What are the pros and cons of allowing Google Play store to automatically update apps? Automatically update apps on my Android phone:

Upsides:

Apps get new feature, bug fixes, performance improvements, etc.

Downsides:

The UI layout or some features that I am already used to changes. Sometimes I am regret to update the app due to this.

So I set Google Play to not update the apps automatically on my old phone. Now I am getting a new phone. Are there any other pros and cons to these settings, and what are some ways to mitigate my concerns?

Apart from being automatically updated, and even if you apply updates manually, you only know about possible disadvantages once the update was done. So my recommendation goes in a different direction, namely: being able to restore the state before the update was applied, so you can "roll back".

For this, I recommend using AppMonster (or rather AppMonster Pro, as the Pro version can do all required stuff automatically in background, so you cannot forget it). This app automatically creates a backup of each app's .apk file whenever the app is installed or updated. It also takes care about only keeping a configured number of backups, so you don't risk running out of space. If you don't like an update, you then can simply launche AppMonster to restore a previous version.

I'm using AppMonster for years already, and can heartily recommend it. And as to your original question: I have auto-updates turned off, so I can manually decide which updates I want and which not. For some apps, I prefer the version I'm currently using for reasons like removed functionality, less overhead, and more.


Is it dangerous to keep my phone plugged in indefinitely? I just recently got a new phone, so my old one has been sitting in a drawer for the last month. However, a friend recently suggested the Sleep Cycle alarm to me, and I'd like to try it out, but I'm not willing to put my nice new phone under my bed every night and run the risk of it overheating or breaking.

However, my old phone, a ZTE Valet (Incredibly cheap, all-around low quality phone), I couldn't care less about. So my plan is to plug that in next to the wall, and use it exclusively for the alarm. I go to bed, I set the alarm, I wake up, I turn it off. It never leaves the wall.

However, I'm concerned about safety. It'll be in airplane mode and I'll disable other background apps that I can (probably just factory reset it before doing this), but is it dangerous to keep my phone constantly plugged into a wall on top of bedsheets? I know this might be bad for the batter (don't really care, I'm not doing anything else with the phone anyway), but I'm much more worried about any potential overheating problems that could burn me or start a fire. Should I be?

EDIT: I don't think this is a duplicate. I really couldn't care less if the phone is harmed by the constant charging, I just want to know if it's dangerous.

As you've said it is "incredibly cheap, all-around low quality phone" yes there are chances of overheating and all. I suggest you to charge it only at nights as you need it only for alarm.


How to restore lost contacts without rooting the phone My phone suddenly began to keep restarting every 10-15 minutes. After a few restart, I noticed that my contacts are gone (most of them were stored on the phone).

I searched for data revocery applications but they seem to work only on a rooted phone.

I wonder, is there a way to restore contacts without rooting the phone? What should I try to get my contacts back?

Did you tired putting the Google account back over the device? I would say your contacts will start appearing automatically after you put the same Google account back.

PS: You can check it by heading over to the Google Contacts just be sure that you are putting the some Google account which you were using previously.


Is there any reason not lock the CPU frequency to the minimum while the screen is off? To save battery, I have created a "screen off" profile with SetCPU that locks the CPU frequency to the minimum while the screen is turned off. Could this have any negative side effects on apps that run in the background?

There will only be problems if you rely on background services to do processor intensive tasks.  For example, on an older Android phone, music running in the background would skip when the CPU was set at a low enough clock rate.

So to answer your question, only if it's noticeable to you.


Rooting Android Galaxy S2 - Connection Error I am trying to root my Galaxy S2.

So I followed instructions online, I booted in debug mode, connected the USB cable then pressed the up powerbutton to start the mode, I then opened up Odin v3 3.04 and it showed up with a device connected. I selected the correct .tar file under PDA and clicked start. It says "setup connection" and freezes at that.

I tried redoing it because it wasn't working. Eventually I decided to see if it was just the program. I opened Samsung Kies and it couldn't connect. It tried connecting for a long time and eventually just gave up.

The weird this is that when I plugin the USB cable my computer actually recognizes it as a Samsung Device because the first time I plugged it in it installed drivers automatically using Kies.

I tried using different USB ports, tried using a different cable and I tried charging it.

I couldn't tell if it was fully charged but it charged for 8 hours so I'm sure it was charged fully. Still didn't work.

After researching for 2 days and trying endlessly, I decided to see what you guys think.

So let me know if you have ideas! :)

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling kies, now it is connecting with Odin but it wont connect with kies at all. But its now showing this error.

<ID:0/003> Added!!
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/003> zImage
<ID:0/003> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<ID:0/003> Added!!
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

I followed this guide rooting mine:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1773659

I started at Step 1. HOW TO INSTALL TWRP OR CWM : ON STOCK FIRMWARE OR CUSTOM ROMS - GB, ICS AND JB

The guide even has a section for troubleshooting Odin errors.

Be careful with odin. When you're editing your bootloader. You can brick your device if you do it wrong, and then your only option is JTAG repair, which will cost you ~$50


URL Scheme for Google Gmail? WhatsApp and many other services offer URL Schemes (they work like direct links or deep links) for their apps. An example is whatsapp://.
Is there one available for Google Gmail?
I tried these and they are not working for the latest Gmail release on Android 8.1:

googlegmail:///co?subject=<subject text>&body=<body text>
googlegmail://
gmail://

The URL schema does not necessarily begin with a unique protocol. For example, if you click this link https://www.youtube.com/ with the YouTube app installed, you'll be prompted to open it in the app.

AFAIK the Gmail app doesn't have a "supported links" defined, so you have no chance to make a link open in Gmail.


My default voicemail number somehow changed to *74274, which gives an error message. How do I switch it back to *86? At some point during the past 2 months the drag-down default voicemail number on my Droid X inexplicably changed from *86 to *74274 - a number that returns the pre-recorded message: "Your feature update could not be completed."

How do I change the default voicemail number back to *86?

Try Settings->Call Settings->Voicemail. On my Fascinate this pops up with a dialog box where I can enter a new voicemail number immediately. On my EVO (CyanogenMod) I have to go into Settings->Call Settings->Voicemail Settings->Voicemail Number to get the same box, so it's very similar but does take an extra step.


Image captured and then deleted from gallery. Can it be recovered and get into wrong hands? I have captured a photo with my samsung galaxy ace nxt phone, which has android os v4.4.2 kitkat. Then I have deleted it from my gallery. I haven't uploaded it anywhere, nor shared it anywhere else. What I want to know is - can the photo can be recovered? I don't want it to recover for myself, but don't want it to get into wrong hands if someone has full access to my phone.

Yes, any ordinary deleted data can be restored, BUT...

... many programs delete data like this: They tell the hard drive (flasdrive, etc.) that the deleted area can be overwritten. Aslong you dont fill your diskspace, you can recover the deleted files full or partial.

What you can do against:

Simply use your smartphone, data will be added, deleted, modified when you do something with it.

Fill your diskspace: Well it sounds nonsense, but it works. Simply move files on your sdcard, or internal storage and fill the disk space, than delete them. The old data is finally gone.

Greetings,
Fischmaster


Why is device not showing the phone signal bars anymore? It's been happening for a while now but I've just gotten around to posting this issue. I'm running Cyanogenmod 10.1 on my Galaxy Note 2 but one fine day, it stopped showing me the signal bars. I've even updated my ROM twice but it hasn't resolved the issue.

The phone calls and text messages work just fine but it always shows me that I don't have signal. Here's a screenshot:

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

Would any of you know why this is happening and how I could resolve this issue? Thank you.

This is definitely due incompatibilites between the RIL and the baseband/modem firmware. The RIL or the radio-interface layer are the libraries (shared-objects) that allow the phone to talk with the modem firmware. I found this issue on the Cyanogemod JIRA: https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-2172
If you read the comments, you'll see that people have solved this issue by flashing a compatible firmware.

Since I'm now running Cyanogenmod 11, I dug around XDA and found a leaked 4.4 firmware for my device. It was packed in a CWM-flashable ZIP so I flashed it and voila.

Please remember to backup your device, your current modem/baseband and the RIL files. Flashing a new RIL isn't necessary always but helps.


Huawei p9 lite usb working but not working (trying to root the phone but haven't got any because of the USB problem)
so i have had this device for a while and through the couple of years its gotten pretty beat up but still works.

so the problem im having is every time i connect it to my computer the only thing that happens is the phone charging the computer nor the phone reacts at all (beside's charging) but i have found a trick if i leave the phone alone for a minuet when i plug the cable in it works the computer reads it and i get access but when i turn the phone off the problem appears again. its realy frustrating because im trying to access the fast boot or boot loader but because of the problem it dose not work i think. nothing pops up besides the charging icon. it almost work once when i held down the volume down button then put in the USB cable the computer reconized it for a split second but still did not work.
ive tried many things used different cables factory reset it oem unlocked enabled
tried leaving the cable in when the computer reconized it then powered it down still dint work
i need help with this please.
model number vns-l31
[ps sorry if you cant understand my writing im pretty bad at it]

I encountered the same problem and all I did was to change the usb cord or the usb-port. Hope this helps.


Info on and removal of COVID contact tracing in Google Play Services Has anybody had a closer look into this module what it really does?
I want to know if the functionality will work if bluetooth is turned off.
I guess a surefire method to test this would be to remove the SIM, disable all antennas and measure EM radiation (though I'm not sure if there's still cell tower communication with the SIM removed).

Even if the answer above is no: I don't want this software on my Phone.

Is it possible to modify Google Play Services (GPS), remove contact tracing, and
use GPS as usual after? This seems the best option but an update might then again overwrite it.
Root and remove GPS. I have a OnePlus 7. Will everything keep working well except the Google apps of course?
LineageOS maybe but I like OxygenOS a lot..
Other options?

Much would be cleared up if we can see the code. Is this possible?

The Covid contact tracing in Google Play Services is an API. And according to he documentation this API is working opt-in. By default your device will not track anything.
Also note that "contact" in this context means "a cryptographically random token generated by a different device that was within Bluetooth range at a certain time". No contact data like name is transmitted.

For "activating" this interface you need at least one of the Google certified Covid 19 tracing apps (there can be only one app per country and only public health agency is allowed to publish one).

