Does Android (4.0 +) automatically sense what time zone the device is in and change the time display accordingly? The title pretty much states my question but mainly I want to know if I say hope a flight in NY to California will android pick up on the time difference between the time zones? Or do I Manually need to set this?

The reason I am asking is for an app I am developing and the way I see it adding duplicate code of something that android already has is pretty much re-inventing the wheel.

Assuming you're on a network that is available on the location you are going to, you could check the Automatic date and time setting under Date and time settings. That should update the time accordingly.


phone not visible to finder (on mac) suddenly When I connect my phone to my mac via usb, I no longer see it in finder.  Nor does it automatically launch iphoto as it used to.

On the other hand, I can see it from sdk tools like ddms, and can access the files that way (with usb debugging turned on, of course).  I can also see other android devices just fine.

Is there some setting that got turned off somewhere?

MyTouch 4g, Froyo.

Try disabling Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging in conjunction with setting Settings -> Applications -> USB settings to Mass storage.  If that doesn't work, and enabling USB debugging doesn't work, then I would assume it's an OSX issue.  You could try reinstalling the official drivers, if there are any.


SNS has gone can't be re enabled again Following this thread

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/296366-facebook-log-sync-applications.html

I have disabled the SNS service

now Yahoo mail app does not notify for Facebook emails, it does notify about everything else. In status bar i got the emails but not from facebook and if i manually refresh email list i get the facebook email but no notification about it.

I tried to uninstall facebook and yahoo mail then re install them but SNS still missing from services > All

Now everytime i login to facebook i get this annoying (other type of message) Samsung galaxy would like to access your account if i add the sync it keeps asking me again each time i login. It was
"Log in to sync Facebook with your other applications" message before disabling the SNS

What can i do please help? Been hours i am trying with no avail.

Ok so after i tried everything to recover the SNS process nothing has worked but a factory reset, however Yahoo mail still gets Facebook emails without notifications so i am guessing this is a problem at their end. I would not recommend to stop the SNS process to get rid of the message "login to sync facebook with your other applications" as you can see a small issue turned into a big one. I am using Gmail now to get Facebook emails and everything works just fine. Big thanks goes to HasH_BrowN for trying to help me out solving this issue.


Sony xperia m4 aqua memory I would like to ask if there is a way to bypass limitations of internal memmory delegated for applications as my mobile operator I bought phone from added some useless bloatware which after removing apps that were possible to remove brings me only to 1.8GB of space for applications.

As I would really like to play some of new games which have size of additional data as big as 500MB it is impossible to have many applications installed, because all data is stored into internal memory instead of memory card.

Reason is, application partition in internal memory is mounted as /storage/sdcard and external sd card is mounted as /storage/sdcard1

Because of this, there is no way to move applications to sd card (only manually, but they cant find their data, because they defaultly search in /storage/sdcard mountpoint) as it will move them just to other partition of internal memory.

My question is, is it possible to bypass this problem without actually rooting phone? Will there be software udate that will change method of mounting or solve it in some other way (like creating symbolic links to external card as data folder of application)?

Enter the following commands in a terminal emulator after you have rooted and installed busybox:

su
ln -s /storage/sdcard1/Android/obb/ /storage/sdcard/Android/obb/

Copy the games extra data (.obb) files to Android/obb/ folder on your SD card from your computer. This may or may not work with games downloaded from Google Play, I have not tested it.


Whitelist Apps That Use Data I only use the map application while driving and therefore would like only for this application to be used while driving.  Can I define a whitelist instead of manually going through on my apps and essentially creating a blacklist of which apps can be used.  This gets particularly annoying when I install new applications also.  Can this be done with root maybe?  I have Nexus 5 rooted running Lineage OS 7.1.  Found this couldn't get the 1st app to work and the 2nd app wasn't truly a whitelist.

So I have given up on finding a solely white list application.

NoRootFirewall does work but isn't truly a whitelist.


Blinking icon in notification bar I have a new annoying icon on my Razr notification bar.  It is a tiny blinking symbol that sort of looks like a tiny house with a cloud over it.  It is blinking above the network strength bars where the "x" would be if there was no service.

Anyone know what that is?

If this is what you are referring to, it appears to be notifying you of a network extender that your phone could be using to get better signal wherever you are.

Even if you don't have network extender, your phone could be connecting to someone else's that is on the same network (Verizon, AT&T, etc.).


How can I see how "Internal" storage is used How can I see how apps are using Internal Storage?
How can I see percistent/constant usage?
How can I see how much applications on SD-card would use extra, if I moved them to the phone.

I am referring to /data, Which Link2SD calls Internal (Storage).

There is also "System" (/system) and  "Cache" (/cache), which are also probably internal in the sense that they are not on the SD - but my problem is the Internal as defined above.

For the first question (and the 3rd If I'm understanding you correctly), since you're presumably rooted, a simple method for getting a look at things would be to install busybox (if you haven't already) and a terminal emulator and use the du utility.
For example, if I want to look at how much space each app's own data is taking up, I would use du -d 1 -h /data/data, which gives me the contents of /data/data (where all the apps' data is stored) to 1 level deep (just the directories directly below /data/data, which are all named after the apps' package names) and give me the sizes in human readable format (Kilobytes, megabytes, etc.).  This will tell you exactly how much data every app on your device is storing.  You can point this wherever you like.  For the 3rd question, you'd simply point it at wherever Link2SD mounts its storage.
For persistent storage, just look at /data/app, which is where the apks themselves are stored.

For further info on the usage of du, refer to the busybox manual.


GPS battery usage as a function of how often it is pinged for data Consider an app that uses GPS to get location details.  Those types of apps often use a lot of battery power.  Here is what I am wondering; let say one app get the details every 5 seconds, and another gets that info every 10 seconds.  Would the second app use half the battery power or would it be about the same since the GPS is ready to be used whether it is asked more or less often?  Thank you.

It won't make a noticeable difference. The GPS receiver has to be powered up continuously either way, but the receiver itself isn't a huge part of the battery use of most location-based apps. In general, this kind of app can be a battery drain because it's running, computing data, and saving data continuously. For example, if it's saving a log of your route, it has to get the GPS locations, filter and process those locations, and save them to the storage, continuously. All the time it's doing this, the phone's CPU is still running at high power, when normally it would be asleep (in a low-power state) in your bag or pocket.

The difference between how much other work the two apps are doing, and how efficient they are at that, is going to dwarf any difference caused by location sampling rates. In fact the difference between the apps themselves might even be more than the total power consumption of the GPS receiver.


Is there any graphic-accelerated PDF reader for Android? I use Adobe's Reader and ThinkFree Office, but they both are too slow. Any suggestions?

Starting with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), Google introduced hardware accelerated 2D rendering pipeline. For now it's a tablet-only feature, but hopefully we'll get that in the unified Ice Cream Sandwich platform.

That should be a bit with that slowness issue with PDF readers since they are only able to do software rendering in Gingerbread and older.


Why can't this Asus tablet access anything over the internet though wifi is connected? I just replaced all the networking infrastructure in my home do to a Frankenstein IP packet: this includes the Arris Residential Gateway, two Netgear switches, and a Netgear Model R7000 wifi router.

Various other devices connect just fine.

But a Asus TF700T running Android 4.2.1 is not working. What's strange is that it claims to have connected, and shows an IP address.  Web pages just (eventually) time out (which is different from the immediate error I get when wifi is disconnected) and apps just hang: a blank screen on Google Store, and an empty map on Maps.

Checking the gateway, I see that IP address is listed as a client along with two IPv6 addresses at the same MAC. It does't show any other status other than lease time.

Re this post with a similar title: I have no proxy. Other (albeit newer: next oldest is 4.4.2) android devices connected in the usual way with no other configuring needed.

I am at a complete loss as to how to proceed to troubleshoot this.

update: at benjaminS’s suggestion, I tried entering a local IP address, the gateway router’s admin page, and that works.

Then I verified that my web server (at a hosting company, with a dedicated IP address) serves my personal site by default when accessed by IP address (http://199.73.30.94). On this Asus tablet, it immediatly returns the “webpage not available” page.

(Now, the page I try are failing immediatly, and Google Store quickly shows “check your connection and try again”. That is different. Settings still shows connected with local IP address.

update ⚁: ping with an ip address (for google) gives “destination Net Unreachable”. ifconfig gives no output. But I suspect at this point that the gateway is not being configured properly with DHCP.  Why not? How do I tell what's happening?

I used my phone as a hotspot and verified that stuff works in general for that device. I'm only getting E service so that's not practical for doing much. At least I can use Google Store, but please don't make me surf through the store.

The problem, it turns out, was an IP conflict, and is related to this question.

The wifi access point decided to bestow upon itself the same IPv4 address as the WAN gateway.  So, I suppose that packets were being routed to itself which had no way to continue.

(Why it was different for each device is a new mystery. Maybe newer devices use IPv6 or some other difference in the networking code?)


Sync contacts with Facebook Lite I've just installed Facebook Lite on my Galaxy A3 with Lollipop and no root. It satisfies all my necessities except for one: the contacts sync, which is present in the full version of Facebook.

I've thought of not uninstalling the full version, but instead using greenify to prevent it from running in the background, so that I can open it sometimes and get contacts to sync, but I wish there was a better solution.

I could not find any specific app to sync contacts because of the restrictions of the new Facebook APIs (in order for them to work properly I should ask all my friends to manually grant permission).

How could I sync my Facebook contacts having just the Lite version of the app running in the background?

I have solved my problem with Social Contact Photo Sync.


New messages do not show up immediately - HTC Desire Z Has anybody else encountered this problem? I go into my message inbox and at that point I see I have unread text messages that were received many hours before without notification.

I have got the notifications configured appropriately to alert me to new text messages in the status bar. This is an intermittent problem.

Any help much appreciated.

Other folks here have suggested that the issue may be with your SIM card:

Recipients complain they receive Text Message from me with a half hour delay

I was having a similar problem which was resolved when I reset my phone to factory settings (for other reasons). It might be worth asking your carrier for a new SIM, though.

