Install update in recoverymode delte phone? I installed CyanogenMod 11 about a half a year ago on my phone (Sony Xperia Z aka. yuga) and now I want to update to CM12 manually. I know how to do that but my question is: does the Recoverymode reset your phone if I choose "Install Zip", so do I have a new Android on my phone without any Apps, because in every install guide they're telling me to flash gApps again. I don't want do reinstall all my apps again and setup my phone again, because it's a lot of pain in the a**. Hope you understand my "problem"...

Thanks for your answers

To answer your question:

Installing the zip will delete (or change some apps) but not all. When you flash the zip it overwrites the "system" partition on your phone and so it changes which system apps are on your phone. Since google apps are system apps, but are not included in the CM zip, this is why you have to reflash gapps after because they get deleted. However, the zip does not overwrite the "data" partition which is where most of the user apps are (apps that you installed from the play store and such). But, flashing the zip without wiping the system and the "data" partition, and consequently all of your applications, is known as dirty flashing and is not recommended. It is especially not recommended when making a large jump such as from CM11 to CM12. Regardless, you should always perform a android backup before flashing anything just to be safe.

Now for a solution:

There are apps such as Titanium backup which allow you to back up your applications before wiping and flashing and then restore the applications once you've upgraded.


How can I install flashable zips in Android-x86 I have recently started running Android-x86 version 6.0-RC1 on my iMac, and I am considering making it on of my several daily drivers. There is one major issue however that is casting some doubt: I cannot seem to find a way to install flashable zip files. I have looked into a custom recovery, however apparently the directory structure of Android-x86 is too different from that of its mobile-device counterpart to run or even install one directly. I have attempted to use Chainfire's FlashFire, however it unsurprisingly does not work for similar reasons to the last method.

I've read on a very short conversation in the XDA-Developers forum discussing this topic that a recovery would be relatively unnecessary because "you could simply use a lightweight Linux distro as a recovery". I am assuming from the wording that you would do this by booting a small Linux distro on the same machine, mounting the main image for Android-x86, extracting the flashable zip and running the install script contained within, however I am entirely unsure as to whether or not this method would work in practice, as I cannot find any more info on it.

I need the ability to flash a flashable zip file as it is the only way as of current aside from using a custom recovery to install the Xposed framework on android, upon which I rely heavily for everything from personal conveniences to more manually configurable security functions to ease of development. Given Android-x86's inherent compatibility with virtually anything compiled to run on an Intel Atom or Celeron based android device the lack of Xposed is the one factor stopping me from being able to attempt custom ROM development, as well as starting to port several already under development projects that have been until now exclusive to BSD/Debian distros over to rooted Intel based android devices.

UPDATE: I've managed to mount the Android-x86 fs from a live GParted CD, and chroot to it, but when running  flash-script.sh  it starts the installer, and output the following error log:

******************************
Xposed framework installer zip
******************************
-Mounting /system and /vendor read-write
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[102]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[103]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[104]: mount: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[105]: can't create /dev/null: No such file or directory
-Checking Environment
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[112]: head: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[112]: sed: not found
/tmp/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh[114]: cut: not found
*Continues till line 121*
 Xposed version:
! Wrong platform: arm
! This file is for:
! Please download the correct package
! for your platform/ROM

Now I'm assuming the reason this happened is that the Linux version I'm using is too lightweight and doesn't include the required programmes, however that does not explain the fact that the error log reports the system as ARM and claims the x86 version is incorrect for my platform given that I'm running a copy of Android-x86, so if anyone has insight, please supply!

This is caused by the install script incorrectly detecting your platform as ARM.

In order to fix this issue, which is specific to the Xposed ZIP file, you must hack edit flash-script.sh.

Search for:

if [ -z $XVALID ]; then
  echo "! Please download the correct package"
  echo "! for your platform/ROM!"
  exit 1
fi

Comment out the exit command, by adding a # before it.
At least in the current version of Xposed (v86), this is line 162 of the flash-script.sh file.

The resulting block will be:

if [ -z $XVALID ]; then
  echo "! Please download the correct package"
  echo "! for your platform/ROM!"
  #exit 1
fi

Source: How to Install Xposed on MEmu Lollipop Beta

[Edit] Since you are having a great deal of trouble, I'm going to provide detailed fool-proof steps for successfully installing Xposed on Android-x86:

Download Xposed to your computer
Extract the contents of the compressed file somewhere
From your file manager (Finder | Windows Explorer | Nemo | Some other), open the directory where the file contents have been extracted to and browse to: META-INF \ com \ google \ android
Select the entire contents of this directory and Control + C
Go back to the directory containing the resulting files (same as Step 3) and then Control + V
Among the files you have just copied is flash-script.sh. Now you must edit this file with a text editor of your choice, according to the previous part of this answer.
Save and close the file. Make sure it is actually saved.
Make a new .zip file with the updated contents, including of course the flash-script.sh file which you have edited.
Send this new (make sure!) zip file to your Android-x86 environment with a method of your choice. ADB, e-mail to yourself, some anonymous temporary file upload service, etc.
From Android-x86, extract the contents of this new zip file.
Launch Terminal Emulator.
Type in su and hit Enter
If you are asked for Super User privilege, confirm (i.e. hit "Allow")
Type sh "flash-script.sh" and hit Enter
Reboot your phone and launch the Xposed APK to confirm whether it's been successfully installed.


Amazon links in Amazon app Is it possible to configure Amazon app so that all the amazon.co.uk links open in the App (or at least ask if I prefer the browser or the app)?

It's up to the app to register an intent filter for URLs it can understand. When the app does this, and you click an appropriate link, the chooser asks you which you want to open.

If you've previously had a chooser for Amazon links, and accidentally selected to always use a web browser, you can undo this by going into the device Settings, then Apps. Select the browser from the list, and then click Clear defaults.

If you've never had a chooser for Amazon links, then the app can't respond to them. It's possible to use a third-party app to act as an intermediary, so that you open the Amazon links in that app, and it forwards them to the Amazon app, but if the Amazon app doesn't understand the URL you're using, the results are unpredictable: it might crash, or simply open to the main screen. You'll have to contact the developer through their official support channels to ask them to add this feature.


Find my mobile but on a different or second mobile I have login or setup with my Google credentials into a different mobile. So now my profile is active in 2 different mobiles.
When I use Find My Device, only the second mobile sounds. Is there any way to select which one to find or how to select the desired mobile to find?

At the top left there are icons for each device, and you can tap on one to select a different device.
This may include older devices if you haven't removed them from your account yet, but they'll fail to work if you're not signed into the device.
For example I have a tablet listed that I no longer own and removed my account from and it eventually fails to connect with the message "Can't reach device".
Best to let the sound play for a moment before pressing the power button as it may not be detected on first press otherwise.
Note that this is a website-layout-dependent answer and the moment they change it this will be invalidated.


Disallow JavaScript Setting I know I could disable JavaScript in most Browsers. Is one able to disable it for WebViews also? I mean every App could specify its own WebView and is able to turn JavaScript on/off inside their app and they could inject JavaScript that infects my phone somehow. I'm aware that this WebView may lose its function or behave in an unexpected way. If it matters I have a Galaxy Nexus with JellyBean.

If the developer do not give you access to the (Web)Settings of the WebView, you will not be able to disable JavaScript in the WebView.


Combining Facebook contacts with SIM card numbers I have a new HTC One Mini and I can only import all of my contacts from Facebook, not just the ones I want in my phonebook contacts list, so that is really annoying.

Also, I added a few numbers to the SIM card, but I can't combine them with the Facebook contact that ubersync has come up with; I also can't add numbers to the existing Facebook contacts.

In addition, I can't edit the contacts I've added so far to the SIM card, so they can have images like in Facebook.

Adding contacts to this phone is really annoying the hell out of me, am I being stupid?

Upload all of your sim contacts to gmail contacts with email addresses of contacts.
Then select the facebook account from the accounts and choose to sync to existing contacts.

It is currently working on my galaxy note 2.


How to enable USB OTG in Walton Primo F4? I have a Walton Primo F4, running Android 4.2.2. How can I enable USB OTG in my device?

Head into settings, about device, then tap the build number 7 times. From there, head back and you will see a menu called developer options. Tap it,  and tap enable USB debugging. Accept the warning,  and you are done.


Wi-Fi turning OFF automatically when turned ON Whenever I try to turn on my WiFi, it shows Turning Wi-Fi on but automatically turns off. I have not recently installed any app, and earlier it used to work absolutely fine. I even tried doing a factory reset, but it's still not working. Not sure whether it's a software or hardware issue.

I am using Micromax Canvas A116 phone running Android 4.2.1

Go to settings > wireless connections > wifi > more > advanced
Make sure wifi timer is off and that 'Keep wifi on while on standby' is on. Try it again. If this doesn't work go to your phone. And dial *#0011#. This is a hidden setting number so it opens a menu, it ain't calling anybody so don't worry about your money. Press more > wifi > wifi powermode off.
If that doesn't work either, it's probably a hardware failure. It might be malware as well, and then ressetting your phone doesn't work. The malware will be in your system files so you need to reinstall your software completely. This loses warranty so I advice you to go to a nearby phoneshop and ask them if they want to check your wifi and repair it. They mighr even reinstall your software because if you do it yourself you lose warranty.

Have a nice day,


How can I boot my Nexus S with a broken power button? Can only boot to "Do not turn off target" My Nexus S power button has stopped working and Samsung will not honor the warranty. The farthest I've gotten is to the Downloading screen with the yellow work ahead sign, that says "Do not turn off target" and USB Control Init USB Control Init End.

My computer does not find the device via the Android SDK.

I looked up this post Turn phone on with ADB or Fastboot? and others outside of this forum (eg: removing and inserting battery with charger connected), but it does not work for me.

Once I boot it I can use it by plugging a battery charger or cable to turn on the screen.

Is there a way I could boot it?

All the methods you've tried, and the ones I've been reading for the past hour, exploit a circuit "bump" that shouldn't even happen in the first place.

