Recording digital audio with Android I am unable to record digital audio (e.g. from a computer or another phone) with my Android device. I have plugged in a TRRS audio and mic splitter and plugged that into my phone, and used a male-to-male cable to connect my source device to the mic input. It can be seen that the built-in mic is not recording, but all it records is static, no matter the gain level. How can I get this to work?

Microphone and Audio Input are separate inputs.

I can see the confusion as they both use 3.5mm Jacks, however Audio Lines require a pre-amp prior to the output side, the pre-amp amps up the raw line to give it volume and this outputs digitally formatted data rather than Analog data.

The Microphone on your Android is supposed to be connected directly to a small microphone inside the Headphones, this headphone Microphone is NOT pre-amped and therefore you get a raw analog output from that microphone.

The problem is because you are putting a pre-amped digital data into an analog raw line.

You can use a small microphone like the one in your headphones to test the cable is actually working.

To input Audio data into an Android device, you have many methods that do not require any cables like WiFi Media Servers or even USB OTG Microphone pre-amps .


Are there commercially available devices that support more languages than those officially supported by Google? According to Google, there are some 57 languages/dialects that are officially supported by stock Android.  Of course, since Android is open source, there is nothing to stop a device manufacturer, or cell service provider, or even end user from adding support for new languages/dialects.

Now, just because it is possible, that doesn't mean that it has been done, or at least that it has been done on a scale large enough to make an impact.  For example, I would likely not spend my time translating my app for a language that 5 people have manually added to their own devices, however if a manufacturer of devices has decided to add support for an additional language that is now in the hands of some thousands of users, that may be a useful translation to make even though it is not officially supported by the AOSP.

So, is there any way to find this out?  Or if not officially, is there any anecdotal evidence out there that this type of thing is going on?

From prior experience in building AOSP before, the language strings for all aspects of the system, are stored in xml file, found in the AOSP source framework/base/core/res/res. Inside that directory in the source, there's values-XXX/strings.xml and values-XXX/do-not-translate.xml, where XXX is the ISO country code based on the standard guidelines. This gets built and generated into framework-res.apk found in the ROM's live system under /system/framework.

On an existing ROM, its possible to 'sort of' add translations into it by decompiling it but the effort would not be worth it as the XML data is compiled and "gets lost in translation". I say 'sort of' very loosely, as either the outcome would be it may work or it may not work, but the effort would be big and possibly break existing core Android functionality.

You can most certainly add a language add-on for the keyboards but that's about it.

From the aspect of developers, where localization is concerned, the principle is pretty much the same as in the AOSP source. So if the developer wants to add in French language support, he/she can simply create a values-fr/strings.xml and shove in there, the french translations and so on. Of course, there will be variants such as Canadian French, Swiss French, for example. So their files, would be values-fr-rCA/strings.xml, values-fr-rCH to cite the example.

This is where CM has the most languages support and are in a state-of-flux due to users spotting mis-translations etc.

Only Google provides the core languages - such as Italian, French, German, Spanish, English (both US/UK) to name but a few.


How to search in files content using terminal emulator? I have tablet with android 4.4.2. The tablet is rooted. I want to search for a string in the files in the whole file system. I tried to use the 'find' command but it didn't work. What command i can use to implement this search and is it possible to install 'find' command line tool on android?

I found that this command is working: grep -r "search string" /


How to prevent tablet working when laid flat? My son has the bad habit of putting his tablet flat on the floor (even though it has a hard-shell case with built-in stand) and leaning over it, which is an ergonomic nightmare.

No matter how much I explain and demonstrate the correct operating position (he's four), when left to his own devices (device) during "Tablet Time", he inevitably moves it back onto the floor, often unconsciously. So...

How can I use the tablet's sensors to detect that it has been laid flat and go to sleep / switch off / post a notice / message me / something?

;o) Cor

With Tasker is very simple (note that it is a paid app):

Create a profile (in the 'profile' tab tap on the plus sign)
Choose 'State' -> 'Sensor' -> 'Orientation' and from the drop down menu 'Face Up'
Go back to profiles tab and you will be prompted to add a task to your profile: tap on the plus sign in the little pop up
Now it depends from what you want the tablet to do when lying flat, you can choose all kind of possible actions: send SMS (if the tablet has a sim card), lock the screen (so your son will need to come for you to unlock it), and so on. Pick the one you want between the multiple choices and add it to your task
Enable Tasker (long tapping on the Tasker icon in the top left corner)

Note that, as mentioned in the comments, Tasker won't be able to understand if the tablet is lying on the floor or on a table. You may want to add a condition that activates the profile only when it's 'Tablet time' (which is, during the time of the day when you let your son play with it).


SuperSu update binary error I have a lg optimus g pro f240 running on android os version 4.4.2. I recently rooted the phone using the software in This thread

I have installed SuperSu though each time I try and open it, it tells me The SU binary needs to be updated. Continue ?

It prompts me to use CWM, which I have installed, though each time I try and use it SuperSu does nothing and just opens the app.

Each time I click continue, after 30 seconds I get the error message:

Installation failed!

Please reboot and try again.

I have tried rebooting, though nothing solves the problem.

If the rooting software linked above did not work, how can I test and see if that is true?

Is there any way to update the binary manually(I have tried sideloading SuperSu but an error in tmp/Update happens)

What options are there that could fix this problem?

Heyy tristo
          Its not a fix solution but for try you can download su binary zip file from google 2.76 version and after download move it to sd card from downloaded folder after shut down the phone and come in reboot in recovery mode normal power off and volume up and down key press one time to reboot but setting may be change for your phone so check on google before rebooting after when its done choose recovery mode use volume up key to select then select install zip from sd card use volume down key and press power button then select zip file from sd card at bottom and press power button and then click yes to flashing after done flashing press go to go back and from options reboot the system.after reboot go in supersu error should be going on if not click on continue and normal mode its showing installing binary after some time it will show installation sucess and reboot so reboot now and then open supersu its time error will go surely if not continue process done again and this time don't reboot click on ok and close supersu and open again problem may be solve
Your qutipie AJ


Everytime I try to add a device (Alcatel) to google account or says login to original owners account Everytime I try to link my alcatel one touch to my google account or says login with original owners account. Ive reset this phone a hundred times and it says the same thing even though there is no account linked. What the hell do I do??

See:
http://www.kriztekblog.com/2017/06/bypass-frp-alcatel-android-devices.html

I unlocked my Alcatel Pixi Pulsar a460g with an altered version of method 4:

Hold power and up volume buttons to hard reset, let go of power button and keep holding up volume.
Select "clear cache"
Select wipe device"
Select reboot
Start android
When asked to pick network, select Adavnced.
Select Settings
Select Backup and reset
Choose Erase
Agree all Protection will not work.
Click "Erase Everything"


What is google play music and why does it constantly load? Why does google play music start up,  and what does it do?

I have some music on my phone but am happy with the basic music player and have no need for or want to access music online.

The issue you are referring too is well reported on Google Support Forums, as it seems to be affecting many users and/or devices.

All points to an update(s) that raised the issue with certain devices.

You can go around this problem until it gets resolved:

Step by step:

Access your device settings;
Touch on "Applications";
Scroll down until you find the "Google Play Music" app;
Touch to open it;
Touch "Clear Data";
If any updates have been installed, on the upper right corner of your screen you should have a "Uninstall Updates" button, touch it to revert to the previous version;

It may ask your confirmation about going back to the previous/factory version, in that case, confirm the action.

Prevent recurrence:

To prevent this issue from raising anytime soon, you should also disable "Auto Updates" at least until a new update is launch and the reviews are positive:

Open the "Play Store" app;
Touch your device "menu" button;
Select "Settings";
Locate and touch "Auto-update apps";
Touch "Do not auto-update apps".

Quoted answer from Google Support Forum:

  GO INTO PHONE SETTINGS AND SELECT < APPLICATIONS>  SCROLL DOWN AND SELECT .. HIT   AND THEN UPPER RIGHT CORNER SELECT  IT WILL ASK IF YOU WISH TO GO BACK TO OLD FACTORY VERSION... SELECT OK. SHOULD FIX PROBLEM.  ANY APP YOU WISH TO UPDATE MANUALLY UNCHECK ALLOW AUTOMATIC UPDATING. READ THE REVIEWS FIRST TO SEE IF UPDATES AND NEW VERSIONS DON'T HAVE BUGS. GOOD LUCK


Applications Permissions Manager for Kit Kat 4.4.2 Before KitKat 4.4.2 there were a variety of Applications Permissions Manager. They worked but with the release if KitKat 4.4.2 they no longer work. This was a non root application so it ran on non rooted phones.

The ability to disable permissions on Applications is very useful as some need way to many permissions. Unfortunately the Google has no filter on searching for applications based on what they access. So Application Permissions Manager was an excellent security tool.

The permissions manager feature of Android is not complete yet and strictly speaking it should not be accessible. In 4.4.2 Google have removed the method that apps such as App Ops and App Ops 4.3 / 4.4 KitKat used.

As far as I know there is currently no way to access this any more. You will have to wait for Google to finish implementing it and provide a built-in method to access, or wait for someone to find another way to access it.

Quote from Color Tiger the developer of one of the apps on AndroidPolice:

  Still not working, but here's a quick update:

  See line 309 - those are
  the allowed fragments that can be shown. AppOps was in that commit 3
  days ago (line 329), but in the 4.2.2 build that's being sent out that
  line is removed (we've decompiled the Settings.apk).

  We're looking
  for a possible different entry point (another Activity to accept
  commands to load the AppOpsSummary fragment), but it doesn't look
  good.