PS. This user asked about sms receipt delays -- a different but related question.


Motorola Defy Plus - Apps are automatically closing few minutes after screen switches off This is driving me crazy.

I just bought a new Motorola Defy Plus (MB526) this week and plugged in a 16 GB SD card to it. Like the features it offered like Moto-Blur and all that.

So after 2 days of use I dumped some songs to listen while traveling to office. I started the playlist (in Connected Music Player,i.e., the stock music player provided in defy plus) to listen to music. But after 30 seconds or so phone goes to standby and song continues. But before song duration is complete, the sound shuts off. If I check the phone there is no app running. I tried listening to radio, and it was same thing with radio as well. I thought it was some sleep timer problem in music player, but I did not find any settings to do so. I browsed for solution in many places in Internet. But could not find solution. I found similar problem for Android v2.2. But my phone has Android v2.3.6. In between I tried using other apps such as Live 365 and Remote for VLC. Live 365 felt like it ran for little longer but even that closed too. Same problem persisted for Remote for VLC also, i.e., it's active for a while. After 5-7 minutes or so the app has closed completely.

Can I solve this problem by enabling Factory Reset? If I reset using that, I know that apps I installed will go away, and that is not a problem with me. But will the stock apps provided by Motorola go away too?

Sometimes I found the irritating Voice Command(I dont know what is called exactly, maybe - Listen app) window popping up. How should I turn that off?

Go to task manager icon from round lighted main icon at bottom center of phone. Once task manger is running , click on auto end list and remove your connect music app or any other app that plays music. Thats it.

Also notice before you do the operatino above that musics would stops playing after about 2 minutes. Because that is the default setting for the auto end list in the task manager app.


2019: Can Google Assistant send a message from lock screen? I'm looking for a way to allow Google Assistant's speech-to-text to send a message while phone is locked, preferably only to certain contacts and without being able to read past messages.

I've googled and all solutions seem no longer valid.

Yes you can, by using smartlock.

It should be located under security and lock screen.

Click on smart lock then voice match and turn on:
Access with voice match
And lock screen personal results.

However this may let you read earlier messages and will not restrain it to only selected contacts


Google Timer :: what is "one raised to one"? I only recently needed to use Google Timer and I was surprised to see this (highlighted in screenshot) and couldn't find any explanation in Timer Help nor in Android developers

Google search didn't help ( admittedly not deep). It sounds dumb but what is this 1 raised to 1 and how to use it ?

Moto X Play, 6.0.1

The button +1' will add 1 minute to the timer. It's a convenience function to extend the timer so that you don't have to stop the timer, add a little bit of time, then restart it.

I am not aware of any way to change the extension value. If you want to make drastic changes to the timer running, it's easier to stop the timer and start a new one with a different value. Otherwise, you are constrained by adding 1 minute at a time.


How do I stop a specific WiFi network from turning on WiFi automatically in Oreo Background:

With my Samsung Galaxy S7 finally updated to Android Oreo recently, I got the option to turn on WiFi automatically when in places where I frequently am.
This is a great feature, which I used to achieve using Llama, and which I very much want to use.

However, there doesn't seem to be any control for the locations or networks that trigger it. I also have no idea how big the range is of what it counts as a distinct location.

The issue is that there is this WiFi network throughout the city which I use at one specific location frequently. I pass through the vicinity of that location several times a day, which unfortunately means WiFi is turned on every time. Which in turn means my phone is continuously trying to connect to that network and failing, because I'm just biking through. All the while it prevents a stable connection with my mobile network, because it's trying to connect to the WiFi.

Question:

Is there any way to prevent a specific location from triggering WiFi to turn on automatically?

Or, for that matter, is anything known about how the option precisely works? I'm assuming it looks at location, but how big is the range, how does it work if I connect to the same network in different locations, etc.?

So, if the WiFi turned on automatically and is connecting to the network, you need to turn the WiFi off.
When I did that, I got the following notification:

  Turn on Wi-Fi automatically
  "[SSID]" has been removed from your frequently used Wi-Fi networks.
  It will be added again if you use it more often.

Apparently that is enough to remove it temporarily at least. No idea how long it takes until it is added again.


Show messages on lock screen on Galaxy S3 Is it possible to show previews of messages (as the iPhone does) on the lock screen on a Galaxy S3 running android 4.1.2?

There is a settings on text Messaging App to Preview Messages on Lock Screen.

Go to Text Messaging App --> (press menu) Settings-->(go to Notification Settings) Check Preview Messages Option.

Or

You can use this app. It will display new messages when phone is locked.


Huawei G700-U10 GPS keeps enabling itself after a while Is there a method to track which apps are turning on my GPS to access my location?
I just realized today that my GPS was turned on last night.
I turned it off as soon as I noticed, but then it turns back on immediately with the icon flashing in the notification area. The slide bar is also switched to "enabled" in my settings.

It happens like a ghost moving behind the scenes so it is pretty scary.

Is this a spy phone, app(s) problem or Huawei issue?

It was not like this during the immediate purchase which leads me to believe it just happen recently.

You can install an app to see what apps asks permission to use GPS then you can see which app of all of them is using your gps but rulling out them one by one. Propably FB or another SNS app did this. If Huawei wanted to spy on you there are better ways to do so. One good app to start with is F-Secure App Permission and can be found here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsecure.app.permissions.privacy&hl=en


How to sync my contacts with their gmail account? I have bought Nexus 4 and i have imported phone contacts from my older Phone. I don't have email id for many of the contacts,i have just their phone numbers alone. Now i want to sync them with their email. Is there any way to do this. And is there any way to sync them with their fb account. (To be clear my question is if i can sync them to their gmail or fb by just using their Number). Actually i have 'Add Connection' option in 'People' tab and i'm able to get the contacts from Google Plus correctly. But when i add them to circles they are saved as separate contact and my old contact with phone number alone as separate contact.

The best way is to create or import your contacts under Google account. You can add both Email or Facebook info under each contacts. You can also log in to Facebook app and sync Facebook contacts. Same name will be linked automatically and you may need link manually for the remaining contacts.


Can't get out of airplane mode: option is greyed out When I go to bed, I usually put my Samsung Galaxy Ace in airplane mode to use it as an alarm clock/music player, while saving battery. I can enter that mode successfully.

However, after I enter that mode, sometimes I can't leave that mode since the option (the second one in the list) is greyed out: I have to reboot. Any ideas?

I'm using Android 2.3.4 and my phone is rooted.

If you either go to airplane mode each night, you might want to try out some automating app like Timeriffic (free) or Tasker (~EUR 5) which could switch on airplane mode at night, and automatically switch it off in the morning. This way you do not get stuck with a grayed-out menu item -- and in case you do and need to get out of it, you may just need to play with some profile in this app.

Another alternative would be using some toggle-switcher (e.g. Elixier or Power Toggles), which provide you with widgets to switch airplane mode and more.

Also, on many Android devices, there's a pre-installed widget available which usually also includes airplane mode -- mostly called something like "Power Widget" or "Energy Widget"; just check the lists of widgets available to be added on your device.


Factory reset without erasing data will cause second user data removed? I have two users accounts in my phone(multiuser/multiple profile)
One is for normal use and other is work profile.
When I want to factory reset my phone from normal user profile(admin user) without erasing internal storage data (only removes apps and their data),will it remove work profile data also?
Both profiles have different passwords.
Will my work profile apps and file downloads, pdfs, documents will still be there? Or else entire work profile will also be deleted?
I'm using oneplus 5.

I went ahead tried to factory reset my phone without erasing internal storage.
Device - Oneplus 5, Android 8.1.0 , OOS 5.1.4, Not rooted
Before reset
Users

admin
work

Below are the storage details
admin       - /mnt/user/0
/storage/emulated/0
work        - /mnt/user/11,
/storage/emulated/11
guest mode  - /mnt/user/10,
/storage/emulated/10
After reset, names of users are reset and only default user name is seen which is Device Owner
Users

Device Owner

Below are the storage details
Device Owner  - /mnt/user/0 ,
/storage/emulated/0
Files in /storage/emulated/0 are not deleted. All files of second user got deleted. Looks like it completely wipes second user in this case. Guest user got deleted too.


Root LG G3 D855 5.0 Lollipop with a Mac I have been trying to root my LG G3 (D855) with Android 5.0 using my Mac Book Pro and so far I haven't been able to find a working method.

I followed this guide, but it seems that the combination of Android Version + Hardware Version of my phone isn't compatible with the vulnerability.

I also tried guide-root-lg-firmwares-kitkat-lollipop One Click root option, but it requires Windows...

Do you guys have any suggestions? I even tried to downgrade to Android 4.2.2, but I couldn't find a Mac guide for that either....

Any help is appreciate. Thanks!

You don't need to Downgrade the version of the phone's firmware,You just need an working method to root your device, Since all the "One-Click-Script" ways doesn't work for you, We'll go the Classic way, Just follow this guide,

Download the ROOT package from HERE

  Enable ADB debugging

  Go to Settings > About Phone > Software Information and tap build  number until you are presented with "You are now a developer".
  Back to Settings screen.
  In Developer Options, enable USB Debugging.

  Insert the USB cable
  Send the required files to the device using this command

  adb.exe push busybox /data/local/tmp && adb.exe push
  UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip /data/local/tmp

  Go to Download Mode

  Disconnect the USB cable.
  Power off the device.
  Hold volume up and insert the USB cable.

  Find which COM port your device is connected

  Run ports.bat
  From the output see what ports your phone connected to

  Run the root installer script

  Send_Command.exe \.\COMx < root
  Send_Command.exe \.\COMx < reboot
  Change the COMx with the correct port number of the DIAG port.
  and the output should be like this

I'm not a MAC guy, So i don't know for sure if you can do that on your MBP, But i know that you can use VirtualBox to install Windows inside your MBP as described HERE.


Recognize and tag mp3s Are there any Android applications which will recognize my mp3s from a directory and tag them automatically?

Some of my mp3s have wrong file names and tags. I want to organize them correctly.

There are many PC apps that will do this. You could simply plug your phone into your computer, mount the SD card, and configure the app to search the sd card.

