galaxy tab 2 usb issues My new Galaxy Tab 2 can't connect to my PC via USB. When I plug it in my PC, it plays a tone. It means some new hardware has been connected. It appears in Kies as GT-P3113. But when I mouse-over it, it says connecting... But it has completed the connection only 3 times (more or less). The rest of the time, it doesn't work. It also doesn't show up in my computer as an external storage, so I can't add files that way either.

Any help would be appreciated.

Please check my question Unable to connect Samsung Galaxy (Tab-2) GT-P3100 to Computer via USB and its answer too.

It is defiantly helpful to you...


Why is my Galaxy S4 still not appearing as a device in Mac OS X I am trying to solve the problem of having an empty list of devices when running adb devices. Why is it not appearing?

I have tried the following to no avail:

Installed Kies and ran Tools > Install driver; then restarted
Turned off the Mac OS X firewall in
run sudo adb devices instead of just adb devices
Read the user manual from Samsung, which simply refers me to use Kies
Attach S4 to a different macbook in case the USB input is faulty
Try both different USB inputs in my Macbook Pro

The output I see after doing a fresh restart and plugging in the S4:

./adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached

(with nothing more shown underneath)

Also, even after installing the drivers using Kies, the device does not appear there.

I am running OS X 10.9 on a Macbook Pro. The phone lights up and does start to charge when it is plugged in to any of the 2 USB ports on my Macbook.

What else can I try to have my brand new S4 appear in this device list?

EDIT It seems according to this thread (http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/282817-pc-cant-detect-galaxy-s4.html) that it may just be a faulty cable. I'm currently using the cable that came with the S4. I'll try other cables.

Answer: I was using the cable that Samsung provided with the phone

Solution: Go get a USB<>MiniUSB cable that was provided with a digital SLR a few years back and use that instead. The S4 now appears in the adb output and in Kies just fine.

<sarcasm>Thankyou Samsung</sarcasm>


My question is about diabled apps that my husband diabled My apps including some of green robots have been disabled and I don't know how to restore. My space for new apps is messed up also. Help

Depends on what phone you are using but usually you have to go to Settings, then Apps, and there, you can filter by "All apps" and see which ones are disabled(and then enable them), or you can filter by "Disabled".

If you don't see these options, maybe you could install some package disabler from the Play store that can list disabled apps. Just look for one that doesn't ask for too many permissions.
There's one called "Disable Bloatware - Hide Apps" that may be useful to you.


How can I change language for word suggestion while writing an sms text message I will be extremely disappointed if there is no way to change language WHILE writing an SMS without having to go to the phone's settings and changing the language there. Surely somebody in the android team must have been using more than one language?

Didn't know this was specific to phone model. I have a Google Nexus S.

In Android 2.2's stock keyboard, a long press on space bar then swiping left or right should allow you to switch between languages you selected on Settings > Language & Keyboard settings > Android keyboard > Input Languages > Select Multiple Languages.

Note that it depends on your manufacturer, carrier, and ROM whether your phone will have the dictionary for the languages you want to use.


I can't answer phone calls in some situations I have a Motorola Citrus running android.

I know this is a lame question, but I am a newbie to android and smart phones.

Sometimes I will get a phone call I can't answer.

The incoming call screen will come up. On the left their will be a green circle with an icon of a phone receiver in it. On the right is a red circle with another icon in it.

Press either will not allow to take the call.

I'm guess a setting is messed up somewhere, but I have no idea so I thought I would ask.

Thanks in advance for any help

I'm not sure of the Motorola methodology for answering or ignoring a call, but on my Samsung, merely touching the green or red button is insufficient; it requires a swipe to convey the intention. I believe this was re-engineered to prevent accidental accepts or hangups through a mere button press. The green button has green arrows and a swipe in the arrow direction from the button will accept the call. The same with the ignore swipe along the red arrows from the red button to indicate the call should go to voicemail.UPDATE: Searching the Droid forums, I see that Motorola uses the same functionality for call answering, but many users would like to see the functionality changed to just a button press. Perhaps you are an advocate of the same technique. See this forum for suggestions others have made to change the functionality somehow through app replacement:http://www.droidforums.net/forum/android-app-developers/37743-button-answer-call-instead-swipe.html


Downgrade android version from higher to lower? Mostly, android devices get updates through OTA to higher versions. I had upgraded to Kitkat(MIUI6) version, on my Redmi 1S using OTA. I have downloaded complete ROM of Jelly bean(MIUI5). But, I cannot install directly, it shows error and failed. That means an upgraded device cannot downgrade by direct installation. What should be done? (Unrooted device)

It depends on the manufacturer and the android version most likely. When there are new system updates, there are also often new bootloader versions available. Those are automatically updated to run on the newest software and provide support for the new android version. The installation of older software packages is often restricted by the newer bootloader. Some phones can be downgraded to older software versions of android by flashing a zip file via recovery or fastboot. But in the end it depends on which phone you have got and which android version you want to downgrade to.


Why can't I use my Fitbit for Smart Lock? I just updated my Nexus 5 to Lollipop, and the feature I'm most anticipating is Smart Lock — the ability to keep my phone unlocked when it's near me but still have strong protection if lost or stolen.

I figured that since I have a Fitbit One in my pocket pretty much whenever I have my pants on, I'd use that as the "key". It syncs by Bluetooth, so I figured I'd be all set.

However, when I go into Smart Lock in the settings and attempt to add a Trusted Device, it doesn't show up in the list. Why not?

Bluetooth Low Energy devices can be used for Smart Lock, but they need to be paired at OS level and it seems that the Fitbit uses some kind of pseudo-pairing at app level. From the Fitbit manual:

  Unlike standard Bluetooth devices, like headsets, your Fitbit tracker will be set up directly through the Fitbit app and not through your Android device's Bluetooth pairing settings.


How to import old SIM contacts to Galaxy Nexus? I would like to import the contacts from my old phone to GN. I read this guide here, but there is no "Menu" in the People app. I'm running 4.0.2.

Please, does anyone know how to proceed? Why there is no "Menu" if the manual says there should be?

Ok, there has to be at least one other contact, then there are these "three dots".


How do I enable the MTP functions on my Nexus 5? When I plug my Nexus 5 phone into my Windows 7 desktop, I see the Nexus 5 device in the file Explorer, but no files. I am sure this is because I need to enable the feature from the phone side, but I can't find it in Settings.
In Device settings, I have "Storage and USB", but all it seems to contain is a way to see on the phone how much storage is used by each App. The three dots in the upper right corner only open up to allow me to look at Help.

Where is the setting I need to change?

There should be a notification in your notification drawer saying USB charging this device tap on it and select Transfer files.


How to decrypt Adopted Storage? Using the SD card as Adopted Storage encrypts it. How can it be decrypted?

How to decrypt adopted storage.

Your device must be rooted.

Using a file browser like ES Explorer, browse to /data/misc/vold.

The .key file there is the encryption key of your adopted storage.  You can read it with this command: hexdump -e '1/1 "%.2x"' the_key_file.key

Open that file with a hex editor to view the 16-byte key.

On any GNU/Linux distro you can do this first mount your SD card, in my case SD card was mounted at /dev/sdb2.

Then run this command:
dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 `blockdev --getsize /dev/sdb2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 <Put the 16-byte hex key here> 0 /dev/sdb2 0"

Some types of errors/warnings can be ignored.

If your key is correct you can mount it by mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/crypt1 /mnt/1/
Finally you can run cd /mnt/1 to browse the decrypted storage.


How do I add an APN via ADB? For hardware reasons (My menu key doesn't work) I can not add an APN via settings. I read here about using sqlite and here about using code. But I need a more convenient way to do it. I need to do it using adb.

You Should

1. Be Root
2. Know APN fileds such as MCC and MNC of your service provider [e.g EthioTelecom is mcc=636 mnc=01]

Steps

Open adb shell

    $ adb shell
    $ su

Check if your carrier is listed in the default list of carriers. [] means optional

# content query --uri content://telephony/carriers [--where "name=''"]

If your carrier is not listed, you have to add it to the list, Add other fields as required. NOTE the following is for Internet, for MMS, change the fileds to what is required

    # content insert --uri content://telephony/carriers --bind name:s:"<Carrier Name>" --bind numeric:s:"<mcc><mnc>" --bind type:s:"default,sulp" --bind mcc:i:&ltmcc> --bind mnc:s:<mnc>--bind apn:s:<apn>  --bind user:s:"<User> --bind password:s:"<Password>"

Then check the listing again like Step 1
Note the _id, replace insert by update if this is not the first time you are setting the prefered apn

# content insert --uri content://telephony/carriers/preferapn --bind apn_id:i:<_id>

Try disabling and enabling your internet connection, if no change, restart your phone. if it is still not working, Keep Going
Change permission of settings file

# chmod 666 /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml
# exit
$ exit

After you exit adb shell, in your terminal/comand prompt

$ adb pull /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml ~/

Add The following line before the last line that says </map>

<long name="apn_id" value="<id>"/>
then save it and run

$ adb push ~/com.android.settings_preferences.xml /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml

Hopefully, You should now see your apn in the access points screen in settings, and it should also work.


Why does a factory reset keep the operating system updated? I recently did a factory reset to my phone and to my surprise, the operating system remained to the last updated version (6.0.0) and not the version I had when I bought the phone (5.0.0).

Why does this happen? Doesn't a factory reset reset the operating system too?

System updates overwrite /system. Factory reset wipes /data and /cache but doesn't touch /system. Simple as that.


Nexus 4: Lost superuser rights after an update to 4.2.1 - how can I get them back? A couple of weeks ago, my rooted Nexus 4 was updated from 4.2 to 4.2.1. Now it still seems to be unlocked (open lock symbol while booting), but I've lost my Superuser privileges.

Is there any way I can get the SU privileges back without wiping my phone?
If not, what's the best way to backup all or most of the data before going through the SU process again?
Finally, how can I prevent this from happening again with the next update?

Thanks for your help!

