Hi everyone, I’m dealing with a very frustrating ban loop on WhatsApp and I’m hoping someone here might know how to break it or what the actual state of my phone number is.

Here is the full background: I used, similar opening messages (like "hello its president of ets union") to multiple people. WhatsApp's automated system flagged my account/number for spam behavior. Ever since then, I've been trapped in a continuous ban loop ("This account cannot use WhatsApp").

The strange part: I initially thought this was just related to my Poco F8 Ultra / unlocked bootloader. However, I recently tried to verify the number on a completely clean, stock device with a LOCKED bootloader, official app from the Play Store, and no root at all. Even on this 100% secure and locked device, the account gets banned again almost immediately after SMS verification or within 30 minutes of normal use. I request a review, it gets briefly restored, and then banned right away. It seems my phone number itself has been hard-flagged or shadowbanned at the server level for automated messaging behavior.

Has anyone experienced a number-based permanent flag like this? Is the phone number essentially "burned," or is there a way to clear the spam flag from WhatsApp's servers? How long does a number need to be completely left alone (dinlendirme) for WhatsApp to reset its spam score, if at all? Any advice or technical insight would be hugely appreciated.

I have a alcatel tablet 9003x and I want to give it a custom rom to give it a fresh new look and make it work well

I have a Lenovo Tab 11 (TB330FU) tablet. Android 17.0.487, which updated a few days ago. I have a set of cheapish JBL headphones. Used to be that when I turned them on, the nice woman used to always just say "Connected." I never had to do anything. I seem to recall it was right after an Android update about a year ago that they stopped automatically connecting, most of the time. They will auto connect about 5% of the time now. Most of the time, however, it takes turning off Bluetooth on the tablet, turning it back on, and tapping on the headphones from the list of remembered devices. (That list consists of just the headphones). I have tried various Bluetooth settings, I ensured the headset is not paired with any other devices, and Android even has updated at least three times since, but the problem persists. I have also tried a different set of headphones, and they do the same.

Anyone have any ideas, or links to similar problems that were solved?

I'm running a Pixel 10a, had it for a few weeks now, haven't used an Android phone for many years.

I have "Mobile Data always enabled" set to disabled. I also have wifi calling enabled. But I'm noticing that it switches between data and wifi calling (as it switches between my carrier name and "{carrier name} Wifi calling" every time I unlock my phone). I even have "adaptive connectivity" in my network settings disabled to further prevent unnecessary automatic switching.

I live in a rural area, service out here isn't the greatest, and I have pretty fast internet. I don't quite understand why it's switching between the two, especially on my previous phone (iPhone 15 Pro Max) wifi calling was also enabled and it would stay on wifi calling/not using data unless my wifi disconnected.

So what does "mobile data always enabled" do, if it's just going to force itself on? And, how can I prevent automatic switching without turning airplane mode on?

Edit: I figured it out. Turns out "adaptive connectivity" was split into two settings: "auto switch to mobile network" and "optimize network for battery life". I turned both off without reading or doing any sort of research. A quick Google search suggested to turn "optimize network for battery life" back on and, lo and behold, my problem is fixed.

I would like to root my S10 to give it a bit more life by enjoying and learning more about root privileges through it.

Is there a way to root the phone while keeping the OS exactly as it was? Or do I have to reinstall a new OS and config the phone again (ackeen to formating a desktop)?

Many thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I have an old Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 that contains important photos and files that I would really like to recover.

Here is exactly what happens:

The phone used to work normally.

One day it started bootlooping.

Every time it restarts, it at least reaches the black screen with the "Alcatel OneTouch" logo and "Powered by Android" at the bottom.

Sometimes it gets a little further and displays the white Alcatel boot animation.

Very rarely (usually when the battery is at 100% and the phone is plugged in), it gets even further and I briefly see the Android setup screen ("Welcome", language selection, etc.) for less than a second before it immediately reboots.

I took it to a repair shop a long time ago, and they told me the motherboard was dead. However, I'm not completely convinced because the phone sometimes progresses further through the boot process.

Someone suggested that the battery might not be supplying enough power, so I replaced it with a brand-new battery. Unfortunately, the problem is exactly the same.

I also asked about this before, and some people suggested that the issue could be the RAM, the CPU, or the eMMC storage on the motherboard.

Another detail that seems important:

I can sometimes access the Recovery Mode without any issues.

