On Android 4.2.2, how do I use ADT-Eclipse to browse the file system (with debugging enabled)? I have "Android debugging" enabled on this phone.  When I was running Android 4.0.4 and connected to my computer running ADT-Eclipse, I believe there was a tab under DDMS perspective for browsing the file system.  Assuming my memory serves me correct, is there some additional setting I need to enable for this to work again?

There was (and still is) such a tab. It's called File Explorer, and by default it shows up in the same part of the screen as the Threads and Heap views. If you've hidden it in the past, you can show it again from the Window menu → Show view, or by pressing Ctrl+3. (Thanks to Edgard Leal for suggesting the keyboard shortcut.)


How to change default homepage in Android browser? How to change address that appears in:
Internet(stock browser) -> Settings -> Set home page -> Use default.

I can set another homepage, or use current, but I'm interesting in changing exactly this field.

When you're in the browser, open the Menu, choose More | Settings and select "Set home page".


Blue light blinking despite no notification On my phone, the blue  light is blinking. However I have no notification. What could explain the blue  light?

I use on Android 6.0 with LG G4.

I just bought my Alcatel Idol 3- 5.5 just a week ago and I had this same problem. The way I fixed it was by doing a device reset (Setting- Backup&Reset-Device Reset) when I restarted my phone it prompted me to do a system update. I did that and the problem went away.No more flashing light!


How can I connect my Galaxy 3 to my Mac? How can I connect my Galaxy 3 (running Android 2.1) to my Mac?

I would expect Mac to have no trouble mounting the USB storage when you connect the device over USB, but if it does you coukd try PdaNet.  You can also transfer files over Bluetooth, WiFi, etc; please search for those solutions.  As for syncing, we jeed to know what exactly you're trying to sync.


Integrate Facebook chat and SMS Is there a way to seamlessly integrate Facebook chat and SMS messaging? I am looking for a method that hides the detail of how a message was sent to a given contact or number as much as possible.

I am looking for one that hides the detail of how a message was sent to a given contact or number as well as possible.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. Do you mean you want it to not say whether it came through SMS vs. Facebook?

Anyway, there are numerous apps for this purpose. Some ideas:

GO SMS Pro plus the Facebook Chat plug-in
IM+
Yuilop
HeyWire
Pinger


Linux program to transfer file from/to an android device? Do you know if there is a linux program (possibly nautilus plugin) to transfer file from/to an android device? What is in my mind is a program which does "adb push", "adb pull", and "adb shell ls" in the background and has a GUI.

Thanks,

There's QtADB which uses adb.

You can also install an SSH or ftp server on the phone and then use Nautilus with ssh://ip-or-name-of-your-phone/ or ftp://ip-or-name-of-your-phone/ URLs (you can create bookmarks in Nautilus). The cool thing about a standard SSH or ftp server on your phone is that you don't have to install anything special on the computer.

I use QuickSSHd on the phone, but there are also other SSH servers available (search the market, please).

Ftp servers I know are SwiFTP and FTPServer. I didn't test these with Nautilus yet, but they should work.


S5 required to enter Google pw for factory reset. Only allowing me to input 15 characters. Pw is 32 char I am attempting to do a factory reset on a Galaxy S5. On the confirmation screen, it is requiring me to input my Google password. I am only able to enter 15 characters on this screen. My Google password is 32 characters.

How do I bypass this?

If you are sure it's asking for Google password, then you can change your Google password online for now to something shorter.

But, i believe that it doesn't ask for Google password, rather it wants your lock screen password or a special password, that you have set up under settings>security>factory reset data password.

Another option is to do a factory reset using hard keys but if you do decide to go with that option, then don't change your Google password before doing it, otherwise you might be locked out of your device.


Backup moto G firmware without root I installed Cynogemmod on my moto G, but it was android 4.4, and there is no android 5.0 stable version available for cynogen. so I decided to install motog stock framework, I searched on google, but I didn't get any link of original firmware for my motog dual sim mobile.

There is another option I found is copy firmware from my friends moto G. Is there any way to copy firmware from mobile without ROOT, and without unlocking that device?

To answer the question, no. It's not possible to extract firmware without having an unlocked, rooted Moto G.

To help with your original problem, see this thread on xda-developers forum (assuming you are talking about the original 2013 Moto G, and not the newer 2014 model.)  It has step-by-step instructions for flashing stock firmware onto Moto G.  It links to this site, which contains many stock Moto G firmware images for various models, regions, and Android versions.  You have to make sure you are downloading images matching your phone's model and region, otherwise you may introduce incompatibilities and end up with a non-functioning radio.


where can i find settings for wifi internal scan period I have already found some guide related to this. But my experience is that if wifi.supplicant_scan_interval = 15
my device scans for wifi with 60s period
so I dont think that this is the right parameter for that. Any suggestions?
Edited: here is my build.prop:

# begin build properties
# autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
ro.build.id=GRK39F
ro.build.display.id=GRK39F
ro.build.version.incremental=eng.paul.30092011.041430
ro.build.version.sdk=10
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.3.6
ro.build.date=Fri Aug 30 04:14:55 EDT 2011
ro.build.date.utc=0
ro.build.type=user
ro.build.user=paul
ro.build.host=paul-VM
ro.build.tags=test-keys
ro.product.model=U20i
ro.product.brand=Sony Ericsson
ro.product.name=mimmi
ro.product.device=mimmi
ro.product.board=mimmi
ro.product.cpu.abi=armeabi-v6l
ro.product.cpu.abi2=armeabi
ro.product.manufacturer=Sony Ericsson
ro.product.locale.language=en
ro.product.locale.region=US
ro.wifi.channels=14
ro.board.platform=msm7k
# ro.build.product is obsolete; use ro.product.device
ro.build.product=mimmi
# Do not try to parse ro.build.description or .fingerprint
ro.build.description=passion-user 2.3.6 GRK39F 189904 release-keys
ro.build.fingerprint=google/passion/passion:2.3.6/GRK39F/189904:user/release-keys
# end build properties

#
# ADDITIONAL_BUILD_PROPERTIES
#
keyguard.no_require_sim=true
ro.ril.hsxpa=2
ro.ril.hsupa.category=5
ro.ril.def.agps.mode=2
ro.media.dec.jpeg.memcap=20000000
rild.libpath=/system/lib/libril-qc-1.so
rild.libargs=-d /dev/smd0
wifi.interface=wlan0
wifi.supplicant_scan_interval=15
ro.ril.def.agps.mode=2
ro.ril.def.agps.feature=1
ro.opengles.version=131072
ro.com.google.locationfeatures=1
ro.com.google.networklocation=1
ro.ril.enable.a52=1
ro.ril.enable.a53=1
ro.media.enc.file.format=3gp,mp4
ro.media.enc.vid.codec=m4v,h263
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.width=176,640
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.height=144,480
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.bps=64000,1600000
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.fps=1,30
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.width=176,640
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.height=144,480
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.bps=64000,1600000
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.fps=1,30
ro.media.dec.aud.wma.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.vid.wmv.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.aud.divx.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.vid.xvid.enabled=1
settings.display.autobacklight=0
media.stagefright.enable-player=true
media.stagefright.enable-meta=true
media.stagefright.enable-scan=true
media.stagefright.enable-http=true
keyguard.no_require_sim=true

#MT and LCD
ro.sf.lcd_density=120
qemu.sf.lcd_density=120
ro.product.multi_touch_enabled=true
ro.product.max_max_num_touch=2

dalvik.vm.execution-mode=int:jit
dalvik.vm.heapsize=32m
ro.compcache.default=0
ro.rommanager.developerid=cyanogenmod
ro.url.legal=http://www.google.com/intl/%s/mobile/android/basic/phone-legal.html
ro.url.legal.android_privacy=http://www.google.com/intl/%s/mobile/android/basic/privacy.html
ro.com.google.clientidbase=android-sonyericsson
ro.com.android.wifi-watchlist=GoogleGuest
ro.setupwizard.enterprise_mode=1
ro.com.android.dateformat=MM-dd-yyyy
ro.com.android.dataroaming=false
ro.config.ringtone=MiniCM7Pro.mp3
ro.config.notification_sound=DontPanic.ogg
ro.config.alarm_alert=alarm.ogg
ro.modversion=MiniCM7 Pro V16 Pre-Final
ro.setupwizard.mode=OPTIONAL
net.bt.name=Android
dalvik.vm.stack-trace-file=/data/anr/traces.txt

#SEMC
persist.service.xloud.enable=1
persist.service.swiqi.enable=1
ro.semc.timescape_keys=Sony_Ericsson_Xperia
ro.semc.sound_effects_enabled=true
ro.semc.xloud.supported=true
ro.service.swiqi.supported=true
ro.semc.batt.capacity=950
ro.semc.batt.test.consumption=150
ro.semc.batt.test.z_threshold=50
ro.semc.batt.test.min_level=60

Edit2: The scanning period is depending on the connectivity as well. Means if the phone establishes a WI-FI connection, then the scanning period will be different from the wifi.supplicant_scan_interval. Also when the phone get into idle state (around 10 mins of inactivity) the scanning period will be 10 min.

This property comes from during build-time and is extremely, dependant on the wifi driver, for each and every device tree that gets integrated into the build of Android, there's what's called an overlay, this overlay may contain extras pertaining to the said device in question.

In fact, its rather, an XML document that gets parsed during build and "overlays" or "overwrites" the standard Android defaults, such as animation speed, etc.

This pertinent information of this comes from the device's overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml which contains the very exact line:

<!-- Boolean indicating whether the wifi chipset has background scan support -->
<bool translatable="false" name="config_wifi_background_scan_support">true</bool>

From that, that is telling the build, to say, that the property wifi.supplicant_scan_interval is supported and can be used dynamically from the build.prop file found in the /system directory, which in turn, is read from the Android's native binary executable wpa_supplicant.

