Show a piece of a Google Spreadsheet document on Andriod main screen I have a Google Spreadsheets document that is frequently updated and there are some cells in it that show a kind of short summary. Let it be a 2x2 block of cells that contains two headers and two values. I want to see those cells on the main screen of my Android 6 device as a widget to be able to check those values at a glance without actually opening the Spreadsheets app.

Is there any relatively simple way to get this result? A page of code on Google Apps Script and/or some tricky use of IFTTT maybe?

Many thanks to beeshyams. Here is a way to do what I wanted.

This app allows to parse chosen content from any web page and use it as a widget. In order to have a Spreadsheets document as a web page one can publish it (File → Publish to the web...). The cells of interest can be linked from another page of this document (or even from another document) using formulas like =Sheet1!A1 so that the page being published would only contain what is expected to appear on the widget.

For now the widget I produced looks poor but there are plenty of customization capabilities including regexps and CSS so probably I will be able to tweak it according to my likings.


Reverse tethering Android to Mac via Bluetooth I'm trying to let my Android (4.1.1) phone use my Mac's (10.8.2) wifi connection via Bluetooth. This is what I've tried:

Paired devices successfully; PAN interface created on the Mac
Enabled Internet Sharing from Wifi to Bluetooth PAN
adb shell; pand -c XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

After running pand, I briefly see that Bluetooth connection established, but it quickly drops after a second. Running adb logcat, this is what I see:

I/pand    ( 4876): Bluetooth PAN daemon version 4.93
I/pand    ( 4876): Connecting to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
D/BluetoothEventLoop(  300): Device property changed: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX property: Connected value: true
E/pand    ( 4876): Connect to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX failed. Permission denied(13)
D/BluetoothEventLoop(  300): Device property changed: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX property: Connected value: false

How do I get this to work successfully?

What worked for me is in this answer.

Are there any Android phones that allow Bluetooth PAN off the shelf?

Having enabled internet sharing via bluetooth on the Mac, which doesn't need command line on recent versions at least, pair the devices and then go to bluetooth settings on the Android device, select the Mac, tap the settings gear and enable it for internet access.

It seems to matter that the internet sharing is enabled before pairing the devices, but that may have been a one-off.

The reason I needed to do this, is for hotel internet access where you have to pay per device, and the signal was poor so only my laptop could get a decent connection.  Now Mac, iPad and 2 android tablets all online, so kids happy :-)


Can I hide a program from ongoing activities in the notification bar? Is there a way to hide the notifications that a given application shows in the Ongoing Notification bar?

As of Android 2.0, the system requires that apps that run constantly in the background, and that require a certain level of priority so that they don't get killed offhand (like music apps), put an Ongoing Notification. This was to prevent abuse of requesting this level of priority without letting the user know that it's occurring.

You can read about this here:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Service.html#startForeground(int, android.app.Notification)


Can Android NFC devices be used to clock in a RFID/HID timeclock for work? (As a tag?) Can Android devices be used to clock in a RFID/HID timeclock for work using NFC? Using the software, I can register the cards with the timeclock. But would I be able to register phones?

Generally no, unfortunately Android phones can't be used as a card easily as phones running the stock OS can't emulate a card. This is due to restrictions put in place by the Android operating system rather than the underlying hardware. See also this and this where I've answered other similar questions.

Saying that it depends on what you're using as an RFID timeclock. If you were making your own then you could use Android's NFC peer-to-peer mode to talk to the clock. Another alternative is instead of using the stock Android OS is to use Cyanogenmod which does allow for emulating certain card types.


Bluetooth USB on Android Is there any way to add Bluetooth USB dongle support to Android OS? My version that I use for an embedded device doesn't contain any BT dongle support I think.  What has to be done to add this feature?

Note:
My device is ATMEL SAM9x5 EV Board. So Atmel, provide an Android BSP for this. But i think it's so simple adaptation for board. I'm not able to use "hciconfig" or "hcitool" commands even. 2 months ago, i contacted them but i can't reach correct man. Also i bought a bluetooth Uart module from CC&C (RTL8723) and i ported it to my Android BSP and Kernel but same result. Nothing worked. USB or UART not important for my project. So i'm not kernel specialist or system. My application is almost okay. EXcept bluetooth side.
 I have already done, I2C, GPIO and UART side. All are working. Also i'm able to change some kernel and framework specific things but not more. Just LCD customization and UART, GPIO stuff.And i decided to ask some stupid question to understand somethings.

Its possible by changing kernel to another one with support of features, needed to you.

You most probably need to recompile your own kernel. Since the Bluetooth card is connected to the USB subsystem, you will need to enable USB support in your kernel. This is what probably needs to be enabled:

  Device Drivers → USB support → Support for Host-side USB (CONFIG_USB)
  Device Drivers → USB support → [*]USB device file system (CONFIG_USB_DEVICEFS)
  Choose an appropriate USB host driver, one of:
  Device Drivers → USB support → EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support (CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD)
  Device Drivers → USB support → UHCI HCD support (CONFIG_USB_UHCI)
  Device Drivers → USB support → OHCI HCD support (CONFIG_USB_OHCI)
  Enable Bluetooth subsystem and drivers:
  Networking → <*>Bluetooth subsystem support (CONFIG_BT)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → <*>L2CAP protocol support (CONFIG_BT_L2CAP)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → <*>SCO links support (CONFIG_BT_SCO)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → <*>RFCOMM protocol support (CONFIG_BT_RFCOMM)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → [*]RFCOMM TTY support (CONFIG_BT_RFCOMM_TTY)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → <*>BNEP protocol support (CONFIG_BT_BNEP)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → <*>HID protocol support (CONFIG_BT_HID)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → Bluetooth device drivers → HCI USB driver (CONFIG_BT_HCIUSB)
  Networking → Bluetooth subsystem support → Bluetooth device drivers → [*]SCO (voice) support (CONFIG_BT_HCIUSB_SCO)


Can't use smart update (Delta update) I have questions about delta update:

Is delta updates world wide?
What version of Android work with delta updates?
Are all apps supported for delta updates?
Is there any work to do to activate this feature?

I ask this question because I can't use this feature and still have to download whole size of app for updates

Delta updates work with every file that have a valid delta file for it to update. The binary delta2exe applies that delta file on your old file and updates it to the newer one.

All you need is that delta file which you can get (and is applied directly) with the app CyanDelta  which works for all official releases of CyanogenMod and OmniROM.

If you have the old and the new file you can easily create your own delta file by following the tutorials on how to create delta files: eg. for xDelta


device not have a enough space I have a HUAWEI honor 3C.  I am downloading facebook Messanger but play store displayed device not have a sufficient memeory while 308MB internal memory is free.  I clean cache memory but didn't work. Please help me out.  Thank you.

You're getting that error because you're too low on free disk space, not because you're completely out of it. Android will not let you install certain apps once you're using too much of your internal memory. Either get a MicroSD card and use an app like AppMgr III to move a couple of apps to it, or the one the other person that commented mentioned, or uninstall a couple of apps to free up some space. AppMgr III is nice because even if you don't have a MicroSD card, you still should be able to use it to easily see which apps are taking up the most space and remove one or two that are preventing you from installing your messenger app. Hope this helps!


Why sometimes does my lower menu (ADWLauncher - Dockbar) disappears? I have the following Android Desktop, using Cyanogenmod:

Sometimes, I don't remember how or why, it becomes like this:

As you can see, the lower menu (dockbar) just disappears, and only Browser's icon is shown. I have to restart my phone so I can get my menu back. I'm using ADWLauncher.

What am I doing to lose my lower menu? Where am I clicking? I have no idea how to return to the previous state unless I restart my phone... :/

I had same problem before.
user:eldarerathis was correct. It is swipe gesture that suppose to hide menu when you don't need it, but AFAIK, there's no way to turn it off.
So, to get it back you should do gesture starting roughly a bit above Browser icon and swipe down(or up).

I've fixed that another way - simply installed different launcher. Problem didn't appear


Phone turn on while charging I have a Lenovo K8 Note. Yesterday I put my phone on charging when it was on 2% and I slept. When I woke up my battery was 100% but my phone was off. I don't know what could have caused it. My phone is new and my charger works fine.
Moreover, is there any feature that turns the phone on when it is put to charging or if the phone turns 100. Something like that?

There is probably no such "feature". Maybe there was a power outage? Maybe it's a bug? If it happens again, contact Lenovo and send the phone in under warranty...

Btw, it wears down the battery quickly if you fully discharge it regularly. (https://lifehacker.com/5875162/how-often-should-i-charge-my-gadgets-battery-to-prolong-its-lifespan)


Phone stuck in Safe Mode (Volume Keys not functioning) Recently my Samsung Galaxy E7 entered into Safe Mode. My volume keys are non functional. Can someone please suggest a way to get out of Safe Mode using ADB.

The problem was resolved. The volume keys were internally shorted leading to infinite boot into safe mode. Repairing the keys worked out.


How to get rid of search bar on home screen in 6.0 I have already tried options mentioned in many other answers here/ posts online. I have a nexus 5
disable google now: option is disabled
use custom launcher: shows even in Nova launcher!

Edit: here is what I tried:

https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-remove-the-google-search-bar-from-your-android-homescreen

it doesn't work because Google Search doesn't appear in the list of installed apps in marshmallow

You can remove the Google Search bar by installing an application Xposed GEL Settings.

Open XGELS > Google Search Bar > Hide

Please note: This application requires ROOT and Xposed Framework.


ICS Wifi not blue and internet not working I just bought a Phone here yesterday running with Android ICS, the first time I used the wifi was ok, no problem. But now, the wifi is not working sometimes even I have a strong wifi connection. My PC, and my phone are on the same network. My PC is reading Full signal strength, as I am literally 5 feet from the wireless router. My phone is showing NO blue. Wifi meter is grey even if I have excellent connection, If it is blue, I can use my internet, but when it is grey I can't use my internet. I have the blue wifi around 20% of the time. What should I do?

Exchange the phone for replacement.
Most likely defective wifi card in phone.


