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How can I stop applications and services from running?
When my phone starts up there are several application/services running in the background that I would rather not.  And when I press the Home button while using an app, that app usually goes into the background without exiting.  How can I stop these apps from running?

This is a Community Wiki; everyone feel free to add and correct information in the answer.  :)

Related meta discussion: http://meta.android.stackexchange.com/questions/1119/what-to-do-with-a-controversial-duplicate-question-prevent-apps-from-running-in

Related: Disable autostart on boot.

In Android 11 on a TCL A3 device, I was able to unlock an app as follows: 1. Go to home screen. 2. Click the right-most system icon at bottom right (view tasks). 3. Swipe if needed to find the task that won't close. 4. At the top right of the reduced screenshot, you should see a tiny lock icon. Tap it once to unlock (the icon becomes empty), tap it again to lock (the icon becomes filled). Your tap has to hit the icon exactly, which means at its top left corner.

First Things First
You may have some misconceptions about how Android works and what's really happening when a service is running or an app is in the background.  See also: Do I really need to install a task manager?
Most apps (e.g., ones you launch manually) have their current Activity put into the background when you switch to another app or the homescreen. Activities consume some memory, so that you can go back to the app and pick up where you left off.  Activities are usually not able to run computations in the background, so no CPU or battery is used for them.  If battery life or CPU performance is your concern, you don't need to worry about these apps!  You don't need to worry about memory, either; Android will automatically kill the app and free the memory if the system is running low.
If the app in background is running a service, that may be a different story.  Well-designed services spend most of their time sleeping, waking up for the occasional check (new social media notifications, for example).  However, poorly designed services may run more often or perform syncing operations that you don't want, affecting battery life and your data usage.  If you've got a rogue service you may want to try one of the solutions below.
Solutions
If you're sure you want to make this app stop at all costs, you can try these methods.
Uninstall
When an app does something you don't like, whether running in the background on startup or something else, your first option is to uninstall it.  Problem solved!  You can remove system apps if you have root, most easily with Titanium Backup, but be careful to remove only carrier bloatware and not critical system apps.
However, if you want to be able to use that app then this is not an option: keep reading.
Ping the Developer
Some of the greatest daemons that come with Android are services that run in background for no reason or when a simple interval check with Android's AlarmManager would be sufficient. We need to kill them all with fire, and not by ignoring them. Everything that does not involve a fix by the developer is just a hack that will result in other negative side effects.  If you contact the developer with your problem, they can fix the app and you can go on using it normally.  That's a win for everyone involved.
Manually Killing Apps
First, note that many apps will close completely if you Back out of them rather than using the Home button.
If you are running Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean, you can go into Settings, hit Applications, and manually shut down the app by tabbing over to the running apps. Alternatively you can hit the Recent Applications button and swipe them off the screen to close them.  In older versions of Android there may be a built-in Task Manager added by the manufacturer to accomplish the same thing, or you can download a task manager app to do so.  For services, look at Settings -> Applications -> Services.
WARNING: Do not use automatic task killers!  Automatic task killers run in the background (exactly what you don't want) and kill apps whenever they start.  Most of the time this makes things worse, because apps often consume more resources when they're starting up compared to when they're sitting idle.  Services that run automatically and are restarted by the system will be killed over and over, wasting your battery.  Similarly, apps that receive system events known as Intents (such as network coverage and connectivity changes) will be killed every time they start up to receive an event.  Nothing good can come of it.
A possible exception is automatic tasks that execute only when you, the user, perform a specific action.  In essence, they're just making manual task management easier for you.  An app like Tasker or Llama can be used to end activities when you switch apps, for example, ensuring they don't stay around in the background.  Instructions for Llama:

Create a new Event. Add the condition called Active App, and choose the status App stopped or in background. Choose the app you want to focus on. Next, add an Action. Select Kill Application (root privileges), then select your app again.
Now, whenever you leave the app, Llama will kill it.

Editing Autostarts and Intents
As mentioned above, some applications may start when they receive Intents (system events).  By using an app like Permissions Denied you can alter which permissions apps can request, which in turn limits which events they can receive.  Or you can use an app like Autostarts (paid app) to edit specifically which Intents will be sent to which apps.  For both solutions, you'll need root access.
Other options:

Autorun Manager
Gemini App Manager

(Autostarts source code is also available here: https://github.com/miracle2k/android-autostarts)
WARNING: This can cause apps to stop working or inhibit wanted functionality.  Proceed with caution, especially with critical system apps.
Freezing Apps
You can use an app like Titanium Backup or App Quarantine to complete freeze apps so that they can't run at all.  If you want to use them you have to un-freeze them first.
WARNING: Do not do this with critical system apps!  Your device may fail to boot.
Put Apps into Hibernation
Greenify (require Android 4.0+ and ROOT privilege) use a different approach called "Hibernation", from traditional "Freezing".
You can safely hibernate any non-system app you do not want it to run stealthily (via persistent services, broadcast receivers, alarms and so on), effectively equivalent to "freezing", while still keep all its entrances (launcher icon, sharing target, etc) and fully functional when you explictly run it, without the need to un-freeze it first.
WARNING: Do not hibernatize alarm clock apps, instant messaging apps, and other apps whose basic functionality relies on background mechanism (timer, system events, "push", etc) to work.
The Bottom Line
Android is designed to take care of app management for you.  In all but the most extreme cases you shouldn't need to worry about it.  When there is a problem, we advise you to go for the simplest solution — uninstalling.  All other solutions are hacks around what Android is designed to do.  Maybe one day Android will have official support for managing services but, until then, be careful.

+1.  Splendid answer!  But what does "greatest daemons" mean?  And what does "kill apps whenever they start" mean?  (If you kill every app whenever it starts, I would have thought that it would be impossible to launch and use any app at all.)  It would be good if you could please ping me with a comment reply which clarifies.  :)

@unforgettableid "greatest daemons" is a play on "greatest demons" and "daemons" (services).  "Kill apps" does not mean "kill ALL apps".

"Activities are usually not able to run computations in the background, so no CPU or battery is used for them."- that's simply not true. There's nothing that stops an activity from starting threads and leaving them running when it leaves the foreground. Perhaps you meant to say "Well-behaved activities usually ....". Well, okay, but the concern for most people is ones that aren't well-behaved.

@JeffreyBlattman You're right, please do feel free to edit this since it's a Community Wiki answer.

Everything you write here makes sense. However, I notice a HUGE performance difference after uninstalling a dozen apps which I suspected of doing random things in the background. Problem is, simply uninstalling them doesn't solve anything for me, as I actually need most of those apps (most of them are banking apps). Uninstalling them was just an experiment. My phone got noticeably faster. After reinstalling them, things got slower again. Contacting the developers of such apps is typically useless or sometimes not even possible, at least in my experience. Any other options?

Preventing app auto start after device reboot on Android 13+
Since Android 13 Google added a possibility to prevent apps from automatically starting after a device reboot:

If the user places your app in the "restricted" state for background battery usage while your app targets Android 13, the system doesn't deliver the BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast or the LOCKED_BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast until the app is started for other reasons. 1

This means that if an user restricts background battery usage for an app it can not directly start after a device reboot. But that require your phone to run Android 13 or newer (and that the manufacturer has taken over that feature from AOSP) and also the app has to target Android 13 or newer.
To enable the battery restricted mode open Android Settings -> Apps (applist), select an app, open it's battery settings and change it to "restricted"


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How to run Android ICS on a PC (win7) inside a VM?
I have a PC and would like for kids to run Android games/edu apps. I have a touchscreen. How hard is it to run ICS inside a VM (VirtualBox or any other VM platform (MS, VMware)
There are answers about older versions of android. but I would like to run ICS.

Have you considered blue stacks, which could run Android apps in Windows PC?

And if you insist on a VM: There always is the Android SDK, which includes an Emulator.

The SDK's own Emulator is slow in its own right - translating from ARM<->x86 etc, might be better to use Android x86 ;)

Recent versions of the SDK include a native x86 Android image. (http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html)
http://android-x86.org offers a 4.0 image that can be run from VirtualBox.
http://androvm.org/blog/ offers a Jellybean (4.1) image for VirtualBox.

Note that performance may not be so great.

Something that may be easier to install is Bluestacks. I think it should meet your needs.
Edit: Well... except it is not ICS :P I would then go to SDK emulators...

bluestacks has a bug and does not register touches on my touchscreen monitor.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Missing application from sdcard
I did factory reset. So, I lost application from sdcard but that application files still exist in sdcard.
How do I recovery my application from sdcard. I do not have back up app data file.
My phone is version 4.0.4 and non-rooted device.

If you have no backup, there's nothing you can recover from. That's like asking how to open the door of a non-existing car.

On SD Card stored only application data, but some parts of applications are always stored on phone, so recovery is impossible - only reinstall.

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


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google talk android device sign is not shown by sony xperia ray while logged in google talk in it what can I do about it?
When I log in to google talk in my sony xperia ray (android 4.04 ICS) and see by any other account how I am online it shows like I am online in a personal computer somewhere. It shows a circle green or red. No android sign is there. How can I fix that? I want people to know I have android mobile and I am logged in through my mobile not my personal computer so that it signifies I am travelling.

Launch the Google Talk app
Open the overflow menu (three vertical dots) and choose Settings.
Tap the account you're using.
Check the Mobile indicator option.

