-created second user profile.
Suppose I sign in as User1, then lock the phone. I now want to sign in as User2.
With my Xiaomi, I can do this by simply entering the PIN for User2 on the lock screen.
With the Pixel 3 / Android 12, the process is as follows:
Remember that my last sign-in was a User1.
Enter the PIN for User1. (If I try entering the PIN for User2, it tells me wrong PIN).
Pull down the shade to select User2.
Enter the PIN for user2.
My question is this:
Are there any other Android phone brands the allow simple switching between users based SOLELY on authentication credentials, without first having to select the user you want to authenticate as?

Related: How to switch user profile based on password / lockscreen pattern, a comment mentioned "vivo mobile". AFAIK, this is a very niche feature in Android.

No, not based "solely" a password or other secret credential, due to the obvious: what happens when the user get the same password or PIN by chance?
But multiuser functionality is a basic Android feature, since Android is basically Linux. So many Android based devices support multiple users and can switch between users directly from the lock screen, just like on a PC or Mac. This is just one additional finger tap and much more secure and flexible. I know for example that this works on Samsung Galaxy Android tablets.
But it does seem true multiuser capability is getting more and more lost on mobile devices. Xiaomi for example doesn't support it at all (I asked) which makes device sharing practically impossible.

I dont see how this answers the question.

OK ... I rephrased it. Better?


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Unpack boot.img and add "androidboot.selinux=enforcing" to boot.img-cmdline not work on Samsung
After flashing Android 13 of LineageOS to Galaxy Note 10+, I'm trying to set SELinux permissive following the steps.

Unpack boot.img and add androidboot.selinux=permissive to boot.img-cmdline
use Heimdall, and flash the packed boot.img:
heimdall flash --BOOT myboot.img

The phone would auto-reboot after the flashing was complete. But adb getprop ro.boot.selinux still returns enforcing.
And I checked cat /proc/cmdline, there is androidboot.selinux=enforce.
This method works on Pixel 3XL with Android 13 LineageOS. I don't know why flash boot.img does not work on Galaxy Note 10+.
I checked boot.img with hex editor(vim), and found cmdline as there.
00000000: 414e 4452 4f49 4421 10e0 f602 0080 0010  ANDROID!........
00000010: 96d5 1500 0000 0011 0000 0000 0000 0000  ................
00000020: 0001 0010 0008 0000 0100 0000 8301 001a  ................
00000030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000  ................
00000040: 616e 6472 6f69 6462 6f6f 742e 7365 6c69  androidboot.seli
00000050: 6e75 783d 7065 726d 6973 7369 7665 2062  nux=permissive b
00000060: 7569 6c64 7661 7269 616e 743d 7573 6572  uildvariant=user
00000070: 6465 6275 6700 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000  debug...........

your mistake is you can't set selinux permissive on stock kernel. compile custom kernel with CONFIG_SECURITY_SELINUX_DEVELOP


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Nexus 4 won't turn Bluetooth on
My LG Nexus 4 runs stock Android 4.2.2. I use Bluetooth for phone calls with a one-ear headset (Plantronics M100).
Sometimes I notice in the power toggles menu that Bluetooth has turned OFF and when I go into the BT settings the slider is indeed set to OFF. When I touch the slider, it moves to ON but after a fraction of a second it quickly moves back to OFF.
Sometimes Bluetooth is even reported as ON but it still won't connect to any other BT device. In this state, I can turn BT off and then on again, but it doesn't resolve the problem.
Only a device restart seems to resolve this, so that I can turn BT on again. This happens every other day or so.
Is this a bug in Android? Is there something else interfering? How can I troubleshoot this?

I dont know whether this something to with LG, I experience this glitch occasionally in my rooted LG Optimus One (P500), running stock v2.3.3 ROM. I did not face this problem with ROMs from CM7 to CM10.1

I've experienced this once, I believe after I tried to turn on bluetooth by long-pressing the toggle in the quick settings menu. Do you turn bluetooth on and off a lot? I've found that it isn't much of a battery drain to leave it on without anything connected.

