# Question
Title: Permission system changes with Android 6.0: What are the implications for us users?
With Android 6.0, a bunch of permissions and permission groups have been removed:

### Groups gone

While on a first glance this doesn't seem important (isn't it rather a way to organize permissions?) – thinking twice reveals a major importance here: Starting with Android 6 (and with the Playstore even before that), if an app update requests a permission from a group where it already held one from in a previous installed version, this "new permission" is not brought to the awareness of the user. With Android 6, it is even granted automatically then. Also keep in mind that the user (with "native Android capabilities") can only revoke access to entire groups, not to single permissions – so fewer groups mean less flexibility, up to a uselessness of the entire feature.

According to the link mentioned above, the following groups have been removed:

`ACCOUNTS`, `AFFECTS_BATTERY`, `COST_MONEY`, `DISPLAY`, `MESSAGES`, `NETWORK`, `PERSONAL_INFO`, `PHONE_CALLS`, `SCREENLOCK`, `SOCIAL_INFO`, `SYSTEM_CLOCK`, `SYSTEM_TOOLS`, `USER_DICTIONARY`, `WALLPAPER`

### Permissions gone

Less permissions covering more ways to access personal data mean a nightmare for privacy. Concerning accounts, I've raised this question already: Android 6+ and account permissions: where have they gone to? As we found out there, what before was dealt with by the no longer existing `USE_CREDENTIALS` permission, now got moved to contacts (not sure whether read or write): so if you wish to "login with Google" (or any other account holder), you need to give the app full access to your contact list! The popup on the screenshot there ("Allow Stack Exchange to access your contacts?") popped up immediately on tapping the "Login with Google" button.

So next to most account permissions (except for `GET_ACCOUNTS`, all of them are gone), which are dealt with in my other question already linked, the following permissions have been removed:

`ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION` (now one has to configure a single app handling the MOCK\_LOCATION I've seen mentioned?), `CLEAR_APP_USER_DATA`, `GET_TOP_ACTIVITY_INFO`, `HARDWARE_CONTROLS`, `HARDWARE_TEST`, `INJECT_EVENTS`, `INTERNAL_SYSTEM_WINDOW`, `READ_HISTORY_BOOKMARKS`, `READ_PROFILE`, `READ_SOCIAL_STREAM`, `READ_USER_DICTIONARY`, `SET_ACTIVITY_WATCHER`, `SET_ORIENTATION`, `SET_POINTER_SPEED`, `STATUS_BAR`, `SUBSCRIBED_FEEDS_READ`, `SUBSCRIBED_FEEDS_WRITE`, `VOICEMAIL`, `WRITE_HISTORY_BOOKMARKS`, `WRITE_PROFILE`, `WRITE_SMS`, `WRITE_SOCIAL_STREAM`

### What does that mean for users and their privacy?

This is my main concern here. Unfortunately (one could almost say "as expected"), there was no official statement made on that – or I had already been aware of those changes a while ago. I hope some of our members who happen to be developers as well have deeper insight, and can help us out with some explanations and advice:

* have those groups/permissions simply be removed (or did some simply got renamed/replaced by others)?
* how is the data previously covered by them protected now?
* what are the implications for users and their privacy, and what can we do about it?
    + concerning the "do about it": sure there's root, XPosed and Xprivacy (how does the latter cope with those changes?) – but I also mean "the average user" without root here.

# Answer
*As I said up above (somewhere) The new permissions system is a drain that shows that a new idea is not often a good idea.*

### Be warned! This may take a little bit to read, since I'll be talking about the history of android, and more! Go and grab a drink!

You good? Alright, dig In.

## The origins of the new permission system

When Google began working on a way to forcibly grant and deny permissions on-the-fly, it was Android 4.3. It was a buggy mess, so they hid it. It can still be used, however, by creating a shortcut to the app ops settings menu. This menu was very similar to the current apps menu, but tapping an option immediately brings up the permissions options. You also had to discover the permissions before you could toggle them, and it was a buggy mess since apps wondered what the balls is going on because you disabled something, and inconveniently crashed. Yay.

The system was removed once modders had found it (so it was removed in 4.4),1 but made its return in Marshmallow. It looked really good - you could finally choose if things like Facebook could grab your location (though it did ask nicely). Even some Google apps, like Hangouts, aren't safe from your decisions. But then we hit the issue - the system is still broken, just in a new way: the permissions were heavily tweaked.

You want Stack Exchange to login via Google? It needs contacts permissions (though The devs at SE fixed that on their end).2 Want To upload images onto Facebook? It needs to see all your files. Why? **Compression**. Permissions are now **granted in groups,** where asking for your Google account also allows apps to see every contact on the device. I doubt that was intended, but the removal of most permissions meant that the had to simplify the playing field; most removed permissions were just shoved into super-general groups.

Some of the permissions have been removed because of new SDK's. `GET_ACCOUNTS` Now triggers a new SDK which allows for Google sign-in, but falls back to doing it via contacts permissions if an app does not support it. That explains that one (including how the SE app was finally fixed), but some of the others don't get that treatment. AFAIK, Apps can just casually read the dictionary regardless through the keyboard. Most other permissions Izzy mentions seem to correlate with modified groups: Most fit into the 'Modify system settings' Godmission (permissions separate from the main ones) and 'usage access'. Some others are handled by apps themselves.

So, Anything not given a new home was killed off. Sometimes, this made sense (we only need `GET_ACCOUNTS` to trigger the SDK) While other times, it made you want to put a bullet into your phone: oh yeah, I'll just let you access my contacts, you seem fine. Sure, access my calls and waste my money. (Hopefully no one is *that* dumb. Hopefully.)

At first, I thought yay! Simplification! But it allows seemingly legitimate apps to do illegitimate stuff A LOT easier. Your Minecraft hack tool which wants your Google account is probably also robbing your contacts. And selling them.

This is then compounded by the Lockdown system for permissions, that allowed you to fine-tune app permissions. It's great, but it doesn't work. At all. It also is inaccurate (it e.g. says that Stack Exchange reads my SMS'. No, no it doesn't) and is just plain awful.

## But what does that mean for my privacy?

I personally think one of two things:

1. The new permissions system was designed to allow simple, quick changes for the purpose of security. Permissions are now granted in groups, which explains why some are removed: Google thought that leaving them under one big header was a good idea (and for the end-user, I see why: controlling each individual permission could get tedious.) Of course, like communism, it was only good *on paper*; in reality, it's a shamble that they don't want to admit to. Fair enough.
2. However, they could be doing this to force more apps to use Their SDK to break alleviate suspicious permissions (Don't blame them) and therefore make more money. It's proved they are doing so (and are trying to make Android **less** open-source) which disgusts me.

So for the end-user, it's like a little bit of iOS - by which I mean something that looks good, but is crap. But can it be fixed? Kinda.

## The "Work-arounds."

### Method 1- Xprivacy (ROOT NEEDED BOI)

Xprivacy does work on Marshmallow, according to its devs, of course. It requires messing with all sorts of fiddly bits on MM now, and there is verified boot. Which is a pain, since you'll probably get a red or yellow warning, which may prevent boot. (Depending on your luck, and how much messing you have done.) But if you can get Xprivacy working, its easy enough.

Due to the 'Wont boot FULL STOP' attitude N will apparently take, it may even be more of a nightmare to get working on that.

*2017 EDIT - Xposed devs are working on getting around all of this (yay!) If i find the post on XDA, I'll link it*

### METHOD 2 - Go full Lockdown on everything.

This is really fiddly, but allows for maximum control (as far as that's possible). You grant app permissions when absolutely needed, then make a mad dash to turn them back off again. Probably will be easier once Nougat drops on more devices, so multi-window can be used.

### METHOD 3 - Don't upgrade (which I'm dubbing the "Izzy solution")

If you did look up when I told you to, you may have noticed what Izzy's method is: You simply refrain from upgrading to Marshmallow or Nougat. Boo-Hoo, I know, but neither are game-changing, really. Give it.... Six months, and most the crap for N will be on the play store, if you really want it. So, the Izzy solution means sticking with the definitely capable 5.1.1 or lower. I can live, and so can you.

### METHOD 4 - NUKE IT FROM ORBIT.

(Just to please the masses. FYI, this would be impossible.)

Or, ignore it. Your call.

---

**EDIT** Izzy found a link to a Stack Overflow question That explains that Credentials, *Like Logins for Signing in on various apps*, fall under a 'normal permission' (protection-level "normal") – i.e. any app can access them without you knowing. Luckily, some apps and logins will let you remove this through their account managers, Depending on how malicious the Dev is trying to be.

**EDIT 2** I forgot to say you can remove apps from accounts :) I'll be using The Google accounts and Facebook app accounts systems as examples, as they are the most used.

### Google accounts

1. Head to accounts.google.com or open the Google play settings (varies by device, usually a cog with a g in it)
2. Find apps/Connected apps/connected apps and services (again, Varies)
3. Find what you want to remove, and click 'remove'

DONE!

### Facebook

1. Login on the site
2. Head to account settings \> apps
3. Find the target app, and click/tap remove.

Done!

Hope that helps! If not, just drop a comment, you know the drill. I'll be working on it anyways. **Done, but still let me know if I missed something!**

---

1 There were different attempts made by Google to "hide it better", and different versions of AppOps frontends brought it back then for 4.4 and 5.0, but no further

2 Apparently, apps can voluntarily use a new SDK that allows Google sign-in without the contacts permission. See here for details.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Summing up my own findings – which might overlap with Dan's answer:

### Origin

Google started on the new permission system with Android Jellybean 4.3. Official intention (revealed later on) was to give users some control on what permissions an app should have access to ("permission on demand") – instead of the "All-or-Nothing" existing at the time (if you didn't like an app having a certain permission: either live with it, or don't install it). The AppOps interface was hidden, but soon revealed, hidden again (Kitkat/4.4), revealed again, and the same a third time with LP/5.0, after which it was protected in a way hard to circumvent.