Is it possible to restrict an app's permissions to a specific folder(s) (and subfolders)? When installing an app, depending on the app, access to the filesystem is required and requested at the time of install. Is it possible to restrict this to specific folders(s) and their subfolders? For example a photo editor or diary app: why would such apps need to be able to access the whole filesystem.

If not it might not be a bad idea, security-wise...

Could work in theory.

Every app installed on an android phone is given a user id starting from 10000 for the first app and a group with the same id is created.

BusyBox (and root, maybe?) required!

To get the uid of an app, execute the following in a terminal emulator.

dumpsys package com.example.myapp

Replace com.example.myapp with the package name of your target app.

Format your storage (external/internal) with ext4, assuming you have a backup of all the files.
Restore the backup.
chown and chmod the folders you want to restrict. Basing your restrictions on groups will be a better option.

Again, it's just theory. May or may not work.
If you didn't understand any of the steps, get proper knowledge about them or don't try them. This may cause temporary as well as permanent data loss.


What is this symbol in the notification bar mean? What does this symbol on my galaxy grand duo running kitkat mean?

It means that the device is connected to a dock. You can find it described e.g. on this Samsung support page (scroll down to the last third, or Ctrl-F for "dock or cradle").


Cannot see the video files in the phone on my PC I have this very strange issue which I discovered on my month-old Note 2. I never had this issue with my previous device which was a Nexus S.

I hooked up the phone via USB to my PC, and selected camera PTP mode. When I browsed the folders via Computer\GT-N7100\Phone\DCIM\Camera, I don't see any videos that I shot. However, when I browse the files through the default my files app on the phone, I see them. Why is this?

Windows 8 detected the device and installed all drivers too. Because of this, I am not able to move the videos shot with the phone to my PC. Any help?

Camera PTP mode means Picture Transfer Protocol. This is probably why you can't see any videos. Select USB mode and navigate to the same folder. Make sure you are checking the right "camera" folder as you may have 2, one on your SD card and one in the internal phone memory.


transfer files from Mac to nexus 7 via bluetooth? I forgot the USB cable and I have some files on the Mac that I would like to transfer to my nexus 7. Is it possible to do this via bluetooth? Is there an app that can do this?

Provided both the Android handset and your Mac share a common wifi connection (same AP that allows client-to-client connections):

Install an FTP server or a webserver app that allows uploading:

For example Airdroid. It allows file-uploading via drag&drop even. You'll find your uploaded files in airdroid/upload in the SDcard folder.


Why are my Contacts icons on my phone with different colors? Example:

Why is that? Does each color mean something? What is this?

Purely random placeholder picture. The colors are quite likely different so it looks more colorful than having one single, boring placeholder picture on every contact.


How can I have fewer, larger icons on the home screen? I am helping an older relative transfer data to a replacement phone.  Both the old and new phones are Samsung Galaxy J3 Eclipses.  Here's a screenshot I took of the original phone home screen.  Note the top row appears to be a width of 4 grid slots, and the next two rows have 3 apps each:

This is desirable for both the large icons and to avoid information overload.  It's obviously possible, but looking through the settings I only see 4x4, 4x5 and 5x5 settings for the grid layout.  How can I replicate the previous layout?

The answer is Easy Mode, accessible through Settings -> Display. I had assumed that Easy Mode meant "hide advanced settings" but it actually means "Make big icons and use a default home screen layout".


Is it possible to do in-app purchase via play.google.com using my desktop browser? I can buy applications for my devices in play.google.com using my desktop browser, then those app automatically installed on my device.
Now I would like to buy the professional version of Car Scanner (which named Car Scanner Pro).
The app offers in-app purchase, but I would prefer to use my desktop browser. There is no such app in the play.google.com Car Scanner Pro.
Question
Is there any way to accomplish the in app purchase via play.google.com using my desktop browser?

As far as I know there is no web-based interface for performing in-app purchases.
In-app purchases are only triggered by the app.
The only chance to purchase an in-app item on your computer would be to use an Android emulator with PlayStore installed (Google provides images with PlayStore) assuming that the app you want to purchase items in is available for x86 devices (the emulator is not an ARM device).
In this case you could set-up the emulator with your Google account, download the app, start the app and purchase what you want from inside the app.


How can I diagnose slowness in an Android device? In Windows PC, when some computer is very slow, I use software like SysInternals Process Explorer to check background programs that is using more CPU/RAM. I use SysInternals AutoRuns to disable auto start programs too.

In android device, what tools/procedures can I use to diagnose this kind of problem?

I don't think you'll be able to control start-ups but you can surely monitor CPU usage. Open Settings>Developer options - and under Monitoring section enable Show CPU usage. CPU usage and processes will be shown as overlay on screen. Also there are number of apps in Play Store to serve the purpose.


In my keyboard, is there a way to advance or backup the insertion point? Using the keyboard in Cyanogenmod, sometimes while typing in a sentence, I see a point where I would like to make an edit.  Presently, I do this by touching with my finger where I want the insertion point to be, however, it is hard to get the exact location, often I miss it by one or two characters.  In such cases, instead of trying again and again until I get it right (which is most difficult to position right at the beginning of the text) is there a way to advance the cursor forward of backwards by one position somehow?  In other words, on a computer, I would press the forward or backward arrow keys to move one position, is there something like that in the keyboard?

I don't know about the stock keyboard but in Swiftkey and Kii keyboard(a wonderful and free alternative to stock keyboard and Swiftkey) you and enable arrow keys, ie → ← ↑ ↓. I think this might be what you're looking for.


How to use DoubleTwist Sync with Android Marshmallow adoptable storage I have a Samsung S7 for which I bought a 200GB microSD card.  I formatted it as adoptable storage (using an adb shell workaround because Samsung has actually disabled the Marshmallow feature by default).  Now, I can store all manner of things on it, including about 17GB of music which I manually copied over.

However, I want to use DoubleTwist Sync as I have lots of iTunes playlists that don't get copied over when manually copying files.  I installed both the DoubleTwist PC app as well as the Android app but when I tried to sync, it just tells me that the device is out of space.  I know that this isn't technically true as it's a brand new card and I just copied over 17GB of files.  In fact, when I deleted the 17GB, it still told me that there's no space.  I'm sure the problem is that DoubleTwist can only see a limited partition and it is somehow confused by adoptable storage.

There's an article on their site (https://www.doubletwist.com/help/question/how-do-i-switch-from-internal-storage-to-sd-card/) describing how to switch from internal to SD storage, but I think it was written without adoptable storage in mind, as my Settings doesn't have the "Storage" option they refer to.

Any ideas on how I can fix this?  My last resort is to re-format the card as 50% adoptable storage partition and 50% portable storage partition.  To be honest, I probably should've done this from the get go but I'm hoping there is a quicker solution that doesn't involve reformatting.

Ok, I figured it out.  It wasn't some fundamental problem with how adoptable storage works, I just didn't do it right.  After setting up the SD card as adoptable storage, there is one more step which is not made clear by most tutorials.  You need to select the card and in the Options, select "Migrate Data" which completes the process and makes the card available for use by other apps, or something like that.


DNSCrypt error: could not load library "libsodium.so", on Asus Zenfone 2 running Android 5.0 I tried installing DNSCrypt on my Asus Zenfone 2 device. But when I try to run it it gives me this:

root@Z008_1:/ # dnscrypt enable
Enabling dnscrypt...
iptables: No chain/target/match by that name.
killall: dnscrypt-proxy: no process killed
CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE: could not load library "libsodium.so" needed by "/system/xbin/dnscrypt-proxy"; caused by library "libsodium.so" not found
Done

Did i forget something? I already put all the files in the correct directory, including the libsodium.so.

I have compiled DNSCrypt for x86 sucessfully, here to download binary file for Zenfone 2.

Follow the instruction.

about libsodium.so, you should copy it to folder system/lib/


KitKat "new" Launcher - non English (US) language I have a Nexus 4. It was updated to KitKat last night.

From what I've gathered from the reviews, I should have a new Launcher. But my phone is still using the old one.

Does anyone know if the launcher is not available for pt-br phones? Or I am missing something?

Thanks!

Edit

Forget it. It seems that the new Launcher (and some other stuff) are exclusive to te Nexus 5. :(

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/11/22/psa-what-some-device-owners-wont-see-in-their-kit-kat-update/

Well... it seems the best features (at least for me) will be exclusive to the Nexus 5:

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/11/22/psa-what-some-device-owners-wont-see-in-their-kit-kat-update/

From that list:

Google Experience Launcher
Translucent Nav Bar and Notification Bar
Smart Dialer

That's really a shame!


How to do a full factory reset and clean the phone completely? I've been flashing my LG Optimus L7 numerous times with various Custom ROMs and now I'd like to return to the official firmware.

I've factory reset my phone, flashed the v20D official firmware with KDZ tool and then I did another factory reset. However, I've read that the factory reset only wipes /data and /cache folders (user-accessible data), while /system and /boot remains the same. The questions:

I've flashed the official firmware using the KDZ tool with the EMERGENCY phone mode. After flashing, some of the old settings remained which were gone after a factory reset. As I understand, flashing the phone with a firmware doesn't wipe /system or /boot, right? Therefore some of the files from the previous custom ROM remain.
What should I do now to fully clean my phone from all custom ROMs? I've already flashed the original firmware and did several factory resets, but I know the reset doesn't touch /system and /boot, for example. How do I completely clean my phone? Is it even possible?

As the firmware resides in /system, flashing a firmware obviously overwrites that partition. /boot is usually involved here as well. Whether the two get "wiped" is a different question; but as otherwise things could get "mixed", which might cause unwanted side-effects, I'd say they are (I'm not 100% sure with this). So in these two partitions, nothing of the previously installed firmware should remain.

That's different for the other partitions of your device. So usually, /data is not touched by the flashing process, but of course it will be touched once the new system boots up (it e.g. needs to initialize the dalvik cache for the newly installed system apps, which is located in /data/dalvik-cache). For the /cache partition (holding the application cache) it's similar: It usually is not touched by the flashing process, but used normally afterwards. Hence it's a good idea to wipe these two (Cache and Dalvik Cache) when installing a different ROM. It might not always be required, but it doesn't hurt.

