Choosing firmware version in CyanogenMod or LineageOS I recently acquired a secondhand Samsung Galaxy GT-I9295, currently installed with Android 4.4.2. I would like to install either CyanogenMod, or Lineage, depending on what is available. I am told that the phone is also referred to as an "S4 Active",

Before even trying to install an altenative OS, I'm facing the problem of trying to discover the correct firmware version. Unfortunately I have no background knowledge of smartphones (this being the first I've used) and I have no idea what I should be looking for in the published lists of CyanogenMod and LineageOS supported models.

The lists on both the LineageOS site and the CyanogenMod have a vast array of Samsung phones but, amongst them, should I be looking only for "GT-I9295" irrespective of what other terms might be used on the same line, or should I be looking for something that says "S4 Active", even if it does not mention "GT-I9295". And are either of the two identifiers that I've mentioned sufficient to identify the correct firmware for the phone or are there some other identifiers (e.g., something I found called "Baseband version" that is listed in the device settings) that I ought be concerned about?

Galaxy S4 Active is not officially supported by either CyanogenMod (back when it was still in action) or LineageOS. Unofficial versions of CyanogenMod and LineageOS are available on XDA-Developers, all the way up to LOS 14.1 (Android 7.1).

As for the other part of your question, contrary to the other answer, you are urged to find ROMs base on the model number (in your case, GT-i9295), and also your baseband version for optional assistance. The reason is there are a number of variants for a phone of the same name; AT&T has their own variant (SGH-i537), and Korean carriers have another very different variant (SHV-E470S). Each could affect what you can and can't flash. For example, E470S has its own array of ROMs to flash, but since the internal is vastly different (despite they look alike), you can't flash it on your own.

If your baseband version starts with "I9295" then you can be sure that your device is indeed a GT-i9295 and can proceed to attempt to flash anything made for it; otherwise, it's likely that the phone is converted from one of the other variants (by flashing a ROM, or spoofing build.prop, whatever), and you should stop and ask for assistance.


Android phone wi-fi not connecting with perticular network only Please refer me to right portal if this is not a right one.

I am having android phone HTC one +. Now problem is that when i am in office and trying to connect with Wi-Fi then it not connect but when i try to connect with any other Wi-Fi network then it easily connect.

I also had visit the service center and Wi-Fi connected easily in their network.

What i can do to solve this issue.

I had the same problem but with another device(HTC touch diamond2). You need to edit network settings. Write by yourself IP-adress, subnet Mask, Router of current Wi-Fi.
I think to find out this information for you will not be difficult.


How can I delete data from phones that won't start up? I have 2 broken Android phones that won't power up. An LG G4 (bootloop issue, but bought used, so no warranty), and a Moto G3 that fell in a puddle. Neither will power up, so I can't remove my personal data from them. Is there any way to delete my data on these before recycling/selling for parts/donating? I don't know what to do with them. I don't want to risk my personal data being recovered.

Physically breaking them is the only way to be relatively certain the data isn't compromised by someone else somehow.


How do I undo imported contacts? It started when I wanted to backup my Mom's contacts online in my email. I took backup of her contacts in a .vcf  file and transferred it into my phone via Bluetooth. Later that day, I wanted to go to the Bluetooth folder but I couldn't find it. Neither can I find the .vcf file.

I went to Bluetooth menu -> received files and clicked on the .vcf file (not a real file, just a link). To my further surprise (read 'frustration'; the file existed) all the contacts of my Mom got imported into my phone. Android didn't ask me to import them.

Moreover, I have no idea where is  that file located.  I searched the storage (extsd & SD0) and nothing came up.

FromNokia 3310:
                                Contacts => Option => Share Contacts => Mark => Back => Done => Blue Tooth sharing screen comes => More  => Select BlueTooth Device => conn.

In Android Phone
Go to contact => More (option in top right side) =>Settigs => Import Export Contacts => Import VCard files(VCF) from your device storage to contacts on your device


Is it possible to search for gifs in messages? (Samsung Note 8) I am currently using a Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which in the default messaging app has a keyboard option to send a gif image. When selected gifs appear and there are categories at the bottom (Trending, Happy, Fun, etc. etc.) However, I find this to be very ineffective and restrictive to find the actual gifs I want.

I checked on an Android forum, where some of the responses seem to indicated there is a search function, but this seems to be applicable to the S9 and conflicting information if it still exists.

So now I turn here... Does a search function exist for the gif keyboard, and if so how do I access it?

 Message version: 4.4.11.4 -- Message Service version 4.4.10.4

While I have not found any function within the Samsung Keyboard to allow for a search, this problem is easily solved by downloading a third-party keyboard...

I chose Gboard.

I have also heard that SwiftKey is a popular option.


Number recognition of company number ranges I would like it, if it was possible to program a number range of a company in my phone as a pseudo-contact.

For example, I know my company has a thousand telephone numbers in a block. I have a number in that range, as have all my co-workers. For some, the number is ofcourse in my address book, and their name shows up correctly. However, I would like to add the whole range, so that in absence of a more specific match, it would still show my company name as the caller.

I doubt if this is possible, but should anybody know of a way, I'd like to hear about it.

I looks like the program suggested (Prefixer) may work. The problem will be "For some, the number is ofcourse in my address book,". I didn't see an "exception" to the rule on those screenshots, so how does it handle numbers that are in the block of numbers AND in the contacts.

As a workaround to an "easy way":

Of course manually inputting the numbers will work. Gmail allows more than a few numbers on a single contact. I don't know what the upper limit is, but you could just make a similarly named contact and max it out too. This would allow you to remove the exceptions from the block. Maybe use another contact software and import the contact if that interface is easier to add multiple numbers.

You could also just do it as they call. I am on 2.3.5 and after the call, when the number is not known it asks me to make a new contact or assign it to an existing one.

EDIT: I couldn't find anything out there that would do this automatically. I now know Google contacts will allow around 3000 contact numbers in one contact. Anymore than that it is starts acting odd (not saving, etc).

Using the tools that are available I have made it work by importing this block from a CSV file. Here are the steps:

Goto my dropbox share at Block Import csv's
Download all the CSV file from that folder
** Might want to turn off syncing contacts on the phone at this point.
Go to google contacts
Choose MORE-->IMPORT-->CHOOSE FILE and choose the csv file (Block Import.csv)
Import (this may take a little while for google to respond depending on your connection speed) A new group will be created called "imported M/DD/YY
Go to that group and choose all the contacts. (check box on the top left)
MORE -->MERGE CONTACTS-->OK It will only do 250 at a time. Be patient, it is very slow.
Rename the contact (something like "Compan Name_1" and remove it from this group and add it to "my contacts"
Repeat steps 6 through 8 until there are no single contacts left. There should be around 34 contacts with 3000 contact numbers in each of them.
Turn syncing back on if you turned it off.

While a bit manual, with patience, it does work. Now, I don't know what that will do to your phone when you try to sync it.


Button to allow ADB backup not working I have a Oneplus One running CyanogenMod 12.0. (Based on Lollipop 5.0) I'm trying to create a backup using ADB. I executed the command, and it gave me the usual prompt to unlock my phone and allow the backup. On my phone, the screen comes up asking me if I want to encrypt the backup with a password, and with the "Do not back up" and "Back up my data" buttons. So far so good.

The "Do not back up" button works fine: When I click it, the command on my computer stops running. But the Confirm button just does nothing. When I tap the button, nothing happens; the button doesn't even "light up" like buttons normally do.

The button is not "grayed out" or disabled: It looks exactly like the other, functioning, cancel button.
I tried inputting a password, thinking maybe it would not allow me to back up my data unencrypted, but it still behaved exactly the same
I tried running the "adb backup" command with literally every combination of arguments, with the same results
"adb devices" does show my phone properly connected

How can I either

Fix this, and make an ADB backup
Make a complete backup in some other way, without root access. (I want to unlock my bootloader, which wipes all data)

For me force stopping the Facebook Messenger seemed to fix the problem.
In your case it might be related to a different app.

Go to Settings->Apps->Select the application you suspect->Press "FORCE STOP"

Possibly this is related to the "draw over other apps" privilege.

Also see http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-s/520618-adb-backup-can-t-click-back-up-my-data-button-phone.html


Bootloop after System Restore My device just got into bootloop after restoring a backup of the system partition.

This bootloop is just a soft bootloop.  I mean, I could get into the Operating System, but it keeps playing the Boot Animation.

I just solved the problem by installing a ROM (in this case, CM13), and the problem is gone.

I still need to wipe and do a Factory Reset, because it came from another ROM.

After wiping, the ROM should install, and you could now get to the Operating System.


Should I keep my Android tablets' power off or leave them on standby mode? I have two tablets: Allwinner A10 single-core 10 inches (old one) and Allwinner A31 quad-core 9.7 inches (new one).

I notice that sometimes when not using the tablet's standby mode, the battery drain is 20 to 30 percent, there's also a little heat near the battery on the back of the tablet, and it sometimes becomes slow so I have to restart anyway. (I install lots of programs, software, browsers, readers, games, movie/music players. Recently the tablets are filled with Android applications.)

A couple of questions:

Should I keep my Android tablets power off or leave them on standby mode? Which option is better?
Will turning the tablet off at night when not using it increase the tablet's life?
Will it increase the battery life in terms of charge/discharge cycles if the tablet is left off when not used? So it increases battery longevity for years?
Will it also increase the life of the memory card and flash memory (as they are dependent on read/write cycles)? Something might be getting written to them by some background programs if the tablet is on standby?
Will it also increase the MTBF (mean time between failure) and longevity of the ARM processor and other electronic chip components, etc., of the tablets?

Turning the tablet off at night will most likely extend its life, but this defeats the purpose of having a tablet, since a key feature of the tablet is instant power-on from standby.

Generally, there are two things that drain the battery of any device: the display (when it's turned on), and any wireless communications (3G, WiFi, etc).  If you really want to conserve power at night time, turn off the tablet's WiFi and 3G (airplane mode).

The power draw of the CPU and RAM is negligible compared to the power consumption of the display and wireless comms.  And it's normal to feel a little heat near the CPU, the wireless antenna, and the battery when charging.