### Current state

Finally, AppOps surfaced with Marshmallow/6.0. But instead of giving users fine-grained permission control, permissions are fine-drained and control is rather raw; if you e.g. want your travel app to be able of adding your bookings to your calendar, but not to read your other calendar entries: no way. Either you forbid calendar access, or you allow it. Similar for other permissions – as AppOps only deals with groups.**1**

Furthermore, a lot of permissions have either been removed completely, or assigned to Protection Level "normal" – so they are automatically granted and cannot be revoked by the user. This is e.g. the case for the `INTERNET` permission, but also for `USE_CREDENTIALS` (so any app with this permission can use any of your accounts without your explicit approval!) or even `BLUETOOTH_ADMIN` (pair your Droid with any BT device in reach). For a detailed list, see this Gist.

Also, new protection levels have been added: `appop` for permissions the user has explicitly to grant via the new "on demand" system, `pre23` for permissions automatically granted if an app targets a version below MM (i.e. before "runtime permissions" where introduced), `preinstalled` for apps that shipped with the ROM (unclear how Android differentiates that from `system`, which was renamed to `privileged`), plus 3 more.

### Current state summed up

Basically, we're worse off now:

* number of permissions has been drastically reduced, meaning less granular protection
* many permissions have been moved to protection-level normal (and thus out of reach of AppOps)
* AppOps (runtime permission) is rather cosmetical due to its missing granularity and leaving out essential permissions
* apps can request additional permissions with an update. If they already hold a permission in the same group, the user is not notified ("does not require any special additional permission" text sounds familiar?). With the number of permission groups reduced as well, it even got easier to "sneak something in".

So in most cases this means the same as before MM: If you don't like an app having a certain permission, don't install it.

### How to deal with it from a user's perspective?

Multiple of the items in the following incomplete list can apply simultaneously. Make your pick:

* Don't update beyond LP if you don't like that (and can live with sticking to LP). That's what I do, until this mess has been cleaned up.
* Don't install apps if you don't want to give them access to what they request.
* When installing an update, don't trust that "no additional permissions" hint. Check in detail before you apply the update. This is not as easy as it used to be, as normally you don't see next-to-each-other which perms an app already has and how they differ from those requested by the update. In the Playstore app, you still get the complete list when scrolling to the end of an app's page and hit the "permission details" link. Do not ignore the "Others" section at the end of the list, as it includes things like `INTERNET`, `BLUETOOTH_ADMIN`, and other "surprises".
* to protect your device from rogue apps accessing the internet, consider using a Firewall app. There are good ones not even requiring root and being FOSS, like Netguard.
* if root is an option, and installing the XPosed framework is as well (both available for MM, but installation might get quite tricky with N), use a permission manager like *Xprivacy* for granular permission control.

---

**1:**Obviously, the user shouldn't be "overstrained". Still, there could be an "advanced mode" to deal with it.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, permissions, privacy, 7.0-nougat
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# Question
Title: Am I able to add a data-only sim-card to my dual-sim smartphone?
I've a OnePlus 3 which has dual sim functionality. Of course I've also a single common smartphone sim which provides me with a telephone number and internet access.

Since there are pretty cheap data-only sim cards (they are commonly used for laptops, tablets etc.) I wondered if my smartphone is able to handle such. It would increase my speed, coverage and data volume for just little money. Also I don't have to deal with two telephone numbers.

Does this actually work? Is it a good idea?

# Answer
Data SIMs are no different from regular SIMs regarding data connection. As long as your phone supports the configuration you want (e.g. many phones only supports Slot1 4G + Slot2 2G configuration - confirm whether you still need 3G/4G on the call SIM and place in slot accordingly), you can just pop one in and enjoy.
> 1 votes

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Tags: sim-card, dual-sim
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# Question
Title: Enable /system write in TWRP - Systemless root
Moto X Play (XT1562), SuperSU 2.78 (systemless root), TWRP 3.0.2-r3

* When I flashed TWRP, I chose the option of *not writing* to system to enable OS update (and also made a Nandroid just after flashing it as a backup)
* Now, I made some minor changes to system audio files, without dwelling on consequences - won't be able to update OS ( update expected this quarter) without flashing stock OS

I want to enable `/system` write option in TWRP ( without flashing TWRP again ) so that :

a) Flash backup Nandroid ( of stock OS from the first Nandroid), if I decide to upgrade OS

b) If I don't want to upgrade, have a *complete* Nandroid and tweak further knowing that I can safely roll back changes

In other words be able to backup and restore `/system` along with data

**Is it possible and how ( please provide detailed instructions )?**

**Edit:** Flashing different versions didn't help - see my unanswered post on XDA

# Answer
It appears that the issue was TWRP's fault. To make the **/system** partition writeable, one could:

* Uncheck the checkbox near **Mount system partition read-only**, in the **Mount** section of TWRP (screenshot at the end of this answer);
* Delete, move or rename the **.twrps** file to force TWRP's setup wizard to trigger, in order to make **/system** writeable. This file is located under **sdcard/TWRP**, and can be managed directly from TWRP's **File Manager**, accessible from the **Advanced** section of the recovery. Notice that any TWRP setting customization aside of themes will be reverted.
> 4 votes

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Tags: twrp, moto-x, systemless-root
---


# Question
Title: Audio through Bluetooth headset only work with calls
I have paired the Klip Xtreme UltraVox Bluetooth headset to my BLU phone. When I made a call, the audio is working fine. But if I use YouTube or a video on the phone, it comes through the speaker.

How to route the audio through the Bluetooth headset?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Go into the **Settings** app on your phone and choose **Bluetooth**. You'll see a list of paired devices. (Alternatively, from the quick settings panel, tap the **Bluetooth** label, not the icon, and then click **More settings**. They both get you to the same screen.)

From that screen, find your headset in the list of paired devices, and click the gear icon next to it. A dialog comes up where you can edit the name of the headset, and below that it says **Use for**. In that list, turn on **Media audio**, and click OK.

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Tags: headset
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# Question
Title: why screen as black screen ,red border in micromax canvas juice 3plus
I bought a micromax canvas juice3plus 8 months before. Now screen became black in color with red border.. How to correct this

# Answer
This is a hardware problem. You need to take your phone to a repair shop and get the screen fixed.
> 0 votes

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Tags: screen
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title: Not getting Redeem code entering option

text:
# Question
Title: Not getting Redeem code entering option
I am using Samsung j7 and I want to make some purchases but I am unable to find Redeem code entering option there. I have Redeem code for purchase but the option is not there. Previously it was right there but now its gone.

# Answer
> 2 votes
# You won't find it there.

Where you **will** find it by doing this:

1. Open the play store.
2. Tap the Hamburger-three lines thing to open the side menu, and tap redeem.
3. Put in your Redeem Code
4. Enjoy your new google play credit!

---
Tags: samsung, in-app-purchase
---


# Question
Title: Task Manager and profiler for Android Wear apps
I have three questions about Android wear apps.

1. Is there a way or app for closing individual apps on Android wear ? I tried Task Manager for Android wear but it doesn't work on my LG Watch R.
2. how can I profile an individual app on Android wear (on my Watch) in terms of CPU, memory and power consumption ? For Android phones, there are apps such as power tutor, trepn etc, however, I can't find any way to do the same for a smartwatch.
3. Is there a way to adapt an android app to smartwatch in terms of display (user interface) without having access to the source code ? I want to use an android app on android wear, however, I can not see all the options due to the small display of the watch. I was wondering if there is way to deal with it such that to make the app user-interface smaller.

# Answer
I've been unable to find any profiling apps designed for Android smartwatches. However, its been reported that Trepn Profiler can be used with Android Wear smartwatches. Here is a screenshot of Trepn running on the LG Watch R:

Based on the data I've seen, this smartwatch reports accurate power consumption:

* With a dim display, 252 mW of power is consumed.
* With a bright display, 671 mW is used.

It looks like the above screenshot was created using Trepn's 'Network Activity' preset.

Obviously Trepn is not ideal for this purpose, since it was never designed to run on a smartwatch. You won't be able to access important features like its Advanced mode or Settings.

Although I haven't tested them yet, I would expect all of Trepn's overlay presets to work. *Note:* To make sure you have an overlay preset, touch the icon to the right that looks like an overlay, not a list. In most cases it's the bottom icon.

* CPU Frequency
* Mobile Data Detective
* Performance Graph
* CPU Usage Monitor
* CPU Load Overlay

*Disclosure:* I work on the team that created Trepn and App Tune-up Kit.
> 1 votes

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Tags: applications, battery-life, user-interface, android-wear
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title: Annoying redirection

text:
# Question
Title: Annoying redirection
Every time I phone gets turned off of or goes to sleep, after turning it back on and typing in my password I get instantly taken to the play store and some other useless website ad. Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening?

# Answer
Are your WiFi or data connections enabling even after you've disabled them? If so, or even not so, your phone is probably hit by malwares/adwares that redirect you to some infected web site or to a specific Google play app's page.

You need to check your app list and see if there are some unusual apps then uninstall them (some apps may need root access and BusyBox installed) either by system apps removers (apk) or from adb shell
> 0 votes

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Tags: settings
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# Question
Title: How to change SD Card after moving apps using Link2SD?
I haven't used Link2SD yet to move apps, because there is one thing I'm confused about. Currently, I have a 2 GB SD card on my phone, but I'm thinking to buy another 8 GB card later.

What will I have to do if I want to transfer all the apps (linked/moved using Link2SD) to my new 8 GB SD card?

# Answer
I tried copying the SD card to a folder and then to the new card. I used Linux Mint 17 running Nemo as root. If you don't have Linux installed, I would recommend a Kali Live disc, since it runs as root.

Everything seems to have been copied, but the first boot of the phone gave me an inconsistent UID message. It was gone at second boot. Some apps worked, some worked after reinstalling, and others lost all of their data.

If you try this, move the stuff you really don't want to lose back to the phone. Starting a game all over again when you were at level 200 really bites. Facebook and Messenger store everything on servers, so they could be easily reinstalled.
> 0 votes

# Answer
When you want to change your SD card from 2GB to 8GB, you should have two partitions on the 8GB SD card.

First of all, uninstall all of your non-system apps and open Link2SD. Select clean up SD partition 2 and then select cleanup partition's Dalvik-cache. Now you can insert a new SD card and enjoy these features without any issue.
> -1 votes

# Answer
Its a simple procedure really. All you have to do is connect your SD card via a reader or adapter to a computer. Then copy all the data to a folder. Then transfer all they data to your new SD card and it should work.

