Samsung Galaxy S5 died suddenly and without reason

Less than a month old my Samsung Galaxy S5 has completely died.

I was listening to music on my Galaxy S5 (<1 month old) when it cut out. The phone had 50% charge, but had suddenly turned itself off.

I restarted it and it showed only 10% battery life, so I turned it off--thinking this might be a battery calibration issue and I'd charge it when I got home and all would be dandy.

I charged it to 100% once home and began using it, and suddenly, the battery life began dropping 99, 97, 96, 95 probably once every second (the phone was also very hot) it died completely and will not turn on, will not charge, will not show any signs up life. Zero.

I've taken it out of the Otterbox case, taken out the battery, removed the SIM and micro SD card and still zero signs of life. Any idea what could have caused this of how to fix it?

stock android - How to remove the Google Now search bar from Nexus 5

My Nexus 5 has a useless and space-wasting Google Now search bar:

QUESTION: How can I remove the Google bar?

My rooted Nexus 5 runs stock Android 5.1.1, and I would rather get rid of Google Now if possible. I would rather not use a third-party launcher.

Notes:

security - How can I limit the number of fingerprint attempts before fallback to other login type?

I've got a Nexus 6P and would like to reduce the number of allowed failures before it blocks fingerprint as an allowed login mechanism - according to https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6285273 you need to use the alternative login mechanism "When your fingerprint isn't recognized after a few tries".

It could be nice to know how many "a few" is (and whether this is an adaptive number that for example may take into account how recently it was correctly unlocked), but the point is that it can go (as in my recent testing) at least to 4 failures and succeed on the 5th attempt. I would be entirely happy to force it to block fingerprint access after two failures, but I can't find this as a setting from a bit of quick poking around.

2.2 froyo - How to type a pipe "|" on an HTC EVO Android 2.2?

I am using Connect Bot on my HTC EVO Android Version 2.2, and on the keyboard I do not see a "|". How do I type a pipe, "|" character? I am trying to run a ps -ef | grep XYZ command.

Answer

If you're using stock keyboard, then go to the symbols (?123, bottom left), then press Alt (ALT, vertically second from bottom left), the pipe character is third from top-left.

If on HTC IME, then go to symbols (12#, horizontally second from bottom right), go to the second page (1/2, horizontally second from bottom left), the pipe character is the fifth character in the third row, and the broken pipe character is the sixth character in the second row.

applications - App/shortcut to quickly change screen lock type?

Two scenarios:

1. I'm at a "trusted" place, and don't want to enter unlock password/pattern all the time



2. I'm at an "untrusted" place and want my phone to be password/pattern screen locked

is there any way to use some kind of a shortcut/app which would quickly switch the way the screen gets locked? for example (when my screen is unlocked) - I press an icon and the lock type changes from using just a regular unlock method to password/pattern unlock method and vice versa.

using android2.2

edit: added a new answer below on what I now use to accomplish this (using android2.3.7)

thank you

Answer

In the mean time I got 2.3.7 up and in case someone needs another solution - now I use power widgets to toggle screen lock on and off manually. When I am on my home network, I use WIFi Unlocker to keep the screen lock turned off while the connection is on. Works very nice.

edit: After upgrading to 4.2+ I simply started using built-in Android profiles. Screen lock types can be set there and can then be easily switched through the "long-press-power-button-menu".

Red notification light on Nexus 4, won't power on, device unresponsive

This morning my Nexus 4 wouldn't turn on, so I plugged it in, but the white battery recharging icon doesn't show up when I press Power, and holding Power doesn't turn on the phone. Instead the notification light blinks a deep red. The screen was totally unresponsive.

Lots of websites have plenty of doom and gloom hinting that red light = device is bricked, but I see no official source for this. What does this light mean?

Answer

This does not necessarily mean your phone is dead. Your phone will flash the red LED light briefly when the battery is completely drained. When I got this I left the phone in the charger for a while, and eventually the white "charging battery" icon appeared again. Upon turning on the device it had 0% battery. It was in fact so drained that it died while on the charger (at 0%), so I left it to charge for longer. After it regained 30% of it's battery I took it to work and it seems to be draining, charging and working normally.

I'm not sure why lots of sites claim this means your phone is dead, lots of them just say "what else would a blinking red light mean", but definitely leave your phone plugged in for a while and attempt to turn it on again before you attempt to get your phone repaired.

Also if a normal microUSB doesn't seem to be working, try the original charger + wall wart that came with your Nexus 4. My dad had this issue with the N4 and other chargers didn't seem to work. Not sure if the volt/amp/something just isn't enough from other cables or what, but Google recommended it and it seemed to work.

6.0 marshmallow - What is this CyanogenMod 13 icon symbolising

Thanks in advance for those who will help. :-)

Answer

The widget in question is Power Control, one of Android's default widgets. The icon you're asking about is Sync. As described in the page I linked to:

Press the Sync icon, second to the right, to cut the power to your Droid's Sync functionality. Sync keeps your contacts, email, calendar and other features readily available and constantly updated, which saves you time and effort when you're using your phone.

Half of the screen is blue

My phone one plus 3 half of the screen become blue after using the mobile solution for display fitting, due to which half of the display not working now, kindly suggest me what needs to be done

applications - Select multiple files on Google Drive App

Is it possible to select multiple files on the Google Drive App?

I tried every intuitive solution I could think of, perhaps it's possible on the Google Docs app?

Answer

Since Mar 6, 2015, you can trigger multiple files/folders selection on Google Drive app by long-pressing a file/folder, then ticking other files / long-pressing other folders.

After selecting them, you can:

• Star selected items


• Pin selected items


• Remove selected items, or


• Move to another folder (by selecting from the menu, or by dragging the "deck" to a folder)

4.2 jelly bean - Rooting Samsung Grand Duos without Windows

I need to root my Samsung GT-I9082 (also known as Grand Duos) with Android 4.2.2 but I have no Windows computer (I have a Linux one).

Which are the preferred methods?

It seems z4root does nothing (seems just to crash).

motorola droid - Resettng an android device with non-removable battery

I'm planning to buy my first android phone which has non-removable battery. But in case the phone hangs what to do ? As in general case we remove the battery from the device and plug it in after a few seconds. But what can be done with non-removable device in cases where the phone just stops to responds and even refuses to restart ?

Answer

I had to remove the battery from my O4X several times already, as it didn't respond to anything else – so I can see your concern: What to do if the battery cannot be removed then? As to my experiences, devices with a non-removable battery have a reset hole, which serves exactly this purpose: poking it with a needle (or tooth-stick, or something similar) disconnects the battery, as if you had removed it. So the only disadvantage left is you cannot replace the battery (say, with a backup you took along).

contacts - How do I read a vCard?

so someone tells me i need to call a few people. they send me a vCard called contacts.vcf. i import it. i open my phone app and start to dial, but wait...i don't know their names.

How do i look up a recent vCard on my phone? How do i know who's contact i've been sent? when i navigate to a .vcf file, i can't open it. all i can do is import it. polaris office won't import/open it. is there an android txt editor i can use to peruse a vCard?

yours truly, Confused by vCards Note 3, kit kat

geolocation - GPS when roaming with no data

What kind of GPS functionality should I expect on a roaming Android device that has mobile data disabled when I am abroad?

