Share Picture to Picasa To begin with, I'm using a Google Apps account as a primary account, and am running 2.2 on a Samsung Captivate, non-rooted. I have Picasa Web Albums checked off under account Sync, and can see my web albums in the Gallery, however, I can't share pictures to Picasa, it's missing from the 'share to' list. Does anyone have any idea how I can set this up?

Found the problem. It's not that Picasa wasn't there as a share option, but rather it was not visible. There were too many items installed that offer this intent, and the Gallery application does not have a scrollable menu. This is apparently a known bug and it's been there for quite a while so it doesn't look like it's going to get fixed either. I now use a different application for sharing to Picasa.


What could be lowering my ringer volume every day? I have a new Pixel 3.
Just about every day, I find the volume of the device is quite low.
I turn it up, only to find it on a low (20%) setting the day after.

What could be resetting my volume to this low setting every day?

I think the answer is the Insight Timer meditation app.
It switches the phone to Do Not Disturb while a timer is activated, but also for some reason puts it on vibrate (a separate setting) and also lowers the ringer volume. I contacted their support.


Infamous Nexus 5x bootloop: why does heating or battery drainage allow it to boot? I have been tinkering with my good old bootlooped Nexus 5x (how I wish there was an affordable Pixel these days!) and after naively thinking it had recovered spontaneously (it seems to have booted because drained battery?) I gave up on it. Then I saw it come to life again as it was bootlooping on top of a hot laptop. I now boot it at will by placing it on my espresso machine's cup warmer!

Why does this happen? What component needs to heat up in order
for the system to work? Before the bootloop, why did it work at
'normal' operating temperatures? What changed after the bootloop?
Why would a drained battery also do the trick?

you should try the 4core fix.

If you can boot your phone and enable oem unloock you are good to go.

Visit this post, there is everything you need.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/tool-bootloop-death-blod-workaround-t3819497

Hope it helped.

Manuel.


Saving a photo attached in text message I have a Galaxy S2, running Android 4.0.3

I can open a photo attached to a text message. How can I save the photo (not the message)?

When in the message window, "long press" the image (hold your finger down on the image for a second or two) and a menu should pop up giving you the option to download or save the attachment.

When you go to your gallery you'll usually see attachments you've downloaded in a folder called "Downloads" or "Messaging."


How can i increase internal storage space,on my LG tribute? Is there anything i can buy to increase my phones internal storage? I.e. a larger sd or sim or an app for my LG tribute? Plz help always getting the annoying "low storage" i currently have a 4gig external sd...thanks

Internal storage is called internal storage for a reason; it's on a flash chip on the motherboard and can't be replaced. You might however be able to move some of your apps to the SD card if your phone supports that. There are apps for that.


How can I stop an ongoing sync process on my Desire? yesterday I decided to upload all my phone's photos using PICASA. I thought the task would have required one hour or so but instead it is still running and is extremely slow! I would like to stop it but it seems impossible, I have the 'notification' of the ongoing process and whatever thing I do (reboot phone, shut down, advanced task killer, android assistant) as soon as I start an internet connection the process appear. Please help me close it!
Thank you!

I'd go to Settings -> Accounts and sync and if you have an entry for Picasa, shut off sync for it.  If that doesn't work disable Background data in the same place, then go to your Media app or wherever you set up the sync and shut it off.  If you can't then you should go to Settings -> Applications -> All and clear the data for the relevant app(s).


Delete folders from the SD storage I have a Nexus 4 smartphone and in external storage there are many folders which I believe to be unused and/or empty.

Is it possible to delete them safely? In other words, if I delete an empty folder that is really needed by an app, will it get recreated automatically or will I break the app?

If they are empty, they can be deleted. They will be recreated as needed. Before deleting them, make sure that they really are empty. As in, not even hidden files are there, except for ones like ".nomedia"


Installing different language on phone Is it possible to install a different language other than the ones already in the system? I want my phone to display in Japanese. Everything...the menus, status bars, labels. Just as if my phone was made in and for Japanese.

Well, your device is bundled with Japanese language support. I think this was started with 2.1 release. If you are using an older version of android (like 2.1 or so), you might want to check this thread on XDA.

If you have a later version of android, simply go to your language settings and select Japanese as @ce4 suggested

There is no need to install Japanese language in your device.


How can I boost the volume on my Droid's speaker? I used to have an app for my Treo called "Volume Care" that let me boost the volume of my speaker beyond what the factory settings allowed.  Is there any app or hack that would allow me to push my Droids speaker further than Motorola wants to allow?

Edit: I thought I was clear before, but let me clarify.  I am not looking for just any volume control app, I have one, I know of many, and believe it or not I am capable of searching the market for the word "volume."  I am specifically looking for a solution that will allow me to push the volume out of my speaker past that current manufacturer set limits.

Update: I just added a bounty so I'll add a bit more clarification.  I have seen apps out there that work with HTC phones only.  This solution/app/hack must work on the Original Moto Droid rooted or not, I want a noticeable increase in the volume.

It seems that Android DSP apps all do different things and you'll have to try different ones to see if they work for your particular phone and ROM.  I haven't had any luck tracking down why this is the case, or even what the apps are doing.  One time I even tried modifying a config file that by all appearances controlled volume levels, to no avail.

I have found one that works for my Note II running OctOS L, and it's called Volume Booster.  It's ad supported, and occasionally stops working, but it's great.  I boost about 25 - 30%, which is loud enough to hear music across a room at a decent level.  At that level, there are sometimes some distortions.  Also, I think it negatively impacts phone audio, but since I don't make many calls, I haven't looked into this problem.

Given the distortion, I think that this app meets your requirement to get louder than the manufacturer intended.  I presume that if I boost too much with this app, it will blow the speaker.

From the Play store:

  Simple, small, free app to boost your speaker or headphone sound
  volume. Useful for movies, audio books and music.

  Use at your own risk. Playing audio at high volumes, especially for a
  prolonged amount of time, can destroy speakers and/or damage hearing.
  Some users HAVE reported destroyed speakers and earphones. If you hear
  distorted audio, lower the volume (but it may be too late).

  By installing this application you agree that you will not hold its
  developer responsible for any damage to hardware or hearing, and you
  are using it at your own risk. Consider this to be experimental
  software.

  Not all devices support this software. Try it at your own risk and see
  if yours works.

  This app does not work on most 4.2.1-4.3 devices. It should work on
  4.4 and higher, as well as on devices below 4.2.1.

  This is not for adjusting the speakerphone volume in phone calls (that
  has its own boost, I think), but for adjusting the volume of music,
  movies and apps.

  When you set the boost to zero, Volume Booster will be off. The
  notification icon is just for ease of launching. If you don't like
  seeing the notification icon when Volume Booster is off, just go to
  Volume Booster's Settings and set it to appear only when Volume
  Booster is running.


Accidently deleted the device calender? Can I recover or add new? My device is an Xperia Z2 D6503 running Android 4.4.4. I was using iCal Import/Export CalDAV to import .ical files into my device calendar.

Using this same app, I accidently deleted my device calendar. I cannot see the 'device calendar' anymore in the list of calendars in my phone's default calendar app.

Can I recover this calendar or add a new device calendar? I am guessing iCal app has deleted com.android.calender.

I guess you have to download a new calendar.

I recommend you get Google Calendar.

Check 12 of the best calendar apps available for your Android smartphone today, See if that helps.


What is the difference between dual sim active and dual sim stand-by? I am Using Sony Xperia Tipo Dual, which is Dual Sim Smartphone, but When i use internet from SIM 1 using Network Mode = GSM only or WCDMA/ GSM the another SIM's says NO NETWORK. When i deactivate my Internet i receive message's from my Network operator that you got missed calls from these numbers. GSMArena says My phone is no dual stand-by.

There are actually three types of dual SIM phones.

Dual SIM Standby (DSS): Only one SIM can be used at a time, 1 radio chip. The phone has single IMEI number.
Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS): Two SIMs can be used at a time, but if one opens a call or data connection, the other is offline. The phone has two different IMEI numbers.
Dual SIM Active (or sometimes Dual SIM Dual Active) (DSA/DSDA): Two SIMs can be used at a time, 2 radio chips. This enables both SIMs to open calls and/or data connection. The phone has two different IMEI numbers.

Since your phone is mentioned as "No dual standby", it means it's a DSS-phone, which allows only one open connection at a time.


Is there a valid Android alternative to iTunes U? iTunes U makes the difference (at least, to me) when it comes to choosing a tablet for study purposes. Does it exist a valid Android alternative to Apple's iTunes U?

For those who don't know iTunes U, it is a service that allows students and teachers to manage, browse and view media (such as videos and pdf files) related to education.

Tunesviewer is an application for Linux or Android that "[allows]  access iTunes-University media and podcasts." (From Tunesviewer main page).

You may want to check it out. There is an APK installer to run on Android devices. It's also available from F-Droid.


Could you indicate me a PDF reader for android with a fit visible feature? Could you indicate me a PDF reader for android with a fit visible feature? It's the same feature that's built in on foxit reader.

I am not sure about Foxit Reader, but I am using the paid ezPDF Reader.

I am really amazed about its ability to show and fit the content to screen when reading columns of text (like in newspaper). It has other super features like horizontal scroll and automatic scroll to next part.


How can install stock Android 4.0 on my rooted Galaxy S2? Possible Duplicate:
  Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

I've just rooted my Galaxy S2 to remove all the Samsung applications.

I wanted to install stock android 4 on my device, but i can't seem to find anywhere where the android zip exists.
So please if you can point me where to find the latest release and how to install it.

Note: I have a Mac so I can't install odin.

There is no official AOSP* rom for Galaxy S II, but there are many custom roms of ICS available. I'd suggest trying Cyanogenmod 9 nightlies, which are not stable yet, but usually work pretty well. You can find more information from the Cyanogenmod Forums, specifically here.

Note that the nightlies come with no guarantees, use at your own risk.

*AOSP: Android Open Source Project, also known as stock or vanilla.


