# Question
Title: Google Maps show location history where I've never even been
I have a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime and it has Google Maps downloaded on it as well as other Google apps. My husband went through my phone and in the Google Maps app, under timeline, apparently it showed that I had actually went to several places on days when I had *never* left the house, but the worse part is that it's saying I've been to places I've *never* even been.

This whole situation is frustrating because I love my husband *very* much but now he is completely convinced that I'm cheating on him, *and I'm not*; there has to be someone out there that can explain this total mess cause my husband doesn't believe a word I say.

Please help me figure this mess out and convince my husband that I'm not lying and in definitely not cheating!

# Answer
There are many possible reasons that places could show up inaccurately in the Google Maps tracking.

* If your device is indoors, it will not have a good GPS signal (or possibly have no GPS signal at all) and will have to use less accurate location methods. Each of those methods has problems, some of which are discussed below.
* If your device is trying to locate itself using WiFi networks (now called "WiFi Positioning System" or "WiPS" for short), it looks for nearby WiFi networks that Google knows about and then uses the locations that Google has on record for those networks as a way to determine your approximate location. However, that means that if someone from a particular area moved into your area and Google has not updated their database, then Google's database will think that you are in the area where that person's WiFi network used to be.
* If your device is trying to locate itself by searching for nearby cellphone towers, it could determine that it is anywhere in a large area in which those towers can be detected. The effective range of a cell phone tower could be anything between 1 and 45 miles, depending on how dense your area is. That means that the numbers could be up to that far off if they only came from cell tower data.
* Even if you do have a good GPS signal, Google will sometimes "snap" your location to a nearby "point of interest" if you drive by. I don't know exactly how far away this snapping can happen, but I have seen it make some pretty bad guesses.

Here's one extreme example that I just read about: People keep going to this home looking for their lost phones and nobody knows why.

In the end, the fact is that the location-tracking systems available on consumer devices today are not that accurate. I worked from home today because of the "Snowzilla" blizzard on the US East Coast, and left home twice to go to the library and run one errand, but my location history shows me being up to a mile further away from home than any of the locations which I visited. (I am actually working next door to a research group at the University of Maryland that is working on more-accurate location technologies, but it will be a while before any of them are on the market.)
> 3 votes

# Answer
Other than what @MosheKatz said in his answer another point you may have to consider is that whether your Google account is being used only on your Samsung Galaxy Core Prime.

I was surprised to see my timeline jumping across countries and quickly realised that my relative who has borrowed my Nexus tablet is producing these results. Being a close relative I did not mind handing over the tablet with my account in sync.

You try to sign out of all locations by visiting your Gmail account in a computer, then click on the `Details` link at the bottom right corner of the screen and then sign out from all web sessions by clicking a button that says so in the popup.

Also, you can visit Google Play Store account in a computer and click on the settings (a button with a cog wheel on top right). This opens up the devices in which your account is being used. If it list more than one phone/tablet then it confirms my assumption.

Additionally, explain your partner that to trust you more than the data/statistics or Google for that matter. All the best.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I've had the same experience. I saw my husbands timeline history on google maps and was accusing him of being places that google maps was showing in his location history. SO, I set up the app on my own phone and would check my timeline. To my surprise it also showed me being places that I never went and on days that I never left my house! Maybe have him set it up on his phone so that he can see you are telling him the truth.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-maps, google-location-history
---


# Question
Title: How to set SD card as default storage on Android Marshmallow?
I have a Lenovo K3 Note (K50a40) and I was running Android 5.0 Lollipop until last week. I had **set the default storage as SD Card** on lollipop in storage settings, but that option seems to have disappeared in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It only allows users to "**Adopt the SD Card as internal storage**". I *do not want to reformat the SD Card* as internal, as that will result in encryption of the SD Card. **I just want the downloaded data, and the screenshots, Instagram pics, Whatsapp media etc to go to the SD Card**, as was the case in Lollipop with SD Card as the default storage.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The applications need to support this in Marshmallow, and as of yet many applications do not support the changes that are needed in their code to allow this to occur in Marshmallow with the SD card setup as external storage.

The answer is that your app developers need to include this functionality in their apps, it is not a blanket Android setting. Unless the code is included in their apps, there is nothing you can do to change it in a stock device.

---
Tags: applications, external-sd, storage, 6.0-marshmallow
---


# Question
Title: Are Chinese phones less safe than others?
I'm on budget and want a fully fledged smartphone. I'm OK with Apple as I know they tend to not share my usage data. But Apple is too expensive. So I need to buy Android and most of the manufacturers are South Korean - LG HTC Samsung, but they're smartphines are too expensive too.

So I'm thinking Xiaiomi, lenovo, Huawei, Oneplus. Will they be sharing my usage data with the Chinese government and any company that will pay them well??

# Answer
Not likely... at least not that we have seen so far. This isn't to say it's impossible, but unless those companies become owned by the government the chances this would happen are near zero, the damage such a practice would induce on their business would be astronomical and probably cause the company to go out of business. Who would buy a phone from a company that knowingly shares private information with the government covertly? No one would.

That being said, there are lots of reasonably priced smartphones out there, do your research and I am sure you will be happy with an investment far less than an Apple device.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: privacy, gps-tracking
---


# Question
Title: Virtual track pad to control mouse pointer in android
I have a nexus 4 phone, which has lost half of the screen's touch capability due to its digitizer capability. I would like to have "TouchMousePointer Windows app" like app in android and place it on the screen where touch works. And thus use the phone inspite of this "nexus 4 soft touch problem".

I see that mouse pointer is by default available in android. Apps are present to use mobile as remote mouse to PC. Fusing these two application should be possible.

Is there any app in market for this requirement. Is there any simple method to overcome this problem?

The "virtual trackball app" that is currently available is too primitive.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Instead of trying to move the cursor to areas where the touch is not working, temporarily moving the screen to the area where touch is working looks like better alternative to this problem.

Niwatori-one-hand-mode app in xposed framework, gives options like that. Using this app along with other Launcher apps like LMT (launch bar) app solves this problem for me.

---
Tags: nexus-4, broken-screen, mouse
---


# Question
Title: Too many active sessions - cannot install apps from Play Store anymore
PlayStore crashes each time I try to install/update an app since a few days. I have an unmodified Honor 7. I found the resulting stacktrace:

```
... 30147-30147/? E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
                                                   Process: com.android.vending, PID: 30147
                                                   java.lang.IllegalStateException: Too many active sessions for UID 10029
                                                       at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1551)
                                                       at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1496)
                                                       at android.content.pm.IPackageInstaller$Stub$Proxy.createSession(IPackageInstaller.java:247)
                                                       at android.content.pm.PackageInstaller.createSession(PackageInstaller.java:297)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.installer.PackageInstallerImpl.innerCreateSession(PackageInstallerImpl.java:145)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.installer.PackageInstallerImpl.createSession(PackageInstallerImpl.java:94)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.receivers.InstallerImpl.requestInstall(InstallerImpl.java:410)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.billing.lightpurchase.LightPurchaseFlowActivity.acquire(LightPurchaseFlowActivity.java:648)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.billing.lightpurchase.LightPurchaseFlowActivity.access$800(LightPurchaseFlowActivity.java:22929)
                                                       at com.google.android.finsky.billing.lightpurchase.LightPurchaseFlowActivity$4.run(LightPurchaseFlowActivity.java:837)
                                                       at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:739)
                                                       at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
                                                       at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
                                                       at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5539)
                                                       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
                                                       at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
                                                       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:960)
                                                       at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:755)

```

Tracing the UID with help of ADB to the package *com.android.vending* which is the PlayStore.

So far without success: \- clearing cache \- clearing data \- Deleting/Adding Google account

# Answer
Yay. Works again. I tried again to downgrade PlayStore (= deactivate/uninstall all updates). Afterwards no success. But after a shutdown + following boot the store is able to install&update apps again... Strange.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, crashes
---


# Question
Title: Can I flash another phone's ROM or Kernel on my phone?
Can i flash another phone's kernel or ROM on my phone and what would happen is i did so?

# Answer
Simply put, you would brick your phone.

> But Why? Why if my device is similar to another one. Would it work?

That would also not work because of a for example different CPU, or screen size, etc.

When building android, you have a device, and a vendor folder. These contain configurations specific to your device, and the vendor folder has what's called proprietary blobs, which are also specific to one device only.

If there is some custom ROM that your device is not compatible with, then if it is open-source, you could have a go at porting that ROM to your device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, rom, kernel
---


# Question
Title: Import Cookies from Google Chrome Mobile to another Mobile browser
I would like to know that is there anyway I can import cookies from Android version of Google Chrome to any other mobile browser (on the same device)? Just like when we install Firefox/Opera/Chrome on PC, they ask you to import cookies and stuff from other browsers.

# Answer
> 1 votes
No; apps on Android do not have access to each other's data/files unless they are stored in a common external location, which cookies are not.

It might be possible to do this as root but I would suspect that they are using different formats/layouts.

---
Tags: browser, chrome-for-android, cookies
---


title: Find owner of Android Wear watch

text:
# Question
Title: Find owner of Android Wear watch
Today I found an LG Watch R W110 while hiking. It's not screen locked, so I've poked around to try and identify the owner. There's only one number in the call log (other entries are all names) and I called it but it was a business that couldn't narrow down the search.

I thought I might be able to pair it with my own phone and redial "Mum" from the call log, but couldn't get it to pair with my iPhone. If I were to pair it with an Android phone, would doing so wipe the existing call log, or might I then be able to call "Mum"?

If not, is there any other way to find information about the watch's owner?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Try the following apps:

Google, Hangouts, Agenda, Messenger. I was browsing through my Moto 360 and those had some infomation.

---
Tags: lost-phone, android-wear
---


title: Screen lock notification

text:
# Question
Title: Screen lock notification
I have a Gionee P4 device, updated to Kitkat.

