# Question
Title: How to keep playing online videos when screen is locked?
I want to listen to online videos with my mobile phone in my pocket, but there is always something to touch the screen and interrupt the stream.

The only solution I know is to download and save the broadcast or video on my phone before listening to it with a video player app which can be screen locked.

The issue is that I don't want to download any YouTube video before listening to it, so I'd like to find a way that can keep screen locked while playing a video.

# Answer
You can try to use an alternative to the default YouTube app, a popular choice being NewPipe. Although I haven't tested this myself yet, one of the listed features is being able to play videos in the background - even just the sound, without having to waste battery by displaying something you dom't actually care about.
> 1 votes

# Answer
There is a solution, if you want to listen YouTube song even when your android phone is locked. To do that you have to use chrome browser in android phone. Open YouTube in chrome browser and request as Desktop Site and search for the song which you want to listen then minimise it. The song will be paused then, from the notification you can tap on the play(▶). By doing this you will be able to listen YouTube videos in your phone even if it is locked. I hope this will help you.
> 1 votes

# Answer
There is no way you can play a video on YouTube and lock your phone or minimize the app (in case you are using its mobile app) unless you subscribe to YouTube Premium. https://www.youtube.com/premium
> 0 votes

# Answer
Firefox for Android had that ability. Due to Google making some requirements, it was disabled, but there's an addon which you can install in a second and that's all you need to continue playing YouTube in the background or when the screen is locked.

1. Download Firefox for Android
2. Install Video Background Play Fix addon.

Firefox should be able to continue playing videos after you have installed the addon and enabled it. Just to ensure that if your phone has a background activity manager (which kills background apps), you should whitelist Firefox so that it continues to work in the background.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Try Youtube Vanced. You can listen to any video while your phone's screen is locked.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: video-streaming
---


# Question
Title: Only image files are showing up in my folder when I view my phone's files on the computer
I need to transfer some sound recordings from my Samsung Android phone to my computer, however when I view the phone's files on my computer, only image files (.jpg, .png, .bmp, etc.) are visible.

* No .mp3 files from the /sounds/ folder are appearing.
* No .mp3 files from my music albums are appearing (but the album cover photo is appearing!
* No .pdf files from my /documents/ folder are appearing.

For all three of the above bullet points, the files are clearly visible (and accessible!) if I look on the phone itself, just not on the computer.

Originally I thought this was something wrong with my Ubuntu 16.04 computer, but then I tried on a different Ubuntu 16.04 computer and still couldn't view the files, and now I've tried on Windows 10 and ***still*** can't view the files on my computer!

What can I do to transfer these files from the phone to the computer? I do not have any memory card inserted into the phone, only internal storage.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Set the USB Connection that pops-up on your status bar to **File Transfer** instead of Photo Transfer.

---
Tags: samsung, internal-storage, data-recovery, file-transfer, bugs
---


# Question
Title: How to move apps if the option 'move to sd card' is missing?
My android tablet has 4.4.2 kitkat. The option 'move to sd card' is missing from all apps. The internal memory is 2GB and the sd card is 16GB. Is there any way to move apps to sd card? My tablet is rooted.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Since you're rooted, download Link2sd and it has an solution for you problem.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Hello Android Enthusiasts!

How to move apps if the option 'move to sd card' is missing?

I seem to be having the same issue with my Not Rooted: **Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge**

Device Name/Model number: Samsung-SM-G925A **Android mobile operating system Version: 5.1.1** Linux Kernel version 3.10.61-5927475

I think the 5.1.1 refers to the Android release Lollipop, However the kernel version points toward the KitKat release.

None of my apps seem to have the **Move to SD** option showing either. I've done some research:

I found this info interesting Android OS allows you to move many apps over to external storage to help free up space on the main device. Be aware of the limitations. Some apps are deemed as too important by their developer, and thus can’t be moved via normal methods. Many apps that ship with the device can’t be moved either. Ultimately, it’s up to the app’s developer to allow or disallow its move permissions. and even with the tweaks mentioned on this page (**with the exception of using root**), **the apps still may not be movable afterwards**. Your best bet would be to then email the developer and ask why, or go the way of rooting your device so that you can force it. It shouldn’t be so complicated, but it is.

It needs to be stressed that even if an app (or game) can be moved, there are potential risks for going through with it. Here are some general guidelines of what not to move:

**Apps That Shouldn’t Ever Be Moved**

* List item **Widgets:** If you want to use a certain widget, don’t move the app that provides it.
* List item **System Tools:** Important tools might not operate well or at all on external storage.
* List item **Important Apps:** If you can’t afford a certain app becoming unavailable, don’t move it.

Consider that to be your first and final warning!

**Things to bear in mind:** Some apps may remain unmovable after these tweaks are applied, which is common of apps that come preinstalled on the device.

In this instance, **the best fix is** to **#1.** root the phone and either delete the app from the system’s ROM with `Titanium Backup`, or **#2.** force the app to be moved with `Link2SD`. Either one of these options is required for Android 5.0 and later. It’s also important to note that even after certain apps are moved, some data is likely required to remain on the internal storage. Don’t consider these tweaks to be miracle solutions.

Guide Index:

Part 1 – Downloading Android’s ‘ADB’

Part 2 – Setting Up Your Phone Or Tablet

Part 3 – Moving Apps On Android 4 & Earlier

Part 4 – Running The Tweak On The Device Itself

Part 5 – Moving Apps On Android 5 & Beyond

> Blockquote

https://techgage.com/article/moving\_your\_non-movable\_android\_apps\_to\_an\_sd\_card/

> Blockquote ~ Samuel F. Campbell

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat
---


# Question
Title: Finding out the intents an app uses internally
I have an app (Smart Tools) that consists of mutiple distinct subapps. I would like to have an shortcut for a single subapp, so I wouldn't have to open it through the app's main menu.

I'm pretty sure the app uses some specific intent broadcast to open any of the subapps. I know Tasker can be used to broadcast a custom intent to the Android system. If I understand correctly, if I just mimic the intent the Smart Tools main menu uses to invoke the specific subapp, I could start the subapp directly with a Tasker shortcut.

But for that, I need to be able to mimic the intent. Since Smart Tools isn't open source, **how do I find out what intent the app uses "internally"?**

# Answer
## Easiest solution: Ask the developer!

Reason: It's the most reliable source if he/she answers. You cannot say easily what parameters to set and if it's even allowed to start other activities from your own 'intent launcher' (be it Tasker or something else).

I had a quick look at it, it's a paid app and a small dev. Often those developers really care and respond quickly, especially if it's a paid app. I did so with Titanium Backup in the past and was positively suprised how easy it was.

If you have the information, you can also use the free Manual intent shortcuts app to create a custom launcher.

Google Play has a 'contact developer' button just below the overview description of (most?) apps. Having a look at smart tools, you see that it's there: **androidboy1 (at) gmail com**

## What you could also do:

UC Berkeley has a cool project:
**ComDroid**. *A static analysis tool for identifying application communication-based vulnerabilities*

It's a web service where you can upload your .apk to. (Since you ask an advanced question I guess you know how to get the apk of your app). After the upload search the analysis for **Malicious Activity Launch**, this is the information you want. You might be lucky to **misuse** it using Tasker, etc.
> 5 votes

# Answer
You can use adb to check what intents an app uses. The steps to do this are:

* Enable developer options
* Under developer options turn on adb debugging
* Connect phone to computer
* Get adb logs and grep out intents: `adb logcat | fgrep -i intent`
* Trigger the intent on your phone
* Inspect logs to find the details of the intent
> 4 votes

# Answer
You need to have the `manifest.xml` of the APK. If you rename the .apk to a .zip you can open it. Hopefully you can read the Manifest else you need to decompile the APK (lots of tutorials online)

Then you need to lookup the Intents it listens to and use that. Or use the component name and launch it explicitly. How to do this in Tasker is unknown to me, to do it programmaticly:

```
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent .setComponent(new ComponentName("com.package.name","com.package.name.activity"));
startActivity(intent);

```
> 3 votes

# Answer
If your device is rooted, you can install AutoRun Manager from the market (for just looking up the listeners, the free version will do as well). Use its advanced mode -- and there it will list up all apps which have listeners (which listen to intents). Tap the app you want to investigate, and all of its registered intent listeners are shown. Now you can even disable the ones which annoy you (e.g. Google Maps service listener on network change to pry your location).
> 2 votes

# Answer
I would use a decompiler Dexplorer look in the manifest file, it will have the intents that the app uses.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: home-screen-shortcuts, intents
---


# Question
Title: How to automatically reconnect VPN on network change?
I'm using a VPN service, but so far I've only been using it on my computer. Now I'd like to have it on my phone as well. The service I use allow up to four simultaneous connections, so that isn't an issue. They don't have their own client for Android, but they do make config files available for download and use with any client that supports OpenVPN. I've tried OpenVPN Connect, and it works quite well. However, whenever I switch between networks, for example when I lose my home WiFi on leaving my home, or when switching between public WiFis, it doesn't reconnect, so I have to remember to actively disconnect and reconnect.

I've tried setting up a macro in MacroDroid to automatically close OpenVPN Connect, wait for a few seconds, then reopen OpenVPN Connect, but all that does, is bring up the login screen, and I still have to manually click Connect.

My phone is rooted, and in case it matters, it's a Honor 8, FRD-L09 running EMUI 4.1. I'm not going to upgrade to 5.0 at this time, as TWRP and SuperSU have been reported not to be compatible with the EMUI 5.0 kernel. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. I'm not afraid to play with shell scripts, as long as I have some understanding of what the script does, and with this, I have no idea how to implement it in a shell script, so if if you have such a solution, please also explain what it actually does.

EDIT: OpenVPN Connect has the ability to create shortcuts to disconnect and connect on the homescreen. I'm assuming that these shortcuts just pass arguments to the executable, telling it what to do, and what config file to use. If I knew how to find what arguments the shortcuts pass, I'd likely be able to write a shell script that I could then call from MacroDroid upon network change.

# Answer
This seems to have been caused by either a bug or an oversight by the app developer, and it sorted itself after an update. Just make sure the OpenVPN client is recent.

Also, the following settings are worth checking.

