# Question
Title: How do I disinfect my device infected with a malware?
In the process of trying to resolve the infection, I kept hitting major, dangerous hurdles. I had a pretty good guess as to what had led to the infection, but hit hurdle after hurdle as I tried to act accordingly. I was surprised that the simple steps I tried didn't work.

Specifically, this is what was happening and what made it malware:

Ads are popping up over other apps and my LG's home screen since I installed this app yesterday. **Free VPN Master** is the only new app I had installed (on my LG) in over 2 weeks (according to Lookout AND my recollection). It violates Google Policies: Disruptive ads. Violates: "Ads must only be displayed within the app serving them."

The only other possibly significant change I made was to enable - but not **use** \- developer mode.

This app doesn't seem to have the permissions to enable it to put up the ads I'm seeing, but it's the only thing that makes sense, and the whole VPN Master brand does have an awful reputation. Also, lumendatabase notice #15425531 is notable.

# Answer
> 1 votes
OP here.

So, I was facing this problem, and was surprised that my initial google search didn't turn up anything actually helpful, and multiple **harmful** things, among the first handful of pages I looked at, **and** then I found a good answer in google's documentation, **here**.

Posting here so others can benefit.

Specifically, Google advises **there** (**emphasis** mine):

Remove problem apps

1. On an Android phone or tablet, press and **hold** your device's power button.
2. On your screen, touch **and again hold** Power off Power. Your device starts in safe mode. You'll see "Safe mode" at the bottom of your screen.
3. One by one, remove recently downloaded apps.
    * Tip: To remember the apps that you remove so that you can add them back, make a list.
4. After each removal, restart your device normally. See whether removing that app solved the problem.
5. After you remove the app that caused the problem, you can add back the other apps that you removed.

(There are more suggestions (2 more big steps) **there** after those five sub-steps, as well as links more detailed instructions on how to delete and restore apps.)

**Additionally, here are some things to skip or avoid - they failed or worse:**

* I found that quitting the suspect app and rebooting didn't clear the infection.
My device is not rooted, and I had only installed apps via Google Play.
* Tip: The phone came with Lookout anti-virus installed; (despite point 2, below) it was useful for identifying the recently installed apps. I couldn't find a place where Googled logged that info, but Lookout had a log that showed (confirmed my recollection of) what I'd installed in the past two+ weeks: only one app (and auto-installed updates to many apps).
* I found that one cannot even *minimally* trust Google Play reviews; specifically, I found that my review of the suspect app appears when I view the app on the infected device in, but does NOT appear when I view the reviews of the app on the web. App: Free VPN Master - Fast secure proxy VPN from Freeemaster2018
* I also cannot trust Google to keep malware supposedly from its own subsidiary - VirusTotal - out of the Google Play store! An official app for running installed APKs thru VirusTotal is described here and was once available thru the link found there (now dead, but in archives), but now there's only a fake copy (here) that's actually malware!
* I find that reporting these issues to Google/attempts to google, including the Google-supplied and Google Ad Policy-violating-ads, to be difficult and fruitless. Google seems to be intentionally avoiding accepting such complaints; submission forms are broken and Google staff I interacted with seem to be trying hard as they can to politely but staunchly refuse to attempt to replicate the bugs. (Reminds me of this story about Apple politely but staunchly refusing to admit the obvious!)

I should note: There are some other (inferior, IMO) answers to much the same question at Unable to remove malware:

1. The best way to remove ~99% of all malware is to simply factory reset the device. (actually in a comment) (IMO, this sledgehammer/nuke from orbit approach is effective, but typically overkill that results in data loss.)
2. A good explanation of WHY anti-virus software for Android generally sucks (when compared to that for PC or Mac platforms.)

---
Tags: malware, uninstallation
---


# Question
Title: How to use SD card's full storage capacity?
I just bought a new 32GB mini SD card to make more space for my video files and put them into my phone.

When I turn on my phone the system just mounts new SD card to `/sdcard0`, then it begin to use it as system internal storage. Even when I try to change default write disk to internal storage, it shows as `/sdcard1`.

How do I use SD card in full space?

System: Android 5.0

Kernel ver. 3.10.54

# Answer
> 1 votes
Your device is automatically using the SD Card as internal storage, this makes the mount directory change from `storage/sdcard1` to `storage/sdcard0`, this is how Android utilises the SD Card as Adoptable Internal Storage...

You will still have the space you want,
If you would like to continue using internal storage as your primary storage location, you should select Phone Storage.. This will use a Fake SD Card emulated on User Data, Mounting the Fake SD Card @ `/storage/emulated/legacy` and `storage/sdcard0`, however if you want to use the real SD Card as internal storage, it will mount the Fake SD Card @ `storage/sdcard1` and the Real SD Card @ `storage/sdcard0` ...

The main directory that changes is the `sdcard` directory, If you send a file to `/sdcard/` it will write to the External Storage selection, either Real or Fake SD Card, depending on your selection.

I'm not sure how you are planning to use the card, but I imagine you may have thought the OS merged the available storage into a single larger storage device.. this isn't the case.

---
Tags: sd-card
---


title: Locked Samsung tablet A

text:
# Question
Title: Locked Samsung tablet A
My grandson has put a pattern lock on his tablet & has forgotten it. When I try to turn it off or sign in I keep being asked for the pattern I’m just locked out

# Answer
You might keep trying patterns if you think that after a number of wrong patterns you could get right one but android will setup a timer to wait if wrong pattern is drawn and each time timer to wait will increase.

The next option would be a hard reset your device.

**Please keep in mind**

> • Resetting your device will completely erase all user data on the device.
>
> • After reset you may be asked to sign in with the previous Google account (as a security feature named FRP) that the device had previously signed in before Resetting. So, make sure you have sign in detials of that account.

How to hard reset Samsung tablet A ?

1. Switch off the device.
2. Press and hold the *Volume Up key* \+ *Home key* \+ *Power key* simultaneously.
3. Release keys when the Samsung Galaxy Tab screen displays.
4. Recovery menu would take a little time to appear(It would take couple of seconds to show you System Update so wait.)
5. Choose *wipe data/factory reset* by pressing *volume -* button.
6. Press power to confirm factory reset(choose delete all user data.)
7. It would take couple time to reset it, after process is done the option may appear to 'Reboot' device or it may be Rebooted to system automatically.

Now you would be asked to set up your tablet and you all screen lock is disabled.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: samsung
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 : Tried to install TWRP, can't boot into recovery mode now
I followed the instructions for the Odin install method here and and installed the twrp-3.2.3-0-ha3g.img.tar using Odin (Reboot in Odin was unticked).

Everything went fine, but when I had to launch recovery mode by holding down `Volume Up` `+` `Home`, and the `Power` button (which is the combination to boot to recovery mode) it just booted to Download mode (which is accessed by holding down the `Volume Down` key instead of the `Volume Up`)

The TWRP site says:

> Note many devices will replace your custom recovery automatically during first boot. To prevent this, use Google to find the proper key combo to enter recovery.

But I haven't been able to find anything that would indicate the key combination to have changed.

Of note is the fact that the normal Download Mode boot has the Warning screen where you have to press Volume Up to continue and says:

```
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SM-N9005
CURRENT BINARY: Custom
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom
REACTIVATION LOCK: OFF
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x1 (4)
QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLE (CSB)
RP SWREV: S2, T2, R2, A3, P3
SECURE DOWNLOAD : ENABLE
UDC START

```

and then just the "Downloading... Do not turn off target !!"

Though when I use the Recovery Mode Boot it skips the Warning screen and it adds this line on top of all the previous lines:

```
Could not do normal boot.

```

It can still boot to the normal Android

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Model Number: SM-N905, Android Version 5.0

# Answer
> 3 votes
I had the same problem like you before. But I figured out the solution. We both downloaded and flashed the wrong TWRP version for Note 3 N9005: `ha3g.img.tar`. The correct one is `hlte.img.tar` which you can download on this link: https://dl.twrp.me/hlte/

I hope it helps you :)

---
Tags: rooting, 5.0-lollipop, recovery-mode, twrp, odin
---


# Question
Title: My phone is stuck In Twrp Mode And Touch is not working in this mode. And i am not normally booting. Please Guide?
I wanted to root my Samsung Galaxy S4 And flash a rom but when i installed a TWRP recovery its touch is not working at all.Only power button works which turn off the screen.How can i exit from it? or How can i flash another Twrp whose touch is working.?

# Answer
I had the same issue a few years back, After looking everywhere and not finding a solution I felt like an imbecile when I realised what to do, so be prepared ... \>\_\<

I used an OTG Cable and a USB mouse and everything worked fine :)

I was porting TWRP to my device and accidentally set the screen rotation the wrong way, It is still the wrong way with a mouse but a lot easier to navigate.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-4, twrp, touch
---


title: Re-enabling Developer Options

text:
# Question
Title: Re-enabling Developer Options
So, I am trying to reset my security questions on my Huawei Nova 3i phone by reseting the settings app, only to find out that I also disabled/hid the developer options. Tapping the build number again makes it only say that I am already a developer. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Without factory reset. Thanks!

# Answer
**This is not a way to get Developer Options back, but a workaround to launch it. You'll have to this again from Step 2 below every time you want to launch Developer Options.**

You can use the ADB method @Robert referred to if you had USB debugging enabled, but based on your question it looks like it is disabled. If it is disabled or you can't use ADB for some reason, you can try the following method:

1. You'll have to download and install a third-party app, Activity Launcher from Google Play Store.
2. Open it and choose "All Activities" from the drop-down menu.
3. Scroll down until you see "Settings" and choose it. It will open an another drop-down below it.
4. Again scroll down until you see "Developer Options". There will be two menu items of that name.
5. Choose the first "Developer Options" item. If you want to be extra sure, the light-grey text below the correct one is `com.android.settings.Settings$DeveloperSettingsActivity`.
6. That will open the Developer Settings Menu, and you can do what you want there.