@Velociraptors: I use a profile app (Llama) that turns BT off at night. I'll try leaving it on and see if it helps (and how it affects battery life). Thanks!

I get this too. FWIW, it's not related to turning Bluetooth on and off a lot - even if I leave it on, it turns itself off and this bug manifests eventually.

Seem to be an Android bug. I found this in the Android bug tracker.
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=42520&q=summary%3Abluetooth%20type%3Adefect&sort=-stars&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars


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Am I consuming "roaming" services?
I've borrowed an Android phone so I can decide whether to buy one. I have a GSM SIM without a data plan, but I am using Wifi that is broadcast from my other smartphone which does have a data plan.
The phone's GSM signal icon has a tiny "R" that indicates that I am roaming -- why?
My phone is an HTC Desire Z with (I think!) Android 2.3.
Under Settings > Mobile Networks I have these settings:
Data enabled = unticked
International data roaming = unticked
National data roaming = unticked
Use only 2G networks = ticked
The notification list sometimes shows me a message that is too long to be displayed, but some googling tells me that this is the complete text:

"You have lost data connectivity because you left your home network with data roaming turned off"

The notification list also shows that I am in fact on the correct network: My SIM card is from the provider "bob" and the phone shows that I am on the "bob" network.
Am I consuming anything related to roaming? How can I ensure that I will not use roaming?

In some ROM the display of 'R' will be bit confusing. The 'R' might be displayed in different colours to highlight roaming or not. To ensure, can you go to Settings -> About phone -> Status and see what the item "Roaming" shows? In my LG P500 when not in roaming it shows "Not Roaming". Probably this could clear if you are a victim of ambiguous display of 'R'.

Maybe this post from XDA will answer your question.

This isn't an APN problem, it is a SIM problem.
Your provider has one set of numbers on your card, and another set of
  numbers that actually identify the network, and they don't match.
  Technically, from the phone's point of view, you are roaming, even
  if it is the same provider. From the provider's point of view, you
  aren't roaming.
Up until cupcake, we had that same problem here in Canada when using
  the "Fido" network (which is owned and operated by "Rogers"). The
  network identified itself as "Rogers", the SIM cards identify
  themselves as "Fido", the phone think's its roaming.
So; you don't need to worry about roaming charges when you are
  actually connected to the correct network.
BUT; You don't have an easy to read display to tell you when you are
  really roaming, nor can you make configurations that are based on whether you are or are not roaming.

This could make sense, thank you! The "bob" network is a low-budget provider that operates on top of another provider ("A1"). So if my phone sees that it's on "A1" then this matches your explanation. It's just confusing because it still shows "bob"...


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Android system not using the configured DNS server
Running android 10.
Network app shows correct the 2 DNS servers that i configured for my wifi, in ipv4, as well as 2 mobile data DNSes in ipv6.
But regardless of my configured servers, it never passes through them. Using a DNS query tester, it looks like it defaults to the first mobile data DNS, despite data being turned off. The request fails, probably since my router doesn't support ipv6. It can query my local DNS just fine when explicitly used.
The only requests ever logged by my local DNS server are from google.com, connectivitycheck.gstatic.com, dns.quad9.net for some reason, and ONE app that follows policy (an XMPP client).
Using a packet sniffer, it looked like everything was going through 8.8.8.8, though i'm not sure exactly how the app works.
I also tried forcing the DNS under a local VPN with this app, which definitely blocked all calls to 8.8.8.8 because then no domain names could be resolved, effectively blocking internet. Explicit calls to my DNS server still work.
There's a lot of weird android behavior, but this just seems like a bug.

Check network settings if privacy DNS is enabled. If it is enabled all DNS server configuration received via DHCP are ignored and instead one of the large DNS servers like 8.8.8.8 that supports DNS over HTTPS/TLS are used.