Restoring messages from ClockworkMod backup Here's the story. Today my phone (modded with Cyanogen mod) started bootlooping. So, I did a ClockworkMod backup and went about installing the latest version of Cyanogen mod. When that was done, I restored the backup, but it started bootlooping yet again. So now, I have a fresh install of Cyanogen mod but none of my texts or call logs etc, all my contacts were sync'd from my Facebook anyway so I can get them back easily.

Does anyone know how I can extract my text messages from the ClockworkMod backup without sending my device back into a bootloop?

Cheers!

Use Titanium Backup pro (Paid). It can restore individual apps+data from CWM backups!

It clearly colors data containers with Green. And, names of container which keep contacts etc. vary as per Android version & manufacturer, but they are generally human readable. Keep Green color in mind. If you find Contacts which is not colored with green, its app.. not data container.


Download location for Android 4.4 x86 (64bit) Where can we download following
 Android 4.4 ISO
 Android 4.4 64bit ISO

I have checked at following location
https://code.google.com/p/android-x86/downloads/list

Seems like android-x86 4.3 is the maximum version provided there.

I am searching for ISO to set it up on VM Player/Virtual Box.

It looks like there are no Android 4.4 images ready yet for this. In the download area of the Android X86 project you can find a couple of images and more, starting with Android 1.6 (Donut) and currently reaching up to Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean), and also other useful resources. Might be worth checking there again later, as I would expect they add 4.4 as soon as they have an image ready for that.

I'm not sure whether the Genymotion project (the "next generation" of AndroidVM) offers some image downloads as well, as checking would require one to sign-up first. Genymotion is another VM solution, which AFAIK works together with VirtualBox. It should be quite fast and stable, is based on Android x86, and available for MacOS, Linux, and Windows alike.

EDIT (2014-10-31): The download-area now holds the 4.4 images. A second place to check is the project's downloads at sourceforge, which currently also have the 4.4 images available.


HTC One M7 - Unauthorized in adb After 10 hours spent, it seems that I need to remove /data/misc/adb/adb_key file and restart the phone. But how can I do it if phone is not rooted and adb has no access?

It's a not rooted HTC One M7 Att. I've tried reinstalling drivers many times and reinstalling sdk. I plugged and unplugged usb, changed ports, turned on and off debugging. Nothing helps and rsa dialog doesn't come up. I've also deleted adbkey files in .Android folder on Windows.

I've connected another HTC One and it worked smoothly. So, problem in the phone.

Help?

It looks like you know how this works, but for anyone who may not, normally /data/misc/adb/adb_key contains the public keys of all the computers that have adb access to your device, which on your computer is located somewhere like ~/.android/adbkey.pub.  If you did have root, you could just use su from the Terminal app, then create the file  (say by copying or appending the adbkey.pub file from the /sdcard/ to /data/misc/adb/adb_key).

Without root, it's more challenging.  As you note, the way it's supposed to happen is that connecting a device that's never been seen before will result in you being prompted to accept the key from the RSA dialog on the device.  But if THAT'S not happening, I suspect that something is wrong with the ADB connection itself.  Are you able to verify that adb is working with another device?  The command adb devices issued from your computer can tell if your computer sees the device.  On Linux devices lsusb will also show whether the device is recognized as connected to usb.  Is your computer able to recognize other devices?  You say that you've tried re-running adb-- for anyone who may be reading this, doing an adb kill-server followed by an adb start-server is one way to do this.

If you don't want to root your device, you may consider installing a custom recovery instead such as TWRP2, which will allow you to boot into recovery mode as root temporarily to make the change without having to actually touch the /system partition directly.  When you're done putting your key into place, you can always re-flash the original recovery and should be good-as-new.  Looks like on the HTC One you can use fastboot to flash to the correct partition via the command:  fastboot flash recovery recoveryfilename.img.  Fastboot is part of the SDK, and it's in the /platform-tools directory.  You may need to run it with root privileges.


Change Launcher without starting it I have installed GO Launcher and GO Locker. Now, when I updated them, they got an error.

The problem is that, nothing shows up when I press unlock button (I have Nexus S). So, there's nothing I can do with the phone. There's no display at all. I know the phone is running in the background. I get the tone when I get a message.

I tried to call my phone hoping it'd get unlocked for answering that call. It did get unlocked, but when I answered the call, it got locked again. No display again. But, when the phone was still ringing, I got a Force Close dialog for GO Launcher EX ( not for GO Locker ).

I restarted the phone (removed the battery). When the phone started, it was locked (using the default Android locker). When I try to unlock it, the screen doesn't work.

Now, I am unable to use my phone. The first thing that I'd like to do is change the launcher without starting the phone itself. Is that possible?

Or do I have to restore the factory settings? If I can restore factory settings, I must be able to do so without starting the phone? Can we do that? In Nokia, we can do that by pressing some key combination and restarting the phone. Does that apply here too?

You can try installing a different launcher app via the Android Market web interface.

On your PC go to Play Store and sign in with the same Google account as on your phone.
Find any Home replacement app. Click on the Install button to send the app directly to your phone (if you have several Android devices you will need to select the phone.)
After a few minutes try unlocking your phone. It should ask you to select a launcher app, so pick the one you just installed, or the default one.


Is it possible to install an app and exclude some of its requested permissions? Occasionally I want to install an application which requires certain permissions that I feel it really shouldn't need. Can I install the app without giving it these permissions? For example, GPS location, phone state, internet connection, etc.

Is it possible to change the permissions of an application once it is installed?

Prior to Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)

No. Without a custom ROM it's an all-or-nothing affair. Which is part of the reason Google encourages developers to ensure that they're asking for the absolute minimum permissions required for the app to work.

Short of getting the app code and modifying it, you either need to accept the access request or not use the app. Some alternatives exist if your device is rooted.

Android 4.3/4.4 (partly also 5.x)

There's a semi-hidden permissions manager (App Ops) that can be reached through a third-party app, but doesn't require root or a custom ROM. Android Police has covered it here.

Note, however, that Google has said that this was released in error, and newer versions of Android have once again disabled this.

Android 4.4+

Additionally to above mentioned App Ops, here you can also use the Xposed Framework (for Android 5+ see here) with modules like Xprivacy or Protect My Privacy. While this will require your device to be rooted, it offers additional functionality.

Android 6+

marcioggs outlined functionalities provided in Android M in a separate answer.


Is it enough to restore /data with ClockworkMod? (Maybe changing systems as well I definitely don't want to restore cache files. Why would I want to restore system files as well? If I understood Izzy's answer here, as a normal user (not a system developer) all I need is to restore the /data folder, right? Should work when changing systems under it.

As I understand, Titanium Backup is also not needed when using Nandroid/ClockworkMod.

By "normal user" I mean that I'm not a developer.

As explained in my comments on the question itself: a restore is more than just the .apk files. All parts of the system need to fit together, or you might run into trouble (unstable system, things not working as expected, apps crashing, and the like). There are different approaches to backup and restore, and one should not mix them without the required experience.
Nandroid
A Nandroid backup (as it's done by e.g. ClockworkMod) basically creates full images of all your device's partitions, without any abstraction. This does not necessarily mean one could not pick single items out of a Nandroid backup, but its not that trivial. If you restore a single partion only (such as /data), it must fit the other parts of the system. The /data partition also holds the /data/dalvik-cache, for example, which consists of the byte-code for all installed apps, optimized for the ROM which created it. If you e.g. would restore the /data partition from a backup of ROM-X to a device with ROM-Y, those DEX (Dalvik EXecutables) would not fit. Also ROM-Y might use different directory structures for several things, which are not reflected here.
You see, it would not be such a good idea.
ADB Backups
Backups created with the adb backup command are a different case: they are "abstracted". If you look into such an archive, you will not find the directory structure reflected. Thus at least in theory, an app backup (including the apps' data) created on ROM-X should restore fine on ROM-Y, as the ADB daemon on the device should take care of what belongs where.
Titanium backup
Somehow comparable with the afore-mentioned ADB backup. TiBu uses its own format, and furthermore offers a "migration mode" when restoring backups from a different ROM. TiBu can also extract apps/data from Nandroid (and ADB?) backups, and hopefully fits them in fine even between different ROMs.
Other details
As you correctly noted: No, Titanium Backup is not needed to restore a Nandroid backup. The same script collection (Nandroid) used for the backup process would take care for the restore as well, again from the same place (ClockworkMod recovery). But as described above: Titanium Backup is able to read from backup files created with Nandroid.
As a last line, I want to repeat what I wrote in the beginning: Nandroid, ADB Backup, and Titanium are using completely different concepts. Though it is possible to mix them on a restore, this should only be done by experienced users understanding those concepts and knowing what they are doing.


Phone frozen for a short time after unplugging from charger When my screen is off and I unplug my Nexus 4 from the charger, the phone is frozen with the screen off for about 10 seconds. Power/volume buttons have no effect and the phone will not wake.

If the screen is on when I unplug, there is no problem and the phone is responsive.  This isn't really a big issue, but I'm just curious as to why it happens and what's going on with my phone during that time. Any ideas?

Do you use a nexus 4? This should not be happening with your phone as nexus 4 is quite a fast one. It happens with slow phones especially when you have battery saving apps installed. Try formatting your phone and deleting apps you don't need.


Execution problem with secondary user on nexus 7 2013 I have created 2 more users on my Nexus 2013.
The problem with these 2 non-administrator users is, I can not run a lot of apps which work fine on admin user (ex ilmeteo.it - "Baby bus" children games......).

These applications start and close automatically with the report "....the applicationname closed unexpectedly..."

How can give the correct permissions on the secondary users to excute all the applications?

If you can add an app to a restricted profile, but it won't work in a restricted profile, that's a bug in the app. Only the developer of the app can fix it: you should report the problem to them through their official support channel so that they can fix it.


Can Android extract zip files? Can Android extract zip files?  If so, could you please explain the process of downloading and extracting a zip file?

Yes, provided you've got an application to deal with zip files, you should be just fine:

WinZip for Android

By default there's already apps within your OS to deal with zip files:

Best is access a zip file thru your browser, download an open one. A window should pop-up, with some recommended apps already on your system.


