Question and Answer about Android from Stack Exchange network.

I'm suffering from a pop-in, coming in from the bottom of the screen, in Chrome for Android.

It seems to be doing a Google search with whatever text I may have tapped. There's no button to close, and it's much more of a nuisance than a help.

What is it, and how do I turn it off?

I have a Pixel 3XL on android 10 and a Pixel 3a on android 11. I had previously installed magisk on the Pixel 3a when android 11 was in beta. Recently I found that it had lost root, presumably because android 11 is out of beta and the phone had upgraded to the latest android 11 and was not using the magisk-patched boot image anymore. So, I patched the corresponding boot image for the latest android 11 factory image for pixel 3a, and fastboot flashed it, and it worked.

Unfortunately, I had mixed up my two phones in the fastboot flash step at first, and so then I ended up with the Pixel 3a with android 11 rooted again, but also with the Pixel 3XL stuck on boot, I guess because it had a wrong boot image (for pixel 3a actually) flashed into it. I tried to fix the Pixel 3XL by getting the latest android 10 factory image for it and patching the boot image with magisk. However, after fastboot flash of that patched boot image, it only worked partially. Namely, it could boot, adb shell works, etc., but it no longer responds to touch, so can't be used except for adb shell.

I'm guessing the problem is that I didn't know what was the factory image actually installed on my Pixel 3L, so I just guessed it was the latest, but the boot image from the latest might have some incompatibility with the actual factory image in the phone. I would like to find out what is the actual factory image installed on the Pixel 3L, so I can try to patch the matching boot image.

Hence, my question, how can I know what is the exact version of the android 10 factory image installed on my Pixel 3L? Googling doesn't seem to help, as most pages talk about how to install factory images, not how to find out what is the version installed. In answering my question, please note that I can't interact with the phone now through touch, so cannot check anything under "Settings" with the touch GUI, but can only see the fastboot info (see screenshot below) as well as anything I can access with adb shell (for example, any file in the phone I can check to find out the factory image version installed on the phone?)

I already read that /sdcard/ is a symlink to the actual path of /storage/emulated/0/.

I'm an Android app developer using Apache Cordova, wherein cordova.file.externalRootDirectory is indeed file:///storage/emulated/0/.

Is it always fully reliable to save some app internal files at /storage/emulated/0/path/to/app, considering that the user might not have an external physical memory card on their phone?

I have made system update on my Redmi Note 5. Before system update it has Android version 7.2. Now after I do system update it is showing MIUI version 11.0.5.0 and Android Version 9PKQ1.180904.001. I do not understand what is this android version indicates, is it android version 7 or 8 or 9 or 10? I did not understand. Now I want to update my android version on RedMi Note 5 to Android 10, is it possible?

I have three different Google accounts on my phone, with one the default one. I want all apps to be installed on that account. I've just noticed that one app was installed with an account that is not under my control. Strangely enough this is a system app.

How can I see which apps are installed with which account?

Pixel 4a, Android 11

As in the title, why does Google's Messages app says sent by SMS? (Text messages are sent by SMS anyway, why emphasize?).

See below OK in the screenshot.

^{This is a self answered question, to share a new feature. Also, to answer questions that may be asked about this in the future (mark them duplicates).}

I have a root shell on the phone.

However, no adb service seems running, i.e. the port 5555 is on the device not open¹:

$ telnet 1.2.3.4 5555
Trying 1.2.3.4...
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection refused

I.e. something what should listen on adb connections, does not run on my Android.

Can I somehow start it from a root shell (on the Android)?

I have Android 10.

¹_{Telnet only serves here port testing purpose, obviously adbd will be connected by adb.}

We have a new Moto G8 Power and a new Samsung microSD card. I put the card in and turned the new phone on. When I looked in the file browser app it shows Samsung SD Card and that there’s 13 MB used, and then it lists “FILES ON SAMSUNG SD CARD” including folders of .android_secure, Android, Download, Music, Pictures, Ringtones, Alarms, DCIM, Movies, Notifications, and Podcasts.

