# Question
Title: Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 10.x
You may note the almost duplicate title from this question. It keeps coming up when trying to solve my current issue.

I created a little web app to help at work. Just some HTML and JavaScript, and before Android started enforcing the Scoped Storage, I had no issues using it. Now when I try to load the URL (ie: `file:///storage/emulated/0/__MyDocs/SignInTracker.html`) I get an access denied error.

I could use Firefox, but it seems to be because it's not yet using the Scoped Storage standard, which if I understand correctly, will be a requirement in the next Android version, so that means I cannot rely on it working in the future. Also, Firefox just doesn't run as nicely as Chrome.

Is there a proper way for a non-Android-developer to use a local web app like this? Is there perhaps a location on the phone where I can place my .html and .js files that will allow Chrome to access them without issues? At work, I'm not online or connected to anything, so loading from another server/computer is not an option.

For reference: My Chrome version is 79.0.3945.116, my Firefox version is 68.4.1, and my phone OS is Android 10; Pixel Build/QP1A.191005.007.A1.

# Answer
> 10 votes
You have 2 options:

* You can use a local web server in your Android phone itself. There are many server apps out there in the Play Store, one such app is Simple HTTP Server.
* You can put your documents into the folder `Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/` in the internal storage. It's absolute path is `/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/` or `/sdcard/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/`. This is the location where Chrome stores any downloaded files and therefore, this the only location where Chrome can access the files. But remember, uninstalling Chrome will delete this directory.

# Answer
> 5 votes
### For Android 11 \[One UI 3.1\]

Browsing local files (in internal storage space) in Chrome using `file:///sdcard/` or `file://localhost/sdcard/`, one can notice that *only media* files and subdirectories (if any) are listed in almost every folder *except* the "Download" folder (but not in its subfolders=subdirs).

This means that on Android 11, the folder from which Chrome can read *local* (m)HTML is `/Download` folder, not `Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download` in internal or external storage space like in Android 10.

NOTE: on my Samsung devices, downloads onto internal storage were saved into `/Download` folder in all versions of Android (9, 10, 11), but downloads on an external SD card changed their folder from `/storage/emulated/exSD_CARD/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download` in Android 10 to `/storage/emulated/exSD_CARD/Download` in Android 11, where `exSD_CARD` is the device's label for external SD card (`0123-4567` or `9C33-6BBD` in my devices)

Thus, (m)HTML files saved into `/Download` folder with Chrome (with .mhtml extension from older times or with manually added extension by renaming saved mhtml files without extension - from certain time Chrome stopped to append .mhtml extension to saved mhtml files :) on my devices, I guess from upgrading to Android 10)

This did *not* work for the mhtml files which have been *moved* to other folders and then returned to `/Download` folder. (And because of collecting saved mhtml files in many different folders, I have many mhtml files which are necessary to copy/move back to `/Download` folder prior to opening but they still cannot be opened)

### Notes about opening mhtml files

I need to use Total Commander's "Open with" functionality with `file://url` option checked, then choose Chrome in order to open (mhtml) file with Chrome (with `file://url` checked, the Chrome is in the list to choose from, with `file://url` option unchecked, it is not listed in the list) or to browse local files in internal storage directly in Chrome (file manager My Files provided with the device was unusable to choose mhtml files to be opened with Chrome)

(mhtml) files from `/Download` folder opened in this way are opened as offline versions of downloaded web pages - but only if the file was not moved and returned back to `/Download` folder, otherwise you get Access Denied message. Also, opening (mhtml) files in this way using Total Commander, but from other folders than `/Download` folder, leads to Access Denied message

Opening mhtml files from any folder using Total Commander, but with `file://url` option *unchecked* (in this case, the Chrome is not in 1st list, so you need to choose "Open with \*" option with folder icon from the list and subsequently choose Chrome from next list) behaves differently. Opening in such a way leads not to successful opening or Access Denied message but to Save as Dialog Form in which one can choose also if the resaved mhtml file should be saved to internal storage or external SD card (if present). In this way, *resaved* mhtml files in `/Download` folder (on internal or external storage space) can be now opened using Total Commander "Open with" dialog with *checked* `file://url` option.

---

Still, there exists a way of opening the (m)HTML files with Chrome

* without other browsers/viewer
* without rooting the Android device

but maybe only until the next update :)

# Answer
> 1 votes
My workaround to open local files on my Samsung tablet is this:

1. Install Ghost Commander from f-droid.org (link)
2. Navigate to the directory where the .html file is, then double-click on it and open with Chrome, Opera, or Samsung web browser. Sadly I'm unable to associate with Firefox for Android (not listed).

The URL seems a bit random: `content://com.ghostsq.commander.FileProvider/FS/L3N0c3JhZ2UvZW11bBF1ZWQvMC9Nb3ZpZXMvenNhbmk/videos.html`

But everything works, all the relative paths listed in the .html are working.

In my case, I have a list of videos which I can filter from .css only (embedded inside the .html file) without any additional javascript.

---
Tags: internal-storage, chrome-for-android, html, android-10
---


# Question
Title: How to access "Work Profile" files via USB on my PC
I've got an Android "Work Profile" on my phone, kind of setup as explained here.

It's trivial to access normal Android files. Plug a USB cable into my phone and PC, select "File Transfer" and my files show up in Windows Explorer. Is it possible to access my "Work Profile" files in the same manner? I don't see any path to them in Windows Explorer when connected (to Android 11) via USB. I'm guessing this access may not be possible.

# Answer
You need to install a file sharing app, such as AirDroid, to access your files in Work Profile.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: usb, google-account, file-system, file-transfer, restricted-profiles
---


title: What is a Data SMS?

text:
# Question
Title: What is a Data SMS?
Android phones seem to support 2 kinds of SMS: Text SMS and Data SMS. I think I know what a text SMS is, but what is a Data SMS and how / for what is it used (btw as far as I can tell Data SMS are not MMS)?

I recognize that this might not be Android specific, but I encountered the term first on my Android handset, so here I go. If this is more general and better moved to a different forum feel free to suggest so...

# Answer
> 5 votes
Data SMS messages are sent through the data network, over your 2G / 3G data connection, just like all other data such as internet traffic. Normally SMS messages have their own method of transport, the details of which you can check out on Wikipedia.

# Answer
> 4 votes
A perfect example for data SMS use is when your recipient must pay to receive your text message even though you may have unlimited texting. By using a data SMS service, all extra charges are avoided and the amount of data used by SMS messages is insignificant compared to even lite web page viewing.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I think Data SMS messages are sent not only through the data network (over your 2G / 3G data connection), but also through GSM as Text SMS. The PDU of a text message has a User Data Headers (UDH) that defines a specific port on a handset. Refer to this link: http://developers.esendex.com/Concepts-and-Patterns/Sending-SMS-to-a-Specific-Port

# Answer
> 2 votes
User named `www.jensolsson.se` is correct. OP is also correct it's not really a Android subject perse, it's more of a cellular technology subject. Since we are not sticking to Android is will share my experience with data sms in the Linux side of things. I use data sms for a custom IoT type of communication to do very low level control of the devices such as rebooting or restarting a misbehaving application. I use the mmcli tool to send and receive the data sms messages. The data value that I send is a bitmasked binary value (from memory a 64bit value) that represents the operational status of the device and its applications. A good place to start is looking at the mmcli man page. I learned of this capability while learning how to use mmcli to send and receive text messages using mmcli. My text messages were becoming giant JSON strings. Since I controlled both ends, I developed a custom protocol that only needs a single 64bit symbol with many values encoded in to it.

https://www.freedesktop.org/software/ModemManager/man/latest/mmcli.1.html

# Answer
> 0 votes
Data SMS is just like regular SMS. Contrary to what other answers to this question which implies the data smses dont use the 3g/4g data connection at all. You can actually disable both mobile data and wifi on your phone and you can still send and receive data sms.

Data SMS is a feature for app to app communication. Historically it was also used for example to change certain aspects of the phone. For example adding operator logo, ring tones etc.

---
Tags: sms
---


# Question
Title: Disable or change audio ducking (lowering)?
The audio ducking feature seems to let apps decide to lower its volume or pause playback while a notification from another app is playing.

Even though this feature is turned on by default, I am unable to find a way to change the amount by which the volume is lowered (similar to how this could be done on any decent OS for PC). Or to just disable this feature.

Most answers to this question on the internet have been utilizing the fallacy that you should mute the notifications if you don't want them to interrupt your playback (of let's say, music).

Obviously I do not need this accessibility feature. I can separate sound sources just fine. Last time I checked this is one of the basic cognitive skills that most humans possess, but maybe I have superpowers after all.

I think it is clear what I want to achieve. No messing with the audio levels unless I say so. A user that is in control, is a happy user. I want to be happy too :(

There is probably no setting to do this. Since I am a developer myself, I wonder if there is some hackish way to modify the default audio ducking volume to simply 100%? Or just using something similar to 'about:config' / windows regedit for Android?

# Answer
On Android MIUI 12.5.4 I found the option at:

Sound & Vibration \> Sound Assistant -\> Multiple Audio Sources (don't adjust media volume during incoming notifications or while audio from other source is played)

This made notifications play at normal volume when I was listening to music, and more importantly, no audio ducking.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Not sure on Android 8.1, but on Android 5.1, it's the following:

1. Sound & Notification Settings \> Interruptions

>
2. Disable Interruptions on specific apps or all together

>
> 0 votes

# Answer
I fixed it by turning do not disturb on and off again to be honest- Android 11
> 0 votes

---
Tags: notifications, settings, audio, 8.1-oreo
---


# Question
Title: How can I set a ringtone for a group of contacts with a certain label?
I want to set the ringtone for each contact with a particular label on my Pixel 2 (Android 11). Labels are a thing that contacts can have in the default android contacts app (from Google). There seems to be a lot of answers out there about doing this, but only when the contacts app has something *specifically* named "groups". There is nothing called "groups" in the default Google contacts app, but I think that labels are basically the same thing as "groups".

