# Question
Title: What type of hardware support is required for getting the widevine L1 level?
It s said that widevine L1 level requires hardware support so that it s impossible even for manufacturer to provide it through a system update.

But what exactly has to be done by the hardware?

# Answer
> To meet security Level 1, all content processing, cryptography, and control must be performed within the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) of the device’s processor, to prevent external tampering and copying of the media file. All ARM Cortex-A processors implement TrustZone technology, creating a hardware separation that allows a trusted OS (such as Android) to create a TEE for DRM, and other secure applications.

<sup> (click to enlarge )</sup>

System update is at OS level (including drivers) but not at CPU/ TEE level which are totally independent. Quoting from wiki

> The TEE is a standard which creates an isolated environment that runs in parallel with the operating system, providing security for the rich environment. It is intended to be more secure than the User-facing OS. ARM TrustZone TEE is an implementation of the TEE standard

For more , see The Complete Guide to Widevine Google’s DRM Platform
> 1 votes

---
Tags: security, drm
---


# Question
Title: Can I sync folders in two devices over Bluetooth?
Can I sync folders and files in two Android devices? These devices are physically nearby, but not connected to the same Wi-Fi network. They are connected to the internet using their respective mobile data connection.

Maybe there's a possibility using e.g. Bluetooth and maybe use Wi-Fi Direct when large data transfer is needed?

I dont want AirDrop or NearbyShare like functionality. It is rather like Resillo or Syncthing over bluetooth.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Well I can't really say "sync" but the closest tool you can use is : Bluetooth File Transfer.

Its free (with ads) with option of non ad version at a price, but still good enough for the former option.

> It allows you to use your smartphone to browse, explore and manage files of any Bluetooth ready device, using File Transfer Profile (FTP) and Object Push Profile (OPP): you can also receive files and send contacts!

It provides its own OBEX layer, additionally you can cut, copy, move, paste, delete multiple items using the integrated explorer of this application.

---
Tags: sync, bluetooth, file-management, wifi-direct
---


# Question
Title: Bootloop and random restart issues in android (Gionee A1 plus)
My **Gionee A1 plus** started acting strange a month ago. It would often restart whenever I received any *SMS notification* and then boot up just fine. I tried using an earphone and keeping the phone in silent mode, as reducing the notification sound levels didn't help. This fixed the problem for a few weeks until 2 days ago while using my camera, it suddenly decided to restart but got stuck in a **bootloop**(the boot logo kept popping up and disappearing again and again). I managed to turn it off by plugging it to a charger where it went to *charging mode*.

After a bit of research, I entered the stock "**Android recovery mode**" and cleared the */cache partition* but that did not fix the issue. I panicked as I did not have a twrp or any other recovery tool installed. I didn't even have USB debugging enabled. However, after a bit more strolling I found that ***fastboot*** could detect my device(after *rebooting to bootloader*) and then ran the command `fastboot continue` and my phone booted up alright. But now my phone can't use the "Ultrafast charge mode" which makes the charging process 5 times longer and the battery drains really quick. What's more the phone restarting by itself has become often(I can't even use my camera) and its always the **bootloop**. I have to use ***fastboot*** to boot in again.

I created a backup of my data and then did a **factory reset** on the device to no use.

Do I need to flash a **stock ROM** to my device or am I missing something? I am inexperienced in this domain so please guide me on how to fix this issue. I have attached snaps of my *Recovery and Factory modes*.

**TLDR;** phone ends up in bootloop after suddenly restarting while in use, battery drains faster, no ultrafast charging, clearing cache and factory reset doesn't help.

# Answer
It actually turned out to be a battery issue. After replacement, the phone works as good as new(or so it seems).
> 0 votes

# Answer
Did it suddenly started to do weird things? Can you specify the cause. As per the mentioned details, you need to flash stock firmware from SPFlash Tool(as you have a MTK device). You can google for your firmware. And flash it while your phone is in download mode. I too have faced many bootlops while flashing roms. So I flash stock firmware and all good.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: charging, fastboot, boot-loop, 7.0-nougat, stock-android
---


# Question
Title: Use firefox as the in-app browser instead of chrome
When I click a link in another app, say "gmail" for instance, it opens up an in-app browser to view it.

When you clock on the top right menu bar, you can see that at the bottom it says "Powered by Chrome".

On another older phone, it somehow used to be "Powered by Firefox". I don't remember exactly how I enabled it. How should I enable it in other phones?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Setting the default browser as Firefox (it was set to none, because I had disabled chrome) worked.

For firefox, the instructions can be found here

For others, "default apps" menu in the settings is what I had to change for my version (Android P), ymmv.

---
Tags: browser
---


# Question
Title: Cannot upload arbitrary files using Chrome
Using for the first time latest Chrome (v30.x) on Android 4.0.4 ICS on a 1st Gen. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. To my huge surprise am not able to upload any files other than images or camera videos? In any webmail when I click attach a list of apps is displayed that includes Gallery, Camera etc. But the in-built file manager (My Files) is nowhere to be seen. Thinking there was a problem with it I tried many other file manager apps but none of them show up either. In stock Android browser though the in-built file manager is visible and allows me to select and upload files with any extension.

What could be wrong with Chrome and if possible how can I fix it?

# Answer
As confirmed by OP this app resolved the problem App Picker Classic. From app description

> If you have app choices that are currently hidden - maybe you chose "Always" by accident once, but you'd like to be able to reinstate the app and choose each time - then reset these by clearing the defaults in the application manager of your phone/tablet.

Once you clear the *defaults* in app settings, and try to upload this app would appear in the choices (in addition to 4 options: Camera, Camcorder, Sound Recorder and Gallery). Using this app you can select the file explorer app on your device to select the file you wish to upload

In addition, this app permits working with some app intents and resolves common URLs.

---

---

**Note:** Solution below did not work for OP but I am retaining it since it worked for me, and may help someone else too

It is possible by Local Storage App which doesn't offer a UI (though it does have) but integrates with Android system to pick *all* files from within the device and on external SD.

Tested on Samsung Note 2 running custom ROM 4.4.2 using Chrome `53.0.2785.124` in desktop mode ( latest on Play Store)

> Local Storage uses the new Storage Access Framework to allow other applications to **read or write any file** in your primary storage and read from secondary external storage devices (such as SD cards). On Android 5.0+ devices, you can also select entire directories and rename files.

Documentation on App Github says it is compatible with API 19 upwards

**Example**

Uploading a `.pdf` to PDF to doc site . Steps are shown sequentially in the panel of screen shots

* Click **upload**
* Choose **documents** option
* From the selection panel offered by the App choose the upload file location ( external SD in my case)
* Selected `pdf` file being uploaded
* `pdf` file uploaded and converted to `doc`
> 2 votes

# Answer
i was in stuck with same problem..

using FS File explorer/selector app worked for me..

can you please try this : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ioapps.fsexplorer
> 0 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, file-management, attachments
---


# Question
Title: How to remove package uninstaller notification (in notification bar)?
I installed tower fortress game from playstore and after when I uninstalled it this notification sticked in my notification bar and is not going away! It's been more than 4-5 hours and still it's sticked there!

Experts plz help me! My phone:- Lenovo K8 Note Android Oreo

# Answer
> 1 votes
Restart the device, if it does not go away force stop the "Package installer" service from `"Settings > Apps"`

# Answer
> 1 votes
Open Notification Bar and Long press on notification. Then click on information button and block package installer notification and then enable it .

---
Tags: uninstallation, 8.0-oreo
---


# Question
Title: Android phone "charging slowly": How to make it faster
When I put my Android device to charge, the lock screen says "**Charging slowly**":

Is it a particular software setting that tells Android to charge slowly?

How to make Android **charge fast**?

# Answer
> 58 votes
This is not a software setting: Android is just telling you that the power source you connected the device to is not giving enough electrical power to charge as fast as it could.

It seems that:

* "*Charging slowly*" means below 1 (at 5),
* "*Charging*" means between 1A and 1.5A,
* "*Charging rapidly*" means more than 1.5A.

The solution is to make more electrical power come to your device:

* If your computer has Type C port, use this one. This port will most likely also have Power Delivery, which will give you a "rapid" charge.
* Plug to the wall rather than to a laptop.
* Try different USB cables.
* Some adapter/device combinations are better than others (example for Nexus 6P/5X), so use an adapter made specifically for your device if available.
* Some laptops have different USB ports with different power performances. On my laptop I have 2 USB ports, if I plug in the port on the right Android says "**Charging slowly**" but if I plug in the port on the left (with the + battery symbol) Android says "**Charging**", which is better:

Edit: Please see @beeshyams' answer explaining why charging slowly is actually a good thing when your battery is already quite full.

# Answer
> 28 votes
Other answers have explained about how to make it charging faster, this answer tries to explain more about the threshold that the Android uses.

---

The charging speed is not configurable; it's just a status that Android shows to let the user knows about it.

When it was first implemented, it's based on the how much current (in milliAmpere) it receives. As shown on the commit log, "Show charging speed on Keyguard", specifically, the config.xml file, the default values were,

```
<!-- Threshold in micro amperes below which a charger is rated as "slow" -->
<integer name="config_chargingSlowlyThreshold">1000000</integer>
<!-- Threshold in micro amperes above which a charger is rated as "fast" -->
<integer name="config_chargingFastThreshold">1500000</integer>

```
* Charging slowly: \< 1A
* Charging: 1A - 1.5A
* Charging rapidly: \> 1.5A

5 months later, the implementation was changed to be based on power (in microWatts) it receives. As shown on the commit log, "Charging speed based on voltage", from the same config.xml file, the default values were,

```
<!-- Threshold in micro watts below which a charger is rated as "slow"; 1A @ 5V -->
<integer name="config_chargingSlowlyThreshold">5000000</integer>
<!-- Threshold in micro watts above which a charger is rated as "fast"; 1.5A @ 5V  -->
<integer name="config_chargingFastThreshold">7500000</integer>

```
* Charging slowly: \< 5W
* Charging: 5W - 7.5W
* Charging rapidly: \> 7.5W

---

Now, the default values and current behavior (using microWatts instead of Amperes) might be problematic on some devices (e.g. Nexus 5). However, those values are also adjustable by vendor/OS maker, as seen in LineageOS' case.

