text:
Calendar app from google not available
I just upgrade my Samsung Galaxy s2 and was expecting to use the new Calendar app from Google itself. Here is a screenshot
http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/4zGC/google-android-ice-cream-sandwich-review-14.jpg?20111121-150627
It seems not to be included in the upgrade and strangely enough not downloadable from the play store.
I searched the net but it seems everyone can use it cause I see no similar reports. Is it available on your ICS android phone?
Thanks, Tom

Was this an official over the air (OTA) update from your carrier or Samsung, or did you manually install a leaked ROM?

It was an official update with kies on the desktop

That calendar app is the default included in AOSP. Carrier and manufacturer customizations frequently replace the AOSP variants in favor of modified versions.
This is what's happened with the Galaxy SII updates. Instead of vanilla android you received Touchwiz.
If you'd like it on your phone, you can install it from the Play Store or flash a custom rom like Cyanogemod or AOKP.

I found that out after a while, you are correct. The people who want it on the out of the box Galaxy S2 can install Android 4 ICS Calendar https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.concentriclivers.calendar&hl=en
(AOSP = Android Open Source Project)


text:
"share via" doesn't offer me mail as an option in some apps, though it does in others
I want to use the (e)mail rather than the gmail app to share things, but in some apps this is not offered as an option. It is in gallery, but not in business calendar. It is in gtasks, but not in signnow. I use my phone mainly for business, so want to send invites to meetings and send signed documents from my work email rather than my private gmail. Is there a way I can add this back in? Have I got a preference wrong? Any help kindly appreciated. Thanks

You'll need to register your account if you want to be able to come back and reply as yourself without saving cookies.

This comes back to the individual app developer, you'll have to contact the developers of business calendar and signnow to update their share menu to be compatible with the Email app.
On the mean time though, you can use Gmail to send as your work email. Once you do that, then you can share to Gmail, and pick the alternate From address by clicking on the From field on the Gmail app.

Thanks for the answer - I suspect there is bit more to it though as signnow expects to work with mail in another area (and claims "mail client is not configured" when I press "import from mail"). Also business calendar app should share via mail, the developers told me so. I'm afraid I think there's a problem with my phone (running stock 2.3.4 on a HTC myTouch 4G Slide for what it's worth)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
i7500 Unlock Button Broken
My i7500 doesn't unlock anymore (the screen unlock). I have a feeling the actual, physical button is broken, because the phone is on and responds to the power button being held down, but won't unlock.
Things I tried that failed:

Rebooting does nothing.
I tried the sqlite thing (updating one of the settings so that the phone doesn't lock by default or whatever), but my phone is not rooted, so I only got "access denied."
I tried using adb shell to send the command input keystate 82, which supposedly  unlocks the phone, but nothing happened.
Sending event send EV_KEY:KEY_SOFT1:1 via adb (I get access denied).

If I can figure out how to unlock it once, I think I'm game. The phone runs a non-local version of Android 1.6. It's not rooted, sadly, and I really want to avoid formatting it if possible.
Here's what I'm doing right now:

Install NoLock via adb: adb install E:\download\NoLock1.05.apk
Run NoLock via adb: adb shell am start -n org.jraf.android.nolock/org.jraf.android.nolock.activity.MainActivity (prints Starting: Intent {cmp=org.jraf.android.nolock/.activity/MainActivity })

So, if I can only unlock my phone now, and configure NoLock, I think I'm good.
How can I get my phone to unlock, and how can I then unlock it without the unlock key? Is the current path of nolock going to work?
Why doesn't sending input keystate 82 unlock the screen?
Why doesn't NoLock automatically unlock the screen?

This happened to me again. The process of unlocking was as follows:
- Call the Android phone from a normal phone
- Pick up the phone
- Press the options button
- Click the button to add someone to the call
- Press the "go back" button
It should return you to the home page.
After that, setup Pattern Unlock. It only uses the touch-screen, so it works with a broken lock button.

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


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HDMI mirroring on non-root EVO
Is there any way to enable full HDMI mirroring on the HTC Evo 4g that doesn't require root?
I currently don't have the capability to root my phone as my charging port is broken so any suggestion along those lines is not an option.

The newest versions of FullHDMI work without root, but my understanding is that the performance is degraded on unrooted devices (haven't compared myself, so I don't know if that's accurate or how bad it is).

Where can I get the newest version? The .apk file in the link provided installs but doesn't work. Can't find the dev website or the APP on Play.

@moesef: That is the newest version, and the app is no longer on the Market (it was briefly, but then was taken down). If that version doesn't work on your device then you're probably out of luck because I don't know of any other devs which even attempted an unrooted solution. Even the FullHDMI dev encouraged people to use custom kernels due to performance and reliability issues.


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Hide "Successfully Updated" notifications from Google Play/Market
I have a lot of apps on auto-update and I really don't care when most of them update. I almost always have 3 notifications saying some app has successfully updated.
Is there any way I can the notifications off? I'm on Android 2.3.5, Motorola Electrify. I think I have the latest version of Market since it updated to Google Play on its own. I don't see settings for this anywhere in Google Play or the device's settings. FWIW I'm not rooted.

From 4.1 onwards it's possible to do so in the System Settings/Apps/Google Play Store. Uncheck the box that says Show Notifications. That kills all notifications for the app.

Excellent! Thanks, I didn't even think to check this after getting a 4.2 device

No, i don't think its controllable. At least i haven't found any set of Advanced Settings in Google Play to enable/disable such notifications. So, I think, at the moment, you have to live with it, though a request can be made to Google for improvements at http://code.google.com/p/android/

Yeah, I haven't seen anything in Google Play or the device settings at all...was hoping I missed something

Open Market application.
Tap Menu key.
Select Settings.
Uncheck Notifications. (notify me about updates to apps or games that I've downloaded)

OP is not talking about notification regarding available updates but notification after updating app.


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Does Angry Birds and other games have Leaderboard on Android devices?
I went to a Best Buy store and tried Android tablets but didn't see any Leaderboard for Angry Birds Space edition -- is it because it is not logged in as a game user or does Android have a standardized Leaderboard similar to iOS's GameCenter yet?

Android as a platform doesn't have any equivalent to GameCenter currently. Some Android games use OpenFeint for leaderboards and achievements, but it's not an official standard of any kind and it's not implemented in the Angry Birds games specifically. Other games choose to implement their own leaderboard systems (PewPew does this, for example).

There are a few other options out there such as Swarm (aka SwarmConnect) that have similar functionality (leaderboards, achievements, etc.) for Android games.  On Android it often comes down to developer preference.

Rovio now offers Rovio Account for their games on iOS and Android.
They describe it thus:

Rovio Account lets you store your game progress and continue playing on another device.

As of this writing, only The Croods and the original Angry Birds use Rovio Accounts, but I expect the other games in their stable to follow along fairly quickly.
This is not related to the just-announced Google Play Games, which is a general platform for Android.


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How can I make anonymous calls for everyone but contact list?
I want to show my caller id to everyone in my contact list but be anonymous for new numbers... do you know a method/app?

One possibility would be to prefix all numbers in your contact list by *31# (which turns the callerID on for that call only), while having callerID disabled in your settings. Depending on whether the phone app is intelligent enough to detect this as to not belonging to the number, incoming calls should still be matched fine (you could of course first try it out with one number to check).
Second possibility is the other way around: Having callerID globally enabled, and prefix manually entered numbers by #31#.
Being unsure which method to use, take a third option and a look at Prefixer, which should be able to do the one or the other for you -- depending on how you configure that app.

Go to Settings → Call Settings → Additional settings → Caller ID.

In that place you can just set it "for all" – but not "for all BUT". Or what should OP do once followed your advice to "go there"?


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Stop Galaxy S2 from reading homepages out loud?
My Galaxy S2 has suddenly started reading all homepages out loud, and it is really annoying. Does anyone know how to stop it?
I am running the new ICS software.
Update
When the computer voice is reading out loud, it seems that I can turn down the volume of that voice, which mitigates the problem for now.
Also, it seems that it is only the browser and the facebook apps for which everything is read out loud.
Update again
In Settings -> Applications -> Running I see a "Voice commands", and under that the Samsung TTS process is running. When I force close that one, a voice says "driving mode off". However, the process is relaunched immediately again.
Seems the suggestion about disabling driving mode is the way to go, however I cannot find any such option anywhere in the settings menu.
Update again again
This is getting pretty weird. I managed to disable driving mode. You can do that by going to the voice command app by double tapping the "home" button. However, that did not help, it is still reading all homepages out loud.
Any help please, it would be very much appreciated?

Can you once look at Menu -> Settings -> Accessibility

I have looked in most of the settings menu, including that one. And there is nothing that indicates that it should be reading anything out loud.

@bjarkef The TalkBack service is off?

@onik: I cannot find anything called TalkBack in the settings menu, nor any such running process. Where should I go look for TalkBack?

@bjarkef It should be among the first options under Settings -> Accessibility if it's available. If not, then disregard.

There is no such thing available under accessibility, unfortunately.

Check your settings for Settings -> Accessibility -> Install web scripts and make sure that it's turned off.
For JellyBean
Settings > Accessibility > Vision > "Enhance web accessibility" -Set to "Do not allow"
This fixed my issue, guess I should stop playing with 500 settings at one time.
Also try Settings>accessibility>Hearing>Turn off all sounds checkbox

This is the right answer, this solved my problem

Turn off Car mode / Driving mode, maybe. Perhaps in ICS - it is under Android's SETTINGS > VOICE INPUT AND OUTPUT

I cannot find anything called "car mode" or "driving mode" in any of the settings menus. :/

Finally found that setting, see my updated question, it is turned off, it does not mitigate the problem. :/

I have an S2 but running Gingerbread. When Driving mode is on - incoming calls and messages are read out. There isn't any option to read the text in the browser. Is it only the default web browser that reads out the content of the page or do you have Text to Speech in other apps reading out what's on-screen as well?

