How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505? I have a Nexus 7 and it has just been updated to Android 5.

Two apps give me trouble after the system upgrade, games that my kids play. Dumb Ways to Die and VVVVVV. Both of these had icons after the upgrade but when clicked a popup appeared saying "App not installed". I attempt to install them. The download is fine. The install begins. And then an error message:

  Unknown error code during application installation: "-505"

The exact same error for both apps. I've restarted the device to no avail.

I have no idea what to do next. Please could some kind soul give me advice on how I might remedy this problem.

TL;DR

This issue occurs when an app is trying to re-declare an existing permission, with error message INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PERMISSION. It mainly affected apps that are based on Adobe AIR (package prefix with com.air). The main cause is the different code implementation in Lollipop 5.0 when verifying a certificate's signature used to sign an app. For the solution, just skip over to the "Solution" part.

Update: Google has fixed this issue on Lollipop 5.0.1.

Technical Details

Excerpts from Android L Developer Preview issue tracker which are linked from an entry on AOSP issue tracker,

Post #4:

  logcat tells me there's a conflict with redeclaring permissions during installation (in my case, Amazon is trying to redeclare getui.permission.GetuiService, which is already owned by Camera 360)

Post #12's LogCat:

10-25 08:06:37.805   749   824 W PackageManager: Package com.tencent.mm attempting to redeclare permission com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND already owned by com.google.android.gsf
10-25 08:06:37.926  4812  4812 D Finsky  : [1] PackageInstallerImpl.cancelSession: Canceling session 121130466 for com.tencent.mm
10-25 08:06:37.926  4812  4812 E Finsky  : [1] PackageInstallerImpl.handleCommitCallback: Error -505 while installing com.tencent.mm: INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PERMISSION: Package com.tencent.mm attempting to redeclare permission com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND already owned by com.google.android.gsf
10-25 08:06:37.926  4812  4812 W Finsky  : [1] 4.installFailed: Install failure of com.tencent.mm: -505 null
10-25 08:06:37.933   749   749 D ZenLog  : intercepted: 0|com.android.vending|-973170826|null|10017,!priority
10-25 08:06:37.933   749   749 V NotificationService: pkg=com.android.vending canInterrupt=false intercept=true
10-25 08:06:37.964  4812  4812 D Finsky  : [1] InstallerTask.cancelCleanup: Cancel running installation of com.tencent.mm

Excerpts from AOSP issue tracker,

Post #4

  In API19 the new X509CertImpl(encCert) wraps the certificate (which is already parsed and ready for SHA1 computation), while in API 21, the certificate is forwarded as byte stream, parsed again and processed by a certificate factory. Which factory that is, depends on the context. In case of the L devices I tested on, the factory will create an OpenSSLX509Certificate. Unfortunately, there is something in our certificate which openssl has trouble with and the fingerprint changes during openssl processing. I can reproduce this also with the openssl tool, when I convert our certificate into some other format (e.g., PEM).

  If the SHA1 would be computed directly on 'encCert.getEncoded()' it would be correct in both cases.

Solution

Update: As of 2014-12-04, Google has fixed this issue on Lollipop 5.0.1. For those who didn't do any workaround trying to reinstall the app, you can flash Lollipop 5.0.1 image when it's ready/wait for the OTA.

Post #20, #21

  Looks like this has been fixed in 5.0.1:

  https://android.googlesource.com/platform/libcore/+/6632d8c9d8d1a3ac338d541676148677641bafe3

  https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/32a22c44b8351c1cccd3a1f9c47a33469d9378e0

    Status: Released

Committer's note

  Recover apps with malformed certificates.

  There was a window of time in Lollipop where we persisted certificates
  after they had passed through a decode/encode cycle.  The well-written
  OpenSSL library was liberal when decoding (allowing slightly malformed
  certs to be parsed), but then strict when encoding, giving us
  different bytes for effectively the same certificate.

  A related libcore change (0c990ab4a90b8a5492a67b2b728ac9a4a1ccfa1b)
  now returns the original bytes verbatim, fixing both pre-Lollipop
  installs and installs after that change.

  This change recovers any apps that had been installed during the
  window of time described above by doing a one-time check to see if
  the certs are effectively equal.

Please refer to older revision for other suggested solutions.


Lag fixing using OCLF - could it do any harm? I am wondering if the lag fix proposed by xda-developers could harm the device in anyway.
Quote from Google Code "Original use was for 'One Click Lag Fix' for the Samsung Galaxy S series, to create a loopback EXT2 device on top of Samsung's RFS in order to improve response time for applications."

Link to forum page about this: here.

How does it work exactly? What does "create loopback EXT2" mean?

I know the forum post clearly states it's been tested on a huge number of devices and it's working, but I want to understand what it does exactly and if there is any compromise by installing it?
Thank you.

Basically, it tricks the Android OS by using symbolic links and a large file formatted as ext2, rather than partitioning or formatting your device storage.  In this way it's very safe.  I've used it several times on several ROMs on my Galaxy S with no problems.


New Samsung S4 reloading deleted emails I use verizon.net as my main email address.  after reading emails on my Samsung S4 and deleting them several days later they reappear as new messages.  How can I stop this from happening?

Follow this video tutorial for the Galaxy S4 stock email app, and make sure you activate Sync Email option.

Maybe you'll have to remove and re-add your email account. Also you can try with other email account(s) you have, in order to discard an issue of Verizon's own mail servers.


What does "Can't send message on card 1, error 21" mean? I'm trying to send an SMS with Messenger on my new Nexus 5X running Lollipop, but sending always fails with Can't send message on card 1, error 21.  Receiving SMS and making phone calls works fine.  What's going on?

Most likely the destination phone number is formatted wrong, which can happen particularly when importing contacts via third-party tool.

In this particular case, I used My Contacts Backup for iOS to export my contacts to VCF, then imported from Gmail.  In the process, some numbers were wrongly formatted as +61 0 4xx when they should be just +61 4xx, causing the highly uninformative error message above.  (The 21 error code actually comes from the operator's network, and has nothing to do with Android as such.)  Removing the extra 0 solved the problem.


Disable Backup Service in Android Emulator I'm trying to replace sms and contacts database on Android emulator with some other (extracted from other phone).

I've already succesfully pushed files into emulator (using adb push), but I have to restart emulator to see if anything changes.

In my log there is statement saying that phone is running form backup:

04-23 11:22:00.064: I/SystemServer(81): Backup Service
04-23 11:22:00.135: I/BackupManagerService(81): Found stale backup journal, scheduling
04-23 11:22:00.145: I/BackupManagerService(81):   com.android.inputmethod.latin
04-23 11:22:00.145: I/BackupManagerService(81):   com.android.browser
04-23 11:22:00.145: I/BackupManagerService(81):   com.android.providers.settings
04-23 11:22:00.165: I/BackupManagerService(81):   android
04-23 11:22:00.175: I/BackupManagerService(81):   com.android.providers.userdictionary
04-23 11:22:00.204: I/BackupManagerService(81): Backup enabled => true

While watching file system in eclipse I can see that journal file is created in /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases, grows, then dissapears, and my mmssms.db file (previously pushed by command line) shrinks, which gaves my empty database ;/

Any ideas?

Try running this command from your PC:

adb shell bmgr enable false

If you have more than one device or emulator running/connected, you'll need to add the -s DEVICE option.


Fake missing network connection for single app I have an app that I don't want to have network access. It does work when I put the phone in plane mode, but simply blocking it with AFWall causes it to hang, probably waiting for network replies. It seems to check, if the device has an internet connection and switch to an offline mode based on that.

Is there a way to not only block the network access, but also fake the device's connection status for specific apps? Solutions needing root or Xposed are fine with me.

You can use Xprivacy for that. In case you don't know, this is an XPosed module (available from the XPosed repo) dealing with privacy related permissions; details can be found in its XDA Thread). Instead of simply blocking access to the internet, Xprivacy fakes its inavailablity. To be on the safe side, you additionally can block internet access for that app using a firewall like AFWall+ – cannot hurt.

Side-effect: You can block/fake a lot more – e.g. your location, device IDs and other things. This can be done by defining a fixed value, or even in "random mode" – having Xprivacy either randomize data on boot, or even on each access.


Does Google Play Store change apks with time I have a trivial app up at the Play Store. It calculates its own keyed checksum and displays the results.

The Play Store checksum is always different than that of the uploaded apk file. I understand Google is adding its own special sauce to the apk, presumably in the manifest.

The Play Store checksum has changed since the app was first available. Is Google Play changing the apk from time to time?

When uploading an APK file to PlayStore Google add another signature to the APK file.

This "Google PlayStore Signature" (also known as "frosting") allows to identify if an APK file has been retrieved from Google Play Store.

Based on the APK signature scheme v2 an APK file can have multiple signatures.

You can't add add every signature in the signed content the signatures are ignored when verifying the APK (or in detail the complete APK signing block is ignored).
Therefore adding the frosting signature does not invalidate any signatures you have created.

This may be the reason that a APK file retrieved from PlayStore has a different check sum that the one you uploaded.


One-click full backup & dropbox sync in Titanium Backup? Is it possible to make a full backup of everything and then it sync into dropbox (and repeat if syncing was unsuccessful) with a one click? I'd like to just launch a backup procedure and go sleeping knowing that when I wake up, everything that could be done was done... and Titanium Backup's interface is so confusing to me.

I've got a pro version.

I can trim to two clicks: 1 for Full backup to local storage & another for Dropbox sync.

For Full Backup to Local Storage:
1. Tap & hold on empty home screen area. Choose Widgets.
2. From Pop-up list, tap Titanium Backup (Actions). Again, tap Action.
3. On next screen, choose Backup all user apps + system data & tap Create Widget button.
4. Done! Now, all you have to do is to tap this widget from your home screen.

