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Impact of overclocking Cpu on battery life
I want to know if overclocking the cpu will reduce the battery life.I know overclocking drains battery but will it affect the device battery in harmful way?

Heat is the number 1 enemy of phone/tablet batteries. Overclocking will increase the temperature and the strain on the battery and degrade its life faster. How much I don't know as it depends on way too many variables. See this for more also: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3061/what-are-the-risks-to-overclocking-my-cpu?rq=1

Overclocking shouldn't actually damage your battery but it will make it drain quicker and as a side effect of that have a shorter overall life. Overvolting (giving the CPU more volts) could however damage your battery (overvolting can be common practise when applying a generous overclock) but of course this all depends on what device you're on and what processor it has in, some  processors that are understood by devs better can be overclocked more safely.


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How do I install CalenderProvider.apk and Calendar.apk in a Froyo emulator?
I'm trying to code something using the calendar-functionality. As there is no support in the emulator, I tried to install the missing apks for CalenderProvider and Calendar. I found a tutorial, but that doesn't work as expected. As I need to code for Froyo the tutorial sounded perfect, but the installation of the files in the linked ZIP-file looks like this:
G:\>"C:\Program Files\Android\platform-tools\adb.exe" install CalendarProvider.apk
367 KB/s (331864 bytes in 0.882s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/CalendarProvider.apk
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE]

G:\>"C:\Program Files\Android\platform-tools\adb.exe" install Calendar.apk
764 KB/s (243369 bytes in 0.311s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/Calendar.apk
Success

G:\>

Regarding INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE I learned that it has got to do something with the ROM. As I don't have anything else I'm lost here.
Can anyone please help me to circumvent that error message or can provide a working combo for the two apks for Froyo?

There is all you need in the emulator... Why there wouldn't be a calendar app ? Beware of the API version you use and the API you run... I never launched a froyo emulator, but there was a calendar in gingerbread.

@Shywim All I can say is that there is no calendar app in the emulator. I'm not too familiar with all the details, but that's my situation.

I don't know where you've picked those files from, but as Shywim already pointed out, they must match your platform. If they are taken from GApps, they must be from their Froyo archive in your case.

@sjngm: Did you set the emulator's target to Google's API? If not, maybe it will solve your problem (just a guess, but since CalendarProvider is in gapps packages...)

@Shywim I only have "Android 2.2 - API Level 8" in the list. So I guess you want me to install the "Google APIs" from the SDK Manager?

@sjngm: Yes, that's it :)

@Shywim OK, after installing it I created a new AVD and was able to install the two packages successfully. Thanks.

@sjngm: I'll put it as an anwser so you can mark your question as solved :)

Make sure you downloaded the Google APIs corresponding to your API level in the SDK Manager and that you set your AVD's target on Google APIs. This version of the API is needed for the CalendarProvider (for sync functions with Google I imagine).

No, synchronisation is somewhere else. It doesn't work out of the box. There's a blog and a download page. Now I have a problem with read-only file system.

source: Stack Exchange

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

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How the name of a song can be displayed when listening to local FM channel in MyRadio?
In MyRadio app, when I listen to local FM channel the name of the song playing is displayed near the channel name. How do they do it? Does the broadcaster do some effort to display it?

The broadcast channel is surely using Radio Data System (RDS), also called Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) in the United States. It is now common practice (at least in my country) to transmit informations like Channel's name, programme's name or song's name with this system.
Your app simply receives and parses these data to display it, like a compatible radio set or car's radio would do.

@user51810 Shywim has put time and effort into answering your question here so that everyone can benefit. It's not polite to go pestering Shywim or anyone else to have things explained to you off-site, where it won't help anyone else, unless you're willing to pay whatever fee they ask for private consultancy.

One imagines they have built in something like Shazam; an app which fingerprints audio then looks it up in a database (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57617885-93/more-countries-can-shazam-songs-and-listen-on-rdio). I doubt the broadcaster has anything to do with it.

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


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loosing data after automatic shutdown due to critical battery!
Recently I have been suffering from various battery issues ranging from fast battery drains to unexpected shutdowns at safe battery levels. But most striking is the fact that I lost all system data (like system app data, WiFi Access points, etc) after my most recent shutdown!
The strangest thing is that i have not lost any data of any non-system apps!
I guess my question would be:
Can a shutdown due to critical battery cause my to lose only system data? If yes, how did it happen and how can i prevent it?
The Shutdown:
The shutdown involves a short flickering of the screen (in a rare case it also made a soft high pitch sound with a very soft pop) followed by the screen going completely black! All happening within a fraction of a second right in the middle of an app without any warning or prompt making it less like a typical shutdown and more like a crash!
Also worth mentioning:

After the phone freezes sometimes, I force a restart and after powering up the battery would have dropped up to 30% (that makes a 30% battery drop in under 2 minutes!)
The frequency of these shutdowns increased after using a battery hogging app (EveryCircuit)
I have 2 Samsung Galaxy SII batteries which I occasionally exchange
I once kept my phone for charging at 3% but instead it discharged to 0% before the charge began to climb
(Edit) I have not overclocked or over-volted any hardware manually, but I have for a short amount of time under-volted the 200MHZ power state as an attempt to save battery (but I cant say whether the ROM itself has done any Over/Under-Clocking/Volting)

Things are starting to get hilarious with my phone! Any insight is appreciated!
Specs:

I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy SII (18 months old)
Running Kitkat ROM (CyanogenMod 11)

Similar symptoms addressed here

The two obvious things are the battery needs replacing. Have you overvolted anything, that could do it. Also CyanogenMod 11 on Samsung phones is not a great combination. They are rought, nightly builds and they are not suitable as a daily driver. I seem to be spending a lot of time telling people to  ditch it for now until it is stable. It's a great ROM but it is buggy, laggy, missing features and error prone on Samsung devices still. The lack of Samsung KK kernels just makes it worse. New ROM, new battery I think.

Great advice! And no i haven't overvolted or overclocked anything personally (as for the ROM itself over-volting hardware, I can't say... I edited the question for more information). Please recommend an alternative ROM for samsung devices. (Clarification: Do you mean that it is best i get a jellybean ROM rather than KitKat Rom for now?)

Well, it depends really on what you want. KitKat is still releatively new and there are know issues (kernel issues, random reboots and certain functionality not working.) From my experience there are good KK roms, but the 4.3 are more stable as they've had more time to work on them, and full kernel source code. I'm afraid I don't have an S2 so I don't know what ROMs are good, but check out XDA and try a couple of them and see what suits. CyanogenMod and Samsung don't seem to work that well together until the 'stable' builds come out months and months later.


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Is there are way using GDrive or Photos resizing pictures before sync/upload?
I'm synchronising all my cam photos to my google drive.
I'm using the photo app on android to upload pictures. There is just one thing that I don't like: I have no option to resize these pictures before the upload. So I have some 2mb pictures and I would like to resize/optimize them before uploading. Cannot find any options, tried also the google drive app, but still the same problem.
I know there are apps to resize pictures, but it´s still annoying to resize every time manually before you sync. I thought there are some options to do that automatically? Funny because some days ago I tested the MS SkyDrive App for Android and there is an option to optimize the pictures. You cannot choose what size you want, but the app resizing all of your pictures that are there for upload pretty well. That´s awesome. Why no such an option for google drive? Any suggestions?
Thank you

Why not just change the camera settings to take the pictures at lower quality or with a smaller size to start with?

@DanHulme lowering the megapixel and jpg quality on my cam, is giving me much smaller pictures. That is true, but somehow these pictures are looking really bad. BUT making a pictures with high megapixel and max quality and optimizing them after that with some software to a much smaller size = pictures still looks very good. Dont know why, but this is how it is :(


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22MB backup on new nexus 5 - too small?
Trying for the first time to root my device, using a Nexus 5 that I just got yesterday.
I'm naturally trying to back things up before doing anything that can wipe memory, but the size of the .ab files that backup programs (Nexus Root Toolkit, Holo Backup etc.) produce without root access are around the ~22MB area.
I've googled around and the consensus seems to be that it's far too small - BUT, I've only just got the device, and thrown a handful of apps (Twitter, 8SMS, etc.) onto it, no music or anything. Has this backup been performed correctly?
Also - when unlocking the bootloader and rooting the device, do I need to put the stock ROM back onto it, or does it remain there naturally?
Apologies if that last part was a bit oblivious but the places I've looked haven't been exactly clear, seeing as most of them go for custom ROMs.
Thank you in advance!

Why would you root a nexus? It is stock android at its best

To use apps that require root access (such as Greenify or Titanium Backup) and to use non-Google app depositories. :) edit: I'm just after root access - I don't want to put a custom ROM (eg CyanogenMod) on there. Just to clarify.

You're correct, I'm using tools (Nexus Root Toolkit and Holo Backup) to produce the .ab files - I'm specifying to backup "all without system apps" as both apps warn backing up system apps is "unsafe", as from what I understand adb backup is sketchy at best. I haven't been too attached to backing up system apps as Google makes the Nexus stock ROMs available on their dev site.

You might want to take a look at this answer which should allow you to see what has been backed up. Did you ask it to backup the apks or just data? If it's just data I wouldn't be too surprised at the size.

I'd love to, but I'm on Australian regional internet and downloading the SDK (which you apparently have to do to install Droid Explorer) is something I've been trying to avoid. I might have to do it overnight.

I attempted the 'backup apps' function in Holo and the request didn't reach my phone. I'm beginning to think that 'backup all' is the only function in the toolkit that works without root access, and I might just have to take it.
After I've unlocked the bootloader and acquired root access, do I have to upload the stock ROM .img again, or would it be fine to operate as-is?

