Change permission on file in /sys folder

Yes, your phone must be rooted because to access that file the /system needs to be mounted as write-able

Once you obtain root you can run this command inside a shell:
su
chmod 777 /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/max_brightness

Then just navigate to that file and edit it using a file browser. What the chmod 777 command does is change the permissions on that file so that you can edit it. After you finish I would suggest changing the permissions back to what they were.

The original permissions were probably 0666.
So it would be like this: chmod 0666 /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/max_brightness

To encompass t0mm13b's remark below, go here for information on how to make the file write-able at boot, instead of having a script be run at each boot that makes it write-able.


How to get past stalled initial station search in NextRadio?

With data networks (cellular data, Wi-Fi) disabled, NextRadio's station search will fail immediately instead of hanging.

Try enabling airplane mode, then re-opening NextRadio. Instead of stalling and showing the activity indicator, it should give you a message that it couldn't find a station listing. Tap "OK" to proceed.

Now disable airplane mode, as it also disables the radio. Using the basic tuner, you can add stations as favorites to assign a name to them.


Pressing backspace whilst typing an SMS causes the screen to exit to the "Delete by Selection" view, how can I stop this?

Found a thread of people with the same issue.
HTC was contacted an to fix they said factory reset your phone:

With the phone turned off, press and hold the Volume Down key.
Briefly press the Power key.
Wait for the screen with the 3 Android images to appear.
Press the Volume Down key twice to select CLEAR STORAGE.
Press the Power.
When asked to confirm, press Volume Up

HOWEVER this has not worked for many users.
The second fix would be this:
*hey i will GWY<----- when you make a mistake like that instead of tapping the backspace button to get rid of your mistakes. Press AND HOLD it until it gets rid of your mistakes its a SLIGHT fix but its ALOT easier to have to deal with the whole delete by selection issue


How can I stop an application from updating itself?

Maybe you can use an app such as Network Connections which has live capture capabilities to find the IP of the update server your app is accessing.

You can then add an entry to iptables to drop the connections to that IP.

For the changes to persist across reboots you'd need a kernel with init support. So you'd have to check that out as well and instal custom one if needed.

PS: I want to make clear that I have no real experience with actually trying any of it and that my answer is just put together from answers I found on other questions on Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. In particular, this one and this one.


How to bypass system /signature level for a modified system apk?

As far I know you need a custom firmware to do it (I guess you don't have access to the firmware keys to resign your apk) so:

a) You can modify,  compile and install your custom Android that skips the signing verification in apps that request to use the android.uid.system user or
b) You can install a custom ROM signed with AOSP keys (most of the custom ROMs are signed using the testkeys from AOSP) and sign you app using the same key in order to get the system level (you can use  keytool-importkeypair tool to create a keystore and used it on Android Studio or gradle


is there any reason as to why it doesn't support end to end encryption, or is it a feature that they intend to implement at a later time?

RCS improves the old SMS by bringing modern features. It provides client to server side encryption but not provide end to end encryption.
According to What is RCS messaging? Everything you need to know about the SMS successor:

  But Chat is missing one critical element: While the original RCS protocol allowed the implementation of client-to-server encryption, Chat does not offer end-to-end encryption like iMessage or Signal. Rather, it retains the same legal intercept standards as its SMS predecessor.

Asked about the privacy issues related to RCS, Google's product management director for Android Messages replied:

  We fundamentally believe that communication, especially messaging, is highly personal and users have a right to privacy for their communications. And we’re fully committed to finding a solution for our users.

Google is working on it but no indication is given as to when end to end encryption will become a feature. In the meantime, when sending a message,

  It's encrypted in transit, but it’s not fully end-to-end encrypted, so your RCS provider can potentially see the contents of your messages, and turn them over to the government if properly asked. Google says it will delete them from its servers as soon as they’re delivered to your phone

Like for SMSes, the providers will be able to read your messages until Google decides to implement end to end encryption.


Pressing Enter key with an external keyboard doesn't send SMS on Panasonic P100

The Enter key can produce 10 (hex 0A), 13 (hex 0D) or 10-13 (2 characters, 0A, then 0D), depending on the operating system it was actually designed for.  The SMS app may be looking specifically for 10 (0A), because that's the Linux EOL (end-of-line) code (and Android is running in a Linux OS).  Use the mouse to click the (in most SMS apps) forward arrow on the screen.  (Or try alt-10 - hold the alt key while pressing 1, then 0, in turn, then release the alt key.  That produces the Linux EOL character.)


Can I merge two, or more, separate Titanium backups

This is more like a manual job, but can be done.

With Titanium Backup PRO/Donate version, you have this feature (compare versions here):

  Backup/restore SMS, MMS, call log, bookmarks and Wi-Fi networks in the portable XML format!

You can combine both SMS backups into a single XML file format and restore it to your phone all in one. Afterwards, perform a backup like you usually do, to have it all together.

Ps: Will probably require you to go back and forward, but here's a guide:

Backup to XML the existent SMS on your device;
Restore the old SMS to the device;
backup the old SMS to XML;
Edit both XML files to merge them;
Restore all back to your device.

You can refer to Titanium Backup website to collect more information or to request support from the developers.


From the surface clues, I thought the index was corrupt. Not the issue at all. Being a newbie to the Android, I was unaware of all the myriad features of the beast:-)

A lot more digging found the "problem". Namely, I use lots of category designations in my Outlook contacts. MyPhoneExplorer does a 100% correct job of transporting all these ... BUT, turns out the Android contacts app in its FILTER option treats these in a bizarre way. Namely, if you try ...

Contacts->->Filter->Display contacts->Local

... you see that ALL the existing categories are checked ... BUT, the very bottom one ("All other contacts") is NOT CHECKED. The result is that all contacts WITH categories get displayed, and any without a designated CATEGORY are NOT displayed.

Simple solution (discovered after a week of hell:-)) ... just check the "All other contacts" box, and PRESTO! Now I see everything.

Post-script: whoever designed this "Display contacts" feature has it backwards! The default should be to show ALL contacts, with option to the user to narrow the selection by UNCHECKING various boxes.


No, you won't invalidate your warranty.*  Keep in mind that Root Explorer requires root, though, and rooting will invalidate your warranty.  I personally love Root Explorer, so I recommend the non-root version: Explorer.

* I haven't read your warranty, but I've never heard of a condition that bizarre. This is not legal advice; I am not a lawyer.


Calendar and contacts sync using "Server" account type

This is an account for syncing via SyncML, a protocol used by (e.g.) funambol.

In a test, I've already managed to sync some events using syncevolution as http-server, but currently I'm not sure, wether SSL connections work as well. (I've even started a question on that topic.)


How do I assign cover art to songs? (Archos 43)

I don't know if Archos have modified the music player at all, but on most Android devices and players, the most reliable way to ensure that all your music shows its album art in the player is to embed the album art directly in the MP3 file, rather than relying on a "folder.jpg" or a "AlbumArt.jpg" being in the folder.

As far as I know most music selling websites embed the album art directly in the file, and a lot of popular CD ripping software does too these days, so it's probably only your older files, or ones you've got from elsewhere that don't have the art embedded in the file.

I use a Windows program called MP3Tag to embed the album art directly into the file amongst other things, but there's lots of other software that will do this, see these answers on our SuperUser sister site for some suggestions: What's the easiest way to update album art?, or Bulk fix Album artwork in iTunes library for display


myTv+ app returns error code 101 when running on Android TV box

Looking at the decompiled code there is some error method that is called with 101. It looks like this code is only executed when the parameters sent to the app on startup are not as the app expects:

On Android TV apps are started using a different "parameter" (android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER) where as a regular Android app is started via android.intent.category.LAUNCHER.

I have not checked it in detail but it looks like the app tries to process the parameters and fails as it does not understand the parameter used by Android TV and then displays the 101 error message.


I know I am late to this discussion, but, for others out there that may have not gotten an answer to this yet, device encryption on some devices may only work with a strong password. A (medium security) PIN may not be enough.


I would connect your memory card to your computer and back up everything you can, then on your tablet, let Android format your memory card. Once Android formats your memory card, put it back in your PC and move everything from the backup to the memory card. Then just put it back in your tablet to see if it works.

If that does not work, you could try reformatting it on your computer. In Windows, just go to "Computer", then right your memory card and click format. On the window that comes up, everything should be set already, so just click start.

Note: Using Android or Windows to format your memory card will erase everything... That's why I told you to back up everything on your card.

If formatting it on Android and Windows does not work, then it is possible your memory card has died and you need a new one.


How can i turn off the message received tick

Message App--> Setting -->Turn off  Delivery Report


How can I configure an unlocked HTC Sensation XE for 3g connectivity in USA?

AT&T's 3G works in the 1900 MHz and 850 MHz frequencies.

Even though HTC Sensation XE is listed as supporting the 850 MHz frequency, it is only using it for slower 2G (EDGE) speeds.  For 3G it's using T-Mobile's HSDPA bands 900/1700/2100 MHz.  Unfortunately no amount of tweaking in the phone's software will make it work on AT&T's 3G bands, since this is a hardware difference in the phone's modem.

There are very few phones that work on both T-Mobile and AT&T's 3G frequencies - those are called "penta-band".  The new Samsung Galaxy Nexus is one of them, along with older Nokia models E7, N8 and N9 phones, for example.


Accessing termux user environment from other consoles

Termux does provide the openssh package, which contains both the ssh client and the sshd server.

Install the package with: apt install openssh, then start the server with sshd - it will run on port 8022 by default, so connect to it with ssh -p 8022 DEVICE_IP, and you can find the device wifi ip using ip addr list wlan0.

Password authentication is not supported, so you need to setup $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys.

After you have connected you will run as the normal Termux user with environment variables setup correctly.


Samsung S7 speaker phone not working (at all)

Dunno about the fixes, but since you also asked for a ROM, here it is


How to copy / modify data from a soft-bootlooping Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100)

When a phone is constantly crashing without any changes from your side, getting hot, usually it has a more seriously reason. You should focus on how to get your data off the phone first.