I have just found myself a bit stuck with Google Offline Maps because my rooted Galaxy Note 3 running Resurrection Remix would only get a correct GPS fix once mobile data roaming was turned on - before turning on mobile data, the phone thought it was at its previous good location. Once mobile data was turned on, the phone got a new GPS fix very quickly despite being in a heavily built-up area. Turning off mobile data would cause the GPS fix to be stuck at this new location.

As an example:

1. come out of a Metro Station A, fix from previous good location


2. turn on data, fix very quickly


3. turn off data, fix sticks at location of Metro Station A



4. go into Metro Station A, and travel to Metro Station B


5. come out of Metro Station B, fix still shows location of Metro Station A

I have tried changing the settings on the GPS to tell it to only use the GPS satellites (and not wifi/cellular) but this didn't help.

Is this expected behaviour, a quirk of the Note 3 or Resurrection Remix, or something else?

htc desire - Why do I get "not enough space" when I copy an APK file to /system/app?

I recently rooted my HTC Desire Bravo because I needed read/write access to /system/app in order to be able to copy an APK file there.

I wrote here on stackexchange on the best solution to root the Desire and got pointed to Unrevoked. Everything worked fine and typing "su" in the adb shell gives me nice root access.

I re-mounted /system like

mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

That worked. However, trying to copy my APK file using adb push MyApp.apk /system/app/ didn't work and gave me a "permission denied". Alternatively I therefore pushed the app to /sdcard first and wanted to do a

cat /sdcard/MyApp.apk > /system/app/MyApp.apk

That approach has worked just perfectly on my rooted HTC Hero, on the Desire however it gives me

"Cannot create /system/app/MyApp.apk: not enough memory"

Does anyone have a clue on what could be the problem here? How can I push my app to the system folder so that it installs properly?

google play store - Android SDK 2.1: Unable to install app from Android Market on the Emulator

I am testing the Emulator that comes with Android SDK 2.1, but I am Unable to install app from Android Market.

I made the Login on www.google.com but still no success: This is the error message:

Não há telefones Android associados a esta conta. Faça login com uma conta diferente.

There are no Android telephones associated to this account. Do Login with a different account.

privacy - Why do so many applications require permission to read the phone state and identity?

Why do so many applications require permission to read the phone state and identity?. Specifically:

Phone calls
   read phone state and identity

For example Quickpedia is a Wikipedia portal, but wants access to the phone. What is the explanation for this?

wi fi - Is there a way to enforce a minimum WiFi quality level before switching from mobile networks?

My phone has access to various hotspot networks in the area I live in. When I walk down the street, now and again I pass by a hotspot and my phone will attempt to connect.

As often as not, the phone will connect, but for whatever reason, it will be a weak connection, and effectively my internet access stops. My phone abandons my cellular network connection in favour of the wifi, even though the wifi is bringing in little or no data.

Is there a way I can enforce a minimum standard of connectivity to a wifi network so that my phone won't leave my mobile connection in favour of hotspots that are useless?

networking - How do I set up OpenVPN on CyanogenMod 7?

I want to route all my network traffic through my home's ISP connection when I'm out in Internet cafes so I can't be eavesdropped/firesheeped.

I have an HTC G2 with CyanogenMod 7, which has OpenVPN client support built-in:

At home, I have a router with TomatoVPN on it, which includes an OpenVPN server:

Now, how do I get the phone client to connect to the router server? I can Google and find a set of seemingly relevant instructions, but they aren't very helpful:

You need to pack your cert and keys and put it in SD card

Where do I get those?

Copy client.p12 to sdcard root directory

Where do I get that?

add your certificates, and set the interface type and the protocol accordingly.

How, specifically? Which settings should be what? Using settings that don't protect me is worse than no protection at all due to the false sense of security.

I'm looking for step-by-step instructions for a "roadwarrior" setup that routes all traffic through the VPN.

Where do I get keys? Do I need to use additional username/password authentication? What DNS search domains? What settings should I use in CM7's OpenVPN Advanced menu? "Redirect gateway" needs to be set to route all traffic, for instance, right? Which settings for Basic and Advanced in TomatoVPN? "Direct clients to redirect Internet traffic"? "Respond to DNS"?

Update:

I've given it yet another try on my own, and was again unsuccessful. I don't think there's any way to generate keys on either the router or the phone, so I tried to generate them in Ubuntu. I tried to follow these directions to generate keys, but they aren't correct. (The folder is /usr/share/doc/openvpn/examples/easy-rsa/2.0 instead of /usr/share/doc/openvpn-2.0/easy-rsa, for instance, and there's a vars, but no init-config script.) I found these directions, which are more helpful, and generated a number of files:

• 01.pem


• 02.pem


• ca.crt


• ca.key



• dh1024.pem


• htc_g2.crt


• htc_g2.csr


• htc_g2.key


• server.crt


• server.csr


• server.key


• ta.key

The files I copied to the router are

• ca.crt


• server.crt


• server.key


• dh1024.pem

first stripping everything before -----BEGIN, according to these instructions. The router server starts now and says

Name Value Max bcast/mcast queue length 0

under Status. So I guess the server is working?

Then I copied these files to the phone:

• ca.crt


• htc_g2.crt


• htc_g2.key


• server.crt


• ta.key

Different directions disagree on which files to copy. Then I went to Settings → Location & security → Install from SD card, and was able to install the CA certificate, added a password, etc. Trying to add the htc_g2 or server certificates did not work, saying "no certificate to install". I edited the files and removed everything before -----BEGIN, and then they installed. In "Add OpenVPN VPN", I selected the "ca" certificate for "Set CA certificate", and the htc_g2 certificate for "Set user certificate". When I try to connect, it says "Unable to connect to network". Same if I try the server certificate for the user certificate.

wi fi - What does "avoided poor Internet connection" mean?

The connection to my work wifi just failed and below the network my phone is saying "Avoided poor Internet connection". What does this mean exactly? Has the phone detected that it can't get out to the wider Internet or did the network fail to allocate an IP address or something else?

Not sure if it matters but this is on a Galaxy Nexus.

Answer

Poor connection may mean that:

• there is either a weak signal from your wifi partner device.


• there is much noise from other systems using the same frequency.

Both mean that many data-packets are lost and have to be retransmitted so your overall throughput goes down.

You can compare this with:

• somebody is speaking not loud enough


• many people are speaking at the same time and it is difficult to understand one person in that noise

If you have interference problems it might help to change the wifi channel/frequency

applications - Run a particular app on boot

I have a phone running Android 4.0 and I wish to know if it is possible to turn this phone into a dedicated calculator? When I say dedicated I mean - once the phone is turned on, it boots directly to a calculator GUI? Whereby the user can immediately starting using the calculator, just like any stock standard Android calculator app would look like.

I do not wish it to boot to a home screen in between, but directly to the calculator itself. I am using a very simple example here, in anycase, would this be possible?

usb on the go - Using an OTG drive with Google Play Music?

I just bought an OTG drive thinking I could mount it and cache music on it on Google Play Music. I am using a 2014 Moto X, with 16GB internal storage.

It mounts just fine on the device, but Google Play Music doesn't "see" the USB drive--the option is grayed out in the settings under "Storage Location". I'm able to use the OTG drive through other apps.