For Full Sync to Dropbox:
1. Make sure you've already enabled & configured Dropbox sync from Menu ~> Preferences.
2. From Preferences, tap Dropbox settings & then Labels to synchronize. Check Synchronize everything checkbox & tap OK.
3. Done! Now, all you need is to open app & tap Sync to Dropbox now ! button at bottom from Overview tab..

Main Method For Full Backup to Local Storage (To shoot out your confusion):
1. Tap Backup/Restore tab.
2. Tap Click to edit filters just below tab bar (right-side). Make sure all radio buttons are set to All & there's no label are selected (if you've labels). Tap Apply button on top-right.
3. Hit Physical Menu button & choose Batch.
4. On next screen, tap RUN button left to Backup all user apps + system data. Tap Run the batch operation button on top.

Go really for a sleep:
Setup & enable a full backup schedule profile from Schedules tab. It will be enough if you just enable the two default schedule profiles. You can change its backup frequency after tapping Edit button.

So, in the last, you just need 1 click: 0 for Full backup & 1 for Dropbox sync! :)

What about 0 clicks??
Install Dropsync & link TB's Backup directory to a folder in Dropbox (free version supports 1 directory linking which is enough for this). It'll sync backups with Dropbox automatically (make sure Auto Sync is check in settings). So, you don't need even that one click...


I forgot my tablet PIN I'm trying to log-in to my tablet, which I haven't been on in about 2 months. I can't remember my PIN. It's not giving me a chance to log-in with my Google account, so I don't know what to do.

Instructions:-

Download Aroma File Manager latest version
Place it in the root of your sdcard(Preferred)
Reboot into recovery

4.
    For CWM:

Mount all partitions (including sd-ext if you have it)

And flash Aroma File Manager from sdcard

For stock recovery:

In stock recovery, there is no option to mount partitions, so

Flash Aroma File Manager, Click on menu option and go to settings

Select Mount All Partitions

Now, exit from Aroma File Manager and reflash it.

Now, you will see each partition is mounted
5. Now, go to /data/system

Note : If you have sd-ext mod to increase internal storage, go to /sd-ext/system/
6. Now, If you have to remove pattern lock, long press and delete gesture.key

If you want to remove password, delete password.key
If you want to remove gesture, delete gesture.key

Exit the Aroma File Manager
Reboot


Show event names on month view in Google Calendar It's just square dots and lines of your choice of color. Are there any options or ways to get it to show the event's text in the month view as it does in the week/agenda/etc?

Edit:

Apparently month view was stripped out of the latest store version. I don't understand how a calendar could be better without the ability to see the whole month (or at least the option to) as you would on a wall but so be it.

Google Calendar doesn't have that feature.

You can use a 3rd party app like aCalendar instead (paid/free).


How do I clear learned words? Possible Duplicate:
  How to clear the keyboard autocomplete suggestions

I want to clear the learned words on my Android 2.3.4 phone. They are not found on the User Dictionary but I can see them being suggested whenever I'm typing.

If you are using swipe, go to settings> locale and text> swype settings and then click on reset swype's dictionary

Also you can navigate to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. Then once there, you will need to scroll down and find the keyboard app. Click on that, and then tap the “Clear Data” button.

when the list of learned words appears, long press on one and you may be given the option to forget it. This works on samsung galaxy note 3.


How can I tell what is really draining my battery? I know that by going to Settings > About Phone > Battery Use, I can get some idea of the applications that are using up the most of my battery. I see things like "Cell standby", "Phone idle", and "Wi-fi"; is there any way to drill down even further and find out what is really draining my battery? For example, I am fairly certain that GPS usage is included under 'Cell Standby'.

Any help would be appreciated; I have had my phone for only about three months, and the battery goes from 100% to 0% over the course of two-ish days with minimal usage (some browsing, check-ins), and I cannot figure what is draining the battery.

EDIT

I am mostly interested in ways of diagnosing power usage in a less broad way, but in the interests of finding out what could possibly be draining my battery, here is what my 'battery use' is reporting at the moment:

38% - Cell Standby
33% - Phone Idle
20% - Wi-Fi
6% - Display
2% - Angry Birds
2% - Maps

I have been on battery for 8h 50m, and the charge has gone from 100% to 64%.

Try out an app called Watchdog.

It monitors your apps and alerts you to anything that is using your cpu excessively. It might help unless it something that's draining consistently at a low level.

I'd have to agree that it doesn't sound like you have a problem. Battery life seems good.

Juice Plotter is another battery monitor that you might be interested in and its companion app Juice defender might help squeeze extra life out of your phone as it can switch off your 3G off unless needed.


Creating problems in wipe cache partition My phone, moto e 1st gen is very slow after i updated to Android lollipop. So, I gone to recovery mode after switching off my phone. The "no command" message came. Then, i pressed power button 2-3 seconds and volume up button as given in some genuine website. I did not get the wipe cache partition. I tried it multiple times.,

How to overcome this problem in my phone ?

You had pressed Volume Up button. Try with Volume Down button. I had seen the same problem with Asus Zenfone 5.

Try this:

Ensure the device is powered off and unplugged
Press and hold the Volume Down button and Power button (located on the right edge of the device) for approximately 3 seconds then release.
From the "Boot Mode Selection Menu" screen, select Recovery.

Note: Use the Volume Down button to scroll through the menu options and the Volume Up button to select.
From the "No Command" screen (Android figure lying on his back), press and hold the Power button then press and release the Volume Up button to display the menu options.
Select "wipe data/factory reset".

Note: Use the Volume buttons to highlight and the Power button to select.
Select Yes -- delete all user data.

Note: Allow several seconds for the factory data reset process to complete.
Select reboot system now.

Note: Allow several minutes for the reboot process to complete

Original sources:

Moto X (1st gen): stuck on boot screen?
How to Clear Cache Partition On Moto G


How to open gmail links in gmail app or browser? I often use links to some of my gmail messages; these links have the form:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/XXXXXXXXXX

and I use them for future reference in, for instance, evernote notes.

When I open such a link in chrome on my desktop, the corresponding mail message is opened as expected. However, if I open those links in chrome for android I only get the main window of gmail, not that specific message.

Does anybody know of a way to open permanent links to gmail messages in an android app?

As of 05 Oct 18, and as far as I am aware, there is no way to do so. The Desktop web interface, mobile interface, and Mobile Application use different unique IDs and links for the messages.

For instance, using the desktop interface, you get the main/u/#/ links. On mobile web, you get mail/mu/mp/###/ links. There is no way to correspond the two.

Further more, the UUIDs are different for the interfaces. On mobile, you get a ~16 alpha-numeric ID. On desktop it is ~35 alpha-numeric.

Maybe there is a method that the mobile web interface uses to shorten the length of the desktop IDs, but I can only speculate as to what it is.

But none of that would matter, because you would have to feed the link into a program or script to convert the link to/from what ever.

This does not even cover the use of multiple accounts, which have there own number in the links for desktop and mobile web interface.

That being said

There is a sort of workaround that you might could try. It requires a bit more work than copy-paste of a link, and it does not get you the desired outcome, but it is close.

Taken from a Web Applications Answer, you can modify your link to be a search result instead.

Follow his workaround steps. Getting the original message ID.

Your mobile link should look something like this:

https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/###/#tl/search/rfcmsgid%3A<MESSAGE.ID>

And the desktop link:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/#/#search/rfc822msgid%3A<MESSAGE.ID>

It adds to the number of items you will have listed in your notes, but it should get the job 85% done.


Unlocking Bootloader Recently I've unlocked my sony xperia p boot loader. I am sure that it is unlocked. But is there any option to find out that is it unlocked?

Enter *#*#7378423#*#* to access the service menu.

Tap Service info > Configuration

If unlocked, it says, Bootloader unlock done under Rooting Status


image to flash moto 4g play I'm trying to remove the anoying amazon malware on my moto G.  I tried following these instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4/development/moto-g-4th-gen-how-to-remove-amazon-t3416587 but without success.  both the RSDLight and non-RSDLight approaches fail.  I get a message saying that the image test failed.

I assume the problem is that i'm using an image for a moto 4g instead of a moto 4g play.  Where could I get an image to flash my phone with for a moto 4G play?

Amazon and Moto patched the methods used to remove advertising, I have to assume they did it on the G4 Play as well, meaning there are no known ways to remove the advertising on the current firmware for the G4 or G4 Play, except by going to Your Devices on Amazon and pay the $50 to remove the advertising. If you are a long time Prime customer, calling and complaining to customer service that the advertising is too bright and annoying has resulting in getting it removed free of charge for some people (yet not others).


New Acer Iconia tablet This is a new tablet and it very slow . My previous Iconia was so much better.  It is only a few months old and I have very little stored on it.  Could I do a factory reset and is it likely to sort this out?  There is no stored data to worry about only apps and websites that I have downloaded.

Thank you.

In my experience, resetting Samsung devices does make them faster, so resetting an Acer device will also likely make it faster.

If you don't have any important data stored, then its definitely worth trying to factory reset your tablet to see if it gets faster.


How to disable shortcut to launch (Samsung's) S Voice *without* accepting its ToS? By default, when you double-tap the home key, you'll launch straight into S Voice.

To disable that shortcut, one could

  load S Voice, then press the menu key and hit "Settings." Next,
  uncheck "Open via the home key." That's it -- with the shortcut combo
  disabled, the home button should respond immediately as opposed to
  with a very slight delay.

However, this method seems viable only once Samsung's Terms of Service (ToS) have been accepted - only after which S Voice will launch fully. Any way to disable that key combo without having to accept ToS of a S I do not want?

Note that at this stage I do not (yet) want to uninstall S Voice. If you happen to know how to uninstall it, I'd appreciate a comment, though :-)

I just disabled S Voice entirely for now, as explained here and elsewhere:

Application Manager >> All >> S Voice >> Disable, then reboot.


