Galaxy S7edge is beeping instead of vibrating last night was installed Android 7 Nougat on my Galaxy S7edge, lot of my favourite applications doesn't work with it, so I have download official ROM of Android 6 Marshmallow and downgrade it using Odin (AP file only). Now come the problem, my phone don't vibrate, I hear only very quiet beeping at this moment (time when it should vibrate).

I've already try both "wipes" in service mode, factory reset, other Marshmallow official ROM. No success. But it can't be hardware problem, because when I restart or power-on my phone, it shortly vibrate on startup.

Thx for Your help.

Luke

I have exactly the same issue with non-edge (standard) galaxy s7. I downgraded android 7 to 6 but used all four files from the official firmware (including home_csc file) which actually factory reset my device / erased data. I wasn't that bothered about restoring everything as I was relieved to escape from the awful Android 7 ui design. The vibration issue is annoying  as everything else on the reverted Android 6 is perfect. I'm using official final xeu firmware for Android 6, for my device I believe this is G930fxxu1bpl2.

Just found this statement in another forum but not had time to look into it further...
THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEM IS: We are running a Nougat Bootloader on Marshmallow

Not sure if this is correct as it appears that I have the latest android 6 bootloader G930FXXU1BPL2 (for my standard s7). However it does make sense that something from android 7 could be lingering as we both have the same issue after downgrading from Android 7 to 6.

Please post a solution if you fix yours!


Unable to run su in adb shell on an Ubuntu machine Device: Unbranded Android tablet
Android: 2.2

I was trying to root my tablet using my Ubuntu 11.10 machine.

I followed the following instructions from a site:

1. adb Install Superuser.apk
2. adb push busybox /sdcard/
3. adb push su /sdcard/

In the same terminal, now we open adb:

adb shell

Enter the command for superuser

su

Now, you will copy and paste these commands:

1. mount -o remount,rw /system
2. mv /system/xbin/su /system/xbin/oldsu
3. cp /sdcard/busybox /system/bin/busybox
4. cp /sdcard/su /system/bin/su
5. chmod 06755 /system/bin/su
6. chmod 0755 /system/bin/busybox
7. ln -s /system/bin/su /system/xbin/su
8. exit su (may say something about a bad number
9. exit
10. adb reboot

I could not run the first mount command, but still continued with rest of the 9 commands. Then, I ran a root checker app after reboot to check whether my device was rooted. It indicated no root access.

I then again ran adb shell, and then on running su, it gave an error:

su: 1: Syntax error: "(" unexpected

Now, I am not even able to delete this file. I am stuck and since it's my first time trying to root an Android device. I have no idea what should be done now to resolve this problem and successfully root my device.

Obviously the su binary you installed does not work well with your system. As you luckily created a backup of the original su executable, recommendation is to revert the incompatible changes first:

adb shell
$ oldsu
# mount -o remount,rw /system
# rm /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
# cp /system/xbin/oldsu /system/xbin/su
# exit
$ exit
adb reboot

Explanation: Start adb shell and become root (using the working oldsu executable). Delete /system/xbin/su (which is only a symlink now) and the incompatible /system/bin/su, then copy the working su back to where it belongs. Then exit the root shell and finally adb shell. The reboot is optional, and should not be needed. Also optionally you could remove busybox (or keep it if it works). Before exiting adb shell you might wish to test whether su works again, just to be sure (which is why I wrote cp for this: if anything goes wrong, you still have your oldsu available).

With those steps, you should at least have everything in working order again, and this issue is solved. Updating to a newer Android version is a separate issue: Please check the update tag, as corresponding questions already exist. Same for the ROM you might need (check the rom tag for that, and in also check the tag-wikis for update and rom).


how to get screenshots for tablet My game is on the google play store (beta testing). How do I get screen shots of the app running on a 7 inch and 11 inch tablet so I can put images of how the game looks in the store listing?

Capturing Screenshot

Install the required ADB drivers on your PC.
Connect your device with PC using wired or wireless ADB connection.
Open Terminal in Linux or Command Prompt and enter the following command.

adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/screencap.png

Now the captured screenshot will be placed on your internal sdcard. To copy the screenshot to your pc enter the command.

adb pull /sdcard/screencap.png

Now the captured screenshot will be placed on your PC


Can I restore a deleted site to the Chrome search homepage? Whenever I start Chrome, I get presented with a Google Logo, search bar and a grid of recent sites that I visited. This picture isn't from my phone, but you should get the idea:

One day I accidentally deleted one of those sites by tapping and holding the box and selecting "remove". Now I have absolutely no idea how to get it back on the front page.

Even though I visit the site several times a day, it flat out refuses to re-appear on this page and I cannot find any option or setting within Chrome to put it there.

Does anyone know how I can get a previously deleted site to re-appear on this page?

The entry that you boxed in the screenshot is a thumbnail and the entries that show up there are the most visited websites by you. For Chrome, they are collectively referred to as Top Sites.

There is a file in SQLITE format named Top Sites under the Chrome's data directory. Its location is /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/.

You can't access this file without root access, neither you can backup the Chrome for it using ADB because backup is disallowed by Chrome.

If you've access to that file, simply force-stop Chrome for Android, pull the file into PC and open it in an SQLITE browser, like DB Browser for SQLITE.

Take backup of Chrome before proceeding to further steps.

The entries are saved in the table thumbnails. They are very easy to understand and edit, so no demo is required here.

I added the current page as a first entry, pushed the file back into its location, launched Chrome, and there it is:

(Click image to enlarge; hover to know details)

It's inconsequential thing to me since I don't use that feature at all, I don't even use Chrome actually! But I suppose the concept must be introduced to know what causes the sites to show up there, and how to bring or delete them. In that regard, this answer should should've been of good service.

Cheers!


Restrict Internet access to a particular app only for a specific time period on an unrooted device I have an app that behaves poorly. It is constantly uploading stuff in the background. I think I could get it to use less power if I could impose some sort of "parental control" type feature on it. I'd like the OS to tell this app (and only this app) that there is no network (wifi/data) connection whenever it asks, except for two separate hours of the day (then if I have a connection, the app can use it for that hour).

Is there any setting that does this?

This doesn't apply to Wi-Fi, but the Android system has a per-app setting "restrict background data" that will completely stop the app from using mobile data except when the app is running in the foreground (i.e. it's the active app).

To access this setting, go to System Settings > Data Usage, then scroll down to locate the app and tap it. Then scroll down to find a checkbox for the setting.


What encoding is text messaging in? The reason for the question is that I have a friend with an iPhone who sends emoticons, and I receive them as a single rectangular box.  I wonder if it's an encoding problem.

iPhone emoticons are not character combinations like :-) but they are single UTF-16 character of emoticons called Emoji which are not by default supported in Android.

By using some third party sms apps such as GO SMS PRO and installing its Emoji Plugin you would be able to send and receive such iPhone emoticons to/from your friend.


Android AccountManager security I've asked this question before, but got no suitable replies, so here I go again. How does the Android AccountManager which is used to store your Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc... usernames and passwords implement security. For instance, off my phone is rooted, can't a third party app read the account passwords of wherever it stood them. I figure that the account manager must store these passwords somewhere on the device our logging in would not work, especially if the device was offline. Thank you for your explanations.

We cannot look into the sources of the Google AccountManager: while Android itself is open source, the Google apps are not. But we can make an educated guess:

It's not necessary to store passwords on the device in this case. You once enter your password, it gets confirmed server-side, and you receive an "authentication token" in return. That token is saved on the device, and used by it until it gets invalid (either by expiring or by being revoked) – in which case you will be asked again for your password, and the game starts over. This is why you can simply "revoke access" from devices without having to change your account password.

The token is always specific to the device (same reason – otherwise you couldn't revoke access from one device without affecting any other). I can't say whether the token would be useless to some "root app" aquiring it without your permission (non-root apps would have to ask you for your confirmation when first accessing it), or what they could do with such a token while offline (again, closed-source parts) – maybe someone else is able to shed a light on that.


Home screen filled with app icons My ASUS Transformer tablets home screen is becoming filled with app icons, many being duplicates. Q: how do I get rid of the spare ones? How do I stop them getting there in the first place?

Hold on an icon and drag it over another icon should give you your the ability to create a folder. You can then drag other icons into this folder.

You could create various folders - one for games, one for apps, one for social, tools, etc.

If you've got duplicates, you should be able to hold the icon and drag it to an area of the screen that allows you to remove that particular icon. I'm not 100% sure where it is on a Transformer, but generally it's at the top of the screen.


Nexus 4 problems connecting usb mtp I recently bought a Nexus 4 and I encountered a real issue with my computer (Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit) not being able to connect in USB mode. It does however work with Camera PTP mode, which I find very strange.

I have tried/tested with:

Different usb cables
My computer with the same OS of Windows 8 64 bit isn't connecting compared to another computer with the same OS.
Removing its current drivers on my computer and reinstalling drivers from Nexus 4 ToolKit
Restarting the computer
With/without USB debugging mode

Note that the device is visible on the computer although it's not recognized:

I have Windows 8.1 and I had the same problem, PTP working, MTP not. I was following the steps suggested in this page but it wasn't doing the job, until I made some previous steps, and slightly changed the last part. Summarising what I did is:

Connect your device.
Unistall ALL the drivers from the Device Manager, be sure to go in "View"->"Show hidden devices" and then check that all of the following are unistalled:

a) Android Devices

b) Other devices

c) Portable interfaces
Now disconnect your device.
Check the PTP mode and connect your device. Wait for the drivers to be installed.
Without disconnecting check the MTP mode on your device and wait the drivers to be installed again.

Now it should WORK!! At least it did it for me ;)


How can I embed youtube videos so they play on my HTC Wildfire? I have created a youtube video and embedded in on this page:

http://tanguay.info/test169.htm

I tried to play it on my HTC Wildfire in the default browser, but it says there is no flash player installed.