ADB backup archives are a "all or nothing" solution when it comes to restore – which is what the "unsafe warning" is about. Considering your circumstances, here are a few points to consider:

do one "full backup" excluding your system apps cannot hurt, so you could restore that as-is. Note, hoever, that this most likely also excludes data of system apps, which might include APNs, contacts, calendars, etc.
use e.g. Helium Backup (no root required) to create ADB compatible backups of all your apps separately, so you can restore them separately. This can of course also be done on the command line (specifying the package names), but this app makes it much more comfortable.
Create a full ADB backup nevertheless, including everything (except -shared, as data from your (internal) SDCard can be copied on file-level using any file manager). Though you probably might not wish to directly restore it, you might still have use for it

Considering you're after rooting in the first place, here's the background for my recommendations:

If you succeed rooting your device, and have no side effects, all the above backups just gave you a "good feeling", and you have no current need for them. But hey, it didn't hurt; could well be one of the following things happened:
If you succeeded rooting, but had to factory-reset the device due to some side-effects, you could either use Helium (or adb restore) to restore selected apps from their separate archives, or use adb restore to restore all of your user-space-apps in one run. But you could also use Titanium Backup to extract selected apps/data from the complete backup, and also restore some system data that way.
If rooting failed, and you have to factory-reset your device, you at least can restore your user-space-apps and their data from that archive, or chose to only restore selected apps as described above.

As for the size of 22 MB: That could be fine, or could be too small – depending on what apps you've installed, and how much data they have; there are no absolutes for "user-apps-only" backups (except of course for 0 byte files when you have at least 1 app installed).

I'll give Helium a stab and back things up one by one. I'm guessing that if it all goes to hell, a factory reset will render it just like I got it in the mail two days ago? There's no real point for me in backing it up if that's the case, but I'd like to do it so I know how to do it next time. :)

No, it won't. Rooting changes the /system partition, which is unaffected by a factory-reset.


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how to add a custom lock for the recovery and/or bootloader?
Unlocking the bootloader and/or the recovery is very popular discussion across many devices. But doing so exposes a very obvious and inevitable issue with security!
An unlocked recovery means that no matter how secure you make your android lock screen, someone can easily reset phone to restore the phone to a fully functional (and lockless/insecure) state and the worst part, they don't have to erase your data(meaning they can access all your personal files and folders)!
It is almost hilarious! In fact if the phone supports insertion of external SD cards, you can even flash your own software into the phone and maybe bypass the lock screen without wiping any data.
For example: One possible loophole is using the 'Tasker' app which has a feature that can temporarily disable the keyguard. And the best part is that Tasker can be flashed using the recovery!
So is there any method by which I could add a security measure that prevents complete access to my recovery and/or boot loader that will make my phone less insecure?!
Expected answer:
Method by which a custom pin/password must be entered before entering the bootloader/recovery. So that my bootloader/recovery is still technically unlocked but simply requires authentication to use (this also ensures that conventional unlocking methods won't work as the phone is not really locked!). This also means that one does not have to lose root access to ensure security!

Don't root the device. Get a device with a secure bootloader e.g. Samsung devices with KNOX bootloader... But really the only way to ensure it happens, keep your phone locked up safe (obviously not a real option). To be honest I see a lot of stolen phones on sale around the city and they were NOT rooted and still were able to factory reset, there's always tools like JTags etc out there, and websites to help you do these very things, bootloader locked or not. Even if it is locked I can get into download mode and flash a new ROM on any Samsung device.

I was hoping for a solution that didn't involve losing root. JTags are an inevitable security issue but are at least expensive and less obvious than the gaping wide loophole that could be potentially be avoided (as described in the expected answer)...There must be a way security could be improved on a rooted android device!

I do understand what you are looking for, I just can't think of any way of doing it that someone couldn't bypass in aobut 5 minutes. I've had to do it for friends who completely locked themselves out of a device. In the case of a Friends S4 just boot into download mode (rooted or not) and just flash whatever ROM in ODIN, factory reset, all security removed immediately. The entire thing took about 15 minutes. KNOX itself will only flag that it has been tripped, but that's no good if your device is stolen! I never had to go near the bootloader etc as I just flashed a ROM with that reomoved.

Can ODIN be ruled out if I set USB Debugging to false? And could you clarify what you mean by: "I never had to go near the bootloader etc as I just flashed a ROM with that removed"

Sorry! Not possible! You'd have to obliterate the bootloader code on the SoC to come up with custom version that will ask for PIN of some sort, prior to starting up before ever hitting on recovery.

Even if it would be doable, consider a few things making it extremely unlikely:

in that early stage, the touchscreen is not yet initialized – so how would you input your PIN/password/pattern to unlock the bootloader before firing up the custom recovery?
another risk introduced this way: if you break your display, you are effectively knocked-out: even if the problem described above could be worked around, that work-around would be rendered useless at this place.

True, there are things like touch-based custom recoveries. So technically, that would be the place to make it possible: Once the recovery is initialized, it could ask for a code to unlock before offering its real services. This might even include a "fallback mode" for a broken screen using e.g. shake-patterns (accelerometer-based) or NFC (if applyable). But that's nothing we can solve here at this site: you will have to contact the resp. developers for this (twrp and/or clockworkmod, to name two examples).

Encrypt your filesystem. You'll need to enter a password or PIN on every boot to decrypt it, so as soon as the device is rebooted none of your personal data will be readable. TWRP even supports encrypted filesystems (it prompts you for your password when it starts as well, I think). If your device is at least 4.2.2 then you can even leave ADB on; they'd need to unlock the screen to add their computer to the whitelist, so they can't push apps or read data there either. You'll be able to have root, a custom bootloader, ADB enabled, and still have a relatively secure device.

I recently wiped my phone to factory after I had rooted the phone and got rid of the bloatware I did not want. (Forgot the passcode)  I thought I would have to root my phone again and then get rid of factory installed bloatware....again. I was pleasantly surprised to find both that the root was intact AND the bloatware was still gone. Also, my superuser app was still intact. It should have been gone, but was converted into a system APP and so was not wiped during the reset.  That got me thinking along a similar line to your question.
What would happen if you were to imbed the Passcode/Pin data into the system data. You could not gain access to the phone by merely wiping it as the pass/PIN data would still be on the phone after the wipe. Of course that would mean that forgetting your pass/pin would effectively brick your phone.
Of course you could just keep ALL of your data on the SDCard and encrypt it there withan app. Then it wouldn't matter if someone flashed your phone and got access because (s)he could not access your sensitive  data without BOTH the encryption app AND the app specific pass/pin.

couple of things.

Go ahead and download the latest version of TWRP and google the UI.zip file that adds the password to custom recovery.
download Cerberus app, it's the best anti theft app out there that allows you to lock, track, back up, wipe, remote call, signal flare, force GPS and wifi, and more. From the app lock the powermenu from the lock screen to refrain people from turning it off. Create a TON of rules, gps flares when the phone is powered on and off, SIM card information when the SIM is changed and a signal flare, auto passwords when the sim card is changed, ect.
use a 6x6 pattern password or an actual password
Use an applock system, CM security it great, set it to lock all settings and sensitive apps that could make you vulnerable in the event you lose your phone, set it to lock every 3 minutes. Once you unlock one app it unlocks them all (but for only 3 minutes).
TURN OFF ADB DEBUGGING IF YOU ARE NOT USING IT!
ALL of this work is useless if you don't, the LAST thing you want is for someone to sideload another ROM and screw you.

That should do it!

Nope, they can just use fastboot to flash a new version of TWRP or CWM as recovery which gives them access to flash without the password.

The only option to be secure is a false off from xposed, locked bootloader and having second phone to make quick emergency call. It's not windows, you can't protect bios with password. I quess.

That I guess at the end though.

It is possible, say you have TWRP installed, if you encrypt the device, it will ask for the password before you can mount/change any partition

Welcome to the site, Brian, and thank you for contributing.

It's not secure but, I just removed certain menu options from the recovery screen in the AOSP source code. It at least prevents a novice or someone without a PC from wiping your device.

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


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Backup paid app from Google Play
How can I backup an app I bought from Google Play so that I can install it on my phone later?
I tried to copy /mnt/asec/[appId]-1/pkg.apk but it doesn't work.
Can someone help?

Are you rooted? Titanium backup will do this easily. If not, pulling paid apk may not be possible as ususally Play uses the /data folder which you won't have any access to without root anyway. This is to stop you from copying the apk and sending it out illegally I would guess.

You don't need to back up the app anyway. Once you've paid for the app, you can install it again later, as many times as you like.

You don't need to back up apps bought on Google Play to install later.  So long as the device has your Google account registered on it, you can download and install it from Google Play at any time.

Good reason "pro backup" would be when the other device has no internet connection (wouldn't work either then as payed apps usually need to verify the license online), or just a very limited data plan (save the megabytes of the download by copying the .apk via SDCard locally). So while generally true, there might be exceptions from this rule :)

No argument there, but wasn't really within the scope of the question as it was put IMO.


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SD card is damaged
I have a 2gb sd card and from yesterday whenever I was putting my Android 4.0.4 phone on standby it was showing a notification that Sd card is removed unexpectedly and after a few seconds sd card inserted. and now its showing that your sd card is damaged and asking if to format it or not. please suggest something.

I think formatting is your last resort. SD cards do have a limited life, and only can perform so many read/writes before they give up the ghost.
Try to backup your SD card on your PC if you can. You could use an SD card reader.
Try your SD on another phone and see if it works. If it does, you know something with your phone is not right. Use this opportunity to back up the SD!
Try a different SD on your phone and see how that works.
Lastly, you could format the SD card and see if that helps, but you will permanently lose all data on it. If your ROM has an sd-ext partition, your OS will not boot. (Unlikely in this specific case, but worth noting for others.)


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AutoVoice and Tasker: Speak recognized Variable says "percent varname"
I am trying to automate my phone and later also my home with tasker. Therefor I need to define all those little Voice Actions.
My actual Workflow:

Task Voice Recognition:
Speak "What do you want to do"
Voice Recognition
Profile Recognize Start Call 1:
Match to Regex: " (?<%callername>.+) anrufen" (Later also "ruf ... an" and "ruf ... auf ... an" and "... auf ... anrufen")
Start Task "Voice: Call"
Speak "Calling %callername" (%callername was selected in the Variables dropdown)

That workflow speaks "percent callername", so it speaks the name of the variable. But it should speak the content of the variable.
Later I want to look in the contacts for that name and get the corresponding telephonenumber to start dialing. Or is there any finished Calling Voice Action for Tasker out there I can have a look at?

