# Question
Title: What are the alternative Android app markets?
How many competing Android markets (other than the Play Store itself) are there and are they any good? Which ones do you use and why?

# Answer
I use AppBrain because it provides a nice site, and it makes it really easy to install apps onto my phone. Additionally, I'm finding that many bloggers that are reviewing apps are putting links to the AppBrain page for the app in their posts. This makes it really easy to mark something for install while I'm at my computer reading the blog posts, and then install it when I get a chance.

---

Edit by Izzy:

AppBrain offers an alternative (and much cleaner) interface to the Google Play Store, which offers several advantages:

* search results are much less limited (30 pages à 10 apps = 300 results, much more than Play offers)
* search results "gray out" possible spam, offensive, and otherwise harmful apps. You still can see them, though – but it's quite clear what to skip
* app details page gives the most important details at a glance. It's easy to see what permissions are requested. And if those form "potential dangerous combinations" (called "concerns" at AppBrain), that's automatically pointed out by a warning sign on the permissions tab
* Their app (an alternative to the Playstore app) enables you to skip single (or all) updates on a per-app-base, which keeps your list of "pending updates" quite clean.

For installation, you will be redirected to Google Play. In the past, AppBrain had a separate app for this called the "Fast Web Installer", but unfortunately this app was banned by Google. So even for batch updates, the Playstore app will now be opened for each app separately (not AppBrains fault).

*AppBrain App Market* (source: AppBrain; click images for larger variants)

Still, I count their Website as a much better alternative to the Google Play website – and the same is to be said for their app, though for installations it has to redirect you as described above.
> 83 votes

# Answer
There are actually several alternatives to the 'official' Google Android market (aka Play Store).

I personally like to search for new apps from my PC browser, and a bit less from my phone. Most (all?) of the markets nowadays offer both, via a dedicated phone-app that you'll have to install, except from the official one which is already there.

Until, well, yesterday, the 'official' market would not have been available from your PC (meaning: on a PC web browser). Now it is, with a neat push-to-your-phone one-click installation that is taking away one of the advantages of the competition (see AppBrain). The alternative markets, though, have still their peculiarities. I'll make a short summary but don't expect it to highlight all of the differences. Some markets (e.g. AndSpot) do not offer very specific features to users, but try to gather developers by offering advanced features such as easy stats.

* **Amazon AppStore**: latest big entry. countries limitations; catalog looking very promising with some (exclusive?) good pay-for apps; also features special offers and daily freebies. Def worth checking out
* **AppBrain**: born to let you install Android Market applications directly from your PC web browser, also allows you to discover new apps based on the ones you have. It's a *meta-store* (my favourite before the official market update)
* **APKPure**: don't need any registration to use it
* **SlideME**: they provide *applications to niche markets, based on geographic location, payment method, or even types of applications that users can't find in traditional channels*
* **Samsung Apps** (must be installed on Samsung Galaxy devices, or else you can't use this): Samsung app store, which of course requires you to own a Samsung Android device
* **F-Droid** they distribute FOSS open source packages that pass audit and verification to ensure that code has no malicious parts.
* **GetJar**: my latest discovery. Quite a lot of apps, and they have special ("GOLD") commercial apps for free. An extremely interesting platform for developers, since they seem to offer above-the-average marketing and PS activities!

I suggest you click on some of these links and see for yourself if the look/applications suit your style!

Thanks to various sources, in particular, this thenextweb.com article
> 112 votes

# Answer
I've been using F-Droid, which is a smallish repository focused on free and open source tools. Not all encompassing by any means but one of the few that is explicit about showing you the *license* before you download an app.

---

Edit by Izzy:

F-Droid is a small, but superb alternative to Google Play. Though it offers only about 1.200 apps1 in its main repository, they are mostly high quality. In comparision, these are some advantages it has over the Playstore:

* Apps are OpenSource, which means they are all free (to support the devs, there are donation buttons on each apps page)
* F-Droid compiles the packages from the sources. This adds a level of security, as it makes sure nothing was "sneaked into". The draw-back is, you cannot simply cross-update apps between the F-Droid main repo and other sources.
* Compiling the sources themselves, they also often throw out "binary blobs" and other unfree material (i.e. included modules from proprietary sources). In many cases, this means the advertisement stuff being removed. This again increases security (and privacy). But in some cases it has the draw-back of some functionality being broken, if the removed part was e.g. stuff enabling specific Google services, such as maps.
* Next to its main repository, F-Droid offers several others2. Developers can provide their own "channel", e.g. for Beta versions. A nice way also for companies or organizations to keep together groups of apps their members are supposed to use.
* F-Droid is very clear when it comes to "anti-features" such as ads. If an app in any way deviates from the OpenSource idea, that's pointed out straight in colored boxes you can't miss when browsing the apps pages. Quoting bgvaughan from the comments:

> f-droid's Preferences allow you to screen apps by various traits: whether they contain advertising, track your activity, or promote non-free add-ons, among others. While I miss the lack of user ratings on f-droid, and f-droid app versions sometimes trail behind those on Google Play, the fact that I can be sure that anything on f-droid is free, open-source, and not a freaking PITA, is more than enough to recommend its use.

I can also only approve what Nicolas says about F-Droid in his comment:

> F-Droid apps are guaranteed open source, ad-free, tracking-free. That means smaller apps that don't waste your bandwidth for anti-features.

*F-Droid* also offers its own Android client, the *F-Droid* Application Manager:

*F-Droid App* (source: AndroidNext; click for larger variant)

More details on *F-Droid* can also be found at Wikipedia. Interesting fact: *F-Droid* is a fork of Aptoide3.

---

**1** as of 06/2014
**2** see also Broam's and daithib8's comments below – and this list
**3** see Wikipedia: F-Droid History
> 61 votes

# Answer
The Amazon Appstore (download link).
> 20 votes

# Answer
SlideME, this is very handy when you want to buy stuff in countries without paid Market. (actually you mention it in your question. I posted this answer just for the sake of completeness)
> 11 votes

# Answer
Don't forget about GetJAR. :-) This market got its first big break when Rovio announced Angry Birds would be exclusive to them when it first launched.
> 11 votes

# Answer
**Aptoide** serves a bunch of repositories in APT style (which some of you might know from Debian and its derivates). They also have their own Android client used to access (search and install apps from) them. For checking available apps, any web browser can be used as well – simply point it to m.aptoide.com. According to Wikipedia, they serve more than 900,000 different apps with over 3.6 billion downloads in over 250,000 stores (as of 5/2017).

*Aptoide App* for Android (source: Aptoide; click images for larger variants)

Often associated with black markets and other "unsafe sources", that's not what it is by default (like peer-to-peer exchanges are not, and like Youtube isn't – though you easily can find "pirated content" there). Paulo Trezentos, co-founder of Aptoide, kindly pointed out several details behind Aptoide in his answer on How safe is it to use Aptoide? And even more in a mail he sent to me. Some core-points:

* Like *Google Play*, Aptoide actively scans its repositories for malware. They're using 3 different malware scanners, doing signature checks, and having implemented a chain-of-trust based in the signature of the developers.
* They work with several universities and research centers to make and keep the environment as safe as possible.
* They use a "trust stamp" to mark apps they've thoroughly checked (see the now archived 1000contest). If you see that on the page for an app, you can consider it 99.9% safe (according to Paulo).1
* Privacy is considered a high value. *Aptoide* is very cautious about the way they internally handle the user’s private information.
* Their “Apps” store is manually curated. So when looking for a way to stay as safe as possible with all those hundred-thousands of repositories, this would be the place (all the app links in this post point there). But even towards all the other repos, Paulo states:
> we have a responsibility to assure that the apps in those stores do not harm the end user.

In his mail to me, Paulo concluded: *Believe we still can do better.* Which to me indicates they don't settle on what they have achieved, but try to continually improve. If you additionally consider there's a company behind the "stores" which recently even filed an antitrust complaint against Google, that should be sufficient to deviate from associating *Aptoide* with "black markets" and "piracy" any more than *Youtube* – but rather consider it a good alternative (or supplement) to other Android app markets.

---

There are some more advantages worth mentioning:

* you can have your own repository there – whether private or public. Their Aptoide Uploader helps you upload your apps there.
* you can use a private repository to automatically backup your apps. Their Aptoide Backup Apps is your helper for that.
* you can schedule installs/updates. Comes in handy when you're e.g. on mobile data, and just found a bigger app you'd prefer installing on WiFi. Just mark it, and when on WiFi toggle the "scheduled installs" (see third screenshot above).

Try that with *Google Play* :)

---

**1** Example of *untrusted* app detection:

*Aptoide* warns an application might be malicious (source: Aptoide; click image for larger variant)

A couple of things to see here:

* The little yellow exclamation mark with the red "Warning" title is visible immediately; details below are displayed when "show" was clicked
* 3 anti-malware-checks have been run against this package, one of them the *Aptoide* specific malware guard
* the signature was found suspicious for multiple reasons:
    + it is not known to Aptoide as a "trusted signature" (*Aptoide* maintains a "chain of trust" for signatures, comparable to PGP/GPG)
    + it was used elsewhere to sign another developers package (and moreover, that developers signature was known to Aptoide, so that was a "re-sign" possibly introducing a hack of some kind)
* some information on the Anti-Malware checks is included at the end of the box
> 8 votes

# Answer
The Samsung app store is installed on every Samsung mobile device (which is a lot). They are ultra helpful, unlike every other app store I have submitted to.

It can take over a week to get a new app past their quality control but it's worth the wait. They are so good at reviewing apps that I now submit to Samsung before Google Play.

It can be a little confusing at first to understand what they call their seller office is all about but hey, we are developers so are used to learning curves.

Among other things they review content to ensure that there are no copyright issues (something that can get you banned from Google Play) and they review every option VERY thoroughly on ALL the devices you have selected.

If anything goes wrong and quality control fails you get a complete breakdown of exactly what went wrong (including log cat) and even a video replicating the issue and they provide details on what is expected from you to fix it and re-submit.

What really impresses me is that they are so constructive with their criticisms.

Once an app has been approved by Samsung, I am more than happy that I have a very solid app that functions the way I want it to.

