Hardware backed Credentials Storage on Galaxy Nexus

The "Hardware Backed Credential Storage" aka "Android Key Store" is only hardware backed when the hardware on the device has the necessary hardware components in it. When there isn't the necessary hardware available it falls back to software storage.

  Android also now supports hardware-backed storage for your KeyChain
  credentials, providing more security by making the keys unavailable
  for extraction. That is, once keys are in a hardware-backed key store
  (Secure Element, TPM, or TrustZone), they can be used for
  cryptographic operations but the private key material cannot be
  exported. Even the OS kernel cannot access this key material. While
  not all Android-powered devices support storage on hardware, you can
  check at runtime if hardware-backed storage is available

From Android 4.3 APIs - hardware credential storage. My emphasis.

  Finally, there is an API and even a system settings field that lets
  you check whether the credential store is hardware-backed (Nexus 4,
  Nexus 7) or software only (Galaxy Nexus)

From Credential storage enhancements in Android 4.3

This a new feature and so it's likely that only newer, higher end devices have the hardware in them. According to that, the Galaxy Nexus doesn't have the necessary hardware. The Nexus 4 does have full hardware support for this;

  As you may now (sic), the Nexus 4 is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4
  Pro APQ8064 SoC. Like most recent ARM SoC's it is TrustZone-enabled
  and Qualcomm implement their Secure Execution Environment (QSEE) on
  top of it.

From Credential storage enhancements in Android 4.3

The ARM TrustZone technology is analogous to the TPM hardware used on Intel x86 PC compatible hardware to provide a hardware secure credential storage area. And just like TPM when it was first introduced is taking a while to trickle into all new phones.

  So, in the case of the Nexus 4, the 'hardware' is simply the ARM SoC.
  Are other implementations possible? Theoretically, a hardware-backed
  keymaster implementation does not need to be based on TrustZone. Any
  dedicated device that can generate and store keys securely can be
  used, the usual suspects being embedded secure elements (SE) and TPMs.
  However, there are no mainstream Android devices with dedicated TPMs
  and recent flagship devices have began shipping without embedded SEs

From Credential storage enhancements in Android 4.3

So, no, the Galaxy Nexus is not capable of enabling hardware backed credential storage, because it doesn't have the necessary hardware in it.


Can I flash another phone's ROM or Kernel on my phone?

Simply put, you would brick your phone.

  But Why? Why if my device is similar to another one. Would it work?

That would also not work because of a for example different CPU, or screen size, etc.

When building android, you have a device, and a vendor folder. These contain configurations specific to your device, and the vendor folder has what's called proprietary blobs, which are also specific to one device only.

If there is some custom ROM that your device is not compatible with, then if it is open-source, you could have a go at porting that ROM to your device.


How can I pick the correct replacement usb charger for my phone?

Using a higher current charger will not be a problem.  The phone "pulls" current, rather than having the current "pushed" to it by the charger, so it will only take as much current as it wants, regardless of how much the charger is capable of supplying.

By relation, there's no point in getting a charger with a current rating higher than your phone will accept.  It's just a waste of money, as your phone won't make use of the extra capability.  Exactly how much current your phone will accept is usually unspecified and is generally only determinable by direct measurement (i.e. put a multimeter in the circuit), and thus generally isn't practical to exactly determine for an everyday user.

1A chargers are fairly standard and would be completely adequate for almost any phone.  Chargers with more current than that are generally intended for tablets/phablets which have much larger batteries and will accept more current (e.g. 10" tablets generally charge at around 2.5A).  Your phone will charge off those fine, but as I said above, just won't take advantage of the extra current capability you paid for.


Any way to schedule a passive profile-change? (connectivity, volume etc.)

Try the Profile Scheduler app.

With Profile Scheduler, you can define many 'profiles' (a set of settings covering Wifi On/Off, Data-Sync On/Off, Volume settings, Display Brightness, Bluetooth state, and many others -- for full set of settings, please refer to the Play Store page I linked above).

After creating your desired profiles (e.g., Sleep, Work, Outdoors, Driving, etc.), in the next tab (of the app) you can create 'rules' that will trigger a profile to automatically be activated. The 'rules' can be as simple as a 'time-of-day schedule' rule, or something more complex like geo-location based rules, wifi SSID-based rules, etc.


How to bypass/authorize ADB RSA key with broken touch AND screen?

The only other thing I could find is for you to use adb kill-server and check again with adb devices. You seem to have done everything you can. :(


I was annoyed by the exact same problem, so I have programmed an app that automatically saves your wallpapers and your live wallpapers too. It makes it easy to revert to a previous wallpaper. It is called Wallpaper Saver, by Appdictive, and it's free in the Play Store. (It does not require root access.)


Relationship between CPU Usage and Battery Usage

Long story short, battery comsumption depends not only on CPU but also every other part of your device.

Full version. An SoC consists of CPU, GPU, modem, north bridge, south bridge and RAM (on a discrete semiconductor chip but packed together into the same shell) altogether. Also the battery powers not only the SoC but also sensors, screen (which is usually the most power-consuming part) and wireless connection antennae.
A CPU has its own algorithm to control it's power and performance, which is called a 'governor'. A radical CPU governor tends to provide better CPU performance at the cost of high battery consumption, whereas a gentle governor will try to reduce battery consumption, resulting in lower CPU performance. The same applies to GPU and other parts of the SoC.
The screen is often the most battery-consuming part of a device, and the most decisive factors of a screen's power are size, resolution, brightness and technology (LCD or OLED). Cheaper phones and watches use LCD screens while high-end ones use OLED screen, as OLED uses significantly less power than an LCD one of the same specifications.
A watch usually has significantly less battery capacity but not-so-little screen power, which will decrease the draining difference in its battery stats while the screen is on.  Besides, the sensors used on the phone and the watch may not be exactly the same, causing various differences.
The bottom line, the battery cost is determined by all parts of a device rather than only CPU. If another part is draining too much battery, you can't find large differences even though the CPU's power is highly variable.


When I tap on a phone number, why doesn't my HTC automatically call it?

Do you have an application called "Voice Changer" installed? I've heard that it can cause this. Likewise, if you have google voice installed, do you have it set to "Never Dial with Google Voice"?

If those are not the reason, do you have any other "Telephone Linking" applications or "Sip Dialers" etc, remove them and check whether your issue stops.

If none of these options above work go to:

Settings > Call > Use Internet CallingChange this setting to "Just for Internet Calls" Additionally, Change WI-Fi Calling to Disabled


HTML Viewer seems not running the website's Javascripts

HTML Viewer is part of Android OS and i felt it has no javascript engine, just HTML Viewer not HTML Browser.

Try to access it to your browser

file:///sdcard/yourfile.html


Automatically dim screen at specific times?

If you don't mind paying a few bucks, I highly recommend Tasker.  This automation utility allows you to set up many built-in (and some 3rd-party app) Android actions based on various parameters, including time of day.

In Tasker you will need to create 2 separate profiles, and to each add 2 actions.  1st action will be identical in both profiles - disabling the Auto Brightness.  Second one will be similar - a time-based action to change the display brightness, with time of day and brightness level being the differences.

Start Tasker and tap the + button on the bottom o the main screen to create a new profile.  Give it a descriptive name, such as "Brightness Down" for example.
Choose the "Time" context on the presented menu.
For the "From:" option select the time of day you wish to have brightness lowered.
Un-check the "To:" option, and tap the green "Accept" button.
On the "Task Selection" dialog tap the "New Task" button and name it "Lower Screen Brightness" and tap the "Accept" button.
Tap the "+" button to add an action, select "Display" category, select the "Auto Brightness" action, select the "Off" option on the "Set" drop-down, and press the green "Accept" button.
Tap the "+" button to add another action, select "Display" category, elect the "Display Brightness" action, set the desirable low level (20 being the lowest recommended setting), ensure that both "Ignore Current Level" and "Immediate Effect" options are checked, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the green "Accept" button on the "Task Edit / ..." screen.
On the main screen tap the "Brightness Down" profile once, then tap on its wrench button, and select the "Clone" option.
Tap the newly-cloned profile, tap its wrench button, select the "Rename" option and name it "Brightness Up".
Tap on the clock icon, select the "Edit" option, change the "From:" time to the time of day when you'd like brightness increased, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Now tap on the task itself (name you gave it in step 5), select "Rename" option, name it "Increase Screen Brightness", and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the task again, and select the "Edit" option.
Tap on the "Display Brightness" action, set the Level to a higher setting, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the green "Accept" button on the "Task Edit / ..." screen.
Ensure that on the main screen, the button on bottom-right reads "On", and exit the Tasker app.

You should now be all set.


How to clear a Folder (e.g. Downloads) automatically on a regular/scheduled basis?

MacroDroid (free up to five macros) can do the job.

The macro would be:

Trigger: Day/Time Trigger → select all the days and choose the time for trigger activation
Action: File Operation → Delete → select the folder that needs to be cleared → All Files

Edit: { There is a catch here. Unless the device is rooted, only the files at the top-level would be deleted i.e. the deletion wouldn't be recursive so any sub-directory would remain untouched.

The only option I found to nuke recursively is to delete the top-level folder itself. So instead of choosing All Files select Folder. }
Constraint: none

Done!

I prefer to use Tasker (paid; 7 day free trial) though.

Profile: Time

From: choose the time for trigger
Repeat: 24 Hours
To: uncheck it

Task: File

Delete Directory: choose or enter the directory's path
Select Recurse

Alternatively, the action can be Code → Run Shell →  Command: rm -rf <DIR_PATH>/*

Replace <DIR_PATH> with the path of the directory, such as for DCIM folder under sdcard the whole command would be rm -rf /sdcard/DCIM/*

That should do the cleaning for every 24 hours.


Google voice indicator on incoming calls?

There is no way to tell if the call is coming from Google Voice unless you change your settings to show the google voice number, but then as Chris stated, you wont know who is calling. The reason, it is not the google voice app that handles the incoming call, you can actually receive google voice calls to your phone without even having the app installed. The google voice servers forward the call to your number(s), and based on your settings, they send either the callers info or your google voice number with the "caller ID" info.