How can I uninstall an app I downloaded, that won't let me uninstall it? I downloaded this app called 'Photo Editor' (pink logo with letters 'fx' on it) on my HTC Desire 510, I went to uninstall it, but it won't let me do this. Other apps still let me download it. I have tried doing it in settings, google play store, second home screen menu, in the app itself, and none will let me uninstall it. I can't find the app in the play store, it's as if it's deliberately not letting me uninstall it. It takes up 30MB, which is a pain seeing as though my phone can only hold a small amount of data. I have been researching what to do but no one seems to have the same issue. Can anyone help me please? Thanks in advance.

It's a pre-installed app from HTC you might be updated from play store .
If your phone is rooted then you can uninstall that app


How to destroy lost android phones? I am living in Afghanistan and here too many things get stolen every day especially mobile phones. Therefore, I want to know a way that if my phone gets stolen, it gets destroyed.

Is there any possible way I could do this?

No, I do not think there is a possible way to remotely completely destroy a phone, but other things you could do are:

Track and find your lost phone
Lock it (Put a remote password so the thief cannot access it)
Ring it (Make it make a loud sound so if the thief is nearby, you will notice)
Wipe it (Delete everything on the phone except the OS)

You can do all of these things through the Google Device Manager or another anti-theft Play Store application but they require your phone to be turned on and it to have an internet connection.


Alternative method to enable adb It seems that daily, I see some question along the lines of "issue X is causing my phone to be inoperable, and debugging is off. How do I enable ADB to get my data?"

I understand that this issue can be fairly common, so i thought i would put out a way to re-enable adb - using nothing but root privileges and a custom recovery.

This can also be used when, say, my developer options cannot be opened for some reason.

I know this will not eliminate this kind of question, but it can help with some of them.

See answer for method. Had to upload this as a "answer your own question" thing

You are going to need the following:

Root (YAY!)
A custom recovery, specifically TWRP (Untried on a different recovery, anyone let me know if it works on any other)
A PC/device with a way of editing SQLite .db files
An SD card

Method

If you have not already, boot into Recovery mode. Ensure you mount 'data' and 'External SD card'
Smack that 'advanced' button, open a terminal shell, and type su (then smack enter)
Run this command:

cp /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db /path_to/external_sd/

(Thanks to the guys at SO for providing that.) If you don't have cp or busybox installed, you could use cat instead:

cat /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db > /path_to/external_sd/settings.db

Power off, and remove your SD. Stick it in the device with the .db editor.
Load the file
Go to the 'secure' table, and find the line adb_enabled. In my case, this was line 59. The value should be 0 if ADB is disabled. Change it to 1, and save.
With the modified file in tow, poke the SD card back into your device, and boot back into recovery. Again, make sure 'data' and 'External SD card' are mounted.
Reverse the copy you did above:

cp /path_to/external_sd/settings.db /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/

or

cat /path_to/external_sd/settings.db > /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db

Done! Now, to get authorization, you will need to use Firelord's post and follow his master plan there :) Alternatively, you can use the accepted answer to This post on Stack Overflow. Those guys are helpful, eh?

Note: If you can boot your device, you can download SQLite editor and cut out the need for another device, an SD card, and, well, anything else. It is paid, however! Ifmyou want to save money, you can use the free a SQLite Manager instead.


How to recover Hard Bricked Nexus 7 I have hard bricked my Nexus 7 tablet by fault while flashing. Now it's not turning on in any mode. Is there any chance to recover it?

Buy a usb jig
Download Odin(Just search it on google)

Download a firmware for your device.
Google https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images?hl=en
Samsung http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/

connect the usb jig to your device
Your device will boot into fastboot mode
Remove the jig
connect your device to PC
Start Odin
click on PDA and select the .tar file
click on start
wait till it completes(Takes 5 to 15 mins)
device will reboot

You will have your phone working.

NOTE: Make sure that you have drivers of your device installed on your PC.


Check whether moto g 2nd gen refurbished or not I bought moto G 2nd gen mobile two days ago from Flipkart. Phone is nice but sometimes it has some lags, battery doesn't stay more than 4 hours of continues use of 3g. I found a small dot size crack in top of my phone but it just didn't matter and I continued using the phone. After seeing some posts here I wondered if this phone is refurbished or not. I can get to the RTN menu by typing neither *#*#786#*#* nor ##786#. Also I tried something like installing launcher pro and selecting shortcut from hidden menu. But nothing worked. Now I want to know how can I find out if my mobile is refurbished or not. My mobile came with the Android Lollipop update.

You can contact your wireless carrier and give them the IMEI.  They'd able to tell you if it's been activated on their network before, at least.

You can also contact Motorola to check on the status of the warranty and whether or not the phone has ever been sent back to them for service, etc.

The IMEI is the "International Mobile Station Equipment Identity" - a number you can usually find in the "About Phone" section of a phone's settings.  On your phone I think it would be Settings > About Phone > Status.


MotoG5s encryption switch "on" but doesn't ask for pin on restart I've had encryption turned on on my MotoG5s since I bought it last year. It used to ask for a pin every time it was turned on and at every restart.

Since updating to 7.x.x (currently on 7.1.1) it's never asked for this pin but the switch in settings says encryption is on.

Do people think my phone is encrypted? How can I check?

An Android device can be encrypted without a PIN or password.

In such a case and if the encryption is "hardware based" the data is just bound to your device. The advantage of an encryption without PIN/password is that it can be erased very quick by just throwing away the key. No need to overwrite the all the data.

Therefore the question is not if or if not your device is encrypted - the question is what risk or attack do you expect the encryption to resist?

If you want to avoid other people to access your data when you loose your device you have to set a pin or password (not only because of the encryption). It will then also be used for the device encryption, making it harder for an attacker to access your data.


Error when trying to use adb shell in recovery mode I have a Chinese phone which I've been unable to install ClockworkMod on. I decided to try booting into recovery mode to manually backup/restore the system partition.

However, if I plug my phone into my PC while it's in recovery mode and issue the command

adb shell

it says:

exec '/system/bin/sh' failed: No such file or directory (2)

I can only do very limited tasks, like adb ls / to see the filesystem, but nothing else.

How can I get adb shell working in recovery mode?


Widget (or similar function) to unmount a USB OTG device? Is there a widget, app, or similar available to safely unmount a USB OTG device?

I've looked through this SE, Google Play, and the Internet and found this question, seedy/expensive apps, and old posts explaining the process in general, respectively.

I'm currently running OctOS, a modified CyanogenMod, based on Android 5.1, on a Samsung Note II.

I use an app called more shortcuts

It enables you to make system deep shortcuts and has widget functions.

Andy


Android x86 UI Dead on Boot I was able to install android x86 on my laptop with a 20GB partition and configure the system according to my tastes yesterday.  Also yesterday, I tried using this app to uninstall some bloatware on my system, such as:

Browser
Calculator
Gmail
Keyboard
Youtube
Velvet (I think this is the google app)

I tried getting rid of this stuff since it's all either unimportant or I have better apps instead, such as opera, hacker's keyboard, and deepstack calculator.  When I tried, google's services started dying, and then larger apps like atom launcher started dying.  Now, whenever I try to boot into android, it's stuck at the loading screen, though I do have access to a root terminal.  Luckily, I still have the '.apk' files available as well as the configuration files.  I tried to fix this by using 'pm install', and, even though it starts to install the package, it isn't able to.  When I try to pass other arguments to 'pm', it just says that the service isn't available.

Now, I don't want to have to go through a re-install and configure android again, so how do I either:
1. Start the service so that it works
2. Manually re-install the packages?

The device is still bootable to some other OSes.  All help is appreciated.

EDIT: I did not delete any services, only these apps that I have uninstalled from a separate tablet of mine and know to be unimportant.

As someone who develops apps (okay, not very sophisticated ones, but still) I know that many 'improved' versions of things rely on the originals being present. If you delete the originals the new ones don't work. As a simple example, an all bells and whistles photo editing program may rely on the basic camera 'service'. If you delete that service, it doesn't work. In your case, I would guess your hacker's keyboard relies on the basic keyboard.

As a general rule: unless I am certain it can't affect anything on the phone or I downloaded it, I don't delete it.

I would just start again.


TV IR remote codes discovery for Android I have an Android phone with an IR blaster and I can use it to control my Sony TV.

However I have an other device - TCL L24B2500 TV. I don't have a remote for it and want to use my phone instead. But I cannot, as TCL brand is not supported by the application and I couldn't find the codes in public databases.

So I need to guess the correct control codes to put into Android IR Remote apps. Are there any application to guess, or I am out of luck (no apps or search space is too large)?

I know that there are devices to capture the codes from remotes, but I don't have a working remote to start from.

Try this app (Smart IR Remote - AnyMote).
When I tried using other apps I often found that they couldn't support old devices in my house, but this app has a plethora of devices and it supports many old products.


Cannot report app crashes In the rare event that I get an app crash notification (unfortunately "app" has stopped working), I am never able to report the event. When I press the report button, I get a second notification, this time that Play Store has stopped.

In all other respects Play Store works fine.

This sequence of events always occurs no matter what app originally crashed.

I have already tried clearing Google Play cache and data.  I tried removing its updates. I tried reinstalling its updates.

I am running Kitkat on an AT&T supplied Samsung Galaxy S3 mini. Kitkat was an AT&T push upgrade.

I keep some system apps turned off: notably just about anything starting with AT&T or Samsung.

What could I be doing wrong?

If you want to report crash, you can do using other way :

When app crash, go to

  Phone Dialer -> Dial *#9900# keystring -> Dial

This will open Dumpsys terminal, then click Run Dumpstate and this application terminal will capture logs in background for you.

