How do I get my phone to ring on a calendar notification? I'm always missing appointments because the event notifications in Calendar app are so pathetic.

I when its time to leave for an appointment, I want my phone to ring as loud as possible as if I'm getting a phone call, and to continue ringing until I turn it off.

Is there any app/SaaS for this?

There are apps available ( listed at end ) but IMO , automation is the preferred way for this since :

You are looking for conditional actions
Customisation options to suit individual needs

I prefer using Macrodroid automation app because it's free ( upto 5 macros ) and very easy to learn

You would need two macros for this

(Triggers / Actions / Constraints are added by +   on the right side of each panel )

Logic:

Ring on Calendar Notif Macro :   Whenever you get a notification from your calendar app, alert you with a non - stop ringing , at a volume level and sound customised by you
Stop Ringing Macro :  Manually stop the ringing using a widget on your home screen and set the Volume levels to what you would prefer in your normal device usage

Barebone implementation of this logic is implemented in Macros below. You can customise it later by experimenting

Don't get intimidated by the long explanation - it's detailed so that you don't waste time setting it up ; shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to set up :)

Ring on Calendar Notif Macro

Trigger: Notification Received → Select your calendar app  → Text  → Any
Actions
Set Macrodroid Variable  → New Variable  → Stop Ringing , Type Boolean  → Set it to false  (initialising variable that controls when to stop / start ringing )
Repeat Actions ( second item on drop down when you press the plus sign on action panel ) → While condition repeat → Conditions + → Macrodroid Variable → Stop Ringing  →OK → Select False and OK

This creates a while / do loop wherein we want you to be sued when notification arrives something to be done when . You see now a WHILE / DO - End Loop created . Tap the End Loop and you will get a pop up Add action above. Tap that and add actions below

Volume Change → select Media / Music and set slider to say maximum % tap OK
Play → select any sound from drop down list
Wait before next action → set it to 2 seconds

Constraints: Leave blank

Stop Ringing Macro

Trigger:  Empty Trigger

Actions

Set Macrodroid Variable Stop Ringing to True
Volume Change - set the Volume levels you normally have on your device

Constraints: Leave blank

Go to the widgets section of your launcher , drag and drop Macrodroid widget to your home screen and assign it to Stop Ringing macro

Alternative app option

Calendar event Reminder claims ( not tested by me ) to

  With this simple app you can override or replace default reminder with "unmissable" ones - they will ring like phone call how long you want, with melody you want!

See Izzy's collection of Calendar Alarm Fixes


Are the signatures of gapps from zips checked? Are the gapps (e.g. from goo.im) signed in a way that prevents tampering? Is there a way to verify they're the same as you'd get from Google?

Do all / most ROMs check for this?

All Android apps are signed.

Android will not run an unsigned app. In addition, the signatures are tied to the app permissions, such that if the signature was wrong, other apps would not be able to talk with it, and you would not be able to receive updates to it from Google Play.

Android signing is discussed in more depth in Signing Your Applications in the Android developer documentation, from which the above information was drawn.

If you are paranoid and want to verify an app's signature, you can use the jarsigner utility included with the Java Development Kit (JDK). For example:

jarsigner -verify -verbose -certs Vending.apk


How can I get a busy tone when dialing a number which is actually busy I usually dial a number and then put the phone in my pocket (using a headset).

That doesn't work very well when the destination is busy since I never get a busy tone. I just get a "number is busy" message or something like that in the display for a couple of seconds.

Is it possible to get a busy tone instead?

This sounds like it may be something your carrier is doing when the number your calling is busy. If I call a number that is busy, I get a busy tone.


How do I send text messages multiple recipients on CyanogenMod 9? How do I send text messages to multiple recipients on  CyanogenMod 9? I don't see any contacts icon in my messaging app i.e, ICS Messaging App. Is there any way to do it? I am using an HTC Wildfire S.

There isn't a contact picker per se.

After you type in one contact, type a comma and start typing the name of another. Separate multiple contacts by commas.


Android 6 Update Changed SD Card Name I have a Motorola Moto G3 Smartphone and I installed the Android 6 update yesterday. After installing the update, I found out that all my playlists, App preferences and basically everything that relied on the external Sandisk 16 GB micro SD card is Messed up or damaged. I found out the cause of this is that the base name for the SD card has been changed from 'sdcard1' to '3835-3237'. I am unable to change the SD card name in Mobile (using ES file explorer) or externally via PC (no matter what I change it to, it still shows those numbers on my mobile). I have a heavily customized my phone and I would prefer not to root it just to change the SD card name. Could anyone please tell me a method to change the SD Card name without having to root the phone? Or any way I can do it externally?

Android 6.0 now uses the volume serial number of the formatted partition as a unique identifier to distinguish which SD card you might be using.

I guess this could be useful in case you have a device that could theoretically support multiple SD cards.


Android lollipop Nexus5 mobile network exclamation mark I am using nexus5 and I have never had problems using mobile data network. Some days ago I updated to 5.0.1 and problems started occuring, exclamation mark on mobile network icon, internet stopped working. Anyone hade same issues ? I probably flash back to Android 4

Not sure whether it can help or not, but I also noticed this, and the indicator otherwise seemed to say I was having great cellular signal. The exclamation mark would mean that there is no data connection. So, I tried calling someone, and had no problem. Please note that I also have NO DATA PLAN with my provider and this is by choice. I also had data (LTE/3G/4G) disabled on the phone, as well as at the provider's web site. What I do not know is whether I will be able to know the strength of the cellular signal or not. I also would like if I will ever be able to get LTE/3G/4G data on this phone, should I choose to do so.


How to make my iOS (iPhone, iCloud) notes available on my Android phone? I'm looking for the easiest way to make my iOS (iPhone, iCloud) notes available on my Android phone.

It seems that there's no way to move them to Google Keep, for example.

I'd be fine with using any apps for notes which would allow me to import them from iCloud and put them on my Android phone.

Apple provides no official way of moving your notes off of iCloud. Here's their support article on exporting your data off of iCloud (hit Notes).

However, you can do it with unofficial tools. My method of switching over all of my notes from iCloud Notes and Gmail Notes in the OS X Notes app to Evernote was using Notes Exporter to export all notes to .txt files, then dragging each created file over the Evernote app to import. However, if you don't have a Mac, you'll have to use copy and paste (sorry).

Edit: If your notes are not in iCloud Notes but actually in Gmail Notes (let me know if you can't tell), this If This Then That recipe might help.


Can I install Android 4.2.1 AOKP IceColdJelly ROM on my HTC One X by AT&T? Can the Android 4.2.1 AOKP IceColdJelly ROM that seems to be released for the HTC One X international model be installed on HTC One X subscribed by AT&T?

I found the update for HTC One X on following link :

Android 4.2.1 AOKP IceColdJelly ROM for HTC One X

Does my HTC One X from AT&T support this ?

No you can't flash an international ROM on your device.
Because your phone's configuration is different than international version.
Details are given below:

Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon (AT&T)-----  Nvidia Tegra 3 (International)
CPU:    Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait (AT&T)-----   Quad-core 1.5 GHz (International)
GPU:    Adreno 225 (AT&T)---------               ULP GeForce (International)

if you flash this , it may brick your phone.

See this


How can I convert Google+ to a system app without buying Titanium Pro? The Locations feature on Google+ running on Cyanogenmod is not showing a Map. I am not sure what's the cause of this, but as of CYAN-1193 the fix is to convert Google+ to a system app. I did this successfully with Titanium Pro with just one click. After Google+ became a system app, the map was shown.

Now I have a dozen other devices without the pro version of Titanium where I want to do the same. Surely there is a way with root and adb. Can you guide me?

For the process to work, requirements are:

Titanium Backup zip file, see below
The license key file TitaniumBackup_license.txt.

The idea being, is copy the license file and install the app onto the new device.

Caveat Emptor

This is only for legitimate licensed Titanium Backup owners.
Device is rooted
USB cable plugged into device
Functioning copy of adb.

Step 1.

Easiest way, is to generate the Titanium Backup zip file,

Tap menu
scroll to the bottom, titled 'Special Features'
Tap on "create 'update.zip'"

Scripting Type - Edify Default
Titanium Backup will be installed as - User application Default
Select the name of the output file - TitaniumBackup-6.1.0.zip Tap that selection

This will create the appropriate zip file on the /sdcard.

Pull that zip file across to your PC, as in adb pull /sdcard/TitaniumBackup-6.1.0.zip.
Unzip it, the file to look for is data/app/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.apk

Step 2.

Pull the license file across to PC, as in adb pull /sdcard/TitaniumBackup_license.txt

Final step.

Now with both steps completed, it's a matter of:

pushing the license file across to the new device as in adb push TitaniumBackup_license.txt /sdcard. It must be the root of the SDCard, anywhere else, it fails!
install the apk, as in adb install data/app/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.apk

Now launch the Titanium Backup, it should pick up the license file and treat it as Pro version. In the event it does not, its likely a very weird glitch in the application, try reboot the device, to see if it works, if not, report it to the developers. (I have this problem on my Xperia Mini, have a valid license, and it does not recognize it despite having the license in the root directory of the SDCard!)

The hardcore way

This will apply to any app. Gist of these steps, is to move the application to /system/app.

Remount the system as re-writeable, adb remount
Shell in via adb and invoke su, adb shell followed by su.
Move the app from the /data/app to /system/app directory

For example:

an app called fooBarApp
its underlying name is /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk

So without further ado:

cp /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk /system/app/fooBarApp.apk (we need to drop the -1 part of the name as system apps do not have them)
rm /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk (To avoid duplication!)
At this point, the ownership may get clobbered, or the permissions, for that matter, so make it chmod 644 /system/app/fooBarApp.apk
Reboot


How to use phone number from my missing phone to re-activate a Viber account My phone was stolen and I'd like to reactivate the same number to a new device. Unfortunately Viber is sending the code to the lost number. Is there a way I can do that?