A factory-reset in principle is a combination of the two: it wipes the /cache and /data Partitions. So other than the manual wipe of the caches from a custom recovery, it also removes all user data (including the user-installed apps).

Note: Don't confuse a "wipe" with a "safe erase": with the right tools, data still might be recoverable following a wipe.

With this on your mind, your second question becomes obsolete: if you just want a clean system for yourself, this wish is already granted. If, on the other hand, you did these steps to sell your device, there's always the point of what could be restored. For a "safe erase", you might want to take a look at special tools like Nuke My Phone / Nuke My Tablet, which overwrite everything with "garbage data", and finalize this process with a factory-reset.


How to open text files with DropBox on Android? I have the DropBox app on my Samsung Galaxy S 2.

It seemed to me that before, when I clicked on a text file, it would open a text editor. I think Dropbox had its own internal editor.

Now, however, when I open any plain text file, I get a message that says:

  Can't open textFileName

  Please download an app that can open this file.

I tried downloading numerous text editors from the market, but none of them linked with Dropbox.

How do I get text editing ability in Dropbox on Android?

In Dropbox 2.0.1 (and in pre-2.0 versions, IIRC), you can tap on a text file and it can offer to open it in "DB Text Editor" which comes with the app (or some other editor which has been assigned to open files with .txt extension). Note that this won't work on just about any other file -- Dropbox does not recognize mime types, but rather uses the extension to pick a program to open a file with, even if the file in question contains text.

This also works with other file types -- for example, I am able to open my password database from KeepassDroid (extension .kbdx).


Verykool s505 Spark stuck at boot/ continuously restarts my Verykool s505 Spark stuck at boot/ continuously restarts.

I Flashed Custom Rom to it but it does not work so i Flash Stock Rom again. after That time, I cant switch ON the my verykool Spark. only goes to boot logo.

First of all you will need to remove the battery from your phone to turn it off for about 30 seconds. Now Turn on the phone and Check.

is it not working still? Then Press Volume up + Home + Power button and try to Wipe data/factory reset the verykool.

Still not working? Then we have to Flash Stock Rom again with Fresh Files. (Download new Stock rom and Smart phone Flash Tool)

Open the SP Flash tool
Load scatter file and Flash your phone. after Flash give it to 2min because first time normally it is slow.


Add Share option without an app? Is it possible to install/setup a new sharing option without the use of an app?

In my case I'd like to be able to share photos to Flickr, but I have no interest in installing the Flickr app (or any other app whatsoever, for that matter).

No. It's not just a question of adding something to the chooser (the menu of apps): there needs to be an app on the other end to take the photo, log into Flickr, and understand Flickr's API (the programming interface that apps use) in order to upload the photo. It also needs to handle possible failures, such as resuming or retrying the upload later if you lose internet connection.

If you want a share option that shares to Flickr, there are many Flickr apps on Google Play that only do uploading, and don't have any functionality to browse or view photos. That way you can have the share option while still keeping your phone lean.

Alternatively, you can browse to the Flickr website in your web browser and upload photos from there. It's not as convenient but it's the only way that doesn't involve any kind of special-purpose app.


Installing applications with larger size on S DUOS I am using Galaxy-S-Duos
Android 4.0
Internal memory 1.8 GB !

What if I want to install application like Modern Combat-4 (1.9 GB)

These applications require to be installed in phone memory for their 1st run.
After that the can be moved to SD card..

Is it possible to install them directly to SD card?

Installing apps from Google Play will first download the .apk file to /data/local, which is in the device's internal memory – so you're already lost before the installation itself even had begun. And that's only the first hurdle to be taken:

Though one could set the "default installation location" (using adb set-install-location, see adb help), the app must explicitly support to be installed on anything other than internal storage. If it does not support this, it cannot be installed there (though you might be able to move it there lateron with some special apps enforcing it).


How to turn off Android corner page curl? I'm having an Android page curl issue.
I've read up on it and a lot of people say it's a clean master app.. but I don't have that app, or omniswipe.. or and of the other apps mentioned... My phone died earlier today, and when I turned it on the curl was suddenly there... Idk where it came from or how to get rid of it. Because it's sapping my battery, I can see the difference, and it frankly really annoying. Ive even had to move all my app up to the top of the pages just so I don't inadvertently swipe the tiniest bit and that curl pops up....
Please help.

Nevermind, I finally figured it out. It was in my Antivirus Free app. The app that came already installed on my phone. Lazy swipe was a feature added in the settings.
Just turn it off~
I at least hope that this helps someone else~


Retrieve photos backed up from Android and transferred to another phone via SD card my old android died and I replaced it with a new different one.  my old phone came with an option to hide pictures so that I could keep some private.  now that I have the new phone I cannot see these pics in the backup or on my SD card which I transferred to my new phone. It was an option already on the phone not an app that I downloaded. can any help me recover my pics? I know the pics are still there in the backup and on the SD card because they were never deleted and by the size of space used on the card itself.

Can someone help me retrieve my pics?

If you have hidden images through gallery app, their name is Changed to start with a "."
Download a file Explorer like Es-file Explorer.
I'm menu - >tools->show hidden files.
Then select those pics and batch rename them.
If the name is " .name.jpg"  change them to name.jpg
Hope that helps.


I can't delete files I have an issue with my phone, the phone doesn't delete files.  When I delete a file for example a 1 gig file or a game with that same size, the file is gone in the file manager, but the space on my phone doesn't change.

My storage space WAS 1 Gig, and after I delete a 1 Gig file, the storage space should be 2 Gig, but it ends up still being 1 Gig.

I tried to do a factory reset, and also tried to upgrade my phone to Marshmallow, but the problem is still there.  (Note: My phone is rooted)

I haven't got a rooted phone but the only solution I can give to you is to delete the files from the system applications.

I.e. instead of from the file Explorer, delete photos from the gallery app. And apps from the application manager.


what is this directory in android 5.0 Using SD Maid, I was looking around with file explorer and came across this directory in the efs folder, and I have no clue what it is, if its malicious or not. Its the only directory in the efs folder with a name that isnt clearly defined. (like modem, data etc) I tried Googling the directory and file names but got nothing.
Device info: USC Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900R4, Qualcomm, codename klte); rooted and slightly customized using hidden menu settings; software up to date.
This is how it appears in SD Maid:

/efs/U0BwJ04kmkmm-Bg7zUZgoEY7pn8_/zm0WY41Y7rpx3kcVTTDWeh8VFRU_  (size: 1.05kb, date 1/1/14)
/efs/U0BwJ04kmkmm-Bg7zUZgoEY7pn8_/qen2gEqW2A+OTD0KpoESJiYnrk_  (size:1.05kb, date 1/1/14)

I don't know, if anyone that has seen it before.

Samsung devices' EFS partition

It is a place that the device stores important data like WiFi and Bluetooth MAC addresses and your IMEI number (nv_data.bin).

What is EFS?

The EFS refers to a folder called EFS which can store information
like meid, imei, serial number, config, diag settings and radio
settings, etc in an encrypted format at the file system level stores.
So it is very neccessary for us to backup EFS before flashing ROMs.

How will you lose the EFS folder?

As far as I known, you always lose your EFS by mistaken operations.
For example, flash ROMs or wipe data using an uncorrect method. Even
wrong power on & off ways like taking out the battery to force
shutdown as starting could corrupt your EFS, too. Rooting and
flashing ROMs usually have no influence on EFS data, but you know
everything can happen in the real word. There are some ways you can
check whether your EFS folder is lost: inputting *#06# on dialler,
going to settings/about phone/status or checking mac address.

What results if you lose the EFS folder?

The loss of the EFS folder may bring about an incredible disaster on
your device such as no imei information, base band unknown, no radios
and so on which mean your device will no longer be recognized by your
carrier.

How to back up the EFS folder?

There are too many tools you can use to back up the EFS folder. All
of them work in a similar way, so we will just introduce one tool
called Custom Recovery here. Everything has risks. we are not
responsible for  the following method. Please act with caution!
Bofore backing up the EFS folder you need make sure your Andriod
device is rooted. Then, install Custom Recovery on your device. Open
the Custom Recovery, select the Backup option, and go on select the
paritions containing EFS, then "Swipe to Back Up" to begin the backup
process.

Source


Apps compatibility on Android x86 I have a few questions about normal devices (non-x86) and x86 devices:

Why, sometimes, an app that isn't designed for x86 devices works, but sometimes it just crashes when starting them?
I've seen a lot of rooting apps (e.g. Xmodgames) that don't support x86. Why is that?

The answer for questions 1 and 2 is that some apps on Android are compiled purely in Java/Dalvik bytecode, and others are compiled as native C/C++. Since Dalvik bytecode is not native, it has separate interpreters for different architectures. However, since C/C++ native apps and libraries are compiled for a specific architecture, they can be run only on the specific architecture.

Since most of the rooting apps use exploits of the Android system, they need to be compiled in C. This prevents them from being universally used, and require them to be recompiled for each architecture.


Does Android have a task scheduler? Microsoft Windows has the Task Scheduler Manager to schedule tasks based on time or other events, as far Linux has cron to the same feature, does Android have something like? Could I install cron on Android??

Tasker. This is by far the best automated task scheduler available for android. It does come at a hefty price ($6.50 US), but it is well worth the price.


What new features my tablet gains in the passage between Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich? I just received the official ICS upgrade for my Asus TF101 (Wi-Fi only version) and I immediately noticed that the device seems faster and has a renewed look & feel.

But what other features the new OS version brings for tablets?

