4g - Bypass T-Mobile Hotspot Tethering Limit by using the phone's unlimited plan?

I have the 10gb hotspot plan for tmobile but I also have unlimited data when I'm on my phone. Is there a way to bypass the hotspot limit by using the unlimited data from my phone instead? I have the nexus 6 on android version 6.

6.0 marshmallow - How to revoke "SMS Services that cost you money" permission?

I have an Android 6, Samsung S6 smartphone and today I bought a tram ticket via SMS. Before sending, a warning popped up asking if I wanted to grant the Messages app the permission "SMS Services that cost you money". I assume this was because the SMS ("Premium SMS") is overcharged (by the price of the ticket), since the app never asked for this permission before sending a SMS.

I replied Yes, since it was a legitimate purchase, but I was in a hurry and involuntarily I ticked the option "remember my choice".

Now I would like that Android keeps asking me before sending Premium SMSs, since it's a security risk, but I couldn't find a setting to disable this option. Is this possible? Or the only way is to hard reset my phone and reconfigure it from scratch? I can't believe Android doesn't offer this option.

Answer

You can choose another setting by going into Settings > Applications > Applications Manager > More (top right) > Show System Apps > Message Service (rather than Messages) > Tap 'Send Premium SMS' > Select Ask, Never Allow or Always Allow.

On more recent versions of Android (Nougat V7) the setting is at Settings > Apps > Application Manager > More (top right) > Special Access > Use Premium SMS services (may be listed as Use Premium text message services) > Select Ask, Never Allow or Always Allow.

battery - Which process is locking the camera?

There is a problem with my UleFone Armor 2 with Android 7.0 Nougat:

After using the camera some times, it stops working due to the inability to connect to the camera.

I tried killing the camera application, but it does not yet unlock the camera. And the battery manager suggests that the camera was permanently on since the time it has stopped working.

A simple reboot does solve that problem, but rebooting is a seriois violation of an important Linux philosophy, which states that rebooting is never a good method of solving problems and should be avoided wherever possible.

rooting - Xiaomi Mi A1 - easy way to root and get OTA updates

I ordered Mi A1 which is the Android One offering in India at budget price point ( also in 36 countries going by the Wiki)

It is expected to get OTA updates for next two years , which means including Android P.

I would like to root it (looks to be straight forward) and

a) Install Xposed as long as it is on Nougat or if Xposed becomes available in Oreo

b) Continue getting monthly updates with minimal effort of unrooting or hiding root

My reading on XDA and internet shows possible approaches

1. 
   
   

   Systemless root with Flashfire app

   
   


2. 
   

   Systemless root with Magisk

   
   


3. 
   

   Hybrid of above with flashing stock ROM with MiFlash based tool

   
   

It's not clear to me and confusing to say the least as to which is the best approach and involves minimal effort and use of PC ( I have Windows XP 32 bit on which I understand MiFlash tool can run and Mint Linux for rooting )

Looking forward to a detailed reply , preferably based on user experience. The device should be with me in a week and I would like to implement the best approach earliest

Use AVD Manager without Starting Android Studio

I would like to use the Android Emulator to work on some APKs. In order to start the Android Emulator, based on the instructions here: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/managing-avds.html

So, I need to start the AVD Manager from Android Studio, then create a device and start the emulator.

Now, the issue is, when I open Android Studio, it asks me to create a new Project or open an existing one before continuing. This takes a long time. Isn't there a way to just start the AVD Manager without opening the Android Studio GUI?

Probably, there is a way to start AVD Manager from command line?

Thanks.

How do I increase the resolution of BlueStacks?

Presently, my BlueStacks appears slightly blurry. By blurry, I mean 'not sharp'. Compare BlueStacks with my desktop:

^{(Click image to enlarge)}

^{BlueStacks (Click image to enlarge)}

The difference is subtle, but I don't like it. I think it's got something to do with the resolution. How do I increase it so that the items in BlueStacks appear sharp?

Answer

To change the Resolution of BlueStack:

• Open ‘regedit': Start->Run->regedit



• Navigate to: 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/BlueStacks/Guests/Android/FrameBuffer/0/’


• Double click the value ‘GuestHeight’


• Change Base to Decimal


• Input your desired Height resolution


• Double click the value ‘GuestWidth’


• Change Base to Decimal


• Input your desired Height resolution


• Restart your PC, Open BlueStack [It will open up with New Resolution.]

Check this Link to work Around :

http://www.techcrises.com/how-to/how-to-change-bluestacks-resolution-in-windows-fixed/

Google Calendar install error: Incompatible with other application(s) using the same shared user ID

I'm stacked with the following problem with my first Android device (Ruggear RG960 Apex, Android 4.1.2, rooted using Kingo Android ROOT) I bought about a week ago. The problem is when I'm trying to install Google Calendar from Play Market, I get the following error:

Error: Incompatible with other application(s) using the same shared user ID

The same is true for Google Play services, which are required for the most of Gapps.

I tried the following:

At the same time Google says this problem is a common one, but still I cant find the solution for about a week so far. Perhaps this is because I have quite rare device, which is not so widely described. So, any guidance to the right direction will be highly appreciated.

In case anyone needs some more details about the device / performed actions - will gladly provide them as requested.

Answer

4 months later support finally shared me the latest ROM that solved all the above issues.

Is there a way to have Gmail autocomplete "To" only with Gmail contacts (and the same for Email and Exchange contacts)?

I am never going to email work folks via gmail, nor friends and family through my work email, and I'd hate for that to happen accidentally.

Why do "android system" and "androd os" take 30% battery

in the battery stats "android os" takes 16%, "android system" takes 14%. How can i know why?

Answer

Those percentages are from apps that use Android functions instead of their own modules (to save time/space/compatibility). The battery report bundles all battery usage from those Android functions and puts it into those two entries (depending on function). You can install an app like Wakelock Detector to see what exactly is using your battery the most in the background.

According to this post by Joe Levi at PocketNow:

1% and 2% are nothing to be worried about, but that’s just what my device is reporting now. By the end of the day those numbers will be much different. Some users are even reporting that either of those two processes make up 30- or 40-percent of the battery usage on their phone or tablet. Something’s not right there, but what is it?

An operating system is a pretty big “thing”. It’s got tens of thousands of lines of code, acts as an abstraction layer between hardware and software, and often includes a bunch of apps and services all bundled together.

...

When an app wants to know where you are, it asks Android. When your battery stats are reported, it’s “Android” that used the battery to determine your location, not Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Waze, or whatever other geo-aware app you were using. Location awareness is just one example. We could talk about apps that use data from the barometer, pedometer, light sensor, magnetometer, etc,. but geo-location is probably the easiest to talk about to illustrate the concept.

Everything is behaving as it should be, but your battery report isn’t being as helpful as you’d like it to be. You want to know what apps are using more of your battery than you’d like them to, then put pressure on their developers to fix it, right? We’re not there just yet, and even with the advancements in battery reporting coming in Android 5.0 Lollipop, tracking down the power gobbling culprits isn’t quite as clear cut as we’d like it to be. Not yet anyway, but we’re making progress!

2.3 gingerbread - Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card (Xperia Arc version)

I have almost this question:

Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card

I have a Motorla Droid running CM6 (essentially Android 2.2). I'm connecting to Windows 7 machines via USB. Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card as external storage.

Except I have a Xperia Arc with version 2.3.4, and have neither Winamp or DoubleTwist installed (given as culprits in the other question).

This behaviour started when I updated to 2.3.4 (I don't know exactly what version I had before).

How can I stop it?

Edit: I've no "Connect to PC" section in the settings, nor can I find this setting in other sections such as "Storage"

Answer

Go to Settings->Sony Ericsson->Connectivity and un-check Auto connect in MSC.

ADB full backup restore command stuck on restoring app Clean Master

I have a full backup file using adb backup command. When I try to restore the full backup file using adb restore command it always displays "Unfortunately Clean Master has stopped working" while restoring the package of Clean Master app com.cleanmaster.mguard.

adb logcat - (too long to paste it here)

How can I skip the clean master app package alone while restoring the full backup?