Thanks Robert, it was private DNS. I assumed my phone didn't even have it after snooping around wifi settings so much, but there it is, and i had even configured it in the past to use quad9, which explains the bootstrapping queries.


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Why can't I uninstall/disable all bloatware through ADB without root?
I recently tried to disable bloatware in my cheap Vivo and Oppo smartphones. These apps named Themes, Game Center, etc. keep giving me notifications that can't be disabled through the UI. The notification settings are on by default and greyed out (can't be changed).
Edit: Digital Wellbeing's Focus Mode and Dashboard (0 allowed minute) can mostly suppress the notifications with some weird effects, because these bloatwares are considered as the "default applications" for things you do with the phone. For example, opening play store links by default opens these manufacturers' own app marketplace. Even though Google's Play Store is installed. Another example, trying to interact with files, images will trigger these manufacturers' built-in file managers and gallery, even though alternatives are installed. Of course these attempts failed, because the 0 minute restriction from Digital Wellbeing. Making you unable to do what you meant to do. Btw disabling their ability to open the relevant links under Default Applications doesn't work. Simply awful.

Using ADB, I tried the usually recommended commands such as pm disable-user --user 0 com.bbk.theme and got hit with:
Exception occurred while executing 'disable-user':
java.lang.SecurityException: Cannot disable com.bbk.theme no root permission

I was confused, and googled the issue. Based on XDA and Reddit threads I read, the claim that ADB being able to disable/uninstall everything without root is a myth. Although I found different errors such as
Failure [DELETE_FAILED_OWNER_BLOCKED]

or
Failure [DELETE_FAILED_USER_RESTRICTED]

For certain apps, manufacturers have disabled this method and several other workarounds. Like the workarounds mentioned in https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72006988/pm-uninstall-k-user-0-failure-delete-failed-user-restricted . None of them works anymore, even the freezing/ignore RUN_IN_BACKGROUND one.
So I wonder, why can't I uninstall/disable all bloatware through ADB without root, even though most people online keep insisting that this works? For example, on threads about Canta/Shizuku, which is yet another workaround when ADB commands don't work. This method btw doesn't work for my phones. Canta says they are uninstalled (and installed at the same time). But Themes, etc. still show up in the phone.
Some of my guesses for the reason:

The method still works with popular brands like Samsung. I haven't tried doing this with Samsung though.

Only the cheaper models have this issue. Because these bloatwares offset a lot of the manufacturing costs.

Regional difference. Perhaps some laws like EU's DMA prevent this issue.

The method still works on some bloatware. So people just assume it works for everything.

The internet commenters have older phones. Perhaps the manufacturers didn't disable this method back then.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable knows the actual answer.

I hope this won't be too upsetting for you, but some people actually have beliefs about all sorts of things that are objectively wrong, and are unwilling to admit this.

Manufacturer can modify Android, so if they want to make certain app package uninstallable they can. On most Android devices pm disable-user --user 0 <packagename> works.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'll just say this, these Chinese brands have pretty big market share in some countries including mine. And online and offline, concerns about these brands' bloatware are always dismissed with "just use ADB to uninstall them". Felt like I fell for a marketing scheme.

FWIW, 1 & 5 are universally correct since manufacturers do customize their Android, even for different models/firmware updates under the same manufacturer. 2 is very hard to prove. 3 & 4 maybe. And this applies to most things on Android, like bootloader unlock. Creating a database for every possible combination to document every feature will be a heroic effort.

However, there is a potential problem with the title since we can't really guess people's minds, so I reworded the title to make it acceptable on here. That said, as I've mentioned above, your guesses (and @Robert 's comment) are the answers to this question, so feel free to post them as an answer (preferably with references to back them up). I hope you understand.


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How do I choose a wired headset whose buttons work?
I'm switching from iPhone to the Nexus 4 (yay!) and I know that the Nexus 4 doesn't come with a headset. I also know that for simple audio playback, any stereo headset can be used -- but I also want to use the headset to:

adjust volume with in-cable +/- buttons,
start/stop music playback with in-cable middle button,
start/end calls with in-cable middle button,
telephony with in-cable microphone.

