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Android APK installing method
I want to know how the APK installing in Android exactly works. E.g. a downloaded APK is installed when I press 'install' but there is some process, right? I want to know that.
Inside the APK of the game called Mini Militia I found there are three folders inside the assets folder: HD, HDR and SD. The APK installs one of those according to the phone's resolution maybe, I don't know. I edited some files in the HD folder but my phone installs the files from HDR. My mobile is a OnePlus One. I want to know if I could change that.

In Android versions <= 4.4 (KitKat and older) the APK file is simply copied into /data/app folder, a cache file is generated for it and installed on the cache partition. When Android is booting, it checks if cache files for any APKs are missing and generates them if necessary. And that's it.
In newer Android versions (>= 5.0 so Lollipop and newer) it's a bit more complicated because of the new ART virtual machine. A new folder is created in /data/app for every app and the APK is placed there. Libraries are extracted from APK into /data/app/<app_folder>/lib and code is piped through ART's ahead-of-time compiler. That's why installing apps takes much longer in ART-based Androids.
Other files aren't extracted from the APK unless the app itself does it.


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Block URLs and encrypt hosts file
I am looking to block a few URLs from an android device... however, I would like to take an extra level of security and password protect the hosts file.
I think I can do that with ES File Explorer by the looks of it?
https://www.howtogeek.com/221582/19-things-you-didnt-know-androids-es-file-explorer-can-do/amp/
I'm wondering, if I encrypt the hosts file but then uninstall ES File Explorer, will the hosts file stay encrypted?
Or if not, is there another way to achieve this?

Well, if the hosts file is encrypted, what use will it be? It cannot be read then and thus not be used.

If you encrypt the hosts file, the system won't be able to read the file, so it won't work any more. But there's no need: since you need root access to edit the hosts file anyway, any app that you don't grant root access won't be able to edit the file.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Google Sheets Android - Continuing Formulas
I have the formula B6=((A6/A4)*B4)+A2 and I want to copy it throughout the rest of the column so that:
B7=((A7/A4)*B4)+A2,B8=((A8/A4)*B4)+A2, and so on. I know how I would do this on a computer but I do not have access to one. Any help?

Tap on your formula B6=((A6/A4)*B4)+A2 to select it, then tap
another time to select COPY
Tap on the column name B to select the whole column, then tap
    again on it to PASTE the formula.

This worked for me:

Make at least two cells with continuing formula

Copy the two cells, and the paste in the next two cells and then repeat with four cells.

This approach is for when you don't want to paste the formula on the whole column.

Tap on the cell containing the formula to select it, then tap again and select COPY

Select all the cells you'll want to paste the formula then tap on any of the selected cells

Select PASTE SPECIAL, then select PASTE FORMULA ONLY.

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

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


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Is there any way to update
I have bought Solid Explorer from the playstore. I've recently bought a LYF Flame 6, which doesn't support Google Play Services, but has playstore and works just as it is supposed to. But, still I if I download Solid Explorer, it shows that only the trial version is supported. I tried manually installing a pro apk, which doesn't give updates directly from the play store. I can't download the apk each and every time a new update is released. The app doesn't show in the list of "My apps". Is there anyway to force Playstore to show Solid Explorer in the list of my apps?

An app downloaded outside of the Play Store can't   be updated using Google Play update mechanism, it  won't appear in the downloaded list as well simply because not  your Google account that downloaded it.
An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play's update mechanism.
The paid version isn't showing up may be because the developer has put restrictions regarding your country or your Android version, etc.
Update:
Try downloading your apps from a third party market such as Monogenie or Aptoide, you'll be notified whenever an update is available.

Well, I know those apps. But as an android dev, Playstore feels better for me, in terms of both UI and features. I had asked if there was any way to make playstore to give updates for apps which I've sideloaded with the apk.

There are also other 3rd party applications which have the ability to update installed applications, regardless from source. For instance I use an official HiApp to get updates for installed applications (even though I initially got them from Google play store).
XDA developers also made an APK updater which gets updates for installed applications. You may want to take a look here: apk updater. However I haven't checked if they do license verification or app purchases. If your goal is to get regular updates for your applications then it's worth a try.
Update sources:
At the moment three sources are supported:

APKMirror
APKPure
Google Play (Download from Evozi)

Ok, does it support updating paid apps? How many hours do those sources take to upload the new apk from the developer? I've got this error on "Google Play (Evozi). Please review the error from this screenshot: link

@sharath3589, thanks for the update, this site uses a secure https connections and other protocols (http) are not supported. Have you tried updating within the app?

I haven't downloaded the app yet. I was trying to visit the website as I'm not on my android though. I've seen that error for many sites in my chrome, how could I fix that?

@sharath3589, aww if you having this problem on most sites, its because they can longer accept unsecure connections (http), you can try to update your chrome browser or other alteratives which don't explicitly shw this error even if the website uses http protocol


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Extract TWRP backups made with adb
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 smartphone with LineageOS and TWRP. Every week I make a backup with the following command:
adb backup -f twrp-20170322.ab --twrp boot data system

I may optionally use the --compress option, too.
Is there a way to extract the twrp-20170322.ab backup file with stardard GNU/Linux command line tools? I will also consider installing extra software if needed, but it must be free (as in freedom).
Links:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/extract-backup-adb-twrp-option-t3577903
https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/issues/898

I have found that TWRP-generated .ab files are different from the normal adb backup files, so the offset is different from normal .ab files. I was able to inspect and extract files using (for example to inspect) the following command:
dd if=backup.ab bs=512 skip=1 | tar ft -

Apparently, the header may be longer, but it should be aligned with 512-bytes boundaries, so just bump the skip= parameter if it can't find it at first.
Note that the file format is defined in twadbstream.h, if you need to dig into this further.

The problem with the naive dd-based approach is that there is metadata every so often in the file. This results in corruption for files of any significant length.
I wrote an extraction tool utilizing twadbstream.h (thanks @anarcat) that I have used to successfully recover large (~10GB) multi-filesystem TWRP ADB backups.
twrpabx

Thank you! Your tool worked for me after applying these patches mentioned in the Github issues https://github.com/prudy/twrpabx/tree/img_and_issue4

@TrojanName were you able to extract multi partitions backup with these patches?

@SandroAntonucci Yes I think it did

Provided you didn't protect it with a password:
dd if=$1 bs=24 skip=1 | openssl zlib -d >${1%%.ab}.tar

dd is the "Disk Duplicator" (also known as "disk destroyer" in case you confuse its parameters ans switch if and of ;)
bs=23 advises it to use a block size of 24 byte, which we need to…
skip=1 skip 1 block of 24 byte (the "Backup header")
the output gets piped to openssl to process and unpack it
… and the output from that is redirected to a Tarball

From there, you should know your way: simply "untar" (extract) what you want.
Why it uses $1? Well, I copied this line from ab2tar, which is included with my little tool Adebar you might be interested in as well: creates a nice device documentation, backup scripts and more, all via ADB using nothing but Bash  So put that line in a tiny little shell script, and call it:
ab2tar twrp-20170322.ab

Then find a twrp-20170322.tar as result. Of course, this requires openssl to be installed on your Linux machine.

I get the following error message: 140376894071512:error:29065064:lib(41):BIO_ZLIB_READ:zlib inflate error:c_zlib.c:548:zlib error:data error

Never seen that. Could it be TWRP uses a different compression method than standard ADB (I couldn't find details on that)? Or, as you didn't specify --compress when creating the backup, creates uncompressed backups? In the latter case, try leaving out the zlib parameter (or do it the other way around and specify --compress when creating the backup ;).

I tried with: dd if=twrp-20170320.ab bs=24 skip=1 > twrp-20170320.tar (without inserting openssl). But when I try to list the contents of the tar archive with tar -tf twrp-20170320.tar I get: tar: This does not look like a tar archive; tar: Skipping to next header; tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

There's a reason for not using the --compress option with adb: it compresses way less efficiently than xz. I prefer to save as much space as possible. But that's not related to my initial problem.

What I described above works fine for "normal" ADB backups (I use it frequently for those, and I don't use a --compress there either). From your statement (adb backup …) I assumed the very same format. If you're just using a different compression, you must consider that. openssl is needed to decrypt the backup – so without that, you don't get a valid .tar. From your last comments, I'd assume you should replace zlib by the corresponding part for xz. Apart from that, I'm out of ideas, sorry.

from what i can tell, this procedure only works with "normal" (ie. non-TWRP) generated backups. when TWRP sends the stream, it slaps a new header on top, which is longer (512 bytes). see https://android.stackexchange.com/a/180402/158769 for a solution that worked for me.

@anarcat Thanks for the pointer! So my approach is still valid, one just has to skip a different sector size – and can skip the entire openssl stuff?

@Izzy your answer is for adb backup, not working for TWRP backup. check my script twab.sh

Umpf, so are you saying adb backup is not creating an "ADB backup" here? That's quite confusing.

it's data.ext4.win with a 1536 bytes header, but 'broken' into datablocks. also it may contain multiple partitions https://sourceforge.net/p/adbextractor/discussion/general/thread/f96e7701/#0a6a


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Is adb rooted by default?
I have seen many tutorials which guide to press su directly in cmd (Command Prompt) after entering the command, does it mean that the shell is in root mode but only through the pc? So, is it possible to edit the build prop by copying the default one from /system and overriding the build prop after editing it from notepad?

