text:
What's the process for installing a new ROM after I've just completed one?
I have a HTC Incredible running 2.2, successfully used the unrevoked method and rooted it, used Titanium Backup to back up all apps and system data, and ROM manager to install and run CM7. ok, that's all done, but now i want to try Miui, is the process still the same?
What i mean is, i'd rather not reinstall all the apps as I want to try a new rom, but want to go back to CM7 if i don't like it.
How can i try Miui, then go back to CM7 if need be??

Assuming you installed ClockworkMod Recovery via Rom Manager app (or manually), you can do the following:

Install the Appbrain and Fast Web Installer apps.  Run Appbrain, sign in with your Google account, enable the Fast Web Installer from Settings, and perform a sync.
Download the ROM installation ZIP for MIUI and place it onto your SD Card.
Reboot your phone to Recovery mode, scroll down to "backup and restore", go in, and select the "Backup" option.  This will write an image of your phone onto your SD Card.  OS, your apps and settings will be saved.
Perform a full wipe of your device from Recovery by doing a "wipe data/factory reset", "wipe cache partition", and "advanced -> Wipe Dalvik Cache".
Select "install zip from card" option, and then "choose zip from sdcard" to flash the ROM zip that you downloaded in step 2.
Optionally, flash the GApps package, and any other files (refer to the ROM's instructions.)
Once the installation is completed reboot the phone, add your Google account, and set up the system to your lining (do not download any 3rd-party apps yet.)
Open the Market app, install AppBrain and Fast Web Installer again, and sign in.
Open the Appbrain app, and enable Fast Web Installer in settings again.
While still inside the Appbrain app, go to "Manage And Sync", press the Menu button, select the "More lists.." option.  Pick the list that was created for you in step 1, and press the "Add all apps" button.  This will queue up all the missing apps that you had installed on the previous ROM.
Go back once, and tap the "Execute" button.  After verifying the permissions, tap the Install button.  This will automatically download and re-install your apps.
Once the apps are installed, configure them to your liking.
Reboot back into Recovery, perform another backup, and reboot the phone normally.
Open the ROM Manager app, and tap on "Manage and Restore Backups."  You should see a list consisting of the 2 backups you just made, sorted chronologically.
Rename the first backup to "CM7", and the second to "MIUI".

You can now easily switch from CM7 to MIUI by simply restoring the corresponding backup.  Keep in mind that if you change anything on either ROM, you will need to perform another backup so that your changes are saved.

thanks for the great guide!
So question, why can't i just go through ROM Manager and install Miui from there? I don't have CM7 configured how i want it, i would be ok if i had to redo it, i just want to try out Miui to see if i like it.

When switching between ROMs that are vastly different line CM and MIUI, it is always recommended to do a complete wipe to avoid any issues from left over pieces.  If you don't care about your currently installed ROM, then by all means go ahead and blow it away by doing only steps 2, 4, 5 and 6.

That sounds good, can i do that from ROM Manager in CM7? i.e. use ROM Manager in CM7, don't backup current ROM/perform wipe and clean cache, and install Miui from there instead of putting it directly on the sd card?

I can't remember off the top of my head if there is a setting in ROM Manager to do a complete wipe (including both caches) before installing an update zip.  If there is - go for it.  Worst case - you can always simply restore CM7 from backup if something goes wrong.


text:
Linux on Android and HW support
I see that there are some projects about installing Linux on an Android Device, but how is the Hardware support?
If I install linux, can I have access to the hardware via Python, like in Android?

Bad/limited, Have you run A linux distro in a VM?, that's about as fast as you will get on these projects.

Nit-pick: Android is Linux. It's easy to tell you're meaning an alternative userland, to get a classic "Linux district". I don't often agree with RMS wanting everyone to sat GNU/Linux, but with Android it highlights the distinction.

You can enter the android shell by installing the Android SDK on your PC and running the Android-Debug-Bridge (adb). The closest you can get to a linux environment from within your device is by installing a terminal emulator (there are some in the Google Market), of course if you wish to gain super user privileges you will need to root your device.

@AndrewAylett Android is not linux sorry! That is a very common pre-concept everybody gets wrong! From the aspect of license differences - the entire Linux from the definition of a "Linux Distro" is GPL, with lots of userspace binaries. Android is covered under Apache, using Linux kernel (which is a very small part of Android) and very minimal userland binaries, most of the command line stuff under Android is busybox and also, its a Dalvikvm from bootup and that's why.

@t0mm13b: let's be clear on the distinction. Linux refers only to the kernel, Android uses Linux kernel and that's why Android is Linux. What it's not is that Android is not a GNU/Linux, as most linux distros comes with tools written by the GNU project, but GNU project is distinct from the Linux project (GNU project originally was written for their own kernel, the GNU Hurd, which was a total failure).

If you believe that Apache-licensed components makes Android not a Linux, you'd probably be surprised that most major (desktop) Linux distros aren't pure open source, much less GPL or GPL-compatible, the ones that are (e.g. debian), are the exception, not the rule. A common misconception is thinking that Linux is an operating system, it's not, Linux is not an OS, it's just a kernel for an OS. An OS consists of kernel and some userspace tools (although not everyone agrees on what parts of the userspace are operating system and what's not), Linux does not come with any userspace tools.

@tomm13b after a second reading of your comment, I came to realize that I think you're actually not incorrect, just the way you phrased your word seems highly ambiguous, and could be easily misinterpreted, one interpretation of which is blatantly incorrect, but the other is not incorrect.

@LieRyan all too often the word "Linux" implies a kernel and userland binaries that makes up "Linux". The reality, is only geeks like you and me could have unwittingly started a flamewar a lá vim vs emacs. Am not being sarcastic or smart, but its the definition of the word Linux seems to be thrown about wildly. Here's one example, Samsung Wave's Bada 2.0, its Bada, but it runs Linux kernel, does not make all of that Linux, when really its Bada. That's the distinction, same way as Android - its Android, small part is Linux kernel. Nothing more :)

Technically you don't "run Linux on Android". In fact, every Android device runs "under" Linux (That is, Android uses the Linux Kernel). What happens when you install a Linux distribution (I think that is what you meant by refering to Linux) on Android is that the Android OS and the Linux dsitribution share the same Kernel. Even if you replace the Android installation with a pure (GNU/)Linux one, the used Kernel is "the same".
Therefore the HW API calls are identical, and you can access the hardware from e.g. Python without any difference.

Canonical has announced about Ubuntu over Android. And, its sharing Android's kernel.

It's more like "Ubuntu besides Android" :)

Also, there is a scripting support available for Android - SL4A ;)

An Android app now allows device users to add custom versions of multiple Linux OS.
Andronix  allows unrooted Android users with > 2.5GB free and Termux on Android 5.1 or newer to install Ubuntu and other Linux OS with Xfce, MATE, LXDE, LXQt, and KDE desktop environments. The basic app is free and runs on devices with ARMv7, ARM64, and x64 CPUs; the publisher sells customized Linux distros through the Google Play Store.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
How to prevent data extraction from rooted phone via adb?
I've a question regarding security in a rooted device.
Being superuser means that you can access the /data/data directory, and that's a lot of personal data (I think it is almost all the data there can be in the phone).
So if a rooted phone is stolen, anyone can connect to the device via adb and perform a complete "audit" of the data, including mail, sms, search and browser history, contacts, etc. It is in fact easier than with a non-rooted phone. I see a big vulnerability here.
Is there a way to prevent adb connecting to the phone like, for instance, a password?

The adb can connect to an android device only if "USB debugging" is enabled in Settings->Applications->Development. If this setting is disabled and a password lock is set for unlocking the device, there should be no worries.
Also there are many apps such 'Lookout' which provide the ability to remotely wipe data from a phone if it gets stolen.

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


text:
How can I automatically reject some types of calls?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I reliably screen or block callers on a number-by-number basis?

I've been getting calls from a strange number recently, and it's not even a local area call. This caller has called me 20 times, and whenever I pick up the phone I am met with intimidating silence, even if I shout in it.
Naturally, I decided that I had enough, and tried to surf the internet finding ways to block certain phone number. However, the only methods I found were to either:
(1) Call your call service company to block a call,
(2) Install some apps to do it,
Now, I do not want to overcomplicate this situation, and I've had bad experiences with applications... so, any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Try blacklisting the phone no. Long press the phone no. in the Call Logs and select 'Add to Blacklist' option.


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Can a phone without a gyroscope measure angles sufficiently?
It seems that a gyroscope sensor is currently not so common amongst Android devices. But does an accelerometer (in conjunction with the compass?) provide enough accuracy to measure angles (tilt, yaw) with high precision?

Sufficiently for what, how high a precision?
There are a number of apps that will measure levels and angles purely using the accelerometer, that are good enough for everyday use, after an initial calibration.
For examples see the range of Spirit Level apps available on the Market.

