# Question
Title: Use Socks proxy on Android without rooting in Android 5.1
I have a Socks5 proxy and I need to configure it in my mobile so that all traffic of the apps goes through that proxy. How can I configure Socks5 proxy without rooting the mobile ?

I have seen **'ProxyDroid'** on 'Google Play Store' but it needs the phone to be rooted. Tried Another app **'Drony'** but not able to successfully make the connection. I might be doing something wrong.

Please suggest a solution .

```
Environment

Android Version  ::   5.1
Mobile           ::   MOTO E  , Samsung J2

```

# Answer
Drony should work. But not sure if latest SOCKS5 features are supported. Can you try with ccproxy socks5? I'm sure that works with that one.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I wrote a tutorial a while ago, should still work, though it's only for web traffic:
https://www.devineloper.com/2013/08/28/setup-socks-proxy-android-without-root/
From what I've read, you can set a regular proxy in Android connection settings, but it's up to apps to decide if they want to use it. Hence the need to root in order to force all traffic through.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store, rooting, proxy
---


# Question
Title: Can I use my Samsung SM-J700P on the ATT network?
It was locked to the Boost Mobile network (Sprint) before I supposedly unlocked it with Odin, but using the ATT SIM card says it's not supported for the device. I've spoken to both companies and neither seems to be able to help. Thanks for any advice

# Answer
> 0 votes
There's a difference between unlocking a phone and rooting a phone. What ODIN can do is root a phone (giving you unrestricted access to the features and settings), what you need to do is unlock the phone (allowing you to change the cellular settings).

Once that's done, you need to set the cellular settings for the AT&T network (they would currently be set to the BOOST network). AT&T technical support is who should be able to help you with that, but the phone needs to be unlocked first.

---
Tags: samsung, sim-unlocking, att, sprint
---


# Question
Title: How to use KVM alone without Android Studio AVD to emulate official x86_64 android images
I want to use **official** (google compiled) x86\_64 android images. I know that I can use AVD manager from Android Studio to easely run and manage them. However, I use virt-manager with KVM, so I can't run Android and my other images at the same time (even if I could, I prefer to do all inside virt-manager instead of installing all of Android Studio).

Since the images are x86\_64, theoretically I could run them into virt-manager as well. The problem is that the images downloaded from google server when I use ADV are a bit strange. They contain some files and at least two .img files inside of it. It's not simply an ISO image that I can plug into a disk in virt-manager and run. For example, this is the image for Android 25 (7.0 I guess):

https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google\_apis/x86\_64-25\_r11.zip

So how to run this thing inside the zip file? Is it possible?

If it's not possible, then is it possible to install and run AVD alone without Android Studio? Or at least launchd AVD manager GUI without launching Android Studio first?

# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes its possible to get Android SDK (Software Development Kit) as a **standalone package**.

There are just a couple of prerequisites to note:

* Java runtime environment (or JDK) at Oracle website (and download the correct version (32- or 64-bit) for your computer).
* A good internet connection (needed for downloading system images etc)

> There is a simple option to install the Android SDK, you can grab the available offline installer (Windows) SDK Tools installer\_r24.4.1 from Google repository by itself you do not need Android Studio. You can then use the included sdk manager to download other SDK packages.

For linux (Ubuntu), you can refer to this guide: Complete Installation Guide for Android SDK / ADT Bundle on Ubuntu

Here is the workthrough (windows):

* Download the SDK package from above link.
* After downloading the package, begin installation (and choose the desired installation folder to proceed or just leave the default `%USERPROFILE%\android-sdk`):

* When done leave the option to download system images "checked":

Now we're in business...

* The SDK manager window will appear, now you need to update/download other sdk packages (i.e platform-tools, system-images, platforms etc according to API levels.

*Note: I recommend downloading x86 images as they're much faster tham arm counterparts, also get intel HAXM (hardware accelerated execution manager) driver to significantly increase your emulator speed*

* All set, now you just need to create and configure an Android virtual device matching your target Android version and tweak desired settings.
* To do this click on the **Tools** tab in SDK manager and select manage AVDs, then in the following window click **Create** you'll see a similar screen as below:

* After that boot the newly created virtual device running Android 8 Oreo

(Note: I am still running Android 7, because of this : Can't start Android 8.0 Oreo on emulator: “Decryption unsuccessful” but you might be lucky :)

* Install applications and test as you wish ..

---
Tags: android-emulator, google-play-services, android-x86
---


# Question
Title: How to stop or cancel download in chrome android
How to stop download in chrome download in Android.

# Answer
> 1 votes
To stop downloading some file in chrome you can do this: Simply press cancel or x on notification where it shows that file is downloading or it shows remaining time, or you can longpress on that notification (if you don't have cancel button there) and press 'app info' when it opens app in app manager just simply force stop it.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Here is the short way TO solve this issue.

Go to download FOLDER through Explore app or any files opening app.

Inside you will find the (current) DOWNLOADING file with extension. .crdownload

Now you try to open the file, it will ask for "open with" Then select any one to open the file.

Finally wait for sometime, download notification will disappear and download will STOP.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I just simply "Restart" my phone. When you on data connection, the downloading will begin automatically and the "Cancel" and "pause" options will appear

# Answer
> -1 votes
Goto to **Apps / App Manager**

Select **Chrome**

If Chrome is User Downloaded app You can Press **"Clear Data"**

If Chrome if System app, You can press **"Manage Space"**

Then, **Google Chrome Storage** will get opened,

Then, Click on **Clear All Data.**

Note : Please note your all data will be cleared. So Backup your Bookmarks if needed.

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


# Question
Title: Why can't person on other side hear music playing in my phone during a call?
I always wonder why is it that while on call, the person on other side can hear my voice clearly but can't hear any music/video playing on my phone. Mic fairly picks up any other ambient sound playing on my laptop.

When we play music on phone ultimately it also becomes an ambient sound, why can't phone picks up that? I am pretty sure it has to do something with the sound card, or is it not?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I think your are misinterpreting *ambient* sound

* You are in a crowded , noisy place and are talking to someone on phone. They can't hear you clearly because of the *ambient* noise around you. Why? Because the phone mic captures your voice and noise around you

In this case what you hear is what the other party hears = Ambient noise + your voice

* In the case of music playing on your phone (media player running) and you talking at the same time, it is **not ambient** . Phone mic picks up only your voice (while what you are hearing is both streams *media* and your own voice) because voice is prioritised cutting out media. Once you establish a voice call

> From this point on the telephony service has the highest priority and **won't let** any other audio play in parallel.

In this case what you hear (media + voice) is not what the other party hears. He hears only your voice. Think of it as you can hear two channels or streams whereas other party can only hear one stream of your voice

Now, if you were to play the same media from your laptop speakers while you are talking that's the first case of Ambient noise

Related Direct Music Player audio to Caller

---
Tags: audio, calls, hardware, microphone
---


# Question
Title: How to achieve a basic setup of LineageOS with root and Google Assistant?
It appears there are 4 things needed to get what I would consider a basic LineageOS install working so apps can run correctly with root.

1. LineageOS
2. SU addon
3. Google Apps/Google Play Store
4. Google Voice Assistant

Could someone outline how to set up the last one "Google Voice Assistant"? I also noticed there is no complete guide that I could find on StackExchange for setting up the above on LineageOS. So I guess something like a guide would probably could be helpful as a canonical question.

# Answer
So this is actually pretty easy if you phone is already unlocked.

1. Boot into recovery mode
2. Wipe the phone. I advise going under advanced and checking everything unless you have files you need.
3.
4. I wipe everything including internal storage but you don't have to
5. Install the zips starting with LineageOS, SU addon, Google Apps/Google Play Store & Google Voice Assistant. You should not reboot your device until all are installed.
6. Reboot you device out of recovery mode and go through the set up menus.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: lineageos, google-assistant
---


# Question
Title: What does "CUSTOM BINARY DOWNLOAD" mean exactly?
When I boot an Android device into download/ODIN mode, on the top-left it says "CUSTOM BINARY DOWNLOAD (`n` counts)" where `n` may possible mean the amount of times the device has been flashed. Is this correct?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes, you guessed it right. It increases everytime you flash a ROM / kernel. It's also called binary counter. It's one way of checking if your device has stock ROM or not

> The binary counter in a Samsung built device is a flip counter which turns up or increments a number after a non-official ROM is Installed.

---
Tags: recovery-mode, stock-android
---


# Question
Title: Simplest way to find the PID of your app
When using the adb Monitor tool to read the Logcat, I like to filter out all everything but what directly affects the app. Trouble is, it's really hard to tell what the PID of your app. It easy enough if the app using Unity, but if it doesn't, It's almost impossible to use to tell.

So is there a ADB command that can tell what PID an app used?

# Answer
> 9 votes
Simply do:

```
adb.exe shell pidof com.packagename.example

```

If you want to ensure only one PID is shown try:

```
adb.exe shell pidof -s com.packagename.example

```

# Answer
> 8 votes
You should be able to run a shell command from adb:

```
adb shell ps | grep your.app.name

```

And that will return details about your process. The second number will be the PID of your app. This is if `grep` is installed. If grep isn't installed, you can just run `ps` and it will dump all processes to your screen.

You can dump logcat to a file to retroactively look at processes (up to a point)
`logcat > /sdcard/logcatDump.txt`

However, logcat data is stored in memory so it will all be lost after a reboot.

---
Tags: adb
---


# Question
Title: Cannot access adb shell on emulated x86 phone
Trying to get access to a phone on Android emulator via adb. Error message returned:

```
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell error: device unauthorized.
This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set
Try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong.
Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>

```

I have deleted the adbkey and adbkey.pub files from the .android folder as suggested in some question/answers for physical phones without success. Also disabling and re-enabling USB debugging on the phone.

Phone details:
Device - Nexus 7 (7.02", 1200 x 1920: xhdpi)
Target - Android 8.0.0 - API Level 26
CPU/ABI- Google Play Intel Atom (x86)

Any ideas on how to get adb access? Thanks.