Answer

I removed the clean master app data from the backup and re-created the backup.ab file again using the Android Backup Extractor(ABE). It seems that the backed up file was corrupted and couldn't able to restore it properly. So I suggest to,

• 
  

  use the adb backup command atleast twice to make sure the backup is fully completed and compare both file are same sized ones

  
  

  ( OR )

  
  



• extract the backup file using ABE as .tar export and make sure the extracted .tar file can be opened without any errors.

Since I also had app backups using Helium Backup(Carbon) app, I was able to restore my app data using the Helium app. And all the shared data folder contents I moved from the extracted .tar file to my device via an USB cable manually.

2.2 froyo - Can I format SD to FAT32 from FAT16?

I saw that my SD card is FAT16 formatted. In order to improve performance, can I reformat it as FAT32? What filesystems does Android support for external storage?

Answer

Yes, you should be able to use FAT32 with no problems. Android supports FAT/FAT16 and FAT32, and I believe raw / unformatted cards may work with some phones. You can also use EXT partitions but this requires some extra work, see for example how to use ext partition in my android?

4.4 kitkat - How to export bookmarks from Chrome in Android?

I need to import bookmarks from my Chrome Android mobile. Is there any direct way to do it? Please do not suggest to sync Chrome account in desktop and do import from there, my Sync rights has been disabled by admin in Chrome desktop.

Photos and chat histories on whatsapp

I was using whatsapp on my iphone, then I deleted the application without deactivating the account or something, now if I put the SIM card on another mobile and install the Whatsapp application on it, the chat histories and photos shared before will appear on the other phone too ?

touchscreen - Are there any thin/precise styluses that are compatible with the Droid X?

I'd like to write formulas and notes on my Droid X. All the styluses that I found have a thick end and don't simulate a pen, it's more like a finger. Does anyone know of any styluses with thinner or more accurate tips? Do pens from tablets like Lenovo work?

Answer

Thin styluses are usually for resistive screens, they don't work with Droid X's capacitive screen.

The difference between capacitive and resistive touchscreens

4.0 ice cream sandwich - The UI sounds on my Galaxy Nexus no longer play - how can I re-enable them?

I kind of like the touch sounds and unlock sound on my Galaxy Nexus, so I typically leave them enabled. Today I noticed that both of these sound effects had simply stopped playing, possibly after I unplugged my phone from my car stereo (using a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone plug). For that matter, it appears that all of the UI sounds (camera click, screenshot, etc) have stopped playing of their own accord.

I have tried:

• Silencing and unsilencing my phone, as well as adjusting the available volume sliders in my phone settings


• Disabling and re-enabling the settings for touch sounds and unlock sounds


• Rebooting my device

None of these methods has fixed the problem. My GNex is running CyanogenMod9 (built May 10, 2012) and Franco Kernel r107. Is there any way for me to re-enable these sound effects?

Answer

This appears to be something of a bug, either in ICS or the Galaxy Nexus (though I am unsure which). Unbeknownst to me, there is a "system volume" level that controls, among other things, the output of UI sound effects. This volume level does not appear to be modifiable within the normal system settings, but you can modify it with third party apps.

Based on this information (which I obtained from an XDA thread), I downloaded Volume Control + from the Play Store and launched it. The very last slider on the interface was for "system volume", and it was set to a value of 0. Once I cranked it back up to the maximum, my UI sounds began playing normally again. I do not know what causes this to become muted inadvertently.

wi fi - How can I make a point-to-point VoIP call over Wi-Fi?

I am searching for a way to make a point-to-point VoIP call between two Android devices without having any intermediate server (SIP server) or an Internet connection. I just have an access point (or multiple access point connect via LAN) and I want to make VoIP calls over Wi-Fi only. Is this possible?

applications - Completely uninstall an app on Lollipop

I am having a problem with uninstalling apps on Android 5.0 (Nexus 5). I am developing an Android app, so I debug/run the app directly on my device. For production, I exported the same app with my keystore, uninstalled the debug APK that I ran earlier, tried to install the signed APK, and I got this error:

An existing package by the same name with a conflicting signature is already installed.

Is it because the bytecodes are still in the ART runtime? Anyone has any idea how to solve this?

Answer

When you uninstall an app using usual pre-Lollipop approach (e.g. dragging to "trash" icon, or from App info > Uninstall), it's only uninstalled on current user. It can be confirmed by app showing "Not installed" on stock app manager. Android will detect that the app is still there, preventing the user to install the app with same package name.

It's due to Guest account (if it's activated), that when an app is installed, it's automatically installed on all users. So, you need to uninstall the app from there too, which can be troublesome in daily usage.

There are some approaches to uninstall the app completely (ordered by practicality):

1. (from Owner account) Go to Settings > Apps, find and open the app info. Then, open the overflow menu (3 vertical dots), and choose Uninstall for all users.


2. (from guest account) Deactivate the guest account if you don't need it (for more info: Removing the default guest user account from Android Lollipop)


3. (from PC) Enter adb uninstall on command prompt/shell. This is the same as "uninstall for all users"


4. (from guest/other accounts) Find the app and uninstall it normally.
   
   
   
   • In case you can't uninstall it, try to remove the account and create a new one, then try to find and uninstall the app again.
   
   
   
   

installation - Where does Google Play Store put downloaded apps?

I want to know where Google Play stores downloaded .apk files. I've heard that Google Play doesn't send you an .apk file and installation is completely online. Is it true?

Answer

.apk files are downloaded and stored in subfolders under a location on your device called /data.

By default, you do not have permissions to read from that location. In order to read/write in that location, you will need to root your device.

adb - Is this the right way to use dd for a full backup?

Sadly my device (sm-g3185) isn't supported by any of the CWM or NANDbackup so I am trying to do a backup manually. I found this thread which tells me to open one terminal (I'm on Arch Linux) and run:

adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
adb shell
su

/system/xbin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/xbin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0

And then another terminal and run:

adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
cd /path/to/store/the/backup
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0.raw

I did all this and it seems to be working. However, there was a delay of a few seconds between launching the dd command in terminal1 and the nc command in terminal2.

Can I trust the backup I created in this way? Doesn't this mean that I've lost some of the output of dd? Shouldn't these be run concurrently or, at least, shouldn't the nc command be started before the dd one?

Answer

Can I trust the backup I created in this way?

Yes, you can: this is the most complete backup that you can make of your device.

The integrity of the copied data can be checked easily by running md5sum on the device (/dev/block/mmcblk0) and comparing its output against the MD5 of the backed up file (mmcblk0.raw).

If you want to list the partitions inside the backup, you can run parted /path/backup/mmcblk0.raw print on the host computer. Inside, you will find your system and userdata partitions and lots of hidden partitions containing bootloader[s], baseband configuration and recovery data among many other things...

There was a delay of a few seconds between launching the dd command on the device and the nc on the host computer. Doesn't this mean that I've lost some of the output of dd?

No, you don't need to worry. When you run nc -l, it will listen for an inbound connection. I the meantime, it will block the pipe and keep dd from sending data. This means that the first byte will be sent by dd once you stablish the connection from the other side.

Shouldn't these be run concurrently or, at least, shouldn't the nc command be started before the dd one?

Not necessarily. As stated on the previous paragraph, you don't need to care about that. dd will only start to send the data once the nc instance running on the device receives the inbound connection from the nc instance running on the host and reads data from the pipe.

---

Note: you don't need to run adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555 twice.

wi fi - How to use Android in Wi-Fi repeater mode by bridging Wi-Fi with Access Point?

I would like to extend a WiFi signal. I could buy a WiFi repeater, but a much cheaper solution would be using an older Android 4 device, which I own and don't use. The Android device is capable of creating a WiFi AP. So if I bought an external WiFi USB adapter for it, with a large antenna used as the receiver and the Android device itself as the AP, I could bridge the network.

The hardware should be possible. But how about the Android software? Will there be any issues, or any considerations I need to take note of?

Answer

That's not worth the trouble.

It's not supported out of the box by Android and you would have to (re)compile and configure and script many things. The dedicated router is the more reasonable and stable solution (and it's also cheap).