Since you have ICS, open the keyboard and check the keyboard settings - i think the default ICS keyboard has a text to speech feature included also.

Had the same problem with text to speech on my Galaxy Tab GT-P7500. I resolved the problem by disabling Accesability under Settings on my device. The Accesabilty fuction hinders/allows application to interact with you device. So when I would like to read text and would like to listen to it read out aloud then enables Accesability. Hope this have helped.


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Stock email client crashing
Phone is Motorola Milestone (EU version of Droid), android version is 2.2.1.
About a month ago I switched my email server from classic Postfix+Dovecot to Kerio Mail server. I accessed my email account via IMAP and I didn't change any email settings on my phone. After the switch, all emails that were read on server (either via email client like Outlook or via webmail) were showing up as unread in stock email client on the phone. It was annoying but I didn't give it much significance.
After more than a month, stock email client started crashing after checking mail from server. My theory is that mail identifiers of new server caught up with identifiers from the old server, and it's making stock email client crazy ...
Deleting data from email app and recreating the account didn't help, crashing persists...

Did you try clearing the apps cache (yes, I read you deleted the data -- but I'm talking about the cache: settings->apps->manage apps->[your-mail-client]->"clear cache" button)?

After using K9 Mail for couple of months, problem resolved itself, stock email client stopped crashing.

Thank you for your response! May I suggest you make that an answer below and accept it (see If the solution was a simple upgrade, should I close or answer my question?)? Makes it easier for other affected people to see (in lists) this question has a working solution.

After using K9 Mail for couple of months, problem resolved itself, stock email client stopped crashing.
This only confirmed my theory that stock email client on 2.2.1 has issues with overlapping message UIDS


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new account for GMail only
I added a second account in the GMail aplication, in order to be able to send/receive mail using that account.
I realized that the account has been added not only for GMail, but the Market (Play Store) also sees both accounts now.
Is there a way to keep the second account only in GMail?

You can't do this because:

There's only one Google Services Framework running for all accounts.
Google Accounts credentials are stored centrally from where Google Apps authenticate.

But, there's a way to solve your issue: Turn on IMAP from Gmail settings. And, use IMAP in default Email app or K-9 Mail app. Done!
Play Store can't see it..

After much testing of different apps, I find the best solution is to use the free BlueMail app.  This allows me to add e-mail accounts to check (Gmail and others), without needing to add the accounts "globally" to the device.  For example, an extra Google account being used for "e-mail only" won't show up in the Google Play app.  Also, it supports new authentication methods like OAuth2, is user friendly and has e-mail support.


text:
How can I install a missing locale?
I bought Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Hong Kong. The System has some pre-installed languages but I need to install an additional locale (Polish). I tried "More Locales 2" from the Market and it worked but not as I expected. Some text is fully translated, but others are not. Is there any way to localize it correctly? Polish locales are supported by Android 3.2 but I do not know how to install them manually.

I believe you should install the European version of Samsung's ROM or any other ROM of choice. This XDA thread lists official firmwares for your device.

Honestly, I was thinking that some easier solutions are available. Anyway, many thanks for your answer. I need to read more about this whole ROM stuff. I will wait a while with marking your answer as accepted, maybe someone else show up here.


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Can't install Google Apps
I'm using an Allview Alldro P2 phone with Android 2.3.5. Fresh out of the box it worked like a charm. After a factory reset from Settings I couldn't install any apps from Google (Gmail, Youtube, etc).
Later edit : Gmail failed, Youtube failed, Google Maps worked... odd right?
I'm getting an error like "Problem parsing package" but if I download other apps, they work like a charm.
Any ideas? It's the first time I'm having this issue. Meanwhile I will be exploring this site for any clues.
Thank you.

Does Google Play work on it? Google Apps work on a special framework which your phone might be lacking? I know the Kindle Fire lacks the framework but I don't know if any other devices do.

maybe, but in the processes i see google services running, does factory resetting a phone cause such problems on other models?

This problem is taking place when you install Google apps APKs directly on phone.
The solution is installing Google apps image in Recovery mod.
You can always get the latest GApps for any android version such as Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.x), Honeycomb (Android 3.x), Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x), Froyo (Android 2.2.x) and Eclair (Android 2.1.x) from this address Latest GAPPSS

so it isn't an issue with the fact that i did a factory reset? also, why install from recovery mode?


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What .apk is missing for my htc wilfire s to be able to boot?

Possible Duplicate:
Can't boot my Htc Wildfire S after deleting Sense

I have deleted some pre installed apps on my Htc Wildfire S.
Now I am not able to start it, does anyone know which .apk could be missing and is causing it to not boot?


text:
Contacts with and without international extensions
I'm in the UK. My Nexus S received its update to 4.0.4 yesterday, and I now have the following problem.
If I have a contact with (say) the number 07123456789 and I receive a text from this contact, it comes up as +447123456789. However the phone no longer seems to recognise that these numbers are the same (i.e. one is with the international extension, one without) and the contact name is not displayed with the text. Is there a setting or anything that will fix this?

This is a known problem with ICS (up to 4.0.3, I think) :

http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/ZVK3xcu2NrA

If you follow this link you'll also see a solution to the problem (I'd recommend backing up your contacts first, just in case):

Assuming your phone is synced with Google Contacts
Disable contacts syncing. From the home screen: Press Menu -> System Settings -> Accounts & sync
Erase all contacts from the phone: From the home screen: Press Menu -> Manage Apps. Scroll down to Contacts Storage and press Clear Data.
Restart the contacts sync as in Step 2.

I also have a Nexus S and am in the UK and have just had version 4.0.4 rolled out to me yesterday, I haven't had a chance to download it yet BUT 4.0.4 should have 'Improved phone number recognition' according to the Android team, I'm assuming that's a reference to the problem we've been having and should fix it. Here's the link to statement from the team:

https://plus.google.com/104629412415657030658/posts/NgGwavbmkQ7

Here's another solution, that's been posted on the top link I gave you, I haven't tested it personally but others in the thread seem to have and have said it works. Try the first shorter one before this though. Here it is:
    1- menu --> people
    2- option --> import/export
    3- export to storage --> OK
    4- option --> import/export
    5- import from storage --> after searching
    6- import one vCard file --> ok
    7- choose the file which you exported early (00001.vcf) --> wait for import
    8- now your issue is solved and you can try if it works with you. but we got another error of duplicated names here.

    if you want to solve the duplication on names here. follow the below:
    1- menu --> settings
    2- accounts & sync
    3- enable the sync and choose to sync your gmail account
    4- after finishing the sync. go to your laptop and open your gmail email.
    5- press on the contacts tab on the left side
    6- select all the contacts --> more --> find & merge duplicates

Thanks - the second solution seems to work for me. I will check if there are any more issues in the next day or two. Maybe remove the first solution, as the second is pretty simple? Also my phone was already updated to 4.04 but maybe it just needed this kick up the butt.

I'll move the second solution up to the top but keep the other one in at the bottom just in case the first doesn't seem to work for people. Let me know if there's any more issues with it and what they are, I'm going to try it when I get in as well as I've still got the same issue, just needed a bounty to get me to look at how to solve it.

Cool, it definitely seems to have worked, got a few people to do test replies (which come back as +447...) and no problems so far

OK, nothing works for me but I found something in the web that could help mitigate this problem. It consists of editing "/system/build.prop" and adding this: "ro.phone.min_match=8". Of course, you should replace the length "8" to a value more convenient to you. (in fact, 8 is the best number)
Then, you need to restart the phone. Some phones put the cell on hibernate when you power down. So try to restart instead.

It might help installing an Android app called Right Number (source available). It reformats the numbers of all your contacts to the international format, and then automatically adds the local prefixes whenever you do a call.
In other words, keep all your numbers in a common, sane format, and then stop worrying about those prefixes.
Disclaimer: I know personally one of the authors of that app.


text:
Can adb start my android device that shows up as "offline"?
I can see my device in adb devices. It shows up as "offline".
When it is "ready":
$ adb shell
$ su
# reboot

This would reboot my device.
The exact problem is that my cellphone has been turning off on its own with no specific reason, so I was wondering if I could check the logcat to see the problem. I cannot start my device, I have to remove the battery and then start it, and when I do the log is empty...
But my questions here are:

If adb can detect my device why can't it reboot it?
Why can't I turn on my android device from adb when I can reboot it?
What does offline mean: is it turned on or not? (when it isn't usually it doesn't even show in adb devices)

what offline means to a device?

@hugemeow That was the point of my question, but I did not get an answer... I still don't know what it is, but if you are getting this, there is something wrong. I flashed another ROM, and everything was OK again. I'm not sure what was causing it...

i am searching for this same thing - does it mean it thinks think the device is turned off?

I only encountered device shown via ADB as offline in two cases:

Device not authorized (ADB security features)
No proper udev rules setup

As the first case is most likely not your problem as these security features were not implemented in android when you asked this question. Your problem is most likely that you dont have proper udev rules.
You can fix this temporary bei starting adb on your computer as root:
adb kill-server; sudo $(which adb) start-server
or permanently by adding proper udev rules for your desired device vendor:
See https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/UDEV for a collection of well-known vendors. if your vendor is not part of this you can add it by yourself. Plug the device via USB to your computer and check the output of: lsusb get the right vendorID of your device and add it to the udev rules file.
Also useful: http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html

"adb: offline" reason is generally because of usb cable. If you are not using your stock cable, try with another microusb cable..
Also, while it shows offline, try this: (not everytime but sometimes it helps)
adb kill-server
adb start-server

i am using the stock cable, and it's working fine(when my phone is "normal"). it shows the name of my device as offline when i run adb devices, only when it's in that state where i don't know if it's off or not... it shows in adb as offline (which means it is not off as usual) and anything i do with it shows it is off completely (and i cannot turn it on)...
i will try kill/start server when my phone gets back in that state. thanks


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Gallery app crashes when trying to view photos or videos
The Gallery app on my phone does not show any of my photos or videos. If I try to view them from the camera app the screen just goes black and exits to the home screen. I have an Xperia Mini Pro. Is there any way I can troubleshoot this?

