title: Smartwatch compatibility

text:
# Question
Title: Smartwatch compatibility
One can get a "cheap smartwatch" (most likely running Nucleos) for EUR 30 or less, a Pebble watch (usually running PebbleOS) for EUR 100 or less, or a watch running starting at a little more than EUR 100. Having decided to check with the first variant, I've seen its use ***from the point of view of an Android user*** is quite limited: it makes a lot of noise if it gets too far from the Android device (to prevent you from losing it), and it can show *some* (not all) notifications. Squinting at the latter, I notice it requires a huge companion app plus the Google services to work with an Android device**1**. I'm not at all sure about the Pebble, running an OS based on the FreeRTOS kernel.

> **So my question,** purely from the point-of-view of an Android user: What are the pros/cons and compatibility issues of those systems?

Please leave aside device specific things like water-proofness, Svarovski stones on the corners, or "valuable brandings": I'm not asking for a shopping advice on a specific model here. Also please keep out "personal preferences" (those which fall into the category of "primarily opinion-based") *as core element* (side-marks are of course OK), but rather stick to facts. What I'm looking for is ***general/canonical information about compatibility and basic features concerning their interplay/interaction with "my Android device"*** (you could phrase it "how they improve my Android user-experience").

(Using my Google-Fu on "Pebble versus Wear" etc. mostly brought up specific device comparisons only, like "LG G Watch versus Pebble round" – which is *not* what I'm after. I don't want a *device comparison* – I want some background on the underlying systems and their "co-operation" with Android)

---

**PS:** With a first answer being available, I'm also specifically interested to know which of the systems works without *Google Services* being installed – or whether there exist dependencies other than their "controlling app". Backing by "official/authoritative sources" would be very welcome in this context.

---

**1:** My devices are running *without* GApps, and the *microG* replacement does not *yet* support Wear

# Answer
**Android Wear** \- Developed by Google Inc., an official adaptation of the pre-existing Android ecosystem for wearable devices.

**Pros :**

* Developed by the same company that owns and contributes to Android, therefore underlying compatibility and the promise of future updates.
* More apps, due to the Google Play app store.
* Deeper linkage with the Android ecosystem.

**Cons :**

* Requires the usage of proprietary applications that aren't open sourced.
* Alternatives don't (as of now) offer comparatively equal services as the proprietary apps.**1**

---

**Pebble OS** \- Developed by Pebble Inc. for sole usage in their products

**Pros :**

* Not limited to a single phone ecosystem
* Doesn't require GApps to function properly.**2**

**Cons :**

* ~~Requires the usage of Pebble proprietary apps.~~**3**
* No underlying compatibility baked into Android, therefore less capability and integration at a lesser level.
* Lesser apps as compared to Android Wear.

---

**Nucleus RTOS** \- Developed by Mentor Graphics.

**Pros :**

**Cons :**

* Closed source (source released only to customers)
* No underlying compatibility baked into Android
* No generalized app store for usage of various applications**4**
* Limited in interaction with Android devices**5**

---

**Android for watches** \- Unofficial modifications of Android for usage on smartphones**6**

**Pros :**

* Access to the entire Google Play app store.
* Gives most (if not all) features of Android on a smartphone.
* Doesn't require GApps functionality

**Cons :**

* No guaranteed updates.
* Modifications aren't open source.
* Less or no support/warranty from OEMs.

---

**1:** Wear support is baked into *Google Play Services*, and additionally requires the *Android Wear* app. With *microG* there's an open-source alternative to *Play Services* (see Android without Google: microG), but Wear support is not *yet* implemented as of 4/2016. It's in-the-works, though, so it might become available in the second half of 2016. Which would mean that *currently* "Android Wear" smartwatches are not an option for those preferring "Google-free systems" (without GApps). *(note by Izzy)*

**2:** According to Pebble support, their proprietary app relies on functionality of GApps. Quoting: \*"Yes, the Pebble does use Google services." Nevertheless, I'm successfully using a *Pebble Time Steel* without GApps, having the FOSS replacement *microG* installed. *(note by Izzy)*

**3:** The *pebble* app is only available via *Google Play Store.* But even if you can side-load it from another source, in order to initialize and use your Pebble you are *forced* to create a Pebble account – via which, according to their TOS, again a lot of data are collected about your usage etc. ~~No opt-out.~~ (Quoting Pebble service: *You will need to make a Pebble account using an email address. After you make the account, you can opt-out of sending analytics/diagnostics.* ) This will be a show-stopper for the privacy aware, which for exactly that reason maybe even got rid of the GApps on their devices. *(note by Izzy)*
As pointed out by Pebble service, you can alternatively use the open-source Gadgetbridge. Using that, you won't need a Pebble account, no data is sent to Pebble – but also no support for it by Pebble itself: \*Please note, that if you go this route, we do not have support for it. I successfully initialized my *Pebble Time Steel* with *Gadgetbridge*, and also was able to upgrade the firmware and install a watchface. (note by Izzy)\*

**4:** Most of the *Nucleus* watches don't even support installing apps. They come with a set of pre-installed apps and watch faces, which you rarely can modify. *(note by Izzy)*

**5:** Often only support a subset of notifications, e.g. missing to show those coming in via GCM. Some allow to control the Android devices camera – but usually that's all to expect. *(note by Izzy)*

**6:** Unofficial modifications are not licensed or recommended by Google, and such watches are now slowly deprecating in favor of *Android Wear*.
> 9 votes

---
Tags: compatibility
---


# Question
Title: Are there any Marshmallow-compatible bluetooth styli?
I've bought a Nexus 9 as a gift for my daughter for Xmas. After reading that Android M added native support for Bluetooth styli, I'm looking to purchase one as an additional gift. I'm looking for a stylus that is highly accurate and supports varying levels of pressure and palm rejection, like the Wacom Bamboo Fineline 2 or Intuous 2. Those products only list Apple device compatibility, though.

I realise that apps need to be updated to accommodate the new APIs in Android, but can I pair either of these with the Nexus 9 in the meantime?

# Answer
Try the Adonit Dash. No palm support on Android device though.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, stylus
---


# Question
Title: How can I stop adverts from "System Update" from showing up on my lockscreen on a Micromax phone?
It's been quite some time since I last used Android, but following the untimely death of my old "roaming" phone while travelling in India, I've just ended up buying myself a Micromax Q338. This runs a Micromax modified version of Android 5.1 Lollipop

After uninstalling or disabling a few of the annoying apps it shipped with, I'm still faced with one issue - adverts showing up as notifications on the lock screen, which seem to turn up when / just after connected to the internet. If I touch and hold on them, they show as being from *System Update*, as shown here:

Lockscreen / Notification settings (click images for larger variants)

As far as I can tell, *System Update* is an official component, and not a third party app. As such, I don't think I can/should uninstall it. I also can't find *System Update* under Settings / Sound & notification / Notification / App notification, so I can't apparently disable them that way.

So, how do I stop System Update popping up adverts on the lock screen when there is / has been internet?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Thanks to help from @Izzy, I've figured it out. Annoyingly, Micromax have bundled something calling itself *System Update* that is set as a System Component and is generating these adds

To find out what's going on, I followed Izzy's suggestion on trying some *Filter/block notifications* apps. Took a few tries, but one of them (Notification Block(DND Notify)), when showing System Apps, showed me this:

(click for a larger version)

From that, we can see that the App calling itself *System Update* which is defined as a System App has the package **com.rock.gota** . A google for that shows many other people complaining about getting adverts on their lock screen from this app which their phone manufacturer had *"helpfully"* bundled into their base Android Image, just as Micromax have done :(

As I don't have a rooted phone, I couldn't use that tool to disable the notifications. Instead, I headed to *Settings* then *Apps*, discovered I could swipe right a few times to find *All* (wish I'd known that before!), scrolled down to this annoying *System Update* spammy advert app, and did a Force Stop. The *Disable* button is grey'd out, see How can I disable a stock app that has its Disable button greyed out? for how to get rid of an app like this now it's identified.

So, Micromax users beware - they're bundling spammy advert apps into their Android system builds :(

---
Tags: lock-screens, 5.1-lollipop, micromax
---


# Question
Title: How can I get the last dialled number and call duration via adb?
I'm creating a computer system for telemarketing. I'm using adb commands to dial numbers Link Is it possible to get last dialled number and call duration via adb? If it is, how?

# Answer
Maybe you just need to pull

```
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db

```

as it contains all the call logs, and then filter through?

Something like:

```
cp data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db /sdcard/MyTelephoneDatabase.db

```
> 0 votes

# Answer
I thought I answered it long time ago. You do it like that

```
c:\adb\adb.exe shell sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db "SELECT * FROM calls order by _id desc limit 1;"

```

But it may be different in different android versions. As far as I remember worked on KitKat
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, call-history
---


title: How to prevent disabling of apps

text:
# Question
Title: How to prevent disabling of apps
All my searches on this topic just return results about how to disable (built-in) apps on Android, which is the opposite of what I want. I want to know how it is that some apps do not allow disabling or force stopping, and I want to know how to make that the case for certain downloaded apps. For example, Norton App Lock is supposed to prevent certain apps from being run on the device, but what good is it if you can simply disable Norton App Lock and then open any apps you want? I notice that some apps prevent force-stopping, and some prevent disabling. I want both to be prevented. This is for Android 6 Marshmallow.

# Answer
If you have root, you move the app to `/system/priv-app`; privileged system apps can't be disabled through normal user methods.

Otherwise, it's up to the application to support Device Administration. Apps like Norton App Lock should be implementing this if they don't already, since this kind of thing is exactly what it's designed for. Registered and activated device administrators can't be disabled or uninstalled until they are deactivated.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: applications, disable-app, application-manager
---


title: Samaung S7 locked out

text:
# Question
Title: Samaung S7 locked out
My new s7 has been locked and it doesnt let me use my fingerprint aince it restarted. i have tried to use android device manager to lock the phone. it sends instruction to the phone and when I enter the temporary password it doesnt accept and goes back to the same message ; try again in 60 mins, I am not able to use find my phone feature as I havent added my samsung account to my phone when I was able to use it. Please help

thanks

# Answer
> 1 votes
Booting into recovery and doing a factory reset is pretty much your only option. To get into recovery: Press and hold “Volume UP + Power + Home” button together and as soon as you see Galaxy S7 Boot logo, release all three buttons. When you see an exclamation mark on screen, press and hold Power button and hit the Volume Up button once. Then select factory reset and go thru all the setup again..