How to get into recovery mode if - My both volume keys are broken
the phone is stuck in a boot loop
while playing a game and using game guardian to hack it my battery died and when i started it this sh*t happened.
so no use of cable and adb as soon as i connect battery and press power button the screen lits up for 1 sec and no result but when i connect charger the phone start and the foll. text appears
Powered by- android
micromax bolt

and the the processes repeats itself.

Is this fault of rooting or game guardian (for precaution)

please help.

Unless your device has a save switch to put it in download mode without using physical keys, you are stuck in this.

Some devices can be forced to download mode by shorting specific circuit.
You can also try to short the volume button to make it appear it is pressed.


What might cause my phone to spontaneously stop booting into its custom ROM and only reboot into recovery mode? My phone is a Samsung Vibrant running CyanogenMod 10.0 (Android 4.1.2).  I rebooted my phone, as I do every few days, and instead of starting up CyanogenMod as usual, it dumped me into the ClockworkMod recovery.  No matter how many times I select the option to reboot, the phone always just dumps me back into recovery.

There seems to be something suspect about the /system partition.

Looking at the log under the advanced menu, it says can't mount /system.
Going to the mounts and storage menu and trying to mount /system, I get the error failed to mount /dev/lvpool/system: invalid argument.

The problem was that the ext3/ext4 filesystem on /dev/lvpool/system, normally mounted at /system, had a corrupt superblock.  The fix was to connect to the phone with adb and run e2fsck manually, like so:

# ./adb shell
# e2fsck /dev/lvpool/system
e2fsck 1.41.11 (14-Mar-2010)
e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
Backing up journal inode block information.

/dev/lvpool/system: clean, 11/25600 files, 3310/102400 blocks
# exit

After doing this, the reboot option in ClockwordMod recovery brought CyanogenMod back up with no issues.

A large amount of googling provided no guidance in this direction, so I'm posting this Q&A in the hopes that it saves someone else the chore of digging through forums and/or reinstalling their recovery and/or ROM in vain.


Remove account without affecting the data I have a phone with a Google account from an external provider (namely gazeta.pl). At one moment, due to policy reasons, the mail provider changed the platform from Google to proprietary system. So it's no longer a Google account.

I have all the contacts connected to this old account. The same situation with all the apps in the store. I can't log to it anymore via Google means. I have another regular gmail connected as well, I can install new apps, but cannot update anything (especially Google play services).

I need to have access to Play Store and update system. My best call is to remove the old account, but this will lead to losing all the contacts (SMS as well? I'm not sure). How to proceed without manually rewriting contacts? I would like to have them connected to my new gmail.

The way I see it, the only problem you have is losing your contacts if you sign out of your Google Account.

First of all, your contacts on your Google Account can be accessed on
Google Contacts, so signing out of your Google Account on your phone doesn't necessarily mean losing all of your contacts on that account.

Secondly, transferring contacts from one Gmail account to another is fairly easy, and you can find a step by step guide on how to do so Here


The Keyboard Freezes, App Crashes I'm running on CyanogenMod and in the middle of typing, the keyboard would freeze heavily and crash/minimize and I can't get it back up. This lasts for about a minute.

If your screen blinks and/or keyboard freezes, go into

Settings --- > Developer options and make sure the following are checked.
Disable HW Overlays and
Force GPU Rendering

Now it should be blink/flash-freeze-free


How to clean app cache using script every time the phone boot? I know there's many app that clean cache every boot but I would like to use init.d/script to save storage.
Dalvik-cache is /data/dalvik-cache/arm/ as I can just rm -rf *
But, app cache is located at /data/data/app_name/cache and don't know how to automate it, because cache folder is a sub-directory
I'm new to bash scripting and this would help me significantly in programming overall
Phone is magisk'ed Android 10.

I forgot array is such a thing. I solved my own problem
# Assigning app-name into $apps
apps=($(ls /data/data/))

# Looping each app
for app in "${apps[@]}"; do

  # Deleting $app/cache/ contents
  rm -rf /data/data/$app/cache/*
  done


How to allow installation of Non-Market apps (ICS)? I'm attempting to install the exynos fix after downloading the .apk file.
When I open the file to run, the system tells me that I cannot install apps that did not originate from Google Play.
After some googling I found an article that shows a workaround, however when I go to:
Home → Settings → Applications

I see a list of applications and memory usage. It's the same window I see if I go to:
Home → Settings → Storage → Applications

Ergo, I am not finding where I can tick Unknown Sources.
How do I access the actual Application Settings shown below?

In ICS and JB, you should find this option in Settings  →  Security in a section called "Device Administration"


status bar with icons to simulate home or power button press i'm rooted on android 4.0.4 ICS stock.
i would like to have a status bar that even shows in full screen, which can have an icon to simulate a home button press and an icon to simulate a power button press. anyone know of an available way to do this on this rom or another rom?
thank you,

You always can install Button Savior on rooted ROMs (however I'm not aware if it has compatibility problems with some). It worths a try, because it's free (but also has a pro version to purchase).

It allows you to add hardware keys of your phone as virtual software keys on any location of the screen. So you can easily trigger home or back keys just by touching their icons on screen, even on full-screen apps and games.


Not able to login in Gtalk when using GPRS connection working perfectly when using WIFI connection I am using a Samsung Galaxy S2. I am not able to log in to Gtalk or Gmail. The apps cannot load conversations when using a GPRS connection (error message: could not connect to server). But when I access Gmail through the browser using GPRS it works perfectly. Internet runs perfectly without any error.

Also these apps works perfectly when using a Wifi connection. Any suggestions on what the problem might be?

Besides being an APN issue, as pointed out by Aadi, it could also be that your current mobile contract does not allow some type of mobile communication (like GTalk). You should contact your mobile carrier and ask him.


How to modify or remove the No SIM Card message on lock screen? Just in case: I'm using a OnePlus Two US Model (ONE A2005 / tocino) running Android 5.1.1 with MoKee (MK51.1-tocino-160403-RELEASE). I have root and xposed running as well. Using Nova Launcher, but lock screen is built in with the ROM (as in unchanged).

I'm been looking for a way to remove the "No SIM Card - Emergency calls only" from my lock screen. It would be better if I can modify the line with a custom message; replacing it, basically.

I tried looking for this online, but the only resources I found is to remove the No SIM Card icon and notification on the home screen.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Since you are rooted and comfortable with custom ROMs and Xposed etc, you can use Clean Lockscreen.

If you don't want to use an Xposed module, add the following line to your build.prop file: (After you made a backup!)

ro.config.donot_nosim=true

Now reboot your device. If you still see this message change this line:

ro.config.tima=1

To this:

#ro.config.tima=1

Then reboot your phone, and if that didn't work, change the previous line to this:

ro.config.tima=0


How can I tell if an app can be a "link" target? I have a couple of Bible apps on my phone. Sometimes, other apps link to a Bible verse, but they usually either embed a Bible viewer in the app or only work with a particular app.

I would like to be prompted for an app in the same way that one is prompted for a browser when clicking a link. But this doesn't happen. Why?

Is it the fault of:

The app generating the link;
The Bible app(s) I have installed;
Android itself; or
Some combination of the above?

I'm running Android 4.0.1 (MIUI) on an HTC/Google Nexus One.

Short and put in lay terms:

There's no standard defined on how to pass this information between apps, so there are no two apps who can interact the way you want.

Longer and with some more detailed information:

The app-selection menu for e.g. a browser or a homescreen only appears when multiple apps announce their being-available for  a certain service, and only when this service is called (to put it in easy words; the longer and more technical variant talks about intents and listerners). While web-browsers and homescreens are somehow "generic services" existing on all Android devices, there are standard "intents" defined (see e.g. this question on stackoverflow for opening a page in a browser -- or this question here which probably explains it even better).

As long as there is no corresponding intent (with a defined API for how to pass it the specific chapter:verse to show), your wish can not be fulfilled. Moreover, application developers must implement this into their apps before you can use it.

As to my knowledge neither such API exists nor is it implemented -- there cannot exist any programs acting according to your wishes (except, of course, both are from the same developer; if two or more agreed on terms of how to handle this, that already would mean defining an API).


Alarm which could Ring even when Device is Off Android smartphones are smarter than traditional mobile phones in all aspects, but I am unable to find this smartness in one aspect: In those classic mobile phones, there was an option to ring the alarm even when device was off. The device was turned on temporarily to ring alarm, then turned off.

How to do this in an Android device? I know, its not possible by app unless supported by firmware. So, I am asking for ROM hacks etc.

Please, don't answer if its "You Can't" or "Not Possible" etc..

NoMoarPowah! (alternative link) can boot the phone up based on your scheduled alarms, in time for them to ring.  It only works on certain Samsung devices.


Generate a browser bookmark from file manager We are developing a web site that will all be local to an android tablet. The idea is we create the web app, copy the web app to MicroSD cards and distribute the SD cards.

Right now, when you open the file manager and browse to the location and open index.html , the file manager does a terrible job and displaying any of the HTML.

In order to view the page in a browser, you have to type: file:///Removable/MicroSD/MyApp/index.html

That isn't very intuitive. Is it possible to create a file that gets executed from the file manager that will create a bookmark and place it on the home screen that points to the location I stated above? Thanks.

As suggested by t0mm13b in his comment on your question, a shortcut on the desktop is the easiest way. This requires you to first open the page with your browser, and create a bookmark for it (you will see later why this step is required).

As you stated not to be able to add the shortcut in the usual way, here comes an alternative approach:

Some tablets come with a launcher that only offers wallpaper settings on long press (I have some of those as well). In this case, oben the app drawer (where you can find all your apps), and switch to the "widgets" tab (usually by swiping the page from right to left). You will see the word "Widgets" highlighted on top. Now look out for the "bookmarks" widget. You may be offered multiple of them, from "1x1" to "4x4" (the numbers here specify the size the widget will consume on your screen). You can play with them to find the one suiting you best. Long-PRess it, and the drawer behind it will "fade out" -- instead your homescreen(s) will display. Drop the widget where you want to have it.

