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Stuck at "Installing update..." in recovery mode
I am not able to flash my Nexus 4 with Cyanogenmod 11 anymore. The installation does not successfully finish, which is probably why it gets stuck in a boot loop after restarting the phone.
During the initial installation by sideloading the Cyanogenmod 11 zip, the process stops at the step Installing update..
It never says update finished. So I just restarted the phone manually afterwards. But it does not boot Cyanogenmod successfully.
The phone either...

...gets stuck at the Cyanogenmod boot splash indefinetely
...gets stuck at the window Android is upgrading.. / Starting apps.

I have formatted the following partitions beforehand to perform a  clean install: /system, /cache, /data, /persist, /firmware

When it gets stuck at boot splash, does the cyanogenmod logo appears, so is just blank?

@AnoopKP The cyanogenmod logo appears 100% working. The blue arrow keeps spinning indefinitely.

How did you did you flash CM? Did you use CWM? If yes, what version?

Did you verify the MD5 sum of the ROM first? It could be a corrupted / incomplete zip file. What recovery are you using? I would do a full wipe of all partitions again, redownload the firmware and try it again. Also I would get another ROM to try (even if you don't intend to use it). Can you restore a nandroid even? Also, ensure you are flashing the correct ROM for your version and that you are flashing the correct gapps! (I've been here a few times before!)

@geffchang I flashed CM by manually by entering recovery mode, wiping partitions and sideloading the installer zip.

@RossC I did verify the MD5 sum of the download. It matched up. I have tried both the latest nightly rom and older stable roms that have worked before.

Thanks for trying to help guys, I managed to flash the latest CM11 nightly after first doing a clean install of the 4.4.2 Google Stock Android.

I had suspected that formatting additional partitions like /firmware and /persist might be somehow related my boot loop - but I have no educated confirmation of this! Any CM aftermarket firmware that I tried would get stuck at the boot though.
The following solved my problem:

Install the (latest) Google Stock Android - this is just as easy as installing Cyanogenmod
Install ClockworkMod Recovery
Install Cyanogenmod Rom


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Root Galaxy Star Pro
Is there any tutorial for rooting Galaxy Star Pro (S7260). With rooting package ? I bought this phone recently and I could't find a tutorial for rooting this phone by googleing.

Is that the same device as the Galaxy Star Duos S5282? I doubt it from your question, but the tag is suggesting it :)

not S5282. It is S7260.

And that's called "Galaxy Star Duos"? Or did you just chose the "closest tag"? // Btw: I've linked to your question from our rooting index, which you might wish to consult for "general info" (Generic rooting methods and the like), while waiting for an explicit answer.

try this app first Kingoroot. Works for most :D

based on the link given by satyam's answer, which now is dead
A guide was available at tricksdroid.com (the domain went down in 2015, so it's dead now), the page can still be found at Archive.Org. The essentials summed up in short:
Requirements

USB drivers for the device (or Samsung Kies)
usb-debugging enabled on the device
The Galaxy Star Pro should be factory unlocked and not locked to any particular carrier.
Have a recent backup available in case things go wrong.
Ensure the battery of the device is charged more than 80 percent.
Verify the model number of the Galaxy Star Pro by selecting Settings >> About Phone.
CWM recovery
SuperSU
Odin 3.07

Procedure

Extract the Odin 3.07 and CWM Recovery files using winrar/7zip/winzip or any other extracting tool
Copy the UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.75.zip file to the SD card of your phone
Switch off the Galaxy Star Pro. Then boot the device into Download Mode by pressing and holding Volume Down, Home and Power buttons together until a construction Android robot icon with a warning triangle appears on screen. Now press the Volume Up button to enter Download Mode.
Run Odin on the computer as an Administrator.
Connect the Galaxy Star Pro to the computer using USB cable while it is in the Download Mode. Wait until Odin detects the device. When the device is connected successfully, the ID: COM box will turn to light blue with the COM port number. Additionally, the "successful connected" will be indicated by a message saying "Added".
Note: If the Added message does not appear, then try re-install USB drivers or changing the port on the computer.
In Odin, click the PDA button and select the recovery.tar.md5 file. Verify that Auto Reboot and Re-Partition options are NOT selected.
Double-check and click Start button in Odin. The installation process will now begin.
Once the installation process completes, you will see a "PASS" message with green background in the left-most box at the very top of the Odin. You can now unplug the USB cable to disconnect it from the computer.
Reboot the device into CWM Recovery by pressing and holding Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together.
In CWM Recovery, select "install zip from sdcard" and then select "choose zip from sdcard". Now, navigate to the UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.75.zip file that you copied earlier and confirm the installation by selecting "Yes".
Once installation process is completed, return to main recovery menu and select "reboot system now".

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


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Kitkat keyboard no suggestion on text fields
I noticed that when slide-typing (does it have an official name?) into text fields (as opposed to text areas), suggestions do not appear. It just puts in the first word it guesses I was trying to type and doesn't give me any other options.
Why is this and is there a solution to it?

a) It's called "swiping", and b) an alternative keyboard app? Playstore has tons of them. Even Google's own IME (supports typing, swiping, and voice input).

I was talking about Google's own IME.

Sure it's this one? Maybe something with it's settings then. I rawly remember there was something like that. You could check in Settings→Language & Input, tap the gear symbol next to "Google Keyboard", and check the settings for auto-correct and suggestions.

Yes there are suggestions, my problem is that they're not always there. They're only there in text areas (e.g. text message), but not in text fields (e.g. google search).

Ah, now I see what you are pointing to (and reading your Q again, that's what you wrote initially and I missed). I remember having missed the suggestions here and there as well (using the Google IME on ICS), but never paid attention to "regularities". That might well be "working as intended", as Tunga's answer suggests. Should be configurable, but obviously isn't. Sorry, no ideas about "fixes" or "work-arounds"; though you might try alternative keyboards whether they behave differently.

Android doesn't have a distinction between "text fields" and "text areas" like HTML has. One control, called TextView (or EditText, but they're both the same underlying control) handles all text fields, whether they're editable or not, and whether they're one line or several.
That's not to say that every text field behaves the same way. TextView gives the app the opportunity to set hints for the keyboard, to tell it what kind of text is being edited (called the input type). One input type tells the keyboard that the text being entered is a search filter. The keyboard's free to interpret these hints however it likes: in this case, Google Keyboard doesn't show any word completions/suggestions when the input type is a search filter.
You can avoid this problem by using a different keyboard app which interprets the input type and other hints differently. For example, SwiftKey shows word completions for search filters just like for normal text. (I've just tested it on Google Search.) SwiftKey also supports gesture typing like the default keyboard.
If you're interested, you can learn more about the different hints apps can give to the keyboard by playing with my app IM prove. (It's a free app with no ads, so all I get if you use it is a warm fuzzy feeling when you leave a good rating.) With this app, you can set all the hints, and see what effect they have on your keyboard. You can compare different keyboards this way.

This is normal, because Google Search offers its own predictions/corrections.  It's kind of silly, but that's how it works.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


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How do I decide what car charger I need to buy?
I am with Nexus 5 and finding it difficult to decide on what car charger or car dock with charger I need to buy.
As there is no accessories from parent company (LG or Google) I not sure what charger I need to buy.
On the whole how one has to decide what third party car charger will suit android devices?

any car adapter with a reputable brand that has a USB port and can supply 1.5A or greater is fine. I know Sony, Samsung and HTC sells those accesories.

OK. Can you suggest me one?

here's one from samsung. But really, any brand name car charger is fine. Just take into account its power supply and has a USB port.


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Testing Websites on Phone
I was wondering is there any way to test websites on my phone? I am a Web Programmer, and I usually code designs which are responsive. So I want to check if the design is compatible on mobile phone. I use XAMPP on my Windows 7 Laptop for Apache services. Is there anything like Hamachi I could use to see my http://localhost via my Phone?

If your phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your laptop, you don't need Hamachi or anything like that. Just set up your development web server to accept connections from the same network. This isn't really an Android question.

How do I do that

See the last sentence of Dan's comment: This isn't really an Android question. Hint: Server Fault might be a good address for that. You might also wish to check with Super User.

Take a look: Chrome DevTools for Mobile: Emulate and Screencast

Some what correct but can't seem to find the download link for the dev tool.

You can use automated testing over a wide range of devices ...
using
http://mite.keynote.com/
refer this it may help u ...
http://mite.keynote.com/how-it-works/index.php

75 MB is a lot dude. My code editor is hardly 2 MB man. Plus I want to see a live view of how does it look like on various mobile phones.

look at this link it may help you ...I have a List of a Few things that Can be used instead of Hamachi which you might find handy
Http://www.tunggle.com
http://www.comodo.com/home/email-security/vpn-access.php
http://openvpn.net/
http://www.wippien.com/


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How can you remove homescreens on the Nexus 7 (2013)
I have a Nexus 7 (2013) which comes with five homescreens, however I want to remove most of these but I'm unable to find an option to do so.
Most of the sites I've looked on so far suggest simply tapping and holding on the homescreen, but this prompts me to change my wallpaper.
How can you remove homescreens on the Nexus 7 (2013)?

Are you sure you have the google-experience launcher? The one that comeswith the Nexus 5 and has integrated Google Now on the leftmost screen? It does not come with the Nexus 7 update, it is Nexus 5 exclusive. You CAN sideload it, but since you mention "Five Homescreens" you don't have it. You have the stock launcher.
If you are using the Nexus 7 'stock' launcher you cannot remove or add homescreens. You could install Nova Launcher or another third party launcher. You can easily add and remove screens on these, through pinch out and drag screen to the 'trash can' or 'X' icon.
Specific to G.E.L:
You simply remove all the shortcuts from the rightmost screen and it will automatically remove the screen itself. The reverse is true also, drag an icon out of the app drawer over the edge of the rightmost screen and a new one will be created.
Side Loading GEL:
Phandroid 'How to' With links to the apk files
You can easily sideload GEL and you will only have one homescreen by default, and integrated Google Now. This should work on any Android 4.0+ Device. I have tested on 4.2.2 and 4.3 and 4.4 on Galaxy S4, Nexus 4 and HTC One.

