Is it safe to manually "clear cache" of apps on Android?

Clearing cache of apps is one of the to-do things if your app is laggy, unresponsive or misbehaving.

It's absolutely safe, unlike clearing data of apps which makes you lose all the app data, accounts, settings etc.

For 1,4 a definite yes. For 2, 3 it is no. Re: safety being app dependent, it is possible that the cache is used for storing data and in the process of clearing cache, one may lose data. This is not a recommended way of app development, also mentioned in developer documentation
and more of an exception, owing to bad practices.

Android framework shows a "Storage Low" notification when the free storage space reaches a minimum threshold. But even before that when free space is 1.5 times (as of Android 10) of the threshold, apps cache is cleared to free space as much as possible before warning the user. Since Android 8 apps are allotted filesystem quota to store cache files within given limits. Apps reaching or exceeding quotas are given priority when clearing caches.

For more, see

What is the purpose of the cache?
Android App Cache Security

You don't want to install third party apps but I would recommend even making it a scheduled operation (in case you frequently need to) for which I find SD Maid an excellent option (even the free version would do and I am not promoting this app, I am only recommending based on personal experience).


Xposed goes into bootloop -Can I still make Xposed work somehow? (Device Pipo X8)

I managed to get Xposed Framework 2.6.1 working on Pipo X8. I have described the steps necessary in my reply #15 on XDA forum. Please have a look:
Xposed for Pipo X8 -infinite bootloop


Do you want to void your warranty? If not, contact the Karbonn Customer Care and ask for the Official Flash Tool and a copy of the Stock ROM. Reboot your phone in recovery mode and reinstall the android using that tool.


Why is my device not utilizing all of its available RAM?

Although your device may have 512 MB of RAM in it, the settings almost always report the RAM that is available to user processes, not all of the physical RAM. This means that it won't report any memory that is being used by:

Android's system-level processes
Your GPU, which often uses shared memory
Any memory a cellular radio chip may need to function (irrelevant in your case)

Although this memory is not reported, it is being used by the system. Reporting it in a system monitor is simply not very relevant because the OS is going to basically keep it for itself forever (after all, the OS needs RAM to run properly, too). There is really no way that you can get this RAM "back" from the system, but you wouldn't want to anyway since your phone would basically stop functioning without it.


News features from 2.2 to 2.3 version of Android

The top half of the Android 2.3 Platform Highlights page has a summary of the user-facing changes and new features in Gingerbread.


You need root. If you have root, you can use Link2sd app, which switch internal and external storage.


Want my Bluetooth keyboard on Galaxy Tab10.1 to default to English Android Keyboard (Not to Samsung Japanese Keypad)

Check your system settings under Language and input methods and check what keyboard is currently selected. It might be the reason why you're getting a different input method by default.


Why can't my contacts see photos I send via SMS?

Images are not actually sent via SMS, but instead use the MMS protocol. For this to work, you must have your MMS access point configured properly (this usually happens automatically):

Check with your contractors website for their MMS access point details. If they are not listed on their website, contact them.
Go to Settings -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names (or APNs on some devices) and add a

ProviderName MMS

where ProviderName is the name of your provider, e.g. Verizon.

Set all the values to what you got from Step 1. Some values might be missing, you can probably safely ignore them.


Is it possible to have a phone without a voice plan?

Since the cell network was originally built for voice, the cell companies kind of have a focus on voice. While this might be technologically possible, I can't imagine how you'd convince a cell phone company to sell you a data-only plan for a device that supports voice. I'm not sure it makes business sense for them to do so - after all, why not rip you for at least a little voice, along with the data. If you don't use it much, then so much the better because they save on capacity.


Undo or reverse YouTube update on my Samsung Galaxy S4

If it's a system app, you should be able to uninstall updates by long pressing the icon, dragging it to "App Info", tapping the overflow menu at the top right, and tap the "uninstall updates option"

Next, go to settings>security>unknown sources and check the box.

Finally, go to APK Mirror, search for YouTube, and download the 2nd most recent apk (choose ARM Varient) and open it.

Enjoy the older YouTube version.


Here are some of the few things you could try if you haven't already tried them out:

Changing the value of global tether_dun_required

Firstly you need to setup adb (or refer to Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot Tool & Setup guide) or install android SDK
Make sure you have installed USB and ADB drivers;
activate  USB Debug mode in developer settings and connect your device  to your pc with USB cable.
Open command prompt/terminal and enter the following: adb shell settings put global tether_dun_required 0. You need to set this value to 0 (= don't notify tethering to provider) after this, reboot your device.

Note:

  Some reddit users have indicated that having "APN TYPE= (EMPTY)" was
  necessary for it to work in network settings.

Disabling the Enhanced LTE services

Other users have also observed that this setting was screws up with with hotspot, so disabling it is another probable workaround;
Go to Settings → Networks → More and disable the Enhanced LTE services.

Acknowledgements

Tethering Hotspot on an unlocked At&t phone on T-mobile


How to resolve boot loop problem on android PumpKinx 10.1" tablet

I Believe you are using some non branded (fake or Chinese) device and unfortunately the device don't get updated officially. But you can do a couple of things with it first restore and enjoy the previous version, or contact the manufacturers of the device they will send you, your desired ROM, it will take a couple of working days. I had this issue back in the day, all I did to restore it and hard reset. After two days I got an email, but they wanted me to pay for sending me the new ROM.
visit this link you will understand more. http://androidmtk.com/flash-stock-rom-using-smart-phone-flash-tool


Why do certain non-Latin characters show up as empty boxes, and how can I fix them?

Looks like your standard charset problem.  The file's in UTF-16 and the app only supports UTF-8, or you don't have the font for the "weird" characters, etc.  More than likely there is nothing you can do; Android internationalization support is pretty bad and most apps don't even try.


I have successfully disabled Ambient mode.

... by turning on Google Assistant and then turning off all the options (including Ambient mode).

The Google Assistant options can be reached (on my phone at least) by traversing: Settings | Google | Account Services | Search, Assistant & Voice | Google Assistant | Assistant (tab) | Assistant Devices | {choose your device}.

I'd like to see Assistant off -> Ambient off, but for now it's a solution...


Unable to unlock/turn on Nexus 4 : Lollipop 5.0.1

I have experienced many problems with Android 5 on both my Nexus 4 and my wife's exactly identical Nexus 4. Strangely enough, both phones experienced slightly different problems. The main issue with my own phone was WiFi - it simply did not work except for a few hour period after rebooting.

I have not experienced this issue since switching to Cyanogenmod using the instructions from their Wiki:

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_mako

My wife's phone has experienced the same exact problem as you. Sometimes it won't show anything on the screen, won't wake up. After rebooting everything is fine. This occurs even when plugged in and fully 100% recharged.

So my solution is to get away from Android 5 Lollipop. I don't know how to downgrade to an older version of Android, but moving to Cyanogenmod has fixed my own phone and I will be switching my wife over probably this evening.


My launcher got deleted. I can't turn debugging on neither can I turn on the bluetooth. What to do?

Hope your device is connected to your google account. if so you can install you can install third-party launcher from play store from any system you have access to. just login on web using same google account and it will display your device when you try to install an app from play store. you may additionally like to install something like quick setting.


Internal and External SD card paths on Optimus 2X

This is a small bug in cyanogenmod. You can mount /emmc to /sdcard/external_sd by folowing command:

 su
 mount -o bind /mnt/emmc /sdcard/external_sd

You need to install a terminal emulator (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator) in your mobile for excuting command. It's 100% working.


The short answer is no.

And the long answer is nooooooooooo.

But in a more serious tone, really, the answer is no. A factory reset resets the device to its factory state, as in before you owned the device and it still had that factory fresh smell. Unless you made backups of your files and applications, you will need to re-download/reacquire your information manually.


That is because this is a stock android feature. To accomplish the result you want you'll need some kind of third party software i geuss. There are lots available in the play store.


Connecting android phone to a local web server

Of course it would work without the convoluted process you described. What makes you think Android phones aren't capable of a simple DNS lookup?

If your product sets a hostname in its initial DHCP request, most consumer routers will serve it out to other clients over DNS, including Android phones. The process you described should only be used as a fallback mechanism when the user's router isn't configured that way.


How do you pair a Device for Wireless Debugging with a QR Code?

As of December 2020, the feature seems to be currently only available for Android 11 with Android Studio Canary on macOS.

While the revamped wireless debugging has been known since

the source code commits in October 2019 by XDA

On the user-side, Google plans to add a new “wireless debugging” switch in Developer Options that supports pairing devices by scanning a QR code or entering a 6 digit code.

the release of Android 11 DP2 in March 2020, as reported by 9 to 5 Google and Android Police

it was first introduced officially on Android 11: Developer Preview 3 in April 2020.

Wireless Debugging - In Android 11, we’ve completely revamped the debugging experience using ADB over a Wi-Fi connection. With limited USB ports on laptops, and a myriad of USB cables & connections to manage, the Wireless Debugging feature in Android 11 can help you be more productive. Unlike the existing TCP/IP debugging workflow, Wireless Debugging on Android 11 does not need a cable to set up, remembers connections over time, and can utilize the full speed of the latest Wi-Fi standards. In DP3, use the pairing code workflow to get started with this developer feature. We plan to add an integrated experience for Wireless Debugging with QR code scanning in a future Android Studio release, but we want to get your early feedback on the command line tool offered in Android 11 DP3. For details, see the documentation.
(Emphasis added, link fixed)

However, it was not until December 2020 that the new Android Studio Canary version, Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) shown the pairing interface for the first time.

Lastly, for those running MacOS (other platforms are coming soon) with the latest Android Platform tools and an Android 11 device, you can try out the IDE integration for the Wireless ADB feature by going to the Run device selection dialogue → Pair Devices Using Wi-Fi.

Menu to access Wireless ADB feature

Wireless ADB Setup Window

Note that this feature is still under development, and it is still unknown if it is possible to emulate the process for general usage since it is directly linked to ADB.