*Note: I tested this on a P Smart Plus device (which is just your device with a regional change) so it should work on your device too. Also never launch random activities in Activity Launcher! It could damage your device software badly.*

Good Luck!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: huawei, developer-options
---


# Question
Title: Enabling free form windows in android O causes buttons in recent apps menu to overlap
I have searched for a way to enable free form windows. I've used the adb way,

```
adb shell settings put global enable_freeform_support 1

```

But I couldn't use it because the close button is overlapping free form button:

My phone is Huawei P20 Lite (ANE-LX1) with EMUI 8.0.0 and android 8.0.0 with nova launcher. Close button works like a charm when clicked

Any ideas what to do (rather than disabling the free form ) ?

It is okay to replace closing button with free form button if that's available.

Any solution without root is preferred.

# Answer
I have the same problem on my Huawei P10. I once used floating apps, which drained the battery, but now I use Launcher3-Freeform Launcher. Also, Taskbar is another choice for launching apps in freeform mode, although both Taskbar and Launcher3 are launchers and you need to launch your apps from these launchers to use the freeform mode. Here are the links:

Floating Apps Free: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lwi.android.flapps

Taskbar: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar

Launcher3-Freeform: https://github.com/farmerbb/Launcher3-Freeform/blob/freeform-mode-example/README.md
> 0 votes

---
Tags: huawei, multitasking, multi-window
---


# Question
Title: Open links in corresponding app instead of browser
When I click on a link, it is always opened in a browser, even if I had installed the corresponding app. For example, YouTube, Reddit, etc.

In Settings -\> Apps -\> Configure apps -\> Opening links -\> YouTube, there is the option **Open supported links** set to **Open in this app** and **Supported links** are *youtu.be*, *m.youtube.com*, *youtube.com*, *www.youtube.com*. Nevertheless, YouTube links are still being opened in browser.

This answer suggests installing Open Link in App, but I think that the system should handle this without any third-party app.

I am using a phone with Android 7.0.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Open your Android settings and search for "default". This should open App Permissions; near the top, under the Default heading, tap on "Opening links." Near the top of the page should be a toggle for "Open links in apps" - set this to on/yes, and restart both the browser and YouTube to reset with the new setting (you may need to reboot your device, I'm not sure).

basically, the option in YouTube tells it to watch for those links so it can open them when it sees you click on one, but the Android system settings are what give it permission to actually open them. You can scroll down through the list of apps on that screen to the bottom and tap on YouTube to see exactly what links it will look for and open.

\[Note: these steps are based on a tablet (Lenovo Tab 4 10 Plus) running Android 7, so they may be slightly different on a phone or a different tablet. You should be able to get to this setting via the Apps menu though in Settings, just it might be kinda buried and hard to find, which is why I use the search function.\]

---
Tags: settings, default-applications, hyperlinks
---


# Question
Title: If i changed my phone battery will the data be erased from my phone?
My phone's battery has a problem and I need to replace it. I have a lot of important data in my phone and would like to whether changing the battery erases the data on the device.

# Answer
> 4 votes
No,changing battery doesn't erase phone data.The data won't be erased. Just switch it off before you remove the battery and insert a replacement battery.

# Answer
> 3 votes
As per GSMarena, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has Removable Li-Ion 3220 mAh battery.

So, it doesn't affect your device anyhow if you change your battery to a new one.

Removable battery are easy to change. You can buy one from any Samsung Authorised store nearby. However, before going to remove battery off the device, make sure to turn off your device to prevent *data loss, unwanted changes, irregularities or misbehaviour of device.*

For more read user's comment on xda-developer's forum: Is it bad for the phone to pull out battery before shut-down?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Replacing the battery does not typically erase data on the phone. What phone are we talking about? If it has a removable battery, it should be very easy to swap out and swap in batteries.

Having said that, always power down the phone first, before you take the battery off.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Some phone after removing battery will reset the system time

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-note-4
---


# Question
Title: How can i stop Android OS updare after tapping "INSTALL OVERNIGHT"
So I'm running Android 6.0.1 and i don't want to update it, but when the notification popped up, i accidentally tapped "INSTALL OVERNIGHT", being 2AM to 5AM tomorrow. Is there anyway I could stop it? PLEASE HELP THANKS!

# Answer
Yes, there is an app or settings dedicated to handle OTA updates by visiting that app/settings one could easily choose to install now/schedule installation time/install later option.

This app/settings may vary brand to brand. So, there are all possible ways:

1. Open Settings-About Phone-Software Update.
2. Open Settings-Software Update.
3. Open dedicated app from app drawer( app name vary from brand to brand e.g. Updater in Xiaomi).

If in case homepage of the app doesn't show you any of the above written option. Please tap 3 dots on the upper right corner of the screen, there you will see options and choose accordingly.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: updates
---


title: Google music player queue

text:
# Question
Title: Google music player queue
I have read numerous posts about adding songs to the queue. My issue is I select a song and start it playing, I then select the next song and click the 3 dots next to the title and select "add to queue". I do this for several songs. I then click on the title bar and select the icon to view the queue and instead of showing the songs I added to the queue the queue now lists every song in my library not just the songs I added. What am I doing wrong?

# Answer
If you want to play selectef songs back to back it is recommended to create a playlist of the songs you tend to listen more often. It is quite easy way and reliable as well.

Add to queue is nothing but to add the songs it is showing right in the list.

If you want to play few songs at once back to back please choose 'play next' option, as your concern is by choosing 'play next' option let's say for 5 songs, your 5 songs will listed just below your currently played songs and after 5 songs you will see list of all the songs from library.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: music-player
---


# Question
Title: Exclude an Android/data folder from cache cleanup
I have a game which downloads all of it's data and contents in a folder in Android/data . The size is over 400MB and device is not rooted. Every time I do a cache and junk cleanup, All files of this game in Android/data get deleted. Is there an option or trick or even an app to exclude a folder from getting scanned and deleted by cleanup apps? Is the problem related to permissions of folder?

# Answer
There is not an Android built-in feature to exclude a folder from scan. Hiding a folder may be useful but in this case the folder will be created again. So using an app called Clean master lite you can exclude an app from scans. Go to Settings-\>ignorelist
> 2 votes

---
Tags: file-management, 8.1-oreo, cache, file-permissions
---


# Question
Title: How to stop Viber running without uninstalling it?
How do I stop Viber running, without uninstalling the app? When I go Menu→More options→Exit it just comes back. I want it to turn it off completely, so it's not waiting to come on in the background.

# Answer
> 4 votes
This is an official rep. of Viber.

Due to the C2DM feature, you are always available on Viber, there is not way to "log out" and "log in". Please note that if you "exit" Viber, it will open again only if you get a msg or call.

Let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks! Viber Team

# Answer
> 4 votes
No need to root or anything. You can just simply stop it being running by going to **Settings\>application\>viber\>force close** this will close all the services related to viber. But remind you, you have to force close it every time after you use viber.

Oh there is another way to do that. Start viber, then close it. Then open your multitasking window/history window by pressing the home button. you should see viber there at the bottom. Long press on the screen-shot of viber. You should be prompted with two option, **app details/info and clear from list** tap on **app details/info** and click on **force close** this will do your job.

Hope that helps.

# Answer
> 3 votes
There is an app for this if you have root: Greenify

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have Viber on phone and tablet and it behaves differently. By default, no matter how you stop the service it always turns on when you receive message.

On phone when I go to settings - general - turn off "show Viber status icon", and then I just exit the Viber (via exit or stop service or clean task manager) I am really offline. All messages are received after I turn on Viber myself. I can be offline for days. It behaves like this only when I turn off the Viber icon.

I guess this is a bug but I like it and hope it is not going to be fixed. I don't know if it is bug just for combination of my phone and Android version or if it "works" like this on every phone. On tablet this does not work, Viber cannot be really off.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Battery saver is the easy option without any additional apps.

Many Mobile manufacturing companies give some inbuilt apps to control background running apps, check if you have one.

If it's a basic stock Android then you need to install 3rd party apps like Greenify or something else..

# Answer
> -1 votes
AFAIK you can't stop the process in the background without unistalling it. You can logout from your viber account, then it won't display you any notifications

// I must add to here, that once you logged in Viber has no known way to log out

---
Tags: services, viber-messenger
---


title: Place Osmand maps to SD card

text:
# Question
Title: Place Osmand maps to SD card
I have Osmand running on Huawei Y560 with 5.1.1. Osmand was running in internal storage. I have performed "move to SD card" operation. Currently maps folder is set to `/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files`. Looks this folder is in internal memory anyway. I'm trying to change folder to `/storage/sdcard1/osmand` , but Osmand complains that it can't write to this directory. How to place maps to external card?

# Answer
Simply go to

1. OsmAnd settings, General settings (to configure common settings for the application)
2. Under Miscellaneous, Tap Data storage folder, there is a pop-up info to ask where you want to store your Maps data.
3. That's it.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Selecting "Storage 2" or other pre-definded storage-names concerning the SD-card does NOT help, if Android or whoever insists of the real name of the SD-Card (which may be e.g. "22E-23D..." and not simply "extSDcard" or "storage 2").

You can get this name of your SD, if you look in the properties e.g. of a jpg-file which is stored on your SD-Card. If you look closely on the different items of "properties", you will discover "details" (or some item named similiar to that). There you will find the path to your jpg-file and in the path-name you will see - at last - the real name of your SD-card. That's it.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Both of the above answers did not work for me. But today - just by chance - I came across this discussion here on github: https://github.com/osmandapp/Osmand/issues/1838 Some people in there are mentioning problems they had when the app itself was pushed to SD. I had a look, and indeed my tablet's "move apps to SD" feature had moved OSMAND to the card. After I had moved it back I could select "Multi user storage 2" (in German: "Mehrbenutzer-Speicher 2") in Osmand's settings. This was the only option really working, and since it did I didn't bother going through more experiments. All files are now stored below

```
/storage/[sdcard-ID]/Android/obb/net.osmand.plus

```

Hopefully that stays as it is now
> 0 votes

# Answer
After having moved the app to the SD card via the app preferences (as you did it already) I was able to select "Interner App-speicher" (which should translate to internal app storage) which also showed a path to

```
/mnt/expand/.../user/0/net.osmand.plus/no_backup
```
which is where my external sdcard is mounted. So I assume that the internal app storage is on the external sd card as soon as the app is moved there. Also the free storage was then displayed correctly. osmand 3.0.4, android 6.0.1.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sd-card, osmand
---


# Question
Title: XBrowser app: where are bookmarks stored?
I have been using this browser for a while now and I am somewhat impressed. I've added some bookmarks which I'd like to import to the browsers on my laptop. So where do I find them? Or are they in the app itself?