If you're interested in sensors, you might want to watch this Google Tech Talk - Sensor Fusion by David Sachs.
Accelerometer provides an approximation of angles, but it does not provide a good accuracy. It has a major fault in that it amplifies hand jitters. That can be fixed with a low-pass filter, but that will introduce a delay when there is actual change in angle (which could cause a visible problem in reactive games and sensor log).
However, Gyroscope is not the king of measuring angles either. Gyroscope has a major flaw in that its measurement have a long-term drift. Therefore, accelerometer and compass will need to be used to correct a gyroscope.


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How long are older versions of Android supported
Having very recently acquired my first Android phone, I am interested in Apps development. I know this site tries to avoid dev specific questions, but I hope you'll still find my question relevant.
I am wondering whether to learn development for the "upcoming" Android4.0 version or to stick to the "current" 2.3 version. The arguments pro 4.0 are obvious but here are a few advantages about 2.3:

Documentation is widely more available. Tutorials are easier to find. People in the community are more familiar and more likely to help.
2.3 is on my phone (Galaxy SII). 4.0 won't be for some time. I don't want my app to be confined to an emulator or a SDK.

In order to help me make up my mind, I have one specific question to ask:
How long will the 2.3 version still be around?

Are there any upcoming phone scheduled with that version?
Will Google/manufacturers still provide updates, patches and support?
Is it likely that (like some notorious open source projects) the 2.x branch will be forked and keep evolving?

Being new to the community, I'm hoping you could provide answers based both on references to official announcements, and past behaviours when Android went from 1.x to 2.x

When you're about to start Android app development, you should not stick to the 'old' Gingerbread version.
Of course you'll still use many things introduced in Android 2.3 and older, so most of the tutorials still work. This is very important, because even if you target API level 15, you need to care about backward compatibility!
As an unexperienced developer, later Android versions help you writing better apps. For example Android 3+ applications forces developers to use AsyncTasks for networking services, so your application does not freeze on network issues.


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Does the processor speed have any bearing on the time taken to charge?
I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 running the default Sammy Android 2.3.3 on the Siyah Kernel 2.0
I use SetCPU to change my processor speeds to conserve battery life during the day.
Will there be any difference in time taken to charge my phone to 100% depending on the core processor(s) speed / governor? Will a change in processor speed increase/decrease charging time?
Will a phone charge faster if it's completely powered down? Or is charging solely based on the output of the AC power adapter ?

Any phone you'll get will draw power from the battery, not directly from the charger.  Let's make some assumptions:

Your phone takes 2 hours to charge when off.
Your phone always uses constant power when on.
Your phone drains a full battery in 8 hours.
Charging and discharging is completely linear.

So if you plug your phone in when it's completely drained and turn it on, it will be charged to 75% (100% - 2/8) after two hours.  It'll take 3 hours and 20 minutes to charge fully.
As illustrated above it will take longer to charge the battery when the battery's being drained at the same time.  Obviously, none of the assumptions hold in real life, but it's more or less accurate.  Certainly it will charge the fastest when off.
As for the question of CPU scaling, that's very interesting.  The rate of battery drain affects the maximum rate of charge, so less CPU work means less drain and a faster charge.  I'm not totally convinced that underclocking the CPU will achieve this, though.  If your phone is idle it should already be doing a negligible amount of work.  Slowing the CPU will make that little amount of work use the CPU for longer.  It's almost certainly chipset-dependent whether 100 ms at 100 MHz take more or less energy than 10 ms at 1000 MHz, for example.  If SetCPU is altering the voltages as well, that further complicates things.


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How do I get the GPS icon to show in the status bar in CM7?
Just did a fresh install of CM7 in my Incredible, it's fantastic, but whenever I turn on my GPS, it does not show in the status bar that it's on, like it does in the stock 2.2 OS.
Is there a way to enable this show it shows when it's active?

Are you actively using an app that needs the GPS? It usually only displays while it is in use, open Google Maps and see what you find.

Indeed that does work. Is there anyway to display that it's on? I've accidentally left it on before without realizing it, and I'm used to seeing it in the status bar.

Not an answer, just a comment - leaving GPS enabled isn't going to have a significant impact on battery life, since it will sit idle until you run an app that requests GPS location.

It will only show up if you open up an application that will use the GPS for something. For example just open up Google Maps. If you want to know if you left the GPS activated, just slide the notification panel and at the top you will have the toggle buttons, one of them is the GPS.


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Android Contacts lost but seen in Message app
I rooted my Nexus S and re-installed a stock ROM. I had my contacts on my SIM card before starting to use my Nexus and I never bothered to sync those contacts to Google. After rooting I don't see my contacts anymore (even in the import contacts screen). However when I try to open the messaging app and type something in the "To" list, auto suggest starts suggesting some of the old contacts.
As part of rooting, I deleted all of my data.
How is it possible that message app is able to fetch my old contacts but I am not able to see them?

Sounds like the messaging app is reading the SIM whereas the Contacts app is not.  You could probably use another app to copy the SIM contacts into the phone contacts.

@MatthewRead you are correct. It's the problem with the ROM that i installed. I didn't notice before posting the question, but i was unable to make/receive any calls. So i re-installed a different ROM and everything worked like a charm.

In the contacts app, press menu, then there should be some sort of option for display - this lets you change which contacts are displayed. At the minute you're probably just displaying your gmail contacts, but you should see the setting in there to display Sim contacts. My advice would be to copy them to gmail, you should find some sort of export/import tool in your contacts app too - just export all contacts from your Sim to a file on your phone, then import that file and select your gmail contact book, that means your contacts will always be available


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What Port Does Android Use For VPN Connections?
I'm trying to set up a VPN so that I can have a connection to my LAN from my phone (HTC Droid Incredible, Stock ROM, Not rooted) wherever I am.
AFAICT, everything is set up correctly.  The Domain Name resolves correctly, I forwarded the ports required by the how-to I was following, yet I still can't connect.
I have no idea what's wrong or how to get to any debug information.  The only thing I can think of that I haven't verified yet is the port, but I couldn't find a way to select one.
What Port Does Android Use For VPN Connections?
P.S.  I would really like to do this without rooting.

If you have access to a computer that

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

you can probably find out the port that way.

This will also hopefully let you see What's Really Happening. Sniff phone side, sniff LAN side, compare.

If you are trying to VPN from your phone to publicly accessible computer that is also part of your LAN, it really doesn't matter what port the VPN client on your phone uses.

I don't think so that you need to have to port if you are willing to use a VPN on Android. You simply need to add the server name in the settings which will be given to you by your VPN provider. However, I will advise you to configure the setting again on VPN Android. It will surely work out as one of my friends has also faced such issues while connecting to VPN but he tried the configuration steps and then able to use the VPN service on his Android phone.
Follow these simple steps.
Add a new VPN connection:

Press the Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap VPN settings
Tap Add VPN
Select the type of VPN to add (PPTP, L2TP, L2TP/IPSec PSK VPN, L2TP/IPsec CRT VPN)
Fill in VPN details such as VPN name, VPN server, etc (the required settings will depend on the type of VPN selected and will be provided to you by your VPN Provider or network admin)
Click Save or Done.

Connecting to the VPN:

Press Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap VPN settings.
The VPN connections you have added are now listed.
Tap the VPN you wish to connect to.
A dialog box will open asking for your credentials, enter them and touch connect

Here are the ports used by VPNs
PPTP
To allow PPTP tunnel maintenance traffic, open TCP 1723.
To allow PPTP tunneled data to pass through router, open Protocol ID 47.

L2TP over IPSec
To allow Internet Key Exchange (IKE), open UDP 500.
To allow IPSec Network Address Translation (NAT-T) open UDP 5500.
To allow L2TP traffic, open UDP 1701.


text:
Can you install MIUI themes from different sites?
I'm installing Miui from Miui.us, and I was wondering if I can install themes from http://miuiandroid.com/, or will those not work?

Most of those themes are available through the Theme app in MIUI.

If it's a MIUI theme it will be compatible, but I highly recommend you to use the Themes app that comes built-in your MIUI ROM.


text:
How can I migrate my data/apps from one Honeycomb tablet to another?
I got myself Honeycomb tablet, but after I used it for a while I've decided that I'd like to get a different one.
How do I transfer all my apps from one tablet to another?
Or, if this is not possible, how I can delete all my data from my old tablet?

Yes if you've previously set your current tablet to back up your data and settings to Google's servers, then during the initial setup of your new tablet you should be given an option to restore your previous settings and data.
The settings that you need to check on your current tablet are in Settings -> Privacy Settings. See below for more info on this from the official Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb) user's guide:
Page 13

Backing up and restoring your data
You can back up your settings and
other data with your Google Account, so if you ever replace your
tablet, you can restore your data on the new one. If you choose to use
this service, your data is backed up automatically.
If you previously
used the backup service with the Google Account you just used to sign
in, you can also choose to restore your settings from your Google
Account to your tablet now.
Important If you want to restore your
settings, you must do that now during setup. You can’t restore data
after setup is complete.
Many kinds of data are backed up, including:

Your Android settings, such as your Wi-Fi networks and passwords, user dictionary, and so on
Many Google application settings, such as your Browser bookmarks
The apps you download from Android Market

Some third-party apps also make use of the backup service, so if you reinstall one,
its settings and data are restored.

