Problem Sync'ing/Downloading from Google Play Android Enthusiasts

I've been having problems when trying to download apps from Google Play. I'm relatively new to the Android Scene. Whenever I try to download and install from Google Play, I get a (-101) error, telling me it couldn't be downloaded and installed. On a related note, since I can't get the apps to sync via wifi, I've been trying to sync via USB, which doesn't work well either. Doesn't even show up on my external devices. Is there anyone who can lend a hand?

Go to

Settings>Apps>All>Google Play Store>Clear Cache & Clear Data
Settings>Apps>All>Downloads>Clear Cache & Clear Data
Settings>Apps>All>Download Manager>Clear Cache & Clear Data

If you're rooted I would suggest wiping cache & dalvik-cache from your recovery.
Also you could try installing the latest version of google play application using the apk.


How can I have Android automatically connect to a VPN only when on an unsecured WiFi Network? Let's say I want to connect to a WiFi hotspot, but it is unsecured. I'd like to connect to a VPN server, but only if I'm on an unsecured WiFi network. If I'm on a secured network or data, I'd like it to stay in VPN off mode.

I don't think any app can do this, given that you want to run another app or script to connect to a vpn based on conditions of open/secure WiFi

Hence, you need to look at automation, I prefer MacroDroid ,being easier to learn-that's why I use it :-), and free version offering creation of upto 5 macros.

Coming to the solution, approach is based on this logic

Connect to an open network only if not connected to secure network.
You have a list of open networks to start with, which can be manually updated. Detection of a new open network and dynamically updating list of open newtworks is creating complexity , since you may not want to connect to any available open network for reasons like- how long it permits your session, ease of logging into it, stability, speed amongst others.
You have an app of your choice to create a VPN connection.

The macro would look like this.  I have tested only once , since there are no open networks around where I live.  The app used for creating VPN was VyprVPN. That is the app site link. My PS is not connecting to give you PS link . This app also gives you option of connecting to untrusted networks automatically, once you enter the network name. Connection beyond a limit is subscription based.

Trigger

WiFi enabled (macro will only trigger if any WiFi is connected)

Actions

Wifi connect to network> configure> connect to network> select all open networks from the list ( you have connected to these in the past and show up on your cell)

Wait 30 Sec (wait before next action, configurable)

Launch Application . From the drop down menu choose preferred app to create VPN

Constraints

WiFi State > not connected to network> from list choose all secure networks

The macro gets triggered only when WiFi is enabled, and actions executed only when the constraint is TRUE, meaning you are not connected to any securenetwork. It then connects you to open WiFi from the list of open networks and after a pause launches the application to create a VPN

This is the skeleton macro and can be tweaked for optimal performance after testing and you may like to add additional things like sounding an alarm, announcing that you are connected to open network, popping up a notification etc.

Hope this solves...all the best


Make images automatically accessible to chrome in PC I have the following use case:

Make photo with Android phone
Use that photo in a web application in Chrome, in my PC, by clicking on the button "attach file" which opens a file browser.

I want to avoid being force to send anything anywhere. I just want to click the "attach file" button in the web page and be able to select the photo that I just made with my phone.

Currently my workflow is a nightmare:

Make photo
Send it from my phone with WhatsApp, on a chat with myself
Go to my computer, to the https://web.whatsapp.com tab
Open the chat with myself
Download the photo to my computer
Go to the webpage where I want to access the photo.

Instead of WhatsApp I could use email or any other sharing mechanism. It would still be a pita.

I have sync setup in my Chrome for Android, so that passwords and so on are automatically shared. Can I do something similar with photos?

One option would be Dropbox. The Dropbox app for Android includes an option to auto-upload photos to your Dropbox storage in the cloud. Then, if you also have Dropbox installed on your PC, they'll be automatically synced to the Dropbox folder on your PC. You can select them from the file upload dialog in Chrome, or drag-and-drop them from an Explorer window into Chrome.


ADB disconnects frequently while moving in a car I filed this as an Android bug (AOSP Issue #175555) and somebody recommended posting here. I'm actually not sure it's appropriate to post this here but I'll give it a shot.

Get into a car a passenger.
Open your laptop and plug in your phone.
Watch logcat
Ask the driver to make their way to the freeway using a route that take more than 5 minutes.

Roughly, after about 5 minutes the phone will disconnect from ADB. Unplugging the phone and plugging it back in, the phone will reconnect but disconnect. Maybe it's an illusion but it seems the faster the car is driving, the quicker it will disconnect.

I've tested this with an HTC One M7 and a OnePlus One. If the OnePlus is not involved, the HTC always seems to be able to reconnected. However, once the OnePlus can't connect enough times, nothing can connect, not even the HTC One. The OnePlus seems to "poison the well" as it were.

I've tried several different USB cables and ports on two computers, a Macbook Pro and a Lenovo Yoga. I'll be on a road trip this summer and can debugging more with a third phone.

If there are any tools that I can use or commands I can run to help debug this issue, please advise and I'll use them the next time I'm debugging my app in the car.

Lastly, sometimes my OnePlus disconnects while on my desk but it's far less frequent and usually only after a long period of not being used.

Since you are sure that its not a port/USB wire issue and since ADB does detect phone, its not a driver issue either. Hence saying what the real problem is likely not really possible to be accurately predicted. ADB is a very "delicate" stuff. A slight connection problem causes disconnects... My best bet here would be loose connections. You should certainly try with other computers if you can.

For timebeing, there is one thing you can try if you debug while phone is on (and not in recovery or fastboot mode), ADB through wireless. Like using your wifi for adb. The adb client will be on your laptop and you can issue commands just like normal to phone through your laptop. Although modern ROMs have inbuilt option for this called ADB over wireless which you can find under settings->developer options. But in case you dont have that option, you can also use third party apps that allow you to do so like ADB Konnect.

Just install and open any such app and it should give you an address according to wifi/network you are connected to. Lets say it gives you 123.456.7.8.

Then open CMD/Terminal in laptop and use the command adb connect 123.456.7.8 to get connected to adb. Then you can issue all your commands as normal.

The downside is that your phone Has to be on. So in recovery/fastboot etc, you cant work using this.


Is a device Unlock Code required when changing providers? So... I just switched from AT&T to Cricket Wireless. They gave me a new SIM, and AT&T gave me an Unlock Code. I have an Android Samsung Galaxy Skyrocket S2.

I use Cricket Wireless.

I put in the new SIM, and was never prompted for a Code. I was able to get hooked up to the Cricket network and make calls just fine.

Am I good to go? Or will I be screwed if I don't get my Unlock Code entered?

You're good for now, but don't lose that unlock code!

Cricket is now owned by AT&T, and you can use either an unlocked GSM phone or a locked-to-AT&T or locked to Cricket GSM phone on Cricket. But if you should ever need to use that Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-i727 on (for example) T-Mobile, you'll need the unlock code!

To unlock a Samsung Galaxy phone, you just need to put a non-AT&T, non-Cricket SIM card in it, and then power-on the phone. It should prompt you for the unlock code. If you don't have a non-AT&T, non-Cricket SIM card, then just visit a T-Mobile store, and let them put one of theirs in it.

AT&T has unlocking instructions here:
http://www.att.com/media/att/2014/support/pdf/ATTMobilityDeviceUnlockCodeInstructions.pdf


Nexus S and phone charger get unusually hot when plugged in I was using my Nexus S today and it turned off suddenly. I plugged it in to charge and saw it load to the boot splash screen, and then I went to sleep.

When I woke up 2 hours later my phone was dead. I plugged it in to the charge for another half an hour, but both the phone and the charger started getting very hot. I tested my charger and battery with another phone and both seemed to work properly without the excess heat. What happened to my phone that's causing it to heat up like this?

If there's a short in the USB port on the phone it can cause charging to stop and heating up to occur. I guess that's well past your warranty period, but you could still take it into a phone shop and ask about getting the port replaced. I just had that done on my Galaxy Nexus and it only took about 15 minutes once the part came in.


Rooting an ASUS K012 I have an ASUS tablet filled with bloatware which I would like to remove very much. I've read about having to root the device, which I am willing, since I think I left some corrupted files when I was about to reinstall an app and I could not delete it with normal access. But I need to know the risks of rooting an ASUS device, if it were the same as rooting a Samsung device of the same OS, or greater.

My OS is Lollipop by the way.

Thank you, thank you.

Since it's lollipop you'll have to unlock the bootloader before being able to root.(warranty will be void)
Then you can download a compatible recovery and flash it using fastboot.
You can then use the recovery to install su.
Caution: Unlocking bootloader will clear all the data from your tablet.
Lemme know if you understand the risk and are willing to do it. I'll write a guide for you if you want.
Here's a wiki link for unlocking the BL:http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Template:Unlock_Bootloader_Asus


Enable data roaming only for specified providers? I'm living in a country A. My mobile phone provider is located in country B. Unfortunately, I have to enable data roaming to work both in country A and country B. This doesn't costs my roaming costs, because the providers in country A and B work together.

Unfortunately, I'm living also very close to country C. And a lot of time (during shopping, working etc) I go to country C. I always have to explicitly disable data roaming then. Sometimes I forget to do so and then I causes a lot of roaming costs.

So is it possible to allow data roaming only for specific providers? From the Android OS I don't think so, but it should be possible to do it progamatically? Every time the provider changes I would check if it it in the allowed list and if not I would disable data roaming?

Edit: Does anybody know if there are already apps which can do that? Otherwise I would start the development of suach an app.

What if you used tasker/locale with this plugin?  You could then turn off data using APNdroid.


Is There A Mobile Hotspot App With A Firewall to Block Incoming Connections? I've been using the Android mobile hotspot to get an Internet connection while traveling. The stock hotspot is fine for my laptop which is firewalled, but there are a few devices (smart TV, game system, etc) which are not at all secure to put onto an open network.