And in such an app Google enforces that the user has a switch for enabling and disabling the tracking system.

However if you still not trust Play Services with integrated Covid tracking API you should switch to a Custom ROM + OpenGApps. Every device I have tested that uses this combination does not provide the COVID contact tracing API, even if the very latest version of Google Play Services is installed. Hence it seems like the tracing API is generally disabled for Custom ROMS using OpenGApps.
It is still unclear why on some devices with CustomROM and OpenGApps the COVID tracking API is available and on other devices this option does not show up even with latest OpenGApps installed.

You can verify on your own if your PlayService support Covid 19 tracking:

Open Settings -> Google If the first entry in the services list shows you something about "Notifications on encountered Covid 19 infections" than the API is ready to use. If not then every Covid tracking app that wants to use this API will not work (the app will just show the error code 39501).


Editing Android phone contacts on the fly from a Windows PC Is there any way to edit contacts on my Android phone from a Windows PC and without internet connectivity? Perhaps by using USB debugging?

Assuming that your contacts are synced to some service like Google or your mobile carrier, you should be able to do that right through their website (or Gmail, if all of your contacts are synced with your Google account). Any changes you make in your account on a PC, including contacts, will automatically sync to your device.


moto g2 XT1068 not turning on I was rooting my XT1068,after rooting root checker displayed root accesses is not complete.i thought it was because of old superSU so downloaded latest superSU v2.67 installed it in fastboot and rebooted my phone. and from them my phone is stuck in warning display [warning bootloader unlocked] phone not turning on... plz juys help.. and if any one has stock fermwear to restore plz direct me thank you.

You can try relocking the bootloader. If it doesn't help, flashing a stock firmware is the last chance.

Download the file from here. Unzip the file and use RSD Lite to flash to the phone.


apps and google play cannot connect to the internet after rooting My phone is a samsung s duos gt s7562. I rooted my phone recently. But Iam having some problems after that. My apps, except for opera mini and instagram, cannot connect to data services. I tried factory resetting, enabling background data and even unrooting but of no use. Only the above mentioned apps are working. But when I am accessing internet through wifi everything works fine.I got a hunch that may be it has something to do with the busybox i installed. When I was installing it, it gave a lot of things to install when I selected advanced installation but i ignored it and selected the normal one where the busybox installer will select the necessary stuff and install it.

Anyone got any remedy to this??? Please help because I am fed of searching for remedies.... Nothing helped so far

Be sure and check your Date.   Had problems with google play suddenly stopped working.   After trying multiple suggestions, realized the date was reset back to 2008.   Once reset, things started working again.


How can I enable swipe for back in Chrome for Android Recently bought a new tablet, its running Android 6.0. On my touchscreen Windows 10 laptop, I can swipe the screen with one finger to go back and forward in chrome.

How can I do the same the same on Chrome for Android?

I've searched the internet, but can only find custom apps to perform this function. I have never installed anything custom to get this working on Chrome for Windows.

With newer version of Chrome for Android, it's possible to go back or forward by swiping left or right from the edge of the screen. If it's not enabled by default, follow the steps below:

In the address bar, type chrome://flags.
In the flags search box, type "history navigation".
You will either find depending on your Chrome version "Enable gesture navigation" or "Overscroll history navigation". Click on Default, then select Enable.
Restart Chrome.

Swiping left or right from the edge of the screen on tabs will take you back to the previous page or forward to the next page.


Regression plan upgrading OS from Froyo on GT-P1010 i want to upgrade my galaxy tab (UK) from 2.2 to 2.3 (or higher) but have read it's risky and i could end up "bricking" it. (I've never upgraded an android OS before.)

If I do mess it up, is it always possible to restore or fix it myself? Or would I have to send it to Samsung for de-bricking in some or all cases? And are there any precautions I can take?

Thanks

If you have a custom recovery already, where Clockwork Mod Recovery is the most popular one, there's an option there to do a complete backup, sometimes called a "nandroid". As long as you have this backup folder lying around (it won't disappear when doing wipes from CWM) and you can enter CWM, you can restore that backup as well. Since the backup includes everything it also includes things like the kernel, the ROM, apps and all that. It basically creates an image of your entire device that you can later return to.

The tricky part is getting a custom recovery on your tab, but when you have that you should be reasonably safe as long as you remember to always backup. It doesn't hurt to put your backups somewhere else as well for safekeeping (like your computer).

I highly recommend you start reading the Samsung Galaxy Tab forums on xda-developers. The Q&A section probably already has all your questions listed, and the "Android Development" section has a ton of different ROMs you can choose from. As long as you have a backup lying around, don't be scared to try a couple of them out :)

(Remember that rooting your device and/or unlocking the bootloader will void the warranty, so if you can't re-lock it before sending it to Samsung they will not replace it)


Translation of RIL_PreferredNetworkType terminology to human speak? In Android's source code, I see

typedef enum {
    PREF_NET_TYPE_GSM_WCDMA                = 0, /* GSM/WCDMA (WCDMA preferred) */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_GSM_ONLY                 = 1, /* GSM only */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_WCDMA                    = 2, /* WCDMA  */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_GSM_WCDMA_AUTO           = 3, /* GSM/WCDMA (auto mode, according to PRL) */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_CDMA_EVDO_AUTO           = 4, /* CDMA and EvDo (auto mode, according to PRL) */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_CDMA_ONLY                = 5, /* CDMA only */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_EVDO_ONLY                = 6, /* EvDo only */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_GSM_WCDMA_CDMA_EVDO_AUTO = 7, /* GSM/WCDMA, CDMA, and EvDo (auto mode, according to PRL) */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_LTE_CDMA_EVDO            = 8, /* LTE, CDMA and EvDo */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_LTE_GSM_WCDMA            = 9, /* LTE, GSM/WCDMA */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_LTE_CMDA_EVDO_GSM_WCDMA  = 10, /* LTE, CDMA, EvDo, GSM/WCDMA */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_LTE_ONLY                 = 11, /* LTE only */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_LTE_WCDMA                = 12,  /* LTE/WCDMA */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_ONLY            = 13, /* TD-SCDMA only */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_WCDMA           = 14, /* TD-SCDMA and WCDMA */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_LTE             = 15, /* TD-SCDMA and LTE */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_GSM             = 16, /* TD-SCDMA and GSM */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_GSM_LTE         = 17, /* TD-SCDMA,GSM and LTE */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_GSM_WCDMA       = 18, /* TD-SCDMA, GSM/WCDMA */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_WCDMA_LTE       = 19, /* TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and LTE */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_GSM_WCDMA_LTE   = 20, /* TD-SCDMA, GSM/WCDMA and LTE */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_GSM_WCDMA_CDMA_EVDO_AUTO  = 21, /* TD-SCDMA, GSM/WCDMA, CDMA and EvDo */
    PREF_NET_TYPE_TD_SCDMA_LTE_CDMA_EVDO_GSM_WCDMA   = 22  /* TD-SCDMA, LTE, CDMA, EvDo GSM/WCDMA */
} RIL_PreferredNetworkType;

The problem is, I don't know what the terminology maps to.

"LTE" is obviously just 4G LTE, but what are TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and EvDo?

I'm assuming at least some of them must map to 2G (GPRS), 2G (EDGE), 3G, "3.9G" (HSPA+), but which is which? And which ones are actually CDMA (Sprint, Verizon, etc.) rather than GSM?
(I'm a little confused because it seems GSM LTE phones also have modes like WCDMA?)

I figured them out thanks to here and here.

GSM is 2G (on GSM networks)
WCDMA is 3G (HSPA)
CDMA is 2G (on CDMA networks)
EvDo is 3G (on CDMA networks)
TD-SCDMA is 3G (UMTS)
LTE is 4G (LTE)

This PDF (page 16) explains the evolution of the different technologies.

Warning: A lot of this terminology is conflated (e.g. "CDMA" can refer to both the channel access method as well as mobile phone standards, "3G" and "4G" can refer to lots of different things, etc.) so take these with a grain of salt.


Using OTG cables with Nexus 7 (2012) without rooting Is it possible to use OTG Cables with Nexus 7 (2012) without rooting? Can Nexus Media Importer be useful here?

Yes, you can use Nexus Media Importer.

From its description:

  This is the only non-root solution for devices that do not provide
  native support for external storage.

Other references:

Usb otg without root access for nexus 7 found!


What is the easiest way to record gameplay on android? I have a Moto g3. Is it possible to record android gameplay in the same way fraps records pc gameplay?

Play Games provide a way to record gameplays.
You can capture your gameplay in 720p or 480p, and choose to add video of yourself and commentary via your device's front facing camera and microphone.

Steps:

Open the Play Games app.
Select a game to open the game details page.
At the top of the game details page, touch the record icon.
Select your desired video quality setting. You can record in 480p SD or 720p HD.
Based on your device's available storage space, you'll be shown  the maximum video length that you can record.
Touch Launch to start your game. You'll see a floating video bubble appear with recording settings.
Touch the record icon.
After a 3-second countdown, your recording will begin.

Notes:
To stop recording: Touch the floating video bubble, then the red stop icon Stop icon.
To dismiss recording: Drag the floating video bubble into the center of the screen. Drop the video bubble over the "X" to dismiss your recording.
Once you are finished recording, the video will save to your phone or tablet. You will also see an option to share your video online.

Source: Google support


Fastboot freezes on Mac OS Sierra I just got a new MacBook 2016 with Mac OS Sierra installed, after setting up my complete development environment and all required tools via Android Studio, I tried to flash a new Android Wear release on my watch.

ADB is working without issues, but as soon as I try to run any fastboot command (other than fastboot help) it will completely freeze and never finish.

It is just stuck with no output at all.

I already tried to run it with sudo or reinstall it via the SDK Manager, I also tried different standalone fastboot binaries provided on XDA developers.

There is nothing which seems to make it finish. Even "ctrl + c" won't exit the running command. Only killing it via the process list will work.

So this was an official Android fastboot bug. They are currently testing a fix in their QA department.