Now it will ask you for which bookmark you want to use for the widget. Chose the bookmark you created in your browser at the beginning. Now the widget should be created on your homescreen.


Configure Android to save pictures/video to SDCard? The camera settings only save it to the phone or the internal virtual SD card.  I have installed a 32 bit hispeed SD card. How can you force it to save in the external SD card?

It varies from phone to phone, but generally in your camera settings you can set a destination. If that's not an option, you can try something more creative with an app such as tasker to have it automatically move pictures that your camera adds to its folder to a different folder on the SD card. If your stock camera app doesn't let you though, there are solid camera apps on the play store that certainly do.


Does LineageOS allow us to install apps via Google Play? Someone told me we can't install Google apps after installing LineageOS and it doesn't support Google Play.
What is the truth behind this? Can I access Google Play in LineageOS?

LineageOS is Open Source OS. Google apps like Play Store, Gmail, Maps etc are proprietary Google products and cannot be bundled with LineageOS due to licencing issues.
However, you can always download these Google Apps Packages (Gapps) to run with LineageOS. These come in different flavors, starting with minimal Google services to full fledged suite of Google Apps . For more details see LineageOS Wiki. Related Which version of Gapps to install for Lineage?
So, LineageOS by itself does not have Google Play  but by installing Gapps of your choice, you can have Google Play and other Google apps of your choice.


Rooted, then flashed, now not able to root again /system is always read-only I rooted my Android ICS with some script.
It was rooted then I installed and removed some system application.
Then I formatted the device and re-installed the ICS.

Now when I try to root it again it gives error could not copy are you a root?
I searched for that and finally found that though I re-flashed it any times.
/system is read-only.
So then after I tried

adb shell
mount

then command of mount and it gives error permission denied.
Please help to reset the permission of /system so I can manually add the su file in it.

The technique i used to Root is at this link.
Then i format using cwm and install new rom. Now i am not able to root it.

I have posted the question on same link shown in question. Till that i tried everything format SD card totally, also tried different roms of ICS still it was not worked.

Then as in reply i got on that forum saying install gingerbread rom then root it, use OTA root keeper and upgrade.

So i did similar to that i installed gingerbread.

Then i formatted all using cwm. Then i installed new ICS refrec v2 rom. And then after i tried to root it. And it worked.
Hope so if anyone face the same problem they can downgrade to GB then again move to ICS to root it after flash if their favorite rom doesn't come rooted. :)


Does my screen have burn in or is it something else? My Samsung Galaxy S7 appears to have burn in, just like in this image:

(Not my phone. Image from Android Authority)

The difference is that no matter how hard I look, I can't see any icons or any other irregularities in the white bar. It appears to be perfectly uniform. It's exactly where my notification bar is in portrait mode, but I use my phone in landscape mode a lot too, and there is no colour/brightness difference at the side.

Also, the white bar is brighter than the remainder of the screen: I would expect burn in to make it duller.

What is causing this?

burn in
hardware
software

Most likely you are right, your display is affected by a burn-in effect.

The Galaxy S7 is equipped with an OLED display, this means that every small pixel is a small LED based on organic chemicals that can be individually lit.

The problem of OLED displays is that the longer and more often a pixel is lit, the pixel is aging and getting very slowly darker and darker.

Based the screen shot I would agree with you that this was caused by the Android task bar which is usually black (not lit pixels means no aging) whereas the rest of the screen above the task bar is usually not black and therefore is affected by the aging effect.

May be you often accidentally activate the screen when the phone is in your pocket (and therefore in portrait mode)?

Usually modern OLED displays should have implemented counter measures to reduce the effect that different parts of the screen are aging in different speed. However it looks like in your case this mechanism wasn't able to fully compensate this effect.

What you can do: The pixels aged pixels that have lost a bit of brightness can't be restored. Therefore the only way is to force the remaining usually black pixels and increase their aging.
This can be done by displaying an image that have all pixels black except for the area that is brighter (the area below the red arrows on your image). If you display this image on your screen for some hours a day you will see that the pixels will slowly will adapt their brightness to the pixels on the rest of the screen.


USB charger produces high-pitched noise while the battery is full I have Nexus 5 and I recently bought the European version of the PowerCube, which combines three power outlets with two USB chargers. I noticed that as soon as my smartphone's battery is full, it starts producing a high-pitched whistling noise.

It stops when I unplug the phone or when its charge drops below 100%. Neither of my parents can hear it because it's outside their hearing range. Should I be worried?

This is indicative of poorly designed/ defective piece and best replaced ASAP.

From bwDraco's answer on Why do some AC adapters and power supplies generate a whining noise, and what can I do about it? (emphasis added; missing text denoted by "....")

Most modern AC adapters are switched-mode power supplies. The internal switching frequency of an SMPS is typically low when unloaded and increases with load up to a certain point depending on the design. The no-load frequency is often low enough to be within the human hearing range....Under load, a properly functioning SMPS should operate at a frequency well above the human hearing range, typically 50 KHz or higher (although some older designs operate at 33 kHz). However, the same noise can occur under load with a poorly designed or defective power supply as the coils may vibrate under electrical stress at a subharmonic frequency....As such, a defective device can generate audible coil whine during operation

From iHelix150's post on Why does my phone charger make a horrible high-pitched noise when it's plugged in? And can I stop it?

Most switching power supplies use a switching frequency above 20-30KHz so the human ear can never hear it. However for one that is in the 10-20KHz range, the switching is sometimes translated into audio frequency noise ....The noise changes based on how much power is being consumed by your phone....Unfortunately the way to stop it is to just buy a new cell phone charger, ideally one that's not a cheap piece .... If your phone charger is not a cheap piece .... (note that whether or not it's a cheap piece .... has nothing to do with how much you paid for it) its possible its capacitors were damaged by spikes, surges or other bad quality power problems, in which case you should invest in a good quality surge suppressor with noise filtering.


Zoom in/out via external keyboard In there a way to get the effect of (zoom out/pinch put)/in with external mouse and or/keyboard?
For games like angry birds or using google earth.

Hold the key Ctrl and  ↓  on your keyboard. Two little opaque circles will appear near your mouse. Hold down the left button of your mouse  and move those little circles. It will zoom in-and-out just using two fingers.


How to change alarm sound to an MP3 I've tried creating an "alarms" folder on the root of my SD card on my Galaxy Note 3 (Jelly Bean 4.3) then unmounting and mounting it again. Didn't work. Tried an application (Tone Picker) to let me put the song as an alarm but still the song doesn't show up. When I select the song from Clock JB+, I can easily select the song with the File Manager app but the song won't be found when the alarm sounds then it will just sound the regular "beep" alarm

Get Alarm Clock Xtreme Free. There is also a paid version which removes the ads.


Fast Charging by Qualcomm 3.0- impact on battery? I am thinking of buying HTC one A9

My only concern is with fast charging . I have read this thread How does fast charging work? and understood the downside is mainly on battery life. Accepted answer seems to be  based on Qualcomm 2.0 and not the latest

HTC one A9 uses the latest Qualcomm 3.0 technology which is claimed to be 38% more efficient.  I am confused , whether less charging time means less damage to battery life or more?

My question

Is it better or worse for battery life compared to earlier technology and how / why?

Short Answer

From battery health point of view, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 is comparatively better than Qualcomm  Quick Charge 2.0, since power used for charging is better controlled, resulting in lesser heat

Quick review of concepts (optional read)

Essential concepts  are summarised here in bullet form. Some of these have been elaborated in  How does Fast Charge work?

Charging Efficiency:  Conventional (not fast) charging efficiency is close to 100%

  Charge efficiency is about 99 percent and the cell remains cool during charge.

Heating of Battery while Charging:  is inevitable, given the space (lack of) for heat dissipation but needs to be in limits - All about Battery Chargers says

  Li-ion should not rise more than 10ºC (18ºF) above ambient when reaching full charge.

Battery charging stages each requiring different Power (= Voltage multiplied by Current) as depicted in Fig 1. As an example, as battery charges up, it slowly draws less and less current, which is partly why it takes longer to charge the last 20 percent than the first.
Adverse effects of quick charging: Quick charging, turbo charging, adaptive fast charging, rapid charging are different names meaning the same- fast charging. OEMs have  implemented it under various trade names ) speeds up charging process by increasing power. This has adverse effects on health of battery

a)  Battery is not fully charged, since it does not spend adequate time in all the stages of charging (which happens during conventional charging)

b)  Heating up of battery. Power which cannot be absorbed by the battery (for charging) is dissipated as Heat, which is the biggest enemy of battery.  Ideally,   Fast charging of most batteries should be

  limited to a temperature of 5 to 45°C (41 to 113°F); for best results consider narrowing the temperature bandwidth to between 10°C and 30°C (50°F and 86°F)

c)   As a combined effect of a) and b) above, battery life is adversely affected both in short and long term (incomplete charge and reduced life cycles )

Long Answer

Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 supported four modes at varying power levels, 5 volts/2amps, 9V/2A, 12V/1.67A, and a 20 volt option
Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0  has major new feature  INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage), which allows for

  A fine tuned power output and a more optimized charging cycle. Quick Charge 3.0’s INOV communicates with the device to request any voltage between 3.2V and 20V at 200mV increments, allowing for a wider selection of voltages
  INOV has the added benefit of being able to dynamically adjust the charging voltage over the battery charging cycle

( Linked source has a video explaining this and graphical comparison is pasted in the  section at end of answer )

This granular variation of voltage to control power , results in

  27% faster charging than Quick Charge 2.0 (2x faster than the original Quick Charge 1.0) while
  Reducing power dissipation by 45%
  Increasing power efficiency by 38%, and being friendlier to the battery life cycle.
  You're looking at 4 times faster charging compared to regular charging, and devices capable of jumping from 0% to 80% in about 35 minutes.