# Answer
> -1 votes
Google should be ashamed for this stepback. Up to android 10 contacts were organized in "groups" (not "labels") and you could set ringtone per group. Not only in Samsung mobiles (who still have this feature) but other vendors as well (eg I have it in Huawei P30 Pro). In Android 11 and 12 they moved to "labels" and "labels" can't have rigntone per "label".

I repeat, this is a shame. Setting different per group of contacts is essential. It's a feature it was available in legacy phones (I recall using it in Nokia 6210, Nokia 6310i and even older), in Nokia/Symbian touch phone C3-100 and all previous android phone up to 10, inclusive.

For example my usage scenario is that I use Bluetooth headset and phone is in my pocket. I don't take phone out of the pocket to answer the call, I answer it from headset. Setting different ringtone per group I can't tell who calls me but I get an idea, it's someone from work, from family, a friend etc. Alternative to set rigntone contact by contact is stupid, you can't do it when you have hundreds of contacts!

Hey Google, do you hear us? So many people ask you to bring this feature back. Are you serious? Prove it! Don't become Microsoft!!!

Costas

---
Tags: contacts, ringtone, google-contacts, contact-groups
---


# Question
Title: What linux distribution is Android based on?
Did Google use some existing distribution (Debian, Red Hat, etc.) to create Android, or did they use the bare essentials (kernel, file system and some mandatory files)?

# Answer
Android shares very little with a typical Linux distribution. In fact, this is where Richard Stallman's "GNU/Linux" distinction comes in handy — Android isn't really a Unix-like general purpose operating system with a Linux kernel. It's a new system which happens to use the Linux kernel. This goes all the way down to its own custom libc implementation (called "Bionic"), which does not necessarily attempt POSIX compliance.

This article from ZDNet covers a talk which gives a pretty good overview of the system, and although it's a couple of years old it's still basically correct and helpful.
> 74 votes

# Answer
It's a modified Linux kernel plus modified libraries designed to run on a closed source architecture. The GUI is its own thing with no source-able materials, also partially why Google spent billions fighting Oracle for the rights of Java.
> 3 votes

# Answer
None. Just like Debian, Arch Linux and Gentoo are not based on any other distributions, Android is too not based on any existing distribution.

In fact it is not typical GNU\Linux distributions. **It is a Linux Distribution but Not GNU\Linux Distribution**
> 2 votes

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Tags: linux, kernel
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title: Mute Snapchat's shutter sound

text:
# Question
Title: Mute Snapchat's shutter sound
I have Snapchat 10.23.11 on Huawei and my friend has the same version but on a Samsung device. I have muted the system Camera app and in the system app, there's no shutter sound. In Snapchat, when I'm taking a photo using the back camera without a flashlight, there's a shutter sound but my friend on her Samsung device with the same Snapchat version doesn't have a shutter sound.

When I had a Snapchat version from about October 2017, there wasn't a shutter sound. Last few days, I've updated the Snapchat app and all others app and the shutter sound appeared.

What's going on? How to remove the shutter sound?

# Answer
> 0 votes
That probably means that the Snapchat app is taking an actual photo as opposed to a screenshot of the viewfinder which is done on most Android Snapchat devices for compatibility.

However, on some phones like Samsung Galaxy S7, the rear camera makes a shutter sound because it takes an actual photo and not a screenshot of the preview feed.

# Answer
> 0 votes
From the OP's comment,

> The problem is solved, I've installed TWRP and removed camera shutter ogg file.

---
Tags: audio, snapchat
---


# Question
Title: How can I restore a backup made using Samsung Switch onto an LG phone?
My Samsung Galaxy A51's screen broke; I got the purple screen of death. I was able to backup up the data using Samsung Switch before the screen was completely taken over by the purple ooze. However, I ended up replacing the A51 with an LG phone and now I don't know how to restore the backup I made using Samsung Switch; I can't use the Samsung Switch app, as that only works for Samsung phones.

About the backup files: There are numerous folders, each containing a backup file for a category of data (e.g., contacts, messages, etc.). I really only need the contacts and the messages. The file extension for the contacts is "spbm" and the file extension for the messages is "smem". After googling these file extensions, it appears that these are proprietary file types that are exclusively used by Smart Switch. Sounds like I will not be able to restore this data without using Smart Switch.

Is it possible to restore my data onto the LG Phone using the backup I made with Samsung Switch?

I would just make another backup using my old phone, but the display is completely gone; I'd be flying blind.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I can give you part of the solution, which is that SPBM is just ZIP with the file extension changed. Most likely, SMEM is the same deal. However, once you open the ZIP file (e.g by changing the extension to ZIP), the contacts are stored in a ".BK" format, which Notepad thinks is UTF-16 LE text. I have a suspicion that it's some kind of binary-to-text since Samsung has been known to use similar encodings with contacts. The hex editor shows the length of the .BK is 16-byte-divisible, which would be typical of a binary.

---
Tags: samsung, backup, restore, lg, samsung-smart-switch
---


title: Not Connecting with private LTE network

text:
# Question
Title: Not Connecting with private LTE network
I have android camera vehicle mounted device. When install operator public network LTE sim, device is successfully connected to network but when install company private LTE network sim device is not connecting.

When we try troubleshoot via adb observed no any IP assign to device with private LTE

What are the commands available to network troubleshooting via adb

# Answer
> 0 votes
Check the supported LTE bands (transmission frequencies) of the device.

Your company will most likely only operate their LTE private network in one special band which has to be supported by the device. If the device does not support the necessary band/frequency then you can't use the device in the company LTE network.

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Tags: adb, 4g
---


# Question
Title: Encrypted device doesn't ask for credential on boot anymore on Android 11
I use Android 11 (LineageOS) and recently noticed, that my phone stopped asking me for a decryption password when booting up, so I tried verifying that my data is still actually encrypted. Settings say so, but after removing all my passwords, pins, fingerprints, etc, the phone asks for no password and just boots straight up. I suspect the encryption password got reset to the "default\_password" when updating some time in the past.

Now how can I actually change the encryption key to something else than the standard password (which grants ZERO security at all)? The `vdc cryptfs` interface does not work like it used to (`changepw`, `verifypw`, etc, all don't work), as you can also see on the official Google sources (https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/vold/+/master/vdc.cpp).

Any encryption experts here? My data is holy to me and I want it *actually* encrypted...

# Answer
I found the answer in the comments to my question: Appearently, you don't have to put in an "encryption password" when booting up anymore. It was required with FDE (Full Device Encryption), but is not with FBE (File-Based Encryption). I installed a custom recovery and tried to decrypt my data and *drum-roll*: it works! I can only decrypt data when using my current android-lockscreen password. Thanks a lot!
> 3 votes

# Answer
> after removing all my passwords, pins, fingerprints, etc, the phone asks for no password and just boots straight up.

That is the expected behaviour. Removing your phone's password will remove encryption and so the device will not ask for a decryption password after boot. Simply add a password (even a pattern will work) to re-enable encryption

Edit: looks like I was wrong, see the first comment below :P
> 0 votes

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Tags: security, encryption, lineageos, password, data
---


# Question
Title: Nexus 5: How to automatically toggle Live Display in Cyanogenmod 12.1 nightly at a specific time?
I have a Nexus 5 with the last CyanogenMod nightly (12.1 20150917). I have a bug with the live display. Since the auto mode doesn't switch automatically, I have installed Automate, an app that uses the Android API to do tasks.

To fix the bug, I would like to create a task to switch in the night mode at a specific time, but unfortunately, there isn't the Live Display in Automate. Is there a way to set the night mode through the terminal?

# Answer
A user named r3t3ch provided the following solution on Reddit which I'm reproducing. Their answer was tested on a Moto X with CM 12.1.

To change \[night/live\] mode (Auto=2, Off=0, Day=4, Night=1):

```
adb shell settings put system display_temperature_mode 2

```

To change color temperature:

```
adb shell settings put system display_temperature_day 6500 settings put system display_temperature_night 3400

```

To change color calibration:

```
adb shell settings put system display_color_adjustment "0.8991 0.8689 1.0"

```
> 1 votes

# Answer
The Night mode set block should be able to toggle night mode. There's no block for changing *Live Display*, but it might be possible to change the system settings for it, using the System setting set block, see the Reddit post here for the possible setting names and values.
> 0 votes

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Tags: cyanogenmod, 5.1-lollipop, automation, live-display
---


# Question
Title: How can I configure Android 12 so that my phone (Pixel 6) is screen mirrored when connected to a monitor via HDMI?
I'm connecting my Android phone to a monitor via USB-C -\> Hub -\> HDMI cable:

My phone Samsung Galaxy S9 screen is mirrored without any issue, but that doesn't work with my Google Pixel 6. How can I configure Android 12 so that my phone (Pixel 6) is screen mirrored when connected to a monitor via HDMI?

I use this Lasuney "Triple Display USB Type C" hub.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I believe the issue is that the grey dock that you're using is not compatible with Google Pixel 6. I don't know how to get a list of docks compatible with Google Pixel 6 though.

From https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2865484?hl=en:

> ## Project with a wired dock
>
> For a faster connection when you play games or compete in esports, use a wired connection. Certain wired docking stations are compatible with Pixel phones. On a compatible dock with an ethernet port, you can also connect to LAN.
>
> To set up and project on your Pixel phone, follow the steps that came with your compatible dock. For example:
>
> 1. On your phone, from the Play Store, install the DisplayLink Presenter app.
> **Tip:** When you connect your phone to the docking station, the app doesn’t need to be open.
> 2. With a USB-C cable, connect your Pixel phone to your compatible dock.
> 3. With an HDMI cable, connect your compatible dock to your monitor or TV.
> 4. Plug in your compatible dock's power cable.
>
> **Tip:** Pixel 3 and later Pixel phones work with the MediaGear USB-C Hub Docking Station (item 853265008171). Other docking stations can also work.

---
Tags: android-12, screen-mirroring, google-pixel-6
---


# Question
Title: Where does WhatsApp store Images/Videos when Media Visibility is disabled?
WhatsApp has a Media Visibility feature which if disabled, hides the media files from the phone gallery. It is claimed that "apparently" it reduces file storage.

>

But WhatsApp still has to store media in some location, otherwise, how would it show in chats? I am able to access the media while scrolling through a WhatsApp chat, even while offline, so the media is definitely getting stored somewhere on my phone. Can I access this location? I have to access many media files that WhatsApp must have downloaded somewhere on my phone.