I try to all apps notification comes out at my device is screen off ya locked. I have tried all software for solve this problem.

First I've tried NiLS Lock Screen Notification. In this app it says *NiLS notification started* in your device setting, but I try in device setting as *NiLS Notification* are enable always.

This type enable not for this app but as app I have installed in my device so notifications are enabled. But the problem is that as I use any software for screen lock notification as app notification are disabled all time.

How can I solve this?

# Answer
In settings there are settings for Notifications Bar Icon settings there you can turn off notifications for targeted apps. But the only problem with this approach is that you won't see the notifications even after Unlocking the phone. But hey if you want some privacy then it's worth it and it doesn't even require an app.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, notifications
---


# Question
Title: Can you find your android when the phones off
I lost my android, can it be found in the apartments when the phones off?

# Answer
To my knowledge, if the phone is turned off there is no way **for a consumer** to locate it without an external tag or similar product. Law enforcement may have methods beyond the reach of the general public, but I do not know how these work.
> 0 votes

# Answer
The country I live in can find phones even after Switching Off. They use IMEI numbers to track down the location of the phone. We just need to report to the police and file a case and make official statement.

And if you have installed a good antivirus it will message your contacts as soon as someone inserts a new SIM card.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: lost-phone
---


title: OpenVPN DNS on non rooted device

text:
# Question
Title: OpenVPN DNS on non rooted device
I am trying to get OpenVPN working on my Android device using the official OpenVPN app from the app store. I am running on a Verizon S6 running 5.1.1 and do not have root on the device. I have generated all the keys and installed the OpenVPN profile on the device. I successfully connect to the VPN as shown in both the server logs and the fact that I can access local webservers that are only present on the remote LAN such as a printer and the router. However I am unable to browse to any internet site. I tried to ping 8.8.8.8 from the device and it was successful. Any attempt to access a URL or even go directly to the google ip resolved by the server results in a DNS error. What is the right way to configure the DNS so that I can browse the internet through my VPN. I am able to use the VPN expected on an iPhone and a Macbook so all the necessary NAT rules and such are in place on the server.

Android Config File

```
client

dev tun

proto udp

remote $SERVER$ 1194

resolv-retry infinite

nobind

ca ca.crt
cert androidPhone.crt
key androidPhone.key

comp-lzo

verb 3

setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8
setprop net.dns2 4.2.2.1

```

I tried it both with and without the setprop net.dns

# Answer
Turns out my server config was missing the "push DNS ...." option. My other devices worked because I had set a DNS server in the adapter settings that overrode the lack of a DNS server being pushed by the OpenVPN server.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 5.1-lollipop, dns, openvpn
---


# Question
Title: How to retrieve contacts from not rooted phone?
Unfortunately I dropped my phone (galaxy S3) and the screen is black, so I cannot do anything on the phone. But other than that, it is fully functioning, and I can see the files when connected to a pc. There is this question which states that the phone needs to be rooted in order to access the database where the contacts are stored. Is there an other way to retrieve contacts when the phone is not rooted? The gmail sync was unfortunately not enabled. Is it possible to turn this on remotely?

# Answer
Can you use Kies to backup the contacts from the phone and access them on the PC?

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/app/kies

Or maybe even the new SmartSwitch software that has replaced Kies, although I have never used it.
> 1 votes

# Answer
1. If the contacts were in SIM memory then you can insert the SIM card in another phone and get them back.
2. If you say the phone is functional then you should consider replacing the Display Hardware and get your whole phone back.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You can buy a 11-pin MHL to HDMI adapter and hook your S3 up to your TV. Since your touchscreen doesn't work either, you'll have to buy an *official* "Samsung" MHL adapter along with an OTG adapter so you can hopefully use a USB mouse along with the TV output. (Not tested)

Another idea with a guarantee of working, you can just buy the $2.00 OTG adapter to hook up a USB mouse, and use the hardware keys to take screenshots within 3 seconds of moving the mouse, then copy the screenshots onto your computer to check your mouse position before clicking. It will take a while, but you will have a couple bucks into it with 100% success rate.

Finally, you could just get the screen fixed.

Hope this helps
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts
---


# Question
Title: adb backups fail with "Internal exception during full backup"
For a while now, I've not been able to create a full `adb backup` of my Nexus 4.

Now finally I've been able to catch a slightly more useful error report with logcat:

```
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Calling doFullBackup() on de.blinkt.openvpn
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/r/app_webview
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/r/app_webview/Web Data-journal
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/r/app_webview/Web Data
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/r/app_webview/paks
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/f/8b8192c9-4aa3-42b3-affb-fd49fc7044d7.vp
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/sp/WebViewChromiumPrefs.xml
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/sp/activities.LogWindow.xml
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/sp/de.blinkt.openvpn_preferences.xml
I/file_backup_helper( 9115):    Name: apps/de.blinkt.openvpn/sp/VPNList.xml
I/art     ( 2268): Wrote stack traces to '/data/anr/traces.txt'
I/art     ( 2288): Wrote stack traces to '/data/anr/traces.txt'
I/art     ( 2717): Wrote stack traces to '/data/anr/traces.txt'
I/art     ( 2061): Explicit concurrent mark sweep GC freed 217771(9MB) AllocSpace objects, 32(1594KB) LOS objects, 33% fr
ee, 29MB/44MB, paused 2.136ms total 158.660ms
E/BackupManagerService( 2061): Internal exception during full backup
E/BackupManagerService( 2061): java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: length=32768; regionStart=0; regionLength=-1
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at java.util.Arrays.checkOffsetAndCount(Arrays.java:1719)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at java.util.zip.DeflaterOutputStream.write(DeflaterOutputStream.java:174)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at com.android.server.backup.BackupManagerService.routeSocketDataToOutput(BackupManagerSe
rvice.java:3135)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at com.android.server.backup.BackupManagerService.access$900(BackupManagerService.java:15
8)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at com.android.server.backup.BackupManagerService$FullBackupEngine.backupOnePackage(Backu
pManagerService.java:3271)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at com.android.server.backup.BackupManagerService$PerformAdbBackupTask.run(BackupManagerS
ervice.java:3849)
E/BackupManagerService( 2061):  at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:818)
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Full backup processing complete.
D/bu      ( 6589): Finished.
D/AndroidRuntime( 6589): Shutting down VM
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Full backup pass complete.

```

I'm running CyanogenMod `12.1-20151007-SNAPSHOT-YOG4PAO334-mako`. This problem started a few releases earlier though.

My Android file system is encrypted. I usually run the backup like this:

```
adb backup -apk -shared -system -all -f "adb-backup.$(date +"%Y%m%d").ab"

```

Any ideas?

(BTW, I think the fact that OpenVPN was being backed up just before the issue is probably a red herring)

# Answer
> 2 votes
While I was typing up the question I managed to finish a full backup. I used the `-nocompress` flag (which isn't documented in the help for `adb`), and used the same passphrase for the backup as for my Android file system encryption.

So, this was the full command:

```
adb backup -nocompress -apk -shared -system -all -f "adb-backup.$(date +"%Y%m%d").ab"

```

logcat:

```
...
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Ringtones
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Ringtones/hangouts_incoming_call.ogg
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Ringtones/hangouts_video_call.ogg
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Ringtones/hangouts_message.ogg
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Podcasts
I/file_backup_helper( 6652):    Name: shared/0/0/Music
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Full package backup success: com.android.sharedstoragebackup
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Full backup processing complete.
D/bu      ( 9722): Finished.
D/AndroidRuntime( 9722): Shutting down VM
D/BackupManagerService( 2061): Full backup pass complete.

```

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, adb, backup
---


# Question
Title: Rooting Huawei ascend G6-10 devices problem
I tried to root my Huawei H6 with `"RootGenius_en_2.2.6.exe"` in windows machine because of storage problems. But this operation interrupted in 75% and This error appeared:

```
Your phone is so solid to root!

```

any help will be appreciated.

# Answer
I don't know exactly why! But this time I downloaded Root Genius which is here, and it worked! But my storage still has problem and a reset factory with backup solved my problem of storage.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rooting, huawei, huawei-g610s
---


# Question
Title: How can I share my current GPS location from google maps?
I'm at a screen such as this and I'd like to share the exact GPS location of the blue marker (not just the approximate address). The only way I've found is to get directions to somewhere, share the link to clipboard, paste it somewhere, copy out the starting coordinates, paste them back into maps and then share that. Is there a better way?

# Answer
Here's what I can do on the current Play Store version of Google maps. (9.22.1)

From your screenshot, it appears that your GPS position is not accurate. In "location settings", choose "high accuracy". Get out where there's no concrete roof above your phone.

Let GPS get a good fix on your position.

Zoom in on the screen. Press and hold on the "blue dot" for a menu to appear with details of the location.

Then click the "share" button.

Choose "copy to clipboard", if that's what you want. Else choose an app to share your location info.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: gps, google-maps, geolocation
---


# Question
Title: How to stop S Voice from starting every time the headphones is inserted to Samsung Galaxy S5?
The moment I insert my headphones to my Samsung Galaxy S5 to play music, the S Voice will auto appear and my music stops. I have to cancel it and after a while, the S Voice repeats itself.

I've already deactivated the S Voice by double-tapping on the "home" key and unchecking “Open via the home key.”

How do I permanently stop the S Voice from auto appearing? Is there another way to stop S Voice from appearing whilst I play music over the headphone.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can depisable SVoice by going into

> settings \> applications \> SamsungVoice \> disable

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-5, headphones, s-voice
---


title: How does Asus PC Link work?

text:
# Question
Title: How does Asus PC Link work?
I am using Asus PC Link with my Asus Zenfone 5. It allows my to remotely connect to my Zenfone, in a way similar to RDP, but it only supports Windows Vista or higher, not Windows XP, Mac, or Linux.

I am wondering how Asus PC Link works and if there is a similar program/apps that can be used with Linux and other Android devices.