# Answer
> 0 votes
In XBrowser, go to Settings → User Center → Export bookmark to HTML file. The bookmarks would be saved inside /storage/emulated/0/xbrowser/recovery (just use a file manager and visit xbrowser directory in the default storage view). You should be able to use it to import it in a compatible browser.

The bookmarks are actually saved inside a database named mbrowser located inside /data/data/com.xbrowser.xplay/databases/. The table name is bookmark. You would need root access to access the data directory.

---
Tags: browser, bookmarks
---


# Question
Title: How to view who is connected to my Wi-Fi hotspot
I'm using stock android 9.0. I'd like to be able to get a list of the devices (IP and/or MAC) that are connected to my phone when it's used as a Wi-Fi AP.

Here are a few ways I tried but didn't work:

* In the settings, there is an indicator of how many devices are connected (Network & internet / Hotspot & tethering / under Wi-Fi hotspot), but there is no list of them.
* Fing only works when my phone is a client on a Wi-Fi network, not when it is an AP.
* On Oreo, the `/proc/net/arp` file used to contain the list, but as of Pie, it doesn't (it's empty, even when something is connected).

I'm looking for a solution that does not require root.

# Answer
> 3 votes
The solution is to enter `ip neighbor` into a terminal app, it displays both the IP and the MAC address of the connected devices.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Use Ksiri tool to list devices connected to your hotspot.

you can also name the device connected. Naming is based on MAC address, so if connected device resets it's address, then you may have to name again.

I was facing same issue on my Android Oreo, some tools on net available is filled with ads or asking for unnecessary permissions or root.

Just for this simple listing of which devices are connected, ads and special permissions or rooting, not necessary, so I have created this app, which will not ask for any permissions and neither shows any ads and no need of root.

This is the first step of "Ksiri Tools" that I have created, further if any tooling things comes up, I will add to same app.

I have not released any of my apps on play store, as I feel it's unnecessary to pay Google. You can download apk file and install. While installing you will be clearly shown by Android that this app doesn't require any permissions. So safe to use.

---
Tags: wifi-hotspot, 9.0-pie
---


# Question
Title: How I can downgrade from U3 to U1 "oreo to nougat"
I want to downgrade my phone from Oreo to Nougat My phone is Samsung J730F.

But the problem is that Samsung locked the boot-louder.

Can I go back by flashing the phone combination ROM then flash my phone with stock ROM to bypass this lock?

**Note:** FRP, google account protection is OFF and USB debugging is ON.

And I have rooted the phone and flash it with combination ROM.

**My question is what should I do after flashing it combination ROM? Should I flash stock ROM 4 files or replace only some files?**

# Answer
> 2 votes
> How I can downgrade from U3 to U1?

The short answer is you cannot. the `u#` is the bootloader version. The bootloader is protected by rollback protection fuses:

Rollback Prevention (RP)

> Rollback Prevention blocks the device from loading or flashing an approved but old version of boot components. Old versions of software may contain known vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Rollback prevention checks the version of the bootloader and kernel during both boot and updates, and blocks these processes from continuing if versions are unacceptably old. The lowest acceptable version of the bootloader is stored in secure hardware fuses when the device is flashed, and the lowest acceptable version of the kernel is stored in the bootloader itself. Whenever a vendor-applied update occurs, the lowest acceptable version can be incremented in the fuses. Because this value is kept in fuses, it cannot be decremented even through physical tampering. Rollback Prevention fuses are set at manufacturing time in the Samsung factory to prevent old firmware versions from overwriting newer ones.

This is from Samsung technical notes but it is a .pdf Download.

Flashing back to stock will not help either since it an issue with Samsung Knox securities. It will most likely end with a fatal error like:

`SW REV. CHECK FAIL(BOOTLOADER) DEVICE: 3, BINARY: 1`

Mixing and matching stock firmware files maybe be possible but is an increase risk to bricking your device. If you try I would make sure to have multiple devices or multiple reports of success. Also **double check to make sure if a workaround is found that it has not been patched or you have the firmware version it works for**.

There might be an exploit to bypass this though I have not seen one for your specific device to downgrade oreo to nougat.

Another possibility could be a custom ROM downgrade to the android version you want that does not downgrade the bootloader.

---
Tags: samsung, custom-roms, 7.0-nougat, 8.1-oreo, downgrade
---


title: Open file on tablet from smartphone

text:
# Question
Title: Open file on tablet from smartphone
How do I view the files on my tablet from my phone? Do I have to connect wirelessly? I am working on a translation and would like to see the original on one tablet and the file I'm working on on the smartphone or other tablet.

Do I need an app or is this service part of the OS? I would like to just use Bluetooth.

Thanks.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can create an FTP server on your tablet, then connect your phone via a browser to your tablet.

Download an FTP server via Google Play Store. I use FTP Server - Multiple FTP users for the demonstration below, however you are free to use other apps of your liking.

1. Enable WiFi hotspot on your tablet. Connect the phone to the WIFI hostpot.
2. Open the app, click on `User management`. Create a new user. Add the name, username and password. Click `Add new`, select the path of files that can be accessed via FTP (SD card, internal storage, etc). Click `OK`. (If you don't want to create a user, you can just enable `Anonymous` and add the path to your files).
3. Click `Home`, then `Start`.
4. Open a browser on your phone, enter the URL of the FTP server as seen on the image above. You will then be able to view the files stored on the tablet from the phone.

---
Tags: file-system, file-management, file-sharing
---


title: WhatsApp: old SIM card but new phone

text:
# Question
Title: WhatsApp: old SIM card but new phone
I have a new phone as my old one was stolen, but I still have the SIM card with the phone number connected to my WhatsApp account. I inserted that SIM card into the new phone, but none of my contacts, WhatsApp groups or pending messages can be seen.

Is it because I have not checked my WhatsApp messages for 60 days? How can I get all of my account back? I thought since I have the SIM card connected with the account, I could retrieve my WhatsApp account.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Key Point is Whatsapp doesn't delete an inactive account.

Also see:

What happens if my WhatsApp has been inactive for months?

Does WhatsApp delete inactive accounts?

You can get your contacts back if you had synced them in any of the cloud service e.g. Google Account(Contacts). Sign in with your Google Account to see.

Whatsapp doesn't save your contacts name on its server.

After switching or restoring your Whatsapp account from one device to another. One can see his all groups(created or joined) but personal chats will be erased and can't be seen until you have backed up it to Google Drive and restored them at the time of account creation.

See: Restoring your chat history

After restoring your chats successfully, you will be seeing all your chats by numbers instead of names but you can now easily guess the names of acquaintances.

Or if you get your contacts saved by Google Contacts you will start to see names of the recovered chats automatically.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Whatsapp only stores group chats on your account in the cloud. All individual chats are saved in the internal storage of your old phone. The SIM card doesn't contain any data other than your cellular details.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Your WhatsApp account is not lost as long as you have the SIM(old/new) using the same mobile number. What you have lost is just the messages that you received on your old phone.

This can be avoided in future by enabling Chat backup to Google Drive via WhatsApp settings. This will allow you to restore your conversations when you install WhatsApp on a new device.

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, sim-card
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to share a VPN connection over WiFi Hotspot?
I have an S8 And a Nintendo switch, The switch doesn't support VPNs. Is it possible to share the VPN Connection to my Nintendo switch over hotspot? My PC Can already do this but I want to play outside!

# Answer
> 5 votes
Yes its possible, I have covered one method to achieve this already on this post.

Alternatively, our fellow user, Mygod has shared one application to achieve this called VPN Hotspot and is available both on XDA Labs or F-Droid. As expected both these methods need **root**, for non root solution you may have to look at something like PDANet+

# Answer
> 0 votes
1. Download the VPN-Client-App from any provider on your Android
2. Setup and connect the VPN (an instruction you find on the site from your vpn service)
3. Turn on the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot feature from your Android settings
4. Then it should work!

# Answer
> -2 votes
If you run a pie rom with aosp updated kernel just enable acesses point, usb wired alternative: pdanet ... or http injector in rooted devices can run a proxy server

---
Tags: wifi-hotspot, vpn
---


title: Boot Loop issue

text:
# Question
Title: Boot Loop issue
## Summary

by Izzy It seems the SD card in the **LG Marquee** has some errors causing a boot loop once the *Media Scanner* runs (or immediately when it's finished). Taking out the card seems to solve the issue, but then its content cannot be accessed. The original post is...

## TL;DR

I'm a new user and I'm having a terribly annoying problem with my phone. I have an **LG Marquee** with *Boost Mobile*.

A few hours ago, I opened up my gallery and the screen froze, then a force-close option popped up (which happens a lot with this phone so I'm used to it & thought it'd just force-close & then go back to normal as usual). Instead, the screen went blank & the blue icons (home, options, back, search) started flashing.

My phone had restarted completely: I had no service, my wallpaper was blank, etc. My phone does this a lot actually, but will just go back to normal. This time it started up normal, but the SD card icon appeared on my notifications bar & it read "checking SD card for errors". Typically this would occur but then the "Media Scanner is Running" icon would appear & my phone would be fine. The "media scanner running" pop up never appeared, and the blue icons just started flashing again as the screen went blank, only to reboot once again.