I just get a comfortable feeling when Samsung approves one of my apps. They don't tell you off or slap you on the wrists or, in any other way treat you like a naughty school kid if you get something wrong. They just help you to understand what to put right. Google Play will just pull your app and suspend you with no help whatsoever to put things right.
> 6 votes

# Answer
Yalp Store allows the download of apps directly from Google Play Store.

> By default Yalp Store connects to Google services using a built-in account, so you do not have to own a Google account to use it . The only reason to use a live Google account is to access the paid apps you own or leave reviews.

It has an option to know the number of trackers found in an app and view the app's report via Exodus Privacy
> 5 votes

# Answer
~~Missing in previous answers is **AndroidPIT** which is running a separate market. Sure, almost all apps found there are also in the Playstore (but not necessarily vice-versa: so for missing apps there are links to the playstore provided). Developers need to actively maintain their apps on this platform (i.e. upload new versions), and for paid apps *AndroidPIT* provides its own license API.~~

~~So what is the plus of this platform? It has an active community (in the forums and the news blogs), and one can use alternative payment methods (e.g. Paypal) in addition to credit cards. Moreover, reviews for apps can be found there as well. So with the playstore comments, local comments, *and* the reviews, one can get a better idea of what an app is like -- before downloading it. Furthermore, the German branch even has an *App Reviews* section in their forum, including overviews for apps on a kind of "per-category" base -- which makes it easier to find a suiting app, as similar apps are grouped together.
~~

~~So if you like that idea, but do not want another "source of apps" (it's a good idea to stick to one market platform, especially for paid apps -- so you don't lose track which app you installed from what source, and get into trouble on a re-install for a new (or factory-reset) device), you can still go there for information.~~

**UPDATE:** AndroidPIT has closed its independent app market on 2014-12-31.
> 4 votes

# Answer
The Opera (as in web browser) mobile store (now Bemobi Mobile Store) has many Android Applications that are arranged by category.
> 4 votes

# Answer
**Aurora Store** is an open source fork of Yalp Store which provides a Material UI to the later.

> Aurora Store is an UnOfficial FOSS client to Google's Play Store, with an elegant design, using Aurora you can download apps, update existing apps, search for apps, get details about in-app trackers and much more.
> You can also Spoof your Device Information, Language and Region to get access to the apps that are not yet available or restricted in your Country | Device.
> Aurora Store does not require Google's Proprietary Framework to operate, it works perfectly fine with or without GooglePlayService or MicroG. Thereby avoiding the various privacy issues.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Now Google is focusing on the educational side, offering a special version of its app store called Google Play for Education. (Initially applicable to USA only I believe).

It makes it easier for educators to find apps, books, videos, and other content appropriate for K-12 students, enables bulk purchasing and the ability to distribute apps to a group of students’ tablets wirelessly.

At launch, Google is offering Play for Education bundled with Google Nexus 7 tablets. In early 2014 the company plans to offer Asus Transformer Pad and HP Slate 8 Pro tablets as well.

Teachers can find apps by grade level, subject, or other criteria, and content can be paid for using a purchase order.

Video: Introducing Tablets with Google Play for Education
> 3 votes

# Answer
Though it's rather a "link only answer", in this case there's no way around as the given source is (hopefully) maintained and the content subject to change: Here's a list of available markets in the DMOZ Mozilla directory, also giving users the possibility to report issues with them (if any). In addition to those already mentioned in answers here, it also names e.g. Aptoide, AOpenSource – altogether at the moment of this writing 25 Android markets.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I received a very good amount of installs from mobiletoones.com and apps.opera.com (now android.oms.apps.bemobi.com).

Also, my revenue was ramped up too within 2 days. If you are looking for targeted users for your app, then you should distribute your app to many sources, not just stick to one website!
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, alternative-markets
---


# Question
Title: Put files from PC onto a Samsung Galaxy S7 via Wifi?
I want to put files (images or pdfs) onto my phone as fast as possible using wifi (LAN over wifi). I don't care if it doesn't allow the files on the phone to be uploaded to the PC, I just want to put files onto the device from the PC.

* PC is Windows 10 distro.
* I don't want cables, over Wifi is wanted.
* I don't want to use the Wifi as an internet connection, I want all data to be sent along the local network (fastest).
* I don't want to pay if possible.

Is there anything I can do to solve this?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You can just install an ftp server app like Primitive ftpd or other and access your droid using an ftp client on you computer, such as Filezilla. You can also do it the other way around : share a specific folder on your computer like you would for sharing on your home network, copy there the files you want to put on your android, and then access it from your phone using one of the various file explorer apps that allow you to, such as Ghost Commander, Solid Explorer or ES Explorer.

If I remember correctly, you can also use Airdroid to do that. It's an app that allows you to access your android device from any web browser, you can manage your contacts, send sms, etc., and copy files directly if you're on the same network, otherwise it goes through their servers.

# Answer
> 1 votes
SSHDroid + WinSCP. I think it doesn't even require root if not using port 22 (you don't have to). Also allows resume transfer. Been using the combination on my own tablet whose USB MTP connection is not working.

Don't expect transmission speed to be high, though - 2MB/s at best and ~200KB/s at worst, far slower than USB.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is an app, called FTP Server which does this job perfectly. You download the app, configure it and the server is ready in under 2 minutes. After you're done you can use the Windows Explorer to access your newly created FTP server. Just click on the address bar and type in `ftp://[IP-ADDRESS]:[PORT]` and windows will ask you for a username and a password. That's it. You can transfer files to your phone with nothing more than a local network connection.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can use apps that are designed for that purpose e.g. AirDroid. It's indeed free to use if you don't want some extra premium features. You can get that from google play.

# Answer
> -1 votes
DROPBOX, BOX, GDRIVE, etc etc

You don't need a server. Upload to a drive, download to your computer or anywhere else. Simple.

---
Tags: samsung, file-transfer
---


title: Broken Nexus 6p Recovery

text:
# Question
Title: Broken Nexus 6p Recovery
So while I was overseas in Vietnam I dropped my Nexus 6P and broken the screen. The screen is completely black and completely unresponsive however when I use the fingerprint scanner it still vibrates. Stupid me decided to restart the phone by holding down the off button, which I immediately regretted as of course, Now I must enter my PIN to be able to get into my phone. SO basically, Im asking if its possible to recover any data from my Nexus 6P with a completely unresponsive screen, and requiring PIN on startup. I Believe that debugging was enabled

# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes, you can. Connect your phone to a PC and use ADB to backup your data. Follow this guide to setup ADB, Fastboot and the Android SDK Platform tools on your PC: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928

Load your phone into `fastboot` mode by holding the `power` button and the `volume down` button at the same time, from there you can choose `recovery` mode by the volume and power buttons navigation of your phone, then access and copy your data from your PC by ADB.

Alternatively you could temporarily load a custom recovery as suggested here: can fastboot be used to backup device?

For more Info see this answer here: Enabling ADB on Nexus 6 with dead screen

---
Tags: data-recovery, touchscreen, broken-screen, nexus-6p
---


title: Copy entire phone to the same device?

text:
# Question
Title: Copy entire phone to the same device?
I bought second Asus ZS570KL as backup phone since my old one starts to do... weird things. I created full backup using:

```
./adb backup -apk -all -obb -shared -v -f /backups/phone8.ab

```

And later performed

```
./adb restore /backups/phone8.ab

```

But it only restored files. When I checked out `adb logcat -b system` I noticed:

```
04-06 22:29:45.596 10100 10256 W DefContainer: Failed to parse package at /data/cache/backup_stage/pl.m4x.sphinx_customer_android_mobile_app_v2: android.content.pm.PackageParser$PackageParserException: Failed to parse /data/cache/backup_stage/pl.m4x.sphinx_customer_android_mobile_app_v2
04-06 22:29:45.617  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
04-06 22:29:45.624  2214 10078 I chatty  : uid=1000(system) adb-restore identical 52 lines
04-06 22:29:45.624  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
04-06 22:29:45.625  2214 10078 I BackupManagerService: Package pl.neptis.yanosik.mobi.android not installed; requiring apk in dataset
04-06 22:29:45.625  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: APK file; installing
04-06 22:29:45.625  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: Installing from backup: pl.neptis.yanosik.mobi.android
04-06 22:29:49.671 10100 10256 W DefContainer: Failed to parse package at /data/cache/backup_stage/pl.neptis.yanosik.mobi.android: android.content.pm.PackageParser$PackageParserException: Failed to parse /data/cache/backup_stage/pl.neptis.yanosik.mobi.android
04-06 22:29:49.699  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
04-06 22:29:49.805  2214 10078 I chatty  : uid=1000(system) adb-restore identical 100 lines
04-06 22:29:49.805  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
04-06 22:29:49.805  2214 10078 I BackupManagerService: Package ru.dront78.pulsedroid not installed; requiring apk in dataset
04-06 22:29:49.805  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: APK file; installing
04-06 22:29:49.805  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: Installing from backup: ru.dront78.pulsedroid
04-06 22:29:49.811 10100 10256 W DefContainer: Failed to parse package at /data/cache/backup_stage/ru.dront78.pulsedroid: android.content.pm.PackageParser$PackageParserException: Failed to parse /data/cache/backup_stage/ru.dront78.pulsedroid
04-06 22:29:49.812  2214 10078 I BackupManagerService: Package ru.zdevs.zarchiver not installed; requiring apk in dataset
04-06 22:29:49.813  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: APK file; installing
04-06 22:29:49.813  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: Installing from backup: ru.zdevs.zarchiver
04-06 22:29:50.296 10100 10256 W DefContainer: Failed to parse package at /data/cache/backup_stage/ru.zdevs.zarchiver: android.content.pm.PackageParser$PackageParserException: Failed to parse /data/cache/backup_stage/ru.zdevs.zarchiver
04-06 22:29:50.304  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]
04-06 22:29:50.305  2214 10078 I BackupManagerService: Package simple.hexadecimal.color not installed; requiring apk in dataset
04-06 22:29:50.305  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: APK file; installing
04-06 22:29:50.305  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: Installing from backup: simple.hexadecimal.color
04-06 22:29:50.470 10100 10256 W DefContainer: Failed to parse package at /data/cache/backup_stage/simple.hexadecimal.color: android.content.pm.PackageParser$PackageParserException: Failed to parse /data/cache/backup_stage/simple.hexadecimal.color
04-06 22:29:50.473  2214 10078 D BackupManagerService: [discarding file content]

```

So it seems to crash. Google backup only seems to back up 80 of my 380 apps and definitely doesn't back up largest ones. What are my other options to perform *full* device mirror including all apps data, settings, credentials and everything? I'd like to have exactly mirrored 2 devices.

