text:
Is it possible to cancel out echo when using a bluetooth handsfree?
Equipment used:
I just bought a cheap Bluetooth handsfree from china: http://www.miniinthebox.com/mini-stereo-wireless-v3-0-headset_p1187467.html
Explanation:
This works perfect for me, and i don't notice any problems at all.
The problem is that for people calling me, or i am calling hears them selves in an echo with about 1 sec lag.
I cannot hear this echo at all, but for everyone i talk to with the handsfree set hears this echo.
If i mute the mic, then the echo disappears.
My question is this: Is it possible to remove echo by using any software or android setting?
I think that there should be two ways of doing this:
1. muting my mic while the other part talks. (nearly like an automatic walkie talkie)
2. cancelling what is sent from the other part, and don't send the same sounds back to the other part again.

Do you resolve your problem? I have same problem with you. You can download my probject at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7E5Nuki4eZhTUN4Y0FOcDdWbXc&usp=sharing Please let me know the best way to ignore it. I tried to turn of MIC but it is not successful

user8264, is this a android application? do you have a link for the APK?

YOu can download apk at https://www.dropbox.com/s/77zyc8vrlnjz9r2/AudioDemo.apk?dl=0

user8264, What does this application do?

It will record sound from headset device and play/record in application in real time. The problem is that the sound has echo during playing

does it remove echo, or why would i want to use it?

I did not remove it. I want to ask you that do you have any idea to remove echo sound from microphone when playing.

well, i have the same problem...

I think we can mute micphone as your first option. However, setMuteMicrphone is only supported by Voice IP. It does not support for stream music....Do you try other method?

This is pretty hard to do with software, since there are delays in the audio stream. The transmission from you phone's BT to the headset can take up to 200ms, and the same for the reverse. Therefore before sending the audio from the mic to the recipient, up to 400ms of audio would have to be sampled and cancelled, assuming that the BT connection is stable.
Usually this is done in the BT headset itself, but, as you said, it's a cheap Chinese headset, so the circuits for this have been left out.
As far as I know, the only settings in Android regarding noise cancellation support only on-board noise cancellation mics.
As for the muting solution, some phones use compression to boost the mic strenth, which will raise the noise levels when the person is silent. This would cause the mute to be always on.

Yes, thats true, but the cellphone should be able to cancel this by software i think.

Android has a builtin NoiseSuppressor class, yes, but this is not designed for BT communication. It would have to create a 400ms dynamically scaled buffer for the incoming audio to be filtered from the mic signal, sync it to the weak echo and/or insert timing information to the audio, and then process the cancellation, creating more delays to the sound.

@onik: Thank you for your suggestion . I have same problem about echo sound, although I am using good device. I tried to remove noise(success) and echo sound(not success). I used " AcousticEchoCanceler.create(mRecorder.getAudioSessionId());
"YOu can see my project at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7E5Nuki4eZhTUN4Y0FOcDdWbXc&usp=sharing

Yes, it is possible. Try turning down your volume.
I spent more than a week but couldn't, but suddenly I had a call from my friend and he said it echoes. I couldn't do anything, so I just turn down the volume unknowingly and he said the echo disappeared.


text:
Kitkat appdrawer hide apps and create folders
Back in Jellybean you where able to sort the apps in the app drawer, even make folders. In KitKat it seems that this feature is removed. Is there a rom or app that can bring this back?

What device? Is it Stock Kitkat? You could try Nova or another launcher that has this function. What launcher are you using?

found a great launcher in the play store, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.ndsc.kitkatlauncher :)

This has never been a feature of the stock launcher. Perhaps you were using a phone on Jellybean where the manufacturer had replaced the stock launcher with their own launcher, which had this feature.
Since Android supports third-party launchers, just install a launcher (home screen) app which supports this feature. There are many to choose from.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Give fake permission details to apps on Xperia X10i
Because of the recent update to Google play stores permissions, I wish that as apps can access very personal information, I want to deny permissions to the apps, but as I have heard that this might cause them to crash, I want to give fake data to the apps Eg. IMEI = 0123654789, so that the apps do not crash.
I am running the Xperia X10i original stock ROM, rooted. I want to do it without flashing a custom ROM.
I appreciate any help.