Simple answer, no you can't. The only ways to activate are via SMS or a call to receive the activation code and both methods require your phone number because the code will be sent to it. You are no longer in possession of the number you won't be able to activate Viber.

Your only solution is to talk with your service provider if it is possible to get your lost number back (it is possible in some countries). The process involves proving that the Sim (lost number) was yours by providing the last numbers called, received, if you bought data, what was the amount, etc.


How to block texts received from numbers that are longer than n digits? In South Africa, we are plagued with SMS spam, and it's practically impossible to get rid of it.

All the numbers that the spammers use are usually 13 or 14 digits - much longer than the standard 10 digits.

(Click image to enlarge it)

The thinking behind this is that they cycle through literally millions of disposable numbers, so that if you block one of them, they'll still be able to spam you from all the others.

However, this thinking would then (hopefully) also be flawed. Surely there is a way to intercept an SMS, count the number of digits in the number and if it's longer than 12 (10 for the number, 2 for the country code), simply delete it, or even better add to blocked list.

Does anyone out there know of a way? I have Tasker, which I'm thinking is the way to go, but not sure where to start.

The first step to this would be detecting the length of the phone number.

This can be done by passing %SMSRF to Test Variable > Type: Length. Test Variable can then output the phone number length as an integer which you can do checks on with an If.

Once Tasker decides if the message is spam or not, you can then have it hide the notification, etc. (but not delete the message, as Tasker does not have this capability yet)


Where to download and install Google Apps on Android 4.0.4 device? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I install the Google Apps Package (Play Store, …) on my Android device?

I have an international android smartphone which doesn't have anything related to Google Play Store installed. So I have to install  GoogleLoginService.apk, GoogleServicesFramework.apk, Vending.apk, ... by myself. I was able to find information about how to do it online but I cannot find where to get those apks for my version of Android, which is version 4.0.4.

If I download them, how can I know/verify they are the right version for the android 4.0.4?

You have to flash GAPPS (Google Apps) ZIP. Click here to download GAPPS for ICS. For alternate links or other gapps versions see this link.


Why is Amazon Shopping app showing 'null' after the product price? I've heard that if a website or an app appears in a weird way, it means that your device might have been hacked. I have Android 8.1 Oreo, and below is the Amazon Shopping app showing 'null' after the product price.

What is the cause? Is my device hacked or infected with malware?

Seems like an issue on Amazon's side, I would guess that the app was coded to add a currency symbol like $ or € to the end of the price tag. Since the currency currently used is on the beginning not the end, seems like the app is also searching for something to add to the end, but adds an unset variable instead causing it to display "null". That is my theory tho. On the other side if you are worried about getting malware, use a scanner to scan for malicious apps. But it is unlikely that you got Malware if you haven't downloaded any shady apps from outside sources or sometimes Play Store. There is no known way of bad people simply getting into your phone without running malicious code first, either packed in a "shady" app or using an exploit of another app...


Using flash player on android with Hebrew I am trying to run flash website with my Samsung Galaxy S3 (running Jelly Bean 4.3). The website is built for Internet Explorer only, but I succeeded running it on my FireFox browser on my PC. When I am trying to run this website on my phone, it runs properly except of one thing: the Hebrew shows Gibberish.

Example:

I know that Adobe stopped publishing Android flash player, but it still can be download from  Adobe's website.

I search on the Internet and tried alot of things:

Flash Player isn't influenced by the browser encoding.
I tried to replace a lot of browsers on Android, no one solves the problem.
After understanding the locale can be the problem I decided to make my IE on my PC show the same Gibresih. I change the region on my windows 7 control panel and my IE showed the same problem.
My device is English but I use application like customlocale2 (I tried a lot of those applications). I tried to run the website on my friend's Galaxy S3 (genuine Hebrew) and the same thing happend.
After searching on the internet I found this link, which shows how to change Firefox config on Android devices. I saw that the locale isn't for Hebrew. I tried to change all the configs that look like related to locale from my PC FireFox (couldn't find how to import config to Firefox on Android), but the same thing happended. (Maybe I miss some configs).
Firefox doesn't have Hebrew edition to android device yet.
When I tried it on Google Chrome on my PC, the same thing happend. when I change the language of Google Chrome (including UI) and tried it works!
I tried to enter to other Flash site I know and the Hebrew was upside-down.

Two possibilities:

Side load flash with the APK found here, and then run Dolphin browser to access the flash site
Try running the site through FlashFox app as it has built in flash (no need to sideload anything)


How to stop checking for mail and asking for backups? My mom is using Android 6.0.1. The problem she was having last week was that her phone was checking and downloading her email, and she did not want that. So I signed her out of her Google account, which fixed the email problem but created a new one. Now the phone is spawning messages that her phone is not being backed up (presumably because she is now signed out of her Google account). She does not like those messages either.

What is the best solution to this problem? I.e. stop the emails without disabling other phone features. Thanks.

Galaxy J3 Luna Pro

Disabling the email app solved my problem without introducing new problems.


2 mobile, 2 sim, 2whatsapp account I have 2 mobile old lenevo with Vodafone sim
 A6000 and new MI note4 with Jio sim.
Both mobile is having different WhatsApp account. I want to use old mobile WhatsApp account with new mobile and vice-versa. Now if I want to exchange my sim card what should I do? WhatsApp is not having logout option.
Once I uninstalled WhatsApp exchanged sim and again reinstalled WhatsApp. But it's not performing well. Groups appears in old Lenovo mobile and individual friends appears in new MI note 4.

Mobile number changing in WhatsApp :

Open WhatsApp > goto Settings > Account > Change number.

[ currently, backup both your whatsapp accounts to google drive. Then change number on both phones or clear data on phone. Again open whatsapp, and set the things, restore from backup. Now, you can have all the chats and groups from lenovo to mi device and all items to mi to old device.]

WhatsApp Logout:

Only web version of Whatsapp has logout option. In android, you need to clear data before uninstalling Whatsapp. Also, delete whatsapp folder from internal storage.

Backup: :
You have option to backup your current whatsapp data using google drive. Goto whatsapp settings > chats > chat backup. Set email account in google drive settings and tap on backup.


Connect a 3G Android phone with a WiFi-only tab to see phone call information on the latter I own a WiFi-only Android tab and an Android phone with 3G.

I use the tab regularly at work or while working out on the treadmill, and often I miss a phone call on my Android phone while using the tab.

Is there any App or other possibility to link the phone to the tab to be able to see incoming phone calls on the WiFi tab? Via Bluetooth, for example?

(I also own a Sony smartwatch which does exactly this, but I'm looking for a solution on my tab).

MightyText is a free app that allows you to get communication notifications on your tablet through WiFi. While its geared for people that would want to text from their tablet, it also has some other really nice features. Among them are call notifications, battery alerts, and photo syncing. They also have a Chrome extension which allows you to get the same features on a computer. I used to use this app all the time and highly recommend it.


I can't enable notifications icons badge on Moto E5 Play I have a Moto E5 Play with Oreo 8.1(Android Go) and I can't enable notification icons badge, I mean those little dots over the application icons on home.

When I go to Configuration-> Apps Notifications
there's no option to enable it.

If I go to application configuration is there an option to enable it individually but is grayed out.

I search on the web but nothing solve this.

As discussed in comments, OP's device runs Android Go and has Android Go apps.

Android Go doesn't support notification icons as explained in Lenovo forums Notification Dot missing on UK phone

  ....Android Go does not support notification access to apps,....


What makes the Atrix's implementation of Citrix Receiver special? The Motorola Atrix looks like a nice phone.

A widely publicized feature is the remote desktop function, which uses Citrix Receiver to connect to a virtualized workstation in the cloud, so that one could potentially plug the phone into any TV and start working.

My question is: how much of this function is unique to the Atrix? It looks like Citrix Receiver can be used on any Android device, indeed it's available for other smartphone platforms as well. Other smartphones have HDMI output, so that is not a differentiating factor.

Could I replicate this function on any Android phone with an HDMI jack?

If you're asking if you can do remote desktop on a phone and also have the phone output to a TV, the answer's yes.  I use Remote Desktop Enterprise on my device (Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant), and my device supports some sort of output from the USB port to HDMI as well as wireless DLNA.


How can I read large QRs in Android? I have used the Zxing app here but I cannot read large QRs with it, how can I do that? By Large, I mean that I want read a content with a lot of text (I am able to make them as large as possible by dimension but not in content).

Now I am not meaning the technical specs as given by one answer (certainly they reveal somethnig), I am looking for ways to read large-amount of content in QRs without too much lag. Is this a pipe dream, just better device or better software?

QR codes have limitations on the amount of data that can be stored within them. If you are hitting these limitations then you may need to find workarounds such as making the QR code text a hyperlink to the long text you wish to display.

For more information on the limitations of QR codes, see the "Storage" section of the Wikipedia article and its citations.

This citation in particular will be very useful to you. Look at version 40 of the standard in that table, as it has the highest capacity and will give you the absolute length limits.


Text-to-speech reader for Google Voice SMS text messages? There are a bunch of apps for reading your phone's "native" SMS text messages, but I couldn't find anything for Google Voice, nor could I find any apps that can generically read text in other apps (which I could then apply on Google Voice).

If you have a stock Android phone, or certain more recent versions (I think gingerbread on), then you can use Talkback (either as a separate app or in the Accessibility settings), which does generic text reading on your phone, and should read most things. It does read any notifications which come through, which should include Google Voice (though I'm in the UK so I can't actually test this).

It's designed for blind or partially sighted people, and may not be a perfect fit, but it possibly the best option out there so far.

If you want something that does generic reading, then it MUST be an accessibility app, as only they have permission to read the text from other apps. I don't think Google Voice exposes an external API, which is why you aren't able to find an app which specifically offers this capability.


Folder seen as file when connected as MTP I have Redmi 1S phone running Andriod 4.3 (MIUI v56).  When connected to a PC (Windows 7 32Bit) in MTP mode, one of the folders named Backup (present in internal memory) is seen as a file and effectively inaccessible.