However, I know I have played youtube videos before on this device, so it must be possible.

What do I have to change so that my HTC Wildfire can play embedded youtube vidoes that I produce?

You can produce videos in the vp8 format.  This is Google's answer to HTML5 video and is supported by most of their phones.

You have the option of embedding the video using HTML5 and <video> tags, or uploading the mobile friendly version to YouTube and embedding the link in an iFrame like previously suggested.

vp8 is much like H.264 in that they both boast high-quality/low-overhead and both have hardware decoders. WebM is the container format for vp8 and will remain Royalty Free as long as the technology exists, whereas H.264 will require encoders (and possibly decoders) to pay fees for its use.


wifi-connection-weak signal My provider has a data cap if 5gb. I have a Samsung Acclaim. Before I went with my current provider I had a smart phone and the provider had no data cap and I downloaded videos, pics, ringtones and streaming videos limitlessly. I am now struggling to stay under the 5gb limit every month. I've heard that wifi doesn't count against the 5gb cap but whenever I try and use it I never get a signal that lasts for very long and it's usually a very poor signal. Any advice, tips or help would be greatly appreciated.

Wifi connections work by talking to a local wireless access point so, basically, you need to be within reach of one.  Public access points can be found in pubs, coffee shops and the like. You may also have one at home.


Is there a widget available that duplicates the Launcher Pro Calendar Agenda widget? Here's what I'm talking about:

I want a widget that shows me an agenda of my Google calendar just like this. But I'm not using Launcher Pro anymore, I'm now on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and am using the stock ICS launcher, so I need a new widget to replace the widget from Launcher Pro.

Indeed - there are a few but I'd recommend Rolf's Agenda Widget. Lots of options and highly configurable.

Scrolling support is present, although the launcher must support scrollabel widgets like ADW / LPP / GoLauncher do.


How do I set my contact picture for text messaging with my Huawei Fusion? I have a Huawei Fusion and I have been trying to find out how to change the grey Android picture into my own personal one. I have had no luck finding out how to on the internet. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, you didn't specify your Android version :(

However:

Android 4.x Onwards:

Open up your People app.
Look for an entry called Me.
Click it.
Click the picture at the top, and select either take picture or select from gallery.
Take or select a picture, crop it and your done!

Android ≤ 4.x:

Note: It has been a while since I tried this - I cannot remember if it works or not

Open your Contacts app.
Add a new entry, call it Me or just add your name in like usual.
Add your number FULLY. You may want to add it twice (with and without country code).
Add a picture to that contact you just created.
Voila! The picuture is now in SMS!

Other Method:

I noticed that on some contact apps, there is a 'My Contact Card' or something like that in the menu. If you have it, you can use it to set your picture as well.


How to prevent pop up PDF file automatically after downloading it? I use lenovo phone where I faced this problem but I got no solution to fix the problem.

After download of any PDF file it pops up automatically and automatically it opens . This problem is really irritating when I download more than 10 PDF file together . After downloading one file it pops up then I need to close it then return to my download page and download another file it really takes lot of time. Any solution ?

Long press on the download link, and press on open in new tab this will download the file in the background instead of opening it right away. You will then be able to access the file by going to downloads in chrome or using a file manager.

(Tested on Moto x4 using chrome. Can't vouch for other devices)


Cannot click Evernote clipper from Google Chrome for Android Why can't I click the Evernote clipper from Google Chrome?

Is there a way to do this?

Here's my recommendation to anyone who encounters a similar problem: if Chrome fails, another browser should work.

Try these browsers (you may even like them better):

Firefox (or Adblock Browser, which is Firefox with an adblocker)
Puffin Browser (Flash browser, allows you to play Adobe Flash content)
Opera Mini (or Mobile)
Dolphin Browser (thought this used to be called Dolphin Browser Mini)

Now if it still doesn't work, then you can try the Evernote for Android app and use these instructions to clip.

In general on Android, it is better to use an app if it exists, as the interface is designed for mobile use. Evernote's clipper is designed for desktop users, but the mobile app should have an interface for clipping in mobile browsers.


How to delete a date and time tab in setting to prevent user from changing it? (Please understand me about my broken English.)

I am a student in South Korea.

I am making a quite restricted Lenovo tablet, to make it a perfect education device. The goal is to "help" students to study hard.

To do that, I have to prevent the users from changing the system time in the "Settings", Because changing system time is a easy way to pass my time-dependent application block.

So I am trying to delete the date and time menu from the system settings, to keep only auto time:

By an experience of deleting a guest mode in the system, I think I should use the Buildprop app. But I don't know, what I should delete and change in the system.

Of course it's okay not using Buildprop.

I have a rooted device and my Android version is nougat, 7.1.1.

I'm sorry for using broken English and thanks for reading this.
Have a good day!

Please understand my awkward English (I am writing with an English dictionary.)

As you can see comments on this question, I have solved this problem by FireLord's help, but it not perfect, because I am not good at Android.

This question is similar to this.  Refer to this first.

In summary, my simple solution is this:

Using Settings Editor (needs Xposed Framework)
Using My Android Tools or Elixrs 2 apk (needs root permission)
pm disable with adb

In my case, a approach of using 'pm disable' with adb is not working.
(adb asks me a correct package name. I command adb shell pm disable com.android.settings.˜˜˜.. I don't know correct reason)

And, I can't use the approach of 1. using Settings Editor, because my financial app blocks Xposed Framework.

So I have solved by (2) using my Android tools:

installed apk -> activity menu -> find 'Setting' apk under System tab

disable components you want by toggling these. Such as display, language ...(needed root access)

I think many Setting component is named 'setting$example'.

But you should learn by trial and error, disable 10 packages and test by opening Setting apk and again, again to get a result you want. (You should backup first before testing)

In my case, it's easy to hide display, language tab and etc (just disable one proper package).

But the "Date and time" tab is never disabled.

So I disabled 'SystemSettings' (I've hidden the whole system category in the Settings), 'SubSettings' to block approach of all menu from Search in settings (it blocks many Activity. Should check after disable!) and 'SettingActivity' in Clock apk to prevent the appearance of the date and time menu.

It is hard to say a correct and perfect solution because of my broken English and deficient knowledge about Android. What I want to emphasize is this: you should learn by trial and error, and then you can get a result what you want.

Thanks for reading and to FireLord.


Persistent download notification on Galaxy S3 running Android 4.3 My Galaxy S3 from Sprint keeps showing me that a file (a picture) has been downloaded. I deleted the downloaded file after a day or two, yet the notification still pops up and when I tap on it, it says item not found.  I believe there is a bug in the software that this keeps happening. How can I get rid of this?

Note: I don't want to get rid of download notifications at all, just this one.

Saw this on another site:

Ryan answered 4 weeks ago
I was having the same issue after I updated my Galaxy S3 to Android 4.3.
I think I just fixed it. Here's what I did:

From the home screen, click the Apps icon
Open the "Downloads" app
In my case the files that kept showing up in the notification pull down were in the Other Downloads tab
Click the "Clear list" button at the bottom of the screen

After a restart I didn't get any more notifications.

Source: Just did this myself.


Stop notifications from chrome spam My new Android device is full of spams. I get chrome notifications continuously from a website I did not even visit once. looks like a gossip site. Are there any methods to stop these annoying notifications?

Try the following:

Open Chrome, then Settings,select Site Settings
Click on Notifications. Check if that website is listed among the Allowed sites.
If yes, Click on it. Remove or block the permissions given to it by clicking on the permissions


Disable calls and SMS and use only mobile data with active SIM card I have a Sony Xperia Z1 packed with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. I'm interested if it's possible to setup my phone to not receive any phone calls or SMS.

I would like to use my Internet connection only, and I don't mean WiFi - my mobile ISP connection from the SIM card.

Is this possible? If so, how?

There is one hack by which you can block your incoming calls.

Go to Settings -> Call settings -> Call forwarding
Now Click on Always forward and enable it to forward the calls to a wrong number.
This will ensure that calls will not come to you and the caller get the tone that call is being forwarded and number is wrong.

You can disable Call forwarding anytime you want.

Hope this will help.


How to import contacts from symbian mobile to android mobile? I had Nokia 5610 ( S40 v5 ) mobile, and recently i got a new Android mobile ( HTC Desire S ). Now, when i put my sim card in my new phone i get all contacts which were saved in SIM memory, but there were lots of contacts in phone memory. I would like to import those also. How can i do that?

You will need the Nokia PC Suite tool but here is the easiest and fastest way.

Connect Nokia to PC using the PC-Suite
go to Contacts - press CTRL+A (select all)
go to Desktop/Subfolder - press CTRL+V (paste)
that will create a .vcf file for each contact
from a command prompt run the following command in the folderon your desktop where the files are saved:
copy *.vcf contacts.txt
open http://google.com/contacts
choose "Import" link in google contacts.


Can I backup my purchased android app I need this information because,  if my data gets lost because of some reason I need to reinstall all my apps, but what about those which I've purchased.  Is it necessary to purchase those purchased apps again or else their is a way for backup.

You can backup any app you like, even purchased ones.
For your purchased apps: Make sure to log in to the Google Account you purchased it with. Else you might get "unlicensed" errors.


Why is there such a difference in the amount of internal memory? So first, when I go to Settings -> Apps this is what is shown:

(Click image to enlarge)

After some time ~20 seconds, the amount of space left is this:

(Click image to enlarge)

Why does this happen? What does this mean? And when installing any Android app I always get the insufficient storage space error. Why?  When determining the amount of space that is free, which of the two screenshots' storage space  does the Android OS consider? Anyhow, in both the cases the minimum that I had was 40MB and the app that I wanted to install was 12MB, yet I got the error.  I am running on HTC Legend, Android 4.1  Please clear this confusion. Thanks!

