How to change sync frequency in Outlook app? By default Outlook for Android gets the emails immediately when they are received (push).

Is there a way to set the sync frequency either individually for each email account or at least globally ?

If it matters, my email accounts are all Exchange ones.

On the stock email app (Samsung) it is possible to choose the sync frequency and even set manual syncing, but I can't find any similar option in Outlook for Android.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to change the frequency of emails sync using Outlook for Android (see the thread Set sync frequency and quiet times on outlook app).

From the link above:

  There are no such settings in the Outlook or OWA apps from the play store

Outlook for Android users have requested the feature on Uservoice. However, it has not been yet implemented (as of Nov. 2018).

If you are using an another app to check your Exchange emails (I use the Gmail app) then it is possible to change the sync frequency.


Any difference between the back ups made by Titanium and Nandroid? I have both CWM and Titanium backup pro installed and will like to make a backup of my system (Xperia Neo V). However I'm torn between the two. I have about 3.6gb space left on my 14gb SD card and have move lots of apps to the card. Which option is best for me? Thanks in advance.

The two are actually quite different. Titanium backs up apps and settings only. Nandroid backs up everything including the OS. Titanium is useful when messing with apps and settings, since you have the option of restoring only what you want. Nandroid backups are largely for when you totally b0rk your phone and need to restore it to a more or less pristine state.

The biggest difference is that Titanium requires a working Android installation, while Nandroid only requires a working CWM or other custom recovery.

Just to clarify, Nandroid only backs up your /system, /data and a few other partitions. It does not backup your SD card. Titanium backup may back up some of the stuff on your SD card, but not necessarily all of it, only data that associated with an app will be backed up (and perhaps a few other things like photos and music).


Unlocked bootloader, encryption galaxy nexus
unlocked bootloader
no adb enabled
rooted
device encryption on with 10+ characters (Cryptfs Password - Google play)
PIN screen lock with 6 characters

Am I safe if someone wants to extract data from my phone with phone on and off ?
what should I do improve ? Did I miss anything ?

The combination of encryption, PIN lock, and having ADB turned off should protect your data pretty well.  It could still be compromised if someone finds a security flaw that can be exploited through the network or the MTP USB connection, but that risk exists in any case.

However, with your bootloader unlocked, someone could take your phone, flash a malicious ROM that contains keystroke loggers or something, and then return the phone to you and wait for you to type your PIN or decryption password.  It'd be better to keep the bootloader locked whenever you don't actually need to flash things via fastboot.

You can use BootUnlocker to lock and unlock the bootloader from within the running Android system.  Unlike fastboot oem unlock, this doesn't wipe your data when you unlock.


Htc Desire 820 - 'eh' word replaced by 'V' Texting, whatsapp, url of browser, dictionary app or anywhere in the phone, the combination of letters 'eh' when occurred is always replaced with the letter 'V'.
please help. Not sure why this is happening.

Add 'eh' to your keyboard's personal dictionary and it will never happen to you again.☺


How to sync contact photos from phone back to google contacts? I have updated my contact photos in my phone and then I wanted to update my google contacts.
The sync of contact data is working fine, but the photos aren't being synced.

Is there anyway I can fix this?

I have Samsung Galaxy S3 with ICS 4.0.4

Sorry, I don't have enough rep to comment, so I just ask you here:

Can you please try to:

Create a contact on your phone
Log in to http://contacts.google.com/ with your computer
see if it get's on the contacts website after you've created the contact on your phone
Change something in the contact on your phone (phone number)
See if it updates in the contacts website

If it doesn't update you have a contact sync issue.

Go to:

Settings > Accounts & Sync > (your google account) > Sync contacts

This must be enabled.

Check the last sync time, is it recent?

If this all doesn't help. As a workaround try to add a contact picture from the contacts website and check if it gets updatet into your phone. I manage all my contacts there as it is easier.


Taking Screenshots in Micromax Ninja A89 ICS Mobile Device I have a new Micromax Ninja A89 Mobile phone which is not rooted. I want to be able to take screenshots in my mobile without rooting. What should I do? I have tried many of the freely available apps but they are not working.

Any suggestions please?

Hold the volume down and power button together. That will take a screenshot.


How do I disable regular Android notifications from Google asking to verify my phone number? This has started happening recently.  It seems like I am getting at least one notification every day or two now on my Android phone from Google saying:

**Verify your phone number**
Google can warn you of suspicious activity in your
account & you can more easily connect with friends
in Google services.

I don't want to see this notification any more (it plays a loud sound every time, and the other morning it actually woke me up!) and I also am not going to verify my phone number.   How can I make these notifications stop?

The app is Google Play Services. Disable notifications in Settings > Apps


__bionic_open_tzdata_path: ANDROID_DATA not set! When running commands like date or ls -l I always get a multiple repetition of the following lines to the standard error:

__bionic_open_tzdata_path: ANDROID_DATA not set!
__bionic_open_tzdata_path: ANDROID_ROOT not set!

I used to consider it acceptable, until I created a script running date in a loop, causing an awful endless stream of the same repeated lines.
I couldn't find any documentation about it, yet the problem seems to be common.
Any idea how to fix this?
Thanks in advance

For ssh users, following up on @Death Mask Salesman's comment. sshd allows setting up ENV via proper config (from man --pager='less -p ^ENVIRONMENT' ssh):

  [...] Additionally, ssh reads ~/.ssh/environment, and adds lines of the format “VARNAME=value” to the environment if the
       file exists and users are allowed to change their environment.  For more information, see the PermitUserEnvironment
       option in sshd_config(5).

However I couldn't succeed to set it up on my phone (Sony Xperia "Tsubasa" / LineageOS 14.1). Thus I resorted to adding in /etc/bash/bashrc:

export ANDROID_DATA=/data ANDROID_ROOT=/system

then logging in...

$ ssh root@... -t bash
tsubasa / # env | grep ANDROID_
ANDROID_DATA=/data
ANDROID_ROOT=/system

:-)


Encryption unsuccessful I am a senior citizen with very limited tech knowledge.  I woke up this AM with the encryption unsuccessful error notice on my Android.  I have been searching all these sites for help and cannot understand the "lingo". (bootloop, twrp, etc.)  Can someone tell me EXACTLY what to do?  Should I just push the "reset phone" button?  What will happen then?  Will I really lose everything?  By "losing everything" what does that mean?  Can I still make phone calls, see my pictures, play games?

This is caused by an attempt to Encrypt the Data partition failing.

Usually it fails from corrupt storage, and also from power loss.. did you unplug it while the encryption was in progress ?

The Wipe Everything option refers to everything that is specifically stored on the devices internal storage and data partition.

The SIM Card contacts will not be removed, however the device's locally stored contacts will be deleted.

The Files, ( photo's, documents etc.. ) that are stored on the External SD Card, will also Not be wiped, however any photo's taken and stored to the infernal storage will be wiped in the process.

No you will NOT lose access to features like calling, it will only remove the personal files you have created.

It should say "Factory Reset" to clarify what happens, but the warning is very basic and designed just to show you a problem occurred while encrypting.


Importing custom ringtone I have downloaded a ringtone and now would like to put it on the list of available ringtones on my Maxx2.  How do I put it on the ringtone list?  What is the proper format?  .wav, .aiff?

It simply done by having it as an mp3, which is to be put into either the "Ringtones" or "Notifications" folder (please do both to be sure) from the phone's internet storage. If one or both are not present, you can always make the folder yourself then place the files there. It should appear in the right settings menu that's right for it!


ZH960 tablet, suspicious hardware parameters, what to do? I've bought a recent, middle (or top) category Android tablet model ZH960. It specification says 8GB RAM and 128GB flash, with an astonishing 1280x2560 display.
However, after I've tried it, it simply did not work so. It is slow (particularly using recent browsers), the display resolution is clearly worse than specified (pixels are well visible), contrary that the "Settings" -> "About this tablet" says the values specified by the reseller.
What to do? How to check it?

This is a fake.
Probably the "producer" bought tablet with 1 GB RAMs, and flashed them with a firmware lying about their hardware. However, some simple adb shell commands show the real hardware capacity:

Fact is that the device has 1GB RAM and a 16GB flash. It is today a low-end device, overwritten by a firmware which falsify the reported hw parameters.
The internet is full with

Unclear / contradicting "specifications" of this hardware.
Warnings about the scam (example).

I could not find any trace of the producer. Most likely, the model does not even exist.
If you bought this table, here is the time to initiate a customer complain. If you can not, my sincere condolences.


Can't add google account after phone reset I have a leagoo lead3 running android 4.4 and after factory resetting it I'm no able to add my google account.

The error I receive is "Couldn't sign in" " There was a problem comminicating with Google servers. Try again later."

Googling I find that hosts file in /system/etc needed to be modified to comment out "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx android.clients.Google.com" but I don't have this line.

Also I checked http traffic with fiddler and I just have this :

"200 HTTP Tunnel to 173.194.40.142:443" with body 0

It seems to be a good google ip. I don't what to check now... Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

According to this post on Google Forums:

Check if two-step  verification been enabled on the account (https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en&ref_topic=2784804)?
Try to open a browser on the device, go to https://mail.google.com/ and sign into your account.
Also try the Unlock Captcha function (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=78754):  https://www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha
You can try disabling IMAP (from the web-interface) and re-enabled it.  Or deleting the account from the device and setting it up again.

  NOTE:  When two-step verification is enabled for an account, you need
  to create an application specific password (to be used in place of
  your regular password) for any client/application/device that doesn't
  know how to ask for the 2-step code (like your phone).