Not at all. It just depends on which files you are working on.
Protected system files will need elevated privileges.
For example a simple installation via ADB does not require root eg
adb install com.package.name

While advanced commands like mounting in system dir needs root privileges.
e.g mount -o bind /mnt/emmc /sdcard/external_sd
Requires su permissions
As for your operation, interfering with system files needs root


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How to migrate contacts2.db between android devices (SELinux enabled)?
I exported a contacts2.db from a samsung s6 and try to import it to a Samsung S2 tab. both phones operate on android 6 and are rooted. What I've achieved so far:

I managed to copy the file from the source device with:

adb shell "su -c cat /path/to/contacts2.db" > contacts2.db

I managed to restore the database by copying the file to the sdcard of the destination device and then via adb shell

su
cd /data/data/com.android.contacts/databases/
mv contacts2.db contacts2.db.bak
cp /sdcard/contacts2.db .
chown  u0_a4:u0_a4 contacts2.db
chmod 600 contacts2.db
cd ..
restorecon -Rv databases
kill $(ps | grep contacts | awk '{ print $2 }')

Then I start contacts again via gui, rebooted, but the contacts do not show up. It does not seem to be a file permission error, but a database problem? The devices run the same samsung stock firmware.

What did I miss here?

I've never had any sort of success moving that file around devices with somewhat different ROMs, but when they're flashed with the same ROM, just dropping the file in that location (without touching permissions, etc.) will do. I assume the format of the file is slightly different on the 2 devices.

@AndyYan make this an answer. It seems to be the correct answer. Afaik, a database version is part of the database, which prevents contacts from using an incorrect (too new/old)  database layout.

Your comment actually contains more than what I wanted to say. I'll have it integrated and posted shortly.

Should I rename the question to make it more appropriate? I guess it's a common question but the title now seems odd to me.

Now that you asked, I think just mentioning "importing contacts2.db" would be alright, the rest is your context that could be put into the question body. Whatever you like :)

Looks better to me now :) Thanks for chatting.

The format of the database is likely slightly different on the 2 devices. As quoted from your own comment...

...a database version is part of the database, which prevents contacts from using an incorrect (too new/old) database layout.

Personally I've never had any sort of success moving that file around devices with somewhat different ROMs, but when they're flashed with the same ROM, just dropping the file in that location (without touching permissions, etc.) will do.

Contacts are stored in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases.
If you simply want to sync contacts in new phone, add same Google account on newer phone. It will automatically sync in background.
You can also try Samsung SmartSwitch.

Here's some partial information that I was able to figure out.  The contacts2.db database, like all SQLite3 databases, has a pragma (metadata) called user_version (which can be read with PRAGMA user_version in sqlite3) which is an integer typically used to store a database schema version number.  This is used, in particular, by many Android databases and contacts2.db in particular, in running automatic migration code that will attempt to perform the required schema conversions when the database version does not match that expected by the code (here, the com.android.providers.contacts package): the migration code is in ContactsDatabaseHelper.java in the Android code.  Sadly, there are many things that can go wrong in this migration (and when it fails, it usually fails catastrophically, meaning all the contents are lost).  Sometimes it helps to check the user_version on the database before migration, and possibly perform or repair migrations “by hand” (using sqlite3) following what the Java code attempts to do.  I've been able to salvage my contacts database once in this way (but of course, it requires some knowledge of SQL).


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How do I update my LineageOS installation?
I have a Motorola Moto E LTE 2nd Generation Android phone (surnia) running LineageOS 14.1.20170303-NIGHTLY-surnia.
I installed LineageOS by following the instructions in the wiki: unlocking the bootloader, writing TeamWin's recovery program, wiping the partitions and installing LineageOS and OpenGApps Pico from the zip files.
Now that I have my phone running smoothly, I'd like to keep it up-to-date and secure.

How do I update LineageOS?

Is there a setting on the phone that I need to enable to have passive updates? Or is there an option I can activate to update to the latest build when I've backed up my data and I'm ready to proceed?
I can't find any information on the LineageOS wiki regarding updates.
I could update LineageOS by going back into TeamWin and writing the latest .zip, but that seems a bit drastic.

If you go to your phone’s settings, then “About phone”, you’ll see the phone’s status with an entry at the very top called “LineageOS updates”. In there you can configure how often your phone should check for updates, and you’ll also see a list of available updates. You can tap the “Download” button to download an update, and once it’s finished downloading, the button will say “Install” and tapping that will reboot your phone to TWRP and install the update.

Since other answers were correct but are now outdated, on my Lineage 19, I went to ⚙ Settings > System and found the Updater in that menu.
More instructions can be found in LineageOS.org's Wiki.


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How to add Google Now On Tap in a ROM?
I have ROM which doesn't have Now On Tap on Long Pressing Home Key. How can I add it?

First of all you have to set up Now On Tap in Google Now settings. After that you go to settings and find the "Buttons" section (usually on main settings screen or in rom tweaks section) and then for "long home button press" select "Open Google Now" or "Google Now On Tap" (whatever it is called there).


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No notifications at all on older Facebook Messenger app
For obvious reasons, I'm using an older version of facebook messenger app (ver 71)
But there are no notifications of arrived message, and important feature
If it's a bug or bad config, can be fixed ?
If not, is there a way to overcome this without third parties ?
Android M
Xperia Z3
Edit:
Tried upgrading to version 81, the last one I can tolerate the bloats, but no change
Tried messing with things like permissions, overlapping, notifications...
Nothing changes
EDIT:
It was a bug that went away after reflashing the system.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell what it is
It works now, even for very older (and better) version, like 40.0
The thread may stay open for config speculations
EDIT 2
The thing is back again. One day after a master reset it stopped working
I've tried updating to verson 90 (again, not higher, for obvious reasons, but another tolerable version), but no solution
Uninstalling/reinstalling doesn't help
Weird thing is: facebook app notifies it's own alerts, and also when a message arrives on the messenger app.
But android gets no toasts...

Did you try to use Facebook Messenger Lite ?

Thank you man! Didn't know about it.  So much better. Using now. I once tried facebook lite. It was a crap. For that reason I did not look into a lightweight messenger. Thank you again


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How to access content of the Google Drive app backup?
I accidentally uninstalled an Android app (GPSLogger) and lost all the app data (GPS tracking files). Now I can see there is an automatic backup in Google Drive, but the app does not recover it when I re-install it.
Is it possible to access the backup with some other tools and to extract the contained files manually?

This is a not complete answer to the above question, but just a helpful hint.
As it is stated on Android Backup Service help page

Not all apps use Android Backup Service. Some apps may not back up and restore all data.

So you should at first check if GPSLogger utilize Android Backup Service and then try to extract backup data.
The most proved way to backup app's settings is to copy folder
/data/data/com.some_vendor.some_app

beforehand and then to restore it manually. Or use some professional tool like Titanium, of course.

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


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How to delete this trash can icon Android 6.0
I have an Elephone P9000 and it has this annoying icon at the bottom that makes the most recent app disappear almost. How can I go and delete it? I have root.

If you could provide us with a screenshot it'd be super helpful.

Nova launcher let's you resize icons. Settings > look and feel> normalise icon size. This is an easy option of you are willing to switch painters

I'm sure you're talking about "Clear all" button. I wonder if there is a way to delete that. It's easy if you're on custom ROM.


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Native music listening app
I have just made the transition to android(Google Pixel) and HATE having to keep saying no to the Google Play music offer (sort of like Apple Music). It is as though I have bought a cheap product. OR Is there any way to stop the relentless ads?

I dont think there's any dedicated option for stopping this ads inside Google Play Music, but you can change the settings of your Google Ad ID from Google Settings app or Settings>> Google>> Ads
OR
ROOT YOUR PHONE THEN use AdAway!!

… or use a decent (open-source) music player :) There are some in my lists.

Musixmatch could be a good choice.

Based on above, all "good choices" are rather opinion based. If OP wants to go that path, there are better places – see: Where to ask for app recommendations? :)

You can try Lucky Patcher if you have root.


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Automatically Extract Text from any app using Tasker
I've recently started playing with automation of simple routines in my Android device, and I've encountered an issue I cannot seem to solve.
What I need is a way to detect if a change to the Clipboard has been made (preferably after I copy a piece of text from anywhere), and automatically paste that text to any app of my choice (either Evernote or Keep, doesn't really matter).
Is there any way to open an app using Tasker ONLY when a copy event was fired?

After doing some thorough reading of the Tasker Documentation I believe I have found an elegant way to accomplish this:

Basically this is a recursive task, constantly checking against a variable called %CLIPTEXT that it is equal to %CLIP (which is a predefined variable containing the contents of the Clipboard) and acting upon accordingly if it is not equal (aka changed) by opening the desired app.


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IMEI null/null?
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9305T, and I am getting a "Insert SIM card to access network services" error. I dialled *#06# and it said null/null, meaning I have a null IMEI. How do I fix this? Is it fixable?

Not all phones use the same dialing codes... You should update your question with your make and model of device, Android version, how you happened to lose your IMEI number, link to your "tutorial", and any other information you think is relevant (do NOT include IMEI numbers) otherwise your question will likely be flagged for closure as too vague/broad.

Also be aware that most modern devices cannot have the IMEI number modified through a simple service menu, some cannot have it modified by the user at all and if it gets "lost" it is a brick condition. Not trying to scare you but there are lots of old tutorials out there that just do not apply to modern devices.

@acejavelin I updated the question.

I second @acejavelin. Not all phones respond to secret codes uniformly. Indigo this app and check for IMEI number. You can verify number displayed against the number on the box (if you have it) or against sales receipt ( if it had that)


text:
How to disable OTA update of some specific apps?
My android device is 4.4.2 with no root access.
I would like to disable OTA updates of some specific apps like facebook and other apps.
Can it be possible?
Please let me know, how to do this?
Regards
InTech

Do you mean application updates via Google Playstore?

In some cases, we see application updates on Play Store. And in some cases we see frequent notification for application updates on an application screen. If I would be able to disable both for some applications, it will be really great for me.

If you are rooted, you can use Titanium Backup and Freeze the system app named "Software Update MUC". This prevents the phone from self checking for updates and the notifications will stop.


text:
Lifecycle and Compatibility of An Android Version (say 4.4.2)
I believe, currently Android 7.1.2 is the most updated version of android.
I searched more to understand the life cycle of an android version but I couldn’t find.
For example,
What would be the life cycle of Android 4.4.2 after which Android 4.4.2 will be incompatible to most android applications?
My android device is 4.4.2. I would like to know same for my device as well i.e. what would be the life cycle of Android 4.4.2 after which my device will be incompatible to most android applications.
These days, the compatibility information of most android applications is like 4.0+.
I believe I explained my doubt well.
With Regards
Tech Goal

With a few exceptions like if the play store stopped supporting something developers get to decide what OS versions are supported.