As reported in Nexus 5's LineageOS Bug Tracker and explained in Nexus 5's LineageOS Code Review,

> The default slow charge threshold in the framework is set to 5000000 microwatts. This assumes the devices OEM wall charger output is 1A @ 5V.
>
> The OEM LG Nexus 5 wall charger can only output 1.1A @ 4.8V at its max. Then that is further reduced to around 1A @ 4.3V by the charging driver in the kernel. This results in the lock screen incorrectly displaying "Charging slowly" all the time.
>
> Prior to Nougat, the threshold was based on microAmperes and was set to 1000000, which the charger/device could easily do, resulting in the lock screen displaying "Charging".
>
> This change lowers the threshold from 5000000 to 4200000 microwatts so that wall chargers show "Charging" on the lock screen, returning it to stock Marshmallow behavior.
>
> Note: This threshold only affects what is displayed on the lock screen. It does not affect actual charging current.

# Answer
> 10 votes
This is by way of supplementing OP's research with additional relevant inputs

# "Charging Rapidly" always is neither desirable nor changing the charger mode user configurable

## Why is it not desirable?

1. Current drawn for charging is not uniform. It varies depending on the stage of charging as can be seen from Figure 1 here
2. This is reiterated by OEM-see footnote 1

> *Battery must be substantially depleted; charging rate slows as charging progresses*

3. What this means is that **Charging Slowly is not necessarily bad**. You should expect and see *charging rapidly →Charging → charging slowly* transition happen as the charge level increases. This is the nature of charging Li Ion / LiPo batteries.*Charging rapidly* throughout the charging cycle is pushing power beyond what is needed and would surely ruin your battery- Hint: You will never see an OEM claiming to *fast charge from 0 t0 100% in xx minutes*. Fast charging typically ends in once the battery is charged in the region of 70%. ( You may need to use an app like Ampere to measure the charging current and the corresponding *charging slowly/ charging / charging rapidly* to specifically know for your device)

## Why is the Charging mode not user configurable?

Andrew's answer explains the associated current and power limits depending on which the mode changes and is android feature. Aside, Samsung has come up with user configurable options to enable/disable *fast charging*

# OK, how do I ensure it is charging rapidly whenever it should?

Options suggested by OP are all valid with a caveat- While mixing and matching cables to maximize current as quoted by you (example for 6P/ 5X from my earlier answer) is a good idea, you need to bear in mind the following

* Any fast charger won't do, use OEM charger only, if you want fast charging. Nexus 5X uses USB Type C charger not Qualcomm fast charging, though it runs a Qualcomm Chip. Nice write up here
* If shopping for cables outside Google,make sure they are USB Type C compliant

# Answer
> 1 votes
I've found another potential cause for `Charging slowly` which I didn't see in any previous answers.

My phone (Moto G7, USB-C charger) had debris in the charging port which made it difficult to charge. The connection was loose, and when it charged at all, it would often indicate that it was `Charging slowly`.

The solution:

# Cleaning the Charging Port

In my case **cleaning it**, then **cleaning it some more**, then **giving up because I thought it was a lost cause**, then **cleaning it again**. It was hard to believe how many small clumps of dust came out.

Sites such as this one suggest compressed air and a toothpick. I've also heard a number of other suggestions, listed below. I tried a plastic dental pick and it removed some dust, but bent and eventually broke when attempting to scrape compacted debris from the deepest part of the port.

Take the following suggestion **at your own risk** because it may scratch or short your charging port, but for me *scraping the deepest part of the port with a straightened staple* was what finally solved the problem. Again: **please** attempt softer, non-conductive methods first.

Once I did this, my charger firmly connected and started Turbo Charging immediately.

## Potential Improvised Cleaning Tools

Based on suggestions found in various Google Searches, forum posts, and what I had on hand in my office. From lowest- to highest-risk, by my own estimation. I hope such a ranking is ok and not too opinion-based or off-topic. I wanted to provide a useful reference to hopefully help someone avoid the frustration of finicky charging.

1. Compressed Air
2. Soft, non-conductive picks
    * Toothpick
    * Plastic dental pick
    * Coffee stirrer
3. ⚠ Metal picks ⚠
    * Staple
    * SIM Card Tool
    * Small paperclip

---
Tags: usb, nexus-5, charging, 6.0-marshmallow
---


title: fastboot stuck on sending 'boot'

text:
# Question
Title: fastboot stuck on sending 'boot'
I'm trying to flash `cm13` `boot.img` to my phone and it stuck on this for more than 20 minutes:

```
$fastboot flash boot boot.img
target didn't report max-download-size
sending 'boot' (5760 KB)...

```

and after I disconnect the cable I get this error:

```
FAILED (data transfer failure (Protocol error))

```

here is the result of other `fastboot` commands. since I already erase the `system`, `boot`, and `recovery`, `fastboot` is the only way I can interact with my phone.

```
$ fastboot devices
BX90319AH2&ZLP  fastboot

$ fastboot erase boot
erasing 'boot'...
(bootloader) Erase of partition 'boot' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000003, block 0x00000148-0x00000179
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
OKAY [  0.183s]
finished. total time: 0.183s

$ fastboot erase system
erasing 'system'...
(bootloader) Erase of partition 'system' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000004, block 0x00000182-0x000007c1
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000200
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000300
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000400
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000500
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000600
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000700
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
OKAY [  5.745s]
finished. total time: 5.745s

```

p.s. I installed cm12.1 on this phone before without any problem. any suggestions?

# Answer
Alternatively, because I'm guessing you're in a process to flash a new Custom ROM and you want to flash manually using fastboot, you can look for a compatible custom recovery, download it and place it in the computer you're using. On fastboot, if bootloader is unlocked, as it probably might be since you're already on custom ROM, write these commands

```
fastboot boot [path-to-custom-recovery]

```

It will boot up on a custom recovery that you downloaded

1. Select Wipe
2. Advanced Wipe
3. Check system, dalvik, data, cache
4. Swipe to wipe
5. Back to install
6. Locate the zip and install it or send it from computer using adb sideload
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had the same problem and solved it by changing the way of the connection between the phone and the PC. First I connected an old USB Extension cable between the USB cable from my phone to the PC, I tried it on a USB2 port and on a USB3 port. When entering `fastboot devices` it shows the number of the device and therefore an active connection, but trying to flash anything took forever and I had to interupt it by rebooting into the bootloader.

The solution was, when I connected the phone's USB cable directly to a USB3 port.

```
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
target reported max download size of 494927872 bytes
sending 'bootloader' (3554 KB)...
OKAY [  0.116s]
writing 'bootloader'...
OKAY [  0.220s]
finished. total time: 0.336s

```

The old USB Extension cable was the problem.
> 2 votes

# Answer
In my case I had to install Motorola drivers on my PC, then `fastboot boot foo.img` worked.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, fastboot, sony-xperia
---


# Question
Title: Android wifi says "Connected, no internet" but internet works just fine
This is a strange thing that started happening with the wifi network at my work. Android devices connected to the network say "Connected, no internet" however the internet works perfectly well. This has happened to devices running android 6 and 7. This is a small business in the US and theres no proxy or captive portal that is blocking any DNS. Windows and Ubuntu laptops connect and say everything is fine, seems to be something Android specific.

Does anyone know how exactly Android determines weather a network has internet access? This seems like the solution will end up in the router configuration, but knowing what could cause Android to behave this way would be helpful. What steps could one take to troubleshoot this issue?

# Answer
Perhaps this seems likely to be a problem connecting to Google servers (captive portal server) **not the browser configured captive portal login** you seem to be refering to in your post.

(Sometime since Lollipop (5.1+)) When connected to networks (especially Wi-Fi networks), android system checks if there is an active internet connection by perfoming checks on certain pre-defined URLs belonging to Google servers. If it fails, there'll be an exclamation mark on the Wi-Fi signal icon and a “Connected, no internet” notification is shown **(even though you can access other websites and the internet is up an running)** so it may be a temporary problem with connectivity to that specific URL:

> Android tries to reach a file named `generate_204` on one of the Google servers and if there is no positive response, it means that there is no connection to the internet, and notification is generated also, the detection url differs between different Android versions.

* `clients3.google.com/generate_204 check (kitkat)`
* `connectivitycheck.gstatic.com/generate_204 (marshmallow)`

It seems that google has changed the captive portal detection on recent versions of android e.g oreo.

looks like google now checks for both a `generate_204` on both `connectivitycheck.gstatic.com` and a `gen_204` on `www.google.com`.

Again is a problem on its own esp in regions where access to google services is blocked. This **answer** however explains well how to bypass such and you make take a look at it.

A chunk of information has been extracted from this discussion.

Based on this you have some options to bypass this:

1. **Changing captive portal server**

* Install a terminal app alternatively these commands can also be run via the `adb shell`.
    * Open the terminal app and run `su`.
    * Run `settings get global captive_portal_server`. This will show the current captive portal server. A "null" reply is usually the default.
    * Run `settings put global captive_portal_server YOUR_SERVER_ADDRESS`. You can add google.com as the captive portal server, `i.e settings put global captive_portal_server google.com`.
    * Run `exit` once to exit from su, then exit one more time to close the terminal.
    * Reboot the Android device. Will not work without a reboot.

---

2. **Disabling captive portal**

> * Since the culprit is a method `isCaptivePortal()` which access `clients3.google.com/generate_204` to test if a connection is deemed "usable". The page, as its name suggest, is designed to always return a `HTTP 204` status code. Based on this you have a couple options:

i. Kill `isCaptivePortal()` completely

* with set, run `adb shell su -c "settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0"` (Android 7.1+) or using `adb shell su -c "settings put global captive_portal_mode 0"`

Note: *The down side is that isCaptivePortal() is actually useful to detect for example when a WiFi network requires login. If the request to the 204 page gets redirected to a login page (not a 204), the system will understand and display the exclamation mark as intended.*

ii. Change the target of `isCaptivePortal()`

* another workaround is replacing the Google host with a host that is accessible within the specific region. This host should also be returning `204` every time `/generate_204` is accessed.

i.e `adb shell su -c "settings put global captive_portal_server {alternate_host} "`

---

3. **Using hosts**

* You can edit `hosts` to block the captive portal detection url thus bypassing the sending of the requests to captive portal server.