I wouldn't worry about battery life, in terms of charge-discharge cycles, unless you plan on keeping your tablet for 20 years. The same goes for the MTBF of the physical components.

The flash memory will not go bad if the tablet is left on. In fact, the tablet probably reads and writes to flash more when booting up than when it's idle.

Generally, I would suggest enjoying the tablet the way it's meant to be used!  If it breaks because of normal use, then it wasn't worth having anyway!


Want to play 2 audio files at once Is there an audio app that will play a stereo file in the background, even if I start playing audio in another app?  In other words, when I try this using Google play music and Poweramp, Google play will do it but pauses itself when I start a new track in Poweramp.  I would like it to continue playing as background to everything I'm doing.

Thanks!

Certain players have an "audio focus" setting that will allow it to ignore other apps and actions.  I found Rocket Player and Poweramp are two of them.


My Lenovo Tab 3 7 Essential is stuck in bootloader (LENOVO LOGO) I enabled OEM UNLOCKING and rebooted the device, but it fails to proceed after the boot animation. Please help as soon as possible.

Are you sure you're stuck on bootloader? It sounds like you're actually stuck on the splash screen.

If you're stuck on bootloader, you should be able to flash recovery via fastboot.


Original OS For Samsung Galaxy S I9000 Possible Duplicate:
  Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

I put a ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S I9000 and now it doesn't fully work.  I was wondering if there was a way to get the original ROM, that came with my device, from an official site somewhere.  I was told that apparently you can do it on the Android site, but I can't see any place to do that.

Go to this XDA thread and download the newest firmware for your region.  Download Odin for Windows (search for "Heimdall" if you are on Linux).  Then do the following:

Put your phone into Download mode

Remove the battery
Hold VolumeDown plus the Home key

Reinsert the battery.
Let go of the power button only about 1 second after the white device logo appears (if it does)
After a few seconds a yellow triangle with an android in it should appear, you can let go of the keys since this is download mode.

Start up Odin.
Attach the phone to USB so that Odin recognizes it.  If it doesn't, reboot your phone, exit Odin, and go back to step (1).
Load the .zip file you downloaded (the custom ROM) into the PDA field of Odin.
Load the 512 .pit file into the PIT field of Odin.
Check "Re-partition".
Hit Start.  Odin will tell you when it's done; if it fails, reboot your phone and try again.  (This happens occasionally).

Note that if you need to back anything up, you should do that beforehand and save the backup to your PC, since everything (except probably the external SD card) will be wiped on the phone.  Also note that you do this at your own risk; Odin is very powerful and misusing it can damage your phone.  Re-partition in particular can be troublesome if you select the wrong PIT file.  I've used Odin dozens of times myself safely, though.


Why does my phone on 6.0.1 download the entire app all over again when updating? I have 2 devices, my Cherry mobile One G1 running 6.0.1 (an Android One device) and my old Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet running Jellybean 4.2.2.

When installing updates on my tablet, only the a small part of the update is downloaded this discussion said they're called "delta". But when on my phone, it downloads the entire app all over again. It's fine for small apps, but some games have well over 100mb of data sometimes and it hurts my data allowance to update them.

Is it a feature of MM 6.0.1 or is it a bug on my phone?

Google Play Store's App Updates vary by device's Android version. It's highly likely that the new updates being installed on your Android 6 device has huge changes in it to support latest Android APIs.

If you're downloading big games, there will be some extra size
 to be downloaded initially.
But if you're updating the app, it usually requires much less data.


How do I change the language in my Google Weather app I'm in Hong Kong. All my phone is successfully showing English with the exception of my Google Weather app, which has decided I need to see my weather in Chinese.

My old phone, a Nexus 5x was able to show me in English, but my new phone, a Pixel XL isn't obliging. What can I do to change it.

Just go to the app info of your Google app and in manage space clear your data and cache. It will not causeharm to your personal data .


SGS2 screen gets more and more dark blue, possibly after overheated charging My phone screen is gradually becoming dark blue and then black--see photo. Started with a single light blueish edge, and growing during the last hours to what can be seen on photo.

The only serious reason that I could think of is that the phone has recently overheated while charging: it stayed for several hours under the pillow, and it was very hot when I took it away from there. Another guess is a recent drop on the floor, but in its 2-years lifetime it dropped dozens of time, frequently much harder than today.

What could be the reason, and how it can be fixed, ideally DIY or at all?

It's Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100.

Looks like a damaged LCD that's slowly "leaking out."  Overheating could definitely be the culprit, as could the drop. Although damage from the drop is usually accompanied with a visible crack.  Most likely it was the combination of the two.  The fact that the phone booted up and is (sort-of) functional leads me to believe that replacing the LCD assembly would fix it.

There are plenty of replacements to be had on eBay for up to USD$100.  I would go for the LDC+digitizer combination, even though the glass itself looks intact. There are simply too many issues with properly separating LCD from the glass that could cause you to break both and spend even more money.  It is definitely doable on your own, provided you have some basic tools.  There are videos on YouTube with great walkthoughs to help you along the way: probably most detailed (even though it's not on GT-I9100, but on other modification of SGS2); some others specifically on GT-I9100. A guide at iFixIt can be also helpful.


Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 (SM-T210) KitKat upgrade issue I have Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 (SM-T210) and recently upgraded it to KitKat.

I just noticed now that I lost my Samsung account. It's not on my application list either. Is there anyway to reinstall it? I've done factory reset and it's still missing.

What is the app called?
As far as I understand I think you are looking for Samsung Link.


How to upgrade HBOOT from 0.80.0007 to 1.01.0001 I own an HTC Wildfire with HBOOT version 0.80.0007 and S-On. How do I upgrade to HBOOT 1.01.0001? Can anyone give me a nudge in the right direction? I've been racking my brains for the last few days, looking for a useful tutorial, with no luck at all, I hope to sort my problem out.

It was enough flashing the device with RUU_Buzz_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.22.405.1_Radio_13.55.55.24H_3.35.20.10_release_160191_signed.exe


In Google Chrome, how do I drag things around on a touchscreen Android device? Clicking and dragging something from a webpage is easy from a PC. For example, the bar in the screenshot below can be dragged by holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse simultaneously:

My attempts for doing the same in chrome in android:

I tried to move it by dragging but the page moves when I do it.
When I hold over it for some time, a nearby text gets selected and I'm presented with the options to copy, cut , paste etc the selected text.
Tried to attempt both ways from the stock android browser to see if was a problem in chrome, but failed again.

So, How do I do it in chrome in android?

I'm using chrome 44.0.2403.128 with android 4.4.2

You can do it with just a mouse (or pen) on pages where it is supported. I tested it with a plain USB mouse on my Moto G running Android 4.4.4.

I resized area for post with bottom right striped triangle on "dotaz nebo sdělení" field with mouse. See this tested page.

Or you can pair an ordinary Bluetooth mouse with your device. Probably any modern Android device includes Bluetooth mouse support.


How can i restore an old backup So I uninstalled my WhatsApp application but I didn't restore my old data because of a connection problem when I reinstalled it so I uninstalled it again and now the backup is not the old backup that I want. what can i do to restore the old backup?

I think if your WhatsApp backup on GoogleDrive is not what you want, you can't do anything about this online Backup.

If you have a backup of your sd-card / your previous WhatsApp files you can replace the new WhatsApp files with this backup.

Maybe this helps: https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/20887921


How do I disable this prompt? Every time I boot my phone, I get a message about not having a cellular carrier.
I only use my phone for gaming, so I select "No". Selecting "yes" leads me into something where I might select a carrier, but I cannot fill it out, because I do not have a carrier. The app launches automatically but is not obvious what it is called. The phone's OS is Android version 7.1.1. The phone is a ZTE N9560.

How can I permanently disable this message?
Where are applications that start on boot configured / stored?

The files that gets executed during booting process are definitely located in the root folder and also some of the files under system/xbin folder....

You can't access both root and xbin folder unless you have administrative permission (clearly speaking unless you have rooted your phone)

If your phone us rooted you can access the folders using root file explorer or android terminal and delete the files which are creating problems.


Consequences of removing Launcher3's APK (com.android.launcher3) I have a rooted tablet with my own custom launcher which is already the default launcher. Are their any side effects if I delete the Launcher3's APK (com.android.launcher3) which is stored in /system/app/Launcher3/Launcher3.apk?

My device is chinese custom tablet with an RK3288 procesor, Android 5.1.1.

Don't see any issue with that. Though since you're rooted you can probably do it more cleanly with ADB as seen in this answer. If that doesn't work follow the manual delete steps listed there too.


Connect my lollipop device via USB in mass storage mode I have Samsung S5 dual sim variant which runs on android v5.0 stock based custom rom, and having some trouble with MTP mode such as very slow copying speed and can't play media directy (I have to copy each file to my local storage and then play them) is there any way I can connec it in mass storage mode so that it acts like a flash drive?

Connecting your phone via UMS (USB Mass Storage) won't be possible. It's been removed from Android, so the only way would be for you to fork the Android source and program it in again. I assume that's not what you want to do.
There were a few reasons for this, but mostly because UMS is prone to crash third-party apps and also files cannot be dual accessed from apps and the computer simultaneously.
MTP isn't really bad per-se, but unfortunately the support in Windows is lacking. A colleague of mine uses MTP with Ubuntu and is very happy with it.

Here are some suggestions about what you could do though:

If you really want to transfer files via USB, you could do that with adb pull and adb push. You could make a little script that runs as soon as you connect your phone and synchronizes a specific folder.
You could, and this is the most comfortable way, install a samba server on your phone. That way you would be able to mount parts of your phone's storage on your computer, as soon as it is connected to your WiFi. The bandwidth would probably also be enough to directly play music files, maybe even videos (depending mostly on the number of antennas your phone has). For that solution, please have a look at these two apps SambaDroid, Samba Server as well as this question regarding root access Using SMB server without root access.
Another option would be running an SSH server. You can then also mount remotely with SSHFS on Linux and OSX. For Windows I recommend SFTP Net Drive, which is free for a single connection and personal use. Advantages over SMB would be that file transfers are encrypted and that it's more suitable to also be used over WAN. Also it already comes with file integrity checks. Disadvantages would be that over high latency connections (WAN), speeds might drop significantly due to physical limitations from the bandwidth delay product.
Last but not least, there is the option, if you're on Linux, to use adbfs. It is using FUSE to mount your adb connected phone. So it will appear just like any other mount. This is probably the closest you can get to what was UMS.