@Kalina I've updated again with links on how to install the GEL on your device. Also Nova is a brilliant launcher, I've used it since my HTC Desire. Since they are both free, why not experiment with what you like? If you need anything else just let me know, if my answer was useful please condider accepting it!

Thanks for that - going through the process of installing GEL now!

Great, hope it works for you. Any issues let me know and we can sort it out. There are a few files to install to get it working. It worked first time on all my devices EXCEPT the Nexus 4, where it went very screwy. I got it working but reinstalling all the apks again a second time.

Yeah it's all up and running now, just re building my home screens! Much thanks

No sideloading is necessary. Install the official "Google Now Launcher" from Google Play store and it will allow you to remove unused home screens (desktops) and enable the "OK Google" voice commands, among other things.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.launcher

I've figured this out and it's actually pretty easy:

Make sure one of the home screens is BLANK by removing all apps and widgets.
Then, PINCH TO ZOOM on the screen. This will bring up a collage of ALL the home screens.
Drag and drop the screen you would like into the 'Remove' trash bin.

Voila.

Pinching screens does not work on 4.2.2 stock launcher - whether or not the screen is empty. If it works for you, you may want to check your version...

This doesn't work for me on my Nexus 7 (with Android 5.0.2 loaded)...pinching has no effect.


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How to install an app outside Google Play?
How can I install an apk app outside of Google Play. Like if I downloaded it from another site and I try to open it, it says unable to install and I read that you have to do something to get it to work. What do you have to do?

Have you seen our installation tag-wiki? Also see: How can I install an app given only its APK file?

You have to go to Settings > Security and tick "Unknown Sources" or depending on your device/OS version "Allow Unknown Sources." You can then side load an apk file. It maybe a slightly different place depending on the manufacuturer. E.g. Samsung is Settings > More > Security.


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Battery Trickle Charging, good or bad?
What are the side effects of using apps that trickle charge battery. App like "Battery Doctor". It charges around 30-50 (varies with device) mins after battery is fully charged, which results in a bit longer battery backup as I found out. But is that harmful for battery health? Like damaging the battery? Or should I charge normally up to the device says "Fully Charged"?

You might wish to check with Does constant charging harm my Android cellphone? / Am I overcharging my phone? / my answer here

especially on a rapid-charger, this is normal charging behavior to achieve complete 'depth' of charge. I wish they wouldn't report it as "charged/100%" if it was still trickling.
Here is a graph of the charge curve. note the voltage on the battery tops out but the current is still drawn.

It's somewhat an EE question, but higher voltage is provided to the battery until the charge rate (current draw) drops to 5-2% of C, with C being the total storage. IE, on a 3000mAh battery this would be a charge rate of 60mA. Lower cutoffs (1%) are detrimental to battery health (IE, over 3-500 charges degrades capacity by, oh, 5-10%), but given OEM replacement batteries are $10-15 FOB from China, it is wiser to consider them sacrificial and not concern yourself with their health.
I know it's a shift in thinking but it's much easier to convert to Qi charging (just get a TPU case too to help hold it on) and just drop it on the pad whenever you are at work or at home. Once you have a phone with Qi you won't be interested in one without. plugging in twice a day (once to top up) is hard.


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Any way to reduce the frequency of searching for a signal
My fiancee just got my old SGS2 when I got my new N5.  The problem that she's having is that there is no cell reception at her work.  And because of this, her phone is constantly searching for a signal all day long, and by the time she leaves work and gets into an area of reception the phone is dead.
I've told her to just turn it off or put it in airplane mode, but she usually forgets.  I know I could set something up with tasker, but that sounds like a pain, and I don't really want to pay for on app she'd hardly use.
phone is SGH T989.  I believe she's on 4.2.something.
Really what I'd like to be able to do is just have the phone not try so hard to find a signal when there isn't one available.  I looked and didn't really see a system setting for this.  Is there maybe an app that someone can recommend that would work?

You most certainly and for sure want to check What is Cell standby and how can I keep it from eating my battery?. Some solutions there. Oh, including Tasker (I no longer can do without), but also alternatives.

@Izzy I'd mark your comment as the best answer if I could.

I had similar problems and used Llama, then expanded my use of it to cover other events. It is similar to Tasker, and sufficient to my needs, while still a free app. Most automation can be triggered by entering/leaving cell tower range that is recognized as "Home". It has options to turn on Airplane mode automatically when the phone leaves a cell reception range, and take it out of Airplane mode when it re-enters.
BTW - I'm just an enthusiastic user - not the developer.

That's interesting.  How does it know it's re-entered cell reception if it's in Airplane mode?

@matthew - It can be set to ping periodically until it finds the cell tower(s) identified as "Home", pinging can be stopped or delayed, resuming after a certain time, say 16:00.


text:
Widgets of installed apps do not appear in list
I just bought my father a chinese phone, seems to be working great except after I install an app, it does not appear in the widgets list.
I have tried several apps (Wifi Manager, Gsam Battery monitor) on several launchers (Default, Zeam, GO Launcher EX). I even set English instead of Hungarian, nothing helped.
The default widgets (Bookmarks, Calendar, Gmail, etc) are in the list.
Is there some setting I am missing?

Maybe. You didn't move those apps to SDCard somehow? Unlikely, but the first thing coming to my mind when widgets do not show up...

It was the default setting somehow. Thank you very much. If you convert it to an answer, I will accept it as a solution. Someone else might profit from it.

Sure thing – glad my guess was a precision landing, and thus the solution an easy one! Done so.

This can (and certainly will) happen when installing apps on SDCard. Normally, the system should prevent this (or rather the dev, by defining the "install-location" accordingly in the app's Manifest).
So if the apps were installed on SDCard, go to Settings→Apps, scroll to the apps' entries, open them (one by one), and move the app to internal storage. If the widgets do not appear right away after that, they should do so at least after a reboot.

Izzy is right, by default you aren't able to load widgets from external memory. If you'd like to do that you will have to use an app like link2sd or something to trick the kernel into thinking it is the internal memory.
Link2sd
link2sd +


text:
Scanning barcodes into third party apps
I have a third party app for a production system. This is now a legacy application that may not be modified.
There is a text field in this third party app.
I have barcodes that translates into valid inputs for this text field.
I would like to be running this third party app, but somehow be able to use an android device to zap a barcode, translate it into text, and stick it into that text field.
I imagine the following:

User opens third party app
User places focus on text field
User presses button to cause barcode to be scanned
Barcode is translated and placed in the text field that has the focus

Is this feasible with an android phone or tablet?
I am scared that we may have to ditch our legacy app and develop fresh.

It's easy to achieve a similar workflow with an off-the-shelf barcode scanner app such as ZXing's Barcode Scanner. After scanning a barcode in that app, you can press a button to copy the scanned text to the clipboard. After switching to your other app, you simply long-tap the text field to paste the text into it. It's a few more screen taps than you're imagining, but that's the easiest way.
There's also a keyboard app that has a button to scan a barcode and enter the scanned text as if typed in. It's non-free, and requires replacing your soft keyboard, but Barcodescanner Keyboard lets you shorten the workflow by a few taps.
Any better solution would require some kind of bespoke development, whether that's modifying the target app or making a custom ROM.

Dan, this is very helpful. I am going to dig into these shortly.

To save you from copy-pasting, there is an interesting alternative option: some kind of "Barcode keyboard", i.e. using a QR-Reader as input method. There are a few apps available at Google Play which (according to their description) offer exactly that. An example fitting for your case would be Barcodescanner Keyboard:

This soft-keyboard scans and enters barcodes directly into input fields of arbitrary apps, batch scanning mode is supported.

Note the Barcode-Scanner symbol in the lowest row of the keyboard, second from the left? As the other keys are also present, you can type normally in fields where you need that, and simply tap the barcode-icon to invoke the scanner, as shown in the second screenshot.
Remark: I didn't try it, so I have no more details on how it works and how reliable it is. Just found it at Google Play and thought it might be helpful for you :)


text:
Stop the nag notification for enabling texts on Hangouts?
Pretty much every time I get a text message, Hangouts gives me an annoying notification asking to handle my text messages (which I don't want to do). Is there a way to disable it?

Turn it on, then go into Hangouts and turn it off.
Actually I really wanted to write/receive SMS from Hangouts, but it didn't quite work well. Sometimes I could not even reply to the message. So yeah. I disabled it and no nag ever since.

I'm trying your method at the moment, but it may take a day or two to see if it works!

It's alright. I got the stupid notifciation again after a Hangouts update. Gotta love Google.

Hmm, that sucks. I think I'm going to chalk it up to "Google is trying to control my life and will never stop."

Well, I haven't gotten any annoying notifications since I read your answer, so I'm going to mark it as accepted! It's not permanent, but better than nothing.


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How to make Android GMail app to show my picture next to my email messages?
I have a user profile picture selected for my own Google profile. This picture is visible in my GMail settings and works fine with web versions of GMail:

This profile picture shows successfully next to all my email messages on GMail web site, i.e. when I open my GMail account through desktop web browser (Chrome).
This profile picture also shows successfully when I open mobile version of GMail web site using mobile Chrome on my Nexus 5.

However, when I use the stock Android GMail app to read my emails on Nexus 5, my profile picture refuses to show. Profile pictures of other people show successfully next to their message titles, but my messages are displayed with the "default" profile icon - a large "A" in a square. Meanwhile, GMail app correctly recognizes these messages as posted by me: it explicitly says "me" in place of sender's name.
So, is there some sort of trick to make GMail app behave consistently with GMail web site in that regard, i.e. make it display my profile picture next to me messages in GMail?

