How can I weigh how useful a specific frequency that a network provides is? I looked up the T-Mobile frequency chart,

Frequency bands

1900 MHz              2    4G LTE; 4G (HSPA+); 3G (UMTS/HSPA); 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)

1700/2100 MHz (AWS)   4    4G LTE; 4G (HSPA+); 3G (UMTS/HSPA)
                      66   4G LTE

850 MHz               5    4G LTE

700 MHz               12   4G LTE
600 MHz               71   4G LTE

I'm evaluating a phone, the Huawei P20 Pro 128GB. This phone isn't sold by T-Mobile but it seems to mostly support the bands, however it's lacking support for Band 71.

How much service-degradation can I expect from lacking a specific band?
Is there any way to weigh the importance of those bands individually?

Making me even more curious, I'm currently using a Samsung S5 which was sold to me by T-Mobile, and it doesn't support 600 MHz -- maybe I'm missing out on a lot, maybe the 600 MHz band isn't actually used anywhere?

It is Mobile Service Provider Specific..

Some service providers May use the frequency and Others may not... It is usually Added so the device can be used with Many Service Providers.

In relation to Missing Out..
The Lower the Frequency, The Further it travels but also the Slower the internet..

The 600Mhz range is most likely Added for Rural area's that get little reception, the speed of the 600Mhz range is a lot Slower than the 800Mhz range, However 800Mhz will Not Travel as Far...

You ultimately are only loosing out on a Slow connection, but also one that travels further..

You will drop in and out of reception slightly More than a device that does support it !


Switching carrier firmware Can you flash different carrier firmware on the exact same model phone

For example can I take a Straight Talk Galaxy S5 and Flash u.s. Cellular Galaxy S5 firmware to it and make it work

Reason why dropped my s 5 for u.s. cellular and broke screen I was at Walmart today and seen a brand new S5 for straight talk or some other Walmart carrier and it looks nice I thought it'd be nice to have my S5 back and have a brand new one at the same time

Different models use different baseband hardware and software tuned for the carrier's operation bands.

From what I found through search, a Straight Talk S5 (SM-S902L) is a Verizon S5 (SM-G900V) minus the bootloader lock, which supports LTE band 4/13. This is distinctly different from a US Cellular S5 (SM-G900R4) with LTE band 2/4/5/12/25.

Unless you've seen explicit examples that cross-flashing a baseband worked, don't even think about it.


Can I replace Huawei 40W supercharger with third party charger but still provide supercharging feature? Can I replace the Huawei 40W supercharger with a third-party charger but still provide a supercharging feature? I don't know what's those fancy things, but electronic isn't rocket science, but I tried to connect a general 45W charger (non-Huawei), my mate 20 pro only show "quick charging", anyone has an idea why?

No
There are three parts to any charging system other than the old 5V,2A charging :

The charging algorithm, which dictates the power to be drawn at various stages of battery charging. It runs on the device incorporated in OS, including low level changes at kernel level. Note that these are proprietary and hence the sales pitch for different OEMs. (See the charging algorithm
(Source
) of an Anker power bank to get a sense of how complex it can be).

The charger which responds to the requests made by the device and varies voltage or current or both as desired by the algorithm.

USB cable that is capable of carrying the power across from charger to the device. This is the easiest to change, if you know the power requirements.

Unless these three are perfectly aligned, you can't get the desired charging performance. That's why OEMs always insist on using their chargers and cables. Without getting into the specifics of the third party charger you are using (non Huawei), it's obvious that it lacks the capability to meet the demands made by the algorithm. Being a 45 W charger, the device does recognize that it is providing high power and hence displays "quick charging" but cannot super charge.you will get the same results even if you try with any non Huawei charger rated say at 80 or 100W.
Related

Android phone "charging slowly": How to make it faster

Charging "hesitation" with Pixel


How to back up & restore a rooted phone? Before handing in my OnePlus 6T for repair, I want to create a full system backup and reset the phone to factory defaults. Afterwards, I want to restore the original state. My phone is rooted with Magisk.
How do I do a full system backup?
Note that this is different from a backup as part of migration to a new phone or a partial backup as part of fixing software issues.

Note: This method will not work with work profiles or parallel apps!
Here's how I performed the backup on a OnePlus 6T in 2020:

Downloaded TWRP for my device.

Rebooted the phone into fastboot mode by pressing volume down
plus the power button and following the menu displayed on the
phone. Note the process of entering fastboot mode varies from
phone to phone.

Connected the phone to the PC, then booted TWRP from the Windows
command line (cmd.exe):
fastboot boot twrp-3.4.0-0-fajita.img

I installed fastboot as part of the Chocolatey package adb.

In TWRP, I entered my password, then selected Backup.

Backed up all partitions to internal storage. See also the TWRP
FAQ: What should I back up in TWRP?
Note that not all partitions need to be backed up, and in fact,
according to the TWRP FAQ, it may be a bad idea to restore certain
partitions. Still, it doesn’t hurt to have the backup of all of
them.
Not included is /data/media (internal storage). This needs to be
backed up separately. See the TWRP FAQ: What is EXCLUDED from a
TWRP backup?

With TWRP running, I connected the phone via USB to my PC. Then I
moved the following folder to my PC, which contains the TWRP
backup of the phone:
This PC\OnePlus A6013\Internal Storage\TWRP

This step is not strictly necessary as in the following step I
did back up the entire internal storage. However, it makes the
next step execute faster as less data needs to be copied. The next
step does not give feedback about progress.

For backing up internal storage I decided on the method found in
Tadej Janež’s article Backing up Android's /data/media (i.e.
internal storage) using adb and TWRP. From the Windows command
line I ran:
adb exec-out "tar --create data/media/0 2>/errors.txt | gzip" >internal_storage.tar.gz

After completion, to check for errors, I ran (no errors):
adb shell cat /errors.txt

To leave TWRP, I rebooted the phone. Note that it is not
necessary to install TWRP.

Restoration still needs to be tested.


Android on wifi - only local network, no internet My phone (HTC One X) can't get internet when connected to my office wifi network.

My office's wifi has no problem for me and my workers.

By default, my phone uses DHCP mode when connected to local network. However, it adamantly picks the same IP that conflicts with another server in the network. In DHCP mode, I get no internet.

I switch my phone to static IP (along with the correct gateway and DNS). Even with a good internal IP address (no conflict, I checked in the router), I still get no access to internet. I used Fing on Android to ping machines within the network successfully, but pinging any domain name at all would fail.

I even tried switch DNS on my phone to 8.8.8.8 and it won't work. Pinging any external IP would fail

I have no problem connecting to my home wifi (DHCP mode) that has the same router model.

I'm out of ideas. Anyone?

if your phone is working on outside wifi connections, and your office computers are working fine then its probably the proxy. Ask your IT department they should give you a manual proxy address and port to get round the proxy and you should be good to go.


How to avoid system update for Samsung Galaxy Note 4? My Galaxy Note 4 automatically downloaded the new system update and reminds way too often to install it. I don't want to. How could I avoid it without rooting the phone since I do not want to lose my warranty? Or am I absolutely forced to update?

My hypothesis was that maybe, if I do the factory data reset, it will delete the system update install-file (which should be located in the cache folder, I think).

And after that, if I get rid of the file (by factory data reset or otherwise), is there any way I could block my phone from downloading it again?

Thank you!

There are many ways to disable OTA's, all depending on your particular device and AOS version etc. However, most ways require you to be root. Then the most easy way is to use the package managers built-in block function, which blocks packages. Use it like: pm block <package name>. E.g. pm block com.sec.android.fotaclient, would block the FotaClient.apk. Often there are various scripts available, that runs through a list of these packages, specific to your device. Or you can also use great apps like App Quarantine, Titanium Backup or by using some Windows tool like Debloater. You can also edit the file extension of the OTA certificate to prevent installs. (Sorry, forgot the exact path and file name.)


Android 6 (cyanogenmod 13) external sd card write access I always used "Samba server" application on all my android devices for uploading files, it worked great with CM12, but in CM13 even with root access Samba server can't write to external SD card, neither can "SSH server" application. As i there was some changes in android 6, but is there any way to grant write access to external SD card for some applications? I tried different samba servers, they all see external SD card and can read from there, but they just can't write.

I have the same problem with Cyanogenmod 13 on two different devices, i tried to format external SD card in ext3, ext4, fat32, exfat - no difference at all. There are a lot of "SD card fix" applications in play store, but they all, as I can see for android 5, and just doesn't work for android 6.

So, is it a SELinux issue? Should I add somehow user an app runs from into media_rw group? How can I do this? There is id output after ssh connection:

uid=10138(u0_a138) gid=10138(u0_a138) groups=10138(u0_a138),3002(net_bt),3003(inet),9997(everybody),50138(all_a138) context=u:r:untrusted_app:s0:c512,c768

It can read but can't write on external sd card, any ideas? Thanks.

As I found out for now, there is no way to give such permission, except running whole application as root, and that ins't easy (or even possible?) without modifying application code, anyway, running apps with uid=0 is a bad idea anyway. The problem is, that in android 6 WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission should be asked on runtime by an application, and if the application isn't Android 6-aware, there is basically nothing we can do. I hope that developers will adapt their application for new Android 6 reality soon.


Tab 2 10.1 keeps turning on I bought a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 last year and it's been working great.  Then I noticed the other day when I tried to turn off the tablet (by holding down the power butter), it just recycles and comes back on.  It will go to sleep mode but it will NOT turn off completely.  I think the latest update may have had something to do with this.  Thoughts anybody?

i've had the same issue occur with the same symptoms.  used to work fine and then randomly started re-cycling as you mentioned.  several forums indicate this to be a pervasive issue as a result of a recent update.

i just chatted with samsung tech support and they recommended a factory reset.  it worked.  but i worry as to whether it will just eventually re-download the update the caused the issue in the first place...


How do I install the custom ROM with boot.img inside? I have found a custom ROM in Chinese forums for mY HTC ONE SU (t528w) model.

The ROM is zipped and the folders look like below image

I have no idea to install this ROM. Could anybody please guide me to install this. I dont know how and where to place the boot.img. I have successfully unlocked my bootloader and mobile is rooted too.