What does the program Samsung Kies light do? I use Samsung kies for my Galaxy S1 and I also installed Kies Light but I don't understand what it does. I would like the function the send SMS from my computer, can it do that or what does it do?

Source: Samsung FAQs: Cell Phones: What is Kies Lite mode, and what can I do when using it?

Kies Lite mode launches the application with a reduced set of features. This uses fewer system resources and lets some key features of Kies run more efficiently. Using Kies Lite mode, you can access and use these features more quickly: Firmware Upgrade, Sync Data, Backup, and Restore.
You can switch to Kies Lite mode by clicking Kies Lite Mode Icon in the top-right corner of the screen. If you switch to Kies Lite and you close the application, Kies will open in Lite mode next time you run the application. To switch back to "normal" Kies mode, simply click the icon again.
Or open Kies in Lite mode by double-clicking Kies Lite Icon on your Windows® desktop.

So it would seem that the functionality is limited to: Firmware Upgrade, Sync Data, Backup, and Restore.


When do I need to enter my password once I encrypted my phone? I intend to fully encrypt my phone do I need to enter the password at start-up or when unlocking the screen-lock?

If the latter is the case I can't enter my password each time I'd like to unlock my phone of course so is there a way to use a swiping-pattern as password (e.g. 3 times the false one requiring the full password) or sth alike?

When you encrypt your device, It will only ever ask for the decryption key when you boot the device. If correct, it boots normally, and will not ask for that particular password again until next boot. Of course, any screen-lock (normal password) will still be needed to unlock the device when locked.


I accidentally deleted everything from Sony Xperia P I has Sony Xperia P(Rooted and Bootloader Unlocked) and I followed this tutorial to install Android 5.0.2 lollipop on it: Installation Tutorial, everything was running well, but after one weak, I accidentally deleted System Files, Dalvik Cache and other system files from it, I can't restore it, when I turn it on, I see only Xperia logo on the screen.

Please help, how to add files on it and install new OS?

Simply, follow the steps from the link you posted, if you already tried that but still same, you can always flash the stock ftf file for your phone using flashtool, and then you can install cm12 again if you want with the same steps,

  Sony Xperia P LT22i FTF: Download #4.1.2

  Flashtool: Download     #latest version

  Guide for using FT: HERE


Mounting remote folder from my linux machine to my android device? How can i mount folder from my linux machine as local folder to my android device using terminal emulator on my android device? I am using android 4.4.2 and my android device is rooted.

As you're on Kitkat with a rooted device, there's a question (with answers) on SO matching your need: How Can I Mount A Network Folder Into An Android Internal Folder? The exact answer requires your Linux machine providing the resource via Samba:

mount -o username=<user>,password=<pwd>,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 -t cifs //<NAS IP Addr>/<share name> <mount point dir>

E.g.

mount -o username=guest,password=guest,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777 -t cifs //192.168.1.254/public /storage/nas/public

But it would certainly also be possible with other protocols, such as NFS, if your device supports it. If that's too complicated for you, you could use an app named EasySSHFS, which is available from the Google Play Store as well as via my F-Droid repo. That way you'd need neither Samba nor NFS, as an SSH daemon usually comes with your Linux distro by default (if not, you can easily install it from its default repos). EasySSHFS is compatible with Android 4.0 and up.


Why doesn't my wallpaper scroll? At first, my question was why I had to crop my wallpaper wider than it seemed to be, but I saw that that question was already asked and answered here: Setting wallpaper - wrong orientation

So now my question is, if wallpaper is cropped wide so that it can scroll when you switch between screens, how come mine doesn't move? I am using a picture I downloaded from the internet on my phone, and as far as I can tell it doesn't move at all no matter what I do.

If it matters, my phone is a Motorola Atrix HD.

The launcher application on some phones does not provide the ability for a scrolling wallpaper, the only way to fix this would be to download a separate launcher.

Here is a list of most of them -

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=launcher&c=apps


App update for removed countries in google play store An Android app was available in all countries in the playstore.
After a few months, the app was removed from one country ("country XXX")

what will happen if a new version of the app becomes available on the play store : will Google push this new version and update the apps that were downloaded in "country XXX" ?

It won't. You can control distribution in any way you want without changing the application binary, so doesn't make sense that a new updated version will change distribution control.

From https://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#distribution-controls

  You can use controls in the Google Play Developer Console to easily
  manage the geographic distribution of your apps, without any changes
  in your application binary. You can specify which countries and
  territories you want to distribute to, and even which carriers (for
  some countries). When users visit the store, Google Play makes sure
  that they are in one of your targeted countries before downloading
  your app. You can change your country and carrier targeting at any
  time just by saving changes in the Google Play Developer Console.


Wow, my Android OS used 1.75GB in 5 days I just purchased a samsung galaxy s2 from Virgin Mobile on the 7th of May 2013. Have it activated on the 8th of May 2013. Can anyone tell me why my Android OS would have used up 1.75 GB of data in that amount of time. Not to mention the slow data speeds I am  receiving I could barely download anything unless I waited a very long time and had very poor internet connections. was constantly getting webpage not available every time I used the Google search. Have had many conversations with virgin mobile to no avail. Can anyone help or at least explain to me what is happening here?

Phones always use more data than normal in the first day or so, particularly if you didn't connect it to wifi while it was being set up.

Things that happen in the first day will be checking for (and downloading and installing) OS updates (which can be large), downloading and installing new apps (some of which could be large), syncing data down from the cloud to apps for the first time, syncing data and apps down from backed up Android data to your device.

You might also want to see these previous questions for more info:

How to monitor the amount of data traffic?
Minimizing data usage for users with data caps


Samsung Galaxy S3 doesn't show SMS notification I need help with a problem in a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Android 4.3.

I can't receive SMS notification when a SMS is sent to my mobile phone.

Every time I have to open the application to check if there are unread messages.

Notification flag is active.

I deleted cache data and I restarted the phone pressing the button "Volume up + home + power" and I selected "wipe cache partition" in "Android system recovery", but the problem persists.

Problem solved.
I deactivated Hangouts and now it works fine.


Screen goes off as soon I dial or receive a call. CyanogenMod 7.1- stable In stable mod 7.1, I am facing this problems. I don't know if its a bug or what, please help me out.

My screen goes off as soon I dial or receive a call. After that I am unable to end the call as it never wakes up. Pressing the power button has no effect..

The problem is not just related to ending the calls. I am unable to do anything on my phone as it never wakes up. Then I have to either pull off the battery and restart the phone or plug in the charger to wake it up. It never happened on stock ROM so no hardware problem. I checked the solution for this problem and it was "It seems to be the screen protector is at fault. CM7.1 doesn't play nice with it. I just cut a hole where the proximity sensor is and it basically fixed it. " But IMHO if the proximity sensor does not work properly with cyanogenMod then why does the power button also stop responding.

But if they are related then can you guys please tell me with an image where the proximity sensor is located on a Defy? So that I may try the other solution (cutting the screen protector).

I faced the same problem. After rebooting for bout 5 times its working fine. And it has nothing to do with the settings.


How to export a list as Text of all Play Store Apps that I have ever installed I need to generate a text export of the list under the MyApps-> Library Tab of the Play Store App for Android. I need a list of every App that I have ever installed from the Play Store, and not just a list of the subset of those which are currently installed. Thanks, Jim

Use Google Takeout to export out of Google services a list of all activity involving the Google Play Store for a Google account.

No root or even device is required as you are exporting out of Google's collected cloud data, you just need account credentials.

For reference I just did it for my account and was able to obtain a zip file containing the following JSON files:

Devices.json
Installs.json
Library.json
Order History.json
Play Settings.json
Purchase History.json
Redemption History.json
Reviews.json

If you check Installs.json you should be able to extract out the name of the app from "title" as well as when it was first installed/last updated.

A few caveats that I see:

Apps on pre-Google Play devices appear to show up with package app name (i.e. com.publisher.awesomeapp). The earliest in my history is 2011. So there appears to be Android Market installs are held in this dataset.
Devices.json only seems to hold recently accessed devices. I'm pretty sure I had older devices with Google Play but they aren't listed. Its possible those old devices (Gingerbread/KitKat) have 'aged' out due to lack of access so that might explain why the older app installs like from 2011 show "deviceDisplayName": "Unknown Device"
title could either be plain app name or package name.

As the files are in text in JSON format, it shouldn't be too difficult extract out what you need.

From @JimCramer's comments, one can use https://json-csv.com/ to get a csv file from a json file.

Download Google Takeout zip file.
Unpack zip file
Upload Library.json file to that service
Review "Choose Output Options", if required
Click "Convert JSON to CSV"
For the Library.json file there will be three columns:

  'DocumentType', 'Title', 'Acquisition Time'

Download CSV result file
Import into spreadsheet, sort by 'DocumentType' to get Android Apps and enjoy

From what I recall, Excel itself can import json files.

If you don't want a third-party site to have access to your data. A search in your favorite search engine naming your spreadsheet tool with the topic of 'JSON conversion' will show either how to do it or what plugins/scripts are required for the effect.


Inconsistent performance over wifi I noticed this with my Nexus 5, and was surprised to see it continue with my new Nexus 6P:

I have a 5th generation Apple Airport Extreme. When I am using my Android phone on wifi, images load really slowly or not at all on apps like Facebook and the Google Play store. When I switch to LTE, they load right away. This is weird, because my speed tests indicate 100mpbs performance over wifi, and most other apps don't have any issue.

It turns out turning off IPv6 support in the Airport config fixed the problem.


How can I find which app slows down my phone? I have a Samsung Galaxy S3.

