How to enable 4G in Samsung Galaxy S4 SPH-L720 I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 SPH-L720 I want to use 4G. How can I enable 4G in Samsung Galaxy S4 SPH-L720.

Go in settings and then mobile network,
If u  want to use only 4G then change the network mode to LTE only and then just right next to it is network operator, click that option and go for automatic search and register. Your cell will be registered to the 4G bands of your career and then simply turn the Mobile Data on.
There You Go!


Storage space and system functions error message I keep getting an error message on my Samsung Galaxy S5 as follows:

Storage space running out.  Some system functions may not work.

In reality I have nearly 400 Mb available.

I assume you mean MB, not Mb (MegaBytes versus Megabits). 400MB is considered VERY low on storage space for a mobile device. It gives you very little room for apps to decompress before being installed, nowhere near enough room for system updates, and because of how flash memory works, that little space available will dramatically slow down your phone.

I'm not sure what capacity phone you have, but regardless, 400MB free is considered danger zone on an Android device. Try to have at least a gig free.


Upgrading hboot fails: signature verify fail My Goal

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1762790

Putting jelly bean on nexus one

My Problem

Upgrading hboot

I'm just following everything step by step (link)

$ fastboot flash hboot hboot_jellybean_260-8-168.nb0
sending 'hboot' (512 KB)...
OKAY [  0.095s]
writing 'hboot'...
(bootloader) signature checking...
FAILED (remote: signature verify fail)
finished. total time: 0.219s

What am I overseeing?

The hboot flash region is protected from accidental/unwanted/etc writes.

You need an exploit most probably.

I found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1486201


Best Reading App for Personal PDFs which Remembers Last Location on an Android Tablet I like the Kindle app (it remembers the last location) and the Adobe PDF app (it can view PDFs), but I'm looking for an app for my tablet which remembers the last location and can view PDFs.

I've done a little research myself and Aldiko looks excellent. I'm especially looking forward to using it on a tablet.


Create my own boot.img for rooting? Among the files needed to root an Android device (such as superuser.apk and su), an unsecured boot image is also required (boot.img) to allow for the installation of the superuser and su.

I understand the theory behind the unsecured boot image (ro.secure=0 set in the ramdisk) - is it possible for me to make this file myself? Or at the least, where can I download it independently of the zip packages that it usually comes with? I'd prefer to create it myself or download the file from the source rather than rely on zipped packages (for version tracking and change logs).

Thanks!

You generally don't need to edit the boot.img to root your phone.
What's your phone model, so we can give you the instructions?

Edit: To root a Galaxy Nexus, first you have to unlock the bootloader, which is really easy since the GNex is a dev phone, just google how to unlock the bootloader, and follow the instructions. I recommend droid-lifes tutorial, but anyone should do. Then all that's left is the rooting.

First you have to download this zip file
Then unzip the file anywhere on you computer, like C:\gnex\
Install the Samsung drivers that are in the zip
After you have installed the drivers, turn the phone of and connect the USB to your computer and phone.
Open a command prompt from the start menu, then move to the directory you unzipped the file to (e.x. cd C:\gnex)
Now you have to boot your phone into fastboot mode, by pressing and holding both the volume-UP and volume-DOWN buttons and then press the power button.
Next, type fastboot devices into the command prompt you opened earlier, and check that your phone is in the list.
Now we have to soft-boot an insecure boot image by typing fastboot boot boot.img into the command prompt
When the phone has rebooted, open settings, and go to Settings -> Applications -> Development and check in the USB debbuging option.
Now execute all of these following commands, after each other, in the command prompt:

adb root
adb remount
adb push su /system/bin
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/bin/su
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/app/Superuser.apk

Now your device should be rooted and ready.


Continual "Google Play Services has stopped" On my Samsung phone (not sure which model), every few seconds I get the message "Google Play Services has stopped" with options to "Close app" or "Send feedback".

Regardless of choice, the message appears a few seconds later.

"Force Stop" and "Disable" are both disabled for Google Play Services. Uninstalling Google Play Services produces an error that uninstallation failed. And Google Play Store doesn't work.

How do I fix (or at least disable) the thoroughly broken and persistent Google Play Services?

Yes you cant disable it
You should go first Setting-Secure-administator apps
You need to disable (find my phone)
Now you can disable google play service


Restore: Any Solution? Presently, running on cyanogenmod 13, I need to switch the device to cyanogenmod 14. But, the problem is that, I need to restore my contacts, call log and messages to newer version.  I have tried using Titanium backup, but it Force closes system apps on new version.  I also know that, this is due to compatibility issue of different android versions. Any solution to try out?

Super Backup: SMS and contacts is a good choice , though I haven't tried it on CM.

You can backup SMS/ Call logs/ contacts to your Google drive account or you can mail them to yourself (even schedule, if required). It has a bunch of other features. I have used it for a while without any issues


New SD card and won't let me transfer apps Bought a new SD card to use on my Samsung Galaxy Emerge and formatted it. I was able to transfer videos and music and I have 28GB free storage left  but when I try to transfer apps it comes up as not enough room. How do I fix this problem?

The apps can only be accessed on the device that SD card was in when apps were saved onto card.


How do I tether my android tablet to my Huawei U2801-34 phone I have a Hipstreet Flare 3 Model# HS-9DTB37-8GB, and I'm wondering if there is a way to tether it to my Huawei U2801-34 phone. It's not a smart phone, so it will most likely need me to install drivers to my tablet, but I'm not sure where I would look to find them, if they exist. I am able to tether it to my PC using The Huawei assistant software that the phone installs on my computer.

Install shareIt app on both devices and the phone will do a hotspot tether with the tablet. SnapShare and SFT apps also perform hotspot tether. If you are doing file transfers the Snapshare does fastest with simultaneous dl's.


TWRP: What should I select in Backup on OnePlus 5 I'm new to TWRP and I'm going to be installing a custom.ROM/Kernel. I've messed up my device a few times by installing random things. I've fixed it now, and I'd like to start making backups. I know that the OnePlus 5 has dm-verity and I've heard that dm-verity prevents some backups. What should I select in backup in TWRP for the OP5?

I have found that backing up what it selects by default (System, Data, and Boot) are often what you need. System is the entire OS besides the Kernel and Ramdisk. Data is the userdata. Boot is the boot, as the name suggests.


Apps are automatically closing/restarting and phone is running slow I am running Nexus 5 with Android 5.0.1 (Lollipop), stock (via OTA Google push). I like it for the most part, except for the fact that I have noticed a repeating problem. After awhile of using the phone (over the course of a couple weeks with no reboots) my phone begins to get noticeably slower. Apps switch much more slowly between each other. Eventually, it gets so bad that, I'll do something like browse from one app, to Chrome, and when I press the back button (to return to the app I just left), the entire app reloads as though it had been shut down behind the scenes. Eventually, foreground apps start closing themselves which, from my understanding, should never happen based on the prioritization of which apps get what memory.

I did take a look at my memory use, and, when the problem is occurring, I have almost 600MB free. (1GB dedicated to system, and 200MB dedicated to various apps.) It doesn't appear that a lack of memory is the problem.

I took a look at my running apps, and I noticed something very interesting. A bunch of the apps listed show as "Restarting..." in their status. They constantly stay like that. That strikes me as very suspicious. Here is a screenshot of what I'm seeing.

That strikes me as a bit odd, but a Google search didn't turn up anything.

Does anybody have any thoughts, suggestions, etc? Have I run into a bug in Android? This seems to be a pretty "base" thing. I'm not familiar enough with the OS to know for sure, though.

"The problem is that under certain circumstances Android 5.0 and 5.0.1 leak memory, and when the leak has reached a critical point then Android tries to compensate by forcibly closing apps to free up resources. What the out-of-memory killer doesn’t know is that it is Android itself that is leaking the memory and not the apps."

http://www.androidauthority.com/fix-lollipops-massive-memory-leak-coming-soon-ish-577101/

It is an Android lollipop bug. It should be fixed with the next update.


Can I screenshot my HTC Legend without rooting it? I've been told rooting is the be all and end all, but at the moment, I want to see how far I can extend my device without rooting it.

One thing that would be good is screenshot functionality, but I can't seem to find an application on the marketplace that does this without a ** ROOTED PHONES ONLY ** disclaimer.

Is there any way to get screenshot functionality without a rooted phone? And what is the reason for this functionality being disabled by default. The iFail can get screenshotted with 2 button pushes, why not the Android?

This functionality is available with the developer toolkit.  The post is a bit old so newer versions of Android will have different icons and slightly different menus, but it walks you through getting the tools installed and then being able to capture screen-shots.  Also the tutorial is for Windows, but it should work with any OS that you get the Android dev tools running on (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux).

How to take screenshots of your Android based phone from Windows


Can't unlock pattern on a MediaPad 7Lite! My son has a MediaPad 7lite and he has forgotten the pattern to unlock his device. The device is linked to his Google account.  When we tried to ask for help via the Google account, we discovered that his password works on other devices but not on his MediaPad? Is there any other way to recover the pattern that he created? Can anyone help us out please?

Go to https://www.google.com/android/find and Lock the device. You will be able to set a new password for the phone and now use this new password to unlock your device. Make sure you are connected to the internet on your device or else this won't work.


Marking email as unread issue in Outlook app If I want to mark an email as unread in my Outlook app, I have to do it twice, because after the first time it changes back to the 'read' status (after a few seconds).

The problems occurs on a OnePlus 5T phone running Android 8.0.0 and I haven't found anyone else online reporting this small but annoying issue. It looks like a bug to me, but maybe someone else has encountered this as well or has some ideas to solve this?

Outlook's support team helped me.
They suggested to delete my account, subsequently clear the application's cache and then to add my account again.

Update: This seemed to work in the very beginning, but the issue actually persists.

Update2: The Outlook development team is investigating the matter. We'll have to wait for an update.

Update3: The issue is resolved since some time, presumably because Outlook fixed this bug and updated the app.