# Answer
> 1 votes
As per this link Asus PC does the following:

> ASUS PC Link lets you mirror your mobile device on your PC. It also allows you to control your Android device from your PC with the mouse and keyboard.

* I know of one app named WebKey(libre software) which can remotely share your Android's screen to a computer (any platform). All you need to do is install this app, launch it (follow the instructions there) and once the service is started it will give you a URL. Type this URL into your browser (PC) and you're good to go.

Note that this app hasn't been updated since Dec 2013, and so, recent Android versions might not support it.
* There is another method (I didn't try) called Live Screencasting. The instructions are mentioned at https://developer.chrome.com or you can click here. Note that this option is supported for devices with Android 4.4.3 and above. (Alternative link for easy instructions.)

# Answer
> 0 votes
There is a chrome app called vysor, it lets you control your phone from chrome browser itself. It only casts your device screen on the computer, and volume is not casted like Asus PC link.

Note: You need to turn of USB debugging to use this extension, no root is required.

---
Tags: asus-zenfone-5
---


# Question
Title: How does whatsapp stay in background without being closed?
Android usually kills background processes if they do not have a persistent notification. Why do apps like whatsapp and Facebook not get killed?

# Answer
> Android usually kills background processes if they do not have a persistent notification.

Well most often this is the case, but Android **OutOfMemory** Killer (the component within Android responsible for killing processes) uses fairly complex logic and criterion to kill apps and processes which host these apps.

In Android, every application runs in a Linux Process. Each Linux Process has a Virtual Machine (Dalvik Virtual Machine or ART Virtual machine) running inside it. There is a limit on the memory a process can demand and it is different for different devices and also differs for phones and tablets.

When Android is running short on Memory space (may be because so many apps are simultaneously running in a device) OutOfMemory killer comes into picture and start killing processes of Apps which are in **background** first.

Now, apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook uses something called Service and Push notification mechanisms. Service allows app to run some code run in background and even though if App is Killed by OOM Killer, Service can be restarted again by Android when sufficient memory is available to make it run.

> Why do apps like whatsapp and Facebook not get killed?

This is not true as Android can kill apps based on their state (such as foreground or background). It is just that the Apps and their component(such as Service) are being restarted as when they receive Push notifications, so that user can interact with the app.

So, as and when Push notification is received (means WhatsApp message), **Android can restart the killed app's component**(in this case WhatsApp).

This way Android is hiding the complex details of Memory management and process management from user and making sure that user can interact with an app without any issue.
> 9 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, processes, background-process
---


title: My rooted phone won't turn on

text:
# Question
Title: My rooted phone won't turn on
I have rooted my phone earlier with KingoApp and then later changed the boot animation and shutdown animation with Root Browser after rebooting, it only shows the unit's logo and shows white screen for a while and then turn off. I don't think it's a bootloop, I also tried the recovery also but nothing seemed to help. Please can someone help me? My phone is Cherry Mobile Flare J1

# Answer
You most likely bricked it. If you have a custom recovery installed, (Hopefully you do) you can unbrick your phone by booting up into it and reinstalling the stock software. Can I ask what recovery (if any) you have?

If you have TWRP you can navigate to: Wipe \> Advanced Wipe then wipe cache, dalvik cache, data, system. Then navigate to: install/flash then navigate to where your ROM is and flash it.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: boot, reboot
---


# Question
Title: Play store missing & cant update Whatsapp
I'm using Xiaomi 1s. After updated to MIUI 7, my google play store is not there. And so I cant able to update my Whatasapp. Please help me to update Whatsapp...

# Answer
> -2 votes
There are two ways to do this.

1. Check the "Unknown Sources" option in the Security Menu in Settings, go to http://pluto.androidapksfree.com/boa/com.android.vending\_v6.3.16.B-all-\[0\]-2697688-80631600\_Android-4.0.apk. Your phone will automatically start downloading Google Play Store. After the Play Store is downloaded, install it and update your Whatsapp.
2. Go to https://www.whatsapp.com/android/ and download the latest version of Whatsapp there.

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


title: Unfortunately, Process has stopped

text:
# Question
Title: Unfortunately, Process has stopped
Ok so guys I'm getting kinda irritated by this problem. It is telling me `Unfortunately, <process> has stopped`. Meaning, when I go to launcher, it says `Unfortunately, Launcher has stopped`; to Google, `Unfortunately, Google has stopped`; and so on. How in the world do I fix this? I can't go on the launcher or settings or anything.

I wiped cache but no luck. What should I do? Maybe Restore User Data?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Factory reset will resolve this issue! To get to that option though you have to be in recovery mode. To boot to recovery mode press the `power` button and `volume up` button simultaneously! And then you will get this screen:

Then just reset to factory version and it should work!

# Answer
> -1 votes
You should wipe data, system, etc but not internal storage. Then you should reinstall your ROM. You may want to back the data up via titanium backup or another tool. I wouldn't recommend a nandroid backup.

---
Tags: boot, bugs
---


# Question
Title: If I install a ROM that doesn't exactly match my phone, will it work at all?
As you know, manufacturers of popular mobile phones often times will release a modified " clone " version of their mainstream models. Often these clone models will be re-released models that are designed to be a downgraded version of a high end phone, usually released for prepaid network. These dumbed down androids will have the exact same hardware as their big brothers, but will be lacking in some performance features such as a smaller lower resolution screen, or a weaker camera. But the are essentially their own kin. They'll have the same chipset, the same sensors and I/O devices, but will be cut down much like an entry level laptop. The problem with these phones is that the manufacturer rarely publishes software updates for them because they aren't very popular and most of the time it's impossible to find third party roms for them for the same reason. So, how likely is it to work if you download and install an OS made not for the prepaid, but for it's big brother?

Say you have a **Motorola XT957C3** This phone is a prepaid, entry level version of the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX. is uses the **Texas Instruments OMAP3040 chipset**, just like its cousin, and it has the **same Broadcomm WLAN chip**, the same Wolfson Audio hub, the same accelerometer and gyro, even the same battery and power IC. ( note that *these figures aren't factual*, I'm just making an example ) The only differences are purely aesthetic. A smaller display, lack of a front camera, less internal memory etc. etc.

How likely is it that installing a ROM for the Droid RAZR will work on this off-model phone? What other than basic drivers does the OS need to work right? And what about the baseband software? Would it be the same as the one on its brother?

# Answer
> 2 votes
The answer is almost definetly no.

Although there might not be much difference between the models, there are bits that are different. These bits won't work. Other bits may depend on these bits, and they won't work either. The baseband and radios might work fine, but the rest of the mismatched components will lead to, at best, a soft brick. I have a Moto G LTE second gen, and accidentally flashed a ROM from its non-LTE brother. Almost exactly the same apart from the radio, and a different model number of processor (both Snapdragon 400s though). I ended up with a brick that was very hard to sort out (not helped by the fact my nandroid backup was corrupted).

Also (correct me if I'm wrong), I believe that a number of ROMs will refuse to flash if they detect the wrong device. I found that out when an old copy of TWRP kept feeding a zip the wrong information. Don't try and test it out though :)

In short, flashing ROMs on devices they weren't intended to be flashed with is a bad idea, no matter how similar in specs they may seem.

# Answer
> 0 votes
No. Most of the time recoveries wont even allow you to do this. But it definitely won't work. This is because the build prop for your ROM doesn't match your devices config. I would recommend asking them to build for your device or you can build the ROM yourself.

# Answer
> -6 votes
It is worth an attempt to try it. However you will risk the chance of bricking the device. Most of the time roms are created for specific phones because they have specific radios that work with the carrier. Among other aspects.

It would be very important to know exactly what phone you had and what ROM you intended to use.

---
Tags: rom-flashing, rom, device-firmware
---


title: My WinXP Pro Doesn't See Galaxy S7

text:
# Question
Title: My WinXP Pro Doesn't See Galaxy S7
I've changed cables and USB ports, but it hasn't fixed the problem.

The My Computer/Hardware profile doesn't see the S7 at all.

# Answer
The Galaxy S7 uses MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) which is not natively supported in Windows XP. You need to install Microsoft's Media Transfer Protocol Porting Kit to enable Windows XP to use MPT.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s
---


title: Android OS High Mobile Data usage

text:
# Question
Title: Android OS High Mobile Data usage
Guys the android OS data usage on mobile data seems to be unusually high..

I have blocked data access for all the apps and whitelisted only a few 4-5 apps in AfWall firewall.. While play store , play services are disabled too..

Also I keep Google sync off when on mobile data and use it only on Wi-Fi..

And one cannot turn off background data on android OS

**Settings \> Backup and reset is turned off** And all the photos backup etc too.

Anything related to Google or backup is turned off in short

The mobile is Moto G first gen and most of the OEM Motorola apps are freezed

So why so much usage by Android OS.. What packages are part of it.

Or how to check what services or packages are using the data and how to disable or freeze them.

Also can post if somebody needs to analyse

1. iptables firewall rules
2. Apps frozen or disabled

Screens:

### Also:

* backup is turned off
* sync is turned off
* no OTA updates for a long time
* my normal data usage was ~20MB per month for Android OS

# Answer
> -1 votes
One way to reduce data usage it to turn off Data Roaming. This can be found under `Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks`.

---
Tags: mobile-data
---


# Question
Title: Unable to bluetooth pair Galaxy S5 with BG-BluBox
I paired a BG-BluBox external sound cube to a Samsumg Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition successfully.

At a later time, I initiated a pairing of the BG-BluBox with a Samsung Galaxy S5 (Android 5.0). The pairing was not successful\*. I am now unable to pair this device with the S5.

I have located the Bluetooth app under Device Manager and have deleted data and cache and restarted the device.

I have also wiped the cache partition.

In both of the above cases, the outcome is the same. The Bluetooth app on the S5 still shows other paired devices as before, shows the BG-BluBox, but the S5 reports that the PIN/password is incorrect when I try to pair.

