What are the risks involved in unlocking the bootloader? A locked bootloader is one that will only boot an OS and recovery that it "approves" of. Vendors digitally sign the recovery, kernel and kernel modules and unsigned binaries are refused to flash and boot. This is same as Secure Boot provided by UEFI.

In PC, one can simply disable the Secure boot by choice if one wants to boot unsigned binaries. But on Android devices, every vendor has its own lengthy process to unlock the bootloader like providing unlock tool, unlock code and device registration. Vendors are making it even harder like HMD initially refuses to unlock Nokia bootloaders and Huawei will stop providing bootloader unlocking for all new devices.

So how does a locked bootloader strengthens the security and privacy of end user or  does it serve some other purposes too?

Locking you bootloader is really telling your device to check the signature's of specific files to find if it's a genuine image.

If it's found to NOT be genuine, it will not allow booting, as well, it won't allow flashing of the image.

If the signatures all check out, then it'll allow the flash or boot ..  If you used the "Universal Signature Vulnerability" you can bypass nearly all signature checks on many models.

Some applications that you can install on your device don't require anything other than an internet connection to connect to a database of vulnerabilities, the application will run through the vulnerabilities until it gets a successful hit on your device and then exploits your system using the vulnerability...
These applications can install modified image's and ultimately makes locking bootloaders a thing of the  past...
KingRoot is one of these software's, it doesn't require unlocking the bootloader and specifically states that you are not voiding your warranty if you remove king root prior to returning the device.

The main thing about locking bootloaders, is it's a little too late... Software has gone far beyond using Fastboot to do flashing, most the time, Fastboot has size limitations and NEW devices have massive image's that can't be flashed without splitting the image..  It's almost never used anymore, most companies use their own software to connect to the bootloader now, like Odin, SP Flash Tool, LG Recovery ( something like that ) ...

The fact that you can flash a custom recovery without ever touching Fastboot ( OEM Unlock - go )  and that recovery can flash all your partitions, makes unlocking bootloaders the prehistoric way of doing thing's if you care about your warranty.

Bootloader locking in my opinion is to improve users experience with the default system, People are starting to preffer systems like CyanogenMod and Other popular custom ROM's ... Could you imagine if one of these custom ROMs become the most popular OS, above Android that it's built on...

If you ask me, it's all a bit touch and go with the legalities of disclosing kernel sources, As android is an open source project, you are meant to follow the open source licences..  This means it's technically not legal to withhold some of the Open Sourc Licensed code ... meaning to fully disable the ability of others to have access to the source code would be a violation of the Open Source license's that Android uses...

Some companies thought they had the right to withhold the source code to stop people making modified boot inages for the device, but they soon found out the opposite and released the open sourced code for others to have the same access.

It's all a bit up in the air at the moment because Android is built on Linux, Java, XML Layouts etc... None of these things are owned by Android, android is simply a concoction of other systems, therefore most of it can not be claimed as the ownership of Android and therefore Android MUST be an Open Source Project to comply with the open sourced licenses of Linux, Java, etc.....

Ok so, most companies would need to build an OS on top of Android and call it something different to ever have the rights to withhold access to the bootloader source code ( kernel )  and then probably still not.

I guess I'm saying, Unlocking the bootloader has now been bypassed and therefore the purposes of locking it are now ...  none.


How to customize font size and color in Jelly Bean? The combination of small font size, low contrast color schemes (gray on gray), and the erratic operation of the auto-intensity makes the screen difficult to read in many circumstances.

I like auto-dimming, but I think it follows the wrong curve and is often too dim for the ambient conditions. The only alternative is to disable the automatic function entirely, which still results in often having the wrong brightness.

Can anyone recommend the simplest approach to customizing the font sizes and colors for the JB user interface? I liked Gingerbread's UI, but would prefer stick with the JB OS if the UI could be made more like GB.

(Phone is Nexus S 9020, Jelly Bean 4.1.2)

You can go to Settings > Display > Font size, to change the size. I'm not sure how to change the color though.


History of installed/uninstalled apps I don't know if there is already a thread about this particular issue, but if so forgive me. I would like to know how can I see the date when I installed and uninstalled a certain app some time ago (provided that I deleted it from Google Play history, so I can't go that way). I've been doing some research and logcat appears everywhere, but I don't see how can it solve my problem. Thanks in advance for your help.

Logcat won't be much help here, as it only lasts back a limited time (it uses a ring buffer with a fixed size, so older entries get overwritten with new ones). Instead, better focus on the package manager:

adb shell "pm list packages -u -3"

gives you a list of all apps you have installed (the -3 restricts it to apps that didn't come pre-installed – essentially meaning "3rd party"), including those you've already uninstalled (-u). The returned list looks like this:

package:com.ceco.gm2.gravitybox
package:com.mohammadag.xposedpreferenceinjector

This still doesn't give you the details you wanted, so lets bring in some help from Firelord's answer here:

First, we need to cut of the leading package:, so we modify our command to pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print $NF}':

com.ceco.gm2.gravitybox
com.mohammadag.xposedpreferenceinjector

Already better. Now Firelord kicks in mentioning the dumpsys command for details, which we integrate in what we have so far:

for pkg in $(pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print $NF}'); do
    dumpsys package $pkg
done

That should give you full details for each app, including their install date (firstInstallTime), last update (lastUpdateTime) and, hopefully also the uninstall-time – unfortunately, on the device I've tested this right now, uninstalled apps didn't turn up despite of the -u parameter, which might be a device-specific issue (as the pm documentation clearly describes it such).

To give you the same thing as a one-liner which also should work on Windows:

adb shell "for pkg in \$(pm list packages -u -3 | awk -F: '{print \$NF}'); do dumpsys package \$pkg; done"


download bigger than 4 gb file on android 4.0.4 How can I download files bigger than 4 GB on my Micromax A110 phone?

FAT32 file system says that it does not support files larger than 4 GB. I know there is one more way to do that: EXFAT file system. But my phone does not support that format -- so what should I do to download bigger files?

There are many games on sites which are not split into parts. Also torrent sites have many big games -- but I can't download them because they are larger than 4 GB.

So what should I do? And please tell me that when I format my sd card there are some other options like kilobytes 16 or 32 or many more. So which number of kilobytes should I select for my phone to format EXFAT file system?

Try formatting your SDCard as either Ext4Fs or Ext3Fs. Using such a tool as Partition Magic or even Parted

To quote from Wikipedia's entry on Ext4fs:

  Large file system

  The ext4 filesystem can support volumes with sizes
  up to 1 exbibyte (EiB) and files with sizes up to 16 tebibytes (TiB).

Likewise, for the quote on Wikipedia's entry on Ext3fs

  Size limits

  The max number of blocks for ext3 is 2^32.
  The size of a block can vary, affecting the max number of files and the max size of the file system:

   +------------+-----------------+----------------------+
   | Block Size |  Max File Size  |  Max Filesystem Size |
   +------------|-----------------|----------------------|
   |   1Kb      |     16Gb        |       2Tb            |
   +------------|-----------------|----------------------|
   |   2Kb      |     256Gb       |       8Tb            |
   +------------|-----------------|----------------------|
   |   4Kb      |     2Tb         |       16Tb           |
   +------------|-----------------|----------------------|
   |   8Kb      |     2Tb         |       32Tb           |
   +-----------------------------------------------------v

The reason FAT32 is used, is to maintain compatibility with the majority of OS's on desktop/laptops, which is Microsoft Windows!

Caveat Emptor:

Some kernels have support for Ext4fs in place, not all of them may have it, notably Stock ROMs coming from manufacturers!

Also, if you are rooted and running a customized kernel, chances are pretty high that the kernel would have support for this - you can confirm by checking via adb shell

adb shell ls /proc/*.gz There should be a hit on the configuration file, usually named config.gz or kernel_config.gz or similar.
Pull that down via adb pull /proc/config.gz
Unzip this file and launch your favourite editor, Search for the following keywords *CONFIG_EXT3_FS* or *CONFIG_EXT4_FS*
Or from the command line, zcat config.gz | grep "CONFIG_EXT4_FS"
If the search yielded this line # CONFIG_EXT4_FS is not set or # CONFIG_EXT3_FS is not set you are out of luck as that kernel would not have any support.

In short, if you need to support big files, a custom ROM or a custom Kernel would be needed this requires a pre-requisite in unlocking the bootloader in order to flash a new custom kernel in place that has support for such filesystems!


Pinning Web Sites to Android Homescreen Is there a way to pin websites to your homescreen in Android like an app?  I know this can be done in iOS, Windows Phone, and Windows 8, but I don't see a way to accomplish it on a Nexus 7 Android device.

The closest I've been able to come is to set the sites I want pinned as bookmarks and place the bookmarks folder as a widget on the homescreen, but I'd prefer not to have the clutter of the bookmark folder there and just pin sites directly.

Android has a Bookmark widget that supports individual sites, and a Bookmarks widget that will display all of your bookmarks.

It looks like you don't want to use the Bookmarks widget, but rather an individual Bookmark.

There are 2 ways:

From within Chrome: Bookmark the site you want to link to. Open the Bookmarks (via Menu > Bookmarks) and long-press the one you want to add. Select Add to home screen
From the App Launcher: Go to Widgets and find Bookmark (it looks like a red flag with a star on mine) and add that to your home screen. You can then pick whichever bookmark you want.

Either way results in a direct link to the desired bookmarked website.


Extend pc monitor on 2020 generation tablet, by cable Do tablets released in 2020 have a technology that allows to use them directly (no sofware to install, only cable) as a PC secondary monitor?

I want to buy a tablet to use it as secondary screen for my pc by cable and I want to know which features/hardware must have to be use it as secondary PC monitor.

I am asking because I have been using spacedesk to connect my tablet to PC via Wi-Fi. It works fine but if the connection is not good or the tablet processor is not powerful enough, there is too much delay between PC and tablet monitors.