Just re-root. Your bootloader is still unlocked, so nothing is preventing you from doing so. The Nexus Root Toolkit should do the heavy lifting for you if you want (just press "Root"). Manual steps would be:

Download a custom recovery, like ClockworkMod, and save it to your computer
Download the Superuser/su package for ARM and copy it to your phone
Reboot into your bootloader, either by holding Volume Down while turning on your device or by issuing adb reboot bootloader from a PC (plugged in via USB with debugging enabled on the phone)
Use the fastboot utility to install the recovery image from your PC via:

fastboot flash recovery /path/to/recovery.img

Reboot into recovery (boot into your bootloader, then press either of the volume buttons to cycle to "Recovery" and press power).
Install the the Superuser zip file from your recovery menu
Reboot. You now have root.

In general, if you don't want to lose root, don't install OTA updates. You can try apps like OTA Rootkeeper or Superuser's in-built functionality, but there's no guarantee that it will work since it depends on exactly how the OTA is applied. Some devices (the Kindle Fire is one example) will actually wipe the entire /system partition when performing an update, making OTA Rootkeeper apps useless. The only guaranteed method of updating and keeping root would be to wait for a repackaged (rooted) version of the OTA to appear on somewhere like XDA and then flash that from your recovery, or repackage it yourself.


What is Android 3DTourViewer? I'm removing or disabling all non-necessary apps since I had a malware scare this morning.  I'm using a Note 3 with Android Lollipop.

In the Application Manager "All" tab I see 3DTourViewer.  Can I disable this app without ill effect?

It is Samsung bloatware not malware nor part of regular Android

It is safe to be disabled or removed, if your  device is rooted, as per this reddit post and this XDA thread


Unlock to different background images Is there a way to set up Android's "Slide" lock screen in such a way that swiping to different directions changes the background image to a specific image? Such as, swipe left for a personal image, swipe right for a professional image.  3rd-party apps would be acceptable as well.

I've never heard of this. However, you may be able to set it up if you have a couple of different home screen launchers installed.

Some lockscreens let you open a specific app depending on where you drag the unlock icon. You could set it up to open one of your launchers depending on which side it gets dragged to.

Then, just set the background for each launcher. Note that, with separate launchers, you'll have separate home screen layouts as well. If you want the same apps on the home screen, you'll have to manually duplicate your effort of setting up the home screen on both. Of course, this may be an added feature for you, as you could have business apps on one and person apps on the other.


What is the difference between USB On-The-Go (OTG) and USB Host Mode? What is the difference between USB On-The-Go (OTG) and USB Host Mode?

They seem to be more or less the same. Are they?

In the context of Android devices, the terms are often used interchangeably.

Host mode

USB has two different kinds of endpoint (connected device), like a client-server interface. One device is the computer (or host), and it's in charge: it's the server. All the other devices (the peripherals) are the clients, and can only communicate with the server. Usually, a device can only act in one of those two rôles: it wouldn't make sense for (say) a keyboard to be the host. That's the way the protocol works, and the connectors are designed to make that easier for users: hosts have the rectangular A connector, and peripherals have either the square B connector or a mini- or micro- version.

Host mode is a name for when a device is acting as a host. Every USB connection has exactly one device in host mode. PCs always run in host mode. (You wouldn't usually call it that for a PC, because it's not really a "mode", it's always like that.)

USB-OTG

A phone is a bit different, though. Sometimes you want it to act as a peripheral: for example, so you can plug it into a PC, so the PC can access the phone's storage. Sometimes you want it to act as a host: for example, to connect a physical keyboard or mouse to it. This is why many Android devices now support USB host mode as well as USB peripheral mode: they can act in either rôle. But how can you make this work, when a host's USB socket is different from a peripheral's?

This is where USB-on-the-go (OTG) comes in. It adds an extra pin to the micro-USB socket. If you plug a normal A-to-B USB cable, the device acts in peripheral mode. If you connect a special USB-OTG cable, it has the pin connected at one end, and the device at that end acts in host mode.

This can be a little confusing if one cable has seemingly identical plugs at either end, which do different things. But cables with USB-OTG at both ends are uncommon: it's more common to use an adaptor, which has a host-mode USB-OTG plug at one end, and a rectangular USB-A socket on the other. You can plug a normal USB cable into this adaptor, and it will work normally.

Conclusion

The names refer to two different parts of the USB technology, but they're very similar. After all, if a device "supports USB-OTG," it must support acting in "host mode". The converse is often the case, but not always. Most Android devices that support host mode do so via USB-OTG, but there are a few counterexamples: the original Asus Eee Pad Transformer, for example, has USB-A sockets in its keyboard, allowing it to act in host mode without a USB-OTG cable. And of course PCs support host mode without USB-OTG.

So although the terms are usually used to mean the same thing in the Android world - can I plug a USB stick into my phone? - and for most devices it makes no difference which you're talking about, there is a distinction.


execute ussd from shell-script Every month I need to execute USSD-command. I want to automatize it. My idea is to write shell-script for SManager. I found two ways to make a call (tested from adb):

service call phone 2 s16 '*100#'

and

am start -a android.intent.action.CALL -d tel:*100#

But this commands call to *100# instead of execute ussd.

My Android is 4.2.2, rooted Cyanogen 10.1.3

replace # to %23, so:

service call phone 2 s16 '*100%23'

or

am start -a android.intent.action.CALL -d tel:*100%23


Nexus 5: /storage/emulated/0 not mounted Everything was working fine, and then one day I noticed some errors coming from Google Play store and I couldn't access any of my media. It seems that my external storage in /storage/emulated/0 is not mounted and that applications are looking for data there and not finding it.
I'm using MultiRom, so I flashed a new CyanogenMod 11 ROM and the same thing happened.
I tried CyanogenMod 12 ROMs but they don't seem to boot at all.
I also noticed that my date and time were not right and Whatsapp kept on telling me my date and time are not accurate even though I set them correctly.
I also installed Ubuntu on my phone using MultiROM and for some reason it appears to still be working fine so far so for now I'm using that.
Can anyone help me with this?

OK, so I finally fixed this problem.
I wiped my phone completely after backing up my data and I used fastboot to flash an all new recovery image and installed a new ROM but still the problem persisted.
Then I noticed that in the recovery I keep getting: "error mounting /persist".
I found and followed this link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/guide-to-fix-persist-partition-t2821576
And the problem was fixed!


Images in PDF File are distorted I have a PDF file, when I open it on my computer (Linux) the Images in the PDF file is displayed properly  (Its sharp)

But when I copy the same PDF from the computer to Android device and opened it there,

It looks like this

What can be the reason for this image distortion. What is the difference in opening this in computer and Android?

Any suggestions can lead me to a better search.

PDF files are designed to maintain their content across platforms ,be immune to the application or OS

Hence, recommendation was to try alternate PDF app, which worked for OP. Adobe PDF reader used earlier was buggy, it looks like

Here's a list of PDF readers, thanks to izzy


Alternative for Storage permission I noticed that almost all apps request the Storage permission, and this is quite OK since they need to store stuff to function properly. But it's a bit bugging me that they have access to all of my data. Mainly because most apps need storage for their own files, and have nothing to do with my pics, songs, etc. So ideally I would like to grant apps the permission to write any amount of data to the storage, but that it cannot read/modify any other data.

Is there an alternative permission that grants access to write any file to the storage, but read and modify only files the app itself has created?

It's a little more subtle than that. The Storage permission does NOT give the app the ability to read and write everything on the device. It gives the app the ability to read and write things like SDCards and USB devices. It does NOT give the app the ability to read and write everything on the device's main storage (where apps put their databases by default).

The reason it doesn't restrict to the app's own files is that external storage is generally formatted with the FAT filesystem, which doesn't have any concept of file or directory level permissions. There's simply no way for Android to enforce the restriction of files. Further, since such storage is often removeable, even if the filesystem supported permissions, there would be nothing stopping you from taking the media out and using another computer to change said permissions.


Android Market applicatin top, filtered by country Android Market has an application top (free and paid apps), but it seems it is universal since in the top I see many apps in different languages.

Is there a way to see these tops by "market"? (by this I mean country, for instance France). It would be extremely interesting to see how an app is positionning itself on its market, and I guess for the users it would be extremely welcome to be able to see what's hot in their country.

Does anyone know the status of such a feature, or if there is a way to access all these data by a specific country filter?

You can use AppBrain.

Up right menu. Press "More" -> "Popular in ... (I'm not sure translation)" -> country

Example for Poland http://www.appbrain.com/apps/country-poland/


Where to report a bug in a keyboard app? I have Nexus4 with Android.
One of the input languages is Russian. I use Russian word suggestions or swype method for messaging.
There is a particular form of Russian verbs (frequently used) that seems to be omitted in the dictionary (suggestions).
Where can I report this bug?

If you're using the stock Android keyboard, you can report it on the central Android bug tracker. Be warned that there are already more than 25000 reports there, and many never receive any response from Google.

If you find a bug in a third-party keyboard you're using, visit the keyboard's page in Google Play (either through the Play Store app or on the website) and click Email developer.

Lastly, and this definitely isn't applicable in this case, if you find a bug in a device manufacturer's keyboard (such as the Samsung Keyboard found on Samsung phones), the answer will depend on which manufacturer, so you should contact their product support in the first instance. Hardware manufacturers tend not to have publicly-accessible bug trackers.


What are these files on my SD-Card? How can I delete these files? Doesn't work from file browser.

It appears like your SD card is corrupted, take backup of your important files and do a format.

Some linux formatting guide can be found here SD card formatting linux


How can I attach a file to an MMS message? Can I attach files to an MMS message? I am looking for a way to attach files like doc, pdf, or zip and send them over MMS.

Regular android messaging apps tend to disallow files other than image/video.

I use Tmail by Phonelight available from Google Play Store:

  Tmail breaks the restrictions of all the Messaging apps. It is the only app that allows the user to attach any kind of file to an MMS message. You are now not limited to image, audio or video file. Tmail has expanded the MMS capability.

You can use the trial version to test it. the unlimited version costs 0,81€.


Galaxy S screen glowing in locked state as if some one tried to unlock it, even with out touching it My mobile is working fine till yesterday, but suddenly I observed that when I lock it and keep  it aside, I can see that the screen is glowing as if some one tried to unlock it. This is happening quite often. Can some one please explain me what is the problem and the solution for that pbm.