With the new platform tools release it will be fixed:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=231129


My Acer Z160 has a weird problem with flashing and reset my friend's phone had an error on his phone(Acer z160 not rooted), all the applications crash at start-up. It came to my mind that I had to do a factory reset via stock recovery. After the reset, I restarted the phone and the error was still there. I decided to flash the stock ROM
(Acer_AV052_Z160_1.015.00_EMEA_GEN1) using the "SP_Flash_Tool_exe_Windows_v5.1516.00" and the flash was successful. Rebooted the phone again, and the error was still there. In fact, the phone's password/pattern is still there, the wallpaper hasn't changed and apps are still there. What happened? What should i do? Could you please help me. Any help would be appreciated

Here's the error on a video----->https://youtu.be/kJGMsVhHmWI
Here's the photo of the flashing---->https://i.imgsafe.org/abfd650013.jpg

That means your device's eMMC is (Write Protected), Which means that it won't accept any changes you do, This is a common problem in MTK based devices, Actually you have to replace the eMMC chip by a new one, But you can also try this,

Run SPFT and Load "Scatter" File,
Go to "Format" tab,
Don't mess with any options there,
Click "Start" then Plug your phone,
Wait until the Format process finish,
Now just try to flash the phone again with SPFT,

NOTE: After this process your phone won't have IMEI anymore, But that's not a problem since there is a lot of ways to restore it, Just check this Video.

If the above guide didn't help fixing your phone, then as i said before, eMMC needs to be replaced.


What parts of the regular Linux graphics driver architecture is used in Android? For example, could the Nouveau driver be used and provide hardware accelerated drawing when Android is compiled for x86?

Noveau is a driver for the X.org graphics system so it definitely couldn't be used verbatim. The one part that I'd expect to possibly be useful would be the code that actually talks to the hardware. The same is true for any other X.org driver.

But in Noveau's case, most of the work is in reverse-engineering the hardware interface as Nvidia refuses to release the documentation. This work could definitely be reused in a hypothetical Android Nvidia driver.


Is there a way to see the top apps across all categories? Is there a way to see some stats about the top apps in the Android Market across all categories?

The Google Play Store gives me some top paid and free apps per category.  How do I get the overall stats?

AppBrain can give top apps overall and by cateogry.  It also has filters for Free, Paid, New, Updated and Price Reduced.


My apps don't have access to my mobile internet I have a very weird problem with my phone. I don't have mobile internet on any of my apps, but I can surf the internet with no problem when I am using my browser. I think it is good to mention that I am using the browser which comes with android operation system.

When I am connected to a wifi network, everything is fine. The problem is only with my mobile internet. Can someone tell me where the problem may be?

I am using HTC WildFire S. Android version of the phone is Android 2.3.5. The phone is very old and this is the final version that I can update.

There could be several reasons

Check your device's date if it is set for today.
Try to reset your Internet settings that is access point settings
Make sure that you have enough memory
Clear catch and app data for that particular app
Try restarting your device two or more times
Make sure you have the latest updated apps

If any of the above does not work unfortunately I have to say that you need to reset your device. Let us know which one of above solution works for you


Does syncing a telegram account with a phone with no contacts (recently reset to factory defaults) delete contacts from server? I am installing telegram on a new android device (sony xperia v, 4.3); The phone is reset to factory defaults with no contacts on it. If I sync the contacts with telegram account what happens? Does it transfer contacts FROM TELEGRAM SERVER and saves them TO THE PHONE? or stupidly does a one-way transfer FROM PHONE TO SERVER and DESTROY everything??

Its very important, because if it wont work I'll lose my only source of saved contacts(telegram server).

Thanks in advance

You will have all your telegram contacts in the telegram app wherever you login.


Update to Android 4.2 disappeared after factory reset My Galaxy SII recently updated to Android 4.2. I then had to reset to factory settings and the update has disappeared. If I search for updates, a message comes up saying the latest updates have already been installed. Can I get this back somehow??

Check Android version. You're already at Android 4.2. Resetting to factory setting won't reset it to earlier Android version.


How can I take a screenshot on my Samsung Galaxy Fit? I can't find how to take screen shot on my Samsung Galaxy Fit device. I noticed that it took some screenshots and I do not know how it happened. By installing third party app it works, but I do not want to do this because they run their services in the background.

Any help in this regard would be highly appreciated.


R2Mail2 - GnuPG encrypting email to a different email address than in the public key I have a friend's public key with the associated email address bla@bla.com. I would like to use the key to send an encrypted email to the email address not@not.com.

Is this possible in R2Mail2 for Android? I can in Thunderbird/Enigmail, but it doesn't seem possible in R2Mail2.

Thanks.

Here's an idea for your problem. Had the same as well. Searched a long time to get my Keys to the Android phone.

I work with OSX. There is a tutorial how to Export the keys it seems to be a matter of  Key and Certificate conversion. Hope that helps:

http://hackonadime.blogspot.de/2012/03/securing-your-mobile-email-thunderbird.html


Different notification tones for multiple Gmail accounts Is it possible to use different notification tones for each Gmail account?  I.e.:

account1@gmail.com => tone X
account2@gmail.com => tone Y

Maybe with a helper app?

The GMail app already appears to do this on a per-account basis. Simply open an account, then navigate to (Menu button)->More->Settings->Select Ringtone. This works fine on my version (2.3.4.1) and allows me to set a different ringtone for each account.

You can also use this to cause some accounts to provide vibrate/audible notifications while others do not. For example, my work account is set to vibrate "for all notifications", but my other accounts have their vibration set to "Never".


LineageOS update files not present in /data/lineageos_updates since 27th April 2018 Since the update from 20th April 2018, I can't find the LineageOS update in the current path which is /data/lineageos_updates . When I download the latest update (27th April 2018) and reboot in TWRP, there is no corresponding update file in the folder. After a reboot, the updater in the settings show me that this update isn't downloaded - altouth it did before the reboot.

Comments say that they found the update in /LineageOS updates/ (internal storage) but on the Samsung Galaxy S4 it doesn't contain the latest update. Only a outdated version of February. No idea, how those old update got there. I didn't ever now that those folder exist. I only know /data/linageos_updates as current update location store and /data/data/org.lineageos.updater/app_updates for older updates before August 31st, 2017.

So in the current situation, I'm not able to update LineageOS on this Galaxy S4 directly. I want to avoid downloading the update from a PC and moving it to the device since it's not mine and the owner is a non-technical user.

I'm not aware of the causing issue, but have found a workaround for fixing: I downloaded all avaliable updates (the owner last updated in March) and bootet TWRP. Now I searched for the last update that I found in /data/lineageos_updates and installed it.

In my case, it was from 10th of April. This update seems to be something special: The updater say it's from 10th of April, where the LineageOS download page list it as 11th of April. I installed the update and every single following update by hand. This worked and made them visible in the expected /data/lineageos_update path.

Don't know what's the reason for this. I assume that some changes were made on the update process in one of those update (maybe the one from 11th of April or another one) and those changes weren't included properly in the following updates. But at least those steps are a workaround, when you're not able to install the latest LineageOS update any more.


Updating Nexus 5 from 4.4.4 to 5.0 a month late So my parent's nexus 5 is currently on 4.4.4 and I want to upgrade them to 5. When the initial 5.0 OTA was released they told me they got the notification to upgrade to 5.0 but they didnt update because they didnt want to relearn all functions changed until I got home. So I am home and when I go into "about phone" in settings and go check for updates it always says the OS is up to date. Even though when I check the version its 4.4.4. Meanwhile all the native apps have updated to their latest verisons. I have already upgraded my phone to 5.0 and today I got my 5.0.1 update today. I get that google doesnt roll out its updates all at once but its been a month since the initial 5.0 update and why is it that I cant upgrade my parents phone and it says its up to date even though its not?

Have you tried downloading the factory image and flashing that over a adb with a USB cable? This will normally nuke everything that was on the phone, but if you change one line in the shell script or batch file which carries out the upgrade (removing the "-w" switch) you can upgrade non-destructively. That's what I have done twice now and it works fine.

Unless your parents are rooted, which sounds unlikely, there are no complications. If they are rooted you have to reroot after the upgrade. But that's not really complicated, and it does mean that you can have an adblock.


How to remove KDE Connect app icon from Notification bar? I have the KDE Connect app in order to connect my Android phone (Moto Z2 Play) to my Ubuntu machine. With the upgrade to Android 8, this app has a new annoying behavior in that its icon is always in the Notification bar even when not connected. (If I pull down it says "Not connected to any device").

How can I get the icon to not appear in the Notification bar when the phone is not connected to anything?

Excerpt taken from KDE Connect – New stuff 0x3:

Android Oreo introduced some restrictions in regard to apps running in the background. In the future in order to be able to run in the background KDE Connect needs to show a persistent notification.
To hide the notification you need to long-press it and switch it off. Other notifications from KDE Connect are unaffected by this.


Can I get rid of an unwanted acronym? Apparently "ESCO" is an acronym for something, however "esco" is a quite common Italian word. For some reason the native keyboard seems to prefer the acronym to the word, usually having it as default, and sometimes not even giving the word as an alternative.

Can I either remove the acronym, or at least force the word to have more priority?

(system is CM 10.2.1, Android 4.3.1)

Go to Settings -> Language & input -> Personal dictionary and add "esco". If "ESCO" is present, remove it.


Customize google assistant button I am using a motorola phone which has a dedicated google assistant button. But I don't use the assistant much.
Is it possible to customize the button and use it for some other activity?

Fortunately there is a way..
Download this Button Mapper , grant the accessibility permission then click on add a button then press the button to record it and then set the function you want! Simple as that.
Remember to turn off battery optimization for Button Mapper app because if the app is paused by the battery optimization then no hardware buttons will work (touch screen will work). You'll have to go to settings and kill the Button Mapper app to get hardware buttons working again.
This is the only way to change the button function without root.


How to recover my contacts I accidentally deleted all my contacts from my phone. In my Google Contacts I was able to recover some of my contacts but how or where can I find the rest of my contacts?

If, you haven’t wiped your device completely, there is still a chance of recovering your lost or deleted contacts by checking if the old contacts database file is stored somewhere deep in your storage.

Depending on your manufacturer and Android version, you will find your database in different locations in your storage. For stock Android devices like the Nexus 5, the database file should be located here:

/data/data/android.providers.contacts/databases
The key that your are looking for is providers.contacts/databases. To get to this folder straight from your device, install aSQLiteManager, which is able to get into your Android device’s database storage and open .db files.

If you can find this folder on your device and it’s empty, it means that your contacts are gone for good.