Thanks

Please check the place where you downloaded the ROM from, it usually contains installation instructions. In most cases, these ROMs use the update.zip mechanism of the recovery mode, as Matthew mentioned. You might need a custom recovery (see clockworkmod and twrp and their tag-wikis, clockworkmod resp. twrp, for examples).

The process then usually is as follows:

copy the .zip to your SDCard
boot into recovery-mode
select to "apply update from SDCard"
navigate to and select your .zip
let it flash
go back to the main menu and select to "reboot device"


If I delete all photos on my phone, will contacts pictures also be deleted? If I delete all photos on my phone, will contacts pictures also be deleted?

I have pictures that I use for some of my contacts.  The picture is what shows up when they call or if I text them (the little square picture on the side).

-samsung note 3

No. Contacts' pictures are kept separately from the original photos you added them from. They're stored with the contacts database, not with the photos on the SD card. Deleting photos from the Gallery app or wiping the SD card won't affect them.


Google two-step verification doesn't want to work. Pops up, I approve and nothing happens Phone is a Samsung Note 9  SM-960F model. The phone is running Android 10. And I never experienced this problem on any other phone, model or Android version before.

Basically I am logged into my Google account. Every Google service works great. Except two-step verification.

I get the "notification" in Chrome for example when I sign in on a new PC. All great.
The phone makes a notification sound, the two step verification pops up.
I tap "Yes", I get a toast notification "Approved".... and nothing happens.

What could cause this and how could I fix this?

I've encountered this issue before and in the end it turned out to just be a server-side outage / traffic.  Either wait it out after submitting or try again in a bit if it times out, but don't spam requests as it'd likely contribute to the delays.  Feel free to confirm it's not an network/carrier/ISP connectivity issue on your end first (e.g., switch to mobile data or vice versa), but when it last occured I was quite peeved there was no mention anywhere on Google's end in support resources regarding ongoing outages.


How does an Android system application restart after you kill it on Rooted devices? So to clarify, I would like to know how a system app is able to resurrect itself (auto start) after I issue a kill command. There are ways to remove apps, by using apps-removal apps as well as directly using rm command to physically erase the apk/odex and folders. And there are plenty of answers on this around. My question is related to the auto-starting "mechanism" itself. That is, is there some xml file and some main process running that checks it? Or something like that. For reference, I'm using Android 6.0.1 and MIUI 8.5.3 on a Rooted device.

Basically I'm exploring the possibility that some system apps which you remove (and then they send your phone into bootloop) are not required, but the checking/trying-to-start process is what makes it loop. The reasoning is that, aside from "application stopped working" error, the system seems unaffected. So it's the message that's creating the problem and whatever is behind generating it. This answer will enable me to test out this possibility, and post any findings here.

Edit1:
So looks like the answer to half of my own question, (assuming no other "black magic" is going on such as another app checking status...) - restarting is most likely achieved via BroadcastReceiver.

An app can Register a Broadcast Receiver for System Events. The way it works is, when an event happens on the system (USB is plugged in, internet is detected etc) a Broadcast is sent out to all the apps which are Registered to listen for this event. An app can register through its AndroidManifest.XML or pragmatically. But the main part of the question is - where is this registry and how is it possible to alter it (on a rooted device of course)

Edit2: A bit more info. If I do ps, the process shows as normal:

finddevice [....] SyS_epoll_ 7f83b48c54 S com.xiaomi.finddevice

But if I rename a folder of this system process (to disable it), and then kill the process, seems it's binder thread (binder_thr) trying to bring it back to life:

finddevice [....] binder_thr 7f83b48d44 S com.xiaomi.finddevice

And as soon as I rename the folder back to original, it starts it right back displaying as SyS_epoll_

I couldn't comprehend this code much but the information about receivers seems to be kept only in memory (no index file in internal storage). You can use the following command to see which receiver is registered for which type of broadcast.

adb shell dumpsys package

As for disabling a particular receiver, try Elixir 2. You can go into its Applications section, choose your app and then scroll down to find the receivers (static). Next to them would be the option to disable that component.

Another option is to use ReceiverStop Xposed module. Its free version allows disabling receivers for user-installed apps only.

As for command-line, if you know the name of the receiver/component, you could do:

adb shell su -c 'pm disable PKG/COMP'         # where PKG is package name of the app and COMP is the component you intend to disable.

That said, I did not test whether the said solutions work for dynamically registered receivers.


How to add website as a website link with Brave/Chrome to the Android home screen? On a Chrome or other Chromium browser (Brave, Kiwi..) on Android
When I click "add to home screen" from the Brave/Chrome menu, on some sites the icon that is added does not open website but instead opens a custom app created for the website (so called "PWA").
I want to create a simple website link that opens the website in a browser (so I can use search / see the url from the address bar and so on).
How can I do that with Brave or Chrome?

After tedious search I was finally able to do it.
Simply put - with Brave/Chrome it seems that it is not possible to add a non-PWA shortcut when PWA-version is defined at the web pages web manifest.
HOWEVER there are separate apps on the app store (I don't link to any specific one here but search for example "create shortcut launcher") that allow you to create "custom" shortcuts. With these apps you can create a simple URL shortcut and define which browser is used to open it.
This solves my problem and this question.
To get the corect icon you have to separately download and set the icon which is quite tedious so if anyone solves how to do this with chrome/chromium then please respond and I will change the accepted answer.


TWRP: Wiped phone, can't put any data onto it through MTP So I wiped my phone because I was going to install Cyanogenmod 12 (Nexus 5) but now it is wiped I can't make any folders or move any ROMs onto the phone through MTP even though it shows in Windows.

How can I fix this?

I had the same issue with MTP not working from TWRP (Windows 10 x64). I used adb push as a workaround way to put update on the phone after disabling MTP from TWRP "Mount" menu:

adb.exe push update.zip /sdcard
adb push open_gapps-arm64-7.1-nano-20170625.zip /sdcard


Trim list of sharing apps in ICS Things like sharing photos come to mind. When I view a photo and click Share, the list can get pretty bloated depending on what apps I have installed. Is it possible to trim the list of apps down or disable them from appearing on this list?

Annoyingly, many of my most useful and frequented apps have been bumped down on the list and I now have to scroll to select an app.

You might want to take a look at Andmade Share -- an app that claims to replace your share list with a completely customizable one, as the following screenshots show:

As you see, you not only can get rid of unwanted entries -- but also re-organize the order of those left, so you can have your most-used on top.


Using an iPhone headset on a HTC One V Is an HTC One V fully compatible with an iPhone headset? This site seems to indicate it is, but questions like this have me worried. Would it work with an app?

I don't know about the HTC One V specifically, but in my experience, the Mic, stereo ouputs, and the single button answer/stop will work for both Apple and (most if not all) Android phones.  But the volume up/down buttons will not work, even with an app such as headphone button controller; it simply does not get detected.

The problem arises when the marketing depts start using a word such as "compatible", meaning a degree of compatibility, but not necessarily every function.  So they feel OK saying an Apple headphone is compatible, meaning just the audio works, or even the audio and the answer button.

However, it is possible that the HTC can somehow detect and use these extra two buttons, I suppose, but I would guess not.


Why copy within or upload to ES File Explorer rename php file as txt? I am using ES File Explorer FTP service to upload php scripts, to be used with a web server on my android device.
I noticed all php files get renamed with .txt suffix, which make them unsuable.
Files with another extension do not seem to be affected.
This problem only occurs when copying or upload to extSdCard, on a non-rooted device, but allowed by a permission workaround.

Is it a bug? How could I fix this?

i guess that is a bug but you may use bulk rename utility

Section 1:
match: (.*).txt
replace: \1

section 11
remove

Section 12:
filter: *.php.txt

hope it helps


Can I install live wallpaper on a Samsung Galaxy 3? I am proud owner of Samsung galaxy 3 with android 2.1. Unfortunately it doesn't supports live wallpaper. So is there any alternatives/options for installing live wallpaper with or without rooting ?

Thanks,

Ankur Shah

It looks like it is possible with root.

Here is the relevant thread on how to do it (after you're rooted).

And how to get root here.


How is Android allowed to use the name "Oreo"? Oreo is a trademark. Did they approve this? Do they not have a choice? I guess this is potentially good press, but if the OS has big problems they're not going to be happy when the "Oreo" name is associated with the problems by the press.

Google paid nothing, but has a "pure co-branding partnership" with the owner of the trademark, Mondelēz, according to this article.

  Google did not pay the famous cookie's maker, Mondelēz, any money to
  use the name, said spokeswoman Valerie Moens, who in an email called
  it a "pure co-branding partnership." The company said in a news
  release, however, that it and Google will partner on a "variety of
  global initiatives designed to create innovative, playful experiences
  for both OREO and Android fans." These, Moens said, will include a
  drone flight that projects a holographic version of the Android and
  Oreo superhero, some Android and Oreo-branded cookie giveaways, and
  four short films featuring the new character.

So in this case, allowing Google to use the name "Oreo" is seen as beneficial to both organizations and will be used for inter-company marketing.


Rooting a new Kindle Fire HD (July 13) When I follow links about rooting the Kindle Fire HD, I have the impression its not possible with the latest versions?

I have one bough just now, July 2013.
Can I do it?

(The main issue is Google Play)

It seems that this is possible for both versions of the HD (7", OS version 7.4.3 and 8.9", OS version 8.4.3). I found XDA Developer forums for 7" HD version 7.4.3 and 8.9" HD version 8.4.3. For the purposes of making this post self-contained, I will assume that you have the 7" version.