I want to have a firewall on my mobile hotspot (for blocking all external traffic except return traffic). Is there an app for that? Preferably open source but even paid is fine. My Android isn't rooted, so I would prefer a solution that doesn't require rooting my phone (if possible).

Just in case you might think NAT provides adequate firewalling for security, read here. TLDR; NAT is not a security layer.

I've already tried searching for this here, but I only found a question from someone trying to filter IP addresses that was never answered. None of the hotspots I found in the Play store offered any port blocking features.

Edit:
I should mention that I have reason to believe my carrier's NAT does not block incoming connections. That reason being that running a web server on my phone using NodeJS in Termux will be accessible over the Internet.

I want to have a firewall on my mobile hotspot (for blocking all external traffic except return traffic). Is there an app for that?

No, apps can't do it. It's something at lower level, apps aren't that privileged. VPN apps are a workaround for outgoing connections (because of possible filtering based on UIDs and SOcket_MARKs), but not for incoming connections.

  My Android isn't rooted, so I would prefer a solution that doesn't require rooting my phone (if possible).

Not possible without root (AFAIK), but with root it's simple; thanks to Linux kernel. Since Android uses default policy ACCEPT, drop any unwanted packets:

~# iptables -I INPUT -i rmnet_data1 -m conntrack ! --ctstate ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j DROP
~# iptables -I FORWARD -i rmnet_data1 -m conntrack ! --ctstate ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j DROP

First rule will allow only return traffic for Android device, second for tethered hosts. Replace rmnet_data1 with whatever interface your Mobile Data is using. I hope you won't want to block incoming connections from WiFi interface (wlan0) to let hotspot work.
Note that iptables rules on Android are dynamic, netd keeps on updating them with network changes. So better use these rules with some app like AFWall+.

I'm not an expert but as per my understanding, open ports make sense only when you have a public IP, preferably static, as is the case with fixed line broadband connections and special SIM cards with fixed public IP service. Mobile Network Operators (I assume you are connected to Mobile Data) always do Carrier Grade NAT (sometimes double NAT), basically to address the problem of IPv4 Address Shortage, but it also serves additional interests. They run e.g. transparent caching proxy servers and DNS servers behind this NAT to minimize load on internet bandwidth and to improve performance by reducing latency. When you are behind CGN:

Your public IP changes e.g. when you move.
Private IP you get (usually 10.x.x.x) is assigned by MNO's DHCP server, so it keeps on changing e.g. when the lease expires or when you reconnect.
Even if you get a fixed private IP, your ISP/MNO should forward ports from public IP to your private IP, which they don't. Because there could possibly be hundreds and thousands of customers wishing to forward the same port from same public IP to their devices.

So keeping incoming ports open in this setup serves no purpose except making the MNO's network vulnerable to attacks. And therefore most of the MNOs block incoming connections on all (or under 1024 or at least commonly used) ports. But it can't be tested because of CGN, which - as a side effect - is an additional layer of security, though not a firewall. You have a private IP, not routable on internet, no one can access you from outside, this should be considered security, more or less. That's why VoIP connections are always initiated from clients by letting the STUN server know where they are. And we have to go for solutions like this to accept incoming connections behind NAT.

  there are a few devices (smart TV, game system, etc) which are not at all secure to put onto an open network.

Additionally your Android device is also doing NAT on traffic coming from tethered hosts. And there's no DMZ, UPnP or normal Port Forwarding set up on your Android device. It's another protection layer.

  I have reason to believe my carrier's NAT does not block incoming connections

It would be really knowledgeable if you share how did you conclude this. However if you are sure that their NAT can be traversed/bypassed easily without any support from client side, or if you don't have trust on MNO or their firewalls, do consider setting up a strong firewall.

Common users are more focused on the apps installed on the phone; they are the actual spies. They collect personal data, leak information, do analytics, user profiling, tracking and targeted advertisement. So an outgoing firewall is of much importance.
Complicated firewall solutions for incoming connections are required on servers with listening ports. Android devices don't run servers (usually), except a local DHCP/DNS server (dnsmasq) for hotspot. If you run any services which accept connections from internet, it's another valid reason to setup firewall.


How do I force quit an app while it is on the foreground? I have a malfunctioning security app. It's benign, but it has enabled its proactive security mode when I removed it from the device administrators. This is good, and what that means is that it put the phone in sleep mode and overrid the lock screen to require my password. This what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't accept my password.

Here's the situation:

I removed the app from device administrators.
It put the phone in sleep mode and changed the lock screen.
It disabled the menu buttons.
I cannot exit the screen without entering my password, which it does not accept.

So my plan is to force stop the app, like you can do in iOS. For obvious reasons, I cannot enter the settings app and force quit the app conventionally.

If your USB Debugging is enabled, the you can force close an app using ADB.

adb shell am force-stop com.my.app.package

This command will force close the application.
But you need to know the specific package name. If you are not sure about the package name please google for Application's apk file, u can easily find package name there.
In case you are not familiar with ADB at all please use installer described here


Galaxy S3 mini (i8190N) stuck in boot-loop after flashing custom ROM I've got a S3 Mini (i8190N) & I tried to install a custom ROM to it which failed. My phone will boot but then before the ROM/OS starts it reboots so it's stuck in a Bootloop. I cannot get into Recovery 'cause when I try that it simply just reboots. I can get into download mode!
I'vve had enough messing about trying to find a custom ROM; I don't think there is any out there. (The one I tried was mentioned later on in the thread that it isn't compatible with the model I've got.)

there could be various reasons for bootlooping like installing ROM which has size larger than your phone's HBOOT,
or a bad ROM.


replace settings app After an update I cannot use my settings app it gives an error unfortunately settings app stoped working so reset my phone and now I cant do anything any help on allowing apps from unknown sources without settings app or enable usb debugging without setting any thing will help

There's no other way to change the "unknown sources" setting, but if you root the phone you can find apps to toggle USB debugging simply by searching on Google Play.

There's no way to replace the settings app without replacing the whole ROM. The settings app is just too closely tied to the rest of the system: it's not designed to be replaced.


LG G Flex Power button hangs-up when on calls LG G Flex Rooted no Roms. I have the power button hangs up on calls unchecked, but it hangs up when I am on a call. What do I need to do fix this?

I found it. In order to fix this turn off your phone. Hold volume up, volume down and power button until Hardware key control mode show up, press the volume down key and select Mode OFF. Press the power button to confirm, the phone will reboot and that should fix the problem.


Google Play downloads last forever I have been trying to download several apps from google play. I've got a 3G tested connection but whatever I try to download the download lasts forever. Can I somehow reinstall google play? What can I do?

Thanks.

Go to the apps list in settings, slide to see all apps (including system ones), open Download, clear data and cache of it, reboot and try again. If it doesn't work, try doing the same with Play Store app (you'll need to login again to your Google account).


How can I enable/add USB OTG support to my rooted stock LG P500? I have a rooted LG P500 running stock 2.3.3 with kernel 2.6.35.10.

I would like to use USB OTG features and connect a flash drive to my phone. I have a USB OTG cable that I use with my Nexus 7.  The same cable and same flash drive doesn't work with my phone.

I have tried to install StickMount, but unfortunately it is not compatible with my phone and so is the USB Host diagnostics - however, their database  clearly says P500 does not support USB.

Other than going the route of custom ROM, can some thing be done for enabling USB OTG like patching kernels etc? I am not sure even the previous statement is valid, but just thought of asking as in the database under "Rooted API Claims support" column, the value for LGP500 is said as Yes. And, I checked this XDA thread, which also says that the chipset MSM7227 which my phone uses has limited OTG capabilities. Also that thread's title says Update: Working now, but I couldn't find anything relevant within its posts. All these just gives me a faint hope.

Update:
My phone's has three files libra.ko, librasdioif.ko, wireless.ko in /system/lib/modules

In short, MSM7x27 chipsets have very limited support for USB OTG, that is despite there is an option in the kernel to build the driver for it, unfortunately it does not work and requires hackery to get it to work 100%!

In reference to this:

  Update: My phone's has three files libra.ko, librasdioif.ko,
  wireless.ko in /system/lib/modules

Those modules the OP referred to, are tied to the SDIO's chipset support for both the SDCard mechanism and the Wireless. Notably, Atheros's ar6000 uses the SDIO pins to activate the wireless, and is specific to that driver.

Offtopic: The SDIO controls the SDCard mechanism, so yeah, it does sound 'cheap' in the sense that using the pins for I/O off the SDCard mechanism, to control the wifi chip...

As a FYI - Zte Blade and LG-P500 uses the near-identical array of peripherals such as chipset, wifi, but under different manufacturers! Have a mooch around the Modaco thread governing both devices, you might find something in there!


How to avoid duplicate generated calendar entries? I'm using Google Calendar on my desktop computer. It seems to auto-generate birthday entries for my contacts in Google Mail. Unfortunately these entries show up twice in "My calendar" in the generic Calendar app (version 1.1) of Android 4.0.4. How can I avoid this?

I don't see any duplicate entries in other calendars, and the calendar list only shows "My calendar" once.

Written on my Samsung SII :-)

Here are some options you can try:

Remove your Google account and adding it back. Source
Clear app data via Settings > Application manager > Calendar Storage > Clear data. Source.
UPDATE 2013-05-15: This worked for l0b0


How can I make the Galaxy S3 detect media on my sdcard? I have transferred some mp3s onto my sdcard using samba but the operating system doesn't seem to automatically detect them as it would if you copied it using MTP or whatever.  How can I force it to detect them?

My S4 wouldn't recognize music on my external SD-card. You can fix this on your S3 by going to settings> more > storage > remove SD-card. Wait till it says 'You can now safely remove your SD-Card' then remove the card out your phone. Clean your RAM and then put it back in again. Wait a few seconds till it's succesfully installed and your card will be visible. I.E for music open your music player and it'll all be there. Make sure the files aren't in too many subfolders or your phone will not find it and show it in your music player.