Page 132

Privacy settings
You use the Privacy settings to manage whether your
settings and other data are backed up to Google servers, using your
Google account. You also use these settings to erase all the data on
your tablet by performing a factory data reset.
Back up my data Check
to back up some of your personal data to Google servers, with your
Google Account. If you replace your tablet, you can restore the data
you’ve backed up, the first time you sign in with your Google Account.
If you check this option, a wide variety of your personal data is
backed up, including your Wi-Fi passwords, Browser bookmarks, a list
of the applications you’ve installed from Market, the words you’ve
added to the user dictionary used by the onscreen keyboard, and most
of the settings that you configure with the Settings application. Some
third-party applications may also take advantage of this feature, so
you can restore your data if you reinstall an application. If you
uncheck this option, you stop backing up your data to your account,
and any existing backups are deleted from Google servers.
Backup
account Displays the Google Account that your settings and other data
are backed up with. This is the account you need to sign into on a new
Android tablet or other device, if you want to restore the settings
from this tablet to that device.
Automatic restore Check this option
to restore settings and other data when you reinstall an application.
This feature requires that you are backing up your data with your
Google Account and that the application is using the backup service.

To wipe your current tablet (after you've ensured that it's been backed up, from the same privacy screen you should also see this option:

Factory data reset Opens a dialog where you can erase all of your
personal data from internal tablet storage, including information
about your Google Account, any other accounts, your system and
application settings, any downloaded applications, as well as your
music, photos, videos, and other files. If you reset the tablet in
this way, the next time you turn on your tablet you’re prompted to
reenter the same kind of information as when you first started
Android.

I think the transfer is supposed to happen automagically, without you having to do anything (or maybe you need to select some "please back up all my stuff" checkbox somewhere in the Settings).
In practice, though, I've never seen it work properly.
To delete data, I am pretty sure there's a "factory reset" option in Settings somewhere.  On my 2.3 phone, it's under Privacy/Factory data reset.


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/TASKER/ Voice Command on Bluetooth Connect
Got a new bluetooth radio in my car and want to add voice control when it is connected.
I was thinking that when it either first connects it listens once so I can open up the music app of my choice or to have it constantly listening though I don't know how smooth that would work out.
Any ideas? I already have it setup to disable the unlock screen and open Slacker.  Want to do this cause I still have to look at my phone occassionally and want to try not to.

Does the bluetooth device have a "call" button, or is it only for audio playing? In most bluetooth hands-free setups, you can initiate voice dialing with that button. "voice dialing" in the android sense is the generic voice input which has a number of options, but you could presumably intercept this with Tasker, instead.

It has a call button that just brings up another menu to search for calls by dialed, missed, phonebook etc.


text:
How do I simulate packet loss on an Android device?
I'd like to simulate packet loss on a rooted Android device to see how different levels affect video streaming quality. I've tried netem and iptables, without success:
netem:
# tc qdisc change dev rmnet0 root netem loss 0.1%
tc qdisc change dev rmnet0 root netem loss 0.1%
Android does not support qdisc 'netem'
Garbage instead of arguments "loss ...". Try "tc qdisc help".

Is the format wrong or is it possible to add netem support somehow?
iptables:
# iptables -A INPUT -m statistic --mode random --probability 0.01 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -m statistic --mode random --probability 0.01 -j DROP
iptables v1.3.7: Couldn't find match `statistic'

Try `iptables -h' or 'iptables --help' for more information.

Is there any other alternative in Android?

Good question! My thought: as an alternative, maybe connect to a wifi router and throttle the connection there if your router does quality of service or similar?

Kind of related, here is how to capture packets on a rooted Android device: http://www.vbsteven.be/blog/android-debugging-inspectin-network-traffic-with-tcpdump/

The router configuration is probably the proper way of doing it, and I do have that simulation in place by using WANem. However, I'd like to have a portable way that does not rely on the network configuration, or the network interface for that matter. Basically I want to do a unit test where I run video streaming, increase the packet loss and run the same video again.

It is possible to set network latency and speed using the emulator control functions of the standard Android Developer tools.
If using eclipse:  Select Window\Open Perspective\DDMS
On the screen you will see a tab named "Emulator Control".  In this tab, you will find the Speed and Latency options.  The 'Telephony Settings' at the very top have speed and latency selections.
There are other ways to modify these settings (including scripting them in your emulator setup), but this is the simplest way to access the settings.

Since your device is rooted you can install a Proxy. I've used TransparentProxy. Then setup a proxy on another machine on your local network. Point TransparentProxy to that proxy and then set your Proxy to throttle. A few proxies that might work include CharlesProxy or Service Capture.
If that doesn't work then you can come at it from the router level. A machine running BSD or Linux can function as a router. Or you can get a Virtual appliance or bootable CD to do it for you.

I would reference this thread:
https://serverfault.com/questions/201588/configuring-a-router-to-drop-packets-introduce-latency-corrupt-data
Doesn't seem to be any reason iptables shouldn't work.


text:
How do I move multiple app icons at the same time?
I have an HTC Incredible running Miui with Go Launcher EX. Is it possible to move multiple icons at the same time?

Can you be more specific ? Move to where ? Are you talking about the icons on Desktop or App Drawer ?

sorry, move the icons around the various desktop screens.

You cannot select multiple icons on Go Launcher Ex, so multiple icons moving is not possible.

out of curiosity, why would you want to do this?

I suppose if you have multiple icons on one screen that you want to move to another screen, you could add the icons to a new folder then move that folder to the other screen. Then you can just move the icons back out of the folder.

Unfortunately you can not do so with GoLauncherEx.
Your best bet would be to contact the dev team at their blog, or other forms of contact like Twitter, facebook, etc. and just ask them to include this feature. As of right now (Mid-2012) I don't believe there is a launcher on the Android that has this feature yet.
Feel free to contact the dev team.
http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/
GoLauncher is really innovative and usually has features long before other launchers and updates frequently. They have a very active development, with the largest user base of all other launchers, so its not really out of the question for them to support this feature if asked.
I do believe it would be pretty handy at times. But who knows how much of a priority they would make this innovation, as their is only 8 home screens and once you pull an icon over to another screen it automatically takes you to the overview of all home screens, so its a pretty efficient and fast situation. But the "Go" devs love what they do, and love their user base so I don't see why they wouldn't work on it if you asked.
The only way to find out is to try and contact them! :)
Hope the best.

This exact feature is available in the default MIUI launcher, just pinch your screen or looking press on a empty area and you will open window editing mode from there you can select and move multiple apps simultaneously, from screen to screen.


text:
How to use Tasker to close an app when a different app gets closed
I have a task setup that opens Co Pilot (satellite navigation) after I click on Dailyroads Voyager (blackbox recorder); this works really well. What I'd like to know is how to close Dailyroads Voyager once I exit Co Pilot by using Tasker.

You can do this:

Profile: Voyager Toggler
Trigger: App: Voyager
Task:

A1 : if ( %Count == 1 )
A1a: Open Co-Pilot
A1b: Set ( %Count = 0 )
A1c: goto ( exit )
A2 : if  ( %Count == 0 )
A2a: Home
A2b: Kill Voayeger and Co-Pilot
A2c: Set ( %Count = 1 )
A2d: goto ( exit )

Now go to VARS in Tasker, create a new variable Count and set it to 1.
What's happening over here is that every second time app Voyager opens, it executes what you want.

Create a new profile. The context has to be Application -> co pilot.
Leave the tasks empty. (You actually can't leave it empty but you can add some dummy task like: Alert -> Notify and add an If clause that will always fail. ie %asdasd12eqwe is set.
When finish with the dummy tasks go to the profile and click the task (where is the green arrow).
In the opened dialog click "Add exit task".
Here you should add the task to close dailyroads voyager: App -> Kill app -> dailyroads voyager.

This should do the trick. Although I must add that it is not really recommended to kill apps. I'm not really sure why.

When co pilot closes, it opens voyager, and then reopens copilot again... I tried this with my 'start' profile on and off and it didn't work. any other suggestions appreciated!

You can add an alert -> notify before and after the command to kill the app to check if that is what is making all that unwished things.


text:
Nexus S: how can I control sites shown underneath stock browser search box?
The built-in web browser of my Nexus S has a cool feature: when I press the Search button, in addition to a text box where I can type a URL or search terms, there are 4 sites shown above the on-screen keyboard.
How I can control what sites are listed?  I'd like to be able to populate that list with favorites so I can get one-click access to my top favorite sites without having to go through the "favorites" menu.

It loads your most frequently visited websites. When you keep visiting a particular site lots of time (say like 3-4 times on the same day), then the site will get displayed in the list.

