Prevent device administrators from being installed

Physical control is total control.

If they have full physical access, if they try hard enough (and that customer obviously didn't do that by accident) they'll always be able to mess with the phone.

You can, however, make this much harder. As @Dan Brown suggested, you can lock the settings away with a password. Something else that comes to my mind is creating a new user on the phone (that is possible if you have at least Android Lollipop or a custom ROM based on it), again locking the main account which has administrator access away behind a password and then giving the phone to the customer with only access to the restricted user. Again, if they try hard enough they will still be able to break this if they have the device and enough time and knowledge. But a seperate account should be one of the easiest built-in ways to make this harder. You can also try some apps which offer parental controls - these apps need admin access but in turn can lock many rights away. But they often cost money and/or don't always work right.

I'll do a bit more research on this and edit the answer in case I find a better solution


In which version of Android was encryption of /data made available?

Gingerbread 2.3.4 ROM added support for device encryption, but the feature wasn't accessible from settings until Honeycomb (tablets) and ICS (smartphones).

To enable device encryption in Gingerbread device, you need to add an Exchange account. Not sure, but it should be accessible through API too.

There are also some hacks to enable device encryption directly in Gingerbread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405165


You may do the conversion using the ffmpeg tool:

Download Termux for Android
Install ffmpeg binary by apt-get install ffmpeg
The command to convert x265 to x264:

  ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:a copy -x265-params crf=25 output.mp4


Enabling USB OTG on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos

There is no way to enable USB OTG on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos. Thats all I know so far.


How to execute a file via adb command line?

A few suggestions (this is a shell so I'm guessing you have basic shell commands) one or all of these may work:

First try: sh su

Then: bash su

Then: ./su

If it has an extension give all the above commands a try with the extension of su

Also as a suggestion to see what commands are available just type: help

[EDIT]

since you mentioned not having root access try using the sudo command before su (and the above commands if needed)


You're not allowed to do this, From whatsapp FAQ:

  Using one WhatsApp account on multiple phones, or with multiple phone numbers
  Your WhatsApp account can only be verified with one number on one device. If you have a dual SIM phone, please note that you still must choose one number to verify with WhatsApp. There is no option to have a WhatsApp account with two phone numbers.

  If you attempt to frequently switch your WhatsApp account between different devices, at a certain point, you may be blocked from re-verifying your account. Please don't repeatedly switch between different devices and numbers.


Does Google have a record of my fingerprints from the Android devices?

No, your fingerprint data never leaves your device.

  Your fingerprint data is stored securely and never leaves your Pixel or Nexus phone. Your fingerprint data isn't shared with Google or any apps on your device. Apps are notified only whether your fingerprint was verified.

Source

Source is from Nexus/Pixel support pages hence why it mentions them specifically. The same should apply for other devices however)


How to remove an app that is a persistent device administrator

Go into your phone's Settings and open Security. From there, tap Device administrators, and you should be able to turn it off from there.


Connect android phone to WAN port of router (not lan)

I got this working today. I bought an Asus RT-AC68P router. It works out of the box. I just connected my phone to the router's USB 3.0 port using a normal phone usb cable (same one used for charging, etc.).

All Asus routers have the same firmware, so this should work "out of the box" with any new-ish Asus router.

I am not impressed with the Asus setup procedure when using a USB 4G modem/phone for WAN, but I ultimately got it working. I prefer working with dd-wrt myself.

This functionality is supposed to work with dd-wrt too, but today I also purchased a BUFFALO AirStation AC 1750 DD-WRT Router (WZR-1750DHPD) with firmware "DD-WRT v24SP2-(8/12/14) std" and I could not get it to work. I will try a newer or different version of dd-wrt in the near future.

Here are some references for more reading on the topic:

DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - 4G USB Modem
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=981336#981336

  "I can recommend Kong Mod to achieve this. Works right out of the box,
  at leastt for me. I recently lost my wired internet connection and
  used a 3G dongle as backup. The only thing I did was to plug in the
  dongle, select '3G/4G' as Wan connection and filled in the APN.
  Everything worked directly, no additional modules to load. Success or
  failure is of course dependent on the dongle being supported."

DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - BS build 14144 3G/UTMS option
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=69970&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60&sid=3a47d435b696e5f108ef1475040e1337

Mobile Broadband - DD-WRT Wiki
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Mobile_Broadband

  As of 04/04/09 we support UMTS 3G / 3.xG / 4G/ LTE and CDMA2000(EV-DO)
  modems connected via the USB port or as mPCIe cards.

Of Modems and Men
http://ofmodemsandmen.com/index.html

DD-WRT Router Benefits - #5: Take Full Use of a 3G USB Modem or 4G MiFi Mobile Hotspot
http://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2012/03/26/dd-wrt-router-benefits-advantages-5-taking-full-use-of-a-3g-usb-dongle-or-4g-mifi-mobile-hotspot/

Share network of Android mobile phone to the router (USB 3G tethering) | SmallNetBuilder Forums
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/share-network-of-android-mobile-phone-to-the-router-usb-3g-tethering.9624/

  This page contains screen shots of the Asus router firmware and some
  minimal instructions for how to use a 4G phone as the WAN connection.


Sadly Google Chrome and other browsers don't have a feature to hide the url bar and tab bar. One alternative is the app Full Screen Browser.
Its features are:

Web browser that allows for full screen viewing.
Hide or dim navigation bar (Home, Back etc).
Hide action/status bar


How to install superuser HD2 rom on SD card

It was easier then I thought. I just need activate Developers options and under Developer section activate root.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knm1kKVkJd8


Go to Settings>Apps>All and uninstall Google Play Store. This will uninstall only updates for the new version, and replace it with the old version. Then you can download without the "Insufficient Storage ERROR".


how come google contacts on web have no last name, only name

Please see if sync is activated on your phone. It may be because of syncing problem that the change is not reflected.


How to identify the app/process which re-mounts partitions R/W, creates files and changes file permissions?

Note: Following solution requires a rooted device. Kernel must be built with AUDIT_WATCH, preferably AUDIT_TREE.

The only good thing Google did was to choose the flexible and configurable Linux kernel for Android, not going for something like a crippled kernel and trying to handle everything from userspace, including running a Linux kernel (1).

Linux kernel's Audit System makes it possible to log any system calls or filesystem changes made by a process. In our case we need to identify the process(es) which are writing to /sdcard or /system and making syscalls mount and chmod.

Linux distributions have a service auditd which communicates with kernel to get information about security-related events. On Android we have already logd, not as configurable as auditd but enough for basic monitoring. logd mainly covers the functionality of its desktop counterpart syslogd, but also includes klogd and partially auditd to get logs from SELinux subsystem of kernel.

We can add a few more rules using auditctl to also report events we are interested in. You can use auditctl from a minimal Linux environment on your Android device, or compile the binary from source code (should be built with --with-arm / --with-aarch64 whatever your devices' architecture is), or get one pre-compiled here.

Now create rules files in /etc or wherever you want to:

# /etc/audit-start.rules

# enable auditing, won't work in PID namespace
# won't work if permanently disabled with kernel parameter "audit=0"
-e 1

# delete previous rules (though there are none on Android)
-D

# increase the buffers to avoid failure
# no. of event to be queued, waiting for logd to read them
-b 10000

# disable rate limit (msgs/sec) to avoid failure
-r 0

# this determines how long to wait in burst of events
--backlog_wait_time 0

# set failure mode to dmesg
-f 1

# define filesystem rules, whatever file/directory you want to watch
-w /system -p wa -k FILESYSTEM_AUDIT

# define syscall rules, see all syscalls with 'ausyscall --dump' or
# here: github.com/linux-audit/audit-userspace/blob/master/lib/aarch64_table.h
-a always,exit -S fchmod -S fchmodat -k CHMOD_AUDIT
-a always,exit -S mount -k MOUNT_AUDIT

# /etc/audit-stop.rules

# clear on exit, restore Android default values
-e 0
-D
-b 64
-r 5
--backlog_wait_time 18000

Apply rules:

~# auditctl -R /etc/audit-start.rules

Now make changes; mount /system R/W, write/delete something there and change file permissions.

Depending on logd configuration, you can get audit log in one or more of different logs (2) including events buffer (3) of logcat and main buffer (4):

~# logcat -d -b events,main | grep _AUDIT

Or in kernel's printk buffer (5) and logact's kernel buffer (6):

~# dmesg | grep _AUDIT
~# logcat -d -b kernel | grep _AUDIT

audit(0.0:16122): arch=c00000b7 syscall=40 success=yes exit=0 a0=7fcec5db38 a1=7fcec5db3f a2=0 a3=8021 items=1 ppid=761 auid=4294967295 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=(none) ses=4294967295 comm="busybox" exe="/data/data/com.mixplorer/files/busybox/busybox" subj=u:r:magisk:s0 key="MOUNT_AUDIT"
audit(0.0:16126): arch=c00000b7 syscall=53 success=yes exit=0 a0=ffffff9c a1=7b839180c0 a2=81a4 a3=0 items=1 ppid=11687 auid=4294967295 uid=10135 gid=10135 euid=10135 suid=10135 fsuid=10135 egid=10135 sgid=10135 fsgid=10135 tty=(none) ses=4294967295 comm="Thread-7" exe="/system/bin/app_process64" subj=u:r:untrusted_app:s0:c135,c256,c512,c768 key="CHMOD_AUDIT"
audit(0.0:16141): arch=c00000b7 syscall=35 success=yes exit=0 a0=ffffff9c a1=7bc22a3c40 a2=0 a3=7bdfbd3098 items=2 ppid=11687 auid=4294967295 uid=10135 gid=10135 euid=10135 suid=10135 fsuid=10135 egid=10135 sgid=10135 fsgid=10135 tty=(none) ses=4294967295 comm="pool-2-thread-1" exe="/system/bin/app_process64" subj=u:r:untrusted_app:s0:c135,c256,c512,c768 key="FILESYSTEM_AUDIT"

First line shows that some process running as root with Magisk's SELinux context has made syscall 40 (mount) and the command shows it's MiXplorer app (just as example, I did that myself).
Second line indicates that the app running with UID 10135 has chmoded something.
Third line shows the same app (by making syscall 35) deleted something in /system partition.