I totally agree with you and this is really an annoying bug. One question thou, do you use Chrome and does it show image for that profile, at my PC Chrome is also not showing correct image.


text:
Will I need to move app updates to SD card in Android 4.3?
If I move a certain app to SD card (from App Info page), what happens when Play Store installs that app's update? Will the update automatically go to SD card, or will it go to internal storage and I'll have to move it to SD card again?

From my experience with my Droid after this functionality was added to Android, updates "go" to where the app is. That is, I did not need to re-move the app to the SD card after an update. As far as I know the functionality for that has not regressed. (Actually, I don't think much work has been done on it at all. Google would like for phones to just have internal storage.)
That said, there's probably more chance of something going wrong with an update in that scenario. You may find occasionally that you have to move an app back to internal storage to update and then move it back to the SD card. Or possibly re-install. But it's probably rare.
I don't currently have a device with 4.3 and an SD card, so this is a bit of conjecture based on my experience with an older version of the OS. Caveat emptor.

The Google Play error -18 indicates an app update fails to write to SD (due to some left-overs from a previous installation of the same app; see e.g. in the app description of VitalPlayer, this post on XDA, or try this customized Google-search for 11.900 XDA-results on the same topic). The recommended solution is to move the app to internal storage, trigger the update again, and then optionally move the app back to SD.
From this I conclude: the app gets updated in the selected storage.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S2 shuts off when plugged in: screen goes black then a grey empty battery appears
Samsung Galaxy S2 shuts off when plugged in. The screen goes black then a grey empty battery appears for a second then disappears. This "flashes" several times in about 4-5 second intervals. I can not turn the phone on unless the phone is unplugged.
If I try to holding the power button for around a minute it then goes to the "charging screen" (the battery with the charging level in green). This happens even if the phone is partially charged. If my phone is on and I plug it in it stays on for almost a minute then the screen goes black, grey battery appears blinks for about 3-5 minutes same as I mentioned above. When the phone is fully charged, when I get it to that state, it does stay charged.
I have taken out the battery, I have tried a different charger. I am convinced this is a hardware problem. Also this started happening about 3 days ago. Any ideas as to what may be wrong are welcome.

I followed this approach and it worked for me (and looks like for other people too):

The way I got mine working was, remove the battery, plug the charger in, wait 5 seconds then start touching the battery on and off of the contacts on the phone, did this quite quickly, then the phone will vibrate. As soon as it starts vibrating, push the battery into the phone so it's permanently on. I got a picture saying the battery with nearly fully charged. Then when the picture goes off, the red LED came on to say it was charging. I left it like that for an hour, then turned it on and it's been working since.

It is the issue with the micro USB on the phone. Best you get it checked at a authorized service center.
For a temporary fix:
Take a sharp pin and put it under the micro USB port and twist the USB port towards the screen. That should be a quick fix.

Clean lint out of usb port with a safety pin, be careful with connector inside...lint from pocket is issue

Why would you assume lint is the cause of the problem???

Are you maybe using a non-supported charger? I know they can produce wrong internal voltages which can corrupt the functionality of hardware. If I try to charge my z3c with my iPhone charger I'm unable to use the screen anymore since it won't recognize any input. And very sensible Hardware like the CPU will instantly shut down when noticing wrong voltages. Maybe that's causing it.

It's an issue with your battery. The same thing occurred in my Panasonic P66 phone too. It usually occurs when you're running an application which drains the battery more(ex: Games, Camera) while the phone is plugged. And when the battery percentage is about 15%-25%. You can overcome this issue by replacing your battery.
Yesterday I bought another charging cable. and now the phone charges as usual. So try replacing the charging cable before replacing the battery because, cost for a battery is higher than that for a cable.

authors: رياحين الجنه


text:
Android App (Lego Speedorz) will not run in restricted profile, crashes instantly
I have two little kids and for obvious reasons I'm not to keen to let them use my account. Since I have Android 4.4.2 on my Nexus 7 I set up a limited profile today and enabled the kids games for the profile.
Sadly one App (Lego Speedorz) keeps crashing instantly when started. Since there is close to nothing one can setup for apps in restricted profiles I'm at a loss here :-(
Any hint what I could try to get the game running?

Complain to the app developer. It's up to them to debug and fix the problem. It would be helpful if you report any answer they give back here, so future visitors who find your question know what's going on.

Seems like the LEGO email system is shut down till december 24th...

If this game is the one you're talking about, the developer is Warner Bros Games: their email address is on that page. Lego's nothing to do with the game, they just licensed their trademarks for it.

I found that out by myself, sorry for not writing it here. I already contacted the support but all I got was "Could you please try the game in a non-restricted profile to see if it crashes? If it does, please delete the game and then re-download it again." I answered that it does work on normal profiles... reply pending.

After restarting the tablet the app is now working properly. No idea - could be android was not able to free enough RAM or some such...


text:
Remotely control an Android tablet from a Mac or Windows machine?
Does anyone administer any Android devices as kiosks which you need to be able to monitor remotely?
I've been looking for something like TeamViewer for Android. I found there's a Support version which should allow people to connect to the Android device but I am unsure if you can fully control it? i.e load up certain apps, change app settings etc.?
I also found Bomgar and AirDroid or something similar.
Ideally, I need to know the status of the device (online or offline) and be able to diagnose any problems (or update the settings and apps). We already use SureFox Kiosk Web Browser which works OK (although it's not as responsive as just running the Chrome app)

If you search for TeamViewer on this site you can see that a few other people have had experience with it, but it's not very encouraging.

See also: Which program allows remote management of Android devices?, Android remote screen display & control, How to Remote Control Android smartphone, if not in same subnet, How can I remote support an Android tablet?, How can I control my phone remotely?, more

Many thanks guys, will look into those other threads, I guess this can be marked as a duplicate and closed?


text:
Why is Android app not compatible
My son's got a Kurio 7 tablet. I've installed the Amazon App Store on it and noticed not all apps are compatible. Bad Piggies for example won't install. The Amazon App Store says its not compatible with his device. Why is that? Bad Piggies is supposed to support Android 2.2 and the Kurio 7 has Android 4. Other than that it doesn't say anything about the requirements. What other things can make an Android device incompatible with some apps?

There are a few different things on Android that specify whether or not an app is compatible with a device:

The author can specify minimum and maximum supported versions.  Meaning that even though 2.2 is supported, 4.0 may not be.  (Probably not this in your case). Reference
Apps may require certain features to be available, another thing that the author puts in the manifest.  This specifies things like needing a camera, needing an accelerometer, needing internet access, etc.  If your device doesn't have one of the features, it may show as not compatible. Reference1 Reference2

Here is a list of possible features that may be required by the app's developer.

As an example for #2:

When you declare "android:required="true" for a feature, you are specifying that the application cannot function, or is not designed to function, when the specified feature is not present on the device.

So is there any way to check which requirements my tablet is lacking for particular apps?

Not that is easy, as far as I am aware.  Many times you can tear apart an APK to see the manifest, but that's a bit more involved.


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How does fast-charge work?

How does Fast Charge work?
Does it actually charge your device faster, and if so,
Is there a downside to using it?

Fast Charging can be achieved in two ways

Hardware based Charging

Qualcomm-  Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 and Qualcomm quick Charge 3.0. Also see Fast Charging by Qualcomm 3.0- impact on battery?. This is the most popular, adopted by OEMs under various brand names
Type C USB Charging- USB Type C Charging explained. Also see Android phone “charging slowly”: How to make it faster
By OPPO- VOOC (Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging) and Super VOOC

Kernels (including kernel tweaks) capable of increasing charge rate whether it is USB or wall outlet charging

First part of your question How does fast charging work? Does it actually charge your device faster
This has been covered at length here (linking it rather than copy-paste) Will plugging the Samsung fast charger into a outlet rated 10W/2.1AMP slow down the charge rate?.
To summarise, normal charging is done at 0.5 to 0.8 C (C is charge rate) and fast charging done at 1 to 3 C. Please note that the exact or indicative charging rate is not revealed in any OEM documentation despite extensive search and it is unlikely that OEMs will reveal such  details, deeming it "proprietary"
Coming to the second part of your question Is there a downside to it (Fast Charging)?
Yes, in two ways:
A common feature while using fast chargers is raise in temperature of battery (since more current is being pumped in and power (read heat) is proportional to square of current) and this is inimical to good health of battery, which is extensively  covered here.

Short Term (Battery capacity after charging) Battery is not really fully charged as it does not undergo charging spending enough time in all stages, compared to conventional charging. In simple words battery may deliver typically 85% of performance compared to regular charging. Details on this are available here
Long Term (Battery life span) Battery life is specified in Cycles or discharge cycles. OEMs/ Battery resellers may specify this number, for example, it is 550 Cycles for Samsung Note 2

Quoting from BU-501: Basics About Discharging

What Constitutes a Discharge Cycle?
A discharge/charge cycle is commonly understood as the full discharge of a charged battery with subsequent recharge, but this is not always the case. Batteries are seldom fully discharged and manufacturers often use the 80 percent depth-of-discharge (DoD) formula to rate a battery, meaning that only 80 percent of the available energy is delivered and 20 percent remains in reserve. Cycling a battery at less than full discharge increases service life and manufacturers argue that this is closer to a field representation because batteries are commonly recharged with some spare capacity left.
There is no standard definition as to what constitutes a discharge cycle.

This does not mean that every time you charge you are consuming a cycle

For example, if you discharge a battery to 50 percent one day, charge it back to 100 percent, then discharge it 50 percent again the next day, that is counted as one "cycle" of the battery. So shallow discharges, in all these regards, are ideal for a Li-ion battery.