---

**Why Linux and Windows connect with no issues?**

As you mentioned in your post that this seems to be Android specific, indeed the above discussion highlights that. The reason is that for those devices (Linux and Windows) the mechanism of connection is completely different.

These devices won't need to connect to Google servers to first detect if an internet is active.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Check time and date on your android device. In https era is very important to have date and time in sync with reality. I had this issue today with my TV and it was a few years late. :)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, bugs, dns
---


# Question
Title: 8-digit password prompt only when SIM is in device (it's not the PUK)
My HTC A9 phone is asking me for an 8-digits password only when a SIM is in the device. I already tried it with the PUK of the SIM what does not work. If there is no SIM in the device, there is no password prompt and I can use the phone normally. With no SIM in the device, I did a factory reset of the phone, but nothing changed.

The password prompt says: "Network locked". Is this a SIM-locked phone?

What is going on here?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Since the PUK does not work (which usually would only be asked if the PIN has been entered wrong three times) and the prompt says "Network locked" this is most likely a SIM-Lock of the phone by the carrier.

Using a SIM from the carrier the phone is branded with you should not get this prompt and it should simply work, to use a SIM card from another carrier you will need the unlock code.

You can get this code from the carrier, most carriers charge only a very small amount or nothing at all after some period of time.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Let me explain you PUK is different thing and network locked phone is different thing. When you enter wrong password many time your sim card is locked and it need PUK code. You can get PUK code from your sim provider. Call to customer care number and they will provide code.

But when mobile is locked then you need unlock code. When you purchase mobile on monthly installment plan. Then those mobile are network locked. For that you need to provide 1)imei number of mobile, 2) Name of sim provider and 3)Location country of phone locked. After that you will get code at your register email address. you will get detail process at my below blog. https://mobile-cellphones.blogspot.com/2020/08/sim-unlock.html . Now insert any sim card and start mobile. It will ask to enter code enter code you get at your email.

---
Tags: password, htc
---


title: stop google maps from spinning the map

text:
# Question
Title: stop google maps from spinning the map
I used to be able to keep north up. Now not only does north move, sometimes the map will spin. Usually when I try to zoom (at least this is when I notice it). Even when it does not spin, the map rotates to put direction of travel up. This is confusing: I feel that I never know where I am.

**Is there a way to force north to stay up? How do I activate it?**

This is important to me, because last night I had to stop for 5 minutes, to figure out where I was, and which way to go next. (the spinning made me lost)

# Answer
In Google Maps (Android version 10.49.2, also tested on 8.1.0). Enter maps' and access the **Settings** menu by pressing the profile icon at the top-right corner. Scroll down and press the **Navigation settings**, then scroll down to **Map display** section, and switch on **Keep map north up**.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-maps
---


# Question
Title: Can someone please help me understand this Linux command?
```
dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/sdb2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 <Put the 16-byte hex key here> 0 /dev/sdb2 0"

```

I got it from step 6 of the first answer here.

I am trying to view the files on an android adopted SD card.

The card suddenly stopped working on my phone and I'm now trying to retrieve my files before I press on "forget" to unmount it from my phone and go back to using my phone normally on it's Internal memory.

# Answer
> 1 votes
``blockdev --getsize /dev/sdb2`` (in backticks) is a command to get partition size, where `/dev/sdb2` is the (encrypted) partition and most likely has a different name on your pc
`<Put the 16-byte hex key here>` is a placeholder for the real encryption key you have previously extracted from `/data/misc/vold`
`dmsetup create crypt1` is the actually command to decrypt `/dev/sdb2`
when successfull a new (decrypted) block device `/dev/mapper/crypt1` (ext4) will created

Note: root permissions required. open root shell with `sudo -i` before running this Linux command

---
Tags: sd-card, linux, adoptable-storage, external-display
---


# Question
Title: Value for "Global auto (prl)" to fill default_preferred_network on build.prop
My Smartfren Andromax A with LineageOS 15.1 can't send & receive SMS unless I set my default preferred network to **global auto (prl)** and then perform a hot reboot.

I have an idea to edit my `build.prop` to make **global auto (prl)** as the default preferred network but I don't know what value I need to fill, not much luck when I check on `include/telephony/ril.h`.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Add `ro.telephony.default_network=10` on `build.prop`, it will make the device uses global auto (prl) as the default preferred network.

---
Tags: sms, mobile-network
---


# Question
Title: Can't access my phone memory suddenly after using SD card as internal memory
A few weeks ago I integrated my SD card to use as phone memory. Everything was fine until a couple of days ago.

All of a sudden I saw the "insert SD card" notice appear on the notification bar. I open the back cover but the SD card looked like it was in place. I remove it and insert it back and the notice disappears. But then I notice that when I go to file explorer (FX) to access my files, it says "Access was denied". I can't access anything that is on my phone memory, although the apps are working. I guess system files are OK, but everything else is not.

My phone is rooted so I tried to access the files through TWRP but I can only see system folders.

Phone is a Moto C plus. Nougat.

# Answer
You can recover some files from corrupted MicroSD Card. adoptable-storage is encrypted, it requires the encryption key from the source device. In your case you are lucky your device is rooted

* insert MicroSD Card into PC Card Reader. figure out which one is the correct block device (`/dev/sdc`) with `sudo blkid`
* mount your hard drive (`/media/xubuntu/404CCE454CCE3606`). check free disk space with `df -h`
* clone 1:1 disk image of the entire MicroSD Card with `gddrescue`

```
sudo -i
apt install gddrescue
cd /media/xubuntu/404CCE454CCE3606
ddrescue -n -b512 -r3 /dev/sdc sd.img gddrescue_sd_img.log

```
* install android platform-tools

```
apt install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

```
* connect your device in recovery mode (TWRP)
* get the encryption key file `expand_5f5e697154132edfaa6fca7ac23cde2a.key` (root access required)

```
adb devices
adb pull /data/misc/vold

```
* read the 16-bytes hex encryption key (`ae126af293501cd130db0637372e8911`)

```
ls vold
hexdump -v vold/expand_5f5e697154132edfaa6fca7ac23cde2a.key

```
* map the image file to create loop devices

```
kpartx -av /media/xubuntu/404CCE454CCE3606/sd.img

```
* get partition size (`62299103`) and decrypt the 2nd partition (`/dev/mapper/loop1p2`)

```
blockdev --getsize /dev/mapper/loop1p2
dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 62299103 crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 ae126af293501cd130db0637372e8911 0 /dev/mapper/loop1p2 0"

```
* when successfull a new (decrypted) block device `/dev/mapper/crypt1` (ext4) will created
* mount the partition (**skip** this step Xubuntu will auto mount)

```
mkdir /media/xubuntu/fa6c4c4c-846e-4c6f-8c02-e93cf5ebf448
mount -t ext4 -o ro,noexec,noload /dev/mapper/crypt1 /media/xubuntu/fa6c4c4c-846e-4c6f-8c02-e93cf5ebf448

```
* Open new terminal (`CTRL` \+ `ALT` \+ `T`) and start File Manager (root session) from command line:

```
sudo thunar /media/xubuntu/fa6c4c4c-846e-4c6f-8c02-e93cf5ebf448

```
* in File Manager enable - *View - Show Hidden Files*
you should see some directories

```
app
local
lost+found
media
misc
user
user_de

```
* you can now browse `media` directory for *Internal Storage* and copy your Pictures to your hard drive

Be aware you can't copy `app` directory to windows hard drive, because linux permissions and file names aren't compatible with NTFS file system type

* however, you can create tarball archive to preserve the whole partition content including all metadata

```
 sudo -i
 cd /media/xubuntu/fa6c4c4c-846e-4c6f-8c02-e93cf5ebf448
 tar --selinux --xattrs -H posix --numeric-owner -vcp * | gzip -cn > /media/xubuntu/404CCE454CCE3606/sdcard.tar.gz

```
* `sdcard.tar.gz` can be unpacked with 7-zip in windows, or restored from twrp command line with GNU tar
> 2 votes

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


title: TWRP cannot find backup

text:
# Question
Title: TWRP cannot find backup
Motorola G4 Play, formerly with LineageOS/14.1 + TWRP 3.2

Made the mistake of trying /e/OS but before I did, I copied 2-TWRP full backups and a lot of other pics and data to my Mint 20 laptop. I have formatted an SD card to ext4 and created the `.TWRP/BACKUP` as suggested on another thread here from 6-years back and also tried the suggestion from another one here today. Cannot restore TWRP Backup because it cannot mount internal storage after reboot and the sdcard is mounted as suggested there.

Running TWRP I can see the sdcard and the `TWRP` folder (no preceeding dot shown), but nothing beyond that and I am unable to navigate.

How can I get to the backup to restore my phone to LineageOS. Should never have left, ahh, hindsight.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Thanks to you both, but it is fixed. I removed the SD card and copied the 2-backup files to the Root of it and put it back in. I was connected via USB to the phone so I copied the 2-backup files to a bunch of different Folders within the Internal Memory to try and see where TWRP was looking by defualt.

***Slapping my forehead moment now!***

Straight off, **Internal memory, Recovery Folder** and TWRP found them there without any Navigation. Did not think of that earlier but patently obvious now. Dang hindsight -- again.

---
Tags: backup, twrp, restore
---


# Question
Title: What is causing unknown network traffic on an Android phone?
I have a Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro smartphone with Android 10 installed. Even when all apps are closed using the task manager, I see some realtime network traffic. It's not that much but it goes on all the time. This is also the case when not connected to Wifi (using 3G/4G).

Is there any way to check what specific apps/processes are consuming data?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Before identifying and potentially vilifying specific apps, it is important to know that *any* app can schedule deferred background operations with the system. This sort of background work can and often does include network requests, depending on the app.

My recommendation is to familiarize yourself with your system. For example, inspect your account for any syncing settings. A plethora of Google apps like to keep themselves up to date through Google Play Services. I suspect that Redmi has OEM apps, or the OS itself, contributing to passive network activity as well.