To summarise, granular fine control on voltage and in turn on power supplied for charging is the key innovation  that results in these improved figures.  Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 had only one  voltage level relevant to mobile devices- 5V, whereas Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 has  9 variations possible from 3.2V to 5V in steps of 200 mV. This granularity offers tight control on power delivered for charging in a dynamic manner as required

Point to note, is that controlled power supply for charging means less power wasted, therefore less heat and better for battery

To good to be true? This technology looks impressive but there is a major caveat

All comparisons are with reference to Quick Charge 2.0 and comparative figures for version 2.0 over Quick Chargeversion 1.0 or with conventional charging are not available in public domain ( for obvious reasons, for that matter, similar figures for Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 over 1.0 are also not available)
These figures reflect the capability of Qualcomm Quick Charge  technology. Realization in device depends on hardware and OS implementation

Compatability with old chargers: Quick Charge 3.0 will be backward compatible with the technology's previous iterations (so your old chargers and cables should still work), and can be implemented with USB Type-C, USB Type-A, MicroUSB, and proprietary connectors.

Conclusion

Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 is safer than Quick Charge 2.0 as far as battery health is concerned as indicated by figures shared
Whether you get the claimed performance is yet to be seen. HTC A one 9 appears to be the first device to hit the market with this technology and we should get better feedback as more devices enter with this technology
Charging by power pack/ power bank (to avoid being in a battery drained situation and when you don't have access to mains) is a better option over fast charging
Regular charging using a standard 5V 2A ( conventional charger ) should be preferred mode with fast charging resorted to when actually needed
Most of the battery apps on Play Store measure the battery temperature also. You could measure the temperature after charging and compare with guidelines mentioned at 2, 5 of "Quick Review of Concepts" to get an idea of how it affects your device

Additional Information to dig deeper

List of supported devices: Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 lists out the devices using various versions of its technology, though probably slow to update
Evolution of Qualcomm Quick Charge technology:  Comparison between 3.0 vs 2.0 vs 1.0

Choosing a Charger: HTC A one 9 does not come with a charger ! This XDA thread discusses chargers and may be of use


Alternative contacts app, faster than Google's with 2000 contacts? Google's Contacts app is very slow to load when I want to quickly get a friend's phone number.

Is there a quicker/lighter contacts app?
I have found nothing fast enough in the Market.

My dream app:

Loads the list of ~2000 contacts in less than ~3 seconds.
No need for picture/details in the main list, just name.
Can import contacts list from vcard or similar.

I will recommend Dialer One. I am 99% sure it can show contacts without pictures. It has lots of customization options, t9 search in contacts in slew of different languages. I have 900+ contacts and is really fast, I hope it works that way for 2000 contacts. Be sure to fiddle with the options after giving it a try.


Is it possible to use Prey on a non-phone device? This answer to a question asked earlier today reminded me that I had been wanting to check out Prey because I had heard some good things about it. I ended up installing it and creating an account, but it appears you can only activate Prey on a lost device via an SMS message. Their original announcement for the Android version notes this, and it looks like things haven't changed (insofar as I can tell, anyway).

This is fine for my EVO, but I also have a Motorola Xoom and I'm not sure how it would work in this case. Also of note: I don't have a data plan on the Xoom, I just use it for wifi. It is a 3G version because I wanted to have the option of possibly adding a data plan later, but it has never been authenticated on Verizon's network.

The Xoom is supported and I can install Prey from the Market just fine, but is there any way for me to activate Prey if my Xoom - or any device that can't receive an SMS - was ever lost or stolen?

It doesn't look like there's an alternative to SMS activation just yet. Here's what they say on the Prey blog (emphasis mine):

  Prey for Android works the same way as it does in Portables and
  Desktops. The only difference is that there’s no standalone mode
  (yet), and the activation is not done via the Control Panel, but
  by sending an SMS to your phone with any message you want.

As this is currently meant for phones, if you have no data plan on a device, it cannot recieve an SMS and therefore cannot activate Prey remotely.

The good news is that it seems like standalone mode is being introduced in newer versions post v0.51, and only on Android 2.2 and above (no issue in the case of you Xoom)


Why is "wpa_supplicant.conf" file invisible? My device LG e510 : Android 2.3 had been rooted and then I changed the privileges to view and see some system files, especially for wpa_supplicant.conf, with RootExplorer app.

But unlike most people, I can not see the file inside /data/misc/wifi/ directory, it's empty and /system/etc directory has wpa_supplicant.conf header information file.

Lastly I used WifiPassRecovery app, and the app immediatelly retrieved all the saved wifi passwords.

Where did this app retrieve all those informations? and Why cannot I see the file?

Thanks.

On the Galaxy S, the credentials are stored in /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf (where bcm is short for Broadcom).  Other common locations include /data/wifi/, /data/etc/wifi/ and /data/misc/wifi/ — check them for relevant config files.


Protection from Malicious Intent Is there an app, or will Google produce a system, where I can protect my Android device?

Imagine a soundboard app that's free, but it asks for your contact information. The average user might be naive and just click OK on permissions. About 24 hours later, they start receiving spam email, telemarketing phonecalls to home or mobile phone, or even direct mail to their street address. Now imagine that same app, but criminals wrote it and they now have access to your cameras or microphone. Sure, you opted in on permissions because you didn't know better, but now the criminals can listen in remotely at any time, or even watch you.

I want to permit apps to do certain tasks including camera or microphone usage, or even contact access, but I want to know exactly what's going on for that access. I want to know if it's selling or marketing with my identity information. I want to know if it's going to spy on me remotely.

EDIT: Bruce Schneier and others have commented on this problem recently here:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/08/eavesdropping_s.html

Google does do occasional audits. There were apparently some wallpaper apps recently that were doing nefarious stuff and were pulled from the Market and any phones they'd been installed on.

It's imperative that users pay attention to the permissions that are being requested (Why would a wallpaper need to know "Phone state" or my Contacts?) and simply not install anything that looks wonky. Pay attention to the ratings and the comments and, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Everybody wants everything for free. The price of that is that your marketing demographics are being sold to anyone willing to pay for them. I don't begrudge developers the ability to make a profit.


How to Delete Voicemails from VVM App Using Tasker I have a Tasker program which first seeks out T-Mobile visual voice mail, using root, and then copies them to the internal SD card.  From there, they are auto-synced to a Dropbox account. The copying and syncing work fine, but I'm having trouble deleting the original messages in the /data/data directory.

The problem seems to be that the voice mails can be deleted, but the VVM app still shows them. They show up as voice mails, but with the play button greyed out, implying there's no audio file anymore. The other information, like caller, date, time, and message length, is still observable in the app.

The process for deleting the messages is simply to use a File Delete command within Tasker, again referencing the /data/data/... T-Mobile directory. Trying to delete the entire directory doesn't work.

Is there a way to remove the messages from the VVM app as well? Perhaps by using an intent?

Deleting info on the Visual Voice Mail app itself was as simple as deleting the db file. This was located just above the folder containing the voice mails. It was in the format: xxx-xxx-xxxx@tmobile.db.

I used Tasker to delete that file, and then went back into the app. No more voicemail showing.

It's probably best practice to delete the cache files as well.

Haven't had any problems receiving new voicemail. Therefore, there's no reason to try and use an intent to do the same thing. Without the database file, the app can't find any info on deleted voice mail messages, so it thinks they don't exist.


White Background In Landscape Text Input I'm sorry to bother you but I couldn't find anything anywhere on this:

I installed CM a couple of days ago on my Samsung i9305 (Galaxy S3 LTE - CM stable release 10.1.3 based on Android 4.2.2) and so far am very happy about it. There is one thing to annoy me though and I couldn't find a way to change it.

I'm using my phone a lot to write, especially when it's dark, so naturally I've chosen dark themed text editors.
On portrait, text input is as it should, I can write simply within the dark themed app.
As soon as I put the phone in portrait mode (which is desired for longer texts), I get this awful white text input thing popping up with the "done"-button on its side which really takes me out of it (Form editor?).
I have searched the settings high and low, tried changing the theme and have tried installing other keyboards (which has nothing to do with it but it was worth a shot) but no success.

Is there any way to get rid of that function?
It may be possible for it to just be an Android 4.2.2 feature, which I would find odd since it breaks the immersion into an app, so the question remains.

Thank you very much for your effort.

I assume you have a screen like this one? There's a way to disable the so called "fullscreen landscape keyboard". Some custom roms have feature an option by default, but not CyanogenMod.

What you could try is to download the Xposed Framework and disable that fullscreen landscape keyboard through Xposed Modules like "Gravity Box" or "XBlast Tools".

Those two modules also feature a lot of other useful tweaks.

I hope I understood you correctly and that this will be helpful.

EDIT: Those two modules I mentioned above may be a bit confusing at first. So I would rather recommend this module instead: No Fullscreen Keyboard Xposed - Android Apps on Google Play


Does battery drain faster if I don't use 'Lock Screen' feature? Questions explains it all. I don't use any kind of lock screen on my phone. A home screen appears directly if I wake up the screen. So what's better? Using lock screen or not using it.
Note - Security is not my concern.

If the lock screen uses widgets, like weather, news aggregators, notifications, etc, then it's likely to use more battery.

Personally, I just use the plain swipe lock screen without additional widgets.


Anker Keyboard not working with Samsung 10.1 2014 tablet running 4.4.2 The blue tooth Anker key board used to work with my tablet but started behaving weirdly after I upgraded to Android 4.4.2. It connects and appears to work but once I type "n" it will begin to repeat the letter endlessly aftwards. I would think it was a mechanical problem but it works fine with my phone running Android 5.1.
I have seen comments on the web that suggest it is incompatible with android 4.4.2. I tried the External Key helper demo app that people have suggested but that did not help and I have not seen any other suggestions of a work around or a fix. I would upgrade if I could but despite rumours there is a lot of doubt that Samsung will upgrade this tablet ( not impressed with that either).
Can anybody help?