Reconnect on reboot. Enable it unless you want to manually decide when to OpenVPN and when not to.

Seamless tunnel. Enabling it blocks all internet traffic while the VPN is (re)-connection, to avoid leaking your real IP.

Connction timeout. How long to try re-acquiring the connection if it is lost. Set this to **CONTINOUSLY RETRY** to keep trying until a connection is established. If a timeout is set, and a connection has not been established before it runs out, OpenVPN Connect will exit, and the connection will be unblocked, to let you connect unprotected until you manually restart OpenVPN Connect.

Moreover, keep in mind, that reconnect on reboot only works if OpenVPN Connect is connected when you initiate the reboot. If you manually disconnected or if you lost the connection, you need to manually reconnect after rebooting.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Try to check keeplive option in your server and client config. For example "keepalive 5 40" will send test packet every 5 seconds, and will reconnect after 40 seconds. So when you switched from Wifi to mobile internet it will reconnect after 40 sec. Of course you can use less options, 1 10...
> 2 votes

# Answer
Have you checked the Settings in OpenVPN Connect (in the burger menu, top left)? There is an option to reconnect automatically and an option to block connectivity when the VPN is offline. However I have not tried it with multiple connections.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: automation, openvpn
---


# Question
Title: What is the difference between the Linux Kernel and the Android Kernel?
What are the modifications done in linux kernel to make it an android kernel ? By this question I mean what are the differences between linux kernel and android kernel ?

# Answer
I think this Android Source is a great documentation for understanding it.

And here is a list of changes done from mainline kernel for android kernel 4.14.

The largest features include:

* 19.8% Energy Aware Scheduling (kernel/sched)
* 13.8% Networking (net/netfilter)
* 13.5% Sdcardfs (fs/sdcardfs)
* 9.4% USB (drivers/usb)
* 7.2% SoC (arch/arm64, arch/x86)
* 6.2% f2fs (fs/f2fs -- backports from upstream)
* 6.1% Input (drivers/input/misc)
* 5.4% FIQ Debugger (drivers/staging/android/fiq\_debugger)
* 3.6% Goldfish Emulator (drivers/platform/goldfish)
* 3.4% Verity (drivers/md)
* 11.6% Other

**Differences from LTS**

When compared to LTS (4.14.0), the Android common kernel has 355 changes, 32266 insertions, and 1546 deletions (as of February 2018).
> 9 votes

# Answer
The differences change from version to version (both of Linux and of Android), and the exact kernel is different for each device. A kernel for Android is a mainstream Linux kernel, with additional drivers for the specific device, and other additional functionality, such as enhanced power management or faster graphics support.

Many features in the Android kernel are later added to upstream Linux after the open-source community has accepted (and perhaps modified) them, but others are never upstreamed, either because they're not acceptable to the Linux kernel developers, or because they're only applicable to Android or to specific hardware.
> 7 votes

# Answer
Beside the device specific differences and wake lock that Dan Hulme and Lie Ryan mentions, Android removed System V IPC features (message queues, shared memory segments, semaphores) that could lead to resource leaks (http://www.kandroid.org/ndk/docs/system/libc/SYSV-IPC.html). This probably is just a matter of configuring the kernel build. Also the Android IPC of choice, called Binder, has some support in the kernel that to my knowledge is not included in standard Linux kernels.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: linux, kernel
---


# Question
Title: SyncThing, Lolipop, and "Transport endpoint not connected"
I'm trying to get 2 way sync going with Syncthing on OctOS L (Lolipop, based on Cyanogen) with folders on the SD card. Backup from Android to other Syncthings works fine. The Syncthing devs say it's complicated to make things work properly on the SD card because of Google, and someone made a blurb on it. Not sure why, but the fix doesn't seem to work for me.

I seem to be running into this issue, and the error I'm getting is weird, but more importantly, I'm not sure what Syncthing is doing to my SD Card.

Once Syncthing tries to write to the SD card, it fails, and then the SD card is unavailable to the rest of the system. For example, Total Commander. The only way I can get it back is to reboot the phone. Using the built in Android tools, I cannot mount the SD card.

What does Syncthing do to the SD card when this happens? Is it messing with the mount point?

# Answer
> -1 votes
Try different Sd card or your sd card might have a low space try Different method like Syncthing to otg or internal storage.

---
Tags: sync, 5.1-lollipop
---


# Question
Title: Multiple problems with HTC M8S after rom upgrade
I have an old HTC M8S I'm trying to give a new lease on life by getting off the stock ROM. It's an EE (read Orange UK) branded phone.

* romver: 1.11.61.2
* CID: ORANG001
* ModelID: 0PKV10000
* Project: M8\_QU\_UL\_L50\_SENSE60

After switching on debug mode and unlocking the boot loader I installed TWRP specific to that model (twrp-recovery-2.8.6.0-m8s-qlul.img) and it worked, recovery worked fine. After that I wiped and attempted to install the Lineage M8S ROM, which did not work.

Now I have a phone that won't boot and can't be accessed on USB, the device shows up in adb as offline. The phone has an SD card, and I've loaded the stock recovery back on, which was successful. I then attempted loading the original ROM onto the SD card as 0PKVIMG.zip, however I got a message about 0PKVDIAG.zip not being present. The device still shows up as

I am not sure how to proceed to get this phone back, several hours of research has been very contradictory. I'd like to get a better rom on than the stock because it was full of trash apps and they stopped making releases for it, but I'm happy to get back to stock and try again if that's what it takes.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Try the ROMs here from XDA Forums, as they can help you to fix your problem. You can also try a higher version of TWRP, such as v3.2.1.

---
Tags: adb, rom-flashing, custom-roms, bootloader, htc
---


# Question
Title: Set up Google Play for restricted user accounts
i have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, running Android 5.0.2

I'm looking for a soluton to the following issue:

All of my family is using the tablet. So i set up accounts for an admin, and personal accounts for me and my wife, linked to our Google email adresses. I also set up restricted accounts for the kids. (They are not linked to any email as i remember)

Now one of the kids plays Clash of Clans. Game has been installed on the admin account, and authorization given so it can be used on the kids' restricted account.

It would be cool if the kids could use Google Play to save his game progress online. But i'm struggling to find out how to set this up. Currently, Google Play is installed and given access to the kid account. From kid's account, i can launch Google Play, then launch CoC. But the button "Google Play Sign In" in CoC does nothing. (It stays red, saying disconnected). Seems it is still not recognized.

Do i need to have an email address for the kid?

How do i link it to the restricted account? If this doesn't work, is there any other way i can achieve this?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Follow Following steps:-

* First you have to make a gmail id for your kid.
* Then open clash of clans and in settings use connect to supercell id follow this video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zX0kETazA\]
* After connecting your kid account is connected to supercell id means id is backup online.
* Now uninstall clash of clans from admin account and open your kid account and download again in that account from play store.
* After install in his account just reconnect to supercell id by using newly created gmail.
* They will send sign in code on Gmail open gmail app and account in which you have backup his account copy that code and enter in game.
* Now all done nothing is connected to your admin account and clash of clans has ended support to Google play games.

**But Still If you want to connect to Google play use following steps:-**

* Create a new Gmail id then.
* Open clash of clans and go to settings double click on Google play button.
* An menu will pop up which shows you all accounts that you have in your device.
* Just select newly created gmail which is created for kid all is done.
* Uninstall clash of clans and logout admin account.
* Open kid account download again From store and reconnect to Google play by double tapping on Google play in game settings and select newly created gmail account.

*He will got his progress back any questions are most welcome.*

---
Tags: google-play-store, 5.0-lollipop, multi-user
---


# Question
Title: How to turn off split screen mode in Oreo?
I hate this feature because:

1. I don't use it
2. I often turn this on automatically

Any way this can be disabled? I've searched the net but nothing useful came up.

Thanks

# Answer
> -1 votes
Step 1. Enter the Overview Screen. If you see the "Recents" button, tap on that to enter the Overview screen.

Step 2. Enable Split Screen Mode. Tap or long-press the icon near the top of the individual app's card until a submenu appears.

Step 3. Exit Split Screen Mode.

How to end your split-screen mode session?

While split-screen mode can come in handy, it’s definitely not something you want to use all the time. There are a few ways to get out of split-screen mode.

The first, and probably most simple, way to end split-screen mode is by long-tapping the split-screen app switching icon. This method automatically closes the secondary app at the bottom of your display.

Another way to end your split-screen mode session is simply by dragging the divider line all the way to the top or bottom of your display. This method allows you to select which app you prefer to keep open, as opposed to automatically selecting the app at the top of your screen.

Furthermore, there is this thread which can help you too.

---
Tags: 8.0-oreo, 8.1-oreo
---


# Question
Title: When saving a webpage from Chrome on Android, where in the file manager can I locate the stored file?
I need to know where are the saved webpages of Google Chrome stored in Android. I mean, I can access them from the browser itself but I need to know where its stored in the file manager.

# Answer
The save folder may vary depending on the firmware of your device, but usually it is **mnt / sdcard / download**
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google
---


title: Troubles restoring ADB backups

text:
# Question
Title: Troubles restoring ADB backups
(Android 7.0, Shield Tablet)
I found myself in the situation of having to back up my data without root multiple times, and till now everything went pretty well.
Regarding apps and relative data (on `data/data`), I use *Helium* which performs a **per-app** adb backup with apk, similar to what Adebar does, then I restore them individually using the `adb restore` command (restore through Helium never worked for me).
This worked flawlessly till now.
I regularly backed up my apps, and respective `.adb` files of believable size were created, then, after a data wipe, i proceeded to restore my backups, but I found out they weren't restoring right. Here's the `adb restore` log, received trough `adb logcat -s BackupManagerService`:

```
    07-17 19:14:39.562   759  2184 I BackupManagerService: Beginning full restore...
    07-17 19:14:39.604   759  2184 D BackupManagerService: Starting restore confirmation UI, token=761002928
    07-17 19:14:39.620   759  2184 D BackupManagerService: Waiting for full restore completion...
    07-17 19:14:41.125   759  3508 D BackupManagerService: acknowledgeFullBackupOrRestore : token=761002928 allow=true
    07-17 19:14:41.127   759 16894 I BackupManagerService: --- Performing full-dataset restore ---
    07-17 19:14:41.142   759 16894 I BackupManagerService: Package org.fdroid.fdroid not installed; requiring apk in dataset
    07-17 19:14:41.144   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: APK file; installing
    07-17 19:14:41.144   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: Installing from backup: org.fdroid.fdroid
    07-17 19:14:41.968   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.968   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.969   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.970   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.970   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.971   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.971   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.971   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.972   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.972   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.973   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:41.976   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:42.548   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:42.548   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:42.548   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:42.549   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
    07-17 19:14:42.549   759 16894 W BackupManagerService: Saw type=0 in tar header block, info=FileMetadata{null,0,null:,0}
    07-17 19:14:42.550   759  2184 I BackupManagerService: Full restore processing complete.
    07-17 19:14:42.551   759 16894 D BackupManagerService: Full restore pass complete.