Go to Settings, Wireless networks, WiFi settings then uncheck NOTIFY ME FOR OPEN NETWORKS.  This solved the problem for me :)


Please Help! Can I still access my files? **Hi guys!

I have made a serious mistake, and I feel so stupid! I was wondering if any you awesome people at AE would be able to save me.

I have an LG G2 vs980 Lollipop 5.0.2

So, all I wanted to do was change my startup screen to get rid of that boring LG logo and replace it with something neater. I went over to Google and found a guide on how to do this, and followed the steps 1 by 1. Everything actually worked out perfectly, but it wasn't until after I was locked out of my phone that I realized that I had used a startup image that was not compatible with my LG G2! (Total face palm!). Now, whenever I power my phone, it flashes that "neat" image that I replaced the stock one with - before the screen goes completely blank. Not good at all.

So my question is this - Is there a way I can acess my system folder without having access to my phone? I know EXACTLY what file I need to remove/edit to solve this problem! In fact, that is what is frusturating me the most. It's not some random error message out of the blue that I know nothing about. I know exactly what the problem is, I just don't know if I have access to the solution. I just really hope I don't have to wipe everything back to stock all because of a lousy startup image.

If anybody can help me access my system folder so I can switch out the bad file for the default one, and get access to my phone again - I would be so forever grateful! Thank you in advance to anybody that can save me!

Much appreciative,
Terri (Psyintz)**

You could use a recovery like TWRP (if available for your device) to delete the file. In TWRP, you can find the file manager under the 'advanced' category.


S7 Edge RAM usage is extremely high, why? Why is my S7 Edge using 87% of the RAM  all the time? It's not the apps because I use Greenify for stopping background tasks. I see under Developer mode → Running services that my system takes 2 GB of RAM, but why?  That's not normal, the S7 Edge has 4 GB of RAM and I can use only 600 megabytes.

I'd say that is absolutely normal. Because: What benefit would you have if your RAM is empty? You have RAM to be used for caching and hibernating apps. Unused RAM is useless. :-)

Do you experience performance issues? Any lag? No? Then the S7's memory management works as it should. :-)


How can I backup contacts on a SIM card to my computer? My brother wants me to backup the data in his SIM card. How can I copy this to my computer without messing up my own contacts?

Create a separate Google account for your brother's account. Import your brother's SIM's contacts to that Google account.

OK- here's the idea I have:

Back up all your existing contacts to SD card. Open your Contacts App and press MENU > IMPORT/EXPORT > EXPORT TO SD CARD. A .vcf file will be created with all your existing contacts. Using My Files or Astro or a file manager of choice, save / copy this backup file to another location as well.
Optional Step - You can create a separate Google account for your brother so his imported contacts are pushed/synced there.
Turn on Airplane Mode - this way there's no chance of any changes being made to your Google Account Contacts (added safety).
Wipe all your contacts - from within the Contacts app, press MENU > DELETE and choose ALL CONTACTS. (This is also rather optional, depending on whether you wish to sync to a Google account or not).
Turn your phone off and insert your brother's SIM. Turn your phone on.
You currently have no contacts. From within your CONTACTS app, press MENU > IMPORT / EXPORT and choose IMPORT FROM SIM - it'll ask where the contacts should be imported to - PHONE / list of Google Accounts. Depending on your process, either choose the PHONE or the new Google account and you ought to be done.

You can either sync the new contacts to the new Google account or export them to a .vcf on your SD card.

This is just a rough idea of how you can do things. The end process is yours to tweak to your liking and needs.


Export Google Calendar App Data Is there a way to export all the data from the google calender app? For whatever reason, my google account has been suspended, and while I desperately try and sort this out I'm seeing what my phone can do for me. Because of this, I'm unable to to access the calendar online, but the apps cache still has quite a lot of events and data - if I could back this up some how that would be awesome!

You can try using iCal Import/Export. It looks like it should be able to export your calendar data. It will allow you to export your calendar(s) to iCal files. I haven't actually tried the application, so I am not sure if it uses the local calendar database on the device, or it it attempts to connect directly to google calendar.


IMAP Email Sending Failure In Email, I have 3 accounts, 2 x hotmail and 1 x IMAP. Since the last update (4.1.83.3) where it demanded I give Email access to the Phone, I have not been able to send any emails from the IMAP account. The Hotmail Accounts are both fine. Samsung S7. Can anyone help me?

Go to Mail - Settings - Accounts and re-input all of the settings, one may be corrupt even though it looks fine.


How do i install apps directly on SD card in Lollipop? I have Android Lollipop 5.0 installed on my phone and I already made the SD card the default storage option. However, when I try to install an app from the Play Store, an error message pops out, saying that I don't have enough space to install that application. I tried to make some additional space in the phone storage and i found that applications are installed right there even if the SD card option is enabled.

I'm not looking for a method to move installed apps from phone storage to SD (no Link2SD, rooting etc.).

I also tried to format my SD card both from the phone and the PC but the problem persists.

What should I do? I can't believe this operation is not allowed in Lollipop.

As pointed out by Can I install an app directly to my SD card? and our app2sd tag-wiki, what you want to achieve isn't possible for multiple reasons:

To install the app, Play Store first needs to download it. These downloads usually go to /data/local, which is in internal storage.
Not all apps allow to be installed on SD card. This is e.g. not possible for apps providing widgets or services – due to the fact the SD card is mounted only after the boot_completed broadcast, and thus apps installed there wouldn't receive that; resulting in services not started when they should be.
Even if an app could be installed on SD card, using the on-board methods (i.e. app2sd) it cannot be moved to SD card completely. There's always a "base" remaining in internal storage (below /data/data).

All the above is valid from Froyo (Android 2.2) to Lollipop (Android 5.x). It's slightly different with Marshmallow (Android 6.x) and up when using adoptable-storage, but I have no experience with the latter to tell exactly how it's different (see our adoptable-storage tag-wiki for a starter). As in that case, the SD card is "adopted" as internal storage, all apps you install should basically end up there. But what sounds "great" on a first look has some other "side-effects" you should consider first ;)


how to disable android headset/aux volume limit? While using my old Samsung Exhibit II 4G and now on my relatively new LG Nexus 4, I have noticed that music or media playback through headphones or auxiliary cable stops after about 30 or so seconds if the volume is higher than 3/4 of the max. Is this a bug? What seems even more confusing is that if you press play again, it stops the playback after less time (like 10-15 seconds) and continues to shorten the time it will play back until you lower the volume below 3/4. Can this be disabled? And what is it anyway? It is not app-specific and it doesn't care if I have the volume maxed out if I'm using bluetooth or the built-in speaker.

Sounds rather like something is overheating (hardware) especially the shorter times on repeated attempts. Presumably whatever that is is not in the speaker part of the circuit or when transmitting to bluetooth, but is specific to the headphone/aux jack part of the circuit.

So, probably a hardware bug (or "design flaw"), rather than a "limit" you can "disable."


My Pixel 2 doesn't give me a notification when I attach it to a PC I've had a new Pixel 2 XL for a few days now. Today when I plug it in to a PC the PC detects that it is present but doesn't show the list of files present on the device.

When I did this a few days ago, I had a similar experience, but a notification popped up on the phone asking me what mode I wanted to use. It was set to "recharge" by default, but when I changed it to "file sharing" (exact wording might not be right) the files appeared in the browser on my PC.

Today there is no notification. I have tried unplugging the device and plugging it back in several times. Did I do something to disable the notification? How can I re-enable the notification or better yet set it so that it always turns on file share mode when I plug it in?

Do you have a lock-screen enabled on it? Most Android phones will require you to unlock it before it will connect to the file system. If you don't have a lock-screen, you may want to check out this article and make sure it's set to file mode, and mot just MTP or charging.


samsung market not working on static ip and static proxy wifi I own a android 2.2 based samsung galaxy tab. When i tried connecting through the proxy server on wifi at my office only the browser is able to connect to internet through static ip address, but rest none of the applications were able to connect to internet and this wifi via static ip and proxy settings.

Can some one help ?

Your router in the office is blocking ports - while accepting port 80 for http requests.

Contact your administrator.

I know , at my office , our admin had to change some settings ( but I don't know what ports were necessary ).


How to install Google Music on a non-US phone? I am trying to install Google Music on my phone from outside the US. After using Market Enabler Play Store correctly displays and even downloads the app, but then aborts with "this app cannot be installed in your country". It still doesn't work after rebooting my phone. Is there any way around this?

I had no trouble getting it myself, but that was a while ago.  Have you tried using a US proxy or sideloading the app?  Another option would be to switch to data or Wi-Fi for the download, whichever you weren't using, to see if it's just the particular network that the Play Store has a problem with.


Automatically forward specific WhatsApp group messages as SMS I learn in a school, where a large portion of the students don't use smartphones (because of addictions, pornography, and so on).
My classmates and I have a WhatsApp group, and sometimes we send important messages, which the smartphone-less students don't know about.
Is it possible to have a code that you write at the start of an important message (something like "important message" or emojis that nobody uses like ), and the message will be copied and sent to the smartphone-less guys?

Nothing is really impossible per say unless not allowed; restriction may be the veil that may prevent such a process and or action.


Wifi wont work in Samsung galaxy 3 even after a hard reset I have a samsung galaxy s3 which was in excellent condition when I sold it.  After 2 weeks, the buyer wanted a return, so, I got the phone back. Somehow, the wifi is not working. When I look at the firmware, it says 4.4.2 which believe is kit kat. It seems to me like he tried to hack it and now the wifi wont work. Plus, who knows which other program he altered? I end up paying him and end up with a phone I can't even use. Please help me. I followed the hard reset and it still wont fix the problem...:(

Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat) was not officially released by Samsung for the Galaxy SIII.
You can search at SamMobile for your SIII (GT-I9300) and download the latest official firmware. (registration required but I can give you the links too, if you don't like to register there)
Then flash it using Odin (or similar) to get your stock firmware back.

