title: Forgot samsung tablet password

text:
# Question
Title: Forgot samsung tablet password
So on my samsung tab, it is turned on and i forgot the password, I cant reset it with find my phone because it needs to be connected to a reset, I also cant factory reset it because it is already turned on, what do I do?

# Answer
1. Switch it off by pressing : `Power`+`Volume` `Up` \+ `Volume Down` \+ `home` for almost 13 seconds
2. Go to recovery mode by pressing: `Power`+`Volume Up` \+ `home` for around 6 seconds

Here you can factory reset it, of course you have your credentials (email & password)
> 0 votes

---
Tags: factory-reset, locked-out
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to trick my android phone and change the SSID name that it's currently connected to?
My android phone is connected to a device broadcasting the SSID: 12345A
Is there a way to trick my phone into thinking the currently connected SSID is 12345B?
I'm trying to connect to a stupid chinese device which has a slightly different SSID than its app expects. Thanks in advance

# Answer
> 0 votes
Why don't you define a new network, by going to settings then wifi & Add network then define the other SSID.

---
Tags: wi-fi
---


# Question
Title: How to disable the OTG (USB) on Android 9?
I want to disable the OTG (USB) on Android 9. I coud control it on Android 6 by disabling a permission on the file android.hardware.usb.host.xml located in /system/etc/permission but it is not working anymore on Android 9. Any idea?

# Answer
> -2 votes
**Follow the steps below:**

1. Open the Android settings, touch the menu button and select Settings or Android Settings from the menu that appears.
2. Then on the Settings screen, you will show many different settings broken down under different categories. Scroll down the list of all the settings and touch Storage when you find it.
3. In the Storage settings, you will find the option to Unmount USB storage near the bottom of the screen – then select this option to start the unmounting of OTG (USB) storage devices connected to your phone via OTG or USB cable.
4. You will be shown a confirmation screen - if you really want to unmount the USB storage. Touch OK to continue and unmount the OTG storage.
5. After the OTG storage has been successfully unmounted in Android, you can remove the OTG cable from your Android device without worrying about any data loss.

---
Tags: permissions, usb-on-the-go
---


title: Record log before device reboots

text:
# Question
Title: Record log before device reboots
I need to record an log even if device restarts cause when I open a specific app my phone restarts so I need to log why.

# Answer
> 1 votes
As you can reproduce the crash you can connect your phone via USB to a computer and start

```
adb logcat -b all

```

and then start the problematic app on the device.

You will get the logcat output until the device reboots. Hopefully there is an indicator why the crash happens.

Note: this requires enabled adb on the device and adb running on your PC.

There is a second way reading the kernel messages after the reboot happens, but the path (e.g. `/proc/last_kmsg`) of the saved kernel messages have changed over the time and it is not enabled by default on all devices.

If you are interested in this way see for example this topics:

---
Tags: usb-debugging, logging, bugs
---


# Question
Title: Pixel 3a charging over computer USB connection
I have an Pixel 3a device that I connect to a Linux computer via USB cable (A to C). Sometimes when I plug in the device, the notification on the Pixel 3a says, "Android System - Charging this device via USB". However, the battery icon indicates the phone is not charging (does not show the lightning bolt), and indeed, the charge level does not go up. If I switch the USB connection to MIDI, PTP, USB tethering or file transfer, then the phone starts charging.

How can I get my phone to reliably charge without granting extra data permissions?

As for "sometimes", if the Pixel 3a previously did not charge with no data transfer, then it will continue to not charge with no data transfer in subsequent connections until some data is granted. If the Pixel 3a charged in the last connection, it may or may not charge on the next connection with no data transfer.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I assume one of the problems here is that you don't use an USB-C to USB-C cable in combination with using the "USB controlled by this device" mode.

"USB controlled by this device" should be equivalent to what was called OTG with USB2/Micro USB. At that time you could not use OTG with charging at the same time.

In the USB-C era it should be possible if the phone supports USB-Power Delivery (USB-PD). The Pixel 3a as far as I know supports USB-PD.

Now comes the problem: When you connect the phone using the USB-C to USB-A converter cable and select the mode "USB controlled by this device" then the phone is in the USB master role. For a connection to the PC the PC would have to act as USB slave - which is AFAIK not possible as USB 2/3 PC connections (using the old Type A socket) can only act as USB master!

Therefore we have on each end of the cable an USB master which effectively that there is absolutely no communication possible between them, as the USB standard defines exactly one USB master in a device tree (the USB master plus x USB slaves - the connected devices and hubs).

No communication automatically means no connection for negotiating the available/required power. Therefore in the end your phone doe snot charge.

When you change the mode to "MIDI" or one of the other "use USB for" modes this implicitly changes the USB controlled by" mode to "Connected device" - Android does not only support them this way.

**Conclusion: By default you should select "USB controlled by connected device"** \- this is the default as it was in USB2.0/3.0: The "connected device" is the computer and the computer is the USB master. Using this mode means computer and phone can communicate and therefore also charging works.

---
Tags: usb, charging, usb-connection-mode
---


# Question
Title: Launcher preference not persistent between reboots
I recently purchased the BLU Vivo One Plus 2019, which runs Android Oreo (8.1). After installing kiss launcher and setting as my default launcher, I rebooted my device and the launcher reset back to the pre-installed Launcher3. Note that my other default applications remain, for example I also changed the default messaging app to Signal.

Are there any workarounds for this? How can I retain my preference for the default launcher?

# Answer
Based on this answer,

```
adb shell cmd package set-home-activity "fr.neamar.kiss/.MainActivity"

```

However, this only works from an external device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: launcher, 8.1-oreo, stock-rom
---


# Question
Title: What are possible consequences of not installing updates
I've a many-years-old android phone on which I've never updated the OS, never logged in to Google Play. I haven't had any google accounts for years.

I deleted nearly all apps that came preinstalled on the phone, and have never installed any apps (other than firefox directly from mozilla, with some privacy plugins/addons). Further I've never logged into any website (i.e. no email, no banking, no purchasing, etc). Further, my address phone book doesn't contain any sensiteve contacts, such as my financial institutions.

I never connect to wifi other than my home. My online phone activity is limited to checking the weather forecast and reading mainstream newspapers (and that is only at home. I don't have any data on my phone subscription plan).

What harm am I open to?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Even if you don't use the phone for many things you may still get a victim of an attack.

The first security problem are apps that are no longer updated because your Android version is too old and is no longer supported. App updates some times not only add new features but also fix vulnerabilities. Not getting the update can make your device even more vulnerable to attacks.

Especially an up-to-date web browser app and WebView component is crucial, because malware was even found on large well known web sites - or to be precise it was found in advertisements shown on these pages. Nowadays ads are are sold via real-time auctions, therefore the owner of the web page has only limited influence on what ads are being displayed. The ad companies try to prevent such "malvertising" (malware advertising) campaigns but in such a dynamic market you can't filter out 100% and one banner with malware may be enough.

A second problem may be the Android Media Service which automatically processes every file you download. In history this service has shown dozens of vulnerabilities that enable root access. Now again Google has managed to put some more vulnerabilities in this service. Therefore from my point of view this service is one of the major risks on your device - but you cant disable or remove it and even if you could so apps would stop working like the USB PC connection or the photo album app.

Once an attacker has managed to take over your Android device the attacker can scan your home network for other vulnerable devices such as Smart TVs (often contain microphones), webcams, and so on. Depending what you have installed the effects of an attack can have an significant impact on your life.

---
Tags: security
---


# Question
Title: Why is the Verizon Cloud app generating Instabug text files in my File Manager Documents folder every time I start up my phone?
I am getting a lot of text files in my File Manager's Documents folder. I used the Properties option on the file to see that it is an Instabug file. The path shows VCast.

After searching for various terms, I discovered that VCast is from Verizon, which is my carrier. But, I cannot find an App on phone for VCast or any information online about it or why I am getting these text files.

---

Additional information:

After using the online chat option at Verizon I found out this information:

VChat is used in streaming videos and music. I use the Hoopla app to play TV shows. It seems like these text files are generated when I play a TV show.

The Verizon rep I chatted with suggested to scan with an antivirus app. I already use one. I tried another. That didn't work.

---

Additional information:

There were two more text files in my Documents folder this morning. So, this is not resolved. I didn't run any videos or play any music last night or this morning. The text file's date and time were for last night when I had my phone on briefly and for today with the time I started up my phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Well, it appears that the culprit app is the VERIZON CLOUD APP.

I went to the Instabug website. I was thinking of actually sending them a message because the path shows their software name. But, I found this article. It appears that Verizon uses Instabug, and the person interviewed for the article is Mohammad Hariri, DMTS for Verizon’s Communications and Cloud division. So, I thought I would try disabling the Verizon Cloud and and IT WORKED!!! I have turned my phone on and off three times. I don't get the text files!

https://instabug.com/customers/verizon

So, now the question is: How can someone in charge of that Verizon Cloud app look at this issue?

Extra: I reinstalled the Verizon Cloud and instantly got a text message in that Documents folder.

---
Tags: file-management, media-files
---


# Question
Title: How can I ignore an incoming bluetooth connection/pairing request? Major Android Flaw
I accidentally tried to pair with a mystery bluetooth device from somewhere in the neighborhood awhile back, confusing it with a device I was trying to pair with. Now every time I turn on bluetooth in my house I get a pairing request from a mystery device. The neighbors don't know anything about bluetooth devices and I would feel weird going through their home looking for devices (plus that's really inappropriate). Can I get android to ignore this pairing request or is this a bug in android? If so, it seems like a serious flaw in the android OS itself. It's driving me nuts. I would pay money to stop this from happening. I use a Samsung Galaxy S5 with android 6.0. My next step is to reset my phone and see if that helps. I can't believe google left this big of a flaw in the android os that you can't block things when they spam you via bluetooth.

Just an update as of 8-23-2016. This looks to be a flaw in Android. I just wiped my phone completely and set it back up and the mystery device is still spamming my phone with connection requests and there is no way to stop it.

