# Question
Title: How do I keep capitalization I put in? My Galaxy S7 switches it to lower case
If I capitalize in a text message, my Galaxy S7 changes it to lower case. It works fine with most names, etc. and leaves the upper case, but common words, like Stone Mountain (a town in GA), it keeps changing the s and the m to lower case. Same problem with Piper my dog. Note: This is NOT the first letter of a text problem - I've found that the spurious space at the beginning of the message causes that.

# Answer
Being that autocorrect is on, your keyboard will naturally change words to lower case when it sees fit. Being that the examples you gave, are regular words which are written in lower case, the keyboard will not differentiate between the times that you mean to write the name of a city or just an English word. As for your dogs name, i would imagine that you wrote it once and now it's saved in lower case

Here are two things to try:

**Add the upper case word to your keyboard dictionary.** To add a word to your Swipe keyboard, all you have to do is write the word a few times, and the keyboard will get used to it.

In your case you should type the word 'Stone' in upper case, and before you press on the space bar, press on the word on the suggestion bar where the word appears in orange font (as shown in the screenshot). Do this 2-3 time for each word. This way the keyboard will "learn" the word, and will not correct it next time.

**Remove the lower case word from the keyboard dictionary.** Type the word in question, then before pressing the space bar, long press on the word in the suggestion bar and select 'remove'. After successfully removing the word from the dictionary write it again in upper case, and you should have an option to add it to the dictionary. If there is no such option, then write the word a few times in upper case till the keyboard 'learns' that this is how you want it.

Note: from now on, when you write the word mountain it will automatically turn into upper case even if you didn't mean to write the name of the city.

Hope this helps.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms, samsung-galaxy-s7
---


# Question
Title: How to find where progress in game is saved
I am trying to transfer progress in a game to a new phone by transferring the files. In the case of some games, I was able to do that by copying files from Android-\>data. However, in other cases I am not able to find the save files.

# Answer
> 0 votes
May be specifying the game name could help in providing you with a better answer of where the files are, but many backup applications can do this for you, Titanium Backup is by far the most popular.

---
Tags: google-play-games
---


# Question
Title: A pop-up was on my screen and said I had a virus!
I was searching up fun computer games to play when a message came up saying I have a virus and I should download this weird app and give it a lot of my personal information including phone number and email.

I'm scared this is a scam. What do I do??

# Answer
> 5 votes
Congrats! You won 10 bottles of snake oil if you're lucky.

Honestly: this has two very clear indicators of being scam:

1. There are no viruses on Android. And even if there were, how should that website know?
2. Asking you to download an app via their specific link to fix {whatever}. If you do so, *then* you are in trouble.

Ignore that message (close the tab of your browser were it appeared), but remember that website – to never visit it again.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you're referring to the the pop-up with the (fake) countdown timer on it, which I've seen before, then just know that it doesn't have malware, and neither do any other pop-ups. They're just pieces of scareware (Advertisements designed to scare the victims into a reaction, like downloading an app). If it'll make you feel better, then feel free to download a (legit) anti-malware app on the Play Store and perform a scan with that. My personal recommendation is Malwarebyte's Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.malwarebytes.antimalware&hl=en .

---
Tags: hardware, samsung-galaxy-s-7-edge, antivirus
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy S5's screen only turns on after multiple presses, and the screen has these weird lines show up when turning off
and thanks for reading this. So I've had an S5 for just over a year now. As it has an AMOLED screen, when you turn the brightness all the way down, the screen will flicker a yellow-green. This happened whenever the screen would dim on standby, and it seemed that it was normal. However, now, when I power it off, the screen does the green flicker when it's fading out. This did not happen before.

On top of this, sometimes the screen simply will not turn on. The phone is on, the lights are on, but I'll press the power button, and nothing will happen. I'll keep pressing it, and eventually it will turn on, but this could be part of an underlying issue. If anyone has any ideas, please do tell me.

Also, smaller issue: woke up one morning, and a notification came up at 3 AM saying that I was running out of storage space. Is my phone trying to kill itself?

# Answer
The first part of this screams either a broken screen or much more likely, a broken screen driver (Software being corrupted). Backup your data and factory reset the device. Do not recover using the backup and just move your contacts back and pictures. You can always reinstall apps. If that doesn't fix it, you will likely need to replace the device or flash the stock software again.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Just warm up the screen. It will come on. Mine has been doing that for weeks now. If it is kept in a warm location it will work perfectly. ( above room temperature)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: screen, samsung-galaxy-s-5, power-on
---


title: Can a device turn on by itself

text:
# Question
Title: Can a device turn on by itself
Can a device turn on by itself without any buttons being pressed? Assume there aren't any custom ROMs

# Answer
Yes.

Even stock ROMs have a feature named **Scheduled Power-On**.

Phones have a built-in battery to allow RTC (real time clock) to run while the device is powered off, and it's the base that scheduled power-on is designed.

Here's **Settings -\> Advanced -\> Scheduled Power On/Off** on my phone (OnePlus 5, Stock 7.1.1)

<sup>(click image to enlarge)</sup>
> 3 votes

---
Tags: power-on
---


# Question
Title: How do I install Google Chrome on a Kindle Fire?
I'm tryhing to install any version of Google Chrome on Kindle Fire using instructions here -- https://www.technipages.com/kindle-fire-how-to-install-google-chrome-via-apk-file. I have followed all the instructions up to the point where I actually have to download an APK file, evidently needed to install Chrome. However, I'm confused about which file I need. On Chrome's site, all the files they list are for Android operating systems ...

```
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/chrome/

```

In as far as I'm using a Kindle Fire, I don't see any APK files on the site appropriate to a Kindle. Where do I find such a file?

# Answer
The instructions on that site **pretty much explains everything**. Since *Kindle Fire OS* is based on *Android OS*, you just need to know to which Android version does your Fire OS corresponds.

Also check the appropriate CPU architecture. For example for *Chrome Browser 62.0.3202.84*, **click on all variants** (or this link), then on the next screen you see that for each variant there is a compatibility table for each CPU architecture (*i.e arm, arm64*) as well as Android version.

If your Fire is based on *Android 5.0* and *arm architecture* then, select that one for download and install.

Remember to reboot your device after installing
> 1 votes

---
Tags: amazon-kindle
---


# Question
Title: Difference between ADB shell and TWRP terminal
**TLDR**:
When booted into TWRP (not the Android OS), is there a difference between running a command on an ADB shell and running it in TWRP's terminal? Specifically something that messes with partitions? Is it safe? Are different results to be expected?

**Background**:
I'm having a problem with my OnePlus One. It seemingly randomly reboots or turns off instantly. Sometimes refusing to start again unless the power button is pressed for about 30 seconds or the battery connector is disconnected and connected again. According to this article, the issue might be a corrupted partition. It suggests running:

```
`make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p15

```

over ADB. Unfortunately it is impossible for me to get ADB to recognize my device properly. I did everything that this article suggested, but it didn't help. I tried to scan for ADB devices while in booted into TWRP (no devices showed up) and I tried to scan for devices while booted into Android, but as soon as I enable USB debugging the phone constantly disconnects like multiple times per second. I tried using a powered USB extension as suggested here, but it didn't help. I also measured the current draw and it constantly switched between ~230mA and ~270mA (the PSU would have allowed up to 5100mA). Also, I refuse to do ADB over WiFi for security reasons. It would also most likely be a pain to get the firewalls to allow it.

I also wonder if there is a way to find out if any of the other partitions are corrupted (there are like 50 devices listed under `/dev/block/`).

# Answer
I wouldn't tamper with partitions currently in use – which would be the case when the system is booted up. While booted into recovery, they are not in use unless you explicitly mount them (or if they'e auto-mounted, you can unmount them and still have a system running).

So things like repartitioning or formatting are better done from recovery. Same applies to imaging (`dd`) where you want to be sure the contents don't change while you create that "disk image", as you want it to be consistent (not an issue with partitions mounted read-only of course).

And again this applies if you want to *repair* the file system: the corresponding partition must be *unmounted* for that, which cannot be done e.g. for the `/data` partition while booted up normally – `fsck` (File System ChecK) requires exclusive access to it.

---

As for your underlying problem: I'd recommend to boot into recovery and run a file system check first to *see* if any partition is corrupted. In most cases, `fsck` is also able to repair the corruption, and you'll keep your data that way. If `fsck` finds issues it cannot solve (or you want to be "absolutely sure and clean"), you still can run that `make_ext4fs` – which of course would mean "all data lost". If you do that on `/system` it also means you need to flash a ROM afterwards, as your OS would be gone. And if you do it to any partition other than `/system`, `/data` or `/cache` (or the SD card), you might brick your device as you wouldn't know what to put there to bring it to live again. Oh, and also make sure the partition you want to "format" is really using ext4 before running `make_ext4fs` against it. While it should be transparent, an unexpected file system might confuse the OS :)
> 1 votes

# Answer
Nope. When booted into TWRP all commands are executed with root privileges, shell commands are mostly the same but TWRP added a `twrp` command documented here, which I think is most convenient and hard to get things wrong.

I have no idea about frequent reboot but I suggest you check the power connector.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, adb, twrp, partitions, oneplus-one
---


title: Accidentally downloaded custom OS

text:
# Question
Title: Accidentally downloaded custom OS
So I wanted to boot my android in recovery but instead booted into custom is download mode and instead of hitting the volume down and clicked the volume up and it started downloading something I got scared that this is gonna wipe my ROM and replace it with a custom OS so I held volumedown+homebutton+power button to escape then I booted normally into recovery and from there I booted into my android safely so should I worry that a problem will occur in the future and what does this custom OS download mode do?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Assuming you're talking about Samsung's download mode, when booted up cold, it only accepts input from a connected PC (via Odin/Heimdall), so if you haven't connected it to a PC, then you didn't even touch anything, and thus safe.

