Are pictures lost forever if using TWRP to wipe data? I have the following problem: I accidentally deleted an important picture and tried to recover it;
Using DiskDigger (without root) I only find the low quality version of the picture - I read that I need to have root access to search for all pictures which I did not have - hence since I am using Android Oreo on my S8+ the only possibility I saw to root it was with TWRP and SuperSu using the way which is described here:

https://www.androidexplained.com/galaxy-s8-root-supersu/

Basically I did the following: OEM Unlock, then using the Downloadmode and Odin to put the TWRP tar file on it, then in TWRP I wiped out data, installed the no-verity.zip file and then installed the supersu.zip file and my root was successful;

Now I actually thought that when I use disk digger again, that all my pictures now can be restored (since the 'wiping' took like 10s it is impossible that all the storage got really overwritten)

Unfortunately, when running now the programme with root access I can't find any pictures I had before the 'wiping' - is that normal? Is there any way to recover it? Or did I screw it up?

One thing maybe worth mentioning is that the supersu failed to install in the first place and I played with the data format - precisely I changed the /data directory from EXT4 to exFAT and back because I thought maybe this would solve the issue;

I would be extemely thankful about any kind of comment about it - thank you so much

There is no way to recover files from factory reset. The userdata partition is encrypted and the encryption key is wiped. also new key is generated, makes it nearly impossible to recover the old key
Do not unlock bootloader it will perform factory reset. look for exploit root method on locked bootloader (android < 6.0 only)


Moto X (2nd generation) international travel I want to get a motorola moto x (2nd generation) but I am unsure if the phone can work in other countries outside of the United States, specifically China.

According to the spec sheets, YES, a Moto X 2014 will work in China at 3G speeds.

China provides access to their GSM network over the 2100MHz (HSPDA, or 3G) and 2500MHZ (LTE) spectrums, shown here. A Motorola Moto X (2nd Gen) purchased in the United States (from either Verizon or AT&T) covers that 2100MHz band for 3G, but doesn't touch the 2500MHz for LTE, as seen here. In fact, the spec sheet shows it should work, to some degree, almost anywhere in the world that provides GSM service.


SMS backup apps, SMS Backup+, SMS Backup and Restore I've been using SMS Backup+ and when I restore not all my messages are restored, even though I can see them there in gmail. I've used SMS Backup and Restore before but it doesn't have a feature to automatically do it. Does anyone know how to fix SMS Backup+ or any other apps that work properly and have can automatically back up? I don't care if the backups are done to the SD card or online. One benifit of having it in gmail is that I can easily check to make sure it was done right. What do others think?

UPDATE: As of April 10 SMS Backup+ still doesn't restore all messages for some reason. I'm using an Xperia Z2.

Configuring SMS Backup schedule in SMS Backup & Restore:

Open SMS Backup & Restore and click the Menu button in the upper right corner:

Select Preferences:

From the Preferences Menu, Select Schedule Settings:

Configure schedule settings however you want:


App to ask question on stackexchange? Is there any application to ask question on stackexchange as well, instead of just monitoring a user timeline to get notifications?

There is "DroidStack" which allows to Browse the Questions, Users, Tags and Monitor for Statuschanges, but it does not allow you to question yourself or write an answer. But you can open the current question, user, whatever in your favorite browser anytime. This comes closest to writing.

There are other tools, with similar restrictions, but I think DroidStack is the best of the ones I tested so far.

The problem is, that writing to any SE-site is (currently) not allowed via API, only via webinterface. Writesupport is planned for API-version 3.0, and will be bound to other reputationlevels then via web as stated in "Announcing API version 1.1" on StackApps.com?


Automatically change wifi and bluetooth MAC address I recently learned that it's quite easy to track people with their wifi MAC address and Bluetooth address in stores, etc. I was wondering if there are any drawbacks of changing these addresses regularly (eg daily) to prevent such tracking? I was also looking for apps that would do this but couldn't find any.

Is it impossible or problematic or conscious people just turn them on/off all the time and the rest doesn't care?

Changing / spoofing Bluetooth and WiFI Mac addresses are a concern to those who value their privacy , especially to prevent your location being tracked . Mac address of your WiFi router is a dead give away of your location and since most apps ask for "full network access" they can be used to track your physical location.

Changing these is a good idea if you want to prevent that. Unfortunately, this requires root (AFAIK). If your device is rooted and has xposed-framework installed, Xposed modules Xprivacy Lua for Android 6.0 and above (not Pie) or Xprivacy for earlier versions (both by same developer) are well recommended. There are other Xposed modules too that claim to do this.

Except for a small minority most don't care IMO


How can I find out the developer of an app from its APK file? Given only an APK file, how can I find out the developer of a non-market Android application?

A "non-techy way" would be, given the package_name, doing a web search on it. Chances are it's available on some store, which then would give you the developer's name.

A different way is, as indicated by ottucsak's answer, extracting it from the certificate. The way to do that is described here, and basically involves the following steps:

unpack the .apk file. As that's a .zip in its structure, unpacking would mean unzipping.
use keytool to view the certificate:
keytool -printcert -file META-INF\CERT.RSA
in the output, check for the "Owner" and "Issuer" lines.


How can I set a custom per-person ringtones, but for texts and not calls? I know how to set a custom ringtone for a given caller on my phone: pull up the person's entry under People, open the menu and select "Set ringtone." However, this only applies to regular voice phone calls.

Is there a way to do a similar thing for the sound that plays when a "text" — by which I mean either SMS or MMS — is received? If so, what is it? The Messaging app's settings only seem to let me choose a single notification sound, but I'm hoping there's something I'm overlooking.

I don't believe that there's a way to do this using the settings in the built in Messaging app, but there are 3rd party apps that can enhance the built-in app's notifications capability.

I use SMS Popup which lets you carry on using the built-in Messaging app to send and receive text messages, but replaces the notifications. Amongst the extra options it gives you are individual, per-contact customization of every aspect of the notification.


How can I unlock the boot loader on a HTC Magic? After a lot of unsuccessful days trying to root my Android phone, I'll now post my problem here with every approach I already did. Maybe someone can help me. I am trying to unlock the boot loader on a HTC Magic 32B (S-ON, HBoot-1.33.0007 (SAP10000), CPLD-10, Radio-2.22.19.26i) so that I can flash it with a custom ROM (like cyanogen 5 or 6)..
How is it done?
If I'm not misunderstanding the process, it's like this:

Rooting the device (i.e. using UniversalRoot.apk, SuperOneClick.exe)
Unlocking the boot loader for CustomRecovery (i.e. Clockworkmod, AmonRA Recovery)
Flashing the custom ROM (cyanogen) in recovery mode (Vol Down+Power while booting)
That's it... (afaik)

What's the problem?
Unlocking my boot loader doesn't seem to work. =(
I rooted the device a couple of times using the 1.5 Exploit, SuperoneClick.exe or at least UniversalRoot.apk. So on the OS side it really seems to be rooted.
I often heard about "ROM Manager.apk", but it don't find any version working on 1.6 and prior.
If I use fastboot flash recovery <myRecovery.img> then I get an FAILED (remote: not allow) which leads to the point where I have to unlock to boot loader.
What I already tried to unlock the boot loader
HTCDev.com, unlocking officially via HTC
The command fastboot oem get_identifier_token doesn't seem to recognize the "get_identifier_token" parameter, it ends in a [ERR] Command error. I'm in fastboot usb mode (cable to pc, device and fastboot devices confirms that). Everything is installed properly (HTC Sync, Android SDK, ADB, Fastboot). I tried it on Mac and on Windows.
Unlocking via ADB shell

Connecting to the device using ADBshell
My recovery.img files are on /sdcard and have chmod 0755 (or for testing 777)
su works so I do have a # at the beginning of the command
I do have a flash_image on the root of sdcard, executing it via ./flash_image gives me permission denied, even if I'm root with chmod set

I have read that updating HBoot could solve this, but didn't find a working file and tutorial for that (every post is really old and often leads to a 404).
Any help is appreciated!

The process for getting CM on HTCs in my experience (HTC Sensation, Raider, One S, Desire Z) has been to:

Unlock the bootloader, usually via HTC Dev, after installing only Sync Drivers
Flash Custom Recovery - TWRP preferred, but CWM works fine
Flash Superuser zip file for easy root. If that doesn't work, I can suggest VRoot, worked great on an Lenovo Ascend G610 with little documentation on the web
Run S-OFF tool of choice, sometimes terminal based, sometimes it's an easy apk
Set SuperCID for easy flashing of other stock roms
Flash Cyanogen and Gapps, make sure to clear data before first boot

Don't try to install custom bootloaders with S-ON, as I've bricked an HTC Hero that was S-ON, tried to flash Amarulz HBoot, and it never started up again.

The method above has successfully unlocked all the HTC devices first mentioned, without any bricks.

To answer your questions, you can't flash a custom recovery because you are S-ON. Perhaps you cannot get the unlock key for your HBoot because it predates HTCs unlocking program. My HTC Hero got an Hboot update that required the use of using HTCDev to unlock.

If you're looking to flash a recovery via ADB Shell, you'll need to use 'dd' for that.


how to by pass google account on my itel 1556 My phone is bringing me tó write the google account which was previously synced into the phone but this was not mine í just bought it from someone.how can í do?

I would suggest performing a factory reset.  You should be able to do this by opening settings and navigating to Backup & reset.  Here you should find Factory data reset.

You may want to remove any SD card(s) and reformat ( overwrite ).


how to disable system apps without root? How to disable system apps without root?

My phone model is vivo x5 max+ and android 4.4.4

I have tried Debloater but it failed to connect (I am sure I've allowed USB debugging).

Provided that you've adb setup and functioning, use this command in a console:

adb shell pm block PACKAGE              # for Android Kitkat
adb shell pm hide PACKAGE               # for Android Lollipop
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PACKAGE # for Android Marshmallow and Nougat. This is bit tricky. Some reports its result positive, while others, negative. Also note that, later, you cannot restore the app here. It can only be reinstalled again.
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 PACKAGE # tested on Android Nougat and Oreo. Might work on earlier versions as well.