When connected through FTP, that folder is seen and accessible through an FTP client (can be downloaded as well to PC). Folder is accessible from within the File Manager app on phone as well.

I am clueless what is selectively causing this single folder being seen as a file when the device is connected in MTP mode! Any support to solve this would be great. Thanks.

Because of the different way files and folders are handled on Windows when compared to other operating systems, it could be that the folder is corrupted and Windows is seeing it as a file (which it really is in the Android filesystem).  It may be possible to fix this problem by:

Creating a new folder,
Moving the contents of Backup into the new folder,
Removing Backup, and finally
Renaming the new folder to Backup

However, depending on what the underlying problem truly is, this may not fix it.


Why do some bookmark icons have a red background in Firefox? I have Firefox for Android installed on both my phone (Nexus 5X) and tablet (Nexus 9).

On my phone, some bookmark icons have a red background:

Whereas on my tablet they appear "normal":

What does the red background mean? I couldn't find an explanation online. Even on Mozilla's help website the YouTube icon has a red background.

It's a small cosmetic feature of Firefox: dominant color as favicon background.

To put it simply, Firefox will try to calculate the dominant color of an icon, and apply it as the background. Here is the screenshot of the feature while it's WIP (might not apply to current version).

Image credit to Margaret Leibovic

As for the reason why some of the icons have it or not, it might be probably a bug on Firefox.

Further reading: Dominant Favicon Color, Revisited on Android - Margaret Leibovic


Changing volume from Android GUI (Quick Settings) - without volume buttons? Is there a way to change volume - or rather to show the volume change screen - without using the volume buttons? I would have thought I could find on Quick Settings dropdown, but there seems to be nothing there related to volume; as example:

How to Customize Android’s Quick Settings Dropdown

Is it possible to have a shortcut to the volume sliders "applet" here?

If your device is rooted, then it is very possible to do so using a third party application.

If you are not rooted and on stock ROM, then it is only possible to do if your manufacturer supports it in their android overlay.

For example in Android 4.4.2 kitkat on the samsung galaxy note 10.1 2014 edition, there was an option to adjust volume without the buttons, but the option was removed in the android 5.1 lollipop update.

HOWEVER, this app creates a widget instead and works in the same way as adjusting from the notification area

Google this:
Slider Widget - Volumes on Google play

You should find the app in question.

Edit:
Here is another one: http://nexus5.wonderhowto.com/how-to/control-volume-directly-from-notification-tray-lollipop-0159666/

Cheers!


Can I change the app icons? Is there any way I can change the icons (displayed on the home screen) for apps on my Android device?

(Apps includes both system apps and apps downloaded from play store)

As beeshyams has already written in the comment, it is possible with this app.

Alternatively, another launcher can be installed. Many launchers (Like Nova) can be customized with various themes.


Why are my contact pictures blurry and how to fix it? Since the switch from Android 2.x (2.3.7) to  4.0.4 ICS I notice that all my contact's pictures are blurry.

Some of them come from g+ profiles but most are self added on a gingerbread phone.

Why are they blurry and how can I fix this?

PS: my own picture I reuploaded via the talk app is still low res and upscaled in the phone app. I also have a public profile pic that i updated at the same time.

This is due to a limitation of GMail more than anything. GMail only supports contact icons with a resolution of 64×64, while ICS supports up to 256×256. When you give a contact an icon, Android uploads that new contact icon to GMail... which then promptly downscales it. ...And then Android thinks you changed it to the low-res icon and uses that instead of the nice and pretty one you picked out.


TWRP: Failed to mount '/data' When I try to install a ROM with TWRP, I get

Could not mount /data and unable to find crypto footer.
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
Unable to recreate /data/media folder.
Updating partition details...
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
...done
Unable to mount storage
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
Full SELinux support is present
Unable to mount /data/media/TWRP/.twrps

Then when I try to "Factory Reset" under TWRP Wipe, I get

/sbin/e2fsck -fp /dev/block/sda18 process ended with ERROR: 8
Unable to repair Data.
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
Error changing file systems
Repairing Data using e2fsck...

I am using a Samsung Galaxy S7.

What you need to do is remove Crypto on Data

To do that, in TWRP

Settings
Format Data
Type "yes"
Done


SD card gets different name at every format Every time I format the SD card, or install new ROM., or move it to another phone, it comes with a different label

Something like
410E-1D17 or FEA7-1EF1 or BD05-14A1

How do I stop this mess and make it consistent ?
Its screws up all apps that rely on the absolute path

Does it happen only on Xperia phones ?

Android M

No you can't stop it from changing.

First you should know it's not the "name" for an SD card (technically "volume"). Even worse, "name" is an ambiguous term here. You should either use "product name" (for hardware) or "volume name/label".

This is, in fact, "Volume Serial Number". It's a 32-bit integer so you see it represented with 8 hexadecimal numbers. It is subject to change whenever you format it.

As beeshyams noted, you may be able change it with command line utilities from rooted Android (you can always do so in a GNU/Linux system). To obtain the correct utilities, you should download Termux, and install a package named mtools in it:

apt install mtools tsu

Then follow this guide and run

tsu
mlabel -i /dev/block/xxx -N XXXXXXXX ::label

I haven't tested it but I'm afraid it isn't an easy job to do on Android. Better grab a Linux computer :)


What is actually happening when you hard brick a phone? I've never hard bricked a phone. I've never seen one either. But hard bricking is everyone's worst nightmare.
I wan't to know what exactly happens when you hard brick your phone. What happens that makes it irrecoverable without professional help?
To find this out, I needed to know how flashing of ROMs work. For this, I downloaded the data sheet for my phone's chipset (an MTK6589, whose datasheet can be found here) and then found out that:

The USB data lines D+ and D- and VCC goes directly to the application processer.
There is an external PMIC for application processor that handles the power ON and OFF of the handset. On this IC there are two pins(KP_KOL0 and KP_ROM0) which when are 0, triggers USB download without battery.
The memory (eMMC or NAND Flash) to which the files are downloaded is also connected to the Processor via a External Memory Interface (EMI).

So this is what (I think) happens when you flash a wrong ROM:
Though I don't know what results in 0V on pins KP_KOL0 and KP_ROM0, but this happens when you want to download a new ROM, and the application processor switches/starts in Download mode.
I've googled what happens when you hard brick a phone. All I get are noob posts telling how or how not to hard brick your phone. Most of the posts say that when you flash the wrong ROM, the phone may get hard bricked. My question is,
What happens when you flash a wrong ROM that makes the phone hard bricked?
Or why does the processor become not responding at all when you hard brick it?

It has nothing to do with the processor, unless you've fried it.

Usually, the only software-based hard brick that is possible is when you overwrite the bootloader.  Without a (working) bootloader, the phone (a) cannot get to the point where it would load the operating system and/or (b) cannot have working software loaded onto it.

If you get into this state you need to access the hardware more directly to write a new bootloader, often using JTAG.


Are there technical reasons why Android is not as smooth as iOS and can they be overcome? There are some discussions of this topic on the internet but I'm looking for something objective and technical like the Stack Exchange community is generally quite good at.

I've resisted the smartphone and tablet wave thus far but will probably buy my first Android device soon and start developing for the platform.

I much prefer Android's openness to Apple's walled garden. But the thing that bothers me most is that iOS is silky smooth and Android is not, even on pretty powerful devices with multiple CPU and graphics cores.

Is this something that's already overcome in newer Android or that is really on a problem on older/cheaper devices? Or is it inherent due to Android being fully multitasking and based on Unix?

Edit
(In response to the possibility that this question invites opinion based answers) :

This question is not intended to be opinion based but rather to gather information on real differences in software or hardware that are responsible for the large differences in test results of factors such as Touch screen responsiveness, and rendering speed of UI elements of the Android and iOS operating systems.

Expected answer:

Answer that pinpoints exact differences in software implementations and reasons for doing so that have lead to disparities in responsiveness
Differences in specific hardware (such as the touch screen) that can be a cause
All backed up with actual test results if possible
Any other relevant and well defined causes/reasons

There is an article that discusses the semi-technical reasons/issues that have lead to the differences in smoothness of Android and iPhone devices.

But after gathering some key points from the article one can conclude:

From the very start, IOS had been built around a  multi-touch screen (meaning IOS had been built from the gound up to be very responsive as opposed to most other OSs that adopted full screen multi-touch displays)
Yes, it is not always hardware (processing power) dependent it is merely a result of IOS operating system giving more priority to UI rendering, etc where as Android distributes the processing power equaly (this may be an advantage or drawback as with a faster UI everything from download speeds to loading content will slow down)

  UI rendering occurs on the main thread of an app
  UI rendering has normal priority

Android is very popularly known to be highly customization and it is simply a matter of tweaking kernel parameters like 'lowmemkiller' that can make UI:

  amazingly smooth -- easily as smooth as the iPhone or WP7 phones

It is not that Android lacks the potential, but simply that developers prefer to spend resources elsewhere (like on the  bigger screens of some devices). Then why doesn't Android spend more resources on UI?

Well, Android is widely distributed among a wide variety of devices, and that is exactly why when it comes to android, only individual owners can overcome these (there is no optimum setting Android developers can set... every device that runs Android has its own set of 'optimum settings' and every user has his own perspective on what they should be 'optimum settings'). So the solution, balance the power...
And no it is not something that has been 'overcome' on newer Android devices. But it depends on what you mean by overcome, as the lowmemkiller of rooted android devices can easily be tweaked (but it comes as a cost to battery,etc...)

For more technicality, see Dianne Hackborn and Andrew Munn


Is it ok to delete Tencent - Micromsg - Diskcache folder? Is it ok to delete Tencent - Micromsg - Diskcache folder in samsung S3? Its related to wechat...

If you're referring to the Tencent cache folders from an app and not the Tencent virus, you're more than welcome to delete it, but it may re-appear.