How to root Samsung S6 using Linux? All the guides that I can find online refer to the Windows-only "Odin" software. I also found an open-source alternative "Heimdall" but the Samsung S6 is not supported (and apparently it's not compatible with the .tar.gz file format).

I have installed WinXP on a VirtualBox virtual machine, and then I installed the Samsung USB drivers and the Windows Odin software. I then made sure to route all Samsung USB devices to this virtual machine, but still neither Windows nor Odin sees the phone - neither in its normal operating mode nor in its "Odin" download mode.

Chainfire's CF-Autoroot also uses Odin, which means I'm still stuck at the above problem. I also tried running Odin in Linux (using wine) but again it couldn't see the phone, and I didn't expect it to work anyway).

I have not been able to find a description of how to root the S6 (or any Samsung) directly in Linux, or via virtual machine. Is that simply not possible? Do I really need to install my old WinXP license on a physical computer?

There is a cross-platform version of Odin called JOdin. It can run in a web browser, or locally after downloading the JAR file. Either one requires Oracle Java 8 to be installed first.

Web version: https://builds.casual-dev.com/jodin3/
Offline version: https://builds.casual-dev.com/index.php?dir=JOdin3%2F  '

The offline version is started with $ java -jar /path/to/JAR/JOdin3CASUAL-r1035-dist.jar.

Both versions work well - but now I run into the next problem which is that the PIT file can't be obtained.


Factory reset my RCA Viking Neptune 10 tablet Trying to factory reset my RCA Viking Neptune 10 tablet it has no volume button, no home button, only a power on button and detachable keyboard. Any suggestions are truly appreciated!

As wbogacz suggested i found the user manual and found out that there is a reset button which can be located at number 9 of the following image of the backside of the device:

Press that button to reset the tablet (then press and hold the
Power button for 4~5 seconds to turn on the
unit).
Hope this solved your query.


Screen light is on as long as the charger is connected My Samsung Android GT-S5660 running 2.3.4 has its screen light on permanently as long as the charger is connected, and I don't know how to make it go off.

I admit fooling around with buttons, settings etc and somehow caused the problem in the first place. I must have gone into some 'setting' somewhere but can't recall where. Which control should I go back to so as to fix the problem?

This is an option in the developer section of settings on all android devices I believe. It is called 'Stay Awake' and the description is "Screen will never time out while charging"

If you untick this, the screen should go to sleep as normal again.


How do I connect my tablet to my tv? I broke my Coby Kyros' screen and now I want to make an emulator console out of it.
The problem is my model did not have an HDMI out.

I noticed that there is a ribbon cable connecting the tablet screen to the rest of the tablet.
So I need a way to connect my tablet's ribbon cable to a television.

Is there any way to convert that ribbon cable slot to a VGA/HDMI/RCA port?
Or is there some sort of ribbon cable to VGA/HDMI/RCA cable?

I think its possible, but you'll need to read the datasheets and the pinouts for the ribbon cable and the VGA that is if you want to make it yourself.. Otherwise, I think you can purchase a ready made one from the shops e.g. eBay.

Here are a couple of links that might help:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=1888439

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_kw=vga+ribbon+cable

Then you can purchase a VGA to HDMI convertor cable.


Are there any background data limits on Android API < 21? As I know Android has two ways to stop the background networking:

Restrict background data - user can turn off the background data on any application

Power Saver Mode - stops the background data on all processes
As I know Android API 21 introduced a Power Saving Mode and access to a  PowerManager from the code to check if it's on or off.

I have two questions:

Is there something else that can stop the background networking in
Android? Any feature that user can enable?
How does background
data work before the API 21 when there isn't any Power Saver? Does
it have any limits?

From my experience, Battery Saver works in a pretty simple fashion. Its for background data was to simply disable any application that uses background data when the battery falls below a certain level.

In such a scenario, applications such as email, social networking applications will not sync in the background unless they are brought into the foreground i.e. explicitly opened.

Is there something else that can stop the background networking in Android? Any feature that user can enable?

Before Android 6.0, Marshmallow, there was not a clear way for stock users looking to set per app profiles for data control.

The only way to enable the granular permissions were through enabling root for the device. And then with an app like App Ops, users can define permissions for individual applications - e.g. disabling background networking for Instagram.

Other apps such as Tasker, work on conditional logic - e.g. disabling background data for certain apps when the screen is off.

How does background data work before the API 21 when there isn't any Power Saver? Does it have any limits?

Android before Lollipop, before API 21, had no inherent mechanism to limit background data.

There is a thread on Reddit which query the very same question.

The main reasons I managed to gather were:

- Hardware Compliance.

Older models might not have the ability to introduce such a feature without a) impacting performance b) causing software issues.

- Android is built on Linux.

With Linux kernels, there is very little benefit to incorporate power saving features due to the method in which the kernel and system was designed. Linux, after all, was not a mainstream operating system. To many, Linux was only deployed in environments such as server configurations or mainframes where power was plentiful.

- OEM Inbuilt Power Saving.

With most Android devices being pushed out by
   other OEMs and not by Google, the OEM firmware often comes coupled
   with a power saving feature. Google might not have seen the need to
   come out with an inhouse solution then.


Do I have to do anything different when flashing a ROM with Odin if I'm coming from CM7? When I first flashed CM7 on my SGS, I had an issue with my sim card and had to revert to stock.  However, Odin got stuck and I my phone refused to go into download mode (see my comment in this question for some details).  When I finally got it to go into download mode, I did the same as before but without re-partitioning, and it worked.

Does the fact that Odin got stuck on me last time I came from CM7 mean that I did anything wrong?  Should I have done anything differently due to the fact that I came from CM7?

I don't think so.  Usually repartitioning solves this kind of issue, so it's strange that the reverse was true.  I've seen recommendations that you should do a factory reset before and after flashing a new ROM, so you might want to try that.


How does an android compass application work? I recently installed a Compass app on my phone (it's a HTC Wildfire S if it matters) and I'm curious as how it works.

Found some answers online that the phone's hardware has a digital compass in it, is that it? or is it just a smart use of other sensors?

Yes, it has a magnetic sensor / digital compass.


Why does my downloaded MP3 files need to be unziped? I don't know why, but for some reason, the google music don't play them directly, everytime, it opens winRAR on my Nexus 5X then plays it.

This only happens to the mp3 that I downloaded from internet, ie. sites like: youtube to mp3, clipconverter.cc

I am trying to make a playlist of youtube podcasts, and for somereason, I need to click the file, it opens winrar, then plays it, and if I uninstall winrar, then i can't play the music...

How do I solve this?  I quite like the current music player native to my nexus 5x, and it's not working out after a few weeks of trying....

Right, when we download the mp3 files using websites like youtube to mp3 etc etc they provide us mp3 songs in zip files. so in order to avoid it, you need to follow few below steps.

first click on SETTING

then go for DOWNLOAD SETTINGS

then at the end there is an option names MORE OPTIONS

Just check the DOWNLOAD DIRECTLY

that's it, it will solve your issue


How to troubleshoot "okay google everywhere" missing from voice settings? This is what I see:

(Click image to enlarge)

And this is what I would like to see:

I am using Motorola Moto G 3rd generation (2015), 1 GB RAM, 8 GB storage; XT1541

I have already tried a few things:

I'm already using the latest version of Android as of now: 5.1.1 Lollipop.
I'm using the latest version of the Google now application: 5.1.17.19.arm
I have tried to search for the magic phrase "okay Google everywhere"
I have tried to uninstall and reinstalled the Google application. I think it was just a downgrade to version 4 of the app because the Google Play store told me that it is a built in application.
restarting the Google application by force quitting the app and/or restarting the whole phone.
switching the local from UK English to US English wherever I could find it in the phone settings.
and maybe some other things too.

But nothing seemed to help.

What could be causing the missing option? What else could I try to make it show up?

I am also thinking about contacting support. If I do so, should I be contacting Google or Motorola?

Edit:

The version of my "Google Now Launcher" application is 1.1.1.1706998
I have even tried factory reset with and without restoring from backup; no success.

Go to https://www.google.com/settings/accounthistory/audio and turn on voice searches and commands.


Google Play website says I have certain apps installed that I do not. How to re-sync? Here is an example. I do not have the Facebook for Android application install on my current device or any other device. Why does it continue to say I have it installed? Is there a way to re-sync Google Play?

Nexus 6
Android 7.0

Any app that you have installed ( including the ones you subsequently uninstalled ) will always show up when you sign in with the account you used to install

Deleting android apps using my google play account on my commputer explains further

  When you uninstall an app, it still STAYS on your app list.  That's done so you can find it again or install it on another device easily.  This can be very helpful to keep a list of apps you like but don't want on your phone all the time (like tools you only use a couple of times a year)

So re- sync will not help. Only way to not see that app is to sign in with a different account and use that account on your phone to install only those apps which you wish to see. Obvious disadvantage of doing this is you cannot access apps which you have previously paid for using a different account - see How to transfer my purchased apps to another account


Internet Usage on Samsung Galaxy Ace 5830. My provider gives my 3GB of data and I don't know how to find out how much I have used or have left.  Where can I find this information

Assuming that you are using a Galaxy Ace with Android v2.3 (Gingerbread), I suggest you to use an application like 3G Watchdog or Onavo Count. But if you are using a Android phone with Android v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher there is a built-in option in settings menu called "Data Usage".


Can we emulate Kindles? There are emulators which run on Kindles but I can't seem to find an emulator which runs on a computer and emulates a Kindle device. Closest I can find is for authors checking page formats.

I know Kindles run Android, but there are definitely differences in the OS. I'd like to emulate the full environment, everything from using Amazon Coins as a payment method to cross-app interaction and functionality.

Are there Kindle emulators, and if so why is Kindle not included alongside other Android versions in most emulators (like MEmu, etc)? If not, why not?

