What difference does it make that I have two SD cards I guess I don't really understand the Android storage structure; maybe someone can enlighten me or direct me to a place that does. I have a Galaxy S3, Android 4.0.5, with two 16GB SD cards. So:

Does the phone have internal storage other than the SD cards?
Under /mnt, I see both sdcard and extSdCard; there is also sdcard under /. I assume this is just a link. But this implies to me that the external sd card is somehow "less important" than the original SD card. Is that true?
I would like to use perhaps doubletwist, or some other application, to put my whole iTunes library, which is slightly larger than 16GB, on my phone. Will that application (or any application) insist on having 16gig on one card, or will it just figure it out and put the data wherever it needs to go?
The file structure on my sd cards seems pretty complicated, with lots of empty folders. What folders are really needed by the OS, and how can I figure out what is supposed to go in each?

I guess this comes down to two questions: 1) how can I figure out what the principles are behind the Android file system, and 2) do applications care that there are two cards, or do they/can they treat it as a single disk?

Thanks.

By the sound of it, its like as if the handset is in fact a 16GB model variant, if so, then the so-called sdcard is treated as internal storage i.e. sdcard, and the external SDCard is symbolically linked to extSdCard.

That is the way Google are doing it now, and doing away with having external SDCard's... :)

No its not true that one is "more" important than the other, its just a way of increasing internal storage capacity for apps and media etc, the external SDCard acts as a "overflow" bucket once the storage space on the internal sdcard gets maxed out.


How can I copy to the clipboard on a stock phone? This is something that has been frustrating me ever since I first did a fresh ROM installation on a smartphone.

I have an excessively complex password for my Google account. It would be impossible to type it into my phone by hand. Usually I would get it into my phone through QR code. But on a fresh installation, I have no QR code reader. I also can't install one, cause I can't access the market without my Google account.

So I put my password into a .txt file and put it in my phone. But when I try to open it, the application that is used can't copy text (like HTMLViewer on CM7) and no alternatives are available.

The key is not putting the password into the file, but make it the filename. Then you can rename the file in the file manager and copy the password through the rename dialog.


Which custom or official kernel should I use on SGS2? I'm using SGS2 with latest stock ICS ROM, but it has few bugs which I really hate, so I want to look at custom kernels which could help me in this.

The main headache for me at the moment is I can't turn off my SGS2, when I try to do this my phone reboots itself so I need to pull out the battery to Switch it off. I'm getting hardly 24 hour battery backup while I'm not using too many calls or internet on my device, if I charged it 100% at night and wake up in morning then it drains out 5-10% battery. I have disabled auto sync, network connection etc which could be cause to drain out battery fast. Why I'm looking for custom kernels are due to

1: I want to get good battery life.
2: I want a good and stable performance.
3: Don't want to lag while playing games like Temple Run

I have heard two custom kernels for SGS2 are Siyah and Speedmod. Now I'm not sure which one should I use to for my phone for getting a good performance and battery life.

Can I flash kernel using stock recovery of my SGS2? And is it safe?

Upgrade your phone to latest JellyBean stock ROM and flash SpeedMod kernel from Odin. Right now is one of the most stable combinations for the Galaxy S II.

If you want more performance you can always install Siyah kernel and tweak it for your needs.

Also remember to do a full Nandroid backup before flashing anything and wipe /system, /data and /cache before installing JB from Odin.


Tablet on Android 4.2 is not detecting the SD card I have a tablet on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). I'm trying to insert the external SD card, but every time I open a camera it says "no external available". When I open my Documents To Go files it says "presence of SD CARD is required by Documents To Go". At this moment the SD card is inserted in device, however, the card is not mounted by the file system.

As a result, I'm getting the "please mount the card" message again and again.

How to fix this issue?

It sounds like your SD card got corrupted or ejected. It seems Android can't read or write to the SD card.

You can try mounting the SD-card again. To do this, go to Settings -> Storage. Many devices will show an option to mount the SD card. If your device has this option, press it and try again.

If that option is not available on your device (or you get an error message), your SD card might be corrupted. Try inserting it into another device (PC, smart phone, etc.) and see if the files are readable. If they're not, your SD card is probably corrupt.

You can try fixing the SD card with disk checking tools present on a PC. If you're unlucky and those tools fail to do the job, you might need to format the entire SD card (losing all files that are on there).

If another device can read the files on your SD card fine, there's something else wrong with your tablet. You could try inserting another SD card. If that SD card can't be recognized either, there's something wrong with the SD card slot on your tablet. If another card works fine there might be a system file or data file causing trouble on your tablet. You could try cleaning up the SD card using another device, removing non-essential files.


Keyboard punctuation I just updated my phone (Galaxy S3) and I don't like the new way auto prediction works, it keeps trying to predict the next word instead of giving me quick access to the punctuation. Does any one know if there is a way to have the auto prediction just give you a list of punctuation once you hit the space bar instead of trying to guess the next word?

When I originally got my phone last year when ever I finished texting a word and hit the space bar, the auto prediction bar would show all my punctuation and that was great. Than I did an update a several months ago, and the auto prediction started giving me next word predictions instead, the only way I could find around that was to double tab the space bar, than hit backspace/delete, and that would allow my auto prediction to once again show the punctuation available. It was a few extra clicks but at least it was still quick access to punctuation and didn't slow down the flow to much. But with this latest update auto prediction only seems to give word suggestions, I can't find anyway to make it show me punctuation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks all.

I have a galaxy Note 2. I opened a new message and at the top of the screen is a keyboard symbol. I pulled down the screen to then be able to "choose input method" which I tapped on. I then tapped "set up input methods" and tapped the settings icon next to "Samsung keyboard" which then allowed me to de-select predictive text. I've now been able to customise my settings a little.


Task Manager and profiler for Android Wear apps I have three questions about Android wear apps.

Is there a way or app for closing individual apps on Android wear ? I tried Task Manager for Android wear but it doesn't work on my LG Watch R.
how can I profile an individual app on Android wear (on my Watch) in terms of CPU, memory and power consumption ? For Android phones, there are apps such as power tutor, trepn etc, however, I can't find any way to do the same for a smartwatch.
Is there a way to adapt an android app to smartwatch in terms of display (user interface) without having access to the source code ? I want to use an android app on android wear, however, I can not see all the options due to the small display of the watch. I was wondering if there is way to deal with it such that to make the app user-interface smaller.

I've been unable to find any profiling apps designed for Android smartwatches. However, its been reported that Trepn Profiler can be used with Android Wear smartwatches. Here is a screenshot of Trepn running on the LG Watch R:

Based on the data I've seen, this smartwatch reports accurate power consumption:

With a dim display, 252 mW of power is consumed.
With a bright display, 671 mW is used.

It looks like the above screenshot was created using Trepn's 'Network Activity' preset.

Obviously Trepn is not ideal for this purpose, since it was never designed to run on a smartwatch. You won't be able to access important features like its Advanced mode or Settings.

Although I haven't tested them yet, I would expect all of Trepn's overlay presets to work. Note: To make sure you have an overlay preset, touch the icon to the right that looks like an overlay, not a list. In most cases it's the bottom icon.

CPU Frequency
Mobile Data Detective
Performance Graph
CPU Usage Monitor
CPU Load Overlay

Disclosure: I work on the team that created Trepn and App Tune-up Kit.


How To Quickly Turn Off Audio On Nexus 6P (Android 7.1.1)? My phone is locked (pin required) and the volume is on.  I receive a text message and the appropriate sound beings to play.

How can I very quickly acknowledge the text message, and get the phone to shut up, but still play the audio when I receive the next text?

Hitting volume up/volume down while the screen is locked do nothing for me.
Hitting the power button only turns the screen on and off
If I turn the screen on I can see the text, but if I touch it, I need to enter my pin.  Only after I successfully enter my pin will the audio stop.
If I turn the screen on and then hit volume down, the audio will reduce in volume.  But I need to hit it many times before it gets silent.  Beyond that, the audio hasn't stopped playing, so I now need to wait for the tone to complete and then remember to turn the audio back up on the phone, or I will miss a future audio alert.

I have to imagine there is a better way.  My previous phone would simply treat the message as acknowledged with a pressing of the power button.  The best I can come up with is to replace my audio alert with a very short sound - but then I risk not hearing it/missing it.

So I want a long sound to play when I receive a text, but I want to be able to immediately acknowledge it, leaving the volume of the phone at it's current level.

I've looked in the Settings area of the phone, but haven't had any luck.

Setting short notification sound should be the fastest way. You can also consider flashing a custom ROM based on stock android 7.1.1 which enables you to mute ringing by pressing volume button. And a lot more.

Video review of AICP ROM

Setting up root and custom recovery on Nexus 6P

AICP ROM 7.1.1 for Nexus 6P (officially maintained with daily builds)


question google maps and street navigation just want to ask something about google maps app and street navigation and "saved" data:

I am travelling between Moscow and Vladivostok (eastern shores). Before leaving (still has 3G/4G connection), I decided to check out the route and started the navigation feature. if for whatever reason I lose my net connection in the middle of Russia (which is 100% definite I think), will street navigation still work? I was hoping Google would have downloaded all the stuff needed when I started the navigation.

Thanks! :)

No, google maps navigation will not work without Internet connection! You can however install a navigation app which will work without Internet. For example HERE Maps. Don't forget to download maps for the area where you want to travel.


Why is the HDR button missing? This article mentions a new HDR camera mode that's available in Android 4.2:

but my Galaxy Nexus doesn't show that option:

Why not?

I've had a little look at this now that Android 4.2 source is out.

It turns out that HDR isn't done by the camera app itself, it's a scene mode that needs to be supported by the operating system implementation and/or drivers.

The camera app will remove the HDR button if:

You're not on API level 17 (Android 4.2) or above, or;
Camera.Parameters.getSupportedSceneModes() returns null or a list that doesn't contain the string "hdr"

So in short, the HDR mode is implemented by the operating system's camera driver itself and can't be added to the standard camera app without delving into the OS source. I've not done this yet, but if I do figure it out I'll post an update.