Reasons are the following. You would need:

• USB host support



• finding a USB wifi module that's supported by linux


• Compile a kernel module or a new kernel (to support the USB module)


• bridge utilities (maybe), bridge module in linux


• a working wpa_supplicant binary for the new USB dongle


• time


• 17EUR+ costs (Wifi USB dongle (starting around 12EUR) + USB OTG cable (5EUR))

In contrast to this the cheapest repeater-mode wifi router I found on Amazon was 18EUR and requires null additional fiddling (plus has a better antenna).

applications - Background apps and the battery

Every time I use Google Search, the browser or the music player of my Samsing Galaxy S II (Android 2.3), even if I push the back button until it brings me back to the home screen, the apps keep running in background (seen in the "Active Applications" widget).

Do they consume my batery? Do they enter in some kind of supended mode, so they don't consume the CPU? If they do consume, is there any configuration to make them really close when I push the back button?

Answer

I've asked a similar question about my browser. The consensus seems to be that these apps are normally pretty dormant when in the background, and my browser was behaving strangely. Android's designed so that you don't need to exit apps (the system manages suspending and killing them); so, unless you notice an app consuming an abnormal amount of CPU time while in the background, it should be safe to leave them be.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 - Rooting & Honeycomb 3.2

I just bought a brand new Iconia Tab A500. I just unboxed it and it shall be charging for the next 14 hours :)

While I wait for first booting it, I have a question on rooting with 3.2. The tablet comes with Honey 3.0, but I read that the 3.2 update is ready to be delivered OTA. But I absolutely want to root it!

1. Can I root the device after the OS upgrade?


2. Or should I root it first?


3. Or, does upgrade remove rooting and currently there's no [yet] rooting for HC3.2?

Thank you

Answer

As far as I know, the 3.2 update on the A500 has not been rooted (some discussion here). There's one XDA thread where someone has described a method of downgrading so you can root, but nothing that lets you root 3.2 in and of itself.

If you want to have root access then I would suggest rooting the shipped version, then manually upgrading to a pre-rooted version of the latest OTA update.

4.4 kitkat - ADB backup creates 0-byte file; prompts for current backup password even though I never set one; "Failed to set password" for Desktop backup password

Every time I run ADB backup, I get a message near the bottom of the home screen saying Backup starting..., followed by a message saying Backup finished a few seconds later despite the fact that I'm using 17 GB of device memory, and the resultant backup file is created with a size of 0 bytes. I receive no error messages, no feedback whatsoever indicating that anything is wrong, let alone what is wrong. It appears to work, but way too quickly, and the backup file is empty.

1. 
   

   I confirm that the device is recognized by ADB using the adb devices command, and receive the following output:

   
   

   List of devices attached
   8e1f368a        device
   



2. 
   

   I issue the ADB backup command (details to follow).

   
   
   


3. 
   

   I get the following message at the command prompt:

   
   

   Now unlock your device and confirm the backup operation.
   

   
   

   ...and the following prompt on the phone:

   
   

   

   
   

   It makes no difference what I do here (details to follow).

   
   


4. 
   
   

   I tap the Back up my data button (bottom right corner).

   
   


5. 
   

   The phone returns to the home screen and shows me the Backup starting... message, then the Backup finished message a few seconds later. A 0-byte file is created, named either the default backup.ab or whatever I specified with the -f switch.

   
   

I've tried multiple combinations of options, ranging from as simple as

adb backup -all

to things like

adb backup -all -apk -s 8e1f368a -f 'C:\Data Files\PDA\Backups\ADB\GalaxyS4_20140919.ab'

I also tried adding the -nosystem switch after reading this and this, which indicate that trying to include a system backup on an unrooted device may result in a 0-byte file, and that this switch must be used. It makes no difference, the process still completes in a matter of seconds and I still get a 0-byte file.

I'm quite sure I have never set a backup password before. I've never had the occasion to set this password or access this setting in any way before. However, I have tried all of the following:

• Leaving both passwords blank


• Leaving the "current backup password" blank and entering a new password in the second box


• Entering the current screen lock PIN and all PINs I've ever used in the past as the "current backup password".



• Entering every password I can think of that I would have ever used for anything on this device

In all cases the behavior is exactly the same as described in step 5. I get no errors or any kind of indication that anything is wrong or that my passwords are invalid, and no hint as to whether it's actually expecting a current password or whether that field should be left blank. (The screen shot in this answer and several other support forums I've looked at seems to imply that the "current backup password" box wouldn't be displayed if there's no current password, but that's just an inference; nothing makes it clear whether a current password is actually required.)

I suspect that the password it's prompting for might be the "Desktop backup password" set in Developer options:

I have never set that password before. If I try to set one, I get a message saying Failed to set backup password.

In searching for information about this error, I've encountered at least one other case in which someone who was having this problem said this was preventing him from using ADB backup, but he wasn't specific about what happens when he tries to use ADB backup.

Most people who received this message having never set the password before say that the solution was to leave the current password blank, but I tried that in the first place and it didn't work. I found a question by another person who encountered this problem and was sure he hadn't set the password before. Unfortunately it doesn't look like he ever got a solution or even an explanation.

Regardless of whether ADB is looking for the "Desktop backup password" or the ADB encryption password is something separate, it boggles my mind why ADB would require you to enter a previous password in order to initiate a new backup. I'm not trying to restore, overwrite, or in any way access previously encrypted data, so even if an encryption password for a backup had previously been set, I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea to prevent you from backing up your device if you don't remember what password you used to encrypt backups in the past.

Model: Samsung Galaxy S4 SCH-I545
Kernel version: 3.4.0
OS version: 4.4.2
Android SDK Tools version: 1.16
USB debugging is enabled.

Note that my reason for using ADB backup is to take a full backup of my phone to be on the safe side before rooting it* so I can use nandroid backup tools such as Titanium backup. So, any suggestion involving rooting my phone would be a Catch-22, not a solution. Needless to say, a factory reset is also not a solution, since it would defeat the entire purpose of performing the backup.

The phone is set up to sync with my company's Exchange servers, and there are some policies enforced by the server. I had thought that the device was encrypted when I first set up the sync with company account, but apparently it isn't currently encrypted. In fact, that's what set this chain of events in motion: I'm getting a message telling me that I need to encrypt the device in order to continue to connect to company servers. I want to take a nandroid backup before encrypting, which requires rooting, and I want to use ADB backup before rooting.

---

_{* Yes, I'm aware that Towelroot is purported to be safe, but I'd rather not take chances, and I'd like to resolve or at least understand this problem in case related issues come up in the future.}

adb - Mount /system and /data partition of an android phone in Windows/Linux

How can I mount the /system and /data partition of an Android Phone via USB on a computer? It will need to work with Windows and Linux. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 with CyanogenMod 12 and working ADB.

PS: I want to have it mounted in a file manager and not in the terminal.

Answer

There is a method that I'm aware of which uses FTP on Android and a tool/software on Linux/Windows. I recently tested this method and it worked well.

• Host an FTP server on your Android phone. (There are answers for it on this site; you may use search option.)


• 
  

  On GNU/Linux, download curlftpfs and issue the command:

  
  

  curlftpfs ftp_server_url directory_path
  

  
  

  where, ftp_server_url -> the URL of your FTP server, directory_path -> the directory in your PC where you want to mount this server

  
  


• On Windows, I've heard that NetDrive can mount an FTP server on Windows. I haven't used it but got to know this from a ServerFault answer.


• For Windows, if FTP doesn't work then host a WebDAV server on Android and mount it on Windows by using Windows native Map network drive feature.

Whether you would be able to write into /system and /data isn't my business here since you've not explicitly mentioned it, but my answer will definitely do the thins you asked in the question. :)

(Kindly let me know any fault in my answer rather than downvoting it, if you may. :) )

cyanogenmod - Flashing Cyanogenmod9 - Kernel via Odin

EDIT: I think the question is more confusing than helpful. I leave it up simply because something else has been closed as a duplicate to this. My problem was finally solved by flashing a completely fresh stock android.

With my Galaxy S i9000 (galaxysmtd), I can only access download and recovery mode after flashing some recovery kernel via odin. The latter was done to escape the boot loop that my installed cyanogenmod 9 was stuck in.

Installing the cyanogenmod cm-9.1.0-galaxysmtd.zip from the sdcard from within the recovery mode gives me an error 7. This is supposedly because the recovery kernel I flashed was unfit.