Now that battery life in cycles has been explained, let us see how fast charging adversely affects long term battery life
Figure 2 from BU-401a: Fast and Ultra-fast Chargers graphically shows deterioration in long term battery life. Note deterioration in charge holding capacity and life of battery are both affected adversely

Figure 2: Cycle performance of Li-ion with 1C, 2C and 3C charge and discharge
Charging and discharging Li-ion above 1C reduces service life. Use a slower charge and discharge if possible. This rule applies to most batteries.
Bottom Line: Use fast charging when you "have to" due to time constraints else if possible stick to normal charging if you care for your battery( if you have read this lengthy answer, it's because you care:). But a relevant question is what can be done if your cell is equipped only with a fast charger? Answer would be to use a battery pack for normal use and fast charging when you really need it. This way, you could end up spending more but wouldn't need to bother about battery health
Perhaps realizing that ill effects of fast charging would be negative, Samsung has come up with user selectable enable/disable fast charge option

See FoneArena Labs : Best Fast Charging Standard in the market for performance comparison of different charging techniques

FYI. You may like to see Quick Charging 3.0 explanation here http://android.stackexchange.com/a/138678/131553

So if I have a phone with a 3000mAH battery, assume it's at 4v and charging, then I would need to reach 3A (1C) *4V = 12W of power in order to reach "fast charge" speeds, which means 5v * 2.4A is needed - OR some variant of higher voltage (i.e. 9v x 2A, 12v x 1.5A, etc.)

Theoretically ,yes, but neither OEMs nor internet search had revealed to me the actual figures in terms of actual. I don't have a device that fast charges to arrive at an approximation. If you are talking of Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, I would go with 5 V figure. If 3.0, then both voltage and current can be varied so ultimately one needs to look at wattage . You can see the linked answer for 3.0. AFAIK Samsung is the only OEM which is offering a device that can be charged normal/quick as mentioned in last line of answer. If I lay my hands on it can atleast compare

When you plug your phone into a PC, or other device that communicates with the phone, the phone uses a USB "Data mode", so to speak. In this mode, there is a 500ma maximum draw from the USB port.
When you plug your phone into a regular AC wall charger, there is no data connection. The phone then uses whatever amperage is supported by both the phone and charger (typically between 500ma and 2.1amps)
There are USB charging cables that have the data pins re-wired to disable a data connection. This makes the phone think it's plugged into a regular AC charger, and allow more than 500ma to flow. That does not mean the USB port has more than 500ma to begin with. Typically, USB ports on PCs have 500ma, or USB 3.0 ports may have 900ma.
Theoretically this is safe because it's just disabling a data connection. It's not using more power than it should. Phone's are designed not to accept more amps than it can handle.
There are also apps that allow for fast charging by forcing the phone into using the AC charging mode instead of data. However you still need a compatible kernel or it won't work. (For standard users, changing the kernel is a complicated and risky procedure.)
Please note that there are reported cases of people's phones not supporting regular data modes after attempting to activate fast charge via an app (notably the nexus 4).


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Definitive Way(s) Of Knowing That One Has Bought The Revised Model Of The Nexus 5?
After complaints by many about the build quality of the Nexus 5, Google has apparently made certain hardware changes and released a revised version of its latest flagship handset in the last couple of days.
How can one ensure that they have the latest model of the Nexus 5 (or is it a given or matter of trust, that the Google Play Store and retailers will supply the latest). ?

All I've seen (so far) is a physical comparison of the two models, more-or-less requiring you to have both models in hand to compare. Not very useful when you're shopping. I've seen no mention of a modified model number or anything like that. You might just need to roll the dice.

@Krampus I understand what you are saying, but I haven't physically handled "the original", so wouldn't know.

You can look at the photos, surely, then check the model you get and see if, for example, you have the old or new style holes at the bottom.  On the other hand, if you're not sure but you don't have a problem with quiet sound levels or protruding SIM trays then you don't have a problem anyway.

@Poldie Your second sentence doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. If they have produced a revised model, that has supposedly rectified issues, why on Earth would I be content with quiet sound levels and protruding SIM trays ? The whole point is to BE SURE !!

@Poldie Surely there is definitive way ie by Batch/IMEI/Serial Number that identifies the revised model.

Many, many people are apparently happy with the first generation phones, therefore either not all phones are affected, or some people might not have any problem with low volumes/protruding SIM trays if they are affected. I'm suggesting the same might be true for whatever phone you receive.  Clearly if the phone level is too quiet for you then it's not good, so at that point you'd return it.

@Poldie Yes I totally agree with you. Hopefully many of the issues that plagued a minority of people in the first version have now hopefully been rectified in the revised version. I just wanted to make sure that at this point in time, if someone were to purchase a Nexus 5 they are getting the latest version rather than being given "old stock" by whichever retailer.

@Krampus XDA thread about serial numbers which people claim identifies the new from the old version http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48682988&postcount=206

@AlE. This article may clear up any confusion http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2597276

@AlE. Another way to look at it, if you buy the newly released Red version of the Nexus 5, then you will definitely have the latest model :)


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Google Search App Draining Battery on KitKat
I am talking about the app that shows up as "Google Search" in the Battery statistics.
My Phone is a Nexus 4 on KitKat.
This app draws a lot of battery, up to 50% in idle standby. It also has a "Keep awake" value of usually at least several hours.
Possibly related, I noticed that my phone is ALWAYS awake according to the battery stats. One charge merely lasts 8 hours.
I have switched off Location Recognition and I have deactivated the Hotword Detection ("Ok Google") in the Settings for the google search bar on my home screen.
Does anyone experience the same problem and are there any suggestions for a solution?
EDIT: Disabling the search app solves the always awake issue and improves battery life. Of course this is not a real fix.

Have you tried deleting cache (and data, if cache alone doesn't help) from the app? Maybe something got messed up there.

I'll do that later and report back.

I've got the same issue on my Nexus 5. http://i.imgur.com/DC9a8dj.png http://i.imgur.com/yYNjhV0.png

Cache and data cleaning didn't help.

This seems like a fix:

The solution is to take away 2 permissions: the Google search app
  permissions to keep the device awake, and access location. This gets
  rid of the wakelocks, and still appears to keep google now etc.
  functional. You can do this using App Ops from the play store (needs
  root), or if you are on custom ROMs, through "App Privacy" menu
  setting. Additionally you could also turn off location history and
  reporting, to be on the safe side. Google Now still works, but now
  without the wakelocks!

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1zxri4/google_play_services_battery_drain_the_real/
On my device (running CyanogenMod), I went to Settings → Privacy → Privacy Guard → Preferences → make sure Show built-in apps is checked → scroll down and long press Google Search → Keep awake → Denied
For those not running a custom ROM, unfortunately there seem to be a million App Ops apps in the Play Store, but this one looks legit:
App Ops by Lars Team

App Ops do not work anymore in KitKat 4.4.2

@Mindwin The particular app I linked does work in Android 4.4.2+, but it requires root in order to do so.

I think I missed that, good to know. It is a mess because the app name is the same name as the API feature that google took down, and why can't apps write to SD card anymore, dammit google, stop taking down stuff and start to police your app shop more. And now I digressed by a mile.[

S A M E. My device is Nexus 7 running Android 4.4.2 though.
I found someone wrote this on the web.
"The issue with this draining your battery is that you have location turned off, if you turn it on and leave it on you will not get the battery drain. With it off Google search is constantly looking for the location and cannot find it which is what is draining your battery. Had this issue and once I turned on location and left it on, no more drain. Hope this helps!"

Sounds unlikely.  If location is turned off Google Search won't look for the location.


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Transferring files applications via USB on Mac
I have Nexus 5 and I'm using the Android File Transfer as explained on Google's official support: Transfer files between your computer and Android device.
However, after either copying zip archives or creating new folders in the file transfer window with my Nexus 5 connected via USB, I do not see the changes reflected on the device.
What am I missing?

Where in the storage are you copying files to, and how are you looking for them on the Nexus 5?

Which file manager are you using on the Nexus 5?

Assume you are using the android File transfer program from http://www.android.com/filetransfer as that is the best way to transfer files on OSX.
If you just drag files into that directory it opens by default, the files might not show. On the "Android File Transfer" App choose the "Download" directory which is the best place to store a file, then drag files into that directory. This directory is accessible by all programs that have access to the internal storage.

Better solution is Handshake
can use both WIFI or USB.

Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Adding an APN from the commandline
I'm in the US for 30 days and got a SIM card from Lycamobile. For some reason adding APNs doesn't work through the GUI (I add them but they never show up in the list, even after rebooting).
Instead I added the following lines to my /system/etc/apns-conf.xml, just before </apns>
  <!-- BEGIN Custom APNs -->
  <apn carrier="Lyca US" mcc="311" mnc="960" apn="data.lycamobile.com" type="GPRS" user="lmus" pass="plus" />
  <!-- END Custom APNs -->

Based on MCC and MNC data from Wikipedia and the information available online in general. I also enabled Data Roaming and International Roaming. I have rebooted my phone. I am on a Samsung Galaxy S3 running the latest AOKP nightly.
However, I still get an R in my signal tray and cannot connect to the internet. Please advise - any help would be appreciated even if it a nudge in a new direction.
Cheers,
Gausie

I am not sure if adding APN from adb shell is the right solution. But if you want to try check this post.
what you basically do is change the prefered apn, or update the existing.

Turns out the changes need to go into telephony.db!

Great you were able to solve it, and even share the results with us! But... what changes? And how? Mind to include some more details? Thanks in advance!


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I'm having trouble opening my play store
I have a galaxy s3 and the play store will not open, I've  i tried every way I can think of to open it but it won't work:
I restarted my phone many times, I've also tried opening it from the application clearing page where it has the option to force close, uninstall and clear data. I also tried deleting some apps, and nothing.
When I click on it to open it opens for a second and displays Play Store on a white screen but in about a second it closes. When I'm doing anything on my phone an error saying play store has unexpectedly stopped and the only thing I can press is an "ok" button. I have also tried downloading apps directly from a website and it doesn't let me, instead it closes the page.
Any ideas?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! There are a few things you could try (some you might already have tried, but it's not clear from your question): Clear cache (at the place you've described); delete data (at the same place); uninstall updates (at the same place). Try one after the other before proceding to the next; in the last two cases, a reboot might be recommended before calling up the app again. Please let us know if any of that helped.