Replace PACKAGE with the package name of the app. To know the package name, try any app inspector type app from Play Store, such as App Detective, AppXplore, Elixir 2, etc.

The changes should take place immediately, otherwise, try rebooting the device.

Note: stock ROM implementations by some OEMs, such as Xiaomi and Panasonic, do not permit the aforesaid commands to be used without more elevated privilege, and thus, throws a permission/privilege related error.

Revision made wrt to info received from Prahlad Yeri in the comments.


Is there a bug in the management of icon movement? I have been using my Nexus one, Android Version 2.2.2, build number FRG83G, since December.
I had no problem moving icons on the screen for two months.

Lately, I think after the latest update asking to restart the android (several weeks ago), I noticed that I was not able to move the icons and widgets any more, that they would either refuse to move, disappear or be moved to some random folder on another screen (hence seemingly disappearing), and that even when there was a single icon on an otherwise empty page.

At first I thought it was a general bug which would be corrected by a following update, but it has been some time now, and googling for such bug did not yield any result, so that it seems that I am the only one suffering from such a problem. Any idea what could cause it?

it seems this bug is fixed in 2.3.3 OTA.
to upgrade manually check http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/02/24/google-releases-android-2-3-3-update-zip-for-nexus-one-and-nexus-s/


Can an Android phone be used as a Bluetooth headset/speakers? Is there a way to make an Android phone (HTC Desire HD) act as Bluetooth speakers or headset?

I'd like to use the phone as wireless headphones whilst watching a movie on a computer (running Ubuntu).

As of right now the bluetooth API only supports pairing with the android device as the master.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4474697/use-android-device-as-a-headset-for-another-device


Hangouts SMS not showing emoticons I have a Nexus 5 with Kitkat 4.4.2 and have the Hangouts app as the SMS app. My friend has an Samsung Galaxy S Relay and also uses Hangouts app as SMS app. Whenever we send SMS to each other with emoticons, emoticons are not converted, instead we just see the text code for it. I'm baffled by this since we're using the same app for texting. I'd understand if it was like from an iPhone to Android, or something like that.

Any idea what could be causing this and how to fix it?

SMS are only normal text characters. Many phone detect emoticons in a SMSs content but it varies from each phone.

Only messages you directly send from Hangouts i.e from your Google Account to your friends account.


Safe download URL for odin3? There are so many odin3 download websites I am not sure what is a trusted url to download an odin tool suitable for flashing my International Note3 SMN9005.

Can someone provide a link and maybe some upvotes to confirm it's safe.  I'd hate to brick my $800 phone due to some messed up copy of odin.

I understand this is an old question, but FlashFire has emerged as the "spiritual successor" to Odin. It's developed by Chainfire, who's also responsible for other things like StickMount, SuperSU and LiveBoot and is a highly regarded name in the Android community.

FlashFire is currently in beta, so getting it is slightly more involved:

Join the FlashFire Google+ Community
Download the app from Google Play

If you still want Odin however, this XDA thread appears to offer a popular and trusted version.


Android Playstore speed problem on Stock Android phone I am using Android One phone with Stock Android 8.0.0, I see some major speed problem in my playstore- while downloading from playstore I only get 250KBPS speed whereas my actual speed is 1.3MBPS -which I get in other apps..and even other phone's playstore while connected to the same network..
I don't know what is happening..
Any help and tips..?

It is basically the problem of the software version  of the current update..There is no other way to wait for the next update.


How can I set the lockscreen personal message after updating? On my Samsung Galaxy S3, I had an option to change the personal message on the lock screen. After the system update,  the option is still there, but it is grayed out. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Swipe to an empty lock screen, press the "+" button and add messaging. That should do it.

If it still doesn't work try this.


How can I disable unwanted data usage? I would like to remove unnecessary data usage. I have wifi at home and at work and I would like Android to synchronize/update apps/... only on wifi. In fact, I don't want Android to do any background action which consumes data when I'm not connected to a wifi network.

To sum up, basically, I would like a way (an app?) which disables data when not on wifi and enables it automatically when on wifi.

How can I achieve this?

I'm using Android 4.4 on a Galaxy Nexus (with the help of CyanogenMod 11).

With on-board methods: You could go to Settings→Data Usage and setup and restrict "background data" for all apps. For this, you would first need to setup some (fake) limit of monthly data (5 TB is fine; you just need to set simething here). Then you can tap each app and activate the check-mark to "restrict background data".

Alternatively, you can pick some automation app such as Tasker or Llama, and have it disabling background data altogether whenever you're not on WiFi, and re-enable it whenever you're on WiFi. Much easier to setup (as you wouldn't have to care for each app separately, and remember that whenever a new app is installed).

If you want to disable mobile data altogether, this again can be done via Setup→Network, for mobile data and WiFi separately. So you could just re-enable it manually whenever you need it; disabling mobile data has no effect on WiFi, so you wouldn't need to permanently switch back and forth. Of course, those automation apps could take care for that as well ;)


Do I really need to install a task manager? Does one really need to install a task manager? My phone does slowdown on rare occasions but it's not something that hampers regular usage.

See this

http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android (geekfor.me) - xda-developers

  tl;dr version:

  Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when more memory is needed.
  Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when it’s done doing what it needs to do.
  Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when you haven’t returned to it in a long time.
  Most services (while possibly running in the background) use very little memory when not actively doing something.
  A content provider is only doing something when there is a notification for it to give. Otherwise it uses very little memory.
  Killing a process when it isn’t ready only causes it to have to reload itself and start from scratch when it’s needed again.
  Because a task is likely running in the background for a reason, killing it will only cause it to re-spawn as soon as the activity that was using it looks for it again. And it will just have to start over again.
  Killing certain processes can have undesirable side effects. Not receiving text messages, alarms not going off, and force closes just to name a few.
  The only true way to prevent something from running at all on your phone would be to uninstall the .apk.
  Most applications will exit themselves if you get out of it by hitting “back” until it closes rather than hitting the “home” button. But even with hitting home, Android will eventually kill it once it’s been in the background for a while.

As Android was designed you don't need to kill apps.


How to read comments to app of another country? Google Market allow me by default to read only comments of my country (Italy). Unfortunately not popular application have only few or even no comments. How can I read comments from other country (USA, UK, etc.)?

When using the Google Market website, go to the bottom of the page and change the language in which you are viewing the Market pages. You will then get user reviews based on the currently selected language.

Note that the system seems to display comments only in the language the users have been using when posting them, so if you are looking at applications that make sense only for a specific country, you will probably see English comments interspersed with others in the native language.

Nothing precludes you from leaving a comment on a Swedish application on the Italian page written in Urdu, should you choose so.


Use sd card as internal storage and stop writing to internal memory for good Smartphones seem to die after two years of usage, as if they knew that you just have paid the last instalment.
The common reason seems to be the failure of internal memory.
I'm desperately trying to have my phone escaping from this cruel destiny.
The idea I initially had seemed simple, but the web didn't seem to share my optimism.
This is the idea:
- create ext4 partitions in sd card
- mount at boot sdcard partitions to /data and /cache (and maybe /preload and /efs if they ever get written)

I'd like to know what's wrong with this idea and why it cannot work, but the main question is:
Can I stop writing to internal memory for good?

I've seen all the apps out there (app2sd, link2sd, DirecoryBind, s2e , you name it) and all of them seem to relocate subdirectories, never the main /data .
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thank you!

Eureka!
Here is how I've done it:

SD card partition and format

Unsure about which partitions I would have been able to relocate, I decided to recreate my sd card with the exact same layout of my Samsung Galaxy S III internal memory.
USERDATA is the last partition and there is a good reason for it:
my sd card size is greater then the internal memory and the best option has been to widen USERDATA till the possible furthest sector.

The following work has been done in my linux pc:

parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt \
mkpart  BOTA0      ext2     8192s          16383s \
mkpart  BOTA1      ext2    16384s          24575s \
mkpart  EFS        ext2    24576s          65535s \
mkpart  PARAM      ext2    65536s          81919s \
mkpart  BOOT       ext2    81920s          98303s \
mkpart  RECOVERY   ext2    98304s         114687s \
mkpart  RADIO      ext2   114688s         180223s \
mkpart  CACHE      ext2   180224s        2277375s \
mkpart  SYSTEM     ext2  2277376s        5423103s \
mkpart  HIDDEN     ext2  5423104s        6569983s \
mkpart  OTA        ext2  6569984s        6586367s \
mkpart  USERDATA   ext2  6586368s       60749824s

Good, partitions created.
Now, still mimicking my Android device, I format partitions accordingly:

# /efs
mkfs.ext4  /dev/sdb3   -E root_owner=1001:1000
# /system
mkfs.ext4  /dev/sdb9   -E root_owner=0:0         -L system
# /cache
mkfs.ext4  /dev/sdb8   -E root_owner=1000:2001
# /preload
mkfs.ext4  /dev/sdb10  -E root_owner=0:0
# /data
mkfs.ext4  /dev/sdb12  -E root_owner=1000:1000

The sd card is ready, now I can "backup" files from emmc to the appropriate sd card partition, taking care to preserve file attributes.

Edit fstab

In the not too old versions of Android, fstab file seems to be always located at /.
Files in / are stored in the BOOT partition (boot.img);
it's time to learn to edit the boot.img.
Here are two very helpful tutorials that will get you going:
HOWTO: Unpack, Edit, and Repack Boot Images
Android boot.img manipulation
a little hint:
Do edit the ramdisk in your Android device.
I spent three days in frustration trying to do so in my pc, I guess is a matter of "endianness".
When editing the ramdisk, do sort name-list(standard input) for cpio.
I spent three years in frustrating randomly recurring failures.