Selected excerpts from the official Android 4 Platform Highlights document:

  The biggest changes will be for phones upgrading from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich, rather than for tablets upgrading from Honeycomb,
  as a lot of the new UI features were introduced in Honeycomb.
  The UI change is a big difference and brings Honeycomb's Recent Apps button for easier access to multi-tasking to the main-line Android
  platform along with the System bar that it sits on.
  The standard Lock  Screen now has quick access to the Camera and Notifications, and there will be album art and controls for music
  playing in the Music app on the lockscreen.
  When an incoming call arrives, users can now quickly respond by text message, without needing to pick up the call or unlock the device.
  Improved text input and spell-checking on the standard Android 4 keyboard
  Android 4.0 introduces a powerful new voice input engine that offers a continuous "open microphone" experience and streaming voice
  recognition.
  To meet the needs of users with tiered or metered data plans, Android 4.0 adds new controls for managing network data usage.
  Enhanc[ing] the accessibility of Android 4.0 for blind or visually impaired users. Most important is a new explore-by-touch mode that
  lets users navigate without having to see the screen.
  A new People app that offers richer profile information, including a large profile picture, phone numbers, addresses and accounts, status
  updates, events, stream items, and a new button for connecting on
  integrated social networks.
  The user's own contact information is stored in a new "Me" profile, allowing easier sharing with apps and people.
  an updated Calendar app brings together personal, work, school, and social agendas.
  a new visual voicemail features integrates incoming messages, voice transcriptions, and audio files from one or more providers.
  The Camera app includes many new features... continuous focus, zero shutter lag exposure... Stabilized image zoom... users can now take
  snapshots at full video resolution just by tapping the screen as video
  continues to record... built-in face detection locates faces in the
  frame and automatically sets focus... single-motion panorama mode...
  Redesigned Gallery app with photo editor
  Live Effects for transforming video
  instantly sync and manage Google Chrome bookmarks from all ... accounts
  Android Beam for NFC-based sharing [requires NFC hardware integrated into the device]
  Face Unlock
  Wi-Fi Direct lets users connect directly to nearby peer devices over Wi-Fi
  built-in support for connecting to Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP) devices... users can connect to wireless medical devices and
  sensors in hospitals, fitness centers, homes, and elsewhere

Also your manufacturer, Asus, may have added or updated their own specific software, and some of the new features may only be available if your manufacturer hasn't customized/replaced the original Android app.


SD card not showing files when connected to pc in Moto G3 I convert the sd card (32GB) from portable storage to internal storage but now when I connect to computer, it only show internal storage (8GB). How can I copy thing to my "sd card" from computer?

This is a known bug in the Moto G3 when adopting storage as internal or when using external storage after an update (or other random times)... When you connect your Moto G3 to your computer and enable MTP mode, you should see two "drives", one that is internal (your SD card) and one external (your old internal storage). Without consistency, some users report the old internal storage never shows up, but the SD card acting as internal storage should regardless.

Start by rebooting and clearing cache partition. Motorola says this will take 5-10 minutes, I assume they tested this on a bare device with no apps or other information just fresh out of the box, because it takes significantly longer. Also, the device will appear frozen, this is normal, be patient and wait. It will take a significant amount of time in recovery, and in the first boot, this is normal.

If that doesn't work, then the storage and media databases need to be wiped and rebuilt.

Disconnect USB cable
Go to Settings - Apps
Tap 3-Dot overflow menu and select Show system
Scroll down and select the app called External Storage
Inside External Storage select Storage
Inside Storage tap Clear cache and Clear data
Go back to the app list and scroll down to Media Storage
Repeat steps 5&6 with Media Storage app
Reboot the device
After it is fully booted and appears functional, wait a minimum of 5 minutes (media and storage cache's are rebuilding automatically)
Connect USB cable and using the notification drop-down menu, select USB Charging - Touch for more options and select Transfer Files (MTP)

This should give you access to both storage media via your PC, it has always worked for me and I have had to do it a few times, but I use Linux. Not that some users have not been able to make this work in Windows, it seems that in some instances Windows get's, for lack of a better word, dumb with MTP devices sometimes.

If all this fails, then the action of last resort is a full factory default, skip setup, adopt storage, and verify operation, then set up the device again. If this fails, the problem isn't likely the device, but the computer.


Security patches for LG K8 Android 6.0 Recently I looked at my Android security patch level (after hearing about the BlueBorne vulnerability) and saw that is is at 2016-07-01, 14 months old.

My device details:
LG K8 4G dual (LG-K350nds),
Android 6.0 (not rooted)

How do I get the latest security patch. Online resources say I should go Settings > General > About phone > Common > Update Center > Software Update > Check now for update, but it says “You are using the latest software version for current OS”.
Is my device not supported? I bought it last september, so two months after the latest security patch I got.

Edit: I just received an update, security patch level now at 2017-09-01. Though this isn't the latest, it fixed BlueBorne, and it's nice to see finally getting patches from LG.

Today I received update on my K350nds and now it is on 2017-09-01 security patch level, and according to this app it is not vulnerable anymore, also this should include dirty cow exploit fix, didn't check that one.


Chinese phones auto start app (notifications) I have a question maybe some of you have dialed with this in your past.
Android based phones with Chinese launchers such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Meizu has 1 strange thing in common…
If you install on them not very famous app such as Signal for example, by default this app will not receive notifications - the only way to make the phone accept notifications is (in xiaomi for example) is to go to settings, security, auto start…
But there are apps like messenger, google allo, telegram that are white listed and receive notifications by default…
Attaching link with short explanation about it
So my question is how to enter list of those white listed apps that receive notifications by default, or are there any life hacks that you can do in order to receive notifications by default…

http://nine-faq.9folders.com/articles/8772-how-to-manage-autostart-service-on-the-xiaomi-devices

Signal app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en

So after making a research I’ve found that this feature is developed to block wakeups and notifications and make the battery last longer and there is not a way to bypass it. If there is, it's hard.

but how famous apps bypass it ? or how to enter a white list?

Chinese phone manufacturer tend to place very strict restriction on app autostart due to the lack of google in China causing all sort of apps to start by themselves and no universal push notification channel also mean they have to use other service within apps themselves or other apps which would be detrimental to user experience and thus they all opt to limit them.

Perhaps manufacturer whitelisted some specific famous apps?


Is there a way to search for a number in Google without interrupting the call? Is there a way to search for a number in Google while keeping the ongoing call intact? I have noticed that the internet connection is lost when a call is in progress.

I believe this depends on your provider.

For example: Verizon's CDMA network does not allow you to do Data + Call; however AT&T's GSM network will.

And as eldarerathis points out:

  Another potentially important distinction is that phones on CDMA carriers with other networking capabilities (WiMAX and LTE) will support simultaneous voice and data since they're essentially operating on two separate chips, so this can also be dependent on your device.

So this ends up being device, and carrier dependent.


What's the difference between a Wi-Fi conection and a Wi-Fi Hotspot? I just bought a 9" d2 android tablet and it has both. When I turn on the hot spot it shares my connection with other tablet -- but doesn't give me a conection.

So I guess my question is: why have a wifi and be able to have a wifi hot-spot only to be able to share my conection -- in which, I don't have on my tablet that I'm using to share that -spot?!?!?!

Wi-Fi Adapter = Wi-Fi connection adapting capability of tablet.
Using it, you can connect with an existing Wi-Fi hotspot (which broadcasts the network).

Wi-Fi Hotspot = Wi-Fi connection broadcasting capability of tablet.
Using it, you can create a portable virtual hotspot similar to Wi-Fi routers which other devices can connect to.
Unfortunately, when hotspot is turned on, Wi-Fi adapter is turned off. So, the device can't be used as Wi-Fi Repeater.

What're the uses of Wi-Fi hotspot in tablet?

Share mobile internet connection if your tablet has GSM, WCDMA, LTE etc capabilities.
Share mobile broadband gained by USB dongle attached with the tablet.
Share files and folders.
Share other networking services to enjoy multiplayer gaming etc.


Looking for a consistent answer about battery calibration This forum is full of questions about battery calibration. The thing is, that either I'm blind or one answers contradicts others.

In particular:

For example forums says, that battery should be discharged to an absolute minimum. If you can power-on your phone, you should keep turning it on until battery is discharged so badly, that you can't turn it on. Sounds creepy and is in complete opposition to Lie Ryan, who says, that "a full discharge is never beneficial to LiON battery capacity".
Again, forums says, that after full discharge and full charge, calibration process is completed, while Logas claims, that it needs a nearly-full discharge, full charge and again running battery fully flat.
Citing forums third time, he says, that battery formatting process should be undertaken only in rare, quite critical situations, when battery behavior became some sort of strange, while Logas says, that this should be done every 30-90 days.
All of them says about battery calibration at all, while Matthew Read says, that Android handles battery calibration and therfore (I assume) user should not do nothing about this.
Found some answers and comments saying, that both battery calibration and regular charging process should be done on turned-off phone, while others says that it is unusual with modern mobile systems to turn off phone completely very often.

So, can someone provide a consistent answer on these matters? Does the battery used in Android device require calibration at all? If yes, then how often, and what steps should be done to achieve this? Do I really have to run phone until it is really, really flat and do I have to charge it, while it is off?

There are slightly different opinions around on this topic. To fully understand the issue, one needs to first understand how LiIo batteries work (which goes a little too far for our site, so please read details on Wikipedia).

Lie Ryan is absolutely right: LiIo batteries don't take it well to be fully discharged.
It shouldn't be done too often. I'm not sure what a double-take should improve here.
Usually there's no need to do that "explicitly". If you think of how often you end up with an empty batterie (as it doesn't last long enough), calibration is already done as a side-effect (if you then fully charge). It's widely agreed that it should not be done more often than once in 60..90 days, so Logas might have mistaken the term.
See previous point :) I never saw reason to calibrate any of my devices' battery, though.
It certainly cannot hurt to do it with the device turned off, as then it's not being charged and discharged at the same time. I doubt it's really necessary, but it does no harm :)


Change color scheme on Samsung Galaxy S4 running Lollipop 5.0.1 I updated to Lollipop 5.0.1 on my Samsung Galaxy S4 this morning. Now my color scheme in apps such as the texting/messaging app is Orange, Blue, Green, and Yellow. All together. It even changes the status bar to orange while the messaging app is open. This is horrible on my eyes and just plain ugly in my opinion. I however, cannot find a way to change this color scheme at all. I have searched the phone, google, SO, etc and cannot determine how to change this scheme.

As far as I know the bootloader cannot be unlocked on the S4 so I cannot customize that way.