If you would like to inspect which apps are sending packets, I suggest looking into network inspection tools such as those built into your router, or with programs like Charles Proxy.

---
Tags: networking, xiaomi
---


# Question
Title: How to change volume balance for headphones?
I am using a Moto Z2 Play, unrooted. One ear is louder than the other and i have discovered thaf it isnt the earbuds. How can I change the volume balance on my earbuds?

# Answer
You may have a 4 pin jack ( Left Speaker Positive, Right Speaker Positive, Ground, Microphone Positive )

If your headphones are three pin, you may have a misaligned connection with one of the speakers...

Here's an example of what i mean by 4 pin .

You can see the problem with the 3 Pin headphones fitting here...

So you can either buy an adapter, make an adapter etc...

If you are sure your PINs are aligning properly, you can rule this out and then continue..

In my experience developing music players for background applications, you can not set the volume without using a value for both the left speak and right speaker, For this reason, most developers use a single float value and apply it as both volumes... The developer would need to make a music player that allows independent volume setting, or a set volume difference on a per-app basis.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Not sure about Moto Z2, but on Samsung devices, there is an Accessibility settings regarding this. Uou can check it on Settings \> Accessibility \> Sound Balance \> and adjust the sound balance to your needs.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: audio, volume-control, volume
---


# Question
Title: Admin profile locked on Android 4.4 KitKat tablet
My daughter has locked my admin profile on my our tablet and there's only her user profile open but I can't reset from there. tried the volume up button and power on to reset my tablet but nothing seems to work is there another way? Please help

# Answer
I am assuming she either set a new pin/password for you by mistake or you already had a pin/password before she locked it that you cannot remember. Either way you need to reset the pic/password. Here are the instructions for Android 4.4 which you are using:

"Older versions of Android — Android 4.4 KitKat and older — have an integrated way to bypass your pattern, PIN, or other password if you forget it."

"To find this feature, first enter an incorrect pattern or PIN five times at the lock screen. You’ll see a “Forgot pattern,” “forgot PIN,” or “forgot password” button appear. Tap it. You’ll be prompted to enter the username and password of the Google account associated with your Android device."

http://www.howtogeek.com/226942/what-to-do-if-you-forget-your-android-phone%E2%80%99s-pin-pattern-or-password/

If you cannot remember the password to your Google account then complete this process first: https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery/

If you have still access to the number you used when creating the Google account, recovery will be easy, otherwise you will need to answer some security questions first.

Once you recover your account you can go back to the pin/password reset instructions for your tablet above.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Nah, just make sure when she opens it backup and recovery is on and then do a hard reset If not download mobizon screen recorder and then in about phone enable developers options and enable see screen tap so you could see the pass word easily If its samsung sign in your account in find my phone Samsung and unlock ur device
> 0 votes

---
Tags: factory-reset, tablet, password
---


# Question
Title: I cannot take pictures because my phone says "your internal storage is running out of space"
I have over 7GB of internal space left on my phone yet it keeps telling me to delete files and pictures. I deleted all of my pictures and some big apps but it continues to tell me the same thing when I try to take pictures. I have a droid RAZR mini. It has no space to put a SD card in. Unless I can somehow take off the back. Someone help please.

# Answer
> 3 votes
I managed to fix the issue where I was getting an "Insufficient storage" for my camera app. This was after I 'changed' a MicroSD card in my Moto X Pure. It was driving me a bit batty. But it's fixed.

I downloaded a file explorer (in my case it was ASUS File Manager). I saw that I had a DCIM folder. (Under Internal Storage and navigate to DCIM). I found that I was unable to move any files to this folder or even SEE the folder on my laptop (as you can connect to your phone using the ASUS File Manager via a wireless mirroring connection). So I tried to create a DCIM folder via my laptop. But got a permission denied. So I went back to the phone's file manager and renamed the DCIM folder to DCIMold. I then created another DCIM folder. Yay! That seemed to work. And more excitingly so did my camera app.

So it was the dreaded lack of a DCIM folder. In my case it wasn't because it was missing but rather that it was somehow corrupted and had the wrong permissions. If it was even really there.

If anyone needs a better explanation let me know. I just jotted this down for my reference as I was so excited to get over the latest hurdle on the phone!

# Answer
> 2 votes
There a couple of places that are known to use space up, once you have eliminated all other space hogs.

* **/.thumbnails** safely delete them and then you can add an empty file and name it *`.nomedia`* and it won't store thumbnails anymore
* **/data/log** safely delete log files that accumulate after time
* **/data/tombstones** safely delete debugging logs that accumulate after time.

---

***Always perform a backup when deleting or changing anything***

# Answer
> 2 votes
None of the solutions here (or elsewhere) worked until I did a very simple thing: I downloaded another camera app from the Play Store. All of them are taking pics normally.

This solved my problem when the camera app started showing error "memory unavailable" after programming the SD card to work as internal memory so I could actually have some space in my phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The same thing happened to me. If you had an sd card in your phone, but ejected it, then go to settings, go to storage, then there should be the sd card that you ejected. Press forget on the ejected sd card, and the camera should work.

# Answer
> 0 votes
It would be good to check your internal partitioning.

First of all I would recommend you to install a terminal emulator like: click if you are not used to the Android Debug Bridge(ADB).For detailed information about ADB see: click

Write into this terminal: `df` and update your question with the output of this comment. Also the output of `mount` would be great to know.

Hash\_BrowN already suggested you to check some places which can use much space. There is an app which you can use for a more intuitive way of checking and clearin these places: SD Maid

# Answer
> 0 votes
Here is how I easily tackled this problem.

1. Go to File manager
2. Change the Name of DCIM folder to anything (eg: DCIM01 or any random name you like)
3. Make Another Folder and Name it DCIM.
4. Restart your phone
5. Have patience, the camera will show you the same problem.
6. Just wait for a while
7. Again open your camera app

BOOM your phone camera will no longer show the storage problem.

I solved this problem on my Lenovo K9.

# Answer
> -1 votes
I just came across the same problem on my Moto G 2nd gen and it was caused by swapping SD cards. I had to do a factory reset to get the camera working again - backing up contacts and apps first of course. All good now.

# Answer
> -1 votes
DCIM should be 0755 but I guess remaining it did whatever. More than likely just made a useless folder. Sounds like you have some wacko partition. Maybe open the back with a dime or something and put a cheap SD card in it.

---
Tags: internal-storage, insufficient-memory, motorola-droid
---


# Question
Title: "Your Phone Companion" only works on unlocked phone
I do not know if this is a bug or a feature, but it does not make much sense.

I have a Samsung S9, and I managed to connect it to my Windows 10 laptop. I can only start apps when my phone is unlocked, and this is annoying:

* If I need to pick up my phone anyway to unlock it, I might as well just use that, instead of my laptop
* Why should I waste electricity on two screens?

Is there any solution?

# Answer
> 0 votes
when laptop accessing some data from your Samsung galaxy mobile. Your mobile should be unlocked. Security features hinder access of phone. You can temporary disable screen lock. And reduce brightness of the mobile so less battery will be used.

---
Tags: applications, samsung, security, lock-screens
---


title: Google maps bicycle navigation

text:
# Question
Title: Google maps bicycle navigation
A year back, when I opened "Directions" on my phone, below the start and end point, where 4 options:

* Driving
* Public transport
* Walking
* Cycling

Now cycling is replaced by "Ride Services" which I never use, and do not care about. How can I get "Cycling" back?

# Answer
> 1 votes
> If your issue is that the bicycling mode of transportation is not available to you, it means that it is not available in your country. There are few countries where this mode of transporation is enabled.

In the same thread you find instances of it being available earlier but not anymore.

> Sadly there's no list of supported areas and Google never announces where it's rolling out beforehand.

---
Tags: google-maps
---


# Question
Title: Fitness health/apps: Export personal data from phone (i.e Dafit)
Many apps used by smartbands/watches have no option to export your personal data, so you can't process/visualize, store, or migrate to other app.

Also I know that some fitness apps for android apps allow the data export to external files as excel, such as Withings healthmate can sync data with its "cloud/server" and from their webpage you can export data to excel.

For *Dafit and other fitness apps* with export/import :

Do you know **apps/options/methods to extract its data**?

Do you know **apps to process/convert data from different apps** ? /convert this

# Answer
> 0 votes
Though i haven't found specific apps I found method for "powerusers".

Dafit stores its information in plain text inside a SQlite database files, there are several tables with apparently no relationship (maybe from code there are few relations).

How to extract/process the data:

1. Extract data file from Android

* Option1. Find the data folder (from android), copy&paste to accessible folder ¿root req?
* Option2. Do a backup (titanium backup, oandbackup,...) and unzip the content of backup to a folder

2. Open file with a SQLlite tool
3. Export to spreadsheet/excel tables and process/transform there
4. Process/transform using SQL queries.

---
Tags: applications, internal-storage, export, fitness, smartwatch
---


# Question
Title: Suspected malware on stock apps in a Mediatek mtk65* based phone
I have an old(2016) Mediatek mtk6580 chipset phone(non rooted/stock). Couple days back, I downloaded an app called "Apk extractor" from play store, and extracted the system apps to the sdcard. Then from there I uploaded them to https://virustotal.com and found out that, ***Android system framework***, ***com.mediatek***, ***Android system webview***, ***eSETterminal*** and ***Android browser provider*** had malwares in them. A couple days back, a serious vulnerability(mtk-su) for mediatek mt65\** was found which gives a user temporary root privilege. I was able to obtain root permission and did `mount -o rw,remount /system` and went straight to `/system/app/` and deleted ***Android system webview*** and ***Android browser provider***. However, I wasn't able to find ***com.mediatek*** on `/system/app` and instead found it on `/data/data`. I deleted that from there. But then I did a system reset. ***com.mediatek*** was still there. Also, I couldn't delete ***Android service framework***, because I tried doing `adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 android` and couldn't access anything from the notification menu. For now I disabled the apps with `adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.app.name`. Are there any ways to permanently delete ***com.mediatek***.

If it would help ya'll in any way I could attach a adb dumpsys and adb logcat logs. I noticed a few suspicious behaviors like, when I exit an app, the data/wifi completely bolts down, and vpn logs says **network change detected**. None of the other phones has this issue. I think I might be dealing with something big here.