Try clearing the data and cache of the gallery from App Manager of your phone's setting.


text:
What's the risk of installing Cyanogen Mod on unsupported phone?
My device is not listed as supported on website www.cyanogenmod.com/devices. I have ZTE Skate, and some other ZTEs are listed, but not mine.
Is it possible to install the mod on Skate, and what's the risk? If phone is not listed, does it mean, that it was just not tested, or the mod wouldn't work?

They have an Unofficial version of CyanogenMod for Skate here. I don't know what would happen if you tried to install version for another model.

Other than hard-brick!

It means that in all probability it won't work. There are a lot of factors at play, but if it installs correctly there's a good chance it won't boot. Problems that could occur include:

Your hardware will likely not have proper drivers. If it shares drivers with other devices then it may work, but otherwise various parts of the hardware will simply fail to function.
The partition layout may be different, which could cause the install itself to fail if partition sizes are very different.
The kernel from another device may not run on your device's processor.
The boot image may not be configured and packaged properly for your device.

If the above all manage to be identical, then the system may boot and function, but it's generally pretty unlikely.

Regarding the device's processor, doesn't it depend on the architecture (like for Windows, Linux)? i.e. if it works for one ARM device, it works for all of them (but not for x86 processors like Intel Atoms)? Or are there other differences between processors in the case of Android?

There can actually be differences. The problem is less with the architecture itself, though, and more with the fact that mobile chips contain much more than just a processor (hence "System on a Chip"). The various components will need different drivers and so forth, which can cause complications. Different manufacturers may also support varying proprietary extensions to the ARM spec, just as Intel and AMD have their own extensions to x86 and such.


text:
Is CyanogenMod available in several languages?
Vanilla Android works in so many languages (including mine). What about Cyanogen? Are there language packs? I have not found any on official site, but maybe anything unofficial?
And if there is/isn't any, then

Is the translation device-specific?
Will some parts of system, that come from original (vanilla) Android work in my local language?

CyanogenMod ROMs are multilingual and you can select the language the first time your phone boots or in System settings-->Language & input-->Language(ICS 4.0.4) at any time.
I can say it supports all languages in the world from The far East to South America including right to left languages like Farsi.

All officially supported languages are listed on their changelog: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_vendor_cyanogen/blob/gingerbread/CHANGELOG.mkdn


text:
How can I go back after flashing an unsuccessful file with no backups in HTC EVO 3D GSM?
I have accidentally flashed a file (http://www.box.com/s/k8ch8jjne6y2aa5g4lg9) that allows full arabic in HTC EVO 3D CDMA. When I reboot, the phone stops on the HTC white screen.
The problem is that I haven't made a backup in recovery before. I don't know how to go back. I have wiped all dalvick, data and cache but the problem persists.
My device is on Bootloader Unlocked + CWM recovery + S-ON

Are you able to get to the recovery console? Have you tried flashing the GSM version of the ROM on top of the CDMA one?

Yes, I am. About the GSM version, I will check.

Can't find the GSM version. Is there another way?

Simply flash any compatible GSM ROM to your phone (look for one on xda-developers forums) via recovery console after performing another round of wipe. Whatever incompatible drivers and radios were introduced by the CDMA version will be overwritten, and the phone should boot successfully. After that you can continue searching for the ROM with full Arabic support.


text:
Kies won't connect to Galaxy S2
It just displays Connecting... forever when I plug in the phone (through USB), and nothing else happens. What should I do?
I just installed Kies, v2.3.0.12035_16

I had the same problem. I fixed it by reinstalling the latest version of Kies and deactivating USB-Debugging BEFORE I connected my phone (Samsung Galaxy XCover) the first time.

I have same problem, plus i have try some things:
debug mode (off) then plug
debug mode (on) then plug
plug then debug mode (first off then on and vice versa)
rebooted phone and pc
installed kies, and USB drivers over the past installation
rebooted phone and pc
unistalled kies, usb drivers
rebooted phone and pc
reinstalled kies, usb drivers
rebooted phone and pc
deleted manually all the kies files, registry entry, usb drivers
rebooted phone and pc
installed kies, usb drivers
rebooted phone and pc
I have try to install kies on several computer, but all are 32 bit (win xp or at least vista)
actually, my phone has been connected to kies only one time... i remember that time it was some of the first try, about a year and half ago... then, nothing.

Before ur usb connect with the computer,
go.Setting-->Application-->development-->USB debugging(no tick)
open Kies connect USB maybe it is work....
if still not , reopen the phone..connect again...
i hope that it can help u.....also understand my poor eng....


text:
"incompatible" apps through google play market
Just a quick one here, I've recently installed gingerbread to my HD2 using cyanogenmod 7, previous to this I was running froyo through a different mod.  My problem is this, many of the market apps that ran fine on my phone before are now listed as incompatible and Google play refuses to let me download them.  I know that they are compatible, because like I said, I ran them perfectly well on my froyo mod.  Is there a way around this problem?

It's really hard to say without knowing specifically what previous ROM you were using, but there are two possibilities I can think of:

The apps in question were updated to require some new feature that your device doesn't have.
(Probably more likely) Your previous ROM had different information in the build.prop file than your current one does. This can include specific hardware like GPS, NFC, accelerometer and such or things like screen density.

The /system/build.prop file contains a lot of information about the hardware of your device (among other things), and it's what the Play Store will use to determine if your device supports the hardware requirements of a given app. It is fairly common for ROMs to use build.prop entries to masquerade as other devices or pretend to support nonexistent hardware for the sake of app compatibility. I would suggest trying to find a copy of your old ROM in zip format then extracting the build.prop from your old ROM and comparing it to your current one. If they are different then you can consider editing your current build.prop to include any missing entries from the old one (there are apps to help you do this). This is also covered in some detail in Is there a way to trick the Android Market into thinking I'm using a different device do I can download protected apps?
For screen/LCD density specifically there are a handful of apps that will help you modify it. Based on Chahk's comment, values of 160 and 240 may be good to try if it is set to something different than that.

The most likely cause is that his LCD density is set either too high or too low. There are several ways to change it (manually via build.prop file or with an app like LCD changer.)

@Chahk: I kind of mentally lumped that into "hardware" since it's based on screen size and resolution, but yes, that's certainly a possibility.

I've recently had this exact same problem while helping a friend root his HD2 and install CM7 on it.  Once we changed LCD density to something more mainstream, the Play Store started behaving itself.

@Chahk: Do you remember what density value you ended up using? That could be useful to add, but I haven't a clue what it would be myself.

We had to set it to "160" for Play Store to start allowing apps to be installed/updated.  I've also heard that "240" should work also, but we haven't tested that.


text:
Are firmware updates secure?
Now that mobiles are being used for payment systems, I'm more concerned about the security on my Android device.
I would rather not be the first to be vulnerable to some malicious code that happened to get slipped into the firmware update that the carrier is installing on my Android mobile.
I'm presuming they occasionally are sending fixes/patches over the air (OTA) without me having to give approval before they are installed -- perhaps I'm wrong on that though.
Are firmware updates secure and I'm just being paranoid?  Is there any way to block new firmware updates from getting installed right away when everyone else's is?

To detect tampering, firmware updates are signed and (if you're using the recovery program that shipped with the phone) the signature is verified before install.  After a mandatory confirmation from you that the installation should start, after a reboot, the recovery program will first verify this signature and only then install the new firmware.
Note that you will always get a prompt for a ROM update. Besides allaying security concerns and giving you a bit more control over the proceedings, this gives you the opportunity to:

Make sure the battery is charged or that the phone is plugged into the mains.
Back up any data you fear may be lost should the upgrade go wrong.
Do a bit of research into the improvements in this firmware version, and decide whether it is worth your time.

So yes, firmware updates are secure and even if you are concerned, an update to the actual OS will not be installed without your confirmation.

Ok, so I have the option whether or not I can install a binary with a signature that ensures it truly is from someone (LG, or the carrier?)
That will at least keep me from being the first to discover a problem.
My phone has Metro PCS branded apps and content on it.  Does that mean Metro PCS's staff created the firmware image, or is the firmware coming from only the manufacturer (LG, in my instance)?

Yes.  You will always have the option to install an update when its available for your phone. If you don't do anything funny (like unlock your boot loader) you will be installing an update directly from your phone company, so long as the existing firmware is from your phone company.  I make that distinction because some phones like the Nexus One, Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus get their updates directly from Google.

I'm going to equivocally state then that I don't trust a binary from my mobile company.  Blah.  When will 100% open source come to mobile?

Actually, they are legally obligated to release the majority of the source code within short order (read: before the end of time :p). Also, you may want to check out xda-developers to see if your bootloader can be unlocked. If this is possible, with enough patience you should be able to write your own version of Android or patch in whatever fixes you feel are important. Note that it will never be 100% open source as it's actually illegal to allow some components in a phone (like its radios) to be programmed to do certain things. These parts are usually provided by manufacturers in binary form.

The updates won't be installed automatically. The system will only notify you that the update is available. You can download and install them at your convenience.


text:
Is there a way to sort apps in Google's app store by size?
Is there a way to sort apps in Google's app store by size? I would like to know what are the heaviest apps and the lightest apps from a search result. For example, to search for a lightweight RSS reader.

www.appbrain.com allows sorting via more options than the Play store, but size isn't a criterion unfortunately for your requirements.