I am using parallel WhatsApp on my One Plus 5 Android phone. It creates a "999" directory under emulated.

# Answer
> The Android operating system uses empty `.nomedia` files to tell smartphone apps not to display or include the contents of the folder. ().

And,

> Treat all files as non-media in directories that contain a `.nomedia` file ().

So all that `Media Visibility` feature of WhatsApp does when disabled, is to put the newly downloaded media in a subdirectory of main media type directory, named `Private` which contains a `.nomedia` file e.g. `/sdcard/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Video/Private/`. Therefore the media files are not visible in gallery apps. But you can access that using any file explorer.

Parallel WhatsApp is a different thing, which makes use of Android Multiple Users/Profiles feature to isolate whole `/sdcard` as well as other contents. But the media is still visible in gallery app installed within that profile. See this answer for details.
> 1 votes

# Answer
In most devices, I have used WhatsApp creates a folder in internal storage. The folder for media files is `/internal storage/WhatsApp/Media`. It contains subfolders for images, videos, etc.

```
/internal storage/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images
/internal storage/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Video
/internal storage/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Animated Gifs
.
.
.

```
> 0 votes

# Answer
Use the 'My Files' app icon - Internal Storage - Android - media - com.whatsapp - WhatsApp - Media - WhatsApp Images
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger, data-recovery, media-files, oneplus-5
---


# Question
Title: What is the differences between the three USB drivers: MTP, Odin, ADB?
In Why can't Windows detect phones, even when the USB driver is installed?, @Robert says:

> And that Odin works at the same time is because Odin uses different drivers. From the perspective of your computer you have 3 USB devices, one for MTP, one for adb and one for Odin.

One can confirm this by going to `Device Manager``View``Devices by connection`:

What are the differences between them? Are there any other kind of driver? And which one is the Samsung USB Driver for Windows?

# Answer
On your picture, the 1st is for transferring files (MTP: Media Transfer Protocol), the 2nd is for comms via adb (also fastboot), the 3rd to use your phone as a modem to connect the PC to internet via your phone.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, usb-connection-mode, odin, usb-drivers, mtp
---


# Question
Title: Stop Notifications when the App is closed
This may be a stupid question since the Android is maybe supposed to work this way, still though I am wondering if this is possible.

Two apps, Microsoft Teams and Outlook are sending the notifications when the app is "closed". Now i would like for that NOT to happen when the app is closed. Is there any way whatsoever, that i can stop the notifications when the app is "closed"? I understand that the app is probably always running in the background and that until force stop it is never really closed. I am just wondering if I am missing something that can be chosen in the notifications settings that i havent found yet.

Also, i do realise that you can choose the "quiet hours" in the App settings itself, but that is not something i am looking for.

# Answer
So far I've found three ways to prevent notifications:

1. Remove the app. -- definitely not useful 99.9% of the time

1. Or, as you found out, kill any process that app. is running
2. The app. itself has some settings, including whether to send notifications or not
3. In the global Settings, go to Applications, search for the App, check the Notifications there and turn off what you do not want to be notified about

(1) is not likely what you want, (2) is rarely implemented and (3) is usually rather limited... so in many cases, it won't help you much. That being said, (3) can be an app. savior.

As Robert mentioned in a comment, the Android OS works by automatically waking up / starting applications when they receive messages if they were not running at that point. When installing an app., it can register the events it is interested in and it will receive them *no matter what* (nearly). And notifications work that way too...

In the cases you mentioned, it may require a `poll()` by the app. In that case, the app. has to be running. In generally, a very small amount of the app. gets loaded, just enough to handle the necessary code to run the polling. If the app. doesn't offer an option to turn that polling off, then it just won't go away without uninstalling.
> 0 votes

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Tags: applications, notifications, outlook, background-process
---


# Question
Title: Is there an option to block local network access for apps?
I'm trying to prevent apps from accessing other devices on the same network (LAN). Something similar to this iOS setting.

Some searching led me to this feature in Express VPN.

Is there a way to do this in Android Settings or using a non-VPN app?

# Answer
My LAN is protected by firewalls. That's the only real solution if you want a real protection. Each computer on the LAN can have its own firewall preventing connections from the outside. Only let the very connections you are interested in happen (if any, I like to have access to my local Apache2 where I store some info. I like to access).

It will always be possible to circumvent protections on a phone if you're a good hacker. Firewalls on the other end requires a possible hack to penetrate that computer, somehow. Not very likely if you do not have any services (completely block all traffic) since that would mean an exploit in the firewall/network stack.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: applications, wi-fi, networking, permissions
---


# Question
Title: Is there a difference between disabling app notifications in-app vs. Android OS?
Is there any effective difference between disabling an app's notifications in the app itself vs. via Android's per-app notifications panel?

I've defaulted to first trying to disable any notifications in the apps themselves, attacking at the root, rather than relying on the Android OS per-app notifications permissions. My thought is that doing it this way stops the app from sending a notification at all -- and thus, less battery used -- vs. Android merely hiding some notifications from view.

The downside to this is the inconvenience in having to go into the app itself and wander around the settings, with notification settings not always the simplest to reach, and in some cases, the app doesn't have granularity of notifications to tweak or limit.

Is there any basis to this, or is there no effective difference to managing/disabling notifications via Android's per-app settings?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I've programmed Android a little bit and normally the answer is **No**.

An application, though, could have a pull of an external server data point which is not registered with the system. This would not always work if not properly registered with the OS. It would certainly work just fine while running the app. and thus in that situation, the app. specific settings would indeed be different.

---
Tags: applications, samsung, notifications, settings, battery
---


# Question
Title: Leaving the dictation mode with a voice command
Is there any way to leave the dictation mode with a voice command, without having to tap anywhere in Android 4 or above?

I use the built in speech recognition program.

# Answer
> 0 votes
One can leave the dictation mode with a voice command on Android 12 with a Google Pixel 6. The command is `stop`.

---
Tags: voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: How do I add new text to speech entries using Gboard?
I was using SwiftKey prior to this but I switched over to Gboard because it has better voice recognition when using speech to text. Something got changed in SwiftKey recently and the quality of speech-to-text went down significantly. But with SwiftKey I was able to correct words that I dictated and I thought that that improved the speech-to-text algorithms.

With Gboard there's no option to correct a word so I can't improve the speech to text recognition. Does this option exist and I can't find it?

# Answer
> 2 votes
With Gboard, there's indeed currently no option to correct a word so that you can improve the speech to text recognition.

The closest option is to add some entry in the Gboard personal dictionary (screenshots from Androidd 12 + Pixel 6), thanks user1874594 for showing me this trick:

Then you'll see the fixed word as a suggestion (only after the voice typing stopped being active):

---
Tags: voice-recognition, gboard
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to access speech-to-text audio clips for debugging?
Is there a way to access the audio clip that gets used for Google's speech-to-text transcribing?

I've been getting increasingly inaccurate output using Google's speech-to-text output. After discovering my Samsung phone has more than one microphone, I'm wondering if perhaps this could have to do with either which microphone is getting used, and/or if there's any audio processing being applied which is affecting accuracy.

If I could debug these waveform/recordings myself, I could at least see whether the input itself is the source of the inaccuracy, or whether it's something else.

# Answer
> 0 votes
https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity?restrict=vaa suggested by alecxs will let you access audio recordings from Google assistant but Gboard voice typing:

Tested with Android 12 with a Google Pixel 6.

---
Tags: applications, samsung, keyboard, voice-recognition, microphone
---


# Question
Title: Is there a way to improve voice to text results?
Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of dictation using the voice-to-text functionality. For the most part, it's all right but it's developed some annoying behavior.

1. Regular words are getting replaced with proper nouns. "My Key" becomes "Mikey" even with a decent pause between the words. "Two Chains" becomes "2 Chainz"
2. Words are getting shortened "cause" often becomes "cuz".

Are there settings to make the voice-to-text NOT change what I actually said? I do see it type out "My Key" and change it into "Mikey"

I have my language set to US English

# Answer
> 1 votes
With Gboard, there's indeed currently no option to correct a word so that you can improve the speech to text recognition.

See https://android.stackexchange.com/a/244527/12202 for a mediocre workaround.

---
Tags: 8.0-oreo, voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: Punctuation in Google Voice typing on Android 11 in other than english language
I'm trying to use Google's voice typing but compared to iPhone it's really rude.

I'm already on Android 11. But it is still not able to detect my punctuation words, so everytime I want a `.` or `,` I need to stop the voice typing, switch back the keyboard to normal, enter the punctuation sign, and switch back to voice typing.

This requires as much effort that I turned off completely the dictation function.

Is it somehow possible to enter the word-mappings into the voice typing? I don't usually say "point" in a sentence for anything else but closing it.

# Answer
> Is it somehow possible to enter the word-mappings into the voice typing?

That's not currently possible with Gboard voice typing. Make sure to enable the auto-punctuation: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/244528/12202
> 0 votes

---
Tags: voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: Why does Google Voice Typing transcribe certain words incorrectly, and not offer alternatives?
There are a few words that I use in everyday conversation that Google Voice Typing doesn't seem to want to recognize. The first is "extraordinarily." It always transcribed "extraordinary Lee." The other two words (in censored format, since I imagine vulgarities are kinda frowned on in the forums) are the s-word with the suffix "ty" appended, and the mf-word. The former is always transcribed with only one T. The latter is spelled without the C.

I swear a great deal. It's how I talk. I'm also a stickler for proper spelling and punctuation, so it bothers me that Google spells cusswords like a fourth grader, in addition to the other typo. Also, recently it seems that all the options for corrections have disappeared--every time I dictate something, there are NO words underlined at the end. What gives? Anybody got any input on this?

# Answer
> Why does Google Voice Typing transcribe certain words incorrectly, and not offer alternatives?

The Google voice typing does offer some alternatives:

Tested on Android 12 with a Google Pixel 6 and Gboard keyboard.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: voice-recognition, spell-check, voice-typing
---


title: Custom Voice Action

text:
# Question
Title: Custom Voice Action
Can i make the google assistant of my android phone to perform custom actions? For example: Ok google. open barrier via "AppName"? I have tried the system actions, but neither one matches my need. So is it doable to create my custom voice action?