Note: If you're signed in to your Google account on a PC (like if you left your browser open and logged in to Gmail) the mobile indicator may not be displayed.
(For reference: Android version 4.1.1, Google Talk v. 4.1.1 - 424425)

I do not know which is the overflow menu. By that you must mean the menu where all the apps shortcuts are present. Yup went there. Menu - > Settings -> Accounts & Sync -> Account I am using -> It has only options to check sync chrome, contacts,drive, gmail (no mobile indicator) :(

The overflow menu is the three vertical dots.

You need to do this in the Google Talk app, not in the general device settings. I'll update my answer.

Yup it was already checked. It shows VideoCamera sign when I log into the Google Talk app and none of my laptops or PCs are on. Is it because I have a front camera for video chat? But your answer seems correct so. (but no android sign)


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Import multiple vCard files to Galaxy S3 contacts
How can I import contacts from hundreds of vCard files to my Galaxy S3 which is shipped with Ice Cream Sandwich ? I don't want to import it one by one.
I am using Windows 7 Ultimate.

You need to combine all you vcard files into one. Exact process depends on operating system of your computer.
You can find some examples in http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/y2670pyopew


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Monitoring phone usage and limits
I have 100 minutes of free talk every week, 25 free SMS every week and 2GB of Internet data usage in a month. Nothing alerts me when one of these thresholds has been exceeded.
Is there any way to keep track of my outgoing calls and messages, and then receive an alert when I'm going to exceed my limit? It would be preferable if the threshold would reset automatically every week and be configurable.

Please don't ask for "an app that does X". Not only does that skirt on being a shopping recommendation (which are off-topic) but you've also already chosen a solution. Instead, ask about the specific problem you're trying to solve.

Some networks allow you to check how much you have used such as O2.  If you have ICS or Jelly Bean there is a Data Usage listing in settings.
Alternatively try apps like these
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/best-android-data-usage-apps-for-monitoring-3g2gwi-fi-usage/

My network have provided an app to check this, but is really slow, and usually crash. :(

DroidStats does this for calls, SMS, and data:

You can place widgets on your homescreen1 or, with the pro version, even inside your notification area2. Limits can of course be configured. It even shows data usage on a per-app basis. Statistics can show your most-called (and most-called-from) contacts, and more.
As for data, 3G Watchdog even can go a step further and, provided you have Apndroid installed, disable 3g data when a configured threshold is reached.


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VMware View and Workstation 8?
I was wondering how you can use VMware View on my Nexus 7 to access Shared VMs on Workstation 8.
Do you need to go via Vsphere or is there a way of just accessing it across the wifi network?
Anyone any tips or ideas how it can be done?

AFAIK VMware view is used to access the Virtual Desktops and not the usual VM.

I think the best way to access your VMs in this situation is to use VNC, which VMWare supports out of the box. There are plenty of VNC clients for android.

Logmein also works as well as vnc. However what I think you are asking is their a native Virtual machine client for android. The long and short of it is no and you but you can use remote access on your vms to access them on mobile devices.
The other side of the question I think you are asking is the difference between workstation and vsphere. Vsphere is specifically designed to run servers on server hardware such as server 2003 2008 R2 2012 and s016 server.  where as workstation is designed to run end user operating systems and softwares such as windows xp 7 8 10 and the apps installed on those operating systems. I also can say you can share vmx and virtual machine files over a network and or on the sd card of your nexus using esfile explorer if you are looking to transport your machines from one network to another and access them on machines say at home or work that have VMware on them. I hope this helps clarify what each product is used for and how to share vms across networks.


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Thunderbird mail on Samsung Galaxy S3?
I'm switching from an old phone and need to know if I can install Thunderbird on a Samsung S3 or any other similar phone? I have several business emails and like the way Thunderbird works.
Being new to this, if I can't put TBird on the Samsung or similar product, then what type of e-mail platform will I be using?

Please clarify what e-mail provider you're using. Thunderbird is the client, but Thunderbird isn't the company that is hosting your e-mail service. Are you connecting to corporate e-mail servers?

Mozilla have not created a Thunderbird app, so you're not going to have that option.
That said, there are dozens (or more) email apps in the Play Store. (Not to mention the stock email app that ships with the device.) A large number of them can handle multiple email accounts just fine.

I have Thunderbird installed on my S3 phone.

Oh? Care to share a link?


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Is there an interactive calendar widget that allows me to switch between agenda view and calendar view?
I'm looking for an interactive calendar widget that allows me to switch between agenda view and calendar view.
The Go Calendar widget is really useful allowing you to scroll through the agenda and also select the calendar view which allows you to easily create an event for a given date.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a calendar widget that offers similar features and usability.
I'd like to change my default launcher but don't wanna lose the useful widget.
Anyone know an alternative?

Agenda Widget Plus allows a user to do this easily.
As far as full scale calendar app replacements go, give the excellent Jorte Calendar a try - it too has loads of widgets and many customizable settings.

Thank you for your suggestion!
Agenda Widget Plus is quite good and the design is really nice but I still miss the usability of the Go Calendar widget.

I use Business Calendar. It also has a Free version.
The Agenda widget scrolls up and down my touch-scrolling (for lack of a better term), unlike under widgets where you need to click an up / down button to scroll (like ProDo). If you click on the Adgenda widget, you can launch its Calendar. The Agenda widget also has an add button for creating new events.


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Setting up mail client. Trying to connect only to the incoming server, avoid setting an outgoing server up
I have an Android 4 mobile phone and I'm trying to use the stock email client to connect to a webmail service.
The thing is that I am only interested in receiving my mail. I don't need to be able to send from my phone. Is something like connecting only to the incoming server and leaving the outgoing server settings blank possible? If not, are there any other email apps that offer this feature?

For the SMTP server details, try entering a server like mail.messagingengine.com and NOT entering any authentication details. The client will connect but because no auth details are provided, even if you attempt to send emails, the server just won't accept the connection and the emails will remain in the outbox.

I used the gmail smtp server and logged in with my gmail account. Thank you very much.


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Delete all music NOT in playlist?
I have a playlist of favorite music on my phone. It's time I got I'm of all the others that I regularly skip and never listen to.
How can I select all music that is NOT in that playlist in order yo manipulate it?

A shell script might prove helpful here (run either from a terminal emulator or via ADB): Collect all your music files, extract the file names from your playlist, match them, and then take the appropriate actions. I don't know of any ready-to-go solution to be used instead.


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Prevent reboot after fastboot -w image.zip?
Is it possible to prevent the automatic reboot that follows
fastboot -w image.zip

? This would be quite useful for batch files. Thanks for any hint :-)

usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>

commands:
 update <filename>                        reflash device from update.zip
 flashall                                 'flash boot' + 'flash system'
 flash <partition> [ <filename> ]         write a file to a flash partition
 erase <partition>                        erase a flash partition
 getvar <variable>                        display a bootloader variable
 boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]              download and boot kernel
 flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ]    create bootimage and flash it
 devices                                  list all connected devices
 reboot                                   reboot device normally
 reboot-bootloader                        reboot device into bootloader

options:
 -w                                       erase userdata and cache
 -s <serial number>                       specify device serial number
 -p <product>                             specify product name
 -c <cmdline>                             override kernel commandline

I think it's safe to assume that the options listed here are the options you have available to you when running the fastboot binary. Since there doesn't seem to be an override as a native function of fastboot, your only solution would be to access the source code of fastboot (if available) and remove or alter the part of the code where the device reboots.
Note that there might be very good reasons as to why the device reboots at that stage, so I'd be careful with messing around with it.

actually there are some hidden oem functions on fastboot, so I am not sure if there really is no option for it. for now, selected as correct answer, as it's the only one :P

I believe you're looking for the "--skip-reboot" switch, ex:
fastboot -w update image-marlin-opm1.171019.012.zip --skip-reboot

C:>fastboot --help
commands:
  update <filename>                        Reflash device from update.zip.
                                           Sets the flashed slot as active.
  flashall                                 Flash boot, system, vendor, and --
                                           if found -- recovery. If the device
                                           supports slots, the slot that has
                                           been flashed to is set as active.
                                           Secondary images may be flashed to
                                           an inactive slot.
  flash <partition> [ <filename> ]         Write a file to a flash partition.
  flashing lock                            Locks the device. Prevents flashing.
  flashing unlock                          Unlocks the device. Allows flashing
                                           any partition except
                                           bootloader-related partitions.
  flashing lock_critical                   Prevents flashing bootloader-related
                                           partitions.
  flashing unlock_critical                 Enables flashing bootloader-related
                                           partitions.
  flashing get_unlock_ability              Queries bootloader to see if the
                                           device is unlocked.
  flashing get_unlock_bootloader_nonce     Queries the bootloader to get the
                                           unlock nonce.
  flashing unlock_bootloader <request>     Issue unlock bootloader using request.
  flashing lock_bootloader                 Locks the bootloader to prevent
                                           bootloader version rollback.
  erase <partition>                        Erase a flash partition.
  format[:[<fs type>][:[<size>]] <partition>
                                           Format a flash partition. Can
                                           override the fs type and/or size
                                           the bootloader reports.
  getvar <variable>                        Display a bootloader variable.
  set_active <slot>                        Sets the active slot. If slots are
                                           not supported, this does nothing.
  boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> [ <second> ] ] Download and boot kernel.
  flash:raw <bootable-partition> <kernel> [ <ramdisk> [ <second> ] ]
                                           Create bootimage and flash it.
  devices [-l]                             List all connected devices [with
                                           device paths].
  continue                                 Continue with autoboot.
  reboot [bootloader|emergency]            Reboot device [into bootloader or emergency mode].
  reboot-bootloader                        Reboot device into bootloader.
  oem <parameter1> ... <parameterN>        Executes oem specific command.
  stage <infile>                           Sends contents of <infile> to stage for
                                           the next command. Supported only on
                                           Android Things devices.
  get_staged <outfile>                     Receives data to <outfile> staged by the
                                           last command. Supported only on Android
                                           Things devices.
  help                                     Show this help message.