Also as a side note you can always download the apk for that version of android and install even if the play store stopped supporting your version.  This does take foresight though.

The support cycles of well-known apps tend to be very, very long, to the extent average users don't need to worry about it. Remember, there are regions where smartphone development is way behind the rest of the world, and where Android 4.0 might still be the norm.


text:
Is it possible to manage filters from Gmail app?
Is it possible to manage filters directly from the Gmail Android app?

No. This feature isn't implemented in the mobile app.

This is an old question, but... There is a workaround for managing Gmail filters on your Android device (or any mobile device). You can't do it directly within the app, though. You have to use your mobile browser and go to Gmail's "HTML" website (link below). HTML Gmail is basically a simplified version of the full/desktop website, but it still has nearly all of the functions of the current full site.
Once you navigate to HTML Gmail, you'll see the same options as you would see using a laptop/desktop browser. The graphic interface isn't quite as fancy, but all of the functions are there - including the ability to manage Filters via the Settings tab (near the top right of the page). Then you can proceed with managing your filters as usual.
Here's a direct link to HTML Gmail:
https://mail.google.com/mail/h/
If you have any problems, here's a help article on how to access the HTML Gmail site:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/15049?hl=en


text:
How can I remotely send commands to Tasker or other automation?
I'm looking for a way of sending remote commands to Tasker on my Android TV. Specifically, I'm trying to find a way to trigger an HTTP GET request from IFTTT to Tasker or another automation app (like Automate) which would execute a command locally on the TV.
Is there any way to do this in Tasker, Automate or another automation app?

There's an app called pushbullet that may be of help. You might have to do a bit more programming of tasker but it might do the job

Automate has the Cloud message blocks, for device-to-device and web-to-device communication.

The best app I've found to send a remote command from one android device to another is going to be AutoRemote, a tasker plug in, but this assumes you android tv devices has access to the play store. This app should also work well for you if you have tasker because you can directly integrate it into IFTTT. By integrating directly with IFTTT it removes the issues you'll likely have trying to use an http get request.


text:
Guest account on LineageOS 14.1
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100) smartphone with LineageOS 14.1 (2017-02-22 nightly) which is based on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat).
I'd like to enable the guest account feature, but I can't find anything in  Settings. How can I do that?
Please notice my device is encrypted. Are guest accounts compatible with encryption?
See also this thread on Reddit.

Slide down status bar to quick access screen and you will see a blue icon in the top right side. press on it and click add guest.

I don't have any blue icon there...

i have edited the post

Nothing, I don't have that blue icon. According to the Reddit thread the LineageOS developer responsible for the Samsung Galaxy S2 chose to disable the guest feature for some reasons...

ah, unlucky you. sorry i couldn't help.


text:
Disable mobile data permanently
A strange request I know... but I am quite keen to disable mobile data from my phone permanently (as opposed to just switching it off in the settings) so that I can only browse the internet when I'm connected to Wifi.
I've tried getting my network provider (O2) to do this with my account but they said it's not possible.
Is it possible to achieve this in Android instead? I'm basically just looking for a way to 'break' it... whether that's by installing some kind of app then that would be fine (perhaps if I could then return it back to normal with a factory reset)

I don't think this is possible but you can do this by deleting the APN in Settings > Networks

Community bump prevention: this question was closed because the question seems to have been abandoned (OP has gone and existing answers have not been voted for more than 3 years). If anyone can evaluate the existing answers, feel free to vote accordingly and reopen the question (or mod-flag the question requesting for reopening). For anyone else having the same issue, please post a new question and refer to this question as additional context.

You could delete your APN settings on your phone's configuration, or use airplane mode.

thanks, I can reach the APN settings on my device, but can't see a way to remove them?

Enter to the APN you want to delete, and you'll see the three dots options menu on the top right corner. There should be an option to "Delete APN" there. You have to do that with every single one of them.

unfortunately I only see 'Reset to default' when I do that

Well, you could change the settings of the APNs with random wrong values so they don't actually connect...

I'm not fully sure wether you can permanently disable data or not but you can always create a dummy APN and select that as default. With this, even if you enable data accidentally via toggles, it would still not connect. The best and sureshot way to stop mobile data is to delete the APN's (Access point names).
Check this post from android enthusiast.
If you are rooted you can even consider using droidWall like apps to prevent data access to apps

You can get a custom recovery, then go to "wipe" section and there should be "EFS" Option. Wipe the EFS partion if you don't want mobile data.

Don't you think this would erase the IMEI number as well?


text:
Google Assistant not showing messages

The image above shows the problem. I hear the voice, but no text shows up showing the response. This goes for any input: I hear the voice, but what the assistant says doesn't show up on the screen as text. It used to in earlier versions. Any ideas on how I can solve this?

I had the exact same problem running 7.0 android on the Samsung Galaxy s7 edge. I clicked on settings then  applications found the Google app clicked on it then I cleared all data and that erased all of the updates taking it back to the stock installed version from their I  updated the app restarted my phone and  my Google assistant works fine .hope this helps


text:
How to recover deleted photos?
By mistake, I've accidentally deleted the folder where my phone camera saves the photos; I was trying to delete just a couple of them, but inadvertently the whole folder was selected, and all the pictures that were inside were lost; the folder was residing in the external SD card, not on the phone internal memory.
What is the best way to recover them?

Please don't write anything on your SD card.
Connect it to a PC using card reader or, USB
if you are using windows
use Recuva recovery software
if you are using linux/ ubuntu
use TestDisk app
Both of these software are free.
Hope this helps.

You can use Easeus Data recovery software
Here are the detailed instructions :Easeus Website


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SD card unexpectedly removed
Here is my issue. I was moving data (photos and videos) from my smartphone's inner memory over to my Micro SD card with 16 GB of memory, a close-to-daily process in which I've never encountered any difficulties, when, without any warning, a notification signalling "SD card unexpectedly removed" appeared. After that, all the data previously stored on my SD card was inaccessibile from my phone, everything just disappeared, from Gallery content, to music, to apps. I tried to restart my phone, which is a Samsung Galaxy A3 from 2015, multiple consecutive times, but nothing changed, except that after a few attempts the notification had changed to "Preparation of SD card. Checking for errors". I also tried to access the SD card by connecting the phone to my laptop via USB, but it led to nothing. It's as though the SD card isn't in fact inside its socket, although I took it out several times to clean it up and check for cracks or any type of damage, which is not the case.
What should I do? Is there any way I can retrieve my data, even with the aid of a programme?
I apologise in advance if the notifications texts I've provided do not correspond precisely to the real ones, as my phone's system's language is not English.
Thank you for your availability.

SD cards use flash memory, it has a finite life span... The card could just be done. Can you insert it into a card reader on a computer and see if it is recognized?

This topic has been done to death here. Use photorec to recover what data you can


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NFC-Tagtype isn't supported
I've got a Samsung Galaxy S6 and recently updated my software to Android 7.0. Ever since I updated my Samsung Galaxy S6, my NFC Tag reader apps stopped working. Is this a known issue? I've tried multiple cards, but my phone refuses to read tags anymore.
Any ideas what I can do about this?

As I understand Samsung got rid of "S Beam" in favor of the stock "Android Beam" in the 7.0 update which affects NFC. Check your Android Beam settings and if it's on try with it off and vice versa if it was off.

I've tried both options, but neither seem to work. Is there a way to get S Beam back?


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How to Root SGH-I717M
How to root my device?
(Preferably without requiring the use of Windows OS and preferably not having to delete all files during the process)
Looking though https://android.stackexchange.com/q/1184, I did not find any instructions for my particular device.
Here are the details from "About Device" page
(Even though it doesn't say on the page, I should mention it is a Samsung device, not AT&T)
Model Number:
SGH-I717M

Android Version:
4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)

Baseband Version:
I717MUGMD1

Kernel Version:
3.0.31-1112295
se.infra@SEP-69 #1
SMP PREEMPT Thu Apr 4 15:48:09 KST 2013

Build Number:
JZO54K.I717MUGMD1

Note: As per https://android.meta.stackexchange.com/q/790, I am allowed to ask this question for a particular device model.

What I have tried so far:
KingoRoot (Gives me error 0x148F24)

Galaxy Note (1st gen)? Such old phones are very easy to root - just flash a custom recovery via Odin and flash a compatible SuperSU package.

BTW, your Samsung Galaxy Note is an AT&T device, the model SGH-I717M was an AT&T specific version of the SGN1. And Andy Yan is correct, rooting this device is quite simple, just use ODIN and flash TWRP, then use it to flash the latest SuperSU package. Or since the device is quite old, look at some custom ROMs, you can easily get KitKat and Lollipop on this device. Look on XDA in the https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-att area, your device name is quincyatt

Also, official TWRP is fully supported on your device with instructions on how to flash it. https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxynote1att.html I am pretty sure that the SuperSU bundled in TWRP is sufficient on that device, if you just install TWRP with ODIN, then start it, go to Reboot - System it will prompt you that your device is not rooted and give you an option to install SuperSU that is bundled with TWRP, answer yes and you should be rooted on the next boot, update SuperSU app from the Play Store, then open it and it should prompt you to update the SuperSU binary, do it and you're done.