# Answer
I had a similar issue with an x86 emulator sdk 24

1. Settings -\> About emulated device -\> click on "Build number" several times (as you do on a real device)
2. go to Settings -\> Developer options -\> turn on "USB debugging"

you should be getting a dialog to enable debugging access from the pc

and attempt running again via Android Studio
> 1 votes

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


title: Can't move apps to SD Card on Huawei

text:
# Question
Title: Can't move apps to SD Card on Huawei
I own a P9 Lite(EMUI 5.0, Android 7.0) and when I'm trying to move an app to my SD Card there is no option, but on someone's P8 Lite with Android 6.0 this option is available, how can I fix this thing and move apps on the SD Card + Data

# Answer
According to Huawei support, starting with EMUI 5.0 (Android 7.0 Nougat), moving apps to SD Card is no longer supported. Period. Really bad decision if you ask me.

Updated 3/18/2018: Posed the question again on https://www.facebook.com/usahonor in the 'Flagship' question box and got the answer was that it is as of EMUI 4.1 that apps on SD card are no longer supported. Worse than I initially thought!

Huawei/Honor shooting themselves in the foot it seems...
> 5 votes

# Answer
You can try the following method proposed by pruther69 here and this method **should allow app data to be saved to the SD Card**:

1. On your Huawei device navigate to Settings ➡ Apps ➡ Advanced (bottom of screen) ➡ App Permissions ➡ Storage
2. Select respective application from list (this should then allow data for that app to be saved to the SD Card)

**To transfer data from internal memory to SD card:**

* Go to Tools ➡ Files ➡ Local (top right) ➡ Internal storage and/or SD Card.
* Options should now be available to navigate and move files from one to the other.

Credits
> 0 votes

---
Tags: storage, huawei, emui
---


# Question
Title: Xiaomi Redmi 1S bootloop on inserting battery
I have a Xiaomi Redmi 1S running stock MIUI 7 global stable ROM and one day while I was using my phone it suddenly restarted and then it went into a bootloop. The phone would power on upon inserting the battery without pressing the `Power` button.
It kept restarting but by pressing down the `Volume up` button I could enter into the recovery mode. But the phone was still restarting after the a few seconds even in the recovery. But I could navigate within the recovery and I tried wiping the cache and then the phone restarted and later worked fine.
A week later, the phone suddenly restarted again and this time I am unable to navigate in the recovery. The phone just keeps restarting itself after a few seconds even in recovery and fastboot mode.
What could be the problem with my phone?

# Answer
I tried to flash the device with recovery, fastboot but nothing worked.
The problem was a faulty power button. I disassembled the phone and checked the power button using a multi meter. It was faulty.
After removing the power button the phone is working again now. I use the charger to power on the phone either by using TWRP recovery or fastboot commands.
> 0 votes

# Answer
The issue was the phone hardly stayed in FASTBOOT MODE or Recovery Mode for 2-3 seconds and went back to boot loop. Basically it had to be really fast fingers when the phone is connected to LAPTOP to achieve this.

I did as mentioned in the post of @Robert\_xes...

1. On your laptop(I used a Windows 10) Download the fastboot.zip and unzip it and keep it ready. Download the latest MIUI Stable ROM and keep it in your desktop or if you have a SD Card remove it from your phone and copy it to SD cards and insert it back .
2. The moment the phone is connected to laptop (it will start its bootloop) .. get it into fastboot mode (power and volume down) and the moment you get the fastboot logo, CLICK on flash\_recovery.bat

TWEAK -PLEASE NOTE GETTING INTO FASTBOOT MODE AND THE PHONE STATYING IN FASTBOOT LOGO SCREEN (WITHOUT GOING BACK INTO BOOT LOOP BEFORE YOU HIT FLASH\_RECOVERY\_BAT) MIGHT NOT HAPPEN THE FIRST TIME... IT TOOK ME AT LEAST 10-15 TIMES TO GET THE TIMING RIGHT WITH FAST FINGERS TO MAKE SURE FLASH\_RECOVERY.BAT FILE PUSHES THE TWO FILES. You have to do this very very quickly. Keep trying again and again and again and again till his happens.(you will see for a fraction of second some file being pushed and an OKAY message at command prompt screen . If the PHONE is in BOOT LOOP then flash\_recovery\_bat will only show "waiting for Device/Signal" message. You need to keep doing this till it is achieved . Only then you can proceed to next step.
3. Once step 2 is done. by now your phone would have gone back to its boot loop logo mode and you will be only seeing MI logo looping continuously. Now get into RECOVERY MODE by using the volume UP and Power button simultaneously. TWEAK - PLEASE NOTE. Again as indicated in step 2, since your phone is in BOOT LOOP you need to try this again and again till it gets into recovery mode... sometimes it will get into recovery mode but doesnt stay there and goes back to bootloop. As soon as it comes into recovery mode , hit the down arrow(which you will see in recovery mode) and NOW the phone stays in recovery mode.
4. Once you have reached this step - 90% of your problem is solved as you have come into recovery mode and all you have to do now is follow the steps 7-9 of his solution. In my case I did not install new ROM , I just did a factory reset, wipe cache and wipe Dalvik Cache. The reason I didnt install new ROM was because the problem had started only after upgrade to MIUI 8.
5. As Next Step - TWEAK - I used one of the options of recovery to do a POWER OFF. Then kept it for charging and waited patiently till charging. Most of the phones in boot loop would have had their battery drained

Credits:http://en.miui.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=663881&page=1#pid13355815
> 0 votes

---
Tags: boot-loop, redmi-1s
---


# Question
Title: How to get Android to ask for my choice of phone dialer?
I have the default Phoner Dialer on my HTC phone as well as the Doximity Dialer. When I first installed the Doximity dialer, whenever I made a phone call it would ask which phoner dialer to use the native one or Doximity and then followed by 'Just once' or 'Always'. I made the mistake of choosing the native phone dialer and hitting always but cannot for the life of me figure out how do I reset so it goes back to providing me with the choice of a dialer whenever I make a phone call. I have gone under Apps and looked under both the apps properties but to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

# Answer
Go into *settings → apps.* Open the menu, and select *show system apps*. Now scroll down to the stock phone app press on it → *set as default → clear defaults*. Now, whenever you select a number to call, it will ask which app to use.

If you don't see the *clear defaults* option, then go to *settings → apps.* Open the menu and press on *reset app preferences* this will clear all your app preferences, including which app should be the default.

Don't worry, this will not delete any data.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: hardware
---


# Question
Title: Can I cast phones display on laptop? my phones display not working
Mobile: Moto X2nd Generation OS: Android 6

My phones display not working, I am able to unlock it and touch is working.

Is there any application by which I can cast my phones display on my computer?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Vysor could solve your problem, it's available as a browser extension for Chrome or a standalone application for the three different operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux.

> **Note:** USB Debugging should be enabled. If your USB debugging is not enabled, I suggest to look for another similar phone to simulate touches in order to activate USB Debugging.

---
Tags: screen, moto-x, screencast
---


title: Editing Android contacts on a pc

text:
# Question
Title: Editing Android contacts on a pc
I'm asking about editing Android contact files on Windows. What software can I use to edit and create them? Thank you in advance.

# Answer
You can use VCF Manager for Windows from XDA Developers.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts
---


# Question
Title: permission denied on files created via adb in recovery
I stumbled upon a strange issue - after installing new ROM (CyanogenMod 12.1), I used adb push (still in TWRP) to copy some backed up directories to internal storage - so far so good. But then in fully booted system I found out, that I have read only permission for these dirs even when logged as root (I can still remove them from recovery though; also I don't have this problem, when I use adb when normal android is running).

I thought that it could be a selinux issue, but `ls -lZ` shows the same permissions/context for everything (and I also tried calling the `restorecon` on these dirs)

Any idea what causes this? (note: I'm looking just for explanation, I can solve this easily by deleting it in recovery)

EDIT: in case it was relevant, my device is Kindle Fire HD (tate)

# Answer
> 0 votes
For some strange reason (even on my AOSP 6 Xperia S) actual "fully booted system" reported permissions are a lie.

I eventually ran `ls -l` from recovery, and discovered not only they were different, but also owner was another one (in this case root, instead of media\_rw).

`chown 1023.1023` and `chmod 770` did the work and made the file "normal".

---
Tags: adb, recovery-mode, twrp, file-permissions
---


title: Permanently setting launcher in Nox

text:
# Question
Title: Permanently setting launcher in Nox
In Nox (3.8.1.1) running Android 4.4.2, I'd like to change the launcher from Nox Launcher to Smart Launcher. I set the default home app through settings, but every time I restart Android in Nox (or sometimes randomly), the setting doesn't stick and it gets switched back to Nox Launcher. Nox Launcher apparently likes to reset the default app to itself on boot. Also I can't uninstall Nox Launcher, nor can I disable it in settings:

Is there a way to make the home app setting stick?

# Answer
> 3 votes
I found the answer in the video beeshyams posted in a comment. There's actually a much more concise video here. I've confirmed that it works correctly in Nox 3.8.1.1, so here are the instructions, which basically just involve disabling Nox Launcher by "removing" the app directly:

1. Make sure you have an alternate launcher installed first! I don't know what will happen if you try this without having another launcher installed. You're welcome to find out, but I didn't want to test it.
2. If not already set, enable root mode in Nox (*Settings → General → Root*) (note I mean the actual NoxPlayer settings in the title bar, the little gear, *not* the settings in Android), then restart Nox to apply the change.
3. Open *File Manager* then navigate to the folder */system/app*.
4. Scroll down until you find one named *launcher\_1.7.1\_en\_signed.apk* (version number / language code may be different in older or newer versions of Nox so your filename may vary slightly).
5. Rename it to *launcher\_1.7.1\_en\_signed.apk.bak* (`Long Press` *→ Rename*).
6. Now you're ready to go. Go to the Android *Settings → Home* and make sure your launcher is selected there just to be safe, and it should be good.
7. Disable root mode in Nox if you want then restart it.