```

Here I tried to restore the FDroid app, for example, and I see a lot of weird `[discarding file content]` messages. So, I tried to restore them with *Titanium Backup*, but it showed me this empty screen: \[!\[Titanium backup adb restore screen\]\[1\]\]\[1\]

I tried to export an `.adb` file to a tar file too, using this tool, but all I got was a `META-INF` folder with a `MANIFEST.MF` file.

Are my adb backups irreversibly corrupted?

**Edit:** I perfectly know that I shouldn't rely on non-root backup systems, but I unexpectedly lost root privileges after the infamous SuperSu v2.80 update, and I ended up with a corrupted boot image, so this was all I could do. I completed successfully the same process other times before, before deciding to root my device.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Can you try running a command as follows:

```
dd if=<your-file>.ab bs=24 skip=1 | pigz -d | tar -tvf - > file-list.txt

```

For example, this is the output:

```
dd if=backup-2018-10-19-2.ab bs=24 skip=1 | pigz -d | tar -tvf - > backup-file.ab.list

```

The output might look like:

```
56606374+1 records in
56606374+1 records out
1358552980 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 74.4385 s, 18.3 MB/s

```

But if you also see:

```
pigz: skipping: <stdin>: corrupted -- incomplete deflate data
pigz: abort: internal threads error
tar: Unexpected EOF in archive
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

```

... then there's a good chance your ab file is corrupted. Maybe the backup didn't complete fully, or the disk was bad, or something else bad happened.

---
Tags: adb, backup, restore, 7.0-nougat, titanium-backup
---


# Question
Title: How to root and flash the Galaxy Note 4 AT&T version
I got a Galaxy Note 4 from my father and it is the AT&T version. I think it's been already rooted since I can use other networks besides AT&T on it... But there are some AT&T stock apps/bloatware on it which I can't seem to get rid of. Is there a way to or is there a ROM I can flash on it? I heard there were no ROMS for this. And if there is a way to upgrade the PHONE from lollipop to marshmallow. Thank you.

DEVICE NAME: SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

Android version: 5.0.1

BASEBAND VERSION: N910AUCU2COC5

BUILD NUMBER : LRX22C.N910AUCU2COC5

# Answer
Sim unlock (being able to use different carriers) is not bootloader unlock or root. The SM-N910A cannot be rooted. You can root the T-Mobile version (SM-N910T). Your phone will update to Marshmallow baseband version N910AUCS2EQH1 when you check for updates with an AT&T sim card installed.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: rooting, 6.0-marshmallow, samsung, custom-roms, samsung-galaxy-note-4
---


# Question
Title: Is it safe to enable to allow apps from unknown sources?
I would like to install whatsapp on my Huawei android tablet but get the message (as others have ) stating ' your device is not compatible'.

Searching the internet it seems that you can bypass things and get it installed. However it seems the only way to do it is to all apps from unknown sources. My problem is I am not happy in what you appear to be doing ie withdrawing security and allowing apps from unknown sources.

Does anyone know if it really is safeand will not allow the tablet to add peculiar and potentially other unwanted app

thanks

# Answer
As long as you are getting the file/APK from a reputable source, it should be safe.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Installing from unknown sources is by itself not dangerous - it just **allows you to do dangerous things**. Enabling it will be safe as long as you get the APK from a source you trust.

Just to be sure you can turn the option off after you have installed the custom APK. It doesn't affect things you already have installed, just the installation of and updates of new things.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, unknown-sources
---


# Question
Title: how to check if i have successfully disabled dm-verity?
my phone has dm verity enabled by default. I read about ways to disable it. After that, is there any way with which can i verify if dm-verity is disabled?

# Answer
All that dm-verity usually mean is that you have write access to the /system partition. So trying to write to (or place) any file in there should be enough.

Be careful though, modifying /system is always risky.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: rooting, dm-verity
---


# Question
Title: How to move WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to Android?
Just upgraded my iPhone 4 to Nexus 4, and could not find on Google a reasonable answer to this question. Is there any good app that does this? Or, what should be the process?

# Answer
I made the switch from iPhone 5S to Nexus 6 three days ago. I transferred WhatsApp conversations including attachments from my old iPhone to new Nexus 6 with the help of BackupTrans, the desktop utility mentioned in this article. Here are the steps to transfer WhatsApp messages from iPhone to Android with this software:

1. Launch the program on your Windows PC or Mac and then connect both your Android device and iPhone to your computer via USB cable.
2. Click 'Back up my data' when a message pops out on your Android phone’s screen. Now the software will read WhatsApp messages from your Android and iPhone and show them on its main interface.
3. Finally go to the top tool and click "Transfer Messages from iPhone to Android" button.

**Note:** You will need enable USB debugging before connecting your Android phone to this program and also make sure you have iTunes 11 or above installed on your computer.

It's a paid program but I couldn't find any other software or app that can migrate WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to Android. There are some apps on Play Store but none of them worked for me.
> 4 votes

# Answer
There is no simple way of doing so, you have to do a lot of technical mumble-jumble for this.

**Caution: Do not install WhatsApp on your Android device beforehand.**

If you are ready then:

\[I have not tried this with Mac, this works fine in PC (Windows) and Linux\]

1. Connect your iPhone to the system (PC)
2. Do not start iTunes. If starts automatically, then close it.
3. Open command prompt (RUN: `cmd`) or terminal.
4. Now here is the tricky part, you have to search for a folder named "whatsapp". You have to use command line

1. `dir` \- to see visible contents of the current folder.
    2. `dir\a` \- to see all contents (including the hidden and system) of the current folder .
    3. `cd [folder]` \- change directory (change folder to).
    4. copy the folder "whatsapp" to your system by using `copy [source] [destination]`.
5. Now simply connect your Android phone and copy that folder in the primary USB storage (memory card).
6. Now install WhatsApp, authorise it and it will ask you to restore backup. Do it and you are done.
> 3 votes

# Answer
You can use a third party app to take the data and migrate it. You can use the following apps:

1. Backuptrans
2. WazzapMigrator
3. Dr. Fone

Alternatively, you can email yourself the backup file from the WhatsApp and import it on the new phone:

> On your iPhone, launch the WhatsApp App and then go to "Settings \> Chat Settings" on the interface. Select the WhatsApp chat messages you want to transfer from iPhone to Android and swipe the pane to left. Then you need to tap on "More" button and choose "Export Chat". After that, you would be asked Whether to attach media or not. ￼ Choose the e-mail to export and type in your email address as the way you do to send an e-mail, and then please press "Send".
> 1 votes

# Answer
As Zlatty's answer mentioned, you can use those paid programs and I think they should work. But they will cost you 2000+ Indian Rupees. Backuptrans has a limit of 20 messages in the trial version, Dr. Fone does not let you restore in the free version.

I will explain how I managed to successfully transfer WhatsApp messages from an iPhone to an Android phone (Nokia 2.1)

So, as this video explained,

1. Back up iPhone using iTunes without encryption
2. Use iPhone Backup Extractor (4 files can be extracted for free) to browse to `Application Groups -> net.whatsapp.Whatsapp.shared -> ChatStorage.sqlite`

This one file has all the chat messages, the texts.
3. Copy this file to your Android phone's internal memory
4. Get the WazzapMigrator APK and open the SQLite file using it, it will create a local backup for WhatsApp Android that it understands.

WazzapMigrator is great, it only costs 490 Rupees. You can find the APK for free online too since it used to be free for download. As of today, the latest Whatsapp version being supported by it is (2.18.248),
5. Use Droid Info or some other app and find out which variant APK works for your Android device and download that particular WhatsApp version from a site like APK Mirror.
6. As you set up WhatsApp, it will tell you that it has found the local backup and you will find all the chats in place.

---

If you want all your media to also be transferred, you need to also somehow copy all the files inside the Media folder into your PC and then into your Android phone. This iPhone backup browser software I recommended only lets you download 4 for free, so either look for a free browser or pay for exporting all the images and videos you have.

As an example, there might be upwards of 700's files we need to bring out.

Once you have the media files on the mobile, the WazzapMigrator app will incorporate it while building the local backup of WhatsApp.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You can take a look at this app I developed: WazzapMigrator. It's an Android app that moves your Whatsapp history from iPhone to Android.

For this you will need:

> * an Android device already running WhatsApp (do not enable Google Drive backup)
> * an iPhone Whatsapp archive (ChatStorage.sqlite) - you don't need the actual iPhone, just a recent backup

Details:

> You can use any iTunes Backup Extractor to get the file:

<sup>(source: WazzapMigrator)</sup>
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, data-transfer, ios, device-migration
---


# Question
Title: How to prevent vibration of calls from one contact?
I have a contact who calls me regularly on Wednesday evenings. I already set her ring tone to "nothing", but cannot find any method to prevent the vibration.

Using regularly silent-mode, but I cannot keep on when working so it is not an option.

Wanted result: mute and turn-off for calls of one contact

Phones: OnePlus 3T and Samsung Galaxy S8
OS: Oreo

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can't do it without third party apps. You can try apps like "Good Vibration"

---
Tags: contacts, calls, vibration, 8.1-oreo
---


# Question
Title: How to find the public name of a contact on Viber?
I have added a new viber contact, but it (correctly) displays the contact with the name I've used in my contact book. Nevertheless, I want to view my contact's "public" name, the one that my contact has chosen to "advertise". It's the username you set up when creating a new viber account. How can I see this?