# Answer
> 0 votes
One way to do so is creating your own commands for your Google Assistant using IFTTT, as explained on https://ifttt.com/google\_assistant

---
Tags: applications, voice-recognition, java
---


# Question
Title: why is my file system suddenly read only?
Some background:

My HTC Desire HD has several issues. **The first issue** being that I can not connect to it using a USB cable.

So I found that I can tell ADB to work over wifi and I was using this method for some time. I am using VISIONary to temproot the device, then I run a terminal on the device and execute:

```
$ su
#setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
#stop adbd
#start adbd

```

I then use netcfg to find my device's IP and finally on my pc I use

```
adb connect {device IP}:5555

```

I am then able to run on my pc

```
adb shell

```

and use this shell to do the following:

```
cd /etc
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost >hosts
echo {my pc's IP} some.dnsname.com >>hosts

```

This is when **the second issue** comes into play: once in a while (seems related to killing and clearing cache of an app that uses some.dnsname.com - but not always) the hosts file just reverts to an empty file :(

Not having the deep knowledge to handle those problems (yet) I just "learned to live with them"...

A few moments ago, when I went through this process for for maybe the 30th time or so, A **new issue** decided to make my day more interesting. I tried to modify (overwrite) the hosts file and I get the following message:

```
cannot create hosts: read-only file system

```

I tried to read some about it and it seems I need to remount the system in read/write mode.

running

```
mount | grep system

```

returns

```
/dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system ext3 ro,relatime,errors=continue,data=ordered 0 0
none /system/xbin tmpfs rw,relatime,gid=10132 0 0

```

**I need help with**:
1) Making my system read write again (what mount/remount command do I need to run?)
2) Understanding what could have caused this new issue.
3) Any ideas on how I can handle the two background issues is also most welcome.

thank you for reading...

# Answer
`/system` is almost always read-only by default. Just remount it as R/W:

```
# mount -t ext3 -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system

```

There's also at least one app that will attempt to do this for you, but it may not work on all devices.

Another option is to use `adb root` (if your ROM will allow it) to restart adbd as root, then simply issue `adb remount`. On ROMs where adbd is already running as root, the first command is unnecessary and `adb remount` will work right off the bat. From a PC:

```
C:> adb root
* Some response about success *
C:> adb remount
Remount succeeded

```

As to why it's getting blown away, is your device NAND unlocked? Many HTC devices will attempt to restore their `/system` partition to a stock state if they are NAND locked, making changes to `/system` fleeting at best. That's something of an educated guess, but the fact that you noted that you are using VISIONary to temproot seems to support that hypothesis.
> 5 votes

# Answer
This fixed it for me using android 11 Run android emulator with

```
Android/Sdk/emulator/emulator -avd Pixel_5_API_30 -writable-system --writable-system
adb shell
avbctl disable-verification
adb reboot
adb remount
adb shell
su
mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /system

```

Make needed changes and change system back to read only with this

```
mount -o ro,remount -t ext4 /system

```
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, htc-desire-hd, file-system, mount
---


# Question
Title: Do any versions of Google's "Voice Typing" work completely offline?
Do any versions of Google's "Voice Typing" work completely offline?

Note that when I specify ***"completely offline"***, I mean with absolutely no data sent to Google or other parties.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Google's "Voice Typing" can work completely offline on Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android 10 and Google Pixel 6 with Android 12, provided you downloaded their speech to text model:

Turn off "voice contributions" as well if you don't want Google annotators to listen to you (note that they're not supposed to link audio snippets with speakers, so it's supposed to be anonymous).

---
Tags: keyboard, voice-recognition, gboard, offline, voice-typing
---


title: Delay notifications

text:
# Question
Title: Delay notifications
I'm looking for a way to delay notifications on a per-app-basis to a specific time threshold.

For example, I don't want to get gmail notifications more than hourly. I don't want text message notifications more than once a minute.

I know there are individual apps that provide this, but I'm looking for something system-wide and customizable. Root is obviously acceptable.

# Answer
Light Flow will do this for you. Switch of sound or vibrate for the individual apps and set them up in Light Flow. The option "too many notifications" can be used to select the maximum repeat count.
Rooting is not necessary, except on some phone to alter the LED notifications.

The app is capable to adjust for all notifications or depending on application: \- sound and volumes (absolute or relative) \- vibration on / off or patterns \- popups \- screen on on notification \- sleep mode based on time or NFC \- led colors / patterns or camera flash \- repeat notifications and rate limiting
> 2 votes

# Answer
Finally after long searching on the Internet and trying common advices as a disabling battery optimizations, Adaptive Notifications and all those features that didn't help at all, I found the XDA Developers forum where I finally got to the bottom of this issue.

This problem is caused by functionality called as "DOZE", which is implemented in the Android core since Android 6.

https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby

Basically what is does is that it tries to preserve the phone battery life in a very aggressive way that basically puts all applications and network activity to standby until the maintenance window occurs. The maintenance window is a very short time period where all events from applications waiting in the queue are processed at once and then it puts all apps to standby again until next maintenance window occurs.

Problem is that with every next maintenance window the intervals between those windows are increasing every time up to some long limit. So if you haven't touched your phone for a longer time, like half an hour and the event happens, you will get the notification in the next maintenance window that may be tens of minutes from that moment.

I don't know how Google can act as this is OK. It is NOT!! For me it was causing serious problems with my Forex trading app that didn't display price alerts on time when the event happened but like 5, 15, 30 minutes or even almost 1 hour later !! which is not useful for me because the opportunity for the trade was already gone...

So solution is to disable the "DOZE" in your phone manually using ADB commands. I did it and it works, now I get instant notifications. Unfortunately this has to be done every time after phone reboot as it turns itself the DOZE back on again.

Here is a page with more details:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40204605/android-completely-disabling-deviceidle-doze-in-android-m

Basically you just issue this ADB command: **dumpsys deviceidle disable**

You can also put the application to the Doze whitelist but not sure if it works, when I displayed the list, I found out my trading app was already there, maybe because I removed it from the Battery saving policy but the Doze was probably still suspending everything so it worked only in those maintenance windows. I guess it doesn't use those "high-priority FCM messages" described in the DOZE description to force the notifications instantly.

If you are not familiar with ADB, here is some info:

https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb

I used a paid app that allows local ADB connection from the phone directly, so I can disable DOZE after every restart. More info here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/say-hello-to-ladb-a-local-adb-shell-without-needing-root-or-a-computer.4204855/

It is very sad that this basic feature as an instant notifications have to be fixed via the developer debug interface by user instead of Google who could fix it in the OS itself...shame on Google...

More forums on this topic:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/psa-how-to-fix-the-notification-delay-or-non-receipt-issue-truly-pathetic-of-google-and-samsung.4276505/

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/delayed-notification-problems-s21-ultra.4243105/page-5
> -2 votes

---
Tags: notifications
---


# Question
Title: Why are these different Android maximum upload and download speeds?
The following screenshot is from Realme 8 which has a max UL/DL of 15000/30000.

The next screenshot is from Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M2) which has a max UL/DL of 51200/102400.

The problem I am facing in my Android is this - After some time using 4G, the sign shows 4G but the speed drops to 0.01kbps. This goes on frequently until I reset the network by firstly selecting 3G/2G and then selecting 4G/3G/2G.

Can I edit these values using ADB shell so that I can set 51200/102400 as the max UL/DL value in my Android? Can someone provide any fix to this problem?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I would assume that the different maximum up/dl speed are a result of different LTE implementations. LTE exists in quite a few versions with different capabilities regarding the maximum transmission speed and how many channels can be aggregated.

For example the value DL/UL as 102400/51200 seems to be LTE Cat 3 (100 Mbit/s down, 50 Mbit/s up).

My guess is that you can't change it because the value depends on the used LTE hardware in the phone (and of course the used mobile network).

Last but not least some data plans limit the maximum download/upload speed. The values shown by your Realme 8 30MBit down and 15MBit/s to not correspond to an LTE category. The next matching one would be LTE Cat 2 with 50 Mbit/s down and 25 Mbit/s up. So most likely this is a limitation of the used data plan or the phone shows the effective transmission speed which is limited by the signal strength.

Conclusion: No you can't change the values via adb as this is either a hardware limitation by your phone, the mobile network or of your data plan.

---
Tags: 4g, network-signal
---


# Question
Title: How can I force my contact list to get updated on my Samsung Galaxy S9?
I store my contacts in my Google account. I can access these contacts on my Samsung Galaxy S9 phone via the Samsung contact application. After I add a contact in my Google account via another device, how can I force my contact list to get updated on my Samsung Galaxy S9?

# Answer
> 1 votes
On every Android device I have worked with there was always an option to force synchronization of Google data in the settings of the account:

Open Android settings and navigate to the account list. Open the used Google account and then it's "Account sync" page (synchronization settings).

There you can enable/disable each synchronization category like Contacts and so on. And there is in the upper right corner a **three-dots-menu** which allow to "**Synch now**"

---
Tags: contacts, sync, android-10, google-contacts, samsung-galaxy-s-9
---


# Question
Title: Google position sharing (permanently) from Secondary Android User - Fails - Is that possibile? (Motorola Moto G8 Plus - Android 10)
We configured two users on our Motorola Moto G8 Plus: one admin (primary user) and a one Secondary user. We usually use the secondary one where we have personal WhatsApp, and google account. With the personal account, on the secondary user, we have a problem with Google position sharing; In detail I can see the positions of contacts who shared the position with us, and I can also share with them our (secondary user/account) position, BUT only for limited time (you can choose the time, max 1 hr). With the admin user I can share the position permanently, with the secondary user I cannot.

When I try to start, with the secondary user, the Google position sharing settings page (in Andorid Geolocation config, I have an OFF setting on "enable position sharing" (I have the exact name in Italian, this is a fair translation of the field name) it fails with a dialog error: "Cannot start ... "

I already tired: to disable position share for the admin, primary, user account, but this has not unlocked the setting page on the secondary user. I also tried disabling completely geolocation for the admin, primary, user account, no changes for the secondary user.

