Most Popular
1500 questions
24
votes
4 answers
How to tell current frequency band?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, with quad-band I believe. It is possible to see the current connection network type, e.g. UMTS, EDGE, etc, by going to Settings -> About Phone -> Status. But it does not tell which frequency band it is on. Is it possible…
Kateshi Kitano
- 371
- 1
- 2
- 8
24
votes
7 answers
Why do apps stop supporting older Android versions after some time?
My mother had a shopping app on her old smartphone which runs Android v6. Recently I noticed that the app on her phone was no longer supported. I've seen such things happen on old phones generally with many apps. I just wanted to know, why do…
Gizmosoft
- 343
- 1
- 2
- 5
24
votes
2 answers
How does rooting work?
Or, how do I root my device without a rooter?
Rooting instructions for Android devices that I have seen are typically of the following form:
Download Gingerbreak.apk
Run Gingerbreak, click “root device”
Observe that Superuser.apk has been magically…
Michael Ekstrand
- 479
- 3
- 9
24
votes
2 answers
What is the Streaming Decryption setting in Google Drive?
I notice a "Streaming Decryption" option under Encryption Settings. For me, it was not selected by default. The description under this setting is a little unclear:
Decrypt documents into a stream incrementally.
So my question is what does this…
gary
- 5,620
- 4
- 41
- 60
24
votes
2 answers
How to install xapk, apks, or multiple-apks via adb?
xapk, apks, or multiple-apks is the new standard for apps that is basically one folder and multiple apks in it.
I know there are apps like apkpure or SAI that can do it, but I want to know how to it manually.
I know we can use adb install-multiple…
Aero Windwalker
- 1,024
- 8
- 15
- 27
24
votes
1 answer
Apps are not allowed by Google to read SMS messages, but why can they read OTP SMS directly?
Termux:API app has a command termux-sms-list to list SMS messages on the Termux terminal. However, the wiki says that it is not supported anymore because of Google.
Usage of this API is no longer allowed by Google and we had to disable it to…
Yuval Cohen
- 343
- 2
- 4
24
votes
1 answer
Does Airplane Mode allow GPS location to pass through?
This is what I saw when my plane was taxing to the runway at CDG:
Airplane mode was on and all other transmissions (except Location), including WiFi, mobile data, NFC and Bluetooth were off.
Location was not manually turned on by me, after I…
trejder
- 2,537
- 6
- 39
- 69
24
votes
4 answers
What does "fastboot oem lock" do?
I've had my phone for months, loading with several firmware, ROMs and OTAs, without ever running this command. What does it do?
What I know is that "fastboot oem unlock" displays the confirmation screen and obliges me to wipe my device data, and…
William C
- 1,484
- 6
- 21
- 28
24
votes
8 answers
New phone: How to transfer game progress?
I'm planning to buy a new Android phone and I'd like to be able to transfer the progress I have made at several games to the new device, so I won't have to play all the levels again from scratch.
I currently have an HTC Desire and will buy an HTC…
Cristian Lupascu
- 577
- 3
- 7
- 12
24
votes
1 answer
How to tell if your phone is refurbished
Is there a way to tell if an Android phone is an original or a refurbished product?
Nick
- 680
- 3
- 7
- 16
24
votes
2 answers
What are the alternatives for Xposed framework on Pie? Preferably without triggering Safety Net?
Xposed development has been in a limbo with the last update being a beta released a year ago.
Die hard fans of Xposed hesitate to upgrade Android, in the absence of Xposed support.This is true for the latest Android Pie as well. Magisk is useful…
beeshyams
- 40,739
- 30
- 119
- 269
24
votes
3 answers
What's the meaning of signal strength colors in battery usage screens?
The battery usage screen has an indicator for "Signal strength" that, instead of being blue/black like WiFi, has many colors: green, gray, yellow. What's their meaning?
michelemarcon
- 2,663
- 8
- 32
- 36
24
votes
6 answers
Automatically power on Android when the charger is connected
Is it possible to automatically power on the device once the charger is connected given that the device is initially turned off?
Muhammad Ghandour
- 521
- 2
- 4
- 5
24
votes
4 answers
How can I send a file wirelessly without bluetooth or a Wi-Fi network in ICS?
I know that one of the new features is WiFi-direct for ICS (noted at the very bottom of the page in the link). Is there a way to leverage this new feature to transmit files from one ICS device to another?
This would be useful because the WiFi…
John
- 455
- 2
- 5
- 14
24
votes
3 answers
How to change a default application in Ice Cream Sandwich?
I used the ADWLauncher EX by default while having Gingerbread 2.3.6.
Today I have manually updated my Nexus S to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3, and I wanted to give the new default launcher a shot, but I cannot find anymore where to select / forget the…
Marius Butuc
- 562
- 1
- 8
- 22