However, it must be said, it depends on the Wifi Driver to support that, and how much integration of the Wifi functionality is within the frameworks. To find the exact source can be found in external/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.c, around lines 2459:

#ifdef ANDROID
    char scan_prop[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX];
    char *endp;
    if (property_get("wifi.supplicant_scan_interval", scan_prop, "5") != 0) {
        wpa_s->scan_interval = (int)strtol(scan_prop, &endp, 0);
        if (endp == scan_prop) {
            wpa_s->scan_interval = 5;
        }
    }
#endif

default here on Gingerbread is 5secs, again the mileage will vary depending on the version of wpa_supplicant used, there was two versions, wpa_supplicant_6 which was broken under ICS, and the newer version wpa_supplicant_8, despite saying that, it may no longer be supported now with the newer releases.


Cant connect S3 with CM 10.2 to adb I cant get to use adb with my S3 in Windows 7. I am using CM 10.2, when I run adb devices nothing is shown. I also tired adb kill-server and adb start-server

I tried in Ubuntu and worked perfectly. I would use Ubuntu if I could but the windows pc is the one at the office.

What do I need to do for it to work?

Finally the issue was missing drivers, the solution was to use the ones that come with the sdk but using another winusb file.

Here you can find the file that did the trick. https://github.com/gu1dry/android_winusb

Just replace the file with the one downloaded and install drivers as described in the android doc.


Is it possible to view Google reminders on Android without the Google Calendar app? I use the Google reminders a lot, and I find the integration with the Google Calendar app very useful. However, other than that, third-party calendar apps are generally better, in my view, than the Google one.
Is there a way to view (and edit) reminders with third party calendar apps?

Unless you mean something completely other than event reminders: Of course it is possible. The Google Calendar app is nothing but a front-end: you can even delete its data, and your events (including reminders) will still be there.

On your Android device, events are managed by a "background service" and are stored with an app called "calendar storage", which is part of the Android OS. Every calendar app can (and most do) interface with that.

So just give it a try – you will find it works fine!


How much space do the data of apps take on the phone storage? As I am seriously out of space on my phone storage on my HTC Desire, I would like an overview of how much phone storage each app takes up. The point is that I can see how much space the data of each app takes up, but not where this data is placed, hence I cannot conclude how much space each app is taking up on the phone storage.

I'm pretty sure that the space shown for each app is the space used on the phone storage, and does not include space used on the SD card.  You can verify this by checking an app in Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications, then unmount and remove the SD card and check again.


Why does my Galaxy S now displays 'couldn't connect' when I press the microphone key I have been entering numbers using the microphone key on the keyboard fine yesterday.

All of a sudden, when I tried to enter numbers with the microphone key some time later, the message 'couldn't connect' is displayed when I press the microphone key.

Anyone any idea how to fix this ? Restarting the phone, does not seem to help.

The text-to-speech conversion in Android is all done on the cloud.  The phone sends in your recording and returns the speech.  You need to make sure you're connected to either 3G or Wifi for this to work.

Do other apps that require connections work?


Finding reason why app stopped in background? Some apps such as system statistics loggers or third-party voice recorder apps (used due to additional functionality and formats) may stop in background without the user noticing it.

The user notices it when trying to read the saved data, play the audio file, or open the app, just to see that the data logging or recording has stopped at some point, which diminishes trust into the app.

How do I know the reasons for why the app quit in background, while the phone was not being touched, just placed somewhere?

You can try Logcat Extreme.
Then in the settings prioritise errors.


How to add secondary patition on sd card to internal memory? I have a Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 which I have rooted. I have partitioned my 8GB class 10 SD card to have two partitions on it using AParted:

A 2GB FAT32 secondary partition.
The rest of the SD card into a primary partition.(FAT32)

The problem is, even after doing this and installing Link2SD and changing the install location to external, the apps are still being installed into the internal memory and I get a "low on internal memory" message every time I try installing new apps. When I check the Link2SD app list, many of the apps are showing that they have been already moved to the SD card and my secondary partition on the sd card is still pretty much empty.

What have I missed over here? (Sorry if this is a lame question. I'm new to rooting and stuff)

Note: Techicnally you probably couled use a FAT32 partition but I've had issues on several devices.

For Link2SD you need 2 partitions:

1) FAT32 this is your file storage, photos, media etc.

2) EXT3 (Or EXT2 or EXT4, but 3 has always worked for me) partition. This is the part this will be recognised as new 'internal memory'.

 There is a full tutorial on XDA here and the keypoints are:

  Next, create an ext2/ext3/ext4 partition (I suggest ext2 cause it works on all roms and kernels). This is where your apps will go. I suggest a value of 512Mb would be big enough.

Personally I use 1024 Mb.

  Open Link2sd. You will be prompted to choose between ext2, ext3, ext4 and FAT32. Select the one you used.

  It will say mount script created. Reboot your phone now

  Go to Link2sd > Settings > Check the autolink (to automatically move apps upon installation)

  To check your memory, select “Storage Info”. This will show you the current state of your internal memory, FAT32, and Ext# partition.


Mod for Jelly Bean Nav bar on Kit Kat Tablet? I have a Nexus 7 (2013), it is running kit kat, and I am really loving how everything I have set up in this ROM (Beanstalk 4.4.2). There is one thing I really miss and can't seem to find any information on, I would love to have the old Jelly Bean Navigation Bar/Soft Keys on the left combined with the status/notification bar on the bottom right again while in landscape.

I really don't understand why this feature was removed in Kit Kat. And have searched all over the place trying to find some type of relevant information on it. But its a hard thing to search for as there is no term that is associated with this UI layout. So far the only relevant info I have found is apparently Paranoid Android offered this feature in the settings of there Nexus 7 2012 ROM for Kit Kat.

I'd really like to stick with the ROM I have now if possible. Isn't there a mod or some xposed module or something that can offer this functionality?

For continuity across all Android device sizes, from phones to tablets, the Android team completely removed the old tablet layout from 4.4 going forward. It is no longer there so it isn't something that can just be switched on.

It would have to be built back into the ROM, so you may ask your ROM developer or look to see if a ROM has already done this.


App drawer icon gone from Cyanogenmod dock I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, running the latest CM10.1.

I lost the app drawer icon on my Dock;
I must have deleted it.
The app drawer icon lets you go to the app list, and the widget list.

How do I get the app drawer icon back?
The icon looks like a circle with 6 dots inside it.

Here are two things you can do:

(1) Download the FREE AppDrawer app from Google Play.
It gives you a shortcut to the app list.
However, it does not give you the widget list.

(2) Reset Trebuchet.

NOTE: Use the procedure below at your own risk.
It clears (or resets) the contents of your home screen.

CM10.1 uses the Trebuchet launcher.

From your homescreen,
press the left menu button, and select Manage apps.
Look for Trebuchet, and click it.
Press the Clear data button.
Alternatively, you may find success (without having to repopulate all of your home screens) via simply selecting "Clear Cache" and then "Force Stop" on the Trebuchet apps menu.


Advanced root problems I am having problems rooting my device after a friend unrooted it.
Now, if this was a pure simple case, it'd already be solved, but:

I can only used soft-roots, like Kingo root.
My "friend" decided to change my android version number and model number before the unroot, making these soft-roots not work.
My device will cease to function if I SIM unlock and bootload. Don't know why.

Please help. I really want to sell my device, but cannot.

-EDIT-
Well, FTP failed, as did using ADB to pull, edit, and push the file back on.

Somehow managed to get king root to work...

King root was the original rooting tools I used, and after the change in the build.prop it stopped working. It seems be fine now, tough.


updated HTC one mini screen black I just updated my HTC one Mini and the bottom half of the screen is now black. Why? I have not done anything to it

it happens.Don't worry, its just a minor brick. you can recover it. What you have to do is, you have to flash your htc mini with a new firmware(either stock/cyanogenmod/any custom rom). But proceed by your own risk. Now follow up how to flash custom rom/cyanogenmod/ stock rom on htc mini on google. You should find your answer.

Good Luck!


changing dns settings on android - not working When i set my dns on my android device and go to dns leak test it's not the dns that I set in the dns settings. Its the dns set by my ISP.

How can I get it to use the dns that I want?

for reference:
how-to-change-dns-settings-on-android
my device is a lemaker guitar
I do not have root access on the device
I am accessing my wifi at home

http://xslab.com/2013/08/how-to-change-dns-settings-on-android/

Edit1

Maybe I need to have root and/or use an app like the one mentioned here - Override DNS.  Also need to work out what version of android it is, but think it is the most recent version.
Related question here leaving the ip as dynamic(currently giving it static ip from the router) and using apps to change change the dns.
Related Q here but he can't save the new dns settings.
A possible option here in one of the answers is use debugging mode and adb to change the dns settings, but my problem is not changing the dns it is getting the dns I change it to to work.

First you must have dnscrypt installed.
These scripts require root access:

#!/bin/sh
#root is required

#daemonize dnscrypt
dnscrypt-proxy --daemonize --resolver-address=208.67.220.220:443 --provider-name=2.dnscrypt-cert.opendns.com --provider-key=B735:1140:206F:225D:3E2B:D822:D7FD:691E:A1C3:3CC8:D666:8D0C:BE04:BFAB:CA43:FB79

#this will redirect dns query traffics to localhost
iptables -t nat -A OUTPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j DNAT --to-destination 127.0.0.1

If you want to restore DNS to default, run this:

#!/bin/sh
iptables -t nat -D OUTPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j DNAT --to-destination 127.0.0.1


Tethering data allowance from phone to laptop via usb I don't have a problem doing this, I can use my phone and connect to the data allowance from my sim card and I can also connect my phone to a wireless network.  I can then plug my phone into my laptop via a usb cable and I can enable tethering from the phone.  I then end up with internet connection on my laptop.

That is all well and good.  However, when I click the connected connection on my phone, it comes up as 192.168.0.5 and when I check ifconfig on my laptop, it shows up as 192.168.42.209.

Why is that happening, shouldn't my laptop also be showing at 192.168.0.5 as I am using the internet connection on my laptop via the phone?

This really isn't a problem in terms of using the internet on the laptop via the phone as it works nicely.  The problem is when I try to configure my home router to do some port forwarding.  My router has an ip address range from 192.168.0.1-254, so I can't port forward using the 192.168.42.209.

I have tried setting up a static ip address for my laptop using the routers ip address range, i.e. I tried 192.168.0.50, and the internet stops working.