Android 11 does not trust a theoretically properly imported private CA for WiFi EAP-TLS

For anyone who doesn't want to trust a public CA for their network: we made this work by ensuring the dnsNme was set correctly on our certificates. We had our CN equal to a domain, and our SAN incorrectly had the DNS field of SAN equal to a string like "Our RADIUS Server". Changing this to a proper domain and setting the "domain" field in the settings made this work.
From the Android SDK docs (what a place to find an answer to this), if an SAN is present, it is preferred over a CN.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/wifi/WifiEnterpriseConfig#setDomainSuffixMatch(java.lang.String)


''Unfortunately, Calendar Storage has stopped'' error on Sony Xperia M (C1905)

First try rebooting

Then try deleting app data from the calendar storage app preinstalled on your phone

If this problem persists try reseting your phone again


LG Nexus 5 is not detected despite having installed LG Universal Mobile Drivers

I found the issue. I tried installing some other generic LG drivers which were interfering with the other drivers. (LGUnitedMobileDriver_S498MA22_WHQL_ML_Ver_2.2)

To solve this:

I uninstalled the generic LG drivers (LGUnitedMobileDriver_S498MA22_WHQL_ML_Ver_2.2) like a software (Control Panel -> Uninstall or Change a Program)
Turn on the USB Debugging
Unplug and replug the device
In the Windows Device Manager the MTP was shown with an exclamation mark
Open it and ask Windows to find a driver automatically which it did successfully. You will need an Internet connection
Should work now


Debug Samsung Galaxy S3 Blank Screen Freezes

There are several system monitors available you might want to give a try. Some of them log activities while running in the background, so no information is lost when the device has to be rebooted. While these might not directly point out the troublemaker, you could still see at what time the freeze happened, and which apps might have been active then -- so they should bring you at least closer to finding the culprit.

One of those monitor apps is SystemPanel App / Task Manager (it has a free trial version, but that does not log in the background but only allows for "live monitoring"). Some screenshots from the playstore for illustration:

SystemPanel (source: Google Play)

An alternative would be System Tuner, which offers similar functionality.


Why doesn't Clockworkmod let me restore my backups on my Sprint Galaxy Note 2?

CWM stores its backups in special folders below <sdcard>/clockworkmod/backup. Folder names reflect the times the corresponding backups where created, e.g. 2013-02-01.00.28.49. In those directories you should find the nandroid images. If you place yours there, CWM should find them.

Alternatively, you can also use apps like Nandroid Manager * ROOT or AppExtractor to restore individual apps/data from your Nandroid backups.

Note that when you've used TWRP to create those backups, this uses different locations, as you can see in the screenshots of Nandroid Manager.


Moving /storage/sdcard0 from NAND to a removable MicroSD card: will it break anything?

Multiple things in this context:

apps might directly support using the external SD card as storage, check with their settings. This will save you some headaches, as it then works without "tricks". When changing to the new storage, apps might even offer to copy/move their data over, which would be the easiest thing for you to do.
As Gokul mentioned in his comments on your question: it's not as simple as just creating a symlink from the old storage to the new – after the next boot, that is most likely gone (which can be worked around by editing the boot image – or by facilitating init.d with a fitting script, if supported). You could however symlink each directory separately (e.g. /storage/sdcard0/foobar -> /storage/external_sd/foobar, which should do even without root and, more importantly, survive a reboot without "additional tricks"
both external storages use VFAT, so no user permissions covered (VFAT doesn't support them), so "nothing to lose" in this context ;)


How do I determine exactly which process is draining my battery?

Try the following:

Is the battery drain exclusive to your phone model? Some phones are innately more prone to excessive drain. Find someone with the same phone and do a cross comparison.
Battery capacity degrades over time. From experience, phones over a year do show a significantly lower overall battery life. The battery could be faulty as well.
Check external media. I have seen cases where an external SD card trips the Mediascanner, causing it to run excessively.
Check your running apps. My go to app when dealing with battery drain is BetterBatteryStats. BBS has extremely extensive features to tackle problems such as wakelocks.
Are your running a custom firmware? There are occasions where custom firmwares drain more battery then firmwares issued by the OEMs.
Utilize the granular permissions to forcefully control rogue apps. Certain apps can silently access location or NFC functionalities.
Try a clean reinstall with stock apps and have it on standby for a full day. Check remaining battery percentage left afterwards. Use it as a control test to check if its the system or user app which is draining the battery.
Enable root and freeze system apps. Google applications and services, while often necessary, takes a good chunk of battery. Identify what you do not need and freeze them. Be warned, certain dependencies might stop your phone from booting.


How to stop an application using the mobile network

If your device is running at least Android 4.0 (or higher), you can tell the system to forbid an app the use of "background data" (i,e, upload/download stuff which you didn't explicitely trigger manually). For this, go to Settings → Data Usage, and you will see a screen like the first one below:

Data Usage / Restrict background data (click images for larger variants)

I'm pretty sure you've already turned "Mobile data" to its "on" position. Now tick the "Set mobile data limit" checkbox. Next you need to define your limits; if you don't want any "global limits", you can use "fake values" here – e.g. setting the red bar to 10 GB, and the orange bar to 8 GB.

Having that done, scroll the app list on the bottom to find the app you wish to restrict – in your case, the Kindle app. Tap that entry to open it, and again scroll to the end of the screen. There you will find another check-box labeled "restrict background data" (see second screenshot) – check it, and you're done: the Kindle app should no longer use mobile data without you actively telling it so.


How can I tell which version of Voodoo to install?

The difference in the filenames reflects the codename for the kernel version.  The phone only shows the version number, making things difficult.

The good news is that you can use any 2.2 kernel with a 2.2 ROM (or 2.3 with 2.3, etc.).  I'd just use the newest (they're alphabetical, so JS8 is the newest).  You can always experiment and see which one gives you the best performance, or hit up the XDA forums where people will certainly have discussed it.


Power and volume down menu... What kind of trouble am I getting into?

What you have found is the recovery mode (or recovery in short) which is useful for manipulating the OS of your phone.

Options 2 and 5 take a .zip file of a specific format and update the OS of your phone with it. This is called "flashing". Stock recoveries (most likely you have a stock recovery if you don't know what this is) usually verify if the .zip was signed by the vendor of your phone - so you can't flash homemade .zips using this and so this option is pretty useless for you.
Options 3, 4 and 7 erase various pieces of storage in your phone. 3 erases all of your data but preserves the OS, which is useful if you want to sell your phone or it has become unusable and unfixable from inside Android. It essentially resets your phone to the state it came from the factory in. 4 does no harm, it erases temporary files which help speed up Android. These will be regenerated at the next boot, and the phone will be a little slower for a while. It can help in some cases when apps crash. I do not know what 7 does, but the "wipe carrier" part seems dangerous enough for me to not try it ever. Best case, it does a factory reset, like 3. Worst case, it makes your phone unable to connect to the carrier and make or receive phone calls.
6 seems harmless enough, it seems to do an integrity check of some sort, maybe on update packages, maybe on the phone. You may as well try it, I don't think it does anything harmful or interesting whatsoever.

If you're interested, you can search for and install a custom recovery which will replace this menu with a much better one. This will allow you to install custom OSes to your phone, make and restore backups and much more.


How can I transfer files between Samsung Galaxy Note 800 and usb pen drive?

No, there are other ways to copy files from a USB pen drive to a phone.

According to USB Host Diagnostics, the N8000 can support the USB OTG (on-the-go) cable, assuming you have the latest firmware. Just plug-in the USB pen drive (or USB stick) into it. This cable will cost you USD1 or less.

If you have root, you can use StickMount to make the mounting of the USB pen drive easier.


Dalvik/2.1.0 in Android's version more than 5

I wouldn't worry about the Dalvik version number

Searching on Dalvik/2.1.0 leads to http://www.webapps-online.com/online-tools/user-agent-strings/dv/plugin294709/dalvik which lists the user agent string used by older Android devices.

Note that the numbering went up from Dalvik/1.6.0 on Android 4.4.4 to Dalvik/2.1.0 on Android 5.0 and up. Another posting at https://github.com/allinurl/goaccess/issues/667 indicates that at least through Android 7.1.1 still used the 2.1.0 version.

From this StackOverflow post on Browser sending “Dalvik” as user agent it looks like the VM is sending the user agent string.

Most likely, the version number changed at Android 5.0 Lollipop when ART became the default runtime.


"Your phone is too slow" Message that have been shown after every few minutes

Try to stop an application that use so much memory in the background by doing :
1. Go to your phone Settings
2. Select "Apps"
3. Select the tab "Running"
4. Click on an app that you don't use it or have a high memory consumption
5. Click stop
Hope this works.
If this method doesn't work, you might need to factory reset your phone.
That's my suggestion


I lost my videos, how will I retrieve them?

If you moved them onto your computer you can just copy the DCIM folder back onto the sdcard or internal storage of your device.

If this isn't the case there are several tools to recover lost data on your harddrive here is a good one: https://www.piriform.com/recuva


What is YGPS and why does it have every permission that's in the book?

YGPS, as far as I can discern (I don't own a FairPhone), is an app which lets you view what GPS satellites your phone is currently connected to. I'm guessing it probably provides the same kind of function here, and is likely draining your battery life because it's constantly making GPS calls in the background.

My guess is that, being a poorly developed app, the developers decided to call every permission possible to ensure they wouldn't run into any issues. It's likely only using the GPS function of the phone anyway, but considering you were going to anyway it's probably not a bad idea to disable it.


Applications on SD Card disappear: Gingerbread bug or hardware error?