# Answer
Unfortunately, I think it's not your phone, but the other device. When you tried to pair with it, it remembered that (I can almost tell for sure you did not only try, you *succeeded* to pair with it). So now, when the other device sees yours in range, it automatically fires up request to pair. That's how Bluetooth works, and that's why the protocol is so convenient.

Check if this thread works for you: Ignore / stop incoming bluetooth connect/pair requests
> 1 votes

# Answer
So it turns out it was the bluetooth on my CPAP machine. I installed an add-on unit to my cpap machine for phillips respironics dreammapper. The device was named pr bt bf0d. The code for that is 1008. Android should have a feature where it can add and remove devices to a bluetooth ignore pair request list.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I had the same pairing request problem. I thought my Android Galaxy S5 was trying to pair with my Plantronics Back Fit PR BT 9A8D bluetooth device. I kept getting a pairing request for Plantronics PR BT 9A8D. The device was turned off and unpaired but I kept getting the request.
Apparently my Galaxy S5 was seeing my bluetooth Dreammapper on my CPAP machine. Once I entered the CPAP code 1008. I was able to get my CPAP data and the pairing request stopped.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I've been told that if you pair to the device that is asking to pair with you from *another* device (not your phone), then it will stop spamming your phone.

Just make sure the other device isn't one that will normally be in range of the spamming BT source, otherwise you'll just get the notice elsewhere.

In my case, the spamming BT device (Uconnect in a Jeep) can't be connected to from any other device. So I'm going to have to destroy it with a sledgehammer, once I found out where it's located.
> 0 votes

# Answer
My problem with the constant pairing tries was related to the smartband app (fitpro). I erase all data, force stoped the app and it was sucessfull.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, bluetooth, bluetooth-pairing
---


# Question
Title: How is WhatsApp able to receive messages when not in use?
I'm curious about how WhatsApp is able to receive messages when not in use.

I mean, I understand that WhatsApp works using the Internet connection rather than the cellphone network. Imagine that I haven't touched my phone in hours. At that moment, a friend sends me a message on WhatsApp. I get it immediately. Does that mean that WhatsApp is keeping the Internet connection connected at all times? Does that mean that WhatsApp acts as a server, opening ports on the phone? Or maybe a long-running HTTP request?

# Answer
At first, I thought this was most likely an instance of Android cloud to device messaging, but it can't be: WhatsApp doesn't declare the necessary permissions, and it works in Eclair (Android 2.1), while cloud to device messaging (and its replacement, Google Cloud Messaging) require at least Froyo (Android 2.2).

However, it is most likely some sort of push notification service. It's impossible to say exactly how it's implemented without access to WhatsApp's source code.

The part about it being able to receive messages when not in use is relatively easy to explain, though. The app almost certainly has a service which runs in the background to check in with the server periodically (or receive the server push, or whatever it does). When you receive a message, the service pops up a notification.

As for the question as to how the server could do a push, here's a possibility (again, I can't verify without source code):

1. WhatsApp starts and opens two sockets: One to listen on and one to send a message to the server.
2. WhatsApps starts listening on the first socket.
3. WhatsApp sends a message containing your phone number and the port of the listening socket to the server and waits for an acknowledgement.
4. The server records the phone and port numbers in the message and the IP address that the message came from.
5. The server sends an acknowledgement to the app.
6. The app receives the acknowledgement and closes the message socket.
7. A message with your phone number as the destination comes into the server.
8. The server uses the IP address and port number it has associated with your phone number and uses that information to push the message to your phone.

For this to work, the app would need to monitor the state of the network connection and reset the listening socket / resend the registration message when necessary (if the IP address changes, for example).
> 22 votes

# Answer
I am certainly sure that WhatsApp does NOT open any listening ports. most ISPs block incoming requests, that would not work.

WhatsApp has a service. Basically that means that technically you never quit WhatsApp. So, the way you receive messages while you're "not running" WhatsApp is the exact same way you receive them when you're running it.

The client, in this case WhatsApp, connects to the server. The client maintains that connection. When the server has something new to say, it sends it to the client via that connection, And that's all.

Your first guess is correct.

WhatsApp has no true log out mechanism, see this.

> WhatsApp does not have a logout mechanism. The application is designed to always be connected so that you receive your messages quickly, even when you are not actively using your phone. This is similar to how SMS works and allows WhatsApp messages to be delivered almost instantly.
> 8 votes

# Answer
Their FAQ suggests they use GCM. Check the answer to "Are messages still taking too long to reach your phone?"
> 2 votes

# Answer
Whatsapp like other apps is run as service.(You are always connected) Messages sent to you are stored on whatsapp server till 30 days, within which period your whatsapp should be active to receive and acknowledge receipt of the message. Individual accounts are stored with the user phone number @whatsapp.net
> 0 votes

# Answer
I think it should be like this:

When whatsapp was new, it would have used PNS based solution, this PNS would just wakeup the device and once it wakes up, it can create a socket connection to whatsapp server.

After when whatsapp is popular now most devices its coming as native application and native application will not be killed. In my samsung s8 i cant uninstall whatsapp, power saving mode can not kill it
> 0 votes

# Answer
Google maintains connection with android and apns server maintains connection with apple devices, without gcm or fcm no third party can send push notification to android devices.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: networking, whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: How to find out the package name of an Android app, without ADB nor installing apps
My friend just showed me a really useful app. I want to install it too, but the app's name is very generic and there is no app with this name in any app store nor on the web. Knowing the **package name** of the app would help me find it.

How can I know the **package name** of an app?

* In Settings\>App I only see the app's *name*.
* If it was my phone I would install Applications Info and read the package name. Unfortunately I can't install anything on the phone. Understandably, my friend does not allow me to enable developer options, nor to connect any cable to it.
* The phone otherwise only has stock apps.

Latest Android.

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are multiple approaches to that – depending on what you have access to. I'll include those not working for you as they might work for others:

* Most obvious: use an app inspector (link goes to my corresponding app list). Won't work for you as you cannot install any app.
* Not that obvious, but with helpful side effect: install ClassyShark3xodus from F-Droid. Not only shows the package name but also the trackers contained in apps. Again, needs installing an app.
* Another one with helpful side effects: installing Helium Backup and inspecting the backup file name. Doesn't work for you either, unfortunately.
* Native method: Open in Play Store, ideally in the web page. Find the package name in the URL's `id` parameter. If in app, use the developer's name to list all apps made by them: `https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=<url+encoded+name>`.

If the app is not available in any of the app stores available on the device (often happens with vendor specific pre-installed apps), you're out of luck: you cannot even extract the APK from your friend's device if (s)he doesn't let you install an APK extractor or enable ADB (with ADB, you could e.g. use Adebar's getapk script to extract all or specific apps).

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to set a customizable mode of "Do not disturb" for Outlook?
In this article, it is described how to set Outlook to e.g. do not disturb during weekends.

In addition to this, I would like to add the criteria to not disturb after work hours (i.e. 5 PM to 8 AM).

From my understanding, this is not possible? Could we persuade Microsoft to add this feature somehow?

**EDIT:** I found that several others also want this feture.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The latest versions of the Outlook app actually already have this new DND option "**During evenings**" wherein you can configure your after-work routine. By default, it is set to 5PM to 8AM schedule as you want in your question. But it can also be modified to fit a different routine. Here's the screenshot:

---
Tags: outlook, ms-office
---


title: Automatic Power On and Off

text:
# Question
Title: Automatic Power On and Off
Is it possible to configure a smartphone with Android 8.1.0 to power on and off at specified times?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Some OEM ROMs offer such a functionality, most do not. You can check your device's settings, if there is such an entry. If there is none, then it is not possible. So, the answer to this question will be a yes and no together. It will depend on which smartphone you have.

You can certainly not achieve this with 3rd party apps.

---
Tags: automation, power-on, power-options
---


# Question
Title: Encryption on SD card. Not recovering data after crashing
My SD card on Nokia 5 suddenly stooped being recognized one day and all my apps and data was lost. I switched off the phone and reinserted the card, but no use. Then I took the card for recovery with a data recovery company - Stellar Data Recovery in Gurgaon. They inspected and told me that all they can see on my SD card is garbage and it could be encrypted or its logical drive could have completely been wiped. I had encrypted my phone but I haven't encrypted my card. Any pointers on what should I do next? The data is very precious to me and I need to recover it.

This is a SanDisk SD card 64 Gb, class 10 used with a Nokia 5 with Android 9 version

Update: Thanks for all the answers people. The data recovery company I gave my disk to were unable to proceed with these steps because I suppose they were not as technical to try these steps. So, they returned my card stating that my card is encrypted and also has physical damage so they can't do anything. That left me heartbroken because this data is important to me.

I am planning to do all these steps myself.

1. Meanwhile, can I insert another card in my still-unrooted phone, which still has the old corrupted card as an adoptable storage in its settings?

2.Can this new card be made adoptable? Will doing so make the old card's vold keys disappear from the phone?

3. Can I make this new card partly adoptable and partly removable through disk partition on Android 9? Will this also affect my old card's vold key?

I just need to know that I will not permanently lose all my old cards vold keys if I insert a new card and make it adoptable as well.

Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
the proper way is give your sdcard + device + screenlock pin to the expert

the Nokia 5 is listed as exploitable. someone with skills can do:

on the device itself

* make a full ROM dump of all partitions including encrypted userdata partition and encryption key using the read command in EDL mode
* downgrade the bootloader to make bootchain vulnerable
* flash avb/ dm-verity disabled vbmeta from EDL mode
* flash (unsigned) magisk patched boot/recovery or twrp custom recovery from EDL mode
* get root access to (decrypted) userdata partition
* extract the encryption key of adoptable-storage from `/data/misc/vold`

on linux machine

* dump the corrupt sdcard with ddrescue
* decrypt the sdcard dump with extracted key
* recover files with testdisk photorec extundelete binwalk etc

---
Tags: 9.0-pie, nokia-5
---


# Question
Title: Accessing favorite/hearted images when choosing an image with Samsung's Gallery app
In the Samsung Galaxy Note 9's Gallery app, there isn't a separate Favorite Photos folder. Instead, a button on top of the albums page labeled Favorites opens up hearted photos.