My phone is becoming slow. I don't know how to find the app that slows it down. Can someone help me with this? My guess that the app is FACEBOOK... worst app ever.

After restart, the phone works fine for some time. Then, it slows down again and becomes lagged.

You could try to use some live monitoring app, e.g. OS Monitor. These usually offer you a view on apps currently consuming most of the ressources, e.g. hogging your CPU, eating your RAM, or utilizing your network:

OS Monitor showing running processes, and showing network connections (click images for larger variants)

Running processes can be sorted by several criteria, such as name, CPU usage, and more. The device being "laggy" most times means some app consumes all CPU power, or I/O, or RAM – so this should help you figuring out.

An alternative to mention is SystemPanel, which even offers you a manual (for your situation, the system monitor page would apply). In its payed version, it even offers you background monitoring, so you could first let it collect data for a while, and later check for the "largest consumers".

SystemPanel: running processes, overall ressources (click images for larger variants)


Picasa (in gallery) not linked. Can't open picasa folders. How do I fix it? I'm trying to open my picasa folders in the android gallery. When I press the Picasa button, I get this message:

  your google account is not linked to Picasa Web Albums. Please add another Google account

I found this link from xda.
It starts with "can't find the app", and "can't sync" (problems I don't have) but then someone starts about the "not linked" problems. The tips I found where about removing accounts (for youtube, for htc sense, etc), but that didn't help.

I found a link to
Why can't I Sync Picasa Web Albums? , but this is not the same question. The sync option is in the accounts menu, but I can't seem to get picasa in the gallery.

I can upload (via gallery -> share) to picasa. I can also make new directories etc. I just can't see my picasa in the gallery

specs:

HTC Desire Z
"standard" htc software: android 2.2.1 with HTC sense (1.82.405.1)
HTC hub has "sync" enabled
my Google account has the picasa-sync enabled

Does anyone have a clue about how to fix this?

This is a bit of a stab in the dark from stuff I've read, but here goes...

I believe that the uploading is done through the generic Android/Google/Picasa features but HTC have their own gallery app that relies on an additional plugin to display Picasa Web Albums.

Go to the HTC Hub app, settings -> sync and make sure you have the sync option checked for HTC Hub. If you don't have the latest version of the Picasa plugin then you should get a notification to download it, which might fix your issue.

If you do already have the latest plugin then double check under the Accounts settings that your Google account is set to sync with Picasa and that there isn't an additional sync option somewhere for the plugin itself.


How to save the Home Cover Photo of a LINE profile? In the upper section of each LINE user's home screen a background picture is displayed, called Home Cover Photo in LINE's own terms. How is it possible to save the cover photo of another user?

Home Cover Photos are cached in the following directory:

/sdcard/Android/data/jp.naver.line.android/storage/toyboximg/line

Rename the extension of files to .jpg to view them.


Is there any adb shell command to focus camera? I would like to record some movie on my desk but camera doesn't focus so I would like to force my phone to camera focus. Is it possible?

if you know the exact position to touch for focusing the camera, you can use
 adb shell input tap <x><y> . This will simulate a touch on the particular (x,y) cordinates.


The UI sounds on my Galaxy Nexus no longer play - how can I re-enable them? I kind of like the touch sounds and unlock sound on my Galaxy Nexus, so I typically leave them enabled. Today I noticed that both of these sound effects had simply stopped playing, possibly after I unplugged my phone from my car stereo (using a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone plug). For that matter, it appears that all of the UI sounds (camera click, screenshot, etc) have stopped playing of their own accord.

I have tried:

Silencing and unsilencing my phone, as well as adjusting the available volume sliders in my phone settings
Disabling and re-enabling the settings for touch sounds and unlock sounds
Rebooting my device

None of these methods has fixed the problem. My GNex is running CyanogenMod9 (built May 10, 2012) and Franco Kernel r107. Is there any way for me to re-enable these sound effects?

This appears to be something of a bug, either in ICS or the Galaxy Nexus (though I am unsure which). Unbeknownst to me, there is a "system volume" level that controls, among other things, the output of UI sound effects. This volume level does not appear to be modifiable within the normal system settings, but you can modify it with third party apps.

Based on this information (which I obtained from an XDA thread), I downloaded Volume Control + from the Play Store and launched it. The very last slider on the interface was for "system volume", and it was set to a value of 0. Once I cranked it back up to the maximum, my UI sounds began playing normally again. I do not know what causes this to become muted inadvertently.


How to make camera start faster Everyone knows that start Android camera sometimes is a pain, specially if you wish to take a picture of something that lasts only some seconds. What I want to know is: is there a way or an app that makes the camera start faster?

Note that I'm not asking about picture shot, though this is important too. I think that as soon as the camera is started, this is not a big deal.

Try InstaCamera Pro from Google Play Store. It starts very fast and has preferences to start camera and takes photo just by a single touch from home screen of your phone:

  InstaCamera is the quickest way to take a photo with your phone.

  There's no long process: just press the widget and it takes a photo, then closes just as quickly.

The paid PRO version is supposed to be faster than the free version.


Why my phone keep restarting apps? When i play game, my phone always restart the game every few minutes to the first screen. It is same when i play a video it is always blinking and skip few seconds every few minutes. It is so annoying when my phone restart some apps every few minutes. Plase help me find solution

First thing you do is fully wipe your phone data/Factory Reset.

Still get random reboot? Check your Xiaomi ROM you used. It's Global,China, Global Dev, China Dev, or Distributor ROM

How to do that? Go to Settings - About Phone - MIUI Version
If your ROM is distributor version, the version code will like 66.44.33 If it's BETA ROM the version name will be MIUI 7.3.2 | Beta and for the global is MIUI 8.3 Global

After you know what's ROM inside your phone. you can re-flashing the ROM that you can download here

How? after you downloaded the ROM, move the downloaded ROM into your phone storage then open Updater App, click the three dots button on the top right side than choose Update package, selected the ROM you have been downloaded. Start flashing wait till finished. Your data will not be wipe if you on the same ROM version BETA - BETA or Global - Global

IF your ROM is Distributor version you must search the same China ROM version like your Distributor ROM version.


How to upgrade google play app? Possible Duplicate:
  Phone not updating Market to Google Play?

I'm having 3.4.4 of google market. But google has change it to google play and upgrade it's app to 3.4.7  But it doesn't upgrade when I launch it.
How to upgrade it? Thanks!

Google will push this update automatically... but not at app launch. So, just wait.

There're ways to do this manually, but that's not guaranteed safe. Play Store is just a re-branded version of Market app. There's no change at all. You'll find only icon & label changed wherever involved.


Failed to root CM 12.1 and nuked Samsung I9300 I upgraded to CM 12.1 and lost root on my Samsung Galaxy S3 (I9300).
I tried to root the device with CF-auto-root again. It worked. But when I rebooted the phone, the blue android screen appears and didn't stop loading resp. didn't continue. After rebooting again, the same happend.

Furthermore Clockworkmod Recovery has been replaced by Android Recovery, so I tried to reinstall it, but the installation failed.

I'm not able to enter Recovery mode (HOME+POWER+VOL.UP), instead "Downloading... Do not turn off target !!" appears.
I can enter Download mode (HOME+POWER+VOL.DOWN).
Finally, as already mentioned, the system doesn't start either.

What could I try?

Do not fret. Its a simple condition called bootloop.
First things first, root is merely nothing but bootloader unlocked. Rest stuff is just permission managers that interact with root.
So when you installed cm 12.1, you didnt actually loose root, you lost permission manager without which apps cant interact with root (in other simple words). All you had to do was install supersu or any other permission manager again from play store. CF-Root and stuff wasn't needed. Just telling for future reference....
Now for real problem. You can fix it using Odin (the samsung flash tool).
First, download Odin. Then download framework corresponding to your region from here
Install samsung drivers.
Next run odin on your pc and connect your phone while its in download mode (First go into download mode and then conenct it. You actually went into download mode. That "Downloading... Do not turn off target !!" screen is called download mode, so you know how to go into download mode).
Make sure Odin recognizes you phone, it should say something like "com..." in one of the boxes which would mean odin has detected your phone. If it doesnt, your drivers arent proper.
Next extract the firmware you downloaded earlier using winrar.
Then in Odin,
a) Click the PDA button and choose the file with .tar.md5 extension.
b) Click the phone button and choose the file with modem in its name (skip this step if file not found).
c) Click the CSC button and select the file with CSC in its name.
d) Click the PIT button and select the .pit file (skip this step if file not found).
Make sure that the "Auto Reboot" and "F.Reset Time" check boxes are selected in Odin. At the same time, uncheck/disable the "Re-Partition" option. Click it only if a .pit file is being used.
Then click "start" button and wait a while. It may take sometime. After process is done odin should show "success" and then you can restart phone (may take sometime at first boot. Wait atleast upto 20mins by watch). You will be back to stock android rom. Your phone is still rooted, only it doesn't have any permission manager or custom recovery.
First install something as permission manager (like supersu) from play store and set it up.
Next, to install custom recovery, you can use twrp manager or similar.
After custom recovery is installed, you should be able to proceed with custom rom installations and such. Hope this helps :)


Removing a contact from "Frequently contacted" on Hangout (formerly Google Talk) app After the recent update to v.1.0.1.678536 on my Nexus S, I see that it is automatically listing few contacts as "frequently contacted", I don't want to see certain people on that list, and there is no way to remove someone from the "Frequently contacted" list through mobile UI.

I have tried the following:
1) From the Web UI, I have set that contact to "Never Show"
2) I blocked that contact from the Web UI

None of these seems to work. any suggestions?

Long press on the contacts name when using hangouts from your phone. you will then have the option to hide the contact.  The contact will then no longer show up in your frequently contacted list. If it is a contact that you don't want in your hangouts list at all, go to your gmail account and delete them that way.


How can I remote support an Android tablet? My mother is considering to get an Android tablet - probably a Nexus 7 or 10. Because I don't live near her, I might need to provide some remote assistance -- and you probably know that talking her through things on the phone is not very efficient, especially when I can't actually see what's on her screen.