This is a simple use case. More recursive rules can be defined to deal with complex situations, interpreting other fields of log as well, as explained here.

To clear rules:

~# auditctl -R /etc/audit-stop.rules

NOTE:

For simple cases where the objective is just to get notified of some filesystem changes (and not to trace the originator), inotify API can be used instead as explained in this answer.
In order to mark all the processes that run before the audit starts auditable by kernel, pass audit=1 boot parameter to kernel, either by editing cmdline in boot.img or use fastboot -c option.
To save audit log to a file, run logcat in background:

logcat -s auditd -b events -f /data/media/0/auditd.log &


Gmail app doesn't send messages, gives strange logcat message

Things like this sometimes happen when something gets stuck in cache. To solve that, the easiest approach is:

boot into recovery
select to "wipe cache"

Which works for both, stock recovery (aka "3E") and custom recoveries.

Of course, with a custom recovery you can also "wipe Dalvik" – doesn't hurt, just causes a longer first-boot after that. Side effect might even be improved performance, especially when you frequently install/update/uninstall apps, as this wipe forces the entire dalvik cache to be rebuilt cleanly. The important part however is the "normal cache", where it's more common that "things get stuck".


Don't give up. I tried the method where you take out the battery, press the power button for one minute and then wait for five minutes before reinserting battery. Did not work.

I then tried the heat method. Disassemble the phone and unclip five or six ribbon connectors. Take the main board and heat it with a heat gun or close-up hot hair drier. Fast, with sore fingers, press the ribbon cables back into sockets and reassemble the phone. Did not work either.

I then reflashed the ROM using Odin. Not easy with a black screen but possible. Reflashed successfully, screen still black.

Then took out the battery and waited for six days: the phone then booted first time.

Hence, it looks like some bizarre capacitance is stored somewhere and needs time to discharge. I hope this info saves someone else's phone. Neil, Dallas, Nov 7, 2016


Samsung Galaxy Note 1 /sdcard/ folder tree

There are several ADB GUIs available which might help you out. All of them have in common that you can browse the Android device's directory tree using a graphical frontend, and also execute "stuff" from a command-line interface ("console"). They might offer additional features as well:

Android Commander

root optional (and only needed for Applications Manager and flashing options), Windows only. Offers an ADB shell (console) and a graphical file manager.
ADB Browser

a GUI based file and application browser, Windows & Linux
QtADB

seems to require root & Busybox. Multi-platform, multi-purpose GUI, including shell (console), file browser, app manager, system info, and much more.


First, you need your phone to be connected to your computer
If the icon still doesn't appear, go to settings, storage and after hitting the 3-dot menu you should see a USB mode button


How can I delete cookies for a specific site in chrome in android

Press the favicon for the site and a pop-up will allow you to change a few settings for that specific site including removing data like cookies, just did it, Android 6.01, works.


USB Flash Drive is not recognised on Android phone

Make sure of the following things:

Phone is OTG ready and compatible (Not all phones support OTG connectivity).
Flash Drive is correctly formatted (The storage device needs to be formatted as exFAT,FAT32 or something similar.).

If your phone is OTG compatible and flash drive is formatted correctly but it still doesn't work, then your flash drive might have some partitioning problems or it is just broken and will need to be replaced.


Music player showing the wrong album art

I found the solution to this. As I said in my question, the problem is that all my songs had their Album Title set to "Unknown" or simply not set.

To fix this, you have to change the Album Title to something unique. Here's what I did to fix this (automatically, for all of my songs in a single click):

Download mp3tag.
Drag all of your songs into the program.
In the navigation bar, click Actions > Actions.
Create a new action with the following settings:

Name: Name it anything.
Create a new step.
Action type: Format value
Field: ALBUM
Format string: %artist% - %title%

Select all of your songs in the program.
In the navigation bar, click Actions and then click your newly created action.

That should fix it.


How to recover deleted photos from Android's internal memory

If fortunately, you have backed up your photographs in Google Photo, then you can simply open it, go to the "Trash" and choose the photos that you've backed up and tap on the "Restore" option.

Note:

1.This method is only useful for the data that have been deleted within 60 days.

2.Be sure that the option "Backup &sync" in the "Settings" of Google Photo has been turned on.


How can I get acube effect app drawer on ICS or JB?

The drawer and its animation effects are part of the Launcher (a.k.a. Home) app.  Stock Launcher in AOSP (Android Open Source Project), which CM and many other custom ROMs are based on, hasn't included this particular effect since Honeycomb (Android 3.x).

You can most probably find the app drawer's "cube" scrolling effect in 3rd-party Launcher replacement apps.  I would start looking at Google Play store for various Launcher apps (e.g. Apex Launcher, AWD.Launcher, etc.)


Can I use my Galaxy S+ (or S4) in the shower safely without electrocuting myself or damaging the device?

No, the phones you mention are not IP rated and thus not safe to use in the shower or anywhere else they might get wet. They won't electrocute you, because they operate at low voltages, but it will probably cause irreparable damage to the phone.

They're also not Japanese phones, so this has very little to do with the tweet you saw. Samsung is a Korean company, and Android penetration is actually pretty poor in Japan. The Japanese phone market is dominated by flip phones, and touchscreens haven't caught on very well - perhaps for the reason they suggest.

(To avoid confusion, the "IP rating" mentioned above is nothing to do with networking. It's the name of a rating system for electrical devices' resistance to environmental factors like water, dust, and impacts.)


Heimdall error: Setting up interface failed!

There are a few options here, let's do the easiest first:

Do not boot into Download mode from the "4 way menu" from the device, this will cause issues. Ensure you turn the device off and boot into recovery with the Volume Down + Power buttons.
Ensure USB Debugging is enabled on the device.
Ensure samsung-kies has no processes running, or just uninstall it completely. It causes a LOT of issues with USB Drivers.
Ensure you have the correct USB Drivers installed for your device.
Try a different USB port, and cable if possible.
Try deleting /System/Library/Extensions/Heimdall.kext and reinstalling Heimdall
Try running this command: sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/heimdall.kext if you get an error then point 3 is your error!
Ensure Heimdall has the correct permissions: sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/heimdall.kext
Reinstall your OS (Linux) from scratch (this is a rather nuclear option to be honest)

Finally this is more general for other users. If you are using a Mac OS run the following:

$ sudo kextunload -b com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite
$ sudo kextunload -b com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData
$ sudo kextunload -b com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMContro


Go to Android Settings, the wireless then enable "portable wi-fi hotspot"

Then connect to that wifi using your tablets wifi manager. Then you should have internet


Instagram videos shown upside-down on BlueStacks

I had the same issue, reinstalling Instagram fixed it


How can I prevent an APP from using my phone's camera

Not directly, but with a rooted device, Xposed or a custom ROM (e.g. CyanogenMod) you are able to revoke permissions granted to the app by Android.
If your device allows the installation of applications signed with developer keys, then you might be able to do that without root needed.

Side effects may be unexpected application crashes or hangs if the app decides to do something that needs one of the revoked permissions.
In the best case the application will just not be able to use e.g. the camera and show a black preview of the image (Camera App for example).


How do I put a link to a screenshot on my homescreen?

You can try this widget : Photo Widget, which allows you to put images on your home screen. Or the application Evernote but it is a bit heavy for what you need however this app is very useful.

Hope this will help


Which baseband version is the official one for the 4.3

You didn't mention which country you are from.

As much as possible, use the version that is intended for your country and your network. I9500XXUEMJ8 and I9500XXUEMJ5 will most likely have the same features, but different modems (using a modem that is not intended for your country can give you a poor signal or cause other issues like heating).

I9500XXUEMJ8 is obviously more recent, based on its naming convention. If you're trying to flash the ROM from sammobile, you can still get the firmware that's not for your country. But you risk two things here (and possibly others):

It may not have the region / language you want
It may not have the correct / suitable modem for your country.

In the second case, you can always flash a modem for your country (after you flash the ROM). But if you don't want to deal with possible issues (and headaches), better get the version that is intended for your country and your network.


Schedule SMS in Message+ on Samsung Galaxy S7

The default Samsung message app has a built in delay feature. Type the message you want to delay, then touch the menu bars or dots. Find the option that says "schedule", then follow thru prompts.


Will installing CM9 on Xperia PLAY, lose its Playstation power?

Apparently this post suggests that the proximity sensor and touchpads currently don't work with CM9.  this may be fixed in a later release, but I'd hold off for the moment.


Will I lose root access on my Incredible if I install the Gingerbread OTA update?

You almost always lose root when installing an OTA update. I would keep an eye on RootzWiki or DroidForums for someone to confirm that it can be rooted or someone to release a rooted update.


Yes there was Issue with Battery drain but they had solved the issue and you can go for 4.1.2 and performance is good.


I have the problem to save the contact on the contact list
they said you have to clear data of
 Setting->App ->All ->Contacts
then restart the phone.
I tried it, it worked,
but I've to do it everytime I save a new contact?!!!


You need a unlock code from Huawei. Unfortunately they do not provide unlock codes anymore. Your only chance is buy one from third party seller


what to do if my all google apps are not working properly

Its is not necessary to fully wipe the phone. You can go to app manager and reset all google apps to their factory states and update them once they are functional. This is only for not working apps in case you did not get stuck during rooting. If in case you tried to root it, then try unrooting and rooting again and if this does not fix the problem, then do a factory reset.


Unfortunately logcat does not survive a hard reboot because the logs are stored in circular buffers in memory, and are never actually written to storage.  Your solution to leave a terminal session running may work, but as you said may grow the file uncontrollably, and during a reboot it may corrupt the output file.  I would suggest adding the -r and -n switches so that only the most recent entries are written:

logcat -r 1024 -n 10 -f /sdcard/logcat.txt &

This limits the logs to 10 files named "logcat.txt", "logcat.txt.2", etc., each 1MB in size.  When that limit is reached, it will overwrite the first file, and so on.

You may also want to look into /proc/last_kmsg file, which stores kernel logs just prior to the last reboot.  Use cat /proc/last_kmsg > /sdcard/last_kmsg.txt command to write its contents to a file on your storage.


