Ask Android

I need to ask a small favor from the good people of Lemdro.id Community.

In short, I accidentally wiped the metadata partition on my Poco F3 and now I can't boot into the OS and access my data. I have a lot of pictures, videos and other stuff that I would hate to lose, because of a mistake. But all that is still on the phone, I just can't boot the phone to access it.

Thankfully, there is a way to fix this by creating a full backup of the phone with adb, then using a HEX Editor to manually look through that gigantic file and try to find the files that were in that metadata partition.

A huge thanks to bluet33th, a user from XDA Forums, without whom I would be helpless and couldn't do any of this. It might be a bit complicated and manual process, but it is possible. He explained everything in great detail here, so check it out, especially if you are facing the same problem, this will help you tremendously: https://xdaforums.com/t/how-to-recover-data-if-metadata-partition-was-deleted.4686789/

In order to find these files and put them back where they belong, I need your help, because I have to know their names, exact sizes and at least part of their content, so that I can search for it. Because I'm searching for a specific text in a text file that is 128 GB in size.

I have already tried this on another Xiaomi phone, to make sure this procedure works on Xiaomi phones and it does, but that phone had HyperOS with Android 14 and since every phone and android version is probably different, in order to be sure, I need this information specifically for Poco F3 with Android 13.

It doesn't take long, but if you don't have the time to look inside your metadata partition and tell me which files are inside of that partition and their sizes in bytes, you can just make a backup of the metadata partition and sent it to me, and I'll do the rest of the work.

Here are the steps on how to create a backup:

1. Turn on your phone and boot into TWRP, then connect your phone to a PC, type cmd inside Windows search and run cmd, then position cmd into your platform-tools folder (if you flashed your ROM, you should already have the necessary drivers installed for the next steps to work). For example, if your platform-tools folder on Windows is inside C:\platform-tools, all you need to type into cmd is: cd C:\platform-tools

You can also just go inside your platform-tools folder and type cmd in the address bar and the cmd will start already positioned inside that folder.

2. Then type adb devices and you should see your device, if you do, that means that all the drivers are successfully installed and your phone is detected.

3. Type adb pull /dev/block/by-name/metadata

4. After that, you should see a file named metadata inside C:\platform-tools. That is the file that I'm looking for and as you can see, it takes just a few minutes to get it.

You can skip the next steps (5 and 6), but I'll explain them, just in case someone wants to extract these files for themselves, so that you have them in case something like this happens to you. Of course, you can also proceed to extract the files and tell me their names and sizes.

Here is what you need to do:

5. Extract the content of the metadata file, you can use a software like 7-Zip. Go inside that extracted folder, then into vold > metadata_encryption > key

6. Inside of that key folder, you should see a few files. These are the important files and save them somewhere safe in case you ever need them. Since I don't have them anymore, in order to recreate them, I need to know their exact names and sizes in bytes. You can check the size of every individual file by right clicking on the file and choosing Properties. Then look under Size, not Size on disk, and in parenthesis, you should see the size in bytes.

Please, if you could check the size of every file and write down which file has what size. I would really appreciate it.

I'm specifically looking for someone who has a Poco F3 with Android 13 and MIUI, because I'm not sure if HyperOS changed something, so maybe the number of files or their size is different. But feel free to post the information even if you have HyperOS, but please mention that, so that I am aware of it.

Thanks a lot for your help, it really means a great deal.

I'm considering stock pixel 9, but I was wondering if anyone had specific critiques of Gemini's privacy.

I use LLM bots frequently, but am a bit hesitant to let one take over my phone.

In light of what's happened to Durov and possibly seeing Telegram compromised, I'm doubling my efforts to find a new main messenger. Before you start, not Signal as it's a bad fit for the needs of me, my family and friends.

So what do I need?

• The ability to run on multiple devices. Me, my family and friends all have multiple Android devices.
• The ability to run on desktop. Linux and Windows.
• Built in sticker repository. What can I say, I like to lazy flirt.
• Animated Emoji. I like my messenger experience vibrant.
• Material You. Again with the vibrancy, but also, it's a sign of modernity.
• Phone number linking. My family and friends are lazy as hell.
• Synchronized chats. I don't mind self hosting a bridge, but the ability to see messages on multiple devices is a must.
• Voice Messages
• Video Calls
• Group Video Calls
• Stories integrated into as first class citizens
• Private. If you suggest WhatsApp, I'm assuming you're either stupid or a troll.