To restore the Nox Launcher, just undo the filename change in the same way. If you'd rather see this all visually just watch the "concise" video linked above.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Here's a shorter way to do it:

1. Enable root and install any launcher you wish.
2. Use this app to uninstall the Nox launcher (show system apps, and allow in settings to uninstall them):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lb.app\_manager

And that's it.

Disclosure: I made the app.

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, settings, launcher, home-screen, default-applications
---


# Question
Title: How to startd the AVD manager without starting android studio
Use AVD Manager without Starting Android Studio this question is the same as mine, but the answer does nt work for me. There's no executable to launchd AVD manager on my SDK directory (I'm on ubuntu). Could it be that things changed? The only thing I can find is `/home/lz/Android/Sdk/tools/bin/avdmanager` which is just a command line script, not the GUI that I want to launchd

# Answer
It is just the `android avd` command, where the `android` shell script is in the tools/ directory of your SDK installation.

Or go to the directory and

```
cd ~/Android/Sdk/tools/bin/
./avdmanager

```

Documentation can be found (deprecated) but it works for me https://developer.android.com/studio/tools/help/android.html

I hope it will be useful
> 4 votes

---
Tags: android-emulator, android-sdk
---


# Question
Title: Gmail is consuming so much data in background
As you can see in the attached picture, Gmail has been consuming so much data, is this logical?

<sup>(click image for larger variant)</sup>

# Answer
> 0 votes
3.3 Go in background is kind of a lot

* You can reduce the number of days of messages to sync via Gmail app settings
* avoid building up a large number of messages in Gmail inbox archive them instead.

Or you can use k-9 mail wich is really good!

---
Tags: gmail, background-data
---


# Question
Title: Phone Reboots on Installing/Launching Certain Apps
So i'm having this really baffling issue. I was using CM13 before and now using CM12 and both of them are facing the same issue.

I am using Galaxy Mega i9152.

There are certain applications, that have been causing my phone to reboot upon install or launch. Previously, it was Yahoo Mail (which i have not used since), then it was some other games (names of which i don't remember) and now it is WhatsApp messenger.

I thought the problem was with the CM13 rom, so i did a clean flash ( wiped data, cache, basically everything other than internal/external storage) of CM12 (hoping to get the 'move to SD card' feature as a bonus).

But, it did not resolve the issue. I just tried to install WhatsApp on my new ROM and it restarted as soon as WhatsApp finished Installing.

This has me thinking that the issue is not with Apps, but something to do with a deeper level. I'm not an expert in Kernels or such.

So please, can someone help me out here? Any insight i can get into the issue ?

WhatsApp is really important for managing day-to-day affairs, so please help me out.

# Answer
This could solve the problem temporarily. I had the same problem with my own phone and it appears to be a material problems, many recent updates are incompatible with some phones (it is the case for wiko phones). Bypassig the play store and installing a previous update can work. For whatsapp you will need a previous version than the actual one (2.18.64), but that will be older than the 2.18.0, otherwise whatsapp won't let you start the app.

For example downloading this version and manually install worked for me: https://apkpure.com/whatsapp-business/com.whatsapp.w4b/download/164-APK

EDIT:

Now this version is considered obsolete by whatsapp too. The only way to continue using it for me was to set the date of my phone to a previous date that the date showed on whatsapp saying "This version of whatsapp is obsolete since date".

I hope this problem will be fixed later because it is unsafe to install previous versions, generally updates include bug and security fixes.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: applications, cyanogenmod, rooting, samsung, reboot
---


# Question
Title: Move data (without cloud storage) from CM 13.0 to LineageOS
My current phone is running **CM 13.0**. I have a new phone ready, running **LineageOS**. What's the simplest way to move all data (most important: contacts, pictures, mail + configuration, SMS) to the new phone?

Both phones do not have Google services installed and I don't want to move my data to the cloud. I tried to make a `adb backup` on the one phone and a restore on the other phone. I did not run into an error, but I also did not see the data on the new phone. I would be happy to pay a small fee for a decent tool, but without access to the play store, most apps are not an option.

# Answer
**First and foremost**: provided that you trust 3rd-party APK provider sites (APKPure, APKMirror, etc.), no Play Store access is not a problem - you will only be restricted from paid apps. For trust issues read this question (and others related) on the site.

**Contacts**:

* In the Contacts app, top-right menu - `import/export` \- `export to .vcf file`.
* Select items you want exported.
* A .vcf file will be saved by default to the root of the internal storage - back it up somewhere.
* Import later with the `import from .vcf file` option.

**SMS**: use the app SMS Backup and Restore. Been using the Pro version of the app since Android 4.x and it always worked smoothly. Backed-up content will be stored in the `SMSBackupRestore` folder under internal storage. APKMirror

**Mail**: your mail is supposed to be all up in the clouds, i.e. synched with your mail server, so there should be no need of backing them up in the first place.

**Media files** (picture, music, etc.): provided that you know the location, just copy them off the device. Use the `details` option in the Gallery app if you need help locating a specific picture.

**App data**: the free version of Titanium Backup is enough for backing up individual apps' data. Backed-up content will be stored in the `TitaniumBackup` folder under internal storage. Note that, before restoring app data, you might have to start them once. APKMirror

Copy backed-up contents off the device (keep folder structures intact), then after flashing LOS, copy them back in place, and use respective restore options.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Pictures and other media you can move by plugging both phones in PC via USB and manually transfer it. Since you "killed" all other options. Contacts can be transfered by taking backup on old phone (there is option for that in contacts app, don't know where exactly) and transfer file to new phone (example Bluetooth) and import contacts from backup in contacts app. For sms i'm not sure if it can be done like for contacts, but you can look in settings of messaging app (I personally don't have option but who on Earth backup SMS?) If you have something important in few messages just take screenshots and move with other pictures, or copy it and save in the file. However I don't see other way to do this since you killed all options.
> 0 votes

# Answer
What you can do is you can take entire backup of your phone using **titanium backup** it works pretty well if you use it correctly. It has two version one works with **rooted phones** and other without. You cannot expect much features in free versions though you can buy paid version if you need more info on how to backup in detail check out their official site for pro version : Titanium Backup Pro Official Site
> 0 votes

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, data-transfer, lineageos
---


# Question
Title: How do I send all calls from a contact to voicemail in Android 7 (LG phone)?
Searched here and on the internet and either the options have changed or my LG phone does not have the option. Seems like the old way to do it was to press the Overflow button while editing the contact, then select "all calls to voicemail".

Carrier is TMobile.

# Answer
You should still be able to accomplish this through a different route.

being that you are using an LG on T-Mobile, I'll give you instructions from T-Mobile's website on how it's done on an LG G5.

Go to your phone settings → calls → decline and reject calls. Now press on the plus (+) symbol, and add the desired contacts.

Calls from numbers on the reject list, are automatically forwarded to your voicemail.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: contacts, calls, voicemail
---


# Question
Title: Recovering deleted files android 6.0.1 (internal storage)
They were onenote's files, research notes. Had problems with sync and lost files.

How can I recover the files in the safest way? It happened today. I already stopped using the phone.

(asking for a friend)

# Answer
> 0 votes
I'd try photorec (testdisk package) in Linux. Or the Piraform file recovery program in Windows. Get it connected to a PC sooner rather than later as you don't want the area it was stored to be overwritten.

Was the Onenote not syncing with a Microsoft account?

---
Tags: data-recovery, file-management
---


# Question
Title: What's the point of encryption with 3x3 in OnePlus 5 if it has 409104 combinations meaning it can be cracked under a second with any modern processor?
I am not sure what I am missing, but decryption the sdcard should be as easy as opening it if it it that few possible combinations. So what's the point of it?

To clarify I mean booting into recovery mode, ADBing, and trying to decrypt the partition directly, without artificial timeouts that OSes do.

# Answer
Countering your supplemental conditions...

> To clarify I mean booting into recovery mode, ADBing, and trying to decrypt the partition directly, without artificial timeouts that OSes do.

* Stock recovery doesn't have regular ADB capability (only ADB sideload, and that only flashes signed firmware).
* Even with USB Debugging enabled, you can't authorize a random PC to debug over ADB, since the authorization dialog is behind the lockscreen.
* Can't read/pull anything from `/data` even if you have ADB authorization, unless the device is rooted.
* Can't flash a custom recovery without unlocking the bootloader, which nowadays requires flipping a switch in Settings - Developer options, again behind the lockscreen. Unlocking also fully wipes all data including the internal storage.
* If the bootloader is already unlocked then theoretically none of the security measures would ever matter - but such is a very rare case for regular users, and anyone who do it would (or should) know the risk well already.
> 2 votes

# Answer
You are likely looking at an incorrect assumption that you can exhaust all possible combinations uninterrupted, in a short period of time.

Which is incorrect because after 5 failed attempts, you are barred from entering PIN / password and a pause of 30 seconds is introduced before you try again or you would need to reset your phone to be able to use a new PIN. I am not sure how one plus implements this and may vary a little bit that's the standard expected behaviour called *rate limiting*. See my answers here and here

*Note* This answer was before the question was edited and Andy Yan's answer deals with çhanges made to question
> 1 votes

---
Tags: security, encryption, oneplus-one, disk-encryption
---


title: Connect android emulator to lan

text:
# Question
Title: Connect android emulator to lan
I try, to connect my android emulator (from sdk) to the lan via a network bridge and a tap interface and with the -qemu option. I need it to use multicast addresse in native library code for communication with IoT devices connected to the lan.

But depending the image version an achitecture (x86 or ARM) I have different behaviours.

For ARM image (Android 7.1.1 armeabi-v7a) the bridge work perfectly. Dhcp client work automaticly after boot time. I can ping the lan gateway, google ... and the multicasting work. But the nic add to the emulator is not present via ip link or ifconfig, it is hidden, and default route is not present !! strange thing. The emulator is no pingable from the outside.