I clearly don't understand all this, why is this happening?

So basically, why is the ip address on my phone different to the ip address on my laptop even though i am connecting to the internet on my laptop via the phone, and why does my internet connection stop working on the laptop if I tried giving the laptop a static ip address within the routers ip address range?

I have an old phone with Froyo 2.2 and I have a laptop with Ubuntu 12.04

Let me see if I understand you:

[Router] <--Wifi--> [Phone] <--USB tether --> [PC]

If this is your setup, then what is happening is the Phone is acting like a router. It has multiple ways to connect to the internet (3G and Wifi) and it does not simply bridge the connection for the PC. Instead it does the same thing that your router does, which is NAT, or Network Address Translation. Basically, you have two networks: the network that's connected to the router, and the network that's connected to the phone's USB port (which has only one machine on it).  There is probably no easy way to port-forward from your router to your PC in this configuration.  The phone is its own computer; it is not a wifi-adapter, even though your PC sees it as just a network device.


How to transfer text message backup file to my Samsung Galaxy S III? I used "SMS Backup & Restore" to create an sms.xml file with all my text messages from my old phone. My new phone, Samsung Galaxy S III, can't mount as USB mass storage, so I can't figure out how to transfer the file. I've used gmtp to transfer media files to the phone before.

What's the best solution for my problem?

I haven't tested it out, but try the WiFi File Explorer by Dooblou.

Here's the link:  http://www.pcworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=648691&expand=false

Sounds like it should do the job you're looking for.


Tasker - read the ping time we can use ping shell command in tasker to see if a domain is online or not but can we get the ping time too?
like in pc when you ping that shows a "time=xx" can we somehow access to that in tasker?

A1: Run Shell [ Command:ping -c 1 8.8.8.8 Timeout (Seconds):0 Use Root:Off Store Output In:%PING Store Errors In: Store Result In: Continue Task After Error:On ]

A2: Variable Section [ Name:%PING From:88 Length:11 Adapt To Fit:Off Store Result In:%TEST ]

A3: Flash [ Text:%TEST Long:On ]


Xiaomi Mi Band 2 cannot be paired with App Mi Fit in Android 8.1.0 I wanted to pair the LG Q6 with the Mi Band 2.
I installed Mi Fit, created a google account and wanted to pair with the device. However, after a while, an error is displayed stating that it couldn't be paired and if I want to reset the device.
If I select yes, the 4-digit number will be displayed on Mi Band 2. A window with a box where I should enter the number will appear on my mobile phone. However, this window is partially covered by another error message that it cannot be reset and whether to cancel or resend. In any case, this window cannot be hidden, so it was not possible to write the number.
So I uninstalled and installed the application, but the only thing that has changed is that the reset fails and the number doesn't appear on the device at all.
Please help
Thank you
PS. Android itself can be paired with the device.
UPDATE
I searched for a solution and found a link to Fix-it for Mi Band 2. Although it has a low rating, I still tried. I followed the instructions and everything seemed fine, but it didn't help.
I would be grateful for a solution, but I personally gave it up.

So in the end, the solution was incredibly easy. At the time I was trying to pair it, it never occurred to me to try anything other than the official app. But since then, I've found that the official app may not always be the best. And here it was the same - it was enough to use another application - Mi Band App for HRX, 2 and Mi Band 3.
I haven't tested it yet, but the pairing itself worked, so hopefully there won't be another problem.


Is there a task widget that only shows todays tasks? Is there a task widget that only shows todays tasks?  I have a had  a few that I have downloaded, synced with my google account, and all was fine. I then added that task app as a widget and started completing tasks, and future tasks appear. For example, I have make;

Make coffee (due 1-11-12)
Make lunch (due 1-11-12)
Do laundry (due 1-11-12)
Make coffee (due 1-12-12)
Make lunch (due 1-12-12)

Now say I only see 3 tasks on the widget, so they all have a due date of 1-11-12. Great, all todays thing that need to be done, but as soon as I mark off make coffee, (due 1-11-12), it brings up make coffee (due 1-12-12), which I don't want. I only want to see todays tasks. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

If possible, I'd like the widget to be about the size of the calendar so it doesn't take up the entire screen. I'd like to keep the task and calendar on the same screen.

Try Any.Do.
It's an normal task app with nice style, and the widget is only showing tasks for today, also several sizes are available.


How do I enable NFC for my Phone There have been a lot hype about NFC lately, and I am eager to try it out, but unfortunately I dont think my HTC Desire HD supports NFC. Is there a way to enable NFC for HTC Desire HD ?

Negative. The HTC Desire HD does not have an NFC chip.


How to use Visual Studio Code on an Android device? I have Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 and it has cool features to replace laptops, but it is unfortunately running Android OS, and not many development apps are available for Android.
Is there an option to run VS Code at least on an Android device?

There are two ways to use Linux on Android so we can use VS Code :

First easy way (Virtual Network Computing) (VNC):

1. Install a Linux distro via "Termux"

 pkg update -y && pkg install proot wget tar pulseaudio  -y &&  wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AndronixApp/AndronixOrigin/master/Rootfs/Ubuntu19/ubuntu19.sh && chmod +x ubuntu19.sh && ./ubuntu19.sh

2. Install Linux GUI desktop environment like "Xfce".

sudo apt-get install xfce4 xfce4-goodies -y

3. start a VNC server on your linux.

sudo apt-get install tightvncserver -y

4. Open "VNC Viewer" on android to start hacking.

you may need to do command vncserver -list to list the port

5. Install vscode for ARM64

6. Optional: Install NodeJS for ARM64.

apt install nodejs

Second hacky way (Linux Natively):

more info:

https://medium.com/@quantvc/running-debian-on-android-device-natively-73545c9b0757

Helpful Resources:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=studio.com.techriz.andronix

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.realvnc.viewer.android

List of some ARM64 Hackers:

@Lemon1I @boby2001820 @NTAuthority @gus33000

Worth mentioning:

https://github.com/WOA-Project


flashing twrp on lg g4 no error, but no twrp I'm trying to flash twrp to my lg g4. I've reached the part where I run

fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

And everything seems to work fine, but when I try to enter recovery mode, I get the default lg recovery (restore factory mode options) and not twrp.
Here's what it prints out when I run the flash command:

target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'recovery' (32060 KB)...
OKAY [  0.827s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  0.341s]
finished. total time: 1.168s

What am I doing wrong?
I tried doing it from a different computer and tried flashing older version of twrp.

I solved the issue..
Apparently, when you enter recovery mode, the phone asks you whether you'd like to do a factory reset, and you choose yes it boots into TWRP :)
Hope it helps someone.


What Android sync'd data is encrypted? With the release of the firesheep plug-in for firefox it has become trivial for website browsing on open Wi-Fi networks to be hijacked by 3rd party listeners.

Android offers the convenient auto-sync option. However I fear that my data may be auto-sync'd while I am connected to an open Wi-Fi network while at the local coffee shop or shopping mall.

Is all the data Android auto-syncs encrypted using SSL or a similar encryption mechanism? Is any auto-sync'd data unencrypted and transmitted in the clear for all to listen in to?

Update: COMPLETELY INSECURE!!!! See below!!!!

Note: answering my own question as nobody knew.

I did a packet capture after selecting Menu -> Accounts & Sync -> Auto-sync (also accessible via the "Power Control" widget). What did I discover?

To my horror (http requests from phone displayed below):

GET /proxy/calendar/feeds/myaccount%40gmail.com HTTP/1.1
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Authorization: GoogleLogin auth=_hidden_
Host: android.clients.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: Android-GData-Calendar/1.4 (vision FRF91); gzip

and

GET /proxy/contacts/groups/myaccount@gmail.com/base2_property-android?showdeleted=true&orderby=lastmodified&updated-min=2010-12-01T08%3A49%3A00.561Z&sortorder=ascending&max-results=10000&requirealldeleted=true HTTP/1.1
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Authorization: GoogleLogin auth=_hidden_
GData-Version: 3.0
Host: android.clients.google.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
User-Agent: Android-GData-Contacts/1.3 (vision FRF91); gzip

My contacts and calendar are being transmitted unencrypted! I don't currently synchronize gmail so I couldn't say if that is unencrypted either.

Also the stock market application (which must be a service because I don't have the widget displayed or the application active):

POST /dgw?imei=TEST&apptype=finance&src=HTC01 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: curl/7.19.0 (i586-pc-mingw32msvc) libcurl/7.19.0 zlib/1.2.3
Content-Type: text/xml
Content-Length: 338
Host: api.htc.go.yahoo.com
Connection: Keep-Alive
Expect: 100-Continue

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<request devtype="HTC_Model" deployver="HTCFinanceWidget 0.1" app="HTCFinanceWidget" appver="0.1.0" api="finance" apiver="1.0.1" acknotification="0000">
<query id="0" timestamp="0" type="getquotes">
<list><symbol>VOD.L</symbol><symbol>BARC.L</symbol></list></query>
</request>

Completely unencrypted request for stock quotes: just think, you could sit in Starbucks in the financial centre of your city and packet-sniff what quotes were important to all the smart phone users around you..

Other items that were not encrypted:

http request to htc.accuweather.com
time request to time-nw.nist.gov:13 (doesn't even use NTP)

About the only data that is encrypted on my phone are the mail accounts I set up with the K-9 application (because all my mail accounts use SSL - and fortunately gmail accounts are, by default, SSL; and yahoo! mail supports imap using SSL too). But it seems none of the auto-sync'd data from the out-of-box phone is encrypted.

This is on a HTC Desire Z with Froyo 2.2 installed. Lesson: do not use phone on open wireless network without VPN encrypted tunnelling!!!

Note, packet capture taken by using tshark on ppp0 interface on virtual node running Debian connected to Android phone via OpenSwan (IPSEC) xl2tpd (L2TP).


Is there any way to check the backup that android does? Today I have been researching a bit about the Android backup options (since I have seen some people having to lose all their data due to ICS serious bugs).

From now, I prefer to use native options, such as the "default" option or the adb backup -all command.

But my question is about the regular way.

I enabled the Settings->Backup->Backup my data option (on ICS). Now I would like to check on my Google Account Preferences when was the last backup was made, and which data is safely backed up - and which isn't.