The SMS availability notifications indicates that android is still booting, just the gui system_server is crashing. To avoid availability toggle Airplane Mode or remove SIM Card.

Your internal memory (mmcblk0) is probably near wear-out. This means it will switch from read-write access to a read-only mode (for some partitions or completely) and one day it becomes unreadable. So how is data stored? List of partitions

EFS        /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
SBL1       /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
SBL2       /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
PARAM      /dev/block/mmcblk0p4
KERNEL     /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
RECOVERY   /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
CACHE      /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
MODEM      /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
FACTORYFS  /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
DATAFS     /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
UMS        /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
HIDDEN     /dev/block/mmcblk0p12

Typical important partitions on most android devices are BOOT RECOVERY CACHE SYSTEM USERDATA.

The BOOT (mmcblk0p5) partition contains the kernel and rootfs for the OS. It then loads the ROM from SYSTEM (mmcblk0p9). both partitions are read-only and can be downloaded everywhere (stock ROM). RECOVERY (mmcblk0p6) is a separate emergency rootfs. Samsung like to make things complicated, so in your case it is a recovery ramdisk which is included in boot. CACHE (mmcblk0p7) is a writeable partition for temporary files during OTA updates and log files. It can safely wiped/formatted any time. USERDATA (mmcblk0p10) is the only writeable partition for apps data, user installed apps and user files. However, seems like your phone has another additional writeable partition UMS (mmcblk0p11) especially for pictures and downloads (in newer android it is merged aka emulated storage), this is what you call USB Storage.

In android you only have access to pictures and downloads. the apps data is protected from user access and can only be backup with root access.

Modern android partitions are protected from altering, you can not flash modified content with a locked bootloader. Unlocking bootloader will trigger a factory reset, this is for security reasons to protect your data from unwanted access.

Luckily this is not the case for your device, the GT-I9100 comes from stock with unlocked bootloader!

The Android system recovery <3e> (stock recovery) gives you a very limited emergency access (sometimes with backup user data / restore user data) and wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache partition and apply update functionality.

So how to get access to your data? You can flash a custom recovery like TWRP from flash tool. This will not alter USERDATA or UMS partition.

Even more lucky, someone has leaked the Samsungs internal-only OEM signing key for OTA packages! (for older devices only)

PhilZ Touch Recovery CWM 6 comes as flashable signed zip which can be flashed directy from stock recovery.

download philz_touch_6.48.4-i9100-signed.zip
copy file to MicroSD Card
boot in Android system recovery <3e>
apply update from sdcard

This will (hopefully) bring you to custom recovery (if not, reboot to recovery mode). Now you can backup your /data and /sdcard -> to /external_sd

Once the backup is finished, perform a factory reset to see if this fixes your boot loop. factory reset will only wipe cache + userdata your stock ROM remains intact. If the phone is working, restore your backup and use adb shell in recovery mode to examine/delete your files.

If you managed to restore your phone, get off all your pictures via USB. consider a cloud backup of WhatsApp and other apps in google drive. This will help you to migrate your data to another phone before old phone dies.


SP Flash Tool does not recognize the firmware scatter file

The ROM you provided does not contain a valid scatter file or recovery.img so you can not use SP Flash Tool.

I recommend you to make a backup of boot, copy the boot.emmc.win to PC, then to another phone and patch it with Magisk Manager apk

After successful patching, copy the patched file back to PC

Reboot the phone to bootloader, and flash the magisk_patched.img from fastboot

fastboot flash boot "C:\adb\magisk_patched.img"

If for whatever reason you are not allowed to flash from fastboot, you can flash it from TWRP

When phone is working, just install Magisk Manager apk

Note: The /system partition and /data partition are encrypted, thats why you can not install Magisk.zip from TWRP

Patching the boot.img with Magisk Manager will remove the "verify" flag and patch against dm-verity, which will allow you to boot with modified recovery partition

Edit:

If you have a working similar phone, you can perform a "Read Back" of the recovery partition. based on your question, i have created a scatter file for the recovery partition

for the read back, select Region EMMC_USER and use the start address and size from this:

############################################################################################################
#
#  General Setting
#
############################################################################################################
- general: MTK_PLATFORM_CFG
  info:
    - config_version: V1.1.2
      platform: MT6755
      project: TP904A
      storage: EMMC
      boot_channel: MSDC_0
      block_size: 0x20000
############################################################################################################
#
#  Layout Setting
#
############################################################################################################
- partition_index: SYS2
  partition_name: recovery
  file_name: recovery.img
  is_download: true
  type: NORMAL_ROM
  linear_start_addr: 0x8000
  physical_start_addr: 0x8000
  partition_size: 0x1000000
  region: EMMC_USER
  storage: HW_STORAGE_EMMC
  boundary_check: true
  is_reserved: false
  operation_type: UPDATE
  is_upgradable: true
  reserve: 0x00

Edit 2:

based on your output of /proc/partitions from twrp here is the complete scatter file (use carefully, no warranty it works)

MT6755_Android_scatter_TP904A.txt


How to Manage (and preferably clear) the `Frequently contacted` list in the Favourites tab

Just solved this issue.

Open Favorites in your phone - your Favorites list should appear.
Open menu (bottom left of Home button) - 4 options should appear.

Add to favorites
Remove from favorites
Grid view
Settings

Select Remove from favorites - boxes should then appear next to names.
Select the names you wish to remove.
Select Done in top right.


How to get past the Google Assistant screen on languages that are unsupported?

Finnish language is unsupported by the Google Assistant, and consequently by some lack of testing, the screen is shown but the buttons do not respond and you can not get past it.

The solution:
Change the primary language to English and restart the Setup Wizard. The path to settings is: Settings > System > Language and input > Language > Add a language

It is very ironic that Finnish language is not so well supported and tested on a Nokia phone, considering it used to be a Finnish company... Now it is just a brand owned by HMD global or whatever.


Sony Xperia Z locked screen, no internet connection, does not connect to computer

You gonna need to boot into recovery mod follow this steps

Switch off your Xperia Z first
Switch it back on and the time when you see your phone’s LED
notification light turn Pink! (or any other color) — start pressing
either the Volume UP or Volume Down key a couple of times to make
your phone boot into recovery mode
Once you’re in recovery mode. Use Volume buttons to navigate Up and
Down between options and Power button to select an option in
recovery.

navigate to the factory reset and click on power button.


Android Wear emulator: "No longer connected to network"

It appears that this behavior occurs when you attach a different host device to pair with the emulator, for instance when switching between connecting two phones to your computer with pairing enabled.

The Android Wear app itself then displays the status of the emulator as "Trying to connect…" and the connection is refused between the emulator and the new device. The problem goes away once you've attached the original device that you first used with pairing to the emulator, or wiping data on the emulator and pairing it with the new device.


Process 'system/bin/installd' causing memory leak

/system/bin/installd is a system daemon that is involved in the installation of applications. System classes like PackageInstaller use it in their execution.

This article from DZone dates back to 2013, but it gives some pointers that can put on track:

  PackageInstaller is the default application for Android to interactively install a normal package. PackageInstaller provide user interface to manage applications/packages. PackageInstaller calls InstallAppProgress activity to receive instructions from the user. InstallAppProgress will ask Package Manager Service to install package via installd. Source code is available at  /packages/apps/PackageInstaller.

Today's Android code states (for example: services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Installer.java):

 public void onStart() {
    Slog.i(TAG, "Waiting for installd to be ready.");
    mInstaller.waitForConnection();
}

The same file comments on checking out frameworks/native/cmds/installd/installd.h (I did not look further for now).

In short, you may need to look at the source code to know more about installd, depending on what you are up to.


No Longer Receiving Message Notifications on Lock Screen

Android 4.3 has protection by default to disallow Lock Screen Widgets:

Firstly you need to go to Settings > My Device > Lock Screen as above and enable "Multiple Widgets"

You can change the SMS notifications in the SMS app > Settings > Notifications

As an alternative for anyone interested I would recommend Dash Clock lock screen Widget

This is a HIGHLY customisable Lock Screen Widget. You can have SMS/Missed Calls/Stardate (seriously)/Hangouts/Battery and lots more via extensions. You can customise the look and feel of the clock to be JellyBean, KitKat etc too!


Samsung G S3 Mini: UK Apps 'not available in your country'?: in UK, with new UK phone from UK provider!

Have you tried turning it on and off again? If it doesn't work, take it back to the shop.


How do I transfer all my contacts from HTC Wildfire to HTC One?

I will recommend you this HTC's official app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.htc.dnatransfer.legacy


How do I turn off the cellular radio without disabling bluetooth?

Check out this guy's post on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11370203&postcount=2

This might be considered a risky solution, but if you aren't using the 3G connection at all and you're careful to simply rename the .apk's he references you might just disable the cell radio without needing to use Airplane Mode.

In case the link doesn't work, he suggests using Root Explorer to rename phone.apk to phone.apk.bak and telephony.apk to telephony.apk.bak thus disabling these two packages.  You have to reboot your phone to finalize the changes.  If it doesn't work, you should remove the .bak from each file name and they should be available again.

At OP's request, a summary of his findings:

  Phone.apk is the Dialer app, which
  is responsible for the cell radio.
  PhoneTelephony.apk turns out to be
  just the Dialer storage, which we
  can kill just to save more memory.
  AndroidOS immediately restarts
  Dialer when it is closed, so
  renaming it will cause problems. But
  after a battery-yank-reboot,
  everything is ok. It also gets rid of
  the annoying Activate your phone
  dialog that comes up on every boot.
  btw, the dialpad still comes up after
  getting rid of Dialer :-)


Can I replace the OS of a Samsung Galaxy S?

Yes, flashing a custom ROM will void your warranty.  However, it is very simple to revert to the stock ROM with a Galaxy S for warranty purposes.  Rooting will also void your warranty, but the method below does not require root.