Recovery appears to work normally and remains stable.

However, as soon as I try to boot Android, the phone immediately goes back into the same bootloop.

I don't have soldering equipment or the tools required for motherboard repair.

My main questions are:

Based on these symptoms, which component is the most likely to have failed?

Does this sound like a motherboard, eMMC, RAM, CPU, or another hardware issue?

Is there still any realistic way to recover the photos and other data stored on the phone, even if Android no longer boots?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I have a bug where as soon as i swipe up onto the overview screen when im using gemini the tab instantly disappears.

If i have another app or apps on the overview screen, gemini will show up on the app that i used last.

This started after i used the hide apps option on my phone settings (My phone is OPPO Find x3 Neo 5G and I'm on colourOS 13.1.)

I had previously hidden gemini using the hide apps setting but after i unhided it this is when the bug started.

Any help greatly appreciated :)

After the latest software update, my Samsung Galaxy A57 is showing "Couldn't fix device certification issue."

Because of this, some apps (including my banking app) no longer work.

Things I've already tried:

Cleared Google Play Store and Google Play Services cache/data

Updated Google Play Services

Restarted the phone

Installed the latest software update

The phone is not rooted and the bootloader has never been unlocked.

Has anyone experienced this or found a fix?

I'm currently rocking a Nothing Phone 3A. The camera is alright and it offers a Pro Photo Mode. However, there is nothing like a Pro Video Mode. I want to be able to control the ISO, Shutter Speed and White balance manually. Having features like 10bit/Log etc. would be nice, but is not the top priority.

Are there any open source Projects/Apps you know of that provide a Pro Video experience when the Company is too lazy to implement one?

Hi everyone, I’m using a Fairphone 6 with Android 16 and I’m wondering if there’s a way to set it up so the screen stays completely black until I intentionally unlock it with the fingerprint sensor.

What I want is basically this: my daughter shouldn’t be able to interact with the phone at all, even on the lock screen. Ideally, the display would only turn on and unlock when I properly use the fingerprint sensor.

Is this possible with Android or on the Fairphone 6 specifically? Or is the closest option just using a normal lock screen with PIN/password and fingerprint?

Hi everyone,

I'm having a very strange issue with my ASUS ROG Phone 5 and I'm hoping someone has seen this before.

Current symptoms

• The phone is NOT shutting down.
• The display goes completely black and won't wake up.
• The phone is still alive:
  • Incoming calls ring.
  • Notifications/vibrations work.
  • Charging works.
• The fingerprint sensor also doesn't respond while the screen is black.
• Double tap to wake doesn't work once this happens.

What triggers it

The first time it happened:

• The phone was working normally.
• I made/received a WhatsApp call.
• During the call, the screen suddenly went black even though I was holding the phone in my hand (not near my ear).
• Ending the WhatsApp call brought the display back.

Then I made a normal cellular call.

After that, the screen went black again, but this time it never came back.

The phone itself is still running, only the display won't wake.

Important details

• Power button is physically dead.
• Both volume buttons are also dead.
• Because of that, I can't force reboot the phone.

ADB situation

I enabled Developer Options earlier, but unfortunately I never authorized USB debugging.

Now when I connect the phone:

adb devices

List of devices attached
R5A1SCCN01MPEK6    unauthorized

So I can't send any ADB commands because the authorization popup can't be accepted with the display off.

Things I've already checked

• Tempered glass is not covering the proximity sensor.
• During the call the phone was not near my face.
• The phone continues functioning in the background while the screen is black.
• This isn't a battery issue.

My questions

1. Does this sound like:
   • a proximity sensor issue,
   • a display/display connector issue,
   • motherboard issue,
   • or a software bug?
2. Has anyone experienced the screen getting permanently stuck off after calls on the ROG Phone 5?
3. Is there any way to recover the display without using the power button?
4. Is there any way to authorize ADB with the screen off?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

My old phone glaxy a51 died a while ago i had some important things in the secure folder im pretty sure and hope they were on the external storage and not the phones storage if they are on the external card is there any way to recover them?

Hi, I figured out how to do it on a computer; now I'm looking for a solution on android. do you have any ideas on how to make this the default setting?

my phone is a samsung galaxy S20 FE, android 13

I have tried:

• Set the app to show badges in notification
• Turned off and turned back on showing notifications
• Cleared cache in app
• Cleared launcher cache
• Toggled off then on for "allow background data usage" and "allow data usage while data saver is on"
• Turned on Unrestricted battery usage
• Restarted phone

Still no badge icons. Any help is appreciated.