I tried that just now and it closed after a moment, how do i reboot?

Easiest way: switch your phone off completely, and power it on again. Usually, when long-pressing the power key while the screen is on, it should give you a menu for that; on many devices this menu includes a "reboot" option.

Please don't forget to report back when your issue is solved, and how that was accomplished. Other users might profit from your experience.

As the OP didn't report back, it seems safe to assume that the hints given in my comments to the question solved the issue:
One of the general solutions to issues with the Google Play Store app:

From your homescreen, use the menu key/button, and go to Settings › Apps
On the resulting screen, make sure to select the "All" tab
Scroll to the Google Play Store entry and open it
Chose to Clear Cache, then Delete Data, and finally Uninstall Updates1
Reboot your device (either by switching it off and on again, or long-press the Power button to bring up the "Power Menu", where you possibly can select "Reboot" directly)

1: you can try with Clear Cache only to see if that's sufficient, and if not add the other steps one after the other until you succeed


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How do you adjust notifications on the LG Nexus 4
I use to see notifications for Facebook and Snapchat on my phone but now I don't.  Can you tell me how to get this back.

There are two basic scenario:

You disabled the notification from the app itself.

So open the setting of the app and enable notification there

You removed the notification power of the app from system setting menu

Open settings -> Apps. Click on the name of the required app and make sure "Show notifications" is enabled.


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Turn Android TV Device into Public Media Player
I've got an Android TV device here and we want to use it in a public media display. We've got a few problems to solve:
1) Have the device turn on when it received power:
Looks like this would be a firmware thing and we're not going to solve it.
2) Load tons of media:
Solved: Device works great with a USB hard drive.
3) Have a Media Player app start on power up:
Solved: Using the Auto Start App
4) Find a media player that will:
a) Begin automatic playback of random media when started (no having to press play).
b) Allow really easy navigation of the USB Drive folders as albums when the only interface is a remote control.
Would really appreciate some help with finding the right media player app.

Closest thing I've been able to find is:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.burningthumb.premiervideokiosk&hl=en
Video Kiosk
Display a folder of videos, continuously and robustly in a loop.
Video Kiosk was designed with Android TV Sticks in mind (tested on MK808 and MK812) but also works with any Android device that you want to use to display a continuous series of looping videos.
Video Kiosk can used to run the big screen at a gym, shop, or anywhere where you need to run an unattended display, so you can be sure it will work simply and easily. The only thing other people need to know how to do is turn the TV on and off - Video Kiosk takes care of the rest.
Simply put your video files in a folder, launch Video Kiosk and pick the folder that contains the video. Optionally enable the launch at startup option so that when the device is (re)started, Video Kiosk automatically launches and starts playing video.


text:
Manage files left by uninstalled apps?
I just realized that when an app has the "SD card access" it has access to the entire SD card and all the other apps that use the SD card. I would have assumed that each Apps data is "sandboxed" like on an iPhone.
So, once I delete the App that accessed the SD card I noticed that it doesn't always delete the corresponding files it created on the SD card. In one case I installed a Linux Emulator that created 4 gig file and when it came to installing the rest of the Linux it failed. So naturally I uninstalled the application.
Out of curiosity I looked on the SD card found the file in some randomly named directory.
So the big question is, is there a way to manage the deletion of those files as opposed to having to check your entire SD card everytime you uninstall an Application?
PS: My device is Rooted

I don't believe Android keeps a list of "what file was created by which app".
That being said, it would be very useful.

You might want to try Clean Master from Google Play Store. I had it for quite some time now, when you delete apps it will pop up asking you whether you want to delete residual files as well (if there are any). Also it will scan your SD Card and Phone for any rubbish.

Just deleted Clean Master as it kept going into portrait mode even when I had it locked to landscape, but thanks for the tip


text:
Can someone give me their Nexus 5 sbin directory?
I'm in the process of trying to root my phone without the screen (dropped it in water). I went to copy the su binary to the /system/sbin/ directory and left off the '/'. So now I just overwrote my sbin directory with the su binary.
Can someone post me their /system/sbin/ directory so I can restore it?
Thank you.

Depends how desperate you are for the files. So here is a way to get the files yourself incase nobody else loads up the actual files for you.
You will need to do all this on a Linux box of your choice. Best way to approach this is to download your image file from google
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#hammerheadkrt16m
As you can see at the moment there are two builds for the Nexus 5
Once you download that file unzip that file until you find the img files. There will be one called system.img which will probably contain the files you need.
Unfortunately the img is compressed any you will need to uncompress that image first.
There is a thread over here that discusses this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1081239
Once you have the image that has been uncompressed you should be able to mount it on a loop back device
mount -o loop system.raw.img mnt <- Create the mnt directory first
Then that mounted directory should show you all the files


text:
Do all microSD slots support the current maximum capacity in the market, or is it device-specific?
I know that currently (Dec 2013), microSD capacity is up to 64GB.
However reading some devices' specs, it says "includes microSD card slot, up to 32GB", is it a device restriction, or it's because it was written before 64GB cards were available?

That will most likely depend on the device, a generic answer valid for all of them cannot be given. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S2 specs give 32 GB as max, still some user was able to get a 64 GB card working (see: 64gb SDXC Cards in Galaxy S2). For some older devices, the 32 GB limit might be a fact, while again others might just have specified it to be "on the safe site".
TL;DR: Yes, it's device dependant, some devices have their limits.


text:
Can an Android app circumvent its stated permissions?
I downloaded an APK from a 3rd party source (not Google Play). My question is that can this android app, although stated that it can only access my USB storage, could it also do other things (such as read IMEI) without stating it explicitly? In essence what I am wondering is that does the Android System actually prevent it or is it just something the developer states in their manifest?

Is your Phone/Tablet rooted?

@MeerBorg nope its not

As Meer Borg correctly states in his answer: when an app is installed, the package manager reads its Manifest, and notes the permissions requested into files the Android system controls (/data/system/packages.xml, /system/etc/permissions/*.xml (one file per app)). Additionally, for each permission there is a specific user group, which will be assigned to the app1. So each time the app tries to access a feature requiring a permission, this is checked against: if the permission was declared in the Manifest, access is granted – otherwise it's refused. note that this is a simplified description, though
While this is the general rule, for some things there are possibilities to work-around the permissions. If an app e.g. wants to send something to the internet, it could also do so calling an "intent", asking the browser to open a certain page (like e.g. http://bad.server/collector.php?info1=some_info&info2=more_info). However, this would not go un-noticed by the user, as the browser would open in foreground and show this action. So if an app would make use of this feature, the outcry would be heard (usually).
If a dev really wants to do "bad things", he could also use another way: have one app with all the required permissions, and a second with almost none. If the user has both apps installed, the second one could call the first (big-permission) app to process "things" it cannot do itself (due to lacking permissions) – in the same manner as described above for accessing the internet. note that this priciple is used e.g. for addons, and "inter-app-communication" in a positive sense, too
TL;DR:
An app is restricted to the permissions it requests, and cannot directly access other "things". "Indirect" access would not go unnoticed.
P.S.:
This is just an abstract, and simplified presentation. I'm not in Android development, so some dev might have better understanding and correct me, or add to the above.

1 Example (note the "groups" list):
shell@android:/ $ id
uid=2000(shell) gid=2000(shell) groups=1003(graphics),1004(input),1007(log),1009(mount),1011(adb),1015(sdcard_rw),1028(sdcard_r),3001(net_bt_admin),3002(net_bt),3003(inet),3006(net_bw_stats)

The id command (without parameters) shows information about the "current user". In this case, I was using adb shell, so the user is the "shell app" (rather the integrated Unix shell). The list of groups shows which permissions are granted to the shell, So it can e.g. read and write the SDCard, access Bluetooth, and the Internet (plus some more things).

Each application you install has a file called manifest.xml in it that dictates what the app is allowed to access. When you install an app it checks that file and shows you what permissions are needed to install that Application.
So unless your phone is rooted, and uses an exploit. Or you repackage that file and its manifest file to add more permissions...it will only access the USB storage as quoted. The Android System prevents any other access and the code that tries to access those other permissions will simple return an error from the program point of view.
But I believe that even accessing USB storage is an issue because it can access all of the other files other programs create using USB Storage, not the entire file system, just a sub part of it that is defines as "USB Storage". But as the app doesn't access the internet, whatever the app accesses stays on your device.


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How does the new "Brightness adjustment" setting work on CM11?
Cyanogenmod 11 has a new settings for Automatic brightness.

Screenshot (click to enlarge)
I am curious how exactly "Brightness adjustment" and "Adjustment sensitivity" work.
I tried to find the answer on Google and CM Wiki without success.

Man, this is still unanswered? Not knowing this is bugging me, I must do some research.

So I went digging in the Cyanogen source code. It appears that settings work as follows:

The brightness is determined from ambient light sensor based on spline (can be changed in "Adjust").
Brightness adjustment - Makes overall auto-brightness result darker or lighter by affecting gamma value. Centering the slider means "no change".
Adjust to sunrise and sunset - Also affects gamma value, but based on time of day and time of sunrise and sunset.
Adjustment sensitivity - There is a delay in screen brightness changes due to ambient light changes. This settings affects the delay to make it faster / slower.