Understanding the sending of commands in adb shell I am trying to talk to the modem embedded within a module through adb shell but since I'm accessing the HW remotely, i'm not sure of the original setup and may need some help clarifying:
adb shell runs in linux and following is how I was able to run the command:
cat /dev/smd0 &
echo -e "AT\r" > /dev/smd0

what's the main point behind the first line with &? Doesn't that run things in the background? How does removing it not output the result to the terminal?
the interpretation of the second line: writes/sends the string to the application processor from the linux host over smd0 AT port. Is that legit?

the 2nd line sends a request to serial. the 1st line is waiting for result. in order to make this work one must listening before sending request, that way the answer can not missed. one can accomplish that by running the listening process in background while sending request in same time. it is usual like for handling of named pipes


Bluetooth audio streaming issues with Droid X When I stream audio from my Droid X via bluetooth, the playback is very stuttered.  The audio skips approximately every 30 seconds to a minute.  Each skip lasts about 0.5 to 1 seconds.

This is the case for every app that I've tried so far (Pandora, Stitcher, Google Music).  Whether I'm listening to talk or music doesn't seem to make a difference, and in all cases, playback works flawlessly over the phone's speaker.

The bluetooth device I'm using is my car's Ford SYNC.  My wife's iPhone 4 streams brilliantly, so I don't think it's the car.

Does anyone know of any workarounds or fixes for this problem?

I solved this by turning off Wifi on my phone.  Not sure why having Wifi turned on would be a problem, but I don't get any skipping when Wifi is off.


"Incompatible with other applications(s) using the same shared user ID" when installing Google Play service? I need to run Google Plus, and Google Plus needs the Google Play service.

Every time I install google play service from the Google Play store it fails to install with this error:

  Incompatible with other applications(s) using the same shared user ID

What could be the issue? How can I fix this?

UPDATE: I know almost nothing about android, so I dont know what ROM is, or such thing, I get my phone from local production and I guess, yes, it uses custom system, so I just know that I'm using Android Version 4.0.4. any help would be greatly appreciated.

What is get my phone from local production?

Since you mentioned about custom system are you referring to a modded ROM like Cyanogenmod, Paranoid Android etc?

You have custom recovery in place? If so, grab the latest Google Apps from here appropriately for Android 4.0.4 aka ICS, more than likely, this version of gapps.

Reboot into Recovery, select:

Wipe Cache
Install from zip, select the gapps you downloaded
Then when install is done, reboot.


Sony Xperia Z4 stuck at boot after upgrading to Android 6.0 A few minutes ago, my sony xperia z4 tablet noticed me to upgrade to android 6.0.
Now my tablet no longer boots. There is just a text "Error" and a little lying android man.

I tried to Reboot in Recovery Mode by Holding Power and Volume Up Key but it does not work. Nothing happens.

What can i do?

Download Sony PC Companion for Windows/Mac.
Shutdown your tablet and connect it to PC in recovery mode while holding down volume up/down key. Instructions will be shown on-screen if you're not clear with my explanation.
Click on Repair my phone/tablet.
Follow on-screen instructions afterwards. It'll take sometime to download necessary files.
If everything goes right you should disconnect the device and boot it up. Remember first boot takes more or less than 5 minutes.
Support link just in case if needed --- Repair using PC Companion [detailed].


How can I auto refresh my web browser in android? (Any web browser) I want to refresh (reload) a webpage every x minutes. How can i do this? Firefox addon's don't work, dolphin addon's don't work either...

Install Tasker https://play.google.com/store/search?c=apps&q=tasker+apk

Read about Tasker and how to use http://tasker.dinglisch.net/

  Tasker is an application for Android which performs tasks (sets of actions) based on contexts (application, time, date, location, event, gesture) in user-defined profiles or in clickable or timer home screen widgets.

Download a script or write one to start and continue refreshing the browser at needed intervals.

  https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/tasker

Always do a backup!!!!


Is there a way to add a web shortcut to the home tab? While its fairly easy to add a web bookmark shortcut to the home screen on most android systems, there doesn't seem to be a way to do this on the amazon kindle fire.  Usually chrome or firefox is used to create the link on other android systems, but the Silk web browser doesn't seem to have this capability.  I don't think its possible to install chrome or firefox on a kindle fire out-of-the-box without doing some fancy editing.

What's the simplest way to add a web link to the home page of an amazon kindle fire?  Is it even possible?

Preferable I want to avoid doing any kind of jail break on the phone as possible and I'd also like to avoid installing any non-free, invasive apps if possible.

Downloading Chome does not fix this problem. There is still no option to add a bookmark to the home screen.  I'm looking at the Fire tablet, next to my Galaxy, both in Chrome. The option in just plain nonexistent on the Fire


How to turn off the spell checker in Android 4.4.2? I have a Nexus 4 with Android 4.4.2 and I can't switch off the spell checker. I write messages in several different languages and it insists on changing foreign words to the closest English. Writing a message can take me several minutes to sort out all the errors Android itself introduces.

Assessing Settings > Language & input the Spell checker field is turned off, but this doesn't stop Android from messing up my messages.

Thank you.

Try going into Settings > Language & Input and configure the Google Keyboard.
In there you can turn off 'Auto-correction'. This should stop it from changing the foreign words to English.

You could also try adding additional dictionaries. This should allow you to enter words from different languages without it detecting them as mis-spelt English words.


Android Device Manager lock doesn't prompt for password My phone stopped taking my normal password all of a sudden, so I'm using Android Device Manager to set a new password.  Android Device Manager is working fine and allowing me to call my phone and change the message on the lock screen.

However, the screen won't let me input any sort of password to login.  If I hit the Android back button, it takes me to the standard unlock screen, but that screen won't accept my password.

How do I get back into my phone after setting a Lock in Android Device Manager?

(I'm on a Samsung Galaxy S7 if it matters)

I never got to the point where I could enter the temporary lock password.  However, I later powered-off, waited a few seconds, and powered back on.  At that point, my old password still worked.


Why do I not get the new YouTube ui on my tablet? I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 running CyanogenMod 9-20121028-NIGHTLY-p4wifi and I downloaded the latest YouTube app from the Play Store. However, the app still uses the old ui with the 3d carousel, despite reporting a version number of 4.1.23.

I had this same issue when running various versions of AOKP.

Any thoughts?

The latest YouTube update has enabled it :-D


How often is Google Location History updated? How often does Android Location Reporting send an update to Google Location History? Is the reporting interval customizable?

After a bit of research this is what I was able to find.
"Each time the phone was within range of a Wi-Fi access point, it would send its MAC address and SSID to Google’s servers. Using GPS (when available) and cell ID data, it can locate where that Wi-Fi access point is, which is then collected and stored to create the history you see on the map."

Keep that in mind with my personal experience of seeing it update as often as every single minute!

I do not believe configuration of the frequency is adjustable.

I hope this helps!


How to reset android phone which is locked and debugging mode is disabled, plus no recovery? Anyone know how to reset an android phone which is locked and asking for gmail id/pass and can't boot into recovery mode, plus debugging mode is disabled?

It can be booted in safe mode. Just you have to do is switch off the phone and switch it on while pressing power key + volume down key simultaneously ( checked in micromax a116 ). If you are not able to switch it off, just remove the battery directly.;p
Note : The key combination may vary depends on the mobile brands.


Move everything to SD card on Android Virtual Device (Emulator) I need to do a strange task. I want to move whole android system to external SD card on Android Virtual Device. I need to do this, because android emulator, emulates SD commands, only for external card image. And I want to get SD commands trace, during Android Virtual Device usage.

To be more precise: I want to move at least /system and /data folders to external storage. In such way, that system could still work fine =)

Thank You!

To move some of system folders (/system or /data), to external emulated SD card, you need to do following:

Firstly, /data contents (for example) should be placed on sdcard. Initially they are loaded by emulator from userdata.img file.
So you need to copy userdata.img ($EMUPATH/system-images/android-19/armeabi-v7a/userdata.img) contents to sdcard.iso. $> dd if=userdata.img of=sdcard.iso
I assume, that android virtual device is created. To change boot configuration, you will need to change fstab.goldfish file on ramdisk.img. If it is Android 4.4 AVD, then ramdisk.img could also be find at $EMUPATH/system-images/android-19/armeabi-v7a/

Create a temporary folder, say ramdisk-ext $ mkdir ramdisk-ext
Change directory to ramdisk-ext $ cd ramdisk-ext
Extract the ramdisk.cpio in the ramdisk-ext folder $ gunzip -dcv ../ramdisk.img | cpio -idm
Modify fstab.goldfish $ gedit fstab.goldfish in such way:

String #6 from "/dev/block/mtdblock1    /data ..." to "/dev/block/mmcblk0    /data ..."

Create new ramdisk $ find . | cpio -H newc -o | gzip -9 >../ramdisk_new.img

Everything is done, now you need to start the emulator, with your new ramdisk and custom sdcard:$ ./emulator -avd $AVDNAME -sdcard sdcard.iso -ramdisk $EMUPATH/system-images/android-19/armeabi-v7a/ramdisk_new.img

P.S. Notice that in this example you can move only one of such folders (/system or /data). Maybe it could be changed, by creating sdcard image with several partitions.


How to remove pre-installed apps like Peep and Friend Stream from my HTC phone? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

Is there an easy way to remove pre-installed apps on my HTC Droid Incredible?

Amazon MP3
Car Panel
City ID
Footprints
Friend Stream
Skype mobile
Stocks
Teeter
VZ Navigator

Are there risks involved in removing them, such as a voided warranty?

Thanks.

You can only fully uninstall pre-installed applications by using ADB. You need to find out what the package name is for the specific app, and enter this in the ADB prompt:

adb uninstall <package.name>

For example, to remove the Maps application:

adb uninstall com.google.android.apps.maps

So far I haven't found an easy way to figure out the package name for an app though.