  Check
  https://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1173270

  From: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/zGCCBpsvusw

Other possible solutions:

[XDA Developers][Solved] can't acces/sign in google account after factory reset
[AndroidForums][SOLUTION]Cannot add Google account after factory reset

The first one works if you can't estabilish connection to Google servers, the second one needs rooting the phone (Remember: you do it only on your own risk)

Hope it help


How to migrate contacts2.db between android devices (SELinux enabled)? I exported a contacts2.db from a samsung s6 and try to import it to a Samsung S2 tab. both phones operate on android 6 and are rooted. What I've achieved so far:

I managed to copy the file from the source device with:

adb shell "su -c cat /path/to/contacts2.db" > contacts2.db

I managed to restore the database by copying the file to the sdcard of the destination device and then via adb shell

su
cd /data/data/com.android.contacts/databases/
mv contacts2.db contacts2.db.bak
cp /sdcard/contacts2.db .
chown  u0_a4:u0_a4 contacts2.db
chmod 600 contacts2.db
cd ..
restorecon -Rv databases
kill $(ps | grep contacts | awk '{ print $2 }')

Then I start contacts again via gui, rebooted, but the contacts do not show up. It does not seem to be a file permission error, but a database problem? The devices run the same samsung stock firmware.

What did I miss here?

Contacts are stored in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases.

If you simply want to sync contacts in new phone, add same Google account on newer phone. It will automatically sync in background.

You can also try Samsung SmartSwitch.


Play store won't let me download any apps My internal storage is about 50MB and my SD Card is about 300 MB. When I want to download an app that only need 20 something MB, it says insufficient storage. Even though I delet most of my apps and make my internal storage to about 100MB, it still says insufficient storage when I want to download an app that need 20MB. Please help me to solve this problem as soon as possible.

Use high storage SD card if possible (at least 2GB)
Move your installed applications into SD card from the settings.
Reset application preferences from the 'settings > apps'.
Go to 'Settings > Storage' and choose SD card as a preferred install location.
Reboot the phone.
Download any application after above steps.


Show tasks in Google Calendar app There is a "Tasks" calendar that can be selected on the Google Calendar web interface, that displays all Gmail tasks deadlines. This calendar is not shown/synced in the Google Calendar app. Is there a adapter app that works for tasks like maybe the Birthday Adapter app works for events? I'm not looking for a separate tasks app unless it can also hook into Google Calendar to show my tasks there.

Have a look at Reminders, the successor of Google Tasks. You can switch back and forth between Tasks and Reminders by opening the web interface, clicking the arrow next to 'Tasks' in the sidebar and selecting 'Switch to Reminders' from the menu.


Unable to install ROM with adb sideload or other methods on LG G3 d855 I have an LG G3 (d855) phone on which I had Cyanogenmod 14 and which I wanted to upgrade to LineageOS.

I booted to recovery, wiped everything and tried using adb sideload to load the image, but it failed at 47% with cannot verify whole file signature and cannot load volume /misc errors.

I verified the md5sum of the image, tried the other images available and also an AOKP image, and the symptoms are always the same.

I don't seem to have access to another way of loading an image on the phone, I was not able to enter download mode (I only get either a black screen or a battery picture), and the recovery mode seems to accept adb connections so I cannot push an image on it (I get a adb: error: connect failed: device unauthorized. This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set error). And of course having wiped the system, I cannot do anything from here.

Edit : I've been able to start the phone in download mode by using a different USB cable. However, I cannot find a tool on Linux to upload an image to it. Some sites say that heimdall should support it but it seems they are misleading as heimdall itself only claims to support Samsung devices.

So I was finaly able to solve my problem :

Apparently the failure of adb sideload at exactly 47% is a known bug on TWRP, so I would assume that it's the same bug bitting me on Cyanogen recovery.
Anyway, if the recovery doesn't allow to install a ROM, there is the download mode (volume UP and plug in an USB cable).
If download mode doesn't work, try it with another USB cable (such as the one that came with the phone)
Have a Windows install available either physically or in a VM as LG couldn't bother supporting other OSes.
Follow this tutorial to reinstall the original LG ROM, but at step 7 tick the "Board DL" box as not to get stuck on "Factory Reset Status 2" such as explained in this reddit thread (doesn't seem to be a problem for everyone).
Reroot the phone and reinstall a ROM that isn't full of LG bloatware.

(Note for self : next time buy a device that hasn't been designed to work against it's owner)


Disable phone calls while in certain apps I have lots of games on my phones, and they tend to have to restart when an incoming call comes in, even while hitting the Ignore button. Is there a way, on a rooted stock Android phone to set certain apps to block incoming calls, so the foreground app does not get interrupted? I am aware of Airplane mode, but that would require me to wait for it to activate, then turn my WiFi/Mobile Data back on, then go into the game, then remember to turn it back off.

Optionally, if I could set one or two phone numbers that could interrupt (i.e. Work or the spouse), that would be awesome too. My goal is that my phone knows not to disturb me if I'm in the middle of a game, without hitting 3 or 4 buttons before launching into the game, and remembering to disable something after leaving the game.

Nope I dont thing there is an app to do that. The game developer has to build a game such away that when game starts airplane mode has to start or even a setting for to change airplane mode on/off. As far as I know apps cannot block incoming calls.

Workaound is you can try Callcontrol and schedule the time to block calls


Unfortunately process.com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly error whenever i disconnect a call Instead of call duration and other details, i get "Unfortunately process.com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly error" whenever i disconnect a call. I am not able to check the prepaid balance of my phone. No USSD code works properly. This is happening in my new LetV 1s phone.

I have cleared the cache mentioned in the sites as a resolution. I even did a factory reset. Still it is not working.
Kindly help me in this regard.

Thanks and Regards,
Veena

Try clearing data of

Phone (com.anddroid.server.telecom)
In-call Interface (com.android.incallui)
Dialer (com.android.dialer)

You could temporarily download TrueDialer or any other 3rd party Dialer.

If possible a provide a logcat.


Could I get some help installing google play store and services on my phone? I am using a Chinese issued  Morotola Moto X with Android version 5.1.1, some Chinese variation, I don't really have a name for. Either way, before when I installed the Google Store (with their help), it refused to run at all. Later I found out I needed to add the services app (Version 11.0.38) as well while updating the Google Play Store to 7.8.16, and now it at least starts, rather than immediately crashing. But now when it starts up, it takes me to the Checking info screen, before I get hit with a message that says "Unfortunately, Google Play Services has stopped."n Of course when I hit okay, it just shows the checking info screen endlessly. At the same time, I get a message that reads "Update Google Play Services as an alert message, but as far as I know, I am up to date. Clearly I have managed to make some progress, but I have never attempted something like this before. Can anyone help me out here?

I like to use the site APKMirror.com. On APKMirror, search for and download the latest version of the Google Play store The downloaded file will appear in the notifications pull-down menu at the top of your phone and in the Download folder in the app drawer. Click on the file in either location and install it. If you are unable to install the store, you may have to download the latest version of Google Play Services. You can find a list here, be sure to download the version that corresponds with the Android version you are running.
 Be sure to have unknown sources enabled in the Security settings of your device.


rooting galaxy s4 GT-I9505 with android 4.4.2 kitkat I tried to root phone according to instruction.

And it was ok. It seemed that my phone successfully rooted.

But when I run root checker it showed that I don't have root access.

Easy way: Wipe your phone and try again from fresh stock.

but only do this if in [adb shell] you can execute "su" successfully.


What it takes to update nightly CM12.1 in TWRP? I want to install the latest cm12.1 nightly update, but I am worried about doing something wrong.

The .zip file is already downloaded. My recovery mode is TWRP and I would like to know if I need to wipe, clear, or do something like that in TWRP options.

Thanks!

If you're already using a Cyanogenmod Build from the same developer then you can just go ahead and install the update without wiping anything.

If you're using a stock (based) rom on your device and you want to install cyanogenmod for the first time then you should wipe /system, /data/, /cache, /dalvik cache. This will be a clean install, so all your data may get lost.
As always adviced: Make a backup (in TWRP) first so you're on the safe side. If something goes wrong you don't have to worry and just restore your backup without any hassle. Furthermore you can save your existing application + app data with Titanium Backup from the Playstore and restore them when the installation has finished :)


Does Android resolution matter for other than clarity? In Android OS, does screen resolution matter in applications?

Obviously a phone with 800x480 resolution is going to look much sharper than a 320x480 one, but is that the only difference? Do the icons and such scale at different resolutions or just look sharper?

Can I actually fit a lot more on the screen on the higher res phones (such as when you increase the resolution on a desktop PC?) I am looking for an inexpensive Android phone that doesn't require Sprint's bogus $10 "4G fee". Unfortunately, it looks like the only phone that is decent and doesn't require this fee is the LG Optimus S (free right now). However, the resolution is 320x480. I'm going to check it out in a store soon but wanted to see what you experts think.

Thank you!

No, what matters for clarity is acuity, or the "number of pixels versus screen size versus viewing distance". A 800x480 image shown on a 100" monitor seen 30 cm viewing distance would look awfully pixelated, while 480x320 screen on a 2" monitor seen at the same viewing distance would look very sharp.

LG Optimus S has a 480x320 pixels on a 3.2 inch screen (i.e. 2.66x1.78 inch screen). The pixel density of LG Optimus S is (480/2.66 = 320/1.78) = 180 pixel per inch, IOW the size of a single pixel is 1/180 inch.

On a viewing distance of 20 cm (the typical viewing distance for a phone), 180 pixel per inch translates to 0.04233 arcminute per pixels. For comparison, human eyes can resolve 0.3 arcminute in a good lighting condition.

The extra resolution gives programs two options; it can either use it to fit more stuff in the same area, or it could use higher resolution images and produce sharper display. Home screens often do not do the first since it will make the icons smaller and more difficult to press, instead they calculate the amount of stuff to fit from the actual physical size of the screen instead of the resolution.


What Port Does Android Use For VPN Connections? I'm trying to set up a VPN so that I can have a connection to my LAN from my phone (HTC Droid Incredible, Stock ROM, Not rooted) wherever I am.

AFAICT, everything is set up correctly.  The Domain Name resolves correctly, I forwarded the ports required by the how-to I was following, yet I still can't connect.

I have no idea what's wrong or how to get to any debug information.  The only thing I can think of that I haven't verified yet is the port, but I couldn't find a way to select one.

What Port Does Android Use For VPN Connections?

P.S.  I would really like to do this without rooting.

If you have access to a computer that

is on the same Wi-Fi network; and
runs Wireshark (http://www.wireshark.org/)

you can probably find out the port that way.


