# Question
Title: Nexus 6P charges slowly on stock 6P charger, but 5X charges rapidly
**TL;DR:** My wife's LG Nexus 5X has no issue charging with her LG charger or my Huawei charger. My Huawei Nexus 6P charges slowly with the Huawei charger but at full speed with the LG charger. Is there an explanation for this, and am I likely to run into more incompatibility (i.e. is it my phone or the charger)?

---

I have a Huawei Nexus 6P, and my wife has the LG Nexus 5X. When we first received them, we could use both either charger/cord combination and we would get the full 3A/5V ("charging rapidly" message appeared).

After a month or so, I noticed that my phone wasn't charging as quickly as I was used to, so I looked and saw it said "charging" but not "charging rapidly," which is what I get when I use a regular 2.1A charger. I looked and this was on the stock Huawei charger (that went with my 6P). I tested this setup with my wife's phone, and her phone said "charging rapidly."

At this point, I used her LG charger, and I once again got the "charging rapidly" message. I then tried both cables in both chargers, and it was only the original cable with the original charger that gave me a slow charge (charger and cable from Huawei). I did the experiment back-and-forth several times to make sure it wasn't just a fluke.

That was fine, I just switched the cables and was able to use either charger and get the "charging rapidly" message.

Eventually, though, I noticed the issue again, but this time with the cable from LG and the charger from Huawei. I tried switching the cables, but it didn't work.

So now my Huawei phone can't charge at full speed with the Huawei charger, but my wife's LG Nexus 5X can without issue. My 6P can charge at full speed with either cable using the 5X charger, but won't charge at full speed on the 6P charger with either cable. The 5X can charge at full speed using either charger with either cable.

I realize that I could just pitch the charger and *maybe* never have to think about it again, but that doesn't make any sense out the problem. I'm curious about the very specific progressive incompatibility, and I also don't want to deal with the same problem with another charger or set of chargers down the road.

So, is there any explanation for this hardware incompatibility? Also, is there a good chance this is a software issue? I noticed it *after* flashing either PureNexus or Chroma, but I'm sure it carried over after going back to PureNexus from Chroma, so I'm assuming it wouldn't be fixed by going back to the stock ROM.

# Answer
> 2 votes
**Background Information**

1. From Nexus

> The Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P use USB Type-C for charging, so not all cables and chargers will work with these phones. We recommend using the charger that came with your Nexus.
2. Also corroborated here for LG Nexus 5X
3. Decent comparison of Type C Charging. Point to note is that current supplied can go upto 3A unlike conventional charging or Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
4. When your device gets 3A it displays "*charging rapidly*" and when it gets 2.1A (conventional charging), it displays "*charging*". This can be verifed by using an app like Ampere

**Analysis of symptoms described by you**

5. To start with Nexus 6P/ Nexus 5x in any charger/cord combination gave "*charging rapidly*"
6. 6P Charger + 6P Cable on 6P → "*charging*"
7. 6P Charger + 6p Cable on 5X → "*charging rapidly*"
8. 5X Charger + 6P/5X Cable on 6P → "*charging rapidly*"

Conclusion from above → **6P Charger suspect**

9. Later, 6P Charger + 5X/6P cable on 6P → "*charging*".
10. By this statement , I guess you mean 5X/6P Charger and 5x cable on 5X → "*rapidly charging*"

> So now my Huawei phone can't charge at full speed with the Huawei charger, but my wife's LG Nexus 5X can without issue

Conclusion from above → **6P Cable suspect**

You could purchase a 6P Cable from here, being Google recommended and it should be fine IMO and verify current using Amplify app. If that doesn't fully fix the issue, then you may need to purchase 6P charger also as indicated from 6 to 8

I don't think it is OS issue since switching to stock didn't help (your question doesn't make it clear if custom OS was flashed only on 6P or both)- only way to rule this out entirely is by switching to stock on both

Let us know the result

**EDIT:** Based on the clarification by OP , I strongly believe that **replacing 6P charger** should fix the issue (since cable issue is ruled out) and nothing points to device problem All the best

---
Tags: charging, nexus-6p
---


# Question
Title: how do i delete a photo from a hangouts conversation
i sent a picture using Hangouts. I don't want the picture in the conversation thread. how do i delete just that picture, but leave all the other texts in the thread?

# Answer
Leaving the hangout should block people from seeing your photo, even if you are added back. However, the other participants of the chat will be able to see you have posted a photo, it will just be blanked out.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: google-hangouts
---


# Question
Title: Change path to store YouTube offline videos in external memory
Is it possible to change YouTube's offline video path to an external memory path? I have less internal memory in my phone.

# Answer
> Is it possible to change YouTube's offline video path to an external memory path?

This is currently not supported using official `YouTube` App.

The location for those offline videos is something similar to below:

> Internal storage/Android/data/com.google.android.youtube/files/Offline/(system generated folder name)/streams

And more so, `YouTube` controls access to the offline file.

The permission is controlled on their server per account basis, to access those downloaded files.

You may want to check this link for more details.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Any external path as in Memory card I suppose. You can select/unselect your download path in YouTube -\> Settings -\> Offline -\> Use SD card.

Click image for larger version
> 3 votes

# Answer
You can change path location to SD card from YouTube app → Settings → Offline → Use as SD card.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: youtube, offline
---


# Question
Title: How to prevent Facebook's Messenger apps from auto starting in background?
Messenger app starts automatically many times when I don't want to start it. And there is also no exit button in this app.So it always try to run in background. How to prevent Facebook's Messenger apps from auto starting in background?

# Answer
If you are a rooted user, use any firewall app (plenty of them are available at Play Store). Some of them I know of are **Droidwall**, **AFWall+**, etc.

Also, you can use **Greenify** to hibernate apps which are not in use.

I hope combination of any Firewall and Greenify will definitely solve your problem.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: facebook, facebook-messenger
---


title: Stop the Auto replacement

text:
# Question
Title: Stop the Auto replacement
Hi I have an HTC One a9 I want too keep the word prediction but I don't want the auto replacement I used to do that with Samsung but with HTC I can't find the solution for this problem . Please advice..

# Answer
For me, you go Settings \> Language & Input \> \[Button below "Current keyboard" that has your keyboard name\] \> Text correction \> Set "Auto-correction" to off.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: htc-one
---


# Question
Title: Samsung mobile not getting charge when switch on
I am using SAMSUNG DUOS2. Its not getting charge when its switched on. But there is no problem in charging when switched off.

Not charging in both I tried USB as well as wall charger. Android ver : 4.2.2

I suspect it could be virus problem so with the help of antivirus I cleared some thread. Even after the problem still persist.

Pls suggest what could be the problem?

# Answer
That out of the way, your problem may be due to:

1. User installed applications misbehaving
2. Malware (though I haven't read of any malware doing this yet)
3. OS corruption (of drivers pertaining to charging)

To rule out 1, put your device in safe mode. If the charging behaviour is fine, then you would need to uninstall all installed apps and re-install one by one checking that problem doesn't surface. Painful, yes, to avoid that jump to steps in next para

If the problem persists, you have no other option but to flash stock ROM. Instructions for flashing here. Stock ROM mentioned there is Indian, which should work fine for you or you can download latest stock ROM from sammobile. Make sure you take a backup though- if your device is not rooted Full Backup of non-rooted devices would help else use apps from play store

That should fix your problem, unless it is hardware related (very unlikely)
> 1 votes

---
Tags: samsung, charging
---


# Question
Title: How to enable cookies and JavaScript on an android phone?
While trying to login my Hackerearth account it put up a disclaimer that my cookies are disabled.Plus many times,many web pages tell me the same thing,and yeah,also ask me to enable JavaScript on my phone.

I own an HTC desire 620g.Unsure if that was necessary though

# Answer
AFAIK, the cookies and JavaScript are the features of Browsers which help it render the HTML web page content.

Assuming you are using **Google Chrome** Browser on your Android phone, you can actually enable both cookies and JavaScript through **Settings** of Google Chrome Browser.

Just go to **Settings** of Google Chrome Browser (Open Google Chrome Browser and click on 3-vertical dotted lines to right most corner). Click on **Site Settings**.

You should see a List of option which should include Cookies and JavaScript too. You can toggle these individually by clicking them.

I guess instruction for enabling these should be similar to other browsers too (Although I did not tried it myself)

**Caution:** It is totally YOUR personal decision if you wanted to Allow cookies or JavaScript or Not. This post is only meant as a helping guide to locate these settings of your browser.
**Do it at your own risk.**
> 1 votes

---
Tags: android-versions, javascript, cookies
---


# Question
Title: Why does any app having an active overlay is causing low frame rates?
Any app that I try on my device that is some kind of on-screen tool, such as monitoring apps, pie apps, screen filters, corner sliding apps, etc., makes the device have consistent low frame rates.

If I disable HW overlays though, the problem disappears. Why is that?

I've a Ulefone U7 running Android 4.4.2 with Linux kernel 3.4.67.

# Answer
* Deafult options, no osd, max smoothness
* Deafult options, osd, max choppiness
* With disable HW overlays I get average smoothness w/ and w/o osd apps.

I think that only the last app requesting an hw overlay gets GPU access, the rest get offloaded to CPU, resulting in crappy rendering.

But a 3dmark benchmark shows this:

* Default options, osd disabled 30fps
* Default options, osd enabled but not visible 30fps
* Default options, osd enabled and visible 25fps
* no hw overlays, osd enabled but not visible 27fps
* no hw overalys, osd enabled and visible 22fps

So I suppose that with hw overlays, there is an option to "put them to sleep" while benchmarking (hence the same fps) but disabling hw overlays keeps the (GPU) memory of all the apps no matter what, hence the lower framerate in general.

This is all very confusing and a possible answers can be:

* It's hard to understand what gets offloaded to what, mtk cpu rendering may as well be on par with GPU rendering considering the chipset is balanced with a beefy cpu and crappy gpu...therefore HW overlays don't work as they should because cpu/gpu balance was thought with other specifications in mind.
* MTK crap hacked backported kernel causes trouble with HW overlays at least for 2D apps, being unable to discern the correct usage of those.