You can download the factory image from here. Open the file and extract the recovery.img file. Then connect the device to the computer with USB debugging turned on. Then open terminal/command prompt and navigate to where adb/fastboot is stored, then run

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

As far as unrooting, the easiest option would to be, download SuperSu from the play store, which can be found here. Then in the settings for SuperSu, you will see Full Unroot. That will remove root for you.
As far link2sd card. From the FAQ. It says the apps will still work. http://www.link2sd.info/faq

Q.What happens to my linked apps if I uninstall the Link2SD app?
Will my linked apps will be automatically uninstalled or moved back to phone memory? And then if I install it back will they stay there?
Nothing happens. All linked apps remain intact and can be run even if you uninstall the Link2SD.
And if you install Link2SD back, you can see that they are there as linked.


Does my HTC Wildfire S data cable work with a Samsung Galaxy S2?

The Wildfire S uses a microUSB cable, same as the Galaxy SII, it should work fine


How can I hide the night time hours in Samsung's "S planner" calendar?

I worked it out - you just double tap in the area where the unused hours are and the view automatically adjusts!

(Click an image to enlarge it)

 →


Does installing and re-installing my own app affect my app's rating/ranking?

As far as I know, this should in no affect your app's rating. This is something I do myself constantly with testing of my own apps.

The only thing that will ultimately affect your rating are the number of stars your users give you. Yes, you can rate your own app, but you can only do it once. Uninstalling/re-installing shouldn't change your own rating to your own app either.


Definitely not normal. It could be that you need to re calibrate/replace your battery. This is the ultimate solution if nothing else you try works. Otherwise I would suggest either trying different versions of Android, or switching over to a custom ROM and see if that helps.


How to convert a .odex file to a dex file

Might be better to use the all in one tool that could help you published courtesy of Sony Ericsson and its open source.

To quote from their wiki page:

  Support odex applications and libraries

Use this for the right reason, not for the wrong reason (such as rampant piracy etc, and in no way am I implying anything)

In fact this saved my bacon at one stage when I could not remember whether I bundled a jpeg in a apk that I built and had to go through that tool to confirm my "blonde moment"

Edit: Another thing I noticed - you're missing a switch, for example, this was pulled from here (Credit to the Madteam forum):

  java -jar baksmali.jar -d C:\framework -x TouchWiz30Launcher.odex

You need the framework-res.apk (this can be found in /system/framework on the handset) in place hence the -d directory


Go find and download the stock ROM for your phone and try to extract build.prop from it. Then place it in the correct directory and change its owner and permission.

Factory images for Nexus (and Pixel) phones are always available from Google.

Also there's a similar issue from another website. You can download the ROm but only flash system so that the system partition will be restored. You may have to root again if you're not using a systemless root.


Chirping sound when USB is connected or disconnected

It seems that the chirping is activated by the setting "Charging Sounds / Enable", and plugging/unplugging the USB cable activates/deactivates charging through the cable. Disabling that setting turns off the chirping.

So apparently the chirping has nothing to do with the SD card.The chirping sound itself seems be hardwired and not able to be changed, although it might just be that no one here has discovered the way to change it. To confuse matters further, if I turn on the charging sounds and plug in a pure USB power cable (the kind that connects to a wall socket via a transformer), there's no sound.


Problem solved with Hangouts version 2.1.223.
In "settings" we now have an option do "unhide" contacts.
Thanks Google.


It's a little more subtle than that. The Storage permission does NOT give the app the ability to read and write everything on the device. It gives the app the ability to read and write things like SDCards and USB devices. It does NOT give the app the ability to read and write everything on the device's main storage (where apps put their databases by default).

The reason it doesn't restrict to the app's own files is that external storage is generally formatted with the FAT filesystem, which doesn't have any concept of file or directory level permissions. There's simply no way for Android to enforce the restriction of files. Further, since such storage is often removeable, even if the filesystem supported permissions, there would be nothing stopping you from taking the media out and using another computer to change said permissions.


Check out Volume Control +. This app lets you control the volume for the following: Media, Ring, Notifications, In-call, alarm, system. Each sound profile (e.g. Silent, Vibrate, General) can be configured.


Since you didn't provide infos about the platform, I assume its the Mediatek version.

To flash this phone you'll need SP Flashtool and ROM file with scatter. You'll also need USB drivers which make it possible for your device to communicate with the computer. The phone needs to be connected in Preloader mode.

Downloaded SP Flashtool
Download MTK USB drivers
Download the Firmware


Do all microSD slots support the current maximum capacity in the market, or is it device-specific?

That will most likely depend on the device, a generic answer valid for all of them cannot be given. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S2 specs give 32 GB as max, still some user was able to get a 64 GB card working (see: 64gb SDXC Cards in Galaxy S2). For some older devices, the 32 GB limit might be a fact, while again others might just have specified it to be "on the safe site".

TL;DR: Yes, it's device dependant, some devices have their limits.


How can I save / get to Walmart's e-receipts from their Walmart app? Where are the files stored?

Not sure which version this is supported on, but on mine, there is a share button at the top of the receipt, so you can share with email and the jpeg will be attached. Note, this is on the itemized view, not the receipt image view.


How to move app's data to PC? I cannot find it

I'll give you a good list of things to take care about if you want to free some space. But before that. You need to be aware of this:

System the phone is running claims storage too up to 2.7GB for big ROMs at /system
Dalvik-Cache which the Dalvik Virtual Machine uses to prepare system applications classes files claim your internal storage at /data/dalvik-cache

These two will take up to 4GB maximum by default. That's why, for example, on a 16GB phone you might only access 12GB as the user end memory.

Back to creating space on a hogged device, things to note:

Photo Thumbnails hidden data at /sdcard/.thumbnails or /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails You need to enable viewing of hidden files to see this. It contains previews of photos as loaded by gallery app
Package installers .apk files systemwide. They can be shared ones or downloaded ones except the ones downloaded by Google Play since it deletes the installers immediately after successful install. Search for .apk and delete the packages that you already have installed
Temporary application files like Es File Explorer's recycle content at /sdcard/.estrongs and uninstalled vault applications like Gallery Lock apps which dump data at /sdcard/data or any other folder
Application updates also can use a lot of space if you regularly update them. Uninstall the updates of apps you don't like using a lot or which updates don't make any significance for you. You can disable automatic updates at Play Store
Some phones don't delete application data after app uninstall. Take care of files at /sdcard/data and /sdcard/obb delete the folders of package names that you currently don't have installed apps for them on the device from the folders
Social messenger folders like sdcard/WhatsApp and /sdcard/pictures/Telegram etc also need to be taken note of

Those are the basic things that hog space on your device. Advanced issues for root users include:

activity logging files at sdcard like MTK logs
dalvik cache of deleted system apps or renamed system apks
application data of directly over installed apps at data

I think after addressing all these. Things will be a bit better for you


Both of these worked for me:

Option1: grep AT command for cell info

$> adb logcat -b radio | grep ": +CREG:"
D/AT      (  873): +CREG: 2,1,"2444","0FA2A694",6
D/AT      (  873): +CREG: 2,1,"2444","0FA2A694",6
D/AT      (  873): +CREG: 2,1,"2444","0FA2A694",6

[1] phone is registered with the network
[2444] hex : Location Area Code (LAC)
[0FA2A694] hex : Cell Id (cid).

Option 2 : you can grep "cid" from logact -b radio you should get it this. note it is decimal this time.

$> adb logcat -b radio | grep "cid"
D/use-Rlog/RLOG-RIL( 9193): cid: 262317716
D/use-Rlog/RLOG-RIL( 9193): cid: 262317716
D/use-Rlog/RLOG-RIL( 9193): cid: 262317716

Option1 is my personal preference. hope that helps.


How to set custom ringtone for contacts group in Lollipop contact app

I don't think it is possible in stock Android to set a specific ringtone for an entire Circle. You can however, edit a specific contact and in the edit menu you can set a custom Ringtone.

If this is not what you want then you can send Google Feedback any time.


It's a issue with TWRP and the ROM you are using. TWRP is able to decrypt till Android 8.0 but if you're using a ROM above it you'll get this error and after flashing your data partition to ext4 it will let you use that space till ROM boot up and encrypt again. There isn't a solution yet. TWRP releases updated version 3.2.3_1 for few devices only which has this bug fixes.


Does Android support the EXT (filesystem) for removable storage cards?

Yes it does support ext4 from what I gather from other sites and I am doing it right now on my own card.


Call Actions & Reminders does offer this, amongst many other things:

  1-click actions after a call:

  Copy the call details in the system clipboard
  Call back
  Send an SMS
  View the contact or add a new number to the contacts list
  Send an email. In case the contact has an email, the application will use it
  Share the contact details with its VCard if available. Id set the application can only share the details as plain text.
  Make a Google search of the phone number, which may be helpful to research unknown numbers
  Create a reminder associated to the contact or phone number: [...]

Screenshot during an ongoing call (click image for larger variant)

More details can be found behind above link :)


Download maps offline with Google Maps v8

Open the google-maps application.

Select an area you want to save the map for. Once the red pin appears you will have the street name at the bottom of the screen and the 'route' icon.

Swipe this white box upwards.

One of the options is Save map to use offline


VNC android app which takes native control of touch as a mouse

VNC Viewer from RealVNC is a bit pricey ($9.99) but probably has the best keyboard/mouse support of any VNC app on Android.


Broken, unresponsive screen: how to recover data on this otherwise working phone?

I would try plugging the phone into your computer with a USB cable and copying all the files you can to your computer.  Then transfer the files to your new phone.


Disable info popups on YouTube app ("ⓘ")

If you insist on using the official YouTube app, I'm unaware of any way to do what you want.

Your options

The best workaround is to use a different app to watch YouTube.

Lately, I've been using m.youtube.com inside Google Chrome. In my experience, m.youtube.com is unable to display info popups. (It's also unable to display end cards.) Alternatively, you can use:

another web browser, such as Firefox for Android; or
any of the numerous dedicated third-party YouTube clients available in the Google Play store.