I don't know of any third-party app or site that does this. I did look around a few months ago and found nothing, but something might have come up since then.
However, if the reason you're looking for this feature is because of limited app space, AppBrain (both the app and the website) has a feature to view only apps with App2SD enabled.


text:
Traffic of Opera Mini vs Mobile with Turbo
How much traffic does Opera Mini user compared to Opera Mobile with Turbo enabled? I suppose it's less but I haven't seen any numbers.

Opera Mini and Opera Turbo uses the same rendering proxy. Essentially, Opera Mobile with Turbo is Opera Mini. I'd expect the bandwidth to be the same.

Certainly not. Opera Mobile with Turbo receives the webpage as-is, just compressed and in one single package, without having to make separate requests for images and other resources. Opera Mini receives a version that has been pre-rendered by Opera's servers.

I have found some numbers on Opera's website: They claim that Mini compresses webpages by "up to" 90%, Turbo compresses them by 80%.


text:
How to buy application previously downloaded from GetJar?
I have Agenda Widget Plus downloaded from GetJar. Now I would like to pay for it, because I find it very useful and I would like to reword author of this app. On Play Store it is listed as already installed and I cannot pay for it.
Any idea how can I do it?

You will need to uninstall the app from your device and after that the Play store should allow you to purchase it.

Sorry, small mistake - in Play Store this application is listed as PURCHASED.
When I'm trying to install it using Play Store web page, following error message appears:
Oops, we had trouble with this request. Please try again later.
I've already uninstalled application from my phone, cleared Play Store application cache, but it didn't help.

OK, it took about one week, but finally I was able to order the application. So Chahk's answer is correct. But it took a while, to make it working :-)


text:
why is my file system suddenly read only?
Some background:
My HTC Desire HD has several issues.
The first issue being that I can not connect to it using a USB cable.
So I found that I can tell ADB to work over wifi and I was using this method for some time.
I am using VISIONary to temproot the device, then I run a terminal on the device and execute:
$ su
#setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
#stop adbd
#start adbd

I then use netcfg to find my device's IP and finally on my pc I use
adb connect {device IP}:5555

I am then able to run on my pc
adb shell

and use this shell to do the following:
cd /etc
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost >hosts
echo {my pc's IP} some.dnsname.com >>hosts

This is when the second issue comes into play:
once in a while (seems related to killing and clearing cache of an app that uses some.dnsname.com - but not always) the hosts file just reverts to an empty file :(
Not having the deep knowledge to handle those problems (yet) I just "learned to live with them"...
A few moments ago, when I went through this process for for maybe the 30th time or so, A new issue decided to make my day more interesting.
I tried to modify (overwrite) the hosts file and I get the following  message:
cannot create hosts: read-only file system

I tried to read some about it and it seems I need to remount the system in read/write mode.
running
mount | grep system

returns
/dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system ext3 ro,relatime,errors=continue,data=ordered 0 0
none /system/xbin tmpfs rw,relatime,gid=10132 0 0

I need help with:
1) Making my system read write again (what mount/remount command do I need to run?)
2) Understanding what could have caused this new issue.
3) Any ideas on how I can handle the two background issues is also most welcome.
thank you for reading...

/system is almost always read-only by default. Just remount it as R/W:
# mount -t ext3 -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system

There's also at least one app that will attempt to do this for you, but it may not work on all devices.
Another option is to use adb root (if your ROM will allow it) to restart adbd as root, then simply issue adb remount. On ROMs where adbd is already running as root, the first command is unnecessary and adb remount will work right off the bat. From a PC:
C:> adb root
* Some response about success *
C:> adb remount
Remount succeeded

As to why it's getting blown away, is your device NAND unlocked? Many HTC devices will attempt to restore their /system partition to a stock state if they are NAND locked, making changes to /system fleeting at best. That's something of an educated guess, but the fact that you noted that you are using VISIONary to temproot seems to support that hypothesis.

adb root says:
adbd cannot run as root in production builds

@epeleg: You'll have to do it with mount then.

could you guess what has changed suddenly? I did this many many times and the system was never read-only.

@epeleg: I'm not entirely sure why it wasn't read-only to begin with, unless you're using a ROM that was modified to mount it as r/w on boot.

@epeleg: Actually, I thought of one possibility: VISIONary may have been mounting your system partition as r/w for you during the temproot process. If some system process then came along later and saw that the permissions were wrong, it could feasibly remount it read-only (which could be related to the NAND lock).

This is very likely. I later found out that something went wrong with VISIONary this time. It had hundreds of processes running on my phone. after a restart things now work as before. What does NAND locked mean? and how can I tell if this is the case with my phone ?

@epeleg: As far as I know it's basically synonymous with a locked bootloader. If you reboot to your bootloader and it doesn't say "Unlocked" anywhere then it's locked (adb reboot bootloader works for this, or reboot bootloader from an adb shell). The "Unlocked" text is usually pretty prominent on HTC devices near the top of the bootloader screen somewhere.

thanks for the additional info, I obviously have a lot more to learn about this OS. I could go on and as what is a locked bootloader and what does adb reboot bootloader do but maybe a more appropriate Q would be where can I read about all of this ?

@epeleg: The CyanogenMod Wiki and XDA Wiki are both pretty good resources. They both have glossary pages of common terms related to Android devices and rooting and such, though not a great deal of depth. Honestly, Google might be your best bet for really detailed reading. I don't think I have any links offhand because I've simply come across most of them on Google at some point in the past...

adb remount gives me
dm_verity is enabled on the system partition. Use "adb disable-verity" to disable verity. If you do not, remount may succeed, however, you will still not be able to write to these volumes. remount of /system failed: Read-only file system remount failed

This fixed it for me using android 11
Run android emulator with
Android/Sdk/emulator/emulator -avd Pixel_5_API_30 -writable-system --writable-system
adb shell
avbctl disable-verification
adb reboot
adb remount
adb shell
su
mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /system

Make needed changes and change system back to read only with this
mount -o ro,remount -t ext4 /system

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


text:
how to find application that is opening proccesses
When running ps as root within my device (HTC Desire HD)
I see the following line:
app_132   18584 13586 0      0     ffffffff 00000000 Z ratc

Repeating hundreds of times.
How can I tell which app is "app_132" ?
UPDATE:
O.k. I actually found out which app it was based on the class names listed at the end of first lines in the output of the ps command where app_132 is listed.
ps | grep app_132 | more

but even though this solves my immediate situation I still would like an answer to the original Q.

The numbers in "app_XYZ" name will be different on every device, since they depend on the order of installed apps.
In adb shell or terminal emulator perform the following command:
ls -l /data/data/

This should return a listing of installed apps' directories that contain their data and settings, like so:
drwxr-x--x app_1    app_1             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.backupconfirm
drwxr-x--x app_2    app_2             2012-04-04 09:37 com.android.bluetooth
drwxr-x--x app_3    app_3             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.browser
drwxr-x--x app_4    app_4             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.calculator2
drwxr-x--x app_5    app_5             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.calendar
drwxr-x--x app_7    app_7             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.camera
drwxr-x--x app_8    app_8             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.certinstaller
drwxr-x--x app_70   app_70            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.chrome
drwxr-x--x app_0    app_0             2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.contacts
drwxr-x--x app_10   app_10            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.defcontainer
drwxr-x--x app_11   app_11            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.deskclock
drwxr-x--x app_12   app_12            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.development
drwxr-x--x app_14   app_14            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.email
drwxr-x--x app_15   app_15            2012-03-28 09:07 com.android.exchange

The 2nd and 3rd columns list the app's owner, while the 5th column contains the app's package name.  Find the line corresponding to the "app_132" from your logcat entry, and the package name will help you figure out the responsible app.
Once you have the package name, try searching for it in the Google Play Store.  Just use the link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xxxxxxx, where "xxxxxxx" is the package name you found.  For example, on my phone "app_70" corresponds to "com.android.chrome", which corresponds to Google Chrome browser in the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome

Thank you for a great answer.
maybe you can help with my other android Q (about readonly file system...)

using ls -l /data/data/ | grep app_XXX is even better :)


text:
How to connect wired xbox 360 controller to a tablet? (TF Prime)
I have read on certain blogs that it is super easy to connect a wired xbox controller to an android tablet. It should basically work right away.
I have tried to connect multiple xbox controller to my TF prime, but the apps that are supposed to support them, seem to do nothing.
Also, the controller does not show up in the droids "input and language" settings. (allthough I'm not sure wether it is supposed to)
Has anyone got this to work? Or have a clue as to what I might be doing wrong?

Does your USB adapter work with normal USB keyboards or any other devices?  It could be the faulty link.

@John I have just tried to connect my mac usb keyboard. It did not show up in "input and languages" settings, but it did work in the browser. All I did was connect it. Got no indicator on the TF Prime that showed the keyboard connected. But it did work well.

See also: Trying to use Xbox controller on Nexus 7

it may be because u dont have genuine microsoft xbox 360 controller because i have the same problem but i have a powerA mini controller and i have found that this is the problem

I found out there are two types of Xbox360 controller.

the regular wireless controller (with optional usb-charger cable)
the actual wired usb controller

Allthough the wireless controller with USB charger cable looks like a regular USB controller, it does not behave this way. Also when connected via USB it will still operate wirelessly.
So the problem lies in the controller. To use a xbox360 controller via USB, we would need the actual wired USB controller and NOT the wireless controller with charger cable.

You should be able to just plug the controller in to your tablet with a OTG usb cable and then  an app like USB/BT Joystick Center 6 will map the controller inputs to something your device can recognise.


text:
"install zip from sd card" missing on Samsung Ace
When I go into the recovery mode I am missing the option "install zip from sd card". I have installed the Android 2.3.6 DDKQ8 Fimware (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L_w-MNxAzE). How can I get this option to appear?