I just tried rooting my phone (SGH-I717M) for the first time and was much quicker than I expected (took only 30 minutes).
This preserves all files you currently have (but you should still backup first, just in case)

First download latest version of TWRP from https://dl.twrp.me/quincyatt/
(twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.img on 2017 05 13)
Change the img file into a tar.md5 by issuing the following:
tar -H ustar -c twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.img > twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.tar
md5sum -t twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.tar >> twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.tar
mv twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.tar twrp-3.0.0-0-quincyatt.tar.md5

Warning: md5 is sensitive to filenames
Download and run Odin version 3.09 (recommended version by many other websites) on a Windows machine
In Odin, select "AP" under files and choose the tar.md5 file from earlier

In the bottom left, it should say md5 check successful
Select "Start". It should now say "RESET!".
Odin will APPEAR STUCK at this point. WAIT.
Your device will now automatically boot normally.
WAIT until Odin says "PASS", then close Odin
I had to wait 3 minutes.
Shutdown your device normally.
Boot into recovery mode and TWRP should now appear.
Select Reboot --> System and when prompted, select install SuperSU
Once your device is on, tap "SuperSU Installer - Tap to install SuperSU and root your device"
Tap install via Google Play Store --> Update, not Open
SuperSU should now be installed and should be accessible via Downloaded Apps


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Galaxy Note 4 screen problem?
Recently I got a note 4 and when i turn on the screen, it has these orange faded pictures, and i'm guessing the last owner played candy crush while burning the phone?
Does it have a reset option? Or do I have to replace the LCD or the screen?
EDIT: Added screenshot requested by Rahul Gopi:

Look very closely to the screen, not my bedsheets XD

a screen shot will be helpful

adding soon ^ :D

@RahulGopi added, please check

please check in settings > developer option, whether simulate color space is disabled. disabled is default RGB mode.or check settings> display> live display , display mode, color calibration, color temperature. ( I am on Lineage os, nougat 7.1.2)


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Replace the content of a certain dead area of the display
There's an area on the quarter top of my touch that is not working. Dead.
The display works on that area, the touch doesn't
I know I can disable the touch and image on that area, dragging everything closer to the bottom
But
Is there a way to do that, and instead of leaving a useless black area, display some information in there (that doesn't require touch) ?
I have Xposed
XMultiWindow is a cr@p
Aindroid M

Using xposed edge you can extend input:
From one working edge you can go halfway in direction of the broken part and a crosshair will move the double (or more, based on config) distance in the same direction.
Releasing finger will fake a tap under the crosshair.
Xposed edge require xposed framework, installation procedure for the framework depends on device and system installed, most of the time only require working recovery that is able to install non OEM signed archives.

Thank you. That app is of great aid. Will stick to it if nothing closer to the optimum arises. Thank you again

One workaround is the module Dimensions Editor, for Xposed
Using that, I could make the status bar larger than the dead area, helping a little


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Prevent Samsung's stock Messaging app from converting textual emoticon to emoji
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S8+ on Android 7.0 Nougat. When I send a classic emoticon in the text on the stock Messaging app, like one of these:
:-)
;-)
:-P

they will be displayed as an Android head, similar to one of these:

A couple of questions about this:

Is this just something that happens locally on my phone, or is the recipient seeing the same thing?
How do I disable the function in my default SMS app?

I personally find it a bit annoying that the conversion only appears after the message is sent. So, I have no way of knowing that my textual emoticons are going to be supplanted during composition.
Please note: I'm not interested in using a third-party (non-Google/Samsung) SMS app, and I don't want to root my phone.

Just want to clarify that Samsung's Messaging app is not the same as Google's (default) Messaging app. That said, it might be helpful if you can mention the exact app name, since there's also another stock app from Verizon which is called "Message+".

Related: How do I disable all emoticons on incoming/outgoing text messages?

Open the message app, then back out of any open text message until you get to the message history list. Open the menu from the top-left icon, scroll down and select "Settings." There should be an option titled "Enable Smart Emojis." Turn that off and hopefully this fixes your problem.

I've been all through the settings menu here and I don't see it.

Looks like "Enable Smart Emojis" is a feature available on Verizon's Messaging app (called Message+), not globally.


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Force desktop version of websites
How to force desktop version of websites ?
Changing the user agent of the browser is useless.
Many sites steal your resolution info to shove the mobile version down your @$$
How to overcome that ?
I use Opera browser, for information sake. Altough I suppose the fix lays outside of the browser
Got Xposed

Launching browser in desktop mode is related to the browser and not something that needs to be tweaked in Android OS. I have no idea for Opera, but for :
. Chrome - see How to make Google Chrome definitely remain as the desktop version?
. Mozilla has Desktop by default add-on

The question was more about "how to make it work" than "how to make it work permanently". But yeah, Chrome works much better. Been testing it, and it seems like pages actually obey the "Desktop version" order. Thanks for the tip

Brave Browser allows one to force the desktop version. The setting is under settings->site settings.
Unfortunately it is missing per site choosing of desktop/mobile versions

Well..using Android 7 and the latest Chrome version.. you just need to open the web site  http://m.version.com...
Then using the optios on the rigth top address bar you select the option Desktop Site...then the page is open in its original desktop layout as http://www.version.com...
Once in the desk top version, you just create the short cut of this page by adding it to the home screem..by selecting the option Add to Home screen in the address top rigth options menu...
Once the system add it to the home screen it just copy the actual address of the page added..which will be the desktop version..www.version.com..
So now every time you need to access the page, using this short cut, it will be in ist original layout www.version.com..
However, if you pretend to use this option to every page you view..it wiil no be a solution since you will end with a crowded home page...probably many pages to surfe the wanted page. Taking in consideration that most of the home pages hold at least 30 shortcut icons.....too many to be good.


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How to convert my Android contacts to iPhone?
I was using an Android phone which has 1500+ contacts, and I don't want to miss them because now I am using an iPhone and I want to convert all Android phone contacts to iPhone. Is there any solution which can help me?

Download and launch iTunes.
Connect your iPhone to the computer.
Open the handset's device summary page.
Click the Info tab.
Check “Sync Contacts With” and then select “Google Contacts”.
Type your Google account's username and password.
Click Apply.

Nobody mentioned Google. Maybe the contacts only exist in the phone itself...

There's an Apple app available on the Google Play Store designed to help you migrate - Move to iOS
From iMore - How to move your photos, contacts, and more from Android to iPad and iPhone which also has pictures & additional links to Google software available for iOS

Set up your iPhone or iPad until you reach the screen titled "Apps & Data".
Tap "Move Data from Android" option.
On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Store and search for Move to iOS.
Open the Move to iOS app listing.
Tap Install
Tap to accept the permissions request.
Tap Open after it's installed.
Tap Continue on both devices.
Tap Agree and then Next on the Android phone or tablet.
On your Android device, enter the 12-digit code displayed on the iPhone or iPad.

After entering the code, the Android device will connect with your
  iPhone or iPad over a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection and determine what
  data will be transferred.
It will ask whether you want to transfer your Google Account info (so
  that you can quickly log in on your new Apple device), Chrome
  bookmarks, text messages, contacts, and the photos and videos in your
  camera roll. Select everything you want to move over.
Connecting to the iPhoneSelecting what data to transferTransferring
  data
Your Android phone or tablet will transfer the selected data over to
  your iPhone or iPad and place the appropriate content into the correct
  apps. The two devices will disconnect and Android will prompt you to
  take your old device to the Apple Store, where they'll recycle it for
  free, although you could just sell it yourself.
Once the transfer process is complete, tap on Continue Setting Up
  iPhone or Continue Setting Up iPad on your device and carry on
  setting up a new Apple ID or logging into your existing one.
Once the setup process is completed, you'll be prompted to log in to
  the accounts you transferred from your old Android device. Do that,
  and then you're good to go!


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Is it possible and practical to add a larger screen to an Android phone?
I've been working on an Android navigation app, and to be able to use this on my motorcycle I need a waterproof device. Since I couldn't find a waterproof device that fits my needs, I was thinking of buying standard parts and recasing them.
Would it be possible to take a motherboard from let's say a Huawei P8 and attach a larger and brighter screen to it?
What would be some tips on doing this?

Theoretically, it's indeed possible. What is your experience regarding development of custom video drivers for Android? Which display data transfer protocols are you familiar with?

To be honest, I have no experience in those areas what so ever. That said however, I don't mind putting in the time and effort to learn this

There are hundreds of Android devices already out there. Why wouldn't you simply pick one that has the right screen size to begin with? As it stands, this question is a poor fit for this site — too broad, shopping, unclear what your requirements and constraints are. Modding questions need to demonstrate a good understanding of the device's design and focus on a specific issue.

Thjere is no reason to assume this would or wouldnt work, depends quite a bit on the hardware and the software, either may be forced to one resolution or even specific set of devices (digitizer, display, etc).  Just get a cheap tablet and hot spot it.

@Dave Tweed, I'm looking for a solution because I want to use a much brighter display than phones and tablet's use. This device needs to be used on a motorcycle, which means that it will br outdoors, sometimes in direct sunlight while the user may be wearing sunglasses. I've tried it with my oneplus 3t and at maximum brightness, its just not bright enough when in direct sunlight

Depends on the device. If you get one with HDMI out you can connect it to an external screen and expect it to work.
Otherwise you have to take a very close look at the connectors and signal standards of the replacement screen and touchscreen digitizer. If you find one that's exactly the same but larger then it might work out of the box.
If it's not the same resolution then you will most likely have problems which require rooting the device and fiddling with its display drivers.
(I managed to get a variant of this by accident; the Asus Transformer has two almost-indistinguishable models of touchscreen digitizer, but one of them has the X coordinate flipped. This makes it very hard to safely buy as a spare part.)

If I could source one with hdmi out, would the touchscreen also work via the hdmi connection, or is this a seperate connector? I'm sorry for the rookie questions, I don't have a really broad electronics background.

It would need a second connection over USB.