My idea now is to flash only the kernel of the cyanogenmod-9.1.0-galaxysmtd as an odin-pda file, boot into recovery again and to then install the full ROM that is still on my sdcard, which should be possible then.

Because I can't boot the phone normally, I don't know how to put anything on the sdcard manually and have to use odin.

I have been reading though a lot of threads now, but the nomenclature seems to be used in such an inconsistent way that googling the right thing is almost impossible. I hope I expressed myself in sufficient clarity.

cyanogenmod - Android lock screen password not being recognized

I flashed the latest Cyanogenmod ROM for my device (Samsung Captivate) last night and after doing so I set a numeric lock screen password. I then customized my phone and spent a goodly amount of time working on it and locked and unlocked it successfully multiple times. This morning when I woke up and went to unlock it, my password did not work. I have tried the password (and combinations thereof) over 100 times and it never unlocks. I also never get the "Lost Password" button on the lock screen to use my Gmail account to unlock the device. Does anyone know if there is a way to connect to the device using an ADB shell and reset the password? I am able to get to a shell and can run commands. Any help is appreciated.

settings - Enable Developer Options on Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

I'm having trouble enabling developer options on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet. I click the build number 7 times and get the toast telling me it's enabled, but it doesn't appear in the menu items.

As you can see, developer options are unlocked but it's not listed in the menu items.

UPDATE:

So it turns out this is a problem with the latest version of Android on this device, Samsung were not aware of this bug but are now and it will be fixed in the next release!

boot loop - Phone restarting nonstop

My phone started rebooting all by itself all the time after I did 2 things with it. Installed Snapdragon BatteryGuru and put it on learning mode (for an estimated 3 days I guess) so that I could start saving battery by the app learning my behavior, and cleaned RAM with CleanMaster. These were the only changes I've done, I don't remember which was first but soon my phone started rebooting whether I was handling it or not at random intervals.

I've also noticed the phone was hot all the time, the Note 3 runs into some hot period with some frequency but not with that frequency. I've uninstalled both apps and it didn't work, wiped cache and it didn't work. The phone was still rebooting even on safe mode. After I wiped Dalvik with the help of TWRP, I thought the problem went away but when I hit the power button to turn the screen off, the phone rebooted and it will now always reboot when the screen turns off, even if it's just from the phone being inactive. It doesn't boot-loops, it just reboots, then after a random time, can be seconds, can be half an hour, it will reboot again. Note 3 SM-N9003 VJUBMI6.

ios - Why can't I use my iPhone Headphones with my HTC Thunderbolt?

I am trying to use my white in ear iPhone/Apple headphones with my HTC Thunderbolt. I can hear, but the mic does not work with the thunderbolt. Any suggestions for a fix? A specific app or setting I should use?

For clarification. . . my headphones work fine with my Apple iPhone. But when plugged into my android phone, the mic does not work. A guy from BestBuy said, that Apple iPhones doe not work with Android devices. This seems odd (and likely incorrect). . . hence my post here.

Play High-Resolution mp4 Videos on Galaxy Y

When I try to play high resolution videos on my phone I get this error message:

Sorry, this video cannot be played

Is there a way to make these videos play, like an app that can handle these videos or is it a limitation of my device?

Answer

I'm sorry but your device cannot play high-res videos. Your device should be able to handle videos up to 640*360, this is the resolution of HQ YouTube.

Note that there's absolutely no point in watching HD videos on your phone. It has a screen resolution of 240 x 320. Anything above this will be scaled down to fit the screen.

sync - Best way to auto-synchronise music between HTC One and PC

got my new HTC One today and now i wanted to set up something that i can put all my desired music for the smartphone in a folder on the pc and then they get automatically synchronised on the smartphone.

is this possible? i often change my songs and i dont want to always copy them by hand, thats a pain...

Jottacloud has something in the right direction, but it isnt fully automated i guess

Answer

Playing with words: if you want a folder to sync, have you tried FolderSync? Should be perfect for this purpose. You can sync entire folders between your PC and your Android device, and also use different cloud storage services. Thanks to an integrated Tasker/Locale plugin (in the full version), you also can automate it to your wishes. But even without Tasker/Locale, it offers User specified sync interval or specific sync times.

4.2 jelly bean - Does Samsung Galaxy Grand Support USB OTG?

Hii Everyone iam Using Samsung Galaxy Grand (GT-I9082) Duos Model and it is running with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean Version. I Just Wanted to know whether my device supports USB-OTG Cable Support For Connecting USB Drives i have Searched for the same in google and found different answers like this video from YouTube is saying that my device doesn't support OTG and in other site here saying that my device will support OTG

Please Help Me to know whether my device supports OTG or not

Thanks in Advance

applications - Are iOS apps faster than android apps since android apps are interpreted?

Android apps are interpreted rather than compiled. Does this make them slower than iOS apps at runtime?

Answer

Java isn't interpreted on Android. Android apps are compiled to bytecode by the developer. Bytecode is a compact representation of the program: smaller than the source code written by the programmer, but still not directly executable by the CPU. Some optimizations, such as dead code removal, can be made at this stage.

When you load the app on a device, the Dalvik JVM compiles the bytecode to native executable code, just as it's about to run. This is just-in-time compilation. It causes a brief slow-down while the program waits to be compiled, but after that there's no performance overhead, because the code has been compiled to native executable code.

There are some performance advantages to doing it this way instead of compiling up-front on the developer's computer. The app can be compiled for the particular CPU on the phone, taking advantage of its hardware features and using its performance characteristics. For example, it can use hardware floating-point operations if the CPU supports it. In addition, a clever JIT compiler (admittedly, Dalvik is not quite this clever) can monitor the way the program runs, and perform optimizations based on the way the program is used in real use. It might recompile the code with better branch hinting once it has seen which options are turned on and off in your environment, on your phone. An up-front compiler doesn't have this information to use.

Dalvik uses the Dalvik cache and other techniques to mitigate the drawbacks of JIT compilation. The new JVM for Android L and later, ART, replaces the JIT entirely with an ahead-of-time compiler. This compiles the bytecode to native executable code when the app is installed, to get most of the advantages of JIT without the delay loading the app.

Don't forget that Android apps don't entirely consist of Java. Developers have the NDK to write all or part of their apps in C or C++, for performance-critical parts of the app, especially for games. Special-purpose interfaces like OpenGL and Renderscript let programmers take advantage of special hardware like the GPU and SIMD coprocessor for some kinds of computation.

So really, there's no simple answer to your question. Using JIT instead of up-front compilation makes some things faster, some things slower. It's just one part of the overall performance of the OS.

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applications - Contacts phone numbers disappeared after sync to google

After synchronising with Google, all contacts that have phone numbers associated with them disappeared.

I tried to enter a new contact just to test this. If I sync again the new entry disappears as well. How can it be recovered?

My phone is a Galaxy Note II

google apps - Which version of Gapps to install for Lineage?

I am going to install Lineage and I need to decide which version of open Gapps to use.

I use lots of Google apps (Google Play Store, Gmail, Calendar, Photos, Music, Google search, Translate, Keep etc.). But, I am fine with installing them one by one, from Google Play store. So, I prefer a minimalist version so that, I don't need to keep anything that I don't use. Therefore, my first thought was Pico Gapps. But, this version does not include offline speech recognition files. Can these be installed later from the google store? Or, if I want to be able to use the "ok google" voice command, do I need to install Nano Gapps?

Also, are there any other obstacles I am not aware of? I want to be able to install anything else from the play store (and not to be forced to flash anything later).

Restoring original 2.2 firmware on Samsung Galaxy Tab GT-P1000L

I've originally asked this question on stackoverflow, and I was suggested to ask it here.

I'm currently in trouble with my samsung Galaxy Tab GT-P1000L GSM+WiFi model from Brazilian's Vivo carrier.

The problem was: Whenever I try to open most apps (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others -- but not all) the Tablet would vibrace once, then twice, then display an error message saying that the "application stopped suddenly" and I'd have to try again.

I've noticed that there were a bunch of apps installed and I deleted them all. After reboot, they came back. If I install any new apps, they would work (even Facebook), but after reset, they were all wiped out and replaced with the previous versions (like it was restoring an old "backup" of the system with those apps installed).

