text:
New Google Maps - how to launch quickly navigation
Recently released Google Maps doesn't have a standalone app for Navigation which was quick to use - only one tap and voice recognition to start. It takes at least four taps in new Maps to navigate, which is not good to operate while driving. Google Now is not on devices with ICS and below (still majority).
How to start navigation quickly by one tap in current Google Maps? (Google Now is not supported)
Observed on: Google Maps version: 7.02 (700021001), Android ICS 4.0.4, Sony Xperia Active

Previous standalone app on left started navigation immediately after speaking the destination.
New Maps app on right takes 4 taps to small nav icon, edit, mike, start and doesn't show alternatives if voice recognition is poor.

There is a shortcut to navigate to a defined destination. Any option to shortcut/widget to voice-recognition for navigation or similar?

I have a "Navigation" icon in my app drawer, which brings me to Google Maps with the "starting point" and "destination" fields front and center. Do you not?

@AlEverett that icon disappeared from my phone with the recent Maps update. If you look around forums etc it looks like 50% of people had the separate icon removed, 50% kept it, even for same model/OS phones on same networks.

@GAThrawn: I'll consider myself lucky, then.

@myneur: It would be helpful for you to [edit] your question to include the device and the version of the OS. (It wouldn't hurt to have the version of Maps you're using, too.)

Solution for english is to use Voice Commands. Tap on a mike of a Google Search widget and say „navigate to ‚desired destination‘“.
In other languages you can find a voice assistant like Antelli for Czech who can launch the navigation for you the same way but in your language. (Set it to listen immediately after launch.)
Or with English UI language you can say the command phonetically in your language set for Speech recognition (at least on Android 4.4). If you tell it well so the recognition writes the english word, the voice command will work.

It does not allow me to add an image how it looks: link


text:
Danger of increasing the vibration strength of phone
Are there any dangers or possible negative consequences to increasing the vibration strength of a phone? Ideas were damages to the motor, lower battery life or increased wear leading to a shorter operating life? I don't know how likely or possible these are.
Specifically I want to use Vibration Config to increase the strength of my hopeless Nexus 4's vibration.

The problem is not the strength, but the direction. At least my Nexus 4 makes no noise if it vibrates while lying flat on the table. Lay it on the side, and it will wake the dead.
The axis of rotation should be paralell to the screen, not perpendicular. No amount of software will fix this hardware/design error.

Here is a DIY stand, that will help the phone to vibrate in a noticable way.

This may be helpful information, but it doesn't really answer the question.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How to find the unboxing date of an Android device?
Someone told me that he has opened a phone only 4 days ago, but by the look of it, it is not less than a month.
When trying to buy a used phone, is there any way to check how long this phone is in use? Or the date when this phone is turned on the first time? Or the time of unboxing? Or the time of the first usage?

Define not less than a month?

@t0mm13b "at least a month" is the usual definition.

You can simply go the Service menu of your phone and see the total call time which is very hard to reset. By that, you can assume how long it has been used.
As of Android 4.3 Jellybean, that is the best you can get.

This answer was given by izzy on this question. I won't take credit for it so do not upvote this answer. please go to izzy's answer and upvote there.

with your Google account's credentials, log in to the Google Dashboard
Scroll to the section labeled "Android" and expand it (by clicking its title / the LGM [little green man])
Check the entry for the device you want to know the date for

Checking for the timestamps on various folders in internal storage.
Android folders might be created at the time of ROM installation (device manufacturing), but many app folders are created on the date of activation. Firmware updates don't generally remove this, though factory reset might. However, the issue is checking the correct folders which change from device to device, and a factory reset might also reset these dates.

Checking the age of the battery.
Counting cycles of battery use could be a rough way. Even checking the absolute battery capacity relative to original battery capacity could give an idea. However, if the battery is changed, this fails irrespective of the age.

Another option to find the date the device was physically built:
Settings (scroll to bottom) > About phone (scroll all the way down to the bottom again) > build date
Just checked this out on my phone. I unboxed the phone in November 2013, and the phone shows build date from September 2013, so that seems to be it.
model: Droid MAXX
Android version: 4.4

That's the date the ROM was compiled, not the date the device was  physically manufactured. Mine, for example, has a build date of May 5, 2014, but I purchased it in late 2013 (so clearly it was not physically built in 2014).

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

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


text:
How to Hide an Application
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 Plus and I have one application listed in my Settings - Manage Apps list that I want hidden from the user.  This is not an icon - it is the application name in the list of apps on the phone under the setting section.  Is there a way to either 1. hide the app (make it not visible on the app list) or 2. lock the app list so the user cannot open it to see what apps are listed there.  I do not want to password protect the whole phone or individual icons, just the Manage Applications section under Settings.
Best solution is to figure out how to make that app name hidden from the Manage Applications list, but I am not sure that is possible without either deactivating or removing it.  Any help is appreciated.

Related: Hide applications from Apps menu

If you don't want to remove or deactivate the application, then either:

you can install a 3rd party launcher (like Nova) and hide the application from the app drawer.
you can download Hide it pro and basically you can anything in your phone.

On 4.3 you could create a restricted user profile, and block access to the Settings app from that profile (and to the app you want to hide, presumably). If you're not on 4.3, or you're not willing to create a restricted user profile, you're out of luck.
Hypothetically, you could replace the Settings app with one that's programmed to hide the app you're interested in, using a custom ROM (or if you're rooted, by just replacing that package), but I don't think someone has already patched the Settings app that way, so you would probably have to do a bit of programming to achieve it. Such a piece of software would be very like what's known in the PC world as a rootkit, a type of malware, so you should think very carefully before searching for or attempting such a thing.

Aren't user profiles--even restricted ones--still only limited to tablets?

Oh, of course: it hadn't occurred to me that the OP is particularly interested in a phone. Looks like he's in the "out of luck" case, then.


text:
How do I upload Cyanagenmod when the only things I have access to are Download mode and ClockworkMod recovery?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, the UK version. I managed to mess up in the beginning when trying to install CM and now have it in a state where I can either boot into Download mode or ClockworkMod Recovery.
The instructions say to use ADB to connect and upload the zip file, but this doesn't seem to work in either of the two modes I can boot into. I can no longer boot into stock Android to copy the file across there either.
How do I upload the CM zip file? Is there another step I'm missing?

It says 'error: device offline'. If I list the devices I get ' offline'. I've tried under both Windows and Linux with the same result.

I'm using the stock cable. I tried install Kies after I started this debacle and it won't talk to the Tab.

In recovery mode, use this:
adb shell mount /sdcard
adb push {filename} /sdcard/{filename}

UPDATE #1: An alternative suggested by ce4:

Pull out the SD card, copy all needed files externally, and put it
  back in

UPDATE #2: It seems the user did not install CWM correctly. After fixing this, adb push now works as expected.

Still says 'error: device offline'. Should I be in download mode or recovery?

Sorry, you did say recovery mode. I wasn't reading properly.

Yes, recovery. If that doesn't work. Try with another cable. If that doesn't work, try plugging it at the USB at the back of the PC.

You can also pull out the SD card, copy all needed files externally and put it back in. Then boot the recovery.

@ce4 BEST and EASIEST idea ever. I always used to do that. A shame I didn't think of it. LOL.

@ce4 But chances are he may not have a card reader.

The storage marked as /sdcard is actually internal. There is an external card and I have uploaded the file to it, but when I browse to it on the Tab, the external storage directory appears empty.

@Simmo Are you uploading it to the correct path? In my case, the External SD is /storage/extSdCard on my Samsung Galaxy S4.

I don't have a reader so I stuck the card in an old phone temporarily. I copied the .zip to the root of the card. On the Tab it's listed as /sdcard/external_sd, but that directory is always empty.

Wish I had CWM right now... From the CWM, can you post the path you are going to? I can't remember the menus in CWM.

Menu - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19316597/menu.jpg

External card, empty listing - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19316597/empty_card.jpg

I realised I hadn't actually been successful in installing ClockworkMod Recovery. Once I'd managed to do that correctly, I was forward a step and your tip worked. Still isn't working but that's a question for another page.

@Simmo +1 to your question, and I added your updates to my answer. :)


text:
Rooting nexus 4 failed
I was trying to root my nexus 4 by the following steps:

Download and copy the file UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip to /sdcard/
Download the file CWM 6.0.3.5
Got into Fastboot/Bootloader Mode on Nexus 4
Execute the command fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.5-mako.img
Choose RECOVERY from the Fastboot menu and enter Recovery Mode
In ClockworkMod recovery “flash zip from SD card”
Then selected “choose zip from sdcard”
Now I should see the copied file UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip but there was none, and I got the output `Can't mount /sdcard/

Then I tried to use Install zip from sideload

I sent the file with adb sideload UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.43.zip
I get the output:
Restarting adbd...
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_install`
E:failed to open last_install: Invalid argument
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...
***********
SuperSU installer ZIP
***********
Mounting /system, /data and rootfs
Disabling OTA survival
Removing old files
Creating space
Extracting files
Restoring files
Setting permissions
Unmounting /system and /data
Done

Then I go back and choose reboot system now but when booting only the GOOGLE sign pops up and then the X (I was waiting for about an hour)
SOLVED
I did a full reset by downloading the original factory image from google
here
And then I followed the steps in this tutorial:
here

I don't know about your method, which seems pretty complicated and you might have done something wrong. But here is the method I've followed and it worked like a charm.

Trust me my friend, using Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit v2.1.4 is the way to go with ALL nexus devices. Double check your drivers too (toolkit will do this)

Put the Solved part in an answer, and copy down relevant details from the links to prevent a link rot. Then after 2 days, accept your own answer.


text:
Using ADB to change the screen lock
I am looking for a way to change the screen lock type from slide to password, and set the password via adb command line. I have a device with the setup I want, and one that has slide lock. I'm pretty sure this can be accomplished via sqlite3 "copy paste" of some fields, but not sure which fields, and how to do it. I'm open to pretty much all ideas except using adb shell input commands to accomplish this. Meaning - I can/know how to/am currently using commands input swipe input text input tap commands to change swipe unlock to password unlock.
edit1: clarified adb shell input, and yes, my phone is rooted.
edit2: relevant links:
How to change lock screen type
Pass encryption on android
According to the post in the first link, it should be easy to change the lockscreen type, the only problem is that I cannot find the lockscreen.password_type field in the database they refer to. Has it moved in 4.3? After reading through the article in the second link my idea became to use the salt number stored in the database to hash out a new password using the device specific salt, and override the existing (if any) password. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this.