# Answer
To manage the system and not give it root access, you neex to use a custom recovery.

A custom recovery will allow you to backup your DATA & SYSTEM Partitions so thst you can restore everything easily and safely.

The most common custom recovery in my opinion is TWRP or Team Win Recovery Project, this would be the newest most common in succession from Clock Work Mod as the most common.

I searched for TWRP for your device, and i got this installation guide... . Zenfone 3 & 3 Delux TWRP

Once you've successfully flashed TWRP you can do the device clone that you want by going to Backup and performing a full device backup to the External SD Card.

Now install TWRP on Device 2.

Place your SD Card from Device 1 with the new backup into Device 2

Boot into TWRP on Device 2

Go to Restore and select External SD

Select your backup

Restore the backup.

The second device will be entirely replaced with the data from the first device excluding some stuff like IMEI number etc, depending on your TWRP Version....

---

## **Locked Bootloader ?**

Asus provides an Official unlock tool for your specific device at the Asus website...

Here's a direct link...

> Asus Unlock Tool

Reference ;
www.asus.com/Phone/ZenFone-3....
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, backup, device-migration
---


# Question
Title: How to use mobile data instead on WiFi (while WiFi is on) on Android phone?
I am looking to use an Android phone as the proxy server, so I set up "Proxy Server" on my Android phone -\> Connected phone to Wifi -\> Got local IP of phone -\> Connecting to phone thru LAN (from my local computer) thru the proxy and it's working, but the phone is using same WiFi connection to connect back to the Internet.

So I got 2 questions:

1. Is there any way to force Android to use mobile data to access the internet while having the WiFi on?
2. I can not connect thru that proxy from the Internet when I am using my phone's IP address. I am getting the error "Connection refused", I did some research and looks like some ISP blocking some or most ports. How do I deal with/bypass that?

# Answer
You are trying to connect to a local network from a public network..

Using WiFi allows the local connection as you've mentioned but using Internet is different because it is not a device on the same WiFi network ( local )

To connect to a public ip, the device should have a server... Try looking into making a simple http server for either the PC or Phone.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: wi-fi, mobile-data, internet, proxy
---


title: Fastboot commands are not working

text:
# Question
Title: Fastboot commands are not working
I have tried to relock my Zenfone Max pro m2,but after installing stock recovery when I tried to run `relock.cmd`, it is not working showing that

```
write to device failed(invalid argument)

```

Even when I have tried to find the device info using fastboot command, but I'm getting the same error as

```
write to device failed( too many links)

```

Please help me with this.

# Answer
I don't know if you are running relock.cmd as a file or a command, but the usual way to lock the bootloader in Fastboot is

```
fastboot oem lock

```

Try

```
fastboot devices

```

And wait until you see your device is found, then do the lock

```
fastboot oem lock

```

---

Try also,

```
fastboot flashing lock
fastboot flashing lock_critical

```
> 1 votes

---
Tags: fastboot
---


# Question
Title: Will clearing image cache delete images from gallery?
I have an OPPO A3s where there is an option to clear image cache approx. 900 mb. size.

I want to know if clearing it will delete my pictures or not?

# Answer
> 1 votes
The device should only clear the thumbnail cache which is used to show the images faster in the gallery when you scroll. It is also used in other places such as file manager.

The cache will be rebuild again unless you reduce the number of images on your device. So, deleting it adds very less practical benefit.

Also, it is a good idea to take a backup of your photos before touching them. Do not risk your data just in case the app has some bug.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you are deleting the image cache and not the images, then your images are safe. The image cache consists of thumbnails created by different apps not the real image themselves.

---
Tags: images, cache
---


# Question
Title: What's the difference between com.android.chrome and com.google.android.gms.chromesync?
I'm trying to understand what is the **difference** & the purpose of two lines in `/data/system/sync/accounts.xml` which relate to Chrome app.

```
<authority id="101" user="0" enabled="true" account="email@gmail.com" type="com.google" authority="com.android.chrome" syncable="true" />

<authority id="202" user="0" enabled="true" account="email@gmail.com" type="com.google" authority="com.google.android.gms.chromesync" syncable="true">

```

When I turn off sync in device, Chrome app will (only) switch the boolean flag `sync_switch` inside `/data/data/com.android.chrome/shared_prefs/com.android.chrome_preferences.xml` which also has the lines:

* `<string name="sync_acct_type">com.google</string>` which means I logged in to a Google account
* `<string name="sync_acct_name">my_gmail@gmail.com</string>` represents my email to sync with

Questions:

1. Why do I have two lines related to Chrome; `com.google.android.gms.chromesync` & `com.android.chrome`?
2. Assuming `com.android.chrome` is the Chrome app, what is `chromesync`?
3. What will happen for multiple users?
4. I have two accounts (my work & my personal) but in Chrome I'm logged to my personal, will it sync both?

---

Related references

# Answer
`com.android.chrome` is Google Chrome's package name.

`com.google.android.gms.chromesync` is part of Google Play Services used to sync Chrome's bookmarks, history and password. It's part of Chrome Sync that was made available for use via Google Play Service a few years back as stated in this article:

> If you've ever used Google Chrome on Android –let's be honest, you probably have– then you've probably signed into your account and activated Chrome Sync to have things like bookmarks, history, and passwords in constant harmony across all of your devices. While this works really well, the setup process gets a little redundant for users that install all three variants of Chrome (Stable, Beta, and Dev). However, it looks like Chrome Sync is going to move, or at least become available directly through Google Play Services. Several activities and providers have been added, along with some of the necessary strings to implement the same functionality in the GMS package.

---

> What will happen for multiple users? I have two accounts (my work & my personal) but in Chrome I'm logged to my personal, will it sync both?

If you are logged to Chrome with only your personal account, then only your personal account should be synced.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: sync, chrome-for-android
---


title: How to access PC disk from adb shell?

text:
# Question
Title: How to access PC disk from adb shell?
My emulator can't do `adb root`. Anyway, I can do `adb shell` and then do `su` and get root to do my things. But how to copy some file from my PC to connected device using adb shell? Where can I access my disk? `cp Mypc/somefile /Myandroid/comewhere` ?

**EDIT: I can't also do adb pull :(**

# Answer
Lol, I just set everything to 777 with `su`:

```

x86_64:/ $ su
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/mi
misc/     misc_ce/  misc_de/
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/
adb/              cameraserver/     media/            shared_relro/     vold/
audioserver/      dhcp/             net/              sms/              vpn/
bluedroid/        ethernet/         perfprofd/        systemkeys/       wifi/
bluetooth/        gatekeeper/       profiles/         trace/            zoneinfo/
bootstat/         keychain/         profman/          update_engine/
boottrace/        keystore/         radio/            user/
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/key
keychain/  keystore/
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/keystore/
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/keystore/user_0/
x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/keystore/user_0/*
chmod: /data/misc/keystore/user_0/*: No such file or directory
1|x86_64:/ # chmod 777 /data/misc/keystore/user_0/*
chmod: /data/misc/keystore/user_0/*: No such file or directory
1|x86_64:/ #

```

And it worked :)))

```
marat@marat-desktop ~/Desktop> adb push charles-ssl-proxying-certificate.cer /data/misc/keystore/user_0/charles-ssl-proxying-certificate.cer
charles-ssl-proxying-certificate.cer: 1 file pushed. 5.4 MB/s (1348 bytes in 0.000s)
marat@marat-desktop ~/Desktop>

```
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, android-emulator
---


# Question
Title: Cannot access /sdcard/ (internal storage)
After I got my phone restored from an nandroid backup, I found almost all apps cannot gain access to `/sdcard/` (internal storage), including ES file manager, Z archiver and so on.

When any of these apps access `/sdcard/`, or any other equivalent folders like `/storage/emulated/0`, `/storage/emulated/legacy`, `/storage/sdcard0`, they only shows a blank directory, and I cannot create any file or folder.

When I try with the stock file manager (My files), it does show the files, but i cannot rename, edit, or create anything.

Android File manager is able to copy most of my files out. But It stucks when I try to create a folder or send something.

I tried to re-flash the same ROM again (which worked perfectly before), the issue remains. I have backed up important data from `/sdcard/`.

In terminal emulator, `cd sdcard`, `ls` gives `opendir failed: permission denied`. Then I tried `su`, `ls` shows the correct directory.

How should I fix it?

Extra: I found a new folder called `knox-emulated` in `/storage` which is not there before. External SD card (`/storage/extSdCard`) works fine.

Device Information: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Android 4.4.2 Rooted, with a custom ROM modified based on the Stock ROM. Custom recovery installed.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try moving your primary storage in settings.. go to apps scroll all the way down and change your storage from phone to sd storage and vice versa. And you should be able to access everything on sd card etc. ES file explorer is a great free app in case you couldn't get it by changing storage in setting

# Answer
> 0 votes
I ended up encrypting my SD card. And found that out when I typed SD in the search bar of my Android Galaxy J3. And it show Decrypt SD card. I tapped it and tapped Decrypt my SD card is back to normal.

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


title: heimdall libusb error -1

text:
# Question
Title: heimdall libusb error -1
I am trying to flash TWRP on Samsung Galaxy S6 that I inherited from someone else, there was already some custom software on it, but I am not sure what exactly. File transfer to a computer works fine. The computer I am using has ubuntu 16.04 installed and heimdall from the official repositories v1.4.1) and the following works fine on an S4 mini:

```
$ heimdall print-pit
Heimdall v1.4.1

Copyright (c) 2010-2014 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
libusb: error [_get_usbfs_fd] libusb couldn't open USB device /dev/bus/usb/001/018: Input/output error
ERROR: Failed to access device. libusb error: -1

```

# Answer
> 2 votes
The problem must have been on the side of the s6. I was able to run `heimdall print-pit` successfully, but only for a moment after entering download mode.