Your confusion is most likely caused by the way the Playstore handles installs/updates. They are first downloaded and stored in internal storage (not on sdcard, but /data/local), then the app is to be installed on the same partition (/data/data/app.package.name) -- only after that the download can be deleted.

In your case, this would mean a 12M download, which then needs to be unpacked (at least another 12M, or rather more) -- which could sum up to 30M or more. A safety margin needs to be kept to keep the device from crashing -- so you get the "insufficient storage" error.

See also: Package Install via Market sometimes fails and gives seemingly random error message


Should I be worried about this strange notification from Delta? I got a notification from the Fly Delta app that just says "test". The icon appears to be missing. Should I be concerned about this? I've uninstalled the Delta app, but I'm unsure if I need to do more.

This is, to the best of my knowledge, the official Delta Airlines app installed from the Play Store.

A Twitter search suggests that a lot of people got the same message. It appears to be an error at Delta. What I don't know is whether there's any way to confirm that a particular message came from the app vs spoofed it in some way.


Two phones appearing on android device manager I lost my phone last month and was desperately looking for ways to track it. I never installed any apps to track it and so I got online to see if there were other options and found 'Android Device Manager'. After the remote download, I tried locating it, but then the internet was turned off and a few days later with no success, I decided to go for the factory reset. I was talking with a friend today and he told me that, he got a call from someone saying I had given that person his number, so I decided to get on ADM to see if I could maybe track it this time or check what was going on. To my surprise, I now see two phones listed under my account. I have not bought a new phone yet. I am just wondering why does it show another phone under my account.

the factory reset was most likely successful. i'm guessing the twin devices are showing different locations and one or both never move and may show as offline (if both are offline, dead battery). the device is linked to ADM via your google account and an ID generated when android boots up for the first time. after the remote reset, the device will boot, generate the new ID and ask for the password to the google account the device is linked to. as a ROM addict, i know this all too well. there have been times i've flashed 10 ROMs in a day. i used up my device removal limit on google play music very quickly.


How can you prevent a Kindle Fire from auto-mounting on a Mac when you plug it in to USB? I've got a Kindle Fire and I like to plug it in to my Mac to charge up (and also to do some development.)  It works fine but it is annoying to have to unmount it every time.

Is there any way to prevent it from auto-mounting when you plug it into USB?

Check Your Phone it should show some setting named 'Connect to PC'. Change the "Default connection type" to "Charge only".


Google Now - "no app found to open url" I've been having this problem for about two days. It started happening at random and I've not been able to find solution to the problem.

Basically if I try to open a link to a website that has an app on the playstore, Google Now will tell me that it can't find an app to open the link with instead of opening it in Chrome.

I have tried clearing defaults and reinstalling both chrome and Google Now but to no avail. If the website doesn't have an app linked to the playstore it opens just fine in Chrome.

I'm running euphoria on 5.1 if that helps. I'm also rooted.

You may need to do a factory reset and re-root. This has happened to me and after two days of clearing, deleting and re-downloading nothing work. Did the factory reset and re-rooted back to businesses as usual. Back up everything first.


Android Wear "Google" app only shows weather info I have been using my Sony SWR50 smart watch for about a week now and all is working just fine, everything syncs up as you'd expect.

However when I use the "swipe up" gesture to bring up the Google app, it only ever shows weather info (local, work and current location). I then swipe left to see more options and hit "More from Google" and it never actually gives me anything else, just the same 3 weather items again.

In contrast, on my phone (OnePlus 2) the google app shows the weather and a whole bunch of other stuff such as news articles, youtube feeds, traffic warnings etc.

On the watch there doesn't seem to be any way to configure what is shown.

How can I add more interesting stuff to the watch's google app content?

Google Now on Android Wear can not be customised. It will get all cards from the phone that are "compatible". Here is a list of compatible cards on Android Wear:

Stocks
Weather
Reminders
Sports
Traffic
Flights
Boarding pass
Shipping confirmation for packages
Public transit info on nearby trains & buses
Friends’ birthdays
Public alerts
Reminders to leave on time for upcoming appointments
Hotel & restaurant reservations

For more details: https://support.google.com/androidwear/answer/6056898?hl=en


Is there a an app for recording voice notes that syncs to cloud storage? I have been using Note Everything for making text and voice notes.

However, the problem with it is that it stores everything locally, and if the phone dies, like mine recently did, I lose all the notes. It does have a backup function, but I have to take steps to save the backup files which I often forget to do.

What I really want is an application that will always sync every voice and text note with a server somewhere, so that it doesn't matter if the phone is destroyed.

I do not need to share these notes with anyone else, and I would rather that whatever service I used the default was that all my notes were private. However, if I could also access my notes via the web, that would be ideal. Critically, though, it needs to have both voice and text.

Are there any applications like that?

Use Evernote. It features cloud sync and it lets you access your notes from almost all platform. You can create audio notes directly from homescreen using its widget, too.


How to remove google synced data from my phone? I added my father's Google account in my android phone to help him in some work as his phone wasn't working. Now before I could stop the sync settings, it has synced some contacts in my phone with his data. Can I remove the data from my android phone which has been synced from his account?

If the contacts remain after you removed the account, you should be able to remove them clearing your contacts storage app cache.


Using a separate account for Play Store purchases My family own a number of Android devices. We each have our own google account but ther is no credit-card linked to any of them. I'd like to keep it that way. But occasionally, I'd like to buy an app, but I can't as there is no way to pay without registering a credit card. At least with iPhones, I can use a gift card, but they don't seem to be available for android.

Is there a way that I can create a new account and link it to a credit card and whenever one of the family wants to purchase an app, sign on to the app-store with this account, buy the app, and sign out again.  Will the app still work on the phone if the current user is not account that bought the app?

Edit: Here's the Play-Store "Accounts" dialog showing no "Add" option.

You should be able to add another account in Google Play on the devices that can be used for purchasing and downloading apps. You can even set a pin for it. With the Google Play Store open:

Tap the settings button in the upper right-hand corner

Tap Accounts

Tap Add account and then OK

Go through the account setup and now you should be able to select that account to purchase and download apps.


call recorder for Moto G - clear opponents voice Moto G 4G
android 4.4.4

I have tried many call recorders with different settings, and in all cases my voice is clear but not the one of the opponent, the person I talk to.

Any app and settings that can register clearly the opponent s voice for Moto G?

Good news also. Boldbeast Call recorder works perfectly for Moto G / Moto X, it records calls loudly and clearly in two directions. Root is needed.

Here is the app: Moto G / Moto X Call Recorder

This app is free.


How to change search engine in Nova launcher? All search bars in Nova Launcher use Google. Can I change this?

Firstly, remove the Google Search bar. After that, hold anywhere in the homescreen where there ins't any icons. Click "Widgets". Then browse to the widget of the search bar of your choice.


How to display several RTSP streams at once? I want to be able to show several RTSP live streams simultaneously. Like, the phone screen divided in, say, 4 parts and in each part a separate stream from a separate IP camera displayed.

How can I do that?

Hm, 4 parts from different cameras -- looks like IP Cam Viewer is capable of that:

Not that hard to find: Just entered "ipcam" in the search box at the playstore site, and clicked on the first result. You might want to try the others, maybe you find something even better suited for your requirements. Or use this one to better restrict it (ipcam + rtsp).


Google chrome won't connect to the internet on mobile data This site can’t be reached

m.facebook.com refused to connect

No issues browsing the net on Chrome using WiFi
No issues browsing the net on Firefox using mobile/WiFi
No issues installing app for the play store (I installed Firefox to test) using mobile/WiFi
Can receive non-SMS messages (example: WhatsApp) using mobile/WiFi
Can make phone calls
Clearing chrome data did not do anything
No VPN active right now

Consider reinstalling chrome. Because something it happens error while downloading . May be the script in there somewhere is corrupted. Sometimes reinstall help


Samsung Galaxy S10+ Will not boot into Recovery mode from Download Mode for the first time ever i'v tried to root my samsung device

I am running a Samsung Galaxy S10+ SM-G975F

I started by making sure OEM was unlocked + USB debugging put the phone into bootloader mode and unlocked it, then i proceeded to copy the AP firmware file across from my PC to the phone, Then used The Magisk Manager app to create the patched file, Copied this back over to my PC and flashed with ODIN v3.13

After the flash was complete for the root, the video i was watching mentioned you have to boot into recovery mode from download mode,

via

Hold Volume Down + Power button until the device restarts

Quickly Hold Volume Up + Bixby Button + Powerbutton, Until you see the bootloader warning flash then release all buttons except the Volume Up, until you boot into recovery mode.

Now I'v tried absolutely everything possible combination wise

Does anyone here have any solutions that may be of assistance as to me doing something incorrect?

the video i followed was this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3a8YnWT3yk

I can enter Download mode still with the Key Combinations, just i'm unable to reach Recovery mode with the combinations that are explained to use

Thank you.

The problem with the S10 is that you cannot shut it down from "out of the Android OS".
Then you can only boot into the recovery with the (hard-ass) key combination when your phone is completely shut down. So if you miss the tricky key combination one time after shutdown or odin-flash you're stuck in some kind of boot loop between the "bootloader" and the "security warning". The only solution seems to be to let the battery drain so the phone is completely off and then use of one of the following methods:

Booting Into Different Modes
Even though you have rooted your Samsung Galaxy S10, you still have to
keep in mind that both the recovery and the Magisk will be in the same
partition. Which means that you will have to use a different method to
root into the rooted system.
Note: The following steps are to be followed when your phone is
completely powered off.
Unrooted System: Simply hold the power button as you would normally and your phone will boot into an unrooted system.
Rooted System: Hold the Power, Bixby, and Volume Up buttons together, and release them once the Bootloader Warning screen appears
and that will boot your phone into the rooted system.
Stock Recovery: In order to do that, you will have to hold the Power, Bixby, and Volume Up buttons together, and release the Power
and Bixby buttons when the Bootloader Warning screen appears and keep
holding the Volume Up button to boot your device into the stock
recovery.