My phone kept rebooting itself repeatedly for about an hour every minute or two (making it impossible to make a call or send a text!!) Then I finally just turned it off. Every time it'd reboot, it'd last a couple minutes & the "media scanner running" pop up would come up, then it'd reboot all over again. Seems as though the media scanner triggers the reboot :/

After reading through many posts on the Internet about this issue, I tried a few things. In attempting to fix the problem, I realized that this issue has nothing to do with my phone itself or the battery - it's the SD card. I haven't dropped my phone at all lately and typically refrain from downloading extra apps that I really don't need. Mostly my SD card is taken up by photos, texts, videos, contacts, & three or four extra apps. The last app I downloaded was last night, it was a photo/gallery organizing app. When the reboots started occurring, I quickly uninstalled the app but it didn't fix the problem. The SD card doesn't look physically damaged at all, & neither does the small port it goes in. I use a 2GB micro SD card, the one that came with the phone when I bought it (not the best choice, I know, I just figured I could make due with it).

**I can run my phone perfectly fine** without the impeccably annoying reboots occurring **if I take the SD card out**. The problem is that I obviously need my pictures and videos and other apps, etc. I had quite a few photos and videos, all of which I would be completely devastated and flat out pi\**ed off to lose (especially because I had a lot of photos of a close friend that passed away recently in my gallery. Losing those would really make me sooo mad!) All I can do on my phone right now is access the internet, make calls, texts but I have none of my pics/vids & almost none of my apps.

Please help me!! Not only do I want my media and apps back, the constant rebooting is a level of annoying I can't even begin to describe!! I would literally appreciate it so much if someone could help me fix this issue (without having to reformat my SD card and lose everything)': ) and would be forever grateful!! I don't know how you reward/give a thanks to someone that helps you out on here, but I'd happily do it for anyone that can help me fix this problem ASAP. I'm soo unbelievably frustrated, please help me. Thanks so much!

(BTW, my phone is not rooted and none if my photos, videos, or other SD card things are backed up - dumb, I know!! I'm learning my lesson right now, unfortunately)

**UPDATE/EDIT:** I have been trying different tricks and tips from others, nothing has solved the problem but I did notice that the media scanner will actually complete scanning and even load my gallery, apps, etc. and show me that the SD card has been mounted but will automatically reboot all over again by itself about 10 seconds later. It's so frustrating that the card is loading and all my stuff is right there in front of me, but then my phone reboots by itself!

# Answer
> 2 votes
Something very similar happened to me not long ago. The SD card, when inserted into the phone, would cause the phone to be very unresponsive and eventually reboot itself, over and over, as long as the card was plugged in.

Now for the bad news.

I inserted a different SD card, which worked just fine in the phone. So I took the malfunctioning SD card and attempted to reformat it on my computer, but after reinserting it into the phone, the phone still claimed it was a "Damaged SD card" and refused to do anything with it - even format it again! Though it did stop boot looping.

After talking with Verizon it seems the SD card really was defective and I'm getting a replacement. I hope you are able to recover some of your files from the card before you have to replace it, or that you have backups (though it sounds like you don't).

# Answer
> 1 votes
I had a somewhat similar experience with a card set up as internal storage (Android Go edition which is slimmed down Oreo), except that I've never seen signs of a "media scanner". The reboots were rare at first and then everything worked fine again; but suddenly it began restarting continuously, during the boot sequence itself, until I pulled out the card.

Managed to resolve it, at least long enough to recover all data, but I'm not sure what the cure was. It might be:

* Rewriting the data on the SD card
* Making Android believe the card is corrupt and then reconciling it
* Just sending the card on an exciting trip, letting circuits discharge or recharge or cool down or heat up

Anyway, the steps one could follow in detail:

1. On a Linux PC with a card reader, find out which device the card is on (`sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX` where sdX stands for one of sdb, sdc, sdd...)
2. Dump all data to a file with `dd if=/dev/sdX of=my_dump bs=4M` (where dd = data dump, if=input file, of=output file, bs=block size)
3. Probably you can skip everything below until step 11.
4. Wipe the identity and partitioning with `dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=4M count=1`
5. Insert the card into the Android device: it now recognizes it as a new, blank card
6. Format the card in Android and eject it.
7. Move the card back to the PC.
8. Restore the first block: `dd if=my_dump of=/dev/sdX bs=4M count=1`
9. Move the card back to the Android device: it now recognizes it as the old internal storage, but says it's corrupt (because it changed other blocks while formatting).
10. Move the card back to the PC.
11. Restore the card entirely: `dd if=my_dump of=/dev/sdX bs=4M`
12. Move the card back to the Android device

Epilogue: Obviously, the rebooting came back, after a few days of normal operation. I repeatedly and in vain tried to repair it with the above procedure, and some variations of it, and it just kept rebooting. But as soon as I restored the earlier contents of the card extracted before posting this (the exact contents it had when the incessant rebooting started), it resumed normal operation. Also, a few weeks later, an identical Micro-SD card of the same age, in a completely unrelated audio device suddenly blocked the machine, then after taking it out a few times resumed as if nothing had happened.

---
Tags: boot-loop, external-sd
---


# Question
Title: K9 suddenly wants to encrypt all mail, and won't send any
Obviously, I have inadvertently changed some setting, but can’t figure out what.

I use K9 with 6 accounts, none of which have previously used encryption (I would prefer to – my correspondents wouldn’t). Suddenly all of them, when I try to compose an email have a red padlock at the top right and a tooltip appears at the bottom saying

> “Cannot connect to crypto provider; check your settings or click crypto icon to retry”.

On the individual account settings, and also on global settings, the Cryptography tab shows :

* OpenPGP App - None
* Show unencrypted signatures – unchecked
* Autocryptography Mutual Mode – unchecked.

I cannot find any other cryptography options and do not remember changing any. What *might* have caused it (a very slim chance, but I can think of nothing else) is that it first occurred when I used FireFox Focus, which is privacy oriented and always runs in private mode, to share a link to a web page. Perhaps that changed some setting?

Well, it doesn’t really matter how it happened, but now I cannot send any mail without this error message.

How can I disable cryptography in K9?

# Answer
This is a bug reported four months ago and unresolved as you can see here. The context is different but the error message is the same. One solution that worked for somebody is

> Workaround is to manually start the cryptoprovider (OpenKeyChain), then reopen k9 and tap on the lock sign, then sending works for me... The problem is the operating system preventing openkeychain to start automatically or being started by k9

This happened to me too recently (and I didn't know this was a bug). I backed up K9 and Open Keychain using Titanium Backup, uninstalled both, restored only K9 and it worked. Much latter, restored Open Keychain and set it up globally and per account and all fine

~~If either of these solutions don't work, you may well add your experience in the bug tracker and post resolution or what worked for you~~

OP has resolved the problem as per comments and requested this to be added to help others

> I just exported all settings, uninstalled & re-imported....exporting settings & unchecking `global settings` when importing did the trick (I will have to go over those manually now)
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had this problem, of not being able to send any message, encrypted or not, while OpenKeychain was installed. I tried a bunch of settings, and what seemed to work was uninstalling OK, waiting a few days to a week, then reinstalling OK. I imported all the necessary keys, and so far I'm able to send both unencrypted and encrypted messages.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: k9-mail
---


title: Titanium backup and TWRP, custom ROM

text:
# Question
Title: Titanium backup and TWRP, custom ROM
I'm trying to install a new custom ROM on my smartphone and first I need to make a backup. I was wondering, if I use Titanium backup do I need to make TWRP? I got a bit confused researching online and watching and reading all those tutorials.

I know that to use Titanium Backup I need to root my phone first (I know how to do it), then backup all the data and then do I just install the ROM?

# Answer
> 1 votes
**Titanium Backup** is a backup utility for Android that backs up your system and user applications along with their data on external storage of your choice. It is a leading Android application that uses root access to pull all your important applications and data from the system partition and stores them for future restoration. Whether your phone is corrupted or flashed with a custom ROM, Titanium Backup can save the hassle to get your phone loaded up just like it was before.

**TWRP** is an open source, community project. We also have a large support community with many people who are willing to answer questions and help people with their devices either through our IRC channel or on forums like xda-developers.

A custom recovery is used for installing custom software on your device. This custom software can include smaller modifications like rooting your device or even replacing the firmware of the device with a completely custom "ROM" like OmniROM.

A **custom Android ROM** refers to a phone’s firmware, based on Google’s Android platform. Android is open source and therefore any developer can edit the code, recompile it, and re-release for a wide variety of devices. Users can install ROMs to change a device’s appearance and behavior. ROMs are developed by the Android community, often times by a group of core developers who do this purely out of passion for modding. This means that most are completely free. Custom ROMs are available for phones, tablets, media players, smart watches and almost any type of device running Android.

**Notes**

1. You don't need to root for installing twrp and custom rom using twrp, but sometimes required to unlock bootloader to flash twrp. For a complete access and customisation, it requires root access on any ROM.
2. You can backup all your user app(apps installed from play store) data to any android version, and can restore using titanium backup app, which requires root access. For system apps, both should be in same android version is possible.
3. many custom roms are available on open source forums like xda. Search the one for your device. Look for some official builds like Lineage os, pixel experience etc. Developer will releases updates as nightlies, which resolves initial bugs, and makes more stable in future.
4. Gapps for any custom rom can be downloaded from open source platform like opengapps.org.
5. Rooting may voids your device's warranty. And you must be careful at each step. Because, any mistake can lead to make device brick. Device bricking means, it will continue in repeated on/off state (Bootloop), won't turn on, boots to recovery only etc, repeated app crash while usage.
6. You can perform this , If you're going to use titanium backup app , then backup all your user app data using titanium backup to SD card or USB stick through OTG. Flash twrp and custom rom. On booting to custom rom, install titanium backup, and restore app data.

If you are using twrp method, you can backup your current rom using pressing backup part in twrp. After flashing custom rom, you can restore data backup which is done by twrp (nandroid) using titanium backup.

7. A backup of current rom using twrp is recommended, if anything happens in between, you can return to current os without losing any data. Back-up to SD card or USB, don't do it on internal storage, which may get erased.