I don't know if this will help at all, but I had a problem with the Shift Key not working when I had a USB keyboard plugged into my Android phone and I found a solution.  Maybe the solution I found for my problem will fix your problem as well.  If not, I do apologize.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 Android phone.  I purchased a USB external physical keyboard that can connect with my Windows computers and my Android devices (via micro USB).  The keyboard worked fine when I plugged it into my Windows computers.  The keyboard worked pretty well Android phone, except for the fact that the Shift Key didn't do anything when I held it down and pressed other keys (to capitalize letters, type symbols found above the number keys, etc.).  I tried a lot of stuff to get the Shift Key to work on my USB keyboard when I had it plugged into my phone. I couldn't get the Shift Key to work when I used the stock Google/Android keyboard app, the Samsung Keyboard app, or the SwiftKey Keyboard app. After a lot of trial and error with apps and settings (and a lot of frustration), I FINALLY came across an app  that DOES solve the Shift key problem: The "Go Keyboard" app on the Google Play app store.

After I installed this app and set it as the default keyboard app on my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S5), the Shift key  worked just fine when I used it while it was plugged into my Android phone (allowing me to capitalize letters and  type symbols above the number keys).

I hope this works for you, too!


How to set default alarm ringtone in Android 6.0? With my new Moto E3, every time I open Clock application (to enable some alarm) I see a message:

  Default alarm ringtone is silent [Change]

When I tap on Change I'm redirected to Sounds & notification section of Settings, where I can only see Phone ringtone and Default notification ringtone. Both set (not silent). As for alarm I can only see alarm volume (not ringtone) which is also around half (50%) and thus not silent as well.

When I open settings of Clock application itself, I can see a cool set of nice settings, but -- again -- nothing around default (or not default) alarm ringtone.

How can I set default alarm ringtone or otherwise get rid if this a bit annoying reminder?

I've been out of "Android world" for around two years or so. Last version I've used was 4.3.5, but I can hardly recall something like default alarm ringtone. If I'm not mistaken, there was default tone for notifications and default ringtone, but alarm tone was always set per each alarm separately.

BTW: Since this is a system-level notification, I assume that using 3rd party app won't solve this.

Answer is - use  "ES Explorer"

Very strange, but "System settings" have only Ringtone and Notification, and no Alarm-clock sound. I think it is a bug. Maybe that setting should be in Clock app, but it also no.

Steps:

Play any music file you would like to set as default ringtone for the alarm in ES Media Player
Click three dot button [:] in top right corner
Select Set ringtone
Now set ringtone dialogue will open. Choose Set alarm
Now open Clock app. You should not see the warning


Google Calendar on Android opens to old date by default When I open Google Calendar on my Android phone, it starts up showing October 1 2011. The phone knows the current date; pressing menu and then the today button goes to the correct day. I'd just like it to default to today like it did before 10/1. Any ideas?

This is Calendar 2.3.6, Android 2.3.6 GKR39F, on a Nexus s.

This forum thread seems to describe the same problem, but it's unresolved.

looks like this is a bug caused by agenda view and multi-day calendar entries. if you have one that includes the current day, calendar opens to the first day of that entry. fortunately, i think the bug is fixed upstream: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=21605

simplest workaround is to delete the multi-day entry. :/


Android HTC G7 without Google applications I recently got an Android HTC G7 phone which claims to be Android 2.2. But I do not see any Google applications installed (market, maps etc). Is there a way to install these libraries and get started?

The G7 is not actually made by HTC, it's a cheap knockoff.  I don't believe it actually runs Android.


Check if call is coming from a fixed or mobile phone with tasker I'm setting up a profile in tasker that sends a text message to everyone who calls me during a meeting. However, I don't want to waste my my credit by sending messages to fixed phones. How can I check if the call came from a mobile phone before sending the message?

Where I live, all mobile numbers start with 9 or 8, so I thought I might be able to use that. But I haven't be able to find a way to check what is the first digit in a number with tasker. Is there another way to do this? My objective is for tasker to know if the call came from a mobile or fixed phone.

Depending on the set up of your profile use the following:

In the Task step add the If statement: %CNUM ~ 9*/8*
This means that the step will be executed only for number starting with 9 or 8.

Alternatively, set up the whole profile to only activate if the caller's number starts with 8 or 9.
In Event (like Incoming Call) settings: Caller (normally says Optional) specify 9*/8*
This means the profile will be only activated if the number starts with 9 or 8.

Hopefully, this will work for you.

For more info see: http://tasker.dinglisch.net/userguide/en/matching.html


Can I import contacts from vcf and NOT sync to Google? I bought the Nexus S with Android 2.3 and am in the process of migrating my contacts from the Apple Address book. I was able to create and import a vcf file containing all the contacts into Android.

But when I look in the contacts of the phone, I get the message" You don't have any contacts to display". But when I search for a contact, they are found. What's going on?

Can I have my contacts locally on the phone without having them sync with Google first before being accessible?

To import a vcf: Copy the vcf to your phone, then Contacts > Import/Export

To view hidden contacts: Contacts > More > Display options, you have the option of displaying "Only contacts with phones" and under "Choose contacts to display" you can choose to view or hide contacts based on their source. Perhaps your contacts are hidden because they are stored in your phone, but you don't check "Phone" under "Choose contacts to display"

Disclaimer: I use Froyo (2.2) so the menu name might be different.


Are there any custom ROMs that can be upgraded without a wipe? I'm considering putting a custom ROM on my SGS.  Are there any ROMs that enable me to install updates without wiping the entire phone?

Have you had specific problems with this? Many ROMs will work fine when updating from one version to another. For example, the instructions on CyanogenMod's forums (taking the EVO as an example) say:

  Upgrading from earlier version of CyanogenMod 7?

  Perform a NANDroid backup of your current ROM.
  Flash CyanogenMod (your Google Apps will be backed up & restored automatically).

Specifically they're referring to a case such as upgrading from say 7.0 to 7.1. The NAND backup is just in the event that you want to roll back or something goes wrong, but in reality you could even consider that optional (though highly encouraged).

Again taking CM as an example, you usually only need to wipe your phone if you're going from one major version to another. A good example would be if you're going from an Android 2.2-based ROM to an Android-2.3 based ROM. This is because there are some significant changes under the hood to Android, and is not really related to the specific ROM itself in most cases. The exception to this is typically carrier OTA updates since they specifically tailor them to play nice with the previous versions (end users wouldn't want to wipe their phone for every OTA, obviously).

Edit: Just to clarify, what I mean by the above is that CM won't wipe your /data partition (or /cache, I believe) on its own, as described here. It will also backup Google Apps and reinstall them to /system during the update. You can wipe /data manually from your recovery or ROM Manager, but you certainly don't have to. I have read, though, that using ROM Manager to flash an update will automatically wipe /data. There may be a setting for this or this may not be exactly true - I am not sure because I do not install my ROMs this way (I boot into recovery and do it manually).


How do you sync from USB? On AnkiDroid, how do you sync from USB?  I'm unable to find the option in settings.  Is it just a matter of having your device plugged in via USB and having AnkiDesktop open?

AnkiDroid developer here.

It does not work so easily unfortunately.

Right now the easiest/safest would be:

Export your decks as an APKG file
Copy the APKG file over USB
Open the APKG file in Anki Desktop

There is a more convenient solution but it is very difficult to set up initially:

Set up Android to to Ethernet over USB
Install your own sync server
Compile AnkiDroid with your own sync URL


How to send a special keyboard sequence using Microsoft Remote Desktop I use official Microsoft client and I need to "press" Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Alt+End. How do I do that?

Scenario: Your PC (node_1) and Remote PC (node_2).

Open the onscreen keyboard Start -> All Programs -> Accesories -> Ease of Access -> On-Screen Keyboard on node_2.

When you want to send ctrl+alt+del, press Ctrl+Alt in node_1 and click del in node_2. (Worked for me in node_1=XP and node_2=Win7)


Setting the lock screen timeout On my Nexus 4, when I press the power button to access the lock screen (say, to check the time), the screen doesn't turn itself off for 30 seconds. This seems like an excessive delay. On my previous Froyo phone, the lock screen would time out in about 5 seconds. Is there an option to set the lock screen timeout? The only timeout-related settings I found are "Display -> Sleep" and "Security -> Automatically lock", but these don't seem to control what I want.

I could, of course, press the power button again to turn the screen off, but... laziness.

You could watch out for an automation solution. I e.g. use Tasker for a lot of things like that (yeah, it's EUR 5 -- but you can obtain a free 7-day trial at the project page, and according to the dev even make it work another 7 days by exporting its settings, uninstall, reinstall, import settings). Rawly described: You combine events/conditions with tasks. In your case, you'd e.g. set the default timeout to 30s, and have Tasker take care for specialities:

Profile "Reading":

Condition: App running (Browser, eBook-Reader, ... -- make your choices)
Task: Set screen timeout to 2min (automatically reverts when condition is no longer met)

Profile "LockScreen":

Condition: [Screenlock On]
Task: Timeout 15s

You've got the idea. Unfortunately (as indicated by the square brackets), Tasker seems to have no condition for "Screenlock active" (or I did not find it), so this might require some addon (Locale addons are compatible). Nevertheless, you've got the idea -- and there are other automation solutions out there on the Playstore which might do the job to your liking, and even may be cheaper. I'd look out for addons, then check Llama - Location Profiles etc. as well.


What does it mean an ugly pop-up with an smiley face on my lock screen? I've been getting pop-ups in the lock screen of my "Huawei Honor 6X" like this:

The notifications appear at random times. There is nothing else on the pop-up other than the smiley face made of ASCII characters and an OK button. The UI does not even look genuine.

Any idea what does it mean or what could it be creating these messages?

It is running EMUI version 5.0.1, Android version 7.0 and Android's November 6 2017 security patch.

UPDATE: The Notification History app did not register any app producing this pop-up. Her is another screenshot of the pop-up.

I've also started getting these and can't help but notice that you are also roaming with Telcel so my best guess is that these are USSD code dialogs from Telcel, basically it looks like they're either running some tests or having fun with it


Change app sub-menu/folder style to iPhone-style On the "desktop" of my phone, I can move my apps into folders together by dragging one on top of the other. However, as opposed to the iPhone (where they form a reduced-sized grid), the apps gets combined into a folder where I can no longer identify each of them. Is there some way to change this sub-menu/folder style to replicate the iPhone's functionality?