In your case it will be the last option which is the most tricky key combination ever. I also failed it several times, it needs practice! (I suppose Samsung did this on purpose).
Check this guide, it's the best I found out there:
Root Samsung S10 Guide


Does Nexus 7 has Bluetooth Smart technology? I've read here http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Bluetooth-Smart-Devices-List.aspx among other pages that it has this technology, but i'm trying to connect to a beacon with it and the app says that "Device does not have Bluetooth Low Energy".

Are there maybe any Nexus 7 devices without this kind of bluetooth or what is the problem?

The device is updated and the beacons are working because i can find them with other devices.

I assume you're referring to the 2012 version of the Nexus 7? Although the hardware is capable of supporting Bluetooth LE (as suggested by the link in your question), Google never certified it as such and so the stock ROM does not support it.

There is an answer to a similar question on stackoverflow which appears to suggest that CyanogenMod (and maybe other custom ROMs) has added support for Bluetooth LE on the 2012 Nexus 7.


Device not booting after factory reset My problems is my phone keep showing 'ANDROID' after I'm resetting it.

I tried to restart but it keep showing the same.

What can I do?

Depending on your phone there could an option for a "hard" factory reset. This is usually done through a combination of key press just after turning the device ON so it does not require the OS to start.

I would suggest you to google "hard factory reset" with the name of your device to find more information.


How can I uninstall Lock Screen Widget from my Nexus One? I am trying to Lock Screen Widget, But I am getting the following error from 'adb logcat' as I uninstall it.

  W/PackageManager(   96): Not removing
  package
  com.droidmania.lockscreenwidget: has
  active device admin

Can u please tell me how can I uninstall it?

Thank you.

You might need to remove the Lock Screen Widget app from Menu -> Settings -> Location & security -> Select device administrators screen before trying to uninstall it.


Sony Xperia U not working after failed update I've been having problems for some time with my phone connecting to my pc/charger which Sony advised me to correct with the latest update.

However, when I tried the update failed twice and now my phone just shows an error screen with an exclamation mark and phone.

Can't do anything with it at all.

What can I do to fix it?

As it is a software issue, and you have not used a custom ROM, the best thing to do would be to send it to the Sony repair centre.


Samsung Galaxy S4 USB Not Recognized by Windows 7 When I connect my Samsung Galaxy S4 (Verizon) with a USB cable to my work PC that is running Windows 7, my work PC recognizes it immediately.  I see all my pictures, music, etc.

When I connect my phone to my home PC which is also running Windows 7, I get a device named "CD Drive (F:) Verizon Mobile".  I see a very short list of folders and files that includes a USB driver (with an autorun) and a few Mac OS folders in it.  In Device Manager, this shows up under DVD/CD-ROM drives" with a driver named "SAMSUNG File-Stor Gadget USB Device".

After a few seconds of looking at  these files, Windows removes the device and replaces it with one labeled "SCH-I545".  Clicking on SCH-I545, there are no files visible.  I have many files and photos on my phone, but I can't see any of them in Explorer.  If I right-click SCH-I545 and get Proeprties, I see a battery level, but nothing else.

Opening Device Manager, I see SCH-I545 in the list of portable devices.  The manufacturer of this driver is Microsoft.  I have tried uninstalling the driver, unplugging the phone, and plugging it back in, but the same thing happens.

I have tried downloading and installing the USB driver from the Samsung site, but the same thing happens.

I have managed to get Samsung Link working to load some files onto my phone, but I would much rather use a file copy mechanism.

Does anyone have an idea of how I can get my home PC to recognize the phone and let me copy files to and from it?

After searching the Internet for similar issues, I did the following:

I unplugged my phone from the USB cable.
On the home screen, I pressed the bottom left Settings button and chose Settings.
I selected "... More".
I pressed "Developer options" in the list below.
I turned on the Developer options at the top.
Under the Debugging section, I checked "USB debugging".
I reinstalled Samsung Kies.
I started Kies.
After Kies started, I plugged in my phone to the USB cable.

After connecting my phone with Kies running, the Windows Update form appeared and a new entry was in the list.  After the driver installation, everything worked.  I don't even have to run Kies first before connecting my phone to get Windows 7 to recognize it.  It just works.

I don't know exactly what series of events caused this to start working, but now I can actually copy stuff to and from my phone.  (Yay!)


Can I use ADB wirelessly on an unrooted phone via SSH without a USB connection? My phone, an LG V10, is unrooted, something that I intend to fix. However, I appear to have a catch-22 ...

To put simply, it has a broken USB port, ergo the common recommendation of using USB debugging + 'adb tcpip 5555' to bootstrap a wireless adb connection seems to be a non-starter. My Warranty is non-existent. I reiterate for clarity's sake: it has not a single connection via ADB, it is not nor has it ever been rooted, and the bootloader is pure and virgin (i.e., locked). Would it be possible to send ADB commands to my phone via a non-root SSH connection (presumably with PuTTY and SSHDroid)?

You could use wireless ADB if your ROM has it, but you'd still need a wired connection for fastboot. So your only hope of rooting would rely on some hack over ADB, not the traditional unlock bootloader, flash recovery.

Unlock the developer setting: go to about phone in settings and tap the build number 7 times. Then go in there and look for an option for ADB over network.

You can also open up a terminal on the device, like you were talking about doing with SSH, but it would have even less ability to do anything useful (as far as rooting your phone,) than ADB.

If you do get it rooted, you might be able to install a custom recovery from the rooted system, at which point you'll be home free. You can download files and flash them from internal storage.


Can't play multicast using VLC application on Amazon Fire TV settop box I have downloaded the VLC application to my Amazon Fire TV settop box. I want to use the VLC application to play a multicast video that is streaming on my LAN but it does not play.

I have noticed that-

A wireshark capture does not show any IGMP messages from the Amazon Fire TV settop's IP address
If I remove the routers between the Amazon Fire TV settop and the streamer the video does play

I'm not sure if the problem is with VLC or with the Amazon Fire TV kernel. Any ideas would be appreciated.

The FireTV box does not support IP multicast as the config flag CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST is not set.

However, the FireTV Stick do support it!

CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST=y


How to change language in Skype I installed Skype on my Samsung Galaxy Tab, and need change default English language.

How to change Skype Tablet interface language from English to other (French, for example)?

Skype for Android uses your tablet's default language. From their support site:

  Skype for Android is currently available in [32 different] languages (based on your phone’s or tablet’s language setting).

What language is your tablet set to? To check (or to change it) go to Settings > Language & input. It does not look possible to change the language used by Skype without changing it for the whole tablet.


HTC Desire - Problem writing to /system I have an HTC Desire HD Android device. I rooted it with SuperOneClick. I get a # prompt in terminal. adb remount fails. I'm able to remount /system with

mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system

I can now make changes to /system.

The problem is that my changes are erased when I reboot the phone. This is true even if I create a small dummy file, e.g. derf.txt

Also any new apps that I install go in /data/app while the pre-installed apps are in /system/app.

Output of mount is:

mount
rootfs / rootfs ro,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,relatime,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,relatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,relatime 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system ext3 rw,relatime,errors=continue,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p26 /data ext3 rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,errors=continue,data=o
rdered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p27 /cache ext3 rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,errors=continue,data=
ordered 0 0
/dev/block/mmcblk0p28 /devlog ext3 rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,errors=continue,data
=ordered 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /app-cache tmpfs rw,relatime,size=8192k,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0
/data/d /data/d debugfs rw,relatime 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:33 /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,
uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharse
t=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/vold/179:33 /mnt/secure/asec vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,rela
time,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,ioc
harset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure tmpfs ro,relatime,size=0k,mode=000 0 0
#

Has anyone seen this? Can you explain why my changes get wiped out when I reboot the phone?

Thank you very much!

Instead of

mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system

try

mount -o rw,remount /system


Nexus 5 whole battery drained in a single night I charged my phone to 100% before going to sleep. I used it for only few minutes and found out my phone was off in the morning because all the battery was drained. I charged it and saw battery stat and it showed as:

It shows that the screen was totally off the whole night. What caused the battery to drain so fast?

Another stat view:

It is the first time this has happened.

We are using Exchange on serveral devices at the office (for testing) and what i noticed is that sometimes exchange services seem to drain alot of battery even when set to a low interval or push.

This typically happens when Exchange is trying to pull some data from the server but an error occurs. The end user (you) does not always see the error.

For me usually a reboot fixes the problem, worst case remove the Exchange profile and reinstall it afterwards.


Strange (unfamilar screen) on my Galaxy Tab? I have a Galaxy Tab 10.1.  It was powered off and charging when my nephew picked it up and turned in on.  When he handed it to me on the screen was a graphic of an open box, the android logo with the words downloading.

It has been in this state for 4 hours now and I cannot switch the device on or off.  Please help me understand what has happened and what I should do.

Your device is in Download Mode. I don't have that device, but if the battery doesn't come out, you will probably need to use ADB and send an adb reboot to get it out of Download mode. If you don't know how to use ADB, then you can just let the battery die. I don't like that option though because the same image will be on the screen for an extended period of time.

Does the screen look like this:

To use ADB:

Download the USB Drivers from Samsung
Download the Android SDK
connect the device to your computer via USB cable
open a command prompt where the Android SDK was installed and change to the platform-tools directory. for example, my sdk is installed at c:\android-sdk so I run the following:

C:\android-sdk> cd platform-tools

then try to reboot with adb:

C:\android-sdk\platform-tools\> adb reboot

if that doesn't work try the following command:

C:\android-sdk\platform-tools\> fastboot reboot


Do not mute Sound on incoming notification - Android, YouTube Is there an option to manage sound notification behaviour on a Android phone?