Since Android 8.0 Oreo, you can change the lock screen using below adb commands
adb shell

athene_f:/ $ locksettings
usage: locksettings set-pattern [--old OLD_CREDENTIAL] NEW_PATTERN

   locksettings set-pin [--old OLD_CREDENTIAL] NEW_PIN
   locksettings set-password [--old OLD_CREDENTIAL] NEW_PASSWORD
   locksettings clear [--old OLD_CREDENTIAL]
   locksettings verify [--old OLD_CREDENTIAL]
   locksettings set-disabled DISABLED
   locksettings get-disabled

flags:
   --user USER_ID: specify the user, default value is current user

locksettings set-pin: sets a PIN
locksettings set-password: sets a password
locksettings clear: clears the unlock credential
locksettings verify: verifies the credential and unlocks the user
locksettings set-disabled: sets whether the lock screen should be disabled
locksettings get-disabled: retrieves whether the lock screen is disabled

And if you want to remove the password, just use below code:
$ locksettings clear --old old_password_put_here

Here is the reference link: The Android Soul - How to change or remove lock screen pattern, PIN or password via ADB on Android 8.0 Oreo
I have tested on Android Oreo device. It works just fine.

Getting response as Request Throttled. What does that mean?

There's no built-in functionality to set the password via the command-line, neither from a shell on the device nor from adb. You can't even achieve this by pasting the stored password into the secure settings file from another device. The password isn't stored as plain text, but rather a cryptographic hash of the password is stored. This hash is generated using the password and a salt value: a random number generated once on the device.
Hashing the password prevents someone from stealing your phone and finding the password. This is important not just to protect the password itself (in case you use the same password for other things), but also because the password is used to encrypt the device's key store, and as part of the full-device encryption feature. Salting the password with a device-specific salt ensures an attacker can't use a rainbow table to determine the password. (A rainbow table is a list of every possible hashed password, which one queries to find the original password given the hashed password. The technique allows naïve password implementations such as Windows 95's to be broken in less than a second using a normal desktop computer.)
In addition, the code that updates the stored password when you change it through the GUI has other side-effects. As I've mentioned, the password is used to encrypt the device's key store, which can be used by all apps on the device to store credentials securely. Changing the saved password without updating the key store would result in the stored credentials being lost. In addition, if full-device encryption is used, changing the saved password without updating the device encryption key would result in all storage becoming inaccessible.
To achieve the functionality you want, the easiest way would be to patch a custom ROM to export the functionality that the settings app uses to change the password, and add a command-line program that can change the password in the same way. It might even be possible to hack up an app that can do this using reflection to get access to the un-exported functions, but the app would still need root, and it would be specific to the ROM (and maybe even the version of the ROM) on the device.
The relevant code is here if you're interested.

Well, the thing is I read this article: [http://forensics.spreitzenbarth.de/2012/02/28/cracking-pin-and-password-locks-on-android/] and it essentially tells you how to break open a password using the password.key file (this is the encrypted password?) and settings.db (stores the salt?) to brute force attack the password somehow (I don't know enough about encryption to fully comprehend this article). Based on this article I then came up with the idea of potentially using the device specific salt to encrypt a new pass, and overwrite password.key  Flawed logic or possible?

the article

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


text:
Incredible 4G LTE: Things I need to do after getting s-off
I went through the tutorial found here and was able to unlock the bootloader, get s-off, get CWM installed, and superuser. Here are the questions I am having now.

Should I relock the bootloader after getting s-off? Will that prevent me from doing anything?
In that tutorial under the facepalm instructions, do I need to do step 7 if I already got s-off using facepalm?
How can I remove * TAMPERED * from the bootloader?

Should I relock the bootloader after getting s-off? Will that prevent
  me from doing anything?

No. You can't flash unsigned ROM nor alter ROM (e.g. get permanent root). Source.

In that tutorial under the facepalm instructions, do I need to do step
  7 if I already got s-off using facepalm?

Yes. It is needed so you can flash the /boot partition from recovery. The stock HBOOT blocks access while in recovery. Source.

How can I remove * TAMPERED * from the bootloader?

UPDATE 2013-08-16: From OP: After following the steps he mentioned in the guide, TAMPERED is gone and has been replaced with the -- DirtyRacun -- label. There also is nothing that says UNLOCKED anymore.

Awesome thanks a bunch! So for the directions on step 7 though. All I need to do is the steps on the right hand side of the page? I dont need to do all of that stuff down the middle right because thats mostly for getting s-off?

@Metropolis Yeah, right side only. :)

Okay heres the deal. I did the HBOOT flash, now the TAMPERED is gone and has been replaced with the -- DirtyRacun -- label. There also is nothing that says UNLOCKED anymore. So I guess if I ever needed to try and get back to stock, I would first need to flash a stock HBOOT and then relock and get s-on right?

@Metropolis When you flash a stock ROM, you usually lose root, but the bootloader stays unlocked (for Samsung Galaxy S4 anyway). So yes, I suppose you need to do what you just mentioned. You can also Ask another question just to be sure. I'm not familiar with HTC.


text:
Does the Secure Random bug affect apps besides Bitcoin?
The Bitcoin Project recently announced a bug in the SecureRandom implementation on Android, which caused Bitcoin wallet apps to generate weak private keys that leave bitcoins vulnerable to theft.
The major wallet apps have released updates which apparently include their own RNGs instead of using SecureRandom.
However, in principle, weak random numbers could cause vulnerability in any crypto system where they're used. Thus this could affect any app that uses this function for secure communication: perhaps pgp, ssh, remote access and tracking, or even the built in ssl and https implementations.
Is there any information about other affected apps? Has Google announced an OS update to fix the bug, or otherwise responded to the issue?

I believe that Android's SSL/HTTPS uses OpenSSL which has its own RNG.

I do not know of any specific apps, but it certainly CAN (on probably does) affect other apps. Read here for Google's notes on the problem, as well as info for developers on how to avoid the bug. They have also issued patches and sent them to their OHA partners, but it is up to each of them to roll out the update.


text:
path for echo binary location
I am unable to find the "echo" binary in the /bin path (supposedly the path for storage of essential binaries) on Galaxy S2 on which I am working on. And yes, the "echo" command is perfectly working when I tried it on adb shell. I have also tried looking into sbin, xbin and other such directories.
Does somebody know where else I can find it?

Yepp, in the shell. echo is a built-in command, see Why is echo a shell built in command?, Wikipedia: Shell built-in, and The echo command. So you won't find any "echo binary", as it is contained in the sh command.

Sorry, actually what I meant was an executable, and not a binary. So, I can see "mv", "ls" and other such executables.. but not "echo" although echo command works.                  I require to use the path for this executable in another system call.

All the same. The echo command is, as I wrote, built into the shell. The shell is executed when you log in (e.g. via adb shell), so there's no need for any separate executable or symlink (as it is done with busybox, for example).

If the system shell on your Android device is an mksh (i.e. /system/bin/mksh, normally), and the mksh version is recent enough that it supports direct builtin calls already, then you can create a link or symlink from echo to mksh (anywhere not mounted noexec). This will then expose the shell’s echo builtin as externally callable utility.
Note that you should normally be using the builtin, not an external utility, for speed, if possible.
Disclaimer: I’m the mksh maintainer.


text:
Google Drive App says folder is empty, even though it is not
I've recently started to use Google Drive on my devices (desktop, laptop, smartphone). It works great, but not on my phone. All folders were populated, but now some are suddenly empty (folder still there). I tried re-synchronising but nothing seems to help.
Any clues?

Have you tried clearing the data/cache of Google Drive via Application Manager? Let me know if it works so I can add it as answer.

@geffchang No, that doesn't work.


text:
Play Store (web) doesn't show my device on my default Google Account
So I had three different Google Accounts set up on my Nexus 4:

personal google account - personal device
personal google apps account
company google account - two company devices (both no longer active)

Until 4.3 I had absolutely no problems, with the 4.3 update - some of the apps stopped updating (Error RPC:S-5:AEC-0).
I removed all of my accounts of the device and then re-added only my personal google account.
Now my Nexus 4 won't show up in my personal account's play store on the web but looks to be attached to my company google account, so I can install apps from the play store on the device but not through the web interface, which simply states: "You don't have any devices". Although on my personal google account I can see my wishlist being sync'ed between the two, and apps I install on the device show on the "My apps" screen, I cannot locate my device either through the android device manager.
What could be the cause, and how can it be fixed?
Extra Info

I currently only have my personal google account set up on the
device.
I've tried setting the default account through the Play Store app, but it still doesn't work
Locate my device settings on the device are active, and I'd assume it to work with my personal google account as there aren't any others active.

There's a new Play Store app (4.3.11). Perhaps this issue has been addressed.

The problem fixed itself when I removed all google accounts and added a new device (a new nexus 7!) to my account.

Error RPC:S-5:AEC-0 is known issue and many are facing the same issue as you. Check: Google Play Error [RPC:S-5:AEC-0]

Thanks for the suggestion - unfortunately it doesn't help. I'll add the extra info as an edit to the question itself for future reference.


text:
Google Services consumes an excess of data since I moved
You know the part of android that checks your email, syncs your calendar and the such? Google Services has murdered my data cap, taking 605 MB of data in four days, two of which were spent with background data restricted and missed emails as a result.

Is there something wrong with my profile that Android sync keeps trying to fix but cannot? Is it something else? I noticed this started shortly after I moved from Wind in Italy to O2 in Germany.