The problem with this is my favorite/hearted photos don't appear as a separate folder in WhatsApp when I try to attach a photo. For example, I press the attach button, Gallery, and there is no separate folder for my hearted/favorite photos.

How to quickly access those photos?

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can reach you installed gallery from within WhatsApp by either longpressing the "gallery"-button within the attachement-menu or by clicking it, then clicking the three dots in the upper right corner.

---

Old Answer with the assumption, that you were asking for WhatsApp-Favorites:

The starred messages are no seperate folder in the gallery, but a list within WhatsApp. To get to this list follow these steps:
1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap More options. (The three dots)
3. Tap "Starred messages".

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, gallery
---


# Question
Title: How can I undo an edit in Gmail's compose field?
How can I undo an edit in Gmail's compose field?

For example, I write a draft email, select the entire text and remove it, how can I undo my remove action to get the text back?

# Answer
> 1 votes
@JinaneK was on the correct path suggesting to used `Ctrl`+`Z`. You will need to install a keyboard that has `Ctrl` key such as Hacker's Keyboard if your keyboard app does not have it.

After you delete a text, open Hacker's Keyboard (if it was not already opened), press `Ctrl` (you will see an indication on the key that it is activated, on my phone, the indication was a blue line), then press on `Z`. You can even use it to redo by using `Ctrl`+`Y`

**Disclaimer:** I am just a user of the app.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Usually, if the session is not closed just an undo or ctrl+z can do it.

---
Tags: gmail, 9.0-pie, samsung-galaxy-s-9, text-input
---


# Question
Title: My Samsung Galaxy S doesn't recognize when it is plugged in to USB
When I plug in my Samsung Galaxy S (Model SAMSUNG-SGH-I897, Firmware 2.2, Kernel 2.6.32.9, Build FROYO.UCKB2) to a computer, it starts charging, but does not recognize the USB connection for data. I have tried toggling debugging, mass storage, and ask on connection, but all that happens is that it draws power. I've tried both Windows 7 32bit and Ubuntu 11.04 32bit. It was working yesterday.

Additional note: dmesg, lsusb, and adb do not recognize the device at all under ubuntu

Thanks

# Answer
This has happened many times to me, and every time it has been a bad cable. If you have one, try finding another USB cable to test it with, and see if it works. Often some connection goes bad in the cable just from use and wear and it will only charge and refuses to transmit data.

The other possibility (this is known to be a problem with the EVO 4Gs, but i don't think i've heard of it on the Galaxy S) is that the USB port on your phone has been damaged or gone bad. This happened to my dad's phone (EVO) and they sent him a replacement.

Let us know what happens after you try a new cable!
> 1 votes

# Answer
Happened to me on Windows 7 and downloading drivers from Samsung's website fixed it: http://developer.samsung.com/technical-doc/view.do?v=T000000117
> 0 votes

# Answer
I discovered I did not have the tethering turned on ,on my phone , when I tried again it worked.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, usb, usb-connection-mode, usb-debugging
---


# Question
Title: How to call or dial from my head unit through Bluetooth?
I just upgraded my head unit to Woodman Big B on Android 8.1. I'm not finding a good way to dial out someone from the head unit. I am connected to my mobile through Bluetooth.

How to call or dial from my head unit through Bluetooth?

# Answer
I spent some time today exploring my head unit and found that the Bluetooth app has the option for downloading contacts from the phone. Also, it has a nice dialer.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, calls, automotive-head-unit
---


# Question
Title: How can I change the default Google Drive PDF viewer on Android?
I've been used to downloading PDFs on my phone and have them directly saved on my downloads folder. But just recently, whenever I download PDFs, Google Drive viewer shows up. I know there's a download option on Google Drive viewer. But when I open the file, it prompts that there's no app that can read it. I have Acrobat and Drive that I used to read PDFs with.

I think from some of the research I did, the update for Google Drive makes it the default for opening PDFs. I checked the defaults, it did not have one. I just uninstalled the update for Google Drive as a temporary solution.

I think I changed the defaults by accident (I did not assign one before). How do I change that, if ever?

My phone's a Samsung S5. I'm using Chrome for it.

# Answer
I had the same problem using Firefox on Android - totally maddening - but fixed it.

After installing Google Drive all my links to pdfs would open with Google Drive PDF Viewer.

I fixed it by, in Firefox, going to *about:config* in the location bar, then finding "browser.download.preferred.application/pdf" and doing a Reset there.

The next time I clicked on a link to a pdf I got the choice to Download, or use Google Drive PDF Viewer.

Shouldn't it be there in Chrome, under the hood somewhere ?

Btw, that "browser.download.preferred.application/pdf" in Firefox only seems to show up after a choice has been made, in this case, forced by the install of Google Drive. Seems redolent of the old browsers wars.
> 11 votes

# Answer
Try clearing the defaults for the Google PDF Viewer app. You can do this on Android 4.x - 5.x by doing the following:

1. Go to Settings -\> Apps -\> All.
2. Scroll down to Google PDF Viewer app and tap on it.
3. Scroll down to the Launch by default section and tap the "Clear Defaults" button.

Next time you try to open a PDF, a pop-up should present you with options of all the installed apps that handle PDF viewing.
> 8 votes

# Answer
I just had this problem on Android 7.0 Nougat. I on a pdf/drop box link I accidentally clicked set Drive PDF Viewer as default.

Similar to others.. To fix this in Nougat.

You must go to Settings-\>Apps-\>All-\>Drive-Open by default (little bit tricky)

"Clear Defaults" might be disabled, however the first entry "Open supported links". Will be set to some value, set it to something other than "Open in this app". I set it as "Ask every time".

Hope this helps.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I went to Settings \> Apps and Notifications \> See all apps \> Drive \> Open by default \> Clear default. This worked for me. Now I'm once again prompted on which app I want to use in opening PDFs.

I'm using a Google Pixel 2
> 1 votes

# Answer
I believe you will have to clear the defaults for Google Drive. Have you installed the PDF viewer from the play store? If you have you should clear its defaults for sure.

1. Go to settings
2. Then Default Applications
3. Then click on the Google Drive app and the Google Drive PDF Viewer app clear button to the right of the names

This video may be of use to follow along.

---

If you couldn't find the default applications settings it may be because you are on a different version of android if that's the case you may also be able to find under just "Applications" in the settings menu
> 0 votes

# Answer
You can also just uninstall the update of Google drive from application settings.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This is what worked for me. None of the other well meant suggestions worked. https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/chrome/u8xuBHFzHuo

In my case these instructions meant that I reverted to the older version of chrome that came with my tablet. When I clicked on a PDF file within that old version of chrome and was asked for my choice of viewer, I emphatically chose something non-Google, to be used every time. I was able to view the PDF file within my viewer of choice and got a PDF file in my download folder.

The step that I have to add to those instructions is that after following them I tried updating chrome to the latest version. The new choice of PDF viewer is still in place. So long as I never return to the Google viewer I should be able to change my default viewer again.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Install Firefox and download a PDF file, I'll ask you to choose a default app to open it, after that all PDFs will open on the app you select
> 0 votes

# Answer
Remove Google Drive then install Google PDF Viewer from Google Play Store. This then gives a choice of PDF readers after a phone reboot. Chose Google PDF Viewer as the default and all is now perfect.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the handset is not the issue nor is Android. It was working fine.

Then it stopped and for every PDF downloaded through Google Chrome app. It displayed the whole PDF in Drive but after storing it just didn't open in any other PDF viewer, said: "cannot be displayed, unrecognized format".

Solution: Uninstall all updates to the Google apps and things go back to normal.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This worked for me.

Go Settings -\> Application Manager(Applications) -\> Tap Google Drive. Click Disable.

Now download a PDF. While opening that file, you will get an option to pick your default PDF Viewer. Choose Adobe and tap on "Always open with".

Now go back to the Application Manager and re-enable Google Drive.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Android 7.0 on Asus tablet.

I tried a number of options previously used but none worked on getting chrome to use the default pdf viewer previously set on the device (in my case, Foxit ...highly recommended for any small screen because it offers "word reflow")

I finally tried enough guesses and experiments that I think I got it.

* Open the "default" android file manager named "File Manager" (which I had never used before)
* Find a previously downloaded PDF file on your device and click to open it.
* Choose your default reader in "File Manager"
* Remember to tap "Always" *before* clicking the desired PDF reader icon
* Subsequently, Chrome will open PDF files in your default PDF reader

Note, other File Managers such as ESFileExplorer offer the option to set "open with" but, while the ES setting worked for opening pdf files with most other apps, it did not work when Chrome opened a PDF file.

To test this, I went into;

**apps/Foxit/OpenByDefault/Other/ClearDefaults**

and following that downloaded a file using chrome and observed that chrome had elected to use it's default PDF viewer after clearing the foxit default/

Then, opened file manager again, completed the process again and it worked to set Foxit as the default PDF app as far a chrome was concerned.

Hope that this information is helpful to others as frustrated as this made it here.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Drive pdf viewer cannot be seen in apps \> go \>allapps\> drive\> afte doing all necessary clear defaults and set open links to ask all time

Disable drive and restart phone When you start all defaults will be gone and re enable drive
> 0 votes

# Answer
Go to Settings --\> Apps

Select the app which uses Drive pdf viewer for PDFs by default. For example: ES File Explorer

Go to storage then tap on clear data. This has worked for me.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Go to Settings→Apps→ Drive→Permissions→Storage

Grant storage permission for Google drive.

I solved my issue of not opening pdf.
> 0 votes

# Answer
For me, Google Drive is already not set as default for anything, yet the pdfs were being opened in Google Drive - and I have uninstalled the Google PDF Viewer. What worked - both on Marshmallow and on Oreo - is the following:

1. Download some pdf file.
2. "Try" to re-download it again - wait for the prompt that this file is already downloaded.
3. Tap the file link in the prompt that appears, and choose the default app.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I've had this problem for a few months, on Android 10 (Pixel 3a XL), and solved the problem today. In my case I have the Kindle app which can open PDFs, but the OS keeps trying to open PDFs with "Drive PDF Viewer" which doesn't exist! It had been preinstalled, but I guess an OTA update must have deleted that app without telling the OS to redirect to Kindle. Try this:

1. play store
2. search for PDF Google
3. find "Google PDF Viewer" and install

Now open your PDF file, it will open with this newly installed app. Next, I uninstalled this app, and the OS *did* ask me for a new default app with which to open PDFs. I chose Kindle. It seems to work fine now.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I too was struck with this issue. Google drive hijacks the downloads, and then Adobe wants 9.99 per month ransom to get them out of there.