My fstab before:

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3        /efs            ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk0p9        /system         ext4        ro,noatime      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk0p8        /cache          ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10       /preload        ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit       wait
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12       /data           ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,noauto_da_alloc,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait,check,encryptable=footer

My fstab after:

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3        /efs            ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk1p9        /system         ext4        ro,noatime      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk1p8        /cache          ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait
/dev/block/mmcblk1p10       /preload        ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit       wait
/dev/block/mmcblk1p12       /data           ext4        noatime,nosuid,nodev,noauto_da_alloc,journal_async_commit,errors=panic      wait,check,encryptable=footer

All I have changed is the block number (from 0 to 1).
I couldn't dare yet to relocate EFS, someone said that somehow you may brick the device playing around with that, still studying the subject; I do know that Android keeps writing EFS (I'm monitoring it).

Conclusions and further queries

This is how I relocated the most of my internal storage data to my external sd card.
Things are slightly sluggish, as expected, but Android seems to be in perfect working order;
I can always invest in a faster sd card in the future.
I did all of this with my Samsung Galaxy S III stock ROM, you will obviously have to adapt to your circumstances.
When I finally installed CyanogenMod 13 (we don't want stock firmware, do we!?) things were a bit different.
With a wiped /data, CM is spending some time at boot populating /data and at a certain point it just give up, reboot and goes to recovery mode.
After several attempts I gave up and relocated /system in internal memory, now everything is fine.
I do know that /system is mounted as read only, but I noticed that emmc lifespan is defined as amount of read/write cycles, maybe suggesting that, unlike hard drives, reading is as detrimental as writing.
If that's the case I'd be most grateful if someone could tell me why in CM I cannot successfully relocate /system.


Continue using app after developer refunds purchase? I'm an app developer and wondering about refunding purchases.

I use Google's standard License Check library. If a user requests a refund and I refund the entire purchase price, does that prevent them from passing the license check? Or do they get to keep using the app after I refund the money?

Play Store purchases are refundable under a 15 minute window. Under that window, if the user doesn't like the app and wants a refund, using Play Store to refund the purchase will end in the user receiving back the purchase amount and the app being uninstalled from the device.

Is it possible, under the refund window, to copy a paid app to the external storage for example and then once refunded, install it from there. I'm no app developer but I know some apps that despite doing this, they check somehow the purchase via Play Store and in this case, since the user hasn't bought the app (it did a refund), the app won't work as if it was purchased. In this example the app has a free and paid version, so the paid version has more features but since the user didn't paid for that, it gets the free (despite having the full installed).


What does "obtaining IP address" mean? When I try to connect to a free WiFi, my Xperia Android smartphone displays:

  obtaining ip address

Why does it happen?
Which IP address is that?
Is it static or dynamic?
Does this IP address identify my smartphone?

Or does it identify the WiFi router and is its IP address common for different smartphones/laptops?

Why does it happen: When you connect to a DHCP enabled router, your device (notebook, smartphone etc) obtains an IP address in order to access internet via that router/server.

Which IP is that, static or dynamic: It's a dynamic internal IP address and is valid only within that network.

Does this IP address identify my smartphone: Yes, but only in that network and it's actually the MAC address of your network adapter that identifies your device, not your IP.

The same is true for the router. It may have a static or dynamic IP which is given by the ISP. If it's static then yes it identifies it, otherwise no. Your external IP (router's IP) is different from your internal IP. All of the devices connected to that router have the same external IP address.


How to delete Google account from a factory-resetted phone? I have an Android 5.x smartphone ("phone 1"), which was using my Google account. Recently, I've started using different one, so I've (pretty confident that I've) dropped Google account on "phone 1", and then after having all things set up on "phone 2", I've made a factory reset on "phone 1"

However, when my son is now trying to begin using "phone 1", the initialization procedure REQUIRES him to use the account that was used on this phone before !! I presume this is good for protection against thieves, but how can I allow him use this phone ? I don't want to login under my account on that phone again

(I've done reset via some hardware menu, it had such items as wipe device, etc.)

After asking the question:

I've logged into Google Accounts as that user on a desktop, and removed that device from a list of "my devices"

It did not change anything.

Then I've logged on THE DEVICE as that user. Then I was provided an option to login as a different Google account, as I did. So that solved my problem.


Why does my google account not work? I rooted my LG G3 awhile back and everything was fine. One day, I couldn't access my gmail or play store using the installed apps due to a connection error. I factory reset my phone and whenever I try to add my gmail account, I get an error that says "Can't establish a reliable connection to the server". How do I go about fixing this?

Note: I'm with Verizon on 4.4.2

check date/time

If they are "too far off", it might cause problems with certificates – which then either appear "not yet valid" (with your date too far in the past), or "no longer valid" (with your date too far in the future). Most Google components such as Playstore, Gmail, Sync, use secure communications, and thus rely on certificates.

check the /etc/hosts file

Especially with Custom ROMs or on rooted devices in general, the file might have been altered. Some "ROM cooks" add the IP for Google's servers here "to speed things up" (avoiding "lookup overhead") – with the side effect being things break when those servers are "relocated".

So in that file, there might be multiple entries you need to comment out or remove (check first if that's the case – if not, you can save yourself the trouble). Leave only the local host entry as is. You'll need to remount the system partition read/write to modify this file--, which requires root access. This can be done either via adb shell from your computer, or with a terminal app directly on the device:

$ cat /system/etc/hosts # first check if the work below needs to be done. If so:
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw /system
# cd /system/etc
# cp hosts hosts.bak
# echo "127.0.0.1 localhost" > hosts

Now see if it works again. If not, you can always restore your original hosts file (note we copied it to hosts.bak). When done, don't forget to remount /system read/write again – either by a reboot, or with mount -o remount,ro /system.


With Android 4.4 (KitKat), my notification icons are always gray. Am I in trouble? With Android 4.3 and earlier, gray/white signal icons in the notification bar informed about connection trouble concerning the Google Services (see e.g. What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?). If everything was OK, they were either green (before 4.x) or blue (4.0+). Now they seem to be permanently gray/white. Am I in trouble, or did I miss something?

You are (not) in trouble. Or at least you cannot tell anymore by simply taking a look at the notification bar. With Android 4.4 (KitKat) came a few design changes; one of them was to turn those notification icons permanently gray, officially to be "less distracting".

So how can you tell if there are issues with your connection to the Google servers? According to an AndroidPIT Blog, you now have to check with the Quick-Settings, where problems are indicated by icons turned red/orange.


Associate a file type with an application I want to change the default application starting when opening e.g. an mp3 file.
Now the android music player starts when I open an mp3, I want e.g. spotify to start instead.

Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Music player -> Clear defaults. This will clear the association between the Music player and MP3 files. Now, if you open an MP3 file, it will ask you what app do you want to use to open it, and you have the option of setting a new default app.

PS: This works with any application you have installed


What are the tiny superscript numbers on home page buttons? What is the number "2" in the button below that shows up on the home page?

Opening up the Play Store and looking around does not show anything obvious as to what that number means.

When this number shows up on the YouTube button, opening up the YouTube app shows that there are new videos in my feed, so I am extrapolating and assuming that other apps have new information for me to view. But that is not the case for Play Store.

If I knew what these things were called, I could easily do a web search to find out what they are and how to get rid of them for specific apps (presumably by viewing the new information that the app has to show).

I want to call these things 'notifications', but that is does not seem correct.  I believe that 'notifications' are something that shows up in a tray in Android, not a number that is associated with some button on the home screen.

This is on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 tablet, model number SM-T820, running Android 8.0.0 with April 1st 2018 patch level.

It is called a Notification Badge which is a feature that became available in Android 8.0:

https://developer.android.com/training/notify-user/badges

You should be able to manage each app's notification behavior under

Settings->Apps & Notification->[App Name]->App Notifications


Bypass T-Mobile Hotspot Tethering Limit by using the phone's unlimited plan? I have the 10gb hotspot plan for tmobile but I also have unlimited data when I'm on my phone. Is there a way to bypass the hotspot limit by using the unlimited data from my phone instead? I have the nexus 6 on android version 6.

You could make your phone to act as a VPN Gateway

Requirements:

root
vpn server (can obtain any free openVPN from playstore)

Using a VPN gateway will make tethered traffic to go through the VPN.

Steps

Turn on portable hotspot
Open terminal as root and enter the following codes (you can paste them)

iptables -t filter -F FORWARD
iptables -t nat -F POSTROUTING
iptables -t filter -I FORWARD -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE
ip rule add from 192.168.43.0/24 lookup 61
ip route add default dev tun0 scope link table 61
ip route add 192.168.43.0/24 dev wlan0 scope link table 61
ip route add broadcast 255.255.255.255 dev wlan0 scope link table 61

Edit

If you are not rooted you can use PdaNet+.


Can disk quotas be disabled? $ cp a b
Cannot write to 'b' (Quota exceeded).
# df -h .
Filesystem     Size  Used  Avail Use% Mounted on
/data/media    110G  102G  7.8G  93%  /storage/emulated

I can copy the file perfectly fine in the app's filesystem so it isn't a hardware failure

/dev/block/dm-2 /data

Android introduced filesystem quotas in Android 8 to get Faster Storage Statistics i.e. to make auditing and enforcing space usage limits to apps easy:

  "This quota feature also improves system stability by preventing any single app from using more than 90% of disk space or 50% of inodes."

Particular usage is to clear apps' cached data files as the storage runs short and apps exceed their limits. OS calculates these limits based on different criteria and saves to file /data/system/cachequota.xml.

Disk Quotas is Linux kernel's feature which can be controlled from userspace using tools like quota-tools. They also work on Android:

~# quota -s -u 2000
Disk quotas for user #2000 (uid 2000):
     Filesystem   space   quota   limit   grace   files   quota   limit   grace
     /dev/loop1      4K  20480K  20480K               1       0       0

~# dd if=/dev/zero of=mountpoint/filler status=none bs=1M count=21
dd: error writing 'test/filler': Quota exceeded

However on Android "The quota feature is part of the default implementation of installd" - the daemon which handles (un)installation of apps at back end. If quota option is found in fstab file for userdata partition, quota mount options are enabled when init mounts the partition on boot. So in order to disable filesystem quota on Android, you need to remove quota option from fstab. See What is default “fstab” file in Android?