---
Tags: 7.0-nougat
---


title: ZUK Z1 bricked?

text:
# Question
Title: ZUK Z1 bricked?
my device had gone into a boot loop condition where It can't

* be detected by adb or computer even in fastboot or recovery mode
* hence, twrp sideload not working
* can't push files into and zuk is having no sd card

and some other resources might be useful,

* has twrp on it
* bootloader is unlocked
* pc with adb :)

please help immediately.. and thanks in advance,

# Answer
It appears you have bricked your device if you would have different device I would have provided better instructions however snapdragon chipsets are hard to flash however give this a try Download cynogen os from here-

https://forum.xda-developers.com/zuk-z1/development/rom-cyanogen-os-12-1-yog4pas3oh-t3248820/page1

And install it through your TWRP. In case if you had a backup through twrp you can restore it hope it helps

Without a sd card its not possible so arrange it from somewhere or try QFIL flash tool and stock rom as you have a pc.

Follow this guide: http://www.gsmhelpful.com/2017/06/how-to-flash-lenovo-zuk-z1-z1221-with-qfil-flash-tool.html?m=1
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, boot-loop, twrp, unbricking, bootloader
---


# Question
Title: Can APK Editor be used to increase the location/GPS Fix Interval?
I want increase location fix updates for Google Maps location history (currently 10-15secs) and other location calls on my android Marshmallow device. Can this be achieved by something like APK Editor?

# Answer
Whether you want to modify the APK depends on your use case.

You can simply have another app which has a higher location fix frequency, and Google Maps is likely to have fast location updates as the "fastest interval" setting makes it possible to use the faster location requested by other apps.

If you do want to change the behavior of Google Maps, you can go with either Soot (Jimple modification) or ASM (Java byte code modification, which is better for highly obfuscated code like Google Maps). However, this can be a painful task. Thus, I would suggest you go with the previous approach unless you really need to modify Google Maps.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: gps, apk, google-maps, samsung-galaxy-note-3, location-services
---


# Question
Title: How to use GPS without using Google Location Services
Because I do not want to consent to the Google Location Services privacy agreement I have this switched off. By doing so I know some location functionality like cell-based and wifi-based location will not be functional.

However I would expect simple GPS functionality to work in a normal way. Functioning in a normal way to me would be to use **GPS data if available, else use the last known location**. (Historically this is how GPS receivers work)
The current (I am running Android 5, Lollipop) implementation from Google however seems to not give any location at all when there is no clear fix, throwing me lots of warnings and placing me all over the world instead of in my home location.

My question:
**Does anyone know a third party location provider / spoofer which simply caches my last known location if there is no GPS fix?** (just giving me back normal functionality)
Additional functionality which would be very welcome is caching Wifi/Cell data so if I have been somewhere it will remember without a GPS fix.

Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!

# Answer
You could try this app: GPS Aids.

It tries to provide a quicker and more stable fix by providing a couple of GPS aids (GPS Aiding Data like LTO Long Term Orbits, gpsOneXTRA and AGPS), and it caches your last known GPS data.

It will run without root, but some options require root access.
> 10 votes

# Answer
Not exactly matching your description (using the "last known" position if not GPS available), but still a good alternative:

On two of my devices, I completely got rid of all proprietary Google services, replacing them by alternatives. In detail, I've described this in Android without Google 5: Free your Droid!¹ (update¹). In short, this is what I've done:

1. Flash a custom ROM that comes without GApps (here: CyanogenMod)
2. Installing microG (successor of NOGAPPS)
3. Generating the `lacells.db` as described at XDA, and pushed it to the device

As a result, I've got a totally offline working location service using cell tower IDs and the `lacells.db`, Playstore access via BlankStore¹ or YalpStore, and a working Maps API using OpenStreetMap. So with "no GPS active", I still get my location as long as there are cell towers in reach. I can, however, not say whether it's using the "last known position" if there's no GPS and no cell towers.

¹ Disclosure: link go to one of my sites
> 11 votes

# Answer
Using Fairphone 2 and Fairphone Open OS and following this guide to living without Google, I set up location services using location middleware provider µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)

It is easy to do this using the F-Droid repository

* Install µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)
* Install geolocation backends such as LocalGsmNlpBackend
* Install geocoding backend NominatimeNlp
* Reboot your phone
* Start the µg UnifiedNlp app and set up the backends. In LocalGsmNlpBackend select 'create database' and let it generate a database from OpenCellID or Mozilla Location Services (this takes ages and downloads huge amounts of data so make sure you are on WiFi)
* Enable Location options in Settings

Result: both GPS and network-based location services work with little or no privacy impact.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Accessing location in Google Location service and accessing location in Android are independent from each other.

Apps can use either Android Location Manager (which does not depend on Google Location service) or Google Location service.

Thus, you can still use apps who access location through Android Location Manager. According to my research of the top 5000 apps, most apps still use Android Location Manager. So, you should be good without Google Location Services.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, privacy, geolocation, location-services
---


# Question
Title: How do I delete photos I sent to someone in Hangouts?
I would like to have photos removed from hangouts between myself and another person. They are showing up in their albums, not mine. THey are harrasing and sexully explicit.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Unfortunately, there is no way to delete a message that you sent to someone from their phone. You can delete it from your phone but not theirs.

---
Tags: photos, google-hangouts
---


# Question
Title: Restore a whatsapp chat with someone else using that person's phone
I have lost my phone and got a new one. Unfortunately I did not backup my WhatsApp. There is a chat session held between me and someone else which is very dear to me. I have this person's phone. I wonder if I can restore this chat on my phone through that other person's phone. Thanks.

# Answer
The easiest would be to use the 'email chat' option. This would send you a copy of the conversation to your email.

Open the chat on your friends phone, Press on the menu on the top right\>more\>email chat. Put in your email address, and you will have a copy of the conversation.

There is no way to port the conversation over to WhatsApp and make it appear as if you never lost it. Unless you have a backup.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: if my device has logged into someones gmail, will it still show on device list after being factory reset?
someone that i was friends with in a phone game decided he hates me and recently factory reset my phone and my tablet remotely through a shared gmail account. that part is over and done, but we shared more than one gmail account and i want to prevent him from doing it to me again.

I would think that when my devices were reset it would remove them from all accounts that they were logged into, but wanted to be sure that he will not still see my devices logged in on any of the shared accounts.

i have not added those accounts to either device again, the only account added is my private account.

# Answer
> 0 votes
*Your question is a little unclear so let me know if i got this right.*

You were logged in as abc@gmail.com on your tablet/tablets and your friend, being that he had access to this email address, went ahead and deleted everything in your phone, and now you are wondering if he's able to do the same again?

The answer is no, he's not able to wipe your phone again, because when he erased it in the first time, that cleared everything, including all accounts. And as long as you don't add that account back, he won't be able to do any harm.

You can double check this, by going to settings\>accounts\>Google, and see if "abc@gmail.com" is still there.

---
Tags: factory-reset, android-device-manager, remote-wipe
---


# Question
Title: Can't hard reset samsung and forgot the Pattern
I have Samsung Galaxy Duos Grand Prime plus running Lollipop. I forgot the pattern.

* If I keep entering wrong pattern, the phone won't prompt me to enter the backup pin
* Volume up + home + power isn't working, the phone will boot normally. Volume up+ power isn't working either.
* Volume down + home + power takes me to the `downloading updates` screen and it get stuck there forever.

What other possible ways are there to remove the pattern?

# Answer
> 0 votes
On my phone, I need to draw 5 wrong patterns, before the phone asks for the pin code. But I noticed, that pattern consisting of few points (I think less than 4 points) do not count.

I hope this observation helps you. You need to draw 5 **complex** patterns (four or more points) in order to be asked for the pin.

---
Tags: samsung, factory-reset, pattern-lock, hard-reset
---


title: How to avoid too much running apps?

text:
# Question
Title: How to avoid too much running apps?
Meanwhile I have many running apps in my phone and I found that a lot of apps keep running because they "trick". They register as a `boot receiver` so they start with the phone, then register as a "new app installed" receiver and so on. The do everything to keep running. If you kill them, some of them start again because the creat a service which checks if they are running. I guess these apps do that because they want to transmit information about the user or phone.

What can I do against those apps when the phone is not rooted? The task killers that I checked do not work. I think they are fake.

(With a rooted phone the Autorun manager seems to work good)

# Answer
> 2 votes
Perhaps you may want to look into **hibernating** the applications as opposed to killing them with a task-killer.

The former is advantageous, since it takes care of all background services of the given app and prevent them from waking up, until such a time when the user executes them.

One candidate in mind perhaps the popular one is Greenify. One XDA user(lioux) has been generous enough to provide a detailed mechanism of Greenify;

> It (Greenify) is a GUI (graphical interface) that lets you select applications that **you don't want running on the background**, starting automatically when the phone boots or responding to intents.
>
> It provides useful data about running applications so that you may make an informed decision. It uses the android command `am` to stop an application. It will no longer start during phone boot, respond to registered intents or be triggered by alarms from the system:

```
 am force-stop package.name
 am start package.name

```

> Everything it does is **temporary**. The `am` command does not touch the installed files or any configuration information. It merely tells the system to "forget" about the application.
>
> The system re-learns some of the intents again the next time the application is executed: launched by the user or launched by another application.
>
> *If the application does not behave as expected after being awakened, remove it from Greenify then reboot your phone.*
>
> Some applications do not re-register events when executed. Sometimes, they only do it at boot. Furthermore, applications might have specific "relationships" that might be disturbed when one is stopped (location service for instance).

---

Up to date, Greenify has been constantly updated, to include handy features even for non-rooted device (although the functionality is limited compared to using it on rooted device and even much better when integrated with the Xposed module)

> Most of the basic features of Greenify **work out of the box on non-root devices,** still some useful additional features require a one-time privilege escalation procedure different than normal permissions, which is enforced by Android system, using

For that see: How to grant permissions required by some features on non-root device?

*Note: Some users have observed some certain functions are still limited despite granting permission through adb (may possibly be a bug in experimental releases)*

Acknowledgements

---
Tags: task-management
---


# Question
Title: Recovering data from corrupted SD card formatted as internal storage (Marshmallow)
I have an SD card in a Moto G (2015) running marshmallow, not rooted. It was formatted as internal storage, and contains photos and videos from the birth of our daughter, but has become corrupted.