How can I pair this device with the S5?

\*I may have had to enter a PIN, which I may have entered incorrectly. This was a while ago and I don't recall the details now.

# Answer
I connected the S5 to the sound box via the supplied headphone connector jack.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Based on our chat discussion, consolidating

1. By entering PIN correctly on the sound box, you are able to pair with S4 or any other device
2. This doesn't repeat with S5, even after clearing the cache and data of S5 (The first way is to to clear cache and data of Bluetooth app from Settings \> Applications Menu \> Application Manager.

3.There is no option of resetting memory of sound box and it remembers the last known good connection, which in this case is S4

Available information points to a problem with S5 persisting to remembering the wrong PIN entry and attempting to pair

To fix this,(Considering your device is NOT rooted), would suggest to factory reset your device after taking back up of data and attempt to pair

**EDIT**: You had mentioned that clearing Bluetooth app data/ cache **did not** clear the saved settings for S4. Which makes me suspect that cache of app is not being cleared. Suggest try this to clear cache of your device -turn your Samsung Galaxy S5 off and press at the same time Power + Home + Volume Down buttons to enter in Recovery Mode. Inside Recovery Mode press “Wipe Cache Partition” and reboot your phone. This option I understand had not been tried. You will not lose data. If this also doesn't help, factory reset would be the last resort

Meanwhile, you can mail OEM of sound box to get instructions on resetting or clearing it of stored device information and do that as well to have a clean slate
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, bluetooth-audio, bluetooth-pairing
---


# Question
Title: Some Images and Videos Not Displayed in Gallery
On my Lenovo Vibe P1, photos and videos I download or receive via apps (Whatsapp, Xender, etc.) are not displayed in the Gallery, but photos and videos taken with the camera and screen shots are. How can I get all photos and videos to appear properly in the Gallery?

# Answer
try to change the location of the videos/photos by cutting them from their previous folder and then pasting to a new location/folder.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: gallery
---


# Question
Title: I have locked myself out of my Samsung Galaxy S5
How can I get my Samsung Galaxy S5 unlocked without having to do a factory reset? The phone is asking me to enter a back up pin number, but I don't know what that is. I have tried EVERY password that I thought we set up on this phone but now it says that I only have 1 more try b4 it will factory reset and erase all my info....Please, HELP!!

# Answer
> 0 votes
I think there is a way to remove the lock. While I don't own this particular phone, you can flash Aroma File Manager to the phone by copying a zip file containing the manager to your external SD card. Boot the device into recovery, and then install the package. Go into the system files of the phone. There is a file somewhere called password.key or pattern.key, depending on whether the lock is a pattern or pin/password. Delete it. If the system files are not showing up in Aroma, make sure the device has mounted the system files in options. Reboot, and the lock should be removed.

---
Tags: locked-out
---


# Question
Title: No auto-brightness option in LG L90 dual
My L90 has **no auto-brightness option**. Could anyone please suggest a way to fix the issue?

# Answer
The L90 lacks an ambient light sensor, so there is no true auto brightness method.

XDA user gdjindal has a unique tutorial for adding a pseudo-automatic function on the Optimus L9 (it'll most likely work on your phone as well): link
> 1 votes

# Answer
Other option is to use my app. It is real auto brightness. "Auto Brightness by PP"
> 0 votes

---
Tags: screen-brightness
---


# Question
Title: Transfer WhatsApp chat from iOS to Android
I want to transfer my WhatsApp chats from my iPhone 6 with iOS 8.4 to my new Samsung Galaxy S6e, is there an easy way to do that?

# Answer
> 0 votes
As far as I am aware, as the iOS system has a built-in restriction that stops one accessing its filesystem, you cannot get access to the conversation history backup files.

Even if you managed to obtain read/write access through a jailbreak of some sort, the iOS messages dump might not even be of a compatible format to be displayed on Android.

In short, there is no easy/safe way to transfer your WhatsApp conversation history between iOS and Android. Android to Android, however, is a different matter.

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


# Question
Title: How can I move apps en masse to my SD card?
Apps keep getting installed on my internal storage when I would much rather they be on my much larger SD card that is formatted as internal memory. Is there a way to tell my phone to move a bunch of Apps at once?

# Answer
Sorry its not possible with rooting the device either. As PlayStore firstly download the application to your internal memory without seeing your settings whether you want your application on your internal or external. From that state it can be moved from internal storage to external storage if application permits itself.

You can think it as an restriction posed by Google.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Tutorial :

Note : First Make sure to enable " **Allow Unknown Sources Aplications to install** "

File Manager Link: http://www.apk4fun.com/apk/50967/

1. Download an App called " **Apps Backup & Restore** " **Download Link** : http://app-backup-restore.en.uptodown.com/android Note : You can download it in Google Play Store

2.. Install the downloaded Aplication (apk) in your device **"App Backup & Restore "**

3. Open the Application
4. Make sure you are in a window called " Installed " , where you can see all your installed applications.
5. Select/Mark all the apps you want to backup and click " Backup" and wait for the process to complete..
6. Go to your Internal Storage Directory using File Manager
7. Search for a folder called " **App Backup & Restore** "
8. Copy/Move this folder to your Sd Card Directory...

**Done**

Answered using LG G3
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, motorola-moto-g2
---


# Question
Title: When using a terminal emulator, why are there so many normal Linux commands that do not work?
There are a lot of standard Linux commands that do not work from a Terminal Emulator in Android. I thought Android is based on the Linux kernel, but it lacks so many functions like `man`, `groups`, `find`, etc.

Why are there so many normal Linux commands that do not work?

# Answer
This is not Bash. At the beginning of my journey in Android, I have seen that the Android shell is a little bit different from Bash.

## The Android Shell

A "shell" is a program that listens to keyboard input from a user and performs actions as directed by the user. Android devices come with a simple shell program. This shell program is mostly undocumented. Since many people are curious about it, I thought I'd write up some documentation for it.

## Built-in Commands

Every shell has a few built-in commands. Some common built-in commands are:

* `echo` -- prints text to stdout
* `set` -- sets shell variables
* `export` -- makes shell variables available to command-line programs
* `cd` -- change the current directory
* `pwd` -- print name of the current directory

## Futher Reading

Please check this question and this page for more details.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: command-line, terminal
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to know if an app has advertisements by analyzing permissions?
Or if not, how to see if an app has advertisements or not?

# Answer
> 27 votes
You cannot see that just by checking an app's permissions: those permissions ad modules require for their job are the same the app itself might need for another job. You can, however, look up the app at AppBrain: for each app, that site lists up what ad modules (and other libraries) are used. You find that scrolling down to the "Libraries" section. *AppBrain* distinguishes between "Development tools" (which also include analytic libraries like *Google Analytics* or *Flurry*), "Social libraries" (Facebook & Co), and "Ad network libraries" (Admob & Co).

Libraries used by an app as shown by AppBrain

Clicking on an entry also reveals details on that module/network.

---
Tags: permissions, ads
---


# Question
Title: What percentage of screen power usage is healthy?
Using GSam, the screen uses about 50% of power compared to apps. Is this normal/healthy?

# Answer
Yes, this is completely normal especially on high-resolution devices. It takes a lot of juice to produce all that light, switch colors, etc. Activities like watching videos will exacerbate this.

The only times you will usually see the screen not use the most battery is if you have the screen off for a long time, or if you play a really intensive game.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: battery-life
---


title: Malicious hidden in root partition

text:
# Question
Title: Malicious hidden in root partition
Hello everyone :) excuse me for creating a new thread but i couldnt find any info on this matter.

As a gift, my parents brought Samsung galaxy s4 from someone i dont trust who sells it. I factory reset the phone thinking its enough to clean everything. After a while i feel unsafe because the person knows things out of nowhere and i found out many $py software are more advanced now that its installed via root and very stealth.

I read wiping the partition and flashing the rom could help. But limited to only boot, data, cache, system while other such as /misc, /recovery remain the same?

What if its hidden in there. i want to make sure just to be safe. On a side note the person is a techie and also know im careful and observant.

Whats your suggestion on this?

Please help. Any inputs will be very much appreciated. :( Thank you in advance.

# Answer
You'll need to "flash" the firmware on the phone to stock firmware to overwrite *everything* (including system files) that you had on it before.

Go to **http://www.sammobile.com/** and enter your device model number. You'll be directed to a long list of each country variant of every Android version made for the device. If you have a preference for version, (AKA you hate 5.0 Lollipop), then download 4.4 Kitkat. This is a good 3 hour download, and you may have to download it multiple times before you get a perfect download (MD5 matching file). Also, sammobile requires you to sign up before you download. It's not a big deal, I used my real e-mail.

You will then download **Odin v3 from XDA** onto your computer as well as the **Samsung USB Drivers (Official link)** and install each.

Boot your phone to Download Mode (by pressing `Power` \+ `Volume down`) and hook it up to your computer. You'll then click on the `PDA` button in Odin and find your `.tar` file. If your download is a `.zip` you'll have to extract the zip. If you're below Windows 7, the zip extraction wizard will appear to have frozen for about 10 minutes. It takes much longer than usual with a single .tar file.

Make sure all the checked boxes are as so:

..And flash!

When finished, it may or may not boot right up! If not, go into stock recovery (by pressing `Power` \+ `Volume up`) and "Clear Dalvik Cache". Now, your phone should be up and running. If not, clear data as well.

Hope this helps!
> 2 votes

---
Tags: root-access, partitions, hidden
---


# Question
Title: Google Play not responding after CM13 install
Today I installed Cyanogenmod CM13 and Gapps on my Asus Zenfone 2. The install went fine, but when I booted my phone, I selected the language, then when it went to look for updates, a system message appeared "Google Play services has stopped". This has caused the phone to hang at the update page, and to top it off I forgot to install TWRP, so I think I'm going to have an issue installing a fresh install.