For X86 image (Android 7.1.1 google\_apis/x86), the bridge work perfectly. Dhcp client work and the guest nic is configured. I can ping the lan gateway, google ..., the multicasting work, and the nic is visible (eth1). But to ping the gateway or other host, I must use ping -I to specify the nic interface, the emulator use slirp network and it is not pingable from the outside.

It is possible to make the emulator pingable from the outside ?

It is possible to use ping in x86 emulator without to use -I option for ping ?

It is possible to see the network nic attach in the ARM emulator ?

thank for your help.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I think that if you add the IP of the server on you LAN network that will allow you to access it from the emulator. So a fight with iptables is required in your case

useful links https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-networking.html

and there is a hole bunch of documentation of how to redirect network traffic to a new IP address using iptables

Good luck i hope my answer was useful!

---
Tags: networking, android-emulator
---


# Question
Title: Schedule automatic updates - not from Google Play?
I don't use Google Play with my Android-based phone; mostly I use APKPure and its app.

However, I do want to be able to schedule periodic updates of all apps (or of some apps) - instead of me having to manually approve app update downloads and/op individual app update installation. It could be via APKPure or anywhere else that's sort of respectable, I don't mind - but it can't require something like logging into to Google/Facebook/etc.

Is this achievable?

Notes:

* In case it matters - I use Xiaomi RedMi 3s, Android 6.0.1, MIUI 9.2.2.
* I'd rather not have to root my device in order to do this. If you think I must, please explain why.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try APK updater , also available on F-droid ( if you add Izzy's repo) and is meant for cases like yours where you are not using Play store.

> Update sources At the moment four sources are supported:
>
> * APKMirror
> * Google Play
> * APKPure
> * Uptodown

You can schedule daily or weekly updates, time of update and update on startup

**Edit:** It requires root permissions to update all. You can download the updates for apps you want to update by *ignore* others, followed by clicking the blue circle icon and install them.

You would need to give permissions to install from external sources. In screenshot below , I updated a single app "aSpotcat" which shows "installed" and other apps showing "Install"

Not an ideal solution for auto updates since it requires manual intervention if device is not rooted

---
Tags: updates, apk, application-autoupdate
---


# Question
Title: Installing an app from Play Store using the command line
Is it possible to install an app from Play Store using the command line and if yes, how?

What I am trying to accomplish is something similar to using **adb install file.apk** but instead of an apk file the target would be a package name of a Play Store app (for e.g. **adb install com.spotify.mobile.android.ui**).

Is something like this possible?

# Answer
**Short Answer** : No.

## Long Answer :

`adb install` is a "shortcut" that is equivalent to open a shell (using `adb shell`) and type `pm install`. `pm`stand for **package-manager** and his behaviour is the same as other package manager in other Linux distributions (like `aptitude` in Debian or `pacman`in Arch Linux) except that `pm` doesn't fetch package from a distant location.

The Play Store is an application like others, and we can't call android applications like we call a program like a *C* or "normal" *Java* program, because the `.apk` file isn't actually a binary, but a simply *zipped* package. It is the **Dalvik Virtual Machine** (sort of equivalent to the *Java VM*) that deals with running applications. The Play Store application simply download the application you want and then run `pm install` on the package downloaded.
> 8 votes

# Answer
I was looking for the same answer, i can't find a single command to do this, but i found few options that could be useful in such cases:

**A.** download the .apk to your computer and install the apk from it (just google 'apk downloder' and find one suitable for you):

```
adb install com.myapp.apk

```

**B.** open playstore app from adb and point it to your package, this will look like this:

```
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d 'market://details?id=com.myapp'

```

(i'm sure it can be automated to simulate the neccesarry clicks and install the app, but this requires much more work)

none are as easy as just installing from computer cmd, but that what we have now.
> 17 votes

# Answer
One way to achieve what you want (at least partially) is to use

```
 pm install -i "com.android.vending" -r "path to apk"

```

In the adb shell. That way, though the app is side loaded, it will appear to have been installed from play store.
> 2 votes

# Answer
If you know the x and y coordinates for the install and accept buttons you can run the following after starting market pointing to app like Ohad Cohen stated

adb shell input touchscreen tap x y - x and y coordinates for install button with space inbetween

pause for a second or 2 then run

adb shell input touchscreen tap x y - x and y coordinates for accept button with space inbetween

then close play store adb shell am force-stop com.android.vending
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, google-play-store, installation, command-line
---


# Question
Title: Salvaging Google Authenticator data from water damaged LG G5
I have an LG G5 that has water damage as well as a cracked screen. There is no guarantee that the water damage can be fixed. However, I have an app called Google Authenticator on that phone, and I need to transfer the app to my new phone that I will get.

I am thinking of getting a new LG G5, and I will use the same google account, would it then be possible to get my google authenticator app on the new phone aswell?

Is there anyway to get my google authenticator from 1 phone to the other?

# Answer
> 0 votes
It would help if your question was more specific as to what services you authenticate with through Google Authenticator. Most services require you to have at least one "fallback method", normally something like a one-time code, or sending an SMS instead (Google has both of these, and more).

If you have a valid fall-back method, it is vastly easier to disable/re-enable this functionality instead of salvaging the app and its contents.

Furthermore, even if you could salvage the app contents, Google Authenticator has protections against migration between phones. This is a security feature of that specific app. If you don't like this (like me), you can use another app, for example Authy which syncs your 2FA-keys in the cloud.

In short, my recommendation is that you investigate resetting your 2FA instead, and if you wish, sync your keys with a cloud solution this time instead, to avoid this happening in the future.

---
Tags: broken-screen, google-authenticator, water-damage
---


# Question
Title: How can i cofigure a sabai router using a samsung s tablet
Would like to cofigure router settings IP etc but dont have adevice with a LAN connection with me -only my tablet. Is there any way to do this easily or do l wait? Thanks

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can either connect to the router via WLAN connection or directory via cable i.e LAN with your Samsung tablet

Open a web browser e.g Chrome and enter `192.168.199.1` in the address bar. (Login is admin/sabaipass123.)

You can configure desired settings from this page;

* Navigate to Settings → Static IP
* Edit accordingly

Get more instructions from the Sabai support page

---
Tags: applications, router
---


# Question
Title: System control take over by whatsapp media playback or a call
For some reason, as I activate media playback in WhatsApp or hold a call there, mobile phone controls are deactivated and the screen is blacked out until the playback, or the call ends.

This is a very unpleasant behaviour, how to deal with it? This happens also with a full charge; first I thought this would be some energy saving trick but it seems not.

**It is not even possible to regulate the audio volume during that.**

* On video playback this does not happen.
* I do not touch the proximity sensor on audio playback.

Device: Sony E6653. Androis OS 7.1.1, Kernel 3.10.84, build number 32.3.A.1.54

# Answer
> 2 votes
The problem you are describing, is a result of a faulty proximity sensor.

What's supposed to happen is, when you listen to voice note or make a call, the screen will stay on, but as soon as you put the phone to your ear, the screen turns off. When the sensor is broken, it thinks that the phone is always by your ear.

One way to get around this, is by using an app called macrodroid.

You can set it in a way, that when the proximity sensor is activated while in WhatsApp, the screen will stay on.

Here are the few simple steps to set this up:

1. Open macrodroid → *add makro → sensors → proximity sensor → near → ok*. Now press on proximity sensor and add each of the options separately.
2. Press on *actions* on the top of the screen → *screen → screen on/off → screen on (alternative) → ok*
3. Constraints → device state → application running → running in foreground → ok → WhatsApp → ok. ↠ application running → alive in background → WhatsApp → ok.
4. Now press on the check mark on the bottom, and give a name to this action.
5. From the main page of the app, press in macros, and after pressing on the one you just made, near constraints, press on *and* and change it to *or*. You should see the exact settings as I have below:

Now test this out. Go into WhatsApp and make a call. The screen will stay in during the call.

**Note:**

1. The screen will stay an as long as WhatsApp is running, and it will disregard the set sleep time. It will also stay on while not in WhatsApp, as long as WhatsApp is running in the background. If that happens, you can go into your recent apps, and swipe WhatsApp away.
2. I tested this in s galaxy s5. No guarantee that it works across all phones.

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, audio
---


# Question
Title: How to manage settings on an Android device remotely
I need to manage an Android device remotely. It is a tablet running Android 6.0 used by an elderly person, which alters the setting from time to time. (Or maybe the person does, who knows). I live very far away and need to manage this device remotely. \- check if WiFi is on and if not, turn Wifi on (already found an app for that) \- check if the location service is on and if not, turn it on \- restore the default launcher \- restore the Default keyboard

The device uses a slow mobile connection, so remote-desktoop as VNC/Temviewer is a no-go. Despite that, I do not want to manage the device over remote desktop, i only need to check the settings and alter them remotely.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There is an application called Tasker. Which can be bit difficult to work with for you, if you're not familiar with it. but it's worth learning for your use case. You can make profiles which will get triggered when particular conditions are met. For example, you can start the wifi or turn your phone into silent mode when it's within 100mts of your home, or you can change the default launcher according to your needs in the question. Here you can find basic tutorial for Tasker, which can help you learn more about it. For your particular use case I found some profiles which can help you,

1) Restore Default Launcher

2) Restore Default Keyboard

3) These are other profiles, you can look into.

Since you can not root your tablet, these are the use cases for the profiles you can use/create without root. (These are just for your knowledge, because Tasker can do lots of stuffs even without root. Which can come handy in some other scenario you want to use in future)

**Some ADB Commands I found which can help you**,

1) Change the default Keyboard using ADB

2) Enable Location services On or off

**To connect using ADB remotely, This answer can help you**

The answers in the question above is not using adb shell su, so I'm assuming it will work on non rooted phones aswell (You already found answer for other use cases you mentioned in your question, So hopefully this solves your question).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Have you tried airdroid https://www.airdroid.com/ but it does not give you full access to the tablet settings to get that you need something like https://www.logmein.com/ i think it will work with a slow internet connection

I hope my answer was helpful

---
Tags: settings, remote-control, default-applications, remote-access
---


title: How to delete Alcatel File Manager?

text:
# Question
Title: How to delete Alcatel File Manager?
I have an Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 model 60451 running Android 6.0.1 and it updated a few days ago turning File Manager into adware that would reinstall itself no matter what I did. I tried everything I could find on the internet, including from Is this "Boost" / File Manager app a true system app or malware?.