It is much easier and cheaper if, instead of getting a phone/tablet and trying to change the screen, you get a board which actually uses custom boards.
For instance, you can get a Raspberry PI, attach an HDMI monitor to it, add the required sensors (e.g. GPS), flash android on the SD and use it. This may require some work to find the right sensor compatible out-of-the-box with the android distribution, but it is MUCH easier than trying to adapt the video drivers to your screen.
You'll also need a battery and some power converters, but it is still much easier than the other part (and you can fine-tune the features to your needs)
UPDATE: I was very surprised to discover that the rPI has no android official distro... ?????
Anyway in the past I used an Orange PI zero (this supports Android 4.4, but I used a classic linux distro for it). This has built-in wifi, but in order to use accelerometers or GPS you will have to tweak a bit.
Here someone managed to install a USB GPS, and maybe you can figure out how to attach an accelerometer to it if you really need it..
Keep in mind that the Orange PI and the Banana PI are very similar, so you can use one of the two and port the code and procedures from one to the other

The thing is that i'm also using things like WiFi, accelerometers, Bluetooth and 4g. I've been looking into boards but things like 3g or 4g connections add up really fast. Should I do this, would I need to create some sort of custom rom so android knows which pins are which sensors? I can't seem to find much information on this :/ I would prefer this method however because it would give me more control in choosing sensors. Would you have any suggestions on sourcing information?

@KennethBreugelmans in fact... rPI does not support android. I was a bit puzzled at this. :-? Anyway there are other boards, but usually it is a bit tricky to port the peripheral codes (even if I think it is easier than replacing the screen). As a last resort, get a tablet ;)

Looking at all the responses, the tablet option might be the easiest :p guess i'll have to look into screen glare protectors than :p thank's for the input tho :)

As your problem (as stated in the comments) seems to be with the screen brightness rather than the actual screen, it may save a lot of work if you just beefed up the backlight LEDs and associated circuitry. This change may even be able to be modded onto the original phone PCB. This would save the effort of writing custom drivers, doing custom screen interfaces, etc. that accompanies changing the screen itself.


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What do the terms "BL", "AP", "CP", and "CSC" mean in Odin?
I'm trying to Use Odin to download a OS to my phone (Trying to put Raspbian. Raspbian runs on the raspberry pi which has an ARM processor my android phone also has one so hopefully it'l work.)
(does something like an ISO file work? i dunno i'm gonna try and see)
when i use Odin i see these file types "BL" "AP" "CP" "CSC" what are they??
i have no idea but i really want to know and i want to know if my android phone has something like a BIOS where i can chose to boot from a USB flash drive(this might sound really silly.)
my phone has USB-OTG support but if it depends on some sort of drivers will they work in a bios (if android phones have one)please help!!
oh and ive already rooted my phone.

So you still believe Raspbian will magically work - sorry but that just can't be the case. Unlike PC OS where one copy of OS installer can get most things running on most PCs, software for embedded devices (including both phones and boards like Pi) are incredibly limited in the drivers they come with, and only supports their target hardware. Plus, manufacturers won't allow booting from external and/or unsigned (by themselves) sources (they've been working hard to lock things down to the opposite).

@AndyYan is there no way to do something like this? I mean you've basically got a computer in your hands.

You don't - manufacturers deliberately prevent you from doing so. Only the most popular phones get ways to circumvent the lockdown, and even that is getting even harder and rarer (case in point, Qualcomm variants of Galaxy S7/S7E are virtually invincible).

@AndyYan that's kinda sad to hear but thanks for everything!!! Learned ALOT :)

Why did the author of the application waste so much precious space with so many letters? "B", "A", "C", and another "C" would do just fine!

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/141460

CSC (Consumer Software Customization): It is specific to geographical region and carriers. It contains the software packages specific to that region, carrier branding and APN setting.
PIT (Partition Information Table): You only need it if you screw up your partition table or if the firmware specifically requires it because of a change in the partition table layout.
BL (Bootloader): As its name implies, this option is used to flash the Bootloader of the device.
AP (Application Processor or PDA): Android.
CP (Core Processor): We call it Modem.

Thanks.  Last time Samsung Pay was not working when I did with Odin.  I did only AP that time.  Now did CSC too.  It works.  I assume Samsung Pay + KNOX checks CSC also to ensure official status and not just AP.  Thanks for your answer, now I know.

Which part contains Recovery Mode and Download Mode?

SMS application is crashed. should I download CSC only?

AP is what you select when you're installing a recovery image, which is separate from Android, correct?

Android partition! not Application Processor

According to this XDA-Developers forum post and this Droidguiding article:

BL stands for bootloader
AP represents the system partition (possibly stands for Android partition); under previous Odin versions, this was called "PDA"
CP represents your modem
CSC stands for Consumer Software Customization, this specifies the features your Android device gets according to its geographical location and carrier


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ADB root acces not working
I have installed a Custom Rome on my Nexus 5x. In the developer options, I can activate USB debugging, but I can not give ADB any root rights.
Is there a possibility to assign ADB root rights?
I have tried that and received the message "not running as root"
Heres a Picture from my CMD:

With another rom it has already worked.
This is the rom i use.

Have you tried setting SELinux to "permissive" in adb shell?

I'm not sure how to do that.

run adb shell in the shell console type'setenforce 0 . Then retry earlier commands.

SELinux-Status has changed. I still get the message "not running as root".

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

I have a feeling that your kernel is running adbd in secure mode. Could you tell us the output of adb shell getprop ro.secure?

I'm not at the PC, so I tried it with a terminal emulator. The output it was: 1

Are you sure you have root? The description of the ROM doesn't say it's rooted, and someone else on the forum page you linked gives instructions for installing a selection of su implementations.

I have flashed supersu. Ich dont have Problems with other root apps.


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Custom font can't display properly
enter link description here
I followed the the link and tried to add a new font on my phone on Word. The font displays properly on PC with Word 2007. However on my phone it just likes ordinary font, not the specific one. How ca I solve it?

What phone are you using? Sometimes changing fonts only works at low level in some devices, others require root to force font to be implemented.

@xavier_fakerat Hi, I'm using LG G4 with Android 6.0.  My phone seems not rooted since I've tried several root explorer to do it but didn't work. Ibreaa

I really need a solution.....


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I want to copy a zero width space to the clipboard
I want to copy a zero width space to the clipboard and paste it somewhere else, but after selecting all, the selecting handle thing doesn't pop up. I'm trying on chrome on this site.
Edit: no, I wouldn't want to do it with a character map

What do you mean here? Do you mean
- ONLY the zws
- zws WITH text
ONLY the zws? Go to Emojipedia - Zero Width Joiner (or click here).
Then click on copy.
zws with text: NO IDEA


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Turning off true black pixels (#000000) for LCD?
Is there a way to turn off black pixels on LCD screens, similar to how AMOLED devices turn off these pixels?
I've tried those pixel-turn-off apps, but they turn off all pixels within a certain grid, while I wanted just the black pixels to be off.
Thanks in advance!

AMOLEDs power the pixels individually; LCDs use a single backlight source to illuminate all pixels from behind. Only until recently that some manufacturers are beginning to implement more granular LCD backlight sources (multiple blocks of light source that illuminates a chunk of pixels each).
What you want to achieve is simply not what LCD is designed for.


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Get Chrome to translate web pages
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy 10 tablet. How can I get Chrome to automatically translate a web page? My laptop will do so, either on its own or by right clicking. I have turned on Google translate, but it never offers to translate anything.

By default, Chrome offers to translate pages written in a language you
  don't understand.

If this functionality seems to be broken, then you can try some workarounds:

Reset translation preferences

In Chrome settings, go to  Site settings > Google Translate >
tap Reset translate settings.

In most cases you should be now getting the popup that asks if you would like to translate the page.

Using alternative browser with  Language translate add on

Browsers for example Dolphin browser have Dolphin translate add-on which support translation of other languages.

How to use this add-on:

Translate a word or sentence

Select a desired sentence on your current page and choose “More”

Translate the whole page

Select “Dolphin Translate” and choose your target language

Hope this helps


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Detach app from market
Requesting updates on the fight of how to detach apps from Google Play

Titanium Backup is temporary...

.

Automatize a detachment with Tasker or anything else, is extremely verbose (and other things)

.

Resigning the APK does not work always (actually, worked very few times).

. Sometimes it breaks the app
. Sometimes it still shows on the store
. It can never be applied to system apps (like good old google keyboard)

Have you seen How to get rid of update notifications for a given app in Google Play Store? Does the TiBu approach described there (note the scheduler part) not work anymore? Nor any of the other approaches?

Thank you. Scheduling tasks help. Very close to the ideal. My only pain will be recreating all those schedules and filters every time I format the phone... since TiBu can't backup itself, forcing me to copy the data manually and keeping it somewhere

But I'm still looking for something better. By this method, it reattaches after a reboot. Plus, I have to create many schedules to cover all the times this thing resyncs

Even creating 5 schedules still don't cover the times. Apparently this resync is random. TiBu doesn't work

I'll double check but seems that the jrummy root tools app has that feature. Anyone else tried it and can verify either way feel free. If not ill have access on my rooted phone soon and will update my answer then..

AFAIK it's the same as with TiBu: if you detach an app from play, it gets re-attached within ~24h usually. The latter is a task performed regulary by one of the Google apps (not sure if Playstore itself does that or some other part of the suite).


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3D using VR headset in Nokia 3
So let's say I have got a split screen 3D video. My Google search results told me that if I just play it in VLC in my Nokia 3 and use a VR headset, I will get 3D experience. However when I play 360 degrees VR videos from Google, they are distorted and not rectangle in shape. So I am afraid that when I play rectangular side by side 3D videos, the videos will be distorted and the sides will be missing. So what should I do to convert the side by side video to the distorted VR like video? Is there any app or something?
I have not tried them yet as my VR headset has not yet arrived but I want to have everything ready as soon my VR arrives. (Basically I have decided to wait for some time and if I cannot watch 3D with cardboard I might not buy it)
Screenshot of how video should look like when seen by google cardboard(i.e. what I meant by distorted video)

And this is what 3D split screen loos like and I intend to convert this to above form :

Use a player like 3D VR Player to play the video..
There are many such VR Player apps in Play Store (search for it). All you need to do is download the right one you need.