The easiest way to a get a new OS for a Galaxy S is to use Odin for Windows (download here.  Search for "Heimdall" if you want to do this on Linux).  You just need an Odin-flashable ROM.  For the Galaxy S Vibrant, I highly recommend the ROM I currently use, Bionix v1.3.1, which has a TouchWiz-free version.  I assume you have a GT-I9000 however; you should look for one that suits your purposes in XDA's i9000 Android Development forum.

Edit: According to this post, the only completely TouchWiz-free ROM is CyanogenMod, which is unstable/buggy.  So if you don't want CM and just want to replace the launcher, you can do that without flashing another ROM as Amanda says in her answer.  Otherwise you can continue with the instructions below for using Odin.

Once you have the ROM, do the following:

Put your phone into Download mode

Remove the battery
If non-i9000, attach the phone to your PC via USB.
Hold VolumeDown plus either the Home key (i9000) or VolumeUp (non-i9000) and the power button

Reinsert the battery.
Let go of the power button only about 1 second after the white device logo appears (if it does)
After a few seconds a yellow triangle with an android in it should appear, you can let go of the keys since this is download mode.

Start up Odin.
If non-i9000, detatch your phone from USB.
Attach the phone to USB so that Odin recognizes it.
Load the .zip file you downloaded (the custom ROM) into the PDA field of Odin.
Load the 512 .pit file into the PIT field of Odin.
Check "Re-partition".
Hit Start.  Odin will tell you when it's done; if it fails, reboot your phone and try again.  (This happens occasionally).

Note that if you need to back anything up, you should do that beforehand and save the backup to your PC, since everything (except probably the external SD card) will be wiped on the phone.  Also note that you do this at your own risk; Odin is very powerful and misusing it can damage your phone.  I've used it dozens of times myself safely.


Default ringtones are usually stored in /system/media/audio/ringtones. You might be able to access this location using a file manager.

Keep in mind that, residing on /system, this place is read-only at best without root-access: so while you should be able to copy from here, you cannot place any files into this directory. If you want to manually add ringtones to your device, rather create a similar directory on your SDcard (/sdcard/media/audio, with sub-directories for ringtones, alarms, notifications, etc.). This location should be recognized automatically by the Android system.


Which uses more battery? 4G lte internet or Wi-Fi?

Easy answer

Depends on.

More detailed answer:

This is no easy yes/no question, but has many things to consider. Several factors have to be taken into account. Picking just the easy ones to make it less complicated:

what is the energy consumption in idle mode
how much energy is needed per time unit
how much data is transfered per time unit
how much data do you have to transfer
oh, and what's the signal quality of course

To make a raw calculation, I've collected some hard data on battery consumptions of components a while ago. You will note it lacks LTE/4G specifics, but you can rawly "deduce" those for an estimation. For some "practical examples", take a look at e.g. 2G versus 3G: Does it really save battery?

If you followed this far, you probably reached the same conclusion I came to: There's no "general rule" to give, all depends on "user habits" and "actual situation" (coverage etc.).


Nexus 6 failed to update OTA 6.0.1 from MMB29V to MMB20X

First off I'm assuming that the device is already flashing unlocked since you said you tried to flash the update from recovery. You shouldn't need a backup but make one anyways because recovery might be flashed over. Read everything first before you get started.
Download current image (the one you have now, you can try 29X or latest 30D), it's best to restore your system then update for guaranteed results and no misbehavior after reboot (I'm a little adventurous so I'd go for the 30D). unpack the .tgz and cd into the resulting directory.

fastboot flash radio radio.img
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img

Note the images aren't radio.img and bootloader.img, just do radio and tab and bootloader and tab.
Unpack the .zip that was extracted from the .tgz. cd into the resulting directory.

fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot reboot

This should maintain all your data on the device after you reboot and I'm about 99 percent sure it'll work. So you shouldn't be needing to backup. If you run into problems after reboot you'll need to flash cache as well.
Reboot into bootloader again and use

fastboot flash cache cache.img
fastboot reboot

If it still doesn't work, you'll need to have a backup, reboot to fastboot and use the flash-all.sh that was extracted from the .tgz file. This would delete all your data but you can flash recovery again with fastboot flash recovery <image filename> and restore Data from the backup you did.
PS. If you have to flash cache you might lose some data but only relating to system apps and services.


Disable Volume and Power button screenshot

For the moment, you unfortunately can't unless your phone is rooted. A user submitted a suggestion to have Option to disable screenshot using volume down and power button for OnePlus 6T. On the same thread, there are also owners of other OnePlus models asking for the same.

If your phone is rooted, you can disable the package com.oneplus.screenshot although it will introduce the disadvantage of no longer being able to take screentshots.

You can also try to remap the keys as shown here.


How does the "Format as internal storage" feature work in Android 6.0+?

If you use this feature, your external SD card is replacing your internal storage. In the process, it will be encrypted. You no longer can "simply unmount" the card to read it in any other device (including a card reader attached to your PC), as in that case the file system would be unreadable in the latter (due to encryption – which is done "for security", so a thief cannot simply remove the card to circumvent your device's lock screen and get straight to your data).

Reference: Android 6.0 can treat SD cards as internal storage… at a cost

Choose internal storage and the microSD card will be reformatted and encrypted. Once this is done, the card can only be used as internal storage. If you try to eject the card and read it on a computer, it won’t work. All data on the card will also be erased, so you may want to back up anything important first. Android does provide an option to migrate it, but early reports suggest it’s unreliable.
[…]
You can still choose to have apps installed to either the true internal storage or your microSD card that’s been formatted to behave like internal storage. But if you had a phone with 8GB of storage and a 32GB microSD card, you’ll only have 32GB of space for music, movies, games, or other files, not 40GB.

Reference: Adoptable Storage: Android Marshmallow’s hidden feature that your phone probably can’t use:

Notice that the space is not increased by the size of the sdcard, but to the size of the sdcard. You’re basically swapping out your internal storage (which is typically eMMC, which is fairly quick), with your sdcard (which is typically slower than the built-in storage chip). You’ll be trading speed for capacity. In some cases this is a fair trade.
There is one more interesting tidbit: with a little bit of work, adoptable storage extends beyond just microsd cards. You can technically mount any USB OTG device as adoptable storage. In theory, this would let you have a 1TB hard drive attached via USB OTG. Of course you’d never be able to remove that hard drive, so the uses are very limited – but very interesting.
If you’re interested in forcing “any” storage device connected via USB OTG to become adoptable storage, here’s the command you’ll need to know. We haven’t tried this, so proceed at your own risk.
   adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

Where AndroidCentral in Inside Marshmallow: Adoptable storage continues:

   adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

But you probably shouldn't.
Once a storage device is adopted, it becomes part of the system and is no longer removable. Sure you can physically remove it, but you'll be prompted to put it back while apps and services crash on your phone or tablet. It's adopted — taken in and loved by the system, and made part of the whole.

An interesting comment there reads:

Glad I read this, I was thinking adoptable storage was a great idea and I could buy a 16GB phone and simply throw in a big microSD card and beat the system. But, probably not a good idea now that I understand more of how it works.

Plus, to underline what I wrote about factory-reset:

You can remove and reformat the card whenever you like, but doing so will force you to factory reset your phone.

Plus:

I opted to keep it as normal external storage. At least that way if the phone has a failure i still have access to my SD card files. The other way keeps it encrypted and if the phone were to experience phone ending glitch the card would be useless as its encrypted and the only device to see it is dead. No taking it out and inserting into a computer to recover my pics or vids or music.

According to Android 6.0 Marshmallow tip: ‘Adopt’ your MicroSD card as internal storage [Video], there is a "way back":

Thankfully, it’s not completely permanent. If you decide you’d like to use it just to store media, you can change it back by heading to Settings>Storage & USB, then selecting the card, hitting the top right menu and then select ‘Format as portable’.

But read between the lines: Format means all data on it will be erased. So if you want to do that, you'll need to make sure having secured your data beforehand. No easy "USB card reader" way here, you'll have to copy everything via USB or network.1 And if the card breaks, no way to use the card reader and some recovery soft to rescue at least parts of it; encryption makes that impossible. If it's broken it most likely won't even mount on the device anymore – so everything you haven't backed up elsewhere will be "gone for good".

As long as the card is "good", there's some interesting pointer found in Decrypting Android M adopted storage (emphasis mine):

Android M allows for adoptable storage, which is implemented similarly to internal storage FDE -- using dm-crypt with a per-volume, static 128-bit AES key, stored in /data/misc/vold/. Once the key is extracted from the device, adopted storage can be mounted and read/written on any Linux machine. Adoptable storage encryption is done purely in software (at least in the current preview build), so its performance is likely comparable to encrypted internal storage on devices that don't support hardware-accelerated FDE.

Further readings:

Understanding Adoptive Storage in Android 6 (Marshmallow)
How SD Cards Work with Android Marshmallow / M / 6.0 (YouTube)
Corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage (incl. tut on how to decrypt it)
How to decrypt adopted storage?
How to split adopted storage?

1In Storage › Internal Storage you should find "migrate data" which will move your stuff back to internal – if you got enough space left there. (thanks to Barleyman for pointing this out)


The Android system monitors the light sensor (for things like auto-adjusting the backlight), but to my knowledge doesn't specifically log that data by default.

You can get an app like AndroSensor which allows access to all your phone sensors and can monitor and log the data for you.


Is there any way to lock the screen without turning off the display?

I'm not aware of such an app/feature right now, but you could use the collective effect of a couple of apps to get almost the desired thing.

Lightning Bug: This is a cool free app that has
always-on display feature and shows the clock, (and weather, etc.) and
more.
Screen Filter: This app will allow you to reduce the
brightness even lower than what the Android system would allow you
to.

However, when you want to put your device into standby, you will need to open these apps to get the effect. Also, running these apps does not mean it's in "lock" mode.

I see a great potential for an app that does both of these together and also put the device into lock mode at the same time.


Accessing battery usage graph on Android 8

Go to Settings and select Battery. Tap on the large battery image in the battery section and the usage graph will be shown.