Since it was formatted as internal storage, it's ESDFS filesystem and presumably encrypted. I can't decrypt it without accessing the encryption key, which I can't do because I'm not rooted. Presumably rooting will delete that encryption key.

I presume it's corrupted because any attempt to look at the SD card from within android unmounts the card, and the phone can't see any of the pictures/video on there. When the card is inserted, the 'storage' menu will initially acknowledge the card and tell me how full it is, but any attempt to look inside the card will result in it unmounting.

I've tried running fsck - within system/bin there are fsck\_msdos and fsck.f2fs, but both come up as 'permission denied' when looking for them, and 'no such file' when I try to run them.

I can access /data from an adb shell, but attempting to get into /data/data/media results in 'permission denied'

Can anyone help? E.g: 1) will rooting delete the encryption key so that the card can't be accessed? 2) is there a way to get fsck working? 3) any other ideas for getting the media off this card?

Many thanks in advance. I'm a bit of a noob, so clear instructions much appreciated!

# Answer
> 1) will rooting delete the encryption key so that the card can't be accessed?

No, actually "rooting" will not delete anything. Rooting is just adding an application for superuser or root-level access. That being said, in order to root your device you must have an unlocked bootloader. Unlocking the bootloader will wipe the entire device, including the encryption key, and all other data on the device. On the Moto G 2015 there is no way around this. Oh, and removing the card and performing the operation will not work, once it is rooted, the system will be different and the encryption key will change.

> 2) is there a way to get fsck working?

Not without root access. To be honest, even if you did get it to run the chances it would correct this type of problem are very low.

> 3) any other ideas for getting the media off this card?

Unfortunately no... once media has been adopted by the system, it is encrypted with a unique key to that system. If you can access the key, it is possible to access the data via Linux assuming the data is not corrupted. If the data is corrupted the chances of recovering encryped, corrupt data are extremely small.

As much as I would like to be able to give you an answer to recover your precious photos and videos, I don't believe there is one. All I can say is that moving forward I suggest NOT using adopted storage if possible (if this card was simple external/portable storage, the chances of recovering media from it would raise exponentially) and use a cloud backup solution like Google Photo which has the ability to maintain a backup of your photos and video automatically.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Having seen the same problem more than once and after giving up on trying to root my phone (runtime root), I've opted for a method that I hoped would work and actually worked.

The method I've chosen will require an identical SD card and a card reader, however I believe it should work also with any SD card as long as it is larger - haven't tested it though.

Remove the supposedly corrupted SD card from the phone and plug it into a Linux machine. After finding what device was representing it (commonly `/dev/mmcblk*`), use `dd` to extract its contents:

```
$ sudo dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=/tmp/sdcard.dump bs=4M

```

`sdcard.dump` will be absolutely useless as it is encrypted and you don't have the encryption key, but it doesn't matter. Eject that SD card and insert the new, probe the SD card device (say `/dev/mmcblk1`) then run:

```
$ sudo dd if=/tmp/sdcard.dump of=/dev/mmcblk1 bs=4M
$ sync; sync

```

Eject the new SD card and plug it in your phone. In my case the phone was tricked into using that new card as its existing storage, thus mounting it and allowing me to gain access to its contents.

If you get errors while reading the corrupted SD card, try using `ddrescue` instead of `dd` when creating the initial image. Chances are that despite the errors you will still get access to a large portion of the data on the card.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, 6.0-marshmallow, sd-card, adoptable-storage
---


# Question
Title: How to track down an app that shows ads on smartphone screen?
I have a problem with malware apps. Looks like some app called "Native" installed itself, and created a shortcut for itself, all without my permission. After that happened, I have pop-up ads every time I unlock my screen.

I have 2 security apps: Avast and 360 security. Neither of them can find anything wrong on my phone.

Because this new app "Native" uses such a common word as its name, I cannot find anything about it on the Internet, and I don't see anything called "Native" when I browse in the "Settings"-\>"Applications" menus.

So I am stuck with ads popping up every time I unlock the screen. What may be the possible solution?

# Answer
> 6 votes
# Android 4 & 5

1. When the advertisement shows up, press the app switch button to display the recents menu (if the advertisement is full-screen and cover your soft buttons, swiping down from the top of the screen will make it appear).
2. It will show the name of the app displaying the advertisement.
3. From there, long press on the app and chose "app info"
4. Uninstall the app.

# Android 6

For Android 6 the process is similar, however the recents menu looks a bit different. In this step you now have to **long press the app icon** in the title bar:

# Android 7

For Android 7 the process is similar, however the recents menu looks a bit different. In this step you now have to **long press the app icon** then an info icon appears in the title bar that opens the settigs dialog of the app the screen belongs to:

# Answer
> 3 votes
You could use Ad network scanner & detector.
It shows the app list which shows ads and such.
 This app hasn't been updated since two years

EDIT:
AD Block Notification lists all the installed packages and allows to block ads from specified packages

Or Block This! which blocks in-app ads and browser ads.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can go into the setting\>apps and then swipe to the left. Then look through the list and look for an app that is on but you do not recognize and has no google in it's package name.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Go to settings then click security, click device administrators there's an app checked there but doesnt have any name. Disable it. Then go to apps. Click the blank thingy above the first app with a name (ex. Android system webview) then uninstall it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Install an app from play store. The name is malwarebytes anti-malware. Do a full scan of device which takes time. It might show your device is infected with adware. Try deleting it. In some casesthe program which introduced the adware into the device might have enabled itself as an device administrator. Disable it and delete the adware.

Hope this helps☺☺

# Answer
> 0 votes
In addition to the answer by @king:

That actually seemed to work. Photos are post removal. Just to a walkthrough.

Once you're in the Lock screen sec/device admin, there's going to be one slot under the one from android that just shows the tick on the right but blank on the left. Untick that. There should be a prompt concerning administration rights. Deactivate that bad boy!

(click images for larger variants)

Then go to apps manager. Once there look for any empty slots or rows on your apps list. On the photo i gave, there was once a row right before the app named "Adblock". You wont see it at first glance but its there. Just an empty row. Just to be sure, tap on all the apps you have on there until you notice the empty row. Tap on it and uninstall.

So far it's been 20 minutes since i did it and no pop up screen window. Yet. As opposed to before where one pops up every time I come out of screen lock.

# Answer
> 0 votes
 Click to Enlarge

* Just go to settings -\> apps.
* Then u will spot any app without a name "as u see mine up" or that can't be deleted and it's new to you.
* Mark it in the box that u see. Then click on the option button above. And disable it.
* After that go back to the app and uninstall or delete it. I'm sure that the pop-up page won't come back

# Answer
> 0 votes
I had the same problem, but I managed to get rid of it. There was an application com.file-1 in data/app, didn't show anywhere except for lucky patcher, a blank space with "nothing to patch here", I saw the path in App info, tried to delete it in root browser but it came back. I finally uninstalled it in Titanium Backup, nothing else worked. Hope it helps

# Answer
> 0 votes
As you can see, I had a similar problem. It tool me 2 days but finally got the sucker. Mine was caused by this app called "android utility". It was so common that i overlooked it. Deleted many apps and couldnt find a solution.

Solution is similar to what the brazilian guy showed. For mine, i let the pop up run. Clicked on that little "i" at the corner of the pop up and it ran the app. The moment the app was identified, i uninstalled the app.

# Answer
> -1 votes
there is a pirticular app which is white in colour.so in apps also you won't find any icon.beside it inly text appears.so make sure to get rid of that

# Answer
> -3 votes
i have a simple solution for this problem...the ads appears because of an app which is invisible to us means we can't see that app in apps menu...so here is the solution.. Go to settings \>lock screen and security\>device administarion there you will see an app with no name is allowed for the device administration remove the tick from that app....this will not solve the problem there is more work to do. Now go to settings\>app ... The invisible app will be in downloaded or maybe in running app on the first number look carefully.. Even I didn't saw the app first time.... You are all set now just click the app and softly touch the uninstall button, as i said touch the uninstall button softly. ...and done there will be no more ads.... If you don't understand what i have written above, you can send mail on sharmahainhum@gmail.com.
And if you think i am funny please vote me....

---
Tags: applications, malware
---


title: Custom Alarm sounds removed?

text:
# Question
Title: Custom Alarm sounds removed?
This is what I am currently running:

```
Verizon Motorola Droid 4
Android Version 4.1.2
System Version 98.72.189.XT894.Verizon.en.US
Last update Nov 21 2013

```

Prior to this Nov 21st update, I was able to set a custom ringtone, notification, and alarm on my phone. Custom meaning I can upload a sound file of my choice and have my phone play it.

After the update, I am still allowed to set a custom ringtone and notification, however I am prohibited from setting a custom alarm sound.

Is it possible to still choose my own alarm sound **without** rooting or installing an app?'

*Note: Previous question/answers don't concern this update or suggest installing a third party app.*

EDIT: To change alarms, I go to: `Apps -> Clock -> Set Alarm -> Settings`. When choosing an alarm sound, I am only allowed the default selection from the phone, whereas with ringtones and notifications (in `System Settings -> Sound`), I am able to select from my custom made sound files.

# Answer
The folder `Media` is the where all the Sound files are actually stored. Inside `Media`, it has its own `Alarms`, `Notifications`, and `Ringtones` folder. These are the folders where each respective sound file belongs.

In my case, I wanted to create a custom alarm. I thought it would be as simple as dropping a sound file in there, but it wasn't. **THERE'S A TRICK**. In order for the Android phone to recognize your file as an actual alarm, the file must have `Alarm` appended to its name.

Example : If your song/file name is `Unwell.mp3`, then you have to rename it to `Unwell Alarm.mp3`.

Only after you include the `Alarm` in the name will it become an Alarm.
> 3 votes

# Answer
## To change my alarms I use the ES File explorer app:

When I go to change the alarm it asks which app you want to change it with (if you have not set a default). I am able to chose between the built in media app and ES file explorer. If I chose ES File Explorer then I will be able to chose a file without having to shuffle around media files.
> 1 votes

# Answer
There is a way around which I was able to use. Convert your favorite Alarm tone to `.ogg` format using any online tool. Following is a link to one of them -

audio.online-convert.com/convert-to-ogg

Now go to your \Systems folder and find the \Ringtones or \Alarms folder. There you can paste the converted `.ogg` file. Try to keep the file size below 200KB.