Bonus tip

Firefox for Android lets you install extensions, such as uBlock Origin.  If you do install uBlock Origin, know that it includes an 'element picker' feature.  This feature lets you hide selected parts of your favorite websites.  For example, you can use it to hide all recommendations, or all comments, on the YouTube website.


Can the lock screen in CM12 be set to show the keypad immediately on turning the screen on, instead of having to slide the padlock icon?

In CM11 this happens when you tick the "maximize widgets" option in Lockscreen settings. Might be similar in CM12.


How do I Disable Android Device Manager on Sold Device?

An answer that works... Give him your email and password to unlock the device. Once they are in and working, change your password.

Yes, it has potential risks, but 99.99% of the time this would work out just fine.


Is it possible to flash an app via custom recovery? If it is, will it become a system app?

Yes, it is definitely possible and has been done many times. The method to do so is explained in this article.
Briefly, the main steps from the provided link are following:

Download any similar zip template
Extract it; there will be 2 folders - META-INF & system
Make a folder with the name app inside the system folder
Paste your APK files in the app folder
Zip META-INF & system into a file
Flash it


What does a streaming application do when I switch from mobile data to wifi?

Usually recent versions of Android Handles these network switching automatically. When you are connected to WIFI, Your content would be streamed via WIFI connection .You can confirm this The mobile network symbol - H/H+/E/4g would not be available in the status bar of the mobile.

Usually, Android manages WIFI and Mobile network automatically, I.e., when both WIFI and Mobile Internet is enabled and If WIFI is avaialble, Mobile internet is not used. When  u leave the WIFI network, you would get connected via Mobile data. Hope this helps :)


Galaxy Tab P1000 shows a phone  PC symbol and is not responding after flashing

The best you can do is power off the device completely, but do nothing for now, head over to samfirmware and download the appropriate ROM for your region.

Once you do that, refer to the instruction on using Odin.

You should have the PIT, and the MD5 file, and also the CSC file set up within Odin.

Then press and hold the VOLUME DOWN button, and then briefly press the POWER button, the device should go into download mode. From there Odin should detect the device, then start flashing as normal.

Disclaimer:

I am not responsible, please double check to make sure you have the right check-boxes ticked within Odin. If all else fails, refer to the XDA forum

Another route:

If you cannot get into Download mode, try the hard reset - that is, ensure the tablet is powered off completely, hold the VOLUME UP button, and then briefly press the POWER button, the device should hard reset itself.

And try the above again.


Can you see your groups and pages in the Facebook for Android application?

The Facebook for Android does not currently support groups and pages.  Try accessing these features via http://m.facebook.com or http://touch.facebook.com


Kindle screen suddenly became very dim on LG tablet running 4.2.2 Can't increase brightness

Here's a much easier solution,  especially if the screen is so dim that you can't read any of the display options. Simply place TWO fingers on the screen and slide them up for brighter, down for dimmer. Simple!


Usually when this happens to me, my battery is dead and has really zero power to even turn on. Give it some time in the charger.


Is it possible to program on a Honeycomb tablet?

You asked for a compiler, or IDE, but I really don't think native code compilation is the way Android apps are intended to mostly work, so you're going against the grain asking for C/C++ compilers.  And since there is no JDK that is self-hosted, Java is probably out of the question too.

That being said you can still do programming, just not compiler based programming:

Part 1. This is kind of a flippant answer, but it's fun, anyways:

You can program in Commodore Basic using the Commodore 64 emulator (Frodo, I think it's called), available in the android market.  Of course you're limited to 38911 basic bytes free, and the syntax of "Commodore Basic 2.0".

It's not an IDE, in the modern sense, it's an interactive line-based BASIC interpreter.  It can be pretty fun though.  Command lines are actually really easy to use once you know what you're doing.

Part 2.  Android Scripting Environment. Much more serious and up to date capabilities including Lua, and perhaps Python.  Perhaps ASE might count as an IDE, depending on how you define IDE.  ASE appears to be pretty simple (a text entry widget, and menus to save and run scripts), but that's all you really need on a small mobile device.  ASE was thought of long before honeycomb tablets though, so the UI is optimized for smartphones, not tablets.


Google Play store GPS test app download fails, Google Maps work fine on 3G, what's wrong?

I did it.

"
Touch Google Play Store > Uninstall updates .
When prompted to change the Play Store app back to the factory version, touch OK.

"
from
Google Play Store downloads won't start

and what follows is:

exactly:
Accept New Terms
OK

Google updated terms of service by the end of March 2020 but failed to attach
ACCEPT NEW Terms
OK botton
to 100+ page long document,

so Ms got Google Play store disabled ;)

BTW
I have downloaded and installed
GPS Tools app
for test
but this app is made of commercials only,
no GPS mode ;(
just ads and links to ads

Ask Google
to update answer page
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7513003?hl=en&visit_id=637221644453135086-2719153017&rd=1#ts=6241336%2C6241346%2C6241382%2C6241389%2C6241402

appending the true cause of our problems


My phone storage is empty when connected to pc

SD card not showing files when connected to pc the first answer fixed my problem, just clear media storage and external storage, and boom, it shows all files in internal storage.


How much difference does the camera app make for photo's quality?

Base on my experience with my Samsung Galaxy J7, the best camera app is build-in camera app you can adjust any parameter manually. Then you can modify your photo by other apps like Photo wonder , etc..

Some selfie app will take your photo with the small size (960x500) and you cannot adjust any setting.


How to bring back Wishlist option for an app which is showing as installed in playstore but not actually installed on my device?

When you mentioned the "app is not listed in 'My Apps' section", do you mean the 'Installed', 'My Apps' section or the 'All' 'My Apps' section?

I think they should be listed in the 'All' section, and therefore, you won't be able to add them to your wishlist because you already have them, even if they aren't installed.

If you go to the 'All' section in your Moto G and find the apps, if they are there, and then press the 'cross' icon for each one, the apps should be removed from your 'My Apps' and you will be able to add them to your wishlist. This will only work if the apps are free because trying to remove paid apps from 'My Apps' means they don't display in 'My Apps' but are essentially still there because you have paid for the apps and Google doesn't want you to discard them.

If the apps are paid, you can refund them (either using the 'Refund' button which will display near the apps for a limited time after purchase or, I assume, contacting Google). The apps will then be removed from the 'My Apps' section and you will be able to add them to your wishlist.

If the apps don't display in the 'All' or 'My Apps' section, try clearing the data and cache of the Play Store and then signing back in your phone and see if the situation changes and if it doesn't, I would ring Google support because they have the power to sort out stuff on the server-side.


Most probably this will be because of service providers issue, not from your phone.

I have seen this kind of behaviour mostly from jio network in India.
And all other network providers also now a days having this network glitches because of many criteria like tight fights in business, many changes in telecom regulations etc.,

Suggestion that I can give is place your phone in some good position where signal is best.
And you can ask your neighbors with same network if they are having internet speed issue.


How can I set up a VPN connection on my Nexus One?

I don't know about older versions of Android, but from my 2.1 version it is pretty straight-forward. From the Home screen go to Settings and tap "Wireless and Networks." Then "VPN Settings" and Add VPN and follow the prompts from there.


Since I also realised it happens with widgets, I worked out it's due to battery saving.

P8 has option to allow apps to run even screen off (To find this, go to Settings -> Power saving -> Protected apps), and it appears this also means in background (so they continue to run even if they're closed)!

It's fixed my email widget and my SMS/bandwidth measuring programs.

It has fixed my alarm, but not my 'silent time' application, but the phone has this option built in. Despite that, I will test another application to see.


How to turn off Android Device Manager on the web

The Options box gives you a list of devices linked with your google account to select from. If you just had only one device, there might not be any drop-down Options box. You should be able to view/manage the devices by going to
https://play.google.com/settings

Some more info that might help: (Source )

Switch Android Device Manager on or off

Before you can use Android Device Manager, you need to make sure it's turned on and that your device is associated with your Google Account. If you have a tablet with more than one user, only the tablet owner can control this setting.

Find Google Settings in one of these places (depending on your device):

A separate app called Google Settings
In your main Settings app, scroll down and touch Google

Touch Security.
Under "Android Device Manager," switch Remotely locate this device and Allow remote lock and factory reset on or off.


Coolmuster Lab.Fone for Android can help you recover notes data after factory reset from Oneplus phone. You just need to make sure the notes data not being overwritten by new data.


First of all, question is very nice.
You can do whatever you want for your kids simply by creating another account like a Guest.

  But, Google already launched their app called "Google Family
  Links". Here you can control whatever apps you want your kids to
  use and also how long they've access to the apps. You also track their
  usage by your phone and can lock (Blocking them from more usage) the
  phone.


If you have a Samsung device, go to files and find the picture. Then long press to select it, click more on the bottom, then click add to home screen. :)


Prepare SD card for removal from Cyanogenmod 13 HTC Desire HD A9191

Insert your SD card in your phone, reboot it, then go to Settings - Storage & USB, press "menu" button and choose "format as portable". You should be able to use your SD card on other devices after that.


SMS Delivery reports in Ice cream sandwich dont show up

In android, (particularly in ICS), you don't get a pop up delivery notification as the ordinary phones. Instead there will be a tick in front of the date of your message. That's the maximum delivery notification you get.

If you really need some bigger notification, you can use an apps like Delivery Reports, Delivery Reporter+, Messaging Notification, etc.


After update, car radio stopped playing audio through USB from my Samsung S5 using AOA

The problem is that I was using an app called SoundAbout that automatically routes the audio output. I've installed the app to use in a car that I rented and forgot about it. It is a nice app, but gives no notification that it is in use. Just had to uninstall it and everything worked fine.


Google recently released Google Hindi IME (Input Method Editor, a techy name for keyboard) which I now saw with my friend's Nexus 4. It has the requested Rupee symbol:


Use fastboot --help instead. This is a kinda standard way to get usage help in Linux world. However sometimes writing only the command name also works as you expect.

Reference:

if (argc == 0) {
    usage();
    return 0;
}


As sparx said, depending on how you rooted, you can "unroot" with an app if you only rooted your device and did nothing else.