Have you installed a custom recovery image, or are you using the one that came pre-installed on your device?

Not to my knowledge.

Have you installed clockworkmod ?


text:
How and when is Android's default browser updated?
I am used to browsers having exploits found on them being fixed and having new versions of the browser with the fixes.
In the Android native browser it seems there is no such process.
Does this mean that exploits found for the native default Android browser are never fixed until you upgrade your ROM?
Is there a version history for the native browser?
When I look at my user agent info for my Froyo 2.2 Galaxy S I9000 I see Gecko version 533.1, which is very old. Does it mean exploits exist for this and there is no way to patch them?

You are correct. The built-in browser is only updated when a full new ROM is installed. If there is an exploit, the only thing to do is wait for a new version of the OS to be released. Alternatively, you can use a third-party browser such as Opera or Google Chrome. Those are installed as apps and can receive updates independently.
As far as I know, there is no documented version history for the native browser. The best you could do is look at the GIT revision history for the browser.


text:
Can I install additional languages on Android?

Possible Duplicate:
How do I add a new language?

I bought my HTC Sensation abroad, and I can only choose system languages from the Asian region (English for different regions, as well as Chinese and Thai). I'd like to set the system language to Spanish, but it's not on the list.
Is there a way I can install additional languages to the system?
My phone is an HTC Sensation, recently upgraded to Android 4.0.5.

Just search on the Google Play store for "custom locale",
there are a couple of apps that will allow you to install a LOT of languages.
I tried many times on different devices and Android versions, sometimes some menus or apps do not change the language, but on average it's OK.
Example applications in Play store:

MoreLocale 2
Set Locale and Language

But there are many more...

Can you provide a working Play store link with an app you found to be working?

The second link is not valid.

A quick google search revealed what I was expecting. It seems it's not that easy to add a new language to the OS if it's not done by the manufacturer.
So best thing you could hope for is an update by HTC. Manufacturers often install software kids on top of the android shipped out by Google.
If this is not an option installing different keyboard applications and Region Setter might help you for specific application but nevertheless the system screens remain untouched.
For a fully changed system without manufacturers support I think you're not getting around rooting the droid and manually update the system. Sine I've never did it (our boss would freak out xD ) can't assist you here. You could look up if it's easier to apply a might existing language patch or go straight with installing a custom mod.


text:
How do I enable Umlauts on "Phone Keypad"-style keyboard?
First of all, I know long pressing on a char like 'a' gives me choices e.g. 'aä..' so the special char (umlaut) 'ä' can be selected. But this works only for me for the "international"-style keyboard (aka QWERTZ keypad). When switching to "Phone Keypad"-style keyboard (aka multitap/T9 keypad or 4x3 keypad), I will have no umlauts, though correct localization (set to "German"). Do you have any tips to make it work? I also observed the same behavior for the "Compact"-style keyboard.
Phone:

HTC Desire S
has Android 2.3.3 stock firmware
No additional keyboard apps, as I recently bought the phone (5 days)
Not using Swype (I know that this has pretty nice umlauts handling due to the dictionary)

By "phone keypad"-style keyboard do you mean multitap/T9 keypad and by "international"-style keyboard, do you mean QWERTY keyboard?

Yes, that's exactly what I meant and I edited the question.


text:
How do you enable shuffle on the Spotify Android app?
I have been unable to find where shuffle is enabled in the Spotify Android app. Does it have the ability to shuffle?

Yes. When playing a song you open/slide the tab (sliding drawer) at the bottom center, which displays the album cover and play/previous/next buttons. If you click the info (i) button for displaying artist/album information there is an option for shuffling.
This option is also available on the options menu, after pressing the [MENU] button, while this sliding drawer is open.


text:
My Android tablet seems to be "read-only"
I got an iView 7" Android tablet about a week ago, and it's been doing fine until today. This is the product on NewEgg
In short; it seems my internal storage just won't accept any changes of any kind, which is causing all manner of odd errors.
I have gone to the extent of trying a Factory Reset; powering off, holding Vol-Up, Home and Power; waiting for the prompts, and choosing the Factory Reset option. But it did not work - after rebooting, everything is just like it was before; My ADW Desktop is still there; all my programs and data, everything.

Of course, it's not usable as is, though; Programs don't work as intended. Some (Like Facebook and Calendar Storage) Force Quit as soon as I unlock the home screen. Others will Force Quit during operation - usually, one can tell, when it's needing to save some data. Yet others appear to operate, but don't save their data; the program apparently just 'swallows' the error.
Some system functions don't even work; for instance, I can't connect to WIFI; when I turn it on, the WIFI item in the settings area just shows "Error".
I can't even uninstall programs. Well, I can; But as soon as I reboot, they are back.
Via the file manager, I can not modify any of the files on the user area of the internal SD Card.
The tablet is rooted (it comes rooted; I did not do this myself), and using ES File Explorer I can go to /system/app/ and I can, for example, rename APK's and it appears to take effect as you would expect, but then as soon as I reboot, the program is back in the state it was in before.
All I have done with root access on this device is installed Superuser and ES, then mounted the system so I could rename the Phone.apk and Telephony.apk files so they would not run, since this is a tablet with WIFI only. I did that as soon as I got the table last week, and it hasn't given me any other troubles. Now, those files can't be renamed back to their original permanently.

So, I'm wondering if perhaps my internal memory card is fried or something? It seems odd that the behavior would be so predictable with a hardware error like that, but who knows?
Anybody have any idea?

Well, I have solved the issue, though I have no idea why or how it occurred.
What I did was flash the ROM, including reformatting the internal storage. In the process, I've updated the tablet to ICS.
I won't accept this answer right away because I'm not sure if someone might have experienced this recently and knows a bit more about it than I do.

I am facing the same issue with my VOX V81 tablet. I formatted its internal storage and did a factory reset. But when I rebooted it, it came to its previous state.
I suppose that it is due to the Avast Mobile security I installed on this tablet; after installing Avast, this problem started. So I suggest you to uninstall any antivirus or mobile security application.

In my case, factory reset also did not work. I needed to actually flash the ROM and completely reformat the thing. I still have no clue why it happened in my case; I didn't have any antivirus/security apps installed at all. But this might help someone else with the same problem, so +1


text:
How can I show someone's name instead of their number when someone calls?
I want to hide the number when some calls me and just display their name. How can I do that?

Put their names and number in your address book.


text:
Nexus S OTA 4.0.4 problem?
I get 4.0.4 OTA with my Nexus S today. After downloaded the update package, i click "Reboot to install", but unfortunately the phone did't reboot successfully, so i boot it by myself.
I checked the android version in the settings, it's still 4.0.3, and the system update never
noticed me to update to 4.0.4 again. Does this means i can't get the 4.0.4 later? How can i try to install it again?
My phone was rooted before, Any help will be very appreciated.
Anyone got the same problem as me? it frustrated me.

Especially if you were already offered the OTA, consider a trick from the Nexus One days.  Open up your dialer and dial the following number: *#*#checkin#*#*.  This was suspected at some time to coax the system into checking for available OTA updates.  As there is a good chance this won't work, I'll leave this a comment.

@ctt I tried and received checkin succeeded notification, and when i click it, it disappear.

If that doesn't work to jumpstart the OTA checks, it may just be a case of waiting it out.  If you're impatient, though, there are those .zips that have been floating around; but use at your own risk.

@ctt All right, i will wait it out, also, i want to know anyone got the same problem as me, it frustrated me. Anyway, thanks for your comment.

I unroot my Nexus S (If you don't know how to unroot Nexus S, you can see this), then received the OTA again and upgrade to 4.0.4 successfully.

When updating the android, the screen maybe dark for a while, just be patient and wait it
  restart automatically.

Try going to `Settings -> About phone (at the bottom) -> System updates. If there's nothing there try the 'Check now' option and this should make the phone check for new updates.

Any reason for the downvote?

I have tried this, but it didn't works. Anyway, Thanks for your answer, I found someone may faced the same problem, he unroot the phone and received the OTA again. I will try.


text:
Where do these strange contacts come from?
I recently noticed that in my phone contact list (which is synchronized to the Gmail contacts) there are many contacts that I don't remember adding and that I don't even know.
Has anyone else experienced this? Do you know what could be causing it?

setting the contacts display option to show only contacts with phone numbers helped me a lot in my case. You may try that.

This is often caused by linking other social networks (via the appropriate App) or third party E-Mail providers to the Android device. This will cause the contact lists or address books to be synced and shown in your device.
This includes for example

Last FM
Yahoo Mail
Skype
etc.

Besides the source mentioned by Flow, since Gmail may, depending on your settings, automatically add people you send messages to to your Other Contacts list, that might also be a source of unexplainable contacts in your contact list.

you are right, I actually encountered many such GMail "one-time" contacts, but I think that's understandable. What I was curious about was why I ended up with some contacts I really knew nothing about.


text:
My Sensation is running 2.3.4, why hasn't this updated?
I've got a HTC Sensation 3G, and I'm waiting for the Android 4 Update.
I understand this update might not be available for my handset yet, but I checked my Android Version and I'm currently running 2.3.4.
Shouldn't this be 3.x at the moment?
I've checked for updates, but my device can't find any.

Android 3.x is reserved for Tablets, and so would never be running on an actual phone. As for 4.x, it's basically a waiting game. If there have been assurances from HTC that the update will eventually be available for your phone, you'll just have to wait until your phone tells you it's available.  The only way to speed things up would be to monitor the forums and see when others have gotten the same update.  Then you'll have a chance to download it yourself and tell your recovery to install it.  Even then its still a waiting game.

Thanks for your response. So 2.3.4 isn't a really outdated version then? I was just concerned I wouldn't get 4.x because I haven't even been prompted for 2.9 etc..