If it helps:

Android Version: 5.0.1

Kernel Version:
3.4.0-4408911
dpi@SWDD5005 #1

The Touchwiz Lollipop skin has a limited number of color schemes available to use that can be accessed through Developer Options. I am not entirely sure what the purpose for them really is since they merely drain away colors and mute everything. Anyway, the new way to access Developer Options is to go to the About Device under the More tab in your settings and scroll down to Build Number. Keep tapping Build Number until the Developer Options are turned on (you will see a message below where you are tapping). In the Developer Options now under the More tab, scroll way down to Simulate color space. You'll 4 options including grayscale/monochromatic.

In my opinion, these options suck. I've had my S4 for 2 years. Maybe it's time to pick up a phone from another manufacturer.


At what decibel does Android Pie shows high volume warning? At what decibel does Android Pie shows high volume warning?

According to an article here by Kevin Arrows:

The reason Android phones [give high volume warning] is due to regulations set by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, which dictate that media playback devices must have a maximum output value of 85 dB – past 85 dB and the user must accept a warning.

So, the decibel limit might be 85 in Android Pie.


How to find in which folder / app group is an app icon? I honestly feel stupid asking this question, but here it goes:
I cannot find a way to locate in which folder/app_group I misplaced an app icon.
If I use the search in the app drawer (go-Launcher Z or default home screen app (TouchWiz home), I can easily find the app icon, but it will not let me know in which folder/app_group the icon is.
On IOS you can achieve this very easily:
If you searched for an app, you will see an app icon—which you can tap to launch the program—as well as a header that tells you in which folder the app is stored.
This is a search example (for the Netflix icon/app):

You can see that the icon is located in the media folder. In this case it is easy to find, but when a folder holds more than 4 icons locating an icon is tedious.

GALAXY S6
Android 7.0

If you search in apps, locate the icon in the results and then press and hold on that button you will get a short pop-up menu which includes "Locate" that does the job nicely, (not sure which version introduced this feature).


What is the internal storage being used for? My Android phone is showing me a notification saying that the "Phone storage is low". So, when I click on the notification, it shows me this:

The total space used is 6.59 GB, but the space used by the apps (which, I suppose, include cache and data as well as the application binaries). So what is using the other 6 GB!?

Android version: 4.2.2
Manufacturer: HTC

...or you can go to android settings for free and select storage option and see which category takes most of your space. If you want to clean your cached files (you can do it directly from storage screen, just click on Cached data category), I recommend ES Task Manager, its free and in the combination with ES File Explorer he's best option, at least for me.


What are radio_dump .bin files? Can I delete them? Each radio_dump_xxxxxxx.bin is 37MB in size.

According to an XDA post, it means that your modem crashed. They are safe to delete. BUT, you may want to consider changing/upgrading the radio/modem for your phone.


Android keyboard behaviour changed after updated to Jelly Bean When I am in ICS, whenever I type a wording, followed by space, Android will suggest me several useful punctuations like ,.

I love this behaviour as it is useful to me.

However, now in Jelly Bean, the behaviour is changed. They no longer suggest me punctuations. Instead, when I type "I" followed by space, it will suggest me am. This is not something what I want.

Is there any where I can fall back to old behaviour?

This new feature is called Next word prediction. You can easily disable it to restore the ICS behavior but it's a bit hidden:

Go to Settings > Language & input
Tap on the setting icon beside Android keyboard under the Keyboard & input methods section
At the bottom you'll find Advanced settings, tap it
There you'll find Next word prediction, uncheck it:

After that, typing I followed by space will bring up the punctuation again instead of predicted words.


How to create a separate secondary phonebook / contact list Here's what I need. I run a business, I use my personal Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S8) for 100% of my calls. It's not a problem. But I have a lot of clients whose numbers I don't have memorized. I could put a hundred contacts in my personal phone so I would know who's calling, but, I don't want to fill up my phone's contact list with people I only talk to occasionally.

When I look at my contact list, I want to see my friends and family only. Is there an app that will handle sort of a 'secondary phonebook' with business contacts only, that will still work with caller ID?

And if you are going to comment 'you need a second phone for business stuff', don't bother. That's not what I want to do, and that's not what I'm asking.  This is a question about whether there is a particular Android app that will solve my problem (or an Android setting), not anything else.

I have saved separate phone contact lists as vCard files-one for business and another for private use. another for frequently dialed numbers (hybrid of both pvt+biz). It is tedious but depending on my need i load(import) one from my collections above. Hope this method helps.


Company account terminated I had my work gmail setup on my phone. I just switched jobs and I got a notification that I've been signed out of my account (the account activity required notification). I click it and it's trying to get me to sign in under the old gmail, which is deactivated. I disabled gmail and it still won't go away.

My phone is signed into my personal gmail account. How do I get this notification to go away?

Simply remove the account from the phone settings.

Depending on your model and Android version, the location will slightly vary. Try this:

Settings > Users & Accounts (Or only accounts) > That Google work account > Remove account.

Once removed, you should get rid of the notification in your tray.


Marshmallow: Changing and connecting to an APN Okay, before anyone can downvote this or anything silly, I need to clarify a few things:

This is for Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
I'm using a FlashFire-Rooted Cherry Mobile One (technically called Android One Sprout8)
Prior to upgrading into Marshmallow, I am able to do these steps.
This is not a duplicate of this particular ticket or this one, please.

Scenario
I want to use a certain APN (for a certain cellular network) which does not connect to the internet without a corresponding VPN. To do that, in the previous versions of Android, I simply create an APN with the corresponding configurations, switch to it by tapping the radio button, then the Android system connects to that APN, even if it can't connect to the common internet.

In Marshmallow, (or at least the stock ROM I flashed?) this doesn't work, and the it connects to the default network APN. It's similar to how my other phone, ZenFone 2, works, but with LTE (always defaulting to the nearest working APN; otherwise HSPA+ works.)

Is there some way to force the APN into this system? But I wouldn't want to downright delete my old APNs, as I still would want to connect to them when needed.

Thanks for the insight of user157947 though, I found something that helped:

I set all the Bearers in all my other APNs to something jibberish (not applicable in my country, like IS95A). I haven't seen this feature in Lolipop though (it was only LTE iirc)

To set it back to the original APN, set the Bearer to Unspecified then set your custom APN to IS95A.

I think I can also use this feature as well to force a custom APN on LTE on Marshmallow.


App that uses default camera to save in a non-default location I am looking for an application that does the above. Preferably, I could create application shortcuts for different save locations.

Also, a Dropbox option would be nice but not required since I could use DropSync.

I use FolderMount (needs root) as a workaround to this issue. I create a link of the folder where the camera images are stored to a different folder in the external SD card.

  Today some apps store big files over the internal SD card (e.g. games,
  podcasts, offline RSS content, pictures, videos, offline navigation
  software). Typically users have a small internal sd card size (~16GB)
  while the external SD is a lot bigger (~32-64GB). Most of these apps
  users download from the Play Store save their application data in the
  internal sdcard by default and don't have an option to use the
  external SD card to store data so they starve your internal SD card
  memory. FolderMount is the solution to this issue. This app has the
  ability to link folders in your internal sdcard to folders in your
  external sdcard thereby populating the internal sdcard folders with
  content that really exists in the external card. This helps us free
  space and have multiple games/apps with big data stored simultaneously
  without the need to uninstall. For Nexus devices with no external
  sdcard, this application should help link folders to a usb flash drive
  for example.


Galaxy Stratosphere II Fn button stops working My Galaxy Stratosphere II's Fn button (on its physical keyboard) has stopped working.  I.E. pressing Fn and then r will normally produce a - (hyphen) character; instead, this combination just produces a r character.  What causes this, how can I make it work again, and how can I prevent it from ceasing to work?

Realized that I changed the keyboard type from Default to English US.

This is under Home -> Settings -> Language and input -> Physical keyboard -> [the first option].  If something other than sec_keypad: Default is displayed, tap it, click Set keyboard type, and go through the entire list and uncheck anything that is checked.


When Flashing a ROM should I back up Google Apps? My ROM distributor (Unofficial CM10) provides GAPPS as a separate flashable zip file. Will my titanium back'd up Google apps interfere/replace with the GAPPS provided after I restore my backup ?

If it is gmail, then these are in data and titanium fully supports them.

Google play is a system package, and as are many other gapps. You must flash them using the zip provided, but you can use titanium to restore their data, although all the data is backed up online.


Motorola RAZR D3 move application to memory SD I'm trying to move the apps that I have installed in the internal memory of the smartphone but I can't because the programs that I'm using say:

The device does not have a real primary external storage, or the primary external storage is emulated.
Moving app to SD function cannot be supported by this device

I'm using AppMgr II and App2SD and both says some similar.
How can I move the apps?

Root the device (in this case the razr d3)
Install the application (a game i.e.) in the memory SD.
Unroot the device (to have the last update of the S.O., i don't have find how to unroot an razr d3)

I don't have test this solution but maybe in a few weeks i will try it :)

Links:

http://youtu.be/3WZBb4W0-ds how to root D1 and D3 device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JA8TKNWTEk how to use GL to SD (root)

Well, basicly the problem is that we will avoid the warranty of the mobile.


Installing wifi certificate I want to connect my Samsung Galaxy SIII to my University's wifi network. I have the certificate on my computer. I'm trying to install it. I have transferred it to my mobile's download folder and to the root folder via Android file transfer. Only if I go under Settings>Security>Install from device storage, Downloads appears to be empty. How do I install that p12 certificate?

It seems pretty absurd to me, but while Security didn't see the certificate, Docs to go actually installed it. However, this forced me to have a pin on the lock screen, or a password, which are both very uncomfortable for me, so this opens a new question.


Using Bluetooth keyboard and mouse via Remote Desktop I occasionally use my Galaxy S4 Android phone to connect to my computer via Remote Desktop in order to use SolidWorks for 3d modeling.  In order to make this more comfortable, I want to get a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.  What I'm wondering is whether the keys translate well when I am connected to my computer.

In other words: the keys probably translate well enough when I am just using the phone.  However, the phone does not tend to utilize keys the same way Windows does - ctrl-c, alt-F1, etc..  Do those functions/keys translate when I'm connected to my computer through my phone?

And a similar question for a Bluetooth mouse, I suppose.  Does the computer recognize a mouse when it is connected through my phone via Remote Desktop?