I just tried the search button on my Nexus S, and indeed saw the four sites you mentioned.  I think they're some combination of bookmarks and history; I doubt that you can explicitly control them.


text:
How to check update log for apps on the phone
I am suspecting one of the app update causing a problem on my Galaxy S2 after I did a app update (about 15 apps) through Android Market. Is there a way to find out the app updating history (dates/app names/versions)?

Go to your web browswer - not on the phone - use a desktop or laptop (you might be able to do this via phone but haven't checked - you would probably need desktop mode if you wanted to try) - and go to the Android Market: https://market.android.com/
Log in
Between the Search bar and Android Market you should get the following options Apps, Books, Movies and My Library - click on My Library.
Just under the search option you should see Purchase History. Click on it.
You should find a list of the apps and when they installed. This will help you pick up any apps etc that are new.
To see the most recently updated apps just go to the Market app on your phone, go to my apps (my downloads - depending on the version of your app market) and it will list them in the most recent order of updated/installed - with any requiring an update at the top - scroll past these to see the last ones you updated (if any has an error its possible it might be in the apps to update).

this is so helpful. However, my Market app on the phone sorts my apps in alphabetic and it seems there is no way to sort by updated date.

You are correct the latest version of the market no longer keeps last updated, so this would only apply to older versions of the market. Have confirmed this as updated to new version of the market today and see that is the case after updating some apps.

It's annoying that I cannot revert market app back to older version. Whenever I delete (it's actually deleting the update files) the market app in application management and launch market, the market app will update itself immediately.


text:
Part of touch screen is not working
This is a weird touch screen issue as only part (2 blocks) of the screen is not working. I tested the touch functionality via "Touch Test" and observed that 2 red zones are not responding to finger tap (see screenshot). Where there are 2 thin gaps (actually 2 lines) are responsive. This happened after an app update (15 apps). I didn't drop the phone during this period. So I am suspecting this might due to a software issue. What could cause this issue?

Try rebooting. I used to have this problem in my old phone...part of the touch screen wouldn't work. Those times i would pull down the notification bar and close it. After that the whole screen would become responsive again.

No luck after rebooting. I am going to reset the phone to factory setting (or upgrade the firmware and wipe the phone) to see if it's a hardware issue. This is the last thing I want to do before any possible way to identify the issue.

Was there any water exposure? Was it dropped at any stage, before or after installing apps, despite I didn't drop the phone during this period? 15 apps would not do that... just saying :)

There is an option in Settings->Developer options->Show touches which when enabled will show a blip on the places where you touch. Try enabling to see whether you could see the blips in the area that you reported not working.

I might be late, or maybe not. I confirmed (here) this issue being adressed into a firmware where the asigned screen size was bigger than it was supposed to be. In my case, a 7" tablet flashed with a 10" screen size tablet, downloaded straight from the tablet's company support page, for my specific tablet.
The guy from the link applied a solution by himself, using pieces from another firmware so the screen size matched the desired one. You can either do this or try another firmware, if it exists.

some basic general troubleshooting steps that you can try to get a touchscreen working again.
Step 1
More RAM consumption
Turn the device off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on again. This process will clear out any software errors that are causing the touchscreen to malfunction. If the touchscreen still doesn't work, remove the device's battery, if possible, wait ten seconds and then put it back in.
Step 2
Malfunctioning Card(SD or SIM)
Remove both the SIM and memory cards from the device, if the device accepts such cards, and then turn the device off and back on again. Sometimes errors in these cards can cause devices to malfunction.
Step 3
Recalibration
Check your device's documentation to see if there is a way to manually recalibrate the screen. This process will either be done through the "Settings" or "Tools" menus, for those devices that have an alternative method of input, or by holding a combination of buttons while you turn the device on, for those devices that only have the touchscreen for input.
Step 4
OS Mafunctioning
Upgrade the device's software to the latest version, if possible. Many devices come with software for your computer that will allow you to connect the device and update the software. Often, this process will resolve existing software errors that may be causing the touchscreen to stop responding.
Step 5
No Connection between Screen and device's contact
Clean the device's contacts and screen using isopropyl alcohol and a small brush. Turn the device off before you clean it.
Step 6
Perform a hard reset as a last resort. This reset will erase everything you have added to the device and return its software and settings to their factory defaults. Even with an unresponsive touchscreen, most devices will have a way to perform this reset either through PC software or by holding a combination of buttons while turning the device on. Consult your device documentation to determine the exact process for performing a hard reset on your device.
Step 7
Contact the manufacturer for your device if the touchscreen is still unresponsive after your troubleshooting attempts. The manufacturer may have additional steps to take that are specific to your device, and if your device is still under warranty you should be able to get a replacement through their customer service division.
I got this from here

Your answer is cool, but the question What could cause this issue? is what made me curious about what specific situation could have caused such strange damage: was it dropped?, exposed to some substance?, to extreme temperatures?, a surge in current/voltage levels? etc.

In my answer i have tried to describe these too. More RAM consumption, OS malfunctioning, errors in SDCard or simcard or may be dust particles has blocked connection of screen with contact.

Until now, your answer has been the only one which (despite not being based on your own experience in a similar case) shows some effort to query credible and/or official sources, rather than make guesses or repeating what already has been said. So, take your well deserved +50 bounty!

Uninstall or disable Facebook; it doesn't play nicely. And I'm not joking. It really works. I knew my issue wasn't hardware, because when I rotated my phone, it was still unresponsive at the top left, so it was software issue. Someone mentioned FB or Messenger being the issue. So far, I've disabled FB on my Galaxy Note 4 and poof! No more top left issues. Can't uninstall since it's apparently been baked into the phone, though.

I think the reason might be moisture or water inside the panel if that is the case just open the front panel and keep it under the sunlight for a while it might work.

If it's moisture, drying by sunlight is not the recommended way. Better using one of the other methods then, like putting it in a box of rice for a few (2-3) days.

if it is water would putting it in box of rice make it worse @Izzy ?

I never tried (no reason), but common arguing is exposing it to heat is not the healthy method to dry electronics. Rice is drawing the water. Slow, but reportedly save.

Rice works OK, silica gel packets too. On the other hand, heat sources are a big DON'T!. http://hacknmod.com/hack/diy-save-a-wet-cell-phone-using-rice/

I have the same problem. Try charging your phone via USB in one night without using it. I have this problem since a bought this second hand nexus 4.last night I charged it through USB and my screen is fully functional now. I will test this for a couple of days to see if the problem reappears.

This may, or may not, fix your problem. I found this thread trying to fix my problem. Now that I have fixed it, I wanted to share this in case someone else finds this thread.
Short answer: Disable the "Block Status bar" feature in Cerberus.
Long answer: When trying to investigate the dead area I went into dev options and turned on "Show touches". Touches registered just fine. I saw a rectangle the exact size of the dead area when I turned on "Show surface updates". I first thought it was the heads up feature. After doing some tests, I came up with the same problem. It wasn't until I did a factory reset and reinstalled Cerberus that it came back. I looked through the settings and it does it when the "Block Status bar" feature is turned on. Disabling this fixed it.

This is exactly the answer I was looking for to resolve the issue I've been having on various Android devices I run using Cerbarus. Thank you!

Go to  Settings->Developer options->show and test it with touching the screen.If it works fine switch off and work else try to repair(Check where you bought it).There is no chance hanging the touch because of apps.

Are you talking about the option Settings->Developer options->Show touches? Yeah, @Narayanan suggested it before...

Did You try that?

I'm typing this on a device that I'm facing the very same problem on. I've found that squeezing the part of the screen is a temporary fix. For me it's the lower part. For the long run gotta live with auto rotate. Until its fixed. Sigh.


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Froyo Sound Management
I pickup up a Motorola Triumph (running Froyo) for Virgin Mobile a couple weeks ago.  I like the thing, but I just don't understand Android's sound management.  Let me explain:

Setting SilentMode turns off ringer, but not Media or Alarms.  While this is annoying in and of itself, it also disables the volumn control in the Settings, meaning I can't change the Media volume before something using the Media volume is actually playing!
Occasionally, the media volume will be waaaaay loud, even though it's only one click away from off.  Furthermore, changing the Ringer volume will then set the Media volumn to a lower level - changing some sort of multiplier, perhaps?  I notice this mostly when using Pandora (it can change volume between songs, and I'll have to go nudge the Ringer volume again to get it to quiet down).

Is there any way to fix these issues?  Make SilentMode silence Media as well as Ringer, AND still allow me to change the Alarm volume?  Or simple make SilentMode ACTUALLY silent?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Silent Mode definitely isn't supposed to mute media or alarms.  Both of those are controlled by you, unlike calls and other notifications that are caused by external events.  You wouldn't want to miss your alarm just because you forgot your phone was on silent :) but it's definitely strange that it disables the volume controls entirely, that must be a Motorola thing.
You could try the Audio Manager app for better control over the settings.  It doesn't sync the media volume to the ringer volume, but you can use profiles to quickly set up one where both are muted and then it's easy to switch with a click or two.  It also manages Alarms, Notifications, in-call volume, and "System Volume" (probably the noises you can enable for when you click things and so on).