options:
  -w                                       Erase userdata and cache (and format
                                           if supported by partition type).
  -u                                       Do not erase partition before
                                           formatting.
  -s <specific device>                     Specify a device. For USB, provide either
                                           a serial number or path to device port.
                                           For ethernet, provide an address in the
                                           form <protocol>:<hostname>[:port] where
                                           <protocol> is either tcp or udp.
  -c <cmdline>                             Override kernel commandline.
  -i <vendor id>                           Specify a custom USB vendor id.
  -b, --base <base_addr>                   Specify a custom kernel base
                                           address (default: 0x10000000).
  --kernel-offset                          Specify a custom kernel offset.
                                           (default: 0x00008000)
  --ramdisk-offset                         Specify a custom ramdisk offset.
                                           (default: 0x01000000)
  --tags-offset                            Specify a custom tags offset.
                                           (default: 0x00000100)
  -n, --page-size <page size>              Specify the nand page size
                                           (default: 2048).
  -S <size>[K|M|G]                         Automatically sparse files greater
                                           than 'size'. 0 to disable.
  --slot <slot>                            Specify slot name to be used if the
                                           device supports slots. All operations
                                           on partitions that support slots will
                                           be done on the slot specified.
                                           'all' can be given to refer to all slots.
                                           'other' can be given to refer to a
                                           non-current slot. If this flag is not
                                           used, slotted partitions will default
                                           to the current active slot.
  -a, --set-active[=<slot>]                Sets the active slot. If no slot is
                                           provided, this will default to the value
                                           given by --slot. If slots are not
                                           supported, this does nothing. This will
                                           run after all non-reboot commands.
  --skip-secondary                         Will not flash secondary slots when
                                           performing a flashall or update. This
                                           will preserve data on other slots.
  --skip-reboot                            Will not reboot the device when
                                           performing commands that normally
                                           trigger a reboot.
  --disable-verity                         Set the disable-verity flag in the
                                           the vbmeta image being flashed.
  --disable-verification                   Set the disable-verification flag in                                           the vbmeta image being flashed.
  --unbuffered                             Do not buffer input or output.
  --version                                Display version.
  -h, --help                               show this message.


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Trigger "mount as disk drive" (aka "USB Mass Storage" mode) from PC
I've got an HTC Incredible that I sync to my Linux box.  I'd like the Linux box to automatically detect that the phone is attached (I can do that via adb wait-for-device), and then automatically put the device in "disk drive mode" (I've no idea how to do this part), and then mount the phone as storage, and run my sync script (I've got this covered), and then unmount the phone and return it to "charge only" mode.
I can manually put the device in "disk drive mode" by pulling down the shade and changing the "USB connection type", but I'm not sure how to trigger this remotely from the PC.  Ideally, some adb command would be great, but I'm open to installing an app, or other hacks (the Linux box can usually reach the phone via WiFi ...)
"Disk drive mode" is also known as "USB Mass Storage" (UMS) mode.
In newer (ICS and later), UMS support is being deprecated for MTP (slightly different USB-based transfer protocol).

Related: Why can't I see Android storage as a partition on PC?

This app is designed to mount your phone as soon as it is plugged in. It seems to do your missing step.
Alternatively, this command (found from this forum) can be run on the phone (ex. adb shell) to turn on disk mode.
echo /dev/block/mmcblk0 > /sys/devices/platform/usb_mass_storage/lun0/file
Edit: This only appears to work in recovery.

Auto Mount App

Good to know this is possible, but having the phone go into "disk drive mode" every time the phone is plugged in won't work for me (and there is no way to revert back "charge only").

Look, I got tired of searching how to mount the drive automaticaly in UMS mode, and the solution above is right.
echo /dev/block/mmcblk0 > /sys/devices/lm-2/gadget/lun0/file

Search for the correct file /sys/device in your system.
 This way I can use Tasker to auto-mount my device whe a USB connection is detected.

"Above" has no context, since answers can be sorted in different ways. To which answer are you referring?

According to this Android Forum post the sdutil app on the phone can be used enable "USB Mass Storage" mode on the device.  This can be run through adb as:
adb shell sdutil ums enable

However, it seems like this only works on older version of Android (circa 2010?), on my device (which is not rooted), sdutil is not available (or is hidden somewhere I cannot see like /sbin or /system/sbin).


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How can I print from Android phone through Google Chrome connected printer in laptop?
I have a printer connected to laptop. The printer does not have any network features such as Apple AirPort but connected to a laptop with Google Chrome. My Android phone is also running Google Chrome. Both the phone and laptop are under the same account.
How can I print through the Android phone to the printer? Can I do it with Google Cloud -printing?

I fear it's not possible.  I just searched for "print" in the Nexus 7 manual, and came up with nothing.  I dimly recall that, a while ago, a few Android apps, in limited circumstances, could use Google Cloud Printing; but I guess that was an experiment that's since been cancelled.

Possible duplicate of http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/43774/how-to-print-to-cups-running-on-another-computer-in-the-lan

Apple uses CUPS.

Yes it should work with Google Cloud Print.
From: https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/1686197?rd=1

Log in to your user account on the Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
Open Google Chrome.
Click the wrench icon  on the browser toolbar.
Select Settings.
Click the Show advanced settings link.
Scroll down to the “Google Cloud Print” section. Click Sign in to
Google Cloud Print.  In the window that appears, sign in with your
Google Account to enable the Google Cloud Print connector.

A printer confirmation message appears and click Finish printer
registration. You'll see a confirmation that Google Cloud Print has
been enabled. Click Manage your printers to learn more.

Now when you have something to print, for example: some document in Google Drive, hit print button and your printer should show up. But your laptop must be on all the time and connected to printer.

Apple and Linux use what is called CUPS. Because your laptop is Apple, you should be able to set the printer as "shared" on your laptop and then, install an app such as Lets Print Droid that is CUPS compatible.
After you install the app, swipe down and click on the notification to enable the print service. Your printer should automatically be discovered. If not, you may have to "add printer".
I use the lets print droid app installed on my android device along with google cups-connector installed on my laptop so you may need that as well but I don't believe google cups-connector is needed.
I can now print from my chrome browser in android as a local printer, no cloud.
thank's to @barton for this similar answer


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Wrong Google account picture
Some applications on my phone (e.g. Maps) show a wrong picture for my user account.
Specifically, an old picture is shown instead of last one I put on my Google+ account.
How can I fix this?
I use a LG-P692 (Gelato) phone.

It might take a while for the sync to happen, what's in your Settings > Accounts & Sync, is it active? Auto Sync checked? (this is on GB)

@t0mm13b: I have a widget on the launcher with a shortcut to enable and disable the synch setting. I activate it when my WiFi is on. Then actually I changed my profile picture before buying the phone (which is my 1st Android device). So it looks like a mulfunction on the Google side. That is the reason of my question.

Your Google profile picture and your Google+ account CAN have different pictures. I'm sure most other Google apps probably use the Google profile picture. Make sure they are the same.

I found the workaround using the Google Talk app:

Open Google Talk;
Click on your user profile thumbnail;
Click on the profile picture and select Change;
Browse for the picture and select it.

After a while with Sync option on, then the updated picture is shown on other apps.

The problem with this workaround is that the uneven picture gets back when the phone is restarted...


text:
How can I get a list of all my paid (only) apps in the Play Store?
I'm interested to know all of my apps that I paid for in the Google Play Store. Is there an easy way to retrieve this list filtering only paid applications?

On the Play Store website or the app (or both)?

If you use Google Wallet only for Play Store, you can list them up after login to wallet.google.com.

See also How to see all the purchased apps in google play store , particularly https://play.google.com/store/account?purchaseFilter=apps

(1) Check out Legacy Play Store. You can get the list on UNINSTALLED PAID apps. INSTALLED list includes both PAID and UNPAID.
If you decide to install it, you may need to:

use Root Explorer (I had troubles with Astro and File Expert)
copy the apk to /system/app
chmod the apk to 644

NOTE: It works on my Samsung Galaxy S2, running CyanogenMod9.
EDIT: Hmm. Website is currently unavailable. Post a comment if you can't access it. I could probably upload the apk somewhere. [Or you could search for the app elsewhere]
(2) AndroidPolice just featured a GreaseMonkey script that allows you to separate your paid apps in Google Play. You might also want to check it out.

If you want this list on browser then you can go for the Greasemonkey Artem script which can show your paid and free apps in different lists.
Check out full detail and installation guide here Greasemonkey Artem script

Right now, you can do the following:

Open the play store app.
Open the options by swiping in from the left of the screen.
Select my account", then scroll down to see your order history.
Tap " more" and you'll see a list of everything you've paid for on the play store.
Success!

This worked as of November 2015 with Android 6.0. I'm sure Google will change it soon enough.