Edit:

Okay, I don't happen to have all the links, but two of those apps were with me, and am providing the scan links here for eSet terminal and webview.

# Answer
> 30 votes
I am sorry but you totally misinterpret the scanner results.

In both cases one of 61 scanners has detected something - that looks more like a false-positive. Additionally the scanners that detected something are uncommon. Not one of the major virus scanners detects anything on the samples. Rescan it some days later and if nothing has changed the chance is very very high that the result is not correct.

Additionally one item is detected as "PUA" - not as virus. PUA is the abbreviation for - Potentially Unwanted Application - usually software like advertising trackers falls into this category.

The other is a PUP - hence a "Potentially Unwanted Program" which effectively means the same as PUA.

Conclusion: You totally panicked because you don't understand how to interpret the VirusTotal results.

---
Tags: root-access, malware, system-apps, background-data, mediatek
---


# Question
Title: How does Whatsapp use my mobile fingerprint in their app?
How does **Whatsapp** access my fingerprint?

WhatsApp did not ask permission to use my fingerprint.

Then how do they use my fingerprint for unlocking?

# Answer
I just updated to 2.20.64 to check

WhatsApp does need fingerprint permission, under " `Use Fingerprint Hardware`" and `Use Biometric Hardware`"

You can check under permissions in Play Store - see "others"

Edit : If you are wondering why the app *doesn't ask* you explicitly for permission, the reason is simple - both the permissions quoted above are *normal* permissions for which user approval is not required. Also see Permissions Overview

> If an app declares in its manifest that it needs a *normal* permission, the system *automatically grants the app that permission at install time*. The system doesn't prompt the user to grant normal permissions, and *users cannot revoke these permissions*

(Emphasis supplied)

See this Stack overflow Question - Android nougat USE\_FINGERPRINT permissions, which states the same
> 1 votes

# Answer
Any app including whatsapp cannot read/access your fingerprint data.

```
Your fingerprint data isn't shared with Google or any apps on your device.
Apps are notified only whether your fingerprint was verified.

```

source - https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/6300638

Android OS might be doing the moderation here. An App might access/store this data only when you register your fingerprint with the app directly.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, permissions, fingerprint
---


# Question
Title: How can I send music from an app to one BT device, but keep all other sounds on another BT device or on the phone?
I am blind, literally, and I use Androids built in screen reader, TalkBack.

When I want to get my jam on, I want to be able to send my tunes to one BT device, and keep all other audio either on the phone or on another BT device.

I used to have a Galaxy S10. My favorite feature was the "Separate App Sounds" option in Samsungs "Sound Assistant" app. It let me do exactly this. Is there any way to do this on other devices?

I have a Pixel 3A XL. I don't mind rooting or installing another rom, so long as it works with my Google Fi E-SIM.

I appreciate any help and ideas. Weather you can help or not, thank you for reading.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Buy a samsung.

There hasn't been an answer for nearly 2 weeks, so this flippant one will have to do. Still looking for a better answer.

---
Tags: rooting, samsung, bluetooth, audio, google-pixel
---


title: Share to an automation app/webhook?

text:
# Question
Title: Share to an automation app/webhook?
I am working on a project, and it all starts with the share menu on Android. I'd like to be able to take the (in this case) URLs that are shared from various apps, and send them directly to a webhook. Basically, I'd like for there to be an option on the share screen, along with Gmail, WhatsApp etc. for 'webhook', that would ping the webhook directly without any further interaction. I'd rather not build my own app for this...

What I've tried:

* IFTTT - doesn't seem to support this, even with the Android app
* Tasker - I already have it but it doesn't seem to do this, I think there's another paid plugin that might do what I want, but I've struggled with config
* IFTTT again, I can get what I want with a roundtrip via email etc., but I'd rather not...

Is what I want possible? Do I need to make my own app?!?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I ended up using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.rmy.android.http\_shortcuts

Android HTTP Request Shortcuts - which achieved exactly what I wanted.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Most automation apps could probably support such an task, in Automate (free) it would be:

1. Flow beginning block; start of a task
2. Content shared block; await "shared" URL
3. HTTP request block; call the webhook with URL from #2
4. (loop back to #2)

---
Tags: automation, share-menu
---


# Question
Title: How to share a 4G data connection over wired Ethernet?
I understand that Android is principally an wired-Ethernet client. i.e. it requests and receives a DHCP address. The internet is on the other side of the Ethernet cable.

Does any version of Android have the capability of running its wired-Ethernet in an "access-point", "tethering" or "server" mode, where Android's Ethernet provides a DHCP server and NATs Ethernet traffic out through its 4G radio, to the internet?

# Answer
While the feature has never been part of stock Android (not sure if some custom ROM provides this), it's possible on rooted devices.

I recently answered to How to make Ethernet work on Android over OTG? which may help you make Ethernet work on your device. Once done, there are two more things required:

* Run a DHCP server (we already have `dnsmasq` on device up to Android 9, or you may get a static binary)
* Share internet (by doing IP forwarding and NATing)

Both of these steps are explained in my answer to How to create a WiFi hotspot from the terminal? and the answers linked there. Just ignore the steps related to WiFi and pick the relevant parts.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: tethering, dhcp
---


# Question
Title: Get into fastboot mode (AOC Q70S15 model)
Model: AOC Q70S15
Android version: 4.2.2
Tablet not rooted
Desktop OS: Arch Linux

Issuing the command `adb reboot fastboot` from my pc makes the tablet shut down but it doesn't reboot, the same happens with `adb reboot`, nothing change if I do it with sudo.

According to the manual: Press and hold the power button and volume button 3 seconds at the same time. Release the buttons and tablet will boot and an Android robot will be displayed. However 3 seconds doesn't do anything, two scenarios occur when I maintain pressed the buttons for longer time:

1. After some seconds (10-15) the tablet starts booting but not in fastboot but the normal way, however if I release the tablet buttons it goes off inmediatelly.
2. Sometimes nothing happens.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Keeping pressed `Volume Down + Power` for 6 secs did the trick, after that you need to wait like 5 secs and the android robot should appear, then you press the `Power` button and without releasing it press the `Volume Up` button one time, now you are the system recovery.

---
Tags: fastboot, linux
---


# Question
Title: Kodak Android TV Not able to connect via ADB on WiFi
Am trying to change the Homescreen of Kodak Android TV by follow the steps Completely change home screen on Android TV

The TV and Laptop are connected on same WiFi. Able to ping the TV's IP. But when am trying to connect the TV via ADB connect, it's showing below error.

*C:\Intel\ADB\>adb connect 192.168.1.105 cannot connect to 192.168.1.105:5555: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. (10061)*

Kodak TV Android version 9, Kernel version 4.9.125, Build PTT1.181130001 release keys.

In TV, I've already enabled developer options, USB Debugging.

Am using platform tools adb version (Not Android studio). Is there anyway to connect to TV without using USB Cable?

# Answer
`adb connect` can only be executed for an device that has adb over wifi activated (usually this is reset on every reboot). The common way is to connect the device via USB and execute `adb tcpip 5555`. I am not sure about Android TV devices, if they have adb over Wifi activated by default. You should use a port scanner and check if there is any TCP port open on your Android TV box. May be adb is not running on port 5555 on your device.

Without that command adb will work only via USB. Therefore the only chance I see would be an app that can enable adb wireless mode, however if I remember correctly this requires root permissions if executed from within an app.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, android-tv
---


# Question
Title: Presenting screen in Teams for Android: Screen goes blank when I move hand near camera
I have Microsoft Teams installed on my Samsung tablet. I often share my tablet screen in Teams meetings. When I move my hand near the tablet screen, the screen goes blank (temporarily).

Why does this happen? Is it some sort of functionality for quickly stopping presenting in an emergency?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You're triggering the proximity sensor. Those are located somewhere above the screen or in the notch, depending on the design of your device.

The purpose of proximity sensor is to disable screen and touchscreen inputs when you're talking with your phone next to your head. It prevents accidentally interacting with the touchscreen with your ear.

It's mostly useful for regular phone calls, but internet calling software can also make use of it.

Your screen sharing is probably still in progress while you do that, it only blanks your display.

---
Tags: screen, camera, screen-sharing, microsoft-teams
---


# Question
Title: Can I replace Huawei 40W supercharger with third party charger but still provide supercharging feature?
Can I replace the Huawei 40W supercharger with a third-party charger but still provide a supercharging feature? I don't know what's those fancy things, but electronic isn't rocket science, but I tried to connect a general 45W charger (non-Huawei), my mate 20 pro only show "quick charging", anyone has an idea why?

# Answer
> 1 votes
**No**

There are three parts to any charging system other than the old 5V,2A charging :

* The charging algorithm, which dictates the power to be drawn at various stages of battery charging. It runs on the device incorporated in OS, including low level changes at kernel level. Note that these are proprietary and hence the sales pitch for different OEMs. (See the charging algorithm (Source ) of an Anker power bank to get a sense of how complex it can be).
* The charger which responds to the requests made by the device and varies voltage or current or both as desired by the algorithm.
* USB cable that is capable of carrying the power across from charger to the device. This is the easiest to change, if you know the power requirements.

Unless these three are perfectly aligned, you can't get the desired charging performance. That's why OEMs always insist on using their chargers and cables. Without getting into the specifics of the third party charger you are using (non Huawei), it's obvious that it lacks the capability to meet the demands made by the algorithm. Being a 45 W charger, the device does recognize that it is providing high power and hence displays "quick charging" but cannot super charge.you will get the same results even if you try with any non Huawei charger rated say at 80 or 100W.

Related

1. Android phone "charging slowly": How to make it faster
2. Charging "hesitation" with Pixel

---
Tags: charging, huawei
---


# Question
Title: Stop App from controlling the brightness of my screen
I was on a flight watching movies on the United App. Around 8pm my screen dimmed. It dimmed a lot, to the point of being unwatchable.

Pulling the notification pane (where the brightness slider is displayed) would not let me move the brightness slider. I thought that maybe the auto-brightness was screwing with me. I went to settings, shut off the auto-brightness, and manually turned up the brightness. As soon as I re-entered the United App the brightness fell to the same level.