This method is not exactly foolproof so don't delete the data from the first card in case you need it
> -1 votes

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Tags: sd-card, link2sd
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# Question
Title: How to safely activate LTE on S4 mini (GT-i9195) running 4.2.2?
I'd like to activate LTE on my device: S4 mini with LTE (GT-i9195). There seems to be ways of doing this, but they seem rather "scary" and experimental at best:

Is there are a better or "official" way of activating LTE on this device??

# Answer
> 3 votes
Call the Service Menu : with \*#0011# and then hit (menu) Back and then (menu) Key Input and enter Q0000 and wait.

Select UMTS -\> Debug Screen -\> Phone Control -\> Network Control -\> Band Selection -\> Automatic Done.

May be restart the phone.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Here's what I did in my dual sim J1, trial and error...I entered Q and numbers and it didn't bring up DEBUG MODE so I went in Menu \> Select\> I entered row number 1 and it brought up the Debug mode. So I followed it up to Debug Screen -\> Phone Control -\> Network Control -\> Band Selection. It had for sim slot 1 and 2, I selected sim 1 and it had LTE 1 and 2. Activated LTE ALL for 1 and LTE40 for 2 (LTE 40 was the only option for LTE 2). Sim 1 went out of service so I waited, then restarted phone then both sims wouldn't work anymore. I didn't tamper with SIM 2 by the way.

So be careful...looks like phone is bricked or something now.

# Answer
> 0 votes
There's nothing scary about that, as long as you keep track of what you're doing and not pushing the wrong buttons. Are you sure your provider even offers LTE? Also, I don't think the `4636` works on that model. You probably need to navigate through the Service Menus with `*#0011#` and then hit (menu) `Back` and then (menu) `Key Input` and enter `Q0000` and wait...

Now, depending on where you bought you phone (EU, US etc), you'll have full access to hundreds of ways to mess up your phone settings and even brick your phone. So I can't tell you how to find the LTE specific menu. But there are several LTE related items in the CDMA sub-menus.

---

**EDIT: 2015-03-12**

For a more technical hack for enabling LTE bands, please see the following two XDA posts (and threads) here and here. Please note that this involves using Qualcomm *QPST* and *QXDM* diagnostics tools.

**EDIT: 2015-09-21**

You need to be rooted. The easiest way to do this, is by these 2 steps:

1) from a root command line (shell).

```
$ su
# setprop persist.radio.lteon true

```

2) Then go to the Samsung *Service Mode* menu, by dialing the shortcut `*#2263#` (*BAND*). There you select **LTE Band Preference** and then **LTE ALL**. (To undo, either select "Automatic" or "WCDMA Band Preferences" -\> "WCDMA ALL".) Finally reboot your phone.

If these doesn't work you may also try dialing `*#58366#*` (*LTEON*).

# Answer
> 0 votes
I use \*#0011# Then press menu -then press back Then press menu- then press key input Type Q1187245 and enter to activate lte only Or Type Q1187211 and enter to set automatic It takes a few seconds to respond

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Tags: dialer-codes, samsung-galaxy-s-4-mini, 4g
---


# Question
Title: By accident deleted /dev folder on android (LG G2 phone). how can i bring back system to life?
Hello good people of universe! Someone asked before on this website "what will happen if i delete /dev folder on android?", its kinda funny, but i really deleted it, but it was by accident while installing custom rom using TWRP recovery. Im really messed up now, system stucks at LG Logo screen. I dont know what to do, seems that PC can't detect my phone at all. But i can enter to firmware update by pushing up+power button. Can someone help me with that question ? Thanks in advance.

# Answer
A hard system reset would reset all existing files of the device.

Backing up your files before you committed to the hard reset would be the best course of action for you.

There are step-by-step instructions to assist you in performing the hard reset on the verizon page, but this will work for all carriers as it is the same device: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-104173/.
> 0 votes

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Tags: data-recovery, development
---


title: Root detection by server or app

text:
# Question
Title: Root detection by server or app
Many banks and video streaming services don't allow root on Android devices.

My question is

1. Is it the app itself that detects root and refuses to work at some stage (for example by refusing to call the associated internet service)?
2. Is it the internet service that somehow directly or indirectly probes your device to see if it is rooted and if so instructs the app to disconnect or display some error message?

I guess this might interest people for which the app *Hide Root* doesn't work with some service providers.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Banks detecting root devices is a bit disturbing but then again Java script is very powerful when abused. Perhaps get a browser with better privacy options.

1. Usually root detection is performed on the target device when the application loads. @acejavelin summed it up best in above comments.

I'd suggest to any reader concerned about apps probing for permissions on rooted Android to check into Xprivacy module for Xposed. This and Donkey Guard, both are fantastic for disabling or modifying access to entire features of the device on a per-app basis. Generally I prefer Xprivacy because device specifics can be *forged* much easier.

> One short note on security with Xposed; it's not really secure. Lots of permissions and portions of processing are exposed to the device's user.

2. Reporting (if any) is done over the network. While it's possible to attempt detection from the server side it's **very** *noisy* and would cause lose of trust with customers.

There's another option with root reporting, run a firewall that doesn't allow the application to report out to it's servers. Though for some this will brake functionality when not allowed network access.

3. Bonus option "Advance Freeze" with ROM toolbox Pro

While the above linked options are free and nearly full featured this last suggestion isn't... but it's worth it to *freeze* features of an application outright. Some apps crash but most will just limp on without privacy invading features or adverts enabled.

---
Tags: root-access, unrooting, root-cloak
---


title: What are these Two icons?

text:
# Question
Title: What are these Two icons?
I was re-ordering objects on the quick settings When I noticed two icons that I do not recognise:

To clarify, it's `HotKnot` and `BroadCastTile` That I am questioning.

Whats odder is that they are **not** in the Quick settings menu (Even if I add them)

What are they for, and how can I use them?

# Answer
`HotKnot` \- The technology allows the capacitive touchscreens of smartphones to interact – a feature that can be used for quick data transfer/sharing, in a similar way to NFC.

Source: link

`BroadCastTile` \- It is just a customizable tile, you can add a custom tile if you know the constraints.

Source: link
> 2 votes

# Answer
HotKnot is a kind of wireless communication like Bluetooth or NFC.

BroadcastTile is for creating your custom Quick Setting. See here.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, quick-settings
---


# Question
Title: What is Direct Boot or File Encryption in Android N
The title says it all

**What is it and how does it help users?**

While this is a self answered question, additional inputs especially from hands on experience are welcome

# Answer
**TL;DR** In previous Android versions you risked missing notifications, text messages etc, in case your phone rebooted or restarted for some reason when you didn't notice. Reason being, you had to boot in with your password or PIN for the device and apps in it to communicate notifications. In Nougat, this is overcome by allowing the device to boot (without any security risk) without entering PIN or password and access limited functionality such as notifications. You would however need to sign with your PIN or password for complete access of your device

**Source**

* To overcome such problems, in Android Nougat, Google decided to add a new type of system encryption that it calls “**File Encryption**" This is comprised of two different types of data:

**Credential encrypted data:** This data is protected and is only accessible once the device has been fully unlocked via PIN, pattern, or password. In practice, this acts similarly to full-disk encryption in terms of user experience.

**Device encrypted data:** This is what’s new in Nougat. It makes certain non-personal data available to the operating system before the user inputs their unlock info. This includes generic system files needed to get the OS up and running in a usable state, allowing Nougat to boot up to the lock screen without any user interaction.
* With this, developers can also push certain files into this encrypted space, allowing things like alarms, phone calls, and notifications to come through before the device has been fully unlocked. That means no accidentally sleeping in because your phone crashed and rebooted in the middle of the night.

When apps are allowed to run in this “device encrypted” state, they can push data to credential encrypted storage, but they can’t read it—it’s a one-way street.

* Android’s file-based encryption is also known by a much simpler name: “Direct Boot”. This name, which doesn’t really exist in Android’s menus but was used at Google I/O with the announcement of Nougat.

Related How does Nougat encryption work technically?

Additional Reading: All The New Security Improvements In Android N
> 2 votes

---
Tags: security, 7.0-nougat, disk-encryption
---


# Question
Title: Sony Xperia L WiFi and Bluetooth not turning on
It happened a couple of months ago when I accidentally relocked my bootloader through the Flashtool instead of Backup TA , wifi and bluetooth became inconsistent and kept on crashing the phone.
It sometimes starts to work for a short period of time , but then phone crashes and it doesn't work again for a long time and sometimes on a random reboot it starts again, only to crash the phone. It keeps on showing `Turning WiFi/Bluetooth on...` but it does not turn on.

Here's what all I have tried...

1. Going back to stock ROM and relocking bootloader through restoring TA. (But it didn't help , its worse on stock ROM my phone freezes and I have to go back to custom ROM)
2. I visited the service centre after doing a software repair and relocking it.(They told I might need to replace the motherboard to get it right , its 10 thousand rupees making it senseless option)
3. Tried to look into phone's important files related to wifi and bluetooth to see if something can be done( I don't have enough coding knowledge so I couldn't understand much)

I need help of anyone with knowledge on this topic to kindly help me. I have my TA backup with me. I am ready to provide you with any logs etc. you might need to diagnose the problem.

Also , I have seen some related questions like this but I want a specific solution for a Sony device.And for Android 4.4.4. After reading related questions I think it has to do something with wpa\_supplicant files and other module files.