I've been Googling this problem for a few days now.  It appears to be based in some startup bug wherein the launcher app scans for existing applications before the SD card (internal or external) is mounted.  First off, use FileManager or equivalent to look at your SD card's contents.  If you see some grey icons with the app names or "com.[appname]" , then you're suffering from this bug.
There are a variety of work-arounds posted in various forums -- too many for me to provide links here.  Rumor has it that ICS 4.04 and JellyBean may have fixed the bug.  In the meantime, you might want to try Link2SD and/or cautious use of tools like App2SD which promise to tell the user which apps should not be moved.


Can a carrier-sold Nexus 5 be reimaged to the default Google Nexus experience?

Unless the Google Play version is designed to work with Sprint's network, I don't think there is a process to do so.

However, there is good news.
First, Nexus devices (even from the carrier) tend to be mostly to entirely bloat free. For example, the Verizon Nexus 7 2013 is completely stock. Verizon loves to put bloat on their devices too...

Second, even if there is bloat on it, it should be very simple to root and remove the bloat. In the process, you'll have to wipe your data, so if you want to use that option, you'll want to do it right when you get the phone...


Have a look at this : Text by Voice. It says that :

This app makes texting a totally hands-free experience. With it you can send and listen to messages without so much as touching your phone. It's entirely voice-powered.

Hope it will help.


How to browse securely, anonymously and without blocks on Android?

If Joe's device is rooted and Joe has a server (with full SSH access) running somewhere on internet, Joe should use SSH Tunnel app with socks proxy option checked (for dynamic port forwarding). There's no need to install VPN server or proxy server. There's no need to do complicated configurations on server. Plus, Joe's data will be secured inside powerful encrypted tunnel, too. With this method, Joe's data will be under his own control (There's no involvement of third-party services).


Might be worth a shot to try this:

$IPTABLES -A "afwall-reject" -m mac --mac-source 00:00:00:00:00:00 -j DROP

the switches in iptables are case-sensitive.

Replace 00:00:00:00:00:00 that with the MAC address of the BSSID that is transmitting wifi beacon packets, and password protect it to prevent mitigation attempts in trying to override it.


How to update my moded Nexus 4 to Android 4.3?

No, if you're running Paranoid Android you will need to wait for them to update to Android 4.3 when it's released by Google. You need to be on the stock rom to be able to install the update from "settings>about phone>system updates".


How to know my nexus device is file encrypted?

If you have 'Developer options' enabled you may see a 'Convert to file encryption' option. If you see this option it implies that you are not using file encryption. Clicking this option shows a warning stating:

  Convert data partition to file-based encryption.

  !!Warning!!. This will delete all your data.

  This feature is alpha, and may not work correctly.

  Press 'Wipe and convert...' to continue.

I don't think that any devices that are upgraded to Android 7.0 will use file encryption automatically as it requires wiping your device in order to turn this on. Any new devices (such as the new Nexus devices coming later this year) should use file encryption by default.


Is it possible to update the Android platform my phone runs on?

As I stated in the Comments, version 2.3.4 is the latest version for phones. Versions 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 are all for tablet devices. Version 4.0 will be released on the Galaxy Nexus sometime this month. Version 4.0 (code named Ice Cream Sandwich) was designed to run on both phones and tablets which may clear up the confusion surrounding the numbered releases.

Though Google controls the Android operating system and when it gets released, it is up to the manufacturers to decide whether to put it on their devices. Some companies, like HTC and Motorola, actually rewrite pieces of Android with their own special features, like HTC Sense and Motorola Blur. The companies have the choice to push out an update or not. Some of those companies have come out with plans to update their phones to 4.0.

ZTE has not announced (as of a couple weeks ago) any plans to upgrade their phones to 4.0 but there's no doubts they won't.

The second option is to wait until Google releases the code for 4.0. Once they do this, the Android community (like XDA) will work on a ROM of the operating system which you would then be able to install on your device manually. Doing so is not an easy process and involves dedication and a free weekend. If you consider this route, you should also do a little research to make sure doing so won't "brick" your phone or cause side effects with your service provider. However, it will provide the most clean and pure Android experience you can get.

EDIT: As @eldarerathis pointed out in the comments, Google did release a version of Gingerbread numbered 2.3.7 but it is only to support there Google Wallet product which at this time is only supported on Nexus devices or devices with NFC. If you'd like to build this version yourself and install it on your device, you can download the Android source code and build it yourself. There are instructions on how to do this at the site. However, I would strongly recommend waiting until 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is released. For documentary purposes, I will update this answer upon release of 4.0.


Apps crash when tryin to go online, /data/data/hotplug/cmd is missing

In respect to your first question try changing your CPU governor with No-frills CPU Control app.
Change it to performance for higher performance. Just be careful as you could cause harm to your phone if you play around too much.


Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Not booting, Not charging and not allowing to factory-reset

I was able to recover my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 after it came in contact of water.

Writing this in case if anyone in future faces the issue:

I Kept the device on charging for almost 6 Hours.
Next day, I kept the device in Dry and Sunny Place-Under direct Sunshine, for at about 4-5 Hours. During this "soak" exercise, the temperature was about 27-28 Degree C.
I then turned on Device as usual(just by pressing Power key, no factory-reset), and it booted, and it reached Home Screen too. But after 2-3 Hours, it again auto-switched off.
Next day, I again repeated step-2
Finally, after 2-3 "soak" exercise (meaning keeping device in direct sunshine), now device is working without any issue.

This is by no means a full-proof method, but the one worked for me and may help someone, just in case!!


Apparently it was a problem with knox, and it fixed itself after i rooted ny phone.


Open links to particular domain with particular app

AFAIK stock Android itself doesn't have any such feature. But it totally depends on the app you are using to open other links. Apps can open certain links with other apps/browsers. For instance browsers (like Firefox) can open facebook and youtube links in their respective apps if installed. Also it depends on the app which you want to open for a certain domain (if it accepts URL forwarded by other apps). It depends on intent-filters an app declares in its AndroidManifest.xml file. For little more details on this see this answer.


For Android 9 or above use this:

adb shell cmd notification allow_listener com.mypackage.app/com.mypackage.app.mylistener

For any other Android version below 9 use this:

adb shell settings put secure enabled_notification_listeners %nlisteners: com.example.myapplication/com.example.myapplication.service.ServiceNotificationIntercept


100% CPU load, battery drain with no app minimized/running in the background

The reason of battery drain is mostly app. Either because of poor developing skills of developer or because app is doing something it shouldn't. Well if you overcharged it for 2 hours after full charge you don't have to worry no battery is that bad to die like that I mostly left phone on charger over night and I don't have any problems, yet :).
This picture from CPU-Z is it taken just when it loaded or few seconds later, because in every phone when it just loads it show high cpu usage..?
However you should see if there is any shady app like fancy keyboards or fancy galleries try deleting them and see what is happening or apps installed out of play store.
You can use app called wakelock detector to see what is causing problem. Download ; here you can find some help about it


Install an app like KeepSafe, which is optimized for pictures, or Super Vault, which you can store different types of files in. They encrypt your data and require a password to unlock, so those will probably be the best choices for you. They don't even require root.

If you want to go a step further, you can even install an app like AppLock to require a password to open a specific app.

Alternative method: You can install a file manager like ES File Explorer and zip a specific folder with a password, so no one can unzip the encrypted data without the password. Keep in mind that you will have to unzip and re-zip every time you want to add/remove/modify a file.


Device freezes after trying to reboot with bootloader

try different button combinations. i m using HTC 626 and this happened when i was trying to boot in recovery mode by holding power+ Volume up and that was not working but i was able to boot in recovery by holding all 3 buttons.make a try


Well I've ended in same place as you but with entering number in a dialer. White screen with only text box to enter password, and counter was going only to 29/30 tries left no matter how many times you enter password. This one?
One user said that this happened after he tried to clear dalvik/cache from stock recovery on LG (I think it was about K10). My guess that this action wipes the encryption key so when you try to boot after clearing it prompts you this, and you probably need to enter key which I'm sure you don't know for this user and me too factory reset was only way out.
See this and this and this


One way to do this would be to use something like SMS Backup+ which syncs your SMS and MMS messages to a particular tag in Gmail. You could then use normal gmail filtering to see your outgoing messages.


How to install ClockWorkMod recovery on a Samsung Galaxy S2 plus gt-i9105?

First: Cyanogenmod is a customized version of Android and NOT a recovery.

Ok, let's move.
You should root your device first. Once rooted you can install the ROM Manager App from the Play Store, which will guide you to install Custom Recovery.
In order to root your S2 follow this instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2663834

You also can follow this tutorial: http://youtu.be/xBJyQrbEkuc


all providers.downloads does is act as one of many content provider aps included in the android stock system to act as a security feature so that apps cant directly access other apps but have to use content provider apps to exchange data between eachother.
 we all know apps by default cant access other applictions data.
      Thats where Content Providers come in to play, acting as a buffer between your internal apps and data and all the other 3rd party apps which have potential to be rouge/malicious.
      Without this bouncer there would be no telling how many insecure transactions would occur between our devices and attackers in the free world global enviroment we exist in today.

The app EZ Disabler pro version states this discription about

com.sec.android.
providers.security

"this package is a core sytem service that handles secure reads/writes to/from the database in your device. It keeps rouge apps for accessing data in your device."

The android developers site has this info posted about content providers and their functions.

android.provider

Provides convenience classes to access the content providers supplied by Android.

Android ships with a number of content providers that store common data such as contact informations, calendar information, and media files. These classes provide simplified methods of adding or retrieving data from these content providers.

For information about how to use a content provider, see the Content Providers developer guide. link to guide below..
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html

By the way..ehem..
     infosec is the bomb!
         Check it out my geeks!

a technique for exploiting applictions involving decompiling apk files and checking out the contents of its AndroidManifest.xml file for any registered content providers as well as the smali files for all uris used in the app.

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/android-hacking-security-part-2-content-provider-leakage/
        and below is a link to the sample apk they made for the training example on infosecs site.


Why does phone reset to Gingerbread instead of the version of Android that came with the OS when it was purchased?

Resetting to factory settings removes all personal settings, data and installed apps from the phone.