I wish someone would give me a more insightful answer but I guess nobody cares about 4.4 android anymore, and nobody cares about mtk chipsets in general (and this chipset is even 2 years old which means no one among the nobodies would care :p)
> 2 votes

---
Tags: performance, overlay
---


title: ASUS Memopad 7 stuck on boot

text:
# Question
Title: ASUS Memopad 7 stuck on boot
So, my relative has been using an ASUS Memopad 7 for a while now, and she's been having some trouble with it lately. Namely, many of the apps are now basically unusable and almost always crash with "Unfortunately, \[app\] has stopped". I've tried checking it before but couldn't find any obvious problems (like lack of disk space, etc). I also tried installing an app to check the system logs (I believe it was named CatLog) but couldn't find anything relevant.

During the past couple of days, the problem became significantly worse. The tablet would always pop an alert "Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped", and after you dismiss it with \[OK\], the alert pops up again, repeat ad infinitum. The tablet is practically unusable now.

Complicating things is that it's difficult to get the thing to even boot. If I restart it, it loads into a black screen with the Asus logo and a spinning loading icon and stays there forever.

She says she can get it to boot sometimes but only after restarting several times (I don't have the patience for it, I've never gotten it to boot)

I've already managed to back up her relevant data, so I suggested that I do a factory reset. So I hold Power and Volume Up during startup and boot into the following menu:

There's an error message there, IDK if it's relevant.

From the Droidboot Menu, I choose "Recovery" and it reboots again. This time, it boots into a screen with a dead Android mascot and the text "No command".

At this point, I'm not sure how to proceed. The Volume buttons are unresponsive. Tapping Power does nothing. If I leave it in this state for a while, it proceeds to try to boot and gets stuck again at the loading icon I showed in the first image.

Any advice as to how I can get this tablet back into a usable state?

# Answer
> -2 votes
You might need to replace the system.

Using ADB, type in `adb sideload ____.zip` (after installing a zip for the device) because ASUS devices are built with Android, just with a different launcher and features.

NOTICE: Before you sideload, make sure to enter recovery mode and choose *apply update from ADB*. If the launcher is replaced, you should install ZenUI Launcher.

TIP: You can use ADB to reboot into recovery. In ADB, type in `ADB reboot recovery`.

---
Tags: boot, asus
---


# Question
Title: Sync to dropbox and delete from android device
I'm using many apps that store their files locally, and they're taking too much space, I can sync their files to dropbox and delete them manually from my phone but I'm asking if I could do it automatically, two exemples :

A voice recorder that store records in /sdcard/records

A call recorder doing the same thing in /sdcards/calls

The question is how can I automatically upload a folder's content to dropbox and delete this content from my android device on certain times ?

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are apps like FolderSync, which do exactly what you want for multiple cloud storage providers.

Basically, you configure a folderpair to upload to Dropbox and delete the source files after syncing (see image).

Click image for larger version

I'm not sure if this is a premium-only feature (I bought the pro version), but I feel like this should be in the free version as well.

---
Tags: file-transfer, files, file-sharing
---


title: App update process

text:
# Question
Title: App update process
Its not yet clear to me what happens when an app gets updated.

Is the new updated app simply being "installed over" the old one maintaining data and cache from the old one? **What actually happens when an app is updated?**

In searching internet**1**, and SE, i found no useful information (I am not asking about how to update using googleplay.

PS: In the comments AndrewT and Firelord actually gave me useful pointers and I feel the informations I was looking for center around the workings of PackageManager and PackageInstaller.

---

**1:** See e.g. "how does android update apps", how does android app-update work, android app-update process explained

# Answer
> 4 votes
It's important to note that Android apps don't get installed in the same way as on Windows or on GNU/Linux systems. The app runs entirely from the APK file. Installing an app for the first time includes the following steps:

1. Download the APK to the storage. All apps' APK files get downloaded to the same location.
2. Create a user ID for the new app. Each app in Android runs in its own Linux user ID. This is for security, and is how the permissions system works.
3. Create a data dir for the new app. This is initially empty.
4. Add the app to the phone's database of installed apps. This database includes the name (package ID) of the app, the path to the APK file, the user ID, amongst other things.

That's all it takes. So after that, it's pretty easy to see how to upgrade it:

1. Download the new APK file. This is a new file in the same location as all the other APK files.
2. Check that the old APK can be upgraded to the new APK. It checks that they were both signed by the same key, to avoid data theft, and that the new APK is not an older version, and a few other settings from the app's manifsest. If any of the checks fail so the old APK can't be upgraded to the new APK, the upgrade stops with an error at this point.
3. Stop the old version of the app cleanly.
4. Check for changes to the app (such as new permissions) and update the app's user ID accordingly. Update the database of installed apps to point to the new APK file (and with other data about the new app).
5. Delete the old APK file.

The upgrade process doesn't even have to look at the data directory. It's up to the app to change its data if the new version uses a different format or whatever. (This also means that it's up to the app what old versions can be updated cleanly without losing data.)

The process works the same way whether you're upgrading the app through Google Play, or some other app store, or by clicking on the APK file, or using `adb install`. Whichever front-end you use, it goes through the same package manager. The only difference is that if you use an app store, it probably also keeps its own record of what versions are installed, both to help the app developer understand their user base, and so it can check for future updates.

---
Tags: applications, updates, side-loading
---


title: xperia SP cant move apps to sd

text:
# Question
Title: xperia SP cant move apps to sd
currently i have xperia SP c5303 which is i know an outdated device but cannot change to a new phone at the moment... so the problem here is internal memory is too small and i need to move them to sd card... i've installed appMgr III and it says that the device doesn't enable users moving apps to the sd card. do note that i already root my device... the apps also tells that the manufacture had removed the function of moving apps to sd card... can I overcome this problem and change the manufacture settings? help me please because i've searched the available method but had not found one yet...

# Answer
It is not possible to move apps to SD Memory card although the device is rooted. There are workarounds for swapping internal memory and external memory but it seems to be temporary (maybe until the next boot up I think). Flashing a custom rom is recommended from my side. Visit xdadevelopers website and find your device thread for more details.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: sony-xperia-sp
---


# Question
Title: How do we run *#06# using ADB to get IMEI number?
I want to run \*#06# and display the activity/fragment which shows the IMEI numbers using adb. Kindly help. Details of the fragment and activity as show below:

```
#1: DialpadFragment{27576dd7 #1 id=0x7f0e00b6 dialpad}
    mFragmentId=#7f0e00b6 mContainerId=#7f0e00b6 mTag=dialpad
    mState=5 mIndex=1 mWho=android:fragment:1 mBackStackNesting=0
    mAdded=true mRemoving=false mResumed=true mFromLayout=false mInLayout=false
    mHidden=false mDetached=false mMenuVisible=true mHasMenu=false
    mRetainInstance=false mRetaining=false mUserVisibleHint=true
    mFragmentManager=FragmentManager{c30ada in DialtactsActivity{104052fa}}
    mActivity=com.android.dialer.DialtactsActivity@104052fa
    mContainer=android.widget.FrameLayout{22c29bbe V.E..... ........ 0,0-720,1230 #7f0e00b6 app:id/dialtacts_container}
    mView=com.android.dialer.dialpad.DialpadFragment$DialpadSlidingRelativeLayout{2c1bbdce V.E..... ........ 0,0-720,1230}
    Child FragmentManager{2efb76c4 in DialpadFragment{27576dd7}}:
      FragmentManager misc state:
        mActivity=com.android.dialer.DialtactsActivity@104052fa
        mContainer=android.app.Fragment$1@3ed979ad
        mParent=DialpadFragment{27576dd7 #1 id=0x7f0e00b6 dialpad}
        mCurState=5 mStateSaved=false mDestroyed=false

```

# Answer
This doesn't work on all devices/dialers, but it does on mine so it's worth giving it a shot. From `adb shell`:

```
am start -a android.intent.action.DIAL -d "tel:*%2306%23"

```

See this chat conversation for more discussion and possibilities.

---

For just getting the number in the shell, you could also try this:

```
$ getprop | grep -i IMEI
[persist.sys.oppo.device.imei]: [<IMEI here>]

```

That's a custom property on my particular device, but yours might have something similar.

Another option **if you have root** (and possibly needing busybox as well):

```
$ su
# service call iphonesubinfo 1 | awk '{ print $NF }' | sed 's/[^0-9]*//g' | tr -d '[:space:]' | sed 's/$/\n/'
<IMEI here>

```

One more that is probably device-specific:

```
$ content query --uri content://settings/system --where "name='bd_setting_i'" | sed 's/[^=0-9]*//g' | sed 's/[0-9]*=//g'
<IMEI here>

```
> 2 votes

---
Tags: applications, adb, imei
---


# Question
Title: How can I restore remembered wifi networks and saved wifi passwords?
I know this question has been asked before and I have searched google for far too long to not have an answer.

So the situation is

* I have done a data wipe and a clean install.
* During the setup process I did not choose to restore anything.
* After the installation I went to Settings \> Backup & reset and enabled Automatic restore.
* Yet no saved wifi networks or passwords were restored.

I cannot find anything related to Network restore under Settings \> Google

* Android 6.0.1
* Gapps 6.0
* Nexus 5

# Answer
> 2 votes
When you set up a phone and choose not to restore its previous backups, it creates a new "set" of backup data, independent of your old backups. From now on, your phone will only backup to and restore from this new set.

There's no simple way to make it switch back to the old set, to restore your old Wi-Fi settings, but my answer on a question about backing up multiple devices explains how a power user can use the `bmgr` tool to find old sets of backup data and switch to (i.e. restore from) a different set. I'm afraid you'll have to look at the data and use your judgement: there's no one step-by-step solution that will work for every case.

---
Tags: wi-fi, google-account
---


title: Access Android native settings manager

text:
# Question
Title: Access Android native settings manager
I got a Lenovo K3 Note with Android Lollipop 5.1, my problem with this phone is the hugely modified Android system. For example, there's no `Settings > Applications` or `Settings > More` menu in the Settings app.