I found an answer/ got it working now: I needed to create the Task direcly from the Create Profile screen after defining the Profile. Assigning an already existing task didnt work, whyever.


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"App not installed" error while trying to install Nexus Media Importer
I'm trying to install the Nexus Media Importer app with an APK file, but I am frequently getting an "App not installed" error. I am not rooted and I have Nexus 5.
Any solution?

Did you check Security > Unknown sources?

What is the exact error message? Is the app you're trying to install already installed on the device (e.g. in an older version)? If you're installing it manually from an .apk file (side-loading), do you have unknown sources enabled?

Yeah  I have installed other apks like a million times, and the app I'm trying to install is not installed currently ..when i press install i get a message app not installed that's it..

USB Media Explorer claimed to be Nexus Media Importer app back in the past, and it's a paid app. This may or may not affect the installation.

Because this app checks your license. If you buy this app from the Play Store, it runs automatically. Otherwise, if you try a free version of this application, it shows the "application not installed" error.

While it's true that paid apps may check the license used in Play Store, I don't think the check is done on the installation.

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


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Change the week start on Clock alarms
Is there a way to change the start of the week to Monday (instead of Sunday) in the default clock program?
Note that my local is set to English (UK) so it should be the default but is not. I am running v4.2.2, if that matters.

Looks like it's just/about to be fixed in Clock 4.0.1 as reported on AndroidPolice.

The new APK for the clock app from the Android M Developer Preview doesn't look very different from the one you'll find in Lollipop - most of the functions (alarms, world clock, timer, and countdown) are in the same place and operate in the same way. But there's one tiny change that a small amount of users will be extremely happy to see. The Clock app can now "start" your week on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

Update: As of 18 June 2015 the stock app on my MOTO E 2 was updated by the normal 'My Apps" update notification and I still have the option of what day to start the week.

I'm afraid you can't change it. When I set my phone's language to French (France), the first day is still Sunday, where it should be Monday (like you).
Google may have skipped this...

What if you change the week start day in Calendar?

@dotVezz: Already at Monday... Clock still on Sunday :/


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500 charge limit on wireless charger for Nexus 4 / 5 (QI)
I recently bought a QI compatible charger for my Nexus 5. On the box it states, that the "wireless charges up to 500 times".

I don't understand why the charger is only able to charge my phone 500 times.
What happens to the charger so that it does not work anymore? Can someone explain that?

Thanks for you help.
It is exactly this device:
QI charger from ravpower
Edit 2: Looking at the website of the maker, it seems that they sell a mobile power bank as well. Perhaps they use the same packaging for the mobile power bank wireless charger and the wireless charger without battery.
Edit 3: I found the packaging on the internet.
Picture of the box

This may be describing the battery, not the charger. 500 charge/discharge cycles is a pretty normal spec for a cell phone battery. Do you think you could [edit] your question with the exact wording printed on the packaging? (I'm curious about what it says)

I would imagine it is the battery. Wireless charging is pretty brutal on some mobile batteries. I'd tend to stick with the 'wired' kind. Mind you both hav a wire, but the one you plug in to the wall and the phone, not the one you plug into the wall and rest the phone on! (Wireless charging is a silly name IMHO)


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How to transfer WhatsApp conversations to a new phone?
I recently changed smartphones from an unknown to Samsung, and I've lost my WhatsApp conversations. I want them on the new phone. I have reinstalled it on the new phone, and the msgstore.db.crypt files are there, but WhatsApp does not read the older conversations back.
What I would like to do is have WhatsApp appear as an unbroken list of chats so that the date that I changed phones is not apparent in the list of chats.

In case you didn't come right, I had the same issue.
Uninstall Whatsapp from the NEW phone (start blank)
Copy the /Whatsapp folder from your SD card to the new phone (I had to do this because Whatsapp on my new phone was installed to the INTERNAL card, not the SD card, so the upgrade didn't find the old store)
I also copied the android/data/com.whatsapp folder for good luck
Install Whatsapp on the new phone.
After account creation, it should detect the old messages and restore them.

Worked for me, I didn't copy the android/data/com.whatsapp (the modification times of files and directories inside were quite old anyway)

Yes. WhatsApp Messenger offers backup and restore options. You can backup your chats to an encryted file(now *.db.crypt5) or restore chats from backup file back to your android. But restoring history from a backup would wipe your current chats with those in the backup.

If you want to install Whatsapp on a new phone, you have to make a backup on the old phone, then copy the Whatsapp directory on the new phone, install Whatsapp and when prompted choose to recover from existing backup.
When you start the app for the first time the directory with the backup must already be there, otherwise you won't be prompted to recover.

I can't do that. I have transferred the SD card in question to the new phone already. The old phone is working as a tablet, without a SIM card. I put in a new, smaller SD card. Before doing all this, I had backed up everything on my phone (I thought) using the backup function in settings. But I don't think whatsapp was backed up that way. I do have all the encrypted msgstore files both from the old phone and my new one. Is there a way out of this mess?

In Whatsapp there's a function to backup your conversations, something like Settings->Chat->Backup, it creates a backup either on the sd card or on the internal memory. You will have to copy the directory "Whatsapp" on the new phone and start the app. Remove and reinstall Whatsapp if you already started it before. If you start the app for the first time and it founds a backup directory on the phone, it will prompt you to restore the backup

OKIfound the backup function in whatsapp. But it's not clear to me what you are suggesting I do. Should I make a backup now, of the new chats,  and will that add the older chats that are in the whatsapp folder on the internal sdcard (the phone won't let me install to the external card)? So that when I remove and reinstall whatsapp, all my chats will be there? To make my confuson clear, I found several msgstore.d.crypt files in the whatsapp folder. I copied them to the internal whatsapp folder hoping whatsapp would open them and add them to the listed chats, but that did not happen.

Do you still have the old conversations on the old phone?

No but I guess I could put them back. One problem is that I cannot activate whatsapp there, I had to cut the SIM and it no longer fits in the old phone.  Could I run a backup without activating whatsapp?

I guess I found that out - it won't let me do anything without activation. And that I can no longer do on that phone. So a backup fro there is not possible.

So are the msgstore files themselves the backup? Or what are they? Can I just reinstall whatsapp with all those files in the whatsapp folder? Because when I first ran it on the new phone two chats did pop up immediately...


text:
Why does my phone reset the wallpaper to this CyanogenMod default image?
Note II - CM11 Nightly - KitKat 4.4.2

Every now and then, my phone will reset the wallpaper to this default one. It happens randomly and not even after a boot or any state changing event. It could be possible that an app crashes, and it resets the background, but that does not make much sense. If anyone can help me prevent from the wallpaper from changing, that would be fantastic.

This seems like a bug. Since this is a nightly build, have you considered contacting the maintainer for the ROM to report the issue?

One word: "Nightly". Nightly builds are inherently test builds and will be buggy. Contact the CM guys with a bug report! Any CM rom that is not a 'stable' will have issue. I'm finding CM + Samsung is a bad idea lately to be blunt.

This has been going on for a while. It went away when I upgraded from 10.2 to 11 (4.3 to 4.4), but now it's back. :| I haven't had any other issues with nightly builds. Have been running nightlies since the original Droid days.

I have been doing it for years myself, but I don't anymore. They've changed focus and many nightly builds are being done by random people not affiliated and some of the builds are shockingly bad quality. CM was my go-to ROM for years, but with my Samsung devices it's a no go. On the S4: Camera Issues, reboot issues, over heating, apps force closing, system UI crashing, poor call quality, compatability issues with Xposed framework and so on and so on. (There are MANY great people associated with CM, I'm not attacking them, but the Samsung nightlies are pants.)

@RossC - What do you use now? PA?

I was on PA, lovely stuff, moved to Echoe Illusion ROM, they did a 'Google Edition' KitKat ROM recently (The google edition S4 is basically a nexus running almost Stock). Haven't looked back. As always though I'd try a few and find what you like. PA is good, PAC is good, AOSP is great. Keep in mind WANAN XPOSED allows all the tweaking that indiviudal ROMs have (change DPI, PIE controls etc) so the need for fancy features is declining, and a good stable base is the way to go! I don't have a Note 2 though so not sure what's good on it!


text:
galaxy note 1 - snote - how to select and drag something i've drawn?
I'm using the galaxy note 1 running android 4.0.  I have S Note opened.  I drew a picture of a cat at the top left corner of canvas.  Now I want to drag my cat to the bottom right corner of the canvas.  How do I perform this select and drag?  I don't see any select tool.  Is it even possible?


text:
FM Radio on HTC One Google Play Edition
My HTC One has the capability to tune FM Radio stations.
And the Standard Edition comes with an app for using it.
However, I can't find a way to use the FM Radio on a (non-rooted) Google Play Edition. Any ideas?
Running Android 4.4.2 ... if that matters.

I don't think you can: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2479412 this suggests it isn't possible, and any search I've tried turns up nothing. Newer phones aren't suporting FM generally, and I think the Google Editions are included. However, the FM HARDWARE appears to be there, look here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1833777&page=2 there's a free APK for an FM tuner. I cannot vouch for it at all as my HTC One is on Sense and using that one. Best of luck. Edit: Here's another: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2402380

@RossC Thanks! It's a shame that the vast majority of the suggested apps aren't FM tuners :(

I understand but the second link has a tuner apk, the other needs root to work. You're in a bit of a bind there. You could build the stock FM from source if you're adventurous. FM is being phased out on phones, for better or worse I'm afraid, so a hack work around is the best I can suggest for now. I'll keep looking!