I can't find launcher on my apps I cant find it in the drawer. I've been experiencing errors and I've found the solution. Problem is, my launcher is missing and I cant clear the data because I can't find it.

If the launcher icon is not visible in the application drawer, go to System Settings > Apps > Running select the launcher.

From there you can perform your fix.


Port already Using Error in Android I have an android application which is running on Huawei S7,Android 2.2. It is getting inputs from an arduino board.Arduino Board is connected to the tablet by USB cable.Application is using USB Protocol to connect to arduino.

The application is written for Android 4.1.And it is using a backward compatibility pack to make it runnable on 2.2. We had to use a 2.2 device.But now we have a device with Android 4.3. And when we try to run the same app in 4.3 device it gives an error saying 4567 port already in use. 4567 port is the port used by arduino application to connect with the Android Device(Tablet Application).

How can i find the application which is using the 4567 port?

Is there any way i can free up that port?

My 4.3 device is not rooted. Will rooting do any good in this problem?

Without any additional tools, this should be possible via adb shell or a terminal app, using the netstat command: netstat --tcp --listening -p should list up all listening ports along with the app behind it. But it might very well be (as in your case, obviously) that the -p parameter requires root; and without it, the output won't show the app holding the port open.

However, NetStat Plus might offer what you need:

NetStat Plus and Connection List (source: Google Play; click for larger image)

I did not try this app myself, but the screenshots suggest it does exactly what you need: Listing apps with the used ports and status along. No word that it requires root. It further seems to work at least from Gingerbread (2.3.6 is explicitly mentioned) onwards to at least Jelly Bean 4.3 (also explicitly mentioned). An alternative would be Connection List (second screenshot).


How to execute commands, after exiting ADB shell? I'm coding a script to automate an application configuration export process.
adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit

The problem is: after saving the backup I want to pull the file to my computer, using this:
adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Although, I can't figure out how to execute this command, after exiting adb shell. It seems like commands after exit are ignored:
adb shell
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...
exit
adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

Maybe, this is an issue I should addres to the "Unix & Linux" community, but I decided to try here first.

Write your script a little different:
#!/bin/bash
adb shell <<EOF
...
<open app menu>
<open app settings>
<save app backup>
...

EOF

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/Backups/ ~/Documents/phone

All between <<EOF and the EOF standing separately at the start of its own line is run in adb shell, all outside is run on your local machine. Note: no exit needed.


How can I have my device charge only when battery is below a given percentage? So I've mounted my Nexus 7 onto a wall and use it as a sort of info screen / home automatisation device. Now this would require the screen to be on all the time which is why I want it to be connected to a charging cable 24/7.

Is there a way I can make the device start charging when the battery level falls below 10%? I don't want it to be charging all the time as this would wear off the battery pretty quickly.

I don't have root access.

No, It is not possible on unrooted devices and yes, it can be done on rooted devices.

In a rooted device,

Add a permission to Android : android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS.

Then, system call the set function of the BATTERY_STATUS_CHARGING
from the BatteryManager with a 0 value.

To automate this function, use a third-party application like Tasker to set a trigger on Battery % < 10 to do the forementioned system call.


Is it possible to reinstall stock Android on the Nexus 7 I'm new to rooting my phone, but I was thinking of trying out the KDE tablet interface on my Nexus 7. I'm probably not going to keep using this, since I like the huge app ecosystem on Android, so is it possible to reinstall stock Android on my tablet?

Yes. One option would be to use the images distributed by Google at Factory Images for Nexus Devices. Download the appropriate package (the 4.2.1 Nexus 7 archive is what you'd presumably want) and then either flash the images manually or use the included flash-all.sh script (if on Linux). Manually running the commands will be of the form:

fastboot flash <partition name> /path/to/image.img

So, as an example, you'd flash the system partition with:

fastboot flash system /path/to/system.img

You'll need to have the fastboot utility configured for this, but it will work regardless of what OS or recovery system are installed on the N7 at the time as long as you don't modify the bootloader. You'll also need to use fastboot oem unlock to unlock your bootloader if you haven't already, which will wipe your personal data.


Transfer large files beween Android device and an iPad mini I have an iPad mini and a Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet.

What is the easiest way to transfer several large files between an Android device and an iPad device?

If you have access to a computer, it might be easier to connect the Galaxy Tab and iPad to it via USB, mount both for file access (not sure how this is done in Apple world, but most Android tablets and phones come with built-in features for accessing storage via USB,) copy the files off the source device, and then copy them to the target.

If you need to do this over wireless connection and have access to the Internet (either via cell data or Wi-Fi,) third-party apps might be an easier solution. For example Dropbox is free, available for both Android and iOS, but has a 300MB file size limit. Google Drive is another alternative, with a free 5GB storage, apps on both operating systems, with file size limit of 10GB each.  There are a myriad other similar services that are available on both platforms, but all of them require Internet connectivity, and usually an account.

For direct device-to-device transfers there are fewer choices.  AirBlue uses bluetooth connectivity on both iOS and Android devices for file transfer.  Unfortunately it's only available for jailbroken iPhones via Cydia store.  Here is another walk-through for file copying over Wi-Fi, but this requires for both Android device to be rooted, and the iOS device to be jailbroken.  Instructions from here are a bit dated, but do not require any rooting or jailbreaking of your devices, just a few apps that are freely available on Google Play Store and iTunes Store.


External SD card not being recognised; data intact on card I have a HTC One M8 running Android KitKat 4.4.2, and I recently got a Sandisk 64GB MicroSD. Today a few of my apps have greyed out icons and when I click them, it says app isn't installed.

When I go to Settings > Storage, External SD shows as Unavailable. Mount SD card shows, but clicking it just shows a message saying Preparing SD card and it does nothing else.

It also keeps popping up with Preparing SD card at random.

Putting the memory card in my PC, the data is intact. I've tried restarting my phone a couple of times; no joy. Is there anything I can do to make this work again?

Failing that, am I safe to backup the data to my PC, format the SD card, and restore the files; and everything will work as it did?

The card was confirmed as a counterfeit by the manufacturer over the phone.


Automatically dim screen at specific times? Waking up in the morning to a very bright screen is no fun. I'd rather the screen be dimmer in my dark bedroom when I wake up. While I could manually change the brightness before going to bed and changing it once I get up, it's too much bother.

How can I automate changing the screen brightness based on the time of day?

If you don't mind paying a few bucks, I highly recommend Tasker.  This automation utility allows you to set up many built-in (and some 3rd-party app) Android actions based on various parameters, including time of day.

In Tasker you will need to create 2 separate profiles, and to each add 2 actions.  1st action will be identical in both profiles - disabling the Auto Brightness.  Second one will be similar - a time-based action to change the display brightness, with time of day and brightness level being the differences.

Start Tasker and tap the + button on the bottom o the main screen to create a new profile.  Give it a descriptive name, such as "Brightness Down" for example.
Choose the "Time" context on the presented menu.
For the "From:" option select the time of day you wish to have brightness lowered.
Un-check the "To:" option, and tap the green "Accept" button.
On the "Task Selection" dialog tap the "New Task" button and name it "Lower Screen Brightness" and tap the "Accept" button.
Tap the "+" button to add an action, select "Display" category, select the "Auto Brightness" action, select the "Off" option on the "Set" drop-down, and press the green "Accept" button.
Tap the "+" button to add another action, select "Display" category, elect the "Display Brightness" action, set the desirable low level (20 being the lowest recommended setting), ensure that both "Ignore Current Level" and "Immediate Effect" options are checked, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the green "Accept" button on the "Task Edit / ..." screen.
On the main screen tap the "Brightness Down" profile once, then tap on its wrench button, and select the "Clone" option.
Tap the newly-cloned profile, tap its wrench button, select the "Rename" option and name it "Brightness Up".
Tap on the clock icon, select the "Edit" option, change the "From:" time to the time of day when you'd like brightness increased, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Now tap on the task itself (name you gave it in step 5), select "Rename" option, name it "Increase Screen Brightness", and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the task again, and select the "Edit" option.
Tap on the "Display Brightness" action, set the Level to a higher setting, and tap the green "Accept" button.
Tap the green "Accept" button on the "Task Edit / ..." screen.
Ensure that on the main screen, the button on bottom-right reads "On", and exit the Tasker app.

You should now be all set.


Laptop cannot detect Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in Device Manager I have an old 8.9" Kindle Fire HD (model 3HT7G) and it is stuck in a recovery boot loop. I have found a way to get it out of this loop, but I need to use my laptop. The problem is, when I plug in my device, it does not appear in Device Manager and there is no indication that the device has been detected by the computer. The only thing that happens is that the Kindle starts to boot up (as standard for when you plug it in). Is there any way I can fix it? Maybe drivers are the issue, but I installed the USB drivers and adb drivers and I have tried all the methods I have found online...

Download and install the adb drivers from this link, then reboot your pc.

    Next installing the USB drivers for the Kindle from Amazon.

(Windows user) Uninstall the existing USB driver

If you are a Windows user who previously connected a Fire tablet without first enabling ADB, you will need to remove the existing USB device driver and force re-installation of the driver.

Connect your Fire tablet to the USB port on your development computer.
On the development computer, from the Start menu, right-click Computer, and then click Control Panel.
On the control panel page, then click Device Manager.
In the Device Manager window, expand Portable Devices.
Right-click the Fire device and then click Properties.
In the Properties window, on the Driver tab, click Uninstall, and then Confirm.
Unplug your Fire tablet from your computer.

Install the USB driver for Windows.

Perform the following steps if your development computer runs Windows.

You can directly download the USB driver from the following URL:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/android-sdk-manager/redist/kindle_fire_usb_driver.zip
Extract the zip folder into a new folder.
Open the new folder and run the executable file, which installs the driver.

Source:

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tablets/ft-set-up-your-kindle-fire-tablet-for-testing.html#windows-user-uninstall-the-existing-usb-driver

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tablets/ft-set-up-your-kindle-fire-tablet-for-testing.html#windows-user-install-the-usb-driver-for-windows


Enable VPN on airplane mode, before connecting I want to set the VPN (in my case vpnunlimitedapp) so it connects through the VPN the second I enable WIFI or 4G. Currently, I have to go online for a moment and then I'm allowed to enable the VPN. How can I remedy this so no bit of information get exposed?