How to get access to administrative accounts on Android? Please forgive the basic nature of this question. Android is based on Linux, and Linux is a multi-user OS. As I understand it, every version or distribution of Linux must have at least one admin account that provides file system root access and other heightened privileges. So my question is, if I buy an Android device directly from an OEM, and not through a service provider like AT&T, what happens to the account with admin rights? Do OEMs never provide the admin account credentials to consumers, or does it vary by OEM?

I'm trying to understand issue. If I'm buying a device outright, shouldn't I have admin rights to it without having to "break-in" to my own device? It this a stated policy of the OS vendor (Google) that OEMs cannot give consumers admin rights? If not, why wouldn't they provide the admin account credential as a matter of course? Is there a safety issue or other technical issue that supports this apparent policy, or is it simply a business decision? Thanks for your insight.

OEMs as well as the Android foundation itself try to strictly not have such an Admin user available to the user (security reasons)
and thus not provide such a user, which in general is true for most OEMs, but some set up a special system user with extended permissions for some hardware/software parts used by their own apps (they might have a user+password combo but they are well hidden and usually useless).

As for security reasons: Think about it, someone, who knows the admin's credentials, writes a malicious application that steals passwords, credit card information and injects ads everywhere, maybe even lock down your phone and wants you to pay to unlock it.
Then you are in big trouble. To prevent this, Android features SELinux (security enhanced linux) which prevents system wide modifications on specific settings (every user/app has its own namespace). System applications also run in their own namespace, but have system permissions to allow further modifications (non-malicious ones).
Rooting allows you to run specific commands as the SuperUser who has even more permission than the system user, but always allow the risk of malicious modifications.

  Because Android wants to establish more as a business OS and advertises a secure OS, access to the system user is very restricted and the SuperUser is completely removed/stubbed and useless. In other words: Security > user permissions.

Linux also allows the removal of the system/root user, btw.


WhatsApp messages are not appearing in chronological order When in a group chat, if many messages are exchanged between other people in the group, when I check my Whatsapp, the messages are grouped according to sender and not chronologically. I know that my phone isn't the problem as I have recently changed my phone, however, I'm still experiencing the same problem.

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing WhatsApp on my phone, and the same problem still occurs.

Recently, I have seen many asking the same question in different places but I couldn't find a solution anywhere. So I decided to contact the WhatsApp team directly addressing the issue few days back. This is the response I received:

WhatsApp Support
Hi,
Sorry for the delay! We have received many emails recently, and we do our best to answer them all. Thank you for your patience.
Sorry for the inconvenience. We are aware of the issue, and we are doing our best to improve WhatsApp in a future update.
Unfortunately, we cannot comment on any future timelines, sorry. Thank you for your continued patience and support of WhatsApp.
Cheers,
Tereza
WhatsApp Support Team

Yea, they are working on it and it may be fixed soon.


I want to customise my phone to forward SMS messages automatically My goal is that I want to customise my own Android phone to automatically forward text messages from user defined phone numbers onto other user defined phone numbers. I tried updating a very simple app to do this:
https://github.com/EnixCoda/SMS-Forward
However I found that once I had updated to newer Android versions, the app started up and allowed me to set a forwarding number, but did not actually forward the SMS (I used my phone in USB debugger mode). The SMSReceiver class did not get the message that an SMS had arrived I found when I debugged it. I read more, and it seems that only the default SMS app is allowed to have anything to do with text messages. So now, I want to start from the source code of the stock/default SMS app that comes with Android so that I can add the features I am interested in to it.
I'm open to different approaches, but I don't want to download a crapware app with ads or pay nagging.
Doing a little more research, I found that Signal can handle SMS messages, but it seems like quite a big and complicated app.
Any advice appreciated!

You can try to create the following flow with Automate and test if it accomplishes it.

Create a new flow by pressing on the + button
Press again on the + button, search for SMS. Select "SMS received" block
Press the "SMS received" block. Enter the phone number of the sender. Click on "Subscription ID" and select your SIM card (Network provider). On the Message box, enter the name of a variable, for example msg. Click on Save.
Press the + button. Select the "SMS send" block. Press it. Enter the phone of the contact you want the SMS to. Set the Sim card (network provider) under "Subscription Id". on the Message box, press on fx to enable it, then enter the variable create during step 3. In this case, enter msg. Click on Save
Link the blocks as seen on the first image below, then press back.
Give the flow a name and enable "send and view messages". Give the requested permission, then press Start.

When an SMS is received from the sender whose number you entered on step 3, it will be immediately sent to the contact number entered in step 4. The log on the second image shows that an SMS was received then sent (forwarded).
Note: You should be able to add more number during step 3 and 4 by enabling fx. But I have not tested it. Or, you can add more SMS received and SMS send blocks in parallel for each number.
Disclaimer: I am just a user of the app.


Where should I copy multimedia files on SD card? I have a Huawei P8 Lite to which I added an SD card.

Using Windows Explorer, I'm not sure where to copy multimedia files so that the files will be found by eg. VLC.

The "SD Card" item contains the following directories:

.backup
Android
backup
DCIM
HuaweiBackup
LOST.DIR

Thank you.

Principially everywhere (except for LOST.DIR, Android and directories starting with a dot like .backup). Apart from that, you might wish to apply some "logic". Defaults are often:

Music: for your music files (have sub-directories below that if you like)
Video: for your video files
Pictures: for photos etc.
Books: for eBooks

Note that your Android device's camera stores its photos/videos below DCIM. The media-scanner will find your media files everywhere, unless you hide a directory and its contents by placing a .nomedia file into it. Several media players (and I assume VLC belongs into this category) also allow you browsing directories manually, independent from the device's media library.


How to have a long Standby and Battery -life? Possible Duplicate:
  What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?

My Huawei Android is dead after one day. I am looking for

ways to extend the battery life
a new Android -phone with long battery-life (3. hopefully a phone with two Sim -cards)

I don't know what I really need. For 1, the Wifi/3D-all-the-time-on eats battery -- but hey I like to read my emails on phone. For 2, I could buy more bulky phone. For 3, something here (not sure about the quality). Look I currently use my non-3G iPad with long battery -life, I could buy the 3G version to alleviate the battery problem. I also use Nokia 9300 or Nokia 1111 with 1 week battery life.

With Wifi/3G -problem, is it possible to have them in some energy -saving mode. 1 day battery in Android phones is totally ridiculous. How can I get long battery life?

Regarding this two parts of your question:

...ways to extend the battery life...
...With Wifi/3G -problem, is it possible to have them in some energy -saving mode...

I own a Huawei U8510-1 (Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread) and I also had to deal with that battery issue. When I've bought it, my battery lasted a day, forcing me to recharge it every night.
After some tests, by disabling and enabling stuff, I was able to give it a slight increase, specially when I've disabled the 3G, leaving only the WiFi.
, but couldn't get it to pass two days without a recharge.
The best solution I've found till the present day was this APP:

Easy Battery Saver free

Save power, extend battery life and perfect experience of using phone with Easy Battery Saver!

It works and really makes a difference. I'm able to control every small detail regarding what my phone should or shouldn't be doing, down to what apps can use 3G or WiFi. Now I charge my phone one, max two times a week, depending on the usage. :)


Tapping on a notification from lock screen opens app notification settings instead of the app Sometimes (not always), tapping on a notification from the lock screen opens the App notification settings instead of the app.

For example, a K9 notification takes me to this screen:

This happens totally randomly and I don't understand what's causing it.

Anybody else noticed this?

Galaxy S6 / Marshmallow

Changing the press and hold delay from the accessibility settings fixed the problem.


Belkin mobile wireless keyboard F5L175 set to wrong language on galaxy tab e, how to fix After pairing my galaxy tab e to Belkin mobile wireless keyboard, everything worked fine. The second time I connected a screen came up asking me to set language. Apparently I picked incorrect English US option because it now types some letters different than keyboard. How can this be fixed?  Can't find any reference to a setting anywhere on tablet. Thanks

Here’s how to set things right. First, turn on bluetooth on your device & connect to the external keyboard. On android device, you need to go into the Settings menu, then find the ‘Language & input’ option. (On recent versions of Android, you should see a ‘Select keyboard layout’ option in your notifications, which will take you to the same place.)

From here, find your Bluetooth keyboard listed under ‘Physical keyboard’ and press on its name. A menu will appear that lets you choose a keyboard language. If you don’t see the correct option, choose ‘Set up keyboard language’. Then, find your desired language (e.g. English – US android) and tick the box. Now your Bluetooth keyboard should be set to its desired language.
Thanks to the guys at MobileFun.uk


Messaging contacts color change I got my Galaxy S3 about two weeks ago, and have been texting on it normally. Now, for some reason, when I look at my text log some of the names of my contacts are in blue, while some remain in white. It started with a few names becoming blue, and now the majority are. It's a completely random thing, but I'm just wondering why..

I see a discussion in AndroidForums stating that this behavior is a strange bug.  It seems that few experienced this issue for whom the color changed after receiving an emergency message.  They also say that deleting such messages restores the color. If you had received any such emergency message, can you please try to delete it?

Out of curiosity and the attraction of bounty led me to search for this issue else where. I do not have an S3 or know anyone having S3 to confirm this.


Autodialling app that allows timed selection of phone line menu options I have searched the Google Play store with a number of likely terms to find this, and Googled also, only to find "simplistic" options for auto dialling.
Am trying to get through to a government department that allows call backs, but don't just want to select the number at a pre-determined interval from the last call (to give their system a chance to clear some of those call backs), something I can relatively easily do myself, it would be most helpful to have dialpad numbers sent down the line at predetermined times once the phone connects, so I don't have to wait to be able to select each of them.
This seems like it would be the most programmatically simple part of a auto dialler app. Does an app to do this really not exist for Android?

Seems one needs to search for "meeting auto dialers" to find the (as of writing this) only result https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.technochakra.meetingautodialer&hl=en_US
Alas the aforementioned app doesn't do auto redialing, and in the reviews from some years ago there doesn't appear to be great interest from the developer to implement this, instead suggesting the use of https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.llamalab.automate to launch widgets of templates in the Meeting Auto Dialer app that can be added to one's home screen.