Well… Now it’s time to blast out a message to all your friends on Facebook, Twitter followers, business contacts and your family, asking them to send you their contact details.
credit(Daniel)
also check this link


SMS sort-by-date mixed up after transfer from Nokia (Symbian) to Android I know this question has been asked quite a few times. However, please read ahead.

I have tried a lot of apps such as VeryAndroid SMS Backup, SMS Backup & Restore, WonderShare MobileTrans. I also used an android app called SMS Tools which took the .csv file created by Nokia OVI Suite. Most of them work. The SMS messages were threaded as per the contact name. However, they were not sorted as per date & time. In other words, what I would expect is to get the latest SMS (sent or received) at the top, followed by the next latest.

Is there any way we can transfer the SMS messages in such a way that latest appear at the top & the hierarchy is followed? I've already tried the solutions offered by How can I copy SMSes from Nokia N8 to Android for free?, this answer on SMS transfer, SMSes from Nokia 6300, and How to move contacts and other data from Symbian to Android? to no avail: They all restore the messages, but they are not ordered as per time. Even editing the .csv file accordingly did not have the desired effect.

I think the sorting problem depends on your messaging app. Many stock messaging app doesn't sort messages by date but by received time.

The AOSP messaging app does sort by date (in cyanogenmod at least). Textra does (4.0+), Go SMS too, and also the new Hangouts app (4.0+).


Allow an app to override Do Not Disturb in Oreo In Nougat, there used to be a per-app option to control which apps could override Do Not Disturb. In Oreo, I only see the Low/Medium/High/Urgent options, none of which say that they override Do Not Disturb. Is there still a way to do this for Oreo apps? If so, how?

On stock Oreo 8.0 (MiA1)

Settings → Apps and notifications  →App Info  → Choose app (not all apps have this permission)  →App Notification  → Enable override


Nexus 4 charging/uncharging while plugged in I have a problem when charging my Nexus 4, I tried looking around to no avail.

My problem is that when I have my phone plugged in to charger it doesn't charge, Instead it flickers between charging and not charging really fast.

When I look at the battery icon in the top right, the lightning bolt is also flickering, indicating that the phone is switching between charging/discharging at high speeds.

My phone is dead right now and I can't charge it because when it is in this state, the net result is discharging (when it is plugged in that is).

I tried using my roommate's charger, and it sometimes works and sometimes does the same as my charger, also my device has the latest system update that happened (can't remember what number), but the problem has been happening way before then.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

This is likely a hardware problem. Check your connection, if not power circuit...


Not able to login to Gmail from browser I have my android phone connected to Wifi. When I open youtube in browser it opens perfectly and other sites as well but I can't open Gmail, facebook etc "in browser". The message says that the requested page might be temporarily down or moved to a new web address. Google play also isn't working. I  cleared data and cache from the browser but it didn't work. Then I went on to factory reset the phone but still no hope. If anybody could help..please.

The issue is not the browser or anything else, if you try to connect via the gprs (mobile network) it won't block. And to make it pretty sure, you can try to download Opera Mini v7. Then you will be able to see that it will load pages even when they are blocked.

ISPs block site, as per orders of govt. or on their own. The issue is mainly because of that! But still, you might try out Opera Mini, and check if the site is working for you or not. If Opera Mini is working, then their is some issue with the connection.

If the problem persists, you might try to use some VPN. That's the only way to get around when the ISP is blocking some sites.


List of supported A/V and Image Codecs Using ADB, is it possible to obtain a list of audio, video and image codecs supported on a given device? Whether or not they physically play is another story. I'm just trying to poke the device and get a list back so I can attempt to play whatever, say Nexus 5 supports.

Thanks.

The file media_codecs.xml located in /system/etc lists the codecs available for a particular device.

To read it via adb shell:

adb shell cat /system/etc/media_codecs.xml

Part of Media_codecs.xml content on my phone:

<MediaCodecs>

    <Settings>
        <Setting name="max-video-encoder-input-buffers" value="10" />
    </Settings>

     <Decoders>
        <!-- ffmpeg video decoders -->
        <MediaCodec name="OMX.ffmpeg.h263.decoder" type="video/3gpp">
            <Limit name="size" min="16x16" max="1920x1088" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="2x2" />
            <Feature name="adaptive-playback" />
        </MediaCodec>

        <MediaCodec name="OMX.ffmpeg.h264.decoder" type="video/avc">
            <Limit name="size" min="16x16" max="2048x2048" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="720x1280" />
            <Feature name="adaptive-playback" />
        </MediaCodec>

        <MediaCodec name="OMX.ffmpeg.hevc.decoder" type="video/hevc">
            <Limit name="size" min="2x2" max="2048x2048" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="2x2" />
            <Feature name="adaptive-playback" />
        </MediaCodec>
    </Decoders>

    <Encoders>
        <!-- mediatek video encoders -->
        <MediaCodec name="OMX.MTK.VIDEO.ENCODER.MPEG4" type="video/mp4v-es" >
            <Limit name="size" min="16x16" max="1920x1088" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="16x16" />
            <Limit name="block-size" value="16x16" />
            <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-input-ports" />
            <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-output-ports" />
        </MediaCodec>

        <MediaCodec name="OMX.MTK.VIDEO.ENCODER.H263" type="video/3gpp" >
            <Limit name="size" min="16x16" max="1920x1088" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="16x16" />
            <Limit name="block-size" value="16x16" />
             <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-input-ports" />
            <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-output-ports" />
        </MediaCodec>

        <MediaCodec name="OMX.MTK.VIDEO.ENCODER.AVC" type="video/avc" >
            <Limit name="size" min="16x16" max="1920x1088" />
            <Limit name="alignment" value="16x16" />
            <Limit name="block-size" value="16x16" />
            <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-input-ports" />
            <Quirk name="requires-allocate-on-output-ports" />
        </MediaCodec>
    </Encoders>

  <!-- <Include href="media_codecs_mediatek_audio.xml" /> -->
  <!-- <Include href="media_codecs_mediatek_video.xml" /> -->
    <Include href="media_codecs_google_audio.xml" />
    <Include href="media_codecs_google_telephony.xml" />
    <Include href="media_codecs_google_video_le.xml" />
    <Include href="media_codecs_ffmpeg.xml" />
</MediaCodecs>

It may also point to other files as on my phone to get a complete list. Therefore, use the command below to get the full list of files listing codecs available on your device.

adb shell find /system/etc -type f -name "media_codecs*.xml"

You can then filter the files on the codec types with the following commands:

cat /system/etc/media_codecs*.xml | grep "type="

Media Codec Info app offers an easier way to list the codecs on a device.


In ICS, what differs between use on a phone, and use on a tablet? Being that ICS is the merging of the phone and tablet versions of Android, what is different in ICS when it is used on a phone from when it is used on a tablet?

** Clarification:** This is referring to vanilla ICS

Assuming just vanilla ICS, with no custom UI from a manufacturer/carrier or anything:

A phone has a status bar at the top and soft buttons (or hardware buttons) at the bottom. A tablet will only have the bottom bar, with soft buttons on the left and clock/notifications on the right. The notification pane pulls down from the top status bar like in previous versions on a phone, but it pops up from the bottom-right corner on a tablet.
The default launchers and home screen layout are visibly different. The app drawer on a phone is in the center bottom, on a tablet it's top right, and phones have a sort of "dock" at the bottom that is visible on all home screens (tablets do not). Also, the Google search bar collapses on a tablet but is persistent across the top on a phone. The home screen transition animation is also different.
Apps that use the Action Bar will display a bit differently. On a phone the bar will almost always be split between the top and bottom of the screen, with some options on each portion of the bar (possibly unless they use very few icons/actions). On a tablet it just uses the top of the screen because there's plenty of room. Google Music is a good example of this.


Can personal profiles be removed on work devices? We're looking at rolling out 100+ android devices and would like to lock them down to managed profiles. This is mainly to prevent excessive data usage (youtube and the like) - Android for work allows us to whitelist apps, set policy etc; but this is in addition to the standard user account.

This is cost sensitive, so is there a solution out there that will allow us to lock the phone down to only the managed work profile so that additional applications cannot be installed?

You could use apps like AppLock and lock the Play store: this way, without a password set by you the user shouldn't be able to install anything. I don't know if there are better solutions, maybe already implemented in android for work; and I don't know, more important, if this has any drawback on app updates. But worth a try, if you have no other ideas.


Some questions regarding apps on a rooted Nook Color This is basically a follow-up to my previous question regarding the Nook Color. While my first question was regarding some of the specifics of the root process, I also have two questions about installing apps on a NC after obtaining root:

The tech specs seem to indicate that the NC has 8 GB of internal memory. Approximately how much of this would be available to me after rooting for apps and data? I'm willing to repartition if this is possible/necessary.
Is it generally safe to assume that apps from the Market will work on a NC after it's rooted and the Market and so forth have been installed, or are there some gotchas associated with this? (Assume for the sake of this question that I'm talking about a 2.3 or earlier ROM, not a ripped-from-the-SDK 3.0 one)

A vast majority of it. My device says I have up to 5gb of internal storage that I can use. Additionally you can throw in an SD card.
In my experience about 98% of the apps on the Market will work on your rooted (stock) Nook Color.  If you flash CyanogenMod 7 or similar, then they all should work.  If you remain with stock, there are some minor quirky issues because there are a few things missing from the OS.  For example, trying to create a "shortcut" will cause a Force Close.


Huawei Ascend G630 shows on the display: "Recovery image verify failed" I've spent much time reading up on my issue with no progress at all.
I have a problem with a Huawei Ascend G630.

I have never rooting my phone or flashing a custom rom. The phone does not work, I can’t reset it by pressing volume up, down and power, and only when it’s on charge, it shows the message:

"Recovery image verify failed
Please update to the authorized images”.

I removed the battery, then, I tried getting it into the recovery mode to reset It or even flash its stock firmware following this instruction to solve it:

1)  I downloaded HUAWEI G630 Firmware from here:
http://consumer.huawei.com/kh/mobile-phones/support/downloads/detail/ascend-g630-kh.htm?id=26062

2)  I extracted Huawei Smartphone firmware (UPDATE.APP) on my PC and then I have pasted it on micro SD card.