I don't want to access the file system, read SMS messages, download photos, etc.
I just want to see what she sees so that I can talk her through whatever she needs help with.

Is there an Android equivalent of running a VNC server so that I can see the exact screen my mom is currently seeing? The "VNC server" apps I've seen in the Play Store are more like remote desktop apps and they all seem to require to launch an app from the device -- then you can see Android on your pc but not on the device which wouldn't help my mom.

Is it possible to do some kind of screen-sharing on Android, similar to a PC running VNC?

Could this work via a PC (Windows, Linux), or would I need another Android device, or perhaps even an identical Android tablet?

I attempted to get VNC options working, but they're all buggy.  In particular the keyboard mappings and clunky and the screens never seem to render correctly.  I even wrote to an author offering money for improvements but never got anything back.

Teamviewer 8 is the only solution I've found where it actually works the way it is supposed to (i.e. seamlessly).  Teamviewer is free for personal use, which is a bonus, but it is by far and away the best solution I have found.  It properly supports the Android home/nav keys and has complete and properly mapped support for keyboard input.

To use it, install Teamviewer 8 on your PC/Mac, and "Teamviewer Quicksupport" on your Android device.  As far as I know, root is not required.

No, I don't work for Teamviewer.


Can't install game through apk and obb file I can't install a game through apk and obb file in my Android 6.0 Marshmallow. I have Samsung Grand Prime Plus and I have recently tried rooting my device several times but it failed. I'm wondering if it might somehow be relevant to this problem.

I installed the apk file, put the obb file in the respective folder and the game looks like it's been installed, but gets stuck on the startup screen. I think it's not picking up the obb file since the startup screen is probably part of the apk file. I have tried this with both the internal and external memories. I'm sorry for the awkward terminology. I'm new to this stuff.

Accept/Check the App Permission
Check if you Place the obb file to android/obb
Check if the App is Compatible with your Phone


Nexus 10, Android 4.4, Apple Bluetooth Keyboard Paired - but not working? I have a problem: Once I have an Apple Wireless Keyboard paired with our Nexus 10 running KitKat 4.4 (rooted), no keys work.  It is the oddest thing.  To pair it, I have to enter the code that shows up, which I do and press ENTER and the pop up goes away.  But yet, not a single key works.  It even shows as Paired in Bluetooth (i've unpaired and paired it about 50 times).

This is not a duplicate because I have something unique that I have not seen in the dozens and dozens of blog posts, fixes, complaints, links, forum posts etc that I've read related to bluetooth and Android Keyboard.

I have previously paired another Apple Wireless Keyboard, and while it did pair and work correctly, a few keys were damaged.  So, we got a new Apple Wireless Keyboard, and it is not working at all.

Even more info: the new keyboard works 100% correctly on my Nexus 5 (root), Galaxy Nexus (CM10.2) and Samsung S4 (CM 10.3) as well as on our Nexus 7 FHD (OEM, non-rooted).

So, the keyboard works on other devices.  And, I previously had a different bluetooth keyboard paired with this Nexus 10.  Why won't they both talk?

I have even factory reset, and wiped the Internal Storage on the Nexus 10 - nothing.

And yes, I removed the batteries from the other keyboard.  Wifi does not matter as I tried it both on and off.

Again, it does pair successfully.  Entering the wrong PIN during the pairing process gives the correct error message, and entering the correct one is accepted when pressing ENTER.  So, the input IS working.

Lastly, I've noticed that the "Hardware Input" section of the Settings -> Language & input area doesn't show on this Nexus 10 (again, before and after a factory reset and internal storage format).  Nothing, nothing at all.  This area shows up on my Nexus 5 (4.4) and Galaxy (4.2) when I pair the same keyboard, which allows me to type using the external keyboard with a few additional settings.

On the Nexus 10, while the keyboard is paired, all it does it show the touch keyboard popup when I tap on an input field.  On the Nexus 5 and Galaxy Nexus, when I tap on an input with the same keyboard paired, the touch keyboard does not popup - indicating it knows to use the external keyboard that is paired.

After a very long ordeal, several trips to several different Apple stores and basic trial and errors, I have found the solution as I blogged here:

http://eduncan911.com/technology/hardware/google-nexus-10-and-apple-wireless-keyboard.html

The situation is that Apple made 3 different bluetooth Apple Wireless Keyboards, noted by years: 2007, 2009 and 2011.

The issue is that the 2011 model, with its latest firmware updates, does not work with the Google Nexus 10.  It must be a bluetooth hardware profile issue with the Google device itself, as the 2011 keyboard works flawlessly on all other Android 4.2, 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 devices that I have as well as an Apple iPod Touch 4th Gen.

Solution: Get the 2009 Apple Wireless Keyboard

As I stated in my post above, I have tested several 2009 and 2011 keyboards and have confirmed only the 2009 Apple Wireless Keyboard works with the Nexus 10.

To restate the original issue: the 2011 Apple Wireless Keyboard will pair, and even "connect" normally to the Nexus 10.  But, the Nexus 10 will not recognize it as an input device - it is missing the "A" keyboard icon at the top-left corner of the top status bar which normally shows with other bluetooth keyboards, such as the 2009 version.

Also note that the firmware I tested of the 2009 model was version x50.  I could not confirm if the latest firmware update for the 2009 model worked or not.


battery draining when developing I am connected via an USB port and have the screen constantly on, with the lowest brightness settings - by using the Lux app, that lowers that below the allowed level, making the screen barely visible.

Nevertheless, the phone is discharging fast.

Nexus 5 stock rom, rooted.

Only one process running in the foreground (an official play store app) which I am trying to automate via adb.

This didn't happen with a chinese MTK tablet, which stayed 100% charged all the time.

What can I do to work around this issue?

Thanks.

How about underclocking cpu speed. since the device is rooted. or you can check other services that may not be usefull but running background.

if you have busybox or something installed. maybe you can look for processes and their consumption of cpu.


How to see additional email folders from corporate account email? I have access to my corporate email that is viewed using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 on Windows 7.  In my Outlook, I have filters that move some emails into folders, however, on my Android email account view of my corporate email, I only see the emails in my 'Inbox' folder.

Is there a way to get some or all of my other folders visible on my Android running Cyongenmod 7?

The folders are already there, by default your Inbox is shown, while inside your Inbox, choose Menu => Folders and you will see a list of all your corporate folders.  Pick one to switch to viewing it.


samsung j7 showing process is not responding? after using link2sd app to move app to sdcard while moving the app, my mobile got restarted and then it shows process is not responding error, and i can't access images, my mobile not showing any files and it can't recognize sdcard, and my mobile is rooted.
please help

If you go to Link2SD, on the left top corner, press the triple line, and look in the list for "revert SD card changes"

Alternatively try booting into safe mode using the right hardware key combination for your device.

For your Device Model it would be:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
When 'SAMSUNG' appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see 'Safe Mode'.


Google Play Services uninstalled on my phone I'm using a Blu Energy X Plus phone and somehow managed to uninstall Google Play Services. It can still be found in Apps, under 'All' although I can't access it. It needs updating but the last 3 digits after the dash of the older version i.e. Version 7.5.71 (1955121-...) are not visible so I'm not sure of the exact version to download.

The only options available now are 'Disable' & 'Force Stop'. Play Store is still on, but behaving erratically.Should I delete what's left? And how?

I don't want to compound the issue but I have no idea what to do. Any ideas?

Google play services cannot be openedby the user.and if your system does show it in all apps i doubt that its uninstalled! all you can do is update it which is automatically done overtime by the playstore


I have duplicate contacts, Google Contacts not helping! I have several contacts in my phone which are duplicates. For example I have one contact "John Smith" which contains my friend John Smith's phone number. Then I have another contact name JohnSmith87 which is my friend John Smith's email address. And then I have another contact called JohnSmithin which is my friend John Smith's skype account. I'd ideally like to merge all of these into one contact. I tried Google Contacts, but when I searched, only contacts with a phone number stored in them would show up. Please help!

I have a quick step-by-step guide to help you "join" your contacts - in other words, take two separate contacts and make them one!

Open the People application.
Navigate to one of your duplicate contacts (any one will do) and tap it to open it up.
In the top-right corner, tap the 3 dots. This is the settings menu. Select "Edit".
Again, in the top-right corner, tap the 3 dots. Select "Join".
Android will now ask you to select which contact to join this contact with. Select one of the other duplicates of this contact and Android will join the contacts into one contact!

Rinse and repeat until all of the duplicate contacts have been "joined" into one single contact.


Change layout of software buttons on home screen I have a China-branded tablet running Android 4.2. The tablet has the "new" Jellybean 4.2 home screen button layout where the software buttons are centered on the screen, rather than aligned left as in common desktop operating systems such as Windows and Linux (with the KDE or Gnome 2 desktop).

The problem is that the button layout in my tablet differs in a slight, but annoying way from the Android 4.2 default, which is to put the home button at center, surrounded by the back button at the left and the recent apps button at the right. Instead, my tablet has the home button displaced one position left of center, which is occupied by the recent apps button followed by the two volume buttons (down/up).

Is there a way to edit the layout/order of the software buttons of the Android home screen? My ideal would be this sequence: volume down, back, home, recent apps, volume up. (Such a layout would retain the volume buttons, while keeping the home button in the familiar center slot.)

I know that Cyanogenmod has a settings tab precisely for fixing this problem. However there's no Cyanogenmod port for my tablet, its main saving grace being that it comes "pre-rooted", which allows me in theory to mess with any system settings if only I knew how.

The comment above about replacing System UI is correct. However there's a hack that overlays Android's built-in navigation bar with a "customizable navbar-like panel". The real navbar is hidden but still exists.