SD card unpartitioning I own an HTC Chacha and I partitioned my SD card for phone rooting and discorved my phone is s-on so it cant be rooted! So how can I unpartition my SD card to reuse the partitioned space (this partitioned space cant be read by my phone)

thanks

The easiest way is to backup the contents of the SD Card to your PC, then delete all partitions, create a single Fat32 partition, and then restore the card contents.

Simply either use the same partitioning tool you did when you partitioned the card to begin with, or one of many free partitioning tools available.  I highly recommend GParted.


Why is Copy+Paste of text a once only operation - I have to keep Copying for the next paste As per the title, I used to have an Android (v5) where I would copy some text once, and keep pasting to wherever;
On my new phone (Android v10 - Samsung Galaxy A51), clipboard text disappears after a paste; Is there a setting to allow retaining last copied text ?
[cannot create samsung-galaxy-a51 so using samsung-galaxy-a5 instead]

Although Android itself shouldn't be rule out, you should first check the issue is not related to your keyboard. If possible, try to install another keyboard app for example GBoard. Set it as the default keyboard app, enable its clipboard, then try to copy and paste. Verify if the problem persists or not.


Compass north and south are reversed on my Samsung Galaxy 2 Since upgrading my phone to ICS, my compass is reversed, with the north end pointing south.

I have tried waving the phone in a figure 8 pattern and flipping it over on all axis.

What can I do to get my compass pointing the right way?

I found the answer on this page, and the solution was to download and install a compass fix patch.


Connectify and Galaxy Grand duos android 4.2.2 hotspot connectivity issue When using connectify for the first or after a long time, the mobile connects just fine to the hotspot untill 2-3 days pass by and it disconnects and stops displaying the name of the network in the wifi networks list. I tried switching off and then on the network and my mobile's wifi but no good. The mobile does display other networks but not the one it was using for the past 2-3 days.

I got the solution finally. It so happens that there are 2 modes i.e the 2GHz and the 5GHz in a wifi adapter and the my mobile works in just one of them i.e. the 2 GHz mode.

All we need to do is change the mode of operation of our system or hotspot host.

For that:

Go to Device Manager.
Go to Network Adapter.
Acc. to my system I right clicked on the adapter by the name of
Intel Centrino Advanced N-6235 and went to properties
Go to Advanced. For those who want to know how the adapter
properties look like by hit and trial here is a snapshot of the
advanced tab of properties.

Choose "Preferred Band" and change it to 5.2GHz.
Click Okay and restart your hotspot the job is done !


How to make saved images to retain saved in Whatsapp? After some time all images in my Whatsapp look in the following way

i.e. as if I never downloaded them. Although I did.
How to make it keep images once downloaded?

Open a file manager app and go to folder
WhatsApp > Media > WhatsApp Images
and check if your images are still in that folder. If not, you can try downloading them from WhatsApp again, refresh the folder, and see if they appear there.


Does Google provide a global games achievements system like Game Center? or Xbox LIVE? Does Google Play offer an achievement tracking system similar to Apple Game Center, Xbox LIVE, and Steam? For keeping track of achievements, game progress, time spent in a game, what your friends are playing, etc.

Are there any other third-party alternative tracking system? with a huge base of supported games? I am thinking of something like Raptr for Desktop systems.

Just announced 24 July 2013 is Google Play Games.

The Play Games platform was first announced at Google I/O back in May, but until now, there wasn’t a dedicated app; you could see your achievements and online leaderboards inside your apps, but there was nothing that brought that all together.
The Play Games app changes that. It shows you all of your Play Games compatible titles, as well as those your friends are playing. And if you don’t yet have any Play Games friends, the built-in suggestion feature will help you find some.
Asphalt 8 Airborne, Riptide GP2, and Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame are just a few of the titles that support Google Play Games, and you’ll find hundreds more in Google Play.

That's not to say that individual developers or partnerships might not aggregate their own games in their own "game center". For instance Mobage, OpenFeint (recently killed), and the new Rovio Accounts.


Wireless printing from Android phone I have a samsung galaxy prevail through boost mobile what kind of printer do I need and how do I print from my smartphone wirelessly?

Google Cloud Print

Generally, you'd want to use Google Cloud Print compatible printers. The full list of Cloud Print ready printers is available here.

If you're stuck without one of these printers (i.e. a classic printer), you've still got options:

  Before connecting your classic printer, confirm if you have:

  Google Chrome
  Windows or Mac computer

  And if you’re using Windows XP, the Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).
  Then, follow the steps below to enable the Google Cloud Print connector:

  Open Google Chrome.
  In a new tab, open chrome://devices
  You’ll see a list of devices already registered with Google Cloud Print, and new devices available on the network.
  Under "Classic printers,” click Add printers.
  You'll see a confirmation that Google Cloud Print has been enabled.
  To learn more, click Manage your printers.

To connect classic printers in a business or school environment, use the Cloud Print Connector service on Windows or Linux.

After adding your Cloud Print ready printer, use the Google Cloud Print app to start printing

In versions of Android newer than 4.4, the app isn't necessary:

  Open the page you want to print in its app (Photos, Chrome, etc).
  On the app, click Options.
  Select Print.


How to diagnose malfunctioning wifi? Nexus One, cleared internal user storage to near-factory settings using the boot menu.
My computer is connected to wifi, and I have a USB tether to my phone.

But when I click on "Connect to wifi" -- even in the virgin "user setup" menu -- No networks are found, and the device becomes unbearably slow.

The device had functioned properly for 1.5 years ... until yesterday.

I don't know whether the problem is hardware or software.
If it is in software, I would like to fix it... but I don't have wifi, and I don't have 3G.

What are the steps to diagnose this problem?

If it is a software problem, what are the steps to fix it?

Tap the Menu button on your handset.
Tap Settings.
Tap Wireless and Networks.
Tap Wi-Fi settings.
Tap the Menu button again.
Tap Advanced ( Figure B ).
Tap the Proxy setting and make sure your
Android device is not set up for a Proxy.
(Unless the Wi-Fi network you are on
requires a Proxy, this setting will get in the
way of your device's access to the computer)
If you tap on Proxy and see an IP address or
domain, delete it.


How to use CyanogenMod Camera I have been using CyanogenMod Camera for a while. But my latest automatic update installed a new version of it. That wouldn't be a problem, except that I can't find any instructions on how to use it. Its behavior has changed.

The obvious searches (CyanogenMod camera help, CyanogenMod camera instructions) only come up with installation instructions not usage instructions.  Maybe the way to use this program is obvious to everyone else, but it isn't obvious to me.

Are you referring to LineageOS? CyanogenMod is no longer in active development. I don't know what device you are using, but if you can, you should upgrade.

Anyway, the default camera application for LineageOS is Snap (source). You should be able to see it in your launcher as Camera.


Automation - unable to turn hotspot on I am using a device running on AOSP 8.1

Recently I wanted to automatically turn hotspot on when device boots but Macrodroid is unable to do so

Help required!

A rooted device has likely been required since Android 7, where it begun to cause DHCP issues otherwise, since Android 8.1 certainly. Earlier it depended on the device manufacturer or carrier. Automate has a Wi-Fi hotspot set state which should work in any case.


Can't find Wifi Direct option in settings I have Sony Live with Walkman mobile phone, Android version 4.0.4.
I can't find WiFi direct option in settings. There are only mobile networks, tethering/portable hotspot and two more useless options are there.

Actually there isn't any option like that. Its missing. There were lots of complaints about 4.0.4 Update for Live with Walkman that Wifi Direct is missing.

look at here.
Also look at this review of update..:

First of all thanks for the wonderful update and congratulations.
Few things i would like to share with sony:
1. We cannot uninstall Appextra from the phone at all and should have that option
2. Phone dialer is laggy it takes almost 3-5 sec to open the dialer plz fix that
3. really time to update the kernel to 3.0 as i have ssen the ICS running on kernel 3.0 with same hardware specification as Xperia 2011 portfolio has and the phone runs better than it is currently running on 2.6.32.9-pref version
4. Wifi Direct option is missing as its a feature of ICS 4.0.X fix that in next update so that we get that option as well
5. please provide us option to move some of the internal app to sd card as it will save more space on phone memory.
6. when tried to update the inbuilt application such as liveware manger Error Unable to do that it says “An existing package by the same name with a conflicting signature is already installed.
7. Google talk application sometimes says we are offline even though we are not.
8.live wallpaper gets force close all of a sudden many times.
9.screen shot option is complicated and should be in the same way as it was in GB
10.photos when viewed from xperia gallery should provide more detail info for the photos and videos as it shows in galary app.
11. A normal sound recorder application should be their to record voices or conversation
12. A file manger application should be their.

May be sony will fix it in next update.


Where does the term flashing come from? The term flashing in Android communities seems to be interchangeable with "Install"

  Because Google's apps are not open source, custom ROMs can't bundle Google's apps -- like Gmail, Hangouts, or the Play Store -- with their ROMs. That means you'll need to download and flash them separately.

From How To Flash A ROM To Your Android Phone

So if this is the case where does the term flashing come from?

ROM is a short for read-only memory. Nowadays, it is often a writable memory that is not written in normal operation. In past days, it used to be rather EPROM/EEPROM.

The term flashing probably comes from era of EPROM, which can be erased using a strong UV light. Erasure of whole memory is needed before EPROM is written. This is not the case of current flash memories, but the term “flashing” remains.


How do I get my pictures back from my lost phone? I lost my phone today and the data is turned off, but is there any way of tracking it even without the data? or getting my photos back?

The short answer is no to both questions, you're probably out of luck.

Long answer:

To locate your Android device with the Google tools, meaning Android Device Manager, your device must have a working data connection of some kind to function and Location Services enabled. This would give the ability to locate the phone and lock or wipe it at your option, or give the current holder of the device a means to contact you to possibly return the device.

As far as the photos go, if you were not actively syncing them to an online service such as Google Photo using the Google Photos app, or a similar competitive application and online service, then unless you can physically get the phone back in your possession, you will not be able to recover them.

