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How to boot into recovery mode using button combos, ADB, and root apps
If you have an Android or iOS device and are wondering how to boot into recovery to clear cache or reset your device, this is how to do it!
All smartphones — including the budget-friendly ones — have a built-in recovery mode, which you can use for a variety of tasks depending on the operating system of your device. On Android smartphones, it can be used for things like performing a simple factory reset, installing update packages, and clearing the cache, among other things. On an iPhone, the recovery mode is used to restore the device using your computer if it's experiencing issues like being stuck on the Apple logo while booting.
Download Android USB Drivers for popular OEMs
Not sure which driver to install for your Android device? We can help. In this guide, we'll explain how to install the correct USB driver.
Dipping your toes into the Android modding world isn't a very complicated job, but you have to fulfill a few prerequisites. Be it rooting or installing a custom ROM like LineageOS, most of the aftermarket tinkering requires you to connect your Android smartphone to a computer using a USB cable, so you can use tools like the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to interact with the device. Things are usually more jolting for a power user, as they may also want to reinstall the factory firmware on the phone or tablet, which means the OEM-specific flashing utilities come into the picture as well.
How to install ADB on Windows, macOS, and Linux
A step-by-step guide to get you started with the Android Debug Bridge tool.
Most of the best phones on the market run Android, and it's preferred by many for being a more open operating system than Apple's iOS. However, several features of Google's OS can be accessed only through paths and methods that are hidden away from the average user. However, many of these capabilities can be accessed by using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). If you're wondering how to set it up, we're here to help with that.
ADB tips and tricks: Commands that every power user should know about
There's a lot to the Android Debug Bridge that you may not know about. Click here for some useful tips and tricks for using ADB!
If you've been an Android enthusiast lurking in the modding scene, or an app developer for any length of time, sooner or later, you will stumble upon a neat tool called the Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short. It's extensively used in Android Studio as a command line companion utility. Android developers also use it as a standalone solution to manually install and test apps on Android smartphones as well as emulated Android devices.
How to uninstall carrier/OEM bloatware without root access
If you want to get rid of carrier/OEM apps from your phone, here's how you can uninstall bloatware from your device without root access!
If you've bought a new Android phone, chances are it came pre-installed with some apps you don't care about. OEMs often partner with other brands and companies to pre-install their apps on their devices, and these apps can be anything ranging from streaming services to music players. If your phone is locked to a particular carrier, there would be some apps your carrier has also pre-installed on your device that you may never use.
Screen mirroring tool scrcpy now supports Android 13 with clipboard access
Controlling your phone from a computer gets easier
Fans of scrcpy have some good news today, as the maintainers of the popular Android screen mirrorring utility are now rolling out version 1.25 of the app. This release is mostly focused on minor improvements and fixes, but there are some noteworthy changes, especially if you're using Android 13.
Android screen mirroring tool scrcpy's latest update brings keyboard and mouse passthrough without USB debugging
A free and open-source Android screen mirroring tool, "scrcpy" can now simulate physical keyboard and mouse inputs without USB debugging.
The scrcpy (short for “screen copy“) tool allows you to mirror your Android device’s screen to a PC or Mac. The popular open source project has been steadily gaining new features and functionalities over the past months. Back in July last year, the app brought support for Android 12, introduced the ability to use the video stream as a webcam on Linux, and more. Now the development team behind scrcpy has released a fresh update that adds support for OTG mode, improves the overall user experience, and fixes multiple annoying bugs.
Nexus Tools 5 is a super-quick ADB and Fastboot installer for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Chrome OS
Nexus Tools can install ADB, Fastboot, and other Android utilities in a few seconds. It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS.
ADB and Fastboot are two of the most important utilities when it comes to Android development or modding. It used to be a pain to install them without downloading the entire Android SDK, but ever since Google started publishing the SDK Platform Tools package separately, it's not too difficult to install ADB and related utilities within a few minutes. However, there is an even easier way to get everything installed on whatever computers you have: Nexus Tools.