Source:

Titanium

twrp

Custom ROM

---
Tags: custom-roms, twrp, titanium-backup
---


# Question
Title: Does Android come with a built-in plain text editor?
I need to edit a simple plain text file. Is there a built-in text editor that comes with Android? I have Android 7, LG Stylo 3.

I just need to open a text file, and enter some words: cat dog etc

I need to edit text, then share it via email or have it saved in Android file system so I can share it later.

Second question: if there is no such a thing, what is the simplest plain text editor app available for such task?

# Answer
**No** AFAICT, unless it it is preinstalled by the device manufacturer, for example some devices like Xiaomi, Huawei come with a preinstalled document editor (WPS), which not allows you to view but to edit text files as well.

As suggested above, stock android only comes with with text **viewer** , not editor, in any case if you need to install it, please see Izzy's list of suggested text editors
> 1 votes

# Answer
Yes. I'm on Lenovo k8 note right now which is running stock Android 8.0. I was looking if it has some built-in text editor like vi in unix based systems. I installed terminal emulator and looked for vi, vim and nano but got no luck. Then I tried sed(Stream EDitor) which also comes preinstalled with most unix based systems, and it worked well. So, yeah you can use sed to do some command line text manipulation.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: text-editor
---


# Question
Title: "Install overnight" option does not apply update over night
When an update to the android is available, there are three options what to do with it:

* Install now
* Install overnight
* Later

When I select "Install overnight", the notification bar says: "Update will be installed between 2 AM and 5 AM automatically." However, next morning, nothing is installed.

What's the problem here, can't the phone read the clock? How can I fix it to enable the automatic installation overnight?

* Android 7.0
* Samsung Galaxy XCover 4

# Answer
> 1 votes
Are you sure your software did not update?

Try to check it.

Open `Settings-About Phone-Software Information`

Check *Security Software Version* and *Android Security Patch Level* as well.

In Security Software Version, month of installed software is mentioned.

**Why software not updated overnight ?**

Well, this may be due to these possible reasons:

• Your device battery was running low that time.

• You have enabled any type of battery saver.

---
Tags: updates, 7.0-nougat
---


# Question
Title: How to install apps with adb shell and how to backup device settings and restore to an identical device?
I am searching for days and I am really confused on what should I do and I decided to look for help here.

I have a **rooted by default** Android device (box) and I have changed some of the device settings (*Date & Time, security, accessibility, display, HDMI, MCU settings and developer Options*).

Now I want to find a solution like an (APK or ADB shell or script) in order to copy or backup this settings and restore them to another identical device with the same firmware.

I have tried a lot of applications, but at almost every app that I have already tried, I have an issue with the touch options. (For example: I can't choose yes/no at some critical points)

Please, suggest me what to do. Every answer that can help me to find out a solution to this it could be useful!

---

**Edit:**

In order for you to understand my situation, I have already set up some devices with four apps and I have changed some of the settings of the device like I said before. I want to fully backup and restore my device or write a **script** for this situation because I want to do the same set-up for 50+ devices, and for this I need some automation, but because the apps that I want to use want a different setup per device, until now I have decided to make the installation with a usb.

So at this moment I want somehow to copy the settings from one device to another identical device. I can tell you some apps that I have tried but cannot work properly because of the touch options (CLONEit, Titanium Backup, Helium, G Cloud, Backup Your Mobile, Rom Settings Backup), except from apks I have tried Android SDK with adb shell, but the app can't copy all my settings, so I reject adb shell option (I tried every possible command). I have tried TWRP but I can't choose some options because of the touch options (I have tried keyboard with touchpad and mouse but nothing, some options are unable to be chosen).

I have tried more apps than I've mentioned, but the only app that did exactly what I want with the settings is "Rom Settings Backup", because it copy every setting of my device. If anyone of you have already used Rom Settings Backup Pro, I want you to tell me how can I restore the settings from my first device to another?

About the **script**, I have my apps saved as apk files. I am telling that because, I believe that somehow with a script I can make my device to install my apps. Also, if I can change some of the settings with a script it would be great.

If anyone can guide me on what I have to do or what should I search for I would appreciate it because I am newbie at scripts.

I forgot to mention that I have got from an app an XML file with the device settings, but I don’t know what to do with it or how to restore that XML file on my device because the app that did the backup for me didn’t have an option for restore.

# Answer
I want to share with you some tips from my research: On how to copy your device settings and your Apks from one device to another, but its only for **ROOTED** devices (in my case, I did that to identical Android devices without issues).

**Tips**:

* First, you have to download and setup ADB (it’s not difficult search at google-youtube)
* If you want to do this procedure for a lot devices, you can use a 7-port usb hub with switches(ON/OFF). ADB, for example, can’t execute commands simultaneously. If you want to save some time and don’t want to plug and unplug devices, you can use a hub like this in order to be able to choose in which device will the commands run.

***1)How to copy almost every device setting?***

At your 1st device:

* Download ROM Settings Backup from Playstore.
* Install it and prepare your settings. Next, select a ROM (I test every ROM options and all were the same except if you create a new one. Do not create a new).
Just pick one from the existing ones and backup your settings. (If you are using an Android box, use a keybboard and try arrows, Touchpad or mouse will not work). Try to find the path, for example `…/SettingsBackup/Backups/omniROM....` and copy the folder with your backup settings.

Save this file to your computer. Connect your 2nd android device to your computer \[First you have to install “Rom Settings Backup” , then open command prompt and paste the following command but not exactly that, try find the path on your device(\**).

`adb push yourbackupfoldername /storage/emulated/0/SettingsBackup/Backups`

(\**) Find the path that you will push your backup folder to your new device (if you cant find it , download "ES File Explorer File Manager" and you will figure out the exactly path) If you want you can open Notepad \> paste the command : `adb push yourba.../… /Backups` and save the file as settings.bat (When you double click the .bat file or if you type the command to cmd, the folder that you choose will be copied to the right path at your new device).

Then open "ROM Settings Backup" at your 2nd device and Restore your backup. At my device the timezone wasn't right and if it's not for you too, then you have 2 options:

* You can change it manually from your device settings or
* Do the following: paste the command below to cmd or to a new bat file (your device will reboot after this command, so you can add this command to a new raw at your previous .bat file or create a new .bat file).

`adb shell "su -c 'setprop persist.sys.timezone Europe/Madrid; stop; sleep 5; start'"`

***2)How to install automatically with commands as many application you want ?***

You can just paste at cmd:

`adb install –r “Nameofyourapk1.apk”`

and repeat this for every app but **it’s faster if you have a lot of devices to do the following**:

First, download your applications as Apks from a trustworthy source. Then copy them to a folder and create a new installapps.bat file (from Notepad) at the same folder and with the following commands:

```
adb install -r "Nameofyourapk1 .apk"
adb install -r "Nameofyourapk2 .apk"

```

Paste these commands, rename your .apk name for every app that you want to copy. (Change raw for every new app.)

When you run installapps.bat file the apks will be automatically installed to your new device. Then continue and open these apps at your 2nd device in order to finish installation.

Do not hesitate for further information.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, backup, settings, restore, android-tv
---


# Question
Title: How to uninstall/disable system apps on Fire HD 8?
I want to uninstall or disable system apps on my Amazon Fire HD 8 2017. How can I do this? The FireOS version in "System Updates" menu is 5.6.2.0.

# Answer
There is a method to disable system apps on Fire HD 8 2017, on your FireOS version. (Discovered by myself, actually :D) You can see that XDA thread here. To battle possible link rot I'll also describe it here too.

1. I'm not going to add a guide on how to install ADB here, this page by Amazon explains it thoroughly, so you can follow it.
2. Download the APK attached in post #2, or if the link is broken download it from Dropbox. You can install it with ADB if you know how to, or just install it as you install other APK files.
3. This is one of most important but most ignored steps. **Reboot your tablet.**
4. The Amazon page explains how to run `adb` commands. Run these commands in order.

`adb shell`

`run-as com.amazon.unifiedsharefacebook`

5. Run `pm hide` on every app you want to hide. (You might be thinking the difference between hide and disable. `pm hide` vs. `pm disable` was analyzed on here.) You can check the package name of the app you want to install by "App Inspector". You can download and install it from here and check the package name of the app you want to remove.

Example: `pm hide com.amazon.kindle`

Here are all the apps that are safe to remove. Removing any other all could cause unexpected bugs.

Good luck!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: system-apps, disable-app, amazon-kindle-fire-hd
---


# Question
Title: Google Calendar app constantly missing notifications
Since I got the new phone Google Calendar app on it had been abysmal at making notifications it is supposed to. Most of the time they just never happen or happen late at the wrong time.

Sometimes opening the app triggers some overdue notification from an hour ago.

As far as I can tell Calendar is the *only* app that has any issue with notifications, all notifications from all other apps work perfectly.

Is there anything I can try to do to knock some sense into it?

# Answer
> 2 votes
**EDIT**: before trying the solution below, first try disabling battery optimization for Calendar.

*Note that the following is only my experience and opinion based on limited observations.*

**History of events**

I've seen this happen after upgrading to a new 5.8.x release. The last (mostly) reliable version I'm aware of is `5.8.38-200532405-release`. After I noticed the missed notifications on the upgraded version, I downgraded (using my backed up apk).

I didn't upgrade for a while, and during that time, at least one new version was released; I decided to give it another chance. This upgrade took me to 6.0.x. It sort of worked ok for a while - notifications were sometimes late by a minute or two, but that was acceptable to me.

Then a couple days later, I was doing some intensive work on my phone, with a lot of apps open at the same time. Calendar was starting to get flaky and not trigger notifications, or only trigger sporadically.

**My theory**

Newer app releases are possibly taking more memory than before - or not as robust at restarting the background service when the OS kills it due to low memory conditions. The more memory in use by apps, the more likely any particular service will be killed (not necessarily Calendar's, but a memory-bloated service or app will make the problem worse).