---
Tags: locked-out
---


title: Annoying MMS problem

text:
# Question
Title: Annoying MMS problem
I am having an annoying problem on my Galaxy Note 3. For whatever reason, MMS will not send/receive on my WiFi network, but as soon as I turn off WiFi and connect to my carrier's network (T-Mobile) it works. It used to work on WiFi just fine, and we did not make any changes to our network when this started. I have had this phone for about a year and 3 months (it is preowned). Any suggestions? I have rooted this phone (Kingo), but the problems started before I rooted.

# Answer
> 1 votes
MMS service is a carrier service and is sent over a cellular network (see: wikipedia page) so you need to be connected to your carrier and it does not work solely on WiFi.

It is quite normal that you cannot send it over WiFi but as soon as you connect to your carrier's network, it works.

I suspect that in your previous experience, you may have been connected to both your WiFi and your carrier, used WiFi for Internet connection and used MMS over your carrier without being aware. If you later started turning off your carrier connection when you are connected to WiFi, this issue may have surfaced.

---
Tags: mms
---


title: Root lost After Reboot

text:
# Question
Title: Root lost After Reboot
I tried to root my phone and it worked only with Kingo Root and after I reboot my phone, I do not have root-access. I have tried several times, please answer me. I really need to root my phone. It's Vonino Jax QS.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If Kingo root can't help you root successfully. You can try another tool like iRoot.I once used and found it do no harm to my device.Try as this guide: one click root to root Android phones and tablets

---
Tags: rooting, root-access, stock-android
---


title: How to reboot a frozen Android device?

text:
# Question
Title: How to reboot a frozen Android device?
When an Android device locks up, and does not respond to holding down the power button, is there anything you can do to reboot the device besides removing the battery?

What do you do if the battery is not removable?

Although it does not always work, Windows has the three finger salute (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) which helps get around this situation. Is there anything similar in Android?

I did find this question, but it does not refer to a device that is frozen.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Different Android devices may have different force-reboot methods, so you should refer to your device’s documentation. To reboot frozen device you should usually press and hold the Power button + Volume Down button (or Volume Up button - it depends on device) for at least 7~10 seconds and stop holding those buttons once it’s started the reboot process. You could try to press and hold just the Power button itself for at least 30~45 seconds.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you want to reboot your system without using the power button (the power button hold down trick doesn't work on some devices) then you can use Alt + Print Screen and type REISUB on a USB keyboard (connected with OTG cable / converter) since Android uses the Linux kernel. This should work if you Android has not kernel panicked

Connect USB keyboard via OTG (I could not test a Bluetooth keyboard)

Press down the ALT and Print Screen keys on the keyboard

Type `REISUB`. Your phone / tablet should reboot

Tested on Nexus 9 running Marshmallow (should work on phones too)

# Answer
> -2 votes
Try holding Power + Volume up button.. might help

---
Tags: reboot, crashes
---


# Question
Title: How can a rooted Android phone generally get bricked?
I've rooted my phone but now I'm scared that it would be bricked. I've seen a page on "Tips to prevent from bricking" and it said to install custom ROM recovery or something like that. I think there were two things; ClockWorkMod and Team Win.

I tried to install one and downloaded ROM manager but didn't work (didn't find my device model name).

Doing what kind of things increases the probability of bricking my device?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Doing exactly what you are doing is probably the biggest chance of bricking your phone - **experimenting without proper knowledge and understanding** of how things work. Go into xda-developers and find your phone's forum. Then start reading - how to install a ROM and a Recovery, change kernels etc. Read the threads and follow the steps exactly as they are shown and you won't be having any problems. All it takes is for you to mess up a single step, to brick your phone - may it be you download wrong file, not for your model or you type in wrong command etc. Still Android these days (not like back in 2010 for example) are quite resilient. It's not too difficult to recover from almost all kinds of bricks.

**TLDR Read how other people did it before you on accredited sites like XDA-Developers and be careful.**

Story time: I've been doing this (rooting, installing roms etc. - being power user) for 5-6 years now so I know my stuff. I started unlocking my LG G4, then rooting, then installing recovery. What I did here was really stupid. Instead of installing a recovery I booted into it - so I had access to it only once. But I didn't notice right away. I installed my files, and the installer required a restart, and to boot back into recovery. But since I didn't install recovery the first time, as soon as I restarted my phone I literally messed up. I went into semi-soft brick. No access to fastboot, couldn't hook up my phone to my PC to execute commands, and the phone was in bootloop, only going as far as the logo. Well I panicked a bit, went into the forum and started reading for solutions. At the end, something written for totally different thing allowed me to push some commands, and salvage my phone.

Also on your comment: And in general, don't root if you don't know what it is. Many people do root exactly for your reasons "people say its cool" I rooted to install xposed and get some modules I need.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Things like :

* Flashing a recovery/ROM that is built for a different device other than yours
* Installing beta/unstable builds of ROMs/recoveries
* Messing about with system files without a proper backup
* Typing the wrong command while modifying your device

These increase the probability of your device getting bricked.

Always ensure that you have something to fall back onto in case of an error. A NANDroid backup is recommended.

In case you run into any problem, sites like XDA-Developers are a good source of help.

Rooting isn't bad, as long as you know what you're doing.

---
Tags: root-access
---


# Question
Title: What does exactly "Re-root System (SuperSU)" do to your phone in Philz Touch Recovery?
I tried to manually root my phone via pushing a proper su binary to /system/bin and /system/xbin. I was able to push them via adb in recovery, which is a root one (idk why). Once inside my phone, I chmodded 755 both of them and typed `su --install` and `su --daemon&`. After that, I tried to `setenforce 0`.

All seemed to work, but when I rebooted, I wasn't rooted. So I returned to recovery, used the "re-root" option and it worked. Why is this?

# Answer
> 0 votes
According to the source code available on GitHub, the recovery performs a whole bunch of operations aside from simply launching the daemon in background, copying the **su** binary to **/system/xbin** and changing its permissions. As can be understood by examining this install-su script, what the recovery does, is to initially perform a cleanup operation for root manager apps that may have already been installed.

After that, the operation of copying the relevant files, namely, the **su** binary (which is called anytime you request root privileges), the **99SuperSUDaemon** (which execution depends upon **init.d**), a customized **install-recovery.sh** (to force the daemon to be executed on Jelly Bean) and **SuperSU.apk** (the root manager).

After this phase, the script uses the previously defined functions **set\_perm** (which combines **chmod** and chown, and serves to define ownership and permissions) and **ch\_con** (which marks the files as system ones). The latter is probably the cause of your manual procedure's malfunction: you didn't change the context of the files you pushed, so they weren't recognized as system files.

---
Tags: rooting, recovery-mode, selinux
---


# Question
Title: Why MP3 music files cannot be played on Note 3? ( It says, The music player does not support this type of audio file)
Why MP3 music files cannot be played on Note 3 with the default audio player? (It says "The music player does not support this type of audio file".)

This happens to some of my MP3 files when I try to play them on my Note 3. They were all fine when it was transferred to iPhone previously. They can also be played by my Windows Player. I've tried deleting them from my Note 3 and transferring them back again which does not work.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I had this issue and restarting my phone solved it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
After trying multiple music players, I found that Neutron Music Player will play all of the mp3 files that were otherwise unplayable!

---
Tags: music, music-player, samsung-galaxy-note-3, mp3
---


# Question
Title: Cannot edit contacts in Marshmallow / Gmail contacts sync
Merry Christmas!

So, I recently upgraded from Nexus 4 to 5x. My contacts used to live on the sim, but since having to change sim (micro -\> nano). I exported the contacts using the Contacts app to a .vcf file. I have now imported these contacts to my Gmail account via web.

On my Nexus 5x (6.0.1 update), I cannot see how I can sync contacts from Gmail. I have an issue where I cannot edit **some** contacts if I just import straight from the vcf file. I am logged in to my Gmail account.

This should be a simple task and I cannot figure it out.

# Answer
Figured it. I was browsing the Apps list and I had Google Contacts Sync app disabled, thinking I wouldn't use it. The edit pencil icon is now visible.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Remove your Google accounts from your phone, clear data for contacts and phone app. Delete your personal contact information (access it from notifications), then restart your phone and re-add your Google account.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, gmail, nexus-4, 6.0-marshmallow, nexus-5x
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 5 stuck at Google screen after failed(?) rooting
Our How to root Nexus 5 question has no answer, so I followed the most OK-looking Nexus 5 rooting tutorial on the rest of the web, all went well until the step that says:

> After booting into recovery mode, tap the ‘Install’ button and then select the SuperSU ZIP file you had transferred

The trap is that on that tutorial, what seems to be a link to the ZIP file is actually a link to a page containing the real link surrounded by advertisement. So when I pressed "Save Link As" I actually downloaded some HTML rather than the real ZIP.

Realizing that, I wanted to reboot to try again with the real ZIP so I pressed "Reboot", it proposed me to install SuperSU so I accepted, happy to get it done quickly. The phone seemed to install something, then started to reboot.

PROBLEM: The following animation has been looping for an hour already and no sign that it will ever end:

QUESTION: How to correctly finish the rooting?
I am afraid that shutting it down now will brick the phone or something.

# Answer
This solved the problem:

* Download the latest stable SuperSU, it is the ZIP file that can be downloaded at http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu-stable
* Restart in TWRP Recovery mode
* Press Mount
* Delete the faulty ZIP and copy the right one instead (at the root of the filesystem)
* Fixed! Now continue with the tutorial normally.

*Thanks rjt.rockx and eldarerathis for the tips!*
> 1 votes

---
Tags: rooting, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: How to unlock my phone from pattern lock
I am using an Android-based phone, a Moto G. By mistake it was locked with a pattern. I need to remove this pattern lock. How can I unlock it without losing the data on my phone?