My contact has been able to see my "public" name, I assume before saving my phone number in their own contact book, so it is definitely advertised.

# Answer
It goes when you delete the contact off your local contact list and then you intend to add it thru your Viber(tested on iOS and Android).

## How I did it:

1. Fount a contact number that I wanted to see his/her name
2. Remover it off my local contact list
3. Opened Viber and Navigated to **More**, followed by **Add Contact**
4. Entered the contact number and pressed **Done** (on iOS) Please note that it does not add the contact, nor it notifies the recipient anyhow of the resonance of it's public name.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: viber-messenger
---


# Question
Title: "Error: failed to write, posix_fallocate failed: ENOTSUP (Operation not supported on transport endpoint)" when installing APK on Android-x86
So, I've been wanting to play PUBG for a while now, but my PC is pretty awful, then Mobile came out, and TGB didn't work properly. I've been trying out several different Android OS, but all of them need a processor that supports SSE4.2+.

So, I checked out this Android-x86 OS, the 32-bit version (the first one that booted, I'm pretty sure that the game wouldn't really work anyway since the version is 32 bits, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway), and well, I can't download anything from the Play Store or install any APK.

I figured out a way to install APK from the terminal, and there I discovered this error:

```
130|x86:/sdcard/Download # pm install
1535771455810.jpg                         Pixel Dungeon_v.1.9.2a_apkpure.com.apk    RAR_v5.60.build63_apkpure.com.apk
130|x86:/sdcard/Download # pm install Pixel\ Dungeon_v.1.9.2a_apkpure.com.apk
Error: failed to write, posix_fallocate failed: ENOTSUP (Operation not supported on transport endpoint)
130|x86:/sdcard/Download #

```

Original screenshot

Why can't I install any apps on Android x86?

# Answer
It would seem that the cause is the ext3 partition.

https://github.com/anbox/anbox/issues/108

The problem with this OS is that if you install it on a FAT32/ext4 partition, the grub doesn't work to dual boot with Windows, and if you install in NTFS, it dual boots but you boot without any free space on the OS

So yeah, rip lol
> 1 votes

---
Tags: installation, apk, android-x86
---


# Question
Title: android termux busybox do not let me run commands
Anyone knows why when I try to run a command on termux like nc busybox try to run the command instead netcat the same happens when i try to run tar busybox gets in the way ?

# Answer
Because Termux installs BusyBox in its bootstrap package, to avoid bloating too much.

Full-functional utilies like Core Utilities or netcat can be installed with the bundled package manager `apt`. For example

```
apt install coreutils inetutils netcat tar gzip #(and many more ...)

```
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, termux
---


# Question
Title: How to prevent phone operator from opening spam popups?
My phone operator, Movistar Argentina, is sending a lot of spam. I managed to block most of the SMS, however it has now also started opening ad popups on my phone (see below).

I've looked at How do I block this (carrier) advertisement dialog? but I cannot find the "SIM Toolkit" app anywhere on my phone to disable it. Is there any other way to block this?

# Answer
If that can help someone, the app I needed to disable was `/system/app/Stk.apk` and it was called "Services SFR v4.1.2-LL\__zg".
> 4 votes

# Answer
This generally seems to be done as a 'value added service' in the Andriod SIM Toolkit, as per this question here.

However, in this case it may be a Cell Broadcast.

> Cell Broadcast is designed for simultaneous delivery to multiple users in a specified area. Whereas the Short Message Service-Point to Point (SMS-PP) is a one-to-one and one-to-a-few service (requires multiple SMS messages, as each message can only carry one phone number), Cell Broadcast is a one-to-many geographically focused messaging service. Cell Broadcast messaging is also supported by UMTS.

If you go to your SMS app and go SMS \> Settings \> Cell Broadcast and disable it, this should stop this popup.
> 6 votes

# Answer
Try looking in Settings -\> Apps -\> swipe to the right until you get to the "all" tab, and then scroll down until you see "SIM Toolkit", at which point you should be able to tap on it, force stop it and disable it.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Try turning off 'Cell broadcasts' under the SMS app's settings menu. (it was there in my Samsung TW ROM)
> 2 votes

# Answer
Unless your are root-ed, you won't be able to uninstall it. It is bundled with your SIM (damn modern world...) and you can only "force stop" STK services for current session: go to your Settings-Apps-All and stop "SIM Toolkit" and "Cell Broadcasts".

They will restart on next boot.
> 2 votes

# Answer
As it looks it may be a operator service (here in india called flash services/flash messages) you can disable it by contacting with your service operator or can be disabled by sending a message (methods can very from operator to operator)

or either it can be a cell broadcast you can disable it by going to sms settings (cell broadcast in android version upto oreo )(wireless alerts on android pie)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: spam, popup
---


title: Problem in opening applications

text:
# Question
Title: Problem in opening applications
When i restart my mobile Samsung j5 2016 Or shutdown so when i switch on my mobile. It start like from begning like when we by new phone . All that app doesnt work before restarting or before switching off i have. Please help me

# Answer
> 0 votes
Such an error can occur because of several different reasons and all these reasons come into existence due to one reason:

System or CPU failed to handle that app properly.

Messenger is a heavy application that will use a huge portion of your RAM and CPU while running and sometimes, to run system apps, the phone has to abandon these processes. That is why your apps keeps stopping (also, you are using a Samsung phone, so the UI uses more memory then the standard Android UI).

For a better experience, you have to keep your device clean by installing a cleaner app. You then have to remove cache and data of such apps regularly to have a smooth experience.

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Can I create a restricted profile on an Android cellphone?
# Background

I want to prevent myself from viewing pornography on my cellphone. I do occasionally go to addiction support groups, but haven't yet done the Twelve Steps that they recommend. I'm hoping that, if I set up a sufficiently-good filtering setup, I can manage at least somewhat OK without doing these Steps.

I used to use the app locker formerly known as Smart AppLock in order to try to prevent myself from installing the app which I normally use to view pornography. But the app locker had a bug in it which allowed me to bypass its protection. It's not an obvious bug.

I guess I could have tried emailing the developers of the app locker; but I didn't know whether or not they'd actually care.

I could have installed a different app locker and given the password to a friend. Or I could have used Pluckeye Lockbox or a similar service to store the password. But I'd rather not rely on third-party app lockers at all. I'd rather rely upon security code written by Google. So I'd like to rely upon Android itself and to make myself a restricted profile in the normal way.

I don't want to install a custom ROM and hope that it can help me. I don't want to play around with XML files and hope to achieve my goals that way. I don't want to make myself an almost-restricted profile. I just want to create an ordinary restricted profile in the ordinary way.

# My question

If I buy a cellphone running the newest version of Android, will I be able to create a restricted profile for myself in the same way that I could do so on a tablet? And, if so, how do you know? :)

# Answer
Yes. You can turn your Google account into a "child account", and can get a parent or friend to set parental controls for apps and games with Google's Family Link app. You can then get the parent to adjust the settings to restrict installation of certain apps.

1. You can get Family Link from here.
2. Then help them set up parental controls on Google Play.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Google Family Link is now available to the general public; no invitation is required. You can get it by installing the app.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Strictly speaking, there's no need to use Google Family Link at all. You can restrict your own account using Google Play Store parental controls:

1. Play Store -\> Settings -\> User Controls.
2. Enable parental controls by having someone type a PIN for you.
3. From the category list, set whichever app restrictions you'd like.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: security, multi-user, restricted-profiles, parental-control
---


# Question
Title: Block all sounds going out through speaker when headphone connected
I'm kind of new in Android and I realized that all the sounds are going out through the speaker regardless if the headphones are connected. If they are the sound also goes out through the headphones, but I'd also like to avoid the speaker when headphones connected.

Is that possible?

Few more information that may help:

* My phone is a Samsung Galaxy i5510
* Its Android 2.2 Froyo
* I've installed Tasker, maybe there is some way to make a profile to achieve what I want.

Thanks, Diego

**Update**

As it wasn't to clear I'll clarify for each sound (if i forget any please let me know):

* Phone calls: Speaker and headphones.
* Notifications: Speaker and headphones.
* Games and almost every app: Only headphones. (I wrote "almost every app" because, for example, Skype or Camera sounds in both speaker and headphones).
* Keyboard and "touch clicks": Headphones.

Summarizing the problem are: phone calls, notifications and some "random" apps.

# Answer
> 8 votes
Currently you can't disable notifications via speakers while still having them via headphones. There's an open issue for that.

You also can use Llama or Tasker to switch profiles when you plug your headphones.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I saw you had another question about Cyanogenmod, and thought I'd point out that it has the option "Always play on speaker" for notifications, ringtones and alarms (in `Settings -> CyanogenMod Settings -> Sound`). So as soon as it's stable (if it's developed further) it can solve most of your problems.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I am afraid, but this doesn't seem possible. There once was an method called setRouting() in the AudioManager API, but it is nowadays a deprecated method which simply does nothing. I am even not sure if the method would be capable of routing all audio streams only to the (wired) headset.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I recommend Lesser AudioSwitch (Google Play). It allows a user to force all audio through the speakers, headphones (3.5mm jack), or Bluetooth. It is updated for Android Oreo.

I quote from the description:

> **(Lesser AudioSwitch)**
>
> Switching to headphones will mute all audio to the speakers (Android Oreo and below), including alarms and notifications. This can be disabled in the options.
>
> Includes an Auto-Switch option to automatically switch when headset is connected or disconnected. Also works for Bluetooth.
>
> Bluetooth and switching to headset microphone can be enabled in the settings.

I use Lesser AudioSwitch to force an alarm to sound through my Bluetooth speakers alone and it works beautifully.

---
Tags: audio, headphones, samsung-galaxy-551, speakerphone
---


# Question
Title: How to automatically copy contents from the connected phone
I'm looking for an approach (for Windows) to copy certain phone contents (say Downloads/ dir) automatically to a certain PC directory, after setting the USB mode to "File transfer". Theoretically it sounds not complicated - list the directories on a connected device (detect a drive) --\> pick the relevant one --\> copy into the predefined dir. Did someone alredy implement any similar task?