How to restore the default Android settings manager so I can unlock these settings features?

# Answer
> 1 votes
To expand on Andrew's comment, Settings is a core system app that is tightly integrated into the ROM. There is no way to replace it without flashing a custom ROM, and modifications like enabling or adding features would require building the Android source for your device.

If you are rooted or can use ADB, etc., there are a number of other ways to manage applications and settings — for example, uninstalling apps. Feel free to search the site and ask another question if you want to do something specific that hasn't already been covered.

---
Tags: settings, lenovo
---


# Question
Title: Android's native process management vs. Greenify
Disclaimer: I'm not in any way connected to the Greenify developers, nor am I trying to promote Greenify or anything. I'm actually interested in the answers to these questions.

I've found that with a lot of Android devices that I have managed, they become slower the more apps one installs on them. This is especially true with apps that perform some sort of tasks in the background. Often, devices can become so slow that they are a real pain to use.

The solution I found to this was an app called Greenify, that I use with root privileges and an Xposed module. I find that I can keep all the apps on the devices, but "Greenify" all of them. (I think this means that inactive apps are consistently "hibernated" or deprived of system resources, leaving the resources available for active apps.) This usually makes the device much snappier, yet I find that the impeding effect on the functionality of the apps is quite minimal. Needless to say, I consider Greenify a must, especially on devices with lots of resource hogging apps and/or limited hardware.

1. Does Android do something similar to Greenify natively? (Depriving background apps of resources in order to free it up for active apps?)
2. If yes, how is Greenify different from Android's native resource management?

I find that lots of people have Android devices that tend to slow down over time, and many of them end up just buying a new, more powerful device once every few years. But if they used Greenify (or something similar), they might have been satisfied with the performance of the older device for many, many more years. I for example, have a five year old phone, have tons of apps on it, and am quite happy with its performance when using Greenify. However, without Greenify (and *with* all my apps), the phone is so slow that it's barely usable.

3. Is there any native Android way to prevent apps from running in the background and hogging system resources?

For example, in GNU/Linux distros like Debian and Ubuntu, apps don't run or consume any resources at all unless you explicitly launch them (or have them set to launch at startup.) It's the same with OS X and Windows. And when you shut a program completely down, it can no longer consume any resources. I think even iOS automatically kills background apps when it needs the resources for something else.

I've used manual task killers, but after a while, I find that all the apps are back up running in the background again, even if I haven't launched them at all.

4. Is it true that Android is somewhat unique in allowing apps to run in the background, consuming resources?

# Answer
1. Android actually closes some background apps, but only when system ressources are missing (you open a massive game, for example)
2. Greenify differ from the Android memory management by the fact that it kills all apps you specified at will or after a certain time, not only when ressources are missing.
3. Nope. If some system apps that you do not use are running in background, you can disable them or remove them completely with a root app or the `adb shell`
4. Here's the list of things that I know can start a background activity and keep it opened:

* The apps can start an activity automatically at system startup with a permission.
    * It can also start one when opened.
    * A vulnerability in Android 4.3 and before allows app to keep them active, even when the Android task killer tries to kill apps, but Greenify can workaround this (see the experimental settings).

And @DeathMaskSalesman, a HTC Wildfire S running KitKat **needs** Greenify, or else it'll run incredibely slow and drain a lot of battery, more than what needed to start an app.
> 3 votes

# Answer
From the Android developer site:

> * If an activity has lost focus but is still visible (that is, a new non-full-sized or transparent activity has focus on top of your activity), it is *paused*. A paused activity is completely alive (it maintains all state and member information and remains attached to the window manager), but can be killed by the system in extreme low memory situations.
> * If an activity is completely obscured by another activity, it is *stopped*. It still retains all state and member information, however, it is no longer visible to the user so its window is hidden and it will often be killed by the system when memory is needed elsewhere.
> * If an activity is paused or stopped, the system can drop the activity from memory by either asking it to finish, or simply killing its process. When it is displayed again to the user, it must be completely restarted and restored to its previous state.

Also:

> So, as the system runs low on memory, it may kill processes \[...\] beginning with the process least recently used, but also giving some consideration toward which processes are most memory intensive.

As far as technical implementation goes, **the system calls into apps** to let them know that they need to release memory or risk being killed:

> Also, when your app process is currently cached, you may receive one of the following levels from onTrimMemory():
>
> * TRIM\_MEMORY\_BACKGROUND
>
> The system is running low on memory and your process is near the beginning of the LRU list. Although your app process is not at a high risk of being killed, the system may already be killing processes in the LRU cache. You should release resources that are easy to recover so your process will remain in the list and resume quickly when the user returns to your app.
> * TRIM\_MEMORY\_MODERATE
>
> The system is running low on memory and your process is near the middle of the LRU list. If the system becomes further constrained for memory, there's a chance your process will be killed.
> * TRIM\_MEMORY\_COMPLETE
>
> The system is running low on memory and your process is one of the first to be killed if the system does not recover memory now. You should release everything that's not critical to resuming your app state.

So to directly answer your questions:

1. No, Android does not clean anything up *for* apps, but it lets them know to do so themselves and kills them if they don't (or if it's not enough).
2. Greenify appears to do "on-the-fly" disabling of apps, so it is not allowed to run anything when in the background (and can't be started automatically when not running), but can still do anything when in the foreground. This is completely different from how Android does it as you see above.
3. Yes — disable them (from Settings → Applications → \<App Name\>) (though you will have to re-enable when you want to run them manually). Or, for those that don't have automatically restarting services, simply kill them (i.e., long press the Menu button and swipe them away). The latter will not prevent them from restarting if the system delivers an Intent to them, etc.
4. No, not at all. True multitasking has long been available on mobile devices — the original iPhone was an oddity when it launched without that ability.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: performance, processes, greenify
---


title: Prevent complete charging?

text:
# Question
Title: Prevent complete charging?
I'm looking for a way to prevent my phone from completely charging every time it is connected to my computer. I want to reduce the battery's capacity loss, as it is non-replaceable, and it seems to me that keeping the maximum charge at around 50% to 60% would be ideal. This chart, from this site, suggests that the benefit would be significant.

```
Capacity at    Discharge
full charge    cycles

100%           300 – 500
90%            600 – 1,000
70%            1,200 – 2,000
50%            2,400 – 4,000

```

# Answer
The only potential solution would be to find a way to current-limit the cable so that the phone would have to run off battery. You cannot simply disconnect Vcc and Ground pins, as the USB standard requires the presence of those electrical connections before D+ and D- pins are permitted to be energized. Running off battery like that would just increase your charge cycles, causing the wear you want to avoid.

As far as apps, there is no way to programmatically control the battery charging subsystem in this way; BatteryManager outputs information but does not accept inputs from user apps.
> 1 votes

# Answer
SMART PLUG is an intelligent outlet that can measure power usage and provide basic power management to attached appliances via the standard electrical outlet.

You can buy this WiFi PLUG or build your own. Plugs are available that support USB Charging. You can find more plugs of your choice in the market.

* Now every time you charge your device charge it using this plug. There are many alternatives to the plug I have provided in link. Many of the plugs have dedicated Control apps for Android and iPhone built for them.
* After this you can configure your Tasker app to run the Control app whenever there is 50%(whatever you like) charge complete to just turn off the plug.

References:
> 1 votes

# Answer
Currently the batteries no longer have this limitation in relation to charges, they can work with loads at any level, from 1% to 100% without any problems. However it is recommended to never leave download completely, because each one complete discharge battery life cycle is lost.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: battery, battery-life, charging
---


title: Location Error aftermoving

text:
# Question
Title: Location Error aftermoving
So I moved across the country (to Minnesota from Virginia) and now my location is always incorrect on my device, it shows my old home. I thought the initial problem was with the wifi but my wife's account shows her location correctly.

I can temporarily fix the issue by setting my location settings on the device to 'device only' but the problem reappears when I revert the setting back. I already tried clearing the Maps data. This problem occurs on any device with my Google account.

Any ideas how I can fix this issue?

Edit: This apparently isn't limited to Android devices. Google maps on the web does the same thing. If I'm logged in as my account, it reads me as in VA, if I log in as my wife (or incognito), it reads the correct location in MN.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If you keep your settings on "Device only" for a few weeks Google should see the new "pattern" and correct it in their records.

If not, then have Google Maps open while you commute to work every day and your account should quickly establish a new pattern. The Google Now algorithm picks up on patterns but for the same reason it is also stuck to your old location.

---
Tags: wi-fi, gps, geolocation
---


# Question
Title: How do Moto X and Nexus "wake on pickup" work?
I have seen many apps that give the ability to wake up phone screen simply by picking the phone up off a table (not talking about proximity sensor here). One thing they all have in-common is that this feature places a wakelock on the device, and therefore it drains battery, and therefore it times out after a preset amount (1-10 minutes). From what I understand, it works by monitoring front camera.

My question is: how do Moto X and Nexus phones do that then? They have this feature in-built, but does that also place a wakelock? A 24-hour wakelock? Or do they use something other than front camera? And if such, why isn't there an app that can replicate this behaviour for all phones?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Devices like Moto X and Nexus 5X/6P use a sensor hub to achieve this feature, which is a:

> microcontroller unit/coprocessor/DSP that helps to integrate data from different sensors and process them. This technology can help off-load these jobs from a product's main central processing unit, thus saving battery consumption and providing a performance improvement.

The Android specifications suggest that the manufacturer implement a sensor hub:

> The sensor stack of a device can optionally include a sensor hub, useful to perform some low-level computation at low power while the SoC can be in a suspend mode. For example, step counting or sensor fusion can be performed on those chips. It is also a good place to implement sensor batching, adding hardware FIFOs for the sensor events. See Batching for more information.
>
> How the sensor hub is materialized depends on the architecture. It is sometimes a separate chip, and sometimes included on the same chip as the SoC. Important characteristics of the sensor hub is that it should contain sufficient memory for batching and consume very little power to enable implementation of the low power Android sensors. Some sensor hubs contain a microcontroller for generic computation, and hardware accelerators to enable very low power computation for low power sensors.