I haven't tried this myself, but I found an app on the market called DroiID3Tagger that appears to automatically tag mp3s. There are plenty of others that allow you to edit the tags manually.


Xperia J becomes little unresponsive after I make or receive a call My Xperia J becomes little unresponsive after I make or receive a call. I have to restart the phone afterwards. I did a factory reset and it worked for 3-4 days, but the problem comes again.

Do a general reset all will be well. If you still have trouble, do a factory reset by holding the volume down and power buttons as you turn phone on.


CyanogenMod 7 Stable for Droid I'm asking this here because the mods at CyanogenMod's forum seem pretty adamant about people not asking about the status of version seven for the Of Droid.

I understand that CM7 hasn't been released for the Droid because of a few lingering instabilities in the ROM and that the CyanogenMod team is working on getting it to a stable state ASAP.  My question is will CM7 automatically show up in ROM Manager as a ROM available to download as soon as they mark it as a stable release, or will I have to do something to have ROM Manager manually check for an update?

If this seems like a fairly entry-level question I apologize, I only ask because I haven't been using ROM Manager long enough to experience an update to the ROM I'm using and don't want to miss out on flashing CM7 as soon as it's up to snuff.

ROM Manager will auto-load the list of available ROMs, yes.  You'll still have to look in that list and see whether CM is there.


Termux was unable to install the bootstrap packages After doing some research, it mention that the bootstrap in this url (http://termux.net/bootstrap/) must be download and install before one can use Termux.

So, how do I install the bootstrap? or do I put the bootstrap files into a particular folder in the phone before install Termux? or something else I need to do? or are there alternative methods to get Termux installed and running without connecting to the Internet?

(Note: The phone is not connect to the Internet. The phone need to have Termux installed with all prerequisite packages, such as bootstrap.)

If you want to install that bootstrap package without internet, you need root access.

The easiest way I've found is with Titanium Backup. You can install Termux on another device, bootstrap it then back it up with TB, and transfer the TB backup to the offline device and restore. It's also convenient for batch deploy.

If you want to manually install the bootstrap package via a shell (another Terminal Emulator or ADB shell), here's a possible method (I haven't tested it myself, but I think it's mostly correct). As said before, manual installation also requires root access.

First download the ZIP of the correct architecture and create these directories:

/data/data/com.termux/files/home
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr

And extract the ZIP completely to /data/data/com.termux/files/usr.

Then create some symbolic links because they're required for Termux to work. The instruction to creating those symbolic links are stored in SYMLINKS.txt and you need to process that.

Well, putting Unicode characters in such a text file isn't a good practice because it makes it hard to parse. Maybe you can try this tool (Meta Sandbox, CodePen) on a desktop browser. First click "Run Code Snippet" to enable it. Paste the content of SYMLINKS.txt to the text box, click Convert and run the output as shell commands. Make sure you're running those ln commands in /data/data/com.termux/files/usr.

Finally, correct the permissions, ownerships and SELinux contexts. Run the following commands. You can use the "vanilla" toolset in /system/bin for this job. They perform well here.

ROOT=/data/data/com.termux/files
UID=$(stat -c %u $ROOT)
chown -R $UID.$UID $ROOT
chmod -R 0755 $ROOT/usr/bin $ROOT/usr/libexec

If you're running Android 7 (API 24) or up, run this command in addition:

chcon -R u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 $ROOT


Do fast charge technologies wear down the batteries quicker? There are plenty of fast charge technologies out there, now seemingly going up to 120W, which can supposedly:

  ... capable of fully charging a 4,000mAh phone battery in just 13 minutes ...

Now I am no expert in physics or material technologies, but intuitively thinking increasing the effect (without changing the input current) could result in wearing down the batteries on the long run, assuming that the batteries burst into flames first.

I was wondering if there is any information out there available, with respect to how well the batteries hold in the long run, with these newer, high powered charging solutions.

In theory, yes. Charging quickly means there will be more heat produced which is bad for the battery cells.

However, most batteries are equiped with controllers that make sure that the charging process runs smoothly to avoid reaching temperatures that would be detrimental to batteries.


Installing APK via Terminal Emulator I have installed Android 4.4 through VirtualBox on my PC. I want to know how to install an APK (e.g. FIFA 14) in it via a command in terminal.

How to do that?

$ su

# cd (location in which you have the apk file)

# pm install fifa14.apk (or whatever the apk name)


How can I hide an application from the app drawer? I've got Micromax Canvas 2 and have installed one application which is having some confidential data. Now I want to hide that application from menu.

Is there any way / application for that?

You can use a different launcher, like ADW launcher. Free, and has that function.
On the downside, it consumes a bit more of RAM.


Factory Reset Android Developer Phone without password I used to have an Android developer phone (an ancient HTC Innovation) that I recently gave to a friend. Now we're trying to unlock it so he can use it. We put in the unlock password too many times, so now the phone is asking us for my Google password, even if we turn the phone on and off again. Unfortunately, the phone doesn't have Internet access and I changed my Google account password since the last time I used the phone, so I have no idea what password to put in to unlock it.

How can we unlock or factory reset the phone so my friend can use it?

If fastboot is installed on the handset (or commonly called bootloader), it might be best to re-flash via usage of USB cable and the handset with the cable plugged in.

In order to achieve this, a original image file is needed for this to work. The essence of fastboot, is that from the command line, the handset can be re-formatted and told to boot specific kernels without touching the original on the handset.

Consider the options used in the fastboot binary command line application, as in:

usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>

commands:
  update <filename>                        reflash device from update.zip
  flashall                                 flash boot + recovery + system
  flash <partition> [ <filename> ]         write a file to a flash partition
  erase <partition>                        erase a flash partition
  getvar <variable>                        display a bootloader variable
  boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]              download and boot kernel
  flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]    create bootimage and flash it
  devices                                  list all connected devices
  continue                                 continue with autoboot
  reboot                                   reboot device normally
  reboot-bootloader                        reboot device into bootloader
  help                                     show this help message

options:
  -w                                       erase userdata and cache
  -s <serial number>                       specify device serial number
  -p <product>                             specify product name
  -c <cmdline>                             override kernel commandline
  -i <vendor id>                           specify a custom USB vendor id
  -b <base_addr>                           specify a custom kernel base address
  -n <page size>                           specify the nand page size. default: 2048

Thus, the command line to wipe cleanly and flash the original image file would be this:

fastboot erase system to wipe the /system partition cleanly.
fastboot erase data to wipe the /data partition cleanly.
fastboot flash system original_system_image.img

The optional step may as well be, to flash the original boot image which can be achieved in this manner - fastboot flash boot original_boot_image.img.

If you happen to have the original update.zip for your handset, it might be easier to do it in this fashion, instead of the three steps above listed, as in fastboot update update.zip.


Retrieving contacts from Nexus 4 with broken screen My Nexus 4 is recognized by ./adb devices when connected via USB. Also USB debugging is enabled. Unfortunately the device isn't rooted so pulling the contacts db file doesn't work as I don't have access to the appropriate directories (I think). How can I retrieve my contacts in this situation?

Note I never synced my contacts with Google.

if you got airdroid working you can use your pc screen.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid

you can get the app installed through google play online.

is your screen broken meaning you cant see it, or it also doesnt accept input?


Wipe data from dead Android phone I have Samsung Galaxy A10s. Now its dead. No power on. I tried lots of combinations. I don't want anybody to get the data, messages or media files which is in internal memory. But as its not charging and not showing drive after connect through USB to PC, I can't delete data directly.

How can I delete media files specially from internal phone memory from my dead phone?

Further to what has already been suggested in the comments, if you're only interested in destroying the data and not recovering it, you could drill through eMMc to completely destroy it.

It is HIGHLY unadvised to do this without careful consideration as your phone contains a lithium ion battery and I shouldn't have to explain the dangers of damaging a battery.

You can follow this guide to remove the "motherboard" from the phone.

I'm not certain where the eMMc is located on the chip (the protective casing covers all the components and I've never done a teardown on the phone myself) but, at this point you can sort of just go crazy and destroy the whole thing.


How does Android keeps track of how much battery each specific apps used? How does Android keeps track of how much battery each specific apps used?

For example, if you go to battery usage on android phone, it will say something like:

Display 70%
Whatsapp 25%
Browser 3%

etc.

Is this done by battery manager?

And how accurate is this values computed, I am trying to come up with an app that can accurately measure how much battery each apps specifically consume.

There will be low level APIs that Android uses when computing battery stats.

  I am trying to come up with an app that can accurately measure how much battery each apps specifically comsume.

Although this sub isn't for development related questions, check out Batterystats on how to implement battery collection stats.


Is "Preferred Activity Setter" a malware? I have noticed I have Preferred Activity Setter after the most recent update of Google Play Services, and it has been wreaking havoc on my Samsung Galaxy prevail LTE on my stock browser called "Internet" or "Browser" on older phones where it takes me to a site where there was moleculas content and Chrome loads the page then when finished it loaded page disappears except for the URL bar.

I have AVG Antivirus and it also says Preferred Activity Setter is considered a potentially unwanted program (PUP is now invalid, now considered malware). I have tried to force stop it, and it is still active while the "force stop" is greyed out.

Anyway to remove this without rooting it and doing it that way?

No. System apps cannot be removed without root privileges. Ignore this warning from AVG. I myself removed it using Titanium Backup, but once again you need to have root for that. If you are ready to take that step, knowing that it will void your warranty, then head over to XDA and research the rooting methods available for your particular phone model.


Touch screen changing Can we replace the touchscreen of 5.5-inch size, 720p resolution in a smartphone to the same size but with 1080p resolution touchscreen? Is there any possibility? Or is it not possible? If not why?

It is possible theoretically, but impractical because of some reasons.

Android needs drivers to communicate with the hardware, and because you are replacing a hardware part, the old drivers will refuse to communicate with the new screen in a lot of cases, and you'll probably have to delete these drivers from the kernel source, rewrite these drivers (likely thousands of lines of C code) compile it and flash your new kernel.
The vendor of your device could have modified the way the screen interact with the motherboard. So unless if you are lucky to come upon a higher resolution screen that uses exactly the connection schemes of the old screen, you won't be able to replace it.
Your other hardware are probably not powerful enough to drive the higher resolution.