If you're still interested in a hard fix you need to unpack, modify and repack SystemUI.apk. This can be done using the apktool utility, which unzips the apk in editable form. In the resulting file tree, look for and edit res/layout/system_bar.xml using a plain text editor. Add the keymap and icons for volume control:

<com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.KeyButtonView android:id="@id/sub" android:layout_width="@dimen/navigation_key_width" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:src="@drawable/ic_sysbar_volume_down" systemui:keyCode="25" systemui:glowBackground="@drawable/ic_sysbar_highlight" />
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.KeyButtonView android:id="@id/add" android:layout_width="@dimen/navigation_key_width" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:src="@drawable/ic_sysbar_volume_up" systemui:keyCode="24" systemui:glowBackground="@drawable/ic_sysbar_highlight" />

The exact placement of the code probably depends on the customization done by the ROM vendor. But a likely spot is to search and place it after the line that contains the text "android:src="@drawable/ic_sysbar_recent".

After inserting the references, you need to copy the icons themselves to the right folder:

res/drawable-mdpi/ic_sysbar_volume_down.png
res/drawable-mdpi/ic_sysbar_volume_up_land.png
res/drawable-mdpi/ic_sysbar_volume_down_land.png
res/drawable-mdpi/ic_sysbar_volume_up.png

The final step is to repack the edited system_bar.xml and new icons along with the rest of the unpacked SystemUI.apk.

I'm sure my instructions are incomplete. So remember to keep a good (and tested) backup and recovery tool at hand before attempting to install your hacked apk!


What are the good practices of backing up of ROM's using TWRP if I change ROM's often I want to check and play with different ROM's at my mobile phone. My phone is unlocked and rooted.
Here is scenario:

I installed LineageOS 17.1(microG) and made backup using TWRP. I check all options for backup except cache(boot, data, recovery,system, system image,efs)
Next I want to install Ubuntu Touch custom ROM and I will make a backup.
Then I will install /e/ foundation OS ROM and I will make backup.

Questions:

What would be good practices for making backups and restoring if I want to play between those systems recording all the changes at ROM(new apps,settings) along the way?
Let's say I want to back to Ubuntu Touch ROM from /e/ ROM. Which minimal options at TWRP backup should I check to get my previous state(fully functioning) at Ubuntu Touch ROM?
Should I back up all options at TWRP all the time?

Remark:
I don't expect LineageOS apps works at UbuntuTouch nor /e/ OS. I will install apps separatelly for each ROM. There is no need to share data between ROM's although if it is possible let me know.

Without getting into specifics of which ROM you are currently using and which one you want to flash, TWRP isn't a good idea. Reasons :

TWRP is used to make a nandroid image and as you can see from the nandroid tag wiki help, you may run into serious issues if the directory structure of the ROM is different. Restoring a section of TWRP backup may also cause problems (read the linked page for details).

What may be a user app in one ROM, may well be a system app (having elevated privileges) and this may cause trouble.

Google dependencies : You may be running Gapps on Lineage and this may not be possible in other ROMs.

I am not familiar with Ubuntu but I doubt you would be able to run most user apps from LineageOS on that.

There would be more reasons, but these occurred to me on reading your question. You are better off making individual backups of apps using titanium-backup and restoring these as per your need.
Recently, I was doing some research on backup apps since Titanium failed for me on Android 11,and I came across this app, specifically designed for frequent ROM flashers and this may fit your need better. See Migrate-custom migration tool

Move apps, data, contacts, SMS etc from one custom ROM to another.

Interestingly, it claims to restore app permissions too. XDA thread here and Telegram here. You need TWRP to use this app.
I haven't tried this app (don't need it) nor am I affiliated with it.


How can I stop the Android Market from showing bad/naughty apps? I am using Honeycomb with Xoom, it's very annoying to see all the bad naughty apps all over the market, for example in the category "Libraries and Demos". Although we can ignore them and not download, I do not think those things should be there, because children also use the OS.

Is is normal for the Market to have all these (e.g. Korean Sexy girls, etc.)? Or is my Xoom breached? I also have an HTC Desire, and these apps do not appear on that device.

The Android Market has an included content Filter, which should filter most of these Apps. Ratings are

Everyone
Low Maturity
Medium Maturity
High maturity

Android 2.3 and lower

Open Android Market.
Press Menu and touch Settings.
Touch ‘Select filtering level’ and choose your desired setting.
To lock the settings, touch the lock icon and enter a PIN code.

Android 3.0 and higher

Open Android Market.
Press Menu on the upper right corner.
Touch ‘App Content Filter’ and choose your desired setting.
To lock the settings, touch the lock icon and enter a PIN code.

Source


How to recover from a bad flash? I've killed my phone. I tried to install CyanogenMod following a tutorial, but now my phone won't start. How can I recover it? Is there a tool can I can use to reflash it?

Probably you werent running the specific firmware on which the CM port for your phone was designed to be installed on. Check if you had missed any steps in the tutorial.

If your phone gets stuck at the bootlogo or bootanimation, you can try to do a factory reset from the recovery mode. If the problem still persists, try flashing the stock firmware and then installing CM.

If your phone does not respond at all while attempting to switch it on, its hard-bricked. The only way to recover it is by using jtag. You need to disassemble the phone for this method, so it's better to take it to a service centre. Here the bootloader is rewritten to the device using a riff box. Watch this video to see how it's done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zaehAFjME


Text messaging problems My phone won't receive or send messages from or to certain people. To some people it works and others it doesn't. What can I do to fix this?

The first thing that comes to mind is to check that reply path is not selected in the messaging settings. This setting means that if you reply to a sms, it uses the sender's messaging center, and usually using another operator's messaging center is not allowed. However, this shouldn't affect your ability to receive messages.


Mounting as USB drive before syncing? I'm going through the different alternatives to synchronize my ICS-based Samsung Nexus with Outlook.

While sync works fine over wifi, I'd rather use USB which The Missing Sync is supposed to be able to sync over USB, but the documentation seems meant for older releases of Android, and I don't know how to get the Samsung to work.

It says: "Before synchronizing with a USB cable, confirm that the Android device is mounted as a USB Drive on the computer", but doesn't explain what to do on ICS.

I tried either MTP or PTP, but still get the error "Unable to sync: no bluetooth, wifi, or USB connection is available".

Thank you.

Edit: I followed "Missing Sync for Android: Syncing via USB", but it fails syncing with USB:

The Androphone supports "USB Tethering", as seen in Settings > Wireless &
Networks > More... > Tethering & portable hotspot > USB Tethering. Do NOT
check the option!
Turn off the Nexus, remove the battery for 1 minute, put it back and turn the
Nexus back on. Wait until it fully boots.
Connect the Nexus to the PC with the USB cable
If prompted to mount the SD card, choose "Charge only"; If it is mounted
with no prompt, slide the Notifications section down and select "Charge only"
Open the Missing Sync application on the Nexus, click on the menu button
(three, vertical points) > Settings > Unselect "Secure Sync". Close.

No "Secure Sync", only "Secure WiFi sync" which is checked by default
Click on Sync, and choose to sync via USB, and wait a few seconds for
syncing via USB starts.

"Unable to sync, no bluetooth, wifi or USB connection is available".

Unpaired wifi, tried again: "Unable to sync, no bluetooth, wifi or USB
connection is available"

I'm using version 4.0.3 on a Samsung Galaxy S2.
To mount the internal storage and any installed SD card via the USB do the following:

Unplug USB cable.
Goto Settings -> More... -> USB utilities -> Connect storage to PC
and follow the instructions.


How do I remove delay between ringtones My new Droid Razr, and Razr Maxx phones put a small delay in between each ring.  Some of the factory ringtones are designed to be a continous loop.  for example "medieval jaunt", "romancing the tone", and "Crayon Rock" are designed to be looped with no delay, and sounds odd with the short delay in between rings.  I saw I similar question from about a year ago, which there seem to be no answer, but that was someone with the opposite issue, of wanting a delay.  Thanks!

Assuming you have one specific ringtone picked out: take the audio file and loop it yourself (using something simple like audacity) and make it the length of a ring (typically 30 seconds).


Android 4.4.2 not automatically connecting to wifi I have a samsung galaxy tab 3 8.0 running android 4.4.2 unrooted. My tablet is not automatically connecting to wifi networks. It was previously automatically connecting to two wifi networks (both are home networks secured with a password) but now I have to re-enter the password every time I try to connect to either of these networks. How can I get my tablet to remember the wifi networks?

Try Factory resetting the tablet or if you don't want to do that then try shutting down the tablet and then turning it back on,then remove the network and then re-add it.


Does Unlocking bootloader affect network lock? Will the bootloader unlock procedure as shown on the HTC Dev website affect my network lock?

I have an HTC Aria, which was originally SIM locked, but I got unlocked from a shop. Now, since I'm working on Android apps and HTC devices, I want to unlock my bootloader, but I'm worried that it will re-lock my device to the original carrier.

No, the bootloader has no bearing on a SIM/network lock. The HTCdev site explicitly states this on the bootloader unlock page, in fact:

  Please note that unlocking your bootloader does not mean that you will
  be able to unlock the SIM lock. Unlocking your SIM lock is at the
  discretion of your operator/carrier and is not part of the bootloader
  unlocking scope.

The reverse is also true, but the main point is that the two concepts are unrelated.


How to write an intinerary email that Gmail will recognize I want to email myself some flight details. How can I write the email so that Gmail will recognize the flights and make an auto event? Or, how do I make Inbox recognize it as a travel category email?

I understand that it might not be possible. Even when I receive itineraries straight from the airline, it normally doesn't recognize them anyway! Irritating that this feature is so half-baked.

What I've done in the past (you're not alone in this want!) is take other emails that I've gotten from other flights and replaced all the information with my new flight that I wish to track. Make sure you hit the most important parts

Itinerary number
Confirmation code
Flight numbers
Incoming/outgoing airports
All flight times

Once I filled in all my new information, I just forwarded myself that email and Gmail picked it up and even pushed the info into Google Now!

Pretty handy.


Is it safe to use an LG charger on a Moto X? I have a 2014 Moto X, and a Nexus 4. Is it safe to charge my Moto X using my Nexus 4 charger?

Yes, no problem. They both use a regular micro USB format.


Missing call summary in Samsung Galaxy Apollo (i5801) In my Samsung Galaxy i5801 after I disconnect the call I used to get a call summary from my carrier. This hasn't worked for some time.  I contacted customer care and they say some settings in the phone are changed and probably they are right because when I use the sim on any other phone, it shows the call summary.  Does anyone know how to fix this?