I've managed to use adb to see the filesystem and deleted the contents of "/sdcard" which was mounted like:

/dev/block/vold/179:1 /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0002,dmask=0002,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0

/sdcard was a symlink to /mnt/sdcard. Note that there was no sdcard on the device. When one was put, a directory "external_sd" was created inside /mnt/sdcard and the contents of the disc would be there.

I've tried to manually delete everything inside /mnt/sdcard but it all came back upon reboot. (Note: I don't have root access to the device.)

I've managed to mess things up for good when I tried the command ./fastboot erase recovery. Now the main interface keeps "rebooting" -- it displays the carrier name, then the lock screen, then vibrates once, then twice, then carrier name again...

It is running android 2.2 and I'm trying to prep it to give it away (my wife is trading it for an iPad), so, I'm trying to restore everything back to where it was when I purchased it. I can't seem to find a firmware file to download (other than Cyanogen).

Samsung's Kies app (I'm using a Mac) can't seem to detect the device (with USB debugging mode off, it doesnt even try. When on, it says that it can't recognize the device).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

droid x bluetooth volume too low

Does anyone know how I can get under the hood and modify the db output for my bluetooth media levels? I've read numerous posts of people complaining about this problem but am unable to find a solution. On previous phones, I was able to access the underlying system settings by inputting some lengthy combination of numbers. I don't know if this sort of hardware access exists on the droid x. I'm not finding anything on-line as to how to do this. All ideas welcome.

4.2 jelly bean - Typing emoji in SMS limits number of characters to 70

I have HTC One X running Android 4.2.2. While typing SMSs if I put an emoji character then it sets the maximum number of characters to 70. Why?

Multiple keyboards for multiple applications

Is it possible to have different keyboard for different apps, say I want to have Emoji Keyboard for facebook and twitter but Google Indic keyboard for my whatsapp is this possible.

Mobile : HTC Desire 820

OS : Android 5.1

4.3 jelly bean - How does an android factory reset work?

This question already has answers here:

Closed 6 years ago.

When performing a factory reset, does Android remove all the added applications and user data or does it completely reflash an image of the OS

I am running on jelly bean 4.3 stock

4.0 ice cream sandwich - How to root my huawei mediapad s7-301u

I need to root my huawei mediapad s7-301u android tablet. Currently it is running android 4.0.3. My development PC is on 32-bit Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. I tried so many sites about rooting this tablet but getting so many issues here. I am explaining the issues below I faced while rooting.

Currently there is no google-play,CWM-recovery in my tablet so please consider this situation also when answering.

1. So I downloaded android-sdk on my PC and got the adb and fastboot.


2. then I downloaded a zip file and put it on my tablet and tried to reboot into recovery but I can't see anything like "install zip from sdcard". Only I can see 4 menu items reboot fastboot,reboot,recovery and power off.


3. I tried the recovery one when I do that one android logo with some setting icon animation appears in green and the tablet goes to normal boot process and starts normally.


4. When I press the power button and volume down button also nothing happens at boot time.


5. Then I downloaded boot.img to flash it using fastboot. But here also fail. The fastboot lists my devices with command "fastboot devices" but when i try to flash, it stucks at "waiting for devices".

Now feel confused and messed up with tablet for rooting. Can anybody please guide me step by step process to check and root this tablet.

I will be so much grateful to get the answer.

2.3 gingerbread - How to block all phone calls, but only allow SMS and networking?

It's kinda disturbing when people keep calling me during work or meetings, but to me it's okay if I receive short messages or Whatsapp message because I can reply them few minutes later in a short break. I'm new Android user and wonder if my phone could do that for me.

Is there an app which supports both PDF and epub ebook formats?

Are there any apps which support both PDF and EPUB files?

I've tried Alkido, Laputa, and StarBooks, they only seem to support either PDF OR epub, not both.

Any suggestions?

sync - How can I set up my Google account without syncing Gmail?

I got a Nexus 7 tablet. Is it possible to use my Google account just to download apps and for backup purpose?

I'd rather not see my emails, chats and contacts on the device as it's not with me all the time and shared with kids, and basically anyone in the house has access to it.

I couldn't find any options to do this. Without logging in with my Google account, the device is kind of useless. I tried turning off sync for everything after I logged in, but the emails are still syncing. Plus it's only a couple of clicks away to turn back on if anyone wished. I can't add password just for these apps either.

Please don't ask me to create another Gmail account just for this. Are rooting and installing custom ROM the only option? Any other suggestions?

windows - How to set up tablet to use a local DNS server thru VPN rather than Google's DNS?

I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise server running in our home network. It has VPN functionality installed and fully working.

If I connect with a computer, the computer will get right DNS servers. If I connect with Android tablet (Asus Transformer Prime), the tablet will still use Google's DNS servers.

The problem with this is that I can't resolve local website addresses such as intranet. Getting the access to that site is more than necessary.

I want the (non-rooted) Android tablet to use the DNS servers provided by the VPN server.

How can I fix this?

Answer

You can solve this issue either from the Android side or from the Windows side:

From the Android side

1. Tap your device "menu" button, and select "settings";


2. Tap "Wireless & networks";



3. Tap "Wi-Fi settings";


4. Tap your device "menu" to bring up extra options and select "advanced";


5. Tap "Use static IP";


6. Fill in your local network static IP details and dns server details;


7. Tap your device "menu" to bring up extra options and select "save".

---

From the Windows side

1. Open the DNS management;


2. Add a new Forward Lookup Zone for the Google DNS and set a Host A record to your local IP.

motorola droid - What are the risks to overclocking my CPU?

What are the risks to overclocking the CPU on one's phone?

Bonus Question: What's the max profile I should set on my Motorola Droid 1 to get the most performance (with no regard to battery life) but without making it explode (if that's even possible)?

Answer

You can ruin the processor, your data, and possibly your skin (ouch!).

According to "Risks of overclocking your CPU" [aimed at desktop PCs], the risks include:

• Success: The processor may overclock perfectly, and run stably for many years to come. There are thousands of people who have done this, and I am certainly not going to deny it. This is the best case outcome.


• Immediate Destruction: It is possible to totally destroy a processor by attempting to overclock it. By destruction, I mean that the processor will not boot at the higher speed, and when returned to its normal speed, will continue to not function. This is basically the worst case outcome. This sort of permanent failure is very rare, but it does happen. It is made more likely by using inadequate cooling, and also by being ridiculously aggressive in how far you try to overclock (i.e., trying to run a Pentium 75 at 166 MHz.)


• Non-Functionality: The processor may not work at the new speed, but may work fine when returned to its original speed. This is a fairly common outcome when overclocking, and in most cases the processor will not be any the worse for wear.


• System Instability: The processor may boot at the new speed, but you may see the system behave strangely. Random hard lockups, parity errors, resource conflicts, strange hard disk problems, beeping, application crashes and [your OS] refusing to boot are just the tip of the iceberg. Particularly insidious are the overclocks that work almost perfectly, because that occasional crash may be due to your operating system, but it may be due to that overclocked chip also.


• Electromigration: When the processor is run at a speed that is higher than it is supposed to be run at, there is a chance that the internal components in the processor may break down over time. The internal features of a CPU are sized in the range of microns. It is possible that when the processor is stressed by running at too high a frequency, along with the extra heat that overclocking incurs, that the actual metal lines inside the processor may form shorts or opens and damage the processor over a period of time. How likely this is to happen, and how long it takes is really not known. The system may work fine for a while and then suddenly stop working.

And don't forget that higher speeds means higher heat -- your tiny pocket-sized squeeze-asmuch-as-possible-into-this-small-area has very little in the way of cooling fins. Speed it up, and you might overheat. Probably won't burn a hole in your pants, though.

However, accordin to "Big Lou" @

Modern processors are not harmed by overclocking. You aren't altering the voltage, just the multiplier. If anything, the Droid will not boot or may act funny, but once you revert back to a slower clock speed, it will be fine (and that's for higher speeds, mind you).

Anything up to 1.3 is tested to work fine on the Droid. Heat may rise but the OMAP3 is rated to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You won't be getting anywhere near that, and in case you do, you can always set SetCPU to roll back the clock speed automatically.