If they don't work with your phone, be happy, your phone is not suffering from further defects. Some I'm referencing are:

Plug your phone to your computer using the USB cable. Remove and add the battery several times to make the phone start booting: This video or this video.
Gently flick (tap) the back of the phone, right under the lens, with a finger.

What you should actually do is to repair the phone, it costs a certain amount, but at least you get the problem fixed by professionals and can take preventive measures to prevent this from happening again.

To repair, you can use Nexus S Power Button Repair or other near you.
As a preventive measure, to avoid degrading the power button, you can use an app to lock/unlock the phone. With it, you'll give less use to your power button, and in turn it may last longer.

Even if it gets broken again, with an app, you still have alternative methods of controlling your phone (lock/unlock).

Fix Broken Power Button by Destil available from Google Play Store.

Note: An app installed on your phone CANNOT power it on. So, if the power button breaks again, be sure to not let your phone's battery get empty.


Is it possible to add arbitrary folders to the media scanner? I have a Samsung Captivate Glide and it's got 4 gigs of storage that isn't main storage and isn't SD card memory. It shows up as a separate section under settings->storage and it's mounted on /sdcard/usbStorage

The real physical SD card is mounted under /sdcard/external_sd.

So it's 4 gigs of free space, but I can't use it for anything because the media scanner won't pick up anything I put in there.

Is there a way to force the scanner to search particular directories?

If you are comfortable using the command line then you could use the directions in Can I trigger a media scan via the command line?

Pass file:///sdcard/usbStorage to the media scanner.

#!/system/bin/sh

export ANDROID_ASSETS=/system/app
export ANDROID_CACHE=/cache
export ANDROID_DATA=/data
export ASEC_MOUNTPOINT=/mnt/asec
export ANDROID_ROOT=/system
export BOOTCLASSPATH=/system/framework/core.jar:/system/framework/core-junit.jar:/system/framework/bouncycastle.jar:/system/framework/ext.jar:/system/framework/framework.jar:/system/framework/android.policy.jar:/system/framework/services.jar:/system/framework/apache-xml.jar:/system/framework/filterfw.jar
export EXTERNAL_STORAGE=/mnt/sdcard
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/vendor/lib:/system/lib

am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard/usbStorage

I can't test this for you so let us know if it works.


Samsung Galaxy Note II slow startup My Galaxy Note II used to statup in 5-6 seconds normally.
But yesterday when i switched on the device after charging it, it took almost 14-15 seconds for my home screen to show up.
I am pretty sure that i didnt install anything new. The device is not rooted.
Is there anyway i can check what might be making the startup slow?

There might be some apps slowing the starup. Autostarts is an app which helps you see what apps run on boot. Unless you have root you'll not be able to make any changes though. It'll just be read only.  See this: Autostarts

Update: Startup Cleaner 2.0 is for unrooted phones. You can now stop an app from loading at startup.


Widgets not updating anymore Since a couple of days/weeks, I noticed that my widgets aren't updating anymore on my home screens of my Nexus 6 (Android 6.0.1). It's not related to a single widget, it's all of them. I haven't found a single one that updates at the moment. I have several widgets that should update regularly: chats, weather, Google Fit, call logs etc; and none of them is updating.

When I reboot my phone, it updates the widgets one time, and that's that. Afterwards no more updates.

For example, I have the widget for Google Fit on my home screen, and it is still showing the status from a couple of days ago; when I rebooted my phone.

I tried the Android N beta some time ago (I can't remember if the widgets updated then though). But because there were some problems with applications I use daily, I reverted back to my old Android 6.0.1 build. This revert includes a factory reset. So I tried the factory reset solution. But I'm guessing the Android N beta has nothing to do with my problem?

Are there some things I can try? Are there some settings that I could have executed that froze my widgets? Maybe something with battery optimizations or something?

I don't have to mention to you that widgets that aren't updating are very annoying.

As I already mentioned, I'm using a Motorola Nexus 6 with stock Android 6.0.1 on it. I have all the latest version of the Android version for my phone, and have installed all security patches. Including the July security patch from a couple of days ago.

Update: I'm using the stock Android launcher. I don't have any special applications running that should customize my battery behaviour (like Greenify).

Here's how I tried a solution on huawei cam L21 based on the answers above, and it worked.

Settings -> apps -> app_of_widget -> battery -> keep running after screen off...


How can I view the contents of an .srt file on my Android? OS: 4.1.1
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3

I have a French .srt file that I want to view and edit the contents. How can I achieve this?

.srt is just text. So, I'm sure you can edit it using any text editor like Jota+.

Give it a try, and let me know if it works.


I don't have a working ROM on my Sprint HTC One. I made an error when flashing; I'm on hboot 1.55 and Android v4.3, S-On I've been struggling with this for over a day now.

I unlocked and rooted my phone just fine (HTC One on Sprint, 4.3) - but when I flashed a ROM, I flashed Maximus HD, which was apparently an International version and not a Sprint one. I think that messed some things up. After trying a few different ROMs on top of that, nothing works.

Each ROM I flash will "install" correctly, but when it boots to the lock screen, upon unlocking it gives me the HTC splash screen.

I'm convinced that my accidental upgrade to hboot 1.55 is rendering it impossible for me to flash any working ROMs - be it stock or otherwise. I can enter Recovery mode, adb sideload, and flash ROMs, but none of them work.

I've tried Superwipe and then Bad Boyz, but it's the same thing. After installation, it sticks at the HTC splash screen.

So, my options are limited. I think I need to find a way to revert my hboot to 1.44 from 1.55 - that way at least the stock RUU is compatible. However, I can't find any way to do this; since I'm S-On, and I can't access any ROM to mess with settings, I have no idea how to do this, or how to flash a workable ROM in order to switch to S-Off.

Anyone have any ideas. I'm seriously distraught. I just bought this phone, and I love it. I'm so sad that I decided to try this rooting/unlocking/ROM flashing business because it's disrupted my sanity.

Any thoughts or ideas will help immensely. I will give more information if needed. Thanks!

You need to do a factory reset and wipe the Dalvik Cache. What bootloader are you using? TWRP or Clockwork would be examples. I would enter this as a comment but lack the necessary reputation.
This tread on XDA may be of use. Soft Bricked - XDA


Hide search google search bar on nexus 5 Running slimkat modded rom 4.4.2
I would like to keep full functionality of google now, but just hide the srarch bar from view on the home screen (clean screen, with no "say 'ok google' " on top of the wallpaper)
Any help provided would be very much appreciated.

Okay ,so firstly I will help removing that Ok Google funcationality from the Home screen:

1.Go to Google Now > tap Settings  > Voice > "Ok Google" Hotword detection > here you will see an option to disable Ok Google on Home Screen.

Now for the search bar , if you are running SlimKat , then you are probably on one of the two custom launchers pre-installed in Slimkat , so go to their settings , either by long holding on homecreen , or you can go to Settings > Home > here you will see the launchers installed , and mostly there is a settings/options key beside them , tap on that or if settings key is not there try tapping on the launcher name ( it should take you to settings).

once in launcher settings , you should go to Homescreen specific settings and disable search bar from there.

Get back to me if any of the above mentioned things don't work.


Getting rid of one of the second keyboard dropdown suggestion list I just got the google Pixel 4a 5g. See the screenshot: there are 2 suggestions lists: the horizontal one just above the keyboard (where it says "GIF") and this black dropdown. I find it pretty ugly and in the way of the other suggestion list, is there a way to deactivate that dropdown?

using help from @beeshyams, it was under System -> Language > Tools -> disable spelling check
The suggestion strip (under System -> keyboards) is the horizontal bar that I wanted to keep.


Generate a root debloat script from a package list after a successful non-root debloat There are two ways to get rid of apps to debloat a ROM:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0  (run on PC)
rm -rf  (on device, in Terminal of TWRP)

The first method has one big advantage - deleted apps can be restored by

adb shell cmd package install-existing <package_name>
But the diasadvantage - it still consumes memory.

So best would be to do the first method until you see is is all fine - not debloated to much. To not manually do the "rm" and selection of packages - is there a good way to list the uninstalled packages and generate a list for the "rm" command?
Thanks for your attention.

I guess you mean only uninstalled system packages.
Here is a little bash script doing what you want:
#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -euo pipefail

declare -a PACKAGES=()

readarray -t PACKAGES < <(comm -3 <(adb shell 'pm list packages -s -u -f' | sort -i) \
                                  <(adb shell 'pm list packages -s -f'    | sort -i))

for package in "${PACKAGES[@]}"; do
    echo "rm -rf $package" | sed -r 's/package://g' | sed -r 's/=.*//g' >> root_debloat.txt
done
echo "root_debloat.txt generated."

Then, you just need to run the commands through adb shell as root:
adb shell su < root_debloat.txt

What the script does :

Put the list of uninstalled system packages in the array PACKAGES.

Why this complicated command ? Because pm list packages -s -u returns installed and uninstalled system packages. So you need to take the difference of this list and the list of installed system packages.
Each element of the array will have this form (because of the use of the -f option) :
package:/path/to/apk=package.name

Generate the list of rm commands and write them one by one, for each package, in the root_debloat.txt file.

You only want the path. The sed commands are here to remove the rest.


What make app to the "top apps"? I assumed that app is more "top" within its category mostly based on installs (quantity and velocity) and user rates and comments.
Probably also slightly some other criteria like android vitals score etc.

However, I spotted the app that is #9 in Top for parents with 1.9 average rate (sic!) from 177 users, and only 10k+ installs. All other apps in this top10 are like 100k installs and 4.8 rate.

The question is how is it possible?