I'm not looking for ways to monitor or restrict background data, given that the graph and the switch are right there. :-)

Known issue, see e.g. here. For a possible solution, see XDA Developers: It's obviously a bug, either with OTA or Network Location or Google Play.


text:
Samsung Knox For Non Pre-Installed Devices?
I heard about Samsung Knox recently. I have a simple question about it: how to download Samsung Knox and install it to my Samsung device which doesn't have Knox pre-installed? I believe the pre-installed Knox is only on Galaxy S4 device.

FYI it also comes on the Note 3, at least the UK version.

According to the official KNOX website, Samsung KNOX is tightly integrated into the operating system. It uses hardware support to verify the bootloader integrity, a custom bootloader to verify the OS integrity, and a custom kernel at runtime. It changes the layout of the device's filesystem to add separate encrypted storage for the business-related files. It also relies on hardware support through ARM's TrustZone technology.
Depending on how much of the hardware support already exists on other Samsung devices, it may be possible for Samsung to later backport the KNOX feature for older Samsung phones with a device update, but it's certainly not possible for anyone else to do so, not even by installing a custom ROM. (That wouldn't add the bootloader support to ensure the ROM isn't changed later.)


text:
Heimdall errors, "ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device."
When trying to flash a Galaxy S3 (ATT), I get

ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.

below is the log,
$ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img
Heimdall v1.4.0

Copyright (c) 2010-2013, Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.

Start off by making sure that you're plugged into a USB 2.0 port. Then,
put the device in download-mode,

$ sudo adb reboot download

continue flashing with heimdall,

$ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img

That should work,
Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Attempt failed. Detaching driver...
Claiming interface again...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.

Beginning session...

Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!

Session begun.

Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.

Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful

Ending session...
Rebooting device...
Releasing device interface...
Re-attaching kernel driver...

I don't see how the error is related to the answer. Usually when heimdall tells you that there is 'no device in download mode' then it is unable to find a device. This can be caused because the permissions of the device's USB node, which prevent the user running heimdall to access the device node.

Oh I just saw the sudo before the heimdall command. Well this would fix the error of course. Maybe you want to point that little fact out in your answer.

Or using heimdall with a device in download mode and restrictive device node permissions could cause this error. Then sudo will "fix" it.

This error message, like most error messages, can have more then one cause.

What's wrong with USB 3? I tried everything, then noticed the first sentence!

adb reboot download gives "error: device not found" for me.

Got the same issue years later, and solved it by.. using another USB cable!
Indeed, some USB cables are only made for energy transfer and do not support data transmission
You may also want to test other USB ports and check if your device is detected with lsusb

One possible explanation is that you have confused recovery mode and download mode which are (I have just discovered) two different things on some phones, mine included.  I had the same error and switching to download-mode fixed it.

Install Teamwin recovery
put in recovery mode
wipe everything
fix system partition
reboot from recovery into download mode
now flash
worked for me

The question was asked in 2013, for this to be a valid answer you're going to have to elaborate. Include bullet point instructions, and screenshots.


text:
How to share Android "Reverse-tethered" internet via Android WiFi?
Before going into main question, we do know that :

we can do Reverse Tethering from PC into android (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1371345)
And we can share current phone internet connection via Portable WiFi hotspot (or similar apps in Google Play)

Now the question is :
"Is there a way to share the reverse-tethered internet (as we known connected via usb0 interface) via "Android WiFi Hotspot?"
To make it easier, here's the schema:

Schema of my setup (click image for larger variant)
*Additional Notes :

Actually I don't give a limit which version of the Android (so if it's just compatible in higher version e.g. 4.2, it's okay for me), but I prefer it works on 2.3.x (Gingerbread)
Some explanations of how to make APN (Infrastructure Mode) on Android (just like Wireless Router/[netsh wlan hostednetwork] on Windows 7/8) might be really helpful too.
And also some explanations about how to masquerade (internet sharing) between two interfaces in Android. (such as ICS in Windows or Masquerade/iptables thingy in Linux-based)

possible duplicate of How to set up reverse tethering over USB?

@t0mm13b No. The OP doesn't want to know how to set up reverse tether, but how to share that connection to other devices.

yeah, that's quite different that just reverse tether.. it's more advanced which, after you tether, you do "masquerade" sharing from usb0 into wlan0 and broadcast that as wifi hotspot. i understand that mistake that pretty "similar". please let LO this one. thanks in advance.

Btw: You might wish to take a look at Can we use an Android phone as a Wi-Fi repeater? and see how it applies to your case. Don't forget to let us know here then :)

I managed to make it work.  Here is an "OSI-like" diagram of my setup, if it makes sense:
 ____________________   ______________________________    ____________
|   LinuxVM <----+  |  |                              |  |            |
|  VirtualBox    |  |  |                              |  |            |
| Windows7(host) |  |  | +--> AndroidPhone <-------+  |  | +-->Laptop |
|  (USB)         +-------+   (USB)  (wifi-HotSpot) +-------+   (wifi) |
|___________________|  |______________________________|  |____________|

The script is located at the XDA forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50236807&postcount=9
## 0.a. Connect android-phone to PC through USB.
## 0.b Enable Settings|...|Tethering
##  (so that the device gets detected by the PC's kernel, you should see the following with 'dmsg':
##         [    3.976599] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 usb0: register 'rndis_host' at usb-0000:00:0b.0-1, RNDIS device, 4e:d5:8c:7b:4f:5a
## Enable Settings|...|Wifi-Hotspot

## Setup usb reverse-tethering.
#  from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2287494
#
#  Yours device might be 'rndis0' or something else.  Check by just typing 'netcfg'.
#
netcfg usb0 dhcp
busybox route add default gw 10.42.0.1 dev usb0

## Disable mobile-data.
#
busybox ifconfig rmnet_usb0  0.0.0.0

## Masquerade through USB.
#
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
iptables -t nat -F
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o usb0 -j MASQUERADE
iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT

## Set DNS (if neccessary, ie google's 8.8.4.4).
#
setprop net.dns1 XX.YY.ZZ.WW

man.. the wait is over. this is the godlike answer XD Thanks a lot :)

Excuse me, would you please tell me where to write and execute this script to allow wifi tethering while reverse tethering from usb? And please, is it a one way process or is it temporal?

it's temporal. it breaks if any of interface down (offline) or restarted.
write this script via text editor and save it as .sh, execute it via terminal (emulator).

I able to access PC internet in android mobile using "AndroidTool.exe" tool now can anyone tell me what is next step to share the internet using wifi-HotSpot to other devices. above command tried still no success.

I made a tool special for that use case: tetherspot
This script simplifies reverse USB tethering with WiFi hotspot on non-rooted Android devices
The main idea is to use

Gnirehtet on PC to start reverse USB tethering via VPN and adb
Proxy server on Android to route WiFi hotspot traffic to VPN


text:
Boot HTC Desire S into recovery mode without power button
Hi Android Enthusiasts,
The power button of my HTC Desire S is broken (no response whatsoever), so I have to connect my phone to a usb cable to get it out of stand-by mode. I understood that with a custom rom I can use a volume button for instance to get it out of stand-by mode. However, for flashing the rom onto the HTC Desire S I have to boot it into recovery mode. Which involves pressing the power button...
Any alternative ways to boot the phone into recovery mode?

Yes:

Make sure ADB is installed on your PC (see e.g. Is there a minimal installation of ADB?)
Make sure you have USB debugging enabled (Settings → Development)
Connect your device to the PC via USB
On the PC, open a command prompt and type adb reboot recovery

Your device should now reboot into recovery mode.

If your device is rooted then you can download an application called Quick Boot from the Google play store.
Check this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.siriusapplications.quickboot
This app will let you quickly boot your device in various modes (including Recovery).
Thanks


text:
Unbrick HTC Desire
This is my output of fastboot getvar all
(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: 6.93.1002
(bootloader) version-baseband: 5.17.05.23
(bootloader) version-cpld: None
(bootloader) version-microp: 051d
(bootloader) version-main: 2.12.110.4
(bootloader) serialno: HT08MPL005xx
(bootloader) imei: xxx
(bootloader) product: bravo
(bootloader) platform: HBOOT-8x50
(bootloader) modelid: PB9920000
(bootloader) cidnum: T-MOB003
(bootloader) battery-status: good
(bootloader) battery-voltage: 4109mV
(bootloader) partition-layout: Generic
(bootloader) security: off
(bootloader) build-mode: SHIP
(bootloader) boot-mode: RUU
(bootloader) commitno-bootloader: dirty-365c78d6
(bootloader) hbootpreupdate: 11

I have downloaded RUU RUU_Bravo_Froyo_HTC_WWE_2.29.405.14_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_224699_signed
Which is for a different radio. So I downloaded 32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27 and did:
fastboot flash radio radio.img

and received this output:
sending 'radio' (26112 KB)...
OKAY [  4.836s]
writing 'radio'...
FAILED (remote: image update error)
finished. total time: 8.362s

according to google that means that the radio.img is corrup. I took it from the mirror of http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=687464 I have found an other radio.img which has the same version as the RUU from http://www.generalfiles.me/download/gs61d0834bh32i0/bravo.radio-5.11.05.27-signed.zip.html but that did make the desire shake three times when it was writing the radio and then hang.

Thanks for sharing the story -- but what exactly is your question?

Lol, well the radio flash failed, and because of that the ruu failed. so how to proceed to have a working htc desire again?

Ah, OK. Always good to mention the question explicitly :) As from the error message, could it be the radio.img is corrupt? You could e.g. check Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? for an alternative source.


text:
Where did Wikipedia Pro app disappear to?
There was this Wikipedia Pro app (paid app; official app by Wikimedia Foundation) coexisitng with the free Wikipedia since long ago app that I purchased. Suddenly, it just seems to vanish from the surface of the earth. Googling hasn't helped me yet.
Anyone with any ideas?
A few bucks is not a big deal but I don't feel like getting fooled.
The sneaky part about his act is that the Wiki Encyclopedia Pro app disappeared from Google search results as well. I understand if some nobody contributes a free app and decide to pull out for whatever reason but big names doing things in secrecy behind their paying customers' back is different.
Updates
I've doubled-checked and the app was not made by Wikimedia Foundation so apologies. It appears Excelentia did it and their account got shut down by Google. So apparently 9 million users don't matter to Google.