# Answer
> 2 votes
So i achieved the desired via old good Linux.

Steps: Use Mobaxterm, Cygwin or any other Linux-to-Windows framework that restructures Windows tree to a Linux one.

Once the phone is connected and it's drive set to act as USB (i.e. a drive letter is assigned, say `E:`), it can be defined for `$DIR` variable for future usage.

Then this part of Bash code can run on a platform that transfers Linux bash input to the language readable by any PC. From here Linux makes all the trick.

The code:

```
#!/bin/bash

DIR="/drives/"$1"/"     # SRC DIRECTORY
DEST="/drives/d/DEST/"  # DEST DIRECTORY

find "$DIR" -type f \( -iname "*.pat1" -o -iname "*.pat2" \) -exec cp '{}' "$DEST" \;  #SEARCH SRC DIR AND COPY TO DEST FILES OF MULTIPLE PATTERNS

```

Syntax:

```
./SCRIPTname.sh e       # "E" stands for the drive letter assigned to the Android device

```

To monitor a phone connection automatically once a 3 seconds and have timings statistics use:

```
watch -n 3 time ./SCRIPTname.sh e

```

---
Tags: samsung, windows
---


# Question
Title: How to export the activity of my phone in the last 8 hours?
Is it possible to download or export the activity or logs of my phone in the last 8 hours?

My phone has been stolen but was found shortly after and I would like to know what apps were started and what exactly happened throughout that time. Is this possible?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Some apps keep their own history, however there is no general log on Android that records user actions. On system level there is only `logcat` which is implemented as ring buffer of usually about 64kb. If the buffer is full it overwrites the older entries.

How much time the logcat covers depends on the usage intensity and the device itself. I have seen devices that create even in idle mode so much messages by the mobile network and Wifi components that the logcat only covers a few minutes.

Regarding the apps with own history you should check the following:

* Browser history
* Dialer history
* Messaging and SMS apps

Besides the on-device data you get more information by asking the cloud/online services which actions had been performed in the time your devices was lost. If you are a resident of the EU you have the right to demand a complete data log from every online service you use (because of the GDPR). This may be a large set of data and not only the data you are searching for, however if the online service records your actions it will contain the data you are looking for.

---
Tags: 7.0-nougat, logging
---


title: Recover corrupted photos from sd card

text:
# Question
Title: Recover corrupted photos from sd card
I copied all my photos on a fake sd card I bought on the internet. Now my photos are almost all greyed out. Is it possible to recover them or at leat recover the thumbnails since they are not greyed out?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Unfortunately, no.

Many fake SD cards on the Internet are usually a low-capacity card (for example, 8GB) with modified firmware to say something much higher (like 512GB). When it reaches the actual storage capacity, it always overwrites old data (by repeatedly writing to the last few MB of actual capacity) or stops recording new data.

Because of that, when you exceed the real capacity of the SD card, you risk losing data unrecoverably - even recovery programs like PhotoRec can't recover them.

You can still see the thumbnails correctly because your computer or phone cached the thumbnails before you copied the images.

If you only copied the images (didn't move or cut them), your photos are fine. If you moved (or cut) the images, try:

* Moving all the images that aren't corrupt off of the SD card.
* Take screenshots of the thumbnails of the ones that became corrupt (it is a very long and tedious process (and the resulting images will have a much lower resolution compared to the originals) but can recover the images.

---
Tags: sd-card
---


# Question
Title: Can't change vibration strength on Lineage OS
I just installed Lineage OS 14.1 on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Plus. However, the vibration strength for - for example - pressing the "Recent Apps" or "Back" button and typing was pretty much the maximum.

When I go to settings I can't find a setting for changing the the vibration strength, when I search, however, I can find a setting for vibration strength, but when I click on it, I go to "Other sounds" and don't find that found result there...

So how can I change the vibration strength on Lineage OS 14.1 on my Samsung Galaxy S5?

# Answer
If there is a newer version of Lineage OS it may be worth updating to see if this was a known fault for your model.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Open ***Settings*** and use ***Search***. If there is a setting available it will take you straight there.

<sup>**Open settings and use search**</sup>
> 1 votes

# Answer
On the keyboard, rest your hand on the world sign and select Google keyboard.. that's all.. the vibrations will stop
> -4 votes

---
Tags: settings, samsung-galaxy-s-5, vibration, lineageos
---


title: Will 'Erase SD card' fully format it?

text:
# Question
Title: Will 'Erase SD card' fully format it?
My Android 4.2 phone only has an option *Erase SD card* under *System Settings*, but not an option to format.

My card has read errors on some files I want to fully format it to check if it's just a case of logical disk errors (those would go away) or if it's hardware and I should replace it.

I *did* try this (what's to lose?) and it said *Checking SD card* and was done in a few seconds; that's what makes me ask the question.

Would plugging it into my Windows computer and formatting it there be better? Or running `chkdsk`?

I know that there is not really an old-fashioned formatting going on on SSD devices, but I want all card logical sectors to be scanned (read) for errors. Will 'erase' do that?

# Answer
> -1 votes
Erasing the SD Card will format it. If you doubt it, then it would be better to use a card reader and format it via PC.

---
Tags: sd-card
---


# Question
Title: How do I play a video in the YouTube app at zero volume while simultaneously playing music in an MP3 player app?
Sometimes, I love to play music at a high volume while watching text YouTube videos and muting YouTube, like what I do on PC.

I have a Huawei phone running Android 5.0 (Lollipop).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Find an app that works similar to multiscreen on Samsung devices. I use a Samsung and it comes preloaded with multiscreen. You may find an alternative on the play store.

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, huawei, music, youtube
---


# Question
Title: How to remove the icon, caused by a voicemail, from Status bar?
I have a Sprint Nexus 6 running Android 5.1.1.

The icon that I see in my Status bar when I receive a voicemail does not swipe away. It remains in my Status bar even after I listen to the message and delete it.

The only solution that I have found for this is to reboot the phone. Is there another way around this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
## This is an app independent answer.

For cases where an icon seems to be stuck in the Status bar, choose any of the following approach:

### Force-stop the app

1. Find the app causing that icon.

Usually, it is easy to know just by looking at the icon and matching it with app icons under Settings -\> Apps -\> All apps. For some exceptional cases, you can use apps like Notification Saver or Notification History or setup in PC and use the command:

```
adb shell dumpsys notification

```

Single out your notification and look for the package name of the app behind that icon. Read View app's full package name? to get the label for the app from the package name.

*Assumption*: The app causing the issue is "AppX".
2. Go to Settings -\> Apps -\> All apps -\> AppX -\> Force-stop.

That should remove the icon from the Status bar.

### Uncheck Notifications

1. Find the app causing that icon.
2. Go to Settings -\> Apps -\> All apps -\> AppX -\> uncheck Show notifications -\> check Show notifications.

Works well for user installed third-party apps.

There may be apps where the option **Force stop** or/and **Show notifications** would be greyed out. For such apps, only the mighty root can help. Any app having root privileges should be able kill such apps, such as OS Monitor. For example, in Terminal Emulator you can kill an app using its package name and `am`:

```
su
am force-stop PACKAGE_NAME_OF_APP

```

Related readings:

# Answer
> 0 votes
Open 'Jio4GVoice' app \> Open Settings(3 dots on the top of the Jio4GVoice app) \> Select 'Settings' \> Select 'Notofications' \> Untick 'Show app status in the notification bar'.

---
Tags: notification-icons, voicemail
---


# Question
Title: Can airplane mode turn itself off automatically
If I have a phone with airplane mode turned on, can it turn itself off automatically (without user interaction)?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Airplane mode will stay on as long as you don't set it to turn off on its own.

# Answer
> 1 votes
A forced system update, for example, will apparently disable airplane mode.
This can happen without user interaction.
However, such automatic deactivation of Airplane Mode for a system update would generally require the user activating WiFi (after entering Airplane Mode) or some other communication channel that allows the phone to become aware of the requirement for an update.

Also, some apps can activate and deactivate Airplane Mode, if permission is granted. This is especially true for older (\<4.2) versions of Android.

---
Tags: networking, mobile-network, airplane-mode
---


title: How to skip the upgrade to Oreo

text:
# Question
Title: How to skip the upgrade to Oreo
My Galaxy S7 downloaded the Oreo upgrade, and now a notification persists in my status bar and every now and then it pops up asking me to upgrade. I don't want to upgrade. Is there a way to skip upgrading without rooting or factory reset? I tried deleting cache and disabling the software upgrade app but it didn't work, and there's no option to disable the app.

# Answer
I solved the issue by buying Package Installer and disabling the Software Update app.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: updates, 8.0-oreo, samsung-galaxy-s7
---


# Question
Title: Mounting remote folder from my linux machine to my android device?
How can i mount folder from my linux machine as local folder to my android device using terminal emulator on my android device? I am using android 4.4.2 and my android device is rooted.

# Answer
> 1 votes
As you're on Kitkat with a rooted device, there's a question (with answers) on SO matching your need: How Can I Mount A Network Folder Into An Android Internal Folder? The exact answer requires your Linux machine providing the resource via Samba:

```
mount -o username=<user>,password=<pwd>,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 -t cifs //<NAS IP Addr>/<share name> <mount point dir>

```

E.g.

```
mount -o username=guest,password=guest,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 -t cifs //192.168.1.254/public /storage/nas/public

```

But it would certainly also be possible with other protocols, such as NFS, if your device supports it. If that's too complicated for you, you could use an app named EasySSHFS, which is available from the Google Play Store as well as via my F-Droid repo. That way you'd need neither Samba nor NFS, as an SSH daemon usually comes with your Linux distro by default (if not, you can easily install it from its default repos). *EasySSHFS* is compatible with Android 4.0 and up.

---
Tags: mount
---


title: Some games keeps crashing on LG Rebel 2

text:
# Question
Title: Some games keeps crashing on LG Rebel 2
I have LG Rebel 2. It has started to crash and go right back to my home screen when I play 1 or 2 of my games, like SimCity BuildIt crashes on loading screens even though I'll only have one app running at a time.

What is causing this?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Base off of your description, it appears to be a RAM issue.

While 1GB RAM is usable for some games (from personal experience), some games will crash on the loading screen due to too little memory (I've experienced it with other games as well).