Note: I don't want this to be a "shopping" question. I don't care about the relative merits of different emulators, if any. A list of emulators would be useful, but I really want to know why emulating Kindle OS isn't a standard feature in existing emulators.

why emulating Kindle OS isn't a standard feature in existing emulators

Android isn't like Windows. Sure it runs on billions of devices just like Windows but there is no one single unified OS binary for Android that runs across multiple SoCs. Each Android device needs a lot of closed source blobs from the SoC manufacturer, starting from boot to every single driver.

There is nothing available openly to make Fire OS run on hardware other than a Kindle. No source for the OS. No drivers. No unified binary blob that runs on architecture that a VM emulates.


How can I activate UDP forwarding for USB communication between a PC and an Android app I have an real Android device connected to a computer via USB. I managed to activate TCP port forwarding with adb forward tcp:<port> tcp:<port> and successfully communicate with sockets but I don't know how to do the same for UDP.

  EDIT : I launched my application on the emulator and typed telnet localhost 5554 and redir add udp:<port>:<port> and it
  worked, my function executeCMD is functionnal because when I try ls
  it's working.

Some websites said to use redir like this redir add udp:<port>:<port> but when I do so I obtain an error :

usage:
    redir --lport=<n> --cport=<n> [options]
    redir --inetd --cport=<n>

    Options are:-
        --lport=<n>     port to listen on
        --laddr=IP      address of interface to listen on
        --cport=<n>     port to connect to
        --caddr=<host>      remote host to connect to
        --inetd     run from inetd
        --debug     output debugging info
        --timeout=<n>   set timeout to n seconds
        --syslog    log messages to syslog
        --name=<str>    tag syslog messages with 'str'
        --connect=<str> CONNECT string passed to proxy server
        --bind_addr=IP  bind() outgoing IP to given addr
        --ftp=<type>        redirect ftp connections
            where type is either port, pasv, both
        --transproxy    run in linux's transparent proxy mode
        --bufsize=<octets>  size of the buffer
        --max_bandwidth=<bit-per-sec>   limit the bandwidth
        --random_wait=<millisec>    wait before each packet
        --wait_in_out=<flag>    1 wait for in, 2 out, 3 in&out

    Version 2.2.1.

Then I thought this command should be launch on the Android device so I created this method :

 public String executeCMD(String cmd){
    StringBuffer output = new StringBuffer();
    try{
        Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
        BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
        int read;
        char[] buffer = new char[4096];
        while ((read = reader.read(buffer)) > 0) output.append(buffer, 0, read);

        reader.close();
        process.waitFor();

    } catch(IOException e){ e.printStackTrace();
    } catch(InterruptedException e){ e.printStackTrace(); }

    return output.toString();
}

And when I called it like that :

executeCMD("redir add udp:" + UDP_PORT + ":" + UDP_PORT)

I get no output and the UDP server on the Android app can't communicate with the UDP client.

So I'm a bit lost... I'll continue searching but If you can help me; go ahead.

Thanks.

So finally, I did not find out how to enable UDP forwarding for USB communication but I did somethings else that works pretty well, but you have to enable USB tethering (from the computer ping the phone to see if it's properly enabled):

Create a TCP server on the phone and a TCP client on the desktop.
Execute adb tcp:port tcp:port on the desktop so it can communicate with the phone on localhost via TCP sockets.
Make the TCP server send the IP address (on the USB tethering network) of your phone to the TCP client.
Then you can close the TCP connection and with the address you can initiate an UDP connection with socket as you would in a normal situation.


Contacts need restoration! I see in my galaxy s6 edge that my contacts were saved on Sept. 9th. i then factory reset my phone and havent been able to restore the contact list. Everything else, messasges, phone records, and such are there, but not the names that go with the numbers. Ive tried google contacts under Gmail but that hasnt worked out. Any ideas?

thx,

Chris

If you didn't back up your contacts before you factory reset, they are gone. They will only be on google if you synced them to google. your phone will sync automatically if you allow with the settings for backup and restoring.


ES File Explorer Remote Manager is gone? I've lost the option to send files to my device using ES file Explorer. Until yesterday, I would open ES file Explorer, go to Network, Select Remote Management and turn it on. From there, I could transfer files from my PC using FTP.

Yesterday, I couldn't connect using FTP. I opened ES file Explorer, went to Network, the option for Remote Management is gone. If I select FTP under Network, it no longer gives the option to turn it on or off.

I've tried uninstalling ES File Explorer, but still have the same problem. Would appreciate any suggestions.

Its not, in newer versions of the application it is located under Network → View on PC;
and it can be started/stopped using the interface provided under that option:

Alternatively pulling down the notification also brings you to the interface where you can stop the server.

The other FTP option you mentioned is not an FTP sever instead it is an FTP client that allows you to view the shared folders (from other devices/servers) via FTP.


Can 4G be used on a 3G phone if 4G bands are supported? I have a 3G phone but it supports the 4G band (1800 MHz) which is available in my area. Is there any way I can enable my phone to support 4G?

I went to *#*#4636#*#*, and there is an LTE option, but I cannot select it. Each time I select it, the option changes to WCDMA Only or WCDMA Preferred.

Is your phone called the Micromax a350 Canvas Knight? If so, I'm sorry, but your phone DOESN'T support 4G, according to the specs sheet found on gsmarena.

Don't be excited to see the LTE in the *#*#4636#*#* options, because that menu lists all the possible bands there is, although your phone might not support all or some of them.

The maximum you can connect to is 3G, you therefore can't use the 4G in your area. The limitation is not software-related. It is hardware-related. The hardware component responsible for supporting 4G band isn't in your phone.


Can I program Tasker-like programs to do stuff if specific WiFi network is in range? I'd like to try out Tasker, Llama or some such automated program.

However, I do NOT want to program events based on GPS or other location information (for a variety of reasons not germane to this question).

Is there a way to trigger tasks in Tasker or some equivalent program based on the fact that a WiFi network with a specific SSID (or other signature) is in range or goes out of range?

To clarify: one of the main tasks is to turn on/off my WiFi when I float in/out of the range of known networks. Therefore, merely being in range should be the trigger, NOT connected to the network.

In Tasker create a new State based context and choose Net as
state category.

Then choose Wifi Near as net action:

This will bring a screen where you can input data about the WiFi access point you are interested in. If you are near the desired WiFi access point then you could just press the scan button (the button with lens symbol at left end of the text SSID).

This scans the near by access points and lists its details. Simply select the one which you are interested in.  Now you are good to go to add an entry task and exit task to whatever you want.


Android battery pinout I have an Lollipop EDC. That Android has battery with 6 pinouts. How to get information about battery pin-out via ADB?

You can query get all information Android has about your battery by executing

adb shell dumpsys battery

Then you will get an output like this:

Current Battery Service state:
  AC powered: false
  USB powered: true
  Wireless powered: false
  Max charging current: 400000
  Max charging voltage: 5000000
  Charge counter: 1363859
  status: 2
  health: 2
  present: true
  level: 51
  scale: 100
  voltage: 3833
  temperature: 190
  technology: Li-ion

I don't know how and if it is possible to get other details on the battery such as the type number (e.g. for buying a replacement). If you require such information I would check if there is a tear-down video e.g. on https://iFixit.com for your device that includes such information.


How do I put a new wallpaper on my Android 4.3 device? I've got an image I would like to make the wallpaper on my tablet.

When I go into Settings:Device:Wallpaper:Home Screen I have to select from one of the following:

Gallery
Live wallpapers
Wallpapers

The image I want to use is in my Dropbox.  Gallery appears to have some capability to sync with Dropbox, but I don't see any way to sync just a single file.  I have gigs of stuff in my Dropbox and don't want to wait (or waste flash) trying to sync everything over to my tablet for just one file.

Gallery doesn't appear to have any other capability to import files?!

I've tried some things directly from Dropbox.  I try tapping on the image and it brings up some kind of image viewer which doesn't seem related to Gallery.  When I long tap, I am given the options: "Share", "Favorite", "Delete", "Rename", "Move" and "Export".  The only one that seems potentially useful is "Export", however it brings up a list of apps, none of which is Preview.  It does have "Save to SD card" but I also don't know how to use an image on an SD card as a wallpaper!

I tried exporting it to my scrapbook, and from there it says the location of the file is:

/Android/data/com.dropbox.android/files/scratch/Camera Uploads/Galaxy.jpg

But this doesn't help me!  Strangely, from the Scrapbook there is also a "Link" button which says I can "Complete action using" and one choice is Gallery, but when I select that, even though I appear to be in the Gallery, the image still doesn't show up in the Gallery when I try to set the wallpaper.  Strangely, there is a menu option to "Set as" which says I can set it as my wallpaper, but when I select that it wants me to select what part of the image to use and shows me a portrait shaped rectangle to resize.  But I want to use the whole image!  Why can't I use a landscape image as a landscape wallpaper when my tablet is in landscape mode?

I tried going directly to the file system, but I can't find where wallpaper or gallery images are stored.  I tried doing a search by my file manager will only display the first 500 images, and these are all images from other apps.

This seems like it should be such a simple thing!

Dropbox is making it seem more complicated than it really is. Unlike on the PC version of Dropbox, the files you see in the Dropbox app aren't actually stored on your tablet. It's just a list of files you could download. When you view the file from Dropbox, it downloads it temporarily into Dropbox's private storage area, and then temporarily gives the app you choose access to the file.

Just click "Save to SD card". That actually downloads the file to your tablet, and  saves it permanently in a storage area that other apps have access to. After that, the image will show up in Gallery, probably in its own "Dropbox" album.


Locked out of my Galaxy mini due to "too many pattern attempts" I have tried everything on the website and on many others, but nothing has worked for me. What should I do?

It will ask for your Google account, if it does not, and I think you have tried everything else, then you should do a Factory reset.


How to clear up SMS space? I just got a notification that I can't receive an SMS because "the space/memory was full". Which is it, the internal or SD space, and what's the best way to free it up?

