Why can I tether to Ubuntu for free but not Windows? I have a Motorola Droid 1 with Android 2.2 on it. I found something odd that I don't understand why it works.

If I plug my phone into my home computer which is Windows 7 and I turn on the tethering ability, I am met with a Verizon captive portal and it tells me I need to pay for a tethering plan (which I don't have).

Now the weird thing, if I plug the same phone into my Ubuntu 10.10 laptop and enable tethering it works and can get on the internet with no captive portal showing up.

The only thing I could notice that was different about the connections was Windows connected to the phone with an NDIS driver and Linux connected to the phone with what I think is a raw device mapping.

Would that have anything to do with it?

A lot of mobile network operators perform network analysis (deep packet inspection) of all transfered data. In that way they are able to identify which protocols are used.

Identifiable protocols that indicate a desktop PC are for example:

Windows Update
Virus scanner update
Broadcasts sent by Windows

Another very easy and common way to identify the system is to read the UserAgent string the web-browser sends in each request. There are add-ons available for Firefox to fake the user-agent may you should try it and fake your browser to something unknown.


Will factory resetting wipe/clear away pre-installed apps? I linked my Gmail account to my tablet and I longer want it linked.

I have read that it is permanently linked, and I must factory reset the device to unlink the account - is this true?

Will factory resetting my device delete everything including pre-installed app, or will it be like new with my pre-installed apps intact?

What is factory reset?
First, the word "factory reset" might be a bit misleading -- as one can easily tell by your first comment to your question: If the device ships with Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x) pre-installed, and after a while offers an update to e.g. Ice Cream Sandwhich (Android 4.0.x) which you perform -- a factory-reset thereafter will not reset it to Gingerbread.
To understand what happens at a factory reset, you need to know some of the way Android's file system works. To make that easier to understand, I will abstract (and simplify) this a bit:
There are multiple partitions created on the storage of the device. A few examples include:

/system, which normally is "read-only". Here the Android System incl. its pre-installed apps reside
/data, which is "read/write". Here go all the user's data, incl. the apps (s)he installs

There are some more partitions, which I will ignore for this example. With a new device, /system contains the Android system plus pre-installed apps, as stated above -- while /data is empty. That's the "factory state", we could say. Now you switch your device on, and go through the wizard: creating/configuring your account etc. These data are stored in /data. So will the apps you download from the playstore, etc.
A factory reset now will return your device to "factory state": it will wipe all data it can.

As /data is read/write, it will get wiped.
/system is read-only, so it won't get wiped. This includes the pre-installed apps.
Your Google Account data have been stored in /data, so they will get wiped
Apps you have installed from the playstore were stored in /data, including their settings and data -- so they will be gone as well.

The Google Account linked
As you can see from above description, a factory-reset will "unlink" the connected Google Account. In my eyes, that's like I want to delete a file: sure, when I format the entire disk the file is gone... So there must be other ways which keep your data intact.
At least in earlier versions of Android, there was a different approach (not sure if that still works, though). As a factory-reset as the "last ressort" would either delete all your personal data, it does no harm to try the following in advance: If it still works, great -- if it doesn't, you still can do the reset:

from your homescreen, open Settings → Apps → Manage Apps
one after the other, open all Google apps you can find (GMail, Playstore, GTalk, Google storage...) and press the "Delete Cache" plus "Delete Data" buttons. If they are greyed out, you might need to "force stop" the app first (there's another button for that)
reboot your device

If this trick still works, your account should be gone by now; maybe even the wizard will pop-up again automatically.
Side effects
One thing to keep in mind when changing the linked Google Account are your payed apps. They are bound to the account you've bought them with -- so they might stop working when that account is no longer there, and most will do so. If you no longer want to use your old account, you need to buy them again.


Rooting Galaxy S3: Entry in device manager not found when entering download mode I am trying to follow this guide on rooting the Galaxy S3 (Referred to by this A.SE question). I'm getting stuck at step 5.

I have now repeatedly used Kies 3 to reinstall the device driver: Tools > Reinstall device driver. If I connect the phone via USB, and on my PC (Windows 8.1) to to Computer management > Device manager, I find the following entry under Universal Serial Bus controller:

  SAMSUNG Mobile USB Composite Device

However, whenever I enter download mode on my phone by holding volume down + power + home keys for 20 seconds, then when prompted pressing volume up key, nothing is found in device manager, nor can the exe in GalaxyS3Root.zip find it. So I exit download mode of the phone by holding the power button for a few seconds and it boots back up. I have tried this process with the USB cable plugged in the whole time, and also while disconnected + connecting it after entering download mode.

Any ideas?

Edit: I did a google search which turned up some things, am trying them:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/282851-phone-not-being-recognised-download-mode-odin.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/galaxy-s3-recognized-odin-download-mode-t1950189
http://techverse.net/reasons-odin-not-detecting-android-device/

I managed to get it working using Windows 7 to root it. (Following the step-by-step guide without modifications).

The order of things I tried in windows 8.1, each time attempting the rooting process:

Swapped USB ports
enabled developer mode
enabled USB debugging mode
Reset everything to factory settings
Swapped USB ports
enabled developer mode
enabled USB debugging mode

And I had repeatedly re-installed device drivers using Samsung Kies 3 during the above. Nothing worked. So maybe it's just windows 8.1 that stopped things working.


Is there a media player which doesn't lose current track when mounting/unmounting the SD card? I've got an Xperia X10.

I listen to audio books, so I'd like to keep my position in the playlist.

Whenever I mount the SD card using USB, the standard media player, Mediascape, lose both the playlist and the position.

Do you know of an alternative media player which doesn't have this defect?  (Including paid apps.)

Mediascape doesn't lose track any more after the latest upgrade of the phone.


Overwrite /system/bin/su using adb Can't overwrite su file in /system/bin/ my stupid classmate put a prank on me and inserted a different su binary coming from his linux pc instead of the already existing su in /system/xbin/

I want to overwrite it myself since even him can't do it

here's the adb shell su return:

  /system/bin/su: not executable: magic 7F45

Is there a way to replace this one with the already existing su in /system/xbin/? I've been trying to chmod the su overwritten su file for 3 months now.. I can't even chown cause IDK what are the users and IDK how to list all of them. Help. Thanks in advance.

P.S.

-can't load custom rom since I'm still on the way of rooting phone

-can't load stock rom for I'm using a very rare tablet (Arc Mobile 727M) can't find a good alternative for stock rom

Andrew, if su binary in xbin is proper, then run,

adb shell
/system/xbin/su -c mv /system/bin/su /system/bin/su-dead

then reboot and open terminal emulator and run su.

Did this device come pre-rooted? If not then what prevents you
from repeating the process you used to root?


Other methods to unbrick LG X210 from other identical phone? Recently I accidentally formatted my preloader on my LG X210 smartphone, which is an MTK device (MT6580).
Because of this my phone doesn't react when I press the power button, and the screen remains black when plugging it in to charge etc. I guess that's what they call hard-bricking a phone. (and yes, I checked that my battery was still 80% full)

Because it's an MTK device it is still possible to flash the stock ROM by going into meta mode (first install the necessary drivers and then remove battery from phone, keep volume up pressed in and simultaneously insert USB cable connected to computer). I used the flash tool (SP_Flash_Tool_v5.1532_Win) to first format the rom:

Then I downloaded the stock ROM (MT6580__lge__LG-X210__m13g__5.1__ALPS.L1.MP6.V2.19_ARIMA6580.WE.L_P42), which looks like this when extracted:

So all I still had to do was:

Flash only the preloader
Then unplug the phone /plug back in again
Finally flash the rest (see picture:)

I searched online and this method seemed to work for a lot of users; i.e. they would then unplug their phone and the device would be able to power up etc.
However, in my case it still doesn't... I am very sure that this is the correct stock ROM that I used.

Does anyone know what else I could try to do?
Note that I have a second identical LG X210 phone which is still working fine (but it's not mine) - perhaps there is a way to dump the rom and restore it in my phone? (assuming the stock rom itself has a fault in its preloader)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3TmXtOA0IA is this help maybe ?
my phone did react only to show the battery but after you plugin it ask for a signal 1 or 2 second only.you cant see it but you can prove it with usbdeview-x64.zip for example.then you need SP_Flash_Tool_v5.1804_Win.zip and the mtk usb drivers.
It was dead but i got it back to work.the links in the youtube video may be outdated but the information was very helpful for me , i did try to flash a custom twrp! but it wasnt for this device and kill the preloader too.

EDIT in the first two second you have to send the correct signal to hold it in
the usb contact.

Edit MT6580 i-mobile i-style 712 is the device i  got back


Gameloft Game Graphics problem I installed a Gameloft game Brother in Arms. But the graphics of the game is shown as below.

Use 2.3.3 on Samsung S2

Any idea why its not being displayed ?

Samsung elected not to include all the texture compression formats when they integrated the Mali-400 GPU into the Exynos chip that powers the Galaxy S II. This is because some formats are patented and would require Samsung to pay a fee to the patent-holder to support them.

Because the S II was the first high-end phone not to support these formats, most game vendors weren't ready to use alternative texture compression formats in their games, and such games will draw with missing textures, like in your screenshot. Also, at the time the S II came out, Google Play made it very hard to support multiple texture formats with one app: you had to include all the formats in one APK file, making it unnecessarily large.

It's now much easier to build for different compression formats and automatically select the right textures for the device you're running on.


Oneplus 3T Screen and Touch Screen I broke my OnePlus3T the other day.
The screen is cracked, doesn't show anything and the touch screen is not responsive.
This has happened before, but this time I want to fix it myself since it is very expensive to get it fixed.

Since it's my first time trying to fix a phone, I have a these questions:

1) Can an average Joe like me even change a OnePlus3T screen? (Or is it too difficult?)

2) What parts do I need to buy?
(If I just buy a new screen and apply it, will the touch also be working again, or will I need more than just a new screen?)

3) Is it necessary to buy special equipment? (Or will my average Joe equipment do?)