Uninstalling any Google Drive updates and then disabling it will also solve the problem...and without having to give up other advantages of the chrome browser.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: google-drive, pdf
---


# Question
Title: How to remove a certificate Authority installed on my Android mobile ( redmi note 5)
I installed an app **LUMEN** that app installed a certificate, ever since it installed that certificate it is showing that *your secure network maybe monitored or modified*

# Answer
You need to go to:

`Settings > Security > Encryption & Credentials > Trusted Credentials > User`

You can remove the installed CA from there.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: android-versions, redmi
---


# Question
Title: Does `adb install` do APK signature verification?
When using `adb install something.apk`, does the Android Package Manager verify the signature of the APK? `adb install` seems to bring up nothing up on the phone's screen, so it's hard for me to know if it does.

I like the idea of using APK mirror websites to download APK files with a phone that does not have Google Play Services, but because I can't trust any of those APK mirror websites, I want to make sure that the app's data is not at risk if using `adb install` when upgrading to a new APK version.

A couple of questions:

* If `adb install` does do signature verification, what does it do if the signature does not match? Does it fail the install, pop up a question on the phone's screen, or automatically erase the app's existing data?
* What if using the `-r` option with `adb install`?
* If I use `adb uninstall -k` before installing the app upgrade, does signature verification occur from the previous installation before the old app data will be shared with the new install?
* Bonus: We have the option `adb install -l`, where `-l` stands for "forward-lock the app". What does this "forward-lock" mean, and does it have anything to do with signature verification and app data access?

# Answer
> 5 votes
You are correct `adb install` verifies the signature of the app.

If the app has not been installed on the device before the package manager can only verify that the app has been signed - who has signed the app can't be verified by the package manager.

Only if you install an update for an app that has already been installed before the package manager can check if the signature of the new app matches the already installed app. In case the "update.apk" to be installed has a different signature you will get an error message after executing `adb install` like

> signatures do not match the previously installed version

I am not sure if this also happens in case you have installed the old app before using `adb uninstall -k`. I would assume (but have never tested it) that the signature is also checked and compared and only an apk with a matching signature can be installed. Otherwise you could get access to any app-private data on your phone by replacing the app with a custom app. This would be a serious security vulnerability.

If you additionally want to verify your downloaded apk files you can use `apksigner` which is included in the Android SDK. The necessary steps are described in this answer I wrote some time ago. Especially the verification of the publisher (check what other apps have been signed by the same entity) using androidobservatory.org and apkmirror.com may be of interest to you.

`forward-lock` in my understanding is if you want to pin an app to the current device firmware version, hence mark an app as potentially not compatible with future Android versions.

---
Tags: adb, installation, apk
---


# Question
Title: How can I add a shortcut to a particular Google Drive document to my Android homescreen?
How can I add a shortcut to a particular Google Drive document to my Android homescreen?

This is the Android analog to this question. Using a URL doesn't work, since I don't want to open the browser and I want to directly access a Google Drive file I have made available offline.

Could QuickShortcutMaker be used? Looking through it briefly, (see here) it doesn't look possible because the "intents" used by QuickShortcutMaker don't take arguments such as a filename.

# Answer
You should be able to do this natively.

Android 3.0 (and below):

In your launcher, press and hold on a blank area and click "Shortcuts". Select "Drive Shortcut", then your document, and it will create a link for you.

Android 4.0 (and above)

Open your app drawer and jump to the Widgets section. Swipe until you get to "Drive Shortcut". Long-press and drop on your desktop. Choose the account to use (if necessary) then select the document.
> 59 votes

# Answer
Here is a slightly different take on Mike's answer, with screenshots:

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

1. Open the **Drive app** (*not* the app for the specific document type; this won't work in the Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. apps)
2. Click the 3 dots (or touch-and-hold) to open the context menu on the document
3. Scroll down if needed and click "add to homescreen"
> 19 votes

# Answer
Figured this out.. Go to drive, long hold on the doc, copy link, copy to clipboard. Open web browser and paste url, then copy page to homescreen. For reference I had copy to device turned on.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Recently (August 2016, Google Drive app version 2.4.311.34.34 on my 2013 Moto X running Android 5.1), there is now an "Add homescreen shortcuts to your favorite files" feature. Press the three dots menu to the right of a document (in my example, "Facebook fodder"):

then scroll up until you see an "Add To home screen" item. That will put a link to your document on your current home screen.

(FYI, the first time I tried this, Google Drive failed to open the document. I killed the Google Drive app, tried again, and successfully opened the document. I have no idea how common this problem might be.)

**Edit**: *Adding Home screen screenshot*
> 1 votes

# Answer
The thing that confuses people here is that the way to do it is from within Google Drive, not from your phone's home screen. So open the Drive app on your phone, open the Drive file you want to create the shortcut to, and then go into the settings/options menu from there. You'll see "Add shortcut to Home Screen" option and you can click that to make it. Then exit out of the Drive app and look around your phone screens for wherever it put the shortcut badge and move it around to where you want it.
> 0 votes

# Answer
The mistake I was making is the "Add to home screen" button only exists in the Google DRIVE app. I was trying to add a document directly from Google DOCS/SHEETS app. If you are currently using Google SHEETS, Google DOCS, or Google SLIDES this button will not exist. You must exit that app and go to Google DRIVE (every android should have it downloaded) and from there hold down the file you want to add the the home screen the drop down and "add to home screen" button will appear.
> 0 votes

# Answer
This worked for me on moto g(6) Android version 9:

Open the google drive app (Drive) on your android phone, then navigate to the folder containing the document that you want a shortcut of. Tap on the 3 vertical dots next to the name of the document, then tap on 'Add to Home screen'. You have to scroll down a bit to find the 'Add to Home Screen' button. (Also of note, I only see the 'Add to Home Screen' button if I navigate to the actual location of the document in the drive directory - not from the 'recently used' shortcut.)
> 0 votes

# Answer
add to home screen no longer appears.

workaround was as some one suggested above, to create shortcut via launcher -\> select google drive in the list -\> and then google drived opens allowing us to choose folder and file press SELECT and voila shorcut to a specific google drive file in your android screen.

hope this helps.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: google-drive, home-screen-shortcuts
---


# Question
Title: Read GPS location from command line via SSH
I am wondering if there's a way to read the current GPS coordinates via SSH using SSHelper as SSH server.

I came accross some similar threads:

I managed to run the SSH server and connect to it. So far, I have tried to run the `dumpsys location` command over ssh, which gives me the following:

```
Permission Denial: can't dump LocationManagerService from from pid=27381, uid=10192 due to missing android.permission.DUMP permission

```

Does that command only work with adb? If yes, is there another way of retrieving GPS coordinates over ssh, i.e. using some shell commands?

I don't have root, and I'm not an app developer. Thanks!

# Answer
While I found no solution using SSHelper, it is indeed possible using Termux and the Termux-API. No root is required.

After installing the Termux app, one has to install the Termux-packages `openssh` and `termux-api`:

```
$ pkg install openssh
$ pkg install termux-api

```

I also had to install the Termux-API app from Playstore or F-Droid to get it working.

The sshd config can be edited as desired and can be found at `$PREFIX/etc/ssh/sshd_config`.

Set a password for SSH authentication (or, alternatively and even better, public key authentication with `ssh-keygen` and `ssh-copy-id`):

```
$ passwd

```

Next, start the ssh server:

```
$ sshd

```

To stop the server:

```
$ pkill sshd

```

In my case it's on port 8022 per default. One should now have access to the Termux-API commands via ssh. `termux-location` retrieves GPS data as JSON. For example:

```
$ ssh u0_a202@192.168.0.7 -p 8022 termux-location
{
   "latitude": xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
   "longitude": yy.yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,
   "altitude": zzz.zzzzzzzzzzzz,
   "accuracy": 64.31999969482422,
   "vertical_accuracy": 192.0,
   "bearing": 301.9921875,
   "speed": 0.4399999976158142,
   "elapsedMs": 8,
   "provider": "gps"
}

```

Sources:

https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Remote\_Access

https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux:API

https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux-location
> 1 votes

---
Tags: gps, command-line, geolocation, ssh, gps-tracking
---


# Question
Title: Can adb be used to recover SMS messages while in permanent "Safe Mode"?
I have a non-rooted Droid X2 that is in **permanent** "Safe mode", but I want to recover SMS messages. SMS Backup and Restore will NOT work because safe mode only allows system apps to run.

`adb shell` will get me into the phone, but does not allow me to get to the SMS database:

```
[rjt@pc232 workspace]$ adb shell
$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.32.9-00008-gc406305 (hudsoncm@il93lnxdroid80) (gcc version 4.4.0 (GCC) ) #2 SMP PREEMPT Tue Jan 24 22:54:19 CST 2012

$ cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/
$ pwd
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases
$ ls
opendir failed, Permission denied
$ su -l root
su: permission denied
$ sudo
sudo: permission denied
$ sudo su -
sudo: permission denied
$ sudo su -l root
sudo: permission denied
$

```

Since SMS Backup and Restore is allowed to access my SMS messages when in normal mode, is "Safe mode" blocking my access or the fact that this phone is not rooted?

Can I root the phone without losing my existing SMS messages?

# Answer
You will be unable to do this without a rooted device, as the `/data` directory can only be read by the Android system, and apps can also read their own `/data/data/<package name>` directory *only*.

Android devices do not come with sudo, and you need to be rooted to use su as it switches to the root shell (on unrooted ROM's, su can't switch to the root user, as the kernel denies it).

If you do find a way to root the device, (which may be difficult), you can mount the `/data` partition as RW, then you can copy files from it.

Use these command to remount the `/data` patition:

`su`

`mount -o remount,rw /data`

The `su` command can only be executed on a rooted device.