If I had to guess, the App turned down the brightness to keep you from disturbing other people. The problem is that the levels were too low.

How do I override the App so that I can actually see the movie? Is there a permission that I can change or another App I can use to turn the brightness back up? (Modify system setting is set to "Not Allowed")

# Answer
try this app and set it to 100%

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arogulin.brightness

I have a similar situation with my adaptive controler. i believe my proximity sensor is f....
> 1 votes

---
Tags: screen-brightness
---


title: Unexpected rooted alert?

text:
# Question
Title: Unexpected rooted alert?
I got a call from my company's Google Suite administrator that they got an alert about my phone (a Samsung S10 running Android 10) getting rooted this morning.

Google's support site isn't really helpful with this, stating only that they consider my device compromised because it's rooted.

All additional information I got about the alert is:

> Summary: An Android device was rooted. (Device ID xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
>
> Date: Feb 12, 2020, 09:23 AM CET (2020-02-12T09:23:17+01:00)
>
> Device owner: firstname.lastname@company.com

As I'm pretty sure that I didn't root my company phone (especially not this morning, I was in a meeting). As I understand some apps installed can (?) root my phone, but I also don't have apps installed from untrusted sources, and I didn't install any apps in the last two days even from Google Play.

I also tried it with Root Checker, and it seems like that the phone is not rooted.

The SafetyNet Test status is

* Basic Integrity: Success
* CTS Profile Match: Success
* Response Signature Verification: Success

Is there a way that I can check on my phone what exactly causes Google to think that the device is compromised / rooted?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I got this same thing. I have Google for business and my devices that access the business accounts are managed by the google system. It is a SM-P610 Samsung, and I have personal and work accounts on it. It alerted "An Android device was rooted" at 7:23AM then later at 8:32 alerted that "An Android device was recovered from rooted state".

The alerts are from google.admin.com, through the Google for Business account.

---
Tags: rooting
---


# Question
Title: Android music pauses when using headphones
This started happening a few days ago but my phone stopped to play music (pausing) on headphones when I:

1. Screen off
2. Notification menu is pulled down
3. Opening all applications on the default stock launcher

Music plays only if the music app is in foreground or if I went to the launcher and not selected anything.

I am using custom rom but it stopped working on it after using it for over a month. I tried to update the rom to a newer one but it still doesn't work.

Music plays fine when not using headphones and just using the speakers.

Phone: Note2 ROM: temasek cm11 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2596887)

Kernel: Devil's kernel (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2239453)

App: Apollo and Google music (same thing), pretty much every music application on Android

# Answer
> 1 votes
Are your headphones defective or have a weak spot? You can try a couple of things, such as testing this on another Android device.

It could potentially be the ROM and its ability to detect headphones properly while doing different things (Multi-tasking in a sort of sense).

What you can do is go into Settings and turned Motion off. Sometimes it can sense movement and such and it'll pause accordingly. I'll look into this more but into l your next response, this is what I have to say.

**Update**

It is probably an Android 4.2.2 issue. You can downgrade, wait for an upgrade or perhaps install the 4.3 KitKat ROM.

Other options are trying newer/older versions of the Google Play Music software.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I guess you use GEL? If so, it's because of it listening to "Ok Google". Turn off "Hotword detection" in GEL Voice settings and you'll be fine.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The problem seems to be related to a conflict between voice search from lock screen and music being played from locked screen. For me the following worked on Android 4.4.4 (tried and tested on OmniRom and CyanogenMod):

> ```
> Go to Google Now | Settings | Voice | Select "Ok Google Detection"
> Uncheck "From lock screen"
>
> ```

# Answer
> 0 votes
I got this problem and my Google play assistance open itself and music pause/skip on any kind of music player which I using. Samsung music/Spotify. And now whenever I use another headphone there is no problem. So before doing anything make sure your headphone or your phone socket is fine.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have a similar issue with the Galaxy A10e. Only with me it's not when I'm multi tasking but when I have my phone in my pocket. The only thing that helps is messing with my headphone cord as if it was my headphones and no it's not my headphones because it does the same thing with my other headphones. It still does it after I turned of the motion setting.

It's really frustrating because I rather listen to my music than come across potential social situations on my way to work.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Disabling Google hotword detection fixes this issue in 4.4.4.

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


# Question
Title: How to mute sound just on Instagram stories?
I have an Android smartphone. I wish to mute sound on Instagram stories, which can be achieved easily by using the volume buttons.

However, in that case I need to unmute sound when I want to watch a video on YouTube or listen to a voice message on WhatsApp etc. and it's very annoying.

I want my sound to remain unmuted, but to automatically mute when I open Instagram stories without me having to do this manually.

How can this be achieved?

Edit: I'm obviously thinking about other people's stories, I wish to mute sound while watching other people's stories. It's fairly easy to mute sound when I am uploading my own story and this question is not about that.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Assuming that you're fine with muting *all* sound whenever Instagram is launched, you can use an automation app on Android to mute the volume when it detects that Instagram is opened. Similarly the automation app can detect when Instagram is closed and reset the volume to the previous level or to a pre-set level.

There are many automation app's available, e.g.:

I've experience with MacroDroid only. I'll outline the steps below to mute the sound when Instagram is launched. Unmuting it when Instagram is closed is left as an exercise to the reader.

1. Create a new macro
2. For the **trigger** set: `Application Launched/Closed` -\> `Application Launched` -\> `Instagram`
3. For the **action** set: `Volume Change` -\> `Media / Music` -\> `Slider value: 0%`
4. For simplicity you can leave the **condition** empty. However, you could for example set a condition that checks whether a headphone is connected and only mute when that's not the case.

Other enhancements would be to store the volume level before muting such that you can restore that level when unmuting.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I use a Samsung phone, so I use sound assistant to mute Instagram volume. I only turn it on when I see something interesting.

If you are not using a Samsung, a good alternative I've found is Volume Manager: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.hp.volume

Hope this helps.

---
Tags: audio, instagram
---


# Question
Title: Why are there 2 boot partition on mediatek devices, both of which contain the same preloader?
On Mediatek devices, the same preloader.bin is in mmcblk0boot0 and mmcblk0boot1, why does it need to be in both partitions?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Both the preloader BIN files in the mmcblk0boot0 and mmcblk0boot1 partitions are identical. The reason for this is in case the mmcblk0boot0 becomes corrupt, the device is still able to boot up.

---
Tags: partitions
---


title: Unable to send a text containing ".xyz"

text:
# Question
Title: Unable to send a text containing ".xyz"
I discovered this while trying to send friends URLs ending in .xyz. The texts appeared to be sent, but no one was receiving them. At first I assumed it was because the link was blacklisted somewhere along the line, but further experimenting showed that I cannot send a text containing the string ".xyz" anywhere in the message.

I **am** able to receive such texts though.

The phone is a moto g(7) power running Android 10. A friend has a Samsung Galaxy S10E and also can't send .xyz.

Sending other tlds such as ".com" etc works fine. Any guesses about what's going on?

# Answer
> 0 votes
This depends of your phone carrier provider because actually I tested it with my orange carrier lines and sent an sms with url **.xyz** extension and received it. It could be also that your AV is restricting such extension. screenshot

---
Tags: sms
---


title: WhatsApp groups on new phone

text:
# Question
Title: WhatsApp groups on new phone
I upgraded to a new Android phone and plan to use WhatsApp on this phone with my old number. For the purposes of this question, I do not have my old phone with me, and do not have a chat backup (actually, my backup got corrupted somehow, long story, but let's assume I don't have access to any backup/history).

Now, this whatsapp account was part of several groups.

1. Is there any way I can send a message to those groups? Since my number didn't change, I should be still part of the groups but I don't see any.
2. If someone sends a message on that group, will I receive it on my new phone? (The same way I'd receive a DM from a single person who still has my old number)
3. Some of these groups required admin permission to send messages, which I previously had. Would I need to ask for that permission again?

# Answer
backup got corrupted somehow dont worry

you just have to install whatsapp in your new phone and login with that old number you will get your old groups as it is dont worry just install whatsapp (its happen with me many times :)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: Cant exit twrp (reboot system doesn't work)
Using TWRP, I just installed new ROM (ResurrectionRemix-M-v5.7.4-20160922-libra) and OpenGApps (open\_gapps-arm64-6.0-pico-20180830) on my *Xiaomi Readmi 4c.* Both of them were flashed successfully (or at least that's what the twrp said :D), there was no error or anything.

Then I went to "reboot system" and it returned back to the TWRP menu. I cannot boot into the newly flashed ROM.

Please help me solve this problem.

Thanks

# Answer
This only happens when the android phone doesn't have any ROM or the system itself so it redirects you to the recovery. One way for this is to wipe all out and re-flash everything OR wipe all out and re-flash a different ROM. And a question, Don't you have any backup of you're stock ROM before flashing a new one? It would be better to restore it.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This is a very old question, but someone may face this. For archive purposes -

By flashed successfully, TWRP only states that the process of flashing itself has completed without error. It does not test ROM compatibility with the device. While the information you have provided is too little to go by, it is likely that certain bootscripts are corrupted, or you are running tasks after that that corrupt (or erase) data. My recommendation would be to redownload the files and retry the process. If there is walkthrough content on the web, follow those. Check the device logs to ensure that there is no OS modification between installation and boot.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: twrp
---


# Question
Title: How to save an HTML page from a web site using Chrome
I have a web site that has some simple HTML pages with no images, no external CSS or JavaScript references. So the whole HTML page is a single self-containing file that has HTML code, together with *inline* CSS and JavaScript code. In other words, once I copy the HTML file into my `Downloads` folder on my mobile device, I can use it (while being ***offline***) by loading the following into the Chrome browser:

`file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/my_page.html`

The problem is that I cannot download the web page from my web site into the `Downloads` folder using Chrome on my mobile device: When I go to:

`https://my-site.tld/xxx/my_page.html`

and display the page in the mobile browser, I can use the download (⭳) button on Chrome browser's tab; however it creates an `.mthml` file instead, with a name like this:

`Title of My Page.mhtml`

When I try to open this file while my mobile device is offline, none of the interactive content on the page (e.g., buttons, input boxes, etc.) is enabled. Note that my page contains interactive content that is processed ***locally*** by JavaScript contained in the page.