If you modified android, by say, removing some bloatware, or flashed another rom on your device, then you will need to use something like Kies, ODIN or Heimdall to flash back the stock ROM.

Flashing back the stock ROM can replace all traces of any software modification that you have done to the device. This can include the OS, boot, and kernel.

I have never used Kies so I can't speak about how good that works. Kies is the "official" update tool for the devices.

I have used ODIN in the past. It is a samsung product, but it is basically a leaked software that is used internally.

Heimdall is an open source alternative to ODIN that works on other platforms besides windows. It uses the same protocols that ODIN uses.

If you do go any of the "flashing stock" routes, try to search for someone giving instructions exactly how to do it. The community is very large, and someone has already done it. If you look, you can find their step by step instructions that you can follow.


changing the lock screen time and date display lg l5

You can customize these clock and date styles only if the screen lock is Swipe.

Even you can choose between Analog and Digital clocks and much more.

If screen lock option is Pattern/Password, this clock/date styles can not be changed.


Reset Partition Table for Nexus 7 2013 (Flo)

I was in the same position as you re a total resizing of the partition table > System to Data.

The following posts will help you.  The first is a script to recreate all the required partitions.  The second is a method to get the bootloader functioning from a Hard Brick.

Worked on this for hours last night and have now had successfully recovered back this morning.

Good luck.

Mo

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75465233&postcount=222

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75360854&postcount=199


HTC Desire: why not to root and install Froyo (no-porting)?

There are many ROMs available for the Desire based on stock Android / the open souce project. I currently run Cyanogen's ROM on my Desire, but I have also used OpenDesire and many others.

Take a look on the XDA forums.

There is no 'Official' stock ROM for the Desire, because no one is selling in without the HTC ROM, but OpenDesire is as close to the open source project as you are likely to get, where as Cyanogen's ROM is more feature packed!

You will of course need to root your phone to install custom ROMs. This is easily done on the Desire using Unrevoked.


For an android virtual device emulator which target should i target it to? (Image included)

Run the android sdk manager and download the image because you only have the device definitions and the SDK and  not the system images  so download them from there


Prevent automatic redirects in Mobile Firefox for Android

As noted in this answer from the same question you linked, you can use network.http.redirection-limit to block redirects. Start by setting it to 0 (instead of 1 as in the linked answer). It will will have the effects of blocking all redirects and even accessing any site.

Then increasing with the value will allow depending on the site to allow redirects (or clicking "Try again" when the redict was blocked).


Samsung Galaxy Note 4 won't get out from recovery booting

You can only get out of this if you were on custom recovery where you shall look for the official boot.img of the phone and flash it into the recovery partition. There it will boot. If you're sure the boot partition is not damaged, you can use the dd command to extract it. In simple. Using TWRP Terminal:

dd if /dev/block/[msdcblockname]/by-name/boot of /sdcard/boot.img

This will dump boot.img at internalsd. Use it to flash the recovery partition. Note: the folder reffered to as msdcblockname above varies with device so research path to boot for your specific phone model.

But anyway if you're on stock recovery, either get a full OTA package that is made for full system update, not the incremental one ADHD flash it by apply update from sdcard or ensure the ROM you downloaded for Odin is specially for your device model and it has all items in it. Because Odin is the only hope you're left with


my samsung galaxy tab GT-P1000 is not charging

try screw the 2 dot behind the USB cable then release the cover housing using Safe Open Pry Tool then remove your battery that's it


Enable or disable notifications based on location on Android?

Sure are. Check out Locale or Tasker. Both are great (and very powerful) tools for customizing settings based on location, time, etc. Neither are free but are well worth a purchase.


What you are seeing is the default behavior of Firefox. Rather than calling it a bug, I'd say that it is how Firefox for Android is designed. That said, I see that this is pretty inconvenient and you should probably open a bug report at bugzilla.
Meanwhile, you can use this handy addon (extension) for Firefox for Android which allows you to view the complete tooltip menu. It goes by the name Mobile Tooltip. You can also use this link to see it at Mozilla Addons (AMO). In your case, you can use it to read the full title tag of the image.


How do I mount an external USB flash drive?

Do I need an app to do the mounting or does the OS do everything?

No, you don't need any extra app to connect the USB drive, the OS will detect and mount the USB drive automatically, if the file system is compatible. In case your file manager fails to detect the drive, you can use apps from Play Store that come with this feature.

  Would this work as a physical adapter.

Yes, a USB-OTG cable is merely an adapter to connect the pins of micro-USB to ordinary USB.

  Would the OTG cable do anything else besides convert micro USB to standard USB?

No, but keep in mind that unlike PCs, your phone might not provide enough power to drive hardware that requires that power (like hard drives), so you might need to use a powered USB hub for such applications.

  Can I install apps on the external USB flash drive.

No, unfortunately you can't. Just like with external micro-SD cards, support for installing apps on external media is best described as "non-existent" (there is adoptable storage, though). Installing app on SD card often just moves the app to the user's data partition which has been originally provided by an SD card but was later integrated into the storage of the device itself.


Email-client with Sent emails from many emails under IMAP?

As with IMAP mails are stored centrally on the server, you can see all mails from all IMAP clients. You can automatically store sent mails to a "Sent" folder (instead of only send them and not storing them), which is configured on a per-client basis.

I cannot tell for your desktop clients how to do this, but with K9 you can select the folder in

Menu → More → Settings → Account settings → Folders → Folder for Sent objects

Just in the Folders menu, you will find some more special folders you can define (e.g. for drafts).

Having your "Sent" folder defined on all your clients (and always having defined the same), you should be able to easily view your sent mails from all clients, regardless of the fact from which client a mail was sent.


Why "format as internal storage" is not working when installing new apps?

All the apps you install go into Internal Storage by default.
You need to move them to your SD Card, even if you formatted it as internal storage.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> (Any Individual app) -> Storage -> Change -> SD Card.

PS : But you can't do this for most Google Apps and System Apps


number in the top right corner of the camera app?

This number represents the approximate amount of pictures left you'll be able to take, according to the free space on the media portion of the phone (e.g. SD Card) and the currently chosen settings, such as resolution.


Why is the first step always 73.73 kB while downloading from Google Play Store?

The answer to the question depends on a few different variables, such as specific internet types, always come with high latency and low bandwidth, such as some satellite hookups, or dial up hookups if used.

If you do not have a stable internet connection, and your bandwidth is not consistent enough to be that bandwidth at all times, then perhaps your phone's wifi/data chip is only pulling that fast, or there could be background network applications running that are taking up all the bandwidth. If applications besides the one you are downloading something on are open, or apps have background processes using the network, that could be a cause of it.

The last option that i can think of is you could be getting throttled by your router, check your router for anything limiting, throttling, or prioritizing anyone's IP or mac addresses. Generally 10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.0 or if you know you router is using another local ip address, login using that and sometime the default user is admin, with password of admin, password, or blank in most cases.

All else fails, it must be some sort of bug in your device, the apps, or some code between your device and the server.


You can't delete them individually, but deleting the whole chat is a solution.


How do I backup my contacts that are on an excel file into my nexus 5 phone?

Check its format
If .CSV
Put that .CSV file into your SD-Card or internal then.
1. Go to contact > Menu

Import from storage
Select that .CSVfile
Then it automatically scan and add them to your contact list.


How to disable all "please rate our app" dialogues?

Is there a way to block/disable/hide all such "please rate this app" prompts systemwide?

Apparently not possible as you can see from the same question answered on reddit by an Xposed module developer :

  There is no global rating dialog class that you could hook into, every app creates a standard dialog and adds their own contents to it, so you would have to decompile, analyze and hook every app separately.

Perhaps a developer here could add more by way of explanation, as to why it is not possible to employ a technique / tool that works across the board in disabling rating popups


Quickly switch input methods (swype->other)

I am looking at Swype right now, and it's got a cogweel in the bottom left corner, which if pressed for more than 1 second gives you a choice of the input methods (Swype, Android Keyboard, others...)
http://i.stack.imgur.com/3Jg4v.png


When there are many files to be transferred, and small ones at that, this has been reported

Consider PC to mobile transfer app, which uses FTP (best suited for for your purpose as against MTP ) to transfer on WiFi or Mobile data. There are other apps too, but this worked well for me in the past

Share Via http is another open sourceapp worth considering. It's handy to share with other mobile devices as well

Alternatively, you can consider other File Sync apps from the curated list maintained by Izzy


Application installation fails in play store

The android version in your phone is incompatible with the play store version. When we update play store, without updating android version, this error occurs.

Solution:

  go to settings --> Apps --> Downloaded --> Google Play Store --> Uninstall Updates --> Click 'Ok'

When you uninstall updates it will be replaced with the factory version which is compatible with any android version.


Changed my LG L70 (MS323) runtime from Dalvik to ART and my phone's not working properly. Help?

ART is experimental at this stage, unless you're on android L (Lollipop) I wouldn't recommend using it.

If you are stuck in ART you can get back to Dalvik by following this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2707841

Your device should boot then.


Is there any virtualization software that will run under Android on an x86 device?

I found myself stumbling in the general vicinity of these forums with some similar questions and decided to share some info on the off chance any other wandering curious computer enthusiast happens to walk on by.

Method #1: EMULATION

A kid managed to get XP running on Android using the tools you mentioned at the begining. You can see in his comments how there was significant performance loss. One of the key issues here is an inability to translate drivers. There will also be a lot of bottle necking that occurs when you sneak in some unsupported stuff.

Method #2: ROOTING AND FLASHING

It required gaining root, unlocking the bootloader, flashing a custom recovery, among other many other things.  I managed to get multiboot from ARM supported OS's Ubuntu Touch, Cyanogen, and stock. I could probably throw windows 10 on it if i wanted to.

Method #3: KERNEL VIRTUALIZATION

linux-kvm.org/page/Main_Page

Assuming your hardware supports virtualization, KVM is an option for back-end stuff if you dont need a GUI.