What you're looking for is called permission manager. There are several of them available; just check the linked list, and also the links to further information following it. Furthermore, a look into our permissions tag-wiki gives you good hints.

@Izzy I want an a that will not deny the rights but give fake information to the apps, because of the risk that they might crash. Do you know anything like that?

Just follow the link. With Android < 4.1, I use LBE Privacy Guard (with 4.1+ it just causes boot-loops). The linked list also has references for most apps to reviews etc. you could check. Alternatively, ask your question at Software Recommendations, but make sure your question meets the quality guidelines to not be closed straight away ;)

@Izzy It seems that LBE Privacy guard can only deny permissions, not give fake permissions to apps. Do you know how to make it give fake data eg: IMEI is 01234567890, Network not connected, GPS location in the Sahara etc...?

It works for me. No app ever crashed for "revoked permissions". And I'm using LBE for several years already. I guess while the toasts show something like "rejected SniffingApp IMEI access", LBE in fact did mean "rejected access to the REAL IMEI, gave it a fake instead" – which would be a little long for a toast :)

@Izzy I agree and you were right. Could you please post it as an answer. An app didn't crash yet.

Done, and added some more details. Enjoy!

What you're looking for is called "Permission Manager". While Android itself does not (yet?) provide such itself, there are several of them available, my list holds some of them.
There are different approaches. While some simply "deny access" (which might cause an app to crash, if the dev didn't take "revoked"/"not granted" permissions into account, and didn't place an exception handler for those cases), the majority rather replaces "real data" by "fake ones". Examples:

network access: "we are currently offline"
contacts, calendar: "the user has none" (empty list)
IMEI: "0123456789" (sometimes a total random number on each call, but other times a random IMEI is generated after each boot)
location: "not available" (location services deactivated) or "fake location" (e.g. north pole; some apps even allow to set your desired "fake location" and simulate movement in a specified radius)

A selection of popular "Permission managers" includes:

PDroid/OpenPDroid: Effective, but hard to install. Both require root and deodexed ROM, AFAIK OpenPDroid is even limited to cyanogenmod
LBE Privacy Guard: proprietary solution made in China, which might raise some eyebrows. Works great up to Android 4.0; don't install with higher versions as it will only stick your device in a boot-loop then. Root required.
LBE Security Manager: Successor of Privacy Guard, works with all current Android versions. Playstore version is in Chinese only; patched versions are available at XDA for other languages. Some feel this one a little overloaded, as it wants to be an all-in-one security suite covering a lot of stuff not everybody needs. Root required.
Xprivacy: A module to the Xposed framework. Gives very granular control, but other than LBE you cannot configure it to "ask everytime" whether access should be allowed (a feature I love about LBE). Root required.
App Ops: With 4.3-jelly-bean, Android had some permission management integrated but hidden from the user. There are several "App Ops" front-ends available, not all of them require root. Not all of them keep working with 4.4-kitkat, though, where this feature was "better protected". Not that granular, but much better than nothing if your device is not rooted.

Above mentioned list holds several more, but these are the best known. I personally use LBE Privacy Guard on my devices running 4.0 or lower. No app ever crashed on me for "disabled permissions", so LBE IMHO uses the "fake permissions" approach. Same AFAIK applies to the other solutions I've mentioned here.

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


text:
Where are my received voice notes saved?
I checked in the whatsapp media voice notes. But they are not there. Plz help me to find them urgently.