No idea! Apps come and go depending on support, time, cost and energy, or for other reasons such as developers left, no can do, unless it was open-sourced?

No @DanHulme, I'm referring to the official app by Wikimedia foundation. The only reason why it's confusing now because that official app is gone

Was it really an official app by Wikimedia Foundation ? If we talk about this one, then when I search for the same namespace (uk.co.wikiapps), I found this. Also, I don't see the Wikimedia Foundation make a Paid app (and not even an app at all).

Well, they actually made one which is free, and they don't sell a "pro" version.

Yeah, I can't find any mention of a paid version on the official launch announcement, and they mention there that supplanting the third-party paid apps with a free version was a major reason for developing it, so it seems unlikely that there has ever been a pro version. If it was a third-party app purporting to be from WMF, it may have been pulled by Google.

If an app you've been using isn't offered on the Play Store for some reason (other than being removed for legal reasons, or if it's malware), you can usually still find and install it from your install history.
From the web version of the Play Store, click on Apps, then click on My Apps on the left which should take you to https://play.google.com/apps which should show a list of all of the apps you've ever installed, including ones which have been discontinued, and you can click through to install them:

Alternatively you can do the same thing on your phone, open the Play Store app, go to My Apps, and then change from the "Installed" tab to the "All" tab and scroll down until you find your app (I think they're listed in the order that you first installed them):

(I'd advise using the web page, as you can normally find what you're after quicker than when doing a lot of scrolling down in the app)

Thanks @GAThrawn. 1) I already tried viewing my apps on Google Play website but the Wikipedia Pro app is not there anymore! 2) I've just tried the mobile view as you suggested but it's not there either. The app you mentioned as example deserve respect then since it quits decently


text:
How do you disable geotagging for stock camera?
I have stock (i.e. pure Google with no manufacturer customizations) Android 4.3 and I use the built-in camera app. I searched around on the camera app settings but couldn't find any mention of GPS or geotagging. I also searched around the settings → location but didn't find anything specific to the camera.
How do you disable geotagging for the built-in camera app?

People can help you, if you mention your device name or model with android version. Because different device has different type of settings, even if they are Android.

re - "what device is this": I listed it as "stock android 4.3" because I believe all stock android 4.3 devices should have the same built-in camera app. I was trying to make the question more universal instead of limiting it to one hardware device.

I don't want to undermine your beliefs, but different manufacturers tend to exchange such components, so for this I have to agree with chris. I however agree with you that you mentioned the Android version already :)

To the best of my knowledge 'stock Android 4.3' built-in camera app will be the same no matter what hardware as long as the hardware is running stock Android 4.3 (EX: Nexus 4, 'Pure Version' of HTC One, 'Pure Version' of Galaxy S4). When I say 'stock Android 4.3' I am referring to the version of Android that does not have manufacturer added skins like HTC Sense, Samsung Touchwize, etc. I'm no expert though. Just a casual user.

@TrevorBoydSmith Thanks for clarifying. Usually when people say "stock", they mean whatever came with the phone, even if that includes manufacturer customizations. That's why everyone wants to be sure. I've taken the liberty of adding that information to your question.

@DanHulme Thanks for informing me on the usage of 'stock' in this context (Funny how the meaning of words always changes depending on the situation, group!). Also thanks for updating the question for me.

A tip, if you're about to upload a picture (even if it has geotagging in there or not), upload to imgur server where it actually does strip out the EXIF data (that is where geotagging info gets stored in) or look at this answer to manually strip out the EXIF data yourself. :)

Follow these steps, if the icon in (3) has a line through it then it will not store your location in your images.

Open the menu
Choose settings
Tap the location icon

authors: กิตติพล ปรีชารัตนศิริ


text:
When taking pictures with GPS enabled, is the 'has the "GPS searching/locked notification icon" been disabled?
Background:
In stock (i.e. pure Google with no manufacturer customizations) Android 4.3 using the built-in camera app, I am using the geotagging feature of the camera app.
Description of the problem:
When the geotagging is turned on I don't see any GPS status in the notification bar. Previously when in the camera app on older version when geotagging is turned on I would see an icon appear in the notifcation bar. The icon that appears would indicate your GPS model is in use and a circle would indicate 'searching for GPS' and then the filled in circle would indicate 'GPS acquired and locked'.
Question:
When you enable geotagging in Android 4.3 built-in camera app, has the 'GPS searching/locked notification icon' been hidden even though GPS is being used?
Motivation:
The reason I ask is because the previous method is akin to a video camera's red blinking light . Where the red blinking light tells you that you are recording and then you can take appropriate action. Without the red blinking light on the video camera you would have all sorts of recordings when you didn't want and other problematic scenarios.
Returning back to the Android camera app scenario, if the GPS icon doesn't ever appear to the user... even if GPS is actively being used --> that would lead to situations where I would record the GPS location for a photo when I didn't want to record the GPS location.

re - "I saw the GPS notification show up for about 1 second": I also have a Nexus 4. I did the exact same thing and did not see the GPS icon show up at all for all my geotagged pictures. I went to the gallery and confirmed that the pictures were geotagged by checking the 'details' of the picture and seeing a lat/long. / I have all location services enabled (i.e. access to my locaiton is on, gps checked, wifi and mobile network location checked). I tried disabling wife and mobile network location. I still did not get any GPS icon to show.

Did you use the stock camera app in 4.2? That didn't show the lock icon either: With the Android 4.2 camera app, how can I tell if I have a GPS lock?

@GAThrawn ahh good catch on the duplicate question. I am using the stock camera app. I observed the same behavior as seen in the question you linked to. Specifically this comment "Strangely the GPS icon only appears as I switch back to the camera, so you have to be quite quick at spotting it. Bit of a kludgey workaround, but it does seem to work, thanks."

I saw this topic recently in another forum. Only some devices seem to be affected; and there are some apps one could use to force the GPS revealing its state AFAIR.

I've just tried on my Nexus 4 and it does show up, although very very briefly.
I had GPS turned on, took a photo and quickly opened the app switching 'menu'. I saw the GPS notification show up for about 1 second and then it disappeared. I guess this is because it quickly grabs your location and stores that with the image, and then "doesn't care" where you are so doesn't access your GPS location again until you take another picture.


text:
What are the android versions suitable for Samsung Galaxy Pocket?
Why can't samsung galaxy pocket GT-S5300 be upgraded to android version of jelly bean 4.1.2? It's just being upgraded to 4.1.1 why so?  I've rooted my mobile, but its getting upgraded to ICS 4.1.1 only. I want JB 4.1.2. How can I get it?

@AlEverett He says he has 4.1.1. That can't be possible, based on the latest firmwares on sammobile. The latest IS 2.3.6, which I mentioned in my answer. So, his question is pretty moot. 4.1.1 is definitely JellyBlast ROM.

Are you sure GT-S5300 supports Android 4.1.2? According to sammobile, the latest version for GT-S5300 is 2.3.6, and it was relased on August 2013.
Maybe you are talking about JellyBlast ROM, which is a custom ROM, and not a stock ROM. Coincidentally, JellyBlast ROM has version 4.1.1.

Well, SamMobile explicitly states: All our firmwares are official Samsung firmwares. So they do not include e.g. CyanogenMod. Seeing it that way, my good old HTC Wildfire would certainly not be running ICS (which it does), or even JB (which it could) :)

@Izzy What I'm implying is that he may be using JellyBlast ROM 4.1.1, but thinks it's ICS. Unless we see an About device screenshot, we won't know for sure.


text:
Programmatically speaking, how is Android set to be "unrooted" by default?
I am not asking what the process is to undergo doing it, but how it is programmed in the first place to prevent certain actions, such as:
1.Downloading to SD card from Google Play store.
2.Accessing/modifying files mounted on the /system directory, and such directories like that.
3.Modifying text, GUI components, etc.
REALIZE that I am NOT asking for code, samples, etc., I just want to know the general idea of how this would be implemented in the source, i.e., hierarchial system, privilege blocking code on the GUI end, or possibly code running in a kernel process, etc.

Your question is not clear.  Its simply out of the box the default user does not have root, thus certain limitation can be put into place, like preventing certain system files from being modified.

This isn't a special extraterrestrial thing.

The default user doesn't have root privilege.
All those binaries are removed which can grant root access to default user.
/system partition (which contains sensitive files) is mounted as read-only. As only root user can remount a partition with R/W access, you're out of luck modifying those files..


text:
XYZ X1 Change band from 900 to 850
I just bought the XYZ X1 Android phone with GSM: 900/1800MHz, WCDMA 2100 MHz
Unfortunately in my country are 850/1900MHz frequences.
Is it possible to change the band on this phone?
I've tried to change the band from terminal:
$ adb shell
shell@android:/ $ am start -n com.android.settings/.BandMode

Starting: Intent { cmp=com.android.settings/.BandMode }
But only limited list was shown:
Automatic
EURO Band
JAPAN Band
AUS Band
AUS2 Band

But there is no my band here, any idea how can I get it? Maybe base-band upgrade? thank you.

This is a design of the hardware. The only way to change it would be to disassemble the phone and install your own antennas somehow (which is not at all trivial). Can I use my device on a different carrier? has a lot of information related to this.

I saw in internet that almost all tri-band phones could change their bands. How do you know that mine can't be changed? Thank you.

Do you happen to have a link to where you saw that? Wherever you read that was wrong or perhaps using terminology loosely. If you could change a phone's supported bands anytime you wanted, then there'd be no need to even bother listing them on a spec sheet or manufacturing different phone varieties.

there are many places. http://www.movilesdualsim.com/foro/threads/20835-activar-banda-WCDMA-900-en-terminales-chinos/page8 in spanish for example. As I understand, dual band means, working on two bands on the same time, but some phones could have options which bands would you prefer. this is the other post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36948876 Just need to figure out if my phones supports the band change

That's a completely different situation, though. The hardware of the phone in that XDA thread (the S5830-L) supports both sets of bands. Look at the spec sheet. The idea there is to essentially force the phone to stick to using one if its supported bands instead of another one, not adding support for a entirely different (and unsupported) band. That's not the case for your device.