What can I do now?

# Answer
**What happened** You don't have TWRP, so your phone is bricked.**1**

**How can I unbrick it?** Look at this website.

The website tells you

The latter in short requires you to:

---

**1:** for installing TWRP, see e.g. How to Install TWRP Recovery on Zenfone 2 and Root at Androiding.how. Before that, install the stock ROM and wipe cache+data (from recovery; a should do the wipe as well).
**2:** not needed on Linux/Mac; for those OSes, see e.g. Configuring ADB on Ubuntu
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, root-access, custom-roms, asus-zenfone-2
---


# Question
Title: How to install Google Play services on an Android 6.0 emulator?
Is there a way to install Google Play app on an Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) AVD? I have found the Open Gapps for Android 6 here: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24269982087008996

To install them you need to boot into Recovery mode and install that zip file, but an emulator does not have a recovery partition, so the steps target the case of a device.

Do you know, how I can do the same for the emulator? I tried to unzip the file and put the 4 APKs described here (for Android version 5): http://www.flinkd.org/2015/02/instal...i-21-lollipop/

but after rebooting the emulator, although the icon of Google Play appears in the launcher, when I tap on it, then the emulator crashes with some fatal exceptions in logcat. I tried to install the packages one at a time, rebooting the emulator after each installation, and found out that the crash happens after installing the Phonesky.apk no matter if you click on the Google Play icon.

# Answer
> 9 votes
1) Go get GApps for the emulator from http://opengapps.org

2) Unzip to get

* GmsCore.apk
* GoogleServicesFramework.apk
* GoogleLoginService.apk
* Phonesky.apk

Launch the emulator from the command line, on linux you do

```
./emulator [name] -no-boot-anim -writable-system

```

on windows it's probably

```
emulator.exe [name] -no-boot-anim -writable-system

```

Make sure you have adb access to the emulator.

```
adb remount

```

last but not least, push everything to system.

```
adb push GmsCore.apk /system/priv-app/

```

(and repeat for all the other APKs)

then reboot with

```
adb shell stop

```

and

```
adb shell start

```

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, android-emulator, google-play-services
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible for an application to deliver ads while requesting NO permission from the user?
I know that for an app to access the internet it does not need the "Full network access" permission. In the android system it says that an app can use the browser to access the internet. The permission is needed only for "custom protocols".

So is it possible to deliver ads without requesting permission from the user?

# Answer
Apps do not require any sort of permission to show things on the screen — that is a basic function of the majority of apps, after all. And there is no reason that what they show you can't be an ad. Ads are just data that doesn't have to be treated differently from any other type of data.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, internet, permissions, ads
---


title: Copy contacts from Google to SIM card

text:
# Question
Title: Copy contacts from Google to SIM card
I have recently got my SIM card replaced, and lost all contacts as a result. I was wondering if there is a way to copy them from Google Contacts to the SIM card. It would type them one by one but it seems like a waste of time. Surprisingly, though, I haven't been able to find an easy way to do it. Is there a way to dump contacts from the google backup to the SIM card?

# Answer
> You can export your Gmail Contacts list into a .csv file prior to importing them into FullContact (to have a backup) using these steps:

1. Sign in to Gmail.
2. Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
3. From the More actions drop-down menu, select Export.... Choose whether to export all contacts or only one group.
4. Select the format in which you'd like to export your contacts' information. Please note, some of these formats can lose some contact information.

* To transfer contacts between Google accounts, use the Google CSV
    format. This is the recommended way to back up your Google Contacts.
    * To transfer contacts to Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or various
    other apps, use the Outlook CSV format.
    * To transfer contacts to Apple Address Book, use the vCard format.
5. Click Export. Choose Save to Disk then click OK. Select a location to save your file, and click OK.

You probably want the vcard format. Then use a contacts app that supports vcard importing. When importing it will ask you where to save the information (choose SIM). Note SIM cards can't hold many contacts.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: sim-card, google-contacts
---


# Question
Title: Power consumption of audio over OTG cable
I recently found that if I connect a USB pair of speaker/microphone using OTG cable to a phone, it becomes the audio device by default, and I can actually play audio over that. It happens that the USB headset has much better quality than the earplug ones that I connect over audio connector.

My question is, if I use this OTG-USB-Headset trick, will it drains the battery faster than just having my earplugs connected on the audio connector?

# Answer
What you have tried now is known for long as you can see from Google search - connecting usb headset to usb on the go

* USB on the go wiki (see *Protocols* section) talks of *ADP and SRP* protocols relevant to your usage, to conserve on the mobile battery power - translated what it means is that power is drawn from the mobile battery and not from the USB headset, even if it has battery source

> .... will I drain my battery faster than just having my earplugs connected on the audio connector ?

Depends on the power rating of your USB headset- *if it is more than the earplugs provided by the phone (common case), then yes it will drain faster*

**Additional Information**
> 1 votes

---
Tags: battery-life, usb-on-the-go
---


# Question
Title: Android copy file to /system/bin/sh, now devices can not booted
to day I add one daemon file to android devices, I use command:

```
 ./adb push XXXXX   /system/bin/sh

```

I say done, but when i restart the device, now it can not boot, no logo appear, just black screen, although I see the light is enabling. I can not know what can I do now, how can i fix it... plz

# Answer
> 1 votes
USE FASTBOOT INSTEAD...Shell/sh has been replaced by

```
adb push  xxxx  /system/bin/sh

```

Shell controls the adb commands, So ADB is now disabled ! ... What you need to do is reboot into FASTBOOT using the device specific button code while the phone starts
(usually home and volume up together for 10 seconds) or(power and volume up )
Once inside FASTBOOT you need to replace your boot.img and system.imgSystem then boot

```
fastboot flash system xxxx.img

fastboot flash boot xxxx.img

```

XXXX represents the .img file name

# Answer
> 0 votes
It sounds like you pushed xxx to replace your Shell Binary in bin... Shell is not a folder but a binary file... If you have replaced this on purpose with a custom binary, then you needed to run a

```
adb chmod 0755 /system/bin/sh
or
adb shell  chmod 0755 /system/bin/sh

```

Adb Shell Might work because you have replaced the shell in system, You can run a remote shell command..
If you can still connect in any way..

> IM NOT SURE ABOUT THE EXACT PERMISSION, 0775, 0755, 0777

---
Tags: 4.0-ice-cream-sandwich, reboot
---


# Question
Title: How to get Adoptable SD card encryption key with root access?
When I use adoptable storage on my device, then my SD card will be encrypted. Is there a way to get the "encryption key" with root access? So if my phone dies, I can still retrieve my data from the SD card by using the key?

Related: How does Marshmallow encryption work technically?

I am running Cyanogenmod 13, rooted.

# Answer
There's some interesting pointer found in Decrypting Android M adopted storage (emphasis mine):

> Android M allows for adoptable storage, which is implemented similarly to internal storage FDE -- using dm-crypt with a per-volume, static 128-bit AES key, stored in `/data/misc/vold/`. ***Once the key is extracted from the device, adopted storage can be mounted and read/written on any Linux machine.*** Adoptable storage encryption is done purely in software (at least in the current preview build), so its performance is likely comparable to encrypted internal storage on devices that don't support hardware-accelerated FDE.

Also take a look at Corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage, which gives a quite detailed tutorial on how to do it :)
> 6 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, sd-card, 6.0-marshmallow, encryption, adoptable-storage
---


title: Cameranext not saving pictures

text:
# Question
Title: Cameranext not saving pictures
I am using a non-rooted Oneplus One (cm12, all patches). I have to admit that I really dont use the camera very often, but on a family trip yesterday i noticed, the pictures i took were **not** saved, except for two of them... Since it is impossible to recreate the pictures from our trip I am searching for any other alternative to get them back.

I found a bunch of topics on oneplus' support forums like this: https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/stock-camera-app-not-saving-pictures.286705/

Basically saying its not a bug, its a feature. While I think those answers are disputable at least, my question would be if there is any hope to restore the pictures (or at least parts of the album) from the cameras cache - which is about 60MB as I post this question.

Rooting the phone to get access to those cache files would not be a Problem if needed. Thanks for advice.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If the files got cached on sd card or internal storage, Android 5 + Never delete images fully.. Use a new photo recovery App like DiskDigger .. This will pull your images from any sector of the accessible storage devices without root.

# Answer
> 0 votes
P.S

All CYANOGEN MOD VERSIONS FROM VERSION 11 UPWARDS INCLUDE ROOT ACCESS AS PART OF THEIR PRIVACY GUARD FEATURE INSIDE PRIVACY IN SETTINGS...

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, camera, cache
---


# Question
Title: Driver issues when using Samsung Galaxy SIII via USB for development
The phone is connected via USB to Windows 7 64-bit. The `USB debugging` option enabled.
When I connect the phone to the computer, I'm notified that some drivers failed to install.

Do I need these for development? Where can I get them? I have yet to try the Kies drivers.
As is, the device is connected as a "media device", which is useless in terms of development.
When trying an Android SDK sample demo, it starts the emulator instead of running on the phone.

**More info about device:**

* Model number: SGH-T999V
* Android version: 4.0.4

**edit:** See my answer below.

# Answer
There's no need to install Kies. Download the driver `SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.14.0.exe` (or a higher version) which is available from the Samsung website. Click on the *Manuals & Downloads* tab (below the image of the phone) and then the *Software* tab.

After installing, I connected the S3 via USB and Windows Update automatically searched for and downloaded a package that was 6.8MB, followed by this notification.

I restarted my computer (just in case) and I can now use the S3 for development, even though it says the device is connected as a "media device".
> 3 votes

# Answer
The easiest way to get this driver is from the samsung website. There is a link to a download that installs only the driver (none of the bloat). See https://stackoverflow.com/a/11851697/1427165 for more details.
> 5 votes

# Answer
You need to install the Samsung ADB Driver.

You can install these by installing Kies (they will be installed automatically), or you can download and install the driver here \- it says it is for the Galaxy S2, but it should work for all Samsung devices.