  A private sale is free from any warranty by the seller, so you didn't even have to accept the return (in the EU at least).


wrong currency in my playstore account When I tried to make a purchase from HOF I found out that the reason the prices were incorrect was because they were in the wrong currency.  When I checked my account it said canadian which is correct.  What do I do to correct this issue?

Make sure your network/gps location is correct, then clear app data.

I had a similar issue with Google Maps (hotel price in foreign currency) after international travel.


YouTube app comments I've got the YouTube Android app. Several videos endwith the youtuber asking to leave comments below. Where is this? All I see is an expand arrow, a like button, a dislike button, a share button, and a subscribe button. Thanks.

Scroll down to find the comment field. Your comment will be public.


Gingerbread ROM for Nook Color? Does anyone know a good place to get a Gingerbread mod for Nook Color?

My recommendation, and the ROM I'm running is Phiremod

I can definitely confirm it's Gingerbread, based on Cyanogenmod 7 and built specifically for the Nook Color.


How to avoid hitting home key while typing? I use a Nexus 7 and in landscape and when typing and when pressing the space bar I occasionally hit the home menu key by mistake. I have used "Imersive mode" but I like the status bar to show with the clock so that is not solution.

Is there a way to move that soft menu to the left of the keyboard or somewhere else so I don't activate a menu while typing?

PS: The Device is rooted

You can use Microsoft SwiftKey to have a split keyboard and avoid reaching to the home button like this one


Custom sound notification on Google Calendar events I have many calendars on Google Calendar:

Hospital appointment (blue)
Birthday calendar (yellow)
Payday calendar
My career's calendar

They are separated by the colours to make it easy for identification, but I would like to separate the notification sound to go with the colours. Some more urgent like an alarm, some less aggravating but still just a buzz or something.

It's confusing that they all use the same tone, and although via some apps I can differentiate these between text, voicemail, and Facebook, etc, it's not quite ideal. I have been looking through all calendar apps I can find for this thing.

Setting up distinct alarms for separate calendars within the Google Calendar app--or for separate events on any of those calendars--is not a feature provided in the Google Calendar app. If you wish to have that function and to continue using the Google Calendar app, you'll need a third-party add-in such as Calendar Event Reminder. (CER)  That one costs a couple of bucks but there may be other options, perhaps even "free" apps.


Remove preinstalled apps without rooting Is there any other way apart from rooting the device to remove preinstalled apps?

If it's relevant, the Android version is 4.4 Kitkat.

There are two kinds of preinstalled apps, system apps and preset user apps.

User apps, even if they are preinstalled, can be removed normally. However, they will come back at every factory reset or settings reset.

For system apps, it's a little bit complex.
TL;DR In general we say you can't. Actually, yes you can, but the method is even more complex than rooting, so it's highly impractical. Yet you really can, though.

First of all, generally speaking, you can't remove system apps without root. System apps are installed in /system, which you can't mount as read-write without root normally. Thus you can't remove them.
However, as is mentioned above, as long as you can mount /system in read-write access, you can remove system apps. By far the easiest approach is to flash a cusrom recovery (this is more complex than rooting). With the custom recovery, you can modify every corner in your device, /system included, but beware of potential damage. In the recovery you can mount /system as r-w and then delete unwanted system apps. The real conplexity is that in most cases you must do this in an ADB shell, or deal with the not-so-friendly UI of TWRP.
Furthermore, I haven't yet learned that someone is flashing a custom recovery without rooting his phone. Only ones who want to maximize control over their devices gets custom recoveries, and rooting, in this case, is more basic than a recovery.


Can I stop a WhatsApp message from being delivered? If I delete a message with a single tick, does that just get deleted from my local device ( Android) or does it no longer get delivered to the recipient?

Whatsapp marks messages that have been delivered from the sender to the Whatsapp servers with a single tick, and messages delivered from the Whatsapp servers to the recipient with two ticks. After the single tick has appeared, the message is already on the server and can't be removed/aborted.

If your data connection is slow/unavailable, you can cancel the message by deleting it before the tick appears.


Copying the phone number into the clipboard in the Google Voice application In the application Google Voice is there any way to copy the Google phone number into the clipboard without having to type anything?

I use a Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III with a rooted Android 4.1.2.

You can't copy anything from the list view, but if you tap the message to open it, then tap the "compose" button...

...then you can select the phone number from the bar at the top the normal way (by long-pressing):


Share photo with caption on Facebook I'd like to share a photo with caption pre-filled from my app, for example on facebook. How do I do it?

I know how to share photo or how to share text, but how do I share them together?

I'm using Android 2.1 and the latest official Facebook App.

I go to the gallery and long-press on an image. In the menu, select SHARE and in the list of apps displayed choose FACEBOOK.

I immediately am taken to a text field where I can type in a caption.

by default the images are sent to the MOBILE UPLOADS folder/album, but you can create a new album and specify that as your desired upload location.


Samsung Galaxy S4 [GT- I9500] - Android 4.2.2 Currently working with Android 4.2.2.
I'm a bit curious if it is worth the upgrade to Android 5.
How can I know the improvements related to 4.2.2, - I'm currently not having any problems with it.

I don't want to mess things up; is the upgrade worth it? Could it include new bugs?
What are the downsides of higher versions than 4.2.2?

I would definitely recommend you upgrade to Android L / 5.0.2.

There a numerous changes relating to performance, new features, and battery life. Android L gives a completely different (better, in my opinion) feel to the phone and fixes many of the bugs from previous versions.

To answer your question about including new bugs; it's inevitable. But if they are addressed, it's highly likely they will be fixed in the future.


What is Launcher3 4.4.4-9 application? I'm new Android user. I just found that I have "Launcher3 4.4.4-9" on my Moto G 2-gen.

It has permissions to make calls. I cannot uninstall it.

Is this normal? This is system app/service?

From F-Droid wiki,

Name: Launcher3
ID: com.android.launcher3
Description

Android 4.4 homescreen from AOSP ...

The version (4.4.4-9) also confirms that it is the Android KitKat (4.4.4) AOSP Launcher. It's normal and it's a system app.


Get the charging rate without external hardware (e.g. multimeter.) Android.SE user intuited observes:

  I've noticed that my S4 doesn't always charge at its maximum rate of charge, even when it seemingly should. For example, car DC adapters that claim to provide up to 2.0 amp current only provide 500mA.

They also seems to imply that there exists an app which reveals the rate at which a device is charging.

And TurboFool adds:

  I used to think "USB is USB," and that's true for data, but not for power. Cable quality, and unknown factors, will change what you can pull off. I've had two [USB] cables of the same length produce as much as an 800mA difference from the same charger.

I own a Samsung Galaxy S Relay, which is an Android phone a few years old.  It's sort of similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III, but it also includes a slide-out physical keyboard.  I'm running Android 4.1.2.

How can I determine at what rate my phone is charging?  Preferably using only an app or a terminal emulator. I'd rather not have to use a multimeter.

You can try Ampere (I didn't test it), which should show you the current (dis)charge rate:

Quoted from a rating:

  I appreciate that this app displays which of my available charging devices delivers the most milliamps. It's useful because I know which charger to swap out for maximum power. Also, it may indicate if a known charger may be under performing based on available specs.


Will switching to GSM only network switch off data access? I'm using Samsung Note 3 N900 model and i want to make sure i don't connect to internet but continue to make calls & SMS/MMS. Believe this is opposite the query of others.

Option 1 (no data at all)

Go to

  Settings --> More Settings --> Mobile Networks --> uncheck "mobile data"

The device will no longer connect to the internet, but continue to receive calls & text. MMS are not possible.

Option 2 (data only for mms) (source)

Go to

  Settings --> More Settings --> Mobile Networks --> Access Point Names --> Select your data APN --> APN Type

Remove in the field APN type everything but "mms". You have to leave "Mobile Data" enabled (see Option 1)


How to disable notification sound in Facebook application I have the Facebook application installed and I can't seem to figure out how to turn off the (really loud and sharp) notifications sound, what I tried so far was

go to Settings > App Settings > Sounds in the App and untick the option
go to Settings > Notifications Settings but I couldn't find a relevant setting

I don't want to mute or lower the device volume because I have other apps with  notifications that are actually important for me, I use a OnePlus2 with Oxygen3.6.1 if it helps

If that's the case. Edit the app with Apk Editor from Play Store. Delete the .ogg files compile it and install. If not so, check whether your phone has notification sound scheme at settings and notifications since you want other apps notifying.


Apps report the phone's using mobile data even though it's connected to a WIFI My Oneplus One, running cm-13.0-20160906-NIGHTLY-bacon, has been in a situation for quite a while that apps, for instance Google Photos, report it's using mobile data even though it's actually connected to a WIFI. This prevents Google Photos from automatically syncing my pictures. The WIFI connection is not set as metered. I'm not sure if it's a CM bug or something as I don't see similar reports on xda forum.

The problem is really troublesome. I was trying to solve it all night. I did a full wipe & fresh flash but it didn't help. I dirty-flashed old builds including cm-13.0-20160730-NIGHTLY-bacon and cm-13.0-20160802-NIGHTLY-bacon, the problem remained. Then I restored a 6/6 twrp backup, problem solved! I dirty-flashed the latest nightly onto the restored backup, everything worked like a charm. It's beyond my knowledge to tell what went wrong but anyhow it's solved and hopefully it won't happen again.


my lgl16c "lucky" is stuck optimizing apps after I changed the runtime my lgl16c was behaving very poorly to the point of which I went to the developer options and swapped the runtime from dalvik to art on android 4.4.2...and now it got stuck "optimizing app 1 of 1" after countless reboots...it's been stuck on this for days without anything changing, and there is no answer on google...is this a special case or what?

The Lucky does not have enough internal memory to use the Art runtime. You can remove the battery if it is stuck, and it should come to the conclusion that it has insufficient memory for the switch, and revert to Dalvik. Had the same issue last night. It will revert you to the default wallpaper as well, but other than that, it will be fine.


Samsung S6 keep showing Device Security "1 threat detected" I have found the App "androidlost" to be very useful in order to be able to found my lost phone  ...