They're in the directory:
*/whatsapp/media/WhatsApp Voice

What's the "*" supposed to represent? Where does one find this directory?

it represents the main directory ("/sdcard")


text:
File deleting problems after Android v4.4.2 upgrade?
Phone:  Samsung Galaxy S3
Carrier:  AT&T (US)
Upgrade Path:  v4.2 to v4.4.2
Is anyone else noticing SD card file deleting issues after the upgrade to Android v4.4.2?
I use CoolReader to view files stored to  my SD card and continually delete them and add new ones.  After the updgrade, CoolReader and Astro File Manager are unable to delete files.  In fact, with Astro, the system popup appears with "Deleting..." and stays up until I cancel it.
Only connecting to a PC with USB and opening the folders there has allowed me to delete files.
Any suggestions on settings or anything else to correct this?
Thanks!
Bill

Pretty normal. With Android 4.4, Google decided apps shall no longer have write access on the external SDCard – unless they are system apps (or have root privileges). They call that "security" (while others call it "crippling", and doubt "security" being the real reason behind – rather suspecting "cloudy interests").
While apps still can store their own data in their own dedicated directories (i.e. <sdcard>/Android/<package_name>/), the entire concept of a "shared media storage", where you can use any app of your choice to organize your own media and documents, has been abandoned. So (without root access) it's e.g. no longer possible

for a media player to download covers into the music folder
for a media player to (re-)write ID3 tags im .mp3 files it did not create itself
to edit a document created with another app or copied from your PC

All this can only be done when you stored those files in the cloud, as with most cloud apps all cloud-stored data is available to all apps you give access to your cloud account (the same way they had access to the SDCard before 4.4).

Technically, apps do have access to external SD cards, but only within their own designated folders. I also subscribe to the "cloud all the things" conspiracy theory, but in this case the security reason really does make sense. Seeing how many (badly written) apps love to store personal info in clear text on SD cards, it's certainly nice not having to worry about other apps having a blank check to read those anymore.

@Chahk, that's known and was already mentioned here multiple times, which is why I initially omitted that in my answer (updated now). As for your "badly written apps", they now can (or have to) do that in the cloud, which I feel much more dangerous: I can wipe my card, but I cannot wipe the cloud (nor can I know for sure who else has access to it). // But don't we discuss that here; the facts are named, so everyone can make up his own mind about it. Thanks for pointing out the missing ones ;)


text:
Updating to 4.4.3
I'm trying to update my Nexus 4 from 4.4.2 to 4.4.3 and every time the message pops up, I select install and clockworkmod recovery keeps saying error, installation aborted, STATUS 7. I've even tried doing toggle signature verification. I have the latest cwm, root, and I also have ROM manager installed. Does anyone know how to properly install this update?

Put the stock recovery back and use that for the update, instead of trying to do it with CWM.
For a Nexus device, you can get the official factory images from here.  Download the Nexus 4 factory image for the Android version you're currently running (probably KOT49H) and unzip it.  Inside, one of the files is a .zip file.  Extract that, and you'll find a recovery.bin file.  Flash this to your recovery partition in the same way that you flashed CWM, and you'll have your stock recovery back.  (You can reinstall CWM when you're done.)
Remember to enable OTA survival in SuperSU, by the way, or you'll lose root when you install the update.

On my phone there is no stock recovery

Every Android device has a recovery.  It's what's used for system updates and factory resets.  When you installed CWM, you were putting it into the existing recovery partition, replacing the recovery that came with the phone.

my phone does not have a recovery. If you boot it into a recovery while theres no cwm it just gives you an error. I installed it using usb and a program on my computer (odin style)

The screen with the android in the middle and a red triangle above him?  That is the stock recovery.  It's not meant to be used interactively like CWM is; it expects the Android OS to have provided a script to tell it what to do automatically.

Well thats aomething new, thanks, but all that trouble espetially loosing both cwm and root in the end is just not worth it. Hell if i could i would downgrade to 4.3 cuz kitkat is horrible, glitchy, and uses up a lot of battery and i mean a lot. Samething happened to my old phone, it had 2.3 gingerbread and upgrading it made problems. Every phone should not be upgraded

Instead, i might even downgrade. Do you think i can downgrade with keeping all my files. Keeping them directly, not backing up and restoring cuz that never worked for me

FWIW, my Nexus 5 is doing fine with KitKat.  And 4.4.4 is a security update; you probably ought to install that.  SuperSU OTA survival worked fine for both the 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 upgrades on both my Nexus 5 and Nexus 10, so I expect it'll work fine on your Nexus 4 as well.