Tablets are not designed to show display signals for e.g. a PC. Usually a tablet don't has any hardware support for receiving display signals.

Hence everything has to be transmitted via IP for example as video stream. Video encoding and decoding comes at a price that the latency is much higher that a standard HDMI or DisplayPort connection which mostly transmit uncompressed data.

If you have problems with your Wifi connection you can try to use the USB connection via ADB to establish a IP connection between your PC and the tablet. In detail the following command allows you to connect a TCP port on-device with a TCP port on your PC:

adb forward tcp:5000 tcp:5000

Therefore if you configure a remote screen software to use the port specified here as forwarded port (or change the port forwarding to match the used tcp port on the software) you can get a Wifi independent connection.


WhatsApp online status for strangers If I don't have John in my phone contacts (and thus I don't have him in my WhatsApp contacts), and then I open WhatsApp main window, will John see me online? I know my contacts will, but will John?

By "see me online" I mean: if he opens the conversation view with me, will he see the "online" label under my name?

Note: Suppose John has my phone number in his contacts.

Being online can't be hidden as long as the person is not blocked. But you can choose who can see your last seen at information at

Whatsapp -> Top right "three dot" menu -> Settings -> Account -> Privacy -> Last seen


Driving directions in new google maps I've just got a new phone and downloaded the new Google Maps. I cannot find the written driving directions in this version. There used to be a list of the directions that appeared together with white circles showing where you need to change directions on the map.

Is this still there? Where can I find this view?

If you get the directions for a route, you can pull the bottom white bar up to see the detailed, written instructions.

You can also drag the bottom white bar to the left to see more of the available routes.


How to create multiple user accounts with password for each in galaxy note 800 with Android 4.0.1? I have recently bought Samsung galaxy note 800 (10.1") which has android 4.0.1
How to create multiple user account accounts with passwords on it?

Multi-User was added with Android 4.2 -- you're running 4.0, so there's no native way to go multi-user without upgrading your system.

If you have your device rooted, you might want to take a look at SwitchMe Multiple Accounts, which works with Android 2.1 and up. With Android 4.1, you could make use of the User Management app. Both would enable you to have a multi-user feature on your device.


Run shell script in background process no matter what activity in foreground? I have a shell script that looks does the following:

# /mnt/sdcard/touch.sh
sleep 10

while [ 1 ]; do
    input swipe 700 380 1020 600 1000
    input tap 960 540
    input swipe 1220 700 900 480 1000
    input tap 960 540
    input swipe 1220 700 900 480 1000
    input tap 960 540
    input swipe 700 380 1020 600 1000
    input tap 960 540
done

If I execute it from Terminal IDE (a terminal emulator), it only works while Terminal IDE is in the foreground, so I thought I'd make an actual app to execute it and keep it running in the background. Here's what I've got now:

package com.mycompany.myapp;

import android.app.*;
import android.os.*;
import android.view.*;
import android.widget.*;
import java.io.*;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        try {
            // RIGHT HERE. WHY DOES NOTHING HAPPEN?
            Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{"/system/bin/sh", "/mnt/sdcard/touch.sh", });
        }
        catch (IOException e) {/*...*/}
    }
}

But it doesn't do anything.

So how would I execute this, then leave it running in the background so that the taps and swipes happen while another app is in the foreground? You get the idea. :D

It worked by just doing sh /mnt/sdcard/touch.sh & after having started a shell with adb shell. Then, when I closed the terminal forcibly while the process was in the background, the process remained running in the background of my phone as expected. I was able to kill the process later by getting with adb shell the using ps to find the process ID and kill -s KILL <ID> to kill it.

Basically, turns out I didn't have to make an Android app just to make my script run in the background. Clash on...


Remove contacts from Whattsapp chat list I've read all the comments on this topic but nothing said helps with the problem. I have deleted the contact in question from my contacts and refreshed the Whattsapp chat list several times but the contact doesn't disappear. There are no chats associated with this contact because I've deleted everything related to it.

If you go to Settings > Storage > Apps > WhatsApp

You will be able to clear cache for this app. Hopefully then , it will remove the deleted contact.

Hope this helps.
Regards,


How to take a screenshot with an Android device? Is there a way to take a screenshot of an Android device and save it as an image file?

If you have Android 4.0 or higher:
You can press the Power button + the Volume Down button at the same time to take a screenshot. It will be saved to your gallery.
Note: You need to keep the buttons pressed for around a second for this to work. This is to avoid the screenshot when this combination is accidentally pressed.
UPDATE 8.3.2021: If you have Android 10, you must press the Power button + Volume Down buttons ONLY BRIEFLY (< 0.5 seconds). If you press them longer, the Power menu will just open and the screenshot will not be captured.
If you have an Android lower than 4.0:
If you're rooted: you can install an app called drocap2. This will let you shake your phone, wait on a timer, or click on a notification in your notification bar to take a screenshot and it'll save it to your phone.
If you're not rooted: you can not run a screenshot app on your phone, period. You'll have to install the Android SDK on your computer, connect you phone via USB, and run a program called DDMS. This program is mainly used for developer debugging, but it has a screenshot utility under one of its menus.  For a tutorial, see this page.
Also, some constructor like Samsung have implemented this function on their phones (the buttons combination change from phone to phone, so search for yours).


Fake security message playing continuously on Galaxy 7 My phone just started beeping by itself immediately after displaying an ad in a piece of software I've been using without problems for almost 10 years. There is a female robot voice that repeats the same message continuously:

Important security message.
Your computer has been locked up.
Your IP address was used without your knowledge or consent to visit websites that contains identity theft virus. [sic]
To unlock the computer please call support immediately.
Please do not attempt to shutdown or restart your computer. Doing that may lead to data loss and identity theft.
The computer lock is aimed to stop illegal activity.
Please call our support immediately.

What is this, how did it get on my phone, and how do I get rid of it?
It just stopped by itself too. It was playing for about 15 minutes. The beeps became slightly irregular at the end.

Find the app in Settings -> Applications, and force stop it. That should stop the app from doing anything. Restarting the app should hopefully allow you to continue using it without issue.

Sometimes apps will continue playing audio in the background, and unfortunately this applies to ads as well.


Remove google app (velvet) from android marshmallow I want to remove bloatware Velvet apk (Google app) from stock Android Marshmallow on a Nexus 5. I had no problems on Lollipop removing the Google app. It worked perfectly. But on Marshmallow, I get a bootloop if I remove it.

You need to go settings/apps/configure apps (cog)/default apps/assist & voice input select NONE then Reboot, uninstall Google app and reboot and you have no bootloop enjoy!!


Why isn't device storage an option on my Galaxy S4? Can anyone tell me how to set up the Galaxy S4 to have " storage to device " as an option to save files and pictures to my sd card? Device storage is an option, but it is not highlighted so I can't use that as an option to store files and or pictures. I got a new phone and do not want to lose my pictures.
Thanks in advance for any advice/help given.
Cyndee

I wonder that "device storage" turns up as an option at all, as it is not intended for direct user interaction. On internal storage, each app gets its "home directory" to write in, where they usually store their data and settings – but not e.g. your photos and documents you might wish to also access with other apps (as basically, on "device storage", each app is limited to its own directory).

Maybe you confuse this with "internal SDCard", which is the user-storage on the device (as opposed to the "external SDCard")? To get some idea on the terms, be invited to our tag-wikis on the terms storage, internal-storage, and file-system.


How can I uninstall the Cyanogen Mod 7 for my Htc Incredible 2? I bought an HTC Incredible 2 on Amazon and found out that it is modded with Cyanogenmod 7. I didn't install it myself. Is it possible to uninstall CM7, or is it just built in? It doesnt even look like how an HTC Incredible should look or act.

Im wondering if I got another version of the HTC Incredible 2, but I didnt think there is another version.

It looks like you purchased a used phone on Amazon. CyanogenMod is an extremely popular Android ROM that tries to give you something close to a "Pure" Android experience by removing customizations that HTC and other manufacturers put on the phone. Personally, I would recommend you keep CyanogenMod.

But if you just don't like CM, there is a tutorial on XDA Developers that will guide you through the process of restoring the phone back to its original state. Restoring the default software looks pretty difficult for the Incredible 2.

You will need to get...

The HTC ADB Driver
The Android Software Development Kit
The SuperOneClick tool
Apparently, two versions (Links: 2.2 and 2.3) of the Android software for your phone.

The steps to follow are listed in that post, but they may be outdated. If they're wrong, or if you mess up somehow, your phone could very well get broken permanently.

All in all, you're free to try to remove CM from your phone. However, you may want to consider keeping it for two reasons:

CyanogenMod is considered by many to be superior to HTC Sense (Especially older versions like on the Incredible II).
Trying to remove it could lead to very bad things, like a permanently broken phone.

Please note that all the links are provided by third parties, not by HTC. I got the links from the XDA Post that I linked to in the second paragraph


How do I unlock bootloader when OEM unlock setting is missing in Developer options? I have a HTC 816G Dual SIM. As you can see in the image below of Developer options there is no "OEM unlock" option. What can I do to unlock bootloader?

Android 4.x don't have this option, this option was first seen in lollipop (5.0).

This I've found on XDA if you don't find a guide to unlock your bootloader ask in the help thread.


How to remove camera shortcut on lock screen? I want to remove the short cut from my phone's lock screen I find it quite annoying and have not found anything in settings or through my own searches. I'd like to get rid of the short-cut in the lower right corner.

I have a sprint nexus 6 phone on stock running android version 6.0.1

Places I have checked already have been linked below for further reference.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus/comments/2mrsws/disable_lockscreen_in_50/

Are there any lollipop lock screen settings?

If you're looking to just eliminate its presence (but not the function), get Xposed framework and this module: LINK: Xposed repo. Not just the camera icon - everything you don't want on the lockscreen can be gone.