Motorola Moto G8 Plus runs Android 10.

Is there any trick to enable permanent position sharing for the--secondary user--google account?

It seems that the primary, admin user, google account stops updating its position when secondary user is active. In alternative, is there any way to keep updating that?

Regards,

# Answer
> 0 votes
You have to give the secondary user administrator access for direct location value. I would not give my guest user that authorization. A risky patch would be sharing WhatsApp identity if you just require the location. You can Try experimenting with applications that share location abroad and you can share app identity on the device.

---
Tags: motorola-moto-g, geolocation, multi-user
---


# Question
Title: Can I change Java heap size on Android devices?
I have a Samsung Galaxy A20s with Android 11 and 2790 MB RAM. The phone was originally designed for Android 9.0 but now that it's been upgraded to 11; it's become slow and my RAM is always almost full and the Droid Hardware Info app says my Java Heap is 192 MB.

is there any way I could change the heap size? It's way too high for my A20s.

# Answer
> 0 votes
It seems like you use some sort of system info app that shows you a value and you assign a meaning to the value it never has:

## Java Heap and it's size

The Java heap is (a bit simplified) the main memory pool of a Java application. Therefore if your used app shows you that the Java Heap is 192 MB then this means that the Java part of this Android app currently uses 192MB RAM (assuming the app developer has calculated the used RAM in a correct way, calculating the current heap size on Java is not that simple not sure if it is also that complicated on Android).

This also means the Java heap size of every Android app is different. This is not a general limit but just the RAM usage of each Android app.

Your question was how to change that value - as you can see this question doesn't make sense as this is not a configured value somewhere in the system but just the RAM usage of an app.

If you have RAM problems make sure you don't have apps running you don't use (disable or uninstall unused apps). Also for some common XXL apps like Facebook there are lite versions available which are designed to consume less resources like RAM. Switch to those lite versions where applicable would be another recommendation to save RAM.

---
Tags: ram, java
---


title: Can't read my SMS on my Android phone

text:
# Question
Title: Can't read my SMS on my Android phone
> An update fixed my problem. It was - as I suspected - just a bug.

Recently I upgrade my Samsung s4, and now every time when I get a message via SMS, the text - and background - all white?:

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

I tried messing with the settings, but still my messages won't show up?

How can I read my SMS messages again?

Phone Info

* Samsung S4(`GT-I9505`)
* Android version 5.0.1.

# Answer
Try a third party messaging app, such as Google Messenger or Handcent SMS to see if the problem is duplicated. If so, verify you're running the most current software version with Samsung Kies. If you are, try a factory reset and see if that works. There's a possibility that the Lollipop update for the S4 has some bugs that will hopefully be patched rather quickly.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I used Hangouts to get around this problem, however last night my phone downloaded a software update that has corrected the Messages app, updated Contacts with FB photos and re-linked my phone to the FB photo albums - hoorah! Oh how I've missed Swype when sending out text messages :-)
> 0 votes

# Answer
Actually, we can't read SMS in Lollipop without approved permission in run time. First, check permission in run time, then you can access SMS.
> 0 votes

# Answer
My default *Messages* app suddenly stopped opening texts. (could write them though and only had about 50 txt messages in total). Oppo phone android software didn't give 'clear cache' option for Messages. However, found an app on my phone called *Messenger*. Once this was disabled, *Messages* app worked again (no reboot necessary)
> 0 votes

# Answer
As per the OP's comment and the 4th revision of the question

> Apparently, the answer to this, is Update your Samsung device
>
> An update fixed my problem. It was - as I suspected - just a bug.
> 0 votes

# Answer
I just figured it out.. I turned off my phone for 20 seconds and my phone messages showed up. If you keep your phone on all the time like I do, then turn it off and back on, your messages should return.
> -1 votes

# Answer
Phone could be in Guest Mode. Go to settings...security...then deactivate guest mode.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: sms, 5.0-lollipop, samsung-galaxy-s-4
---


# Question
Title: Boot loop after messing with the smallest width option in developer options. (Redmi 5 plus)
so I was bored and I decided to check some developer options to see what they can do... I found this option called 'smallest width', at first I set it from 392 to 100 and it automatically set itself to two hundred something I believe. So I did the same thing but this time I set it to 1000 thinking that it would automatically set itself to the max value possible... But it didn't. Right after pressing 'Ok', my screen became soo small and a message pooped up saying "System is not responding", then my phone restarted to recovery. Unlike many people who were facing this problem on the internet, My phone's bootloader is unlocked, I have TWRP recovery installed, my phone is rooted and I had USB debugging on. I rebooted to bootloader and tried "adb devices" but my phone wasn't there. After that, I booted to TWRP and clicked Mount then checked all boxes (I couldn't check storage) and clicked Mount USB Storage. This time my phone showed up in the list. Check the image below.

I don't know if it's okay that it's saying recovery instead of device, but I ran "adb shell wm density reset", it didn't work and same with "adb shell wm size reset".

As you can see in the image below, there was no error but the phone still didn't want to boot. After that I tried to check my current screen size and density using "adb shell wm size" and "adb shell wm density", but there was no response.

I also checked the build.prop file in /system and found this line "persist.miui.density\_v2=440", I changed it to 220, nothing happened.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/zalow.png

Now my question is, why is there no response when I run "adb shell wm size/density"? It doesn't work in the TWRP terminal as well. Is this command supposed to be in the /sbin directory? Because I couldn't find it there. How can I add it if it is not there? And lastly, if you can suggest any other way to fix my phone that would help me a lot. Thank you so much.

# Answer
Wipe all data and restart. That's what I did after I made the same mistake of changing the width drastically from 392 to 1000.

It messes with the UI and goes into a loop.
> 1 votes

# Answer
adb reset commands worked for me.

I had USB debugging on. And a few seconds after reboot(after MIUI animation) my device showed in `adb devices`. Then I used `adb shell wm density reset`
> 1 votes

---
Tags: adb, boot-loop, bootloader, miui
---


# Question
Title: Reinstall system app which is uninstalled for the current user?
*I have already posted this on Reddit, but I might reach a better audience here.*

---

I "uninstalled" Google Play Games using this guide by XDA. Now I need to reinstall it. This is the command, how I should be able to reinstall the app: `adb shell cmd package install-existing <name of package>`. But there is one problem: My phone is on Android Lollipop, and the command doesn't exist there. I manually tried to install the apk back, with adb and with the normal package installer. The Settings app always says something like "Not installed for user" (translated from another language).

So I have 2 questions:

1. In which Android version was this command introduced?
2. How can I get this app back?

PS: I have root access, but would prefer a non-rooted solution.

# Answer
> 1 votes
First, enable the package by using `pm enable --user 0 <pkg>`, and then install it by using `cmd package install-existing <pkg>`.

---
Tags: installation, system-apps
---


# Question
Title: How can I import a Root CA that's trusted by Chrome on Android 11
I have a Root CA (airgapped, openssl) that I use for a lot of internal lab projects.

In the past, I've just imported the CA cert into the User credentials store on Android and the system began trusting it immediately.

I just wiped my phone and now, on Android 11, I'm unable to get this Root CA trusted the way it was before.

The CA cert definitely has the CA:TRUE extension:

```
$ openssl x509 -in root.crt -noout -text|grep -B2 TRUE
        X509v3 extensions:
            X509v3 Basic Constraints:
                CA:TRUE

```

The Server cert that's presented in the SSL exchange matches the DNS name and also includes the same name in the SAN extension:

```
(...)
        Issuer: O = <domain> Lab Root CA, emailAddress = <me>, L = <Place>, ST = <state>, C = US, CN = <domain> Lab Root CA
        Validity
            Not Before: Aug 13 11:39:55 2020 GMT
            Not After : Aug 13 11:39:55 2023 GMT
        Subject: C = US, ST = <state>, CN = <lab server name>
(....)
            X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
                DNS:<lab server name>

```

The server I'm testing with correctly chains the cert in the TLS response, and this setup works great across a bunch of browsers and OS combinations in the desktop world (and worked until recently on Android).

I've tried the following:

* Import the Root CA Certificate through the normal "Import from SD Card" method. The CA imports properly, but Chrome still gives invalid authority browser warnings.
* (Rooted) moving the imported cert from the user `/data/misc/user/0/cacerts-added` imported credentials folder to `/system/etc/security/cacerts`. The CA appears correctly in the "System" tab of Trusted Credentials, but still doesn't work in chrome
* Manually crafting the DER-encoded file into the System cacerts folder. Chrome still doesn't work.
* Following the example of some PEM-encoded trusted CA certs already on the system, crafting my own and putting it into System cacerts. Chrome still doesn't work.
* I tried using a Magisk module to move User trusted certs to the System store. This module worked as described, and moved my Root CA into the System tab, but Chrome still didn't want to trust for SSL and continues to give out browser warnings.

Some other observations:

* Running `curl -vv https://<testurl>` via adb constantly complains about `SSL certificate problem: self signed certificate in certificate chain` even though the CA that the certificate is signed by is in the Trusted credentials store.
* The CA trust chain definitely works fine in desktop browsers, and via `openssl s_client` on a desktop (`Verify return code: 0 (ok)` when the Root CA is imported into the desktop trust)
* I've cleared Chrome's app storage every time I go to test after making a change. No dice.

Is there anything else I can try or a setting that I've missed? It's very annoying to not be able to manage trusted Root CAs on Android 11 like I used to.

I'd rather not have to turf the whole airgapped, comprehensive SSL CA that I've set up for something like Let's Encrypt just because of Android compatibility so please don't suggest that as an alternative. There are lots of internal-only endpoints in this lab and my public DNS provider doesn't support automation for dns-01 ACME, so it would be a really big pain to proxy and juggle these certs.