This is another case of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Unfortunately, the average Android user has no knowledge of how these things work or how to prepare for the worst case scenario like this.

You could setup a device lock with screen message in Android Device Manager, and if somehow the current holder of the device happens to turn on the data service, it will sync with Google and immediately activate, giving you a possible option to retrieve the device. If you have it setup in ADM, when this occurs you will receive an email indicating the feature was activated and a location it occured (assuming Location Services are enabled as well).


What is this icon on the top right of some YouTube videos? It isn't on all videos but it appears on some. No clue what it is.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vq-xHqUo8

It's the logo of the video's uploader. Uploaders can choose to display their logo near the beginning or end of the video, to make it easier for you to subscribe to their channel.


problems with SDCard after partitioning I'm using a rooted XPeria Z1c. Recently I got myself a bigger SDCard (128 GB) and I decided to use 2 partitions. I started 'adb shell' then partitioned the card using

sm partition disk:<disk_id> mixed 50

After disconnecting the phone I formatted the 2nd partion as exFAT. Windows' disk manager is showing me 3 partitions on the SD: one exFAT plus 2 more that obviously aren't recognized. One of those 2 is quite small (16MB in size), the other one has roughly the size I'm expecting it to have.
EDIT: formatting was done by the phone itself after I first inserted the freshly partitioned card, and I expected the format to be ext4.

My phone has no problems using both of the main partitions, so that's good.

On my PC I'm running a Linux device driver by Paragon enabling me to access extFS formatted sd cards an pendrives from Windows Explorer. But if I directly connect the card to my windows PC (using an SD card reader) only the exFAT partition is accessible. Apparently the other partition is not truly formatted as ext4.
I tried various adb / terminal commands to access that special partition and find out what it is but I can't really access it (fdisk, mount, cat, df, ...).

Can anyone give me an idea how to handle this? What file system could be used for my internal SD card if it's not ext4?

EDIT2: (after comment from @Izzy): I just created a new (smaller) SD card with just one partition and formatted as ext4. After inserting it into my phone I had to prepare and format it as internal storage. After that I pulled it off my phone again and examined it using my PC. Result: the ext4 partition is readable in Windows (through the Paragon driver) and it also has an extra 16MB partition. No idea whatsoever what this is used for...

EDIT3: doing some more experiments with my smaller sd card I think that @Izzy pointed into the right direction; might as well close this question

As it turned out, your partitioning was due to the fact you wanted to use adoptable-storage (and not, as one might assume, to use link2sd). As our adoptable-storage tag-wiki points out, adopted storage will be encrypted – not just the files on it, but the entire partition. That explains two things:

attaching the card to your PC using a card reader, the PC cannot read the partition without having the encryption details. As you didn't provide them to the PC, it could not "open" it
attaching the device via MTP however shows the partition fine on your PC, as the Android device has decrypted it

Remains the mystic 3rd partition. The small size suggests it's some "control partition". A good guess as it turns out: if you list the label, you will find it's called android_meta (while your adopted partition will be labeled android_expand) – which you can find out e.g. by a Google search for "sm partition disk" 16m. Quoting from this Oopsmonk article on how adoptable storage creation works:

  It will create two partitions (android_meta and android_expand) for adoptable storage, the android_meta is a reserved space for feature use and android_expand is the external storage which is encrypted via dm-crypt.

With that last detail, your puzzle should be complete


Does Xposed Framework require to be buillt specifically for the device or just the Android version? When installing the Xposed framework do I need the device specific binary (like custom recovery or ROM) or just the app that works for Android (4.4.4 in my case). The device is Galaxy Tab E T560.

Update 12/7/2018

I tried to Install the framework as on the custom ROM as well as on the stock firmware but with no luck. It seems that Xposed is device/arch/firmware dependent.

Built for the Android version, plus the device architecture (arm/arm64/x86). See the Xposed Framework download page (e.g. Android 8.1 (SDK27) here).

The reason behind this is that part of Xposed Framework is a modified app_process binary (Zygote), which is different for each arch.


Power button functioning as volume up key I just want to know if it is a software or hardware problem?
What I think is If the key is working fine and performing different function, It must be software problem but I am afraid that I I tried anything I might not able to turn it back on again. neither I would be able to enter recovery mode

TL;DR It's most likely a software problem

Check for incorrect ROMs or button remapping root mods

It sounds like a software problem. Do you have custom ROM installed? Is your phone rooted? With either of those two cases, you likely have some software setting that overrode the button mapping of the hardware keys. Perhaps you installed a ROM that was designed for a slightly different version of your phone.

In any case, the functionality of the power button cannot be rewritten at the hardware level. I feel confident in telling you that you should be able to turn off your phone, and the power button will act as a power button to turn the phone back on. That's built in to the hardware, and only after the ROM boots should it be able to act as a different button.

If you want to test it safely, I suggest pressing and holding the power button for 15 seconds, (don't use the Android power menu to turn the phone off). Almost all Android phones will force shut down if you hold the power button down for long enough, including the Zenfone 5.

In the case that it's only a software problem, your volume will turn up (as if you are holding the volume up button), but then the lower-level hardware will still shut the phone down after you continue to hold the button down. Since the phone detected the power button and shut down, you can be confident that it will detect the power button to turn back on.

If holding the power button down for 15 seconds doesn't power off the phone:

If, on the other hand, the phone does not turn off after holding the power button down, and it only acts like a volume button, then you may have some bizarre hardware problem.

Perhaps the phone got wet and the contacts got shorted. The Asus Zenfone 5 has the power button and volume buttons next to each other (are you sure you are actually pressing the power button and not the volume button?). In this case, if holding the power button down for 15 seconds doesn't turn the phone off, then try the rice bag method to dry out the phone. Normally, these methods tell you to turn the phone off, but if you are already out of warranty, I suggest keeping the phone plugged in and on, or else it may never turn on again if indeed the power button is completely broken.


Other than portability, are there any other advantages (or disadvantages) to storing apps on external storage? Are there any particular advantages/disadvantages to storing apps on the external storage of an Android device? As I have a Nexus S,  I can't think of advantages for me as I can't remove the storage, also the internal storage is more than enough for my needs.

I noticed that on phone start up, when I had all my apps moved to USB storage it was quite sluggish to register all the apps on the menu/home screens.

I also read somewhere that having a wallpaper set from a photo that was stored on the external memory actually drained quite a bit of battery too with all the reads (although I think this may have been a bug).

taken straight from android developer site

There is no effect on the application performance so long as the external storage is mounted on the device.

The .apk file is saved on the external storage, but all private user data, databases, optimized .dex files, and extracted native code are saved on the internal device memory.
The unique container in which your application is stored is encrypted with a randomly generated key that can be decrypted only by the device that originally installed it. Thus, an application installed on an SD card works for only one device.
The user can move your application to the internal storage through the system settings.

Also -> Applications That Should NOT Install on External Storage (more details on android developer site)

Services
Alarm Services
Live Wallpapers
Live Folders
App Widgets
Account Managers
Sync Adapters
Device Administrators
Broadcast Receivers listening for "boot completed"


How do I use a pattern to unlock the phone screen? Is there a way to set up my lock screen so that I can draw a pattern to unlock the phone? That way, only I can unlock it again. At the moment, my phone automatically locks the screen, but you just slide to unlock it. Because of that, any one can unlock my phone, which is not ideal.

From the home screen hit the menu button, then choose Settings > Location & Security and from there you should have an option to set up a patter or pin based screenlock.  The pattern lock will give you the option to create your own pattern on the 3x3 grid:

If you want to be able to draw a completely random pattern, Cyanogenmod 6.2 has the option to draw any invisible Gesture to unlock the screen.


How to prevent tracking or hacking of a used phone The used phone's IMEI is clean, so it's not stolen.
Looks like its seller did a factory-reset before selling it.
But how do I make sure that it doesn't have any malware or backdoors, and that its seller can't later mess with it, hack it, track it, or falsely report it stolen?

I know that if the phone is rooted, some anti-theft apps and malware can survive a factory-reset.
To make sure the phone is truly clean, should I flash the ROM, or is there a way to tell if the phone was ever rooted?

I suppose these questions could be asked by a thief, but a lot more people buy used phones than steal them.

You can check if your phone is currently unlocked/rooted in bootloader (volume down+power for a few seconds when phone is off should do it. Otherwise Google for your phone.) I guess there's no way to check if your device was ever rooted.

Indeed, the safest* is to root the phone yourself and flash a ROM. Another advantage of this is that you are up-to-date.

*Of course, there's always the potential risk that rooting fails and your device explodes :)


Can't boot into custom recovery on Cyanogenmod 12.1 After installing Cyanogenmod 12.1 on my LG G2 (d800) I'm unable to boot into custom recovery.

If I use Cyanogen to boot into recovery, my phone just turns off and I
can't turn it on for several minutes.
I tried to get TWRP by downloading their image and installing it
through the ADB command on their website (installing it through FreeGee results in an error). If I then boot into recovery,
I see a black screen with the text

[810] Fastboot mode started
[910] -- reset --
[920] -- portchange --
[1460] -- reset --
[1470] -- portchange --
[1800] fastboot: processing commands

and nothing happens.

Is there a way to resolve this without reinstalling Cyanogenmod and/or going back to stock firmware?

Since your device is an AT&T device the proper way to install TWRP is using loki script and binaries follow those steps to re-install TWRP.

Go to this page and download the latest flash-able zip choose => twrp-2.8.6.0-d800.zip
unzip it on your computer and then copy the recovery.img inside the tmp/loki directory and replace the loki.sh with this script.
open a cmd or terminal and type the following commands .

    adb push /path/to/tmp /data/local/tmp
    adb shell
    su
    cd /data/local/tmp
    chmod 777 loki.sh
    chmod 777 loki/loki_flash
    chmod 777 loki/loki_patch
    ./loki.sh
    reboot recovery

the phone will reboot into recovery

** note you can also copy the tmp folder we created using a file explorer on your phone and execute the last seven commands in the terminal emulator on you phone too.


How is it possible to export the wpa_supplicant.conf from tablet? My tablet is connect to a wifi requiring EAP method, phase 2 authentification, login+password and proxy. and It works well.