UPDATE: Apparently Google uses App Ops as an internal testing and debugging tool – it was never designed to be seen by end users, which is why it wasn't given a spot in the system settings, or even the developer options. Source


Why doesn't my screen lock work (HTC Wildfire)? I have a HTC Wildfire with android 2.2 (I can't remember if this problem started right before or right after upgrading to 2.2, but the upgrade was done recently and so was the first time I got this problem). Sometimes (and it seems completely random) the screen lock function never works. When pressing the power button and pulling down the clock it tells me the screen is locked, but there is no lock there! When I pull it down I get to my home screen instead of the screen where I need to enter my lock pattern.

I think you'll find that is normal. I wondered about it at first too.. If you lock your phone by pressing the power button, your phone is LOCKED, but not SECURE. Because you have only just been using your phone, if you unlock it immediately by re-pressing the power button and pulling down the clock, you won't have to enter your pincode or pattern, because it's highly unlikely to have been stolen in the past 30 seconds. However if you lock your phone via the power button (or if it times out by itself) and then you leave it for a few minutes then the next time you drag down the clock to unlock it, you'll also have to enter your pincode or pattern, to verify that it's you.

If you want your phone to ask for your pincode every time, straight away, go to:

"Settings" > "security" > "lock phone after" > and select, "immediately".

I have mine set to 3 minutes for convenience.

Hope this helps..


How can you measure your battery drain rate? Even turned off and with no background apps, my battery drains FAST. I would like to know how fast my drain rate is compared to other phones to find out if I should replace the battery.

What are some measurement methods?

Comparing your device battery drain to another device battery drain is pointless. There are too many variables at play like Android Verizon, how well the OS is optimised, apps loaded, usage conditions and so on. See the section at end of answer for reasons of Abnormal Battery Drain
Drain rate could be high, even when not used due to Wakelocks. See wakelocks and greenify tags that can help in reducing battery drain. battery-life wiki has pointers as well
See How can I tell if I need to replace my battery? and in particular using the Vbatt app mentioned in my answer. This will not tell you whether you need to change your battery but helps you compare two batteries ( and is time consuming too)

See this study for an interesting infographic


Android 4.2.2 Screen Capture on Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 I've browsed for  this information and everything I've found says to hit the power button and  volume down at the same time and a white line appears around the screen and you have a capture.

I've tried so many times and i just can't do this.

I can get blank the screen
I can make the Power Off, Flight Mode, Restart dialog appear
I can get the volume slider to appear
I can even get the volume slider to appear and power off dialog to appear at the same time.

I've tried pressing both together, pressing one and then the other, Holding one down and pressing the other, holding both down. I even tried pushing my tab against the desk, edge on, to flatten both buttons at the same time.

And after 30 minutes I still can't seen to get any screenshots, but I have rebooted twice.

Is there some that works on voice or shake or hold on screen that would allow me to do this?

It works out that you just have to keep trying. The Power and Volume down together (for around a second) will eventually yield a screenshot about 1 time out of a hundred. Took a look at most of the apps out there and they either need you to root the device or install loads of other stuff, work for phones rather than tablets or just don't work.

Guess I'm stuck with the crazy combination!


Bugs on Nexus One running Android Gingerbread I love Android and have been a proud Nexus One owner for over a year now. I was also really excited when Gingerbread dropped and flashed my phone before the OTA update (who can wait for these things anyway).

However, since upgrading, Gingerbread has not been the bliss that I had hoped for.

The first thing I've noticed is that the new keyboard seems to freeze every other day rendering any app that uses text input unusable. This causes me to have to reboot my phone (or at the very least end the keyboard process).

I also started to notice that since my upgrade my phone will sometimes stop syncing with my work's Exchange server, causing me to miss emails that I used to get while not at my desk (again a reboot seems to fix this). I tried removing this account and re-adding it only for it to continue happening.

After these initial complaints some of my friends, also Nexus One owners, have started to report similar issues. One such friend says that his home screen icons will stop displaying leaving him with only his background to look at after pressing the home key. Another friend says that he must reboot his phone every day, at least once a day, due to his keyboard not working.

In general, though, the internet does not seem to have any reports of these kinds of issues outside of my few friends.

Have any other Android users out there noticed these or similar issues with Gingerbread? Does anyone know of any possible causes?

First, make sure you're updated to Android 2.3.3.  .3 has some stability improvements over 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.

The other thing I would try is a factory reset.  Upgrading can be a pretty messy process and you want to make sure you don't have any bad data left over.


Screen permanently black with broken proximity sensor and Proximity Sensor Accelerometer App My phone's proximity sensor is broken and constantly signals "covered". The screen turns black when I'm called.

I installed an app Proximity Sensor Accelerometer to solve this and played around with the features.

Now my screen is permanently black.

How can I disable or uninstall the app? Maybe remotely? Maybe install another app remotely to fix this?

I don't have usb debugging enabled on the phone. Plugging in the charger doesn't reactivate the screen.

Device: Sony Xperia Z2, not sure of Android version

The app settings are reset after the phone is restarted so I did this: power button + volume up.

Press it at the same time for a few seconds to turn off the screen without needing to use touch. Then start the phone and the app is reset.


connection of jio wifi in Android 5.1 version Recently my college had opened jio WiFi it was open WiFi connection my phone Micromax q346 model Android 5.1version can not connected how I connect to WiFi on my phone small version phones are supported to WiFi but not please help me how I connect to it

Some sites recommend to restart the router device, and sometime it works.
Instead of every time restart the router to solve the Wi-Fi problem, it worked for me:

Inside the router configuration (e.g., accessing the IP 192.168.0.1), change the "Group key update" value from 0 to 30 seconds, under the "Wireless > Security" configuration, right below the WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK item.

Router: TP-LINK TL-WR740N / TL-WR740ND.


How to extract sound files from an Android dictionary? I downloaded a free dictionary (Teanglann) and would like to extract its sound files for free listening to facilitate language learning. I've already did a backup of the app in the .ab format and converted it to a .tar but cannot extract the contents in any way. I've used an emulator as it grants root access by default (that app's data is normally inaccessible - even through Solid Explorer ...). Any ideas how to do it?

You if you try to extract Teanglann dictionary app then you won't find that's sound because sound file is store in your device
When you install that application some options is suggest like this

So steps that can extract sound file for you

1.Open Any file explorer and then go to internal storage
May be the method is different from device to device
2.go to Android-->data-->com.idmgroup.fng.retro (a folder name look like this) and after you can you see there is any sound file inside that's folder

This method does not give guaranty of success


Turning on Android device with motion detector (external device?) Problem

I'm looking for a motion detector that can be set up to wake a rooted Android (4.3) tablet and turn the screen on when someone passes by it in a radius of maybe 2-3m.

Ideas

I'm definitely willing to get an external device for this and invest a (reasonable) amount of money, it would just have to be one that I can somehow connect to the tablet.

Are there maybe any proximity detectors from the home automation field with a decent detection quality (good angle and configurable distance) that can send Android push notifications?
I'm able to write some code from scratch if necessary, but I'm very clueless and unexperienced in the hardware field, so I wouldn't know how to hold a soldering iron, for example. ;)

Background

The idea here is to transform an old tablet into some kind of stationary dashboard screen, so I'm not particularly worried about battery wear (it's end-of-life now and will from now on be used with the power cable plugged in until it dies) or intense usage (unless we're talking about 100% CPU 24/7, which would probably kill it in a few days).

Previous research

I investigated a little bit whether this could be done with the existing sensors in the device and I believe that is not possible.

The problem with using the proximity sensor is that it really only returns whether something (assumed to be your ear while in a call) is right next to it (a few centimeteres away). But I'm looking for something in the 2-3m area.

The other idea would be the front-facing camera, but the problem seems to be that a) the camera in many devices automatically shuts off when the screen is off and b) only foreground apps can access the camera, but I want the tablet to show another app on detection.

I had a quick look regarding waking up the screen in response to push notifications and that doesn't seem too hard using the PowerManager API. Not sure how quickly the device would respond to a push when in deep sleep, but that's a secondary problem.

Just to let you know I have some up with a simple solution it combines an app from the app store called Motion Detector by jastrzab: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.motion.detector
Then install a plugin called Turn Screen: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.jastrzab.plugin.screen

Install both apps.
Open the Motion Detector app and turn on "Send" at the bottom of settings. Click on motion detector (at the top) and then scroll down to "camera" and select "front".
Open the Turn Screen app. click the only button to make it active.
Open android settings, Turn off the lock screen or select "none".
Change the sleep settings to time out in the desired time.
Turn off Daydream.
Open the app (or home screen) you want to have displayed on the screen when the tablet wakes, and you're all set! Wait for the screen to go to sleep and walk by or wave at your camera and it will wake it up.

Works great during the day or with the lights on. I'm currently working on an external PIR motion sensor that will allow the tablet to wake in darkness. Simple design so far just uses a cheap PIR sensor and a small led light mounted below the camera. When I walk by the PIR triggers the LED light allowing the camera to see, which triggers motion. Hoping to figure out how to eliminate the LED and just run the PIR directly into the tablet using the headphone jack or USB on the tablet. Suggestions welcomed.


How to keep the Car Home app from opening automatically on my Droid? Hey all, this is something that's been bugging me for a while now and I just found this wonderful, glorious place so I thought I'd pick your collective brains.

I'm running CM 6.2.1 on my original Motorola Droid.  I don't want to uninstall the Car Home app, but I don't want it to open automatically when I put my phone in my car dock either.  Aside from ripping apart my dock and pulling out the magnet, is there any way I can accomplish this?

You can use an app like Autostarts (requires root) to manage which apps can listen to which events.  You just need to remove Car Home from the docking event.


Deleting files from "My Files" folder If I delete files from the "My Files" folder on a Samsung Galaxy S8, are the files permanently deleted?? My phone's internal memory says it is low and that I need to delete files from my files folder.

"My files" is a built-in file manager and explorer. Any files deleted using that are permanently deleted

As pointed out in comments by Arctiic, it appears some files get restored even after deletion. I wasn't aware of this


How to install full Unicode fonts The page http://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammurapi contains
several occurrences of the character Ḫ (1E2A;LATIN CAPITAL LETTER H WITH BREVE BELOW), http://codepoints.net/U+1E2A which does not display on Galaxy S3. Neither with the built-in browser, nor Chrome, nor Miniopera.