Also, many custom ROMs such as CM allow you to change where the shortcut goes.

Here I change it to calculator:

All demos done on my own Nexus 6P.

Both require you to unlock and tinker with the phone; then again, what's the reason not to do it when you have a Nexus?


Issue Updating Google Apps - "Not Signed Correctly" First and forehand, I am running JB 4.2.2 AOKP on my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3. I have the latest gapps package installed after every time I flash an update to my ROM.

For some reason though, whenever I try to update either Gmail or Play Music, I get the error "Package file was not signed correctly. Uninstall the previous copy of the app and try again."

I can't uninstall the apps because they are used as system apps, and the best I can do is disable them, but that still didn't let me update them. I'm sure it has something to do with the gapps package that I flashed, but why does it not give me the same error when I update Play Movies and Play Magazines?

I do not use Titanium Backup to back up any of my apps, so I saw that that was a problem for some other people. If however, there is another question that relates more to mine, I will be glad to go and check it out, but after my looking I did not find a solution to my specific problem. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Here's the link to the gapps package that I installed as well as the exact ROM I am using.

In Android, every package is cryptographically signed by its author. To be an upgrade, the new package has to be signed with the same key as the old package. Since packages can read previous versions' data files, this is an important security precaution.

The error you get tells you that the update you're trying to install was not signed using the same key as the package you had flashed to the ROM. Either the original package you flashed, or the new package, was signed by a different developer.

You should either obtain an update from the same source you originally got the gapps package from, or flash a new ROM with a gapps package from the same source you're trying to update from. We may be able to help further with this if you edit your question to say where you got these packages from.


How to connect Samsung J7 via USB but disable charging? I would like to know if is it possible to connect my smartphone to a pc via USB without charging it?

It would be very useful to be able to disable charging (but still allow USB tethering, ADB debugging, file transfer etc).

Thanks a lot.

You can try these solutions, which directly address what you are trying to achieve (may not work on all devices)

adb commands from ADB Useful Commands

Adb shell echo 0 > /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charging_enabled (1 to disable; 0 to enable)

adb setprop-persist

Disable USB charging

If these methods don't work or you want to explore more possibilities, see methods below, which can offer you  clues

On your Device:

As suggested by Firelord. Be aware that you would need time in identifying the right file to change values to fool the system. Naming of files related to this is apparently not standardised. One of the answers in the link is mine so I am talking from experience.

You could also see this for another way it has been done https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11698979/how-to-change-android-usb-connect-mode-to-charge-only

On your PC: You have not mentioned your PC configuration, but these have been successfully tried add may give you pointers

https://serverfault.com/questions/8130/configure-usb-port-to-only-act-as-power-source-charger

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11698979/how-to-change-android-usb-connect-mode-to-charge-only

Modifying the connector hardware (recommended since earlier two options ate Android and Windows version dependent but you would need to try doing the opposite these methods are opposite to your need)

http://www.instructables.com/id/VGA-to-USB-power/
http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-Condom


Is it possible to copy files to PC when in download mode? My LG E975 doesn't boot anymore after I tried to install CWM (6.0.4.5) with the help of ROM Manager (Method 1A from these instructions). I get stucked at the reboot into the stock recovery part and now the device doesn't work anymore. I get the message

Secure booting Error! Cause: boot certification verifiy

The available options are hard reset and the download mode. Recovery mode (in FastBoot mode press 2x Volume Down and than Power) doesn't work because the device doesn't get in the fast boot mode (Volume Up + Power). Safe mode (Power + Menu button) also doesn't work. Because I wan't to access the files (apps, data, ...) on the phone I thought if there is a possibility to copy the files if I'm in download mode? Or is there another way to access the data?

PS: Has this problem happened because the bootloader was not unlocked?

No, download mode doesn't provide you with access to the phone's files, and yes, the error message you see looks very much like it's telling you you're trying to boot an unsigned ROM from a locked bootloader.


Home screen is blank, lock screen working I have a Samsung GT-P1000 (about 5 years back from Samsung shop). Upgraded to Gingerbread about 1 year ago. Two weeks back I rooted with last known config as -

Firmware 2.3.3
Baseband P1000DDJP4
Kernel 2.6.35.7 root@SE-S605 #4
Gingerbread DDJPA

Two days back, I installed AppManager[aka Uninstall Manager] from EasyAppStudio and this app "took over" the home screen and does not exit the app (but kind of swipes right and displays blank screen). Though I was able to use all other apps through this app. I wanted the main home screen so I uninstalled this app. Again same thing but this time I had no access to regular apps. Though I could use soft and hard buttons shortcuts to pull up apps I knew.
Then I hit hard-boot, it is now back to the original look-and-feel but the home screen problem remains. And the only thing I can do now is to use long press on home to bring Task Manager or pull down the status bar. (Locked screen still works and I can unlock the "blank" home screen.
After a hard reset, all shortcuts and old apps were not available. So I emailed myself with a link to Play Store. Got email notification on the status bar, and accessed email and accessed Google Play Store. Got my apps back but home screen is STILL blank. No wallpaper, no icons, no screen swaps, nothing.
Yes, I can download and run anything I want to. But my home screen is blank. Here are some images for a better understanding of the situation.

Lock screen

Opening Lock

Blank home screen. Note - the top status bar and lower buttons are functional,

Long press on the home button to bring the task manager

Running apps (any app as long as I can access it by the status bar or task manager).

I had the same problem and after trying many things, I just installed a 3rd-party launcher such as Nova Launcher and suddenly it seemed to work.
I knew it was a launcher issue since everything else was working fine.
I think if you just try and update your Launcher from Play Store or just install a new launcher, everything will be back to normal.


How do I move multiple app icons at the same time? I have an HTC Incredible running Miui with Go Launcher EX. Is it possible to move multiple icons at the same time?

Unfortunately you can not do so with GoLauncherEx.
Your best bet would be to contact the dev team at their blog, or other forms of contact like Twitter, facebook, etc. and just ask them to include this feature. As of right now (Mid-2012) I don't believe there is a launcher on the Android that has this feature yet.

Feel free to contact the dev team.
http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/

GoLauncher is really innovative and usually has features long before other launchers and updates frequently. They have a very active development, with the largest user base of all other launchers, so its not really out of the question for them to support this feature if asked.

I do believe it would be pretty handy at times. But who knows how much of a priority they would make this innovation, as their is only 8 home screens and once you pull an icon over to another screen it automatically takes you to the overview of all home screens, so its a pretty efficient and fast situation. But the "Go" devs love what they do, and love their user base so I don't see why they wouldn't work on it if you asked.

The only way to find out is to try and contact them! :)

Hope the best.


How do you remove pre-installed apps on a rooted phone? I have a rooted Nexus One and want to remove some of the pre-installed applications, like Amazon MP3, for example.

What is the best way to do this?

Check out the "Barebones" page in CyanogenMod's wiki.


Removing files from & repackaging CyanogenMod ROM zip files The current CM10 + GApps experience on Motorola Xoom is plagued by the size of the CM10 ROM -- there isn't enough space left after flashing the CM10 zip to fully flash the GApps zip. This results in gtalk force-closing while trying to video chat and some other issues.

I've been following a discussion about this on the XDA development forum for Xoom. Here's someone mentioning that he 'removed' some files from the CM10 ROM zip file to reduce it's size: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34462283#post34462283

Could someone guide me how to do this?
Is it simply unzipping the file, deleting certain files and re-zipping?
or is there more ? (like signing the file)
To remove apps from the ROM, should the .apk file simply be removed or do apps also have
associated files that need to be removed as well?

In the same discussion some people talk about moving certain files from the system partition to the data partition? How could this symlinks information be stored in the ROM zip file? or are they talking about creating the symlinks after flashing the zip?

Thanks

There are multiple solutions available:
Re-Zip the Image
Advantage: You do it once, and can use the resulting image for multiple devices. That's what I did with CM7.2 for my Milestone 2. Easy enough to do:

create a temporary (empty) folder
unzip the zip file to it
remove unwanted *.apk files from /system/apps (be careful of what you remove, of course)
zip up the directory contents again

Using a graphical ZIP manager (like WinZip or the like), steps would be even easier:

open the zip file with the archive manager
remove the unwanted .apk files
if the ZIP manager requires it, save the manipulated zip

Manually cleanup after flashing, using the shell
This is what ce4 recommended in the comments. It requires you using a terminal emulator on your device:

Flash the image as-is
remove superfluous stuff from the system partition by hand (like rm /system/big/junk/example.mp4)

Manually cleanup after flashing, using other tools
Almost the same as the previous method, but a bit more user-friendly. Disadvantage: this won't do for superflous ringtones and the like:

Flash the image as-is
Use a tool like Titanium Backup or Root Uninstaller to remove unwanted system apps


Can we install the stock ROM for P3110 on P3113? (7 inch Galaxy Tab 2) The P3113 model of the Galaxy Tab 2 hasn't yet received the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) update.

Is it possible to install the stock ROM for the P3110 ROM (take from sammobile) on the P3113 device?

You can install it, but not everything will work properly. Most things should work, but not all.

Read the forum / thread from where you are downloading the ROM. If you are okay with a few things not working you can get it. Otherwise, you might want to wait till a ROM is ported out for your particular device.

You can read the XDA Forum thread What's the difference between 3110 and 3113? to know what people have got working and what didn't work for them.


What does this notification icon mean? Samsung s7 I just bought an galaxy s7 edge, and this weird icon is on my notifcation bar. I cannot seem to figure it out.  Does anyone know what it does or means? Thanks.

This seems to be related to the joyn service. (This link goes to the german Wikipedia page, as the logo is not visible on the english version).

Joyn (or RCS - Rich Communication Services) is meant to be a new messaging standard, created by service providers as a response to messaging services like WhatsApp.


Does CWM backup everything? Or just the actual system? I have just created a backup using CWM. A 3.2G backup of a clean factory reset. Mental.