Description:
In the morning, I do watch YouTube lectures, but every minute or so I do receive Slack message, that mute the voice in the video for 5 seconds. It is really annoying, and hard to listen the lecture.

How it should be:

Option 1: Allow a notification to interrupt the sound/video stream without muting it (so the 'bip' would overlay/merge to the sound stream, but the video would continue).
Option 2: (the current system state): Mute the application, but do not stop the video (very annoying)!
Option 3: Mute the application, but stop the stream/video/music.

I know that there are some option to mute the phone (manual), or install an app (automatic), but I do not wan't do mute the notification itself. I do want to hear it, just without muting the sound/video/music that is currently playing!

My system Android 5, Samsung Galaxy S5

Greetings
Jakub

Related topic:
Disable Notification while watching Videos or Listening Music

The Don't Pause! app promises to help here:

  Are you tired of Notifications interrupting your music?
  […]
  Don't Pause was designed to keep your device from interrupting you when you are listening to music. If you are listening to music through your android phone and you get a text message or email, by default, Android pauses your music and plays the notification. Don't Pause fills in here. Don't Pause will run continuously once you start it and when you are playing music it automatically puts your notifications on vibrate. After you finish your music, Don't Pause automatically changes your setting back to the normal ringer.

I have not tried the app myself (no use-case for me), but a 4-star rating with more than 2.5k votes sounds promising.


After upgrade to Nougat phone started forgetting recent apps After my S7 Edge upgraded to Nougat, I noticed it only keeps a few apps in Recent Apps list, as opposed to before when it kept basically everything until I removed it. The amount of apps in the list changes over time, so maybe it only shows apps opened in last X hours, but I am not sure. I haven't been able to find anything relevant in Settings. The phone isn't rooted and isn't in Developer mode.

The strange thing is that I haven't seen anybody else mentioning this issue. Does it happen for anybody else? And any idea how it can be fixed?

I believe this is a feature, not a bug. http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/05/18/android-n-includes-tweak-of-recent-apps-ui-with-clear-all-button-at-top-only-7-apps-included-in-switcher-and-quick-switch-shortcut/

The article says that Google claims that "their user research showed that over 99% of users never accessed an app further back than 7 in the recent apps UI".

Unfortunately, for the thousands of 1%ers, this is an annoying change! I have yet to find a setting to modify it's behaviour, and it's possible that it's simply not configurable.


How to copy and paste an event in Samsung Galaxy A7 S-Planner running KitKat? I've just bought a Samsung Galaxy A7 running on Android 4.4.4. How do I copy and paste calendar event in S-Planner app?

It would be great if this function was added again... sooooo frustrating.
It existed before:

here's a print screen from my galaxy S2 running android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)

Now on my galaxy S4 running android 5.0.1 (Lollipop) it isn't available anymore:

For Kit Kat I don't know... don't have any device using it unfortunately. But if it doesn't appear in the popup menu when keeping finger on the event, it's likely that it has been removed since that version.

Hope this helps and that this function will be added again in the future.


Change default music app used by ES File Explorer I tried to change the default music app executed with ES File Explorer with not success. I tried to clear the data of the app, uninstall and install again and set the default music app with Default App Manager.

Is it possible to set the default music app for ES File Explorer?

What's the app that is currently launched when you open a music for in ES? Find that app in the Settings > Apps and tap on Clear defaults (not Clear data). Note that you need to clear defaults on the music player app, not on ES File Explorer.

Alternatively, you can go to ES Settings (open ES, then tap on the icon to the left of the current folder path, then tap on Settings on the bottom) > Cleanup settings > Clear defaults.


Problem viewing SD card contents while connected to PC I have a problem while connecting my Samsung Galaxy Y Duos to my computer using a USB cable. My mobile displays "NO memory card. YOU cannot view Your photos, music etc"

I do actually have the memory card in the mobile. What can I do about this?

While the phone is connected as a USB mass storage device, it's giving the PC sole access to the SD card. The phone can't access the card at the same time because of how the USB mass storage protocol works. That's why newer Android phones use MTP instead: a different protocol that lets the phone and the PC access the SD card at the same time.

To keep the SD card available on the phone while it's connected to a PC, change the USB connection settings so that the phone is not acting as a USB mass storage device. I don't know exactly how the settings work on that phone, but if you click on the Connected to PC (or similar) notification it should take you to the appropriate settings page. There you can switch to MTP if your phone supports it, or to Charge only if it doesn't.


How do I find out if an app can be moved to the SD card before I install it? Is there a way I can do this?  Too many times I install an app, only to uninstall it, because it can't be moved to SD.

If you have the APK file you can open it (e.g. by apktool) and in its AndroidManifest.xml file, there should be a string, something like android:installLocation="auto". If you cannot find that string, then that app can only be installed in internal storage of the device.


Can I boost/improve reception on my Droid? With a rooted phone and an app you can overclock or underclock your processor.  Also, off Android, with some hacks you can boost power of a wifi router and wifi antenna.  It seems to me that if you can do those things you could boost the reception of your cell antenna some how.  Am I right?  If so, how?

Not really to do with actually altering your reception per-se, but you can update your PRL (preferred roaming list) of your phone for newer cell towers which might give you better reception.  On Verizon, dial *228 and follow the prompts.


WAP Push messages - what and why are they? I've recently noticed that my phone received a strange SMS from sender called "wap_push_si!".

Googling about this message provides that it might be some kind of cellular-network-carrier maintenance/update message, though some suspect that it might also be exploited to carry malicious links.

Anyway, I've been using CyanogenMod with Google's default Messenger (not Hangouts) app - and can't seem to find a way to disable those messages. They even don't really appear in the Messenger app's messages list, but I've noticed them using Android API to read my device's messages (where they seem to be empty).

So, my questions are:

What are these messages really for?
How (or should) can they be disabled in Google Messenger app / CyanogenMod?
Can it be related to my phone sometimes losing cellular-data connection (but can still send/receive sms and calls)?
If there's any link inside this special kind of message, might it be automatically opened (without any user interaction), thus compromising the phone?

I cannot answer all your questions, but I can tell you this, I was also getting a message regularly from WAP_PUSH_SI! with no content in it through my stock Samsung messages app. I would delete it and it would come back, even on airplane mode. So the problem and cause is from another app. That app is Google messenger. If you install a different sms app, then change the new app to your default sms app, then delete the google messenger app, you will never see this message again. I do not know why Google messenger is doing that, but I saw on a forum where someone has sent a complaint with a picture to Google regarding this issue. I know Wap_push_ is generally used to push some sort of promotion or advertising for paid products or services..it is all about money.


Auto-sync data turns itself off randomly On my Nexus 4, sync turns itself off randomly.

Almost once a day, the option Settings > Data usage > Auto-sync data gets silently unchecked. My Nexus 4 is brand new, and I have not installed any apps that I think would interfere with system settings.

This is very annoying because I cannot rely on sync at all; I frequently miss important emails etc. Manual syncing is not an option.

I don't have an answer to that. I do have a workaround for it though.

Download this app from the play store called AutomateIt. It's an app that allows you to make the phones to respond to certain situations.

You could make a rule for the phone to follow, maybe something like: turn auto sync ON when screen is turned on.

Hope this helps.


Run adb command inside the terminal emulator or programmatically without root Is there a way to run theadb backupcommand on the device itself without using a ᴘᴄ computer ?

Of course when I try to do it,adbcomplains the daemon isn’t started and it fails to find a device.

u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb connect localhost:9999
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5038 *
* daemon started successfully *
unable to connect to localhost:9999:9999
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb connect localhost:5038
connected to localhost:5038
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb shell
error device not found
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $

Addressing Revision 4
You're still doing things incorrectly even though I noted in revision 1 of my answer that you would need adb in PC for once and once alone as long as no reboot or disabling of USB  debugging occurs.
Regarding your attempt:
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb connect localhost:9999
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5038 *
* daemon started successfully *
unable to connect to localhost:9999:9999
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb connect localhost:5038
connected to localhost:5038
u0_a192@klimtwifi:/ $ adb shell
error device not found

adb connect localhost:9999 didn't work because you didn't do adb tcpip 9999 from a PC. The said command would set the property service.adb.tcp.port to specified port which in turn is read by adbd when it is started/restarted and used to listen for connections.
adb connect localhost:5038 didn't benefit you simply because either you got confused or  failed to understand the basics I noted in revision 1 of my answer.
First, clear up any confusion. Just because the term daemon is mentioned doesn't mean that it is adbd. A daemon can be for lots of things.  A description of protocol between adb clients and server is noted here. A good understanding of how adb client-server-device/emulator communication occurs is noted here. You're requested to read all the documents to gain understanding of how adb works.
Now, here are the details for your attempt: When you did adb connect localhost:9999, you actually instructed adb client in your host Android device to connect to a slave running adbd listening on 9999. Your adb client tried to look for adb server on your host Android device. Because it didn't find the server running, it started a server and bound the server to port 5038. Nowhere you instructed adbd to listen on port 9999 or even 5038. You can confirm this with root access. Do su -c 'netstat -natup' and you would find adb not adbd listening on port 5038 after execution of your command.
It should now be clear why adb shell resulted in the error.
I should stress that it is futile to even think about running adb client related command on a device without access to PC for once or without root access. I have already noted the procedure in regard to PC in revision 1. If you do have root access and still need to use adb on device then do:
su 2000 -c 'setprop service.adb.tcp.port  PORT'   # choose PORT greater than 1024.
su -c 'stop adbd && start adbd'                   # this would stop and start adbd.
su -c adb connect localhost:PORT                        # you shall now be connected and would be required to accept fingerprint to authorize USB debugging.

(Click an image to enlarge it)

Edited Revision 1
Looking for this?