Now, you just need to attach the file from /log/dumpstate_ddmmyyhhmmss file as crash report.


fastboot commands don't do anything mtk device I have an android device, locked / not rooted. I'm trying to unlock the bootloader on a mac, adb works fine.

adb devices
adb reboot bootloader

works ok
But then when I try most commands with "fastboot" it won't work,
the only thing working is:

fastboot devices
fastboot --version

fastboot version 28.0.3-5475833

when I try:

fastboot getvar all
fastboot oem get-bootinfo

It just goes to a new blank line, then stays there "frozen" until I cancel...
same happens with

fastboot oem unlock

edit,
I see that MTK don't need to unlock?
IS this correct?
Thanks!

So you mentioned that

fastboot devices

is a command that works for you, but you didn't mention whether or not you saw any output from your device. While I don't have a lot of experience with MediaTek processors, I'm aware that most of them share the same set of drivers and as a result, you should be able to download the appropriate "universal" USB drivers for Mac.

You won't be able to run

fastboot oem unlock

because your computer doesn't currently detect a device that's plugged in, even if your phone or tablet is displaying the bootloader screen and is connected to your computer over USB.

What I would recommend is Googling the name of your device and the words "USB drivers for Mac" in the same search query and installing the drivers from the manufacturer's website that comes up, or if downloads are provided by XDA or Reddit, from those sites as well.

From Googling, this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1917237 comes up that mentions that macOS doesn't require fastboot drivers, but I don't believe that is true anymore, although if that is the case and you cannot find drivers, I would redownload the Android SDK from Android Studio and use the latest version of fastboot from the platform-tools folder.


Route Media (Music) to headphones only Look, about once a week at work I put on my headhpones, choose my music track, and then proceed to play the music for the whole office because I didn't actually plug in the headphones to the player. There are thirty people within earshot of my cubicle, but this place is quieter than a library. Except for me.

Is there any way (settings, app, etc.) to make music only play out the headphones?

Estimated, at least 50% of the questions starting with "is there a way (settings or app)..." can be answered straight away with the "big T" -- Tasker. That's an automation tool which doesn't come cheap (about 5 bucks; a free trial is available at its homepage), but is worth every cent. It works with so-called "profiles", where each profile consists of conditions and a task. So let me propose such a profile for you:

Condition:

Cell Near (set this up at work, let Tasker record all "cells near")1
State → Headset plugged (check "invert" to make it the opposite)

Task:

Audio → Silent2

1 this refers to your provider's mobile cell towers, and is the "cheapest" location mode in terms of battery (as the cells must either be scanned for calls/SMS/mobile data being available). If that's not exact enough, you may add GPS location or WiFi near (to scan for e.g. your office's WiFi AP) -- which then only kick in as soon as one of the listed cells is detected, again to save your battery.

2 Check whatever you want here. You could completely silence your phone (that would affect ringtone and phonecalls as well), but you probably just want the media volume set to zero.

So what happens with that profile? As soon as you come near to your workplace ("cell near", the mobile tower(s) close to the office), and the headset is not connected, media volume (assuming you chose that) will be silenced -- as the condition is completely met ("at office, headset not plugged"). Now you start your player and hear -- nothing. But once you plug the headset in, the condition is no longer valid -- and Tasker reverts to the settings as they've been before the profile was activated (so you can hear music via headphones).


Enable 4x MSAA using shell/ADB I have various Android devices, rooted, with version ranging from Android 4.1 to Android 6.0. I want to enable 4x MSAA using shell/ADB.
The code below is used to enable Hardware Overlay through a shell script
service call SurfaceFlinger 1008 i32 1

But is there a way to enable 4x MSAA?

Run this command:
adb shell setprop debug.egl.force_msaa true

To disable, replace true with false.
Tested on OnePlus 6 running Android 10.


Is there an 'offline' version of Google calendar for Android? For the PC there is a plugin for the google calendar so that edits to the calendar can be made offline. On my Android 2.1 there does not seem such an option.

I am using the calendar though the browser and not an app. On the app market place I cannot find the app so I am using the browser..

As I said in several comments, the Calendar app is the way to interact with your calendar offline.

If you're interacting with the calendar via the browser, you need to be connected. The Android browser doesn't support any sort of "plug-in".


Enabling LTE on Nexus 4 There seems to be various sources on the Internet on how this can be achieved. A Modem Flashing version that required a rooted phone and a code dialed on the phone.

Can someone tell me which of these two are valid?

You need both pieces. The LTE radio was disabled, in software, by the 2.0.1700.48 radio firmware update. In order to enable LTE, you'll need to downgrade to an older radio image (2.0.1700.33 or earlier), then use the *#*#4636#*#* dialer code menu to enable LTE. If you try to use the dialer code on the .48 or higher radios, it will not work.

If you're comfortable with unofficial images, there are also "hybrid" radios that you can use instead of downgrading below the .48 one. These basically attempt to integrate the updates present in the later radio images, while maintaining the "bug" that allows LTE to be enabled. They are made by third-parties and not endorsed or supported by Google/LG.

There is an XDA thread that compiles a list of all official Nexus 4 radios, along with downloads to each version. If you want to enable LTE, you need to do the following:

Unlock your bootloader. This will perform a factory reset in the process.
Download the radio you want, then flash it from fastboot: fastboot flash radio /path/to/radio.img
Boot into Android, open the dialer, and enter *#*#4636#*#*. This will bring up a new menu.
Select "Phone Information"
Scroll down a bit to find the "Preferred Network Type" option. Change this to "LTE/GSM". It should take effect immediately.
At this point, you can re-lock your bootloader if you choose.

There is also an app on Google Play that attempts to streamline this process. It requires root, and I cannot personally endorse it because I have never used it. Based on the reviews, it appears to generally work well on Jelly Bean (or earlier), but may have trouble on Lollipop.

Also be aware that the N4's LTE chip only supports one LTE band, AWS band 4. If your carrier has deployed LTE in your area on a different band, then you won't be able to use it.


Peripheral mode is off I can't pair my activity tracker (Mi band 2, xiaomi) with my tablet/app (Android 5.1 ).

According to BLE Scanner app: no nearby BLE devices, 'peripheral mode not supported in your device'

When I open the app (Mi fit) : discoverable is off

How do I fix it?

Note: I got the tablet for free and there's no name or brand, only "rockship 791"

Does Mi fit connect to the Mi band? If not try to install an older version, I found that while trying to configure smart unlock, as with newer version of the app I could not find the device on an HTC one M8


Issues with Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2 destroying or being unable to use SD-cards Reviews for some products, as well as some forum threads, claim that the Galaxy 3, Galaxy 4, and Galaxy Note 2 will not play well with some SD cards.

The first of the above links mentions that Kingston had posted this as a known issue on their website; a Google search for the quoted text brings up no such page.

Is this a known issue?  Is it advisable to avoid or prefer certain brands, models, capacities, or speeds of SD cards because of this?

This question seems to be related.

Abruptly forcing your phone to shut-down (holding power button until forced shut-down, pulling battery, etc.) can cause a corrupt SD card on any device if it is currently reading/writing to the SD card. It is known that some Samsung devices try to read the SD card during some random times such as when the phone is starting up. Also running applications that are saved to the SD card and forcing a shutdown is asking for trouble. I'd always recommend shutting the phone down properly whenever possible to minimize these issues.


How to mount an external USB drive on a Sony Z3? I have a Sony Z3 which is supposed to support OTG and therefore it should be possible to use an external flash drive. However I can't find the "Detect USB drive" quick setting which is supposed to enable the flash drive once it's connected in the USB port.

Is there any setting I need to toggle in order to mount the USB drive?

I'm using stock Android 5.1.1.

Turns out some versions of the Sony Z3 don't support OTG drives. Therefore no software/hardware change can allow you to use external USB devices.

Upgrading to Android 6.0 didn't help either, so I've abandoned the idea.


How to receive data from Bluetooth OBD-II? I am going to order ELM327 Bluetooth on-board diagnostics (OBD) II.

Does Android support Bluetooth OBD-II? Is there any way to pair and receive the data directly on Android?

Torque (lite, pro) works with most of the ELM327 Bluetooth OBD-II devices.

Be careful though, some of the "cheap" ones don't work well with Ford vehicles.


Samsung Galaxy Nexus doesn't detect charger This happened yesterday night first. My phone's battery was very slow, so I decided to charge it. It didn't start charging after plugging in the charger. Frustrated, I kept trying with different USB cables and laptop USB ports and wall adapters. I tried with my wife's phone too, and it started charging.
Eventually, the phone died, and I plugged it in anyway. After that, it started showing the battery symbol and the charging animation (as it always does when charging when switched off), but the animation would stop and the display would go off, and the entire symbol and charging animation would repeat. This would keep repeating.
I gave up, stopped charging it and when to sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I decided to give it another shot, and it just started working! I had to go to work, so it could only charge to around 50% before I left. I tried charging in the office with the USB port, but it very slow, almost not charging at all, just keeping up with the discharge!

I just got back home a little while ago, and it's the same story as last night. It is refusing to charge, and there is 10% battery left!

A few days ago, I left my phone in my pocket when I was on the treadmill in the gym, and it was getting tossed around in the pocket a lot.. I don't know if this has anything to do with it.

Will replacing my battery help? Is there anything else I can do? Software reset?

Edit: It just started charging now. It was just kept switched on and plugged into my laptop, with airplane mode enabled (as battery is low, and I live in a bad area with poor reception). I didn't even try to reinsert the charger. Looks like I am going to sleep a little more peacefully tonight, but I am still concerned as to why this happens, and would like to fix it.

This sounds like a loose usb port on the phone. The microUSB port on smartphones are delicate things and can easily become loose and no longer reliably charge. If you use your phone or leave it connected but with the power connection taut (like if it's plugged into the wall and fully extended so the power cord is putting pressure on the microUSB port), over time this can and WILL loosen (or even break) the solder joints that connect the MicroUSB port to the circuit board. Eventually leading to a scenario like you're seeing now.

Hopefully your phone is still under warranty, as a mainboard replacement is likely in order here...Unless you're VERY skilled at micro-soldering work, then you could take the phone apart and see if you can re-solder the loose/broken connects.