Similarly, ẞ, Capital Sharp S, http://codepoints.net/U+1E9E cannot be displayed.

Does Android support full Unicode? How can I install full Unicode support?

Edit: I have (so far) not modified anything at all.

As t0mm13b had said, Android as a framework does support Unicode. As you are probably aware the vanilla Android is as such available as a stock option only to Google's own devices (The Nexus series). Other Android devices will have some sort of topping layer over this vanilla layers. This topping layer will usually be cosmetic changes by the manufacturer like HTC Sense UI etc.

Even if there are no such topping layer, the manufacturers compile the source of vanilla ROM with suitable drivers of their devices and add slight country specific enhancements.

Take a look at a similar question that I had asked which is not very different from what you had asked, if the language specific features and names are not accounted. That question explains how an Android device displays a glyph (not characters) on screen and the software components that are involved in that process.

To put it in a nut shell, to display a character Android requires a suitable font file and a rendering engine. Absence of former could result in a rectangular box and later will result in improper display of glyph.

In your case the ROM that your S3 has might not have the above said.  Try to test with the devices that does display it (probably in some other region, the S3 might display it properly) and find what font files differs between yours and theirs.


Record setting changes as script? I am looking for a way to record the setting changes I do manually, in order to be able to repeat them later by running the same script.

I tried the MacroDroid app, but it doesn't look it has a "record macro" feature.

Any suggestion welcome.

On a non-rooted device changing the settings automatically is not that simple.
However if you have multiple identical devices you might be successful by preparing one device with all the settings you want and then create a backup of just the settings. For doing so you need however first activate the development mode and the Android Debug Bridge (adb) on every device.

adb backup -f settings.ab -noapk com.android.providers.settings

Check that the created file settings.ab has at least 10 KB of size.

Then you can restore the settings to any other device (with activate adb) via

adb restore settings.ab

An alternative way that however also requires adb would be to use the different settings via adb shell settings put .... But I am not sure if all settings can be accessed this way and you have to find out all the different option names you want to set.


Samsung Galaxy Note 4: greyscale mode disappeared after upgrading to marshmallow Today I've received the late Marshmallow 6.0.1 update. It has some unpleasant side effects:

Battery is draining fast
Greyscale mode has been removed
A very ugly grey bar is showing whenever I switch into Power Saver mode

Is there any workaround for these problems?

Config:

Model: N910c
Android Version: 6.0.1
Build Number: MMB29K.N910CXXU2DPF6
Base Band Version: N910CXXU1DPC1

You can still put your device in grayscale mode by enabling Developer options and changing the setting in simulate color space to monochromacy


How can I sync .vcf contact  photos between Android 2.2 and Gmail? I can save all of the contacts to one .vcf file, then use a PC to import it to a Gmail account but there are no photo in the Gmail contacts. I checked the .vcf file there is photo data in it. Is there any function or app can sync the photo from an Android phone to Gmail?

Settings > Accounts & Sync > john.doe@gmail.com tick the Sync Contacts checkbox :) Make your phone connect to the internet and wait to see the google magic :)

Just in my case it syncs the contact photos perfectly :)


OnePlus One Talkback Won't Turn Off My OnePlus One seems to have its Talkback setting permanently set to ON.  On some apps, whenever I tap on something, it highlights it with orange and speaks the text.

I've noticed this in Bacon Reader, Google Search, ESPN SportsCenter, and Gmail so far.

I've already gone to Settings > Accessibility and made sure Talkback was turned off.  I also tried disabling the app and restarting my phone, but it's still happening.

Anyone have any ideas on how to turn this off?

I don't think TalkBack mode alone is the culprit here, but you must have enabled "Explore by Touch" also when you activated TalkBack, which makes things tricky.

If you just have the regular swipe to unlock feature for your lock screen, to unlock it, you'll need to...

Use TWO fingers and swipe the screen, but make sure your two fingers are separated, because if they are too close together, it'll think you're using one.
That's it. That should unlock the lock screen. You don't have to worry about tapping on anything like it says; that is only if "Explore by Touch" is not activated (just TalkBack).

Now, to disable TalkBack mode, you need to make your way to "Accessibility" in the "Settings" and toggle TalkBack off. On my Galaxy S3, I can just hit the Menu hard button and double-tap on Settings, but I don't think the Tabs have a hard Menu button, so just head to the Settings as you normally would using two-finger swiping, long pressing to select, and double-tapping for enter.

For instance, to access Settings from the Notification tray...

Make sure to use TWO fingers (slightly separated as before) and swipe down from the top to open the Notification tray.
Then, touch the "Settings" symbol once, then double-tap it to open it up.
Use two fingers to scroll down to "Accessibility" and press it once, then double-tap to open.
Then, press once on "TalkBack" and double-tap it.
And once on the "On/Off" switch, and double-tap.
Then do the same for "OK" and you should be good to go.

Quite a pain, I know.


Facebook calendar not displaying properly I have a Facebook calendar on my Google Calendar. While my other calendars display by name this one displays by its Calendar ID (a string of numbers and characters). Furthermore, the events do not appear. I know that my phone (HTC Legend) already had a Facebook calendar set up, but this calendar displayed birthdays as well and so I didn't want to use it. I have tried adding and removing the calendar on my phone, but nothing has changed. Does anyone have any suggestions on making the calendar display properly?

I'm not sure about facebook events here because I have very few events ever listed in my facebook calendar. But if you sync your phone with Facebook (Settings > Accounts & sync) and have it sync live feeds, it should display calendar items in your calendar. I know I have birthdays in my calendar that show up and that is how I have facebook sync setup.

If you are setup the same way, try removing facebook sync, clear cache and data from the app (Settings > Applications > Manage application > All, then find facebook and click on it. There should be an option to clear cache and data. Reboot. Then recreate the account and sync.

Not sure if this will help but usually solves most issues...


How do I enable a keyboard if I can't open Settings? Apologies for the long story, feel free to skip.  :)

So I goofed up pretty amusingly the other day.

I bought a $10 LG Optimus Exceed, rooted it with Towelroot, then downloaded the jumobile System App Uninstaller to remove some of the Verizon bloatware since I have no intention of activating it.  I was careful not to remove any of the packages it flagged as important.  Now, this phone only has 4GB of disk space total, and that doesn't last long considering how monstrous the Google apps are these days.  So I saw the default LG keyboard taking up far more room than I thought should be necessary.  I removed it and installed a different one.  Mistake #1.

Some time later I tried to open Settings.  It crashed.

A smart man may have gone into that jumobile app and restored some of the apps to try and get it back.  Maybe that would have worked.  I wouldn't know because I did the worst thing.

I did a Factory Reset.  Mistake #2.

The Settings app still crashes.  In case you didn't know, apps that are installed as system apps don't get restored if you remove them as root.  So now I don't have a keyboard, and I can't enable keyboards.  I can't switch into USB debug mode.  I can't enable third-party apps, which means I can't root.  Through a fancy combination of voice input, the built-in clipboard manager, copying and pasting, and some luck that Google Play opens a little thing that allows me to do it without entering the Settings app, I have my Google account and my wireless set up.  But I can't get any further in getting my little $10 toy back in shape.

So, my Settings app crashes and I don't have a keyboard.  How do I enable one?

I'm a long-time Linux user, but the Android terminal is pretty opaque to me.  Still, I feel like it should be possible to enable a keyboard from the command line.  When I install a keyboard it tries to launch that activity directly, but that crashes.

So can I use the Terminal emulator to enable an installed keyboard?

If not, can I use the terminal to allow third party sources, root, and then do something that way?

Is there some way I can fix or replace my Settings app?  I can't clear the cache through the normal way (obviously), and third party apps to clear caches didn't work.

Is there any hope, or is this now just a glorified video player?

Yes you can enable an installed keyboard from the Terminal emulator (ime enable/set xxx), but you still would have to type something and you said you don't have a keyboard...
Get a hand on an OTG adapter, this way you can directly plug a physical USB keyboard and type what you need.
You could also install a keyboard like SwiftKey (from Google Play desktop). You should be able to open its app by clicking in the notification tray then it will help open the part of the setting screen to enable this keyboard (if this part doesn't crash).


How to update Galaxy S4 to Lollipop or Latest Android version? How to update this Galaxy Not rooted S4 GT- I9505 from Android 4.3 to Android 5.0 or 6.0?
Currently not getting or not showing any updates either in this device or from Samsung Smart Switch/Samsung Kies.

Additionally, Not showing latest android version in SamMobile website (Firmware for GT-I9505) against the above device specifications. Currently it is still showing Android version as 4.3  Now how can we update it to Lollipop version?

You can easily update your Galaxy S4 to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop without root. As you have shared the screenshots, it shows your device is up-to-date but your region might have not received the latest update yet.

But you can check the sammobile firmware page over here.

It clearly shows that Lollipop 5.0.1 has been released for those regions, Now If your region is listed over there or not. You can simply download the firmware and flash it using Odin3. (If you don't know how to update using Odin, I've written a step-by-step guide on my blog).

I hope that the above instructions helps you to update to Android Lollipop. Now You also have said about Android Marshmallow, Now officially it is not available for your phone model and I am pretty sure it won't be in the near future as Samsung does not support their models too long and Galaxy S4 is now quite old.

But doesn't mean you can't have Android Marshmallow on your phone. In order to have it, you need to root your phone and install Custom ROM such CyanogenMod 13.

Let me know if you want to know more in details and I hope you've found my answer useful.


How can i undo "Remove bluetooth device" from kitkat? Before i was able to connect my moto X with my PC windows 7 64bits via generic bluetooth dongle. But i removed the pairing from my moto x and now its undetectable by the PC. Every time i turn on bluetooth on the PC and on the phone , then a turn on bluetooth on the phone and make sure its visible for all devices, its not detecting the pc and vice versa.