Google recently changed its ranking policy creating turmoil

It's quite possible that what you ate seeing is a fallout of that

In the past

The algorithm Google uses is clearly not public for obvious reasons of gaming by app developers but

Google Play help
says

  Apps are ranked based on a combination of ratings, reviews, downloads, and other factors

I think these other factors and search query wording (apart from downloads) play an important role as explained in this blog

  App Name
  App Description
  Backlinks
  In-App Purchase Rating and Reviews
  Updates Downloads and Engagement
  Some Hidden factors

Try changing the search query significantly to see a different result.
Also the same search query from my phone and another users phone yields variations


Define Gesture in ES File Explorer I'm using ES File Explorer. There's one thing I want to ask, what is the purpose of the small spot at the center of the screen when I turn on the app?

Whenever I click on it, a toast message show

  No gesture defined. Please add or disable gestures in fast access

I've searched the web for the answer but there's no answer. Could anyone explain it?

The gesture feature is explained on its official manual (scroll down to Gesture), albeit slightly outdated.

  What is the purpose of the small spot at the center of the screen when I turn on the app?

The small spot (or the "gesture water drop", as it's officially called) is the trigger to start gesture action.

As hinted by the error message, you have to add a new gesture for this feature to work as supposed to be:

Open Fast Access (the drawer on the left side) by tapping the "three horizontal bars" or by sliding a finger from the left side of the screen to right.
Open Tools, there should be a Gesture with on/off button. From here, you can disable/enable the feature. Disabling the feature will remove the water drop.
Tap Gesture.
Select Add a gesture.
Choose the action you want to do.
Draw the gesture on the middle of the dialog
A new gesture will be added. You can also delete/edit the gesture.

Red dot is the starting point (i.e. gesture water drop)
Light blue line is the gesture path

Now that you have gestures defined, you can use it on the app:

Go back to main screen
Draw the gesture starting from "gesture water drop", following the path you've defined.


Physical keyboard bindings? I'm using an MK802 android device with 4.0.4 and an RC12 2.4ghz keyboard mouse combo.  I'm wondering if there is any way to bind specific keys on the keyboard to actions in android?

Specifically it'd be great if I could have a home key, and an application key.  Escape seems to perform the back function nicely, but if I could have hardware keys for the rest of the main android functions this setup would feel a lot more comfortable.

I have spoken with the Measy the manufacturer of the RC12, they claim their .kl for the RC12 is proprietary, so I was unable to get an actual layout to install in the system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_XXXX_Product_XXXX.kl

In order to map the keyboard/KeyEvents you need to figure out the Vendor# and Product# of any USB keyboard/mouse device.

adb shell
dmesg | grep usb

This gives you the Vendor/Product#s.
Now you generate your own .kl file. My suggestion is to use the Generic.kl file in the /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl for reference.

adb pull /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl

Then modify it as you see fit and CHANGE the name to /Vendor_XXXX_Product_XXXX.kl

adb push /system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_XXXX_Product_XXXX.kl
adb reboot


I Deleted files on internal storage but free space remains the same I noticed I had 623MB free in my internal storage so I connected my Android to my Laptop and navigated to the Thumbnails folder which had lot of files and was big in size. I selected all files and deleted them, it was about 300MB. Now when I read the available internal memory space, it reads 623MB...

What happened here? the files are no longer there but for some reason Android is not reflecting the increased available memory..

any clues?

Thank you!

Matias.

Sometimes it may not reflect until restart. Moreover, thumbnails would be recreated once you open the images again. Perform a restart or reboot.


How do I do Skype calls using Fring I have read that Fring supports doing Skype calls. I have installed Fring it but see no Skype options.

How do I do Skype calls using Fring?

Skype has blocked Fring from using it's services. For more info see http://www.fring.com/blog/?p=2322


Discrepancy between sizes of apps listed in Play Store vs. actual installed app size The Play Store lists the size of all apps available in their store.  When a user downloads and installs apps, the actual sizes reported by Android are often larger than the sizes listed by the Play Store.

Of importance, this discrepancy occurs before applications are even run for the first time.

What is the reason for the discrepancy?

Apk and zip files are essentially the same, compressed. Before the system can use the file it needs to decompressed. So the file is one size when downloaded and another size when installed.

Also note sometimes when apk's are installed, after being opened some data may need to be downloaded. So file size file will increase again.

Differences in size are noticeable when comparing between Android markets, one shows one size and play store shows completely different size.


3G/Wi-Fi Vs Wi-Fi Only Enabled Android Tablets: Pros & Cons to the Consumer? Having never owned an Android Tablet I am thinking of purchasing one at some point during 2013. From what I gather in terms of connectivity, they either come as:

Wi-Fi Only
3G & Wi-Fi

Is it true that most tablets are Wi-Fi only enabled ?
 - Those people who purchase them can therefore connect where ever there is Wi-Fi or a Wi-Fi Hotspot ?

3G/Wi-Fi tablets might be less common (or perhaps more appropriate to say popular) because they require a SIM card to be purchased and inserted (which leads to greater monthly expense....I assume), however they can therefore use the tablet anywhere they like because they are connected to a mobile, cellular network.(In the same manner that a SmartPhone is 3G/Wifi Enabled I guess)

Anyone who can comment on the above, would be much appreciated...

Most newer Android tablets provide both WiFi and WiFi+3G variants.

If a tablet is WiFi only - then yes, the tablet can only access the internet via a WiFi hotspot/network.

If a tablet has 3G capability as well, then yes - a SIM and data plan would be needed to use the 3G functionality, but not required to use the tablet. The benefits of using a 3G model would be that you always have an internet connection, even if there isn't a WiFi network available (as long as your mobile network has coverage where you are).

The 3G system in tablets is the same as in phones - except that most 3G enabled tablets don't have the ability to make voice calls, or send SMS's - they are limited to using only the internet through the 3G network.

3G tablets are more expensive than the WiFi only models - mostly costing in the region of ~£100 more, however the benefits can be rather useful - especially if you would be using the tablet out and about alot.

However, if you possess an Android device as well, then you could just purchase a WiFi only model, and use the Portable Hotspot feature of your Android phone to create a WiFi network that the tablet can connect to, to use the 3G internet of your phone.

So, in conclusion:

3G tablets can be connected to the internet practically everywhere
3G tablets can cost around £100 more than WiFi only varients
WiFi only varients can only access the internet when a connectible WiFi network is present
A SIM and data plan are needed to use 3G data on a 3G capable tablet - this will cost extra
3G tablets are ideal for those that will be taking them out and about with them, and would need an internet connection while they are out and about with their tablet
WiFi only tablets are ideal for those that would only be using the tablet indoors that has a WiFi network available, or for those that wish to to the WiFi Hotspot feature of their Android phone.


Intercepting app http requests I wanted to be able to intercept http/https requests in apps on Android. I figured the best way to do this was with Bluestacks and Proxycap. But when I configured both of them together, it still didn't intercept app requests. Does anyone have any idea how I could achieve this? Thank you!

I was struggling with the same issue for a while. Finally, found a way out to track traffic coming from the emulator. You can start the emulator using:

emulator -avd <emuName> -http-proxy http://<SYSTEM_IP>:<PORT>

where emuName should be replaced with your emulator instance's name; SYSTEM_IP should be replaced with your system's IP address and PORT should be the port where the interceptor is running.

You can take a look at this:
http://stick2code.blogspot.in/2014/04/intercept-http-requests-sent-from-app.html.
Hope it helps!


Is it reliable to save some app files in /storage/emulated/0/? I already read that /sdcard/ is a symlink to the actual path of /storage/emulated/0/.
I'm an Android app developer using Apache Cordova, wherein cordova.file.externalRootDirectory is indeed file:///storage/emulated/0/.
Is it always fully reliable to save some app internal files at /storage/emulated/0/path/to/app, considering that the user might not have an external physical memory card on their phone?

Is it always fully reliable to save some app internal files at /storage/emulated/0/path/to/app?

No. External shared storage isn't reliable, as documented under getExternalFilesDir() and other related documentation, because of multiple possible reasons:

User or any other app with full storage access can read, modify or delete the files.
App's private directories in external storage get deleted when the app is uninstalled.
User might be using physically external SD card as the only primary shared external storage. So the data is lost when the card is removed.

Better use internal storage (getFilesDir() and sisters) for data security and reliability. For more details:

Android's Storage Journey
Where Android apps store data?
What is /storage/emulated/0/?


Generate a location intent to share to other apps from a Google Maps Normally, the share mechanism in Google Maps Android App shares text (containing an URL pointing to Google Maps website).

There is though an specific location intent in Android, that any app can catch. When I send such intent from other apps, I can embed a location in messaging apps or open that location in different map apps (including Google Maps).

How do I generate such intent from a pinpointed location in Google Maps, from the user interface?

For example, I have installed Maps.ME which does accept location intents too. How do I start a location intent with Google Maps and catch it with Maps.ME, to share a given location? I'm also interested in workarounds if no in-app solution is available.

this app may help you to bridge different map apps. Here

you open Google Maps and share that location and choose this app. You can then open it using other maps which accepts location intent.

Hope it helps


Revert from MIUI to Motoblur I am a proud owner of Motorola Defy. A few months ago I upgraded my defy from 2.1 to 2.2. Although it had new features it became a bit laggy and so finally I decided to root my defy and install MIUI Gingerbread.

I was using MIUI Gingerbread all this time and suddenly it started itching me and a thought came to my mind that I want to experience Motoblur again.

I had already created an image of my Motoblur Froyo before installing MIUI Gingerbread. So I went ahead and reverted the Froyo image back on my defy.

But then some of the things stopped working: e.g. Camera is not working now.

I found that the Foryo image did not copy the Motoblur Froyo Kernel and when I reverted back my defy is still having the MIUI kernel.

Can someone help me getting back to Motoblur Froyo or can I download the original kernel and re-install it back to my defy?

Anything would help....

Thanks.

There is this tool called RSD Lite, which is (AFAIK) an internal tool from motorola to flash their phones. You should be able to find it around the googles.

And here you should be able to pick up a stock firmware for the Defy.

This method worked for my Moto Cliq XT, but don't let this be a  guarantee for your Defy!


Wifi battery saving tips or automation A person that is not expert in computers & technology (including smartphones) bought a Galaxy Mini S3 and asked me some help. He is very old of age.