How to import an existing mmssms.db to an Android Virtual Device? I've downgraded from Cyanogenmod 13 (Android 6.0.1) to Android stock 5.1.1, and kept my previous mmssms.db file, but it is incompatible with older Android versions. I would like to import this database in an Android Virtual Device running Android 6.0, back it up using SMS Save & Restore, then restore the .xml file produced by that app on my device.

However, when I copy my old com.android.providers.telephony directory in the /data/data/ directory of the AVD, neither the Messenger app, nor SMS Backup & Restore see any message. The directory and its contents are owned by the radio user, belong to the radio group, and have chmod set to 771.

How can I check what is preventing the system from accessing my database?

Or how else can I retrieve my sms ?

I've finally managed to restore the contents of my previous database on my current device and I will explain how.

The idea was to copy the backup of /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony from my previous installation, to an Android Virtual Device, back it up there using SMS Backup & Restore in XML format, then restore that XML backup on my device. SMS Backup & Restore merged the messages from the backup with the current device's messages so I didn't have to merge the two databases by hand.

In my question, the AVD running 6.0.0 wouldn't read the contents of my database because it was created on CM 13 which is based on Android 6.0.1. But Google doesn't seem to provide an emulator image based on Android 6.0.1, so I still used an AVD running 6.0.0. For performance reasons I've configured it to emulate an Intel Atom (x86) CPU and installed Intel HAXM driver on my PC (I've followed this answer to do that).

The mmssms.db database holds properties about itself, especially version numbers, so I've edited them to make Android believe that it dealt with a database of a version it could deal with. I've opened mmssms.db in SQLite Expert, clicked on the "Database" tab, and in the property list, found the following lines:

schema_version
user_version

I've downgraded these to 44 and 60, respectively.

Then I transferred my backup of /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony to the AVD using adb push, after making sure that location was already empty there. Using adb shell I've set the owner and group of everything in this directory and its subdirectories to radio, and in the database subdirectory the chmod value to 660.

I've rebooted the device.

I've installed SMS Backup & Restore on the AVD through ADB. (The .apk of that app can be found on an existing device in /data/app on a device where it is already installed. I didn't bother installing Google Play Services on the emulator to get it from the Play Store, but you can do that.)

I've backed up the messages and copied the resulting .xml over to my real device, where I've used SMS Backup & Restore to restore it. Voilà.


What does "Battery Use" tell and how is it implemented? I have several questions about "Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Use", mainly because I don't understand what exactly those items mean.

(1) Does "Cell standby" indicate the energy used by the radio communication with the towers when there is no voice/data communication?

(2) What does "Phone idle" indicate?

(3) What does "Android System" indicate, energy used by the OS code execution?

(4) What does "Mediaserver" indicate?

(5) What does "Android Core Apps" indicate?

(6) It also lists energy consumed by individual apps. I'm wondering if those items only include the energy consumed by CPU+RAM+Flash, because the energy used by display+wifi+cell is already listed separately without breakdown to apps. Am I correct?

(7) How does Android measure energy used by individual hardware component? For example, to measure energy used by display, does it measure by voltage and current or just measure by the time the display and/or backlight is turned on? If the latter is the case, how does it handle different hardware?

(8) How does Android measure energy used by CPU/RAM/Flash of each individual process? I guess for CPU, it may use exampling and find how long each process occupies the CPU, just like many performance profilers do. But for RAM and Flash, it seems to be very expensive to measure it on-line.

(9) Is information in "Batter Use" accurate? :-)

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

If you click on each one, it will give you more info.  I don't know the answer to all your questions but I'll share what I do know...

  (1) Does "Cell standby" indicate the
  energy used by the radio communication
  with the towers when there is no
  voice/data communication?

Yes.

  (2) What does "Phone idle" indicate?

It's the power your device uses to stay on when you are not using it.  The CPU is still going and the memory is kept powered up...

  (3) What does "Android System" indicate, energy used by the OS code execution?

There is a separate option for Android OS which refers to the execution of apps.  The Android System is the energy used to run certain background services like AutoSync and the software side of communicating with cell towers...

  (4) What does "Mediaserver" indicate?

I believe this is all audio and video processing.  I don't think it'll reflect the total time you played music, but instead, the total processing time the CPU used to decode it.

  (5) What does "Android Core Apps" indicate?

I don't have this on my phone.  I wonder if this is what is labeled "Android OS" for me.

  (6) It also lists energy consumed by
  individual apps. I'm wondering if
  those items only include the energy
  consumed by CPU+RAM+Flash, because the
  energy used by display+wifi+cell is
  already listed separately without
  breakdown to apps.

Great question.  I don't know.


No previous song button in Lollipop? I've just updated to Android 5.0 and it has already showed that I need some time to get used to the new layouts and such. That's not really the issue though.

The thing that I couldn't wrap my head around was this:

Click for full size

It quite looks like they forgot to put in the Previous button. Is there any way I can get it back?

Thanks!

Swipe down on the notification to expand it and you'll be able to see the previous button. It's only visible in the expanded notification, not the summary version. As far as I know, there is no way to change this.

Note, however, that this does not appear to work if you have the lockscreen set to hide "sensitive" notification information:

  [...] I have the lock screen notifications setting set to hide sensitive information, and thus it's locking out the full music player controls. When I swipe down, I get the unlock keypad, because Lollipop wants me to unlock my phone in order to get at the full music player. [...] – Derek

Left is the "before" picture, right is after swiping down on the notification:

Click either image for full resolution


How to show only gmail's contacts in the Contacts app? I have recently reinstalled Android due to some problems with the SD Card.
I decided to keep all my contacts only in Gmail, as a centralized solution to avoid problems in the future. I do not want other SIM or phone contacts to show in the contacts list anymore.
However if I try to uncheck both the SIM and phone contacts and I do check all possible google contacts groups and the option for showing only contacts with a phone number1, no contact is shown at all.
Note: If I show also the phone contacts them the google contacts are shown (and thus I have some duplicates), but removing the phone contacts removes the google contacts too.
How can I prevent this?
The phone is a B63M.
Edit: since people keep asking the same information:
The contacts are perfectly synched and all under the My contacts group. It's not a synchronisation problem. I'm asking why I must select the show phone contacts in order to see any contact at all (from whichever source you like. Even SIM. I cannot show only the SIM contacts without the show phone contacts enabled.)

1 Having or not this option active doesn't change anything. Even if it is not active no contact is shown.

Updated
To make things clearer, here are some screenshots of the situation:
Here I have set only the phone contacts (Contatti del telefono in Italian), without google contacts:

Here I have added the google contacts in the options and they are shown (see red rectangles. Note the number of contacts at the top going from 116 to 156):

Now, I'd expect that removing the phone contacts I should see only the google contacts (in this case those that above have red rectangles and the other not shown), but this is what I get:

On the right it just says that there are no contacts to show and that I can add new contacts or import/export from other sources.
What should I do such that this last set of options does show the google contacts?

Go to Contacts > [Sitting Button] > More > Accounts.

Be sure the following are checked:

Background data.
Auto-sync.


Android Device Stolen, Android Device Manager not set up My android device has been stolen (Xperia L) and I had not set up Android Device Manager. How do I remove the google access and play store; uninstall apps; protect SD card and personal data; sign out from shopping apps and block the SIM access.

If there is a way to control my phone remotely without having any prior access to the device or Android Device Manager enabled, please let me know.

Even phones where I never installed Android Device Manager are listed for me on google.com/android/devicemanager so I think as long as you are signed in to the Google services you'd be able to use the Device Manager.


Unable to copy files from one /data/data/ directory to another (Root) I'm trying to copy one file from /data/data/com.application1/myfile to /data/data/com.application2/myfile

The file arrives with owner and group set to the app that it came from. I then changed the owner and group the application running it (A SSH application).

The permissions change, but I still get access denied. I tried using chattr -i myfile but the issue is still there. Even chmod 777 still gives access denied.

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/whoami
u0_a149

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/ls -la
-rwx------ u0_a149  u0_a149        10 2018-06-23 16:23 myfile

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/echo test > testfile

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/ls -la
-rwx------ u0_a149  u0_a149        10 2018-06-23 16:23 myfile
-rw------- u0_a149  u0_a149         5 2018-06-23 16:37 testfile

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/cat testfile
test

user@htc_m8:/data/data/org.galexander.sshd/home $ /system/bin/cat myfile
cat: myfile: Permission denied

I have busybox installed, but in the example I'm using native commands, however the busybox commands give the same output.

I just can't see what is different about the file I created compared to the one I copied. Same owner/group/permissions.

Android runs in "SELinux" mode. More information here SELinux concepts

This means in addition to the standard linux permissions it also has additional attributes attached.

Running attr -l myfile showed the following Attribute "selinux" has a 38 byte value for myfile

Using /system/bin/ls -alZ you can see the selinux attribute value.

-rwx------ u0_a141  u0_a141           u:object_r:app_data_file:s0 myfile
-rw------- u0_a141  u0_a141           u:object_r:app_data_file:s0:c512,c768 testfile

The file I copied was missing some extra data on the end, c512,c768, I presume this is something like an AppID.

Running su -c restorecon myfile fixed this and restored the file to the correct attribute value. Ref: Explanation of the chcon command - Post


Why isn't gmail listed as a recent app when I long-press the Home button? This would be helpful at times... I usually just end up pressing home and selecting the gmail widget from there but I've gotten used to long-pressing home to get to recent apps.

Could it be due to the fact that I get to email using the widget? Does it work with the native email client or other email apps?

Thanks in advance...

If you haven't opened the application in a while, it will naturally disappear from the list of recent apps.  Try opening it with the widget and then going back to the home screen.  If gmail is once again under you list of recent apps, you just haven't opened it in a while.  If it doesn't appear at all, then the widget you are using doesn't add gmail as a recent app.


When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)? Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) SDK was released on December 6, 2010. (High-level user highlights)

Of course, not all devices will get this update right away and others won't get it at all. Each manufacturer and carrier often choose to add their custom modifications which tend to delay the official release.