So the availability of this feature depends on the hardware of the device: if the manufacturer includes a sensors hub, then the power consumption will be optimized because the central processor isn't involved. Otherwise, the only possibility is to install dedicated apps (see for example the one cited in my comment) that will monitor the accelerometer, resulting, though, in a higher battery drain.

---
Tags: lock-screens, moto-x, nexus-6, wakelock
---


# Question
Title: What should I try to bring a rear camera back to life?
I have been handed an H801+ Android phone, where the rear (main) camera has stopped working, and I have been trying to fix it without much success. I am looking for ideas as to what to try next.

The phone has been obtained from eBay and seems to be of no-name Chinese manufacture. It has 2GB of RAM and a 4-core CPU. It has three SIM ports, two cameras, a 2800 mAh battery, and all the usual wifi/bluetooth/GPS/gyro interfaces. The screen is approximately 6 x 2.5" in size and supports full HD. It is running Android 4.2.1 (I believe this is Jelly Bean).

I am told that the rear camera used to work, but now no longer does - I am wondering whether my friend received an Android update via her provider, which stopped it working. The front camera seems to work, although (since I am not used to large-screen devices) it seems to be permanently auto-focusing and clicking every few seconds. I don't know whether this is a feature or a fault!

Having done some research, I believe a "swirl" arrows icon should appear superimposed on any live camera image to toggle between camera devices, but I cannot see this anywhere. I have tried the following apps:

* Camera (stock app) - front camera works fine, no way to switch to rear camera
* HD Camera Ultra - crashes
* Camera (downloaded) - only front camera
* Dual Camera / Double Shot - crashes

Both of the crashy apps seem to have a lot of Play reviews, so I am minded to think there is a problem on my device specifically, rather than just that these apps are of low quality.

I notice that if I put Camera (the non-stock version) into Panorama mode, it tries to connect to the rear camera, whereas for movie and pictures it uses the front camera. However it seems to fail to connect to the rear camera:

> **Camera error**
>
> Can't connect to the camera.

I suspect this is a good sign - it is perhaps "half connected"!

---

I wondered if it just needed a factory reset, so I have done one, taking it back to "here's a demo of your device" state. However this hasn't made any difference.

My thoughts on the reasons why I cannot get this to work:

* The rear camera has developed a hardware fault
* The whole phone is fussy about what version of Android it uses and/or — given that it is unbranded — has not been tested as well as it should have been
* The front camera is stuck repeatedly auto-focusing and as a result does not give the rear camera an opportunity to initialise (update: I don't think this is the case now; if I hold the phone far enough away, and focus on something in good light, the focus box goes green and the front camera stops auto-focusing)

There are a few things that might be worth a try:

* Find a test (camera) app to give me techie info about the devices the phone can detect. I have looked for such a thing but cannot find one
* Do a hard reset with a pinhole switch, though I cannot find one, and presume this is not an option
* Downgrade Android an official way (using my SIM). This might bring the camera back to life, but possibly it may be overwritten when my friend puts her SIM back in
* Upgrade Android the approved way. Using my SIM I have searched the Play store for "upgrade Android" but cannot find anything useful. I believe (from material on the web) there should be an upgrade option in "About this phone" but I don't seem to have that
* Root the phone and try a later minor version
* Root the phone and try a later major version

I haven't asked whether my friend would mind me rooting the phone, but I am given to believe it is safe these days. What do you suggest?

# Answer
This is a common problem with this unit. I contacted the manufacture about it (http://www.orientdeal.com/orientphone-one-max-5-inch-1080p-screen-quad-core-1.5ghz-2gb-ram-32gb-rom-android-phone.html) and was told that due to the heat that builds up around the camera the modules fail. They recommend replacing the entire camera module. My unit they told me was under warranty and the work would be completed without cost, IF it was returned to them in China. I sent the unit off and many months later it was returned as "Undeliverable" I contacted them again and they re-confirmed I was shipping it to the correct address and had no idea why it had been returned. I sent the unit back again (At another $14 cost!)and once again after many months it has been returned as "Unclaimed" This time the manufacture will not return my emails or chats and I am beginning to question their honesty. For purchasing a brand new phone, I have now had to buy another to have one that works. I recommend looking at Elephone, quality is good and so far they stand behind their products. I am looking into replacing the camera module myself, but I doubt I would ever buy Orientdeal products again.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Success, after a very long time researching this problem I have found the answer!

It appears that the camera's sub-mini connector is very poorly soldered to the main board. With vibration it starts to loosen until eventually it comes completely apart sticking into the camera's connector. The bad news is this is an extremely small multi pin connector and requires special soldering and precise alignment. Even with soldering paste and a precise heat gun I doubt if a repair can be made successfully. Perhaps knowing what the problem is though, a local repair facility with the proper surface mount equipment might be able to attack it. The best news is that there is another way to repair it. Ali-Express carries an exact replacement board with the camera connector attached for $55.70 to 59.79.

Store: Cyberezone-China Professional Accessories Supplier "Original mainboard 2G RAM+32G ROM Motherboard for Mlais MX59 MTK6589T Quad Core 5.0 inch FHD 1920x1080 Free shipping"

Yes it says Mlais MX59, but it is the actual board as used in the H801+ also. They also carry the replacement camera, but I am sure my camera is still good. Just pull out the embedded connector and plug into the new board. I wish I had not spent all the money waiting for Orient Phone to honor their warranty. This is a quicker fix and in the long run costs less!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: camera, hardware, front-camera
---


title: Differences between OsmAnd and OsmAnd+

text:
# Question
Title: Differences between OsmAnd and OsmAnd+
What is the difference between the free version of OsmAnd and the Plus version?

The only info I found seems to be outdated. While using the free edition the only limitation I noticed was the hint that I can only download 10 different maps.

# Answer
As of today (24/03/2016), OsmAnd has 3 versions publicly available. This is possible because OsmAnd is GPL software, and therefore can be freely compiled and distributed.

1: Developers' free version, crippled to 10 downloads and no Wikipedia capability.

2: Developers' paid version, uncrippled.

3: F-Droid version, uncrippled but has slower updates than the paid version.
> 5 votes

# Answer
As of 28/03/2013 the difference is that with the free version is limited to a total of 10 downloads (maps, voice packages, etc) and does not support offline Wikipedia content.

I know because I tried the free version and then buyed the plus one to be able to download entire european countries. Also I think is a really good application for 7 euros.
> 6 votes

# Answer
There exist 3 Versions of Osmand

The Market free Version: full featured

The Market Plus version: full featured, used as a way to donate to the developers as incentive to keep on improving.

The F-Droid Version: A source compiled free software version by fdroid with almost no changes to the normal version. Not so frequent app updates. The maps are updated the same way as in the offical build.

Do not under any circumstances install two versions at the same time, it will seriously destroy both of the apps, the map files on sd, your sanity and your battery power.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: osmand
---


title: Jabber client with old SSL support

text:
# Question
Title: Jabber client with old SSL support
The company I'm working for is using a Jabber server which is kind of old. It doesn't support SSL/TLS with SASL but only plain old SSL.

I tried a dozen of Jabber clients for Android but none of them supports this setup.

Are there any alternatives?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Jabiru project has "legacy SSL" option.

# Answer
> 0 votes
IM+ also has the option for "Use old-style SSL" - it appears to be more than just the port 5223, as disabling the option and setting the port manually, doesn't allow authentication.

---
Tags: xmpp
---


# Question
Title: Android 6.0 notification bar and quick setting drop down menu not working.
My phone was working fine, and i didn't run any updates prior to this issue.

The pull down menu is no longer working properly. I can pull it down, so that it shows the time and date, signal and battery. But the rest isn't working, i can't pull it down further to get to settings, not do i see any notifications. Instead it just showed ' No Notifications' even if i actually receive messages or emails.

I tried recovered trough fastboost, but i'd rather not try a factory reset unless there are no other options.

# Answer
Performed a hard factory reset. Didn't want too, but it's fixed now.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: 6.0-marshmallow, notification-bar, quick-settings
---


# Question
Title: How to use Tasker and call an activity within an app called WiWo?
WiWo is an app for controlling a WiFi socket. Unfortunately it has no Tasker integration or even a widget.

I was therefore wondering whether I could hook into any of the app's activities (image below) in order to toggle the switch for the socket on/off **out with the app**?

Other ideas/options welcome.

# Answer
I seem to be a bit late to the party, but here is my implementation for it.

https://youtu.be/lD4yFAB3s40

What it does, is:

1. Unlocking my phone if it's locked.
2. Opening the WIWO app.
3. Manually touching the toggle.
4. Closing the app.
5. Setting the display time-out to 15
6. Wait for 15
7. Set the display time-out back to 2

And here is the code (excluding the unlock part)

```
<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="4.8u1m">
<Task sr="task3">
    <cdate>1452450027774</cdate>
    <edate>1458814566803</edate>
    <id>3</id>
    <nme>Wiwo</nme>
    <pri>100</pri>
    <Kid sr="Kid">
        <launchID>3</launchID>
        <pkg>com.wiwo.for.tasker</pkg>
        <vnme>1.0</vnme>
        <vnum>2</vnum>
    </Kid>
    <Action sr="act0" ve="7">
        <code>20</code>
        <App sr="arg0">
            <appClass>com.orvibo.irhost.LoadActivity</appClass>
            <appPkg>com.orvibo.irhost</appPkg>
            <label>WiWo</label>
        </App>
        <Str sr="arg1" ve="3"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="1"/>
        <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act1" ve="7">
        <code>30</code>
        <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg1" val="1"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg4" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act2" ve="7">
        <code>123</code>
        <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">input tap 1270 370</Str>
        <Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="1"/>
        <Str sr="arg3" ve="3"/>
        <Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
        <Str sr="arg5" ve="3"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act3" ve="7">
        <code>25</code>
        <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act4" ve="7">
        <code>812</code>
        <Int sr="arg0" val="15"/>
        <Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act5" ve="7">
        <code>30</code>
        <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg1" val="15"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg4" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act6" ve="7">
        <code>812</code>
        <Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
        <Int sr="arg1" val="2"/>
        <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Img sr="icn" ve="2">
        <cls>com.orvibo.irhost.LoadActivity</cls>
        <pkg>com.orvibo.irhost</pkg>
    </Img>
</Task>

```

**PLEASE NOTE!**: It does require root permissions.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: tasker
---


# Question
Title: Google Music Gapless Playback Works on my Galaxy Nexus but not my HTC One?
I've recently started using Google Music on my phone but gapless playback isn't working. I listen to a lot of mixed, electronic music albums where it's absolutely essential that it's totally seamless with no gaps at all.