The problem with this phone is that Wifi drains away lots of power. The battery barely survives half a day. Disabling wifi multiplies the battery duration. It is normal that disabling wifi helps battery survive, but the difference with this phone is dramatic (my S3 "large" lasts more).

The basic idea is to disable wifi when not needed, something that I do every time I go out of home playing Ingress. But that user is not an expert and hardly can be taught how and when to enable/disable wifi. He needs Viber, which he learned how to use, when home. When out of home, no wifi is needed.

I would like to ask if there is any application that can be used to turn wifi on and off depending on the location of the device, possibly avoiding draining battery because of the GPS. I was thinking about coarse location based on cell tower.

I was also thinking about the old Microsoft On.X.

Or, can any other trick be used to make battery last a little longer with wifi on?

An important thing I found: I let the user use the phone mainly in standby for an almost full discharge. Battery meter said that Android OS consumed 62% of battery. Wifi was only consuming 6%.

This morning the phone was fully charged. After about 4 hours the battery level, with wifi manually turned off, was of 98%.

Tasker is an app that can be used to automate changing settings on your device, based on various events like when you leave range of a wifi AP, or when you enter a geographic area.

You can have a look through the Tasker tag here for some idea of the jobs it can be used for, and how to configure it.


What folders does TitaniumBackup need to survive a wipe? I'm thinking, if I want to do a complete wipe and also format the SD card to get rid of a bunch of old crap, what do I need to extract from the phone and then put back in for TitaniumBackup to still work? Is there a single folder that contains all of TB's settings and backups that you can just copy and then put back in to restore apps and system settings? Or does TB stash settings/backups in several places on the SD card?

All you need is the TitaniumBackup folder on the SD card. This contains all your backup information.

Make sure to have the Auto-sync TB settings preference checked. Titanium Backup, ironically, won't back itself up when running a backup. This check-box ensures that your settings for the app are saved as well (such as schedules and preferences).

You can also create an update.zip file which can be used to install TB in the recovery: Go to the menu, click More, then scroll down until you see Create "update.zip". This particular file will not be stored in the TitaniumBackup folder, but rather on the root of your sd card.

After you wipe everything, just copy the TitaniumBackup folder back onto the SD card, install your rom, and install TB (either from Google Play or from the update.zip file if you created it). It should automatically pick up all its old settings and be ready to restore your apps.


What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device? What can I do to get better battery life on my Droid? Battery life seems awful. Less than 15 hours or so on normal usage.

I played with this for a little while after getting my Droid, and found that there are a few easy things you can do that make a big difference.  There's also a lot of misinformation out there, so you need to do some testing.  I get 20 hours of regular use or 16 hours of heavy use.

Note that these are my results on a Motorola Droid with OS 2.1.  Your results may vary, particularly if you're using a different OS version!

Don't use Live Wallpapers.  They're cool, but they eat battery.
Don't use Sense UI.  That's HTC's home app.  Again, it's pretty, but not friendly to battery.
Prefer the back button over the home button.  The back button lets apps decide if they want to run in the background.  The home screen often leaves apps running when they don't need to.
Don't use app killers!  There's no need for them if you use the back button, and you'll end up crippling other apps because of non-obvious dependencies between apps.
Use WiFi whenever you have access to a network because it uses less battery than 3G.  (Shorter distance, lower power.)  Turn WiFi off when you don't have access to a network, otherwise it will keep looking for a WiFi network it can use (which drains battery).
Reduce the frequency at which apps refresh their content.  Common offenders are social media clients (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), email, and news or weather apps.
Finally, watch your battery usage under Settings -> About Phone -> Battery -> Battery Use.  This will show you what has been using the battery since it was last charged.  (So it shows nothing while charging!)  If anything unexpected is using the battery, consider replacing it with another app or service.

Best of luck, and enjoy your Android phone!


Slide unlock till pattern lock gets activated after interval Using Jelly Bean, 4.1.1, on a Galaxy Nexus, I want this: You lock the phone. For the first 5 minutes, if you try to unlock, you can just slide and unlock it; after that, you have to enter a pattern.

I don't know how to get the slide to unlock to be activated for the 5 minutes in the middle. I have it set up right now so that it unlocks right away in the first 5 minutes, and asks for the pattern after that. Is this even possible?

I was able to set up what you want with one caveat: You have to use a PIN or a password, not a pattern. My solution depends on the apps Tasker (trial version here) and Secure Settings. Secure Settings requires root for some of its features. I don't know if this is one of them. If you aren't rooted, you can try it and see if it works.

Posting a complete how-to on Tasker is beyond the scope of my answer. Instead, here's the official documentation and links to user-created guides. My solution involves setting up two Tasker profiles. The first one sets the PIN or password after a timeout. The second one clears the PIN/password once the screen is unlocked.

Here are my profiles:

Profile: Screen Locked (98)
    Event: Display Off
Enter: Anon (106)
    A1: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:0 Minutes:5 Hours:0 Days:0 ]
    A2: If [ %SCREEN ~ off ]
    A3: Secure Settings [ Configuration:Set Pin Package:com.intangibleobject.securesettings.plugin Name:Secure Settings ]
    A4: End If

Profile: Screen Unlocked (107)
    Event: Display Unlocked
Enter: Anon (108)
    A1: Secure Settings [ Configuration:Clear Password Package:com.intangibleobject.securesettings.plugin Name:Secure Settings ]

Once you've got Tasker configured, go to your phone settings and set slide unlock (and set he timeout to be whatever you find to be an appropriate amount of time for the slide lock to come up) . Note that when the password/PIN is enabled, you'll first have to slide unlock, and then enter your PIN/password.


Certain apps fail to update from Play, while others work I have been having this issue between ROMs, as well as between connections. I am currently running ParanoidAndroid 3.94 (Android 4.3) with franco.kernel 3.0.89. Other apps consistently update fine. The error I get is

  Update for "application-name" could not be downloaded due to an error. (403)

I have eliminated the following factors:

Network issues (issue persists with two separate Wi-Fi points, as well as mobile data)
Google Play cache issues (I have cleared cache and restarted the Play app)

If I "sacrifice" one of the apps that do not work and uninstall "TuneIn Radio Pro" from Play store — I am then also locked out of actually getting the app back on my phone. The button in the Play store says "Install" (note: not "Purchase", so my existing ownership is recognized), I click it and "Accept", and the app even starts downloading! However, after the installation starts, I get the following error message:

  Error: Package file is invalid

Now, I am able to get all of these apps just fine on another device I have (Nexus 7), so I appreciate the fact that there is something up with my phone that causes this. However, I am not certain that it has to be something with the phone as it can also be something on Google's end not handling my dual accounts very well and therefore throwing the 403 (Forbidden) error when I try to download an app I actually own.

This was solved by going into /data/data/ and finding the appropriate folder belonging to the failing app. I found one with "swiftkey" in the name, deleted it, and following that the update worked just fine. Most likely, the app installation was failing in the background with INSTALL_FAILED_UID_CHANGED due to the app being restored with TitaniumBackup, as detailed in this answer.

So, in short, this seems to be an error caused by the UID changing between installs and Google Play throwing a fit, and it's solved by making sure app data is removed.


When are Android apps auto-updated? In the Play Store, I have checked the box "Auto-update" for my application. However, although the app received a new version several hours ago, it is not being auto-updated on my phone.

What I'm wondering is how often are apps auto-updated (if at all)?

Edit: It's been one day and the app hasn't been auto-updated yet. I've tried letting the mobile charge to 100% overnight but it didn't help.

Check Sync is enabled in settings & background Data is not restricted

Then Check app update is given to your Region.
In Play Store, It is possible to distribute app by Region. For example, If A developer  given an Update to the US REGION, But you are staying in Some other countries(Even if you have downlaod US version) Play store will not update the app.


Android 6+ and account permissions: where have they gone to? I was just browsing the Android Developers Permissions list, and noticed most of the account permissions are gone – in fact, all but GET_ACCOUNTS as it seems. What does that mean, what implications does it have to the end-user – and what else got messed up (apart from the fact there's practically no INTERNET permission anymore)?

As usual, I tried my best Google-Fu but found no answers. Instead, some unanswered questions asking the same. I cannot put it into better words than these:

  Marshmallow dropped several Account permissions, including MANAGE_ACCOUNTS and USE_CREDENTIALS, but kept GET_ACCOUNTS. I haven't seen much documentation of what this means for the user in practice, though. I assume that the app that creates an account can automatically use/manage it. However, if a 3rd party app wants to log in with a Google/Facebook/etc account that it did not create:

  Does it still have to request my interaction/approval the first time each account is accessed/used, or can it just use my accounts automatically now?
  If I deny the GET_ACCOUNTS permission, can the app still prompt me to log in with an account from my Nexus? Or do I have to grant the app permission to view all of my accounts in order to let it use one of them?

Additionally: if access to accounts is still protected (which I hope it is!) – which permission is protecting it now?

Related questions (whose answers might need to be updated now):

What does permission “MANAGE_ACCOUNTS” mean?
What can an app do with the “USE ACCOUNTS ON THE DEVICE” permission?
In Android 6, how to deny an app permission to access the network?
What do Android application permissions mean?

Summing up information collected in the (cleaned-up) comments

The following details came up in the comments. They are not answering my question, but give valuable hints – which is why I'm including them with my question (credits given to their authors):

"there's practically no INTERNET permission": It's still there, but automatically granted to each app. No way to revoke it with on-board tools/settings. Which is why I linked to In Android 6, how to deny an app permission to access the network? above. Why that's important? See below.
Dan Brown points out that access to accounts is now bound to some _CONTACTS permission. Indeed, using an app to "login with Google" prompts: "Allow X to access your contacts?"