You're doing things incorrectly. First, a bit of basics:

adb is a bridge which helps in communicating with a slave (an Android device) from a client on host machine (typically a PC) through a server running on host machine.
A slave has a daemon named adbd which has to running in order for slave to communicate back.

When you attempt to run an adb command which requires an Android device for desired output, the adb server expects a slave connected to host using USB. Since no Android device is connected to your Android device through USB, you get error: device not found. If you connect an another Android device through OTG and have USB debugging activated there, you would/might be able to run adb successfully. At least I was able to.
A simplest workaround is to have adbd listening on TCP as well. In that case, you can connect to localhost and get the job done. There is no way a process with ordinary privilege in Android can restart adbd  to listen on TCP. The official way on stock Android is to do adb tcpip PORT from host machine. In this case, you would need a PC with adb setup there. Connect the device to PC and execute from PC, the command:
adb tcpip PORT   # PORT is port number in your device to listen for and establish connection on TCP. Default port is 5555. Choose a PORT greater than 1024

You can now unplug the device. As long as you don't reboot the device or disable USB debugging from Developer options, adbd would continue to run and listen for connection on your supplied PORT.
Don't worry about security. While adbd would receive connection from local Wi-Fi network, one cannot successfully connect to your device unless you authorize debugging by accepting their fingerprint.
Anyhow, in your terminal emulator, execute
adb connect localhost:PORT

You would be required to accept a fingerprint. If you followed instructions carefully, you would get the output:
connected to localhost:PORT

Now you can run your backup command. But honestly, it is not clear to me what you're trying to achieve. If backup alone is the goal, then Helium app might be able to help, although it also requires root access or PC with adb setup.
In case you're not aware of this, not all the apps can be backed up using adb.


Texting with Samsung Galaxy S4 My Samsung Galaxy S4 has been saying that my text is "sending" for hours now.  However, one of the recipients has responded to my text. Was not doing this earlier today

"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?" Honestly, I would just recommend restarting your device. It might just magically fix the problem.

Sometimes, if you're sending a message to multiple recipients, one person will receive the message before the others. Your phone could have lost cellular service during the process of sending the message (thus resulting in one person replying while your message is still being sent to the others).

If restarting the phone doesn't work, you can try the dumb brute force solution:

Copy the content of the message.
Delete the message from your outbox.
Create a new message with the pasted content and send it.

Maybe another user can recommend a techy solution, but this should be enough to get you past this issue if it happens again. If it happens regularly, you should contact your carrier.


How to stop an application using the mobile network The kindle app on my android phone does not allow me to disable download over mobile (i.e. set it to only download over wifi).

Is there any way I can do this externally? i.e. via another app or settings or something.

I am led to believe it is available in some of the android mods but I'm currently on default android for my Galaxy S3.

If your device is running at least Android 4.0 (or higher), you can tell the system to forbid an app the use of "background data" (i,e, upload/download stuff which you didn't explicitely trigger manually). For this, go to Settings → Data Usage, and you will see a screen like the first one below:

Data Usage / Restrict background data (click images for larger variants)

I'm pretty sure you've already turned "Mobile data" to its "on" position. Now tick the "Set mobile data limit" checkbox. Next you need to define your limits; if you don't want any "global limits", you can use "fake values" here – e.g. setting the red bar to 10 GB, and the orange bar to 8 GB.

Having that done, scroll the app list on the bottom to find the app you wish to restrict – in your case, the Kindle app. Tap that entry to open it, and again scroll to the end of the screen. There you will find another check-box labeled "restrict background data" (see second screenshot) – check it, and you're done: the Kindle app should no longer use mobile data without you actively telling it so.


How does the new "Brightness adjustment" setting work on CM11? Cyanogenmod 11 has a new settings for Automatic brightness.

Screenshot (click to enlarge)

I am curious how exactly "Brightness adjustment" and "Adjustment sensitivity" work.

I tried to find the answer on Google and CM Wiki without success.

So I went digging in the Cyanogen source code. It appears that settings work as follows:

The brightness is determined from ambient light sensor based on spline (can be changed in "Adjust").
Brightness adjustment - Makes overall auto-brightness result darker or lighter by affecting gamma value. Centering the slider means "no change".
Adjust to sunrise and sunset - Also affects gamma value, but based on time of day and time of sunrise and sunset.
Adjustment sensitivity - There is a delay in screen brightness changes due to ambient light changes. This settings affects the delay to make it faster / slower.


Why does Battery doctor interfere with the Google play store to update /download the Application I have Battery Doctor 4.9.3 installed on my  Samsung Galaxy trend device with Android jellybean 4.1.2.

The problem with this app is that every time I try to update an app
it starts initially and then later the download crashes.
Also there is What's app running parallel so just for few seconds I
shift to chat and in the background I can see the app getting updated.
After just few seconds when I return to the play store the download fails for which I need to re-update the app every time (after 30% it again crashed and then later I again re-update).

In the app there Is an option for smart Saving which I have turned it on. Although the app works fine for saving the battery but it is interfering with Google Play to update or download the app while I move to another screen it is closing it after few seconds

In the smart saving options I could de-select the auto kill apps on screen off option(i.e. When screen turns off the apps will be killed by default).  After de-selecting the option now the apps are being updated smoothly as usual


USB debugging in lenevo vibe p1 through android studio I am using android studio in dell inspiron laptops. I want to use my lenevo vibe p1 phone for usb debugging. I have installed oem usb driver for my phone in my laptop. Also enabled usb debugging option in my phone. But if I try to test the app through usb debugging, it shows no device connected or found etc.(even though I connected my phone through a usb cable.

Download PdaNet+ software from below link, and enable debugging mode in your mobile.All devices can easily connect as a Debugging.Its working for me.Try it.I hope it is definately usefull for you.This software is avilable windows as well as MacOS.

http://pdanet.co/a/


Cannot see special characters on Polaris Office My mobile phone has Polaris Office default installed on it, but when I open some files I cannot see special characters, like "á", "à", "ç" etc., there is just a space character when it would have one of those special characters...

Palliatively, I installed Kingsoft Office, although it is so big for my device (it is about 13MB in size, and all my internal storage is just 180MB)... So I had to remove some apps to install it.

Well, it does the work well: show special characters without issues.

But I wait for a solution for Polaris Office...


Phone isn't rooted after installing SuperSU I'm trying to root HTC Desire 500 Dual Sim. I've been following along this video tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWLK5XhsVAE

I've unlocked the bootloader and installed CWM Recovery without any issues. When I go into recovery, select "Install zip" and install SuperSU zip, the installation process finishes just fine, it doesn't show any errors, but after I reboot there are no new apps installed and I don't have root access (tested with Root Checker app).

I've tried multiple version of SuperSU (0.96, 0.98, 2.79, etc.), but none of them worked.
Also, I can't mount /system while in CWM, not sure what it means.

What could possible cause this? Is there anything I can do?

It seems like HTC Desire 500 has a "system write protection", so you may need to flash a custom (modified) kernel to prevent the system from protecting itself from modification.

Check this post on XDA forum.


Apps force close on a Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i Every app I use needs to be forced closed after less than 5 minutes. Even apps I haven't even opened [before]. I've turned off my phone and restarted it multiple times and nothing seems to work. Does this mean I have to do a factory reset?

• First is make very sure you've free space of memory. My One Plus handset makes this behaviour when it is near to 'out of storage'.

• Second is make sure you have not deleted any root directory by opening file manager with some specific app explorer. (This might create problem as once i meshed up with those folders and end up tolerating crashes.)

• Third is the last option do a factory reset .


Determine which app owns an icon on my home screen Related:

How can I determine what app put a spam shortcut on my home screen?

How can I remove unwanted app icons from the screen?

I read that one of the answers suggests installing TrustGo Ad Detector. However, I would like to know is it possible to determine which app created a launcher icon or shortcut by using the programming tools that come with the Android SDK such as adb?

Update:

I installed and ran a scan with TrustGo Ad Detector. It reported 0 apps which install shortcuts on my home screen.

Determine which app owns an icon on my home screen

I cannot be sure that it would definitely work in your case but a way to find out the details about a shortcut is to see the relevant entries in database of your launcher app.

E.g. If the shortcut appears on my home-screen when Android's native launcher (com.android.launcher) is active, then I would proceed to see content in /data/data/com.android.launcher/databases/launcher.db. The problem is that a normal user cannot access /data/data directly without root access.

Since the question demands usage with adb only, I would suggest taking a backup of the launcher app and extract the .ab backup using Android Backup Extractor. Now you can access the launcher.db from it. I use DB browser for SQLite to open the .db file.
Users with root access can use adb pull <SOURCE> <TARGET> to fetch the relevant file. You may try SQLite Editor as well.

The location of shortcut entries may differ amongst launchers.

In my native Android launcher and Nova Launcher, the entries are in table favorites respectively.
Smart Launcher has them in the table flowerBubble.

Once you're inside the relevant table, find your shortcut under the column title and see all the corresponding column-values there.

In my findings, custom shortcuts had iconType value greater than 0, and for some custom shortcuts iconPackage and iconResource had the values as the app's name and resource whose icon is displayed.

Note that my findings are only based on aforesaid three launchers and your launcher may not reflect similar pattern.

  [Is] it possible to determine which app created a launcher icon or shortcut [on my home screen]?

I have doubts reserved whether this is really possible. As it is clear by now, the home-screen shortcuts are (unlike traditional GNU/Linux) not symlinks since their structure varies from launcher to launcher, and usually cannot be called or executed unless the launcher itself is active (possibly because the parent launcher can only know whether the entry should be treated as shortcut or not).

Based on my findings, my answer would be no, you cannot determine which app created the shortcut on home-screen.