I found this video about it. You might be able to find some other ones on Google... For me, it is too difficult to change the screen (any screen, from any phone), and I wouldn't risk it.

It requires as tools (described on the video):

Plastic Triangle opening tool
T2 Torx screwdriver
Nylon Spudger
A SIM Card ejection tool
Fine tip curved tweezers
Precision knife set
2mm red adhesive roll
heat gun
Professional Phillips Screwdriver
Cards (playng cards)

I would say most of these equipment will be really necessary, since you will need to perform high precision tasks.


How can I prevent apps from going full screen and hiding the notification bar? The notification bar takes only a few pixels yet contains so much useful information. Unfortunately, there are some apps (that I otherwise love) that insist on being in full screen, and therefore remove the notification bar from sight.

Is there any way I can force the notification bar to remain while running these apps?

I run rooted Marshmallow with Xposed Framework on a Samsung SM-G900F.

The apps can run on all types of display sizes and aspect ratios, so technically they should be able to do without those pixels on top.

There is an app for your required feature Status bar in full screen

You can use it with any launcher and it is compatible with Android 2.2+

In the app, you can toggle status bar on/off in fullscreen mode.


Battery drain when wifi is off I turned off my wifi connection and noticed a heavy impact on my battery life. In a few hours without any usage, it dropped more than the whole day before.

See the drop at end while wifi (WLAN) was disabled:

There are many issues where battery life is reduced when wifi is turned on but not when turned off. What could cause this and how can I fix this? Could it be using some mobile data connection that drains the battery more than wifi or is it a device problem?

While wifi was on, it was actually connected to a network. There is no increase in mobile data usage. No suspicious increase for battery consumption for any particular app. Top consuming apps are:

idle 40%
display 19%
mobile standby 18%
android os 13%
wifi 6%
google services %4
android system 2%

Update: It looks like it's constantly switching between E, 3G, H and H+ every few minutes, even without moving the phone. In 2G mode the connection seems to be stable and the battery loss is gone.

Activating the 2G only option solved the issue, indicating a problem with the connection, as mentioned in the comments.

Another thing that solved it (temporarily, until I install more apps I guess) was reinstalling the OS. I only installed few apps and the minimal PA Gapps package (contains only some indispensable apps by Google), which presumably reduced the amount of background data send. Overall battery consumption with 3G enabled is way lower than with only 2G before.

I've also updated the radio firmware, though I can't confirm if it had any effect. It still seems to switch a lot between E, 3G, H and H+ but without any actual data traffic there is no noticeable impact on battery life.

Another suggestion I've found online somewhere is to use an app that switches to 3G only when particular apps like the browser is used and switches back to 2G otherwise.


How to use GNU Root Debian from android terminal emulator? I install GNU Root Debian on my android. Also i install jdk8. I can compile java programs. For example i can get java version.

cd /data/data/com.gnuroot.debian/debian/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_181/bin
./java -version

But it works only in GNU Root Debian terminal emulator. How i can use java from android terminal emulator? I got error: cannot execute binary file.

Android shell cannot run java? How i can change shell to debian shell?

GNURoot Debian run script in /data/data/com.gnuroot.debian/support/launchProot when app started. In termux I run it script and java works!


Can not uninstall facebook I have a brand new Qmobile 400 dual sim tab with jelly bean android 4.2.2 version.
Downloaded facebook from play store but now unable to uninstall it. The message say" delete all the updates on this device" but not the app itself. How do I uninstall it???

You can install Link2SD, an app that allows you to uninstall any and all applications, system included.


Cannot install unsigned APK file on my phone I developed an app in Eclipse, and emailed to me the .apk file. It correctly downloads to my phone, then I go in Downloads and tap it. I choose "Install" and I'm getting App not installed message.

What's the problem?

I have a Nexus 4 phone, and "Unknown sources" option is selected. I can successfully install the app through Eclipse. The .apk file was exported in Eclipse from Android tools -> Export unsigned application package.

Android does not allow installing unsigned applications.
You will need to sign you APK (with a debug or release key). Don't use Android tools->Export unsigned application package, but rather the regular command to export an Android APK.

The different options available to sign you app are well described here:
http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html


Restrict particular apps from syncing depending on current WiFi connection Is there an app that will allow full sync functions to only occur when connected to particular white-listed WiFi and / or keep selected accounts from syncing when on other away / public / non white-listed WiFi routers?

Example being, when I am on my trusted WiFi connections to have full sync rights allowing Gmail and Facebook as well as other apps to function normally but when on a WiFi not white-listed only allow browsing or particular apps to access and sync?

I imagine this would be a firewall function however have yet to find one that distinguishes multiple WiFi connections from each other.
If an app like this does not exist what code would be a good start to review and develop such a function.

I don't know how to realize that for "specific apps to sync". But using an automation app like tasker, you should be able to globally switch sync on/off depending on whether you are connected to a specific WiFi. Basic structure for Tasker:

Create a Task, name it e.g. "SafeWifiTask", and have it switch Sync on.
(you can also add other jobs to this task which you want to perform on a "safe connection", all in this task)
Optionally, create an opposite task to switch Sync off
Create a Profile with the condition "WiFi Connected", and select your "safe network's" SSID. Assign it the "SafeWifiTask" created above, and optionally the "opposite task" as exit task.
Repeat step 3 for other "safe network conditions" (Tasker doesn't know about an OR condition on profiles)

I've made the "exit task" optional in my example. The reason behind it is: If no exit task exists, Tasker automatically restores the "before" conditions, so you might be able to do without exit tasks.


How can I install Google Apps on Cyanogenmod for the Samsung Galaxy S2 (i9100)? When I try to install the latest version of Open GApps onto my phone using adb sideload, and the default CM Recovery that comes with CM 13 for the Samsung Galaxy SII (i9100). However, I get the error message, "Failed to set up busybox."  The suggested solution, which is to use TWRP recovery instead of CM, I have no idea how to do because I don't know where to find a kernel, with TWRP recovery, that is compatible with CM13. I can't find kernels for CM12, since many of the download links on sites like xda-developers.com are dead.

I tried to install with CM12 and CM13 and I get the same result.

I successfully installed a copy of busybox onto /system/bin. I first tried installing Open GApps via adb sideload however, this failed. Running adb shell, I saw that perhaps busybox was runnable, so I ran chmod +x, and ran busybox, after which I saw busybox's help message. Surprisingly, Open GApps still didn't install for the same reason.

How can I install the Google Apps onto my phone?

Okay, I add another answer because the protocol I am attaching differs from what I posted above. This worked for me, I cannot tell if this will work for you; please don't point your finger on me ;) This is meant for all who have a CM CM12.1 Nightly build  2016-01-19 or later installed - including Cyanogenmod's recovery which IS NOT ABLE to install Zip Files. The Procedure also reorganizes your Partition structure.

== Resizing Partitions, Installing TWRP 3.0.2-0, CyanogenMod 13 nightly and OpenGApps Pico on Samsung's Galaxy S2 i9100 using Windows 10. Phone has CM12.1 nightly build 2016-01-19 or later, but no busybox. ==

CAUTION: Following these instructions may brick your device. All steps are performed at your own risk. This protocol was successfully tested on two independent i9100 devices. Initially both devices had CyanogenMod 12.1 with CyanogenMod's "stock" recovery installed (which lacks the busybox). Build > 2016-01-19. This protocoll will install CyanogenMod 13, OpenGApps and TWRP 3.0.2-0 recovery. This recovery should persist even after updating CyanogenMod to the next nightly build (not tested yet, would be nice if soeone could feedback on this!).

NOTE: All steps were performed on a Windows 10 PC. You may encounter different events using an other OS.

PREPARATIONS:

Read this first before executing ;)
Backup all your personal data.
Eject your extra SD-card from your phone.
Get the latest CyanogenMod Nightly Build: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=i9100 -> store the zip on your extra SD-card you just ejected
Get OpenGApps pico: http://opengapps.org/ Make sure that the build date matches the CyanogenMod nightly build date. Store the zip on the SD-card you just ejected.
Get HeimdallSuite_v1.4.0.zip: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3713767&d=1460278689 -> Extract it to a local folder (from now on called c:\localFolder)
Get Samsung_Galaxy_S2_Pit-Files_Collection_All-In-One_2015-05-04.rar - http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3293884&d=1430622849 -> store it in c:\localFolder
Extract yor desired system storage layout from the jujst downloaded pit collection archive. I strongly recommend to pick a file from the "I9100_512MB_Preload" subfolder, because those most likely won't cause trouble with CyanogenMod installation. I decided for the following configuration: I9100_2.0GB_Sys-08GB_Data-512MB_Preload.pit --> store this file in c:\localFolder. This file will be called myPit.pit from now on.
Get SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.zip: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3713769&d=1460278744 -> double click to install. When you don't install this, you might won't be able to establish a connection between your phone and your PC.
Get MSVC++ 2012 Redistributable x86, vcredist_x86.exe (Heimdall won't open with x64 installed): https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/download/details.aspx?id=30679 -> double click to install. If you don't install this, you most probably will get a dll not found exception when launching Heimdall.
Get latest TWRP recovery: https://dl.twrp.me/i9100/ -> store the img in c:\localFolder. This file will be called as myRecovery.img from now on.