Currently, the only solution is to connect my mobile device to my PC (using USB for example) and copy the `.html` file from my PC to the mobile's `Downloads` file. Once I copy the `.html` file and open it on my mobile device using the `file:///...` URL as given above, the page's JavaScript works as expected (contrary to the `.mhtml` version).

Assuming that the `.html` page on `my-site` is updated frequently, it is tedious to download it to PC and copy over my mobile phone when I need an update. There must be a more direct way.

# Answer
The simplest thing I can think of is to open the file you want to save as source code, which you can do from Chrome Android by prepending `view-source` to the URL, like so.

```
view-source:https://my-site.tld/xxx/my_page.html

```

You can then either copy and paste this code into a local file, or use the share button to open it with a compatible app of your choosing.

If this seems like too much of a pain, you might consider doing something like using PHP to determine whether the file should be viewed or downloaded. For example if the IP address of the request matches your phone, download instead of displaying the file.

```
<?php
/**
 * File url: https://my-site.tld/xxx/my_page.php
 *
 */

$remote_address = filter_input(INPUT_SERVER, 'REMOTE_ADDR', FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

if ($remote_address === '56.57.58.59') {
    header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"filename.html\"\n");
    header("Content-Type: text/html\n");
}

?>
<!-- Begin actual page content -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    ....

```

Conversely, you could also simply create a separate page to allow a download regardless of the requesting IP address.

```
<?php
/**
 * File url: https://my-site.tld/xxx/my_page-download.php
 *
 */

header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"filename.html\"\n");
header("Content-Type: text/html\n");
readfile('path/to/file');

```

Additional information about the `Content-Disposition` header may be found in the Mozilla Developer Docs. It's not the only resource, of course, it's just my personal favorite.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android, downloading, html
---


# Question
Title: My sd card is not connecting to my Android phone
My brother purchased a new sd card for my Android phone (it's an alcatel onetouch yh I know it's old) to increase memory. Its a 8 gb card, but my phone still says low on space when I try to download any apps.There was no notification telling me that an sd caed was inserted either. I tried selecting sd card and it shows 8 gb available but I still can't download apps. Then I switched to internal memory just to see if that would help but nothing happened. Plz someone help!

# Answer
> 0 votes
The information provided is less.. so I'm assuming that the sd card is detected and is working and.. you're trying to download apps from google play store..

Lemme explain... The apps downloaded are automatically stored in your internal storage so even if you sd card has space available it won't be used.

What you can do for this.. try to delete useless stuffs and free up space from your internal storage (I'd recommend you to download Files by Google for this) and copy all the videos from your internal storage to the sd card..

HOPE IT HELPS.. (^\_^)

---
Tags: sd-card
---


title: Android 10 Desktop mode on Linux laptop

text:
# Question
Title: Android 10 Desktop mode on Linux laptop
Recently I received the update to Android 10 for my LG G8s ThinQ and one of the things that I was waiting to test was the desktop mode. The desktop mode is working fine when I am connecting my phone to an external screen but when I want to use my Linux (Ubuntu 18.04) laptop as the external screen the phone doesn't recognize it and just shows the normal file transfer.

How I can use my linux laptop as the external screen and keyboard and mouse?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Notebooks usually don't have ports (HDMI, display-port) for display-input, only display-output for connecting an external monitor/TV.

If you want to remote-control your phone from your Linux laptop I recommend the software `scrcpy` to you. It let you use mouse and keyboard from a PC and see the display of the smartphone on your monitor/laptop display. The connection uses the USB cable, you only need to activate Android Developer Options and the Android Debug Bridge (adb).

---
Tags: android-10, screen-sharing
---


# Question
Title: Sleeping Cat, Mint Room, and Giraffe. Anyone know what these files are?
In trying to make room in storage on my LG phone, I ran across 3 "apps" or files that I have never downloaded nor heard of and I have no idea how to find out what they are. **Sleeping Cat**, **Mint Room**, and **Giraffe** are their names, my question is if anyone knows what they could be and if I can delete them safely.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't know the location of this files and also the filetype, but you can try to rename the files and reboot and see what happend, if you face any problems by using an app you can rename it to the original filename.

---
Tags: settings, internal-storage
---


# Question
Title: Will changing app shapes be affected by themes?
I have just desovered 'developer mode' and there is an option to change the app shape. But I have a theme installed on my phone and I don't know if me having a theme will not let the shape change or will make my theme disable so the app shape can change? Basically can I have a theme enabled and still change my app shape?

# Answer
**Icon Shapes**

Home screen icon shape changing is the feature by android. It was first introduced in Android 8.0 Oreo. Later, in Android 9.0 Pie and Android 10 Q, more shapes are added. Shapes include Square, circle(default),squircle,teardrop etc.

**Themes**

Theme is a feature provided by some manufacturers(Samsung, Xiaomi, Oneplus, Realme etc). Theme changes complete look and feel of devices by its color,icon styles, positioning etc.

Note: I am using stock android, I don't know whether manufacturers provide icon shape changing on their theme app.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: developer-options, themes
---


title: OTG support in Android Smartphones

text:
# Question
Title: OTG support in Android Smartphones
It seems that Samsung are phasing out OTG support in their latest devices, i.e. the S6 no longer has OTG support.

Is this a general trend across smartphone manufacturers? Also, I cannot see the reason for it, it makes the devices less flexible in how they can be used. Is there a downside to having an Android device support OTG that I may have missed?

# Answer
> 0 votes
"OTG support in Android Smartphones

the correct term is:

USB host support

can be easily detected if supported or not, connecting usb mouse to your smartphone via OTG cable.

If mouse is powered up and red laser is on, so supported.

The other way to detect if USB host mode is supported, is to install and run USB OTG Checker app

Some claim USB Host Mode can be hidden and to enable it you should edit xml permissions configuration file

---
Tags: usb-on-the-go
---


# Question
Title: What does the music symbol notification mean
I'm using my son's hand-me-down Samsung S5. It runs Android 6.0.1

A few days ago, a music symbol (quaver) appeared on the notification bar. When I pulled it down, there was just the music symbol with no text next to it. When I tapped on it, nothing happened and the symbol disappeared. The next day it appeared again. I did the same thing and it disappeared again. This morning it appeared again.

I've done an internet search for notification symbols but I cannot find this music symbol or what it means.

What does this music symbol mean?

**Edit**

The symbol is in the top left corner. It seems to be related to Android Auto. It only appears after I've used Android Auto. What I don't understand is I only ever use the maps application so why is the music symbol appearing?

# Answer
The music symbol is the Samsung Music App. The reason why it disappeared when I pressed on it is because my data was switched off and there wasn't a wireless signal.

When I got a wireless signal and pressed on it, it initiated some installation.

As for why it suddenly activated itself, my passenger fiddled with the phone controls when I stopped by at a supermarket to get something.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: notification-icons
---


# Question
Title: How do you save an Instagram picture to the Android gallery?
How do you save Instagram picture to Android gallery?

# Answer
Instagram does not provide any options to download images or videos to the phone. However, you can use third party applications like "Instasave for Instagram" for doing this.

App Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dstudio.tool.instasave&hl=en

1. Go to Play Store and Install Instasave application
2. Open Instasave app
3. Press home button and open Instagram App
4. Find image that you want to download
5. Click on Menu button (three dots)
6. Copy Share URL
7. Open Instasave app and you will see your image/video
8. Click on Download icon.
> 3 votes

# Answer
*IF* you have a rooted device + xposed framework then check out the instaprefs xposed module which adds extra functionality including saving assets:

> ❗❗❗ ***WARNING**: If your device does not have root/magisk/xposed-framework already installed then be aware that trying to install them on incompatible hardware/software versions might BRICK your device and will most likely void your warranty! I would recommend **NOT** using your daily driver device for experimentation.*
> 0 votes

---
Tags: gallery, instagram
---


# Question
Title: "Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped."
**Android 5.1.1**

Whenever I open Play Store, I recieve the message "Unfortunately, Google Play Store has stopped.". I can't seem to make it go away, I've tried restarting my tablet and clearing cache and data of Play Store.

Disabling and uninstalling Google+ doesn't solve it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
From my personal experience, clearing the Google Play Store App cache may restore functionality. It's a very simple and quick fix that might help! :)

# Answer
> 0 votes
We chose Download manager and cleared cache and data. Seems to be working now.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try going to application manager and go to Google play store and select u install updates

# Answer
> 0 votes
Download ApkPure apk from HERE.. Install it and update google play services from it..

HOPE IT HELPS...

---
Tags: google-play-store
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to use one android as a remote speaker for all audio on another android, using no more hardware than an unmodified wifi access point?
I have an android phone (Sony Xperia Compact Z1 / Stock) with an "eh" speaker, and a tablet (Kindle Fire 7" HD / Cyanogen) with amazing speakers. I use the phone a lot to listen to audiobooks, but at home i'd like to be able to use the tablet so i can hear the audiobooks over other noises.

I currently use Smart Audiobook Player since it seems to be the best audiobook software on the market, but it cannot synch progress between different devices, or stream audio between them on its own.

So i would like to stream *all audio* that is currently playing on my phone, over to my tablet and have it play via the tablet's speakers.

I suppose this should be feasible via Bluetooth or Wifi, but:

* No Bluetooth solutions seemed to work, none of them even indicated being able to connect between the two devices.
* No Wifi solutions seem to exist that can work with only the two android devices and the unmodified Wifi AP.

Did i overlook some piece of software that can do this?

# Answer
THIS app does the trick...

You need to install it on both Android devices and pair them. Then put the tablet in ListenMUSIC over Blueetooth mode and the the phone in shareMUSIC over Bluetooth mode.

HOPE IT HELPS...
> 1 votes

# Answer
Your question led me to this app call AmpMe (both Android an iOS) which promises to do exactly or probably, something similar to your heart desire.

AmpMe:

> Sync your phone with friends to create the world's most portable sound system

With the app above, you can play sound to even multiple tablets.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: audio, streaming
---


# Question
Title: My phone turned off while i was recording audio. How do I recover the file?
I recently was recording audio (an interview) by using the native Voice app on my Samsung Galaxy S6. I paused the recording without having the time to save it. My phone turned off automatically and then restarted (it happens sometimes).