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-s-6, heimdall
---


# Question
Title: Copy a complete chat from whatsapp to PC
Anyone an idea how I can download a complete conversation with voice messages and pictures to an xls file with date and time? I can do it manualy by copy paste and save every individual voice message but that is a lot of work. Can this be done on another way? Thanks, Jan

# Answer
1. Open the conversation. Enter options menu -\> more -\> export chat -\> with media -\> send via email
2. Check your email. Save all attachments to disk.
3. Open the text file with Wordpad. Press CTRL + H. Replace string `- Name 1:` with the string `|Name 1|` and repeat for `Name 2`. Save it.
4. Open spreadsheet, and use `|` as separator, when importing a text file.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


# Question
Title: What is the keyboard shortcut to send mail in Google Inbox?
I often use a bluetooth keyboard with my tablet and use keyboard shortcuts everywhere. In the Gmail app and in the web versions of both gmail and inbox, the shortcut to send a mail you're writing is ctrl + Enter. This shortcut doesn't work in the Inbox app for Android, but it seems there is a shortcut, because I've accidentally sent emails before finishing them, but I don't have a clue what triggered the action. A Google search didn't give me an answer to this question, so I'm asking here. What is the shortcut to send a message went composing a message in the app version of Google Inbox?

# Answer
According to Keyboard shortcuts for Gmail, `Ctrl` \+ `Enter` is the correct shortcut for sending emails on Android (just as the other version stated in your question).

> If you plug an external keyboard into your Android device, you can use the shortcuts below. This works with most kinds of external keyboards.

Here are the available shortcuts.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: bluetooth, external-keyboard, keyboard-shortcuts, inbox-by-gmail
---


# Question
Title: How to flash Cubot R11 stock ROM on bricked phone?
I am using Ubuntu and while attempting to root my Cubot R11 phone using fastboot, I ended up on a boot-loop cycle. Also, power+volume-up to enter recovery mode isn't working.

> Orange State
>
> Your device has been unlocked and can't be trusted
> Your device will boot in 5 seconds

How can I fix this issue (Linux tools preferred)?

# Answer
You can use SP Flash Tool. You need MediaTek MT65xx USB VCOM Preloader USB Drivers for it. If you care about data, you should make a full rom dump (or at least nvdata metadata oemkeystore and userdata partition). You need a scatter file for this. A scatter file you can create with WwR MTK v2.30.

If fastboot is working, you can try "fastboot format:ext4 cache" to fix bootloop. You can try to port a TWRP and "fastboot boot recovery.img" then you get full access via adb in recovery (and if metadata is still intact it will hopefully decrypt userdata).

If the bootloop is caused by flashing TWRP, install Universal Disable\_Dm-Verity\_ForceEncrypt.zip to disable the dm-verity boot chain validation.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: rooting, fastboot, boot-loop, unbricking, cubot
---


# Question
Title: What can be removed from Android Tablet?
I was recently given a roverpad tesla 10.1 tablet :

(https://www.imei.info/phonedatabase/16842-roverpad-tesla-101/)

It is total garbage as a tablet but I would like to use as a controller for a mini robot via an android app (via bluetooth). So in order to get a better experience I would like to remove all the unused features (multi apps ? multi screens ? logging screens).

Right now even after doing a 'one click root' = KingRoot (but it is not a total root, so I can delete apps but cannot change the OS) and deleting all the non system apps from the tablet it is still quite laggy (but battery life is way better).

Would you have some advice on how I can optimize it for one single usage (running an app to control a robot via bluetooth) without routing it (well if someone knows a way to root this poor soul, that would be quite awesome).

Thank you in advance,

Artiom

# Answer
You can gain root access depending on your Android version using various methods on that device.

**Try these first,**

> Kingroot will root %99 of Android device's running below Android 5.0, however it is annoying to remove it, that's why i suggest FramaRoot first.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: applications, tablet, lagging, optimization
---


# Question
Title: how can i gain access to texts if i dont have the phone in hand
So let's just say I dont trust my husband, and I want to access his calls and texts on my computer. I dont have his phone right this second, but I am the account holder for both phones and they are linked by gmail and yahoo accounts. Is there a way I can remotely gain access to these?

I have tried calling my cell carrier, I have tried different applications, not sure what else to do.

# Answer
**What Android version & Device is he on ?** It is extremely important to know if the target device has a Firmware update coming soon and also it is important to know what Android Version the device is running on, both these pieces of information can be obtained by getting the target to load a website and provide data to the website for loading.

I made this page as an example of a browser user agent string reader Check Device & Browser example php

After you know the Android version is not going to change ( No Updates ) and you know what the Android Version is.. Then you can look into remotely monitoring that version of Android.

**Let me explain some more,**
On Android 4.4 or below,
You can track the text messages, calls, call history, message history, application launch history etc..
You can use several application's below Android 5.0 to monitor android almost invisibly.

My favourite would be the simple ones like SMS Forwarder and mainly any Parental Control apps, have a look around at the options, i haven't used Android 4.4 for age's so i can't even remember any others.

**Android 5.0+** On Android 5.0+ Things get a lot, A Lot, Harder !

In Android 5.0 you need to select the SMS Handling application, this only allows 1 single application to Read the SMS Messages being sent !
However you can still receive SMS Message's easily using a Broadcast Receiver ( For Phone Number Verification in Applications )

So, on Android 5.0+ it will be very difficult without modifying the system of the phone to allow a monitor application.

Logs and LogCat Reading,
You can still read the sent message's using a Log reading method, It waits for the SMS to go into OutBox or Sent and then uses Read Messages permissions to list all message's in the default SMS App, once it has listed all the message's, it then checks by time to see was last sent.

However Android 6.0+ Implemented
( On Demand Permission Acceptance )

**With Android 6.0+** you need to accept the permission to receive calls, sms sent & sms received information at each read... Their goes Invisibility...

Due to the massive number of permission changes to Android, it is probably going to be a fight to get an app working with all permissions permanently accepted so as to stay hidden.

## **You are the owner of both accounts**

I have seen accounts being used to bypass the Messages & Calls & Contacts permissions by using Google Backup...

The Application initiates a Google Backup of everything on your device and then you can access that information by restoring it onto another device that you own.

## **Conclusion**

* Permission acceptance can stop monitoring software from working.
* Default SMS Application Selection can stop SMS Sent monitoring.
* Android 6.0 Stops Monitoring by using Permissions & SMS Application Selection.
* Android 5.0 Stops Monitoring by using SMS Application Selection.
* Android 4.4 or Below will not stop Monitoring at all.
* OTA Updates can update your Android Version and bring about new problems as I've mentioned.
* Both Devices Accounts are linked, so data can be accessible by Google Backup & Restore.

Some stuff can be monitored invisibly, however you need to accept the permissions permanently so the user never See's it.

**Other methods than Malware or Spyware**
A method sometimes used by Law Enforcement Agencies is to Clone the SIM Card, you can buy many SIM Cloning device's online and blank sim cards to clone into... However many ISP or MSP's are monitoring for Cloned sim cards and only allow 1 device to receive the message or call..
Sometimes it is at random who gets the text or call, but only 1 of them gets it.

**SS7**
SS7 is a security protocol that we all accept when using an Android device, as part of that we allow all our information to be accessible through the security protocol SS7... Even your Camera is accessible while your device is switched Off...

Many hackers have hacked SS7,
You can even use whole website bots that do the hacks Automatically by purchasing an account with them, software can also be purchased that hacks SS7 Automatically as well.

**Root Access & Spyware** If the target has Root Access, thing's get a lot easier... Root Access Spyware can literally be invisible... You could manipulate the stock messaging application and also implant spyware into the system, i will not cover that here.

## **My Advice**

> Ask him, tell him that you are unsure about his commitment to the relationship and you would just like to have some closure by looking through his phone ?

It is easy to delete a message and call history i know, but trust is a very powerful thing.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sms
---


title: Can't use Gmail and Google play store

text:
# Question
Title: Can't use Gmail and Google play store
In my Samsung galaxy on nxt, android version 8.1.0. in my phn I can't use Gmail as it is showing msg that Google play is updating. And same time can't sign in Google play store. What to do?

# Answer
You can check the internet connectivity. Other thing is to reboot the phone. Ideally this should help and if it doesn't you need to go to customer care of Samsung.
> 0 votes

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


# Question
Title: Partition MicroSD card to exFat and Ext 4 for link2sd?
I've been poking around using GParted on my 128GB microSD card so it can use two partitions for link2sd. Problem is, no matter what I do, each time I place the card in my phone, it says that the card is corrupted. I had been using the card just as storage (it was formatted by Android itself).

Technical details:
Phone: Samsung Galaxy Express 3 (SM-J120A)(sometimes called Samsung Galaxy J1)
Version: 6.0 Marshmellow
SD Card: Samsung EVO Select 128GB
Root status: Rooted

When I look at the partition after the phone formats it, it is an exFat partition with the Flags "boot" and "lba". Reformatting it myself to exFat with no Flags causes it to give an error in the phone "This card won't work". If I try to give it flags, only the "boot" flag is applied. Anytime I press the "lba" flag option, it won't even check the box (its not greyed out). Other flags work fine. Even if I use the command-line (Parted) it still won't apply the lba flag.

To confirm that the card isn't broken, I have stuck it back into the phone for it to format. Works perfectly. I've even formatted the entire card to Fat32. Stuck it in the phone, no problems. Fat32 and ext4 partition combo does work.

Other than that, it simply will not accept a exFat/ext4 combo. Or even exFat alone. What I really want is to have 32 GB as an ext4 partition, and the rest being exFat. I don't want to be limited by Fat32's 4GB file size. Though aside from video, I'm not sure what large files I might have (emergency storage?).