The folders appear to be empty. Is this normal? I don’t have much experience with Android phones (I’ve been in the Apple ecosystem pretty much exclusively); Is this expected behavior, or should I reformat the microSD card?

So in an attempt to undo all the [wrong word here] apps do in mixing contacts somehow, I ended up deleting all contacts from the entire phone including the SIM card, to then try to put them back either one by one or from a backup.

Though, I can't delete all contacts from the SIM card! Why is that??? Would anyone know? I could delete around 100 contacts, but I can't delete duplications of the contacts. I started blaming Whatsapp, Google account and another one which is MBWAY which is from a bank. They have contacts of their own or something. So I deleted all the accounts and uninstalled Whatsapp and MBWAY, tried again and no success... Now I installed an app called SIM Card Manager which I got from 4PDA, so I'm trusting it's an app that does the things right. And when I go on it to delete the contacts, it says "Cannot delete contact". Another app I got from Play Store allowed me to "delete", but when I restarted the app, it would show all the contacts I "deleted", so it didn't delete at all. The app from 4PDA at least says it can't. But if it can't and it actually knows it can't delete, I'm wondering VERY MUCH why...

Would anyone know why this happens and how I can delete the contacts?? Or I'll get an old phone which never got me any problems and delete the stuff from there... (if the phone will let me, since I can't here). I'm thinking those apps have to do with this. This never happened to me before. First time in my life I see I can't delete contacts. And I'm supposing it's from Whatsapp because one each contact that the person had Whatsapp, I had 2 duplicates of the original one on the SIM card. And I never asked Whatsapp to even try to do that, but why not......

Thanks in advance for any help on this...

I know well the desktop world of the Android and I am currently digging for, how does it work.

I think, because multiple processes (apps) can interact simultanously with the desktop, some central service (process) should exist to collect their change requests and unite them into an always consistent form (for example, if the content of a window changes while it is not visible, then the change should be invisible on the screen - until that window does not go into the front). Only this process has direct access to the frame buffer of the display (i.e. only it can directly change the pixels).

In the Linux/Unix world, this is being done by the X Server. The processes (apps) interact with the X Server on Unix sockets.

On Windows, as far I know, it is a kernel feature (thus, there is no specific process for that), and the processes interact with it on LPC (local procedure calls, windows-specific user space - kernel space communication mechanism).

On the net around, there is a huge mass of detailed documentation about the app-level interface, but nothing about this deeper internals.

How does it work on Android?

I purchased a new Motorola Moto G6 with the intention to try out using LineageOS instead of the stock rom.

Here's everything that used to appear in the About section of the Settings. Keep in mind I selected Portuguese so I'll be translating some labels:

Software channel: retin

Android version: 8.0.0

Android security patch level: 2018-04-01

Base band version: M450_03.08.10.51R ALI_INDIADSDS_CUST

Kernel version: 3.18.71-perf-ga4749e5

hudsoncm@ilclbld32 #1

Fri Mar 30 11:53:22 CDT 2018

Version number: OPS27.82-45

This is my first time messing with phones like this. I am a Computer Engineer, though.

I started following the instructions here. I enabled developer options in the settings, enabled USB debugging and allowed OEM unlocking.

Then I unlocked the bootloader. I'm using ADB and Fastboot that came with Android Studio.

I ran fastboot oem get_unlock_data, got the code, inserted in on the Motorola website, got the email with the unlock key and unlocked it with fastboot oem unlock UNIQUE_KEY.

Then I installed TWRP 3.3.1-0. No problems there.

Then I had to search for the link to download LineageOS and GApps because it looked like the steps I was following were incomplete.

I downloaded LineageOS from here and GApps from here. For the latter, I chose ARM64, Android 10.0 and full. I transfered them to the internal storage using Android Studio Device File Explorer.

Then I followed the YouTube video from the first link. I had trouble wiping because of encryption, so it seems. I followed this to proceed. Using a pass or a pin didn't work. The next solution, Repair File System, was unavailable. I could only see Change File System. Then I formatted /data to EXT2 then back to EXT4 and it worked.