Now, go to your alarms and you can find the Alarm tone in the Default Alarm-tone list.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Simply rename the file; right click and rename, at the end of the file name, remove the old file extension type, (ie .mp3) and change it to .ogg and it will be available to use. It will say it may become unstable, but in my experience it works just fine.
> 0 votes

# Answer
There is a folder called "Alarms" in your SD card. Just paste the sounds/songs you want to set there and it should appear when selecting sounds for the alarm.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: alarm, motorola-droid-4, custom-sounds
---


# Question
Title: what is root? is it system app? and why it uses internet?
why there is a root that uses internet in my android smartphone?

what is root? is it system app? and why it uses internet?

# Answer
In Linux, "root" is the name given to the super-user. It's kind of like the administrator in Windows, but far more powerful — root has permission to do *anything* on a Linux system.

Android is a Linux system, which means that it has a super-user called "root".

root (always spelled lowercase) is not an app. root is a user.

If you "root" a phone, what it really means is that you give yourself — and every app on the phone — the same powers as root.

You are advised **not** to root your phone, unless you are a power user who knows what you are doing, and you have good reason to do so. This is because root allows anything, making it easy to mess up your phone or to introduce dangerous malware.

Some apps on the Play Store require root to work. If you haven't rooted your phone, you can't use those apps.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: root-access, android-emulator
---


title: Virus on Lenovo P1M?

text:
# Question
Title: Virus on Lenovo P1M?
My phone, a two year old Lenovo Vibe P1M, has been acting weird for a while.

It was damaged six months back in an accident, and the screen was somewhat cracked on the top. As a result the touchscreen got kind of faulty. But there were no performance issues.

For about a month, though, I've been experiencing huge problems!

1. Extreme lag and freezes.
2. The phone started randomly opening apps and messing around with them.
3. I found several audio recordings made without my knowing.
4. I found a lot of "empty" folders on the internal storage, and when I deleted these it freed up about 500 MB. One such folder was called "diaxin." I also got alerts from my CleanIt app asking me if I wanted to remove residual junk files. When I hit yes, it showed me a huge bunch of files with Chinese names. Needless to say, I had not downloaded any of them.
5. Worst of all, every few seconds, the phone opened the toolbar containing the icons for my WiFi, Data Connection, etc. Somehow it kept turning on my location. I tried scrolling up to hide the toolbar but no luck. Every time, I had to switch the phone off and on to get rid of this annoyance.
6. The touchscreen often stopped responding at random times, including when I tried to unlock my phone. Right now it takes me 5-7 tries to even get the phone to recognize my attempts to draw my pattern.

I tried to connect the phone via data cable to Ubuntu so I could backup the data. It just froze when I did so, and froze my laptop as well. I had to restart both devices.

What kind of malware infestation is this? I'd like to do a factory reset but can't because my contacts etc are on the phone (and it's not letting me back them up: see 5 and 6).

# Answer
Try rebooting into Safe Mode. If its a 3rd party app messing with your phone then it won't work on Safe Mode. Then try backing up your data and resetting the phone.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: malware, lenovo
---


# Question
Title: Dismiss the popup edit menu on Android > 5
On older versions of Android, the Cut/Copy/Paste edit menu (i.e., the menu displayed when the user selects some text) displays at the top of the screen, and can be dismissed by clicking the back arrow:

On newer versions of Android (not sure when this changed), the edit menu is a popup. I don't see a back arrow here:

How does the user dismiss this menu on newer versions of Android? I realize that this is a complete newbie question, but I can't for the life of me figure it out, and Google searches result in lots of hits for programmatically removing the menu. I'm interested in what the *user* needs to do to dismiss it.

---

**EDIT/UPDATE**: I neglected to mention what the context is here. I'm working within `contenteditable` `<div>` elements in a web view. The user is an older guy who sometimes holds down his taps too long, triggering the menu by mistake (although I would imagine other users with mobility issues could do this as well). He just wants to dismiss the menu without leaving the web page.

# Answer
On newer versions of Android all you have to do to dismiss it is, press the back button on the navigation bar. You can also dismiss it by pressing anywhere on the text box.

(The back button is on the bottom left of the screenshot below)
> 1 votes

# Answer
I've been mulling this over some more, and thought of another kinda stupid solution: click on the `COPY` button in the edit menu. This would dismiss the edit popup menu while keeping the focus in the text field and the software keyboard displayed.

The only downside is the extra text copied to the clipboard. This would probably only be an issue if you're dealing with some sensitive text (i.e. you don't want it copied to the clipboard), or you've got something else on the clipboard that you don't want knocked out.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow
---


title: Captive Portal parameters

text:
# Question
Title: Captive Portal parameters
There are several captive portal parameters one could apply to an Android device via `settings put global` – the most famous probably being

```
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0

```

to completely turn off captive portal check (for Android \< 8). Can someone explain how to use the others – e.g. to define a "custom captive portal server for tin-foils"? For example, one cannot simply do a

```
settings put global captive_portal_server example.com

```

as that would, in most cases, cause captive portal check to permanently fail (background: doing so, portal check would construct an URL `http://example.com/generate_204` and check against that, expecting a specific response).

So apart from simply deactivating captive portal check altogether (which might, as I've read, lead to other issues like not being redirected to the correct portal in some cases), what else can one do to enhance privacy in this context?

Examples (if I got them right):

* `captive_portal_mode` (Android 8+?):
    + `0`: Don't attempt to detect captive portals
    + `1`: Prompt the user to sign in
    + `2`: Immediately disconnect from the network and do not reconnect to that network in the future
* `captive_portal_detection_enabled` (Android \<8?):
    + `0`: Completely disable captive portal checks
    + `1`: Enable it (default)

While these examples are pretty much straight-forward: How to use the other parameters?

# Answer
**Configuring captive portal behaviour**

* `captive_portal_detection_enabled` (\<= Android 7.1.1)
    + works as described in question body
* `captive_portal_mode` (\>= Android 7.1.2)
    + works as described in question body

**Setting captive portal URL(s)**

* `captive_portal_server` (\<= Android 6.0.1)
    + The server that holds a `generate_204` page, used to internally craft a URL for captive portal detection (`new URL("http", mServer, "/generate_204");` – obsolete as of Android 7.0, see below)
* `captive_portal_use_https` (\>= Android 7.0)
    + `0`: Don't use HTTPS for network validation
    + `1`: Use HTTPS (default)
* `captive_portal_http_url` (\>= Android 7.0)
    + The URL used for HTTP captive portal detection - use in pair with `captive_portal_use_https` (set to `0`)
    + \>= Android 7.1.1: OS no longer appends `generate_204` to URL automatically, giving input URL some flexibility
* `captive_portal_https_url` (\>= Android 7.0)
    + The URL used for HTTPS captive portal detection - use in pair with `captive_portal_use_https` (set to `1`)
    + \>= Android 7.1.1: OS no longer appends `generate_204` to URL automatically

**Requirement for the URL to be used**

A HTTP 204 response code ("no content") from the server is used for validation, no extra content needed: take the default detection URL for example, `curl clients3.google.com/generate_204` returns empty, and inspecting HTTP response by adding `--write-out %{http_code}` returns `204`.'

**A small list of usable captive portal server URLs in mainland China** (personally tested)

> https://captive.v2ex.co/generate\_204 (hosted by v2ex.com)
>
> https://connect.rom.miui.com/generate\_204 (hosted by Xiaomi, used by default on MIUI)
>
> https://noisyfox.cn/generate\_204 (hosted by noisyfox.cn)
>
> https://www.google.cn/generate\_204 & https://developers.google.cn/generate\_204 (hosted by Google)
>
> https://www.qualcomm.cn/generate\_204 (hosted by Qualcomm)

**Further notes**

The source also mentions parameters `captive_portal_user_agent`, `captive_portal_fallback_url` and `captive_portal_other_fallback_urls`:

* `captive_portal_fallback_url` (\>= Android 7.1.1) obviously is supposed to hold a single URL, while
* `captive_portal_other_fallback_urls` holds multiple further URLs (comma separated list, so the URLs might not contain any comma).

But I personally conducted tests on Android 8.0.0, and both fallback parameters don't work. Assuming they're declarations without an implementation for now.

Some examples of captive portal settings of Android in China show the use of some of the above settings:

```
adb shell settings put global captive_portal_http_url http://www.google.cn/generate_204
adb shell settings put global captive_portal_https_url https://www.google.cn/generate_204
adb shell settings put global captive_portal_fallback_url http://www.google.cn/generate_204
adb shell settings put global captive_portal_other_fallback_urls http://www.qualcomm.cn/generate_204

```

Knowing that, "tin foils" even could set up their own verification service. With Apache:

```
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /generate_204$
RewriteRule $ / [R=204,L]

```

or with Nginx:

```
location / generate_204 { return 204 ; }
```

**References**

,  (Chinese),  (Chinese)
> 14 votes

---
Tags: networking, privacy, captive-portal
---


title: bootloop issue on my device

text:
# Question
Title: bootloop issue on my device
I have rooted my android and installed succesfully custom recovery twrp zip through flashify. Then tried to install custom rom but my device is now damaged totally, its is now getting on/off on its own and device is not starting only screen with lenovo androis is seen for now.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Did you try flashing the ROM again? It's possible that bootloop problems occur if you've not flashed the ROM properly or if you flashed the wrong one. Check of the ROM is really compatible with your phone. If it is then check if there's something wrong with the ROM file. Maybe it might not have been downloaded completely or is corrupt. Also try flashing the superSU again.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Never use flashyfy , for serious flashing at least , and a TWRP flash is a serious flash. Flashy damages flashes (maybe it’s still buggy) . I had similar problems when I used flashyfy. All the problems ended when I stopped using it.

You give very little information about your phone , your ROM and your TWRP. All that is important for us to help you effectively.