Maybe you are right, just wanted to check every possible solution before buy the new phone. Thank you.


text:
How to switch to Developer mode in Android 4.2.*
If you get the Android 4.2.* version phone, you will notice that there is no Developer mode any more.
How can you switch to Development mode?

Open Settings, go to phone details (where u can see kernel, Android-version, Model number etc).
Tap 7 times the Build Number (ALPS.JB2.MP.V1.3 in my case)
If you already in developer mode, the tooltip with message:
"No need, you are already a developer." will appear.


text:
cannot open files on Dropbox
I use a Note 8, and when I try to upload documents from Dropbox with the browser, it tells me "file cannot be opened".

Are you trying to upload files from your tablet to Dropbox, or download files from Dropbox to your tablet?

I may not be getting the terms right . Am trying to send my resume which is on Dropbox to a job site,  but it keeps telling me file cannot be opened. Kindly assist. Also I will like the option of choosing a document from either my device or Dropbox,  right now I can only choose from Dropbox.

It seems that you've selected Dropbox as the default for uploading files. You can test this by going to Settings -> Apps -> Dropbox and tapping Clear defaults. Now, when you open your browser and try to upload files, it should ask what program you want to use to select the file.
In my personal opinion, you should only upload files from your device, since not all apps support uploading via the browser. If the file you need to upload is only on Dropbox, you can download it from the app by long-pressing the file and selecting Export -> Save to SD Card.

I may have chosen Dropbox as my default, but I don't know how I did that nor how to reverse it. I checked settings but the clear defaults button is not active - it says "no defaults set". I tried removing my Dropbox account from settings and unlinking my device from Dropbox. I cannot delete Dropbox cause it came with the device. My last option would be to factory reset, but that is extreme. When I try to upload a document my options are: camera, camcorder, sound recorder, music track, Dropbox, gallery, music player, Samsung link. I used to be able to upload from files, but the option is gone.

Try installing a file explorer, such as ES File Explorer. This should install itself into the upload method selection screen and you should be able to upload all file types.


text:
Can I restore my CM10.1 phone to factory ROM without using USB?
I have a Galaxy S2 i9100g with CM10.1 release.  Everything is peachy except that the USB port seems to be going -- most of the time I can't charge or connect to a PC.
I'd like to send it in for warranty repairs, but I figure I should put it back to factory before I do so.  Normally I'd find a "stock" image and flash it with Odin or something, but I wouldn't trust a firmware update to complete successfully over the wire with this wonky connection.
(Before you ask: this is definitely not a custom firmware problem; it won't even charge properly when turned off, which is before any custom ROM / bootloader even starts.)
Can I somehow flash back to factory via recovery?  If so, can I then re-flash back to CM10.1 (in the event I can't get it repaired for some reason), without using the USB connection?

Have you tried another USB cable or the USB port on the PC is dying? This may seem trivial but have you eliminated that first before doing the reverting back to factory state of device?

Yup, I tried at least 3 different chargers, plus 2 USB cables on different PCs.  It's a consistent problem.  It's possible that the port is just "dirty" or something -- I might try cleaning it with an old toothbrush before I send it back -- but it seems more likely to me to be an internal problem.


text:
How can I convert Google+ to a system app without buying Titanium Pro?
The Locations feature on Google+ running on Cyanogenmod is not showing a Map. I am not sure what's the cause of this, but as of CYAN-1193 the fix is to convert Google+ to a system app. I did this successfully with Titanium Pro with just one click. After Google+ became a system app, the map was shown.
Now I have a dozen other devices without the pro version of Titanium where I want to do the same. Surely there is a way with root and adb. Can you guide me?

For the process to work, requirements are:

Titanium Backup zip file, see below
The license key file TitaniumBackup_license.txt.

The idea being, is copy the license file and install the app onto the new device.
Caveat Emptor

This is only for legitimate licensed Titanium Backup owners.
Device is rooted
USB cable plugged into device
Functioning copy of adb.

Step 1.
Easiest way, is to generate the Titanium Backup zip file,

Tap menu
scroll to the bottom, titled 'Special Features'
Tap on "create 'update.zip'"

Scripting Type - Edify Default
Titanium Backup will be installed as - User application Default
Select the name of the output file - TitaniumBackup-6.1.0.zip Tap that selection

This will create the appropriate zip file on the /sdcard.

Pull that zip file across to your PC, as in adb pull /sdcard/TitaniumBackup-6.1.0.zip.
Unzip it, the file to look for is data/app/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.apk

Step 2.
Pull the license file across to PC, as in adb pull /sdcard/TitaniumBackup_license.txt
Final step.
Now with both steps completed, it's a matter of:

pushing the license file across to the new device as in adb push TitaniumBackup_license.txt /sdcard. It must be the root of the SDCard, anywhere else, it fails!
install the apk, as in adb install data/app/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.apk

Now launch the Titanium Backup, it should pick up the license file and treat it as Pro version. In the event it does not, its likely a very weird glitch in the application, try reboot the device, to see if it works, if not, report it to the developers. (I have this problem on my Xperia Mini, have a valid license, and it does not recognize it despite having the license in the root directory of the SDCard!)
The hardcore way
This will apply to any app. Gist of these steps, is to move the application to /system/app.

Remount the system as re-writeable, adb remount
Shell in via adb and invoke su, adb shell followed by su.
Move the app from the /data/app to /system/app directory

For example:

an app called fooBarApp
its underlying name is /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk

So without further ado:

cp /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk /system/app/fooBarApp.apk (we need to drop the -1 part of the name as system apps do not have them)
rm /data/app/fooBarApp-1.apk (To avoid duplication!)
At this point, the ownership may get clobbered, or the permissions, for that matter, so make it chmod 644 /system/app/fooBarApp.apk
Reboot


text:
How to copy file from PC to android tablet?
When I connect the android tablet to windows 7 I get 2 external devices, one of them (H) doesn't open.

When I open G:, I get this

If I want to copy an app (adobe reader) to the tablet, to which folder should I copy it?
This is the screen of the tablet:

Where should I access the folders and files from?

You could try moving the .apk to the Download folder and opening the Downloads app to see if it shows up. To access the files and folders from the tablet you will need a file browser.

@TheDoorkeeper Where can I get a file browser from? (note: I don't have a wifi).

Sorry, the only place I know is Google Play. How did you get the Adobe Reader, wired internet? I'll try to find one you can download as soon as I can.

Without internet, and (as it looks like) only USB connection, you might want to take a look into ADB. Then you could simply invoke adb install myfile.apk to get the app installed. For how to install ADB, see Is there a minimal installation of ADB?

Here is a file explorer you can download with your computer and transfer to your tablet. I haven't tested it as my tablet isn't working, but it is from Cnet and ranked #4. Hope it helps! @Izzy's idea is also good.

If you have the Android Development Kit (See Bottom) then there is a super easy way to install an application from a file. All you need to do is start up a Terminal and type:
adb install -r <your.apk>

the -r function will replace an existing application with the same name.
No fumbling around with SD cards and no searching your phone for transfered files. If you are an avid Android user then I recommend getting the ADK.
How to install just ADK Binaries

It's not necessary to install the entire SDK for that (see my comments on the question itself). For a more minimalistic approach (just copying a few files to have a working ADB), take a look at Is there a minimal installation of ADB?

You can download ES File Manager from Google Play Store. Here is the link

just download adobe reader from Google Play store to get the correct version.  if you want to copy over PDF files.  just create your own directory under g:\Download and copy to the mapped drive on your PC.  Make sure you turn on allow to be used as a USB Drive.


text:
Errors when receiving iMessage group texts
Phone: Samsung Galaxy SIII
OS: Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2
I've tried talking to Samsung, AT&T, and reading forums looking for a good answer to this, and I seem to be the only person experiencing this exact problem.
When someone sends me a group message from iMessage on an iPhone, one of 3 things happens.

I receive the message from the original sender, no evidence of other people on the message, and receive a message from 'Anonymous' at the same time that says "Message not found."
I receive the message from the original sender twice, sometimes with the error message, sometimes not.
I only receive "Message not found" and the actual message never reaches me.

All I want is to see the group message from iMessage without an error or a duplication, and it would be nice to know it's a group message. Icing on the cake would be to actually reply all and even see who else it was sent to. I have not seen anyone else report this particular error. This has been an on-going problem, not a recent one, that I was only very recently able to diagnose. Today's advice has ranged from telling every one of my iOS friends to turn off Android messaging in iMessage, to deleting my phone number from the Apple Support page (which does not and never has had an iPhone attached to it), to resetting my device.
Even if the answer is This is a common issue because Samsung and Apple love to feud and piss off their customers, so they make it impossible for you to communicate with the enemy, I would love to hear that.


text:
Remote factory reset and changing Google password
In case I ever lose my Nexus 4 phone, I've opened to the Google Settings app, then tapped "Android Device Manager" and from there, I've enabled both "Remotely locate this device" and "Allow remote factory reset."
Then I can use Android Device Manager online from anywhere to ring or reset the phone.
My question is: in the event my phone is stolen/lost, I'd probably change my Google password so the phone can't sync any more while I attempt to find it. If I change my Google password and then reset my phone after that, will the remote wipe still work since the Google password changed?
Note: I have 2-factor auth enabled, but keep in mind my phone and the apps in it are already authenticated.

Why not do a remote wipe, then change your password locally (on your PC)? When you wipe, I assume they can't access your Google accounts anymore.

In case I merely lost my phone, and I happen to find it un-attended and un-accessed just a few hours later. In those cases, a reset isn't necessary and might destroy any data on the phone that doesn't get synced.