I'm not at all familiar with Android development, but ideally Calendar would keep a list of the recent notifications (maybe in the last hour?) that have successfully triggered. Then if the service is killed and gets restarted, it should compare recent notifications that should've triggered with its list of those that actually *did* trigger. It should then trigger the ones that were missed and add them to the already-triggered list. I have a feeling the app is *not* doing this.

**Suggestions**

Avoid having too many apps running. Swipe away those you're not using.

Failing that, try downgrading Calendar. You can try APK Mirror (use at your own risk!). Out of curiosity, I downloaded `5.8.38-200532405-release` onto my desktop and compared it to my own backup. The `apk` file wasn't the same (because it's a zip file with possibly different compression ratio & file modification times, etc), but the unzipped contents were identical (compared using `diff -r`). The sha256 of the APK Mirror apk is `30340b7e95e5e71f8183cc53af376efd27b10e11d75e8dd4b957b03a45c3dedf`.

**Caveats**

The last reliable version (mentioned above) for my device and usage patterns may not be the same one that works for you. I said "mostly" reliable because once in a long while I still miss notifications. Keeping the list of running apps small seems to help.

**Miscellany**

I used information from answers here to backup my device's `apk`s.

# Answer
> 0 votes
1) Double check: Settings \> Apps \> All \> then to Calendar "show notifications" is checked and then Google Contacts "show notifications" is checked also.

2) Make sure your calendar is not an external calendar.

reference:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/android-5-0-lollipop/522084-getting-no-notifications-google-calendar-app.html

---
Tags: 7.0-nougat, google-calendar, motorola-moto-g5
---


title: Lock Screen is showing Junk Characters

text:
# Question
Title: Lock Screen is showing Junk Characters
Intermittently, my lock screen will start to display junk characters. A power cycle will clear up the problem but I'd like to know how to keep this from happening again.

The first time it happened in the afternoon and the second time happened overnight so there's no commonality in usage or behavior or updates that I can see.

Update: I've just tried to change it back to the default font and now it's showing up in my notification bar all over the home screen.

# Answer
You have to restart to fix it :( not a good answer but I've been having the same issue. It was definitely after upgrading to lolipop. It may come back, usually during charging.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I know this is an old thread, but I only just discovered a workaround better than reboot today. Reboot certainly works, but I hate to do it every 2-3 days.

If you are rooted, you can correct these funny characters on your lock screen by resetting systemui without reboot. There is an app on the Play Store called "Reset System UI".

Alternatively, if you are a Tasker user, do as follows to automate this process. Create a task by going to Code -\> Run Shell -\> under command type in "killall com.android.systemui" without the quotes of course and then check use root.

Then it's up to you to create a trigger to exercise this task at a time and situation least intrusive but also frequent enough so that you don't see these funny characters again.

Good luck!
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: Trouble Unlocking Bootloader on Android Device (RCA Voyager Tablet)
Okay, so I've figured out how to set up ADB on Mac OS X and I've followed all the instructions on how to get to Fastboot from ADB. The last command I use is:

> fastboot oem unlock

This command in ADB is supposed to unlock the bootloader. On my device, it asked for confirmation to unlock the bootloader, volume up is yes and volume down is no. Well, the "no" option works perfectly fine but then the "yes" option does absolutely nothing on the device or the terminal window.

Does somebody know what's going on? I can seem to figure it out, even though I've searched all over the internet.

Some sites say that you have to take the device off of the charging cable before booting into fastboot, but I've tried this and found it unsuccessful.

My device is running Android Lollipop. All the developer settings are enabled like they're supposed to and ADB commands all work until the point where I get stuck.

EDIT: I'm attaching a screenshot of what my developer settings page looks like. I can't find the OEM setting anywhere.Image

# Answer
Do you have the USB DEBUGGING CHECKED BOX ON. I know USB DEBUGGER has to be on. Theres also a box about ADB/ADT make sure that is checked along with the setting install from unknown locations has to be on for 3rd party apps other than the ones from google play. It sounds like that is all that has to be on in your settings under Accessibility and under Developer options in your Settings menu. Your other question about your volume up and down button. You need to shut your phone off then hold down on volume button and power button at same time until you see the Android bootloader settings pop up on screen then let go, somme samsungs you also have to be holding down on the menu key as well as power key, volume down.all at same time till bootoader then hurry let up
> 0 votes

# Answer
I remember seeing others having the same problem.

One of the solutions I have found that worked is to hold down the the Vol up while you enter the command on you PC and hit enter. Then when release the VOL UP and press the POWER button.

You may want to go thru the following 2 threads on XDA Forums From what I remember there were some other solutions to your problem there.

The above solution I found in the middle of post #103 (its a long post and the poster first says he wasn't able to get it and then edited the post with this solution).
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rooting, fastboot, bootloader, rca-voyager
---


title: Unlocking Bootloader Android 7.1.2

text:
# Question
Title: Unlocking Bootloader Android 7.1.2
I have a RCA device running Android 7.1.2. I'm having difficulty unlocking the bootloader.

On my device I've an option to turn on `OEM Unlocking`. When I try it asks if I want to enable when I select `Enable` it just jumps back to off position.

This is what I have tried. adb reboot fastboot The device reboots and stays on the splash screen when I do fastboot devices it shows "0123456789 fastboot". This seems weird to me I expected to see the S/N number like I see when I do adb devices. Then I tried "fastboot flashing unlock" I don't see any change on the device and I instantly get FAILED.

How can I get the bootloader unlocked?

I have seen people that have gotten it unlocked, but they were on a previous version of Android.

My tablets info:

* Model: **RCT6973W43R**
* Android Version: **7.1.2**
* Android Security Patch: **October 1, 2018**
* Kernel Version: **3.10.104 Fri Oct 19 11:05:52 CST 2018**
* Build number: **RCT6973W43R-ANDROID7.1-V38-V1.16.132-DS-E17**
* Rockship: **RK3066**

# Answer
**Enable OEM Unlocking** If your devices manufacturer allows OEM unlocking
A.K.A (Also Known As) "Bootloader Unlocking".

After Enabling OEM Unlocking

* Reboot to Fastboot

ADB

+ `adb reboot bootloader`
* OEM Unlock

+ `fastboot oem unlock`
    or
    `fastboot oem unlock -go`
    or
    `fastboot oem unlock /path/to/unlock-token.bin`

If you have an MTK CPU you might be interested in flashing image's using a scatter file and SP Flash Tool v5.16 or above, as it doesn't require an unlocked bootloader.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bootloader, bootloader-lock
---


title: Changing a watsapp group name

text:
# Question
Title: Changing a watsapp group name
I changed a watsapp group name and then back again to the original name. will everyone get notified of the changed name I didnt use? Its just a work group and Im mortified.

# Answer
Yes, Every member of the group will be notified when you change(s):

• Group Name

• Group Description

• Group Icon
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: How to load URLs in a separate browser from within Samsung Messenger?
In Samsung Messenger, if an SMS message includes a URL, clicking on that URL seems to always load the website in Android System WebView.

Is there a way to specify which external browser app to use to load these URLs?

# Answer
I was also looking for the same but literally there is no such option. However, what Samsung's Official site suggests to do it, is:

> If you would prefer to use another browser as default from the messaging app - you can try searching the Google Play Store to download another messaging application. The Android Messages app, for example, defaults to open links in the Chrome browser.

Source: https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/about-the-new-in-app-browser/
> 4 votes

---
Tags: samsung, sms, browser, url
---


title: Disabling power button restart

text:
# Question
Title: Disabling power button restart
How can I disable android from rebooting when the power button is pressed for few seconds? Is this done in software?

Context: my power button is broken. I tried to remap it by changing the relevant file (`/system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl`), I uncommented lines that dealt with POWER and changed VOLUME\_UP key to power. Right now, pressing the power button doesn't lead to anything, and volume up button would actually power off the screen. But the old problem seems to happen once in a while.

I suspect if this feature was implemented in hardware because, after all the phone has to be turned on when the OS is not running. Still, is someone aware if a key in `Generic.kl` corresponds to the reboot feature?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Disabling the power button and changing the volume\_up button to power did end up working (i.e., prevents faulty restarts at random times.) I also verified that long pressing the actual power button does end up restarting the device, which means that restart is somehow programmed at the hardware level.

---
Tags: root-access, linux, power-on, power-options
---


# Question
Title: How to fix lock screen stuck at "Tap to speak" when entering password?
I can’t access my phone. When I try to enter my password to unlock my phone it displays "Tap to speak" with microphone and the word "Google". There is also sign of setting and "X" but they are not responding.

This thing blocks me from using my phone and I don't know how it got into my phone. I am not familiar with it. How do I unlock my phone?

# Answer
It's not cleared that what lock you used(there are 3rd party and in built 'Voice Lock' which could be found under Security Settings and then one is 'Google Voice Lock').

If it 'Google Voice Lock' say 'Ok Google' & 'Hey Google'. If it is your handset, you would have used Google Voice Search/Google Assistance which only activates by saving your voice. Same voice is used for 'Google Voice Lock'.

So, if it is this lock. It will unlock as voice matches.

If it is other than this, i found this forum by xda-developers that could help you: Lock Screen stuck at voice lock.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: locked-out
---


# Question
Title: Why does photos 'edit in' change image app export behavior?
When you open a picture in Pixlr / Snapseed / etc., you are given option of resizing / export the resulting photo.

However if I 'share' or use gallery 'edit in', I cannot export in Snapseed, and Pixlr is missing image resize on save dialog.

Why does android differentiate these activities and more importantly can I turn it off?

Really dislike workflow of opening Snapseed first then hunting for a photo I already had open elsewhere. I thought it was a Pixlr issue until Snapseed did similar.

Missing image resize ui from Pixlr:

Reproduced with Android 7,8, and 9. Google Pixel

# Answer
> 1 votes
I use Photo Editor and it seems to be able to crop and resize images that other app sends / "shares" to it.

While I don't know exactly why and I don't do any Android development, I think that it could be those two apps provide functionality for "editing only", where the resulting (edited) photo is returned to the handler, in your case, your gallery app, instead of handling by themselves. This could be a possible reason why those apps can't export photos when the photos aren't opened from within the apps.