So, how can i undo the unpairing and make my phone and pc connect again ?

EDIT: I tryied to remove the registry key ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Keys ) from windows registry but no luck.

Make sure your both PC and PHONE are close to each other and the both Bluetooth are turned on and visible for all devices on both then go to your phone and search for devices and see if your PC will appear then try to pair then again.
There is no such a thing as 'undo pairing" you just need to pair them again.
Try that it should work usually if not check if there is any problem with your bluetooth on your pc in device manager.


How to remove words from the predictive dictionary in HTC Sense I have a case of irritating typos such as yoi rather than you etc. being selected by the otherwise excellent prediction, I must have accidentally taught the phone it in the past.

I had previously been able to remove them from the dictionary as described in this answer back on android 2.3 however surprise surprise this menu pathway doesn't exist on HTCs version of 4.0 cupcake. I'm really hoping this isn't going to be another case of HTC quietly hiding features from their menus.

In the language and keyboard settings page, where I believe it was previously, it's not under the options button of spelling correction or the regionalisation button of TouchInput correction.

Does anyone know where this has been moved to?

As I was writing that question I stumbled upon the answer in a really convoluted menu pathway.  I was unable to find it in my prior research on the internet so I'll post it up in case anyone is looking in future.

Open the settings app.
Go to Language & Keyboard.
Touch the Settings Button next to Touch Input under Keyboard & input methods

Touch Personal Dictionary
Touch Edit personal dictionary
Press the menu button then touch delete then select incorrect entries to remove.


What are the technical differences between 1X and 3G on Verizon's network? My Android device (on Verizon) will sometimes display 3G in the status area, and sometimes display 1X.  What do these indicate, and what is the difference?

The Verizon network uses a technology called CDMA2000, or CDMA for short.  There are different types of CDMA2000 connections.  The first is 1x, or 1xRTT, which has a potential throughput of 153kbps, but will likely be lower depending on signal strength.  When '1X' is displayed in the status bar, this is the connection type your device has.

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, or EV-DO for short, uses multiplexing to increase throughput.  The Rev.A version of the EV-DO standard has a potential throughput of around 3.1Mbps.  This is the connection type when 3G is displayed in the status bar.

Verizon is in the process of rolling out a technology called LTE which the carrier will market as their 4G service.  This new technology will allow much higher throughput (estimated 12Mbps at launch with the specification capable of delivering rates as high as 50-100Mbps).


When I uninstall updates of system apps is it persistent? I don't want some apps updated (especially some of built-in apps). If I uninstall updates in settings is it for good or only to next phone restart?
(I want to have auto updating in google play enabled)

Thanks a lot for answering.

You can enable auto update from Google Play Settings section. To prevent auto update of a particular app, Go to that app page in play store & click the Options Menu on top right & uncheck "Auto-Update"


Stop gmail notification on android 4.4/Nexus 5 How can we stop gmail notifications on android 4.4/nexus 5?

I cannot find Gmail in Settings\Apps\<AppList>. I have stopped notification of Google play, google services, google search, google plus, but seems like nothing has stopped gmail notification.

Go into the Gmail app. From the overflow menu (the three dots in the corner), choose Settings. In the settings window, choose the Gmail account you're using. (If you have more than one account, do the following for each in turn.) Notifications is the third option down. Turning it off will disable mail notifications.

In general, you should look for a notification setting inside the app first, and use the Settings app's Show notifications option as a last resort for apps that won't behave. If you disable notifications within an app, it can save battery power by not creating the notification at all, and possibly by turning off some background syncing in that app. If you use Android's override, the app still fetches all the data and creates the notification, which wastes battery power when Android throws the notification away.

As a footnote, I guess that the reason you can't find Gmail in the apps list is that you're looking in the list of downloaded apps. That list doesn't show apps that came with the phone. Swipe right twice from that list to see the list of all apps, which includes Gmail. You can also get to the app info quickly by long-pressing a notification from that app and clicking App info.


PDF (not text) to Speech I need a TTS program to read my PDF files. I tried several programs, but all convert PDF to raw text, then read it. My PDF files have lots of pictures and designs, and I need to look at the PDF file when the TTS program is reading the text.

Is there any TTS program to read a PDF file when viewing the original PDF?

PDF to Speech Pro https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.practicalapps&hl=en $2.99.

One of the better ones, actually does what it is suppose to. I haven't came across any free ones.


How to migrate app configs from S2 to S3 I am asking this question because one similar to mine has been asked but it was specific to HTC rooted phone. Mine involves Samsung Galaxy S2 and S3. Similar thread for HTC rooted phones

I have an external SD card, KeisAir on my PC and Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3. Migrating contacts is easy, I need to migrate my app settings, sms messages, calendar entries ..etc.

As a note, I have disabled syncing to my Gmail account because I don't want my huge list of useless email contacts to sync to my phone. I have a samsung dive account and google (only Internet sync is enabled)

thanks for anyone who can help

First, you can decide what data you want to sync with google. In the accounts settings, you can disable contacts sync, and so only sync your calendar data, which would solve one of your items.

Concerning SMS, there are several Backup & Restore apps available on the market. The probably most popular one is SMS Backup & Restore. Second item solved.

As for your apps settings, and "etc" -- that will get a bit more difficult. If your devices are both rooted, it could be done using Titanium Backup. Without root it's almost impossible -- except for those few apps using the Google Backup API (you can decide to have your "data" backed up to Google servers in your device's settings). As each app runs in its own sandbox, without root no other app can access its data.


Why is my Galaxy S stuck on downloading 'do not turn off target'? I was updating the firmware on kies for my galaxy s and it got half way through and then said error and is no frozen on the downloading 'do not turn off' screen, I have taken out the battery and put it back in, and tried the hard reset, which leads me to a phone symbol, a computer symbol and an error symbol in the middle, help plzzzzzz

I had the same problem (except I didn't use Kies, I had the problem after the first OTA Update)
Here are the steps I did to get my device back in a usable state:
Keep in mind, this will revert your phone to a rather old (android 2.1) version of TouchWiz. You may want to see if there are newer ODIN files available.
You will probably need different files anyhow, as the ones I have below are for the Galaxy S Vibrant.
Also, I take no responsibility if this does not work for you, or your phone explodes in the process. These are the steps I took, and they worked for me. Good Luck.

Download ODIN3 1.0

Download 512 PIT

Download JFD tar

Note that all 3 of those are from the same thread. It also wouldn't hurt for your to read that post too.

Open Odin, plug in your phone, then put it into download mode.

To expand on this because a lot of people were asking "how to put in download mode". The easiest way I found to actually do it, if you can can connect via ADB is to do the following:

# reboot download
If you can't get that to work, try how i mention below (phone off, battery out, hold vol+ & vol-), or try searching these forums for "vibrant download mode" you will find other things that "work" for people

load the PIT file in appropriate area.

load the .tar file in the PDA area.

DO NOT check 're-partition'.

Click start, let it finish.

At this point ODIN failed on me. and I got the "mobile-!-pc" image.

Now, pull your battery and unplug USB

I also took out the SIM and sdcard at this point.

bring the phone to download mode again

plug the USB back in (the phone should be off)
Hold down vol+ & vol-
Put battery back in
press power

re-run ODIN as mentioned above

Don't give up if this doesn't work. If you get the device to boot, even if it is to the "Error Screen", there is a possibility of recovering.


ART Runtime vs Dalvik Runtime Recently I was looking through developer options on my Moto X and I was interested by the option to do runtime in either dalvik or ART. After doing some research I decided to change my runtime to ART. I was wondering if this was a good choice or if I should continue running my phone on Dalvik. Let me know what you think.

Android's Dalvik runtime was "just fine" in terms of performance, but it was still a bottleneck as it only ran at the moment assets were needed (what is called the "Just-In-Time" or JIT compiler). ART instead uses an Ahead-of-Time compiler (AOT) to process application code before it is needed. Some users have turned it on in 4.4 and report increased performance and battery life. But what are the actual numbers?

Android Police put this to the test 1 2 and ran actual benchmarks to put the claims to the test (6 benchmarking apps and 2 browser benchmarks using Chrome). While there are a few gains to be made, none of them make it really worth switching over at the time of this writing. It almost null effect on battery life and the numbers even "favor Dalvik by a little bit". ART also breaks some apps (like Xposed) which has prevented some people from even enabling it. The author even noted that "it looks like gamers would be better served by sticking to Dalvik, for now."

You probably aren't benefiting from ART just yet, at least not fully. Android L will have ART as its only runtime and will be fully polished and completely integrated. Developers will then follow suit at create/update their apps to be compatible and optimized with ART.

1: http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/11/12/meet-art-part-2-benchmarks-performance-wont-blow-away-today-will-get-better/

2: http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/01/22/meet-art-part-3-battery-life-benchmarks-not-good-but-not-too-bad/


Why does the alarm on my HTC Desire not work correctly? I have setup three alarms on my HTC Desire (running standard 2.1 with Sense).

Mo, Tu, We, Fr @ 05:45
Th @ 05:30
Sa @ 07:00

They are set as repeating alarms and the phone displays the little clock symbol in the top right corner indicating that an alarm is active.

I have been running the phone with DeskClock activated each night and this also says that there is an alarm active for 05:45 the next morning. However I have watched it (with it not working for some strange and bizarre reason I am waking up before the alarm goes off) and at the time the alarm is set for nothing happens.

Can anyone shed some light on this? My wife has a HTC Hero that is also running 2.1 and her's appears to be working correctly.

I also have ATK that is running and is set to auto-kill running applications and I have been wondering if this is the cause, however this does not kill the DeskClock app that is running so I am not sure if it is relevant.

I had lots of problems with this myself, as you suggest my taskkiller was closing it down, on changing an alarm setting it would start back up. You should be able to press and hold on a task in advanced task killer and tell it to ignore the alarm task. This seems to have done the trick for me anyway.