I would try a factory reset via Settings -> Privacy -> Factory data reset.  This will wipe your phone, so make sure to do a back up first if you need to (you can search this site for backup methods).


Not able to know to which SIM sms was received Short Description:
I am using JellyBean in a dual SIM featured phone. I am using Go SMS software also standard Messaging also I used. I find it peculiar to know that there is no such feature to know to which SIM an SMS was received.

Detailed Issue:
I am using XOLO A1000 Dual SIM phone which is running in JellyBean. I am using two SIM cards one is by Aircel and another is by Airtel who are two different service providers in India.

In my inbox (threads of SMS) either using Messaging app or by Go SMS app all SMS are stored by senders. Now my problem is when I receive a new spam SMS I am not able to know to which SIM that SMS was sent to. To my SIM1 or to my SIM2. Both the apps doesn't show any marking to distinguish that. I even checking 'Message Details' it doesn't contain destination number detail.

This is important if I need to file complaint against spamming. Any help will be much appreciated. This is basic required feature but I wonder why I am not able to help myself, I even Googled it and found nothing.

The underlying problem here is that these apps are assuming, rightly so, that there will always only be one destination number (that is, only one SIM). Android doesn't officially support dual SIMs. From StackOverflow:

Android dual SIM card API
...the dual sim features are available but not documented and hence not officially supported. Having said that it doesn't mean that it will not be usable, it just means that android is not liable to support [that] functionality.

Also,

Dual SIM card Android
The current Android platform does not have support for multiple SIMs. A device with such support has been customized for this, so you will need to get information from that device's manufacturer for any facilities they have to interact with it.

A third question was even asked specifically about building an app for dual SIM handsets that has gone unanswered, likely for this reason. So, while it sounds like a reasonable expectation, without official support or APIs for developers to use I wouldn't expect many apps to account for two destination numbers.
From a consumer perspective this means that we're at the mercy of manufacturers to develop apps that function correctly with two SIM cards. Unfortunately it sounds like the your phone's stock messaging app isn't fitting this bill. Try reaching out to XOLO.


Apps from Google Play without logging into to Google Play I want to get apps from Google Play without logging in to Google Play or using a google account.  I just dont want google to have this information.

Is it possible ?

I don't know of any way to access google play without an account but many of the apts on the play store can be downloaded from F-Droid.


How to ensure that my Google accounts sync frequently? Since I upgraded my S7 to Nougat I notice that the syncing of my google accounts is particularly slow.

If on a computer I create a calendar event, or I send myself an email, I often do not see that as an Inbox notification, or reflected on my Google Calendar widget, until I actually open either app.

I guess (but I am not sure -- how about push notifications?) that this is related to the Google Account syncing being too slow, see attached below ("Sync Calendar", "Sync Gmail" and "Sync Inbox"), taken on 6/20 8:15am.

The things I already tried:

I do have continuous internet, tried switching between WiFi and 4G
mobile internet, all work. I receive near-real time notifications for e.g. WhatsApp and Slack.
In Settings > Apps > Special Access > Optimize battery usage, I added the below to "not optimized":

Calendar
Calendar storage
Gmail
Google Play services
Inbox

In Settings > Device maintenance > Battery > Unmonitored apps, I added

Calendar
Inbox

You can try to force account sync by manually resetting the time.

On your device, open the Settings app.
On "System", tap Date & time.
DisableDate & auto time and Automatic time zone.
Change the date and time manually to be incorrect.
Tap the Home Screen button.
Reopen the Date & Time settings.
Change the date and time manually to be exact again.
Activate Automatic date & time and Auto time zone.


Block calls for everyone except for contacts Is there a way to block (or mute) all calls except for those on my contact list?

Im using android 4.1.2 o samsung galaxy s3 mini, thanks in advance

Although you mentioned using Android 4.1.2, I recently stumbled across this question and thought a more recent answer might be useful to others:

On Android 5.0 "Lollipop" and later this can be accomplished using the "Priority only" Do Not Disturb mode:

Configure Do Not Disturb Priority Allowances

  Open your device's Settings app.
  Tap Sound, then Do Not Disturb preferences, then Priority only allows.
  Set Calls to From contacts only and adjust any other preferences for this mode to your liking.

Turn on Do Not Disturb "Priority only" mode

  Swipe down from the top of your screen with 2 fingers.
  Under Do not disturb or your current option, tap the Down arrow.
  Turn on Do not disturb.
  Pick Priority only.
  Choose how long you want this setting to last.
  Tap Done.


how to survive a program from factory reset I want to that a program / software like facebook/gmail/ or any game will survive after factory reset with its configuration as before reset means email id password automatically configured after reset. any suggestion please?

Preserving the application itself (APK) can be easily achieved (with root access) by dropping the .apk in /system/app, but the configurations are a bit trickier to keep.

Factory resets generally do a wipe of /data, which also contains all the configs/gamesaves/etc that all apps installed have, so you might have to use a seperate backup app (I recommend Titanium Backup) for that.


Why do I get phone storage is getting low when I've un-installed almost all apps? I keep getting "phone storage is getting low" constantly even though I've removed almost all the apps I've installed. Is there a way to look in the phone storage to see what are the contents?

Google Talk and Facebook fail to function because of this.

I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc running Android 2.3 (Build 4.0.2.A.0.62)

Maybe because you haven't removed only the small apps that doesn't take significant space.

Go to settings -> Apps -> Select "All" on apps tab -> Click menu and click sort by size.

You'll see the apps sorted by the size it takes on your phone. Check if the top apps in this list are taking most of your space.


Does "fastboot oem lock" prompt to confirm? I want to run fastboot oem lock (or fastboot flashing lock) on my Oppo Find 7 to see if I can reproduce the behavior in this post.

However, I don't actually want to go through with the bootloader lock; I don't want my device to be factory reset at the moment, since it would take a significant amount of time to back up.

So, do either of the above commands prompt you before going ahead?

I cannot speak for other devices but Motorola Nexus 6 will show you a warning that userdata would be destroyed. The warning is shown both on the shell and on the device's screen. See screenshots:

It is to be noted that the warning would show up only when OEM unlock setting is enabled under Developer options. If it is disabled and you attempt to re-lock the bootloader, you would get an error on shell and an instruction to enable that option.
It should be further noted that not all the devices which support flashing through fastboot protocol have their bootloader programmed smartly. An example: How to re-unlock bootloader for OnePlus One?
Furthermore, it is very much possible that your device's bootloader is programmed to go straight with a reset instead of showing a warning.
A bit more info. Google on Factory Images for Nexus Devices has noted:

Locking bootloader will wipe the data on some devices. After locking the bootloader, if you want to flash the device again, you must run fastboot oem unlock again, which will wipe the data.

Google in the document Verifying Boot explains:

Changing device state
State changes are performed using the fastboot flashing [unlock | lock] command. And to protect user data, all state transitions require a data wipe. Note the user must be asked for confirmation before data is deleted.

The UNLOCKED to LOCKED transition is anticipated when a user buys a used development device. As a result of locking the device, the user should have confidence that it is in a state produced by the OEM.
The LOCKED to UNLOCKED transition is expected in the case where a developer wishes to disable verification on the device.

(Emphasis mine)


How can I use my android GPS in my notebook through USB? How can I use my Android GPS in my notebook through USB? My notebook doesn't have bluetooth, and the wireless is not working.

You might want to take a look at ShareGPS:

  ShareGPS allows you to use your mobile's GPS just as you would an external one for your PC. It has the ability to send GPS status strings out over Bluetooth using virtual com ports and over USB using TCP ports. Then you can use your favorite mapping program such as Google Earth to display current GPS position and to produce tracks.

(emphasis is mine)

There is a user's guide available explaining how to set it up on a Linux or Windows system. If your notebook is a Mac, there's nothing said on that here.

There's also a thread over at the XDA developers about Simultaneous WiFi-Direct and GPS-via-USB tethering which might be worth a look (even if it's only for the GPS-via-USB part for you). If you wonder what that might use for the GPS part -- umm, above mentioned ShareGPS it seems. So this might count as an additional how-to for that said solution.


Alarm clock to wake to music play list? Is there a good alarm app that will start playing selections from a playlist at the scheduled alarm time?

Alarm Clock Plus V2. Its free in the app market. Let's you set a song or a playlist, plus it has a ton of other options. Its really a killer app.

Update: I still have the free ad supported version Alarm Clock Plus installed on my phone but it looks like it's gone from the market.  The only one left is the paid, ad-free version.


Does installing and re-installing my own app affect my app's rating/ranking? I just released my first app not too long ago. To test it in the Play store, I installed my own app. After discovering some bugs, I uninstalled it, and installed the one I would code to fix from Eclipse. After fixing the bug, I post an update and re-install my own app from the store to test it out again.

If I keep repeating this process (uninstalling and re-installing my own app from Google Play every time I release a new version), will my app's rating be degraded? Should I strictly stick to using my own app by installing the raw version (not the one on Google Play, but the one I built in Eclipse)?

Thanks.

As far as I know, this should in no affect your app's rating. This is something I do myself constantly with testing of my own apps.

The only thing that will ultimately affect your rating are the number of stars your users give you. Yes, you can rate your own app, but you can only do it once. Uninstalling/re-installing shouldn't change your own rating to your own app either.


Why are there different versions of each firmware for different country? For example why is there different version of the same fimware but for different countries? e.g. version 2.1 for Canada, version 2.1 for US, version 2.1 for international/generic. What does international/generic firmware mean?

There can be several differences, or reasons for having two firmware versions.

Sometimes there are two completely different hardware variants, sold in different regions. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a variant based on a Snapdragon MSM8960 system-on-chip (SoC), and another based on an Exynos 4. Because the hardware is different, the variants need different ROMs.

Even when there's no hardware difference, there can be other differences. Every language in the ROM increases its size, so usually phones come with a few languages that are common in the region they're sold. For example, a phone sold in the UK might have a "Western Europe" ROM with English, French, Spanish, and German languages. It would also contain APN settings for carriers in Europe so you don't need to input APN settings when you insert a SIM card.