I'll give Audio Manager a try, thanks!  Not sure about the motorola thing with the sound controls (from what I understand, the Triumph doesn't have "Motoblur" and uses the stock Android UI, etc).  I agree I wouldn't want my alarms silenced, but having SilentMode mute the Media vol would be helpful.

@BenCole I can understand why silent mode doesn't disable the Media volume. I quite often plug my phone into speakers or a hifi to play streaming music, etc I do want to hear the music/podcast, etc but don't want it being interrupted all the time as I get new messages, etc.

Ah, fair enough.  AudioManager is an easy-enough-to-use replacement for a full SilentMode.  Unfortunately it still doesn't fix the Pandora problem...it still changes the volumne between songs!  None of the volume sliders (ANYWHERE) have changed though!  I have to go touch the Ringer or Notification sliders in the System Sound settings to get it to quiet down...  I'm still going to accept this answer, because AudioManager is awesome, but I'ma open a new ticket for this Pandora issue.


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How can I get push notifications for emails in sub-folders?
How can I get push notifications for emails in my inbox's sub-folders? By default it pushes just inbox emails, not the other folders that are in inbox.

You can't, the Gmail client for Android only syncs the Inbox folder. The other folders are only synced when you enter into each one.
If I'm not mistaken the K9 Mail client have the ability to sync more than one folder.
EDIT to add some new information provided by "Mr. Buster":
The current version of Gmail client for Android phones actualy have this option.
In order to configure the gmail client to sync more than one folder you have to go to: Gmail Settings > *@gmail.com Account Settings > Sync inboxes and labels

That's not entirely true about Gmail - Gmail Settings > *@gmail.com Account Settings > Sync inboxes and labels

I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, and i have also got a app called "Email". This was on the phone when i got it, and you can also access gmail trough this app as well as the gmail app.
Maybe this app has the function your looking for.


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How do I remove duplicate contacts from Google+?
I have a problem with my contacts in conjunction with google+.
Like most, I had already a lot of people in my contactlist, which is synced with the contacts in google mail. With google-plus, I have added a lot of people to circles. Those people from Google+ are now all individual entries in my contacts, but only on the phone.
After deletion I recognized, that all people are also removed from my circles.
So how to add people to circles, without having them appear as duplicate contacts?
EDIT:
Thanks anyone, yes, some of you are right - it seems that those people are put in an extra list "Other contacts" (also visible in the web interface). You have to uncheck this group in the settings > displaysettings. Can someone of those people put this in an answer, so I can accept it, thanks :)

The same problems happens with Google Talk. I hope that Google fixes that soon.

I can't recreate the issue. None of the people I have added to google+ have been added to my phones contact list. Is there anything I should do to trigger it? (HD2, Android 2.3.7, CyanogenMod 7)

@bendemes they are put in to "All Other Contacts" group, and I think by default in CM7, that group is not displayed.

Are you sure they're not in your Google Contacts on the web? Did you look under "Other Contacts"? It's my experience that adding someone to a G+ Circle adds them to "Other Contacts" and has resulted in some duplication for me. If you're displaying "Other Contacts" on your phone that would account for what you're seeing (since those contacts are mostly hidden from you in the web app).

@RyanConrad Oh yes I see the all other contacts option if I tick it I do then see all my Google+ contacts in my contacts list creating dupes. I might have missed something but why don't you just hide all other contacts? Or only show those with phone numbers?

When you Circle someone in Google+, it also adds them in the "Other Contacts" in Google Contacts.
Simply de-select "Other Contacts" in the Contacts app to remove these contacts from your view.
When multiple show up (in Google's New Contact vies), deselect the person's old contact info from ANY circle. That way Google doesn't "hang on" to them, they get integrated into your existing contact for that person.

The best solution I've found is to join contacts:

Select the duplicate contact
Edit the contact
Access the menu for the edit contact page, and select the Join action.  You can then select the contact you want to merge with.

This is also a nice solution, so I did a upvote. But I follow people (and G+ pages) on G+ that don't belong in my contactlist, this is no perfect match for me.


text:
Plug physical keyboard to Samsung Galaxy SII

Possible Duplicates:
External hardware keyboards
Can I connect an Android phone to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse?
Bluetooth keyboard with Android?

Is there a way to plug a physical keyboard to my Samsung Galaxy SII? Ideally they would connect via Bluetooth.
I wonder if it is possible at all to do some advance text editing, something like programming on the phone, and I clearly feel that the virtual keyboard is a bit limited.

There are free apps that enable Bluetooth connectivity of keyboards like BlueKeyboard JP, Bluetooth Keyboard Easyconnect. There is also a paid app Bluetooth (Null) Keyboard. Try one of these for connecting your keyboard with your phone.


text:
Just enabled 2-factor authentication for gmail, now on my Android phone I get "Sign-in error" to my google account

Possible Duplicate:
Google's 2-step verification

As per today's Stackexchange Podcast I took Jeff's advice and enabled 2-factor authentication for my gmail account. However now when my android phone is complaining with a notification in the top bar saying:

Sign in error for XXXX@gmail.com

I assume this is a failure in my phone trying to sync my account.
Of course I try to enter in my password (unchanged after enabling 2-factor auth) and it fails. Is there something I need to do to get 2-factor authentication to work correctly with my android device? I looked through the gmail app settings and didn't see anything obvious.

Apparently I needed to generate an application-specific password for my Android phone. When logged into google on a web browser, go under "Account Settings". Then Select "Authorizing application & sites". Once there create a new application specific password under "Generate new application-specific password". The password will be displayed once. Enter it into the Android phone's password prompt, and you should be successfully authenticated. You don't need to remember this password, its only intended to be typed in once and "remembered" locally on your phone. Note you can go to the same screen to revoke the credentials you just gave your android phone.
This is covered by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zMabEyrtPRg

I can't find any "Account Settings" after I login to google on mobile browser. I'm assuming you're talking about login to google.com (aka search). Can you explain where you find that link? Do you request for desktop version of the webpage?

@PedroLoureiro I accessed the page through my PC, not through my phone. I suggest watching the full video.

Thanks, I didn't have audio at that moment. I was trying to use this to resolve another problem but this won't make it. Thanks anyway


text:
Droid Bionic loses all data connectivity (Wifi & 3G/4G) intermittently. Software or hardware issue?

Possible Duplicate:
Why does the 3G connection drop issue happen on all Verizon 4G LTE handsets?

Periodically (a few times a week), my Droid Bionic (stock Gingerbread 2.3.4) will lose access to all data services (Wifi, 3G/4G) for no apparent reason.  The only sure way out seems to be powering the phone off and restarting it, although the last time I tried using Sleep instead of power off it did reset.   When it goes out, the only icon in the notification area is the signal strength "bars" area, which goes white.    No 3G/4GLTE, or Wifi icon is present.
How do I determine if this is a Gingerbread issue or a hardware issue with my phone?

I think the content of the other question, rather than its answer(s), may be useful to you.  It seems that all 4G handsets on Verizon are affected.

Have the same phone, had the same problems. Seems to have been resolved in their OTA updates.


text:
Unable to use Market because of my own mistake
Yesterday I rooted my Phone(Samsung Galaxy Ace), because I wanted to remove stock application Talk and Gmail. But I did something stupid, I went to /system/app and issued the following commands
rm *Google*
rm *Mail*
rm *Gmail*
rm *mail*

Now I am unable to use the market application, it opens and  then just closes itself. I have tried factory reset and it didn't help either. I am stuck because of this blunder. Please help.
Thanks

Since you haven't mentioned, I assume you don't have nandroid backup.

A NANROID backup is basically a backup of your Android operating system from the phone’s NAND memory, saved to the storage card.

If you had that, you could have just restored the backup.
Now the alternative is, if you know the programs that were deleted by the performed command you could try getting the apk files and adding them in /system/app and rebooting the phone.
I thing the best and easy way now would be to get the stock ROM for your phone and flash it.

No, I dont have a nandroid backup :( , how can I flash my phone, please suggest me some easy-to-follow tutorial.

This is a very common question, I'd suggest you read our wiki, http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1184/how-do-i-root-my-device/

I have flashed my phone as per your suggestion and its working fine now, I just wanted to know how can I change the keyboard? is there any good app for that ?

I use this Gingerbread keyboard, https://market.android.com/details?id=com.moo.android.inputmethod.latin.free&feature=search_result.

Please note that the Market requires Talk to run, and you have to be signed into Talk for the market to work. This is your main issue. You will need to add them back via nandroid if you have it, otherwise you will have to reflash your rom.
You need to be really careful about which stock apps you remove as a lot of them are interdependent on one another. Check on XDA and Cyanogen sites for lists of which stock apps you can and can't remove.