# Answer
> 2 votes
If you have a Google account you can reset the password and you will not lose the data. For more details please check FAQ on Motorola site https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod\_answer\_detail/a\_id/97840/p/30,6720,9102

---
Tags: lock-screens, pattern-lock
---


# Question
Title: Missing "Emoji for English words" in Google Keyboard add-on dictionaries
I've been running Android 4.4 on my Galaxy S4 active for years and recently realized that I've never had access to emojis on my phone. I never really cared too much for them, but I don't like the idea of not having access to something that's so commonplace nowadays so I decided to look up how to get them on my phone.

I did some research and it seemed like it would be a simple installation of "Emoji for English words" under the add-on dictionaries in the Google Keyboard settings. Well, even after refreshing the add-on dictionaries page the emojis never appeared, and a google search for my issue results in nothing really fruitful.

Granted, when I'm using google keyboard I can hold the enter/return key and I'll get a very basic list of emojis but it's limited to stuff like :-) and :-$. About 15 of those face emojis and 24 other basic symbols. That's it. No hot fire emoji, cry laughing emoji, nor the underlined 100 emoji. I need these to be hip with the kids.

I like using google keyboard but the lack of emojis is really starting to annoying me into wanting to use anything else. If anyone's got any ideas or suggestions on a fix, or even a suggestion for another great keyboard app that does have emoji support, I'd be eternally grateful.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Updates to the Google Keyboard app have made the emojis you are looking for available through long press of the `Enter` key.

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, gboard, emoticons
---


# Question
Title: Text Bubble and Background S6 Marshmallow Update
Ever since the update, my text background is white and the bubbles are yellow and blue only. I have no settings area like before where I can adjust it. I can change the background but that's it. I can't adjust or change the bubble or its color? It's really hard on my eyes. Is there a way to chsnge them still or do I have to download a theme? Seems silly to chsnge the theme for a text bubble option!

# Answer
I have an S5, S4, and Note 2, and I also got fed up with the Stock Messaging app.

I highly recommend using **Textra SMS**. It has about 250,000 good reviews, many of them from Samsung users.

It's not one of those apps that use data and give you a separate phone number, Textra is a replacement stock SMS app with major customization.

Here's a screenshot of the feature you seek:

I have mine set to AMOLED-friendly black since I use Samsung, and I also enjoy the "Send Delay" feature for all the times I need to fix typos after hitting send.

Hope this helps!

*Affiliation: App User*
> 1 votes

# Answer
This is because the update now has "enhanced messaging" (you can turn on under message settings). This is just like the iMessage that the iphone has. When other android users turn this on the text colors will change and you'll be able to see if they've read your texts or not and vice versa.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow
---


title: android lollipop with moto g (2nd gen)

text:
# Question
Title: android lollipop with moto g (2nd gen)
I have updated my Moto G (2nd Gen) to the new version of Android (5.0.2), after which I am facing hang and slowness issues.

How can I revert this back to my old version of Android?

Thanks in advance.

# Answer
Not sure if this applies as it's been a while since this question was asked but thought I'd answer it it since I had a similar experience now.

I also have a Motorola G2 and it was having slowness issue just last week, and I saw on android pit website they suggest you go in to the developer options and speed up the animation which can cause slowness if it's set to default that is 1 second, I changed it to .5 seconds and it really makes a big difference, and now everything works much faster.

And there's another suggestion there as well for clearing the cache. I'm posting a link here: https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-speed-up-the-moto-g-2014-for-better-performance
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, downgrade
---


title: Android Encryption

text:
# Question
Title: Android Encryption
If I encrypt my phone i know it will protect my data, however if for example my phone is stolen or lost, the person with it, would they be able to just hard reset it and use it or resale it, or encryption renders it unusable unless you get the pass code?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If your encrypted phone gets stolen, person with it can factory reset and erase all your data **permanently**.

But if he tries to resale it, he has to overcome factory reset protection, which will ask for previous owners info. Unfortunately, by many ways this can be bypassed unless you are on latest security patches and updates.

---
Tags: encryption
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to determine what mobile network frequency band is in use?
I use a Nexus 5X on T-Mobile's network in the United States. Is there a way to tell what frequency band is in use when using LTE? A Sony Xperia Z3 compact also on T-Mobile is unable to use LTE in many situations where the Nexus 5X can use LTE. I suspect it may be that the Nexus 5X has support for frequencies that are not supported by the Z3 compact, but I would like to see what is in use.

# Answer
> 5 votes
The LTE Discovery app can give you this information.

Incidentally, your specific situation is likely a result of the 5X supporting band 12, and the Z3 lacking it. This tends to be relevant in situations where reception differences are significant (one device with service, one without) because band 12 is T-Mobile's only low-frequency LTE band, meaning that it penetrates buildings better and will cover wider areas more effectively.

---
Tags: connection-issues, mobile-network
---


# Question
Title: How to use volume key to take picture in Samsung S3 (with android 4.2)
I've just been gave a Samsung S3, and it come with Android 4.2 (so I cant apply this guide) So I post this question, Please guide me how to take picture using volume key with Samsung S3 (Android 4.2)!?

# Answer
You could always download a new Camera app, like openCamera or Google Camera, that would include the volume as shutter function, if the camera app that came with the phone does not have it.
> 1 votes

# Answer
just visit this link, it's worked for me http://indahpurngrm.blogspot.com/2016/04/how-to-use-volume-key-to-take-picture.html?spref=tw

In summary: root your phone and install Xposed Framework and then the Xposed Additions module. From that module you can intercept the volume up key and make it take a screenshot.
> -1 votes

# Answer
I have the simplest way for you. Try this :

* Open a camera app.
* Tap a cogwheel icon to enter the setting menu.
* Scroll down to find volume key option, then tap it.
* Select the camera key option.
* Go back to the camera screen .
* Now your ready to use volume down to click a picture.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, 4.2-jelly-bean
---


# Question
Title: deleted drafts remain in conversation chain
In the gmail app, I keep finding conversations that display multiple draft versions of replies that have long been deleted via the drafts folder. Is there a proper way to remove drafts from all conversations, or perhaps a settings available to fix? v2.2.1, Samsung Charge.

# Answer
Only way I found around it is to find the conversation in the normal gmail web interface, scroll all the way to the bottom where it says *"n deleted messages in this conversation. View messages or delete forever."* where **n** is a number and press *"delete forever"*. Certainly not a satisfying solution.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had this problem on a Galaxy Nexus with version 4.6 of the GMail app. Clearing the app's data via *Settings \> Storage \> Apps \> GMail \> Clear Data* forced GMail to reload all my messages, and when the troublesome threads reappeared, the drafts were gone.
> 1 votes

# Answer
The question is old but the issue is still very alive today. My mailbox in Gmail is a mess. After much digging I've found a solution in this web site. The post was the one from "Jim R", I'll post it in here. It's actually for people with Mail on OS X but just the part in Gmail should (hopefully) suffice.

**Gmail (web site) side:**

```
1) Quit Mail.app.
2) Log into Gmail in your favorite web browser.
3) Click on the gear menu and select “Settings”.
4) Click on the “Labels” tab.
5) Under “System Labels”, next to “Drafts”, click on “show if unread” and uncheck the “Show in IMAP’ box.

```

**OS X side:**

```
1) Launch Mail.app.
2) Select Mail > Preferences…
3) Click on the “Accounts” button in the toolbar.
4) Click once on the account name and then click the “Mailbox Behaviors” tab.
5) Uncheck the “Store draft messages on the server” box.
6) Close the window and opt to save your changes when prompted.

```

It worked for me on 2 accounts out of 3 (in Android Gmail). In one account the boxes in "5)" didn't show up in Gmail setting in the web site so the spam of drafts is still there.

**UPDATE:** I did some additional testing, and I've found out that at least in that account the drafts were stored in the trashcan in the Web interface. Now emptying the trashcan for good they finally disappeared from Android Gmail (they didn't show in OS X Mail anyway) and with the new OS X Mail settings it seems they do not get generated anymore.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sync, gmail, drafts
---


title: notifications on top of a group chat

text:
# Question
Title: notifications on top of a group chat
On the top of the group chat there is nearly a 3 page long list of who left group or joined or change in group subject..icon etc...Is there a way to delete these lines from the chat without deleting the entire chat? When selecting individual messages to delete you cannot select these lines

# Answer
> 0 votes
No. There is no way for selecting/deleting these information in group chat.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I discovered how to do it...star the messages you dont want deleted from a chat and then use the "clear chat" option making sure that your "keep the starred messages" option is ticked. When you clear the chat these messages get cleared.

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: Limited Connectivity - Connected, no Internet
When attempting to connect to my school's wifi, I enter my username and password and connect to the network. Below the wifi name it says Connected, no Internet and the wifi icon at the top right of the status bar is there, but with an exclamation mark! I can ping the router, but not google. My Android device is a Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 and I'm running CM13 (Marshmallow). I've tried rebooting, forgetting network, wiping cache, resetting network settings and also factory resetting. Any help appreciated, thanks!

# Answer
This is the exact problem I met. Since you cannot ping google I'd guess you're from China, just like me. My i9300 had the exact problem as yours. After downgrading to CM11 everything is fine.

Then I bought a Nexus 6P. Guess what? It has the same problem. After confirming with a friend who works in Huawei, this is actually a Marshmallow feature, or bug in our case. When you cannot connect to google service, Marshmallow would think that there is no internet connection.

**Update:** Found a possible fix which worked for me:

1. Create a new user via Settings -\> Users
2. While it is trying to connect the network (which will take some time, or forever in our case), power off the phone.
3. Turn on the phone again. The "no internet" warning should be gone.
4. You may need to delete the newly created account.\**
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod
---


# Question
Title: Android 6 (cyanogenmod 13) external sd card write access
I always used "Samba server" application on all my android devices for uploading files, it worked great with CM12, but in CM13 even with root access Samba server can't write to external SD card, neither can "SSH server" application. As i there was some changes in android 6, but is there any way to grant write access to external SD card for some applications? I tried different samba servers, they all see external SD card and can read from there, but they just can't write.