Here is a logcat output:-

```
--------- beginning of /dev/log/main
I/dalvikvm( 2960): Enabling JNI app bug workarounds for target SDK version 11...
E/Term    ( 2960): onCreate
D/Term    ( 2960): TermService started
I/TermService( 2960): Activity called onBind()
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): <qeglDrvAPI_eglInitialize:381>: EGL 1.4 QUALCOMM build:  (CL3869936)
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): OpenGL ES Shader Compiler Version: 17.01.11.SPL
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): Build Date: 03/28/14 Fri
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): Local Branch:
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): Remote Branch:
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): Local Patches:
I/Adreno-EGL( 2960): Reconstruct Branch:
D/OpenGLRenderer( 2960): Enabling debug mode 0
I/Term    ( 2960): Bound to TermService
I/TermService( 2960): Activity binding to service
D/dalvikvm( 2960): Trying to load lib /data/app-lib/jackpal.androidterm-1/libjackpal-androidterm4.so 0x41f95c48
D/dalvikvm( 2960): Added shared lib /data/app-lib/jackpal.androidterm-1/libjackpal-androidterm4.so 0x41f95c48
I/libjackpal-androidterm( 2960): JNI_OnLoad
I/Term    ( 2960): waiting for: 2976
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
I/Term    ( 2960): waiting for: 3133
D/dalvikvm( 2960): GC_CONCURRENT freed 616K, 15% free 4143K/4836K, paused 9ms+4ms, total 35ms
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.
I/Term    ( 2960): Subprocess exited: 129
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
D/dalvikvm( 2960): GC_CONCURRENT freed 1240K, 22% free 4823K/6140K, paused 3ms+29ms, total 68ms
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.
I/Term    ( 2960): waiting for: 5269
I/Term    ( 2960): waiting for: 5284
I/Term    ( 2960): Subprocess exited: 129
I/Term    ( 2960): Subprocess exited: 129
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.
W/IInputConnectionWrapper( 2960): showStatusIcon on inactive InputConnection
E/Term    ( 2960): onCreate
D/dalvikvm( 2960): GC_CONCURRENT freed 2139K, 33% free 4669K/6880K, paused 1ms+9ms, total 76ms
I/Term    ( 2960): Bound to TermService
I/TermService( 2960): Activity binding to service
W/InputEventReceiver( 2960): Attempted to finish an input event but the input event receiver has already been disposed.

```

# Answer
Use Root Browser and Navigate to `device/system/etc/wifi`

Replace all the files with Sony Xperia L (stock Firmware) ROM's `/system/etc/wifi` files.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, 4.4-kitkat, bluetooth, sony-xperia, wpa-supplicant
---


# Question
Title: Install command line application on android globally using termux `apt`
I love Termux, It feels like i using Linux on my phone. Sometimes I use my phone on my pc via ssh-helper but sadly I can't use any Termux app installed via `apt` command. Is there any way to install apps globally using `apt install`. I aleady rooted my android phone.

# Answer
Note that for SSH access to Termux you can install sshd with `apt install openssh`.

Setup the authorized keys as normal (`$HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys`), start the `sshd` daemon and connect on port 8022 by default.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: root-access
---


title: How to undo lock screen

text:
# Question
Title: How to undo lock screen
I lost my Phone. I remotely blocked the screen via my Google account. I found my phone back. Now I have to use the password every time I want to use my phone. How can I undo the remotely installed block?

# Answer
you can change or remove PIN lock from **Settings \> Screen lock**, then you must enter your PIN code (set from remotely lock) and press **Next**, in **choose screen lock** page you can select **No lock screen** from list or select another lock method and change your PIN code, Goodluck ... ;)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens
---


# Question
Title: I have a Oneplus 2. The bluetooth and wifi stopped working. It also does not get detected when connected to my laptop. Just keeps getting charged.
This issue started after the phone fell in water. I had given the phone for servicing. Still no use.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The phone has water damage and these effects are permanent.

There isn't much else I can say.

---
Tags: connection-issues
---


# Question
Title: Removing or bypassing FRP (Factory Reset Protection) on Marshmallow (6.0)
I own an Alcatel VDF 300 which was factory reset but after reboot, the phone stuck at the setup screen, can't pass the Wi-Fi selection step, where it searches account information on the server. It sticks there even after hours of searching.

I searched on the Internet and found solutions for bypassing the FRP but none worked.

* The one using an OTG USB drive didn't work because it seems like it is disabled
* The one bringing the browser to connect to a site and install the Dev Settings so that I can reset the phone from the Settings (works on Samsung though) by exploiting the keyboard didn't work either simply because there is no way to do so.

Is there a way to bypass FRP on Marshmallow? Does flashing a new ROM remove the FRP?

PS: The phone is an MTK (MT6585 - I guess) and runs Android Marshmallow (6.0). I've consulted How to bypass “Verify your account” (Factory Reset Protection) already, but none of those methods work.

# Answer
> 3 votes
I don't know if this solution will work on a different phone model, but let me explain what I did:

First, I tried to get the phone being detected by the computer, so I downloaded the MTK drivers (preloader VCOM drivers) and plugged the phone in META mode with MAUI META (a tool that connects mtk to META mode and does many other interesting stuffs, repairing IMEI for example). Then I downloaded ADB (the best I found is "Minimal ADB and Fastboot"). With that, I could connect to the phone and the hidden setup wizard. This post on Reddit helped me with the commands.

From the command line:

```
adb shell
 cd /system/priv-app/

```

`ls` (to list all installed applications)

Then:

```
pm hide <package name>

```

You would list all the packages with `pm list packages` first if you don't know the package name.

An alternative way is to use software called Debloater.

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, root-access, frp
---


# Question
Title: Cannot get a G2 to connect to anything via USB
I just bought a G2 on craigslist. It came rooted and with custom recovery. Whenever I plug it into my computer (tried my mac and two other PCs) the phone does not recognize it's plugged into a computer (just gives me a regular slow charging warning). On windows when I plug it in I get a malfunctioning usb device error. I have tried many cables.

I have USB debugging enabled.

I also tried putting it in download mode, but it still gives the malfunctioning usb error and the progress bar never goes anywhere.

I think the device is missing a recovery partition (might be something I did while trying to fix it) because I can't seem to get into recovery.

Is this a hardware issue or what?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Have you tried checking the device manager on your PC? you might need to install some software to have it work. However you just use Wireless Storage and type in \G2 in networks to access it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
What OS is it running? Knowing that might help. My former device was an LG LS860 (Mach, Cayenne), with ICS 4.0.4 installed. Could not use the external micro-usb storage device just bought. Long story short, went to Google Play Store, downloaded a USB OTG detection app, nothing was found. Turned out that either LG or Google left that feature out. Researched it further and learned that rooting might work. Afraid I could brick my phone, decided to live with it. A viable workaround would be to transfer files via wi-fi or Bluetooth. If no Bluetooth hardware on your computer, get a dongle to plug into the USB port. It should work.

---
Tags: adb, usb, recovery-mode, lg
---


# Question
Title: How to turn off all notifications of Android Facebook app?
There are many old/partial/... threads about this where I find none of them satisfactory and sufficient. I want to turn all notifications off of my Android Facebook app. It has not been possible before, so I did not have the app. I will uninstall the app if there is no solution for the task.

I have browsed all Facebook settings but they do not have anything about turning all notifications off.

I would like to find also System specific block for Facebook App i.e. do not allow it it to show me any notifications. It would be great if you can do this without third party appplications.

Phone: Oneplus 2
OS: OxygenOS 3.1 (Android 6)

# Answer
> 1 votes
A good alternative is to delete the Facebook app and set up a browser shortcut on your homescreen through **Contacts**. BTW, your internal storage will be spared a huge accumulating burden as well. I did this on two of my devices. The only drawback is not being able to share from applications on your phone that might use it.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Current solution is the differential solution which I use because the company has no plans and/or motivation to respect the users privacy. The company tries to impress users by letting them individually change some features of the app, but does not let the user have complete privacy. There are several contact requests to the company but they are not fullfilled.

**Conclusion**: uninstall Android Facebook application.

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, notifications, facebook, push-notifications
---


# Question
Title: Is the wifi hotspot feature available on newer android phones?
I have a captivate glide running android 4.0.4 with at&t and it has a wifi hotspot feature that I can turn on to share my data connection via wifi. I'm planning on getting a samsung galaxy s6 or s7 and was wondering if this feature is still available. I try to read all the documentation but it's all marketing hype and doesn't mention things like this that I can find. Anybody use this feature? Is it still a thing? Are there any phones that support it?

# Answer
Almost all phones support this fundamental feature nowadays, so much that it's no longer on marketing materials. I use the feature exclusively on some of my phones - I have data SIMs in them and carry them around to provide connection for my main phone. S7 even supports relaying WiFi connections which is rare.

However, do note that some carriers (e.g. Verizon) would sometimes lock the feature behind certain restrictions, like you need to have the carrier's SIM, or you need to have a payment plan with tethering enabled.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, wifi-hotspot
---


# Question
Title: How to use a bluetooth mouse on an Android Phone?
I have a RedMi Note 3 with CM13 installed. I bought a Phone bracket to watch videos on my bed. To interact with my Phone without the bother to lift my hand, I tried to use a bluetooth mouse.

My Phone can connect to the bluetooth mouse, but shows no pointer and no reaction.

I searched throw the Internet, but the results are all about how to use a phone as a virtual mouse to control a PC. I really don't know how to filter them out. Could you give me any guide on it? Thank you.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I happen to have got a Redmi Note 3 (Snapdragon) just recently and also have CM13 on it, and my Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo connects and functions just fine.

All I can say is that your mouse might be faulty - test it somewhere else.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, bluetooth, mouse, xiaomi-redmi-note-4g
---


# Question
Title: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9006: Chinese knockoff/clone or genuine phone?
A few months ago a relative picked up a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N9006) while in China. The price was low so he didn't think much of it. The phone looks genuine and when it boots up it shows the Samsung logo and all that.

While researching a problem with the preinstalled apps - see my other question here \- and looking into rooting it, and/or installing a custom rom, it was made clear that I had to be careful to pick the right rom for the device. *It was also pointed out that there are clones of these phones which complicates the problem.*

So, my question is, how do I know if I have a genuine Samsung Note 3 or a cheap clone?

---

```
Device Info:
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9006
Android 4.4.2
Baseband: MT6582
Build: JSS15J.N9006ZCUBMI5

```

---

EDIT:

It was suggested that if a code in the dialer can NOT bring a debugging menu on screen then it is a clone. Well, the code worked for me. It showed a set of buttons for various hardware components like, wifi, flash, speakers etc. They did perform basic tests on a couple that I tried.

# Answer
It seems that your device uses a MediaTek MT6582 chip, as seen in this line of your device info:

```
Baseband: MT6582

```

There are no Samsung Galaxy flagship devices (e.g. Note / S devices) that use MediaTek chips. Samsung uses Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, its own Exynos chips, and the occasional Spreadtrum chip. MediaTek chips just don't deliver the level of performance that Samsung wants in their flagships. I'm afraid the device is a clone.