How can I hear micromusic.net on Android? If I start micromusic.net in chrome or Firefox on my nexus, I can't hear the music.

How can I make this work?

Use an alternative browser like FlashFox. Its selling point is the fact that it plays flash.

Source: Installed FlashFox, opened a random channel on micromusic.net, there were sounds!


Prevent or Mute "Device Location Shared" notification from showing Starting yesterday (March 23 2015) whenever I access Android Device Manager page I get a notification prompt on my phone saying:

"Device location shared. Android Device Manager located this device"

I really don't want this to show up. In case someone steals my phone, I don't want them to know I know where they are located.

I don't want to know other alternative apps to do this (as I already have airdroid which I can use to do this) I just want to be able to mute this notification.

Does anybody knows how to mute this  notification

To disable application notifications for versions prior to 5.1:

Open "settings".
In the device section of the settings menu, choose "apps" from the list.
Choose "all" from the menu to show a list of all installed applications.
Locate the application, in your case Android Device Manager, it may be labelled "Device Manager".
Highlight the application, then select "app info"
In the App Info screen, uncheck the "Show notifications" box.

You should no longer receive notifications for the the application.

Please note that not all applications enable to uncheck the "show notification" check box. At least not those on LG G3 device.

To disable application notifications for version 5.1:

Open "Settings".
Under "Quick Settings" open "Sounds and notifications".
Under "Notifications" open "App notifications".
Select the desired application from the list.
Use the on/off switch for "Block notifications". Turn on to block the application's notifications.


How to manually upload ringtones and notifications to DroidX? I've created 2 folders on the root of the SD card,

Ringtones
Notifications

and placed one mp3 file within each. When I disconnect the DroidX from the USB cable and navigate to either "Settings" > "Sound"> "Phone ringtone", or "Settings" > "Sound" > "Notification ringtone", neither mp3 file shows up.

What am I doing wrong?

You don't need to make your own folders.

The proper file to put the mp3s is /system/media/audio/ - where you will find folders for /alarms , /notifications , and /ringtones

There are two things to keep in mind when doing this:

If you are using full-sized .mp3's , you will put considerable strain on the system when it comes time to load one. In my experience, two minutes of mp3 works fine for an alarm, but such a file takes a few seconds to load, and will not make for a suitable ringtone, unless you trim the file first.
You will have to re-do this every time you flash a new ROM.

An alternative to this -- is to have them in /sdcard/media/ --
But if you have an older device, having them in the root directory allows for better performance.

HTH!


Changing default behaviour of the Contacts app in Oreo When you open up the Contacts app second or the following time, it always shows last view (i.e. where I left it), i.e. the most recent contact search.

I am using this app purely for searching the contacts, so the need of tapping Back to go back to recent search results list and then tapping X to clear the last query each time I want to search for another contact simply kills me. This is as stupid UX approach as it can be.

Is there any way to change the default view, in which Contacts app opens by default each time?

My stack:

Motorola Moto Z2 Play,
Android 8.0 Oreo.

I am using the default, system Contacts app. No 3rd party solution.

it occurs because you didn't clear it from the recent apps, next time clear the contacts app and relaunch it.


Can I turn off all "Notification" of all apps, services in Android phone? I found tips to improve battery in this link: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-crisis-map-puts-shelters-storm-info-alerts-power-outages-on-mobile/

In this link - author said we can turn off Notification of android/iOS applications to save battery.

I have an Android phone. If I go to Settings/ Personalization / Manage Notifications (Sony Xperia). I will see all Applications/ Android Services that I can turn off notifications

My questions is CAN I turn off all application notifications (downloaded / built-in apps) / android service notifications (app services/built-in services)? If I turn off all of them - Does this affect operation of the phone? I understand that I will not receive any notifications (news/updates ... ) if I turn off notifications. I can check updates manually.

Thank you!

Yes, you can turn off all notifications.  Your phone will work fine, but you will not receive any notifications, which will severely limit functionality of applications that depend on notifications to alert you of events and progress.

Furthermore, the amount of battery life saved by doing this will be so close to zero, that I honestly can't recommend it.

Disable notifications for annoying apps.  Leave them on for others.


Low storage and Play Store problems after factory reset After I did a factory reset (twice; once through settings, once through recovery mode by clearing eMMC), I got a "low storage space" error. I can't get rid out of it - tried clearing cache and uninstalling every pre-installed app I could.
It's a generic Android device from Amazon (China) for $40, so of course, it reports tons of free space.
The main problem is that I can't install any apps. Google Play doesn't update. From the old store, I can't install anything, error 504. Installation of .apk's fails too, for an unknown reason.
Something weird happens that I can't understand: after a while, when I try to open Google Play Store, it says "app isn't installed". More curiously, restarting fixes the issue!
TL;DR I want to be able to at least install apps. The main issue is low storage. Factory reset doesn't work.

If you have a SD card slot you could format a storage card to the phone and configure that card to be your default for app storage. That could give you a better platform to start downloading the apps to your phone.


Stream timers across multiple android devices I have seen multiple posts with streaming Video or Audio in multiple devices. However I want to stream multiple timers across multiple android devices. Ideally is to have same timer running on different devices. Timer can be set by some app or in-build timer app.

Is there way to achieve this ? Currently I can think of having some kind of app which shares screens on multiple devices. However such apps are either paid or do not work properly. Is there free and open source alternative ?

It will be something like master-slave kind of setup, where one device control the time and other just display it.

You are making this overly complicated IMO. There is no need for designing a full fledged distributed system for such a simple task that can be done on the web. Just go to Tickcounter.com, sign up for a free account and create your custom timers on any device. Copy that link on your phone and create a desktop shortcut. If you're feeling fancy, create a web wrapper around it.


Remove camera icon from kitkat lock screen? I have a Droid Razr Maxx HD that just got an OTA update to KitKat. I am wondering if there is a way to remove the camera icon from the lock screen and disable the right-to-left swipe to enable the camera.

I've looked and haven't seen any settings for this... if one even exists.

You can use a custom lock screen. Just pick the one that you like


Audio / Microphone streaming Is there any way to live stream audio from my Android phone via mobile internet network (broadband), so I could play the stream on VLC player?

Yes, there is an Application Camtest Audio. You can use it for streaming audio/video over the network using WI-FI. I uploaded my app for you in this link:
http://www.droidbin.com/p1alrjvilfvl31joi1evm1qbilfl3

This app is based on an Open Source library called ["Libstreaming"]


is an SD card mounted with setuid mode? Related question here which gives all the gory details (that I won't repeat in this question), motivations and context.

Android is a Linux kernel based system. I know quite well about mount(2) and mount(8) and the filesystems on Linux.

Can the SD card in a tablet be mounted (e.g. as an Ext4 file system) without the MS_NOSUID flag? If yes, how?

I am willing and capable of writing, cross-compiling, and building a statically linked ELF executable (for my ARM-based tablet), which is root-setuid and mixes the features of sudo and sash on my Debian system. I am capable of formatting some SD card (on my Debian) as an Ext4 filesystem. And if I know how to install and run it on my tablet, I will write that program as a GPLv3+ software (in C).

A related question is what exact cross GCC compiler should I use on Debian/x86-64 to target such an ARM tablet.

External storage (/sdcard) and physically external storage both are mounted by vold with nosuid irrespective of the filesystem, can't be mounted other way without root.
Both storages are accessible to apps as emulated filesystem (with fixed file permissions) or through SAF; both don't let files be executed.
You can move ELF executable to somewhere on /data e.g. to /data/local/tmp/ using adb shell or to /data/data/com.termux/files/home/ using Termux app. /data is formatted as ext4 or f2fs, lets file permissions be set, so you can execute files there. But that too is mounted with nosuid by default.
Android apps are run with all Linux capabilities dropped (empty bounding set and NO_NEW_PRIVS set), so they can't make use of setuid or file capabilities to elevate their privileges.

You may want to have a look at How Magisk works? or How to manually root a phone? to see how root works on Android devices, not possible with locked bootloader.


Gmail autocomplete -- how to clear contact suggestions when composing a new message? When I compose a new message in Gmail on my Android phone I'm offered several suggestions for the recipient (i.e. for the email's To: field) via an autocomplete function. These are often very old/unknown contacts which I'd like to no longer see as autocomplete suggestions, but I can't yet work out how to clear this list.

The contacts suggested appear to have come from an old list of "Other" contacts, i.e. people that I've contacted infrequently and who were not actual contacts I've added to my contact list. These only show up when I compose a new message in Gmail on my phone, and the autocomplete works as expected when on a non-Android device (laptop).

My assumption is that the Gmail autocomplete function is reading these outdated contacts from a list stored somewhere in a file on my phone which is impervious to the contact sync process or somehow not being cleared as expected otherwise -- I've tried all manner of syncing phone contacts, deleting old/other contacts outside of Android, etc. but no joy so far.

An idea I have is to somehow search Android's filesystem for a file that contains the unwanted contacts and if found then wipe that file clean. Is this reasonable, and if so can anyone suggest guidance that'll make this less of a wild goose chase?

My phone details:

Model: Nexus 5X
Android version: 7.1.2
Baseband version: M8994F-2.6.37.2.21
Kernel version: 3.10.73-ge570678
Build version: N2G47F

Thanks in advance for any help or insight.

In your case, you could try clearing gmail's local data.

Go to

  Settings -> Apps -> 3-dot Menu -> Show System

Then Scroll down and Select Gmail. Tap on Storage -> Clear Data.

This should remove anything stored by Gmail locally.

Your Emails and other data will be synced back when you reopen Gmail.


Saving contacts when I change ROM on Xiaomi MI3 I have a Xiaomi MI3 running an Android 6.0 CyanogenMod version. I want to return to use a MIUI Rom, but I don't know how save all the contacts (a lot of them aren't saved on the google account, they are saved on the phone).

What I have to do to save all the contacts (in order to have them when I'll install the MIUI Rom)?