Recommendations, advice, and solution(s) would be most appreciated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Try to use this app for Windows to partition sd card: MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Then use App2SD Pro: All in One Tool \[ROOT\] to create a mount script for the second partition.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If your phone is rooted you can emulate ext4 partition instead of formatting:

* install a ext4 image file located on external microSD Card

```
busybox dd if=/dev/zero of=/sdcard/.data.sdext2.img bs=4k count=1048576
busybox mke2fs -T ext4 -F -q /sdcard/.data.sdext2.img

```

Due the limitation of FAT32 file systems, the maximum file size is 4 GB. However, some busybox binaries are compiled without large file support and cannot create files bigger then 2 GB.

* fix the mount script. pre-mounting the sdcard first, then mounting the ext4 image file (all mount options are just examples, check "mount" for real uid/gid)

```
#!/system/bin/sh
/system/xbin/busybox sleep 4

# use this if mount point is missing on boot
/system/xbin/busybox mount -o remount,rw /
mkdir /storage/sdcardtmp
/system/xbin/busybox mount -o remount,ro /

/system/xbin/busybox mount -t vfat -o rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015 /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /storage/sdcardtmp

/system/xbin/busybox sleep 1

# use this to overwrite old LinkSD settings
/system/xbin/busybox umount -l /data/sdext2

/system/xbin/busybox mount -t ext4 -o loop,rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,noauto_da_alloc,data=ordered /storage/sdcardtmp/.data.sdext2.img /data/sdext2

```

After this, Link2SD now detects 2. partition on boot. but instead of a 2. partition you just have a single image file on sdcard (which can easily copied via MTP for backup)

# Answer
> 0 votes
I'm now using Apps2SD instead. It has a built-in partition editor.

Though I went and verified other things. Turned out my GParted was old, got a newer version and formatted a FAT32/Ext2 combo. Works with Apps2SD. Link2SD might be broken. I'm content with FAT32 for now. I think Apps2SD does ExFat though. Tried Link2SD because I thought it might work when Apps2SD did. Does not. Not sure why. Read somewhere that Link2SD might also be dying, but that's speculation.

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, partitions, link2sd
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to check the default web browser that is set up on my smartphone?
I want to use "Chrome Custom Tab."

However, to use "Chrome Custom Tab," the default Web browser must be set to "Chrome".

Is there a way to determine which default web browser is being used on your device?

# Answer
you can check standard browser from app settings. this is for android 7 (german translation)

Settings -\> Apps -\> Chrome (App info, scroll down) -\> Browser App -\> Browser App (again)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: chrome-for-android
---


title: The lowest in-call volume level

text:
# Question
Title: The lowest in-call volume level
I have a redmi 4x, lineage os 15 official. I have the lowest in-call volume level as big as 20%. I can't make it lower and in a quiet room almost everyone can hear my phone conversation. I tried different apps, some of them worked: they could lower the volume to 0% but the effect was temporal. I'm looking for a constant solution. Can anybody suggest a method how to lower the in-call volume below that level?

# Answer
The cause is Volume Steps are set to 5 ... At 20% you must have only 5 steps and 20% per step... You need to modify your build.prop and add more in-call volume steps.. Here's an example of 20 steps... 20/100 = 5% volume as minimum..

Soo...
If you MUST Have a minimum of 0 or 1% then set the steps to 100... I recommend 20 however..

Add to build.prop

* Go to Development Options
* Enable Root Access for Apps
* Open a root explorer
* Open system / build.prop
* Edit this line if it exits, or add it if it doesn't...

`ro.config.vc_call_vol_steps=20`
> 3 votes

---
Tags: volume
---


# Question
Title: Forgot password on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, trying to access for Google Authenticator
I never wrote my password down for my old S7 Edge and managed to forget it. Overthinking the security and privacy, I also never signed up for Samsung's service and Google's Find My Phone only recognizes my current phone -- so I can't use those online services to reset the password.

I'm wondering if there's a super-user method to get into the phone (or extract data) ***without wiping the data with a hard-reset***.

In the Android Recovery screen (volume-down, home, and power buttons held simultaneously), I have the "Apply update from ADB" option but sideload seems to be the only functionality and the handshaking seems wrong. The resulting messages on the Android are:

```
    Finding update package...
    Opening update package...
    E:footer is wrong
    [...]
    E:signature verification failed

```

I found online somewhere that the password file for the phone model is in

`/data/system/gesture.key` and `rm /data/system/gesture.key`

would be *ideally* what I'd like to bring about. However, I can't use a command such as `adb shell` on it without the password. I also haven't figured out a way to inject and run a script (particularly with the handshaking and with adequate privileges for the phone) with that `rm` command using `adb sideload`.

More details or seeming dead-ends:

* The phone was not rooted.
* I'm *fairly* certain I enabled USB debugging.
* It's a SM-G935W8 (Canadian) model with hero21tebmc (firmware?).
* Samsung's Smart Switch software is also not an option to transfer data (w/o knowing my old password).
* The third-party software I've seen and tried on a friend's Winwoes laptop doesn't have the password-reset capability on the S7 Edge... it would work if it was an S6 or older unfortunately.
* the Android Recovery screen has other options including: "Apply update from SD card", "Mount /system", "Wipe cache partition", and the dreaded "Wipe data/factory reset".
* I'm using a Linux distribution (Ubuntu 18.04) and would use heimdall on the command line (instead of the Odin software).

These links, Official TWRP for Galaxy S7 edge (hero2lte) or Flashing Firmware on Linux/Ubuntu using Heimdall, are likely to be the instructions I'd follow with due care.

If I persist and try to use TWRP or some sort of program to "recover" my data it seems highly likely to wipe it (even if I don't proceed to root it).

Along the same line, I suspect installing LineageOS would wipe the data in the process and there's probably no way to sift through the wreckage of the data (which is probably without pointers/inodes but presumably not outright erased) in some kind of brute-computational-force way either.

Is there any way to get at the data (instead of waiting every hour to try to re-discover a strong and essentially gibberish password)?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You have two problems:

First, when the bootloader is locked, you can not use fastboot. Unlocking will wipe your data. If the bootloader is unlocked, you can just boot twrp without flashing (fastboot boot twrp.img).

Second, the data partition is encrypted, and even if TWRP should be able to manage decryption, the pin is reqired.

You have no other option than brute force. If USB-OTG is working and it is a 4 digit pin, this can be done with Teensy or any other microcontroller. But this may wipe your data after 10 attempts, depending on gatekeeper settings (afaik not for S7).

---
Tags: adb, twrp, linux, samsung-galaxy-s7, samsung-galaxy-s-7-edge
---


# Question
Title: Where do I find emails sent from the Samsung Mail App using a POP3 Mail Account?
I have a Samsung Smartphone with a POP3 Mail Account on the Samsung Standard Mail App. I need the Emails I've sent with this account in my new Exchange Account **on another device**? I think I may be able to transfer them if I find where they are stored on my phone.

Any ideas?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Maybe you can just move messages from POP3 Profile to IMAP Profile from your favorite email app.

If not, emails are stored in /data/data/com.android.email/databases/EmailProviderBody.db .

**The non-rooting method**

1. You can get these files with adb when usb-debugging is enabled in developer settings, then run from `cmd.exe`:

```
adb backup com.android.email

```
2. Convert `backup.ab` with android-backup-extractor after java is installed:

```
java.exe -jar abe.jar unpack backup.ab backup.tar

```
3. Extract `EmailProviderBody.db` from backup.tar with 7-zip.
4. Convert emails to \*.eml with AndroidEmailExtractor after Groovy is installed.
5. Import the \*.eml files in outlook express, move the messages to imap Sent folder, sync imap with new device.

**The root method:** (If POP3 on your new device is ok for you)

1. View the ownership and file permissions from adb shell (new device)

```
adb shell
su
ls -lnZ /data/data/com.android.email/databases

```

2. Copy all EmailProvider.db\* EmailProviderBody.db\* to the new device (or folder database) from cmd

```
exit
exit
adb push C:\Android\Backup\email\databases /data/data/com.android.email/

```

3. Restore ownership and file permissions from adb shell, where 100xx is the uid from above

```
adb shell
su
chown -hR 100xx.100xx /data/data/com.android.email/databases
chmod 0660 /data/data/com.android.email/databases/*
chcon -hR u:object_r:app_data_file:s0 /data/data/com.android.email/databases

```
4. Reboot the device. Old emails should be restored to the new device.

---
Tags: samsung, email, exchange, pop3, samsung-email
---


title: Phone not charging

text:
# Question
Title: Phone not charging
My phone doesn't charge at all, even when is charging while switched off. And I have tried it with many chargers and battery. But same thing keeps happening

# Answer
> 1 votes
Based on your description there is one very likely reason for your problem:

The USB port of your phone is defect. It is loose and has lost connection to the circuit board it is placed on, therefore no (or very little) power can flow through it. This usually happens by too many movements of the USB plug while inserted into the USB port (the USB plug works as a lever and the longer the plug is the more force it can put on the USB port of your phone - this is called "principle of the lever").

Depending on your phone and how large the hardware defect is, often it can be fixed by re-soldering the USB-port to the circuit board. However this require soldering experience and the right soldering equipment. In some devices the USB port is located on an small extra circuit board that can easily be replaced with a new board.

# Answer
> 0 votes
May be worth measuring your battery terminals with a DVM and seeing if its greater than 3.6V. If your phone is on charge but is in some form of a charge loop you can take out the battery and manually charge it up to \>3.6V using a TP4056 circuit and some test probes (with steady hands, patience and a lot of care). I've only had a charge loop once before but i'm guessing its probably not what your experiencing.

If you want to see if your charger is active then you can plug in a USB charger doctor inline with your USB lead and that may tell you a lot.

Note - If your battery measures \<3V, you may want to purchase a replacement (for safety reasons).

---
Tags: charging
---


# Question
Title: How to sync facebook contacts with ASUS ZenFone 5Z (Android 9)?
ASUS ZenFone 5Z Android 9 and latest ZenUI

This question has been asked before, but none of the answers address what I'm seeing on my device.

I've added the Facebook App, and I've added my Facebook account, but I still don't have the option to sync my contacts from Facebook.

When I look at my Facebook account, I see this:

The menu ellipsis on the second screen only has one item: "Sync Now" which doesn't seem to do anything. I don't see the options to choose what automatically syncs and what doesn't, that are referenced in other answers.