The Apple headsets provide these abilities on iPhone so I'm assuming that something similar would work on Android as well (and specifically on the Nexus 4).
I've tried connecting the Apple wired headset to a borrowed Nexus 4, but the in-cable buttons didn't work. I'm not really surprised because I assume that the buttons send coded signals that are proprietary.
How can I select a wired headset that is compatible with the Nexus 4?
I can't very well buy one and test it, buy another if it doesn't work right, and continue until I succeed.
Surely, there is a solution here that I have been too Apple-brainwashed to see?
Alternatively, if this isn't possible on a stock Android: Is there an add-on package to Android that catches the signals from an iPhone headset and sends appropriate commands to the system?

Summary from my comments, as requested, as an answer:
There are plenty of other headset controller apps on the playstore if you're worried about the permissions. I tried Jays once, but it only worked partially (in 9 out of 10 tries, I had no luck to adjust the volume -- instead, other actions were triggered, as e.g. pause/play).
Having a Philips headset, I tried Philips Headset -- and am quite satisfied: Volume control, play/pause/skip, accept/refuse/hangup call, all possible smoothly.
Most of the headset control apps want to make calls. As my device is rooted, I control such things with the LBE app: Neither Jays nor Philips Headset abused this privilege.
Most headset control apps seem to work with most headsets, more or less. As my example with Jays and a Philips headset shows, some features might not be available/working. But you cannot break anything trying. So I'd suggest to give it a try first: If one app doesn't work out, try another. If none works the way you need it, you still can go for another headset; having checked some of the control apps, you then already know which companies have a specific app. As said, my Philips headset works fine with the Philips app -- others reported the same for Jays. Reading the comments will give you more details and help you finding a good combination.

I use an Android specified Headset with 3-button for my Nexus. Works brilliant.
Not only does it deliver 3-button action, but also very good sound and a really hard hitting bass. Anyone enjoying Rock or Electronica will not stop listening ;-)
The headset is specifically made for Android's lower voltage spec from Google and will NOT work on an iphone (the way I like it).
3-button Android spec headset with flat cable
Sabotage Royale from Degauss Labs
Webpage: http://www.degausslabs.com
Edit: 3-button headsets.
I hope anyone reading this debate understands there are Android hardware spec headsets and iPhone hardware spec headsets. They dont change in hardware or technical specifications just because you start using some software app.. (Just make them more programmable).
So if you are an Android user you should use a 3-button Android spec headset. A 3-button iPhone headset will not work 100% (up down buttons etc) and most likely the mic dont do the proper job making whom you speak to hear you bad or "from far away" or "talking in a coke-can". There are 100 times more iPhone spec headset out there, dont ask me why.

I guess this got downvoted because it's a specific product recommendation? I upvoted because it's actually useful :-)

My initial research is confusing. Some say that this kind of commands just aren't available on Android. One source says that at least one product (Klipsch S4a (Android), £50-90) actually works as desired when also installing an application from the vendor.
As for add-on software to handle the in-cable buttons, HeadsetButton Controller (€2,29, free trial) seems to do the trick although I really don't understand why it needs to "read data about your contacts stored on your tablet, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals."
With that add-on software, perhaps a cheaper headset could work just as fine (example).

There are plenty of other headset controller apps on the playstore if you're worried about the permissions. I tried Jays once (it wants to make calls oops), didn't work out for me. Having a Philips headset, I tried Philips Headset -- and am quite satisfied: Volume control, play/pause/skip, accept/refuse/hangup call, all possible smoothly. Permissions? Yeah, it wants to make calls. But in the past 6 months, it never did this on its own ;)

@Izzy so you're saying that most apps work with most headsets? I had gotten the impression that most apps only work with a specific (set of) headset(s) that they've been specifically written for. Yes, on Android I'm a n00b :-)

More or less they do, yes. Specific ones work best, of course (like in my case the Philips app with a Philips headset). With Jays I had trouble adjusting the volume. But you can't break anything, so just try which one fits best with your headset.