How to take system logcats, kernel logs, and dmesg on Android
Wondering how to take logs on Android? In this guide, we tell you about the various common logs on Android and how to collect them.
Logs are very useful when a developer is diagnosing an error with a piece of software. So, as a user, when you complain to a developer about a problem with their Android app or an aftermarket firmware (custom ROM), they'll ask you to submit a log to help them troubleshoot the issue. Android includes a number of logs that deal with different parts of the firmware, and there are a number of ways to collect those logs. In this guide, we’ll talk about the various common logs and how you can collect them on Android for bug reports.
Phone-to-PC screen mirroring tool 'scrcpy' now supports devices running Android 12
The tool that lets you mirror your phone's screen to your PC, scrcpy, has been updated to support controlling devices running Android 12.
The Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, is an immensely useful tool for developers that want to read system logs, change settings, or automate actions on their device. Google intended to only provide a command line interface when they made ADB, but in early March of 2018, a developer built a tool on top of ADB that lets you not only mirror the screen of your Android phone but also remotely control it from your PC. That tool is called scrcpy, and its latest update adds support for devices running Android 12.
How to debloat your phone (and more) without connecting to a PC
LADB is an app that lets you run ADB shell commands from your phone, no root and no PC needed! Use it to debloat your phone and more!
The Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, is a nifty development tool to interface with your phone for debugging and testing. Through ADB, developers can access Android's built-in Linux command line shell with greater privileges than user-installed apps. This gives developers the ability to install or uninstall apps, grant or deny permissions, change system settings values, and do much more, all from the command line. Although intended for developers, these commands are also useful to help you debloat your phone, tweak hidden settings, and enable other options.
WebADB lets you run ADB right from your web browser
XDA Forums user SteelToe has released a new web tool that allows you to perform all functionality provided by ADB right from your browser.
The Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a command-line tool that allows users to communicate with an Android device. With the developer tool, you can perform a number of actions, including installing and debugging apps, and also run nifty shell commands.
How to remove Facebook bloatware from the OnePlus 8 series and OnePlus Nord
The OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus Nord come with Facebook bloatware that can only be disabled. Here's how you can uninstall the apps without root!
Android and bloatware are two spheres that have co-existed since the very beginning of the OS's existence. The story started off with carriers bundling a variety of useless or functionally-duplicate-yet-inferior apps onto smartphones sold under their network. From there, the story expanded to OEMs themselves bundling duplicate apps, and even to apps from Facebook and Microsoft being bundled onto smartphones. We see bloatware everywhere, so much so that its existence is no longer a surprise, but its non-existence definitely is a pleasant surprise. OnePlus is partaking in the bloatware mess by bundling in Facebook-owned apps on the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and the OnePlus Nord. But thankfully, there is a way to remove Facebook bloatware from these devices.
Free Android screen mirroring app "scrcpy" adds seamless copy-paste, stay awake option, and more
A free and open-source Android screen mirroring app, "scrcpy," now seamlessly copy-pastes between your smartphone and a personal computer.
Working and interacting between devices with different operating systems can be a pain sometimes. There are few first-party tools available to set up multi-platform connections, and many of them require that you own devices from the same brand. Fortunately, third-party tools are there to save the day. A free and open-source project called scrcpy allows you to mirror your Android device's screen to a personal computer, whether it's running Windows, Mac, or Linux. It does that by using Android Debug Bridge as a connection tunnel and streaming the h.264-encoded video through it. Just yesterday, the developers of the project released a new version of the tool with some welcome features.
Android 11 will introduce a new "App Compatibility" Developer Option to help devs test new platform changes
Android 11 will come with a new "App Compatibility" setting in Developer Option, making it easier for app developers to test platform behvaior changes.