Prevent particular website pages from appearing in Google search [phone]

If I understand correctly, you want to filter only some searches when you need it, and not permanently ban sites. Simply including -site:dailymotion.com in the search query should do the trick (make sure not to omit the '-').

If you want to permanently ban a site, try the following:

Some AdBlock apps exist that allow you to blacklist certain URLs. I'm not sure though if this would work with google searches (as they are only links to the host and not resources pulled from the host), but it's worth giving it a shot.


What new features my tablet gains in the passage between Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich?

Selected excerpts from the official Android 4 Platform Highlights document:

  The biggest changes will be for phones upgrading from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich, rather than for tablets upgrading from Honeycomb,
  as a lot of the new UI features were introduced in Honeycomb.
  The UI change is a big difference and brings Honeycomb's Recent Apps button for easier access to multi-tasking to the main-line Android
  platform along with the System bar that it sits on.
  The standard Lock  Screen now has quick access to the Camera and Notifications, and there will be album art and controls for music
  playing in the Music app on the lockscreen.
  When an incoming call arrives, users can now quickly respond by text message, without needing to pick up the call or unlock the device.
  Improved text input and spell-checking on the standard Android 4 keyboard
  Android 4.0 introduces a powerful new voice input engine that offers a continuous "open microphone" experience and streaming voice
  recognition.
  To meet the needs of users with tiered or metered data plans, Android 4.0 adds new controls for managing network data usage.
  Enhanc[ing] the accessibility of Android 4.0 for blind or visually impaired users. Most important is a new explore-by-touch mode that
  lets users navigate without having to see the screen.
  A new People app that offers richer profile information, including a large profile picture, phone numbers, addresses and accounts, status
  updates, events, stream items, and a new button for connecting on
  integrated social networks.
  The user's own contact information is stored in a new "Me" profile, allowing easier sharing with apps and people.
  an updated Calendar app brings together personal, work, school, and social agendas.
  a new visual voicemail features integrates incoming messages, voice transcriptions, and audio files from one or more providers.
  The Camera app includes many new features... continuous focus, zero shutter lag exposure... Stabilized image zoom... users can now take
  snapshots at full video resolution just by tapping the screen as video
  continues to record... built-in face detection locates faces in the
  frame and automatically sets focus... single-motion panorama mode...
  Redesigned Gallery app with photo editor
  Live Effects for transforming video
  instantly sync and manage Google Chrome bookmarks from all ... accounts
  Android Beam for NFC-based sharing [requires NFC hardware integrated into the device]
  Face Unlock
  Wi-Fi Direct lets users connect directly to nearby peer devices over Wi-Fi
  built-in support for connecting to Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP) devices... users can connect to wireless medical devices and
  sensors in hospitals, fitness centers, homes, and elsewhere

Also your manufacturer, Asus, may have added or updated their own specific software, and some of the new features may only be available if your manufacturer hasn't customized/replaced the original Android app.


Is it possible to point System > Ringtones folder to Memory card > Music?

Just isntall some file manager I recommand Total commander, and than when you tap to choose ringtone you will be offered to open it with Total commander or media storage. If this doesn't work than just open to choose ringtone and in upper right corner you will have '+' tap on it and it will open your music player


Problems with bluetooth pand on rooted android 2.3.1 device

I can't specifically answer your question, however, what I've found BT paring my Nexus 7 (JB 4.2) to my (rooted) Motorola Defy phone (Froyo 2.2.2), using standard setup panels, is similar. That is, it works the first time. On subsequent attempts, I see a 'connecting..' message then the BT Paring/Connection panel quickly returns to 'waiting for user input' with no connection.

In order to 'fix' it I have to reboot the Motorola (phone).


Does rooting mean I will always run my device as root?

No. Rooting in that case means that apps are able to request root. If they do so, then usually a pop-up appears asking for your permission.


Install AIDA64 from the Play Store, which is free (with advertising). The CPU tab will show you exactly what SoC you have, and what the cores are. For example, my Samsung Galaxy S8 shows:
SoC Model  Samsung Eyxnos 9 Octa (8895)
Core Architecture 4x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1690 MHz 4x Samsung Exymos M2 @ 2314 MHz


How to block a range of phone numbers without any third-party apps

There's no functionality built into Android to do this. If you want to block a range of numbers, or numbers matching a pattern, and you can't install apps on the phone to do it (as per Can I block calls based on a specific number prefix or pattern? or Free app to block calls and SMS based on pattern), then all you can do is contact your carrier and hope that they can set up the block for you at the exchange. Carriers tend to be quite obliging about blocking nuisance callers, but of course they too may be limited by what software they have available, and they may just tell you to use one of the apps mentioned in the linked questions.


How can I pin offline tracks at a lower bitrate with Google Play Music?

This is not possible in Google Play Music. You can only change the bitrate used while streaming your music.

If you are really interested in getting your music at a lower bitrate, you could have a look at the Google Play Music directory in /data/data.
There is a directory named files. That contains all mp3-files you have pinned to your device. You COULD replace them with files with a lower bitrate, but this is much work.

Alternatively you can upload your music at two different bitrates to Google Music.


Can you Modify or Increase the Size of the Recent Apps List?

If you have rooted your device and use a 'Villain' rom, you can find an option to change this setting in Villain Settings > Input settings > Long-press home settings.

Realise you might not have this rom but it's worth a mention!


The problem generally occurs in MTP mode. Well, the workaround is to create a folder, [New Folder] (don't rename it). Just save the folder as it is. Then, rename it. I did it several times and it helps.


Why do I have to download music to Android internal storage then copy to SD card to work?

Windows 10 has currently some bugs in the MTP system (MTP is the system used for transferring data from/to your phone via Windows Explorer). This might be the reason for your problems.

Alternatively you can enable Debug mode and ADB on your device and then use a GUI tool that uses ADB for file transferring, e.g. this one:

Droid Explorer


How to reach local computer via machine name instead of IP?

Regardless whether you're connected to your local network via WiFi and DHCP is in use, Android always seems to override its DNS entries using Google's servers. It's somewhat hidden, but easy to change – provided you have your own DNS running (a lot of routers offer that already).

To do so, go to your list of WiFi networks in Settings, long-press your WiFi's entry, select to edit it. Activate Advanced Settings. Now you can edit the DNS entries. Simply replace the first entry with your own DNS server's IP, and leave the second entry (DNS 2) untouched for fall-back.

Now, if your own DNS can resolve your local network's machines, you should be able to use their hostnames to reach out to them. No root and no editing the hosts file necessary (thought that might be an alternative, if you've got no own DNS service running). Works excellent here with me and my network ;)


How to manually install ICS on Sony Ericsson Phones?

You can manually install update using Flashtool,and also you need ftf file for it,

http://androxyde.github.com/index.html?1349610344000 -Flash tool

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1918920 -ftf file.


After Firmware update keeps rebooting my galaxy s4

I would do something else. Chances are high your firmware has an issue. Go to http://samsung-updates.com/, select your device and search for your provider. Download the full firmware (about 1.6 gb) unzip(only once). Get yourself Odin(its for windows only). Its on xda everywhere.

A wipe data and wipe cache from recovery mode would be helpful here.
Hold on power button and volume up fore a while to go there, navigate using volume buttons. hit ok using power button.

Put your phone in download mode. (Turn off, hold down power button and volume down for a while, hit power up when the message appeared).
Connect your phone to the pc. Odin should see it now. In Odin you have a bunch of buttons on the right, select the second from the top on the right there. Navigate to your unzipped firmware image. (A .tar.md5 file) select it. Hit start after the file loaded. Do not touch your setup during flashing.

Good luck!

Do not try to flash firmware that isn't designed for your phone. It can destroy it. (Worst case). You can hit getprop in a shell on the device to get all information about your device. The exact device type, firmware version, provider shortcut and so on.

Another approach is to use Samsung Kies. Kies allows you to do firmware updates and used to flash every system partition on the device, not just the changes as the ota does. If you already are at the newest firmware, it might not work cause there's no update.


Understanding the sending of commands in adb shell

the 2nd line sends a request to serial. the 1st line is waiting for result. in order to make this work one must listening before sending request, that way the answer can not missed. one can accomplish that by running the listening process in background while sending request in same time. it is usual like for handling of named pipes


Any icon pack (not themes like Cyanogen Mod themes for example) can only apply to launchers and apps not the Android system itself.

(Except that the system supports icon packs which is not common in official ROMs.)

And Nova Launcher (like most launchers if not all of them) only displays the home screen and the app drawer, anything other than that (like recent apps, notifications, and lock screen) is controlled by the Android system not Nova Launcher.

Note: The lock screen icons can be changed by a lock screen app but not Nova Launcher.

Final answer: You can change the icons everywhere in your phone (CM13) if it has a theme engine and you install & apply an icon pack that is compatible with the theme engine or apply a compatible theme with the desired icons. (Note that you need to choose to display system icons from Nova Launcher afterwards.)


Change IMAP folder subscriptions on default email client

Email APP
If you are referring to the APP named "Email", you don't have to make any adjustments, the subscription process is fully automated, I just test.
Ps: No options available on this application for that type of settings, perhaps the reason as to why its fully automated and by default in sync.

Gmail APP
If you are referring to the Gmail APP, you need to:

Open the APP
Tap your device "menu"
Tap "more", then "settings"
Tap your account
Scroll down until you find "Sync inboxes and labels", and tap
A list should appear with all your folders, tap over the ones you need to Sync and select the desirable option.


Pull down notifications from the center of the screen in Android 5.1 on Sony Xperia

If you are using the stock launcher, chances are there aren't settings for that.  I know that with a custom launcher like Nova Launcher, there are gestures that you can set up to do what you are looking for.

Nova Launcher on Google Play

Nova Launcher Prime on Google Play


May be this can work for you. Reformat your micro SD card. Some users have reported that media server can cause the phone to overheat. Save a copy of your files in your microSD card to your computer then reformat if.