Can anyone recommend anything?

So i have really been contemplating rooting my Pixel to gain more control over the android OS. I know this comes with risks and if your not carefully one can brick their phone.

I have already been able to decentralize myself from googles stock Android OS with out root by side loading Graphene OS on to my device which has worked out great.

Just wanted to get some input on whether it's worth the hassle to reflash a factory android is by google just to root the phone, then proceed with installing another non Google android os once again.

Input from anyone with more knowledge than mW regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated.

I currently use a Pixel 7 Pro with GrapheneOS and I really enjoy the experience. I have a Surface Pro 7+ with Linux on it that I use from the couch. It's a bit bulky and I've found myself gravitating more to the Android UI anyhow. I'm looking into either getting the Pixel Fold or the Pixel Tablet, both of which are supported by GrapheneOS.

The bulk of my usage would be mobile games (including emulation through Lemuroid), books and magazines through Libby/Librera, and the occasional video content. I'd like to bring it with me on the go.

I was initially going to get a tablet and dock but the fold looked interesting. My reservations about the fold are the internal screen life and how apps behave on the internal screens. Surely being a moving part is going to decrease its lifespan, plus screen protectors and cases seem like they would be difficult. Are there cases for those phones? I always put a screen protector and case on my devices. How do apps behave in full screen on the fold? Do they have black bars if it's not big enough or does it get stuck to one side?

Thanks!

I know the title may sound a bit misleading, but this is my situation: I'm interested in using a custom launcher on my device, but the problem is that there's this option to "Pause app" that I want to use to prevent some apps from using my battery or getting my location or something, but I can't do that on custom launchers (for obvious reasons). Does this thing actually works or there isn't any actual difference?

Recently, I came across an article talking about hardware security features in android. It was talking about radio HAL versions.

I wanted to see which version is present on my android 14 device.

The article in question: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/08/keeping-your-android-device-safe-from.html

I was using the Nova launcher forever, but it's been getting buggier and buggier and support just blames android. plus I understand there are privacy concerns about them these days

I switched to hyperion, and it works just fine except for one feature, and I can't get support to respond anywhere for any reason.

which launcher do you use, and why do you like it?

I've used LineageOS with microG on my Oneplus 6 for years — so happily, in fact, that I haven't bothered with major updates since version 17 (Android 10). Oops!

Now I've been flashing updates to an older phone, and I might as well continue getting my daily driver up to date. I'm going to dirty flash my way up to the current version (21). But I'm rusty as all heck, and the upgrade instructions seem to have changed since last:

1. Back in '21 I recall being recommended to disable screenlock (fingerprint/PIN/pattern, etc) before upgrading. Is that still a thing?
2. With a/b slot devices it used to be necessary to flash ROMs twice or use a copy-partitions or simiilar zip file. The instructions make no mention of it, is that rolled into the upgrade package now?
3. Finally, is it safe to just upgrade directly from LOS/mG v18 to v21? Because neither LOS main or the mG branch seem to archive older versions but I'd hate to miss some system update or other.

All help is appreciated!

Edited for clarity: Please don't offer suggestions on "better" phones or OSes — my question regards the above only. Thanks in advance 👍

First time buying a tablet, seeking feedback.

https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_tab_s6_lite_(2024)-12897.php

https://m.gsmarena.com/lenovo_tab_k11_plus-13186.php

Lenovo has awful update cycle but the display is bigger.

just something basic and open source

I want to compile all the GUI LineageOS apps and release their APKs.

To make them installable on other Android OS, I need to change the app ID. Otherwise Android would attempt an upgrade and fail because of mismatching keys.

For example the LineageOS Clock

There are many many files that refer to com.android.deskclock which I want to change to org.lineageos.deskclock.

Do I just need to change this line? And can I leave all the others normal?

I think I got build failures when changing more, and I wonder if I would need to change all the lines (using sed or something)

Most of the messaging apps are "secure" hence save their data, downloads in locked space. They do allow one to save a particular image or file anywhere but it is a manual process not practical if I want to access all images I received in the last 5 years.