Every year at Google I/O, Google highlights some of the most exciting changes coming to the next version of Android. While most users judge Android versions by the visual changes that affect their experience, each Android update also comes with a ton of changes to APIs and platform behavior. These changes are important for app developers to take note of and to prepare their apps for, as they can fundamentally alter the ways in which their apps can be consumed by end-users. With the next version of Android, Android 11, Google will make it easier for developers to test and prepare their apps for upcoming changes with a new "App Compatibility" setting in Developer Options.
Tasker 5.9.2 beta lets you run ADB shell commands without being tethered to a PC
The latest Tasker beta update brings a new feature that allows you to run ADB shell commands without being tethered to a PC.
When it comes to automation apps on Android, Tasker is undoubtedly the preferred choice of a majority of users. Despite the fact that the app doesn't have a beginner-friendly UI, Tasker is the go-to choice for many power users due to the vast variety of plugins it offers. For instance, the developers released Tasker v5.9 early last month which introduced a new feature called Logcat events, which opened up a whole new realm of automation possibilities. Now, the app is getting another significant update in the beta channel which brings even more to the table.
Android backups to Google Drive have been broken for many, here's how to fix it
Google Drive backups have been broken for several users since months, but you can thankfully fix the issue through a few simple ADB commands. Check it out!
One of the pain points in migrating from one Android smartphone to another is the fact that you are unlikely to land in the same device state as you started off, in the context of your app data. The problem is even more prominent when you migrate across different OEMs, as specific OEM solutions are often centered towards that ecosystem. Google attempted to take a crack at this problem by leveraging the Google Play Services framework and Google Drive to provide a built-in backup manager service for Google's Android. This built-in solution backs up contacts, call history, text messages, and certain application data and device settings to Google Drive automatically, but starting from Android Pie, you can also trigger a backup yourself. However, users have been complaining that backups to Google Drive have been broken for the past several months.
Android 11 may finally bring a proper, native Wireless ADB implementation
Google is working on a proper wireless ADB implementation for app developers to debug wirelessly. This feature may debut in Android 11.
For Android app developers, ADB is an indispensable tool for debugging applications. With the ability to generate logs, push and pull files, sideload APKs, and enter the shell, ADB gives developers a lot of control over a test device while using a PC. While it's possible to use ADB wirelessly by connecting to your device via TCP/IP*, many developers might not know about this so they simply stick with using a wired connection. Plus, wireless ADB currently isn't that convenient if your device doesn't have a static IP address or you're dealing with multiple test devices. Finally, data transfer via ADB over TCP/IP happens in plain text, so it's not a good idea to use it when connected to an untrusted network. Thankfully, it looks like Google is working on a proper, native, and (possibly) secure implementation of wireless ADB that could land in Android 11 next year.
Scrcpy v1.9 can mirror your screen even with the display off
Scrcpy is a great solution for showing your Android smartphone's screen on your desktop. Now it can do just that even with the phone's screen off.
Microsoft's Windows 10 Insider Builds have been advancing in leaps and bounds as far as mobile integration goes. The Your Phone app is becoming ever more feature-rich, now supporting notification syncing over both Wi-Fi and mobile data. Your Phone also supports screen mirroring, albeit only with select devices. Your Phone is more of an all-encompassing solution to connecting your phone to your PC, and is Microsoft's official solution for connectivity. But other solutions have existed for quite a while. One such solution for screen sharing is scrcpy.
Google warns that ADB backup and restore may be removed in a future Android release
Unfortunately, it looks like ADB backup and restore may be going away. A commit in AOSP is titled "Add deprecation warning to adb backup/restore."
Setting up a new Android phone has gotten a lot easier over the years. Android Oreo's Autofill feature has made it much easier to sign in to all your apps, and some apps even carry over all your preferences too. Switching between phones from the same OEM is especially easy as most have their own backup and restore tools. However, the experience is not perfect and switching between phones from different OEMs can be a pain. That's where ADB backup and restore can come in handy.