Simple approach is to delete unnecessary files the app is holding in storage. Or you can use a different app (with different UID) for copying as quotas are allotted on per UID basis.


Is it advisable to run a task killer app on Android Possible Duplicate:
  Do I really need to install a task manager?

Should I run a task killer on Android or does Android manage applications well enough on its own?

Android is very good at managing its memory such that task killers should not be necessary. Processes that are not on the screen will use essentially 0% CPU power until they are either re-activated, or have to perform some background work (such as downloading emails).

If you open so many programs that there is not enough memory left, the Android system will start killing off unused programs on your behalf. It is completely self-managing.

The performance of the phone should not be affected by the number of applications running. That said, I do keep one installed, because every now and again, a process can "go rogue" and start using a lot of CPU power and thus give poor battery life (this is rare though).

More background here: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/


Google music player is missing some settings options In my Nexus 7 in the Google Play Music when I open the app and choose settings from the menu, only  2 things will show:

source licenses
music version

Where are the other settings?

According to the help menu, you should be able to change things like "automatically cache" or hide "unavailable music"

You should see them. This is what I see. The first picture if the menu you should be clocking:


Can I copy the app data from one phone to another phone if they both use Android? I will be buying Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 phone and my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. My S3 has Android 4.2.2 and the Redmi should have Android 5 with MIUI on top as the user interface.

I'm planning to root my current phone and backup the folder where the app data is stored at (which I believe is  /data/data ). After I get my new phone, I will install all the apps I have on my current phone from Google Play. Will I be able to copy the app data folder I backed up into my new phone to restore the app settings and progress I had? If this method doesn't work, is there any way to copy my app settings to my new phone?

You can usually copy the data for user apps without issue, but there is no guarantee.  I wouldn't copy the /data/data/ folder wholesale, since it will include system app data and provides no way to easily manage it.

I recommend Titanium Backup instead.  With root, it allows you to easily backup any subset of apps (such as user apps) that you wish, and then you simply copy over the backup folder to the new phone, install it and select the backup folder, and then restore everything in a single batch operation.  I've used this to migrate apps and data all the way from Android 2.2, to 4.0, to 5.0.


Blueish Screen and blue stripes My phone has a blueish layer over everything, differing from app to app, also blue stripes. When I make a screenshot it doesn't show on the screenshot. It's a Motorola Moto G 1st gen

After doing a reset with no result I contacted Motorola, they are going to replace the screen.


Android 5.0: Create link in internal storage to SD Card I have a LG G3 which I have repaired many times (actually by putting it into the furnace xD). Now I'm scared that my phone dies so I do a Titanium and Nandroid Backup every day, but none of these is backing up up my internal storage with my WhatsApp Photos and so on.

Now I had the idea to replace the WhatsApp folder with a link to my SD Card. I have root and tested it with ln -s /storage/external_SD/test/ /sdcard/test.
It returned ln: /sdcard/test: Function not implemented.

After some research I found out that links are not supported by the file system of the internal storage (I also tried to make a link to the /data/data folder and it worked so it has to be that).

My questions now:

Is is somehow possible to make a link in the internal storage to the SD Card (e.g. with an Xposed module which emulates a link or something like that)
Is there a better way of backing up my internal storage?

Thanks

There is an app called "Link2SD" on Google play store.
Link2SD uses a secondary partition on your SD card and uses it as another segment of internal storage.
Link2SD moves apk, dalvik-cache (.dex), lib and internal data files into this partition, which the OS mounts on boot, and creates a symbolic link in the original location.
This retains the file structure that the system expects but with the bulk of the data moved to the SD card.

Linking obb and external data folders of apps and games
- root permission
-Second partition on SD card is optional, folders can be moved to the 1st or 2nd second partition of the SD card.
Hope this works for u :)


Require password for each application to install Since I will be lending my phone to someone else, I want my phone to ask my Google account password (or alternative authentication) each time an app is installed.

If I go to Google Play -> Three bars menu -> Settings -> Require authentication for purchases, the options are:

For all purchases through Google Play on this device.
Every 30 minutes.
Never.

The first option seems to be what I am looking for.
Nevertheless, I am not asked for any authentication for installing apps.

Can this be done? How?

Using a Samsung Galaxy J7, with Android 6.0.1.

Apps that are free don't have to be purchased -> no purchase means no password prompt.

I see two possibilities for you:

Delete your Google account from the device. Google apps usually sync everything to the cloud, therefore by re-adding the account everything will be restored.
If the device has the possibility to create a guest user account set a difficult password on your primary account and create a guest user. Guest users aren't allowed to install new apps, however they can use every app that is already installed and the app data is stored in a separate directory therefore the guest can use the apps but don't access your app data.


What is an easy way to quickly transfer content (text, image, small files) between my galaxy note 10 and windows 10? Very often I'd like to quickly transfer a bit of text that I have in the clipboard of my pc (windows10) or an image to my phone (galaxy note 10). Is there a way to do this in a convenient way - wirelessly?

PS: currently I use the windows telegram app with an extra second telegram account for my pc to transfer such little temporary data from my pc to my cellphone and the other way around.

There are some apps, but i personally prefer to use Opera on pc and Opera touch in smartphone. With "My Flow" you can paste things there between phone/pc. Just scan the qr code once and your phone will sync with pc.


Galaxy s3 backup contacts google play How can I get my contacts backs from my galaxy s3 when the LCD doesn't work and the screen is pitch black ?

Well, I would say there may not be any reason to backup your contacts because I guess its backing up automatically over your gmail account. So for verifying it why don't you try logging yourself up over the Gmail account over PC/Laptop once logged in tap over the Gmail icon and click over the contacts. I am sure all your contacts are available over there !


How do you leave a review on the Google Play Store without a Google+ account? I would like to leave reviews for some of the Android apps I really appreciate.  But leaving reviews on the Google Play Store requires signing up for Google+.  Like many others, I refuse to add Google+ (or any social network) to my Google account.

So I thought I would just sign up for another empty Google account, and add Google+ to that.  Problem solved.  Or so I thought.  When I tried to leave the first review, Google Play Store refused to let me leave the review, saying that I hadn't installed the app yet.  Furthermore, it said that the account wasn't associated with any devices.  Ugh.

Most of the apps are free apps and a few are ones I have purchased.

I've noticed that many people have simply chosen to never leave reviews ever since Google made the poor decision to require a Google+ account in order to leave a review on the Play Store.

Is there a way to easily do what I am trying to accomplish?

BTW, before anyone asks, no, I'm not trying to leave more than one review for any app.  I just want to leave a positive review for the apps I enjoy using.

Sadly at present, you cannot. Since around November 2012 Google require Google Plus to review on the play store. All reviews are in your name, have your G+ picture and are publicly shared.
There is a popup that states:

From now on, reviews you write will be posted publicly using your Google+ name and picture.
Your name on previous reviews will appear as "A Google User".


How to restrict tethered data from an iphone using my hotspot? I'm using my hotspot on android phone to allow my children to play pokemon go with me.  The problem is that their iphones (5C and 5S) are eating up my data through my mobile hotspot.

Today we played for 1-2 hours.  In that time, pokemon go used 5MB of data on MY device, but my mobile hotspot used 165MB of data in the same period of time, and all they were doing was playing pokemon go with me!  At most, they should have only used 10-20MB of data.

Is there a way to block all ips or domains going through my hotspot that are NOT related to playing pokemon?

Restricting ip for every apps is not a feasible solution. please try the following and check if it helps.

With android

on your Android phone, you can use any of third party app that manages WiFi hotspot. just search for 'hotspot manager' or 'tethering manager' and decide yourself which manager to use. our goal here is to restrict users data usage connected to your hotspot. wifi manager apps will alert you when your wifi hotspot data usage goes beyond set limit. Plus some of them also provide facility like 'restrict bandwidth' which allocate limited bandwidth to the users connected to your hotspot.

On iPhone

Phones wifi hotspot or Internet shared by router, to connected user, it's one and the same. iPhone will not distinguish between them and use your cellular data for background activities without users consent. You can restrict background data on iOS (Background App Refresh they call it)  for specific apps by going
Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh (or just google it if your ios version has different path) and just toggle the apps which you think are using unnecessary background data. this will stop apps from updating and downloading data in background. They will only use data in foreground i.e. only when you open it (be careful with messaging and mailing apps). Hope this helps.


Huawei P8 Lite - email client not synchronising with BT email server Our Huawei P8 Lite (2016 Android 5) email client is not synchronising correctly with the BT mail server.  It picks up all the incoming mails, but does not seem to take account of mails deleted on the server by either the iPad or under webmail. We have three 'routes' into our email - webmail from various Windoze machines, the iPad and the Huawei.

The outgoing IMAP is set to port 25 while the incoming is set to port 110. 'Delete mail from server' is set to 'when I delete from inbox'

Ironically, the old Prestigio (Android 4.4 KitKat) phone with exactly similar settings, except for the ports, does synchronise correctly.

Most puzzled.

Thanks Izzy,

Your pointing out the confusions in my question woke me up and set me to looking up POP3, SMTP and IMAP.  OK, mea culpa, I should have done this before posting, but better late than never.

The Huawei wizard will set up an email account with port 110 incoming and 25 outgoing if one chooses the POP3 option, which I can only assume that I must have done originally. That is not a good choice as it provides no security and BT will not actually allow emails to be sent on that setting.  Apparently, according to the BT help pages, they require SMTP for authenticating users' sent emails as a way of reducing spam.

What I had really wanted was IMAP to keep emails in synch across the various devices used.  To get that on the P8 Lite it is necessary to choose 'Manual' set up. In so doing it is advisable to choose Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security to avoid one's email address and password being sent as plain text.