Compress a video for android using ffmpeg I'm trying to compress a video to send it around in a messenger. Normally I would use something like
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec libx265 -crf 28 output.mp4

but if I send it around in a messenger app like telegram afterwards, I can only watch it on my PC but not my smartphone (I tested different devices) although the codec is said to be supported: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/media/media-formats
What is the best way to compress a video for messengers in mobile devices?

The solution may be just to reconfigure (install) ffmpeg with x265 headers by setting --enable-libx265 for build as in the documentation
However keep in mind that x265 encoding/decoding is still relatively new and is not implemented/present well enough in Android devices unless you have a newer/branded device*.
(hw support, optimizations)
*generally speaking. - even 2017's Galaxy S8 has built-in HEVC support even in official camera app


Mobile Hotspot timer without root? I have a Moto E (2015) and I have a hotspot plan that I let my family use. The Moto E has stock Tethering support. However, there are some limitations.

The hotspot would not turn off automatically. This could potentially create two serious problems. One is that the tethered devices continue to tether even when they are at a place with free Wi-Fi. The other issue is that I could forget that my Wi-Fi was used for hotspot and ended up using my Mobile Data when free Wi-Fi is available.

The best I could come up with is manually setup a reminder every time I turn on Hotspot but it is rather cumbersome and it requires me to manually turn hotspot off. I searched around for this topic but I don't see any solution. Would like to hear some better ideas.

There are many automation apps that can help here.
MacroDroid
It is a free/paid app. Free version would suffice for the goal however.
The macro would be:

Trigger: Hotspot Enabled/Disabled → Hotspot Enabled

Actions:

Wait Before Next Action → set the timer per your needs
HotSpot On/Off → Disable HotSpot

Constraints: none

This method, due to some technical limitations, may not work on every Android version, though I had success with both Android 4.2.1 and 5.0.2

Automate
It is a free app with in-app purchases. No purchases are required to achieve the goal however.
You would need to create a flowchart like this
(Click image to enlarge)

The hotspot blocks can be found under Connectivity section and Delay is under Data & Time. Set the Delay to the timer you need.
Once the flowchart has been created, make sure to install the permission it needs

Start the fiber and there you go.


What does the hyphen and number that comes after an installed package name mean? For example, if I install Google Chrome on my phone (assume it's not prebuilt), whatever the original name of the apk is, it will usually be installed to /data/app/com.android.chrome-1.apk but sometimes /data/app/com.android.chrome-2.apk and even xxx-3.apk or xxx-4.apk
My question is what the number in that case mean and how is it generated? It's often varying and I haven't found any clue.

The number has no special meanings. It is used to distinguish old and new packages during installation. While installing an app, the Package Installer first finds an available 'packageid-number' pattern, with the number incrementing from 1, and creates the directory (APK file for Android 5.0 and under). Then it places the APK file in it and removes the old one. Therefore, most commonly the number only varies from 1 to 2 because only one instance of an installed app exists. Summing up the old app and the temporary name, there can only be 2 instances. If you have, by some other means like installing 2 of the same app using a parallel container, there can be up to 4 instances of the app, thus creating com.example-4.

Here's my experiment on Android 5.1.1, using Root Explorer to install the app and Terminal Emulator to monitor directory content change.
Preparation: Use XInstaller (an Xposed module) to allow downgrade installing app (so that I can repeatedly install the same version of an app).
1. Tap the prepared APK file in Root Explorer to install it. In my case, it's Termux.
2. Repeatedly run

root@android:/data/app # ls -d com.termux-*

Output:
First: com.termux-1
After some time: com.termux-1  com.termux-2
After more time and finally: com.termux-2
3. Tap the APK to install it again and repeat Step 2.
Output:
First: com.termux-2
After some time: com.termux-1  com.termux-2
After more time and finally: com.termux-1
4. Create placeholder directories named com.termux-2, com.termux-3, com.termux-4 and set correct permissions.
5. Repeat Step 3.
Output:
First:com.termux-1  com.termux-2  com.termux-3  com.termux-4
After some time:com.termux-1  com.termux-2  com.termux-3  com.termux-4  com.termux-5
After more time and finally:com.termux-2  com.termux-3  com.termux-4  com.termux-5
Where com.termux-2, com.termux-3, com.termux-4 are all empty as they are created by me, not the Package Installer. To verify, run

root@android:/data/app # pm list packages -f | grep com.termux
package:/data/app/com.termux-5/base.apk=com.termux


How to upload images onto Google Glass device and view them? The first part of the question: I've got a Google Glass device and I plugged it into the USB port. The drivers install fine on my WinXP. I do see the Glass directory pop up in My Computer. I'm able to take a picture, as well as copy it to my PC. However, how do I copy or upload a picture to the device? It does not allow Paste. Right-click -> Paste option is disabled. Dragging a file also doesn't work.

I've looked at the following links, here and here, but that's not what I want.

The second part of the question is how to view all images on the Glass device, with something like VLC APK?

Update: A workaround that I've found is to share images/videos from another Google+ account to your Glass device Google+ account. This seems to be the easiest way so far that I've encountered.

Your best be to view images on Google Glass would be to use the 'mirror-api' methods to create an application that you can run on Google Glass.


How to automatically connect to a wiFi network and turn off 4g LTE I'd like my Samsumg Galaxy S4 verizon phone to be able to connect to my preferred wifi networks (office and home) automatically, while at the same time turn off the 4G LTE data plan.

As of right now, I have it set up such that it'd connect auto to wifi, but when I am connected to wifi I still see the 4g LTE active.  I could deactivate the 4G LTE and activate it later, but I am looking for a way to do this automatically, no user involved.

Any ideas?

Usually, mobile data should be turned off automatically by the system when WiFi is connected. If you're sure it's mobile data which is on, you could try some automation tools to handle this, e.g. Tasker (Condition: WiFi connected, Task: mobile data off), or Llama - Location Profiles (here I don't know the steps, but it can do that as well).


Error when upgrading Android 4.3 to 4.4.2 on Nexus 7 (2013) tablet I have a brand new Google Nexus 7 (2013) LTE tablet and first thing I did, was to check if there is any sys update for my device. It was. System reported that 4.3 --> 4.4.2 update is ready to download and install.

However, after updating and hitting button to install, I got Error message and a droid lying icon. After this my tablet has restarted and reverted back to 4.3.

The strangest part is, that I can't repeat (try to install again), because now my tablet claims, that it is up to date, though it still carries factory 4.3 system version on-board.

Is there any known reason for this behavior (not able to upgrade and then to even re-download update)?

Is there any solution to this problem, except:

waiting for 4.4.3 or
manually updating using images?

I am a rather beginner to the Android system, so terms like sideload or update radio/baseband from .84 to .97 says quite nothing to me! :[

EDIT: I read about this (not being able to OTA-upgrate to 4.4.2), but the strange thing is, that most of these sources talks about 59,1 MB upgrade image, while mine was 253,9 MB (five times bigger).

EDIT: I have cleared Google Services Framework cache and data, as suggested by dotVezz in a comment and then I was able to restart download & upgrade to 4.4.2 process.
Second attempt ended with success (system upgrated to 4.4.2), so my previous experience seems to be a one-time problem.

EDITED 01/30/2014

If you clear the data for Google Services Framework, you can force the OTA update to start again.

There are a few downsides to this, but with a brand new device, you can safely clear the data and perform the OTA update.

Old Answer...

As deailed in this question, you can download the 4.4.2 image directly from Google and install it on your tablet from your computer.

One method is to use Fastboot:

If you're using Windows, you'll need USB Drivers (official link, and easy mode link, Koush's Universal Driver). The file downloaded includes instructions, which basically boil down to...

Reboot into Bootloader/Fastboot mode.
Connect your device to your PC with USB.
Run the appropriate flash-all file for your Desktop OS (Windows .bat files and Bash .sh files are included with the downloaded Android image).

Note: This will also erase all data on your device. Make sure you back up whatever you want to. If I remember correctly, there's a flash-base or similar option that will not erase your data, instead of flash-all.


How to install Playstore on a device on which it is not already installed? I bought a VivoY13 phone from Chinese Dealer.  But Google playstore is not pre-installed.

And when you try to install it shows errors.

Does anyone have solutions or faced  similar situation?

It seems that you are a victim of purchasing a tampered device.

Why do scammers and hackers sell tampered device's ?

Copying sensitive data ( bank details )
Hacking user's information
Stealing passwords and other security data

How do they steal data ?

The seller purchases a new device, then gains root access and installs hack software on the device.    ( malware, spyware etc... ) and sells it on eBay and other sites.

Is this a serious issue ?
YES.  You should NEVER use a device with hacked firmware for anything... it could be logging everything you do...

text messages
internet access
call logs and recordings
everything your device has access to

What can i do to remove the hacks

Download an OFFICIAL stock ROM ( Firmware )
YOUR DEVICE FIRMWARES - NeedRom.com
Download the Latest SP Flash Tool ( most MTK china phones use SP Flash Tool)
Install your STOCK OFFICIAL firmware following the guide on needrom.com

Why would Google Services be missing ?
Usually this is to comply with Copyright laws, the seller isn't legally aloud to sell you proprietary software on a modified system.

Also, Google Play Protect will alert the user of any suspicious applications on the device, and also check for ( Certified Device )

Certified Device !!!
After installing your OFFICIAL STOCK Firmware, you can check the integrity of the system using the built-in recovery, just boot into recovery and do a system integrity check.... After all is OK, boot the device and open Googles Play Store,   Navigate to settings and scroll to the bottom, at the bottom of the settings screen in the Play Store, it'll say if your on a Certified Device or not...

If it Say's certified device, and you have all OK in system integrity check, your good to go and all services like Android Pay will be accessible.

The flashing instructions are usually basic, but be careful NOT to use Firmware Upgrade... Only Ever Download, in SP Flash Tool.