It doesn't uninstall operating system updates and doesn't remove apps that your manufacturer or service provider have included in the system.

It also (normally) doesn't delete data from your SD card.

Installing operating system updates on an Android phone overwrites the previous version of the Android operating system and doesn't keep any of the old OS files. It's the same as if you upgraded a Windows Vista PC to Windows 7, you can't go back to Vista on that PC without finding the original install disks, as it has overwritten and deleted the old Vista files. The only way to go back to the previous version is if your manufacturer/network has made a copy of the old OS files public that you can download and install.


Edit phone number associated with device / SIM

A SIM contains multiple phonebook sections. One of them stores your SIM contacts. Another section contains "My Numbers" (MSISDN) with a max capacity of 3 numbers, usually.

Unfortunately, my phones are too new to access "My Numbers", and my phones that are old enough (2005) to edit them are out of reach.

Fortunately, I had a spare SIM800 development board lying around. I hooked it up to my Arduino and started issuing AT commands.

Here's my conversation with my SIM card:

AT               <-- Check if we are live and communicating with the SIM

OK

AT+CNUM?         <-- Get own number

ERROR            <-- CNUM failed, we don't have an "own" number

at+cpbs="ON"     <-- Switch to "ON" phonebook: MSISDN (SIM own numbers)

OK

at+cpbs?         <-- Get capacity of current phonebook

+CPBS: "ON",0,3  <-- Notice that there's no stored number (0 out of 3)

OK

at+cpbw=,"+639950001234"    <-- Saving my number

OK

at+cpbs?          <-- Get capacity of current phonebook

+CPBS: "ON",1,3   <-- Number saved (now consuming 1 out of 3 slots)

OK

at+cnum           <-- Get own number

+CNUM: ,"+639950001234",145,,4    <-- CNUM OK

OK

AT

OK

Unplugged, then returned SIM to phone. After that, my phone now shows my number +639950001234 instead of "Unknown".


Resetting Galaxy S 3 to factory default ICS

I found a workaround, Downloaded a firmware from http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/ and updated my galaxy s3 with that using odin. Upon first reboot my phone hangs showing only boot screen with samsung logo for about 2 hours, then I restarted phone in clockworkmod recovery did a wipe data / factory reset and then restarted the phone again, I got the default firmware back. Then connected the phone to pc using kies and upgraded the firmware.


You can try it with tasker.

Variables can be queried at the desired times and then written to a text file, for example.

If there are actually sliders, you probably need to design your own scene.

My recommendation is to simply try out if you can do with tasker.

To get started, there are countless tutorials. On the homepage there is one 7 days trial version.


There is no easy way to roll back an official firmware update.  Generally when carrier or smartphone manufacturer releases an update, they do not provide a way to downgrade.  You can try to find the original firmware on the Internet, or try to install a custom firmware of the previous version, if one is available for your device.  Both these workarounds will most likely require you to root the phone and possibly unlock its bootloader, and will most likely void your warranty.

Regarding your particular issue with display, it's possible that a simple factory reset will resolve this.  If that fails, you should take the phone to a service center and have their technicians examine it for defects.  If the phone is still under warranty, you may want to send it for repairs.


How do I view/mount nandroid file on device?

I don't think you should need to use losetup, however, if you are using Android 4.2, the path to your sdcard may be the issue. In Android 4.2, that has been changed due to support for multiusers on tablets. You would likely need the full path rather than the "shortcut" that has been set up for simplicity by Android. That path would be /storage/emulated/0/nandroid/...data.img.

But, I believe Android will support mounting it directly with the mount command (it is what I have used a few times in Linux, although, I've never tried in Android).

mount -o loop /storage/emulated/0/nandroid/...data.img /mnt/wherever

Keep in mind, you will need to be root and the directory you want to mount it to needs to exist before you run the command. And when you do mount it, if you mount it over a directory that has content in it, it will prevent access to that content (it isn't gone, but unaccessible until it is unmounted).


This is strange behavior, and one I have not actually seen before.

Do you by any chance have an app installed that could be turning the Wi-Fi on? Also, how long do you wait between sliding the slider and turning the screen off - it may not have had time to update.

I have only ever since this issue once, and I believe that it was a software issue.

If you cannot fix it, I would recommend 'forgetting' your works Wi-Fi network, so that Android does not automatically connect to it. You can do this by long pressing on the Wi-Fi network in the Wi-Fi settings menu.


How to restore my Z8 android dual SIM card phone

You didn't provide info about which Z8 you have. From what I checked, many companies have a model named Z8.

Anyhow, you should be able to fix most software issues by resetting the phone to factory state. That means you'll lose all user data. So, backup everything that you possibly can.

Then boot your device into recovery mode. The procedure may differ from device to device. But for most, the following combo works from a powered off state:

Press and hold Power and Volume Up keys. Release the power key upon vibration, but keep on holding the volume up key till you reach the recovery mode.

You can do "Factory Reset" or "Wipe Data" or something similar from the recovery to bring everything to the factory state.


How to change the interface or positions of the home and back buttons after updating a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet?

Google migrated to using the mobile interface for tablets in android 4.2

You will not be able to change to the previous button arrangement on your stock ROM.

You could root your phone and install a custom ROM such as paranoid android to get back your old button arrangement.

Hope this helps.


Rationalising the utility of swap in Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

According to this discussion on MoDaCo, the RAM throughput of an Acer Liquid is 1.3 GB/s.  Even if the Ace's RAM is slower (unlikely) it's got to be way faster than the Class 10 SD card speed (10 MB/s write).

So yes, your theoretical basis is invalid given that Class 10 is the highest rating.  Even UHS-II cards with a "theoretical" max speed of over 300 MB/s are slow compared to RAM, and few phones support SDXC cards anyways.


What is the difference between "Screen On" and "Awake"?

This part of your screenshot you can find explained (partly) in my answer to What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?. But more specifically to your question, here's what it is about:

Network signal: Quality of the signal (colors are explained in this answer)
GPS on: Whether GPS was actively used
Awake: some app requested a Wakelock (see: How to deal with (orphaned) WakeLocks?). At least that's the best logical explanation to your question, though I cannot name a reference for that.
Screen on: the screen was turned on (either manually by the user, or automatically by an app). If the user turns the screen on, that doesn't necessarily mean a wake lock being aquired.
Charging: a charger was connected and supplied the device with energy


How do I know what radio firmware I'm running?

Yes, based on those posts you definitely have a 2.x radio that does not require the modified kernel.  Your radio version is also listed as supported on the DangerSPL page.  I think you're good to go, best of luck!


Is it possible to be connected to two different bluetooth devices at the same time?

Answer:
Yes, you can have multiple bluetooth devices connected to your phone.

App to manage your bluetooth devices
Additionally, you can use Smart Bluetooth Widget Pro by MDR Tools, Inc. available from Google Play Store to help you manage those devices:

This is a must have widget for your android if you have any bluetooth devices.
It adds a bluetooth icon to your home screen, and by just clicking on it, It will display you the list of paired devices and you can just click and connect to your bluetooth devices. No need to go to settings screen, turn the bluetooth on, and connect to your devices.
When you walk away from your bluetooth device, this widget not just cancels the bluetooth connection, It also turns off the bluetooth to save more from the battery.
You can also connect to multiple bluetooth devices at the same time.
You can connect to your speaker, and your headset at the same time.

There's also a free version Smart Bluetooth Widget Free.


Why if I delete the Packageinstaller apk on Android 6 the whole Android OS crashes?

Package installer is also managing permissions (AppOps) since Android 6, removing it means critical package lose permissions you are not supposed to be able to remove, as they are mandatory to proper phone usage.


Factory-resetting only wipes the user data. If you want to go back to the original ROM and unroot to fix your phone, you need to find the original ROM that your phone came with, and follow the procedure to flash it to your phone.


Restrict background data of your android os (in settings -> data usage). Hope it helps


How to find the root of android slow down

As far as I now Android device slowdown can occur for several reasons:

Very low amount of free RAM.
Check under Settings>Apps>Running how much free RAM you have
If your free RAM is too low (70-150MB or less) it's probably the cause so check which app/apps, if it's not an app maybe it's a bug in the ROM. (see 3)
Low free space on internal storage. (check under Setting>Storage)
If the free space is too low (~2GB or less), try free up some space and check if that helps
Kernel bug/misconfiguration.
Try to check your CPU usage stats, clock speed, governor, number of active cores etc...
(If you havn't flashed a custom kernel and never changed the governor/clock speed or other performance settings it's probably not the problem)
ROM bug
You can try perform a nandroid backup, then reinstall the rom after full wipe and see how it performs, if it's still slow, try clean install of the version that previously worked fine (only if you know what you doing!)
Bug in one of the user apps.
If your CPU/RAM usage is too high for no reason maybe one of your apps eating it.
I recommend you to try OSMonitor or any similar app to find which app eating your CPU/RAM.
(Lack of TRIM, TRIM does exist in Android 4.3 and up so it's not the problem)
(In some rare cases bad sdcard can cause such problem but it's not the problem too since Galaxy Nexus doesn't have card slot)


If you touch an individual item in the call log, and press the Menu (vertical ellipsis) you'll see a "clear from call log" option.


I wiped everything on my phone with TWRP. What should I do?

With proper driver and ADB installed, sideload another ROM from your PC using ADB sideload, available in Advanced menu.


Importing contacts from Nokia C1-01 to Android

As long as you don't have to cut anything but the plastic around the actual chip, it won't hurt anything to give it a try.

The last time I had a really old phone, I just went over to the nearest cell phone providers store and they transferred over the contacts for me.


How to clear my autocorrect's word history on S4 mini?

Best bet would be to check System settings > My device > Language and input > Samsung keyboard (gear icon) > Predictive text (make sure this is on / green). You might want to check on the Learn from (word) items there.


I would suggest using the official Google Keyboard since it has the exact feature you mention, where suggested words are shown.  I have all automatic corrections completely turned off in its settings, and it works well without anything unexpected.