The steps are:

Download the Root_with_Restore_by_Bin4ry_v31.zip. (see original forum)
Extract the file.
This step is very important. Uninstall any drivers you have for the Kindle Fire HD. Connect your Kindle to the PC via USB. Press the Windows Start button and search "Device Manager". Go to "Portable Devices". Right-click on Kindle and choose "Properties". Go to "Driver" and click "Uninstall". Then unplug the Kindle from the PC.
Download and install Kindle Fire ADB drivers. (see original forum for links to these)
On your Kindle Fire HD, go to Settings > Security. Mark "Enable ADB" - ON.
Connect the Kindle Fire HD to the PC via USB. Wait until automatic installation completes and Kindle is recognized.
Navigate to the folder where you extracted the Bin4ry method, double-click RunMe.bat, and choose option 1.
On the Kindle Fire HD, select the option "Backup My Data" and wait until the backup completes (when the backup completes, press any key on the computer). Then select the option "Restore My Data" (This will not erase any data or files) and wait until the restore completes (when the restore completes, press any key on the computer).
Your device will reboot twice.
When your device boot, select the option "Restore My Data" once again (this will not erase any data or files) and wait until the restore completes (when the restore completes, press any key on the computer). Your device will reboot once again.
When your device boot, unlock your device and go to "Apps Drawer", you should see the "Superuser" App.
You're done!


Installing CM 13 OTA causes so many app crashes that I can't do anything on my phone. Can I save my data? I had cyanogenmod 12 on my Samsung S4 mini phone, and I upgraded OTA to cyanogenmod 13. After the update Google play services was crashing all the time. I tried downloading and installing GApps through the recovery mode but it only made it worse. Now the crash pop ups are so many that I can't do anything on the phone anymore. "Unfortunately Setup Wizard has stopped" is the one that shows up the most.

Is there any way to fix it without resetting everything? And if resetting is the only option, can I still save the data?

Thank you for any help!

Try booting into recovery mode and enabling MTP, and then get your data from there.

What happened was that the Gapps were incompatible with your OS, since you were using Lollipop gapps on Marshmallow. Once you flashed Gapps, it was already too late, since they need to be flashed on first boot.

Once you have your data, factory reset and flash the packages in this order: CM -> Gapps -> Whatever else (SuperSU?). Make sure that they are flashed one after each other. Do NOT reboot until Gapps is flashed.


Samsung Galaxy S2 stuck on CWM, can't mount sdcard I've been trying to install Cyanogenmod on my Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100), following the official guide.

I was successful in installing Clockworkmod and can enter the recovery mode. The problem starts when I try to wipe/format my sd card. It fails, saying something like "cannot mount /sdcard".

If I go to mount/storage and try to mount the sdcard I get "error mounting sdcard". And I get something similar of course if I try to "install zip from sdcard".

If I boot my phone normally I get the Samsung logo (yellow triangle included) and then it goes to black. Access to the sdcard via usb is not very consistent (screen is black so I don't know what's going on, but when I plug in the usb sometimes I can see the sdcard in my computer, sometimes not, and when I can it gets disconnected often).

Maybe it is a problem with the sd card? I wasn't having trouble before this, except maybe very slow access sometimes (which I blamed on Samsung's bloatware).

With the information you've given, it sounds like your SD card might be damaged, or not formatted properly. Make sure the SD Card is formatted in FAT32 with a card reader if you have one available. If there isn't anything you need on the SD Card, try wiping the SD Card through CWM, and reformatting it. If this doesn't work, the card is probably physically damaged.


Samsung Galaxy S2 drops carrier network My SGS2 is dropping it's network connection multiple times a day without any notification.  The signal bars disappear and it just says NO SERVICE/VODAFONE NZ. No data, no 3G, no 2G, nothing...

I was previously on Gingerbread 2.3.6 and was hoping that CyanogenMod would fix the issue.  I flashed it to CM 10.2 but the same issue remains.  This makes me think it is a hardware issue and not a software issue, however it did not wipe my internal SD card - could there be settings in there that are causing this?

It seems to really love the ground, so I'm wondering if it has just been dropped one to many times and cracked some solder connections somewhere internally?

UDPATE

Installed the GetRIL tool and it said the stock RIL was unknown.

I installed the first RIL on there.  It said that it would backup the stock RIL.  The one I installed didn't work so I installed another one.  That didn't work either.  So I tried to restore the stock RIL but then I read in the FAQ it only restores the last one installed.

So it restored the broken RIL.  And now I have no network and can't figure out how to get the stock one back.  Yay.

Here's the stock details:

RIL: Unknown - 163ecafa01912637fe344ec1f8264d70
Baseband: I9100XXKE7

Anyone know how I can get the stock RIL back?

As an aside: the battery lasts sooooo long without the carrier network

UPDATE

Reflashed with CyanogenMod so I got my stock RIL back.  Still monitoring the network drops.

I have had the exact same problem.  CyanogenMod SGS2, baseband I9100XXKE7, checksum 163ecafa01912637fe344ec1f8264d70.  The only difference is I'm with Optus in Australia.

After extensive research, the solution I found was simply a matter of identifying an appropriate Modem+RIL (Radio Interface Layer) to install.  I'm still looking for an appropriate one for me, although I9100XXLS9 has stopped the dropouts, it won't let me make calls.

Unfortunately it seems the best Modem+RIL combo is very dependent on your carrier+phone combo.  I found a discussion about various RILs to use for SGS2 in New Zealand.  You may find what you're looking for there.  I've seen people discussing I9100JJLS2, I9100XXLS8 and I9100PBVLP7 as good modems.

If you look at your other question (How to manually replace ones RIL) you'll see it's pretty quick and easy to flip around between different RILs when you know what you're doing.  Give them a try and see how you go.


Voice dial without Internet connection I'm new to Android, just purchased a Sony Xperia Arc S.

So far I haven't been able to figure out how to do voice dialing (in car etc.). I've read that you can use Google Voice Search, but this fails if there is no data connection (and why do I need to send data to Google for an internal operation like this?).

Perhaps I am missing something? ( My 6 year old nokia feature phone does this :/ )

UPDATE:

It seems that the 'google voice search' way is the only method on this phone,  so I've tried it out. However it doesn't seem to work for me (just comes up with 'did you mean', and a list of unrelated terms) - perhaps its an accent thing.  So I'm still looking - currently I'm unable to dial while driving, which is pretty important to me.

Last time I checked hands-free voice dialing is not possible with Android.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9817

Put simply, Android is NOT car-friendly telephone.

In fact, Android phones may be banned from use while driving in some states, as Android does not support hands-free operation.

Perhaps, nothing wrong with that if we consider it as just a small internet tablet and not demand full telephony capabilities from it.


Setting default storage location in 4.0.4? My sister got a tablet for Christmas which runs 4.0.4. The internal storage is measly, but she has a big enough SD card.

Going to Settings > Storage should give the option to set the 'Default storage location' to either internal storage or external SD card, but it doesn't. My phone (which runs the exact same firmware version) does have the option to do it.

What ways can I change the default storage location for Android 4.0.4? We're at our wits' end here.

Thanks in advance!

If the "DEFAULT STORAGE" is not showing there then you should use any third party application. App2sd,AndroidAssistant, CleanMaster or Link2SD should do this. But if your device is rooted you should definitely try Link2SD, with some few tweaks it automatically transfers all apps to sdcard. Hope that helps.


How to create videos similar to Khan-Academy videos with a Samsung Galaxy? I would like to know what is the best option to create videos with audio similar to those of Khan Academy with Samsung Galaxy Tablets. Some of my colleagues have Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Note and some of them have Samsung Galaxy Tab. On the other hand, I have been able to create similar videos with audio using an iPad and the free ScreenChomp app (please see this video). The characteristics I like about the use of the iPad app ScreenChomp (and that my colleagues would like to have in a similar app for Samsung Galaxy Tablets) are:

It is easy to install (just find it in the app-store and download it)
I learned how to use it in five minutes
Once I finish a Khan-Academy-like video, I can upload it to the cloud (to a server of the ScreenChomp makers) and share the link by e-mail with my students, so they can see the video in their devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, whatever) less than ten minutes after I created it
If I want to, I can download the video as MP4 in my laptop, so I am able to see it offline, and if I want, I can upload it to YouTube (which is Not necessary, as explained before, because students can see it directly from the link to the ScreenChomp site)
It is free.

I actually believed that the Samsung Galaxy Tablet would be a better tool to create this kind of videos (better than the iPad), however my student and I were unable to do it with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and my colleagues that received a Samsung Galaxy Note do not know yet how to do it. Could you let us know how to do it? We are interested in solutions as simple to use as the ScreenChomp in the iPad, as described in the five characteristics above. Is it possible in the Samsung Galaxy Tablets?

Here is how one teacher is using Coach's Eye for Android to create whiteboard style videos. Hope it helps! http://educationambassador.com/resources/entry/coachs-eye-app-is-elusive-android-flipping-whiteboard


how to ignore folder when using adb push I like to copy development files (ie a git repo) from my local machine to my android using adb push (I still couldn't find a reliable git client application on android).

However, I also need to ignore certain directories (think of the directories that are typically ignored by git and placed in .gitignore).. such as the build folder in a java project.

How do I make an adb push command that ignores a certain directory but copies everything else?

This sounds like an XY problem as excluding files and directories with adb push isn't what you're really intending to do.

If you're syncing Git repositories, the best option is a Git client. The one I'm currently using is Termux and I do a lot of development on my phone with it.

Download Termux and use its built-in APT package manager to install Git and you'll be able to process your work easily.


I have six Samsung Galaxy Avants that I can't do much with The owner of my company upgraded our employee phones to something more current. He was going to literally just throw away six perfect condition Galaxy Avants with cases and chargers until I asked if I could have them since they were trash to him. He said sure.
So here I am, stuck because the company software is still on here. I can't really delete because I need admin permission and the application that we used is actually no longer in service (our admin and her team built a new app for the new phones)
I don't really know how to word this, because I have not really been in this situation before...But how can I get these phones back to factory settings? I have the passwords to get into the UI like you would normally but it's still recognizing that it is a phone for my company, with the no longer working app, and no ability really to navigate the phone because it wants me inside of this app.
Thank you in advanced, sorry to be vague.

You should be able to restore factory settings by flashing the Samsung stock ROM using the official Samsung tool named Kies. The procedure is explained here. Your device name should be Samsung Galaxy Avant G386T.

Alternatively you can try Odin. The procedure is explained here. You must be aware that Odin is not supported by Samsung. Using it incorrectly or flashing an incorrect ROM (for instance a ROM intended for another device) can brick (permanently damage) your phone.


Disable or change audio ducking (lowering)? The audio ducking feature seems to let apps decide to lower its volume or pause playback while a notification from another app is playing.