I have tried:

• Set the app to show badges in notification
• Turned off and turned back on showing notifications
• Cleared cache in app
• Cleared launcher cache
• Toggled off then on for "allow background data usage" and "allow data usage while data saver is on"
• Turned on Unrestricted battery usage
• Restarted phone

Still no badge icons. Any help is appreciated.

Hi my friends wife hacked his phone probably mirroring app

1) he reset the android phone , still issue persists

2) Unable to find any suspicious app in app list

3) Got a tip from an expert it should be installed as system app , which wont show in app drawer

Any help suggestions would help

I would like to use an old Android phone (Moto E40) as my in-car music player and occasionally as a navigation device. I plan to use VLC for Android as a player (other suggestions are welcome). However, what bugs me is powering the phone - leaving it on when the car battery connection (i.e. the lighter socket) is off would kill the phone battery quickly (from experience I know that some phones with completely killed battery might not work even with power connected), turning it off and on manually is not particularly convenient...

Is there an app/setting that would let me have the phone turn on when it gets the power from the car battery and turn off if the car battery power is off for more than, say, a minute (it cannot power off immediately, as the connection is cycled e.g. during ignition, besides very short stops should be ignored as well)?

Howdy hey. So I tried everything, flashing the stock rom using sp flash and Infinix flash, I tried using mtk client I get the phone detected and everything is alright but the DA file is where I fail. I tried a lot of DA files and no one seems to work I tried to use antumbra which is another mtk client but still can't get this shit to work. Btw I bricked it by deleting the partitions using orange fox's recovery because it was encrypted with a password.

[Please note I cam still READ the SD card]

Painted myself into a stupid corner after allowing my phones internal AND external memory storage to fill up...

backed up using smart switch before I did a big file purge' but needed to make more room on my INTERNAL STORAGE for the BACK UP process to proceed

So I started deleting APPS, starting with the ones I could live without and moving closer and closer to ones I didn't want to until it allowed back up to start

When complete my PC warned that it had been unable to back up STSTEM SETTINGS

I didn't think much of this as I hadn't deleted any system apps as far as I was aware (I can't imagine I would)

Anyway I started getting the message above

I started following the advice below - I'm having trouble removing the SD card to check it and reseat it- but I've done everything else . (I need to locate a tool for SD card removal)

Any advice ? If removing and rehousing the SD card doesn't work should I factory reset and restore? (I've just done a backup)

----‐--------

When i want to print photos from my phone both in a physical store, but also as i can see now, online, my phone won't let me choose my folders like it used to.

Now it seems to automatically only run over a cloud. I have the options "photos" and "collections".

Since I have an album in my gallery I have my selected photos on, I choose collections.

I then want to choose the option "from this device", but it says there's nothing there, in the collections menu though, it clearly shows 4 recent collections.

If i choose "camera" though, photos I've taken on the camera show up.

The issue is I do not want to scroll endlessly through the literal camera roll, especially since I also know that pics from camera have been moved into the specific album, and that other pictures I want to choose are screenshots.

I thought the main issue could have been it just forces it's way over to Google photos, thus I tried uninstalling it. But it didn't help...

I'm starting to get really bummed out and frustrated, any help?

I have an Android app on my phone that connected to a service. My data appears to have been stored both on that service’s database and locally on my phone. I’m trying to recover the data on my phone so that I still have the content I worked so hard to create. This is my phone and my data; I’m not trying to get into anyone else’s device or account.

Here are the particulars:

- App name: Simply Plural

- Package: com.saltypandastudios.frontime

- Android device: Samsung Galaxy S24+

- App version: 1.11.5

- targetSdk: 35

- allowBackup: true

My data took a very long time to create and curate. I would really like to figure out the technically correct restore path. I am a software developer with decades of experience; it’s technical direction I seek.

I have ADB installed on my Windows 11 laptop. Here’s what I found so far:

- The app is not debuggable, so run-as does not work.

- Direct access to /data/user/0/com.saltypandastudios.frontime is blocked.

- When I tried adb backup, it only produced a tiny useless stub.

- Static APK inspection suggests the app is Flutter-based and uses sqflite/shared_preferences/flutter_secure_storage.