Why do people recommend rooting a device before flashing a custom ROM?

I think this one really depends on the device and procedures involved in installing a new ROM. For Nexus devices, there's really no point because you can just fastboot oem unlock the bootloader and install your new recovery with fastboot flash recovery [file].

Other devices, however, may force you to use tricks that require root in order to unlock the bootloader. For example, in order to install a ROM on a device which doesn't support fastboot, you may need root in order to install a custom recovery.


Android L 5.0.1 wont unlink my exchange account from GMail

In the new Android 5.0 update, GMail was made to be available as the only e-mail app you would need.  Instead of having to have 2 different email apps for gmail and exchange, it would do everything for you.  Now remember, your exchange email is completely separate from your gmail, so there is nothing happening to your e-mail, it's not being hijacked by Google or anything, the app is just a place where it is getting delivered.  If you still don't want them in the same app, then you can always install a different email app to handle your exchange e-mail.

Download an e-mail app, such as Nine that will handle your exchange e-mail in a separate app.  First you are going to have to delete the exchange e-mail from your GMail app, then install the new email application, then add it to the new application.


What is the default channel for Android Hotspots?

I can confirm that on OnePlus you can not choose the channel that is used. You can although choose if you wish to tether via 2.4 Ghz, or via 5 Ghz band.
On the 2.4 Ghz band it picked channel 8, so I doubt there is default to which channel uses, at least not here. It might either pick at random, or do a short channel scan itself and pick an optimal channel.
If you have a second android device, you may use something like Wifi Analyzer to find out which channel your device ended up on.


How can I reset auto-complete dictionary for my Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro?

Best answer I've found so far:

  You could try clearing all data from the keyboard.

  Menu>Settings>Applications>Running Applications then tap All. Scroll down and find Internation Keyboard (if thats the one you are using) and Clear Data.

Source: Sony Ericsson Support Forum

Of course, it will also set the keyboard to the original settings.

Anyway, I would like to find a way to remove some misspellings and not all the learned words, so if somebody knows how to do it, I will be glad to hear from it.


Fix Google Play insufficient storage error without rooting my phone

This worked for me on my Sony Xperia E3 and my Galaxy Note 10.1:
a) settings-apps-all-google play-uninstall updates (you will have to do this everytime you restart)
b) If this doesn't work: clear cache - with an app like 1tap cache cleaner or settings-storage-tap cache-clear cache.
:)


How to Allow Caller Who Can Call You During "Alarms Only"?

You can use Tasker in this case. Although I tried so, I still couldn't come up with a non-root method.

Follow these instructions:

Profile: Event → Phone → Phone Ringing:

Caller: A single Contact → choose your contact
Priority: Highest

You can add multiple contacts there. It is not relevant here whether your contact is a starred contact or is allowed in Priority mode's list.
Task: (Actions):

Code → Run Shell:

Command: settings get global zen_mode
tick Use Root
Store Output In: %ZenMode

Task → If → Condition:

%ZenMod eq 2
Or
%ZenMode eq 3

Alert → Vibrate → Time: 1000
Task → Wait → Seconds: 2
Task → Goto:

Type: Action Number
Number: 3

The first action stores the status of Do Not Disturb mode. The second action checks whether the device is currently in Alarms only or Total Silence mode. (Remove %ZenMod eq 2 if you don't want to be disturbed during Total Silence mode). If yes, then when the call from that particular contact comes in, the device will vibrate.  You can customize the settings for Vibrate and Wait action. Their job is to vibrate the device then wait for few seconds. The use of Goto causes the task to follow the same vibrate and wait cycle for infinite times.
Profile: You need to setup two contexts. See How to create a profile with multiple context in Tasker? for related help.

Event → Phone → Phone Idle → Priority: Highest
State → Tasker → Task Running → Name: select the task you assigned to first profile - the same task meant to vibrate the device

Task: (Actions): Task → Stop → Task: select the task meant to vibrate the device

This profile would make sure that the vibration stops only when either the incoming call is dismissed by yourself or ends up as a missed call simply because the caller  dismissed the call from their end or you didn't pick up the call resulting in timeout.

Profile:

Event → Phone → Phone Offhook → Priority: Highest
State → Tasker → Task Running → Name: select the task you assigned to first profile - the same task meant to vibrate the device

Task: (Actions): Task → Stop → Task: select the task meant to vibrate the device

This profile makes sure that the vibration stops once the call is picked up by you.

Try it. It worked on my unofficial CM13.


I think most similar way to do this like what Google Play does, is:

If your files are saved on PC, and your device is connected to the same network as your PC (including local networks without internet connection), then you can use remote android controllers, like free and powerful AirDroid to upload files from PC to the device (batch files and folder transfers are supported).


If you have a rooted phone with a custom recovery, you can do it:

Reboot to recovery
Go into Sideload (might be under advanced - if your recovery doesn't have this feature, then you need to update your recovery.
On your computer, run adb sideload <gapps-version.zip>
Reboot.


How to disable text message notifications when sleeping?

In Android 5.0 and up there's a Do Not Disturb mode which you can set for a specific time frame/days of week/and select exceptions too. It is under Settings - Sound & notification (on my N6), or Settings - Sounds and vibration (on my Galaxy S7 Edge)


Addresses are cached for 600 seconds (10 minutes) by default. Failed lookups are cached for 10 seconds. From everything I've seen, there's nothing built in to flush the cache. This is apparently a reported bug in Android because of the way it stores DNS cache. Clearing the browser cache doesn't touch the DNS, the "hard reset" clears it because it simply times out.

Can we ask the underlying reason for needing to clear the DNS cache? Perhaps there's another solution that's missed because we're not looking at the bigger picture.


How can I share from my image gallery on Facebook?

Yeah, you need to install the Facebook application, since it adds the option on the drop menu. Then follow this instructions after you installed it correctly:

Tap and hold an image
The screen will change to be possible to select multiple images
Select the images you want to post on Facebook
Hit Share on the bar
Then Facebook


No obvious way at this time. This feature has been requested for (literally) years without resolution.

https://twitter.com/ifttt/status/631963245750845440?lang=en


Is a PIN reducing the security of a fingerprint based encryption?

Welcome to the community ☺

A backup plan is always necessary in case the fingerprint sensor doesn't recognize fingerprints or gets broken or something that it doesn't function as expected
Coming to app locking system, it totally depends on the app lock system if it has limit of trying PINS then you should be safe but if it doesn't YES it can be bruteforced if there's no limit on no. of wrong attempts
Coming to Androids PIN lock feature, it doesn't have limit of only 4 digit PINS so you can make it more secure by making large complex PIN
Assuming 4 digit PIN, AFAIK Android wouldn't allow you to attempt 10000 wrong PINS infact it will allow only few and then will lock up itself


prevent apps from changing status bar color

Yes, there are apps that allow you to override the status bar completely. I had the same issue with Firefox's horrid new UI choice and was able to solve it with the Status app. I can't say if it's the best app for the job, it's just the first one I tried. So far it seems fine although it took some time to get it set up how I wanted. If that doesn't do it for you there are plenty of other apps on the store that seem to do the same thing.


Doesn't sound like you can do anything yourself (short of rooting the device, and installing a different ROM version).

I don't think as an Android user, you will be able to change how this (poor) design was implemented without changing the OS.


How can I make the keypad appear during a phone call?

This is a known bug. See Google Dialer bug breaks the dialpad during calls. That’s a problem

You would need to wait for a fix or from app settings, roll back the updates to the app


Unable to activate Tasker as Device Administrator

In the file /data/system/device_policies.xml remove everything and  add the following lines,

For Lollipop 5.x.x:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<policies setup-complete="true">
<admin name="net.dinglisch.android.taskerm/net.dinglisch.android.taskerm.MyDeviceAdminReceiver">
<policies flags="8" />
</admin>
</policies>

For Android 4.2.1:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<policies>
<admin name="net.dinglisch.android.taskerm/net.dinglisch.android.taskerm.MyDeviceAdminReceiver">
<policies flags="8" />
</admin>
</policies>

Reboot the device and Tasker would now be found enabled as Device administrator. However, all other apps previously enabled as Device administrator would eventually be found stripped from that privilege. You would have to manually grant them the privilege from Settings app.

For any reasoning, see my answer here: How to enable device administrator for specific apps using Tasker?


APN Settings: What Does Each Setting Do?

Found this as part of a search that lead me here:
Name (APN)
A user-chosen name to apply to this APN configuration. This name has no effect at all on the connection, and is only used as a label.
APN
Specifies the Access Point Name (APN) your device should quote when communicating with your carrier. The APN is a short string of text.
Proxy / Port
Optional fields for specifying an HTTP proxy to use for all web traffic over this connection. No longer usually required for most carriers.
Username / Password
In rare cases your carrier may require a username and password in order to access data. Usually left blank.
Server
WAP Gateway Server, a feature not usually used in modern smartphones and devices. This field should usually be left blank.
MMSC
Details of the Multimedia Messaging Service Center to use for sending and receiving of MMS messages.
MMS proxy / MMS port
HTTP proxy details to be used only for communicating with the MMSC to send and receive MMS messages.
MMS Protocol
Specifies the protocol that your device should use for sending and receiving MMS messages. Usually does not need to be modified.
MCC / MNC
Specifies the carrier network that the APN configuration should be used for. Stands for Mobile Country Code and Mobile Network Code.
Authentication type
Method used to supply your name and password to the server for your data connection. Usually not used.
APN type
Specifies which types of data communication should use this APN configuration. Different types of communication may use different configurations.
APN protocol / APN roaming protocol
For devices that support IPv6 networking, this specifies whether to enable IPv4, IPv6 or both. This can be set independently for home and roaming networks.
APN enable/disable
When having multiple general purpose APN configurations, allows you to choose which one is currently enabled.
Bearer
An optional field allowing you to exclude this APN configuration based on the communication technology (eg LTE, eHRPD) currently being used.
Mobile virtual network operator type / value
Restrict use of this APN to certain MVNOs (mobile network resellers) or subscriber accounts.
Mobile virtual network operator type / value
Restrict use of this APN to certain MVNOs (mobile network resellers) or subscriber accounts.