Here's a sample of what one of the server certs looks like:

```
Certificate:
    Data:
        Version: 3 (0x2)
        Serial Number: 4123 (0x101b)
        Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
        Issuer: O = <domain> Lab Root CA, emailAddress = <me>, L = <city>, ST = <state>, C = US, CN = <domain> Lab Root CA
        Validity
            Not Before: Dec 23 13:06:42 2021 GMT
            Not After : Dec 22 13:06:42 2024 GMT
        Subject: C = US, ST = <state>, CN = monitoring.lab.<domain>
        Subject Public Key Info:
            Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
                RSA Public-Key: (2048 bit)
                Modulus:
(...)
                Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
        X509v3 extensions:
            X509v3 Basic Constraints:
                CA:FALSE
            Netscape Cert Type:
                SSL Server
            Netscape Comment:
                OpenSSL Generated Server Certificate
            X509v3 Subject Key Identifier:
                (...)
            X509v3 Authority Key Identifier:
                keyid:(...)
                DirName:/O=<domain> Lab Root CA/emailAddress=<me>/L=<city>/ST=<state>/C=US/CN=<domain> Lab Root CA
                serial:(...)

            X509v3 Key Usage: critical
                Digital Signature, Key Encipherment
            X509v3 Extended Key Usage:
                TLS Web Server Authentication
            X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
                DNS:monitoring.lab.<domain>
    Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
(snip)

```

# Answer
> 2 votes
The error indicates that the root CA certificate is the cause, but your server certificate also looks "defect" as it's validity period is too long. Most web browsers do no accept validity periods longer than 13 months. The Subject Alternative Name extension is present so that should not cause problems (this extension is now mandatory).

For the root CA cert I don't know what extension are really required I just compare it to the one created by Fiddler (which I know works):

I see the following extensions:

* X509v3 Basic Constraints (2.5.29.19):
    + CA: TRUE
    + Path Length Constraint: 0
* KeyUsage (2.5.29.15)
    + Certificate Signing
* SubjectKeyIdentifier (2.5.29.14)
    + 20 byte random identifier

And of course the signature algorithm should be only secure algorithms like RSA with at least 2048bit key and SHA-256.

---
Tags: certificates, https
---


# Question
Title: How to connect Samsung galaxy S9 plus to internet while phone is locked and notification bar is also locked and I have forgotten pattern lock
I have forgotten my phone's pattern lock now in order to unlock it there is one option I know is by using Samsung account I can unlock it but unfortunately my phone's notification bar is locked and phone's ADB debugging is also off, so how can I make my phone online. I don't want to hard reset as it will erase my data in the phone so please if anyone know how to connect a locked phone to internet please tell me and also let me know if you know how to break pattern lock without losing data. thank you so much.

# Answer
> 0 votes
insert sim card into another phone and disable SIM PIN completely. now insert sim card back into locked phone it will connect to mobile data automatically without asking for PIN. finally login to find my mobile on pc and remote unlock phone

---
Tags: samsung, lock-screens, samsung-galaxy-s-9
---


# Question
Title: Can Google Assistant interact with apps while they're open?
I would like to know whether Google Assistant can interact with apps while they're open, and whether you could kindly provide me with since examples.

The rationale for my question follows:

I was wondering whether Android supports making Google Assistant interact with apps while they're open. I know Google Assistant interfaces to apps which it can open by calling them with parameters. For example if I tell it "call Joe on WhatsApp" it opens WhatsApp and then immediately WhatsApp calls Joe. However, while WhatsApp is open, I can open Google Assistant to overlay, but then I cannot tell it, after the call has been answered, "switch call to video". This would be useful.

What I would like to know, is whether this functionality is available in the Google Assistant API, and, if so, why WhatsApp hasn't implemented the interface. If not, it could be quite useful, because that way a blind person could easily make a call on someone's phone, even someone else's phone, found in the house, and if a child next to the blind person wanted to call their mother and switch to video after the call and the child was too small then the blind person, or person who accidentally lost their vision temporarily due to an accident, health condition, or other, could easily do that. Then the mother could intervene and do what was needed to offer her presence, and, if needed, her help. I feel that this would be an important accessibility feature that Google and WhatsApp could implement and add support for together. The phone the blind person normally uses with TalkBack could break or run out of battery. Or it may be that another adult in the house in charge faints and the blind person realizes this and needs to take over and needs to use the other person's phone as trained and as fast as possible, and may not want to have to go through activating TalkBack which may not have been configured on the other phone or whose speech may confuse the child at hand, making them think the phone is doing things they do not want the phone to do, which could cause the child to grab the phone from the blind person and remain helpless, unable to make the call or do what they need to do on the phone.

I wonder whether Google will implement the ability for users to interact with apps via Google Assistant while those apps are open, rather than just using Google Assistant for opening those apps, in the near future.

Other apps could also benefit from interfacing with Google Assistant in this way in countless manners. For instance a music app could let the user change the music played from the assistant. A camera app could allow the user to take a picture by simply telling the assistant after it was opened. YouTube could play the cartoon the assistant told it to after the user opened YouTube from the assistant. These are all perfectly reasonable and extremely useful functions which are significant improvements from a usability perspective for a blind user who has to deal with an impatient child who wants to see things on the phone and can't write because of being too young while the other parent is away from home at work.

Thanks.

# Answer
> 1 votes
**Can Google Assistant interact with apps while they're open?**

Yes and No depending what you mean by Google Assistant and app

Google Assistant covers a number of features but for the purposes of this answer will cover two specific sets, with unfortunately similar names:

* Google Actions - Cloud based voice services written by third-party developers, similar to Amazon Alexa Skills, where you have known path voice conversations with an 'app' in the cloud. While their use is promoted with the home interactive speaker devices, you can use these on Android devices. Other than the Google app itself, no third-party Android app is involved, but the same backend service for that third-party app is probably used. Realize that once you are in the 'voice app' that app is using the voice infrastructure of Google to transform speech to text, and even then only a limited number of synonyms which is then used by the 'voice app'.
* Google App Actions / App Shortcuts - A defined set of Android Intents which are sent to a supporting Android app. Note that Android Intents are usually for imperative action which the app will then handle fully.

See: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/shortcuts#shortcut-capabilities

Once the Android Intent is fired, the receiving app is brought to the front and historically the foreground app takes priority except for media playing, notifications or incoming calls. Only with Android 10 and onward it is possible to officially support shared microphone input which of course brings its own privacy/security concerns.

TalkBack is a Google Accessibility app separate from Google Assistant which provides for sight assistive navigation/user input.

**So how does TalkBack work?**

Android when released supported D-pad navigation and the concept of focus for each individual visual element used by a typical app developer not including games. Adding additional metadata about each visual field doesn't normally require a major code change, see Android Developers Accessibility Principles. Using Android's accessibility APIs is how TalkBack to provide for sight assistive navigation/user input.

**So can't I speak to the third-party Android app to make it do things in a natural way?**

What you describe requires deeper integration with TalkBack. But TalkBack isn't necessarily the only accessibility support app available. Any APIs that it uses should exist in the Android framework. Alternatively the third-party Android app itself can integrate speech-to-text features.

**Why does the third-party voice app, or Google Action, sound more natural/understandable than TalkBack?**

Those services are designed voice first during development and use Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) to add in prosody necessary to make the output sound more natural.

Android does have its own API called TTSSpan for adding some prosody elements to spoken output. However it doesn't support SSML directly: SSML support in Android TTS?, which means more effort from developers who do want to support more natural speech output.

**So what does that mean?**

If a user says "add 5 to number field" context is important to know what does "add 5" and which "number field" is being referred to. Voice first apps would be designed to respond with "which number field, x or y" or reset the conversation so that the user and app are synced up. Android apps are designed primarily to be visual with cues to make the input conform with expectation (allowed letters, numbers, length, etc.) with accessibility or voice as an extra supported feature but not primary one.

TalkBack or any third-party Accessibility app has only the limited knowledge expressed by any accessibility tags for the fields that are on that one screen and has no knowledge of any other screen. No Android framework API exists for a Android app developer to say to the Accessibility app "if the user says xyz do foobar".

**So what about integrating speech-to-text directly into the Android app**

Speech-to-Text is currently a paid service for third-party apps and done in the cloud. While on device speech-to-text is possible, app developers may just depend on Custom Keyboard (GBoard, OEM keyboard, others) to handle that aspect. For example, the search field in the YouTube for Android app by tapping the microphone icon allows you to speak your search topic. The Facebook for Android app doesn't have such a way in the app and depends upon the the Keyboard App to feed it text. Do realize that until recently, good quality voice recognition required sending your voice to the cloud for parsing.

**But if in Android 10 and up now allows for shared microphone access then further feature integration is possible.**

Yes, but would depend on the developer of the Accessibility App (Google or other party) and the hundreds of thousands of the third-party app developers to support any API, and to my knowledge there is no API for that in the Android framework.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The Google Assistant can open certain types of apps, mostly ones that are directly connected to like for instance: YouTube Music, Maps, and Calendar, also Messages, and Phone. However, when trying to do games, it may not respond in the same way.

This depends on how you use it. It varies depending on the question you ask. Usually, you have to be very specific otherwise, it will not respond in the way you intend for it to. Meaning: it will probably not act right and will end up giving you something completely.

That is why, be as specific as you can when asking the question or giving an answer to any assistant, be that Google/Bixby/Cortana/Alexa/Siri, etc.

---
Tags: applications, whatsapp-messenger, accessibility, google-assistant, usability
---


# Question
Title: Slow loading of the internal storage folder in PC
Slow loading of the internal storage folder specifically when I connect my phone to the PC. A green bar keeps on progressing quickly at the beginning and seems to be slowing down as it reaches the end and still the folders don't appear. I am not able to transfer the files from my phone to the PC.

Please help.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Issue you're facing is mostly because of either of these two reasons:

1. MTP acts retarded when there are too many files
2. Windows acts dumb sometimes (switch to linux)

I don't really have a solution to either than switching to linux (as i did) for the latter

Now some REAL workaround to HELP you:

1. Connect Your phone and computer to same WiFi/hotspot or even connect your pc to the same mobile's hotspot
2. Download MixPlorer or any other file manager with FTP on your android device

then follow this guide

https://manyandroid.app/android-ftp-file-transfer-mixplorer/

Trust me learning to transfer file this way would just be a one time investment, this setup will help you forever!

