Android: Install Google Play Store on Amazon Fire tablet

Assuming you know how to sideload an apk. To get Google Play Store to work, basically you need to install 4 apps. No root access required. Note that the order of installation matters.

1. com.google.android.gsf.login - Google Account Manager
   
2. com.google.android.gsf - Google Services Framework
   
3. com.google.android.gms - Google Play Services
   
4. com.android.vending - Google Play Store

For Amazon Fire HD 8 2016 [6th Gen], Fire OS 5.3.3.0, Build 49.5.7.0_user_570208520

1. Google Account Manager, 5.1-1743759
   
2. Google Services Framework, 5.1-1743759
   
3. Google Play Services, 9.8.77 (230-135396225)
   
4. Google Play Store, 7.8.16.P-all [0] [PR] 155590935

For Amazon Fire HDX 8.9 2014 [4th Gen], Fire OS 5.3.3.0, Build 22.5.7.0_user_570208620

1. Google Account Manager, 4.4.4-1227136
   
2. Google Services Framework, 4.4.4-1227136
   
3. Google Play Services, 11.0.55 (030-156917137)
   
4. Google Play Store, 7.8.74.P-all [0] [FP] 157113528

Android: v2 signing in Android 7.0

In Android 7.0, APKs can be verified according to the APK Signature Scheme v2 (v2 scheme) or JAR signing (v1 scheme). Older platforms ignore v2 signatures and only verify v1 signatures.

 

You can use apksigner to check if an app is signed with v2 scheme or not.
apksigner -verify -v <path_to_apk>

Ref:
APK Signature Scheme v2  |  Android Open Source Project
apksigner | Android Studio

Paperless: Opt-out from GEICO Now magazine

https://www.geico.com/contact-us/email/

Under subject "Opt out of GEICO marketing communications":

If you no longer wish to receive marketing communications from GEICO, or wish to stop receiving the GEICO Now magazine in the mail, please complete our opt out forms.

Clash Royale: Can’t Sign In with Google Play

I left Clash Royale for some time. Today, I re-installed it to try out something, but then it failed to recognize my Google Play account. After going through the tutorial, I went into settings and tried to link my Google Play account. Tapping on Google Play sign-in doesn't do anything. I didn't get any error message or anything.

Solution:
1. open Google's Play Games app
2. go to Settings
3. check Sign in to games automatically
4. launch Clash Royale, it should detect and load your game profile now
5. once you've logged in, you can go back and revert the auto sign-in setting if you want

Ref:
How to fix Can't Sign In with Google Play In Clash Royale

Android: Pull private data of an Android app

Requires adb + python.

1. run adb backup -f test.backup com.example.test
2. download and run this python script
3. now you should be able to open the .tar file with any zip utility

Ref:
adb - How can one pull the (private) data of one's own Android app? - Stack Overflow
backup - backing up android device using adb - Stack Overflow

Python 3: ImportError: no module named win32api

I'm using Python 3.5 (32-bit) with pywin32 installed. I was trying to import win32com.client. but I was getting ImportError: no module named win32api

Solution:
As TulkinRB mentioned here, it seems like a bug with the module. I was able to fix it by editing Python35\Lib\site-packages\win32com\__init__.py, and replace import win32api with from win32 import win32api.

Ref:
pywin32 - Python 3.4 :ImportError: no module named win32api - Stack Overflow

Wireshark: How to extract HTTP and FTP files from a .pcap file

If you have a packet capture that contains HTTP or FTP files such as images and zip files, you can extract them using Wireshark.

For HTTP files:
1. open the .pcap file in Wireshark
2. go to File -> Export Objects -> HTTP...
3. a file list would pop-up and you can save the desired files

For FTP files:
1. look for the FTP-DATA protocol block of the file you are interested in
2. right-click, Follow > TCP Stream
3. change Show and save data as Raw
4. click Save as...
5. enter the expected file name and extension