Does the Play Store app verify the APKs?

Android itself checks the certificate when you update already installed APKs. It's therefore not possible to install a tampered/modified app that would need to be signed with a different certificate. It would throw a certificate mismatch exception.
Using Google Play to install a new APK for the first time is different somehow: It's signed with the developers key, but Google or a man in the middle could tamper the connection, modify it and then send it to you with a new signature. The package installer and android itself doesn't check back with google if the signature matches.
But Google Play implements the security recommendations that google gives for developers: It uses SSL and should be therefore secure. Unfortunately a wrong implementation can lead to flawed security as it happened with many apps that were tested for SSL vulnerability in this study:

http://www2.dcsec.uni-hannover.de/files/android/p50-fahl.pdf

(Not including Google Play)

Still the signature check itself is still vunrenable in 4.4:
http://www.zdnet.com/kitkat-gets-fix-for-android-app-tampering-bug-but-earlier-versions-still-vulnerable-7000022930/


Drop\stop mobile data connection (non-wifi) by conditions

Settings only available after you turn on mobile data, it's under settings-->data usage.


How to play speakers sound in microphone

Use a 3.5mm male to male between your computer audio output and your phones headphone jack and then download an app that turns your headphone jack into a mic input. Can definitely be done on Android not sure about IOS


How to change PPTP VPN client's port number?

use
serveripaddress:portnumber

example
111.200.123.55:1755

this way you are over ruling the default 1723 pptp port
but make sure the server is listening to the new port


Why does the CM7 Radio FM app require bluetooth to run?

The radio chip-set is more than likely, shared with Bluetooth and thus issues the commands specific to bluetooth to be able to switch on the FM receiver. This will depend on the handset in question.

You do need the headset to be plugged in as that acts as a FM Antenna.

The FM radio framework was an add-on to the CM source at the time of GB 2.3.7; the headset acting as antenna is indeed the mechanism (don't ask me how/why, but its common among certain chip-sets that requires it).

The actual FM Radio app was developed by Andorko, he used to hang out on the Zte Blade Community, developed the radio and one of the CM devs on that same community, integrated the Radio framework into CM, (Which was non-standard). As due to the popularity of the FMRadio application, it was tweaked and adapted for other chip-sets in question based on handset.

Depending on handset, Silicon Industries is one, si470x (x being 8 or 9) is common (used on Galaxy 5, Zte Blade), there's Texas Instruments (TI) which shares the bluetooth functionality within the TI chip-set - we're talking SoC (System on Chip), by sending a series of bluetooth HCI commands, the FM radio receiver starts up.

By your comment below 'why did it work before?' that is assuming it was a stock ROM that came with Galaxy Fit handset, then in that case, the FM radio support was based on some proprietary software within the stock FM application itself.

CM 7.2 handled it differently using a non-standard framework for communicating with the FM radio, in which the above radio application that comes with CM, was adapted for that very reason.


Other than the options you mentioned,
There's a seriously long way to do this, the best way in my opinion.

It's very basic and effective, I used this method to find the files or folders that KingRoot modified, created or deleted.

It's one of the oldest methods around,
Compare a base image & after install image.

Backup the device ( in stock condition is better )

system
data
( call it Base Image )

Install and run the application
Backup the device again
( call it Test Image )
Transfer the backups to a PC
Extract the backup's into two separate folders
Use a comparison tool to test for differences between the folders
Identify any Deleted, Modified & Created data

I used WinMerge or something like that, it is designed to help merge folders, however it is enough to do the comparison.

You can also compare the compressed images without extraction by using a Hex editor that has file comparison tools.

I use HxD Hex Editor to compare files on PC.


Can I trigger a media scan via the command line?

The SSH server doesn't set all the necessary environment variables so it is easier to use a shell script.

#!/system/bin/sh

export ANDROID_ASSETS=/system/app
export ANDROID_CACHE=/cache
export ANDROID_DATA=/data
export ASEC_MOUNTPOINT=/mnt/asec
export ANDROID_ROOT=/system
export BOOTCLASSPATH=/system/framework/core.jar:/system/framework/core-junit.jar:/system/framework/bouncycastle.jar:/system/framework/ext.jar:/system/framework/framework.jar:/system/framework/android.policy.jar:/system/framework/services.jar:/system/framework/apache-xml.jar:/system/framework/filterfw.jar
export EXTERNAL_STORAGE=/mnt/sdcard
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/vendor/lib:/system/lib

am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///mnt/sdcard

When successful:

# rescan-media
Broadcasting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED dat=file:///mnt/sdcard }
Broadcast completed: result=0

This works on Cyanogenmod 9.1. Depending on your system the environment may be slightly different.

Note: In later versions of Cyanogenmod / Android the SD card may be mounted at /storage/sdcard0. Make sure you know where your card is mounted or this will never work. Diskinfo may help here.

Thanks to Dan Hulme for pushing me in the right direction.

References:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1752749
http://intwoplacesatonce.com/
http://kennystechtalk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/start-android-media-scanner-from.html


How would I use Tasker to boot my PC when I get home?

You could check out this wake on LAN plugin for Tasker / Locale. (Haven't tried it - would be interested to hear how you get on if you give it a go)


How to Flash Android 5.1 in Moto E XT1022

A custom recovery is a replacement recovery software for your device. It basically has a backup feature and a system for installing unsigned updates (flashable zips).

Factory reset is a wipe of your user data and cache partitions. It does not affect other partitions, and can be done via stock recovery.

Flashing a ROM can be done in two ways: fastboot or some flash tool for stock ROMs, and for custom ones, by flashing a ROM zip through a custom recovery. For the installation of a custom ROM, not one of its updates, these partitions should be wiped: system, data, cache (app data cache), and dalvik cache (app code cache). Further information depends on the particular variant of the device you are on.


You can use the app QuickShortcutMaker to create a shortcut to the Storage settings activity of Settings app.

(Click image to enlarge)

Tap on a particular entry and choose Create to create a shortcut on home screen.


How do Xiaomi and YU! (CyanogenMod) phones have Google Play Store in India?

Core Android ROMs have pre-installed google apps.  Nexus mobiles have Core Android ROM.
Nowadays each manufacturers have their own custom roms such as Lg has its own  os(Forked versions of Android) same as Xiaomi(MIUI). Samsung , Sony , Micromax have also started to customize their OS in order to achieve better performance.

Google apps needed only plateform Android. Custom Roms make no difference to installation and support of google apps. Each android custom roms support all google apps. Sometimes they have given pre-installed google apps ans sometimes not. At that time we just need to download it.


How to make Samsung Tab 2 10.1 screen always on?

Download tasker from play store

Import the following task to tasker (save as .xml ) and then import

Download tasker task.

You will get the following screen on time
23 hrs 59mins 59 secs

Put a profile to run everyday, so it gets repeated everyday.


Probably you werent running the specific firmware on which the CM port for your phone was designed to be installed on. Check if you had missed any steps in the tutorial.

If your phone gets stuck at the bootlogo or bootanimation, you can try to do a factory reset from the recovery mode. If the problem still persists, try flashing the stock firmware and then installing CM.

If your phone does not respond at all while attempting to switch it on, its hard-bricked. The only way to recover it is by using jtag. You need to disassemble the phone for this method, so it's better to take it to a service centre. Here the bootloader is rewritten to the device using a riff box. Watch this video to see how it's done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zaehAFjME


Message "Uninstalling...", but no result

You can simply have a hard reset and if that problem occurs again. You can take your device to Samsung Service Centre. There can be a virus which would be stopping your device from uninstalling any application from your device. Having a hard reset is the best option you have which have a great probability of solving your problem.


How to upload images onto Google Glass device and view them?

Your best be to view images on Google Glass would be to use the 'mirror-api' methods to create an application that you can run on Google Glass.


There isn't an option that allows you to do it on stock android, you'd have to use an app. I've used BlackList before.


Trouble connecting to 4G when Wifi enabled, but low signal

On Android 4.4, there is an option "Avoid poor connections" under Settings->Wi-Fi->Advanced(perhaps under the menu). You want to set this option on.

This option is not present in Android 6. I'm not sure whether it's present in Android 5.1.


Can you identify this 'N' app running in the status bar?

I don't know for sure, but could it be a variation of the NFC status icon?


How can I disable or password protect my device's 'factory reset' function?

Not possible on any stock recoveries that I have seen.  A custom recovery would be needed for something like this, although there would be nothing preventing someone from flashing a different Recovery that doesn't have password protection.

Honestly though, factory resetting your device is probably the best thing a thief can do, since this wipes your personal data (at least the portion that's stored on the phone's internal memory.)


Can the Fitbit sync with a Google Nexus 10?

I borrowed a friend's Fitbit and tried to sync it with my Nexus 10. I enabled Bluetooth. I then installed the Fitbit app and logged in as him. There is no option anywhere to sync the device.

I then logged out, and created a new account. On a compatible device, once the account is created, it prompts you to sync a Fitbit device. This question is never asked on the Nexus 10.

Circumstantial additional evidence comes from the large number of unhappy reviews citing device compatibility on the Fitbit app page.

So it is confirmed that despite the probable existence of the necessary bluetooth hardware/software, at the time of writing Fitbit devices cannot be synced with the Nexus 10.


How to bootup a Samsung s-duos with bad battery

If you claim that you took  it to a technician to repair it, are you sure the problem of your battery was solved? Have you considered replacing the battery with a new one? Or using another Samsung's battery on the phone?

Once you have a good battery you can know check for other issues that could be affecting your phone.


How do I disable google keyboard/gboard?

Here is the method to disable GBoard on stock Android phones (Steps for Huawei phones should be pretty similar)

Go into Settings and tap on Apps
Locate GBoard from the list of apps and tap on it
On the next screen tap on the Disable button


It appears to be defined in /init.rc, at least on my device:

export PATH /sbin:/system/sbin:/system/bin:/system/xbin

I don't think you can edit this file directly though, even with root access, because it is part of the read-only boot image, not the /system partition. If you want to edit it then I guess you would have to unpack, edit and re-pack the boot image as described here:

http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack%2C_Edit%2C_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images

I haven't tried this though.