Ok looks like with privateinternetaccess VPN you can do it. You have to enter details given by the vpn provider into the smartphone settings so the app is not required:

Android-How to use " Allways-on VPN"

Related information:

Force VPN usage?

Connect to a virtual private network (VPN)

Automatically connect to VPN when connecting to WiFi?

EDITED LATER:

TunnelBear VPN has a vigilant mode designed to keep your location and data private in the brief seconds while TunnelBear is connecting and reconnecting. Currently the Vigilant feature is available on our Mac OS X and Windows desktop apps, as well as our Android app. You can find this within your Settings/Preferences panel. To turn it on, make sure that it's enabled:
TunnelBear's Online Privacy Blog: A More Vigilant TunnelBear

VPN Unlimited has a similar option. Just go to 'Settings' -> 'VPN Reconnect Settings' -> choose 'WiFi is ON'.


Kitkat update on Nexus 4 fails Hard to believe this is the first Kitkat installation question, but I don't find any. Sorry if it's a dupe!

I feel like I'm too stupid to follow directions, but can you guys help me out here -- what am I doing wrong: I want to update my Nexus 4 from stock 4.2.2 ROM to the new 4.4 following these instructions. Note that the phone is rooted and runs Clockworkmod - I'm guessing this causes my problems but I need help to fix that.

I've got the downloads extracted and added the path to the bootloader so I can run the commands. But at the step that says Reboot into the bootloader and run the appropriate flash-all script it just says waiting for device forever.

The phone is in bootloader mode, but it's running Clockworkmod so I am guessing this is the problem?

The trouble I encountered was that the fastboot program could not find my phone even though it was in bootloader mode. The solution was to run fastboot as sudo, but then the problem changed to be that sudo didn’t have the path to fastboot so I needed to give the explicit path to that as well: sudo ./fastboot devices worked (when I was in the directory android-sdk-linux/platform-tools). So I figured that I needed to change two things in the setup instructions:

run fastboot as sudo, and
add explicit paths in the flash script.

I've written a blog post that gives step-by-step instructions if anyone else needs this:
How to update your Nexus 4 to Android 4.4


How to install Samsung (or other manufacturers) apps on Vanilla ROMs on Galaxy S3 I've tried installing CyanogenMod on my Samsung Galaxy S3 device.

I was amazed by its smoothness and speed, but I've missed some of the apps of the official Samsung ROM, such as the camera, the keyboard, and the contacts list.

I've tried installing them using the recovery mod (like installing a zipped ROM), but it didn't work.

Is it possible to install Samsung apps on vanilla roms (like CyanogenMod) on my device? If so, how?

I also wonder if a similar thing can be done on other devices (like installing HTC apps on and HTC device which has a vanilla ROM installed in it).

Unfortunately, it's not possible. Those apps rely on parts of the TouchWiz framework to operate. No TouchWiz, no apps. The only way would be to install a custom TouchWiz based rom. It would give you some of the performance improvements of CyanogenMod but with access to the Samsung apps.


Google Authenticator used by native apps? I recently turned on two-step verification for my Google account and installed the Google Authenticator app on my Android device. Based on what I have read everywhere (even Google's official info: http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1173270), I was under the expectation that I would have to generate an application specific password for some of the apps on my Android device - gmail, youtube, etc. However, that hasn't happened. Everything continues to work fine on my device including gmail, youtube, sync functionality, etc. I have restarted the device, forced it to sync manually, etc...no problems, and I'm never prompted to enter a verification code, never set the device as trusted, etc.

How does this work? Are the Google Android native apps using the Google Authenticator service behind the scenes to generate codes?

Native Google apps don't use password (which you entered before activating 2-step authentication) everytime to log in. They only need it for the first time. After the first authentication, an Auth. Token is downloaded which is used for subsequent logins. As this Auth. Token isn't your main password, verification code isn't required at all. So, your apps continue to work without asking anything.

To invalidate this Auth. Token, you'll have to change your main password. Do it and you'll be asked to enter password in Android device. And, this time, your main password wouldn't work. You'll have to generate and use application-specific password. Native Google apps don't prompt for verification code. They only seek passwords which would let them authenticate.


Mobile Data only working when used as hotspot I recently bought a HTC One. Everything worked fine including mobile-data and Wifi. Until I once used my phone as Hotspot for my laptop.

The whole time while using the hotspot I had working internet on both my phone and laptop. But the next day (hotpost disabled), I couldn't get the mobile-data to work.

I don't get an error, it just doesn't load.

Wifi connections still work.

Now I tried reenabling hotspot and to my surprise it works. I now have internet on the laptop but NOT on the phone.

It seems that somehow the mobile-data will only work when the phone is used as hotspot.

What have I done wrong?

Android 4.2.2

Somehow there was a proxy set up in the APN settings …

Edit: To change the proxy you have to go to the settings and click on mobile data. Select Access point names, select the active APN (or the one you're having problems with) check/reset the Proxy/Port settings.


QR scanner that doesn't want to access my contact list (I am new to Android and to this site, so please bear with me if my question is extremely stupid and if I got the tags all wrong. Feel free to improve, though.)

I want an app to scan the occasional QR code which usually should contain an URL.

The other day I meant to download an app for that and searched the market for one that does not want access to all my contacts, my granny's underpants, and whatever else it could get its grubby hands on — to no avail.

How is it that they all want to dig into my pants contacts? Am I missing something or is that really just data mining on the app writers' part?

Here is QR Droid Private. It does not access your contact information.

Usually the reason they want contact access is because you can store contact information in a QR code. So when scanned, it sees that it is a contact and adds it to your contacts. without access to your contacts, it would not be able to do this. Another reason is that some of the apps allow you to create QR codes from your contacts. It would need read permission to do this.

Here is an example of a vCard stored in a qr code:

Here is the data that is stored in there:

BEGIN:VCARD
N:John Q. Public
ORG:Acme
TITLE:CEO
TEL:3125555555
URL:http://example.com
EMAIL:john.q.public@email.com
ADR:1234 any street suite 300 Someville\, ST 00000
END:VCARD


Is it possible to scan WiFi access points without turning on WiFi? Just as the title says, is it possible to scan all WiFi access points around the Android phone device when WiFi is turned off (e.g. only using 3G)?

Starting from Android 4.3 JellyBean, it's possible to scan WiFi access points even if the WiFi is off. It's called "Scanning always available"
From PCMag.com,

As those who have taken a spin around the Android 4.3 ROM have noticed, Google has made a change to devices' Wi-Fi settings in Android 4.3.
"To improve location accuracy and for other purposes, Google and other apps may scan for nearby networks, even when Wi-Fi is off," describes Google.

If your device is Android 4.3 or newer, you can enable it from Settings - Wi-Fi - Advanced Wi-Fi - Scanning always available.

Fire up the Settings app and tap your finger on the Wireless and Networks option. Tap on the Wi-Fi option, and then tap on the Overflow button on your phone's screen (the triple-dots icon). When this submenu pops up, tap your finger on the Advanced option. From there, you'll want to make sure to check the "Scanning always available" option if you want to participate in the new Android 4.3 feature. Otherwise, if it's checked, you need merely to uncheck it to ensure that "Wi-Fi off" really means "Wi-Fi off."


One Plus One - CM11 - Failing to complete OTA I've updated the ContactsProvider.apk file in sys/priv-app. However, I'm trying to flash the latest CM update and I keep running into a hash miss-match. In specific:

assert failed: apply_patch_check("/system/priv-app/ContactsProvider.apk", "fb6e94a195230a7d056372699dfe01a7ad7cefad", "4be1a92ade982716f9f64e53a48bdbb6dad997a")

With this, I'm unable to complete the flash through TWRP. I'm on the latest img (v2.8.0.1) and have already tried restoring to an earlier backup to see if the file would go back to its original state. When I restore, everything goes back (as expected) but the file in question does not. I've also tried to adb sideload the update and that wasn't successful either.

I'm looking for suggestions that might help me get passed this, even if it means a full wipe or reset.

The error is telling you that it won't apply because the system you currently have doesn't match the base that the update is meant to apply to, because you've updated this file. Don't keep trying to apply the update: if you can somehow circumvent the check and flash the update anyway, the result will be a broken OS.

If you still have the original ContactsProvider.apk file, restoring it will allow the update to apply.

If you can't restore the original ContactsProvider.apk, then you won't be able to apply any further updates. You need to download a complete Cyanogenmod image and flash that. OTA updates will then work again, so long as you don't edit any more OS files.


Can I put a widget inside a folder? I have a number of widgets that I really like, but my Droid takes an awful long time to draw the home screen, even using the Zeam launcher replacement.

Can I use folders on my home screen to hold widgets (and keep them handy) and will that improve my performance any?

After much experimenting, it is apparent that you cannot put a widget inside a folder. Folders will only hold shortcuts.

I have a stock Motorola Droid with Android 2.2.1. Admittedly, there may be a ROM out there that lets this happen, and perhaps even a customized version from some carrier/manufacturer that allows it. But without significant modification, this just can't be done.


"Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation"...when trying to backup through abd (TWRP) Phone: Moto C Plus
Phone OS: Android 7.0
PC OS: Windows 7
TWRP: 3.1.1
Rooted
I'm trying to backup directly to PC from TWRP recovery through adb cmd.
The cmd adb devices shows the device id and the word "recovery" next to it, meaning i'm connected successfully and that i'm in recovery. USB debugging is on.
But adb backup --twrp shows...
WARNING: adb backup is deprecated and may be removed in a future release
Now Unlock your device and confirm backup operation
followed by the current directory.
But nothing happens on the phone. This is what's supposed to happen. Skip to 3:26.
Any insight?