No problems.  I hate to say it but you are a bit out of date.  For example, the latest version of Android 2.3 is 2.3.7, however you can rest assured.  The newer versions were to resolve specific issues on certain phones. Although it doesn't list release dates on specific phones, a quick site to use to track version history is http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history .

Cheers for that, and don't worry I don't forget :)

@Curt As a UK user on T-Mobile I received my Sensation 4.0 update last night :)


text:
HTC One X Video Sync problem
Here is a video of the problem I am having.
Basically, when I am recording a video and the phone receives a notification (even if the phone is on silent) the video and audio step out of sync massively!!
See the link below, I made a video to show what I mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9CYqAqPLS4


text:
Archos external USB Keyboard
I recently bought a case for my Archos 101 9G Turbo, which has a built-in USB keyboard, but I can not make it work by simply connecting the usb cable from the keyboard either the micro USB port (with and adapter) or the normal USB port. The tablet shown in the photo is not the Archos, but it is right to illustrate the example.

As you can see, the case has an USB cable coming out of the keyboard. I updated the tablet firmware to the new ICS 4.0 so maybe it is a drivers problem and I haven't found the solution on the Archos forums.
My approaches are:

The keyboard works because I plugged it into my computer.
The tablet USB also works because I plugged in an USB hub with a LED screen and it received energy (both via micro usb and via normal usb activating the 3G option).

I read that maybe it is a power consuption problem because when the keyboard is plugged in the built-in lights (for example, the upper case key) don't work. I have also tried to plug in a mouse and nothing happens.
I wonder if anyone else had this problem and how he solved it. Should I use a bluetooth keyboard?

Is this an official Archos case?  More info on the keyboard would be useful.

It is not an official product, but can connect via USB cable and I tested it over a Windows machine without problems. I have no much info about the keyboard than that it works via USB. I read that all my problems with the Archos are due to the fact of having gone from 3.2 to 4.0 without a previous full format (the tablet also freezes and some apps crashes eventually)

I know that this is a very common problem between Archos users, not only the USB drivers problem, but the fact that the tablet freeze itself and some apps do not work (I can play a few seconds of BIA2 and then bang! a crash...). Archos suggested me to format the device, to reinstall the latest firmware (4.05) but this didn't solve anything. Despite of this issues, usb memory sticks are working! No one has found a solution (new firmware, or maybe I need an specific Archos keyboard, mouse...)?

Archos deals with a special USB host cable for USB OTG. Perhaps you need it.

So you are forced to buy the host cable from the Archos store, right? Pfffff, I'll try it and then I'll tell you the result hehe. Thank you anyway.

You were right. Buying the Archos cable solved the problem and now my keyboard is working perfectly.


text:
How do I "train" Face Unlock?
After updating my UK HTC Sensation to Android 4.0 I was keen to try out Face Unlock.  I'm happy to say that it works reasonably well, however the setup process has led to me having a query.
When setting up face lock, after your face has been captured for the first time and setting up your backup access, you are given the following prompt:

You've Finished!
To unlock your phone, just look at it.
Tip: Improve face matching by having your face captured in different conditions

The tip sounds good, however it doesn't actually tell you how to have your face captured in different conditions! After clicking OK to the prompt you are returned to the security menu and any attempt to re-set-up face unlock just seems to over-write your previous settings (or at least I assume it does as it asks you to set up a new backup system).
How can I recapture my face multiple times to improve face recognition?

Through frustration I have now created the app to train the face recognition.  I need to test it further but I'm already seeing the difference xD  Assuming that it works fine over the next few days I'll publish it

As discovered here, HTC have removed the link to the training option in the settings menu.  However, the actual feature remains intact so I have created a quick app to access it.
Please note that we don't know why HTC took it out, they may have had a very good reason and I could be meddling, however I have used the training feature successfully on my sensation without any negative effects and the recognition is much improved.

I've put the application on Google Code, the download link being here (including CR code for devices).  Please note that all use is under the MIT License - hope this helps others with the same problem!
Also, the option seems to have been returned to it's normal position in the menu in the following android/HTC versions:
Android 4.0.3
HTC Sense 3.6
Software number 3.33.401.53

Viewable in Settings --> About Phone --> Software Information

The possibility exists that the more you train it, the easier it is to fool it. The first time you train it, perhaps it's literally doing a fairly tight comparison but now there are all sorts of possible yes that's a match situations on your eyes, nose, hair etc?

That would be a poor algorithm, and I'd expect better from Google. The more you train it, the better it knows your face (assuming you always do use your own face), so the chances of both a false negative and a false positive should decrease if implemented well.

Go to Settings -> Security -> Lock screen -> Improve face matching.  You will need to confirm your PIN, and then follow the on-screen directions to capture your face again.
After each successful capture you will be placed back to the Lock screen settings menu, so just keep going into the Improve face matching section to repeat the process as many times as you wish.

Unfortunately I don't have that pathway.  Instead of Lock Screen I have Screen lock which then doesn't have an improve face matching option.  This then just resets the face lock as described above :(

I am going by the menu structure on my Galaxy Nexus which is running "vanilla" Android 4.0.4 version.  HTC must've shuffled things around with Sense 4 again.  I wish manufacturers would stop trying to distinguish themselves by messing up basic OS functions.

One hypothesis is this:
Face unlock learns automatically. Each time you unlock successfully, the function learns a new variation of your face image. Therefore the "Improve face matching" function is not needed. Just keep unlocking, and your phone will get better and better at it. But be patient, because of security concerns the learning has to be slow and reluctant.
This is only a hypothesis. I have asked in a Google forum whether it is true or not, but got no answer.

even if it does learn, it may have difficulty detecting your face in a radically different lighting condition. For example, if you unlock in your own bedroom which with overhead warmlight lamp vs unlocking in your workplace with overhead daylight lamp vs outdoors in a shade with lots of ambient lighting but no overhead light. Manually triggering learning mode can help the phone learns how your face look on all these different conditions.

To train face unlock for the fastest unlock:

hold your phone perpendicular, like taking a selfie
allow for the offset between where front lens is and your nose
blink before training, and when opening

Blinking is important, and results in a virtually instantaneous unlocking.
AFAIK, only fingerprints can be registered multiple times; that is done by reusing the same finger and registering it as a different finger. While most people only have one face to register reusing your finger gives misrecognition a chance to carry over to the next finger, increasing the opportunity to recognize a dirty finger.
If the option is available on your phone there is an "Add alternative look", for glasses, hairstyle, or a second chance:


text:
How can I install the vanilla Gingerbread launcher?
Is there any way for me to install Gingerbread's vanilla launcher application? So far, I prefer the "stock" Sony Ericsson launcher but I do want to know what the actual Gingerbread launcher is like.

There are several versions uploaded to the Play Store. I cannot personally attest to the safety or nature of them, but they generally all claim to be "pulled from the SDK" or similar.
One exception is that I do recall trying the one named "Android 2.3 Launcher (Home)" briefly in the past and it worked fine and wasn't doing anything shady (it's review average is ~4.2 stars at the moment).


text:
All portrait pictures are upside down
All pictures that I take in portrait mode with the stock camera app are upside down. I assume this is because when I take them I still hold my phone like a camera, not like a mobile phone.
I could use Camera 360 which has the option to adjust the orientation. It takes a couple of seconds to start up and is generally too bloated for my taste, though. Is there either a way to fix the orientation in the stock app or a more lightweight alternative that has this option?

I now use Camera ICS which has all the features I need.


text:
What kind of app optimizations do newer Android versions do at the first reboot?
I received from my phone carrier, Vodafone IT, the official OTA Google update to Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 on my Nexus S. When automatically rebooting for the first time after the update, the system displayed a notice stating that it was optimizing the installed apps. What kind of optimization does Android 4.0+ do at the first reboot?

Digging into the PackageManagerService class on grepCode (warning: this class file is huge, your browser may chug a fair bit when rendering it), the optimizing message is displayed in the following context:
public void performBootDexOpt() {
    ArrayList<PackageParser.Package> pkgs = null;
    synchronized (mPackages) {
        if (mDeferredDexOpt.size() > 0) {
            pkgs = new ArrayList<PackageParser.Package>(mDeferredDexOpt);
            mDeferredDexOpt.clear();
        }
    }
    if (pkgs != null) {
        for (int i=0; i<pkgs.size(); i++) {
            if (!isFirstBoot()) {
                try {
                    ActivityManagerNative.getDefault().showBootMessage(
                            mContext.getResources().getString(
                                    com.android.internal.R.string.android_upgrading_apk,
                                    i+1, pkgs.size()), true);
                } catch (RemoteException e) {
                }
            }
            PackageParser.Package p = pkgs.get(i);
            synchronized (mInstallLock) {
                if (!p.mDidDexOpt) {
                    performDexOptLI(p, false, false);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Here the value of com.android.internal.R.string.android_upgrading_apk is the string "Optimizing application". In layman's terms, it loops through each application on the device, updates the message on the screen by calling showBootMessage() and then calls performDexOptLI() on the application. So naturally, the next question is "What does performDexOptLI() do?" Well here's what that looks like:
private int performDexOptLI(PackageParser.Package pkg, boolean forceDex, boolean defer) {
    boolean performed = false;
    if ((pkg.applicationInfo.flags&ApplicationInfo.FLAG_HAS_CODE) != 0) {
        String path = pkg.mScanPath;
        int ret = 0;
        try {
            if (forceDex || dalvik.system.DexFile.isDexOptNeeded(path)) {
                if (!forceDex && defer) {
                    mDeferredDexOpt.add(pkg);
                    return DEX_OPT_DEFERRED;
                } else {
                    Log.i(TAG, "Running dexopt on: " + pkg.applicationInfo.packageName);
                    ret = mInstaller.dexopt(path, pkg.applicationInfo.uid,
                            !isForwardLocked(pkg));
                    pkg.mDidDexOpt = true;
                    performed = true;
                }
            }
        } catch (...) {
           //I've trimmed out a bunch of exception handling here, it basically just writes to
           //the log and sets the return value
        }
    }

    return performed ? DEX_OPT_PERFORMED : DEX_OPT_SKIPPED;
}

So this invokes the dexopt utility on all of the applications that need it. It's difficult to find any simple documentation regarding dexopt, but there's a high-level overview here. Suffice it to say, it's being used by the Just In Time (JIT) compiler to create optimized .dex files that help improve the performance of the apps on your device and it outputs them into the VM cache. The reason it stores the .dex files in the cache is because otherwise it would have to re-extract them any time you want to run the app (the .apk is just an archive, it is not an executable file!). Thus, it makes sense to just keep them in the /data/dalvik-cache directory to reuse them, and dexopt performs some optimizations during the initial extraction while it's at it.