Can I flash an unlocked G900T bootloader on a G900A? I have a G900A and a G900T (short story: couldn't live any longer with the locked bootloader on G900A so I bought a G900T to use on AT&T). It's possible to flash a custom recovery/ROM onto the G900A, but it seems that the bootloader will recognize things as not being signed on boot and will not allow booting.

However, if I were to flash the G900T's bootloader onto the G900A, I could potentially bypass this restriction. Since it's basically the same hardware, it should theoretically work. Not wanting a hard brick, is my logic correct? What facility examines if the bootloader is signed? Will it allow me to flash an unsigned bootloader in Odin? Is the bootloader truly the source of the locked problem?

it wont let you flash even the correct stock boot loader, i'd give it a try now on my G900A with your Tmobile because i was using the phone on Tmobile anyway so i dont care and the phone is bricked at the moment anyway from trying to install another rom :(


Differance in installing a rom from a different country What are the differences in ROMs that are from different countries? Like for the S4 GT-i9500 4.3, There are some many country versions. Is it just localization differences? or something at system level?

Yes, it's OK to flash stock ROM from another country. BUT, take note that it may have different languages, and a different baseband/modem. Having a different baseband can cause network issues (or a very hot phone), but you can flash a baseband that works for your country.


Cannot Enable Certificates I've got a Samsung Galaxy J3 Prime running Oreo 8.1 that is getting NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID on literally every website, regardless of browser.  When I check the security certificates (Settings -> Security -> Other Security Settings -> View Security Settings) I see that every certificate is disabled and if I try to enable them they seems to disable again immediately.
I've tried multiple networks and applied all the updates I can with no luck.  This is a friend's phone so I don't know if any apps have been installed recently or anything.
Hopefully someone can think of something I have not.

I never did figure out why the certificates were greyed out, but I was able to re-enable them by tapping each one and using the enable button. For some reason the enable slider in the list didn't work, but tapping them and then tapping enable did.


What is the difference between AOSP and AOKP? What is the difference between AOSP and AOKP? Are they related to Stock ROM?

AOSP (Android Open-Source Project) is the project with the open-source parts of Android. It's used as a base by anyone who wants to build or customize an Android ROM. Although new Android features are developed in secret inside Google, when a new Android version is released, all the code changes to the open-source parts get merged into AOSP soon afterwards. ("Soon" is a relative term: sometimes it's not very soon at all.) Conversely, Google receives and incorporates changes submitted to AOSP (such as to fix bugs) from outside, but sometimes with a delay (because they have to create a release branch of the source long before the next release).

AOSP doesn't include the closed-source components: mainly, that's hardware drivers, and Google's special apps that only ship with certified devices (Google Play, Google Now, etc).

AOKP is one particular custom-rom project. Like other custom ROMs, it's based on AOSP, but adds extra features. The maintainers also need to find (possibly closed-source) drivers for all the hardware on a device in order to support that device.

Generally, most people use the term stock ROM to mean the manufacturer's ROM that came with their device (possibly including any OTA updates). As t0mm13b points out, this ROM almost certainly wasn't built from AOSP: the source will be based on AOSP (or Google's internal sources, if the manufacturer is big enough to have access to them), but it will include any drivers for that device, as well as the manufacturer's customizations such as Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense.

If you're interested in the discussion of what exactly constitutes a "stock ROM", you might like to read the comments on this answer from last year. TL;DR: authors of custom ROMs don't all use the term to mean the same thing.


ADB: what are system/secure/global namespaces about? In the 'settings' command (i.e. which invokes cmd command) there are 3 namespaces

system
secure
global

What are these and why are some features on one rather than another?

The Android developers pages give the answers to both your questions.

System

  System settings, containing miscellaneous system preferences.

Secure

  Secure system settings, containing system preferences that applications can read but are not allowed to write. These are for preferences that the user must explicitly modify through the system UI or specialized APIs for those values, not modified directly by applications.

Global

  Global system settings, containing preferences that always apply identically to all defined users. Applications can read these but are not allowed to write; like the "Secure" settings, these are for preferences that the user must explicitly modify through the system UI or specialized APIs for those values.

Each link also states when the settings were first introduced and provides a list of variables, functions that can be accessed programmatically (not just through adb), if they are deprecated, etc.


Android Composite ADB Interface Windows 8 driver for iRulu U2? I downloaded and installed via Android SDK Manager (rev 24.2) the latest Google USB Driver (rev 11).

adb devices works well with my Nexus S G4 (Android 4.1.2) and is able to list it without any problem.

adb devices cannot detect my iRulu U2 (Android 4.4.4).

On my PC's Device Manager it shows up as MT65xx Android Phone:

iRulu's website is of no help:
The list on http://www.irulu.com/DownLoad/driver is cryptic and when I finally guessed a search term "driver", it found one item:

MTKDriver_Auto_Installer_EXE_v1.1236.00

I downloaded it but upon attempt to install it, Device Manager's wizard complains that it is unsigned.

Any idea where I can find a USB driver that works with the iRulu U2?

Answering my own question:

After much search I found this post by Koushik Dutta who kindly shared his own developed Universal ADB Driver.

In there I found the installer (UniversalAdbDriverSetup6.msi) and the source code for it.

After running it, my iRulu U2 is now recognized by Device Manager as HTC Android Interface:


Is it possible to change the details of my mobile that my carrier sees? Here is an interesting one. I have a mobile phone that I use daily. I have a PAYG package that allows unlimited Data with it.

They have just changed their policy that now sees my particular mobile phone as a Tablet. With that they have blocked my Data use via the Sim for this mobile only!

What I am interested in is if there is a way to make my mobile look like another model of mobile to my carrier.

Like this.....

My mobile is a Samsung Galaxy P1000 - I want it to look like a Samsung Galaxy S3 to my network... Hope that makes sense..

I have used this phone for 14 months every day without problems and spoken to my network provider at length regarding the problem. They said if the SIM is used in any other Smartphone it will work, just not mine!!

Look forward to your answers on the matter..

Your TL;DR; answer is: NO.

Your carrier will always see the IMEI code of the phone. It is like a MAC address on a LAN.

Spoofing or changing the IMEI of a device is Illegal.

Since in S.E. we won't go beyond the law, nobody is changing the IMEI.

You can check the model and status of any device by its IMEI, in this link here.

The P1000 sits on the boundary between a phone and a tablet (Humpty Dum-P1000 sitting on a wall...).

There are some like @onik♦ or your carrier that will see it as a tablet, but screen size (and there are several 7 inch phones out there) is hardly enough to make a device a tablet...

P1000 runs only up to 2.3 gingerbread (stock) - Several apps behave as phone only because of that. It makes calls and messaging, so I call a mistrial on this whole tablet or phone thing.

We are specifically talking of the P1000 here. The other generations of the Galaxy Tab series can fall into the tablet side of the wall, but the P1000? no.

Good luck convincing your carrier of either. My money is on them telling you to suck it (as bad as it sounds).


Disable low-battery warning, specifically on XOOM I would like to disable the low-battery warning on my XOOM without rooting. It's a pretty obnoxious sound compared to other phones I have used.  By rooting, I can replace /system/media/audio/ui/lowbattery.ogg with an empty sound file, but I'd rather not take that route just yet.

Is there an Android app for replacing sounds or just forcing it to not play the existing sound?

No, there will not be an app that changes it since it is in the system. You have to have root to change system settings.  Once you root, there may be a developer who has a file you can flash that will do it for you. I am sure that if you thought it was annoying, so has a developer. It's only slightly easier than changing it yourself.


How to change the look of OK and Cancel Buttons I know I can change the look of some elements using a different launcher,
But how do I change how the OK or Cancel buttons look?

You will need to install a custom theme using the T-Mobile theme chooser (it comes built into CyanogenMod). There is no way to do this in stock without modding your ROM.


Nexus 6 Powered On Strangely Earlier today, when trying to power on my Nexus 6, I had a strange thing happen. I normally power on my phone when it is still plugged in to the charger, and I tried doing that today, but after holding in the button for several seconds, the phone did not start to power on as it normally does. I tried unplugging the phone from the charger and powering it on again, but still nothing. When I plugged the phone back in to the charger, the phone began to power on immediately, but not before the hidden notification light turned green for a second. After the phone finished booting up, I got a low battery warning, as my battery was 8%, even though it was at 75% last night when I plugged it in.

Does anybody have any idea what could have caused this? To make sure that everything was working properly, I turned the phone off and on again without it being plugged in to the charger, and everything seems to be working fine, but I am curious about what happened. I am running the latest version of Android Marshmallow available for the Nexus 6 (build number MMB29Q), and the device is not rooted.

Since you have confirmed that the battery is just six months old, I am guessing that this is a different problem

Nexus and HTC phones seem to have an issue with battery reading showing incorrectly and have a method for battery reset logic. This method varies between various models and googling for "Nexus 6 battery reset logic" led me to this method suggested by Claire LP. The problems described in that thread are not the same as yours but if your problem is related to resetting logic, it may help:

  Power off your phone.
  Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons. This will put the phone in fastboot.
  Use the Volume buttons to scroll through the menu until you see "Bootloader logs"
  Press and hold the power key for a long time (7+ seconds) until the phone reboots.


How to connect bluetooth headphones to phone without know the model I have old bluetooth headphones that I try to connect to my device. I don't know the model only the brand name.

The question is how to pair it?

You can look for insturction for the brand name. Usually the insturction is the same for all models.

Example for my original question about plantronics:

pairing-instructions-for-all-plantronics-bluetooth-models


Google+ Location Sharing: How to share only city level locations For some time, Google+ contains the possibility to share your current location with your friends. This feature is similar to Google Latitude but uses a different permission-system: Where Latitude uses a seperate friend list (the Latitude Friends), Google+ uses the people from your circles to check, who can see your location.