Another method (if you only use Google wallet for Google play purchases) is to simply look at your Google wallet purchase history. If you only use it for Google play app purchases, they will all be listed here.
To keep things organised in the future, if you wish, you could always create a folder on your home screen containing all your paid apps and drop in any additions as you go.


text:
Root Terminal command to kill or stop a service?
The latest LiveView Application for my device keeps appearing on the status bar even if the LiveView device isn't connected. Since I can't find any means to disable this behavior, I want to create a fix for myself via Tasker. I made it so that the LiveView process is killed when the device disconnects. However, although this successfully kills the app, after a few seconds or minutes, it starts up again and sits on the notification bar like before. I suppose this is a countermeasure against Task Killers of sort.
This is the next approach I'm taking, using a terminal command to kill or stop a service fully. I'm going to run this command in Tasker in replacement of the process kill method.
Another thing I found to work is to go to Settings > Apps > LiveView > Force Close. So if Force Close is do-able via terminal, that would be nice too.
This is all on a rooted ST17i, running MiniCMSandwich Lite ROM (ICS).

Your suggested approach would have the same result: a few seconds later, the app would be back. Tasker kills it again. Start at the beginning. This vicious circle will certainly help you drain your battery faster -- but nothing else.
Two possible solutions would include either to uninstrall the app, or to disable the "listener" it established to get started on certain events. The latter can be done by e.g. Autorun Manager PRO (yes, this requires the Pro version):

Though there are similar solutions available, and I tested some of them, AutoRun Manager seemed to be the best: It's faster than most of the others, and finds more intents than many others. But as the app also warns: if you disable too many (or the wrong) listeners, the (disabled) app may start misbehaving. To get around that, a new version of this app (coming soon) will implement profiles to switch between (so you could e.g. have one "disabled" profile, and one "enabled"), and also allows for the third option below. (Before anybody asks: No, I'm not the developer -- I just happened to suggest this feature to him, and he approved it).
A third option, which will soon be available with AutoRun Manager, already is available with Titanium Backup Pro: Freeze the app in question when not needing it, and unfreeze it when you want it. Titanium Backup even offers to create a widget to switch between both states -- but you need one widget per app.

Tasker can also freeze apps in conjunction with Secure Settings plugin

you can execute: pm disable "packagename" to fully hibernate
apply pm enable "packagename" to enable again
Some info & examples (click images to show larger variant):

In case pm disable / pm enable seems not to work on your device, try pm hide / pm unhide instead, which was introduced with Android 5. Some Kitkat devices even used pm block / pm unblock.
Disable vs hide

Ah, thanks! Maybe then it should rather be pm hide, depending on the Android version? AFAIK it should be that since Lollipop, also see here.

Thanks! I just added a little formatting and a hint to the pm hide command, then countered the negative vote someone left. Will cleanup the (now upsolete) comments then.

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


text:
How can I boost the music volume higher than the max limit?
I have a Samsung Galaxy running Android. When I put music to max, it's not loud enough in my ear phone.
How can I boost it beyond the maximum volume? On Linux I can do this with ALSA; is there a way to do it in Android?
Follow up:
All of them are paid media players so FREE is almost unavailable. Using for the moment: Cubed

As far as I know audio amplifying circuits will have a fixed amplifying ratio (gain). By adding resistance (either digitally or using analog POT) on the input (or output?) signal the volume is reduced. Hence in my opinion it can't be done.
Switching over to in ear phone buds like:
instead of:  will provide better noise isolation and there by improve listening experience.  If the music is being played from files stored in the phone, you can edit them to increase volume with audio editing tools like Audacity.

GT-S5660 - i am using. I downloaded some apps speaker boost but its not enough.

I downloaded, Poweramp media player which has extra EQ and effects works great, and two other speaker booster software. Problem resolved. And with your guide i will fire and rock more sound on my ear thanks a lot!!

All the best to your auditory nerves ;-)

@YumYumYum Don't forget that these in-ear buds often have a max output of 80 to 110dB. Since they're in your ear canal, that 110dB is an effective 110dB. Just be warned that you can easily get permanent hearing disorders if you don't watch out with these.


text:
How to change the look of OK and Cancel Buttons
I know I can change the look of some elements using a different launcher,
But how do I change how the OK or Cancel buttons look?

You will need to install a custom theme using the T-Mobile theme chooser (it comes built into CyanogenMod). There is no way to do this in stock without modding your ROM.


text:
Why I can't sync contacts with Twitter/Facebook accounts in Jelly Bean 4.1.1?
With my Samsung Galaxy Nexus I can't sync my contacts (from Google Contacts) with those from Twitter/Facebook.
My accounts are up and running, but when i tap "Sync Now" nothing happens. It says "Last sync on ..." but contacts are not updated.
Am I'm missing something?

Because Google disabled it for marketing reasons (pushing Google+ maybe?)
Technically it's just not in the whitelist in an xml file to allow synchronization
According to niranjanthilak here is his detailed explanation:

Facebook application can sync its contacts with the Contacts ( Through ContactsProvider ) only when its whitelisted ( or, in other words , given an escalated permission set ) in the ROM.
For this , You have to edit the ContactsProvider.apk  and add the whitelisted permission.
For editing the ContactsProvider.apk ( Which resides in the /system/app/ directory) ,You will need smali ( An assembler/disassembler for Android’s dex format ).
After disassembling the ContactsProvider.apk using smali , Go to the res/values/ folder ( in the disassembled source ) , and add the file ( arrays.xml ) containing the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<resources>
    <string-array name="unrestricted_packages">
        <item>com.facebook.katana</item>
    </string-array>
</resources>

The  com.facebook.katana is the application of facebook. So after adding the arrays.xml file to the /res/values/ folder, Assemble the ContactsProvider using the smali into an unsigned apk file.
Now , Since ICS , Android 4.0 , Google has disabled this provision of whitelisting applications natively , hence they have obfuscated certain fields from the database.
Add the column named

is_restricted

to the raw_contacts table inside contacts2.db ( stored in /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/database/ )
- If you have sqlite enabled ( along with busybox ) in your kernel you can use this command for altering the database and adding the necessary field by running it under ADB Shell:

sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.db
 'ALTER TABLE raw_contacts ADD COLUMN is_restricted VARCHAR';

After adding the column, all the facebook accounts added will be provided with Sync Prompt and they will appear under contacts.

Thanks. The only problem ATM is that I'm not root, so this will not work :(


text:
Find lost Samsung Galaxy Ace phone?
3 weeks ago I lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace. I don't have any tracker applications or any "if lost" applications installed. I'm looking for some tracker that doesn't need a sim card, just a locator using gps locator, but I also don't have any IMEI number or even email.
So please help me, is there any way to find my lost Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830?

Do you know anything about your phone?

I'd say after 3 weeks, I know one thing about that phone: The battery is probably empty, so the only thing to detect the device might be a metal detector. Except, of course, somebody found it and charged it. But as there's no SIM card in it, and also no IMEI etc -- maybe the battery is missing as well...

This won't help you now, but Lookout recently added a feature where it will record the geocoordinates of your device if the battery is about to go dead.

If you've set up your Google Account on it, your only hope is probably Plan B.

Plan B is the 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you lose your phone.
  Plan B is your last resort to find your missing phone.
This is the first and only 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you've already lost your phone. Having Lookout on your phone is the best way to protect your phone and find it fast, but use Plan B if you have already lost your phone and didn't have Lookout installed.


text:
Is it possible to list all files on SD card created by a certain application?
I would like to see which files on my SD card a certain application has written. How would I go about doing it?
I don't know how writing files from an application works in Android. But maybe these are possible (in case they are, I would like to know how to do them):

If a file created by a certain application is owned by an "application user". Then listing all files created by that user would be what I'm looking for.
If the above is impossible, listing files created within a date range would be a way, as I know which date I installed the application, and that's the only date when it  wrote files to the SD card.

Your first request (ownership) won't work on SD card, as the file system (VFAT) does not support that. The second approach however should work:
As we are talking about your SD card, you could of course mount it to your PC for easier work. Steps I describe here should work for Linux systems, and probably Macs as well. To execute them directly on your device without the help of a PC, you can use a terminal app (e.g. Android Terminal Emulator).
# for easier handling, create two files with the timestamps between which to search
touch --date "2012-05-21" /tmp/start
touch --date "2012-05-22" /tmp/end
# now execute the find command to find all files (-type f) in the set time frame
find /mnt/sdcard -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end

If you expect a longer list of files, redirect the output of the last command to a file, e.g.:
find /mnt/sdcard -type f -newer /tmp/start -not -newer /tmp/end > /tmp/myfiles.txt

Now you can inspect the generated file.
Of course you can adapt above statements to your needs, e.g. using a different location for the "timestamp files". Once you're done, you can remove those:
rm -f /tmp/start /tmp/end


text:
HTC Wildfire S digitizer replacement
I've just replaced the digitizer of my HTC Wildfire S because the old one was broken. The thing is that since the replacement, the new digitizer has become totally unresponsive. LCD is working fine though.
Just some small questions to rule things out;

Should I try to perform a calibration on the digitizer to make it work? I can't use the screen so I'm planning on making a Gold Card to perform calibration.
(The new digitizer is totally unresponsive. Checked all connections, didn't clean them though but I guess this isn't causing the problem.)

Any other thoughts on what might be causing the problem? Could it be that the digitizer was already faulty at the beginning? Does this happen a lot? Bought one from Amazon.

If its totally un responsive then you need verify once your harware whether its an exact replacement or not as HTC Wildfire S digitizer comes in two variants

With Chip
Without Chip

So match it with old damaged one and if they are same then the hardware will be faulty and you will need one more replacement.