I've looked through my mobile data settings, and I can't find anything that might be preventing Facebook from using data, AND I've been connected to WiFi all morning. I've tried removing the account and uninstalling the app, and then reinstalling/re-adding, but to no avail.

A lot of the other answers (like this one: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/123271/292111) reference an item in the "Network & Internet" menu. The "Data Usage" sub-menu is supposed to have a menu ellipsis with a toggle for "Auto Sync Data" which, when turned on, causes the sync options for the Facebook account to appear on the second screen I posted above. In my case, there is no menu ellipsis in the "Data Usage" sub-menu.

My expectation is that Facebook would eventually show up as one of the contact sources in my Contacts app.

Any suggestions?

# Answer
> 0 votes
It looks like this hasn't been supported since 2016: https://m.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=1028796497164750

I suppose it makes sense that if your social network data is your bread and butter, you probably don't want to be delivering it for free to just any old device out there.

It seems odd to me that this information was so hard to find, though.

---
Tags: contacts, facebook
---


# Question
Title: How to fix my droid phone that is just blank
I have the Samsung droid Charge (SCH-I510) and I tried to load bootloader to it and now the screen is just black.when I insert usb to it,the buttons at the bottom light up but the screen is just blank.I there anyway to connect the phone to a pc so I can flash it I don't care about the files on it.

# Answer
You have to use ODIN to reflash your phone. Its the last resort I can say for your phone. I was too in same situation. I was having Sammy's Galaxy S which on rooting and upgrading went blank. I used ODIN and refalsh it with stock rom and made my phone alive. Give it a try. See the link here it might help. There might be some problem with your network after recovering. See Link. Its for Verizon. Kindly find your appropriate ROM and flash it. XDA forum is great resource for Andy users/developers
> 0 votes

# Answer
The only way that I personally know is to flash a custom recovery, and wipe your phone from there. If you can, follow this tutorial to install a custom recovery. Also, the tutorial doesn't mention it, but if you don't have windows, and have macOS or Linux, use JOdin. If you're using JOdin for macOS, install this driver before installing JOdin. If you need any help, feel free to comment on my answer, and I can help you .
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rom-flashing, unbricking, samsung-droid-charge
---


# Question
Title: What steps are taken by the OS when an app is uninstalled?
I recently reported bug for two apps that I use. The support guys replied that I need to delete cache and unblock notifications, set battery optimization and putting that app to sleep to turned off. These are understandable steps to fix an issue.

What puzzled me that both the app support guys additionally suggested that I should uninstall the app and reinstall. Which I will not do because that will mean I have to manually download all the downloaded content again (more then 50+). Seems like a nuclear option.

I am not an Android developer, a .Net full stack developer. Their response made me curious and now I want to know what happens when an app is uninstalled. What made the support guys of these renowned apps to tell me to go nuclear and uninstall the app and then reinstall again?

Additionally which these steps can be performed without uninstalling the app to verify if issue is not with code of the app but it is some other factor?

This question is not regarding those two apps that has bugs but rather to get better understanding of the life-cycle of an Android app.

As of my understanding, in my .Net app most bugs usually are caused by either code or cache issue (tbh cache issue is also due to code not properly handling caches).

As my understanding in Android is limited, I tried to research what are the events and tasks that Android OS performs, that might cause an app's bug to get fixed (Not an effort to fix issue for those apps, rather to understand what Android OS does) however I didn't find much resource on the internet.

# Answer
Uninstalling an app will remove entry from `/data/system/packages.xml`, and delete package from:

* `/data/app/` (apk file)
* `/data/data/` (user data and cache)
* `/data/dalvik-cache/arm/` (translated java bytecode to executable dalvik bytecode)

Clear cache can performed from the android settings. Custom recovery twrp has option for wipe the dalvik cache.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Application updates do not recognise OTA Updates..

I have had several problems lately due to the fact that still use Android 5.0 and updating an application built for Android 8.0 or Android 7.0 will not work on my device..

The application will install the update, however the Data is still configured for Android 5.0 so the application can not read its own data...

Uninstalling the application will erase the Data and allow a fresh installation to initialize the data for a newer configuration.

From my point of view as a developer, i believe that Uninstalling & Reinstalling can be an over kill of a method.

As a developer, i see two options...

Delete All Data to the Application to reinitialize the configuration when you reopen the app.

* Open Settings
* Open Apps
* Find and Open the Apps
* Select Clear Data & Clear Cache

...

It may also be a file on the primary SD Card, this is the last stuff to be deleted ( .Android folder )

* Open your primary SD Card
* Open the hidden folder ( .android )
* Open OBB folder
* Locate large data that is linked to the application package name...
* Move the OBB Files to a backup folder
* Open the .android folder again
* Open the other folders and locate the Apps data

Leave the Apps data if it is too large to re download, sometimes you must re-download the data because the app has had the data reset it won't think the data exists until you complete a new data download.

Uninstalling has already been explained, i just wanted to add my suggestions on wiping data for the app, rather than uninstalling.
> 3 votes

# Answer
If the app stores most of its data online (in the cloud) through an account, then uninstall/reinstall isn't actually that nuclear. All you'd have to do upon reinstallation is sign in and the app should pull all your content back from the cloud. That's the ideal case at least, but of course you never know.

To answer the original question though, uninstall/reinstall is supposed to give you a clean slate and rid you of any accumulated crud and other subtle anomalities in user data. May or may not make sense in theory but practice has shown it helps get rid of problems surprisingly often. This is not restricted to just Android, a similar approach often helps on many other platforms, mobile, desktop, and elsewhere.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: operating-system, 9.0-pie
---


title: Recorded calls of WhatsApp

text:
# Question
Title: Recorded calls of WhatsApp
I need one call recording through WhatsApp.

I have searched for too long, but I didn't find the solution anywhere.

From where I could get my own WhatsApp call recordings?

# Answer
WhatsApp does not record the calls automatically. So, if you didn't rely on a 3rd party app (I can't make a recommendation) and you did not record the call when it happened, you cannot find any recordings of the same. This makes it impossible to get that call conversation back.
> 2 votes

# Answer
WhatsApp introduced recording voice calls in v2.12.45 beta version, which is capable of recording voice calls. It is a leaked internal-only version, which is presently being used by the engineers for testing and debugging VoIP calls.

Thus, depending on the WhatsApp version, you may find it on `/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Calls`.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, call-recording
---


# Question
Title: Solution for "ghost touches" - Procedure to disable a small portion of the screen from being sensitive to touch?
So I ordered a cheap Chinese phone (umidigi) as a secondary device and the unit I got, out of the box, was afflicted with a faulty display. Troubleshooting it I have diagnosed the problem precisely:

* There is an intermittent false touch input occurring in the bottom right, very far bottom right part only of the screen
* Lowering the brightness appears to minimize the presence of the false input
* Is likely to require disassembly of the device to remedy the issue

I alerted the seller I bought the phone from, and they're sending me a new unit pronto, and told me to just keep this one. Yay.

So, Id like to eventually permanently resolve this phones issue and open it up myself, but in the meantime I'd like to get some use out of it. But, with the ghost touch using the phone with anything other than a Bluetooth mouse is maddening.

The area effected is at the very, very bottom of the phone and may occupy 15px or so at most. I attempted to use a few apps, one called 'Partial Screen' and some others like Screen Shift. However, the adjustments to the display only result in cosmetic changes and do not desensitize the adjusted portion of the screen to touch input and thus the false input creating problems.

Can anyone point me to a procedure, adb input or otherwise, that could ensure that some specified portion of the touch screen will not respect any touch input?

Thanks.

# Answer
Connect your phone to a PC via ADB and use this command: `adb shell wm overscan left,top,right,bottom` where `left`, `top`, `right` and `bottom` are the coordinates upto which your screen works properly.

For example, if my phone with a resolution of 480px × 854px, would have had this problem, I would write `adb shell wm overscan 0,0,0,839` to disable 15px at the bottom of the screen.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Looks like it's a **hardware issue**. As you are thinking to make that particular portion of the screen less sensitive, it is not possible, because the touch sensor all over the screen is a single unit. The only thing you can do is to **ignore** the touch inputs coming from that affected part of the screen. So, *use an app that can overlay at that portion and can block/ignore the touches at that portion of the screen*. OR, Take your phone for a repair.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: screen, touchscreen, broken-screen
---


# Question
Title: Google Play keeps asking for an account (new or existing) and does not start anymore
Suddenly Google Play stopped working and now it is always asking me to provide an existing account or that i create a new one. When i try to use my existing one, it tells me that that account is already installed on Android and it returns back to the "Provide existing or new account" screen. When i remove that account from my device, it allows me to provide my existing account, we walk through the screens, i skip the credit card screen, and afterwards Play does not start. When i start Play again, it again asks me for an account...

Using the same account within the email app works without problems, syncing contacs, calendar etc. works as well without any issue.

How can i find out whats going wrong with Play now after it worked nicely since i have purchased the device?

# Answer
> 0 votes
This worked for me.

go to settings -\> apps -\> Google play.

Disable the app, uninstall the updates and re-enable it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try the above methods... If they don't work I would recommend you to flash gapps for your device with proper android version and architecture... This worked out for me. I'm running stock rom and faced the same issues. Also don't forget to wipe cache from recovery

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


title: Inserting incompatible SD card?

text:
# Question
Title: Inserting incompatible SD card?
I have an Android phone which supports 32GB SD card. So, if I insert a 64GB SD card, I know that the device will not recognize it. But, if I create two partitions in the 64GB SD card (32GB each), will the device recognize it?

**Note:** I have Android 7.0 installed in my device.

# Answer
The support is based on device performance rather than the actual hardware or software limitations.

For example, if your device has a slow processor then reading the SD Card to do a Media Scan will take for ever... So long that it will impact the user experience constantly waiting for the SD Card to read.

So, as to improve the user's experience they decided to implement a recommended maximum SD card limit.

It is only a recommendation.

You can usually not format a device in Fat32 larger than 32GB .. However if you use other software or even the inbuilt Format option, it will use a modified Fat32 called ExFat ... ExFat can handle larger than 32 bit and is basically a workaround for the 32 GB limit of Fat32.