@RossC Thanks again! And if you decide to post your comments as an answer I'll upvote it wholeheartedly

I'll put this altogether here.
Google and some OEMs don't seem to be supporting FM anymore, as evident in the Nexus 4 and 5 not having any FM hardware built in. The Samsung Galaxy S4 also are carrying on this trend. The theory being that there are Internet raido services that can stream thousands of channels. Which doesn't suit everyone. The theory is that it saves space for the hardware and cost in manufacture.  Android forums discussion on the lack of FM on Nexus 5
 This XDA thread suggests it isn't possible however there are FM apps out there.
 This is a very lowly reviwed FM app  on the Play Store that claims to use the tuner.  UPDATE: Does not work on HTC One.
 This XDA thread has an attached apk for an FM tuner that MAY work. I have not tested, the usual warnings about unknown sources applies, of course.
 Another XDA FM radio
For rooted devices there is  one more here
The one that is most recommended that I have found is  Spirit FM  which specifically states that No internet connection is required.
Try them out, see what works, and most of all be wary of permissions and apps you are not confident about.

I've updated my post to state it doesn't work. Sorry about this, I'd normally test this, but I have no GE of the HTC one so I'm in the dark.

Well, Spirit(2) FM seems the way to go, but as they don't have a free demo and state that they are still debugging I'll wait for a while and see what happens

Free Option: NextRadio by Sprint says specifically it is not a streaming services, but uses the FM tuner in your phone. It says it is only for a few Sprint phones, but appears to be installable on my Galaxy Nexus and Moto X, so it should be available for your HTC One Play Edition.
About:

Key Features:

Tune in to local FM stations on your phone
Find radio stations by genre or frequency in the Guide
Uses 90% LESS data than streaming music
Get 3X BETTER battery life compared to streaming music

NOTE: for another possibly free option, see the conversation below.
Paid Option: As stated on Android Central, the Spirit FM app will do the trick on the HTC One Play Edition:

If you're an average phone user, & don't know what Android "rooting" is, Spirit will likely > not offer you much more than your stock FM app. If your phone does not have a stock FM app, > it is unlikely that Spirit will work on it.
Spirit is mostly for Android enthusiasts who "root" & "ROM" their phones. But it also works > on many stock, "store bought" phones.
...
This Works with:
...
HTC:
One Stock, Google Play Edition & AOSP One X LTE (AT&T)
LTE / One S
...

This is a paid option, but has been quoted to work on your device and you can always refund within 15 minutes if it doesn't.
I had a conversation with an HTC Representative and while he said it should be possible, he could not give me any specifics. The conversation is below.

Wes: Thank you for
contacting HTC Chat.Hello Jacob.
Yes y ou can but y ou may need to
download as a third party app.
Jacob: Do you know of any ? The only
ones i can find are internet radio ones, I'd like to utilize the fm
tuner hardware
Jacob: Or do you know of a place i can download the app
from the non-play edition?
Wes: I really am not sure what 3rd party app
that would be workable.
Wes: Sorry for the inconvenience.
Jacob: Would
HTC be able to provide the app from the original HTC one?
Wes: That
would be a pre installed app. There isnt really a link for them.
Jacob:
I know. That's why I wanted to ask an HTC representative
Wes:
I am looking into it at the moment.
Wes:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Fm%20Radio

Tell you the truth though, the second is simply FM Player and it looks promising, but states it's only for Motorola devices.

Thanks a lot for your help! A few comments: a) You may want to edit your answer replacing "Sprint" by "Spirit". b) Shamefully NextRadio doesn't support the HTC One GPE. c) Spirit FM Unlocked (which as you said doesn't have a free trial option) runs only on rooted phones. d) FM Player doesn't support the HTC One GPE either.

Thank you for the note about Spirit vs. Sprint, haha I read too fast! That's been changed :)  And does that mean you've attempted Spirit FM Unlocked on your phone? Their description says it may run better on rooted phones (with more features), but that it should work on stock phones with FM support.

Answer edited to give supporting info from app descrption

No, I haven't tried Spirit FM Unlocked, mainly because they say that they're still debugging it ... and they don't provide a free demo. I don't feel like that. If they want to get profits, they should tidy up their app first :)

I'd suggest installing it, playing around with it for a few minutes, and then refunding the purchase. Whether or not it actually works, you'll get to see and then you can make your decision from there.

The standard FMRadio is designed specifically for that chipset employed by the HTC One, you will have difficulty in finding support for that said chipset hence the Radio FM apps you see on the Play-Store may not have the support for it.
Vital questions:

Which HTC One model are you referring to? After consulting PDADB.net there seems to be a few of them?
What Android version are you referring to?

Do not forget one important matter about the standard FM Radio, more then often, if not likely, it will have supporting libraries found in /system/lib and commonly enough, if an attempt to copy the APK of the app and install it elsewhere will fail either due to missing dependencies on the libraries in question or the chipset does not have the kernel support either.
The mileage will vary depending on the above.

Hi! Thanks for your answer. The phone is this one http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=4635&c=htc_one_nexus_google_play_edition_htc_m7. Running android 4.4.2 now

You might be able to glean in on the kernel config script if present to determine the chipset employed by the FM Radio... hint: /system/proc/config.gz under the key CONFIG_RADIO_ADAPTERS or similar.

Well, I can't find the script, but I'm far of a Linux/Android guru

More than likely, the kernel has that config.gz switched off hence cannot be found in /proc directory  (it should read as /proc not /system/proc - my bad).

Yup. I can access /proc, but I don't see any config* file


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Drawing on Nexus 10 to Windows 8.1
I have a Google / Samsung Nexus 10 Android tablet, and a Windows 8.1 laptop (Dell Latitude E6430). I'd like to use my Android tablet as a drawing surface, to draw images on my Windows laptop. The ultimate goal is to be able to make narrated videos that consist of drawings, so I would be using my laptop to record the screen, while I'm drawing from the Android tablet.

I do not want to install anything new on my laptop (preferably)
I need to be able to view the drawing on my laptop while I am in the process of drawing (Remote Desktop isn't an option, for this reason)

What options are there for this scenario?

Ok, these may be silly points so bear with me. AFAIK you'll need something installed on the laptop to let the two communicate in the way you want (I could be wrong). Why can't you screen record on the tablet and bypass the whole PC thing in the first place?

@RossC: They are not silly points. What would I use to do screen recording on the tablet? I guess that could be an option, but I already have a process for recording the screen on my laptop. I am open to installing something, if absolutely necessary, but would prefer not to, if possible.

Kitkat supports screen recording, I'm on custom ROM so it's an option on my notification bar! However, here is a how to http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57610905-285/how-to-record-your-screen-on-android-4.4-kitkat/  (I think only over ADB at the moment) And here's an alternative video: http://www.geek.com/android/how-to-use-screen-recording-in-android-4-4-1576505/

@RossC: Cool, thanks. I will check that out. It doesn't seem to be quite what I'm looking for, but still useful.

Yeah I didn't think it was ideal, no doubt there's a better solution. I tend to think in terms of 'I'll just do it on the device'. It might just be handier for now, but going forward a better solution will be needed I guess. I'll keep at it! Something LIKE this (and there's a free trial) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.j03.mobileinput is the only bridge I can think of. It's still not what you want exactly though.

You may want to check out the several answers to this highly relevant question.

Teamviewer may be an option. You can remote into your tablet using teamviewer on your laptop, to the teamviewer app on your N10. This is the only option I can think of. This would not however allow to directly circle say an icon on your desktop, for that you would need some sort of overlay application for your laptop.


text:
OpenVPN on Android 4.4 not working
I'm running CyanogenMod 11 unofficial ROM and I can't seem to get VPN working.
I've tried different OpenVPN clients. All of them connect to the server, but there is no traffic; the connection just gets stuck. The VPN servers work fine on laptop and older android versions.
Has anybody experienced a similar issue and what would be a workaround?
P.S: I've also tried PPTP and L2TP connections. Same issue. Connect but won't work.


text:
Error when upgrading Android 4.3 to 4.4.2 on Nexus 7 (2013) tablet
I have a brand new Google Nexus 7 (2013) LTE tablet and first thing I did, was to check if there is any sys update for my device. It was. System reported that 4.3 --> 4.4.2 update is ready to download and install.
However, after updating and hitting button to install, I got Error message and a droid lying icon. After this my tablet has restarted and reverted back to 4.3.
The strangest part is, that I can't repeat (try to install again), because now my tablet claims, that it is up to date, though it still carries factory 4.3 system version on-board.
Is there any known reason for this behavior (not able to upgrade and then to even re-download update)?
Is there any solution to this problem, except:

waiting for 4.4.3 or
manually updating using images?

I am a rather beginner to the Android system, so terms like sideload or update radio/baseband from .84 to .97 says quite nothing to me! :[
EDIT: I read about this (not being able to OTA-upgrate to 4.4.2), but the strange thing is, that most of these sources talks about 59,1 MB upgrade image, while mine was 253,9 MB (five times bigger).
EDIT: I have cleared Google Services Framework cache and data, as suggested by dotVezz in a comment and then I was able to restart download & upgrade to 4.4.2 process.
Second attempt ended with success (system upgrated to 4.4.2), so my previous experience seems to be a one-time problem.

Have you tried clearing the data for Google Services Framework?

As you can see (edited question) clearing data & cache for GSF and restarting upgrade process ended with full success. Please reformulate your above comment as full answer (either another one or better -- reedited current one), so I can accept it and bring you some rep, as your suggestion has actually solved the problem mentioned in my question.

I've edited the question. =)

EDITED 01/30/2014
If you clear the data for Google Services Framework, you can force the OTA update to start again.
There are a few downsides to this, but with a brand new device, you can safely clear the data and perform the OTA update.

Old Answer...
As deailed in this question, you can download the 4.4.2 image directly from Google and install it on your tablet from your computer.
One method is to use Fastboot:
If you're using Windows, you'll need USB Drivers (official link, and easy mode link, Koush's Universal Driver). The file downloaded includes instructions, which basically boil down to...

Reboot into Bootloader/Fastboot mode.
Connect your device to your PC with USB.
Run the appropriate flash-all file for your Desktop OS (Windows .bat files and Bash .sh files are included with the downloaded Android image).