Note - I just installed a bunch of apps, so I'm suspecting it's the SD.

I got this some time ago, and even after deleting all of messages (I back them up to my Gmail) I got the same thing. The problem was that when the internal memory fell below 22M or so (I forget exactly), this message appears. The SMS themselves take up very little space, so deleting them had no effect.

You may also be suffering from this bug, as I was, which it is important to know about:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4991


Unable to change country. Tried everything I had made some purchases on my daughter's US credit card initially when in US. So my location was tagged as US. Recently when I tried to download one Indian app from India, it was showing not available in your country.
So I removed my daughter's credit card, added my Indian card and also made a purchase on my card.
Still Google Play is not changing my country.
Pl help.

The settings you have to change are at Google Wallet. Sign in with your account, go to Settings, and change "Home address" to your new address.

You might also have to change your phone number, and your default "Billing and delivery address" in the second tab.

So, there are TWO places where you have to update your address, and the settings do not usually take effect immediately.

From Google Groups :

You can update your home address whenever you want, including changing to a different country. If you're representing a company, enter your business address.

Sign into your Google Payments account at payments.google.com and click the Settings icon in the top corner. See screenshot:
Click Edit next to the "Home Address" listed and update the address (please note this is different from the "Address Book" which holds shipping addresses).
Open the Play Store and navigate to any item available for download.
Click to begin a download until you reach the "Accept and buy" screen (no need to complete the purchase)
Close the Play Store and clear data for the Google Play Store application (Settings > Apps > Google Play Store > Clear Data) or clear your browser cache
Re-open the Play Store. You should now see the Play Store that matches your default payment method’s billing country.

Note that if you don't immediately see the Play Store that matches your default payment method's billing country, it may take a few hours for this to take effect.

If you haven't yet added a payment method to your account for the first time, add a card directly from the Play Store with a billing address that matches your intended country location. Then, follow steps 3 through 6 to show your intended country's Play Store.

Some things to note...

For legal reasons, you'll need to sign new Terms of Service if you change your home country.
1. If your Google Play balance is higher than these amounts, you won't be able to change your home country. If it's under those amounts and you change to a country with a different currency, you won't be able to see or use your remaining balance until you switch back to a country where that currency is used.
2. If you have a Payments Balance higher than USD $10, or a Checkout Merchant account, you won't be able to change your country.


Pictures and videos disappear from my gallery after connecting via USB All my picture and videos (whatsapp and DCIM) are gone from my gallery after connecting my phone (Samsung Note Edge) to my computer via USB cable and till now I cannot retrieve them.

All my pictures and video still exist in my phone but you need to access them through my phone files (My Files folder).

Check if you have a hidden file named .nomedia (double check also for uppercase name) on device memory (storage folder) and delete.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> ALL -> Media Storage. Select Clear data + Clear defaults. Disable the App.

Reboot the device. Now enable again Settings -> Apps -> ALL -> Media Storage.

Wait a couple of minutes (so it should reindex files). I think all files should be now again in Gallery. Note: Do not try to run any rescan App, just follow the above steps.

Source: Images have disappeared from gallery, but still in "My Files" (Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, 5.0.2)


Can't see "SD Card" option in Dropbox 2.4.5.10 Version 2.4.5.10 of the Dropbox app adds the ability to export files to SD card.

I have a Galaxy Note 3, and have installed this new version but when I select a file, and choose "Export" and "Save to Device", this is the menu I see:

Click image for larger version

Is there an option I need to enable or something else I need to do so that the "Internal Storage" and "SD Card" options appear?

The new version took away the ability to go up to external storage device.  Arg.  Why anyone would think this is a good idea is mind blowing.  I am guessing they were just thinking about the iphone when they designed this - that won't allow an external SD card.


Low CPU use, but HIGH battery use! How? This file sync app is active for 8 seconds, keeps awake for zero seconds, and yet uses 25-30% of power in a given day.
What could an app be doing to drain battery, without showing up as CPU use time?
To be clear, I'm not looking for solutions to this specfic problem (talking to the dev for that): I'm looking for info on what apps can do that isn't logged in battery usage. Something is clearly happening, but what?
(Phone is Poco F1, latest updates on everything)

Also disk operations get battery power. For example, writing a block into the flash memory works first by burning it, and then a write operation.
Also the communication with your Wifi router or base station can take a lot of energy.
Mobile CPUs in phones are well optimized for low power consumption, but the case is not always so for other parts.
On an ext2-3-4 filesystem, also file read operations transfer into a write by default, because the last access time (last read event) meta-data in the filesystem has to be updated. A sane android would disable it (noatime flag in the mount options) but not always do.


Clearing default opening app Whenever i open .pdf file from file explorer it automatically opens with wps office but when wps office is unstalled it ask to choose app to open the pdf..How to make file explorer ask to choose program when i click on pdf file.I tried clearing default of all apps

There are multiple ways to clear the default action app:

you already noticed it gets cleared when the corresponding app is deleted
same applies if you install another app that could perform the same action
there's a menu in settings where you can clear the default without (un)installing an app. Unfortunately, it's hard to find. Before Android 7 it had an own menu entry in settings. Since Android 7, you need to go to Settings › Apps, tap the app's entry, and will find if it's set as default. With that option you can also made it the default, or remove it from being default.


What does "Add to Queue" mean in "Play Music"? What does "Add to Queue" mean in "Play Music"?  I've seen an answer elsewhere which said "it adds to the current play list."  That answer makes no sense.  What "current play list?"  There is no such concept in the application.

For example, I'll start the application and no music is playing yet.  I'll go to my playlists and pick one.  Again, no music is playing yet.  Then I can pick "add to queue."  Nothing happens.  I have no idea what that just did.

I then select a song to start playing, and I'm on my way.  I still have no idea what the "add to queue" accomplished.

I'm using the Samsung S4.

Adding to queue means there should be something playing first before the queue is created. Try playing one song then add another music to the queue. Don't pick another song, just wait for the current song to finish. The next song will be the song you placed in the queue.


Google Cardboard Icon not displaying Samsung Android Phone(s) in Youtube App I am unable to get the cardboard icon to display on any 360 videos in youtube. I have Cardboard and Google VR Services installed on my Samsung S5 (just factory reset it, no other apps).

Youtube is updated to 12.15.55. The cardboard app works fine as expected (responds to movements of the phone).

When watching a 360 video the cardboard icon is not available and the video just shows in "flattened" mode. It is running Android 6.0.1
All the other threads I have found on this have been older and deal with updates to YouTube of the OS which I think should not be my issue?

I am having trouble with the same on an S3 too, but thought that might be because it is older.

You could try these methods to resolve the issue:

Logging out of Google account in the Youtube App

Some users suggest a workaround involving logging out of the Youtube App to resolve the cardboard icon.

Here is one user's explanation:

  I logout my google account in the youtube app, the cardboard icon
  appears and can view the video now in 360°

Fix resolution of phone.

If you happen to have changed the DPI on your phone, try reverting back to regular resolution.

3. Uninstall Youtube Updates

Since the cardboard icon used to work fine in older builds of Youtube, temporarily downgrading the Youtube App in the meantime until the issue is resolved.

Many issues feel the issue has to do with the Youtube App itself :

  Only appears to be a problem with YouTube. Cardboard apps and other
  videos I have tried work fine.

Also;

  The cardboard icon disappeared after last update and it was working
  perfectly in previous version.The cardboard VR apps are still working.

Other issues: Incompatibility

Your device may not be marked as compatible with Cardboard. If your device isn't compatible then that explains why you don't see that option.

Hope this helps

References

YouTube Help Forum: No cardboard icon displayed in updated Android YouTube app
No Cardboard icon in YouTube app


Installing Clockwork Mod using .img I would like to install Clockwork Mod recovery on my Motorola Cliq running Android 2.1. Unfortunately, it seems that the app to install it is no longer available in Market, only in Google Play, but Play doesn't work in 2.1. I was able to download an image, but have no idea what to do with it. Can somebody walk me through the process? Sorry for the basic question but I'm rather new at this.

Found the answer. The image file goes on the SD card, and then execute the following commands in Terminal Emulator:

su
flash_image recovery /sdcard/<filename>


How to regain control over a Samsung Galaxy S II with a Boot loop? My device is in a wicked boot loop and I cannot get any control over the phone.

If I take the battery out and put it back in, it just restarts again and again. I don't feel like I have any control over the buttons on the phone.

Any way to solve this?
I'm completely willing to restore factory settings, but I just don't know how I could do so because the phone does not shut off, it just continues to restart.

Enter recovery mode and do a factory reset and wipe cache and install any ROM you like.

It worked for my S2 which got stuck during boot-up. I kept flashing my ROM without factory reset and wipe cache and nothing happened.

It went back to normal when I did those procedure above. Hope it will solve your problem. My S2 is fine and running again. I almost gave up on it.


Possible to create offline (local/non-synced) contacts in Android Oreo 8.1? In Android Oreo 8.1 (on a Motorola device), is it possible to create offline (aka "local" or "non-synced") contacts?

This was fairly easy on previous Android versions, but I'm not seeing a way to do it on Android Oreo 8.1.

On Oreo 8.1, everything seems to get synced to an account.

On Android devices without an option to save contacts locally (either to the phone or the SIM), you can use FJ Software's MyLocalAccount (which you can choose to sync to your Google account or not as you wish).


How can I backup WhatsApp files to free some space? I have an old 2.3 gingerbread phone and I'd like to free some memory from time to time. What's the recommended procedure to backup files from WhatsApp and free space?
(extra: Better if I wouldn't have to go again through the whole send-SMS-registrate process)

WhatsApp automatically makes backups every day at 4 AM and stores them in the WhatsApp folder of your Android phone. This folder is either located in your device's internal memory or external microSD card.

If you have a external sd-card, then you can back up your WhatsApp chat history on to sd-card.