IMAP and SSL requires port 993 incoming and port 465 outgoing (SSL and presumably SMTP).

It looks as if Android 5 does not indicate in the account list which protocol has been selected for the account, unlike Android 4.4 which does.

So, I think we have a solution in that the P8lite now sends and receives mails correctly.

Thanks.


Rooting, bricking, and unbricking I want to root my Xperia SP C502.

I was wondering what if I bricked my device? Is there way to unbrick it? Can it be repaired? Is rooting worth its risk or I should forget the idea?

There are two different cases of bricking your phone.

1- Soft brick: In this case, phone is not functional as it is supposed to be however it is possible to fix the phone which is usually done through custom recoveries.

2- Hard brick: In this case of bricking, saving phone programatically is beyond possibility and a change in hardware is necessary.

Is rooting worth it? It is pretty opinion-based. For some, rooting is what makes Android awesome. And to some, the best way to use it, is the way manufacturers wants it to be used.


Does a HDMI splitter exist that will split hdmi into video and audio? I'm trying to hook up a GoogleTV to an older Sony TV and the TV has an HDMI input but just below it are the familiar red and white RC jacks for audio. I remember trying to hook up my XBox and the audio not working and now I'm having the same issue with GoogleTV and I think it's because this was made before the audio was integrated into HDMI or something.

I look all though the TV setting and couldn't find a "use RCA jacks for audio option" and was wondering if anyone ran into this before and if maybe there is some sort of splitter I could buy.

4x2 True HDMI Matrix Switch w/ Analog Audio Output

or

1 x 2 HDMI Splitter Distribution Amplifiier with Toslink Audio Output


Is it possible to print from an Android device (Samsung Galaxy Tab 3) via mini-USB to USB adapter? I know you can hook up your printer to the wireless router and connect and print from the Android device via HP ePrint software. But is there a way to simply connect a device directly to the printer via USB and start printing? If not, what is missing? Linux drivers? A general printing interface? (I don't know how any of this works, so I'm taking wild guesses.) Printer is an HP LaserJet 2840, by the way.

First of all, the device should have enabled the OTG in software and of course available as hardware. The other thing, that it misses is Drivers for sure. Maybe you could print out some photos from your phone, if there is an option to connect it as a PTP device directly to your printer, if your printer offers printing through PTP interface.


Error retrieving information from server [DF-CHARTA-01} I am getting this message when trying to get onto Google Play store. What does this mean and how can I correct this?

It looks like this error is related to G Suite (formerly known as Google Apps).  Your account administrator most likely disabled Play Store recently.  If you are not an admin and cannot ask the admins to re-enable Play Store, your only option is to add a personal Google account to your phone, and switch to that account in the Play Store as described here.

  To get rid of the error [DF-CHARTA-01] one can always add a new
  account to his Android-phone, then go to Google Play menu and switch
  Google Play to use the latter. To do so one has to follow the steps:

  Open Google Play;
  Tap Settings;
  You will see the name and email address associated with the account you are using;
  To select a different account, scroll down Selector;
  Select the account you want to use and tap on it.


How to remove an account from Google Hangouts? I logged in to Google Hangouts using an account (which is NOT the account I use in play store). But now I cannot remove it. I can sign out, but to sign back in, it does not for the password and automatically signs in. I don't want just anyone to be able to pick up my phone from the table and log in to my personal account.

So how to remove that account from hangouts or at least make it forget the password?

Try to revoke access to that account from your phone -- or simply from Hangouts/Talk if it is listed -- through this page.

When you add a new account to Hangouts, Android automatically adds it to your globally accessible accounts (Settings > Accounts). As far as I know, there is no way to activate temporary log-in sessions.


What's the difference in contents of `/odm` and `/vendor` directories? I have a little idea about the /odm but no idea of /vendor dir. Can someone please explain in the best way possible?  I looked up on Google and it didn't help.
What I'm really confused is with whether OEM's make changes to the files underlying these directories or is it the Android's source.

Reference:

    From /system, init launches and starts mounting all the other partitions, such as /vendor, /oem, and /odm

You could obtain this informacion in Source Android Documentation

ODM -> This partition contains original design manufacturer (ODM) customizations to system-on-chip (SoC) vendor board-support packages (BSPs). Such customizations enable ODMs to replace or customize SoC components, and implement kernel modules for board-specific components, daemons, and ODM-specific features on hardware abstraction layers (HALs). This partition is optional; typically, it's used to contain customizations so that devices can use a single vendor image for multiple hardware SKUs
Vendor -> This partition contains any binary that isn't distributable to AOSP. If the device doesn't contain proprietary information, you can omit this partition.


Connecting Android smartphone/tablet to PC and another device through USB hub I am going to connect a USB device to Android mobile phone, using Android ICS 4.0 USB OTG.

Can I connect this device to smartphone through USB hub and connect the phone through USB hub to PC in order to deploy apps at the same time (using a male-male USB cable)? Will it be safe solution for both phone and my device?

According to this page, if you need to connect to the device with adb then you will have to connect to adb via tcp.

to enter adb tcp mode enter adb connect <device-ip-address>:5555

to go back to adb over usb enter adb usb


OnePlus One Bootloop with Nougat I have tried to flash Nougat OS (many ROMS). I have wiped the data, cache, dalvik cache and system partition and format them to ext4 (recovery TWRP 3.0.3-5 by TugaPower).
After that I have flashed the ROMS and the mini GApps.
Then when I tries to boot, and it takes more then 20 minutes to boot (and the OS still doesn't booted).

I tried the unofficial LineageOS, RR 5.8, AICP but I stuck in bootloop in every Nougat ROM. The Marshmallow version of each is working, just the Nougat have bootloop issues.

Only the AOSP Nougat for OnePlus One succeeded to boot...

What should I do for solving this?

After flashing the CM14 rom, and boot, all the others roms are working now.


How to block calls/SMS by contact name (might have multiple phone numbers)? I'm using Moto X. I used to blacklist spammers directly into the downloaded app or the built-in Android blocker.

The problem is that every time that I reset my phone to factory settings, I have to add all numbers again, one by one.

So I created a contact on Google called "SPAM", and inserted all spam numbers into it.

Is there a way to simply block the contact called "SPAM", instead of adding dozens of numbers again?

From within the stock Android environment, you can at least force contacts to the voicemail. It is not possible to block SMS directly, at least not without root (to my knowledge).

I have a Nexus 4, so your options might differ from what I have.

If you go in the People app, you'll be able to find your SPAM contact. In the top-right corner, you'll have the ⋮ button (or the menu button on the device). There will be an option "All calls to voicemail". If you check this, all numbers within that contact will be sent to your voicemail and won't vibrate/alert you.


How can I recover my SD card? Is there a way to recover my SD card (for free)? I get a message that says it has been corrupted. Simply formatting it again hasn't worked.

Have you tried SD Card Formatter on a PC? It seems the best way to format a SD Card, however if formatting in Android doesn't works I think it's pretty much dead.
But as I said, try SD Card Formatter to see if that helps.
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/


Quickly send an email I'm looking for a way to send an email to myself as quickly as possible. I am using my inbox as TODO list, and sometimes even send emails to myself to add new items…

The optimal solution would be one where after a single touch on homescreen and typing a line of text (like: “Buy Milk”), some app or service would automatically send an email to my address with subject equal to what I typed. I wish to avoid choosing destination address, being forced to type something into the body and so on.

I'm currently using Evernote for that, occasionally moving items to my INBOX manually. But even then it's 5 or 6 touches + several seconds needed to load Evernote on my a bit dated Milestone 1.

Thanks for any ideas.

Google Voice Actions has what you want.

Simply enter voice command mode, say "note to self", then say whatever your note is. When you're done an email message will be sent to you with the text of your message.


Why does my Android OS state that there's, "Not enough free space to install the program", when there's plenty of free space? My hard drive on my smartphone has 100 MB free, and the app I'm trying to install is 2 MB.

I just recently deleted apps totalling to about 88.3 MB, and the computed size has already been adjusted, and is displayed on the screen.

However, I have to wait 10 or 15 minutes to install it.

It's as if the updated, computed space is not registered in some way to the operating system immediately.

It's Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, no root, no unlocked; factory pre-set all the way(not for long though).

So, basically, is that the problem? Why do I have to wait a while after uninstalling apps, and re-computing space availability to above par to install a new, extremely small app, to actually work?

Is this all the OS's fault, or is something else at play here(e.g., hard drive or circuit-level operations reigning outside the control of just the OS software)?

Because if the re-computed size is what it's going to be, at least let the end-user know that rather than give the impression that you have the available space, but it won't install anything.

This can be caused by having any partition full, so you can try clearing your cache and other partitions that might be full. I'm guessing it's the cache since it clears out by itself.


Tracking Android phone usage My wife thinks I spend too much time on my smartphone, but I believe she spends more time than me on hers.

Is there a way to monitor and provide statistics on our phone usage, so we can objectively compare our smartphone addiction?

I don't want something too intrusive (I don't want anyone, including me, to be able to spy on my wife) or something which would require root access.

I think that QualityTime meets your needs:

QualityTime (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

  QualityTime is a fun, visually engaging and easy-to-use Android app that allows you to monitor and get real time reports on how much time you spend on your smartphone and on your favorite apps.


Impact of overclocking Cpu on battery life I want to know if overclocking the cpu will reduce the battery life.I know overclocking drains battery but will it affect the device battery in harmful way?

Overclocking shouldn't actually damage your battery but it will make it drain quicker and as a side effect of that have a shorter overall life. Overvolting (giving the CPU more volts) could however damage your battery (overvolting can be common practise when applying a generous overclock) but of course this all depends on what device you're on and what processor it has in, some  processors that are understood by devs better can be overclocked more safely.


Voice Actions to Start Applications? I looked at the list of Voice Actions on Google's website and couldn't find one for starting an application of my choice.

Is starting applications supported by Voice Actions?