Is there any way to get this to work? Would it be possible to create a symlink from the internal drive onto the external drive, and if so, where would I even create the symlink at?

Easiest way for testing the internal GPS

What is the easiest way to verify that the internal GPS module of an android device works correctly (possibly before buying some expensive navigation software)?

Geotagging a foto? Running some free diagnostic tool?

Please note that I'm referring to internal GPS, not the bluetooth ones or the A-GPS.

Answer

If by internal GPS you mean the postion fix using GPS satellites, you can use "GPS Status & Toolbox" app to get a fix and also know how long it took to get the fix.

2.2 froyo - Android limited to 1 hour video recording?

At the moment, I am using the standard video recording app for video recording. I have found that the recording automatically stops after just 1 hour. Is this a deliberate limitation placed on the app, or is this an android limitation?

I have a 32Gb sd-card, so I don't think storage is a problem. I am using Android 2.2. I understand that this particular version of android has a 2.1Gb file size limit, but the videos I am recording are no where near 2.1Gb in file size.

So what is causing the video to stop after just one hour is my real question.

Answer

Most video recording apps are IMHO limited to 1h non-stop recording, as you can find with a simple Google search, which is probably a safety measure to not let you run out of battery -- as video recording is the biggest consumer (see What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device?).

However, a developer can have his app overriding this limit (see Max duration for capture video on android on Stack Overflow) -- so you might just have to find a video recording app which has this setting increased (as e.g. One Eye Browser in this linked pro-version).

usb on the go - Preventing device wake up on USB

Is there a way of preventing an Android device from waking up/staying awake when a USB is device is plugged in?

I know Windows allows this in device manager. Is there a similar setting in Android or can I accomplish this via changing configuration over ADB/fastboot?

Actually, I'm using the LAVA SimulCharge adapter to connect power and a USB device. When the power is lost, I dont want android to stay awake.

UPDATE

Video to explain the issue https://goo.gl/photos/FQxKmDRWKqxbwgPb6

• Screen timeout set to 5 seconds to demonstrate.


• Screen lock set to none (but same with swipe or PIN. Just will show the lock screen instead)


• Pressing the power button turns off the screen momentarily, but wakes up almost immediately.


• Sometimes After about 5 minutes of this, the EasyCAP light stops blinking and the screen turns off, but the device battery level drops about 10% per hour while its "asleep" unless the OTG adapter is removed.


• Removing the power cable from the OTG adapter end (instead of the wall end as I did in the video) lets the tablet sleep properly.

external sd - What is the "u#_everybody" UID?

In (multi-user) Android there are UIDs like these:

• u0_everybody


• u10_everybody


• u11_everybody

Those seem different to the usual uXX_aYY UIDs used for the applications. What is their purpose? Is this a way to make files available to all applications (share between applications of a user account)?

Answer

As stated here:

Cross-user interactions are blocked using the everybody GID.

Android reserves UIDs / GIDs ranging from 10000 to 19999 for apps. AID_EVERYBODY is one of the special groups, which is used to control app's read / write ability to external storage (/sdcard). This group has GID 9997 for device owner. If there are profiles or multiple users, GID takes form XX09997, where XX is UserID. So u11_everybody resolves to UID 1109997 and u11_a500 to 1110500.

Starting with Android 6, every app has it's own view of /sdcard, which is controlled by exposing /data/media/[UserID] with different permissions. This is achieved by making use of an emulated filesystem (previously FUSE, now sdcardfs) and mount namespaces. For device owner i.e. UserId 0, /sdcard appears with following three VIEWs of permission sets:

1. For processes running in root mount namespace such as init, netd, vold etc., permissions appear as 0.1015, 0771.


2. For processes having android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, permissions appear as 0.9997, 0750.


3. For processes having android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, permissions appear as 0.9997, 0770.

Screenshot shows three emulated VIEWs with different gid and mask values to get different permissions sets: <sup>* Files never have executable permission i.e. mask=6 becomes mask=7 for files.

* mask=23 is appearing wrong, may be a bug? In actual it's mask=27.</sup>

Considering three distinct VIEWs, we come with four situations:

1. Processes running with root privileges i.e. UID 0 have always R/W access to /sdcard. However if a non-privileged process running in root mount namespace wants R/W access to /sdcard, that would be controlled by group AID_SDCARD_RW (GID 1015). An example is ADB daemon which runs with UID / GID 2000 but 1015 in its supplementarry groups.

Since every app runs with its unique UID in a separate mount namespace:

2. Apps without READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions won't be able to read or write to /sdcard.

Since every app is a member of everybody (9997) group:

3. Apps with READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission will be able to read the /sdcard.


4. Apps with WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission will be able to write to /sdcard. So the app has full R/W access to shared / external Public Storage including other apps' Private Storage.

There's an exception to above rules for apps; every app has always R/W access to its own External Private Storage. Let's take example of app com.xyz with UID 10500. Apart from internal data directory /data/data/com.xyz, app has a Private Storage directory /sdcard/Android/data/com.xyz with owner UID 10500. So this directory is always readable / writable by the app.
Please note that /sdcard/Android/data is traversable for all apps, but no R/W access.

In the same way it works for other user accounts / profiles.

Opaque Binary Blobs: (OBB)

Some apps need additional storage to save large files which can't be included in .apk file due to 100MB maximum size limit. There are two possible obb locations where these files are saved: /data/media/obb/ and /sdcard/Android/obb/. The former was introduced before multi-users concept, so it's only available to device owner. Later is available to apps in multi-user accounts / profiles as well.
Access to former is controlled the same way as to /sdcard, while later is always accessible by an app as is the private external storage.

---

RELATED:

rooting - How to root a HTC Desire running official Android 2.3?

I have an HTC Desire (Bravo, A8181, GSM) sold in Sweden. I updated it to Android 2.3 using the official release, which is as of 2011-12-29 available at HTCdev with instructions from here.

Now I want to root it. I did some googling and it seems like it isn't possible to root a Desire that has been updated to the official Android 2.3. I tried following this guide, but it failed at step 6 in How to: Root. When I attempted to run unrevoked, the progress text running root... was followed by the error message Error: failed to get root. Is your firmware too new?.

I also tried searching for a way to downgrade it to Android 2.2, with no luck.

How can I root this phone?

Answer

In my searching I stumbled across Revolutionary. It looked good enough, so I downloaded it and ran it. It prompted me to plug my phone in, and then it pretty much did the rest on its own. The result was that a custom recovery system was set up, from which it is easy to install ROMs and the like to the phone.

The Revolutionary docs mentions a zip file you need to install in order to root the phone. In order to install the zip file, I first downloaded it to my phone's SD card. Revolutionary only sets up the mentioned recovery system, so the official HTC Android 2.3 was still intact and running on the phone. I used that to mount the SD card on my computer and copy the zip file, but I could just as well have done it using Revolutionary.

After placing the zip file on my SD card, I shut down the phone, then held the volume down button and pressed the power button. This results in starting the phone's bootloader, from where one can start the recovery system (Revolutionary in my case). This greeted me with a neat menu containing the entry install zip from sdcard. I selected this and navigated to the zip file I downloaded. When the installation was complete, I rebooted the phone into Android, and my app drawer now contained the Superuser app. Root complete!

firewall - How to limit data usage of individual apps?