Yes they will work. If the keyboard & mouse supports windows, then they should work via remote desktop. Be sure to have the latest version of the app!


Does CyanogenMod 7.2 kernel support swap memory? My current kernel (whatever is built into stock Froyo 2.2 ROM for Verizon Motorola Droid X) does NOT support swap memory.

Does CyanogenMod 7.2 kernel support swap memory? Does that depend on device-specific build?

The cyanogenmod team feels that swap doesn't serve it's purpose on an Android device:

  This question is hotly debated, but you almost definitely do not need swap or compcache...

You can read all about it at the Swap and Compcache - CyanogenMod Wiki!

To answer you question directly, by default the swap and Compcache schemes are disabled, but if you still feel the need to use them, above link provides you with a how-to.

So, yes, the CyanogenMod 7.2 supports swap and its usage needs to be activated.

The swap and Compcache schemes usage depends on the device and its support for it.

As a side note, the CyanogenMod 7.x is Gingerbread-based not Froyo, as can be read here:

  After 3 rounds of release candidates, and squashing a few more bugs in the stabilization branch of CyanogenMod 7, the newest stable iteration of the Gingerbread-based CM7 is now being released.


All portrait pictures are upside down All pictures that I take in portrait mode with the stock camera app are upside down. I assume this is because when I take them I still hold my phone like a camera, not like a mobile phone.

I could use Camera 360 which has the option to adjust the orientation. It takes a couple of seconds to start up and is generally too bloated for my taste, though. Is there either a way to fix the orientation in the stock app or a more lightweight alternative that has this option?

I now use Camera ICS which has all the features I need.


Settings app: 'Unfortunately, Settings has stopped.' I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Cyanogenmod 11 11-20140225-SNAPSHOT-InstallerXNPQ09P-maguro Android 4.4.2 KitKat with CWM 6.0.4.7. It's a stable installer build.

For a while now I have been getting been getting a 'Unfortunately, Settings has stopped.' error, when trying to simply open Settings from the home screen or application drawer.

It also happens if I try to run the app (com.android.settings) in other ways such as opening a third-party keyboard's settings (which tries to open 'Language & input' within the Settings app).

I have tried the following things, to no avail:

Wipe Dalvik cache in CWM
'wipe cache partition' in CWM
Fix permissions using the 'ROM manager' app
Did 'Clear data' for the Settings app (by dragging it to 'App info' on home screen)
Installed AROMA Filemanager in CWM, and, not finding anything to delete in /data/data/com.android.settings/cache/, but deleting /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/CMStats.xml
Botting into safe mode, where Settings app STILL crashes.

I will note that the Settings app still sits in the multitasking list, but when you try to open it from there it still gives the same crash error.

I'd like to try and avoid a factory reset if possible, so are there any steps I could try further before an entire factory reset?

Could it be having selected ART mode that eventually mucked up Settings somehow? If so perhaps I could turn it off manually via Terminal/adb and then reset Dalvik again or something?

Whatever it is, what troubleshooting steps could be done in addition to the ones above?

I had the same problem where settings would keep on crashing. I just got the snapshot today and it did the same thing. After experimenting I fixed it by going in the app drawer and holding on setting, opening its app info, and clearing data. It now opens and works well. I hope this helps.


Move paid apps between devices? I have an android phone(1) on 2.3.3 and a tablet(2) on preorder that will be on 3. (And a bad gadget habit.)

Can I, when the tablet arrives, uninstall paid apps on the phone and install them on the tablet? It feels like I should be able to since I've paid for a copy of the app linked to that Google account it shouldn't matter which linked device it's on. (Why? Some stuff I've paid for will look better/be more useful on the tablet.)

I've looked online, but most people are asking about moving paid apps from broken phones (ie when they can't uninstall from the first device) or trying to run the same paid app on multiple devices which is piracy/cheap.

(1) nexus one
(2) xoom

I bought an Anchor tabled last week , and using my Google account, was able to download the application I bought on my Samsung Galaxy S phone, without any problems.

So I think, from my experience, you can download the same software again, as long as it's coupled with the same Google account.


Does MHL video out support both analog and digital signal conversion and output function? I have a Galaxy Note II, which uses MHL micro USB out to HDMI.  I'd like to run the video signal thru a composite video (RCA) converter cable to my old school device.  Does Android support this sort of video output conversion natively, or would I need to forget this cable and get an HDMI-to-composite converter box for in the middle?

To use the MHL output of the phone (using micro USB connector) you need to either have a device (such as a TV) that supports MHL directly, or use a dongle to convert MHL to some other standard (such as HDMI, VGA or Composite) that you can use with your device. This is done entirely in the dongle. So as long as your device outputs MHL and you have the dongle, it should work just fine. Currently the only dongles in the market are MHL to HDMI (although there are MHL to VGA and Composite coming to the market soon!). So, you can't wait for the new dongles, you have to get another dongle/box that converts HDMI to Composite and connect it to your MHL-HDMI dongle.


typed stop on my android and it has stoped or freezed I've typed 'stop' in terminal emulator on my lava fuel f1 and it has gotten stopped/Freezed. How to undo or deploy the command. Please help.

Turn the phone on and off. Different key combinations on different devices will force a reboot. For example, on my Nexus 5 volume down plus power will force a reboot. Play with the different keys until you get it. On Samsung you need the home button, etc.


How to identify the cause of entering Safe Mode? I have a Motorola Xoom 3G tablet running Android 4.04 (latest system release) that has been stuck in 'safe mode' for some time now no matter how many times I restart the device.

I have been through the apps list and uninstalled anything I could remember installing recently but still the problem persists.

The device is primarily used as a wifi hotspot with my 3G internet around the house which still works fine - but I would also like to use the screen as an ereader from time to time - which the permanent 'safe mode' message gets in the way of.

Is there any way of tracing the cause of this safe mode loop?

Alternately is there a way of just getting rid of the 'safe mode' message while leaving it in safe mode?

Turned out to be a hardware fault in this particular circumstance a faulty connection between the flex cable that connects the volume buttons and the motherboard... Reseated the connector and 'safe mode' was gone next time I restarted.

Found this by trial and error - don't know of any way to narrow down the cause with the help of software.

So wish I had checked that connector before I went and wiped everything... Doh!


How to make a recovery persist through ROM installations? It is very common for the recovery to be installed as part of the
ROM installation, but is it possible to prevent the recovery from
being changed during such a process?
If yes, are there any potential issues with doing so?

I have not used Vivek ROM and I don't know how the ROM installation is happening. Most of the latest ROM now having AROMA Installer. So when installing the ROM, it will prompt whether you want to change recovery. So when you choose a new the ROM for your mobile, please check ROM installation is through AROMA installer and it has the option to flash recovery or not


How do I get rid of synced contacts? I want to get rid of the contacts that were synced through my Skype, Facebook, and Gmail accounts. How do I do this? I don't want to factory reset my phone, but if I have to....

Facebook
Go to settings>Sync Contacts>Remove Facebook data
Skype
Settings>Sync contacts>Don't sync
Gmail
Not all devices allow to delete gmail contacts from phone, but you can always hide them doing like this.
Open Contacts>Right tap>More options>Display settings>Google>uncheck all groups.


HTC Desire Z Stock ROM Possible Duplicate:
  Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

Does anybody know how I can find HTC Gingerbread Stock ROM? I've just found an old Froyo (2.2) ROM through google search.

Thanks! :)

Your best bet when looking for ROMs is to search the XDA subforum for your device.  Stock 2.3.3 is linked in one of the first few posts there, and I'm sure they'll have instructions if you need them as well.


Is there a way to get a "zoom balloon" (like on the iphone) when sliding over a text input field? Is there any way to show a zoom balloon (like on the iphone), whenever sliding over a text field to show us where the marker is, and allow us to move it correctly.

My Motorola Defy has this capability.  My phone is running Android 2.1.  When you hold your finger over the text field, it will pop up a zoomed in window that allows you to move the cursor with your finger to edit text.


Call Automatically Disconnects When Calling I have a android tablet with android 5.1 lollipop in which I have an airtel number.
When I call someone using my number (not WhatsApp just normal call),  sometimes it shows "Dialling" and then automatically call ends in 1-2 seconds. Sometimes, it directly disconnects in 1-2 seconds.
Last thing I remember was that I was playing with some of the dial codes of Android. From then this problem started. Before that, I was able to make calls with the SIM which I have now & also with my old SIM

So this is weird, but I realised that I accidentally dialled *31# and the problem started. Now, I dialled #31# and I am able to call.
For information on USSD/MMI Codes see this wiki page


Is there a keyboard featuring Undo/Redo? Undo/redo feature is generally provided by input box host app, but.. the way Android's input works, it can be provided universally for all input boxes. Is there a keyboard which has undo/redo feature?

The default keyboard does not have the redo/undo features. However you can try some third-party keyboard app like AI type keyboard which have these features.


Is there a way to disable "call from" when I use Google Voice? I love Google Voice, but I don't want people calling me to be asked to say their name and I don't want to be told to "press one" to accept their calls. I just want to get my calls. Is there a way to disable that feature?

Go to voice.google.com. Top right, click on Settings -> Voice Settings.  Go to "Calls" tab.  Turn Call Screening to "Off"


Nexus 5 USB not working on LinuxMint I tried to connect my Nexus 5 to a USB on a LinuxMint (OS) PC.

At first it worked; it asked me to choose MTP or something else. Now, it's not giving me any feedback. I tried resetting - still getting nothing.

I think it's the phone, because I'm only getting a message of charging, not of being connected to the PC.

Have you tried changing the connecting USB cable?

From other forums I found out that there are charging only or charing + data cables.

It could be that something happened to the data part of it so you see it charging when connected, but the phone can't be mounted because there is no data transfer. That's why I was sure the problem had to be elsewhere, phone or computer

My previous answer suggested to move the cable to another USB port which previously worked, but it suddenly stopped working again and I had to look for another solution. Wiggling it the first time must have restored the data connection for a bit..


Accessibility options - "Home answers calls" I like this option on my old Android 4.2 Samsung Galaxy S3 mini. Especially when I am driving it's much easier to press a button instead of sliding...