I am wondering that once I have installed all the apps, and make a new backup....that backup will contain EVERYTHING? Apps, photos, music...and so on?

A backup created via recovery is a nandroid backup.

Yes, the nandroid backup created by any recovery (CWM, TWRP) will be exact replica of the phone state when the backup was taken- that means it'll have all the files/ data that you have on the phone.

Here is a good article about nandroid backups


Problems with partition table I have a Prestigio 5044 Duo (PAP5044) with MTK6589.
Basically, what I was trying to do was to resize /data partition, beacause it was only about 950Mb, by shrinking Internal SD card (/emmc) partition. For that I used Meteos MTK6589 Apllication.

After going all the steps I found out that Android OS was hanging during boot (like half-way to boot up, and it freezed with no error messages). Though, recovery (I have CWM) boots well.
After doing some research I found out, that partition table of the device was messed up after /cache partition. So, all system and recovery partititons are fine.

Here is fdisk output:

~ # fdisk -lu /dev/block/mmcblk0
Warning: ignoring extra data in partition table 5
Warning: ignoring extra data in partition table 5

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 3853 MB, 3853516800 bytes
1 heads, 16 sectors/track, 470400 cylinders, total 7526400 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

              Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1            1024        1022  2147483647+  5 Extended
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2           26624       47103       10240  83 Linux
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3           47104       67583       10240  83 Linux
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4           93184      105471        6144  83 Linux
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p5          134144     1465343      665600  83 Linux
/dev/block/mmcblk0p6         7556096        1022  2143706111+ 83 Linux

And here are /proc/partitions and fstab:

~ # cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

 179        0    3763200 mmcblk0
 179        1          1 mmcblk0p1
 179        2      10240 mmcblk0p2
 179        3      10240 mmcblk0p3
 179        4       6144 mmcblk0p4
 179        5     665600 mmcblk0p5
 179        6     129024 mmcblk0p6
 179        7    2901504 mmcblk0p7
 179       64       2048 mmcblk0boot1
 179       32       2048 mmcblk0boot0
 179       96   31338496 mmcblk1
 179       97   31334400 mmcblk1p1
~ # cat /etc/fstab
/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 /cache ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 /data ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /emmc vfat rw
/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system ext4 rw
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /sdcard vfat rw
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /sd-ext auto rw

So, on mmcblk0 there must be 10 partitions, and now there are only 6, according to fdisk.

I have two ideas how it is possible to restore partitions:
1) manually with fdisk, though it doesn't seem like a very good idea
2) I've found some info about scatter file for MTK-based devices, seems like it contains all the partitioning info; I have no idea how to get and use that file, though.

What should I do to recover my device?

I don’t know the asked partition restore process, but there is a solution that works, and the phone will work again.
You will need
1.  1.0.42 full image ROM for Flashtool
2.  SP Flashtool
3.  EBRtweak
4.  CWM 6.0.4.4

Solution:
1.  Extract 1.0.42 ROM
2.  Copy the EBRtweak into the ROM folder, and run with the asked option (like 2,5 GB)
3.  Delete the EBR*.bak from the ROM folder
4.  Copy the CWM 6.0.4.4 recovery.img to the ROM folder
5.  Run CheckSum_Generate.exe
6.  Flash with SP Flashtool the MT6589_Android_scatter_emmc.txt file from the 1.0.42 ROM folder.
7.  Boot into recovery mode and go to mounts and storage: format /data, format/cache
8.  Reboot system.

If you need any of those files, write me and I'll send it to you.


Lost my android tablet, how can I find it without a network connection? I lost my tablet today. It's fully charged but it has no WiFi connection on. Is there any way I can find it without any connected network?

The only way is likely going to where you went today. It will be very diificult to find it without network connection. Lookout Plan B would have helped you if your device had got something to manage SMS but it is a tablet.


Download Archive of Old Google Apps (APKs) for G1 (1.6 Donut) Are old APKs for Google Android apps available for download from some official or trusted source?

I just reset my G1, and would like to reinstall some of the (older) Google apps that don't appear to be available in the Market* anymore.

Google did make some older versions of their apps available, but not everything that I'd like to get back.  For example, I was able to update to Google Maps version 5.6.2, though the newest version in Google Play is (I think) 6.9.0, but Google Listen doesn't any longer appear to be available through the Market app on the G1.

Update: Though searching for "listen" or "google listen" within the Market app does not turn up a listing for the target app, nor does viewing a list of applications by publisher "Google Inc.", I was able to get the Google Listen app through the Market, by going to the web browser, and navigating to https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.listen, and then letting the Market app handle the redirected Intent.

I'd still like to know if an official or trusted source is available to download old APKs published by Google.

*It's still called the Market on the G1 running 1.6 Donut.  I'm guessing Google didn't bother to make the new Google Play store compatible with old devices/versions.

Official? No.

Trusted? Well that depends on who you trust. Rootzwiki has a list of the GApps packages for all Android versions.

Now for the rant part: Google understandably and thankfully doesn't support old versions.  The ROI is getting lower and lower with the older platforms. No person in their right mind would support 1.6 when they have 4.1 out there and a newer version in the works.


Does Google Navigation work offline? I know that I can download and cache parts of the maps in Google Maps. When offline (e.g., in flight mode, but with GPS enabled) I can explore these parts of the maps.

But when I try to use the Navigation to get directions, it seems it doesn't work offline (even when navigating inside the cache map areas).

So, does the navigation feature always need a connection (either WiFi or 3G)?

Unfortunately, yes. For now, that is how Google has created the Maps application; you cannot use Maps (or Navigation) without internet access.

There are other apps that exist, though, that allow you to download maps for use offline. Sygic and Navfree, for example, both allow you to store maps on your device and then only require a GPS fix to give you turn-by-turn directions. Note you still need internet (WiFi or data network) to download the maps the first time, but after that, you're free to shut data off.


How to sync facebook contacts with ASUS ZenFone 5Z (Android 9)? ASUS ZenFone 5Z Android 9 and latest ZenUI

This question has been asked before, but none of the answers address what I'm seeing on my device.

I've added the Facebook App, and I've added my Facebook account, but I still don't have the option to sync my contacts from Facebook.

When I look at my Facebook account, I see this:

The menu ellipsis on the second screen only has one item: "Sync Now" which doesn't seem to do anything. I don't see the options to choose what automatically syncs and what doesn't, that are referenced in other answers.

I've looked through my mobile data settings, and I can't find anything that might be preventing Facebook from using data, AND I've been connected to WiFi all morning. I've tried removing the account and uninstalling the app, and then reinstalling/re-adding, but to no avail.

A lot of the other answers (like this one: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/123271/292111) reference an item in the "Network & Internet" menu. The "Data Usage" sub-menu is supposed to have a menu ellipsis with a toggle for "Auto Sync Data" which, when turned on, causes the sync options for the Facebook account to appear on the second screen I posted above. In my case, there is no menu ellipsis in the "Data Usage" sub-menu.

My expectation is that Facebook would eventually show up as one of the contact sources in my Contacts app.

Any suggestions?

It looks like this hasn't been supported since 2016: https://m.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=1028796497164750

I suppose it makes sense that if your social network data is your bread and butter, you probably don't want to be delivering it for free to just any old device out there.

It seems odd to me that this information was so hard to find, though.


How to change the language of the playstore on android phone (samsung galaxy S4) or at least of applications I have a samsung galaxy S4, as the title say, running with android, and i am french, therefore, the play store is in french, and the apps are also downloaded and installed in french, without any way in the settings in the play store or the application to change the language back to english, which i want, since the french translation on lots of applications is very poor (and also changes the font)
It's very annoying and i've found no way, anywhere, to fix that

You can change the system language by goint to Settings > Language & Input > Language and selecting English (UK or USA, as you wish).

En français, ça se situe dans Paramètres > Langue et saisie > Langue.

But be aware : by the changing the system language, every applications will be changed to that language.


Multiple gmails in Android phone? Is it possible have many gmail -accounts in Android phone? I want to have 2nd verification gmail and some non-2nd-verification gmails in the same phone with different security settings -- like "onion-model" in networking.

Yes, you can use multiple accounts -- did you try it?  I use 3.  Add them like any other account through Settings -> Accounts and sync -> Add account.


Is HTC IQAgent a version of Carrier IQ? Some HTC phones have a service called HTC IQAgent.  Is this the same as the Carrier IQ software?

Yes, HTC IQAgent is Carrier IQ software.


Ankidroid -- What does the rectangular button in the action bar mean? I have wondered for a long time what this toggle  does. It saves some changes but doesn't indicate what has changed.

It allows you to "mark" a card.
It is a kind of bookmark that allows you to find this card easily later.

The most common case is when a card needs editing, but you do not have time/tools to edit it right now, so you mark it, and you will fix the card when you are back home.

Why not edit the card right away, instead of just marking it? Examples:

You are reviewing in the bus, and you notice a kanji that you probably entered wrongly, so you need to check. But you need the library's huge kanji dictionary, which is too heavy to carry in the bus.
You realize you made a typo when entering a LaTeX formula. You will only be able to fix it next time you are at your desktop computer.
You have a doubt about a card, and must ask a native speaker, but there is none around.

Reference: http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#editing-and-more

The button now looks like a star, like in web browsers:

Thanks for using AnkiDroid!


Jar of Beans "sd card not exist" I installed wine and ran "jar of beans.exe". It successfully loaded. I tried creating the SD Card, by clicking "settings", umpteen times. Still, it says "sd card not exist". Moreover there's a button "Start android default" or "Start android aneesh" depending on the name of the android virtual device. I've clicked it many a time, in vain.

Also, I tried executing it with a command in the terminal, It produces errors saying that the processes "adb.exe" and "emulator-x86.exe" weren't found! The interesting thing is that these executables are very much present in the jar of beans extract!