Method #4: BAREMETAL HYPERVISOR

There is a white paper on it, but i cant post the link because of my new account, so here is a copy of the conclusion :

  Virtualizing a modern mobile platform involves dealing with devices such as camera, compass, gps, etc, for which PV frontend and backend drivers do not exist today. If only one VM needs access to one of these devices at a time, you can simply assign the device to the VM, remapping the corresponding MMIO regions and interrupts. If multiple VMs need access to the device simultaneously, you have to write a new pair of PV frontend and backend drivers. Fortunately many open source implementations of PV frontends and backends for different class of devices already exist in Linux and other operating systems. Something similar is likely to already exist. The difficulty of writing a new pair of PV frontends and backends increases with the complexity of the device you are trying to share. If the device is simple, such as the compass, writing the new pair of drivers is going to very easy. If the device is complex, such as a 3d graphic accelerator, writing the new pair of frontends and backends is going to be difficult.

Here is another paper on the KVM/ARM dynamic:

systems.cs.columbia.edu/archive/pub/2014/03/kvm-arm-the-design-and-implementation-of-the-linux-arm-hypervisor/

Seems as though for now we are stuck with what the software developers are willing to write for us, or with what we are willing to write for ourselves. These systems were meant to be largely proprietary, some frustration is to be expected I suppose.


Since a factory image flash hasn't helped you, and with the information provided in the comments, the problem is at the hardware level. It may be in the screen or the input processing hardware on the motherboard. You could try getting the device repaired. Note that the device does not need to look broken to be broken.


The Power which your Phone consumes outway the Power a USB Port can supply.
This problem is often faced when using an Powerbank.

Cause could be an old Battery which lifetime is coming to a close, but thats anyones guess.
I would buy myself a charger that goes in to the Wall socket. Way more convinient.
For example, it would take 5h for my Nexus 5 to fully recharge from USB and only 2 hours from the wall Socket directly.


Unless munged by Samsung, while in the People app you should be able to go to menu → Contacts to display and then choose the account for which you want to see contacts. There's even a "Customize" option which allows one to, for instance, only display contacts from certain of an account's contact groups.


mksh developer here ☺

The problem with distributing binaries is that the binaries need to be built against the exact same bionic libc as your phone provides, which needs both the libc binaries (as shipped on your phone) and the development headers (only present in the AOSP source tree of the person who built your image).

If you wish to use a generic ARM mksh binary instead, you can use one statically compiled against another libc (such as musl (recommended), dietlibc or klibc). However, these will differ in behaviour from the one shipped by Android:

Android has a different default PATH, using something like /sbin:/vendor/bin:/system/sbin:/system/bin:/system/xbin instead of /usr/bin:/bin
Android has different directories for /etc (/system/etc), /tmp (/data/local), and the locations of ~/.mkshrc and default EXECSHELL differ

For these reasons I’d recommend to keep your /system/bin/sh as is and only add a /system/bin/mksh or even /vendor/bin/mksh executable with a newer version if you really need it and use that explicitly in scripts and/or interactively.

If you go to the Debian mksh package page you can download the Debian package for your architecture (arm64 for 64-bit ARM systems, armhf for 32-bit ARMv7 or newer; it’s unlikely you’ll need older ones; 32-bit might work on 64-bit systems but not the other way round), then once downloaded to your local computer, you can extract the package as follows (I’ll use the 32-bit version for this example):

ar x mksh_57-2_armhf.deb
tar xaf data.tar.*
find usr/lib/ -name \*ksh -ls

The last command will list all possible statically-linked-against-not-GNU-libc binaries; for the version 57-2, the output is:

  2633594    184 -rwxr-xr-x   1 user   user     185584 Sep 26 00:52 usr/lib/arm-linux-musleabihf/bin/mksh
  2633596    124 -rwxr-xr-x   1 user   user     126816 Sep 26 00:52 usr/lib/klibc/bin/mksh
  2633595    152 -rwxr-xr-x   1 user   user     152716 Sep 26 00:52 usr/lib/diet/bin/mksh

So, you can choose any of these three binaries; I really recommend using the musl-compiled one (that is usr/lib/arm-linux-musleabihf/bin/mksh, the path differs for arm64) as it’s the most correct and complete C library.

adb push usr/lib/arm-linux-musleabihf/bin/mksh /sdcard/mksh-new
adb shell
su
mv /sdcard/mksh-new /vendor/bin/mksh
chown 0:0 /vendor/bin/mksh
chmod 555 /vendor/bin/mksh

Now, unless another mksh executable is in the PATH before /vendor/bin/, running mksh script.sh or just mksh (or mksh -l for a login shell) will start the newer binary (but not read /system/etc/mkshrc unless you start it as env ENV=/system/etc/mkshrc mksh), but the system boot process will keep using the version it was designed for and tested with. (Newer mksh versions may contain bugfixes that cause scripts relying on those bugs or older interpretations of the POSIX sh standard to fail.)

As I am also the Debian Developer maintaining the mksh package there, you can consider those packages as official Linux/ARM builds of newer mksh versions (although lacking the Android specifics).

If you really need a binary with the Android specifics, I can access a Debian/ARM porterbox and compile mksh from source, with the different definitions (as listed above), manually and provide it for downloading; contact me (by eMail or IRC) if you need that, as it’s manual effort and costs me extra time.


You are very ambiguous regarding which OS is in question. Judging from "Google Maps", I will assume it is an Android device.

Case 1:
Factory apps which are pre-installed with your system can never be moved to the SD Card, as they are hard wired in the ROM. The only solution in that case is rooting the phone and replacing your ROM software. I will not explain rooting / ROM swapping here since it is an entire subject.

Case 2:
Most apps installed from Play Store can be moved to the SD Card by navigating to:

Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > On SD card

(Android 2.3.6, menu may slightly vary on other versions)

You will be able to check / uncheck the apps that you'd like to move to the SD Card. Most apps will allow you to move them, but some apps will not. Once again, rooting resolves this.

Note: Pre-installed apps which have been updated through Google Play Store behave like in case 2, because the updated version does not reside in the ROM.


Bash-Shell on Android Tablet (Transformer Pad TF701T)

You may be in luck; I just finished building git for KBOX2. Once I test it and figure out how to run a staged install for redistribution purposes, I can upload it and post a link

EDIT: I've contacted the KBOX2 developer; if the client works hopefully he can package it for download/install to the KBOX2 system.

If you're feeling adventurous (or impatient), you can always build it in KBOX2 yourself; there's a couple of gcc packages available in the downloads section


What type of hardware support is required for getting the widevine L1 level?

Widevine digital rights management explained

To meet security Level 1, all content processing, cryptography, and control must be performed within the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) of the device’s processor, to prevent external tampering and copying of the media file. All ARM Cortex-A processors implement TrustZone technology, creating a hardware separation that allows a trusted OS (such as Android) to create a TEE for DRM, and other secure applications.

 (click to enlarge )
System update is at OS level (including drivers) but not at CPU/ TEE level which are totally independent. Quoting from wiki

The TEE is a standard which creates an isolated environment that runs in parallel with the operating system, providing security for the rich environment. It is intended to be more secure than the User-facing OS. ARM TrustZone TEE is an implementation of the TEE standard

For more , see The Complete Guide to Widevine
Google’s DRM Platform


How can I install vanilla Android on the Kindle Fire?

The most stable option at this point is to use CyanogenMod. You can get it onto your Fire by doing the following:
Root and Custom Recovery
On Windows, you can use the Kindle Fire Utility to root the Kindle Fire and install Team Win's recovery (TWRP). It's extremely straightforward, and should even set up the Google drivers for you. The whole process is done via a command-line numeric menu.
On non-Windows OSes (of if you just prefer it) you can manually root with BurritoRoot. It's also fairly painless. You'll then need to set up adb on your OS, and install TWRP, which can be done by following this guide on RootzWiki. The gist of it is that you need to reboot into fastboot and then flash the recovery image, which should be:
user@linux ~ $ adb shell
$ su
# idme bootmode 4002
# reboot
user@linux ~ $ fastboot -i 0x1949 boot path-to-twrp.img
user@linux ~ $ fastboot oem idme bootmode 4000  <-- After auto-reboot
user@linux ~ $ fastboot reboot

Or something along those lines.
Flashing CyanogenMod
This works just like any other recovery system, really. Just grab CyanogenMod  and put it onto your /sdcard partition. Reboot into TWRP by powering off the device, then pressing/holding the power button at the FIREFIREFIRE bootloader (installed with the TWRP image), and use TWRP to select and flash the CM zip.
Cyanongenmod for Kindle Fire

CM10 / Jelly Bean
Ice Cream Sandwich


How do I stop the Adobe Flash Player updates from installing themselves?

You should be able to configure auto update via the market place. Open the market place go to my apps and find Adobe Flash Player and untick the "Allow automatic updating" box.


It's just an updated version of the Music App (new, fancy UI), supposedly ready for full Google Music Cloud, for when it comes to the UK.

I was unable to view the details in the market like yourself, but I could actually do the update. Nexus S on 2.3.4 too.

Did you by any chance get an update notification for Google Books too?


Video Player with support for audio channels?

I am using Dice player to play dual audio movies on my Sony Xperia Neo V mobile. I think you should try dice player.

When you are going to play dual audio movies on your device, you will see an option at the top right side bar resembles music icon.You will need to click on that icon and you will see the movies dubbed in different language.Choose your preferable language and you have done!!

Source: How To Play Dual Audio Movies On Any Android Device?


How can I change password for my Exchange settings

Settings - Account and Sync - <your exchange account>' - Account settings - (scroll down) Incoming settings' - password field.

On my Samsung Galaxy S - running Froyo 2.2.1


HTC Desire low on internal storage, I'm clueless -- Any help?

One problem I've noticed is the (at least in Android Froyo), the stock Web browser caches to the phone storage. The browser cache can quickly take up 20+ MB and therefore use up free internal storage.

I've moved to using an alternate browser (Dolphin) and set it to cache to the SD card. This has removed my "low internal storage" limits; my free internal storage space now stays much more consistent except when installing new applications.