In the settings of the location sharing (in the Google+ App, in the drawer "Locations", Settings), I can select which people can see "who can see your best available location". All these people see my exact location, so determined by GPS (if available). If a person is not included in this list, the person does not see my location at all.

Question: How can I select which persons can only see my city, but not my exact location? Just like it was possible on latitude? As expained above, I only see the possiblity to share the exact location or to share no location at all.

This is now addressed in Google+ v4.1

  4. Location sharing includes more controls
  Starting today you can share your pinpoint or city-level location with others (if you want), and you can do so on a circle-by-circle basis. For example: you can share your pinpoint location with family, and your city-level location with co-workers. You can also use circles to filter who appears on your “Locations” map.

  It’s rolling out to Google Play over the next few days (goo.gl/xaxMx)...


Is it possible to unlock my Samsung Galaxy 3(GT-i5801)? I moved to another country and absent-mindedly bought a SIM card for my GT-i5801 (from Orange UK) Now it's asking for a network lock code. I have searched the net and everything points to me going to a "phone" shop to unlock this, however I'm not conversant enough in the local language to understand people yet and want to carry on using my phone.
Is there anyway to unlock this phone? Either that or I have to wait a month until I can get back to the UK.

You should call your carrier in the UK and explain that you need to unlock your phone because you are travelling.  Unless they're being particularly unhelpful a carrier will normally give you the unlock code for that purpose.

Edit: It looks like the unlock code may be stored on the device and accessible as with many Galaxy phones, most easily if you are rooted.  Check out this AndroidForums guide.


How many times must I set default application? So this problem has been annoying me for quite some time.
Whenever I select a link via Chrome( a YouTube link) a dialog
pops up asking if I want to view the link in the browser or in
the YouTube application. I always select the YouTube application and
then proceed to select it as the default application to launch on
any YouTube links.

So the problem is that the next time I click another YouTube link
the dialog pops back up for me to select what action to perform. This
doesn't only happen with YouTube but with other applications...
I tried resetting all the applications to "default" and retried the
process but it occurs again.

I understand that there are other posts but, those were all for
older versions of android.

DEVICE
- Samsung Note 3 (4.4.2)

Thanks in advance for any resolutions
samthewildone

There are several types of Youtube links. So as long as the types differ the intent chooser will popup asking to choose the default. I suggest just keep ticking the "Use as Default" check box and select YouTube Application.


how can I re-link my apps to play store? after installing custom rom and downloading most of my apps from pc and installing them offline, my play store account is peculiar, some apps I uninstalled weeks ago but i can still see on play store desktop, many apps are shown installed on play store mobile but not on desktop, and many unlinked apps.
so what can i do?

If your phone is rooted, then Titanium Backup app has a relevant feature that might work:

Tap the app you want to link from the list of apps on the titanium backup app
switch to the "Special features" tab
You will find "attach to market(forced)"

There's also an XDA thread about this.


Identifying a white elliptical shaped icon in notification bar This icon is not going away. I checked my apps, and no unnecessary app has been installed. I tried rebooting, and shutting down and booting. The icon is still there. It is annoying me.

Can anyone help me remove the icon?

If that icon appears on the notifications tab:

You could drag your notifications bar down, try clicking and holding to find out what application it is and click on the info button then 'uninstall'.


USB adapter for sim card Is it possible to hook up a sim card through a USB adapter, to plug into the micro USB port of my galaxy tab e? I received it as a gift, and there is no sim card slot, WiFi only. If it exists, where would I be able to find one?

Yes if you google "usb adapter for sim card" you will find one
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/camera-memory-cards-usb-drives/readers-adapters/abcat0404007.c?id=abcat0404007
you can then use this USB to Micro-USB cable to plug your adapter into the micro usb port on your tablet http://www.amazon.com/amp-USB-Micro-USB-Cable-Ft/dp/B002HMWQE2


Doing a hard reset would delete my pictures? I have a Ainol Novo 7 Flame, i have been using it for 3 years, and today it just got stuck in the booting phase, i didn't install any app or changed any settings, i dont even know why this is happening, google suggested that i do a reset to fix this problem, but does this reset actually removes my data??
and is the reset the only solution i have?

I will make some assumptions here since you don't give enough details.

I think that by stuck on boot you mean you soft bricked your phone but yes it weird if you don't mess around with root or other things and that just mean that if an factory reset + wipe cache don't work( and often won't ) you need to reflash the stock ROM again.

By "hard reset" you mean Factory Reset when you do that your phone go back to the factory state and all /data is deleted that mean all photos messages documents everything.

This process is often required but if your phone can still turn on recovery/download mode using an special sequence of buttons(google for your device ) you can still do an backup by using ADB it's quite simple and i recommend you to go xda-developer forum and search for an tutorial they have plenty tutorials for flashing roms rooting and much more stepts by step that anyone can execute without lots of knowledge just search for "backup via ADB"


How may I submit a WiFi hotspot to Android's database for a better triangulation? As we know, in order to locate our position indoors, Android utilizes the nearby Wi-Fi Hotspots' location for triangulation. But how may I submit the Wi-Fi hotspots in my neighborhood to Google's/Android's database to benefit from better triangulation? I live in Turkey, and Google Street View Cars-which are claimed to collect these Hotspots in USA-don't exist here. For further info in triangulation take a look at similar threads here:

Why does google maps need WiFi?

How does Android get the coarse location?

Thanks in advance.

TL;DR version: Just use the GPS.

Long version: Turn on Wifi positioning ("Location & Security > Use wireless network"), turn on GPS ("Location & Security > Use wireless network"), use Google Maps (or other GPS applications), then walk/drive around your city.

When you turn on both of these services, before the GPS acquires a "fix", Android will send the Wifi's MAC/SSID and Cell Tower base stations CID/LAC around you to Google's server and Google's server will send back your location information; after the GPS acquires a "fix", your device will send the Wifi MAC/SSID, Cell Tower CID/LAC, and your GPS location to Google's server and Google's server will collect this information to refine their own Wifi database.

note: I believe the device could also be sending other data, like signal strength and possibly ping latency; but I'm not sure about the specifics of these.

Also from Google's support forum:

  by Christopher (Google Employee)

  If your location is being incorrectly
  detected by a Google Maps or Latitude
  using Google's cell ID (cell tower) or
  WiFi (wireless network) location
  database, you can help provide updated
  info to correct Google's database
  using Google Maps for mobile. At this
  time, you cannot provide individual
  updates to Google's location
  databases, though they are being
  updated and improved constantly over
  time.

  Open Google Maps on an Android
  2.0+, Windows Mobile, or Symbian S60 phone and enable GPS. While Maps is
  simultaneously connected to a GPS
  satellite and a cell tower or WiFi
  router, you will be providing updated
  anonymous geographic data for the cell
  tower or WiFi router to which you're
  connected. Please note that this data
  is anonymous and may require a
  significant amount of data from you
  and other users before changes are
  made to Google's location database.

  Android: You must enable Settings >
  Location & security > Use wireless
  networks and have previously given
  consent for anonymous location data
  collection. You can check if you've
  given consent by un-checking and
  re-checking the 'Use wireless
  networks' setting.


Cell standby and Phone idle On the battery use screen, what are the differences between Cell standby and Phone idle items?

I think "phone idle" just means general power use from the phone being on (listening for user activation, waiting for scheduled app actions, basic memory and CPU "being on" stuff etc.) whereas "cell standby" is about keeping the phone active on the cell network (brief signals back and forth with cell towers alerting them of your presence, listening for calls or SMS).


How does Google Play work out if an app is compatible with my device? I have one "generic" Android tablet, and often when I come to install and app, Google Play says it's incompatible with my device. It happens even on popular apps such as Twitter, Instagram, Evernote, Foursquare and even Google Maps!

I know it works, because if I copy the APK from my Motorola phone onto this tablet and install it manually, it runs fine (at least Instagram and Twitter do).

I'm not trying to make Instagram work on my tablet. I'm trying to find a way to install the apps from the Play Store.

How and where does Google Play performs a compatibility check on my device? I suspect said check is failing somehow. I want to be able to install apps that will work on my device and stop Google Play preventing me.

When developers make apps, they have to specify any hardware/software requirements in a file called the androidmanifest.xml file.

These can be hardware or software requirements, such as if the app needs GPS, or telephony features - or if it will only work on a certain Android version.

When you use Google Play, it sends your device's 'features' to the server, and then filters apps accordingly.

The most likely reason it is deemed incompatible by Google Play is that it is set to require a certain screen resolution - or maybe portrait/landscape mode defaults.

Some tablets have a low resolution, and also tell google play that they cannot go into portrait mode.

It could also be, your tablet being generic, that it does not have the required GPS or sensors that the manifiest file says it needs, and the market is stopping you from installing because of that.

I shall find out what the instagram app needs (look at it manifest), and edit this answer for you.

EDIT:

According to the Instagram manifest, the only 'required' item is the glEs version - minimum 131072. It could also be because of your tablets country/carrier setting.

Twitter needs a minimum of Android 2.1, and may also need a Vibrator, as it uses the vibrate permission.


Does play store filter out NFC apps for phones which do not have NFC? I'm developing an Android app based on NFC technology.
So when my app goes live on the play store, will the app be displayed for people having non-NFC phones? Will they be shown a message like "this app is not supported on your phone" or will they have to face post-installation frustration?

That depends on the app. For using NFC in an app the developer has to declare that in the app's AndroidManifest.xml that is contained it the app (and used by the PlayStore to detect if an app is compatible at all).
When using a feature you can declare if it is required=true or not, if it is not required it is considered optional:
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.nfc" android:required="true"/>

Therefore for apps that declare the NFC feature as required=true PlayStore will not show you those apps on a non NFC phone. If it is set to optional (required=false) then you will be able to see this app.
See also https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52695866/does-nfc-permission-result-in-an-error-when-the-device-has-no-support