I did as suggested and stopped auto-updates in Google Play. The only difference was that Google Play wasn't showing any apps when I clicked there. But I still was able to select no auto-updates in settings in Google Play. It hasn't reinstalled again for a while, but it's back. It's beginning to look like a factory reset is in order and then doesn't allow any more updates.

Finally, I did a full factory reset after stopping all updates on Google Play and the automatic restore on the phone and it not only appears again, it has another toolbar with it. Actually I did this 4 different times, all the while stopping everything that could be stopped. Finally, I closed down my Google account entirely and then did a factory reset. The result, it's back. File Manager comes with the phone but until an update last week it was unobtrusive.

I have never downloaded it deliberately or rooted my phone or downloaded an APK file or anything other than Google Play apps. I have been working on this for the past several days (obsession) and don't find any way to get rid of this.

Is it possible to delete Alcatel File Manager completely?

# Answer
I just found a post that said, "This issue is there in most of the cheap Chinese phones and tablets. These phones have a pre-installed trojan program which cannot be removed from the phone."

They suggested NoRoot Firewall (available at Google Play) and it really stops programs from using the internet without your permission. It stopped File Manager as well as OfficeSuite (which I had previously uninstalled) from internet access. Now File Manager cannot reinstall itself. Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed.
> 1 votes

# Answer
In Settings - Apps - File Manager delete the updates of this app. This will revert the app to the initial version.

If you don't want to use the app anymore (which would be my advise since Alcatel File Manager is not so great), disable it completely.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I had the same problem with file manager as well as joy launcher. I read something that worked for me. Turn off your Wi-Fi and your mobile data. Then Settings \> apps \> file manager \> click on the three dots at upper right \> Uninstall updates. This finally worked for me. I chose Google Now Launcher as my replacement launcher which I installed from Google Play Store before beginning this process.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: file-management, delete, bloatware
---


title: AFWALL+ doesn't block apps when on WiFi

text:
# Question
Title: AFWALL+ doesn't block apps when on WiFi
I'm currently running AfWall+ on LineageOS (Android 7.1.2) and seem to have a problem with this app. When I'm on WiFi it doesn't stop anything it's supposed to (works just fine on mobile). Can someone please advice what cold be the problem?

# Answer
I came across your question because I had the same problem, and I just figured it out (although it might be a different cause in your case).

**Details of my case** (to see if it applies):
I'm also on 7.1.2 (LineageOS 14.1), and I'm using a VPN with AFWall+ v2.9.8. AFWall+ is supposed to only allow connections through the VPN. It's actually been working fine for a while, but it suddenly started allowing connections through my WiFi even when the VPN was off (it still worked properly on mobile data).

I eventually came to the conclusion that this was caused by the fact that my ISP provider started switching to IPv6, and it seems that AFWall+ doesn't support IPv6 by default (by that, I mean it doesn't apply the rules to IPv6 traffic). This is, of course, a wild guess, because I couldn't find any manual for it that explains the details of the slightly cryptic/confusing settings (e.g., not sure what the "Only Control IPv6 Chains" option means and why it is mutually exclusive with the "IPv6 support option).

**Solution**:
Having said all that, the solution that worked for me was to go to Preferences \> Rules/Connectivity and under "IPv6 Chains", **check the option for IPv6 support** ("Enable support for IPv6").

When I applied the firewall rules after doing this, it applied twice as many rules as it was before I enabled IPv6 support. This is what led me to believe that previously, it was only applying my rules to IPv4 traffic, while now, it's applying my rules to IPv4 *and* IPv6 traffic (hence, twice as many rules).

Of course, even if I'm unclear on the AFWall+ settings, the main reason I believe this is the cause/solution is that everything works as expected now!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: lineageos, firewall
---


title: Change default music app to Spotify

text:
# Question
Title: Change default music app to Spotify
Whenever I use Spotify over bluetooth and try to use my car's controls it, simply pauses the Spotify music and launches the default music player. The Spotify music plays just fine, however, when there comes input from the Bluetooth, it pauses and starts the default music player.

Spotify is not listed in Settings -\> Apps -\> Default Apps -\> Music, only Google Play Music and the default music player is listed on my Huawei P7. I've tried using several softwares including Default App Manager, Better Open With, A2DP Volume and Bluetooth Connect and Play - however none work.

It would seem like when I click on the car's input it transmits it to the phone over BT, however, since the default music player is the default player it starts that app instead of Spotify.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can ask Google Assistant to "change the song". It works perfectly. Start a random song on Spotify. Say "Ok Google" and wait for Assistant to pop up. Say "Play the next song" And she does it. Works like a charm, as long as your phone's microphone works properly.

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, bluetooth, huawei, spotify
---


# Question
Title: How can I check the commit message of AOSP
There is a bug in Android 4.3 and it is said to have been fixed in Android 4.4.

How can I know how it is fixed?

https://issuetracker.google.com/u/1/issues/36985755

Update 2018/03/01:

I searched with the keyword "mCurMethod" in gerrit and seems to find the related changes to fix it.

It is the commit. https://android-review.googlesource.com/c/platform/frameworks/base/+/68103

But IMHO, it is not merged into master because of merge conflicts.

How do we know how AOSP fixes it?

Git log in framework/base seems a lot of commit and is hard to locate the specific commit.

# Answer
The Google Issuetracker offers an easy way to know the status of an issue: the sidebar.

Like any other issue tracking software, there are many different statuses an issue can be in.
To help clarify the status even more, there is a switch that tells whether or not an issue has been resolved and the changes are in "production" (ie. the current codebase of the project)

For your specific issue, the status is as follows:

```
Status
Won't Fix (Obsolete)
...
In Prod
(off)

```

This means that the issue hasn't been solved and will never be solved. It's probably not an issue anymore.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 4.4-kitkat, 4.3-jelly-bean, aosp
---


# Question
Title: Unlock android pattern after changing Gmail Password
My little brother had put a pattern lock on my old phone. I can't lose any data from that phone as It has many important contacts in it. so I'm not going for a factory reset. I had recently changed my password of my gmail account. Now I cannot access my phone through that gmail account. What can I do? The phone is Samsung Galaxy y with android 2.3.5.

# Answer
On older Android devices, if you lock your phone using Google's *find my device* you'll be able to choose a new password, and you'll then be able to access your phone.

Go to android.com/devicemanager enter your email address and password. Now, press on *lock*. You will now see an option to put in a password to lock your phone with. After filling it out and pressing *lock*, You should be able to unlock your device with the password you chose.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: recovery-mode, 2.3-gingerbread, pattern-lock, samsung-galaxy-y, google-account
---


# Question
Title: How does antivirus find the files accessed by an application without root access?
I haven't rooted my mobile phone, but an antivirus is running. Without rooting, how will the antivirus come to know about the files accessed by an application?

Normally, in Linux distributions, it can be found from `/proc/"p-id"/fd`, but in Android root privileges are required to access that folder, although it is not the case in normal Linux distributions. So, without rooting, how does the antivirus come to know about the files accessed by an application? Is there any other way other than accessing `/proc/"p-id"/fd`?

# Answer
> 1 votes
It's simple - It doesn't. Antivirus on android has very limited access. It can't check what the given app is doing. It's not very useful. It may warn you if it finds something suspicious on sdcard/externalsdcard or one of your installed apps is in their database marked as bad. It can't scan the app data files, it can't scan the main system, so it's pretty pointless to use it.

# Answer
> -1 votes
Anti-virus programs run in sandbox mode like every other application. They can access your storage. And they can also scan installed apps because apk are like zip files.

---
Tags: root-access, file-system, antivirus
---


title: What is MTK Logger?

text:
# Question
Title: What is MTK Logger?
At the moment I am using an alcatel One Touch Pixi. I'm currently deleting apps that I don't use and found MTK Logger.

What is the MTK Logger app and what it is used for?

# Answer
> 4 votes
MTK Logger saves all events (from other apps or hardware like connecting to charge) to SD card files as text. It takes a lot of space.

To turn it off, find a file configuration `mtklog-config.prop` in `/etc` folder and edit the value from `true` to `false`.

# Answer
> 1 votes
MTK Logger only records the user actions performed. For example, if you've opened the camera, a text file will be saved in MTKLogger having information about that particular action.

The MTKLogger file size in my Lenovo K8 was exactly 11.35GB. I just performed the clean operation using SHAREit's CLEANit option and it is safe to delete as this doesn't affect any of your data.

# Answer
> 0 votes
To delete MTKLogger:

1. Run file manager app, file directory will be shown
2. Search through the tablet directory for the `mtklog` directory
3. Highlight `mtklog`
4. Delete by selecting the dustbin icon

# Answer
> -2 votes
It steals your information. Should be removed

---
Tags: default-applications
---


# Question
Title: App doesn't access GPS location directly
There's a strange situation with Citymapper, where it doesn't access GPS location directly, but it does if a different app is accessing location at the same time. This hasn't always been the case, but I'm not sure exactly when it started (so, can't say if it's because of a certain update etc.).

**Problem details**:

* I'm using Citymapper 6.23 on LineageOS 14.1.
* The Location permission is for Citymapper is turned on
* "Location mode" is set to "Device only" (i.e., GPS only), although I've tried turning "High accuracy" on to test, and it doesn't fix the problem.
* I have Privacy Guard enabled on Citymapper, but access to location is allowed, and as before, disabling Privacy Guard for Citymapper doesn't fix the problem.

Citymapper "thinks" it's accessing location, but it's not: I say this because when I disable the location marker for the device (screenshot below), Citymapper complains that "Your location is disabled".