I love when features are only documented in the source code :(

I have really strange issue : setting brightness adjustment to 0 lux preview as it should but then when validating change the  luminosity change brigher.


text:
HTC reverse tethering 4.1
with Android 4.0 everything was fine, but after upgrading to 4.1 I can no longer activate reverse tethering successfuly.
Phone: HTC Desire X with 4.1 upgrade
Root: no and don't want to
PC: Windows 7 x64
AV: ESET Nod32 v4
FW: Comodo v6, currently uninstalled

Symptom:
changing USB connection mode to "Reverse tethering" makes it attempt to connect and after a minute it displays dialog like (translated) 'Connecting to PC failed: either there is not HTC Sync installed in the newest version* or other device is already using  reverse tethering on your computer**.'
* not true, just installed newest
** no other device is connected
Installed - newest versions:

HTC BMP USB Driver
HTC Driver Installer
HTC Sync Manager (recognizes phone, backup works)
HTC Sync (just in case, HTC SM/drivers should suffice)
Additionally tried Google USB Driver (via Android SDK)
(plus ones like RNDIS etc. are as well)

Tried & notes:

with 4.0 everything worked flawlessly, even with these AV&FW active, without installing Sync etc.
attempts with AV and FW disabled, FW uninstalled at a point
HTC Sync Manager recognizes phone, backup works
MTP file transfer works
HTC Sync does NOT recognize phone (possibly important) (USB Debug has no effect either on/off)
HTC Sync offers update, after running its install it says there's already a newer one in PC
Windows driver install dialog after plugging in was all green (one day at least, that is, ofter there are fails: "device disconnected")
USB debugging either on/off no effect
Restarting neither phone nor PC has effect
Completely uninstalled and reinstalled all Android drivers and HTC software
In Windows Device Manager there are both My HTC and HTC Desire X, both report drivers up to date

Tried googling, two other forums, HTC support is not responding to my question.
What can I do to be able to reverse tether again?
Thank you!
This is probably a borderline question with superuser (possibly a PC's software issue), not sure which would be better, posted here.


text:
How to get Google Play Services back
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2. Recently I was trying to clear space, so I deleted a whole bunch of apps. I deleted Google Play Services, not knowing its function. I have since tried to reinstall Google Play Services, but it won't let me. I think I must have accidentally uninstalled something else that allowed Google Play Services to be installed. Anyway I don't know how to fix this problem. Does anyone have any ideas?

In the usual way: Restoring from the backup you surely made before tampering with system stuff. Though usually, GSF re-installs itselt via Play, unless you removed some other important stuff "not knowing its function". In that case, and if you really made no backup before dealing with "the unknown": Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

Wow, I figured it out!
I just had to go back to Settings, then Applications, then All, and then enable Google Play Services again! I hadn't deleted it after all! Yay!


text:
What differences are there for an "international version" phone? (Galaxy 4s)
I want to buy a Galaxy S4 without a new contract, and I noticed that the "international version" is slightly cheaper.
Are there any cons to owning the international version in the US?
For software/firmware, would there be compatibility differences (such as when installing different ROMs)?
For hardware, would I still be able to use Verizon's 4G LTE?

I appreciate the moderation Izzy, but removing the tag "custom rom" seems overzealous, as my question was related to "custom roms". For example, if the international version of a phone requires a special build of a rom (such as cyanogen mod), it may get less updates or support for said rom. That was part of my question.

Often times, one of the main differences between Android phone models is the supported frequency bands. This can be because they simply use different antennas for different bands, or because they support completely different network standards (e.g. CDMA and GSM versions). It is not uncommon for devices to be released with completely different names on different networks, in fact, when they are essentially the same device. For example, the original Galaxy S had a number of named variants on different carriers: the Captivate, the Vibrant, and the Fascinate.
There can also be other hardware differences between variants as well. In this case specifically, the i9500 international version of the GS4 doesn't have an LTE radio, although the i9505/i9506 does. In the GS4's case, this is because they are built with entirely different systems on a chip: the i9500 uses an Exynos whereas the others use Snapdragons. Significant hardware differences like this are, from what I've seen, not generally as common (although I have no hard numbers), though some changes to less essential things like the camera or NFC support could exist as well1. The spec sheets for each version should outline this information, though, so it is worth checking since there is no real way to "generalize" these differences.
The international versions will work on AT&T and T-Mobile USA's 2G networks, as well as AT&T's 3G and certain T-Mobile 3G areas (ones using the 850 MHz band), but won't support LTE on either. They will not work at all on Verizon, because they don't support CDMA networks nor do they support Verizon's LTE band. Even if they did, Verizon will typically not activate non-branded phones on their network. If you're going to use Verizon, you need to buy a Verizon phone. Can I use my device on a different carrier? has more detailed information on how to make these determinations.
A ROM for one phone will not typically work on other variants, or if it does it will be somewhat broken. For example, running a ROM for the GSM Galaxy Nexus (maguro) on a CDMA variant (like toro) would often work since the hardware was largely the same, but you couldn't make phone calls or access 3G data or the like. In this specific scenario, I would not expect a ROM for the international GS4 to run on another variant at all. They use completely different systems on a chip.
In most cases, the only real "con", as such, to owning an unlocked/off-network phone is that you cannot get official support for the device through your carrier. They will often be willing to provide some kind of equipment protection plan or insurance, but if you go into a store or call customer service for technical support they will not be able to help you.

1With Samsung it may be slightly more common, because of the nature of the situation. They designed the Exynos chipset, which is why they use it in their devices in place of Qualcomm's Snapdragon, but they did not have an Exynos SoC that supported LTE at the time. Thus, in markets where they intend to support LTE, they sometimes go with entirely different chips (like Snapdragons).


text:
My samsung s2 is being spammed & I have 2 apps that I can't uninstall. Please help
My son was playing games on my samsung and now I am being spammed all day long for the past week. I have installed Airpush Detector and it said that they don't detect any push ads on my phone from apps. But I noticed that I have 2 apps on my phone that I have never seen before. One is called Nova & it has a pic of what looks like the No.O.V.A. game icon & has HD on the icon as well. I didn't install this on my phone and there is no option to uninstall it. It is labeled as a default on my phone. I also have an app called Top HD Games on my phone that I didn't install and am unable to uninstall it as it also is classified as a default setting on my phone. The icon for this is an XBox game controller. Has anyone else seen this before? I can't find anything in the google play store and can't figure out how to get rid of these. I uninstalled all games on my phone except for the Angry Birds series, Finding Nemo game, bubble blaster and zoo club. I would really appreciate anyone's help.Thanks!

Airpush detector IMHO is limited to Airpush detection. Though that's one of the worst, there's also Leadbolt, and some more. I'd recommend checking with AppBrain Ad Detector, which finds almost all of the ad-network-modules. To name an alternative: Lookout Ad Network Detector is similarly effective. AFAIR, both also offer to uninstall the "bad app".

I'm going to presume this was a side-loaded app with a potential malware payload, since you mention you cannot find it on Google Play Store.
First step is to see if the application can be prevented from uninstall because it has set itself up as a Device Administrator, sort of a protected app.
See Settings>Security>Device Administrators, and deactivate both or either, if listed. You may need to provide a Device Administrator password to do so. Then try to see if they will uninstall normally.
If not a Device Administrator, you may still attempt to uninstall normally, just finding it in a different list, the "All" list.
See Settings>Application Manager>All(far right column)
Find the application(s) in the list. Try to uninstall this way, or at the very least "Disable" or "Turn Off" if those operations are possible.
To prevent side-loading apps in the future, see
Settings>Security>Unknown Sources, and uncheck.

All valid points (+1 from me). Just if the son decides to side-load something again, triggering the "unknown sources" checkbox will not prevent that (he will just trigger it again).


text:
Tasker: Voice response to phone calls
I was wondering whether it would be possible to use Tasker to answer a phone call and then say something to the caller (either through TTS or sound file) and then hang up? Would something like that be possible? I was thinking about making a task which will tell people to call me later because I'm busy now etc.
If it is could you outline how to make it?
Thanks!

I'm not sure whether the AutoVoice addon could be used for this. Though it would use your speaker, the "other end" should be able to hear: Incoming call → Pickup, AutoVoice (blabla...), Hangup. Just a raw idea.

FYI There is no way, that I've heard of, for any app to output audio into a call itself.

I doubt you can programatically, certainly not without root. The dialer is heavily protected and apps are denied any access to it. As @Bort said, you just can't. Also, it may be easier for someone to just use their voicemail than a dedicated app?

@Bort that's device dependent. There are a lot of "answering machines" on Google Play which reportedly work for some people/devices (while not working on others). And still: if the speakers are loud enough, they might be heard "on the other side".


text:
WiFi Tablet makes Phone activate Hotspot
Is there anyway to make a phone with android 4.3 automatically activate it's wifi hot spot at the request of a nearby android tablet.
For example, the tablet can message the phone via blue tooth to activate the phones WiFi Hotspot.
This is so that the user doesn't need to take the phone out of the pocket to activate the Hotspot before using the Internet on the tablet, for example.

Sure. Multiple options, all involving tasker:

Requires two things: AutoRemote and tasker. With that combination running on your phone, your tablet can request to enable the hotspot via... uh, internet. So this won't work if your tablet has no mobile data.
So let's substitute AutoRemote: if your phone has NFC support, you could stick a NFC tag to your tablet, and use apps like Trigger, NFC ReTAG, again in conjunction with Tasker, to trigger the hotspot. Of course this would require NFC to be turned on.
If BT is turned on on both devices, they are paired, and set to automatically connect: Tasker has a "state condition" registering when a BT connection is made (Bluetooth Connected). You can specify the device as parameter. So as soon as the two are "close enough", this could turn the Hotspot on. As this only recognizes when the connection is made, to "reverse" (i.e. turn the hotspot off), you'd rather use the WiFi Connected trigger (reversed, i.e. when your tablet is no longer connected).