I have the same problem with Cyanogenmod 13 on two different devices, i tried to format external SD card in ext3, ext4, fat32, exfat - no difference at all. There are a lot of "SD card fix" applications in play store, but they all, as I can see for android 5, and just doesn't work for android 6.

So, is it a SELinux issue? Should I add somehow user an app runs from into `media_rw` group? How can I do this? There is `id` output after ssh connection:

`uid=10138(u0_a138) gid=10138(u0_a138) groups=10138(u0_a138),3002(net_bt),3003(inet),9997(everybody),50138(all_a138) context=u:r:untrusted_app:s0:c512,c768`

It can read but can't write on external sd card, any ideas? Thanks.

# Answer
As I found out for now, there is no way to give such permission, except running whole application as root, and that ins't easy (or even possible?) without modifying application code, anyway, running apps with uid=0 is a bad idea anyway. The problem is, that in android 6 `WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` permission should be asked on runtime by an application, and if the application isn't Android 6-aware, there is basically nothing we can do. I hope that developers will adapt their application for new Android 6 reality soon.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, external-sd, 6.0-marshmallow, selinux
---


# Question
Title: How can I activate UDP forwarding for USB communication between a PC and an Android app
I have an *real* Android device connected to a computer via USB. I managed to activate **TCP** port forwarding with `adb forward tcp:<port> tcp:<port>` and successfully communicate with sockets but I don't know how to do the same for **UDP**.

> **EDIT** : I launched my application on the emulator and typed `telnet localhost 5554` and `redir add udp:<port>:<port>` and it worked, my function executeCMD is functionnal because when I try `ls` it's working.

Some websites said to use `redir` like this `redir add udp:<port>:<port>` but when I do so I obtain an error :

```
usage:
    redir --lport=<n> --cport=<n> [options]
    redir --inetd --cport=<n>

    Options are:-
        --lport=<n>     port to listen on
        --laddr=IP      address of interface to listen on
        --cport=<n>     port to connect to
        --caddr=<host>      remote host to connect to
        --inetd     run from inetd
        --debug     output debugging info
        --timeout=<n>   set timeout to n seconds
        --syslog    log messages to syslog
        --name=<str>    tag syslog messages with 'str'
        --connect=<str> CONNECT string passed to proxy server
        --bind_addr=IP  bind() outgoing IP to given addr
        --ftp=<type>        redirect ftp connections
            where type is either port, pasv, both
        --transproxy    run in linux's transparent proxy mode
        --bufsize=<octets>  size of the buffer
        --max_bandwidth=<bit-per-sec>   limit the bandwidth
        --random_wait=<millisec>    wait before each packet
        --wait_in_out=<flag>    1 wait for in, 2 out, 3 in&out

    Version 2.2.1.

```

Then I thought this command should be launch on the Android device so I created this method :

```
 public String executeCMD(String cmd){
    StringBuffer output = new StringBuffer();
    try{
        Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
        BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
        int read;
        char[] buffer = new char[4096];
        while ((read = reader.read(buffer)) > 0) output.append(buffer, 0, read);

        reader.close();
        process.waitFor();

    } catch(IOException e){ e.printStackTrace();
    } catch(InterruptedException e){ e.printStackTrace(); }

    return output.toString();
}

```

And when I called it like that :

```
executeCMD("redir add udp:" + UDP_PORT + ":" + UDP_PORT)

```

I get no output and the **UDP** server on the Android app can't communicate with the **UDP** client.

So I'm a bit lost... I'll continue searching but If you can help me; go ahead.

Thanks.

# Answer
> 0 votes
So finally, I did not find out how to enable **UDP** forwarding for USB communication but I did somethings else that works pretty well, **but you have to enable USB tethering** (*from the computer ping the phone to see if it's properly enabled*):

1. Create a TCP server on the phone and a TCP client on the desktop.
2. Execute `adb forward tcp:<port> tcp:<port>` on the desktop so it can communicate with the phone on localhost via TCP sockets.
3. Make the TCP server send the IP address *(on the USB tethering network)* of your phone to the TCP client.
4. Then you can close the TCP connection and with the address you can initiate an UDP connection with socket as you would in a normal situation.

---
Tags: adb, usb, android-emulator, ad-hoc-networks
---


# Question
Title: Multi-user option not available after modifying build.prop in Lollipop
I edited the build.prop file in /system/ as per Multi-user option not avilable in Android one after Lollipop update namely, adding two lines of code to the end of the file:

> fw.show\_multiuserui=1
>
> fw.max\_users=5

I have rebooted and nothing seems to have changed (i.e., there is no user icon in the swipe-down screen)

I checked and the lines of code are indeed in the build.prop file. I'm running 5.1.1 on a Lenovo Yoga TAB 3

Any ideas..? Thanks in advance!

# Answer
> -1 votes
I had a similar issue and searched for "users" while in the Settings app and it took me to a usable dialog box just as if I had got there from the icon. I added a user and it all worked. So you just have to search from the magnifying glass in the Settings screen then click on the user you wish to switch to.

---
Tags: 5.1-lollipop, multi-user
---


# Question
Title: Contacts sync stuck updating on Moto E 2G
My mom's Moto E (2nd Generation) has the following problem: after an OS OTA update (to v 5.1 security fix 2016-03-16), the contacts refuse to sync. The sync rolling icon is constantly showing, there are no contacts available, and the battery drains like crazy. She tried several restarts, and also left it alone for almost a day - no dice; the app is currently still "updating contacts".

I logged into her Google account using a browser - all looks well, and all the contacts are there. My dad has the exact same phone and OS, and no issues with his contacts - so I'm clueless as to how to continue or who to contact.

Things I've tried (remotely with her :( ):

1. Turn contacts sync off and on under accounts
2. Remove the entire Google account and add it again -everything syncs but contacts
3. Erase the cache of the contacts app

Any ideas how to proceed? Is this an OS, app, or Google account issue?

# Answer
Well, I had to reset the phone to its factory state, and reinstall all from scratch. I've seen this question asked on several forums, with no satisfactory answer.

If you come across one in the future, ping me, and I'll reopen the question. Until then, just restore your phone. Tons of work for (what I'm sure is) a very simple sync bug :(.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, sync, ota-update
---


# Question
Title: My device isn't booting after moving an app to /system and then uninstalling it
I have Huawei p8 lite ALE-L21 dual sim running Lollipop. I downloaded an app called Game Killer which I converted to a system app. It didn't seem to work so then I deleted it by using link2sd. It asked me to reboot the device, and afterward it was stuck on the Huawei welcome screen. I thought it would need some time then open, but it's been like this since yesterday. I tried so many ROMs but non are working. Does anyone know how to I could fix my device?

# Answer
First, plug it into a computer and see if you can connect to it and pull stuff you might need off of it, although I would hope you have photos and contacts already backed up. If it won't connect to your computer, I'm not sure what to do about that.

Does your phone have a recovery menu? I don't know what ROM you're running, but this page here details how to boot into it, or find specific instructions for your ROM or phone, which I would expect to be in the manual or online. If you can get here, try resetting to factory settings.

If it did connect to your computer, wipe it clean through the recovery menu or otherwise and flash either your ROM or stock on to it.

If you can't connect it to a computer for one reason or another, you might be able to load a ROM onto your SD card and flash that from recovery, but no guarantees on this.

And if you haven't, try restarting it once more.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: boot-loop
---


# Question
Title: Why the vast majority of app developers don't publish apk files on their home page?
I want to be able to install my favorite apps without installing Google play services. Apart from apps that actually depend on these services (such as paying method), why apps developed don't publish their apk on their home page?

This is particularly relevant when installing custom ROMs (without gapps).

# Answer
> 4 votes
Publishing the APK on their home page has the following downsides I can think of:

## Difficulty in Tracking

It'll be more difficult to collect detailed statistics on the audience for their apps because they won't be able to benefit from the Play Store's statistics for app downloads. Whilst developers could conceivably write in data collection functions that send data to their own databases, this is extra work that's completely unnecessary if they distribute their apps on the Play Store.

## No Updates

Play Store distribution allows developers to push out updates to their apps with new features or bug fixes easily. Self-distribution of APKs locks users in with a static version of the app. Again, notifications prompting users to download an update are workable but are extra work and unjustifiable especially for individual developers and small teams.

## Targeted Distribution

The Play Store allows developers to exclude certain groups of users based on geographical regions or device types that are not compatible with their app. This makes for a superior user experience and prevents plenty of frustration on the user's side since they won't even be able to view apps that won't work on their device. This also allows developers to adhere to local legislation on app distribution.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Also if you download Apps from other than Google play store, Installation of the apps are blocked by default by Android.

# Answer
> 0 votes
As an addendum to Avinash's answer, although it is disabled by default, you can easily allow installation of outside packages. Here is a tutorial for the Galaxy series. In essence, go to Security in your Settings, and check the box next to the option for installing from unknown sources.

---
Tags: applications
---


title: WhatsApp frequently sleeping

text:
# Question
Title: WhatsApp frequently sleeping
I have three Android devices:

* Lenovo A7000 with Stock ROM Lollipop 5.0
* HTC Desire 620G with Stock ROM KitKat 4.4
* Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 with custom ROM (Resurrection ROM) Lollipop 5.0.2.

In all these devices, WhatsApp sleeps frequently when the screen is off. When I turn on the device screen and use WhatsApp, I am getting messages normally. But when the screen is off after a short span of time, it stops receiving messages. I need to turn on the screen and open WhatsApp to start getting the messages. Then a bunch of messages will be received.

I am facing this problem in all three devices in both Wi-Fi and mobile networks. My Wi-Fi network is fast enough (40 Mbps) to receive messages at an instant and mobile networks are decently fast (\>3 Mbps).

In WhatsApp Web, I am getting **Phone Not Connected** yellow messages when I turn the screen off. After researching on the Internet, I learnt this may happen when the device enters power-saving mode or when background data is restricted. But in my devices, I never turn on power-saving mode and never restrict background data too.

Any other reasons? For this reason, I have changed the screen timeout to 30 minutes and left the WhatsApp open. Is this an app bug or some other problem?