These are the errors to be precise:

    fixme:ole:CoResumeClassObjects stub
    fixme:win:LockWindowUpdate (0x1009c), partial stub!
    fixme:win:LockWindowUpdate ((nil)), partial stub!

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im adb.exe

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im cmd.exe

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im emulator-x86.exe
    Error: Could not find process "adb.exe".
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 41 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 43 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 49 was forcibly terminated.
    Error: Could not find process "emulator-x86.exe".
    CMD Version 1.4

    Z:\home\aneesh>CMD Version 1.4

    Z:\home\aneesh>
    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im cmd.exe

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im adb.exe

    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 53 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 55 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 57 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 59 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 61 was forcibly terminated.
    Error: Could not find process "adb.exe".
    Error: Could not find process "emulator-x86.exe".
    fixme:font:WineEngRemoveFontResourceEx (L"C:\\users\\aneesh\\Temp
    \\7D17DC9D.ttf", 0, (nil)): stub
    aneesh@nb14:~$
    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im adb.exe

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im cmd.exe

    Z:\home\aneesh>taskkill /f /im emulator-x86.exe
    Error: Could not find process "adb.exe".
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 71 was forcibly terminated.
    Process "cmd.exe" with PID 13 was forcibly terminated.
    Error: Could not find process "emulator-x86.exe".

Is there something more to be done?

UPDATE: I wrote to the author Manuel Trebbi about 5 hours ago. Hope I get a timely solution from this humongous and helpful fraternity of android enthusiasts.

The processes and executables are different.

Please make sure the entire Jar of Beans process is killed, and then start again. Make sure that you kill all add processes.

Apart from that, you will have to wait for the owner to reply.


Samsung Galaxy s2 not showing missed calls My phone won't show any missed calls. I have a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S2. It was working earlier today. I called my phone 3 times because I was looking for it. But when I found it, it didn't show any missed calls. It won't even show up on the call log either.

How do I get it back to showing my missed calls?

You could change the way the logs are "viewed by". Go to logs-->settings-->view by-->all logs.
If it is already on all logs, then quite possibly the logs are full, try deleting some or all of the logs.


Can I cast phones display on laptop? my phones display not working Mobile: Moto X2nd Generation
OS: Android 6

My phones display not working, I am able to unlock it and touch is working.

Is there any application by which I can cast my phones display on my computer?

Vysor could solve your problem, it's available as a browser extension for Chrome or a standalone application for the three different operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux.

  Note: USB Debugging should be enabled. If your USB debugging is not enabled, I suggest to look for another similar phone to simulate touches in order to activate USB Debugging.


Persistent download icon in One S pull down menu - even with download over days ago. How to remove? In the pull down menu of my HTC One S, there is this persistent download icon, it's just stuck there even though download completed days ago. It came when I was doing some app downloads and has refused to go away even after downloads are over.

On the top icon row of the phone, the animated download icon also shows, has been showing for days, even with no downloads.

Rebooting does not get rid of the icons. Does anyone know how to get rid of these? Your help is appreciated.

The screenshots below show the icons - icons of concern are circled in black:

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)

Try force stopping the Play Store application from the settings menu and see if that removes it. Facebook photo upload often gets stuck in my notification bar and force stopping removes that.


How to hide updates from market? (Given Titanium backup "detach from market" doesn't work) I have an app that a recent update has removed functionality, so I would like to make the market think I no longer have this app so it'll stop trying to update it and I can safely use the "update all" feature again.

If this question looks like an exact duplicate of this question, it is because it is, EXCEPT the titanium backup solution which I've tried dozens of times, while android market is stopped, restarts, rom flashes, etc will not work under any circumstances.  The titanium backup "detach from market" doesn't appear to help in the slightest.  I'm not actually sure what that does.  My assumption is that recent versions of the market broke the detach functionality.

Titanium backup "Detach from market" doesn't work.

Save a copy of the original .apk file and keep it backed up.

A bulletproof way to get cut off from Google Play's update mechanism for that app is to re-sign it with a different key, then reinstall the newly signed apk file. Google Play (maybe) will still offer updates** for that app, but installing them will eventually fail because of the different signature. ApkTool will do it for you:

me@local:/tmp$ java -jar apktool.jar decode --no-src FDroid.apk fdroid/
I: Copying raw classes.dex file...
I: Loading resource table...
I: Loaded.
I: Loading resource table from file: /home/me/apktool/framework/1.apk
I: Loaded.
I: Decoding file-resources...
I: Decoding values*/* XMLs...
I: Done.
I: Copying assets and libs...
me@local:/tmp$ java -jar apktool.jar build fdroid/ FDroid.new.apk
I: Copying classes.dex file...
I: Checking whether resources has changed...
I: Building resources...
I: Building apk file...
me@local:/tmp$ md5sum FDroid.apk FDroid.new.apk
123c6932114dbed1334611eb8f4ca397  FDroid.apk
059ba98c5c60433cb6799013f22f244f  FDroid.new.apk
me@local:/tmp$ diff -rq FDroid.apk FDroid.new.apk
Files FDroid.apk and FDroid.new.apk differ.

ZipSigner2 might also help you do it (just found it on Google Play).


Automatically delete local photos that have been backed up by Google+ I use Google+ to automatically back up any photos taken with my phone. Unfortunately my phone has only 8GB storage. Is there a way to automatically delete the local copies of photos that have already been backed up by Google+ in order to save storage space?

There is an app called "flickr uploader", since flickr offer 1TB free it's pretty convenient. This app allows you to auto backup  all your pictures to flickr and it has an option to delay the backup so you can delete blurry photos, for example, and of course, the option to delete the photo from the phone 24 hours after successfully uploaded.
I have been using it for a long while, totally worth it.


Why can't my contacts see photos I send via SMS? Trying to download SMS programs, tried a few, so to have better customizable color options as the new Samsung Galaxy sucks for that. Everything I have tried, whatsapp, GO SMS Pro, Viber, Hangouts, none of them let me send photos to my contacts unless they have the same SMS program. Why?  My basic SMS on the LG Android had all these basic properties and I never had issues.

Images are not actually sent via SMS, but instead use the MMS protocol. For this to work, you must have your MMS access point configured properly (this usually happens automatically):

Check with your contractors website for their MMS access point details. If they are not listed on their website, contact them.
Go to Settings -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names (or APNs on some devices) and add a

ProviderName MMS

where ProviderName is the name of your provider, e.g. Verizon.

Set all the values to what you got from Step 1. Some values might be missing, you can probably safely ignore them.


How to force a smartphone to do update? How come two Nokia 9 phones have the same model, phone service provider and location, but one of them insists there were no updates (neither security nor Android itself which should be 10, not 9, by now) after 2019?
You can see Nokia had many security updates after 2019.
Neither taking out the sim card nor a factory reset helped with this.
P.S.
This phone is Android One, so it's even more concerning.

Neither taking out the sim card nor a factory reset helped

The following was suggested by Nokia itself. But turns out they didn't think to suggest doing both at the same time.
Although it can be far easier - just turn off Mobile Data, then check for updates. If it's not enough, also restart the phone while keeping Mobile Data off. Suddenly you get updates.
I'd chalk it off as a bug that lets the phone provider save bandwidth for itself even though you actually use WiFi for updates.


My Milestone doesn't always charge I have a Milestone and sometimes when I plug my (supplied Motorola) charger in the 'charging light' on the side does not illuminate and the phone does not charge. I think that this may also happen even after a successful initial connection (i.e. after plugging it in and getting the light) since occasionally I have unplugged the phone in the morning, after an overnight charge, and it is only 30% full (rather than the expected 100%).
This problem is intermittent and sometimes rights itself but other times I need to reboot the phone.
I have replaced the cable, and still have the same issue, so it is unlikely to be due to a faulty cable.
This happens both when charging it from a wall socket or a USB port.
Does anybody else have this problem? Or maybe have an idea of what it could be?

edit: Faulty hardware may be the cause... I have seen similar posts about people having intermittent problems connecting their Milestones to USB ports, so I'm curious that this may be either a generic bug or a generic hardware fault, rather than just my phone.

May be possible that when plugging in your charger/usb cables it's not making a connection, I had a problem on an old phone (Nokia N95) with this and had to send it off for a new one.

Also possible that it may be the charger, have you got another you could try?


Change default in-call & out-call ui or theme Is there any app available in the store that lets me change the default in-call & out-call ui or theme of my kitkat?

There are several apps available on PlayStore like this or this one. However, you can't change the full "Theme" as such on Kitkat. You can change the look and feel of your home screens, caller screen, etc with the help of launchers (Nova Launcher, Themer, etc).


How to easily change keyboard input application? I have installed a Morse code input method. I believe I have followed the instructions to enable it (it's enabled in settings).

However, I don't seem to be able to use it anywhere in any input field.
I have an Xperia Tipo cellphone with the Xperia Chinese keyboard which I use often, in addition to the inbuilt English keyboard.

Possibly, I'd also like to install a French keyboard and be able to easily switch between all these keyboards, but for the time being, I cannot even use the Morse keyboard although it's installed and enabled. How do I get started? Thanks.

Edit:

Ok, I found the setting "Default" keyboard, where I can choose between Xperia Chinese and Morse input and the other keyboards I previously installed. If I choose 'morse' then I can use it. The problem is now that I must chose between one or the other, and have to come back all the way to the settings to change keyboards. Is there any way to easily change between keyboard applications? I.e. whenever I need one specific keyboard application (Chinese, English, French or Morse) rapidly switch to the proper keyboard from within the application I am currently using (browser, messaging or whatever...) ?

On your Keyboard, hold the settings icon

Scroll Down and click "Change input method"

A list will come up with all activated keyboards. Choose one and then your keyboard will change to the selected keyboard. All without the need for an external app.


USB modes, for transfering files with AFT Why do I have to go into the phone (Galaxy S7 Edge) everytime I connect it to my Mac and manually switch the USB option from charging to MTP??