Yes, I had looked into auto remote before realizing that it required Internet instead of allowing blue tooth. Regarding NFC, while it would require less work, it would still require extra work just to turn on hot spot.  While Bluetooth PAN Internet,  I actually had my Tasker automatically decide whether to connect to the blue tooth depending on whether the tablet was already connected to a wifi network, and running a Internet app.

Of course the problem is that the new phone no longer supports Bluetooth pan.

So I'm wondering if there is anything that can afford the same level of automation.

I've just added a third option to my answer, just requiring Tasker and Bluetooth. Maybe that would work for you?

Without PAN, Android phone has no other profiles to connect to.

I'm out of ideas then; though the answer to Is it possible to use android phone as bluetooth headset for ps3? suggests there might be something else "to connect to"...

If we're referring to the Bluetooth Devices > [Device] > Profiles List XXXX.
Under the Profiles list of my phone from my tablet, the list is empty.

For example, those that are on earlier version of Android (possibility of it not working on Android 4.3)
There is an App called Keep In Pocket: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.momodalo.app.KeepInPocket&hl=en
This lets you tether your tablet to your phone automatically. And as a bonus, you can see any SMS and Calls incoming from your phone, displayed on the Tablet.


text:
Check if a certain directory exists on AVD using ADB command
I want to check if a certain directory (e.g. /data/textdata/) exists on the AVD using adb shell.
I'm following prolink007's answer on SO, except this line:
DIR_RESULT=$(adb shell ls /data/ | tr -d '\015'|grep '^textdata$')

but it goes always into the then branch if the directory exist or not. I've also looked for the adb shell manual without results.
Any suggestion?

I tried this on an avd and it works for me:
ls /data/textdata > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "exists" || echo "not exists"

Please try this:
DIR_RESULT=$(adb shell if [ -d  "/data/textdata" ]; then echo "exists"; else echo "not exists"; fi; );

does not work. it says "exist.sh: command substitution: line 4: syntax error near unexpected token then' exist.sh: command substitution: line 4: then echo "exists"; else echo "not exists"; fi; '".
I think is how the command is structured: if statement should not be there (in my opinion)

the command of prolink007 now works: i was wrong in the command copy.

I found a solution which works for me. See my second answer.


text:
"Unable to connect to the proxy server" after updrade to Android 4.3
My Samsung S4 has been experiencing the problem of "Unable to connect to the proxy server" after upgrade to Android 4.3, all the apps need network (HTTP) are not working, no matter
using 4G or Wifi connection. For apps which does not require HTTP connection such as Whatsapp or Google Search which is ok.
I have double checked the Proxy setting in my Wifi Setting, which is set to none, so are there anything I have missed or misconfigured?

Tap and hold the WiFi button, then select "Forget Network". Afterwards, search for the network again in the list, enter the password and you are good to go.

Please don't use txtspk. It's not necessary here, and we have a large number of readers whose first language is not English. Using non-standard English does them a disservice.

authors: Çhèròkéé Háylèy Hòñá


text:
Google Hangouts vibrates although vibration is disabled
I'm having a really annoying issue to where when i receive a text message through hangouts my phone will vibrate and make a sound when it isn't muted even though in the hangouts app and in the settings on the phone, I have vibrate unchecked. Am I missing some option? I haven't modified android on anyway on this phone.

There is a seperate vibrate option for SMS in Hangouts, that may be it. Also, if your phone is set to vibrate in general, Hangouts may default to 'System Setting' rather than its own individual one. It's annoying.

This is happening to me as well with the most recent update to Hangouts (12/11/2014). Unchecking vibrate in the settings has no effect.

Possible answer Globally Disable Vibration

Same problem here, no working solution found :-/.

It seems to be a known bug: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/hangouts/PJPTKjqVyg0

Here is the solution : http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/135591/how-to-turn-off-vibration-in-google-hangouts-version-6-1-109448852

Open Hangouts and make sure you're on the conversation list page.
Choose the menu dots in the upper right and choose "Settings -> SMS" and there should be a check box a few spaces down for "Vibrate" under "Notifications"
Let us know if that works!

 (Click on the image for larger version)

this does not work. i have all the vibrate options set to off in hangouts but my phone will still vibrate for SMS messages, but not for google messages.

authors: อนันต์ องค์อภิวัฒนชัย


text:
How to connect Sony Xperia L with Ubuntu?
How do I connect my Sony Xperia L in MTP mode with Ubuntu? If I connect in MTP mode, Ubuntu fails to read my files from internal storage.
What can I do?

That might depend on which Android version your device it running. Some devices additional support USB mass storage. Also: there are some packages you might install/update on your Ubuntu side, to support mtpfs (see e.g. answers here and here).
Alternatively, you might wish to go the "ADB way" (this is how I do it on my Ubuntu box). Here you would need a basic ADB installation (see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB?) and adbfs (see my answer here). In both cases, you can use graphical file managers as well as the command line to deal with your files.

Normally mass storage mode was not supported by Sony xperia L if it doesn't had any sdcard.So,you have to connect the xperia L with Ubuntu in MTP mode to see its content.
In Ubuntu,an android device which was connected in MTP mode was not detected if it was pluggedin to any one of the USB 2.0 ports.For getting your device detected in Ubuntu,you have to plugin the phone in USB 3.0 port.
Port with black tongue - USB 2.0 port
Port with blue tongue - USB 3.0 port
Tested in Ubuntu 13.04 and 13.10.


text:
adb restore not working for shared
I have a Nexus 4 with Android 4.4.1 … I've read that we could root it without wiping the data …  well didn't work for me!
I wasn't scared, because I made a full backup using:
adb backup -apk -shared -all --nosystem

Two things I forgot

SMS are not restored
Google Authenticator data are not restored (the
same week I switch all my accounts to two-step auth, like MtGOX …)

However, the problem is this :
Almost everything is restored, except the Pictures ..
Here is a part of the logs from log cat during the restore process
 adb shell logcat

I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170638.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170235.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170116.jpg
D/BackupManagerService(  605): [discarding file content]
I/BackupManagerService(  605): File in shared storage: 0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20130731_170110.jpg

My question is, how to restore the pictures ?
There is no "adb restore -shared" option ..
In addition, it seem that all the android backup extractor solutions abe, perl, and the last version Titanium Pro, are not able to open encrypted android 4.4 backups …
Any ideas ?
UPDATE
Got a reply from Android Backup Developer (abe.jar) and this change + recompilation fixed the problem of extracting the backup. But this is not answering my initial question, why the photos are not restored using adb restore.
Full discussion here: https://github.com/nelenkov/android-backup-extractor/issues/7

This is the result of the change described here:
  http://android-developers.blogspot.jp/2013/12/changes-to-secretkeyfactory-api-in.html
and can be probably treated as an Android bug, because restring
  backups made with 4.3 will most likely fail on 4.4. File one at
  b.android.com if you can confirm this.
The fix is to replace
  PBEParametersGenerator.PKCS5PasswordToBytes(pwArray) in
  AndroidBackup.java:413 with
  PBEParametersGenerator.PKCS5PasswordToUTF8Bytes(pwArray). There
  probably needs to be some flag to switch behaviour for 4.4 and prior
  versions.

I was just about recommending those "backup extractors". Have you been able to use them before (so it's something changed with Android 4.4 causing the trouble)? They should be able to work with encrypted backups in general.

I tried backupdecrypt.pl abe.jar and Titanium Backup PRO, they all failed like I have the wrong password. But with either perl or abe, the messages are different (verbiage) when I put the wrong password.  Keep in mind that the restore is working (except pictures), so my password is right :)

Yes, I've noticed that. My point was rather if there were changes concerning encryption, introduced with 4.4 (if you have a <4.4 encrypted backup to verify), so it's not a generic encryption problem, but one specific to 4.4+.

Sorry about that then. I don't have any adb backups from before 4.4.1

NP. Maybe somebody else has a possibilty to check? Or even better: A solution?

just added an update from android backup extractor developer


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

I have tried reseting to factory Settings but unable to solve my issue
My tab Details :

Device Info (click for larger variant)

Have you the latest version of Maps? Did it used to work?

Yeah I Have Updated It to Latest Version

You need to mention a specific place in your city or even better, your current location. I'm sure there are more than a single bank with the same name in your city so it's better if you specify the branch too(typing your bank name should show the locations).
Anyways I opened Google Maps on my PC and searched the term "bank" and there was no bank of the name you searched. See this link for my exact search and the complete list.


text:
Send/share option goes to sending a new email page in Gmail app by default
Whenever I try to send an application to another android device via bluetooth, when I hit the button "send" it opens a new message in gmail app and the application I wanted to send via bluetooth is attached there. How can I change this so that it asks how I would send that file/app? I
have astro installed as a file manager.

Where is this "send" button you mention? In some app somewhere?

As @DanHulme says there usually isn't a 'send' button, there can be a 'share' button but for obvious piracy reasons, apk files aren't often included in this. It is unclear from the question what you want to do, and how you are trying it? Is it Astro file manager that has this optioni? Have you tried another file manager?

@RossC: There's no such button. The one which is more likely to be intended for sending/sharing purposes is the "send"  button.

Share button: http://developer.android.com/training/sharing/shareaction.html This has been in android for several years. Are you using a third party application? Here is a pic of the 'share' button in action: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gn8nnLC70Xc/TrFoY1GxKtI/AAAAAAAAAEI/6UDPHv-Zxv8/s1600/sharelist.png Here is the ICON for the share button: http://i.stack.imgur.com/MVMEg.png I assume you are trying to 'send' it via Astro file manager, which (I haven't tried it in a while) does not allow you to send an apk file as it is a piracy risk. Can you post screenshot of what you mean?

@RossC: Yes, the phone is rooted. My Galaxy nexus doesn't have a file manager, so I have no choice other than using a third part app.

Ok, that's grand. Have you tried this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2015187 That should take care of it, especially since you are rooted! Let me know how you get on! (Note that you will use the 'Share' button as per the images I posted above as you are following the steps in XDA)

Yeah, what you posted links to is for images and pictures or some other kinds of files. But to send an .apk file via bluetooth, you should go to the folder containing it and use an option there.