Go to Menu Select Settings
 Tap More Select Storage Touch Format SD
 card Review the message and touch Format SD card Tap Delete all
 Remove then reinsert the microSD card afterwards.

If the problem continues, this means that you have a phone defect causing it.For more details you can refer Samsung India site.


I have an unrooted stock Xperia Z Ultra, should the LED turn off when the battery is fully charged?

User guide doesn't say it should be switched off on full. Expected behaviour below

  Battery notification light status

  Green   The battery is charging and the battery charge level is greater than 90%

  Red     The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 15%

  Orange  The battery is charging and the battery charge level is less than 90%

Edit: If the LED turned off, you wouldn't know whether it is fully charged or charger isn't connected, color coding this way makes sense


How do I edit Minuum's custom dictionary?

http://support.minuum.com/forums/210127-minuum-support/suggestions/4099381-options-to-view-edit-remove-dictionary:

  We've now added support for backing up (importing/exporting) your data
  by going to Minuum settings and choosing "Backup your data", which
  will save a file to your Downloads folder.

  You can still remove words from the dictionary by long-pressing on
  them when they appear in the word suggestions bar at the top of the
  keyboard.

  We're still working on making it easy for you to directly edit your
  dictionary on your device.

– The Minuum Team (Admin, Whirlscape) commented  ·  August 15, 2013 20:59

So, since I can both delete words and add new ones, and as long as this feature is not properly implemented, I'd say that's it.


How can I use a dark theme for all webpages on Chrome for Android?

Open Chrome
Tap the 3 dots in the top right corner
Tap Settings
Tap Themes
Select Dark

I haven't come across a site that this doesn't work on yet


Dragging an app shortcut from the home screen into the little bin simply deletes the shortcut, not the app. You can recreate the shortcut this way:

Find the app in the app drawer (that is, the list of all apps)
Hold your finger on the app to pick it up
The screen will change to the home screen
Drop the app where you want on the home screen. You can move to the next screen by dragging to the edge of the screen.

On the other hand, if you drag the app icon from the app drawer to the bin, it will completely uninstall the app. It checks first, with the dialog, "Do you want to uninstall this app?" If you answer OK to that dialog, then the app is completely removed, and you can only get it back by installing it again in the usual way.


How do I delete the frequent SMS list on my HTC One S?

There are methods to clean this list, but not every may work in your case (maybe no method will work on your phone).

Enter contacts/groups/frequent, then press menu and select "remove from group, (UNTESTED).
Phone/call history/ press menu and delete call history (UNTESTED).


These Chinese originated ROMs have a Win installer in them, if you tap the CDRom icon on ur PC it will install a " partner" Win app on your PC.
Just ignore it! When you connect your Phone to PC under the ADB settings notification just tick connect as USB storage and the next time you reconnect ur phone ( depending on the ROM) it will appear as another 2 or 1 additional USB drive.
Mine is a home cooked Lenovo Vibe 2.0 ROM (S939) and Lenovo has in most of its ROM this Win app installers. But I don't use them because they are cumbersome Chinese chracters only app. I used MOBOROBO if you happen to transfer file a lot from external sdcard.


Phone stopped working, Cant turn it on, Solid red light, weird r/g/b/w stripes

The key combination you want is volume up and power. However, there's a few things to know:

do this while the phone is 100% off. If you're not sure, press and hold the power button. Some phones (like my Galaxy S4) enter a weird state once they are disconnected after getting charged while off.
do this while the phone is NOT plugged in
hold the volume up key first, and while holding it (half a second is enough), don't let go of it, just start pressing and holding the power button while still holding the volume up button. The order is important. Yes, you are holding both buttons together, but volume up needs to be pressed FIRST, otherwise the phone will only do the power button thing.


Determining type of Wifi connection in Android

If you can check Wi-Fi Link Speed It will give you an idea about the current connection.

"Maximum" link speed allowed is as follows-

Link speed 866.5Mbps - 802.11ac
Link speed 300Mbps - 802.11n
Link speed 54Mbps - 802.g
Link speed 11Mbps - 802.b

Also Link speed varies by your signal strength. So check Link speed of connected router in wifi settings, and get a idea. For example link speed shows 86.7, it is 802.11n. If your speed is greater than 130Mbps, it's 802.11n otherwise not. Some standard values for 802.11n are 150Mbps (single stream router) & 300Mbps (2 stream router).


How to see which partitions are mounted?

In the Android Terminal, you can enter the command mount to view what has been mounted.For a graphical extended view and to view if it gets mounted at boot, you can install the shareware app EzyMount.


I am using Lollipop, so to add a new blank homescreen I needed to hold and drag a program icon to the far right.. a new homescreen automatically appears.


I had a similar issue with Huawei P Smart (today on Android Oreo).  Revoking USB debug permissions enabling USB debugging and then re-attaching it with 'transfer files' option, followed by accepting the PC certificate fingerprint appeared to work - at least for the time being.


How to Set 'Play' Button Behavior on Bluetooth Remote

Normaly the developer can set which button do which action. So it is different from app to app.  The only way is, sorry, rooting and remap your headset buttons.


Is this notification that keeps coming up on my phone a virus?

No, it's not a virus. The notification is triggered by advertisements on the webpage.

Just don't click "OK" and ignore it.


What did marc.info do to my Firefox that required a restart?

It's a bug (although not for much longer). The doorhanger is simply doing its default thing, which is to use the domain of the tab it's being displayed on as a title. If this is triggered from about:addons, everything is fine because there is no domain to display, but if an extension automatically updates in background during browsing, something like the screenshot can happen.


How to tell what architecture an APK is intended for?

One (rather crude) way to see what architecture an APK's native libraries are built for is to unzip it (it's only a zip file) and take a look at the libs folder - if the application contains any native libraries, they will be split into the following subfolders inside (with the compiled libraries inside these):

armeabi: compiled code for the older ARMv5 architecture (32-bit, support for ARMv5 was removed from the Android NDK in r17)
armeabi-v7a: compiled code for the ARMv7 architecture (32-bit)
arm64-v8a: compiled code for the ARMv8 architecture (64-bit)
x86: compiled code for the x86 architecture (32-bit)
x86_64: compiled code the x86-64 architecture (64-bit)
mips: compiled code for the MIPS32r1 architecture and later (32-bit, support for MIPS was removed from the Android NDK in r17).
mips64: compiled code for the MIPS64r6 architecture (32-bit, support for MIPS64 was removed from the Android NDK in r17).

See Android Application Package for more information on an APK's structure, and the above list's source. A more complete (including MIPS64) list, along with some information about architecture-specific things, can be found on an archived version of the Android Developer ABI Management page, captured on April 18th 2016.

Interestingly enough, targeting one single ABI (where an app includes native libraries designed for one architecture) doesn't necessarily mean that the app won't run on devices that use other architectures. ARMv8-a, for example, is backwards compatible with ARM and ARMv7-a, and Intel's x86 Android devices contain a proprietary translation layer that allows ARM code to execute on x86 devices (allowing ARM-only apps to run on x86 platforms). A list of the ABIs that an Android device can execute can be found in the ro.product.cpu.abilist property, which can be attained in a shell (e.g. via a terminal app on the device, or over adb using adb shell) using the getprop command: getprop ro.product.cpu.abilist.


Core Prime G360T(5.1.1) soft brick TWRP issue

Touch is not working in the official TWRP release for Galaxy Core Prime. Current solution is to install modified TWRP for G360T1, the MetroPCS variant. Find it here. You should still be able to get into download mode again and Odin flash new TWRP.


Free Wi-Fi network: how to autoaccept (robotic click) wifi policy web page?

I don't think you looked very hard in the Play Store. I found several apps which look like they'll do what you want. (I searched on "wifi auto login".)

Wifi Browser Login "This app will automatically detect if your WiFi connection requires browser login.
It can be configured to either notify you or automatically popup a webview for you to login."
WiFi Web Login "Automatically logs you on to any WiFi hotspot, hotel WiFi, guest WiFi."
WiFi Auto Login Lite "WiFi Auto-Login automatically logs in your Android device into some of the most popular FREE WiFi hotspots, eliminating the need to deal with that annoying WiFi hotspot login page!"
...plus a bunch more. There's quite a few that have a very fine focus, such as one just for Starbucks.


Is there a service that rates app security/permissions?

There's one called Exodus Privacy which has both app (open source) and website https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/page/what/
One downside: it scans only apps available on Google Play, you can't upload apk manually.

Here's an example of it's report on one of popular browsers:
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/50316/

(Click on image to enlarge it)

I prefer to use it together with Yalp Store app (free and open source) which allows you to download apps from Play Store without google account and services and has built in support of Exodus Privacy on app's install/update page:


Finally found the answer.   I had four Google accounts - one of them could not sync because it required domain policy to be enforced, and I hadn't allowed that.   I connected the tablet to my laptop and used adb logcat to see what was being logged when the error was displayed:

I/GLSUser (28125): GLS error: DeviceManagementRequiredOrSyncDisabled <<account name redacted>> oauth2:https://www.googleapis.com/auth/personal_derived_data https://www.googleapis.com/auth/paths.notifications
V/GoogleLoginService(28125): Returning error intent with: ComponentInfo{com.google.android.gsf.login/com.google.android.gsf.login.LoginActivity}
E/Velvet.VelvetNetworkClient( 4564): Failed to get auth token

(these messages were repeated several times).

I guessed that the errant account may have been involved (even though it was not the account I was trying to active Now with), removed the account from the device and all is well.


Lineage OS 14.1 ROM can't connect to camera

Answering my own question.

My particular problem had to do with baseband and device codename, no bugs or problems with the build. For those, like me who were unaware of how this is related.

My baseband version matched the fortunave3g codename. So I should have installed that build of the of the ROM instead of fortuna3g, like I initially had. More information can be found in the device model master thread at xda-dev forums

I was unaware of the relation between the two things. But anticipating issues I had previously downloaded the three available builds (fortuna3g, fortunafz & fortunave3g). So all I needed to to was flash the appropriate build.
Everything is working fine now.