Now that I have my VR headset, your app is not working. It is not callibrated and has no option to callibrate. I need something to scan my QR code and callibrate.

What is your VR model?

Here's the VR headset and the QR code :
https://teslaandi.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/vr-box-2-0-qr-code-and-vague-review/
And yeah thanks man for all your time.

Also note that I got it callibrated on Google cardboard app but that doesn't  not play 3D videos


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Samsung logo has gone and was replaced by "Welcome" message
Yesterday my phone's Samsung logo has gone and was replaced by "WELCOME" message each time I've booted my phone. I don't know why it happened. Also the Samsung shutdown logo was replaced by "BYEBYE" message. I search for the solution and this is what I've did: I've rooted my phone and I went to System/media and looked for the file that contain Welcome and Byebye messages, I found them in bootanimation2.zip and shutdownanimation2.zip so I delete them including their bootaudio.mp3' and shutdownaudip.mp3. No more left in the System/media except for samsunganimation and samsung shutdown animation So when I rebooted my phone the Samsung logo has been restored including the Samsung shutdown logo, the BYEBYE message has disappeared but the "Welcome" logo continued to showed up each time I started my phone. ...Where can I find the exact location of this logo? I know it is no longer in System/Media because I could not find it there anymore Any help will be appreciated Thanks

It's a Chinese phone?

Did this start happening after you rooted the phone? Sounds like the rooting process might have left a couple of extra helpers. What steps did you follow to root the phone?

@Dan Hulme This happened before I rooted my phone. I suspected that it came from system update. because when I find this changes one steps I've made is i scan my cellphone using Malwarebytes the result shows that my phone was infected with trojan dropper. I think the name was something like fakewirelessupdate. I removed this malware by rooting my phone.

@DanHulme The steps I've made in rooting my phone are: 1)  I installed Kingo root 2) in ES file explorer I change the permission from RO to RW then I went to System/media and look for the file with "welcome" and "Byebye" logo and then I delete them. I know the "welcome logo" was no longer there because I search the media folder and I could no longer find it there, so I suspect that there is another copy of this logo located in another folder somewhere in android system but I don't where it was.

@esQmo_ yes I think its made in china

With chinese Samsung clones, boot animation can be changed by key combo, sometimes holding volume up or down while powering the phone changes the boot animation. There are also some short code that you can dial to change the animation


text:
No Internet through Messenger/Whatsapp/Viber apps
I have a Samsung note 5
I have Internet through a web browser but no Internet through Messenger, Whatsapp and Viber apps.
Do you have any advice why this happens and how to solve it?

Hi Ron, can you please let us know what you've done to trouble shoot and the following details: OS inc version, other apps that do or don't have internet.

This could have happened if you're using a WiFi  network which uses a proxy server. The browser works just fine in this case but the other apps like WhatsApp or Messenger are blocked through the settings of the proxy server. TRY running these applications using your own mobile data or a WiFi network which do not have proxy.


text:
Can I setup & use a google play account for free & paid items only using gift cards?
Is it possible to setup a google play account without a credit card, using only gift cards (this is possible on apple), which will allow me to download free and paid apps & music from the play store?
I'm in the uk if that helps,
Thanks

Why should it not be possible?

You can setup a Google account without any payment method attached.
You can add giftcard codes to your playstore account.
Giftcards can be used to pay for apps.

Watson combined: Setting up an account with no payment, add a giftcard to it – and with that should be able to pay for apps (and use them, of course).

Google account indeed does not require you to have your credit card linked to use Google app store. You can just set up your account, log in and download the apps without problems. If you do want to buy certain apps using gift cards, you can do that without any problems, redeem your gift card and you are good to go. Cheers!

Thanks, both your and @Izzy 's answers were equally useful, so I accepted the one posted earlier, and upvoted them both


text:
Installing Android on VMware Workstation
I downloaded iso file of Android Kitkat, Android Marshmallow and Android Nougat from android-x86.org/download and followed steps from tactig.com/install-android-nougat-vmware/ for installing all iso on VMware Workstation.
After successful installation of all these android, no android is loading successfully.

Please let me know, how to resolve it?
With Regards
FewL

You have not elaborated the problem. The first picture shows that you are booting from Bootable Drive. If you are getting that message ANDROID rootx86 something like this so wait for some time it will boot. Kindly elaborate the problem for some helpful answers. I am also working towards running it on VMware from last 5 months but problems again and again.

According to the steps explained in the link tactig.com/install-android-nougat-vmware/, The last step says, “Android-x86 is installed successfully. Reboot”.I did same and rebooted. And after reboot, first picture scenario appears. Even after 30 minutes, no changes in screen. I did shutdown the android virtual machine and ejected iso file as second picture. Then second picture scenario appeared.

@user725162 what you do is .. instead of booting from Bootable Drive...select iso file for booting then see if works


text:
Netflix shows 5.2 error on Samsung when trying to watch series and movies
For some reason, I am suddenly getting a 5.2 error when I try to play videos. I found this on Reddit, but no one found a soltuion. Rooted devices can fix it, so here is my question:
Is there any way to solve the error on unrooted Samsung devices?
Checked the Netflix help center, but the 5.2 error isn't listed.
As usual, removing the app, clearing data, restarting device, tried over 4G, restarting netflix app, tried online and offline, previously viewed and unviewed, series and movies and every other suggested solution to different errors.
Nothing works. Any ideas if this is fixable, or if it is a Netflix issue?

Checking reviews on Google PLay reviews of the Netflix app and Reddit (see link above) there are a lot of people affected by this (5.2 error). It looks like it is Samsung only, as I can't reproduce it with my tablet (non-samsung)

Writing on behalf of OP since they cannot post due to inadequate reputation.

Even though reinstalling, rebooting, relogging, deleting data and trying different shows, I finally got it working by force stopping Netflix. No clue why, no clue if this is a permanent fix, but I can at least watch shows and movies again. Doesn't look like there has been an update to address this.
Force stopping the app at least worked, even if it isn't a permanent fix. It may not last long, but it at least works now.

User hawky11 and nickfury27 on Reddit reported that installing an older version works. The version is quite old (v3.1.xx) and may be having security vulnerabilities, so be on your guard when using it. Nonetheless, here is the link to official source: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24776
Some other users tried v4.13.xx or v4.16.xx but that didn't benefit them much.

I don't have a Samsung device at my disposal, so I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of this answer.

I recommend you contact netflix directly. There is an old APK that they will provide to circumvent this problem. its a temporary fix but it works

We need to wait, this happens since samsung S6 last update, netflix must update there app. until than, wait, wait and wait

This issue has been known for a few weeks, they are aware of the issue. Yet there is nothing about the error in the help center


text:
Can't visit " https " sites with an Android device using Wi-Fi
I have a strange problem on one of my old phones. I have an old Android device running Android 2.3.4, and it works perfectly. But, I found that, it can't access to https sites with the basic browser installed on the phone when it is connected to my Wi-Fi network.
But, if I visit the same site, for example " https://www.google.com " , with an another browser, for example Opera mini, that have a VPN integrated, it works perfectly.
The strange thing is if I use another connection, for example another Wi-Fi network, it works, also with the basic browser.
This problem doesn't happen with other devices, the modem/router works perfectly with all the type of devices that I have on my house.
I already perform a factory reset on my device and also a factory reset of modem, but the problem is still here.
How can I solve this problem?

@Izzy When I try to reach " https://www.google.it " logcat shows these warnings:
W/System.err: java.io.IOException: www.google.it/2a00:1450:4009:811::2003:443 - Network is unreachable
W/System.err: at android.net.http.HttpsConnection.openConnection(HttpsConnection.java:335)
W/System.err: at android.net.http.Connection.openHttpConnection(Connection.java:389)
W/System.err: at android.net.http.Connection.processRequests(Connection.java:250)
W/System.err: at android.net.http.ConnectionThread.run(ConnectionThread.java:144)

Not a solution (hence a comment instead of an answer), but to know what's going on you could investigate the logs. If the browser has trouble, it should put something there. Watch out for the "E:" (error) and "W:" (warning) lines, they are the most likely to give you a clue.

Thanks,..the router doesn't have any proxy at all,..Opera mini uses his VPN to tunnel traffic, with VPN enabled the https sites work but if i disable the VPN, the https sites doesn't show in Opera mini,.....I think it's a problem extended to multiple browsers.....I'm looking at the logs.

Some problems with https may occur because system date is incorrect. Other problem is old android may not have complete list of trusted certificates, VPN works because they handle this.

@Kenumir Thanks, the date on my phone and the date in the router's settings is ok, ...for the certificates, is it possible that these certificates are out of date?,...because I don't think that I haven't the certificate of the https site of google.com, ...How can I verify that it is actually a certificate issue?


text:
How to lock/unlock recovery?
If I lose the phone, someone may find it and try to reset the security pattern via recovery. How can I lock / unlock recovery via terminal?

You can't lock or unlock recovery via a terminal, or any other way, that would defeat the entire purpose of recovery... But Android has what is called Factory Reset Protection in newer devices (you didn't state what device specifically or Android version) that prevents accessing a device even after a factory reset without knowing the Google account credentials. https://www.androidcentral.com/factory-reset-protection-what-you-need-know

@acejavelin This level of protection assumes that one has a Google account, though.

@DeathMaskSalesman True... It doesn't accommodate all situations.

You cannot lock the recovery. That's not recovery is intended.
The only chance to do so is locking bootloader.
However, if the bootloader on your device is not locked when it's out-of-the-box, then it can't be locked. Factory Reset Protection won't have much effect in this case.


text:
Where there are attempts to enter a password for unlocking operator sim lock?
My phone (Micromax Q415) attached to the SIM card operator megaphone. If I insert a SIM card of another operator, the phone will ask for the unlock key. I found an application that shows this screen and decompiling it. I want to modify this application so that it performs a brute force attack locally. Each entry attempt occurs with a fake delay, which I already lost. Now you need to know where are the attempts to enter the NCK password. I tried to backup the entire system, spent one try, performed a backup restore. But the attemts can not be restored! Where are these attempts? In the course of this application I saw that the number of attempts is taken from the telephony-common.jar. But I did not find where this request goes.