Then I tried to flash LineageOS. I got error 255. I looked here. Apparently, I should have used a 64 bit TWRP. I found one here and flashed it. Then I was able to flash both LineageOS and GApps. No error messages here.

Then I rebooted without installing the TWRP app. I got the following:

Start Up Failed:

Your device didn't start up successfully.
Use the Software Repair Assistant on computer
to repair your device.
Connect you device to your computer to get
the Software Repair Assistant.

AP Fastboot Flash Mode (Secure)
Error: failed to load kernel!
Fastboot Reason: Fall-through from normal boot mode
USB connected

I searched and didn't find much. I looked for the Software Repair Assistant but it seems it's only good to reinstall the stock ROM. I still want to install LineageOS, though.

I found some results about flashing boot.img and some other stuff, but I'm too afraid to hard brick my phone to follow any instructions that haven't been written specifically for my situation.

I still can access TWRP. I wiped and installed again to double check that there wasn't any error messages during flashing and then again to try installing the TWRP app, but the prompt for that didn't show up.

Please advise on what to do to complete installing LineageOS on my Moto G6.

Thanks in advance.

Update 2020-12-15: It seems that the tutorial I followed has been updated. Now there are no steps missing. I'll try again using the files provided there.

Update 2020-12-16: I'm currently trying to flash stock ROM in order to follow the latest instructions. I'm using Lenovo Rescue and Smart Assistant but it's been on Wait for matching firmware, don't unplug your device for quite a while now. In the meanwhile, I'm downloading a stock ROM that more closely matches my device. I found out about the command fastboot getvar all so I'll post the output here:

(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: moto-sdm450-C3.09
(bootloader) product: ali
(bootloader) board: ali
(bootloader) secure: yes
(bootloader) hwrev: PVT2
(bootloader) radio: 5
(bootloader) storage-type: emmc
(bootloader) emmc: 32GB SAMSUNG GD6BMB RV=08 PV=01 FV=0000000000000001
(bootloader) ram: 3GB SAMSUNG LP3 DIE=8Gb M5=01 M6=06 M7=00 M8=5F
(bootloader) cpu: SDM450
(bootloader) cid: 0x0032
(bootloader) channelid: 0xc0
(bootloader) securestate: flashing_unlocked
(bootloader) iswarrantyvoid: yes
(bootloader) max-download-size: 534773760
(bootloader) reason: Fall-through from charger boot mode
(bootloader) imei: [REDACTED]
(bootloader) meid:
(bootloader) date: 08-11-2018
(bootloader) sku: XT1925-13
(bootloader) carrier_sku: XT1925-13
(bootloader) battid: SB18C18509
(bootloader) iccid:
(bootloader) cust_md5:
(bootloader) max-sparse-size: 268435456
(bootloader) current-time: "Tue May  9  7: 0:46 UTC 1972"
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[0]: motorola/ali/ali:8.0.0/OPS27.82-45
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[1]: /56:user/release-keys
(bootloader) poweroffalarm: 0
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[0]: Blur_Version.27.81.56.ali.retail.
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[1]: en.US
(bootloader) ro.build.version.qcom: LA.UM.6.6.r1-04400-89xx.0
(bootloader) version-baseband: M450_03.08.10.51R ALI_INDIADSDS_CUST
(bootloader) kernel.version[0]: Linux version 3.18.71-perf-ga4749e5 (hud
(bootloader) kernel.version[1]: soncm@ilclbld32) (gcc version 4.9.x 2015
(bootloader) kernel.version[2]: 0123 (prerelease) (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT
(bootloader) kernel.version[3]:  Fri Mar 30 11:53:22 CDT 2018
(bootloader) sbl1.git: git=MBM-NG-VC3.09-0-g4650d8f
(bootloader) rpm.git: git=MBM-NG-VC3.04-0-g02798db
(bootloader) tz.git: git=827710b-dirty
(bootloader) devcfg.git: git=827710b-dirty
(bootloader) keymaster.git: git=827710b
(bootloader) cmnlib.git: git=827710b
(bootloader) cmnlib64.git: git=827710b
(bootloader) prov.git: git=827710b-dirty
(bootloader) aboot.git: git=MBM-NG-VC3.09-0-g225f207
(bootloader) frp-state: no protection (0)
(bootloader) ro.carrier: retin
(bootloader) current-slot:
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: _a
(bootloader) slot-count: 1
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: INVALID
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: unknown
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: unknown
all: listed above
Finished. Total time: 0.082s