YMMV. Note how the original text refers to 75 Mhz Pentiums. ha-hah-ha.

this post @ Overclockers.com covers the SetCPU app, which can adjust speed vs battery performance, start times for clock boosting, etc.

2.3 gingerbread - Check which IPs or web-sites an app is communicating with?

Usually they do it behind the scenes. So I'd love to know where apps are actually sending data and from whom they are actually getting responses.

Answer

Some apps offer a network monitor, e.g. OS Monitor does:

As you can see in the second screenshot, it even allows you to look-up the destination and show it in a map.

Quick System Info offers a similar feature:

As you can see in the last entry of this screenshot, it even names the app which holds this connection.

These are two examples of real-time monitoring which do not require root. If your device is rooted, you might also want to take a look at DroidWall: This app offers to keep a log of all network accesses for each app. Plus, as a Firewall app, you can restrict apps to WiFi, mobile network, or even forbid them network access altogether.

Boot loop after flashing Android 6.0 Marshmallow on my Nexus 5

I had Android Lollipop installed on my Nexus 5 (Was Rooted, had TWRP and MultiROM installed) and wanted to simply start fresh with new clean install of Marshmallow.

So I followed the instructions (step 1 to 6): https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images?hl=en

After running the flash-all script the device rebooted I see the Marshmallow boot animation but it has been running for 45 minutes. Is this normal?

Is there any suggestions beside reflashing because I've tried 3 times with the same results (45 minutes is the longest I've waited).

Many thanks for your time and help.

SMS messages from one contact displayed as "null"

My daughter has a stock Motorola Atrix on Bell in Canada. When she receives a text from one particular friend (on a Telus phone), rather than displaying the text, the phone just displays "null". All other texts work fine. She can receive from other people on the Telus network as well.

When the problem contact sends an MMS message with a picture, any text in the picture message comes through fine.

I have tried multiple SMS apps to see if they made a difference but they all behave the same way as the default text app.

Any ideas??

security - How to report potential abuse in Aptoide without becoming a member?

The Aptoide store is an alternative platform where you can get Android apps.

I found an app on Aptoide store via Google that has a size of 3.3 MB. The same app with the same app-version in F-Droid store has only a size of 1.1 MB. So I assume that this app is infected by malware.

The Aptoide's info about the suspicious app is

Xxxx is Unknown

This classification was assigned because: there is not enough information about the application in Aptoide Anti-Malware platform.

• 
  

  Scanned with Anti-Virus: Zoner Anti-Virus Sophos Anti-Virus AptoideGuard Malware Analyzer

  
  

  No Infections Detected No Infections Detected

  
  

In the Aptoide website belonging to the app, there is a "report abuse" button but this requires a login (which I don't have and don't want to have)

In the stores impressum, I found an email address so I wrote an email to Aptoide store admin. I got an automated email reply that I should use a web form to contact Aptoide with a link to the web form. So I filled in the web form and submitted it.

This was a week ago and since then nothing happened. The suspicious app is still available in the store and I got no email response.

Is there any other channel to Aptoide where I can report potential abuse without becoming a member?

Answer

To answer my own question: Non-member complaint was not possible in my case.

After registering as a new member and then using the "report abuse" link, Aptoide's "copyright infringement-workflow" did the job after one week.

---

After sending the second form I registered as a new user, loaded the page with the potential malicious app, flagged it as "virus", wrote a comment and pressed the "report abuse" button and send my text.

As a result of "report abuse" activity, I got an automated email

Thanks for your email!

Please submit your support request in this link

The form request is essential for us to help you, the ticket generated by this email will stay on hold with low priority until you send us your request via the form below!

where the link points to https://aptoide.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new

After one additional week, I got an email that the app has been removed from the store.

It was a reply to pushing the "report abuse" link that was made to handle copyright problems with the standard email-text for this use case

Aptoide is deeply committed with the respect of the IPR of Android Developers.

Nevertheless, the suspicious app is not available anymore.

wi fi - Turn on Wi-Fi periodically to do a quick network discovery

Regarding the answer to my previous question of Android's idle Wi-Fi use, it seems like a huge waste of battery life to have Wi-Fi constantly scanning and draining battery. So it seems it would be better to turn Wi-Fi off.

However, I'd still want my Android to connect automatically to my home network, for podcast sync and other large transfers. This wouldn't need to be immediate, since I usually spend a long time at home.

I do know there are apps that give me a Wi-Fi toggle widget, but I don't want to be constantly switching Wi-Fi on and off manually. I know it's only a minor bother, but it just seems silly to have to do that since it would be pretty easy to have logic that does it for me.

Question: Is there any way to periodically (say, once every 15 mins) turn Wi-Fi on just to do a quick network discovery, then in case a known Wi-Fi is found keep it on as long as I am in range? (3rd-party apps are also okay)

(I expect this would in any case require rooting the system, but that's understandable and not a problem.)

Answer

One solution to this problem: use a tasking program such as Locale or Tasker and create certain conditions that will enable your wifi (essentially writing a script as you described).

For example: Use GPS and determine if I'm at my home (I believe you can use real GPS, which will consume quite a bit of power, or base it off of which cell tower you are connected to, which you would already know anyways if not in airplane mode).

Or you could even setup certain times of the day you know you will be at home, or work, or wherever you regularly have wifi.

external sd - What is the difference between running/installing cm7 off SD and EMMC for Nook Color?

I'm trying to decide whether I want to run CM7 off a SD card or run it off the EMMC (internal memory) for my Nook Color. I'm just not getting what is happening when I run off an SD card and when I run it off the EMMC. Also, the install instructions are confusing me. Here are two popular ones that people are using, I am wondering if someone care to explain to me what is actually different between the two. Thanks.

SD: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/nook-color-technical/13156-how-cm7-bootable-sd.html

EMMC: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1030227

Thanks!

Answer

Since the SD Cards are slower than internal NAND memory, by running a ROM off the SD you will be sacrificing on the speed. Things like booting up and launching apps will be noticeably slower. The class rating of your SD Card will play a large role in how much slower your NC will feel when running in such configuration. It's generally recommended to buy at least a Class 6 card for this purpose.

By running custom ROMs from the SD Card you will be able to easily keep the original manufacturer installed firmware intact. In Nook Color the SD Card is set as a primary boot device, so if it contains a bootable ROM image, it will be used instead of whatever is installed on EMMC. By just inserting such a card into the microSD slot and turning the NC on, you will be running a custom ROM. Boot up without this card - and you're back on the EMMC ROM, be it stock or a different custom one. This can be quite beneficial for quickly testing out new experimental ROMs (e.g. Honeycomb builds) without blowing away your main one.

Although it's possible to multi-boot off EMMC without utilizing the SD Card at all, it's a lot more complicated to set up and maintain. This involves re-partitioning the internal memory, using a custom boot image, and modifying the start-up scripts for each ROM you'd like to have installed side-by-side. Needless to say, this type of installation is not for a novice.

Control Android TV with Android Phone

I have a new tv that has Android 4.0.3 installed.

I would like to control the Android system on the TV from my Android based phone. I have tried the following applications.

XBMC - Has a great remote and good interface but I would like to control the whole Android sytem not just an application.

DroidMote - Has a server application that will only run as root. (Yes I could root the TV but that's effort)

TeamViewer - Only offers remote control through view and click.

I understand that sending keypresses and control the Android system may require root due to the need to interface with the Android system but I'm sure there would be a way to do this without root and Android to Android should be very compatible.

Suggestions??

Specs

Android - Phone http://i.imgur.com/ZhEKh.png

Android - TV http://i.imgur.com/quPrq.jpg

How to enable device administrator for specific apps using Tasker?

I would like to make a profile in Tasker to enable device administrator privilegies to "Android Device Manager" when a text message is received. This way I could keep Device Manager disabled, while I can re-enable it remotely (by a text message for example) in case I lost my phone.

Is there any way to do that using Tasker?

How can I update the Linux kernel of my Android device?

I am using Sony Xperia E Dual with the kernel that identifies as 3.0.8-perf administrator@ubuntu-scm01 #1 and now I want to update it to the latest and the best one.

Please help me understand it can be done.