Usually, I use TeamWin TWRP Recovery to install Roms.

If it's just about contacts, that should be easy:

open the contacts app
tap the "overflow menu" (the 3 "stapled dots", usually in the upper-right corner)
select Export/Import
select Export to SD card (might be named slightly different)

A few seconds later, there should be a file called 0001.vcf in the root of your SD card. That's all your contacts stored in VCard format. Copy that file to your PC (or any other safe place off the device). If later you wish to restore them again, the same procedure can be used – except that in step 4 you'd need to chose "Import from SD card", of course.


How to clear my autocorrect's word history on S4 mini? I let my younger cousins play on my S4 Mini from time to time, but now I have found that all their words they have used are the first to come up when I use my phone to text. It has gotten quite irrititating. Samsung seems to have very hard to find settings compared to my old sony Ericsson so I cannot find where to get rid of the word history typed onto my phone's keyboard.

Thank you.

Best bet would be to check System settings > My device > Language and input > Samsung keyboard (gear icon) > Predictive text (make sure this is on / green). You might want to check on the Learn from (word) items there.


No longer able to create Gifs with last update I cut videos to under 6 seconds but the gif button doesn't appear. This function has been disabled?

Same case. I guess it's gone. Noted that sendings gifs "normally" still doesn't work as well. However, old <6sec gifs sent before can be forwarded successfully.


Logout from Gmail account without logging out Google Play Store account I tried logging out the account on Gmail, but it logged out the Play Store as well. How can I logout of my Gmail account without logging out of the Google Play Store? Is it possible?

It is not possible according to this guide https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2991620?hl=en

  There’s no option to sign out of the Gmail app for Android without
  removing your entire account from your phone or tablet. However, you
  can accomplish many of the same tasks through other actions, depending
  on what you need.

As an example you can disable Gmail sync and just check your email from the web browser.


Orange HTC Hero Unlock problems Orange being the unhelpful company that it is, can't unlock phones in the shop.  This was unfortunate as I was going overseas, but no matter, I called the helpline, and then was told it'll take three weeks - to get the IMEI sent to HTC, and get the unlock code back.

I had no choice so I waited, and after three weeks I got the code.  Of course, it didn't work.  I checked, and they've used the wrong IMEI number.  This means another 3 weeks, at least, and I'm meanwhile stuck roaming with my smartphone, which is NOT cheap, plus I can't terminate my contract with them until it's unlocked.

Sooo...while I wait out the time again in the hope they don't screw it up again, I wondered if it's possible to either unlock it by other methods, or to root it and whether that would negate the need for unlocking?

HTC Hero originally running 1.5, now 2.1 update 1, with Orange UK.

Try one of the online unlocking websites.

If you're paranoid, see if your bank still offers limited-use credit cards with a very small limit for online purchases, or use a pre-paid card.


Changing the Google Now voice back to male? Not sure why, but today the voice on Google Now has changed from a male to a female. I'm in the UK and before I had a male with a British accent but now that's changed to an American female.

I can live it, although I would prefer to have the male one back. It sounded more human IMO. Anyone know how I can get it back?

I've tried changing the language setting but it didn't make any difference.

EDIT:
A while ago Google changed the voice to a female with a British accent and AFAIK there's no way to get the male British voice back. Not really a problem for me anymore as the new voice seems to have improved a lot.

Not sure if this question can be answered any more, because I have had the English UK male voice back for a while now. Turns out it was Google changing things - not me. Just one day it reverted back to the male voice. Thanks to the guys who answered though! :)


No Mobile Network In Samsung Grand Prime Samsung Grand Prime Phone. There is no Mobile Network. I tried *#*#4636#*#* but it didn't bring up the Testing Menu. I am not able to search operator or change the network mode. The IMEI in *#06# and in the phone is same.

When I remove the sim it displays insert sim card. When I reinsert it, it's able to find there is a sim inserted but there is no signal.

I installed Network Mode app and it shows Radio is Off. Turn Radio On is not working.

When I get into settings for mobile network, it will not allow me to search. When I click search it will say mobile network not available. Both automatic and manual search says the same. The SIM works fine in another device. I can confirm its definitely device.

Can somebody point me in the right direction?

EDIT

I have updated the phone using Kies and now its in 5.0.2. Still no signal. There is a Blocked Symbol near the Wifi Symbol

EDIT2
How to check that I have correct modem for the phone ?

I can confirm that the stop sign symbol in Android 5.0 appears whenever your mobile network's service is down/unavailable. (In Stock Android Phones running Android 6.0, the stop icon is associated with Do Not Disturb, however on Samsung Phones with Android 5.0, the stop sign means the network provider's service is down).

One common reason as to why there may be no service is because you are using your phone in a remote area (where service is generally not available)

Now to try and solve the problem, take your phone to your carrier and explain the problem to them (hopefully they will have a solution), or maybe try using a different carrier and see if the problem is solved that way.


Complete reset of SGS2 (factory reset not sufficient) background here:
Recovering internal memory on SGS2 (CWM, not root, boot to recovery only)

The problem is that having recovered that data, and having done a factory reset (wiping /data, /cache), the phone still doesn't boot. It goes to the Galaxy S2 screen, and then turns off (not getting to SAMSUNG screen).

So I assume there must be a problem with /system.

Is there a log somewhere on the phone that I could access that might show me what the problem is? Otherwise should I try to flash other roms (or reflash the stock rom?) in the hope that this would resolve it?

Many thanks!

I think you should just flash another ROM. You will still have all your data on the Internal SD so no need to worry about that. This would wipe your /system. So what you want to do is follow the standard procedure of installing a new Custom ROM and you should be good to go without any data loss (Eg. Pictures, Videos etc. You still lose any app data not backed up on the cloud).
A great site with recommendations which I use for my own phone is GalaxyS2Root.
Some ROM recommendations I can give you from my own personal usage are AOKP JB MR2, Resurrection Remix v5. Try to avoid the ones with battery drain issues and you should be fine.
Going thru the phone log with your phone not booting up is a hassle which is unnecessary in this case. Just do the above and you'll be fine.


Manage different devices on one place I would like to manage different Android devices on one place. It means I would like to see information about these devices on a single account. Mainly I would like to get a list of installed applications, latest geographical position.

There are a few ways to do what you're looking for.

One option is to use a parental control app that lets you see the location, browsing history, apps downloads, sms activities, etc.
One such app is called qustodio. You can find many similar ones online.

Sending method:
This method will require you to have the Google account password for the device in question. (This method is only ideal if all devices are using the same Google account)

open play.Google.Com in your browser in desktop view and after signing in, go to the menu>apps, and you'll see a drop down list. In the list select the device for which you want to see installed apps. Scroll through the list to see the apps that were installed
to see the location of the device, you can use Google's find my device option. After logging in you'll see the location of the phone. (Note: sometimes the phone will get a notification that the device was located using this option)


i have an android htc one sv, it has an internal storage of 4.46gb when i DL an app it says i have insufficient storage, yet when connected to a pc my pc sees 4gb in total with 3gb free, when the phone is powered on it shows 4mb used and 5mb total now i have only my htc phone specs, google51mb, boost zone my default carrier and their services 37mb, earth,  ebay 11mb, facebook 170mb,gmail 10mb, google app 51mb, google play serv 104mb, google play store 26mb, htc back up 5mb, sync mngr 2mb, face book messenger 29mb,offer up 40mb, and talk back 6mb, vdm client and voice mail total 15mb, now since i dont use google earth, i have disabled it, and uninstalled it, total freed up 3.11mb,

now in total on my phone on internal storage alone not including my sim card which has only pics from my camera on it, the above some equals 557mb where is my other 4.45gb's at?

Maybe this is due excess cache. I guess before an app is installed on to our internal storage, Android caches the data to cache memory. So please try to clear it and try downloading again.

To clear, just go to Storage Management and click on 'Cache'. It prompts you whether to clear and you need to choose clear. Try and reply if it worked.


How to specify the directory path on external memory card? An app currently saves files to "mydir" on the internal memory:

/storage/emulated/0/mydir

Instead, I want the files saved onto external memory card, but I am unable to figure out what is the right path. The attempts below do not work:

/SanDisk SD card/mydir

/storage/SanDisk SD card/mydir

/storage/emulated/SanDisk SD card/mydir

Android 9 , Redmi 8

"SanDisk SD card" comes from a file manager app, not sure if the card is to be specified by this or something else.

/storage/36E2-14BB/

this is what stands for the external microSD card,

/storage/36E2-14BB/mydir

...and this is for my own custom directory on the microSD.

(I got the /storage/36E2-14BB/ from an app where the available folder options were listed in a drop-down menu. Otherwise, no clue how to arrive to the 36E2-14BB and it is is unique or universal to each microSD cards.)


Stream audio from a smartphone to another smartphone over a Hot-spot based network The quandary is how! I want to play the audio from one phone to all other phones within the network (or even one of the phones). It is totally fine if I will have to download some application on all of the devices.

What I tried so far is BubbleUPnP. This did the job just fine (from my Huawei P20 Pro to my Y5 II), save that the interface is awful and the limitations arr endless of an amount--with maximum 16 songs in a playlist and maximum uptime of 30 minutes streaming per app launch.

After a couple of hours of additional research, I found the solution myself. From everything that I've tried, SoundSeeder (mobile application) seems to be the best. It's super advanced (including delay compensation).


How much damage could one do to an unrooted device? I'm trying to determine if it's necessary to backup my non-rooted tablet. I plan on doing a lot of messing around but most back up utilities require root and the root exploit hasn't been found for my device yet. Is it worth it to do a quazi "full backup of non-rooted device"?

So let me clarify. Am I right in assuming that if the device in non-rooted then the system cannot be damaged by malware or misconfigured apps? If I'm installing just installing apps is there any chance that I could damage my non-rooted device beyond trivial repair (i.e. not having to take it into a shop)?