But I cannot find such option neither on Android 4.4 phones (different phones, from Motorola to Sona) nor on newer phones with Android 5.1 and 6.0.

Is it 4.2 option that is not part of newer Android version?

Only Samsung offers that feature like home button answers the call. For other phone their might be an option like this, but not necessary to have.


No notifications at all on older Facebook Messenger app For obvious reasons, I'm using an older version of facebook messenger app (ver 71)

But there are no notifications of arrived message, and important feature

If it's a bug or bad config, can be fixed ?
If not, is there a way to overcome this without third parties ?

Android M
Xperia Z3

Edit:
Tried upgrading to version 81, the last one I can tolerate the bloats, but no change

Tried messing with things like permissions, overlapping, notifications...
Nothing changes

EDIT:

It was a bug that went away after reflashing the system.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell what it is

It works now, even for very older (and better) version, like 40.0

The thread may stay open for config speculations

EDIT 2

The thing is back again. One day after a master reset it stopped working

I've tried updating to verson 90 (again, not higher, for obvious reasons, but another tolerable version), but no solution

Uninstalling/reinstalling doesn't help

Weird thing is: facebook app notifies it's own alerts, and also when a message arrives on the messenger app.
But android gets no toasts...

Did you try to use Facebook Messenger Lite ?


Protect music player from being killed? I am using an SGS+ with 512 MB RAM (which leaves about 380M for the OS) running the CyanogenMod 10.1 Beta build 2013-04-15 (Android 4.2.2 on Linux 3.0.73-rc1-PhenomKernel-V3) and as soon as firefox has to load a page with a couple more gifs or large images the music player (Apollo) is being killed. I'd rather have the front app being killed than having to stop listening to music.

I tried the App RAM Manager Pro on setting Hard Multitasking without any success.

So, how do I protect the muisc player from being killed?

Couple options :

Use the swap file feature of your RAM Manager.  That'll give you more (up to 256MB more) memory to play with and might be enough to stave off the music player kill.
Toss the RAM Manager and use something (Like MinFreeManager or manually edit the values in /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree1) that will let you manually specify the Low Memory Killer's parameters.

For the latter, since your priorities aren't the usual ones (kill foreground before killing background, rather than the other way around), you want to toss the presets (which assume "the usual priorities") and set the values as such.  Specifically, you want to set the VISIBLE_APP (an app that is not on screen, but is doing something, in this case, cranking out tunes) value to be lower (and thus lower on the kill list) than the FOREGROUND_APP (exactly what it says on the tin) value.

Further information on what the LMK does and what all these values mean can be found on my answer to this question, which is probably more relevant to your question than the one it was an answer to.

1As I mention in my other answer, values in this file are in pages, which are 4KB.  8192, for example, is 32MB.


Google Assistant won't read notifications So I've recently gotten a Google Pixel and have been putting the new Google Assistant through its paces. I was driving and got a notification of a text message. I was expecting a message from my wife, so I said:

  OK Google. Read notifications.

And got nothing.

On my first-gen Moto X I had used "read notifications" or "what's up?" many times. Is that a feature specific to the Moto X (or, at least, to Motorola devices)? If not, how can I get Google Assistant to read back my phone notifications?

I have found this article that states and I quote:

  Motorola updated their Touchless Control app this evening to include a
  feature that allows you to ask your phone “What’s up?” in order to
  hear what your current notification situation is like. By asking “Ok,
  Google Now, what’s up?” your phone will read the time followed by
  notifications back to you, letting you decide if any are important
  enough to act upon.

What is Touchless Control though? According to this page:

  Touchless Control is a separate application from Google Voice Search
  but it works with Google Voice Search.  Touchless Control's main
  purpose is to wait for the launch phrase, "OK Google" or "Ok Google
  (Now)"  and then either execute the command or send the request to
  Google Voice Search.

In the same page you'll see that What's up is a command for Touchless Control that reads notifications. Touchless Control is now called Moto Voice.

  Is that a feature specific to the Moto X (or, at least, to Motorola
  devices)?

Short answer is yes. The reason same command doesn't work now, is because the original feature was originating from a for-Motorola-only app.

  How can I get Google Assistant to read back my phone notifications?

Even though the app was made for Motorola phones and has official support only for them, there are ways to get it on other phones too according to this page.


How to remove an image saved as wallpaper from lock screen android 4.4.2 Micromax Canvas 2 colors with android 4.4.2 is my first smart phone and im finding my way around slowly. Please can someone urgently help with my issue below?

Recently i saw an image on a website of google chrome and i clicked on the image and pressed save image. I got a message saying image downloading. later i opened the image from gallary did some size changes as it requested then made it my wallpaper for lock screen.

However I am unable to remove the image now from the lock screen and go back to default image. Please can you help me understand where is the image stored for me to go ahead and delete this image so that it goes back to the default option of the phone, when it allowed the default wallpaper in the screen and if i played an App called Saavan it would put that albums image as the lockscreen image automatically.

Kindly advice.

Regards.

Images Downloaded from chrome are stored in ‘sdcard‘-‘download‘ if you dont have sdcard check in Internal memory's ‘download‘ directory.
After finding Image Delete it and change your wallpaper either from settings->display->wallpaper or by pressing and holding on empty space on homescreen and than selecting wallpaper.


How to totally block internet access (data) on an Android? I use Android 4.1.2 dual SIM, so I often switch SIM cards and restart the cell phone.

My plan allows me internet connection, but it's pay by the day, so even if I mistakenly sent one byte, it would charge me fully for that day. Which I want to avoid!

Each time I restart the phone after I switched SIM cards, it starts connecting over the internet, although before the restart all the settings were to disable internet.

Is there a reliable way to disable internet access on Android, that will last between replacing SIM cards and reboots?

PS I do want to be able to use Wifi. But not data over my cellular provider's network.

You may suggest to call my cellular provider and ask them to disable data. It's not a good solution:

Their customer service agents don't like to do it.
Their settings seem to be reset each time I move their SIM card to a different cell phone.
Sometimes I do need data in an emergency.

I think the best solution you can take is to disable the 3g connection (data traffic) option in Android because its state remains the same as when was turned off.

There's a thing in Android called shared preferences for each application installed. Settings is also an app and the saves there its actual state, parameters and configurations. So, when the phone turns on again, Android (settings app) reads that preferences and restores. So the 3g will keep disabled


Voice-to-text on keyboard in HTC Sense I've just got my phone upgraded to Android 2.1. It's a HTC Hero running HTC Sense. One of the features I was really looking forward to in Android 2.1 was the microphone button on the keyboard which you can use to dictate into any text field.

However, this button doesn't seem to be there on the HTC Sense keyboard. Is there any way to enable this?

Go to Settings, Language and Keyboard and see if there is another keyboard you can enable and use. If there is one, check the box to enable it. Then go out and open something that requires text input like an text message. Long click on the text field and choose Input Method. Then change to the keyboard you just enabled. See if it has the microphone.

If you only have one keyboard to enable you could try a third party one like Swiftkey Beta. I use it and it has a microphone option for speech input. Plus the keyboard rocks with all kinds of great features.


Stop Bluetooth Auto Sync Contacts to Pioneer Avic Z140 Am running Cm7.1.  I have about 2,000 contacts. My Nexus One and Pioneer headunit insist on exchanging all 2,000 contacts if my Android Contacts "Display Options" are set to "My Contacts." Problem is that this really makes Voice Recognition unusable (too many contacts to parse).

To get around this, I created a "Car" label in Gmail for the 21 contacts I want. If I change the "Display Options" to just "Car," only the 21 contacts are synced and VR works great. Problem is that when not in the car, I would like "My Contacts" to visible on my phone.

I would like to sync only the "Car" label, or only sync manually. I can't figure out a way to control this.

The filtered contacts list solves this problem, but unfortunately if you are like me you are constantly needing to look at the larger list of contacts and you will not remember to turn the filter back on afterwards. So when you get back into the car, it will start sending the whole list again. I just found a workaround.

There are a ton of alternative contact apps in the marketplace that will sync to your gmail contacts. I installed GO Contacts EX https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jbapps.contactpro&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5qYmFwcHMuY29udGFjdHBybyJd

It appears that the bluetooth address book is only controlled by the stock contacts app, which I've left filtered. I banished the stock app from my home screen/launcher. All good now.


External harddrive case to spin-down drive when idle I try to make external 2.5 hard drives automatically spin down when idle and connected to android devices. The device I have got in mind is a HDMI TV-Stick with USB connector. I tried a few cases/harddrives and found only one old 3.5 case which will spin down the drive when a .nomedia file is present on the drive to prevent indexing. Are there general differences between external drives which can influence their ability to spin down idle drives? Also I would be grateful for hints to android software which can trigger the spin-down and for explanation which requirements to make this work exist in general (for software, disk and case).

It's entirely up to the drive and enclosure. The USB mass storage protocol doesn't have disk-specific instructions, e.g. for spinning up and down drives. The only thing you can do from the Android side is make sure the files aren't in use: e.g. by adding a .nomedia file as you already found.


Not able to acces other hard disk and partitions on android 4.4.2 X86 I have installed android 4.4.2 X86 android on my PC that has 2 hard disk with 2-2 partitions each. I have installed android 4.4.2 X86 on one of them and i have data on other 3. The problem is that i am not able to access any of my other three partitions. Please hoew can i access my other partitions

You probably need to mount them, which will usually require root privileges. However, as android is installed on a hard drive, you could probably edit the required files on another computer by plugging the hard drive in.


Android system RAM usage I've been trying to figure out how Android/CyanogenMod manages RAM internally, and what exactly I can trim down.

I'm running CyanogenMod 10.1-M2 right now, but the memory usage has stayed fairly consistent over the updates ever since I installed the CM 10 about a half a year ago.

Here are my questions :

What could Trebuchet be doing eating away 100M RAM by itself?

For that matter, systemui is eating over 70M RAM as well. A rough calculation of the video RAM requirements (4 colors x 1200 x 720 ~ 3-4MB) is nowhere near hundreds of megabytes, even if you have, say, 10 layers on your launcher and System UI, each taking the full screen.
system_server is taking ~150M, is that normal?