  Go to WhatsApp > Menu Button > Settings > Chat settings > Back up
  chats.

For phones that have an internal memory / internal SD card (like most Samsung devices), you will need to transfer the WhatsApp folder from your phone. There are 2 possible ways for this:
1. You can use File Explorer app to do this or
2. You can copy files to to your storage card in Windows. Please find details of how to do so in this Link.

This way you are freeing the device's internal memory and it is one of the recommended ways of backing up the chat as per FAQ of WhatsApp.


How does Battery Management System work (at the hardware-interface level) ? And how is idle self-discharging of batteries handled? I came across the following when I was reading up about fully drained batteries in phones:

If the phone is OFF for a month, then it is probable that the battery has gone down to a point that the BMS has shut it down. The BMS won't allow you to charge the battery because, in its own assessment, the battery is dead. Best way to test this case is to have another same phone with a good battery (or just a new battery altogether), detach the cable from that and test on yours.

Referring to the above, do Android phones have their BMS as part of their bootloader or kernel? Or is it a part of the Power IC itself?
Are there any safety mechanisms related to booting up a device with fully drained batteries? If so, why?
(Came across something similar)

I've had difficulties with phones in the past after batteries have fully discharged - eg the Moto G5 had some battery protection "feature" that stopped it starting up if it thought the battery was fully discharged - it was a bit over sensitive so would sometimes assume the phone was fully discharged when it wasn't. Try leaving it on charge for 24 hours or so then holding down the power button for for at least 20 seconds with it still on charge.

Battery Management System is a very broad term that covers battery charging /discharging/monitoring / power IC /responding to critical events like shutting down on low battery level / User Interface actions (increasing CPU speed when user touches screen - touch boost) and many other things.

Your first quote is only instance of management system where the battery voltage has fallen to a very low level, and a protection circuit kicks in and prevents further charging. This protection mechanism is mandatory

To prevent the battery from over-discharging, a control circuit cuts off the current path at about 2.20V/cell.

Booting up from a fully drained battery, is not permitted, since it would only further drain the battery. Booting  consumes a lot of power and doing so on an already drained battery can lead to irreversible damage to the battery. And what's the point of booting up, if the device can't be used thereafter?

There are ways to overcome these problems but it is best left to  qualified technicians to handle it. There are many questions on this site dealing with such situations.
As you would guess from the first  paragraph, this being a complex system, it is dealt at a low level, meaning at a kernel level with proprietary hardware interfaces. Related Where are the battery capacity files located?


How would I reduce the number of clicks required to answer this LG phone handsfree in the car? The specs:
I have the phone LG Optimus G pro in a (DIY) car mount, there is no docking.
The NFC Tag system is not operational (case changes).
Magnet docking is not an option because of compass (navigation sensor).
There is no at&t drive mode app running (does not help).

The Operation in the Car:
An offline navigation app is running. Music is playing 50% of the time.
The music properly cuts down when a call arrives (great).

The Event:
A phone call comes in, the phone popup covers the navigation screen, the call needs to be answered or rejected 1 click, or rejected with a SMS 2 clicks. The phone needs to be put into speakerphone mode 1 click. This method is not safe or simple for the drivers.

The Need:
The car is being driven, be that navigating a parking lot at 0 MPH or driving 70 the driver should be able to:
A) answer or reject the call easily
B) The speakerphone should already Be on

For the purpose of this question, Finding an app in the store does not help, unless you have tested it for months driving. I have done a lot of useless store research.

Method to use:
I need to know from experts who actually do this regularly How these methods stack up for the safest, most practical and least fallible for reducing the number of clicks?

Proximity, would proximity sensing be a reliable way of answering by putting a hand up to the general area of the proximity sensor without taking your eyes off the road? The possiblity to ignore (do nothing) and have the call eventually go to voicemail with zero interaction. Please explain why?
Voice, would talking to the phone in short phrases, knowing the bugs that can exist with speech methods , be a reliable and safe way to answer, would something with that complexity work every time?   Please explain why?
External power condition, Is it reliable to have a program use the condition of the external power plugged to set the speakerphone? (obviously this has a lot to do with the phone which is being stubborn).

It is a start:
The extended goal would be to also place calls while on the road, but one thing at a time.
No rooting
There will not be any rooting or ROM changes in the phone, these things are not an option at this time.

Time for the "standard-reply": tasker. I will not go so far as to give you a complete "profile" (as I don't use that exact combination), but at least a raw idea (as for general info on what Tasker is, please see its tag-wiki).

Tasker understands the required triggers, so you can use a combination of e.g.

power connected
proximity sensor
bluetooth connected
voice-control
call state (e.g. "incoming call" or even SMS)

Tasker can deal with the necessary actions, and for many more things there are additional plug-ins available. It supports e.g. (without plugins)

call divert (even restricted to certain numbers)
enable car mode
load or kill an app
volume control
popup task (e.g. with 3 buttons: accept, reject, message)
send SMS

Much more is possible. So you could setup your very special and personalized solution – not only for car-mode, but for many other situations. And while root would give you additional possibilities, it's not required for the described purpose (as far as I can tell).


What limits the stated maximum capacity of supported microSD XC cards in smartphones? microSD XC specification technologically supports capacities up to 2TB. However, a sizable number of even the top smartphone models are stated to only support capacities up to a lower boundary (but still higher than 32GB which is the hard limit for microSD HC).

What specifically is limiting this number? Logically speaking, if the onboard devices conform to the new standard, they shoudn't have any additional limitations, no? E.g. can this restriction be lifted with an alternative firmware?

A side question (comment if you feel it warrants a separte question): What would happen if I insert a larger card into one of these models?

Well, first of, that's a good question.

Periodically members of the industry come together and publish a standard that specifies how a device must perform if it's going to be, say, "Micro SD." This includes a range of capacities that a device must support if it is going to claim to support that kind of device.

Eventually, technology catches up and the original standard is no longer sufficient. For example, the original SD standard supported the FAT 12 and FAT 16 file systems which are good up to 2 GB but no higher. When this was no longer viable they went and modified the standard, which became "SDHC". This standard uses the FAT 32 file system and can use up to 32 GB.
The SDHC standard is now starting to not keep up with the available technology, so there's SDXC which again introduces a new file format and a new range of sizes (up to 2 TB now).

If you have a device and you program it to be able to read FAT 12, FAT 16, and FAT 32 then you can read SD and SDHC cards but not SDXC. You could publish this as "Can read microSD and microSDHC cards," but most users don't realize that there are different generations of card at play, so it's easier to just say "Works with cards up to 32 GB."

It's just the format of read/write, and not the actual hardware that limits the size.


How to make bind-mounted (mount -o bind) folders visible for non-root users? I want to mount-bind an app data folder in /data/data/... to a user subfolder in order to automatically synchronize the contents for backup purposes. As root I use the following command:

mount -o bind /data/data/org.blabla.app/database/ /storage/emulated/0/blabla_database

The command seems to work and I can access the files in the mounted folder as long as I am root. However, as soon as I exit root, the files become invisible and the bind-mounted folder is empty.

How can I make the files visible for non-root users so that my sync app can access the files for backup?

In order to have different file ownership and permissions for every app in /sdcard, since Android 6 every app is run in an isolated mount namespace. /storage/emulated is bind mounted for every app with private / slave mount propagation to a different VIEW:

/mnt/runtime/default/emulated
/mnt/runtime/read/emulated
/mnt/runtime/write/emulated

It depends on if the app has READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission granted or not. For details see What is the “u#_everybody” UID?

Mounting directly to /storage/emulated won't appear in apps' mount namespaces unless you enter every app's mount namespace explicitly. The same is true if you mount from some app's isolated mount namespace as mentioned by @Izzy in comment. See Partition gets unmounted automatically in Android Oreo.

So you need to mount from root mount namespace to one of the above VIEWs, so that mount is propagated to all apps' mount namespaces.

For more details see How to bind mount a folder inside /sdcard with correct permissions?


Where can I find my Android applications? I want to know where do Android applications stay?

For example, if you install a program with package name xx.yyy ,  you will see xx.yyy-1.apk in /data/app and will see xx.yyy in /data/data and data@app@xx@yyy-1apk@classes.dex in /data/dalvik-cache.

I want to know other places that a program can stay.

At a glance, I want to remove a program manually, and I want to know places the application might occupy.

At the end I want to know the function of each file.  What's the duty of data@app@xx@yyy-1apk@classes.dex  in /data/dalvik-cache for example?

The /data/app-private directory is another location of 3rd-party protected apps.  System apps that come pre-installed with the ROM are stored in a read-only /system/app directory.

/data/dalvik-cache contains optimized bytecode for each installed app, which allows the system to launch it faster.  These ...@classes.dex files get generated at installation/update time, or during the first boot-up for pre-installed apps.

Also, with Android 2.2 Google introduced ability to move apps to the SD Card.  When you do this, a new virtual mount point is created under /dev/block/dm-X (where "X" is a sequential number starting with 1) which points to /mnt/asec/xx.yy-1.

/data/data/ folder contains settings, preferences and cache for all apps, each within its own folder named after the package name.  E.g. /data/data/xx.yyy/.


How can I send a file wirelessly without bluetooth or a Wi-Fi network in ICS? I know that one of the new features is WiFi-direct for ICS (noted at the very bottom of the page in the link).  Is there a way to leverage this new feature to transmit files from one ICS device to another?

This would be useful because the WiFi speeds would be greater than bluetooth, and you wouldn't need to be connected to a WiFi network or create a hotspot.

The Samsung Galaxy S II apparently has this feature built in pre-ICS (go Samsung!). Is this same method available in ICS? Or is there an app for it?

EDIT:  Because the galaxy nexus is made by Samsung, and is the only device out with ICS right now, I'm not sure if this "WiFi Direct" sharing (per the link and Ryan's answer below) is built in to ICS vanilla (Samsung did have WiFi Direct sharing pre-ICS, after all).