Using command-line to boot into primary and secondary ROM of MultiROM

I searched for the string multirom --boot-rom and came across an interesting paste (copy) posted by an untitled guest, with these relevant lines:

<alvinmobile> How do you autoboot other rom in a secondary rom?
<alvinmobile> I mean where do you store the info?
<Tassadar> it runs "multirom --boot-rom=nameoftherom" in su shell, and MultiROM takes care of that - it loads ROM list as usual and either directly kexecs the required kernel or sets force-autoboot into rom X (which saves into multirom.ini) and reboots

I was on the right track as it seems. I suddenly realized that multirom installer zip may be the final piece of the puzzle. And it was, since it contains the multirom binary and uses extract_multirom.sh script to place the binary et al into /data/media/0/multirom (accessible with root access only).
As for finding the name of a ROM, it is what you see in the ROM list in the app or the name of the top-level directories under /data/media/0/multirom/roms.
Boot into the ROM
(Prefix adb shell in commands if you want to use adb to test them.)
The command is very simple:
su -c /data/media/0/multirom/multirom --boot-rom=ROM_NAME

Replace ROM_NAME with the name of the ROM to which you want the device to boot into. It is case-sensitive so Internal works but internal doesn't to boot into primary ROM.
I've not tested passing a ROM's name consisting of special characters but whitespace can be escaped using '' and \. E.g., the name Xenon HD can be passed as 'Xenon\ HD' and  the whole command would be
su -c /data/media/0/multirom/multirom --boot-rom='Xenon\ HD'

You can create a symlink for convenience.
Trial and Error
With a bit of testing, I reached the conclusion that the ROM can be switched by editing the multirom.ini file alone, followed by an ordinary reboot instruction. Among other lines in that file, these are the most useful ones:

current_rom=COS12
auto_boot_seconds=5
auto_boot_rom=Internal
auto_boot_type=0

Here,

current_rom - contains the name of the currently active ROM or the last active ROM if the device powers off without an instruction to be switched into an another ROM
auto_boot_seconds - timeout to boot into default ROM
auto_boot_rom - the ROM that should be booted into after timeout
auto_boot_type - governs whether there should be a direct switch between ROMs or should the UI for ROM selection be shown during boot

(There are no sources to support the claims. I've reached the conclusion based on my experiment only.)
Let's assume that your active ROM is named COS12, internal ROM is named Internal and you want to switch to Xenon HD. Switch it this way:
(Requires Busybox)

su -c cp /data/media/0/multirom/multirom.ini /data/media/0/multirom/multirom.ini.orig       # one time command and optional, but it is safe to make backup always
su -c sed -i 's/current_rom.*/current_rom\=ROM_NAME/g' /data/media/0/multirom/multirom.ini  # for Xenon HD, ROM_NAME would be Xenon\ HD
su -c sed -i 's/auto_boot_type.*/auto_boot_type\=2/g' /data/media/0/multirom/multirom.ini   # changing to `2` causes MultiROM to directly boot into the ROM mentioned in `current_rom`. The setting would later be reverted to 0 after successful boot
su -c reboot

Commands are optional here. You can use a file editor app, such as QuickEdit to edit the file.
Note: During reboot:

If auto_boot_type is found 1, the ROM selection UI would be shown after boot logo and it overrides auto_boot_rom which means after timeout the device would boot into whatsoever the current_rom has, automatically.

If auto_boot_type is found 3, device would boot straight into whatsoever the current_rom has, but, auto_boot_rom would also now be found same as the current_rom. auto_boot_type later reverts to 1 after successful boot.
I cannot comment on whether this is a bug or a desired behavior, but this is how it is.

Further note that I wouldn't be surprised if methods mentioned in this answer fails for a non-Android ROM.


Lenovo s860 Bricked, Recovery Crashes, No OS

I managed to repair it.

1) I installed the following android verion http://www.needrom.com/download/lenovo-s860/, but it upgrades to a chinese Vibe 2.0, which is very customised and has no Google Play Store, as weall as all other Google apps.

2) So I used the "Upgrade Firmware" option on the PC program (SP Flash Tool) instead of the "Download" one to install http://www.needrom.com/download/rom-stock-4-4/ (this site contains very precise instructions, check it out before doing any of the steps)

3) Now phone works perfectly, but it has IMEI connection problems - IMEI Invalid - Lenovo S860, rooted android 4.4.2, nothing works

4) KingoROOT seems to fix the IMEI problem

5) Phone up and running perfectly


If the developer do not give you access to the (Web)Settings of the WebView, you will not be able to disable JavaScript in the WebView.


Phone setup--Google sign in error | pop-up loop

Do you isntall Gapps just right after flashing the rom? I mean after rom flashing don't reboot your device, and before these are you wipe all of dalvik/art cache, system, cache, data?

Update:
okay I searched further because my LeEco(LeTV) Le 2 X620 had the same issue, but for this until now haven't CM-based Rom, but this issue not depend from it
but there is a Google framework deep inside the rom, thats used the google apps too, but some reason OpenGApps used a diferent one (I don't know which the original, not inportant, the important is these not compatible with each other)
that framework included every OpenGApps package but if the installer find inside the rom not overwritten by the installer, other words OpenGApps not work on LeEco phones right now (most of them not work, explain later)
so I advice to install the core Google apps/services manually, what you can search for it and download there, and install it in this order (sorry my low reputation not authorize to use more than 2 link in post)

Google Account Manager
Google Services Framework
Google Play Services
Google Calendar Sync
Google Contacts Sync
Google Play Store

some of them has many version depends on DPI, Android version, achitecture
so choose wisely
if that complete you are able to sign in store and install other apps
to make sure everything work well the reboot probably necessary
that's not the best solution, only a workaround but I do my best
I hoped that helped


Why aren't there notifications for updates to built-in applications?

If the app has never been updated via the market (you are still using the version that was bundled in the ROM) then there's no link between the market and the installed app. Because of that, you won't get update notifications. Once you install a newer version from the market you will begin to receive notifications of future updates.


Can you reprogram the motorola-droid-razr-m screen buttons? Does it require Rooting?

I'm not sure this would be helpful, but I love this app called Button Savior, which provides on-screen access to many of the functions you would find only via hard buttons.  You can activate it by a simple swipe, or by pressing a very translucent button that's always on the screen.  Some of the functions do require that you have rooted your phone, but not all.


Turn off the phone,. Once fully off hold volume down and power, it will bring you to the recovery menu, using the volume buttons navigate the menu and use power as your enter button, should have reset to factory or wipe user data as a option.  Not sure if it will need a on-screen button press but only other way is from that recovery menu you would be able to flash the partitions via adb or if you unlocked your bootloader it would auto wipe the user partition. Which doesn't need on screen confirmation.  But there are your options.


Finally I remount /system as R/W. The proper syntax of command is:

mount -o rw,remount /system

NOT:

mount -o remount,rw /system

I really dont know why, but second syntax is executed without errors but /system is still read only. The first command works on NOTE 4 N910C correctly.
Thats all, topic closed.


How to regain access to phone when unable to use password and fingerprint?

"Factory reset" and "hard reset" are just different names for the same thing. Just make sure you know the password for your Google account, as you'll need it after you factory reset.


What Effect Will Installing A Custom Launcher Have On MIUI V.5?

First, launchers are apps like all other apps you can install. Which means: per se, there should be no problems -- but they of course might have bugs and, in rare cases, side effects. Again, this is not limited to launchers. So far for the "generic info".

Now specifically for the launcher: After having installed a launcher (Nova should be fine, Apex might be another choice close to Nova), when he presses the Home key to switch to the home screen, he will be asked which launcher to chose. So still he's got the choice to use the MIUI launcher or his "custom one". On every press of the Home button. Until he decides to always use one of the two, and marks the check button to remember his choice ("always use..."). Now on Home key press, it's always that launcher being started.

If at a later time he wants to switch back: still no problem. The "decision popup" will come again if one of the following conditions are met:

he installed another launcher
one of the installed launchers receives an update
more than 2 launchers were installed, and the current default launcher is uninstalled
in Settings→Applications, the settings of the current default launcher are opened, and the "clear defaults" button is pushed
some "default apps" manager was used to trigger it

So in short: I'd expect no trouble. Some special features of the MIUI launcher might not be available in other launchers, some specific MIUI widgets (specifically built for the MIUI launcher) might not work with the other launcher -- but if he wants, he can always return/swtich or even revert his changes.


How does Over-the-air updates (OTA) work

CyanogenMod ROM has a built-in Updater application which can periodically (or manually) check their servers for a new release of the ROM.  Your current ROM version and date stamp are sent (in a completely anonymous way, no identifiable information is sent for privacy reasons) to their servers, and any new versions are returned.  The user is then presented with a notification, and can choose to download the update (entire ROM actually) and automatically or manually flash it via Recovery.


How to turn off cellular radio in Lollipop/JellyBean using adb?

From DavisNT answer on Stack Overflow,

There exist a simple workaround on rooted devices.
To enable Airplane Mode the following root shell commands can be used:
settings put global airplane_mode_on 1
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE --ez state true

To disable Airplane Mode these root shell commands can be used:
settings put global airplane_mode_on 0
am broadcast -a android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE --ez state false


Xperia Z3 boot loop after TWRP installation

Now that you can enter into fastboot, you can execute the commands below
fastboot flash recovery ~/Downloads/bootZ3monxtest01.img
and fastboot reboot and install a custom rom.

flash boot boot.img is used to flash kernel images.
boot.img is a file which contains kernel and ramdisk.

More on Boot & Recovery images can be found here


Will my geographical positions be tracked and stored in the google location history when my internet connection is temporarily interrupted?

So, after my vacation I know for certain that it is possible to record the positions without an open internet connection.
As soon as an app requests a position (in my case an offline map app)  this position will be stored (cached) by the location services from google.
The positions will be transferred to google as soon as an connection has been established.
I have no details about the number of positions that will be handled this way.


Is it possible to pre-download a YouTube video to view it later offline?