With the little information that you provided I suggest :

You flashed twrp through flashyfy (say twrp.zip or twrp.img)

Now boot into twrp and reflash twrp.zip or twrp.img (from your internal storage or microSD card)

wipe cache , dalvick cache , sysytem and data and then flash your ROM. No need to wipe internal storage and micro SD card.

Everything will work fine after this ...

In the remote chance that it doesn’t work , then use the pc flashtool to at least flash the ROM and twrp. You can also selectively flash twrp only and then flash the ROM through this twrp.

---
Tags: rooting, boot-loop
---


title: `adb shell` returns with error: closed

text:
# Question
Title: `adb shell` returns with error: closed
I somehow bricked my OnePlus One phone badly. It only loads directly to the recovery. Pressing vol up + power button or rebooting it with `adb reboot bootloader` doesn't get me to the bootloader. I think I erased the bootloader partition or deleted my bootloader.

Here comes the tricky part. I can't even sideload any file or access my internal SD card because then I get either following error messages:

* E: footer is wrong
* E: signature verification failed
* Error opening '/data/media' (no such file or directory)

Right now I can either flash the OnePlusRestoreTool(64GB) recovery or the ColorOS recovery tool (both can't access the internal storage - button is not clickable). I thought I just have to mount my SD card new, but I can't enter a shell command, and most badly, I can't enter the bootloader.

How to fix it?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Since you can boot into recovery, reflash your ROM - make a clean flash (wipe cache, Dalvik cache, system, and data.)

If you can't flash through TWRP, then you have to use the flashtool.

---
Tags: adb, unbricking, bootloader, shell, oneplus-one
---


title: Samsung S5 Graphics Error under Lineage

text:
# Question
Title: Samsung S5 Graphics Error under Lineage
I just got a refurbished S5 and installed the latest Lineage OS (lineage-14.1-20171123-nightly-klte-signed on it. Most of the time everything works normal. Sometimes, however, the graphics gets really weird (see images).  Other family members have the same phone and I also flashed Lineage on them without experiencing these problems. Therefore, it cannot be a general problem. Any ideas about what might be wrong with the phone and how to fix it?

Edit: This problem was also reported here but no solution was documented.

# Answer
> 0 votes
A nightly build is a BUGGY build . A different one is compiled EVERY NIGHT , and that’s why its called a nightly build. This is how bugs are corrected. Enthusiasts and developers try out the new build and try find the bugs and solve them so that the next nightly build will have less bugs. After some some weeks/months , they manage to make a build stable enough to be used on a daily basis. This is the build that ordinary people download.

You should use the stable build if you want a stable OS. Stable builds might be released once a month or once in two months.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-5, lineageos, graphics
---


# Question
Title: New SIM activation: Do I need to reboot?
I recently received a new SIM card from the telecommunications service provider I switched to (I kept my mobile number). This is what I have done so far:

1. Went through the "activate SIM online" process
2. Powered off my mobile
3. Replaced SIM cards
4. Started my mobile again

The mobile appears to have detected the new SIM alright (I can see the new provider's name) but it says "emergency calls only". I checked with the new provider's support and they said it may take up to an hour to get activated.

Now I am wondering, **do I need to reboot** my phone again before the new SIM can connect to the network, **or are there other means** of forcing the SIM to try to reconnect, such as

* switching mobile data off and on again,
* turning on flight-mode temporarily
* ...anything else?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Usually a new sim card, before activation, will not be recognized by the phone at all (it will either say 'no service', or 'no Sim')

So, being that your phone recognized the carrier, it must be that the Sim is fully functional, and the reason that it says emergency calls only, is because the number wasn't fully ported, as you have stated.

Your phone should be able to detect automatically, the ability to make calls. If it doesn't, then going into airplane mode for a moment should do the trick.

You can also keep trying to start a call, this will make the phone look for connection

---
Tags: reboot, sim-card
---


# Question
Title: Possibility of flashing a new ROM to a stolen Nexus
Last weekend a Parisian pickpocket stole my Nexus 5X.

* Not rooted
* Locked bootloader (not modified in any way)
* Fully encrypted (and backed up)
* Locked (fingerprint/pattern)
* Updated to Oreo and current security patches
* USB Debugging turned on \[MTP\] (unfortunately)

Aside from the pattern lock and enabled USB debugging being weak spots, what are the chances of him successfully wiping this device and flashing a new ROM to it? In the real world, how useless will this stolen phone be to him?

# Answer
It is possible to use the phone without flashing a new rom, or a bootloader unlock.

**The thief can reset your phone using the recovery mode**

* Recovery mode can be entered by powering down the device and then pressing the volume down and power button simultaneously.
* then he will have an option to wipe data/factory reset the phone.
* Upon reboot he will be greeted with Factory Reset Protection.
* The FRP can be bypassed on 8.0 oreo using the method here
> 0 votes

# Answer
After I accidentally erased bootloader on Nexus 5X, I found that LGUP can be used for factory image restoration with TOT file. Actually, I used that method again, when there was a bootstrap problem with other Nexus 5X; bootloader was locked. Detailed information here
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, security, hardware, encryption
---


title: Encryption Unsuccessful error

text:
# Question
Title: Encryption Unsuccessful error
I have an Amazon Kindle Fire 2nd Generation (Tate). A few years ago I installed the Pacman KitKat Rom.

Recently I tried installing a few new roms. However I didn't like any of them because they don't have multi user support. So I decided to reinstall the Pacman KitKat Rom.

I have installed everything correctly, but on startup it says:

*"Encryption Unsuccessful – Encryption was interrupted and can't complete. As a result, the data on your phone is no longer accessible. To resume using your phone, you need to perform a factory reset. When you set up your phone after the reset, you'll have an opportunity to restore any data that was backed up to your Google account."*

It gives the option to reset tablet, but the same error comes up again.

I have tried booting into TeamWin recovery and reinstalling the rom as well as doing a wipe of everything, but the error message persists.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You are doing wipe - though you need to format. While in TWRP, enter Wipe menu, then select *Format Data* (type yes and confirm); go back, enter *Advanced Wipe* and select everything, then *Swipe to Wipe*. Reboot to bootloader, then boot recovery, push ROM && install. This is generally accepted course of action that regular user should do when error in encryption occur(s).

---
Tags: rom-flashing, custom-roms, encryption
---


title: Is my phone encrypted with my password?

text:
# Question
Title: Is my phone encrypted with my password?
I have a Galaxy S5 running LineageOS 14.1.

The device settings state that the device is encrypted.

I set up a password, and select to require password at boot.

I then set up a PIN for unlocking the screen, but did not select to require PIN at boot.

When I boot the phone, it does not ask for the password to boot and only the PIN is required for unlocking the screen.

Is my phone encrypted with my password?

# Answer
You device is encrypted, but PIN is used for unlocking master key.

From

*I set up a password, and select to require password at boot. I then set up a PIN for unlocking the screen, but did not select to require PIN at boot.*

we can assume that you wanted different lock screen && encryption passwords.

Because you are using LineageOS, acquiring root for ADB is not issue.

For achieving what you presumably intended 1st define lock screen password or PIN - select *Require password/PIN to start device*. Lock device && do a power cycle - not every1 will agree with this procedure, but I tend to verify.

After successful bootstrap, for different encryption password you should either change password via ADB or terminal or purpose built application - SnooperStopper or Cryptfs password manager

If you preffer ADB or terminal, while in shell, issue

```
adb root && sleep 2 && adb shell "vdc cryptfs changepw password [curent PIN/password] [new password]"
```

and hit return; if terminal is only option for you, issue only

```
vdc cryptfs changepw password [curent PIN/password] [new password]
```

You should always verify PW with

```
vdc cryptfs verifypw [PIN/password]
```
> 2 votes

---
Tags: encryption, password, lineageos
---


# Question
Title: Is a PIN reducing the security of a fingerprint based encryption?
Many smartphones and programs are using fingerprint's to secure the phone or encrypt data. In many cases, those programs want a PIN as backup authentification method.

A PIN just got 10000 possible combinations, while a fingerprint got many more. So an encryption isn't safe if there is a backup pin, is it?

The same question for a phone lock-screen: If there's a 4-digit PIN, people could just bruteforce this pin instead of bruteforcing million of fingerprints, couldn't they?

# Answer
Welcome to the community ☺

1. A backup plan is always necessary in case the fingerprint sensor doesn't recognize fingerprints or gets broken or something that it doesn't function as expected
2. Coming to app locking system, it totally depends on the app lock system if it has limit of trying PINS then you should be safe but if it doesn't YES it can be bruteforced if there's no limit on no. of wrong attempts
3. Coming to Androids PIN lock feature, it doesn't have limit of only 4 digit PINS so you can make it more secure by making large complex PIN
4. Assuming 4 digit PIN, AFAIK Android wouldn't allow you to attempt 10000 wrong PINS infact it will allow only few and then will lock up itself
> 2 votes

# Answer
*A PIN just got 10000 possible combinations, while a fingerprint got many more.*

*If there's a 4-digit PIN, people could just bruteforce this pin instead of bruteforcing million of fingerprints, couldn't they?*

Biometric lock is weak, hence insecure - it's only for user's convenience.

PIN can be generated from set of 10 numbers - it can be with or w/o repetition.

Password (on factory Android) can be generated from ASCII charset, including numbers, without control chars - c \< 32 || c \> 127, thus having 94 printable chars.

Again, minimum lock screen length is 4 && maximum lock screen length is 16 (on factory Android).

Also, default password policy is PASSWORD\_POLICY\_UNSPECIFIED (on factory Android).

With that said, factory (AOSP) Android has low security margin; it is only on user to define password with complex quality thus to mitigate online attacks (bruteforce).

Off course, you can change policies with DPM (DevicePolicyManager) application or build custom ROM.