How to disable data roaming notification? ('solved')

This was a big annoying factor for me and I eventually solved it, but it requires Xposed (which needs root).

If you have root and Xposed, you can install XphonePlus to disable the data warning and modify the phone's notifications for calls, mobile data and many more.

Not sure if there is an alternative without rooting.


Unable to turn off auto-correction on HTC one

You have to turn off the keyboard trace. Unfortunately  through a very poor design, you can't have trace without the autocomplete.


Try doing a fresh restall on your router. Might be an error where your modem and router are fighting over some DNS problems.


You can find a launcher on the Google Play Store and remotely install it that way. Then reboot the phone after it installs. Once the phone reboots it should prompt you to pick a launcher and then you can go from there.

So for instance if you want the Google Launcher.

Then click on the Install button and select the device. As long as the device is online and signed into your account, it will install for you automatically.

Edit. Forgot to say this. You can do this from another device, just have to do it through the browser and not the app. Or since you said Windows 8.1 I assume thats a desktop/laptop. You can do it on there as well.

Edit 2. Adding on what @Izzy commented. You can download the apk for google's launcher from here. Then sideload via adb, using the command adb install </folder/nameof.apk>.


How can I prevent my screen from turning off while on a phone call?

Keep screen on during calls

That setting is not available on all phones, but if it was it would be under:
Home > Settings > Call Settings > [Display >] ...

But as for the difficulty turning the screen on

Be sure that the power button does not end calls (Settings > Accessibility > Power Button ends call : make sure it is UNchecked)

Then just pull the phone away and press the power button to turn the screen on.


Problems receiving German characters in SMS

Android is Unicode-aware, and the native SMS app has no problems whatsoever in displaying German umlauts, regardless of the phone's language setting.

The problem most likely sits with your network provider and is therefore outside your reach (unless you can easily switch providers after making sure the prospective provider offers better character support).

If you have data access, what you can easily do is use an alternative messaging app. None of the major apps like Whatsapp (the most popular in Germany, so your friend might already have it) or Viber should have problems with Unicode.


broken port on samsung galaxy 3 and tablet wont charge

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 has no auxiliary charging ports or removable parts - you'll need to get the port fixed or replace the tablet.

However, if you meant the Samsung Galaxy S3 (as this is what you tagged the post with) - you can purchase a battery charging kit to charge the battery separate from the the faulty phone.


Marshmallow, Priority only mode, Viber still rings with sound?

There are two possibilities for what's causing Viber calls to ring during Do Not Disturb Priority Mode. Here's how to fix both possible issues:

Priority Only Rules

It could be the fault of your priority only rules. Go to Settings -> Sound -> Do Not Disturb -> Priority Only Allows and set both Calls and Messages to none. This will stop calls and texts from ringing your phone while you're in priority mode (from your stock phone/messages apps and potentially also from Viber).

Override Do Not Disturb

The other possibility is that you're overriding Do Not Disturb restrictions for Viber and letting it sound during priority mode. To turn this off and block Viber calls from sounding during priority mode DND, go to Settings -> Apps -> Viber -> Notifications and turn off Override Do Not Disturb.

tl;dr: Change your priority mode rules or block Viber from overriding priority mode Do Not Disturb to fix your issue.


How to block texts received from numbers that are longer than n digits?

The first step to this would be detecting the length of the phone number.

This can be done by passing %SMSRF to Test Variable > Type: Length. Test Variable can then output the phone number length as an integer which you can do checks on with an If.

Once Tasker decides if the message is spam or not, you can then have it hide the notification, etc. (but not delete the message, as Tasker does not have this capability yet)


Resetting the phone won't bring the framework back. You need to flash a stock firmware to solve the problem.

Download the ROM from here. Gapps (Google apps) included and rooted. Use SP Flashtool for flashing. MTK phones are easy to flash.


Go to Settings > Apps in your phone. Find Chrome. You will find an "Open by Default" option for anything you have asked it to open earlier. Clear it.


Microsd card slots: shared vs dedicated - What is the difference?

You're most likely looking at DualSIM devices. If they come with a dedicated SD card slot, you can use 2 SIMs and an external SD card. If it's a shared slot, it's either 2 SIMs or 1 SIM + SD card – i.e. the SD card slot is shared with the slot for the second SIM.


Fixing "Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card" issue

A fix I've found and that works is to mount the SD card on a PC, open the *.android_secure* folder and delete a file named smdl2tmp1.asec.

It seems that it's a leftover file from a previous (failed?) installation/update that prevents another update to run correctly.


Is there a way to "re-link" all contacts using some button or other procedure?

I did this a few months ago by downloading a third-party contacts app, using its (much smarter) merge function, and then uninstalling the app. I can't remember for sure, but I think the app I used was either Contacts by Contapps or GO Contacts EX. There's also Contact Analyzer 2, but there are some reports of it deleting all contacts instead of merging!


This happened to me too. I knew the pin was correct as if I deliberately entered an incorrect pin it came up with the message saying it was incorrect. I tried the reboot too but it doesn't work as the "loop" won't let you turn it off. So I let the battery run down completely (which took a week as it is obviously using very little power; then I found you can have the torch on and that helped the drain). Then once completely dead, plugged in the charger and lo and behold back to normal!


Does downloading too many games slow down a device?

When you download and install a game on your device, the data is stored within internal storage. When you run the game, it loads all the assets into RAM, which is Random Access Memory. Accessing RAM is much faster than accessing internal memory, which allows games to load scenes, animations, and other things faster. The game should know exactly where the assets are in RAM with an memory address. It can jump right to that point and pull the information down.

However, games are not the only thing that uses RAM. The operating system, system applications, and other installed apps are also using RAM. The more RAM that is used, the less there is for new operations to occupy temporarily. If RAM gets too full, then it could cause problems.

Leaving applications running in the background leaves RAM occupied. After a while, the memory should automatically be cleaned up, especially if you start new applications that require that space in RAM.

Another culprit that could be slowing things down is cache. Cache is used to store app information, web site data, and other information that the app will use to speed up load times. If too much cache is used, then it could be slowed. Games can use a lot of cache since they need to load images faster. Clearing the cache occasionally is typically a good thing.

TL;DR

Yes, running many games can cause a slow down on your device. RAM that does not get cleared and having too much cache are the main culprits. RAM should resolve itself over time, though closing the app completely is a good idea just to make sure. Clearing cache every so often is a good idea as well, especially if you run many of the games often.


How can I block annoying SMS From all numbers that start with a specific numbers?

Try SMS Organizer
This app can auto-delete messages based on senders phone numer/contact name or even based on keywords in the message text.
The app  lets you set 'rules'to match which numbers to delete. For example, you can set a rule to auto delete any message when the sender's phone number/contact name contains a certain sequence.

If you are unsure about deleting, you can also set the rule to move all those sms to a folder (This app also lets you create custom folders for text messages) and then delete them from the folder.


If I "swipe down to reject", will caller get a chance to leave voicemail?

Google's Phone app Help implies that I can safely reject the calls:

  To reject the call, swipe the white circle to the bottom of the screen when your phone is locked, or tap Dismiss.

followed by:

  If you’ve set up a voice mailbox, rejected callers can leave a message.

That combined with some other research leads me to conclude that…

"rejecting"
"dismissing"
"declining"

…a call are all just different words for the same thing. And any of them will both make my phone stop ringing and send the caller to voicemail assuming it is available.

Whereas if my phone had a way to "silence" the call, it will make my own phone stop notifying me (ringing/vibrating) but the other caller will have to wait until it continues to ring for a while before it goes to voicemail.


Route connections through VPN, then through Orbot

Not to familiar  with open vpn but if you have a integrated vpn then use tor that would work. http://www.howtogeek.com/135036/how-to-connect-to-a-vpn-on-android/


Tasker: Variable with value "Name of Profile/Context"

There is no such option at this moment.

We can use "Profiles Active" variable (%PACTIVE).


How to speed up Android during bootup time?

Two steps to speed the Linux kernel boot:

Configure the Linux kernel with a minimal set of device drivers, that is, only the drivers need to boot and load the root filesystem.  Every driver, filesystem, or subsystems that can be built as a module (that you want in the kernel but not used during boot) should be configured as a module rather than statically linked in.
To see how much time is used in loading drivers during boot, you should modify the kernel command line with the option "initcall_debug".  This  will cause timing information to be printed to the console for each initcall. initcalls are used to initialize statically linked kernel drivers and subsystems, and contribute a significant amount of time to the Linux boot process.  Reconfiguring any unneeded drivers to loadable modules will subtract that initcall time from the kernel boot time.

Modify the kernel command line with the option "quiet".  This will disable most of the output of log messages to the console.  Of course this should only be done after you have a stable kernel.

More techniques are here


Applications never get installed to SDcard. It is by-design. If you can access other files (music/video/...) then it is working perfectly. Applications are only installed to the internal storage.


Whats the core difference between Kies, New PC Studio, PC Studio 3.1 from Samsung?

New PC Studio is for Samsung's proprietary OS1.  I believe PC Studio 3.1 is just an older or region-specific version of NPS.

RoToRa is correct that Kies is for both Bada and Android.  It appears they are transitioning to using "Kies Mini" for Android, which is really just a means of updating the device software.  Media management, sync, etc. is intended to be done through the "cloud" on Android devices.

After looking at the Samsing website, I believe they do not have management software for their Windows Phone 7 devices.


Can widgets with settings be moved from one launcher to another?

As you mention GO Launcher EX as your target launcher, you are lucky: There's a complete description on how to migrate your screens, which you can find at AddictiveTips.

Basically, this involves an app called Desk Migrate, which claims to copy home screens from one launcher to another launcher. According to the linked article, it seems do do a nice job. Just one thing to keep in mind:

  Desk Migrate has been developed to work only with GO Launcher EX and supports copying from only a handful of launchers.