The best way to stop this is to lower the quality settings, if possible. Try Low or Very Low to use less RAM.

If that fails, try an app hibernating app like Greenify. (This app works on non-rooted phones, but needs root in order to be more efficent). This will reduce the amount of background apps, freeing up more RAM.

If the above fails, try getting a better phone. There are a lot of phones on the market with 2GB RAM or more at the moment.

# Answer
> -1 votes
To answer the question, an application in an android phone crashes due to *low RAM* (random-access memory) which holds the processes of the certain app. If it runs low, then it forces the app/game to close to preserve other processes (the important ones especially the system processes).

# Answer
> -2 votes
according to your description, there may be several reasons:

1. Your Android phone has **too much cache**, and when the phone is too cached, the app will run slower and crash.
2. There are **too many running programs in the background** of your Android phone. The closed app just exits the desktop and is still running in the background.
3. The application is **not compatible with the system**. A low version of the app is not compatible with the phone's system, or the phone system version is too low that cannot play the game, which will cause a crash.
4. **Missing data package**. Crash is also caused by the lack of data packets when running the game. This can happen if the packet .obb file is deleted by mistake. Like most game of Gamaloft, if you lost .obb file, it will crash.

If you don't plan to change a mobile phone, you need to **clean your phone often**:

1. Navigate to Settings on your phone. Setting\>\>Apps\>\>Choose the app you don’t like\>\> uninstall or force stop.
2. Navigate to Settings on your phone. Setting\>\>Storage\>\>Cached Data.
3. Use **Agile File Manager** to free up your storage. It can simply delete cached files, along with miscellaneous files that are larger than 10 MB. The Boost option can closes apps you’re not using that are still running in the background.
4. The last thing to say is that for Android phones, restarting the phone can solve more than half of the problems. When your device has been running for a long time, and if it is a low-end phone. Rebooting the phone will erase all blocked apps and fix freezes and crashes on apps on Android devices.

---
Tags: applications, crashes
---


# Question
Title: Visiting site using Chrome restarts device
I came across an unusual behaviour in Chrome (50.0.2661.89), running on a Galaxy S7 (SM-G930F)/Android 6.0.1 . The behaviour seems to be repeatable, causing my device to restart every time I scroll through a particular page.

* Start from a standard boot, no other apps run since startup.
* Open Chrome.
* Navigate to http://www.fieryflavors.com/spicy-food-hiccups/
* Swipe down the page (haven't managed to pin down a specific point of trouble yet).
* Device restarts.

The page in question doesn't *seem* to have anything tremendously nefarious happening in its source code (still poking it a bit, will update if anything turns up). I haven't come across this particular issue with Chrome on Android in the past.

Is this common? Is there a particular HTML/CSS/javascript/etc. string that's known to cause device restarts?

**UPDATE**

I'm not sure that it's an 'official' Chromium bug yet, but it certainly looks like I'm not alone:

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=614422#c28

The problem appears to be specific to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge and is likely triggered by video embedded within adverts (the issue is intermittent, disappearing when new ads rotate into each problematic page). As such it's perhaps less likely that the issue lies within Android, and more that it's a Samsung problem or a very specific incompatibility between Android/Chrome/Samsung hardware.

# Answer
Do you have antivirus installed on your phone? If so go to settings and lower the security setting from high to medium i sems as though its a security feature you may have on i just visted the page from crome on 2 different. Devices and had no problems or bo restart. I did however visit the page from my home pc that does have firewall antivirus set to high and i got Warning not secure page. Hope this helps.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Yes it cause unusal restarts in one of Lenovo K8+ (marino) device. Initially that user faced this issue in oreo then he reverted back to nougat.

> With stock chrome installed there is no issue but if he updates it to latest through play store and surf any website for a while, the device power off for few minutes and then automatically boots the system (power on itself).

**Maybe**

* A driver bug
* JS engine issue

Let me catch some logs and if possible i will write a patch to fix this issue.I will update this answer as soon as there is some positive progress.

Edit:

I have filed an bug report to lenovo forum and it can be found here
> -1 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, reboot
---


title: Game Crashes During Play

text:
# Question
Title: Game Crashes During Play
After playing Family Guy for several years, it suddenly began to crash while playing. The app is saved to my SD card and there appears to be plenty of space left on the card as well as on the device.

What might be causing the crashes and how can I stop them?

# Answer
> 0 votes
**Why?**

SD cards are usually slower than internal storage. Never put games in the SD card.

Another reason could be that there were big updates to the game and slowly could have made the game crash at times.

**The Fix?**

Take the game out of the SD card. Only use SD cards for photos & videos, light apps, and music.

# Answer
> 0 votes
according to your description, I think the main reason is that the game is **placed in the SD card**, causing the card to slow down or even crash. The local storage and SD card reading speed are inconsistent, and using a high-speed and high-quality SD card will reduce this problem.

Besides, there may be several reasons:

1. Your Android phone has **too much cache**, and when the phone is too cached, the app will run slower and crash.
2. There are **too many running programs in the background** of your Android phone. The closed app just exits the desktop and is still running in the background.
3. The game is **not compatible with the system**. Too high or too low.
4. **Missing data package**. Crash is also caused by the lack of data packets when running the game. This can happen if the packet .obb file is deleted by mistake. Like most game of Gamaloft, if you lost .obb file, it will crash.

If you don't plan to change a mobile phone, you need to **clean your phone** often:

1. Navigate to Settings on your phone. Setting\>\>Apps\>\>Choose the app you don’t like\>\> uninstall or force stop.
2. Navigate to Settings on your phone. Setting\>\>Storage\>\>Cached Data.
3. Use **Agile File Manager** to free up your storage. It can simply delete cached files, along with miscellaneous files that are larger than 10 MB. The Boost option can closes apps you’re not using that are still running in the background.
4. The last thing to say is that for Android phones, restarting the phone can solve more than half of the problems. When your device has been running for a long time, and if it is a low-end phone. Rebooting the phone will erase all blocked apps and fix freezes and crashes on apps on Android devices.

---
Tags: crashes
---


# Question
Title: Phone connected via bluetooth to car audio system: media audio works, calls don't
I have been successfully using my Motorola Moto G3, 2015, with Android Marshmallow 6.0, to connect the phone to the audio car (Toyota) system for months.

A few days ago, I received a whatsapp call (media audio) while the phone was connected via bluetooth to the car, and I successfully used the audio car system for the whatsapp call.

Since then, unfortunately, whenever I connect the phone via Bluetooth to the audio car system, only media audio (e.g. youtube videos, mp3, music, whatsapp calls, etc.) is transmitted, whereas calling another telephone I do not hear anything via car stereo. The phone works because if I disconnect the Bluetooth, the call is active and I can use the phone to speak/hear.

I tried to remove the Bluetooth phone device and add it again, and to disable transmission of media audio via Bluetooth to the car system, but the problem does not disappear.

Any help?

Thanks!

# Answer
I removed the phone/device again from the bluetooth car audio system and linked it again via bluetooth, after changing the phone bluetooth name. It did not work.

I then turned off and on the phone.

Now it seems to be working, not sure how/why though!

**UPDATE: it happened again, and only a complete power off and then power on of the phone solved the issue.**
> 1 votes

# Answer
I was facing the same issue , i got a solution for the specific media not working on Bluetooth prob. Rename the device . unpair it . restart the phone . and connect again . hope it works . worked for me .
> 0 votes

# Answer
I was also facing same issue for a while until I found this:

Go to android settings

Search for "Bluetooth Scanning"

Turn off "Bluetooth Scanning" if enabled

Enable "Phone Call" option for the desired device under bluetooth devices (by tapping setting icon next to device name) i.e. your car, Bluetooth speakers etc.

Restart your phone if needed
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, audio, calls, 6.0-marshmallow, motorola-moto-g
---


# Question
Title: Where to get OpenSSL binary for Android?
I have a Nexus 10 (unlocked & rooted) and I wanted to get the openssl binary on there so I can verify HTTPS certificates:

```
$ openssl s_client -connect <IPADDRESS>

```

However, no matter what I do I can't find a simple way of getting OpenSSL on Android so I can run the command above. I found something about 'opkg' but I couldn't get this process working. It was also incredibly complex. There is also an app called "Botbrew", but this project seems dead and doesn't work.

Anyone know how to get OpenSSL binary on my Nexus 10? At the very least, how can I view the certificate chain that Google uses when negotiating SSL handshake for the Gmail app (this is ultimately my goal)?

Thanks.

# Answer
Your best bet will be to build it from source.

There are a few StackOverflow questions that you might want to reference if you haven't already.

How to use openSSL Library in the ANDROID application

How to build OpenSSL on Android/Linux ?

Openssl Build Issue with Android NDK r8

The first SO has an answer linking to a GitHub project android-external-openssl. I would suggest trying to work with this code as a starting point.
> 1 votes

# Answer
The link in other answer is expired.

Built my own, for various archs:

"static" here does not mean actually static, just that libssl and libcrypto are inside.

```
SHA256 (openssl_1.1.1_android_static_aarch64) = 1bf30e1a15d309e42240cce4902d7436005c2f79973bb2e0126d4c49aa2a05bf
SHA256 (openssl_1.1.1_android_static_arm) = 87fe53abbdd68378e1497848d27fc63384dfeeaa17e38874522d21f998731c34
SHA256 (openssl_1.1.1_android_static_x86) = aa70c8a82d3f0b198aae5f26f688d4137fc87bc3bf70aa01782399b5e3e9f7f6
SHA256 (openssl_1.1.1_android_static_x86_64) = 9c3717a51cfb133a33552985f84d2eccb7c125a217d3be4c1cde1696d4410605

```
> 1 votes

# Answer
Have a look at http://curl.haxx.se/download.html:

It seems that http://curl.haxx.se/gknw.net/7.31.0/dist-android/curl-7.31.0-rtmp-ssh2-ssl-zlib-static-bin-android.tar.gz contains an openssl binary.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: certificates, https
---


# Question
Title: How to measure memory (RAM) bandwidth in Android?
I am looking for a way (preferably a tool) to measure the speed of RAM. There are tools which shows how much ram is occupied at a given point of time, but I couldn't find any tool which shows the speed (bandwidth) of RAM at any given point of time.