From within the Android system itself, all you risk on the great majority of devices is losing data such as media, apps, logs and configurations. Anyhow, if one manages to damage it more than that, it is usually repairable through a factory reset.

Whether or not your device is rooted, you can always do it harm by flashing bad bootloaders, recoveries/recovery images, inadequate update.zip files and a few other things, so always watch out for that.

I strongly recommend that you do a backup anyway -- it's a fairly simple process and it's worth it just to stay on the safe side.


Where does "battery usage" app collect its data from? The Battery Usage screen gives nice stats about which application has consumed how much battery. The stats are based on the time each process has kept the phone awake, the CPU time, etc. etc.

There are times that I want to get more details that possibly exist, but not shown in the UI. That's why I want to look at the source of the info, or possibly write an app to collect better stats. (maybe some files in the /proc file system?)

Originally, this is because I didn't get any answer on this question:
How can I find out what causes "Android OS" to consume battery?

I think you found a solution to your source problem. However your question went unanswered.

The information in the Battery Usage screen is found in

/data/system/batterystats.bin

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105051985738280261832/posts/FV3LVtdVxPT


Flashing seems not possible I own an Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 wifi (picassowifi). I flashed the recovery with TWRP and installed CyanogenMod 10 on it. After a couple of months I tried installing a nightly update for CyanogenMod but after that I couldn't boot the tablet anymore. It just crashed after displaying the bootanimation. Now I want to reinstall the old version of CM.

But there are a couple of problems that occured:

I can't connect to the tab via adb
When I tried installing CM from a zip, installation fails with "E:
Unable to mount /system"
/system can't be mounted in the Mount-Menu of TWRP

I tried formatting the internal space, but it had no effect.

I read that "E: Unable to mount /system" could be solved by flashing a new recovery or switching to ClockworkMod. But flashing with heimdall also fails:

root@Ubuntu:~# heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp-2.8.7.0-picassowifi.img  --no-reboot

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
ERROR: Failed to send data!Releasing device interface...

root@Ubuntu:~# heimdall detect --verbose --usb-log-level debug

[timestamp] [threadID] facility level [function call] <message>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 0.002649] [00000af8] libusbx: debug [libusb_get_device_list]
[ 0.002746] [00000af8] libusbx: debug [libusb_get_device_descriptor]
Device detected
[ 0.002799] [00000af8] libusbx: debug [libusb_exit]
[ 0.002818] [00000af8] libusbx: debug [libusb_exit] destroying default context

root@Ubuntu:~# heimdall print-pit --verbose

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...

            length: 18
      device class: 2
               S/N: 0
           VID:PID: 04E8:685D
         bcdDevice: 021B
   iMan:iProd:iSer: 1:2:0
          nb confs: 1

interface[0].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 1
   Class.SubClass.Protocol: 02.02.01
       endpoint[0].address: 83
           max packet size: 0010
          polling interval: 09

interface[1].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 2
   Class.SubClass.Protocol: 0A.00.00
       endpoint[0].address: 81
           max packet size: 0200
          polling interval: 00
       endpoint[1].address: 02
           max packet size: 0200
          polling interval: 00
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...
libusbx: error [op_set_interface] setintf failed error -1 errno 71
ERROR: Setting up interface failed!
Releasing device interface...

So my question are:

(How) can I fix this?
Is there any other way to flash the recovery in this kind of environment?
Maybe manually with the Terminal from TWRP?

I fixed the libusbx error
libusbx: error [op_set_interface] setintf failed error -1 errno 71 by following these instructions:

 echo "blacklist cdc_acm" >/etc/modprobe.d/cdc_acm-blacklist.conf
 rmmod cdc_acm # ignore ERROR is not currently loaded

After that the "Setting up interface..." step passed well for me.


HDMI connected on Google Nextbook 8 when no HDMI connected Recently, my Nextbook 8 has been acting oddly. What it does is switches into HDMI mode, though there is no HDMI cable plugged in.

I first noticed this on Sunday. The screen was refusing to rotate, even for apps that required a different screen orientation. When I figured out that HDMI Switch was on, I turned it off and that fixed the problem. Temporarily.

Now, the screen flashes frequently as it "connects" and "disconnects" from HDMI, which makes using it next to impossible. Sound stutters when it does this, and if it's "connected," I can't watch videos on it.

I've never once connected HDMI to it, and I take care of my electronics. I've never dropped it, I have anti-virus on it that finds nothing wrong, and I haven't downloaded any new apps. I've found nothing online to help me solve what could be causing this, though I've been searching since Monday. All problems I've found through searching have been "HDMI not connecting" issues instead.

Any help would be greatly appreciated in this matter.

I actually had this very same issue.

I contacted Nextbook and it was very hard to get in touch with them by phone or email. Finally I got an email back with some ideas, including doing a reset for the whole tablet.

However, I believe what actually fixed it is that I bought a cheap HDMI to mini-HDMI cable on Amazon to plug into my TV (which works quite nicely) and once I plugged it in and out, that seemed to fix the problem of sound not working/screen rotating. I haven't seen the problem happen again, so I think there was just some slight connection problem that is now okay. I hope it works for you.


App to show battery current or rate of change of voltage, short term info Id like to have quick feedback about how what I do on my phone affects power usage, but cant seem to find a good widget or app for that out of the hundreds out there! Anyone know any?

Thanks

If you have Spare Parts installed there is detailed information in there about the state of the battery. Also, you can find out what is the application that is sucking up most of the battery via Settings > About Phone > Battery Use.


Why can't I move apps to the external memory on Huwait P8 lite 2017? I have a Huawei P8 Lite 2017 phone and it is slow as hell simply because the internal memory is almost full. I have a 64-G microSD card, but for some reason I can’t move any of my applications to that one. There are no ways to properly analyze and free space either.

In a nutshell the OS and the app date uses all my 16G internal memory.

It’s kind of annoying. Any suggestions what to do?

UPDATE (15-Apr-2017): The main issue (as shown in the screenshot) is that some apps use a lot of internal memory and there is no way to move them to the SD card. Any ideas how to make that happen without rooting? It seems to be a common problem.

It seems like they have removed that option, I am using the same device and had previously using Marshmallow device. I do not have a storage issue though. This is the trick that worked for me, I changed the default storage to SD Card before I installed and updated apps. The app package is stored on internal memory but the data is on SD Card. However, my internal storage is always a minimum of 3GB and note that I have lot of apps, including games.

I guess if you change the storage type late, it doesn't move the data of apps to SD Card.

My advice is, backup your apps then reset your phone. Thereafter, initially  change the the default storage to SD Card then you can reinstall your apps.


Not able to flash recovery on my Shield Tablet K1 Important note: I used a Mac whilst doing this.

Also Important: I have the Android 6.0 update installed.

I got a Shield Tablet K1 for Christmas and attempted to root it. However, I'm having a lot of issues with it, and I'm worried I've messed up the recovery part of the tablet.

First, I unlocked the device, and set it up. This worked fine.

I went to flash the tablet with TWRP for the Shield Tablet, which I obtained from here: TWRP Shield Tablet

I used the command "fastboot flash recovery ", and it looked like it had completed.

However, it appears it has not completed.

Booting into Recovery Mode using "adb reboot recovery" brings me to a screen with the android lying on the floor, with a red triangle over him.

Attempting to go into recovery mode using the down volume key & the power button, usually brings me to the Nvidia boot screen, where the brightness increases after a few seconds but then it just sits there until it eventually reboots.

Then, after attempting to reflash the stock recovery.img that I got from here: Shield Open Source Drivers and Images it still gives me the a) red triangle and laying dead android or b) nvidia bootscreen that sits for a long time before rebooting.

I am completely lost. I can't tell why this isn't working - it should by all means be working, yet nothing is flashing.

If anyone can fix this, it will be much appreciated.

The shield's bootloader got overwritten during the Marshmallow OTA, and it is no longer backward-compatible (Lollipop ROM won't boot on this bootloader, and older recoveries neither).

The reason why you can't manage to boot into recovery is because the bootloader is preventing you from doing it.

When using adb reboot recovery, Android has already booted up, and, as a consequence, overwritten the recovery with the stock one. That brings you to the stock "android lying on the floor" recovery.

A developper at XDA made an EXPERIMENTAL Build for the shield tablet and shield tablet k1. (See here). Please use this at your own risk. Also note that Chainfire's SuperSU doesn't work with it.

If you want to root your tablet, you are not forced to do it by recovery. Give a this shot.


I set a 20 character password using Find My Device, but the lock screen only accepts 16 I used Find My Device to set a 20-character password for my phone (it accepted the password without any error messages as shown in the picture below). After I got my phone back, I went to type in the password on the lock screen, but I could only type in 16 characters.

I saw on Password too long to type in android device.Locked out from android device manager that mentioned the lock screen would accept the truncated password, but my phone does not unlock with the truncated, 16-character password.

I don't want to resort to a data erase, since I have important texts and memos, and also some contacts I don't want to lose. Is there any solution to this?

For other people with this problem - I found out that sometimes the manufacturer of the phone can unlock it or even back-up your data before a factory reset, if you go to one of their service centers.
In my case, my phone is a Samsung, but my local service center still couldn't do anything because my specific model number wasn't supported. They said they support the "popular" models like the Galaxy S series or the Note series.

So the first step would be to contact the manufacturer and see if they provide repair services for your phone. Otherwise, after this past week of research, it seems the only solution is to factory reset and wipe your data.


why smartphones become laggey and slow with time? I found a lot of info about how to make my smartphone faster but I couldn't find the reason for smartphones lowliness.

I found that you should move apps to SD Card (if you have one)
Don't use a lot of widgets, try not to use too much home screens.
Remove apps that you don't use. Turn off animation.

And more stuff like this.

But what makes the phone become slow with time?