Have a nice day,


Are ROMs with deodexed programs faster or slower than odexed? I am a bit confused by the effect of deodexing (or even by terminology).

Based on answers to "What is the difference between odexed and deodexed roms?":

  A "deodexed" ROM is one where the .odex files have been more or less merged back into the .apk

This one seems to imply that "deodexed" ROM is an odexed (thus precompiled/optimized) ROM where the .apk package contains the .odex stuff instead of it being in a separate file.

However, the same answer has a seemingly opposite quote:

  ROMs are typically released in deodexed form because they can be themed and modified fairly easily, whereas theming/modifying an odexed ROM is basically impossible (at best things would crash like crazy). Some people also choose to release their ROMs in odexed versions for people who would prefer the performance gains.

This second quote seems to imply that the deodexed ROM does NOT have the performance gains of the odexed ROM (based on the last sentence) - I am guessing because it completely removes the .odex info for the sake of portability/theming; whereas the first quote seems to say that deodexed ROM is just as optimized as odexed, but differently packaged.

Which one of these meanings is correct? What am I missing?

Example:

Fission Vanilla: "ROM has root and has been deodexed, and zip alligned"

Deodexed ROMs do not have the .odex files integrated into the .apk's, they are removed.  What eldareathis meant in his answer to the other question is that the reliance of the .apk's on the .odex files is removed; some information is integrated back into the .apk, but not the actual .odex file itself.  This page has some technical details.

Deodexed ROMs may be slightly slower because of this; however I believe that as the Dalvik cache is built up from using the ROM, the performance gap is minimized.


Android exclude WiFis In my area I have a lot of paid WiFi hotspots that are open and my android connects to them automatically.

Can I set that WiFi's only with certain keyword in their name(SSID) would not connect to?

EDIT:
Imagine there several hundred hotspots of open wi-fi hotspots on diferent networks configurations and so on. The only common denominator is that all of the have network name in ssid. Lets say 'crazy sheep'

On a flip side same area has hundreds of free open wi-fi hotspots again all in different networks and these have almost no common denominator.

In the past I have done some Android development. So I do not look for settings tutorial. If the function is in stock there is a little chance I will not know about it.

I am looking for

An app that adds an option to write a query (regex is fine) with SSID as a variable in it. That would omit matching networks from initiating connection but would not affect other networks

Tap on those wifi ssid names and and use forget network to remove phone from automatically connecting to the network


What is Ghost Mode of Superuser Elite? Superuser Elite (paid) provides a premium-exclusive feature: Ghost Mode!

What is it?
As I haven't purchased it, I don't have option to test it..

The Superuser website explains it as such:

  Ghost mode – Hide Superuser from your app tray and home screen. With
  ghost mode activated, the only way to launch it is by dialing a secret
  code into the dialer. The default secret code is *#*#787378737#*#*,
  but it can be set to whatever you want. Note that this feature will
  probably be disabled if your device does not have a dialer (tablets
  specifically).


Does Google take any of my file data on Android? I read about syncing photos with Google on Android somewhere, and got a little concerned.
It is probably just a special Google service you have to sign up for, but just in case, I want to relieve me of this concern.

Does Google send my photos(files in the gallery) to their servers?

I under no circumstance would like automatic syncing of picture and photo files.

Google supports photo syncing, but you can disable this.

If you have Google+ installed, disable Auto Backup. Open the app's settings, and go to Auto Backup > OFF.
Disable Google photo sync. On your phone's settings, go to System settings > Accounts > Google > username@gmail.com > Sync Picasa Web albums. Make sure sync is disabled.

UPDATE 2013-11-22: As per Damien Golding, it is also worth noting that the settings of the camera must be checked. In his case, Google photo sync was ON in the Albums setting.


Nexus 4 problem with red light I have a Nexus 4, and I keep having to return it because of its red light of death. I usually am able to get back on my other phones with the same problem, but the new one I received just doesn't turn on with the red light incident. I was holding the power button for 10 seconds and the red light appeared and it was blinking. I had the same problems with my other returned phones, but this phone's light would disappear when I released my finger from the power button.

Normally, that red blinking light on a Nexus 4 means it's not getting enough power (the battery isn't charging, or is undercharged).

Try charging your phone overnight with a 2A charger.


How to fix crashes on "Checking info" screen when trying to add a Google account? I had to remove my Google account to sign out of Gmail, but when I try to log back in I see this screen and then it crashes:

Without this, my Keep, Gmail and even Play Store isn't working and I'm unable to sign into YouTube.

I've tried restarting my phone, clearing app data for all Google apps. I thought this was a Google Play Services problem, so I tried to update it by installing via the latest APK but it always says that "the package is corrupt"

This started when my Gmail app started crashing out of the blue. I tried restarting my phone which didn't help, so I thought I'd sign out and sign back in.

I'm using Android 7 on Redmi Note 4

Although several months too late for OP, the problem described is exactly the same as one I just had to solve on my Mum’s tablet yesterday.

Note that there seems to be at least a couple of different problems that people are reporting that relate to the “Checking Info” screen. The problem I’m referring to is where the Checking Info screen just crashes and disappears, NOT the problem where it freezes.

The symptoms being seen were:

Almost none of the Google apps were able to run. The only exception to this was Chrome, which was working fine.
When trying to access Google Play Store, I was asked to sign in, but then the Checking Info screen was displayed briefly before it crashed and returned me to the sign in screen.
A number of other apps (a seemingly random selection) were crashing as soon I tried to open them.

What I did to fix it:

In Settings > Apps I selected the Chrome app and chose the “Uninstall all updates” from the 3-dot menu.
I was then able to successfully open the Google Play Store, login, and get past the Checking Info screen.
Finally, in the Google Play Store, I found the Chrome app and selected “Update”.

All the affected apps then worked correctly.

Why does this work?
The Checking Info screen has an embedded web browser window in it (called WebView). If Chrome is installed then it provides this capability. I think that during a Chrome update something happened to cause WebView to break. Taking Chrome back to its factory default version removed that fault. Not sure why updating Chrome back to its most recent version then doesn’t cause it to break again - perhaps some error in one of the earlier updates.


What would happen if I cleared the data of my Gallery app? The app says it's using 36.29 GB of data, even though I don't have nearly that much memory on my phone and SD card combined, so I want to get rid of this bug.

My phone is Samsung Galaxy Grand, and it's not rooted.

I have suffered from same prob. Donn't worry, just clear the gallery app data.
When you restart app it takes some time to reload images & video's thumbnails.


Meaning of two low battery screens on Acer Iconia tablet? According to https://community.acer.com/en/t5/Android-Tablets/Iconia-tab-10-A3-A20-won-t-charge/m-p/513098/highlight/true,

Hello, my tablet was working fine for a year and suddenly won't charge up.
When plugged in while turned off, the screen will power up, showing the empty battery icon then another icon with a low battery and a power plug.
Then the screen will turn off and start over alternating both icons and so on.

I am going to upload the two screens the OP was talking about:

"Empty battery icon" // "Icon with a low battery and a power plug"

Do the two screens have different meanings?  If yes, then what do they mean?  Are they "charging" and "connect to power"?

Singhnsk says:

  I'd go with your conclusion. Similar, although not identical happens on my Nokia 7.2. If it is fully empty and I try to turn it on, I get that icon (second one2 with wire and plug). And when I connect power in such a state, it shows the first icon1 for some time before it gets some charge and then moves me to the charging screen as defined in the device's ROM or firmware. Somebody told me earlier that this is a CPU's screen which is used when the battery is extremely low.

1 "Empty battery icon" (with lightning bolt)
2 "Icon with a low battery and a power plug"

In this view, the answer is:

"Charging, please wait till the battery gets at least 1%."
"Battery is dead; connect to power."


How to root samsung Galaxy Note 2014 edition? I searched the forum but there was no entry for my specific device.

I have an unlocked Galaxy note 10.1, 2014 LTE edition which I'd like to root. Motivations include ability to install a Linux virtual machine and getting rid of the enormous amount of firmware installed (plus remapping the keys, etc).
So I wanted to ask

1-How I can root my device.

I also have a few related questions whose answers I couldn't find by searching the internet:

2-If I root, will I be using the same OS that I have now, just with superuser access, or would I get "vanilla Android"? I saw a video on youtube about rooting the same device but it needed downgrading to a lower version of Android??? Among samsung's firmware I only use those for the S pen, and I'd like to have them available after rooting.

3-It seems that I need special PC programs for rooting my device. Is there any such software for Linux?

Are you sure you invested enough time in searching the internet? I just found this forum and another forum after one search. To answer your other questions:

In short, you will need to use ODIN (a computer-based tool used for writing to your device while in "pre-Android" mode) to flash (a fancy phrase for installing) a custom recovery (ClockworkMod, aka CWM). That custom recovery will allow you to flash a superuser app that will handle granting root access. All files necessary can be found by resorting to the linked forums since SO can't host files.
rooting does not remove your version of Android. In most cases, it will actually wipe all of your data (factory reset), so make sure to backup anything that you need beforehand. Being rooted does leave room for flashing different versions of Android if you wish to do so in the future.
Sadly, I didn't have any luck finding Linux drivers for the Note 10.1. Windows drivers available here.


How to root Tecno Camon 12 air? I want to root my Tecno Camon 12 Air but nothing works. I got samsung devices rooted within a blink but this one just does not. I have:

Allow OEM bootloader to be unlocked checked
Tried different PC softwares like KingoRoot iRoot etc.
Tried almost all of the apps which said they could root

I have searched everywhere and tried almost everything but could not have the job done. Every time some adb command is rejected by an indefinite  printed on the command-line or it just reboots to get back normal. No change. Nor the fastboot commandos work as in fastboot it gets hang on the same  thing. Which is a crucial step in ROM patching or bootloader unlocking.