In windows 10, one can see CPU bandwidth (like 1.5ghz or 2.6ghz) in Task Manager. So how do I monitor RAM in Android like Task Manager does?

# Answer
I got the information here

One option to check RAM usage is to enable Developer Options.

> So, just follow the steps and get your thing done. Just go to Settings \> About Phone and tap the Build Number repeatedly until the notification pops up and says “you’re just 1 click away to become the developer,” or if it pops up “you’re now a developer,” this means you have successfully done the first step.
>
> Now, go back to Settings where you’ll find a new option “Developer Options.” If you’re using an older version of Android, then you may see “Process Stats” option that will tell you the average and maximum RAM usage. This option also shows the list of currently running processes.
>
> But, if you’re like me, running Android Oreo (or maybe Nougat), then you may not find the Process Stats option. This may be available as “Running Services” under the Developer Options.
>
> Clicking a particular app will open a new window just as we saw in the first method in older versions of Android. Here, you’ll be able to check which app is eating how much RAM.

Also, the same site suggest a third party app. I didn't test it, but it seems to be good according to the reviewers...

However, if you are looking for strictly benchmark, these are some options:

I'm not completely sure how acurate these apps are, since it is pretty hard to be sure. I would look into the user's comments to choose the best one (I've found other apps also, but checking the comments made me believe they were fake benchmarks).

I hope it helps you...
> 1 votes

---
Tags: resource-monitoring
---


title: Android battery monitoring method

text:
# Question
Title: Android battery monitoring method
Android phones powered by a constant 4v DC external supply (no battery) still show battery charge diminishing to low battery warning. Switching the mains off and then back on and restarting the phone restores the battery meter to 70% which then starts depleting again.

How does Android do this without sensing the actual "battery" voltage?

How does Android decide that this non-existent 4 volt battery is flat and needs recharging?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Usually there is a special battery controller chip (IC) in your phone which is always active even if the phone is switched off. This chip does the calculation on whatever base.

Android running on the main CPU just queries this special controller, retrieves and displays the values.

For a more detailed answer see How does charging a phone battery work?.

---
Tags: battery
---


# Question
Title: WiFi hotspot keeps shutting off automatically on vivo V7
The WiFi hotspot on vivo V7 turns off on its own. I can't even see any additional settings.

How do I resolve this issue?

# Answer
> 0 votes
All you can do is to keep a device connected. The device turns off the Hotspot when it sees no device using it for over 2 minutes.

This is certainly a very strict timeframe. Anyhow, the setting to automatically close Hotspot is baked into the system and as such, it will not be possible to override it.

---
Tags: wifi-hotspot, vivo
---


# Question
Title: Restoring /system but not /data within TWRP
I want to restore a TWRP backup on my Samsung Galaxy S6 (SM-G920F), to get back from a custom ROM (9.0) to Stock (7.0).

Restoring /system goes fine, but TWRP throws an error when it comes to restore /data : "extractTarFork() process ended with ERROR: 255 My question is : can I restore only /system and boot my original ROM ? If that doesn't work, how can I fix this error ? (I don't have a sdcard)

# Answer
> \[Can\] I restore only /system and boot my original ROM ?

It depends upon what lies in the backup. If you took the backup of your stock ROM and you're referring to the same backup, then yes, restoring /system **using that particular backup** would restore stock ROM. But you would need to restore /boot as well since that is part of stock ROM too.

However, if you must restore a different ROM, even if it is a stock ROM, it is a good practice to do a clean flash or atleast overwrite existing /data and /cache files with the ones in the backup to avoid conflict between various versions of files/apps which can cause bootloop or battery drain or whatnot.

In your case, since you cannot restore /data from the backup, I advise you to take a complete backup of your current ROM (including userdata), then reset /data (except /data/media) and /cache, and then restore /system and /boot from stock ROM backup. In this way, you would end up with a pristine stock ROM and can always restore /data when you manage to fix that error you mentioned. This is the path of least problems.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: twrp, restore
---


title: Recover Notes data after factory reset?

text:
# Question
Title: Recover Notes data after factory reset?
I have an OnePlus One phone that was then on an old version of Cyanogenmod I factory reset by accident a few years ago. I used the OS notes app back then (it wasn't backed up) and I would like to recover them.

When looking at the files on the phone from USB on my Macbook pro a while back, I noticed there was a folder called O which has seemingly a whole new OS file tree.

I used the phone after the factory reset and after a while when I ran out of disk space quickly (it has 64gb) and on using the space calculator in settings I found out 22gb was being used Misc! I am assuming this is the old OS and so wonder if the notes can be recovered. Looking through the files on my Macbook file explorer on the phone I have not been able to find the notes data files. I Googled a while back and I think the notes are stored in XML.

Is it possible to recover these?

# Answer
> -1 votes
Coolmuster Lab.Fone for Android can help you recover notes data after factory reset from Oneplus phone. You just need to make sure the notes data not being overwritten by new data.

---
Tags: factory-reset, data-recovery
---


# Question
Title: Why doesn't Android compass react to magnet?
I downloaded Compass program for Android and tried to bring strong magnet close to it. The pointed remained stable, as if there was no magnet nearby.

Here is the video proof on YouTube.

I have checked other devices, including iPad Air 2 and they showed similar behavior. This is drastically differs from conventional compass behavior. Also, neither device show correct cardinal directions, except conventional compass.

Why doesn't Android compass react to magnet?

**UPDATE**

Note, that magnetic field value definitely increasing when magnet is approaching.

So, the actual question is how do they try to distinguish between Earth magnetic field and magnet's magnetic field?

Also, note, that direction shown by compass is INCORRECT relatively to conventional compass.

# Answer
The sensor algorithm people worked hard to make sure that the "compass sensor" is not affected by stray ambient magnetic field. If you want to see magnetic field data, use the magnetic field sensor instead.

The common way to know that the device is subjected to an external magnetic disturbance is by comparing the magnetic sensor data with motion sensors (accelerometer and more importantly the gyroscope), if there is no motion, the algorithm will suppress any change to compass heading, because it is trying to reflect reality that compass heading did not change. For more details, look under the subject of "sensor fusion."
> 5 votes

# Answer
Many android phones have a magnetometer, which measure magnetic field in microtesla. e.g. Samsung S6 has a yamaha chip which can measure up to 2000uT. If you want to see the effect of magnets and electromagnetism install an app like sensor logger by iReality soft or 'gaussmeter'.
> 0 votes

# Answer
In my tests the magnet did affect the compass on the Galaxy S2 Active. I could drag North right round 360 degrees.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Android compass works using phones sensors and gps not magnet or any kind of compass integered inside your phone. So, it is not possible to make any kind of deflection using magnets.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: sensors, compass, magnetometer
---


# Question
Title: How do I install the OWASP ZAP certificate as a trusted system CA on Bluestacks?
I have a rooted Bluestacks Android. I would like to use ZAP to monitor its SSL traffic.

I exported ZAP's SSL certificate as a .cer file

```
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
...
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

```

Now I wish to import this certificate into Bluestacks.

The way I found was using an APK called "Root Certificate Manager". However, when I try to import the .cer file, I get an error response saying the ".cer" extension isn't supported.

I guess I need to convert it but I can't find the right format to convert to.

# Answer
> 1 votes
So, I found the solution and it's a little dumb/a little funny. It seems that "Root Certificate Manager" is able to import the same .cer file if it is placed in the device's storage. I guess they have a bug in their "import from Windows" functionality.

---
Tags: certificates, bluestacks
---


# Question
Title: How can I make direct phone-to-phone VoIP calls without Internet (on LAN or Wi-Fi)?
I'm looking for a way to make VoIP calls between two Android devices without having any intermediate server (SIP server) or an Internet connection. Is this possible?

# Answer
> 6 votes
While I've not tried to use my phone like this myself, I found the question interesting enough to do a little googling. The best search term seemed to be `android wifi|bluetooth walkie talkie`.

The most promising free candidate I found looks to be Android Intercom \- direct phone to phone communication over wifi or BT without an intermediary server or telco. The most promising paid for app seems to be WiFi Talkie.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Meshenger seems to be doing what you ask for. It is also available via f-droid.

It works on LAN and needs no Internet or intermediate server. No DHCP server is needed, because it can work with IPv6 link local addresses. WebRTC is used as a transmission protocol for audio and video.

---
Tags: voip
---


title: Bootloader unlock HTC Desire 12+

text:
# Question
Title: Bootloader unlock HTC Desire 12+
I am trying to unlock the bootloader of my HTC Desire 12+. I tried several tutorials but they all failed.

Here is what I did so far:

1. I boot the phone into recovery mode
2. Start the bootloader
3. After the phone started the bootloeader I try to find it with `fastboot devices` form my desktop computer (connected to the phone via USB)
> PS C:\ADB\> fastboot devices 5)
> d126ce6c fastboot
4. I try to get the OEM identifier token
> C:\ADB\> fastboot oem get\_identifier\_token FAILED (remote: unknown command) Finished. Total time: 0.000s

Here I am stuck. I read online that for some HTC devices I need to enter the recovery/download mode. However, I do not even find my HTC device (via `fastboot devices`) in recovery mode nor do I know what the "download mode" is.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks!

# Answer
I had the wrong `fasstboot.exe` file. It worked when I choose the one provided in the section "All Other Supported Models" on https://www.htcdev.com/
> 1 votes

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


# Question
Title: How to unblock a blocked contact's outgoing call on Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Somehow I blocked one number on outgoing calls on Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and I can't seem to unblock it. That number can phone me, we can text, and we can make WhatsApp calls both ways.

I had my service provider have a look on the line, but no issue there. When I placed my SIM card on a different phone and I was able to phone the number. The 'block' is therefore not on the sim or at the service provider, but somewhere on the phone.

How to unblock them?

# Answer
> 0 votes
First, you have to save their number then see their details on that phone you have blocked him/her. And in detail, you can find the block option. From there, unblock them. Alternatively, download TrueCaller, and after registering, open the app, find that contact you have blocked, open that contact in the app, and see in their profile. If they are blocked, then unblock them. Else, it's blocked from the main contact app.