There are many apps out there to limit data usage of entire system. Using Firewall, I can block an app from accessing Internet, too.

But, I don't want these. I want to limit data usage of individual apps. e.g. - AppX should be firewalled if it comsumes 1GB within a day or month etc.

How can I achieve this?

I am rooted on ICS. I have tried to use Tasker but without luck.

Answer

I found this app "Onavo". I did not try it but maybe you want to ;)
I read that you can set the limit in the data usage settings.
But i don't find the settings, maybe because I use stock rom.

Hope this answer could help you.

rooting - How can I root my Motorola Fire XT316?

I'm new Android user and want to root my Motorola XT316 with Android 2.3.4.

I found this guide but is based on Windows XP, and I use Linux (Fedora 16). Is there another method?

security - Is there a way to root an Android phone without unlocking the bootloader?

I've tried almost any method to root my ASUS ZenFone Live, but no one seems to work. Also I only need root, no unlocked bootloader (don't want to wipe data) or custom recovery (not essential ATM).

boot - Can't start Android 8.0 Oreo on emulator: "Decryption unsuccessful"

I recently downloaded system images for API Level 26 (Android 8.0), on my SDK emulator but unfortunately I can't boot the virtual device all the way to home screen.

I'm stuck on the following screens:

One which request a description password;

(and the other showing that description want successful (which is confusing me)

I have tried different things to no avail:

• tried wiping user data whilst starting the AVD


• tried deleting/swapping user data.img


• tried starting the AVD from command line


• swtching google_apis_playstore image with google_apis image(which never boots)

And all these instances still I can't start successfully the virtual device.

Is there something I'm missing or is there a workaround to bypass the screens?

Answer

I managed to get the Android 8.1 images to run on the emulator. I figured out the main issue was to do with emulator itself which was rather outdated.

From the looks of things it seems the emulator (originally distributed as part of the Android SDK Tools) is no longer updated since version 25.2.3

The solution was to manually update the emulator, to make it compatible to run API level ≥ 26. The emulator tools (for windows) can be found here: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/emulator-windows-4266726.zip or linux

Instructions

• Download the latest emulator from the above link or here


• When done, decompress the downloaded emulator.zip file and extract the emulator package to %USERPROFILE%\Android\android-sdk\tools or relevant path (yes you have to merge it into that folder, since the emulator doesn't have all libraries and files)


• After this your emulator will be updated (to 26.1.4 in my case)


• Now prepare your AVD (API level 26 or 27) as usual and should be up and running.

Although, the standalone SDK Manager and AVD Manager (GUIs) have been deprecated in favour of command line sdkmanager tool found in android_sdk/tools/bin/, you can still update the emulator using the method mentioned here: https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/sdkmanager.

What's ADB and why is it used for? How do I install it on my device?

There are mentions about ADB on various questions and answers on this site. I'm not exactly sure what ADB is, what it does, how it works and where I can get it: there's little information on the tag wiki besides the link for ADB on the android developer site.

On the site itself, the language is a bit too technical, and there is no information on how to install it or get it working, only a list of commands. This may seem obvious for a developer but may not be for some users.

What is the purpose, usage and installation procedure for ADB?

How can I permanently disable (not uninstall) a stock app?

I want to disable some of the stock apps that I don't use (e.g. Drive, Keep). These are stock Android/Google apps, not third-party apps. When I attempt to disable them:

• I get a warning that disabling them may break things (I accept)


• I get a request asking if I want to install the factory version (I accept, because if I don't, they are not disabled)


• they are removed from the apps menu


• when I restart the device, the newer version is downloaded and the app is no longer disabled

As a side note, other users on the same device (with their own accounts) may want use some of these apps. Can I disable them for my account only?

If it matters, I'm running KitKat on a Nexus 7 (2012).

---

Disambiguation: I have not found a duplicate of this question because it is:

a) about stock Android apps, not so-called stock apps from a third-party vendor

b) about disabling these apps, which the system at first permits me to do, not uninstalling them

Answer

There is no way to disable an app for some users of a device but not others; it's possible to freeze an app using a third party program (ie, disable it by changing it's permissions so it can't run) but that will disable it for all users. Android apps and services don't distinguish between physical users of a device - they all run using a single logical device user account.

That being said, depending on what exactly you're looking for it may be sufficient to disable data synchronization for a specific Google account in the settings. In Android 4.4.0, this would be under Settings->General->Accounts->Google->[account name], which will bring up a checklist of services for which data syncing can be disabled.

malware - What is this lock screen with ads and how do I remove it?

I think my device got a malware. A lock screen with ads sometimes appear, and I must swipe an area at the bottom of the screen to open the phone. I am in Eastern Europe, some ads are in Slavic languages, and they are seemingly related to travel.

^{Image resized. Click to view the full image}

I have seen ads for Lot Air (Polish carrier). I recently went to their site.

Considering my recent surfing activity and the nature of the ads, I guess the malware is connected to airlines active in Eastern Europe.

The lock screen also promotes the app "DU Quick Charger" by claiming it has recharged the phone extra fast during screen off. (!?) It also shows battery level. I have never installed DU Quick Charger. I doubt DU Quick Charger is installed on the phone.

The problem started after installing Ryanair app. The problem is maybe, but not surely, related to this. Uninstalling Ryanair and restarting the phone doesn't remove the occasional appearance of this lock screen. After a while the situation has changed for the worse, now this lock screen appears after EVERY screen off.

I have always used Avast. I am not rooted and only install via Google Play.

What is this? And how do I remove it?

Answer

This lockscreen replacement is caused by an ad from DU Quick Charge

I am pretty sure that this lockscreen was added to the app "ES App Locker". Many User-Revievs are stating that this app comes with lots of unwanted ads and lockscreen-replacements.
See this review:

This is what they are answering to most people:

So you either have the option to turn this settings off apparently or remove this application.

You can check the user-reviews here: Google Play Story

Disabling DU Quick Charge may not work on devices. In this case insure that you completely remove the application. If the quick charge screen continues to display, check to see if you have any other apps that have this "adware" and remove them.

---

EDIT:

Based on the information seen in another question I wanted to update this answer. It seems like quite a handful of applications have added this lockscreen replacement in their latest updates. There is one Reddit discussion which mentions a few apps.

As @Andrew T. pointed out - the main cause of this lockscreen replacement is the advertisement of DU Quick Charge - developed by DU APPS STUDIO.

If you are experiencing similar problems then check this helpful answer by @Firelord to check which app might cause this.

_{I'll try to update this answer from time to time.}

6.0 marshmallow - How to install Google Play services on an Android 6.0 emulator?

Is there a way to install Google Play app on an Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) AVD? I have found the Open Gapps for Android 6 here: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24269982087008996

To install them you need to boot into Recovery mode and install that zip file, but an emulator does not have a recovery partition, so the steps target the case of a device.

Do you know, how I can do the same for the emulator? I tried to unzip the file and put the 4 APKs described here (for Android version 5): http://www.flinkd.org/2015/02/instal...i-21-lollipop/

but after rebooting the emulator, although the icon of Google Play appears in the launcher, when I tap on it, then the emulator crashes with some fatal exceptions in logcat. I tried to install the packages one at a time, rebooting the emulator after each installation, and found out that the crash happens after installing the Phonesky.apk no matter if you click on the Google Play icon.