If you can overcome these difficulties, congratulations, you could replace your touchscreen! :)


Is there a method to freeze and thaw an application vs uninstall/reinstall? On a non-rooted Android 5.1 phone, is there a way to "freeze" an applications, settings, and data?

I don't want to uninstall or need to consistently kill a process. I would like to archive an application, and when I need it, take a brief moment to "thaw" it, use it, and freeze again when done.

You shoud try a software developped by gatesjunior, a Recognized Developer at XDA-Developers. I doesn't require root for hiding/blocking apps.

Download debloater.exe here (mirror) for Windows (May require .Net Framework 3.5 or higher). Download dmg file for OSX here
Enable USB debugging on the phone
Connect the phone to the computer (Should install drivers to get the phone detected)
Run debloater, clikc on "Click here togin"- should list all installed apps. Just check the check-mark related to the apps you want to hide/disable then click the first icon in the top left.

I found the complete link on how to use the software, check it out here


Upload and LAN issues in Nougat I recently switched phones to Infinix Zero 4 running Android N and can't seem to get around the following issues:

1) My backup app (Folder Sync Pro) has not been able to complete a single backup since. The backup of small files (less than 200kb) completes while larger files fail with the error "File transfer failed 'FULL_PATH_OF_FILE' - timeout".

2) Whatsapp has not been able to complete it's nightly cloud backup. The best it has done is 61mb over a period of 10 hours.

3) I cannot access my computer via ES File Explorer over wifi. I've always been able to do this on previous phones.

My LAN is OK since I can upload files without issues via the computer. These symptoms suggest there is a problem with network handling either by the hardware, or Nougat.

Is there any hidden upload timeout setting on Android?
Is there any setting that would interfere with smb connection?

I finally figured out the root problem...

I have Mobiwol NoRoot Firewall installed and it seems to misbehave in Android N. Some apps get blocked unexpectedly so large uploads cannot complete. Disabling it allowed by backups to resume and complete as expected.


Android phone display broken I'm here to find out alternatives to view the android phone's (Galaxy s3, I9300) display to an external display. I have decided not to repair the display and have move on to use an another phone.

I have come across Micro USB to VGA adaptor. Are there any cheaper ways or even a DIY way to view the port the display? The cell is in otherwise good condition.

Thanks

You're probably looking for an MHL cable.

Here's the cable to connect your Samsung Galaxy S3 to HDMI:

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/accessories/connectivity/EPL-3FHUBEGSTD

NOTE: 2 Different web sources that I saw right away seem to say it's not a standard MHL cable.  Make sure you check to ensure what you buy is compatible (Or us an official source like above):

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/06/08/samsung-galaxy-s3-uses-a-different-mhlhdmi-adapter/

I had the official cable for my Samsung S3 a few years ago and it worked great.


Most google related apps stopped working My phone was doing perfectly fine until the browser app stopped working. I thought it wouldn't affect other apps as well. But then most of my google related apps: chrome, youtube and google play cannot be accessed. I've tried clearing caches, force stop, disabling those apps. Didn't work either. Last resort I came up with was the factory reset. Became worse. Now I just don't know how to handle it. I've lost so many important information in the phone. :( Please help.

Try install Google Service Framework from APK Mirror

also possibly try a wifi connection

if the above fails possible solution reflash stock rom


Recovery Mode on tablet with no volume buttons? I have a Yarvik TAB10-201. The default launcher is corrupted.

I can get the tablet onto the recovery screen (Dead Android with red
exclamation mark).
I can't bring up the options menu without volume up and down keys.
I can see the device in Android Multi Tool, but when doing wipe data, it just restarts back into recovery mode.
Rockchip does not detect the device for rooting as I can't hold volume up on boot.
I can see the device running ADB devices (shows as recovery status).
ADB reboot bootloader just turns the device off.
fastboot devices returns no devices.
I have the default ROM for the Yarvik tablet, but unsure how to flash if fastboot is not locating the device.

What other options do I have to recover? I am happy to root or recover.
I can't access the OS at all, on boot it just throws errors regarding the launcher.

Thanks to esQmo for helping me look for a solution.

Turns out it was a Windows 8 problem, I switched to a different PC using Windows 7 and had no problems with RKBatchTool. For some reason even with correct drivers installed that worked when the tablet was plugged in, when the tablet was in Flash Mode Windows 8 had problems with the USB drivers.

For anyone that comes across this question.

I got the stock Firmware for Yarvik TAB10-201 from here.

I used RKBatchTool 1.7 and the RKB Driver Assistant for the drivers.


Software update never worked in Samsung Galaxy S2 Whenever I try
Settings -> About Phone -> Software Update -> Check for update
I get the error message "Connection failed"

More Information -

I am connected to Internet. and Internet works in my phone.
I have configured Samsung account in my mobile.

Galaxy S2 doesn't support OTA updates...so it's unlikely that you will be able to check for updates from your phone. The same "Connection Failed" error comes to me when I try that in my phone.


How can I write in Tamil language with Google Handwriting Input? OS - Android 4.4.2
Phone - Huawei Honor 6
UI - EmotionUI 2.3

I want to add additional language (Tamil language) under Settings - Language & Input - Language, how can I add it?

If I could add Tamil, I could use that in 'Google Handwriting Input'. Or Is there any other way to install Tamil language, so that I could write in Tamil with Google Handwriting Input?

Earlier, I set up 'Swype for Huawei' as default keyboard, long pressed in space bar, selected 'More Languages' 'Download languages', downloaded and installed Tamil, but I could use this only in 'Swype for Huawei' keyboard, not in other
keyboards.

By default, Google Handwriting Input uses current system language only. However, you can turn off this feature and select the languages you want to use manually.

Open Google Handwriting Input app
On the bottom, tap Configure languages
Turn off Use system language
Below that, select any languages you want to use (e.g. English and Tamil)
Tap Download languages to download the configured languages to use it.

(Click to enlarge screenshot)
Now you can choose Tamil (or any languages you previously selected) for Google Handwriting when inputting on a text box.

Based on Google Handwriting Input version 1.1.


Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_C gave up waiting for partitionMixed after 180000ms After entering the final command to make a mixed-format SD card in How can I move apps to SD on non-adopted Marshmallow storage?:

  $ adb shell sm partition disk:179,64 mixed 25

I meet this error:

  Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_C gave up waiting for partitionMixed after 180000ms

If it is 75, then the error is:

  Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_4 gave up waiting for partitionMixed after 180000ms

How can I fix this? Only 3 results appear in Google, and neither of them helps.

Phone: Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Dual
SD card: SanDisk Ultra micro SDHC UHS-1 Card 16 GB, class 10

It is because the SD card is mounted to have an ext4 partition (alongside with another normal partition), in order to use Link2SD to force moving unmovable apps to SD card. The error shows up after this. Even reformatting the SD card to have only one full partition back does not solve the problem.

To solve it, reformatting it with the phone's default format tool. You may want to reboot the phone after done. Thereafter, you can partition the disk with adb as normal.


Why I can't scan QR code inside Whatsapp? I have Whatsapp latest version & have the Whatsapp Web Option
I put it to scan but it just doesn't scan it.
I Installed a QR Scanner app and it works perfectly.
I uninstalled the QR Scanner app to see if that was the issue and still doesn't work.
My phone is a Sony Xperia E1 Dual... anyone help me...

You don't need to install third party QR scanner, rather than you have to use the QR scanner present inside the whatsapp it can be found under whatsapp>Menu>WebWhatsApp, use it to scan the QR Code and your problem will be fixed.


What is the use of Android System WebView? I have seen some Android phones where this application comes installed on the device. What is the use of this application?

(Click image to enlarge)

Does installing this app have any advantage on any other Android devices which does not have this application installed?

Some applications require what is known as WebView, a mini browser for functions like approving logins from Facebook and Google+. This is essentially a miniature version of Chrome.

It used to be that WebView only updated with the OS. In Lollipop, Google detached it from the Core OS in a way, and added the functionality for it to be updated via Google Play, like other apps, automatically. This allows it to keep up with Chrome and provide a better browsing experience.

The next time you log into an app and you are brought to a Web Page in the app saying "Allow 'The App' to assess your Google Account" or what not, see if you get get to the Google homepage via the "About Google" link. Then search for and open http://WhatBrowser.Org You will see how it is a mini chrome-based browser inside the app, provided by the system, and updated by Google Play.

Having this installed will keep it updated. You will not have to wait to upgrade the Android OS.


Does a Nandroid Backup contain Language files? I know that a Nandroid backup is a snapshot of a system image. I wish to know if this backup will also include language files if Backup was made from a multi-language ROM.

For Example:

I bought a Lenovo phone (S890) but it only came with Chinese and English, My friend has the same phone but his came with a Multi-language ROM. I thought since we both have the same phone we can try and install the same recovery software on both phones. I can then create a Nandroid backup on his phone and use that backup on my phone to get Multi-lang too.

Is my assumption here correct ?

As a Nandroid backup creates images of all Android related partitions of the device (not of the radio-firmware, which is not directly related to any OS), your assumptions are correct: it covers everything, i.e. all data belonging to the Android installation. So provided both of you use the exact same device (compare the specs, some devices have variants which could be crucial when involving different hardware components), the copy as described in the question should work.

To be on the safe side, and have a chance to revert back, it cannot hurt to create a Nandroid backup on the target device as well, though :)


How to find in page in google chrome mobile? How to find in page in google chrome mobile? You used to be able to type in the omnibox and an magnifying glass icon would appear on one line.  Clicking on that would enable one to find in page.  In the new version it has disappeared so how does it work now?

If you click the three dots menu you should see a 'Find in page' option which allows you to enter the text to look for.


Is tethering/hotspot dangerous for your Android phone? Is using your Android phone as a portable hotspot/tethering dangerous for your hardware part?