EDIT:

Just for clarification, the SMS Backup & Restore app uses an API call to get the SMS messages via the Messaging app, hence the need for the `READ_SMS` permission.

EDIT2:

Most rooting methods don't wipe the device data, however some do. You would have to google for a way to root your droid 2 however, and see if it wipes the data.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Try this:

```
cat /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db > /sdcard/mysms.db

```

Which copies the SMS database across to the SDCard.

For the Telephone database,

```
cat /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db > /sdcard/mytelephony.db

```

Its a very old trick, to pull in the databases without root. It is not *guaranteed* to work across all ROMs depending on how the directory permissions are set.
> 5 votes

# Answer
I'm not sure yet whether this works on non-Google phones, but on my Pixel 2 and Nexus 5, the backup feature (under Settings -\> System -\> Backup -\> (Choose profile, if relevant) -\> Pixel 2 backup) shows that SMS text messages are included in the Google Drive backup, if you have enabled it. You cannot directly download or view the backup from Google Drive/PC, but if you have another phone and choose to restore data to it, the SMS messages should be downloaded to the new phone and be available to view and export with a 3rd party app.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms, backup, adb, safe-mode
---


# Question
Title: On my Xiaomi, does the checkmark at "restrict data usage" mean "only allow" or "do not allow"
On my Xiaomi, does the checkmark at "restrict data usage" mean "only allow" or "do not allow"? Each of the two SIM and WLAN has the possibility of a checkmark, but what sense should I view the choice?

# Answer
> 0 votes
When checked, restrict usage data means that the application can not use the internet when using simcard.

---
Tags: settings
---


# Question
Title: Can Google assistant on one device be commanded from another device both of which have been signed into the same Google Account?
User has two android devices(phones). User has signed into the *`same google account`* on both devices.

**Device01:**
\- Work Device
\- Has a sim card
\- Mobile data enabled
\- Is not used much, kept away while at home
\- Hotspot is switched on while at home.

**Device02:**
\- Play device
\- Doesn't have a sim card
\- Always used by the user while at user home
\- Gets data connection through WiFi of Device01/Public WiFi

**Consider the following senario:**
\- The user is watching YouTube on `Device02` in another room / goes out to buy a pack of chips,
\- User wants to send a SMS real quick,
\- Now can the user ask his google assistant on `Device02` *"Okay Google, Send SMS to Mr. XYZ"* and set up google assistant such that SMS is sent through `Device01` instead?

Is this currently possible? Or will we need Google Nest/Hub/Home etc...?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I think you can not do that, because device 1 has a simcard and device 2 has internet connection only, but you can text device 1 using whatsapp or telegram

---
Tags: sms, google-account, google, google-assistant
---


title: Random calls incoming

text:
# Question
Title: Random calls incoming
I am using Redmi note 7 (android: 9 PKQ1)
I have run virus scans on my phone, but I am still having this problem: I keep getting random phone calls on my phone, but strangely there's nothing showing on screen. Only ringtone goes off and that's all. Even when I restart device nothing shows up in history catalog. I'am pretty sure this is some kind of virus and I would like to know if anyone has got same problem as me and some advice on how to fix it. Any suggestion for virus scanner better than common ones?

Regards,
Highzivs

# Answer
It is recommended to check what apps have you installed by going into Settings. Find out which apps you cannot recognise but seem suspicious.

And the last resort – remove your so-called virus scanner as some of them are simply virus and luring you to install it to “prevent virus”.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: redmi, virus
---


# Question
Title: WhatsApp chat restore from file msgstore.db.crypt12 on the internal storage
I tried to setup WhatsApp for my friend’s phone number and restore “msgstore.db.crypt12” from phone’s internal storage and it worked. But the same step isn’t working for my phone number. In my phone number’s case, WhatsApp always looks for a backup in Google Drive to restore from, even if I’ve deleted the google account in the phone and the internet connection is switched off.

# Answer
> 0 votes
WhatsApp will first search for your logged in account and look for any WhatsApp backup files in your Google Drive with the same phone number. If you’d like to prevent WhatsApp from backing up using your Google account, simply delete the WhatsApp backup folder (instead of logging out your Google account from your device).

If your local “msgstore.db.crypt12” are using the same phone number on your new WhatsApp, the setup will then use your local file to continue restoration.

Hope this helps.

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, restore
---


title: SMS not depleting or opening Huawei Y6

text:
# Question
Title: SMS not depleting or opening Huawei Y6
I know this question has been asked here before, but there hasn't been a solution besides to factory-reset the phone.

My phone recently reviewed a SMS/MMS with a title 'No Subject' from a number not on my contacts.

The problem is I cannot open or delete the message. Is there any thing I can do to get rid of this message. My phone is a Huawei Y6 2018

Thnx in advance

# Answer
> 0 votes
It could be possible that your current messaging app is not the default messaging app of the system, thus making messages cannot be removed. Check the default message app in the Settings, and head to the desired messaging app to see if it could be deleted.

You may also consider install the official Android messaging app from Play Store and perform deletions there.

---
Tags: sms, mms
---


title: Android 9: OpenVPN Per App

text:
# Question
Title: Android 9: OpenVPN Per App
First: this question is not a duplicate of:

1. This question: I don't want to use SOCKS, and I am not asking about Lollipop.
2. This question: No answer, and different use case
3. This question: I don't have time to develop my own application.

My goal: to find a way to force all internet traffic (including cellular ie LTE) into my OpenVPN server, except for apps on a whitelist. Whitelisted apps either connect to a second VPN or SOCKS proxy (option preferred), or not be connected to a tunnel at all (a "normal" connection).

For example, try out the ProtonVPN application (which, by the way, I recommend). There is an option to whitelist apps from the VPN. This is what I want, but for my own server.

Root is definitely not preferred, but if it's the only option, then I guess I'll accept it. Multiple profiles are also not preferred, but if it allows some apps to be over VPN and others not, then I will also accept that (but I would like system apps to be blocked in that case).

Thank you.

# Answer
> 2 votes
How about "OpenVPN for Android" made by schwabe.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.blinkt.openvpn
https://github.com/schwabe/ics-openvpn

It has per app connection setting by whitelist or blacklist, though it doesn't support second VPN or SOCKS proxy for the excepted apps.

---
Tags: 9.0-pie, vpn, openvpn
---


# Question
Title: Getting all MP3s on Android and be able to listen to them
I'm an avid music lover, and over my long life collected many rare CDs. I made MP3s of these CDs and had happily listened to them on my iPhone using iTunes.

This week I switched to Android (Samsung Galaxy s10e). I painstakingly uploaded all of my Music folder from my Windows 10 PC onto Google Play Music using the Chrome extension.

Only 3/4s of my MP3s successfully uploaded. Under Google Play Music \> Settings\> Music from My Computer, there's no mention of any failures.

After a quick look, it seems that the rarer recordings were the items skipped. These recordings are not in Google Play Music's library, so now I'm fearing that I can only upload MP3s that are in Google's database.

**Questions:**

1. Can anyone confirm this theory?
2. If it's true, what can I do to get all my MP3s, as they are, onto this Android phone and be able to organize them into playlists and listen to them?

# Answer
> 0 votes
While I can't confirm it, I'm pretty sure Google Play Music needs to recognize the song to be able to show it in its web interface, much like Spotify does.

So instead of using Google Play Music, I plugged my phone into my Windows PC with its USB-C cable. Here, I could see the phone as a drive on the PC. It's a Samsung Galaxy s10e, and fortunately both the phone and the SD card were formatted to show some typical folders, including one called Music.

Using File Explorer, I copied my MP3s from my PC to the phone into the Music folder (on the SD card, but the Internal Music folder would have been fine as well).

Then I chose one of the many MP3 player apps. I did try VLC first since I've used it for years for other purposes and trust it. Because I wanted to do more with the music (e.g., create playlist), I opted to go with Musicolet. Both apps offer to scan your phone and SD card. When you give the app access, it pulls in the files, and then you can go from there.

---
Tags: google-play-music, mp3
---


title: how to *really* kill adware app

text:
# Question
Title: how to *really* kill adware app
the BLU Dash X2, Android 6.0, has a known adware app shown as `Preinstall Data2` in the `Settings | Apps` list, and I finally figured out this is the same as `com.android.packages.oseasapps` shown in `pm list packages -d` by disabling and reenabling it. the problem I'm having is that recently killing it with `Force stop` and `Disable` no longer seems to do anything. it's still injecting ads into other apps which I can see happening using `adb logcat`, and still is shown in the process list using `adb shell ps`.

how can I kill it for real without having to root the phone?

# Answer
> 2 votes
thanks to the supererogatory efforts of alecxs my backup phone is now adware-free. he went above and beyond to help me in the comments.

to eliminate vendor-installed adware without rooting phone you need SP Flash Tool, which is available (at least) for Windows and Linux; and an unofficial TWRP image available from https://romprovider.com/2018/12/blu-dash-x2-root-twrp/. you'll also need the scatter file, obtainable from any firmware file for your model phone. I got mine by googling `BLU D110L Firmware Download`, finding not my version 21 but both v12 and v22. I extracted both firmwares and the scatter file was the same in each, named MT6580\_Android\_scatter.txt.

power down the phone, fire up SP Flash (`flash_tool.sh`) and point it to your scatter file. then select `recovery` in the `Download` section (misnamed, IMO, because you're really *uploading* to the phone from the computer), and double-click in the Location column in the `recovery` row, and select the TWRP image. it should look like this:

click the Download button, and it will just wait there until you briefly pulse the power button (about 0.5 second). then in about a second, you will see the progress bar zoom across the screen, and hopefully you will get a popup indicating a successful write.

after done flashing, disconnect the cable, as it won't (at least mine didn't) power up with it in. *holding the volume UP button*, hold the power button about 10 seconds and release it. after you see the phone starting, you can then release volume up. it should be booted into TWRP. you will need to slide the bar right to allow writing the system image; but the language can be confusing, and if you wait too long, a big padlock icon will appear, at which point you need to slide twice, once to unlock the app, and a 2nd time to allow writing to /system.

then connect the cable, `adb shell` and you should have a root prompt! however, /system won't be mounted, but you can do it simply: `mount /system`. from there I navigated to the folder where the evil app resided, and appended `.evil` to both the .apk and .odex files:

```
~ # find /system/priv-app/ -name '*Preinstall*.apk'
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-utm_source-utm_campaign-oem_BLU_us/PreinstallProvider-utm_source-utm_campaign-oem_BLU_us.apk
~ # cd /system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2/
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # ls
PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk
oat
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # mv PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_
us2.apk PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.apk.evil
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # find oat
oat
oat/arm
oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.odex
/system/priv-app/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2 # mv oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-
oem_BLU_us2.odex oat/arm/PreinstallProvider-oem_BLU_us2.odex.evil
~ # reboot

```

when the phone came back, the app was *gone*. and since I didn't actually root the phone itself, I hopefully won't have any other problems with it.

note that if you fail to boot into TWRP, and instead reboot normally, your modified recovery partition will be gone. the phone will have automatically overwritten it, and you'll have to start over with SP Flash Tool. also: if you get it into FASTBOOT or META modes you may need to actually open the phone up and remove the battery to powerdown. this was not a painless process. and a couple of times I managed somehow to get it into a 4th mode, Factory mode, which is useless but at least had Reboot and Shutdown options.