5.0 lollipop - Downgrade nVidia Shield to Android 4.4 KitKat

I mistakenly installed 5.0 Lollipop on my nVidia Shield tablet, and I regret it. Is there a way to revert back to KitKat? I've tried finding a way, but no luck so far.

rom flashing - Create burnable image of Android?

I'm using a tool to flash an Android device with a .img file. The tool is called USB Flash Burner. What this tool does is you boot the Android device up while pressing a paperclip in the reset button. Then you point the USB Burner Tool to an .img file and it writes over pretty much everything. Here are the instructions.

If you want to use the Amlogic USB Burning tools to update, please download the firmware here:

http://pan.baidu.com/s/1mgl3R40

firmware update instruction for update via usb buring tool is here:

http://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2014/11/24/how-to-flash-stock-firmware-on-mk808b-plus-quad-core-tv-stick/ please note, you should use the newest usb burning tool, download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/zo7b5cy0nzb7o91/Amlogic_USB_Burning_Tool_New_Version.rar

If you want to use SD card to do the update, please download the firmware here: http://pan.baidu.com/s/18OSRc password: 9qca

Now my questions is how do I make my own .img file that I can use with the USB Burner Tool? Is the file that I burn using the USB Burner Tool a ROM? Firmware? And how do I go about creating the .img file needed? I need to make my own because I have to make a version that I can flash for other people. The devices of the other people are all exactly the same.

I already used TWRP to make a backup, and it give me boot.emmc.win, data.ext4.win, data.info, system.ext4.win, and system.info. This works but I have to insert the sd card in and press a bunch of buttons to make the recovery work. We deal with a lot of devices and with the USB Burner Tool it is faster and brings the device back if it is really bricked.

Thanks for any help! Also if you have pointers to help that would be appreciated about where I can look.

How do I update the Sprint PRL from Cyanogenmod?

I just flashed my Galaxy S4 with Cyanogenmod. I'd like to now update the Sprint PRL. How do I go about doing this from Cyanogenmod? Do I have to download a new copy of the default Sprint firmware to update the PRL? And, if so, what is the easiest way to do this?

This is a list of Samsung S4 stock ROMs, but I am in the SPR or XAS zones? What does that even mean?

Is there a shortcut to backing the entire phone up and running the ROM? Is there a way I can boot into the room without flashing the phone, just to update the PRL? Is there an easy macro for all this stuff, or can it be simply done with an Cyanogenmod hack?

Currently, my Sprint phone is on PRL version 1.

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?

Answer

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

rom flashing - Can I Flash Nexus Factory Image to any Tablet?

There are several different versions of Android ROMs on the Internet.

I found that no one is better than Nexus Android which is from Google.

There is a webpage on Google hosting every version of Nexus Android.

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

Is it possible to flash Nexus images into other tablets like ASUS Transformer or Samsung Galaxy?

Answer

No. ROMs are always device specific. Reasons are proprietary drivers for specific hardware components.

For more details, you might wish to follow up to the rom tag-wiki, rom-flashing tag-wiki, and the sites/pages linked from there, e.g. Is there an official Android “Google” ROM?

Can't change screen resolution of Android-x86_64 installed in UEFI mode

I previously used vga=ask and vga= in Android-x86 6.0 to set the display resolution in VMWare and now in QEMU/KVM.

Now I downloaded and installed Android-x86_64 (CyanogenMod 13), in QEMU, in UEFI mode, to a GPT partition, and the option doesn't seem to work anymore. Instead it outputs:

error: invalid file name 'vga=ask'

There doesn't appear to be much information about this elsewhere. But I could find:

I tried wm size 1280x720 (in terminal emulator as root) and it kind of works. the resolution appears to change, but the display area doesn't and it becomes a pain to read anything. So I had it reverted with wm size reset.

I also tried UVESA_MODE=1280x720 and it also reports "invalid filename 'UVESA_MODE'".

There's a proposed solution at the 3rd link (debug.drm.mode.force 1280x720) but it also didn't work.

So, how to change the screen resolution properly?

[Update] I tried on a new installation and the vga kernel option works in non-UEFI mode.

Answer

I got it.

Short answer: This line should go in the bootloader for UEFI mode:

set gfxpayload=1280x720

Explanation:

On x86 systems, the kernel will be booted using the 32-bit boot protocol. Note that this means that the ‘vga=’ boot option will not work; if you want to set a special video mode, you will need to use GRUB commands such as set gfxpayload=1024x768 or set gfxpayload=keep (to keep the same mode as used in GRUB) instead. (...) The linux16 command (see linux16) avoids this restriction.

GNU GRUB Manual 2.02: linux

See also, How Do You Pass VGA/VESA Modes with GRUB2? (Unix.SE).

samsung galaxy s 5 - Contact avatar colors

What do the different color contact avatars mean? My Samsung automatically generates avatars for new contacts. I'm wondering what the different colors mean. I can't figure out the pattern.

command line - Is there a way to launch app via terminal in the background?

Is there a command to launch an app via terminal and have it start in the background?

Something like the "&" in Linux...

Answer

Android is a Linux too, so a simple example :

am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.TetherSettings &

custom roms - How do I make older images in my /sdcard/DCIM folder show up in Gallery?

I've tried a few builds of Android Jelly Bean coming from Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and one common thing that happens is that Gallery will only show pictures taken after the ROM installation. The images themselves are still in the /sdcard/DCIM folder, but they are just not showing up in Gallery.

My phone is a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

data recovery - Recover Lost Voice Recording on EVO 4G

I was recording an hour-long meeting with the native voice recorder app on my EVO 4G. When I started the recording, I left it running in the background, hit the home screen, then shut the screen off. The meeting went slightly over an hour. I got a few email/sms notifications during the meeting, but none of them seemed to interrupt my recording.

Finally, when the meeting was wrapped up, I went to stop the recording, and noticed that it was indeed still recording (displaying the recording icon in the notification bar) when I went to stop it, but instead of accessing the Voice Recorder app via the notification bar, I flipped to the home screen that contained the app launch icon, and opened it that way. The next thing I knew, the voice recorder was set to record (it was no longer recording), and the last recording in the records was from two days ago.

I shut the phone off immediately, just in case. As I'm hoping that the recording still exists on the memory card or phone memory. Is there any hope for me of recovering this recording? Anyone ever had this happen to them, and did you have any success recovering the recording?

I'm at a loss for words to express how disappointed I am with my phone that this could have happened. You would think it would be constantly writing the recorded data to the device and have better error prevention, even if it may have lost a little of the recording at the end due to whatever error or bug caused this calamity, but I digress.

So what are my recovery options here?

Answer

So I only tried to replicate the issue for a few minutes but even when I got the recorder to stop recording (opening the camera app forced the recorder to stop) it saved the recording. I'm not sure if you already looked on the SD card but if you haven't try using ES File Explorer (or other file explorer) and go to "sdcard/My Documents/My Recordings" ... thats where I found my recordings. Maybe its still there.

wi fi - Is there a Wi-Fi-only mode?

Once I am connected to a Wi-Fi network (regardless of my other connections to 3G and 4G) is there any way to guarantee that all my data goes through Wi-Fi?

Make my screen dimmer than the lowest setting available on my Moto Droid?