Update:

YouTube has removed this feature. Source

YouTube's official app allows you to preload a video. You can either preload all your subscription or the videos you have added to watch later.

When your phone is connected to WiFi and charger, Youtube automatically pre-loads them.

Open Youtube -> Settings -> Preloading

One thing to note is that this still requires data connection to view the pre-loaded video. It won't download the videos but it does something (may be verification) before showing pre-loaded videos.

Read more at support doc


Moto Maxx with android 6.0.1 takes random pictures upon on/off button pressing:

Check under Display and disable the highlighted button. This is on Moto X Play and I think you should find it there in your device too


Update to 4.1.2 on a Nexus S with CWM and broken USB port

If you can find someone else with an unlocked Nexus S, you can use nandroid backups to do everything on their device and then duplicate efforts to your device, like so:
Let's call your phone Device A and theirs Device B.
Boot into recovery on both devices, then make a nandroid backup of each device, which I will call Nandroid A and Nandroid B, for each phone.  Using some sort of wireless file-transfer application (AirDroid, Samba Server, etc), transfer the nandroid backups to a computer for safekeeping, and then put Nandroid A onto Device B and boot into recovery on Device B. Wipe the cache, dalvik cache, system partition, and data partition, then restore Nandroid A onto Device B. Once the restore is complete, boot Device B normally and perform the OTA update as you would under normal conditions.
Reboot into Recovery on Device B after installing the update, and make a new nandroid backup which I will call Nandroid A2. Then, move files around wirelessly as outlined above and wipe Device A and restore Nandroid A2 to Device A. Finally, wipe Device B and restore Nandroid B to Device B and give it back to your much-indebted-to friend.

Be careful when you wipe before a restore /not/ to wipe the internal storage on the device. The Nexus S doesn't have an SD card slot, otherwise I'd just advise you remove the SD card altogether while restoring... But TWRP has a pretty straightforward checkbox that will help you make sure you aren't wiping your internal storage.

Yes, this method is roundabout and long-winded, and yes, it does require access to hardware that you may not be able to get your hands on. But it will work.


This is a solution that is specific to Samsung devices. This will only work if you have soft-bricked your device. It is pretty simple to build and can get you into download mode on most Samsung devices, just have your ROM ready to flash and you're good to go!

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/need-a-samsung-usb-jig-build-your-own/

Here is the actual YouTube video that I used to make mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdn5GoRjhn0


While writing the details for this question I figured it out.

There is a horizontal ellipse at the top-right of the screen.  Tapping that and then Call History brings up a screen with three tabs: All, Missed, and Voicemail.  The voicemail tab is what I was looking for.


How can I require the pattern unlock only for specified times

Sure. If you use automation app like Tasker, you can make your phone to disable screen guard, if it detects you are in your office. Detecting your location can be achieved in many ways. You could use any WiFi, if it can be used as a reference or rely on cell id, defining a radius.

Please see a guide aptly named as Location without tears. It explains the various ways with which the Tasker can identify your location. It goes more explaining the pros and cons, the trade off between the battery life and accuracy etc.

I use Tasker in my mobile to reduce all volumes when I am in the vicinity of my office. I did this by creating a profile and choosing the State as my first context.

In the next screen Select Phone Action I selected Phone and select Cell near option. This brought up the following screen:

When I pressed scan Tasker started to log near by cell tower's id. I left it for a while and walked around my office so that it will gather maximum ids. I initially thought Tasker only retains last eight ids, but when I exported the profile to XML, I could see many entries. Hence the more time you keep it scanning and more walk around you make, more will be probability of successfully recognising your location.

Well that's only half job done. I then assigned an action that the Tasker can perform when this profile is active.  There are two kind of tasks - one is called entry task and other is called exit task.  I used Keyguard action to switch key guard off  as entry task, which will fire when this profile is made active. I used the same Keyguard action to swtich the key guard on as exit task so that when this profile is deactivated.


It turns out that you should select at least one option in the "CA Certificate" field. I was able to save the setting after I set it to "Don't validate".


I have never seen that changelog list on cyanogenmod update screen but it sounds like a nice feature.

There is at least one webpage with changelog and there was a changelog app (no longer working with lineageos).However a new app is there for lineage changelog. Maybe that does help.


"App not found" for only applications in folders and on SD card

1) Try Restart.
2) Unmount sd card, then clicked on mount sd card.
3) Try Another Launcher


Where is the 'sleep' low power option in cyanogenmod 10.1?

You are right. Sleep mode is something from Motorola, not from Android. So, CyanogenMod (based on the stock rom) does not have this option. It has several other options, and you just need to find something close to it. You could try airplane mode, which turns off all connections (wifi, bluetooth, cellular, NFC, etc..)


There is no general way to verify if an unspecific app has been torifyed, but you could simulate behavior of https://check.torproject.org/ web service (which essentially looks up HTTP client address in tor exit node list and reports if found or not) using general purpose utilities as follows:

Launch terminal and telnet to public route server

user@android:/ $ telnet route-views.optus.net.au

At server prompt issue show users command

route-views.optus.net.au>sh users
    Line       User       Host(s)              Idle       Location
   2 vty 0                idle                 00:01:32 94.228.44.113
*  3 vty 1                idle                 00:00:00 tor-exit01.baconsvin.org
   4 vty 2                idle                 00:04:46 203.81.71.31
   5 vty 3                idle                 00:00:46 cg.eastlink.ca

  Interface    User               Mode         Idle     Peer Address

An asterisk * at line 3 (vty1) denotes an active line you are using to connect, and location of your line's endpoint (tor-exit01.baconsvin.org in this case) clearly marks tor exit node (some exit nodes do not have so friendly reverse DNS, so check against known endpoints like your ISP, VPN or look up in tor exit node list).

Thus, you just connected through tor (try the same with tor stopped to see the difference) and hence, Orbot's transparent proxying feature works for all apps.


Default Samsung S4 messsenger application name

You need to go to settings>applications>application manager and go to disabled apps tab where you see all your disabled apps.

P.S App you searching for, called Messenger


Is it possible to manage filters from Gmail app?

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


Office Mobile not installed yet opening PDF files

1.When searching for apps. Tap the menu  hamburger, items on the right, then tap show system files etc.
It should be in there. From this you can go into the application information and clear everything especially "Defaults".
Or
2. However, you can try this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aboutmycode.betteropenwith

Or just simply install office and uninstall it after you have demonstrated step one.

Good luck


Go to settings, accounts and disable Sync. It will reduce your data consumption by a lot.

You still can check for emails manually though when sync is off. Remember this is the only way to get fresh mails then :)


Samsung GS3 (SPH-i710) exchange server repeated security update notification

Exchange is trying to apply your organization's default ActiveSync policy to your device.  More than likely, the refresh interval setting on the ActiveSync policy has a number set in hours.  Unchecking this box may resolve the issue.

We're having this issue with a couple of our Android devices after publishing a new ActiveSync policy.

Here is Microsoft's official response on the issue.


How can I use my Android phone as a voice changer?

Use this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.baviux.voicechanger I tested it and it's fun


Motorola RAZR D3 power button doesn't (un)lock screen

This is not the ideal solution, but is still a working solution (bad solution is better than no solution):

Using the reference from TrendBlog.net, I installed Power Button to Volume Button which replaces the power button functionality (un/lock screen) with the volume buttons (up & down).


are you sure your phone is recognized by Windows?
You can verify this by looking in the Windows Device Manager if there is no error message or a yellow question mark on your device (you can find it by searching device manager in the search field of start menu)
If the driver is not installed you can found it on http://www.samsung.com/


Galaxy Nexus bluetooth keyboard connectbot

If you're willing to use an onscreen keyboard, I've had a lot of luck with the Hacker's Keyboard. It has the layout of a computer keyboard, including Esc, Tab, Alt, Ctrl, and various other keys which are usually missing from mobile keyboards.


How to confirm WiFi data is being used, not data plan?

I use a Galaxy S5 running Android 6 (Marshmallow) and my phone has different icons for wifi and data.

My phone also has little arrows that turn white if there are packets are being uploaded or download.

You can see data usage by app in the data usage setting.

And if you find that an application decides to use a lot of background without telling/asking you, you can click on it, and disable background data.


My Phone Installed a Duplicate System on Top of Existing One. Uninstall How?

I'd try to do a full backup of your entire phone contents as is with Kies, save to your desktop computer, then factory reset and start over and use Kies to try and selectively restore the data you're trying to recover.

According to a thread on xda here when using Kies Restore it extracts all contents of the .sbu backup file to C:\Users\{LogonName}\Documents\samsung\Kies\sbu\temp\{NumberID}\{Files Extracted} which you could try to explore and see if you can access the data from there.


How can I turn OFF Google Lens search, permanently

This link shows how to disable the feature.
It's hard to follow at first, just replay it a few times.
Basically type chrome://flags in your chrome browser, which give you a "search flags" prompt, type in lens, then disable each of the items that appear.
https://youtu.be/6PlEuLNPxqY
Good luck.


Cannot see special characters on Polaris Office

Palliatively, I installed Kingsoft Office, although it is so big for my device (it is about 13MB in size, and all my internal storage is just 180MB)... So I had to remove some apps to install it.

Well, it does the work well: show special characters without issues.

But I wait for a solution for Polaris Office...


Just let it recharge for some time then try again


Trouble with SD card in Prestigio Multipad PMP3370B

I think the problem is the fact that it is a SDHC card. SDHC cards are rather new, and are not supported yet in most devices. So maybe you could try to find a normal SDSC card (from digital camera, friends, family..) to test if it works with that type.

The reason why SDHC cards are not yet supported in some devices is because it uses another type of Card-Specific Data (CSD) register. This results in some compatibility issues with some (older) devices. But if you want to know more about this, I recommond to use Google.

I would think though that a new device like yours (because it has Android 4.0) would support this already.. I haven't heard of the brand before, so I don't really know the quality of their devices.

EDIT: The device should support SDHC cards up to 32GB according to the specs, so that can't be the problem. I suggest contacting the support then, maybe they can tell you what is wrong and what you can try..


Possible to answer a comment made at the Google Play Store?