Once installed, you may need to reboot your computer, and then connect your device. If that still doesn't work, go into your device manager and delete any unknown devices, or devices with question marks next to them (highlight them, and press the delete key).

Once that is done, plug the device back in and the driver should install. You should then be able to see the device by using the `adb devices` command.
> 1 votes

# Answer
1. Uninstall the Samsung Galaxy S3 driver.
2. Download and update your fingerprint sensor driver. In my case, I use the AuthenTec driver.
3. Download and update your Bluetooth device driver (i.e. Broadcomm, etc)
4. Reboot computer.
5. Re-install the Galaxy S3 driver.
6. Connect device.
7. Device will look for software updates and everything should install.

Good to go!
> 0 votes

# Answer
You can try using Universal Adb Driver from this link:

https://github.com/koush/UniversalAdbDriver
> 0 votes

# Answer
Well, I have tried all these things I could find on the web and my Win 7 professional PC would not recognize my Galaxy S 3....I then realized my new computer has nothing but USB 3.0 ports so I decided to try to use an old USB hub I have. I plugged it into the computer and a driver for it was successfully installed. I then plugged my Galaxy S3 into the USB hub and then the computer recognized it and installed the driver and I can access all the files on my phone. So I can only conclude it is a USB 3.0 incompatibility problem. I had no trouble connecting my phone to my old PC which had win 7 home, and USB 2.0 ports. I had originally thought the problem was going from win 7 home to win 7 prof. Now I think the problem is going from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0.....give it a try and see if it helps you out.
> 0 votes

# Answer
**Try this**

1. Go to dial pad & type \*#0808#
2. It displays USB settings
3. Select MTP+ADB option
4. Press OK button
5. Connect to USB cable to PC

It shows Connected as a media device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-3, windows, usb-debugging, usb-drivers
---


title: Unable to connect samsung device to pc

text:
# Question
Title: Unable to connect samsung device to pc
I'm having problem connecting my device(Samsung j7) to my laptop via USB port. Can someone help me?

# Answer
I've tried this solution and it worked!

1. Go to dial pad & type \*#0808#
2. It displays USB settings
3. Select MTP+ADB option
4. Press OK button
5. Connect to USB cable to PC
6. It shows Connected as a media device.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store, 5.0-lollipop
---


# Question
Title: Android stopped informing me about app permissions. Why?
Since I upgraded to Marshmallow (Verizon LG-G4), I never get the little dialog that asks me to approve new permissions for applications I'm installing/updating, nor even the "no new permissions needed" notice.

Is this a Marshmallow issue? Did I accidentally do something to turn those off? If so, how do I turn them back on? I can't find any settings that govern this.

# Answer
Marshmallow comes with a new feature that asks for app permissions when opening the app. It has the new apple-esque asking for permissions feature. You can choose if an app can use these permissions or not.

If you want to change the permissions later, go to settings and search "Permissions"

If the app requires no permissions, it will not inform you of that. However, if it requested access to something, it will tell you. For example, if I just installed Skype and started using the microphone, it will ask if the app can use the microphone. You can decline it or accept it.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: permissions
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to share my mobile screen with another Android phone like Netmeeting or Live Meeting?
The requirement is similar to Netmeeting software where the screen of a desktop is shared and can be accessed for another system. Is is possible in a mobile device?

There should be no PC to Mobile connection.

Applicability: This can be used for verification of railway or air tickets where I can show my ticket shared with examiner's device instead of handing him the device.

# Answer
> 2 votes
If your device is rooted you could try to run a VNC Server (e.g. droid VNC server BETA) and access it from the other mobile device with a VNC viewer of your choice.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try using ScreenMeet for Android. It lets you share from your Android to any web browser. The App is in the store.

# Answer
> 0 votes
join.me should work. Although i have never tried it myself for two android phones but it seems it may work. Try.

---
Tags: screen-sharing
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to prevent background application updating on both wi-fi and Mobile Data?
For mobile there is an option to prevent it but I would like to block the updates and background data on Wifi also because I am connected to a Hotspot that uses Mobile Data from another mobile phone.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can define that hotspot as being a "mobile hotspot", so Android would deal with it as if it were using mobile data:

1. Open *Settings*
2. Go to *Data Usage*
3. Tap the "overflow menu" (the 3 dots in the upper right)
4. From the menu opening, select *Mobile Hotspots*
5. Put a check-mark next to the hotspot you're using.

---
Tags: wi-fi, networking, mobile-data, application-autoupdate, background-process
---


title: Gmail App, non-google domain sign in

text:
# Question
Title: Gmail App, non-google domain sign in
Suppose I want to add an account and my company/school/organization/etc uses a gmail based solution for their email services. After telling the gmail app I want to add another account. My thought would normally be that the sign in should be something like this:

username@company.com password

But, currently getting a username and password do not match error. If I attempt to login directly on the gmail.com web page, it redirects me to my company's sign in page and then works. My guess is the app isn't smart enough to do/handle a redirect to a specific authentication server and thus fails. Is there some other way I might be able to use gmail?

# Answer
You can Add your account as "Personal(POP/IMAP)" and your Mail Server ID has to be 'mail.company.com' and SMTP server as 'smtp.company.com'.

And select the certification accordingly.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: gmail, google-account, accounts
---


# Question
Title: Any way to disable Slide to Call/Message?
Is there a way to disable the Slide function to call/Message contacts in Phone on Lollipop 5.1.1?

My phone specs: SM-G925F Android Lollipop 5.1.1

Thanks in advance!

# Answer
There's a hidden option on the newer Samsung devices.

Open Dialer, then select `Menu -> Settings -> Contacts` then uncheck `Swipe to call or send message`.

Hope this helps,
> 0 votes

---
Tags: calls, 5.1-lollipop, system-apps
---


# Question
Title: "Storage Space Running Out" even though plenty of storage remains?
I've got a Samsung Galaxy i9000 equiv(T959) that has recently been showing "Storage Space Running Out". I have been running Cyanogen 10.1 for a couple of years without any problems, until now. But I have 400M free on my system partition and 3G on my SD partition.

From other posts I have read, options include:

* deleting all logs in /data/log
* \*#9900# and selecting `delete dumpstack`
* using `adb shell` to delete everything in /data/log
* moving apps to the SD partition

However my `/data/log` foler is empty! (checked with ES file explorer and even Terminal Emulator). And I have 400M free on the system drive!

With 400M free on my system drive (confirmed both with DataUsage and Storage Use), I do not understand where these messages are coming from! I've tried `wiping davlik cache`, but that has not made a difference either.

Everything I have read points to log files being the culprit, but nothing I have run seems to detect any log file taking up room.

In the meantime, I can't seem to use the gmail client/app anymore (unable to sync), so cannot send or receive email.

I know that this may seem like a duplicate question, but I cannot find any postings that deal with this issue when there is actually significant space left on the device (\>25%!).

From Terminal:

```
df:
Filesystem       Size   used    Free
/dev             198.5M  32K    198.5M
/mnt/secure      198.5M  0K     198.5M
/mnt/asec        198.5M  0K     198.5M
/mnt/obb         198.5M  0K     198.5M
/cache           17.5M   2.3M   15.2M
/radio           16M     14.3M  1.7M
/datadata        422M    395.6M 26.4M
/system          393.7M  334.4M 59.3M
/data            1.5G    1.1G   396.9M
/efs             12.5M   5.9M   6.6M
/storage/sdcard0 13G     9.5G   3.5G

```

There are also some app-specific mount points that I don't believe have value to list here.

# Answer
As Alexandar already pointed out, there are different partitions involved. The "400MB on your system partition" (actually, there's only ~ 300 MB free) have no effect here at all, as you cannot use them: `/system` is mounted read-only during normal operation, and mostly reserved for the OS and its core apps.

Let's walk your tree one by one:

* `/dev`, `/system`, `/efs`, `/cache`, `/radio`: these are "special locations" used by the system, and not available (directly) to your apps and your data.
* `/mnt/secure`, `/mnt/asec`, `/mnt/obb`: similarly.
* `/data` and `/storage/sdcard0`: your SD cards are not related to that error message.

> * `/datadata`: here we go, **this is the troublemaker:** just 26.4M are free here. The error you're describing is triggered as soon as free space drops below 25 MB (or below 10% sometimes, which would be ~40 MB). No matter how much space is available elsewhere.

For actions to be taken, take a look at the tag-wiki, which explains some more background and offers first-aid as well as links to related sources.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I have answered this here

> Apps are stored on the /data partition, while the empty space you have is probably located on some other location, like internal SD card. Even if you have empty space elsewhere, apps couldn't be installed nowhere but on the /data partition.
>
> There is a way to make /data partition bigger by resizing your partitions (I've done it myself), but it's not recommended if you don't know what you're doing, since you can end up making your phone unusable.

Try using `df` command in either Terminal Emulator or ADB shell, to see how much free space you have on each separate partition.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Cleaning all the junk and app cashe's fixes it for me when I have that problem being told I don't have enough storage when I actually do. Clear the cashe for each individual app if corning from the system storage doesn't work.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, internal-storage, samsung-galaxy-s, insufficient-memory, logging
---


# Question
Title: Outlook Calendar on Samsung Galaxy S7 will not sync
I have just bought a Samsung Galaxy S7 (running Android 6.0.1) and installed the Outlook app. Email syncs fine but I see nothing on my calendar. When I tap the top left burger (?) menu "Kevin's calendar" is almost always unchecked. I check it but still nothing shows.

I have also tried resetting my account by going to the calendar settings (cog in the top right, opening my @hotmail.co.uk account and pressing RESET ACCOUNT).

I've also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

It worked fine on my Android S4.