In case you are wondering why Market  depends on Talk it's because push to device functionality is implemented as chat messages in Talk, and the market uses push to do Web install. In short don't remove Talk.


text:
Motorola Triumph changes Volume between Songs or with Notifications
I have a VirginMobile Motorola Triumph, stock but rooted.
I listen to music with both Pandora and Google's Play Music app.
When listening to music, the volume has two modes, 'soft', in which all the way down is too quiet and all the way up is too loud, exactly as it should be.  The other setting is loud - just loud.  The first click of 'loud' is enough to hurt my ears.
I can change the volume from 'loud' to 'soft' by playing with the Ring or Alarm volumes (not Media).  They don't have to change, but they have to be altered briefly to 'reset' it back to 'soft'.  Furthurmore, if I receive a notification, text, call, or any other sort of message, the volume becomes 'soft' again.
While listening on 'soft', if the song finishes and naturally continues to the next, the volume will jump to 'loud'.  There are other occasions where it does this as well, but I haven't figured out exactly what they are.

[ORIGINAL]:
I have a stock rooted Motorola Triumph (which does not have MotoBlur) with Pandora installed.  Media volume is pretty loud, so I keep it on the first click, always (I also have Audio Manager installed, but this problem was happening prior to installation).
However, when Pandora goes to the next song (either because I skipped, down-thumbed, or just finished the song), the volume gets really loud.  It doubles in volume, if not more!
The weirdest part though is that none of the volume sliders (anywhere!) have changed.  Not one.  Furthermore, altering the Media volume (still on 1st click), has no effect other than to make it even louder.  However, if I alter (or even touch) the Ringer or Notification volumes, the song volume drops to where it was.
I'm tired of changing my volume between every song.  I'm willing to talk to whomever (Motorola, Pandora, Google, etc) in pursuit of a fix.  How can I address this?

Did you happen to solve the issue somehow? Maybe tried a factory reset (I had a lot of instabilities after rooting of some devices, which were immediately solved by a factory reset)? If so, it would be nice to let others (who might be affected as well, as the upvotes might indicate) know the solution :)

No, I never found anything.  I found that it's not simply a Pandora issue - the issue affects at least Play Music as well, and who knows what other apps.  To be honest I've quit listening to music on my Android - I'm thinking of getting an iPod... :(

Known issue with older ROMs on the MT. AFAIK its been fixed, but I've since moved on from the mighty Triumph!

I reccomend you contact the makers of Pandora about this issue, as this looks like an app bug rather than a phone issue.
I would suggest emailing them with as much info as you can possibly fit in.
Another option would be to check the settings in Pandora - you may have missed an important setting that is causing this issue.

Nope, it's not just Pandora.  The Google Play Music app does it as well.

I've had a similar problem on my Optimus V, and according to other users of the ROM, it is specific to the ROM.
Sometimes the volume is max level no matter what. The temporary workaround is to actually turn the volume up all the way, then turn it down. As soon as I hear the volume blasting, I have to go against my intuition to turn the volume down (as it usually is in the lowest setting already) and turn it all the way up, then down.
Try that and see if it solves the symptoms. If so, the developers of your ROM need to fix the underlying bug that causes the volume indicator to be out of sync with the actual volume.


text:
Does disabling mobile data revert from 3G to 2G?
When I disable mobile data in Android 2.2, the 3G symbol disappears. Does this revert my phone's signal to 2G? I don't want to lose my signal when I go to the subway, but I don't want to all my apps consume all my monthly bandwidth.

No.  This completely disables all data access.  Only calls/messages can be used.
EDIT:  You might try looking into something called JuiceDefender.  The free version will disable your data access when your screen turns off.  Good for both battery saving and data-usage saving!


text:
Galaxy S2 can't plug in to laptop with usb correctly
Why when i try to plug in with the cable Galaxy S2 and a laptop, it's not showing any new partition that must be for the galaxy.I get a successful conection on the phone, but it's not having a popup window, for example to ask me if i want to charge my battery from the laptop or to do some stuff with the files.

Go to Settings -> Wireless and network -> USB utilities and choose "Connect storage to PC".
Or, if you want to automatically sync files via wifi from phone to your Dropbox or FTP account you can use a super app called "RealSync". You can get this app here.


text:
Apps download but do not install
I'm using a two-week old HTC Sensation. A number of times now, I've tried to download apps (this is happening on multiple apps, not just one) and although they download, they never install. I can see the download happening and getting to 100% in the status dropdown, but it never continues on to install. I don't get any error messages; it just never goes any further.
This happens regardless of whether I download the app from the Market on the phone, market.android.com on my computer, or the Amazon app market.
Android version 2.3.3.
Any ideas?

How much free space do you have?

5.2 GB free (out of 7.2 total). Should be plenty for a single app...

That sounds like it's your SD card, how's the internal space?

Sorry, you're right. .96GB internal; still should be plenty for a single app.

I assume you've tried re-booting your device? Although you're saying that apps from the market aren't installing either. make sure you have the option to allow UNKNOWN apps to be installed ticked in Android Settings > Applications. See if that helps.

@Sparx - yes, I've tried rebooting. And yes, Unknown sources is checked and has been from the beginning. Doesn't make a difference.

I also had similar problem on HTC Desire and I've made a blog post about its solution in here.
Basically you have to open "Manage Applications", and clear cache of "Market" and "Download Manager"

Well, as I said in the original post, I didn't get any error messages, including the "Download Unsuccessful" message you mention in that post. But clearing the cache for the Market and Amazon Marketplace did fix the issue, at least this time.

Well, that didn't last. I tried to install a second app and am having the same issues again. And this time, clearing the data and cache of Market isn't making a difference.

Try clearing of "Download Manager" as well. BTW what is the version of your Market?

I'm not sure what that last comment is supposed to mean... I've tried clearing the data and cache of the Market and Download Manager. Still doesn't work.

Try installing this latest market, http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/11/01/download-android-market-3-3-11-adds-new-settings-default-auto-update-update-over-wi-fi-only-shortcuts-and-more/

Uh, no. Based on the comments there are still a lot of issues with that. I'd rather not make more problems for myself with a non-standard install on an OS app.

authors: uı6ʎɹnɯ ꞁəıuɐp


text:
Is it possible to update CyanogenMod from within CyanogenMod?
Is there a way to update CyanogenMod from within CyanogenMod without going though the whole flashing process? I'm looking a for one press update button.

Depending on the version of CyanogenMod ROM you have currently installed, this can be easy or impossible.
If you already have CM7, and simply want to try out the nightly builds, ROM Manager and ROM Manager Premium unlock automate the entire process.  With a single button tap, it can download the latest version of the ROM, reboot to Recovery, take a backup of the current system, flash the new version, and reboot back.
If you are on an older version of CM (4/5/6) this cannot be done in one click, because of the drastic differences between the ROMs.  A full wipe of the device will be required, which means all of your settings and downloaded apps will be deleted, and will need to be re-installed manually (or in batch via Titanium Backup or AppBrain.)

ROM Manager asks to update to Premium. Is there a free alternative?

I don't know of any as advanced as RM.  The Premium upgrade is only necessary if you really want the full automation "one-click-upgrade" feature.


text:
Spotify/pandora timer
Is there an app that is preferrably free that will shut off (not just mute the phone as I don't want Pandora sucking bandwitdh all night) that will shut off Pandora or spotify after a certain amount of time?

Not free, but you probably can use Taskerto do this.   I use Pocket Casts to listen to podcasts, and have a Tasker profile set up:
3 Contexts: Shake left-right; app Pocket Cast running; Not Docked Car
2 Tasks: Notify (turn LED on, title "Sleep"); Wait 12 minutes, then Pause Simulate Media Button, then Notify Cancel title "Sleep"
Net effect is that I can shake the phone left then right, and Pocket Cast will behave as if the Pause button on a headset were pushed 12 minutes later.   I used the notification LED so I could tell whether Sleep had been activated when the screen is off.
I'm guessing Pandora would observe the headphone pause function; if it does, this profile should work for you.

Sometimes I feel like a Tasker shill because about half of my answers here mention it, but it really is like a Swiss Army Knife for personalization of my phone.

I would add that Tasker's user interface is a little on the opaque side, but once you get the hang of it, you can do all sorts of things.

Yes tasker is the key but I prefer llama because its free and its awesome. Actually its location based profile app but it can be used for your condition.
There is a condition called "time between", add that condition and choose "kill application" for its action. Add your desired time and application


text:
How does in-pocket detection work?
My Droid Bionic has an option on the Display Settings page "In-Pocket detection: locks your device automatically when inserted in pocket"
How does the phone sense that it's in your pocket?  I'm speculating maybe a combination of proximity and light sensors?

I think you've answered the question :P

@MatthewRead - thanks; was hoping to find a source of some sort.   A google search finds a lot of speculation (including one that states the phone must also be in portrait mode and vertical) and a lot of complaints that it's not reliable.

There is an infrared/red-light sensor near your camera that detects whether the phone is in a pocket or bag. Online consensus is that depending on your phone manufacturer, there are varying degrees of success to how well it works.