No its fine, this whole thing gave me the idea to downgrade, and i will try maybe installing the stock nexus 4 rom

Installing any factory image will wipe your data.


text:
Android L Preview upgrade
I was about to flash the phome with the command prompt, but an error came up saying that the device was locked. Does this mean is has to be rooted? If I root it and upgrade it will it be unrooted again because I don't want to loose my warranty.

What phone? And are you installing an official factory image or a custom ROM?

The nexus 5. I'm installing the android l developers preview

I'd expect that to work even with a locked bootloader, since it's an official image, but I haven't tried it so maybe I'm wrong.

unfortunately it does not

It sounds like your bootloader is locked, which is different from rooting.  With a locked bootloader, you can only flash official signed factory images; with it unlocked, you can flash anything to any partition.
If you're following Google's directions for installing factory images, you'll see that one of the steps is to run a fastboot oem unlock command.  This unlocks the phone's bootloader.  It also erases all your data.  (But installing the L Preview system image will do that anyway.)

so it does not root the phone. Thanks bud unfortunately I cannot vote you up because I'm still new and have no reputation points :(

It doesn't root the phone, but it does void your warranty — or at least, it displays a message saying that it voids your warranty.  (But again, installing the L Preview system image will do that anyway.)  And it's possible to re-lock and flash back to a supported factory image later, leaving no trace that it's ever been unlocked.


text:
"device unauthorized" message when trying to use ADB, but can't boot device to confirm authorization
I managed to get stuck in a boot loop after installing the Chainfire 3D driver on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.
I can boot into the recovery mode (and download mode) but when I try to establish a connection using adb shell, it says:

error: device unauthorized. Please check the confirmation dialog on your device.

Of course, I cannot boot my device to confirm authorization.
How can I use ADB without first being authorized?

'adb devices' says unauthorized in TWRP

Boot into recovery mode, and connect your device to your computer; then mount your device's internal memory/SD card and download the corresponding firmware for your device (ensuring that you have the correct firmware, or you will brick your device!).
After this, flash the firmware via the recovery, bearing in mind that it will wipe the current version of Android from the device.
Samsung devices are usually very good, as they keep personal data such as music and photos separate from the system partition, and so your personal data should remain intact. With this in mind, attempt to back-up your device first (your recovery function may have the ability to do this).
Try and establish a connection with ADB using the ramdump mode (usually Volume Down+Power+Home), and it may work.
Otherwise, ADB requires a fully functioning device to work (for security reasons).
Before installing something that modifies the way your device works (such as Chainfire's mods, Beats' sound driver, etc), always back-up your device first! Only you can be blamed for not taking a backup before you installed the mod.

You can't authorize adb. But anyway from recovery only the type of adb available is adb sideload. Sideload official OTA package or Flash the phone using ODIN if you want to ever boot it again. And where was adb shell anyway? Since adb shell works on a totally boot device or without using computer while on TWRP Terminal?

boot into downloading mode connect with odin and install new rom from sammobile (find your firmware)

How does that answer the question – which is "How can I use adb without first being authorized?" Even with a new firmware, the device must be authorized.

@Izzy Because installing a new ROM would fix the bootloop. You don't need adb at all for this.

@DanHulme true in this specific case, which is why it should be part of the answer including an explanation ;)

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


text:
How can I make my HTC One stop vibrating on notifications, but still make noise?
My HTC One vibrates every darn time the notification sound comes on, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get it to stop. I have "vibrate on calls" unticked in the setting, under sound, and it still does it. This was never a problem before that system update a little while ago.
I am seriously so mad right now.
Help?

Same occurs on HTC U Play... I'm equally annoyed at this problem!

Yes, I too went in to Settings > Accessibility and turn off for reminder of notifications. That fixed it for me. (For HTC 826)

I see no reason to add this answer since the content is already covered in this answer.