The thing is i want to do the same for a RPi, but I don't know how to provide it with these wifi infos. Thus, I'd need to export the wpa_supplicant.conf it use it on my RPi.

Note : I can't root my tablet.

How would it be possible? Thank you (please be explicite, I don't master this field very well)

I don't know what are you trying to accomplish.
I think you want to get wpa_supplicant.conf file, just go to system/etc/wifi and there is  your file just copy it, it should be possible without root, I don't have root and managed that.


How to bring back Wishlist option for an app which is showing as installed in playstore but not actually installed on my device? I recently came across some apps in playstore and I want to install those apps. Since I don't have sufficient internal memory I can't install them. It says

  Error downloading app "xyz app". There is insufficient space on the
  device.

So I want to save those apps to my wishlist and install it later until I free up my phone's internal memory. But once I got the error message that I mentioned above the Wishlist icon in the Playstore app and Add to wishlist button in http://play.google.com are not visible for the apps that I tried to install.

Weird this is when I haven't installed the app, the web version of playstore is showing "Installed" and my mobile PlayStore app is Showing "Install" button. And the app is not listed in "My Apps" section.

Hint: I guess the problem will be solved once I turn the "Installed" button to "Install" button in the playstore website which in turn will bring back the "Add to wishlist" button. But how can I do that?

When you mentioned the "app is not listed in 'My Apps' section", do you mean the 'Installed', 'My Apps' section or the 'All' 'My Apps' section?

I think they should be listed in the 'All' section, and therefore, you won't be able to add them to your wishlist because you already have them, even if they aren't installed.

If you go to the 'All' section in your Moto G and find the apps, if they are there, and then press the 'cross' icon for each one, the apps should be removed from your 'My Apps' and you will be able to add them to your wishlist. This will only work if the apps are free because trying to remove paid apps from 'My Apps' means they don't display in 'My Apps' but are essentially still there because you have paid for the apps and Google doesn't want you to discard them.

If the apps are paid, you can refund them (either using the 'Refund' button which will display near the apps for a limited time after purchase or, I assume, contacting Google). The apps will then be removed from the 'My Apps' section and you will be able to add them to your wishlist.

If the apps don't display in the 'All' or 'My Apps' section, try clearing the data and cache of the Play Store and then signing back in your phone and see if the situation changes and if it doesn't, I would ring Google support because they have the power to sort out stuff on the server-side.


Nexus S ICS update problem restarting by itself I have a Nexus S (european edition, no super amoled screen), I upgraded to ICS in December but I think it has problem because it restarts itself very often and I don't know what have caused this behavior.

Anyone have similar problem?

Thanks

Yes many people experienced problems. Have a look at: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=1c21a7e3690388b0&hl=en

where a Google employee is asking for information on the problems people are having and asking them to submit bug reports. Here's the generic bug report link for Nexus S with ICS:
http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/request.py?&contact_type=android_bugreport


Remote desktop into an Android device Is it possible, or is there an app, to remote desktop into an android device from a Windows or Mac computer?  I would like to be able to see and control the screen.

Try searching Google Play, there's a bunch of them.

One I've successfully used (and it doesn't require rooting to device) is VMLite VNC server.


Stuck at boot after OTA update I just today updated my unlocked, rooted HTC One M7 as usual, by

flashing the stock recovery
rebooting and downloading / installing the system update

The update went over without any problems, but after the update completed, it did not complete the boot process any more. It's stuck at the boot-logo of htc, after displaying the carriers logo. Forcing it to shut down and go in to the bootloader works fine, aswell as opening the recovery (both the stock one, and the custom one [TWRP]). However, no matter how many times I try to reboot, no success.

Normally in this situation, I would obviously just restore a previously made Nandroid backup, but since I am asking this question, well, you guessed it.. I felt too comfortable with the process and skipped the step of creating one.

I am really, really hoping that there is a way to fix this issue without having to lose my data.

Some additional information;

CID: VODAP110
OS before update: 7.18.161.2 (Dito for stock recovery)
OS after update: 7.18.161.21
Unlocked and S-OFF
H-BOOT: 1.61.0000
RADIO: 4T.35.3218.16

(It is an m7_ul variant, so nothing un-standard there)

EDIT: Due to the necessity of me being able to use my phone I gave up and chose the easy way out -> recovery, through a nandroid backup a few months back. However, if someone still finds an answer to this, I am very happy to accept it, for future viewers.

Just found this thread because I was looking for the changes the update did.

I can't give you an answer you are maybe looking for of how to fix this, but just a question before:
How long did you wait?

My phone is not rooted but I noticed, that it took really long until the boot was over (got stuck at the htc boot logo like yours too)

I was waiting a little bit for about 3 or 4 minutes and then went away. When I came back it was finished. But for sure it took longer than usually.

Hope this will help you maybe.

Greetings from germany


Changing device configuration to display non-circular launcher icons According to this article, an Android device's "system framework decides whether or not to return either the regular icon or the round icon to the launcher."  "When a launcher requests an app icon, the framework returns either android:icon or android:roundIcon, depending on the device build configuration."

Is it possible to alter the device build configuration to change the default icon display to non-circular?

I'm on a stock, non-rooted Nexus 5X.

For a non-rooted device, it's not possible as far as I've seen, as it's totally under control of OEM as implied in this Android developers documentation. But otherwise, it's possible if one can edit config with the value of config_useRoundIcon to false.

Just for experimenting, you can decompile the framework-res.apk and change the above-mentioned value in bools.txt and recompile the apk and push the apk into the device.


Undo removed prediction in swiftkey android app I have by mistakenly removed some predicted texts and confused how can i get them back ? this has happened without my awareness when the phone was in pocket without display lock.

I have lost many of my words and finding it very hard to text using swift key nowadays.

swiftkey stores personalized predictions in the sd card but probabily in a hidden file. in order to change your predictions I think you should reset your typing data under Advanced in the app. afterwards, you have to re-teach your expressions (3-4 times the same words).

hope this helps


How to reduce dropbox internal data usage Currently both the DiskUsage app and Android's App Data show that Dropbox is using over 800 MB of internal sdcard storage space. Dropbox says it has no offline files. /storage/sdcard0/Android/data/com.dropbox.android shows no significant data usage.

Is there a way to clean this up without using the CLEAR DATA button in App Data? What will be the repercussions of using that button?

I have a rooted phone, and I found an > 800 MB file at :/data/data/com.dropbox.android/global/external/docpreviews. I just deleted it. This did result in additional free space, though I'm not sure if it will stay free or if there will be other repercussions.


swap space for performance Possible Duplicate:
  How will a swap partition/file affect the system?

so what do you think, is it better to use swap space or not for small memory phone such as T-Mobile G1 to increase responsiveness and overall performance?

I found it better to use compcache rather than swap. Basically -- a section of RAM is reserved and used as a swap space with compression. Even with the performance hit from compression, it was sufficiently faster than conventional swap that it was a clear-cut winner in performance.

CyanogenMod supports it (Settings > CM Settings > Performance, I believe). I'm sure other mods include it as well, but I am not familiar with them.


Nougat - Remove Google Account My Galaxy S7 recently updated to Android 7.0.

I've got two Google accounts on my phone, personal and work.

I recently left my job and my work Google account has had its password reset.

Since then I'm getting the "Account Action Required" notification to sign back into the account.

This isn't possible as the account will be deleted soon.

For the life of me I can't find where to remove the account from my phone.

This used to be very straightforward. There's a strong possibility that I'm being blind. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. I tried those instructions before but there is no Personal option. I did find it though. For anyone interested, it's Settings > Cloud and Accounts > Accounts > Google > Tap Account > [Menu] > Remove Account. For some reason it wouldn't open up the option to remove the account without having to "cancel sync" first in my case.


Disable calling and texting but not WiFi or NFC I'm going overseas soon and bringing my "usual" personal phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, with me. I mostly just want to use it for Internet access. But one of the reasons I'm bringing my own phone instead of buying a temporary one is just in case there's an emergency I want to be able to call and text with my regular number. I don't want to get most calls and texts on vacation though! Is there a way I can turn off calling and texting from my phone but leave WiFi and NFC working? Just turning off receiving would be best but turning off sending would be fine too.

On the s5 you can turn on airplane mode, and you'll still be able to use wifi.

So actually the wifi will turn off when you turn on airplane mode, all you need is just turn back on WiFi.


Samsung mobile not getting charge when switch on I am using SAMSUNG DUOS2. Its not getting charge when its switched on. But there is no problem in charging when switched off.

Not charging in both I tried USB as well as wall charger.
Android ver : 4.2.2

I suspect it could be virus problem so with the help of antivirus I cleared some thread. Even after the problem still persist.

Pls suggest what could be the problem?

Android doesn't need anti virus - see Is an antivirus really needed for Android?
Malware is more of a threat- factory reset may not help as the malware may have lodged itself in the /system partition, which is untouched during factory reset. See Can a Factory Reset fix Malware Problem?

That out of the way, your problem may be due to:

User installed applications misbehaving
Malware (though I haven't read of any malware doing this yet)
OS corruption (of drivers pertaining to charging)

To rule out 1, put your device in safe mode. If the charging behaviour is fine, then you would need to uninstall all installed apps and re-install one by one checking that problem doesn't surface. Painful, yes, to avoid that  jump to steps in  next para

If the problem persists, you have no other option but to flash stock ROM. Instructions for flashing here. Stock ROM mentioned there is Indian, which should work fine for you or you can download latest stock ROM from sammobile. Make sure you take a backup though- if your device is not rooted Full Backup of non-rooted devices would help else use apps from play store

That should fix your problem, unless it is hardware related (very unlikely)


can you connect a wired controller through a pc to an android without plugging it into the tablet itself i say this because i dont have an usb otg cable or whatever its called and i dont want to go out and buy one

some applications are made to interconnect an android device and a personal computer for casting or to make the android device do the job of a mouse for example. but your way is impossible because there hasn't been any software which allows a device to connect to android through PC and the fact is there is no need for it. or else nobody has developed a software for it.
better u buy it from amazon. its cheap nowadays


Using PIN instead of a password for encryption on Galaxy S3 I have a Galaxy S3 with OS 4.4.4 and am required to encrypt it for my job. I greatly prefer to use the PIN lock screen instead of the password due to the annoyance of having to type in the password every time you want to check your phone.