But on my Samsung S6, I keep getting Device Security "1 threat detected" regarding this App and they tell me to remove it. Please how can I remove this notification because I want to keep this App.

References:

Lost Android at google play

https://www.androidlost.com

There is a workaround provided at XDA forums which involves disabling the security log agent. I believe it is also the cause for the "Threat detected" alert notification.

Install free Package Disabler from Google Play Store.
Launch this app, search and disable "Security Log Agent".

Doesn't need root :)

This should fix  this annoying notification again.

Reference

Unauthorized actions have been detected. error


The device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected I get this error when trying to copy a large file (11 gb) from Windows 10 to an Android device (Nexus 7, Android 4.4, 32 gb)

Cannot copy item
The device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected.

There is 26 gb available storage on the device. I can copy a small file with no problems. The device is connected via USB and USB debugging is enabled.

What is the problem?

Edit:
I am copying using File Explorer, i.e. drag'n'drop.
I was able to copy a 4.9gb file.

the simplest way its work for me just go to settings > developer options > select usb configuration first select audio source while connecting to computer then select media transfer protocol (MTP) the device driver will install automatically


Word endings / plural In many languages word endings are adjusted. E.g. the plural s in English. (In other languages there are often many more.) GBoard often doesn't suggest these variations.
E.g. when I tap on the word suggestion 'language', the cursor stay right after the last letter. But when I tap on 's', GBoard will add a space and then 's'. This way I get "language s".

Why does GBoard insert the space only in last second? Seems counter-intuitive. Is there a reason?

Is there a trick to using a word suggestion and immediately modifying it? (Currently I always use space, backspace and then type the word ending.)

Gboard's "glide typing" is designed to allow typing words without worrying about inserting spaces, so when we want plural we just have to type the plural of the word rather than the singular.
Workarounds other than 'space-delete-s' would be disabling glide typing and using old school tap-to-type where every key requires explicit pressing or using the "gesture cursor control" to move the cursor around and then back to the end of the word before pressing 's'.
There may be a third-party keyboard that would allow a custom preference for this, and it may also be possible to modify Gboard to behave this way, but it may not be as useful as hoped.
For an example of what it would be like you could try enabling double-space-period and typing anything using multiple spaces throughout. You would normally only press space half as many times, but you'd be pressing it a lot more often if it was not inserted automatically. The cursor-control workaround still works, but the delete workaround fails although 3+ taps of space becomes period-space-space (etc).


How can I make Lock Screen widgets work on my Galaxy S3 on Android 4.3? When my Galaxy S3 upgraded to 4.3 last night the lock screen lost all its widgets and now immediately turns on to the password entry screen rather then the widget screen where I can slide to unlock or swipe a widget. Because of this I also lost the ability to check the temperature from the lock screen. Does anyone know how to bring back the lock screen widgets for the new update?

I have tried swiping to the left in the upper right hand corner of the screen as I have seen instructed for other phones on 4.3 and have attempted to swipe/tap/hold in other areas of the screen with no luck.  I also checked in all the different setting menu's including going through the lock screen and security settings and there where no options for lock screen widgets (that I saw) and was only able to change from a clock to personal message shown on the screen.

After playing with it some more I was able to get the ability to have widgets on the lock screen and customize them if I set it up to unlock with swipe and no password but if I have any unlock security at all the ability to have lock screen widgets goes away.

Update:
From time to time I will get text messages in my lock window or notifications that I have a lot of them so not sure what is up.

As far I know this is a security "feature" on Android devices that don't let you open personal data through widgets when you set a lock code or a lock pattern. Only works if you don't have no security set.


How do I debug my wi-fi connection? I have two wi-fi networks at home and one of them I just cannot connect to with my Galaxy Nexus. (It works fine with several laptops.)

It shows up but when I try to connect after "Connecting..." it just goes to the state "Saved, secured with WPA2".

I also tried connecting using WPS but it just times out.

I am looking for ways to get additional information to debug this.

What I have tried (as suggested in many other places) is changing the frequency band from Auto to 5 or 2.4 GHz but that didn't help.
EDIT: By now I have also tried resetting the phone but that didn't help either.

In the end I fixed it using the old "have you tried turning it off and on again?" on one of the APs. Make sure to try that first. ;)

So here is my little checklist, least annoying first:

(If you have other suggestions or things that worked for you let me know and I'll add them!)

Recheck the password it is almost always the problem! (Hint to the Android devs: A more descriptive error for this case would be great. ;) )
Reboot all devices. Yes, even if it works for other computers and if it will cut their network connection.
Try adding the network manually and entering all the data manually.
Try restricting all devices to specific channels and bands instead of using automatic discovery.
If you use multiple devices make sure they don't interfere by setting them to different channels or selectively turning them off.
Try using "adb logcat" to get more information.
Try resetting your phone.


transfer custom itinerary from Maps on PC to Android I have a custom itinerary I prepared on maps.google.com on my PC (forcing some routing) and I would like to transfer it to my android smartphone, then use the navigation features of the Maps app.

The only thing I managed to do is to open this itinerary in a browser (on maps.google.com via the link I get on the PC) but not to transfer it to the Maps app. Is there a way to do this? Does the Maps app even supports custom routes?

Install Google Maps Engine.

  Google Maps Engine on Android enables you to view your custom maps
  anywhere, anytime.

I'm not sure, but Navigation will probably not work as described here:

  For navigation, searching for local places, etc. please check out the
  Google Maps for Mobile app.


Keep the home launcher from being killed I have a Motorola Milestone, and I've come to learn that it has a relatively low memory (runtime memory, not storage capacity). The problem that comes with this is that whenever too many apps want to run in the background, the android system starts killing stuff, and with my Milestone that happens very easily.

That wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the fact that android seems to think the home launcher is the least important app of all (which is absurdly wrong). For instance, right now I have a series of apps poluting the background, some important (like Swype) and some pointless (like Facebook). If I open up even a simple app like Messages or Contacts or Settings the homelauncher gets killed in the background. Once I press the Home button, I am greeted with an empty home screen, and have to wait around 1 or 2 minutes for everything to load again.

This happens with all home launchers I tried, though it happens more easily with the heavier ones. So far, I managed to live with this behavior by religiously avoiding apps that run in the background (as well as widgets).  But this solution is not perfect. It still happens more often than I'd like.

Is there a way to change android's priorities when it comes to killing background apps?  But why does the home launcher rank lower than Google Maps' location service and Facebook's (inactive) uploader  and everything else? I want the home launcher to be last thing that gets killed when memory is low, or as close to last as possible (e.g. it obviously can't rank higher than the currently active app, but you get my point).

I currently have Cyanogen mod 6 installed, but it also happened on the stock android OS, and I am willing to install absolutely ANY custom ROM to solve this issue.

I think ADW Launcher has a setting that should keep the application in memory. Also, CM has a setting to force the OS to keep the launcher in memory. I dont remember where it is at in CM6, but in CM7 it is in Settings -> CyanogenMod Settings -> Performance and it is called "Lock Home in Memory". I don't remember if it was in the same place or if it was called the same in CM6.


Kindle fire CM7 barebones: how can I get the home screen into portrait mode? I recently installed the latest (2/9/2012) build of cyanogen mod 7 for my kindle fire. I can't figure out how to get the home screen into a portrait orientation. It defaults to landscape and doesn't respond to the device rotating, although other applications do. I'd appreciate any help.

Unrelated: this rom is awesome!

Aha! As edlarerathis commented, you can change this in AWD settings.

settings -> ADW settings -> system preferences -> Home orientation

change from landscape to auto/sensor.


Re-installing Android Mobile phone technology has been growing rapidly. Nowadays, we have mobile phones with the same configuration as a Pentium-1,Pentium-2 processor + 1 GB Ram  20GB Hard disk as we had a few years ago for Desktops.

For eg: I have just ordered for Galaxy S-III, which as 1 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM and 16 GB Permanent storage.

So, my question is : can we format (same thing as we do on a Desktop) such mobile devices and install whatever OS (Android only for now) we like ? If so, I would like to install latest Android version on my mobile. Similar to the CD-Rom drive that can hold the OS that we are going to install on our fresh Desktop, for mobile devices can't we use any USB storage drives that has the latest Android (installation source) ?

It depends on the device you are using. Some devices have a locked bootloader, meaning you cannot boot into a mode which allows you to overwrite the part of the persistent memory which holds the operating system image.

The steps you usually take are the following:

Flash an advanced Recovery Image
Use that recovery so you can upload an alternative Android version to your ROM

Let me clear up some of the terms:

ROM is the part that contains the operating system and cannot be written to while the device is running. You have to override it by flashing over USB or using an aforementioned Recovery Image
Recovery is an alternative mode you can boot into which enables you to create backups of your system or write to the ROM to install a different operating system

Every alternative Android version comes with tons of tutorials and help. So just search for your device model in conjunction with "cyanogenmod" or "custom ROM".

Edit:

I just saw that you have ordered a Samsung Galaxy S3, so you will have little trouble installing an alternative Android.


How do I open a tg:// URL on Android? I have a tg:// URL like tg://login?token=BTGjK95sf6QLckQBAZPtH_gSLOcpQoasQLCea18O9A that I want to open in the Android Telegram app.

If I paste it into Chrome address bar then it searches for the URL, rather than redirecting to the app like on a PC.

How do I open this URL?

I found a work-around using the Telegram app and the data encoded as a QR code: open Telegram app → tap the Hamburger icon → Settings → Devices → Scan QR Code.


Remove Google Search Bar on Nexus devices running on stock Lollipop I have been reading for days about how to remove the Google Search Bar from the top of my Nexus 6 since I never use it. I have gotten mixed answers on exactly what file to delete and where it is.

I have heard quicksearchbar.apk but it's not in /system/app like in previous versions. Does anybody know where the file/files are I need to delete in order to get rid of the search bar, or else, how to remove it? Preferably not downloading another launcher, since I don't want to bloat my phone when I could reduce the size.

You need to use a third-party launcher app like Nova Launcher. In Nova Launcher, you can hide the persistent search bar by navigating to : Go to Nova Settings > Desktop > Persistent Search Bar > Select "None".