Good Luck, I've had many tampered with devices from online purchases, but all are fixable :)
Especially Chinese MTK models.


How to drag apps to the task tray? I am trying to drag icons to my task tray using my galaxy s3 v4.0.4.
However when I am dragging the icons down to the tray the task icons dissappear and a bunch of options appear like info and delete. How can I pin apps. I have looked everywhere and not found a solution for this problem. Please help.!!

yea, but with the recent update, no option to do this, i thought that it was strange, so i got fed up and called samsung and they said with 4.0.4 that you actually can not place icons in the tray, fail samsung. all other previous versions allowed this, i would have assumed that this would be a standard thing, apparently not.


Battery charging time calculation One of the very useful feature of Android version 5.0 Lollipop is that it shows how much time is left for the charging to be completed. How is the time for the device to get fully charged determined?

As per the training document Monitoring the Battery Level and Charging State Determine the Current Battery Level section describes a method, which I presume is implemented in OS and measured periodically (most likely at every 1% change of battery level)

  You can find the current battery charge by extracting the current battery level and scale from the battery status intent as shown here:

int level = batteryStatus.getIntExtra(BatteryManager.EXTRA_LEVEL, -1);
int scale = batteryStatus.getIntExtra(BatteryManager.EXTRA_SCALE, -1);

float batteryPct = level / (float)scale;

Once you know the current level and the time taken to reach that level, I presume time for full charge is stored in ROM (not sure how and where) it is only a matter of extrapolating

Note: This is an educated guess and would welcome inputs


Is there a way to perform a memdump of an android device? Is there a way to perform a memdump of an android device? I need the content of the entire memory (RAM). Maybe there is a shell command (meminfo will not do because it displays only memory information, not the content of RAM) or maybe somebody has a program which does this.

Since Android uses Linux as kernel /dev/kmem exists. It's a virtual character device file that is an image of the main memory of the computer.
You can simply dump it with

cat /dev/kmem > file

but only as root.


Google Play Music - Error while retrieving information from server Google Play Music - Error while retrieving information from server. When tapping Get Started. Screenshot:

Clear data and cache of the app and then try.If it doesn't work then you can wipe dalvik cache in recovery and reboot.


Which directories can I remove in internal SD in Galaxy SII w/ Cyanogenmod? I used ClockworkMod to wipe my Samsung Galaxy SII and install Cyanogenmod 9.1 on it. However, when I mounted my phone on my computer, I see that lots of folders were left on its internal SD by apps from before I flashed my phone.

I was tempted to just delete everything on the internal HD from my computer (running Mac OS X 10.6.8), but I noticed there seems to be critical directories on it like one for Clockwordmod.

Here is a list of the directories on the internal SD via ls -a:

Are there directories in here that are essential to the normal function of the phone? A related question is: When I flash my phone, how to I completely wipe it so that when Cyanogenmod is installed, there will be no traces of previous activity as shown in the screenshot above?

Thank you!

When doing a complete wipe, you can safely delete all directories off the internal storage.  Generally, Android OS will re-create any folders on user areas like internal/external storage if it doesn't find them.

You may want to hold onto (or at least back up prior to deletion) media folders like DCIM and Pictures, for example. Keep in mind that on different devices Camera apps may store photos and videos in other, non-standard directories.  And of course do not delete the clockworkmod folder if you wish to keep the NANDroid backups you've made previously.

Under normal operation, .android_secure is the only directory on either internal or external storage that is absolutely necessary.  It contains apps that were "moved to SD" via settings (if external SD card is not present, apps get moved to internal storage instead.)  If this folder is deleted, it will cause instabilities where these apps would not start (obviously), but you may also have trouble uninstalling them from Android, and would need to manually remove their left-overs (the caches, for example.)

Another notable directory is Android - it contains data for installed apps.


Why do I need to confirm my phone number to send a group SMS? I am using the Android Messages app to send an SMS to more than one person at a time. I get prompted with a message that "Messages needs your phone number" and a button labelled "Fix". I then get this dialog:

I have two questions:

Why does Android Messages need my phone number? Doesn't it know it already? Will I have to change it later if I change SIM card? I don't get this prompt when sending an SMS message to one person.

Is Android Messages doing something other than sending normal SMS messages here?

I'm using Android 6 and the latest version of Android Messages from the Play store.

Had the same problem, I know my phone number is on my SIM because enabling DSDS and toggling on eSIM displayed my phone number under the right carrier.  I turned this all off, but at least I knew my SIM wasn't messed up.

I used dialing code *#*#4636#*#* to look at Phone Information.   Even this menu showed my phone number as unknown!

I used the ellipsis menu on the Phone Information screen to Select Radio Band and set it to United States, which seemed to kick the connection to my carrier and now my phone number is showing up and messages doesn't nag.


I'm not able to access a certain intranet site I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Tab (3.2 Android OS) on a wireless network to access an intranet site. I can access the site perfectly from a laptop connected (wireless) to the intranet site, but not with the Galaxy Tab. It's saying that it cannot locate the remote server (this is baffling). Additionally, I have tried several browsers: Firefox, Opera, and Android browser. Has anyone experienced something similar or have an idea what the problem may be. Thanks!

It may be that your intranet sites are actually hosted on another subnet, and access is through a proxy server. Direct DNS lookup, and even IP routing to the host may not be possible.

The browser on your laptop might be automatically configuring the proxy, whereas the tab would not. I can be tricky to determine where the proxy server is, however it maybe possible with netstat and a little knowledge.

On the laptop, start downloading a large file from the intranet, and run this from a command prompt:

netstat -an

Look for a connection on a port like 80, 8080, 443, or 8443. This would be the server you need to configure as your proxy server on the tab.

It's also worth exploring the DNS suffix options suggested above.


Is the wifi hotspot feature available on newer android phones? I have a captivate glide running android 4.0.4 with at&t and it has a wifi hotspot feature that I can turn on to share my data connection via wifi.
I'm planning on getting a samsung galaxy s6 or s7 and was wondering if this feature is still available. I try to read all the documentation but it's all marketing hype and doesn't mention things like this that I can find.
Anybody use this feature? Is it still a thing? Are there any phones that support it?

Almost all phones support this fundamental feature nowadays, so much that it's no longer on marketing materials. I use the feature exclusively on some of my phones - I have data SIMs in them and carry them around to provide connection for my main phone. S7 even supports relaying WiFi connections which is rare.

However, do note that some carriers (e.g. Verizon) would sometimes lock the feature behind certain restrictions, like you need to have the carrier's SIM, or you need to have a payment plan with tethering enabled.


How to set MP3 ringtone in Android (Nexus S) I am using Music (latest up to today) and TTPOD as my MP3 players.

After Googling, I suppose I can set my MP3 ring tone, by long press on the song through Music application. However, once I long press, there are only the following selections

Play
Add to playlist
Delete
Shop for artist
More by artist
Search

I was expecting I am able to get a selection choice Set as ringtone, but I didn't find one.

May I know what is the "correct" way to set MP3 as ringtone in Android?

This isn't the "correct" way, but IMO it's a good way: use Ringdroid. With it, you can cut a suitable part of the MP3 to be used as a ringtone. This way you can get rid of those pesky intros on songs that have a slow start and save space by not having the entire MP3 duplicate in your ringtones folder.


android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: Can't downgrade database from version X to Y when running an app I have problem with TitaniumBackup. I had it installed on my Android tablet which is rooted and using Android 4.4.2. It was working fine, but I had to do factory reset and after that, if I try to launch TitaniumBackup, I get 'Unfortunately, Titanium Backup has stopped'.

This is the logcat with the lines that contain references to TitaniumBackup.

Line 111: E/AndroidRuntime(26306): Process: com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup, PID: 26306
Line 112: E/AndroidRuntime(26306): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainActivity}: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: Can't downgrade database from version 7 to 6
Line 131: E/AndroidRuntime(26306):        at com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainActivity.onCreate(Source)

The error mentions

  java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.MainActivity}: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: Can't downgrade database from version 7 to 6

How to mitigate this issue?

[...] android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: Can't downgrade database from version 7 to 6

This is caused when an app tries to downgrade an SQLite database from newer version, but failed since the code handle that is not implemented. (For more technical explanation: Can't downgrade database from version 2 to 1 even after fresh install and re-run).

This can also happen on Android Marshmallow (Android 6.x) or later when the data is backed up and restored after doing factory reset, leaving the data with newer version, but the app in older version.

What the user can do:

If the user wants to use the existing database: they have to find and use the version of the app that is using the current (7)/newer (>7) SQLite database version. Usually this means the user needs to update the app to the previous app's version (before the factory reset) or newer one (latest from the Play Store/developer's website).
If the user doesn't care about the existing database: depending on the database location, they can remove the database by e.g. deleting the file manually (probably need root access), cleaning the app data, etc. and let the app recreate a new database with older SQLite database version (big potential of data loss from the previous database).


How do i recover data from internal memory on a dead Xperia Z1? I have a Xperia Z1 and when i try turning it on nothig happens. When i plug it in i get a flashing red LED. I have important photos on the internal memory inside it so i wonder if i can in some way recover the data from it.

EDIT: The phone is rooted.

No, this is not really possible for an end-user.  If the phone won't turn at all then the only way to recover data is to access the storage chip directly, using something like a JTAG setup.  Of course, it's possible that repairs might be possible (or moving the chip to another device), but it's impossible to say without more detail.


Why are personal dictionary entries unavailable in some input fields? So my android 4.3 personal dictionary abbreviation/expansions work fine in some text inputs such as memo pad or text messaging, but it seems if the input is specialized such that it knows to expect an email or a phone number, the expansions are not available. Is there a way to make these always available when the keyboard is active without exception? If not, how can I otherwise avoid typing out my long email address when setting up settings, filling out web forms, etc?