After updating to 4.4.4 and setting up the phone from a factory reset it will ONLY allow me to choose "Password" for the lock screen type when I go to encrypt. However, I have been able to select both "Password" and "PIN" before 4.4.4/factory reset. (now the PIN option is grayed out and says 'Turned off by administrator, encryption policy, or credential storage').

What exactly has caused my phone to no longer accept the PIN? Was there some update to the security settings? Is there any way to restore the PIN functionality?

It is not possible to change the PIN any more in the settings because everything except the alpha numeric password is greyed out. The solution is Tasker together with Secure Settings:
Create a task "ChangePin", add an Action "Plugin", "Secure Settings" and choose "Password/Pin" under "Dev Admin Actions" as Action. Choose "Enabled", "Pin Code" and enter the new Pin code, then run the task.
This action will also change the encryption password to the weak PIN, so proceed to the next section. For more details you can check at Samsung India site in its support option.


Cant download apps on my new huawei I just bought my new huawei model H30-U10
I have synchronized my gmail account and whenever I try to download any app, the download bar keeps loading forever and doesn't even throw any error
I am not using SD card because its internal memory is 8gb already
My time and date are ok
I am not using sim card, could this be issue?
The google playstore version is 4.6.17 and I am sure its not the latest one and I cant even update playstore through playstore> settings> build version> update

I resolved the issue and it was because of the reason that I wasn't using SIM card


Nexus 5 SDCARD files are not writable from PC USB I was trying to update my TWRP thought Google play store TWRP app. It did apply some sdcard pactch, which I later removed it.

But after that when ever I try to access files of my nexus 5 storage I cant write or delete stuff.

Below image you can see my phone is getting detected, But I cant copy paste music in my phone.

Also, if I try to access my sdcard from Root file manager it comes empty,

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

I have even tried uninstalling MTP drivers and installed again. But it seems some File permission issue on my sdcard itself !!

It was sdcard permission issue created by TWRP Manager app from google play store.

I had to flashed 5.0 and then 5.0.1 again from fastboot. everything works fine now.


Galaxy s2 screen turns on by itself I'm Running a Galaxy S2, with the AOKP milestone rom (JellyBean). Occasionally, the screen will turn on by itself (even when no user apps run in the background) after being turned off, light up, turn off and on again, it won't remained off for a long period of time. Needless to say it's annoying and battery draining.

Rebooting doesn't always help, some times it goes away only to return a day or 2 later. Has anyone else encountered this issue with AOKP or other CyanogenMod based roms, and if so how you did addressed this? how should I fix this or disable this?

I eventually found the cause of the issue to be in the screen-off animations in the display settings. I had the 'Electron Beam' animation selected, I disabled the screen off animation and the wake-locks stopped.


S4 wifi not connecting I have a Samsung S4 and when trying to connect to wifi it comes up with a "sign into wifi network" notification. When I click on the notification it takes me into the browser but the login page does not load. During this time, for about 30 seconds, my phone does receive emails and WhatsApp messages, etc., but after 30 seconds the connection is lost with no page loaded.

This is a wifi network that I used previously about 2 days ago and normally I login to it with out having to go into a login page.

I have tried re-booting the modem, forgetting the network, and re- booting my phone.
Can anyone help please?

Go to your wifi settings disable scanning always available then turn off and turn on the wifi


Will rooting or flashing relock my unlocked Android device? I bought an Haier w718 online from China. It is unlocked but they didn't put Google Play on it. If I root it or flash it will that relock the phone?

No, since it is factory unlocked, nothing will ever relock your phone.


New nexus 7 tablet locks rotation - any way to reset without a reboot? Since I updated my nexus 7 2013 to Android 4.4.2 I have an issue where my screen rotation is locked without any way to return it to normal (even after turning on/off the auto lock feature).  Not sure if this is happening to a lot of people out there,  but the only way to fix it is to turn the tablet off for a few seconds and turn it back on. My question is, is there a way to reset the rotation from a software perspective? Is There any service that I can start and stop. I need to make sure this is not hardware related and that possibly the best way to test it.

Rebooting into Safe Mode fixed the issue for me somehow.

To go boot into Safe Mode:

  1) Long Press on the power button for 1 second.

  2) in the power off menu that appears, press and hold the Power Off option.

  3) A Reboot into Safe Mode dialog will appear, Click Ok to boot into safe mode.

After you have booted once into safe mode, check if your auto rotation is working. If it is working then good, reboot normally. If not, then it is most likely a hardware issue and get your nexus 7 replaced/repaired by Asus.


Galaxy Tab S (retail mode) bricked - HELP! i have a problem with my Samsung Galaxy Tab S SM-T700 (WiFi) that I couldnt solve even after a lot of googling.

Main Problem: It won't boot after I did some software updates (stuck on Samsung logo)
Complications: Retail mode (MDM does not allow factory reset)

The data on the device is not important, it would be no problem to lose it, if I could somehow do a factory reset.

I tried re-flashing with the stock rom, but it still won't boot and still is in retail mode (actually, it "half-booted" once immediately after the flash, the OS started just to tell me it's not working and "has been quit").

Any ideas? Is it actually possible that there is no way to revive it?
Thank you all in advance!

Have you tried this

Sammobile Firmware
Odin
For the next time, keep the retail mode in the developer section ALLWAYS ON


android encryption: too little time? I have a 3rd Gen Moto G that I just enabled encryption on.  It showed the warning as usual, "make sure it's plugged in, this will take an hour or more", etc.  However, after confirming this, the phone rebooted itself, asked me for my pin so it could "boot android" (even though the boot splash screen had already displayed), and then showed me my home screen.

The issue: this whole process took less than a minute.  Now, granted, the phone has only 3 lightweight apps on it (aside from the not-very-bloatware-like stuff motorola put on there), plus android standard things.  There's also a few albums of music on the 32GB SD card; perhaps under 2GbB.

Less than a minute is not an hour or more.  Did the encryption actually happen?  The device THINKS it is encrypted; it tells me so in the settings menu.  If not, what next steps should I take?

This is android 5.1.1.

I just came across this right before I posted: Device encryption fails, but no error

My device IS plugged into a computer, but through a power-only cable.  There is no data connection.  Not sure if that matters; I'm not sure I can do anything about it anyway, because the phone says it is encrypted already.

Thanks!

Android encryption is of two types:

Device Encryption
SD-card Encryption.

For Device encryption kernel DmCrypt layer is used and it encrypts "/data" part of the device.dm-crypt is a transparent disk encryption subsystem in Linux kernel versions 2.6 and later and in DragonFly BSD. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dm-crypt).

Prior to android Lollipop, android device encryption encrypts full "/data" partition. (Encryption is basically a mapping system , it maps all memory from real "/data" block to a virtual block device).

Prior to Lollipop, on some devices(like samsung devices) fast encryption was also supported. Fast encryption means it will encrypt only used partition of your "/data" partition. (i.e. it will map only used parttion). If you will copy any data after encryption, it will be encrypted on runtime and saved on the device.

From Lollipop, google uses default fast-encryption. that means , whenever you will trigger encryption, it will encrypt only your used "/data" partition.

You have mentioned that phone was almost blank, hence it was completed within one minute.

AFAIK google has also changed its encryption system in lollipop and it is much faster than kitkat.

Check this link for more information: https://source.android.com/devices/tech/security/encryption/

You can enter your SD-card on other device and check your files ( these will not be encrypted).If these were encrypted, you will not be able to play on different device.


Where can I find saved WiFi AP passwords? I have a WiFi modem and somehow misplaced the password, but my phone is able to connect to it since the password is already save, but clicking on show password dosen't work.
How can I find the password from my phone?

First of all you will need root acess.

Now download any root explorer app and navigate to:

data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf

Within the file you will find saved passwords.


Can't open non HTTPS websites on mobile network. (Android Lollipop on Nexus 5, Nexus 4) I recently updated my Nexus 5 to Lollipop. The problem is that when I am on a mobile network, I can ONLY open HTTPS websites. All the HTTP websites appear as a blank white page. When I am on WiFi, everything is fine. I am located in India, if that matters.

Any ideas why this might be happening?

Edit: Same is happening on another phone, which is Nexus 4. I have tried different browsers, and the results are the same.

Edit2: I used remote debugging on Android with Chrome.

Here is the response to http://stackoverflow.com

Remote Address:198.252.206.140:80
Request URL:http://stackoverflow.com/
Request Method:GET
Status Code:504 Gateway Time-out
Request Headers
Accept:text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Encoding:gzip, deflate, sdch
Accept-Language:en-GB,en-US;q=0.8,en;q=0.6
Connection:keep-alive
Cookie:prov=5a7a2230-005c-463e-afda-63c634dd4a73; __qca=P0-84958589475-140584875859968; _ga=GA1.2.749475574.1948596847
Host:stackoverflow.com
User-Agent:Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 5.0; Nexus 5 Build/LRX21O) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/39.0.2171.59 Mobile Safari/537.36
Response Headers
Connection:keep-alive
Content-Length:0
Date:Wed, 17 Dec 2014 03:42:50 GMT
Server:WebProxy/6.0

When I try to open https://stackoverflow.com, here is what I get:

Remote Address:198.252.206.140:443
Request URL:https://stackoverflow.com/
Request Method:GET
Status Code:200 OK
Request Headers
Accept:text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Encoding:gzip, deflate, sdch
Accept-Language:en-GB,en-US;q=0.8,en;q=0.6
Connection:keep-alive
Cookie:prov=5a7a2230-005c-463e-afda-63c634dd4a73; __qca=P0-84958589475-140584875859968; _ga=GA1.2.749475574.1948596847
Host:stackoverflow.com
User-Agent:Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 5.0; Nexus 5 Build/LRX21O) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/39.0.2171.59 Mobile Safari/537.36
Response Headers
Cache-Control:public, max-age=39
Content-Encoding:gzip
Content-Length:19401
Content-Type:text/html; charset=utf-8
Date:Wed, 17 Dec 2014 03:43:21 GMT
Expires:Wed, 17 Dec 2014 03:44:01 GMT
Last-Modified:Wed, 17 Dec 2014 03:43:01 GMT
Vary:*
X-Frame-Options:SAMEORIGIN

Obviously, the HTTP request is getting timed out. I am on the Vodafone India network. Any help?