Nexus S ICS update problem restarting by itself

Yes many people experienced problems. Have a look at: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=1c21a7e3690388b0&hl=en

where a Google employee is asking for information on the problems people are having and asking them to submit bug reports. Here's the generic bug report link for Nexus S with ICS:
http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/request.py?&contact_type=android_bugreport


Micro SD mobile 128 GB size limit overcome

AFAIK there is no 128GB limit (neither on sd-card nor on file-system level).

The only hard limit is if or if not microSDXC cards (sd-cards starting with 64GB) are supported.

The other "limits" are usually just a notice from the manufacturer that the device has been tested with such a card (because larger were not available at that time).

Therefore creating multiple partitions does not make much sense from my point of view.


Moto G5 Plus: Can you use a different USB cable (with the original charger) for charging?

It's perfectly fine as long as the cable supports charging and not data only
For help on choosing non OEM cable see my answer here How to choose micro USB cable for my device?
My wife has the same device and it works perfectly fine with cable recommended above (or any other cable that supports charging)

Edit: If you are wondering if they support turbo charging - yes they do. Verified on my previous device Moto X Play and my wife's G5plus. Search for cables that support fast charging as they are usually thicker and more efficient


Are all Xperia Play Optimized games compatible with the Xperia Z/ZL's native DualShock 3 support?

User poo-tang provided an answer in the xda forums:

  Xperia Play games don't work this way so won't be interchangeable. These new games are HID (Native Android built in virtual controller/mouse) supported (only available on Android 3.1 and up) Xperia Play uses Sony framework only. The games are coded for one or another (sometimes both if developer has added support for both)


Samsung's OTA updates are carrier-based, as usual.  Kies updates are usually regional, but not particularly restricted; you can usually select a different region when installing Kies and get updates from there.

Kies updates are up to Samsung, though they would probably work with carriers on it to ensure it works well and whatnot.  OTA updates are controlled by the carriers, though of course they rely on Samsung to actually produce the update.  There's being some speculation that Google wants to break the carriers' tight control over this (and pricing, etc.) but in general Samsung et al. don't want to get on their bad side.


How to know about MIDI controller via OTG latency on device?

So High Performance or Low Latency Audio on Android has been a work in progress for quite some time as seen on the Android Developer Audio Latency page.

Ideally the device will report supporting android.hardware.audio.pro feature flag indicating some level of compliance with the Android Compatibility Definition Document regarding 20ms round trip latency.

Superpowered is a company that makes an Audio SDK does provide test app and chart of devices/OS versions & buffer sizes with their latencies. While I'm not sure of the model versions that you have, you can use the APK on the page to test your current devices and use the list to inform future purchasing decisions.


Why is Google Calendar reminding me it's "Easter Sunday" on 19 Jan 2016?

I appear to have at least discovered where this reminder has originated from: in the Google app (formerly "Google Now"), under "Reminders", there is a "Past" reminder for "Easter Sunday (Apr 05 2015)".

Past reminder

However, there is no "Upcoming" (current) reminder listed here for "Easter Sunday" - so nothing should be appearing in the calendar. The two (recurring) Google Keep reminders (mentioned above) are the only two reminders listed under "Upcoming". So, it's still a mystery why this "Easter Sunday" reminder appears to have suddenly recurred after an unusual time period.

Partial solution:

Tapping this "Past" entry simply gives the option to delete it. Which I have, and now it's gone from the Google Calendar! It's just a puzzle as to why (and how) it happened?


I cannot answer the Windows part – but the Ubuntu part I can answer for sure, as I'm using that as well and mount my devices from my computer, sometimes with full r/w access. What I use needs ADB tools to be installed on your computer. If you didn't already install them, see e.g. Is there a minimal installation of ADB?

Prepare your Droid

First a basic requirement, applying to any OS which might run on your computer: To be able to get full access, the ADB daemon needs to be running in root-mode. This is not the case with stock ROMs, even if rooted, by default (though many custom ROMs have it enabled by default). So first check: If an "ordinary" adb shell directly brings you to the root-prompt (#) without invoking su, you're fine. Otherwise, you will need a helper like adbd insecure: Run it, and enable the "patched insecure mode". Optionally check the box to have that accomplished automatically on every boot of your device.

Prepare for write access to read-only file systems

Second, again independent from the OS on your computer: to read and write to file systems, they need to be mounted in read/write mode. You can accomplish that via adb shell anytime you need to write there (I don't recomment leaving those partitions in permanent read/write mode), e.g. issuing a mount -o remount,rw /system for the /system partition.

Mount your Droid

Now let's go for the specifics. I mount the Android file system via ADB, utilizing FUSE. The tool for that is adbfs-rootless. Compiling the code is easy given the instructions there; that done, copy the resulting adbfs binary to a directory in your $PATH. Then create a mount-point on your computer; in my example, I will use ~/droid for that. Now here we go:

# Mount the Android FS:
adbfs ~/droid
# Unmount it again:
fusermount -u ~/droid

To ease the process, I've created two aliases:

alias mdroid="adbfs ~/droid"
alias udroid="fusermount -u ~/droid"

You surely already have guessed: mdroid stands for "mount droid", udroid for "unmount droid".

A different approach to manually mounting/unmounting is using Midnight Commander with a specific VFS: mc-extfs-adb is doing that. A version I've spefically adapted for Ubuntu is available in the download area at IzzyOnDroid, where you can simply pick it (installation instructions included).

Both variants have their pros and cons: mc-extfs-adb takes quite a while on first access (while it caches the entire file system structure) – but then is pretty fast browsing the file system (as it is cached), only slowing down when you copy/edit files remotely. Using adbfs directly starts up much faster, but then always "hesitates" for a second when switching directories (as it does not cache the entire structure, but only reads on demand). I usually prefer the latter, but YMMV – hence I've given you both options :)


Reducing the memory usage of Contacts Storage

The only way to reduce this number is to remove contacts. Now this could be setting apps like twitter and facebook to not sync contacts. But if you have pictures for everyone, it is going to increase the amount of storage as well.


Can I set a tablet to wake up when moved or when I touch the screen?

There is a free app called MotionUnlock, with it your tablet will sense when it is being picked up from a table, etc... and unlock automatically, being ready for use!

MotionUnlock - Tablet Wake Up


Google play login different GSM carriers

Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. Select Google Play Store from the list. Select Clear data. Then try using Google Play again.


No Internet using dual sim as mobile hotspot

Solution 2:

Please Run "ipconfig" command in your Command Prompt. After running command you can find information's like "IPv4 Address", "Default Gateway", Subnet Mask, etc.
Use those values in respective fields of :

Open Network and Sharing Center-->Change Adapter Settings-->Right click on "Wireless Network Connection"-->Properties-->Select "Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4)"-->Select Radio Button for 1)Use the following IP Address, 2)Use the following DNS Server automatically --> and finally "Ok"

Field to be filled:
1)IP Address
2)Subnet Mask
3)Default Gateway
4)Preferred DNS Server

NB:"Default Gateway" need to given as "Preferred DNS Server"

Best Regards


How many different types of YouTube Vanced are there?

There are 4 YouTube Vanced versions: Blue, Pink, Dark, and Black.

You already have YouTube Vanced Blue and Pink. I'm not sure if you have Black or Dark, but one of them should work for you.

This XDA thread contains download links as well.

Some Alternative Apps

NewPipe Link
YouTube Go Link
OgYouTube Link


Permit drawing over other apps grayed out

Just had this with an app that wouldn't launch - beeshyams is right, the cause is one or more "enabled" apps that have permission are blocking it - probably not that the problem app needs permission.  Go to the list of apps with permission and disable them.


It depends on your settings. For me it is settings -> buttons. There you can specify which button is responsible for which action.


Can't write an SMS for some of my contacts

This is a problem i face with few contacts on my P500 too! Try merging contacts with their FB account or twitter account or just create a Buffer account and join them. It works after that. Not a great solution but been working that way now!


How can I use (parts of) a managed account without submitting my device to the Device Policy?

He would have to use the web interface via a browser in order to access this account. Adding the account would make it subject to the administrative policy, and this they would be able to monitor and erase his device.

Now, the real question is why would they bother? I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that no one is sitting there monitoring accounts with their fingers posed over the WIPE button, they don't have time or care and these features are generally never used unless the circumstances are fairly significant, bad enough for a school administrator to be willing to take the heat from a pi$$ed off parent and be able to justify their actions.

These feature are usually employed at the enterprise level, where a person leaves a position, to make sure the company's data is wiped from the device and they do not take it else where, or to be able to locate or clean the device should be it be misplaced/stolen. The ability to "monitor" the phone is somewhat over-rated, as they can't go in and read your text messages or see what calls your making to who, it simply means they can monitor data related to the account that has device administrator access. The problem is these are kind of all in one permissions, for your child to be able to access this account the ENTIRE permission applies.

The answer is although this is a possibility, the concern is likely unfounded. You should be able to allow your child to add his school account to his device with no issue, and when that account is no longer needed the administration rights can be removed and the account with it.


Wifi hotspot giving "No internet, secured" on Huawei P10 with Android 8.0.0

This always happens if Vodafone send an update to the APN ... to fix it, just reset your APN settings back to default and select either pre-pay or post-pay, whatever's appropriate for your sim.


Unfortunately, there is not a way to do this with stock Android.  There may be OEM (Samsung, LG, etc) features that allow this but I'm unsure if they exist.

There is an app that allows you to lock Media Volume, though.  It's called Rocker Locker:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tomwandroid.rockerlocker&hl=en

[Edit]  The above app reports significant battery drain.  This app may be a better alternative, NGC 4388:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=catchpower.gogo.blackholeaddons

Of course, there's always the option of writing your own volume panel changes then compiling your own OS binary from source.  :)


A factory reset is not enough. It just "disables" your data and doesn't really delete it. Some data restore tools can still restore the data after a normal reset.