PROTOCOL:

Connect your device (and unlock it, if locked).
Open windows device manager (enter "device manager" in start). In the device manager, ensure that hidden devices will be shown ("View" menu).
Navigate to "Modem" -> "Samsung Modem". Right click -> "Uninstall".
Enter "change device installation settings" in start end select not to auto install drivers at all. This is necessary to prevent Windows 10 using any cached drivers for the setup.
Disconnect your device.
Reboot your system into advanced startup settings menue: Click the Start menu and select "Settings" -> Click "Update and Security" -> Click on "Recovery" -> Click "Restart now" under "Advanced Startup". When after the system reboot the boot menu appears, click "Troubleshoot" -> Click "Advanced options" -> Click "Startup Settings" -> Click on "Restart" -> On the "Startup Settings" screen press 7 or F7 to disable driver signature enforcement. (taken from: http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/38289/~/windows-10%3A-disable-signed-driver-enforcement)
Turn off your phone. Bring it into download mode by holding "Volume Down" + "Home" + "Power" at the same time. A warning screen will appear. Acknowledge with "Volume Up".
Connect your device to your PC. The device is now in download mode.
Open explorer and change to c:\localFolder\Heimdall Suite\Drivers and open zadig.exe
In the "Options" menu tick "List All Devices"
Select "Gadget Serial" from the drop down menu.
Select "WinUSB v6.1.x.x.x" from the value picker and click "Install Driver". The installation should be confirmed with a success dialog.
Close zadig.exe
Bring your phone in the donwload mode again: Disconnect in from power. Reconnect it. Bring it into download mode by holding "Volume Down" + "Home" + "Power" at the same time. A warning screen will appear. Acknowledge with "Volume Up".
Open c:\localFolder\Heimdall\Heimdall Suite\heimdall-frontend.exe
Open the "Utilities" tab.
Click the "Detect" button in the "Detect Device" panel. Make sure the status message says "Device detected"
In the "Download Pit" panel click the "Save As" button. Enter a name like "backup". This is a backup file of your current phone partitioning. Because you are going to change its size, you will not use this file later on. However, this step is necessary to make the phone communicate with your PC, I don't know why...
Then klick the "Download" button in the same panel. If everything was set up correctly, no errors will appear in the status log. Please check.
Bring your phone in the donwload mode again. Disconnect in from power. Reconnect it. Bring it into download mode by holding "Volume Down" + "Home" + "Power" at the same time. A warning screen will appear. Acknowledge with "Volume Up". Yes, this is necessary.
Open the "Flash" tab.
In the "PIT" panel click the "Browse" button and select your myPit.pit (which you extracted from the pit files collection) and tick the "Repartition" checkbox.
In the "Partitions(Files)" panel click the "Add" button.
In the "Partition Details" panel at the "Partition Name" dropdown menu select "Recovery". Ensure that the "Partition ID" field reads "7". Click the "Browse" button in the "File" panel next to it and select myRecovery.img
In the "Sessions" panel, make sure that neither the "No Reboot" nor the "Resume (...)" checkboxes are ticked.
Now click the "RECOVERY" entry in the "Partitions(Files)" panel so that it is highlighted blue.
Click "Start". Hopefully the recovery will be flashed now. You will see progress when the status bar changes. Also check the output for errors. If just nothing will happen, check again if the the "No Reboot" nor the "Resume (...)" checkboxes are unchecked and/or retry.
Bring your phone in the recovery (!) mode. Disconnect it from power. Reconnect it. Bring it into recovery mode by holding "Volume Up" (!) + "Home" + "Power" at the same time.  The TWRP Recovery screen will appear.
Navigate to "Wipe" -> "Advanced Wipe". A list of available partitions will appear. (It is important to reformat at least "SDCard" (/emmc) so that it will be recognized by CyanogenMod later (otherwise it will most likely be marked as defect).) Check "Cache", tap "Repair Or Change File System" -> "Change File System" -> "EXT4" -> Swipe. This will force reformatting the partition.
Repeat this step with all other available partitions (some of them like "Android Secure" or "Dalvik" won't work. WARNING: when you still have your extra SD-card inserted, you may see two "SDCard" entries in that list. One of them is your extra SD-card. If you format it, your personal data (as well as the cyanogenmod-nightly and OpenGApps zip files) on it will be lost. At this step, I assume you have no extra SD-card inserted...
Finally, just to be sure that all necessary partitions are clean, navigate to "Home" -> "Wipe" -> "Swipe To Factory Reset".
Navigate to "Home" -> "Reboot" -> "Power Off" to tun off your device.
Insert your extra SD-card with the OpenGApps and CyanogenMod nightly build zip files on it.
Bring your phone again in the recovery mode: Disconnect it from power. Reconnect it. Bring it into recovery mode by holding "Volume Up" (!) + "Home" + "Power" at the same time.  The TWRP Recovery screen will appear.
Navigate to "Install" -> "Select Storage" and pick you extra SD-card. Select your CyanogenMod nightly build zip file and swipe to install.
Repeat this step with your OpenGApps zip file.
Navgiate to "Home" -> "Reboot" -> "Power Off".
Turn on your device and let CyanogenMod complete its work. This may take a while (about 10mins).
In CyanogenMod enable development options. Go to "Settings" -> "About This Phone" -> hit "Build Number" seven times.
Protect your recovery from being overwritten: "Settings" -> "Developer Options" -> disable "Update CM Recovery"
Restore your personal data. That should be it.


One click share location in Google Maps to specific user or other app? I know there's a share location feature in Google Maps and various android apps for sharing locations.

But is there a widget / shortcut or something where you can click on it and instantly share your location with a pre-defined contact whether by SMS, email, etc. ?

I have a relative that I need to pick up quite frequently but sometimes they're in one street and sometimes they're walking in another.  They're a little older and aren't too tech savvy except for the basics (viewing photos, chatting, etc.).

Basically I want to set up a widget / shortcut on their homescreen and if I can't find them, I can call them and tell them to click on the button to share me your location so I can find them.

Google Messenger has a share location by SMS feature too but that's too many clicks, want to simplify as much as possible.

Other apps like Life 360 or Family Locator are on 24/7 and kill the battery.  Don't need 24/7 location sharing.

Basically I want to set up a widget / shortcut on their home screen ....

There are a number of social media apps that can do this but they are not one click as you mentioned besides setting up a widget is not possible

Hence, suggesting automation as an alternative

I prefer Macrodroid, being easy to learn and free (upto 5 macros). You would need to install Macrodroid ontheir device

Create a macro

Trigger: Empty Trigger

Actions: Share location

You get the following options - SMS, Twitter , Email , Calendar, Variable

Select SMS and either select contact or number (yours)
Repeat the action above and enter your email after choosing the default e-mail account registered with their device

Constraints : Leave blank

Name the macro and save it

Go to widgets of your home screen and drag and drop Macrodroid widget on any screen. Long press the widget and assign the name of macro (Tip: Install an icon pack that shows visually striking icon so that it is easier for them , like this and replace Macrodroid widget)

Tell them to press the widget to send you their location by pressing it. Done!

Your SMS would have a link to the location with a pic as below that you can open in Maps. Ditto in your email

Note: GPS needs to be enabled for this to work (obviously). If you can't trust them to remember enabling GPS, that can also be automated. Steps below

For enabling / disabling GPS root permissions are required normally. It is unlikely their device would be rooted, so there is an alternative - adb hack in Macrodroid that overrides this limitation

Set up adb see instructions here Is there a minimal installation of ADB? and How to install adb
Type adb devices and once you get the serial number of device as output

adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

followed by:

adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

Now enhance your macro (in the actions section)

Location Mode → High Accuracy
Wait 15 seconds ( for location to be registered. May need to tweak it )
Select SMS and either select contact or number (yours)
Repeat the action above and enter your email after choosing the default e-mail account registered with their device

(If you are choosing the email option they would need to enable data but if they forget SMS would go through , so you are covered )

Wait 30 seconds
Location Mode → Location Mode off

This would ensure that battery is not drained by GPS and they don't need to remember to enable/ disable GPS

Yet another approach is mentioned in comments - instead of them doing the work, you do it by adding their device to your account and use apps that track lost devices , choice is yours  but I think that the solution mentioned here is superior as it does not call for changes on their device settings and is on demand saving battery

Edit: Another refinement possible , add another trigger in the macro . Missed Call and assign your number to it. When you want their location give  a missed call (cut the call before they pick up). You will get the location by SMS. This is handy if they are unreachable for some reason and you want their location. Bonus !!!


How to force the installation of a programme? How can I force the installation of a programme, specifically "Simple Sidebar-1.2" in place of "Simple Sidebar-1.3", in android 4.3, on a Samsung Galaxy GT-I9300. When I try to install it now it has a long read-in and then just stops saying that it is not installed.

You can't "downgrade" an installed app to an older version. First you need to uninstall the app from your device, and only after that can you install the older version from the APK.


When will my tablet get the Android 3.x update (Honeycomb)? Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) was released in February 2011, however not all of the devices that will get this update have received it yet. Each manufacturer and carrier needs to add their custom modifications before it can be officially released.  Versions 3.1 and 3.2 have also been released.

See also:

When will my phone get the Android 2.3 update (Gingerbread)?
When will my device get the Android 4.0 update (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

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

Keep phones in alphabetical order listing the manufacturer and model
Specify if the date is confirmed or rumored and link to the source
If there is an unofficial release, link to the site where it can be downloaded

If you don't have a high enough reputation score to edit the wiki (currently 100), leave your suggestion in a comment or answer and someone will update the list.
Tablets
3.0
Note: It is currently unknown whether any Tablet that was released with a pre-Honeycomb version of Android will ever see an official Honeycomb release. Confirmation
Samsung Galaxy Tab

Official: Never (confirmed)

3.1
ASUS Eee Transformer TF101

Ships with 3.1

Google TV

Logitech Revue products: 7th December 2011 (confirmed)
Sony products: November 2011 (confirmed)

Motorola Xoom

Official (US only): Early May 2011 (confirmed)
Official (Non-US): Early August 2011 (confirmed (Europe))

3.2
Dell Streak 7

Official: October 2011 (confirmed)

HTC Flyer

Official: December 2011, starting with European GSM models (confirmed)

Motorola Xoom

Official (US only): August 3, 2011
Official (UK): Late September 2011 (rumoured)

Phones
Note: It is currently unknown whether any phone will ever see an official Honeycomb release. Google have specifically stated that:

Android 3.0 is a new version of the Android platform that is specifically optimized for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets.


Resoldering charger cable My tab (Samsun Galaxy Tab 2) has a 30 pin to USB cable (similar to old apple cable).

I had soldered the wires a while back because the wire broke. Recently I decided to resolder them and now there is something wrong with it, now the moment I plug the charger it turns to 100% in a matter of seconds.I have taken good care to solder the Red Green White Black wires to the right place. Have I gone wrong somewhere?