---
Tags: photos, images, google-photos, editing
---


# Question
Title: Samsung mobile charging screen blink issue
While charging I my Samsung J7 mobile via wall charger it's shows charging ICON **Blink**. If try to power on it will always show startup logo (model name) and again turn off display and it's **restart always**.

But when I pressed **`Home+Power+VolumeDown`** It's shown boot window.But it's not blink or restart.That window work perfect and I try to install OS via Odin3 v3.09.But it's not resolve my issue because when device restart It can't update apps because withing 10-15 seconds device restart again.

# Answer
**Battery replaced and now it's working**
> 1 votes

---
Tags: charging, boot-loop
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 won't sync with google play
I just got my new *Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900,* but I've already got problems:

First, everytime I sync my phone with google it always comes up with sync error, I don't know how to fix this. I've tried removing the account then putting it back on but it still doesn't work.

Second is that my phone doesn't even have the google play app. When I go onto the website and try download an app it says that I don't have any devices – which I think is due to the sync error.

How can I resolve this?

# Answer
Here is what Google Suggests to sync your phone:

**Change date & time settings**

You can try to force sync your account by manually resetting your time settings.

1. Open your device's Settings app Settings app.
2. Tap System and then Date & time.
3. Turn off Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.
4. Manually change the date and time so that both are wrong.
5. Tap Home Key.
6. Open your device's Settings app and then System and then Date & time again.
7. Manually change the date and time so that both are right again.
8. Turn on Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.

(Excluded 'deleting and re-adding your account' here as you already did this.)

Here are all possible options available by Google Support: Fix account sync issues

**Google Play Store**

In case you don't have Play Store App, you can download it from apkmirror , choose a version and install it after downloading.

You will be ask to enable 'Unknown Sources' to be able to install Google Play Store, follow this to enable:

Open Settings - Security Settings.

Scroll down to 'Unknown Sources' check the box.

After installing Google Play Store successfully, uncheck the 'Unknown Sources' box.

This will prevent everything (except the Play Store) from installing apps.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Go to Settings -\> More -\> Application manager. Scroll down to Google Play, and hit "Force Stop". Start Play Store, and it should start up.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I had the same issue. Once I turned off Google 2 Step Verification, it worked just fine.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, sync, samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: Booting into custom recovery with a locked bootloader
I'm planning to flash a custom ROM on my device, but too lazy to take backups.. My favorite backup tool being Titanium Backup, I want root access on my device before I unlock the bootloader. But unforunately to flash the SuperSU file I need to have a custom recovery on my device as my stock recovery doesn't allow me to flash SuperSU zip. And to flash a custom recovery I need to unlock my bootloader. Can I however boot into Team Win recovery without unlocking my bootloader through this command?

```
fastboot boot twrp.img

```

This will allow me to root my device and take backups easily before I unlock my device bootloader. So is it safe for me to do so?

# Answer
> 3 votes
# tl;dr

No, you can't use `fastboot boot` to boot into a custom recovery if the bootloader is locked (as Jerry Chin noted in a comment).

# Longer Answer

Android Security Internals says in *Chapter 13: System Updates and Root Access* (in section *Recovery*, subsection *Custom Recoveries*):

> A custom recovery is a recovery OS build created by a third party (not the device manufacturer). Because it is created by a third party, a custom recovery is not signed with the manufacturer’s keys, and therefore a device’s bootloader needs to be unlocked in order to boot or flash it.

And in *Chapter 10: Device Security* (in section *Controlling OS Boot-Up and Installation*, subsection *Bootloader*):

> In order to ensure device integrity, consumer devices are shipped with locked bootloaders, which either disallow flashing and booting system images completely or allow it only for images that have been signed by the device manufacturer.

Thus, if you try to use `fastboot boot twrp.img`, the bootloader will find out that `twrp.img` is not signed by the manufacturer's key, and would refuse to boot into it.

And just in case we are not sure whether `fastboot` allows bypassing the restrictions that a locked bootloader introduce, we also have in *Chapter 13: System Updates and Root Access* (in section *Bootloader*, subsection *Fastboot Mode*):

> Commands that modify device partitions, such as the various flash variations, and commands that boot custom kernels, such as the boot command, are not allowed when the bootloader is locked.

---
Tags: rooting, bootloader, twrp
---


# Question
Title: Difference between /mnt/sdcard and /sdcard
I'm in the beginning of Android kernel study and I'm looking at every directory in rooted Android.

I realized that the same directories were in those two: `/mnt/sdcard` and `/sdcard`. What's the difference between them?

(The directories that I found were:

Alarms,Android, Audio, Books, DCIM, Download, Images, LOST.DIR, Movies, Music, Notifications, Pictures, Podcasts, Ringtones, Video)

I'm using Android 4.1.2.

# Answer
The directory `/mnt` houses the mount points of different Android partitions. (hence the name mnt) Actually the "real" directory is `/mnt/sdcard`. `/sdcard` is a Symlink (short for Symbolic Link) to that directory, intended for easy of usability. (That is also explained here Are files created in "/storage/emulated/0" supposed to appear in "/storage/sdcard0"? and the answer by Izzy on that question is quite useful and detailed) It is possible to access `/mnt/sdcard` by ADB or a well designed file manager. `/sdcard` directory serves as a way for normal apps/users to interact with that data.

You can read more about Symlinks here. This article (also the source of some facts I stated above) may be useful for a basic understanding about the Android filesystem. (It is/may be outdated for current Android versions, but you are using an old Android version, so it may still be useful for you)
> 4 votes

---
Tags: 4.1-jelly-bean, file-system
---


title: Wrong Flash in Odin

text:
# Question
Title: Wrong Flash in Odin
My question is I accidentally put the firmware in BL and AP in Odin My phone is Samsung J1. It says success but my phone is like having dead battery and I cant open it . the (power button + volume down + home button) download screen didn't appear whenever I tried to access. what to do ?

# Answer
A somewhat late answer, but it could warn others even if it is too late to help OP.

BL is the bootloader partition, which is the first software that loads when you power on your device, before even the Download and Recovery modes. It looks like you flashed a wrong file for the bootloader, and if that is the case unfortunately your phone will not boot again unless you swap out the whole eMMC. (Internal Storage) You could try taking it for an authorized Samsung repair store as they might have debug software but I highly doubt they could interact with the hardware which comes before the bootloader.

*TL;DR: Odin is an extremely powerful tool, and even though OP's device is not very expensive, use it with extreme care or you may end up with a paperweight worth $1200.*
> 0 votes

---
Tags: unbricking, samsung-galaxy-j1
---


title: How to change font scale from Terminal

text:
# Question
Title: How to change font scale from Terminal
I know these two commands to change density and resolution via Terminal:

```
wm density <dpi>
wm size <resolution>

```

But how do I change the scale of system-wide font via Terminal?

# Answer
This answer from StackOverflow (How to change font size by adb command) provides a solution. The command used to set the font size is:

```
adb shell settings put system font_scale {float_representing_the_scale}

```

or if you are using a terminal emulator in Android

```
settings put system font_scale {float_representing_the_scale}

```

Examples:

```
settings put system font_scale 0.5f
settings put system font_scale 1.2f

```

I tested it using Android 6.0 with root access (I was getting an error when using the command without root). I had to restart the phone for the setting to take effect.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: terminal, fonts, screen-resolution
---


# Question
Title: WhatsApp contacts doesn't merge with Google Contacts
I can't really reproduce what caused the issue, but all my contacts show up separately, it's like I'm having two contacts with identical name, one in the Google account containing all his phones, emails including his WhatsApp number but not identified as WhatsApp, and another one for each WhatsApp number the contact has.

I thought about deleting all the WhatsApp contacts but I can't seem to find a way to do it.

Here's what it looks like:

I've tried merging accounts on Google and on phone and the system found no duplicates.

It looks like my WhatsApp contacts are stored somewhere on the cloud and needs to be erased then be re-obtained automatically staying as simple contacts, but I haven't found a way to clear all WhatsApp contacts (I have 900 - meaning erasing them manually isn't an option).
I've tried to filter only WhatsApp contacts then choose delete selection but it didn't allow me to do that.

# Answer
I might be a little late, but still, at least for google.

I had the very same problem recently, some whatsapp contacts were separate from original (google / device / doesn't matter). Manual join did not work - phone said contacts joined but they did not.

After some fiddling I found a solution thet worked for me in all cases.

Problem was in phone number format in original contact and in whatsapp. It is possible to store the number either with or without spaces.

Here in Czech Republic these are

* +420 123 456 789
* +420123456789

in UK it is

* +48 1234 567890
* +481234567890

etc.

Solution was simple after realizing this, edit all your google contact numbers coresponding to whatsapp and either add the spaces in numbers without them or delete the spaces in numbers which got them.

After that I was able to join manually all contacts with whatsapp contacts.

Hope this helps JirkaBitr
> 3 votes

# Answer
If anyone else is coming here and still has the problem. And do not want to manually edit the contacts in different country formats. Here is a simple workaround.

Go-to Contacts app. - settings. - Select contacts to display. - Customize. - Deselect WhatsApp contacts.

You will not see what's app contacts separately when searching for contacts.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Editing all the contacts is useless - just try to re-install your whatsapp and you face the issue again (and sooner or later you will re-install when you buy new phone :-) ).

Why it seemed to be helping? Because the contacts were re-sync to your smartphone - you can test it - just add a web page and it will fix the issue as well - the spaces in the number are not important, it just marks the contact for a re-sync.

What helps and much faster is a full re-sync of google contacts to your phone. You can achieve that by simply adding all of them into a new group, which you can revert in next step - 30seconds and everything re-synchronized and working.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, contacts, whatsapp-messenger, 5.1-lollipop, google-contacts
---


# Question
Title: Unidentified files stored as Facebook cache
I found several large files stored as Facebook cache in the emulated path. 277\_428\_10\_0\_en\_us\_1013.0,% is one example of close to 1,000 files. What are they? I believe I have had a my phone to have been ha ked or tapped by an ex-boyfriend and when I try to open these files it says I don't have they ability to open theses audio files. I have found several other hidden audio and video recordings he made secretly and these files make . E extremely nervous. Please can you help me?