@Izzy - if you write that in an answer, I'll accept it! That would mean I could keep my iPhone headset and use a suitable app, which would be great.

Done :) As written: If no app works out with your current headset, you still can buy new hardware. But if you find a suitable combination, it will save you some bucks ;)

When I switched over to Android I started looking for a three button headset compatible with my phone. I found that there are a couple of brands that do earphones for Android but you usually have to use an App to set the functions for button controls.
I love good sound in my ears and probably use my earphones 2-5 hours per day.
I have tested a couple, I find many of the earphones lack durability and break quite easily.
Some recommendations below, all with three button control:
Nocs NS200 - Good sounding earphones. Comfortable. Lacking mids and bass is too impendent. However they broke. Three button function works well with button control App.
Bose MIE2i - Nice earphones is you're not into in-ear heaphones. Comfortable and good sounding. I think they are slightly overpriced..
Klipsch S4a II- Really well made earphones. Good sound and well balanced. Button control work well with App.
Degauss Dual Driver, the best pair of earphones I have owned so far. They sound like the equivalent to a couple of Shure earphones for 290EUR, but only cost 110EUR. The button control works well. I downloaded Degauss App. I have been using them for a couple of months. I found them in a store in Sweden. Think you can buy them from Degauss Labs website. Would like to try Sabotage Royale as well..
Maybe this post helps...

The question was asking how to choose, not for actual recommendations.

If you are willing to sacrifice volume control feature, pretty much most of the stock headphones that come with android phones will work for you.
Long press, double press of the button are mere interpretation of software like the music player or the call manager. Hence you should get this feature natively or if not it can be supplemented by apps.
If volume control is badly needed, then the only option that I can think of is Bluetooth stereo headphones like Jabra BT3030, which can do all those you ask for.
I am not an audiophile and do not like heavy bass - just saying this because I recently purchased a headphone from LG service centre just for INR200 (about £3) and I am completely satisfied with its cost vs benefit ratio that it offered and of course had all the feature you ask for except volume control.


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Tried to unlock Sony Xperia 5 III bootloader - now: "FAILED (Write to device failed (no link))"
As per title, I am trying to unlock the bootloader on my Sony Xperia 5 III. I have the global variant (XQ-BQ52) and confirmed it is unlockable. I am on W10 Ryzen based desktop system. I tried to follow Sony's "How to unlock bootloader", I got code as per Sony's "Unlock your device". I would like to say I have unlocked bootloaders and installed custom ROMS before - somehow this was quite different.
In first try, I didn't realise I was in "fastbootd". I rebooted to "fastboot" and had to reinstall the drivers. This time, I had to browse for a driver with the Window's choose-a-driver-GUI instead of choosing the folder downloaded with Google USB drivers - this was a bit weird to me.
Nonetheless, it seemed it worked since I got proper respond to fastboot devices.
So, for the unlocking part; admittedly, I was confused regarding the command
fastboot oem unlock 0x stating on Sony's guide. I might be stupid, but did not understand where to put in the code. First, I did the exact command and of course got nothing. Then I replaced 0x with my code, and then Terminal just hang forever. After a few minutes, I decided to kill the command with CTRL + C. I might have screwed up big time.
Now, when for instance trying fastboot reboot I get
Rebooting                                          FAILED (Write to device failed (no link))
fastboot: error: Command failed

I can still "ping" my device and get proper response with fastboot devices, but I must say I am kind of scared to proceed from here. Found this link but I am unsure whether this applies to my case.
I made a post on XDA's forums as well, and now it seems I indeed messed up with the unlock code input. But still, don't know if I made things worse with killing the command or perhaps even installing wrong drivers.
My phone is still in fastboot mode (with blue LED), and I am afraid to disconnect and potentially mess even more up.
I hope I provided enough details. THANKS in advance.
UPDATE:
Left the phone over night and decided to give it another try. I just tried to fastboot reboot and BEHOLD: the phone rebooted, showed the "cannot check for corruption [..] screen", wiped the data and booted into the stock ROM. I mean: what?!
Futhermore, it shows unlocked under developer settings and:
C:\Users\user>fastboot getvar unlocked
unlocked: yes
Finished. Total time: 0.001s