On my old Galaxy Nexus, with CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android 4.2.2), Google Music version v5.1.1107K.753159, it works flawlessly.

On my new HTC One (stock), with Android 4.2.2 also, Google Music version v5.1.1107K.753159 also, there's a very noticable gap (1 second or so).

Is there a way to enable gapless playback with Google Music on the HTC One? Does anyone use Cyanogenmod on the HTC One? If so, could you confirm if gapless playback works?

# Answer
> 0 votes
This is a symptom of the phone's hardware, not Android, Google Play or your uploaded/cached music. I have the same problem with a 1st gen. Moto G (LTE/4G) with about 1s gap between songs, despite 4 cores and no other noticeable performance problems, but the same music works perfectly in Google Play on a laptop.

I've read many reports where the same version of Android provides gap-less for some users, but not others. This means it's either a hardware limitation or the file I/O processes are single threaded and take time to drop the current track before loading up the next one.

My experience is that using a faster phone fixes this problem.

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, samsung-galaxy-nexus, audio, google-play-music, htc-one
---


title: Black background on Trebuchet

text:
# Question
Title: Black background on Trebuchet
On my current phone (HTC Wildfire S), with a AOSPA (Paranoid Android) 4.45 ROM, I installed Trebuchet, because Launcher3 lacks features, and other customs lauchers takes a lot of battery, while my current battery is already going down fast.

Here you can see a screenshot of what it looks like:
The background is black.

But it isn't supposed to be black:

How can I show correctly my background?

Edit: Sometimes it show correctly on the bottom:

# Answer
> 0 votes
...
The APK I used was for the OnePlus One and had a MD5 of `2fd1a3e8f5a6ef44d1f14752b4caa5c9`.
I installed another APK, coming from this ROM, and everything fixed itself (the MD5 was different: `3f465ccbfe8566479f863582671575c2`)

The two APK had the same version number (1.0) and OnePlus One's was 1.97 MB while the working one was 1.9 MB o\_0

Akward

---
Tags: vanilla-android, trebuchet
---


# Question
Title: Blank Text Message from random number - is it a virus?
So I just got a blank text message from some number that I don't know. My worry is that this is some sort of intrusion attempt.

My understanding is whenever I receive a text message, or a message with media, my phone automatically downloads it. So me receiving a blank text message from some unknown number leads me to believe that there was some sort of virus attached to the message and when the phone downloads the message, it will download that virus automatically.

So my questions are:

* Is it possible that this is a virus?
* How can I check to see if my phone has a virus?
* Is there a way to detect an intrusion attempt so that my phone will tell me if something is happening that shouldn't be?

# Answer
> 3 votes
> Is it possible that this is a virus?

Of course it is *possible*. Technology is beat. But what actually matters is whether if it is *probable* or not.

A text message (if it is an SMS) has to travel through the cellular network of your service provider and therefore the file types you can send are object to their limitations. Such messages can include media files(MMS) but not apps or executables. Instead, it might contain a link which'll lead you to download a malware. But an empty SMS on its own to infect a phone, sounds pretty NSA.

> How can I check to see if my phone has a virus?

You can use antivirus apps but their reliability is up for discussion.

> Is there a way to detect an intrusion attempt so that my phone will tell me if something is happening that shouldn't be?

Again, some antivirus apps like Avast warn you whenever an app that is malicious is being installed. But there are ways to outsmart it too.

Nonetheless, for your specific case, relax. I really don't think you are at risk.

---
Tags: sms, antivirus
---


title: Data turns on automatically

text:
# Question
Title: Data turns on automatically
I am using lenovo k3 note. I recently updated to android 6.0 marshmallow. Whenever I turn on the phone secondary SIM data turns on automatically.

Help me to solve this issue friends???

# Answer
I think that this kind of problem can be caused by some sorts of applications that have access or permission to enable your mobile data,I know that Facebook,Whatsapp & maybe every single social media app does not have that kind of permission.I know that samsung got a disabling option that turns off mobile data for good.that's all I know about that buddy
> -2 votes

---
Tags: android-versions
---


# Question
Title: How do I record calls on Viber, Skype, Whatsapp, Voxer, Google, Facebook, etc?
There seem to be apps for recording for local or international calls but none for **Internet calls**.

Some apps on the Google Play Store claim to be able to record calls on Viber or Skype. I even found some apps not in the play store. I tried some, but I'm not sure if they work. I haven't gotten around to testing any yet. Some reviews of the apps I found seem to be mixed. I don't feel like reinventing the wheel.

I have a second phone that I would use except that **sometimes the calls I make require earphones**.

If it matters, the phone I use for Viber, Skype, etc calls is a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, and my other phone is a Samsung Galaxy Mega.

Please don't bring up any stuff about legality.

# Answer
You could use a screen recorder, or a sound recorder recording sound internally. I haven't tried it, but i found a few people recommending this application from Google play. It will record audio internally, and therefore i guess it will also record the sound from internet calls.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung, video-recording, call-recording, samsung-galaxy-mega-2, samsung-galaxy-s-6-edge+
---


title: Screen timeout versus secured lock time

text:
# Question
Title: Screen timeout versus secured lock time
I just updated to Jelly Bean on my GS3 and am mostly impressed.

I am having trouble with the screen timeout setting, however. When I go into Display\>Screen Timeout and select a time, say 30 seconds, I get a message that says "Screen will turned off when screen is locked. Secured lock time is currently set to 5 seconds." My question is where? I cannot find this Secured Lock time setting in Display settings, Lock Screen settings or Security settings, which would seem to be the intuitive places to look for it. Further, even though I get this message, my screen now does not turn off at after 5 seconds, or ever as far as I can tell. After walking away from the phone for 20 minutes, I returned to the screen blazing in all its AMOLED glory.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Your problem is not in display but in Lock screen. I had the same problem and fixed it: Go to settings, lock screen, then secured lock time, and set it for ten minutes

# Answer
> 2 votes
With a *relatively modern* Android version, there is no need to trust a 3rd party app, which probably explains the app landscape observed.

There are three settings that can be managed to allow the screen to dim without locking the phone. These features have been around since at least 4.4.

`settings > display > sleep` is the amount of time the screen will remain on after activity stops.

`settings > security > Power button instantly locks` is what needs to be altered so manually turning off the screen with the power button does not lock the phone.

`settings > security > Automatically lock` can be set to a comfortable span of time, such as 10 minutes.

On later versions of Android, the path to get to the above two is under the **screen lock gear**: `settings > security > screen lock (settings gear) > Power button instantly locks`, and `settings > security > screen lock (settings gear) > Automatically lock`.

# Answer
> 1 votes
As said in my comment on the question itself: That settings page is the place to configure the default behaviour. In your described case, those settings define the screen to switch off after 30s of idle time (i.e. no touch event), plus activate the Keyguard action (i.e. the lock pattern, PIN, or password) after additional 5 seconds (so if you switch the screen back on within less than 5s after it switched off automatically, you do not have to unlock the device as it would not yet be locked).

Now why does the screen stay on for 20 minutes or more, though configured to switch off after 30s of idle time? The solution is not always that obvious. Apps with the appropriate permissions might override those default settings. A good example is a navigation app: One surely doesn't want to permanently touch the screen to keep it from switching off while navigating. Another example might be an ebook reader prolonging the timeout.

While a reboot might solve that issue once it happens (in case a quick-fix is needed), in the long run it will prove better to check running apps for candidates overriding the mentioned default settings. While the navigation app might be obvious (and most likely desired), other apps might let you configure this behaviour.

In case you cannot easily figure out which app is causing it, a look at the system logs might prove useful. aLogcat is one example of apps helping you to capture log contents (there are many others as well). It might produce a large amount of lines, but searching the content for strings like "screen", "timeout", and the like has good chances to narrow it down.

---
Tags: screen-timeout
---


# Question
Title: Fastboot is not providing a token when trying to unlock HTC One M9
I am trying to unlock my HTC One M9 following the instructions on the HTCdev website. When I get to the part where you're supposed to obtain the identifier token, it doesn't give me any errors, but it also doesn't give the token. I have the phone booted in 'download mode' (As far as I can tell from the HTCdev website, this is the equivalent of fastboot mode for everything M9 and later. There is no actual fastboot mode in the bootloader).

Below is what I get when I type in 'fastboot oem get\_identifier\_token'.

```
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem get_identifier_toke
n
...
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!
OKAY [  0.059s]
finished. total time: 0.064s

```

Do you have any ideas about what I'm missing here?

# Answer
> 4 votes
```
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!

```

This means that you need to enable Developer Options in your phone's Settings (go to About and tap the version number repeatedly), then go into those options and check Enable OEM Unlock. This setting prevents a thief (who doesn't know your device password and thus can't change this setting) from unlocking your bootloader, flashing a new ROM, and gaining use of the phone.

See http://www.droid-life.com/2014/11/04/fyi-android-5-0-introduces-enable-oem-unlock-option-in-developer-options/

Note that not every phone has this setting: only those that can be unlocked by fastboot in the first place do. This answer applies to the phone in the question and other phone vendors that allow their bootloaders to be unlocked. Not all vendors do.

---
Tags: rooting, fastboot, bootloader, htc-one
---


# Question
Title: Does uninstalling updates to system apps wipe the data for it?
Non-rooted users can't uninstall system apps but are able to uninstall updates to them such that they are reverted to the base version of the app that shipped with the system image.