Note: This will also erase all data on your device. Make sure you back up whatever you want to. If I remember correctly, there's a flash-base or similar option that will not erase your data, instead of flash-all.

Thanks for your reply, but my question was specific about OTA install -- why (possibly) did it failed and is there any way to restart (perform again) system upgrade, other than manually installing from image. So, your answer is a little bit off-topic though.

My mistake! I didn't notice that you specifically mentioned manually using images in your question. You even had a link and everything.

Edited for correctness.

I think you can throw away the old answers. Especially, that it is off-topic. I think this is an acceptable behavior at SE. I even read somewhere, that you don't even need to "cross-out" your old answer with <s>. You can (if you wish) just delete everything else and leave just the newest version of your answer. Seen such behavior many times (where only comments suggested, that there was once some other answer! :])

@trejder I appreciate what you're saying, but I personally believe it's best to keep the old answer as well - as long as it's not incorrect, it may still help someone in the future. It may not have been the best answer for you, but someone else may stumble here from a Google search and find it useful.


text:
What is the mysterious "CDC Serial" device and why do I needed it?
I've built my own PC computer from parts I purchased online, I did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit with SP1 (full version, no OEM bloatware), and I ran Windows Update several times to get the latest and greatest updates from Microsoft. I was pleased to see that everything worked as expected, no issues whatsoever, not in software nor in hardware. Next, I connected my brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 Plus (GT-I9506) phone to a free USB port on the computer. Windows detected following 3 different devices.

USB Composite Device
Galaxy S4 (sg)
CDC Serial

Windows automatically installed and configured the first two devices (see screenshot above). Except the "CDC Serial" device. It didn't install that one.

What is "CDC Serial" device?
Why do I need it?
How do I install it?

The very first thing I did was to check the user's manual (the complete manual, not the getting started guide). There is not a single reference to "CDC Serial". I'm not an expert, but I do understand some of this. The "USB Composite Device" is installed so that Windows can communicate with the phone over the USB cable. The "Galaxy S4 (sg)" is the name I gave to my phone during setup, and this is the device that presents itself to Windows as a media player, makes use of the MTP protocol, and this is what shows up in Windows Explorer.
How am I supposed to know what "CDC Serial" is if it's not described in the user's manual? I have never seen that before on any Android device when connected to a PC. I did a search for "cdc serial" on Google and all I could find was people doing some hacks to their phones, like rooting, changing ROM, and generally just hacking it.
So what if I don't want to do any of that? Is it still important to configure the "CDC Serial" device? How does it impact the functionality of the phone, e.g. when syncing data between the phone and the PC, if I decide I don't want to follow those hacking tips and tricks to try to install this device?
I contacted Samsung Technical Support about this and they had no clue what I was talking about. They said they would look into it, but that's it. No help at all.
The user's manual says I can change the USB connection type from MTP to PTP. It essentially makes the phone present itself to Windows as a still camera device. I tried that there were no issues with drivers not being installed. Windows detected only the "Galaxy S4 (sg)" device and it was automatically configured and installed.

In this mode, only picture files can be transferred between the phone and the PC. So this is very limiting, in my opinion. But the "CDC Serial" device was not detected. How so?..

It is not important. Just ignore it.

I took the privilege in editing the question to make it less ranty and aggressive with usage of profanity words to make this cleaner for others. It still does sound aggressive as if "jumping up and down and demanding an answer straight-away". FWIW CDC-Serial, enables you to use and treat the device as a modem gateway to the internet via a terminal emulator such as minicom and other dialup programs.

try installing kies or maybe you can find the driver here

I've never found Windows to be very helpful in identifying drivers either. Here's some information for you on what USB CDC is. According to Wikipedia:

USB communications device class (or USB CDC) is a composite Universal
  Serial Bus device class. The class may include more than one
  interface, such as a custom control interface, data interface, audio,
  or mass storage related interfaces.

Additionally, a resource called the USB Software Resource Center has this overview of CDC:

There are three classes that make up the definition for communication
  devices: the Communication Device Class, Communication Interface Class
  and the Data Interface Class. The Communication Device Class is a
  device level definition and is used by the host to properly identify a
  communication device that may present several different types of
  interfaces.

All of that is developer-speak, but it really just means that a USB CDC driver helps your PC 1) understand what services your phone can provide it and 2) start talking to your phone to use those services. I don't know for sure what service the CDC Serial driver you see represents but I'm pretty confident that installing the official Samsung drivers for your phone would resolve the red X (the drivers that Windows installs automatically are sometimes generic and are often insufficient).
In its current state, with your phone connected as an MTP device, do you have any trouble transferring files or doing anything else you want to do with your phone from your PC? If you're not having trouble then it's possible the CDC Serial driver is only used for connecting your phone as a modem or serial device (as when communicating with your phone from the developer tool ADB). If you aren't planning to use your phone in this manner, you can safely ignore the failed installation of the CDC Serial driver.
I wouldn't stress too much over it and would install the Samsung drivers if you run into any trouble.

Thanks for demystifying "CDC" for me. They could have printed out "USB CDC" in the message, you know. So these are generic Microsoft drivers? I guess that's why it ain't working then. File copy to and from the phone in MTP mode is working at the moment. I will be using Android SDK later on, and hopefully ADB will work as well. If not, I will have to hunt for drivers.

I see that the provided link is for the Samsung US site, and the search/filter can only locate the product page for GT-I9505G (the Google Play edition). Wasn't the regular GT-I9505 sold in the US? Anyway, mine is GT-9506 with 4G+ and it's a European version. I can only find Kies 2 software for this phone on any given Samsung site. Isn't there a drivers only download? I don't like the Kies 2, it's pretty much useless bloatware. Lot of missing features, several options not working as expected and it bundles some shitty "no name" media plugin for video support. I don't want that on my system.

I was having trouble finding the correct drivers for your phone on their website too. Perhaps the drivers for the US version would work well enough for yours too? I don't like Kies either and avoid it whenever possible.


text:
Use keyboard emoticons from Jelly Bean at KitKat

How i can put at my KitKat Nexus4?
Thank you.

Why is this question flagged as unclear? Seems pretty clear to me - How do you use those emoticons on a Nexus 4 running Kit Kat (especially for messaging, since that seems to be where they are used)?

I haven't flagged it but it is unclear to me, as different apps render different emoticons when the base text versions are used i.e. ;) etc. If you use hangouts there are built in emoji, but if I text with ;) I get one picture in hangouts, a different one in Samsung's own SMS app a totally different one again in HTC's own SMS app. So the answer is "it depends." I'm aware it is a nexus, but the default now is technically hangouts and that has it's own emoji option beside the Text Entry Box (where you type) that replaces the keyboard with emoji board (or whatever you would call it)


text:
Enable LTE on Google Nexus 7 (2013) LTE tablet
I have a brand new Google Nexus 7 (2013) LTE tablet and failed or enabling LTE on it.
I had two cards (microSIM for Nexus and nanoSIM for iPad Mini) from the very same LTE-enabled local (Poland) carrier Aero2. Both are inserted to respectful devices, both devices are in the same place (same network coverage) and iPad Mini catches LTE signal (and its amazing speed) with no problems, while my Nexus falls back to HSPA+ at most, only sometimes uses 3G and never runs on LTE.
Is there any extra switch on this particular device or Android system (was on iPad Mini) to enable LTE?
EDIT: Of course, I followed step-by-step guide on this subject available at Google Nexus Help.

Could you possibly contact Aero2 and see what LTE bands they operate in your area? While unlikely, it's possible that the Nexus 7 doesn't support your local LTE network. It seems like Aero2 uses 2500MHz, but that confuses me because I don't think the iPad Mini supports that band either.

I used another carrier's SIM card, which is 100% certified to be working on Nexus 7 and I still can't access 4G (LTE) network. My tablet's system has been upgraded to 4.4.2 KitKat in between, so now I have access to Settings > Wireless & networks > More > Mobile Networks > Preferred network type option. Whenever I set 3G there, tablet access network without problems. When I change it to 4G I can't access Internet. Tablet claims that, it is logged to LTE-kind network, but network is down. Now, I'm wondering, if my LTE modem is broken or if I'm outside LTE coverage area all the time?

Even if the card and network are 100% cerified for the Nexus 7, the carrier may not have the correct frequency available in your local area. Rather than asking "Do you support the Nexus 7", ask them "Which frequencies (or 'bands') are operational in the area with the postal code [your postal code]?" This applies to Aero2 and the other carrier as well.

Maybe you consider rephrasing all above comments to one answer (about checking bands in my area), so I could price your effort with some reps?

While unlikely, it's possible that the Nexus 7 doesn't support your local LTE network. It seems like Aero2 only operates LTE on 900MHz and 2500MHz (Take that with a grain of salt though; it may be incorrect or incomplete).
The Nexus 7 2013 apparently doesn't support either of those frequencies. Oddly enough, apparently neither does the iPad Mini.
You may want to contact Aero2 or whatever local providers and find out which frequencies (or "bands") they operate in your area. It doesn't matter if their network or SIM cards are "100% certified for the Nexus 7", they may not operate the appropriate frequencies in your area specifically. Rather than ask "Do you support the N7?", ask them "What LTE bands are operational in the area with the postal code [your postal code]?"
If your area should have a band that's listed on the GSMArena page for the Nexus 7, then you may have problems with your device. If not, then you may want to find a carrier that supports LTE on the appropriate bands in your area.

Thank you for your answer. I'll only add for others and future reference, that after reading your answer I googled a little bit more and found information, that LTE on Polish Aero2 network has been available only as test-run, so now it is not available to any devices.

Another addition, after testing this Nexus 7 with another LTE-enabled carrier (Plus GSM, Poland): Though many carriers claims, that LTE network is enabled by default or on self-configurable, SIM-provided APNs, it many cases this turns out to be not true. So, there isn't any specific switch in Nexus 7, what I asked for, but certainly there could be a specific APN, that you have to enter to make your mobile device log into LTE network. If your device is unable to use LTE network, check APN settings at first.