To remove vibration you should
Settings > Sound > deselect the vibration box

Go to Settings → Accessibility and untick the box for reminder of notifications. That might fix it.


text:
Does Android's implementation of SELinux's MAC inhibit apps with root privileges from accessing other app's data?
Starting with Android 4.4, SELinux's MAC is enforced. Does this mean that if an app somehow can get installed and exploit the kernel to get root privileges, that MAC will still prevent that app with root privileges from accessing private app data?
Android Documentation says,

SELinux can be used to label these devices so the process assigned the root privilege can write to only those specified in the associated policy. In this way, the process cannot overwrite data and system settings outside of the specific raw block device.

As a reference, I am implementing a Mobile Device Management system and in the process I have to determine how secure Android OS is itself. That is why I need to know how secure corporate data stored on a device is to rootkits, spyware, and other malware.
P.S. This was posted on the 'Unix & Linux' site but no one has been able to answer it, and I was suggested by one of their users to ask this community, any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

I can and probably it does in some way. It depends which SELinux domain the attacker has access to, and what's the SELinux policy for interfacing that (exploited) domain to target app domain.

Get /sepolicy (or /data/security/sepolicy) from the phone, and use sesearch (or some similar tool) to inspect the policy.

For future visitors' reference, it depends on the SELinux context of the root process. In DAC UID 0 is the super user which can access any resource on the device allowed by kernel. MAC (SELinux in our case) is denied by-default i.e. no process can access anything unless a policy rule is defined to allow the access.
So there is no super context in SELinux but it's possible to define one. That's what rooting apps do since Lollipop. Magisk, for instance, defines u:r:magisk:s0 with unrestricted access to any other context. Any process running with UID 0 and u:r:magisk:s0 would be able to access everything on device including other apps' data.
It depends on the exploit with what context it's able to run a process. With SELinux enforced, it's very hard to inject something to policy.
For details see:

What sepolicy context will allow any other context to access it?
How Magisk works?

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


text:
Will Nexus 5 be allowed to update to Android L?
I'm planning to buy a Nexus 5 next month, but before that I'd like to know if I will be allowed to update it to the next Android version, when it get released, that for now is being called Android L.

Every Nexus device so far has gotten at least two major android updates and also since the Android L Preview runs on the Nexus 5 so it is definitely getting the full update when it is ready.

The latest version for nexus 5 is 4.4.4. Once L is ready to be released to users, you will be allowed to update.
Currently L developer preview is available.

Agree. The Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (2013), and (still pending) Nexus 9 are all Google/Android dev. platforms. They will receive any new releases soon after it is released (along with a new platform/device).

There's a developer build of Android L available for both Nexus 5 and Nexus 7, since they're "development" devices I think you can safely assume that the stable images will be released for them when the time comes. Honestly the development build is pretty stable and you could use it before "proper" release, at least I think so.


text:
What app is activating all of my apps in turn?
Something on my phone is repeatedly cycling through all (or most) applications. Several times a day, it activates an app for a couple seconds, then moves on to the next app. It will continue doing this for many apps (maybe all of them) and it will repeat apps. Eventually it stops, but it will start again later in the day.
I notice the behavior because the rest of the phone, including the dialer, crawls to a halt. If I look at Apps -> Running I see the cycling app at the top. The screenshot shows that the cycle is currently on Facebook - an app that I have literally never used on my phone. It will cycle next to YouTube, Slacker, etc.
How can I figure out what's doing this, and how do I make it stop?

I've tried the following with no effect:

Repeatedly killing all Google Play services or processes that might be checking for updates.
Ensure that some of the activated apps are fully updated. They still appear in the running apps cycling.
Disabling Google Settings -> Verify Apps
All antennas and GPS on/off.

HTC Thunderbolt with Verizon
Android Version 4.0.4
Not rooted

What do you mean by "activates"? Does an activity from the app appear on the screen? Or can you only tell by looking at the list of running apps? Some apps have to run in the background periodically e.g. to check the internet for new data.