I thought I had 1925-3 but it's a XT1925-13... Explains why I received a charger with India standard pins in Brazil... At least it came with an adapter.

Later today, the Lenovo tool worked (I closed it, opened it again and followed the instructions to the letter).

I got the screenshot from Magisk Manager as requested.

I'm coding a script to automate an application configuration export process.

adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit

The problem is: after saving the backup I want to pull the file to my computer, using this:

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Although, I can't figure out how to execute this command, after exiting adb shell. It seems like commands after exit are ignored:

adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit
adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Maybe, this is an issue I should addres to the "Unix & Linux" community, but I decided to try here first.

Using WhatsApp version 2.20.206.24 on a Huawei Y9 2019 with Android 9.

Received the following video (i tested both forwarding and sending the video directly - on both cases i faced the same problem)

If I click play, the video looks like is going to start but the time is stuck

Checking the media associated with that chat and it appears a thumbnail with a warning icon in it

I'm able to play other videos, so it makes me think that the problem isn't with the media player of this phone. Tried also restarting the phone, searched for WhatsApp updates and system updates and all were in place. Also, I tested playing the video with two other different Android phones (one Samsung and another Huawei) and the video played well.

Edit

When trying to play the video from the Gallery, I get the following error

Formato video h264 não suportado. (Portuguese for "Video format h264 not supported").

Edit 2

I installed VLC for Android to see if the video would play using it. The timer this time finished playing as well as the audio but the image was stuck in the same moment

I have an old tablet running LNOS 14.1. It has an external SDCard with some Books, Videos etc. The card is configured as movable storage. .android_secure is an empty directory, and though I haven't deliberately installed any apps on the card, it does appear there are some in the Android directory. I have noticed that though I have root on the tablet, there are things that I can not do via a shell or by ssh'ing in. I can't look in .androd_secure for instance, but more importantly, though I can copy to the root of the SDCard, I can not copy to any of the subfolders! I am able to enter and read from the subfolders, as can apps like Kodi and Librara.

I am sure I have root as I set access permission in Developer tools, and multiple apps have caused the OS to produce pop ups requesting root access. Also, the Root Verifier app reports that I have root. In addition, Termux and simpleSSHD allow me to su - root, & I am able to do some things with root that I can't otherwise. eg. without root I can't write to the SDCard at all! But I still can't do this.

A friend suggested SELinux issues, so I include ls -Z. Is there a way around this?

# whoami
root

# pwd
/storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071

# cat /proc/mounts | grep "/storage/1"
/dev/fuse /storage/1dc31997-9ebf-4573-9c75-3e57793b4071 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0

# ls -la
ls: ./.android_secure: Permission denied
total 5852
drwxrwx--x 12 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-12 01:53 .
drwxr-xr-x  5 root root          100 2020-12-11 18:49 ..
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-09 22:56 .Trash-1000
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 22:49 AOSP.7.0.Root.Install.amaces
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-09 22:04 Android
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 04:38 Apps
drwxrwx--x 25 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-06 19:04 Books
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-12-10 22:45 LNOS.14.1.amaces
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw    4096 2000-01-02 12:25 LOST.DIR
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-10-25 02:18 TWRP
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw    4096 2020-10-29 23:41 Videos
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw    5294 2020-12-12 01:53 bottled.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw 5888840 2020-12-11 04:49 org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged.ota_2110.zip