When a user does this operation, does it clear the data for the app?

Context: Newer versions of an app may write data incompatible with old versions of the app.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Uninstalling updates to a system app does clear the data, tested by uninstalling a system app with data and observing the storage consumed by the data portion of the app go to `0.00B`.

For reference, it also outputs intents broadcasting `android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REMOVED` just as if the entire app had been uninstalled as usual.

---
Tags: updates, uninstallation, system-apps
---


title: Let all apps read my external SD card

text:
# Question
Title: Let all apps read my external SD card
I have an external SD card, and I want to keep it that way. I have lots of files on it sorted how I prefer. But now all my apps that I've saved data from or use to open files can't access the external SD card.

I've gone to app permissions and made sure they have storage. I just want them to have full access to my SD card, because, well, it's my SD card.

TitaniumBackup won't backup to it's folder anymore, says no space even though there are gigs free. My camera app won't save to the external dir I've put my pictures in. My music app won't give me a list of the files in the directory where I've sorted my music. Is there any way to just force MM to just let those apps have full access to my SD card? I can browse the SD card with ESExplorer.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Sometimes CyanogenMOD messes with the SD card paths after rooting. If that is the case, you will need to use a terminal emulator to correct the path to /sdcard/external\_sd

Make the external\_sd folder in your SD card first. Then through the emulator use the command

su

mount -o bind your\_current\_path\_as\_per\_es\_explorer /sdcard/external\_sd

---
Tags: cyanogenmod, 6.0-marshmallow, vanilla-android
---


title: Whatsapp Backup

text:
# Question
Title: Whatsapp Backup
I am using whatsapp in HTC Desire VC (CDMA-GSM Dual Sim Phone). It has internal space of 100MB only and unfortunately my phone no longer supporting external SD card. I want to take backup of my chat history but every time click on backup chats it shows that "please insert an SD Card". I also tried to back up my data via Google Drive but it shows same message. I also tried to email chat but same problem.

I don't know what to do backup my chat history.

Is it possible to take backup of chat history online which no requires SD card or any other external drives.

Please tell me what to do. Thanking you in advance.

# Answer
WhatsApp app **automatically** takes a back up of your chat history, **locally**. So your phone does not HAVE TO have an external SD-card.

Below is the quote from official WhatsApp FAQ regarding the back up.

> Local backups will run automatically every day at 2am and save your database in a file on the phone itself.

You can use any **File manager** to check/verify this local back up.
Just go to your **Internal Storage-\>WhatsApp-\>Databases**

At this location you should see file such as `msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt8`

This is the back up of your chat history. **Your phone will store up to the last 7 days worth of local backup files**

If you want to **restore** this back up (in case you switched phone or uninstalled WhatsApp), you may refer to the restore section of FAQ of WhatsApp and follow the instructions there to restore your chat history.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: whatsapp-messenger
---


title: Which factory image to download?

text:
# Question
Title: Which factory image to download?
I have a Nexus 5 (`LG-D821`) 32 GB and am currently on build `LMY47D`, I want to upgrade to latest version of Android 6 ATM the latest version is 6.0.1 but there are like 4 builds for this version. Which one should I download?

# Answer
According to comparisons on the internet, they are the same, but updated versions (OTA) of each other. They are the smaller updates that you might witness sometimes when you are informed of a new software update.

In the webpage you provided, they are ordered chronologically, so `MMB29V` should be the newest. I recommend downloading `MMB29V` as that seems to be the latest OTA update, last updated 3rd March, 2016, and reportedly contains some security fixes as well. If you have stock recovery however, you might be able to update OTA with an earlier version.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: nexus-5, google, factory-image
---


# Question
Title: How to create complete image backup(Nandroid) of rooted phone if no cwm or twrp available for my phone
I have a rooted phone and i need to do some change to `buid.prop`. And if i got my phone bricked i need to recover it back. The thing is There's no CWM or TWRP roms available to my tablet(ZTE E7P(3G) running Kitkat 4.4.2).

Is there any way i can take a snapshot(Nandroid backup) of my currently running OS and restore it back if anything happen using default recovery mode(May be with ADB).

Simply what i want is to perform a Nandroid backup of my rooted tab and restore it without using custom recoveries like CWM or TWRP.

# Answer
Provided your device is rooted, you can do that with simple `dd` commands. Trouble is just to find out what partitions you might need to backup: some devices have more than 20 partitions, and you will most likely not need more than 5 backed up.

This is where e.g. my little tool Adebar comes in which, amongst others, creates you a script for exactly this purpose: `dd` the relevant partitions and get them to your computer, giving the files recognizable names. The result for my *LG P880* e.g. looks like:

```
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p3'" > "images/system.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p4'" > "images/cache.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p12'" > "images/cal.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p9'" > "images/persist-lg.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p11'" > "images/FOT.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p2'" > "images/LNX.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p10'" > "images/mpt.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p5'" > "images/MSC.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p7'" > "images/NVA.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1'" > "images/SOS.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p8'" > "images/data.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p13'" > "images/UDB.img"
adb shell "su -c 'stty raw; cat /dev/block/mmcblk0p6'" > "images/USP.img"

```

As you can see, this does not only include partitions mounted at the time the script was generated, but also all other "named ones".

*Adebar* is plain Bash + ADB, and reportedly works in Cygwin (as well as of course on Linux).
> 3 votes

# Answer
Yes, with ADB, this is possible. However, there are also some unofficial images on TWRP and CWM, which may be unofficially ported to your device. If not, you can follow ADB instructions below.

### NOTE: Do it at your own risk.

**This is the compilation of some of my research on this specifically, so proceed at your own risk until I test it myself.**

---

### Prerequisites

You will need busybox installed on your android, ADB on PC, OS X/Linux native tools or Cygwin for Windows, USB debugging.

---

Once you are sure that everything is working on your phone, then you have a choice between backing the entire phone up, or partitions by name. To view partitions by name, type this in your **adb shell** or phone terminal:

```
ls /dev/block/platform/dw_mmc*/by-name

```

You should get a long list of names like **USERDATA** or **SYSTEM**. These are familiar when doing a nandroid on TWRP or CWM.

---

### Backing up entire phone

I would recommend this one more because I had experience with restoring System and Data partitions from TWRP, but all of my photos disappeared.

Type in cygwin window

```
adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
adb shell
su
/system/xbin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/xbin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0

```

And in a new cygwin window

```
adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
cd /path/to/store/the/backup
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0.raw

```

This will netcat transfer the raw mmcblk0 to your computer.

---

### Backing up by name

Backing up by name, you would do the same as with the whole phone, just replacing `/dev/block/mmcblk0` in the `dd` command, with `/dev/block/platfrom/dw_mmc*/by-name/USERDATA`, replacing USERDATA with whatever partition you want.
> 2 votes

# Answer
OK, that was my case some months ago:) My phone too was neither supported by cwm nor twrp. But after some research online, I rooted it and created nandroid backup..I have provided step-by-step procedure here- creating safe nandroid backup of any device

when the backup is complete, you will also get custom recovery for your device... I created this tutorial just to help people like you and me who were struggling to do nandroid backup.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: root-access, custom-roms, unbricking
---


# Question
Title: Why do I get "IMS Service Has Stopped" Message after update
I've got an Galaxy S5 neo with Android version 5.1.1. and a recent Android software update has brought with it an annoying popup message that reappears 3 seconds after being dismissed.

It reads:

> Unfortunately, IMS Service has stopped

I've hunted around for suggestions which range from device cache clearance, to uninstalling Facebook Messanger/WahtsApp to taking the battery out, but none of these has helped.

Short of a factory reset which I'm very reluctant to do, is there anything else I can try?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Settings → Applications → Default Applications and I set the Messages from Messages to Client, this stopped the pop ups.

Further to this having set Messages to Client I then found out the offending app was myMail, which I uninstalled and was able to set Messages back from Client to Messages

Hope it helps.

The Client is the default message service of Android I believe and the Messages is Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo's own software, I could be wrong, I'm not an expert, I just know how I fixed mine. So following the above, this Client app should be available. Beyond that I'm sorry, I cannot help.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Try choosing any one of the other options that you CAN see. The pop ups should stop. Then change back to Messages. The pop ups should not return.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have a S5 Neo. Try this, it works — I just did it 5 minutes ago.

* Click into messages
* Click more
* Choose settings
* Choose chat settings
* Then rich communications
* Uncheck rich communications

You just won't be able to send large files.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I had the same problem, it was driving me mad. So I did as Geoff's answer suggests, but there was no Client option so I changed it to a Call+ & Message+ and it seems to have worked.

---
Tags: updates, sms, 5.1-lollipop
---


# Question
Title: Marshmallow battery optimisation not working on Moto G
I recently got the Marshmallow update on my MotoG 2nd gen (2014). I was hoping that my battery will last longer if I enable battery optimisation. But I cant seem to enable it. I can go to the battery settings and open battery optimisation. It shows Not Optimised. If I select All Apps, it shows optimising battery use for apps listed. When I go back to battery screen and then again to optimisation it still shows Not Optimised. It keeps resetting to Not Optimised. How can I make the optimisation work ?

The screenshots repeat if I go back from 3 to 1.

# Answer
You don't need to do anything. Not optimised just shows the apps that are considered system critical and are excluded from battery optimisation. If you select the All apps option, that just lists all the apps that are battery optimised.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery, 6.0-marshmallow
---


# Question
Title: Getting BT Notifier application to link U8 Smart Watch with No Carrier Nexus 7
I have a Google Nexus 7, no SIM card, tablet. I recently acquired a U8 Smart Watch. The app that the watch recommends to download to link the two devices, "BT Notifier", apparently no longer exists. The replacement app, as found here, is marked as incompatible with my tablet, with some poking around online suggesting that they've labeled it as only able to be used with Android phones.

How do I get this application to work? Since I don't do phone calls, I have no real need for things like viewing call logs on my phone, but it would be nice to be able to use my watch to change things on my tablet, such as the currently playing song, when jogging (as otherwise, I'd have to pull my backpack around, unearth the tablet, etc).