I'm not sure if that's possible. Does anybody know?

I went to https://www.google.com/dashboard/b/0/ and found the section labeled "Android device"; that had a link labeled "More data stored about this device".  Clicking that opened a popup window that showed a disappointingly short list of apps that had backed up some of their data: just some of the built-in apps from Google.

The above paragraph was written in 2012; five years later the situation seems better: the relevant link is now https://myaccount.google.com/dashboard, and my list of apps is nice and long: 85, and they're not all from Google :-)


Is it possible to use a GIF as my wallpaper? So it has come to my attention that Live Wallpapers are not actually images but more of like, applications that are active in the background. This causes it to be a bit of a battery hog. So I was thinking, if I can just use a GIF instead (like how I did on older Nokia dumbphones), then that would at least decrease the battery usage while still having my wallpaper do some activity.

When trying to set a sample GIF as wallpaper, it is asking me to crop it which I guess, in turn, removes its animation. How do I make it so that a GIF of my choice is used as the wallpaper on my phone while still retaining its animation?

There is no native way to do this, as Android simply does not support it. Any wallpaper which is not a live wallpaper will be displayed as a static image. Specifically, Romain Guy notes in a comment on the Android issue tracker that all regular wallpapers are saved as PNG images after cropping. There is no way to change this behaviour aside from modifying the Android source code.

There are some third-party apps that will allow you to use an animated GIF as a wallpaper, such as AnimGIF Live Wallpaper. The downside, though, is that I believe all of these will be live wallpaper applications, which sort of defeats the purpose.


Updates installed on auto I have found that my Samsung Galaxy SIII's Play Store is auto-updating applications without telling me anything. This is not acceptable, since it is updating apps most of which I never use. How do I turn this off?

Try the following:

Click on your Play Store icon
When the play store app opens click the 3 horizontal bars symbol (top left hand corner beside 'My Apps'
Click on Settings
Click on 'Auto-Update apps'
Then select 'Do not auto update apps'

Hope this helps!


WhatsApp end-to-end encryption Earlier this week, I saw below message on WhatsApp

 (Click for larger Variant)

What does this means to the User?

  With end-to-end encryption, messages are scrambled as they leave the
  sender's device and can only be decrypted by the recipient's device.
  It renders messages unreadable if they are intercepted, for example by
  criminals.

My question is: Does this end-to-end encryption applies to individual chat and to group chat between Android-only devices or it also works on other platforms, Since WhatsApp is available on iOS, Windows Mobile also.

It appears to be between all platforms, as its written here:

https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp-complete/

"Over the past year, we've been progressively rolling out Signal Protocol support for all WhatsApp communication across all WhatsApp clients. This includes chats, group chats, attachments, voice notes, and voice calls across Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, Nokia S60, Blackberry, and BB10."


Can I set Calendar default reminder to "none"? This question has been asked recently, and the answer was "Menu->More->Settings->Default Reminder Time". On my Galaxy S II running 2.3 there is no "More" on the Calendar Menu. There is a "Settings" which allows the Default View to be set but no Default Reminder Time. Under Notification settings is the option to Set alerts and notifications, but that is simply the choice between alert and status bar. Like the previous poster I set most of the entries via the web and it is extremely frustrating to have every one appearing on the phone with a 10 minute notification set.

I have a Nexus S running 2.3 and when I go to Calendar -> Menu -> More -> Settings, I see this screen.  If you click the Default reminder time you have the option of None.


How long does it take for a new version of an app to reach users? I know that when a new version of an app is published to the Play Store, users do not all see it immediately. This is understandable; even Google probably doesn't want its servers being hammered when a popular app is updated.

I thought the delay was on the order of days, but now I suspect it's much longer than that. I turned off automatic updates because I like to be aware of when apps are updated in case a new bug is introduced. I check for updates every couple of days. It's not uncommon to see that an app was updated two or three weeks ago, when no such update was visible to me two days ago.

Can it really take three weeks for users to see updated versions of apps?

I guess it depends on how the developer targets the audience .  If the developer chooses to do a staged rollout

  You can release an app update to production using a staged rollout. With a staged rollout, your update reaches only a percentage of your users, which you can increase over time.

(Emphasis Supplied)

For more details see the link

It's best to contact the developer and check


Install Google Play Store on ROM without Google apps I rooted my Samsung Galaxy S3 and flashed SlimKat's 4.4 ROM and it has no Google Play. When I downloaded GAPPS, it says "Cannot open file" when attempting to open.

How can I install the gapps.zip?

To install gapps, flash them from the recovery (the same way you installed the ROM), you shouldn't open the .zip file since it is automatically processed by the recovery.


Remote control of Android from PC or another Android device Is there a way s.t.:

Whenever SMS with specific keywords are received, that those are then forwarded through SMS to another mobile ?
Or, whenever SMS with specific keywords are received, that those are then forwarded through one's configured gmail account, to another gmail account ?
Whenever the battery of the phone falls below a certain threshold, SMS or email is sent to another mobile ?
One could change settings (such as enable/disable mobile-data or location) for an Android device, remotely by sending it an SMS with certain pattern ?

Of course, when this service is being setup on the target device the device owner explicitly authorizes such change.

The usecase is where the target mobile device (Android phone) is operated by someone who is in the 2nd stage of Alzheimer's disease, stays in another part of the country. The above facility if possible would help providing some remote assistance to the person, and help sort out any issues they may have with banks and other establishments.

Yes this did used to be possible, it is still possible but it requires more on the target device these days.

On below Android 5.0 , it was easy to do what you're saying, however it started to become apparent very quickly that the majority of people did not use this for its intended purpose...

For example, you could previously check on elderly people's movement's around the house to help ensure they're safe... however people would use these features on their partner's to "see" if they're Cheating for example..

It was seen as a serious violation of peoples privacy, and therefore certain measures have been implemented since above Android 4.4.

The new measures are,
• 1 single SMS application is aloud to recognise OutGoing SMS, Incoming SMS is not restricted because of SMS Verification or ( 2FA ) ..

• Real Time Permission Acceptance

• OnBoot restrictions on some devices

You did used to have Full Control over Android 4.4+ .. You could even have the application hidden with another name and icon, and Only launchable by dialing a phone number.

.
Yes you can still bypass everything, but it is very annoying to do..
 .
You would need a permission acceptance screen to accept All permissions on the first start... An OnBoot listener to start the service On Boot... and also you would need to be running as a Device Administrator to Toggle things like Airplane Mode..

The wide selections make the application very obvious to the user, so as long as you are the user on both device's, you should not have any problems.

Using applications like
• SMS Forwarder
• SMS Controller
• Tasker
and others..

I have attempted building this myself, however it has very limited control.

You can also use this Pre-Built SMS Control App..

It is released under MIT License, so you could modify it to do what you want.

SMS Control - F-droid.org


Running Android on a PC as a nondeveloper, just to run apps I am an Android user running Android 7.0 (Nougat) on a Wiko Sunny 2 Plus device with 4GB internal storage, most of which is taken up by pictures and WhatsApp data. I have purchased this device because I was tired of mobile phones breaking down at home due to carelessness and am now stuck with this cheap model meaning that I now cannot run several nifty apps I had purchased.

However my home computer has about 300GB internal hard drive and I was thinking that even though I cannot carry my computer around the same way as a mobile phone or use touch screen since touch is missing from the screen not use GPS or a back camera nor use the cellular network for phone and messages as it does not have a sim card, I could still download some apps such as edutainment and dictionary apps and use them there.

So, I was wondering, as a nondeveloper, what is the easiest way to download the latest Android OS to your computer, in my case Windows 7 64-bit, and run an Android emulator or full screen tablet app on my computer, so that I can still make use of my purchased apps and what not?

Also, will I be able to use the same Google account name on the emulator without running into problems of conflict with my main smartphone?

Is there an easy emulator setup for nondevelopers, app testers for instance, that does not require a download of all the tools involved?

Thanks.

Yes, Bluestacks is the best option for your needs. Particularly suitable for game players, you can run any app on it. No need to download any extra; after downloading Bluestacks on your PC, just log in with your Play Store account and you'll find all of your apps listed.


Root access in android How to get root access in android ?. While  I am trying su or sudo in my samsung galaxy core phone ,I am getting /system/bin/sh :sudo :not found

You first have to root your device in order to have root access.
I'd suggest you to have a look here.
Do check for supported devices here [as per devices, samsung galaxy core is supported. Do cross-check whether you own the same model or not]


Internal SD-card hardware erros. Is there a way to move partitions to external sdcard? I have a device with hardware errors in the internal sd card and want to move /data entirely to the external sd card.
I was thinking that it should be possible to create a partition in external sd-card and use it instead of the default partition for /data/ so that only system partition (which is read only ) will remain on the internal SD-card and this will reduce the chance of errors.

How can I change the initial mount options to make android mount /data from external SD card. ?

EDIT:
One solution is fstab modification,In Linux PC it's quite simple,  modifying /etc/fstab. will it work on the equivalent fstab for android ?

On Android it's not that easy to modify the "fstab", as that's often stored inside the boot-image (see Wikipedia on "initrd" for a more detailed explanation).

However, depending on the device, there might be alternative solutions. Some of them would be:

DirectoryBind binds "directories located on external_sd to directories on internal memory (/sdcard). This way You can transfer large application data directories to external_sd." (in other words, you could compare that with "symbolic links", pointing to the external SDCard). See also this article.
Swap Internal and External sdcard. According to the linked article, this should work for ANY Android Phone or Tablet. This solution is comparable to your "editing of fstab".
Root External 2 Internal SD is an app to swap the cards. From its description, it does the same as described in the previous point.

There might be more solutions around, but these are the ones I've heard of. Hope one of them can help you out!


Is there a way to access and edit Apple's Reminders.app database from Android? Is there a way to access and edit Apple's Reminders.app database from Android, I didn't find a way to do it, how can I do that?

(searching both google and play store I've found tons of unrelated stuff, and exactly zero related)

There is a way to sync reminders to your Android device described on CNet. The solution consists of two apps, SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar and Tasks. With this combination, you'll have a separate reminder-style app that syncs with your iCloud account.