Outlook Auto-Sync keeps re-enabling — How to ultimately deactivate it? I've got a weird phenomenon on my Android 6.0 where Outlook Auto-Sync is automatically and silently re-enabled. I haven't figured out yet when exactly this happens but I'm deactivating Auto-Sync and deleting all imported contacts every other day. It really annoys me.

I disable Auto-Sync via Settings -> Accounts -> Outlook.

While this works fine for other accounts (e.g. GMX), Outlook is re-enabled quite too frequently.

I also tried to delete and reinstall Outlook but the bug continues to happen.

I tried to search the Internet, but all Google hits are about how to enabled/disable Auto-Sync in general. Well, I do know how to do this. But I couldn't find anything about whether this is an Android bug, an Outlook bug, or just a mysterious thing happening on my phone.

Is there another way to make sure that Auto-Sync is disabled?

I suspect it re-enables because of the security policy applied when adding the account. This happens with me too and 10000% annoying. I removed the account and threw it out.


What if I don't want my music on the cloud? I just got my Nexus 7 tablet and I was trying to load some music/videos to it. I have about 10 gigs worth of .mp3 files with no DRM in my computer. Since this is Android, I figured I would not be subject to the pain that is iTunes and I would simply be able to drag the music into a "Music" folder if I plugged in the tablet to my computer. Sure enough, I saw a folder named "Music" and tried dragging a couple of files to it. When I go to my Nexus, however, I don't see the files. I started reading up on this and it seems that the way to do things on Android is to use the Google Music Manager which would then put my songs in "the cloud" and make them playable from any device. That's all nice and everything, but is there any way to simply put a couple songs into my device locally without any of that funny business?

TL;DR: I don't want to use Music Manager, how do I locally upload a song/video to my Nexus 7?

Android uses a so-called Media Scanner to index your media files (this also applies to your images and videos). This Media Scanner ships with the system, and fires automatically on certain system events -- such as after boot, or when you insert your SD-Card. It does, however, not react on a simple "file-drop" via network. For such cases, it might need a little help to get to know it has to act:

Rescan Media
Rescan SD Card!

Are two free example apps from the playstore which do exactly that: trigger the Media Scanner. Once the Media Scanner has indexed your new files, they will immediately show up in the corresponding apps such as the gallery (for images/videos) or your music player.


Is there any undo command when editing any field When editing text fields, is there an UNDO command ?

If you paste something in a text field by accident, the only way you can delete this, is to backspace over it ( or highlight and cut ).

So I was wondering whether there was an UNDO command I haven'f found yet.

I am running Froyo on a Samsung Galaxy S.

It seems there is not, star this issue and pray that it gets Google's attention: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=6458


SSHelper: SD card Permission denied I am unable to write to my sdcard using SSHelper:

u0_a264@MSM8974:/storage/sdcard1 $ df /storage/sdcard1
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/storage/sdcard1       119.1G   625.3M   118.4G   32768

u0_a264@MSM8974:/storage/sdcard1 $ mkdir Test

mkdir failed for Test, Permission denied

In the "internal" sdcard there is no problem:

u0_a264@MSM8974:/data/data/com.arachnoid.sshelper/home $ mkdir Test
u0_a264@MSM8974:/data/data/com.arachnoid.sshelper/home $ rmdir Test

Android 5.1.1 App info Permissions shows:

modify or delete the content of your sdcard. read the contents of your SD card

What is missing to be able to scp files on my micro SD card using SSHelper ?

Take a look at the various ways to get around this issue as explained in the official docs.
Here're some excerpt:

One solution, not at all easy, is to take the external storage device out of the Android device, write to it elsewhere, and put it back. This is a great pain, and works only if you have access to the device and are a bit of a techie.
There's a more difficult solution that grants permanent write access in place, which I will explain here. But be warned — this is not a normal activity for end users, and without being careful you could brick your device.

The latter solution requires root access and modifying /system/etc/permissions/platform.xml to include <group gid="media_rw" /> permission in the relevant sections as shown below:
<permission name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
    <group gid="sdcard_r" />
    <group gid="media_rw" />
</permission>

<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
    <group gid="sdcard_r" />
    <group gid="sdcard_rw" />
    <group gid="media_rw"/>
</permission>

<permission name="android.permission.ACCESS_ALL_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
    <group gid="sdcard_r" />
    <group gid="sdcard_rw" />
    <group gid="sdcard_all" />
    <group gid="media_rw" />
</permission>

Also note that your changes to the above file will most likely be lost when you do an OTA (Over-The-Air) update.


Create new Labels in Gmail App Gmail App in my Android device shows correctly all the labels that I created using Gmail through web interface.

Can I create new labels in Gmail on Android device using Gmail App?

Also, ideally, once I create these new labels in Gmail App, I obviously should be seeing the same in Web Interface of Gmail too (Sync!!).

Any ideas?

As of current writing, it seems that it's (still) impossible to create a new label in Android Gmail app. From Google Gmail official support,

  Create a label

  On a computer, open Gmail. You can't create labels from the Gmail app.
  On the left, click More.
  Click Create new label.
  Name your label.
  Click Create.

(Emphasis mine)


How to mirror Android phone on Mac or Windows for application presentation? Possible Duplicate:
  How do I project the screen of my android phone for a presentation?

Can anyone suggest some tools which can mirror an Android phone to a PC or a Mac?

I found some apps, but mostly they are remote desktop apps. They bring desktop screens to the phone. However, I want it the other way around.

You can use Droid@Screen for this.

If you have root access, you can use androidscreencast as well. Hope this helps.


Android storage problem With a phone of 1 GB internal memory, I am able to install apps for 700 MB only. More than that I get the insufficient memory alert.

Storage shows:

Total space 0.98

Available 71.49
Apps 601
Cache 1.88

Another phone of the same model is able to able to install apps for the entire 1GB.

Phone runs on Android version 4.2.x. Default write disk is external SD card.

Thanks in advance. Screenshots below:

Screenshots: My phone, other phone (click images for larger variants)

In most android devices this insufficient storage issue is to do with Log files being dumped in the /data/log folder. The log files appear to be the logdump for the gsm radio, and can take up a lot of space over time (Gigabytes even).

Most phones without root have a workaround to delete the logs by dialing *#9900# from the phones dial pad. If your phone supports this then the moment you finish entering the 2nd hash, a menu will open up (point is: if it doesnt support nothing happens; pressing the call button wont help). In the menu that opens, select "delete dumpstate/logcat". That will free up all the space occupied by those logs.

Do let me know if any of you with a A116 is lucky to have this workaround. I have an A116 with the same problem, and am not able to find a solution.


4G Connection not working properly A month or so ago, when I turned Mobile Data on the device did not connect to the Internet. I thought that it is a temporary issue with the carrier but it is still not working.

Details of the issue:

It doesn't display anything on the bar icon (on status bar) which shows the network connectivity.
I could connect to 4G using a workaround. When I disable 4G in connection settings, it successfully connects to 3G. (and shows H+ in the bar icon) When I turn on 4G again it successfully connects to 4G and shows 4G in the bar icon.
In System --> About Phone --> Status  --> Network it shows Mobile Network: Disconnected even though Mobile Data is on.

I tried pulling out and putting in the SIM card, switching SIM slots. I can't try the SIM card with an another phone, or an another SIM card with my phone as I don't have access for either for the time being.

Why is this happening? Is this an issue on carrier end or my phone? (it is still on warranty)

My device is Huawei P Smart+ running Android 8.1 (EMUI 8.2). Thank you!

I took the SIM card to a carrier outlet, and they said that it is a damaged SIM card and replaced it. Thanks @Izzy for the helpful comment! :)


Most apps crashing after Galaxy S4 update to 4.4.2 (with SQLite exceptions) I just updated my (stock firmware) Galaxy S4 from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2 using Kies and now most apps crash when I start them.

When I look into the stack trace, the reason for all apps is the same: an SQLiteException with the message: "Could not open the database in read/write mode"

Is anybody else getting this, or know a fix?

Well, annoyingly I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

A factory reset did the trick. Thanks Dan Hulme


What is USB BICR function in android? In the build.prop file I found an entry commented "Enable USB BICR function" (ro.sys.usb.bicr). I searched in Internet, but I did not find anything useful. Maybe you know?

I found some hints in the MediaTek (MTK) kernel sources.

There is no description but with a bit of guessing it seems that this option allows you to present a virtual USB CD-ROM when connected via USB to a PC. Often this is used for providing specific drivers that are required for accessing special functionality of the device. The virtual CD is present on the Android device in form of a ISO-image.

From my understanding this option is only relevant for developers creating a custom ROM.


How to use an external sdcard as internal in Android Lolipop 5.1.1? I have seen option of making external sd card to internal in android 6 mobile phones but i have  android lolipop  5.1.1 how can i  make it adoptable or get that option is it feasable to get that option i found  some commands  but that command is not found in my /system/bin even after rooting to

sm has-adoptable

sm set -force- adoptable true

  /sbin/sh: sm: not found

can i find some sm binary and use it ..i tried but my  phone got problem

sm is actually not a binary, it is a shell script for java program which does not exist/work on 5.1-lollipop

# Script to start "sm" on the device, which has a very rudimentary
# shell.
#
base=/system
export CLASSPATH=$base/framework/sm.jar
exec app_process $base/bin com.android.commands.sm.Sm "$@"

to answer the headline

a completely another solution for rooted devices only:

you can mount ext4 disk image (or ext4 partition) with same permissions like /data
(mount script example)

/su/su.d/40sdextimg start-up script with executable permissions

#!/system/bin/sh
until grep -qw /data/sdext2 /proc/mounts
  do
    mount -t ext4 -o loop,rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime /storage/31D1-1308/data.sdext2.img /data/sdext2
    sleep 1
done &

then you can move apps and create symbolic links
(that's what Link2SD does)

mkdir /data/sdext2/com.textra-1
mv /data/app/com.textra-1/base.apk /data/sdext2/com.textra-1/
ln -s /data/sdext2/com.textra-1/base.apk /data/app/com.textra-1/base.apk

or bind mount whole folder
(assuming 2nd partition is mounted /data/sdext2)

mkdir /data/sdext2/media
chmod 0770 /data/sdext2/media
chown 1023.1023 /data/sdext2/media
chcon u:object_r:media_rw_data_file:s0 /data/sdext2/media
mv /data/media/. /data/sdext2/media
mount -o bind /data/sdext2/media /data/media


Turn OnePlus 3 on with broken power and volume buttons As title suggests, I'm looking for a way to turn my OnePlus 3 on but I have the following issues:

Volume buttons do not work
Power button does not work
USB debugging is not enabled
Phone is currently off...