Its running Android 9 Pie and the processor is MTK Helio P22 if that helps.

So I was able to root Tecno Camon 12 Air. Turned out the biggest hurdle was to unlock bootloader which can be unlocked as follows:
Unlocking Bootloader
Use this command: fastboot getvar unlocked to check the phone’s Bootloader status (whether it’s locked or unlocked). If the Bootloader is already unlocked then you should see “Unlocked”
If locked you need to run the following command:
fastboot flashing unlock

And then reboot:
fastboot reboot

Alternative commands are fastboot oem unlock and fastboot oem unlock-go


how to get my android to boot up and shutdown automatically I want my android phone to boot up (I expect from a low energy state rather than off) automatically, run my app for a while, shutdown (ie return to low energy state) and repeat at intervals, say an hour.  Is there a good way to do this?

Thanks

Automateit can do that (of course, rooting is required!). Here is the link for the free version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=AutomateIt.mainPackage


Does Vaulty app use AES encryption? In the knowledge base of the Vaulty app to answer this question:
Is Vaulty safe? they say that they modify the files and the files are safe.

I wonder if Vaulty is really safe and specifically whether this app uses AES encryption or not?

First, I'd like to quote all texts from the knowledge base,

Is Vaulty safe?
Yes, Vaulty uses several advanced layers of security to protect your private media. Files are moved to a location that the gallery cannot view and are modified so that they are not able to be viewed without changing the file back. Vaulty's protection offers the perfect balance between privacy, security and speed.

As of current version (4.0.10 r3710), what the app is doing:

Move the file to /sdcard/Documents/Vaulty/data (can be changed inside the app) with .nomedia ("Files are moved to a location that the gallery cannot view")
Change the file's extension (.vdata) and obfuscate the filename (currently, no idea how it's generated)
Prepend obscured to the file ("modified so that they are not able to be viewed without changing the file back")

The app doesn't actually encrypt the file at all. The file's content is the same, but only prepended by obscured which make it invalid image/video file. The reason why this works is because of how image/video viewers work. They check the signature of the file, and if it doesn't match to any, they will think that it's an invalid image/video file.
The conclusion is:

Moving a file to a folder with .nomedia is only safe for device without file manager. However, anyone can download file manager. To make it worse, the file is saved on external storage which can be accessed when connected to PC.
If someone doesn't know that .vdata is Vaulty's data, then it's at least "safe", unless they analyze the content. However, if they know, then obfuscating the filename is actually not useful at all (any filename is valid for image/video). The only problem is to determine the correct original extension.
This is the main feature. I assumed Vaulty avoided real encryption due to speed, since en/decrypting a big file (especially, video) can be slow ("Vaulty's protection offers the perfect balance between privacy, security and speed"). Instead, it decided to only prepend a short text, which can be removed easily and considerably faster even on big file. However, if someone knows this, then they can remove it manually and retrieve the original file. From here, they can also determine the extension/file format based on the signature itself.


Storage help on galaxy s4 I had a SD card in my phone that was really small...I went to the store to get a larger one so I would have more storage. A lot of my apps and such were on the old SD card. I backed up my phone prior to removing the old card, removed old card, inserted new card, and restored my phone. It is still saying I don't have storage and won't let me redownload my applications. please help!

Clearing cache from recovery (stock should do the trick) has worked for me in similar situations. Try that and see if it allows you to re-download app. Clearing cache forces mediaserver to re-read all the storage space and indexing it.

If you have your apps on internal storage, and install location set to internal, you will receive an error.


Android device with USB HUB and Charge I have a Chinese android tablet with MTK8392. It has only 1 micro USB port. The OTG function is working well, I can use a special USB keyboard with OTG.

Is there ANY way to use this USB keyboard AND charge the tablet simultaneously? If it helps, I can use an active USB hub with self charge.
I bought a cable from dealextreme called "Micro 5 Pin USB OTG Data / Charging Connection Cable" but it's not working..

I needed the same thing and after a bit of googling found a couple of plausible options:

Acasis H027 Mobile Tablet PC Charging Cable OTG Micro USB HUB 3Ports Simultaneous Charging Power Transmisson Cable Black - looks no name, and there are similar producs on AliExpress. relevant links: this youtube video, this forum post
Dell Micro USB Dongle for Data and Charging - more expensive and less ports, but hopefully more reliable brand

Additionally, if you're interested on the electronics side of it, this electornics stackexchange post looks very interesting. Slightly off topic, this PoE Android project looks interesting too.

Update The Dell Dongle arrived today and I tested it. It works but I found one minor caveat: the dongle needs to connected first, then power (microUSB), then the USB device. I didn't have success with a difference connection sequence. (I tested on a Nexus 7 tablet on Android 6.0.1 and a Lenovo smartphone running Android 4.2.1 using devices such as usb hub + usb stick + usb keyboard/mouse + usb to ethernet)

Update2 The Acasis OTG Micro USB HUB arrived today. While the Dell Dongle doesn't power the Android device every single time (unplugging/replugging required), the Acasis one surprisingly does. The only catch is it's switch needs to be set to position 3 (otherwise it powers the tabled but doesn't use the attached USB devices). It's also nicer that it provides 3 USB ports instead of 1 and it's cheaper.


Lower Menu shortcuts disappeared I use a Samsung Galaxy SL I9003 model phone with latest version of Gingerbread on it.

I recently started to experience this problem. The shortcut menus on the lower bar have some how disappeared.

Here is a screenshot of the same...

Screenshot (click image to enlarge)

As of now only the Application shortcut remains.. How do I get the remaining shortcut bak ?

Thanks

P.S : Reboot does not help.

Click that Applications button. Then, long-press and drag whatever icons you want from the list of apps to the drawer. You could drag: People, Phone, a browser, and something else.


How can I pin offline tracks at a lower bitrate with Google Play Music? I'm using an HTC One S running Android 4.2 (actually Cyanogenmod 10.1).

I recently uploaded my entire music library to Google Play Music, and have started using the Google Music app on my phone.

I'd like to be able to "pin" a bunch of music that I can always have on my phone (I don't have a data plan). The app allows this, but you can't select the bitrate or anything like that.

Is there way to force the app to download the music at a lower bitrate so that I can store more? I'm running out of space too quickly.

I believe it's downloading everything at 320kbps, which is overkill for a mobile device that I use with earbuds. I'd be plenty happy with 128kbps. The app allows some changes to the bitrate when streaming music, but I can't find anything related to music that's pinned on the device.

My phone doesn't have an SD card slot, so I can't just add more storage.

Is there any way of doing this? Failing that, are there any third party clients that could utilize my Google Music library with more customization options for pinning music?

This is not possible in Google Play Music. You can only change the bitrate used while streaming your music.

If you are really interested in getting your music at a lower bitrate, you could have a look at the Google Play Music directory in /data/data.
There is a directory named files. That contains all mp3-files you have pinned to your device. You COULD replace them with files with a lower bitrate, but this is much work.

Alternatively you can upload your music at two different bitrates to Google Music.


How to update HTC Wildfire to froyo (android 2.2)? This is not duplicate of "When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?" as I read there that official UK update was on 20 December 2010. I have phone in 3 and I cannot find any way to update.

If I enter into settings and try to do scheduled check it informs that phone is up to date. Firmware version is "2.1.-update1".

How to update to froyo

I expect the same way as any other update.

Menu | Settings | About phone | System updates

If it tells you that "Your system is currently up to date" then your carrier hasn't released the update for your phone yet. (They usually do staggered rollouts so as not to overload anything.)


Setting screen timeout when browsing I know that it's a often asked question, however, none of the answers are applicable to me.

I read this, this and this answers, but some apps (like Screebl or Keep Screen Lite) are non-existent already and some (Tasker) are not working for me.

The most proposed solution is Tasker, however I tried it and it messes my display settings which is even worse than the lack of dynamic timeout. It doesn't return timeout setting to default state which then drains my battery and is also very irritating. Seems to be a bug.

My question is: do you know a native MM way to dynamically set up timeout while browsing? Or maybe a web-browser app that have built-in ability to disable timeout?

I tried searching descriptions of apps, but this option is rarely highlighted, and, personal experience is highly appreciated. Have anybody met such app?

The most proposed solution is Tasker, however I tried it and it messes my display settings

I use Tasker to keep my display time for longer when using certain apps, and it works perfectly. It's very possible that you might have missed a minor setting somewhere. Therefore, I suggest you try the steps below to set it up correctly.

download Tasker. (it is a paid app, but you can get a free trial version and see if you like it. It has much more than the options mentioned here)
Open the app and press on the '+' symbol on the bottom right of the screen. And press 'application'
Now select the apps in which you want the display to stay on for a long time. For example your browser app, or any other app. Select as many apps as you want for this action.
Press on the back button on your phone. Now it will ask you what you want to happen when you open those apps.
Press on 'new tasks'
Type a name for this task something like 'screen timeout 5 min'
In this new window, press on the plus symbol, and in the search bar type 'display timeout'
Press 'display timeout', and now under where it  says 'mins' choose the amount of time you want the screen to stay on for, while using the apps.
Press on the back button twice, and you should be brought back to the main page.
Long press on 'screen timeout 5 min' (or whatever you named this task) and press on 'add exit task' -> 'new task'
Give the new task a name something like 'screen timeout x seconds.'
Here, do the same as steps 7 and 8 just when setting the time, set it to the amount of time you want the screen to stay on while you're not using the selected apps.
Now, go back all the way to the main screen of Tasker and press on the check mark symbol on the top right. (If you don't see a check mark symbol, then don't worry about it)
Test to see that all is working by going to your home screen and see how long it takes for the screen to go to 'sleep' it should be the amount of time selected in step 12, then go into the selected apps and see how long the screen stays on.