Hi. I've checked the the old digitizer versus the new one and both didn't have an IC.

Finally managed to fix this problem. Seems like performing the calibration with the use of a Goldcard solved it.
I'll leave the link to the instruction here for anyone who may have the same issue.
Please leave a message if you encounter any problems when going through the instructions provided in the link above.

The link may go dead, please collect the instructions and complement your answer with them!


text:
Display additional information on the incoming call screen
I have a HTC wildfire running cyanogenmod and I really want to display the Organization for contacts along side their name and picture on the incoming-call screen.
Does anyone know of any settings/hacks/mods which can accomplish this?

When you searched the Play Store, why won't any of the apps you found do the trick?

I'd rather avoid using a custom dialler if I can.

Hack and recompile CM for your device is the short answer based on your previous comment, in avoiding using a custom dialler!

There is no way to do this without a custom dialler unless you make a custom Cyanogenmod version - and modify the dialler to show this information.


text:
How to listen iTunes podcasts on Android
I found a language learning website. They offer their podcasts for free but only an iTunes link is provided. So iTunes for me, downloaded them all and put in a nice playlist to go through one by one and listen and learn.
I don't own an iPhone but I own an Android phone, a Google Nexus S.
How can I get all these podcasts in a playlist on my phone?
I am on Mac-os-x Lion, I think.

Can't add a new answer. For something more current, try the AntennaPod app.

I've found that Castbox is able to play any podcast that i've ever needed.

@Walf I've unprotected the question, feel free to post an answer with detailed info.

@AKDiscer I've unprotected the question, feel free to post an answer with detailed info.

If you don't want to be shackled to iTunes for downloading/syncing the actual episodes, you can right-click the podcast in iTunes, and select Copy Podcast URL. It will copy the URL to the podcast feed to your clipboard.

Use this URL on your Android device to subscribe to the podcast there.

I've faced the same problem and I found this software:
http://doubletwist.com/
Basically what it does is read you iTunes library and coping what you want to the device your want, it's just great and you can set the configs to you needs.
It has an android client and a PC client.
Hope you will find it useful.

Manual alternative
If you are on a computer and you don't even have iTunes installed, you can find web page of that podcast on iTunes site
example: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tiesto-s-club-life-podcast/id251507798
Then you can view source of the page and locate links to actual files - mp3 or m4a . You can download the files saving either directly to a connected phone or transfer later in bulks.

Viewing source might be overwhelming for most users, why not use Feedflipper or Tunesviewer to get copyable url?

You could always just get an iPhone ;-P
seriously though, I would contact the provider of the podcast. Many times they can make available the RSS feed, which many apps on Google Play can translate into a usable podcast. If they do not provide access this way, then unfortunately you are stuck unless someone engineers a way to access iTunes podcasts.

All podcasts on iTunes Directory have an RSS, that was submitted to iTunes' podcast directory - This means you can subscribe using Tunesviewer and Swallowcatcher on Android, for example.

Another option is iSyncr. It will download your podcasts over USB/WiFi/Mac/PC. I've also added some specific podcast features like bookmark syncing, which work in combination with my other app, Rocket Player, so that you can listen to half a podcast on your computer and the other half while you are on the road.
Just a note from the developer.


text:
Twitter for HTC Sense claims multiple accounts are not supported
I deleted internet data and other data to get more space on my internal memory. Now Twitter for HTC Sense will not work again and keeps telling me "multiple accounts are not supported". I do not have multiple accounts. But I can't get into this app to change anything. What should I do?

You could always clear the data for the app, if the app is simply kicking you out when you open it.
Go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications. Select your app, and click Clear Data. This will wipe all data from the app, as if you had uninstalled it and installed it fresh*.
*To be technical, it isn't the same as uninstalling and reinstalling because the dex files in the Dalvik Cache remain unchanged. Installing a fresh copy would regenerate those files. But it really shouldn't matter for non-developers.

Thanks for answering. I checked the application and it has already been cleared, since then I am having this problem. The widget 'Twitter for HTC Sense' will not open but instead gives this message about multiple accounts. If I try Peep, the app which is also on this smartphone, it says the same thing. But I do not know where to 'unsign' in case of 'multiple accounts'.

I had the same problem. I used friend-stream to get the notification from Twitter and Facebook. After I cleared the data of internet, Peep did not work. But today, I deleted the Peep account in Friend stream, Peep recovered.
I hope this information may help you.

Is friend-stream an app? If yes, please add a link. :)

friend stream is one of the widgets in HTC.

Had the same problem.  Just solved it.

Delete the widget
Go to Settings > Accounts & sync
Delete the "Twitter for HTC Sense" account
Add the widget
Breathe a sigh of relief


text:
2.3.55: How can I edit Bookmarks between my Android phone and Desktop easily under Google account and Chrome?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I get my Chrome-synced bookmarks in an Android device?

I use Android -phone with my Google account. My laptop is configured for the same account. I would like to be able easily configure bookmarks: edit them, remove them, organize them, etc -- how can I do it over my phone and destop? Actually I have also iPad with Google Chrome so how can I edit them easily in one place? I can easily edit bookmarks with Bookmarks -manager SHIFT+CTRL+O in desktop but how easily in Android?
I use Android 2.3.5, not 4.x that has this feature as default.

@roxan thank you for the link, I implicitly assumed that you have bookmarks under your phone and desktop. Now I am trying to edit them, different question. I use ChromeMarks in Android but I am able to change any time.

There is no special method to do so, simply connect all your chrome browser across all you devises with same google account, and make change in any of the device and it should reflects and sync all other devises  and your google account's dashboard->chrome data also.

where is google account's dashboard->chrome?


text:
Gmail mobile website messed up in default internet browser
For a few weeks now the Gmail mobile site is messed up in default internet browser. The scroll doesn't work properly and when you "touch" things it doesn't work "visually" although it quite works. For example, if I click the 4th inbox message, it looks like it clicked the 2nd message instead of the 4th. It's confusing to use. Another example is when I click the Search icon, it disappears when I try to type something.
I tried clearing cache, clear data from Manage applications, hard reboot several times, but it doesn't appear to get fixed. Anyone knows to fix it?

Use the pre-installed app that was installed in your system.
The gmail shown in your Android device is much more different than the one on PC.
I suggest using/updating the GMail APP better than the browser :)

I think the website seems to be very heavy for your smartphone's default web Browser, Why don't you use other third party browsers?
you may try Dolphin Browser or UC Browser they works fine.

I have been using it for more than a year and it only happened now. BTW Dolphin Browser uses the default browser.


text:
Android Bluetooth Profile - AVRCP Version on JellyBean
My Car audio system supports AVRCP v1.3 which, when my iPhone 4 buddies play music over BT, the song title is displayed on the radio... I have just upgraded to JellyBean and find that i am still not having any luck with my android device
Phone Specs

Samsung Galaxy s i9000
Android Version 4.1.1
ROM MIUI-2.10.5 JellyHeff

Wikipedia quotes:
AVRCP has several versions with significantly increasing functionality:

1.0—Basic remote control commands (play/pause/stop, etc.)
1.3—all of 1.0 plus metadata and media-player state support The status of the music source (playing, stopped, etc.) Metadata
information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.).
1.4—all of 1.0, 1.3, plus media browsing capabilities for multiple media player Browsing and manipulation of multiple players Browsing
of media metadata per media player, including a "Now Playing" list
Basic search capabilities

Any Ideas where the problem is?

I don't think that base android supports avrcp beyond version 1.0.  A lot of the community created ROMs have added support for the other levels into their custom systems. However the stock version doesn't have it.

Thanks!... I have tried a few of the custom ROM's but still have not found one that supports later versions... I would love to hear from anyone that has got this working?

I have CM10 on my Galaxy Infuse. Google Play Music transmits song metadata but not Pandora sadly. My car stereo is a Pioneer AVH P2400BT.

See the CM10 changelog where they added AVRCP support, https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_vendor_cyanogen/blob/gingerbread/CHANGELOG.mkdn


text:
Nandroid backup of Emulator instance?
Is it possible to use Nandroid to backup an AVD instance?

should be, but why not just use the built in snapshot system?

An AVD instance can be backed up, found in hidden directory called .android/avd..

Because I would extract the system.img of the Nandroid backup and use it to create other AVD instances based on that backup.
If I use the snapshot function I am not sure I can create new virtual devices with different HW and the same system image.

I've been looking into the .android/avd/ folder, but I didn't actually find any system.img file. Am I missing something?

The system images system.img are located in the android SDK install directory under system-images/android-<platform-version>/<platform-type>.
Once you create the AVD, in the %USERPROFILE%/.android/avd/<AVD_NAME>.avd you will find the img files for /sdcard/ and /data/, but /system and such are loaded from the SDK path mentioned above.
In order to create an AVD you must install the system images from the SDK manager.

Ok, thanks for this clarification.
Anyway I still don't get how I could for example install one application in the emulator, save its current state (the system state, i.e. the system.img file, I guess) and use it to create a new AVD.
With the system.img I could just put it in one of the android-sdk/platforms/android-XX/images folders, and create a new AVD with that platform to have an exact system replication...

you would basically copy the sdcard.img and userdata.img between the instances of the AVD.