In our dormitory we do not have good internet connection and I'm forced to use my phone as an internet spot 24/7 (we basically can't even search a thing on Google)

How dangerous this can be? I am not talking from a security point of view, but rather from an hardware point of view (short-circuit, not being able to use Wi-Fi in the future etc)

I am aware that keeping my phone connected 24/7 to my laptop will drain battery's life

There isn't enough/real evidence suggesting that tethering is harmful to device hardware. AFAICT this is a feature-by-design that any android device (supporting tethering) should be able to handle without detrimental effects other hardware except perhaps that the battery may be degraded a little bit due to overheating.

(Just like using your PC to play high graphics games 24/7 with a gaming PC, even though the PC seems to be "overworking", you'd agree with me that's what its designed for. Isn't it?)


FTDI chip used by Android 2.3.6 Is it possible to use FTDI chip with Android 2.3.6? I've found an application which works with FTDI chip, but it uses Android 3.1 and later.

I'd like connect my phone to peripheral hardware over UART. This company provides the FTDI chip which can be used for it, and they provide an application (see above), but it's only for Android 3.1 and later. I'd like to use it with Android 2.3.6, but I think it's missing Android Open Accessory Protocol which is needed for it. Is there is another possibility to connect it to peripheral hardware?

I think It's possible. But you need to port the sourcecode to support 2.3.6 API. You need install Google API Add On and follow the steps posted in android development page http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/accessory.html

I think the sourcecode could be found in FTDI webpage.


Android software corrupting again and again i'm using micromax unite 2 mobile for about 1.5 year. After just more than 1 year of its usage its software got corrupt. As the warranty was over so i had to spend money to get it repaired from micromax care. But then after 1 month its soffware again got corrupt. So again had to spend money to get it repaired. Then again after 20 days its software was corrupted. Please tell me why my mobile's software is corrupting again and again?

I am also a unite 2 user and i had faced this problem. However i repaired it myself. May be the problem is with your ROM. Micromax customer care service is of worst level so leave them. Here is a fixe.

Flash a new stock ROM. Download ROM And installation guide from here

Flash ROM with the help of SP flash tool and format your device before flashing(its easy)


Why would external Storage Location be unavailable in Play Music and Play Movies? I have a Galaxy Tab S running Android 5.0.2. I also have a 32GB SD card installed. Supposedly I should be able to set Play Music and Play Movies to download to the external card, but those options are not available for some reason.

In Play Music Settings, I see the Storage location option, but it's set to "Internal (on this device)" and it is disabled (greyed out); tapping does nothing to change it. In Play Movies, there is no option at all in Settings nor when I tap to download a rented or purchased movie.

I see plenty of referneces online about people being able to set the storage location for both apps, as of Android 4.4 and above, so I'm confused why I can't get it on my Lollipop 5.0.2 tablet.

I've confirmed that I can write to the SD card; I've done so via the Android File Transfer app from my laptop, as well as using the Samsung My File app installed on the tablet.

Update: I just noticed that this happens only for some of the user profiles on the device. The "owner" profile can set the storage locations to external (SD card) but no other user profile can.

I had a similar problem on my Lenovo P70A on Android 4.4 and 5.x as well.

The solution for me was to manually create the folder "com.google.android.music" under the "/Android/data" folder on my external SD card, which is where Google Play Music normally stores the downloaded (offline) music. Once I've done this and force closed Google Play Music, starting it again it resulted in the External Storage option becoming available.


I Accidentally Deleted the Launcher I was making some tests on my android phone and I accidentally deleted the launcher from the system partition and I forgot to copy the new one to the system partition again, and the phone doesn't show anything, just the status bar and I can't enter or run anything.

I tryed to send the launcher's apk using bluetooth, but neither other android phone nor windows 8.1 can't send any file to the phone, even if the phone is paired with both devices.

Is there any way to run the Play Store to install the launcher or to install the launcher from the SD card?

Thanks a lot.

You can find a launcher on the Google Play Store and remotely install it that way. Then reboot the phone after it installs. Once the phone reboots it should prompt you to pick a launcher and then you can go from there.

So for instance if you want the Google Launcher.

Then click on the Install button and select the device. As long as the device is online and signed into your account, it will install for you automatically.

Edit. Forgot to say this. You can do this from another device, just have to do it through the browser and not the app. Or since you said Windows 8.1 I assume thats a desktop/laptop. You can do it on there as well.

Edit 2. Adding on what @Izzy commented. You can download the apk for google's launcher from here. Then sideload via adb, using the command adb install </folder/nameof.apk>.


I am getting the notification: Disable harmful app. On disabling it, I am still getting back the notification. What do I do? From the past few weeks, I am getting the notification:

Disable harmful app
"System Notification Service" can damage your device.

On tapping on the notification, I am getting two options:

Keep Anyway (Unsafe)
Ok

After pressing Ok,  a few minutes later, I am getting back the notification again.
In google play store app, in the play protect section, it has this detail:

This app can download potentially harmful apps.

My mom too has phone from the same brand; it too has started getting same notification.
Is there a problem? What do I do?
Edit: Model Number: Gionee P5L;
Android Version: 5.1;
Android security patch level: 2017-03-05;
Kernel Version: 3.10.65+;
Build Number: [SW VERSION]
P5L_0301_V5557
[HW VERSION]
P5L_Mainboard_P3;
System Version: amigo3.1

You can disable the security popup by Settings -> Google -> Security -> (Play Protect) And uncheck “Scan Device for Security threats”

If there are more details under that tab, then comment below.

For safer app installation, you can disable Unknown Sources in Settings -> Security -> Disable "Allow installation of apps from unknown source"

For safer browsing, you can install firefox for Android, and add ublock origin as an adblocker extension when browsing the web.


Can I generate a QR code for a contact? I'm pretty sure I remember someone showing me a tool they were using to generate QR codes for individual contacts on their Android.
How do I generate a QR code for a contact?

Use the popular Barcode Scanner App, it gives you a "share via barcode" option in the "share" menu when viewing a contact.


How to fix badly virused android device - Your device has been modified, software updates are not available I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that has been infected with some viruses really badly.

After factory defaults, as soon as it connects to the internet it starts downloading some apps and advertisement windows pop up like every 10 seconds.

Things I tried:

Installed AVG AntiVirus, CM serurity, Clear master

It helped me delete some files of the virus but did not solve the problem

Booted into recovery mode:

Wiped cache partition
wiped data/factory reset

Booted into Odin mode:

Product Name: GT-N8010
Custom Binary: Download: No
Current Binary: Samsung Official
System Status: Custom

Tried to software update

Message: Your device has been modified, software updates are not available.

What can I do to get rid of the virus and be able to software update normally?

It sounds like you have it unlocked with a custom recovery. If so, use the custom recovery to install a new ROM for your tablet. Find your tablet on http://forum.xda-developers.com/ and you can find either a third-party (i.e. Cyanogenmod, etc.), modified stock, or even completely stock ROM such as this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2792979 .

If you don't have a custom recovery, you can find instructions on XDA to use the odin utility to install one.

Wiping the system and data partitions should get rid of the malware but you'll need a new rom to install. If you have an SD card you can put the new rom zip file on the card. If not, you should copy it to the tablet first.


Mediatek flash tool device in device manager disconnects I am trying to flash a rom via mediatek flash tool, my problem is that when I connect the tablet to my PC it connects the mediatek preloader but after 2 seconds it disconnects. What can I do with this ?

Flash Stock Roms with SP Flash Tool

Step 1:
Download and install Android USB Drivers on your PC. Skip this step, In case the drivers are already installed.

Step 2: Power Off your MTK Device.

Step 3 Download the suitable Firmware for your device, and extract it on your PC.

Step 4: Download and Extract SP Flash Tool on Your PC.

Step 5: In the extracted folder, launch Flash_tool.exe

Step 6: Click on the Download Tab.

Step 7: In the Download Tab, now click on the Scatter-Loading button.

Step 8: Navigate in your Firmware Folder and select Scatter File (A txt file ending with scatter.txt).

Step 9: Click on the Download Button to launch the download procedure.

Step 10: Connect your device to the PC using the USB Cable. Your device should be Powered-off.

Step 11: Once Flashing is completed, a Green circle dialog appears, now you can disconnect your device from the USB Cable and Power it on to check whether it's ok or not.

P.S: Don't select Preloader while flashing unknown Firmwares.


Installing .apk as system app directly (with root) I'm wondering is it possible to install .apk file as system app directly (with root)? Without converting user app to system app.

You can simply copy the apk (its name not relevant) into /system/app or /system/priv-app, set the appropriate permissions (rw-r-r, root:root) and then do a reboot. That's it.

Works well on Android 6.0.1.


How Can I Root My GS4 Without Bricking It Again So... I've rooted all of my devices in the past: tablets and phones and 2 months ago I tried rooting my Galaxy S4 and bricked it, even though I followed an XDA video on how to root.

I followed all of the steps exactly as instructed and still bricked my GS4.

So... Is there any way/video/method that can help me root my new GS4 without bricking it this time? Or should I just forget about it?

I have the T Mobile SGH-M919 I believe

You cannot really root a bricked phone. However, assuming your phone is not currently bricked, there's a very straightforward tutorial by wwjoshdew that you can follow.


Micro Usb to HDMI without MHL I've got a cable without MHL adapter. I just want to know How can I connect it with TV.
Of course I've tried much but it was incompatible. Is there any way to make it compatible.
I've Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Bravia, Samsung LED on other side!
IF there has to be some signal conversions, can an android app do that ?

To connect your Samsung Galaxy S4 to a TV, you need to use an 11-pin MHL cable. 11-pin MHL cables are usually Y-shaped, and state specifically that they're for Samsung phones.

That's the only way. You can't use a 5-pin MHL cable with this phone. You can't use an app or custom ROM, or any other kind of software on the phone, to get around the need for the right cable.

See How does MHL work? for more information.


Export or backup contacts with pictures When exporting contacts from the standard contacts application to the disk and importing them to Thunderbird - the pictures are missing.

I'd like to export all contacts with pictures though.