Just a guess -  there's more partitions than what you touch with a file manager. If it's in modem (firmware) or EFS then you're pretty much screwed - and I don't see why they wouldn't do so.

@Andy Yan, very interesting :) The number of attempts can be in the "dev" directory?

I very much doubt that, Sergej. /dev is using the devfs file system and is not permanent, but "re-created" at each boot.


text:
Turning on the flashlight does not keep the brightness
I wrote a command to turn on the flashlight
echo 255 > sys/class/leds/flashlight/brightness

The flashlight turns on but after a second it shines darker. Why?

Did you mean echo 255 > /sys/class/leds/flashlight/brightness?

@iBug, oh, yes.. Sorry, command wrote correctly, but in question  not valid. I edit it

As @iBug pointed out the leading slash before sys?

@beeshyams Impossible to be the cause, since the OP managed to turn the flashlight on without the leading slash.

@iBug, yeah, managed

What happens if you read brightness after the LED brightness decreases? If the reading is no longer 255, then the driver might have been coded so as to disable maximum brightness (probably to prevent overheating).


text:
Battery Charges OK after full discharge, but only once
I am using a Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime smartphone. My battery recently started to show up (I would plug in the charger, and it would charge, but the meter would become stuck). One full discharge solves the problem and the battery charges OK after that, but only once or twice. After that the problem resumes.
I know the battery is being charged because doing a full load drain (screen, flashlight, etc all turned on) takes time to discharge the battery which is already on low percentage so it is definitely a meter fault.
What other options do I have since the full discharge only works once?

See if the behaviour persists in safe mode
If the behaviour is normal, it would point to a misbehaving app (though, I haven't come across apps causing this). factory-reset your device and check
If the same behaviour continued , flash stock ROM using odin, since the fuel gauge drivers may be corrupted

For 2 and 3 make sure you back up your data
If none of above helps, service Center is the only option to address hardware issue

Apps can't fix this problem


text:
Read sim data in airplane mode
If I activate airplane mode, then put a sim card in my cellphone. Can system apps and other apps read data from my sim card, like phone number or network provider?

Yes.
Aeroplane mode is to only deny access to network. System apps  can access SIM information when in aeroplane mode. So can installed apps, if they are granted permissions to access SIM. For instance, install this app SIM card contacts , put your phone in Aeroplane mode, grant  permissions to this app and you can transfer information from SIM to phone and vice versa


text:
How to force mobile Chrome to open URLs instead of searching
I use Chrome for Android.
When I type for example http://192.168.1.1:8000/ in the address bar, it opens Google with that address as a search query. I need to open the page and am unable to do so.
I tried different variations with and without manually typing http:// at the beginning and / at the end.
I sent a bug report, but since the fix is probably not coming very soon, I need a workaround. Is there any?

The workaround is to create a bookmark with the needed URL.
Selecting the bookmark will cause Chrome to properly open the page.


text:
how does Android handle battery and CPU overheating?
Is there any internal Android mechanism for killing applications that by consuming too much CPU time cause the phone to overheat?

You might want to search for terms such as CPU Governor, CPU Hotplug, CPU Thermal and Low Memory Killer, to find relevant info.

This might help: [GUIDE] KERNELS EXPLAINED, governors, hotplug, frequency, CPU, GPU, I/O, etc

For an in-depth overview of the abovementioned, you can also pay a look at this XDA thread.


text:
Using php module from termux as root?
I'm writing a anti-thief on a clean shell using termux. I turned on the backlight with the volume buttons and I want to send photos of "thief" to myself in correspondence in the social network VKontakte. I listen to pressing the power button when the screen is off and secretly take photo by front and back camera and screenshot. Next I want to send photos in VK using PHP. Since I need to listen to the clicks I use getevent command.
script -q -c 'getevent /dev/input/event5' /dev/null | while read code; do
while read line; do
    if [ $line -eq 0 ]; then
    carr=( $code )
    code1="${carr[0]}"
    code2="${carr[1]}"
    code3="${carr[2]}"
    if [ $code1 -eq 0001 ]; then
    if [ $code2 -eq 0074 ]; then
    if [ $code3 -eq 00000001 ]; then
    time=$(date +%d.%m.%Y_%H:%M:%S)
    /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/termux-camera-photo -c 1 /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/q/$time.front.jpg
    /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/termux-camera-photo -c 0 /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/q/$time.back.jpg
    screencap -p /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/q/$time.scr.jpg
    /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/tsu
    /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/php /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/vkup.php
    fi
    fi
    fi
    fi
done</sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness
done

vkup.php
<?php echo "contact!"; ?>

To run it first I write
su

Then its script located in /system/bin
protect

Getting an error
CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE: library "libandroid-glob.so" not found page record for 0xb674008c was not found (block_size=64)

If I write sequentially in command line
tsu
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/php /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/vkup.php

Or
su
tsu
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/php /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/vkup.php

It works. But in the script does not work. I also noticed that when the command tsu changes
$ tsu
bash-4.4#

Probably in a script it is necessary to consider it? Or is the problem in something else? Many thanks!!!

I kindly ask the close voters to consider that the question (IMO) falls in the domain of power users who like to do things traditionally (scripting, not with x1 app for y1, x2 app for y2, etc.) and scripting is pretty much on-topic here. Please justify if you disagree.

@Firelord, sorry I don't quite understand you

There are currently three close votes pending on your question.

@Firelord, I have to remove the question?

Nah. Even if five normal close voters agree to close, you can always raise the issue on meta. Moreover, a moderator actually answered your post  and made it clear in the bottom that such questions are on-topic, so don't worry.

@Firelord, Oh, understood :D

When you run the commands interactively, you're not running tsu, letting it complete, and then running the php command. You're running the php command inside tsu's shell. You need to use the -c option to tsu to tell it what command to run:
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/tsu -c '/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/php /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/vkup.php'

You can see a fuller explanation on this Stack Overflow question. Although end-user shell scripting questions are usually welcomed here, once you start getting to questions that programmers are better able to answer, you're more likely to find help on SO.

Use
tsu -e

The option -e preserves your environment, and should be enough to run your script without errors.
Also note that tsu is just like Linux su, which opens another shell instead of running a command.


text:
Stuck in Verify your account
Stuck in Verify your account, I have only Google Voice keyboard and I cant type my number or @, what to do?
I can't  do anything with factory reset, i can't get in safe mode.

Why don't you install a keyboard app ?

Please don't abuse the post by deleting it. You asked a question and it has useful answers that may help someone

In the corners on the bottom of keyboard there are icons. Example: (?!)
click that, it will give you @ and other characters you need.


text:
How do I unlock the bootloader on an LG K120 (K4 LTE 2016)?
I got a used LG K4 off eBay and I'm looking to flash a Marshmallow ROM. I tried downloading the SuperSu ZIP file and booting into recovery, but the only option was factory reset.
I rebooted and tried Kingroot, because you don't need to boot into recovery for it to work. It didn't work, it just said 'Root failed'.
I did some research and found out that you need to unlock the bootloader. I didn't know this because on my previous phone the bootloader was already unlocked. I searched on how to unlock it on my device but all the suggestions just told me to boot into recovery.
Is there a good way to manually unlock the bootloader? I have a raspberry pi 3 and my mother has a Windows 10 laptop, so either can work. Thanks!

LG has agreed to provide bootloader unlocks for a certain few models. Here is the official LG site for unlocking bootloader.

It's best to provide a summary in your answer, so people know what to expect (is the link to instructions, a download, a registration form, or something else).

According to the "Supported Devices", No "K" series is supported for unlocking the bootloader.


text:
Incognito recovery Android device
Is it possible to recover credit card information used in incognito mode  on my Android device?
I have tried repeatedly to no avail and actual card stolen it is imperative I get this information...

no sorry...  its not possible....

Chrome Incognito Help says this —

Chrome doesn't save your browsing history or information entered in
  forms. Cookies and site data are remembered while you're browsing, but
  deleted when you close Incognito mode.

So as far as it goes, no you cannot recover any of the information of your credit card.


text:
How to remove the SIM Toolkit from my phone? (Without root or flashing any ROM)
This application is sending a lot of spam to my phone recently, two or three times a day. I deactivated broadcast messages, tried converting USSD pop-ups into notifications to avoid being interrupted (didn't work). Basically, everything I tried didn't work, so now I want to remove it from my phone. Is it possible to do it without root, with ADB or something? I'm not a power user but I have used ADB to give permissions to some apps before.

This might help: How to Uninstall Carrier/OEM Bloatware Without Root Access

@GokulNC Just as a heads-up, SIM Toolkit is installed on /system even on LineageOS, hence it doesn't seem to be related to carriers.

@DeathMaskSalesman Though the title of the article reads 'Carrier/OEM', they mean all the system apps.

@GokulNC Of course. Mine was just a precisation.

Connect Your Phone to PC Using Data Cable.
Turn on USB Debugging
Setup ADB Connection
Type
adb shell

Hit Enter and type again this
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.stk

or
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.stk2

Application Remove Example Image

to backup (we can restore'm too) and list the packages: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4033005/1422630

An app can be disabled without root by running
adb shell pm disable-user com.android.stk

I've prefixed adb shell because pm commands usually are not available to untrusted users/apps.