Even though this feature is turned on by default, I am unable to find a way to change the amount by which the volume is lowered (similar to how this could be done on any decent OS for PC). Or to just disable this feature.

Most answers to this question on the internet have been utilizing the fallacy that you should mute the notifications if you don't want them to interrupt your playback (of let's say, music).

Obviously I do not need this accessibility feature. I can separate sound sources just fine. Last time I checked this is one of the basic cognitive skills that most humans possess, but maybe I have superpowers after all.

I think it is clear what I want to achieve. No messing with the audio levels unless I say so. A user that is in control, is a happy user. I want to be happy too :(

There is probably no setting to do this. Since I am a developer myself, I wonder if there is some hackish way to modify the default audio ducking volume to simply 100%? Or just using something similar to 'about:config' / windows regedit for Android?

Not sure on 8.1 .. but on 5.1 it's the following.

1 - Sound & Notification Settings > Interruptions

2 - Disable Interruptions on specific apps or all together


How can I delete ALL alarms in the stock Clock app? How can I delete ALL alarms in the stock Clock app?

I see that you can delete them one-by-one, but I have 50+ (created regularly with voice commands), and I'd like to get rid of them in one action.

I deleted all alarms in Android Jellybean 4.1.1 by performing the following operations in Settings > Apps > All > Clock:

Force stop
Clear data
Clear cache

YMMV


What's the security implication of having an unlocked boot loader? Nexus devices can be unlocked using the fastboot command fastboot oem unlock to install a custom firmware. For security reasons, the phone is wiped when this command is executed. However after this is done, most people leave the boot loader unlocked.

Devices that support unlocking the boot loader: SonyEricsson (now Sony), Sony, newer HTC devices, ??

Is there a security problem with an unlocked bootloader?
If this is the case, what can be done?

A permanently unlocked boot loader (BL) on a Nexus device is a big security risk.
It's only recommended for a pure developer phone.

An insecure BL enables all sorts of fastboot commands that can be used for e.g. doing the following:

Conduct a cold boot attack to recover the key for Android's full disk encryption
Make a copy of the device
E.g. by booting a custom image (adb boot boot.img), then copying partition dumps
Erase data  using fastboot erase
Flash arbitrary Android firmware, recovery images or radio firmware
fastboot flash radio|recovery|boot|...
Install a root kit (boot custom recovery, then modify system files)
Steal Google/Facebook/whatever accounts stored on the phone
etc.

In case someone has their device encrypted, full access is not immediately possible. However there exists cracking software to brute force the used encryption PIN/passphrase. Altering the firmware is always possible (i.e. an evil maid attack, aka. installing a rootkit/password logger/etc.)

This is the normal process of modding a Nexus device:

unlock the bootloader (fastboot oem unlock)
boot/install insecure/open custom recovery
install custom firmware

To secure your modded device you should do this afterwards:

install a safe recovery image again (custom recoveries like TWRP/CWM are unsafe)
use the extracted recovery.img from Google's factory firmware file, available here
relock the bootloader (fastboot oem lock)

This breaks the usual update mechanisms like RomManager. In case you need to upgrade, you can run flash_image recovery recovery.img (as root on the regular Android OS, it bypasses the BL lock) to install a temporary custom recovery again and use this once to upgrade the firmware and then remove the custom recovery again by doing a flash_image recovery stock.img. I know, this is not very user friendly right now, but let's hope the situation improves at the custom recovery front.

Some background on what's possible: http://hak5.org/episodes/hak5-1205 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM2_CpuzQ0o


Does miracast work without wi-fi? I have zero Internet capabilities at my home. I use my galaxy s6 as my only source of Internet. I would like to mirror my youtube, Facebook, article reading etc on my new insignia tv. Am I able to do this if I buy a miracast dongle for my TV without using any home wifi network?

The quote I got from here is as following:

  These Miracast dongles have 'WiFi direct' like this Sony has,
  therefore you'd not need a router controlled WiFi home network.

  But if I had a Note I'd look for a Samsung Allshare dongle, just to be
  sure


How to select the 3G I am using Moto E with Lollipop 5.1 And I am having this trouble that whenever I am using 3G service, it automatically switches to 2G and i can't able to select 3G (3G selection is not available/showing). How to select the 3G.

Go to Settings>Mobile Network>Network Mode there will be three modes for you GSM only, WCDM only and both. Just select WCDM only option and then you can use 3G.


Blocking all porn sites and contents Is there anything in android mobile which has block all porn sites with high security features and any paid software or anything please tell me..

There are many ways to block porn on android
1- First if you are android pie or up you can use DNS option in settings in other wireless connections and use a DNS that block porn like clean browsing DNS or opendns
Use this DNS
adult-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
Put it in DNS option on settings
2- via router settings you can block  porn same way like above way by providing DNS to block porn (just Google DNS to block porn and how to inject in router settings)
3- block porn on non root devices by using apps such as blockada or adguard
4 - block porn in root devices by using an app such as adaway with providing a host file to block porn ( just Google adway host to block porn)
5 - there are an XDA app to block porn but don't remember it's name now
https://techwiser.com/block-adult-content-on-android/


Play audio through phone speakers when connected to Bluetooth car My car has Bluetooth for making / receiving calls. It also allows media playback if I switch to Bluetooth instead of USB. I use my phone for sat nav so I'd like to be able to hear the audio telling me which direction to go and of any traffic problems. The issue is that it routes that audio to the car and I can only hear it if I switch the stereo to Bluetooth media, as if I was going to play songs from the phone. That means I either can't listen to music on my USB or I can't hear the sat nav. Is there a way to get my phone to play the audio back through its speakers in n steal of through the Bluetooth but still allow phone calls through Bluetooth?

This seems to be the setting -- go to Maps' Settings (tap the three lines in the left top corner to open a pane, then tap Settings there), there go to "Navigation Settings" and turn off "Play voice over Bluetooth" switch.


Can Android save state on powerloss? Does Android support hibernation?

I'm interested specifically in two scenarios:

Resuming after a "nice" powerdown - ie, the phone runs out of power during normal use (say, in the middle of writing or reading email)
Resuming after a "catastrophic" powerdown - ie, say the battery accidentally is removed in the middle of some sort of activity.

The Android system does not natively support any kind of resume after a full shutdown. Individual apps can save their state at any time and restore that state when the app is loaded, but the Android system cannot store its state or the state of all of the apps for a shutdown. Theoretically speaking, the kernel could probably be modified to support some form of hibernation but the stock Android system does not.


How can I play music from my HTC Desire Android phone in my car? My car is a 2002 Toyota Camry and the stereo is old-fashioned like this:

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=hao&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&biw=1440&bih=672&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=2002+toyota+camry+stereo&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

I did some research and found out that I could use FM transmitter from iRiver:

http://www.amazon.com/iriver-AFT-100-Mobile-Transmitter/dp/B00067LYFW

Is that the recommended way to play music from my Android without investing too much?

If yes, that also creates a new problem which is the Power Socket needs to be shared between iRiver and Android (which is power hungry). How do I solve that problem?

Thanks all.

I have something similar to this Parrot handsfree kit that I use for handsfree calls, but primarily for playing music from my Desire through my car stereo (which is of similar vintage).

That approach has the advantage that you can control the music from the handsfree kit, not having to worry about which pocket your phone is in.

  Yeah I'm curious too.. it seems to use Bluetooth. I don't think my car stereo has Bluetooth support

It does, but it handles all of that. My stereo doesn't have Bluetooth either, but the phone connects to the handsfree kit, which then hands either a mono audio stream (handsfree) or stereo (music) to the stereo's appropriate inputs.


Reset battery status after changing battery? If I plug in the charger of my Galaxy Nexus, I'm able to replace the battery without switching the phone off. However, the battery status does not adjust to the new battery. For example, if I replace an empty battery with a fully charged one, the phone still shows an empty battery symbol.

Is there any way to adjust the battery status to the new battery?

When changing the battery while the phone is running, do I risk breaking the phone or the battery in any way? For example, if the phone thinks the battery is empty while it's actually full, do I risk to overcharge the battery if I connect the phone to a charger?

Edit:

I just noticed the following:

If I enter *#*#4636#*#* and select battery info, it displays a charging state of 100 after changing to a new battery. So the phone notices that the battery was changed. I'd just like to see that as well in the battery icon in the notification bar.

You might need to reboot. Your battery won't be damaged by hot removing it. It has an internal circuit to prevent overcharge. Removing it while (dis)charging doesn't matter.

See this post from Android developer Dianne Hackborn.


Every time I reboot the system, it will return the default display sleep time to 15 seconds, how to fix this? I'm on Android 4.1.2, in a Motorola Razr D3, and every time the mobile power off, or I reboot it, the default display sleep time will get back to 15 seconds, and I have to set it to 1 minute again, as I want it.

Other configurations like "Language" or "Auto-rotate screen" are not resetting.

In opposite to this question, I did not installed any battery saver software. Although the SmartActions app comes with the phone, and I enabled the "Low Battery Saver" option which would reduce the bright of the screen when the battery is low, I don't think it should affect the sleep time, even more with full battery. I disabled it to test, and there was no change.

Any idea why it's resetting this configuration?

The LockerPro app was reseting my screen lock time to 15 seconds.

(the Android system should offer a way to check who is changing the system settings)


Why do I need a Gmail account to use Android? I am a new user of Android phone. I used to own an iPhone. I don't remember needing an Apple account besides using it to download applications from app store. Now I need a Gmail account to do even some of the basic stuff like finding my location on Google Map. Is Google violating my privacy? Why am I forced to log in to Gmail permanently to use Android?

Update: From Eren Tantekin's comment, it seems that Apple is using it's own application to run Google Map. That may be the reason why a Google Account is not required. From Richard Borcsik's comment, it seems that Apple is collecting location data as well, this I am not aware of.

With the background knowledge above, I would take eldarerathis's comment as the accepted answer. I apologise if this appears to be a rant to anyone. I just want some clarification. Thanks.

I doubt there's an answer to this beyond "because that's how Google designed its apps". Android itself does not require a Google account to use, only Google's proprietary applications do. CyanogenMod and other pure source builds of Android are actually forbidden from distributing the Google apps within the firmware package itself because of their proprietary nature, and if you install such a ROM without the associated Google apps add-on you won't even have the ability to add a Google account in your settings.