Ok, I got where I was wrong. I was trying to backup the system.img file with Nandroid, while I actually needed the userdata-qemu.img file and I can easily grab it in the AVD folder. Thanks for your help.


text:
Where are the inline remote settings in Android?
I recently purchased a set of headphones with iPhone controls. I've never had these work on Android before and was expecting to just get audio out, and lo and behold, I have media controls.
The trouble seems to be, I also have Voice Dialing, which is triggering itself anytime the headphones are plugged in. Any app playing music now also pauses and plays randomly.
I don't know exactly what's going on, but I suspect that there are 2-3 different apps all trying to do something with the headset, and it's causing problems. I don't really need it to work, but I can't find any settings dealing with the inline remote anywhere. I've been digging through the system settings and all of my app settings all day and nothing even mentions these behaviors.
I don't care if I have to recompile the kernel myself; I very much want to edit this behavior. Where do I start looking? Is the headset a hardware button? Is there a flag I can check for with an app's code that can detect when a headset with a remote is plugged in to make it do different things?

Are the headphones made specifically for iPhone?

You don't have the Turntable app installed, do you? I had all kinds of weird randomness with headphones while I had that installed.

Yeah, the headphones are specifically made for iPhone. That's what surprised me; I wasn't expecting them to do anything at all.

There is a spec about headsets and the expected behavior of the button(s) on android.com: https://source.android.com/devices/accessories/headset/expected-behavior

To my experience, headset control behaved randomly. Took me a couple of weeks to figure out why suddenly in my training sessions the music player started (wow! that button on the headset suddenly does something...). Like you, I never found any corresponding system settings.
To get rid of that "random system", I took a look around. As usual with Android, almost everything is triggering (or triggered by) an intent, and a listener reacts on that. If there are multiple listeners, the user will be asked with which app to perform the action -- and can declare that app the standard; which holds until a new app registers or the chosen app gets uninstalled.
That said, I went to the Playstore and took a look around -- and indeed, there are multiple apps around taking care of the button-presses: Single press, double, triple, long-hold, klick-and-hold... I never imagined how much to do with a single button :D Unfortunately for me, I could not yet convince the one app I tried to behave as intended -- except for single click and single hold (i.e. play/stop/take-call and volume-up) -- but that may be due to the combination of headset/phone/app, and I certainly will try to figure this out by evaluating different apps.
To give you a starting point: there's e.g. JAYS Headset Control, which I currently use. Though highly configurable1, see above for my problems (Philips plugs, Motorola device). Then there's also Headset Droid which looks quite promising2, but costs about EUR 2. This seems to support multiple buttons even, from the screenshots.

Then there are Headset Button Controller (also about EUR 2), Philips Headset (free -- the next one I should try with my Philips headset), and a lot more -- just search the playstore for "headsetbutton"...

You can try Headset button controller. This worked for me.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kober.headsetbutton&hl=en
There is a trial version for this too.

That app is my best preference as well, but do you realize the question was asked 4 years ago?? For that reason, you'll need to elaborate on how Headset Button Controller works. Include instructions and screenshots, so your answer will be thorough and professional.


text:
How to see what applications do some actions when I power on my phone?
I believe there's some set of “hooks”, which get executed when I power on the phone. I want to see it to figure out the reason why my phone sometimes doesn't wake up properly (wakes with black screen).

best option is probably to attach to logcat when the device boots.

While the logcat option recommended by Ryan of course is a valid possibility, it is not the most user-friendly solution. I've got a better idea :)
Apps started automatically after boot registered for a certain event, called BOOT_COMPLETED. To do so, they need to request this permission (you find it under "more" on the playstore pages) called "Start after Boot" (or, with its technical name, BOOT_COMPLETED -- what a surprise!). So to figure out which apps could potentially be in here, you can use a permission checker. There are many of them in the Playstore, but I will mention only two of them to get you started:

PermissionDog1
RL Permissions2

Both let you browse your apps by permissions, and even try to indicate "potentially dangerous apps" -- nice side-effect in your case ;)


text:
HTC Desire HD Wifi proxy applicaiton
Is there any working application (root does not matter) for using proxy on HTC Desire HD. ProxyDroid is not working on HTC Desire HD. SSH Tunnel is also not working on it.

Note that Can you suggest an app that does X? questions are off-topic (see [FAQ]). But a simple answer is to search the playstore for "proxy". You might want to take a look at ASProxy and SandroProxy for a start.


text:
Restart data connection when stalled?
Occasionally the data connection of my mobile will stall, i.e. it still looks like it does have a data connection (either "H" or "G"), but no server can be contacted.
(In particular, my ROM being a Cyanogen, the data icon will turn gray, meaning that the Google servers can't be contacted at the moment).
This is usually easily solved by switching mobile data off and on again, which is not a terrible nuisance, except sometime this stalled state goes unnoticed for hours, putting me at risk of losing important communications.

is there an easy way to detect this "stalled connection" state? preferably a way that could be used in Tasker to trigger a disable/enable mobile data cycle?
is there an app to handle these situations? I found many that seem to deal with a similar problem, i.e. when the data connection is completely lost (no "H" or "G" icon), but none that deals with this particular situation.

(This is happening on a rooted HTC Wildfire S with a Cyanogen 9 rom, but my question is not specific to it).

Interesting question, and I just had the same. I only found apps triggering this depending on signal quality; "funny" thing is I had this stalling at full signal, so this doesn't do. But if you'd accept that as a work-around, or something to try (including a Tasker profile), you easily find a long answer via my profile page. Watch my questions for cell standby -- don't worry, I didn't ask to many here :)

Hi Izzy, it was definitely an interesting read and it gave me a few ideas :)

You can periodically check status of real connection using HTTP GET by Tasker. You can restart the Data again by Tasker in case connection is stalled.
But, its down side is that it'll drain battery faster.

I guess I'll try this. Are you suggesting to just send a request to a random server, e.g. Google? I wonder what kind of impact it would have on the battery to check for this, say, every 5 minutes, considering that I'm keeping my mobile data always on with full sync. (Also, it's not that much of an issue given that I always keep it in charge at work).

@UncleZeiv Yes, you can trust Google. If not, do check with multiple hosts. BTW, I don't have idea how much battery juice would a HTTP GET drain (it varies depending on system). Do test it on your device. And, if you always keep your device in charging state, battery draining shouldn't be an issue.

@UncleZeiv I'd guess if you're either at full sync it shouldn't make too much difference -- especially if your device is always on the charger. If that works out, consider posting that Tasker profile as an answer -- there are certainly more interested people who could also run it with different settings (e.g. checking all 15min only) if not continually charging :) You could even have two profiles with the same task but different interval, one with "any power connected" and one with the same but inverted, if concerned about battery drain.

Take a look at apps like Connection Checker or Connection State Notifier
YMMV, it seems to work well for some people whereas not so much for others.

Hi Sparx, these seem to address a slightly different problem, that is completely losing data connection or changing connection type. In my case, I stay connected, but any Internet request fails. Plus, Connection Checker tries to solve the problem by entering and exiting airplane mode, which is a bit too drastic for me (it requires re-entering the pin number!) given that just switching mobile data on and off suffices.

I think they work on the same principle suggested by Sachin - pinging a server of choice; if no response, then the data connection is cycled. So even if you have a data connection (shown as connected), but it can't reach the server, it ought to cycle the connection. The notifier at least should help by at least letting you know that there is a connectivity problem, so tapping a widget to turn off / turn on data (loads available) should be an easy thing to do.


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How can I force MMS messages to retry?
I used to have this problem with my Nexus One on T-Mobile, and now have it again on my Samsung Galaxy SII on Sprint. It seems like about every other MMS message I get will fail to download. It'll just sit in that "downloading" state forever. (Note: it is not actually a pattern of every other time.) I have the stock Android messaging app that comes with the phone.
I have found dozens of threads about this out there on various Android forums, but all of them seem to be pre-ICS and so I don't have the settings the solutions refer to. The solutions all seem to be really esoteric, too.
If I can make it stop getting "stuck" that's great, but I figure the easier question is as posted: once it gets in that stuck state, how can I force it to restart the download? That'd be enough to fix the issue for me.

Got to the bottom of this. If your data connection isn't on when someone sends you an MMS, the download has a tendency to hang. If you shut off the connection to save battery or have any app that does this (like Juice Defender), this will happen to you a lot. Go into the MMS app's settings and turn off the "auto retrieve" option for MMS and you should be right as rain.

Is there a way to force Android to go back and re-try downloading those missed messages?  I know I missed one last night because I sent it as a test from my friend's phone.


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My Samsung Galaxy Nexus won't turn on
My phone is 8 months old, and since I got it, I've had it suddenly die on me twice, but both times it came back to life within 2/3 days. After the second time it happened, I tried to bring it into samsung to get it checked, but they told me because my screen had a crack, they weren't able to honour my warranty anymore. Hence, I'm in this sticky situation where I still have 2 years and 2 months of my contract left before I can even consider getting a new phone.
This time, the phone has been dead for over a week.
I tried these commonly advised tips:

removing the battery, leaving it out for periods of 5 mins to even a day or two
holding the off button for 30 seconds
holding the off + volume (down) button
holding the off + volume (up) buttons
options 3 and 4 in various successions

And nothing works! Please help! Any suggestions or advice at all would be great!

Why not going to the vendor and declare it for a warranty repair? Should still be under warranty. Best do that when it just died, so you won't have too much to argue.

Paid repair should be the choice here.