Thanks to all for the attention. Ultimately my problem was lack of awareness.


I don't particularly want to have to delete my entire message conversation with that person just to get rid of an error message; if anyone knows another way to get rid of the 'failed' I'd appreciate that too.

You don't, you just have to delete the message that is failing. Long press it, choose "Delete".

  How do I start a new conversation with someone on the same number?

How do you expect your phone to understand what messages belong in which category? The only way I see this working is if there's a function to put "all messages from now on" in a separate conversation, but that's not a feature that exists in the standard SMS application, and not in any app that I know of.

Dividing your past messages with a contact in two parts makes no sense, it would be even harder to find a message then if you can't remember what "conversation" you've put it in. Not only would you have to scroll back to see it, you would also have to pick the right category. Surely it's easier to sort the messages on a by-contact basis and just scroll.


UVC/UTV007/HTV600 driver support for Galaxy Tab S2 or Galaxy Tab E

It's been a while and I haven't seen any answers, so I'm gonna post my approach and findings. If someone has an answer, please post here and I will accept it.

So far, I couldn't find a list of devices that supports the UVC driver.

If you do have a device and wondering it would support UVC, you can download Go FPV App which will show whether you have a UVC driver or not on a given device upon launch. (You do not need to connect the UVC device to get this.)

If you're using the EasyCAP Viewer app, you do not need the driver. I can confirm it doesn't rely on the kernel driver.

If you're writing an app that requires input from a UVC adapter, this GitHub project looks promising.


Get the latest play store apk from androidpolice and install it over the system apk. Check if it works.
Alternatively, you can also try uninstalling updates of google play services and check.


Samsung Galxy S2 cracked touchscreen, need to access contacts

The S2 supports usb on the go i believe use a usb keyboard and mouse and you'll be able to use the device as normal without touchscreen functionality however dont hold me to this as wikipedia states the following

The micro USB port on this device also supports USB On-The-Go (USB OTG) standard which means the Galaxy S II can act as a 'host' device in the same way as a desktop computer in allowing external USB devices to be plugged in and used.[12] These external USB devices typically include USB flash drives and separately powered external hard drives. A video demonstration on YouTube[56] has shown the OTG function to be readily available with an ordinary micro USB (B-type) OTG adaptor. The same YouTube video goes on to mention a successful test completed on a 2 TB USB external hard drive (requiring own power source) but however reports of failure when trying to connect USB keyboards, tested USB mice and tested USB game pads. Currently the only file-system supported for USB drives within OTG is FAT32.


How do you add widgets to the lockscreen in KitKat?

You have to check "Enable widgets" in Settings > Security. Then you can swipe right on the lockscreen as usual.


Moto X 1st Gen - WiFi not working after upgrade to Android 5.1

I'm going to recommend you to try 2 things, then if all else fails contact Motorola.

Clear the system cache. Many post-update issues can be fixed with this. It clears out all of your phone's temporary files, and after a update, the cache is usually junked up with all kinds of stuff. This site does an excellent job explaining the process. For users with other devices, a quick Google of clear system cache device name OS will get you what you need.
Factory reset your device. It may seem bit extreme, but it usually gets the job done. Avoid restoring from a backup if possible as it may restore the issue as well.

If that doesn't work, Motorola has a decent customer support system, but expect to be on hold a lot. (At least less than Comcast)


What are trust agents and why should I trust "Profiles trust provider"?

I'm wondering the same thing, but found only this German discussion:
https://www.android-hilfe.de/forum/android-sicherheit-antivirus-firewalls-datenschutz-verschluesselung.910/cm13-was-ist-trusted-agents-anbieter-fuer-vertrauenswuerdige-profile.802610.html
It's pretty readable when translated.


Trouble installing stock ROM due to multiple '0' folders !HELP!

From what you describe, the most likely cause is that your flash storage no longer applies any writes – be it additions or deletions. For understanding, a simply description of what happens:

You send a file to the storage (copy/flash).
to be most responsive, the OS uses "buffers" in RAM to cache your storage, so that's where the file goes first.
You check if the file arrived, and the OS says it did (but in fact, it just saw it in the "buffer pending to be written")
Now the OS tries to "flush" the buffers (write them to "disk"), but fails
As long as the buffer "lives", you won't notice. But as soon as you write more than the buffer can hold, the oldest entries disappear. On boot, the entire buffer disappears.

So in the end, that was the reason why CM "suddenly stopped working": the storage got unusable. And this is also the reason why your device booted up into CM after you thought you've flashed another ROM: the flash was never performed.

I had this twice with SD cards, a replacement was in order then. Unfortunately, internal storage is soldered in into your device, so you cannot simply replace it: you'd have to send-in the device to have its board replaced. Unless the device is still in warranty (which I very much doubt if we speak about the 2011 "Galaxy Nexus", code-named "Maguro" here), it's probably not worth the postage costs, but you'll rather have to get yourself a replacement device – which might even be cheaper than the repair.


Storage Space running out - can't access phone at all

My wife's been getting this on her Ls740 lately. A temporary fix is to go into settings / apps and sort by size. The app using the most space will show up at the top. In her case it's the "google play services" thats going crazy and using up all available memory (currently at 2.4 gb). Click on it and select "clear all data". That fixes it for about 24 hours but then it happens again. I still have not figured out whats causing it. I have the identical phone and do not have the problem.

I did try a factory reset too but it didn't solve the problem.


Android 10 based LineageOS not rendering Indic languages

At last I was able to add support for the language[Answering for the sake of others who might face this issue]. It seems there was some issue with the font I tried earlier( though it was looking fine in PC and was known to be working in other models of mobiles ). Steps followed

Downloaded relevant ttf and otf fonts to SD card
Rebooted to TWRP
Mount->Select System & External SD->Uncheck 'Mount read-only'->Select 'Internal Storage' for mount location
Press Home( not Back ). Clieck ADvanced->Terminal
In terminal, copy the fonts to /system/fonts/ using cp command ( The copy in Advanced->File Manager also might work, but I havent tried )
Mount->UnSelect System & External SD->Uncheck 'Mount read-only'->Select 'Internal Storage' for mount location
Reboot to system
Verify if font support is available by going to Settings->Language ( or browsing to a webpage with that language )

Many thanks for the support and the initial hint that this might be a font problem @Andrew


I cant move apps like twitter over to SD card?

There are 2 possible situations here, or both:

System apps cannot be moved to SD due to being 'protected' system apps.
Apps that have widgets cannot be moved to SD as it breaks the widget and many devs will take out the option to move to SD.


For updating an  Android OS which one is better amongst the, official Update and Custom ROM update

According to Sony's official statement, Ice Cream Sandwich (a.k.a. "ICS", a.k.a. Android 4.0) is coming to Xperia Arc at end of April or beginning of March of 2012.  If you are worried about the cons of rooting (i.e. voiding warranty, possibly breaking the handset, etc.) I would suggest that you wait for the official update from Sony and/or your carrier.


Will constantly having Bluetooth on drain my battery too fast?

What drains... my special. Here some data samples, based on a Motorola Droid:

+--------------------+----------+
| Mode               | Energy   |
+--------------------+----------+
| Bluetooth receive  | 751 mW   |
| Bluetooth send     | 487 mW   |
| Bluetooth standby  |   2,8 mW |
+--------------------+----------+

So if you use BT quite regularly (e.g. to be able to immediately pick up a call with your headset), having it in standby doesn't hurt that much (Compare: 2G StandBy 11,6 mW, 3G StandBy 18,3 mW, Wifi StandBy 7,8 mW -- and, often mistaken: GPS StandBy 0,4 mW).

But if, on the other hand, you use BT once a week (or even less) -- heck, you can manually enable it then, there are enough "toggle switches" and widgets available.


Is HTC Sensation 4G based on Android 2.2 or Android 2.3 OS?

HTC Sensation comes with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread but "wearing" the HTC Sense (3.0) mod.

Sensation is also in-line for an upgrade to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0)) early in 2012.


How do I transfer my data? I am giving my phone in exchange

First of all this link should help you:
https://support.google.com/android/answer/2819582?hl=en

  There are many applications out there in Play Store. So, you can download and
  save your Apps' data. And if you want to backup your storage files
  then, simply copy the important files or all files from the internal &
  external storage directory to your PC.


Taking a screenshot in ICS without rooting

Press the Volume Down and Power buttons at the same time and hold them for a second or so (this is the vanilla behavior, at least; source).

By default on my device it will save to /sdcard/Pictures/Screenshots (or whatever your equivalent "external storage" path is, I assume).


No, it would not backup Contacts. Yes, it would backup Contacts.

Confused, eh!

  Yes, it would backup Contacts.

See this question: Backup/Restore SMS/MMS via ADB on a non-rooted device? The author of it was able to backup contacts. It was later revealed that the device on which the backup was performed ran Android 4.1.2. It was a bizarre revelation for me that the backup succeeded.

  No, it would not backup Contacts.

As per the Manifest mentioned here for default Contacts Provider app in Android versions (in series), for Jelly Bean and above Android versions the ADB backup for Contacts Provider/Storage would be denied by system, and hence your contacts wouldn't be backed up.

It's a mere flag android:allowBackup="false" that's the cause of backup denial. See my answers here and here to know more about that flag.


Is the setting OFF/ON of the security flag different from enabling/disabling of fastboot?

S-OFF is mainly found in HTC devices, and is a separate security mechanism whereas the /system directory cannot be mounted RW across boots.

It also restricts other features.

If S-OFF is enabled, fastboot can't be disabled, as fastboot would have to be enabled to turn S off. As such, fastboot would most likely be enabled, unless it was re-locked in some way (which would in turn lock S to ON).


How to manually set a roaming network (Pixel 2)

I managed to figure it out. The secret was setting the 'Preferred network type' from 'Global' to 'LTE / GSM / UMTS'. That displayed the 'Automatically select network' toggle which I disabled in order to select my desired network. See image below. Thanks for your help, beeshyams!


How can I check that my Samsung phone is original and hasn't been modified?