The best way I know of is to encrypt the phone and then do a factory reset. The encryption will overwrite the unencrypted data, so that will be gone forever. Then after a reset, if the new user tries to restore the data, it just gets the encrypted data. (=useless)


How to transmit calls only (not the rest of the device's audio) to a bluetooth receiver?

As far as I know, the sound protocol is A2DP and the phone is HFP, therefore, they are different. It should be possible to connect only one of them to the Bluetooth device (in this case, your car).
In the Bluetooth devices list, you should have a settings icon next to your car's name where you can disable audio. It should be possible to disable one without disabling the other. I'm not sure of that because I have never tested it and the labeling is quite poor in this place.

If the problem is Google Play Music auto-start, it is possible to force Google Play Music to disconnect from the Bluetooth by clicking on the "Cast" icon in the app itself.


Is there an Android app that scans a device for vulnerability issues?

Aside from open ports that a network scanner would find, you may also be vulnerable to certain local exploits. The somewhat recently released X-Ray app is designed to check for a number of known vulnerabilities (though it is not capable of fixing them - you'd need an updated version of Android for that).


Phone stucked while booting with moto logo

You need to uninstall suhide. There is an uninstaller.

Check this post:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/suhide-t3450396

And scroll to the downloads section. Download the file with 'rm' in the name. Transfer it to your phone and flash it in TWRP. Make sure you have the latest version of TWRP. Reboot.

I would suggest buying a cheap phone and experimenting with that. Unroot the G4 plus and do all the stuff with it that you can do unrooted.

In terms of the phone to buy to root etc, I would suggest either a used phone (make sure you can unlock the bootloader before buying) or a new moto e, maybe. If you are in the UK, I would suggest buying a used phone. You can unlock the bootloader on an HTC One M8, which you can pick up for about £90.

https://htc-one.gadgethacks.com/how-to/unlock-bootloader-root-your-htc-one-m8-0154444/

In the US, the new Moto E is $99 on Amazon Prime or $129 normally on Amazon.

Hope this helps!


ADB 'su: permission denied' in recovery mode on rooted device

Most recoveries don't work in root mode - and root mode cannot be acheived, as the SU binary calls your superuser app to gain permission to use root mode.

As the su binary cannot call the app, it stops you using SU mode.

It could also be due to the fact that the su file used in recovery is the stock su file found in Android, and this doesn't let you switch to the root user (as if it did every device would be rooted).

Some recoveries allow root to be used - you will have to search for one for your device.


It seems that feature has been replaced by the Check-In feature that Google is trying to promote, so that you use there location based app (Latitude). When you check-in you can add info and reviews.

Google it trying to promote Latitude as a loaction based social app where you can share your location and interact better with your friends and also provide reviews for the selected starred location.


How to place an link of "application manager" on the home screen?

That should be possible using a shortcut to the corresponding activity. Launchers like Apex have that feature built-in, for others you can use helpers like Activity Launcher. Both allow you to browse your apps, dive into their activities, and chose one to create a shortcut for. In your case, you would need to investigate the Settings app – and I'm pretty sure you'll find the matching activity.

Edit: Just in case you might miss that as well, you'll have to tap the entry of the app in question (here: Settings) to open the list of its activities.


Samsung Galaxy S4 [GT- I9500] - Android 4.2.2

I would definitely recommend you upgrade to Android L / 5.0.2.

There a numerous changes relating to performance, new features, and battery life. Android L gives a completely different (better, in my opinion) feel to the phone and fixes many of the bugs from previous versions.

To answer your question about including new bugs; it's inevitable. But if they are addressed, it's highly likely they will be fixed in the future.


According to GSMArena, this phone doesn't support USB-on-the-go.


View just the "App" apps, without the games?

I don't know of an app that shows just the non-game apps, but I thought I'd weigh in since you've not received any answers yet.

The best approach depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're looking for new apps to download, the featured apps are not often games (since they're covered in their own page). If you're browsing for apps, you could do it by category.


Image and video files disappear from the SD Card

I would rather go with replacing the SD Card and checking if that happens again. Nowadays there are lots of cheap SD Cards which simply lose or corrupt your data with no particular reason. There have been reports of SD cards that pretend to be 4, 8, 16GB or even more but only have 256MB. If you have such a bad card and copy more than 256mb of data it will get corrupted. The same thing applies to flash drives etc.

If that doesn't help then try to restore your device to the original state and do not install all your applications at one go. Try to install the most important first and the rest in some intervals so you can find the one which may be causing problems.


Does Android 2.3 support ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks?

The 2.3 Gingerbread user's guide has been released,  Chapter 2: Connecting to Networks and Devices doesn't mention ad-hoc wireless networks at all.


How do I make permanent changes to files in root (/) directory?

The root file system (/) and the files therein (plus several more in some sub-directories) are overwritten at boot time from the so-called InitRd ("initial RAM disk", or "boot image"). So if you must change/add stuff there, you will have to modify that image.

If you just want to store some additional binaries/scripts, you should rather do so in /system/xbin (which usually is also contained in the $PATH) – though files in /system/bin should survive a reboot as well (/system is a separate partition usually mounted read-only, and thus not touched except for OS updates).


What's the difference between Mi and Mi Note model lines?

Unfortunately yes - none of the established "Notes" from Chinese manufacturers (e.g. MI/Redmi Note, Meizu M* Note) actually has a pen or supports one.

It's just that most of us Chinese (not including me) seem to like large screen phones, and prior to MI Note, the flagship MI 4 could not fill into that blank. The "Note" designation is to distinguish the large screen variants, and in a sense, to give corresponding models a more "high-end" position - MI/Redmi "Notes" are indeed of higher spec and arguably better crafted than their non-"Note" counterparts at the time.

If you want a pen on the cheap, just grab an older Note model from Samsung, and optionally flash a ported firmware if you want features from newer models.


Most after-market ROMs ship without Google Apps by default. Take a look at e.g. CyanogenMod, which is available for many devices. So if you can install custom ROMs, that's one way to go.

A different approach would be disabling all Google apps, or even remove them (on a rooted device). This might be a little more tricky as you would have to figure out all dependencies yourself.


Figuring out whether you can go all the way and bypass your lock screen will depend on the outcome of the steps below.

Following this guide,

Skip the step of turning on USB Debugging, you can't get past the lockscreen.
Download Odin, and the TWRP .tar file
Boot your phone to download mode, then plug it in to your computer, let the drivers install. Open the Odin.exe on your computer, fiddle with the USB connection until Odin says "COM1/2/3/4: Connected!"
Put the TWRP .tar file in the correct textbox, uncheck Auto-Reboot
Flash!
When it says finished, you can reboot your phone. However! You need to boot it directly into recovery mode, otherwise TWRP gets overridden past the Samsung logo.
Once you're in TWRP, congrats! Make a FULL backup onto an SD card or USB drive with OTG adapter.

Now to bypass your lockscreen:

Flash the SuperSU .zip found in the guide.
When you boot into TWRP does your computer recognize the phone in Device Manager? Does it make a bloop sound? You should find a device called "ADB".
Download the ADB kit from here (and the drivers if you can't get your computer to install them) and call adb.exe from a command prompt.
Run adb devices. If you see a long 50-character ID pop up, you're in luck!
If there's no ID, try another computer, it took me 5 computers to recognize.
Go into adb shell type su hit enter.
If it says permission denied, you're out of luck.
Run rm /data/system/gesture.key then rm /data/system/password.key
If no errors, profit!
If permission denied, remount system RW: mount -o rw,remount /system If that fails, try mount -o rw,remount /proc /system (a little hack I came across) and try step 8 again.


Remove Unlock Pattern in Motorola Razr i?

Just tried it on my Motorola Razr i (4.1.2 Retail en GB):
To get into fastboot menu.

Turn off device.
Hold "Down Volume Button" (for a few seconds) and
    then "Power Button"
When phone vibrates/Motorola logo shows up/Green light goes off
    release "Power Button" but continue to hold "Down Volume Button"
Device will enter fastboot menu.

It did take a few tries to get the timing right.


HTC Tattoo and Samsung Spica don't have GPU at all.

Edited in from comments:

These devices had chipsets which used software rendering (Snapdragon S1 (MSM7225) for the HTC and a proprietary chipset (Samsung S3C6410) for the Samsung), so there was no dedicated GPU, and the CPU took on the work of the GPU too.


Can't remove default app for an action in any way

It seems that you tried and played (started) the MP3 files in your browser (or may be search). The browser (say Google Chrome) then opened your default MP3 player and played the song. Now it is repeating the same. So, try cleaning the browser setting and resetting the browser.


Screen keeps black after official upate for Samsung Galaxy S3

Sent it back for repair. Main board was exchanged and now it's working fine with the latest version. Just bad luck I guess.


Google two-step authentication and Android lock screen

You would have to use your emergency backup codes you should have printed out: Backup Code Page.

These are one-time use codes that Google recommends you print for emergencies to access your Google account to unlock your phone.

Additional Information for methods of gaining account access.


How to Make Android phone Slave Display Raspberry Pi 3b?

This feature needs to be supported by the phone manufacturer.
The software is not a challenge after that.
I know no phone which has such a feature at the moment.


CM 10.2 with Google Apps version 20130813 won't download from Play Store

Sorry buddy. Factory reset does the trick... usually this is required when switching between ROM versions, and the Gapps XDA page mentions also that to flash a new Gapps you need to format the /system partition, data, and dalvik.


How to pair Galaxy J5 with Samsung gear S?

According to GSMArena, the Gear S is only compatible with some Samsung phones, not including the Galaxy J5. That page was from a few years ago, but the O2 product page for the Gear S agrees.

As Samsung has replaced the Gear S with the Gear S 2, whose chief selling point is that it additionally supports some non-Samsung phones, they're unlikely to revisit the Gear S software to make it compatible with more phones.

This linked question about an unsupported way of getting the original Galaxy Gear to pair with non-Samsung phones may also be relevant to you.


How to increase internal Application Storage?

Short answer: You can't.

Long answer: You (probably) can't, but you can try.. if you don't mind potentially bricking your phone. You'll need root.