As such, I've added a vanilla tag, so I'm asking, is in the vanilla source code to allow a way for users to share files using WiFi Direct?  If not, is there an app for it in the market?  I want to know how to do this on all ICS phones, not necessarily just the galaxy nexus.

Android 4.0 introduces WiFi Direct in to the core of android. it basically creates an adhoc connection between one device and another using WiFi by creating what I guess could be considered an Access Point. You do not need a wifi access point to use WiFi Direct, and actually, if you are connected to wifi when turning on WiFi direct, it will disconnect you. You cannot be connected to both an Access Point and enable wifi direct.

The host device acts as an access point for other devices to connect to, then through other pieces of software, files and other data can be shared or streamed to the client device(s).

To use Wifi Direct, in settings -> wireless & networks you have to enable it. Then you should have an option to "share" via wifi. This works a lot like bluetooth sharing, where the other device has to be "ready to accept" your files. You will only be able to do wifi direct with devices that have explicit support for wifi direct. Android 4.0 is the the first version of the OS to have built in support for wifi direct. The Samsung Galaxy S II does have support for wifi direct as well. This was an added feature Samsung put in to their TouchWiz version of Android. While the settings for it are a little different then in Android 4.0, they basically work the same.

There are other devices, like some TVs by Sony, that also have wifi direct support.

Wifi Direct is not hardware specific, its part of the OS. If the device supports wifi then it supports this. It is part of the CORE OS in Android 4.0. Any device that has Wifi and is running ICS, this will work with. Some Samsung devices (I think only the Galaxy S 2) have support for wifi direct even though they are not running ICS. This is because Samsung added the support for it in to their version of Android.

While the Galaxy Nexus is manufactured by Samsung, it does not run the Samsung modified version of Android. It runs a completely "Google Experience" version of Android. The WiFi direct that exists on the Samsung Galaxy S II is different then the one built in to Android 4.0.

Here is the android SDK docs that talks about support.

  Wi-Fi Direct allows Android 4.0 (API level 14) or later devices with the appropriate hardware to connect directly to each other via Wi-Fi without an intermediate access point. Using these APIs, you can discover and connect to other devices when each device supports Wi-Fi Direct, then communicate over a speedy connection across distances much longer than a Bluetooth connection. This is useful for applications that share data among users, such as a multiplayer game or a photo sharing application.

Here is a screen shot (taken from this video) showing wifi direct setting available on a Nook Color running CM9. The video is at the location where it shows wifi direct working.

Here are 2 screenshots from my viewsonic g-tablet that is running ICS (this is not a CM9 Kang, it is vanilla AOSP android). The first shows the setting, the second shows that i turned it on.

To show that WiFi Direct is actually part of the core of android and not just CM9, here is the source code for the WiFi direct settings. This is the github mirror of the AOSP. You can compare it to CM9 source too.


Android storage and detection trouble on PC I have an Android 6.0 phone. Up until recently, I would plug in my phone to my laptop via USB cable and when drag photos/sync music to the micro SD card in the phone with no issues. The USB connection setting on the phone was set to MTP. Now, when I plug in the device, it will charge but nothing will show up. I can access internal storage by changing USB connection settings to PTP and access the microSD in a slower, more of a hassle kind of way by changing the setting to USB storage which has to be turned on/off and the phone has to read every file on the card again each time. I don't know why this happens now. Any help with accessing the SD card the way it used to be, while it's in the phone?

Try installing snapPea on your laptop.

snapPea lets you manage your android device from your system. Hope that solves your problem.


Is the HDMI output on the Xoom limited to cloning the display or can it be a secondary screen? Is the HDMI output on the Xoom (or indeed any of the newer tablet devices) capable of displaying different imagery to that being shown on the device's screen?  Is it limited to cloning?  Can the internal screen be blanked (e.g. if watching a movie on a bigger screen).

I've seen examples of iPad games that display a secondary screen on the device itself when outputting to a TV (e.g. racing games showing the map on the device which is doubling up as the wheel).

From what I can tell, it looks like Motorola is not offering that at launch but will try to support it in future upgrades: Official Motorola FAQ

Unless I am reading that wrong.


WiFi Tethering not working when using security I have a rooted Galaxy SII (not branded, from Germany) running CyanogenMod 10.

I can't connect to my tethering network when I'm using security (WPA / WPA2-PSK). With an open network, it works just fine, but obviously, that's not what I'd prefer.

Can anyone give me a hint on how to fix this?

It seems tethering on SGS2 on CM10 is currently broken, according to Entropy512 on xda developer:

  CM10 supports tethering, however WPA/WPA2 tethering was broken on devices with bcmdhd wifi until I fixed it earlier this week. Some devices may not have the fix enabled yet (It has to be enabled on a per-device basis, since the "fix" will break devices that don't need it.)


Stream audio from PC to Android 7 over USB without creating a local network My work computer's DAC is awful, and I lost my USB DAC, so I'd like to use my phone as a DAC if possible, to enjoy average music quality while working.

However, my phone has a very poor internet connection at work, so I'd like to do it over USB (tried connecting over Bluetooth but it couldn't install the necessary drivers).

I looked at possible ways, and they all seem impossible to achieve. Soundwire requires admin rights and I unfortunately don't have them.

My phone is not rooted anymore for some reason but I could root it again if necessary. PC is running Windows 7.

Thanks for your help :)

If "specialized audio transmission channels" like Bluetooth don't work I would try the generic approach over TCP/IP:

Connect your Android device to your Windows computer and enable ADB on the device (I assume adb is available on your Windows system).
Install an streaming client on Android
Install a matching streaming server on Windows
Forward the streaming server's TCP port to the Android device via adb forward. This will allow to establish a TCP connection from Android to your computer tunneled through the ADB USB connection. For doing so no Wifi or cellular connection required or used.
Connect the Android streaming client to the forwarded port on localhost and start audio playing


Cyanogen play store access If cyanogen forks off and comes up as a direct competitor to Googles version,can google prevent android apps from working on cyanogen or since both are android based all would android apps would work perfectly fine with cyanogen version of android.

Android is an open-source project. Kindle Fire works with its own store and it's making a lot of money. So no, Google won't forbid you using the Android - without Google.


How to keep the phone screen on while charging? I have Moto G gen 3 updated to latest system update, not rooted.

I need a simple solution to keep my phone's screen awake when it's plugged in.

There's a checkbox exactly for that in the developer options, you'll just have to enable them to show up.

To do so, locate the about/version information in the Settings app and tap the build number repeatedly until you get the confirmation.

Then go back and look for the Developer Settings. Make sure to not touch any option you don't understand. Wrong values might make your device unresponsive or unusable, they could also compromise your data's security.


Where are Android settings stored? I have to set up 50+ plus phones for my company, and I am allowed to root the phones. Each phone needs to have the exact same WIFI SSID's / passwords, account / privacy settings, brightness, input methods, etc. Repeating the exact same manual setup 50 times seems a bit tedious..

Where are the phone settings stored? Can I simply adb push the settings to each device? The phones are Samsung Galaxy Pockets.

As it turns out, there is no magic file or directory that contains all settings. They are stored in various places, and depends greatly on how the manufacturer decides to set things up. I primarily work with Samsung phones, so the information here will mostly be Samsung oriented. Also, note that all of the below requires root access. If anyone has anything to add / rectify, feel free to comment.

First off, I have found that "copying settings" is not always the best way to go. You can do nandroid backups and restores, which pretty much clones one phone to another. If you're technical enough, and you're using Samsung, then creating your own odin image might be an even better option as it doesn't rely on you or someone else having created nandroid / recovery support.

The Settings

General settings:
Settings are mostly stored in the /data subdirectory. If you're looking for something specific, start there.

Built-in apps:
Built-in apps tend to keep their settings in /data/data/com.android.* and /data/data/com.google.android.*For example:
Contacts: /data/data/com.android.contacts
Email accounts: /data/data/com.android.email
MMS: /data/data/com.android.mms

WiFi:
WiFi settings location depends on the manufacturer, but is generally predictable.
Samsung Galaxy Pocket, S2, S3: /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
Samsung Tab: /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf
HTC Desire: /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
Dell Streak: /data/misc/wifi/wpa.conf
Oneplus 2, 3: /data/misc/wifi/networkHistory.txt

Keyboard configs:
I have had to disable hardware keys, reconfigure layouts, or alter general keyboard behaviour before. The exact file name tends to be different on every phone, but I've found the config files to always be in /system/usr/keylayout/. Be careful, as breaking those could render your phone unusable.

Misc:
Most miscellaneous settings like product information, boot sounds, and enabling / disabling the on-screen nav bar are stored in /system/build.prop. Breaking this config file could bootloop your device.

If I find more information, I'll add later.


Exclude possibility of damage of Android device while chargin with another charger Is it true, that if I have one Android tablet with mini-usb from Philips, one Android device with mini-usb from Sony, then if I connect Philips charger to Sony charger, then it is possibility for a device to blast or cause any damage?

I heard about a story, where woman connected charger of other manufacturer and during phone call device blasted. I don't know if it is a rumor, or this is truth?
In the other hand, workmate says that solution is on a hardware level and devices detect voltage and solve this issue automatically.

Is it safe to charge with different manufacturer charger or not?

Workmate is correct: all USB chargers supply 5 V with current limited by the design of the charger.  However, the device won't draw more current than it needs -- connect a 2 A capable device to a 500 mA charger, and it'll charge at 500 mA, but connect a 500 mA device to a 2 A charger, and it'll still only draw 500 mA.

Battery fires and explosions are caused by internal shorts and excessive current draw from the battery, not by charger mismatches (within USB voltage spec).


How can I perform Optical Character Recognition and have it read with Text-To-Speech? I know about the (Danish) app SkanRead, but apparently it is discontinued, so I'm looking for alternatives.

The only function I need is that it should allow using the camera to take a photo of some text, and then (some kind of) text-to-speech is used to read the text.