It is now the case that all developers can reply to reviews on their apps. The reply shows up publicly next to the review, and by default, the user who left the review gets notified by email (but users can turn off being notified in the settings on the web). There can only be one reply per review. The reviewer can only respond by editing their review, and the developer isn't notified when this occurs.

It's still not helpful to use reviews for reporting problems with the app, because solving them generally needs several messages back and forth to narrow down the problem, and sometimes needs the user to tell the developer how they were using the app or what they wanted to achieve: something you might not want made public.


How to lock camera and volume control when phone is locked

My device doesn't have a separate camera key, so I was able to test my solutions only with volume up and down keys. AutoInput with Tasker (full 7 day trial; userguide) is what you can try. You would either have to buy or enable full trial of former since the solution featuring AutoInput would not work.

Important: Launch AutoInput and enable its accessibility service.

For Tasker:

Profile: State → Display → Display State → Is: Off
Task: (Action):

Plugin → AutoInput → Modes

Configuration:

Key Suppress: Enable
Keys: tick the entries viz. Volume Up, Volume Down and Camera

Timeout: None

Exit task: (Action):

Plugin → AutoInput → Modes

Configuration:

Key Suppress: Disable
Keys: tick the entries viz. Volume Up, Volume Down and Camera

Timeout: None

That did the job in stock Android 6.0.1 in Nexus 6, at least for volume rockers.

On a rooted Android, you can try Xposed Additions app. It requires a compatible Xposed Framework1.

Instructions:

Launch Xposed Additions → tap Buttons
Tap Add new key and when the dialog appears press your hardware key once to register it
Tap the newly created entry for the button you pressed earlier
Tap Add new Condition → Screen Off
Tap the newly created Screen Off entry → tick Click under Single Actions

Follow the said instructions for the rest of your relevant hardware keys.

Note: If Ambient Display is enabled, then during the moments when the display lightens up briefly, pressing any of the relevant keys would result in their actual intended effect and not the one the two solutions aim for.

1  Xposed Framework: Android 4.x, Android 5.x and 6.x


Notifications have black and white colors - why are they both colors?

The colour

I believe the background colour of each notification depends on the app that added it, I think the default is white for 'stock' Android.

The line

This is to separate the different levels of priority for notifications. I expect the Twilight one is set to lowest priority (MIN) whereas the weather one will likely have a higher priority (MAX). Whilst some apps do allow you to specify the priority, most will just set what the believe to be most appropriate. Google does provide guidelines on how to choose the appropriate priority to help developers in this regard.


I have the same problem.

I did some digging, you can download the app from Aptoide or you can use a better app called CloudPlayer.


It can be done with  Titanium Backup, see titanium-backup tag for more details.
From Main Menu of app access Extract from Titanium Backup option and you would be able to choose the apps which you can restore. This is fine if you are talking of third party apps
File-carving technologies on the Nandroid images (see our data-recovery [tag-wiki] would also do this ( I am not conversant with this ). You can read more here Are there any downsides to using a nandroid recovery?. Also see this for other possibilities Restore only part of nandroid image


How to keep downloads from disappearing in standby mode?

There doesn't seem to be an answer to this question. I've tried many combinations of settings, but in the end, nothing fixed the error. I'm afraid this is a bug in Android, and since Samsung won't be rolling out any other updates for the N9005, we're stuck with it. There are, however, some things you can do to avoid the problem.

You can install a download manager from the Play Store. Those keep your downloads up and running, but they can cause other problems such as battery drainage or damaged files.

Another option that is will work is prohibiting your screen from turning off. There is a setting under developer settings that will keep your screen on when charging. You can also install an app from the Play Store if you want to keep your screen on when you're off the grid.

Lastly, you could install a custom ROM with an higher Android version. For the Note 3, the DarkLord ROM is an option. It comes with Android 5.1.1.

[ROM] [6.0.1] [WIP] DarkLord S7 Edge Full Port (Fastest, Smoothest)

For me, it worked like a charm, but you'll have to decide for yourself wether you want to flash a custom rom or not.


We cannot look into the sources of the Google AccountManager: while Android itself is open source, the Google apps are not. But we can make an educated guess:

It's not necessary to store passwords on the device in this case. You once enter your password, it gets confirmed server-side, and you receive an "authentication token" in return. That token is saved on the device, and used by it until it gets invalid (either by expiring or by being revoked) – in which case you will be asked again for your password, and the game starts over. This is why you can simply "revoke access" from devices without having to change your account password.

The token is always specific to the device (same reason – otherwise you couldn't revoke access from one device without affecting any other). I can't say whether the token would be useless to some "root app" aquiring it without your permission (non-root apps would have to ask you for your confirmation when first accessing it), or what they could do with such a token while offline (again, closed-source parts) – maybe someone else is able to shed a light on that.


The general consensus is there's usually different partitions available:

system
data
cache
boot
recovery

When a guide says to flash "partition" where partition is one of the above, then that implies transferring the contents destined for the partition. The mileage will vary depending on the handset/manufacturer as not all of them actually have implemented partitions like the above.

Usually it can be done with using the cable plugged in and using fastboot.

For example:

To flash a kernel onto the boot partition one can undertake it like this:

sudo fastboot flash boot boot_image_file.img

followed by:

sudo fastboot reboot

Likewise in the OP's case, its referring to the recovery partition.

sudo fastboot flash recovery recovery_image_file.img

I would be wary about using ROM Manager to do this for you without using a computer; Have got bitten by it, and found that it can sometimes, be incorrect with regards to using recovery i.e. ClockworkMod Recovery, it was so convinced that I had a very old version of CWM, when in reality, the latest was installed; end result, I messed up the recovery and threw away ROM Manager as I preferred to do it on the computer - less errors and that the human checking is in place.


I just found the cause of the problem :
It was due to the Android System Webview which was bugging and then couldn't display web UI on several applications.

I just had an update of it and now everything works fine !

One of the update's patch notes (translated from French, it may not be perfect) :

  Resolved crashes in applications using WebView in an application context


According to this thread on Blenderartists, sensor size is 4.54 × 3.42 mm and focal length is 3.7mm, which gives a crop factor of 7.7 and a 35mm-equiv. focal length of 28.5 mm.

Be careful to check if the video is cropped in comparison to the still images, reducing the effective sensor size.


Broken Samsung Galaxy S4 screen.. (not working) need little help

If you are doing the replacement yourself, you're best to replace the entire front assembly. See the warnings as to why on this page.

I would personally recommend the genuine item as I would have no idea where some other brand came from. I'd guess they would be refurbished items as these panels are made specifically for the devices. Using one might be a gamble, but I honestly don't know.

There are many safety tips, including having the right tools and ensuring you have grounded yourself. Prepare by watching the videos carefully, reading other documentation, and ensuring you know exactly what you will be doing. Don't force anything or the little bits will break. Ensure you have a lot of light in your work area, and that you have containers to put the little tiny screws and parts into.

My most important tip is to warn you that there's a reasonable chance you will damage the phone if this is your first try at fixing one. You need to balance that fact, as well as your own abilities, against the cost of having the fix done for you. I don't want to discourage you from trying it, but you need to be realistic about the possible outcomes.

Best of luck!


Is it possible to root a Kindle Fire running software version 10.2.6?

From this thread:

  Well Everyone, seems Amazon went and did an update and just wanted to
  confirm so that everyone knows the steps in Root Working 10.2.4 Kindle
  Fire 2 Root made easy still do work on the updated 10.2.6

Here's tutorial about rooting kindle on 10.2.4.


Please help me do data recovery from a phone stuck in bootloop

When your Android's system files stop communicating correctly, the device may end up having difficulty starting. Boot loops are the result of system files not knowing how to function during the initial start-up phase and can be caused by a variety of things, from downloading new apps to accidentally changing system files.
Soft Reset the Android Phone
The first step in dealing with a boot loop is performing a simple soft reset. Turn off your Android phone and remove the battery. If you're unable to remove the battery on your specific model of phone, leave the device powered off for at least five minutes. Turn the device back on to see if the boot issue has been resolved. Sometimes a quick soft reset is all it takes to shake bugs out of the startup process.
Factory Reset the Device
Factory resetting your phone will completely wipe it of data and restore it to the original factory settings. Power down the device and boot it into Recovery Mode. The exact steps for booting into Recovery Mode depend on the phone's manufacturer – consult your user manual. From there, select “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” and start the process. After the wipe, select “Reboot System Now” from the main menu.
Using CWM Recovery
If your phone is rooted already with CWM, the steps for wiping the device are different. Power down the phone and launch it into CWM Recovery Mode by pressing the Home, power, and volume up keys at the same time (this key combination may be different for your specific Android phone). Select “Advanced,” choose “Wipe,” and then pick “Dalvik cache.” Next, choose “Mounts and Storage” and then use “Wipe /cache.” Reboot the phone and the issue should be resolved.You can do same things if you have TWRP recovery.
Use Dr. Fone and RecoverIt from Wondershare
This is app for pc. Download this programs(for premium functions you can install cracked version) and connect your phone to pc. Click on data recovery and you will see "Recovery from bricked phone". It can work when your phone has hard brick or soft brick. After that press on recovery and it will work. If something is not clear for you, you can watch tutorials from YouTube and etc.
These are the ways I know. I hope these methods can help you.


How to move app data to external SD card without root

Most of the app's data is stored in internal memory, below /data/data. You cannot access these directories/files directly if your device is not routed; same applies to moving it elsewhere.

But if your device is rooted, the keyword are Data2SD, App2SD, and Link2SD:

App2SD: the "official" way to move your apps to the SDCard (see: app2sd and its tag-wiki, the latter describing it in more details). This method moves a big part of the app itself over to the SDCard. Can be used without rooting the device.
Link2SD: an advanced variant of App2SD. This moves the entire app to the SDCard, and then creates symbolic links to the "original places" -- fooling the system to think "nothing ever happened". Requires the device to be rooted, plus a separate partition on the SDCard. See link2sd and its tag-wiki for more details.
Data2SD: doesn't care for the apps, but for their data. Also requires the device to be rooted. We have no tag for that, but you might want to look up the corresponding app on Google Play: Root # All Data2SD card..