One way to confirm this is by going to the dialer app and typing `*#0*#`. On a genuine Samsung device, you'll be taken to a debugging menu right after you enter the last `#`.

**After some more research and consideration, it does appear that your device is indeed genuine. The `*#0*#` test you did (and passed) further strengthens this claim. (I apologize for my previous answer.)**
> 1 votes

# Answer
In contrast to Bruno's answer, it is a genuine Samsung Galaxy Note 3 produced for use in China and it's listed on Samsung's official website for model N9006 (in Chinese).

A rooting thread on XDA Forum also mentioned that it is "*the most international version of the Note3 in China*". Consider it as another Galaxy Note 3 variant, not as a fake clone.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I have searched for the "SM-N9006" and **it is a clone**. The original Galaxy Note 3 models are:

* Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9000 (3G)
* Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9002 (Dual SIM)
* Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 (LTE)

Even though the debugging menu works, this model is fake. When searching for ROMs and Root, search for the "SM-N9006" model, then you'll find only the files made for this specific device.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Baseband: MT6582 this is definately a fake note 3, and i bet the sticker in the back of the phone is not like the regular sticker u find in all samsung, reason i say this is becasue MT6582 +++ are basebands they use to sell copy phones, if u search any china wholesale phones supplier you will see that they all use this baseband,,,,, while the SM-N9006 is a real and genuine samsung, it must have the correct basebands , not the MT6582
> 0 votes

# Answer
For reference and as a supplement to the answers above, one more evidence pointing to a fake clone: the Android version string says `4.4.2` but the build number is `JSS15J` which corresponds to Jelly Bean 4.3 (and an early build of that).

Add that to the baseband saying MT6582 (where genuine phones would say something like N9006ZCUBMI5, similar to the build number's second part), and clearly you have a fake.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-note-3
---


# Question
Title: How do you get the permissions popup to come back?
We have Nexus 5X running Android 6. We are using a dongle to connect the USB C plug to a USB A device and when we did it for the first time we got a permissions popup to allow us to use the USB device. However, when we try it now the device is not working and no matter what we do (unplug and replug, restart) we can't get the permissions popup back to allow us to the USB device. Any suggestions?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Settings - Developer options - Revoke USB debugging authorizations.

---
Tags: usb, nexus-5
---


# Question
Title: How do people at service center check if the phone is rooted or not?
How do they check it, in order to decide whether the phone is in warranty or not? I am referring to the majority of the phone manufacturers who void the warranty of their phones 'as soon as they are rooted'.

# Answer
Varies as per OEM

* Most devices need bootloader to be unlocked before rooting. OEMs like Motorola insist on a formal request to be made on their website for obtaining boot loader unlock code. The moment you make the request, your warranty is void whether you unlocked the bootloader / rooted or not

**Edit:** Since you own a Motorola device, more details

* When you request for bootloader unlock code, you have to identify your device serial number, which means database is available with service center to check against your serial number. Motorola clearly warns you that requesting for unlock code = rooting, whether you root or not and void warranty

+ If you do unlock bootloader and **do not take** steps to prevent this warning from showing up (involves flashing a custom boot logo file) , this image will show up everytime you boot.

* Even if you lock bootloader again by applying a bootloader lock code, in bootloader mode it will show

\`DEVICE IS LOCKED. STATUS CODE : 2'

whereas the status code for unlocked devices is `1`

So be *very sure* about unlocking bootloader, the service center guys can easily find out !!

* For Samsung devices it is very easy to read the *Knox* status. If that is tripped, your warranty is void ( exceptions apply in some geographies)
* Some devices display *Modified / Custom* status in the device properties or in diagnostics ( this to Andy for pointing that out)
* It is reasonable to expect that OEMs who void warranty on rooting would have a root status shown in the device diagnostics. Just in case there isn't, they can use Root Checker apps, or check using Terminal Emulator. Use of third party apps I guess would be more of an exception, since inbuilt tools would do the job
> 8 votes

# Answer
Install Root Checker app or connect it to computer and check its firmware.
You can connect it to computer through Mobogenie and check it's root status
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rooting, root-access, unrooting, warranty
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible get caller’s cell tower information?
I had read somewhere that the caller’s cell tower information is sent to the receiver of the call. Is it true because I can’t find any details regarding this online? If this is true why are there no apps to show this information on the receiver side of the call?

Edit: For this we can consider that the phone is rooted and the entire ROM is open source including the vendor RIL framework.

# Answer
> 3 votes
No its not.

If i had a penny for every time i'd been asked this question, or answered a similar question i'd be very rich by now :-)

You as a user, CAN get your devices cell tower info, showing which tower id your connected to, but the only people who know that same info of the person placing a call to you are the engineers in the network operations control room and that's only because they have access to the networks MSCs and BSCs allowing them to query for a subscribers IMSI.

Some operators do make this info available via an API or some kind of exclusive network access, but generally only if your a big corporate client who's likely to spend a lot of money with them, and give them a cut of the revenue generated from such access.

For the likes of most folks wanting to write simple apps to show the location of the person calling them, well it's very likely to never happen.

# UPDATE

Seems I got a bit of flack from some sources about my abruptness on this answer originally, for those who are wondering I was a Senior Radio Access Networks Engineer for Orange UK for about 5 years, and routinely asisted law enforcment with queries regarding tracking calls, sms, and the location's of mobile handsets.

The amount of access that your engineers in the O&M department of your telco have is quite staggering, during my time in the job, I could at any time of day pull up any SMS, MMS or data packet sent across the company's networks, often without needing any kind of written permission.

I was able to do many things, including track your cell tower usage, but none of it was ever sent to the remote end of a connection, the originator was where that info stayed, well that and the internals of the network.

Now, that said, Iv'e been thinking about this question somewhat, and there is one way that it could be done, BUT... you would have to write your own calling application.

Essentially, what you would need to do, is write an app that intercepted both incoming calls and sms, and replaced the default outgoing calls app on the phone.

When a new call is made, once the number has dialed, you read the calling phones cell tower information, then build an SMS message with that info in.

Once the remote end answers (You can't do it while the phone's ringing as the signalling channel will be in use) send that SMS to the destination handset, and have the app that answered the call, tag that incoming message as belonging to that call.

Timing would be critical however, and it would be quite tricky to get right, with modern methods however, these days, it's kind of doable, but it's NOT an automatic thing.

---
Tags: calls, geolocation, gsm, cdma
---


# Question
Title: At 2016-oct-16, calendar goes back to 1970 (or, "cannot disable Tardis")
So... How do I disable time traveling?

I have Cyanogenmod 13 on a Redmi 2 Pro (a snapshot version), with opengapps 6.0-pico-20160704. I recently noticed that, when I get from 2016-oct-15 on the calendar to the next day (for example, by choosing "day" view and scrolling to the right), it goes back to 01-jan-1970 (Unix zero time). In month view, if I click on any day of that week, it also goes back in time.

It's funny: I can schedule events on a date within that week, but the calendar won't display them (that weeks stays empty). This happens with two different calendar frontends (Etar and AOSP Calendar), so it must be related to the internal Android Calendar.

Is this a known bug? What should I update in order to try to fix it?

And what will happen if I don't fix the bug before that week? Do I go back to the 70's?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm having the same issue and I saw another post saying that it's happening due to the beginning of summer time in Brasil, in October 16, so if you change your timezone it should stop... Obviously won't work for me because I live here and changing the timezone is not an option, but it's worth giving a try :) (even because the person that figured it out didn't say a thing about fixing it). Cheers!

# Answer
> 1 votes
Change your time zone for one that have actually the same old time you had. For instant, I live in Brazil GNT Brasília - 3:00. I'd faced the same bug at 2016-oct-16 due to the beginning of summer time in Brasil. To figure out just changed to Uruguay timezone

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, calendar, bugs
---


title: Some apps cannot access the internet

text:
# Question
Title: Some apps cannot access the internet
After my Android Lollipop upgrade on my HTC M8, some apps are unable to access the internet such as Twitter, but Facebook works perfectly fine. WhatsApp works fine except that I'm unable to receive Media files as well. This only happens with Wi-Fi.

I tried forgetting the network, rebooting the device, turning Wi-Fi, and even hard reset my phone. I reset the modem and done almost everything. Nothing works though.

None of this happened before the update, one more thing is that it only happens with my Home Wi-Fi, other Wi-Fi networks work perfectly fine.

I tried connecting other phones to my home Wi-Fi, and it works perfectly fine.

How can I solve this?

# Answer
> 1 votes
It's a DNS problem. Try using Google's DNS.

Go into your router's advanced setup and change the primary DNS server to `8.8.8.8`.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Google voice typing didn't work suddenly one day, so I tried swipe/dragon and it said I had no internet connection, try again later. This suggested some intermediate problem on the device. I had 3 bars of 4g and a functioning wireless, so figured it was a software problem. After much digging it appears that S Voice had updated itself without telling me, and I hadn't ticked the box to accept terms and conditions, nor had I given it a wake-up command. Once this process was completed, all back to normal.

---
Tags: applications, wi-fi, 5.0-lollipop
---


# Question
Title: How to install stock android on Huawei P9?
As you may know, Huawei ships its devices with their very own Emotion UI. I recently received such a device and was shocked someone willingly destroyed such a great phone with such a bad UI. It especially hurt, since I was coming from a Nexus device.

Due how extensive the problems are, there is no remedy other than installing stock android. But, is it a working remedy? Am I able to find stock android installation, which supports fingerprints and double back camera?

# Answer
Don't expect **anything** for phones running Kirin SoCs, at least for the foreseeable years.

AFAIK, only the Honor 6 generation (Kirin 920) received CM11 treatment, but it still is buggy and development never proceeded beyond Lollipop despite the phone having official Marshmallow. Huawei is (intentionally) making unlock harder and development resources hard to obtain so as to hamper third-party development.

Sell and grab another Nexus/OnePlus, and get some spare money in the process, simple as that.