It's not clear whether you grant read access only (bad enough) or even write access. So now even a cloud storage app (like Dropbox, Mega, etc) gets access to your contacts – which is why always granting INTERNET becomes a privacy nightmare.
As it's now obvious this part of the account permissions went to contacts (kudos to Dan for the pointer!), I'd really like to read some details on that: how was it changed, why was it changed, what are the implications, how to deal with it.
Update: As the latest version of the SE app no longer requires to access contacts, Dan created a dedicated question concerning this app on the main Meta, which might be worth checking: How does the new sign-in system work for the Android app? In short, they are using a new version of the "Google Sign In SDK", which no longer requires contacts access. As that only affects Google Sign-In, it doesn't answer my question, though.
Dan also pointed out that apps use their own account managers. That was already the case before MM – and the reason why there was the MANAGE_ACCOUNTS permission (see above): they registered their service with Android, so other apps could use it.
As I already mentioned with my question, GET_ACCOUNTS is the only surviving account permission. It was already required before MM, and probably still serves the same purpose: In order to use an account, our app first needs to know that it's there – so it has to obtain a list of available accounts to start with. If something has changed in this regard, please include it with your answers.

The "dangerous" permissions are listed in Table 1 on this
permissions page. There are also "normal" permissions, listed here. Normal permissions are automatically granted to the app.

The dangerous permissions are partitioned into groups. Before Android 6, the Android Store would present the list of groups (though it included "normal" permission, too) and you could either choose to download and accept all the permissions or not download. With Android 6, you accept the permission when you run the app, not when you download it. Rather than accept individual permissions you accept or deny an entire group.

When you run the app and grant a permission, the permission stays granted indefinitely. If you want to revoke it, you can. Go to Android Settings > Apps > your app > Permissions. Then click the green slider-button for the permission you want to change.

As for the behavior in the app, the big change is from the developer's point of view. Before Android 6, the app did not need to check whether a permission was granted (all were automatically granted when you download the app). With Android 6, if the app has been granted a permission, it can do the associated action. If not, it will either crash or, if the developer wrote additional code, it may do something more elegant.

You do have concerns about account access. I'm not sure what to say except that with Android 6, the app cannot get account information without you accepting access to contacts. See the table.

This is a general answer and you many need to post more specific questions for additional details. Hope this helps.


How can I see the calendar from Android work and private profiles together? The organization I work at has added the option of using Android For Work (AFW) aka Android Enterprise (AE).  Under this setup I have two profiles: private and work.  These are completely separate spaces, so apps installed in one profile aren't available in the other, and files are kept separate.  Even Android's share functionality is separate, so I can't share a file I received at work to my private profile.

The only thing that I've seen that is somewhat shared is the phone app.  When I search for a contact, I get results from both work and private profiles.

The question is, is there any way to view my work and private calendars together?  While the profiles are separate, there is only one me, so I would like to be able to see all my schedule constraints in one place.  Is there any way to do this?

You can share your work calendar with your private id or share your private calendar with work id. This way you can see both calendar together.

This applies if it is google calendar for both work and private use.

Please let us know if you have some other configuration in calendars.


How to reflash Alcatel 5054N Android ROM without android OS on the phone Hello Android Enthusiest forum members,

I have a big problem with a recent ebay purchase of an Alcatel 5054N smartphone that recently became unbootable ; previously I had installed a recovery app by TWRP,and this app had subsequently wiped my android system partition of the Android 5.1.1!!
  My basic question now is how may I "unbrick"(the phone was able to boot to the Alcatel splash shield,but cannot do it anymore... :/ ) this phone without having to take it to a local PC/Cell Phone doctor...
  I have heard of the USB Download Mode Fix recovery dongles(Samsung specific)being sold on ebay,but is there one available (or will work) for an Alcatel 5054N??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,positive replies which make my day!!

Hoping that you still can boot into recovery mode(TWRP).

Try this if your mobile supports OTG:

download a custom ROM or stock ROM that is suitable for your mobile.
Copy that ROM into a USB flashdrive.
Boot into TWRP recovery mode, connect the flash drive which consists the custom ROM via OTG.
Click install, select the custom ROM zip file from the flash drive.
Wish for the best.

If your device is not supporting OTG:

Since you have TWRP i am assuming that you know how to work with ADB in the command line
Connect your device via USB cable to your PC.
Go to the folder where you have the platform-tools (android SDK) and open the command line tool from this folder
Click adb devices. If your device is shown then great.
now put the downloaded custom ROM file in this same folder. Comsider renaming the custom ROM file as per your convenience.
Now type adb push <your custom ROM filename> /sdcard/
This command pushes the file to your internal memory root folder.
Now open recovery mode again.
Select install.
Select the custom ROM zip file from the internal storage.
And flash it.

Hope any of the methods work.
I


What is the URL of the bookmarks or favorites section in Chrome for Android? I need to add my bookmarks window to the main page. For that, it asks me for a URL which I don't know what it is. I know that the URL for the history list is chrome://history.

I tried with the PC or desktop's chrome://bookmarks, but it didn't work.

What is the URL of bookmarks or favorites

There is no such URL for Chrome for Android as of version 80.0. All Chrome specific URLs are listed and can be accessed from chrome://chrome-urls. Bookmarks related URL is not listed there.

Second, for a user to access their Bookmarks a separate activity is launched named org.chromium.chrome.browser.bookmarks.BookmarkActivity, but this activity cannot be launched outside of Chrome.

In short, what you are after and specifically in the manner you are after is not possible on Chrome for Android.


Nexus 5 with zero-length partitions So something is wrong with either the partition or the eMMC. TWRP is unable to erase/reformat/repair any partition (console lists partitions that fail to mount: /data, /data/media, /system, /cache) and e2fsck -pcfv /dev/block/mmcblk0p27 says it is zero-length partition. In fact, under TWRP, the partition sizes are System(0MB), Data(0MB), Cache(12MB), Boot(22MB), EFS(6MB). Any help?

Probably your best shot at this point is to flash a factory image. Complete instructions are at the top of that page, but the general gist is:

Download and extract the factory image (you'll probably want the latest one - MRA58K)
Boot your device into fastboot mode (in TWRP go to reboot -> bootloader, or run adb reboot bootloader)
Run the flash-all script (make sure that fastboot from the SDK is in your PATH - set PATH=<path-to-fastboot-folder>;%PATH% in windows, and export PATH=<path-to-fastboot-folder>:$PATH in OSX/Linux)
Your device should work again! You'll have to flash TWRP again, though.


Connecting an android phone through the wifi with proxy I am currently abroad. I have internet on my PC via a RJ45 cable on Win7 PC. It works fine through a proxy (address + specific port).

Now I want to use my smartphone but there is no wireless connection in my room ...

So how to create a hotspot from my PC (which has a wireless card) so I can go online with my smartphone (which also has the wifi function)?

I tried the virtual router solution manager and Connectify and the classical solution proposed sites (control-> Network and Internet-> Network and Sharing-> new connection-> ad hoc wireless network -> name + password + WPA2) then share the map. But without success ... I mean the Android phone says I am connected but I can't reach anywebsite with chrome or the preinstalled Android Internet browser. Usually I succeed with this virtual router goal time is not working probably the raison de proxy application!

PS: If it's easier I'm also starting to connect my pc to the internet via usb cable. But rooter my smartphone as my smartphone procedure is complex ...

did you specify the proxy configuration when you were setting up the network, you need to enter the proxy details in the network configuration try Google nexus 4 android network configuration website its for nexus 4, but hope its similar to any other android device.

http://support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?answer=1649770.
get an english one or translate this page if its in french.

Hope it helps


CyanogenMod vs rooting Cyanogen OS Background: I want a rooted Android phone, but I have never dabbled with rooting etc before. I own a YU Yuphoria device (which comes with Cyanogen OS).

It seems to me there are two ways to get root access:

install CyanogenMod on the phone, or
root the stock Cyanogen OS that comes with the phone

What are the pros and cons of either option over the other?

If I install CyanogenMod, will I get quicker updates to the OS (including new Android releases)? Does the update happen automatically (or at least very simply), or does it involve some procedure (using the PC to flash/run commands etc) to be followed each time?

Currently I am tilting towards CyanogenMod because I think (though I might be wrong) that it will allow automatic regular updates without having to re-root each time. On the other hand, I have read that rooting the stock Cyanogen OS will require the re-rooting each time after updating the OS.

Any differences in stability between CyanogenMod (the stable releases, not nightly) and Cyanogen OS?

If you're looking specifically at the stable builds of CyanogenMod (CM), then you would be better off rooting Cyanogen OS. Otherwise you would likely be reverting to an older Android version or waiting months for the stable release of the current version of CM to be released. In my experience, the stable release typically comes at the end of the development cycle for a particular Android version, e.g. around when the new version is being released. On the other hand, for the OnePlus One the comparatively stripped out CyanogenOS build would come a few weeks after the release of a new version of Android.

The obvious pro for CM is that it is much more recent and updated. New features are being added constantly, so by the time it reaches a stable release it is much more fully featured than the comparable Cyanogen OS release. The obvious downside is the time that it takes to get to that point.

The obvious pro for Cyanogen OS is that it is built specifically for your device under contract by the manufacturers. It's already on your phone and is supported officially. Being an OEM ROM, it often comes with additional Cyanogen OS-specific apps and themes that aren't available to CM, CM-based ROMs, and AOSP-based ROMs. Although from my experience with the OnePlus One, this point is insignificant.

Between those two options, there isn't likely to be any significant difference in stability. With CyanogenOS, you WILL have to reroot the device every time you flash an official update. You would not have to deal with the steps of the root process that revolve around drivers, which is most of them, but it will also overwrite your recovery so you would have to flash that again as well. With CM the update process involves rebooting to recovery and installing the .zip file. The more I think about this, the more I'd recommend CM. You've changed my mind.

If you are interested in some of the additional features that a custom ROM has to offer, you should browse the lettuce xda page here for custom ROMs. The only people that will be able to answer your stability questions are other people on your same device running these ROMs. A CM 13 build was just released last week so it may be too early to consider that a daily driver but the CM 12.1 build has been around for a while. There are also plenty of other ROMs out there if you want to go down that route.