There are at least two apps which correspond with your wishes: Scanthing OCR explicitly announces your request (OCR with TTS)1, and also Google Goggles2 seems to support it:

While the former wants to be paid (~EUR 4) but fully supports what you want, the latter is free -- but I'm not sure whether it reads text via TTS.


How to flash stock ROM .DZ file on a semi-bricked LG Android phone? Is it possible to flash a .DZ stock ROM on a LG Android phone (Doubleplay / C729 / Flip II) that doesn't fully load (T-Mobile logo repeats itself)? If yes, how exactly?

Details:

Recovery mode has no options, it only displays an unpacking icon for a few seconds.
USB debugging is not enabled.
USB connection with PC is stable and working.
A .DLL file is included with the .DZ file.

Thank you!

There is currently no way to do this.

Where did you get the .dz file from?

You would have to ask the prividor to provide a .kdz file as well as the .dz file so you can flash with the KDZ Updater program.


Where does Inbox (by Gmail) store downloaded attachments? I'm receiving email with attachments on Google Inbox. While online, I could open the attachments. Later I would be offline and would like to access those attachments.

So, anyone knows the path where those attachments were downloaded into?

(NB: I'm rooted)

You can check the following location to view the attachments:

(root)/data/data/com.google.android.apps.inbox/files/downloads

In this location you'll see a random code something like cd8ca9801230132321232sd312312ad312

Navigate to that folder and you would see few other folders named

attachments
avatars
smart_hero_mail_image
smart_mail_image

To view the attachments, navigate to "attachments" folder. Here you'll find lot of folders with random name. Sort the folders based on date, so you could file the most recent ones on top/bottom. The attachments will be stored on random folders, based on when (date) you opened the files via Inbox application.

Hope this helps.


Direct VISIBLE connection required for GPS? I am confused by the type of connection GPS requires. Some people say it requires a direct visible connection to the satellite, while others only refer to a direct connection without the specific need for a visible connection.

Basically the question is whether GPS also works in a pocket or with a case/bumper.

GPS works fine in a case or pocket.

You do need a generally unobstructed view (from a radio perspective, not necessarily a visible perspective) of the sky (no trees/buildings/etc. in the way, but thin barriers, like say a tent, won't present a problem.) in order to pick up the GPS signals from the satellites.

Ideally, you should have as clear and as wide a view of the sky as possible.  Ideal conditions would be standing in a flat empty field with visibility to the horizon in all directions.

Narrow that view of the sky by adding buildings and trees and your ability to obtain an accurate lock starts to degrade and you get more and more error in your position, until such point where you can't get an accurate lock (or in extreme cases, like being in a deep basement or similar, any lock at all) at all.


Internet always on when VoLTE enabled in Redmi 3s Prime I m using Redmi 3s prime with jio 4G. Whenever VoLTE is enabled, my device internet is always active, regardless of whether mobile data is on or off. I can browse the Internet and watch online video even when mobile data is off. How can I turn off internet when VoLTE is enabled?

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) uses mobile data (LTE). You can't turn off mobile data and use VoLTE. You can turn off mobile data and use a different voice connection like 3G.


What is this strange symbol when I try to play YouTube videos on Kindle's Silk Browser? I have always used the included Silk Browser on a Kindle Fire 5th Generation to play YouTube videos. Inexplicably sometime in the last week, it stopped working. The video playback window plays the ad just fine, then briefly shows the spinning wheel loading thing, then displays the strange symbol seen here:

Screenshot of Kindle Fire. On screen is a YouTube page with a strange icon in the playback window. The Kindle screen orientation is portrait mode. The YouTube video is not on full screen. The YouTube page is opened in the Silk Browser app. This particular video is an episode of Jay Leno's Garage. Two suggested videos are also visible, both of them also Jay Leno.
The device does not seem to have taken an update recently, and does not seem to require an update. These screenshots show some device configuration information.

Screenshot of Kindle Fire "Device Options" screen. The Device Model is Fire 5th Generation. Battery is 93%. The following notification icons are seen at the top of the screen: screenshot captured, PC connected via USB, wifi connected with full signal strength, time is 8:46. The Device Name is redacted. The Find Your Tablet switch is ON. The serial number is G000 H404 5496....and the last four characters of the serial number are redacted. Developer options are enabled.
You can see I have Developer options enabled, but the only thing I did here was set the screen to stay awake during charging, animators are set to 0.5x, and strict mode is enabled. I have had these same settings for years, no recent changes.

Screenshot of Kindle Fire "System Updates" screen. You can see that the device is running Fire OS 5.3.6.4 (626533320). The build date is November 12, 2018. There are no updates available. The top notification bar shows the same notifications as the previous picture, except that the clock displays 8:48.
Internet searches for this problem only lead to companies trying to push me to install their app which is outside the Kindle store, and some "bootleg" YouTube apps within the Kindle store. I'm not inclined to do either one of these unless it is necessary. This is my kids' device, and the adult account I am using does not have any apps other than what it came with, not even from the Kindle store.
I did a reverse image search on Google and did not find this icon/symbol anywhere.
The ads play fine. After the ad ends and it tries to load the video proper is when this happens.
Does this strange symbol tell me what is wrong with playing videos and how I may be able to fix it?

I had the same problem a couple of days ago. I performed a factory reset and restored my files from the backup and that seems to have cleared the problem, mostly.
I used one of the YouTube apps on the Kindle Appstore for watching videos. I initially encountered the problem while watching a video and switching to another. The emergence of the problem seemed to be unrelated to anything I was doing since I didn't change any settings between videos. I switched to the Silk Browser and encountered the same problem.
Clearing the cache in both the app and the browser did nothing to solve the issue. After the factory reset, YouTube started working properly in the Silk Browser but seems to be encountering the problem again in the app.
In my searching for a solution, I did come across a post that mentioned the symbol and explained that it was a problem caused by a change that YouTube made on their end. The solution offered was to "wait it out." Unfortunately, I don't have the link to the page since my search history was deleted when I performed the factory reset and I can't remember what search terms I used to find the page.


I am having problem with resolution in Temple run 2 on my LG-Optimus L3 E400 I am having problem with resolution in Temple Run 2 on my LG-Optimus L3 E400. The game runs smoothly but the resolution is so big that I cannot even see the character running.

Please help!

You can adjust that in in-game options and if that doesn't work in settings in developer options there is something to adjust resolution (at least on the galaxy anyway)


Is it safe to delete logcat.txt files or the whole psysinfo folder to make more space on my Android phone? I have an android phone and the space on the sdcard is getting scarce...
(I don't understand how android functions - just a simple user.)
In the following directory: mnt > sdcard

There is a psysinfo folder, which is 3.02 GB ...
And in this folder there are subfolders like log6, log5
and so on.
In these subfolders, there are a few logcat.txt files and three of them are like 1GB large.

Will my android phone function OK if I just delete these files and free some space (3.02 GB)?
I view the folders with 'ES File Explorer' and am thinking of deleting these files using the same app. This app says the above folder and logcat.txt files are the largest in my phone. My Android version is 4.1.2.

I searched online to find what the [ ...> psysinfo ] folder in Android is, but I couldn't find any info about it and then searched about deleting logcat.txt files but the info available seems to be for folks like developers. I couldn't really understand it.

THANK YOU!

It shouldn't be a problem to delete them if there are only .txt or .log files. If you are not sure, delete a few files with smaller to medium sizes. Restart your phone, and check if all apps are working normally. If they are, then proceed with deleting the others.

Log files are used mainly for debugging purposes. Deleting them should not bring chaos onto your phone.


How can I write in a PDF with a tablet and a pen (a.k.a  Is there a Xournal alternative for Android)? There is already a similar question, which is about the Xoom and note taking. But I'd like to ask this in a more general way:

Given a tablet (and a pen), how can I write - not just adding notes and comments, more like one would write on paper - in a PDF?

The additional writing should be saved within the same PDF file and readable/showable by the most common PDF readers. Essentially I am looking for an Xournal alternative for Android.

So far the closest that I found to Xournal in Android is RepliGo Reader or ezPDF Reader.
They both

Allow drawing of lines, curves, freehand, etc.
Save the annotations/drawings within the PDF file

But in my opinion both Apps do not use the full potential of what's possible with the Thinkpad Tablet and/or xournal. It may be subjective, but my colleguas who have Thinkpad tablet PC's running Linux with Xournal seem to have a better experience "writing into PDFs". I hope that there is more to come on Android.

Alternatives, suggestions are always welcome. :-)

Edit: I am going with ezPDF Reader. It's the best PDF reader for Android IMHO.


How do I make my profile icon use the same image on my google profile? I'm currently using Nexus 6P with Marshmallow. I have not added other profiles on my device.

Why does my profile icon not share the same image used on my Google account? I recalled this working on an earlier android version (maybe Kitkat or Lollipop) but it only took effect after adding more users. I might be remembering this completely wrong, though.

Is there a way to make the image share what is already on my google profile?

My understanding is that this is controlled by the google+ app.
according to this xda thread try:

Open Setting -> Apps -> All -> Contacts Storage -> Clear Data

Open Google+ -> Settings -> Your account (under Account Settings) -> Contacts -> Keep contacts up to date


How to find out which app is trying to open spam websites? I've recently bought a new Android smartphone. After setting it up and loading my contacts onto it I thought that would be it.

Now after some days, every time I unlock the phone it takes a few seconds before it opens the default browser and opens some spam website. I tried to see what was causing it. I removed any apps I didn't know I could trust, but the problem persisted. After trying to solve it for some time I gave up and reset the phone to factory default. Now after having it reset to the default it ran without issues for roughly a week before the problem reappeared.

I tried to uninstall some apps in order to see if they were to cause of it, but nothing changed after doing so. However I did notice that if I turn off the wifi it won't even try to open the browser (I haven't tried mobile data since I don't have a bundle). This makes me feel like it might be related to something on the network but that wouldn't explain why only that phone would have the issue when there are at least 6 android phones on that very same network.