So, just format it and wait a little longer for the card to load... A few seconds or minutes waiting is well worth the extra storage in my opinion, however some people prefer Speed over Size.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: external-sd, sd-card, 7.0-nougat, stock-android, partitions
---


title: Can't install TWRP on Galaxy A3 (2017)

text:
# Question
Title: Can't install TWRP on Galaxy A3 (2017)
I want to root my phone, but first I was trying to install TWRP. The phone is Galaxy A3 SM-A320FL (2017). (Edit: System is Android 7.0)

What I did:

* Turned on OEM-unlock and USB-debugging on the phone
* Installed the Samsung USB drivers on my laptop
* Turned off phone, went into "Download Mode" by pressing Volume down - Home - Power
* Started Odin. Connected the phone. In Options I ticked only "Auto Reboot" and "F Reset Time"
* Clicked on AP and selected the TWRP file and hit Start
* Then PASS was flashing in Odin and the phone rebooted immediately.
* Turned it off and tried to enter recovery mode. (I think I did it with Volume Up - Home - Power)

...and then a blue screen came and said "Installing system update". After a while it changed to a blue screen that said "No command". Then after a while it changed to a screen that I think is the standard recovery tool. So no TWRP. I hit Reboot and the phone rebooted normally.

Then tried to do the whole thing again with a different TWRP file but it went exactly the same. I'm newbie with all this so I might be using a wrong TWRP file or something, I also seen tutorials where it says dont thick Auto-Reboot and they press all sorts of button combinations. I don't want to brick this phone so I wanted to ask how to do this right before I try it again. Thanks for help!

# Answer
> 1 votes
For those that came here, the problem is that when booting, twrp is erased by stock recovery. The goal is to avoid the normal boot. Firstly, uncheck "Auto Reboot" in Odin. Then finish others Odin steps, and when you see PASS here we go:

1. `Volume down`+`Home`+`Power` to exit installation/start reboot process.
2. Instantly when something change (screen should turn black) switch to `Volume UP`+`Home`+`Power` (combinason to enter recovery mode), and there it should be okay. (if you are too slow it will again boot normaly and twrp will be gone again).

---
Tags: root-access, samsung, twrp, odin, samsung-galaxy-a3
---


title: Sniffing SSL/TLS connections with BURP

text:
# Question
Title: Sniffing SSL/TLS connections with BURP
I want to sniff SSL/TLS encrypted traffic of my installed apps using BURP. After installing the burp certificate on my One Plus 5T and moving certificates through the Magisk tweak "Move Certificates" there are still applications like mcdonalds that I can't sniff because tell me there isn't Internet connections. I'm sure that Internet connections there is because another app like deliveroo work perfectly with burp.

I was wondering if there was a solution to this problem.

# Answer
> 0 votes
If you have a rooted device with Magisk it is IMHO much simpler to just disable SSL/TLS certificate checking and pinning for traffic sniffing:

* Enable Zygisk mode in Magisk
* Install LSPosed for Magisk (Zygisk)
* Install the Xposed module Trust me already
* Open LSPosed app and configure Trust me already module: enable it for all apps you want to intercept traffic (system apps are hidden by default in LSPosed, you have to make them visible using the tree dots menu)

---
Tags: data-monitoring, proxy, certificates, magisk
---


# Question
Title: How do I bookmark a page in Google Books?
Google Books has a feature whereby you can bookmark a page by tapping any corner of any page of a book you're reading. However, I was unable to do this. Could someone please provide some help as to what I might be doing wrong, perhaps with a few images illustrating what should be happening in the user interface?

Thanks.

# Answer
You need to specifically tap the top right corner to add a bookmark. Also, be sure to only tap once. A double tap will result in a zoom.

Alternatively, you can swipe down from the top of the screen, tap the three dot menu, and select "Add bookmark."
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store, google, google-apps, epub
---


# Question
Title: fastboot set_active command does not exist
I am trying to root my Xiaom mi a2 phone. But i am stuck on changing the active partition. When i enter "fastboot set\_active b" it doesnt execute the command. Instead i get a list off all available commands which doesnt contain an option to change the active partition.

Console-Output

I am following this tutorial: Tutorial

# Answer
First you need the actual fastboot, e.g. 1.4.3 (from link in the other answer). Then the correct command is:

```
fastboot --set-active=a

```

or:

```
fastboot --set-active=b

```

In the help (fastboot help) you can read in fastboot version 28.0.3:

```
--slot <slot>                          Specify slot name to be used if the
                                       device supports slots. All operations
                                       on partitions that support slots will
                                       be done on the slot specified.
                                       'all' can be given to refer to all
                                       slots.'other' can be given to refer to
                                       a non-current slot. If this flag is not
                                       used, slotted partitions will default
                                       to the current active slot.

-a, --set-active[=<slot>]              Sets the active slot. If no slot is
                                       provided, this will default to the
                                       value given by --slot. If slots are
                                       not supported, this does nothing.
                                       This will run after all non-reboot
                                       commands.

```
> 9 votes

# Answer
I tried a lot of things, nothing worked until i came across this: minimal-adb-and-fastboot-tool-for-windows

Now i was able to set the active partition and install the root. I got no errors and everything seemed fine but i still had no root access. I found this tutorial: guide-how-to-root-xiaomi-mi-a2-magisk and it worked for me.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Well, the fastboot you are using is outdated. You need to install the latest platform-tools from Android SDK which has the latest fastboot binaries.

This link will always give you the latest ADB & fastboot for Windows. For more information, here is how to install ADB and fastboot on Windows.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, root-access, fastboot, xiaomi
---


# Question
Title: DNS error on laptop when tethered to non-rooted Android 5.1 device
I am trying to hotspot my laptop from a non-rooted Android 5.1 phone (ZTE A110). On IPv4 and IPv6 I get Connection Status: Enabled - with high speed quality - but No Internet Access. When I run Windows network diagnostics it says: The DNS server may be experiencing problems, contact your ISP. However that is pointless as the phone itself is connecting fine to the internet. What am I doing wrong please? (Tethering Worked fine last week to the same laptop from the same ISP but a different phone running Android 4.4).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try enabling the developer options on your phone, and set the usb config to RNDIS manually (this should happen automatically when you set on usb tether, but \[driver issues?\]) If that does not do it, go for the USB debugging option, --not that either? OEM unlocking is next.. (these are all in the same developer menu)..

-I am not 100% if the OEM unlock is just to enable the bootloader, but when fixing this, I remembered a nasty little tid-bit how yankee phones' ability to tether is sometimes disabled, just to enable Service Providers to sell two internet-plans instead of one.. So, now all fired up, fighting for my rights, I just went all ham on all of the above, and now my tethering experience is smoother than ever.

---
Tags: 5.0-lollipop, internet, tethering, dns
---


# Question
Title: What can happen if I pull out the battery without switching off the device?
I just want to know what can happen if the battery from an Android device is pulled out without switching off the OS.
Will any **serious** or **irreversible** harm occur to the software or hardware? What can happen?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Things that may go wrong:

1. If you were working on files that were not saved, they will be lost.
2. No proper shutdown means that the OS and other apps opened and were using some files, plus the file system was in use. They can become corrupted. Worse scenario will be the OS itself to get corrupted. For example, if you were updating the OS, and for whatever reason, you had to remove the battery. The consequences could lead to losing your data (files), even brick the device.
3. Some phones (mine included) lose the date and time. (Not that serious but hey...).

---
Tags: stock-android
---


# Question
Title: Boot from SD or external hardware device?
I've tried researching this before, but was unable to encounter an answer. Can you boot a rooted device through USB-C, SD, or something? I'm currently running a Galaxy S9+ and want to keep Android Pie on the internal storage, but I want to choose to boot from an external device through the bootloader (if there is one). I know how to access recovery mode and such (the mode where you hold the Bixby button, volume up button, and power button), but I don't know if a bootloader can be accessed. Please inform me if it is possible to boot from external hardware via a bootloader, not sure how strict Google is.

# Answer
You always have to modify boot.img, so the answer is no. If you considering to edit boot.img and manage to mount the external disk to /system, you should mount another partition to /data too.
There are apps like Multirom out there which can loop mount ext4 image files located on internal storage. Afaik not for pie, you should try with some old device first before soft bricking your S9+
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rooting, sd-card, bootloader, usb-c
---


title: What is the "u#_everybody" UID?

text:
# Question
Title: What is the "u#_everybody" UID?
In (multi-user) Android there are `UID`s like these:

* `u0_everybody`
* `u10_everybody`
* `u11_everybody`

Those seem different to the usual `uXX_aYY` `UID`s used for the applications. What is their purpose? Is this a way to make files available to all applications (share between applications of a user account)?

# Answer
As stated here:

> Cross-user interactions are blocked using the `everybody` GID.

Android reserves UIDs / GIDs ranging from `10000` to `19999` for apps. `AID_EVERYBODY` is one of the special groups, which is used to control app's read / write ability to external storage (`/sdcard`). This group has GID 9997 for device owner. If there are profiles or multiple users, GID takes form `XX09997`, where `XX` is UserID. So `u11_everybody` resolves to UID `1109997` and `u11_a500` to `1110500`.

Starting with Android 6, every app has it's own view of `/sdcard`, which is controlled by exposing `/data/media/[UserID]` with different permissions. This is achieved by making use of an emulated filesystem (previously `FUSE`, now `sdcardfs`) and mount namespaces. For device owner i.e. UserId `0`, `/sdcard` appears with following **three VIEWs of permission sets:**

1. For processes running in root mount namespace such as `init`, `netd`, `vold` etc., permissions appear as `0.1015`, `0771`.
2. For processes having `android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE`, permissions appear as `0.9997`, `0750`.
3. For processes having `android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE`, permissions appear as `0.9997`, `0770`.

Screenshot shows three emulated `VIEWs` with different `gid` and `mask` values to get different permissions sets:  * Files never have executable permission i.e. `mask=6` becomes `mask=7` for files.
* `mask=23` is appearing wrong, may be a bug? In actual it's `mask=27`.