The rooting process for your device is the same as many others and is very straightforward. Here is a detailed guide. These steps will be common to both rooting CyanogenOS AND installing CM, which is only four additional steps: download ROM zip, reboot to recovery, flash the zip, and wipe cache and dalvik. Reboot.


What is in "Other" when looking at Storage My HTC Desire 500 is constantly telling me that I have no space for updates. I've cleaned out all cache; am using SD card for storage; yet when I check the storage it shows 2.89GB in "Other".

I can't get in to find out what this is.

Can anyone help?

It just simply means that the memory i.e 2.89GB is available over your external storage, and yes the reason why your device is showing you that you have no space available because its looking at the device internal storage. I would say to fix this error try moving all the music, videos, apps(if its available for you) to the SD card this error will fix up.


How To T-mobile Web Day Pass on Non T-Mobile Device? I have a Pay As You Go SIM card on my Nexus One which works great for voice calls but I don't really know how to use it for T-mobile's $1.49 Web Day Pass.

I called T-Mobile's customer support but they were clueless... All they could say was "press the web2go button".

I don't have a web2go button on my Nexus One.

I know it is possible to use T-mobile's $1.49 Web Day Pass on a Nexus One, but I don't know how.

Any help would be appreciated.

UPDATE: Thanks to the link posted by @uTubeFan I was able to find http://m.web2go.com/myaccount/summary.do which seems to give some home but for now all I am receiving is:

Error 500--Internet Server Error
From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:
10.5.1 500 Internal Server Error
The server encountered an unexpected condition which
prevented it from fulfilling the request.

You may want to read this blog post. You might get a way with simply trying to access any web site and waiting for the Buy Web DayPass prompt.

Otherwise you might need to do the trick mentioned in the blog, which is trying the above on a non-Android phone and then swapping the the DayPass enabled SIM.


problem with root s4 gt-i9515 I have S4 I9515. Can I use a ROM or root S4 I9505 to my phone or not?

I don't find any root for my phone. I even tried to root my phone with root S4 I9505 but when I try to give super user access to my "root checker application" it give me "this device does not have proper root access". But if I delete "super user application" and then run "root checker", it show me that I got good root. Also I use another su app but it is not working with me so what to do?

Try Frama root apk .
It roots all high end devices.

How to install:

Download Framaroot from XDA
Run, choose Superuser or SuperSU
Select Boromir or another character
You will see :-)
Reboot device
Root- installed


Object reference not set to an instance of an object. SuperOneClick Im trying to root my Motorola Defy (not plus) and when going to root it with SuperOneClick (1.9.5) I get Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

What can I do?

The problem was a bug that this specific version had, if you are using this specific version I strongly advise you to update.


Not enough space to update apps How do I make more space on my phone to update apps or download more stuff if my phone has a 16GB SD card and I have 14.25GB left?

Your phone has two spaces where it can store apps, the internal memory and the SD card. It seems like the internal memory has filled up completely. To remedy this, go to Settings > Apps and move any apps you can to the SD card/external storage (by clicking an app, then click 'move to external storage' or similar). This will free up space on internal storage for it to download updates etc. whilst keeping the apps on your SD card.

You should do this for all the apps you can, as long as you don't need them to run in the background; for example, you should not do this with apps that provide widgets, or alarm clock apps.

A tip: don't ask questions in all-capitals; it doesn't encourage answers.


Play videos from another android device over wifi Is there a way to play videos over a wifi connection (tethering/direct)? I'm using a Nexus 9 which is lacking a SD card slot. Therefore I want to play videos from my Android phone which has enough space. As I need it for my vacation it should be an offline solution. The solutions I have found only providing copying the files from one device to another (Airdroid,Xender,Droid over wifi). Is there any streaming/direct access solution?

Run an FTP or HTTP server on your Android device which has bigger storage. There are many apps on Play Store which can create a server on Android like FTP Server Ultimate or Servers Ultimate Pro.  Creating a server on them is very easy. You can get an idea from here as well (see #Method 3).

Install a file manager which allows access to remote storage such as ES File Explorer or MiXplorer. Both are very intuitive and can create an FTP server or either access it. (See step 5 here for former's usage.)
It goes without saying that both devices need to be connected under same Wi-Fi or hotspot.

Install a multimedia player such as MX Player to stream videos.

That's it.


How can I view my WhatsApp messages on my Android tablet? I have an Android phone on which I use WhatsApp but for my convenience I would like to view them on my tablet which also runs Android. The tablet is wifi only so I cannot install WhatsApp on it. I'm hoping there is an app for that.

You can download the whatsapp.apk from the Internet (its like a .exe file for Android), just search it in Google.


XT1064 - 5.0.1 - Rooted - Issues with writing to /sdcard I just rooted my Moto G 2014 XT1064 running 5.0.1.

I used this article to do the root process: http://maktechblog.com/how-to-unlock-the-bootloader-and-root-the-motorola-moto-g-2nd-gen/#Root Which evolved unlocking the bootloader (which caused data to be erased, of course), installing TWRP, then copying SuperSU.zip over adb, then going back to TWRP recovery and installing SuperSU through TWRP.

Since then, /sdcard seems to be acting like its mounted as read only. I cannot seem to get anything written to it. I've tried to adb push files to /sdcard, but I keep getting the same "Permission denied" error. Taking screenshots don't work either, I get a "Couldn't capture screenshot" error. And I've also noticed the Twitter app is unable to display profile pictures nor pictures inside of tweets.

I've tried numerous things, but I'm stumped.

I've tried to see if its mounted as read only. Via adb shell, and su to get root, and mount to view the mounted file systems. Everything dealing with /sdcard, /storage/emulated/legacy, and /data/media are all mounted as rw (Read & Write, of course).

Remounting them doesn't produce any errors, but has no effect.

The file system for /sdcard seems to be just fine, as I can adb shell in, and use  ls /sdcard/, from either regular shell or root. And via TWRP, it was able to successfully save a recovery.log to the /sdcard/ file system, indicating nothing should be preventing things from being written to the file system.

I am also unable to copy files to it via Windows, it tells me "Cannot copy [file name] ... The device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected", and OS X still doesn't seem to recognize it at all despite installing drivers from Motorola, which has happened before I rooted it.

What I found particularly weird is that I can download and install apps still. I installed a root checker app just after rooting it, and it worked, and I wanted to screenshot it, and then I noticed the issues happening.

And I've even tried a free app from Google Play which uses SuperUser permissions and attempts to fix the sdcard file system and make it mount right. Still, I am unable to write anything to it.

I've also tried to see if restarting adbd as root via the 'adb root' command would work, only to be disappointed because it doesn't work on production phones, despite my phone already being rooted.

I'm pretty new to android in general, including rooting, but I've definitely gotten a good feel for how it works, when I installed 5.0.1 onto it a few days ago (It came with 4.4.4 and didn't have an OTA update yet). But now I'm really confused about why this happened after I rooted, and after a bunch of googling to find nothing helpful, I have to ask here.

Any suggestions?

Edit: Just to be clear, Settings also reports I have 2.4 GB available space, and the file I am trying to copy over is far less than that.

I don't know if it will solve your problem or not, because I never actually had issues "writing" to the sdcard, but apps seem to have problems sometimes. here is what I did.

I am suggesting this method because you said you use TWRP as your recovery.

Get the TWRP manager and open it.

If you don't have the version of BusyBox they use it will complain. I am not sure if it will work with any other version. I have CM12 installed, which comes with busybox, but the TWRP app complains, so I use the one they recommend. The one they use does update busybox (automatically if you have the pro).

It will then tell you that it can't write to the sdcard, and they can fix it. Click "yes" it will take you to the setting of the TWRP manager. Click on the option that says "Apply SD Card patch". This will reboot your phone.

Note that mine is disabled and says "Already applied or not needed". This is because I have ran the patch already.


How to "merge" syncs? This is my problem: I had a tablet, and it was never synced to its Google account. I broke it, and I bought a smartphone, on which I activated the sync on the same account. In the meanwhile I got the tablet repaired, and now I would retrieve all the old data.

The question is: if I sync the tablet, the data on the tablet (whatsapp conversations, calendar events, contacts etc) will be deleted or merged? And if they will be deleted, how can I merge the old data to my new smartphone?

At least for contacts it's easy: the contacts app offers "export to SD card" (resulting in a .vcf file) and "import from SD card" as well. I'd do that first anyhow, so if something goes wrong you still have that.

The calendar app unfortunately doesn't offer a corresponding option – but there are some calendar backup apps which should be helpful (check that page for other backup apps as well to cover things you might have forgotten to mention).

WhatsApp will be trouble here I'm afraid.

Apart from the above, calendar and contacts should merge fine if you use either Google sync or your own DAV resource. Still, it cannot hurt to have a separate backup :)


Dialer lags when making a call in Yu Yureka running Lollipop I upgraded my Yu Yureka to Lollipop using the inbuilt update, and ever since I am seeing a lag while making calls. It takes up to 10 secs to show the call screen after I make the call. I tried clearing the app data, but no luck. Anyone else facing this issue? Any help would be appreciated.

this update might solve the bug

Update Size: 130Mb Android version: 5.0.2 Software version: Cyanogen OS 12 (YNG1TAS1K0)

"We are excited to announce a new software update for Yureka which will lead to improved battery performance for YUREKA. (with Cyanogen OS 12 YNG1TAS0W0).

This performance update has been rolled out post feedback from our beta testers community and the roll out process starts today.

Over the next few days ALL users who have official Cyanogen OS 12 YNG1TAS0W0 software on their YUREKA, will receive the update."-YuGod

Click here for the original post on yu forum


Why do my Android text messages (SMS) take minutes to send? I recently bought my first Android phone, HTC Desire Z with Android 2.2 (Froyo).

I imported all my old Nokia E71 SMSs using the Athg2Sms Android app (after converting my Nokia CSV text file to unix-ending format). All 2,000 incoming messages and 200 outgoing messages were imported.

When I try to send a message my phone practically pauses with a modal dialog box saying "Please wait...". This message can appear for 30 seconds to several minutes.