Why not for sake of it, activate 2-step authentication on your Google account?
And just use the random generated password instead, be sure you have enabled Google to SMS you for any login attempts on your Google account, and keep your real password hidden. That is what I use here, where-ever I log in, I get an SMS direct to me, asking to enter the verification code, no one else has it.
Also, it would be easier to just revoke it from your Google Account settings page, i.e. access denied.
I use a spare, crappy phone that I carry with me everywhere, zero chance of anyone trying to steal it, that receives the Google SMS notification, and yes, its a dumbphone :)
Edit
To clarify: Your account on the device is called a Application specific password. See the Revoke beside each application specific password.
In event of phone or should I say, device getting lost/stolen, its a matter of simply clicking on it. That is what I was referring to, in my case, I have the application called "My smartphone google account signin", and if it gets lost, I click Revoke, even after factory reset, data is wiped cleanly for my peace of mind.
I still have my laptop as my authorized login, that is, I can use my real password on the laptop, everywhere else Google is accessed, is using the random generated password. And if I was to login on another computer using my real password, the verification code gets sent to my dumbphone which I check and use.

2-factor authentication already enabled. Problem: Android device already authorized to access Google account, and 2-factor authentication only protects new logins. Could you elaborate on revoking privileges from Google Account settings page? Also, I appreciate the alternative ideas, but I still would like my actual question answered.

OP: Right, then I think you should re-edit your question to include the fact that 2-step authentication is activated in your case.

Android Device Manager makes it easy to locate, ring, or wipe your device from the web.

So, your question here is:

in the event my phone is stolen/lost, I'd probably change my Google password (...) will the remote wipe still work since the Google password changed?

What I find somewhat confusing is:

Your assumption is that the remote wipe no longer works if the account password has been changed. Why do you assume this? This seems like a huge oversight in the design of ADM, so I don't see why it makes sense to assume this is true without proof. If anything, I think the opposite seems more reasonable to assume given no actual evidence. I encourage you to try it out if you'd like to find out for sure.
If we assume for the sake of argument that ADM can no longer wipe a device if the account password has been changed — still, I don't believe this to be true, and if you can prove it, it should definitely be reported as a bug (and if it's not a bug, at least there should be warnings plastered all over the place) — why even take the chance? If you wipe your phone before changing the password, this whole concern is a non-issue, right?

Let me know if I am missing something here, but I don't see how anyone can give a meaningful answer to you, except if anyone is willing to try the validity of your claim (which you can also do yourself).

You cannot wipe after password change, you can't even download an app until you insert the new password. But why would you want to change the password in the first place if you would want it to be synced on the phone? I mean the thief then could still use it as normal if the password would sync automatically.

I don't want the new password to sync automatically. If I understand how the system works, when you change your Google password, you have to re-enter it on your device manually.

yes, I have specified that you can't do anything on your phone until you insert the new password

Then I don't understand your question: "why would you want to change the password in the first place if you would want it to be synced on the phone?"

You sayd that you would change your password so the phone won't sync and then you want to remotely wipe your data, witch is a sort of sync.

I never thought of wiping/erasing the phone as a sync, but I guess I learn something new every day...

wiping/erasing is not a sync, it is an operation that you want to do on a device, the command to do it is a sync, you synchronize the command to wipe the phone(in your case, but it can be any command from rebooting a phone to sent a tweet), so you synchronize the command and the phone executes it. So if you change the password, you cannot synchronize that change(if you could it can be dangerous), you manualy have to do it( that is to enter the NEW password on a device) so you can synchronize commands again. So it is easy to see why you could not wipe your phone after changing the password.

Yup you can't wipe after changing password,
But if are going to do so then do remote wipe and change it.
It requires hardly any time to do this,
After reset your account will no longer be used with device,
If you change password before resetting he can have access to your old data which ware there before resetting the password..

Do you have a source or anything you could add to your post for a little extra validation?

If someone find your mobile and try to restore mobile. He need to enter your new google password. He can not bypass FRP lock without new password.
You can factory reset mobile. Use mobile or computer which you have used. You need to enter your password again.
Two factor verification use your email and mobile.

Some phones may be bypassed with no problem - you just need to launch settings from a USB-OTG cable/drive, do the factory reset in the Backup settings and clean up all data related to Google accounts. After that you should do the reset again and FRP will be reset. So you will have an opportunity to use your phone like a new one. Read more here http://www.flexihub.com/remote-android-factory-reset.html


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How do I remove a data restriction?
A couple of months ago I set my phone to have a data limit so that it would stop at 1GB. I have a plan that I share with 2 other people so I thought 1GB would keep my usage down. After a couple of weeks it just started turning my data off, even if I was just using Wifi. I disabled the data limit because it was super annoying.
Now, I get notifications that tell me that I have a data restriction (not limit) set. I don't know how to turn it off and it is super annoying. It says:
Data Restriction Enabled
touch notification to remove restriction

How do I turn this off?

Device: Motorola Droid Razr M
Android Version: 4.1.2 (JellyBean)

What about "touch notification to remove restriction?"

If I touch the notification the restriction temporarily goes away

Try this:
Setting > Data usage > (Data usage Action bar menu) > uncheck 'Restrict background data'
hoped it helps.


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Cannot un -sync sms sync on galaxy s4
I have just restored my galaxy s4 as i was having trouble with it. now, all my texts are going to my email. i have gone to the option ünsync sms"but it wont work! it just says unable to change sms settings at this time. What do i do?

Where can I find Unsync SMS? I also have an S4, but don't know where that is. Maybe I can help.

Delete the account and set it up again , before finishing unsync sms...


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What do the different coloured bars on the 1x1 widget in Better Battery Stats app mean?
I understand these are supposed to signify ratios of different phone states but I cannot get my head around which is supposed to be which.

Are you talking about this?

Source.

Perfect, thank you! My Google skills must be very poor today.... I'll accept shortly after forced delay.


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Keyboard disappeared after updating HTC Desire X software to 4.1
I updated my HTC Desire X software to 4.1 and restarted my phone. When my phone turned on again, I tried using the search bar but there was no keyboard. So I thought I'd search the internet using my phone to see why my keyboard hadn't come up before, but even when I clicked on the search bar on Chrome, the keyboard still didn't come up. I then went onto my text messages and tried typing there but still no keyboard. I tried looking through the phone's settings and didn't find anything there.
Has this ever happened to anyone else? If so, how did you get your keyboard back?

Have you checked if there's anything set in Settings > Language & Keyboard?
Let me know if it works.

In my settings there is no 'Language and Input' instead it says 'language and keyboard' and then gives me a list of options which are system language, HTC Sense Input and then speech voice search. There is no Keyboard and input methods option here.

Yes I can see them and I've tried going through them but they're just you're usual settings. It doesn't give any thing else really so I don't think it has something to do with the settings but the phone itself.

@Creme224 How about if you unset the keyboard, and set it again?


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Disable sound made on mute keypress in Jelly Bean
With a Galaxy S4 / Jelly Bean OS, every time I press the mute button the phone emits a sound that's audible to other parties. Can this be disabled? I tried disabling all keyboard sounds in the Ringtones and keypad tones menu, but that didn't seem to help. What else can I try?

What's a mute button? Is that the one when you long-press the power button, and click the Mute icon?

I think he talks about the "micro" button (for voice typing)

On the call screen / keypad there are six buttons. Add call, Hide, End call, Speaker, Mute and Headset. This mute button is the button I'm concerned with.

Can you hear the sound, or only them?

I guess the "mute" button Derek's talking about is the one to mute the mike. But as geffchang asked: Do those "other parties" the sound is "audible to" include the "other end of the line", i.e. the ones you talk to on the phone?

Yes, both I and the other parties can hear the sound.


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How to downgrade to Stock Rom [HTC One X 3.20.401.1 CID HTC_203)
I have a rooted HTC One X with JB 4.1.1 (3.20.401.1), I deleted some unnecessary softwares but still using stock ROM.
Yesterday I relocked the bootloader and tried to install original stock rom by using 3.14.x.x RUU file. But it gave me "Bootloader version error".So I'm stuck. I have no Nandroid backup for my CID :( I could not find the 3.20.401.1 RUU file nor related Nandroid backup anywhere on the internet.
Does someone has any suggestions? I would like to revert to Stock rom to be able to get official Sense 5 OTA update which will be released very soon by HTC.

Finally, someone from XDA shared his Nandroid backup for Stock Rom, here is the link ;
http://docs.google.com/file/d/0B06FIZEUKDcHUlBVZFZPREtOS0k/edit?usp=sharing
The Original Thread on XDA : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?s=c89f980ba9f35f7e5ec9ae6b6bf11bef&t=1975140&page=139

This guide is marked as "noob-friendly". Haven't tried it myself as I try to stay far away as I can from Sense:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1859714
You were looking for 3.20.401.1? Here you can find the Nandroid Backups:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1975140

I've already checked XDA, that's why I'm asking the question in this Q&A site. CID HTC_203 is listed as "MISSING" on #XDA...
MISSING CIDs :
HTC__203
HTC__A07
HTC__304
HTC__016
T-MOB102
HTC_011
ORANG309
H3G__G04

As this wasn't clear in your initial question, I can only suggest asking help on XDA to see if someone is kind enough to provide you with a RUU or Nandroid backup for your CID. Good luck.

yep, I already got nandroid file from somebody on xda...


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Shortcut/Widget to set a reminder in Google Now
I use Google Now to set reminders quite often. At times when I'd rather not be talking at my phone to add a reminder, I wish I could have a button on my homescreen that would take me straight to the Add Reminder card.
I just found out about the "Set Reminder" option in Google Now's quick settings panel. It's much quicker than typing out "add reminder" in the search bar. But still, having a shortcut to that "add reminder card", or a widget which would add reminders from the homescreen would be pretty advantageous (I would probably prefer a shortcut).
I've tried using a few of the Google Search app's activities, but none seem to take my straight to the add reminder card.
Any ideas?

Is there any way to view Google Now reminders on desktop via browser?

Not that I know of, but that might be a question for a different stack exchange site.