The simplest answer is you can't check if they have changed your hardware or not with comparing build numbers. But the easiest way if something is changed or not will come up in an app called CPU-Z it show all the software and hardware informations that the device has.
I recommend everyone to give it a try before buying a device because it helps too much. I also realized in settings it has validation option you might give it a go. It will probably ask your details to the vendor and email it back to you


Amazon Underground APK download location?

Look in /data/data/com.amazon.mShop.android/files

I had to use Fx to search my entire device to find the Amazon Video APK.


Go into Settings - Developer Options - scroll down to Input and turn off Pointer Location.  I don't have a Moto phone (instructions based on Pixel 2 XL).


Your phone should always sync contacts as long as you are using a Google Account. You can always go to Settings->Accounts->Google and check if "Contacts" is enabled to make sure that they are being synced. If you want to view them on a PC go to the Google Contacts website.


any way to edit id tag inside android phone?

I've used this app in the past to edit my tags AudioTaggerFree


Turn off cell broadcast messages in my Xolo Q500

Put your SIM in another mobile. Select the channels in Cell Broadcast in other mobile and delete all of them. If channels are not enabled, then first enable them and then delete. Put the SIM back in your Xolo Q500. Your problem will now be resolved.


Battery draining extremely quickly Galaxy S7

This has being a common problem with S6 due to update to marshmallow, I believe this should also work for your S7.

Wipe your phone cache or system partition by following the steps below;

  Go to Settings

  Storage and USB

  Cached Data

  OK. This should wipe your system partition.

Or you can also do the same thing from recovery mode by following the steps bellow:

  Turn off your Galaxy S7.
  Press and hold Power
  When ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ appears, immediately release the Power key and then press and hold the Volume Down button to access Fastboot
  Use the volume buttons to highlight Recovery and press Power to confirm.
  If you see the Android robot, press Power, then Volume up briefly to access Recovery.
  Scroll down to Wipe cache partition and hit Power to confirm.
  Scroll down to Yes and hit Power to confirm.
  Reboot

If the problem persists, you can also clear the app cache for your device and the last resort is to do a full backup and perform a factory reset. Wiping your device and restoring your apps and data is one of the simplest and best ways to avoid any weirdness battery drain and general system performance issues.


Controlling a Google TV remotely via SSH

Apps must be coded specifically to allow for installation on Google TV devices.  In 3.2 update, Google even disabled side-loading of apps, so the old trick from 2.x days to install APKs via a dropbox account won't work.

Modders from GTVhacker site managed to find an exploit in Sony units that allows for installing a custom kernel and a rooted build of 3.2.  With that build it's possible to enable side-loading of apps, and then you can install them via ADB:

adb connect 192.168.1.XXX:5555
adb install C:\path\to\apk\AppName.apk

Where "XXX" is the IP address of your GTV box/TV.

Keep in mind that the usual warnings of rooting apply, such as voiding the warranty, etc.


htc explorer not loaded after factory reset

Switch off your phone.Charge it to full.Then remove your battery and leave it untouched for about 2 - 3 hours.Then put the battery and try switching on.If this does not work try flashing stock firmware.


USB Debugging is not relevant, it doesn't come into play here, but you must be able to connect it to your computer via USB.

The first thing you have to do is unlock the bootloader, luckily the Nexus 4 does not require anything special to unlock the bootloader. From the fasboot screen, on your computer use the command:

sudo fastboot oem unlock

And follow the instructions on the screen to confirm the unlock and wipe process.

If this fixes it, your done... But to flash the latest firmware, you can go to: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images which has the images and instructions to flash the device from the bootloader (fastboot). It is literally as simple as downloading the appropriate image, expand the archive, and run ./flash-all.sh script

If you need adb and fastboot, they are available in the normal Ubuntu software repositories.

Nexus devices are wonderfully simple to work with, and are virtually unbrickable.


I've had similar (less severe) issues in cm-x86 14.1 and this is how I solved it:

Wait for the glitches to start.
Press ALT+right arrow to go to the terminal.
Press ALT+right arrow again to go back the the Android GUI.

After that, Android should look normal.


Quick charge adapter on not supported devices

Is it safe to use it with my old phones?

It is safe. See what happens if you plug a non QC 2.0 device into a QC 2.0 charger?

  And what would happen if I use that adapter with devices supporting fast charging technologies from other companies.

They all are proprietary technologies which vary in terms of what is changed to charge fast - Voltage, Current or both, apart from other factors. Details obviously are not in public domain. Therefore, they are not guaranteed to work on devices using other technologies, so one cannot predict whether it works or not.

OEM's don't recommend such practices. YMMV


That depends on your Android version, but only changes a little. Wherever it is, you need root-access to retrieve it.

For Android 6 and under:

/data/system/users/0/lock_wallpaper

While primary (mainscreen) wallpaper is available at /data/system/users/0/wallpaper.

For Android 7+, the file name has changed to wallpaper_lock and is still available at the same place. You may want to fetch wallpaper_lock_orig instead, however.


On my Droid 2 it's under Settings > Call Settings > Caller ID Readout...then you can set Ring Only, Caller ID then Ring, or Caller ID Repeat.  I realize you have a different phone, but I hope this helps.


How can I hide the on-screen buttons but keep the status bar

I found the answer here - it's a matter of adding

qemu.hw.mainkeys=1

to /system/build.prop (root required).


apps fail to access orientation & magnetic sensors

Indeed, as @AndrewT suggested, the device does not seem to have the extra sensors, physically.


A quick Google search returned ToMarket . It looks like its original purpose and design is for Groceries but you can use it for any type of item. The description says it supports bar codes and lets you put items with prices and quantity in the cart and gives you a final total. Sounds like exactly what your looking for based on the question. It looks like a nice app, I'm downloading it now for myself.

EDIT: This app is actually pretty cool, it has some default items when you first open it but if you go over to the "need" tab it is blank. When you add an item it gives quite a few details you can add to it, including whether or not it is taxable. I also noticed there is a feature to export your lists or to share it with others via SMS or email.


Can I connect a pendrive to samsung galaxy core?

USB-OTG is seemingly not supported according to the specs over at Gsmarena's Galaxy Core page.

In contrast, see the SGS4, which offers USB on-the-go.


SMS messages from one contact displayed as "null"

Related to : SMS messages just have "null"
Try this,

delete their contact

then

Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Select the Messaging App
Choose 'Clear Data' and also 'Clear Cache'.

N.B. you will lose all data / txt msg's in your phone
(don't forget to write their number down to save as new afterwards!)


Charging the device to 80-90% is good and always put in one long charge cycle like from 5-10% to 80-90% rather then multiple small charge cycles


Yes, that is the actual SDK, which is the source code, so definitely install it if you are targetting that API level. About Google API, depends on the use case. If you are going to talk to the internet or use Play Services you will need them for sure


Is it possible to lock the bootloader without losing data?

On Nexus 6P the bootloader relocking method is contains the Factory Reset, there is nothing to do.

If you are trying to relock your device you should see a screen like this: image.

If you want to keep your files and data you should make a backup and when your device bootloader agian locked you restore it.

This is a normal behaviour but for example on OP2 there is a method to keep your data in save during the bootload relocking procedure.


Head over to http://get.cm/?device=n7000 and note the MD5sum of the download (take care that build name / date match, of course).

You can then check it on your phone against what was downloaded using FileSums together with any File Explorer app (filesums acts as possible target for the "send to" share button when you long press the .zip file). Open the file explorer, navigate to

/storage/emulated/legacy/cmupdater/

and then long press the file you want to calculate the MD5sum to "send  it to" filesums.

Or you can download it from your phone using your computer (via MTP or a SD card reader in case your phone has a removable one). Then check the file's MD5sum locally using the commandline tool md5sum (on Linux) or any Windows MD5sum utility (looks like http://www.md5summer.org has a decent one, or just google it).


How to switch keyboard layout for external keyboard

There is hope.

I coded a proof-of-concept app that does exactly this (and using it as my everyday keyboard).

Starting from cupcake, the system has a InputMethodService that allows to override keypresses on the fly. This allows applications to change keycodes on the fly without requiring root.

The source-code is available here (for the most curious only)


Why are "word suggestions" of keyboards not shown in some apps?

Most likely the app has chosen not to show them for that particular input box. From a technical perspective, this is controlled by flags on the TextView object that represents the text area control (e.g. the TYPE_TEXT_FLAG_NO_SUGGESTIONS option). I don't believe there is any way to override this setting if the app chooses to disable it.

It's probably also important to note that it's a bit of a one-way street. Suggestions are enabled by default on all text areas, but will obey the global setting, so an app can't forcibly enable suggestions in any way. If you have the global setting turned off, they're off everywhere.

The logic that the developer documentation provides for allowing apps to forcibly disable suggestions is that in some cases they simply aren't very useful. The specific relevant quote would be (from the above link):

  ... This is useful for text views that do not contain words from the language and do not benefit from any dictionary-based completions or corrections ...

I'd wager the Market disables them because app names and such have no obligation to be dictionary words, so suggestion attempts would often prove rather futile. I would also understand the same being true of your second example, which sounds like a source code editor (I assume that's what you mean by "syntax highlighting"). It would be sort of akin to Visual Studio underlining misspelt words in source code - it provides no benefit since most of the text will not be dictionary words.


How do I get quick access to common text snippets?

I would put it into the keyboard's user dictionary.

There are a few clipboard/snippet manager application, you might be interested if you need to store longer texts:

Clipper
Text Snippet Lite IME


Phone stops using 3G when Wifi hotspot nearby

If you didn't explicitly configure your device to automatically use "open" and unprotected networks, it will only connect to those you explicitly tell it to -- so you needn't worry about this.

As for your "3g turning off" issue: That's very strange. Something in your device still seems to think that, as soon as some Wifi is near, you're going to use that. Probably you can avoid this by turning Wifi off. You needn't do that manually everytime (you might forget, and you might be annoyed when it's not on when you need it) -- but rather let Smart WiFi manage this for you. This app remembers Wifi networks you connected to. When you get disconnected, it will switch Wifi off. As soon as it detects you get close to it (it remembered the cell towers near, so this is it detects the area where you've been connected to some Wifi), it switches Wifi back on.