OK, another lucky point for you: Looks like ADW.Launcher was one of the 7 launchers the addictives successfully tested to migrate from -- lucky you!


Pressing # before * clears all code in checkin

This is because when you type the # there, the dialpad thinks it as a secret code and try tp trigger the function. It is a bug

Once I had the same problem in my old device.

To type the number,

Try
1.*#*##*#* then add the number between them

Or

2.*#*#*#* then add the number and # between them


android 8.1 plays random music sporadically and stops after 10 seconds or so

If you have installed apps such as UC Browser and similar apps runs on background and plays audio on background. Just check your running apps and kill 3rd party app one by one to know which app is causing this issue. Another way is go to play store -> My apps -> Library and uninstall recently installed app to solve this issue.


That space taken up when you drives are formated..it does not show the full 16 gb . What it does is partitions the 16 GB into 2 drives than it formats both...just like a PC. These are files used to make the hardware work with the software..sort of like a middle man so to speak.

For example : based on your operating system , a 16Gb drive will only read 14-15Gb after being formated.

Another example: stick an empty 16Gb SD card in and than check the free space...it won't read 16GB.
Please note: you can use any size SD card...just make sure it's formated (empty)


Which are android OS is for tablets and devices?

So far only Honeycomb is a tablet-only version. Other versions are used on phones, tablets and other devices (TVs, android-x86 etc.).


How can I use internal sd for ClockworkMod on a Motorola Defy?

It means that the recovery does not mount the internal memory by default, and you need to do so manually.

On your PC download and install Android SDK tools which gets you the ADB utility.  Reboot your phone in Recovery mode and connect it to your PC via USB cable.  Install the drivers if prompted (use drivers that ship with SDK tools under the \sdk\extras\google\usb_driver\ subfolder.)  Now run Command Prompt, navigate to where you installed the tools (e.g. cd C:\Android SDK\sdk\platform-tools\ ) and issue the following command:

  adb shell mount /data

You now should be able to use the "adb push" command in Windows Command Prompt to copy files from your PC to the phone using the following syntax:

  adb push [path-to-file-on-your-pc] /data/

After the copy completes, you should be able to find the copied file in the Recovery's file browser.


Phone won't boot/start after successful flashing through QFIL

Looks like some of the images are incorrect for your phone?
or maybe you can try to remove the battery, then put it back and try again.


What kind of power saving smarts does Android already have?

Turn off 3G when I've got WIFI on. I only need the mobile networks for phone calls when I've got wifi so I would prefer not to have 3G on.

3G and mobile data are two separate things. When wifi is enabled, mobile data no longer goes through the cellular connection, but it does remain connected to the 3G network (otherwise it couldn't receive calls or SMS/MMS). I know older versions of CyanogenMod included a highly customizable Power Control widget that had options that when wifi is enabled (not necessarily connected), it switches to 2G/EDGE. But there are some downsides with this. Switching from 2G to 3G (and vice versa) require completely losing phone signal as it shuts down the connection and then searches for the other network. In doing this, you are probably looking at at least 30 seconds of being without a signal when this occurs. One very bad thing I can see with this is if you are on a phone call when you enter or leave a wireless network, it will most likely get disconnected and you won't be able to call them back until you are reconnected. In my experience, switching to 2G-only really isn't as big of a battery saver as it was a few years ago. 3G modems have gotten a lot better with power consumption.

  Turn off 3G if i'm in a low signal area - I hear if you're on the edge of 3G connectivity, it'll use lots of power constantly connecting to 3G. Does android have a way to stop that from running the battery down or should I create a tasker profile for it?

You can adjust the preferred networks under the Phone Information section, which can be accessed by typing the following into your dialer *#*#4636#*#* and then going down to the Set Preferred Network Type section. Most likely your phone is on WCMDA Preferred. This seeks out a 3G/HSPA signal and tries to keep it active and only falls back when the signal is really poor. If I remember right, you can set it to GSM/CDMA Auto (PRL) and it will pick the one with the best signal. But I read this a while back and haven't been able to find the reference again.

  Power saving mode on when the screen isn't on. There isn't much the phone needs to do when I'm not using it so are there already processes built into android to turn the CPU down etc. or do I need to create a Tasker profile for it? It can chew up to 25% of my battery life overnight sometimes.

Samsung is the only device that I know of that includes a Power Saving Mode. Android is actually pretty good about being easy on the battery, but apps that we install are typically the culprits of our poor battery life. A device should be in Deep Sleep mode well over half the time it is off the charger (I tend to notice mine around 65%-75% Deep Sleep). This can be checked using CPU Stats. Unfortunately, to get more information about what is causing your problems, you most likely need root. The app I typically recommend to people on the CyanogenMod forum is BetterBatteryStats (which is free on xda for memebers). This will actually tell you exactly what in an app is keeping the device from entering deep sleep. This app may still have some functionality without root, but I've never tested it (I always put a custom ROM on my phone, so I am never using it long without root).

Finding out what apps are keeping your phone from entering Android's low power "Deep Sleep" when the screen is off will save you more on battery than Samsung's Power Saving Mode probably could.

As I mentioned above, Android already does a great job with trying to minimize power consumption. All phones support CPU stepping, which basically will lower the speed of your processor in various steps until it enters the deep sleep mode. The range of the processor speeds vary from device and kernel (3rd-party custom kernels can modify quite a bit). When the screen is turned off, Android automatically tries to enter deep sleep mode. The only way this doesn't happen is if something is holding a wakelock. A wakelock is designed to allow an app to finish something before entering the low power state. This could be anything from sending a text message, to being on a phone call, to syncing email. Ideally, these should only hold wakelocks for as long as needed, but occasionally they get buggy. This is where the above app I mention comes into play. It can determine what apps are holding those wakelocks, and if they are excessive, you can check the settings of the app to try and minimize it or try uninstalling/reinstalling the app to see if it is a glitch or corrupted somehow.

The other option comes with rooting and custom kernels. I give this only as general information. With custom kernels, they can significantly change how the processor operates. Everything from lowering the max speed of the processor, to actually sending less voltage to the processor, to severely limiting how high of speed the processor can get while the screen is off. This is part of the reason why a lot of people run custom kernels. The battery savings from undervolting the processor can be quite substantial. Also, when running a custom ROM, you can remove a lot of the bloat that carriers and/or manufacturers add to the ROM, all of which can increase battery consumption.

That being said, if you are noticing certain apps are using a large amount of battery or hold large wakelocks, but they are system apps, with newer versions of Android, you can still disable those apps (even if you can't remove them). You can do this under Settings -> Apps -> All -> App name -> Disable. If you want to reenable it, it can be found at the bottom of the list alphabetized with all other disabled apps (if any).


The most reliable method is to manually copy large non-sensitive files (such as Linux images or the LibreOffice Installer Setup File) to the partition that you wish to erase the free space from, delete and repeat it around THREE to FIVE times. Ensure the files you copy fill up the drive as much as possible, i.e. start copying small files when the large ones are too big to fit in the last remaining MB / KB of free space.

If you don't want to mess around finding files to write, you can use a utility called Dummy File Creator: http://www.mynikko.com/dummy/

This will allow you to create files of a specific size containing random data (ensure the Random File Content option is selected).


Grand Quattro boot loop and can't go to recovery mode

Hopefully you made a nandroid backup... if you are able to get into download mode you should be fine. Put the device in download mode. Have the device connected to the pc. Open odin. Make sure that odin recognizes the device. There should be numbers in the first small box in odin above the ID:COM. Select your pda file by clicking pda in odin. Select the tar.md5 file that you should have downloaded. If you do not have this file you can get it by searching for a thread for rooting your phone. Once your device has been recognized and you have the md5 file selected, click start. The overall process should take 10-15 seconds. Once the process has been completed the phone should restart. You can now disconnect the phone. You should now be root.
note this will trip the Knox counter so you may not be able to claim warranty.
Now download clockworkmod recovery md5 file for your phone. Now do the previous steps up to where you select the md5 file. So when you click pda this time select the clockworkmod recovery file you just downloaded. Now you can do this next part two ways:

If you are able to boot your phone you can leave auto reboot checked in odin and then hit start.

Or:

You can uncheck autoreboot so that your phone stays powered off after you click start. Now you should be able to boot into recovery and recover your nandroid backup.

This anwser is based on not knowing if you are still able to boot into your phone or not. If this anwser does not fix your problem please post some clarification and I will try to adjust my anwser. Hope this helps


How to get data off a completely dead Android phone?

It seems like a hardware issue (not directly related to storage), better try to get fixed. Unless the device boots at least to some bootloader stage (like fastboot or odin or edl) you can't access its memory. Or if the data is extremely important, contact some professional data recovery service which usually do one of the two:

Access eMMC directly using some low level protocol like JTAG. Special equipment - usually called some kind of box e.g EasyJtag - is used to make communication with eMMC.
Or using a chip-off method i.e. by removing eMMC chip from board.

Most devices built in the last few years use eMMC flash devices as their persistent storage. Usually eMMC and RAM are bundled in a single package; eMCP. So a compatible eMMC/eMCP reader can be used to recover data by connecting it to PC. A range of such readers/sockets is available on online stores from a number of chinese manufacturers - e.g. Allsocket and KZT - to match with different sizes and shapes of BGA packages.

Please note that there are other factors as well which may define the destiny of data recovery through JTAG or a chip-off method. Data recovery is very less probable or impossible if:

eMMC is dead i.e. it has reached the limit of E/P cycles it was designed for.
You were using encryption (FDE/FBE) on your device. Starting with Android 5.0 encryption is hardware-backed. Quoted from here:

  By default, the decryption key is stored in the hardware-backed storage
  ...
  bear in mind that extracting the decryption key via chip-off or any other low-level method is not possible, so if you do a chip-off you won’t get the decryption key and won’t be able to decrypt the data.

RELATED:

Why Android devices are more brickable than PCs?
How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?