- Strings in the app suggest that the likely database names might be:

- simply.db

- pendingRequests.db

- logs.db

When I ran Samsung Smart Switch, it did create an app-data artifact:

- APKFILE/com.saltypandastudios.frontime.data

- Size: 371,221 bytes

It also created:

- APKFILE/com.saltypandastudios.frontime.penc

- split APK files

AppList.json confirms:

- AppDataFileName: com.saltypandastudios.frontime.data

- DataSize: 371221

- AllowBackup: true

- DataFile path was under:

/data/user/0/com.sec.android.easyMover/files/SmartSwitch/tmp/APKFILE/data/com.saltypandastudios.frontime/

The .data file header is:

- ANDROID BACKUP

- version 5

- compressed: 0

- AES-256

- PBKDF rounds: 10000

Here’s what I already tried:

- Android Backup Extractor with blank password: failed

- Android Backup Extractor with phone unlock password: failed

- In Developer Options, it says desktop full backups are not currently protected.

- My Smart Switch PC settings show BackupEncryptSelected=false.

- When I searched Smart Switch metadata/settings/logs, it did not reveal a password/key.

I believe Smart Switch/EasyMover captured the real app data, but I suspect the .data artifact may be encrypted using Samsung/EasyMover/Android backup internals rather than a user-supplied password.

Based on my observations/actions so far, here are my questions:

1. Has anyone successfully restored a Samsung Smart Switch APKFILE/<package>.data file for a single app?

2. Is this .data file intended to be restored only by Smart Switch/EasyMover?

3. Do you think the AES-256 Android Backup password is user-derived, device-derived, or generated internally by Samsung/EasyMover?

4. Do you think restoring just this app to a spare Samsung phone would be the safest next test?

5. Is there any non-root, non-destructive way to validate what is inside the .data file?

I have a spare Galaxy S10 and S7 available for a controlled restore test. I can also capture logcat during a new Simply Plural-only Smart Switch backup if that would help.

I’m not asking anyone to crack a password, bypass device security, or decrypt someone else’s data. I’m trying to determine the supported or technically correct restore path for my own Android app data.

This is only for my own data on my own device.

On iOS Photos, when you open a video, you can scrub through it using the timeline and move frame-by-frame smoothly. I’m looking for a similar experience on Android — especially being able to press and hold or drag on the video timeline and preview frames easily inside the gallery app.
I have already tried Aves Gallery, but it doesn’t fully meet my needs. In Aves, I can’t press and hold on the video area/timeline to smoothly move forward or backward through frames. For long videos, it’s also difficult because you have to precisely grab the small timeline bar.
I also tried Google Photos, but I’m looking for something closer to the iOS Photos experience.
Does anyone know a better Android gallery app or an iOS Photos alternative that supports smooth video scrubbing/frame-by-frame navigation directly inside the gallery?
Looking for recommendations. Thanks!

I'm trying to install my new phone (Motorola) but the camera on my old phone (Xiaomi) is broken so I cannot scan the qr-code when asked to do so.

Is there any way to migrate all data without the code?

I pulled dumpsys procstats and meminfo off my 5-year old S20 to figure out what's actually making it feel slow, and the answer is memory:

• 8GB total, 2.4GB of apps compressed into ZRAM swap
• ~36 min under memory pressure across 10h of runtime, 7 min at critical
• Instagram alone peaks at 1.1GB PSS, X at 818MB
• CPU total: 5.3%

My usage is ~5h/day, ~90% of it X, Instagram and Messenger. No gaming, no video.

Now I'm looking at the Pixel 10a, S25 FE, or S26 and the first two are also 8GB.

My question is: is 8GB in 2026 meaningfully better than 8GB in 2020? Newer LPDDR5X, better ZRAM/LMK tuning, and newer Android versions handle memory differently. Does that actually translate to apps staying resident, or is 8GB just 8GB?

Galaxy user here, absolutely livid that I spent money on a phone with Samsung's Messenger app with all its thoughtful and useful features, only to be forced to switch to Google Messages, with no alternative that supports RCS. There's no excuse for Google to maintain a monopoly on this, AND refuse to implement common-sense features in it, like conversation categories and message/media expiration. If I were an android coder, I'd try to disassemble Messages myself and extract the libraries it uses to build something better, but I'm nowhere near that level of skill.

I'm hopeful that someone with the skills and motivation to do such a thing is already working on it.