If not, can a user add this feature via some setting or by an app from the market?

The built-in Google Voice Commands can't (at this time) launch apps.

However, a quick search on the Market revealed a few possible alternatives. Here are two:

Cyberon Voice Commander
Voice Actions


How to prevent Wi-Fi from disconnecting during a WhatsApp call? On the latest version of WhatsApp (2.16.133), the Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting during a voice call.

I suspect it's due to the screen going off (here's a similar problem on the iPhone), but it's just a wild guess.

Anyone knows a fix for this? I'm on Android 6.0.1.

If you have Avast battery saver, uninstall it. It keeps disconnecting your wifi.


What will I lose if I install Cyanogenmod? I plan to install CyanogenMod on my Samsung Galaxy Express 2 (Sm-G3815). I have made a backup using Titanium Backup, by choosing the "Backup all user apps + system data" option.

I am not clear on what exactly will be done to my phone, what will be deleted and what left alone. Presumably, the backup I made will allow me to restore installed applications. Assuming that the ROM works as expected (and yes, I am aware that it might not) and everything goes well, will I also be able to restore

my contacts?
existing conversations from chat apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber?
phone call logs?
photos?
sms messages?

Will anything still be there when I reboot into the new ROM or will I have to restore everything (except the data on the external card) from backup?

I have quite a few of my apps on the external SD card (moved there by choosing the "Move to SD card" button on the application manager). As far as I can tell, this move means that some of their data is in the external card and some on the internal storage (as reported by the application manager). Will this cause any issues when I try to restore from backup?

The phone memory will be wiped by the Cyanogen install. Everything will be erased.

If you have a separate SD card, that should not be altered, so if you apps store data there, you may still have it after you reinstall each app on CM, or you may be able to manually copy over the old data and thus restore it.

Contacts and call logs are synced to your Google account so unless you disabled that, once you install CM and put in your account info, they should be restored.

WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber history: Depending on the app, this may be stored in phone memory, the SD card or your account with the app's vendor. I believe for the three you mention, all keep your data tied to your account in their own server, so you should be able to recover it once you install the app on CM and put in your account.

Photos will be saved if they were on the SD card.

SMS's will likely be lost.

When I flash ROMs, I eliminate the ambiguity by just manually backing up whatever is important, and wiping the phone clean. Much simpler, and does not rely on trusting some backup app developer to get everything right.


App to External SD on Samsung I9003 How can i install apps on Samsung Galaxy SL's external SD card?
2 GB Internal memory
2 GB Internal SD card
16 GB External SD card

Samsung Galaxy SL=I9003

You can use App2SD for this. Keep in mind that not all apps can be moved to the SD card this way, also part of them will always remain in the internal storage. This does not require rooting.

You don't actually need the app but you can also do this via the application section of the settings menu. App2SD offers a nicer interface and hides those applications you cannot move to the card, though.

One alternative is Link2SD. This application is able to move all apps completely to the card. The downside is that it is more difficult to set up as it requires root and a separate partition on the SD card.


'Unknown Artist' in Music Player. I have some 'unknown artist's in the Equalizer + Music Player. I know this question has been asked before but I do not know how to edit it. I have MusicTag on my laptop. Can someone please give instructions on how to fix this. Thank you.

The default Music Player app does not inlcude an option to edit your tags. You need to either use a Album Editor software or use an app from the playstore to edit song name, album art, track number etc. I have used Rocket Player to edit/update mp3 tag information. Using Rocket player you can edit tags like Title, Artist, Album, Genre, Disc Number, Track Number, Year and Album Art information.

For advanced operation like adding or updating lyrics, Character encoding etc look into the list available on Google PlayStore under id3 tag editing apps for which ever corresponds to your needs.


Flashing Nougat failed (partition table error), fast bootloop I tried flashing my Acer Iconia tablet with Android Nougat (NMF26U), following the Google directions, but it failed during executing flash-all.bat.

What can or should I do to try and restore my device to any working state?

Terminal Output

C:\Users\admin\Downloads\marlin-nmf6u>flash-all.bat
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
sending 'bootloader' (32980 KB)...
OKAY [  1.110s]
writing 'bootloader'...
FAILED (remote: partition table doesn't exist)
finished. total time: 1.120s
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [  0.004s]
finished. total time: 0.005s
< waiting for any device >

Observations

The terminal hasn't updated since that, and the device shows no signs of life except it causes the Windows 10 "Device Manager" to update/refresh about once a second. This makes me believe that it's such in a fast bootloop, which causes problems mentioned below.

The device itself does not respond to any combination of button presses or holds, which may be a result of the fast bootloop not allowing the device to recognize longer button holds.

adb devices no longer sees the device at all, and neither does Windows. The screen remains completely black, and there are no indicator lights on the device.

Attempts

I am unable to use the terminal or any other tools to recognize the device over USB cable, except for the "Device Manager" refreshes explained above. The buttons are completely unresponsive. I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery ribbon, but the device returns to the exact state it was in before the hard power cycle.

Wait, you tried flashing the factory images for the Pixel XL (codename Marlin) to an Acer Iconia tablet?!  Yeah, you cannot do that, you can't just flash any firmware to any device, this doesn't work that way.

You would need Acer to release their firmware for your tablet, the firmware you flashed is for the Pixel XL and is only meant for the Pixel XL.  You may have bricked your tablet doing this.  You maybe need to figure out/find your factory firmware for this (from Acer), and figure out how (...if?) it can be reloaded.


Cannot flash bricked Xiaomi Device is Xiaomi Redmi 3S

During the last update (6.12.15) 3 days ago, the mobile bricked and cannot boot.

I cannot fastboot because the bootloader is locked and cannot be unlocked using 'minimal adb fastboot' (eom edl is not allowed)

I cannot do the recovery, because "reading device information fail"

I cannot paste rom file into internal memory, because without loaded OS it doesn't appear in connected PC.

If I try anything else, device gets stuck on Java error - systemuiservice error - UnknownFormatConversionException

I run out of options what to do and what I managed to google out.

Solved. As Andy Yan pointed me, I did it using 9008 Qualcomm mode. It still wasn't easy as I had to open the case, shortcut maintenance pins and find the right combination of flashing tool and firmware rom for my phone, but I did it. Case closed.


Error when downloading application from the play store: RPC: S-3 I just got an Android tablet and when I try to install an app on the Play store it says:

  error retrieving information from server [RPC:S-3].

I've tried clearing the data for the Play Store app & turning it off & back on but it didn't work.

Try going Settings>Accounts>Google>Tap your account> tap three dots in the upper right (or press menu button) "Remove Account".
Go to "Settings"->“Applications”->“Manage Applications”
Select "All"
Scroll to and tap “Google Play Store”
Tap “Force Stop”, tap “OK”, tap “Clear data”, and tap "OK".
Tap the Back button to get back to the applications list.
Scroll to and tap “Google Service Framework” (or Google Play Services)
Tap “Force Stop”, tap “OK”, tap “Clear data”, and tap "OK".

Now reboot (switch on & off) your device.


I need help with my phone...this is urgent i have a rooted phone.i recently tried download the modded play store but it failed resulting in my phone not having a proper google play store and google framework was buggered.i kept getting the 'unfortunately com.google.gapps has stopped' error so i decided to factory reset my device.once i put it on again for the initial setup,i got the same 'unfortunately com.google' message.i tried to finish the initial setup by constantly closing the message but only could get to the wifi part and it would get stuck and reboot right back to the initial setup.please help me with my issue...thanks

note:i have a rooted moto g(2015) and can still access TWRP

Unfortunately, you did this to yourself... flashing a "modified" gapps package that is not known to work with your device can cause unknown conditions. These packages are applied to the system, so a factory reset will not correct them

You have 3 choices to correct this:

1) Restore a previous backup from TWRP if you have one. If you do not, once your device is operational again I suggest maintaining regular backups in TWRP.

2) You can attempt to flash a known working Gapps package from OpenGapps. Make sure to select the correct Platform (ARM), Android (5.1 or 6.0 whichever applies), and Variant... The variant part will be the toughest, I would suggest using Mini, or possibly Full, as the stock Moto gapps fall somewhere in between those 2 packages. Remember to wipe caches/dalvik before rebooting.

3) The final option means a total factory reflashing using the stock images. Stock images and instructions for flashing can be obtained from XDA in the Moto G (3rd Gen) Factory Firmware Images thread. Be ABSOLUTELY sure you have the correct model and version for your device, flashing the incorrect version can have... umm... lets just say "undesirable effects". If this method is chosen, you can likely upgrade your device to Marshmallow in the process, but remember that you can go up in version with the factory images, but downgrading is not recommended.

One of these three options will correct the problem, as long as you follow the instructions properly. Again, this is another friendly reminder to backup on a regular basis and before making significant changes, it is easier to revert to a known working system that is a few hours, days, or even weeks old then to start from scratch.


why wont my nexus 10 hold a charge? I've had my Nexus 10 for a while and it's been great until recently and the battery now won't hold a charge. Whenever I unplug the charger it just turns off right away and when I plug in the charger that goes from 0 percent to a hundred percent in like 5 seconds

It may be because it came out on an earlier android version, requiring less power and battery to run. If you have a newer android version, e.g KitKat or Lollipop, it may be more intensive both visually and in terms of the power required to run it. Battery Doctor is a good application, (available on the play store), which might solve you issue.


How to use Chrome in Google search bar on top? I don't like the Google search bar on top because of the blue bar on top and I can't change the search time range. How can I make the search bar just use normal Chrome Google search?

I use a OnePlus X with Android 5.1.1 Oxygen 2.2.1-X.

Google Now: Settings -> Accounts & Privacy -> Open Web Pages in App


How to install Messenger Lite on Samsung tablet I'm want to install Facebook Messenger Lite on my non-rooted Samsung T-580 tablet with Nougat 7.0. There is a message saying:

"Your device isn't compatible with this version."

No more info is provided on why this happens. Why can't I install the application, and is there a way around it?