The process doesn’t start and the phone returns to the first message
“Recovery image verify failed”.

I think that bootloader is locked.

I enclosed a picture.

Please help me.
Thanks.

There is a quite simple workaround to solve your problem.

First you should search (on XDA example) and download an original-recovery.bin for your device.
After you can flash it in fastboot mode with the following command:

fastboot flash recovery original-recovery.bin

After this you have an original bootloader on your device.

Source: XDA-Developers


HF Connector - Replace parts in a Nexus S I have a Nexus S device (model i9023).

My current earpiece is torn - the wires are cut, and the body could not be screwed out because the specific body's screw is stuck. However, I can gently replace it without breaking the body.

I see a "HF" connector connected to the left of what I see in the picture of the earpiece unit.

To be more specific, I took some pictures of it, since I can't get the data from
fixit.

Here's a picture of what dealers are selling in eBay. This picture is pretty descriptive.

All dealers provide a unit containing the earpieace speaker as seen upwards,
a proximity sensor as seen below and the connector to the motherboard, to the right.

This is what I saw in fixit:

as you can see upwards, there's another group of wires (orange) to the right of the proximity sensor, which doesn't exist in the seller's unit.

The pictures I took of my device shows exactly what I mean:

This "HF" wires down there doesn't exist in the units for sale

  Don't mind the fact that in my pictures there's no speaker, its
  because its been torn. that's the reason why I was wandering around thinking of buying a new EM-Tech EME1511AFRC replacement unit in the first place...

So does anyone know what's that HF and what am I losing if I buy a new unit without it?

At first note that the i9023 is the Nexus S (with S-LCD) and not a Nexus One.

Here's iFixit's teardown.

Here's what iFixit says: The EM-Tech EME1511AFRC integrates the earpiece speaker, loudspeaker for speakerphone and media use, and a sensor bank all into one unit with a singular shared data connector.

That sensor bank includes at least the proximity sensor, a light sensor (for LCD dimming) and maybe some of the rest of the sensors (accelerometer, gyro, compass).


how do I remove a missed call notification? I don't want to disable missed call notifications

And I don't have a "locked screen".

Somebody called me, I missed the call but I met them. I don't need to call them back, so I don't want to tap the missed call notification('cos I guess that'd call them back). How do I remove the notification without calling them back?

You can tap it, it won't call them.

It just goes to the screen with telephone numbers on it.

Another thing you can do, is in the notifications where it lists the missed call , then the first time round, it can also show "call back" and "message"  so you have 3 things you can push. The missed call , which goes to the numbers screen. Or the other two. So only one of those options will call them back. Once you restart the phone you still get the missed call notification but without those other options, still though, if you tap it it goes to the numbers screen, it doesn't immediately call them back.

It's not as bad as with tapping a number on the number screen, where if they're listed under "frequently called" then it calls them immediately, whereas if you tap them under the purely alphabetical list below "frequently called" then it brings up their details from which you can call them.

So tapping the missed call notification won't call them automatically

You can swipe it too, though I suppose swiping might involve a tap, but a tap is fine.


Calling scp invokes sftp Hi guys when I try to call scp from terminal emulator it invokes sftp, I have scp installed (along with ssh and sftp) in /system/bin folder.I know it's working correctly because typing just scp gives me the usage info but calling

  scp file user@ip:target

Gives the error sftp: illegal option - -x

Please help!

this issue is caused because the "terminal emulator" app does not handle scp transfer (as far as im aware) upgrade to "better terminal emulator pro" app and the issue disappears.


Lockscreen is missing, can I reinstall the lockscreen somehow? On boot my mobile phone goes to the lockscreen background but doesn't show the unlock symbol.

I've tried dragging the button blind but it's not just that it's not visible, it's not there. Neither does the "emergency dial" button show. The rest of the UI shows; the time, alert bar with wifi symbols and such. I've also tried using the Google Android device manager (ADM) code reset, the numbers don't show to allow input of the code; Safe Mode doesn't show the numbers either.

The phone is an Acer Liquid E3 (E380) running Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat?) and somehow I've managed to remove the lockscreen - I think perhaps it was with [correction:] System App Remover when trying to remove wallpapers after rooting with Kingo Root; but I had just changed to allow voice unlock so it may have been that.

How can I unlock if the buttons don't show? I know the passcode and the voice unlock commands.

The phone is online, Wifi is activated. When entering Safe Mode it showed it was downloading something, for example.

Developer mode is active but I think that USB debug is off (adb devices shows the device but says "offline" next to it).

I can access the recovery menu (power + volume-up at boot) - is it possible to "adb sideload" something that will help (like a replacement lockscreen?). Like I said it's not the code I have problems with, just the UI not showing.

I've seen use of adb shell input text 1234 to enter codes, but presumably this needs USB debug to be enabled; can I force send text that way? If I plug in a USB keyboard is there a button press that operates the "unlock" onscreen button?

Occasionally when I bring up the power off menu the number keys will show underneath (suggesting the software to show them is installed still) but touching the screen dismisses them with the menu leaving me on the broken lockscreen.

Any suggestions other than a factory reset? Thanks.

Edit: sometimes the voice unlock screen is shown behind the "power off" dialog, again it is dismissed as soon as one closes the dialog.

Edit2: I did a full data wipe [ie factory reset], ensured PIN access was set, used a different theme, etc., am now in same position but have managed to enable USB debug. However, using adb shell to provide input doesn't unlock, it will turn screen on but entry of unlock code appears to fail.

Edit3: tried again with ADM, it puts up a black lockscreen with a padlock symbol that looks like a drag-button but I can't interact with it. Also since wiping I put a widget (messaging) on the lockscreen which I can interact with.

Now that you have USB debugging enabled, you can try resetting some of the database flags associated with the lockscreen...

You will have to adb push sqlite3 to your device, the only independent binary that worked for my devices I pulled from here: XDA - sqlite3 binary June 2015

adb shell
cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
sqlite3 settings.db
update system set value=0 where name='lock_pattern_autolock';
update system set value=0 where name='lockscreen.lockedoutpermanently';
.quit

If you happened to accidentally delete Keyguard.apk and the above does not work, you will have to get another Acer Liquid E3 off ebay or the like (about $80, all we need is the apk, then resell) and adb pull from the source phone and adb push to the destination phone.

I would recommend just flashing stock firmware, or pulling the apk's from stock firmware, but unfortunately that does not exist.


cannot update applications because of confused memory Android 5.1.1 pulls this stunt off very so often.

Smart manager states 408 MB free.

But if I try to update some apps, Android imposes me to "Free up space", stating 79.51 MB is needed (in this instance which ended up requiring only 7.5 MB, go figure).  Suggesting to go to settings/storage.

Go there and an initial bar looks like what Smart manager states (used/available), then one second later shifts over to details, but still indicates 408 MB free.

It is confused and transmitting that state to this user.  What is going on?

After reading the answers, I conclude this is rather violent behaviour and incoherent in communication

The OS attempts to maintain a specific threshold of free space, and that's why you appear to have plenty of space to install something but you get the warning and it fails.  As the link from beeshyams says above, it may or may not be 10% of your total internal storage.

How do you get around it?  Utilize external storage if you are able, or any other strategy you can use to free up the internal storage space.


Unable to root S7180 MTK6577 Phone I purchased a Note 2 clone from dhgate which is running on Android JB 4.1.1. I tried to root it with the binary method and it failed. Please find the messages below.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________
C:\Root_with_Restore_by_Bin4ry_v17\Root_with_Resto re_by_Bin4ry_v17>RunMe.bat
================================================== ====================
=
This script will root your Android phone with adb restore function =

= Script by Bin4ry (thanks to Goroh_kun and tkymgr for the idea) =

= Idea for Tablet S from Fi01_IS01 =

= (22.11.2012) v17 =

================================================== ====================

Device type:
1) Normal
2) Special (for example: Sony Tablet S, Medion Lifetab)

x) Unroot

Make a choice: 1
Checking if i should run in Normal Mode or special Sony Mode

Please connect your device with USB-Debugging enabled now

remote object '/system/app/Backup-Restore.apk' does not exist

remote object '/system/bin/ric' does not exist

.
.

Normal Mode enabled!
.

Pushing busybox....
3881 KB/s (1085140 bytes in 0.273s)

Pushing su binary ....
3207 KB/s (91980 bytes in 0.028s)

Pushing Superuser app
3940 KB/s (996704 bytes in 0.247s)

Making busybox runable ...

.
Please look at your device and click RESTORE!

If all is successful i will tell you, if not this shell will run forever.

Running ...

Successful, going to reboot your device in 10 seconds!

Waiting for device to show up again....

Going to copy files to it's place

**mount: permission denied (are you root?)**

You can close all open command-prompts now!

After reboot all is done! Have fun!

Bin4ry

Press any key to continue . . .

I ran the adb shell and I tried to do an su and I see no popups on my phone. I tried to run the mount command manually to mount the /system file system in read-write mode and I got the message "mount: permission denied".

I did more research and I could see that ro.secure in my boot.img might have been set to 1 and it looks like I need to use Linux to extract the boot.img, make the change and re-pack it. Where can I get the Linux Drivers for MTK6577 phone. I have Linux Mint at home and it did not recognize the phone when I plugged in via USB. Or is there an easy way to root this device?

On some MTK65xx device, the Bin4ry script failed to reboot the device after the first step. So, you have to do that manually.

So, right after this line appear "Successful, going to reboot your device in 10 seconds!"
wait until the Restore data closes, then reboot

I have the same problem with my local branded tablet, and manual reboot solved the problem, and the script proceed to step 2 and finished the rooting process.


Can't fully delete apps on Android? Pokemon Go is encountering bugs on my install, and I want to completely uninstall it and reinstall, but Android won't let me. After uninstalling, the icon disappears and the app appears to be gone, but if I click "Install" on Google Play, the game immediately reappears on my device without downloading, meaning that Android is still keeping the entire app on my device and is not letting me reinstall to fix the issues. I can't find where on my device the actual files are kept. I tried deleting the leftover files under Android/obb, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling from an APK that I found, but that doesn't work, because the game is still installed. I tried resetting and clearing my cache multiple times.
I know that reinstalling will fix the issue with the bugs, too, because I was able to install the game on my secure folder profile, and it worked perfectly. If Android would just allow me to delete the app, I wouldn't have wasted the last five hours of my life.
Any advice?