When location is on, Citymapper doesn't complain (so, it thinks it's working), but I know it's not accessing the location for three reasons:

1. the location Citymapper shows is incorrect (it shows the last "known" location -- see below for details)
2. the location marker doesn't appear at the top of the screen as it would when an app is using geolocation
3. in the system settings \> Location, "Recent location requests" are shown, but Citymapper is not on that list.

Further to this, Privacy Guard reports that "Fine location" is being accessed by Citymapper every time I use the app, but it says that GPS was last accessed on 26 December 2017 (Privacy Guard controls separately access to "GPS", "Coarse location" and "Fine location").

**Indirect access**:

The weirdest part is that when I open a different application that uses geolocation (in this case, MapFactor Navigator) and the location marker does show up at the top of the screen, the correct location does show up in Citymapper as well (this is my current workaround, and this is how Citymapper gets the last known location I mentioned above).

What could be causing this, and how could I go about fixing it? As I've mentioned, it used to work but started having this problem a while back (perhaps around the 26th of December, since that was the last GPS access). I haven't seen this with other apps, but then again, I don't have a lot of apps with location access.

**System details**:

* Device: Samsung Galaxy S5 Duos (SM-G900FD)
* OS: LineageOS 14.1
* Android version: 7.1.2
* The phone is rooted with SuperSU.

Note: There's no "Citymapper" tag (and I'm a newbie), so I used the generic "applications" tag. Maybe a senior user can fix this.

# Answer
Android Engineer at Citymapper here!

The issue you're describing sounds quite similar to one we fixed recently. So I would recommend updating to the latest version of the app. The current version in the Play Store as of writing is 7.1.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, gps, lineageos, geolocation, location-services
---


# Question
Title: When I uninstall WhatsApp from Android device, would my chats'/msgs' data stay on device?
so i made this stupid mistake of uninstalling whatsapp then giving away my phone without resting it to factory settings, so the other person now have my device, could he by a way or another retrieve my uninstalled whatsapp data? In other words, when we uninstall whatsapp, does all the data related to our whatsapp msgs and chats get deleted or do they stay in some form that could be retrieved? I don't know the guy very well so i don't trust him and i'd really appreciate to know what's what so maybe i could make a plan. Thank you.

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are two separate issues

* Factory reset was not done , so it's technically possible to retrieve data but this would involve sophisticated methods *not* in the reach of an average person
* As far as WhatsApp is concerned , when you uninstall , the data is not accessible even on installing again since you need to authenticate the telephone number , which I presume it s with you. WhatsApp database is encrypted making it more difficult to retrieve messages but your WhatsApp *pictures, videos and audio* can be accessed

IMO, unless the other person is very savvy technically, it's not a cause for concern but then in future do remember to *encrypt your device and factory reset* to ensure that others cannot access your private data

# Answer
> 1 votes
His gonna dowload his own WhatsApp then put in his own number,the back up of his WhatsApp will appear not yours,remember before going into WhatsApp after downloading it requires you to confirm your number,he cannot do that with someone else's number only his,so do not worry your WhatsApp info is safe and sound,they backed up on cloud somewhere,waiting for the rightful owner and his unique number.

---
Tags: security, whatsapp-messenger, data-recovery, restore
---


# Question
Title: Why am I getting a red tint in the lock screen in Oreo 8.1/Nexus 5X?
I just updated to Oreo 8.1 from 8.0 and I notice that the lock screen has the same image as before, but with a red tint over it, like a layer of pure red with opacity 20% had been overlaid on top of it.

I never got that in 8.0 or earlier.

I thought it was due to a certificate from AdGuard and the resulting "Your network may be monitored", so I uninstalled the certificate, but the warning disappeared while the tint stayed (I have to say I haven't rebooted the phone without certificate).

I didn't change any setting about system colours, and in fact the rest of the apps and system show the usual colours, only the lock screen changed.

What are the possible causes of the red tint in the lockscreen in Oreo 8.1?

# Answer
Google support says that the tint is based on the colour of wall paper and there is no way turn it off. That's for Pixel phones and perhaps same applies for yours

> Like you said the color tints are based on your wallpaper. I've found it typically does a nice job with this sorry you don't like it. There is not a way to turn this off.

**Edit** The colour tint applies to lockscreen too going by Android Police blog

> Lock screen
>
> It looks like the lock screen does this as well. However, the effect is even more subtle there.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: lock-screens, user-interface, color, 8.1-oreo
---


# Question
Title: Android virtual keyboard (Rugby Pro) types j when I press g (and other keyboard mismaps)
This description is bad but I have been struggling with finding the right words. I searched SE for "android virtual keyboard loses touch mapping" and nothing that looked right came back.

1. Have a Galaxy Rugby Pro with Android 4.2 stock. Using standard Samsung keyboard app with occasional Google Voice.
2. Every three months or so, my Android phone virtual keyboard seems to lose its mappings.
3. Meaning, when I type a g, the keyboard actually registers a j. Same with other keys, usually in the central row but also has included backspace, space bar.
4. This only happens in the keyboard that comes up in portrait mode for messaging and Facebook, etc. Does not happen in landscape (which I don't use much, unless the problems with portrait are significantly hampering me).
5. I've tried app manager/samsung keyboard/reset keyboard. No luck.
6. The only thing that works for me is to reset the phone completely with a factory reset.
7. That always fixes it, but reinstalling apps, redoing logins, etc is a PITA. I don't think backups are the answer because reinstalling would just reinstall the bad keyboard mapping.

## So, two questions

A. Is there any way I can prevent the problem from happening without doing a full phone reset?

B. What terms should I use in googling this problem? "Android keyboard mapping" just leads me to links about, well, keyboard mapper apps. "android keyboard wrong letters" brings me to the link about the factory reset and other not-useful items about installing non-english keyboard layouts, which is not my issue.

# Answer
# *For a fix*

1. Open settings\>apps
2. Go the all tab, swipe left 2x's
3. Scroll down to Samsung Keyboard and tap it
4. Tap on force close, then ok
5. Tap on clear cache
6. Tap on clear data, then ok

Problem should be fixed!!!

# *Google search keywords*

*galaxy rugby keyboard typing wrong letters*
> 3 votes

# Answer
My Android Rii keyboard started to play up and I tried changing the settings and clearing the cache and data but still got the wrong characters. I found the Multilingual Keymap Redefiner app and remapped the failing keys. I couldn't download it from the Play Store in the UK so had to search for the apk and download and install manually but works a treat.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: keyboard
---


# Question
Title: Android phone animations have stop working
As title suggests it is a very strange problem I am facing. My phone has stopped showing usual animations instead it just gives jerk effects, or freezes,

**1) for example the traditional google play store animations when you click on any apps,**

**2) another example is of loading bars, which just freezes and doesn't perform its regular animation.**

I have attached small video files to make this more clear with both aforementioned examples.

Another examples to support this are in my android applications which I develop, none of the progress bars or animations work. All loaders just freezes like mentioned in the videos, I use some reveal animation libraries and fancy loaders libraries as well and their animations also don't work.

I checked to see the settings whether I messed up any settings or not but could not find it. Can anyone help me make solution out of this. My model is **samsung S5 neo running Android 7.0**.

Thank you in advance.

# Answer
The animation scale options are turned off in developer options and by turning it on it works as expected..
> 4 votes

---
Tags: applications, samsung, 7.0-nougat, samsung-galaxy-s-5
---


# Question
Title: How to Check if Script is run once device is booted?
I have a script I need to run once, and only once the phone is booted.

I have attempted init.qcom.post\_boot.sh, init.sec.boot.sh, debuggerd, and finally mkshrc

While my script ran with debuggerd, I found that it ran every time debuggerd ran, which is not something I need to happen... thus when I stumbled upon `/system/etc/mkshrc` (the other 2 simply did not work)

What I found was, the script runs that one time, on boot... however, it also seems to run every time `adb shell` runs, along with (I assume) everytime shell is fired up... which is also undersireable.

So, what can I do in `/system/etc/mkshrc` to ensure my call to my script runs only the one time... at boot?

I thought about running a `while` loop to check for the `getprop sys.boot_completed` if it `==` 1 then dump a file somewhere, and through an `if` statement inside the looop to check for that file, if exists then exit, if not then run the next command... however, everywhere I am allowed to dump that file, it persists between boots, so that `next command` never runs again.

**NOTE** Does not need root to do this, nor does my script need root to run (yes, I have confirmed)

**CODE**

```
BB=/system/xbin/busybox
MYPID=/mnt/sdcard/.kev-run

while [ `getprop init.svc.bootanim` == "stopped" ] ; do
    # if the run file does not exist, and we are stopped
    if [ ! -e $MYPID ]; then
        # run the scripts, then create the run file
        LOG=/mnt/sdcard/Download/kevs-scripts.log
        $BB rm -f $LOG;
        $BB echo "Launching Kevs Scripts" >> $LOG;
        MY_SCRIPT
        # write the run file so we aren't running this everytime this file runs
        touch $MYPID;
        sleep 1;
    fi
done

# if we are still booting, delete the run file
while [ `getprop init.svc.bootanim` != "stopped" ] ; do
    # we're not done booting, remove our makeshift pid file and sleep a second
    $BB rm -f $MYPID;
    sleep 1;
done

```

Seems to be off to me

# Answer
> 1 votes
`mkshrc` is by definition run every time an **interactive** shell is started, so it’s the wrong place.

You really should hook up your script with Android’s init system instead. (Sorry, I can’t give details on how to do that; I don’t know the Android ecosystem well, I’m just `mksh`’s developer.)

Writing to a file in `tmpfs` (so it’s auto-removed on poweroff) is usually a good approach for a script to run only once. However, I’d be surprised if Android’s init system wouldn’t provide such a facility; it’s the ideal tool for your job.