There IS a setting for LTE on a 2013 Nexus7 (1B32-4G). I just found it where you set up the Access Point Name (APN). Just go searching. I was surprised to find it. You have to click on a lot of selections to get to it in Settings then at the bottom of the first section called Wireless &  Networks click on More. Click on Mobile Networks,then you will see Mobile Network Settings. in that menu list select Access Point Names (APN), you should see your network carrier such as "T-Mobile US" & under it mine says "epc.tmobile.com" that was already set up at a T-Mobile store when I bought my SIM card & registered. Then click on the dot to the far right to select your carrier so that the dot turns blue. Click on the name of your carrier on the left side of the screen, & on the new menu list, which is called  Edit Access Point, scroll down towards bottom, BEFORE you edit or add anything, and click/select "BEARER". In that menu list, click & select the choice LTE. It may have been selected as Unspecified at first. Press the "Go Back" button, & as soon as you complete that  the rest of the list of items in field called "Edit Access Points" fills in automatically for what you need, including the Name field, which in my case says "T-Mobile US".Close all screens as you're done. Now it's a matter of finding out if the right "bands" correspond to get the right reception.  My own Preferred Network selections are limited to 2G &3G, even though it says "4G" on the label with the model name. That's another issue I'm taking up with ASUS right now as two supervisors told me that my model number is 3G/2G, but they also say that ASUS won't take care of the matter by giving me an actual 4G tablet which is what I paid for on amazon.com. Even though I now have the LTE setting corrected, it still says HSPA in Settings>About Tablet>Network Type, which I read is only 3G. I'm still baffled.

If you've already found it, why not tell us where? Don't keep the answer to yourself!


text:
How can I move apps from phone to sd card?
I have an LG P769 android phone, running android 4.1.2 and my storage is only 2gb. I have a 4gb sd card inside the phone as well.  My apps are  taking up 1.32gb and I am receiving 2 warning messages: "low memory space" and "storage space is running out." My pictures and videos take up 86.81mb. How can I resolve this issue?

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! Two good starting points are our tag-wikis for the corresponding topics: insufficient-memory and app2sd. Both contain several first-aid tips and links which at least should get you started, if not even solve your issue.

As far as I'm aware, apps cannot be moved to an SD card. Apps such as App2SD only move apps to 'external SD' which isn't your memory card.


text:
Is it possible to write video directly to external device while recording
I have a Nexus 5 that I'd like to use for some video recording. The meetings I'd like to record are likely to run long enough that they might cause my phone to run out of space mid-recording. I am wondering whether it is possible to connect my phone to my Macbook (or some other device) such that the file is written directly to my Macbook SSD while recording; in other words, to use the phone as a peripheral. Is this possible?

There is a limitation in-built, (not just confined to  Android, its also present on Apple as well), think its maximum 30 minutes for recording. Something to do with video copyright, IIRC, it was mentioned here on this very site a good while ago.

Check this It was not to do with copyright, rather, if it recorded longer than max time, it would be classified as video recorder and not a phone.

There might be possibilities to facilitate the recorders "preview mode", and transmitting it via HDMI (screen mirroring). This is just a raw idea, I don't know whether such solutions already exist. I also don't know about sound in such cases.

You can use IP webcam apps on Play Store and turn your mobile into a webcam and record the video screen in your PC using a video recording software. This requires an USB cable or your mobile and computer connected to the same network.

@Lucky That's a solid answer, if you post it as an answer rather than comment I'll accept it.

As I mentioned in the comments, you can use IP webcam apps on Play Store and then turn your mobile easily into a webcam and record your computer's screen using a video recording software. This way you can rely on your computer's memory instead of your mobile's storage(which is limited in most cases). Now you can use your phone as a webcam peripheral device and recording videos directly in your Macbook's SSD storage. Some apps provide functions to add a server and upload the videos to cloud.
Note: Most app requires an USB cable connection or that you have your mobile and computer connected to the same network which is why it named IP webcam since it is accessed using the IP address generated from the connected network.

+1, and I wonder why  didn't it click me before. Though the issue is that compared to original quality of the video, you would be limited to the quality displayed on the screen.

@Firelord Oh Yes, The quality is one factor which was not great for two-three apps that I used before under the tag IP Webcam in playstore. But since I recorded the videos with my front cam which is 1.8MP i can't expect much quality. I'm sure a phone with better camera quality can provide you with good quality video outputs. ;)


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Too many repeat notifications from Google Now
I do appreciate a lot when Google Now tells me when my team plays but the thing is.. every game shows me like 4 notification. I clear it and then it comes back again. I don't like most notifications, almost all of them are muted on my phone, even e-mail, but this is one that I actually like but I don't like getting so many of the same one. Is there any way of tweaking this? I'm on a Note 3 if that's of any importance


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How can I ignore the AT&T software update?
(Update 2016-01-09: I got rid of the phone after it auto-upgraded to Android 5, so I don't have this issue anymore.)

I keep getting this message every 10 minutes or so on my Samsung Galaxy S3 (non-rooted Android 4.1.2):

How can I ignore it?
I want to skip this update as the penultimate one introduced some nasty bugs.
EDIT: Apparently I cannot kill the AT&T service:

Also, I restarted the device and the AT&T service is launched at startup.
So I tried to remove the AT&T service from the startup using Startup Cleaner 2.0, but the AT&T service still get launched...:

You are not obliged to follow through and accept the update. Why not just back out of it by using the onscreen-back button or press the home button?

@t0mm13b The dialog box keeps appearing.

Can you not go into Manage Apps from settings and disable the updater (I'd imagine it would be called Samsung-Updater or similar)?

@t0mm13b You mean disable auto-update apps in Play settings? If so I still want my apps to auto-update, just my OS not to  auto-update.

Not in play settings, no, in System Settings > Apps, under the header ALL, scroll through the list and see if you can pick out a service or an app called similar FWupdateService or similar. Hint: It is not Google something...

@t0mm13b Thanks, following your advice I tried, see my edited answer.

one other suggestion, disable wifi temporarily, does the dialog go away? it appears to wait until wifi gets activated? could try blocking the ip address on your wifi network to mitigate the dialog box?

@t0mm13b Disabling wifi does not the dialog go away (which is totally stupid, another AT&T trick to blow their customers'  money).

The only last resort - root it and nuke the service completely...

I called AT&T, and this is a mandatory update. Other than rooting, there's no way to avoid the message. You can avoid the download by not going onto WiFi. If you install the update, you need to re-enter WiFi passwords EVERY time you reconnect to a WiFi network. Horrible! I'm avoiding this thing even if have to keep hitting the home key when the message pops up.

:( Yeah I'm tired to deal with bug introduced by updates too... did the wifi password issue appear in the latest AT&T update (i.e. the one I'm trying to avoid)?

I didn't do the update, but the AT&T guy said that would be a new "feature" of the update. That's one of the reasons I'm not doing it -- in addition to being fine with the version I have and the blogs saying this new thing is full of bugs, as you also say.

So, I know this is old, but for the record...I found a way to block all updates without root. I downloaded a tool called debloater (google it) and blocked:
wssyncmldm.apk
wssyncmlnps.apk
LocalFOTA.apk
Now it stopped trying to download the update that would always make my back soft key not work. Done and done, and no root required.

I just wrestled with this on my galaxy note 9.0. In /system/app there is a file called (for me) FWUpgrade.apk
Even though I am rooted it refused to rename or remove it in a file explorer... I tried a few.  I eventually just used terminal to chmod 666 it after su-ing to get root. Then I removed it no prob. So, at the term prompt:
su
cd /system/app
chmod 666 FWUpgrade.apk
rm FWUpgrade.apk

Theres a FWUpgrade.odex too, so I rm'd it too.
dont know if it worked cause of the chmod or because I was root and I could figure out how to give su permissions to the file explorers I tried. One told me no, the other told me it it worked, but it lied. Hope this helps!

Hey, thanks for editing the command line commands for me, I was having some trouble with that! However, I don't think rm'd should be changed to removed, as I was referring to the actual command "rm". Which does happen to be remove, and since it still says "rm FWUpgrade.apk" where it counts, I guess removed work but by that standard it should say, "...just used terminal to change its mode to 666 after super-ing user to root" :)

I find it strange that a chmod on the APK worked. Typically, /system is mounted read-only, requiring a mount -o remount,rw command before changing anything. More than that, in Linux, file permissions don't determine whether or not you can remove a file, directory permissions do. So I would have expected a chmod 777 /system/app rather than anything acting on the APK.

I think you may have something there, although my AT&T upgrade reminder has stopped bothering me since I did this, so idk what to tell you. Perhaps coincedence? I believe that I may have done a mount -o remount, rw command earlier while messing with something else.

That's important information to anyone else coming along, @RonKyle. I just want to get the exact command sequence for posterity. I'll try it on my wife's AT&T S3 when I have the chance.

Yeah I didn't really think of it until your comment... you'll have to forgive me,  I'm not super-familiar with Linux just yet... but I do know it wouldnt let me rm the apk until I chmod 666'd it, afterwards it did. I know I didnt change the permissions on the directory, just the file, so...? Also, what did you mean by comal? Command list? Or a typo? :)

I have been using a Note 3 on AT&T for about four months now and I have so far managed to avoid unwanted firmware updates without rooting. I am still running Android 4.3.
I don't want kitkat. It doesn't remember wifi passwords. I have also heard of issues with bluetooth functionality and sd card access limitations. Also, battery life seems to be negatively impacted by these updates. I have dodged the updates  two different ways.
One way is by going into the application manager in your settings when you see that annoying update message come up. Select "running" apps in the app manager and you will find "att software update." You can't delete it but you can turn it off or force it to stop. That is a temporary fix. Eventually that message will come back again if you do this.
If you want to block the update for a long time as in maybe a 90% chance of never dealing with it again, there is an app called Ad Blocker. The developer is Smartdog Studio. It disables wifi from being used by whatever apps you want. It's purpose is to block ads from apps that use wifi even though they don't require it to run. If you apply ad block to an app that beeds wifi to run, the app simply will not run at all. But when you go to other apps that you want to use wifi with, your wifi will work with those. This app effectively blocks the software update.
It can be glitchy though. Can turn wifi on and off when you have multiple apps that are capable of completing the same task.  Like web browsers for example. If I click on something that is trying to take me to a website, and I have multiple web browsers on my phone, there is a screen that pops up basically prompting me to pick a browser. With ad block on the Note 3, that screen that comes up often turns wifi off. Set defaults to avoid that. And if you have over 300 apps on your phone, and you try to go into ad blocker, it will most likely time out and crash. So if you want it to work well I wouldn't install anymore than about 275 apps on the phone. Otherwise it should be fine.