Well it's never safe to go behind what the manufacturer had set out for you. Cons of rooting include but aren't limited to

High risk of bricking phone (corrupting the bootloader rendering the phone particularly useless)
Voiding warranty

For beginners I'd recommend kingo root app. You literally just download the app and they'll do the rest for you. Kingo also has a lesser chance of bricking your phone/failing to root.

Other ways of rooting include loading a custom rom through the bootloader for your specific phone model but as you said you're a beginner and I wouldn't advise you to go this way until you feel more comfortable having understood the ways of rooting a phone.

.


Continuous pairing request from a smart watch

It is an issue across most Android wear devices, Wear 2.0 and any watch.
You'll see this issue all over the Internet.
I have two Moto 360's and both constantly have pair requests with my Android 7 Motorola Droid 2.
I have factory reset both, followed Google's directions and still does it.
Hopefully Wear OS 3.0 will fix it, but I've heard both of my watches are not getting that update, which is BS.


Different Android devices may have different force-reboot methods, so you should refer to your device’s documentation. To reboot frozen device you should usually press and hold the Power button + Volume Down button (or Volume Up button - it depends on device) for at least 7~10 seconds and stop holding those buttons once it’s started the reboot process. You could try to press and hold just the Power button itself for at least 30~45 seconds.


Questions about safety and reversibility of SD card partitioning.

Basically your approach is sound, with some minor adjustments I'd suggest:

You could do that. But it would be easier to simply shrink the existing partition. Using the right tools, that would even keep the data.
Of course you can, but you'd lose the data from one of the partitions: Simply remove one partition, and resize the remaining one to fill the entire card. But do NOT use NTFS :) It must be FAT then again, as it was before partitioning.
Depends on your device/ROM. If /extSdcard was, before repartitioning, the place you found the external card, after repartitioning you should find the first partition there. If not, simply use a terminal app (or adb shell) and issue the command mount (or, possibly easier, df) to list all mounted partitions and find where it went to. Should be the only one using FAT, so easy to tell ;)
That "strange path" points to your internal SD card. In case you wonder what then /sdcard is pointing to: to /storage/sdcard0/ (it's a so-called symlink).


Replace the content of a certain dead area of the display

Using xposed edge you can extend input:
From one working edge you can go halfway in direction of the broken part and a crosshair will move the double (or more, based on config) distance in the same direction.
Releasing finger will fake a tap under the crosshair.

Xposed edge require xposed framework, installation procedure for the framework depends on device and system installed, most of the time only require working recovery that is able to install non OEM signed archives.


Developing Android apps from within Android

There's a Premium Key ( Separate App )
I think AIDE Is your best bet !


The guide you have mentioned is correct. Basically if you are rooted , whenever you wish you tether over a VPN you need to type the code in terminal as su

iptables -t filter -F FORWARD
iptables -t nat -F POSTROUTING
iptables -t filter -A FORWARD -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE

and to route traffic in specific tethering routing table additionally need:

ip rule add from 192.168.43.0/24 lookup 61
ip route add default dev tun0 scope link table 61
ip route add 192.168.43.0/24 dev wlan0 scope link table 61
ip route add broadcast 255.255.255.255 dev wlan0 scope link table 61

basically android tethering interfaces uses a DHCP range 192.168.43.* Notice the change of netmask from 255.255.255.0 (24bit) to 255.255.255.255 (32bit) allowing the re-routing of addresses (192.168.xxx) to tun interface (usually 10.1.xxx)

I use the same re-routing rules smoothly


You could try to install SIM Contacts. I've not seen how to make it your default app for managing contacts, but I suppose you could drag the app icon to your homescreen or to the dock, so you can just access it quickly from there.

With the SIM Contacts app, you can add, edit (long-press on a contact and a menu will appear), or delete SIM contacts. You can also choose to copy them on your phone.

UPDATE #1: From Izzy:

  Also, if you don't want anything to be synced to Google, make sure to
  turn off all sync options in Settings → Accounts & Sync. By default, that's all enabled.

As long as you add new contacts as SIM contacts, they will not be synched to Google. Only contacts added as Google contacts will be synched.


A lot of people are asking that question. Here's one.

Some people are offering bounties. Like at XDA-Developers.

Some people have suggested alternatives. AxCrypt looks like an alternative, and there's an alpha product that works with it (and Dropbox) called BoxCryptor.

But I've not found an actual port of Truecrypt to Android, nor any information about plans to do so.


What is CCleaner for Android referring to by "Hidden Cache"?

Other apps mention that as well, e.g. the cleaners of Avast and AVG – so it seems this isn't specific to the app. I would guess they refer to the apps' "private cache" (i.e. a cache directory inside the apps' private space in /data/data/<package_name>).

This developer article might give some insight. Quoting (emphasis mine):

  By default, Android Extensions adds a hidden cache function and a storage field to each container (Activity, Fragment, View or a LayoutContainer implementation) written in Kotlin. The method is pretty small so it does not increase the size of APK much.

Another insight from our sister site:

  … but other then that it's all saved on hidden cache partition.

Which suggests there's some special hidden cache partition somewhere – or the writer of that answer got it a bit wrong (which I think is the case).

A third variant: Some apps create "hidden cache folders" on the SD card. Now guess what "hidden" means here? sdcard/Android/data/<some_app>/.cache – a hidden directory (leading dot in the name) called .cache.

No straight answer, sorry – but my guess is it's referring either to the first or to the last of these 3 options. Highest likelyness is the latter – which seems to be confirmed by the SD Maid wiki¹:

  "Hidden caches" targets cache like files that are in non-default cache directories, e.g. videoCache, .cache.

One thing for sure: they're NOT talking about geo-caching with that

¹ thanks to SSS for this pointer!


Unless someone figures something else, here are my findings:

Huawei will let you create multiple safes. However, doing so will cause you to enter an infinite loop of login screens that you cannot "exit" to enter either safe.
The only way to fix this is to delete the .File_SafeBox folder from the root of your SD card.
All files will be destroyed.


How can I allow a second user account to unlock my device after a reboot?

So I had the same problem with an employee to whom I had given a phone. She kept forgetting to charge the phone, so when it rebooted after charging she had to hand me the phone so I could type in the password and then switch to her secondary account. Tired of this, I read some articles about multiple users. I couldn't find the right answers (or didn't understand them) but here is what I did.

I switched to her user account and protected her user screen with a swipe.
Rebooted
In my admin account, I erased/disabled my screen lock by erasing my admin password.
Rebooted
In my admin account, I enabled the screen lock again by using a password. The phone then prompted me to accept added security by needing a password before startup. This time I chose NO. Then I re-added my old password.
Now after reboot, my employee can swipe the screen down and select the second user herself without having to input the admin password. And if she tries to switch to my admin account, the phone asks for my password.

I really don't know how vulnerable the phone has become after declining the added security, but now I can get back to work faster and have one less thing to worry.

I hope someone still finds this helpful.


If you can get to recovery you should be able to flash the full factory image which will restore your phone to completely stock.

Download the full occam factory image, which includes the full system, bootloader, recovery, kernel (boot.img), and radio. It's a clean slate for these components - they'll flash cleanly over anything you have now.

You can run the bundled script called flash-all (in which case it will run all necessary commands for you) or you can unpack the tgz (tar/gz) archive, and then the zip contained within as well. This will put all the components into one folder:

Then run the following commands:

adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader*.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio radio-mako-m9615a-cefwmazm-2.0.1700.84.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot format cache
fastboot reboot
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked.

Note: Instead of unpacking the image*.zip and flashing system and boot manually, you can actually do fastboot update image*.zip - this won't delete data (you would pass a -w flag if you wanted that to happen), but it will re-flash recovery back to stock if you were running a custom one. You can then flash it back, or just use the commands above instead. Either way, the result will be the same.


Why isn't ~/.profile sourced when I start the terminal app?

Jackpal's Terminal Emulator has an option that allows you to set what commands are executed at startup. Go to Preferences - Initial command and put the source command there.

Extra tip: you can't execute more than one line of command from there, but if your command requires su, shortening it with su -c should work.


Can I safely delete the "browser" icon if I use Chrome?

Depending on where you wish to delete it from:

Homescreen: Tap and hold the icon, then move it to the trash can (which usually appears on the upper border of your screen). This just removes the icon from your homescreen, and you could re-add it any time by long-pressing it in the app-drawer and let it go on the homescreen). Very safe to do.
From the app drawer: This is the list of all apps available, and you usually cannot directly remove anything here. Instead, unless the launcher offers you to "hide" items (some do, e.g. Apex or Nova – I'm not sure for the default TouchWiz launcher as I don't use a Samsung smartphone), you need to uninstall the corresponding user-app or, in case of a system app, disable it. For this, go to Settings › Apps › All, scroll to the app in question (here: the browser), tap the entry (which opens the details page for the app), and tap either the "uninstall" or "disable" button.

You can of course re-install an app (as long as it is available), and you definitely can "enable" a disabled app again (same procedure, the button will now be named "enable") – so this usually is safe enough, though you'll receive a warning of possible side-effects. Critical components (e.g. "Android System") cannot be disabled anyway ;)


Meizu m3 note started lagging because of Google play services

The problem is caused by Meizu app store that continuously updating google play service infinitely. So, try the following steps:

Turn off your auto update on Meizu app store by tapping App store > profile (top right) > setting > App store auto update.
Install older version of Google app installer, for example is here.

Those steps work for me.


Samsung Galaxy DUos - Balance Deductions

Mobile data means Internet access on phone via mobile network. It costs you money when not on Internet plan. Turning it off is very easy. Open notification bar turn off Mobile Data (icon with 2 arrows one up one down) -or- open Settings>(More)Mobile networks> (uncheck) Mobile data (SIM1 & SIM2).


Can I adjust a car radio volume by Bluetooth?

It depends. Usualy when you would pair a device to you car audio player, the player would only want the files on it. But that depends on the player and what type of connection it makes with it's paired devices. So basicaly I think you will have to try and see if it works.