First buy and install SmoothSync and add your iCloud account to it. After this, install Tasks and wait a couple of minutes for the sync to happen, and after this the setup is complete and ready to use.


How do I simulate network time? I want to ask, how do I simulate other timezone (Like +13:00) on network? Like all apps that get time from network will get custom time.

Often apps only take your system time to do certain task. So if you want to simulate another timezone, just change it in your phones settings.

If this doesn't work for you, you still can get the Android Emulator. It is normally used by developers to test their app, but you can test everything there


Can't find a contact's phone number? If I tap on the dialer on a DroidX and start tapping in someone's number then when enough (usually 3) digits have by tapped in the person's name and number appear about the entry box and I can tap on them to dial.

However, if I go into Contacts and search for that same person by name they are not listed in my contacts.

I'm trying to work out what the disconnect between these "contact" lists are and how to keep them insync.

(I'm logged in with my gmail/google account and have a contact list on gmail which syncs with the phone.)

Can it be that you have unchecked certain contacts to be displayed ?

Go to contacts, press menu, more , display options and verify that you really display the names you want from the options on that screen.


Return my S4 Mini 4.2.2 Jelly Bean to stock firmware I want to return my S4 mini 4.2.2 Jelly Bean to stock firmware, but can't find the specific ROM for baseband version I919XXUAMDE/ build numbber JDQ39.I9190XXUAMDE. You could help me a lot if you told me the way to install it - I want to install it from cell phone because I can't use USB cable.

Technical details:

Model nr : GT-I9190
Android version  -  4.2.2 // Kernel Version : 3.4.5 whl@server0-br#1
Software version -- V86.08
baseband version I919XXUAMDE
build numbber JDQ39.I9190XXUAMDE

If you do manage to find it, to install it you'll need to download it to your phone, boot into recovery, make a backup, wipe your /system, /data, /cache, and dalvik cache (NOT internal Memory or your SD card if you have one) then flash the file you downloaded.


How to get hardware specs of Android device? How can I find information on the hardware of my Android device like processor architecture, RAM, etc?

Run "Menu → DevTools → Terminal Emulator".
Enter the folowing commands:

cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/meminfo
free
cat /proc/version


How to copy photos from SD Card to External Storage? I want to copy my photos 22GB from my external SD Card on my phone to my Mac or USB Drive by OTG.

However, I have been trying to use 3rd party Files Manager "ASUS File Manager" as well as Samsung's My Files, but both of them result the date of my photo to be current time, not original photo's time.

I have been trying to copy the folder of DCIM to my Mac via Android File Transfer, but it doesn't work too (always error and quit).

Anyone can share me how to copy the photos and keep the original photo's time?

You can either:

fix date and time via Exif as described by GiantTree in his comment on your question (there are tools for that; if you've no idea which, please see Where to ask for app recommendations?) – or
simply use an app on the device to ZIP the files, then copy the ZIP to your Mac and unzip again (for "which app", again see above link). As this is not really practicable for 22GB:
option #3 would be to shutdown your phone, take out the SD card, and use a card-reader to connect it to your Mac and copy the files directly. This is probably the easiest approach to your problem.

I don't think moving will do the trick, as across file system boundaries that's nothing but "copy + delete".


Deleted Contacts on WhatsApp but Chat not deleted Someone deleted me on their contacts because I can't see their profile photo anymore. I just want to know if ever our chat box is not deleted on his/her WhatsApp app, Will he/she see changes on my profile photo or status after deleting me on his/her contacts if he kept the chat box?

Not being able to see someone's profile picture does not mean they deleted you from their contacts. It's possible they simply removed the picture and no one can see it including you.
If the person still has the chat saved, then yes they will see your profile picture.
If you don't want someone to see your profile picture you can delete their contact, and in WhatsApp settings select that only your contacts can see your picture. Alternatively you can block that person's number and they won't be able to check your profile picture


Gmaps location not obtained while using ART I've been trying to get the current location on my Nexus 5. When I click on the location button on the bottom right corner it keeps showing "waiting for location", but nothing happens. But it does work fine in Dalvik.

Is it a bug or is it some setting?

ART is still a work in progress and things may or may not work as expected. You can't do anything about except wait for the application's developer coming with a fix and/or wait for ART to be more stable.


What folder on android does show as a media device? When I connect my phone to my car via USB it says connected as media device.  Then when I go to browse with my car nothing is in the folder.

I use Google play music and know the folder it caches my downloaded playlists.  I want to make a symbolic link to that folder from the folder my car is seeing.  Does anyone know what folder is mounted by default?  Or maybe a better way to play music in my car?

HTC One M8 Converted Google PLay Edition.  2014 Mini Countryman w/out MINI Connected.

First, that depends on the protocol. AFAIK, when using PTP, only the DCIM folder (with your photos) is shown, while in MTP mode, it should be your entire SD card(s).

Second, I doubt whether a symlink would work here – at least not when it points to the internal storage (below /data, where Play Music usually puts its stuff).


How can I charge an ASUS Transformer while connected to USB? Currently I'm developing with my Nexus S but would like to use Asus Transformer for that.

So far I figured that device won't charge from USB. And for me - I need to have it on USB for debugging while charged and ON all the time.

Is that even possible? How long device lives on battery when 100% on?

EDIT

I look at keyboard accessory and it looks good. It seems that I can charge and it will serve as a stand. But I'm not sure if USB in keyboard will work for debugging?

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer uses a USB 3.0 cable. I've seen noises elsewhere on the 'net that it will only charge on a USB 3.0 socket. This is likely associated with the extra power only available on USB 3.0.


Searching for factory image of NTT DOCOMO GALAXY Nexus? i am in search of factory image for my new NTT DOCOMO GALAXY Nexus from japan ... i have checked on https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images but could not found for Android 4.0.4 (IMM76K) GSM/HSPA+

actually i wanted to root my device using nexus root toolkit application and that application has detected my device as GSM/HSPA+ , But on the https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images link there is Factory Images "mysid" for Galaxy Nexus "toro" (VZW CDMA/LTE) Android 4.0.4 (IMM76K)

I am not sure CDMA/LTE image can be used, if anything will go wrong while rooting so i can use image to flash device.

please help/suggest me!!

Hardware-wise, the NTT DoCoMo (SC-04D) and the version sold on Google Play Store (GT-i9250) are identical.  You should be able to use one of the "maguro" takju factory images (ICS or JB.)  Definitely do NOT use the CDMA/LTE image.


File bluetooth visibilty default on I have a Galaxy S II, I transfer files using bluetooth to my PC all the time, constantly! It's rather annoying having to mark each and every file as visible on bluetooth (very stupid design not allowing the user to mark this as default if they want to) and also time consuming having to do each and every file be it image or what have you.

Is there any way to make all files default to bluetooth on? Be it a hack or what have you I just need to be able to set all files default to that.

Bluetooth File Transfer can be good if you want to initiate the transfer from the mobile Device. However, since I won't to transfer file to and from PC/Mac, I prefer using PC/Mac to control which files I want to put/get. It is easier, quicker, and I don't have to fight with small device to properly check/uncheck files.

Basic settings like 'all files visible via BT' would be awesome.


Only one head phone (Right) working on my andrioid razor Has anyone had this issue on their android where only one headphone is playing music. I use Pandora and I already did a factory reset and still nothing. Anyone have any other ideas?>

Thank you

Try another headphone ? It's very likely the one you have its defective


root ubislate 7CI with android 4.1.1 I have one table UBISLATE 7CI (DATAWIND IC: 12016A-7CI) and I need a step by step method or program to root the device. I was trying with some suggestion but I can't find a right method.

Anybody know the way?

The rooting process of Android devices has become easy these days. Look into these links:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1997403

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1886460

According to the 2nd link, the person has developed a script to root devices with ease.

The procedure is to:

  Download file. Extract it. Click RunMe.bat file. Choose Normal mode.
  Follow steps as instructed and done.

Things to remember:
a) Make sure you've:
-> ticked "USB Debugging" in Developers Options in Settings
-> ADB drivers are installed.

b) This process will void warranty and might brick your tablet.

All the best!


How can I send a SMS (Instead of MMS) from a Motorola Atrix 4G? I was writing a text when suddenly I noticed the message say MMS not SMS. How do I change it back?

It automatically changes to MMS when a message's length goes over 160 bytes (160 ASCII characters). You should be able to go back to SMS by starting a new message.


Problem pairing again Nexus 5 with Alpine car stereo I had my Alpine radio paired and working with my nexus 5.  Then someone unpaired the device on my phone when they wanted to pair it to a different bluetooth device.  Apparently the Alpine phone passphrase is '0000' (if it is needed - I can't recall it being asked for when I initially paired it and it seems that that is a "default" PIN that is attempted automatically?)

The new device did need a passphrase which was '1234'

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to re-pair my car stereo with the phone.  The message I get is that pairing was unsuccessful due to an incorrect PIN/passphrase.

I can't find anywhere in setting on how to change the passphrase - because it never asks me for one.

I am assuming somehow this is a bug and the last successful PIN is being used.

Previously my stereo would prompt if it should allow the pairing and i would select Yes - this time it doesn't work.

I have seen what looks like similar questions/issues on other forums.  It seems to be a bug or at best a horrible hidden configuration somewhere.

To reiterate:

device A was previously paired fine.
device A was unpaired
new pairing to device B with a PIN
no longer able to pair with device A - with an error message of bad PIN/passhphrase but I
never supplied one for this device.

Any pointers or URLs or suggestions would be most appreciated. (aside from resetting to factory)

EDIT:
To answer the questions in a comment:

I have to look up the model number
I cannot attempt to pair using PIN 0000 - the phone does not give me a choice to do so.  I wish it would - in that case I could probably do it.
Same as above
I have turned off the radio - not sure how to disable BT on it - I will try that
Yes - many, many times - as well as shutting down phone
I am pretty sure visibility is on.  It was working fine until then and I will try it with another phone later today - it is visible. The phone discovers it.  Must be on
The message is displayed on the phone.

The issue was not Android.  (Except perhaps the misleading error message.)