# Answer
It's common. I've tried all sorts and still don't receive messages until I manually turn the screen on.

The only thing I can think of is using Wake Lock - PowerManager. May use a little battery but will fix your problem
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, background-data
---


# Question
Title: How do I take a full image backup of an Android device?
I am trying to do a full system image backup of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. It is unrooted at present, and is running Android Kitkat 4.4.2 . I have no desire of rooting it as of now.

I have tried creating a full image backup of the device using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) method (adb backup -apk -shared -all -f C:\backup.ab), which looks like it works, but when it completes, no backup files are created (Although the backup process is shown as having been completed).

Can anyone either offer advice on why the adb method doesn't work, or present an alternative solution to this? The end result should be a full backup image (including all apps and data) that I can use to restore the device back to its exact backup state.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Yes, you can, by taking a full NANDroid backup. This takes a backup of everything, including the app data, the accounts, the system, etc. with the exclusion of the files stored on the SD cards (both internal and external).

Such NANDroid backups are usually taken with the help of a custom recovery, like the CWM (ClockWorkMod) recovery and the TWRP (TeamWin Recovery Project) recovery. If any custom recovery such as the ones mentioned here, or any other custom recovery based on them; is installed on your phone, then, you can proceed to do so.

For more information, and some helpful resources you might want to see, please visit here and here.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't think root is actually required for Custom Recoveries. You can boot into recoveries without flashing them. I've seen it done before. I don't know how to do it but Google can surely help you. A Toolkit is available for my phone which let's me boot into TWRP or CWM without flashing them and can easily do full NANDroid Backups.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Since, you do not want to root your phone. ADB backup are closest to the Full Backups.

I recommend using Helium Backup for taking backups to your Phone's SD card or PC.

More information can be found here.

---
Tags: adb, backup, stock-android
---


title: Blocking or deleting a sent message

text:
# Question
Title: Blocking or deleting a sent message
Please advise urgently on my below problem? I sent a message to a contact in error at 16:11. Apon realising this i noticed only 1 tick next to the messages. I then blocked the person,switched off my data,switched of my device, took out my sim and even uninstalled watsapp. How will i know whether the person has read the message or not?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If the message shows one tick in Whatsapp then it is already too late. The contact will receive your message when they open their Whatsapp app on their device.

If you had turned on airplane mode whilst the clock timer was visible on the message then the message wouldn't have been sent, and you could have deleted it to prevent it from leaving your device.

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Will charging a phone with a different USB *cable* affect the battery life?
I recently realized that I've been using the wrong USB cable to charge my Moto X Play(2015) for probably a couple weeks. The phone is specifically designed to charge very quickly with its' default charger, and I've been feeling like the battery life has dropped slightly over the past week or two (roughly the duration of time that I would have been using the wrong cable.)

I was using the correct wall-plug, but the wrong USB cable. I'm hoping that the chip to control fast-charging is in the wall-plug and that the cable wouldn't matter, but again I feel like the battery is dropping faster now than when I got it only a few weeks ago. Not by any great margin, but enough to be frustrating, considering it's my own stupid fault.

If anyone has any idea whether this would cause any damage to the battery, I would really just like to know for the future. Feel really stupid, the only reason I got this phone was for the large battery capacity it has.

# Answer
> 2 votes
* Moto X Play supports fast charging, though this review says a fast charger is not supplied with it, maybe they supplied it subsequently
* Fast charging needs to be supported by the USB cable as well. The D+ and D- pins of the cable negotiate the charging voltage and current with the device, in tune with the charging circuitry in the charger (see Overview of USB Charging for more details
* If a cable/ charger that does not support fast charging is used, there is **no harm caused** \- charging will be normal charging instead of fast charging. In the case of cable, it is because it may not be designed to carry adequate fast charging current, which is usually higher than normal charging

*Additional Information* you may like to refer:

1. How does fast charge work
2. How to choose micro USB cable for my device

---
Tags: usb, battery, charging
---


title: My phone is lost how do I track it?

text:
# Question
Title: My phone is lost how do I track it?
I can't get in to my Google account because I can't remember my password.

I can't get a password changed as it won't send to my Gmail.

What can I do?

# Answer
You can't track or locate your phone without access to your Google account, or unless you have some 3rd party recovery software that you would have had to have installed previously such as Where's My Droid or Find My Lost Phone!. But again, you would have had to have these installed previously to losing the device and not having access to your Google account. There are some ways to push an app and install it remotely, but those require access to your Google account, and if you have that you could just use ADM.

Your best bet is to use Google's Account Recovery system and once you have successfully logged into your account then access Android Device Manager in an attempt to locate your device.

And just for future reference, if you setup a Google account **ALWAYS** setup the account recovery options or going through the Security Checkup as soon after account creation as possible
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-account, lost-phone
---


# Question
Title: How to charge a newly bought Nexus 5X(lithium polymer)?
I just bought a new Nexus 5X, how should I first charge it? (It's a lithium polymer battery)

I plugged it in the charger and the phone turned on. Phone almost had a full charge already though (out of the box).

I usually left my new phones to charge for 12 hours before using them or unplugging them from the charger. Now I know batteries have evolved, so I'm not sure this is beneficial anymore.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do for the first charge and it doesn't come with instructions about it.

Any advice?

Thanks!

# Answer
> 2 votes
* Charging a new battery for x hours before use is a "*legacy hangover*" from the days when Nickel Cadmium batteries were used. Those batteries had a "memory effect". As a result, over a period of time, they "remembered" lesser battery capacity than rated capacity. To prevent this, it was advised to always fully charge these batteries
* This is not the case with Lithium Ion or Lithium polymer batteries. There is no logic to charge fully or x hours before use. Just use the battery normally, as suggested by others in comments
* Table 1 corroborates with additional information

---
Tags: battery, charging, nexus-5x
---


title: Max SD Card Size For Note Edge

text:
# Question
Title: Max SD Card Size For Note Edge
I have a 16 GB SD Card in my `Galaxy Note Edge` and only have 1GB of storage left. I read that some Android devices can only hold up to 32GB - can my phone support the 64GB card?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes

Galaxy Note Edge SM-915G user manual says

> Your device accepts memory card with a maximum capacity of 128 GB

Also in this review (S6 Edge+ does NOT)

> Samsung does offer a 128GB option for its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge

---
Tags: external-sd, sd-card, storage, internal-sd
---


title: Can't find music purchased

text:
# Question
Title: Can't find music purchased
Had a Motorola x phone which was defective. Lost over 100 songs purchased through Google play. I now have a Samsung 7 edge. How can I find these purchases and download them on this phone? Please, please, please help.

# Answer
You use the Google Play Music app available from the Play Store. You should be able to sign right in to it and access all of your songs and playlists right away.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google, google-play-music
---


# Question
Title: App´s won´t install even if I have the default writing location set to the SD Card
I recently bought a phone with the horrible android 5.0 Lollipop. Now I regret I ever bought it. I have some major issues with the playstore and the gallery.

First of all I cannot download any app, I´ve got an SD card and have it set to be my defualt writing location, it has over 1 GB of free space left, all the big apps like facebook and whatsapp are on the SD card but it still will not let me download any app. Everytime I try download an app even if it is just 3MB in size.

Then the gallery.... I don´t know what they were thinking but they removed the almighty "move from album to album" function.... smart move..

Does anyone know how to fix these problems? otherwise I'm just going to downgrade to 4.0 which will feel like an upgrade in this case.

# Answer
May be you need to update Google Play Services. You can do this through the Google Play Store.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, 5.0-lollipop, sd-card, gallery
---


title: Can't uninstall Cyanogenmod11 themes

text:
# Question
Title: Can't uninstall Cyanogenmod11 themes
Recently I installed a number of Cyanogenmod11 Themes from the Android Market. Now I want to uninstall some of then But whenever I try to uninstall it my phone soft reboots. And the theme is still in the phone. The phone I'm using is Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini GT-i8190 running CyanogenMod11.

# Answer
Try this: Just press and hold the power button; once the power menu appears, tap and hold the reboot button and press OK to reboot in safe mode. Now you should be able to uninstall the themes without any problem.
> 0 votes

# Answer
If you are currently using those themes, just switch to the default theme and try uninstalling them. That usually works.
> 0 votes

# Answer
In safe mode, all apps were crashing including settings. Therefore i rebooted the phone and uninstalled the installed themes from Settings -\> Apps -\> Downloaded apps. Done!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, root-access, custom-roms, samsung-galaxy-s-3-mini, themes
---


title: HTC One M8 Network Name

text:
# Question
Title: HTC One M8 Network Name
I have a verizon HTC One M8 running Android 6.0. I recently noticed that the network name that appears on my routers DHCP list for this device is "X2E GmbH". I confirmed that this device is indeed my phone by comparing the MAC address, but I can find no information where this network name came from.

This seems awfully suspicious as the first result for X2E GmbH on google results with a German company which sells datalogging equipment. This is not a rooted phone, so it seems more likely that the network name change may have come from something malicious within my computer network.

Does the network name originate from my phone? What should a default network name be?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Ok. I have figured it out. I've learned quite a bit trying to figure this out, I don't have all the details but here is my Hypothesis:

I believe it is a bug in my router. The router performs a search on the IEEE Standards website to look up the manufacturer of each device based on the first three "octets" of the MAC address WIKI. The first three octets (xx:xx:xx) of the MAC address are unique to the manufacturer of the device. For me, my phone is HTC and so the first three octets for HTC are "50:2E:5C". The router must have a bug where it is doing a search and pulling the first manufacturer from the result and using that manufacturer name as the "Client Name". For instance, for my device: Example you'll notice the first hit is "X2E GmbH" which is what my phone is showing up as in my Client List. I don't know why only the android device seems to have the Client Name replaced by this result from the IEEE lookup and not other devices (as all the manufacturers are incorrect, but the client names are correct), but I think it is enough energy spent solving this mystery.

---
Tags: wi-fi, 6.0-marshmallow, verizon, htc-one-m8, dhcp
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 4 speaker no longer playing any audio
The speaker on my Nexus 4 suddenly stopped playing audio a few days ago. No sound at all, no music, ringtones, etc.