Same reason a PC becomes slow over time. A lot of crap ends up on the system. For instance; even when you uninstall apps many of them many times leave something behind. The internal android DB becomes full and becomes harder to search because of the large amount of data.


App availability after deletion from Play Store I wanted to ask what would happen to an app (for example, Flappy Bird) that gets deleted from the Play Store. However, I still have it on my mobile.
I am changing my phone and plan to sell the old one. If I delete the app from my old phone's storage, will I still be able to install it from the Play Store, and will it exist in My Apps and Games at my account in Play Store?

You will not be able to download the app once it is removed from Play Store, which means you can't install on new phone (and will not be available in your account "My Apps and Games", since it is not available on Play Store). So it doesn't matter whether your phone is old or new- even on your current phone, if you uninstall it , you can't install from play store, if the app is removed from Play Store

Availability
Some apps and games can be removed from Google Play by a developer or for policy reasons. If an item has been removed, it won't be available for download.

Source:  Google Play Help - I can't find an app or game
That is not the end of world. For starters, you can consider taking a backup of the game apk (of course, no updates from Play Store). Many ways to do this are suggested here - How to take backup of all installed APKs from Phone to PC?
Alternatively, apps and games removed from Google Play Store, may well be available on:

Alternate sources (possibility of getting updates): see What are the alternative Android app markets?
Internet:  download apk from internet and install (not recommended since you have no way of knowing for sure that the apk is free of malware or adware)


Samsung Galaxy S5 Mail download size problem I think I've came across to some sort of bug in Samsung Galaxy S5, (SW-G900W8), Android 4.4.2, (Kernel 3.4.0-1947824).

The problem is, after the mail account being setup correctly, the default mail client on the phone will not download all the mail but only the headers.

The "MAxEmailBodyTruncationSize" setting on the exchange server was set to 50KB , 100KB and unlimited but it has not solved the problem.

Another samsung phone (not the same model) gets the settings correctly (50KB, 100KB, unlimited respectively).

SO I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with the server. Do you have any suggestions? Other than maybe using another mail client on the phone?

Thanks,

We had the same issue, and also tried setting it to "unlimited" without that solving the issue. We think the S5 is reading in bytes and S4 in KB. Finally, entering the limit in bytes solved it for us.

Can you try to put 1000000 in the limits and re-create your account on the S5, what choices of limits to you have while setting up your device at that moment?


Dual sim phone - work / private how does it work? I have a work and a private phone which can be a bit annoying at times carrying them both around. I like to keep them both separate so i can turn the work one off when on holiday etc to avoid the temptation of checking e-mails, returning missed calls etc.  If i had both these sims in a dual sim phone, if i go away on holiday or just want to turn the work one off for instance, can this be done so i don't receive calls / e-mails from the work one but maintain the private one without having to physically remove the sim.

A dual sim phone may be what i am after, but if i can't do this it will be a non starter.

Yeah you can actually do that just go to settings then simcard management then switch the simcard you don't want off for turning it on back do the same process again


Notification doesn't show up on Redmi 8 MIUI 11 and 12 Some push notification from some apps (some games actually, I wasn't aware about other apps) suddenly no longer appeared. When I first bought this phone, they all worked fine, but then I updated MIUI to 11 and 12, and since then notification from games wouldn't appear. They would only appear when:

I opened the said games
In battery-saving mode (on low battery, when I activated this mode, notifs will immediately popped up)

I have turned on notification in Settings for those apps, doesn't help.
Anyone encountered the same problem? Any solution?
My device:
Redmi Note 8 Pro, Android 10 (Q), MIUI Global 12.0.2 Stable

This is usually a problem with battery optimization. Go to your settings and identify the list under battery optimization (that is the stock Android name, it could be battery saver etc). Remove those apps from the list
Edit: As confirmed by OP in comment, it is found under Settings → Battery & performance → App battery saver. Selecting those app(s) from the list, and changing from Battery Saver to No restrictions fixed the problem of missing notifications.


Is there a way to "re-link" all contacts using some button or other procedure? My contacts come from 3 sources:

Google account
Facebook
Skype

Some of those contacts were automatically linked together so "Joe Smith" appears as one contact instead of three. However, some contacts were not linked automatically.

Is there a button or some other way to tell Android "go scan all contacts from all accounts now and try to re-link them"?

I did this a few months ago by downloading a third-party contacts app, using its (much smarter) merge function, and then uninstalling the app. I can't remember for sure, but I think the app I used was either Contacts by Contapps or GO Contacts EX. There's also Contact Analyzer 2, but there are some reports of it deleting all contacts instead of merging!


Where can I locate the picture that is currently being used for my lock screen? I have a picture that I cherish deeply being used as my lock screen. The problem is that the  Micro SD card I was using became corrupted at one point and needed to be formatted so the picture was lost. I need to know if there is a location on the files of the phone where I can copy it from. I mean the picture has to be being used somewhere right?

I was using an app called "File Manager" to search through the files and try to find it. If anyone can point me in the right location I would really appreciate it.

Android Version: 4.0.4

From what I can tell from the other answers it sounds like the image you wish to retrieve is also your wallpaper.
If that is the case you could use an app I have been working on for this exact purpose, called Get Current Wallpaper.

It will retrieve your current wallpaper, save it to your Pictures folder on your external storage drive and allow you to share it with whatever app you use to share images :)


Is it possible to change the settings in android so that data is saved to the external SD card instead of the the phone's internal memory? This problem has been annoying me for a while. When I download and install an app to my phone it defaults to the phone's internal memory. Not too big of a deal since I can move it afterwards. The problem comes after when the app has additional data it needs to install on to the device. That additional data always installs to the phone memory and I can't move it to the SD card.

For example: I install an app that is in total 1mb in size that I can move to the SD card. But the app downloads 300mb of data that stays on the internal memory that the app uses.

Is there a way to change it so that the data is downloaded to the SD?
I know that it's possible to re-partition the SD card and internal memory to make the internal memory bigger but I want to do that as a last resort.

The answer is NO.
You'll need to re-partition your SD to make your internal memory bigger.


How do I stop unwanted information from being listed on the lock screen? No - This is not about "sensitive information".

I just upgraded to Lollipop and my lock screen display was changed by the upgrade.

On the lock screen I now see notifications for

text messages; this is good
emails; this is good
application updates and system notifications; this is bad and needs to go away

I've looked in the Notifications settings and tested the "while locked" settings but this does not achieve what I want.

How do I stop unwanted information like "3 updates available" from appearing on the lock screen?

If you don't want them at all you can go to settings > sound & notification > app notifications then turn of the notifications you don't want. That would be the best way I know and use.


Is it possible to use usb drive/sd card as internal storage? Phone internal storage is damaged and unavailable. Is there any other way to fix the phone than replacing internal storage (or entire motherboard), perhaps using usb drive or sd card?

A feature called Adoptable Storage allows the Android OS to format an external storage media as a permanent internal storage. The data on the adopted SD card is encrypted and it can’t be mounted on another device.

Here are the steps to adopt your SD card:

Put the SD card inside your Android phone and wait for it to get detected.
Now, open Settings.
Scroll down and go to the Storage section.
Tap the name of your SD card.
Tap the three vertical dots on the top right corner of the screen.
Tap Storage Settings.
Choose format as internal option.
On next screen, you have the final chance to decide whether you want to change your mind. Tap Erase & Format if you want to format your SD card as internal storage.
You will be notified if Android finds that your SD card is slow. Tap OK to continue.
You can start the data migration process now or do it a later stage.
Tap Done to finish storage adoption process for your SD card.

Source: https://fossbytes.com/android-sd-card-internal-storage-adoptable-storage/


Why is the HTC Legend Froyo ROM labelled as being for Vodafone? I am currently using Optus and would like to upgrade to this ROM, but it is labelled as being a Vodafone ROM. Is this important? Is the ROM locked to the network or are there other issues it may cause if I installed it. Would this be any different from buying a phone from Vodafone then switching networks?

I've done sort of the reverse -- installed a US T-Mobile ROM to my T-Mobile phone while I had it on the Canadian Rogers network.  Since the Legend is also a GSM phone like my Vibrant, I would expect yours to work just as well as mine did.  Just make sure you have your SIM card in for the whole process.


Smart Launcher - How do i change icon of an application on home screen Smart launcher used to let me change icon of application shortcuts that are on home screen individually, by long pressing a shortcut.

Now it doesnt work anymore. How can i do that?

Sorry for the delay. You can still change the icon of a shortcut but the procedure changed with SL3. Long press on a bubble, then select "Edit Icon".


How can I get the last dialled number and call duration via adb? I'm creating a computer system for telemarketing.
I'm using adb commands to dial numbers Link
Is it possible to get last dialled number and call duration via adb?
If it is, how?

Maybe you just need to pull

/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db

as it contains all the call logs, and then filter through?

Something like:

cp data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db /sdcard/MyTelephoneDatabase.db


GPS functionality degradation on Galaxy SIII I recently moved from a relatively flat area to an area near the mountains. I used to have good reception for my GPS when I would run using the RunKeeper app. Now I only get reception for about half of my run. The App shows 'green' on the reception meeter, and I can use Navigation and other GPS driven apps without a problem. Is there anything I can do to test the GPS functionality within the given area? Is there any known reasons why an app would not properly work even though it says it is getting sufficient reception?

I had big problems with GPS in my galaxy s2, the connection was unstable and sometimes it took 30 minuts to get the signal

To analyze the GPS signal you can use something like GPS status

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2

I've discovered that my phone was suddenly loosing all the signals, so I suspected an hardware problem

The GPS uses as antenna the metallic board that is inside the phone

I've disassembled the phone, and Cleaned this board from oxidation in correspondence of every screw with a nail file

I'm surprised of the result the GPS signal really busted (it fix in 30 seconds inside the house) and is totally stable

You can find here a video tutorial specific for s3

Galaxy S3 Gps Fix (When Screw Tightening Doesn't …: http://youtu.be/VI4hs19riRM