I see it in the running apps screen, like Facebook in the screenshot and I notice the drain on my poor single-core CPU. Since I don't use Facebook and have never logged in from my phone, it shouldn't be doing anything in the background. The phone's performance and responsiveness crawls to a halt while this is happening, too, so the offending processes are doing something substantial.


text:
How can i transfer my whatsapp chat history to my new phone?
I am using whatsapp on Samsung ace. Now I want to use whatsapp in my new HTC one. How can I transfer my my all chat histories from old phone to new phone?

This question already has been asked here multiple times. Please take a look at: Transfer Whatsapp chat history to new device / How to transfer WhatsApp conversations to a new phone?

Open WhatsApp
Press menu button
Press settings
Press Chat settings
Press Backup conversations
Close WhatsApp
Connect phone to computer
Open Explorer and navigate to your phone's internal memory
Find WhatsApp folder, copy it
Paste to your computer
Disconnect old phone, connect new phone to your computer
Copy WhatsApp folder from your computer
Paste WhatsApp folder to your internal memory of your new phone
Install WhatsApp on your new phone
Follow the instructions in WhatsApp
After registring your phone number WhatsApp should recognize your WhatsApp backup and automatically import your old conversations, contacts and media

Unfortunately this only works if you haven't already transferred service over to your new phone.  If you transfer service, WhatsApp will lock itself on your old phone, and the menu will not have any options except 'Contact Support'.  Are there instructions that work when the new phone has already been activated?

In Step 13, Can't I copy the WhatsApp folder to external SD card of my new phone


text:
Why does Battery doctor interfere with the Google play store to update /download the Application
I have Battery Doctor 4.9.3 installed on my  Samsung Galaxy trend device with Android jellybean 4.1.2.

The problem with this app is that every time I try to update an app
it starts initially and then later the download crashes.
Also there is What's app running parallel so just for few seconds I
shift to chat and in the background I can see the app getting updated.
After just few seconds when I return to the play store the download fails for which I need to re-update the app every time (after 30% it again crashed and then later I again re-update).

In the app there Is an option for smart Saving which I have turned it on. Although the app works fine for saving the battery but it is interfering with Google Play to update or download the app while I move to another screen it is closing it after few seconds

Don't use "task killer" apps: in general, they have a negative effect on battery life. Here's why.

@DanHulme here's the link for you check the app it's not a task killer app as you have suggested .It will notify the user of any app running or hogging the CPU and the user has to kill or force close that app

It lists under key features "Task Killer kills tasks with one click!" and "Kill apps when screen is off!" and the behaviour you describe sounds very much like it's killing Play Store when it's in the background.

I needed the app because it displays the exact time for my battery to drain and the amount of time required for a complete charge. Isn't is possible that by disable the Smart saving option I can avoid the store to stop the download

Since you're the one using the app, why not just try it? If it solves the problem, post an answer here.

Battery apps can be dodgily made, and if it has any task killing ability I'd just uninstall it to be honest. It's worth adding that the 'Battery Saving' these apps promise often works out worse than letting the OS handle it. They're a bad idea in general.

In the smart saving options I could de-select the auto kill apps on screen off option(i.e. When screen turns off the apps will be killed by default).  After de-selecting the option now the apps are being updated smoothly as usual


text:
Factory reset: prestigio multipad 7.0 ultra plus tablet pc pmp 36 70b
How to factory reset prestigio multipad 7.0 ultra plus tablet pc pmp 36 70b?  It boots to gmail sign in page, then it says wrong password, though it's not connected to the internet, it doesn't even let me connect. I need to reset it
Edit
usb debugging  mode is not enabled and I am stuck, can't login like this, and the tablet,isn't booting to recovery

That looks like an XY problem: what you really want is not a factory-reset, but passing by that lock, right? So I've just added the locked-out tag to your question; in its tag-wiki you can find some first-aid and links to useful related questions (I know your issue is solved by the accepted answer, so count this a hint for others coming across your post).