When I tried to go back into the app, the file was missing. I searched in the audio files folder, to no avail. I'm under the impression that the file must be somewhere even though it was not saved, because I see that there is a difference between the remaining space on my hdd before and after the recording (which corresponds to approximately 150Mb).

I downloaded several recovery apps off of the Google Store, but I wasn't lucky.

Has anyone experienced something similar and if yes, did you find a solution?

Thanks!

# Answer
Can you find a LOST.DIR folder in your internal storage? Corrupted or orphaned files are often stored in that folder.. There's a problem though.. they’re renamed with seemingly random strings of numbers and any file suffixes are stripped. Download a lost.dir file viewer or something and you're good to go..

HOPE IT HELPSSS...
> 0 votes

---
Tags: data-recovery, samsung-galaxy-s-6, audio-recording
---


title: Android Power button shortcut

text:
# Question
Title: Android Power button shortcut
I am using android Marshmallow. I want to know about a shortcut method to power off my phone without power button. Without using any external emulators as explained here. I searched it for many hours couldn't find any solution.

I like to use a solution without any app using.

Thanks in advance.

# Answer
> 0 votes
On Huawei GR5 and Huawei Y7 models, I found a solution using default Android settings.

Settings -\> Smart Assistance -\> Scheduled power on/off

There I can tell when to switch off the device.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you are rooted, you should be able to set up a Tasker task to do that, and then create a shortcut to that task.

In Tasker, click Tasks \> Add new task (call it "ShutDown", or whatever) \> select "System" \> choose "Reboot" \> set its option to "Shutdown". Then you need to give it an icon (click on the icon in the bottom right corner to do that). Now you can create a task shortcut on your home screen to that task

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, power-options
---


# Question
Title: Custom font in AnkiDroid in Android 9? (Kanji Stroke Order)
**Short version**

How to use custom font, namely Kanji Stroke Order, in cards in AnkiDroid which is running on Android 9?

**Full version**

I'm learning Kanji characters. It's important to learn also how to draw them - the order of strokes. This is shown in Anki cards by using a special font - Kanji Stroke Orders - and simply printing the character in card with this font. However, I'm unable to make AnkiDroid to use the font, but it was working on my previous device (Android 5.1).

The deck describes that the font file should be copied to fonts sub-directory of AnkiDroid directory. And that it might be needed to remove version part of file name. So I copied the fonts to following paths:

* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/fonts/KanjiStrokeOrders_v4.002.ttf`
* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/fonts/KanjiStrokeOrders.ttf`

Doesn't work (the character is drawn simply with Arial or something like that).

I found another way - Installing Fonts in Anki documentation. This guide describes following approach:

* Add underscore to the font file name.
* Copy it to "collection.media" sub-directory of "User 1" sub-directory of AnkiDroid directory. I couldn't find the "User 1", but there was "collection.media" in AnkiDroid directory, so I used that.
* Add `@font-face { font-family: myfont; src: url("_arial.ttf"); }` to style section of a card and use `font-family: myfont` in style of the kanji text block.

So what I added to the style section is:

```
@font-face
{
  font-family: KanjiStrokeOrders;
  src: url("_KanjiStrokeOrders.ttf");
}

```

Then I added to card text:

```
<span style="font-family:KanjiStrokeOrders;">{{Expression}}</style>

```

And copied the font files to:

* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/collection.media/_KanjiStrokeOrders_v4.002.ttf`
* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/collection.media/_KanjiStrokeOrders.ttf`

And just in case, I also created files:

* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/fonts/_KanjiStrokeOrders_v4.002.ttf`
* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/fonts/_KanjiStrokeOrders.ttf`
* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/collection.media/KanjiStrokeOrders_v4.002.ttf`
* `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid/collection.media/KanjiStrokeOrders.ttf`

Still doesn't work, the text replacing {{Expression}} placeholder is still rendered in Arial (or similar).

**Other notes**

* The `/storage/emulated/0/AnkiDroid` directory was already created and contains Anki data, similar to what is in `~/Anki/User 1` on my PC (Linux, Ubuntu).
* I'm sure the cards/notes are correct (correct format, content, etc.), because it works on PC and worked on my older Android 5.1 phone (I used export/import to migrate and for backups). (I don't rember where I put the font file in my previous phone; the device screen died and so I cannot check now.)
* It seems that the AnkiDroid actually *see* the font; in settings / Appearance / Default font, there actually is option to select Kanji Stroke Orders (all four versions - with/without underscore and with/without version suffix). When I choose it (and set Default font applicability to Always), nothing change. But the font is also available under Browser and editor font - when I set this one to Kanji Stroke Orders, it will change questions and answers in Card browser and field values in note editor. So the font seems to be recognized by AnkiDroid and working.

# Answer
> 0 votes
**Short answer**

The problem was in the font file. In case of Kanji Stroke Order, I used version 4.002 while newer version (4.004 when writing this answer), which can be downloaded at www.nihilist.org.uk, is working.

**Long answer**

I somehow missed faq when custom font is not working on AnkiDroid \- it's good idea to check all of them.

My problem would be caught at point #9 (try different font) or #10 (if #9 is working, it means my font is not supported), although I found it already during test #5 - test on both Anki Desktop and Anki Web. As stated in question, I already tried the desktop, but until now I didn't try the web version. Turns out that web version wasn't working, but I could open developer console where I found out that the font file is referenced correctly, but browser has an issue with it.

Moral of the story:

* AnkiDroid is using web browser functionality to display cards. Whether something on card (e.g. a font) works depends on the device.
* When trying troubleshooting steps, do them all and as exactly as possible. I was really tempted to skip Anki Web (I already proved that my cards and font are working in desktop version) which actually pointed me in the right direction (you can open developer tools in desktop web browser while there is no such thing in AnkiDroid itself).

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Tags: 9.0-pie, ankidroid
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# Question
Title: LineageOS - is it possible to install and run apps without using Gapps or MicroG?
I am trying to work out whether it would be possible to use a custom rom such as LineageOS without flashing Gapps rather than using the LineageOS+MicroG as an option. The basic requirement is to be able move away from the Big Brother.

I have read that LineageOS+MicroG option is a good one but it creates security risks because of the need to do signature spoofing.

I am just a newbie here and wondering whether it would be possible to install a downloaded apk directly on LineageOS? If yes, would like to find more details on this process. If no, are there any solutions to this problem or we just have to put up with the Big Brother until Linux phones make inroads into this space?

Many thanks

EDIT: Thanks for all those who provided valuable comments/suggestions. I decided to try out LineageOS for MicroG and found it quite a painless process. The phone works great without the Big Brother tracking me. I also run DNS66 (from F-Droid Store) which stops ads on some apps. Overall, pretty much impressed with the outcome.

Thanks again.

# Answer
Many people are going Google-free and gapps-free now.

Do it like this:

Install F-Droid store, then install Aurora store from F-Droid. Aurora store is to install apps from Google Play store. Most Play store apps will run fine... some won't. For those, look for alternatives.
> 4 votes

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Tags: lineageos, gapps, micro-g
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# Question
Title: No "Use system certificates" when trying to connect to WiFi
I am having a problem connecting to my university Eduroam WiFi.

If I understand correctly, in `CA certificate` I am supposed to select `CA certificate` if it is there or `Use system certificate` and input my university domain.

But, I only have: `Select certificate` or `Don't validate`. And if I click `Select certificate`, nothing is changing, there is not a `Domain` field appearing like I think it should (and where I could the domain name) (see screenshot).

Can you help?

# Answer
I solved this problem at my university (not Eduroam) by installing a CA certificate in Android (8). It then becomes a choice in the **CA Certificate** menu and you can sign in.

Hopefully, you can find out from the IT people where is the CA Certificate to download to your Android.

I think choosing "Don't validate" is unwise, and that's actually what many university IT web sites advise (Google finds the instructions easily).

Edit: for Eduroam, there's an app that reportedly solves the problem for Android 8.
> 2 votes

# Answer
For Eduroam specifically, there seems to be a CA Certificate installer available for many operating systems to be found at cat.eduroam.org.

It is specific to your Institution and features Linux, Windows, Mac OS, Android, ChromeOS and iOS.
> 1 votes

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Tags: wi-fi, certificates
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# Question
Title: How do I stop others from remotely controlling my phone
Other people are remotely controlling my phone. How do I stop them and get my life back?

Sometimes I will see the screen being navigated when I am not even touching the phone. Swiping motions, back button presses and menu selections happening automatically without my finger even touching the phone or my voice interacting with Google Assistant.

# Answer
It's a *really* broad question but this could solve any remote control issues.

1. (try this method first):

* Force power off your phone (hold down the power button until the screen does black)
    * Turn off your Wi-Fi, and remove any SIM cards.
    * Power on the phone.
    * Look in the Downloaded folder for any suspicious software (such as com.google.daemon or "Service of Google Play") and remove it (if there is only an "Uninstall updates" button, then it is real system software).
    * Power it off, turn on your Wi-Fi, insert your SIM card(s), and tun it back on.
2. (only try if #1 didn't work):

* Turn your phone off, and put it in recovery mode (can't say exactly how without your phone model). Navigate to `wipe data/factory reset` \> `Yes - erase all data` (WARNING: you will lose all data on the phone).
    * Turn it back on. It should be fixed unless the R.A.T (stands for Remote Administration Tool or Remote Access Trojan) is a system app.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Download an app calldd 0permission and verify your kernel module is correct.

Exposing a bootloaderand rooting is in the past.

People like to expose your initrd (initial ramdisk) and backdoor their shell command off that
> 1 votes

# Answer
these ghost touches are a well known hardware failure of touch screen. replace the digitizer or whole screen
> 0 votes

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Tags: remote-control
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title: I Can't change my password

text:
# Question
Title: I Can't change my password
I can not change my password to slide or no password, it says it is due to administrator policies but i have disabled all apps from there, What do I do?

# Answer
That is because of credential storage. Go to settings--\> storage and clear the credential storage. Reboot your device and now you will be able to set lock screen to swipe or no password.
> 0 votes

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Tags: password
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