According to my findings the website https://www.kernel.org/ offers the latest kernels. Are these kernels for smartphones? And does anyone have an idea of from where to get the latest kernel? How do I replace the existing one?

Which file has the saved contact data in android? How to get this file in an unrooted phone?

My android phone's screen is damaged and only shows a white pixelated background and does not recognise any touch input (although it does recognise when I swipe on the initial lock screen after I restart the phone, I know this because I can hear the audio feedback). However everything seems intact internally, as I can charge it normally, pull out the battery and put it back in and restart it, the audio feedback when I put in the charger and pull it out work, and I can browse the internal memory by connecting it to the computer.

However, a big problem is that the phone is unrooted. I cannot connect the phone using adb either, since I cannot see the adb authorization dialog box, and just guessing where the OK button should be and pressing there is not working either. Since I can still the internal memory from computer, I have taken most of the basic data backup (pictures, audio recordings, etc) but I am not sure what to do about the contacts.

Is there any way to recover the contacts file from this phone, given that it is not rooted? The contacts are not backed up in google. The phone is Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 4.4

rooting - Can't find option ‘Install zip from SD card’ after installing Clockworkmod

I'm following this guide to root my HTC Desire 510.

I reach the step Step 4 – Root the HTC Desire 510.

I perform the command fastboot flash recovery recovery.img in a cmd prompt, and I receive the message:

sending 'recovery' (10594 KB)...

OKAY [1.352s]
writing 'recovery'....
OKAY [0.731s]
finished. total time 2.085s

I rebooted my phone, then powered off the phone.

At Step 5 – Install SuperSU, I don't see the option ‘Install zip from SD card’. I don't see Install Zip either.

This is what I see:

FASTBOOT
RECOVERY

FACTORY RESET
SIMLOCK
CHECK SMARTSD
IMAGE CRC
SHOW BARCODE

What do I need to do to Install SuperSU?

Help appreciated.

google play store - Can bought Android apps be shared between devices you own?

On the iPod Touch/iPhone, since it is tied to your iTunes account, I am quite sure you can have your bought apps on multiple devices you own (can't test though, iPod Touch was stolen).

However, now I have the Motorola Droid, and am waiting for a tablet, and am considering getting a Nook and rooting it to run my own apps.

Question is, if you buy an app on the marketplace, how is the security done:

1. Is it tied to your Gmail account so you can share it between devices you own?


2. Is it tied to the device? (Don't break/replace your phone!)


3. As long as it's installed, you're OK? (If you uninstall, or wipe your device, it's gone).

I assume 3 is highly unlikely, though a possibility, so leaving it here as a potential answer to my question.

Answer

On your phone open the Android Market app, press Menu, then select Help, then choose Troubleshooting (under Users), you should now see the "Retrieving previously purchased apps" headline. This says:

Your application purchases are tied to your Google Account and can be installed an unlimited number of times on any device.

...

If you change devices, you can install previous purchases by making sure you sign into your device with the same Google Account you used on your previous phone.

Multiple Music libraries

My primary music library is English music (~15 GB) but I have a huge (>10 GB) of Hindi music too. My problem is:

1. I want to maintain these two libraries (preferably on the same device)


2. I want the songs on the Hindi music library to not show up when I "Shuffle All".

How I managed this until now was that I have been using iPod and I check the "Skip while Shuffling" for the Hindi songs. On Android, I can't figure out a way of doing this.

Any ideas?

Answer

To hide media in any folder showing up, you need to add .nomedia file to it. If you search your device, using file explorer (either stock or your preferred),you are likely to find quite a few of these scattered around. Copy-paste one of these into the folder you want to hide (Hindi in your case) and the contents should not show up in your player

If you can't find .nomedia file, you can easily create

If you want an app to do this and offer more functionalities, you could try nomedia app from play store. It offers you the flexibility of choosing folders to hide. App claims to do this (Works on 4.4.2 on Honor 6)

"A tiny tool to hide multimedia files and prevent media scanning. Touch and hold the directory to toggle. Media library will not display the files in red colored folders."

Alternatively, you could use MortPlayer Music, taken from Izzy's list, which takes the approach of choosing which folders you want to play and which folders you want to ignore. It over rides .nomedia file presence and provides an easier alternative

Thanks to Izzy for completing the solution and suggesting alternatives

rom flashing - Mi4i full partition corrupted. Unable to restore EFS partition

I have a Mi4i which was rooted and Cyanogen was installed. Suddenly after reboot, the phone stopped booting into the Cyanogen OS.

I tried to flash the Cyanogen again but it did not boot. I flashed the stock ROM, which is MIUI 6 and the phone booted this time. Now I could see that the SIM card was not getting detected. And also IMEI number was showing as invalid.

I then deleted all the partitions and tried to recover the phone by flashing using "MiFlash". This time too the Cyanogen OS didn't boot up. Then I again flashed the stock ROM and this time also MIUI booted up correctly. Still the IMEI was showing as invalid. I don't have any backup of the EFS partition.

I checked the stock ROM flash_all.sh script and could not find any efs partition being written (modemst1, modemst2, fsg). Then from somewhere I got the modemst1, modemst2 and nv_data partition data and I wrote the partitions manually. After writing the EFS partitions Cyanogen booted correctly. But this time the IMEI showed as "012345678901234" and "012345678901235".

As this is a dummy IMEI, the SIM was not getting registered in the network. Tried with QPST RF NV manager tool to write the IMEI which successfully did but with *#06# it still showed Invalid IMEI. Tried with a couple of IMEI flasher and none of them worked.

Also tried to write the IMEI number using AT command (AT+EMGR=1,7,"IMEI1") but the AT command was returning "ERROR"

Please help me to recover my phone. Now I have my phone with MIUI 7 installed and it is working fine except the IMEI issue.

Thanks in advance.

applications - What is the right way to close apps in Android?

I'm new to the Android platform, and this is probably a dumb question, but...

How do you close an app?

When I'm in an app, and I want to get out, I just click on "Home" and move on, but I just installed a Task Manager app, and I noticed everything is left running.

Is there a way to exit apps? Or do I need to use the Task Manager every time I exit something?

sync android calendar (tasks) with calendar from PC

My goal is to have common calendar & task management between my PC and Android phone. Here is my situation:

On my PC (Windows 7), I have Windows Calendar installed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Calendar It didn't come with it (it actually stopped being released after Vista) so I had to hack around a bit to get it on there. I use Windows Calendar partially (20%) for appointments and their reminders. My main use of it, though, is Tasks and their reminders. Nearly always, when I have a reminder, I snooze it; I rarely complete my task after the first reminder. So, I usually end up snoozing my reminders minutes/hours/days/weeks into the future. Windows Calendar is perfectly suited for this functionality and is the reason why I chose it and like to use it. The calendar is currently stored on the same PC and is not stored remotely somewhere.

Recently, I got an HTC Desire 601. I would like to access the same appointments and tasks from the phone and, importantly, have the reminders synchronized. To clarify, I would like to be able to snooze a task from my PC at 6pm for 2 hours, leave home for at least 2 hours, and have the task popup on my phone at 8pm with a similar prompt to snooze. So, I'm looking for a fairly complete synchronization effect between the PC and the phone.

So, to do this, I obviously need a shared service (Google Calendar, etc.) or a shared file (iCalendar, CalDAV) on a server that both my phone and PC can access. One knock against Google Calendar is that tasks are deficient compared to tasks on Windows Calendar. Google Calendar tasks don't have reminders (and, therefore, nothing to snooze), so I have ruled Google Calendar out. I'm not familiar with other SaaS calendaring/task offerings (Microsoft, etc.)...maybe someone could advise if they handle tasks more like Windows Calendar.

On the phone, there is a calendar built into Android which is pretty close to what I want for a native client. Popups for reminders, though, have no snooze duration. So, I can't choose how long I want it to snooze. This is fairly significant because I routinely snooze one task for 5 minutes and snooze another task for 1 week. So, I need a client on my phone that has this type of functionality. Furthermore, I need a client that will connect to the "shared" service/file that I mentioned earlier.