If you don't want to be tied to Google then don't use the apps they produce, but also don't be surprised that they want you to sign in when using services that they provide. It's really not that different from any other app or website that requires sign in to use the services it provides, in my opinion, but if you don't like it use different apps.

Re: the question about why Maps specifically requires a sign-in on Android but not iOS: the comments about the iOS one being developed by Apple could certainly be correct, and I do agree with those statements. In addition, Apple may not want you to sign in Google's servers with their Maps app. It would create a tie (however loose it may be) between you and Google's services, which I'm sure Apple is trying to discourage as much as possible to prevent customers from jumping ship to Android.

Another angle you have to keep in mind is that Google is pushing pretty hard to tie together all of its online services as much as it possibly can. Based on their priorities and their business model, it makes sense that the Android version would try to integrate as tightly as possible with their other services and with the web. It's in their best interest (from a business perspective) to try to make Android apps and their web counterparts as seamless as possible in order to attract users to Android who are already heavily invested in Google's products. Of course, this is just conjecture on my part, I think only Google could truly say why Maps works the way it does.


Always On VPN on android does not reconnect I live in UK and recenlty I felt the need of getting VPN. Everywhere.

There is an option in android 6.x: Always-on VPN, but there are two issues with it:

It does not reconnect after lost connection. That usually means that whenever connection drops for some reason you have to Unlock phone -> Go to Settings -> More connection settings -> VPN -> More -> Always-on VPN, change server you like to connect to, click OK and wait ~5s for it to recconect.
Why wouldn't it reconnect automaticly (or maybe it doesn't do that only in certain situations)?
In case server is not available I would like to be able to establish more than one VPN service, so phone tries first one, if it can't connect than go to second one, than third etc. Is it possible?

I also have this problem and have found it particularly annoying. I'm using PIA and their app just sits there unless I bounce the connection. I've just raised a ticket with them about it.

However, I suspect that this is more of an Android problem as I also see this behaviour when using OpenVPN. Specifically, when I drop the wifi connection and the phone switch over to the mobile data connection the OpenVPN client logs "write udp : network unreachable".

Looks to me like the VPN clients are binding to the current primary network interface and when that changes (by whatever means) they are not detecting that and switching to the new one.

I don't have a solution at the moment but I'll report back here once PIA respond to my ticket.


SOLVED: S7 Edge SM-G935S Soft-bricked: Unable to mount all partitions The problem is solved, the solution is posted in the answer:

Problem

The device is unable to mount every partition, this includes:

/efs

/persdata

/system

/data

/cache

The credit goes to member greenman of sammobile forum.

The solution to this problem is as followed:

Following the guide here to flash the stock firmware and Repartition the device.

Here is a full write up of the Repartition process, taken straight from the Sammobile forum website by the member greenman. This is for in case of the website is not available.

"Here is how to install an S7 firmware

In the S7 firmware Samsung are now providing 5 files.

Phone preparation:
To avoid any issues with FRP (Factory Reset Protection) go to Settings > About device > build number > Tap 7 times to activate Developer options.
Now go to Developer options > OEM unlock

FRP LOCK and OEM LOCK are now both OFF.

1. Download and install Odin on your PC

    [Download Odin v3.11.1][http://dl.sammobile.com/Odin3-v3.11.1.zip]

2. Choose your FIRMWARE by putting in your phone Model version
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares

3. Download and unzip your firmware (do not use WinRAR as it can give errors)

4. From your download put these files into Odin:

BL
AP
CP
CSC (not HOME_CSC)

5. Now look at the Odin Settings (for this select Options)

F.reset time
Auto reboot

6. Installing another country CSC or a network CSC will need the system partition size changing.
For this select Options and add this setting

Re-partition

NOTE:
1. You will get a WARNING from Odin.
You can ignore this.

2. If you are installing a multi csc firmware, and your existing CSC is in that firmware, then DO NOT select Re-partition.
You can check if your firmware is multi-csc by installing this app:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vndnguyen.phoneinfo&hl=en]

3. To receive OTA updates, after installing the firmware, put phone into Recovery Mode to wipe cache then wipe data/factory reset.

A video guide here
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SK3IMprKVQ]
In the video guide the csc is not being changed and so Re-partition is not selected

Hope that helps."


Why whatsapp with a specific contact fails to receive messages? I am not able to receive messages from a specific contact using whatsapp, but I am able to send to the that same contact.

All other contacts appear to be receiving and no issues with the send process.

Ps: I haven't blocked the contact where the issue is being reflected.

If relevant, I'm using Android 4.0 (ICS)

I realized I had a very symilar problem with a contact today.
Creating a group with only the problematic contact was a successful workaround, the final solution was deleting the original chat that stopped working and creating a new one.


Unable to set Contact Picture I am trying to set a picture for a contact that is saved on my SIM - I had originally emailed the .jpg to myself from my PC, then downloaded it from the Gmail app. When I go either into Gallery or through My Files and select the picture, select 'More' and then select 'Set as contact picture', the list of contacts comes up but the one I want to associate the picture with is not there - they show up when I use the phone app and look at my normal contact list.

I've got a Galaxy S7 Edge SM-G935F, running Android 6.0.1, kernal version 3.18.14-7538748 dpi@SWDD6418 #1, build MMB29K.G935FXXU1APD1, baseband version G935.FXXU1APD1.

Thanks in advance!

Copy the number by editing that contact.
Now create a new contact and choose your existing Google account or Samsung account (if you have a Samsung account logged in, it can be found under drop down menu as pointed in the picture below). Now, as you can see there is Add picture option in the picture below, so, add image. :)

Note: SIM card doesn't support any additional options.


How to put LG G2 in fastboot mode? Is there any way to get an LG G2 (running the latest version of stock software, Lollipop 5.0.2) in fastboot mode?  None of the methods listed anywhere online work for me.  I'm getting the feeling that it's not an option on this device, but I've heard no definitive confirmation of that.

Here's what I've tried and has not helped:

Turning the device off, holding down power and volume down buttons, releasing them when the LG logo displays, and holding them down again to power up.  This brings the phone into Factory data reset mode, in which the only option is to Erase all user data & restore default settings.
Turning the device off, holding the volume up, and plugging a connected USB cable into the phone.  This brings the phone into Download Mode.
adb reboot fastboot.  This reboots the phone normally.
adb reboot bootloader.  This also reboots the phone normally.

(If you're wondering why I need to get into Fastboot: How to Clear Caches in LG G2 Running Lollipop 5.0.2.)

To be clear, I mean that fastboot devices lists nothing when I do any of the above methods.  But adb is working.

Download mode may appear prior to fastboot mode.

Boot down the phone
Keep holding down Volume Up button.
Put a USB cable that is connected to a PC in to phone.
Continue holding Volume Up button throughout download mode until fastbood mode appears and you can release the Volume Up button.

Extra: Here's the how-to video.


screen lock and not displaying lock pattern in android 2.2 (Eclair) I have HTC Wildfire and one feature I don't like is that it displays the lock composition when I enter incorrect one people knows see the correct one even when displaying password is turned off.

Is it possible to turn it off and/or change to different method of locking screen?

Edit: As people didn't notice I HAVE "USE VISIBLE PATTERNS" TURNED OFF. It is just when I made mistake it is shown.

Edit 2 In Froyo I have option to enter just PIN or even password.

Are you entering an actual password, or an unlock-pattern?

Lock-patterns have the option to display/not-display the path entered, so it's a lot more difficult to "shoulder-surf"

  Use visible pattern   This is selected by default. Clear this if you
  do not want the screen unlock pattern
  to display as you enter it.


How does Samsung S-View Flip Cover work? How does the S-View Flip Cover work? I know some apps that use the proximity sensor to check this and turn on and turn off the screen.

S-View Flip Cover does not require any softwares, so how does it communicate with the device?

It's simple. There are hidden magnets in the front part of the flip cover. These magnets tell the device that S-View Flip Cover is attached.

The glass window that is on the cover is conductive, through which you can operate only that much part of the screen leaving the rest of the screen non operable to avoid accidental touch.

The idea behind is just like the Apple smart cover. What makes the S-View Flip Cover different is the conductive window functionality to accept or reject calls etc.


Blacklist recommended apps in Google Play? As the title says. I want to remove apps I have zero interest in from the so-called recommend apps list. Also block certain contacts from influencing the recommendations if possible.

You can remove the suggestions by tapping the triple dot and selecting Not intersted. However, Google yet doesnt allows you to block certain people. For now

Either make a new gmail, one for social and other for useless stuff, including downloading apps. (You wont get recommendations in that, Just dont add you friends in that)
Unfriend (Or uncircle) those contacts (seriously, hardly anyone will notice that as Google+ is very scarcely used)


Missing Uber and Lyft on Android Wear I am currently unable to order a Lyft or Uber on my Moto 360 2nd Gen. I've been using the watch for almost a month and have not yet found a way to order a car from the watch, despite seeing numerous references to a Lyft app on Wear.
Here's why I think there are Lyft and Uber apps for Wear:

Tim Schofield's review of the Android Wear 2.0 preview reveals a Lyft app on his watch's app launcher.
Lyft on Android Wear was revealed by Google at the IO 2014 keynote.
Uber for Android Wear was revealed at the IO 2015 keynote, according to this article from The Verge.
The Verge's list of the 12 best Android Wear apps includes Lyft.
Google Products forum that complains about Uber not working mentions Lyft working on Wear.
The official advertisement for the Moto 360 2nd Gen showing the features of the watch shows the Lyft app.