# cp bottled.zip bottled.1.zip

# ls -lZ
ls: ./.android_secure: Permission denied
total 5848
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 22:49 AOSP.7.0.Root.Install.amaces
drwxrwx--x  5 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-09 22:04 Android
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 04:38 Apps
drwxrwx--x 25 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-06 19:04 Books
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-12-10 22:45 LNOS.14.1.amaces
drwxrwx--x  2 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2000-01-02 12:25 LOST.DIR
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-10-25 02:18 TWRP
drwxrwx--x  3 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    4096 2020-10-29 23:41 Videos
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    5294 2020-12-12 03:26 bottled.1.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0    5294 2020-12-12 01:53 bottled.zip
-rw-rw----  1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0 5888840 2020-12-11 04:49 org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged.ota_2110.zip

# mv bottled.zip Videos
mv: bad 'bottled.zip': Permission denied

# cd Videos

# ls -lZ                                                                                                                                             
total 7434136
-rw-rw---- 1 root sdcard_rw u:object_r:fuse:s0  402069980 2015-07-24 03:56 Hold Fast-15351476.mp4

# mv ../bottled.zip .
mv: bad '../bottled.zip': Permission denied

Using WhatsApp version 2.20.207.12, YouTube version 15.47.36 on my Samsung Galaxy A30s with Android 10.

Previously (I remember this working in November) when I shared a link from YouTube in WhatsApp I'd get a preview containing an option to play the video

and clicking play would just play the video there

Recently, anytime I share a link from YouTube in WhatsApp, the message sent will only contain a link. This also happens if I use WhatsApp Web

I'm ok with not being able to play directly in WhatsApp, but how could I get a preview with at least a title pointing that the message is a video and showing its title?

One of the recently added Android features is biometric-protected autofill. It should enable something similar to iOS, where credit card numbers and passwords are protected by a fingerprint or Face ID.

However, with Chrome at least, this feature seems to not work: even if biometric security is enabled, no such auth is requested when autofill login forms (ie: with password autofill).

So: is it possible to enable biometric-protected password fills in Chrome with Android 10?

is it possible to enable/unlock developer options for a second user
Android-version: 7.1 nougat
does it reqire root access to enable it

When I was playing with settings on my Nokia 6.1 Plus running a stock ROM Android 10 with bootloader unlocked and rooted with Magisk v21+, I noticed that Firebase App Indexing that comes under Google Account Preferences was collecting all of my personal data. Of course, GMS was the culprit.

Here's the proof: This was the message that I received from the bank for the transaction that I made yesterday.

Every message that I sent and received had been collected in this given format. Also, many apps that use Firebase API sent these kinds of information.

I'm a guy who thinks about user privacy all-day, so I've used:

• Nuked_Script Magisk script that is used to disable trackers and ad services.
• AFWall+ for Firewall (root).
• Bouncer - Temporary App Permissions.
• AdAway for nullifying ads (root) - ads on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram still exist though
• Bromite webview and browser (Webview Switcher module).

When I turned the developer options off, Firebase App Indexing options also turned off (I mean hidden). So, does it mean that it stopped collecting my data? I still doubt that.

How can I stop this from happening?

P.S: I'm used to using Google Apps. But I don't want to give them such personal data.

Using Gmail version 86.0.04240.198 on my Samsung Galaxy A30s with Android 10.

From the documentation we can read

You can't mark all messages as read from the Gmail app.

I know this is a task that can be done in a computer but that's not an option for me ATM.

I tried going to gmail.com and from there activate "Desktop mode" but I was getting a responsive view with less functionality.

I did a backup of my phone and produced an .ab file

G:\phonebk>adb backup -apk -shared -all -f backup.ab
WARNING: adb backup is deprecated and may be removed in a future release
Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation...

G:\phonebk>

How do you list all apps in an adb backup .ab file?

I have read that adb restore com.identifier.name.ab will restore a particular app, but suppose I want to see the name of the app, And moreso, the names of all the apps?