The one I posted is titled sending an APK. Did you read it? You have to backup the app. You can't just navigate in and send it over bluetooth, as I said that is blocked as a piracy risk! The first line reads: This is a tutorial on how to share an android Application(Apk) via bluetooth.

@RossC: I was replying to your other comment, in which you posted a link on what the button looks like. a friend of mine has another model of Samsung Galaxy and sends/shares app quiet easily. I've Googled it myself before asking here and nothing worked. Anyway, I will give it(the instructions in the aove link) a try, thanks.

Yeah some devices are just easier than others, sometimes you have to go down the XDA route and try the long workaround. We've unraveled the confusion anyway. From what I can tell that 'SEND' option seems to be specific to a particular file manager (Astro in this case), and not an android default. The old 'share' should work on a backup. You MAY be able to do it with root directly in ES file explorer, but I haven't tested that myself. EDIT: ES file explorer has a 'Send' button for apk AND a 'Share' button, just to confuse matters. Try it first, then the XDA post I guess!

There must be a "Share" option, which you can use to send via Bluetooth, Whatsapp, Wifi direct etc..

Possibly not for an apk file? Older android used to share a link to the app on the Market (now Play Store) but not the actual apk itself.

@RossC of course, you can send/share .apk file (or any other type  file) through Bluetooth! (at least in ES File Explorer or Root Explorer or Astro File manager etc,.)...

As for Galaxy Nexus 2, one must use a third party application to transfer files via Bluetooth, since it basically doesn't have a file manager and a third party file manager like ASTRO don't let you transfer files via Bluetooth.


text:
Reminder To Call
I often find myhself at the end of the day, or on the week end, thinking:
I need to call X and make a appointment, but I can't now it is outside of office hours.
Then I'll forget about it during the day, or I won't be able to find the phone number easily and I'll put it off.
What I would like is some kind of reminder system that has the ability to
store a phone number and then I can just press a button to call them.
Often this number won't be in my contacts as I won't expect to deal with them more than once.
Ideally there would be away to do this will Google Now.

Are you asking for an app that can do this?

Not nessicarily. I am loomking for a method to achieve this goal. If this is a inbuilt function in one of the "default" app, then I would like instructions on how to do it. If it is not, then yes I am looking for another App

Not exactly that way, but you might wish to take a look at Business Tasks:

Business Tasks (click for larger image)
As the screenshot shows, you can put a contact as task, and then simply hit the phone symbol to place a call (calls up the dialer). Unfortunately, this seems to require the contact being in your contacts list. I've just tried to place a note with a phone number inside; wasn't "clickable". Though that might be worth a ping to the devs, which are quite responsive and might be adding that feature in some way.
Alternatively, you might wish to take a look at Number Saver. According to this answer it automatically suggests to call a number if the clipboard contains it. Until the Business Tasks devs put it in an update, a combination might do.
Cheap work-around might also be to put a contact shortcut on your homescreen. But again, this would require the person to be in your contacts list.
Finally, there's Clipboard Dialer:

This little tool enables you to extract all phone numbers from what ever text is in your clipboard. It will present a list of all numbers it finds giving you an easy way to call, SMS or create a new contact.

Update: I just got feedback from the Business Tasks devs. The "number linker" is already on their todo list, and should be part of a future update (no timeline yet).

With Google Now just say, "google remind me to call 555-1234 at 2 pm"

Will it  give me one button to call them?
Cos if so, that would be Ideal


text:
HTC Desire C performing poorly
After using my HTC Desire C for a few days, it begins to show noticeable amounts of lag. For example, if I click on a menu, or open the dialer, or start to type message, it will take more than 6 seconds to open. Even when closing an app, it can take several seconds to complete.
How can I resolve this? Do I need to take it to a service center?

You could try a reboot, maybe something got stuck. Also, before giving it to the service center, they will ask you to perform a factory-reset to see if it's really the device or just some crazy app you've installed, or a "wrong configuration".

I've reboot many times. But still i didn't get.

Is there any option without factory-reset ?

Deleting all app cache might help. Either by walking all apps separately (via Settings→Apps), or using a cache cleaner app. Not sure whether that helps. Also worth a check: Settings→Battery usage; with some luck it's showing the culprit, so you could clear the cache of that app, or delete its data, or uninstall only that one app to see if that helps.

Are you using a custom ROM with an EXT SD partition? Your SD card may be starting to slow down / fail. They have a limited number of writes in them before they start to die. Have you sideloaded any apps not from the Market? They may be causing issues. You may well need to do a factory reset, don't forget to backup anything important!


text:
Low level Android kernel hacking
Where can I find information regarding low level kernel hacking on Android? For example, I'd like to know how the device boots and follow the execution path from that point. Where exactly is the code that runs after I press the power button?

http://www.androidenea.com/2009/06/android-boot-process-from-power-on.html (This link contains the parts where you can intervene / add your own functionality) The rough flow is Power On > Bootloader > Kernel > Init Process > System Server > Boot Complete Here's another link on the topic with references: http://elinux.org/Android_Booting

@RossC Perhaps you'd like to make that comment into an answer.

This link contains the parts where you can intervene / add your own functionality
The rough flow is Power On > Bootloader > Kernel > Init Process > System Server > Boot Complete
At the bootloader stage, the following is run:
A. The first boot loader stage will detect and set up external RAM.
B. Once external RAM is available and the system is ready the to run
   something more significant the first stage will load the main boot
   loader and place it in external RAM.
C. The second stage of the boot loader is the first major program
   that will run. This may contain code to set up file systems,
   additional memory, network support and other things. On a mobile
   phone it may also be responsible for loading code for the modem CPU
   and setting up low level memory protections and security options.
D. Once the boot loader is done with any special tasks it will look
   for a Linux kernel to boot. It will load this from the boot media (or
   some other source depending on system configuration) and place it in
   the RAM. It will also place some boot parameters in memory for the
   kernel to read when it starts up.
E. Once the boot loader is done it will perform a jump to the Linux
   kernel, usually some decompression routine, and the kernel assumes
   system responsibility.
Here's another link (more on the Linux side) on the topic with references: eLinux website answer
This comment stood out to me:

In general it is quite tricky to create a boot loader for an existing
  phone since they often come with tailor made boot loaders from the
  manufacturer. To add to the difficulty they also have security
  features that aim to prevent you from downloading your own bootloader.
  However, if you have an open platform you need an initial bootloader
  stage and a main bootloader able to start and/or flash software to the
  device. For the main bootloader you probably want to check out u-boot,
  http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot. The initial bootloader stage needed to
  start u-boot need to be aware of the boot-protocol in the hardware
  requiring some documentation or reverse engineering in order to create
  or download a suitable one. To sum things up reprogramming of existing
  phones is often more work than its worth unless you are really
  interested in which case there are a lot of forums dedicated to that
  sort of thing.


text:
Camera on Galaxy Note 3 is sideways!
I don't know what happens but the camera is sideways. No matter the way I hold the phone, it will always show the image and the resulting photo sideways. If I point to the computer screen right now for example, it will show me the basis of the screen pointed to the direction where the wall actually is

Have you flashed a custom ROM to the device, or is it running the stock firmware? Are you using the built-in camera app, or a third-party one? Has it always been this way, or did it work properly before?

I had problems on my Samsung Note 2. Photos were being taken where I had to go into gallery and rotate right or left for image too be correct.
Just messed around with settings and fixed it by re-calibrating horizontal and vertical (I think). Hope this works for some of you.

There are 3 potential work arounds to try first:

1) Ensure screen rotate is turned on in the quick settings. Number 4 on pic below.

2) Reset your camera.
a) Open Camera

b) Click the Menu botton on the device

c) Click the third tab (with the cog on it)

d) Click 'Reset'

It is the third tab above. Click this guy:

3) Download a third party camera.

Having to download a 3rd party camera would be pretty lame.  Hopefully options 1 or 2 from above are helpful.

I had the same problem on my note 2. I put my phone in safe mode and here's the steps for that:

Power off the phone
then power it back on holding down the volume down button and the power button
once you see the samsung screen come on let go off the power button but continue to hold the volume down button.
When the phone boots back up then it should say "safe mode" in the bottom left corner.
When in safe mode check your camera and see if it works properly; if it does, the problem is an recently downloaded app.
Now take the battery out and power phone back up as usual to take it out of safe mode and check camera again; it should have reverted back to its normal settings. If not then you need to delete some apps and try to see what conflicting with your camera.

Good Luck it worked for me!!!

Tried this on a Note 3 and it worked. Step 6 consisted of just powering it back on; removing the battery was not necessary.


text:
Add exchange account in Android 4.1.2
I have just bought three cheap china-pads and on all of them the OS registers as 4.1.2. On two of them, it says "build version" or something like that v 1.6rc1 but on the third it says 1.5.
The difference between them is that on the 1.5 pad, the option to add an Exchange account is present, but is missing on the other two.
Is there a way to fix this? I have tried a couple of apps, but would really like to integrate my work Exchange account.

Open the email app, type in the login credentials, go to manual setup and follow these settings here

I personally use POP3 for my exchange account.


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How do I restore my Android tablet from Google servers?
I sent my Android tablet for repair and it came back from the manufacturer with the data and applications missing.  How do I restore the tablet from the Settings -> Backup Google servers?

It's either restored when you first configure your Android account on the device and accept the Cloud Backup, or not at all. There's no way to trigger it manually except for factory-resetting and re-configuring the account (sometimes it even requires to use a different SIM to trigger a complete restore, as one user reported; I just cannot find the reference at the moment).
You'll find a lot of details in the answers to Google Backup: Multiple devices using the same account - what happens on Restore?.

authors: รูปชั่ว ตัวดำ