The problem, it turns out, was that the pairings on the radio were "full".  It seems this radio (CDE-133BT) allows 3 pairings.  Well, I inadvertently renamed my Nexus some point along the way when I also unpaired it from the phone.  Attempting to re-pair without first emptying a free slot on the radio failed.  I do not know what the comms is like for denying a connection based on that, but either the radio sent incorrect information about why the pairing was denied or Android reported an incorrect reason.

The problem is solved - By the way  - the way to empty the bluetooth pairings is NOT in the manual - I watched a YouTube video of someone making pairings and discovered a way to find what the pairings were.

Not sure if this Q/A still belongs here, but maybe it will be helpful for someone with an Alpine CDE-133BT someday.


Rooted Xperia Z2 won't read memory card Yesterday I connected my phone in mass storage mode to copy photos off the external microSD card and ejected it properly from Windows before disconnecting it. After that it said there was an error on my memory card.
Now if I go to storage, it reports that the card exists and is mounted, but cannot read from it (and so does not display the usage breakup of apps and media the way it does for internal storage)

If I try using ES File Explorer, it too reports that the memory card exists as well as the count of songs and photos, but cannot read any of them. I have only a couple of apps that I had moved to SD card - these show up in the drawer but either fail with an error or cause the phone to freeze.
I am able to view the contents of the memory card if it's connected to Windows in MTP mode, but again cannot read or copy files.
What's going on?

Is there a fix that doesn't involve reformatting the card and losing everything on it?

Edit Just put it into a card reader, and it works normally. I'm able to view and open files.

Ok, completely weird, but just taking it out, viewing it with a memory card reader and putting it back did the trick.
Glad I didn't have to erase or format it. I'd like to know what went wrong originally though.


Galaxy s2 will not boot, wrong bootloader My Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I1900 won't boot.

I tried to update to ICS with Kies which crashed, wherefore I unplugged the USB to start over.
Now my phone had no OS, and wouldn't respond to Kies anymore.
By mistake I flashed the downloaded original firmware into the bootloader section in Odin.
Now it just shows a screen that says Samsung Galaxy SII GT-I9100
Next I tried to recover with Odin. I flashed another firmware, and the old bootloader and attached a PIT file which worked for me earlier.

I want to now how I can make it work again. I have been looking for days for the following files:

Original .PIT file
Original Firmware
Original Bootloader

What should I do? I am using Odin v1.85.

Go to samfirmware

Get your original firmware from there and keep the selected file in PDA option in Odin.

Do not tick any other option; just put your handset into 'Download Mode' and connect it to pc.

When Odin displays 'CONNECT', click on 'Start' and wait until it starts flashing then; you will be able to use your phone.


Personal data (contacts, sms, phone logs, settings, etc) gone after moving apps to a new microSD I've just bought a 16gb Sandisk microSD and I moved some apps to that by using the functionality available under Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. I went through the list and I moved some apps to the microSD when the button was available. I also moved the Music folder to the new microSD.

Then I left my phone for a while and when I came back it was asking me for the PIN code as it had restarted. Then the Android configuration wizard popped up, like when you first boot the device (so asking me to choose the language and set other configuration things). After this I found out that my previous data was gone including contacts, text messages, settings, etc. Similar to when you do a hard reset. Some things remained like pictures and music files.

Unfortunately there's no sync with Google or similar. I should have done that or at least made a backup before moving things to the new storage.

I believe my data is still there somehow. I'd like to know if my things are completely gone or maybe they are just not loaded for some weird reason. Can you help me?

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S Plus (GT-I9001) / Android version: 2.3.5

EDIT: After completely reformatting the microSD as also suggested by official SanDisk tecnical support for general problems, I didn't experienced another hard reset so far after moving files.

As the factory-reset already correctly suggests, the description makes quite clear that such happened. A factory-reset "deletes" everything from your internal-storage -- that is, all the apps you've installed, all data, caches, etc. So nothing is left but what you've moved to SDCard/external storage.

While there are possibilities to even recover deleted data (usually via a nandroid backup or any other 1:1 copy of the entire file system and doing file carving), this is nothing easy and you must start the copy as soon as possible, before you do any other initialization (which you already did). With every data change, chances to recover something get smaller. We have some questions/answers behind the data-recovery tag explaining this in more detail, see e.g.

How can I recover a deleted file on Android?
Recover deleted content from userdata partition?

Btw: With all other data on internal-storage, also the logs are gone for good -- which is a pity, as it would be very interesting to know what triggered an automatic factory-reset. The only thing coming to my mind is a remote-wipe, which might have been triggered either via your company (if you're accessing their exchange server via active-sync, and thus accepted the corresponding device-administrator) -- or the previous owner (if any) having set up some anti-theft app, and now pulled the trigger on you...


Installing any APP hardboots phone and bootloops I have a Oneplus 1 running CM11 44s Kitkat 4.4.4

I did a clean flash of CM11 and now I am unable to install any app from playstore.
As soon as an app finishes installing, the phone hardboots and enters bootloop or I get continuous error messages Trebuchet stops working, Play Store stopped working

I have to goto Safe Mode and unistall app to recover phone.

Apps which I have tried to install and have been unsuccessful
Greenify
Nova Launcher
Facebook
Gboard
Microsoft SMS Organiser

Basically, I am unable to install anything at all! All these were running fine before, now dont understand whats wrong!

I cleaned whole phone, formatted all with fastboot and reinstalled CM11, but the problem remains.

Please help!!

For me it is the FaceBook app that causes the bootloop. I have CM11 on a Nexus 7. I used the Play store to update a few apps last week and when I came back to it, it was looping. I did several factory resets and found it was the latest FB app. I get an instant bootloop on installing. I just decided not to use it :)  Of course whatever the issue is (maybe some issue Android Studio is introducing that CM11 does not like) may affect other apps.


How to keep the screen from going blank or locking for particular application Edited question:

Google Navigate app does have the logic to keep the screen from locking or backlight from switching-off, but a corporate BYOD software suite, I've had to install as my employer's policy, seems to lock-screen if an 'unknown application' is keeping screen unlocked/lit with no other activity detected (touch mostly!), after a timeout. Navigate is not on this software's goodbooks... So I was wondering if there is any app that can help me keep the backlight on and avoid the screen locking for google navigate ?

I am on Android JB 4.2 if that matters.

It's odd that it happens. My last few devices always stayed on while Navigating, when Navigation was a stand alone app and now that it is part of Google Maps. You could go to Settings > Display and turn the screen timout off. Double check the settings in Navigation.

Alternatively  Screen timout toggle  is an application on the Play Store that seems to be what you are looking for.


theme chooser for cm 12 broken/disappeared after update? On my Xperia Z1 compact and cm 12 I used the Dark Material theme. Then after a recent update it was disabled 'after too many app crashes'. I tried to set it again but now every time I go to settings->themes it exits with the error 'unfortunately, settings has stopped'.

Some posts on the web suggest that in settings->apps, clearing the data for the Theme Chooser app (under All Apps) will solve it. But there is no Theme Chooser app in my app list.

Is it possible to (re)install Theme Chooser somehow? Or another way to be able to switch Themes in cm 12?

phone: Sony Xperia Z1 compact (amami)
OS: cm 12.1 update 20160110
android: 5.1.1

EDIT

I tried (re)installing the Themes APK generously provided by the author of this post, but when I open the APK it first says "Do you want to install an update to this built-in application? Your existing data will not be lost. The updated application will get access to New|All", and when I choose either of those it exits with "App not installed."

That means that Theme Chooser is still on the phone. But why does it then not appear in the "All Apps" list (which would allow me to Clear Data)?

EDIT II

I dirty flashed the latest image (15/1) from the cyanogedmod website. Still no theme chooser that works.

After using adb to remove the data for the packages org.cyanogenmod.theme.chooser and org.cyanogenmod.themes.provider, as suggested above and elsewhere, and also after cleaning the data in trebuchet on the phone (by way of trial and error), the only thing that really made the Theme Chooser work again was a clean flash:

download the latest cyanogenmod (and Google Apps if you want) to your sd card (remove /system/* too if you are switching to Open GApps from another GApps)
reboot into recovery (on an Xperia Z1 Compact by repeatedly pressing volume-up at boot)
choose wipe data / factory reset and empty cache
do install update for both the CM and GApps ZIP files
reboot

After reboot, my apps were re-installed via my Google account and the data (images, documents) from before flashing were all still there.

The custom wallpapers and (in my case no) sounds needed to be set anew.


How to do a factory reset on Xperia Z with broken screen? The screen on my Sony Xperia Z is cracked. I have now sold the phone so I need to delete my text messages, can anyone help?

I can only press in certain areas of the screen so I can't click on factory reset or delete messages one by one.

The simple way to factory reset for unrooted phone is to perform a factory reset via pc companion.

Download PC COMPANION and install
Open up PC companion and click on Software Repair
Optional: If your screen is locked and you can't unlock it, check the "I can't start my device"-checkbox in the lower left corner. Click "Next".
It will say could not find phone because you haven't connect it yet! so, do connect it and click on the repair phone like this picture. Follow onscreen instruction.


Lineage OS 14.1 ROM can't connect to camera I have recently flashed Lineage OS 14.1 (fortuna3g unofficial build, Android Nougat 7.1.2) onto my Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Duos (G530H/DS). Everything in working order, except the rear camera. Each time when I try to access camera from other apps(Whatsapp, Banking etc.) OR opening the stock camera app, it gives me "Can't connect to camera" message.

I have tried with 3rd party apps (open camera), some online tutorial fixes (cmfix camera fix for cyanogenmod), restarting camera app, restarting phone, reflashing LOS 14.1 etc.

I went back to stock to verify that camera works fine. There is no hardware issue.

Anybody had similar problem? Were you able to fix it?

Answering my own question.

My particular problem had to do with baseband and device codename, no bugs or problems with the build. For those, like me who were unaware of how this is related.

My baseband version matched the fortunave3g codename. So I should have installed that build of the of the ROM instead of fortuna3g, like I initially had. More information can be found in the device model master thread at xda-dev forums

I was unaware of the relation between the two things. But anticipating issues I had previously downloaded the three available builds (fortuna3g, fortunafz & fortunave3g). So all I needed to to was flash the appropriate build.
Everything is working fine now.