You can install it from apkmirror choose your android version and it's done. If after installation app misbehave try to install a lower version of the app.

Remember: You may be asked to enable 'Unknown Sources' (to install apps that are downloaded outside of playstore).

To enable:
• Open Settings
• Security Settings

Under 'Security Settings' you will see this option.


How do I send a group SMS with google hangouts? I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon if that matters.  Thanks!

In Hangouts start a new conversation by going to the Messages tab and pressing on the "+" button on the top-right.
Select the first contact.  This should open the Hangout conversation screen:

click for larger image
Tap the "Anyone else?" button next to the first participant on the top row.  This brings up the "New group conversation" screen:

click for larger image
Add more contacts you wish to be included in the group conversation by tapping on their name, or typing in their name:

click for larger image
Press the OK button.  This opens up the actual group conversation with all the selected participants.  You should see "Send to group" in the typing area, signifying that you are starting a group Hangout:

click for larger image

You can also turn an existing single-participant hangout into a group chat.  Just open the existing chat, tap on Menu button, select "New group conversation" and continue on from step 3 above.

Now messages you send and receive will be shared with all participants.


How to disable Google Photos popup with notifications to upgrade On start Google Photos says that i need to upgrade. You can of course click no, but it is very pain to do it always. Do you know any method to disable this popup without upgrading apps ?

I got rooted device.

When you get the notification next time, long press it and you will get the Settings or the details option based on the version of Android running on your device. Once you select the option, you will be taken to the notification settings page of the app and from there you can choose to turn off the notification for that particular popup category or for the entire app.


Samsung Note shutting off I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note last night so I do not know much about the phone.
When handling and not charging it shuts off on me. It has charged and there is battery life of 70 lets say. When I try to turn it on my battery has completely ran out. Wont even turn on unless it is on the charger. I ordered a new battery but now I am not so sure that is my problem.
As you can imagine I am not a happy customer at this point and will more than likely not be buying from other people any longer.  Any help would be just peachy.  Thank you!

Are you saying you bought a used phone from another person (not a store) like from ebay or craigslist?

If so, it could very likely be a worn out battery. If the phone was advertised as problem free and fully working, and especially if it was advertised as brand new when clearly not,  you can pursue a return through whatever site you bought it from.


Auto reply to sms from specific contact I would like to send an automatic reply sms to a specific text. Is there an app or way this could be done? I am using the default Android sms app. I have searched for auto-reply apps but most don't allow selection of a specific contact. Also I would like something simple and don't need things for Whatsapp, Facebook messenger etc.

automation app from playstore is exactly what i use for tracking my kids. i send sms with specific text "where are you" and receive auto reply sms with location (to my specific number only)

found this in changelog to my favorite automation app

Due to new Google Play policy restrictions to prevent apps accessing the SMS inbox:
- Removed monitor inbox option for incoming SMS
- Removed SMS Sent trigger
- Removed Delete SMS action

assuming this rules apply to every app in playstore, you need to find older apk (Dec 2018)

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/arlosoft/macrodroid-device-automation-2/macrodroid-device-automation-2-4-0-0-release


Set two languages simultaneously for the stock keyboard? I want to have both english and german prediction and auto correction at the same time for the stock keyboard (Jelly Bean here).

My use case:
Multi-tasking between english and german domains on my tablet where I both need the keyboard (e.g. Google Talk with my german friends and editing/answering questions on Android Enthusiasts in english). Problem: I don't want to switch off prediction/auto-correction nor do I want to switch to an alternative keyboard. At the moment I have to manually switch between en/de keyboards when I switch tasks (from Google Talk to the browser and back). This is annoying. I don't mind the keyboard layout (QUERTZ or QUERTY) but would prefer the english one.

How can I have simultaneous multi language prediction/auto-correction in the stock keyboard?

The stock keyboard in Jelly Bean (4.1 or 4.2) does not support multiple languages simultaneously. However, SwiftKey, a third party keyboard, supports advanced predictions with up to three languages simultaneously.

SwiftKey Official Website
SwiftKey on Google Play

Note that SwiftKey is a paid app. You can find the non-trial versions of the application in the Play Store. If you are looking for Swype-like functionality, note that an upcoming version of SwiftKey also includes it.


Rootless CLI Utilities Do I have to root my android device to install command line utilities? I would really like to run Vim, among other programs on my phone. I have no reason not to root my phone, I just want to know if this is possible.

The Android Scripting seems to possibly have done this. Do I have to write my own Terminal app to be able to do this?

You don't need root.  You also don't need a terminal, for an app to use its own private utilities.  But if you want vim, Terminal IDE provides that, a number of other utilities (git, ssh, tmux), the ability to use bash or Java as a 'scripting language' at the terminal, and the ability to create and install Android apps on-device.  I use Terminal IDE and vim quite a bit, (but with Better Terminal Emulator Pro's terminal, actually.)


On android, how can I unzip more than one zip files at once? In PC you can choose more than one separate zip files and extract to "zipname" folder all by selecting at once, how can I do the same in Android.
I've tried ES file explorer, Z Archiver etc but they all seem to work only for multipart zip files and not for multiple separate zips.

Okay, so just tried another app RAR by Rarsoft and it did the job perfectly, though extracted all the zips to same folder....enough for me.


How to put TWRP recovery on an S5? (heimdall fails with PIT transfer) This is an SM GT900F.

I tried to install TWRP per these instructions. However, when issuing
heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot
I got this (some clutter removed):

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...
Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.
Beginning session...

Downloading device's PIT file...
ERROR: Failed to send request to end PIT file transfer!
ERROR: Failed to download PIT file!
Ending session...
ERROR: Failed to send end session packet!
Releasing device interface...

The phone was then stuck with a tiny blue dot on the left, which I suppose is the start of the blue progress bar mentioned here. It wouldn't react to anything anymore.

Fortunately, after removing the batteries, it boots just fine into the stock ROM. (Phew.) I have repeated this twice since, but this is consistent.

Does anyone have any idea how I should proceed?

Try Odin instead of heimdall, and use corresponding .tar format recoveries. No more hassle of Heimdall command line.


Avoid opening Play Store after NFC scan for unlocking with Smart Lock I want to use the Smart Lock feature of Android 5.0 Lollipop together with NFC. I've configured it and it works well, but my problem is, that after scanning the NFC Tag (and also after unlocking the phone) the Play Store opens and wants me to download an NFC app.

I only want to use NFC for the Smart Lock feature, so basically I want the phone to do just nothing after an NFC scan. Is this possible?

According to the answer by Michael Roland on same problem on SO,

Play Store opening up after scanning a tag is a clear indication that the tags contain an Android Application Record (AAR). A tag containing an AAR will only start the app referenced in the AAR or will open that app's Play Store page.
In order to re-use the tags, you should first format them or simply overwrite them with some other NDEF message that does not contain an AAR.
You could, for instance, use an app like NXP TagWriter to do that. [the rest is redacted due to related to app development]


Can't register virtual US number with whatsapp business I used to use a virtual US number for registering and using WhatsApp Business (for people i don't trust and don't want to give my personal number) But now whenever I try to register a new virtual number, it says it's an invalid number for USA. I have tried 2ndLine, text+ and few more apps.. Can anyone explain what's happening and provide a solution if possible..
Thanks in advance

Yes most virtual numbers have such restrictions, however you have a higher success rate if you use voice for verification instead of SMS, you cant even setup voicemail recording to retrieve the call playback.
If this fails get other similar virtual number provider like TalkU, you get credits by watching some ads, but the advantage is that you get to keep the number for the duration you're subscribing with credits (which you get from watching ads=free)


My phone not registering to 2G (GSM only) network I am using a Sony Xperia Neo L (MT25i). After updating the OS, my phone not registering to 2G (GSM only mode) network. It works perfectly with 3G (WCDMA only or WCDMA proffered mode) network. While searching for network I can see all the 2G network. I try changed my SIM, but for all the SIM its the same. While googling many are reported this issue, but couldn't find a solution. I don't know whether I am posting this on right place. Since it happened after the OS update I am posting it here. My current Android version is 4.0.4

Update
I am from INDIA and my baseband version is 8x55A-AAABQMAZM-203028G-87. Does any one have other baseband on Neo L (MT25i)?

As it seems you have tried resetting to factory defaults and re-flashing same update, I believe the causes might be caused by updated baseband. I would try reflashing different original firmware. You can also flash baseband only via flashtool so maybe it might be worth trying to flash baseband from the firmware that worked. YMMV.

You can find links to download FTF (original firmware) for your device:

Build 4.1.B.0.587 - http://d-h.st/Vft
Build 4.1.B.0.626 - http://goo.gl/hAfwI
Build 4.1.B.0.631 - http://d-h.st/iVF

Sources & more info:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2047914
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1952333
http://www.flashtool.net/index.php


SIM card Virtualization - Possible? Is there a way to "virtualize" a SIM card?
Say I go to T-Mobile, and get a new phone line.
I have a new number (say (123) 456-7890), and a new SIM card (new ICCID).

Is there a way to "virtualize" that SIM card's information so it can be used on a virtual android machine?

Just found this: Is it possible to virtually emulate a SIM card and make it work on a mobile phone?

  Not impossible.

  SIM card basically carries authentication information to make the required connection with the network. So, to be able to connect to a network in the name of SIM you don't have, you have to have the information which the SIM carries.

  Once you have this, you have to tamper with the phone's hardware(and/or software) to get the information it is expected to collect from the SIM from somewhere else.

  Since, the interface between the SIM and the phone is standardised for any given technology, it should not be impossible to mimic this, using a combination of hardware and software. But, such a system is readily available? I haven't heard of.

It seems it's possible if you're genius enough to understand and implement how the interfacing between phone and sim card is done, because on the basic level, a sim card is nothing but a storage device holding access codes and data (you may just virtually store this info and emulate/read it like there's a sim card).