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Update the Korean Galaxy S
I use a Korean version of Galaxy S (SHW - M110s) phone which runs on android 2.3.6., I want to update it to ICS or JB.
I have rooted the phone with major sufferings and flashed with Nakyup ROM. XDA dev people strongly advised me not to update the phone and that may cause a phone brick. But yet I have seen some videos of people in youtube has installed ICS on SHW M110s and they are reluctant to reply my queries.
I understand the hardware architecture may difference for mine and the international Galaxy S. If anybody is there to help me in order to update my phone ? Anyone done it before ?

ICS or Jelly Bean cannot work on this particular phone due to hardware limitations, and many ROMS like CyanogenMod etc. are designed for the international version, not the korean version, thus you will have some problems.
My recommendation to you is to use KIES to go back to the latest Samsung released Gingerbread, root, then use a custom kernel (Tegrak is my personal choice) to get a lagfix. It will hopefully breathe new life into your phone. Hope this helps.
Also note there're many apps for Gingerbread that give you the feel and performance of ICS, such as Gallery ICS, Camera ICS, and ICS Launcher. Aside from being unable to run Chrome, you may not notice any difference.


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Youmail visual voicemail in a foreign country?
Youmail is one of my favorite apps to get voicemail to download onto my phone. However, I am now in Israel for the year, but I would still like to be able to use it.
The way it seems to work right now, is it changes the forwarding number and the number to retrieve voicemails from. This makes it difficult to use in a foreign country because the country codes are required, and they vary based on phone service.
Is there a way to get youmail to work even in a foreign country?

No, this isn't feasable.
I take it you now have an Israel cell phone now, and you are trying to get Youmail on that. Youmail is a U.S. based service, so even if you got forwarding to work for voicemail, it would eat up into your balance like nothing else. It would be the same as you calling the U.S. based number every time someone left a voicemail; I'm sure Israel to U.S. calls are not free.
However, if your U.S. friends still call your old U.S. cell phone, those will still get directed to youmail (assuming the cell phone account is still active). You would simply check the messages via the internet.

If that is the case, do you know of any other similar voice mail services that work internationally?


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Programming devices in Android
I wanted to know that if all the devices that support Android OS can be manually reprogrammed or do they allow to make own apps and load in them, just in case I want to program an app for myself, or it's restricted to specific devices. How shall I know?
Update: For example, I want to program a personal app to prepare notes in handwritten mode using a stylus and integrate other mathematical instruments in it.  Expecting features like adding space in case I want to add notes somewhere at later point of time or completely erase some specific portion of page.

How to develop for Android is beyond the scope of this site. There are whole sites devoted to the topic, however, including an official one.

my question is not on how to develop...I just wanted to know if the all android based devices allow it or not...I don't want to buy a tablet that I can't program !

Since Android is an open-source OS that anyone can use, I suppose someone could throw together a cheap tablet that wouldn't allow adding apps to it. That really defeats one of the main selling points, though. If you stay even close to the mainstream you should be fine. Your question is still not a good fit for this site.

The question is from developer's point of view. So, its off-topic. Voting to close...

closing questions helps how ? They stay in list and responded to after a long period of time. They solve someone's problem and they don't crash website....

You can create an application for any device that runs the Android OS, this is not restricted to specific device manufacturers.
Restrictions in the execution are caused mainly because of the version of the Android OS that runs on the device (the differtent API's) or the difference in hardware capabilities between devices.
If you are planning to make an application you should by all means have some programming experience. With the use of some very helpful software development tools you could create personal application like suggested. Be sure to check out the documentation provided on Androids official website  to get a solid introduction on this topic.

thanks for this sound suggestion, but I am a software engineer by profession, I have programmed for hardware and other platforms but yet not on android and mobile platform. I just want to make sure if it can be done, then I can go ahead with buying a tablet for myself.

Allright, no problem then. The tools included in the SDK that has been made available make it easy to install and run your application on the device each time you compile. You can install your application on the device directly from any IDE like Eclipse.

While any Android device can be programmed, there are some caveats you should be aware of.
First, what features are available to you as a developer depend very much on what version of Android is installed on your tablet. Very importantly, a tablet that is running a version of Android below 3.0 Honeycomb (or ideally 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich) will not have any of Android's tablet-specific features accessible to it.
Second, an app you develop will not necessarily run on all Android devices (or even all Android tablets). Obviously tablets that run a version of Android lower than what you have targeted with your app won't run it (though there are ways to make such apps run with some features missing). But also, Android device manufacturers often add a layer on top of Android (for example, Samsung adds a layer called TouchWiz and HTC adds Sense). If your app uses any of these added features, it won't run on devices that don't have it.
Lastly, I don't know where you are, but in India, where I live, there are a ton of cheap unlicensed Android tablets. If you buy one of these, all bets are off, since these manufacturers have not committed to rigourously testing their devices for full compatibility, which is one of the conditions required to be an Android licensee. In general, stuff will probably work on these tablets (provided the above criteria are met), but you can't count on it. Since these tablets don't have access to the Google Play store, so you're going to have to sideload any apps you install on them.
Despite these exceptions, the majority of applications will run flawlessly on most Android devices. The Android development tools are pretty good at warning you about API incompatibilities and it's pretty difficult to accidentally use a device/manufacturer specific API.


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Calling causes freeze
I own a Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100, currently running Android 4.0.3 XWLP7, rooted. My problems however started even before rooting the phone.
The problem is that whenever I try to call someone, there is about a 20% chance that the phone will freeze, sometimes for over a minute(!), without performing any action. I can hide the Phone application by pressing the home button, but the app itself is frozen and unresponsive. After some time passes, the call is made, even if I've hidden the Phone app by pressing the home button.
All other apps seem to work without any issues. The phone is otherwise completely usable and no other defects can be observed.
A while ago after googling, I found a thread on xda-developers that recommended clearing the data of "Call settings" from Settings -> Applications -> All. At the time I believed this to solve my problem, but the problem reappeared pretty soon, and I do not believe it to be relevant at all now.
I have tried restoring my phone to factory state, including deleting everything from the phone storage and reinstalling the OS, without any effect on the issue.
Is this a known issue, and if so, are there any remedies?

Have you installed any call recording software?

No, I haven't installed any app that should have anything to do with that.

Try upgrading to ICS 4.0.4, the previous version 4.0.3 was known to be a little bit troublesome.

Why do you not try using another ROM? I have had that issues with some ROMs earlier and usually it was just due to a faulty calling app. Another good idea would be to try a different app to replace the dialer. Eg. Dialer+ or Contacts+

@AdityaSomani That's what I ended doing - re-flashing and it worked. I have not answered the question, though, since I think it's not really an answer...

@K.Steff I agree. That is not a solution per se to the problem. I hope we can find a solution to the same in case something like this happens again. Did you try replacing the Dialer? Did that help?

@AdityaSomani Yes, it worked OK with alternative dialers, though I was too fond of the default one, so I replaced the ROM.

Have same problem reset to factory, but no go...
Strangely I didn't have this issue until recently and don't have any special apps installed, as I said I just reset to factory. I have a Galaxy Beam, which for the most part is identical with the S2 just that it has a projector embedded

Do you have a screen protector or is the light sensor dirty or obstructed? This is how i fixed mine!!! My phone did the same thing. Screen would go black when making or receiving calls. Audio still worked but the phone was inoperable in every other way during this malfunction. i realized those little sensors were dirty and partially blocked, after cleaning the obstruction the phone was PERFECT!

While sensors (not sure about light sensors, but usually proximity sensors) may turn off the screen to prevent accidental touch, the symptoms described in the question look different. unless "freezing" = "screen turned off".


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How can I get the look and feel of Sony's Android on my HTC
The same Android version often looks different on phones from different manufacturers.
For instance, Android GingerBread that runs on my HTC Explorer looks like this:

The same Android on the Sony Xperia U looks quite different, as seen here:

Is there any way I can get the look and feel of Sony's version of Android on my HTC? Any skin pack/transformation pack/hack/firmware replacement that might enable this?
(In a general sense, how can I customize the look and feel of my Android device to look more like that of another manufacturer?)

To change the home screens, you need to install a new Launcher application - search the Play Store for Launcher and see what is available.

Being new to Android, I didn't know that the transformation packs were referred to as "Launchers". Based on your pointer, I found this, the Xperia inspired theme for GO Launcher EX, as well as standalone Xperia S Launchers here. Thanks!

You can change the appareance of your device using the GO Launcher EX applicationn that's available in the Play store.
If you are looking for the intergration of (new/old) features on your device your best bet might be installing a different ROM. A ROM is like a modified version of Android. It requires your device to be rooted though.
There aren't many ROM databases on the net but the unlocker provides you the tool to select a ROM based on your device manufacturer.

There are many Home Launchers in Play Store. Go Launcher is the crapiest one...

@Kiwi1 - Thanks! GO Launcher EX was exactly the kind of app I was looking for, that can transform the way my OS looks. Plus, I found the Xperia theme for it!


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Unable to view emails in folders other than inbox
I am using Hotmail app developed by "Microsoft + Seven" to read emails. I have many folders other than inbox to segregate my emails. There are rules set in web version of Hotmail, that moves the incoming emails to respective folders. These rules are working fine and I observe all my moved emails correctly in web version.
However, my Android client notifies me and displays only about the new emails in my Inbox. I had selected those other folders in the app to download email:

But still, I neither do not get any notifications on these folders nor any email when I open the folder in the client. When I open the folder I get "No messages" message in the screen, through there are messages. When I press "Check email" option in the context menu while I am viewing the folder, a toast message "Check email request sent" is displayed and goes off with no emails shown.
Though I am not worried about the notification about the new emails in the folders other than inbox, I do want to read them in the client. Presently. I am doing this by opening web version in a browser.
I have seen the following questions which are close but not to be considered as duplicate.