Edit: It seems that the green and white cable have a short between them when I connect it to my tab , is that normal?

Here is the dmesg output if that helps

Ah, The Tab 2.

I've hit this problem more times than I want to count. It's an easy fix though- Just empty out batterystats.bin and plug it back in. Should be fine!


Will plugging the Samsung fast charger into a outlet rated 10W/2.1AMP slow down the charge rate? The S6 comes with a fast wall charger, but how does it work exactly?

I want to plug it into a “one outlet Belkin” with surge protection, that is 2.1AMP for the ome USB port and 10W for the single AC outlet.

Now my question is will plugging the charger into the Belkin slow down the fast charge time?

First part of your question How do fast Chargers work

Firstly one needs to understand C-rate or charge rate. Quoting from the linked article

  C-rate is a measure that governs at what current a battery is charged and discharged. At 1C, a battery rated 1,000mAh charges at a current of 1,000mAh. In an ideal world the battery would be fully charged in 60 minutes. At 1C, the same battery discharges at 1,000mA.

Normal Charging

Li-Ion or Li-PO (both have same charge/discharge characteristics) -typically charged between 0.5 C to 0.8 C, more often closer to 0.8 C being the recommended rate. Quoting from BU-401a: Fast and Ultra-fast Chargers

  The longevity (of Li-Ion batteries), can further be prolonged by charging and discharging bellow 1C; 0.8C is the recommended rate.

Li-Ion batteries go through three stages of charging of battery charging Figure 1 of Charging Li-Ion batteries- Constant Current, Saturation Charge (current decreases), Ready (almost zero current). If you plot current drawn using an app like Ampere while charging a battery from 10% or lower to 100%, you would observe similar graph (you will not see the first stage unless fully drained and measured by proper electrical equipment)

Fast Charging

Essential difference is the C-rate or Charging rate. These chargers typically work by charging at 1 to 3 C rate
When you charge by such chargers, the second stage of charging (saturation stage ) is skipped and the battery reaches the third stage (ready stage) without being fully charged Quoting from this

  .... chargers may use the simplified “charge-and-run” method that charges a lithium-ion battery in one hour or less without going to the Stage 2 saturation charge. “Ready” appears when the battery reaches the voltage threshold at Stage 1. State-of-charge (SoC) at this point is about 85 percent, a level that may be sufficient for many users

Is it good for the Battery? No. Figure 2 here graphically shows deterioration in long term battery life measured in Cycles and the graph shows cycles for 3C charging dropping to 400 cycles compared to 500 for 1C ( I have no idea at what C, Your charger works. I Couldn't
locate any OEM information)

Second part of your question Will plugging the charger into the Belkin slow down the fast charge time?

Going by the specs provided by you: Probably No (linking your Belkin model would help as there are many variants going by your description)
USB rating is same as that of standard USB and power rating of 10W doesn't make a difference (chargers will use as much power as required and not more just because outlet is capable of providing more)
You can compare the charging times reported So, We Fast Charged the Samsung Galaxy S6 and This is What Happened here and update your findings in your question to help others


Kedacom USB Device doesnt work with fastboot Nexus 5x Trying to flash TWRP and root my Nexus 5X.

I'm running the N 7.1.1 preview.

I've got the adb and fastboot files downloaded and allegedly working

adb devices

and

adb reboot bootloader

work as they should.

The Android bootloader info shows that I'm in FASTBOOT MODE, SECURE BOOT is enabled, and DEVICE STATE is unlocked.

But

fastboot devices

doesn't list anything at all.

I'm running windows 10, and when viewing Device Manager, it shows my bootloader-ed nexus 5x as a "Kedacom USB Device" and "Android Bootloader Interface" in the sub list.

But, it won't allow me to replace the drivers with the Google USB Driver, it doesn't even recognize the driver files in the extracted google driver files I downloaded from the Android Studio software.

Not sure what the issue is, but I'm thinking it's an issue with the driver on my end, but then why did the adb half of this work by default?

As for my phone (Xiaomi Mi5) the cause of this problem was driver. I couldn't delete driver and istall another one because Win10 install driver faster.
The decision was a changing OS on to Ubuntu or Windows (7, 8.1) than device was not recognized. And install drivers from Android SDK.


How can I print from Android phone through Google Chrome connected printer in laptop? I have a printer connected to laptop. The printer does not have any network features such as Apple AirPort but connected to a laptop with Google Chrome. My Android phone is also running Google Chrome. Both the phone and laptop are under the same account.

How can I print through the Android phone to the printer? Can I do it with Google Cloud -printing?

Yes it should work with Google Cloud Print.

From: https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/1686197?rd=1

Log in to your user account on the Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
Open Google Chrome.
Click the wrench icon  on the browser toolbar.
Select Settings.
Click the Show advanced settings link.
Scroll down to the “Google Cloud Print” section. Click Sign in to
Google Cloud Print.  In the window that appears, sign in with your
Google Account to enable the Google Cloud Print connector.

A printer confirmation message appears and click Finish printer
registration. You'll see a confirmation that Google Cloud Print has
been enabled. Click Manage your printers to learn more.

Now when you have something to print, for example: some document in Google Drive, hit print button and your printer should show up. But your laptop must be on all the time and connected to printer.


Download Manager causes high CPU usage on Motorola Razr with stock Android 4.0 My Razr (Stock ROM 4.0) is very very hot. After some research I found com.android.providers.downloads is responsible, since it's using about 60% of CPU.

I have tried killing it, and it respawns, however what I found to work (for two hours) is clearing the cache and data of the process, and killing it, however something is triggering again.

P.S. I'm not downloading anything, and all my apps are updated (so Play Store is not trying to download updates).

If I freeze this process, the Gmail app crashes.

Nothing worked... finally installed a custom build of CM10 into my razr, camera/flash doesn't work but the phone is stable so far (I have tested it for 2 weeks), my advise is to just format android phones with this problem or install a known ROM.


How much disk space does Android OS 4.1.1 take? I recently received a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with Android 4.1.1 on it. This is the 8GB model. I am curious to know, how much disk space does the Android OS take up? I did not think about 3.5GB was needed for the OS. Is this true? I ask only because my disk space available says I have 4.49GB left.

There's a difference between "how much the Android OS requires" and "how much the manufacturer reserved". Remember, the OS has its own partition (/system), which is mounted read-only during normal operation (just made writable for OS updates), while the user's data goes to /data. Moreover, most manufacturers add their own "presents" (also known as bloatware) to the /system partition.

So while the actual Android system usually fits into less than 1 GB (considered there are devices shipping with less internal storage), your device's manufacturer might have decided to reserve more space for future updates and his own add-ons.


SD card will not format within Android therefore cannot mount. Works fine on laptop I bought a 64GB SD card for my Galaxy S3, and it worked perfectly. Today I turned on device encryption (worked fine) then I turned on SD card encryption. Since then I am stuck with the phone reporting that the SD card is blank or has an unsupported file system. Android gives me the option to format. The screen displays it is erasing, but then nothing happens.

I have tried removing the SD card and turning the phone on and off again. I have manually formatted the card using Windows 7 (ExFAT file system). I am able to read and write files to the card on the computer but the phone refuses to acknowledge a mountable SD Card.

I have also tried turning off the SD card encryption.

Any ideas on a fix?

I had the same problem...new 32gig sd card works just fine with Windows, but in my Samsung S2,S3, and EVO it says damaged, or unsupported, etc. I then read on another droid forum about this issue, and here is the easy fix:

Put your sd card into a usb reader for mem cards etc. You will notice that your card reader has a drive number like G:, or H:, etc. Make a shortcut on your windows desktop and make the shortcut location as (cmd). You may remember that cmd is the DOS-box command line prompt. Now your shortcut to cmd is on your desktop. Right click that shortcut and select "run as administrator". Now at the DOS prompt type

chkdsk <drive letter of the sd>: /r

Let it run through it's checks, etc. Once done just pop your sd card back into your phone and enjoy!


is Google map navigation only available to selected country I love using Google map to give me direction. however, I would like it to provide "turn left, turn right" voice while I am driving. I heard Google map navigation able to provide such feature. I search from android market but cannot find one. is it only available to selected country? is there any workaround, or other software I can try out?

It's limited to specific locations, and only available with a data connection.  See this question on the location limitations and this question on alternatives.


How to open .conf files with File Expert? I have a rooted Android device running 4.0.3. I bought full version of File Expert in order to browse root file system.

I navigate to a .conf file and want to open it, but the app says There is no handler installed on your device for this file format. Would you like File Expert to find one for you?.
I select OK, but I get another error: Sorry, currently there is no handler for this format....

If I force this file to be openend as text file Open as text, and choose FE Text Editor, nothing happens.

Any chance to make this work or I'll have to buy another app for this?

File Expert at the moment cannot open such files.

I recommend using the app called ES File Explorer! It's free and you just enable root option in the Properties, and you have root access.

DO NOT buy File Expert's root plugin as it's a waste of money!!!


Galaxy S keeps accidentally taking screenshot Galaxy S on 2.2 supports taking screenshots by holding the back button and tapping the home button simultaneously. However I find my phone occasionally doing it when I only tap the back or only the home button (which I do a lot).

This is inconvenient, but I don't mind too much it taking screenshots, but the bigger problem problem for me is the fact it makes a camera sound. This makes it sound like you just took a picture, and in public spaces it can land you in some embarassing situation. People might think you're a stalker, creep, or in some situation I think you can accidentally got into a fight or problem with police (I haven't landed in any of these situations, luckily). But it's quite dangerous.

Does anyone have the same problem? How to stop this or at least turn off the sound (other than putting my phone on silent mode)

As suggested here:

Go to the phone application on your phone and enter the following:

*#*#2663#*#*

It will take you to the Touch screen version screen.  Click on the "Touch key FW update" button on that screen.


Print screen in Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos How to Take Print Screen in Samsung Galaxy ace Duos? Can please some body help me.

The standard Android screenshot method is Power Button + Home Button


Where should I submit bug reports for the pattern lock? I believe i found a bug with the pattern lock.