I guess if you take into account services shown by dumpsys meminfo it all adds up, but I wanted to check.

For info, running dumpsys meminfo shows :

Total PSS by OOM adjustment:
   118491 kB: System
              118491 kB: system (pid 406)
    79619 kB: Persistent
               50892 kB: com.android.systemui (pid 19167)
               23670 kB: com.android.phone (pid 688)
                5057 kB: com.android.nfc (pid 697)
   112547 kB: Foreground
              112547 kB: com.cyanogenmod.trebuchet (pid 25585)
    97764 kB: Visible
               62079 kB: android.process.acore (pid 23677)
               13137 kB: com.google.process.gapps (pid 886)
                9092 kB: com.google.android.gsf.login (pid 6452)
                8151 kB: com.google.process.location (pid 855)
                2753 kB: com.android.nfc:handover (pid 788)
                2552 kB: com.android.smspush (pid 811)
     8094 kB: Perceptible
                5558 kB: com.android.inputmethod.latin (pid 9662)
                2536 kB: com.android.location.fused (pid 3493)
    67783 kB: A Services
               26124 kB: com.facebook.katana (pid 27504)
               16481 kB: com.facebook.orca (pid 26218)
               12152 kB: com.google.android.apps.maps:GoogleLocationService (pid 24846)
                7467 kB: android.process.media (pid 24905)
                5559 kB: net.nurik.roman.dashclock (pid 24926)
    28482 kB: B Services
               10988 kB: com.android.vending (pid 26889)
                7018 kB: com.google.android.apps.maps (pid 18348)
                5104 kB: com.dropbox.android (pid 25070)
                2710 kB: com.bel.android.dspmanager (pid 26346)
                2662 kB: com.cyanogenmod.updater.updater.service.UpdateCheckService (pid 25156)
    54121 kB: Background
               14159 kB: com.google.android.apps.plus (pid 27352)
               12993 kB: com.facebook.katana:providers (pid 27538)
                8600 kB: com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox (pid 27427)
                4848 kB: com.evernote.skitch (pid 27408)
                4101 kB: com.google.android.apps.maps:LocationFriendService (pid 27488)
                3833 kB: com.google.android.gms (pid 27474)
                2890 kB: com.google.android.partnersetup (pid 27445)
                2697 kB: com.android.defcontainer (pid 27379)

top shows :

  PID PR CPU% S  #THR     VSS     RSS PCY UID      Name
  406  1   0% S   101 689020K 138244K  fg system   system_server
25585  1   0% S    23 581124K 136528K  fg u0_a40   com.cyanogenmod.trebuchet
19167  0   0% S    20 507824K  71216K  fg u0_a36   com.android.systemui
23677  0   0% S    33 526580K  56076K  bg u0_a1    android.process.acore
27504  1   0% S    29 505836K  43828K  bg u0_a112  com.facebook.katana
  688  0   0% S    44 530180K  33860K  fg radio    com.android.phone
26218  1   0% S    24 491392K  31792K  bg u0_a92   com.facebook.orca
  128  0   0% S    10  69020K  27900K  fg system   /system/bin/surfaceflinger
27754  1   0% S    15 481612K  26892K  bg u0_a127  com.google.android.apps.maps:LocationFriendService
26889  0   0% S    29 495588K  26356K  bg u0_a55   com.android.vending

These things helped a lot :

Looking at which apps drained the most power. Performance improved a lot after uninstalling Facebook and a few other apps I had downloaded over time.
Upgrading to CyanogenMod 10.1-M3 helped. They fixed a nasty memory leak, which probably accounted for parts of my issues.
A little before the first 10.1-RC candidates, the CM team tweaked memory settings that had changed without warning in one of the releases.
If you're running low on storage, you might want to run fstrim /data on a root shell. It seems to be a technical limitation of SSDs when they're low on space.


How safe is it to upgrade apps using Aptoid? I know that there are issues with using Aptoide to install apps on Android. There's a pretty good discussion about this in this other question. If only regarding legal issues, Aptoide is definitely a gray area as some apps are not legally distributed there, clearly bypassing fees setup on the Google Play Store or breaking licensing terms. Furthermore, there are concerns that malware can be injected in apps shipped on Aptoide, although they make efforts to scan apps for such problems.

I wonder, however, if upgrading apps has the same issues as installing fresh new apps. Say I have an old APK from an app I paid from on the Google Play Store, then lost access to my store credentials (lost the phone!) but I still have the APK of the application lying around. So I installed that old version of the app and want to upgrade, but without buying the app again.

I understand (but may be mistaken) that Android has some sort of TOFU security model for apps: if you have installed an app, there is a public key that signed the APK and Android will not allow updates to the app if that key changes. Therefore, if I update an app using Aptoide, that signature will be checked and I can actually be (cryptographically) sure that the app update actually comes from the original author and hasn't been tampered with by Aptoide or the repository manager.

Is that a fair assumption?

You're correct. When someone develops an app, said app passes through a phase of signing. The signature consists of a RSA certificate amongst its parts, so it's univocal (hence the fact that, if you unpack an app, alter it, sign it with another signature and install it, the Play Store won't show any updates for said app).

Just as the Play Store, even Aptoide, by default, shows an app as updatable only if the signature of the APK in their repository corresponds to the signature of your installed app. This behaviour can be modified by unchecking the appropriate checkbox in Aptoide's settings.

Lastly, since altering an app and repacking it with the original signature has limited probabilities of success (tried that myself, but to no avail), updating your apps via Aptoide is generally safe, providing that you leave the abovementioned checkbox selected.


Is Lollipop limited to two users per device? This is very nearly a duplicate of "Is Asus Memo Pad 8 limited to 2 users?," but I am having the same issue on a Moto G (1st gen).

Is Lollipop limited to two users per device?

When I tap on "+ Add User" nothing happens once I have two users on the device.

It aint limited to 2 users. If you are rooted, you can use the following shell commands to add/remove the number of users in the device.

adb shell #
su
mount -o rw,remount /system
echo fw.max_users=4 >> /system/build.prop #4 denotes the number of users you want to have.
exit
reboot #to apply the changes

hope it helps someone


After Lollipop - when I add account there isn't an option to sync contacts/calenders - only email Just installed Lollipop on my Xperia Z3, now when I add an email account there is no option to sync contacts, calenders or tasks - only email. I used to be able to see my work calender (Outlook active xchange) but now the option to see/sync the calender is just not there. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the account, but the only option is to sync the email. All my work contacts have gone too.

Google account calender is still there. When I go to each account, Google is the only one with the option to sync the calender.

I had this same issue.  I had to delete the account and do the manual setup instead of the automatic installation using m.outlook.com as the server name.  Once this was done it gave me the options to sync contacts, calendars, etc.  Before that on the automatic setup it was only giving me the option to sync email.

Hope this helps if you didn't get it working by now.  Odd thing was that mine just recently started doing this it wasn't right after the Lollipop upgrade.  So no idea why it started.


What to do when you have low app space for Android 4.1 or up? You may have already removed all possible apps that are not useful to you, But your Android phone still keeps saying insufficient memory and can't install anything because of low app space available. What will you do?

I will show you two methods to free up app's space. I personally like Method 2 more because, it gives more freedom in choosing what to delete and what not to.

Method 1: Clear cached Data

Go to Settings > Storage > Clear cached data (for all)

Method 2: Using Storage Analyzer & Disk Usage app (Requires Android 4.1 or up)

If you can't install anything from the start, I suggest to first uninstall apps that doesn't necessarily contain essential app data--one that you don't mind losing data for when you uninstall it, e.g., Facebook and Messenger apps (uninstalling any of them is actually enough). The app is only about 4 MB in size.
Install Storage Analyzer & Disk Usage app
Open the app called Drives (this is the app's name in my phone).
Wait for it to finish its scanning.
Go to the DEVICE'S STORAGES tab.
Click Applications, then wait for it to finish it’s scan.
Go to FILE CATEGORIES tab and delete all deletable stuffs except stuffs of the same type of App data.

App cache is usually what you want to delete.
App apk is usually undeletable, but it's just all the app apks you downloaded from the first time you got the cellphone, so it would be good if you are able to delete this. (As an aside, you can also comment to this answer how will I be able to do that).
I repeat, DO NOT DELETE App data or other folders of the same type because they're your app data.
Note: If you are able to delete a folder or a file, that file will be immediately deleted, no questions asked. So be careful.

Reinstall the apps you installed in the first step.


Unable to flash official Indian JellyBean ROM on Samsung Galaxy Note GTN7000 SHV-E160l I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note GTN7000. When connected it to Kies it shows as galaxy note SHV-E160l.

I tried to flash Indian Samsung official JellyBean 4.1.2 update to it via ODIN. I have sufficient drivers (actually I went through a video tutorial). But ODIN shows fail.

When I bought this device it was running JellyBean 4.1.2, but I have serious heating issues, camera problems etc. That's why I decided to install official JellyBean. But failed.

How can I proceed and get it working?

Model number-gt-n7000
Base band version-N7000LXKJ8
Build number -JZO54.LXKJ8.F2A238.2JIA68

Infact your phone is not the international Note 1 GT-N700.
You have the korean version SHV-E160L which is converted to N700.


Used (probably) inappropriate charger, touchscreen went crazy, permanent damage? I used a plug with USB output than may have been inappropriate (output DC5V +/- 0.20V DC500mA +/-30mA). While it was plugged in, the touchscreen stopped working properly (touching one part of the screen would trigger another), I guess because the voltage was wrong? Is there any danger that I did some permanent damage to the phone or the battery? It wasn't plugged in for long.

You can be 99.9% sure the touchscreen is fine. Battery wasn't damaged too. If the touchscreen still behaves erroneously after unplugging, then rubbing it with a soft cloth should help.

This is a common issue with cheap chargers. It indicates that charger may not be safe to use with any device - it may catch fire or explode. Prolonged use of such chargers can degrade battery performance faster than charging with a high-quality charger.

It wasn't a voltage problem - all USB chargers have the same voltage and you can use any charger with a plug that fits. Charging speed may differ, though - high-end smartphone and tablet chargers are faster than regular mobile phone ones.