Regarding your q about bruteforcing, I suggest to read this
> 0 votes

---
Tags: security, lock-screens, encryption, fingerprint
---


# Question
Title: Stable Android version with a gallery for Nexus 7 2013
So I got a Nexus 7 2013 tablet recently for my sister. Upgraded it to Android 6.01 (which is the last OTA upgrade available). My sister didn't like it for the reason that there is no Gallery. She was a heavy Gallery user in her earlier tablet. Other than that it worked fine for a few weeks. Yesterday, it went into the circles loop - https://i.pinimg.com/originals/27/03/92/2703922d465e0d968762093b2c1443df.gif \- this animation kept going on & on & on - in between it would say updating app 16 of 16 & then again the animation starts again.

I am thinking of doing a factory reset - I assume factory reset would take it back to the 4.x version it came with. Post that I want to upgrade it again but to some version lower than 6.01.

Which is a good stable version before 6.01 which also has the gallery which I can update to?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Factory reset does NOT take the device back to 4.x - you'll stay on 6.0.1, and you might not even escape the bootloop if it's caused by something wrong in `/system`.

What you can do right now is to flash any factory image via `fastboot` (you can arbitrarily downgrade this way). But although this is almost guaranteed to make the device work again (unless the device is broken hardware-wise), an early Android version will render some modern apps compatible, and leave you vulnerable to a great number of security risks.

Although not necessary for your intended purpose, the ultimate way out is to flash a custom recovery then an actively maintained custom ROM. This will bump your Android version to the latest the community has to offer (up to Android 8.0.0 as of now - do note that the latest isn't necessarily stable or bug-free), and by flashing updates to the custom ROM, you will be patched against vulnerabilities in time. Get familiar with the basics and find the resources at XDA-Developers.

As for your purpose - using a gallery app - stock and stock-based ROMs should have Google Photos by default (not sure why yours didn't, you probably simply missed it), while other ROMs usually have an alternative one, which loses the sync-to-cloud feature but brings a cleaner, no-network-needed experience.

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, nexus-7
---


# Question
Title: Duplicate video files in WhatsApp Sent items
Is there any scenario where WhatsApp copies video twice in sent items (with different sizes) that was sent to the single recipient? I had a scenario where I am sure I have sent the video to single user, during the sent operation I got Retry options for few times ( due to disk was full and/or for network) so I remember I have retried 3-4 times to deliver that message, but now I can see two copies of the same video with different sizes. Is this scenario possible to occur or have I sent to another user by mistake. Cant check because later I have changed by phone losing all messages history.

# Answer
It might be possible that the file failed in the middle of uploading for some reason and the uploaded part remained as an incomplete file in your sent items. Then when you sent the file again, instead of resuming the upload, a complete file was resent seperately. I'm not a 100% sure but it is possible.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: Game requiring gamepad instead of tilt controls
When i start a game it starts with gamepad controls as default, i can't play the game . How to change settings in Mobile to change input from controller to default tilt.

# Answer
> 0 votes
That's not a global setting, it's specific to the game. You'll need to look in the settings inside the game and see if it has tilt controls. If it doesn't support tilt controls you're out of luck.

---
Tags: game-controllers
---


# Question
Title: Prevent WhatsApp from restoring media from Google Drive Backup
I recently uninstalled and installed WhatsApp on my Samsung Galaxy S2, and it started to restore my chats. I'm fine with my chats but after being done with the chats, it automatically started to restore the old media too, which would cause my phone to download data of 2 GB.

I want to stop it, but I can't find how to stop it. It used to restore only messages before having the Google Drive backup.

# Answer
So disconnecting WhatsApp from Google Drive didn't exactly work out because my chats were also in that Google Drive backup.

However, here is how I was successful in restoring only the chats. (No media).

1. Install WhatsApp and verify the number.
2. Make sure your data connection is active. WiFi should be OFF.
3. Click on restore backup (Entire backup, including Media).
4. It will restore the chats first.
5. Then it prompts that the media will be downloaded over WiFi. Click yes (or next) and it takes you to your profile name and then you have all your chats.
6. At this point, go to Google Drive and disconnect WhatsApp from the Setting - Manage apps. (Settings - Data and Privacy - Apps and Services - Apps with access to your account, Third-party apps with account access)
7. Connect WiFi, or force it to try to resume with data.
8. It would try to restore the media but it would fail.
9. It would ask you if you want to skip it. Might have to try to dismiss the reconnect prompt first.
10. Click skip.

There you go. Only chats were restored. No media. It will prompt that media won't be restored anymore. You can then reconnect aka relink the Google backup again in the WhatsApp settings.
> 7 votes

# Answer
I'm having the same problem. So far, the only working solution that I discovered is to disconnect WhatsApp from your Google Drive (during the restoration).

In a browser, go to your **Google Drive****Setting** (the gear icon) → **Manage Apps** → look for **WhatsApp Messenger** → click ***Option*** next to it → click ***Disconnect From Drive***.

The media restoration will stop.

If you don't want to restore your media, you don't need to use Google Drive. Disconnect WhatsApp from it (like shown above) before you begin to reinstall WhatsApp and it will restore your chat history (no media) from your local backup, which is located in *../WhatsApp/databases/* directory in your phone.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Easy.

1. Restore your WhatsApp as normal, also restoring the media.
2. On PC, go to Google Drive \> Backups \> right-click on selected WhatsApp backup, and choose "Turn off backup". Google Drive will prompt you either to delete the backup file in the drive, but you may choose to cancel, so it stays there.
3. Go to your phone and force stop WhatsApp.

Now the media restoring will show fail status.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You could simply delete WhatsApp, then delete your Google account from your phone. So that when you install WhatsApp, it won't download the media but the chats only. Then link your account again and it won't download the media.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Open Google Drive on your phone. Gear button \> Settings \> Backups. There you'll find WhatsApp backup with the date mentioned. Tap on it and it shows details of the backup. Use the gear button beside it and delete that backup folder. That's it. Give your WhatsApp a force stop and open. You're done ✓
> 1 votes

# Answer
It's very simple and 100% working:

1. Click Restore your messages and wait for loading all the messages
2. After the chat has been loaded, turn off the internet connection. Restoring media will now pause.
3. Go to Settings \> Permissions \> WhatsApp, and turn off the permission of storage.
4. Open WhatsApp. It will tell you to set the permission on. You have to close that pop-up window.
5. They will ask you to skip the restoration, and it skipped, but all messages will be loaded.

That's it.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Google Drive stores WhatsApp media backup files in hidden mode following this change in the Drive.

Delete or stop backups:

1. Using a computer, go to https://drive.google.com.
2. In the top right, click the gear icon \> Settings.
3. On the left, click Manage Apps.
4. Find "WhatsApp" in the list. Note: If your backup is large, WhatsApp might take a few minutes to display.
5. Click Options \> Delete Hidden App Data.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I think you should try to follow these steps;

1. Uninstall WhatsApp.
2. Download the APK from WhatsApp's official site.
3. Sign out Google account from your phone.
4. Install WhatsApp. Now, it may ask you to restore chats and media from the SD card.
5. Click OK, you may get your chats and media restored, whichever is on your SD card.
6. Done.
> -1 votes

# Answer
Go to Google settings app → Connected apps → check where WhatsApp is, then disconnect it.
> -1 votes

# Answer
Delete the media after it has been restored. Media is located in `WhatsApp\Media`.
> -2 votes

# Answer
First of all, don't open WhatsApp. Make your device's internal storage full. It will ask you to try again or cancel (automatic cancel).
> -2 votes

---
Tags: backup, whatsapp-messenger, restore, google-drive, media-files
---


# Question
Title: I don't have a phone and I want to start a new Whatsapp account on my PC
I do not have a phone and I wanted to open a new whatsapp account. is this possible? I have never made an account before and my friend suggests me to use whatsapp, as I do not have a phone or any previous account this is a problem.

# Answer
You can't use WhatsApp without a smartphone. From the WhatsApp FAQ:

> ### Minimum requirements to enjoy WhatsApp Web
>
> * You need to have an active WhatsApp account on your phone.
> * You need to have a stable internet connection on both your phone and your computer.
> * You need to use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari or Edge as your web browser on your computer.

The account is tied to your phone number, so you can't borrow a friend's phone to set up the account either.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Yes, this is possible.

There is a way to use WhatsApp or any other Android app, on a PC using BlueStacks.

All you have to do is download the BlueStacks app onto your computer, sign in to your Google account, go to the play store, and download WhatsApp.

After downloading WhatsApp, go thru the regular registration process. If you don't have a phone number of your own, you can register for a free number with Google voice and use it for your WhatsApp account.

I have seen this work perfectly for others, let us know how it goes for you.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I believe it is possible, you need to install Bluestacks. It is an android emulator for pc, where you can install Whatsapp as well as other apps. After installation, just follow instructions.

Note: You need an active mobile number.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, exchange
---


# Question
Title: Updating an App Cloned with Parallel Space
I just found that Parallel Space lets you clone apps, for example, you can have two Whatsapp accounts at the same time.

What happens when the app (Whatsapp in the example) is updated? Does the cloned version updates automatically or it remains with the previous version?

# Answer
> 2 votes
The cloned app doesn't get updated automatically. You will have to create the clone again after updating.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Parallel Space is just a **container**, which is a virtual Android environment within the mobile device. The container has its own home screen, launcher, apps, and widgets. Apps and data inside the container are isolated from apps outside the container.

A container doesn't "clone" apps, it only separates virtually a device into two "spaces". I don't use Parallel Space, but I use MyKnox which is a container from Samsung. And when an app is updated, it is also updated in the container and vice versa. No need to update separately.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Parallel Space will automatically update the cloned app whenever the original app is updated. I have been using it for over a year. For example, when I open Facebook and get the notification that the app has been updated, the next time I open the cloned Facebook app, I will also get an app update notification on it.

I had previously used another cloning app that actually copied the APK file to clone it, and it did not update automatically. I would have to manually do it each time. That's why I switched to Parallel Space.

---
Tags: updates, whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: Why is the stock Android dialer app incompatible with my Samsung J7 2017?
I want to install this app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer

to replace Samsung's customized dialer app.

But on that page it says:

"This app is incompatible with all of your devices."

Any idea why, or any workaround?