# Answer
> 2 votes
In the hope that this will help someone else.

1. Uninstall the Outlook app
2. Go to "Settings" \> "Accounts" and remove all accounts relating to hotmail.co.uk
3. Add a new "Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync" account and enter your details.

Once successful you can view your email by using the pre-installed "Mail" app and you can view your calendar entries by using the pre-installed "S-Planner" app.

If you want to use the Outlook app then follow these further steps

4. Reinstall the Outlook app
5. Open the Outlook app and follow the instructions in the setup wizard. Choose "Exchange" account when given a choice between "Office 365", "Outlook.com" and "Exchange".
6. You'll have to enter your username and password several times and accept all permission prompts.

You should now be able to see your calendar entries in the Outlook app.

(strictly speaking I don't think you need to do step 3 if you carry on doing steps 4 - 6, but I'm not prepared to go through all that again to prove it)

# Answer
> 0 votes
I've tried the method described above. it doesn't work on the S7 to view an Outlook calendar as the default calendar. According to Samsung there is no way to use Outlook calendar as the default calendar. If anyone has a work around I'd like to here it, as I am returning my S7 since using Office365 is one of the most important features I want in my phone. I hear the HTC 10 is being released April 15 my HTC One (M8) worked with office 365 just fine. I'd like to be able to use the Google Voice app to input appointments while I'm driving to my outlook calendar.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have the same issue and have found a workaround.

I am able to post meetings in my s7 which then show up on my ipad and my windows pc but not my s7. If I then de-select and re-select my default calendar my postings display correctly (I assume it does this by either querying the server again or simply displays hidden content from a previous query). After de-select and re-selection of the default calendar in s7 all postings appear almost instantly when done from either iPad, pc or s7 as long as I keep the app open .

I find that simply de-select and re-select whenever I start the app solves the issue as long as I keep the app open.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge and have the new Outlook client installed on both. When I have just my work email added (which is a O365 account) - I am able to see the calendar and agenda view just fine. Strangely the contacts are setup as disabled to sync by default - but easily slide the switch and you are good to go. The problem I am having is that when I add any other email account (in my case they are Outlook and MSN based addresses) - the calendar does not display my appointments anymore - either in the agenda or day view. Gone. Poof. I have reproduced this addition and deletion of the MSN and Outlook accounts 7+ times and same behavior each time.

So in reality the Outlook Client does work properly with a O365 address and Calendar is viewable but don't try adding additional accounts which in my case screwed up my calendar views

---
Tags: calendar, 6.0-marshmallow, outlook.com
---


# Question
Title: If a micro USB charger supports data transfer for one Android device, should it then support data transfer for any Android device?
In particular, I bought "1M Micro USB Charger Charging Sync Data Cable For Samsung Galaxy S2 S3 S4 WJ" on ebay, assuming it should work with any device despite the specific brand in the title. Testing on a Huawei and a Mpie Android device, 2 of the cables do nothing, 5 only charge, 1 is detected by one device prompting option to connect as storage -- however it is not deteced on computer so effectively only charges.

Note that I have successfully data transferred with other cables on these two devices.

Failed to find info online except on distinction between charge-only and charge+data micro USB cables.

# Answer
A USB cable functions the same, no matter the device. It is just 2-4 wires in a casing.

Often, cheaper cables sold on eBay using thin, low-quality wiring that breaks easily, so it is possible that you got a batch of bad cables.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: usb, data-transfer
---


# Question
Title: Remove stock android apps via file manager
I have a rooted HTC One (M8). I want to remove some pre installed apps like Play Newsstand, Play Movies, Fitbit etc.

I tried uninstalling them using System App Remover by jumobile, and Titanium Backup. But after uninstalling, even removing the backup of the app, and then rebooting my phone, I find the app still there and it opens and works too. I deleted the apk of an app that was the factory version. So it's apk was not there in `/data/app`, I checked. So basically it reappeared in `/system/app` after reboot.

I read somewhere that if I delete the app folder in `/system/app` via root file explorer then the app will be uninstalled. Is this method ok? Or are there drawbacks? And if its fine, will it work on Android Lollipop?

If there is any workaround or alternate method, please suggest.

# Answer
Assuming your HTC One is running Sense, it sounds like your phone is S-ON (locked). Naturally, with S-ON, any change you make to the system will be undone on the next reboot.

I'm not sure if there's a working S-OFF (unlock) method available for your device, as a quick Google search turned up varied results for S-OFF methods on the M8. Take a look at SunShine S-OFF, if you want.

If you don't want to go that way or if your phone's already S-OFF, you may want to try Titanium Backup's *"Bloatware Melter"* feature (TB menu \> Preferences... \> Bloatware Melter) specifically made for NAND-locked devices.

You can also try to delete the app files themselves inside `/system/app` and/or `/system/priv-app`, like you said; but do be careful if you do this - you might accidentally delete something else.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, root-access, uninstallation
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to exclude apps from the "open with" dialog?
I have two browsers on my device, Chrome and Opera, but generally always want to use Chrome. But even if I select Chrome for opening weblinks and press the "Always" button, it might still ask me again which browser I want to use for some other links.

My phone is rooted (it's a Fairphone). Is it possible to just exclude Opera once and for all from being suggested? I only want it to appear when I deliberately start it via the drawer.

# Answer
Unfortunately, I think not. The code that tells whether the app will appear in that list is in the app itself: Documentation.

However, you state that you are rooted, so maybe you could use Titanium Backup (Pro) to "freeze" Opera.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: root-access, browser, opera-browser, hyperlinks
---


# Question
Title: How to expands sd-card formatted as internal storage?
In Android 6 I formatted my 32GB sd card as internal storage. What I now see with GParted on my desktop is this:

As you see there is still an unencrypted, readable FAT32 partition.
I assume it was created when formatting this sd card, because there I still had some large ZIPs (previously used for flashing) on my sd card.
I am a bit surprised to see that the data is still there - especially as the guide when formatting the sd card clearly states all data will be removed. Possibly the files are also added afterwards as I used TWRP to copy some files to `/external_sd` even after I did this.

So I deleted the unnecessary ZIPs on my PC and now I obviously have unused space on my sd card. So: **How can I expand my sd card?**

It is also interesting what Nemo shows me:

The yellow parts are the used space (98,3 kB) and the blue on is empty (31,4 GB). It also claims the file system would be *msdos*...

Just FYI: Besides my ZIPs there are also empty folders called "Android" and "LOST.DIR".

# Answer
Not knowing exactly I believe that Android 5.0 and newer has gone and caused protection on orphaned memory space. I would like to know more about situations like this.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage, external-sd, 6.0-marshmallow, formatting, adoptable-storage
---


# Question
Title: How to cancel a download on Android 4.4 KitKat
I (accidentally) started downloading a 350 MB file from Google Chrome and I can't find the option to stop it, the downloads app just shows the files that have already finished but not the downloads in progress. The notification on my top bar just opens the downloads app.

# Answer
I just reproduced the steps needed to do this, last two steps may be the interesting ones:

* Open Google Chrome (v39)
* Start a large download (http://ipv4.download.thinkbroadband.com/1GB.zip)
* Wait a moment (it took some seconds for a notification to appear)
* Pull down the notification bar and click on the download entry
* You are taken to the download manager
* **Long click** on the corresponding entry
* Choose the **trash bin** from the **top action bar**

In case this does not work for you: Please edit your answer with your exact device model, Chrome and Android version number. If you are doing a lot of downloads on your Android device consider installing a download manager like share downloader. It also supports pause and resume.
> 9 votes

# Answer
Go to App Drawer → Downloads → Find the downloading item, Delete that.
> 5 votes

# Answer
In my opinion, the best way is to turn off Wi-Fi and data (3g, 4g) and let the download fail.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Long press the download app and then drag it to app info which should appear on the top of your home screen. Tap on force stop and its done!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, download-manager
---


# Question
Title: Determine hardware-age of an Android device
How can I get information that gives indication of the age of hardware in an Android device. I would look for lifetime information like how often has the battery been charged, how long has the screen has been turned on, how long has the flash memory been active.

In a traditional computer I would mainly look for SMART data. I would prefer solutions with basic android system information, and definitely want to avoid rooting the device.

The background is that I have bought a new Sony Xperia Z4 tablet (5.0.2), but the condition of the packaging leads me to believe that it is not brand new. The package was secured only with a single unevenly cut tape and the plastic pocket is somewhat dirty. the screen protection is not quite centered and has a few bubbles. I don't really care if it has been been slightly in use and is still in new condition, but I am curious and definitely want to avoid a device that has been under more than minor use.

# Answer
Find the tag which is attached to your device where serial number and manufacturing details are encoded. This resides beneath the back cover on most devices. Sony provides the manufacturing date as eg: 16W10(W stands for week) which is 22nd March 2016. This might help you find the Hardware age of your device. Thank you.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, sony-xperia-z
---


# Question
Title: Where does Opera Mini save its "Saved pages"?
When you save a web page in Opera Mini, it must be saved somewhere.

I want to know where can I find these pages, specific path or anything?

# Answer
Users of Opera mini can Save web pages for later viewing, by Tapping the + button on the search bar to save a page.

Once pages is Saved, one can actually access the Saved pages from Opera mini browser app itself.

Once you Save web pages for offline viewing, these Saved pages are added to a Speed Dial group named **Saved pages**

This can be accessed by clicking on the Saved pages tab as shown in screen shot below.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: opera-mini
---


# Question
Title: Auto completion dictionary won't remember words
I dated a girl named Kristi for over a year, and to this day, no matter how many times I type her name correctly, it will autocorrect to Kristen. A year. A full year.

How do I get android to remember custom additions to its dictionary?

IOS will remember after the third time typing it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Settings -\> Language & Input -\> Personal Dictionary looks like what you want, although your keyboard may have its own settings (accessible through Settings -\> Language & Input).