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, malware
---


# Question
Title: How to automate sending my current battery percentage to PC over the internet every 5 minutes?
I'm using **`Android 9`** on my device, there are many times when I'm away from my phone and it is charging in a different room or someone else is using it, is there was a way to send over the battery percentage say **bp** over to my PC at regular intervals via the internet.

There maybe apps that can do this but I'm interested more in a script *or* terminal based approach

Ideas I'm thinking of are:

I have `Termux` installed and my device is not rooted yet how do I proceed.

# Answer
I'm using **`gist`** by Github (which can be done using `gem install gist` after installing `ruby` package) for broadcasting my battery percentage first to a private file, tried using **`ix.io`** but `pkg install ix` didn't work on Android terminal the `config.guess` threw and error saying `unable to guess system type`.

Already had **`Termux`** installed on my Android with necessary packages and with **`pkg install termux-battery-status`** and installing the Playstore api app : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux.api&hl=en\_IN using `termux-battery-status | grep percentage | grep -oP '\: (.*?)\,' | grep -Eo '[0-9]{1,3}'` gave the battery percentage in terminal.

Finally I added permissions using `chmod +x bp.sh` and set up **`crontab`** on Android to do this every minute using `crontab -e` and adding the line `* * * * * ~/bp.sh`

**EDIT**

Have started to make use of `jq` to parse `json` ouput, so now the one liner for script is `termux-battery-status | jq .percentage | gist -f bp -u gist_id` and start the crontab using `crond`

PS : I've put the entire thing here : https://github.com/himanshuxd/bp-broadcast
> 2 votes

# Answer
You could use Your Phone Companion from Microsoft to link Android to your PC. The battery percentage would be shown at the upper left corner near device icon.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery-life, automation, terminal, scripts
---


# Question
Title: Remove the recent apps part on Xiaomi Mi A2
I am using Android 10 on Xiaomi Mi A2 and want to remove the "recent apps" part from my menu, but there aren't the options shown above.

How to remove it?

# Answer
> 1 votes
"Recent apps" is a standard part of Android navigation and it cannot be removed. You should probably just stop swiping up that long from the bottom and you will never encounter the recent apps screen.

---
Tags: xiaomi, recents-screen
---


title: How to export data usage stats?

text:
# Question
Title: How to export data usage stats?
I am able to see the stats generated by Android at `Settings>Data Usage` for cellular data and wifi both. Is there any way to export these stats?

I don't think android has any option for the extraction. I know apps which track data, but they wont give me historical data.

Where is this data stored, maybe, I can extract it from there.

My phone is Moto G5S, running 7.1.1, not rooted.

# Answer
You can save data usage recordings using an ADB command like the following:

```
adb shell dumpsys netstats detail full > data_usage.txt

```

If you are interested in the data usage of a specific application, you can find its identifier (which is used in the above recordings) using a command like the following:

```
adb shell dumpsys package com.example.application | grep userId

```
> 3 votes

---
Tags: applications, wi-fi, data-monitoring
---


# Question
Title: Samsung "My Files" Downloads folder corrupted on non-rooted phone
On my Note 9 unrooted phone, for whatever reason, if I delete files from the **"Downloads"** section of the My Files app, these files (or references to them) aren't completely removed. A residual "0 byte" file with no name and a time date stamp of "December 31, 1969 4:00pm" is leftover. Also, these residual files can't be moved or deleted.

This ***Downloads*** section seems to have a relation to the `/emulated/0/Download/` folder... although, not the same thing. If I delete the *"Download"* folder, the *"Downloads"* section remains unaffected.

In the Windows OS world, I would just run `chkdsk` to quickly fix the corrupted file indexes on the file system. However, I'm not sure what the equivalent is for an unrooted Android OS.

Things I've tried:

1. Wipe the cache partition
2. Delete the /emulated/o/download folder and recreating it again.
3. Force Stopping the My Files app, clear cache, clear data. This is supposed to be similar to clearing the app cache for 'Media Storage' app on non-Samsung Android devices

I **REALLY** don't want to factory reset my phone, considering how much time I spent configuring all my applications... unless I have absolutely no choice (and know for sure it would fix this issue). This issue is completely over my head. I'm hoping an Android expert will know what to do in this case without having to do a factory reset. **Maybe, I can do something via ADB shell?**

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is an app named **Media storage** in Android OS that stores the database of files and folders in the storage of your device. Looks like there is some problem with this app, so you need to *clear it's data and cache.*

To do that, go to ***System settings-\>Apps***, click on the ***menu button (3 dots)*** then click on ***Show system***. Then, in the apps list, you can find an app named **Media storage**. Click on it and clear it's data and cache. See this screenshot :

# Answer
> 0 votes
I had this problem, and somehow managed to delete the 0b file in my download folder (dated 1970 for some reason?) using a cleaning app called "SD maid".

---
Tags: internal-storage, samsung-galaxy-note-9
---


# Question
Title: Cannot add "Amazfit Bip" watch as a "trusted device"
I've got a ZTE Axon 7 phone, and it generally works fine. I also have an Amazfit "Bip" watch, and I've successfully paired it with the phone via Bluetooth. However, when I try to add the watch as a "trusted device" via the phone "Security" settings, it doesn't work; the phone just immediately tells me that it "Can't add device" even though the watch is turned on and immediately adjacent to the phone. (The watch shows up as a choice in the "trusted device" screen.)

What is it that I need to do to get the phone to pay attention to the watch as a trusted device? I've done this before with the same watch and another Axon 7 phone, and I had no problems then.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I was able to do it; I must have done this in the past and forgotten. From the "Mi Fit" app that goes with the watch, there's an option to set up security pairing. Once that's done, it works via the normal Android screen (the app sends you there).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Apparently from Android 8 onwards the Mi Fit app is not allowed to create a trusted pairing through its application and won't show up as discoverable even with that option selected. There is a way to force it through a dev mode of some sort but I do not recommend that.

---
Tags: security, bluetooth
---


# Question
Title: Dual Sim Oppo Reno Z - not receiving notification of voice messages or calls on 2nd sim
I use vodafone as my 2nd sim and Optus as my 1st. I'm not receiving any notification that I have a voice message on my 2nd sim. I also don't receive a notification that someone called on the 2nd sim.

Any ideas on how to correct this?

Thanks

# Answer
> 0 votes
I've fixed it. It was actually an issue with the sim itself and I had to ring the voicemail settings and chose sms notification - which it had already been set up with - again. Vodafone is hopeless or it's an issue with this sim. Thanks

---
Tags: dual-sim
---


# Question
Title: My phone is downloading "Google Play", over mobile data
My phone randomly shows the Download Manager downloading "Google play". I usually cancel this download since it seems fishy to me, and that's what my question (asked below) is about. Since this sounds all too common and like many questions posted here, let me clarify what this is not:

* This is not a download within the Google Play store.
* All apps are up to date in my play store.
* My OS was recently updated to Oreo (Samsung Galaxy S8).
* All my Samsung apps are also up to date.
* As far as I can tell, I have set all updates to happen only on wifi, not on mobile data connections.
* The download is happening via Download Manager. Long-press etc shows me info about the default "download manager" app itself, not about what it is trying to download.

This reeks of malware to me, wherein some shady app might have just named itself "Google Play" so that I allow it to be downloaded and run it. A malware scan shows nothing (of course, I aborted the attempted download so that file was not scanned, but there seems to be no trojan trying to download more stuff) My questions are:

* Has anyone seen this issue? Is it a regular deal, so that I should just let the phone do what it wants?
* If this is "business as usual", how do I set it to happen on wifi and not on mobile data?
* If this seems suspicious, what steps could I take to further investigate / remove the problem?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Update: I have seen this happen many times by now, and typically right before other apps are updated. I have concluded that this is normal behaviour, just like microsoft office auto-updater updates itself first before updating office itself. If anyone knows otherwise, please respond!

(Posting as an answer, because it seems a lot of people have this issue based on how many views this question is getting!)

# Answer
> 0 votes
Hmm, I had the same activity on my samsung galaxy j1 a couple months back despite the fact that all the apps were updated, and as you said it started downloading apps via the download manager. Recently an android vulnerability named strandhogg was discovered which potentially spreads via the google play store.... sources:

1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=plP96fPJSa4
2. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ED\_xOP2WNXg

Hope this helps "To whom it may concern" into further digging (:

---
Tags: google-play-store, samsung, 8.0-oreo, samsung-galaxy-s-8, download-manager
---


# Question
Title: What is the difference between twrp-[version]-[phone].img and twrp-installer-[version]-[phone].zip?
I know I can flash the image and boot it. But what are the zips used for? I'm asking this because I noticed that images are often accompanied/listed with corresponding zip files - not just for TWRP. And I'd like to understand how they relate and how those zips are applied and when.