Changing the APN settings to "VodafoneMobileConnect" fixed the problem.


Why does bluetooth turns itself off I have a Galaxy S4 (GT-9505) here where Bluetooth is turning itself off. Sometimes this happens after a few seconds. Other times it takes longer or even stays on. Also, if it stays on can't find other devices with turned-on visibility.

Here is the log: http://pastebin.com/MP3YyQxS I cut a lot of unrelated stuff out and it starts right before I activate Bluetooth and ends right after it deactivates itself

Does anybody have similar experience?

Check to see if Battery Saving Mode is ON.   By turning that function off on my phone, the Bluetooth issue was gone.


How to remove Polaris Office on HTC phones? I have Polaris Office installed on my HTC Sense 6, but I cannot delete or find it on my installed apps, Play Store, and even Device Administrators. Though, I can run the app and use it.

How am I going to delete it?

From HTC Rezound (Verizon Wireless)'s FAQ (I know it's a different device, but it's same for most HTC phones),

What is Polaris Office?
Polaris Office comes pre-loaded on the phone and can be used to open and view office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) received in email as attachments or stored on the SD Card. [...]

(Emphasis mine)
In other words, it's a bloatware. You need to have root access to uninstall bloatware.
If not, you can still disable it. Since it's not installed as a normal application, it won't be listed as your installed apps. Instead, you have to select "All" tab to list all apps, including bloatware. Then you can find and disable the app from there.
Alternatively, long-press the app from the app drawer (not home screen). There should be "App Info" on the top of the screen. Drag to there and release, and it should open the app info where you can disable it.


How do I simulate menu button on Android 6? I'm using Samsung Galaxy S7. Long-pressing the recent button does not simulate menu button but activates split screen mode. Long-pressing the back button doesn't work either; it simply closes the app. I'm using an old app that requires the menu button. Any solution to this without rooting the phone?

As per this post, go to Settings → Accessibility → Dexterity and Interaction → turn on the Assistant Menu.  This will add a floating button to the screen that you can press to reveal a menu containing the old Menu button.

Samsung also says "In certain applications, you can touch and hold the Recent Apps button to view the Menu options."  This is probably limited to newer apps as well which is why it didn't work for you.


How to unlock bootloader, root and install TWRP on Redmi 3S+ (should work with Mi 3s Prime too) On Redmi 3S+ , how do I :

I) Unlock bootloader

II) Install TWRP and root

There are confusing instructions available on internet. This is a self answered question detailing the procedure

Instructions to unlock bootloader of Redmi 3S phone are very confusing it took me many days to make it work, so I've documented the steps for anyone else trying. There's a lot of text but should be easily readable. Don't bother with part II, unless you have success with part I.

Part I - how I unlocked Bootloader on Redmi 3S+.

Intro: These are not a guaranteed "how to" steps. Because there's no consistent method that is available people have to go by trial and error, and none of the guides I tried worked. Everything about unlocking MI is inconsistent, even their own tool. And there's no meaningful feedback which makes it even harder to figure out what's going on. Just when I was beginning to think that all those reports of it working are fake, it worked for me. Seems when it works, people don't provide exactly what they did. So here what I did was recorded all the conditions under which I've successfully unlocked the boot loader. If you follow this exactly it will increase your chances of unlocking. But all the variables are unknown, so Redmi may change one and it might not work. So it's like superstition.

So, here are the conditions/states under which I've unlocked it:

Original version of MIUI: 8.1.6.0
Android version: 6.0.1

In Developer Options:

OEM unlocking: enabled
USB debugging: enabled

Settings / Mi Account / shows as signed in
Clicking on Mi Cloud there:

Every sync is off.
Find device is off
and Back up device is off.

Clicking on Devices shows:
- Redmi my phone number activated

Next, enable Developer Options by going to Settings / About phone (at the bottom) And tap a few times (10?) on  "MIUI Version" Till it will give you a message: "You're now a developer!"

Exit and go to Settings / Additional Settings / Developer Options -- and enable it.

There will also be "USB Debugging" - enable it

OEM unlocking - enable it to allow the bootloander to be unlocked

Next, you need to register and request bootloader unlock permission.

Register on miui official forum. I used my e-mail (you should have a secondary e-mail, not a good practice to use your primary one on sites like these): http://en.miui.com/forum.php

Once you've registered, you can request unlock here: http://en.miui.com/unlock/  (it'll come up in Chinese, click English below) and just follow instructions.

Next:

1) I had only ONE sim card in the phone's slot: #2 (slot #1 empty)
Same sim I used to sign in and request authorization with. I never got a confirmation message from Redmi. It's been a while since I've requested it, so I don't think it's because I've waited or "was patient" as some people say you have to be. I think it's rather the combination of things I've done. So just try right away or next day.

2) You need internet on your computer throughout the whole process. Without internet I only got first checkmark in the MI Unlock, which is "Verifying device", then on the "Unlocking" part I got a red x, and "error: unlocking redmi unknown error (-1)"

3) With my 3S phone tethering internet to the laptop, I logged into my MI account. Oh, by the way, sometimes it would give me "network error" during this login. I know I had internet, so it must be their server. I kept clicking without changing anything, and after a few times it signed in. Having said that, "network error" could mean anything and doesn't even have to be related to "network". (If you put a wrong information for example it might tell you that "account doesn't exist" for example, and after I unlocked it, now it just permanently gives me "network error" which makes me wonder if I lock it, will I be able to unlock again?)

Now it wants you to put the phone into Fastboot. Unplug the USB cable shut down the phone. Then hold Volume Down + Power and it enters Fastboot. Plug in the phone back.

4) Now, don't do anything. As I said you need to have internet throughout the steps. So use alternate internet connection (don't touch this sim). Just ask a friend to turn on hotspot on their phone for a couple of mins.

5) Check in a browser to confirm have internet. Now click unlock and hopefully it'll work for you as it did for me. Good luck!

MI Unlock (miflash_unlock.exe) version I used: 2.2.406.5

Part II - Install TWRP and Root

Disclaimer: this part could brick your phone.

1) Download TWRP. The official TWRP site's versions for "Redmi 3" didn't work for me. The one shared by a guy on redmi forum seems fishy. So I found another one (and there is considerable size difference between the two).

https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=529152257862698997

MD5 of this file (check to confirm after you download using win-md5 or something like that): 36be7f4b14082b2e0cfd9d8f7c3b08d0

I forgot where I got this link. But it seemed more reliable than the one from Redmi forum. And this is the one I've used. I'll try to find the source later. You have to use TWRP designed for the model of the phone you're using. Using incompatible one could brick your phone (though supposedly not permanently). Anyway, if you find another TWRP source, make sure it specifically mentions that it's made for Redmi 3S.

Before you proceed, to connect the phone to PC, you'll need ADB and drivers. If you have Android Studio, you already have them, but for most people it's too big of an install, so instead download small package here and follow instructions to install: http://www.cyanogenmods.org/forums/topic/install-adb-fastboot-windows-drivers/

Once you got the drivers installed, go to the folder where adb.exe is and place the recovery.img there (it's the one from the TWRP zip, it could be named differently of course).

Then open up command window (cmd.exe) and go to the folder where adb.exe is.

A) Type this command to put the phone into Fastboot mode:

adb reboot bootloader

If your phone asks “Allow USB debugging” say yes.

B) Then transfer TWRP image file to the phone via the following command:

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

C) And lastly, tell the phone to boot into it:

fastboot boot recovery.img

If you skip step C, the phone will probably delete the image when you reboot. Some tutorials skip it, and that doesn't seem to work

First time in the TWRP, it'll ask if you want to "Swipe to allow Modifications". You want to do this if you want to root.

Now once you've done that, you MUST “Disable dm-verity“. If you don't, the phone will enter into infinite bootloop and the universe will collapse (or so I heard). So I disabled it! Go to Advanced Settings and there it will be.

Now once you've done that you should be good to go. Reboot it into normal system mode and prepare yourself for Rooting!

Once the system boots, you should confirm that you've indeed installed TWRP.

  To enter TWRP recovery:  Shut down your phone. Then hold Vol Up, Vol
  Down and Power, at the same time and as soon as MI logo shows up,
  release just the power button, and when TWRP logo shows up release the
  other two buttons also, and wait a little and it'll start up with the
  menu. Although for me also works releasing all buttons once MI logo
  shows up.

Now to the actual rooting.

Having done the previous things, this part is actually pretty easy!

Go to the official SuperSU site: http://www.supersu.com/download

The SuperSU site is hard to understand, though what you need to do is really easy. Just need one file to download there: "Recovery Flashable.zip" (latest) and copy it to your phone. Or better yet, just download it from the phone's web browser. (They also have APK files on their site, you don't need them)

The browser will save the file to your Downloads folder most likely (check to make sure it's there once transfer is complete)

Now reboot into Recovery Mode (TWRP)

Click Install

locate the zip file and Swipe to confirm flash.

Now the installation process will start and it will reboot the phone a few times while doing it, so be patient and don't fiddle with the phone, just put it on your desk and look at it.

Once it's all done, It'll ask you to reboot, and once you do that your phone should be rooted! An app was also installed during this process called SuperSU, it is a root manager that will manage which apps get the Root permission. To confirm you have root, you can enter adb shell and  cd /data/system  and try to create a folder there, only root can do that. (No need to download extra software to check if you have root.)

That's all. Next you'll probably want to remove some bloatware. I'm making a guide at the moment and will post a link here once done.


Are Nexus the only one that receive OS update directly from Google and not from Telecom / Phone Manufacturer? According to a comment made to this article as shown below:

They already do that. Its called the Nexus One, secondly the Nexus S, and thirdly, now the Galaxy Nexus..... they all receive OS updates directly from google.