There is nothing wrong with your backup. You are just impatient. Please ignore WARNING adb backup is deprecated... Now Unlock your device and confirm... that is just because the adb.exe doesn't know what's going on at phone side.
You should see TWRP backup starting at phone display immediately without any confirmation
watch the backup.ab growing until backup process is complete
i recommend to backup each partition for it's own, that way you avoid trouble with some old bug TWRP just restoring first partition
adb backup "-f twrp_data.ab --twrp --compress data"

you can convert that backup.ab later into data.ext4.win with twab.sh (linux only)


White notification LED not working in Nougat Somehow none of my notifications seem to trigger the flashing white LED on my Moto G5 running Nougat.

On my past Android phones I remember the white LED to be a convenient way to know I had something waiting for me (e.g. a missed call or a whatsapp message) especially when my phone was placed a bit far away.

Is there some global setting I must enable for the white LED to be active?

e.g. I checked Whatsapp and its settings do show "Light->White" as enabled under notifications.

Anything else I can check?

PS. Is the White LED setting granular? i.e. Can I control which notifications trigger the white light?

Go to Settings-> Notifications-> Tap on settings symbol on top.

Under Lights check whether notification light pulse is enabled or not.
Also you can set custom notification colors,

Goto Notification light section(down), Inside that, under General section, check whether notification light enabled or not.

Under Advanced section, tap on use custom values, which enables a + on top-right, click on it, select WhatsApp and enable a custom value for notification light.
(These settings from Nougat 7.1.2 )


Optimizing Apps: Why? I have a Kyocera Hydro View. Every time I restart my phone, it tells me that Android is optimizing apps. This takes anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, and sometimes prevents me from using the phone when I need to use it.

What is Android doing, and why does it need to do it so often?

This is something in Android that is called the dalvik-cache.  It's basically an optimized version of the android package you usually install/download on your phone. This is usually done while installation and doesn't need to happen at every boot. However,  in your case,  reboots apparently trigger a dalvik-cache dump(for lack of a better word). So,  Android has to optimize all apps all over again.
I'd suggest you to try and diagnose why your phone is clearing it's dalvik-cache at every boot. Are you running a custom ROM?


Not enough storage error when trying to update an app I have a Nexus 4 with more than 500 MB free storage space:

Click image for larger version

Now I would like to update Chrome, but I get the error, that there is not enough free space to update it:

Click image for larger version

I would say this is bug. How can I fix it?

I also find it weird. Having free spaces 20 times the size of an app is still not enough to download and install it. What I do is manually move some of the App's data folders in internal storage (Android/data and Android/obb), to external SD card (usually huge games that are taking lot of space), and move them internal storage only when I want to play them. Move them back later.

Not to mention other methods such as clearing your cache, uninstalling unnecessary apps, moving apps to sd card (if available).


Can my Android device become - remotely and without my permission - a wiretap and get used as surveillance device? I saw the following article:

  An article in the Financial Times last year said mobile providers can
  "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the
  owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its
  owner is not making a call.

Is this possible one Android phones and is there a way to block it?

Ahh, Schneier on Security,  Unvy gb gur Xvat. :-)

tl;dr

It may be possible, no one can say for sure. And since no one knows if it's possible you can't block it, because you don't know what and therefore how to block.

But first, let use investigate the statement step by step:

Note that the Article is from 2006

  ...said mobile providers can...

Google is certainly able to do so, if you are using a Google Services enabled device (usually the ones with "by Google" on the back). But basically every hardware/software manufacturer, whose parts are placed within smartphone (or traditional mobile phone), is able to install backdoors in his products, which could by used third parties to manipulate the device. Either because they bought this access or because the manufacturer is forced to, for example by a (secret) government regulation.

  ..."remotely install a piece of software on to any handset,..

That's possible and every time you install an app over the Play Store web interface you use this technique.

  ..without the owner's knowledge,..

Usually you will see visual feedback about the installation process, at least until it's running. But the notification about the new app stays in the notification bar. But no one can rule out that there is a silent install method too.

  ..which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call...

Android apps are able to activiate the microphone if they have the permission to to so. But if the app came with a silent install method, who knows if the permission for the microphone was also silently given?

And now, how can I protect my privacy?

As soon as you buy a piece of hardware/software without having the ability to verify the hardware and software components for surveillance backdoors, you are lost.

But there are alternatives. There have been attempts to create open source hardware and software for smartphones. Therefore allowing you to review the components for unwanted modules. See for example Opoenmoko.


Can I add my own notification ring tones from MP3 files? Possible Duplicate:
  How do I set a custom MP3 as a ringtone for other notifications?

I've been easily able to add call ringtones but is there a way to add notification ringtones from an MP3?

Go to SETTINGS > SOUND & DISPLAY > NOTIFICATION RINGTONE and choose your ringtone from there.

Note that if you have Handcent SMS, there is a Handcent SELECT MUSIC option that will allow you to select non-system Music / MP3 as the sound.

If you don't use Handcent, there are other ringtone pickers like Tone Picker or the excellent Ringdroid.


Is it possible to "mirror" my smartphone SIM into my smartwatch eSIM? I am wondering whether, with eSIM technology, I would be able to mirror my smartphone physical SIM to my smartwatch eSIM (as if I had cloned my phone, like in the movies).
Telling you my final goal could explain better what I am trying to achieve.
Basically I am trying to understand if I could leave my smartphone at home (SIM included), then going out with my smartwatch (e.g. running/cycling/etc) and still receive my smartphone's notifications, texts, etc from the 3G/4G network (essentially I'll be out of bluetooth range).

After some research (thanks Robert for your input), I've found that:
No, you can't tweak your own eSIM to have the same number as other SIMs or eSIMs of yours.
However, it is possible to have the same number on multiple devices if your provider supports it (you will most likely have to pay the extra cost of such feature).
For example, in the UK, where I live, as of today (30th October 2020), only two operators offer that:

EE (Smart Number --only Apple devices supported)
Vodafone (One Number --only Apple and Samsung devices supported)

EDIT: Also O2 appears to offer this feature, although it doesn't seem to have a branded name and I've only found a related section on their website about Samsung.


How to increase time of holding buttons to take screen shot on Samsung Note 8 I have looked around online and not found an answer since the question seems too specific! My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

I find that even a quick accidental press of volume down and power button causes a screenshot (this seems to happen a lot more often than one would expect). Is there any way to increase the time one would need to hold the buttons down in order to take the screenshot?
Thanks!

To be honest, I don't if it is possible to increase the length of time it takes to capture screenshots using buttons.

However, since you get unwanted screenshots when using the buttons, I advise you try using other methods that your device is capable of.

A method that may help you is to use your hand to swipe and take a screenshot.

Goto Settings -> Advanced features -> Enable "Palm swipe to capture".
Open the app you want to capture.
Swipe the whole screen with the side of your hand.


Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom broken power/volume key - How to boot I got big problem with my phone (ASUS Zenfone 3 Zoom)

I broke the plug that connect the power/ volume cable so I am not able either turn on the phone or turn to safe mode.

Also the USB debugging mode was not enable so I would appreciate very much could you help me to back up the data and turn on the phone.

I appreciate and thank you very much for your help.

I tried with ADB command but the phone did not seem to be recognized
Thank you so much

plug in your phone.
immediately after plugging in , hold the volume down key until asus splash screen appears.
now connect your phone to pc.
install adb ("sudo apt install adb" is the command in linux).
enter "adb devices" command.check the device is appearing on your terminal.
then give "adb reboot" command.

This worked for my asus phone.Thank you


Rooting trouble - Using Odin3 but unable to flash device Rooting Method: mrRobinson

Phone: Samsung Galaxy SIII

Model number: SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

Android version: 4.1.1

Carrier: ATT

Downloaded: Odin307 and root66_ATT_I747UCDLK3.tar.md5

Sumsung Driver: Updated

Kies: Stopped and Disabled

What I did:

Extracted the root66_ATT_I747UCDLK3.tar.md5 from the .7z file I downloaded.
Used Odin, put phone into download mode [with phone off, hold vol. down + home + power ], connected to computer and opened Odin.
once in odin clicked the PDA field and selected the root66_ATT_I747UCDLK3.tar.md5 I downloaded.
Left Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time checked.
clicked start and...

Message in Odin:

<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> root66_ATT_I747UCDLK3.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)

Nothing else happens, click on Start again and "All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)" shows again.

What am I doing wrong? Please help!

The issue turned out to be the driver.  I went onto Samsung's website and re-downloaded the USB driver and re-installed it.  Everything went fine.


family link and whatsapp backup issue hope you all could help me on this issue.
i have family link control over my 8-year-old daughter.
now, we bought her a new android phone.
the phone is under her own account we created on google.
no we had installed Whatsapp. but when we go to backup options in Whatsapp trying to backup the Whatsapp data to her google account, Whatsapp comes up with a comment that this can not be done. i suspect it is due to family link.
after approving all apps for her with zero limitations, still, i can not back up Whatsapp data to her google account.
do you guys know how to solve such an issue?

Whatsapp backs the data up to a google drive account and I don't think family link accounts for under-13 accounts allows google drive so that might be why whatsapp fails to back up the chat history.


How can I prevent my HTC Desire from overheating? Recently I bought an HTC Desire overall I'm very happy with it. There seems to be one major flaw, it overheats quite easily causing it to reboot. I've run into this several times while driving using the navigation whilst recharging. Does anyone have any suggestions to workaround this problem? I've searched around but haven't found any helpful information.

[I also have a HTC Desire]

Your device overheats because its hardware is strained a lot during heavy use such as turn-by-turn navigation. This is compounded by the fact you probably have plugged it in the car charger as well, which is also known to generate some amount of heat (you probably have noticed this yourself when charging your phone normally).

There doesn't seem much that you can do to alleviate the problem, except turning off turn-by-turn navigation and only use the map to show you the route. You might also want to check whether there are other apps and services that strain unnecessary the device (frequent syncing could be an issue, as well as Bluetooth and mobile internet).