How can I sync all folders from an Exchange server (not just the
Inbox)? I am not using an exchange server. I am using Hotmail POP or IMap servers.
How can I get push notifications for emails in
sub-folders? This talks about Gmail and my Gmail client is working perfectly fine. But in Gmail, there are no folders only labels.
Can I get a notification when an email arrives in
a sub folder? I am not much worried about notification. But as said in @Zuul's explanation regarding Hotmail, all done; no fun.

I haven't tried other email apps including stock app in Android 2.3.3 LG V20G P500.


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Get original xperia play content back on device after removing it
I've rooted my phone a while ago, deleted random apps I didn't really need that were pre installed. But now there's a potential buyer so I'd like to restore to the way it was the second I've brought it from the shop. Default factory reset didn't help as I've deleted games and stuff. So, is there a way to get everything back?

I'm assuming you didn't make a backup immediately after you rooted? If no, then you need to find an original image for the device and flash it using clockworkmod recovery

You can use their official update software, it has been called "PC Companion" the last time I used it:

Boot your phone to flashmode (See also  How do I turn on flashmode in Sony Ericsson Ray?)
Update/restore it with PC Companion

This is mostly for modding, so it won't be that useful to you:
You can also flash a .ftf file of your choice (official or a custom mod) with FlashTool, note however that you need to unlock the bootloader before your phone will boot a mod with an unoriginal kernel. I have however no idea where to find an original firmware image for your Xperia Play/R800i, you might need to google for that yourself.


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Why does accepting Calendar invites open a browser? Can I prevent it?
I'm on an unrooted Galaxy Nexus, and using stock Gmail and Calendar apps on Android 4.1.1. But I am using Chrome rather than the stock browser.
When I get a invite from a Gmail user to my Gmail account, it appears with "Yes/Maybe/No" option links and an invite.ics attachment (which doesn't do anything: "No app can open this attachment for viewing").

Clicking one of "Yes/Maybe/No", whether I have already done so or not,  opens Chrome with a warning "You are trying to use the desktop version of Google Calendar from a mobile browser [...] use the mobile version instead?"

If I click "OK" I get the mobile browser version of Calendar, but it's a view of today's appointments. There is no mention of the event I've responded to or any confirmation message about my response having been registered.
If I click "Cancel" I get the desktop version of Calendar showing the details of the appointment and a messaging confirming the response I have sent.

In either case, the event is in my calendar; the invite remains in my inbox.

I guess the core of my question is whether I can prevent the browser opening at all - surely the mechanics of accepting invites should be performed in the Calendar app and thus work offline?
Note that this question is about invites from Google Calendar and not about handling .ics files in general.

There is very little you can do! The calendar application is wired up to trigger a open intent to the web browser to accept the invites, its written up in the package's manifest.
<activity android:name="GoogleCalendarUriIntentFilter" android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoDisplay"
    android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden">

    <intent-filter
       android:priority="50">
       <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
       <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
       <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
       <data android:scheme="http" android:host="www.google.com" android:pathPrefix="/calendar/event" />
       <data android:scheme="https" android:host="www.google.com" android:pathPrefix="/calendar/event" />
       <data android:scheme="http" android:host="www.google.com" android:pathPattern="/calendar/hosted/.*/event" />
       <data android:scheme="https" android:host="www.google.com" android:pathPattern="/calendar/hosted/.*/event" />
    </intent-filter>
</activity>

Source: packages/apps/Calendar/src/com/android/calendar/GoogleCalendarUriIntentFilter.java

I had the same problem and I did the following: on the mobile devices Settings/Apps/Calendar. Clear Cache and Data. Relaunch Calendar and now when I tap Yes/Maybe/Now Gmail sends the reply automatically, without redirecting me to the mobile browser. Hope this helps.

Just tried this on 5.1 (CM12.1) and it works perfectly.

If you go to Setting\Apps\Chrome and scroll down to "Launch by default" and hit "Clear defaults" it will stop automatically opening in Chrome and will ask you which app to open it with when you hit "Yes/Maybe/No". However, if you try to open with Calendar it still goes to the browser with the same issue.
One workaround I have found - there is an app called Invitation Plugin. It allows you to open the invite.ics from Gmail and view the event directly in Calendar.
It's a work around for a problem that didn't exist in Ice Cream Sandwich but now does exist in Jelly Bean and really shouldn't exist at all but at least it's a simple and effective work around.


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No root permission after installation of ClockworkModRecovery kernel
My smartphone is the Samsung Galaxy Ace 5380 running Android 2.3.6 and I want to flush it with the CyanogenMod 7.2
I'm performing the steps from this guide: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Ace:_Full_Update_Guide
I have done the "Installing the ClockworkMod Recovery" steps and performed a backup of my current ROM. Now I want to run a backup with Titanium but it says that I have no root permissions.
I thought the ClockworkMod Recovery kernel brings the root permission, because it sounds so by the guide mentioned above.
Is there any other thing I have to do now to activate the root permission or must I root my phone additionally with some other guide? If so, I read that after the root-procedure I have to "wipe data factory reset" and that would delete the things I want to update, but for the update itself, I need root permissions.

The root permission exists inside the recovery, but not in the normal system, you need to root it in there,  TL;DR - there's two partitions recovery and system, you booted into the CWM residing on recovery which is rooted, but not system.

ah that makes sense. I just read that the CyanogenMod brings the root-permission at runtime (system) with the installation of the CyanogenMod. So rooting the phone means always flash everything, and I could only save the apps, that I installed AFTER the rooting right?

not necessarily always flash everything, see this: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/18489/how-can-i-root-my-samsung-galaxy-ace

thx! that helped me :) Now I'm running CyanogenMod on my device.

@t0mm13b maybe you sum up your comments and make them an answer? They are worth at least a +1 :)

The root permission exists inside the recovery, but not in the normal system, you need to root it in there.
There is usually, two partitions recovery and system, as the OP indicated, was booted into the CWM Recovery which resides on recovery hence is rooted, but not the normal Android system.

interesting, could you please explain how to enter CWM in recovery mode? I've installed CWM with heimdall, boot in recovery mode and install superuser on my device from the cwm interface. but when I boot the phone, I'm not root.


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ghost key and unpressable keys issue on android HTC desire Z
On my screen the area where the letters "w e r" and "a s d" seems to press itself on its own, to a point most of my apps are inaccessible. If I have to write a text message or dial a number, I have to be really creative to achieve that desired goal. Also, the letters "e" and "d" are not pressable, as in when I press them, I get any of the letters surrounding it but not that specific one.
I cleaned my screen, recalibrated my screen, and reconfigured my keyboard, and have tried to google the issue. Are there any fixes or workarounds?

Sounds like a hardware fault with the touchscreen capacitor in not "understanding" the touches and end result of "ghost key" - Was it dropped or exposed to water at some stage?

Not really water, but once or twice it was held up in the rain, but i usually wipe it up as fast as I can

As per the OP's comment above, well, once or twice, meaning, yes it was exposed to water!
Rain is water. Could have gone in between the bezel of the handset or moisture residue got built up.
Get it checked out hardware wise... would not be surprised if the moisture build up is interfering with the touchscreen's recognition of touch.


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Android Media Process detected above threshold
I'm sure a lot of us stumble upon following issue: > android media process detected above threshold.
I've spend a lot of time reading Google and various different forums and yet I still have no solution. I outlined some of the things that I've done on my blog Android Media Process (high CPU) | alexus' blog, i.e.:

Settings -> Apps -> ALL -> Media Storage -> “Force stop” & “Clear data”.
Gallery (deleting broken images (black/grey image place holder/square).

yet still nothing( I even did following:
~ # e2fsck /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12: clean, 82292/1875968 files, 3972208/7493115 blocks
~ #

so seems like my "sdcard" is in good state yet as soon as I start my Android phone it takes about ~10min and ~10%-30% of my battery to complete this cycle of whatever is it doing after booting my phone(.
just in case if anyone cares I'm using Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro/Verizon) w/ Google Jelly Bean (4.1.1).


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Why is the com.android.browser process draining my battery?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note with stock 4.0.4 ROM. The battery drains very fast and the phone is often warm. Reboot doesn't help. Settings says that com.android.browser (Internet) uses most of the battery. I never use default browser, I only use Chrome.
I suspect that some background process it creating a heavy load and using the internet connection. I think browser is used by other applications, but I'm not able to figure out which application is related. I suspect maybe ad supported applications are the root of the problem.
Is there any solution or app to figure out the origin of the problem?

Have you tried switching to the default browser instead of Chrome? Is there a newer version of Chrome for ICS?

As I wrote, I have no problem with Chrome. The main energy consumer is the default android browser.

I also saw this on an S4 mini with essentially no sync options enabled. It does seem to get stuck in something. Some posts advice clearing the cache and closing tabs. I'm not sure if that helps.

The root of the problem is Internet sync related. The system is not able to sync internet settings.
http://blog.abrah.am/2011/12/sync-is-currently-experiencing-problems.html

While I can't speculate as to the exact reason, you may find the app Better Battery Stats useful in working out where the battery drain is coming from.
The app is able to define kernel wakelocks, partial wakelocks and cpu states etc. Very useful in helping myself pinpointing problematic applications and extending battery life.
The app can be installed as a .apk provided for free by the developer over at xda-dev or supporting the author by purchasing the paid app from the Play store