---
Tags: 7.0-nougat, shell, scripts, mksh
---


# Question
Title: Does the IR Blaster on an Android phone receive as well as send?
Is the IR Blaster communication two-way or only one-way? I have seen many remote control apps for my Android phone but none that learn from an existing remote.

# Answer
> 1 votes
***`For transmitting, a single Infrared LED and resistor are needed. For receiving, an IR receiver module with internal bandpass filter is needed.`***

There are remotes that will send and receive. Universal remotes will sometimes have a "learning mode" to mimic another remote. An example of this at the bottom of my answer.

**But a receiving IR isn't a standard feature on Android devices**, as of this answer I haven't heard of or have found any online of that can. But with a PC program and Android app you can mimic remotes. The link below is one such program.

Unified Remote. There is a free version and a paid version with more features.

The link is just for the feature list of the app. There is a server (PC) side as well as Android side.The amount of remotes that you can map over to your device is staggering, I think you can even design your own remotes. By using one of the remote templates, your device is effectively "learning/receiving" the other remotes codes (you don't even have to have another remote physically there). You would still be accomplishing your goal.

---

**example**

*I had a Yamaha Natural Sound home theater receiver and the remote had a **"Learn Mode"**. So you switch it to learn, place the "other" remote in front of it. Press the button on "other" remote, then press a button on the Yamaha remote that you want that command mapped to. You now have control of the other devices functions. You can also clear mapped button commands and enter new ones as needed.*

# Answer
> 0 votes
My Honor 8 pro both sends and receives infrared signals. Its remote control app has learn feature and a special app(I don't remember the name) allows me to connect to old Nokia devices via infrared to transfer files.

---
Tags: device-firmware
---


# Question
Title: How does blackberry security features differ from standard android?
How does the security features differ from standard android phones? Is the only difference the apps that can be just as well installed on a standard android phone in the play store or are there some additional layers?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Well, it depends on what you mean by "standard Android". There are some non-exclusive features and some special.

* BlackBerry provides monthly security updates. This is not exclusive, for example Google and Nokia provide security updates, too. Some other vendors provide regular updates for a subset of their portfolio. Maybe some of them are even faster than BlackBerry. But BlackBerry phones are still much better than average there, because many vendors completely ignore security updates.
* BlackBerry also provides state-of-the-art security features like verified boot, downgrade prevention, encrypted filesystem and so on. I am not sure about others in the industry, but at least, BlackBerry is likely not worse than others. I believe that some of those are now requirements and some are done voluntarily, so I guess BlackBerry is slightly above average there.
* BlackBerry has also some visible exclusive feature: DTEK. Please don't confuse DTEK app with DTEK phones, BlackBerry makes some mess in naming. DTEK is some security suite that contains not only a security checklist (that might advise you, for example, to require PIN for boot), but also allows you to manage permissions of all the apps (and revoke them even for pre-Marshmallow apps) and watch their usage (e.g., find apps frequently accessing location in background, or even be notified when some app accesses location in background). Of course, this is not just for location, one might be also concerned about other permissions.
* AFAIR, BlackBerry has performed some kernel hardening, but I don't remember details.

Overall, BlackBerry seems to be **a** reasonable choice if you want a reasonably secure Android phone. It is **not the only** reasonable choice, as there are some other choices that might be good, too.

---
Tags: security, blackberry
---


# Question
Title: How to get a rid from "Warning: Camera failed" error?
I have a Samsung Galaxy J7. It's camera was destroyed by an accident. So everytime I open camera, snapchat etc apps it shows "Warning: Camera failed". For a reason I need my phone to take at least a black screen on snapchat by clicking on the button. Is it possible to edit the rom to make the camera take at least a black screen instead of showing "Camera failed" and how?

# Answer
> -1 votes
How to fix “Unfortunately, Camera has stopped” error on Galaxy J7 Step 1: Reboot your device Step 2: Restart your J7 in safe mode Step 3: Clear the cache and data of the Camera app and other related apps Step 4: Factory reset your Galaxy J7

---
Tags: custom-roms, camera, rom, android-versions, stock-rom
---


# Question
Title: Adding a new account to my Samsung phone
I wanted to change account on my phone so I removed it from Accounts (it was the only google account on my device).

Now when I try to add a new account the Settings application is closes itself (force closes?). I've tried clearing the cache of all Google related apps and signing in to Google and Chrome apps.

# Answer
There might be a third party app that's in your way. Therefore, try adding the account while in safe mode. Because while you're in safe mode, all third party apps are disable, so they can't make any trouble.

To go into safe mode, turn your phone off, and then turn it back on while holding down on the volume down button. When the phone turns on, it will say **safe mode** on the bottom left of your screen.

Now try adding the account while in safe mode. Go to settings → accounts → and account → Google....
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-account, crashes
---


# Question
Title: USB Debugging: PC doesn't recognize that my Moto E (2nd Gen)(Upgraded to Marshmallow) in on debugging mode
So I'm trying to root my Moto E (2nd Gen) using PC apps such as Kingo Root, One Click Root etc. But the problem is that my PC doesn't recognize that my phone is in debugging mode. Moreover on my Android the following dialog box appears:

Please help me. I have installed the Android drivers on my PC.

# Answer
> The USB Mobile Monitor allows you to connect your Android mobile phone or tablet to your PC with a simple USB Cable. All that is required is the download of the **USB Mobile Monitor App** on your device and the installation of the USB Mobile Monitor software on your PC.
>
> The USB Mobile Monitor allows you to replace the keyboard, mouse and computer screen of your PC with a single device.

---

Source: http://www.usbmobilemonitor.com/home.html

This is a kind of built-in system shipped with your device I guess. So,I think you need to install the APK version to get this works. It can be found here. Then follow the usage on this page.

After that, try enabling USB Debugging again.

For the rooting part, follow this guide on XDA Developers.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Try factory resetting, then attempt a root with direct flashing through ADB. Probably would work better, and if you're rooting then you'll lose all your data anyway.

Cheers,

Neveraht.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Go to Settings → About phone, tap Build number field 7 times. You will begin seeing a message as you approach the 7 touches as shown below.

Ater that hit the back button and scroll down and enable usb debugging mode
> 0 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, rooting, usb-debugging, motorola-moto-e, android-pc
---


# Question
Title: Restore Firefox icon removed by mistake from the screen
I don't know how I did removed the firefox app icon from the main scren

How can I restore it?

My phone is using Android 5.1 and it is a TPLink Neffos C5

Edit: The icon is not present in the app drawer

But at the applications section

# Answer
As unusual, my phone does not support app drawer, but it comes with a feature named **Hidden apps**, the solution was:

1. Access **hidden apps** by doing a 2-finger swipe on the home screen.
2. Search for the firefox icon and add it to the **hidden apps**.
3. Close and reopen **hidden apps**.
4. Press edit and unselect the icon.

Now it should appear at the end of your screens.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 5.1-lollipop, home-screen, app-icons
---


# Question
Title: How to set default phone number for contacts?
USE CASE: When I do voice dialing with Google on my Android phone or more importantly text messaging it always asks which phone number I should use for the contact. That's really frustrating when I'm driving.

Is there a way to set a default so it just uses that one?

# Answer
Open up the Google Contacts app on Android. Go to the desired contact (do not edit the contact). Long press the phone number you want to set as the default number. You should get a pop-up dialog with Copy, Edit before calling, and (Tada!) Set default.

You can do the same thing with email addresses.

This works with the official Google Contacts app from the Google Play Store. If it doesn't work on your phone, make sure you are using the official app and not a phone vendor-supplied version (Samsung, LG, etc.)

This works in Contacts Version 6.01 that was installed on my phone by Motorola and Version 2.5.4... from the Play Store.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: google, voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: Able to open existing files, but cannot download any new ones (e.g., pictures from Chrome or camera app)
My (unrooted) Moto G4 currently has a 32Gb SD card formatted for internal storage. I can open files stored on the SD card (e.g., pictures, ebooks, etc.), so as far as I can tell the card itself is working fine. However, whenever I attempt to download a file in Chrome I get the following error: "download failed missing SD".

I thought this might be a problem with Chrome so I removed and reinstalled the app, but that didn't solve the problem. I also ejected the SD card, and then later remounted it, but I still got the same download error each time. It was at this point I realized that I can't save *any* new files to my phone. I can open old pictures, but I can't take a new one with my camera app. I can open old documents, but I can't save a new one in the Microsoft Word app. I even tried restarting in safe mode and I'm still having the same issue. The only thing I can download are new apps from the Google Play Store. Bizarrely, I can move apps from the SD card to phone storage, but not the other way around.

I've combed online forums and talked with Motorola tech support, but nothing has helped so far. Any help would be much appreciated.

# Answer
I finally managed to solve the problem. Although ejecting the card did not work, choosing "forget SD" in the storage options solved the problem immediately (fair warning to others, this did delete all data on the SD card). It seems that although I was able to access files on the SD card, it had still become corrupted.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: downloading, internal-sd, adoptable-storage
---


title: Why update the same time?

text:
# Question
Title: Why update the same time?
What I want to ask is usually android app not update but in someday those will have a tons of update and I can ensure that it is not my phone problem. So why apps usually update the same time ? Any reasonal explain for this ?

# Answer
> 1 votes
If I am interpreting your question properly, you are basically asking why sometimes you see many apps update all at once.

The answer is simple: it is more efficient to update many apps at once.

In Android, especially in Android N+, emphasis is placed on network and CPU performance and optimization when running tasks.

When a developer wants to run a background task, they can create a job and register it with the Android system to run under certain conditions. This creates a convenient way to run tasks in a batch, thus being more device resource friendly. Jobs that are enqueued by the system can kick off and run based on device conditions/properties, like: "when the device is charging" or "when the device is on an unmetered network".

Google Play, for example, queues up app updates when the device is on Wi-Fi networks or while plugged in. You can change the behavior of app updates in Settings.

This is why you will often see many apps update after plugging in your device or hopping onto you home Wi-Fi network.