When will each device get Android 2.3, either officially or unofficially, if ever?

See also:

When will my phone get the Android 2.2 update (FroYo)?
When will my tablet get the Android 3.x update (Honeycomb)?
When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

This community wiki will list all of the known and rumored dates for devices. If you have an update make sure to follow the format that's been established, and the following guidelines:

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded
If a new update comes out (e.g. 2.3.5 over 2.3.4), link to the new and don't keep the old information

Note that devices that do not meet Google's Compatibility Definition will not receive a Google-sanctioned update.  In the case of the major manufacturers and many others, that means they won't release an update at all since Google's certification is important to their business.
Phones
Commtiva z71

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Geeksphone One

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Geeksphone Zero

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Google Nexus One

Official: 23rd February 2011. (According to a tweet)

Unofficial:

Without Market support: 17th December 2010.  (Via Chris Soyars)
2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Aria

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire

Official, manual update: 1st August 2011.  (HTC UK Announcement on Facebook and HTC Dev download center)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire HD

OTA: 4th May 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Desire Z / G2

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible

OTA: November 14, 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible 2

Official: 12th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Droid Incredible S

Official:

OTA: 4th May 2011.  (Confirmed)
Canada: 29th July, 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC EVO 4G

Official: 6th June 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC EVO Shift 4G

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Hero

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Inspire 4G

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Legend

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC myTouch 3G Slide

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC myTouch 4G

Official: 5th August 2011. (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Tattoo / Click

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

HTC Thunderbolt

Official: September 2011.  (Confirmed)

HTC Wildfire / Buzz

Official: Never. (Official mail from HTC support; cause: doesn't meet the minimum requirements, e.g., 1 GHz processor)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Huawei U8220

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

LG Optimus 2X / G2X:

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

LG Optimus 3D

Official: 22 November 2011 (confirmed)

LG Optimus One P500

Europe Official: 6th July 2011. (Confirmed)

LG Revolution

Official: 28 October 2011 (confirmed)

Motorola Atrix 4G MB860

Official: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)

Motorola Backflip / Motus MB300

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Cliq MB200

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Cliq XT MB501

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Defy MB525

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid A855

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid 2 A955

OTA: 24 October 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Droid X MB810

Official: 24 October 2011.  (Confirmed)

Unofficial:

12th December 2010. (Information)
Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Motorola Milestone X

Official: 26 October 2011 (confirmed)

Samsung Droid Charge

Official: December 2011  (confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy Ace / Gio / Fit / Mini

Official: 4th August 2011.  (Confirmed)

Samsung Galaxy S
1. Canada Bell Vibrant GT-i9000M

Official 2.3.3: 15th September 2011.  (Instructions)

2. Canada Telus Fascinate 3G+ SGH-T959D

Official 2.3.3: 15th September 2011.  (Instructions)

3. International GT-i9000

Official:

OTA: 16th April 2011.  (Rollout started and then pulled in Europe) (Leaked download)
Kies: Summer 2011.  (Instructions) (List of upgrades for each operator available via Kies)
2.3.4 XXJVR via Odin: 27th July 2011. (XDA update guide)

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

4. US AT&T Captivate SGH-i897

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

5. US Sprint Epic 4G

Official: 9 November 2011 (confirmed)

6. US T-Mobile Vibrant SGH-T959

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

7. US Verizon Fascinate / US Cellular Mezmerize / C Spire Wireless Showcase SCH-i500

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Samsung Infuse 4G

OTA: Leaked 2.3.5.  (Information)

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

Official (2.3.4): 18 October 2011 (Confirmed)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X8

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Official: 3Q 2011.  (Confirmed)

ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco / Dell XCD35

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

ZTE V9

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Tablets
Barnes & Noble Nook Color

Unofficial 2.3.7: 11th October 2011.  (CyanogenMod 7.1)

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Official:

Sprint: 5th July 2011.  (Confirmed)
UK: 29th July 2011.  (Confirmed)
Verizon: 31 October 2011 (confirmed)

This is not specific to Gingerbread, but this forum posts lists the rough dates for all Android versions for all Motorola models: https://supportforums.motorola.com/community/manager/softwareupgrades


Preventing browser redirects on Android (and iOS) There seems to be an issue occurring with mobile browser apps on Android and iPhone being redirected to advertising sites. This is interrupting the browsing experience.

The problem:

A user visits a website on their phone in a current and up-to-date browser such as Chrome for Android or Firefox for Android, and a mobile ad is displayed
The ad causes a redirect from the currently displayed website to spaces.slimspots.com
The slimspots server seems to check if Javascript is active and then redirects to another ad, such as a competition webpage

Many users have reported this, both on the Chrome product forum and on the Apple forums, (links in the pastebin below) but nobody seems to understand what is actually occurring. People are doing unnecessary factory resets on their phones and complaining to various webmasters about the ads on their forums.

The behavior can be replicated in a desktop browser by changing the User-Agent to a Nexus 4 and reloading a forum thread on a website (eg. xda-developers) until an offending ad appears.

Since I can't create more than two links here without gaining more reputation, you can find some useful content in this pastebin.

Can anybody provide advice on how to suppress these redirects, without resorting to a non-stock browser?

First of all: This kind of advertising should be reported!

  Can anybody provide advice on how to suppress these redirects, without
  resorting to a non-stock browser?

It looks like they use a bug in JavaScript. Maybe report to ad provider or app owner for blocking.

How to reproduce this issue:

If you use the preinstalled browser in Android, the ad site
opens "Google Play Store" and show you each time a different App.

How can I sandbox untrusted user-submitted JavaScript content?


Samsung Galaxy Y asking to install CDC ACM DATA? I have connected my Samsung Galaxy Y mobile with Windows XP (64 bit) operating system. It is asking me to install the CDC ACM Data. I have selected the 'install automatically' option, but it is saying that it can't install the software. Where can I find the software? I have searched a lot.

Here they say, installing Samsung Kies should solve the problem.
I haven't tried it yet, but it is available on Samsung's official website for their various phone models.


Moto G 2nd Gen Touch Screen Stopped working I have a Moto G 2nd Gen (2014) and the screen is working but will not respond to being touched. I dropped it today, only so that it fell about an inch, and it does have a silicon case, and nothing broke, but the touch screen has stopped responding. After this, the touch screen has worked for two brief instances, and then stopped working.
EDIT: This seems to be when I squeeze the area around the connector to the screen, (the position according to this guide).

I have already tried rebooting it by holding down the power button for 10 seconds, and factory resetted it by using the volume keys in the Android Boot Loader. Can I fix this myself or do I need to send it back to Motorola?

I think your best bet would be to send it back to Motorola or a service center, because while you might try and fix your phone and get some results , there is also a significant chance of damaging your phone further.

Since the problem seems to be the screen the tech professionals might need to replace it or fix the problem in a similar manner.
You can also try to purchase the screen yourself and try to replace it , but thats really not advisable unless you're sure of what you're doing and you have diagnosed the problem correctly.

I strongly suggest you send it to a Motorola service center.
The screen can be purchased at:

(DO NOT PURCHASE THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO REPLACE IT YOURSELF)
http://www.dhgate.com/product/1-pcs-free-hk-post-shipping-lcd-display-for/209710530.html#s1-1-1


Pendivre USB OTG on Nexus4? Does Nexus4 supports a use a USB pendrive (up to 64Gb)?

If yes, with the USB OTG is I can navigate in the folders of the pendrive from the smartphone?

Is it possible to copy file from pendrive to N4 and from N4 to pendrive?

Nexus 4 does not officially support USB OTG. But rooting and modding the software can do the trick. Here's a handy guide I found!


Devices are not found when executing command (but "fastboot devices" finds them) I'm trying to install CyanogenMod on Nexus 4 and so far I had done this:
- installed google driver;
- enabled developer options on my phone;
- enabled debugging by USB;
- unlocked my device using ADB;
- installed CyanogenMod Recovery;

PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools> .\fastboot flash recovery .\cm-13.0-20160510-NIGHTLY-mako-
recovery.img

started bootloader;

Then I get the following error trying to push the file to the devuce:

PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools> .\fastboot devices
01cf8682d9c98ac0        fastboot
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools> .\adb push cm-13.0-20160510-NIGHTLY-mako.zip /sdcard
error: device '(null)' not found

I followed CyanogenMod instructions step-by-step, including troubleshooting section, but I keep getting this error.

Update: This works from Recovery mode:
- Full factory reset
and then:
- Apply Update -> From ADB

.\adb sideload cm-13.0-20160510-NIGHTLY-mako.zip


Where do Sony Android phones store deleted pictures? I was thinking to copy the specific file to my PC and scan it with third party application. Is this possible?

Like Death Mask Salesman said, there is not an Android recycle bin. However, there are apps you can download on your PC to scan your phone and potentially recover a deleted photo. Here are a few (note: I haven't tried any of these and am not affiliated with any of them):

https://airmore.com/recover-deleted-android-photos.html

https://www.easeus.com/android-data-recovery/how-to-recover-deleted-photos-from-android-phone.html

or look up fonepaw

Good luck!


Play Store crashes when menu or back button are tapped Since the Play Store was updated to version 4.9.13 on my LG Optimus L5II (LG-E450f), it crashes every time the menu or back button are tapped.

Click image for larger version.

Everything else appears to work fine.

Clearing the cache, deleting app data and resetting to factory settings don't fix it. Uninstalling the updates of Play Store fixes it, but the after a couple of minutes it's automatically updated and the problem happens again.

My device isn't rooted. It's running Android version 4.1.2

What can I do to stop the Play Store crashing?

If you root your phone then you can safely install Xposed and this module that should fix the problem.


How do I delete a cloud printer? I have 2 Google accounts.

When I was first hooking up cloud printing, I connected my printer with account A and then shared it with B.

I then realized that I preferred to have cloud printing go through account B.  I deleted the printer from account A and connected it to B.