@Ze'ev I just googled "add reminder" and it looks like they've added that functionality! Woot :)))

I don't think it's possible to add a shortcut to the "add reminder" card at the moment. I've had a look through the Activities as well and none of them appear to do what you want.
There is a "Set reminder" option in the menu within Google Now which may help? Click the three dots at the bottom right (you might need to scroll down) and you should see the "Set reminder" option.

I did notice the "Set Reminder" option in the menu, which certainly helps.

There is the activity
Google Search > com.google.android.voicesearch.fragments.reminders.EditReminderActivity
which does exactly what you want.

How exactly do we use this?

In my case, I'm using the purity ROM which allows me to define shortcuts on the sides of the Google Now shortcut, and there I have two "activity"to chose: a standard one and the one from Nova. I found that activity in the standard one. In other case I could just add this activity to the desktop. Try this: add a shortcut to the desktop and chose "activity", then search for this activity I mention in my reply.

Don't know if you found an answer or not but here is what I did. It requires Desktop VisualizeR.
Open Chrome on your mobile device and search for "Google Now Add Reminder". This will initiate a reminder card through through Chrome. In Chrome Menu  select "Share..." Then select "DVR save to clipboard". Then create the shortcut on your home screen using the Desktop Visualizer app.
Found an easier way...lol...Bookmark it and add a shortcut to your home screen.

That's a clever idea, I'll have to try it out!

There are 3 options which I have found.

If you use Inbox by Google it comes with an add reminder shortcut available in widgets. (This opens up in the Inbox app, and the dialog to create a reminder is not as friendly as Google Now, especially if you want to add a custom time.)
Supposedly Google Now will ask you if you would like to add a shortcut to the home screen after you use it to create a reminder, but I can't get it to ask me.
Tasker  - This is what I use, directions below.

Unders Tasks

Add Task (+) New Task
Add Action (+) System -> Send Intent

Under Send Intent
Action:     com.google.android.goolequicksearchbox.GOOGLE_SEARCH
Cat:        Default
Mime Type:  (leave blank)
Data:       (leave blank)
Extra:      type:String
Extra:      query:add reminder

You can then add to your Home Screen using the Tasker Widget

Nice! At last found someone who gave a direct access to the actual reminders on the device.

Note 5 - Nova Launcher - Android v6.0.1 (and yes, i am still waiting for the update in AUSTRALIA)

find the Google Calender app on your phone (mine is in the drawer)
Press/hold the icon to launch the alt menu to add appointment or reminder
Press/Hold the reminder menu and put it on your desktop

After reading a while here, you can do the following.
Google on your mobile Google Now Add Reminder and add it to your bookmarks.
Then add the Bookmark widget to your desktop on your mobile, pointing to that bookmark and voilá!

This still works in 2021, well after Google Now and Inbox have ceased to exist.

This method should work:

Locate Google Calendar Icon and long press it:
Press on the 4 dots on the right of the "New reminder" and drag it to the home screen, it will become a shortcut:
Pressing this shortcut will take you directly to creating a New Google Reminder:

My Blog Post with Snapshots about it:
How to add a Shortcut on Android Home Screen to create a New Google Reminder


text:
Bug Report and Power menu - Bug Report function not working on Nexus 7 Android 4.3
I need to gather log info for QA testing.  The settings menu "Bug Report" and the power menu "Bug Report" functions don't work for me on my Nexus 7 running Jellybean 4.3 (don't know if it ever worked because I just found out about the function).  I get a popup saying "this will take a while..." and after that nothing.  Scanning the file system, I don't see anything that looks like a screen capture, and no mail is sent out.
(I can't get the magic {power/sound up/sound down} button combo to work either). The only way I can collect app logging info is by tethering the nexus 7 and using ADB.
Any idea how to get the new bug report mechanism working or why it's not working would be appreciated.

I have discovered the solution (at least for my Nexus 7)! Here's what happens:

Tap Take Bug Report

Take bug report "take a while" popup displays - Tap report

After about 30 seconds, the words "bug report captured" appear for about 2 seconds on the left side of the top menu bar (the one with Time and Wi-Fi and other icons)

An Android icon then displays on the left side (where downloads and other status indicators display)

Swiping down on those icons displays an item "Bug report captured"

Tapping on the item brings up a "Complete action using" popup that includes Gmail

Tapping the Gmail icon allow you to send the bug report text and its associated screen capture to yourself

Pretty nice, but very easy to miss.

Based on what I've read, Make Bug Report is supposed to e-mail the bug report to the GMail account that's tied to your device.
I tried it, but I didn't get any emails. I will update this answer if I find anything new.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S4 USB Not Recognized by Windows 7
When I connect my Samsung Galaxy S4 (Verizon) with a USB cable to my work PC that is running Windows 7, my work PC recognizes it immediately.  I see all my pictures, music, etc.
When I connect my phone to my home PC which is also running Windows 7, I get a device named "CD Drive (F:) Verizon Mobile".  I see a very short list of folders and files that includes a USB driver (with an autorun) and a few Mac OS folders in it.  In Device Manager, this shows up under DVD/CD-ROM drives" with a driver named "SAMSUNG File-Stor Gadget USB Device".
After a few seconds of looking at  these files, Windows removes the device and replaces it with one labeled "SCH-I545".  Clicking on SCH-I545, there are no files visible.  I have many files and photos on my phone, but I can't see any of them in Explorer.  If I right-click SCH-I545 and get Proeprties, I see a battery level, but nothing else.
Opening Device Manager, I see SCH-I545 in the list of portable devices.  The manufacturer of this driver is Microsoft.  I have tried uninstalling the driver, unplugging the phone, and plugging it back in, but the same thing happens.
I have tried downloading and installing the USB driver from the Samsung site, but the same thing happens.
I have managed to get Samsung Link working to load some files onto my phone, but I would much rather use a file copy mechanism.
Does anyone have an idea of how I can get my home PC to recognize the phone and let me copy files to and from it?

What are these drivers you installed? Is it from Samsung Kies?

Most, if not all, devices are treated as CD device initally, that is to enable to install the driver from the device, once installed, it switches to another USB mode, that is, a drive with your files on it. What Android Version? What mode is it in, MTP?

After searching the Internet for similar issues, I did the following:

I unplugged my phone from the USB cable.
On the home screen, I pressed the bottom left Settings button and chose Settings.
I selected "... More".
I pressed "Developer options" in the list below.
I turned on the Developer options at the top.
Under the Debugging section, I checked "USB debugging".
I reinstalled Samsung Kies.
I started Kies.
After Kies started, I plugged in my phone to the USB cable.

After connecting my phone with Kies running, the Windows Update form appeared and a new entry was in the list.  After the driver installation, everything worked.  I don't even have to run Kies first before connecting my phone to get Windows 7 to recognize it.  It just works.
I don't know exactly what series of events caused this to start working, but now I can actually copy stuff to and from my phone.  (Yay!)

When you connect your Galaxy S4 to the PC via USB, open the notification center and you'll see a message that says something like Connected to USB. Click for more options. Click it, and then select View as camera. After that you, should be able to copy files from the PC to your phone.


text:
Gmail App Expanded Email Notification Not Collapsed Automatically
Recently I freshly installed the Gmail app from the Play Store and it had this nice feature which offered a peek of my email in the notification area whenever I swiped down the notification tray; it also had the reply/delete buttons.
But now all of a sudden that feature is literally gone. Now, whenever I receive an email I do get the notification but in kind of that classic way and to have a preview of my email and the reply/delete buttons to appear I have to slide down that notification (either by dragging it by one finger or tap-holding that notif. and then dragging it down as mentioned here on Google's Help Page) a bit every single time which is kinda annoying.
I have Android 4.2.1 installed on my phone. And have checked all related settings to no avail :|
Please help :(

I think it automatically expands if it is the last notification... (or the "next on the list" when you dismiss one)

@Shywim Thanks for replying. It is already the last notification (the first one being my Web Root Antivirus; which is a permanent notification). But in my case it doesn't automatically expands like it was earlier :3

This is standard behaviour, however I think it may have been different in older versions of Android/different ROM's.
On all the apps on my device that use expanded notifications, only one seems to be expanded by default. There is (most likely) an option for developers to make it expanded by default, and this may have been recently disabled in the gmail application.
As this is done at a program level, there would be no way to change it.


text:
Galaxy S2 screen is black, but touch-screen still functional.
No idea what happened, last night it was working till it ran out of battery and turned off. Woke up this morning and kind of rolled over on it with my elbow, no big deal it seemed like though. A little while later after I charged it the phone would turn on, make the sound etc but nothing on the screen, I can still feel the vibration when I try to move an icon for example. And it the computer still recognized it when plugged in, any solutions? Or am I outta luck?

Did it crack when you rolled over it? Try taking out the battery for a few minutes, put it back in. See if that helps? If not, I suggest you take it to a service center.

Nope, and your solution didn't work. Guess I'll have to get it fixed, thanks for the help anyways :(

Coming from an off state, can you go into download mode (volume down + home + power combo) or recovery mode (volume up + home + power combo)?

@geffchang No unfortuantely not, nothing appears on-screen. Damn it lol

Based on the comments, this looks like a hardware issue, and not a software/Android issue. I would suggest sending it to a service center for repair.


text:
YouTube app won't display the same search results as the desktop version
The main problem I've been having is that searching for "Stairway to Heaven" and a few other songs on the app returns only covers, live performances, etc; Only when I search on my laptop do I get the actual song. Is there any way to get past this issue?
I'm using an Xperia Miro ICS 4.0, and the default YouTube app.

Some videos on YouTube are not available to mobile devices. This restriction applies via the website (when accessed through a mobile device) as well as the YouTube app. This happens when someone has filed a "copyright claim" against a video (that is, they believe the video infringes their copyright, or "Content ID" matched the video against some copyrighted content, most likely the latter given that you're searching for a commercial music recording), and the alleged copyright-holder has told YouTube to allow their content to be used on desktops but not on mobile.
Even if it's possible to work around this, it would probably be illegal for us to make this information available to US citizens, because that's circumventing a technological restriction under the meaning of the DMCA. This applies regardless of whether the copyright claim is well-founded.
You can get the actual song by buying a recording of it, or by downloading it through some music-pirating service.

well I'm european is it illegal if I explain how do to it ?