Where should I submit bug reports for the pattern lock?

Note: this might just be a Sense thing:

Create a pattern lock.
Lock phone.
Wake phone draw pattern. Hold finger on screen and not activate any more points (so that it has your valid pattern)
Let screen go dark.
Release finger.
Rewake phone.
Phone should unlock.

The android issue tracker is located at http://b.android.com. you can report the issue there.


Does rooting Kindle Fire disable your default Kindle Fire functionality? I am thinking on getting a Kindle Fire due to the good reviews and the price tag.
I see that there are a lot of links showing you how to root your Kindle Fire so that you can have regular Android OS and be able to benefit from the Android Market.

My objective is to be able to have both worlds running side by side. I was planning following these tutorials:

http://www.gizmowatch.com/install-android-sdk-root-kindle-fire.html

http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-root-the-amazon-kindle-fire-36015/

My questions are as follows:

If I root Kindle Fire, do I lose all the functionality that the Fire was designed to do?
If I root Kindle Fire, do I lose access to the Amazon Appstore?
Will following this instructions above leave me in a situation where I cannot revert back to the original functionality?
Does anybody know if the Fire will be upgradable to ICS (Android 4.0)?
Why is Kindle Fire running a 2.3 version of Android rather than the latest Honeycomb?

The Kindle Fire will function as it normally would, but you cannot use the Video on Demand service while you are rooted.
The Amazon Appstore functions fine even if you're rooted.
You can revert to the "original functionality" with the "Unroot" button provided by SuperOneClick.
Nobody knows this but Amazon.
Honeycomb was not open-sourced when the Fire was being developed, and Amazon forked the Android open source code to create the Kindle Fire's codebase. Thus, the Fire was built using the newest available source at the time of development - Gingerbread.

I rooted my Kindle Fire ~30 minutes after I got it, largely because I wanted access to the Market but also to ease any development I do with it. Everything works like normal except VOD (as noted above).


Just rooted and can't enable premium messaging When I attempt to enable it, it's stuck like in the picture.

I then receive the message: Free Msg: Unable to send message - Message Blocking is active. I've tried other messaging applications, but I can't get it to work. My phone is a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S.

You probably need a root hider or root disguise. That is probably checking to see if you have root access and if so won't compete.


How can I seamlessly make my phone a network drive? Back when I had an LG G2, it had this awesome feature called Wireless Storage. If you're not familiar with it, it essentially allowed you to tap a button to instantly turn your internal storage into a drive on your local network. You could then go into Windows Explorer, type in the local IP and password Wireless Storage provided, and be able to browse your phone exactly as if it was connected over MTP/USB or Bluetooth (but in my experience, I found it to be far faster and more reliable).

Now that I have a Galaxy Note 5, is there any way to recreate that same wireless storage feature, or at least come close to how seamlessly it worked?

There are several apps in the Play Store that can do this. One I've had some luck with is Samba Server.  To see other options, search the store with keywords like file server. Some functionality will require a rooted device, so YMMV.

Each of these have their pros and cons. I recommend trying a few to see which fit your specific situation best. Hopefully one of the free ones will work best for you!


how to trace a mobile when switched off using imei how to tracre a mobile when switched off using imei.my phone is moto E.I can trace my mobile when it is switched on +location on + mobile date on . I can trace ,ring and even wipe my data also when these are all on.but the only problem is to trace my mobile when it is switched off.

A switched-off phone is, well, switched off. That means all its radio modules are off. That means that it is not connected to any external equipment. That means that you cannot track it.

BTW you also cannot track your phone if it's in flight mode (I mean here full flight mode with wi-fi switched off).


How to take full image backup of partitions or eMMC? I have an Archos 55 Platinum here. There is also a unofficial TWRP, if this might help.
I would like to make a backup of the storage of the phone, like dd for any partition, so I can inspect the content later.

Also, I don't want to root or flash anything, nor install apps.

Is there a way that allows me to run TWRP via fastboot instead of flashing? Any ideas how I can proceed?

Yes you can boot in TWRP if bootloader is unlocked:
fastboot boot /path/to/twrp.img

Then you can simply dd whole eMMC or individual partitions. You need some  extra memory (on external SD card) to backup whole eMMC or /data partition. Smaller partitions (including the biggest one: system) can be backed up to internal memory i.e. data partition.
For Qualcomm SoC:
(for MTK devices, path is slightly different)
dd if=/dev/block/(bootdevice/)mmcblk0 of=/path/to/external-sd/emmc-backup

For single partition:
dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata of=/path/to/external-sd/data-backup

In order to come up with shortage of space, instead of using SD Card you may save backup files directly to PC using adb shell or exec-out. Thanks to @Izzy:
adb exec-out dd if=/dev/block/(bootdevice/)mmcblk0 > emmc-backup.img

Make sure your adb binary (on Windows or Linux) supports exec-out. Also take care that unwanted non-printing terminal characters don't get included in output.
There are also other methods like adb pull, UMS or streaming over network. For details see How to recover a deleted file from /data partition?
PS:
Another way to save space and to speed up backup process is to backup only the contents of mountable filesystems instead of whole partition image. Particularly userdata and system are larger partitions but they aren't usually completely filled. Mount them and create backup archive using tar so that zeroed out portion of these partitions isn't backed up.
Make sure to preserve all file permissions and attributes (whatever applicable depending on filesystem etc.) including classic UNIX file mode and owner, ACLs, XATTRs and SELinux contexts.   These options are supported by tar. Otherwise things might get messed up. See more details in How to stream an encrypted backup of the entire device to remote host?

RELATED:

How disk space is partitioned in an Android phone?
Why can't I see Android storage as a partition on PC?
Is there any way to recover data from 2nd SD partition?


Re-Calibrate Android Compass I have a Nexus 5X and was in a bit of a hurry when I followed the setup steps. There was a calibrate compass wizard, which I skipped because I wanted to do this later.
However, I've not figured out yet how to launch the compass calibration wizard again. I found this question on Android.SE telling about the general process, as well as this Google support article, but I couldn't figure out how to launch that wizard again.
Any ideas?

As long as your phone is aligning you on the maps with the right direction, it should be fine. I've noticed that the wizard coms up automatically once in awhile, (roughly more like once a week) on my 6P. You could try clearing the cache on the maps, but this is not a sure shot way for the wizard to show up.

Issue resolved by following google recommendation after opening the app (wizard popup was not mandatory)


Always-On VPN option does not list my PPTP VPN I have successfully connected to a PPTP VPN on Android. It is configured simply with an IP address, and no MPPE encrpytion. However, it does not show up under the Always-On option.

I am running Android 4.3 on a Nexus 4.

I was having this issue too. Apparently Google doesn't deem PPTP secure enough, so they disable it from the "Always On" menu.


old phone contacts and e mail I had a android phone a while back an i sync it to my gmail so i could save contacts.but being its been so long and i'm not sure of the g mail account will i still have the contacts there if i can remember or find the right gmail account and will i be able to move them to my new phone even though i'm with a new company? i tried contacting old cell company to ask them for help and still no reply.

Yup. If your contacts were successfully synced with your Google Account you can easily move them to your new phone using the same Google Account. Any Android phone from any company can be used to restore the accounts synced with your Google Account.


How to use SD card's full storage capacity? I just bought a new 32GB mini SD card to make more space for my video files and put them into my phone.

When I turn on my phone the system just mounts new SD card to /sdcard0,  then it begin to use it as system internal storage. Even when I try to change default write disk to internal storage, it shows as /sdcard1.

How do I use SD card in full space?

System: Android 5.0

Kernel ver. 3.10.54

Your device is automatically using the SD Card as internal storage, this makes the mount directory change from storage/sdcard1 to storage/sdcard0, this is how Android utilises the SD Card as Adoptable Internal Storage...

You will still have the space you want,
If you would like to continue using internal storage as your primary storage location, you should select Phone Storage.. This will use a Fake SD Card emulated on User Data, Mounting the Fake SD Card  @ /storage/emulated/legacy and storage/sdcard0, however if you want to use the real SD Card as internal storage, it will mount the Fake SD Card @ storage/sdcard1 and the Real SD Card @ storage/sdcard0 ...

The main directory that changes is the sdcard directory, If you send a file to /sdcard/ it will write to the External Storage selection, either Real or Fake SD Card, depending on your selection.

I'm not sure how you are planning to use the card, but I imagine you may have thought the OS merged the available storage into a single larger storage device.. this isn't the case.


Fuhu Nabi 2 tablet bricked  recovery Total noob here, sorry... I've spent the last three weeks reading up on my issue with no progress at all. I think I have the answer, but need to run this by someone who probably knows!

I modded a stock UK Nabi 2 with nabilab2 from the xda forums, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2101277 I needed to do an ota update from Nabi and needed the device to be returned to stock. I lost my original backup so I used the generic stock backup that comes with nabilab2. This put the device back to US stock, with no root privileges or serial number.

There were three ota's, during the instal of the third one, the device crashed - a ton of text sprawled up the screen the device shut down-restarted and booted into <3e> recovery. At that point I had lost TWRP recovery.

Several weeks of reading and falling at every turn... Here is where I am now; The device boots and is usable, I can install apk files and use the tablet normally, however I cannot update. The last ota I need to install downloads via the update service, but fails with errors upon install. I also downloaded the ota manually via the xda forums nabi 2 wiki page and tried to install from the sd card but that fails too. (maybe as my UK stock with serial device, is now a US stock with no serial device, which is causing a signature fail during install of the latest ota?). The device is no longer rooted, so no shell r/w access. I cannot see the device in fastboot. Using the command 'reboot recovery' reboots the device but then it freezes up and is no longer seen via usb. When 'Fastboot recovery' option is chosen in <3e> recovery the device locks up, and the same thing happens when choosing 'Forced recovery'. All signed recovery .zips I have tried to install through <3e> recovery fail with the message 'file verification failed'.