Backlight flickering at low brightness levels I noticed my phone's backlight would start to flicker/pulse intermittently when I switch my brightness level to something low (est. between 1% to 15% brightness). The flickering or pulsing is as if the power supplied to the light is fluctuating.

My phone is a HTC Desire, OS used to be stock (Froyo 2.2) when I experienced this, now it is on CM7.2 (GB 2.3.7), still has this problem. I have not tried any other ROMs on this phone, and not sure if it is a software or a hardware problem.

Is there any way to prevent this flickering, other than not setting the brightness to such levels?

You could try this fix

  Those running the cynogen mod on their HTC Desire and experiencing problems with auto adjustment of brightness would be happy to hear that a fix has been developed to tackle it.

If it doesn't work you could try another rom to determine if its a software or a hardware issue.


Recommend Practices and Procedures for Android OS OTA Updates My questions:

What are the recommended practices and procedures for Android OS OTA Updates.
Is it all right to download via mobile data instead of WiFi.
How to get out of bootloops if the procedure screws up.

Preferably answers without the use of root.

Why: My previous phone had never received OTA as it was old, and just the other day my phone, Samsung XCover3  (SM-G388F), got a notification saying it can update to Android Lollipop(5.1.1) from Kitkat (4.4.4).

P.s. are there any known bugs for this update on my phone(phone model as started above)

There is no problem with downloading via mobile data instead of WiFi. The main reason people prefer WiFi is because it is cheaper; WiFi is not generally not metered the way WiFi data is. The update file is downloaded in entirety before the actual update occurs, so the method you use does not affect whether the update succeeds or fails.

Given the number and severity of vulnerabilities found in software, you generally want to update your Android OS whenever this is possible. Most phone manufacturers do not support phones for long; this period can be only 18 months from the time of release.

You do not want your device battery to fail while performing an update. I recommend plugging in the charger to perform an update and not starting the update until your battery is sufficiently charged to expect the update can complete on battery alone anyway.


Use Samsung or Google account for automatic backup? On my Samsung Galaxy S7 with Android 8.0 I'm logged into both a Samsung account and a Google account. Both of these offer cloud backup and data synchronisation of settings and documents, but I'm unsure which I should use, because it's not clear to me what each does exactly.

What I'm looking for is an automatic backup of settings, contacts, messages, downloaded files, photographs, ... in case my phone is stolen or lost or I have to do a reset for some reason.

This doesn't have to be done immediately; I'd be ok with data being uploaded once a day, or even every couple of days for things like photographs.

At the moment it seems that both the Samsung and Google account have some degree of backup/syncing switched on, but they're probably doing the same thing twice, and they may get in each other's way if I ever want to restore data.

Since I'm already using a lot of Google services (Gmail, Calendar...) it seems a logical choice to go with the Google account, but I don't want to completely disable the Samsung account, because I want to keep the "Where's My Phone?" functionality.

So, what would be the best way to set up automatic backups, and how do I avoid the Google and Samsung backup functionality doing duplicate work or getting in each othere's way?

If you are going to switch phones to another Samsung brand in the future, use the Samsung backup.

If you switch to a different android phone manufacturer, then use Google backup.

However, there is no reason not to use both. All of the Google service stuff, to my knowledge, does not backup with Samsung, and vice-versa.

As for restoring apps and data, I do not think they will collide.

You could also change what each is backing up. Say for instance, let Google save off the Apps and other google service things, and let Samsung do the rest.


Why do I need more than 200 megabytes of disk space to install an APK? I started to get not enough space errors when updating or installing APKs, but I have 200 megabytes of free space on my internal storage, 2,68 gigabytes on my internal sdcard, and 3,62 gigabytes on my external sdcard. I can't imagine what could use more storage than 200 megabytes in the process of installing a 4 megabytes APK. I'm constantly deleting apps, moving them to sdcard, but I only end up having less and less space remaining. How does this work? I want to understand the inner mechanism of how storage is handled when installing APKs, or in situations that can affect it, so maybe I could write an app to help this procedure.

Edit: I'm using BAM Android on a Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100).

internal memory space is required to store app data and cache, it doesn't matter much if you move your apps to sdcard app data and cache still gonna be in internal memory.
this problem can be solved by rooting.
if not willing then try some apps playstore which delete cache and auto move apps to sdcard


Rooting Exagerate XZPAD700 I've just bought a device commercially known as "Zelig Pad", which reports to be "XZPAD700" in settings screen. The device looks made by Hamlet but distributed with Exagerate brand.

It carries Android 4.0.4.

Anybody knows how to root that device?

For sake of curiosity: the device goes in download mode by pressing VOL- + Power. Seeking for something to download into its ROM without bricking it.

Believe it or not, the device is already rooted, and it's not documented anywhere.

I don't think that starting it in recovery mode for an odd number of times activates/deactivates root, so I just believe the system carries su on its own.

If my unit of measure of "rooting" is ad-freeness then I simply tried to run AdFree from the device. No superuser warning appeared but AdFree not even didn't complain about absence of root, but updated the hosts file!! And the device was completely ad-free.

I also tried to install ES File Manager, and found this magic file: /system/xbin/su


Where are the drivers for Windows computers located on an Android phone? Im talking about the drivers that install when you plug your phone into a Windows computer.

They're not stored anywhere on your phone. Windows finds and downloads them from Windows Update when you plug your device in. If an appropriate driver has already been downloaded and installed previously (or shipped with the Windows installation), it will use that and skip the download step.

Without Internet, and in the absence of an appropriate driver already being present on disk somewhere, the driver installation will end up failing.


How to set up an android device to function as a phone only Is there a way to set up my android device so that when the lock screen unlocked, the phone app always is open by default? In other words: I swipe to unlock the screen and I always automatically see the phone keypad first and the device is ready to make a call.

I am trying to set up a new Samsung Galaxy Note for my grandmother BTW. Someone bought it for her for her birthday. She likes the size for her eyes, but is intimidated by the home screen, and has discarded the phone for that reason. I figure if can make it operate as she expects then she might warm up to it.

Install this Easy Phone App into your grandmother's cell and place its shortcut on the screen or the desktop of that android device.
And tell her to just swipe that circle with lock off the screen (i.e Unlock  screen) whenever she sees one, and touch on that phone icon in the center! (to activate the Phone app)...

Advantages:

Big font User Interface.

Descriptive Graphics.

Statistics:

Average Rating: 4.4 of 5.

Of 153 people 97  have rated it 5 stars.

Alternative-

Install this One tap dailer.

Features:

It gives a speed dail like facility. Meaning that, it creates a dedicated app icon on screen for each and every contact. That would be good if she has some few fixed people to talk or chat to.

Statistics:

Of 17, 7 rated it as 5 stars.


Why does Android OS consume my network transfer? The app data usage section of the Settings mentions that "Android OS" has taken transferred 1.73 MB of data in the background.

What is that caused by? I have disabled captive portal detection on my device. I'm running CM 13.0 without Play Services.

I've noticed on my CM13 phone, I will periodically get notifications when there are new nightlies out.  Have you tried disabling the automatic checks for updates?  Simply go to Settings->About phone->CyanogenMod updates->Check for updates-> Set to 'manual'.


Can't access Internal SD Card I can't access the internal SD Card (8GB) on my Wayteq x-tab 80, with Android 4.
The device is not rooted, and worked perfectly fine until yesterday. I could access the SD card from the tablet, and also from my PC when connected with USB. Now it doesn't work either way.
I checked in the Settings, and it seems like the SD Card is Unmounted, but even after clicking on Mount it doesn't do anything.
I did a factory reboot, it didn't help.

I'm not a tech expert, so I can't figure out what's the problem. Any ideas?

You can use these 2 recovery softwares to recover data from a damaged partition table if this is the case:

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/data-recovery-software-download.php

http://www.piriform.com/recuva


How to root Kindle Fire HD 8.9" I have purchased a Kindle Fire HD 2. Generation (2012) and wanted to root it. I followed the instructions from Rooting a new Kindle Fire HD and and other instructions found via google.
When I run the Bin4ry version, the pad is really slow afterwards for some reason. I found this thread here, but it's not really helpfull.

I also tried the Qemu version, but this also doesn't work. The only thing this resolves is that it runs at normal speed after it's done, but the device is not rooted.

So are there any tips on how to do this? I would like to get Google Playstore running, instead of being chained to Amazon. All information I find with google leads me back to the same solutions which don't work.

My Kindle OS is 8.5.1 where the above solutions don't work (nor any other I found via google).

However, I found a thread on xda developers which pointed to a file name root_master.apk and this one successfully rooted my device.

When using this apk, the process was partially in chinese (which I don't understand), but it worked. Not sure if this app is safe though, so use at your own risk.


Gifted Android Huawei Media Pad hard reset not working, what to do? I was gifted a Huawei Media Pad, Model BG2-W09, from an elderly woman who no longer used it, and have factory reset, and tried to hard reset it to no avail. I would like to use it, but the how-to guides have all failed me. Please advice, ladies and gentlemen. it would be greatly appreciated!

HardReset.info:
Afterwards press and hold the Volume Up + Power button at the same time for a few seconds.Wipe data on HUAWEI MediaPad T3 7

Relase held keys as soon as the Huawei logo appears on the screen.
Use the Volume buttons to scroll to "wipe data/factory reset" and confirm that option with the Power button.Format HUAWEI MediaPad T3 7
Once more choose "wipe data/factory reset"  from the menu and accept it with Power key.Restore HUAWEI MediaPad T3 7

Now accept option "reboot system now" by using Power button.Master Reset HUAWEI MediaPad T3 7
The factory reset will be completed as soon as the HUAWEI Welcome Panel shows up.
Congratulations! You have just performed the hard reset operation


Is Hebrew support built into Android? Is Hebrew support built into Android?  If so, is it in all versions?