---
Tags: internal-storage, usb-connection-mode
---


title: How to free the space called 'Other'

text:
# Question
Title: How to free the space called 'Other'
How can I eliminate this 9.21 GB of space called "Altro" (Other); Is there the possibility to know what kind of things are there in this 9 GB, I tried some apps but none gives me some useful info. I am on android 12, xiaomi mi 9t.

# Answer
You can't (possibly) 'eliminate' the contents without SU access. However MixPlorer or ES file Explorer might help you read much of / level contents.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: internal-storage
---


# Question
Title: how to change the default download folder on android pad
From time to time, you need to download files into your android device, but the downloaded files always end up in the default folder. Is there any way I can change that default folder or make the device prompt me every time I need to download files?

# Answer
> 2 votes
You should use the dolphin browser. While downloading file from the internet a popup appears and allows you to change the destination to save the file wherever you want. Hope you are looking for that. (Still figuring out android pad?)

# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't think this is possible. However, here is a very good file manager you could use to move the files after downloading: ES File Explorer

# Answer
> 0 votes
on Samsung, swipe down, go to settings (gear icon upper right) search for sites and downloads

WAIT - scroll down and DISABLE SAMSUNG Internet! TURN IT OFF!

then scroll up to "Sites and downloads"

"Save downloaded files to" NOTE: ONLY when Samsung internet is OFF will the option to save to SD Card will become available. I then simply pointed to the Download directory on the SD Card

This process worked on my Samsung 5G FE (Fan Edition) phone.

---
Tags: downloading
---


# Question
Title: Galaxy Note 5 suddenly stopped booting up and in recovery mode has dm-verity and failed to mount errors?
All of sudden when I was trying to use my note 5 (unroot), I noticed that it was powered off and I couldn't power it on with power button. Can you please tell me if there is a way I can recover data on my phone without losing them? I also have Google Authenticator which is connected to many accounts online, If I lose data I will lose everything! Here is what I tried so far:

First thing I did was a soft reset ( power button + volume down) and the mobile turned on but unfortunately it kept looping on the Samsung logo screen. Then, I tried to go to recovery mode (power button + home button + volume up) and from there I tried "reboot system now", "wiping cache partition (which I hope it doesn't remove any data?)" and "Run graphics test: which failed with error no command and then wiping cached data" all of them without success. One thing I noticed in the bottom section of recovery mode there are these errors:

```
ODIN MODE
DOWNLOAD SPEED: FAST
PRODUCT NAME: SM-N920C
CA_ TYPE: CA_2
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
FRP LOCK: ON
Secure Download : Enabled
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0 (0x0000)
RP SWREV: B:5 K:0 S:1

Android Recovery
samsung/nobleltejv/noblelte
7.0/NRD90M/N920CXXS5CRH1
user/release-keys

No Support SINGLE-SKU
Supported API: 3
dm-verity error...
E: failed to mount /system (Invalid argument)

```

# Answer
You could try to flash all partition images (except `userdata.img`) via heimdall command line

```
heimdall flash --BOOTLOADER sboot.bin --CM cm.bin --PARAM param.bin --BOOT boot.img --RECOVERY recovery.img --RADIO modem.bin --SYSTEM system.img --CACHE cache.img --HIDDEN hidden.img

```

---

The above example command is created from partition list. This is how you get pit file

* install heimdall, python and samloader
* download and decrypt stock ROM for your region code

```
C:\Android\samloader>samloader -m SM-N920C -r AFR checkupdate
N920CXXS5CRH1/N920COJV4CRB3/N920CXXU5CRH1/N920CXXS5CRH1

C:\Android\samloader>samloader -m SM-N920C -r AFR download -v N920CXXS5CRH1/N920COJV4CRB3/N920CXXU5CRH1/N920CXXS5CRH1 -O .
downloading SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip.enc4
[################################] 38453/38453 - 00:06:20

C:\Android\samloader>samloader -m SM-N920C -r AFR decrypt -v N920CXXS5CRH1/N920COJV4CRB3/N920CXXU5CRH1/N920CXXS5CRH1 -V 4 -i SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip.enc4 -o SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip
[################################] 615247/615247 - 00:01:21

```
* unpack files from zip

```
C:\Android\samloader>7z l SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip

7-Zip 18.01 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2018 Igor Pavlov : 2018-01-28

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 2520047837 bytes (2404 MiB)

Listing archive: SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip

--
Path = SM-N920C_1_20180820163853_vvggswhd8u_fac.zip
Type = zip
Physical Size = 2520047837
64-bit = +
Characteristics = Zip64

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2018-08-20 16:39:50 .....      5058737      1491256  BL_N920CXXS5CRH1_CL11762721_QB19211222_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
2018-08-20 16:39:50 .....   4797583545   2248597336  AP_N920CXXS5CRH1_CL11762721_QB19211222_REV00_user_low_ship_meta.tar.md5
2018-08-20 16:44:16 .....     38092989     38093065  CP_N920CXXU5CRH1_CP10334463_CL11762721_QB19211222_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
2018-08-20 16:44:18 .....    273756344    231865000  CSC_OJV_N920COJV4CRB3_CL11762721_QB16863364_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2018-08-20 16:44:18         5114491615   2520046657  4 files

```
* extract pit from CSC file

```
CSC_OJV_N920COJV4CRB3_CL11762721_QB16863364_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5

```
* inspect `NOBLELTE_EUR_OPEN_HIDDEN150M.pit` pit file with PIT Magic or PIT Viewer
> 0 votes

---
Tags: boot-loop, system-error, samsung-galaxy-note-5
---


# Question
Title: How to send commands to Android device using Bluetooth module
I want to add extra physical buttons to my old Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for a project that I'm doing. Essentially, I want to be able to press one of the buttons that are connected to a Bluetooth module (GPIO pins of the module), and based on that specific button that is pressed, it will tell the Note 4 to launch a program or do a specific command. Here's the Bluetooth module that I've been looking at.

How can this be achieved?

# Answer
> -1 votes
BlueSPP and a Bluetooth relay can do that.

---
Tags: applications, samsung, bluetooth
---


# Question
Title: EDL is non-functional and /data partition is inaccessible, and I fear that my Android device is permanently damaged
I have a `OnePlus 7Pro (GM1917)` that was working fine for a long time with `OOS 10.3.8`. Its bootloader is unlocked, and it was rooted. I hadn't upgraded it for a long time, and recently I decided to flash an A11 ROM: `OOS 11.0.5.1.GM21AA`. At that point, I lost all ability to access the `/data` partition.

I know that there can be similar issues with such an A10-to-A11 upgrade, and that many of these issues are solvable. However, I have investigated and tried many things to fix this, to no avail, and I fear that my problem goes deeper than those issues and might not be fixable. But I'm hoping that there might still be something which I haven't tried that could fix my problem.

Here is a detailed description of everything I did, how it all failed, and everything I have tried so far to fix it ...

After the A10-to-A11 upgrade, my device went into a permanent boot loop when trying to boot to `System`.

I then did `fastboot boot twrp-3.6.0_11-0-guacamole.img` (which is the version of TWRP that is meant to work with this `OOS 11.0.5.1` ROM), and this indeed put me into TWRP. However, the `/data` partition is inaccessible. Whenever I try to format `/data`, I consistently get these messages:

```
Failed to mount /data (Invalid argument)
Unable to recreate /data/media folder.
Unable to mount storage
Unable to mount /data/media/TWRP/.twrps
Unable to wipe data

```

I then went back to the bootloader, and I ran these commands:

```
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot format:ext4 userdata

```

These commands successfully run with no error messages. However, when I then go back into TWRP, `/data` is still inaccessible, and I get the same error messages that I listed above when trying to format `/data` .

I then tried to decrypt `/data`, but when I do so, it asks for a password, and I have no idea what password to give. I never used any password on the device in the past. I am not allowed to decrypt `/data` without a password.

So, I decided to use the `MsmDownloadTool` to reflash my device back to `OOS 10.3.8`. This works fine with a different `GM1917` device that I have (but which I never tried flashing to `OOS 11`). However, with this particular device, after going into `EDL` mode, I am told that I am "Connected", but a couple seconds later it gives me the "Sahara Connection Failed" message. I have double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked the device drivers, and it indeed is showing that the `Qualcomm qds 9008` driver is properly installed and active on the PC. Furthermore, as I mentioned, I have no problem using `MsmDownloadTool` on that same PC with another `GM1917` device.

I then went further: I extracted `payload.bin` from the `OOS 11.0.5.1.GM21AA` installation bundle, and I extracted all of the `*.img` files. I flashed `boot.img` via fastboot and retried everything that I mentioned above, but nothing has changed.

I then went and flashed all of the `*.img` files via fastboot. However, still nothing has changed.

When flashing the set of all `*.img` files, in some cases, I was told that the file is critical and cannot be reflashed. I then ran these two commands ...

```
fastboot flashing unlock
fastboot flashing unlock_critical

```

... but in both cases, I am told that the device is already unlocked. Trying to flash all of the `*.img` files again gave me the same results: *i.e.*, some got flashed, and others were not flashed due to being "Critical".

Also, some of the items I flashed were said to be "sparse", and their flashes were flagged with warnings, but as far as I can tell, they seem to have been flashed anyway.

In the end, I still go into a bootloop when booting to `System`, the `/data` partition is still inaccessible, and `EDL` mode still does not function.

Do these problems with `/data` and `EDL` and everything else mean that my device is somehow permanently damaged? Or are there perhaps one or more additional things that I can try in order to restore it to some sort of working state?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or ideas.

# Answer
The problem with `/data` has now been fixed.

I had forgotten that in the past, I was trying the `OrangeFox` dual-boot recovery on this device, and it had repartitioned `/data`.

I fixed this by flashing the appropriate `*.img` files again for my OS (OOS 10.3.8), and then by booting into the standard OrangeFox recovery (the non-dual-boot version) via fastboot, and then by using its `adb sideload` facility to flash that same OrangeFox recovery. OrangeFox's `adb sideload` mechanism offers options to the user for repartitioning and rebuilding `/data`. I utilized those options and set `/data` back to "Stock", and after that, `/data` became accessible again, and I could format it and access it in recovery with no problem.