# Answer
Some apps are only set to install on the phones they are designed for. The workaround is you can get it from apkmirror.com and install it. It should work on your Samsung. I installed it from there last year on my LG V20 and it worked fine.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung, stock-android, phone-app, samsung-galaxy-j7
---


title: Force CPU full with display black

text:
# Question
Title: Force CPU full with display black
i have a galaxy core duos and minergate instaled for test, however, my H/s in on display stay in 7 and in off stay in 0,5, i instaled overclock app however did not work.

how to force CPU full speedy in off display?

Samsung did this on a galaxys s3 rig

# Answer
You can force your cpu to work at full speed by changing the governor to Performance. If you are not sure what a governor is, you need to have ROOT ACCESS then you can use an app named Kernel Adiutor(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grarak.kerneladiutor&hl=en) to change the cpu governor.

Also, overclocking would require a custom kernel which you can find at XDA Forums.

Found these relevant guides: Tomsguide:https://www.tomsguide.com/us/overclock-android-device,review-1762.html

Androidpit: https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-overclock-android
> 1 votes

---
Tags: overclocking, cpu
---


# Question
Title: How to view HTML file's source code on Android?
I have to view my HTML file which I have loaded into my Android mobile from Gmail. I don't want view it as HTML page. I just want to view its source code and note it down.

How can I do this?

# Answer
Your question is a little confusing. In this answer I am assuming you want to see the HTML code and not the webpage(which is obtained by parsing the said code). First you need to find where on device is your html file located. Then you can use a file explorer like ES File Explorer/Pro to long tap the file and select OPEN AS-\> TEXT to view the source code.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: html
---


# Question
Title: What happens with updates for purchased apps after the associated Google account is removed?
I've recently bought a new phone for my brother and I'd like to install my previously purchased apps on his device. I'm trying to understand: If I add my Google account (temporarily) on top of his account to install those purchased apps on his device, and then remove it (for privacy reasons), will those apps on his device get future updates via Play Store even without my account?

To add a bit of context, I'm trying to do this for Tasker and a bunch of automation apps I bought last week. Once I install Tasker on his phone and remove my Google account (which was used to purchase Tasker), will Tasker get future updates whenever the developer releases them, just like other apps on his device?

Also, Is there a way to transfer ownership of purchased apps from one Google account to another Google account?, For now, I'm using a newly created Google account to make and transfer purchases across all my devices (Unfortunately, this is not the case with the situation in question).

Any thoughts are appreciated, Thanks!

# Answer
All apps you've bought via your Google account are bound to that. Not only they cannot be updated without your account then (which is where they're bound to), but some of them will even stop working if you remove the account (those which use Google License Check to verify a valid license whenever you start them).

And no, there's no way of transferring ownership from one account to another. Though it would be technically possible, Google is not offering that.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, updates, 7.0-nougat, 7.1-nougat, paid-apps
---


title: Trouble playing videos on Chrome

text:
# Question
Title: Trouble playing videos on Chrome
I have Moto G4 Play (6.0.1) with chrome 62.0.3202.84(latest) installed. I tried to play videos from www.southpark.cc.com but the play button wouldn't appear.

A temporary solution was to open in incognito mode or to close chrome from drawer and opening it again.

I tried Firefox but Firefox used its own video player. This disabled captions and plus the videos are in three part so only 1st part was being played.

The site seems to be working fine on my brother's android. Any solution will be appreciated. Maybe someway to make Firefox use the site's player or fixing chrome

# Answer
Disable Data saver

In chrome, click the 3 dots in top right corner, then settings, then disable data saver in the andvanced section.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You mentioned that it works fine in incognito mode. That leads me to believe that your browsers saved cookies are causing trouble.

To clear cookies, open chrome and press on the three dots menu\>history\>clear browsing data\>advanced. On the top right, select the time range to 'all time'. Then select 'cookies and site data' and clear data.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, video
---


# Question
Title: Will an S4 boot and run without a volume button?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a dented/stuck volume button (causing any attempt to boot to end at the screen that asks whether I really want to install a custom OS because the smartphone perceives *volume down* as pressed).

I am planning to dispose of that device after getting (read: copying and wiping) some data from its internal memory.

As replacing the button costs a lot (both at the official and at other repair shops), I am considering just removing the button.

**Will the smartphone work (and keep working for an hour or so) without the volume button?** I am wondering whether anything in the system will notice the button is missing and refuse to boot. Also, an employee at one of the smartphone repair shops I went to claimed humidity would enter the smartphone through the opening, and anyway, the repair shops outright refused to remove the button without replacing it1.

---

1: Presumably because then, I'd pay less. I will remove the button myself, if I find no-one to do it for money, though.

# Answer
Yes. The phone can boot and run without volume button. You just have to make sure that neither volume down nor volume up button is pressed after removing the external button otherwise you may enter into recovery/Odin mode or into installing custom ROM mode. So remove the external button and boot up the phone as usual.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung, samsung-galaxy-s-4, buttons
---


# Question
Title: Wireless Charging stopped working; Could it be a software issue? (Samsung Galaxy S3)
I've had a Samsung Galaxy S3 for a few years, I even upgraded to a newer model, and revered back to my trusty ol' S3 because I missed it, and was and was happy with it's size & features.

Eventually the USB charge port stopped working (a common problem on this model). Replacement part is under $2 but microsoldering & board repair are beyond my skill level, so I got a 2nd battery + external charger, which I've been swapping out twice a day for six months.

It's a bit of a pain, so when I realized ***Qi-style Wireless Charging*** could be inexpensively "retrofit" to my device, I was thrilled!

The transmitter & receiver pad arrived yesterday. I placed the pad under the battery cover as instructed (touching the previously-mysterious 2nd set of charging contacts), put it on the transmitter, and *voilà*, my charging headaches were solved! It charged faster than plugging it in \[used to\], and even worked with my rubber case attached.

**Hooray!** *Until the next day.* **:-(**

Today the phone does not detect the wireless charger. I've tried restarting the phone repeatedly, tried two batteries on each of two receiver pads (they accidentally sent 2 instead of 1), tried with/without case & cover, and even different power sources & cables to the transmitter.

**None of these steps worked which leads me to believe this is a software problem... Is that possible?**

If I can't get it working I'm obviously going to send the parts back and go back to constantly swapping batteries but I'm hoping someone has a suggestion. Could there be settings I am unaware of?

When working, *Ampere Meter* app said it was charging wirelessly at 1050mA. Receiver pads are rated for 800Ma; Batteries are 3.87v/7.98/Wh/2100mAh. As I recall it would charge around 650mA back when the charge port worked.

Photo is similar receiver pad, on same model of phone:

```
Samsung Galaxy S3, rooted (with no other issues), running Kitkat 4.4.4.

```

# Answer
Oddly, my receiver (NillKin) stopped charging the phone on the same day as yours did. I have a Pixel XL (Android 8) & this solution worked great! ...until it didn't. Try turning the phone off & see if it will charge. Mine still will, but only if turned off. I do notice that I have to be more precise with placing it on the pad than I used to. Only thing I can think of electrically that matches the symptoms would be if there are multiple wires used in the loop & one is either shorted or ground. ??? Anyway, I ordered another one that should be here in a couple of days.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, samsung-galaxy-s-3, charging, wireless-charging, samsung-droid-charge
---


# Question
Title: Lock screen security - reboot after X invalid PINs
I used following methodology to create a strong boot password on the phone, at the same time keeping a weaker PIN for screen unlock. Now I want to make sure that if someone tries to pick up a PIN, that the phone reboots, which would make it fallback to a more secure password prompt.

The default setting is to put a 30-second delay after 5 invalid attempts. I wonder if I can tweak these settings in any way to lower 5 to smaller number, and replace cooldown with a reboot.

If stock Android does not offer that experience, maybe there is a 3rd party application?

# Answer
Stock ROM doesn't. Apart from building custom ROM or installing DPM, there are 3rd-party apps, SnooperStopper & Wrong PIN Shutdown.

*SnooperStopper* will power off device what option can not be changed. However, custom command can be issued in *Wrong PIN Shutdown*.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: security, lock-screens
---


# Question
Title: Nougat: How to use Full Disk Encryption instead of File Based Encryption?
Nougat comes with File Based Encryption (FBE) and Direct Boot.

I would like to return to Full Disk Encryption (FDE) instead (or in addition to FBE) and make sure the data partition is **fully** encrypted when the phone is turned off.

For security reasons, I actually want the phone to be a complete brick until I type-in the Full Disk Encryption password.

This should be possible since my Nexus 5x (upgrade from Marshmallow to Nougat) could do this.

I expect this to involve a factory reset and maybe even rooting, and I'm fine with that.

My reason is that File Based Encryption is inherently much less secure since it gives a choice to app developers what to encrypt and what not. Sooner or later people will store sensitive data unencrypted (for "user experience" reasons), because it's now possible.

I am aware of this question, but the author seemed confused whether his device is encrypted or not, and it doesn't answer how to use FDE instead of FBE.

So, how to use Full Disk Encryption instead of File Based Encryption?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You have a couple of options - regarding device status, ROM origin && course of action - though every1 of them is focused on changing flags in fstab.qcom.

Basically, while flag in fstab.qcom for FBE is

```
fileencryption=contents_aes-256-xts[:filenames_aes-256-heh]
```

and defines options for content && metadata encryption, flag for FDE is

```
forceencrypt
```

or

```
encryptable
```

U don't need to root.

Because u have nasty Nexus 5X (had very bad experience with that device) u can unlock bootloader, boot custom recovery - TWRP will suffice \- format (not wipe!) userdata, push modified fstab.qcom with flag encryptable (or forceencrypt), reboot to bootloader, and boot device.

Not quite sure whether re-locking bootloader after changing fstab.qcom will cause a bootloop (did couple of lobotomies on that devices, but haven't tried this particular scenario).

Either way, if u try to re-lock bootloader && that ends in bootloop, u can always flash a TOT file.

There r modified boot images for that device for same purpose, but with additional code - custom sepolicy for root.

---
Tags: encryption, 7.1-nougat, disk-encryption
---


# Question
Title: LineageOS encryption not working dispite being told it is
I used to use cyanogenmod 13 on my nexus 5, i had the encryption enabled and it would ask me for my passcode at boot and i could not access any data from anything until i did this.