---
Tags: text-input
---


title: Couldn't sign in to Google

text:
# Question
Title: Couldn't sign in to Google
I'm experiencing this issue from couple of days :

I have already :

* Disabled 2 step verification from Google Account
* Factory Reset
* Clear cache from recovery
* Reflash the ROM

# Answer
go to :

> `/etc/`

//need root access.of course you know this.

then, 2 ways for fix this availabe :

1.Rename this file `" Hosts "` to `" # "`.

need change `Mount R/W` to `Mount R/O` for edit Permission.

2.`Block` or `Delete Block Url/Ip's` in the `Hosts` File

Other Links :

How to edit etc/hosts file

Cannot connect to gmail account/market

Can't add gmail, "Can't establish server connection." Please Help
> 1 votes

# Answer
Date and Time errors are most common cause which rejects the connections from Google Servers.

**Go To:**

* Settings \> Date and Time
* Set the Automatic Date & Time (recommended).
* Below, you can also set Date and Time manually.
* Reboot the device for calibration of Date and Time.
* Now, try to login to your Google account.

<sub>(Click image to enlarge)</sub>
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, connection-issues, google
---


# Question
Title: Duplication of cellular phone Android 5.1.1
I think I have been duplicated or hacked. Google Maps time line shows me present for three days consecutively and me amd device were at another location, home. Is this possible what info /action have I allowed if it is possible? What I need to stop or solve the problem

# Answer
If only one device is on the timeline, there is a high possibility that you GPS is not good. My device thinks often that I am in a city about 20km away. I is a bug with google. To get really save, you can open the Android device manager in your web browser and get a list of all Android devices logged in into your account.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-maps
---


# Question
Title: 6.0.1 fails to send MMS over PIA Always-On VPN when using 4G LTE
Yesterday, I set up a PIA VPN. I've configured it to use IPv4 over T-Mobile 4G LTE.

**I'm unable to send or receive MMS while connected to the VPN** -- they can be sent/received as normal when the VPN is disconnected. Any insight as to the origin or solution for this problem would be appreciated.

SMS works. Voice works. WiFi calling works.

* Using L2TP/IPSec PSK.
* VPN server is configured on the Android device using IP, rather than domain name.
* DNS server is also configured by IP
* I have no L2TP secret.
* No IPSec ID
* Using IPSec pre-shared key
* Not using any DNS search domains
* No forwarding routes configured

I suspect there is some sort of configuration issue with my APN settings; the current configuration works when disconnected from the VPN.

\** Update - I haven't yet found a resolution to this specific issue. After getting frustrated using the manual configuration in the settings menu I decided I would try their official Android app. It will set up the connection for you. Unfortunately, the currently version of the app doesn't expose what specific configuration it is using.

# Answer
I've just found an issue in AOSP that tracks this and has a suggested fix for it:

> I tried Textra as a texting replacement app (for other reasons). In the settings it has an option to use either System or Legacy protocols for MMS. It even tells the user to try System if they have a VPN enabled. I switched to System from the default Legacy, and now my MMS works flawlessly with a VPN running.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: security, networking, 6.0-marshmallow, vpn, t-mobile
---


# Question
Title: Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy support on Sony Xperia Z5 or Z5 Compact
Could anyone please tell me if the Sony Xperia Z5 (or Z5 Compact) supports the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy profiles? I can't find any specification where this information is available (on gsmarena.com the specification does not explicitly state LE as for other phones - e.g. Samsung Galaxy S6 or even Sony Xperia Z3 Compact). Maybe somebody already tested the device with a BLE device?!

Thank you in advance! MDV

# Answer
The Xperia z5 does support BLE, however with Android 5.1 and 6.0 I have been having enormous issues with it. Bluetooth regular profiles have been fine for me (audio mostly) but other people are seeing issues with connecting to car kits and the like.

I have an Xperia Z5 Compact, unlocked and unmodified. I have trouble connecting to my Pebble Time watch (basically will not work at all), TrackR tags keep losing their connection and my Jawbone UP3 frequently is disconnected. As I say though audio to my Bluetooth headphones, portable speaker and home Amplifier are all fine.

I do believe the issue is with the phone, and hope very much for a swift update to solve this because it is very annoying.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth-le
---


# Question
Title: Text bubble randomly changing color on Galaxy S6's stock Messaging app on Android 6.0
I have a Galaxy S6 through Sprint and just upgraded to Android 6.0. Since the OS upgrade, my text messages have been seemingly randomly changing color. The text is always the same color, but the background of the bubble will change (yellow background on my messages, white background on incoming messages).

I thought initially the color change was caused by message status - sending, sent, received, etc. This does not seem to be the case, as once one turns yellow or white, it stays yellow or white.

I also thought that the colors corresponded to messages that I or my texting partner had not responded to (I sent 2 in row to her 1 incoming or vice versa). This also does not seem to be the case, as I have been able to send multiple in a row without the color changing.

Do you know what the different background colors signify and how to turn them off?

<sup>"Light-blue text bubble" anomaly compared to normal text bubble (dark green and blue)</sup>

# Answer
After a lot of research I haven't (and from the comments, it looks like neither have other users) been able to find any resources on the internet regarding this curious phenomenon.

I am, therefore, forced to accept this as some sort of Easter egg from the Samsung developers' side (although, in my opinion, Easter eggs should *at least look nice*.).

This also means that you don't really get an option to 'opt-out'. If it really bothers you, you can Contact Samsung (although their 'Live Chat' feature seems badly designed since I couldn't get a representative to talk to me even after 30 minutes) or use another messaging app.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: sms, samsung, 6.0-marshmallow, color
---


title: Broken graphics on some games

text:
# Question
Title: Broken graphics on some games
On my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime VE, running Android 5.1.1, the game's graphics are not displayed, but the sound plays. This happens as soon as the game starts.

What might be causing this and how can I correct it?

# Answer
This happens with me every time I play Clash of clans with charging. But usually it happens after an hour of charging. So try to cool down the device. If this happens on starting the game then thanks for reading.
> 0 votes

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Tags: 5.1-lollipop, graphics, samsung-galaxy-core-prime
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# Question
Title: Read the chip info from a built-in NFC chip in mobile phone
As I know, there is a built-in NFC chip at the back of a mobile phone such as Samsung. So I would like to read the built-in chip info from that mobile phone.

Is that possible?

# Answer
> 1 votes
There isn't an NFC Tag (as the hardware device) but there is a chip which can act like an NFC Tag and provide data.

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Tags: samsung, nfc
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# Question
Title: How to connect a Nexus 6p to Windows 8.1 in MTP mode
When I connect my phone to my Windows 8.1 PC, I can select PTP mode on the phone and the phone immediately shows up under "This PC". However, I only see pictures related files, I wanted to see other media. So I try to select MTP on my phone, and as soon as I do the phone icon disappears from "This PC" and does not reappear. I don't see any error messages, prompts to install drivers, etc.

I read somewhere that in Android, under `settings -> storage` to press the menu-button and choose usb-connection, but the menu only shows "Help & feedback".

I have tried both with USB debugging enabled and disabled.

On my Windows PC, under `Device Manager -> Android Device` I see "Google Nexus ADB Interface"; trying to update it says the latest version is already installed. I tried uninstalling it, and reconnecting the phone, but this just automatically reinstalled the same driver. I also looked under every other entry in device manager and there isn't anything else related to ADB or MTP.

I don't see any kind of separate MTP driver though. If I try to update software manually and how compatible hardware, it shows: "Google Nexus ADB Interface" and "USB Composite Device" and nothing MTP related.

I found my device under "Devices and Printers -\> Unspecified". When I tried to troubleshoot, it says "Google Nexus ADB Interface is an older USB device and might not work with USB 3.0. Plug the device into an available USB 2.0 port..." But I've only got USB 3.0 ports! If I go ahead and have it finish the troubleshooting it says:

```
Problems found:
Google Nexus ADB Interface can't work properly with USB 3.0 (Not fixed)

```

What?! The fact that PTP *does* work seems to contradict this, right? And since when has USB 3.0 not been backwardly compatible with USB 2.0 devices???

How do I get my PC to recognize the phone in MTP mode?

# Answer
> 0 votes
When you plug in the device you should see in the *notification shade* something that says *USB for Charging : Touch for more options*.

If you tap that, you will have a dialog open with the following:

**Use USB for**

* Charging
Just charge this device
* Power supply
Charge the other connected device
* File transfers
Transfer files to Windows or Mac (MTP)
* Photo transfer (PTP)
Transfer photos or files if MTP is not supported (PTP)
* MIDI
Use device for MIDI input

You want to select *File transfers* to have Windows detect the device as an external media device.

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Tags: windows, 6.0-marshmallow, mtp, nexus-6p
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# Question
Title: Infinite time lapse using with cloud storge
I was looking for a solution that would send my backup directly to cloud so that my phone memory would not fill up. I am trying to make a very long time lapse (many frames over long period of time).

I was trying to use tasker to setup a loop job to take pictures and after some time (presumably after they are backed up to google photos) delete the file. Yet deleting the file resulted in photo being deleted from google photos too...

Any suggestions? Maybe I have not tried *all* Andorid time lapse apps or maybe some premium version of one has this kind of feature?

# Answer
Since you are already Using Tasker, you can upload your photos to Dropbox (either set auto-upload in the Dropbox app or use the FolderSync plug-in). When a photo is uploaded to Dropbox, then deleted from the device, it remains in Dropbox.
> 0 votes

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Tags: backup, camera, cloud, google-photos
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# Question
Title: How the updates of some apps in the Play Store start from ~50%?
For example, when I updated Whatsapp today, the download started from 13.1MB and the app size was 23.4MB. I had disabled all auto updates. I have also noticed this in some other app updates.

# Answer
Google Play provides delta updates, which allow you to only download the data needed to patch your existing files to the latest version. This is done at a binary level, so you will typically need to download more data than has changed, but still less than the entire app.
> 5 votes

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Tags: google-play-store, updates
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