But as far as I searched, no one has done it.. And also, as @Andrew commented, you need appropriate radio hardware to make telecommunication even if something like that hack is accomplished :)


Is it possible to reproduce munsell colours on an android device? Given a wide variety of devices, is it possible to address the colour spaces such that a accurate reproduction of munsell colours are shown?

If it is possible, what applications can best be compared against a printed colour book to check an individual device's colour reproduction?

Nearly all Android devices use the sRGB colourspace with 8 bits per channel, though some cheaper or older ones use 8 bits per channel in the framebuffer when the screen actually has a much lower bit depth, so it's not always possible to tell the real colour reproduction capabilities of the screen from the software configuration. If you have a table giving the closest sRGB equivalent to each Munsell colour, then the only question is how close you need it to be.

I don't know of any colour calibration tools, and a quick search on Google Play didn't find any, so it's likely that no such software exists for Android. In any case, actually adjusting the on-screen colours to match the printed swatch would need you to have root on the device. Your best bet may be to use a paint tool or colour picker tool to show on the screen each colour you're interested in, and compare with the swatch that way.


Need help. Touchscreen not working LG G3 Here's the deal, folks.
I've been having trouble with my LGG3. I initially had blue screen of death but I solved it by putting the motherboard in oven for 10 min.(Amazingly worked)
Had to do it often over last 3 months because occasionally the LGG3 heats up & loses wi-fi when I use google maps.
In my latest attempt to fix the wi-fi I put the motherboard in the oven again and I fixed the wi-fi, but now the touchscreen does not respond. I get the hardware key control mode message when I power off/power on.
Is there anyway to fix this problem, so I can use the touchscreen again?
If there is no solution, is there some way to retrieve all my data and information from the phone? Whenever I plug it into my computer the cell asks me to give my PC permission to access the phone, but because I can't use the touchscreen I can't give it permission.

To answer the part about using the phone even though the touchscreen doesn't work:

You can use an OTG cable, to plug a computer mouse into your phone and you will then be able to navigate through your phone with it. This way, you'll be able to allow your phone to connect to your computer.

Here's an OTG cable that will allow you to connect your phone to the computer while having the mouse connected.


How can I replace HTC Sense? I saw not using HTC Sense as a power-saving tip on another question, but I just wanted to know what the easiest way to replace HTC Sense is and what it requires me to do?

Do I lose all my widgets too or will it mostly change the way my Home screen looks?

Edit: I don't need HTC Sense to disappear completely from my phone or need to root it. I'm just curious how I would go about replacing HTC Sense with another application launcher.

To replace HTC Sense completely you will have to root your phone and replace the ROM completely. Please see this post for more information: How do I root my Android device?

If on the other hand you're looking at replacing your homescreen/launcher then there are plenty of options.

LauncherPro
ADW.Launcher
HelixLauncher
plenty more...

I personally have LauncherPro and have upgraded to the Plus version. The Plus version has 90% of the widgets Sense UI has but is in my opinion far quicker, more stable and has way more features.

NB: I don't believe any of these Launchers allow you to utilise the widgets from Sense UI.

EDIT: Just to answer your comment. LauncherPro is an app you can download and install from the Android Market. Once installed clicking the Home button will prompt you to select which launcher you'd like to use (either LauncherPro or Sense UI). All you would do from there is check the "Default" checkbox and select LauncherPro.


Installing an app from Play Store using the command line Is it possible to install an app from Play Store using the command line and if yes, how?

What I am trying to accomplish is something similar to using adb install file.apk but instead of an apk file the target would be a package name of a Play Store app (for e.g. adb install com.spotify.mobile.android.ui).

Is something like this possible?

I was looking for the same answer, i can't find a single command to do this, but i found few options that could be useful in such cases:

A. download the .apk to your computer and install the apk from it (just google 'apk downloder' and find one suitable for you):

adb install com.myapp.apk

B. open playstore app from adb and point it to your package, this will look like this:

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d 'market://details?id=com.myapp'

(i'm sure it can be automated to simulate the neccesarry clicks and install the app, but this requires much more work)

none are as easy as just installing from computer cmd, but that what we have now.


How can I undo the "Do Not Ask Again" for bluetooth contacts? When I first connected my phone (Samsung Galaxy S II) to a bluetooth device, I was prompted that the device wanted to access my contacts.

I mistakenly clicked Do Not Ask Again but I want to undo that. Is there a way to do this?

I'm running ice cream sandwich.

Try putting the device in discovery mode before you sync it on your phone. I ran into the same issue and that is how I resolve it.


How to prevent a Samsung Galaxy S4 from auto-restarting? My Samsung Galaxy S4 auto restarts.

I removed Battery , SIM card , SD Card for over 1-2 hour, and replaced but the device still auto restart.
I tried " Home"+ "Volume Down" + "Power" and saw the message "Warning! Critical Problem". I had to choose "Continue Or Cancel". However, choosing Continue or Cancel has no effect.

Any idea why this auto restart is happening? Can any software format the device using computer? I can't open my phone now, because when I plug the battery the device auto restart.

Try to get into the recovery. You can access it by pressing Volume UP + Power Button. When your screen turns on, release the Power Button.
If you can get into the recovery without constant restarting problems, you can make a "factory reset". This will delete all your data and settings but might solve.

But as a side note: Try to provide more information. When did it start turning itself on/off? What apps did you install before? What is your android version and is your device rooted or not?


Unlocking bootloader to change rom or firmware My question is very easy: do I have to unlock the bootloader on every single phone to change its rom or its firmware, or someone need it and someone doesn't?

The answer is also easy: some don't need it.

Most if not all AT&T/Verizon/Amazon devices are bootloader locked, yet some are popular enough that devs worked ways around it. A common-sight solution is called Safestrap.

Safestrap for AT&T Galaxy S4
Safestrap for AT&T Galaxy Note 3
Safestrap for Motorola RAZR
Safestrap for Amazon Kindle Fire HDX (3rd gen.)

Do note that, with the lockdown measure becoming heavier over the years, there's no such solution I know of for recent devices. Even for older devices, Safestrap took a considerable long time to be developed/ported.


How to change the Messaging and keyboard apps to stock ones on LG Optimus Net P690 running Cyanogenmod7? Is it in any way possible to replace CM7's boring messaging interface with the stock messaging app from the LG stock roms (the one with chat bubbles), also, where would I be able to get a keyboard similar/exactly the same to the stock LG keyboard on the Optimus Net?

This is what the stock keyboard looks like (I couldn't find a picture in portrait mode, sorry): .

I found a ported stock LG keyboard, but as you can see in Cyano, there is a useless smilie button and every single button is bigger than what they're supposed to be from the LG keyboard.

Could someone help me/direct me to how I might be able to replace the messaging app and keyboard from CM7 with the apps I'm looking for? Thanks!

Download the apk files of the stock keyboard and messaging apps and copy them to the current directory. You can also copy them from /system/app/ directory in the system.img file(use magiciso to mount it) present in the stock firmware file(usually .tar) Start an adb session and execute the following lines:

Mounting system partition as read-write:

$ adb shell mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock03 /system

Removing CM's apps(change the names):

$ adb shell rm /system/app/CM_messaging_app.apk
$ adb shell rm /system/app/CM_keyboard_app.apk

Installing stock apps(change the names):

$ adb install stock_messaging_app.apk
$ adb install stock_keyboard_app.apk

I would recommend 'hacker's keyboard'( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard&hl=en) over the stock keyboard apps though.


Android software to write on anything? I currently do not own a smartphone or a tablet, but am interested in getting one or both that could help me with the following:

I am a teacher. I regularly have notes displayed on an overhead projector AND simultaneously write on a chalkboard. I would like to be able to write (using a stylus) directly onto the screen on top of what I am displaying.

I usually display notes in PDF or Powerpoint. If it would be possible to then save the written notes on the file would be a major plus, though not necessary.

Is this possible with Android devices – and if so, how could it be done?

This is definitly possible. There are even multiple approaches I could think of:

Screen mirroring
Some devices already ship with this functionality. My sister e.g. just got her new Samsung Galaxy S4 mini which I helped her to set up, and I noted a related "toggle" in the notification bar to switch "mirroring" on/off. Also, newer builds of the custom ROM cyanogenmod IMHO offer this feature. Especially via HDMI, this also should be supported (maybe requiring an additional app).
Remote Tools
iDev already mentioned Team Viewer in his comment. While the specific component to remote access the Android device itself only exists for few devices (the list might grow, some time given), there are several similar/comparable solutions, as VNC.
Other means
There might also exist specific "whiteboard apps", designed for exactly this purpose. I don't know such one (but I didn't explicitly check for), but searching the Playstore cannot hurt (to ease this, as the "official Google Play website is quite restricted in its search capabilities since its relaunch, I recommend using AppBrain for searching; it's an alternative "web frontend" to Google Play).


After Droid firmware 4.3 update, no predictive text I updated my droid firmware to 4.3 on Friday and had a fairly easy install ..except that my predictive text is missing in action. The setting is switched to ON (Galaxy S4 by the way) but the ribbon that usually appears above the keyboard with autocorrect suggestions is no longer there.

Can anybody help me please? I want my ribbon back. :)

The thing that worked for me was downloading and using English (UK) as default.


How can I send music from an app to one BT device, but keep all other sounds on another BT device or on the phone? I am blind, literally, and I use Androids built in screen reader, TalkBack.
When I want to get my jam on, I want to be able to send my tunes to one BT device, and keep all other audio either on the phone or on another BT device.
I used to have a Galaxy S10. My favorite feature was the "Separate App Sounds" option in Samsungs "Sound Assistant" app. It let me do exactly this. Is there any way to do this on other devices?
I have a Pixel 3A XL. I don't mind rooting or installing another rom, so long as it works with my Google Fi E-SIM.
I appreciate any help and ideas. Weather you can help or not, thank you for reading.

Buy a samsung.
There hasn't been an answer for nearly 2 weeks, so this flippant one will have to do. Still looking for a better answer.