I've now updated to latest version of liniageOS and recently noticed i am not having to enter this passcode at all, and that while the UI in the setting says i am encrypted, this is false information as i can access any data on my device either from recovery or from adb via usb. I try to tap on the area where it says encrypted so i can re-encrypt it and it just does nothing.

I have herd about the massive bug/back door google have caused relating to accessibility features, however under accessibility i have the accessibility services for lastpass and comodo etc turned OFF, the only option on this page enabled is screen auto-rotate.

How can i encrypt my phone with this ROM, or can i not and i should ditch it ASAP and get a more security centric one? If so what would be recommended?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Most probably, you have default encryption where the password is `default_password`. You need root privilege for ADB.

Issue command in shell:

```
adb root
adb shell vdc cryptfs verifypw default

```

to check that.

You can always change the encryption password from UI and require that password at boot (preboot authentication) or much secure, define different lock screen && encryption passwords

---
Tags: nexus-5, encryption, lineageos, disk-encryption
---


# Question
Title: Connected by Telegram appearing in phone contact
Does a contact on an android phone contacts list that shows a Telegram app symbol by it and says "Connected via Telegram" mean it is someone who is chatting on telegram or just someone who also has telegram? None of the other contacts show this

# Answer
The symbols that appear under 'connected via' are there to show you, where the contact is saved.

So if a number is saved on your Google account, it will show a Google symbol.

Being that apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, sync your contact list and use that for their app, therefore it will show 'connected via' telegram, because you are using that contact in telegram.

**In short, when it says 'connected via' it just means that the app in question is using this number.** And not that you have ever contacted the person.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, telegram
---


# Question
Title: My Android phone stuck at optimizing apps again and again
My Yu Yureka with Cyanogen Mod is Optimizing apps again and again but not starting. Is there a way to fix this?
Is tjere a way I can somehow enter safe mode and delete few apps?? Please help.

# Answer
I found a solution and thats when the apps are being optimised..when the phone reaches to optimising last 1 or 2 apps (for example: optimising 99 of 100) press and hold volume down key untill the phone starts; the phone boots into safe mode and we can remove a few apps and take data backup to PC. Now when rebooted it starts normally.. Thanks everyone for response..!
> 4 votes

# Answer
You need to hard reset your mobile but this will delete all your data and apps. To hard reset YU Yureka Android smartphone follow the below mentioned steps.

1. Shutdown the mobile.
2. Enter into Recovery Mode by pressing and holding

**Volume Up + Volume Down + Power** buttons **simultaneously** until you see YU logo. **(OR)** **Volume Up + Power key** for about **5 seconds** until you see YU logo.
3. Once you are in Recovery Mode, choose wipe data/factory reset and perform the operation.
4. Now choose wipe cache partition and perform the operation.
5. Now finally choose Wipe media and perform operation.
6. Once done, reboot your device.

That’s all now YU Yureka will boot with factory settings loaded and you have successfully hard reset YU Yureka.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, micromax-yu-yureka
---


# Question
Title: What data is initially sent when inadvertently connected to unsecured network?
In my haste and ignorance I inadvertently connected to an unsecure wireless network from my Android phone. It didn't ask my for any login credentials, or any other information - it just connected.

After about 30 seconds I realised my mistake and disconnected from the wireless access point. I didn't use the browser while connected.

So what type of data is sent by the Android phone on initial connection?

# Answer
The only thing sent by Android itself is the captive portal check: a single connection to a Google web server, containing no personal or special data. Google Cloud Messaging also connects to a server using SSL, to receive push notifications that are waiting for your phone.

But any app on your phone can register to be notified when a Wi-Fi connection becomes available, so if an app was due to sync with a server, it might have done that in the background as soon as your phone connected. That could be any app that syncs with a server. Many apps send analytics or crash reports in the background even if that's unrelated to their main functionality. There's no way for you to tell afterwards which apps might have connected at this time, unless the app itself tells you when it last synced (or if it gave you a notification or you noticed new data arriving at that time).

Well-written apps (including all Google apps) use SSL to secure connections to the server, so that information can't be intercepted even on a hostile Wi-Fi network. Not all apps are this well written, though, and which servers you're connecting to are visible on the network regardless. Even if every app you use uses SSL correctly, just the fact they're syncing with the server tells an attacker that you use that app/service. This is a reason why you might want an always-on VPN even if you don't normally use open networks.
> 17 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, security
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy Tab A's Bluetooth draining battery when Bluetooth isn't on
My Samsung Galaxy Tab A just upgraded to Android 7.1. My battery life decreased dramatically after the update. What used to give me days of battery life now only lasts me hours. I checked my battery stats, and this is what I found:  Bluetooth was using most of my battery, but Bluetooth isn't even enabled! What is causing this immense drain of battery from a feature that hasn't been enabled?

# Answer
You can also turn off those 2 flags in GPS settings.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Settings is broken.

Either it's not turning off Bluetooth or the battery history is flat wrong.

I've seen both types of errors over the years.

If the set won't turn off Bluetooth radio power, no amount of force stopping or add on apps is likely to save you.

Nonetheless, maybe they missed something so go at it from another angle.

Check out "Power Toggles"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc

If you're using an add-on task manager, stop, most of them flat out lie, and try GSam Battery Monitor.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, battery-life, samsung-galaxy-tab-a
---


# Question
Title: How to copy photos from SD Card to External Storage?
I want to copy my photos 22GB from my external SD Card on my phone to my Mac or USB Drive by OTG.

However, I have been trying to use 3rd party Files Manager "ASUS File Manager" as well as Samsung's My Files, but both of them result the date of my photo to be current time, not original photo's time.

I have been trying to copy the folder of DCIM to my Mac via Android File Transfer, but it doesn't work too (always error and quit).

Anyone can share me how to copy the photos and keep the original photo's time?

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can either:

* fix date and time via Exif as described by GiantTree in his comment on your question (there are tools for that; if you've no idea which, please see Where to ask for app recommendations?) – or
* simply use an app on the device to ZIP the files, then copy the ZIP to your Mac and unzip again (for "which app", again see above link). As this is not really practicable for 22GB:
* option #3 would be to shutdown your phone, take out the SD card, and use a card-reader to connect it to your Mac and copy the files directly. This is probably the easiest approach to your problem.

I don't think moving will do the trick, as across file system boundaries that's nothing but "copy + delete".

# Answer
> 0 votes
Have you tried Samsung Smart Switch?

I use it on my mac and it works fine!

---
Tags: samsung, file-management
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy S8: Set default app for left swipe?
Is it possible to set a default app to open on left swipe on Home screen? Currently Bixby app opens on left swipe, I would like to change it to some other app.

# Answer
You can either use Bixby Button Remapper or disable Bixby on left Swipe:

* Enter edit mode for Galaxy S8 home screen(long tap on homescreen)
* Switch to Bixby Home page
* In the Bixby Home (Hello Bixby) page, you can find the switch in the top right
> 1 votes

# Answer
Currently it is only possible to change the app on left swipe by installing an app called Bixby Remapper.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung, default-applications, samsung-galaxy-s-8
---


# Question
Title: How can i restore my S8+ to an older back-up?
ok i have a samsung s8+, just switched from iphone. ive only had the phone a short time but needless to say it has backed up to both google and samsung accounts at least a few times if not more. i know how to restore from the most recent backup on both but i would actually like to restore from an older backup, even preview them if possible. any way I can do this ??

# Answer
It's my understanding that a new Back Up overstrikes the previous one. So you can only restore the latest backup.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung, data-recovery, restore
---


title: Cleaning space on samsung galaxy s8

text:
# Question
Title: Cleaning space on samsung galaxy s8
I frequently receive message from s8 that details storage space is running out. Analyzing my storage space details this :

How can I receive more detail as to what apps are allocating space ? As detail below does not show what apps I should clean ?

<sup>(click image for larger variant)</sup>

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can go to the Google Play Store and that might show apps and what is taking the space or you can search on your phone for **My Files** and delete items that show to be too big.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can go to: Settings -\> Apps -\> Settings - \> Sort by size

---
Tags: samsung, storage, insufficient-memory, samsung-galaxy-s-8
---


title: Link to a group in Whatsapp

text:
# Question
Title: Link to a group in Whatsapp
I am attending a group on Whatsapp.

I would like to add a friend to this group.

I wanted to know how to get a link to my friend to find this group.

If anybody know an option where I can add it would also be interesting.

# Answer
You must be the group admin in order to have access to the link. Ask the group admin to share the link with you, and you can then send it to your friend.

From WhatsApp's FAQ:

> If you are the group admin, you can invite people to join a group simply by sharing a link with them. To share a group invite link:
>
> Go to the group in WhatsApp. Tap the subject of the group. Tap Add participant. Tap Invite to group via link. Choose to share the link within WhatsApp or to another app. (Source)

**More info on how the link works:**

When you press on the link, it will open WhatsApp, and it will give you more info about the group, who the creator is, and who is part of the group. You then have the option of joining the group.

If you open the link in a browser, and press the 'join group' button, it will open WhatsApp and give you the option to actually join.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: How can delete a draft for a no-reply sender?
I have a few messages in my Messages app from contacts that don't support replies. I've accidentally forwarded a message from one of my other contacts to a non-reply contact, now whenever I look at the main Messages screen, I can see there's a draft under the no-reply contact, however when I enter that contact there's no draft at the bottom, nor any option to see the draft and/or delete it.

Is there any way to get rid of this phantom draft?

# Answer
After playing around with the app, I've found that this is something that Google messenger has overlooked. They don't have any option of clearing drafts.

After some research I found that it's safe to clear data of your messenger app. This will clear all drafts and unsent messages, but nothing else. To do that, go to settings -\> apps -\> messages -\> storage -\> clear data.

Sent and received messages are not stored in the messaging app, rather they are stored in */storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.android.providers.telephony.* (You might need a rooted phone to access this) Therefore clearing the app data is not going to delete your messages.

I have tried this myself before recommending such a drastic move. (I did make a backup before that, just in case.)
> 2 votes

---
Tags: sms
---