You can achieve iPhone like sub folder view by downloading any launcher. Here is the link which you will find helpful
 GO Launcher -Theme.

If you are interested in making it replicate iPhone's theme as well, then you will have to download additional theme which are compatible with Go Launcher app. Similar case goes if you download other themes.

The folder view in GO Launcher shows only 4 apps at a glance by default whereas iPhone shows 9 apps in a folder.

So in case you need the folder to preview 9 apps.Try downloading LineLauncher and follow these steps to achieve it:

Download the Line Launcher.
Set Line Launcher as homescreen.
Go to preferences->Folder/Icon ->click on Preview of the folder icon.
Select Thumbnail 3x3.


What is the Stock ROM? I bought my brand new phone with the Android Version of Lollipop 5.1 out of the box, does that mean Lollipop 5.1 is the phone's stock ROM?

Stock Rom is basically the software which is provided by the vendor or You may can say that the software which was installed by the manufacturer of the phone is Stock Rom. the other type of the Rom is Custom Rom which advance users installed after flashing it as per they desire.

And Yup in your scenario you have Stock Rom of "Lollipop 5.1". You may install any custom Rom as per your own risk. if you know well how to flash custom Rom.


Unwanted underlined in words when using Fleksy Keyboard I have recently downloaded Fleksy Keyboard from the Play Store.

I am facing issue with it. Although the issue is not so much important but I don't want it.

Whenever I tried to type word, my word are underlined.
I have disabled the auto correction, but I'm still getting that line.

How can I remove this?

I researched on Fleksy Keyboard and there's not Spell checker for disable it. so,

 Goto -> Android Settings -> Language & Keyboard -> Touch Input -> Text input -> Spell correction

or, on Lollipop :

  Goto -> Android Settings -> Language & Keyboard -> Spell checker

and then, turn it off

How to turn off red-dotted-underline spelling check when text-messaging?


Why is transmitting a file locally through AirDroid slower than downloading it from the internet? I have a video file on my Android device (One Plus 7 Pro). I use the app AirDroid to download this file to my desktop computer through a web browser or application on the computer. This all happens locally, I can cut the internet connection in the middle of the transfer and it will not impede the transfer.

I find that this transfer is slower than I would expect. The fastest speed I have been able to achieve is 6 megabytes per second, which I only achieve when I host a hotspot with my phone, and connect the desktop to that.

If I connect both the phone and the desktop to a WiFi router, I only get roughly half that speed.

Both these devices are capable of both uploading and downloading data much faster than this. If I connect them to a sufficiently fast internet connection through WiFi, they can upload and download files from and to the Internet at multiple times the speeds mentioned above.

If their hardware are capable of that when transmitting to/from the Internet, why can they not do the same thing locally? I would assume that having removed the bottleneck of the Internet connection, the speed would be much faster.

I have noticed that this speed limitation also occurred with other apps that did similar things, such as ShareIt. I have also noticed it a multitude of Android devices from various brands, and various computers.

If I connect both the phone and the desktop to a WiFi router, I only get roughly half that speed.

This is because of the way a Wifi network works. If you transmit data from one Wifi device to a second Wifi device connected to the same Wifi network (using the Wifi frequency and the router does not support MIMO) the data will be always transmitted this way (defined by the Wifi standard):

device 1 -> Wifi router -> device 2

Therefore each packet has to be transmitted twice over the air and in your Wifi only one device can be active (sending or receiving data) at a time.
It looks like the limiting factor in your set-up is the Wifi transmission speed. Both devices seem to use the same Wifi frequencies and therefore can not communicate at the same time but alternating. Therefore you only get the half speed.

This situation would not occur if your Wifi would support one of the following techniques:

The Wifi works in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz mode (and one device supports 5GHz Wifi)
The router has multiple antennas and can use antenna diversity (MU-MIMO) so that multiple devices can communicate at the same time

Alternatively there would be the possibility to use a WiFi Direct connection. It does not involve the router, therefore the connection should be up to twice as fast. But I don't have any experience with such a connection and AirDroid.


How to share Internet from Android via Ethernet The Situation: I've got Android running on my Cubietruck. Now I want to share the existing Internet Connection (Wifi) with my Win8 Desktop PC over Ethernet, so the stream would be

Internet –wifi→ Cubie –ethernet→ PC

I just found a thousend tutorials about making this the other way round. Is there any way to make this possible?

I'd suggest using iptables. You can find more about theme here - definitely take a look into simple usage example. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Internet/ConnectionSharing

The only one problem is that iptables binary isn't really built-in into Android.
But hey, they came up with solution already http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=444004

So you can even use the example from Ubuntu help now!


Google Latitude and multiple devices - How to prevent location jumping? I have an Android smartphone and tablet which both are linked to my Google account and Latitude enabled. Since I don't carry the tablet always with me, my Latitude location sometimes jumps back and forth, if my smartphone has no connectivity.

I could disable Latitude on my tablet, but I wonder if there is a way to configure Latitude on the tablet to not provide any location information at all?

There's an app called ALTitude that does allow you to configure those settings per installation (= per device in your case).

EDIT: Purpose of the app - updating your Latitude status/location base on more fine grained settings (update interval, location source).

ALTitude on Android Market

XDA Thread

I'd recommend to configure Latitude to "manual location" and ALTitude to automatic update, but first read through the thread to check if this tool does the trick for you.


Connect to external device via bluetooth. Who's master/slave? Quick intro:

We have an external device (it's not android) that we usually connect to PCs via Serial Port->USB converter. But now we want to use also Android tablets to send commands to that external device so we are going to add a bluetooth module that can act as a bridge between the device's Serial Port and Android tablets.

Question

Should we buy a slave bluetooth module or a master one?
The external device is like a "server" that is always working, and the PC/tablet just connects and sends commands to it.

Master means "server" or "client"? It's a bit confusing cause the Android doc uses "server/client" terminology while hardware stores use "master/slave".

I think master means server or host but I'm not 100% sure.

It's not correct. For android device, master means client and slave means server.
  Slave device should always [Inquiry Scan] to wait for [Inquiry] which send by master. When slave get [Inquiry], it will send FHS packet to master. And then slave begin to [Page Scan], and master begin to [Page] to slave to complete the connection.


Is HTC one X AT&T and HTC one XL same? Just noticed HTC one X AT&T and HTC one XL has got same configuration. Are those mobile same ?

HTC one X AT&T vs HTC one XL (GSM Arena)

Actually, I read a article on which it was mentioned like " Android 4.2.1 ROM is cooked up for the HTC One XL (the AT&T One X) ". This tend to think me whether these two are same.

Android 4.2.1 AOKP Custom ROM for the AT&T HTC One X

The short answer is: No, they are not the same.
The long answer is as follows:

At least for dimensions, they are not exactly the same (HTC One XL, to the right, is a bit smaller)

Also, from the comparison table you talk about:

HTC One X AT&T wouldn't support HSDPA 900, while HTC One XL does.
HTC One X AT&T supports 4G network with LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 /
2100, while HTC One XL does it with LTE 1800 / 2600.
HTC One X AT&T supports Mini-SIM, while HTC One XL supports Micro-SIM.
HTC One XL has Stereo FM radio with RDS, while HTC One X AT&T does not.
HTC One XL has 32 GB internal storage, HTC One X AT&T has 16 GB internal storage.

Sources:

Left image: HTC One AT&T at HTC US website
Right image: HTC One XL at HTC Australian website


lost my moto e phone without sim card I had bought a MOTO E which was stolen the very next day but, due to some issues, I had already taken my sim and the sdcard out. Is there any way I can locate my phone using the google id I had used to start the tracking features?

If your Moto E has Android Device Manager enabled and the WiFi is connected to network, then you're in luck!

Also, file a police report immediately and tell them that you phone was stolen. That is my two cents on this answer.


Recover deleted files in Android I have deleted some files by mistake on my Android mobile, and I'd like to get them back. I tried using Dr. Fone, but it brought me A LOT of documents and images back which are not even deleted, for example it showed me icons used in Viber, icons used in Skype. It showed ALL documents even non deleted. And on top of that, when I tried to recover a document, it asked me to pay and so on. I'd like to have a free solution for this.

I tried an App called: Undeleter, but it asked me to if my device is rooted or not, and it told me that my device does not appear to be rooted. (I don't know what rooted means). What should I do? I am an absolute beginner and any hint is appreciated.

Thanks.

There are 2 methods of recovery at the top of my head:

Making an image of the entire flash partition that contained the files and using filters to find deleted but not yet overwritten data.

For this to be successful you definitely need root access, which means to have access to the highest system privileges in Android.

You need them to access the device directly.
There are Android apps and Linux Programs (you can run those aside of android if you have root access) that do scrape the deleted files for still whole enough files automatically.

To get root access on your device I may redirect you to xda-developers.com/root wwhich has also a nice explanation what root does.

--

This method has less chances of success but does not require root access.

Copies of the files in question that remained in cache folders. (Often the case with images.)

Therefore just search through any folder including hidden ones for folders with words like tmp or cache, maybe there is a thumbnail version still left.

Search with a file manager, not with the gallery. Most file managers have an option to show hidden files and folders in their settings.

--

Also here is some plausible guide from Androidpit that recommends specific apps.
https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-recover-lost-data

I am not affiliated with Androidpit.
I know very well how to do a root recovery manually but can not test any apps that automate it because I dont have an android phone right now. (3310 ftw)


Black screen starting an app Occasionally I'll start an app only to be presented with the App's title bar and a black screen. Usually the app's interface shows after 3-10 seconds. Very rarely the screen will stay black. I don't have any real idea about why or how to reproduce it.

I'm wondering if this is simply the phone working to try to start the app or maybe  I've got too many other applications open?

Is there some way to reduce/prevent apps from showing a black screen at first and/or not opening at all?