Thanks to all for the attention. Ultimately my problem was lack of awareness.


How to block specific URL instead of whole domain I am looking to block a specific url like:

http://foobar.com/abc.php

instead of the whole domain of

foobar.com

I have tried to edit the host file by adding an entry

127.0.0.1 foobar.com/abc.php

but it didn't work. Tried restarting the data too.

Can anyone tell me what can be done?

i'm sorry to tell you, it wont work.

In the hostfile you can only set an IP-Adress of an domain manually.
For example:
I dont want that my pc always looks for IP-Adress for ilovethis.net.

Or a better one:
I have many photos, videos and audio on my homeserver. But i dont want to always type 192.168.178.178 (etc.) in my Browser.
Yes! I would add an entry to my hostfile which says: Domain home.server should go to 192.168.178.178 (looks like: 192.168.178.178 home.server)

I hope you know what i mean.
This was not made for specific url,
its for local DNS manipulation.

Greetings,
Fischmaster


Why does it take very long to start downloading from the playstore? It typically take from 5 minutes to hours after I tap on download or update in playstore. Sometimes I can activate downloading process by opening up Google map or Google assistant.

You have not mentioned how you are connected to Playstore. Example Wifi, Broadband or Wifi through a Tether. Its too general a question.

The most common reason in this case is due to the network condition. Try to install at different time of the day. Switch to different networking environment and see the difference.


Android device is listed and recognized using adb, Hardware Overview but won't show in Finder? I'm using a Macbook Pro OS X Sierra, with Android File Transfer installed. When plugging in an Asus Zenfone 2, a popup shows with the message (minus the Initialize button):

However, this is followed immediately with another window listing the contents of said phone, with buttons for both Internal Storage and SD Card. Drag and Drop/Copy-Paste file transfers are possible as well (not my screenshot but very similar to mine):

Also, when checking System Information in About This Mac/Overview/System Report/USB, "Android" is visible under the USB Device Tree. Clicking this further shows additional data such as Product and Vendor IDs, etc. (image not mine but similar):

When in Terminal, typing "adb devices" will list the device's Vendor ID.

Long story short, the device is recognized except in Finder.

Any suggestions how to make the device appear in Finder's Sidebar, under Devices? Any help would greatly be appreciated. TIA!

Its probably about mtp mode or another usb conection mode set it in your android decixe settings or find a program to moint mtp volumes


Polish layout for physical USB keyboard in Oreo Up until Android 8.0 / Oreo (haven't got chance to test this issue under 9.0 / Pie) there is no Polish layout for physical USB keyboard and writing Polish national letter (i.e. using Right Alt key) is not possible in Android with physical keyboard connected through USB and micro USB OTG cable.

Is there anything I can do to resolve this problem? Some option for installing missing layouts?

Supporting, OT and philosophic question: Is this some kind of political isolation of my country by Google / Android developers or an ostracism? I have carefully checked that there are keyboard layouts for each and every neighboring country that surrounds Poland -- i.e. German, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian. But there is no for Poland.

EDIT: This question is about Motorola Moto Z2 Play, which has an unmodified, stock version of Android 8.0 Oreo and such version doesn't have "Polish" physical keyboard layout. This question does not deal with devices provided by any other manufacturer, with modified Android, where "Polish" physical keyboard layout can be available.

edit i am using a nokia 6.1 runing a version of stock android 9 pie

i set my English UK keyboard to polish and Ukrainian layouts i was able to get Ukrainian input working by following this
cannot change languange on external keyboard

but i could only get a few polish letters to work
can you type in your native language with the on screen keyboard?

try going to settings and search for languages press languages and input press add language and your language should be there
then try the keyboard again


Why one cannot download the drivers of the Android OS like we do in our pc's I know that i sound kind of a noob but i had this question from the day i started tweaking my phone .I know that without kernel sources it is very hard to get drivers for the phone for the sake of custom ROM support but my question is why can't i just download the drivers from the manufacturer website as i download for my pc .i can install the desired android version i want and if the driver is available for the respective Android version i could simply install it as an application as i would do it in my PC.what exactly the kernel sources contain.

sadly if it was an application like on the PC there would be billions of pirated versions and you would have to bother to search through all of them to find the official one. If there is an update for your phone it will appear as a notification and it will inform you that it is available.


Screen keeps black after official upate for Samsung Galaxy S3 A few days ago, the phone got an OTA update (build number: IMM76D.I9300XXALF6). After that the phone got unusable: Once the screen goes out, I cannot wake up the device anymore. The only exception is when it's connected to my laptop, then I can wake it up any time.

I already tried resetting it to factory defaults, but it did not help.

Any ideas? Or should I send the phone back?

Sent it back for repair. Main board was exchanged and now it's working fine with the latest version. Just bad luck I guess.


Configure storage of WhatsApp media files I want to configure whether WhatsApp stores media in my phone.
I found many links like
this
and
this
which point to
Main Chat Screen -> Three dots -> Settings -> Chats -> Media auto-download,
 or the like.
But I do not have such menu.
I see what is shown in the image below.

What can I do to select WhatsApp media storage?

PS: I am currently dealing with a WhatsApp account setup in Parallel Space. I have no main WhatsApp account setup, and I cannot set it up now to test it. But I doubt this affects the menus available in WhatsApp.

Chat Screen -> Three dots -> Settings -> Data Usage -> Media Auto Download


How to use in-app payment without Google Play? I downloaded the apk for the app Contacts Optimizer and had it installed via sideload. I would like to upgrade the app to PRO. This is done using an in-app payment. Trying to use this tells me that "Cannot initialize connection to in-app payment server, please try again later." I guess the reason is, because I have no Google App store on my phone. How can I use in-app payment without Google Play?

I don't think that Google billing is possible without the Google apps installed. However there are some apps that offer in-app purchase emulation. In most cases they work and in addition you don't have to pay. Lucky Patcher is an app which does in-app billing emulations. However if you are not rooted you need to rebuild the APK in which you want to use emulations and reinstall it.


How to use Google Talk voice and video calling on an Android? How do you do Google talk voice and video calling from android.

The google talk application only appears to allow text based chatting. But Google talk on the desktop supports both voice calling and video chat.

There is no official Google talk voice/video chat for Android phones. You can use Google Talk in Android 2.3.4+ to make video chats now. Additionally, any calls made via Google Voice are done via cell tower (using your minutes), not data.


No wifi after changing provider / sim card Last Monday I changed provider and got a new simcard. I can use the phone and send SMS/text messages. Internet didn't work anymore. Wifi didn't work anymore. Both have not worked since. I do see the 3G or GPRS icon in the statusbar. I see the Wifi icon, and it's connected to the right network. I've tried this on several locations.

The provider says they have a problem since Tuesday (not Monday), so 3G does not work. What baffles me is that wifi doesn't work anymore.

Last weekend I've tried to get a paid proxy service working on my laptop, which didn't work for some reason. I installed OpenVPN on my phone. I didn't configure the proxy service on the phone however. I removed OpenVPN yesterday to be sure. I have used internet on the phone since installing OpenVPN, so I guess that can't be the problem.

On Twitter I read about someone using the same network who could still use Whatsapp, so I tried that, and then saw a popup "unable to resolve host ota.avatarrom.com" (or something like that - it disappeared too soon). I've installed Avatarrom several months ago, and although I have problems with it (Settings crashes on and on), it works reasonably. Whatsapp couldn't connect by the way. The phone: Samsung Galaxy S2.

The provider can't tell when their problems are over. I'm curious if that will solve anything, we'll see.

Can you explain this? What can I do to get Wifi working again?

I found out that disabling the AFwall+ firewall solved my problems. Now everything works. This has worked with the previous provider, and I don't understand how changing the simcard can result in this.


How to prevent VZW drive from mounting when I connect my HTC Incredible to USB Since the Froyo upgrade, when I connect my HTC Incredible, with the USB settings set to "Charge Only" to my computer with a USB cable, the phone still mounts a CD type drive that will install HTC Sync drivers.  This prevents my phone from using the SD card.

How can I stop this from happening?  Like I said, my phone is set to "Charge Only".

You'll need to root your phone with Unrevoked and remove the CDROM.ISO file located in /system/etc/  That's the only way to prevent that.

The neat upside is that once you've rooted, you can replace that CDROM.ISO with any other ISO you'd like to auto-mount.


How to log and visualize resource usage stats (to identify resource hogs)? I want to be able to collect up to, say, a couple of day's worth of resource usage statics for my android, at the resolution of individual apps, and ordered according to their shares of the resource.  And I would like then to be able to view this information in such a way that I can easily identify the worst resource hogs.

Any suggestions for how to do this would be appreciated.

(FWIW, my phone is rooted.)

Thanks!

PS: There is a bazillion of apps for monitoring CPU usage, memory usage, etc., but all the ones I have found give only global statistics.  I.e. they will tell me that, e.g. 84% of my phone's CPU is being used, but none will give me a weighted breakdown of that percentage over the apps responsible for it.  Monitoring apps that do not collect and display statistics at the resolution of individual applications are of little use to me.  And of course, it goes without saying that "task manager" apps, or even for apps like Watchdog are even farther removed from what I'm looking for; these apps may be very good at what they do, but they simply are not designed to do what I want done.

You might be able to get some of what you want from Carat. This app is a project from UC-Berkeley to measure what's using your battery and how your battery life compares to other people's devices.

It doesn't directly measure CPU, but your resource hogs are going to use more battery by implication.

From the description:

  Carat will tell you which apps it thinks are hogs (they use a lot of battery) and which are bugs (they use a lot of battery on your device but not most others). Being a hog or a bug does not make an app 'bad', but a user trying to improve their battery life can use these designations to adjust their behavior.

  == Carat Features ==

  Action List telling you how to improve your battery life and by how much
  Device information detailing exactly what data we are recording
  Reports apps that are using lots of energy and whether that is happening on other devices, too
  Detail views let you dive down into the data and see graphs of energy use
  Low-overhead sampling requires almost no energy or CPU
  J-Score tells you how your battery efficiency compares to other users
  Sharing features let you post/tweet/blog about your experience; more users means more data which means better recommendations for you


View log files on rooted Nexus 9 I'd like to check some log files of a app I've downloaded from the browser.
I rooted my device already and saw in the "SuperSU"-App a Logs-Tab. How can/do I use that? Or do I have to do something more?