Am I stretching the limits of the SaaS offerings out there and the available native clients too much that I now need to write my own Android client? I'm not sure about Windows Calendar "automatic synchronization", so I'm flexible enough to accept changing to a client like Mozilla Lightning, if necessary. I have tested Mozilla Lightning and it synchronizes (appointments) well with Google Calendar, for example. Any advice for my problem?

external sd - Is there any way to move apps to my sd card in android 2.1 on my phone?

Is there any way for me to move apps to my sd card in android 2.1 on my phone? Everything I've read so far just talks about how easy it is to do it in 2.2. I have a Milestone, but apparently my carrier is not yet able to support 2.2. Am I just pretty much screwed until it does?

automation - Volume control using Macrodroid

My friend has the same problem on his Samsung device as described here Android automatically corrects my volume

I showed him the solution and it worked beautifully for him. But he would like to make it work whether Google Play Music is in foreground or background, which beeshyams in his answer said is possible but perhaps didn't add as OP didn't ask for that.

I have Macrodroid installed ( learner ) and tried to modify that macro by the condition While Google Play Music in foreground OR ( ) Background and it didn't work

What am I doing wrong and how to achieve the Macro perform as required ?

Answer

Macrodroid has three powerful conditional statements

• 
  

  WHILE / DO , which you tried is not suitable. It doesn't work with OR ( background or foreground ) . That leaves us with

  
  


• 
  
  

  IF ELSE which is also not appropriate . Reason you have 4 states , app in Foreground, Not in foreground , Alive in background , Not running - if you choose one state with IF , ELSE would cover all 3 remaining states and that's not what you want

  
  


• 
  

  That leaves us with two IF loops , each having the corresponding WHILE loop nested. Two WHILE loops in similar fashion may work but I didn't try ( stuck me just now )

  
  

Macro would look like this ( didn't add in linked answer so as to keep it simple and I had the macro ready ). Trigger and constraints would remain same. Only actions shown

You may need a second macro ( for user convenience, and to ensure that macro is not active in other two states) to disable this macro. It would have empty trigger and single action of Macro Stop → Lossless Music 2. Go to the widgets section of your launcher , drag and drop Macrodroid widget to your home screen and assign it to the macro just created with empty trigger.

If Google Play Music is inactive as an example , but you are listening to music on another player, you certainly wouldn't want that player to be locked down. Or let's say you like listening to Heavy Metal on Play music with volume at 75% , you wouldn't want the same volume to persist. As additional precaution

I tested this for the other answer , so you are good to go with this

Happy automation with Macrodroid :)

applications - Some apps cannot access the internet

After my Android Lollipop upgrade on my HTC M8, some apps are unable to access the internet such as Twitter, but Facebook works perfectly fine. WhatsApp works fine except that I'm unable to receive Media files as well. This only happens with Wi-Fi.

I tried forgetting the network, rebooting the device, turning Wi-Fi, and even hard reset my phone. I reset the modem and done almost everything. Nothing works though.

None of this happened before the update, one more thing is that it only happens with my Home Wi-Fi, other Wi-Fi networks work perfectly fine.

I tried connecting other phones to my home Wi-Fi, and it works perfectly fine.

How can I solve this?

Answer

It's a DNS problem. Try using Google's DNS.

Go into your router's advanced setup and change the primary DNS server to 8.8.8.8.

updates - What's involved in manually updating my Nexus One?

If I wanted to manually update my Nexus One, say to Gingerbread, what's involved in the process?

I'm familiar with this question, Manually Updating your OS?, but unsure if the answer applies to the Nexus One. Do I need to root my phone in order to update it?

Answer

There currently is no official update for the N1 to Gingerbread yet.

However, you could root your phone and install CyanogenMod 7 (nightly, it hasn't hit release candidate yet) to get Gingerbread on your phone. From what I've heard, the nightlies have been pretty stable for the N1.

More details on the CM wiki here.

Basic steps include:

1. Root your phone


2. Install ROM Manager


3. Flash ClockWork Recovery


4. MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP OF YOUR PHONE


5. Flash CM7

Note: rooting your phone will void your warranty. For more info about rooting, see here and here.

cyanogenmod - How to manually restore Call Log from adb backup on OnePlus One? (SMS already restored)

I ran adb backup with all the backup flags on my OnePlus One (which I had gradually upgraded from 44S to 05Q). Then I wiped it, reimaged it with a fresh image of 05Q, and tried to restore my SMS and call logs.

I managed to restore the SMS history by copying back the /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases folder to my new phone and setting the permissions appropriately. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to restore my call logs -- I can't figure out which folder to restore from and I can't figure out where to restore it to. It seems to me that the two might be different because I originally upgraded the phone from a slightly older version of Cyanogenmod whereas the fresh copy is completely new, but either way I can't figure out how to do this. I have a nagging feeling that the call log might not have even been backed up, but that would be strange because the SMS log was...

Any ideas?

Answer

Note: OP already knows the answer but the following info is for those souls who might be troubled with the same issue.

---

CM11 in OnePlus One (be it 44S or 05Q update) doesn't have any provision to get the Contacts and Call logs get backed up and restored using ADB.

So unfortunately, the answer is simple: your contacts and call logs were not backed up by ADB because the developer(s) of CM11 didn't allow it, and so, you should look for other ways to restore them (hint: Google Contacts Sync).

Also, if it matters:

• /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases is where you'll find the database for SMS/MMS


• /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/ is where you'll see the Contacts and the Call logs

You can now stop reading if you're satiated by the answer, and I recommend to get busy in finding some recovery methods to regain access to Contacts and Call logs.

However, some souls want a reason for an event no matter what, so here we go with one such reason!

---

Why is that private content such as SMS/MMS were backed up but not the Contacts?

You've to note that since Jelly Bean was launched this has not been a common behavior exhibited in Android Open Source Code (AOSP) and neither by most of the stock ROMs to allow backup of said private content by ADB, i.e. both Telephony Provider (has SMS/MMS database) and Contacts Provider (has Contacts and Call logs) are usually developed to not to participate in backup and restore infrastructure of the Android system. However, CM11 has some changes which allows SMS/MMS to be backed up but leave the Contacts and Call logs in the dirt.

What are those changes?

My finding states that in CM11, a flag named android:allowBackup="false" was eventually removed from Telephony Provider but remained untouched in Contacts Provider. This flag is always introduced under the app's AndroidManifest.xml.

Google here has to say this regarding that flag:

android:allowBackup

Whether to allow the application to participate in the backup and restore infrastructure. If this attribute is set to false, no backup or restore of the application will ever be performed, even by a full-system backup that would otherwise cause all application data to be saved via adb. The default value of this attribute is true.

_{(Emphasis mine)}

However, for some reason, CM12 reverted back this decision and now, both the apps doesn't allow backup from ADB at all.

If you intend to to see the source of the said packages, then take a look at AndroidManifest.xml of Telephony Providers for:

• CM11 -- no such flag under


• CM12 -- has that flag under



But for Contacts Provider both CM11 and CM12 has the flag untouched.

You can further verify this information from the AndroidManifest.xml of both the packages that you've in your CM11. You would find that the flag is present in one app and not in the other.

Note that the default behavior as mentioned in original source code of Android is to disallow backup in both apps for Kitkat release.

As for why CM11 developer(s) made such changes, I would advise asking them directly.

Done for now!

---

You may checkout my similar answer mentioned here for the question: Backup/Restore SMS/MMS via ADB on a non-rooted device?.

Install Google Play Services without Google Play Store

Recently, I rooted my phone for the first time, and wanted to get rid of most Google apps including the Play Store. However, after seeing multiple apps didn't work correctly because of a dependency on the Google API, I decided I had to install Google Play Services again.

After installing the latest version from apkmirror, and checking I had the Google Framework installed, apps still crashed and displayed won't run without Google Play services which are not supported by your device. This seems odd as I have Android 9 installed on a OnePlus 6. Is this issue caused by not having the Google Play Store installed? If so, is there any way to circumvent it using another app?

EDIT:

Would I be able to flash GApps on a stock ROM? Also, for some reason, the last time I tried to remove the Play Store I couldn't find its package in the /system folder.
When I tried to flash GApps, it displayed that I already had Google Apps installed. Also, it output Error 70: insufficient memory in system partition.
Also, is there any risk of crashing my OS because OpenGapps would overwrite some of the current stock Google apps?