Must I install Google Apps again after installing a new ROM?

If you don't install the Google Apps package the first time, you won't have access to anything that relies on Google's services framework. This means things like:

Google Play
Google Talk
Google Maps
The Gmail application

...etc, won't function on your device because they will lack the libraries needed to run.

You do not need to re-install the Google Apps package every time you update CyanogenMod. It will essentially back up your current ones and then re-install them during the flashing process. Simply flash the updated ROM however you normally would.


Why is it possible to backup the rom images from mediatek devices using third party (open source) tools such as SP flash tool unlike Google Pixel?

it is simply not true that linux does not need drivers. linux is just smarter than windows and handles it's drivers itself. linux just doesn't ask for drivers, but it use drivers anyway
new mediatek devices are accessable from preloader only with proper secure boot download agent (DA_SWSEC.bin) and authentification file (auth_sv5.auth). that files are vendor and device specific. even with proper files SP Flash Tool is not able to read back whole EMMC, there are forbidden partitions which can't be accessed. Lenovo devices are a good example
for qualcomm devices it is quite same, there we have EDL mode available instead where we can read raw partitions from device only with proper factory loader (firehose programmer). again that files are vendor and device specific
the fact that you can't read data from google pixel is that HTC hasn't released/leaked firehose programmer for google devices
while google may have that file internally, it seems they are not interested in unbricking, the official install method rely on fastboot only. once a device becomes bricked, it is not possible to unbrick (on locked bootloader). so the official solution for bricked google devices is a replacement device. that's why i personally recommend every google device should be bootloader unlocked on initial setup (my opinion)


Have you tried the Go Keyboard?

I use Go Keyboard on Samsung Galaxy S4. It vibrates when I press the return key. It's customizable via Sound and vibrate > Key press vibrate. You might also want to check Advanced Setting > Smiley Setting; this lets you merge the Smiley and the return key function.


I have connected an OTG cable to my OnePlus device, but nothing happens. What to do?

OnePlus' OxygenOS (the Android OS that came with your OnePlus device or got updated some time ago) keeps OTG setting disabled by-default. A user has to enable that setting before using their OTG device. The setting can be found in Settings app → System → OTG storage.
If you cannot find that setting there, search for "OTG" term in Settings app and the relevant setting should show up. Once enabled, plug in your OTG cable/adapter along with your accessory and it should work (provided Android supports it of course!)
Do note that the OTG storage setting would auto-disable after 10 minutes of OTG inactivity. So you would have to enable the setting again should you find yourself in need of using your OTG accessory.
To keep the setting enabled all the time, see my answer here (required a rooted OxygenOS).


Make Gmail auto-delete old emails from phone

This can be done by setting the "Days of mail to sync" in the gmail app's setting. This setting is configurable per account.

Source: Choose how many days of mail to sync


Disable Android Apps - Application Manager

As your device is rooted, you might want to check some tools which help you on this task. Examples include Titanium Backup, which (next to Backup almost everything) can freeze apps (which is the same as "disabling" them), and App Quarantine, which is even dedicated to this job.

The two are just examples, there are more "tool boxes" out there capable of the job in question.

Another way (not requiring extra apps) is utilizing ADB for this: adb shell pm disable <package_name> could be used to disable an app (see also this answer).


Tvheadend on Android DVB-S2 TV Box(AML8726-MX)

I think you should install some Linux OS like Ubuntu. Tvheadend server works only in Linux.
There is no other way.


How to sync all emails for all labels without individually going to each label and selecting sync all?

That shouldn't be a problem at all!
Go to settings>accounts>Google>tap on Gmail (to untick the sync), and tap on it again to sync right away.
Alternatively, you can also tap on 'Sync Now' option, which will sync all your Google apps.

Note: make sure you don't have sync only on WiFi option enabled, if you do, either be on a WiFi network, or disable the WiFi only option! :)


Profiles are just a way to change a bunch of settings at once. By long-pressing the power button and tapping ring/vibrate/silent (below airplane mode) you change a single setting however: The ringing behaviour.

The profiles work slightly different to what you expect.
You most probably forgot to enable some switches of the standard profile, most of them are on/off settings for which a profile has 3 actions:

activate
deactivate
modify / do-not-modify

This is for example very handy for a car mode that you activate to just switch off a security lock screen (+ enable GPS and leave all else as is).

The standard profile has a lot of those unset do-not-modify checkboxes (the checkboxes to the right), so unless you check them the profile doesn't actually change those settings.

Tick the checkbox and try again!


How to have Google Music playlists in shuffle by default?

From the Google Play Music App, open up your Playlist section. Find the playlist you want to shuffle, and tap on the three vertical dots on the lower right. Choose Shuffle on the popup.

You can turn on Shuffle mode by first starting song from your playlist, and while it's playing, tap on the banner at the bottom that displaying  your currently playing song. This will bring up Google Play Music's player interface, which has the song name scrolling at the top, album art in the middle, and the play/pause buttons at the bottom. Next to the play/pause button, in the lower right,is an icon that looks like two crossed arrows. That's the shuffle button. Tap to turn it orange and it's on. It will stay on even if you switch songs/albums/playlists.


Export bookmarks from Android 4.1.2 Stock Browser for use in PC Browser

probably you need this app: Import/export browser bookmark . as mentioned in google play, this app backups your bookmarks from your android browser (stock browser, firefox, etc) and restore them in your browser in PC.. hope it helps you.


Server error launching Google Play store

When I randomly get server errors from Google Play, I usually resolve by removing /etc/hosts file (a rooted phone and an ap like Root Explorer is needed). Sometimes I have to reboot the phone, sometimes it works straight away.

Tip: To be sure avoiding system breaks and soft bricks (for how unlikely it is doing this operation), instead of removing the file rename it to something else, so that you can restore it back if needed.


Would rooting Nvidia Shield Tablet following this guide brick my device?

First off that guide is taken from XDA, the go to site I use for all of my Android devices, and it;s the one I recommend all the time to anybody looking to root, flash ROMs, and other things with mobile devices.

So yes, that guide will work for you.

Rooting is basically allowing you root access to the device. Allowing you to change pretty much anything on the device. Whether it's good or bad, the choice is yours.

"With great power, comes great responsibility."

With rooting your device you are trusting that the developers that make apps that ask for root access know what they are doing. With root access they have access to all kinds of things they normally would not.

As far as bricking your device is concerned, it's hard now a days to "hard brick" your device, but it is possible. The more common "soft brick" is easy to recover from. Often times a simple flash of a stock image will undo everything you did. IT is available from Nvidia, and can be found here.

  Would the method shown above definitely work with my device?

Yes.

  Could this method brick my tablet?

Technically yes, but the chances are slim. Faulty cables, power outages, and others could cause the process to fail.

  Is bricking predictable - does it happen due to something done wrong or can it happen randomly by chance or depending on different things?

See above.

  What can cause the device to brick?

Bricking is caused basically when you mess up the ability of the phone to boot into the boot-loader or accept commands from a computer. Many other things will prevent the phone from working, but other stuff is usually easily fixed. The big problems are caused by something going wrong while the boot-loader is being altered. If you kill the boot-loader, there is no boot-loader to get to where you can fix things. This post explains it pretty well.

  Is it very likely that my device will be bricked?

Once again, slim but anything is possible.

  What do I do if the device becomes bricked?

If you can still get to the boot-loader, start the process over again, flash the stock factory image from Nvidia. As long as you can get to the boot-loader, the device can be fixed. 9 times out of 10.

  What precautions should I take and things should I do before, during and after rooting my device?

Use the cable that came with the device. Make sure the device has at least 70% battery life before starting the process.

  How can I stay safe while the device is rooted?

Only install and allow root access from apps that people have posted about working as intended.

  Would rooting mean I lose functionality to some stuff on normal Android i.e. Google Play and Internet?

Rooting could cause some functionality lost on certain devices. But I have the WiFi only version of the Nvidia Shield Tablet and I haven't lost any functionality at all.

  How could I unroot my device?

Most of the superuser apps(controls what gets root access and what doesn't) offer unrooting options in their settings. I know the app SuperSu does.

  After this how would I re-root it again?

Just repeat the process again from the guide.

Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.


Some launchers (Nova, Launcherpro) can create shortcut on home screen which can launch custom activity from any app. This may allow you to launch alarm settings directly.

Also you can create custom app to launch activity from another app.


Cryptfs : Unexpected value for crypto key location

this device is encrypted with FDE full-disk-encryption. depending on how you installed Magisk the forceencrypt= flag is gone. that's what the "crypto key location" refer. edit your fstab and restore encryptable= flag that might help to use Samsung encryption in boot mode. but TWRP is most likely not able to decrypt anyway, so there is no benefit of having TWRP
btw this is a well known Magisk Bug and topjohnwu decided to ignore my fix


One solution would be to use a program such as TeamViewer and set the computer's cursor to a red dot, or just use the regular cursor. Teamviewer has a program that runs on the computer, and an app that allows you to control the computer from your phone. I think it would work quite well for what you have in mind.


Should a certificate be installed when a browser offers to install it?

Yes, your bank wants to establish a secure connection to you. To make sure that the connection is secure, a set of certificates must be installed on both your client and the bank's servers. If the website that you blurred out is correct, then installing the certificates is perfectly safe.

TL;DR: press Install to access your bank securely.


alt tab taken over and trying to get it back

The feature you describe is the "recently used apps". Most recent devices have a separate key assigned to that, looking like two intertwined rectangles:

Seeing some screenshots of the Galaxy Tab A (and finally approved by you), this button is located to the left of the "Home button" on your device.


Not sure if you are looking for this functionality in the default message app. If not ChompSMS is an option. This app seems to provide this function.


Can anyone explain to me what the % really refers to in the Android system, battery usage?

On my phone (ICS) the apps seem to use less than 100% in total. These must be rounding errors: if you had three apps each using a third of the total, that would be 33.3..% for each one. Android would round this to 33%, so the total would be 3*33%=99%.