---
Tags: applications
---


# Question
Title: Change locale system language via ADB in starting from Android 6.0
For manual UI testing purposes, on my **Android 6.0 & 7.0** devices, I use a shortcut to access language preferences via ADB, then choose one of the three languages **ar\_DZ, en\_GB, fr\_FR** manually

```
adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings\$LocalePickerActivity

```

**Question:** is is possible to automate the task of changing the system locale **(without root)** via ADB?

# Answer
*This solution doesn't use directly but meets the end result using automation on unrooted devices*

is preferred choice of for me, being simple and free up to 5 macros

**Preliminary Steps**

* Install Macrodroid and grant all permissions it asks for
* Actions desired by OP require root. Macrodroid offers a way to do it by **without root** using methods, explained here. In essence, it is granting `WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS` and `CHANGE_CONFIGURATION` by running the following commands

`adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS`

followed by

`adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION`

Reboot to ensure commands are updated in the app

**Creating Macros and Testing**

* Trigger : Select Empty Trigger
* Action : Set language → French → France ( corresponding to fr\_FR)
* Constraints : Leave blank
* Test it by selecting *Test Macro* from the 3 dots menu of the macro. The system language should change to French . *Save* the macro for example *French*. Create two similar macros for other two choices

**Creating Home Screen Shortcut**

Usually, if you long press the home screen, you will find the icon for widgets collection. Among them you will find Macrodroid widgets. One of them is **Macrodroid shortcuts**. Drag and drop that to your home screen , it will ask you which macro it should be assigned to , while displaying a list of Macros. Select the macro and rename the widget e.g., French. When you press on that widget corresponding macro is executed. Repeat for other Macros. If you are using a custom launcher you will need to search how to access the widgets collection

**Notes**

* Drop down menu selection for languages can be implemented but that would require another Macro. Besides this method of one desktop icon shortcut for each language keeps it simple and easier to debug
* This method **will not work** on Oreo (You do not get the *set language* action, maybe due to the way it is implemented)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, adb, shell, languages, locale
---


# Question
Title: Why do phones need an OTA update to support VoLTE for certain carriers but they work out of the box for other VoLTE carriers?
This is regarding **unlocked** phones sold from stores. A major carrier in my country depoloyed a VoLTE network and it worked even on custom ROMs with very minor problems. Now 2 other carriers are following suit but they had to work with phone manufacturers to release an OTA update so VoLTE would be supported by the phones on their network too. Isn't VoLTE a standardized protocol? Why do phones need updates for another VoLTE carrier even though the phone supports VoLTE in another carrier. Isn't it just a matter of changing APNs?

# Answer
VOLTE is a standard. And like all standards the devil lies in details of implementation. Carriers may choose different implementation for various reasons

Section 2.2.1 of PDF document here offers reasons as to why implementation differs and hence updates are needed

> ....VoLTE interoperability issues might be related to EPS bearer set up, proprietary simplification of SIP call flows, operator specific IP headers, different security configurations IPsec, AKA etc.

You have detailed technical reasons explained subsequently in the document
> 1 votes

---
Tags: ota-update, 4g, carriers
---


title: Can't start backup

text:
# Question
Title: Can't start backup
I'm trying to backup using `adb backup org.mozilla.firefox` on a Nokia 8 (with Android 8.0).

I get the screen where it asks for a password. There are two texts at the bottom "Cancel" and "Backup my Data". They look identical (i.e. it looks as if I can click either) but nothing happens when I press "Backup my Data". What is going on?

I also tried to enter a password but that doesn't help.

Same effect with `adb backup -apk org.mozilla.firefox`: in both cases, only an empty `backup.ab` file is created. To be sure, I've also included the `-f` option to explicitly specify an output file name – same effect, the file stays empty.

adb version 1.0.39.

# Answer
Mozilla disabled backups back in 2015, documented in Bugzilla.

Of course this causes a lot of trouble for people trying to get access to their own data.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: adb, backup, 8.0-oreo, nokia-8
---


# Question
Title: How can I access the Gmail contacts on an Android tablet?
I am helping a friend who has an Android tablet with an app for Gmail. Her mail contacts appear if she starts typing a name, but she wants to be able to go to Contacts and check off multiple people to send mail to. We cannot find any access to Gmail contacts without going through the browser to the full Gmail site.

# Answer
You can access to them through the "`Contact`" app of your tablet. If you do not see them at first sight, go to the parameters to select the contacts you want to show.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Syncing of Google Contacts must be enabled in the system settings in order to see them in the Contacts app. This can normally be found under `Settings > Accounts > Google > *YourEmail@gmail.com* > Sync Contacts`. Just make sure it is checked.
> 1 votes

# Answer
One way is also to open Google contacts preview interface in your browser.
> 0 votes

# Answer
In my Samsung Galaxy Tab E, I go to Apps, Then to Contacts. Really stupid and cumbersome, I know, but it is what it is.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: contacts, gmail
---


# Question
Title: What is the lowest version of Android that supports split screen apps?
I'm looking to get an Android tablet and I'd like it to support running two apps on the screen at a the same time; what is the earliest release of Android to support this?

# Answer
tl;dr. **Android 4x**

---

The basic Android framework has always allowed what you see on your screen to be drawn at almost any size, and the idea of having more than one view shown at a time was kicked around in more than one session at Google I/O 2011 as part of the "next-step" for Android Tablets on Honeycomb i.e **Android 3.x**.

source: Android 7.0: Multi-window for everyone

> Samsung is the pioneer in implementing this multi window mode feature. It made its **debut on Android with the Samsung Galaxy Note 2** all the way back in 2012, but it took a a while to make its way into stock Android (with Android Nougat version bringing native multi-window support, although the feature is somewhat hidden in Android Marshmallow as it still in beta phase).

Source: Android O feature spotlight: Multi-window apps now stay on the screen when you go to your homescreen, can be peeked into or maximized

---

Having emphasised that, several XDA developers, utilised the above described concept and took this idea into creating an **Xposed module** which would accomplish the task of producing the "Multi-Windows" to allow 2 or more applications to appear in windows on the same screen. So in short, there are workarounds to achieve this even on non Samsung devices or lower android versions than officially supported.

Since **Android 4.0** builds upon the significant changes made by the tablet-only release **Android Honeycomb**, the module (having borrowed similar concepts from Samsung's Multi-Window , Microsoft's Aero Snap and various other inputs). has confirmed support for devices running **Android 4.x+** and thus **effectively lowest version of Android that unofficially supports split screen apps** (but official for certain Samsung ROMs). **Otherwise official support for stock Android starts from Android 7**.

---

**So what's more about this module?**

**Xposed framework**: Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. It therefore means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too much). It's also easy to undo.

XHaloFloatingWindow: Is the module in discusion here that rings the multi- window feature to right about any **compatible** device on Android 4.x+.

**Compatibility**

Any ROM (ICS onwards) There are some exceptions e.g KitKat, Omni ROM, ROMs with ParanoidAndroid HALO etc

**Requirements** \- Xposed framework \- Root

Installation usage see here:

*Illustration of module multi window effects*

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Xposed or module thereof, but I use this Multi window module on my tablet device

**Note**

> While the code used to do things is a good bit different as an Android native feature, the basic concept remains and apps that use best practices in the code look and work the same, only smaller.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: operating-system, multitasking, multi-window
---


# Question
Title: Phone stuck on loading screen and recovery mode doesn't work
I have a Samsung Galaxy S1 with CyanogenMod, and I don't know what happened but when I turn on the phone it just stays on the loading screen, something like this:

It's just a black screen with that little loading icon in it (without animation) I tried running both recovery and downloading mode (Volume Up/Volume Down, Menu, Power) but nothing works.

There is another strange behaviour, sometimes it show me the "Downloading.... do not turn off target !!!" message. When it is in that screen, the PC does recognise the Samsung driver but I have no access to it, and Odin doesn't find the device.

Any advice please?

**UPDATE :** After charging it for few hours (wall) the phone now isn't stuck in the loading screen, instead it goes directly to "Download Mode" (Downloading ... Do not turn off Target !!!).

When I plug it to the PC, it installs a driver then a message (windows driver) "SAMSUNG USB Composite Device Ready to use". The bad new is that Odin doesn't recognize the device :/

I have Samsung Kies installed (a long time ago for my Samsung Wave Y), I also made sure that it's not working on background though. I have also installed the Samsung USB driver manually. I really don't know what to do next.

# Answer
> strange behavior, sometimes it show me the "Downloading.... do not turn off target !!!" message

In fact, this strange behavior **is** the downloading mode. If it's true, then I would suggest trying to re-install the driver for the phone and seeing whether Odin recognizes it.
> 0 votes

# Answer
It seems that you did not flash the ROM properly.

Reflash the ROM, and use CWM (ClockworkMod Recovery) for flashing.

Do not forget to wipe `/data`, `/cache`, `/system` and Dalvik-cache before flashing.
> 0 votes

# Answer
Alright so it's a common mistake... it's the old software running on the old android systems.. just take the battery out and let it sit for 10 minutes... put it back In let it reboot. Then restart the process.. it's also the overheating of the over working battery to keep up with the technology
> 0 votes

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Tags: samsung-galaxy-s, unbricking
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# Question
Title: What Kind Programming Language Used in File on /system/xbin?
i was explore file in xbin folder, then i found that the file is have strange language like this :

```
ELF(   4�Q4   (444  TTT�>�>�M�]�],�LNL^L^hhh88Q�tdpH1H11��R�td�M�]�],,/system/bin/linker

```

And every each file, always start with :

```
ELF

```

so what kind of program is this ? are those code has been compiled before ?

# Answer
You are looking at binary compiled file in the 'ELF' format.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable\_and\_Linkable\_Format

> Android uses ELF .so (shared object) libraries for the Java Native Interface. With Android Runtime (ART), the default since Android 5.0 "Lollipop", all applications are compiled into native ELF binaries on installation.

So that code could have been written in any number of languages.
> 1 votes

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Tags: file-system, linux, android-emulator
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