I use nova launcher. Hold finger on screen choose short cuts, activity, scroll down to att update tap on left side. Uou will see the app below it. Click on it it will send it to desktop.
When you click on it you can edit The dm connection settings.  Click on profile then change to mformation(thats not a typo) Then click on the name choose edit. Then delete all fields except the profile name then save. Try running software update from settings, about device. My device will no longer connect
to the dm server. Im saying good by to lollypop!
I have screen shots.

It would be better if you add the screenshots. If you can't, then feel free to post it on the comment and let other integrate it to your answer.

After my Galaxy Note 3 got all messed up by Lollipop update, I rooted by phone and installed DisableService app from Play Store.
Using DisableService, you can disable  AT&T Software update service.
Good luck.

I haven't tried this, but in your APN settings there's a setting called "fota," which stands for "firmware over the air." Removing that APN type and rebooting your device could stop those updates.

FYI this can be helpful for android owners. I did switch from att to tmobile service after 2 years plan for my galaxys4.The problem I could not get any 4g signal. I was ready to switch back to att free galaxy s5 2 years plan. But I read that the band shift of tmobile and att are different so I found on internet a way to update the ATT shift band to be compatible to Tmobile. For that I need KitKat firmware and I am under lolipop 5.01. I know there is a lot of problems with lolipop(even when I was with att lolipop was terrible, draining battery phone cell signal very weak etc...). So I found away to down grade to kitkat and guess what my 4g is fully functional. it was a firmware problem. So i confirm lolipop is the worst update ever. (lost of 4g, draining battery....) so I am good now with Tmobile. The next step was to root my phone to avoid he update to lolipop.I did use disableservice to kill the ATT update.I Hope this will help for you future next move.

How did you down grade to kitkat? (I stopped using my phone after the auto-update to Android 5)

Please focus on answering the asked question (prevent nagging of "AT&T Software update"). Your background/opinion is not relevant and cluttering the answer, making it hard to know what your answer trying to convey.

authors: هادى عمر سعيد


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Galaxy Nexus sometimes loses home Wi-Fi network (Linksys E900)
I have Gnex stock 4.3, rooted. Sometimes it loses connection to home Wi-Fi, I take it and it has no Wi-Fi icon, and if I go to the settings it will say "Connecting..." and have one signal bar, it won't ever connect till I restart the router. I have Linksys E900 with WPA2, and "keep wifi during sleep - always" and "minimize wifi battery usage - on" in the phone. That never happened when I had AT&T u-verse router.

I know next to nothing about routers, so someone will help with that when they see this. Have you got the correct baseband and radio for your current Jelly Bean ROM? The wrong bootloader, radio or baseband can cause WiFi issues. Have you tried WiFi fixer or similar apps to see if they help with the issue? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wahtod.wififixer&hl=en_GB


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Android Native alternative to AirPlay
I want to give my old apple TV to my parents because my dad wants to stream files from his ipad to his tv. 2 Months ago I made the Switch from iOS to Android, 1.5 Years ago the switch from MAc to Linux.
So I am now looking for a great alternative to Stream all that Media contents, but at least the Audio/Music from my Android Phone around my small flat (TV, Sound System in Living Room and some small Speakers in my bathroom)
Is there a native way to do that, such as airplay in the apple world? Would be great, when the receivers would not be as expensive as an apple TV so less then ~100€ and would also work with pulseaudio (ubuntu)
Ah, forgot to mention: It should be weather built in to the core android system or be a future of poweramp to save battery life and not messing around with another daemon.

Google uses Miracast for its media streaming and most recent devices can use it. As for the receiver, recent TVs have Miracast built in. If your TV doesn't have it, there are some adapters on Amazon.

my TV is quite old, well, It has ... hmm TV built in, yep ;-)
Does it work on android like it worked on Apple, that I can somewhere in a central menu chose where the sound should go to?

For screen mirroring, there's an option in the Settings app but I think you need an app for audio only

Byung-Hoon You need to tag @Tobi using the @ symbol so that he gets notified of your update / comment.

You can use Chrome Cast. It can even stream online music by itself making your Android only a remote control sleeping during the streaming and saving battery life.
If you sync your music library to Google Music (even in free account) you will be able to control it by native Google Music app.
HDMI output can be converted to jack or cinch by adapter if your HiFi does not support them.
Google also introduced Cast for Audio specialized only to Audio, and some HiFi companies started to integrate it into their speakers or receivers.
Another option is streaming to any bluetooth reciever. Either integrated in HiFi or standalone Bluetooth audio adapter.


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Where is the scheduled message option?
I've upgraded my Galaxy Note II to Android 4.3 and if I open the menu when writing an SMS there is no scheduled message option anymore. Where is it gone?

Other users have also reported that this feature has disappeared.
One alternative would be to use SMS Scheduler, or GO SMS Pro (my fave SMS app).

GoSMS pro is a lovely little application, and it's free. I've swapped to hangouts lately and I do kind of miss the UI and customisability of Go. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jb.gosms&hl=en_GB

I was upset at this at first. But, because I rely so heavily on scheduling messages and didn't want to clog up my memory with yet another app just so I can schedule messages, I looked harder. The option is actually still available, it's just been moved. The new location makes absolutely no sense, which is probably why everyone thought it had been removed. Here are some screenshots to show how it's done now.

These images show the conversation I have set up with myself to test various message related things. In the images, you can see the final test message is set to delay (indicated by the little clock). That message just went through while posting this, so I can verify it did work. I no longer feel the need to dump Samsung, and hopefully now neither does anyone else. :-)

What app are you actually showing? That is not the Android Messaging app. Maybe it's some Samsung specific application

Check out PVLL. The app lets you schedule texts in the future.
It also has an automatic delay of 5 seconds before sending, called the "5 second rule", so that I can cancel any errant texts that I send.. Works for me. And there's a sharing layer on top of SMS that lets you share your conversations easier. I use it instead of taking screenshots or cut and paste.

authors: Евгений Корнилин


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Is Android 4.3 the same as 4.0.3?
I came across a Google play app that says version 4.0.3 and up required and I have 4.1.  So do I have to upgrade because I rather not as my old apps ptobably will not work with 4.3.  My question is whether it's a typo and they meant to say 4.3 or is my OS 4.1 good enough?
Phone: S3

They are a bit confusing with their names sometimes. 4.0 is ice cream sandwich, 4.1 is jelly bean 4.2 is jelly bean, 4.3 is... jelly bean again, 4.4 is kitkat. It's a bit weird. They subdivide down again, eg KitKat had 4.4, then a patch making it 4.4.1 then another patch making it 4.4.2. There's no consistencly like the first number changing means a new code name or anything. Generally apps needing 4.0 and up use some feature introduced often Hardware Acceleration. However, some just set their app for that and higher just because really!

Maybe you want to set something as a solution.

Here, you can see the versions: Wikipedia about Android
4.0.x is older than 4.1.x and so on. It's explained here

No, as 4.0.3 is Ice Cream Sandwich while 4.3 is Jelly Bean. What you saw was the version number of the application, not the needed version of Android.
I hope this helped!


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Android System Module Reads Zero Bytes
My Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 started wigging out on me. While I was desperately tapping a Retreat, I think I may have deleted or disabled something. Apps crash frequently since and the "Android System" module in Settings/Application Manager shows zero bytes in all categories - cache, data, app, total, etc.  However,  it is not turned off.
How to correct this?

Could you please [edit] your question and include/link a screenshot (where it says "zero bytes")? Thanks!


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How do I activate Google Translate in Chrome?
When I go on a page that's totally in a foreign language the "do you want to translate" option comes up but how do I make Chrome translate a page that has 90% English and a few lines in another language. Is there a button I can install or something because the Google Translate thing doesn't come up when only a few sentences are in another language.
OS: 4.1
S3

This drives me mad to be honest, I end up copying and pasting from Chrome to Google Translate app when this happens. I'd love to see a workaround to this issue.

Check this ; https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3214105?hl=en

Go to chrome://flags/#translate-android-manual-trigger (copy paste into your browser) and enable this feature. After relaunch, you'll see the new "translate" option in the menu.

This isn't working as of June 2019.

With the latest Google Translate update, you can Enable Tap to Translate feature in Google Translate Settings.
In chrome, long press the text you want to translate and choose copy. A google translate icon will appear in the window and you just tap it to see the translation. In this way, you no need to switch between two apps :)

In my  device（nexus 5）
I have Google translate and chrome.
if i want translate words→long  press →share→translate them.
you can try it. :)
ps: Forgot my poor English.

This approach saves me three steps :)

You can also use the share option in the chrome menu and translate the whole page.

Sadly this won't work for me on a text-heavy page like an article as it seems to have a short length limit, it only shows the first two paragraphs or so of translated text followed by an ellipsis. The optiok to share or copy the translation does not allow you to get the rest translated.


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How to stop fallback from H+ to 3G data
Is it possible, and if so how, to lock the phone to using H+ for data and not dropping back to 3G? I suspect it isn't (firmware of the radio hardware I'm guessing) but there's times where I would be willing to take the battery hit to keep my data on H+ (specific application with data demands that doesn't like dropping back and forwards to 3G).
I'm not talking about changes in signal quality: I can be sitting in a single location, not moving, where both H+ and 3G are available. When data is being requested the phone typically goes to H+ as it is faster. Once the data demands reduce it drops back to 3G. I have read in a number of other places that this is on purpose to save battery. However my issue is that one app I use doesn't handle the transitions well so I'd like to stop the auto-fallback.
Android 4.2.2 on Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, Australian networks.