Otherwise, steps to block or unblock a phone number on your Samsung Galaxy S series

1. From the home screen, tap Phone.
2. Tap MORE.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Call blocking.
5. Tap Block list.

There are three methods for adding a phone number to the block list.

1. Enter the phone number manually.
    1. Enter the phone number.
    2. Tap the green + icon.
2. Select a phone number from the call log.
    1. Tap LOG.
    2. Tap the phone number.
    3. Tap the green + icon.
3. Select a phone number from the contact list.
    1. Tap CONTACTS.
    2. Tap the phone number.
    3. Tap the green + icon.

---
Tags: samsung, calls
---


# Question
Title: Cannot add gmail to unmonitored apps (battery usage) to get notifications in battery saving mode
I want to have instant Gmail notifications even in battery saving mode (which typically blocks apps from background CPU/network usage). I found these amazing instructions for Android 6, however when I try something similar on my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone (Android 7.0), i.e. I go **Settings -\> Device Maintenance -\> Battery -\> Unmonitored Apps -\> Add apps**, then I don't see Gmail app in the list!! There are lots of others but not Gmail! Chrome neither. How is it possible?? How do I solve the issue? Thanks a lot.

Timely notifications on Android is a bit of a crapshoot since Marshmallow. Thanks to the battery management, no app can guarantee that their background process will be running on the specific intervals they have set. It varies among devices though.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't know if this will work since I have a LG G6 and am running Oreo. So, the way I found to allow Gmail to battery saver mode was this: Settings --\> General --\> Battery --\> Power Saving exclusions Scroll down to Gmail, then click on the switch to the right.

Tested by sending myself an email from another account and I got the notification!

Source: Had to do it myself.

---
Tags: notifications, battery-life, gmail, 7.0-nougat
---


# Question
Title: Disable notifications while watching videos or listening to music
Is it possible to disable WhatsApp Status bar notifications while watching YouTube videos on a Android device or while playing music on Android device?

I don't want to disable WhatsApp notifications in any other conditions, but only when I am watching videos or while listening to music/song.

I know it is possible to disable notifications of an app (like WhatsApp), but that will block it for all the time. This I don't want to happen. I would like to continue to receive WhatsApp notifications but not while watching videos or while listening to music/song.

My Device: Micromax Canvas 4
Android OS: 4.2

Is this possible?

# Answer
When you are watching youtube, temporary put your phone on silent.

However you can also use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pierceholdings.dontpause&hl=en
> 3 votes

# Answer
Or activate the *blocking mode* from the notification panel then disable it when you finish. It's just a five second easy process!
> 0 votes

# Answer
With new Android 8, you can use Game mode to stop that. It will activate and turn off automatically depending on what app you want.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: settings, notifications, whatsapp-messenger, youtube
---


# Question
Title: Touchscreen dead zone - intermittent problem
I have a deadzone in the touchscreen and I don't know what to do. This zone corresponds exactly to the dictionary suggestion zone. This problem is not permanent, but intermittent. My phone is a Sony Xperia Z3

# Answer
> 0 votes
A hack, not a solution:

1. I changed the keyboard app, for an app on which keyboard resizing works (impossible to resize the default Android keyboard, because the resizing arrow stands precisely on the dead touchscreen zone). Swiftkey app worked.
2. I chose the large keyboard size.

Functionality is restored, although the 'handicap' remains.

---
Tags: touchscreen
---


# Question
Title: Unpinning apps when using Gesture-based system navigation
I've recently acquired a Redmi Note 5, and I quite appreciate the gesture navigation. (Settings -\> System & Device -\> Full screen display -\> Full screen gestures) However, I also like using app pinning when friends borrow my phones.

Traditionally, to unpin an app you have to hold Back and Overview at the same time. But in gesture mode, there is no navigation bar to press buttons in.

As it currently stands, I have to reboot the phone to unpin an app, which is impractical for various reasons.

Is there a way to unpin apps using gestures? (Or perhaps unpin with the fingerprint sensor or something like that, anything not involving the navigation bar. Or maybe even disabling gesture mode when an app is pinned)

# Answer
I am using a Huawei Mate 20 Pro, using gesture navigation, and I have found that to unpin an app you have to swipe from the side, as if you were going back, but hold it instead of releasing it. Then it will take you to the lock screen. Hope this helps.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: miui, 8.1-oreo
---


# Question
Title: View a PDF with two columns by displaying it one column by one column
Is there a way to view a PDF with two columns by displaying it column by column? I can certainly use any viewer to look at such a document but leafing around from column-to-column is very cumbersome. Even more so for scanned-in bitmaps.

The layout of many Android devices would be ideal to read a single column at a time.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If the PDF are scanned images (pure image), I don't think it's possible.

But if it's purely text (like a Word document saved as a PDF file), you can use ezPDF Reader (or its free version). When you open the PDF, click the More Options button at the lower right, and select `Text Reflow`. This time, you will only see 1 column.

*I'm not sure what happens if there's a combination of text and picture.*

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can give a try to EBookDroid. It supports view two column document as one column by cropping and moving the parts of a page around. It's perfdct on mobile phones but probably not idea for pads.

---
Tags: pdf
---


# Question
Title: Where to find a PIN lock screen that scrambles the keypad on every use?
Is there some way to get a lock screen whose PIN pad changes number layouts every time it's used? It seems like a very basic way to thwart smudge attacks and yet my (broken?) google-fu can't find any implementations.

I'm using 2.3 Gingerbread, would prefer solutions not involving rooting/flashing new ROMs if possible.

# Answer
> 6 votes
That is a very interesting question. I am not sure if this can be done, to scramble the keypad's number layout every-time on unlock to force you to slow down.

You've pointed out the weakness in the security - smudges on the touchscreen; the only thing that I can think of is this - wipe down the screen each time... now you may get funny looks from others, akin to taking off the glasses each time and wiping it cleanly to "see" again if you get my drift.

I would not be surprised if there's a soft keyboard layout that appears at random intervals but I suspect its never thought of as it would drive users batty especially when texting.

The lock-screen's pin mechanism is in-built and to override that mechanism requires going down the unofficial programming interface that does not have the approval from Google's Android development aspect. Almost bordering on using malware techniques to achieve it.

The other thing I can think of is to use a screen protector, in that way, the smudges will show on it but not on the actual touchscreen. Despite saying that, one could theoretically sprinkle a bit of powder on the screen and gently brush it away to see where the fingerprint is on but that's going OTT on the other hand, that is, if you watch too much NCIS... :)

My suggestion - in the case of pattern unlock, do not allow "Use Visible Pattern" or "Use tactile feedback" under Settings \> Location & security settings, to minimize breach.

But however, your question is a worthy +1 from me from a security viewpoint.

**Edit:**

Just an afterthought after exchange on chat, it is quite possible in theory, to use a custom keyboard that is tied specifically to password input, the ones that shows an asterisk in place, and just randomize the keyboard layout with letters, numbers re-positioned at random intervals but that could have an adverse side effect, as in "darn it, now I have to be extra careful to, not to go too fast!" or "darn it, one thing to do - uninstall it as tis annoying!"

# Answer
> 7 votes
You have a great point, and a valid question. Looks like this was raised as an enhancement request two years ago, if that means anything. I found two apps that seek to address your concern:

* Whisper Systems has a different method of working around smudge issues by asking users to wipe over the smudges they just created.
* Number Track Lock advertises the exact functionality you're looking for. This is a paid app that has mediocre reviews, so proceed at your own risk.

Neither of these to me are a perfect solution. I'd love to see this built into Android - perhaps you can find a ROM with something like this baked in?

# Answer
> 1 votes
The app "Hi Locker" has this functionality. Just confirmed on my Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 (So international GSM/4G).

Play Store Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.appplus.hilocker

Note I'm not yet fully recommending the app, but it's the first of the ones I tried this evening that actually has the functionality. The list that didn't:

C Locker Free, Gravity Box \[KK\] (XPosed module), Go Locker.

And I actually came across Hi Locker because it's what "Lockdown Pro - AppLock" uses for that functionality.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Just download Lockdown Pro from Google Play and select the option "random keyboard" in it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Lockdown pro is awesome I highly recommend and if you want all features with no ads it's only 1.88 well worth it if you ask me.

# Answer
> 0 votes
My old LG K7 (8GB memory, total, from 2012 - 2013) had this option. In Settings =\> Lock Screen =\> Randomize PIN entry (Scramble numbers for secure PIN entry). I just switched to a 16GB Samsung Galaxy J3 (much pricier than my trusty K7), and it doesn't have a randomized PIN.

I checked online, and the LG V10 and LG Lancet have it, too. Maybe it's just an LG innovation.

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Tags: security, lock-screens
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# Question
Title: How to enable USB mass storage feature on newer android phones
As a Linux user , it sometimes gets to tedious to get MTP working.So I want back the USB mass storage feature. The main reason is that my TV doesn't support MTP. I used to watch movies and videos from my old android device via USB mass storage on my TV but can't do that with MTP anymore. I am also ready to root my phone or install a custom rom.

# Answer
> 2 votes
AFAIK this is not possible, but maybe some custom ROMs allow it through some hacky stuff, so correct me on that if I'm wrong, but....

There's an app called DriveDroid \- It's primarily used to boot your PC from an Image-/ISO-File that's stored on your android, but you can also use it for what you're after. It needs root.

Once you open the app, hit the menu button and go to `Create blank image`.

This is from their page about a tutorial on how to make a bootable partition, you can choose any name here and any size you want your removable media to have. Leave MBR unchecked.

Once you created the image, you can tap on it in the app's main screen and choose the first option to make the image mountable as a writable USB drive. After that, plug the phone onto your PC, it will detect an unformatted drive.

On Windows, you can simply hit "Format" in the popup it should show, asking if you want to format the drive. FAT32 will work fine as partition type.

On Linux, find out the drive letter using the `lsblk` command and then run `mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdX1` (replacing `sdX1` with the drive letter and partition number of your drivedroid image) to format it. (Or use GParted for example as GUI application)

After that you can copy/move/whatever files on there as you wish, as if it was a normal USB drive, and your TV should detect it just like that.

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Tags: usb-mass-storage
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