I looked through the Play Store where i found PocketSensor which says in its description

PocketSensor uses your phone's built-in proximity sensor to automatically lock the phone when it is put in a pocket.
Example: If you want the sensor to trigger only when the device is being held straight upright (for front pockets) or pointing downwards (for pants pockets), select the "Disable in Landscape" options including all of its three suboptions.

so i guess it is definetly possible to use a combination of:
The orientation sensor lets you monitor the position of a device relative to the earth's frame of reference (specifically, magnetic north).
and
The proximity sensor lets you determine how far away an object is from a device.

I only can speculate about the answer how the Droid Bionic actually implements this "in-pocket detection". Most Androids that have a light sensor, (which sometimes acts also simple proximity sensor) use this as sign that you either doing a call without a headset or that you have put your device into the pocket.
It is also imaginable that Android uses the information from the 3-axis accelerometer and/or the 3-axis gyroscope to detect in-pocket situations. But I don't think that this is actually done, because these sensors use quite a amount of power when in use.
For an example datasheet of an Android Light/Proxmity Sensor, see the SFH 7743 from the Motorola Droid. It detects IR-light around 900nm. It seems that some Androids have separated light and proximity sensors, while others abuse the light-sensor as simple proximity sensor (e.g. Samsung Galaxy S).

In this scientific paper they've used proximity and light sensors. They describe the core algorithm, which is not so complicated, and they have developed it for Tizen.
The Android framework provide an equivalent sensor api, though I have not tried it myself.


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How to Ignore the Icons in Camera Album?

Possible Duplicate:
Unwanted folders showing up in Gallery. Can they be removed?

My Album contains Camera Pics and the icons of other applications. Those icons are there in my SD Card. I took back up of other applications using some Backup applications tool. It stores the icons also. I had to delete them manually to separate the icons and my camera pics.
Is there any way to exclude the icons and include only Camera pics in Album ?

The way to get the Gallery and the Music apps to ignore folders on your phone is to create an empty file in the folder called ".nomedia".
The easiest way to create that file is to plug your phone into a PC, explore the phone until you can find the folder that has your unwanted icons in it.
Then if you open Windows Notepad, click File -> Save As, navigate your way to the folder on the phone and then make sure that Notepad's Save As Type box says All Files (*.*) and does not say "Text Documents (*.txt)" you can now type .nomedia (note the full stop/period at the start of the file name) and click Save.
If you've done it right the file should not have a Notepad icon in in Explorer, it should just have a default plain white, rectangular icon. Now safely remove the drive, unplug your phone and (after your phone's done a media scan) the icons should disappear from the gallery.


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Take someone's picture twice in the same photo
There is an interesting feature in the camera of Samsung Galaxy S phones, called "Add me". Using this, one can take a photo of a person sitting in two postures in the same frame. A normal photo is taken, the person in the photo can change his posture, and again when clicked, the new posture along with the original is taken in the same picture creating a double/twin effect.
Is there any way to do this on other Android devices?

Fast forward to 2022, searching for "twin camera" on the Play Store may return quite a few apps.

Even if not exactly the same thing, hearing your description makes me instantly think about Cinemagram, an iPhone app that should be ported to Android really soon.
In a nutshell, the application grabs a little video of the chosen subject and then gives the possibility to "animate" a portion of a selected frame. The effect can be both amazing or chilling, depending on the subject and the skill of the operator.
Here are a few more successfull shots, both wonderful (Rain, Flag) or, more likely, gruesome (Eye, Snake, Mom, A bong aint wrong (LOL)).
This is surely a nice app to have on the phone, and if you are a Harry Potter enthusiast you could also try to make a newspaper out of it :)

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


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program to resize image?
I'm looking for an image editor that I can use to do a wide array of resizing tasks including canvas size (expand/contract the image canvas), image size (enlarge/shrink the entire image), and cropping. So far, all I can find are cropping tools in the apps I'm finding, but I want the others as well. Does anyone know of any apps that provide all three tools?

Just a part-answer: i'm using a nice app for resizing images: Image Shrink (there's also a lite version).
It works via the share intent - you "share" an image to it, the app does its job and the result can be shared again (e.g. if you want to send a large image via mail and want to resize it first, easily done with that app).

If you have a tablet, Adobe have just released a whole suite of tablet focussed (paid) apps, including Photoshop Touch.
Whilst I haven't tried it out yet, it does look like it should be able to do resizing tasks, I can definitely see a "Resize" menu option in one of the screenshots on the Features page.


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Some apps not supported on Samsung Galaxy Player
I've never really used an Android device before about a week ago so I'm not terribly familiar with how this all works, but I've noticed that there are a couple of apps that I am not able to download on my Samsung Galaxy player, but my friends who have Android phones are able to. Any ideas on why this might be or how I could work around it. An example is Go Launcher Ex.

Developers can choose to target specific devices or not.  Presumably these apps are either limited to devices that are known to work, or have blacklisted the Galaxy Player due to incompatibility.
Another option is that some apps might be available only while connected to a cell network or a particular cell network.  There are some AT&T apps that are only available to those on AT&T, for example, and I imagine this might be more broadly the case.
Here are some workarounds:

Get the app via another (legitimate) means, possibly the developer's site or another app market.
Use an app like MarketEnabler (requires root) to fake a different network.
Edit your /system/build.prop file to report your device as a different device.  Only edit the device name and versions and so on, not other settings, or your device may stop working!  You should be able to Google the various fields for other devices and see what to use if you want to mimic one.

Note that doing 2 or 3 in order to circumvent distribution controls may not be legal in your region.  The onus is on you to ensure you are acting legally.  I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Etc.


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Rationalising the utility of swap in Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830
I am trying to get my hands on the average read/write speed(s) of the RAM bundled on the said phone. Just wondering how this faces off with a Class 10 micro SD. I was thinking if the Class rating was high enough, maybe using swap might be a good idea.
Q1.) Is there a Class rating that is performing almost onpar with the RAM random access timing?
Q2.) Is my theoretical basis invalid?
Thank you!

According to this discussion on MoDaCo, the RAM throughput of an Acer Liquid is 1.3 GB/s.  Even if the Ace's RAM is slower (unlikely) it's got to be way faster than the Class 10 SD card speed (10 MB/s write).
So yes, your theoretical basis is invalid given that Class 10 is the highest rating.  Even UHS-II cards with a "theoretical" max speed of over 300 MB/s are slow compared to RAM, and few phones support SDXC cards anyways.

And for what it's worth, I think a typical setup for a decent device these days is LPDDR1 RAM (convenient table), which can be considered roughly equivalent to standard DDR SDRAM (which, even in its slowest form, has a peak transfer rate of about 1600 MB/s). You'd have to have both very slow RAM and a smoking fast SD card, methinks.


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Are users always asked to accept application permissions?
Does the Android OS always ask a user to review an application's permissions if it is not downloaded from the Android marketplace directly? For instance, downloading an application from a non-Google Android marketplace or directly from a website or computer. I could not find any information about this If so, please provide a documented occurrence or source.

No, or at least not in a way that can't be automated away.  Titanium Backup can install apps without the user seeing this prompt, for example.  It may require root to do this.
Without root, only the system can access the areas needed to install apps.  So barring any bugs, apps can only be installed by the system and the system will show the permissions if the Market has not already.  I don't have documentation of this, but the source code is freely available :P
Edit: Eldarerathis points out the AOSP security page, which indicates that the permissions dialog will be presented on app install, although adb install does not require this (presumably because you have physical access to the device in that case).  This is also confirmed by another official resource that sbaskin89 found.

I tried posting an answer to my own question but am not allowed to do so due to user restrictions. Here was what I was going to post: Unless someone else has tested/experimented with this, I have found this under the Android Developers Resource stating that

Applications statically declare the permissions they require, and the Android system prompts the user for consent at the time the application is installed.

@ Matthew Read Thanks for the answer, I should have clarified that I was asking in the context of non-rooted phones. This question is relevant to a research paper I am writing.

It's documented on the AOSP security page that a dialog will be presented (barring root access like Titanium, though I don't know specifically how it dodges it). However adb install also subverts the permission system and does not require root.

It is the same functionality as hitting "Run" as an "Android Application" in Eclipse I believe, something the OS must recognize. The link you gave states exactly the information I was looking for under the section heading How Users Understand Third-Party Applications.

I would guess Titanium uses something like pm install <someFile>.apk which will not display the permissions, but requires root.


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Very light overlay-ish home screen
Is there a homescreen that will basically pop up when I hit home, and I can go right back to what I was doing with the return softkey? It can require root, as I have that.

I actually found TaskXP for MultiTasking which someone recommended. It's just what I wanted. It shows my recent apps and any apps that I pin, in an overlay that I can quickly hit back from.

You could just press your home key to go to your home screen - do what you need to there, even open another app. Then just long-press the home key again to pop up the list of recently used apps and select the original app you were in to return to where you were.
Should work.


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Is there a widget that allows for speed dialing?
Is there a widget that would allow me to have, for instance, 9-10 names so I can call them quickly? Maybe 10 icons associated with 10 names/numbers?