**Considering three distinct `VIEWs`, we come with four situations:**

1. Processes running with root privileges i.e. UID `0` have always R/W access to `/sdcard`. However if a non-privileged process running in root mount namespace wants R/W access to `/sdcard`, that would be controlled by group AID\_SDCARD\_RW (GID `1015`). An example is ADB daemon which runs with UID / GID `2000` but `1015` in its supplementarry groups.

Since every app runs with its unique UID in a separate mount namespace:

2. Apps without `READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` permissions won't be able to read or write to `/sdcard`.

Since every app is a member of `everybody (9997)` group:

3. Apps with `READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` permission will be able to read the `/sdcard`.
4. Apps with `WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` permission will be able to write to `/sdcard`. So the app has full R/W access to shared / external `Public Storage` including other apps' `Private Storage`.

There's an **exception** to above rules for apps; every app has always R/W access to its own **External Private Storage**. Let's take example of app `com.xyz` with UID `10500`. Apart from internal data directory `/data/data/com.xyz`, app has a `Private Storage` directory `/sdcard/Android/data/com.xyz` with owner UID `10500`. So this directory is always readable / writable by the app.
Please note that `/sdcard/Android/data` is traversable for all apps, but no R/W access.

In the same way it works for other user accounts / profiles.

**Opaque Binary Blobs: (OBB)**

Some apps need additional storage to save large files which can't be included in `.apk` file due to 100MB maximum size limit. There are two possible `obb` locations where these files are saved: `/data/media/obb/` and `/sdcard/Android/obb/`. The former was introduced before multi-users concept, so it's only available to device owner. Later is available to apps in multi-user accounts / profiles as well.
Access to former is controlled the same way as to `/sdcard`, while later is always accessible by an app as is the private external storage.

---

**RELATED:**
> 6 votes

---
Tags: external-sd, file-system, permissions, multi-user
---


title: Stopping ongoing app updates

text:
# Question
Title: Stopping ongoing app updates
How do I force an abort on ongoing app updates happening on my Sony Xperia Aqua Android mobile? It is slowing down all other processes. My cell is setup to do updates when it finds a wifi connection, so I can turn wifi off, but I need it for the other things. Wish there was a way I could put the update downloads on hold and then resume after I'm done using the wifi.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Few solutions:

* Open Google Play Store. Goto Settings -\> Auto-update apps, then select "Don't auto-update apps". (But Google Play Services and Google Play Store will be updated regardless of this settings).
* You can install a firewall and block Google Play Services, Download, Download Manager and Google Play Store to block updates. Unblock them when you need to update apps.

---
Tags: wi-fi, updates
---


title: Open winmail.dat files on Android

text:
# Question
Title: Open winmail.dat files on Android
How can I read `winmail.dat` files on my Android?

I currently get an error message that I do not have an app to view it.

# Answer
> 1 votes
`winmail.dat` files are Microsoft proprietary files created by Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. Usually Email apps from Microsoft should be able to handle such files. However searching for **winmail.dat** in Google Play Store shows that several other apps are claiming to be able to open such files.

If you receive such files the sender is using Outlook via Exchange and your contact is misconfigured. Contact the sender and ask to change your contact to plain text format then you will no longer receive such attachments.

---
Tags: files
---


# Question
Title: Alternative "File Open" (not stack "DocumentsUi") for WhatsApp?
DocumentsUI, the AOSP standard "file manager" is quite buggy here (I use Lineage 15.1), especially in the context of *multi-user* and *work profile* (meaning it does not show files for other users then the main user and is hence not usable).

For "simple" file browsing, I therefore substituted DocumentsUI app (`com.android.documentsui`) with `com.simplemobiletools.filemanager.pro` which works much better.

My issue and the core of the question is, that the glorious "facebook" WhatsApp Manager when attempting to attach files, resorts to opening the intent specifically for `com.android.documentsui` and fails even to open `com.simplemobiletools.filemanager.pro` even in the case that it is the only filemanager still installed. Hence I cannot attach files in other users in Whatsapp, due to the buggy DocumentsUI and WhatsApp not being *willing/capable/well-enough-designed* to make a general "FileOpen" intent, instead of referring directly to `com.android.documentsui`

I understand that WhatsApp is particularly made very little IT-able persons, who do not care about privacy very much, therefore it is clear that the WhatApp is not geared to allow/accomodate for educated and more able users which might desire to use not the standard `com.android.documentsui`.

An answer to this question would be to provide an insight which `com.android.documentsui` would be able to integrate well with WhatsApp Messenger

# Answer
May be this is not exactly the answer to you question because I don't have any of your version of Android and WhatsApp to test. But on my Pie ROM with WhatsApp v2.19.53, I can pick attachments with any File Manager that registers one of its activities as a preferred activity for some implicit intent action; `android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT` in our case. I use MiXplorer, so:

```
# /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml

[...]
<preferred-activities>
    [...]
    <item name="com.mixplorer/.activities.BrowseActivity" match="600000" always="false" set="0">
        <filter>
            <action name="android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT" />
            <cat name="android.intent.category.OPENABLE" />
            <cat name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            <type name="*/*" />
        </filter>
    </item>
    [...]
    <item name="com.android.documentsui/.picker.PickActivity" match="600000" always="false" set="0">
        <filter>
            <action name="android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT" />
            <cat name="android.intent.category.OPENABLE" />
            <cat name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            <type name="*/*" />
        </filter>
    </item>
    [...]
</preferred-activities>
[...]

```

When I tap on attachment icon in WhatsApp, it opens WhatsApp's own `DocumentPickerActivity` from where I can pick files:

```
ActivityManager: {cmp=com.whatsapp/.DocumentPickerActivity (has extras)}

```

Or I can opt to choose some other File Manager by tapping **Browse other docs** on top. This way Android's ***internal resolver*** goes through configurations and opens up available options for me:

```
ActivityManager: {act=android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT cat=[android.intent.category.OPENABLE] typ=*/* cmp=android/com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity (has extras)}

```

To pick attachment, I can choose MiXplorer app:

```
ActivityManager: {act=android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT cat=[android.intent.category.OPENABLE] typ=*/* cmp=com.mixplorer/.activities.BrowseActivity (has extras)}

```

Or Files / DocumentsUI app:

```
ActivityManager: {act=android.intent.action.OPEN_DOCUMENT cat=[android.intent.category.OPENABLE] typ=*/* cmp=com.android.documentsui/.picker.PickActivity (has extras)}

```

First thing to check is if Files / DocumentsUI app is not set as default app (`always="true"`):

```
# /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml

[...]
<preferred-activities>
    [...]
    <item name="com.android.documentsui/.picker.PickActivity" match="600000" always="true" set="2">
    [...]
</preferred-activities>
[...]

```

If this is the case you need to reset its defaults (***App info \> Open by default \> Clear defaults***).

You can also try with a different File Explorer app and different WhatsApp version to test if it works. I'm not sure if there are any changes in implementation of com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity across AOSP updates, so consider updating Android version if possible.

**RELATED:** Why WhatsApp is suddenly unable to open any APK shared by users?
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, multi-user, documents
---


# Question
Title: How to delete my personal files retained by an app?
I'm using Android Excel and Word apps on a non-rooted Galaxy Note 8. Over the past months I've opened a couple of files from external sources (email and SD card), but was shocked to find these files could still be opened after the source was gone.

It appears the files reside "somewhere" in `/data/user/0`. When I launch the app, it displays a file list including the path. I tried to delete these files and get a prompt saying I don't have permission.

This is crazy! If I ever lost my phone, these sensitive files would be compromised!

# Answer
Apps store their data (including opened / downloaded / created files, databases, settings, caches etc.) in `/data/data/<pkg_name>/` and `/sdcard/Android/data/<pkg_name>/`. It's not possible to delete files from former location without root access. So what you can do is either clear data of the app, or uninstall/reinstall the app in order to delete all files.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: security, cache, app-data, my-files, unwanted-files
---


# Question
Title: Walking: counting steps when walking back and forth in a circle
I am aware of the fact that Android devices can count the number of steps taken by a person as they walk. However, I am uncertain as to how they do this. Do they rely solely on GPS? If so, if someone keeps on walking in a circle so that their position does not change much and stays within a few meters, then is the device successful at reporting number of steps walked? If not, what other data do they use and how do they carry out the computation at the device level and how does the computation work?

# Answer
The step counter is usually not GPS based. Instead the accelerometer sensor of your phone is used.

When walking for every step your body moves up and down a bit which can be easily measured by this sensor. Using the accelerometer instead of GPS has multiple advantages:

1. The accelerometer requires only very little battery
2. The accuracy is better - no need to define your step length
3. It works at location without GPS signal (indoor, staircase)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: gps, 8.1-oreo, data-monitoring, gps-tracking
---


# Question
Title: Remove Play Store access without removing Play Services
I have built AOSP for the kiddo's phone. My goal was to remove the Play Store so that he can't install games or other apps.

However, we use Google Fi for our phone service, which requires Google Play services to function. That alone isn't a big deal using Open Gapps. However, I would like to remove the Play Store, but keep Google play services so that the Fi app can be used.

From what I can tell, Play Store and Play Services seem to be married (i.e., removing Phonesky.apk with Titanium Backup removes both the Play Store and Play Services).

Is there any way that I can remove the Play Store, but keep access to Play Services so that the phone can still register through Google Fi?

Note: this is on a rooted Pixel 1. AOSP is not a strict requirement, just something I was trying to use to solve my problem. If it can be done on, i.e., the stock ROM that'd be great too.

Note 2: I realize the Play Store can be disabled in the apps settings, but this kid is smart enough to figure that one out. I also tried hiding it in Nova Launcher Prime, but it still shows up in search results within the launcher.

# Answer
For my purpose, the following works in adb shell (as root):

```
pm disable com.android.vending

```

Of course, now I need to figure out a way to make this persist over a factory reset...
> 1 votes

# Answer
On the LeEco Le Max2 with LineageOS 16, I am the admin and my child is user 10. `pm disable com.android.vending` did not work, but
`pm disable --user 10 com.android.vending` has the effect that the Play store disappears. At least the icon, not sure if it is possible to get it back. Google Play Music works, so my child can hear music but not install apps.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-play-store, google-play-services
---