Any ideas?

There appears to be no obvious workaround to power on your device, if neither your power button or volume button work.
You might be able to revive your buttons with some isopropyl alcohol and intensive button pressing. On the old Nintendo DS, you were also able to briefly revive buttons by breathing/blowing into the buttons and repeated button presses.
Another more advanced possibility, if you have nothing too lose, is to open up the device and see if you can bridge the contacts the button is supposed to activate. You might also find replacement parts on the internet.


Does Android support the external USB devices? Does Android support the external USB devices like PC keyboard, joystick, camera or other devices that can be connected to the PC? If so, then do I need some additional software, or is it enough to connect external device via Standard/Micro USB adapter?

All that depends on your device, which must support this as well. Android itself does support this since 3.1-honeycomb – and I e.g. successfully use an external keyboard with my tablets, which is just plugged into the USB port.

The keyword to look for is usb-on-the-go. We already have more than 60 posts on this topic, which you might wish to check (or start with the 9 most frequented to easier get to the core points). If those leave open questions, feel free to ask those in separate posts :)

Edit: As Dan correctly points out in his comment, if your device has a full-sized USB port, there's no need for OTG. See our usb-host-mode tag for that.


Is there a way to get my android phone to stop going back to the beginning of a song when I disconnect my bluetooth audio? I have an Android phone (a Motorola Droid, running android 2.2) that I use with my car's bluetooth audio.  When I turn on the car, it will automatically conenct to the Droid and tell it to play, which automatically starts the music app and begins playing.  (I like that--that's what I want.)  Then when I turn the car off while playing, the music app automatically stops.  (I also like that.)  But when it stops in response to the car turning off, it goes immediately back to the beginning of the song, which I don't like.  I'd like it to pause when the car is turned off, and pick up in the middle of the song where it left off.

I don't even know exactly what's happening behind the scenes to cause this.  Is the car sending the phone a "stop" command when it turns off, which causes the phone to go back to the beginning of the track?  I'm not sure how to find out.  While the car is on, the only commands it supports are "play," "pause," "next," and "previous," which which do what you would expect.  I don't see any options available on the phone or on the car that would obviously control this behavior.

So I guess I'd like to know a) if there's a way to change this on the phone, and b) is there a way to tell exactly what commands the car is sending to the phone and when?  Some sort of log that can be enabled maybe?

Have you tried using a different music app?  You might get better results from say DoubleTwist or WinAmp.


App exporting to SD card I remember android has disabled app exporting to SD card since i dont remember which version, but a person has showed me his 7.0 or 7.4 LG which actually is able to move apps to SD card. Why is this happening and how can i do the same at 7.0 androd? Preferably, without having to format SD card as internal storage

I'm not sure about formatting as internal storage, if your device can read it, it's already formatted for Android, and can be used as either internal or external... just switch it.

Also, some applications don't allow moving the app for compatibility and security reasons, it's not always device dependent.

Try scrolling through the apps and see if you can move any of them across.


problem opening normal boot after TWRP install on nokia 3 by using sp flash tool i installed TWRP on nokia 3 phone and using fastboot loader i can open TWRP but i can not normal boot , when trying to boot normally only android logo appears.
Is it possible to open in normal boot.

As you have install the custom recovery following reasons may cause problem-

Wrong version of twrp.
Wrong size of twrp recovery because some mediatek processors support 7mb of recovery.

So as you mentioned after installing twrp recovery device won't boot into system and it stuck on boot logo see the following guide to fix-

download stock rom of your device.
flash recovery.img from stock rom with sp flash tool as you flash twrp recovery.
This will return your device recovery mode to stock recovery form.
Now you can perform normal boot and your device won't stuck at logo.

Extra tips-

try to find the right version of twrp recovery, unlock the bootloader and if won't find the twrp recovery for your device just build it yourself take help from Google hope it helps good luck.


How to delete auto backup pictures on samsung s4 I have a Samsung galaxy s4. I have a bunch of pictures I would like to delete. They are in a folder named auto backup which has NO delete button. How do I get rid of them? I do not know how to find where they are stored Help!!

Please tap and hold one image to enable bulk selection. A trash icon will appear on the top right. That is, if you're talking about Google Photos.


How do I unlock the bootloader on an LG K120 (K4 LTE 2016)? I got a used LG K4 off eBay and I'm looking to flash a Marshmallow ROM. I tried downloading the SuperSu ZIP file and booting into recovery, but the only option was factory reset.

I rebooted and tried Kingroot, because you don't need to boot into recovery for it to work. It didn't work, it just said 'Root failed'.

I did some research and found out that you need to unlock the bootloader. I didn't know this because on my previous phone the bootloader was already unlocked. I searched on how to unlock it on my device but all the suggestions just told me to boot into recovery.

Is there a good way to manually unlock the bootloader? I have a raspberry pi 3 and my mother has a Windows 10 laptop, so either can work. Thanks!

LG has agreed to provide bootloader unlocks for a certain few models.  Google  bootloader unlock. Is an  officia LG site. Good luck!


Way to access Samsung Galaxy S4 as USB device without Rooting the phone How I can connect my Samsung Galaxy S4 to my PC as a USB device.

I tried the Build Number shortcut and it did not work. Enabling USB debugging does not fix the problem. The reason behind this is to recover some deleted videos and all the apps require the phone to be connect as a USB device.

You need to install Samsung Kies on the computer. That will install the appropriate driver; at that point your phone when connected should appear in My Computer (assuming we're talking about Windows 7/8/8.1). If you're running OS X you'll need to install the Android Transfer utility from Samsung. Most Android phones use a generic Google-provided MTP driver, but Samsung rolled their own and the generic one doesn't work.

It's a hassle to install Kies, but Samsung does not provide a stand-alone installer for their MTP driver. Once installed, you can ignore it. The phone will appear in My Computer and be browsable from Windows Explorer.


Syncing / sending Google Maps landmarks to Android Maps I can save Google Maps landmarks on the desktop browser maps.google.com service to my own maps. However is it possible to sync / send these maps to Android Maps?

I will look a destination landmarks beforehand on my computer
I sync them to phone
When I arrive to a destination (city) I can use my Android to navigate around

If this is not Google Maps I am free to use alternative services as long as desktop mobile sync connection exists.

On Android 4.0 at least, the "maps" app has a "My Maps" layer.  It will show you your saved maps.

On older versions of Android (sorry, but I can't confirm this) I think there's a separate "My Maps" app.


Disable USB charging For some reasons not related to the battery life, I need to disable the battery charging when a USB host is connected to my phone (a rooted Nexus 4). Taking a look around on the internet (link1, link2), it looks like I should modify a system file. I have found a series of interesting files located in /sys/class/power_supply/battery and /sys/class/power_supply/usb, that could be the right ones to be modified in order to achieve the usb charging disabling (e.g. /sys/class/power_supply/usb/present 0/1).

Has anyone tried something like that (control the usb charging via software and modify such system files)? Which is the best way to modify those system files? Should I use the adb shell or another tool?

I tried the "root explore" app in order to modify those files, however when I modified a file (after changing its permissions), it was automatically kept back to its original value.

I just tried and found that you need to modify a file:
sys/class/power_supply/usb/device/charge

its default content is '1' which means 'enable charging'
you need to set it to '0' to 'disable charging'

$ su

$ echo 0 > /sys/class/power_supply/usb/device/charge

I tested on Nexus 4 and it's working successfully.


How come some apps can't be written to the SD card? A question that has bugged me is why app developers (especially Google) do not allow apps to be written to the SD card.  I understand there are a few that cannot; however, I think there are still quite a few apps that can run from SD, which would benefit those of us with small amounts of internal memory.

Here is an excellent list of characteristics of apps which should not be installed on SD card, with reasons, from the Android developer site. Hope it helps.


Is full device encryption possible on LG Optimus L5 II (LG-E460)? After starting the encryption process from within the Device Policy Manager for Google Apps the device will reboot, and immediately get stuck on the boot loader while happily displaying the LG logo until it runs out of power.

Reinstalling the software image using the LG Mobile Support Tool makes no difference. It successfully installs the software, reboots the phone  - and we're back to the permanent LG logo again.

Naturally I assumed I had a problem with the specific device, so I then went ahead and bricked a second LG-E460 in the exact same way.

Any way to fix the boot problem?

While reinstalling the software made no difference, a hard factory reset (triggered by holding down power, volume down and quickset) let the device return to a bootable state.

Can the LG-E460 be set up with encryption at all? Any reason as to why it might not work? I kinda thought of storage encryption as more of a universal Android thing and never considered that a mid range phone might not have such features.

Lack of such essential security features would reduce these phones to children's toys in my eyes. Even if I could work around my personal security concerns, in these parts, full device encryption is very much a requirement to access just about any business related system or network, or even to sync contacts, schedule and mail with company services.

You probably can encrypt your device by installing CyanogenMod, and entering the following command in the Terminal Emulator app:

vdc enablecrypto inplace PASSWORD

where PASSWORD is replaced by your password. If that command won't work, try replacing inplace with wipe although be careful, since that will wipe all of your data.


Under what path is the data for Firefox extensions stored? /data/data/org.mozilla.firefox is the directory in which Firefox's data is stored on Android. Where are Firefox's extensions' settings and data stored in there? The best I can tell is that they're going to be stored under /data/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/mozilla/${profile}.default since the names for everything outside of that folder appears to be for temporary files, the application's cache, and network-related things.