Is there a way to get a 100% backup of my contacts? Where are they stored and how can I back them up?

User @Izzy explained that encoded pictures are actually included in the .vcf created from the export.

This led me to think that the issue is actually with Thunbird's contacts import and not with android's contacts export. As it turns out this is right.

Since the default way for Thunderbird to import vcards appears to be faulty, I used the add-on MoreFunctionsForAddressBook to import the address book. It worked fine and included all the pictures!


Is there an app or method that will let me use a cloud-synced folder on the SD card? Possible Duplicate:
  Complete dropbox implementation for Android

In my case I have a bunch of roms and save files I want to keep in sync across devices, the desktop dropbox app lets me store these files in a "real" folder in windows so any application can access them normally, but once they're changed on my pc/server they get updated. Is there any app that lets me do something similar on android? The cloud apps I've looked at so far (dropbox, box.net, boxroid) only allow for downloading single files at a time.

SugarSync does this. They specifically market it as a way to keep your photos backed up, but it works for any file/folder. They describe their "Autosync" system in this blog post.


How do we run *#06# using ADB to get IMEI number? I want to run *#06# and display the activity/fragment which shows the IMEI numbers using adb. Kindly help. Details of the fragment and activity as show below:

#1: DialpadFragment{27576dd7 #1 id=0x7f0e00b6 dialpad}
    mFragmentId=#7f0e00b6 mContainerId=#7f0e00b6 mTag=dialpad
    mState=5 mIndex=1 mWho=android:fragment:1 mBackStackNesting=0
    mAdded=true mRemoving=false mResumed=true mFromLayout=false mInLayout=false
    mHidden=false mDetached=false mMenuVisible=true mHasMenu=false
    mRetainInstance=false mRetaining=false mUserVisibleHint=true
    mFragmentManager=FragmentManager{c30ada in DialtactsActivity{104052fa}}
    mActivity=com.android.dialer.DialtactsActivity@104052fa
    mContainer=android.widget.FrameLayout{22c29bbe V.E..... ........ 0,0-720,1230 #7f0e00b6 app:id/dialtacts_container}
    mView=com.android.dialer.dialpad.DialpadFragment$DialpadSlidingRelativeLayout{2c1bbdce V.E..... ........ 0,0-720,1230}
    Child FragmentManager{2efb76c4 in DialpadFragment{27576dd7}}:
      FragmentManager misc state:
        mActivity=com.android.dialer.DialtactsActivity@104052fa
        mContainer=android.app.Fragment$1@3ed979ad
        mParent=DialpadFragment{27576dd7 #1 id=0x7f0e00b6 dialpad}
        mCurState=5 mStateSaved=false mDestroyed=false

This doesn't work on all devices/dialers, but it does on mine so it's worth giving it a shot.  From adb shell:

am start -a android.intent.action.DIAL -d "tel:*%2306%23"

See this chat conversation for more discussion and possibilities.

For just getting the number in the shell, you could also try this:

$ getprop | grep -i IMEI
[persist.sys.oppo.device.imei]: [<IMEI here>]

That's a custom property on my particular device, but yours might have something similar.

Another option if you have root (and possibly needing busybox as well):

$ su
# service call iphonesubinfo 1 | awk '{ print $NF }' | sed 's/[^0-9]*//g' | tr -d '[:space:]' | sed 's/$/\n/'
<IMEI here>

One more that is probably device-specific:

$ content query --uri content://settings/system --where "name='bd_setting_i'" | sed 's/[^=0-9]*//g' | sed 's/[0-9]*=//g'
<IMEI here>


SystemUI.apk and framework-res.apk causes bootloop after being modified Hi I'm using a stock LineageOS rom specifically android Pie (LineageOS 16) and I've been modifying system applications, such as SystemUI, framework, gallery, sms etc. before (on samsung ROMS) and so far I haven't got any problem aside from forgetting to set the correct permissions on each apk.

Though when I switched to LineageOS, it seems that I can't simply modify the framework and systemui. I tried the usual way of decompiling and compiling an apk using apktool, then, to sign the apk with its previous/original key, I use the files from the "original" folder in the decompiled apk then build the apk again. Somehow, when I try to replace the apk in my phone, set the correct permissions, and reboot, it will result to bootloop.

Did I miss anything? Do i need to sign it with another key? Do I need to disable signature-check on my Android?

Signing won't work by just copying the files from the original folder. You could try building the ROM yourself then you'd have the signatures, but I believe there's a much better solution that I've described below.

If you're modifying things that are in res/ and assets/ overlays are most definitely the way to go. They don't require any signature tricks and they can be easily added/removed without you having to even touch the SystemUI or framework. You can use cmd overlay to enable and disable them easily. Building the overlays isn't really easy, so you'd have to get some knowledge related to aapt in order to understand how to build them, or you could use a theme engine like Substratum. There's a template that you can modify and you can manage the overlays within the app.


How to take Motorola Photon 4g out of the grave? Recently I ordered Motorola 4g from US.... It was with stock Sprint Sunfire OS.

OS       : Sunfire-2.3.5
Baseband : 4.5.1A (I am not sure about this whether its baseband or revision)
Build    : 1_SUN-254_4

NOW ITS DEAD.... running in RSD Mode

So what I did, I was trying to install custom rom on that. Steps I had taken

Rooted phone via installing SuperUser and various rooting methods like ClickOnce, Photon -Torpedo but no one seems successful , while executing I got errors everytime. But after day or two I came to know about that my phone is rooted. As I was getting SuperUser popups on root operations. Then I installed CWM and tried to install the ROM from there but everytime I got stucked at Yellow Triangular icon (recovery mode).
Repeated step on rooting process and unlocking the bootloader by applying pudding.rar and fastboot commands and every time i got the error and Starting RSD Screens, but anyhow my phone recovers itself to its original boot state afetr pulling out battery and manually restrating.
Finally one day I use some other Recovery Tool , i am unable to recall the name. It installed and rebooted successfully in the recovery mode. I then wipe the dalvik cache, wipe factory reset and then tried to installl the custom rom that MIUI 2.68 i think . I was happy to see some designer screens on my phone and then it said rom installed successfully.
I then reboot my phone and found it in the Failed To Start2 , Starting RSD mode

I tried various way to restore...

Installing pudding.rar using RSD lite but everytime I got sec_exception : sec_exception : b655, eddc,eb
I then tried reinstalling SBF : 1FF-sunfire-user-2.3.4-4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_7-CM-release-keys-signed-Sprint-US.sbf and sunfire-2.3.5-4.5.1A-1_SUN-254_4 but while enumerating phone
I got error  sec_exception febe 4e 4e

I have also tried nopudding4u.sbf but the same result.

Please,, help me and my phone out .. as its going to be more than a week... i feel handicaaped...

Please guide me through the step by step  , which file and when and please do provide the links of the files to download.

**Update OTA with 2.3.5 before murdering.....**

I got it back. For answer check the XDA Forum with same question.. ANybody in same condition .. please visit the link..


Improve load time/animation on lock screen (Samsung S7, Android Oreo) The animation of the lock screen takes a little while, maybe half a second before showing any information.

It's disguised as a fade in animation. This is annoying because pressing the home button to check my phone's status when the screen is off goes to the lock screen and then takes extra time to load up things like the time, the top bar etc.

My phone isn't slow, I don't know why it's forced me onto this slow animating gimmick from my Android Oreo upgrade. Everything was instant before hand.

The simple process:

-> Click Home Button

-> Shows wallpaper instantly

-> 0.5s

-> Fades in all text/buttons.

I had the same problem.
In Settings, Developer options, set Animator duration scale to off or 0.5x.
This should fix your problem.


Disable Equalizer lockscreen UI on (CyanogenMod 12 - Lollipop) So apparently the Equalizer (or audio) UI component on the lockscreen causes my device to completely become unresponsive to touch from about the middle of the screen down. This started when I got the Lollipop (CyanogenMod 12) OTA update, and I can correlate the behavior to that (restart the device, don't play audio - no issue).

Can I disable that UI component for the lockscreen (or the Equalizer in CM12 if it comes to that) until this is fixed? My device is a OnePlus A0001.

Thanks!

Settings > Lockscreen > Turn off "Display music visualizer"


How do I unlock the bootloader on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus? I have a LTE (Verizon) Samsung Galaxy Nexus. How do I go about unlocking the bootloader such that I can root the device?

Full instructions can be found here.

In short:

Install SDK
Get the Fastboot.exe and place in your SDK/tools
Turn on USB debugging on phone
Connect to PC via USB
Using adb, run adb reboot bootloader
At the bootloader, run fastboot oem unlock
Accept dialog to unlock bootloader
Start phone, phone will reboot, do not battery pull!

Afterwards, you can get root access.


How do I get rid of the search suggestions in Chrome? I want to remove these suggestions on chrome for android, but I cannot find how to do it anywhere. Can someone help me with this?
Once I type a letter the normal suggestions appear. I just don't want to see all these recent searches I made.

Those are suggestions that you can turn off.

Go to the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
Click Settings.
Click Show advanced settings (on the bottom)
In the Privacy section, deselect the "Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar" checkbox.


What does the IcsService process do? Under running services, I see the IcsService or long name com.android.samsung.IcsService . What does that process do? I'm debating about removing it.

Note I have a AT&T Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S)

ICS = Internet Connection Sharing.  I believe it's the service that lets a computer connect to the internet through your device over USB.  You can safely remove it if you don't use it.


How to access the content of an sd card formatted as internal storage? I am using Cyanogenmod 13 (based on Android 6) and an external 64GB sd card. When starting Cyanogenmod the first time I selected to format this sd card as an internal storage (Note that in my case the sd card should not be encrypted as I did not enabled device encryption).
Now I want to transfer a big file to my PC. (See: File transfer of large file to PC fails why other file transfer methods did not worked)

So I put the sd card into the sd card slot of my PC, but I noticed that the file system is not recognized. This is what GParted shows:

I can read the FAT32 part, but this is not the part Android uses.
So how I can access this part? What file system does it use?