I primarily use my phone at night and any screen that is white is super bright, even when the brightness is turned as low as it can go (0%). Dolphin HD has an add-on called Dolphin Brightness that actually turns the screen's brightness down lower than the 0% setting in the Settings menu. Unfortunately, as soon as I leave Dolphin HD, it goes back to the stock brightness level. Is there anyway to dial the brightness level down like the add-on, but for every app and the home screen?

I have tried several apps that give you access to brightness control, like Quick Settings but they simply give you the same level options that the stock settings menu gives you.

Answer

You could try this post on the droidforums.net that has a custom app to manage brightness. Requires root though.

root access - How can I run an installed system application that doesn't appear in the app list?

I have a rooted Android device and have a couple of pre-installed System apps in the /System/App folder that do not show up in the normal App list.

Using various file explorers, I can "look inside" the APK files or view and change information on them, but if I try to open them, I'm prompted to install the app which then gives me a warning that it will replace the existing app and it's settings. This leads me to believe these apps are already installed and functional.

Is there a way I can just run these apps instead?

I do not want to Install, Replace, Move, or Remove anything which is all I can find via Google. I just want to run the existing pre-installed app that has no icon in the app list.

As a side note, I tried using ES Explorer and created a shortcut on desktop to one of these APK files, but opening it from the desktop shortcut just prompts me with the same Install and warning about replacing the app.

amazon kindle - Is there a way to record internal audio?

I have Amazon Kindle (I don't have a USB cable, so I can't root the Kindle). I also have online lectures. For some reasons, my Kindle can stream faster than on my PC.

Now, I want to record the audio from online lectures directly from my Kindle so that I can listen to it while offline.

Most of the Android applications I've found record phone calls, which is not what I want to do.

boot - Lollipop - Apps not autostarting

I have Alcatel 5054D with Lollipop (5.1.1) on board. I noticed that some apps are not starting on boot or on events that are fired by the OS. For example, when my phone was not rooted I tried to install Truecaller, Truemessenger and Textra. They simply didn't work just after reboot or if I removed them from the recent apps list. What is worse SMS apps won't start on new incoming SMS, the message just disappears without any reaction from Textra or Truemessenger. But everything works fine when I start these apps manually and keep them in the background.

Then I rooted my phone, installed Link2SD and noticed that it fails to start after a reboot too! I have to launch it manually for the paths to be rebinded. I installed autostarts manager and it showed that all the events (receivers) for these apps are enabled.

On the other hand standard SMS app, Whatsapp, Viber, GMail do autostart and work properly.

I have no task killers installed and cannot figure out the reason of the issue.

rooting - How to root Huawei mate 8

I just bought a Huawei Mate 8 two weeks ago and now I need to root it – as some of apps require root access or I can't use the app. I have tried towelroot and iroot, both didn't work. please help.

fastboot - I am getting an unknown file transfer error (Flashing TWRP)

I am trying to flash twrp onto my unlocked Moto G4 Play so I can install a new version of Android but, I keep on getting this error. I have recently factory reset my phone and I am not sure if it is related.

C:\adb>fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target reported max download size of 268435456 bytes
sending 'recovery' (8296 KB)...
FAILED (data transfer failure (Unknown error))
finished. total time: 5.013s

Any suggestions?

Answer

The FAILED (data transfer failure (Unknown error)) error can happen for a few reason. It happens when there is issues with communication transferring data. To trouble shoot the cause start by:

• Trying different usb ports


• Trying different usb cables


• Update fastboot.exe


• Download another .img file and verify the md5.


• Double check the Bootloader is unlock

About the android recovery mode

Question 1: what's the android recovery mode? Does it run a full linux kernel?
Question 2: where the recovery.img is installed? (/somewhere_in_filesystem)

Answer

1. Recovery mode is used mainly by carriers/manufacturers for replacing bad firmware that causes the phone to be otherwise unbootable. Users can install signed update.zip packages (such as OTA updates) through it as well. It does not run a full Linux kernel. Custom recovery modes such as Clockworkmod exist also, which allow more complex things such as full backup and restore of the device software and data.


2. I'm not sure where recovery.img is unpacked to, but you can let the system handle that by using the following: adb shell flash_image recovery , where the path is normally something like /sdcard/custom_recovery.img (wherever you put the image)

4.2 jelly bean - How can I make a message appears on my PC when my phone is ringing?

When I'm at work, I usually have a headset on my head and I am listening to music. My phone is always on vibrate to respect co-workers. However, I don't keep the phone in my pocket because of its size, so I don't feel it vibrating. I miss a lot of calls.

I was wondering if it's possible to forward "phone is ringing" notifications to the PC, ideally via a Bluetooth connection. I would not mind installing a 3rd-party app on the phone or software on the PC.

4.0 ice cream sandwich - 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.

Answer

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.

How to stop "permission denied" app toasts after denying permissions?

I often like to deny app permissions that I think the app does not need but yet they keep requesting for the permissions even after Denying, resulting in lot of toasts [package name] has been denied [permission name] permission.

How do I permanently suppress these toasts?

I am using android Kitkat.

google play store - Does Voting on Market Comments Have Any Effect?

In the Market you can choose to mark any comment on any app as one of the following:

• Helpful


• Unhelpful


• Spam

Marking something as Spam will remove it from the list of comments, but only on the account that marked it as such (that is, if you view the comments from another person's account/phone, the comment is still there). Does marking a comment as Helpful/Unhelpful have any actual effects? If not, has Google ever laid out/announced any plans to use this feature in some way?

Answer

I have seen, with some of my apps that I have developed, a comment be there, and then later on, the comment is no longer visible.

And it's not from me marking it as spam, as I have looked on other devices too, just to confirm.

So it would look like that after "x" number of "spam/unhelpful" votes, it gets removed.

internet - Can I reverse tether my Android device to my phone using Bluetooth PAN or DUN?

I have a Sony Ericsson K800i phone that supports both bluetooth PAN and DUN.

Is there any way to share my phone's internet to my tablet (cheap achinese Aishuo A820 with Android 2.3.1, rooted). For now I don't care if the method requires root because the tablet is rooted, but if it's possible to do it without root would be great.

I've looked at https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/7817/reverse-tether-on-android-via-bluetooth-pan but it only appears to cover PAN (not DUN) and asks about tethering a phone with a PC. Since I'd like to tether two mobile devices I'm guessing that there will be fewer software options available to me.

I'm ok with writing shell scripts and I have some Linux experience, but not with bluetooth.

Rooting a Toshiba AT100 running ICS

I have been trying to root my Toshiba AT100 running ICS 4.0.4 however I am unable to get it to work. I have tried several tutorials and they either don't work, are for tools running on Windows or only work in Honeycomb ROMs. I have also tried MotoChopper Universal Root Tool which worked well for all phones I have currently rooted with it but it fails to root the tablet. Does anyone know of a root tool for Linux (I'm running Ubuntu 13.04) that will work on the AT100 tablet?

samsung galaxy s 2 - Is there a way to eliminate Google Play Books / Newsstand?

I've never used Books or Newsstand, and I'm continually running out of space. Is there a way to just delete these apps?