Thank you

Download the app called CatLog - LogCAt reader it can read all your logs and it's open source


How do I enable call waiting notification when I am calling another person? When I used my previous phone, when I am calling someone, I used to get a notification if the party that I am calling is in another call and I am waiting. I usually don't like to disturb people when they are in another call so I promptly hang up. But I've noticed that my HTC Desire S does not tell me that information.

Is it by design ?

Is there anyway I can enable this feature?

An app perhaps?

Or are all the phones running Android have this feature turned off ?

Just to clarify, I am NOT looking for activating call waiting on my phone so I get an alert when another person is calling me. I want to know when a call I initiated is in call-waiting on the other end.

Unfortunately, most (maybe all) of the Android phones don't have this option. Check this issue: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7048


How can I create a custom popup message when I open an app? I want to be able to have a popup message when I open an app, say Facebook, that reminds me that I'm wasting time..

That is:

Click on Facebook app.
Facebook opens.
A message pops up saying "You should be working" (or any custom message I would like).
I can accept and continue on Facebook.

I'm thinking there could be an app for this but I can't find what I'm looking for.

Use an automation app to accomplish it. Here is how to do it with MacroDroid:

In the Triggers tab, in the Applications section, select "Application Launched/Closed, choose Application Launched and enable Force legacy mechanism, click OK. Select an app on the list, then click OK.
In the Actions tab, in the Notifications section, select "Display Dialog". Enter a title and the message to display.
Give the macro a name and save it. It will look like the image below.

Whenever you launched the selected app, a message with the title and message you set will be displayed.


Is this red star icon malware? How to get rid of it? Every now and then a red star icon appears on my brother's notification bar, as shown below.  The message related to this notification is some advert like "Turbo Boost Your Battery". He has been installing software from doubtful places, so my guess it is some sort of malware he accidentally installed.

I'm not very familiar with Android, but my guess was to identify the process responsible for the notification. So I checked the process list, but nothing out of the ordinary was shown. I tried force-closing all processes (some returned although all of them originated from HTC or his carrier), but nothing made the star disappear. How can the malware be detected and removed?

Notification icon:

Notification message:

Definitely looks like a case of AirPush. This is a particularly invasive form of in-app advertising that uses the notification bar, even if the app utilizing it is not actively running.  Technicaly it's not malware but adware, although the way it manifests itself certainly blurs the line between the two.  The only way to stop these ads from appearing in your notification bar is to uninstall the application that came bundled with AirPush.

There are several apps on the Market that can help you detect which app uses the AirPush, so that you can uninstall them.

[Edit]
Apparently AirPush gave in to the public outcry and are now providing ways to opt out of their invasive ads: http://www.airpush.com/optout  You can either download their "opt-out" app, or manually enter your device's unique IMEI/ESN/MEID on their site.  Personally, I'd still uninstall the bundled app, since both opt-out methods would most likely use bandwidth for connecting to AirPush servers to authenticate against their databases.


Map Image Overlay App I want to take a picture of a trail map, then overlay it on google maps or somehow use it as a navigation image linked to GPS? I want to do this all on the phone, while i'm hiking/walking about and encounter a trail map. How can i do this?

Sounds like you Custom Maps is exactly what you're after.


My phone don't use speakers to the maximum of its possibilities I've a Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro.

I've a problem with its speakers. When I put the maximum volume and I put the phone close to the hear, I found that my phone uses only half speaker to share the music(or every type of audio).

Is this a bond I can unlock in my audio settings or is this a problem that the phone has took from outside?

If you disassemble the device, you will see that, despite the outer shell reserved a wide opening for sound output, the actual speaker unit is quite small and biased to one side. This will produce the effect you observed.

You might be expecting a large speaker, or 2 separate speakers filling the whole opening, which simply can't be the case for lower-end devices.


Jorte sync NationalHolidayCalendar with Google Calendar Is there any way to sync the NationalHolidayCalendar which the Jorte has with Google Calendar?The NationalHolidayCalendar of Jorte has been set up to show Greek Holidays.The google calendar shows greek national holidays ,but it only shows a few of them,while jorte shows most of them.So,I was wondering if there is anyway to sync the Jorte's NationalHolidayCalendar with Google Calendar.

From the Jorte help pages:

Select menu → Settings → Data Syncronization

If "Select synsapplication" is not checked, tap on "Select synsapplication" and have it checked.
When the "Calendar" item is checked,
synchronizing will start immediately.


How to fast scroll on Chrome Mobile I just installed Chrome Mobile on my Galaxy Note (ICS, CM9) and while it has this nice card-like interface, I didn't find how to flick the screen to fast scroll to top or bottom of pages.

In other words, using the Android stock browser, when on a very long page, if I swipe the screen for up to down fast enough with one finger, the page will scroll very fast and continuously from the bottom of page to top of the page. How to do the same with Chrome Mobile?

The amount of scroll you get on a fling is based on the friction assigned to that flick action.  In the stock browser the friction assigned to the vertical fling is really low.  So your fling isn't a command to get to the top / bottom of the page, there just isn't enough friction to stop you from getting there.  You can test this by finding an insanely long page and giving it a good fling.  You'll go pretty far but you won't reach the bottom.  The Chrome Mobile application applies a bit more friction to the vertical fling, so that same mighty flick you got so much travel from in the stock browser won't get you quite as far in Chrome Mobile.

All that aside, it would probably be worthwhile to send a request via the help page that Google use the same friction coefficient on both apps for consistency.


Power button no longer turns screen on/off - apps don't fix this properly, cannot turn off phone to root it, help! I dropped my phone into water the other day and the power button has stopped working. What is odd though is that I can force restart the phone by holding power+volume down, it's just the power button on its own that doesn't seem to work.

I have tried various apps to remap the function to the power button but they are insufficient in one way or another (usually that it just stops working after a couple minutes of inactivity).

I have seen methods to remap the power button to the volume button directly, but this requires root access. Of course, this is a problem because I need to power down the phone completely (which I could do with the Tasker app), but I'm not sure if I will be able to turn it back on again after that.

Is there then a way to force the phone to boot into Download mode with the Tasker app? I can see that I can reboot with the types "Normal", "Recovery", "Bootloader" and "Shutdown". Is the "Bootloader" type just another name for Download mode?

Forgot to mention to phone - it's a Samsung A6

Most likely not. The bootloader should typically issue the standard reboot bootloader command. However, in case of Samsung, the command needs to specify the reboot download instead. An XDA thread mentions that the following adb command brings to the download mode - adb reboot download. Maybe you can use that instead?

As per this answer, Samsung phones do not support Fastboot mode. Most of the times you'd be living off ODIN, but can also use heimdall. Don't forget to follow its commands cheatsheet as it does seem to not support the standard fastboot commands.

Also, I just wanted to remind you that if you are able to reboot the device with the Power + Volume Down combo, the same should also work when you shut down the phone but then fail to turn it back on.


Nexus 7 tablet (original model) stuck in Safe mode; no way out? I own a Nexus 7 tablet (the first Wi-Fi + 3G model - only front-facing camera, no support for phone calls). Yesterday, I wanted to take a screenshot on my tablet and tried various key combinations; i.e. power key + up/down volume keys; I am not sure about the exact combination, especially because I didn't expect anything bad to happen.

I am not sure that's the exact cause, but there's no other way it'd have gotten into safe mode.

So, how do I get my tablet out of safe mode?

I've tried:

As stated in the official docs (and confirmed by a Google rep.), simply restarting the tablet (i.e. power off, then power on) should fix it.

  ...restart your device to get it out of safe mode

Following these exact steps, I tried manually booting into safe mode, and then restarting the tablet to get out of it.
This:

  It is necessary to hold the volume control switch to "high" and then operate the "on" switch, to get out of safe mode [...] hold the "on" switch for at least fifteen seconds.

Reset device to factory settings.
Reset device in Recovery mode.

(Followed steps under Nexus 7 section) successfully from 1 to 5. Volume buttons become unfunctional at this point, and I am unable to use them to scroll to "wipe data/factory reset". Mind you, the volume buttons worked in the first few steps, so there's nothing wrong with the buttons themselves.
Battery pull, i.e. holding the power button until the tablet restarts.
Remove SIM card and restart. Insert SIM and restart.

But... NONE of them worked. My tablet is still in safe mode and I'm out of ideas. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

I had the same problem. Spent a night to fix it. First i thought it to be a software issue.. browsed and tried infinite fixes. I tried re seating flex cable that connects the volume buttons and the motherboard.I tries to factory reset through boot loader. Thought of flashing a different ROM. Dint work out for me.

Here is what worked for me.

Open the back panel of the tablet.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nexus+7+Power+%26+Volume+Button+Cable+Replacement/9926
Flip up the retaining flap on the 'power and volume button ribbon cable' connecting to the mother board. DO NOT PULL OUT THE CABLE NOW.   Be ready to pull out the cable.

3.Press the power button to switch on your tablet.

4.The moment you see Google logo, pull out 'power and volume button ribbon cable'. This will disconnect volume down key, which forces the tablet into bootloader.

5.Now the tablet is ON in normal mode.

6.Plug the 'power and volume button ribbon cable' into its mother board socket.

7.Close the panel and enjoy using your tablet.

Be very careful with 'power and volume button ribbon cable'. A slight twist or bend will short the connections inside the cable.

P.S : After powering on, Try not to switch off the tablet. The volume down key might malfunction again and your tablet might go back to boot loader. Charge it before the battery dies out. In worst case, you'll have to repeat the above steps again. Messing with the power keys cable is not always a good idea :D

The volume down key and power key combination lets you to go into boot loader. So when volume down key is malfunctioning, your tablet might go for a toss. This could be for various reasons ,

a.Volume key is abused
b. volume key cable is damaged
c. Mother board is unable to supply enough power to volume keys.
d. volume keys socket in the mother board is damaged.