This is annoying and a hassle, why can't the phone detect that its plugged in and switch modes itself?

I dont want to have the phone in developer mode all the time, i just disabled it because its not applicable to me but now I have to turn it on every time I want to transfer files onto my phone.

There has to be a better way to do this.
Any explanations?

You have to change it every time because of security changes in Android, and there is no easy way around it without root on a stock device.

The reason is so anyone can't just connect to your phone without screen being unlocked, it is purely a security enhancement.


Galaxy S4 mail group limits I have a Galaxy S4 that seems to only allow a maximum of 20 contacts in a mail group. Does anyone know how this annoying feature can be changed please?

Are you talking about an artificial limit of the number of contacts you can add to the default Mail app's "group" section? Because this as far as I know can't be circumvented.

I use Gmail (Gmail app recently stopped working so I switched to their newer "Inbox" app.. thanks google.. >_>) and there's no artificial limit on the number of members of a mail group in Gmail.

Like you have suggested though, it's an annoying "feature", it's unlikely it can be changed in the default "email" app.

[I have a SG4 too]

Edit: I'd recommend trying to add the people from your contacts to a general contacts group in the "Contacts" app or "People" app depending on your Android Distribution then choose to email them directly from there. I have one with 52 people I can email using a variety of email clients/apps.


What does an Android-encrypted SD card do/look like on PC Long story short - my Galaxy Active S8 apparently got wet inside, and stopped working (although I think I can revive).  I've let the Samsung microSD card for almost 24 hours, and as it's simply a card I believe the data should be easily retrievable as I've had SD cards get wet before, but would work after drying.
However, when I put the microSD card in my PC, doesn't show up in the Windows Explorer like normal.  I don't see an additional drive pop up at all.
I can't remember if I encrypted my card or not.  So, I'm hoping I did, and that's why it's not appearing as mounted on my PC.  What would an encrypted SD Card do, or look like, when inserted in a computer?  Would it appear as a drive, but prevent any access - or would it simply not show up at all?

You could look at it with gparted in Linux.  If it's toast, it is.
Give it a try ... it is the standard partition mounting gui tool in Linux.
Else take it to a repair center from your Phone Service Provider.  Give them a try.


Root a Moto G running 4.4.4 KitKat I have a Moto G. I need to root my phone to use some apps.

Can anyone given me the steps to root a Moto G running 4.4.4 KitKat (the most safest and easyist way).

How to Root Moto G

There are are three simple steps only

UNLOCK BOOTLOADER
FLASH CUSTOM RECOVERY [I USED CWM]
FLASH SUPERSU

DONE

Yeah ...you don't need to downgrade your bootloader which is very risky

Procedure

UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER :- i thinks its already explained well at different sites and motorola's site also [ i used this guide Moto-g-unlock-bootloader-and-root only for unlocking]
FLASHING RECOVERY-

You need 3 things
(a) motorola usb drivers [download from here ]
(b) adb drivers (download from here ]
(c) Custom recovery (download from here ] i used cwm without touch OR USE PHILZ RECOVERY (4.4.4) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Real procedure:-

install motorola usb drivers
extract adb drivers anywhere in your computer
copy recovery.img [i renamed it to only recovery] into adb tools folder
boot your phone into fastboot mode by pressing volume down key and pressing power key simultaneously , and then releasing power key .
connect your moto g to your computer through data cable
go into adb tools folder => while pressing shift key => right click => and click open cmd here !
type [fastboot flash recovery recovery.img] and press enter { IGNORE Mismatched partition size' AFTER FLASHING RECOVERY }

DONE  just press volume down and then volume up to boot into cwm

FLASHING SUPER SU
DOWNLOAD THIS FILE FROM HERE
PUT IT IN INTERNAL MEMORY

PROCEDURE => IN CWM =>INSTALL FROM SD CARD => CHOOSE SUPER SU => RESTART
It will ask 'root is broken' WHEN REBOOTING FROM CWM. CHOOSE YES
DONE !

I recommend these apps you should install first after rooting

Greenify (getting awesome battery backup )
xposed installer
gravitybox
tinted status bar (i love this module..make your android like ios7)
Titanium Backup


Oneplus One import from G Drive I had an HTC one M8, used to backup everything to G Drive. I will receive my new Oneplus One tomorrow, and was wondering if I will be able to download my stuff back.

Thanks for all the help!

It shouldn't be any problem. You can simply download the G Drive app on the Oneplus One and download whatever you backed up.

The G-Drive is accessible on many different platforms so it shouldn't be any problem.


Adding cards to Android Pay on rooted device As the new Android Pay app is now rolling out, I wanted to go ahead and get it set up on my device. Now, as many are finding out, rooted devices will receive the message "Android Pay cannot be used - Google is unable to verify that your device or software running on it is Android compatible".
Now, one fix that I have found is to temporarily disable Root in SuperSU where the message "Superuser is disabled and hidden" appears. After doing this, adding cards is supposed to give no errors.
Unfortunately, I can still not seem to add any cards. Is there any other way I can get google to recognize my device?

Sony Xperia Z3 (D6616)
Build #: 23.1.C.0.385
SuperSU Version 2.49

If you're using SuperSU, this may work: Disable it from the options menu

If this doesn't work, the other option is to fully uninstall SuperSU (or whatever you used to root your phone), add credit cards, and then boot into recovery again to reinstall SuperSU. You must do this every time you want to add any credit cards.


Internet Access unavailable in browsers and mail. But Youtube and Google Play worrk fine [EDIT] after further diagnosis I observed that I am unable to access my router via its (local)ip address in chrome but I am able to access my router via edge browser.

Chrome in my android device is unable to access any website(can't open this page error) but at the same time, it works in the Microsoft Edge app. The chrome gives some suggestion link but when I click on the suggestion link a screen overlay comes up Similar to the image below, but the overlay quickly vanishes(I suspect whatever process was called, it crashes).

I observed similar behavior in my Gmail app, when I load an click on an email it tries to open it and quickly crashes(after showing loading similar to the image below). Although I am still able to open attachments in Gmail app.

Almost all other apps like youtube, google play are working nicely.

I am using an Android device with Android Pie(9).
This problem happened Suddenly whilst the phone was idle.

I have tried disabling these apps, clearing storage, starting in safe mode.

Chrome error:

Loading screen after which crashes take place look something like this:

I have now disabled my chrome browser and which has allowed me to use Gmail and other apps that were crashing.
There is some problem with Google Chrome App, which leads to other apps crashing(maybe they use chrome[or its API] as a default backend).


Device stuck in boot loop What should I do if my Android takes a long time to boot? It just shows the boot animation constantly. It has been running for 2 days just displaying the same power on animation.

Your device is in a bootloop. Check boot-loop tag info. Boot loop usually happens when you flash a ROM that is not compatible with your kernel, or you delete a file that is crucial to the booting of your device.

If you're rooted, you can try entering the recovery and flashing the ROM again (with correct files this time).


Enabling ADB on Nexus 6 with dead screen So I acquired a Nexus 6 with a completely dead screen. (Dead as in I cannot see anything)

The phone powers on (and off) and is detected by my computer.

I want to be able to see the phone's display on my computer. I believe the process will be straight forward if I mange to get ADB enabled

The phone is presumably locked (I do know the unlock pattern) and USB debugging is disabled.
adb devices gives no output

When I boot into recovery mode, fastboot devices recognizes my device.

The phone is probably unrooted and has a locked bootloader. I do not need to preserve any data.

If I manage to get ADB working, I known of tools that will allow me to view my phone screen, which is my end goal.

I looked at Broken screen while debug mode was disabled. How can I re-enable adb? but when I tried booting CWM recovery rom, I got the message "FAILED (remote failure)" because the bootloader is locked?
Similar problem with Android toolkit.

Anyone know of a way to enable ADB through fastboot when USB debugging is not enabled

Thanks in advance

EDIT:
I followed this guide to not avail

$sudo fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.1.1-0-shamu.img
(bootloader) slot-count: not found
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: not found
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: not found
(bootloader) has-slot:recovery: not found
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'recovery' (11757 KB)...
OKAY [  0.535s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  0.189s]
finished. total time: 0.724s
$ sudo fastboot reboot
(bootloader) slot-count: not found
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: not found
(bootloader) slot-suffixes: not found
rebooting...

I followed this guide

I went into fastboot mode by holding down the power button (force restart) and the volume down key (recovery mode)
I downloaded a twrop image from: https://dl.twrp.me/shamu/
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
fastboot reboot (while holding the volume down key see note)
Then I booted the recovery image
adb with root permissions detected my device. If you get a permission denied error try killing adb and running with sudo

*Note many devices will replace your custom recovery automatically during first boot. To prevent this, use Google to find the proper key combo to enter recovery. After typing fastboot reboot, hold the key combo and boot to TWRP. Once TWRP is booted, TWRP will patch the stock ROM to prevent the stock ROM from replacing TWRP. If you don't follow this step, you will have to repeat the install.


Android 4.3: How to get the dial pad autocomplete One of the most exciting features announced for the release of Android Jelly Bean 4.3 was the ability to get autocomplete when dialing a phone number in a similar fashion to text keyboard autocomplete from previous versions. I just updated my Android to version 4.3 but I don't see any difference with dial pad from previous versions.
Does that feature actually exist? Do I have to follow some steps to activate it?

Actually this feature does exist, but it is disabled by default, so to enable it in a vanilla Android Jelly Bean 4.3 you must follow the steps below:

Open your Phone app, tap the dialer tab (first one at the left).
Tap the action overflow icon (at bottom right corner) and tap Settings
Scroll down to section Other call settings. You'll see the option Dial pad autocomplete is unchecked by default.