I'm kinda going round in circles with this... I know I need to root to get TWRP back, which allows a custom kernel/recovery to be used, but as I have no Su permission I have no r/w privileges to install the super user files and/or recovery image files to the necessary places. So unless there is some way to get the required recovery files onto the device by the adb command without su access (I'm doubtful of), or via a modded/signed recovery image zip file within <3e> recovery (which again I'm doubtful of, as other signed .zips fail), I'm guessing that the device is bricked?

Any feedback to help solve/answer will be gratefully appreciated.

Fixed!

I posted a similar question on xda.forums and was pointed in the right direction relating to fastboot protocol.

My device was not showing as installed correctly in device manager and nothing seemed to fix it, re-installing/driver updates etc.

I started from scratch by uninstalling the original Nabi drivers, java, sdk and adb drivers. (I kept windows 8 usb unsigned drivers installed).

I re-installed java, sdk, and adb drivers. I did not install the original nabi drivers.

After re-installing everything, in device manager my device had no conflicts and when fastboot was selected in <3e> recovery I then got the second fastboot protocol menu up and was able to use the command line to send the TWRP image file to the device. ;0)

Success.


Can I empty the trash in the default e-mail app? The POP e-mail account I use for mobile is linked to an externally-managed anti-spam gateway.  It was starting to get too many false positives, so the other day I went through the web UI to mark a whole boatload of old messages as "not spam" to give it a nudge in the right direction.

Of course, they all ended up back in the Inbox and subsequently got downloaded onto my phone.  I deleted them, and now they're just sitting there in the trash.  All 450 of them.

I really don't want to have to delete every single message from the trash manually.  After several minutes of digging on Google I've found genuinely ancient bug reports with no workarounds.

Surely I'm just overlooking an obvious menu item somewhere and Google hasn't actually let such an obvious, gaping feature hole go unplugged for over 2 years, right?  So where is it?  How do I empty the trash?

P.S. I'm aware of the fact that messages older than 30 days are supposed to be deleted automatically.  That's not happening - possibly because they were already more than 30 days old when they were downloaded in the first place.

P.P.S. Please do not tell me to use K9Mail or any other 3rd-party mail program.  I'm sure they're great but any e-mail client that doesn't support Exchange ActiveSync is completely useless to me, and so far the only one I've found that seems to do it properly is the stock e-mail app.  Sorry if this comes across as grouchy but I am absolutely sick of seeing this "solution" posted thoughtlessly to every single forum/thread I read that happens to mention a problem with e-mail.

This is what works for me (HTC Desire, Android 2.2, default email app, IMAP account):

Hit menu button
Select "Folders"
Select "Trash"
Hit menu button
Select "Delete"
Mark all messages
Hit "Delete" button.

My Trash is empty afterward.


Will the new changes to Android 9 cause the VPN based firewall apps become obsolete? Firewall apps use VPN to manage network (to allow or disallow apps to connect to the Internet via Wifi or Mobile Data), mainly is for phones that are not rooted.

However, this article mentions:

  As XDA Developers explains, access to proc/net is going to be tightened up so that only designated VPN apps will be allowed to read TCP and UDP files (and in turn interpret network activity).

Even though I support that Android should have features to allow or disallow Apps to have Internet access, BUT this wonderful feature may not even applies to Android or Google apps itself. (Such as the data hungry Google Play Store and Google Play Services apps!)

Thus, if only designated VPN apps are allowed, this means that phones which are not rooted will no longer be able to use Firewall apps that use VPN to manage network! This is totally unacceptable!

If Android 9 (Android Pie) do not allow end-user to be able to control the network for the famous and notoriously data hungry Google Play Store and Google Play Services apps (that self update without permission from end-user), then it implies that Google and Android have fail the city by disregarding end-user's concern on network usage!

Therefore, I would like to know if Android 9 will result in such unfair and despicable behaviors.

Have a read of the commit on googlesource here. It states

  Files in /proc/net leak information. This change is the first step in
  determining which files apps may use, whitelisting benign access, and
  otherwise removing access while providing safe alternative APIs.

[....]

  Labels /proc/net/{tcp,tcp6,udp,udp6} as proc_net_vpn due to existing
  use by VPN apps. This may be replaced by an alternative API.
  Audits all other proc/net access for apps.


Disable Save As Pdf Option In Print Dialog I would like to disable or remove the Save as PDF option on the following print screen, is it possible in anyway? A solution with MDM capabilities or programmatically is acceptable.

What i tried so far is,

Checked for a solution on the Android Application Programming side but as far as i see it is not possible.
Checked the list of applications installed on the device to identify if this feature comes with a "print-service" application such as Cannon's or HP's print service applications. But did not see an app something like "Save as PDF print service", also this feature is not listed in settings->print-settings->print-services.

If you can get your hands on the source to rebuild the /system/app/DocumentsUI/DocumentsUI.apk and /system/app/PrintSpooler/PrintSpooler.apk since it relies on the first app, you can manage but any other way won't work for you


LG Volt LS740: Device under boot-loop after I agreed to update it. Hard/soft reset didn't work My phone LG Volt LS740 asked me to update, so I did. And before it continued it said it will turn off and then start the new update. I agreed. Now my phone keeps powering off and on like crazy and won't stop until the battery is out. It keeps restarting for no reason. I tried hard reset and soft reset, but nothing works.

Following this thread should enable you to flash the stock ROM, although you'll lose all the data stored on the phone.

A quick summary:

Download files from post 11 on this thread
Install LG Flash Tool and LG Mobile Drivers
Download megalock.dll and drop it into C:\LG\LGFlashTool
Launch LG Flash Tool and select 'manually select DLL'
Select the .dll and .tot files included
Click 'Board DL' then click OK
Turn the phone all the way off, then plug a USB cable into the phone only
Plug the USB cable into the computer and immediately hold volume up
Go to Device Manager on the computer and under COM ports select the LG device and double-click it
Click Port Settings, click advanced, click COM port and set port to 41
In LG Flash Tool click the arrow in the top-left to run an MD5 check
Once it finishes, hold power until black screen then hold volume up
If a menu appears on the phone when booting up, hold power, click normal boot and OK


How to set restricted user as default user on reboot? We would like to have an already added restricted user account be the default when we restart our Samsung SM-T580 tablets.

At current we have 2 accounts installed, Admin and User
The User is a user with restricted access.

The tablets are rooted

Hope that someone has a solution for our question

I am suggesting two solutions. Both of them require root access, and both were tested on a OnePlus 6 running Android 10.
Solution #1
Have the following script (let's call it switch-user.sh) run during boot but after the user has entered device decryption credentials (PIN/password)

#!/system/bin/sh

while true; do
        flag=`/system/bin/getprop vold.fbe.decrypted`
        if [ $flag ]; then
                sleep 1;
                /system/bin/am switch-user USER_ID          # replace USER_ID term with restricted user's id
                exit;
        else
                sleep 1;
        fi
done

What this script does is to continuously check (with a delay of 1 second) whether the user has decrypted the device or not. If yes, switch to the restricted user after one second, or continue to recheck. Since my restricted user's User Id is 10, I used 10 as USER_ID in it. Change it to whatever User Id your restricted user has. See my answer here if you need help in finding out the User Id.
Note: In the above script I am checking for the value of the property vold.fbe.decrypted which works for my OnePlus 6 running Android 10. Your device may or may not have the same property. You can hunt for the relevant property by looking into the output of the command adb shell 'getprop | grep vold'. Alternatively, see if sys.user.0.ce_available property is available in your Android version.
Next thing to do is to put that script into a location in your Android from where the system would execute it on its own during boot. Since I use Magisk, I placed that switch-user.sh script into the directory /data/adb/service.d (see Magisk's Boot Scripts section for further information on it) and added executable permission to it using the command:
adb shell su -c 'chmod +x /data/adb/service.d/switch-user.sh'

If you do not use Magisk, you can take the help from the answers at How can I run a script on boot?
Restart the device to see if your script works. In my case, whenever I enter my PIN to decrypt the device, than within two-three seconds the system automatically switches to my restricted user.

Solution #2
If you don't want the hassle of injecting a script into boot process you can setup an automation app which would switch the Android to your restricted user once it receives BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast, or in other words, do something during startup.
I can suggest Tasker and MacroDroid as I have tried them and they worked on Genymotion with Android 6.0 and on a OnePlus 6 with Android 10. You can try any app which can run a command/script on startup.
Tasker
For Tasker, the profile and the task should be this:
Profile: Event → Device Boot
Task: Code → Run Shell:

Command: su 2000 -c am switch-user USER_ID
tick Use Root
leave the rest of the settings untouched

Make sure to replace USER_ID there with the actual user id of the restricted user.
MacroDroid
For MacroDroid, the Macro should be this:
Trigger: Device Events → Device Boot
Action: Applications → Shell Script:

tick Rooted
Enter the following command in "Enter script" field: su 2000 -c am switch-user USER_ID
leave the rest of the settings untouched

Make sure to replace USER_ID there with the actual user id of the restricted user. See my answer here if you need help in finding out the User Id.
Note: because many apps would be competing to run their XYZ things during startup, you might notice a delay of a couple of seconds before user switching takes place.


Workaround needed: Buying an application for someone else in the Android Market Reading around I can see that Android Market doesn't yet support Gift tokens or similar, and while Amazon's Android market does, its only available in the USA. So the question is, what sort of workarounds are there for this?

For example, could I log in to android market from the recipients phone with my google credentials, buy and then download the application, then logout again? Would the application still work? Can I pay with my credit card with the other persons Google wallet? Is this consistent with the usage policy of the Android market? What other options might I have?

For some apps, you could buy it on your account, then give them the APK, but this won't work for all apps, as many of them contact the market to make sure they've been paid for. That also might not be entirely legal. At the moment, I think the only option you really have is just to give them the money to buy it.


Move photos from Android to PC wirelessly *in one step* My Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD is full of pictures. I have Windows 7, the USB cable, WiFi and Bluetooth. Photos are stored both on internal storage and overflow onto the SD.