How accurate is Google Play installs measure?

It doesn't take uninstalls into account. It is very slow to update and based on the all-time number of individual Google accounts that installed it, NOT the devices.

That's all based on what I experienced, from the Play Console combined with Store

Possible values include:

1+

5+

(Maybe some more)

100+

500+

1k+

5k+(?)

10k+

50k+

100k+

(Maybe some more)

1m+

(Maybe some more)

1b+


Why is the SMS app crashing when sending SMSes to a three digits number?

Your SMS app is crashing because of an software bug, which is causing an uncaught NullPointerException resulting in a termination of the davlik VM and it's process.


Sounds like a hardware problem (assuming the lines extend all the way across the screen).  Could just be a bad connection.


Is it possible to revert back to Jellybean Stock while keeping ClockworkMod?

Just flash the firmware you like with Odin.

Attention: you will probably lose your data because of the wiping.


How can I turn off the notification for the power plug connection?

I solved the problem by doing this:

Root the phone
Install the posed Framework and Wanam Kit. Enable the Wanam Kit module after installing it.
Open Wanam Kit and go to the "Sounds" options, then go to the bottom and check "disable low battery sound"
Reboot


Stuck on Google Verification after performing a hard reset

Oplus phone is powered by Mediatek chipset (MT6582). Just flashing the FRP partition will bypass the lock. Require paid softwares.

Method 2:
Try one of many ways to get a temporary access to the device. When you're in, do the following:
(I won't show you how to access the device. You'll have to find how to by yourself)

Download this APK file and install it.
When installed, open it. You'll be asked to enter your Google credentials (E-mail and password).
Afterwards, factory reset the device (from the menu or from the recovery)
Now when the phone boots, it will ask for Google account, enter that E-mail and password (the one you previously entered before the reset).
Et voilà. FRP bypassed.

Disclaimer:
Use this method only if you forgot the account associated with the device. Do not use it if it is a stolen device.


As already mentioned in comments, get an older apk. Here's a link to one from Apk Mirror, a fairly reputable site for downloading apk's. To install the apk on your device:

First, enable Unknown sources.
Enabling unknown sources allows you install apps outside of the Google Play Store.
Before you start, you need to make sure you have allowed your device to install apps that are found outside of the Google Play Store.
To enable installation from these “Unknown sources,” as Google calls them, go into the system settings and scroll down to Security. Inside this menu, you’ll see the Unknown sources option. Check the box, press OK, and you’re good to go.

This is quoted from this site. Visit that site if you want more options for sideloading apk's. But if you downloaded the app from your computer, hook up your phone to your computer, and copy and paste the apk to your phone's files. Then unhook your phone, and find where you put the apk. Then select it, and it will bring up prompts to begin installing it. If you didn't get the apk i directed you too, and it's too new for your phone, it may say "Problem Parsing Package", which means you have downloaded an apk that's non compatible for your device.
 If you install the app and try running it, but it doesn't let you log in, make calls etc, unfortunately that means skype has discontinued its support for devices that old, as mentioned above in comments.


How do I get Youtube Links to open in the YouTube app and not a browser?

If you have YouTube installed, the YouTube app should be one of the options you get to open the video. When you see this prompt, checking the "Set this option as default" checkbox will make every YouTube link open with the app (you might have to check the option again when opening from multiple browsers, I've had this happen).


How to root a S4 google play edition on mac?

Before You Root Android on Mac OS X

Make sure you backup all your data.
Backup MMS/SMS
Backup Call details & restore app
Backup other stuff with my most recommended Titanium Backup & MyBackup Root
Also make sure that your phone is charged at least 90% so that it does not goes of in the middle of the Root Android on Mac OS X process. Also be sure that your computer is set of with the antivirus and firewalls, the cable with the specific drivers must be ready

Please Download Droid Easy Root v7d.zip Now Extract this Zip Folder to specific destination.

Set USB debugging Enabled for your Phone, To do so go to Settings-Applications-Development, and check the box for “USB debugging”.
Connect your Phone with The PC.
Don’t select file sharing or tethering mode.Just be in the Charging Only State.
Open terminal and change the path to the folder we just extracted that is “Droid Easy Root v7d”.
Now execute the “run_to_root_your_droid3.sh” present there to open the one click root tool.
Its Almost Done, Now just follow the On screen Instructions and wait for the rooting process to take place.
Also during this the Phone will Reboot many times so just keep calm and let Root your android device.
You have Rooted Your Android.

OR

Please Download Droid Easy Root v7d.zip. . Now Extract this Zip Folder to specific destination.

After Download if the Zip File doesn’t unzips itself then double click and open it, A folder of same name will be opened.
Find the path of the new folder, To get it Right Click on the File and then File Info, the file path appears on the left side.
Open Terminal (applications>utilities>terminal)
Change directory to the new folder (the file path you found earlier) the following file path is an example:cd /Users/yourname/Downloads/droid_easy_root_v7
Press enter now the terminal will change to the new directory.
Remember always entering these commands – These Commands are case sensitive and you need to take care of your Caps Lock.
On your DX, be sure USB debugging is turned on, If not So then enable it by going settings>applications>development>USB debugging and tick mark the check box.
Now Connect the DX to your Mac and select Charge Only from the notification bar. Don’t Go For tethering or File Sharing Mode.
While still in terminal and now in the proper directory type :./run_to_root_your_droid3.sh
Now Press Enter. And Keep Upper Case and Lower case Letters in Consideration.
Now Just Follow The On screen Instructions And In this process the Phone will Reboot for 3 times.
Enjoy Your Rooted Android Through Mac OS X.

Downloads  Droid easy root v7d


The Dalvik cache is the set of saved .dex files.  A .dex file is basically a compiled bytecode version of an app that has been built for the Dalvik Virtual Machine on which Android's apps run.  It's similar to the Java Virtual Machine and having saved .class files.


Need to remove password on my Samsung s4

1) Go to settings>security

2) Find "Clear Credentials" and select ok to clear credentials

3) Go back to security setting and find "Device Administrators" and clear (disable) all checked boxes.

4) POWER OFF PHONE! I had tried everything up to this point multiple times and it does not work!

5) Once powered on again go into the security setting and find "Clear Credentials" and once again clear

6) Go to "Screen Lock" and the options should be available once again.

I hope its help you.
if its work, Mark it as correct, please.


Is it possible to record a video as avi or mp4?

Root won't be necessary, the Android API allows Apps to set the output file format to .mp4. So you just need to find an App that makes use of it.

But, as with most video file extensions, .avi and .mp4 are just container formats. Therefore the actually used video codec, that is responsible for the quality of the video, isn't changed by changing the container format. The Android API itself recommends to use .3gp as container format for better compatibility.

  Using an MPEG-4 container format may confuse some desktop players.

Source

I'm not aware of an Android video recording app that actually saves the video with H.264/AVC compression. I think that this is because of the royalty fee one has to pay to use the codec.


Can I safely uninstall Flash and Facebook apps?

@roxan is incorrect, it is NOT safe to remove stock ROM apps.  If you do so, any future updates from your carrier/manufacturer will not install.

A much safer method is to use an app like Titanium Backup to 'freeze' the apps, preventing them from being seen by the system and running/being updated.  If you really feel the need to uninstall them, you can use Titanium Backup to back them up first (requires root).  That way you can restore them from backup in the future if you need to apply a ROM update.


How to check if there is a 3G software / hardware issue with phone?

This will be my way of checking the 3G connectivity issues. Might work for you too.

First try to reset the APN and restart your phone.
If it did not work, try forcing the phone to 3G. In your
dialer, enter *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone Information -> Select WCDMA only
in the drop down menu. This should make your phone work only in 3G.
Try testing your speeds via Speedtest for bandwidth.
If both steps did not solve your problem, try using a different SIM
in which 3G is working. If this solves your problem, replace the SIM
from Customer care.
Even now your problem is not solved, try factory reset your phone.
Warning: This will reset everything in your phone including pictures, take a backup of your phone before proceeding further.
If none of the above solves your problem, take it to your HTC
customer care to check them for hardware defect.


If your phone is rooted, you can install Market Enabler from Android Market and choose another location. Sometimes you may need to change the language settings on your device.


That's why it is recommended to  always make a backup of your stock recovery, HTC does not officially provide them!
I found this collection, may be you'll find one made for your phone.


On Android Marshmallow, you can use the hidden System UI Tuner.

Open the quick-setting panel, then press and hold the Settings' cog wheel until it starts spinning. You then get an additional settings entry in System > System UI Tuner > Status bar, where you can hide the alarm.


Android asks me for USB debugging permission on one computer, but not another

This was due to missing udev rules on my laptop which I'd forgotten I'd set up on my tower. You can find information on setting up udev rules elsewhere, but I'll post the exact steps I took here (which I got from my company's internal help wiki - remember we use weird hardware, so I can't guarantee this will work in all cases).

Create a file at /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules with the following contents:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0e79", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0502", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0b05", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="413c", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0489", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="091e", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="12d1", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="24e3", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2116", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0482", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="17ef", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1004", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="22b8", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0409", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2080", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0955", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2257", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="10a9", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1d4d", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0471", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04da", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="05c6", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1f53", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04e8", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04dd", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0fce", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0930", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1bbb", MODE="0666"

Then run:

sudo chmod 644 /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
sudo chown root. /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
sudo service udev restart
sudo killall adb

Disconnect and reconnect the device physically, then start using adb.


Big, red-colored "Demo" text on the center of the tablet screen

Precaution: Trojan reported in this file by MalwareBytes Mobile (from comment). Use at your own risk.

From YouTube video posted on Jose's comment,

Turn on the device.
Connect to your PC by the USB.
Download SystemPack.apk (original: MEGA, mirror: MediaFire).
Copy the .apk file to a directory on your device's memory.
On your device, look for the .apk file using the files manager and install it by touching on it and following the given instructions.
Shutdown your device, wait for 30 seconds, and the "DEMO" text will be gone.

Notice that the .apk file is like a "patch", so if you reset your phone into factory settings, the "DEMO" text will appear again.

Disclosure: The MediaFire mirror was uploaded by original poster of the answer. The file was uploaded as-is, without any compromise.