Despite this, neither a Lyft or Uber app has appeared on my watch's launcher, and the "Call a Car" action in the Android Wear app is grayed out (not letting me choose an app); other actions work just fine with third-party apps. I'm in the US and have both Lyft and Uber installed and working on my paired Nexus 6P.
What I've tried so far:
I contacted Lyft about Wear support, and they responded by saying, "At this time, Lyft doesn't work directly with Wear watches and the best way to still interact would be with a Smartphone at this time."
I contacted Uber as well, and they responded by saying, "Unfortunately, Uber is accessible in app form only through Android mobile device, iPhone and Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 at this time."
Both responses are at least slightly inaccurate (I know that Uber works on the Apple Watch and Pebble Time watch, Lyft works on Apple Watch and should work on my Wear watch), so I was left even more confused.
I also contacted Android Wear support via Twitter, they suggested that the "Call a car" action being grayed out was a bug and had me submit feedback through the app (to no avail even after 3 Wear companion app updates).
I also tried deleting and reinstalling Lyft, as well as restarting my watch and phone a few times, all to no avail.
Here's my setup:

Non-rooted Nexus 6P running 7.1.1 preview 1 (issue also existed on 7.0) with latest Android Wear companion app.
Moto 360 2nd Gen running latest Android Wear version 1.5 (based on Android M), otherwise working just fine.
Android Wear app, Uber app, and Lyft app are all installed on my phone, yet neither Uber nor Lyft shows up on my watch.

The "Call a car" action (where I believe Lyft should be appearing) is grayed out and nothing happens when I tap on it:

How can I order a Lyft or Uber ride from my Moto 360 2nd Gen?

I can suggest sideloading the Lyft app. Earlier versions of Lyft had Android Wear support, but it was later removed (for some reason).

Here's how to get Lyft on Android Wear watches:

Delete the Lyft app from your phone.
Allow downloads from unknown sources.
Download the Lyft APK version 3.50, the last version available on APKMirror to support Wear.
Sign-in to the Lyft app.
Wait a few minutes, then go into the Android Wear app on your phone. Scroll down to "Actions", then tap "Call a Car" and then tap "Lyft".
Now you can say to your watch, "OK Google, call me a car" and it will order a Lyft to your current location.
Turn off Lyft auto-updates in the Play Store: go to Lyft's page, hit the three dots in the top-right, and uncheck auto updates.

Note 1: The Lyft app will appear on your watch's launcher as well. For me, it didn't work initially (it crashed on launch for a few hours), but now I can order a car from that app as well, giving (me at least) two ways to order a Lyft from your watch.

Note 2: I'll be sending an email to Lyft asking them to add Wear support back to the latest version of the Lyft app.


On my Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), I am suddenly unable to connect to Wifi I've googled this and turned up a bunch of inconclusive forum threads. I've also checked out a few similar questions on this site, but none of them quite match my details. So here they are:

I have a Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) that's been working fine with my wifi router since I got it about 6 months ago. This morning when I fired it up, it rebooted and now I cannot connect to my wifi router. My wifi is not the issue as my Nexus 7 tablet is connected and working.

This is what I see:

When I go to Settings > Wi-Fi, I see my network listed. But status is stuck on Obtaining IP address
After a while, status reports Network disabled. Poor connection

Tablet also reports that a "Software Update" is ready. Not sure if this is related to the issue. But when I try to update, I get a confirmation page and when I hit confirm button, I get message Unable to connect network.

I've tried the following:

Rebooting tablet
Forgetting and reconnecting to my network through Wi-Fi settings
Read this solution, but couldn't find Mobile Network Settings

Here's some system data from my tablet:

Model Number: GT-P3113
Android Version: 4.0.4
Kernel Version: 3.0.8-999349
Build Number: IMM76D.P3113UEBLH2

A simple solution would be appreciated. I'll post a solution if I figure it out myself. Thanks!

When in your WiFi settings, could you try pressing menu (or clicking the overflow dots), and selecting Settings.

Once done, untick the Avoid poor WiFi networks option, and see if it will now connect.

Also, restart the router.


Show sensitive notification content when at trusted place I have been trying to get sensitive notification content to only show when at a trusted location (android 5.1.1), however my attempts have so far been unsuccessful.

Is this possible to accomplish somehow?

Yes, with Tasker and AutoNotifications
Instructions to Tasker:

Click the "+" Symbol
Select Event --> UI --> Notification
Tasker Action - Dismiss notification

You need to play around with this and it should work...
Kudos


Whatsapp files to new phone I just bought a new phone. when installed whatsapp my last back up was over a month ago so my chats are old. I moved my files to the new phone but the file are encrypted and can't open. Do I need to delete and reinstall whatsapp for it to detect that I have whatsapp back up files now on the phone. or do I need to go back to my old phone, upload those files to google drive and then go back to my new phone reinstall whatsapp and have it detect the new back up from google drive. frankly I am not sure where the files are on my new phone but I received a verification that they were there when i transferred from my old phone  and was able to view them temporarily. I don't know where Edge S7 stores files. There's no files icon that I can see only gallery. But the files are there.

I reinstalled whatsapp but it didn't detect the whatsapp files transferred to my phone.  I found the files sitting under my samsung tab under files.
I am trying to back the files now to google drive from my old phone but it seems to be stuck in "preparing backup" mode for whatsup for over an hour now. any tips?

thanks,

You can probably install WhatsApp in your old phone again and check if the chats are still available.
If they are available, save a backup to Google drive as well as on your phone and then try again by reinstalling on your new phone.

Check when the latest backup was created automatically by whatsapp either on your old phone or Drive. If there's a recent copy you can copy it into your new phone and try retrieving the chats while reinstalling.

If none of the above works, I think you lost your chats.


Tethering won't work claiming data connection is unavailable When I try to turn on tethering/mobile hot spot it gives me the system message "Unable to connect, data connection not available." However it worked in the past with this carrier/phone and the internet still works. I can browse the web on my phone fine.

Things I tried so far:

restarting my phone
Taking it in and out of airplane mode
turning wifi off and on
turning on and off power saving
turning sync on and off
turning off high performance mode.
resetting all network settings

I never did figure out what was causing this issue. I finally was able to fix the issue, though, by completely resetting the phone to factory settings and setting it up again.


SGS2 can't connect to PC for USB file transfer or Debugging mode I am an Android developer and I have been using my SGS2 for a while and I was accessing the debugging mode without any problem, until I broke my phone's screen. I found a repairer who replaced the screen with another. Since that day I cannot access my S2 neither on Debugging mode, nor on USB File Transfer mode.

How can I fix this?

EDIT

It still charges when connected to PC, but no feedback in my Win 7. I tried with other computers and getting the same things ...

The description of the issue pretty clearly pointed to a hardware issue (the "repairer" having "messed up" / forgotten to re-attach some "connectors").

As reported back, this guess was correct: Taking the device back to him and have him check, he found the "missing link", repaired it, and the device is fully operational again now.


HTC Desire Z stuck in boot-loop I'm a total n00b with Android, and the existing questions tagged boot-loop didn't help me.
Apologies if I missed something "obvious"!

I've borrowed a used HTC Desire Z from my brother so I can decide whether to switch to Android. The phone was provided with CyanogenMod 7 and worked like a charm for a few days. I rebooted it today to see whether a reboot would clear up this other question and since then it keeps rebooting itself.

By "rebooting" I mean this sequence:
The device shows the HTC logo and then the cyanogen(mod)7 logo with the robot on a skateboard. After that, it shows the SIM PIN entry screen while the status bar says that it's loading the SD card. Without me touching the device, the screen goes black and boots again from the HTC logo onwards.

It's got the ClocworkMod Recovery v5.0.2.7 and I'm guessing that this is part of the CM7 package. It's (supposed to be) a helpful way to reset and recover the device.

Here's what I've tried so far (with reboots in between), without success:

I made a backup and then cleared the /cache.
I restored the backup.
I then reset the phone with the wipe data/factory reset function.
I removed the SIM and the SD card, then did another factory reset.
I wiped the Dalvik cache, whatever that is.
With help, I downloaded a fresh CM7.1 zip file and installed that via the Recovery and SD card. Also wiped all caches again, just to be sure.
I downloaded a CM9 rom that was made for this device and installed that. It starts fine and seems to work, but the exact same problem still occurs.

The phone now boots to the welcome screen that says "touch the Android to start" and then, as before, goes black and reboots without me touching it. By the way, the battery is about 70% charged so it's not due to an empty battery, and the problem is the same while plugged into the charger or not.

How can I get this device to run again? I don't care (much) for the settings I had; I can begin all over if need be. But I need a working device first...

Update: I added the steps 6&7 above. Didn't solve the problem but it seems to prove that it's not a ROM issue. Is the device physically defective?

It seems that the HTC Desire models are known to have hardware that easily gets defective... :-/

I've searched far and wide, and the general consensus seems to be that if a restore and/or factory reset doesn't resolve the problem, then it's not a software issue but a hardware defect.

The device could probably be repaired, but if the warranty gone then it's probably wiser buying a new device instead.


Galaxy S II GT-I9100G USB connectivity problem I bought a Galaxy S II GT-I9100G two weeks back from Malaysia and it was running on Android ver. 2.3.5. But three days back I saw a 2.3.6 update available and updated my phone using the update option available in the phone. But now when I connect phone to PC via USB it shows unknown device and Windows cant find the driver suitable for it. And so I can't transfer files to or from my PC. Could anyone please help me out here?

My PC is running on Win7 x64.

Worked for me:

Unplug the USB cable
On the cell phone, dial the following number: *#7284# Once the last # is hit, the PhoneUtil application is launched. Choose USB -> Modem and then USB -> PDA mode. The good mode should be PDA. Even if the mode is PDA, switch to Modem and then back to PDA.
Plug the USB cable.

Note:

Repair USB connection for any Samsung Android phone

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV2h5O_qDPE


How to pull the apks from my android phone I have a rooted android phone. I am trying to pull the applications from /system/app/. However this simply does not copy the apk. What I have tried.

    adb shell
    su
    cd data
    cd app
    ls

A lot of applications are shown. However when I try to pull it it says

adb pull /data/app test

pull: building file list...
0 files pulled. 0 files skipped.

When I try to pull it from the system/app it pulls it but no file is created on my computer. I have specified the file name, tried with it and without it. Could someone please tell me what I am doing wrong?

I have also tried it individually with specific apks. But that doesnt work either.

If you're using su to get root privileges when you shell in (which you've indicated you are) then that means you're not root on the shell by default. adb pull fails with that error message because it doesn't have permission to index the directory and pull the contents.