I can now cloud print through account B, but the account A printer still shows up (greyed out).  Worse yet, it's the default printer.  So, every time that I cloud print, I have an extra 2 clicks.

How do I delete a cloud printer that it is no longer to be "shared" with me or, at least, change which cloud printer is the default?

You can delete cloud printers through this page. I've never been able to tell how defaults occur, though. It seems to mostly do it by what was used last, but randomly it doesn't. Sorry I can't give you a good answer on that part.


Android contacts integrating, how to stop it? I have bought my first android phone(sony xperia m)! I'm so happy. But very strange things happen.

I have installed a skype and it's contacts are migrated to contacts of my phone. I do not ask it to do this! There are no phone numbers in my skype contacts. They are useless there.

I create a google play account, then all apps are connected to my mail. I do not ask them. I have separate accounts at youtube, in mail, in google and in other services. And I do not want to anybody associate me as one person with all of them.

Now I understand, I do not know how my data is organized, what relations avoid me create my device, what data it throws over from one to another.

How can I stop it?

To stop contacts syncing, go to:

Settings → Accounts (& Sync) → Skype → uncheck the Sync Contacts checkbox

On my Sony Xperia E:


How to add Android StackExchange RSS feed to HTC news reader app I've been trying to add https://android.stackexchange.com/feeds to my RSS feeds in the News application on my HTC Desire Z. However it doesn't "find" any results. I just want to add this URL as it is instead of searching for it. Isn't this possible?

I would recommend another way of fetching RSS feeds to your cell phone:

Synchronize News Reader to your Google Account (to read news from Google Reader - it should be available there)
From your 'big' computer add this URL (http://android.stackexchange.com/feeds) to your subscription in Google Reader.
You should see news from Android.SE in your News Reader after its next sync with Google Reader.


Is it possible to use "unlock with fingerprint" feature, and be asked for (after boot) giving passphrase and fingerprint on encrypted Galaxy S6 I would like to purchase a Samsung Galaxy S6. One of the main reasons for the choice of device is the (apparently) good fingerprint sensor. I would like to / have to encrypt my phone (my employer requires this but, honstly, I would do it anyway) and I am very tired of typing my PIN every single time I want to unlock my phone. Hence a fingerprint sensor is a must-have on my next phone. Here are my questions Google could not answer for me:

Is it possible to use the "unlock with fingerprint" feature with an encrypted phone, or is this authentication method considered too weak? Strangely there is no information about that.
I would like the phone to behave in the following way (like an iPhone 6): After booting the device I am asked for my (potentially complicated) passphrase. After that I am allowed to use my fingerprints to unlock. After some time (configurable, maybe some hours?) I would be asked for the passphrase again.

Benefit: Convenience through the fingerprint unlock, increased security because if somebody tried to force me to put my finger on the sensor (or had a rubber copy of my finger) it would still be no good on a freshly rebooted phone or after some hours.

Basically this means having two unlock schemes configured at the same time, fingerprints and passphrase/PIN. Former would be used for convenience, latter for security. Putting in the passpharse a few times per day would be perfectly acceptable to me.

Is this possible with a Samsung Galaxy S6 with stock ROM?

I found myself an answer to part one of the question: Yes, on the Galaxy S6 you can apparently use the fingerprint sensor to unlock the device after encrytion.

Infomation found here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/fingerprint-unlock-device-encryption-t3081102

Has somebody something to say for part two? :-)

Edit 2015-10-06:
I got my S6 last week. Here is the story:

Encrypting the device and using fingerprint unlock does indeed work. :-)
When configuring fingerprints you have to set a backup password.
The backup password is used to encrypt the device's encryption key. --> Whenever you reboot the phone you must enter it. You cannot boot the phone using fingerprints alone.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to unlock the device using the fingerprint sensor the device forces you to enter the backup password.
I could not find some kind of timer to configure. If you want to force the input of the password you have to power down the device or use an unconfigured finger a few times in a row.

This is a near-perfect solution for me (except for the timer issue, but I can live without...).

Hope this information helps somebody!


How can I fix notification vibration? When I receive calls and alarms go off, the phone vibrates.
However it won't vibrate for any notifications.

Changing the vibrate setting from vibrate always or vibrate only when in silent mode has no
effect.

Does anyone know what can cause this and how to fix it?
Is there a separate hidden setting for notification vibrations?

For what it is worth I'm running a HTC Magic with a custom 2.3-Gingerbread ROM installed.
This definitely used to work. Not sure what I did to break it though.

Update: I've got it working again by playing with the settings.

Under Settings->Sound settings->Volume 'Use incoming call volume for notifications' was ticked.

When I un-ticked this setting the notification vibration began to work again. This seems really strange to me and if anyone could help me understand what is going on it would be much appreciated.

Update 2: Installed an app called AudioManager. It has separate vibrate checkboxes for alerts and ringer. Using this helped too. Not 100% but it seems to indicate separate settings that are not exposed through the regular settings interface.

Install an app called AudioManager. It has separate vibrate checkboxes for alerts and ringer. Setting the checkbox for alerts fixed the issue for me.


Rooting failed, superSU remains I tried to root my Galaxy Core 2 Duos using Kingo root, which installed SuperSU. Unfortunately rooting failed all of a sudden, but still SuperSU remains.

How can I remove SuperSU from my device?

for Root your Device, i think after using KingoRoot, you need Install Latest version of SuperSuthen, Root access is Successfully work.

and, for Delete ;

Use Full Wipe, or Install new rom.


Is it possible to show ongoing notifications under regular notifications? On my Galaxy S3 (4.0.4) when I drag the notifications bar down to see the list of the notifications, the ongoing ones (e.g. wifi) are always on the top and the regular ones (e.g. gmail) are the at the bottom.

That seems reversed. It means to see a recent notification that just beeped a user has to drag the bar down and then scroll down.

Is there any way to reverse them so the recent/non-ongoing ones are on top? Either in 4.0, or perhaps something i can look forward to in 4.1, or perhaps in cyanogenmod (I will switch to eventually).

Notifications, at least in CyanogenMod or AOSP, are ordered in order or the last updated notification.

If you have an app that updates the notification, then the notification will appear on top when it updates.

There is currently no way to change this behaviour.

Note: Some stock ROMs order the notifications into ongoing etc, this is the design of the manufacturer, and can also not be changed

You should get something like what you are asking in cyanogenmod.


Why does Android disable HSDPA/EDGE communication while calling? My ISP currently has a severe outage, which is why I'm tethering my Android phone and a MacBook over WiFi. The Android phone is a HTC Desire GSM running Cyanogen 7. I have a stable HSDPA/EDGE connection.

Now, as this is my only phone, it rings from time to time. But whenever it does and I accept a call, the mobile data connection is lost or cancelled. Same for placing calls. Writing texts won't cancel the mobile data connection.

So, whenever I am on the phone, the internet connection goes dead.

Why is this? Is there any technical limitation that won't allow one to call and send/receive mobile data at the same time? If not, can you somehow trick Android into not cutting the connection?

Most HSDPA / EDGE CDMA networks don't support data and voice at the same time.  CDMA Modern GSM networks (including 3G and HSDPA, but not EDGE) do, and LTE will, so I'm not sure why you're having this problem.

It's possible that Dual-Transfer Mode may not be enabled on your phone.  Alternatively, your network might not support it.  (Info on DTM.)


Where does Runkeeper keep its data files? I was recording my path with Runkeeper for hours until the battery ran out. Now when I try to "Resend" the path to Runkeeper online it fails after a while.

I need to find the path file so I can import it onto my PC.

data files are usually kept in either /data/data/[packagename]/ or they could be stored on the sdcard.

[packagename] will be something like com.fitnesskeeper.runkeeper.pro. The data file your looking for will probably be in that directory (well, one of the sub-directories any how).

As for if they store the data on the sdcard, most developers do not follow the recommendations to store the data in /sdcard/Android/ so if they are on the sdcard, I couldn't tell you where to even look. I would suggest, after you look in /data/data, to look for the [packagename] some where on the sdcard, or look for something with runkeeper in the name.


Memory reported as full without being full I am having storage issues with my Samsung Galaxy S Duos. I solved it by moving apps from phone memory to the SD card, so now 1.2 GB of internal space is free. However, it still tells me that I have insufficient storage for apps.

I found that there are 94 MB of cache files there, but even if that's the case I should still have plenty of free space. Why does my phone still think that the internal storage is full?

See What can I do to manage my phone's internal storage? and install the app DiskUsage. On my phone, it made clear that the system itself takes up 1.2 GB, while this is not shown in the overview (settings > storage).

A possible explanation for why you get a message that internal storage is full, is that Android always keeps up free space equal to the size of the largest app you installed. So if you install the XyzApp that takes up 100MB, android wants 100MB free disk space in case it needs to update and download the new version.

You can try to move as many apps as possible to your external sdcard. That frees up space, and if by accident the biggest app can be moved, android will need less free space.

Hope this helps!

(And thanks to Izzy!)


How can I create a keyboard shortcut for a phrase? On Apple iOS, there is a section in the settings where you can assign a letter sequence ("shortcut") to any text you want.  When you type that letter sequence, the text you assigned to it shows up as the default replacement if you enter a space.  Of course, there is another "replacement" available which is the letter sequence itself so that you can still have that letter sequence in your typing.

EXAMPLE:
I assigned mmb to the address of my rented mailbox.  When I type mmb on my iPhone, my rented address is the default and replaces the "mmb" I typed if I tap the space key.  If I want it to say "mmb" then I have to tap the replacement option that has "mmb" in quotes.

In this way, I can send my rented mailbox address to anyone who needs it by typing mmb.  There are several other short letter sequences that I also use on my iPhone.  I'm switching to Android, so I'd really like this functionality on my Android.

I have a Samsung Galaxy 4 running Android 5.01.  Apparently, there is no longer a "personal dictionary."  I installed the "User Dictionary Manager" which allowed me to create a shortcut, but when I'm sending a message, the shortcut is ignored.