These are the paths that I'm sure do not contain extension data or that I'm sure do contain ALL of the extension data:

/data/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/mozilla/${profile}.default/browser-extension-data

On Android 10, Firefox 68.7.0

/data/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/mozilla/1q4ydoub.default/extensions

I am not sure if the number before .default is specific to version or something else

For more details, see Firelord's answer here Where Firefox for Android is keeping add-on generated files?

Edit: You can paste file:///data/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/mozilla/1q4ydoub.default/extensions in the search bar to see details of extensions, size, last modified time stamp


Rooting my Galaxy s4 I just can't.  I just switched from an iPhone to a galaxy s4 and i don't even know whwhere to start. It's version 4.4.4 model sgh m919 and it's so complicated I dont even know where to begin.

I ran into this problem with the SGH-M919 NK2 (4.4.4) build as well.  Unfortunately, none of the one-click Root programs work as of right now, such as Kingo or iRoot.  BUT!!  Good news is that the NH7 Odin root package works to root the device.  So, to  go to this link, and download the root file.

http://download.chainfire.eu/328/CF-Root/CF-Auto-Root/CF-Auto-Root-jfltetmo-jfltetmo-sghm919.zip

Next, download Odin3, and follow these simple instructions from XDA:

http://www.jayceooi.com/how-to-install-galaxy-s4-firmware-i9500-i9505-with-odin/

Now, manually download SuperSU, or SuperUser from the Play store.
Voila!  You are now rooted on the NK2 build!

REMEMBER...you will be using the CF-Auto-Root[.tar.md5] in the PA box.


The device need to be converted to Unified UserData partition - Cyanogenmod I'm trying to install latest Cyanogenmod on my Xperia T. But I get the following error:

Click image for larger version

I tried to install it several times.

NOTE : In my phone the microSD card is not detectable. So i cannot copy the zip and install it from SD card.

You really should've read either the XDA thread or the CM Wiki before doing any of this...

Migrate to the one big partition for CM-13.0 :

(Optional) Backup all your data, applications, internal storage, ...
(Optional) Empty the internal storage with the old ROM or TWRP 3.0
(Optional) If wished, do a full Nandroid backup from Recovery
Flash the latest ROM zip of your device to start the unification
Read and follow the instructions from the zip if anything goes wrong
(Optional) Restore your Nandroid backup if you want to
Flash the same ROM zip for CyanogenMod 13.0

So in other words, simply flashing the zip twice back-to-back will do.
Also, ditch CM recovery - it's not required and pathetically weak in function against TWRP. That will also allow you to connect to PC with MTP and put the zip inside the storage before flashing, which saves time if anything goes wrong (you don't need to adb push again).


connect my google accont in a new device I use my google account with a PC and with an ASUS tablet.
Now I'm trying to connect a new smartphone (new for me... it was the old phone of my daughter...)
First of all, I resetted the device to the farm setting, and now when I try to define my account I always receive a message like this "account or password not valid... "
Of course the account and the password are correct...
I need some other settings on the phone? any idea
Thanks in advance, for your help
The smartphone is a Samsung GT-S5670
Android version 2.3.6
Kernel version 2.6.35.7-1210226
Build version GINGERBREAD.XWKTO

RedKite

I need some other settings on the phone?

Nope. No other setting is required. You should be able to login fine with the credentials.
I'd recommend double checking the password you typed for any mistake or just reset password incase you may have forgotten.


Text Bubble and Background S6 Marshmallow Update Ever since the update, my text background is white and the bubbles are yellow and blue only. I have no settings area like before where I can adjust it. I can change the background but that's it. I can't adjust or change the bubble or its color? It's really hard on my eyes. Is there a way to chsnge them still or do I have to download a theme? Seems silly to chsnge the theme for a text bubble option!

I have an S5, S4, and Note 2, and I also got fed up with the Stock Messaging app.

I highly recommend using Textra SMS. It has about 250,000 good reviews, many of them from Samsung users.

It's not one of those apps that use data and give you a separate phone number, Textra is a replacement stock SMS app with major customization.

Here's a screenshot of the feature you seek:

I have mine set to AMOLED-friendly black since I use Samsung, and I also enjoy the "Send Delay" feature for all the times I need to fix typos after hitting send.

Hope this helps!

Affiliation: App User


Filter for honeycomb optimized apps Is there anyway to filter only for honeycomb optimized apps no market? I have a Motorola Xoom and wants to filter for all apps that looks good on my device.

I think the best you can do at this point is to use the "Featured Tablet Apps" page in the Market (this may be region-limited, it seems). The web version seems to have more apps listed than the tablet section on Honeycomb's Market app.

You could also log into the Market website and filter searches based on whether or not the apps are compatible with your device (the Xoom, in this case), but the fact that they're compatible doesn't mean they're "optimized" for tablet so I suppose that's not quite the same.

For games you could also install Nvidia's Tegra Zone app, but it's technically just designed for anything optimized for Tegra chips (so the Atrix would be included but is not a tablet form factor). Most of the games seem to be made with larger devices in mind, though.


Are there guidelines on how much free RAM a phone should have - specifically Samsung Galaxy S? I have a Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate) that is rooted.  I have various ways to tweak the amount of free RAM the OS leaves on the phone.  The default is 48 MB, but I was wondering if I could actually go lower without impacting phone performance.  Are there guidelines posted anywhere, or that can be deduced based on knowledge of the Android platform?  Or should I trust that the default settings are appropriate?  I understand that when it comes to free RAM, more isn't necessarily better, but I understand that there is still a threshold that I don't want to dip below.

I'm running a 2.3.6 Gingerbread based ROM.  For what it's worth, I'm running the Zeam launcher.

In the "linux world", what android is at its core, free RAM is wasted RAM. The system will attempt to use up as much RAM as needed. If more is needed, and there are applications that are no longer requiring the RAM it has allocated, the system will free up the RAM from that application an allocate it to the new application that needs it.

Having less RAM available will not necessarily affect the performance. What will affect it is if it frequently needs to free up RAM on the system for other applications. meaning if there a lot of running applications that are Active, and require the RAM, then you can see performance issues. This is because the the system needs to save the state of the application, free up the RAM and then allocate the freed RAM to a new application.

As for what a "low point" might be, I can't say. I have NEVER watched my available RAM, and never really experienced any performance issues because of RAM. for the record, I have the same device (but the T-Mobile version).


Pattern lock screen on Froyo, what should I do if I forget the pass? What should I do if I forget the standard pattern lock screen order/pass (the one that you need to join 4 or more points between the 3x3 matrix screen) on my android phone?

If you have linked a gmail account on your android, dont worry.. just follow these steps:-

Input the wrong pattern 3 or more times till "forgot password" button appears
Click on forgot password button and check your inbox


If I 'adb push' a file to /system/xbin, will it persistent? If I 'adb push' a file to /system/xbin, will it persistent? will it stay until I flash another image?

$ adb push myfile /system/xbin/myfile

Thank you.

Yes. /system is for persistent firmware files and will survive a wipe/reset unless you don't install another firmware (depends on the MOD's installer/installation script: some preserve other files, some do not).


Is it possible to use the Android Hardware without using android APIs? I've always liked cheap smartphones ($ 50) because with little money I can have a powerful system with lots of sensors and things like that. So I wondered if it was possible to use the hardware without using the very limited android APIs, programming it at a low level then, of course with the root. In particular I wanted to see how the LTE module worked and experiment with this having full control, the Android API does not allow it to do much.

You can try using NDK. It gives more access to android hardware.

Please refer

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53134098/hardware-access


Samsung Galaxy Note keyboard software Is the software for the Galaxy Note keyboard (and its possibly its other unique features) available for other Android devices?

I am willing to pay and I also have a rooted phone, if that helps me get these features.

Specifically, as shown in this video, at about 22 seconds in, there is an option to write with a stylus which gets automatically recognised as words, etc.

The "Graffiti" writing technology from the old PalmOS devices is available for Android now, and supports letter at a time text input with a stylus (or presumably a finger). Graffiti for Android.

However, something like DioPen or PenReader seems to be more what you're after. They both have very mixed reviews, and do seem to be better on some devices than others, and take some getting used to.


Make the sleep timer on a tablet dependent on whether it's being charged or not Is there a way to set the sleep mode timer depending on whether the tablet is being charged or not?

I normally have my Android tablet (Xoro Pad 9718, Android version 4.1.1) next to my computer on the desktop, and I like having some manual page or similar on the tablet while I'm working on the computer. In this case, the tablet is plugged into the charger, and I set the sleep mode to as long as possible, because it's just annoying if the screen turns black every few minutes. When the tablet is NOT plugged into the charger, I want a sleep mode timer of 30 seconds or one minute, to save battery life.

I'm open to a hidden setting somewhere as well as an app that detects when the charger is plugged/unplugged and changes the timer setting.

There is no such feature on Android natively.

However, there are quite a few "automation" type apps that can do this for you.  Some of the better known ones are Tasker, AutomateIt, Locale and Llama.  All of these allow you to define a trigger (e.g. "charger plugged in" in your case) and set up various actions such as toggling settings.

Keep in mind that most of these apps require excessive permissions in order to be able to change system settings (and some toggles even require root.)

Also, some manufacturer UI overlays and custom ROMs allow you to set up profiles with different settings.  Switching these profiles is either a manual process, or does not provide such granularity in configuration as the automation apps.


HTC People Widget: Changing Pictures Is there any way to change or set the source for the pictures on the People Widget when you have linked contacts?

Example: I have my wife as one of my contacts.  I have her Facebook/Twitter accounts linked to my entries for my GMail and Exchange contacts. I've added a picture taken by the on phone camera to the Exchange contact entry but the widget uses her Facebook profile picture as the display picture.

Any way to override this behavior?

Yes. From the widget, select the contact name (not image). This brings you to the contact info. Select the chain link in the upper right hand corner (it should say Linked in your specific example). Finally, select the image in the upper left corner. You can select the image source from there. I tested it on the HTC incredible.

EDIT: I was originally referring to the Favorites Widget but basically, the Favorites Widget is just an example of the People widget which can be the any-group-at-all widget.

(I apologize if this is obvious, caffeine has not fully sunk in yet.)