In android you can create a shortcut to do that:

Long press on home screen, a menu will pop up with title "Add to Home";
From there choose "shortcut" -> "Person";
Choose the person you want and then select the default action like call or message. For you it will be call.

You'll see the icon of that person on the home screen upon pressing which will make the call to that person.


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Is it possible to record a video as avi or mp4?
I've recently bought a Motorola Milestone 2 (Froyo) and I see that when I record a video it produces a .3gp file.
Is there a way to have it produce an avi or mp4 instead? Would I have to root the phone?

Root won't be necessary, the Android API allows Apps to set the output file format to .mp4. So you just need to find an App that makes use of it.
But, as with most video file extensions, .avi and .mp4 are just container formats. Therefore the actually used video codec, that is responsible for the quality of the video, isn't changed by changing the container format. The Android API itself recommends to use .3gp as container format for better compatibility.

Using an MPEG-4 container format may confuse some desktop players.

Source
I'm not aware of an Android video recording app that actually saves the video with H.264/AVC compression. I think that this is because of the royalty fee one has to pay to use the codec.

Do you know if it's possible to save as .AVI? My phone (Motorola Razr) records in .MP4 and I'd like to edit it w/ windows movie maker, which doesn't recognize .MP4


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

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

ezPDF Reader is also very good, supports bookmarks, and will reopen a file wherever you closed it.


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how Downgrade LG optimus P500 from 2.3.3 to 2.2.2
I upgraded my LG optimus P500 phone from Android 2.2.2 to 2.3.3.
After upgrading the battery started to dry very soon and it auto powers off as well even when the battery is more than 80%.
Now I want downgrade my cell back to original froyo 2.2 version.
How can i do this?
Or is there any other fix for this problem of battery and auto power off.

You might try to wipe/factory reset and see if this solves it already.

Had this problem on 2.2 when I first bought it. Changing SD cards did not help. Resolved by uninstalling some apps. I believe it's a task killer or a launcher that's causing the SD card rebooting few times daily. Try deleting these apps one by one and monitor.


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How can I completely reset android samsung galaxy s 4g?
My phone has gotten extremely slow, and the GPS no longer seems to function which is the main reason I got the phone.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S 4G from T-Mobile.
Is it possible to reset it completely? I read several reset guides, and they said to hold the volume down + power and volume up + power but neither of those worked.
Thank you

I don't have that particular model, but every Android phone I've owned has had a "Factory Data Reset" option.  On my Nexus S, it's under Settings/Privacy.

Use one of the following USSD codes to do what you want:
*#7780#        Factory Reset
*2767*3855#    Full Factory Reset
*#*#7780#*#    Factory data reset

Source: XDA Developers Forum
A full factory reset is also known as a hard reset. It deletes all of your user data, firmware settings, and wipes your SD Card as well. Factory resets do not wipe the SD Card. Basically, a hard reset leaves nothing but the last ROM flashed. This is probably what you want.
Factory Reset vs. Hard Reset


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I have multiple Google accounts on my phone. How can I delete some of them?
I have an annoying problem with this Samsung Epic 4G touch. I set up a new Gmail account, which I use for Google Talk and the Android Market. However, I logged in to YouTube under two usernames at various points. I am not logged in and when I click Market it defaults to one of the YouTube accounts instead of my Gmail account. Under accounts, it shows all three. How do I delete the two YouTube accounts? I don't want them to access the Market and it does every time even though I no longer log into YouTube.

From the Home screen Menu | Accounts & sync should list all of your accounts on the device. Tap the account you want and then tap the "Remove Account" button.


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How to lock Samsung Galaxy S2?
My Samsung Galaxy S2 locks after some time I don't touch the screen.
How could I lock it immediately, without waiting for this time to pass?

On my original SGS you do it by just clicking the power button.  I would assume it's the same for the SGS2.


text:
Maps Update Degraded Off-Route Traffic Display
I've been using Google Maps Navigation to help with my commute for about 2 years now.  One common action that I take is to start Naviation to my destination, and then look at the traffic display on other interstates to see if there's a quicker route.
The last update to navigation changed the display so that the red/yellow/green traffic overlays over the orangish/brownish roads are thinner, making it much harder to see the off-route traffic.  Also, the off-route map stays "light" even when I move the map around with my finger, exacerbating the problem -- it used to not do that as well.
I'm currently working around the issue by uninstalling the last update, but

Is there a way to fix the issue without unintalling the latest update?
Is there a way to give google feedback so that they fix the issue in future versions?

Thanks.

No one has answered my question, so I will share what I've learned with my own investigation.

No, you have to uninstall updates from the manage apps menu selection from the home screen.  I'm currently doing this as a workaround.
I didn't find a way to email google and get an answer, but I did find their forums.  The related question on their forums is at

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=0d337324bcc86a55&hl=en&fid=0d337324bcc86a550004b349bee9f864
There has been particiption in the discussion from a google employee, which is a good sign.  Also, version 6.0.0 is an improvement of 5.12.0, but still not as good as 5.8.0.


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Can't boot to Clockwork Recovery on Atrix (several methods tried)
I have a Motorola Atrix 4G, with AT&T Carrier.  Android 2.3.4
EDIT 11/6/2011: I don't know if this means anything, but I don' have an sdcard in it.
I have rooted it using this tutorial.
I installed Rom Manager and installed the Clockwork Recovery Image, with success (supposedly).
Here are where the problems occur.  When I turn off the phone and turn it back on, while holding the volume down button, I get the big red M and scroll down to "Android Recovery" and select that.  I then get "Failed to boot 2".
Ok, so I reboot and go back to my stock rom and try reinstalling the rom, and it down nothing to change the situation.
Next, I try running the fastboot software in the command window on my pc using the command "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" (recovery.img is the clockwork mod).  On my phone it says "Flashing Partition Recovery" then "Flashing MBR to device" and finally "Failed to process command flash:recovery error(0x180002)".
Any suggestions?  I did google the problem, but the answers I have found didn't apply or didn't work.
Please help, Thanks.

Did you get the recovery.img through ROM Manager?  How exactly did you install it the first time?

The first time I did try, I used the ROM Manager.  Since then I have tried reflashing the ROM with the fastboot flash and the ROM Manager again.

Rooting the Atrix 4G does only that - gives you elevated privileges on stock OS.  In order to be able to install a different recovery image and custom ROMs, the phone's bootloader must be unlocked first.
This is a fairly complicated process that carries the usual warnings and disclaimers of modifying phone software.  It will most definitely void your warranty with AT&T (and possibly with Motorola as well,) so be very certain that your phone is either free of hardware defects, or out of warranty with your carrier before unlocking it.
See this thread on xda-developers forum for further details and installation instructions.

I just unlocked the bootloader last night, and it fixed the problem.  I never thought to check it because I believed that the 2.3 update for the Atrix was supposed to unlock it or something.  Anyways, I now have a rom on it and everything is well.  Hopefully this answer will help someone else.

I've taken a Motorola Atrix a couple of months before and all the threads I found have links to "sbf" (required to unlock) which have been removed from the net (I believe by Motorola itself) so basically I couldn't find any working "sbf" files to be compatible with firmware 2.3.4 nor a version of a program fastboot with inside a command called oem unlock available (all the versions I have tried are telling me that "unlock is not implemented")
I was not able to un-lock the Atrix for my girlfriend which is very depressing, because the actual ROM installed burns the battery in a very short space of time.
So, can anybody point me to a website that has a "sbf" file that works with Firmware 2.3.4 or a fastboot.exe which has enabled the function oem unlock
Thanks for help


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Can't start clockwork recovery image lately
"Lately" (like in the last few months), I'm unable to start the Clockwork Mod recovery image on my Nexus S with Oxygen 2.2.1. When I select "boot to recovery mode" (or want to start a ROM backup) in ROM Manager Premium, it reboots and I see the Android icon. The very first line is red and reads:
FASTBOOT MODE - NO BOOT OR RECOVERY IMG
I've (supposedly…) reinstalled the recovery image multiple times and ROM Manager tells me, that I'm on the latest version already (5.0.2.0).
Well…
How do I install the Clockwork Mod recovery image? My phone is rooted, if that's important.
Thanks,
Alexander

Try flashing the Recovery image manually via fastboot, as described in this guide:

Download the latest version of the ClockworkMod Recovery from here.
Place the ClockworkMod Recovery Image in the same folder as fastboot (the /tools folder with the Android SDK folder).
Power the Nexus S down, and hold Volume Up & the Power button until booted into the bootloader. You should see a white screen with
  three skating androids.
Connect the Nexus S to the computer via USB. On the computer, open terminal and run: fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-crespo.img

The ClockworkMod Recovery should now be installed on the Nexus S.

Thanks A lot!
I just flased the phone via ROM manager and it asked me to reboot. I did the same but, my phone got stuck on bootloader, when i use to click recovery it use to hang on GOOGLE logo. I was so tensed :)
THanks-A-Lot