From what I now today, I think the unfortunate problem is: Even without disk encryption Android always encrypts the "internally/adopted storage mounted" sd card.

As such you need to decrypt that. The file system used "afterwards" (i.e. inside of the encrypted "container") is, AFAIK, just ext4 or so. Basically a simple file system you can access with Linux.


How to (cleanly) remove Gmail app from KitKat? I have fully moved over to Inbox Hey I have a moto G (no SD card!) and so space is a premium.

I have 'removed all updates' and cleared data on Gmail but I would like that extra 40 MB back. Is it possible to remove Gmail completely?

Now I'm not so sure this was a good idea, as Inbox is a front-end for Gmail.

Inbox seems to be working fine...

Deleting the Gmail app wouldn't give you extra space, as it came pre-installed as system app. Those "system apps" live in a different partition (/system, which is why they are usually called "system apps"), which is mounted read-only – and not available to the user to be written.

However, Google Apps (including Gmail) are regularly updated via Google Play. Those updates are placed in user-space (inside /data), and thus consume space you could use otherwise. To claim back that space from system apps you don't need:

From the home screen, go to Settings › Apps
Select the "All" tab
Scroll to the app in question (here: Gmail), tap its entry
Now you see some details on that app, including some buttons you can press. Press:

Force Stop to "shut down" the app
Clear Cache to make it release its "temporary files"
Delete data to get rid of its configuration and stored user data (optional; if you think you might need this app later, skip this step)
Uninstall updates to get rid of the app-updates installed in user-space
Now that button gets renamed to Disable, hit it again (it should be renamed now a second time, and read Enable – so in case you need it at a later time, you can do so. Note it then would draw-in the latest updates again)

Now the app should no longer be visible in the app drawer, and also its shortcuts etc. on your home screen(s) should be gone. Storage claimed by the app's updates, caches, and (optionally) data is freed, and available to you to be used for other purposes.


Where is CP Message stored? Today I got a message from my operator, my phone (Galaxy Note 2) open it in CP Message (I don't know if this is app, the title say 'CP Message'). I installed the file that my operator sent to me. After I close it, I can't find it anymore. Where is it? How can I found it again?

Thanks.

Go over to your Messaging app, press the options button/menu button (depends on the device). A short list will pop-up including options like Search, Drat Messages, Delete, etc. One of these options should say 'Configuration Messages' or something similar. This is where the CP messages you receive are stored. I'm not sure as to what purpose they serve (they seem to vary from lists of MMS to Browser settings), but that's where all of them are.


Is there a USB driver for the alacatel onetouch 983? I have purchased an alcatel one touch 983 running android 2.3.7 for development purposes. So it is critical that I can view logcat messages and connect to it from eclipse via USB. But so far I have failed to get the connection to work. I have installed something called "Qualcomm USB Host Driver version 2.0.6.7 for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/Win7" which I though was the right solution - but when I right click on "onetouch" in device manager and then tell the update wizard that my driver is in "E:\Alcatel USB driver\usb_host_driver_2.0.6.8\Win32\WinXP", it reports "The hardware was not installed because the wizard cannot find the necessary software".

In case you cannot find a device-specific driver, it's worth trying the Universal ADB driver. It should work with most devices, so I'd even say this is the first one to try -- especially when having multiple devices, as this gets you rid of the need for multiple drivers.


Google Calendar Erroneously Deleting Events Over the last couple of weeks, Google calendar has repeatedly deleted the events I entered. It occurs approximately 12-24 hours after I create the event.

EDIT: In response to question below, it's deleting events created both on the phone, as well as at calendar.google.com.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue? If so, has anyone had luck fixing it?

Finally, does anyone know how I can contact Google directly about this issue? Their "help" page is a labyrinth.

Devices: Sprint HTC EVO 4G, Android v. 2.3.5
Macbook OSX 10.6.8

I used Spanning, which was perfect. Took care of the whole thing. Why google doesn't have this functionality is beyond me.


How can I prevent my Wi-Fi connection from glitching? Occassionally my Wi-Fi goes into this weird state where the phone "thinks" I'm connected, but the connection simply doesn't work.  Apps still seem to think I have connectivity, though they can't actually connect to anything, and the status bar still shows that I'm connected to Wi-Fi.  Turning Wi-Fi off and back on resolves the issue, and this occurs on multiple networks.

It seems sort of like whatever service manages the Wi-Fi connection gets killed occasionally.  It usually happens when I've been playing a game (that doesn't access the Internet) for a while or if my phone's been sitting for a while; it never happens while I'm actively using the connection.  I have my Wi-Fi timeout set to "Never" and the normal timeout isn't the issue since my phone regularly lasts several hours without the Wi-Fi dying.  Sometimes it dies a couple times in a day, and recently I went a week or so without it happening.

How can I fix this or prevent the service from being killed (if that's indeed what's happening)?  Shouldn't that be a system process that never gets killed?  (Does Android ever kill system processes other than when they crash?)  Could it be related to TouchWiz?  I have an SGS Vibrant running 2.2 (Bionix NextGen v1, but this has occurred on multiple ROMs).

This could be a solution, but it's more a hint at the issue:

The ZTE Blade suffers with losing it's Wi-Fi connection when it comes back from sleep. Perhaps you have a similar issue?
The app Blade Wifi Fix by AA Android available from Google Play Store, fixes it on the Blade, you could give it a try:

  Some people with the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco phone find that the Wifi doesn't always come back on after the phone wakes up from being locked or asleep.

  Install this and you wont know its there until you wake up your phone and the Wifi jams, at which point it will flash a message to tell you its fixing it.


SIM is unsupported on Galaxy Y running CM11 There's a problem with my Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 after upgrading from GingerBread to Android KitKat.

I followed all the steps starting from downloading CWM, CyanogenMod 11, and the KitKat ROM. And thankfully I was successful. At first, it was so long before the update was fully installed on my Galaxy Y.

Problem: When I turn it on, it accepts the SD Card, but SIM card is not detected.

I tried rebooting over and over again. But only the SD card works, specifically that only the SD card is inserted, not SIM card and it works properly. But it doesn't start when SIM card is inserted.

Now I rebooted it with only the SIM card inserted, hoping that "somehow" my Galaxy Y will take its time rebooting while my SIM card is inserted. But still, I'm not sure what will happen. Please help me.

Here's what you have to do:

Reflash your ROM
After reflashing, let it boot
Turn off your profile and shutdown
Wait until the phone vibrates and open it again

If it doesn't work, format cache, system, data, and also cache on CWM recovery, then try reflashing again.


How can I tell if I have Samsung or Google calendar app installed? I have a calendar app installed (rooted Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Android 4.3)

App Info shows version "4.3-N900VVRUBMJ7", which matches Samsung's instaled Android version.

How can I tell if it's a standard Google Calendar app, or Samsung's version of it or Samsung's proprietary app?

(the main reason is that I need to ask questions about it here, and I need to specify which calendar app I'm using :)

I figured out an answer.

Went to Google Play and opened Google Calendar. It had "Install" button, meaning it wasn't already installed.

Coupled with the Calendar app's ID matching Samsung firmware #, it means the app I have is Samsung's calendar, not Google.


Is it possible to order 2 Ubers at the same time? Using the Uber Android application, is it possible to book 2 Uber drivers at the same time?

It does not seem possible to order 2 Ubers at the same time: requesting an Uber changes the application interface, making it impossible to request a second Uber.


Enable the Android market on a kobo vox Based on its cheap price, I'm considering purchasing a Kobo Vox. The only downside I see to it is that it the market isn't enabled on it. Is there a way to enable the Android market on it once I get it?

Well, only if your rooted. You would manually have to install the g-apps recovery update zip.

If you tell me your country and phone type, i can provide a link, or you can see all available versions here:

GApps Downloads


Is there a way to see app feedback I've sent on Android? Yesterday I sent some feedback for an app (Google Hangouts) through Android's system-wide Send Feedback function. This is the same dialog box that is triggered when you choose to report a Force Close. See screenshots below.

I realised later that I had no internet connection at the time, and so the feedback may not have been sent. This made me wonder: is there any way to see every feedback item and crash report that I've sent to specific apps?

For the record, I'm running CyanogenMod 10.1 (Jelly Bean 4.2.2) on an HTC Sensation.

It looks like you can't send Google Feedback reports to specific apps (although, as Dan Hulme commented, Google does forward them to the developers of the app on which you are reporting) - as you said, it's a system-wide option. You can visit https://www.google.com/tools/feedback/reports?hl=en to view feedback reports that you have submitted while logged into a certain Google account. However, I have not been able to find anything on viewing crash reports themselves that you or your device have sent, automatically or otherwise.


Difference between killing an app by clearing it from Recent Apps menu and “Force Stop” What is the difference between these two methods when killing apps in Android?

Clearing an app from the Recent Apps menu by swiping it to the right or left.
Settings → App → Running → Force Stop.

Do they send the same signal (KILL or TERM) to the running process? Do they kill the services launched by the app?

Although some people may think that clearing an app from Recent Apps menu will fully close it, they are unfortunately mistaken. There is a difference between clearing an app from Recent Apps menu and clicking Force Stop on it.

Clearing an app from Recent Apps menu may not fully close the app specifically the apps that use services such as Music Player, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc. When you clear Music Player for example, the music won't stop because the app uses a service running in the background, BUT if you force stop it from mobile settings, the music will stop hence the service is terminated.

So if you want to clear some memory to increase your RAM, you should force stop the apps that use services.

In conclusion, clearing an app from Recent Apps menu will only kill the activity lifecycle of the app but not the services that are run by that app.


Is there any way to reduce minimum brightness without root? I want to reduce the minumum brightness of the screen of my Toshiba Excite Pro tablet. This is a tablet which (as far as I can tell) is essentially impossible to root, but I want to change the brightness of the screen, the value of which is stored in a file in the /sys/ directory of the tablet's filesystem. I want to change the value stored in this file from "35", to, say "10". Is there any way I can do this? For example:

a way of temporarily getting permissions to alter this file without fully rooting the device
an app which does not require root which reduces brightness beyond the default minimum
or if there is, indeed a way to root this device now, that would be good.