Black is the default plot color for Android, so this is the placeholder until the app completes it's layout operation.  There are a number of things that can cause an app to have a delay here:

Performing a network call(s).
Loading data from disk.
Garbage collection from other tasks.
Restoring a complex drawing.

You can check to see if it is related to network latency by putting your phone in airplane mode and opening the app.  If the app pops right up, the long delay is likely due to a network call that takes a while to complete (and completes immediately as an error when there is no connection).

The other three are trickier to test for.  If it is garbage collection, you will likely only see the delay when other apps have been recently running and then switching immediately the misbehaving app.  You can completely uninstall an app, including user data, and then re-install to see if it has something to do with your personal settings.


How do you turn off notification sounds on LG G4? I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to turn off the notification sounds. I found the option in settings for the notification sounds, but none of the options are to turn it off or silence it, without silencing the whole phone!

OK. I think I figured it out. It's this whole stupid interruption mode feature. Setting the phone to Priority Only, and then enabling all incoming calls and messages achieves the same result as disabling the notification sounds. This is a horrible design IMHO.


Volume Button To Scroll Up Android So there is probably one feature I miss sincerely and that is being able to hit the title bar on the iPhone to essentially trigger the "Home key."  Is there a way to assign this to one of the volume switchers or maybe add a fourth button to the bar at the bottom or even double tap the home button maybe.  I use it a lot and want it to be easily accessible.  I opened an xda question.  This question is almost a duplicate.

So this is the best solution I have come up with out a root.  Basically install and pay for the application called Volkey scroll.

Then set the following settings.

Uncheck "Enable persistent notification."
Enable Automatic Start.
Set speed of scrolling to 100/100.
Selected action leap.
Stop scrolling after a timeout 500 seconds
Page size disable.
Continuous pages checked
The delay between pages 1

Now you only have to hold down the button until it stops at the top or bottom.  Sometimes you have to press it more then once to get this to work for example in Google Photos not sure why.  Now to adjust the volume you have to disable the app temporarily which is annoying or add it to the menu bar which isn't to bad.

So basically here is the deal someone created a plugin for this in older versions of android here.  I can't confirm or deny if this works.  Here is another app and a reddit thread.

For chrome you can set you javascript home bookmark to do the following.  javascript:window.scrollTo(0,0) which fixes Chrome.

This is volume scroll application and it appears to essentially emulating scrolling using accessibility and displaying it on screen.


Whatsapp Profile Pictures folder missing I have a peculiar scenario with the Whatsapp Profile Pictures folder. Previously the Profile Pictures of contacts which I view used to get stored inside Whatsapp Profile Pictures folder. One day an error message (I presume) got popped up and I pressed OK without reading the message. From then the folder went missing but I am able to view the pictures even if the mobile is offline. Don't know where it is now saving the images. I have also checked if the folder was hidden. Even if I recreate the folder it is not storing the images in that folder. I have also reinstalled the application. Does whatsapp store the images in any other format or location other than storing in the default folder.

WhatsApp no longer caches/stores the viewed profile pictures under /sdcard/WhatsApp/Profile Pictures/ directory, due many reasons, like this..Now, it's stored under its own app cache area in /data partition.

If you're rooted, then head over to the directory: /data/data/com.whatsapp/cache/Profile Pictures/.There, you'll find the cached profile pictures (that you have viewed).

If you're not rooted, as others have said, you need to explicitly save the profile picture from the WhatsApp app by clicking the pic, click again to enter full screen, click the 'Share' icon and press 'Save to Gallery'.

Now the saved profile picture can viewed in the directory: /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Profile Photos/


How to received only primary labeled emails My Nexus 5 battery drains very fast when I am using the Gmail app. Even after I turned synced off. Is there any way to get emails that belongs to primary category?

Even though it's unlikely that Gmail is the cause of your battery drain, here are the steps to minimize the notification spam:

In Gmail app tap on the upper-left corner "hamburger" button to open the sidebar, then scroll down and tap on "Settings":

click for larger images
Tap on your account and ensure the Notifications option is checked:

click for larger image
Tap on Inbox sound & vibrate menu, and un-check the Notify for every message option.
Go back to your e-mail list, and navigate to the "Primary" inbox.  Tap the 3-dot button on upper-right corner and tap on Label settings menu:

click for larger image
Under the "Notifications" section enable Label notifications, and set up sound/vibration to your liking:

click for larger image
Go back to your main inbox.
Open the sidebar (see step 1) and select one of the other labels.
Tap on menu button, go to Label settings, and un-check the "Label notifications" to disable them for this specific label only:

click for larger image
Go back, and repeat steps 6 through 8 for every label (other than "Primary.")

You should now only receive notifications for your Primary inbox, and you will be only notified once until you dismiss the notification (as opposed to for every new e-mail.)


How can I unlock my HTC One V locked by 3 (UK Carrier, www.three.co.uk)? I have a HTC One V which is provided by 3 (www.three.co.uk) under contract.

I recently bought a Nexus 4 from Google Play because of the price drop, and I'm using my 3 SIM in the Nexus which is working fine.

I want to sell my old One V and know that I can do it a lot easier if the device is unlocked so it can be used on any network.

After looking around online, cellunlocker.net quotes me $14.99 for an unlock code and Three themselves quotes me £15. I've heard from some friends that they were able to get their phones unlocked for free, if so, how would I go about doing this?

I'd rather not fall victim to a marketing scam to get a code that I could get for free.

Your local independent phone repair shop or market trader will probably SIM-unlock your phone for around a fiver, or you can probably negotiate it as a free service if you're buying something else there. It's not quite free, but if you value your time at all, it's probably cheaper than faffing around trying to do it yourself.


How to Set App-Specific notifications/vibrations? I recently switched from an iPhone to a Galaxy S8, and with the iPhone I was able to set app-specific notification sounds and vibration patterns (1 for texts, another for email, another for group messages, and so on).

Is this possible within the Android OS?

You can go to Settings→Notifications→App from List

Be sure not to press the slide check, otherwise that turns off notifications.

If the notification has a sound, it will say something like "Make sound", then you can change it from the default. If not it will say "No sound".


Will an Android 4.3 upgrade rewrite my custom /etc/gps.conf file? Will an Android 4.3 upgrade rewrite my custom /etc/gps.conf file?

In my case, the upgrade to the android 4.3 did not replaced my custom /etc/gps.conf file.

It was edited by hands on rooted device before the Android upgrade and stayed with the same content afterwards.

Answering myself :)


how to delete old account and credit card info by How do you delete some one else's account off your Android phones play store there is no credit card on it but it makes me have to go and find me and then I can see my info if not it goes to the lady I bought my phone from

Settings > Accounts > Google then select the account which you wish to remove.

Settings > Accounts > Google >  select the account which you wish to remove > More  > Remove account.

PS: You'll need to stop Syncing first.

On older versions (1.5 > 2.3.5) there is no way to remove an account, only by resetting the device to the factory settings.


Why do some games ask for calling/SMS permissions? More and more Android apps (games to be specific) require permissions to make calls. Some of them also require permission to send SMS, read bookmarks, history, etc. What is the explanation for this? I mean, why would a game need to have those permissions?

If it is some software which provides anti-theft support or a voice/video app or something I understand, but games? Is there some logic which I am missing or are the game developers asking too much?

Generally they don't. Most games don't need SMS or Phone Call permissions, and you should be suspect for any game that does.

I'm assuming this is not the same as "Read Phone State & Identity" which this question answers.


How to ensure apps get uninstalled cleanly? I use to try (install and remove) a huge lot of apps to choose the ones I will actually like. I am afraid uninstalled apps can leave some residuals behind and this can crap up the system in some time. How to make sure this won't happen?

Before uninstalling the app, go into the App Info, force stop the app, clear the cache and data, and then Uninstall.

This is not 'guaranteed' to remove absolutely everything, but it should be a lot cleaner then just uninstalling it.


How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader? How do I access the reflow mode on Adobe Reader for Android?

At Adobe Reader click on top part of screen, then you will see top toolbar. At toolbar you need 4 button from right corner of toolbar.


How can I sync an Exchange 2003 inbox to an Android 4.x device? I have ICS 4.x and I'm trying to get the default email client to connect to a MS Small Business Server 2003.

The client will sync all folders but Inbox. I get the error message "Couldn't Open connection to Server". I'm able to send emails, any clues?

I was just suffering from the same issue with an Exchange 2010 server. The problem was server-side not client-side.
Upon investigating the event log for the Exchange role, I noticed the following error entry:

Exchange ActiveSync verfügt nicht über ausreichende Berechtigungen zum Erstellen des Containers "CN=Oliver Salzburg,OU=..." unter dem Active Directory-Benutzer "Active Directory operation failed on server.something.de. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Zugriff verweigert.
Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-031521D0, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0
".
Stellen Sie sicher, dass der Benutzer über geerbte Berechtigungen verfügt, die 'domain\Exchange Servers' erteilt wurden, um für Objekte vom Typ "msExchangeActiveSyncDevices" die Befehle 'Inhalte auflisten', 'Untergeordnetes Objekt erstellen' und 'Untergeordnetes Objekt löschen' auszuführen, und dass der Benutzer über keine verweigerten Berechtigungen verfügt, die diese Vorgänge blockieren.
Details:%3

English Version

Exchange ActiveSync doesn't have sufficient permissions to create the "CN=,OU=,DC=thenet,DC=gen,DC=nz" container under Active Directory user "Active Directory operation failed on .thenet.gen.nz. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied.
Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-031521D0, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0
".
Make sure the user has inherited permission granted to domain\Exchange Servers to allow List, Create child, Delete child of object type "msExchangeActiveSyncDevices" and doesn't have any deny permissions that block such operations.

It boils down to a permissions issue for the Exchange server. It isn't allowed to change the ActiveSync settings in the Active Directory.
To resolve this, follow these steps:

Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
Click View and then check Advanced Features.
Navigate to the user that is causing the issue (the location is noted in the event log entry) and open the Properties for the user.
Go to the Security tab and click Advanced.
Check the checkbox Include inheritable permissions and click OK.