It just could get weird with "mobile Hotspots", if you connect to another Android device's Hotspot functionality in the middle of a desert, it would always turn Wifi on at that place, even if nothing's around. Oh, well: No cell towers close? So this won't happen :)


want to replace cwm recovery with twrp on lenovo k3 note

I have flashed CWM to TWRP by using a App called "Rashr". You should make your K3-Note root condition because Rashr needed root permission and put your unzipped TWRP image file into SD card open Rashr flash recovery image directly! It is a easy way to change recovery from CWM to TWRP.


LG Lucid doesn't recognize SD card as extra memory when dealing with photos

There are multiple things you need to adjust -- let's step through them one by one:
Camera
Unfortunately not on all devices / Android versions, but some camera apps let the user configure where to store the photos (phone memory or sd). Check if your camera app supports this. If so, set it to sd (or "external" -- all but phone ;). If not, you might want to check the playstore for alternative camera apps offering this feature. Videos, photos, and music files are most likely the largest files on your device -- so keeping those away from your precious internal storage will reduce the possibility / frequency dropping into this problem.
Make room
As you said you get the "Memory low" or "Insufficient storage" errors, free space on your internal device memory (phone memory) most likely dropped below 25 MB. So as advised by that popup, you should make room. I'm not going into details on this, as this is already explained here multiple times. Check e.g. the following questions:

What can I do to manage my phone's internal storage?
How can I free up more space on my Android phone?
How can I deal with “Low on Space” messages?

Additionally, check out the list of most frequent questions tagged "internal-storage", which will list you even more useful questions (with answers, of course).
Screenshots
Once you've sorted out above two things, this problem has solved magically as a side-effect :)


I get SMS notifications but the new text message is not shown

Ensure that your time/date settings are correct. This may cause the Google Play suite of applications to misbehave as well.


Decrypting Encrypted Micro SD Card without phone

I don't think the purpose is to allow any decryption of the SD card without using the phone were it was encrypted. Or you could just add specific files to the cloud so that you don't have to worry about retrievable situations, in most cases people tend to use the cloud for photos and video, especially with the space it gobbles up, having 16gb 60gb worth of files on an SD card is pretty risky vs storing it in the cloud, but to answer your question you need to find it the encryption specifically serves the purpose of preventing the decryption unless the content is being decrypted from that parochial device


Apparently it's an application issue:

  The SMS packet itself that is sent from the SMSC to your phone, has a
  field called SCTS, Service Center Time Stamp, which indicates the time
  that the message was received by the SMSC.

  Unfortunately, the SMS application on Android seems to ignore this
  timestamp and instead uses and stores the current system time (in ms
  since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC).


Adjust volume with Android Terminal Emulator command?

Use the following commands to change the volume from Android Terminal emulator (or other terminal emulator apps):

Volume Up:

input keyevent 24

Volume Down:

input keyevent 25

In case pressing the volume key once shows the current volume, you can input the command twice to increase/decrease the volume

input keyevent 25; input keyevent 25

Toggle Mute/Unmute

input keyevent 164


Change main Google account login address

If you aren't rooted, you've to do factory data reset to change your primary Gmail acccount. (Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.)

If you are rooted then you can use a file manager program to rename  /data/system/accounts.db file and restart the phone.

You can find the detail steps with illustration here.


Crash report: Enter key makes newline. How to send input?

Ah, found it at last:
Turns out the "send" button is the hardly visible white triangle in the top right...


Pattern unlock required when starting phone

Simply put...

  Android Oreo - 8.0 uses Forced Encryption

The data is now encrypted for safer usage on Android, older devices had the option to encrypt in security settings.

Nowadays it is a requirement of Android to safely protect your data.

Why is so important ?
Encryption helps to stop personal information theft fron even the most persistent malware and spyware.

If the device was compromised at a kernal level, your sensitive information could be leaked via USB prior to the device ever being started...

Due to significant amounts of custom ROMs with vulnerable kernals and custom recovery programs, most information can be extracted using the recovery program or othe means like pre-boot software and even CPU EMMC Storage access using USB Cables ..

SP Flash Tool's Read Back function is a great example of an extraction method that can access your unencrypted private information without ever needing to even have a battery in the device...

Once the unencrypted DATA partition is extracted your information like the Passcode used for Unlocking can be easily extracted...

Using the annoyiy Double Unlock method seems more of a burden than anything i agree, however it is a much needed level of protection.

Encryption will not help with Online security as some people think, because Android uses the first Unlock screen to Unencrypt the Data partition.. The fact is you still run on an Unencrypted device, however the Data partition is encrypted Prior to Boot.. .

I hope that clears everything up...


Also to see which apps are using location services go to Settings > Location. There you'll be able to see the "Recent location requests" under which the apps that requested location information is displayed. One of the app listed under this section should have turned on the GPS automatically to know the location info.

Whenever you see that the GPS is active (the GPS icon is shown in the notification bar, or Settings > Battery shows that the GPS is active), click on Settings > Apps > Running to see which apps are running. One of them is the culprit. So disabling or uninstalling the relevant app you think is causing this would solve your issue.

Note: The above settings are available on Android Kitkat and higher versions.

Also read this questions for more clarifications,

How can I find out what app is using my GPS from the background?

How to check which app uses GPS on Galaxy Nexus?


Why is my Samsung Galaxy phone automatically moving read Yahoo email to the spam folder?

This is another post that I found on this.  Basically the Samsung phone has it's own spam settings.  http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/moves-email-junk-folder/ describes this, and then explains:

  The solution:

  Go into the E-Mail app (on the phone)
  Press the Menu Key, select Settings, then General Settings
  Select Spam addresses and remove any addresses that should not be in there, such as your corporate domain.


How to have the OS launch applications at startup time?

It really would be nice to have some startup manager shipping with the system, which lets the user decide what to start and what not. But that's not the case, it works a bit different:

Apps with the "run at startup" permission can register a "listener" for the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast – which the system always issues on that event. This way they get notified of that event, and can decide to perform some action. That could be starting some background service which keeps running – but they could also do something little and then exit again.

IMHO Skype has an option to automatically log you in after boot, so you're available for incoming calls. AFAIR that's even the default behavior of the app. If there's no background service running for that, it might register for some cloud messaging then – which again would "wake it up" to deal with incoming calls. That way the app had no need to permanently run in background. Indeed the app also declares the com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE permission (C2DM stands for "Cloud 2 Device Messaging", which now is GCM = Google Cloud Messaging), so this could be the explanation.

UPDATE:

Andrew T. confirmed this in the comments:

  I finally checked the Android manifest of Skype by opening its APK file (base.apk), and indeed there is com.skype.android.push.DeviceBootReceiver with intent filter android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED. I didn't investigate what it's doing though. Also, I forgot that broadcast receiver is not listed under running process as John mentioned (I can confirm this being a developer). So, you're correct on your guess :)


Keep contacts local (not google account related already disabled) from other accounts on phone ie hotmail

MyLocalAccount adds an entirely local account to your account-list. Within the dialogue for creating a new contact, you can choose the contact to be created into that account.


How do I get Android-x86 (32-bit or 64-bit) non-UEFI to boot in VirtualBox?

When you try to install Android x86 on pc HDD, try to provide a boot partition through Create/modify partition and make it bootable. Followed by that create a new partition as Linux. write both the partition and after that install the android x86 on the linux partition (formatting as ext4).

It will work, after allocating a bootable partition. I tried and it worked.


"Restarting adb... Installation aborted." without any further details after abd sideload

OTA update packages must be signed with one of the keys expected by the system or the installation process will reject them.
You cannot just apply a zip to a stock ROM using the stock recovery, even if it is signed. It must be signed with the key used when building the ROM/recovery, which is only available to the device maker. If you want to apply an update you need to have a custom recovery at the very least which should allow you to bypass the signature verification.

Release keys
The Android tree includes test-keys under
build/target/product/security. Building an Android OS image using make
will sign all .apk files using the test-keys. Since the test-keys are
publicly known, anybody can sign their own .apk files with the same
keys, which may allow them to replace or hijack system apps built into
your OS image. For this reason it is critical to sign any publicly
released or deployed Android OS image with a special set of
release-keys that only you have access to.
Signatures and sideloading
Before installing a package, recovery will verify that it is signed with one of the private keys matching the public keys stored in the recovery partition, just as it would for a package delivered over-the-air.


Issues like this this are often corrected by returning to a "known good configuration" before processing additional changes.

I would suggest returning to the current official Google firmware via fastboot, then verify the device is booting and operating properly, then you can flash custom recovery and install a third party ROM such as CyanogenMod.

Instructions and factory images with flashing scripts are available directly from Google at their Factory Images for Nexus Devices page.


It seems like no one else has had this problem I tinkered for several hours... AND I fixed it. The action that fixed this bug was removing the Hotmail (Which is actually called Outlook online now) account and adding it again.


Since you have no access to the UI, the option would be using the adb shell.

Note: the adb shell will Only work if USB debugging was Previously enabled!

Connect your device with the USB cable. (install drivers if needed)
Use a terminal (or cmd if in windows) Change to your adb location directory. Run the following to do a recovery wipe:

adb shell
> recovery --wipe_data


Is there a way to show Office 365 group calendars in the play calendar app?

Ok, for now the answer seems to be "No". I had a chat with the support from Microsoft and found some forum post on their sites. The Outlook App cannot show group calendar entries. To make those visible in your personal calendar (resp. create an entry) you have to accept the meeting invite which does not make any sense e.g. for a team holiday calendar.

The new Groups App from Microsoft in turn does not provide a comprehensive calendar view for all the groups you're a member off. Instead you have to check each group in turn. Also the app does not come with a widget.

Stands to say that there is a feature request to provide a groups calendar overview for about a year...