Check the Dial pad autocomplete checkbox
Go back to the dialer, now you'll see there is a slightly different layout than previously: the top area is now split in two different areas, shown in the picture as double arrows. The area with red arrow will show the phone number you are currently dialing as normally happens, but now the area with green arrow will show the autocomplete suggestions (contact name and their phone number) showing up to 3 contacts at the same time.
Start dialing a phone number and it will autocomplete both by contact name and by phone number as you touch each key. In the example it shows 3 suggestions: two by numbers 3-5-3 and one by letters corresponding to keys 3-5-3 (E-L-E)

If you don't feel comfortable with dial pad autocomplete, you can turn off this feature whenever you want by going again to Settings menu of the Phone app.


Xperia Ray ST18i - CWM - install zip from sdcard, error message: This package is for "ST18i,..." devices; this is a "".? I am working on an Xperia Ray ST18i otherwise known as urushi, unlocked, rooted, last running stock 4.0.4.
I was unable to install CWM with ROM manager app, which said it was incompatible with ST18i.  I tried to install TWRP, same response.  I tried to install CWM with x-Parts app, it said that it installed, but there was nothing there.  Finally I found a tip to use the installer of older version of CWM, 5.027.  I installed it, and it worked.  The installer app recognized the device as an ST18i.  I tested that I could reboot into recovery and operate it.  Made nandroid backup.

Now attempting to install carbon rom 4.4.x.
Copied zip to sd card.
I extracted the boot.img, installed with fastboot, which responded with Flash operation complete.
Rebooted into recovery.
Wipe data.
Wipe cache.
Wipe dalvik.
Install zip.
Select zip file.
CWM starts installing.

Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...
However, aborts with error message: This package is for "ST18i,ST18a,urushi" devices; this is a "".
(Status 7)  Installation Aborted.

Now it appears that the package is correct, the device is an ST18i.  But it appears that CWM thinks the device is a "".

I tried the option "toggle script asserts" to disable, but it made no difference.  (not sure if that is relevant)

Elsewhere on the web for someone who had a problem because the name in the package did not did not match name on device, I read some advice about decompressing the zip and editing the updater-script, and re-zipping it and pushing it to the sd card to flash.
However, what would I even put in there for the device type, "" ?

Or is it possible to comment out that check altogether?

Or is there a way to correctly specify to CWM what kind of device it is?

Or is there another solution?

(and as an aside, is there a better recovery for the Xperia Ray than CWM 5.027?)

Thank you for your assistance.

I found an answer here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30908422&postcount=186

Edit the updater-script, but don't try to fix it - remove the condition altogether since I know I'm on the correct device.

Thanks adulfo!

PS. bizarrely, after powering down, when I returned to recovery, a different version (6.0.5.1) of recovery came up rather than 5.027.  Possibly x-Parts had improperly installed CWM, and the second install 5.027 made it possible to access it, because after originally installing with x-Parts I could not boot into recovery.  (Although that does not make sense either because x-Parts says it installs recovery into the system, and it is erased by flashing a ROM)

Still, I don't know why CWM did not recognize the device as an ST18i (and thereby failed the script), especially since it had done so during the installation of CWM recovery.


Google Maps Not Showing up in my device Whenever i open Maps in My Ainol Tab It's Always Blank and after search it is
showing no route found with error symbol:

I have tried reseting to factory Settings but unable to solve my issue

My tab Details :

Device Info (click for larger variant)

You need to mention a specific place in your city or even better, your current location. I'm sure there are more than a single bank with the same name in your city so it's better if you specify the branch too(typing your bank name should show the locations).

Anyways I opened Google Maps on my PC and searched the term "bank" and there was no bank of the name you searched. See this link for my exact search and the complete list.


Preventing installed apps from making calls or sending SMS It seems like a growing number of (seemingly legitimate) apps casually claim the "Services that cost you money" permissions (making calls and sending SMS) for non-essential secondary features that aren't the main thing people download the app for.

A couple of examples I've seen recently are Any.Do and 2Do. These apps' primary purpose is managing to do lists and projects, but they have secondary minor features that use these permissions (I think it is for scheduling responses to missed calls and sharing tasks by SMS).

I don't want to allow any non-official app on my phone to make phone calls or send SMS. It's just not something I need 3rd party apps to do for me, and I'm not interested in these secondary features. The developers look reasonably legit - but I generally prefer not to feel like I'm unneccessarily handing a company I don't know an open wallet. But I would, ideally, like to be able to use these apps for their primary features, which appear to be very good and better than the competition for what I want.

Is there any way to download these apps and prevent these permissions from being used? Or to make it so any time they did try to make a call or send an SMS, I get some kind of system confirmation notice and the opportunity to stop it before it happens.

(please note this isn't a question about to-do apps, I'm aware there are loads of alternatives that don't use these permissions. It's a question about any kind of app you want for any reason, that requires call and SMS permissions for a non-essential minor feature you're not going to use)

Ideally I'd prefer not to need to root the phone to do this. I've looked at the app Permission Denied (requires root acces) and while I love the idea of what the app does, it sounds like a complicated road that I don't have time to go down. Likewise for custom ROMs.

I don't mind if it's a blunt solution that stops any app except the Android phone interface itself from making calls or sending SMS. In fact, that would be ideal. I thought about trying to use an app like Tasker to set up a trigger on any ongoing call or SMS that cancels it if it wasn't called directly by the Android phone interface, but I doubt that it would work (and of course Tasker uses these permissions itself...).

Also ideally I'd prefer not to need to spend lots of time in airplane mode unable to receive normal calls or messages - but I'll accept a strong solution that involves using airplane mode some of the time if there is no better approach.

I also don't mind if a solution causes the app to crash or force close any time it tries to use one of these permissions. If it thinks it needs to make a call or SMS, that itself is a sign that something is wrong.

This earlier question covers somewhat similar ground but with a focus on data privacy, monitoring, and proper sandboxing for rooted phones. Only one answer there seems like it could be a non-root solution to this specific problem - the app App Shield - but it seems to be no longer available (dead link and nothing relevant in Google Play app search).

EDIT - I've added a seperate linked question trying to find out what the deal is with App Shield: Is App Shield safe, stable, available?

Phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note if that's relevant.

The only right advise here is to download an app with the same functionality but that does not grants itself this permission.

Developers sometimes grant their apps permission their app in fact doesn't need. If you are aware and you don't agree with this trend, the only thing you can do is not download such apps.
Or even better, you can consider contacting the developer of the application and ask him why this permission is required. Maybe they are not aware of the fact and are very willing to remove the permission if they can please their users with it.

A to-do list should not have the permission to send SMS messages, if I see a to-do app that requires this permission myself, I would just look for another app to use.


Is there any way to share data(not through cloud) between multiple users in lollipop nexus 4 device Is there any way to share data(not through cloud) between multiple users in lollipop nexus 4 device, I tried with android/obb and other folders but without any success in lollipop version. Kindly provide a way to share large files, within multiple users, on the same device.

I think the first answer (by June Lau) misses the point - the question was about sharing files between different users on the SAME device. I have been using subdirectories that I created within android/obb with success. In my Nexus 7 tablet the exact path is /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/. The issue is that the media browser does not see files in there, so that one needs to use some file-manager software (search for 'File Manager' in the play store) to get to the file and start its reproduction from there, or for moving the file into the user's file-system.


My Samsung S4 won't connect to my computer I have downloaded Samsung Kies 3, and the computer wont even find the device. I have tried different USB ports and nothing seems to work. I have tried changing it to a media device manually but I cant find the right spot. What else can I do to get the device recognized?

I guess your Device drivers wasn't successfully installed in your pc

Here is couple of things you can do,:

Uninstall Kies
Go to device manager of your pc and remove/uninstall anything related to samsung
Reboot your device(optional)
Then Download Kies to your computer and while installing dont connect your s4 with pc.
After installation connect your Device and let it install device driver sucessfully.

Hope this will Help you, For more information See this

S4 connect issue

Link 2


Internal Memory Full, My Motorola G 4G (XT1072) is full (4.6 Go) whereas the used storage is only 1.4 Go. I get messages of 'low internal storage' with and without the SD card.

I tried several 'storage analysis' apps, but got no insights from it.

This post suggests that the phone must be rooted to find the files taking all the room : Phone memory full and it shouldn't be

Edit 1 : Wiping cache partition did not solve the problem

Edit 2 : A music App (Deezer) and all the music data is responsible for this. I moved it to the SD card, Android says it is stored on the SD card, but Disk Usage App showed clearly that the music data is stored in the internal memory.

Is rooting really necessary ? Any other solution ?

Edit 3 : Deezer messed up. Despite Android's settings for this app, you have to fix a settings. In the actual Deezer app, in settings, there is an option to change storage settings. It says that you will lose all data, and you do. However, once you've requested this, and it has deleted all the music clogging up your phone, it then automatically downloads everything again to your SD card. Bit time-consuming and definitely better over Wi-Fi, but the end result is life as you were, and lots more space on your phone!

Well rooting is not bad actually it can help a lot with many apps and it helped a lot with my internal storage problem, if you decide to root your phone download "link2sd" then make 2 partitions on your SD card one of them is fat and leave the other one unformatted, mount the SD card and then open link2sd it will ask you to choose the format for the second portion choose ext2 choose one of your apps and choose crest link and now the ext2 part is added to your internal memory


What is the keyboard shortcut to send mail in Google Inbox? I often use a bluetooth keyboard with my tablet and use keyboard shortcuts everywhere.
In the Gmail app and in the web versions of both gmail and inbox, the shortcut to send a mail you're writing is ctrl + Enter. This shortcut doesn't work in the Inbox app for Android, but it seems there is a shortcut, because I've accidentally sent emails before finishing them, but I don't have a clue what triggered the action.
A Google search didn't give me an answer to this question, so I'm asking here. What is the shortcut to send a message went composing a message in the app version of Google Inbox?

According to Keyboard shortcuts for Gmail, Ctrl + Enter is the correct shortcut for sending emails on Android (just as the other version stated in your question).