I am working on a rooted Nexus 7 with OS of 5.1.1.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I just got the V8 Plus. I couldn't get it to pair to my Nexus 5 stock with the BT Notifier. However, it did pair with both of these applications

MediaTek Smart Device

FunDo Smart Device

Both those applications look very similar once they're installed.

Once it paired I could make calls from the watch, remotely trigger the phone camera, see text messages, etc.

---
Tags: nexus-7
---


# Question
Title: Adding a new account to Gmail/Youtube shows a Password Error
I recently goy myself a Moto G3, that is running Android 5.1.1.

I have 3 e-mail addresses, all of those I wish to keep in my Gmail app (I did that in an older phone I had), so I go to "Add Account" in the Gmail app, click "New Account" and...

I'm taken to a "Confirm your Password" screen. And there, I type my password... Only to see a "try again" prompt. And no matter how many attempts I do, all I see is a "try again" prompt. My research led me to know that a "2 step verification" can be the issue, but turns out it's deactivated on ALL 3 OF MY ACCOUNTS!

I also can't add other accounts to my Youtube app, which I need since I need to publish videos while away from my PC. Here's an image of that confirm your password screen. If anyone has any suggestions, I'll be thankfull (just a warning: I'm a noob, so I'd appreciate "simpler" language if possible).

Also, if it helps, the main account is my personal e-mail. I'd like to add 2 "workplace" e-mails to the Gmail app, and one of those is linked to a Youtube Account.

Click on it for larger version

# Answer
> 0 votes
For some reason, updating to Android 6.0 has corrected the issue.

# Answer
> 9 votes
At least for me, it was actually the *device* password - used to unlock the phone. So basically it asks for the device password when you try to add a new Google account for some reason. I formatted my phone thinking something else was the issue - but if you enter the device password, it then asks for the account name as normal.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Perhaps its a typo, but you say:

> ...so I go to "Add Account" in the Gmail app, click "New Account" and...

Why do you go to "New Account" if you **already** have 3 email address?

This is how on my 5.1.1, Adding an account works:

* I go to Settings \> Accounts \> Add Account \> Google \> 'Enter email' \> 'Enter password' \> Logs me in

The steps you're describing isn't available, as you only need to confirm your password when creating a New Account, and not when logging into an already created account.

If you see "Confirm Password", then you're not *logging in*, but rather, *creating an account*, in this case, a 4th Google account.

---
Tags: gmail, password, youtube, bugs
---


# Question
Title: How do I smite this unknown vampire process that is sucking the blood out of my battery?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 that I upgraded to 4.4 a couple of days ago. Since upgrading, my battery longevity has dropped a crazy amount. Just this morning, it took about four hours to go from full charge all the way down to about 25%, and that's without much use. Previous to upgrading, I could go for about two days while listening to podcasts and writing emails and general normal use.

I looked in the system settings under the battery usage, and discovered that some "unknown" process was responsible for 50% of my battery use:

I clicked on the process to see if I could kill it, but the option to "force stop" was greyed out:

I tried rebooting, but, near as I can tell, it's still there, eating my battery.

How to I put a stake in the heart of this vampire process and make sure it never returns?

---

Update: More battery madness.

Yesterday, I woke up and my battery was dead, even though it was left in the charger for the night. Took a few rounds of trying to recharge and reboot to get any response, but eventually I got it running again, and this is what I saw in the battery settings:

Looks kind of like Google+ threw a fit and sucked the life out of the battery. Though, actually, I think that's probably a misreporting of events.

Okay, so then, yesterday, I was listening to a podcast, and I hear a pop and then my phone reboots. Again, when it's back on, I check the battery report:

It's pretty normal for the screen to be the biggest battery draw, but I don't see why suddenly the available battery power droped by about half at the time the phone self-booted.

So... I don't really know what to make of any of this. I'm kind of thinking maybe my battery is dying and behaving oddly. But if anyone has any better ideas...?

# Answer
If you are rooted, I would recommend downloading Better Battery Stats (or Wakelock Detector) from the Google Play Store, and finding the name of the 'mad' processes.

If you aren't rooted, I recommend you root as other apps can't access battery stats as of Android OS version 4.4.
> 2 votes

# Answer
It's understandable that your battery life will decrease when you run 4.4 on an older device like the S2. But that is strange. Try identifying the process like the other users suggested. I would also suggest Greenify, an app that can put processes and apps into automatic hibernation, decreasing their CPU toll.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Interesting! Never seen a phone that didn't list 'Screen' as biggest drain. I'd try uninstalling apps until it's fixed, my theory being that some cheesy app (spyware?) keeps calling home. Start with the running apps list--anything running that shouldn't be? Got GPS turned off? How much free storage do you have on the phone? If the phone's memory is nearly full it will overwork itself, in my experience, perhaps defragging. If none of that fixes it to your satisfaction then I'd wipe the phone clean and start over. Let us know what you find out!
> 1 votes

# Answer
That's very interesting. Have you looked for the "Unknown" app in your Application Manager? That may shed some light on the subject, if it can or can't be found anywhere in there. Other than that, look at some recently downloaded apps, see if they have any weird numbers in the App Manager.

A very puzzling problem indeed.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Even without root you can run a shell for example with "Material Terminal" and run "top" e.g. running "top -m 10" you can see if there are any apps using a lot of CPU.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: battery, processes
---


# Question
Title: Upgrading A Verizon Galaxy Note 2 to Marshmallow
I'd like to upgrade my old Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (SCH-I605) running 4.4.2 to Android Marshmallow to get the latest updates (specifically the security updates for StageFright), but thus far I haven't been able to find any documentation on the internet showing how. My Nexus 6 actually gets it's updates directly from Google thus guaranteeing I always have the latest patches.

I'm tech savvy, but I've never tried unlocking/rooting/modding a phone before. Can anyone provide any guidance on what tools to use and what ROM to install?

Note: I understand rooting/modding a phone comes with risks and accept full responsibility if I 'brick' my phone.

# Answer
I assume you'll wanna use CyanogenMod. If so, then simply follow the official steps provided by the community for your device.

In the documentation in the above link, the tool called `heimdall` is mentioned. I will recommend it. I have used it several times with Samsung devices, and had 100% success (I'm on Linux)

If that is *not* your device, do *not* proceed with the steps in there.

If all goes well, you should be able to download updates from the Download sections on CyanogenMod website.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: rooting, 6.0-marshmallow, samsung-galaxy-note
---


# Question
Title: Enable Location Services via Remote Control
I always disable (Google) Location Services on my phone because they are always drain a lot battery (probably because my mobile Internet is very slow). But in case I lose my phone I can't use any Phone-Lost tools, because they need it...

Is there a way to enable the location Services remotely? Any better alternatives for me?

# Answer
> 2 votes
I think Cerebus (paid, but they do free promotions from time to time) can activate location services remotely on Android 2.3+, but only if you have root.

Alternatively, if you just want to enable GPS via SMS, you can look into AutomateIt (free) or Tasker (paid), they also need root on 2.3+ though

# Answer
> 1 votes
I found that lost Android devices operate using Google Play Services with the phone's background data. It seems to locate my phone using GPS, network, or WiFi even when GPS is off, but won't work if I have restricted the background data under the data manager settings on the phone.

I used active GPS hoping it would allow my GPS to work, but I'm not sure it's made a difference.

Air Droid connects straight to my phone. Seems to use more battery but does okay locating the phone. I was also looking at adding a task manager to see if I could activate the GPS remotely. Still checking it out.

I found PingBot SMS - GPS Tracker which is supposed to briefly enable GPS when a keyword you set is received by text. It seems to work on my phone.

Out of all of this, just making sure the phone background data is unrestricted was most effective. You can also use Where's My Droid.

# Answer
> 0 votes
On Samsung devices, you can use Find My Mobile which will turn on the GPS if it is off.

---
Tags: gps, geolocation, mobile-network
---


# Question
Title: Mysterious heavy battery drain during device sleep since update to M
I recently updated my Note 3 to Marshmallow, using the resurrection remix rom, and I am experiencing excessive battery drain I cannot pinpoint the source of.

I am a very light device user, prior to updating to M I was using an Lollipop based mod - xnote, and my phone lasted for up to 10 days.

The drain appears to manifest randomly, I cannot tie it to anything in particular, sometimes it goes away after a device reboot, sometime it persists, it has triggered during my sleep, when the phone is completely idle, no wifi or whatsoever. I've taken care to prevent third party applications for running on boot and keeping the device away, and as the phone information shows, the CPU is in sleep 98-99% of the time. It is not the battery either, as until last week it could easily last a week, the battery itself has no more than 200 discharge cycles. I have disabled NFC, WIFI, GPS, bluetooth and pretty much everything non-essential yet the battery drains heavily while the phone is sleeping, doing nothing. Also the phone is set to "power save" settings.

Here is what I am talking about:

The image above shows battery levels from one reboot, with the drain persisting after the reboot, draining half of the battery in 12 hours of idling, as is obvious from the images below. Then shortly before 4 PM I did another reboot which removed the drain.

Here is another image, illustrating a longer period with and without the drain, absent the drain the phone loses 2-3% battery a day.

Any ideas how to pinpoint the source of the drain and prevent it? Marshmallow was supposed to improve battery life, but in my experience so far battery life with it is terrible.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I didn't manage to pinpoint the actual source of the drain, however it was finally resolved by replacing the stock kernel that came with the rom with idlekernel. Back to losing about 10% change in 24 hours on my modest usage pattern.

Update: several weeks into using the phone with that kernel and I noticed some things were not working properly. This led me to investigate the matter further, to finally arrive at the conclusion that the drain was the product of old firmware. After updating the bootloader and modem the drain has disappeared, most likely it was the modem, now battery usage is normal even without the custom kernel.

---
Tags: battery-life, 6.0-marshmallow
---


title: FB Messenger Security

text:
# Question
Title: FB Messenger Security
Does anyone know how secure Facebook Messenger communication is? If you are having 1x1 chat (writing messages) or making a voice call, is it encrypted (end to end)?