Android 4.1.2 Kernel 3.0.31-889555

Answer

Since Android 4.0, it is possible to "disable" apps without root. However, not all apps can be "disabled": some (pre-installed) system-apps are protected against this. Still, it's always worth a try if you don't want to root your device:

1. Go to Settings→Apps


2. Select the "All" tab


3. Scroll to the apps in question, and open their entry
   Here you see either a button labeled "Disable", or one labeled "Uninstall Updates". If the latter is there, tap it: this will uninstall all the updates this app received during the time you already used the device. Now the "Disable" button should be visible in its place.
   
   
   
   • Is it "grayed out"?
     
     
     
     • Tap "Delete Cache", then "Clear Data". This will remove all cache files the app might have created, all its data, and its configuration.
     
     
     • Still "grayed out?" Then this app is "protected", you cannot "disable" it without root.
     
     
     
     
     
   
   
   • Otherwise: Tap it. This will disable/freeze the app.
   
   
   
   

These actions are reversible: You can always re-visit the apps entries here, and push the button again (it will be labeled "Enable" then).

If you could not deactivate an app this way, all that's left is root and some "Bloatware remover", as indicated by Lucas' answer. Apart from Titanium Backup, there are several other "root-apps" which can do that – though Titanium is a great choice, as it also provides the means to do full backups and more. If chosing this path, make sure to freeze apps first to check for side-effects: As with above steps, a "freeze" is revertible – a "remove" is not (at least not easily).

Also see our bloatware tag-wiki, which will give you / point you to more information.

5.0 lollipop - Page Down and Page Up Don't Work

So I have an external keyboard plugged into my android device that has Page Down and Page Up keys but they don't work in anything but I think the Chrome web browser.

Is there a fix for this?

This is related but doesn't tackle the same issue Page up and page down in web pages and elsewhere

Answer

So I have experimented with this a lot and basically have concluded that Android devices were not intended to be operated this way.

Even Chromebook's running Android apps don't support the PageDown key.

applications - Mysterious app in battery screen

This question already has an answer here:

Closed last year.

There is a mysterious app, 99070 that is consuming power on my Nexus 5X. Any idea how I determine what it is?

There is no option to stop or uninstall it. My phone is a Nexus 5X running stock Android 6.0.

wi fi - My Galaxy Nexus detects wifi signal(at home) but can't connect to it

My Galaxy Nexus detects wifi signal(at home) but can't connect to it.

I cant connect to wifi. The wifi icon doesnt appear beside the time on the upper right of the screen. When I try to access facebook it says connection lost. But wifi works properly well on the laptop.

I've switched the ON/OFF , restarted the galaxy Nexus and still nothing.

Please help.

rooting - How can I control my Azpen Android Tablet with a broken screen without root or usb debugging?

I've had this Azpen A700 tablet for a while, but at some point it got the touchscreen broken. I can still see an image but the touchscreen is completely unresponsive. I'd like to still get some use out of it, but it is not rooted and it has USB debugging disabled. Is there any way to control it or root it without the touch interface? I have a USB cable for it, it's just that the USB debugging setting is turned off.

I've tried googling how to control an android tablet with a usb cable and it requires rooting. Then I looked up how to root a device and it requires usb debugging. Is it possible to do it without rooting or debugging?

Answer

You could get a USB-OTG cable, which allows you to connect USB devices to Android devices via the USB port (so long as the Android device supports OTG, which the A700 does). If you plug in a mouse you'll get a mouse cursor to work with; you could even use a USB hub to attach both a keyboard and a mouse if you want to type instead of using the on-screen keyboard.

You could also use the USB-OTG cable long enough to pair a Bluetooth mouse/keyboard to the tablet, then go wireless.

samsung galaxy s 2 - How can I free up storage on my SGS II?

I got a notification on my SGS2 today that said the phone memory is nearly full.

So my question is: How can I move apps to the internal USB storage? I don't have a micro SD card in my phone.

google play store - Make calls from another Android phone over Internet

I have 2 Android phones. First phone is in country A. Of course it has an Internet connection over wifi. Second phone is in another country B, as me. So, I need to make phone calls while I'm in country B (over Internet) remotely using the phone and its sim-card, which is in counrty A. What Android sowtware do I need?

applications - How does the Amazon Appstore verify its apps?

A few times after I've downloaded an app from the Amazon Appstore, I get an error pop-up similar to the following when opening the app:

There was a problem verifying this application. Please download it again.

It hasn't occured on the first launch of an app, but rather the second (or possibly later). Uninstalling it and then downloading it again always solves the problem; it never occurs again for the same app (except Gentle Alarm. I couldn't shut it off because Amazon wouldn't let the app run, just the service. Gah).

My question is, why does this happen? If the app works fine, it shouldn't be corrupted, so I don't see why it couldn't be verified (especially since it was verified fine on the first launch). Is there some extra data downloaded? Is it managed by the app or the appstore? (I.e., would clearing data for one, the other, or both solve the issue without needing to re-download?)

Answer

According to their dev blog, the appstore does download a small token for DRM'd apps which it uses to validate them at launch:

How can you verify that the user has an entitlement to the app without internet access?

During the installation process for an app, the Amazon Appstore client downloads a small token that grants the user the right to access the application. A valid token permits the user that purchased the app to access their app offline. The Amazon Appstore client will periodically communicate with Amazon servers to refresh the token.

My guess as to why you see the error is that the token is either out of date or just got corrupted somehow (bug in the appstore maybe). Re-downloading probably refreshes the token since it's originally retrieved at install time, but it sounds like you may also be able to clear the appstore data and sign in to get a valid token, or possibly just launch the appstore and let it connect/refresh itself (haven't tried these myself as I haven't had this error yet).

2.2 froyo - Manually set a hostname for IP address (i.e. /etc/hosts equiv.?)

I am a web developer and am developing our website on my local desktop machine. I have an android phone (htc desire running android 2.2). I want to test what our web application looks like on android. I can connect to the same wifi network as my desktop machine, however we make use of several hardcoded fake domain names in our web application. On my Ubuntu Linu7x desktop machine I use /etc/hosts to set these domain names to local IP addresses.

Is there anyway to do this on android? I want "foo.xyz" (our testing domain name) to point to 172.31.1.67 (my internal desktop machine). Is there any way to do this without rooting the phone (as my android phone is not rooted now)

applications - Prevent apps opening links in Chrome Custom Tabs (i.e. open in default browser directly)

Not long ago, Google added a new feature called Chrome Custom Tabs since Chrome 45 on Android JellyBean or later.

What are Chrome Custom Tabs?

App developers face a choice when a user taps a URL to either launch a browser, or build their own in-app browser using WebViews.

Both options present challenges — launching the browser is a heavy context switch that isn't customizable, while WebViews don't share state with the browser and add maintenance overhead.

Chrome Custom Tabs give apps more control over their web experience, and make transitions between native and web content more seamless without having to resort to a WebView.

When will this be available?

As of Chrome 45, Chrome Custom Tabs is now generally available to all users of Chrome, on all of Chrome's supported Android versions (Jellybean onwards).

Google has integrated this feature on some of their apps (e.g. Google+, Google Search) and now, 3rd-party apps can also use it (e.g. Twitter, Stack Exchange).

While some apps provide setting to enable/disable it (e.g. Google Search), others don't seem to be possible to disable this. I know I can still open the link in Chrome by tapping the overflow menu (3-dots on top-right) and select Open in Chrome. However, it'd be preferable if it can be disabled on specific apps.