I hope that there is someone who can help me find the cause of this issue and help me solve it.

TL;DR
When unlocking my phone, it opens the browser and tries to open a spam website. But only does so while connected to the wifi.

Things I've tried so far:

Factory reset (only helped for a limited time)
Clearing the browser cache and all related data
Removing any app I don't know to be reliable
Attempting to find what triggers it (seems like some type of internet connection is required??)

The device is the Doogee Shoot 1. As for the browser, the default is set to be the Android browser, but if I change the default it would use Chrome just as well. It seems to really just use the browser that is set to default.

Based on the troubleshooting OP did following my advices, the culprit appeared to be a system app as a malware named System Locker
with package name com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker. The issue appears to be a result of a system update, per some users of the device.
As usual with a system app, if you get to use the Disable option under Settings → Apps → System apps/All apps → the culprit, than by all means, do disable that app, force-stop it or reboot the Android. The issue should stand resolved until you factory reset the device.

Troubleshooting #0
Before you begin with a bit technical steps mentioned below, you would want to try a rather user friendly solution suggested here. It that doesn't work for you, than come back and follow the rest of my answer.

Troubleshooting #1
Here's how I found out the culprit. The in-built Android tool dumpsys inter alia shows which app was called by which other app. The caller is referred to as Calling Package.
Provided that you have setup adb and usb-debugging successfully in the PC and Android device, do the following:

keep the device connected to PC

reboot the device or force-stop that default browser app

let the malware do its job, that is, have the browser be launched automatically

as soon as the browser is launched, do nothing with the device physically, but run the following adb command on PC:
 adb shell dumpsys activity activities

Here's the output from OP's device:

ACTIVITY MANAGER ACTIVITIES (dumpsys activity activities)
Display #0 (activities from top to bottom):
  Stack #1:
    Task id #2
    * TaskRecord{8190ba1 #2 A=android.task.browser U=0 sz=1}
      userId=0 effectiveUid=u0a64 mCallingUid=u0a26 mCallingPackage=com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker
      affinity=android.task.browser
      intent={act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=http://im.apostback.com/click.php?c=362&key=9wl83884sg67y1acw3z56z90&s4=8%2FdNwcNuQFEjjaucho5IqA%3D%3D flg=0x10000000 pkg=com.android.browser cmp=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity}
      realActivity=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity
...
...
Hist #0: ActivityRecord{66cd59b u0 com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity t2}
          packageName=com.android.browser processName=com.android.browser
          launchedFromUid=10026 launchedFromPackage=com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker userId=0
          app=ProcessRecord{5ad1810 4337:com.android.browser/u0a64}
          Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=http://im.apostback.com/click.php?c=362&key=9wl83884sg67y1acw3z56z90&s4=8%2FdNwcNuQFEjjaucho5IqA%3D%3D flg=0x10000000 pkg=com.android.browser cmp=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity }

In the output: :

com.android.browser is the package name of stock Android browser in your device
com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker is the package name of the malware app and is referred as calling package.

If you've found the malware, avoid next troubleshooting and skip to the heading Nuke the malware.

Troubleshooting #2
(In response to a duplicate posted here -- the culprit app was Farming Simulator 18)
In certain circumstances, aforesaid troubleshooting may not be able to help, such as when calling package name is the package name of the browser itself shown in dumpsys output. In that case, prefer logcat. Setup logcat like this:

adb logcat -v long,descriptive | grep "dat=http"   # you can grep anything from URL too. It is purely up to you.
adb logcat -v long,descriptive > logcat.txt        # alternative; if grep is not installed in your OS. You need to search into that file now.

Now unlock the device and let the browser with that URL be launched automatically. Also, press Ctrl with C if you are saving the output into a file.
The output we're seeking would look akin to:

[ 11-27 16:03:22.592  3499: 6536 I/ActivityManager ]
START u0 {act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=https://livemobilesearch.com/... flg=0x10000000 pkg=org.mozilla.firefox cmp=org.mozilla.firefox/.App}

from uid 10021
...

[ 11-27 16:03:22.647  3499:15238 I/ActivityManager ]
START u0 {act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=https://livemobilesearch.com/... pkg=org.mozilla.firefox cmp=org.mozilla.firefox/org.mozilla.gecko.BrowserApp}

from uid 10331

See the two highlighted UIDs 10021 and 10331. One of them (they would be different in you case) is for the browser app launched, and one of them is malware app requesting that URL. So, how to find what is what?
If you've root access, simply do:

adb shell su -c 'ls -l /data/data/ | grep u0_a21'
adb shell su -c 'ls -l /data/data/ | grep u0_a331'

Output would be like:

drwx------  5 u0_a21    u0_a21    4096 2018-01-01 10:31 com.android.chrome
drwx------  5 u0_a331    u0_a331    4096 2018-01-01 10:31 com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker

If you don't have root access, do:
adb shell dumpsys package > packages_dump.txt

Now search for the line with your UIDs such as "userId=10021" and "userId=10331". The line above the line searched would give you the package name, and may look something like this:

Package [com.android.chrome] (172ca1a):
    userId=10021
...
Package [com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker] (172ca1a):
    userId=10331

The two package names are com.android.chrome (for Chrome browser -- certainly not a malware) and com.tihomobi.lockframe.syslocker. To know the app's name from package name, use my answer here.

Nuke the malware
Now that you know the culprit, you can disable it through GUI as stated above. If that is not possible, do:

adb shell pm disable-user PKG_NAME  # disables the app
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PKG_NAME # removes the app for primary user
adb shell am force-stop PKG_NAME # only force-stops the app

Replace PKG_NAME with package name of the malware you noted in the troubleshooting above.
That should do the trick. Furthermore, you can also consider removing the malware app permanently for all users, but that requires root access though.


something permanetly reset my email accounts from installed mail applications (Samsung Note II stock and Gmail app) I've met with a very annoying and strange issue regarding email applications on my Samsung Galaxy Note II. My search in Google across multiple Android forums has has not given any result. I used for about a year on this device Samsung's stock email application to work with my mail accounts at some local mail servers and Gmail server. Also I used Gmail stock email app to work with my several Gmail accounts (some of them are the same as in Samsung's stock email app and some are different).

One nice day several weeks ago I've suddenly disclosed, that all my mail accounts in the both apps are totally removed, that is all accounts settings and data (incoming messages loaded in the local cache, my drafts etc). When I called any of these two app, it starts as the very first time, that is offers me to configure any account before I can start using the app.

Futhermore, the default Google account in the general stock settining ssof the account has been removed too.

I have restored all accounts in the both apps and the default Google account in the device`s general settings. But several days later I've suddenly found out, that the both apps had reset and were empty again. Well, I've configured them once more... and now they are empty again.

I suppose, that this issue is very probably conncted to the fact, that I use the same Google account as default account on two different Android devices, that is Samsung Galaxy Note II and LG G-2. Well, I have read here at the forum many different topics with the same questions, whether it is OK to use the same Google account as a default one on multiple devices, and the answer was always "Yes, without any problems". But seems, that the matter is not so simple. Anyway I can not imagine any other reason for such strange behaviour. Furthermore I suspect, that the problem occurred the first time after I've bought and configured my second device LG G2. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to be so.
What seems to be essential, all data and setting of these email accounts on my LG device is not affected any way.

Are there any ideas how could I detect and fix this issue? It is impossible use my Note II this way.
Many thanks in advance!

Well, like the other forum I would also say there's just no problem with using two or more devices over a single gmail account. I remembered you said that "local mail servers and Gmail server"data gets deleted. I think that might happen because of something else i.e not related only with the gmail account. Do one thing try factory resetting your device and then try putting the gmail account back in place and see if that again disappears or not!

PS: Make sure you backup your data before moving forward with the factory resetting.


GPS tracker than can send locations to TCP server Is there any simple GPS application in Android Market that can

Run in background
Send locations via GSM-Sim / GPS, time to a TCP Server:Port
TCP Server:Port is customizable so that I can set it to my server.
Send location after some n seconds (n is customizable)

That's the minimum requirement. If the application can also send battery status that more better.

Not a definite answer but an idea. You can also try automation applications like Tasker and write a small sequence that will periodically report the gps location.


Feasibility of flashing a ROM (meant for original device) on a re-branded device I have a re-branded smartphone with Android 5.0. The thing is I want to install a custom ROM to remove all the bloatware and get more control. But, as it is re-branded   and not that popular there are not any custom ROMs available for it.

What I'm thinking is that since its hardware is not that old and there are many popular smartphones with exactly the same specifications, is it possible to install a custom ROM that was not built for my smartphone but was built for one which has exactly similar specifications?

Note: I can post the specifications, if required.

If all the specifications match, including chip level and GPU Mali blobs, it sounds a reasonable try, though I never owned a re-branded device.

After taking complete backup including EFS and double checking, I would suggest first flash the kernel from the proposed ROM to replace the existing kernel. If it boots properly and basic functionality of phone is fine, then you can flash the complete ROM. This way you are ruling out kernel compatibility issues.


Restrict access to safe mode in the Android 6.0+ devices without rooting I locked down my device (running Android 6.0+) so that only my application can run on it. I have to give these devices to the employees in my firm. Now I have implemented an Enterprise Mobility Management(EMM) solution to run only one application. But I'm afraid the employees still have access to Safe Mode through which they can uninstall my company app and get access to the entire device.

So I have come across various third party Kiosk Applications like Mobilock Pro who gives the functionality to restrict safe mode without rooting. The link to their Blog is here. Android has itself posted here that this restriction is possible with Marshmallow.

I have searched for similar questions but None of them used Marshmallow APIs.

So my question is how can I implement this restricted access of safe mode on my own? Any Help would be appreciated!

My solution which I applied is to simply deactivate the volume down & so they will be unable to go into the safe mode, this is very practical and you will be saving money.