Note: I'm not looking for an app which will put a filter over the screen to darken it; I want to turn down the screen as it's the biggest consumer of energy and I want to increase battery life.

Edit: I want to change this file as 35 is the minimum screen brightness. The system settings for some reason have a very narrow range of allowed brightnesses.

Impossible.

I used to have your idea and I gave it a try, but to no avail. I rooted my phone and did the following

echo 1 > brightness

... but it seems to be identical to its lowest value, which is in my case, 20.

The mininum brightness is something in the screen's firmware, which is even beyond the Linux kernel. You can't change it unless you flash a custom firmware to your screen, and it will almost surely destroy it, so don't attempt to do so.


Android OS installation to tablet I have a tablet X touch, But its operating system has been damaged. Now I want to install fresh one to it. How can it be done? Someone help please? Thanks in advance.

Find the firmware for your specific model of tablet via this search, then download the firmware image and the tools listed, and follow the instructions to flash the firmware onto the device.


Home shortcut on Apple bluetooth keyboard I'm using an Apple Bluetooth keyboard with my Android 7.0 tablet. The software keyboard I'm using is Swiftkey. I use Swiftkey because it's one of only two keyboards capable of typing the Maltese language (the other being Multiling keyboard). There's no Maltese layout in Android.

Everything works fine, but I cannot find a shortcut to go to the Home screen. I've searched on the web and most sites suggested that the Esc key should do that, but in my case it functions as a Back button.

I tried Fn + Esc, Cmd + Esc, Alt + Esc, Ctrl + Esc to no avail.

Any suggestions?

I found out which shortcut key corresponds to Home. It is cmd + return. It seems that the cmd key corresponds to the search key in the list of shortcuts available in the Physical keyboard settings.


Where to upload video files? to have online video albums? To share them for WhatsAPP apps I am having lot of Video files which are my personal to give to my girl friend.
My girl friend personal video files are also to send to me.

Now both together, i want to keep them as Album, Which i need to upload to Google Drive or Microsoft Sky-drive or Drop-box.

Like Photo upload/share concept, is there Video upload/share apps in Android?

Which could also help me:

While using, WhatsAPP, or Skype
i need to send my google drive videos to someone using send video?
Is there any way in Android?

Yes, you can use Google Drive, Dropbox or SkyDrive to upload your Videos. I think though that the YouTube app would be better, just remember to mark your video as "private". You can even set up an extra Google Account just for that which you can both use with the same password.


ask for app rating or review in Google Play, when uninstalling app I vaguely fondly remember a time when Google Play (Google Store back then?) was pesturing me to leave a review every time I was uninstalling an app.

How can I enable this feature in Android 6?

This is a Google Play Store feature and is not dependent on the Android Version

Features of Play store which frequently change or sunset and there is no way to revert to earlier behaviour. For instance, Play Store asks for a review as mentioned here, a feature earlier not present
Why has Google started asking questions when reviewing apps in Play Store?


How to turn on USB connection to PC I bought a KingSing K5 Android phone, and there doesn't seem to be an option for turning on USB connection to PC (to transfer files). I have the Google USB driver installed on the PC, but when I connect nothing happens. Is there a specific way to turn on USB connection in Android 4.2.2?

you just have to enable usb debugging mode.
go to settings scroll down to developer options. Under that the first option is  usb debugging. enable that


SMS group text alerts I'd like to be able to send out occasional group text alerts via SMS blasts to a small set of people.  I'd rather not use a standard group text message because I want everyone's individual number to be private.  I don't want people to respond and bother everyone else on the list, so it seems like a tool that could send out several individual messages would be the right way to accomplish this need.

What options, if any, are available to accomplish this?

The Google Messages app can do most of other than process unsubscribes. Just go to settings, advanced, group messaging:

(click image for larger variant)


Downgrade a Verizon Google Pixel Phone to older versions? I'm planning to buy a Google Pixel off ebay.

Does the Verizon Google Pixel allow downgrading of software?

I like to try older & newer versions for development purposes?

I would suggest not purchasing a Verizon Pixel if looking for a unlocked bootloader. I think since around December Verizon has pushed out updates that make it imposdible to unlock. Everything I've read says there's no way to unlock them if updated, and most of them have been.

I own a Verizon Pixel and was so sure I did not want to root...


How can i update my experia x10 from 1.6 to 2.1? Every time i try to upgrade it through PC companion it stuck in middle when of preparing the phone for installation. I have tried deleting, redownloading and reinstalling the PC companion. But still im not able to update my phone. What should be done?

Call support. They are really helpful. To the Swedish support it's +46-1-324-4500.


How to replace Google Contacts with an alternative? I want to disable stock Google Contacts app. I tried using Simple Contacts app. However, the Google Phone app, as Google Messages app,  could not access Simple Contacts entries.

How do I use alternatives that replace Google Contacts/Phone/Messages and still interoperate, or is this not even possible?

Android version Oreo. Not rooted and no plans to root.

In general, 3rd-party contacts apps that have access to the Contacts permission to use the Contacts Provider can be an alternative to Google Contacts (or any other stock contacts apps).

The Contacts Provider is the standard approach to share and use contact info between apps.

  The Contacts Provider is a powerful and flexible Android component that manages the device's central repository of data about people. The Contacts Provider is the source of data you see in the device's contacts application, and you can also access its data in your own application and transfer data between the device and online services.

The Contacts Provider will interact with the system app Contacts Storage, which is independent of any contacts apps. So, even though the user uninstalls/disables all their contacts apps, the contact info is still stored on the Contacts Storage and can be read by other apps like phone apps, messaging apps, email apps, etc.

So, any famous & reliable 3rd-party contacts apps that request access to the Contacts permission should be feasible as an alternative to Google Contacts.

In the case of Simple Contacts app, it actually has the Contacts permission, and any contacts that are created from this app to a registered account on Contacts Provider can also be accessed by other apps.

On the other hand, the app also allows the contact to be saved on "Phone storage (not visible by other apps)". Based on its source code, this is actually another way to store contacts by using their own local database, which other apps do not know about its existence and do not have permission to access it, thus the contacts cannot be read.

In conclusion, the Simple Contacts app is actually a feasible alternative* for Google Contacts.

*Tested by creating 2 contacts; one with the answerer's Google account which then can be read by Google Messages, another with the phone storage which cannot be accessed by Google Messages.


Redmi 2014818 says "unfortunately com.android.systemui has stopped" I have Xiaomi HM2 LTE IN. Also called Redmi 2014818. Every time I try to open any MI app the phone says "unfortunately process com.android.systemui has stopped".

Then when I tap "view summary" the lock screen appears.

So it has made using the phone difficult.

Luckily this error message doesn't appear when I open any non MI app like WhatsApp, Chrome.

Solved it myself.
1. Downloaded update.
2. Renamed it update.zip.
3. Pasted it in sd card "in" the phone from another "in" the phone folder using RAR app.
4. Used power and volume button etc (in followed recovery instructions).
6. Did it. Much relieved .


Are Cyanogenmod nightlies compatible with latest vendor images? I am about to install Cyanogenmod 13 nightlies on my Nexus5x and was wondering how I can find out which vendor.img is required for which nightly?

thanks!

You generally need the latest vendor image but since we (CM), unlike Google, support all CM13 devices using the same code branch the build number you see in Settings -> About doesn't always match up with the build number you see for the stock images.

Solution: Run 'getprop | grep fingerprint' on a terminal on the device or via adb shell. From the output, compare "ro.build.fingerprint" and "ro.vendor.build.fingerprint" values. Those must match for the message to disappear.


How to re-edit /system file to reboot phone? How does one re-set or edit the /system/build.prop, when changes kept it from booting up again? Rooted Optimus.

Try rebooting into recovery and connecting to the phone via ADB:

adb devices

It should give a message like this:

List of devices attached
01234565ABCDEFG        recovery

You can then copy the file off the phone:

adb pull /system/build.prop c:\build.prop

You can now edit it in any text editor (recommend Notepad++ because it will preserve the Unix style line endings,) and then copy it back to the phone:

adb push c:\build.prop /system/build.prop

If the issue was indeed within that file, the phone should boot now.


How do I stop a download? I accidentally clicked on a download link and started a download. Once the download started, I didn't know how to cancel it. Later, it occurred to me that I could have ended the connection.

Either way, how do you stop a download once started?

I have a HTC Wildfire S, a v2.3.5 Android if that matters.

Click on the Download notification showing the progress and it will take you to Downloads app. There in app you can cancel the download.


Convert Safari to Go files to ePub Safari to Go stores offline bag files in \data\com.safaribooksonline\files\zips. Each book has it's own directory with files that make up the entire book (xhtml, metadata, etc). Has anyone tried converting these files into ePub?

Safari to Go cuts off the bottom of the pages (i.e. cannot read full content). That's why I want to convert it to ePub instead. If not, is there any other way to read Safari to Go content?

Copy the files to a Windows/Mac or Linux machine and zip them one book directory at a time.  Then use Calibre to convert them to just about any format you would like or another epub to .lit converter.

You may need to rename the .zip files to .epub for them to be recognised.


Phone makes me dial 1 before answering a call I have a Samsung Galaxy S5. Every call gets synced to my computer and I can't retrieve calls until I press the number 1. I miss most of my calls. This is undesirable. Please help me.

This happens when Call screening is turned ON in Google voice settings.

Go to Google Voice Settings in Web interface
Go to Settings (gear icon) → Calls tab.
Uncheck Call screening

Source : Phone makes me dial 1 before answering


Android - How to make a contacts group invisible to whatsapp is it possible to create a contacts group in my Android that wouldn't be visible even to whatsapp "show inivisible contacts" ?

I mean, I don't want that group to appears in whatsapp what-so-ever

If not, is there any app that can easily hide (ie, remove a group from Android contacts) and unhide whenever you want?

The question is not specific hope so. Do you want to hid yourself from certain friends who are in your contact list?

If so, then you can add them to block them in the block list. (But you will be still receiving the messages from them).

Or change your privacy settings in whatsapp according to your convince.