Is this software problem or hardware?

If I reinstall Android 4.3 again manually, will it unmute the speaker?

# Answer
First thing to do is to check the device's settings. It might very well be you just "silenced" your phone one way or the others. There are different places to look for:

* Open the notification area. On many (recent) devices, it holds some shortcuts to frequently used stuff as toggling WiFi, airplane mode, and also mute (i.e. switch between "complete mute", "vibration only", and "normal noise").
* Check all your stuff in the *Settings* menu. Different manufacturers/devices/ROMs have different settings in different places which might cause this
* If you use some "automation tool" like *Tasker*, *Llama*, or the like, check whether it could be one of its profiles

If the above still didn't solve the issue, make a good and then your device. If the device still stays mute after that, it's unlikely to be resolved on a software level, but rather a hardware failure. So in that case, you should contact the service; if the device is still under warranty, they should fix it for free.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Anyone else who has this should also try plugging in headphones to see if that makes any difference.

When it happened to after on a rainy run, I couldn't hear anything through the main speaker so I plugged in some headphones and they were OK.

Happily, once I'd unplugged the headphones, the main speakers were OK again.

I can't be certain but it's my guess that some moisture from the rain had made its way into the headphone socket and the resulting circuit made the phone think that headphones were connected. When I plugged out the headphone jack, maybe it cleared the moisture.

Whatever, it's working now :)
> 1 votes

# Answer
Happened to me.

Just try turning it off and on. (The whole phone)
> 1 votes

# Answer
Turn off bluetooth. I had same problem and as I looked through the settings I noticed the blue tooth was on.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Yes it's a software problem and I had the same problem. I went back to Android 4.3 and then it worked.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: nexus-4, speaker
---


title: Unexpected system app battery usages

text:
# Question
Title: Unexpected system app battery usages
Today, I have noticed that, an application named `kworker/u:4` using phone's battery. I haven't seen this app before on battery usage section. Also, I have noticed `kswapd0` application using battery, last week. Are they normal operations?

I am using unrooted Xiaomi phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes, this is completely normal (although on Android you would expect it to be combined with the "System" usage). See Kworker, what is it and why is it hogging so much CPU?

> "kworker" is a placeholder process for kernel worker threads, which perform most of the actual processing for the kernel, especially in cases where there are interrupts, timers, I/O, etc. These typically correspond to the vast majority of any allocated "system" time to running processes.

Similarly, `kswapd` is responsible for managing some kernel memory swapping; you may have seen this because your were running low on memory at some point.

---
Tags: battery-life, system-apps
---


title: How to toggle USB debugging on?

text:
# Question
Title: How to toggle USB debugging on?
My phone says failed to validate boot image. I need to flash it with stock or custom rom but my usb debugging is off. How to toggle it on from outside coz my phone is dead now , it goes nowhere from fastboot screen.

When I switch on my phone \[moto e\], it is going into fastboot mode instead of normal powerup. And it says

hab check failed for boot

failed to validate boot image

Fastboot Reason: Fall-through from normal boot mode

Except that my touch and display is fine.

what to do now??

-thanks for replying

# Answer
Go to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2759495

It shows you step by step how to recover from brick, also on this site you will find all you need to fix your phone
> 0 votes

---
Tags: locked-out
---


title: 2 step verification fears

text:
# Question
Title: 2 step verification fears
My company have set up all of their shared work via Google apps. They are now insisting on everyone setting up two-step verification. I am a freelance and although they want me to share via Google, I have other Google accounts that are personal and for college that I can't risk losing access to. The main issue is with emails on my phone, but I'm worried about the whole safety of these personal accounts should I leave my firm/lose my phone. I understand they can just block accounts. Is there any way of separating the accounts out?

# Answer
The 2 step verification process does not affect all the accounts in the mobile. It would only ask for the account which is registered with the 2 step verification process.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You should be able to create new account, only to use with the company and set two-step verification only for that account. They wouldn't be having any access or rights over any account other than that one whatsoever. Having a quick look trough the app, it gives me the option to add an account and not automatically do it for my primary android gmail account ...
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google
---


# Question
Title: Problem related to pictures not displayed in gallery
In mi note prime pictures downloaded from any media like whatsapp are not displayed in gallery but are present in system and are shown in file explorer

# Answer
The answer cannot be absolutely foolproof, but, since you mentioned media files downloaded from **WhatsApp** as your example, I'll tailor my answer against that specific issue.

Now, there does exist a file whose behaviour is to act as a flag. Whenever said file is put into a folder containing media files, such media won't be indexed by a gallery-type of app.

This flag's name is **.nomedia**, and, as the period at the beginning of its name implies, it's also invisible by default. It can, logically, be created even from an app, it consists of a mere blank file, and its simple deletion (as tested by myself on a CyanogenMod 12.1) **won't** make the stock Gallery display the media previously hidden by it flawlessly (in my case, I needed to reflash the whole firmware).

There does exist a gallery that is able to ignore a **.nomedia** file, though: its name is **QuickPic** (and my intent is not to advertise, but to explain a way of resolving the issue that avoids a complete reflash: wiping the stock Gallery's data *won't suffice*), and, if you search in its settings, you'll be able to display every single folder containing media files, even those potentially unwanted, such as profile photos and avatars.

**Summary: if your gallery does not display a media you know to exist, use a file manager to check if a .nomedia file exists in the same location. If it does, and you wish to view such media, either reflash your firmware (hard way), or try another gallery app (soft way).**
> 0 votes

---
Tags: gallery, images
---


# Question
Title: Can I bypass the Google Verification on my Huawei Mate 8?
I just bought a Huawei Mate 8 and I can't set it up due to the Google account verification in the setup process. I've messaged the seller asking for the account details but he doesn't know. I don't have an OTG cable or USB and I need a way to get past this so I can do a full reset of the phone. Please help! (This is different to the other questions as the factory reset option still leaves me with the same problem with FRP and I can't use ADB because I can't enable USB debugging)

# Answer
> 0 votes
Pretty much every phone can do factory reset while turned off, try this:

1. Turn off the Mate.
2. Press and hold at the same time: Volume Up + Home button + Power button, until you see Huawei logo.
3. Then select from Recovery Mode menu “wipe data / factory reset” using Volume buttons to navigate and Power button to confirm.
4. Select “Yes — delete all user data” to confirm the whole operation.
5. After that select option “reboot system now”.

---
Tags: usb, security, factory-reset, usb-on-the-go
---


# Question
Title: Entering recovery mode when plugging powered off tablet to charger
I installed Philz Touch 6.59.0 (ClockworkMod 6.0.5.1) in my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7" Wifi (SM-T230) and modified the `/system/bin/lpm` (also called playlpm in other devices) to reboot the device as soon as it is plugged.

The modification of the `lpm` file works great when I don't have Philz Touch 6.59.0 installed on the device. Every time the device is off and I plugged it to the charger, it starts Android just fine.

The problem comes when I install Philz Touch 6.59.0 which works great by it self but when I modify the `lpm` file, every time **I power off the device and then plug it to the charger, it start in recovery mode which is incredibly anoying**.

Next is my lpm file:

```
#!/system/bin/sh
/system/bin/reboot

```

Does anyone knows what can I do to solve this issue or change this behaviour?

**EDIT**

I also tried the TWRP and the same thing happens. When powered off and plugged in, the device starts in recovery mode.

# Answer
It was simply a problem of line endings. Somewhere along the road I modified the `lpm` file and the line endings of the file were changed to Windows and they were supposed to be to Unix line endings.

When you edit a file in a text editor make sure to the correct line endings. Next is a picture of how to do it in Sublime Text:
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, recovery-mode, charging, clockworkmod-recovery
---


# Question
Title: My phone galaxy GT-I9003 is stuck in flight mode and not able to detect Sim card.
I want to disable the airplane mode in order to return to normal state. After a long press on power button, I do have the "device options", however nothing happens when I press Airplane mode (airplane mode enable). I am stuck in airplane mode

Have you experience this? Is it a known bug? How can I disable airplane mode.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Go to SETTINGS \> WIRELESS AND NETWORKS and uncheck AEROPLANE MODE from there.

If that doesn't work, remove the battery and SIM card, wait 1 minute and re-insert SIM + battery and restart.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Run this on `adb`. This will toggle Airplane Mode.

```
adb shell am start -a android.settings.AIRPLANE_MODE_SETTINGS
adb shell input keyevent 19 ; sleep 0.1; adb shell input keyevent 23; sleep 0.3; adb shell input keyevent 4;
echo "Toggled airplane mode";

```

\[Source\]

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, airplane-mode
---


# Question
Title: How can I run WhatsApp so that I am always online?
How can I set WhatsApp to always run in the background? Like Skype, when I exit, it keeps me online to get calls or SMS or chat notifications.

While using WhatsApp, when I move away with the menu, it exits. How can I avoid this and tell Android that this application should always be running - so that even if it is closed it will restart the application automatically?

If anyone sends a text message, I don't want to go to all the icons and open the application several times.

Any help?

# Answer
You can't set an icon on the notification bar to "let you be online all the time", it's not user defining option. But the service is always running, like THelper said, you don't have to mind that, you'll receive the messages without the icon appearing all the time.
> 3 votes

# Answer
You can use a Modded Whatsapp such as GbWhatsapp,FMWhatsapp etc. they have an option to keep you always Online
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, background-data
---


# Question
Title: Can't find webview.db file for android browser to view saved passwords in internet app
I can't find this file anywhere. Can anyone advise where this might be stored? I downloaded SQLITE editor on my note 3 but it says no database. When I see the internet icon under Apps in SQLite Editor in /data/data/com.sec.android.pp.sbrowser a pop up error says: "Root shell binary not found in standard location (or phone note rooted).

However, I rooted with Kingroot.

I need to recover all passwords stored in the android internet appl.

Please help.

Thank you!

# Answer
> 2 votes
\[LG G2 4.4.2 rooted\]

I couldn't find webview.db either but opening the file ACEBrowser.db which was in the data/data/com.android.browser/databases had all the required information under 'password'.