I want to take all photos from my phone and put them in a folder on my PC in one step (i.e. not dealing with e.g. navigating to both SD and internal storage and copying DCIM files in explorer). I'd like to be able to do this possibly without an internet connection (e.g. USB could be ok if necessary, or an ad-hoc network from my laptop). This seems like a reasonable use case for a device with a camera, I just cant seem to find the app for it.

Everything I find is for "synchronizing" but I want the photos off the phone without having to delete them one by one when I'm done.

The best would be with both on WiFi I press a button and maybe type in a destination LAN IP address and boom, the photos appear in a folder on my PC and are removed from the phone.

Surely moving photos from a phone to a PC so more pictures can be taken on the phone is not a rare or unreasonable use case...something must exist to do this in one step

How do I do this?

Essentially, I'm looking for something even my grandmother could do.

The device is a Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD. Photos are stored both on internal storage and overflow onto the SD card (which adds a few steps to file transfers as well).

What I've found so far

I found an article on PCWorld.com but

The first option is the file transfer; which is fine but not what I'm asking about
There is Dropbox but it leaves the photos on the phone then I have to delete them manually
There is DoubleTwist but it also leaves the photos on the phone

Also:

AirDroid (suggested by keepcalm) is close and supports delete, although zips all the files (which can be time consuming to unzip especially for e.g. 15GB of videos) and for large numbers of files (> 150 or so) "select all" doesn't reliably select all. The other issue with the one massive zip file is theres no good way to resume on failed download (most of the zip will be recoverable but its not easily possible to go back and figure out which pictures werent included); and it fails for large files often because the connection timeout is shorter than it takes to transfer 15gb over wifi. Lame.
Photo Transfer App is great except it does not support delete (I contacted them and they say it is because on iOS apps are not allowed to delete user content; but I put in a feature request for their Android version - hopefully they implement it). Also "backup" mode must be used instead of "download" for large numbers of files because "select all" only selects the current page and the max page size is 400 files. Also all albums must be done separately (the Razr sometimes has 3 albums, two internal areas and the sd card). Not sure why nobody seems to be able to get "select all" right...
ES File Explorer running in local mode and transferring files to the PC is a pain because the UI is so tiny and hunting through folders for files is not what I'm looking for (plus for some reason this app crushes the CPU on my phone). Similarily, in remote (FTP) mode, and other FTP servers such as FTPServer, it's easier to do the moves on the PC side but still involves hunting through /storage folders and such. Plus you have to remember to delete the thumbnails because the Android gallery does not refresh them accurately and provides no way to force a refresh (yet another UX win for Android). Scripts could theoretically be written on the PC side to automate this; ideally I'd avoid complex initial setup as well even though it does potentially reduce the task itself to one step.
The suggestion below to copy photos then wipe the device...no

I don't know about Windows, but on Ubuntu Linux this is easily scripted using the photo management app Digikam. Digikam can be configured to recognize the device and automatically download the pictures.

You just plug in the phone and it starts automatically, no need to do anything with the computer or the phone.


Gmail notification sound only for new mail I am using the Google Gmail app, which I've configured to play a notification sound for new mail.

However, it actually plays the notification sound when there is any change at all to the account while I use it on the computer -- reading messages, deleting messages, etc -- in addition to when new mail actually arrives.

It's driving me crazy! How can I configure this so it only makes a sound when a new message arrives in my inbox?

You haven't specified the Android OS version nor the Gmail app version, but since the settings are pretty much straightforward, I'll leave here an overview covering the basics for all available versions.

Summary

Three things might be happening:

You are receiving notifications for each email that arrives;
You have the "notify once" active and are receiving notifications for the email that arrived, but also for a label you've setup to notify;
You are receiving notifications from the Gmail app, and from another app where you've also configured the same account.

Below is a summary for the Gmail app settings by version. Try and adjust them to fit your needs.

If you continue to experience the same issue, you're probably facing a bug and the best option is to report it.

Android 4.0.x (Ice cream sandwich)

To change Gmail settings, touch "Menu" > "Settings" from any Gmail screen.

Under "Account settings", you will find:

Email notifications:

  When checked, you receive a notification when you have new email.

Ringtone:

  Available when "Email notifications" is selected.

  Touch to change any of three settings: The ringtone and vibrate settings for notifications, and an option to notify only the first time you have new email since you last read your messages, rather than each time a new message arrives.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.

Android 3.0.x (Honeycomb)

To change Gmail settings, touch the Menu button at the top-right of the Application bar and touch Settings.

Under "Account settings", you will find:

Email notifications

  When checked, you receive a notification when you have new email.

Notify once

  Check to receive a notification from Gmail only the first time you have new email since you last read your messages, rather than each time a new message arrives.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.

Android 2.3.x (Gingerbread)

To access the Gmail app's Account settings menu:

Open Gmail.
Press Menu.
Select More > Settings > Select account

Under "Notification settings", you will find:

Email notifications

  When checked, you'll receive a notification when you have new email.

Labels to notify

  Manage your notification preferences by label. You can only manage notification settings by label for labels that are synced.

You can enable notifications for specific labels, each means additional notifications when emails arrive:

  When you enable sync for a particular label, you can also change your notification preferences so that you're notified when you receive new mail for that label.

Press Menu and touch More > Settings. Select the Gmail account whose settings you'd like to modify.
Touch Labels to notify.
Select a labels to change the notification preferences. You can modify the following settings:

Email notifications
Ringtone
Vibrate
Notify once

Only labels that have been set to sync will appear in the notifications menu.

Official Gmail app support page by Google for this Android version.


Google automatic typing How to turn off automatic Google typing when I turned on automatically and I've tried everything else just turn it off to get my keyboard back

`

Usually, when that mic icon appears, you can easily dismiss it by pressing anywhere on the screen other than the mic window. You can also dismiss it by pressing on the back button on your phone.


What does the ROM files (FACTORYFS, HIDDEN, CACHE, PARAM, etc.) mean? Flashing my Galaxy S 2 i9100 (after breaking with CyanogenMod update CM-13.x) I used the following command:

sudo heimdall flash \
    --FACTORYFS factoryfs.img \
    --CACHE cache.img \
    --HIDDEN hidden.img \
    --MODEM modem.bin \
    --PARAM param.lfs \
    --BOOT boot.bin \
    --SBL1 Sbl.bin \
    --no-reboot \
    --KERNEL zImage

Question

I'm wondering what's the role of the different files?

update: I encourage you to use CM-12.1 instead of CM-13 for your i9100 as the later is not officially supported.

From [INFO] What the ROM files mean

  boot.bin This is the Primitive Bootloader. Seems to make some basic
  initializations and finally loads the secondary bootloader.

  Sbl.bin The Secondary Bootloader. It loads the PIT, the Linux kernel,
  params.lfs and the modem. It also is responsible when the device is
  charging while it's off. This file contains the picture you see when
  in Download-mode. So it's also responsible for the flashing stuff and
  getting into recovery.

  The Sbl.bin seems to be there twice. The second one may be for backup,
  if something bad's going on.

  param.lfs A collection of JPEGs. These include the Galaxy S-Logo you
  see first when booting the phone as well as the phone-!-computer
  picture, the loading spinner and some pictures of an Android giving
  some information: "CP CRASH UPLOAD MODE", "FORCED UPLOAD by KEY
  PRESSING", "POWER RESET or UNKNOWN UPLOAD MODE", "USER FAULT Not
  KERNEL PANIC UPLOAD MODE" and "KERNEL PANIC UPLOAD MODE". And there is
  the Logo of NTT docomo, which is a Japanese mobile operator company.

  Maybe there are more information in this file, but I didn't extract
  it.

  The rest of the files should be rather obvious:

  zImage is the Linux kernel.

  recovery Backup Kernel. Don't know if it's
  used on every device.

  factoryfs.rfs is the System partition with the
  Android system.

  dbdata.rfs is the partition where the app data get
  stored.

  cache.rfs is for Dalvik cache.

  modem.bin is the Modem.

From How to Use Heimdall – specifically on Samsung Captivate – Download 512 513 and 803 PIT files

  IBL+PBL is the boot loader, be extra careful with it;
  PIT is the partition table;
  EFS contains some important data like IEMEI, be extra careful with it;
  SBL is the second boot loader;
  SBL2 is the backup of the second boot loader;
  PARAM contains some images used as various stage of the boot process;
  KERNEL is the kernel;
  RECOVERY is the backup of the kernel;
  FACTORYFS contains /system file system which is some kind of root file system;
  DBDATA contains /data file system which is the database to store application parameters;
  CACHE contains /cache file system which contains the Dalvik cache;
  MODEM contains the firmware for the modem.


How can I change media volume when no media is being played? Sometimes I want to play games in (near) silence, and don't like the background music to disturb people. If I use the volume buttons, the ringtone volume is changed instead of media volume. When I'm already in the game, the volume buttons do change the volume of background music, but it's kinda too late.

Is there a way for me to change the media volume to a level I like, from the home screen, before starting apps/games?

You can go to Settings > Sound > Volume and turn down the Media volume all the way to 0.
I used AutomateIt to Mute Media sound unless the earphone is plugged.
A hack that I used to do is to just cover up the speaker hole until I can turn down the volume.


Mobile VR headsets: hardware or software? Does the Google Daydream View headset contain any electronic hardware/software components it it? If so, what are their roles?
Same question but for the Samsung Gear VR.
The Gear VR has a label on its side that reads "Powered by Oculus". What does that even mean?

I think it's safe to say the Google Cardboard has no electronic components inside the headset, right? So that's off the list.

Look at the teardown of the two devices:

Gear VR - contains circuitry for the capacitive touchpad on it, plus sensors for detecting if the user is present and USB for connecting it with the phone (presumably to send/receive the above 2 signals).

Daydream View - same for the touchpad, plus NFC chips for one-touch pairing with the phone, and Bluetooth for communication with the Daydream controller.

Gear VR is co-developed with Oculus and thus bears their mark.


What is a "Hall" sensor, and what is it used for? On Google's specs page for the new Nexus 5, the Nexus 5's built-in sensors are listed as:

  Sensors

  GPS
  Gyroscope
  Accelerometer
  Compass
  Proximity/Ambient Light
  Pressure
  Hall

(Click "View Full Tech Specs" to see that list)

Looking up Hall Sensor on Wikipedia, it seems to be some sort of magnetic sensor, but it's not the compass because that's listed separately, and none of the example uses on the page seem to make much sense for a smartphone application.