Unable to backup/export/access an SMS conversation on Android I am attempting to use "SMS Backup and Restore" to backup 2 particular SMS conversation threads from my phone. The SMS app I use is Textra. My problem is when I go to select the conversations (or export ALL conversations), it seems to NOT include the conversations I'm after in the list. In fact it appears to show every conversation (in descending datetime order, UNTIL this conversation, and then no more before that)

I don't know why this is the case. It almost appears like there's an issue with that conversation, and when it gets to that thread, it can't get beyond that. I understand that Texta supposedly inserts a copy of SMS's into the android's main SMS database. I'm not sure if the issue is with the backup program, or the data in the internal SMS database, or something Textra has done.

Two possibilities came to mind:

These 2 conversations are VERY large in size, thousands of messages, and a number of MMS/images/etc. Could this be the reason they're not available for exporting? Perhaps too large in size or something?

I switched to use an SD card at a certain point. Is it possible SMS Backup and Restore is only looking at SMS records that have been inserted into the SD card database and not the internal storage? (assuming that's how it works?) if that's the case is there a way I can have it look at internal? Is there a way to test this?

Note this is actually a very critical issue, involving a fragile, legal situation. I need to export/access these SMS's so I can access/format/print them out etc.

I have in the past been able to do this with SMS Backup and Restore without any problem.

I basically want to know how I can access and export these conversation threads. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would be extremely grateful and appreciative for any advice.

If there's another way to access the SMS data and get it onto my computer (raw data??) I would be willing to explore that if there's no other options.

I'm using Sony Xperia z3, with Android 4.4.4.

I have finally found a solution to this issue. Rather than repeat what's already been written very clearly and concisely, I will just refer to the URL:

  http://blog.shvetsov.com/2013/02/access-android-app-data-without-root.html

This provides a way to get access to the SQLite database that Textra uses, and export it to a computer, without needing root access. I am sincerely grateful to the guy that posted this! Potentially saved me from serious legal consequences had I been unable to access this information on my phone.


My apps keep crashing I have an LG Spirit.

Sometimes my apps keep crashing for no apparent reason. This all started when I first downloaded Fire Emblem Heroes from the Google Play Store. Now some apps that used to run smoothly crash constantly. There are apps I can't even open now, even though I used them before with no problems.

It seems Fire Emblem Heroes might be consuming a lot of resources (RAM, CPU) in addition I suspect it has one or a few processes running in the background.

I'd suggest you completely disable Fire Emblem Heroes from auto starting, manage ram by hibernating the app after using it. You can put the app on the exclusion list of allowed app when screen is off, if your ROM supports that.

For instance I use Start up manager to prevent a named app from automatically running during start up, and Power manager to restrict background power intensive app from running (both built-in)

If your ROM doesn't include these features you may consider installing Greenify, and clearing cached data regularly


Preventing kids from deleting a folder I have an old Samsung mobile with android 4.1. I have downloaded some cartoons for kids which they frequently enjoy. However, sometimes the kids accidently delete the cartoons and I have to download them again. So my question is that how can I write-protect this "cartoon" folder so that the kids can only watch the cartoons but cannot delete this cartoon folder?
Regards

Hiding all apps from default launcher except mxplayer did the trick.


Is WiFi data usage included in the "Data Usage" screen? Android devices feature a Data usage screen, accessible from the main pull-down menu.

The data usage page lists both the total data consumed and the data consumed per application.

Is WiFi data included in this count, or only Cellular data?

P.S. It makes sense that the metered data count only includes Cellular data, but I would like to have a canonical source to settle this issue.

What you are seeing here is cellular data (mobile data) only.

I am not sure what you would count as a "canonical answer", but the following three screen captures have been taken from a stock android ROM with Android 5.1.1 (as you can see by the presence of the Samsung bloatware):

Data Usage (default) / with hamburger-menu / data usage, WiFi tab (click images for larger variants)

The first screen capture is the same as yours.

The second screen capture shows the menu that pops up if you touch the kebab icon (the three vertical dots.)  As you see, the menu contains a "Show Wi-Fi usage" option.  If you enable showing Wi-Fi usage, two tabs are added to the screen, one for mobile data (probably "cellular data" in your case) and another for Wi-Fi.

The third screen capture shows how the "Wi-Fi" tab looks like on the screen.


How to upgrade Galaxy Nexus 4.1.1 to 4.3 It would be great if someone can suggest procedure to update the OS from 4.1.1 to 4.3 (FYI.. my phone does not get automatic update, bought it from South Korea now using in India):

Below are my phone details

Phone Model: Galaxy Nexus (maguro)
Android OS version: 4.1.1 (JRO03C.M420KRLB1)
Product Code: yakjukr
Root Access : NO

Google has provided factory image matching with my device: Factory Images "yakju" for Galaxy Nexus "maguro" (GSM/HSPA+)

Can some one please provide details how to update it to 4.3 using above factory image.

B/w though Google has provided all factory images, where does Google tell the installation instructions?

I think the easiest way is to use GNex Toolkit: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392310


Battery drains every time screen is turned on I just bought a new phone, it is Android 4.4.2, but it seems that it has a problem with its battery. Every time I turn on the screen, the battery drops 1%. For example, the battery is 30%. then I close the screen and turn it on again after a minute, and then in few seconds,the battery becomes 29%. It only happens when I turn on the screen, but when im using it, the battery discharge is normal. How can I fix it?

Based on our chat, things which were tried are:

Turning off "proximity sensor" and "Smart Stay" (to rule out malfunctioning causing battery drop h
Checking screen usage from inbuilt battery statistics (seemed to match usage)
Booting into safe mode and observing battery drop
Factory reset to rule out rogue app causing this

OP has confirmed that the Battery drop continues as stated in the question

Being a new phone, it could either be

ROM bug, which can be checked from user forums. If it is a reported bug add if the OEM rolls out a fix then the problem is solved
Defective piece, which being in warranty can be exchanged (Recommended course of action on my opinion)

(Flashing stock again is an option but do not advise it as rooting methods, flashing tools etc may not be readily available being a lesser known phone My25 (myphone). Flashing a custom ROM for the same reason and absence of developer support , is not recommended)


Booting Fairphone Open OS automatically after sideloading from TWRP After writing a bash code that automatically installs LineageOS on the Fair Phone 2 (FP2), I am also implementing the "reverse" OS installation, from LineageOS to Fairphone Open OS. From Fairphone Open OS to LineageOS works flawlessly, however the other way round does not yield the expected behaviour.
Expected behaviour
I would expect the FP2 to successfully boot up into a new instance of Fairphone Open OS after executing:
sudo adb shell twrp sideload
sudo adb sideload 19.11.2-sibon-24df0be9-ota.zip
# terminate/end the sideloading modus
sudo adb sideload /dev/null
adb reboot

Observed behaviour
That does not work, as the phone gets stuck in an infinite boot until the usb connection with the host is disconnected. In that case,

the phone starts the new Fairphone Open OS installation for about half a second,
then displays the "power off" message,
and reboots into the Android Recovery menu whilst displaying:

**Android Recovery**
Fairphone/FP2/FP2
9/21.03.0-rel.2-sibon-3cb25d6c
userdebug/release-keys
Use volume up/down and power.

Can't load Android system. Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all data stored on this device.

**Try Again**
**Factory data reset**

If the option Try Again is selected, the phone reboots, and then repeats itself coming back at this menu. However, if Factory data reset is selected, the factory data reset is executed successfully and the phone successfully boots into Fairphone Open OS.
Error Mitigation Strategy I
Since the factory reset "solves the problem", I tried to automate this. However, I am experiencing some difficulties doing so. The main issue is that I do not have control over the phone anymore as soon as I reboot it after sideloading the Fairphone Open OS in TWRP. This is because throughout the booting (up to failure/reboot into Android Recovery mode), the adb is unauthorized:
List of devices attached
somedeviceid    unauthorized

So I tried to erase the data after sideloading in TWRP, but before rebooting, using:
adb shell twrp wipe data
adb shell twrp wipe cache
adb shell twrp wipe dalvik

However, that also leads to the observed behaviour as described above.
Error Mitigation Strategy II
Since erasing the data from the TWRP system did not equal a factory reset in/of the Fairphone Open OS, I thought I might reboot into fastboot and do a factory reset from there, as is explained here, using the code:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase cache
fastboot reboot

However, that soft-bricked the device. I think this soft-bricked it because, Fairphone Open OS replaces the TWRP recovery system with its own Android Recovery system, which corrupts the TWRP recovery system, and then the Fairphone Open OS tried to fail into its recovery mode, but that still was set to the TWRP because it was not removed due to the use of fastboot in between, yet the TWRP was corrupted. However, after some of trial and error and some improperly documented actions, I did manage to unbrick the TWRP somehow, which brings me back to trying to the observed behaviour.
Error mitigation strategy III
I tried the reset functionality as described here, from twrp after sideloading, before rebooting:
adb shell
recovery --wipe_data

Which outputted:
I:Lun file '/sys/class/android_usb/android0/f_mass_storage/lun0/file' does not exist, USB storage mode disabled
TW_INCLUDE_CRYPTO := true
I:Found brightness file at '/sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness'
I:Got max brightness 255 from '/sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/max_brightness'
I:TWFunc::Set_Brightness: Setting brightness control to 255
I:LANG: en
I:TW_NO_LEGACY_PROPS := true

However, it resulted in the same described observed behaviour, needing a manual factory reset before Fairphone Open OS would boot successfully.
Question
What could I do to successfully sideload and boot into the Fairphone Open OS coming from a LineageOS system without the user having to perform a manually factory reset?

Road to answer
Because I did not clearly understand the difference between selecting, Wipe>Advanced Wipe>Data>yes, and Wipe>format data>yes I did not thoroughly/consistently test the latter option as I thought it was the same as the Wipe>Advanced Wipe>Data>yes option.
Since I experimentally determined that a factory reset did fix the issue, I focused on automating that option in the given constraints. Doing so in this question, I was reminded of the Wipe>format data>yes option again and provided with the adb command in a comment. Since I did not yet find a factory reset method I tried the sudo adb shell twrp format data command manually, and it worked. Then I tried it again in the automated setting with: format_data=$(adb shell twrp format data) and it still worked. This answer has been made possible thanks to the comments of alecxs.
Answer
I was able to automate the installation and booting of Fairphone Open OS using the following set of commands:
sudo adb shell twrp sideload
sudo adb sideload 19.11.2-sibon-24df0be9-ota.zip
sudo adb shell twrp format data
adb reboot

That made the phone successfully boot into the new instance of Fairphone Open OS.
Note
The termination of the sideload modus was not needed anymore, hence the following lines were ommitted:
# terminate/end the sideloading modus
sudo adb sideload /dev/null


How to make use of the entire screen area on Android 4.1 in full-screen mode? The system bar (aka notification bar) on my new tablet (ASUS Transformer Pad) is always visible, even when watching YouTube "full-screen".