Here is my understanding as a developer:

Android 1.5-2.1: Right-to-left support is built-in, but most ROMs do not contain the letters.  This means that Hebrew in most applications will show up as boxes (but in the correct order).  This does allow individual applications to include their own fonts and thereby display Hebrew correctly.

Android 2.2: The default system fonts now include Hebrew characters.  Right-to-left layout still works.  (Although the rules for justification did change, annoyingly.)  Based on some bug reports, Google did not yet consider support for right-to-left languages to be final in this version.  (Note the comments by Google engineers, such as Romain Guy here: https://review.source.android.com/#change,15955).

Android 2.3: The SDK has been released, but no updates for actual devices.  The SDK does include a Hebrew locale for the first time (http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3.html#locs).

Also note that locale support ultimately depends on the vendor of the actual device (either the carrier or handset manufacturer).  They may choose to remove locales they deem unimportant to save space, or they may choose to add some that they deem important for their targeted market.


Can Android Tablet can work on Windows 10 like Wacom Tablets? Wacom Tablets are very expensive. I cannot afford it. I have right now Samsung Tab S6 Lite. I usually draw in Ibis Paint X with S Pen. I want to use different apps like Paint Tool SAI as it is not available in Android and I am bored working with the Ibis Paint. Can Samsung tablets change like Wacom tablet in the way that it connects to the laptop and I can use my tablet for this?! If anyone knows about the process please Can you tell me how to connect and which cable wire I have to connect with?
I hope you reply me because I HAVE THIS CRAZY WISH

The answer is a combination of YES and NO. You can use your android tablet to simulate a secondary display, and control it using the touchscreen. Twomon (http://www.easynlight.com/en/twomonusb/) is a software that I personally use to connect my tablet to my computer as use it as a secondary display. Twomon  works over USB, so you don't need any additional hardware adapters to get it working.
However, graphic tablets, like Wacom are built for precision drawing, and general-purpose tablets are not. So, I am not sure that this makeshift solution would be as effective as a Wacom (or other) graphic tablet.


Cannot generate thumbnail in Android Gallery Lately, some of my pictures just disappear and can't be loaded. It just says "Cannot generate thumbnail". All of a sudden, those pictures are having 0KB and no longer available. They're not sorted or anything, they're not different from the other good pictures. I really don't get what's the problem.

I tried getting them on my laptop, but it just says the file is empty. There is nothing to open? There are no viruses or anything, I already checked a few times. I really don't want to lose more pictures. Please help.

Try Settings → Apps → All Apps → Gallery → Clear Data. That should regenerate thumbnails, or you could try rebooting your smartphone.


How do I take a shot without the volume display on screen? How do I take a screenshot on my Samsung Galaxy 10.1 without the volume display showing on screen?

I assume you're on TouchWiz and are trying to take a screenshot by using Vol - and Power.

On TouchWiz it's Home + Power.


Error 492 in Google Play Store I have android 4.0 and I am getting Error 492 while downloading any app from Play Store. I have tried resetting my SDCard and doing Factory Reset.

I have HCL ME U1 Tablet and It isn't rooted and I don't want to do the same.

I had the same error and did some research on it. Here is what I could find out.

This error seems to be a little mysterious as it comes and goes. I've tried many things from several forums but in the end, waiting solved the problem. It just disappeared from one day to another and I wasn't the only one experiencing this phenomena. Some even say it's a problem on the side of Google.

If you want to take action, here are the steps I could find and have tried:

Unlink your Google Account from the phone. Do so in the Account Settings
In the Application Manager, find the Play Store and delete data and caches
Relink your Google Account
If that did not help and if it is possible on your Phone: Delete the Dalvik Cache, which stores information about the apps and the structure. Do so by booting into maintenance mode -> Option 'Advanced' -> 'Delete Dalvik Cache'
While you are there, you might want to wipe the Cache Partition
I have not tried this and on an unrooted phone it might not be possible, but several people said it helped them to delete the ".android_secure"-file with a file browser though I am not sure about the consequences of this.
If all fails, wait for a couple of days (which worked for many people I've heard of including myself).

I hope this could help you.


How can I watch videos from the BBC web site on a device with an ARMv6 processor? The BBC web site has many pages with videos, e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/technology/article/art20150206154333467

On Android, the page prompts me to install the "BBC Media Player" app, but unfortunately this app requires an ARMv7 processor, but I have ARMv6.

Are there any other ways of persuading these videos to play?

According to BBC's site: "Your device needs to run Android 2.2 (or higher) and have a minimum ARMv7 processor" to play programmes (download requires 4.0+).

reference: http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/android_iplayerapp


Can I get my phone back, given some information like model, IMEI, etc? I lost my Android. I have no tracker.

Luckily, I do have some inforomation. I know my model, IMEI, last time used, registration date and more. Can anyone offer advice for getting my phone back?

If you know the IMEI of the phone it could be possible to track it and find it. The problem is that network operators are very unlikely to do this without a police order, and the police doesn't seems to like hunting lost phones very much (unless you are an important person or politician). I read about a stolen Mac case when the police didn't make too much effort for recovering it even after the real owner bought them photos of the stealer.

So, unfortunately, there aren't big chances to get your phone back...


How to re-enable all screen lock types after uninstalling OpenVPN connect? I installed OpenVPN Connect on my Samsung Galaxy S4. The app forced me to pick a screen lock, which I set to PIN.

However, I've cleared all application data regarding to OpenVPN Connect and also uninstalled the app, but I'm not able to select 'none' as screen lock type. Only pattern, PIN and password are available in settings as shown:

Is there a way to get all the selections available?

Pattern, PIN or Password screen lock is required, because there were still user certificates stored in the device.

Go to Settings -> Security and pick Clear credentials.


How to change random filesystem label on USB OTG? I am without PC right now, but I need to Format USB Drive (to FAT32 or Ext4) with Samsung S8 (Android 9) and change label. But I can't find any app that can do this. I can format USB drive in Storage Menu, but without any options, it just gives it Random number name (I can see it in Total commander) and I think it's Ext4, but again no options. Is there any option to rename the Label?

I found they there is Aparted app (port of gparted) but it needs ROOT and also it gives random label.

I also tried to rename drive in Total commander, but it says it's ranamed, but in reality it has old label. Thanks for any help :).

It's not possible to create filesystem or set label without root access. Block devices in /dev/block/ are created with ownership 0:0, mode 0600. Also apps aren't allowed to access SELinux context device or block_device set on /dev and /dev/block. You can use a rooted device or custom recovery like TWRP. Or use a PC (if available). On Linux and Android command-line is same.

  I need to Format USB Drive (to FAT32 or Ext4)

Use mkfs.fat -F32 -n <LABEL> or mkfs.ext4 -L <LABEL> to create filesystem with required label. Or later use fatlabel/mlabel or e2label/tune2fs to change label of an already created filesystem.

  I can format USB drive in Storage Menu, but without any options, it just gives it Random number name

The random number is not name (or label), it's filesystem UUID (32-digits long string on Linux filesystems like ext2/3/4) or Volume ID (8-digits long string on Windows filesystems like NTFS/FAT32/exFAT). Similarly GUID partitions have a PARTUUID and PARTLABEL (as reported by blkid).

USB OTG and external SD card is mounted by Volume Daemon (vold) on Android. Since Android 6 by default vold uses filesystem UUID or VolumeID to create a mount path (which is not an actual path in case of USB OTG) like /storage/[UUID]:

  "Developers may continue to build paths dynamically or statically depending on their use case. Including the UUID in the path identifies each card to make location clearer for developers. (For example, /storage/ABCD-1234/report.txt is clearly a different file than /storage/DCBA-4321/report.txt.)"

So even if you set label, whatever filesystem you choose, you will see the random number in path. However, like label, you can also set UUID/VolumeID of your choice (in case you want to retain same file path after formatting). Some file explorers, though, show filesystem label as storage name along with path.


Android for work with KNOX 0x1 I have a device supported by Android for Work (Samsung Note 4, Android 6.0.1) but the security policy will not install saying "there is a custom OS installed". Device security status is "Official", but the KNOX counter is on 0x1. From what I can see, the bootloader and firmware are all official, standard region and non-rooted.
Is there any way I can create a security profile that will still work with a 0x1 KNOX counter? What is the relation of KNOX with Android for Work?

No, you can't.

Knox creates a secure and encrypted container  for your work profile. Once created it separates the information stored in your working profile and encrypts it.

The working profile is not accessible from outside its container, unless you enter a given key

The Knox flag is set because

You or someone else rooted the device previously or
Something went wrong while OTA


Long term effects of charging Nexus 5 with an other device's charger (fast charging) A roommate has bought a OnePlus One (OPO) phone. When I tried charging my Nexus 5 with the charger of  OPO I found that it charged my Nexus device amazingly fast. I'm talking 3-4 times faster charging than the normal charger does (and about 20-30 minutes to charge completely).

I was told this fast charger could result in negative long term effects on the battery. Is there any truth to it? And why would it happen?

Your phone isn't capable of charging any faster than it's built to charge. The Nexus 5 had very limited support for Quick Charge 1.0 due to its processor, although my understanding is that this functionality wasn't enabled for the 5. But the phones are designed to pull only as much power as they can safely pull. If it can't take it, it'll negotiate a lower rate with the charger.

That said... 20-30 minutes to charge completely doesn't sound possible. I'm not aware of a single phone that can do that. So something's a little bit odd there...