I know if you are using facebook.com for chat, it is on HTTPS and that is secure. My question is related to the Messenger app on Android.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Yes, it is secure. The connection is made using TLS 1.2. This is from a tcpdump capture on my device:

```
192.168.0.11  31.13.69.195 (edge-mqtt-shv-01-iad3.facebook.com)  TLSv1.2  Application Data
31.13.69.195  192.168.0.11                                       TLSv1.2  Application Data

```

---
Tags: security, facebook-messenger
---


title: Some questions about storage

text:
# Question
Title: Some questions about storage
After weeks of trying to understand Android's storage management I'm left with more questions than answers.

I've already figured out how to force-move apps to external SD card, and to convince newly installed apps to directly install to SD card. But I'm still not sure who's against who. Of course, the fact that "SD card" is confusingly used to describe both the phone's own "hard disk" and external cards that you stick in doesn't help. Questions:

* All the dozens tools that promise to force-move apps to SD card, one can assume they all mean "external SD card", correct?
* Some parts of every app MUST remain on the internal storage, as far as I understand. Some basic core files. Which means: no matter how intensively you move apps to the external SD card, at some point your internal storage will run out of space. You may have an external 128-GB SD card in, but no tool in the world is going to save you from filling up your 5-GB internal storage sooner or later. Correct?
* When Play Store tells me "not enough storage", which storage does it mean? How come I try to install a 50-MB app while having much more than that free in the RAM, the ROM, and the internal storage, and I get refused? (I understand that sometimes erasing cache and RAM solves this, but is it always so?) Is there a Store add-on or something like that that makes it all a bit more transparent, showing which downloaded file exactly doesn't fit in which type of storage?
* I've heard that some elaborate games weigh 3 GB (never dealt with one myself). How would I theoretically go about installing such a game? I certainly have no such amount of any type of storage, except for the external SD card. Where will the files even be downloaded to?

Thanks!

# Answer
Many questions in one, but …

1. No. They all mean whatever the system sees as "primary external storage". If you've got an "internal SD card" *and* an "external SD card", this usually means the internal.
2. Nes. Depends on. Without root powers, this is correct. With root powers there are ways around – see e.g. our tag-wiki (for a broader intro, also see our tag-wiki)
3. the devices internal storage (i.e. `/data/data`)
4. if you don't have that much internal storage left, you don't deal with them at all. Initial download goes to internal storage, so no way**1**.

---

**1:** note that with Android 6+ you can adopt the SD card as internal storage to work around this limitation, on the cost of other limitations
> 1 votes

---
Tags: external-sd, sd-card, storage
---


# Question
Title: Boot loop Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 N8013
My tablet is stuck booting. I can't get it into recovery. When I hold Power+VolumeUp it goes into "Custom OS ..." with exclamation sign in yellow triangle. Then I press VolumeUp again to go into ODIN download mode. But when I try to flash CWM recovery (or anything else) it goes into "waiting for debugging mode" or "waiting for adb mode". Windows ODIN shows COMM and allows to flush boot loader, but without any difference. I tried everything, including opening up the unit and disconnecting the battery. I can't even turn it off - the screen turns off but when I press power again - it comes right back to Samsung logo. Please help! Thank you.

# Answer
If all else failed
1. Put Stock ROM On SD Card
2. Boot into Download Mode
3. Install starts automatically !
For SD Card Booting ROM Updates,
it requires you to rename the ROM File To a device specific name Eg. SGH100463.zip.

I can't find any zip files for reference but i found this info on the download mode

> Download Mode for Samsung devices allows you to install new OTA Updates by pushing them from your computer directly to your phone using only a data cable.
>
> Also, for your computer to work with the Download Mode you will need to have the ODIN software present.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: samsung-galaxy-note-10.1
---


title: How can I root my Moto G2?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I root my Moto G2?
I want to root my Moto G2 (running Marshmallow). I've never tried this before, so please tell me exactly step by step.

# Answer
1. Download the latest SuperSU zip file and save it to your device at the root of the internal storage.
2. Download and install the Android SDK Tools and the latest Motorola drivers.
3. Enable Developer Options on your device by going to Settings → About and then tapping the build number 7 times. Then go into Developer Options (again under Settings) and enable USB Debugging.

source
4. Unlock your bootloader. **This will wipe your data.**

* Connect your device to your PC, open a Command Prompt / shell, and run:

    ```
    adb reboot bootloader

    ```
    * Wait for the device to reboot, then run:

    ```
    fastboot oem get_unlock_data

    ```
    * Enter the resulting code at this Motorola site (making sure to format it as it says).
    * Enter the resulting key from that site in another command:

    ```
    fastboot oem unlock <key>

    ```
5. Download the latest TWRP image to your PC and flash it:

```
fastboot flash recovery twrp-<version>-titan.img

```
6. Reboot your device, repeat step #3, then run:

```
adb reboot recovery

```
7. From TWRP, choose Install and then select the SuperSU zip file you obtained in step #1. Follow the prompts to flash the package and then reboot your device.

You are now rooted!
> 3 votes

---
Tags: rooting, motorola-moto-g2
---


title: Set longitude & latitude manually

text:
# Question
Title: Set longitude & latitude manually
Is it possible to set longitude & latitude manually for my Android phones.

# Answer
Yes. This is called "Mock Location" in Android and it is designed for developers to test location services in their apps for development purposes. You need to enable it in Developer Options, then use an app from the Play Store to set your location. A quick search for "mock location", "GPS faker", or "Fake location" will yield multiple choices in apps to accomplish this.

You may find this is less useful than you think, in general location based apps such as location based games (Ingress is a good example) will know they are being tricked and either not function or function in a reduced capacity.
> 2 votes

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Tags: 4.4-kitkat, location-services
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# Question
Title: I can't connect to a bluetooth headset when the headset is connected to a computer
http://en.miui.com/thread-247552-1-1.html

Basically I got an error that I insert wrong pin or password. However, I can connect to the device before without problem.

So I tried the only thing that make sense. I remove the device from my PC.

Then I can connect.

However, it's very strange. That means if a device is paired with some device and I lost the device, I will not be able to ever pair that device with anything.

Or is it because I happen to be close to the computer?

http://en.miui.com/data/attachment/forum/201603/24/124058xr2qq3eurgymnquq.png.thumb.jpg

Am I correct here?

What's actually happen with bluetooth? Should we pair a bluetooth device with one and only one device all of the time? What about if we pair with one and the pair is gone?

# Answer
Your title talks about connecting, but the question body talks about pairing. These are two different things.

When you *pair* a Bluetooth peripheral (such as a headset) with a central (such as a phone or PC), the two devices swap cipher keys that allow them to keep their radio transmissions secure in future. Once they're paired, they remember the cipher keys forever. They can later *connect* to each other without having to pair again. If you like, pairing is like swapping phone numbers, while connecting is like calling their phone.

Normally, if you leave Bluetooth turned on on a phone or PC, it will keep looking for peripherals it has paired with before, and automatically connect to them as soon as they're in range. This makes it a lot easier for you, because you just have to turn on the headset and it's immediately ready to use. In this case it seems to have caused some confusion, though.

Any Bluetooth device can pair with several devices: exactly how many depends on the device, and how much memory it has. Some very cheap headsets may only pair with one, but usually they can remember up to a dozen pairings. When you pair with too many devices, it just forgets the oldest pairings. (Like erasing your old friends' phone numbers from your phone book to make space for newer friends.) Bluetooth centrals can pair with lots of devices at once.

Just like you can only call one phone at a time, a Bluetooth peripheral can only be connected to one central at a time. It needs to disconnect before another central can try to connect to it.

In your case, it looks like the headset was *connected* to the PC when you tried to pair it with your phone. This couldn't work, because a second central can't connect to the same peripheral. When you unpaired it from the PC, the PC also disconnected, which then made it available for the phone to connect to. In practical terms, what this means is that if you want to keep using it for both, and you want to control whether the PC or phone connects to it, either keep unpairing and pairing again (like you already did), or turn off Bluetooth on the PC when you want to connect with your phone (and vice-versa).
> 1 votes

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Tags: bluetooth
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# Question
Title: How can I check second partition of SD card is of which type ex2, ext3 or ext4?
I have partitioned memory card,but I forgot my second partition type I had selected at the time of partitioning memory card.One partition is of FAT32. I want to know my another partition is of ext2,ext3 or ext4?

# Answer
I would suggest using this app, Disk Info:

> DiskInfo is a unique app that lists all partitions and all mount points on you device. It shows disk usage and very detailed partition and storage information.

This app will be able to help you identify what filesystem is being used.
> 1 votes

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Tags: partitions, link2sd
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title: Titanium backup history setting ignored

text:
# Question
Title: Titanium backup history setting ignored
> Hello

I am a happy user of Titanium Backup, except for one thing. The maximum backup history is set to 1, a single backup, but over time, the backup folder now contains 88 backups. How can I make Titanium Backup only keep the most recent backup?

Screenshots are attached.

With kind regards,

Isaiah van Hunen

# Answer
> 2 votes
### Short answer

I'd say everything is working as expected, just your interpretation of the "88 backups" is wrong :)

### Explanation

*Titanium Backup* doesn't make "one huge backup file covering all", but creates one set of backup files per app (usually 2 files: the `.apk` and the app settings as `.tar.gz`), plus one set per system data type (call logs, SMS, WiFi APNs, contacts, and such).

So the message "88 backups" is a bit misleading here: you should read that as "88 backup files" (which again would not be correct, as it rather means "88 objects" here; hard to find a proper term for this message: had you set a backup history limit of 2, and 2 of your apps had 2 backups, it would report "90 backups" here).

You can check this out yourself when investigating the backup directory using e.g. a file explorer: Navigate to `/storage/emulated/legacy/TitaniumBackup` (which should correspond with `sdcard/TitaniumBackup` and check the files therein. Naming convention is each file starts with the corresponding package name of the app, followed by either a time-stamp or a corresponding HEX string, and ends with either `.apk` or `.tar.gz`.

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Tags: backup, titanium-backup, backup-manager
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