At this point, I flashed `OOS 10.3.8`, and I then flashed the appropriate TWRP and Magisk. Now, my device is back up and running in that OOS version.

The `EDL` problem continues, but given that my device is now usable again, I am not overly concerned about this `MsmDownloadTool` issue at the moment. In my spare time, I'll continue to look into that.

All's well that ends well! ... and now it's indeed a happy New Year for me!
> 1 votes

# Answer
While I don't have a perfect answer for you, I can at least provide some info on `MSMDownloadTool`. I've resolved that `Sahara Connection Failed` issue through a couple of ways:

* Changing the USB port I am connected to
* Reattaching my device
* Restarting the program

`MSMDownloadTool` seems pretty finicky. I usually get stuck in a loop where it completes and then restarts the flash, locking my phone into EDL mode. I'd recommend flashing via `fastboot` or `recovery` before resorting to `MSMDownloadTool`. I've had some luck directly flashing the OTA Updates that OnePlus provides.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: boot-loop, storage, partitions, data
---


# Question
Title: I changed my Google account password on my PC. How do I make the change on my phone and tablets?
I changed my Google account password on my PC. That went fine. But how do I make the change on my phone and tablets? I don't want the phone or Google apps on the phone to suddenly ask me for the password when I'm out doing something. I want to change it pro-actively. But I have not found any way to re-log-in to my Google account on the phone.

Phone is a Samsung Galaxy running Android version 7.0 (I know, I know. New phone in the near future).

Prior Research: A similar (unanswered) question has been asked here 5 years ago Apply google password change to android but the difference is that I am not experiencing the difficulties that poster was.

# Answer
Google usually does not use passwords for authentication on Android. Only for the initial account set-up you have to enter username and password which is then sent to the Google authentication server but not stored on your phone.

If username and password were correct the authentication server sends back an long term oAuth authentication token (looks like a long string of random characters - usually 50 character or longer) which used for authentication and updated periodically by the server (about every month).

Therefore changing the password has no effect on your Android device. If you want to logout devices from your Google account, Google provides a web page where you cans see all active devices and where you can log out each device if want: http://google.com/devices
> 3 votes

---
Tags: google-account, password
---


# Question
Title: How to make YouTube URLs open in YouTube app rather than browser? (updated for 2022)
I'm using Android 12 on a Google Pixel 3. My default browser is Brave. I sometimes also use Chrome.

For many types of links, such as https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6883161994237636609/ , my phone correctly opens the content via the related native app (in this case, LinkedIn).

**I want all YouTube URLs to open via the YouTube app and thought my settings (shown below) would enable this behavior; what is wrong?**

Although many similar questions have been asked before, their old answers haven't helped me in 2022:

You can see that my settings look appropriate here:

P.S. YouTube URLs within email messages in my Gmail app *do* open the YouTube app correctly.

# Answer
This is for Brave Browser only and the navigation that is shown below might change in the future because who knows ¯\*(ツ)*/¯.

Try disabling “Video playback in Brave” under ***Settings \> Site settings \> Media***

PS: Similar settings are available in most popular browsers, messaging apps, etc. All you have to do is fiddle around the settings. And most settings won't break/harm your phone.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: browser, youtube
---


# Question
Title: How to get back to the exact same state as before accidentally adding a LINE friend?
Sure, in the official LINE help and elsewhere, there's a lot of advice about hiding, and deleting and blocking friends.

But none of that tells you how to get back to the exact same state you were in before you added them.

All the methods have some side effect leaving some permanent difference.

I want to get back to the exact same state that I was in before I accidentally added them. In other words I want their state in regards to me and my state in regards to them to be exactly like it was before I ever added them.

On Facebook, one could simply click Unfriend.

But in LINE it is much more complicated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can delete someone from your friends list by hiding them, and then going to Settings \> Friends \> Hidden Friends.

Tap on the `Edit` button beside the friend you want to delete and then choose "Delete". This will delete them without blocking.

---
Tags: line
---


# Question
Title: How to add a word to the Voice Typing recognition list?
I need to frequently say the word "olivette". I added it to my keyboard dictionary. Voice Typing ALWAYS interprets it as "all of that". It doesn't learn from my correcting it.

A Google search reveals ways you USED to be able to add words to your phone's recognition list. Other services let you (e.g. dragon).

How do you do it on Android 8.0 and later? (I'm using a motorola z-play)

# Answer
With Gboard, there's currently no option to add a word to the Voice Typing recognition list. That's indeed one upside of using Dragon.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-maps, customization, voice-recognition, dictionary
---


# Question
Title: How to force voice recognition into writing out numbers or just printing numerals?
One edge case I've found when transcribing notes is that, if I say 1, 2, 4 or 8, it's never clear if they will come up as numbers or as one, two, four, eight or one of their homophones.

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking I could always rely on saying "numeral (number)," and while I understand voice recognition on Android doesn't bring in the cash, I'd still like to know if there's a command I can put before this, because having "1 do this 2 on the other hand, this 3 summary" allows me to sort my notes a bit better e.g. if something matches the ^1.\*\b2\b regex.

Now I have a workaround where I say "zero one" or "zero two," and while that is acceptable, I was wondering if anyone found anything more precise.

# Answer
> I have a workaround where I say "zero one" or "zero two," and while that is acceptable, I was wondering if anyone found anything more precise.

There currently exists no better workaround as far as I know. Google's voice typing is very limited in features, much more limited than Dragon.

Currently, as a general rule, Google's voice typing spells out numbers as digits if more than nine or if preceded by another number.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: voice-recognition
---


# Question
Title: How to migrate playlists (for local music library)
My old and new Android phones have SD cards, and the entire music library (mp3 & flac) is on the SD card.

On the new phone, the playlists are all there, but they have no songs in them.

I use BlackPlayer EX on old and new phones.

Old phone: Android 10 with SD card New phone: Android 11 with SD card

(Both phones are Sony Xperia models, fwiw)

How to get the playlists to migrate properly?

# Answer
OK, I figured it out. Black Player on both old and new phone, local MP3 and FLAC files on SD card (in /music/ folder on old and new phone). Old android phone on android 9/10 New android phone on android 10/11/12.

Steps:

(Assumes Windows laptop, adjust as appro for Mac)

1. On old phone, in Black Player, export all playlists to m3u
2. On new phone, in Black Player, delete all empty playlists (if they migrated), and create one new test playlist of two or three tracks
3. Install the WebDAV Server app (the free one by "The Olive Tree") on both old and new phone
4. Start WebDAV server on old phone, give permissions, ignore warning that is made for older version of Android
5. On laptop, in Explorer, right click on My Computer, choose Map Drive, and enter the full url to the webdav (http://:8080 -- this is shown in the WebDAV app)
6. The newly mapped drive, say Z:, open in Explorer, scroll all the way down, you should see your playlists as m3u files
7. Copy all of them to local laptop (Say to c:\temp\oldphone)
8. Now do steps 3 and 4 on NEW phone, and then copy over the test playlist
9. Using VSCode or Notepad++, open the test playlist from the new phone, note the path to the files
10. Now do a global replace on the playlists to adjust the path to the mp3/flac files in all the m3u files
11. Now copy all the m3u files to the NEW phone
12. Now in Black Player, at the bottom of the Playlists area, select Import Playlist
13. Select ALL the playlists, and select Import

TADA!
> 1 votes

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Tags: applications, music, android-11
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# Question
Title: How do I unlock my Samsung Galaxy Tab S4?
I just got a new Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. I did not set a password in the setup as I did not want one. The tablet timed out and now it wants a password which I don't have.

I have tried all the reset options I can find on Google, but none will take me to the reset screen.

What do I do now?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Boot into recovery mode and make a complete wipe of the phone. This will remove any password. **WARNING: All your data will be removed too.**

# Answer
> 0 votes
According to the OP's (now deleted) comment (with copyedit),

> I have since found the answer. Shut the tablet off by holding power and volume down for about 45 sec. As soon as the Samsung logo appears, let go of the buttons and reapply with power and volume up until the boot screen appears. Use volume up or down to select which function you want and hit the power button to apply. It might take one or two tries for it to totally do the reset. Follow the directions with the setup.

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Tags: samsung
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title: Phone unlocks when call comes in

text:
# Question
Title: Phone unlocks when call comes in
I have a Samsung SM G930V, Android v 7.0

My phone is set to lock with the fingerprint scanner, but when a call comes in the phone automatically unlocks and when I pull it out of my pocket half the time I inadvertently hang up because I touch the hang up button as I am pulling it out of my pocket.

How do I make it stay locked even when a call comes in? Meaning I want it to wait till I unlock before letting me answer or hang up.

Of course, if I am in the car with bluetooth I still want the answer button in the car to work without having to unlock it manually.

# Answer
No, you can't do that unless you are using some other app for calls that doesn't shows *incoming call screen* while the phone is locked.
As *phone apps* are generally set with a `FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED` flag, which enables them to show incoming call while phone is locked.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Always love it when I can add a non-technical answer. Thinking outside the box, you simply need a protective phone case from Ebay. For example I have this little beauty headed my way for my brand new Pixel 4A 5G with CalyxOS. https://www.ebay.com/itm/353791237308 The case will prevent you from pressing any buttons inadvertently, and additionally it will extend the life of your screen. Problem solved.
> 1 votes

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Tags: calls
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title: Enter username or password via voice?

text:
# Question
Title: Enter username or password via voice?
Is there a way to enter a username or password by voice?

Google's Voice Search only interprets entire words or phrases but I couldn't find any way to dictate **letter-by-letter** to an input field.

Is this at all possible in Android?

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can spell out words with the voice input, but it puts spaces between each letter. I can't see there being a feature to support this as saying your password out loud would defeat the point of having a password.

Now if you follow the "pass-phrase" model, where your password is something like "i walk on the beach to relax", then it may work. but again, I don't think it would be a good idea to say your password out loud anyway.

# Answer
> 0 votes
> I couldn't find any way to dictate letter-by-letter to an input field. Is this at all possible in Android?

Currently, not possible with Google. Some other programs support it, eg Dragon or CMU Sphinx. https://stackoverflow.com/a/34096295/395857

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Tags: voice-command, voice-recognition
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