@Izzy thanks, but i sold the tablet since i couldn't unlock it long ago and accepted the answer that was there, to give him some rep coz he put some effort and voted it up

Thanks for the feedback, Fischer! So my pointer might prove even more helpful then :)

@Izzy yes you're right

If you cannot access the main UI, but the system powers up, boot in to recovery.
Try and find out what your recovery keys are (e.g. it's usually vol+, vol- and power on Samsung phones) online or by reading your device's manual, then holding them as your device boots.
Once in recovery, use the volume keys to select an option and power to use that tool, unless your device has a d-pad or older Android style buttons (Menu, Home etcetera).

Also: You can use adb to force the device to reboot to recovery mode if it is enabled, like this, in a terminal or command prompt, with the device connected to a USB port on the computer:
$ path/to/adb reboot recovery on Linux/Mac OS X; and
C:\> path\to\adb.exe reboot recovery on Windows
replace path/to/adb or path\to\adb.exe with the location of adb found in the Android SDK platform-tools folder (the SDK can be downloaded from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html - choose SDK for an existing IDE)

i have the sdk, usb debugging  mode is not enabled and I am stuck, can't login like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJXFAdh7UJg and the tablet,isn't booting to recovery, would I be able to force it using the sdk?

Maybe you can get it to boot in to a Fastboot envrionment described on the CM site where you you can flash a recovery or hotboot a recovery image if you can find one.

would  it work without usb debugging enabled?

although you did not tell me if it works without debugging, and I doubt it would, you gave me some useful info I did not know, so thanks


text:
I updated Sony Xperia Sola (MT27i) and it do not work properly
I have Sony Xperia Sola (MT27i). I updated it from android version 2.3 (gingerbread) to 4.0 (ice-cream-sandwich), and now my phone can not work normally; Its RAM is always full and it need very long time to do something, especial when I need call, send messages or play something.
Please someone advised me something, what can I do?

Was this an official update from your carrier (or Sony,) or was it a custom ROM?

@Chahk This was official update


text:
Why does Facebook messenger stays active irrespective of the Mobile data being enabled or not
I have noticed that in my task manager Facebook Messenger stays active even thought the mobile data is enabled or dis-abled.
I have tried doing the force stop many times when the app is not at all required.Also visited the site for some solution.
But when I enable the mobile data I observe that FB messenger was active all the while in the background and I automatically get notifications without activating the app.
Any suggestion or help accepted.

"I automatically get notifications without activating the app" It doesn't follow that it must have been active all the time. Most apps that use Internet are set to start automatically when a connection becomes available.

@DanHulme Lets say for example I open the app check the notifications and then close it by "Back Button" as you say that some apps are set to start automatically for this I do the force class and the app closes from the task manager again upon receiving the connection I get the notifications by default

Yes, that sounds normal. Even after the app was closed, connecting to the internet broadcasts an intent which can start the app again.


text:
Vold makes my SD card disappear
I flashed a newer (unofficial) version of CM on to my phone, and whenever I try and use this version the SD card disappears moments after it is inserted. The kernel finds the card, vold detects this and does something. I'm not sure what, but it essentially causes the card to disappear from /dev/block before it can be fsck'd.
If I run this script, however:
while true; do
  if ls /dev/block | grep mmc; then
    killall vold
  fi
done