Go to Settings > Application manager > Pokemon Go > CLEAR CACHE and CLEAR DATA, FORCE STOP and then UNINSTALL.

Reinstall it again and it should work fine.


I can't hear the caller I can't hear audio from other side, but the caller is able to hear me.
It's not always been like this. When I make a phone call (including to voicemail), I can't hear the other party and the other party can't hear me.

Your earpiece speaker may be dead. When you put your phone in speaker mode it uses different speaker(s). Some people use a bluetooth earpiece to get around this, but if that's not something you want to do then you may want to check and see if your phone is still in warranty.
Also, depending on your phone you can try taking a small brush and cleaning around your earpiece speaker. In some cases dust and other debris can collect and muffle the speaker, and considering how tiny these speakers and their speaker grills are (again, depends on your phone) it doesn'take much dust or debris to make it hard to hear. When i worked for Verizon this was a common problem that we encountered on a daily basis. Hopefully, that's all it is.

source: Roans answer in this post


how do you delete specific contacts in ICS? I have a Nexus S phone just updated to ICS. This forum was very helpful in finding out ICS' now more cumbersome way to delete specific calls from call logs. Thank You.

It's a new year, and I want to clean out some dead wood from the contact list. But for the life of me I cannot find a way on the phone to delete a specific record from the contacts list.

Is a browser into my gmail contacts screen my only option to manage deletion of individual names on my phone's contact list?

Is my only contact management option on the phone to clear the whole list and re-sync after updating the list on the web site?

Open a contact from the "People" app (the contact list) by tapping on its name, then press the Menu button (the Galaxy Nexus analogue to this should be the ... button). One of the menu options should be "Delete".


How do I get the tablet gmail client to allow me to swipe to archive like the phone client I have a HTC One V and a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 - in the One V, I can archive a message by swiping it. On the galaxy tab, I need to select the message, and hit the swipe button. The phone runs android 4.01, and the tablet runs 4.1

Is there any way I can get the tablet gmail client to behave like the phone gmail client?

Interestingly, the issue was resolved by an update. My mother's Galaxy tab runs gmail 4.1.2, mine seems to have been updated to 4.3 at some point, and one of the things this update did is add swipe to archive.

The answer seems to be, "get the newer version"


Is it possible to shut down all antennae except for the gps? I am thinking of buying an Android phone soon (Probably Desire HD), and would like to use it to record hiking trips GPS data.
All those run tracking apps seems just right to me, but I am looking for something that can run more than a few hours, so I figured that turning off the wifi/3g/cell antennae will give me a much longer battery life.
Is it possible to achieve it easily? Maybe only with root access?

You can activate the Airplane mode to shutdown everything (calls, wifi, etc), and then re-activate the GPS. Only the GPS Antenna will be activated... I think :D


Email-client with Sent emails from many emails under IMAP? I am struggling to set up graphical email-client program in Debian, more here and here. I have a similar problem with Android. I would like to see Sent -emails in my android phone. How can I see my sent -emails in my Android -phone from many email -addresses?

Profile

  I use IMAP. I have currently many devices such as laptop, Android and iPad -- to manage the same emails (some odd lag every-now-and-then). I have many email -addresses connected with apps such as Gmail -app by Google and K-9 Mail where I use IMAP.

As with IMAP mails are stored centrally on the server, you can see all mails from all IMAP clients. You can automatically store sent mails to a "Sent" folder (instead of only send them and not storing them), which is configured on a per-client basis.

I cannot tell for your desktop clients how to do this, but with K9 you can select the folder in

Menu → More → Settings → Account settings → Folders → Folder for Sent objects

Just in the Folders menu, you will find some more special folders you can define (e.g. for drafts).

Having your "Sent" folder defined on all your clients (and always having defined the same), you should be able to easily view your sent mails from all clients, regardless of the fact from which client a mail was sent.


How to get my lost Xperia SL back even after factory reset? I'm new to this forum, I have lost my Xperia SL yesterday in a bus. I have registered police complaint with my IMEI number. I was trying to locate the phone using android device manager when someone uses my phone's internet. so far nothing is going correct.

When i log in to the google play with my email-id, my mobile phone model has been showing.

I have a doubt that, when the thief does a factory reset, and sign in using a new account in google play, will i able to still detect my phone with its registered model number?
will i able to track my mobile with any of the technology? (I have not installed any tracking apps in my mobile).
or i have to wait for the police to track it with my imei number?

Can anyone help me to clear my doubts?

I have not changed my password of my gmail, so that i may have the more possibilites of tracking my device.

As soon as the device gets factory-reset, you can forget about tracking it with Google's Device Manager: As your Google Account on the device is gone then, there's no way for Google's DM to communicate with it.

Unless you've installed some anti-theft solution which integrates with the ROM (and thus survices a factory-reset – a feature offered e.g. by Cerberus, if your device is rooted), you will have lost all control then. But even a ROM-integrated solution would be gone as soon as a new ROM is flashed.

As long as it's still working, you could take a second device and follow the lost one. Once in range that you should be able to see it, you could trigger the 5-minutes-permanent-ringer. In the hope for an "honest finder", who should take this as a proof and hand your device back to you.

Don't wait too long, or the battery might be dead!


htc explorer not loaded after factory reset I have rooted my HTC Explorer and it worked well. Due to some memory problems, it became slow. So I did a factory reset, after that my HTC Explorer is not loading, it shows only logo screen.

What can I do?

Switch off your phone.Charge it to full.Then remove your battery and leave it untouched for about 2 - 3 hours.Then put the battery and try switching on.If this does not work try flashing stock firmware.


Can't get into Clockworkmod recovery on LG Optimus 2x I flashed a MoDaCo ROM this afternoon just to try it on my LG Optimus 2x P990, which was on ICS (CM9). I see that it's based on the offical LG Optimus 2x ROM, but I decided to flash it back to Android 4.0.4 ICS again, the one I was coming from.

But I can't get into ClockworkMod Recovery. I didn't find ROM Manager on my phone after flash (it works, except for Market and has very many bugs), so I reinstalled it by sending the *.apk to my email. I installed CWM successfully, but I can't get into it. I have tried the volume and power button method and reboot from ROM Manager. None of them worked.

My phone does works (call and such), but I can't get into CWM, which is really annoying.

I fixed it by flashing ClockWorkMod and the boot image manually. Then, I used the volume down and power buttons to get into it. Now, I'm running Android 4.0.4 ICS again.


Lollipop Update Issue: Google Apps I'm using a Moto G 2nd Gen, and I have recently updated to the new lollipop version. In the last day, I've had to restart the phone a dozen times, as after being powered on, it becomes completely unresponsive in about 10-20 minutes. None of my Google Apps work, the phone freezes, and it is impossible to use.

I wanted to do a factory reset but it won't even allow me to transfer or backup my recent files. It just freezes.

I've seen a few other questions with this issue, does anyone know any fixes?

edit: it occasionally gives me the notification "Google Apps is not responding" but I can't do anything as the screen is unresponsive.

Boot to recovery, and remove gapps manually. You can also backup apps and their settings using adb backup -all -apk -nosystem


automatically choose voip service when dialing? Is there a way to setup my phone so that when I dial someone who has an account with a voip service (skype, viber etc.) it will use that instead of the regular call? (I need to be registered with the service and the contact is known in the service app's contacts)

This is a feature of gingerbread, if you're using the built in sip client.  In Settings -> Call settings there is a setting called "Use Internet Calling" which you can set to "Only for Internet Calls".  Then if the contact has a sip number, it will call that directly sip->sip instead of going out over the phone connection.


Making network drive share accessible from Android device and part of its media library I would like my Android devices to be able to play music that's stored on a Windows PC's network shared drive.

The important thing to me is that the Android device not only be able to access the network share (I know there are lots of apps that will do this), but that the Android operating system consider the music files on the network share to be included in its media library database. Most music playing apps use the device's official media library database as the source of available music.

I am not interested in suggestions for media playing apps that will play from a network share. I want to be able to use ANY music playing app that uses the Android media library, so I am only interested in solutions that will actually affect the media library database.

I dont know exactly what you want but ES file explorer has its own network tab that you can access shares on PC and stream media to android device. You can make favorites from them and name music for that matter. If you want you can install Kodi app to android and from there you can make local music and network music into one big mash up/hybrid library - i think that would do the trick. More on Kodi: https://kodi.tv/


phone stolen and locked but recovered My wife's android phone was stolen so she locked it remotely. About a week later we were able to make contact with the thief and he returned it for a small reward.

How do we unlock it?

After turning the phone on, you will be prompted to enter a password. If prior to the theft, you had the phone locked with a code, you should be able to enter that code to get in.

If your phone had no lock prior to the disappearance, you will have to enter the code that you chose when locking using Google find my device.

As you can see in the screenshot, being that this phone doesn't have a code lock, it asks me to choose one when locking. Does this screen seem familiar?


Home, Back, Menu, Search buttons not working Suddenly, Home, Back, Menu, Search buttons are not working.  No amount of rebooting or taking out the battery work.

I saw somewhere that clearing the Dalvik cache might work, but I got as far as getting adb running, only to discover I need root access to clear the Dalvik cache.

This means the provisioning (first run) got somehow interrupted.

To fix this, run the following command from a root terminal or from adb shell:

sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db "INSERT INTO secure (name,value) VALUES ('device_provisioned','1');"

and then reboot.


Nexus 4 won't upgrade to Lollipop Bought a factory refurbished Nexus 4 today. It started with jellybean on the first boot, a few updates later it gets to 4.4.4. Now it tells me that my system is up to date. I have another Nexus 4 running Lollipop 5.0.1. I am on T-Mobile if that maters.

Not matter. But not a sw upgrade uploaded on nexus user center for nexus 4. All u can do that is wait for sw release


How can run native executables compiled for ARM on unrooted Android devices? Following this tutorial I have compiled a Hello World! ARM binary from C source using gcc.
I want to run this program on my unrooted Android phone but I can't figure out an easy way to do it.