Is it true that there are only 3 Android phones that receive the latest OS updates?

Nexus One
Nexus S
Galaxy Nexus

The rest will have to wait for their Telecom or the phone manufacturer for the latest Android OS updates?

Yes and No. There are Nexus/Google devices that are nevertheless branded by the carrier and therefore receive a different ROM then the stock ROM. This usually takes longer then the stock ROM.

But yes, besides of that, the Google manufactured branded devices are the only ones who receive the updates directly from Google. All other devices get their updates from the manufacturer and/or the carrier.

Oh, and the Nexus One won't receive Android 4.2 (officially). Plus, no one gurantees you that your non-Google device will get the latest Android version. That's a big advantage when buying a Nexus device: It will be up to date for a while.


Change the size of unlock pattern grid On some of the screenshots I've seen the pattern unlock use a much larger grid instead of the default 3x3.

I can't find any way to change the size of the grid in the settings.

Can I somehow change the grid size on the stock unlocker or is that some custom stuff? The screens look like they're from a stock ROM.

The bigger pattern lock is a Cyanogenmod feature that was introduced in 10.1 late last year.  I do not believe it is currently included in stock android.

https://plus.google.com/+CyanogenMod/posts/eHpv1QCoRuc


Audio dropouts over Bluetooth on Nexus One Ever since the Gingerbread update, my N1 has been experiencing random audio dropout problems every 5-10 minutes when connected to my car's audio system via Bluetooth. The audio will be streaming normally, then I'll hear a "pop" sound and the volume drops to zero, then immediately fades back in. The whole process lasts about three-quarters of a second, then everything is back to normal until the next dropout. This happens regardless of which audio application I am using. It does not happen when I am listening to the device over headphones or through the internal speaker. It did not happen under Froyo.

Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any idea about what might be causing it or how I can fix it?

This sounds like a typical Bluetooth interference problem. It happens to me from time to time, but I didn't notice any correlation with the Android version I use (neither on N1 nor NS).


How to hide developer option from setting except with clear data or factory reset on android 8.1.0? I'm using clear data but the developer options is still there, the phone is vivo y81

You can clear the settings through an adb shell. That should hide the developer settings to make it like them hidden like before you enabled them:

adb shell pm clear com.android.settings


How do I recalibrate the battery of my phone? After a year using my phone, I noticed the battery drains too fast, but after shutting down I manage to make it work again for a couple of minutes before it shuts down automatically.

I read that to recalibrate the battery, you should fully charge it and by various means  delete the batterystats.bin file. (examples with clockworkmod or using an app)

The thing is...

  "When you follow the steps to recalibrate your battery and delete the batterystats.bin file from your phone, you are getting rid of more than what you think… Stored inside that batterystats.bin file, your phone keeps detailed logs of the capacity of your battery and uses it on how it can be utilized more efficiently." Read Full

or oppositely, quoting Dianne Hackborn

  "It (refering batterystats.bin) has no impact on your battery life."

I know it's not possible to make it as good as new, but at least reset it in a way it would read that last bit of energy accurately?

Recalibrating your battery won't actually make it last longer. What it might do is ensure that the battery level display is more accurate, so that when it says it's at zero, it's actually at zero.

Personally, I used an app like Battery Calibration (requires root) and it seems to help. To be fair though, I haven't actually tested the actual levels myself, so it's a qualitative judgement.

If you're having battery life issues it's more likely that you apps running (background or otherwise) that are draining your battery. Either go to Settings > Battery and check out which apps are draining your battery the most - typically it will be your screen, then cell/wifi radios.

Sadly, the only true "reset" is to go out and buy yourself a new battery. Sorry!


Samsung I5503 weak Wi-Fi Me and my friend's galaxy 5 has a weak Wi-Fi signal. Even in a few meters from access point, it has 2 lines of antenna.
Is there any solution for increasing signal?

Sometimes there may be interference from other electronic / microwave equipment.

In your router / access point's settings change the channel and see if there's any improvement.

Also, don't be taken in so much by the bars displayed. Very often, I see only 2 bars, but in the WiFi settings, I see the signal strength displayed as EXCELLENT.

The other usual rules apply - place your router as high as you can. Place it away from other cordless phones or electronic devices that can generate interference.


Can I see my Play Store wishlist on the web? Google Play store recently gained a long-awaited wishlist feature in the 3.9.16 version of the application. I was wondering whether the wishlist could be modified from the web version of the Play Store while using e.g. a PC. I looked for around the website but wasn't able to find a way to do it, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Also, would the wishlist sync to all Android devices connected to the same Google account, or is it just local to the device it has been set up on?

EDIT: Yes - As Al points out in the comments, the url is https://play.google.com/wishlist

Old Answer:

Basically no.

The same question was asked on Reddit.  It's not a stretch of the imagination to assume that they will roll out a web version, but as yet there's been no official word from Google.


Is there any way to disable/enable the back button? The back button annoys me in some apps so I want to disable it in certain time and will enable it later. Is there any way to do it ?

p/s : I use Galaxy Note 2 N7100 with Android 4.1.2, rooted.

It depends upon when would you like to disable the back button and how would you want to do that.

You can use AutoInput with Tasker to suppress particular keys globally. You would have to create a task with the action Plugin → AutoInput → Modes → Configuration → do the needful.

You can use Xposed Additions Pro1 too.

As for an idea of how to disable that button using Task shortcut try GMD Gesture Control2 or LMT3.

Also see my answer for Is there a way I can prevent the back button from going to the home screen?

1: Relevant usage: Xposed Additions Pro
2: Relevant usage: GMD Gesture Control
3. Relevant usage: LMT


How to avoid the Hotspot getting disabled during an incoming/outgoing call? I have turned on Hotspot and the data is being used on other Android device but when there is an incoming call the Hotspot gets disabled automatically and gets enabled after the call ,During which I am unable to share the data.

Why is this happening and how to avoid the Hotspot getting disabled automatically on an incoming/outgoing call.

Unfortunately a limitation in 3g is that data cannot be used whilst a voice call is happening. Android turns off the hotspot because data isn't available during the call, so unfortunately there is no fix available until networks start to implement voice over LTE.


RCA maven pro Android tablet not totally recognizing USB drive RCT6213W87 DKF.....There is also a letter M sticker a couple of places on the original pkg.

Device is using Android 6.0

Using a 32 gig USB drive, SanDisk, USB 2.0/3.0

Installed the memory zone app. When USB drive is plugged in, this app will detect it BUT when I high lite a file, and choose either "move to" or "copy to", it does not show the USB drive as an option. Tried the drive in a desk top, no probs.

Tried to access it thru settings....USB and storage. No to USB but yes to micro sd. Same with file manager...Internal....No to USB, yes to micro SD.

Just wondering if I am going crazy. Want to move files from internal HD to free up space.

Can anyone offer a suggestion or two.

Thank you in advance!!

Marshmallow requires apps to have permission to access files. If Memory Zone did not request access permission when you first opened it then it was not written for Android 6.0. Try this: In settings open the apps menu. Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner and then select “App permissions”. Scroll down the list and tap “Storage”. Now find your Memory Zone app in that list and flip the switch on the right hand side.

If that doesn’t work, I would go with a file manager that knows about Marshmallow’s permissions. Personally, I use Solid Explorer and love it because I can have the USB in one pane and Internal Storage or SD card in the other.


How to have phone prioritize encrypted Wi-Fi hotspots? I have a Wi-Fi solution similar to FON which has an encrypted private home Wi-Fi hotspot and a guest network which is unencrypted and requires one to log in once a day. My problem (or rather, annoyance) is that the phone seems to prefer the unencrypted guest network. I have it enabled because I can use other people's guest networks when I'm roaming about in the city. It would make sense that between an encrypted and unencrypted hotspot, it would be wise to prefer the encrypted one, regardless of signal strength. Is there any way to resolve this?

You could change the guest network to be low priority by editing the supplicant .conf file (probably requires root, or adb use).  You can find out what file this is by looking at /etc/wifi/wifi.conf; the file you need is set as the SUPP_CONFIG_FILE property's value. Normally it's /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf or /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf.  You'll see entries like the following in that file:

network={
    ssid="network name"
    someotherproperty="some other value"
    priority=0
}

You want to have priority=0 for the networks you least want to connect to, and a higher priority for networks you do want to connect to.  If you just have "don't want" and "want", use 0 and 1.  If you have "don't want", "not preferred", "preferred", and "super-preferred", use values 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively.  You get the idea.


How to install a ROM with CWM when /data (and /sdcard) are encrypted and I can't reformat them? I used to run CyanogenMod 9.1 with device encryption on my Galaxy S3, and decided today that I wanted to try a CM 10 nightly.

A problem with device encryption that I didn't know about before is that it's impossible to turn off. ClockworkMod Recovery (5.8.4.3) can't mount the /data partition (and, by extension, /sdcard). This means that I can't use CWM to factory reset or install a new update.zip, since the update.zip must lie on the internal sdcard.

Trying "choose zip from sdcard" gives "E:Can't mount /sdcard/" and choosing "apply /sdcard/update.zip" gives "E:Can't mount /sdcard/update.zip". This happens even if I've used adb to put the update.zip in the /sdcard mountpoint.

Factory resetting from CWM gives these two errors: "Error mounting /data!" and "Error mounting /sdcard/.android_secure!". Factory resetting from CM9 didn't work. I've since tried to flash CM10 with MobileOdin, which didn't work, and now I can only boot to CWM.

Does anyone have any idea about how I could mount /data or otherwise get a working ROM?

I've taken backups of everything. The tools I suppose could help me, but I haven't tried because I'm new at this and don't want to hard-brick my phone, are fastboot and heimdall.

TL;DR: S3 only boots to CWM, but CWM won't mount /data and so can't flash zips.

I fixed mine right now. Using Odin, load the original image of your phone from the exact provider in pda. Now, it's like brand new.

P.S. You have to unrar the image file, or Odin won't see it. After you unrar, it should have a MD5 file.