Naturally waiting this long is ridiculous. If I press the Home or Back button the message sending is cancelled and the message goes into "Drafts".

My Nokia phone would accept a message and transmit it in the background.

Have other people encountered this unacceptable sending freeze and have they found a method to fix it? (Note, no answer recommending me to clear out my inbox is acceptable - a tiny inbox is not required for a Nokia phone, neither should it be for an Android phone).

Update

(I'll edit this section as more evidence comes to light).

As per @Michael Paulukonis 's recommendation below I deleted my e-mail accounts and switched to K-9 for e-mail. Since then I've noticed that some of my SMS sends are extremely quick, like 3 seconds. However some are not - some still take over a minute. I still have 2,000+ SMS messages on the phone but perhaps the time-to-send is related to thread length - if I know any more I'll update here!

Update 2

After a month of having the phone was getting ready to throw it at a brick wall with the frustration of being forced to stand like an idiot waiting for the f*@#ing phone to unfreeze when sending messages. I'd even tried backing up all my messages using "SMS Backup & Restore", deleting all messages, and restoring again. Finally gave up and switched to Handcent. Shame on HTC for developing a truly horridly buggy application.

Update 3

I've been using Handcent for a while. This program masks the problem in that it accepts a message as soon as you press "Send" - however the message still takes a long time before it is ready to be sent over the radio - so it appears that the underlying problem must be with the Operating System (is my guess). The good news is that messages are not turned into drafts but it can still take a long time before a message is actually sent.

Update 4
On Christmas Day 2010 I downloaded a system software update v1.72.405.2 onto my HTC Desire Z in the UK. Sent ~30 messages so far, maximum delay has been 6 seconds. Seems like this system update fixed this major bug! I will update over the next week or two to confirm/deny.

The HTC Mail and Messaging apps may have memory leak issues -- if this is the case, having a large DB of messages could cause a slowdown.

I had some system slowdowns and freezes. After I started using the K9Mail/Gmail and Handcent SMS apps -- I had no more slowdowns or freezes.

Since HTC apps cannot be uninstalled or turned off (unless you root), you can only set them to never poll for messages and never alert upon receipt of message. Which it shouldn't get. But you never know.


Make home screen icons round again, after Huawei update Yesterday I installed a suggested update on my Huawei nova3i, to EMUI version 9.1.0

There is one change which I don't like.  Many apps installed from the app store used to have round icons, but now they have square icons.

See in this before and after, how the 'Calm', 'MeeWee' and 'Vimeo' icons have changed shape:

(We can also see that the icons grew a little bit larger, which I don't really find appealing either.)

Is it possible to restore the old look, with smaller round icons for apps from the App Store?

(I am willing to install a theme if I have to, but I don't really want the default icons, wallpapers and text to change!)

I guess the device somehow lost my theme, and this ugly look is the fallback "no theme found" behaviour.

Anyway, I downloaded the "Legend" theme from this website, and used these instructions to apply it.

After I applied that theme (although I think any theme would do), I got a reasonable compromise: smaller icons and rounded-square borders.  This is certainly improvement.

Now I just need to reset the font and wallpaper, which I can do.

Still, if anyone knows how to get the really round icons again, I would like that.


Some apps are gone and others crash after Samsung Galaxy S2 crash I'm facing a problem with my Galaxy S2. I've been using it for 1 year but a week ago when I used the alarm clock to set an alarm, the phone suddenly hanged and restarted. After the restart it stopped working properly. At first all of my apps crashed even the TwLauncher. So I turned it off and then tried turning it on by removing the memory card and simcard. It didn't work out, so I used my Nokia for a week and left it with battery, simcard and external memory card removed. But this weekend I turned it on and it started working with less app crashes but some of my apps were gone like opera mobile. Also I had to re-enter my Google account because the phone was like factory reset. All data was there, the only thing gone was my Google account.

Now my problem is all my apps are crashing when I enter them and sometimes a text comes to the screen saying "Oooops !! I crashed but a report has been sent to my developer"
How can I fix this? Any ideas? I can provide screenshots if needed. Any help would be helpful.

It sounds like something has corrupted within your phone.

You didn't say if you forced a factory reset - that would be my first suggestion.

Failing that, you're left in a tricky situation.  The only think I can suggest is to root your device and install a new ROM over top, I tend to advise people to install Cyanogenmod.  Luckily there are complete instructions for doing that over at the Cyanogenmod wiki.

Good luck.


When app is removed from the play store, is it removed from everyone's phone that downloaded it? I woke up this morning and noticed a missing icon for an app.  I don't know which app; it's just a missing position in a grid of icons.  It made me wonder...  When app is removed from the Play store, is it removed from everyone's phone that downloaded it?  Does having auto-update matter at all, and in any case, what happens to the user data?  Will I receive an email notification of the app's removal?

It's disconcerting that someone else could have uninstall power over apps on my phone.

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S3 SCH-I535 Running Android 4.4.2

In general the answer is no - however Google do have the capability of remotely removing apps (i.e. Malware)  from everyone's device as required, and if they do so they will provide you with a notification.

This was explained by Rich Cannings, Android Security Lead in an Android Developers blog post, back in 2010:-

  ... In cases where users may have installed a malicious application that poses a threat, we’ve also developed technologies and processes to remotely remove an installed application from devices. If an application is removed in this way, users will receive a notification on their phone.

  Recently, we became aware of two free applications built by a security researcher for research purposes ... [a]fter the researcher voluntarily removed these applications from Android Market, we decided, per the Android Market Terms of Service, to exercise our remote application removal feature on the remaining installed copies to complete the cleanup.

  ... a dangerous application could be removed from active circulation in a rapid and scalable manner to prevent further exposure to users. While we hope to not have to use it, we know that we have the capability to take swift action on behalf of users’ safety when needed. ...

This was then used to remove 60 malicious  applications back in 2011

  On Tuesday evening, the Android team was made aware of a number of malicious applications published to Android Market. Within minutes of becoming aware, we identified and removed the malicious applications. ... But given the nature of the exploits, the attacker(s) could access other data, which is why we’ve taken a number of steps to protect those who downloaded a malicious application:

  We removed the malicious applications from Android Market, suspended the associated developer accounts, and contacted law enforcement about the attack.
  We are remotely removing the malicious applications from affected devices. This remote application removal feature is one of many security controls the Android team can use to help protect users from malicious applications. ...


Keep GPS on when screen is locked Is there a way to prevent GPS from sleeping when I lock the phone even though google maps app is running?

I just got back from a two week family roadtrip, and we used the Android maps and GPS nearly every day.

The simplest solution I found was to use Google Navigation. It kept the GPS active, even if I put the app in the background, powered off the screen, or locked the screen.


Does deleting a photo from my android phone's gallery app also delete it from Google Photos(I have backup & sync turned on).If yes, how to prevent it I have a samsung (android) device and I use samsung gallery app. Question: Does deleting a photo from the gallery app also delete it from Google Photos in which I have my backup and sync turned on. And if yes, then how to prevent it. ie I want a photo to stay in Google Photos even after I delete it from Samsung Gallery app.
PS: If the solution is to turn off sync then how to Turn on just backup on Google Photos without turning on sync.

Yes, Google Photos does send it to the bin.
You can prevent this from happening by tapping the "Free up space" feature in Google Photos, which will delete all the photos on your phone that have already been backed up to Google Photos.


How can I avoid the battery charging when connected via USB? I'm using my Samsung Galaxy S2 for development so I regularly plug it while it's not fully charged, and my phone starts charging over USB. I think this (charging while in use) can affect battery life (is that correct)? Is there any way to avoid charging while the phone is on and connected via USB?

I have an Android 4.0.3 phone without root access so can't test any of this but let me point you to /sys/class/power_supply/battery/ which gives some info/control over charging issues. In particular there is charging_enabled which gives the current state (0 not charging, 1 charging) and may be writable on some phones?

$ adb shell
$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charging_enabled
1

There is also a file charger_control which sounds promising and is writable by root but I've found no documentation on it.

Someone has requested this feature as an enhancement on the google developer forum but so far without response:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=30612


are there any lag fixes for Samsung Galaxy S that don't require rooting the phone? It seems like the Samsung Galaxy S is notorious for its occasional lag.  Various lag fixes are out, but most of them require me to root my phone.

I am reluctant to void the warranty on my phone, so I would like to avoid rooting it if possible.

Are there any lag fixes out there that don't require me to root the phone?

Yes

You can lagfix without rooting by flashing a kernel like Voodoo through Odin.

But

This will void your warranty anyways.

If it helps, the SGS phones are very easy to unroot and revert to stock to hide what you did.


Voice Commands vs Voice Search What is the difference in Voice Commands and Voice Search? Are they both by Google?

Voice Search is the name of the voice interaction app created by Google. It allows you to search your phone and the web using your voice.

Voice Actions is a specific feature of the Voice Search app that allows you to perform actions on your phone using your voice (such as calling someone, launching your music player, getting directions, etc). Voice Search supports a variety of locales but the Voice Actions component is only available for a subset of those (originally US English only, though I believe it has since expanded).

If you have a separate app named "Voice Commands" then it is most likely developed by a third-party. I know some Verizon phones, for instance, ship with an app named "Voice Commands" and bottom of the app displays Nuance Communications copyright 2003-2011.


How to limit the synchronized contacts to "My Contacts" on a Galaxy Note? I have a problem with my Galaxy Note II (Android 4.1.1) when synchronizing the contacts I have on the phone via Bluetooth with my car. I believe this is some limitation of the number of contacts (or groups of contacts) I have on my phone. The same problem is present on my wife's Galaxy S3.

I therefore would like to understand how the Galaxy Note II synchronizes its contacts with Google. I keep all my contacts in Google (I have nothing locally) and would like to just get the "My Contacts" group (with the hope it will fix the Bluetooth synchronization problem).

I tried to limit the accounts as explained in another post but even though the title of the post is the same as mine, the solutions seem to only limit the number of displayed contacts.