Thanks for the update! I've integrated it with your original question (and removed my comment, as it got obsoleted by those details), to make it more obvious. Which means, we can remove these two comments then as well :) The answer, however, I have to defer to someone else. As you already did, I suspect that being dealt with by the radio or at least deep in the core. From your description, it might be related to fast dormancy, but I'm not sure about that.

That cannot be done, baseband chip determines signal from nearby masts, continuously scanning depending on area you are in. That is outside of control of your device, no can do. The battery saver is in regards to using 2G.

The best thing to do and it worked for me is download the HSPA+ Tweaker from google play store.
I dont know for sure but i think it works by sending extra data packages to trick the provider into thinking you are in need of a higher and faster connection, thus making your phone stay on H+ rather than dropping down to 3g or less.
I had the exact same problem and it is now sorted with this app.
It may use extra data but it is worth it when you need a quick boost, if you have unlimited data allowance you are laughing really.
you can switch the app off within a swipe and a tap so it really is an all round handy app.


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Sync photos with PC
I am looking for a solution that syncs the photos on my Android phone to a folder on my PC. Samsung Kies doesn't sync photos all it does is just make a backup. I've looked at other solutions and cant seem to find an app that will take my pics and sync them with a folder on my PC and save them like my camera application does in Year>Month>Day folders. Is there such an app that truly syncs like this?

You might wish to take a look at Best way to auto-synchronise music between HTC One and PC. Never mind it's "music files" there, and you're after photos: files are files, in this context :)

Dropbox is great for syncing photos on your mobile device to any connect computer. Dropbox also has up to 26GB of free space. I personally use Dropbox with my family to share photos and information with them.

Yeah but you have to specify a single folder right?


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Are there technical reasons why Android is not as smooth as iOS and can they be overcome?
There are some discussions of this topic on the internet but I'm looking for something objective and technical like the Stack Exchange community is generally quite good at.
I've resisted the smartphone and tablet wave thus far but will probably buy my first Android device soon and start developing for the platform.
I much prefer Android's openness to Apple's walled garden. But the thing that bothers me most is that iOS is silky smooth and Android is not, even on pretty powerful devices with multiple CPU and graphics cores.
Is this something that's already overcome in newer Android or that is really on a problem on older/cheaper devices? Or is it inherent due to Android being fully multitasking and based on Unix?
Edit
(In response to the possibility that this question invites opinion based answers) :
This question is not intended to be opinion based but rather to gather information on real differences in software or hardware that are responsible for the large differences in test results of factors such as Touch screen responsiveness, and rendering speed of UI elements of the Android and iOS operating systems.
Expected answer:

Answer that pinpoints exact differences in software implementations and reasons for doing so that have lead to disparities in responsiveness
Differences in specific hardware (such as the touch screen) that can be a cause
All backed up with actual test results if possible
Any other relevant and well defined causes/reasons

Related: How do I know if an Android tablet supports Project Butter? / Are there any benchmarking apps that measure how smooth scrolling is on a certain device? I remember another specific one, but unfortunately cannot find it currently... "Project Butter" is the keyword here, which worked a lot on "smoothness" :)

I think there are marketing reasons more than technical reasons. I hear a lot of Apple users complaining that iOS is only smooth on the latest hardware.

This really isn't a good question for this site. The questions that work best here are about a specific problem to be overcome that has a definitive solution. This seems to be more an invitation to start a discussion, which is not what this site is for.

Well I don't want a discussion actually. I want to know the actual reasons, not opinions or anything fuzzy. This is a major issue with Android and there should be ways to question it objectively. I think the answers with links containing discussions are such good ways.

If you want to know an actual reason, you need to ask about an actual faster or slower operation, with numbers on a real device. There can't be a technical answer to "why does X feel faster than Y?"

@DanHulme: Your assertion doesn't not make sense and the links provided in answers do in fact contain very interesting technical reasons. Responsiveness does indeed have technical reasons.

Thanks for the edit @reubenjohn. Other objective answers might confirm or reject assertions that using Java is to blame, or that the design predated touchscreen phones and had Blackberry in mind then couldn't break backward compatibility. They could be objective by using links/quotes from Google/Android current or former employees or people who know the open source codebase well. Etc.

This question only attracts low quality technical answers, because most people don't understand the complexity of such a software system. It starts with Android being an open system that needs to run on different hardware, from low-end to high-end, compared to iOS coming from the same manufacturer that also controls the hardware. In my opinion Android is just as smooth as iOS. And I don't see how this question is helpful to future visitors. I am pretty sure the company behind Android will ensure that it stays competitive if there would be a significantly drawback.

I'm sorry, but this question is still too broad for this site. You could write a book about this.

Quroa has two similar questions, both still happily open: Why is iOS so smooth, not only in OS side, but also in each application, while Android is not? • Why do Android phones still fall short compared with the iPhone in terms of smoothness and responsiveness?

There is actually a Google talk on this very topic on YouTube: Google I/O 2012 - For Butter or Worse: Smoothing Out Performance in Android UIs

There is an article that discusses the semi-technical reasons/issues that have lead to the differences in smoothness of Android and iPhone devices.
But after gathering some key points from the article one can conclude:

From the very start, IOS had been built around a  multi-touch screen (meaning IOS had been built from the gound up to be very responsive as opposed to most other OSs that adopted full screen multi-touch displays)
Yes, it is not always hardware (processing power) dependent it is merely a result of IOS operating system giving more priority to UI rendering, etc where as Android distributes the processing power equaly (this may be an advantage or drawback as with a faster UI everything from download speeds to loading content will slow down)

UI rendering occurs on the main thread of an app
UI rendering has normal priority

Android is very popularly known to be highly customization and it is simply a matter of tweaking kernel parameters like 'lowmemkiller' that can make UI:

amazingly smooth -- easily as smooth as the iPhone or WP7 phones

It is not that Android lacks the potential, but simply that developers prefer to spend resources elsewhere (like on the  bigger screens of some devices). Then why doesn't Android spend more resources on UI?

Well, Android is widely distributed among a wide variety of devices, and that is exactly why when it comes to android, only individual owners can overcome these (there is no optimum setting Android developers can set... every device that runs Android has its own set of 'optimum settings' and every user has his own perspective on what they should be 'optimum settings'). So the solution, balance the power...
And no it is not something that has been 'overcome' on newer Android devices. But it depends on what you mean by overcome, as the lowmemkiller of rooted android devices can easily be tweaked (but it comes as a cost to battery,etc...)

For more technicality, see Dianne Hackborn and Andrew Munn

Actually I wasn't expecting it would be something an individual device owner could overcome, but whether the Android OS developers have a plan to overcome it in future OS versions or if they claim it is how it is for valid reasons that will not go away. For example.

The beauty is that when it comes to something as open as the Android OS there is no clear boundary between the users and the developers!

Project butter: smoother UI, massive RAM hog, Project Svelte: trying to undo the butter mess. They're going one step forward then one back again with this. Throw in horrible OEM skins like Samsung Touchwiz and you are left with VERY under optimised UI at the end of it all. Stock KitKat on the S4 is extremely smooth and responsive and maintains a 60fps for me with nearly all UI interactions. It's just the fragmented, overlaid, multiple devices mess that has emerged into the ecosystem that Google are now trying to undo starting with KitKat. Perhaps the new Android Runtime (ART) will help.


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Can I safely use root for I9500, if I have a GT-I9506?
Can I safely use root for I9500, if I have a I9506?
Or will it cause any problems?
If not, what root can I use?
I can't seem to find the I9506 anywhere on the internet. Is it a new edition or is it because it's nordic?
EDIT: Bear with me I'm new to android.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2529064 XDA has threads for the i9506. It is a very different device from the i9500, differing hardware, partitions, bootloaders etc. I would steer away from ANYTHING that does not specifically mention your EXACT device model. ROMs for the 9500 are 100% guaranteed not to work and will brick your device. There isn't much dev work on the i9506 so do read threads on XDA and elsewhere to see what your options are.

I just wanted to add to the "Bear with me I'm new to android." You've already done THE most important thing, and that is read up and ask questions. Rooting etc takes a few minutes... unless it goes wrong. It is horrible when it does, but if you know the steps and you know what you are doing it can mitigate that sinking feeling! The more you read up the better for you. Just remember you must see your exact device variant before flashing anything, and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS backup everything (including your backups!)

If you're thinking of Chainfire's CF-Auto-Root, don't use the files for I9500, I9505, I9505G. Chances are it might not work.
However, XDA has a thread with a pre-rooted GT-I9506 stock ROM. You can try that instead.

You can use this rooting method for I9506.
NOTE: I'm not responsible for any cause of problems that happens to your phone while doing the rooting.


text:
Play Store keep crashing while updating apps on Nexus 5
Ok so, I have a Nexus 5, stock, updated to last Android version.
When I update apps, some of them, while downloading the update, make the Google Play Store crash to home.
I start again the play store and I start updating them again: this time, no problem.
It's not a big deal, but the randomness is kinda annoying me.
Anyone has any idea on why this could happen?

For some reason Nexus devices have an ongoing problem with playstore funny thing is Google are aware of it but dont seem to be able to fix the issues. I've had an similar issue with a Nexus 4 but I just downloaded an app called Aptoide to get my apps from and avoided the Play store altogether. Hope this helps.

I have the same problem with my Nexus 4 using the Android Runtime (ART). It seems to be related to ART and/or the new "differential updates" that the Play Store now allows. Most app updates will now only download the updated files and resources in the APK. If a crash happens on an update, it will always occur during the gap between when the updated files are downloaded and when the installation starts.
If you're using ART, try switching back to Dalvik.

Not using ART, actually.