This is actually a duplicate of the question to which I provided this answer.  I would delete my question here, but that other question didn't show up when I entered mine, so I figured someone else's time might not be wasted if they saw this answer and didn't need to ask their own.


Factory Reset an Android 7 Nexus 5x Phone with No Root or Unlocked bootloader I just purchased a nexus 5x on ebay and there is a PIN on the phone and I need to factory reset this. I am able to get to the black screen mode on bootup using volume down and power button. Fastboot command detects it, but fastboot erase userdata fails as it throws and error saying: "device is locked".

How can I factory reset and Android 7 Nexus 5x Phone with a locked bootloader?

A master reset will erase all data stored on the device.

This type of reset should only be used as a last resort after all other troubleshooting steps have been exhausted. It is highly recommended that you complete a backup of the device information and disable Device Protection before proceeding with the steps in this tutorial.

With the device turned off, press and hold the Volume down key.

Note: If Device Protection is not disabled, the login credentials for the Google account currently associated with the device will be needed to set up the device after the reset.

With the Volume down key held down, press and hold the Power key.

Release both keys when the Android screen appears.

Use the Volume keys to scroll to Recovery mode.

Press the Power key to select Recovery mode.

When the No command message appears, press and hold the Power key.

While holding the Power key, press and release the Volume Up key.

Note: Release the Power key when the Android Recovery screen appears.

Press the Volume down key to scroll to Wipe data/factory reset.

With Wipe data/factory reset highlighted, press the Power key.

Press the Volume down key to scroll to Yes, then press the Power key.

Once the wipe is complete, with Reboot system now highlighted, press the Power key.

The device will restart.


A cat randomly appears and disapears from the Google Search bar. What is this? It looks like the Cheshire cat but I was unable to find anything on the internet about it.

This is a Pixel 2 phone with stock android.

It's a doodle from Google related to Sir John Tenniel's 200th birthday. This is a feature for Google search app widget which you can also disable in Google app settings. You can read about the feature here.


Sending video to Android Camera I'm testing an app that will require users to verify their identity with front facing id, back facing id and a selfie. It's really tedious to do the tests by hand one by one, i'd like to have a few people make videos in different lighting conditions, then I can send those videos to the camera feed of a real android phone and see how the app fares.
I know it's possible to do something like this on PC with ManyCam, where you can send a video to the camera api, I was wondering if there's a similar app or method to achieve the same thing on androids.

For testing, depending on your app you have a few choices:
If the the app just needs camera and is configurable either:
a) use the Android emulator on PC which can take a USB webcam as input and use that to inject the images/video feed.
b) Android devices starting with Android 9 can accept external USB Camera and use the standard API or need custom libraries for earlier version of Android. This would require the app to support such alternate inputs.
If you are testing biometric, there is a way to test with fingerprint using emulator but on physical hardware per the documentation secure camera hardware is required to prevent injection attacks on face authentication.


Galaxy s4 charges but cannot be detected as usb device When i connect the phone neither phone alerts it is connected nor pc recognizes as usb device.
On linux when i try lsblk command i cannot see the phone either .
This is not a linux specific problem under windows i have the same problem except charging cannot do anything via usb how can i solve this issue.
Android version 4.4.2

In Settings or from the notification area, there should be a setting when connected via USB, is that set to "Charging Only"?  If so, set it to MTP/Mass Storage Mode instead.  I can't remember how Samsung words it.


USB debugging permission alerts stopped although USB Debugging is enabled on android 4.4.2 I was able to connect my android mobile to my computer as I enabled USB debugging from the developer options. I used to receive the USB debugging permission alert and from there I switch from charging to file transfer.

All of a sudden and while my device is having a low space problem, the USB debugging permission alert stopped appear when I connect it to my PC. That means I can not connect him to my PC as I can not give the permission as the default is charging. I tried two different PCs (Ubuntu based, and Windows 10 based) with no luck as well as two different cables. I used another android phone with the same cable and to the same PC and it connects OK.

My mobile has an Android version of 4.4.2 and updates stopped a while ago.
My other mobile (Android 7.0) is connecting with no problem. I connected several times before from this mobile with no issue.

I tried to restart the mobile and switch off and on the USB debugging option with no luck. I am trying to connect it to my computer to take some backup and free some space.

Here is the information of my mobile:

Huawei Honor 4C CHM-U1
Memory at the current time: 391 MB Free 8 GB total
Android version of 4.4.2

Can any body help me how to fix this?

It was a hardware problem. When I pushed the cable hard into the port, it connected. I will need to fix the port. Thanks for the support.


How can I choose which google drive backup whatsapp uses? I have two phones with whatsapp.

I have a whatsapp backup on one google account, and one on another.

Is there any way to choose which google drive backup to use, without removing all but the one google account?

You can't

From WhatsApp FAQ

  In order to successfully restore a Google Drive backup, you need to use the same phone number and Google account used to create the backup

(Emphasis added)


will i lose my photos, voice recordings, videos and notes if i reset my samsung galaxy s1 If I reset my Samsung Galaxy S1 to factory reset mode will i lose my photos my voice recordings and my notes?
Because i really need those, but its been so long since i've used this phone and i forgot my password to the account and the only way to delete the account is to reset the phone to factory mode i have another account but it wont let me use it. Can someone help me?

Yes. Surely you will lost your personal data, contacts and everything. To avoid this, you should Backup your files and everything to your SD Card. You can Restore it again to your mobile.

This following site will help you how to take backup and reset your mobile and then restore it back.

http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-a-Galaxy-S

Thats all.. :-)


How to uninstall Android upgrade I was asked by my Galaxy Grand to update. It was a 608 MB build update. After done , now I got Android Jelly-bean 4.2.2 . It is making my phone very slow and uses too much phone memory. Want to uninstall, How can I do it without resetting device ???

Downgrading Android, especially on Samsung devices, is generally not possible because Samsung includes bootloaders in OTAs that prohibit installing older Android versions than the one the bootloader was meant to run.

I think you can use Odin to do a reflash of Android 4.1, but I think you'd lose some data with that.


SIM card undetected after adb reboot recovery My SIM and SD cards are not detected by the phone (One Plus X) after I did this command : adb reboot recovery and then escape it with a hard reboot (pressing volume UP and lock button)

I tried to restore the phone to factory parameters, but it did not work.

Is there something I did wrong at this point ?

Now I've found a topic similar to mine : SIM Card not detected after failed recovery flash but it's seems solve by using an undocumented file.

I've tried to root my phone, but could this process solve my case ? How to unroot the One Plus X

My sim was the source of the problem. I changed it and my problem was solved.


Running out of Memory while installing SPB Shell 3D APK I am using LG P500 phone, running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

I am installing SPB Shell 3D APK file which I got from internet.

After some time it shows error that Memory Full, Please Uninstall Some Apps to Free Memory

Though I have 50 MB Free memory.

50 MB is not much. Consider that for installation, the apk gets probably temporarily stored there (in /data/local(not always sometimes it's in the /cache/download/ folder) -- at least that's what the playstore app does, I'm not sure about a "local install" where the .apk probably is available from your sdcard) for processing, then gets installed (below /data/app) and initializes its data (below /data/data). And during all that, it should leave enough free space to allow all other apps to work normally: Creating temporary files, log files (at least the latter again being stored below /data in many cases, e.g those you can access via logcat), and manipulate their data (guess where -- yes, again below /data/data).

So you see: Most of these actions take place on the /data partition. Now look what size the .apk of SBP Shell 3D has. Something about 10..15 MB? So when installed, it creates its data structure below /data/data as well, which adds to this. And during all that installation process, free space probably falls below 30 MB (if it really requires a copy in /data/local for the install, even below 20 MB) -- which is why the system alerts about "free space getting low".

The solution already came with the warning: Uninstall some apps. Or move some bigger ones / rarely used apps to SD, if possible. Or clean up some cache -- but that will only help temporarily.

You might also want to check some other space/installation related questions here:

Why is “insufficient storage” wrongly reported when installing an .apk via adb?
Is there a way to workaround the phone memory limit for installed apps?
Why can't I install apps when I have enough storage?
Application doesn't get installed : insufficient storage available

could be good starting points.


How can delete a draft for a no-reply sender? I have a few messages in my Messages app from contacts that don't support replies. I've accidentally forwarded a message from one of my other contacts to a non-reply contact, now whenever I look at the main Messages screen, I can see there's a draft under the no-reply contact, however when I enter that contact there's no draft at the bottom, nor any option to see the draft and/or delete it.

Is there any way to get rid of this phantom draft?

After playing around with the app, I've found that this is something that Google messenger has overlooked. They don't have any option of clearing drafts.

After some research I found that it's safe to clear data of your messenger app. This will clear all drafts and unsent messages, but nothing else.
To do that, go to settings -> apps -> messages -> storage -> clear data.

Sent and received messages are not stored in the messaging app, rather they are stored in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.android.providers.telephony.
(You might need a rooted phone to access this)
Therefore clearing the app data is not going to delete your messages.

I have tried this myself before recommending such a drastic move. (I did make a backup before that, just in case.)


Turning on encryption for an Android 4.0 device I need to encrypt my full file system on Android device. From this link, I understand that Android provides support to enable full file system encryption based on a password but that need to be enabled explicitly. However, this link doesn't give complete details about the implementation (particularly for new users).

Has any one enabled this kind of encryption so far? Do people think that this is safe to do or it has some other drawbacks?

In Honeycomb the option is in Settings -> Location and security.  In Ice Cream Sandwich it's at Settings -> Personal -> Security -> Encryption.

If you're wondering about how Android does encryption, take a look at this: http://source.android.com/tech/encryption/android_crypto_implementation.html

Naturally encrypting and decrypting requires some overhead, but I wouldn't expect it to be too bad.  Undoing encryption does require a factory reset, so if you're doing it "just to try" you may want to do a backup first.  If you're worried about security then I would definitely advise you to use it.