For example: https://dl.twrp.me/enchilada/

# Answer
> 4 votes
The answer becomes clear once you read the install instructions:

You will need both files to install, as your device (OnePlus 6 aka enchilada) is an A/B device and thus has no recovery partition (recovery is part of the boot image there) – which means you cannot simply flash the recovery image using fastboot. So you download (or push) the ZIP to your device, then temporarily boot TWRP (`fastboot boot *.img`) and from there flash the ZIP.

---
Tags: twrp
---


# Question
Title: How to remove Chrome's per-site notification entry on the Android settings?
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S10. Sometimes when I visit "certain" websites, the site requests to send notifications to me through Chrome.

How do I remove these Chrome site notification requests from random websites on the Android settings? I don't see any locations for removal.

This is similar but not the same to How to permanently remove a particular Chrome notification from Android mobile phone? since that question is asking to remove the notifications only, not the entry on the settings.

# Answer
To remove notifications for an individual site on Chrome for Android, you need to block the Notification permission by doing the following:

1. Open Chrome -\> Settings.
2. In the Advanced section, click on Site Settings, then All Sites. Sites that have permissions set will be listed.
3. Find the site you are looking for, click on it.
4. Under the Permissions section, click on the permissions you want to remove, in your case the Notification permission, then select "Block".

To remove the entries:

1. Open Chrome -\> Settings.
2. Site Settings -\> Data stored -\> Clear all data.

This answer from a previous question (linked by OP) is actually better than my suggestion as it will remove only the notification entries.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: notifications, settings, chrome-for-android
---


# Question
Title: How accurate is Google Play installs measure?
When you look at app listing in Google Play there is "Installs" section:

How accurate is that? What values can be found there? Does is take uninstalls into consideration?

# Answer
It doesn't take uninstalls into account. It is very slow to update and based on the all-time number of individual Google accounts that installed it, NOT the devices.

That's all based on what I experienced, from the Play Console combined with Store

Possible values include:

1+

5+

(Maybe some more)

100+

500+

1k+

5k+(?)

10k+

50k+

100k+

(Maybe some more)

1m+

(Maybe some more)

1b+
> 1 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, installation
---


title: Turn off app update notification sound

text:
# Question
Title: Turn off app update notification sound
Does anyone know how to turn off sounds for notification of app updates? Turning off notification sounds also turns off message tones. This is becoming really annoying as phone beeps every time an app updates!

# Answer
> 2 votes
I was not so easy to notice at first that with Samsung phones, you have to note that there is also "GALAXY Apps" store. It has its own notification settings.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Playstore notifications do not trigger when an app is updated (at least with Android Oreo). But security / antivirus apps might do. I have ESET Endpoint security installed which scans every download and notifies on success. I changed the corresponding notification sound to be sure it is really the antivirus. So I could mute that notification, alas the app has only one notification category so if something bad happens I wouldn't hear it either...

# Answer
> -1 votes
In playstore app, settings, notifications, you can turn off

---
Tags: updates, notifications
---


# Question
Title: How do I prevent my keyboard from trying to suggest 2 sets of spelling corrections?
A decent while ago, my keyboard decided to start recommending two sets of spelling corrections. The new type of spelling corrections tends to get in the way of me using the one that I prefer to use.

For reference, I included an image. The popup coming down from the misspelled word is the spelling correction system I do not want to use, while the one underneath it is the one I do want to use.

I am on an LG phone with Android version 9.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Shortly after asking the question I decided to do some testing, and I figured out how to fix it. I went into my keyboard settings and disabled the spelling correction feature. This disabled only the "red line with drop down" spelling correction set while the spelling correction set that was below it and built into the keyboard was still there.

It was under Settings \> General \> Language & keyboard \> Spelling correction. From there, I disabled it, and everything was back to how I liked it.

---
Tags: keyboard
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 7 tablet (original model) stuck in Safe mode; no way out?
I own a Nexus 7 tablet (the first Wi-Fi + 3G model - only front-facing camera, no support for phone calls). Yesterday, I wanted to take a screenshot on my tablet and tried various key combinations; i.e. power key + up/down volume keys; I am not sure about the exact combination, especially because I didn't expect anything bad to happen.

I am not sure that's the exact cause, but there's no other way it'd have gotten into safe mode.

**So, how do I get my tablet out of safe mode?**

I've tried:

1. As stated in the official docs (and confirmed by a Google rep.), simply restarting the tablet (i.e. power off, then power on) should fix it.

> ...restart your device to get it out of safe mode
2. Following these exact steps, I tried manually booting into safe mode, and then restarting the tablet to get out of it.
3. This:

> It is necessary to hold the volume control switch to "high" and then operate the "on" switch, to get out of safe mode \[...\] hold the "on" switch for at least fifteen seconds.
4. Reset device to factory settings.
5. Reset device in Recovery mode.

(Followed steps under Nexus 7 section) successfully from 1 to 5. Volume buttons become unfunctional at this point, and I am unable to use them to *scroll to "wipe data/factory reset"*. **Mind you**, the volume buttons worked in the first few steps, so there's nothing wrong with the buttons themselves.
6. Battery pull, i.e. holding the power button until the tablet restarts.
7. Remove SIM card and restart. Insert SIM and restart.

**But... NONE of them worked.** My tablet is still in safe mode and I'm out of ideas. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

# Answer
I had the same problem. Spent a night to fix it. First i thought it to be a software issue.. browsed and tried infinite fixes. I tried **re seating** flex cable that connects the volume buttons and the motherboard.I tries to factory reset through boot loader. Thought of flashing a different ROM. Dint work out for me.

**Here is what worked for me.**

1. Open the back panel of the tablet. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nexus+7+Power+%26+Volume+Button+Cable+Replacement/9926
2. Flip up the retaining flap on the 'power and volume button ribbon cable' connecting to the mother board. **DO NOT PULL OUT THE CABLE NOW.** Be ready to pull out the cable.

3.Press the power button to switch on your tablet.

4.The moment you see Google logo, pull out 'power and volume button ribbon cable'. This will disconnect volume down key, which forces the tablet into bootloader.

5.Now the tablet is ON in normal mode.

6.Plug the 'power and volume button ribbon cable' into its mother board socket.

7.Close the panel and enjoy using your tablet.

Be very careful with 'power and volume button ribbon cable'. A slight twist or bend will short the connections inside the cable.

P.S : **After powering on, Try not to switch off the tablet.** The volume down key might malfunction again and your tablet might go back to boot loader. Charge it before the battery dies out. In worst case, you'll have to repeat the above steps again. Messing with the power keys cable is not always a good idea :D

The volume down key and power key combination lets you to go into boot loader. So when volume down key is malfunctioning, your tablet might go for a toss. This could be for various reasons ,

a.Volume key is abused b. volume key cable is damaged c. Mother board is unable to supply enough power to volume keys. d. volume keys socket in the mother board is damaged.
> 2 votes

# Answer
If your cell phone or other Android device is always booting into Safe Mode, follow the steps below.

1. Remove any case or gel skin from the phone. If the case is pressing on the Menu key it can cause it to load into Safe Mode.
2. Remove the battery and SIM card (if present) from the phone.
3. Wait at least 30 seconds.
4. With the battery still out of the phone plug the phone into its wall charger.
5. Place the battery and SIM card back into the computer.
6. Turn the phone back on. While the phone is loading do not press any keys or buttons.

**After the above steps have been followed your phone should be able to load into normal mode each time you start the phone. If the phone continues to load into Safe Mode an app you've recently installed may be preventing the phone from loading normally. Remove any recently installed app on the phone and try the above steps again.**

Finally, if the phone continues to load into Safe Mode after following all of the above steps we suggest performing a master reset, which will reset the phone and erase all settings and software.

Source: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001362.htm
> 0 votes

# Answer
Try solve it with the Android Toolkit wich helped me. Boot it via the program itself (boot stock....). You might need to install the drivers first(the program helps you with it). See more here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1809195
> 0 votes

# Answer
My Nexus 7 (2013) had this problem and the volume rocker switch was bad. Found a new OEM part on ebay for $15 (including shipping) and looked at youtube for how to pull the device open and then the replacement was easy!

Sometimes switches go bad. When your device is out of warranty why not give a replacement a shot?
> 0 votes

# Answer
I had this issue and I solved it by replaceing the OEM power and volume ribbon. I picked it up from Alibaba for only $3. Today I installed it and it works as it should now. My issue to start with was a Monster can bursting all over it in my laptop bag. Saved my laptop saved my old but good tablet. Nexus 7 wifi 2012 version
> 0 votes

---
Tags: nexus-7, 4.4-kitkat, safe-mode
---


title: How to record video with mic off?

text:
# Question
Title: How to record video with mic off?
I am using a Samsung S10+. How do I record a video with no mic input ?

I have tried to put my finger over the mic, but I could still hear some background noise. I am looking to make a video in a heavy noise setting and would like to cut out the sound completely.

# Answer
> 2 votes
If you are ok with a different camera app, then please try the following-

1. Install Open Camera

2. Go to `Settings` (Top right settings icon) -\> `Video settings...` -\> Toggle `Record audio` option to disable audio.

Now you should be able to record Video without Audio. Cheers :)

---
Tags: microphone, video-recording, samsung-galaxy-s-10, mute
---


# Question
Title: How to change contacts name in Whatsapp?
I have a friend and I have added his real name in my Contacts. I want to put his nickname in Whatsapp simultaneously. I am using it in Android. How do I accomplish this?

# Answer
> 9 votes
You can follow these steps:

1. Rename the contact in your phone book and save.
2. Go to `Settings` \> `Account` \> `whatsapp` \> `sync now` (or any similar option)
3. Check if this has worked.
    * TIP you can force close whatsapp and try.

If the above method doesn't work

1. Backup contacts
2. Go to edit contact of the one you wanna change.
3. Copy the number of that contact.
4. Delete the contact.
5. Go to whatapp and refresh whatsapp contacts.
6. Add the contact number you copied with the desired name you want as a "new contact" in your address book.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I am afraid to say this, but this looks highly unlikely.

The reason I am saying this is because I read following Lines in WhatsApp FAQ Page:

**How do I add contacts to WhatsApp?**

The important part is adding the contact into your **phone's address book.**

And in the same FAQ Section, at point 3. below lines are mentioned.