WhatsApp has been good for me in this regard because it saves them in a user accessible directory. But recently WhatsApp has made it impossible to use offline as backup because it refuses to read from it in a new phone. Only Google Drive backup is allowed.

Is there any other app which allows storage in a user accessible location?

I have a DVD hard copy, but no DVD player. Anyway, I found the DVD online and downloaded it, only problem is it's a 7GB mkv. Is there a method to shrink it down by around 6GB?

Is Google Services Framework ID (GSF ID) of the device visible and accessible to all apps downloaded on the device on Android 10 and higher? Or is the GSF ID only visible and accessible to privileged apps?

Im currently using Traditional ZH(HK) language setting, which uses the date display system as the (for lack of better words) "Chinese system", where dates are listed like "6月19日, 週三", however I would like to use the Seven Luminaries system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week#East_Asian_tradition), available on the JP language setting, which displays date like "6月19日(水)". I do not know Japanese but would like to use this date system whilst using Traditional ZH(HK) language setting. I have tried messing with settings in the Samsung Calendar app as well as messing with the settings of the phone itself but I cant figure it out.

I think I have done a pretty good job at describing what im asking about, but if not, I have also asked about it on Google support where I also included pictures: Change date display system on phone - Android Community (google.com)

Thanks for the help!

Recently formatted my phone. Reinstalled whatsapp n the imported the backup.
It seems very slow and buggy. After 1-3 mins of usage, the app starts acting up and after a minute or so autocloses.

Has anyone experienced the same?

I'm planning on reinstalling to check whether that fixes the issue. Asking here to see if anyone has experienced something similar and/or has resolved it.

I rarely "app", but when I do, I usually get them from F-Droid. Unfortunately, I had to actually go into the Play store today to install my work's new authenticator app. Play Store is practically unusable with ads and "suggestions" strewn all over the place and the app info scattered around those almost like an afterthought. My device's ad-blockers are DNS-based, so there's no blocking those.

I vaguely recall there was at least one alternate frontend for Play Store, but it's been forever and a day since I last went down that route. I don't recall the name of it, and definitely have no clue if it still works or not.

Are there (still?) any recommended alternate frontends for Play Store?

Edit: Aurora Store was the one I was trying to remember. Thanks to @[email protected] and @[email protected] for that. If you know of any others, please share; always nice to have more than one alternative.

So I noticed that when you close an app, most apps, they never actually quit. Is this a new behavior? Or am I missing a setting to terminate, completely, an app when I actually close it without using Force Stop on everything.

Whenever I watch the in car cameras in the NASCAR app, the whole interface for laps, driver positions etc is shifted downward, and when I try to do a screen share with smart view, a huge gray bar appears at the top. I'm in a Samsung Galaxy s20fe, and how do I fix this?

I seem to be suffering from the above bug

https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/issues/11139

but it only seems to pervade if I'm using Tailscale to VPN ~~home~~ to my exit node at a family members house?

Is Google / YT blocking the use of VPN's here / anyone else experiencing this?

I'm thinking about resetting my phone to see if it fixes a mobile data download issue.

I want to avoid losing important data and also avoid cloud services for backup, as much as possible.
So, how should one ideally go about it?

• I can directly backup all files in /storage/emulated/0
• I can backup contacts as vcf
• I can backup apk's using apk extractor
• I can write down saved passwords in Chrome and Firefox
• Create backups from apps like Pipepipe and Mihon. And also get the database file from whsap

Is there a way to save preferences for apps without root?
Are there foss or offline apps that simplify this?
~~Also is there a way to locally backup google calendar?~~
(Fossify calendar seems to have an export local calendar option. The backup file seems to be supported by google calendar too.)

Are there other things that I'm overlooking?
Would like to get suggestions/advice on this.
Thanks in advance.

Hello, I'm looking to upgrade my Huawei PSmart 2020 and considering these 3 options.

-Galaxy S21 5G 128GB - 276€

-Galaxy S22 5G 128GB - ~~276~~ 378€

-Galaxy S23 128GB - 539€

Which one is the best price-quality match? If you have any other recommendations I'll be happy to hear them.

I'm in Spain and the store selling them is backmarket. Thanks!

I recently bought a Redmi,and I skipped the setup process,since I was in a different city from my old phone and now I cant get back my photos and videos,I tried copying it on a PC from phone to phone but it doesn't work,idk what to do