  If you plug an external keyboard into your Android device, you can use the shortcuts below. This works with most kinds of external keyboards.

Here are the available shortcuts.


How to find out the variant of my Galaxy Nexus? There have been some Jelly Bean updates for Galaxy Nexus, but most of these are specific to a certain variant of the Nexus. How can I easily find out which variant I have?

Check the firmware version of your device:

Open your favourite File Manager;
Access the /system folder;
Locate and open a file called build.prop;
Find the line that starts with ro.product.name.

Whatever comes after the equals sign =, that's the firmware you have.

The different variants and their meaning:

Below there's an updated list of the known firmware variants for the Galaxy Nexus and what models they shipped on:

GSM/HSPA+ Models

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Firmware Variant │  Model it relates to                               │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ takju            │ USA region and carrier-independent firmware        │
│                  │ released on models sold in the USA through the     │
│                  │ Google Play Store                                  │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakju            │ International region and carrier-independent       │
│                  │ released on models sold throughout                 │
│                  │ western Europe                                     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjudv          │ Variant for Australia                              │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjujp          │ Variant for the Middle East                        │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjukr          │ Variant for South Korea                            │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjusc          │ Variant for Japan                                  │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuux          │ Variant for Canada                                 │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuvs          │ Variant for Brazil                                 │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuxe          │ Variant for Russia and the former Eastern Bloc     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuxw          │ Variant for certain carriers in Western Europe     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuzs          │ Variant for China and Hong Kong                    │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

CDMA/LTE Models

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Firmware Variant │  Model it relates to                               │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  mysid           │ Variant for Verizon in the USA                     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  mysidspr        │ Variant for Sprint in the USA                      │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Source:

XDA-Developers Forum Thread: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus Firmware Guide: Variations, Who Updates What, etc. explains very vividly how to get the firmware from your device (model variant), what it means and its origins.

I'll leave a resume of the current thread here just in case the link goes dead:

  WHAT IS ALL THIS TALK ABOUT FIRMWARE VARIATIONS?

  With every Nexus phone, there has been a "master" firmware, plus other localized firmware variants for certain regions or carriers. Sometimes these variants will contain language packs, additional ringtones, slightly different baseband (radio) firmware to make it work better for a particular carrier's network, etc.

  In the case of the Nexus S, Google maintained the master and all the local variants. On the Nexus One and the Xoom, Google only maintained the master firmware while carriers and/or OEMs maintained the local variants. In the case of the Galaxy Nexus, there are three Google-maintained master firmware variants, and many more Samsung-maintained local variants.

  WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT VARIANTS AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

  Below is a definitive list of all known firmware variants for the Galaxy Nexus, and what models they shipped on:

  GSM/HSPA+ Models

  takju - USA region- and carrier-independent firmware released on models sold in the USA through the Google Play Store
  yakju - International region- and carrier-independent firmware released on models sold throughout western Europe.
  yakjudv - Variant for Australia
  yakjujp - Variant for the Middle East
  yakjukr - Variant for South Korea
  yakjusc - Variant for Japan
  yakjuux - Variant for Canada
  yakjuvs - Variant for Brazil
  yakjuxe - Variant for Russia and the former Eastern Bloc
  yakjuxw - Variant for certain carriers in Western Europe
  yakjuzs - Variant for China and Hong Kong

  CDMA/LTE Models

  mysid - Variant for Verizon in the USA
  mysidspr - Variant for Sprint in the USA

  HOW CAN I TELL WHICH FIRMWARE I HAVE ON MY DEVICE?

  Using any file manager app, go into your /system folder and open the file called "build.prop". Find the line that starts with ro.product.name. Whatever comes after the equals sign (=), that's the firmware you have.

  WHICH FIRMWARE IS UPDATED BY GOOGLE AS OPPOSED TO SAMSUNG?

  Google updates the following firmware variants:

  takju
  yakju
  mysid

  Every other variant is updated and maintained by Samsung.


Parental control for kid's tablet I have just bought a samsung galaxy tablet 2 (7.0) for my 6 year old son. He loves it but I am extremely worried that he may inadvertently access the wrong websites.

The tablet is a wi-fi version and I can switch off the internet connection but many educational games recommended by his school require a wi-fi connection.

What are some key things that I can do to ensure adequate parental control when he is using the tablet?

The android version is 4.0.1. I am unsure if this can be upgraded but when I run the software update, it says that the tablet has the latest version.

Android 4.3 which has been just announced comes with Multi-User With Restricted Profiles feature which

  allows the tablet owner to have granular control over the other user
  accounts on the device.

and

  You can also control other aspects of the device: mature content filtering, access to games and user-generated content, and even specific applications


If I delete Google account entirely will it delete all the photos saved on my phone? I want to delete my present google account, entirely, but I'm unsure as to whether doing so would delete all the apps on my phone, and all the pictures I've saved, from the Internet and screenshots and being sent them etc.

This link about deleting google account gives you the required information.

As far as I understand, it would not delete the apps and screenshots from your phone.


Cell Broadcasts for LG lucid with android 4.0.4 I've looked at the wikipedia article and it is very informative.  But my husband had a Verizon LG Lucid with Android 4.0.4.  NO WHERE can I find a way to adjust the cell broadcasts!  I have a Samsung Galaxy and there is a page to check what kind of emergencies to receive notifications.  I can turn any/all of them off.  What about the LUCID??

My LG Optimus 5 (E455 and E450) also has a pre-installed application called cell broadcast, with CB enabled. I disabled it.


Car Mode suddenly appeared - why? And how do I get rid of it? About 2 1/2 hrs ago, I plugged in my HTC Evo 4G to its home charger to charge up a bit before leaving the house. It's rooted running CyanogenMod-7.1.0-Supersonic (for at least a month if not more, I can't remember when my husband did this).

Within about 3 minutes, my phone had this really weird user interface I have never seen. It's Car Mode. I couldn't exit out of it, couldn't make my phone respond to me at all. I immediately pulled out the battery & rebooted, thinking maybe it was malware. It booted back into Car Mode, only this time I could click an Exit button.

Researching, I see that this is an UI for car docking. Only I have no car dock, and it was plugged into my home wall charger. I left the house for errands, and no matter what I did - on the phone on a voice call, typing email (at a doctor's office, not driving ;) ), and it kept booting me into Car Mode. On the voice call it automatically put me on speaker.

I did not ask for this program, did not download anything, did not approve anything...

I ran Lookout and no Malware or Spyware is showing. I am very confused.

Anyone have ideas on what this program is, how it all of a sudden appeared on my phone, and how to get it off? I looked up apps in Google Play and the icon in the notifications bar (when I exit Car Mode) is not something that is there. It looks like an app, but it's not in my Apps manager, either, or a running process that I can tell, yet it is showing up intermittently in my notifications, even not plugged in or moving. It's also turning on intermittently. I can't get anything done.

Thanks for any help!

It is included with Cyanogenmod and is based on similar modes in other ROMs. It is meant to provide you with what you need, but not so much as to distract you while driving.

I do not know what is launching it, or how it is doing so automatically, but there may be ways to stop it:

Stop it in it's tracks

If you would like to remove it completely and not use it at all, install Titanium Backup, choose the Backup and Restore tab, find and select Car Home (I have version 2.2.1.2) and select either Freeze or Uninstall.

Note: Freeze will stop the app from running at all, but keep it on your phone. Uninstall will completely remove it.

Double note: if you choose Uninstall, you may want to make a Backup there with the app first, just in case removing it causes unwanted side-effects.

Other, less intense options

In car mode, click the Right Arrow and choose Settings. From here, make sure that it's not automatically launching when connected to some bluetooth device, and try Reset to defaults, just to make sure nothing else is helping it along.
From the home screen, go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications, choose the All tab, and find Car Home. Here, click the Clear data button.


Unable to Sync Evernote? I have a new Samsung Galaxy Y, I am able to sync in GMail, Google Calendar and also completely use Google Maps, but I am not able to Sync in the Evernote App. What's Wrong?

Un-installing the App and Installing it back again, fixed it.


Samsung Galaxy S4 turns off internet at night On my friends S4 the internet connections (WiFi etc.) turn off automatically from 10pm and turns on again at 6am the following morning, so he gets no messages between those times.

Is there a way we can change it maybe?

Try the profile settings. He probably has set a "night"-profile which turns down the volume and activates the plane-mode. The profile settings can be found in the normal settings of your phone.


ASUS Zenfone Max Z010d - Bootloop problem So, suddenly my phone started showing, unfortunately, google play music has stopped and it did the same for almost every app..and restarted on its own...and after some research, I came to know that it went into a boot loop because it is continuously loading...and does not start after that.

Android version: 6.0.1

With zero knowledge of android and two days of google search, I tried the following things, however, nothing has solved the problem and my phone is still not working.

I tried:
1. ADB sideloading: I switched the phone to recovery mode, and selected apply update from ADB. I found the firmware file for my model from the official Asus site and executed the following command from my pc -
 adb sideload  UL-ASUS_Z010-WW-13.8.26.110-user.zip

However, it showed the following error:
sideload error

I was not able to find a solution to the error.

2.Secondly, I tried  flashing the boot image available in the extracted firmware file as follows:

Even after that...it kept on loading with the logo on the screen and never started properly.

Maybe everything that I have said and done is wrong, and I am sorry for asking such a silly question. Please help me, to get my phone working properly.

Aside from ADB sideloading, there is a direct option on the phone called "Apply update from SD card" after entering fastboot mode. Maybe, you should try that.

Enter fastboot mode by pressing the Volume down and Power button at the same time.
Once you reach the main menu, look for the above specific option.
On the SD card, the correct firmware zip file required for your phone should be present. Do NOT rename it or alter it.
After entering the option, locate the firmware file on the SD card and select it, apply the changes.

If the problem still persists, I think you should dig deeper into how to unlock the bootloader of your phone.