Took me hours to realise this. Hope this helps someone else to do so quicker :)

---
Tags: sqlite
---


# Question
Title: Can't uninstall virus plus phone keep rebooting
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy S3, running the stock ROM. I downloaded "root manager" app, and since then 3 more apps appeared - "file assistant," "mp3 free downloader," and "sexy." I factory reset my phone many times but yet these apps are still there, and I can't uninstall them. Also my phone began rebooting since this happened (i.e. since these apps downloaded yesterday). How do I get rid of these apps, and repair my phone?

# Answer
> 4 votes
It sounds like malware has sneaked into your phone's system area (possibly via the "root manager" app you installed.) System area does not get touched during factory reset, which is why the apps are still there. The `/system` partition is usually write-protected by default, but root privileges allow apps to write there as well.

The best way to get rid of such malware is to restore the /system partition. This is accomplished by re-flashing of the firmware. You can usually find stock Android firmware for your phone on the manufacturer's website, or other trustworthy sources (e.g. XDA-Developers device forums, SamMobile.com, etc.) Alternatively, flashing a custom ROM (e.g. CyanogenMOD) will also erase the /system partition, getting rid of any malware that managed to get installed there.

Specifically, you will need the Odin tool, Samsung USB drivers (so that your PC recognizes the phone in Download mode,) and the image file specific to your phone's model number (Galaxy S3 has many variants, make sure you are downloading the proper firmware, or you may end up with a non-functioning device.) Shut down the phone, and start it while holding `Power`, `Home`, and `Vol Down` buttons together until it shows the Download screen. Install the USB drivers, and connect the phone via USB - it should get recognized by your computer. Run Odin program, make sure it sees the phone (one of the COM ports will be highlighted,) press the AP or PDA button and select the firmware image, and click Start.

If you are knowledgeable enough, you can start the phone in recovery mode, and then using `adb` browse the /system partition and attempt to find and delete the malware. However, this is a task for advanced users.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, malware
---


# Question
Title: ES Chromecast Player no longer works for ES File Explorer
The brilliant ES File Explorer has been my go-to app for quite some time now. I particularly liked using it for Chromecast. However the ES Chromecast Player has recently stopped working for me.

When I select ES Chromecast Player the screen goes black and I no longer get the dialog popping up that allows me to select the device to cast to.

I've tried uninstalling both the ES File Explorer and ES Chromecast Player apps and then re-installing them, but the problem still persists.

Any idea what the issue might be, or things I might try to fix the issue? All other apps are still able to cast to my Chromecast device.

My device is a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. The device is not rooted or anything like that.

# Answer
This is an issue with the app's latest update, and the developer has to fix that. Other users have got this issue too. (Play store reviews)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: chromecast, es-file-explorer
---


# Question
Title: USB configuration within Developer Options doesn't save
Just bought a Samsung Galaxy s7 Edge with Marshmallow pre-installed. I'm trying to get my phone to work with Android Auto.

The only way I could make my phone connect to my car is to enable Developer Options in the settings menu and change the USB configuration to "MTP Media Transfer Protocol".

My problem is that whenever I disconnect my phone, the change I made goes away and reverts back to "charging". So, now, every time I want to connect my phone to use Android Auto, I need to enter the settings and change the USB configuration back to MTP for it to work... really a pain in the butt.

Does anyone know if this is an Android issue or a Samsung issue? Also, is there a way to correct this?

# Answer
I can confirm that this issue is not limited to you. This is the same on my Nexuses (running Marshmallow) and it's a pain.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: usb, 6.0-marshmallow
---


# Question
Title: Micromax Canvas 2 Restarting Problem. Show modem log on the way?
I got sick of this.

Whenever i restart my phone it shows "Modem log on the way". I don't know what type of log they are but it creates a folder in my internal storage named "mtklog" which contains some other folders like "mdlog","mobilelog" and "configlog".

The size of these folders are approx 1GB. It gets all over my internal storage. If i delete this folder or stop the process "Modem log on the way", my phone doesn't displaying any contacts and call logs.

And the most important thing after this so called "log" process gets over the contacts in my phone memory gets duplicated.

Please help if any one has solution.

Thank you.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Try this, formating your device that will solve your problem regarding to restarting device sucessfully.

I hope above solution will help you.

---
Tags: contacts, 4.1-jelly-bean, reboot, call-history
---


# Question
Title: Add custom search engines on Chrome for Android
One of the most powerful productivity tools I use on Chrome is custom search engines. However, I was wondering how I can do the same thing on Chrome for Android?

I went through the settings on Chrome for Android, but understandably it doesn't have that feature. Ideas?

# Answer
> 0 votes
According to the sources, the option is reported by a few users for it. And hope so it would be released in future updates.

As of now, it is not possible to change the default search engine in Android.

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, search
---


# Question
Title: Internal storage management of files and folders
My Xiaomi phone stores some folders inside internal storage (cannot store app data to external) after installing some apps. And, when that app is uninstalled, these folders remain there. Also, I can see several files ( may be system files) with and without extension other than app folders. Cleaner application also not clearing folders and files.

1. Why these folders are not automatically get removed, during uninstall?
2. Whether files,that have no extension and with extension, creates slow down of device?

# Answer
Without a list of your internal storage content, it's hard to discern useless files from useful ones. Without further info, the only answers I can give you are the following:

1. When you uninstall an app, the system deletes the trees corresponding to the app's package name under **/data/app/** (application executable) and **/data/data/** (application's internal data). It should also wipe some folders into your internal and external storages, namely those corresponding to the app's package name, and placed under **Android/data/**. Any other folder, created by the app in a path different from the abovementioned gets ignored.
2. It may depend. Generally, those which slow down badly your device are files which are big in size. Since, as already said, they're not cleaned by the system, that's a burden that falls on you, the user.

As a footnote, the files residing in an internal storage are not fundamental (and I remark that I'm talking about **files**, not **folders**). Generally, they can be files which are placed there by an app for the purpose of flag, meaning that said app looks if such file is present, and performs something. Else, it does something else.

Finally, if you delete any of these files, they may be regenerated, if the app that created them is still installed.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, file-management
---


# Question
Title: "Listening..." screen suddenly popping up on Android 6: what is it, how to disable?
Every now and then, some Google "Listening..." screen pops up , like this:

full resolution

FYI: my device is a Nexus 5X with the latest stock Android 6

I have no idea what this is, and worse: I don't know how to get rid of this. It seems to occur when my earphones (not headset or mic, just earphones) are plugged in. But not consistently, I can't deliberately reproduce this.

Upon searching around I found some suggestions this may be related to Google Now or OK Google, but both are disabled already.

**How do I prevent this from ever showing up again?**

# Answer
This happens when you tap on the little Mic image In the Google search bar at the top of your screen on the right hand side of the field box. It's the Google Now voice command interface.
> 0 votes

# Answer
> It seems to occur when my earphones (not headset or mic, just earphones) are plugged in

When you press and hold `answer` button on your headphones, `Google` app is automatically launched. Check your earphones' jack. Or try to blow hard into the connector
> 0 votes

---
Tags: nexus-5, 6.0-marshmallow, google, microphone, popup
---


title: Unable to enable Wifi/Bluetooth

text:
# Question
Title: Unable to enable Wifi/Bluetooth
I have a HTC One X , Android 4.2.2, everything worked as a charm, but suddenly my WIFI/Bluetooth functionality stopped working. I cant see any WIFI network and cant turn WIFI on/off.

It just shows me the message: 'Error' on the Settings \> Wifi dashboard. also I cant enable bluetooth.

At Settings \> Info \> Hardware info it states:

Wifi: 802.11 a/b/g/n Wifi MAC Adres: Unavailable. Bluetooth: 4.0 Bluetooth adres: Unavailable.

I tried a wifi diagnostic app (Wifi fixer) it states: WIFI\_STATE\_UNKNOWN

I tried the following:

* give it a static IP-adres, but I can't reach the advanced settings tab. (Settings \> Wifi \> Advanced)
* Soft and Factory Reset.

Because it cant tell me the MAC adres of the wificard/Bluetooth is unavailable. I am afraid that the radio unit is broken.

Do you have some suggestions for a fix or how to trace the cause of this problem?

# Answer
Like you said - it may be a problem with the H/W itself because if its a S/W problem it should've been rectified after **hard reset** (in most of the cases). If the device is on warranty I'd suggest taking it to a service centre ASAP :)
> 0 votes

# Answer
This is not a hardware problem, was caused on many devices since Android Lolipop updates, was worst with Marshmallow updates (Mine Nexux 6 was broken at that point) and now Android N beta doesn't fix anything, seems to be related to the new way system validates and provide macaddress informations, seems that in some cases it simply broke, there are reports on many forums like http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/help/wifi-mac-address-200000000000-t3257465/page4 https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/-yq035tmhB8 Sadly Google simply is denying the fact that they are broking devices.

When my wifi/bluetooth stops to respond I've was on unrooted, stock rom google/motorola denied support, now I've rooted it and triying to fix it, but this is happening with many, many devices.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, bluetooth, htc-one-x, connectify
---


# Question
Title: How do I root a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (GT-I9195)?
How do I root a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE (GT-I9195)?

# Answer
These instructions are courtesy of arco68 over at xda-developers, who is also the person behind the software downloads linked here. All credit to him/her! You can also visit this link for the original instructions from the author and up-to-date file downloads.

Now don't be fooled by how few steps arco68's instructions have; you will need about half an hour to do this if you've not done this before, I reckon, if you want to be careful and not rush it.

As a prerequisite, download Samsung KIES and make sure that the drivers for your phone are installed correctly. Otherwise, Odin Tool will not read your S4 Mini properly.