**EDIT**: As of now, recent Huawei flagships such as P8, P9 and Mate 8 have received CyanogenMod (LineageOS) 13 (Android 6.0) treatment. Those builds, however, are far from daily-driver status, lacking basic features such as camera and hardware acceleration. There's also no sign of Nougat on the horizon, since official Nougat for those phones are in beta at best. Unless the open-source situation of Kirin changes, this will continue to be the norm.
> 0 votes

# Answer
> willingly destroyed such a great phone with such a bad UI. It especially hurt, since I was coming from a Nexus device.
>
> Due to the above, there is no remedy other than installing stock android. But, is it a working remedy? Am I able to find stock android installation, which supports fingerprints and double back camera?

Your best hope is that some one creates a AOSP-ROM for your device. But looking in http://forum.xda-developers.com/p9 forums there is none. Since you say you came from nexus device I can only hope next time you make some searches in XDA or get.cm where you can find most popular devices. For the moment P9 has some ROMs in xda but not as clean as AOSP.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I share your view on the notification (a real pain in the ass). I found a partial fix (but still got some issue, like with Airbnb) : http://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/07/04/push-notifications-not-coming-through-to-your-huawei-phone-heres-how-to-fix-it/#3390958978aa

Regarding the launcher, you can install one, then : Settings \> Apps \> Advanced \> Default Apps \> then choose your app (such as the launcher)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: stock-android, huawei
---


# Question
Title: How can I enter into download mode on Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
I tried to put ClockworkMod recovery onto my Samsung GT-7582 and install CyanogenMod but it doesn't enter into download mode when I use `volume up` \+ `Home` \+ `power`. When I try this I see "Factory Mode" but for testing not for resetting the phone. ;(

How can I install CyanogenMod?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Android ADB Shell Commands would be one of the solutions. To get into download mode, please use following command in a Windows or Linux terminal.

```
adb shell reboot download

```

# Answer
> 0 votes
You've just catched a clone of a GT-S7582 (There's no solution for it)

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-s-duos-2
---


# Question
Title: Battery optimization not selectable in Cyanogenmod 13
I just installed Cyanogenmod 13 and a couple of Google Apps (the OpenGApps Micro Package) on a Nexus 4 mako Device. Trying to disable battery optimization for some apps, I found that in the batter settings screen I cannot select `Battery optimization` from the action menu. The item is simply not clickable. One can reach the battery optimization screen from `Settings -> Apps -> Settings -> battery optimization`, too, but then the selector going from `not optimized` to `all apps` is not clickable.

Am I missing some dependency or is this a bug? I have recovered some system settings by `TitaniumBackup`, maybe something was incompatible with CM? (Before, I ran an AOSP marshmallow rom, too).

# Answer
Also running CM13 on Nexus 4, with the difference being no GAPPS. The 2 entry points you mentioned works just fine here.

Try a clean flash without restoring settings using TiBu - CM uses a slightly different settings provider from AOSP and it might prove incompatible indeed.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, 6.0-marshmallow, battery
---


# Question
Title: Getting "Authentication is required" when trying to access the Play Store
Over the past week, whenever I try to open the Play Store/Market app on my phone, the app thinks for a while and then displays this error message:

> Authentication is required. You need to sign into your Google Account.

But I am indeed signed into my Google account, as seen in other Google applications running on the phone, and as seen if I open the menu in the Market app and click the "Accounts" button.

I suspect this might be related to the fact that over the past few months I've had two different Google accounts synced to this device, and I have recently removed one of them from the phone. No other Google application has had any problems with removing one account.

Does anyone know how I can solve this issue? I can still install applications by using the market website (now "Google Play"), but this is still a big inconvenience. I also think I stopped getting updates.

# Answer
> 6 votes
I went to `Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> All`, chose the Market application in the list, and clicked on "Uninstall updates" button which appeared there. It gave me an old, but *working*, version of the market app. I hope it will update itself in the future and will continue to work properly.

Thanks to Matthew for inspiring me to look over there.

# Answer
> 32 votes
This worked for me: `System settings > Apps > "All" (tab at top) > Google Play Store`

Then press buttons in order: "Force stop" and "Clear data"

Exit Settings. Start the Play Store. Press at the top left top open the menu options.. Verify you have the correct account selected.

# Answer
> 5 votes
You have to remove all your accounts from your device and re-add them. Or, just re-sync your google accounts from the Accounts & sync menu.

Go the Settings \> Accounts & sync \> Click on your account then remove account.

I removed all of my accounts that I had at that time, hopefully you haven't forgotten your passwords for your account. After I had done this, I restarted the device.

When my device came back on, I clicked on my Google Play Store, from there I was asked to sign in my account.

# Answer
> 2 votes
This happened to me when I changed my Google account password. A simple phone restart did the trick for me. (Android 4.2)

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you have a firewall application installed, it may be set too strictly. Try disabling it (or loosening up the rules). Once I did that, trying to open the Play Store popped up a notification about Access Requested, which (when clicked) prompted me to re-enter my password.

# Answer
> -1 votes
I guess this happens when you change your Google account password, please see below steps that was helpful for me.

1. Tap (touch) on Play store icon
2. Touch menu key (key on the left side of home key on bottom) of the phone
3. Select Settings
4. Select "Content filtering" under user controls
5. Tick your selection or select all, and
6. Click- OK.
7. Then it might ask your new password,
8. Enter your Google password, then you can open Apps (Play Store).

---
Tags: google-play-store, google-account, authorization
---


# Question
Title: How can I recover deleted photos and videos from vault app
I used vault app to hide some pictures and videos.

I just formatted my phone after then I re-installed vault and I am unable to find my pictures and videos.

Is there any way to recover my pictures and videos ?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Well, I think, you can try some data recovery tools. If your lost photos are not rewritten by other data, with a third party tool-Android Recovery Mac, you can easily recover them.

Step 1: Run Android Photo Recovery Mac and Select Files to Recover

Step 2: Connect Your Android Device to Mac and Start Scanning

Step 3: Recover Deleted Pictures from Android on Mac

ANother : Gihosoft free Android data recovery software is quite good at this field, and their software is for free, you can download it and have a try.

---
Tags: samsung, privacy, nqvault
---


# Question
Title: need to track # of times a video is opened/viewed on a Samsung Galaxy tablet. How?
I work for a company in Africa that works with smallholder farmers. One way that we try to improve our farmers' experiences is through showing them video of agricultural techniques and other subjects. The videos are all put on Samsung Galaxy Tab3 or 4 tablets and shown to the clients in the field. I need to know how many times the video is open and being shown to clients. The current video application we use does not track number of times viewed or open. Does anyone have a suggestions for an app or another way that I can track this? Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can use Android secret code `*#*#4636#*#*` to track the usage time of the video player. While that does not give you the *number* of times video player has been opened, it should give you a fair indicator of the number of times (= usage / video duration ). The secret code needs to be entered on the dialpad of your telephone app

This app does the same and is an alternate to the secret code - 4636. Screenshot of usage time on my device below. You have options to track usage as shown

( Thanks to OP for highlighting another app App Usage that worked but 4636 didn't)

---
Tags: samsung, video, tablet-apps
---


# Question
Title: How do I install systemless SuperSU in Samsung?
I'm currently using a custom Android 6.0 ROM on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900. I need to put suhide in my device and it need systemless SuperSU to be installed, Google didn't help me at all. Any of you guys know how to?

# Answer
> 5 votes
If you are using stock Android 6 and newer you can only have systemless root because of security restriction. So if you root your phone running stock Android 6, you will have systemless root.

Because you are using a Samsung phone it might be a bit more tricky. It could be that your custom rom has it's own su installation in the system partition. Then it's not systemless. To have a systemless root installation it's required to install su in the boot image. This requires your device's bootloader to allow flashing the boot image.

On most devices you can somehow flash the boot image by unlocking the bootloader.

For more information about what systemless root is have a look here.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Sometimes the need for a systemless installation of SuperSU is not detected by the installation script, to force this to occur follow the following steps.

1. Start TWRP 3.0 or higher on the device
2. Go to Advanced - Terminal
3. In the terminal, enter `echo SYSTEMLESS=true>>/data/.supersu`
4. Press `Enter`
5. Exit to the TWRP main menu
6. Flash the current SuperSU as per normal

When flashing SuperSU, you should see in the TWRP recovery log screen mentions of system-less installation and patching of the boot image.

---
Tags: rooting, 6.0-marshmallow, supersu, systemless-root
---


# Question
Title: Broken Screen + Using adb shell to run vnc server
I have an HTC HD2 with a completely busted screen, I tried repairing it with a replacement screen but broke the ribbon cable to the screen (oops) sad day,

I've got two of these and I've been running them as servers and ipcam cameras.

I started using `qtadb`, which did work on my phone despite a broken screen. I installed droid VNC Server beta using the file manager on qtadb. I grabbed the app's manifest:

```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest android:versionCode="52" android:versionName="0.991" package="org.onaips.vnc"  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="3" />
<application android:label="droid VNC server" android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:name="MainApplication" android:debuggable="false">
    <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:name=".MainActivity" android:launchMode="singleInstance">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:label="Preferences" android:name="preferences" />
    <meta-data android:name="com.mobclix.APPLICATION_ID" android:value="1F34160B-63BB-4854-BDB7-D46B7EADBF06" />
    <activity android:name="com.mobclix.android.sdk.MobclixBrowserActivity" />
    <service android:name="StartAtBootService">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="org.onaips.vnc.StartAtBootService" />
        </intent-filter>
    </service>
    <receiver android:name="StartAtBootServiceReceiver">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
        </intent-filter>
    </receiver>
    <service android:name="avncservice" />
</application>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_SUPERUSER" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
</manifest>

```

and I have tried several things to start and run the service using the console on qtadb. I have tried running:

```
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n org.onaips.vnc/com.mobclix.android.sdk.MobclixBrowserActivity

am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n org.onaips.vnc/org.onaips.vnc.MainActivity

am start -n org.onaips.vnc/com.mobclix.android.sdk.MobclixBrowserActivity

am start -n org.onaips.vnc/org.onaips.vnc.MainActivity

am startservice -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n org.onaips.vnc/com.mobclix.android.sdk.MobclixBrowserActivity

am startservice -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n org.onaips.vnc/org.onaips.vnc.MainActivity

```

etc....