@Kiwy It's a crime in the US wherever you do it. US police have been known to arrest people on entry to the US for offences under the DMCA committed by foreigners outside the US, e.g. Dmitri Skylarov.


text:
Netflix refusing to log in, tried all the typical solutions
Just got my new tablet, tried to get netflix running. I took the following steps.

Installed netflix, got 15001 error
Ran system update, I am now completely up-to-date, error no longer occurs
attempted to sign in, got the following error message:
"we're unable to connect you to netflix please try again later"
cleared cache, deleted local data, got the same error message
uninstalled app, reinstalled, got the same error message
uninstalled app, restart tablet, installed app. Got the same error message

I only get this error message when using the correct username/password, using a bad one gives an appropriate error. So it's not a connection issue, just an authentication one. I have no idea what else to try.

Netflix has a troubleshooting guide for Android devices.
See if any of them works. If not, share your findings.

I have already tried all of the steps listed there. Like I said in my question: This is not a connectivity issue, it is an authentication issue. The error message doesn't even show up in netflix's help center search.

@AdamSpurgin Can you log-in via the website though? Log-out first, then log-in.


text:
Speed of Nova or alternative launchers?
I'm thinking of getting the GS4, but plan to use Nova Launcher. When using an alternate launcher, will this negate any slowness or lagging introduced by TouchWiz?  Or is the damage done deeper in the ROM?

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, and Nova is surprisingly snappy on it. You can change how fast the animations / transitions are. In my case, I set it to faster than light. If you're not content with that, you can go further and disable animations / delays via the phone's Developer options settings.


text:
call reject with message on GT-S5300
my GT-S5300 has Gingerbread 2.3.6. Is there any way to upgrade or change this so that I can reject calls with a message / block calls in the same way that the bigger Galaxy (like the S III) can? Apps on Google Play and Samsung App Store are a bit clumsy. I can't seem to find something stock Android that can do this on the GT-S5300?


text:
Can I add more "android" emoticons into my phone?
I got all those greene faces on my phone, but can I add more of them or create my own pictures and add to my phone or not?

I'm using Samsung Galaxy Note (N7000)

It might help if you added what phone you are using. Are you using a custom ROM? Are you rooted?

Even if you could add them, the recipient would also need to have them for it to work.

I agree with Al Everett, if you want to create emoticons for just you to see then that is a different story. You should be able to select or create your own emoticons using a ROM. Even if you manage to upload your own emoticons, nobody will see them except for you.


text:
Android screen rotation takes too long to get triggered
When I rotate my screen to 90 degrees, the screen rotates but it takes 3 seconds to start rotating. (This doesn't mean it rotates for 3 seconds. This means it waits 3 secs to starting rotation.) Can this be set in any property or any code related to do this setting?
I understand that this might be related to the sensor sensitivity, please let me know how to configure this if you know how.

Is this observed in all applications or some specific one?

this is in all applications. I tried this in the home screen.
So this is why I assume there should be some configurations can be set. Even in the source code is fine. I just need to know where the possible configurations are. Re-building the source for me is fine.

I don't understand what sources you are talking about. If these are sources of some application, then how your application may affect home screen rotation speed? Or do you mean Android sources?

Here is an interesting finding. I wrote an app which is able to rotate the screen by pressing the button. In my tablet, it waits 3 seconds to rotate. In another high-end device which was set to 2second-dalay to rotate. Both of devices work the same way. Hence, I assume there must be a configuration to be set to change the "waiting" time.

I imagine that that must be by design. What if you accidentally tilted your tablet to the side but then put it back quickly? Would you really want it to flip for every little movement? That said, I'm not aware of any way to change the "auto-rotation" sensitivity in stock Android.


text:
How to take screenshots from a generic ICS 7" tablet?
I want to know how to take a screenshot on a generic Ice Cream Sandwich tablet? I believe this certain model is called the XTOUCH X708S. I already tried pressing power button + volume down and it just does its respective functionalities without taking any screenshots. The owner isn't very literate when it comes to Android devices so she doesn't know how to either.

How long did you keep the buttons pressed? On some devices it's just a question of timing, and I remember some have proven a bit tricky with that.

As soon as I pressed power or volume down it would either prompt me to shut down the tablet or lower the volume until it reaches the lowest volume possible. I also tried holding it for an extend amount of time and it just stayed that way.

You have to press both buttons simultaneously (not first one, then the other). Assuming you know that and have done so, I'd suggest contacting the support staff.

Hold down the back button for 3 seconds. Still holding the back button press the power button once and release both buttons.

I tried to do that just now and it just turns off the display. I also tried varying lengths of holding down the on-screen back button. Still no go.


text:
Why is device not showing the phone signal bars anymore?
It's been happening for a while now but I've just gotten around to posting this issue. I'm running Cyanogenmod 10.1 on my Galaxy Note 2 but one fine day, it stopped showing me the signal bars. I've even updated my ROM twice but it hasn't resolved the issue.
The phone calls and text messages work just fine but it always shows me that I don't have signal. Here's a screenshot:

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)
Would any of you know why this is happening and how I could resolve this issue? Thank you.

Other icons, especially E911, which is present on all phones and cannot be turned off, is also not there. Also, a WiFi icon should be there, if connected. So there's an issue of 3 potential missing icons. Do you have an app which uses notifications that may be blotting the icons out because it is sized incorrectly?

Isn't E911 specific to the USA ?

OK, so I'm not the NSA - I didn't really look up the OP's home. My comment about obscured icons is still a possibility.

@wbogacz, it's definitely not an icon issue. If you look at the answer below, the part about the dBm values being skewed is correct.

So How did you solve it?I'd really appreciate it if you answered your question so I won't need to ask it again.

@Behrooz, I haven't been able to solve the issue. I've tried digging around but nothing. I've updated my ROM multiple times but it doesn't change anything. DO let me know if you manage to solve it. Thx.

@MridangAgarwalla: The ALJ2/ALJ1/ALIH radios worked for me, but each has it's own set of problems, the phone calls and audio are very flaky and most of the times there is no audio in at least one direction.

This is definitely due incompatibilites between the RIL and the baseband/modem firmware. The RIL or the radio-interface layer are the libraries (shared-objects) that allow the phone to talk with the modem firmware. I found this issue on the Cyanogemod JIRA: https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-2172
If you read the comments, you'll see that people have solved this issue by flashing a compatible firmware.
Since I'm now running Cyanogenmod 11, I dug around XDA and found a leaked 4.4 firmware for my device. It was packed in a CWM-flashable ZIP so I flashed it and voila.
Please remember to backup your device, your current modem/baseband and the RIL files. Flashing a new RIL isn't necessary always but helps.

This is usually because you have very low signal (ie no bars) but are still connected to the network. Does it ever show any signal bars or is it just when you're in certain locations?
Can you provide a screenshot of the Status page (go to Settings > About > Status) which shows the signal strength? This might help to see how much signal you have.
EDIT: Your signal strength values look way off... On my Nexus 4 (and all other Android devices I've owned) these values are more like

-85dbm 14asu

Did you flash a new radio when you went to CyanogenMod? I'd suggest looking for the latest radio available for your device (probably start on XDA) and see if that makes any difference.

please have a look at my revised question. This happens always, irrespective of the signal strength.

I haven't updated any radios. One day I simply used the inbuilt updater to update my ROM and this issue cropped up. I have absolutely no idea what radio I'm supposed to look for. :/ Is the radio different from the kernel?

I don't own a Note so I'm not sure which radio you'd need either. I'd suggest posting this question over at XDA as they will know a lot more about the specifics than most of us. I could be wrong with thinking it's a radio issue but it's a start. If you do get a solution over at XDA please remember to post it here as well for future reference.

Something is feeding nonsense to that indicator.  The numbers displayed are the maximum values for a signed 32-bit int and a unsigned char.  I've seen reports of this on the LTE versions of the Galaxy S3, though that bug was supposed to have been squashed back in February.

@Compro01, is there anything I can do about this? I'm not sure if Android has a safe mode but I guess that could be one solution. I've even tried wiping my Dalvik and Cache but that didn't help. Thank you.

@MridangAgarwalla - I'd advise either trying on their IRC channel or filing a bug report.

Its the data option you need to dial ##data# and Touch edit then enter your 6 digit msl codeyou get from your carrier. Then touch More then touch HDR/1X selection. From there you chose your preferred method it Probably was on evdo only but check CDMA or CDMA LTE if you get 4g. Now you touch back button til you asked to recycle phone after that you should see signal bar once restarted. Hope this helps.

New here, but here is the, on st least my systems answer. Under Settings, System UI Tuner, Status Bar, CELLULAR DATA must be on (slid to right). You can see the result immediately in Status Bar as you slide on/off.


text:
How do I open a text notification from lock screen on S4?
I have given up on my iPhone 5 and now I have the Samsung Galaxy S 4. So far I love it with one exception:
I get the notifications in the lock screen and the preview in the lock screen, but I can't figure out for the life of me how to just open text message directly from lock screen in one action.
I have a couple friends with S3's and they can open text notifications with a swipe from their lock screen and they can't even figure out what I'm doing wrong. I know there must be a way to swipe the text notification on lock screen that will bring me straight to text message.

From XDA:

Just swipe the message box down to open the messaging app directly,
  same for missed calls.

I think the message box here refers to a transparent message box that appears when you click on the message in the lockscreen.


text:
Audio only calls with google hangouts
Is there a way to make audio only calls with Hangouts? My data plan is very limited (100 MB), and I do not want to waste it on video.

Not really, no. But a Hangout can be used to call a telephone number.

AFAIK you can initiate a call, and then turn off the camera − which basically would make it an "audio only call".

Would turning off the camera reduce significantly the data usage?

@András I would assume so. Video is larger compared to audio.

I knew that part I am just not sure hangouts will not keep sending the blank screen as video. It will not be a lot because of the compression, but still.