Note: WhatsApp cannot sync with Facebook friends, so **you will need to manually enter their phone numbers in your address book in order for WhatsApp to find them.**

The BOLD Line above is perhaps an indication that the "source" for WhatsApp to get contact info is Phone's "Address Book" and hence it won't allow to have "nickname".

Refer FAQ for WhatsApp at : https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/21082107 for above mentioned details.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Just go to the contacts list and click on the person whose name you want to change and change it. It will automatically change the person's name on WhatsApp.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There's a simple solution that worked for me:

Delete the phone number -\> save contacts -\> and add the number again.

Whatsapp will update itself i.e. Whatsapp name would be changed to whatever is stored in contacts.

# Answer
> 1 votes
For Whatsapp Users on Android platforms on phones like the MOTO G. Please use these steps:

1. Access your phone book.
2. Select the Contact/name you want to change or edit.
3. When the contact/name shows up on the screen, tap/touch on the Pencil \[at the upper right hand corner of the screen\] icon to edit.
4. If you are on Lollipop, tap on the Triangle sign at the bottom \[left\] of the screen.
5. Lollipop does not give any confirmation if the edit is successful\[or not\]. Check if the edit has gone through.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you don't have a name for that contact at all, and it is just the number, then add that number to a contact in the address book (or contacts) app that came with the phone with the name of your choice. Allow Whatsapp to view your contacts and it will automatically rename that contact with the name you entered in settings.

Hope this helps.

# Answer
> 0 votes
For Android phones.

There is another way. Say, you entered a new contact on whatsapp as An Unknown contact. Then you want to change it to a real name.

First add this contact with his real name, say, John Franklin. Then in the contacts click on a chain icon. It is on middle right and is chain shaped. There you will see a list of contacts to link with. Find the An Unknown contact and click on to link these two contacts. Close the phone contacts and look up in whatsapp. The contact name will be updated.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You need to delete the "linked" WhatsApp contact in your address book.

Here is how to do it on a Samsung phone:

1. Open the Samsung contacts app.
2. Find the contact.
3. Rename the contact name there.
4. Press the hamburger menu button, and press "Add/remove linked contacts".
5. Press "Unlink" next to the WhatsApp linked contact entry
6. Go back to the list of contacts in the contacts app, find the now separate WhatsApp contact entry, and delete it.
7. Open WhatsApp and find the contact. WhatsApp will automatically recreate the linked contact, but using the new name.

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: What are the Wi-Fi disconnect reasons on adb dumpsys wifi?
`adb dumpsys wifi` gives me, among many others, lines like this:

```
Event [IFNAME=wlan0 CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=X reason=7]

```

What does `reason=7` mean? What other reasons are there?

If this applies to Android aswell (I guess so since Android does use wpa\_supplicant), reason 7 would translate to `"Class 3 frame received from nonassociated STA"` \- Now what does that mean?

(I'm trying to debug WiFi disconnects that shouldn't happen.)

# Answer
> 1 votes
Most likely your problems are caused by one or more attackers performing the Wifi deauthentication attack. Due to a weakness in the Wifi WPA2 protocol it allows to deauthenticate any client ("kick" it out of the Wifi it is connected to).

There are even tiny portable deauther devices which can deauthenticate any client in Wifi range. It does not matter if the Wifi is open or protected by a passphrase. Even if the Wifi is visible or hidden (hidden BSSID) is irrelevant for this attack.

May be some attacker using a deauther is driving by (car, bus, ...) and every time your device gets disconnected.

The only counter measure to prevent such attacks is the new WPA3 protocol which is supported since Android 10. To use it support for WPA3 has to be present in the Wifi AP and the Android device.

---
Tags: wi-fi, adb, dumpsys
---


title: Emergency Notifications

text:
# Question
Title: Emergency Notifications
Good Afternoon All,

I can't seem to find a solution to my problem when I do a google search so I'm hoping you all can help me.

I have an app on my phone which alerts me to nearby first aid incidents (GoodSAM), what I would like is to enable notification from that app to override any do not disturb or sound settings, I typically have my phone on silent or vibrate and in this instance it would be good to have it screaming out.

Any help would be most welcomed.

Kind regards,

Ollie

# Answer
Solutions might depend on the Android version you're on. Take a look into *Settings › Apps & Notifications › GoodSam › Notifications* (available at least in Android 8+ – looks a bit different in Android 7 but is also there). In that place you should be able to define if it shall override DND.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: notifications, audio
---


# Question
Title: How to create TWRP's data.info file by hand/after the backup?
I have a device with a dead screen, and a partially dead eMMC (poor contact, sometimes reboots. Sometimes reboots very often.). I managed to create a 12gb backup of the data partition somehow, but after generating two of the eight backup archives' .sha2 hashes my phone rebooted. So I have the backups in full, but the data.info is unfinished and there aren't enough .sha2. The latter are simple in syntax, so I can create them with HashMyFiles (SHA256). But deciphering the data.info, or forcing TWRP to make it after the fact is beyond my skillset. Is there any way to accomplish this?

EDIT: I solved my problem, and also understood that this question was incomplete. It seems that the data.info is complete (and likely was one of the first files made after the backup archives themselves) and making the .sha2 by hand is sufficient. My real problem, which I didn't elaborate, was that Titanium Backup wouldn't work with this backup using the "Extract from Nandroid backup" function, so I decided that the data.info file was the problem, because it was the only different file, when compared to older, successful backups of the data partition. But the real problem was that I messed up the path (I added the backup folder, which is named as a date, directly to /TWRP/BACKUPS , when I should've added the backup folder in literally any folder one folder deeper, say /TWRP/BACKUPS/I\_just\_spent\_10\_hours\_fixing\_a\_5\_second\_problem/), and Titanium Backup was too unsophisticated to check for PEBCAKs. That's about it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
to answer the headline, there exist a little shell script twrp\_sign.sh for generating data.info and sha2 digest. you can open it with text editor and see how it works

data.info is just a string containing
archive\_name
backup\_size
file\_count
backup\_type

Note: only the .win\* files are important, all other files can be safely deleted without data loss

---
Tags: backup, twrp
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# Question
Title: How do I adjust audio balance of my Android phone headphones out?
My earphones are unbalanced - one is louder than the other, so I need to adjust the sound volume balance to get it right. How can I do it on Android?

# Answer
> 9 votes
There is a possible quick solution, depending on the phone in consideration:
Go to **Settings-\>Sound-\>Music Effects** and depending on the phone, you may by default have an app that controls the music effects within which you should easily find your desired setting.

But **if** your phone is **rooted**, a more reliable solution would be to **install** the music effects app/driver: **Viper** (basically a 3rd party audio driver for android) which can be turned on or off at will.

The app, in addition to being able to fix an unbalanced stereo has a powerful and wide spectrum of amazing sound enhancement options which is **a must** have whether you have an unbalanced stereo or not!
In fact I can't enjoy music with it turned off anymore :( - - - - ;)

# Answer
> 9 votes
System \> accessibility \> Hearing

I am using LG G2

# Answer
> 5 votes
Stock Android 10.

Settings -\> Accessibility -\> "Audio and On-Screen text"

There you have the option between Mono Audo and Audio balance.

Device: Google Pixel 2XL

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Tags: audio, volume-control, volume
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# Question
Title: How can I automatically re-connect to a WiFi network?
In this question I am asking about how to stop my WiFi from disconnecting.

If I won't find an answer to that, the next best thing is to get my phone to re-connect automatically. The disconnect reason is: `"Class 3 frame received from nonassociated STA"`

I am on a rooted device running cyanogen mod on Android 5.

I'm using AFWall+ and OpenVPN, if that is relevant. OpenVPN is set to re-connect automatically already, which works.

Due to AFWall+ blocking non-vpn traffic, whenever I connect to WiFi it says "There is no Internet connectivity, do you still want to connect? \[Yes/No\]", ticking the "Don't ask again" box has no effect.
This might be relevant and if the phone does automatically reconnect, I obviously don't want this pop-up to prevent an automated re-connect.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Your issue is caused by *Captive Portal¹ Check* kicking in and not permitted through by *AFWall+*. So if you can live without that auto-detection, you could simply disable it:

```
# check what the original setting is. Should give "1" for enabled, "0" for disabled
settings get global captive_portal_detection_enabled
# now let's disable it
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0
# if you want to re-activate it
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 1

```

**Implications:**

* no more pop-ups when connecting to e.g. a hotel network using Captive Portal. Easy work-around: just open a web browser and navigate to *any* url, the portal should "capture" you for login
* no more `x` on the WiFi symbol – so you might miss the fact of not reaching any network until you try manually (e.g. by visiting some web page and ending up on the Captive Portal's login page)
* automatic re-connect to "known WiFis" should simply work.

I've used that trick myself when having set up *AFWall+* in a quite restricting mode, and it worked for me. As you (OP) just confirmed in a comment on the question, it did the trick for you as well – despite the additional complication of a VPN.

See Captive Portal parameters for more details on manipulation.

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¹ for those who don't know what a "Captive Portal" is, please see Wikipedia

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Tags: wi-fi
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# Question
Title: /system/bin/mediaserver and /system/bin/drmserver dont want these but Android disagrees
I used this link Use Adb to disable Media Server

hoping to permanenenly disable the battery hogging media server process . It did not work Mediaserver still runs on my Android 4.4 Jiayu S3 phone as `/system/bin/mediaserver` and I found another just as pricky process called `/system/bin/drmserver` which shows up on `adb # top` . So I mounted the `/system` in RW mode and removed `-x` from them both. After that I killed the existing processes for these binaries. The phone just froze . After a force restart it will NOT BOOT until I restored the `-x` bit again ( restored execute ) . What do these do . How do I ensure they don't run if they are not needed.

# Answer
> 1 votes
This is a really old question but I have an answer for anyone wondering.If you do not care about playing DRM-protected content, just replace /system/bin/drmserver with an executable file that does nothing (e.g. just sleeps forever). Example: File someone made for a Magisk module that disabled DRM

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Tags: adb, boot, performance, media-scanner, drm
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