What I've tried:

Copying hello to /sdcard and trying to run it from there. This doesn't work because the internal storage is mounted with the noexec flag.
Copying hello to /data/local/ using cp hello /data/local/ or cat hello > /data/local/hello as explained here. This also doesn't work and I get a "permission denied" error.
Installing a terminal emulator program such as Termux and using the Termux app to copy hello from /sdcard/hello to /data/data/com.termux/files/home, running chmod +x hello and then running ./hello from the Termux home directory within the Termux app. This works but is not a feasible solution.

Is there a better/easier way to run native ELF executables on an unrooted Android phone directly through ADB and doesn't involve installing any apps?

In addition to noexec mount option, /sdcard is emulated filesystem with fixed file permissions. So files can't be set executable. But some file explorers like MiXplorer support executing binaries/scripts from /sdcard through /system/bin/sh.
/data/local has permissions 0751, owner root.root 1, so normal apps can't access it. However from adb shell use /data/local/tmp which has user/group owner 2000 (aid_shell) 2 and selinux is also allowed 3. So you won't get permission denied.
If you don't want to use PC, terminal emulator is the only option. On Termux you can also add /data/local/tmp (or a subdirectory) to $PATH by editing ~/.profile if you want to avoid placing binaries on multiple locations. But the directory should be world-readable and selinux must not be denying the access or execution of binaries.


I can't use Google play games app When I open play games it says "this app requires the latest version of Google play games app" but I already updated it's latest version.I cleared data,uninstalled to it's factory version and again updated it but nothing is happening.still facing this problem, I need it's solutions real fast.I can't safe my game progress.so please make a solution for it.

What you can do is go to the Google Play Store >> My apps tab and see if there are any updates available manually. You can also do so by typing in the specific app and seeing if there's an Update option along side Uninstall. As I see, the last update was made on June 11, 2015, which was yesterday, if you're in New York like me.  You should try updating again if you didn't since June 11.

If you check and you are updated, you probably have to update Google Play Services here, which was updated on the 4th of June, 2015.

If neither of these methods work, it means Google needs to release another fixed update.


incoming call ring volume ( sound - silent - vibrate ) I used to be able to change the incoming call ring volume from sound to silent to vibrate using the volume buttons. Today I went to Sound settings and unticked "Audible touch tones" and since that I cannot use  the silence mode. Only volume or vibrate is available.

any idea how to make it back to sound <-> silent <-> vibrate

HTC Desire on CM7

I don't think the Audible Touch Tones menu item is actually related, since that controls whether or not you hear dial pad tones when dialing a number.

The setting you want should be CyanogenMod Settings->Sound->Silent State, and you'll just need to make sure that it's checked. I have Audible Touch Tones disabled as well, but it doesn't interfere with my ability to enable/disable the Silent State option.


How to use multiple whatsapp, paytm, hike and more accounts in an Android phone? How to use multiple whatsapp, paytm, hike and more accounts in an Android phone? Or any other android app which uses authenticated single user login apps.

You can login with another user, by adding multiple user in your Android device. We can Enable Multiple User Accounts on Android 4.2 and Above.

Create another User Account by opening the notification by double pulldown notification to get the other quick settings.
In that other quick settings, on top-right corner you'll find a round icon. That is Admin user icon(if you're using it for first time).
Click on it and create a new user(it'll remain until you delete it) or use a guest user(it'll be deleted after using it, but you can also keep it).
After creating new/guest user. Just go to Google Play Store, install whatever app you want. Don't worry it'll use your existing same app files but not users data, so it won't download a new one.
You can login those apps with another id. Like this you can use Whatsapp, hike, facebook, twitter, paytm and more...
Before that, go to more settings Click and open that created new/guest user's settings and enable Allow phone calls and SMS. So that you'll get verification SMS or call.

If any help you can comment it, i'll keep on updating it if any change or improvement.


Temporarily cache notifications Is there a way to completely block notifications on my Android device? I'm not asking for "silent mode" or "remove individual apps, one by one". What I'd like, ideally, is an app that disables temporarily (like Windows 8 does) for say, 1, 3 and 5 hours all notifications.

This includes sound, vibration, LED blinking, and the notification "banners" that appear on the notification area. Except obviously the permanent notifications, like Avast!, alarm clocks and TuneIn (just to name a few). And then, after the timer expires, show all notifications that have been blocked.

Even if root is required, is there any possible way to achieve this? When I'm studying, I really hate having pending notifications in my bar, so instead of dismissing it, I'm forced to check them. I think Honeycomb tablets with the merged bottom bar had the feature to turn off notifications (although not temporarily, it was as easy as flipping the switch on when you were done).

Edit: I'm running Android 4.2.2 AOSP (no root but I know how to root it) on a Nexus 7. Fully OEM.

Edit 2: There is definitely no notification toggle on my device.

(Click image to enlarge)

EDIT

Notifications Off is an android app available in play store, it will help you to make profiles so that you can block Some/All app notifications.

ROOT is required for the app to work.

There is feature called "Quiet hours" in CM 10.1 .

It's available for your Nexus 7. Just install that ROM and set a time interval.
During that time period you can mute notifications, notification light and disable vibrations.

Settings-->Sound-->Quiet Hours

OR

If you prefer to use ASOP, you can uncheck the Show Notification option in Apps info.


Is there a way to change the color of the navigation bar? Or to make it transparent Some apps change the color of the navigation bar color to their color scheme (or even make it transparent). But most of the time it remains black. Is there a way to change its color for all screens or to make transparent?

It's okay if rooting or custom ROM is needed for this.

Install GravityBox compatible with your Android version. It requires a rooted device with a compatible Xposed Framework installed. Once you install it, enable its module in Xposed Installer app, launch it, go to Navigation tweaks, and make changes which you are looking for. Master toggle listed there requires a reboot for changes to take effect.


how could I view google maps search history? (not location history) how could I view google maps search history?

I mean beyond . a day or two, so eg a month back or a year back.

I don't mean location history.

You can view and search your history on https://myactivity.google.com .
There is the option to „filter by date & product“, from where you can select Maps and a period of time.


Add WhatsApp images to Google Photo album in the cloud I have a HUAWEI P20 phone and I am using the native Google Photos app to organize my photos on this device. Only the Camera folder is set for automatic upload to the cloud.

I am using Viber and WhatsApp on this phone. Their image folders are not uploaded automatically to Google Photos in the cloud and I do not need this, so that automatic uploading for this folders is turned off.

I also have a couple of albums in Google Photos to which I add particular photos from the Camera, Viber Images and WhatsApp Images folders. The problem is that only photos from the Camera and Viber Images folders I added to my albums on my HUAWEI device appear in the cloud (when I view them online at https://photos.google.com/). The images from the WhatsApp Images folder I add to the albums never appear online.

Does anybody know how to solve this problem?

P.S. I've looked at full image paths in Viber Images and WhatsApp Images folders to find any difference that may lead to this effect. It seems, paths for Viber and WhatsApp images have the same structure and this is not the source of the problem:

/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images/IMG-20200108-WA0000.jpg

/storage/emulated/0/viber/media/Viber Images/IMG-9104f1a4b3f873e1d9c8806bb9a8bd25-V.jpg

And sure, I am using the latest official firmware on my phone.

You have to manually change the settings for it to be backed up.

In the Google Photos app:

go to the Albums tab
locate the PHOTOS ON DEVICE section
scroll to find the WhatsApp Images folder
when you click to open it, on top, right after the title, there is a Back up & sync switch -> click to activate it.

If you also want to back up the videos, there's a separate folder for that, you have to activate the switch for it too - and for any other local folder you might want to have in the cloud.


Enable Magisk Hide on Magisk 20.4 Magisk 20.4 release notes say

Please be aware that MagiskHide is no longer enabled by default

(Emphasis supplied)
Default probably means there is a workaround to enable it but I couldn't find a way to do it or find anything on searching
Edit:Enabling Magisk Hide in Menu does not reveal the settings option to select apps for applying hide
How do I do that ? (Please don't suggest installing earlier versions, which I may well do, if I don't find a way )

You can find the option to enable "Magisk Hide" in the settings of Magisk app:

Afterwards the side menu has a new entry:


Cant access my samsung galaxy tab 3 for kids as my google account is blocked My son has blocked my daughters Samsung galaxy Tab 3 for kids.  It wont recognise my google account as it has exceeded the 5 tries. I have tried holding down the home, sound and power buttons and the little man appears but I don't get any msg about factory reset. Can anyone help?

How to hard reset:

Warning! All data will be lost! Use this at your own risk!

1.Turn off your tablet

2.Push together volume up + home key + power key until Samsung logoo appears

3.Select with volume key "wipe data" and push power key to confirm

4.Select "yes" and push power key to confirm

5.Wait until format ends

6.Push power key to confirm "reboot"

7.Wait until the tablet restarts


After wipe Apps are still shown as installed on Android's Web Market. How can I install them? I accidentally formatted my phone. Now, when I login to my google account it doesn't install my new apps. When I login through internet, it shows in "My Library" that those apps are installed, but they are not. What should I do?

Simplest thing is to open each app (even if it says "Installed") and install each one.


What do the different coloured bars on the 1x1 widget in Better Battery Stats app mean? I understand these are supposed to signify ratios of different phone states but I cannot get my head around which is supposed to be which.


Wifi and Google Play access after factory reset for off contract Sprint HTC Evo 4G I no longer use my old HTC Evo 4G I got from Sprint. I want to give it to my toddler so he can play games. Currently, since it is off contract it can't access the mobile network but it still can access WiFi.

If I do a factory reset on the phone will it still be able to have WiFi access? Will I still be able to access the Google Play store with my account?

A factory-reset deletes all the user data. It's as if you had a brand-new tablet (but any system updates you've previously installed will still be there).

This means the tablet won't have the password for connecting to your Wi-Fi network, nor the password for your Google account. The first time you turn it on, it will take you through the same initial setup process as when it was new: it'll prompt you to connect to a Wi-Fi network and log into a Google account. If you log in with the same Google account as before, it'll still be able to access all the apps (and books, music, films, etc.) you previously installed/bought from Google Play


is it possible to get app code from apk and customize it? is it possible to get android socurce code from apk.

i had seen on some tutorial that shows the way to get code from apk just guessting if we can do it really .

please guide they way to do it if possible

i was able to get source code but issue is that when i try to run it in eclipse i see lots of error .