# Answer
Your question is vague..

* Open Settings
* Open Apps
* Look through your apps and try to identify any suspicious applications
* Open Google Settings
* Open Google Play Protect
* Scan your device for any potential threats

Using a RAT ( Remote Access Tool ) without permission is highly illegal and constitutes as invasion of privacy along with many others.

You should probably back up all your pictures and files you'd like to keep and do a factory reset ... After factory reset, reinstall your apps from the Play Store and put your files back on it.... This way you'll eliminate any hidden spyware.

Remember to place a Lock Screen on your device, and don't let your partner or EX partner touch your device again...

The cache files could potentially be used as a form of log, logging your activities online and offline.

In the past I have installed spyware on my partners device ( with her permission ) but I at least made sure she knew it was on, and she knew how to remove it if she wanted too... Maybe if you are going through some trust issues, they should be addressed and openly discussed with your partner.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: files, cache
---


title: how to stop Lollipop Cell Standby Drain

text:
# Question
Title: how to stop Lollipop Cell Standby Drain
I updated to lollipop on my Moto X phone and I am now seeing a large percentage of my battery being used by Cell Standby. How do I stop this?

# Answer
I have dealt with this bug a lot. (Moto x gen 1) The good news is that Google has assigned someone to fix it, however right now the best way to fix this is to force close apps when you are done using them.

What is happening is when an app requests cellular data, your phone's data radio turns on. In most cases the radio immedietly turns off when it is done, but there is a lollipop bug that keeps the radio on until the app that requested it is force stopped.

The force stop can be done manually through the running apps list in settings, but there is another app called Greenify that will do this for you automatically. No, you won't need the paid version. Just let the app have accessibility access and it will force close apps for you on request.

If you want proof, here is what my cellular battery usage is when I forget to use Greenify all day.

<sub>(Click image to enlarge)</sub>

And when I use it vigorously

(I am in no way affiliated with Greenify or its development team)
> 3 votes

# Answer
Turn airplane mode on. Airplane mode will disable cell standby while active.If you need wifi, you can turn it back on without cell standby turning on.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Only solution is to downgrade to 4.4.4... I've faced this bug on my XT1058, and was not able to solve it for good (I could disable the bug for a while, but eventually reappeared). After downgrading to KitKat, phone works flawlessly.
> 0 votes

# Answer
One possible solution:

Short answer: Settings (gear) -\> System Update -\> Update Motorola software

Medium answer: Using Moto X (2013 a.k.a. Moto X1 ) “System version” is now “222.21.19...." Also helps to use MOTO instead of GOOGLE assistant to save battery

Long answer: I finally let “Motorola Update Service” upgrade from Android 4.4 to 5.1 Also let “download manager” upgraded apps. BUT it reported “Cell standby” using over 20% of battery. This is after disabling or stopping every App possible and letting it sit on the desk.

But all the other upgrades have "nag screens" or are "automated". "Update Motorola software" is a manual process. After the update... the "screen" is back to being my top "Battery" user, everything else is 1%.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 5.1-lollipop
---


title: Touch screen changing

text:
# Question
Title: Touch screen changing
Can we replace the touchscreen of 5.5-inch size, 720p resolution in a smartphone to the same size but with 1080p resolution touchscreen? Is there any possibility? Or is it not possible? If not why?

# Answer
It is possible *theoretically*, but impractical because of some reasons.

1. Android needs drivers to communicate with the hardware, and because you are replacing a hardware part, the old drivers will refuse to communicate with the new screen in a lot of cases, and you'll probably have to delete these drivers from the kernel source, rewrite these drivers (likely thousands of lines of C code) compile it and flash your new kernel.
2. The vendor of your device could have modified the way the screen interact with the motherboard. So unless if you are lucky to come upon a higher resolution screen that uses exactly the connection schemes of the old screen, you won't be able to replace it.
3. Your other hardware are probably not powerful enough to drive the higher resolution.

If you can overcome these difficulties, congratulations, you could replace your touchscreen! :)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: touchscreen, android-versions
---


# Question
Title: Why do I have Aptoide app installed, and why do update to apps that I didn't install shown on there?
I found this “Aptoide” app on my Samsung Galaxy A5 the other day but I certainly don’t recall downloading it. I opened it up and somehow got to the updates section. It showed me available updates for a bunch of apps, some of which I have but others I don’t. I’m wondering if one of my kids might be up to something on my phone and need some guidance. It shows a list of apps that have pending “updates” and then below it, it shows a list of “installed apps”. There is a weird messenger app called “Messagerie double” that you can see in one of the images. I don’t see that app anywhere on my phone and I guarantee I never downloaded it.

I’ve attached photos for example.

Apps I’ve never downloaded include:

* Messagerie double
* SEMFactoryApp
* SVC Agent
* Network Diagnostic
* slocation (Another one not pictured but the same green Android logo)
* bootagent (Another one not pictured but the same green Android logo)

Does its presence under Aptoides “Updates” section indicate it does reside somewhere, hidden on my phone? And if so, how do I access it? Am I right to suspect these are somehow being used on my phone without my knowledge?

# Answer
> 3 votes
After some research this is what I came up with.

Did you download an APK for some app from the Aptoide website recently? If so, you didn't download that app. You downloaded the Aptoide market, and that market downloaded your app. It is likely that one of the kids tried to free download a paid app, as I see there are a lot of them in Aptoide. :) As always those free market apps are not trustworthy at best (they may look clean enough but they might still be sending sensitive data to their servers), and malicious and virus-infected at worst.

Here is a list of what I came up with each of the apps you mentioned:

1. "Messagerie Double" means "Double Messaging". I didn't find anything specially useful about this app, but based on what I've seen it looks like the Samsung Dual Messaging function, hence a system app.
2. "SEMFactoryApp" should be a system app, as it was mentioned in this Reddit Thread. Also, this JoeSandbox analysis dodn't detect any suspicious code in this app, so it looks like it's safe to assume that it is a system app.
3. "SVC Agent" looks like it matches `com.samsung.android.svcagent`, which is in this debloat list on XDA, and this thread on Android Authority also mentions that, so it looks like a system app too.
4. "NetworkDiagnostic" is mentioned on this APKMirror page as having package name `com.samsung.android.networkdiagnostic` and it is also in the debloat list above, so likely a system app.
5. "slocation" looks like a system app too, considering it didn't go away after a system reset as mentioned here.
6. Finally "bootagent" also looks like a system app, refer to post #147 here.

So why does Aptoide display system apps? Because it doesn't distinguish between system and non-system apps, and someone named *sirkesyone-applikes* (clearly without a proper knowledge of system apps) uploaded those *system apps* to Aptoide. If you or one of the kids mistakenly hit "Update" and confirm the update on one of those apps it could update to a wrong or incompatible version and brick your phone or erase your data or etc. So I would recommend uninstalling Aptoide as quickly as possible. :)

Good Luck!

---
Tags: applications, updates, aptoide
---


# Question
Title: Annotate HTML files without editing raw HTML
I would like to add annotations (highlights and notes) to HTML files saved on my Android phone, without having to edit the raw HTML. How can I do this?

# Answer
First convert the HTML file to a PDF file, using a conversion app like Convert web to PDF. Then annotate the PDF file using a PDF app that supports adding and editing annotations, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: notes, html
---


# Question
Title: Cell Phone is unresponsive, but after it ran out of power it was chargable again?
So yesterday my cell phone was acting strange, it didn't respond to charging and/or could not turn on (no charging light and blank screen).

Today (I assume after it ran out of power), it is charging fine now.

I have a samsung S6, my question is what could the root causes be? Are there any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening again.

I presume a software glitch prevented my phone light from working and/or the screen.

Is it bad to turn on your phone while it's charging?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Charging is a complex task for mobile devices now. For example, power can come from either USB or a wireless charger. When USB was developed in the early 90's, it was designed for peripherals such as mice and keyboards - smartphone charging wasn't even on the radar (*pagers* were the hot thing back then). So USB charging is a mess of its own on the technical side.

What this means is that your phone's CPU and its firmware is involved in the charging process, and if the CPU is completely frozen, then the necessary communication between the phone and its USB chipset won't happen, and you could be in a situation where the charger won't work because the CPU isn't following the necessary steps.

The power button on a phone is a "soft switch" - it's software controlled, not a physical on-off button, and some part of the phone is always powered to respond to that button even when off (thus turning it on while charging should always be a non-issue). Computers have been like this since the early 90's - and if you couldn't turn it off because of a complete lockup (rare, but possible), you'd have to resort to unplugging it.

The equivalent of "unplugging" on a smartphone is removing the battery. Given the trend of non-removeable batteries, this isn't an easy option. But if the battery completely dies and runs out of power, it's the same thing.

You may try holding the power button down for 10 seconds and see if it will restart. If it's completely froze you have to wait until the battery runs completely out, or take the phone apart to unplug and replug the battery.

What can make a CPU completely freeze such that even holding power for 10 seconds won't reboot it?

* OS issue - make sure Android is at latest version.
* Bad charger/cord, try a different or new charger/cord.
* If using a custom or aftermarket ROM, check for a later version or revert back to stock firmware.
* Physical issue such as battery going bad, physical or liquid damage.

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Tags: charging
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# Question
Title: Difference between /system/build.prop properties and setprop persist.adb.tcp.port (example) properties?
What is the difference between properties manipulated in /system/build.prop file and properties manipulated by setprop, for example setprop persist.adb.tcp.port? Where is the latter property stored? Is there another properties file somewhere?

# Answer
> 3 votes
To answer your 2 last questions, according to several sources (, , ), thoses are stored in `/data/property/`. I couldn't find an offical reference about this location though.

For you, that would be in `/data/property/persist.adb.tcp.port`.

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Tags: settings, file-properties
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