I test each time by NMAPing my device's ip address, no new ports show up. (I don't have a firewall)

But on a working phone, it doesn't start when you run the app; it starts when you press the run button. So How do I press the run button with a broken screen?

I just need vnc server to run so i can actually do some config things to run debian and my video server on it.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Use `adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.Main -n org.onaips.vnc/.MainActivity` outside the shell, and the VNC server will start.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This answer was suggested as an edit by an anonymous user, but should stand on its own.

---

First you have to locate the droidvncserver executable file on your device. On a Nexus S it's in this directory:

```
/data/data/org.onaips.vnc/files

```

Then you have to set the execution right on the executable file (it's a UNIX subutility) from PC using adb.exe. In a command line window (from the appropriate Android SDK folder) you can type :

```
adb.exe shell chmod 766 /data/data/org.onaips.vnc/files/androidvncserver

```

(this has to be to done only once, for further detail on chmod command type man chmod in google)

Then you'll be able to launch vnc server directly from your PC using adb.exe:

```
adb.exe shell /data/data/org.onaips.vnc/files/androidvncserver

```

Additionnaly to connect your VncViewer using the USB cable type in another command line window:

```
adb.exe forward tcp:5901 tcp:5901

```

# Answer
> 1 votes
Vysor is the answer! It's a Chrome app with a built-in VNC server that launches automatically. It even works on Android 6+. Find it here.

# Answer
> 0 votes
```
adb shell
cd /data/data/org.onaips.vnc/files
chmod 766 androidvncserver
androidvncserver

```

---
Tags: adb, shell, vnc, broken-screen
---


title: Cracked Screen CM13 Rooted VNC

text:
# Question
Title: Cracked Screen CM13 Rooted VNC
I cracked the screen on my LG G3 running CM13. It's rooted but I can't get to a adb root shell because ADB root is not enabled by default. I want to clean up some stuff and VNC is my best bet. I installed VNC Droid Server but I can't click on Start to get it started. Instructions here require root over adb to start the vncserver manually.

**Does anybody know how I can get a VNC server started on Android 6.0 without the ability to touch the screen?**

# Answer
Vysor is the answer! It's a Chrome app with a built-in VNC server that launches automatically. It even works on Android 6+. Find it here.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, root-access, vnc
---


# Question
Title: No longer able to create Gifs with last update
I cut videos to under 6 seconds but the gif button doesn't appear. This function has been disabled?

# Answer
Same case. I guess it's gone. Noted that sendings gifs "normally" still doesn't work as well. However, old \<6sec gifs sent before can be forwarded successfully.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Open SWF in Chrome for Android

text:
# Question
Title: Open SWF in Chrome for Android
I can open SWF URLs in Chrome for PC, however, I cannot open them using Chrome for Android on my device.

Is there a Chrome plugin, or is there Java code that will do the mission, if there is, I will create a new Android project and program it then install the APK.

**The URL that I test with is :**

http://www.b7r11.com/tkber.swf

# Answer
> 3 votes
What's your Android version? I'll assume you're using 4.1 or newer.

The .swf extension is used by files played by Adobe Flash Player. Unfortunately, Flash **is not supported on Android** since 4.1.

You can try installing the Flash Player APK. The latest version is for 4.0/ICS, but some people say it works on 4.1+/JB as well. Remember: **Your Mileage May Vary**™.

Additionally, Chrome for Android never supported Flash - even with the APK installed. (Thanks to Compro01 for confirming that!) So **you'll need to use a different browser**.

If you are *not* using Android 4.1 or newer, please update your question with more information.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Just downloaded Flashfox from Google Play store and issues with swf dissapeared.

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, adobe-flash
---


title: Help - Acces to phone taken over

text:
# Question
Title: Help - Acces to phone taken over
I have an LG Stylo 2 or LG775 and people from my house are hacked into my phone please help me!

Click on Image to enlarge

# Answer
Change your password for your Google account and add another verification method onto your account.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage
---


# Question
Title: How do I change the stock firmware in Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo to higher than 4.4 KitKat without rooting?
My Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo has Android Kitkat. Is there a way to upgrade (without rooting the phone) to a newer version?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Quite simply, no. Samsung support ends at KitKat due to its age.

There does seem to be official CyanogenMod 12.1 (Android 5.1.1) and even unofficial ResurrectionRemix (Android 6.0.1) available, but you will need root and/or recovery to flash them, so I'll not go into details.

---
Tags: samsung, stock-android, device-firmware, android-versions
---


title: Just found my SD card was corrupted.

text:
# Question
Title: Just found my SD card was corrupted.
Just found my SD card is corrupted. My internal memory is almost full so was checking to see if it was going to the SD card yet and saw that it was corrupted. Bought a new SD card. Now what do I do? Can I just transfer the same memory into the new one?

# Answer
Why did you decide it is corrupted? When my phone can't read my SD card I usually do the following.

1. Insert the corrupted card in PC and blindly copy its content in some HD directory. I usually specify option ignore errors. It may cause issues with some files, but usually it is recoverable
2. I format the corrupted card with option check media for errors. If it got formatted with only few or no errors, I usually reuse it. Otherwise I take a new card
3. I copy all copied content from hard drive back to the new or old recovered card
4. I return the card back in the phone and usually it continues working as before

Note that SD card usually holds only certain number of rewrites, therefore if you do writing a lot, then a new card will be always a better solution.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sd-card
---


title: Can we see what apps are logged in?

text:
# Question
Title: Can we see what apps are logged in?
I think that the question is different to What Apps Are Running, I want to know what apps are logged in.

I discovered that couchsurfing, despite not using it for months was logged in, eBay was, likely others. I don't particularly want them collecting data.

Short of opening each app and checking, is there a system way to do this?

# Answer
I am not aware of *system level* approach but this app gives you a view OS Monitor. There may be other apps too

> It offers the following information.
>
> * Processes - monitor all processes.
> * **Connections - display every network connection.**
> * Misc - monitor battery, processors, network interfaces and file system.
> * Messages - search dmesg or logcat in real-time.

Snapshot from the app on my device below
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Possible to transfer songs from iTunes (on Mac) to Android phone?
I have a significant music collection on my computer, which I am still frequently adding to. While the songs I've downloaded in the last several years are all DRM free (either downloaded for free or on iTunes post-DRM), I have many songs from the iTunes-DRM era. I use an iPhone as my phone almost exclusively for this reason (to use DRM-laced songs). Recently I have become disillusioned with iPhones and am considering switching to one of the new Google Pixel phones. However, my biggest hangup is still being able to store all my music on my device.

Now that Apple Music is available for iPhone, I was thinking it might be possible to access all my music on an Android phone--but I can't figure out conclusively if this will work. I have checked this official Apple page:

> From your own collection
>
> To add music that you imported from CDs, or bought from the iTunes Store or other sources, use iTunes on a Mac or PC. Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes.
>
> 1. Open iTunes.
> 2. Sign in to the iTunes Store with the same Apple ID that you use on your Android phone for Apple Music.
> 3. Turn on iCloud Music Library and wait for iTunes to finish updating your library.
>
> Any music that you add to iTunes after you turn on iCloud Music Library will be available in Apple Music on your Android phone.

However, I would like to avoid having to upload all my music to the iCloud Music Library (don't want to have to deal with that when I really just want to offload music straight from my computer to my device using a USB cord).

**Can I transfer songs from my computer (Mac) to an Android phone that has Apple Music (or maybe some other software?) using a wired connection, *without* having to upload everything to iCloud? If so, will this work even for iTunes-DRM-laced songs?**

If iCloud is the only option, I will probably cave and do this, but only if it will work with *all* my songs (from iTunes-DRM, iTunes-non-DRM, non-iTunes), and if I don't have to pay to store my songs on iCloud (again, I don't need to be able to access them from anywhere, just my computer and a single Android phone).

Similar questions have been asked before, but are all out of date (3-6 years old).:

# Answer
> 6 votes
Of course, it's trivial to transfer the non-DRM music. There are lots of apps on Google Play that effectively sync iTunes with Android in an iTunes-iOS way. Personally, I really like iSyncr used together with Rocket Player. It can also be done manually via Android File Transfer. The problem, however, comes with the DRM music.

I've been in exactly the same situation as you. I made the move from iOS to Android, and had a bunch of old iTunes DRM music in my iTunes library that I wanted to sync to my Android devices.

### There is absolutely no way to playback the iTunes DRM files on Android

I've tried this personally, and I can confirm that at the time of writing (October 2016) there is absolutely no way to do it. iTunes DRM music will **only** play on Apple software. The Apple Music Android app *might* stream your uploaded music, but only if you're a **paid** subscriber. Apple Music doesn't let you do **anything** unless you get a paid plan. That's the first thing the app asks you to do when you open it, and there's really no other functionality to the app unless you do that. And even if you *were* a paid subscriber, I'm not sure what sort of offline or internal storage functionality the app would give you. It's really a *streaming* app.

### You need DRM-free files

Please note: These methods all have annoying flaws about them. I'm sorry, but I'm really not aware of any better ways. I have searched quite thoroughly.

### Option1 : Burn to a virtual CD and reimport

This is probably the easiest and most reliable way to do it. (Unless you have dozens of albums, in which case, yes, it's a lot of manual work.) Emulate a burnable CD. Use iTunes to burn the songs do the virtual disk. The software will burn it very fast since it's virtual. It will instantly be mounted as a virtual CD on your macOS. You can then import the songs to iTunes again, DRM-free. This is also very fast. I used Apple Lossless format while reimporting, because I have OCD about not losing quality. I have tried this on Yosemite and it 100% works. Here's an alternative for Windows users (haven't tried it myself, though.) If, somehow, emulation doesn't work for you, then I guess you could use a **re**writeable actual physical CD. That would be much slower, though.

### Option 2: Delete and redownload from iTunes (may not always work.)

According to Apple, you can delete the DRM songs from your iTunes library and download them again from the iTunes store. This is supposed to give you non-DRM copies of the songs. However, I've found that this doesn't always work. I just tried it with one song that I bought 10 years ago, and the downloaded file was DRM. Also, it was 128 kbps even though I would have gotten twice that bitrate had I purchased the same song today. Thanks, Apple! Also, if trying this, make sure you have a **backup** of your songs before deleting them. Previously purchased items are not always available for redownload.