There are decompilers out there, but it's very likely that what you get out of it will be a garbled mess. If the developer used Android's ProGuard, you may not be able to reverse engineer the resulting code. The only site I know of for decompiling is this one.  Be careful and keep it legal.  Source code is intellectual property.  If the developer has a website or says their code is open source, contact them to find their github repo.


Recurring Notifications Problem I have an HTC One M8 running Android KitKat 4.4.4, HTC Sense version 6.0. I've owned the phone since Dec. 30, 2014.

Not sure how, or why, but about 3 days after purchase, I started to have a problem with notifications, regardless of whether the phone was set to silent, sound, or vibrate. If I don't address a new notification the moment comes in, my phone proceeds to vibrate every 3 minutes until I can get to the notification (I teach all day, so I can't get to my phone). As you can imagine, this is quite frustrating.

I have gone through every setting on every app (installed or purchased) four times to ensure the vibration setting is shut off. I have done a factor reset, and put my backup on the phone. I do not have a purchased app giving me notification reminders. I have contacted HTC for device support, spent 4 hours with them, and they have suggested I send my phone in. Not a fan of that.

This seems really similar to a setting on iPhone which allows you to set when you want to be reminded of missed notifications. I just can't seem to find where to shut it off on this device.

TIA for any help/advice.

go to setting > accessibility > notification reminder.


Fast, easy, reliable way to transfer large files between Android devices? (aka. WiFi Direct stories from the field) I'd like to be able to easily transfer large files wirelessly, fast, between Android devices - preferably without requiring root.

As a secondary objetive, it wouldn't hurt if the same solution could be used, to transfer files between the Android devices and a Windows PC.

Specifically, I'm trying to exchange files between my Nexus 7 (Android 4.2.2) and Samsung Galaxy S2 (Android 4.0.4).

Bluetooth is simply too slow, so that's out of the question
Transfer via the Internet is also not an option, hence so is cloud-based solutions
Only Nexus 7 supports NFC, so that's out too
Fast File Transfer looked promising and very simple, but does not work on "Devices that don't have WiFi Tethering setting, such as the Nexus 7"

Wi-Fi direct (supported from Android 4.0 and up) seems to be a decent lowest common denominator between my two devices, however...

Galaxys S2's native Send via Wi-Fi Direct sees the Nexus, but seems to get stuck in the "Connecting..." most times. When there finally seems to be breakthrough, I get "Waiting..." and a spinning circle. Even if it worked, it would only allow me to send from the Galaxy S2 to the Nexus 7, as a similar option os not present on the Nexus 7.

J4velin's WiFi Direct is no longer available in the Play Store, with the following explanation:

  WiFi Direct drivers are broken on many devices, which led to users leaving negative reviews for this app. As I don't see any sense in keeping a free app published when only getting 1-star-ratings (for an issue which only your device manufacturer can fix), the app is no longer available at the Play Store.

Nick Adams' WiFi Direct File Transfer seems flaky at best. Invations from Nexus 7 to Galaxy S2 are never received. Invitations from Galaxy S2 are mostly received, but even when accepting promptly, the peers doesn't always show as connected. When they finally do, usually after quite a long wait, I can select a file to send but it's never transferred -
"Transfer failed" it says almost immediately in the notification bar.

budius inc's WiFi Shoot is working slightly better, but still very unreliable. I actually managed to (occasionally) send files both ways, but never when attempting connection from the Nexus 7. To send from the Nexus 7 to the Galaxy S2, I had to go through this akward manoeuvre:

Share the file on the Nexus 7 via the WiFi Shoot intent
Start the Receive WiFi Shoot app on the Galaxy S2
Invite the Nexus 7 from the Galaxy S2 (never the other way around!)
Accept the invitation on the Nexus 7
Press the Shoot button on the Galaxy S2

Take the whole switching back and forth between devices, and garnish with random delays or failures in any step of the process...

Is there really no easy, reliable, fast way to transfer files directly between different Android devices?

Generally, my experience with Wi-Fi Direct is all but positive...

A device often won't even see a device lying next to it
Sometimes, it will see the other device, only to have it disappear from the list, before I have the chance to connect
When I do have a chance, invations are not realiably received (from Galaxy S2 to Nexus 7 mostly reliable, but never worked the other way around)
When invitations are received (and accepted), a partnership rarely manages to be setup ("invited" or "connecting")
And even when that happens, some apps can't seem to transfer files through it...

*Sigh*

Maybe J4velin's explanation pretty much sums up the sad state of Wi-Fi Direct on Android, which otherwise seemed as the best solution to my quest?

Rather than sleeping, I spent a few more hours experimenting.

I found what works best for my needs is an FTP server app.

For casual transfers, when both devices are connected to the same network, I'll just transfer through my Access Point. With the limitations that implies.

If I'm not near an AP or just want full speed, I'll deal with the hassle of setting of the Wi-Fi direct partnership and then launch the FTP server. It usually takes 3-5 tries before the devices connect, but once they do, FTP works stable and fast.

Furthermore, this solution also satisfies my secondary goal, of being able to use the same method to transfer files between Android device and PC.

Now, there are a lot of FTP server apps out there. Most are ad-supported, most are rather big as well. To my surprise, there's also quite a performance difference between them.

I thought I'd might as well shared my experience with the four FTP server apps I tested...

Required Permissions

None of the tested apps required ridiculous permissions. Just the following special permissions:

FULL NETWORK ACCESS
MODIFY OR DELETE THE CONTENTS OF YOUR USB STORAGE MODIFY OR DELETE THE CONTENTS OF YOUR SD CARD
PREVENT TABLET FROM SLEEPING PREVENT PHONE FROM SLEEPING

In addition, Andreas Liebig's FTPServer also required:

READ PHONE STATUS AND IDENTITY

Speed Test Setup

The speed test wasn't exactly scientifically performed, but devices were in the exact same spots during tests.

FTP server app running on Nexus 7
FileZilla FTP client running on Windows 8 laptop
Both connected to the same 802.11n network. Windows reported the link speed as 130 Mbps (I know this is not exact)
I downloaded the same 103,4 MiB large file two times through each app

Test Results

All stats, numbers and other facts are as of March 30th 2013.

Apps ordered by measured throughput, fastest on top.

Andreas Liebig's FTPServer

Price: Free
Latest version: 2.4.0 (2013-03-26)
Size: 78 kB
Install base: 100.000 - 500.000
Avg. rating: 4.6
Android OS requirement: 1.1+
Comments: Initial configuration required, not plug-and-play. Detailed server log on main screen when service is running. No anonymous access possible?
Throughput: 103.4 MiB downloaded in 43 seconds @2.4 MiB/sec, 103.4 MiB downloaded in 47 seconds @2.2 MiB/sec

Boby Ertanto's My FTP Server

Price: Free (ad supported, ad-free version available)
Latest version: 2.1 (2013-02-28)
Size: 1.2 MB
Install base: 50.000-100.000
Avg. rating: 4.1
Android OS requirement: 2.2+
Comments: Simple interface. Very basic settings.
Throughput: 103.4 MiB downloaded in 48 seconds @2.2 MiB/sec, 103.4 MiB downloaded in 49 seconds @2.1 MiB/sec

The Olive Tree's Ftp Server

Price: Free (ad supported, ad-free version available)
Latest version: 1.11 (2013-01-14)
Size: 1.1 MB
Install base: 100.000 - 500.000
Avg. rating: 4.4
Android OS requirement: 2.1+
Comments: Based on Apache ftp server. Simple interface. Configurable port, home dir, username/password, service resillience, energy saving etc.
Throughput: 103.4 MiB downloaded in 56 seconds @1.8 MiB/sec, 103.4 MiB downloaded in 56 seconds @1.8 MiB/sec

Berserker's FTPDroid

Price: Free (ad supported, ad-free version available)
Latest version: 1.3.1 (updated 2012-12-28)
Size: 2.0 MB
Install base: 50.000 - 100.000
Avg. rating: 3.9
Android OS requirement: 2.2+
Comments: Based on  Pure-FTPd. Simple interface. Configurable port, home dir, username/password, service resillience, energy saving etc.
Troughput: 103,4 MiB downloaded in 135 seconds @0,8 MiB/sec, 103,4 MiB downloaded in 121 seconds @0,9 MiB/sec

Conclusion

Not only is Andreas Liebig's FTPServer the only completely free of the apps tested, it's incredibly light weight (78 kB!), can run on any Android phone you can find but also has the fastest throughput of the apps tested.

Once the initial configuration is done, the main window simply displays your standard FTP server log, whereas other applications pretty much displays nothing but a few buttons and maybe the IP address and port of the server.

Thank you, Andreas!


Configure Android as proxy server Hi am trying to convert my mobile device as proxy server, I searched net but cant find proper solution.

What I am trying to do :

Setup proxy server on android and use that mobile IP/Proxy IP address in my PC browser as proxy.

In Pc we can use Squid Proxy for this purpose I am searching similar framework in Android/Mobile to convert my mobile into proxy server

You could try SandroProxy, a free app developed by XDA Developers member SandroBSupp.

  It can act as pass-through proxy, traffic is not stored, ssl tunnel
  remains the same to server.

  SandroProxy doesn’t require root. All you need to do is to hit the
  Play button and the app will serve as an SSL MITM proxy (Secure Socket
  Layer Man-In- the -Middle-proxy). Your HTTP/HTTPS requests will be
  redirected through a web server, making your sent and received data
  invisible and, thus, protected.

You can access transparent proxy, a network layer proxy which, in turn, redirects the traffic needed by your phone for proxy identification. The only traffic that this proxy modifies are those which are absolutely necessary for proxy identification and authorization.

Uses proxy on localhost:8008

Haven't used it but it looks promising for what you're trying to achieve.


What does "mount namespace separation" in the app SuperSU do? The title pretty much says it all. What does  "mount namespace separation" in the app SuperSU do and how does it affect other apps?

From the man page for mount:

  A mount namespace is the set of filesystem mounts that are visible to a process.

It makes it so that the superuser has separate mount points visible to it from the rest of the system/apps.  I believe the intention is to prevent any issues when remounting partitions, such as remounting /system as read-write.  With this option enabled it should remain read-only to unprivileged apps.

It can, however, just break things more.  It made my SD card unusable in root apps: Internal and external SD storage inaccessible as root