As you've noticed, the app you're typing into can tell a "hint" to the keyboard app (or input method) to let it know what kind of text to expect, such as an email address. It's then up to the keyboard app to decide how to interpret that. For example, it can look in your contacts for email addresses.

You haven't said which keyboard app you're using, but from what you've described it seems that this app chooses to ignore expansions when it receives this hint. Since it's up to the keyboard app what to do, you might like to install and try out a different keyboard app. I don't use expansions/abbreviations myself, so I can't recommend one, but there must be one out there that lets you use them for email addresses, phone numbers, etc. as well as normal text.

Do bear in mind that a keyboard app can record all the text you type, so be extra careful to only install apps from reputable sources and developers.


Intel xolo x900 mobile getting shutdown I have trouble with my intel xolo x900 mobile, whenever I have enabled internet unable to use any app , suddenly my mobile getting switched off. It will take nearly 5 min to get back to normal. Not only facing while enabled data but if I'm making calls more times in short duration again same issue.

Interestingly issue not happening mobile while in charging, help me to get this fixed

Thanks,
Asai

It sounds like your phone is defective. You should return it to the shop for repair or replacement.


Not able to install app using adb command I have a broken screen in my device due to that i am not able to take back of contact and other data.

I am trying to use vysor chrome plugin which installs an app and cast the screen in to web browser.

When i try to use vysor application, i am not able to install the app in device. I am always getting below error

adb install com.koushikdutta.vysor.apk

2660 KB/s (2958940 bytes in 1.086s)
Please select on your phone whether can install the app by The ADB command?

refused to install the app by The ADB command !

I tried to install the app using pm command as well but observed the same issue.

Note : - Same issue is observed for all the apks.
Device details : - LeTv Le 2

For LeTv Le 2, Go to Settings > Fingerprint & Password > Other Security Options > Install apps in background , Set this options to Yes.


How to fix AVD Manager unable to detect device even though adb commands work on PC? I am trying to connect my Google Nexus 5 so that I can debug my Xamarin code from Visual Studio with it.

I have downloaded all the drivers and all that. When I type in adb -d devices it finds my phone. I can do all sorts of things with it from there, so the phone is for sure connected to the computer.

My problem is how do I get the AVD manager to realize that? It just won't find my phone.

The AVD is not in charge for real devices.

There is a Step-by-Step Tutorial from Xamarin for Nexus devices:

http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/getting_started/installation/set_up_device_for_development/

http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/deployment,_testing,_and_metrics/debugging_with_xamarin_android/

If this won't work, try to stop your Firewall.


How to disable Google synchronization on Xperia XZ1 Compact? Given that I'm an Android developer and know how to use Android, I'm yet again amazed by Google's ability to disguise options and to change them with every release (in addition to the device manufacturers doing the same thing).

What I want to achieve: disable auto-sync of all data with Google (including app data, contacts, SMS, calendar, ...)

The way it doesn't work on my device is by following the instructions you get from googling "android how to disable Google sync". I'm not stupid ;) I do know how to google.

I have a Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact with Android 8.0 Oreo. I'm unable to disable synchronization. Here are the screenshots:

Note: On the last screenshot, when scrolling down the list, I can see "Google Play Movies & TV" where it explicitly says "Sync is OFF". It doesn't say that for the other items.

Ahh. I found that "auto-sync account data" (shown on the first screenshot) acts as a master switch. Turning it on and then going to the "Account sync" screen then reveals the individual on/off sliders for the different items.


Hide SMS message in notification bar I am using Moto E powered by Android Kitkat.

When I receive an SMS, I get a notification displaying the sender name with the message. I don't want the message text to be displayed in the notification, just the sender name is enough.

How can I prevent the message text from being displayed?

NOTE: I don't want to stop the notification. I just want to hide the text message in the notification

GoSMS Pro has a "Notification bar privacy mode" option, which 'shows "New Message" instead of the message's content'.

I personally use Sliding SMS (which is a standalone app created for and taken from CyanogenMod 10). It has an option to enable "Privacy Mode", which hides the sender and message from the status bar notification. 8sms (which is also from CM10 M2) also has this option.


Android apps open to a white screen and do not load I have a new Moto E4 running Android 7.1.1. The system and all applications are up to date, as of today. However, when I try to open certain applications (Mendeley, Fitbit, and MyTracks, to name a few) the apps just show a blank white screen. They don't load.

My phone is not rooted and is using the default Android 7.1.1 that came with it. I found some discussions online that said I need to enable Android System Webview, but when I find this app in the Play Store and click Enable, nothing happens (and the button still says "Enable").

Since this happens across numerous apps, it seems like this is a system wide problem. What am I doing wrong?

The problem stemmed from where these apps were installed. By default, my phone was installing apps to the external storage (which was formatted as part of the file system). While this worked fine for most apps, it caused these apps to crash. Once I went into Settings and moved these apps to internal storage, they worked as intended.


Application Installed Not Found in Android Folder? I am not sure if i am missing something here, what i did was i installed an application and i want to batch some files inside the installed application folder. Usually all applications  installed are in the Android folder but the application i installed is not there, i even tried to see the size of the folder before and after installation and no difference.

The application installed create a shortcut and when i run it, it asks to download some data from the INTERNET, that is the nature of the application i am trying to locate.

Can anybody tell me if there is any other folder i should be looking in ?

Depends on the application. In case of applications downloading additional data, some applications create their own folder on the SD card, or they to their appropriate folder in the Android folder on the SD card (either in data or obb), or even somewhere else. Application itself (without the additional data) should normally be stored on the /data partition.


Nexus 9 - How do I change the cellular band? I've got an international edition 32GB Nexus 9 LTE. It appears to be unable to connect to 3.5G / HSPA+  networks, as a result, I get poor data speeds (3G is pretty slow for my requirements). I've got a Nexus 7, LG G2 and LG G3 all on the same carrier as the N9, and they can all connect to 3.5G / HSPA+ in the areas where the Nexus 9 struggles.

On regular phones, I would overcome this issue by dialling *#*#4636#*#* and changing the preferred bands, however, since the Nexus 9 doesn't have a dialler, I'm unable to access this menu. Any ideas on alternative ways I could get to this menu? Maybe via a third-party app or a terminal command?

I'm running Android 6.0.1 and have root access.

Thank you.

Figured it out. I installed a third-party dialler app (Truedialler), and I was able to dial *#*#4636#*#* and change the band and preferred network mode.


How to view internal AND SD card storage on my Moto e4 when I connect it to my computer? Up until a couple of hours ago I have been able to view my internal storage and SD storage on my phone when I connect it to my computer via USB. I simply swipe down on my phone, click USB for file transfer and select "transfer file." Since formatting the SD card I can view my SD card storage but NOT my internal. Should I still be able to see the internal storage after I do that?

Other than formatting the SD card, there are a few things that I did to my phone since being able to view internal storage:
1) I moved some apps to the SD card
2) I activated/enabled developer options (sorry I did that) but nothing is changed, that I know of
3) I cleared the settings storage cache (not data)
4) Some apps updated but I don't know which ones, I didn't pay attention to the notification

I'm not sure which, if any, of these things would cause me to no longer be able to view my internal storage.

I tried:

restarting my phone
unplugging and replugging the usb cable
restarting my computer (which also updated)
uninstalling the device driver (I did not get the checkbox option to delete driver but I did get this warning letting me know that I was uninstalling the device from my system and I continued with the uninstall)

Looks like your MTP drivers are corrupted. One way to resolve is uninstalling the driver and then reinstall it.

Depending on your OS running on your PC, locate the device manager and uninstall the driver:

If on Windows PC;

Go to Device Manager, expand Portable Devices and right click on your device.
Select Uninstall  (also tick the box besides Delete the driver software for this device) and click OK.

Unplug your device and restart your computer.
After the computer restarted, re-connect your device via usb and allow the MTP driver to be installed (it may take a while, so be patient)
When done check if the internal storage is  now visible.


Phone starts ringing for caller long before phone starts ringing, why? When I call my wife's phone from my phone, I hear three or four rings through my handset before her ringtone starts.  Is there a way to reduce or eliminate this delay?  (Yes I have checked the audio file.  The sound starts instantly in the file.)

There's quite a bit that goes into placing a call to a mobile phone. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on GSM services, slightly edited for clarity, which does a good job explaining some of what happens when a call is placed to a GSM cellular phone.

  When someone places a call to a mobile phone they dial the telephone
  number associated with the phone user and the
  call is routed to the mobile phone operator's Gateway Mobile Switching
  Centre (MSC). The first job of the Gateway MSC is to determine the current
  location of the mobile phone in order to connect the call. It does
  this by consulting the Home Location Register (HLR).

  When the HLR
  receives this query message, it determines whether the call should be
  routed to another number (called a divert), or if it is to be routed
  directly to the mobile. If the Home Location Register knows that the phone is    roaming in a particular Visited Location Register area, then it will
  request a temporary number (called an MSRN) from that VLR. This
  number is relayed back to the Gateway MSC, and then used to route the
  call to the MSC where the called phone is roaming.

  When the call arrives at the Visiting MSC, the MSRN is used to
  determine which of the phones in this area is being called.
  The MSC pages all the mobile phone masts in the area in order to
  inform the destination handset that there is an incoming call for it. If the
  subscriber answers, a speech path is created through the Visiting MSC
  and Gateway MSC back to the network of the person making the call, and
  a normal telephone call follows.

All of this and more (depending on the origin of the call, the carriers involved, and how smoothly things are running on that particular day) happens in fractions of seconds. When taken altogether, though, it can create a noticeable delay. That's why it takes so long for your wife's phone to start ringing and that's also why there's not much you can do about it. It's all pretty cool if you think about it.