What is it, and what is it useful for?

As you've found out, a Hall sensor detects a magnetic field. It could be that in this case it's referring to a sensor for a magnetic cover, like those in the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Such sensors detect the proximity of a magnet embedded in the cover or case for the device, in order to automatically turn the screen off when the cover is closed.

That would be unusual, as that kind of magnetic switch is usually a simple reed switch, which wouldn't normally be described as a Hall effect sensor. A Hall sensor would give more data about the strength of the magnetic field, which could be used by software to detect the opening or closing of the case more reliably. However, I've not seen any claim that the Nexus 5 has such a switch anyway, which is much less common on phones than tablets.

Another (just as far-fetched) guess is that it's related to the wireless charging capability. It could be that the Hall sensor is specifically there to locate the wireless charging point in relation to the phone's position.


PC doesn't perform copy from it to sdcard/internal storage I had create a custom ROM and trying now to copy it from my PC to my Lenovo Ideatab A3000-h, but when connecting the device and try to copy it from my pc to the device, it didn't do the process and gave me the following behavior (forever):

the ROM size is about 2GB, is there's some way to know what's wrong or a safe way to transfer the ROM rather than this way.

p.s. tried to copy another one with a very near size and got the same result, but copying a small-sized files works fine

Use ES File Explorer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en free.
How To Use
Go into your PC and set up a share folder. Use this as reference http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/how-do-i-share-folders-in-windows-7-with-the-shared-folder-wizard/
Either place your file to transfer in the shared folder or make the shared folder where your file is located.
Now install ES File Explorer on the device and run app.
Goto the quick access menu (3 dash button in the top left corner).
Select Network>LAN.
Bottom of the screen select SCAN, might take a minute to acquire connection.
Select your shared folder.
Select your file (long pressing file and select copy at the bottom)
Goto the quick access again and select LOCAL
Pick your destination location from there and tap PASTE
Enjoy!!


Fastboot doesn't see nexus 6p Currently trying to unlock my bootloader, but cannot get my nexus 6p to determine that it's connected to my PC. I can use adb commands while it's on, but booting it into fastboot mode with the adb command or with the key combination results in 'connect usb data cable'. I have rebooted my phone, my computer, reinstalled ADB, installed the google drivers both manually as well as with the SDK manager and used 4 different cables.

I have also tried all 2 of my usb 2.0 ports as well as all 6 usb 3.0 ports.

Windows plays the sound confirming that a device has been connected.
I am using windows 10.

Here's a screenshot of the device manager:

Edit: Factory resetting the device did not help either.

Install the Google USB Driver while in phone is booted to bootloader.

Those are in your SDK folder location - extras - google - usb_driver.

When my N6 is booted to bootloader, Windows 10 shows me the following:


Can the game "asphalt8" be played on iOS and Android together? I have an iPhone and my friend has an Android device. When we try to play "asphalt8" on wi fi, we can't get the app to connect with each other. If he creates a room, my device doesn't show it, and vice-versa.

Can this game be played on iOS and Android together?

According to "Diana FromGameloft" on the Gameloft forums:

  You and your friends have to play the same version of the game on the
  same platform/device in order to see each other.

Also "Gameloft_Ryan" posted on Windows Phone Central forums to say:

  You can only play cross-platform multiplayer with W8 and WP8 users.
  There isn't cross-platform for Android and iOS.

So unfortunately it looks like Gameloft haven't included cross-platform multi-player in Asphalt 8, so you and your friend won't be able to play against each other.


BlueStacks APK Install Error : INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK So i was trying to install an APK file on BlueStacks App Player and then this error came up :

[INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK]

Can someone help Me?

The app you're installing is meant for newer Android versions than what's emulated in the BlueStacks environment. If there's no new version of BS available, you will either need to give up on the app or use a different emulator.

There are workarounds involving modifying the manifest of the APK file to be installed, but since you don't really know what APIs the app will actually use, shoehorning it into an older SDK won't always work.


How can I connect my Logitech "unifying" controller, to my Android device over Bluetooth? Logitech's Unifying standard seems very similar to Bluetooth(same 5-device limit, similar range, similar specs from what I've read on the Internet).

I'm trying to connect a Logitech F710 wireless controller, to my Android phone over bluetooth.

It works if I plug the "unifying" USB dongle into a USB OTG cable(micro-USB to full-USB converter) and plug said OTG in my phone. It works fine(fiddling on the controller moves things around on-screen. But I need it to work without plugging into the phone's MicroUSB port...

I've got a Samsung/Occulus Gear VR(that connects to the phone's MicroUSB port.

But when I hook up the OTG cable to my Gear VR's charging Micro-USB port, it just doesn't work. I've read on reddit that if you prevent the Occulus app from starting when you plug in your Android device(I'm using a Note 5), then the Gear VR's charging port also registers that stuff.

So any suggestions?

Logitech unifying devices are not compatible with Bluetooth. Your best option is to purchase a Bluetooth-compatible mouse.


notification saying Google play services has stoped working For my Samsung galaxy s2 there is a message saying Google paly services has stoped working it is really annoying and can you please fix it.

Once solution is to go into applications and disable Google play services. But u won't be able to use some apps such as Google photos.


Google Play Services Keeps Stopping, I've tried everything I can't get any of my apps to work. I've tried

clearing the data & restarting - works for 10 min then back to square one

force stopping - won't let me

uninstalling updates - it tells me it's unsuccessful

Disabling google play, reenabling, then restarting - still nothing

What else can I do? This is so frustrating.

I had the same problem today (just after updating my phone) and eventually found a way to uninstall Google Play Services updates, thanks to the thread in Google Play Help Forum:

I was able to fix the issue today, by uninstalling the Google Play Services updates. Could only do that after making sure 'Find My Phone' was no longer a device administrator. Steps I followed:

Go to Settings -> Lock screen and security -> Other security settings -> Device Administrators
Uncheck 'Find My Device'
Go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services
Tap the vertical ellipsis (3 vertical dots) at the top right -> Uninstall updates
Go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play
Tap the vertical ellipsis (3 vertical dots) at the top right -> Uninstall updates
Restart phone. At this point the message  "Google Play services keeps stopping" was gone.
Open one of the Google apps (in my case Google Maps)
It complains that "Google Play services" is outdated, click the popup to update it again. Problem solved. Really happy to have my phone back ;)

It worked for me (no more error messages, and now I can use again apps such as Google Play Store, Google Maps, etc)


Contacts are mysteriously disappearing from Moto G (1st gen) I have a Motorola Edition G 1st Generation running Android Lollipop 5.0.

I have contacts that have been synced thorough Google Contacts and are cross synchronized through 4 Google Accounts. Some of my contacts, specifically the important ones, have started to disappear for no reason at all.

I have the same issue with my Moto G (1st gen.). with just one google account, and FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc accounts, all my contacts suddenly disappear and the contact and other apps were really slow.
I resolved my problem completely, the solution was uninstall the Linkedin app, it was artificially multiplying my contacts in other apps and causing slowness and that the contacts did not show in other apps.


Failed upgrade, now stuck in recovery mode(Myphone model:my27) My phone is now stuck and when I turn it on, it says NO COMMAND/Error

it happen when i update my system, because it always updates. I leave my phone at my room but when I came back, my phone says Error and when I try to turn it on it wont work again, its stuck!

I tried to reset my phone but it wont reset it says that its done resetting but its still stuck.

Please someone help.

First, turn off the phone by using the Power button.
Press and hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power key for some time.
When you see a menu with two options, remove your hand from buttons.
Afterwards, press the Volume Up to enter Android System Recovery.

 5. Select the "Wipe data / Factory reset" by using the Volume buttons and press the Menu Capacitive key for confirmation.

Then choose "Yes--delete all user data". Use Volume Down to scroll and Menu button to select.
Success your reset.
Here I provided more mobile hard reset solution.
Thanks......!!!!


Add an APN to Samsung Galaxy S3 running 4.1.1 I am traveling internationally and have replaced my Verizon SIM card with a local one.  To get data, I need to add an APN.  I can't do this using settings -- no option to add exists.  Is there another way to do this?  And app maybe?  I do not want to root my phone.

I have been told by Verizon that it's a bug on the Samsung Note 2 and S3 after Jelly bean. Verizon / Samsung are working on a fix so you can modify the APN in near future.

Verizon didn't intend a deliberate prevention on their part (confirmed by the fact Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 2 running android DOES allow you to modify the APN and works perfectly for calls/text/data overseas). I have both so I should know

Roll on a fix fast....


Can't uninstall Cyanogenmod11 themes Recently I installed a number of Cyanogenmod11 Themes from the Android Market. Now I want to uninstall some of then But whenever I try to uninstall it my phone soft reboots. And the theme is still in the phone.
The phone I'm using is Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini GT-i8190 running CyanogenMod11.

If you are currently using those themes, just switch to the default theme and try uninstalling them. That usually works.


Unable to Log into Samsung Account on Samsung S5 Neo Entered correct email and password. Next step.

Entered correct 2-step Verification code. On pressing next, refreshes page and asks for code again. Never actually logs in.

Restart Phone ... NO FIX

Reset Password ... NO FIX

Went on my desktop and logged into samsung accounts from there, 2-step verification worked on their wekapp login portal. Then went into security settings (webapp), disabled 2-step verification, restarted the phone.

Then was able to log into Samsung Account successfully (phone).


Is there a way to hide pictures from being shown in Gallery How can I hide a jpeg image in Android Gallery?
or is there a way to hide a folder of pictures for Gallery only?

If you add a file with the name .nomedia (note the period at the beginning) to the folder, the automatic media scanner will skip that folder in the future. Thus no images from there will appear in the Gallery.

You can do this by tethering to your computer or by using one of the several folder-browsing apps in the Play Store (e.g., ES File Explorer, ASTRO).