If the app in question is stored in /system and it cannot be disabled then it's impossible to remove/disable without root. Android simply doesn't allow "user" to mess with system apps. That being said without knowing device specifics I've seen some cheap chinese phones include adb root which is a somewhat watered down root specific to adb (usually only for debug builds). To test have adb working on a pc and while connected to device and run adb root. If it works it should restart adb service with root perms. But again this is a longshot.
Assuming you get root (one way or another) and you know the name of the app in question find it in system/app or system/priv-app. Mount system as rw and remove the app (I'd recommend copying it to your pc as a backup just in case something breaks).


text:
Kindle Fire HD 8.9 not getting unbricked after going into fastboot mode
I have a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 inch tablet on which I tried to install stock android OS but failed somehow. Now the tablet when started shows only Kindle Fire logo.I have tried various links on XDA and found that it can go into fastboot mode but nothing more than that. Tried Kindle Fire Unbrick Utility which is failing saying " device not found " . Same goes with Kindle Fire System Restore tool for Kindle Fire 8.9.
So the problem is storage part of tablet not getting detected. Due to which it is not possible to send/ copy system restore images / original rom / any custom rom to the tablet.
Can anyone help ?
Thanks in advance.
Following links I have referred :

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2011126
http://rootkindlefire.com/kindle-fire-root/how-to-root-convert-kindle-fire-hd-8-9-into-pure-android-tablet/

From my understanding, if you can't boot into recovery by first pressing the volume down button and holding it, while pressing and holding the power button, your tablet is lost. You will need recovery to flash the firmware that came with your tablet, if I am not mistaken. If there is another way, you might want to wait for another answer. If your tablet is still under warranty, send it back to Amazon for a one time courtesy replacement.


text:
How to disable the guest feature WITHOUT having to be the only user
How can I disable the guest acount feature on my samsung galaxy s6 WITHOUT having to delete all users (other than me, the owner) or disabling the multiuser feature completely. I want to have users other than me, but I don't want the guest account. My device is rooted.
I found this other question. This question is not a dupe because the answers to the other question do not say how to do it without requiring myself to be the only user.
(My android version is 5.0.2, and my goal is to prevent anyone with physical access from being able to log in using this guest feature, and I don't want to encrypt my device or install custom recovery)

I didnt ever tried to make a multi-user phone, but did you tried making a new user and then delete the guest (that would not remove the multi-user system)?

@TheAnonDevil there is no option presented in the settings to do that.

This one works for me on Android 5.0.1 and 5.1.1
Open a terminal, grant it root access then run
settings put global guest_user_enabled 0

You don't need to add fw.max_users=1 to your build.prop. It prevents more accounts from being created besides disabling guest feature. The above method only shuts off guest while leaving the "more users" option available.

Alternatively, if you don't need dynamically creating & deleting extra users, you can create a few before proceeding.
Add this line to your build.prop.
fw.max_users=2

The multi-user settings will stil be available from your Settings app, but a guest (or any extra account) is kept from being created.

I had to run :
adb shell settings put secure guest_user_enabled 0
adb shell settings put global guest_user_enabled 0
adb shell settings put system guest_user_enabled 0

I did not have to root my device, just use ADB platform-utility. Installation explanation is here.
I am under Android 9

Executing adb shell settings put global guest_user_enabled 0 was enough on my Android 9 tablet (Alldocube iPlay 10 Pro) to remove Guest account from the list of users.


text:
Are Android updates encrypted?
We are seeing weird traffic in our network. We opened today the update of Android devices and capturingvtrafgic we see encoded, binary or encrypted data over port 80.
Are Android updates encrypted?
What protocol is used?

one can assume that Android does not send updates in a format that can be intercepted and modified in transit

In security I do not assume anything :) I'm looking for documentation, facts...I have searched Google but the there a lot of noise because there appear a lot of sites related to Android encryption but not updates.

But this is an operational detail: they might choose best practices one time, but not another. Your question is, is the most recent update delivered encrypted, which is not a security question.

Android updates frequently come in the form of a flashable zip. The file in question is not encrypted, as its main security measure is a cryptographic RSA signature inside its META-INF directory.


text:
Synchronizing phone numbers from android to gmail not working
I'm trying to sync phone numbers from my android (honor by Huawei) to my gmail account. I followed all the instructions, i.e. - I have my gmail account on the phone, I've gone to settings and enabled sync (including contact sync), it says that everything is synchronized but I can't see any of my phone contacts on my gmail (when I open it on my computer). Any ideas?
screenshot

while saving the contact did you choose to save it in google contacts or the default phone contact library??

can you see your contacts here on this website?
https://contacts.google.com/

Google only syncs the contact which you save in google contact. The contacts saved in your mobile default contact library are not synced directly through the sync settings.
For synchronizing contacts in above stated case you need to use third party backup applications which provides services that include syncing of contacts to google servers and afterwards you can also get those contacts back to the device from google servers with the help of same application.
Such apps also provides the privilege to backup text messages, so they are worth trying.

First you need to copy all your contacts from Phone Memory to your Google account which you will want to sync your phone numbers to.
To do this,

1st => Go to Contacts
2nd => Click on Menu
3rd => Select Settings
4th => Under Advanced, select Copy contacts
5th => You should see a new pop-up window, (Copy contacts from), select Phone
6th => Select all the contacts you will want to copy to your Google account, if you want to copy all the contacts, you can simply click on the Select all

the moment you select the contacts you will want to copy, the copy option should be activated.

7th => click on the copy, after which it should prompt you where you'll want to copy to.
8th => You should find the Google account in the list of location to copy to. Select the Google account you will want to copy the contacts to, then you wait for a moment and all your contacts will be copied to the Google account.

To ensure that your contacts are in your Google account and they are sync, follow the steps bellow;

1st => Go to Contacts
2nd => Click on Menu
3rd => Select Accounts
4th => Select Google
5th => Select Sync Contacts. This should begin sync all your contacts, after you are sure that all your contacts are synchronized, you can now check your contacts on the https://contacts.google.com/ to find your contacts.

I hope this solves your problem.


text:
Gmail contacts not syncing - How to get them to sync?
I have a new Samsung S8+ and Gmail seems not to find any contacts when I try to compose an email. I have downloaded google contacts and all contacts appear on my phone. Is there a setting I've missed?

http://www.droidforums.net/threads/when-does-google-sync-contacts.14278/

Yes, the permission for Gmail to view contacts is most probably off.
Go into settings>manage applications>Gmail>permissions>contacts on
(Worked for me)

Please turn on "automatically sync data" on your device

You can go through Settings > Accounts > Google > Gmail and turning on the sync button.


text:
USB device doesn't show up on Android device
I bought a USB-to-micro-USB cable to use my USB on my Android device. Normally, when you plug it in you get a message above that says it is connected. But when I plug it in, the message does not show up on my phone and when I use it on my tablet it works.
I already tried a USB OTG check app and it says that it is compatible. I also tried another USB but that did not make a difference.
Can someone help me?

What phone? As the answer below alluded to, not all Android devices support OTG and some only support very low devices or require a special OTG Power Y-cable to function.

Yes it's natural. In some phones the OTG doesn't work, because it's unable to provide the power needed to function the external device you're trying to connect. In your case the tablet gives the power needed while the phone doesn't.

One case that I can think of is that your phone can't supply enough power fo the USB drive.
"USB drive" is a very wide concept because all drives with a USB interface can be called a "USB drive". It can be a flash drive, an portable HDD or even a portable SSD.
Typically, a flash drive only requires less than 1W of power, while a portable HDD can draw as much as 5W, and a portable SSD can draw 6W or more.
Another possible case is that your phone has an Enable OTG setting that is turned off by default. My phone (OnePlus 5) has this case. You must manually turn on that setting. Those apps won't detect it if such a setting is turned off and still tells you your phone supports OTG.

I doubt phone can't deliver enough power it's either lack of otg support or it's turned off as you said.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје The OP said i already tried an USB otg check app and it says that it is compatible.

My bad sorry...

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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HTC One M9 google pixel launcher experience app removel
My HTC One M9 with Android 7.0 will not allow me to uninstall an app which is flashed by TWRP Recovery. Actually its a google pixel launcher experience app by XDA forum.

if you have flashed zip type of app using twrp, it will be installed as system app. And, system apps can be removed using apps like titanium backup which requires root permissions.

You have made it a system app by flashing so you can not uninstall it via conventional methods. If you are a rooted user then you can remove it via this system app remover.


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How can I get rid of the small number near the YouTube desktop icon
What does the small white number on orange background in the upper right corner of the YouTube desktop icon mean?
And how can I remove it?

You have 5 notifications on YouTube, open YouTube an view notifications or disable them trought YouTube app settings

This means that you have notifications. You need to enter the app to make it dissapear.

Those number shows your YouTube Pending Notifications.
To remove that, open the YouTube App, Goto Activity--> Notifications--> and the click on each notification. Now close the app. Your problem will be solved.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Does installing a terminal emulator from play store root my phone?
I recently Termux terminal emulator in my phone to copy files from my phone to my mac through a ssh connection. But I fear whether installing such emulators root of damage the OS.

Simple answer - No

Not at all, a terminal is just a command-line utiity useful for executing shell commands, that might otherwise be difficult to input without such a utility, or alternatively can be achieved using adb via your PC.
On the other hand, rooting involves putting (and modifying) the su binary (that previously didn't exist in the device) giving appropriate permissions, in order to allow certain apps/proceses to execute with elevated privileges.
Furthermore a terminal app can even be used to carry out normal tasks that doesn't require root.


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recover data from samsung galaxy s4
I have samsung galaxy s4 broken touch and display.
 i want to recover data from it such as videos,photos,contacts and whats app chat without pc.

WhatsApp - usually it's automatically backed up to Google drive, so when you download WhatsApp and use the same number on a new phone, it should give you the backup. Contacts - if you had them backed up to Google they will also come to your new phone as long as you sign in with the same account (see contacts.Google.com). Pic/vid if you had Google phots backup that data you can check www.photos.google.com

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! As this is a frequent question here, we've already collected some information on it. Please start with the data-recovery section in our broken-screen tag-wiki and see if those links help you. Then report back if and how you were able to solve your issue, or what you tried and where you're stuck. Good luck!