The amount of space wasted is not insignificant, especially when watching a 4:3 video. Is there any way to reclaim it and watch videos/play games in real full-screen?

It is not intended to hide the system bar (combined soft button/notification bar) on tablets. Imagine the bar is hidden and the app you are currently using does not offer an option to exit. -> Your are stuck within this app.

Some custom ROMs offer the option to hide the bar.

General option would be to use some third-party-apps like Hide Bottom Bar or full!screen which can disable the bar somehow. Unfortunately these apps require root.


How to Check if a Bootloader Allows SD Card Booting? Would like to make bootable mSD cards for my Android devices.

How do I Check if Android Bootloader Allows SD Card Booting?

Given that we first understand that there is not a such a thing as the

  Android Bootloader

and that all device producers actually can freely decide how to get the system to boot the Android OS's linux kernel it is hard to suggest a way that will allow you to test that for all devices.

Instead the way to go would be to use the information you have about the device (i.e. its name, model number etc etc.) and search the web.

Often the Bootloader is guessable by the used CPU Manufactorer. For example the Allwinner CPUs are mostly using U-Boot as the bootloader and to my understanding also have hardware dongled support to load from SD card (http://linux-sunxi.org/U-Boot)

Observe that I was hinting on CPU Manufactorer, i.e. to make understand that the bootloader pecularities of Android devices (that most often run on an ARM architecture) depends highly on them. That is that with Qualcom, Texas Instruments, Samsung etc... even though ending up with a comparable CPU (in terms of instruction set i.e. ARM v7) many things i.e. like the bootloader type/code can be quite different.

To answer you question I hence suggest you and all other people that face the same question to become aware that the Bootloader is the CPU and Device producer thing, not a standardized Android thing.

In other words, the Bootloader is not like "windows" (on a PC), not even like the NTLDR (on a PC), but rather it is like the BIOS/EFI on a PC. And as with the BIOS/EFI it is not the OS-guys (i.e that would be Microsoft, Redhead, GNU on a PC) but the Mainboard-Hardware-guys that provide for the BIOS.


How to collect the data from another app before it goes to the UI? I'm using an android app, it receives backend updates and displays on the UI.

How could an automation app, a script, or any solution read the updates received and to make some decisions/start other services before it is sent to UI?

Android at wi-fi with the weather forecast app.
App or service collecting the data stream in the backend.
Uses the data collected in the backend to automate decisions.

thanks.

The data once received by an app is protected by the Android sandboxing system that restricts/protects each app. Hence unless your device is rooted the received data (and the app does not provide a public interface to access the data) is inaccessible to any other app (hence also to any automation app).

The only chance to get some data would be on the transmission level by intercepting the connection between app and server. However nowadays this connections usually is a HTTPS connection which means that the app would no accept the presented server certificate of the man-in-the-middle proxy as apps only allow the default system certificates as root certificates. Here again rooting would be the only option to add a custom certificate to your device to make the weather app accept the custom server certificate.


Stop Google Photos from Retaining Deleted Photos If I take a photo using my phones stock camera app, and then delete it using the stock gallery app, it doesn't get deleted from Google Photos. How can I change it so that deleting photos on my phone causes them to get deleted on Google Photos as well?

I'm using a Galaxy S9 with a stock ROM.

If you are using Google Photo to backup your photos, you should also use it as your "gallery" app on your phone to manage photos.

When you delete a photo in the Google Photo app, it will delete it in Google Photo's online storage as well. Actually, it places it in Google Photo's "Trash" folder, where it is held for 60 days unless you manually purge a picture or the entire folder's contents.

To my knowledge, this is just the way it is and is by design, there are no options to do anything differently. It is designed to be your "recovery" for photos in case you lose them by any means... How is Google Photo supposed to know if you deleted that photo purposely, or by accident.


Changing reply header text in default mail app When I reply to mail in the default (non-gmail) mail application, the "RE:" text in the header, and the "xxx wrote" text before the quoted message are in Hebrew.

How Can I change them (I would like them to be the standard English texts, as not all of my recipients read Hebrew).

I have a Samsung Galaxy S, and it is rooted, if that helps.

changing the default language to non Hebrew should solve the problem. I know that may be a pain, but the only other option then is to manually change it. these areas of the email messages are "populated" and use the device language to get the values to use.


Reverse tethering isn't working completely I connected my phone to my pc's ethernet connection via (USB cable) reverse tethering AndroidTool on my PC and USB tunnel on my android. Now, the problem is, it is going well with UC browser but isn't working with hike, telegram, google play, mobogenie, etc.

I just found the solution here basically you need to install the HackTool, reboot the phone, open the hack app and select "force wifi" and also "activate traces". Then open Android Reverse Tethering Tool and job is done ;) Enjoy full Tethering!


Possibility of monitoring internet traffic in case where galaxy tab is used as a mobile access point? My employer gave me the Galaxy Tab. I am using it as a mobile access point (Wi-Fi) connection for my home computer. I do not have other internet access.

I would like to know if my employer can monitor my internet activity (see my email, visit sites I have visited, etc.) ?

This depends completely on their mobile plan and how they have set up the tablet. AFAIK, most internet tethering apps do not collect activity, but theoretically their mobile provider could be monitoring the activity on their connection and reporting it back to your employer. However, there are too many factors here to give you a definitive answer.


What is this icon that showed up on my android? Any one has any idea what this notification icon means?

Thanks

That looks like the Data Saver Icon, a feature used to reduce your mobile data usage. Note that this is not set by your network provider but by the user (although there may be a default). Go into settings to check!


What is the catch with microSD cards that have NFC support and will my Xiaomi Mi A1 support it? I recently bought myself a Xiaomi Mi A1. Because it has a microSD card slot I'd like to buy a card. I noticed that some have NFC. Is it worth It? Is this real NFC or just a gimmick feature to buy such cards?

Will my A1 with Oreo recognize it and enable it or do I have to use apps to get this working, if this purchase would make a sense?
An example of the card.

Mi A1 does not have NFC support. See specs here so it doesn't make a difference what card you buy. How you plan to use the card (external storage or adoptable-storage ), what you plan to store on it are important factors in deciding which card to buy. See  second question linked below for help

I am using a Samsung card and it is recognised. You don't need to use an external app

Related

Is it possible to add the NFC to the phone which does not have it?
What is the minimum MicroSD speed necessary to extend the storage of an Android phone?


Need notification sounds for all messages, including follow-up With updated Lollipop on Samsung S4, the notification is sounded for the first message from a contact, but not any of the follow-up messages.  Annoying to constantly check for reply messages by unlocking the home screen with the phone in my hand all the time.  All settings are set to full sound and vibration.  Any suggestions?

I have the same problem since updating to lollipop.  You might try another app for messaging called Messages Plus which can be downloaded from the play store.  It will alert you after every response.  I'm not crazy about the format but at least it does alert you after each response.


Marshmallow, SD Card & Apps - Almost Nothing Movable? I am wondering if I am missing something that has simply become a bit more 'hidden' in M. On my old phone, which had not reached Marshmallow yet, there were, say, a dozen apps that could move a portion of their code and data to the SD card, freeing up valuable internal storage. On a new phone (Moto G2, if it matters) that has gone straight to M, I am aware of the portable storage vs adopted thing now, and I have found the Migrate option... but when I do that, it says 'this will free up 1.X Mb'. Yes, you read that right - Mb, not Gb. Apparently it is moving pretty much nothing - yet this phone has more or less the same apps on it now (possibly a couple less, but there should definitely be at least 10 apps).

Is this a casualty of the changes in M? Why can I not move the same apps over as before? Or do they require getting the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission on the fly (i.e., must use them first to get it) before that is possible?

(While we're at it, why can't all apps be moved? It is my understanding that Linux / Android simply mount everything, regardless of source, as a partition - so in theory everything bar the most fundamental OS apps should be movable and usable without their code even realising they come from somewhere other than internal memory, surely?)

(Summarising into an answer as suggested by Izzy.)

When you adopt all or a partition of an SD card under Marshmallow (6.0) onwards, that SD card or partition becomes an extension of the internal memory. Depending on the phone model it may subsequently be referred to as internal memory, or it might still appear to be a completely separate entity. You can rename the card if you wish, to help clarify this.

Android will install / move apps and data (as older versions of the OS referred to the parts) onto the SD card portion as it sees fit, and thus when it runs out of room in the internal memory, it will happily go on to use the SD card.

When the internal memory or your card refers to 'Migrate data', this appears to be distinctly different from the data stored by any particular app, but instead appears to refer to that portion of the filing system that a connected device (PC or Mac) or a file manager app can view. Thus, there appears to be no value in using Migrate Data - just leave it where it is, the system will handle it.

(By way of demonstration, as per my original question using Migrate Data from the internal storage appeared to only move about 1 Mb of data; when I migrated it back, the system suddenly decided to move 1 Gb's worth of app and data onto the card, thus showing that it was indeed moving items around intelligently.)


Error in unlocking bootloader in xperia ray with testpoint method I was following guide to unlock my bootloader while preserving DRM data.

http://androidflip.com/unlock-xperia-phones-bootloader-without-losing-drm-data-track-id-working/

Everything went fine except the last one. Here is the log

I did all the steps in guide and receiving error for my xperia ray :crying:

Here is the log

Welcome to S1 tool.
That is small and crippled subset of SETOOL2 service tool.