### Option 3: Pay Apple to remove the DRM (ugh)

According to some of the answers to this question on Ask Different, you can pay Apple for some services to remove the DRM. I'm not sure if this works anymore, though. Also it just *feels* bad to have to pay again for music you've already bought and paid for.

### Option 4: Remove DRM with (paid) app

There's another way that will (unfortunatley) cost you money too.

The app is called TunesKit, and can be purchased from here. I've tried the free trial version, and it worked fine. Unfortunately, the limitations with the free trial mean that you'll need the paid version for it to be of any real use.

In the past, there were free apps to do what that app does. I haven't been able to get any of those apps to work as of today. I haven't found any currently working free apps that remove iTunes DRM. If anyone knows of any, then please let me know.

### Option 5: Download again from non-DRM source

One final option is to simply redownload your music from a non-DRM source and delete the old DRM music. For example, I had some music from General Fuzz, an artist who licenses his music under the Creative Commons license. I had already paid for his music through iTunes (as a way to support him), so I merely used BitTorrent to download his music again, legally. Of course, it's likely that the vast majority of your music is *not* licensed under such a license. However, you have already paid for the music. If your personal morals, the laws in your jurisdiction and your computer knowledge allows you to do this safely, then you may consider simply redownloading the music through BitTorrent. I personally wouldn't have any ethical objections to downloading music I'd already paid for in this fashion, but do consider the laws of your juridsiction.

# Answer
> 0 votes
*Warning: this answer has been proven* ***not*** *to work with DRM protected songs. This answer helps with that.*

# Yay! You can!

You will need to consult here to be able to use android's MTP function on your Mac: android.com/filetransfer

Here is how:

1. Plug your Phone in via MTP, and open a window leading to it's music folder/ where you want the music to go.
2. Open **another** window and go \[Your username\] \> iTunes \> iTunes Music (also called iTunes Media)

(If it ain't there, check in iTunes where the music is saved, OR go into its advanced preferences and check if 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library' is checked.)
3. Copy and paste it to your device, like a boss.

Hope that helps! IF you are having trouble playing it, use VLC media player. Its very good when it comes to format support.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can sync your iTunes music files from your windows or mac through an app called *AirSync by doubleTwist* \- available in Google Play store.

---
Tags: music, music-player, macos, itunes
---


# Question
Title: How decrease font or make text readable in Android Chrome?
Output in Android Chrome where you see classroom not visible in timetable, but I see it with my PC. Portrait and landscape views have the same problem.

Fig. 1 Landscape view

Phone: Oneplus 2.
OS: OxygenOS 3.1.

# Answer
Options inherent to Chrome

* By *Scaling* the text size to make it readable

Menu (upper right corner) → Settings →Accessibility option → Text Scaling

Of course, you may need to resize the text for other sites of text is too small for comfort

* By enabling *Force Zoom* \- useful if zoom by pinching is disabled
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, chrome-for-android, zooming, usability, browser
---


# Question
Title: how to solve screen not functioning properly
how to solve screen not functioning properly my phone is Tecno L8, and some parts of the screen are not responding to touch. and its also popping up things not pressed. how do i solve this error

# Answer
> 0 votes
Your digitizer is likely broken. You can either send it back to the original manufacturer for repair or find a third party source that can do it for you.

You may just want to consider replacing the phone.

---
Tags: tecno-n3
---


# Question
Title: How do I export my Google Fit data to iPhone and keep it in sync in the future?
I have used Google Fit on my Android phone for a while, and recently switched to the iPhone. How do I import my step counts and other fitness data into Apple Health on the iPhone from Google Fit?

Are there cross-platform cloud services that store this data in the cloud and have both iOS and Android clients so that I don't have this problem again the next time I switch phones?

I posted the same question on apple.stackexchange.com to get answers from iOS users.

# Answer
To answer the first part of your question - the Android part:

You export your Google Fit data by going to Google Takeout. It is not exported from within the Fit app itself.

Takeout is part of Google's Data Liberation project. It enables you to download a copy of your data held by Google and attached to your Google account.

The Fit data can be downloaded in TCX or CSV format.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: ios, fitness, google-fit
---


# Question
Title: K-9 Mail - Pushing mail only when interacting with app needed
With K-9 Mail, could you please advise if it is possible to have these mail fetching settings:

1) Polling every hour, both when interacting with the app and when running in the background.

but also:

2) Pushing all folders only when interacting with the app, but not when the app is just running in the background.

The reason for this is that I like push to update folders promptly when interacting with the app, but don't want to have unnecessary push connections open in the background. However, I still like to poll in the background to be notified of new messages periodically.

I am using a Gmail IMAP account on a tablet running Android 5.0.1.

I have read through the documentation and been through the settings but would just like clarification on the above points.

# Answer
> 0 votes
No it's not.

It is not possible to configure the push service to only run while the app is open.

---
Tags: email, tablet, push-notifications, imap, k9-mail
---


# Question
Title: Is K-9 Mail susceptible to MITM attacks?
I am using K-9 Mail on Android and have set the SSL option to 'SSL (strict)'.

My understanding is that with this option K-9 definitely requires a valid SSL certificate which is issued by a trusted CA, i.e. no self-signed certificates.

What I am wondering about is whether K-9 actually evaluates the CN field in the certificate, i.e. whether it only accepts a certificate as valid and trusted if the CN and the mail server's DNS name match. This is IMO a fundamental requirement in order to not fall for MITM attacks. If K-9 did not match those, in the worst case K-9 would accept any (wildcard) certificate presented on the condition that is has been signed by a trusted CA.

Has anyone tested/confirmed/verified that this is not the case?

# Answer
It uses the Android in-built SSL socket factory to create the connection. So yes, it's just as authenticated as accessing a secure webpage on the phone's browser.
> 0 votes

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Tags: security, certificates, https, k9-mail
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# Question
Title: Receiving Chinese blocks of texts in the Messaging app
My wife is getting some weird text messages as replies in middle of conversations with her friends. The messages are blocks of Chinese characters. She gets these in the stock messaging app from friends that use Samsung phones and iPhones. She is using a Nexus 5X on AT&T. (**N.B.** Other users have asked the same question about the Samsung Galaxy S7, so it's not a phone-specific issue.)

Here is a screencap from today from an iPhone user, and translating the text does not make sense (though I did image translation): :

(Click to see the image in full size)

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Here is one from a Samsung phone and from their end:

(Click to see the image in full size)

Does anyone know why this is happening? Is it some weird thing when someone with a weird texting app replies with some emoji/GIF/image?

# Answer
> 7 votes
# Cause

It's likely caused by either/both character encoding incompatibility and/or wrong character encoding, resulting in mojibake (garbled text):

1. **Character encoding incompatibility**
SMS, or text message, in general supports either text-only (e.g. GSM 03.38), or Unicode (e.g. UTF-8, UTF-16, UCS-2). Emoji, a character that resembles an image (not to be confused with emoticon, "*a pictorial representation of a facial expression using punctuation marks, numbers and letters*"), is supported in Unicode (UTF-16), but not in GSM 03.38.
2. **Wrong character encoding issue**
For some reasons, the original character encoding is wrongly interpreted somewhere (e.g. by app, or by text provider), resulting in different character encoding. While in some cases it doesn't affect the text, other cases may result in totally garbled text (refer to Microsoft Windows "*Bush hid the facts*" bug).

In this case, it's likely that one of the encoding that is used in SMS, *GSM. 03.38, which uses 7-bit per character*, is interpreted as *UTF-16, which uses 16-bit per character* due to emoji.

# Solution

* **Recipients**
Try changing the messaging app. If it doesn't fix the issue, then it's probably caused by the text provider itself. However, you can still try to recover the text (e.g. using online service such as http://string-functions.com/encodedecode.aspx): set encoding to UTF-16 and decoding to UTF-8.
* **Senders**
Avoid emoji at all, or make the messaging apps send it as text-only (e.g. in *Google Messenger*, there's *Simple characters only* in *Advanced settings* to convert special characters in SMS messages when sending it)

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Further reading:

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Tags: sms, att, google-messages, chinese-language
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title: How to get rid of annoying pop up ads?

text:
# Question
Title: How to get rid of annoying pop up ads?
When I connect the internet and open any app, a pop-up ad appears randomly. Ads are still showing, although I did factory reset the phone (all installed apps removed) as well. I also tried to remove the malware app with Avast. Avast detected the issue as well. But couldn't able to remove as well. I uninstalled the malware app which Avast detected. The malware apps installed automatically with another name after uninstalling it. How can I get rid of that annoying issue?

Some screenshots of that issue have attached here.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Since a factory reset didn't fix the issue, the malware responsible for this has embedded itself into the operating system. There is only one solution now. You will have to flash the stock firmware.

Instead of making *another* "how to flash a custom ROM" question, I found an straight forward article that should help you though it.

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-flash-a-rom-to-your-android-phone-30885281

The ROM you are flashing is provided by the manufacturer of the phone and you should be able to find it on their website.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Your phone is infected by malwares. If you check your app list, you'll notice that there are unusual apps with sometimes weird names.

To get rid of that, all you have is to uninstall them. There is two methods:

*DISCLAIMER: Do it at your own risk, I won't be held responsible if anything goes wrong.*

1. First the root method: You have to root your phone and then using adb shell, uninstall the apps - a bit tricky and risky as well. You need to install ADB server on your PC (search for Minimal ADB and Fastboot). Open it and tape the following:

`adb shell`

```
`su`

`mount -o remount, rw /system`

`cd /system/app`

`ls (this list all apps on your phone)`

```

Then:

```
rm "app_name"

```

*You must tape the exact app name + .apk or .odex*

Do this to all unwanted apps. You may encounter with apps that can't be removed (operation not permitted), then you need BusyBox installed (Google for that). just let's know, we'll try to help.

2. The second method, less tricky but always risky, is to download Debloater, open the USB debugging mode, connect your phone to your computer. You'll see all the installed applications. Just check those you want to remove.

Et voilà.

DON'T REMOVE AN APP IF YOU'RE NOT SURE ABOUT, YOU MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE.

# Answer
> -3 votes
If you have **root** your phone you could use **AdAway** app, that blocks most of the ads

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Tags: malware, antivirus, ads, popup
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