No Command Error on Nexus 5X, even in recovery mode

Download the latest TWRP image.
Download Android SDK platform tools and extract the zip file.
Move the TWRP image inside platform-tools folder.
Boot your phone into bootloader (keep holding volume up + volume down + power until you see the bootloader screen).
Connect your phone to PC / laptop via USB cable.
Navigate to platorm-tools folder which was extracted on PC / laptop.
Hold shift and right click inside empty space in the folder and click Open command windows here.
Type fastboot devices and press enter. You should see your device being listed.
Type fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.1.1-0-bullhead.img and press enter. It should finish flashing in a few seconds.
Press volume down two times on your phone to select Recovery.
Press power button and it should boot to TWRP recovery.


Android streaming music from desktop, controlled by another android!

What you need is a software which acts as an UPnP Control Point on your new phone, and a Media Renderer with Push on the old phone. A control point is capable of exactly what you need: browse Media Server (your desktop) in the same way as you do with your old phone currently, but it doesn't play itself, instead it tells the Renderer "hey, start streaming that URL". Then it just observes the Renderer and can control the playback (if Renderer supports being controlled). That "being controlled" part is called "Media Push": instead of browsing the Server from Renderer directly, the Controller tells the Renderer what to do.

Finding a Control Point for Android should be easy (i won't present any suggestions, just google "Android UPnP Control Point"). There is a solid chance that iMediaShare is a Control Point already. But i am afraid that Renderer with Push for Android is hard to find. It essentialy means that the phone must sit on the network with opened server socket, doing nothing, waiting for commands. And that's perhaps problematic with Android. I already answered one question here on a similar matter and the asker didn't report any conclusion. You are welcome to pioneer the search for such Android app :-)


How to view history of data/apps I sent using Wi-Fi direct to another phone?

I recomend you to try SilFer. SilFer can transfer files using Hotspot, WiFi, WiFi-Direct. The app is available for Android, Linux,Mac and Windows.

Download the app on Google Play:

SilFer File Transfer - Android Apps on Google Play


The only potential solution would be to find a way to current-limit the cable so that the phone would have to run off battery. You cannot simply disconnect Vcc and Ground pins, as the USB standard requires the presence of those electrical connections before D+ and D- pins are permitted to be energized. Running off battery like that would just increase your charge cycles, causing the wear you want to avoid.

As far as apps, there is no way to programmatically control the battery charging subsystem in this way; BatteryManager outputs information but does not accept inputs from user apps.


how to replace android system.apk with one custom made version of it

You can copy the new apk file directly on the folder where the old apk is located.
I advise to copy it via recovery. If both apks have the same name, just replace the old one. If not, rename the new apk to have the same name as the old then replace it.

When you finish will need to clear the cache to avoid mixing up the old data with the new.

Important: Before processing with the copy/change operation, Do a backup of the old folder. It will be helpful to restore the old apk if things go wrong.


Successfully activated USB host mode using terminal emulator; now mass storage won't work

Instead of ehci_hcd, use ehci-hcd instead:
su
rmmod ehci-hcd


How can I find which apps/packages reference a given permission using command line?

The first section is ideally supposed to be OS (on PC) independent. The solution heavily depends upon the output of package service. It has been successfully tested on Android 4.2.1, 5.0.2 and 5.1.1 - all these versions are not heavily modified from stock Android.

Dependencies

Requires adb to be setup in PC.
Requires busybox binary. If the device is rooted, install Busybox app. Else, download busybox binary from official source, rename the binary to busybox, set Linux compatible executable permission on that binary for everyone and move it into device using

adb push LOCAL_FILE /data/local/tmp/   # LOCAL_FILE is the file path where busybox binary is located in PC

Requires aapt binary. If you're running a CM or its derivative ROM then ignore this requirement. Otherwise, for Android 4.x, you can consider downloading the binary from here, rename the binary to aapt, set Linux compatible executable permission on that binary for everyone and move it into device using

adb push LOCAL_FILE /data/local/tmp/   # LOCAL_FILE is the file path where busybox binary is located in PC .

Android 5.x users: ask Google for assistance.

Here's my little script:

#!/system/bin/sh
# Check if the busybox binary exists under /data/local/tmp/ or /system/xbin. Set the detected binary's path into the variable busybox or exit if file doesn't exist or executable permission is not set
[[ -x /data/local/tmp/busybox ]] && busybox=/data/local/tmp/busybox || { [[ -x /system/xbin/busybox ]] && busybox=/system/xbin/busybox || { date +'busybox binary not found or executable permission is not set. Exiting' && exit; }; }

# Check if the aapt binary exists under /data/local/tmp or /system/bin or /system/xbin. Set the detected binary's path into the variable aapt or exit if file doesn't exist or executable permission is not set
[[ -x /data/local/tmp/aapt ]] && aapt=/data/local/tmp/aapt || { [[ -x /system/bin/aapt ]] && aapt=/system/bin/aapt || { [[ -x /system/xbin/aapt ]] && aapt=/system/xbin/aapt || { date +'aapt binary not found or executable permission is not set. Exiting' && exit; }; }; }

# Validate input
! [[ "$1" == +([0-9a-zA-Z._]) ]] && { $busybox printf 'Permission field should not be empty or contain anything beyond these characters: a-zA-Z0-9._' && exit; } || perm=$1;

# List package name of all the installed apps and save them in the file packages.txt under /sdcard
pm list packages | $busybox sed 's/^package://g' | $busybox sort -o /sdcard/packages.txt
$busybox printf "List of apps defining and/or depending on the permission $perm:\n\n";

# Take each line (a package name) from the file packages.txt. In the output of package service for that package name, see if the permission is granted or defined and set appropriate variable state. For different states, we're either dumping the label of the app using aapt, printing the status of define/granted permissions for package or simply moving on.
while read line; do
    [[ `dumpsys package $line | grep -Eo "^[ ]+$perm"` ]] && granted=1 || granted=0;
    [[ `dumpsys package $line | grep -Eo "^[ ]+Permission[ ]+\[$perm\][ ]+\([a-zA-Z0-9]+\):"` ]] && defined=1 || defined=0;
    [[ $granted == 1 || $defined == 1 ]] && path=$(pm path $line | $busybox sed 's/^package://g') && label=$($aapt d badging $path 2>&1 | $busybox sed -ne '/application: label=/p' | $busybox cut -d "'" -f2);
    [[ $granted == 1 && $defined == 1 ]] && $busybox printf "$label ($line)\nDefined: Yes\nGranted: Yes\n\n";
    [[ $granted == 1 && $defined != 1 ]] && $busybox printf "$label ($line)\nDefined: No\nGranted: Yes\n\n";
    [[ $granted != 1 && $defined == 1 ]] && $busybox printf "$label ($line)\nDefined: Yes\nGranted: No\n\n";
done < /sdcard/packages.txt

Save the script in PC into a file named perm_script.sh and move it into /sdcard using

adb push LOCAL_FILE /sdcard/   # LOCAL_FILE is the  path where you saved that file into PC

Run that file

adb shell sh /sdcard/perm_script.sh PERMISSION   # replace PERMISSION with the android permission for which apps are to be shown

Demo output:

List of apps defining and/or depending on the permission android.permission.FLASHLIGHT:

Android System (android)
Defined: Yes
Granted: No

Automagic Premium (ch.gridvision.ppam.androidautomagic)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes

MacroDroid (com.arlosoft.macrodroid)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes

Google+ (com.google.android.apps.plus)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes
...
Bluetooth (com.mediatek.bluetooth)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes

DS Battery Saver Pro (com.rootuninstaller.batrsaverpro)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes

Webkey (com.webkey)
Defined: No
Granted: Yes

Do note that all those apps and their permissions among other things can also be found in the file /data/system/packages.xml.

(To get app's label using its package name, use GAThrawn's answer - works if only the app is available in Play Store; use Izzy's answer - works for any installed app.)


I looked for 2 hours. I didn't find any Xposed modules, nor any apps that will do this on per-app basis. But you can change the response for your Android version. This is accomplished by changing the version in your build.prop file. This will be a PIA. It also involves some type of risk, so this will be on you if anything goes wrong. Read the last part of my answer more than once.

This involves root, build.prop file, backup build.prop, modified build.prop. Switching files around with a file browser. Rebooting. Using your app. Switching files around. Rebooting.

OR

Download one of the many build.prop editors available on the Play Store. Find an open source one. You can edit the version inside the editor app. It will have options for backup of build.prop file as well. Rebooting still required.

ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP/NANDROID WHEN MAKING CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM


Phone lists saved WiFi network that I do not recognize

Some other people have had a similar problem:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/615395-wifi-keeps-auto-connecting.html

It is possible that your phone connected to it because it is an open network, which means that no password is required to connect. You can disable this feature by going to:

Settings --> Wireless & Network settings --> Wifi Settings

There should be a checkbox for automatically joining an open wifi network, just uncheck it.

If your device does not have a checkbox for this, then your device does not have that function and it is not the source of your problem.

It is also possible that you joined the network on accident. Most phones have a setting that sends a notification when an open network is available. If you click on the notification it will connect to the network.

If you want your device to forget a network, then just go to wifi settings, then click on the remembered network and select forget.


The weird problem had a weird solution. I turned the phone off and turned it on again, and the problem was gone.

I can't give any reason as to why the problem occurred and why it got solved. Might be a bug.


Try to repeat this step in safe mode. You can access safe mode by these steps.

  Power off your device by holding down the Power button and then tapping on Power off.
  Power on your device by holding down the Power button. As soon as the Samsung Logo pops up, press and hold down the Volume Down key until your device as rebooted.
  You will now be able to see Safe Mode down the near the bottom left of the screen.
  To exit safe mode just reboot the device.

Hope it helped.


Other appsare terminated when I try to copy an auth code from the Google Authenticator

You can't use an app specific passphrase. Stackexchange uses Google as an OpenID provider and that works with access tokens.

To continue/finish the OpenID process you need to be logged in to Google of course (using the regular 2-step passphrase+token method). You will then be asked if you want to grant access by Google and the app will get an access token.