Adding (lots of) icons to home screen on ICS tablet I just upgraded my Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Samsung's 3.2 variation to CyanogenMod's ICS RC1.  Most everything seems a little slicker or simpler.  However, there is one big shortcoming: it seems impossible to efficiently add multiple icons to the home screen.  From home, I have to hit the "apps" button in the top-right, find the app icon, long-press it, then drag it to the right place.  And repeat.  On the 3.2 ROM, I could just drag icons onto "mini" homescreens on the top half of the app list page.  (Is this a feature of Samsung's TouchWiz and not part of default Honeycomb?)

I've restored all my apps, so they're installed, but none are on the rather barren homescreen.  I had them somewhat organized across the 5 pages under 3.2, and I'd like to get that organization back.

Am I missing something in the CM/ICS UI that makes this easier?  Are there 3rd party apps that make this easier?  (Is the ICS homescreen the default, or specific to Cyanogenmod?)  Are the config files editable?

Go Launcher

I use this app (instead of HTC Sense) for my HTC Sensation. This works great, and there is a lot of different themes and plugins for it. Great if you're tired of the standard UI on your phone!

It also solves your problem, when you can add multiple items for your different screens. (Just tap on the ones you would like to have easy access to) :)


Can I change proxy settings on my stock Android browser? I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, and I'm not experienced enough in Android to want to root it yet.

However, I need a proxy server. Is there any way to change the proxy settings (for both WiFi and network, either through the phone or over adb)?

Thanks.

With terminal on your droid or via adb

The android web browser will read the proxy settings in its settings database.

Spawn a shell:

> adb shell

Init sqlite3 database manager to edit the settings database.

# sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db

Run the query bruh.

sqlite> INSERT INTO system VALUES(99,’http_proxy', 'proxy:port');

Close the session.

sqlite>.exit

Profit.


Google Photos Add a Location on Multiple Files I am using Google Photos for my archieved photos. I have lots of photos from past(When the Photo Location not involved)
Now i want to add the location for my Photos to organize them.
It is possible for 1 image. But there thousands of them. Is there possible way to do it Folder by Folder or Multiple Photos Selection and Add Location to them?

This can only be done through desktop on Picasa web albums as far as I know, but Picasa shares photos with Google Photos, so it should work.

Put all your photos with the same location in an album (you can do this with Google Photos)
Go to Picasa Web Albums and find the album.
Under "Actions", click "Album map"

This will bring you to the album map. Once there, click "Edit map"

Click the first picture in the album to select it, then while holding shift click the last picture in the album.

Drag the pictures out onto the map. You may want to find your location first.


Lost root on Cyanogenmod 13 after Factory Reset I am running Cyanogenmod on my Galaxy S2 for about a year.

A few months ago I bought a new phone and game my Galaxy S2 to my mom to use as a second phone. I did a Factory Reset before that. Everything was working fine, including root.

Recently I took the phone back and did a Factory Reset again, but now I lost root access. It is set to "Apps and ADB" in developer options btw.

I tried reinstalling Cyanogenmod, no luck.
Tried flashing recovery (I am using clockworkmod and it worked file all the time), no luck.

EDIT

I tried flashing SuperSU .zip file and after a few attempts it worked. No idea what was the problem, but it is fixed now.


What is the little icon in the top left The icon disappears when I'm using the phone.

Giffgaff (stylised "giffgaff") is a mobile telephone network running as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator using O2's British network. Owned by O2's owners Telefónica, Giffgaff was launched on 25 November 2009.

It is the Branding logo from your Mobile Telephone Network

From Wikipedia


Can we connect external Bluetooth Dongle in Android Tablet? For my survey I want to attach an external USB Bluetooth Dongle to an Android Tablet. Actually I want better range of the bluetooth, so I will use an antenna for the external bluetooth. I want to know :

Which Android version supports it?
Can an external Bluetooth work if the Tablet already has an internal Bluetooth ?
Any suggestion of Android Tablet in the market ?

If you are able to connect an external Bluetooth Dongle to the Android device, it ought to work for you, even with an intrnal Bluetooth present.

Android devices with OS v3.1 and above shall support USB host capabilities. So, it is advisable to experiment with devices with the above operating systems. However, it will be on your end to make the dongle work for you; i.e. by creating a separate application for the same.


Reduce time it takes for device to power on when pressing power button? I recently got my Nexus 7, and I love it.

There is only one thing that is bugging me: The amount of time you have to hold the power button to turn the device on.

Most of time I have to hold it for around 30 seconds - this is not ideal at all, as number 1, my finger starts hurting as I am pushing it in and 2 my finger easily slips meaning I have to start again!

SO, my question is this:

Is there any way, without flashing a custom ROM, to reduce the amount of time I have to hold the power button to power the device on? Flashing a custom kernel is ok.

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

This is something set at a really low level and I have never heard of this as being something that can be modified.

It's definitely nothing that can be resolved in a custom rom, maybe a different bootloader, but I have a feeling it's at a lower level than that.


How can I remove a contact from hike which is deleted from my phone but still showing on hike? Plz help me how can I remove a contact from hike which I've deleted from my phone but still showing on hike

Block the contact .it will remove that from your friend list..
Actually it shows that contact because it is in your friend list..or you send it a friend request..so as u block that contact, it cancel the request..now you unblock the contact again..and it is removed from your friend list..
Enjoy.


Home screen status bar text color I haven't changed anything (as far as I know) and the text color of my status bar on the home screen changed from white to black. Is there any easy way to change it back?

If your phone has the Nova launcher then you can. After an update i got an error message the the Nova launcher force stopped and the status bar text went black. Re-enabled Nova launcher and it has a setting under "look and feel" to make the bar transparent.


Zero Percent Brightness Bug? Device: TorqueXT, Android 4.4.2

When I set the brightness to zero, and I turn off the screen and turn it back on, the screen is brighter even thought it still says it's on zero brightness (and when I raise the brightness and bring it back to zero it becomes darker than when it turned on). This only happens with the zero percent brightness.

I have completely formatted the device to see if that fixed it, but no success. Also, after formatting, I've installed a third-party app to control brightness, and it still does not maintain the zero percent brightness.

Any ideas how to fix this?

This seems to be an issue  some users, including me, are experiencing. There is nothing you can do about it, as it seems to come from the hardware level (the screen) not maintaining the brightness level.


How does the rooting apps (like kingroot) roots the android phones I rooted my android kit-kat with kingroot. This process took almost 2-3 minutes and it successfully rooted.

But what is the process involved in rooting an android phone?
I want a very clear explanation,please.

I read this how does rooting work

that answer says that placing that binary files and some other things mentioned but it is a rough answer, if possible i want an example and a very very detailed explantion please.
Place any link which explains the android coding to root an android phone.

These One-Click root apps, like ol' faithful kingroot, follow a general structure for rooting. I will be using kingroot as an example.

Phase one- Detection of device - Self explanatory, really. Kingroot scans the build.prop (which it can, its mostly what you see in about phone) to grab and nab what the hell you are using. It can use other info sources too, but I don't know which (kernel, maybe)

Phase two - Exploiting - one-click apps generally follow a pattern of exploiting weaknesses in the OS to access /system directly (and freely). Malware and other infected apps/files can do this too, to gain their own root privilege. Anyway,  they use this to gain temporary root.

Phase three - Planting files - at this point, The app just injects the SU binaries and SuperUser Management apps (in the case of kingroot, itself). It often makes these apps system apps to help protect against root access loss. Anyway, the temporary root planted previously is used as leverage, which allows for the root-app to provide permanent,  system-wide root

Final phase - polishing - assuming that everything went well, all that's left is a reboot (to load the new binaries in. You may not even need a reboot, but you should anyway) and you are done!


How Do Custom Support So Many Phones? The other day, my friend told me that completely stock Android could run as a ROM on any device you care to mention. Since basically everyone else has told me otherwise, I decided to verify his claim and stumbled accross this Android Enthusiasts StackExchange thread.

I accepted the answer that was marked as correct, but it got me thinking. If stock android cannot be run on any device, how do custom ROMs like CyanogenMod or anything else support so many phones? Thanks.

CyanogenMod/LineageOS and other custom ROMs can't run on every device either. They have different versions for different devices. For example check this list for the newest LineageOS-compatible devices.

The same version can't work on every device, because the operating system (in this case the android) have to include the drivers for the specific device it will ran on. An android version which would include all the drivers would be illogically huge.


"This app is compatible with all your devices", but the Install button is greyed out on the web version of the Play Store On the web version of the Play Store, the "Install" button is greyed out even though the message says: "This app is compatible with all of your devices."

What is the possible reason, and how to fix this?

Just saw this workaround posted by a Stefan Brunnauer on Google Play Help, and it worked perfectly for me
"Had the same problem - I removed the missmatching &gl=US query parameter at the end of the browser URL and it worked. Maybe this helps."


SSH to Mac using Android Phone I am trying to SSH into my Macbook Pro (10.6.8) using my Android phone. It is a SGH-T989 running the latest stable Cyanogenmod 10 (4.1.2).

I have enabled remote login on my Mac and confirmed I can SSH into it using another Macbook Pro (running 10.7.5). However, when I type "ssh user@ip" on my Android terminal, I get the following message after about 4-5 minutes of waiting.

  logossh: connect to host xxx.xxx.x.xxx port 22: Connection timed out

Any ideas why it works from another Macbook Pro but not from my Android phone? I also tried using connectbot but I get the same problem.

I never tried using WiFi while on CM10, but I just finished flashing and rooting stock touchwiz 4.1.2 (I missed the camera app and had terrible battery life on CM10). It connects fine when the phone is connected to the same wifi as the macbook pro but when I turn wifi off and use data, connectbot says:

  Connection Lost failed to connect to 192.168.1.106 (port 22): connect failed: ENETUNREACH (Network is unreachable)

You can't ssh from your phone to your Mac when using mobile data because you are no longer on the same network, and thus can't use the internal (RFC1918) address to reach it.

When you're using WiFi, it works because you are on the same network.

In order to reach your computer when using mobile data on your phone, you must do BOTH of:

ssh to your computer's public IP address; and
Forward port 22 from your home router to the computer you want it to reach.