TL;DR (or non-programmer summary, I guess): It's rebuilding the Dalvik cache.

That's indeed the message I saw when the system went through all installed apps. Thanks for the great answer.


text:
Can someone explain how the android GPS Navigation works?

Possible Duplicate:
How does the GPS work on Android phones?

I have a Galaxy Player 5.0 (A.K.A Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0) which as you're probably aware is not a phone, but an android-powered MP3 player.
The other day I decided to test out its GPS and it worked flawlessly. But that got me thinking about how that's possible.
It can't triangulate my position from cell towers because it doesn't connect to any. It can't triangulate my position from WiFi hotspots because it knows where i am even without hotspots around.
Does it actually connect to a satellite to get my location like normal GPS units?
Note: This questions is different from the one posted here: How GPS works in android phone because he was concerned with locational privacy whereas I'm actually concerned with functionality. The answers on his question did not answer my question.

The Galaxy Player 5 specs straight from Samsung indicate that the device has a receiver for standard GPS satellite signals, which is sufficient for navigation.
Cellular triangulation and WiFi location are examples of Assisted GPS or aGPS. As its name implies it is a supplementary system designed to speed up location finding, because  because it can take time to lock onto GPS satellites, and locking onto enough to be reliable is not always possible.

Most of the Android phone has GPS receiver and most of them uses aGPS system.


text:
How does ICS deal with Menus on devices with physical buttons?
ICS removed the need for the Menu key with always visible action bars, but also has support for phones which come with hard keys. Traditionally the menu button brought up a context menu.
I've got a device with hard keys, if I upgrade to ICS will the Action bar always be visible, standard ICS style, or will it be hidden under the Menu key? What will the menu key do in ICS?

The menu button will display the action overflow menu, and the action overflow "soft" button should not appear on the Action Bar. The Action Bar itself, however, will still be visible as it normally would (provided the app implements it, of course). The Android Design guidelines for the Action Bar state (emphasis mine):

Action overflow
The action overflow in the action bar provides access to your app's
  less frequently used actions. The overflow icon only appears on phones
  that have no menu hardware keys. Phones with menu keys display the
  action overflow when the user presses the key.

For the sake of clarity, the "action overflow button" is the little three dots icon shown at the far right here:

Arg, so there's no indication that the action overflow is there on hard key phones?

@BenBrocka: AFAIK, no, there isn't. You could argue that it's just like the <=2.3 implementation which gives no indication that there are menu options, but I thought it was a kind of stupid implementation then and I think it's a kind of stupid implementation now (as a dev it's freakin' annoying to make UIs that take advantage of the menu button because half the clients don't know it exists).

@BenBrocka: I will also say, anecdotally, that this is exactly what I saw when running an ICS ROM on my EVO (which has hard buttons, naturally). The overflow icon was gone and the overflow actions instead popped in from the bottom of the screen when I hit the Menu button.

Yeah, it's really dumb and keeps all half the usability problems of the menu button! I was hoping they didn't do this


text:
What is the HTC account you sync on the One X?
I just got my HTC One X and was just going through the registration process of the HTC Account in the 'Accounts & Sync' settings, when someone asked me to show them something. Without thinking I pressed back and now when I try and register again, I'm told I can't as it exists.
I'd like to know, is there a matching web service for this which I can use to get my password back? What account is it? I had assumed it was for HTCSense.com but it doesn't seem to be.
Anyone have any idea's please? Otherwise I'll just have to try and login to it repeatedly which I'd like to avoid.

Looks like the phone is new and not setup much, so why don't you factory reset it? Or Deleting data from Account and Sync app or similar app might work.

I have rebooted my phone and when I tried again it let me register. The account is linked to htcsense.com which seems odd as there is a message there saying that it's closing down its services!


text:
Why are my network icons blue?
I've got a Motorola Electrify on Android 2.3. Sometimes my network icons (3G and the cellular network bars) are grey, and sometimes they're blue. They seem to be blue when I have a good connection and/or when my connection will work.
What exactly do the colors mean? I've noticed when I have a grey 3G icon, my wireless tether doesn't work at all and I often can't get web pages to load right, regardless of signal strength.

I've "genericized" the previous question's title to now read What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white/gray?, and I think it adequately covers this.

@eldarerathis Oh, yeah that looks generic enough now

In my stock Ice Cream Sandwich, the icons turn blue when there is Internet connectivity and grey when there isn't. I'm not sure on Gingerbread though.

Shouldn't the 3G icon not be there when there's no internet connectivity though?

It's not strictly "Internet" connectivity, it's connectivity to Google's services. The distinction is that you can be connected to the Internet but not to Google, feasibly. See What does it mean when the connectivity icons in the status bar go white in Gingerbread?

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


text:
Nexus S Update 4.0.4 screen sensitivity issue?
I updated my Nexus S to Android 4.0.4, which is amazing for battery charge time, but I have a problem with touch sensitivity.  It's lagging and registering touches in place that I did not touch.
Anyone face this problem?
Any advice to avoid this problem?


text:
How can I save notes taken in the Galaxy Ace's Notes 2.0 application to restore after a system reset?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 running 2.3.3 and I took a lot of notes in the default Notes 2.0 application. I want to reset the system and I need to back them up somehow before I perform the reset.

There is no "default" notes app in vanilla Android that I am aware of. What device are you using?

@eldarerathis Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

Install Titanium backup - (this requires root access) from Play store and you can backup thinks like sms/call logs/apps and app data. In your case, you might want to backup the app and the app data for that particular app, save your backups. Once you restore the phone, you can use Titanium to restore that app and data.


text:
How to get application id of an installed application?
How to get application id of an installed application? I want to find app id of Notes 2.0, so maybe later I will have a change to find extensions to that product.


text:
How to check how much battery the data network is using?
How do I check how much battery the data network is using? When I enter Settings->About phone->Battery usage I get the following:

Voice calls
Android OS
Display
Android System
Dialer
Cell standby
Phone idle

Which one is hiding the data-connection part? Is there a way to figure out how much the data connectivity was?
I barely use Wi-Fi, but I'll be also happy to know where that is (if its separate from the connection through the cellular company). Using Android 2.3.5 on Galaxy S 2
I tried searching google, but it just gave me stuff about how to make the battery last longer, nothing about how to check that.

A bit of a hack, inconvenient and I'm not even sure if it would work: Download Juice Defender, set it to always keep data disabled and later check how much battery it claims to have saved you.
As for the Wifi, on my Phone (Xperia Neo V, 2.3.?), it's a separate entry on the battery usage panel. Maybe you used it so little that it isn't even displayed (probably <0.5%)?

The Wi-Fi part is probably true. And thanks for the suggestion, but I got curious because tomorrow I'm going on a trip for 3 days, so I wondered how much it will save disabling it. So I won't have time for tomorrow, but maybe one day I'll try that. :)


text:
Phone call quality suddenly choppy, even though signal is good
I have a Sprint HTC EVO 4G running the Fresh Gingerbread ROM. The call quality in my apartment has always been great. However, this week the call quality has been extremely choppy to the point of not being usable, no matter how I hold it. I haven't really done anything to the phone or my apartment, even though all its signal bars except one are full.
If I remember correctly I still have good call quality at work, so I don't think its solely a phone issue...
Any idea what's going on?

Appears to be a Sprint issue - call quality's good again today. The lesson here is that there's always more to call quality than cell signal bars.

Btw: same applies to network (mobile data) quality. I find myself often with "full bars" but no data (in a specific area)...

I am glad to hear it has been corrected.
Let me add an answer as to why that can happen:  If they install a new tower somewhere, there is always somje adjustment made in the master control system.  For instance, if you are right in the middle between two towers and it detects nearly the same signal level from both towers, it might switch you back and forth with slight changes of your detected signal.
It can slightly change by simply moving the phone to the other ear, or walking around, etc..
Sprint probably fixed it by setting the system to have longer hold times on your initial tower, and perhaps a tweak to their signal-comparison algorithm.
It is those comparison of signals that allow you to be mobile and switch from tower to tower as you move.  Usually it happens so quickly you won't notice.


text:
Voice commands, bluetooth, double press home
Is there a way to improve the voice recognition command when you press the bluetooth button or double press home? It's terrible. I've already 'trained' it or 'adapted' it. This isn't the same as Google voice search. The settings > about says
Nuance, VSuite 3.2, Version 3.2.55, Build 4.5.102
I tried going to manage app to see if I could share and look it up in the market for an update, but no luck. The phone is Droid2WE.

Although we may not be referring to the same program, I had issues with Android's built in Voice Dialer app. There are a few replacement voice dialer apps on Google Play, including Choice Dialer.  In many of these alternative voice dialers, there are options for controlling the confidence threshold before taking an action.  In the case of Choice Dialer, if a command cannot be understood with a configurable level of confidence, it asks you to confirm with a simple yes or no.  I found that this alone made it a lot better than the built-in voice dialer.
So, to answer your question, consider getting a replacement voice dialer.