What I did was to:

stop the synchronization for the google account (for contacts)
forcefully delete all contacts from my phone (with Mass Contacts Delete, Delete All Contacts and Delete Contacts
choose only "My Contacts" in Contacts | Menu | Display Options | Choose contacts to display (account)
restart the synchronization

I end up with all google contacts synchronized again ("My Contacts", the groups within and the "Other Contacts" one). I know this because when running the batch contact delete apps they inform me that 500+ contacts will be deleted (while I should have only 30 or so synchronized).

This is why I suspect the solution given in the post I mentioned (and which I basically run in the points 2-4 above) just helps to limit the display (and not the whole synchronization).

I would be grateful for

some general information about how the Google accounts are synchronized with Android (specifically Samsung Galaxy)
possibly a way to limit the "visible" accounts, as presented by the phone via Bluetooth (the idea being that even if the phone has all the contacts synchronized, maybe there is a way to set it up so that it "presents" (makes visible to other devices) only a subset).

Note: the inferior alternative OS :) (iOS) worked as expected out of the box -- so I guess this is something which is manageable in Android as well.

After having tried anything I could think of and all the solutions in various group the only one which works was to use Bluetooth File Transfer to forcefully transfer the contacts I wanted to have on my car system.

This is not an optimal solution as

the contacts are just transferred, not synchronized
new contacts on my phone need to be transferred manually

but at least this gives me something similar to what I had with an iPhone, out of the box (all contacts transferred and synchronized, as expected)


Tasker: remove security lock when smartwatch is connected So I just downloaded Tasker because it would be nice to remove the security code when I'm close to my phone (when my smartwatch is connected).

I have no experience with it so I thought you guys could help me :)

Anybody knows how to do this?

This is a partial answer because sadly, the bluetooth in my devices doesn't connect to each other automatically.

Once you're done with the device trigger (Profile) you have to create a task. Following can be one of the tasks to reach the objective in question:

Go to TASKS → Enter a name → + → Code →Run Shell. Under Command field, type:

input keyevent 26; input text pin/password; input keyevent 66

Note that as per this manual, 224(in place of 26) should work to awake the device but it worked out only on my Lollipop based ROM and not on Kitkat and JellyBean. Keyevent 26 and 66 are to toggle the wake/sleep state of device and simulate Enter respectively.

As I already mentioned in my comment, there shouldn't be a need for Tasker to do this in Lollipop, since the latter has a Smart Lock feature that will automatically unlock the device one the trusted device(Smartwatch here) is connected to bluetooth of your phone.


How to root my next book premium 8 tablet How do I root my nextbook premium 8 tablet

Follow the guidelines from xda forum
have a look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1374742


Remove folder from App Drawer in TouchWiz (not home screen / app launcher) TouchWiz (TouchWiz Nature UX on Samsung Galaxy S III mini) allows creating folders and reorganizing application in application list / app drawer (in "Apps") when using 'Customisable grid' view type:

"Menu > View type > Customisable grid", then "Menu > Create folder"

This allows creating folders to group applications. You can edit name of folder by touching it and then touching on name, you can put such folder on home screen / launcher via long press, and you can put applications in folder via "Menu > Edit" and selecting folder (edit works only on folders); then in this edit mode you can add apps with "+", and remove them by moving them outside folder.

I cannot find however how to remove such folder from TouchWiz app drawer.

(The articles and answers I have found by googling are about folders on home screens, i.e. in apps launcher not apps drawer).

Once you have created a folder in the Apps (i.e. I created a "Temp") and then  remove it:
1. Go to the App Drawer, Apps, and find the panel holding the folder.
2. Menu > Edit
3. Press and hold the folder until "Remove" appears.
4. Drag to Trash Can (Remove).
5. Save

Gone.


Uninstall Sprint apps without rooting? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?

Is it possible to uninstall stock Sprint apps (such as Sprint TV and Nascar) without rooting the phone?  If so, are there any undesirable side effects?

No. Sorry. Anything "System" cannot get uninstalled without being root. Some apps like ADW.Launcher allow you to "hide" them by making app groups in the app picker list. These apps will still start during boot, but like all android apps, as long as they are not running, they won't consume anything other than ram, and if android needs more ram they will be the first things just removed from ram the second the phone needs it.


Hello SMS - how can I directly jump to an existing conversation? I like Hello SMS, but there's something I'd like to be able to do, and seems reasonable, but I can't see how to do it.  Conversations are shown via icons representing individual people down the left hand side, and you can scroll and choose one to review a conversation.  However, sometimes the conversation I want to view took place a long time ago, or is otherwise hard to hunt out, and I want to jump straight to it.

If you send a new message to someone you are shown the conversion, including your new message (and that conversation jumps to the top of the list), but until you send you see nothing and obviously sometimes I want to look at a conversation without sending a message.

Is there a way of jumping to a specific existing conversation in Hello SMS, without sending a message?

I have used Hello SMS for a long time and believe me, if there was an option for this I would have done it a long time ago.

The only way possible to send a text to make it jump to the top as you mentioned.


google play service has stopped and google process gapps has stopped The following message keeps appearing on my asus tablet model K01A screen about every three second.

"Unfortunately, google play services has stopped"
"Unfortunately, the process com.google.process.gapps has stopped"

I tried to updated the google apps, but doesnt work. What should i do to this problem? Help me on the problem?

1) Simplest solution - reboot your device. This solves most of the common issues.

2) Try updating Google Play Services to the latest version.

3) If that doesn't work,
clear the Google Play Services cache.
You can do this by going to Settings > Apps.
Swipe to All apps (or select Show System from the overflow menu at the top-right corner if your device is rooted and you're running CyanogenMod) and then scroll down to “Google Play Services” app.
Open the app details and tap on the “Force stop” button.
Then, tap on the “Clear cache” button.

4) If that doesn't work either, try clearing the Google Services Framework cache.


Email Priority with MS Exchange account I'm new to the Android world. Just got a corp phone (Moto Atrix w/2.2 froyo).
I have my MS Exchange account set up on the phone and get tons of email all hours of the night.
Most emails can wait until I get in the office in the morning, but some are VERY important and need to be read the minute they come in.
Is it possible to give certain emails a higher alert level than others?
Like say my boss emails me and I need to answer it at 3AM. Can I give my bosses email address priority 1 email alert (BING BING BING) and every other email I get level 3 priority (bing)?

Thanks for any help

Just a thought: setup a Google Gmail account, filter the important emails to be send to this Gmail account, attach the GMail account to your phone, and set up another alert when receiving an email from the Gmail account.


Is it possible to use a Google TV device without a TV connection? With the price of the Logitech Revue having dropped, I am interested in using the Google TV device purely for the (internet) functionality of the Android platform.

Since a "Cable or Satellite set top box with HDMI out" is listed as a requirement I am wondering if the device can be used without the HDMI input being connected.

I am aware that this might remove the TV functions that are at the core of the device.

Yes, you will be able to use the Logitech Revue Google TV unit without the Set-Top Box.  I am doing this with the Sony BlueRay Player w/GTV.  During the set-up process simply skip the section for setting up the TV provider and you should be all set.

Here is a youtube video of a Revue functioning without a cable or satellite STB.


Can a 3rd party app *technically* take better pictures? I've seen in several forums that some phones have very good cameras and the photos  taken are compressed too much and the details are lost.

I was wondering whether a 3rd party application (forgetting the post processing done by the application) have access to the full resolution image without any compression.

So can another application access the raw data from the camera or all applications gets the same raw data when they access the camera?

Yes, the interface that applications use to access the camera does offer the raw image data to the application, so a 3rd party app can offer more control over image compression, white balance, and so on.

In addition, many quality improvements are achievable through software alone, whether by controlling the camera better or post-processing. Examples commonly found on compact cameras include taking several frames in quick succession and automatically choosing the sharpest, better choosing autofocus targets, blending multiple exposures, filtering to remove artifacts of the lens construction, …


can't see what I'm writing on a web form Samsung I9001, android 2.3.6.

If there is a multiline web form, using landscape mode, I'm just seeing the empty part of the web form while I'm using the on screen keyboard.

Any solution?

The obvious:

try portrait mode
use a hardware keyboard
get a device with a bigger screen (ouch -- yeah, I stop this ;)

The not-so-obvious:

try an alternate keyboard, which consumes less space or offers transparency:

A.I.type Keyboard: According to the screenshots, it offers transparency
FloatNSplit Tablet Keyboard: The name suggests already it's for tablets only -- but allows to split the keyboard and move it around
TransparentKeyboard Froyo: Again, as the name suggests, another transparent keyboard

There might be more solutions (and certainly more alternative keyboards) available, so this list is far from being complete...


Is it possible to list all files on SD card created by a certain application? I would like to see which files on my SD card a certain application has written. How would I go about doing it?

I don't know how writing files from an application works in Android. But maybe these are possible (in case they are, I would like to know how to do them):

If a file created by a certain application is owned by an "application user". Then listing all files created by that user would be what I'm looking for.
If the above is impossible, listing files created within a date range would be a way, as I know which date I installed the application, and that's the only date when it  wrote files to the SD card.

Your first request (ownership) won't work on SD card, as the file system (VFAT) does not support that. The second approach however should work:

As we are talking about your SD card, you could of course mount it to your PC for easier work. Steps I describe here should work for Linux systems, and probably Macs as well. To execute them directly on your device without the help of a PC, you can use a terminal app (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator).

# for easier handling, create two files with the timestamps between which to search
touch --date "2012-05-21" /tmp/start
touch --date "2012-05-22" /tmp/end
# now execute the find command to find all files (-type f) in the set time frame
find /mnt/sdcard -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end

If you expect a longer list of files, redirect the output of the last command to a file, e.g.:

find /mnt/sdcard -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end > /tmp/myfiles.txt

Now you can inspect the generated file.

Of course you can adapt above statements to your needs, e.g. using a different location for the "timestamp files". Once you're done, you can remove those:

rm -f /tmp/start /tmp/end