You should be able to restart adb on your device with adb root first:

adb root
adb pull /data/app/

And a fully illustrative example to show that this is the likely issue (I used /data/misc just because it's smaller):

[09:27:23] ~/adb-test $ adb pull /data/misc/
pull: building file list...
0 files pulled. 0 files skipped.  <-------------- Same issue because we're not root yet!
[09:27:49] ~/adb-test $ adb root
[09:27:56] ~/adb-test $ adb pull /data/misc/
pull: building file list...
... Snip all of the individual files here ...
24 files pulled. 0 files skipped.
65 KB/s (7732 bytes in 0.115s)
[09:27:59] ~/adb-test $

Another option for restarting adb as root is Chainfire's adbd insecure app. Some ROMs will not support the adb root command, though, as they were not built to allow it. This will be true if you root a stock ROM without installing a custom one, for example.


How do I set a default calendar-app in Android (Jelly Bean)? I've installed PocketInformant and use it as my calendar app on my phone with Jelly Bean. However, when I get appointment/calendar event reminders, it's the stock calendar that notifies me. This is a bit annoying, since I sometimes wish to edit the appointment from within the reminder. Clicking edit brings up the stock calendar and not PocketInformant.

Is there a way to set PocketInformant as the default Calendar app? Or at least make it the default app for showing calendar reminders?

Yes!  you should be able to clear the stock app from being the default calendar app by following these steps:

Go to the phone settings
select apps
scroll to the right two screen, to the 'All' section
scroll down until you can find calendar, click on it
scroll down the page and click the 'Clear defaults' button

Next time anything wants to use the calendar, you will be able to select which program you wish to use.


How can I calibrate the tilting sensor on Android I have an Android mobile which seems to be of Samsung, or at least a clone thereof. I got it for my wife as a present, so I don't really know which one. Under the battery pack it says "Model: 19502"

when I look through the menus there are absolutely no identifications as to which it is and the settings only allow rather high level stuff, like setting background images, and similar, but nothing system relevant.

When I play games I noticed that the tilt is not correct, so I installed "App Sensor Box" which allows me to test the sensors. It shows a board with a ball on it, and I can see that the ball rolls off when I keep it balanced. Unfortunately this app doesn't allow me to calibrate it, so I wanted to know if such an app exists, or what I can do to calibrate it, because there are not setting to trigger this. The apps I found on Play Store all seem to just read, but don't change it.

It's a tough one to answer, as I'm not sure what version of Android you are running, and you have stated it may be a clone.

Method 1:

Open "Settings"

Find "Motion" and tap on it

Scroll down the menu and tap on "Sensitivity Setting"

Open "Gyroscope calibration"

Place device on a level surface and tap Calibrate

Method 2:

Download 'G-Sensor' from the Samsung Apps store pre-installed on your device.  Here is a weblink.

Method 3:

Download  Bubble Level  from the Google Play store, this has a calibration option also.


Google Maps shows constantly rotating direction despite other compass apps working correctly Google Maps reports rotating direction (0.5 rotations / minute) with stationary phone. The compass is calibrated and works correctly in compass-specific apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6uOI5g8xbc

Steps to replicate:

After booting into Safe Mode and calibrating the compass via rapid figure-8's (or slow, or rotations on table), the direction in Google Maps slowly rotates.

EDIT: I did a factory reset and, before logging in, Google Maps still has this error. I think it may be a hardware bug at this point.

Apps affected:

Google Maps (Safe Mode and normal mode)
GPS Status (only available in normal mode)

Apps not affected:

"Compass" (orange circle logo)
Sensors Multitool (shows correct magnetometer readings for X, Y, and Z. Confirms correct calibration)
https://goo.gl/photos/SavNsaY2PyNPa17G8

Troubleshooting steps I've tried:

Calibrating compass

Rebooting in Safe Mode
Disabling/re-enabling Google Maps (includes data/cache deletion)

Specs:

Nexus 5X
Android 6.0.1
Google Maps 9.34.1

Same issue here on my Galaxy S-6 Edge Plus.  The blue dot/shadow spins rapidly.  Master reset did not fix.  Verizon actually replaced the phone and the new phone acts up as well. I went to Best Buy Samsung help desk and they mentioned an issue that is going to be corrected (soon) as an update to Google Maps. I hope this rapid spinning doesn't mess up any of the sensors on the new phone...


How to root Sony Ericsson Xperia ray? Here are the information of my device.
Android version : 4.04
Kernel version:  2.6.32.9
Build Number:   4.1.B.0.587
Plz give step by step method and essential material downloading link. Thanks.

Here is the step by step to root your devices! BTW, Xda is the good place to start with.


Where can I find a thorough introduction to Android? I recently bought an Android product (HOTT MD500), with no English-language manual. I've used Linux for more than 10 years, so I generally have no difficulty adapting to various interface changes, but the conventions used on the Android interface are a bit alien to me:

How to close programs.
How to switch between open programs. Are they even open still?
How to properly shut the device down.
When to use the SD card, when to use the internal flash drive for storage.
What tasks it is capable of doing.
What version it is. How to upgrade. Or should I?
What its limitations are..
What not to do so that I don't break it.

Is there a good manual which provides an introduction to all of this?

Google do actually publish Android manuals for each major version, unfortunately they do hide them fairly well.

Your phone's manufacturer and/or your network/carrier may also publish manuals for your phone that will include the major changes they've made from the base Android (for example a lot of manufacturers customize or replace a lot of the Android UI with their own version, such as HTC's Sense, or Samsung's TouchWiz interface, they may also modify/replace default apps to work better with their hardware or interface, the Camera app is often one of these). In your case it sounds like the manufacturer unfortunately probably doesn't have an English language manual, on the plus side they probably haven't done much customization to the base Android experience.

Google's Android manuals:

Android 2.2 (aka Froyo)
Android 2.3 (aka Gingerbread)
Android 3 (aka Honeycomb) tablets only, not available for phones
Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) actually a Galaxy Nexus manual, but as that device is pretty much pure ICS, it should be OK


How to keep text and icons at normal size but use tablet mode? Just rooted my tablet the other day. Running Android 4.1.1. This is stock Android except for a different launcher.

My tablet's resolution is 1280x800. It was running with a density of 213 for several years. Recently I wanted to try tablet mode, so I shrank it to 170.

I'm perfectly happy with this setup, but would like to know if it is possible to make the icons on the launcher (and other text) the original size, while forcing the UI to tablet mode.

Get rooted, install Xposed framework and then this module called App Settings. Lets you tweak density, font size and a bunch of other properties on a per-app basis.

Disclaimer: rooting and using Xposed comes with their own risks and it's your own responsibility to do backups.


How can I see the status of the latest CyanogenGen builds? I see that CM10 nightlies for galaxysmtd have not been built for a while.  Is the status of the latest builds available anywhere, so that I can see why they haven't been built?

Rule of CM - never ask for ETA's, changelogs!

Only recourse is to look up the review site instead and filter it out for the appropriate device instead to see what code changes were checked in/rejected, in this case, use this as a search query on the top right hand corner of the page.

status:open project:CyanogenMod/android_device_samsung_galaxysmtd

Then can drill down the review, depending on what type of CyanogenMod ROM, be it GB, ICS or JB.

Usually, there is a reason as to why there's no build, check with their forum or IRC channel. :)


How to set which landscape mode is default (reverse landscape vs landscape) I have a few different apps that seem to have difficulties keeping landscape mode from going upside down when certain things happen, like playing ads. My phone is always rotated clockwise for landscape mode when I use landscape mode, but will often go upside down as if it expects the phone to be rotated counter-clockwise. I'm assuming rotated counter-clockwise is considered landscape mode, and clockwise is reverse landscape, so in that case I need reverse landscape to be the main/default/only landscape mode. But I don't want it locked to landscape all the time, it is locked to portrait mode normally. Using Galaxy S8+, not rooted.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice, though preferably not something that requires changing a setting before and after every time I launch one of those troublesome apps.

Quoted from one of my previous answers:

  Use apps like Ultimate Rotation Control - with proper settings, it seamlessly integrates with system rotation toggle, and on top of that you can enable/disable any rotation direction, force apps that don't usually rotate to rotate, and set per-app rotation behavior.

Based on your description, set the first options to these values so you can click the app's notification to toggle rotation direction.

Do note that this is a paid app with a 7-day trial.


How do I sharpen photos on my phone? I am looking for a photo editor app or website that will let me sharpen photos, preferably using unsharp mask.

I tried several free photo editors from the market, but none of them lets me sharpen photos. I don't mind paying for an app, I just don't want to unless I know it is a good choice.

I have been using PicSay's free version and been happy with it.  I'll probably upgrade to the full version which has the ability to sharpen, but just haven't really had the need yet so I've been putting it off.  I'll report back if I do chip down.

Another alternative would be to use Pixlr's web based editor: http://pixlr.com/editor

Provided you have flash installed you can use their browser based editor that does have an "Unsharp Mask" filter.


Restrict posting to admin-only in group chat Is there any option in WhatsApp that restricts posting messages by admin only? Others should not able post, but they should able to read the post.

This is impossible because the setting does not exist.
Maybe you coud broadcast to these people or try a alternative app.


Is there a way to change resolution on a Note 4? Currently everything is huge, I would like to know if I can change my resolution.

If you have root,  you can edit your build.prop file. There even apps from the Play Store to do that for you. When changing LCD density (DPI), be cautious to what you change it to.  Lower the value too much and items will be unreadable, also making the system unstable with certain apps. The Play Store might fail to work. As with everything, perform a backup in case of instabilities.


Using LauncherPro lost usb connection notification In HTC Sense you get a little widget that indicates that you have USB connectivity to a computer and lets you change the mode (charge/storage/etc) is there a similar tool that is not part of HTC Sense which can run in LauncherPro?

If you mean that thingy in the notification bar that upon touching let's you chose your desired mode -- that's still there with Launcher Pro as it has nothing to do with Sense and Launcher Pro has nothing to do with your notification area (unless of course you decide to disable it)


How can I force my phone to connect to US-based cell towers only? I use a Samsung Galaxy S9 with Android 10, and plan to enter Mexico from the US via the land border. How can I force my phone to connect to US-based cell towers only? (I believe my data usage will get way more expensive for non-US data use)

It is currently impossible to do force one's phone to connect to US-based cell towers only. E.g. from Dicknose22 on https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidQuestions/comments/j5ntyg/how_can_i_force_my_phone_to_connect_to_usbased/g7tefwh/:

Not to the best of my knowledge, even with total root access, your phone and the tower communicate on what to connect to you do not have power to override what your carrier decides you should connect to.