Shoot, it says:
This app is incompatible with your Verizon Motorola DROID2 GLOBAL.

Tough break.  This is the only alternative voice dialer I have used and can vouch for.  There are a few others in Google Play, though.  Hope you find one that's better than the built in one.


text:
How can I force 3G only on the Nexus S after the ICS update?
In earlier versions of Android there was an option to toggle data between 2G, 3G preferred and 3G only.  After the ICS 4.0.3 update for Nexus S, there is no option for "3G only".
Did Google lock down this option or is there a way to force "3G only"? I don't care about connection quality or battery, I just want my data to stay in "3G only" mode.

I've been using Android since it was released to the public, and I've never noticed a "3G only" option.

I've only used it since Gingerbread but I haven't seen a '3G only' option either, just the 2G only that I mention in my answer.

This may be specific to the Galaxy Nexus, but I find the setting under Settings | Wireless & Networks | More... | Mobile networks | Network Mode and setting it to "CDMA" (instead of "LTE/CDMA").

I have a Galaxy Nexus but don't have that option, I assume that's because we don't have 4G over here in the UK yet so there's no need for it.

There's an app for 3G only mode:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobnetic.only3G

However your phone should automatically try and go for 3G if there's a 3G connection available, it will never choose 2G over 3G so I don't see why this would be useful... There's still a 2G only mode to save battery in Settings -> Mobile Networks

Enter *#*#4636#*#* in your dialer and select "3g only" mode on the menu that opens.

I used this code *#*#4636#*#* and I it enters a secret menu where I can choose "WCDMA ONLY" but I cannot save it . After exit it returns to "GSM/WCDMA" in automatic. All this on my GALAXY S2 with Android 2.3 Gingerbread

"this number does not exist" is all I get under this number. But also those many apps that are made to activate this option as an app, as in the answer by Peanut only report that this is not supported on my phone, although they all open a menu above which the error message is displayed.


text:
How can I save a thread from Go SMS Pro to my SD card?
I have tried several things, but haven't found one that works. How can I save a message thread from Go SMS Pro to my SD card?

From the main screen (list of threads), long click on the thread and choose the option to "backup  thread."  This will save the thread to your SD card as an xml file.


text:
Wi Fi Sleep policy doesn't work on Galaxy Mini
Set the WiFi Sleep policy as 'never' but when my new Galaxy Mini is in sleep mode wi-fi is turned off. I tried with a few apps like 'Keep WiFi' without success. Is anybody out there who actually got the same problem and solved it?

I'm guessing it's the same as this issue, a known problem.  Can you confirm?

not the same thing...I dont see any wifi icon on the state bar after 15 minutes on sleep mode.(it's not 'freezed' , it's disonnected) by the way I'm testing a new app as we're speaking

Please register your account if you want to be able to own and respond to your questions.  I think the answer posted to my question may still help you.

registered! hope to find a solution because this way I can't use apps such as Gmail, Viber and WhatsApp...


text:
Upload and tag video to facebook
Is it possible (using the native facebook app) to upload a video and tag it?
I know they recently included the ability to tag people in photos, but I'm not sure if you can do it to videos as well.

I don't believe you can tag the videos themselves. You cannot actually view them in the native app either, when viewing it takes you to a video player of your choice.
As far as creating a post with a video and tagging a post I am not sure about.
Hope this helps.


text:
Execute Windows Run Command or Some Windows Batch Process from Android
Can we execute a Windows run command from an Android device? Like for example I want to open a file in PC using my Android device such as Run>C:\abc.exe.
Or you can say I want to run a batch process (Exe File) placed in PC from my Android device.

Why don't you try remote desktop?

Please don't just throw every version tag onto your questions. It is not the purpose of the tagging system.

One option would be to install and set up SSH on the target PC.  http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/
You can then use any of the many SSH android clients to connect to the target PC and you will have command line access.

This is a dangerous advice: SSH Windows is positively ancient (7 years since the latest release, for a critical piece of software) and unsupported. Better alternatives exist, and Wikipedia lists most of them.

Good point, if you want this to be accessible from outside your home network, you certainly should seek an up to date option.

I think we can achieve this thing using Sockets. we  need to send a command from device to PC using socket. But on PC side we must have another socket which can manipulate the incomming command from device .Then we can execute exe batch or jar file on the basis of incomming string.
Like that suppose we send a command from device to pc  " Java -jar " C:\deviceExecute.jar "
 On pc side we get this command through socket as a string (executejar) and then
 run this
if(executejar!=null || executejar!="")
{
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
   Process proc = runtime.exec(executejar);
}

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Note that this site is intended for Android (power) users, not programmers, so please only provide answers that do not involve creating your own program.


text:
Activity Camera (in application Camera) is not responding
I am having a strange issue with my Camera app.  When I open the application, I received the following message:
Activity Camera (in application Camera) is not responding

after about 5 seconds.  However, I am able to capture photos from Facebook using the Camera activity, and other photo apps like Camera 360 works properly as well.
I have Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I1900) from AT&T.
Edit
Thing I have tried:

Clear cache/data from Settings/Application/Manage Application/Camera
Remove SD card, which results in the error "Please insert an SD card
before using the camera."
Restoring the Camera Apps from Titaniumn Backup from 2 weeks ago, when the Camera app was working.

Have you tried to clear data for the camera app?


text:
Galaxy Nexus NFC Verizon
Does the Galaxy Nexus have NFC on Verizon? I remember reading about the phone being delayed because competing carriers wanted to avoid Google Wallet and that some carriers had even disabled the NFC chip to avoid that.
But I don't know about the outcome of that situation.
Do all US versions of the Galaxy Nexus have NFC enabled?

The Verizon GNex has NFC, it just doesn't have Google Wallet pre-installed. It's pretty trivial to sideload it, though, and it's worked just fine the 2 times I used it.
Another thing to note here is that the NFC antenna is actually on the battery, not in the device itself. This means that if you get an extended battery you need to make sure it has an NFC antenna in it as well, otherwise it won't work.
The T-Mobile USA and Sprint versions haven't actually been released yet, so I guess there's no guarantee on those at this point. Sprint supported NFC and Google Wallet for the Nexus S 4G, though, so I can't imagine they'd stiff the GNex. For T-Mobile you could just get the existing GSM version and it should work fine since it's pentaband HSPA+ (it should work on AT&T for the same reason, though you wouldn't get their LTE service).


text:
How do I cancel a half completed email configuration?
Phone is trapped trying to encrypt my device against my wishes.
On my Nexus S I was recently upgraded to 4.0.4 and decided to try adding my work email to my personal phone. This previously didn't work because Android didn't have the proper security settings. I previously did not have any other email accounts setup.
Did an manual setup for an Exchange server and it prompted me to give the email app additional permissions (enforce lock screen, full device encryption etc.) I accepted and configured the lock screen as requested. The full device encryption page popped up and it informed me that once encrypted I would not be able to decrypt the device without a factory reset. I was not interested in that, but there is no cancel button on the encryption warning page.
I quit to the home screen, but now the phone constantly reminds me to complete the account setup.
Is there a way to cancel the account setup? What are my options? I'd prefer not to have to do a factory reset.
Did Google really place the warning page in a time where it's already too late to do anything or have I missed some other way to cancel? Every time I open the email app it says that the email account requires I change my security settings. I can cancel and the app closes or accept and the encryption page appears.

Naturally, I figured it out 10 minutes after posting. Can't answer for another few hours because I'm a new user.
Under the security section of the settings, there is a Device Administrator page. I deactivated the "Email" app as an admin. It warned that it would delete all my mail and stuff and I accepted.
No factory reset required.
Thank you Stack Exchange for allowing me to express my question so I could figure it out myself :)

I'm sure that you're not the only who has been caught by that, or will be in the future. Yes, please do add your findings as an Answer and accept it so future readers can benefit.

Glad you found something that worked.  I'd have recommended finding the Email app in the "App Settings", forcing it to stop, then clearing its data.

Reposting answer for future people!
Naturally, I figured it out 10 minutes after posting.
Can't answer for another few hours because I'm a new user. Under the security section of the settings, there is a Device Administrator page.
I deactivated the "Email" app as an admin. It warned that it would delete all my mail and stuff and I accepted. No factory reset required.
Thank you Stack Exchange for allowing me to express my question so I could figure it out myself :)


text:
Is there a way to "re-link" all contacts using some button or other procedure?
My contacts come from 3 sources:

Google account
Facebook
Skype

Some of those contacts were automatically linked together so "Joe Smith" appears as one contact instead of three. However, some contacts were not linked automatically.
Is there a button or some other way to tell Android "go scan all contacts from all accounts now and try to re-link them"?

I did this a few months ago by downloading a third-party contacts app, using its (much smarter) merge function, and then uninstalling the app. I can't remember for sure, but I think the app I used was either Contacts by Contapps or GO Contacts EX. There's also Contact Analyzer 2, but there are some reports of it deleting all contacts instead of merging!

contapps works great!

As far as I know you have to do it manually, by going into the contact, pressing Menu, and then Join, and select the contact you want to join it with

I don't think there is a way to do this on an Android device, but in the desktop contact manager there is a way.
Log into GMail in your desktop, switch to the Contacts view.  Under More select "Find & Merge duplicates ...".
This will present a list of all the "duplicates" that Google found.  Handily, you can check/uncheck which ones you want it to merge now, and which to skip.
This assumes that all of the contacts that got slurped into your phone from Skype and Facebook got pushed up to google.

That will only work for Google account contacts - what I was referring to is this: http://www.stdi.com/stdi/home.nsf/ws/AndroidContact