Finally, if a ROM includes bloatware by third-parties, this will usually be specific to the country it's sold in. Our example UK phone might have an app for a British online music service, as a kind of advert, whereas the US ROM would instead have apps for some US online services.


Rooting Lenovo tab M8(FHD) That was Upgraded to Android 10 I had rooted this device when I bought it and it was on Android 9 (See Here)
Now I upgraded the device to Android 10 with Lenovo Smart and Rescue Assistant. When I try to root it the same way I get a bootloop.
This is what I have tried.

I tried using the Magisk Manager for Canary as per this info. This didn't help.
I tried to flash the vbmeta.img with the option --disable-verification as per this post on xda. This did get me out of the bootloop but after it booted I didn't have root.

Any suggestions on what else I may try?
Thank You,

I finally figured this out and got root. You need to flash the patched boot image file after you flash the vbmeta.img with --disable-verification.
Here are the steps I did to get root.

Copied boot.img from the firmware to my device.
Downloaded Magisk Manager. (The regular version, no need for the canary version).
Patched the boot.img with magisk manager.

Clicked on Install on the righthand top in magisk manager.
Clicked on Next Righthand top.
Selected Select and Patch a File.
picked the boot.img file I had copied in step 1. Magisk manager patched the file.

Copied the patched file pack to my PC.
Booted into Fastboot.
(Flashed the patched boot image to my device fastboot flash boot path-to-patched-boot-image) I don't think this is needed here but it is what I had done.
Flashed the vbmeta.img from the firmware with the option --disable-verification. fastboot --disable-verification flash vbmeta path-to-vbmeta-imageIt does not need to be an empty vbmeta image.
Flashed the patched boot image to my device fastboot flash boot path-to-patched-boot-image. (A second time, but as mention before I don't think the first time is necessary).
fastboot reboot.

...And now I have root.
Disclaimer use this info at your own risk. I take no responsibility for it.


No more puncuation shortcuts in lollipop google keyboard? In KitKat, there used to be some punctuation shortcuts in google's keyboard. For example, you'd press and hold a key (usually in the lower rows, like 'v'), and you could add a question mark, exclamation mark or whatever punctuation was linked to this key.

In Lollipop, there seems to be no such thing anymore, and if you want to add a question mark, you have to go through the hassle of getting into ?123 menu. Worse, if you want an underscore or a tilda, you'll have to go in the second level =\<@ menu.

So, here's my question: how to get the punctuation shortcuts back in Google's keyboard? Has the feature completely disappeared?

Note: this feature is still present in Google pinyin keyboard, but in Lollipop you can't type in english with it anymore for some reason...(when we could with the KitKat version)

What keyboard are you referring to? If you're on the latest google keyboard ( 5.0.25.xxx) then you can turn this on by:

settings > Language and Input > Google Keyboard > preferences > Long press for symbols.


Android 4.3: How to get the notification history In the recent days, after the release of Android Jelly Bean 4.3, I've heard about a new feature: something like a notification history, which would be a screen showing not only the current notifications but also past ones. Is it true or is it just a rumor? If this actually exists, how can I get to such screen?

This is not a rumor: the notification history is a true feature from Android 4.3, although they don't make any mention of it in their What's New page.

The following steps will allow you to take advantage from the Notification History in a vanilla Android Jelly Bean 4.3:

Go to your app drawer, then tap the Widgets tab. Scroll until you reach Settings shortcut (1x1) widget.
Drag and drop this widget to your home screen.

You'll see a screen where you can select the type of settings this shortcut will open. Select Notifications.
The shortcut Notifications will be in your home screen, tap it.
The screen Notifications shows the notification history we are talking about. In this screen currently active notifications appear in full intensity, while dismissed ones are dimmed.

Tapping in each notification from this screen will open the corresponding App info screen, where you'll be able to toggle the option Show notifications as you wish.
Remember: if you turn off notifications for an app, its icon will disappear from the status bar, all its notifications will be dimmed in the Notification history screen, and you may miss important notifications about this app from now on. Only do this if you are completely sure.


What is the minimum number of modifications in order to install a custom ROM? I am planning to upgrade my wife's Galaxy Ace II from 4.1.2 (the latest official firmware offered by Samsung, installed via Kies)  to 4.4.4, which is available via http://novafusion.pl/downloads/ as an unofficial CyanogenMod 11.0 variant.  I have tried to gather as much information as possible, but some things are not clear yet.  I am seeking short, precise, technical answers; there are enough "10 steps for ... your phone" out there already. ;-)

I know what rooting means, but apparently it is not always necessary in order to install a custom ROM? (This seems to differ from Jailbreaks on iPhones.)
However, I probably have to "unlock the bootloader" in order to make the phone accept a firmware that is not signed by Samsung? (I understood that this is what "unlocking" the bootloader means.)
If I understood correctly, the (/a) recovery mode is always available and mainly offers the features to a) wipe the data partition, b) wipe a cache partition (which seems to be hidden from the UI, so I did not know about it before), or c) install an update.zip from an SD card.  Apparently, there are more advanced custom recovery ROMs/firmwares out there, too, which is probably analogous to installing Grub instead of Windows' default bootloader.  But do I need no install a custom recovery ROM, too?  (Why) Is that recommended?

To install a rom you have to root your device, there is no way without rooting your phone as long it isn't rooted yet
Sorry dont understand your second question.
You have to flash a custom recovery such as Clockwork Mod Recovery. You need a custom recovery because you can't control the default recovery (no way to acces it). So you have to set your phone in downloadmode and flash the root and the recovery.

Have a loook at this step by step  tutorial where everything is explained ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2215996).


How to remove Google account on Chrome? My boyfriend needed to use my phone to access his email. Since logging in his account remains the default user whenever I open Chrome and Google search. I have tried deleting my device on his account in under active devices. I have tried going into Chrome settings but there is no option to remove the account!

Are you sure that your boyfriend's account is opened only in chrome ?
Well i think it's not.

The problem is not with the chrome if i am getting your problem.
Here the person adds his account to your Google Services and your device is currently using it as its primary account. So, it is auto logging in as default account in chrome.

If you want to check:
Open Gmail app look for the account signed in already by touching 3 lines on the upper left of the screen, there must be showing your bfs account.

So now, you have to remove this account from your device. Follow these steps:

Open Settings-Account-Google
Now click the account you want to remove and touch 3 dots on the upper right corner of the screen and choose remove account.

It's done.

However, what you have did by removing your device from his 'my activities' tab.
This will only unlink your device from his Google account that means if you will try to sign in it may need to go through verification for signing in next time. As your device is now unknown/new for this particular Google account.


Find lost Samsung Galaxy Ace phone? 3 weeks ago I lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace. I don't have any tracker applications or any "if lost" applications installed. I'm looking for some tracker that doesn't need a sim card, just a locator using gps locator, but I also don't have any IMEI number or even email.
So please help me, is there any way to find my lost Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830?

If you've set up your Google Account on it, your only hope is probably Plan B.

  Plan B is the 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you lose your phone.
  Plan B is your last resort to find your missing phone.

  This is the first and only 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you've already lost your phone. Having Lookout on your phone is the best way to protect your phone and find it fast, but use Plan B if you have already lost your phone and didn't have Lookout installed.


Android phone is turned off at 52% battery I have got a Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo Plus with Android 4.4.4. When the phone reaches the 52%, it turns off and I can't turn on it again because the battery is at 0%!

I think this could help: When I charge it completely, the phone turns off (as I've said, when the battery is at 52%), BUT, when I charge it by... 60%, it pass the 52%.

EDIT

The problem was the battery. The solution was buy a new one.

I would start by  holding all three physical buttons for a full 3 minutes (phone switched off) to fix battery logic problem.  this resets the battery logic on some phones and how the battery talks to the software to let it know how much power it has based on the voltage. After that start the phone (may take some restarts ) and charge the phone
Next, eliminate Battery Problem by changing battery

A) Battery lived it's life. If the battery is removable, borrow a battery if possible and see the behaviour. Check if it is bulged. Easy way for this is to keep the battery on a flat surface and try to spin it. If it "spins", it is due to battery bulging and changing battery is indicated

B) Battery has a chip that provides phone health and condition to device. Based on this information, device takes actions such as stopping the charge, LED notifications to show battery charged etc. Changing battery will also rule out possibility of this chip having gone bad

Fix OS problem. Fuel Guage drivers ( part of software in your device) corrupted. To rule this out, i suggest back up your data and with your recovery wipe clean all Cache and system and flash stock ROM (requires root). If not rooted, try a factory reset (deletes data, so back up before this). Our else if Kies supports reflashing ROM, do that. If the problem continues, it is likely that it is not a driver corruption issue.
Fix Hardware problem of device Hardware of battery charging chip gone bad. Less probability and best handled by service center

Getting to the root of the problem takes time and I would proceed in the order suggested. All the best and do post the conclusion, it may help others having similar problem with your device make


Is it possible to extend/upgrade media decoders? As I am very happy with the internal player for music I would like to keep it. Unfortunately it does not support a certain codec: flac. Is it possible to upgrade the player so it can decode flac?, or do I have to switch to another player?

Core Media Formats table from Official Android Developer site states that FLAC Decoder is integrated and available by default in Android 3.1 and newer versions.

So if you want FLAC decoder for your stock media player, you either need to get your device upgraded to ICS(4.0) OR you can switch to another media player (such as andLess or Winamp) that has its own playback libraries to support multiple codec formats including FLAC.


Is there a Wi-Fi-only mode? Once I am connected to a Wi-Fi network (regardless of my other connections to 3G and 4G) is there any way to guarantee that all my data goes through Wi-Fi?

Your phone will default to WiFi when it's available.  If you're paranoid you can disable data while using WiFi but it's not necessary.  I'm not sure how to do it on the Bionic but you could see if it's in the menu that pops up when you hold the power button for a couple seconds or something like unchecking Use packet data in Settings -> Wireless and network -> Mobile networks.