1. Download the Odin tool and the ClockworkMod recovery to your Windows PC. Extract both of these archives.
2. Download the rootkit S4Mini\_RootKit\_v2.zip to your device's SD card. Do not extract it. Place it in the root folder.
3. Turn off the phone. Press and hold Home, Volume Down and Power simultaneously. The phone will turn on and you will see the following screen:
4. Connect the USB cable. Press Volume Up. The screen changes to this:
(the fields I blurred out will say something like "Original" initially, can't quite remember)
5. Run the Odin tool you unzipped in step 1.
6. Uncheck `F. Reset Time`. Click the `AP` button. In the dialog that appears, select the "recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.7-serranoltexx.tar.md5" file that you extracted in step 1.
7. Before you continue, read this step in full because it requires quick action. First you take the phone in your hand. Then you get ready to press and hold Volume Up and Home *as soon as the phone vibrates*. If you're only a second too slow you'll have to repeat from step 3 (see below).
8. Now that you're ready to press and hold Volume Up and Home, click the `Start` button in the Odin tool. It **only takes a few seconds** before the phone vibrates. Feel the vibration and **immediately** press and hold Volume Up and Home.
9. Once the phone shows the S4 logo with the words "recovery booting", you may release the buttons.
10. If you did everything right, you will see this screen:
But if you see a black screen like this:
then you've messed up – power off the phone and continue **from step 3**.
11. Using the volume up/down keys and the Home key, select "install zip", "choose zip from sdcard", then "0/", then the zip file "S4Mini\_RootKit\_v2.zip" that you saved to the SD card in step 2.
12. The zip will be installed and you will be told that your warranty is now void (which is not necessarily the case, of course). You may now reboot and enjoy your rooted S4 Mini!
13. When you choose to reboot, you will be asked "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix?" I suggest you choose **No** because you don't really need ClockworkMod anymore (although I think I pressed "No" and ClockworkMod remains installed regardless).

For the record, the reason I'm posting this here is that I didn't even realise I got the wrong screen in step 10, so I wasted a whole hour messing around with it. But I can't post this tip on xda due to their draconian requirements for posting replies. So I thought I'd just write up instructions in such a way that others can edit them here.
> 6 votes

# Answer
A friendlier and less intrusive (as in keeping the stock rom whole) alternative is CF-Auto-Root, which supports this phone too:

1. Enter the aforementioned link
2. Download this phone's ZIP file and extract its contents
3. Use the extracted Odin or get Odin's latest version
4. Enter the phone's download mode (turn the phone off, then press and hold the Home, Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously)
5. In Odin, choose the extracted MD5 file in the second Odin button, currently named "AP", and click Start
6. If everything went smoothly, the phone will soon auto restart with SuperSU (a program that prompts for root requests) installed
> 1 votes

---
Tags: rooting, 4.2-jelly-bean
---


title: Can't reroot my K3 Note

text:
# Question
Title: Can't reroot my K3 Note
I installed a rooted Android 6 ROM on my Lenovo K3 Note. Then I unrooted the phone. Now I want to reroot it, however it doesn't work. I have tried flashing all sorts of version of SuperSU in TWRP and they all claim to install fine but every time I reboot the phone and test if it is rooted it fails. The SuperSU app says "there is no SU binary installed". I have tried wiping the cache/dalvik. Like I said, I tried various versions. I don't know what else I can possibly do.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I used to have the k3 right before I bought my 5x. So here's what I would try if I were you. First, when you're in twrp, are there red bars on the top? Like in the menu is most stuff red instead of blue? If this is the case then you need to relock and unlock your bootloader. Twrp is unusable and it means something along the lines that your bootloader is messed up. Reflashing twrp or another recovery won't fix it. If you dont have red in twrp, then I would try this forum. It's a guide on how to root manually, and it will definitely work on whatever rom you are using and you won't need to flash a new one.
Good luck.

-The 14 year old androider

---
Tags: rooting, 6.0-marshmallow, twrp, lenovo, supersu
---


# Question
Title: How can I exit "Quick Mode" on Acer Liquid smart phone?
The Acer Liquid 630 received a Lollipop update in December.

I accidentally launched Quick Mode and now I am not able to exit. If I choose to end QM, the phone asks for confirmation but stays in Quick Mode. Before installation of the Lollipop update, leaving QM was possible.

This problem has been reported also in a recent comment on How do you take quick mode off Acer Liquid Z3?

Is there a way to disable or exit QM, or do I have to return to factory settings?

---

I have filed a bug report with Acer now, and resetted my phone to factory settings.

Update: three months later, Acer has not yet replied, but the phone has received two updates since December so maybe it is fixed. I will not test it as I might end up with another factory reset.

# Answer
Instead of a factory reset and install everything again, you can download a home launcher from appstore! Set your new home launcher as default then uninstall quick mode(sucks bigtime)... I like my phones new look, i even got rid of the left page on the homescreen. :-)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.1-lollipop, launcher, bugs
---


# Question
Title: How can I make my USB headset work correctly?
My phone is an HTC One running Android 4.4.2, and the headset is a Logitech G35. I've tried connecting the headset to the phone with a USB OTG cable several times with mixed results:

* The buttons on the headset (play/pause, skip, volume) always work.
* Sound sometimes comes out of the phone, sometimes comes out of the headset, and sometimes doesn't come out at all.
* When sound DOES come out of the headset, it's either at "full volume" (not as loud as I would expect it to be) or muted. The phone won't let me set it to anything in between.
* Someone called once while I had sound coming out of it: the phone used the built-in speakers & mic for the call.

It works just fine with my laptop (running Linux Mint) so it shouldn't need any special drivers. I'd like to make it work properly because it sounds much better than my earbuds and is pretty good at blocking out noise. I haven't really tried the mic and I'm not too worried about it. What do I need to do to make it work? Am I just overlooking a setting or something?

Update: I found this question and ran the diagnostic. It looks like it should have full support for USB devices, so I don't know why it's not working.

# Answer
> 0 votes
1. Check for the otg to USB connector, some of the wire may be loose.
2. Your mobile software drives for USB headphone may get crashed, so you may get mixed result. Check for your system updates in your mobile. It may fix the issue.
3. Your headphone may have chipset that some time block the incoming otg signals.

I am using Lenovo K4 mobile and Zebronics iron head USB headset. Hearing audio and video through otg to USB female. I have few creeping sound for 2o Sec for every track for songs, but work great after that..

---
Tags: usb-on-the-go, htc-one
---


title: Update APK Installed App

text:
# Question
Title: Update APK Installed App
I recently installed an app to my phone using an APK, because this app is not available in my country. When I looked it up in my **Google Play Store** (*I only get to view this app in my **wishlist**, because it doesn't show up when I just search for it*), there is a mark on my wishlist that this app is now installed on my phone, but when I view the app, there is still the notice message of "*This item isn't available in your country.*"

Will I be able to receive the update? If not, is there a way to update this app?

# Answer
> 2 votes
**No**. The only way to update the app is download the new version apk and install it.

I had similar experience with a game they released only for certain parts of the world. Then they released an update that I had to install in order to play the game, but since it wasn't available in my country I had to look for the updated apk and install it outside Google Play Store.

---
Tags: google-play-store, apk
---


# Question
Title: Does my battery seriously have a problem or do I have a virus?
This notification keeps popping up on my phone and I don't know if it's real or not, it reads:

"Battery has been infected by 6 serious problem! Install DU Battery and all problems will be wiped out."

# Answer
**It's a virus/maleware.**

Sources that describe very similar situations:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/658156-apus-du-battery-saver-virus.html

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/7XbiK-frhVA

It sounds like it's actually a really old scam (this may be a newer variant of it) Here's a story from 2011 that sounds like the same issue:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/241967/sleazy\_ads\_on\_android\_devices\_push\_bogus\_battery\_upgrade\_warnings.html
> 2 votes

# Answer
To give a view of why it is impossible for an app to diagnose much less than fix battery problems, a little background is in order

* Battery houses a sensor/chip that is responsible for monitoring vital parameters like *temperature, voltage, NFC etc*. This information is conveyed to the OS through one of the pins that makes contact when the battery is in place (normally three pins, one being for this and other two for charging / discharging)
* This information is conveyed to the battery driver portion of the ROM. These drivers cannot be modified permanently, even if your device is rooted, since these are initialised during boot up

Hence to identify state of the battery (other than the vital parameters) discussed above, you require a *physical* way of interacting with the battery. This should convince you that the claims made by the app are nonsense , aimed at attracting revenue

* Android doesn't need anti virus - see Is an antivirus really needed for Android?. So that only leaves *malware* as the cause. Have a look at our tag for solutions to fix. This suggests factory reset can fix, in which case you are lucky or you may need to flash stock ROM again- in any case make a back up of your data
> 2 votes

# Answer
This is very annoying situation.

First thing to try is remove all cache files of those apps which has internet connectivity. On net there are many sites, those try to inject some malicious codes. This is first step to identify.

If first is not helpful, try to check the background running apps. Any suspicious app that you think, force stop that. See if it helps. If you find out any app which is on play store, you must contact and report this to developer.

You may also try to check all downloaded apps. May be something there.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, battery, system-error
---


title: Android auto-dim on face down?

text:
# Question
Title: Android auto-dim on face down?
I'm looking for an Android app that will temporarily dim the screen (not turn it off!) when the phone is face down, and return it to my normal brightness setting when face up. Does such an app exist? I've had no luck finding one...

# Answer
> 2 votes
If you're using Android 5.x/6.x, then under Display setting of Settings app you should be able to find an option named Adaptive Brightness. That should precisely do the job. In preceding Android versions, there is Auto Brightness but I do not know how it functions. If what benjaminS stated is true, then it should work well.

In any case, if the auto/adaptive brightness isn't working out for you then you can consider an app to do the job *precisely*. I tried with Tasker (full 7 day trial; userguide) on Nexus 6 running stock Android 6.0.1:

1. Profile: State → Sensor → Orientation → Is: Face Down
2. Task: (Action):

* Display → Display Brightness:

    + Level: set the desired minimum
        + tick Disable Safeguard
        + tick Ignore Current Level

Done. Whenever the device would be facing downwards, the brightness level would change. Whenever the orientation would change, the brightness level would be *restored*.

If you don't want the brightness to be restored automatically, long press on the profile → tap on settings icon next to a trash can → untick Restore Settings.

**Note**:

* Auto/Adaptive Brightness might interfere here so you're advised to keep it disabled.
* Display Timeout is not bypassed by this and after the timeout the screen would turn off. You can extend the timeout under Display action group though.

---
Tags: screen, screen-brightness
---