DETACH USB CABLE FROM PHONE
REMOVE BATTERY FROM PHONE
ATTACH TESTPOINT
PRESS "READY", THEN ATTACH USB CABLE TO PHONE

PROCESSING ...
REMOVE TESTPOINT NOW, THEN PRESS "READY"

qcReceivePacket: can't get packet start.
Elapsed:24 secs.

Couldn't find a suitable answer in google. Any help?

Infos:

Boot loader unlock allowed : Yes
Build date 12W23
Can go to flash mode.

Currently xperia phones with newer EROM, bootloaders can't be unlocked via the above mentioned test point method.

Got the information from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30675295&postcount=108


How To Root a Switel Rock S4500D I just got an Android phone, but the brand is not one of the famous or worldwide sold brands, it's a Switel Rock S4500D, and I want to root it. Can anyone help me how to do it?
As far as I googled, different ways and programs are based on phone brand and model.

I rooted many unknown brands in last two months and thr are couple of PC programs which will help you to do it easily.

Kingoapp Root
SRSRoot One Click Root for Android (SuperUser)
Mobiegenie (I never tried this one)

all these programs require a windows PC and a Good Data cord for the process.


save to homescreen is not working Android Nougat 7.0 on Motox Pure 2015 -- rooted

I can't save shortcuts to home-screen anymore. None of the installed browsers save to home-screen. Google maps doesn't save to home-screen.

I just tried to save a directions shortcut from Google maps and it said that the shortcut was saved, but it is not.

Added edit:
Here is a log entry while saving the Google maps shortcut:

[10-06 09:18:46.584 1146:1179 W/BroadcastQueue]
Background execution not allowed: receiving Intent { act=com.android.launcher.action.INSTALL_SHORTCUT flg=0x10 (has extras) } to com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.android.launcher3.InstallShortcutReceiver

I'm starting to think this has to do with one of my battery app background restricter apps.  I am testing that out now.

SOLVED: I allowed com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox to run in the background and that fixed the problem.

In my case the app that was restricting was called BackgroundRestrictor.

I also have both the RootBooster and Hibernation apps running, and they didn't need any adjusting.


How to mount disks of a Samsung Galaxy in a Linux System (connected with a USB cable)? I have connected a Samsung Galaxy S i9000 to a Linux machine over the USB cable.

How can I access the disks of the galaxy from the linux machine through this cable (and not through wireless or by opening the cover and removing the sd card).

I cannot find anything under /dev/disk/by-id/ on the linux machine that could be mounted.

Edit: While connected via USB, there is a USB icon on notification bar of the galaxy android device. When I drag the notification bar down, you I see a "USB connection" item. But I cannot do or change anything with it.

The steps from the accepted answer:

1) Go to Settings - Applications - Development and turn USB Debugging to off.

2) Go to Settings - About Phone and switch USB connection to Ask on connection. Maybe mass storage could also work, but in my case there was some samsung app kies still blocking the connection with this setting, so I prefer ask

3) Connect the device to the linux box with the USB cable. The android device brings up a menu, select mass storage

4) There should appear a USB icon on the notification bar of the android device. Drag it down and select mount...

If nothing is mounted on the linux box automatically to /media/ you have to mount manually.

You can watch the syslog on the linux box with this command, type it into a console of a user that has sudo rights before you connect the USB cable:

sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog

Some messages should appear after you connect the cable that help you analyze the situation.

This link is also a good resource: http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/115574-solved-cannot-mount-android-device-via-usb-linux.html

Go to Settings -> About phone -> USB Settings and set it to Mass Storage.  You may also need to enable or disable Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging.  The drives should be visible to the PC when you connect the device, but you should also have to click the USB notification you mention and tell it to actually mount the storage to PC so that they are accessible.  Finally, try looking at this for more info: http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/115574-solved-cannot-mount-android-device-via-usb-linux.html


Is it possible to run a bookmarklet on Chrome by selecting it from the bookmark? I am using Chrome for Android. If I have a bookmarklet saved as a bookmark, then I am able to run it by:

Typing its name in the address bar until it shows.
Clicking the upward-leftward pointing diagonal arrow next to it to load it into the address bar.
Clicking enter.

I am not able to run a bookmarklet that I have saved as a bookmark by:

Opening Chrome's vertically-aligned three-dot menu.
Selecting Bookmarks.
Navigating to the bookmarklet's entry.
Clicking the entry.

I don't want to run my bookmarklets using the first method. I want to run them by going to them in the bookmarks menu (like the second method). If I click any other bookmark in the bookmarks menu, Chrome will navigate to the page. I expect to be able to run bookmarklets from the bookmarks menu.

Is it possible to run a bookmarklet on Chrome by selecting it from the bookmark?

TL;DR Either wait for the Chrome for Android team to fix it or find a browser which supports it.

I found this issue ticket for Chromium (base code of Chrome/Chrome for Android/ChromeOS) which was opened in 2015 for the Android platform:

Issue 480010: Enhanced bookmarks do not support javascript bookmarklets

The gist is that:

  This is tricky because on phones BookmarkActivity sends intent to Chrome to launch the bookmarked url, and currently ChromeLauncherActivity rejects javascript urls.

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=480010#c11

Based on older comments the bookmarklet feature existed in a prior version, but disabled since then.


How to keep screen turned off when plugging charger? I have an HTC Desire. When I plug charger into my phone with screen off, it always turns the screen back on. This is slightly annoying at night.
Is it possible to configure Android so that the screen stays off and charging is only indicated via charging LED?

SnooZy Charger (also in the Play Store) takes care of this. The free app (as in beer and speech) that lets you manage behavior during charger connection and disconnection.

It requires no permissions, but does require you giving it device admin permissions. These permissions are only used for to control device locking, as verifiable in its source-code. From quickly going through the app’s source-code, it looks totally harmless and benign.

If the app does not behave as you want, make sure to go through the Settings. For example, “Turn off screen only when locked” is enabled by default. This means that the app will not kick into effect if you have an on/off-button-press-lock delay or other related settings.

It works perfectly for my on a wireless charging pad and with micro-USB cable using a LG Nexus 4 device. I am very satisfied.

Update: I documented additional issues here.


Will upgrading a Nexus 4 to Android 5.0 require a "reset" My Nexus 4 has been bugging me that a new Android is available, since a few weeks.
However, I read somewhere that upgrading would make me lose my data and have to re-install everything. Is that really the case ? (I find it strange that it would be so insistent, if it were true that this causes loss of data/setup).

There are two ways you can upgrade your device to a latest version of OS:

OTA (Over The Air): This type of upgrade will automatically take care of all the steps required to update your system. The once which you are bugged with is OTA update. One needn't erase data while upgrading using an OTA.
Flashing your device: Usually Google releases device specific factory images on its developer website along with the OTAs. But for this, you will need to erase all the data on your phone and install the factory image.

In your case, you have received the OTA and it's ready to install, and hence shouldn't be worried of losing your data, neither you will be asked to re-install. However, it's always better to have your data, app data, etc. backed up for the worst case scenario.


Is there a way to automatically improve the quality of pictures taken with the camera? Is there a way to automatically improve the quality of pictures taken with the camera? For example with some sort of post-processing

I was told that iPhone makes better photos because of good (built-in) post-processing software (which runs automatically). Can I have the same on Android somehow?

The new updates to Google+ has features called auto enhance auto awesome. It is a feature that automatically enhances the photos you have uploaded.  Just make sure instant upload is on and the auto enhance settings are on in the app Settings>Camera&photos.  Here are the things that it does. https://support.google.com/plus/answer/3113884?hl=en


Make Galaxy S7/Android install drivers for MTP (Nougat, Win 7) Is there a way to make Android/a Galaxy S7 prompt Win 7 to install the drivers for MTP?

I own two S7 I use for work, one I've had for a while and used it to develop Android apps, the second I got a week ago and set it up today. Both I updated to Nougat 7.0 today (they were both on 6.0 with different Builds) and my old one instantly made Windows install the drivers for MTP and PTP but the new one only did it for PTP. I can still access everything on it with MTP but Eclipse/Android Studio/adb devices don't see it with that.

I tried killing the adb server, unplugging, restarting, changing the setting to PTP and back,... but nothing has worked so far.

The devloper mode and USB debugging are enabled on both S7s and I also updated the Google USB driver and installed the Android 7.0 SDK Platform through the Android SDK Manager today. The latest version of Kies is installed too but it also can't see the new S7 in MTP mode (to be honest, didn't test with PTP mode).

So, is there a way to kind of reset the whole MTP deal on the new S7 (preferebly without resetting the phone), so it makes Win 7 look for drivers again?

Bonus question: Can I make Nougat's developer settings' USB debugging default to PTP? Every time I unplug the phone, Android sets it back to MTP.

Try this:

Open the dialer
Type *#0808#, should open the USBSettings menu.
On the window that comes up, on USB, tick AP. On USB Settings tick MTP + ADB
Reboot the phone. Windows should now install drivers and the phone should be detected in debugging mode.

  Can I make Nougat's developer settings' USB debugging default to PTP? Every time I unplug the phone, Android sets it back to MTP.

Try:

Pull down the notification panel
Then touch the USB sticky notification
Select Tranferring media file (= MTP)

Your phone should remember this setting and never forget again :D

UPDATE:

Try *#9090# and select DM/DUN over HSIC

Also try revoking the USB debugging authorizations in the Developer options. Works fine in most time.


ParanoidAndroid can't make bluetooth call I recently installed ParanoidAndroid onto my Note 2, and since then I can't make bluetooth calls from my car.  It worked before with the stock ROM, so I know it's the phone that's the problem.  It syncs fine and music plays, just the calls that are the problem.  If I make a call, it goes through but both sides just hear loud white noise.  After a bit of experimentation I found that I am actually hearing myself and the car noises through the speakers, not the other person.  I tried disable all the DSP options in case they were causing but it doesn't make a difference.  It there something obvous I've missed, or is it actually a bug?  If so, how would I go about debugging it?

This certainly sounds like a bug in the ROM. In the first instance you should report it to the system integrator (the person who ported the ROM for that device).

Debugging and developing device drivers is not for the faint-hearted, and it's well beyond the scope of this site!