Setting Skype as The Default Dialer on Nexus 5 These two posts, Setting Default Dialer and Setting Nexus Custom Dialer, make it seem straight forward, but it is not.

I am not prompted to choose which dialer to use, it only uses Google Dialer

Neither the Phone nor the Google Dialer apps have defaults set, thus the clear defaults button is not enabled.

I consider myself tech savvy and have already spent half an hour trying to figure this out. Unacceptable for something that should be easy.

The answer, after spending considerable time in Nexus and Skype chat support is that Skype does not provide dialer support for Nexus 5 KitKat. Unsure if other manufacturers using  KitKat have the same issue or have delivered a solution.

I was told by Nexus support I could contact LG for a possible solution, but that the change could void my warranty.

The worst part is that this is not obvious from a Google search. Nothing at all on either sites. Support acts like they don't know. Nexus support would not answer the simple straight forward question, can Skype be a dialer.

I find it hard to believe that both companies are not fully aware that this is the situation. The customer suffers. What exactly does poor android support gain Skype? They just had to refund my prepaid year and lost an opportunity for a lifetime revenue stream....


Does juice defender randomly drop your data connection? Does it drop your data connection? I have experienced that since I installed it a week ago. Sometimes it will randomly choose to drop your data connection.

If its dropping your data connection, why haven't you uninstalled it already?

Seriously, there are things you can do with stock applications to improve your battery life, like turning off wifi, gps, data connection manually, all of which can be down easily with the Power Control widget.

Also, I noticed that there's a beta version of the app that is noted as being frequently unstable. Is this the version you're using? If so, buyer beware.


How can I remove trusted CAs on Android? From the current fallout around DigiNotar (in short, a Root Certificate Authority that has been hacked, fake HTTPS certificates issued, MITM attacks very likely), there are some parts concerning Android (see yesterday's interim report in PDF):

fraudulent certificates for *.android.com has been generated (which would include market.android.com)
there may be other such fraudulent certificates signed by this CA in the wild (currently nobody knows for sure, one way or the other)
this could happen to another CA in the future (Comodo had a similar problem a few months ago)

So, how do I remove a CA I no longer trust from my Android phone? (I have root and CM6 on my specific phone, if that's relevant)

In Android Lollipop 5.0
Settings → Security →  Trusted credentials →  User tab →  Select your certificate →  Scroll down, Click on Remove button →    Done.


SIM popup messages keep the screen on indefinitely (Samsung A30s) A little background: In my country, carriers keep sending those annoying pop-up messages (I think they're called class-0 messages?). This has been the case for a couple of years and they won't stop no matter what you do. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal with my previous phones; I just learned to ignore them.
However, with my A30s (which I've had for a few months), I'm facing a critical issue where the screen will turn on for the message and never turn off unless I close the pop-up or manually turn it off by pressing the power button. There are basically two types of those messages:

Ones that show up after a call is ended (very annoying but avoidable if I remember to close the message after ending the call):

Ones that show up randomly (sometimes at night while I'm asleep. Screen stays on overnight and drains the battery):

I couldn't even tell which app is responsible for displaying those messages. Here's what I've tried:

Checked the permissions for the Messages app and the Phone app to see if there's something that controls this.

Disabled the "draw over other apps" permission for the Messages app.

Installed Google's Messages app and set it as default (since I can't uninstall or disable the main one).

I also checked the permissions for the "SIM toolkit" app but there were none. I tried disabling the notifications but the option was grayed out.

None of the above helped.
Does anyone know how to get rid of these messages?
Note: I want to avoid rooting the device or installing a custom rom.
I tried reporting this to Samsung but they weren't very helpful.

Download Automate app and make a flow like this..

Allow the permissions And then configure it like this. Notice the option "When UI element appear".

Then click on record. Now, make a call and end/hang up it so that you get the dialog-box. Click on Cancel in the dialog box, see the details and try to understand if the interaction has been recorded. If yes, then click OK.
What it does is that it automatically clicks the Cancel button as soon as it appears on the screen.
I haven't received any dialog box for years so I don't know if that's gonna work. If it doesn't, just see the options from + icon and try to do something else. There are like a hundred options. If that too doesn't work then let me know.


How to do screen record on android without apps? I want to know  how to do screen recording on Android without apps? I've been trying many apps from Google Play store, but nothing works for me, it's just adds popping up on my phone...

Can anyone show me how can I do it myself, I want to record screen with longer duration (my phone is Samsung Galaxy S4).

You haven't mentioned the version of Android running in your phone and I assume it is KitKat.

If so, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) tool to record the video.  The are many blog sites that explain how to do this and one such that came out first on my Google search is this one. Even Android SDK page on ADB tool commands explain this well.

In gist, you should use these commands:

adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/demo.mp4
adb pull /sdcard/demo.mp4

The first one starts capturing the screen to the specified file and the second one pulls (copies) the recorded file to your computer.

Update: By the way if you are finding it difficult to download the entire SDK just this small ADB tool, you can use the one from this XDA page.


Samsung galaxy grand 2 slow downs after upgrades i was using grand 2 for 6months and was running on jellybean, and after upgrade to kitkat it is too slow to operate. is there any way to downgrade my cell without rooting the cell. Or any other suggestion to speedup my cell.

The easiest way to downgrade is to use ODIN (or the open source alternative, Heimdall). This describes the basic functionality of the buttons and checkboxes in ODIN.

You need to find the stock version of the firmware for your device. In your case, the you will want to find the JellyBean 4.1.2 version.

Put the phone in Download Mode.

Turn off your phone. Wait a few seconds and then proceed to the next step.
Hold volume down, home and power buttons at the same time.
Keep holding these buttons until the Samsung Logo appears on the display.
Release once you see the Samsung Logo.
Next press volume up key once in order to enter download mode.

Open ODIN on your PC. Once ODIN is open, you can connect the device via USB. You may need to disconnect from and reconnect it to the computer after this for Odin to see it.
Set the files that you found that contain the stock firmware. This will be at a minimum, a .tar file and may have some others to include like a .pit file.
Once you have that configured, and ODIN sees your device, and you follow any other instructions that you may find where you find the stock firmware, you are now ready to start ODIN.

Disclaimer: Downgrading may solve your problem, for now. You may just get the same update after you downgrade because your device will indicate that you have an outdated version of Android.

ODIN is a great tool. It was one of my favorite tools when I had samsung devices. I wish all manufacturers had a tool like this. I have fixed many devices that I soft bricked with ODIN and in far less time than any other manufacturer.

The best tip I can give when flashing (with ODIN or any method), get information from multiple sources. Read them a couple times, then follow those instructions while you are performing the steps.


Gallery is displaying my movie files from the Movies folder I usually save movies in the Movies folder of my Galaxy S5 to view them in my VLC app.

Turns out that the movies also appear in the Gallery app. I would really rather have the Gallery app only display images captured by the camera, rather than my movie media files.

Is it possible to limit the Gallery app to simply search the DCIM folder rather than the Movies folder as well? I suspect not - but then, is it possible to isolate my movies so they can only be found by VLC and not Gallery?

Add a file called ".nomedia" to the Movies folder.

This excludes that folder from being scanned for media files.
In VLC you will have to navigate to the folder Movies to play the Videos.


My Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 is not starting I was installing a custom ROM on my Samsung Galaxy GT-S5360. The installation aborted abruptly and I lost all data from my phone.

Now my phone won't start and is stuck at the Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 logo.

I tried to flash the stock ROM via Odin but it is not detecting my device.

If Odin is not detecting your device,  it probably means that your device drivers are not installed. Try installing your device drivers first, and then connect with Odin and flash it.

Your problem will be solved.

The other way around is to flash through CWM recovery, if you have it installed on your device. You should have a working ROM zip file.  Place it in SD card and go to CWM recovery and flash it.


I have installed a few USB drivers, but Android Studio Sorry, I should have explained in more details.

In my mobile, Gear icon -> Settings -> SYSTEM -> {} Developer options, I have select (set tick) both "Android debugging" and "USB debugging notify".
After plug in my mobile to my PC with a USB cable, from my PC I can see the files in my mobile, I can even move the files between my PC and my mobile.
In my PC, run Android Studio/bin/studio.exe, in the Android Studio 2.1.1 window, I click the run icon, "Select Deployment Target" window shows with message "No USB devices or running emulators detected".
People said I need Google USB Driver. I then downloaded it. After that, In Android Studio 2.1.1 window -> Tools -> Android -> SDK Manager -> "Default Settings" -> SDK Tools, I have found "Google USB Driver 11 Installed".
However, I have still got "No USB devices or running emulators detected" when I run Android Studio.

That is why I want to know all USB Drivers installed in my computer, which USB Driver my computer is using and most important, what USB Driver my Android Studio is using?

If you know what I am doing wrong, please give me your suggestion so that I can use the Android Studio + my mobile to make a very simple app.

Thanks a lot for your helps!

Under some circumstances the ADB server does not recognize new devices. In such a case you can restart it from command-line by executing adb kill-server. The next time Android Studio tries to enumerate the available devices the ADB server will be started automatically.

If that does not help you should check the device manager if you see the ADB device driver of your smartphone.

For Android USB debugging with Windows you need the ADB USB driver for the ADB sub-device. Usually the driver itself is the same for all devices, however Windows does not know this as the drivers provided by Google only contain the device IDs of the Nexus devices.

If you don't mind editing driver configuration files you can add your device-id manually:

Android device not seen by ADB but accessible from Windows
Note that you have to adapt the USB IDs using the vendor and device ID of your Android device (shown in the Windows device manager).

BTW: "Google USB Driver 11 Installed" means you have downloaded and extracted the Google drivers, but not that they are automatically used by Windows.

Usually the best approach is to search for the ADB driver for your device on the manufacturer homepage.