EDIT: Did some research and confirmed that this charge speed simply isn't possible. A few points:

The most current I've ever seen a Nexus 5 pull from any charger (and I've tried a very wide range) was 1.2A. And boy was that fleeting. At that rate, it would charge fully in 2.3 hours, according to this battery charge time calculator. That's actually a little less than Anandtech found in their comparison chart found in the OnePlus One review, listing its charge time at 2.54 hours. That's more realistic, because as I said, getting a full 1.2A for more than a moment or two was quite rare, and phones draw less current the closer they are to full.
According to that same review, the Nexus 6 is the second-fastest charging phone on the market (or was at that time), charging from 0% to 100% in 1.89 hours. Faster than the Nexus 5, but still a quarter of the speed you're saying you're getting on the Nexus 5. I just plugged my Nexus 6 into a QC2.0 charger, which I believe is still considered the fastest phone charging tech anyone's using, and right now it's pulling about 1.75A, which would be about 2.25 hours to fully charge. That said, it's nearly full, so that's when it slows down, which likely accounts for the difference between my figure and Anandtech's.
Using that same battery charge calculator, to fully charge the Nexus 5 at your WORST-case scenario of a full 30 minutes, would require 5.52A of power. 8.29A for 20 minutes. Even the iPad, which has a massively larger battery and needs much more power to charge at a reasonable rate, uses only a 2.1A.
The OnePlus One charger outputs only a maximum of 2A according to its own label. The best that charger could possibly do in an ideal world where it somehow can charge the Nexus 5 at full speed the ENTIRE time, is 1.38 hours.

Any way you slice it, it's not possible for a Nexus 5 to fully charge, with ANY charger, much less the OPO charger, in 20-30 minutes. If yours is informing you that it is, your Nexus 5 is faulty and displaying incorrect battery information. It's either displaying 100% when it's not full, or shutting itself off WAY before it's reached 0%. It's possible that this is an indication of the OPO charger somehow interacting badly with it, in which case I may rescind my initial advice that it can't hurt.


How determine if Java object is null or not in Tasker? I want a Tasker task that reads SMS from a particular person and extracts some information out of the latest message.

For example, I get a lot of messages from my bank due to the transactions I make. At the touch of a task, I want to know my latest bank balance. Normally, I would get the latest SMS from my bank and find out the balance from it. I want Tasker to do this.

I am aware that Tasker can read messages when they arrive. But we have to make a profile that does it. This is not my use-case. It's more on-demand.

Here is the task I tried to create to that effect:

Flash Roam (10)
    A1: Java Function [ Return:cr Class Or Object:CONTEXT Function:getContentResolver
{ContentResolver} () Param: Param: Param: Param: Param: Param: Param: ]
    A2: If [ cr !Set ]
    A3: Flash [ Text:Ok Long:Off ]
    A4: End If

I am unable to ascertain if cr is null or not.

What is the correct way to check it? Or is this even possible in Tasker?

There are two ways you can do null checking of Java objects.

The first way, direct from the userguide, is checking of the object Equals null:

If
A Java object can be directly referenced in a condition. Null-value objects are replaced with text representation null.
Examples:
If, arr[0][0] eq 45
If, arr[0].length > 3
If, lightlevel Equals null

The problem with this is that the string "null" will also match the condition. In your case, that's not a concern, but my second method provides a way that can distinguish between the two for other cases.

The second way takes advantage of Tasker's built-in error checking. If you have an object and need to check whether or not it's null:

Use a Java Function action. For "Object or Class", use the object in question, then for "Function" select "toString {String} ()"*. Lastly, make sure "Continue Task After Error" is checked. You don't need a return value here.
Follow the Function with an If action, which tests if the variable %err is set (or isn't set).
If %err is set, the object is null. Otherwise, it's not null.

%err will not be set if the object is the string "null", because "null".toString() is perfectly valid code.
* If your only option in the Function list is "assign {...} ()", then you're working with a primitive type - a number, boolean, or character. Those can't be null, so checking is unnecessary.


Nexus One can boot only with USB fastboot After making some changes to my Nexus One, I can't boot it normally, but I can boot it with USB fastboot, like this:

$ cd 1.0-GRI40-nexusone-superboot
$ ./fastboot-linux boot boot.superboot.img

How do I make it work so that it can boot up by default, without an USB cable connected and the fastboot command issued on my PC?

This solution worked:

$ cd 1.0-GRI40-nexusone-superboot
$ ./fastboot-linux flash:raw boot boot.superboot.img

I've found the necessary info on http://www.gotontheinter.net/content/fastboot-cheat-sheet


ROM flashing using Odin on Galaxy S4 interrupted. Odin is still running. Is there anything I can do? I was re-flashing the firmware on a Samsung Galaxy S4 using Odin, and the USB cable was bumped, which made the update fail. I reconnected and attempted to flash again by clicking the Start button. It seemed to be progressing, but Odin's blue progress bar continued from where it had stopped instead of starting from the beginning. After a while I got the following warning message from Odin, in red text and repeated 19 times:

  Invalid percent of drawing download progress bar!

followed by this at the end:

  SECURE CHECK FAIL : system

I attempted to start the process again (by clicking Start in the Odin desktop app), but it failed multiple times. I also tried clicking Reset and starting again. It doesn't seem to be possible to do anything from within Odin on the phone. It doesn't respond to any buttons and doesn't react in any way when I try to start the process again from the computer (no more messages on the screen, and no movement in the progress bar, or anywhere else). This doesn't necessarily mean it's frozen, though, because I don't believe it's intended to be interactive. The blue progress bar on the phone is all the way to the end, where it has been since my second attempt to flash.

I have not restarted the phone, because I am afraid that if I do that after an incomplete flash, I will not be able to get back into Odin. It is still on, still in Odin, still showing all the errors. The desktop Odin app on the computer can detect when the phone is connected and removed (I get the "Added!" and "Removed!" messages).

Am I correct in my concern that I'm likely to brick the phone if I attempt to restart without flashing successfully? Is there anything I can do to restart the process? It would be an astounding design flaw if Odin really isn't capable of restarting a failed flash to allow for recovery if the process fails and the device has not yet been restarted and Odin is still in RAM.

I know for a fact that the ROM file I'm using is valid and that I'm doing this correctly, because I have gone through this process several times and never encountered a problem until this time when the connection was interrupted. I have no support available from either Samsung or the carrier (Verizon), because I bought this phone used on eBay specifically for experimenting with things like custom recoveries and ROM flashing.

FWIW, here's a screen shot of the Odin desktop app as it is now:

After waiting a couple of days and not finding any answers, I restarted the device. It booted to a screen saying

  Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again.

I tried using recovery mode in Kies, but Kies gave me an error message saying that the device is not supported. However, I noticed that the text in the upper left corner of the screen indicated that the phone was in Odin mode (showing the above message instead of the usual Downloading...do not turn off target!!!). So, I launched the Odin desktop app and tried flashing the firmware again, and that worked.

Basically, I was lucky. In some cases if a ROM flash fails, you can't get back into Odin mode. So, I'm posting this in case it helps someone, but I'm not going to mark this as the accepted answer, because I'd like to see if anyone has a solution that avoids taking the risk of restarting and hoping for the best.


Simultaneous audio to headphone jack and bluetooth I would like to output audio both to the headphone jack and to bluetooth headphones simultaneously.  The purpose is for two people to listen at the same time (and we don't have a headphone splitter at hand).

Is this possible on Android phones?

The phone in question is a Samsung S5 mini with Lollipop.

Unfortunately, this can't be done.

Android can only output media to one of them at a time.

When you plug in a new device, the last one used will be overridden.


How do I import my contacts from broken Galaxy S7 to new S7? My Galaxy S7 got water under the cracked screen and now the screen is completely blank but the phone still works. My contacts are not backed up on Google or SD or SIM card.

All PC programs that can retrieve my contacts require me to turn on USB debugging, which I can't do because I can't see what's on the screen.

How do I move my contacts over to my replacement S7?

I found the solution! No USB debugging or root required! Use the Connect program on Windows 10 and watch this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42yvWG-w49s. The video shows the option as "Screen Sharing" but that's only for LG phones. On Samsung the option is in the notification drop down and is called "Smart View." Works the exact same way.


Voice over Ethernet without WiFi in airplane mode Is it possible to make calls with an active Ethernet connection only (with an Ethernet adapter) without a mobile & WiFi connection? Effectively Ethernet-Calling, like WiFi-calling.

It does work using services like Google Voice (free phone number), Hushed, or iPlum on my 2 phones (Moto G4, G7) Android 7-10.
Plugable makes a Micro-USB ethernet adapter ($14) that works with Android devices or a plain USB ethernet adapter that can be used with USB-C devices with an OTG converter ($5) to make many Android tablets and phones work. They maintain a list of tested devices on their site. Device Compatability Chart: AX88772 Compatibility List USB2-OTGE100 : USB2-OTGE100
The issue is you must use a third-party app like those mentioned, not the phone app that comes with the phone. That means you must have a second number associated with the app to call. If you don't care about letting Google listen to your calls, Google Voice is free. True ethernet calling may be coming in Android 11. WiFi calling is available on some phones now and this may allow true ethernet calling from the native phone app—it depends on your carrier. I am testing this option using RedPocket soon.


How to block a range of phone numbers without any third-party apps Is it possible to block a range of phone numbers

e.g. 02079460***

as I keep getting accident companies and personal injury calls.

I have read that these are fake numbers for  use in TV and radio dramas

There's no functionality built into Android to do this. If you want to block a range of numbers, or numbers matching a pattern, and you can't install apps on the phone to do it (as per Can I block calls based on a specific number prefix or pattern? or Free app to block calls and SMS based on pattern), then all you can do is contact your carrier and hope that they can set up the block for you at the exchange. Carriers tend to be quite obliging about blocking nuisance callers, but of course they too may be limited by what software they have available, and they may just tell you to use one of the apps mentioned in the linked questions.