Although, this is curious to me:
C:\Users\user>fastboot oem device-info
FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')
fastboot: error: Command failed

Perhaps it is just how Sony phones work?
Nonetheless; I do not know what happened - perhaps just reconnected to the PC due to sleep mode? I think it did succeed in unlocking the bootloader after all. Is there any commands I should run before trying to flash the ROM I would like to install?
Thanks again!


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Is it possible to get the "Quickly open camera" gesture working with the BOOX Palma?
I tried installing Secure Lockscreen Camera per the instructions here (only using Zygisk instead of Riru as recommended in the Riru README):
https://github.com/droserasprout/com.github.droserasprout.lockscreencamera
I've enabled "Double-Tap Power Button" under "Camera Gestures" in SystemUI Tuner.
But am unable to get it working. I've tried Open Camera (preferred), and every apk of the latest GCam port listed as recommended in the README. The linked ANXCamera 404s.


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Does Google Navigation Live Traffic reroute during the journey?
After setting a destination and start navigation and my journey, if a new incident occurs and slows/blocks the route, is Google Navigation able to update the route and find a faster alternative automatically before I get near?

In the new Google Maps app we finally have this feature.
From this post on the official Google blog:

Enhanced navigation: In addition to current traffic conditions, we’ve added two new features to help you navigate around traffic. You can now see reports of problems on the road that you can tap to see incident details. While on the road, Google Maps will also alert you if a better route becomes available and reroute you to your destination faster. This feature is available only on Android and is coming soon to iOS.

From http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/maps/hL8UXVgRMcE/6PfnMZP8tIQJ

Once you are in the "navigation" mode, you will see a status bar on the bottom that gives you an estimate of time remaining to your destination. The text of the time remaining changes color based on the traffic situation. The colors correspond to the former colored traffic light dot. If the words are red, that means there is some serious traffic on your route. Yellow indicates areas of slowed traffic. Green indicates that there are no anticipated delays.

Finally this feature has been added after so long.

As far as I know and based on my testings with the same concern, I came to the conclusion that it doesn't update the route based on traffic or any other reasons.
I even took an alternative route that I knew it was faster in rush hour conditions and the navigator was still trying to reroute me back to its original route, considering that faster due to speed limits.

Google doesn't do this automatically, but you can ask it to do it.
In traffic view, there is a button in the lower right hand corner (looks like 2 diverging arrows (one dashed) both leading to a destination pin).
In turn by turn view, press Menu then Routes and Alternatives, and the same alternate routes button will show up second from the right.
However, Google Navigation will often not show you a route that avoids the traffic.  When that happens, start driving an alternate route and Google Navigation will eventually get the point, although you may have to listen to a lot of "turn around" alerts before it does.

The main issue with this that you have to know the alternative routes.

Well...yes and no.
I have been on 2 road trips where the google traffic turned red in front of me and I just got off at the next exit; after a mile or two google traffic snapped onto a new route that went around the traffic snarl.
Also, don't forget that google navigation has an embedded map which can help you figure out an alternate route, although this is most useful when travelling with a companion to act as navigator.  Otherwise, you should pull over 1st.
Most of all, google nav gives me the confidence to try stuff b/c I know that I can never get truly lost.

According to this post on the official Google blog, Navigation should have this feature but like slybloty said I have never noticed any evidence of this happening

+1, thx for the link. It's available for North America and Europe where both Navigation and real-time traffic data are available. The example in the post is for NY, for which Google might have plenty of crowd sourced traffic data ready. Maybe there's a boundary for data quality and quantity at which this feature is enabled only. Mind: An areas cell coverage may also play a role how much good data google gets