So, my question is: is it possible to disable this feature, preferably on selective apps? (by disable, I mean to open the link directly in default browser, or prompt user to choose a browser)

Note: I'm open to all suggestions, including root solutions, or even uninstalling Chrome in the worst case scenario. However, more practical answers are preferred.

google play store - How to post a link to an android market app?

You can post a link to an android market application by useing a link that looks like:

market://search?q=pname:package

1. 
   

   While browsing the market, is it possible to find an app's package name? Or is there a convenient way to get or share a link to a market app?

   
   


2. 
   

   Is there any way to post a link to a market app that normal (non-android) browsers can make use of?

   
   

google maps not working offline even though I downloaded maps

My phone is a Nexus 4, running Android 5.1.1

I am getting this error when I try to go to a postcode in London

But I have downloaded offline maps of London and surrounding areas.

e.g. if I go to "My Places", I can see 3 offline maps, including London *

@Czar points out that the map files seem rather small...Maybe that is the cause, though I have an issue there too. It doesn't give me a box to draw around what I want to download, it gives me a screen where I zoom out to how much I want, but if I zoom out too far it says it's too big. It is only letting me save areas that are quite small like around < 30MB.

• Note- in this question I stated that I clicked 'my places' to see offline maps that was the case in the version I had, where I had the issue. The current google maps has offline maps in the menu. Google maps can be updated from the google play store.

Answer

Firstly, make sure your Google Maps is up to date. :-)

After that, double check and make sure your "bounding box" is large enough to encompass the desired off-line area.

Here's an image for reference: https://imgur.com/a/hYDv9ee

My first clue was the fact that your downloaded offline maps data size seemed rather small. For reference, my average size US city offline map on my Pixel 1 device clocks in at around 300MB.

The larger the area needed for offline use, the larger the data downloaded to your device. I believe the cap in terms off single offline map chunk is around 1.5GB.

---

Note added by barlop:

The Google Maps version I had which seemed to be an earlier version, was limiting the size of map I could download, and with that earlier Google Maps version I wasn't getting a box either, just an area to zoom in and out of. The solution for me was to update it which can be done from google play store and tapping update. Then I could draw a box to a good size and offline maps worked.

app2sd - How can I move apps to the external SD card on LG Optimus 2X P990?

I have put a SD 16 GB in my LG Optimus 2X P990, but it seems that the phone won't save on it. Is it possible to save/move apps to the external SD card? Or even set it to do it automatically? I have already formatted the SD card twice, and it still is not working properly.

battery life - Which method of wireless tether uses the least amount of power? Bluetooth or Wifi?

If I'm going to wireless tehter to my Android phone what method drains the battery the least? Wifi or Bluetooth?

Answer

I decided to look up some data, and my guess seems to be correct: http://nesl.ee.ucla.edu/fw/documents/reports/2007/PowerAnalysis.pdf

According to the report, Bluetooth takes the least amount of energy.

However your 3G radio will probably take the most energy; maintaining a 3G connection without transferring any data is cheap, but once you start sending/receiving data, then it trumps even Wi-fi.

WiFi radios have a high wakeup and connection maintenance energy, but low energy per bit transmission cost and high bandwidth.

Cellular radios have low connection maintenance energy, but high energy per bit transmission cost and low bandwidth.

Disclaimer: The study might only apply for the particular model that the device they use.

What does "Download GPS assisted data only over Wi-Fi networks" really mean?

Since I checked this option in Settings > Personal > Location, GPS finally works when no data connection is available, eg. when travelling in foreign countries. It's still slower than when a data connection is available, but at least, it does locate me when I'm standing in open skies.

However, I was wondering what this option really means: Does it mean that it will never use A-GPS to download data from the Net even when a data connection is available through GSM *?

IOW, if I'm travelling in my country where a GSM data connection is available, will Android download A-GPS data to speed things up?

Thank you.

• GSM, as opposed to wifi; I don't know a better term

recovery mode - How to check if your bootloader is unlocked

I'm about to flash a custom recovery, but I'm not sure if my bootloader is unlocked or not (phone is rooted, but I did it a while ago, so I can't remember the process I went with), and I don't want to do anything that might risk losing all my current data. Can I simply run fastboot flash recovery [recovery image], and if it doesn't work, take that to mean my bootloader is locked? Are there any negative consequences to attempting this with a locked bootloader?

Answer

After scouring the net, I've learned this can be determined by entering your device's fastboot mode (from your device's boot menu selection, select AP Fastboot) and about four or five lines down from the top, you should see either Device is LOCKED or Device is UNLOCKED.

Unfortunately I only discovered this after attempting to flash the custom recovery while my bootloader was locked, which would subsequently put it into fastboot mode upon every boot attempt with the message "Fastboot reason: Flash failure". But I got around this by entering boot selection mode (holding vol down, up, and power simultaneously) and selecting "Normal Powerup" at the top. I unlocked my bootloader, flashed again, and am now happily running CyanogenMod 11. Hope this helps someone.

5.1 lollipop - Spotting Cause of Excessive Battery Drain

I have a Nexus 6 phone and it has always been amazing with battery power, I can usually go 2-3 days before absolutely needing to charge it and that's with heavy news reading, game playing, phone calls, texting, using the camera, and updating apps. It does all this while having this configuration:

• It IS rooted, wouldn't have it any other way.


• It has a STOCK Google provided image from Google Developers (currently running LYZ28M)


• It is connected to an AC 5.0 ghz Wireless channel.


• Bluetooth is OFF by default, use very infrequently to connect to a headphone to listen to things for about 10-30 mins.


• All animations are disabled in developer mode.


• By default the auto-rotate is disabled.


• Location is set to power-save mode (wifi only).


• Display lighting is set to auto with ambient enabled.


• Camera is to HDR+ (no flash).


• Most background services are disabled (except Play Services, UI, etc which are required).



• SMS auto-retrieve is off (even though I don't have the original Stagefright issue anymore, can't speak to the Stagefright 2.0)


• Power history puts the distributions as follow (no shockers there):
  
  
  
  • Cell Standby (46%)
  
  
  • Screen (23%)
  
  
  • Android OS (11%)
  
  
  • WiFi (5%)
  
  
  • Google Play Services (4%)
  
  
  • Android System (3%)
  
  
  • Phone Idle (3%)
  
  
  
  • Voice Calls (1%)
  
  
  
  

Now that all being said, the set of apps installed on it have always been the same between each re-image that I have done since 5.0 to 5.1.1 now.

However, starting about 1-2 weeks after the latest update, it is draining BADLY, when I said badly I mean within a max of 6 hours (minimum usage) to less than 2 hours (heavy/normal usage) it will drain. To add to the mystery, I have Battery Saver Mode enabled to kick in at 15%, when that happens, if I click on turn off battery saver, it will IMMEDIATELY begin shutting down, which makes NO SENSE, I have turned it off in the past with no issues.

Does anyone have any idea what's going? or can suggest a tool that allows me to snoop with a greater degree of granular control to see what is causing it to actually drain so badly? I have read all the other similar "battery drain" questions and none of them seem to really apply to me (at least I don't think) but resulted in why I included so much detail about the device, so it will save the trouble of having to ask about details of the system.

Much appreciated, thank you in advance.