Why can't I stop people from inviting me to group chats on kik? Someone has been harassing me on kik all week by continually adding me group chats that I did not ask to be part of. The person is blocked, but they are still able to add me to group chats against my will - I don't have the option of accepting or not, it just happens.

If I have to abandon the platform and find another way to talk with my friends overseas I will, but I'm hoping there's some way I can stop this. (And yes, I've reported the offending user to kik support, but they're terribly slow and now it's the weekend...)

I apologize in advance if this isn't a good community for this question, I just can't find an answer anywhere else I can't believe that there isn't one.

The answer is: you cannot. Either wait out the harassment, don't open the app for a while, or switch discussion platforms with the people you care to talk to. All unsatisfying solutions, but... they are the only ones.


Android version updates for Motorola and Nexus phones How long will Motorola and Google provide Android updates to their models Moto X(2013) and Nexus 5? Is there a limit or a deadline to these updates rolling in?
Google has said that the newer versions will be able to run even on low-end smartphones, so this means that the updates should come for at least to years to these mid-range phones but is there any confirmation to that?

Motorolla has already started rolling out lollipop updates for Moto X(2nd gen) and Moto G(2nd gen). Nexus updates will be coming soon as well. Moto X (2013) is going to get an update, but it might be 1-2 months down the lane.


Apps go portrait and then landscape unexpectedly When I updated my Motorola Moto G9 Plus to Android 10, when going landscape watching videos or playing videogames (after some minutes, repeatedly) go portrait and after 1 to 3 seconds return to landscape, I thought was just my phone, but my wife's phone (Motorola Moto G8 Plus) also have this glitch/bug
How can I fix that?
This was not happening with Android 9.

Well, I believe the easiest way for you to avoid that would be to disable auto-rotate in your phone.
The automatic rotation tool is very sensitive, based on accelerometer, and some users complain that Motorola's is not so good. You may try also to calibrate it using an app like Accelerometer Calibration Free or maybe following the tips on this tutorial.


How to change Mozilla default video player? I would like to know how to replace the default video player of Mozilla Firefox with the default Android video player on my Note 4.

My phone is not rooted.

Thank you in advance.

If you're on Android use this https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/android/addon/external-video-player/
( go to the website find the video but dont tap play instead open the firefox menu and select "play video externally" Firefox should ask which player to use select one I've tried this with VLC & MX Player both worked. ) I used Firefox 54.0.1 which is the latest Firefox atm
For desktop I saw this https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/video-assistant/ which I'm not sure if it works but from the look of the reviews it does.
Reasons why you'd want to use a different video player. If the video buffers, if you're getting pop-ups when playing video.

The above method by Firelord didn't work for me ( should work for older Firefox versions & useful if the extensions aren't available for your Firefox version )
media.fragmented-mp4.exposed isn't on 54.0.1 but I found media.mp4.enabled & media.mediasource.mp4.enabled. I disabled one didn't work so enabled and disabled the other still didn't work also tried disabling both didn't work. Time to binge watch all seasons of adventure time lol


Cortex-A53 cpuinfo'd as ARMv7? I picked up a used Samsung Galaxy Core Prime offered by MetroPCS in the US for testing. The device is powered by Android 5.1.1. Testing requirements are a 64-bit ARM processor, but I'm not sure if I have met the requirements.

According to cat /proc/cpuinfo (see below), I see Qualcomm Technologies, Inc MSM8916. That's a Cortex-A53, which is ARMv8a/64-bit architecture. But I also see ARMv7 listed, which is a 32-bit architecture.

Can anyone explain why I am seeing conflicting results?

$ adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor   : 0
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 1
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 2
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

processor   : 3
model name  : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 38.40
Features    : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt vfpd32
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part    : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 0

Hardware    : Qualcomm Technologies, Inc MSM8916
Revision    : 0006
Serial      : 000009f200000001
Processor   : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)

Some more testing reveals the following. I've done this procedure hundreds of times, so I know the results are an ominous sign.

I'm guessing it is a Cortex-A53/ARM-v8a processor, but its configured in 32-bit mode.

$ aarch64-linux-android-readelf -h ./cryptest.exe | grep -i 'class\|machine'
  Class:                             ELF64
  Machine:                           AArch64
$ aarch64-linux-android-readelf -h ./libcryptopp.so | grep -i 'class\|machine'
  Class:                             ELF64
  Machine:                           AArch64

[Push test program to /data/local/tmp, open a remote shell]

shell@cprimeltemtr:/ $ cd /data/local/tmp
shell@cprimeltemtr:/data/local/tmp $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./; ./cryptest.exe v
/system/bin/sh: ./cryptest.exe: not executable: 64-bit ELF file


Auto-update security I've found this comment: Any reason not to allow automatic updating for an app? - is that safety feature documented anywhere ? I'm about to turn on automatic updates but I don't feel comfortable doing that without a firm proof that it won't compromise security.

It's not documented somewhere. But only updates that don't change the permissions are done automatically. If there is a change, the update will have to be done manually.

But of course there is no gurantee that this will always work this way, because of bugs or design changes. If you are paranoid, turn the feature off. (But then, how could you trust Android that the permissions that are shown to you are enforced?)


Does deleting content on my phone affect content on Google Photos? If I delete photos and videos on my device to make more space for other content on my device, will it delete the corresponding content backed up on Google Photos or will it stay online?

It will stay online.
Auto-backup only add photo, they never remove it.


what is A2SD+ and how to use it? I'm using the MIUI ROM on my HTC Desire and it has an option called A2SD+ which is supposed to be an SD partition that the device treats as internal memory.

I don't know if it comes from the ROM or from Android (2.3.4).

How can I use it? Do I need to partition my SD somehow with an outside tool like I saw on some posts here?
If yes, how do I then tell my device that the 2nd partition is for A2SD+?

If it works like older roms that used to support the "apps2sd" before the google implementation, then yes, you need to format your SD card outside of your phone, on a linux distribution. You can use like an Ubuntu Live CD if you don't have linux installed on a PC already. Then you open up a partition tool, like GParted, and set up your partitions. IIRC, the first partition must be EXT2/3/4 in order for the device to use it like it is actually part of the internal memory. Then you can partition the rest as FAT32.

Back before Froyo, when the custom ROM I used supported this, there was nothing else to do. Just put in the sdcard, boot the device. It would pick up the partition and mount it automatically. As for MIUI, I do not know if it does that. I am actually surprised that they still support this. All ROM devs I know have dropped support for it since google introduced the "built-in" method. I personally hate the built-in apps2sd. I dont feel that it works very well.

While the ext2/3/4 method has the drawback of not really being able to remove your sdcard, it does still give you the ability to mount your FAT32 partition, if you choose to, to your PC and still let the device have access to the ext partition.


How do you prevent Google Music from importing all .mp3 files on the device? I'd like to have several audiobooks and/or podcasts on my Nexus 7, but every time I put any MP3 files onto the device, even if I make my own folder for it or some such, Google Music detects them and then adds them to its list of files.

This is a problem, because I'd love to be able to use the "Shuffle All" feature, but then it ends up shuffling in chapters from the Audiobook. I don't want it to do that at all.

Any advice?

Well despite the comments about a .nomedia file not working in the newest version, on my fully updated Nexus 7 (as of April 2013) using a .nomedia file prevents the audiobook files from being scanned and listed in Google Music.

Some extremely simplistic testing seems to indicate that a single .nomedia file at the top of a directory tree is enough to prevent all sub-directories from being scanned. In the case I talked about in my question, a .nomedia file within the "audiobooks/" directory would prevent all books from being scanned, even if each book was a collection of .mp3 files within its own directory.


Do Firebase analytics work without Gapps? Out of curiosity, if a user installs Android without Google Apps or APIs and then installs an app that includes Firebase analytics, will the analytics function? Will the app still send something to Firebase, or will it open an empty connection, or will communication be cut off?

To word this another way, is it the Google apps (Play Services, service frameworks, etc.) that open a connection to Firebase, or is it the app itself that does so? Or, does this vary from app to app?

As evident from these FAQs:

  I don't want to use other Firebase products (such as Analytics).

  Google Analytics for Firebase is enabled by default to provide the full range of FCM features. However, it can be disabled. The FCM SDK's only hard dependency is Google Play Services (which was also a dependency in GCM).

The code which creates connection to Firebase servers is part of Play Services. Apps make use of Google APIs to use that code. Without GApps none of Google Mobile Services will work and the apps heavily depending on those will refuse to start or may keep crashing. Developers can explain better.

RELATED:

What is the exact functionality of Google Play Services & Google Services Framework (gapps)?
How do certain apps show new notifications when internet access is restricted to them?


Why do I see a screenshot of something that I was doing in the background on my smartphone? When I take a screenshot it does not appear on it, it is like seeing through a drawn glass, It can only be seen from the outside, it's hard to explain.
Is it some kind of malware? The screenshot looks much better when there is a solid color and it can be seen perfectly, it is as if the screenshot were on my screen.  I have already rebooted my device and it still continues.

Do you mean that you see a little impression of the previous screen you were on even after you switch the app right? For example: You are using youtube and the you press home key and go to home screen but you can still see the faded view of the youtube app on homescreen.
First of all that's totally normal! I have a leeco le2 and experience the same thing everyday.. It's just because of the limitation of your screen(hardware). It's not any malware.. and definitely nothing to worry about.


How do I change the function of the earphone button? I have a Nexus S running Gingerbread and I use the stock app to listen to music. The bundled earphone has a button that plays/pauses music, but I find this redundant since I can either reduce the volume or pull out the earphone jack when I want to interact with the rest of the world.

It would be really awesome if I could change the function to "Next Track" instead since it'd be easy to skip a track while I'm on my bike. Is there an easy way to achieve this?

I'm guessing you've tried double clicking it? On my phone (Dell Streak), a double-click skips to the next track. Might just be DoubleTwist that, though, I'm not sure.