The SD remains visible and also mountable, and it also remains mounted after vold has caused its block files to disappear (/dev/block/mmc* disappear and /dev/block/vold/179:* (the SD card) remains, but in an unusable state, but the mountpoint still writes to the SD card)
The card has one fat32 partition that works in TWRP.
Relevant dmesg sections (lines containing either "sd" or "mmc" in dmesg): http://paste.kde.org/pyrxbgd9z/c5fjco
Logcat output:
D/Vold    (14152): Volume sdcard0 state changing 1 (Idle-Unmounted) -> 2 (Pending)
D/DirectVolume(14152): DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded -> MAJOR 179, MINOR 1, PARTN 1
D/Vold    (14152): Volume sdcard0 state changing 2 (Pending) -> 1 (Idle-Unmounted)
W/MountService(  440): Duplicate state transition (unmounted -> unmounted) for /storage/sdcard0
D/MountService(  440): sendStorageIntent Intent { act=android.intent.action.MEDIA_UNMOUNTED dat=file:///storage/sdcard0 (has extras) } to UserHandle{-1}
D/DirectVolume(14152): Checking for bad partition major number
I/Vold    (14152): /dev/block/vold/179:1 being considered for volume sdcard0
D/Vold    (14152): Volume sdcard0 state changing 1 (Idle-Unmounted) -> 3 (Checking)
D/Vold    (14152): Trying to get filesystem type for /dev/block/vold/179:1
D/MountService(  440): volume state changed for /storage/sdcard0 (unmounted -> checking)
D/MountService(  440): sendStorageIntent Intent { act=android.intent.action.MEDIA_CHECKING dat=file:///storage/sdcard0 (has extras) } to UserHandle{-1}
D/MediaScannerReceiver(  974): action: android.intent.action.MEDIA_UNMOUNTED path: /storage/sdcard0
D/ExternalStorage(  989): After updating volumes, found 0 active roots
D/DirectVolume(14152): Volume sdcard0 /mnt/media_rw/sdcard0 partition 179:1 removed
D/DirectVolume(14152): Volume sdcard0 /mnt/media_rw/sdcard0 disk 179:0 removed
D/Vold    (14152): Volume sdcard0 state changing 3 (Checking) -> 0 (No-Media)
I/PackageManager(  440): Updating external media status from unmounted to unmounted
D/MountService(  440): volume state changed for /storage/sdcard0 (checking -> unmounted)
D/Vold    (14152): Found vfat filesystem on /dev/block/vold/179:1
D/MountService(  440): sendStorageIntent Intent { act=unmounted dat=file:///storage/sdcard0 (has extras) } to UserHandle{-1}
D/MountService(  440): volume state changed for /storage/sdcard0 (unmounted -> removed)
I/fsck_msdos(14152): FSCK wrapper - calling fsck_msdos with -p -f /dev/block/vold/179:1
D/MountService(  440): sendStorageIntent Intent { act=android.intent.action.MEDIA_REMOVED dat=file:///storage/sdcard0 (has extras) } to UserHandle{-1}
I/fsck_msdos(14152): ** /dev/block/vold/179:1
I/fsck_msdos(14152): Can't open: No such device or address
I/fsck_msdos(14152): fsck_msdos terminated by exit(8)
E/Vold    (14152): Filesystem check failed (unknown exit code 8)
E/Vold    (14152): /dev/block/vold/179:1 failed FS checks (I/O error)
D/Vold    (14152): Volume sdcard0 state changing 0 (No-Media) -> 1 (Idle-Unmounted)
W/Vold    (14152): Returning OperationFailed - no handler for errno 0
E/VoldConnector(  440): NDC Command {52 volume mount /storage/sdcard0} took too long (792ms)
I/PackageManager(  440): Updating external media status from unmounted to unmounted
W/MountService(  440): Insertion mount failed (-1)
D/MountService(  440): volume state changed for /storage/sdcard0 (removed -> unmounted)
D/MountService(  440): sendStorageIntent Intent { act=android.intent.action.MEDIA_UNMOUNTED dat=file:///storage/sdcard0 (has extras) } to UserHandle{-1}
D/MediaScannerReceiver(  974): action: android.intent.action.MEDIA_UNMOUNTED path: /storage/sdcard0
D/ExternalStorage(  989): After updating volumes, found 0 active roots

if you need any more info/clarification to help troubleshooting, ask and I will provide :)

Cyanogenmod nighlies are riddled with known and new bugs. Maybe flashing a better ROM is the way to go?

@RossC - it would be, but there's not much choice in terms of other ROMs for my device. An older build from March had working SD card but other bugs/instabilities.

I fixed it! Turns out it was a bug with vfat support. I had to format my SD to exfat, but now it's working again.


text:
Does the Play Store app verify the APKs?
Many people (including me) are downloading/installing/updating applications in public networks where we cant be sure of a secure connection without MiTM attacks, does Google's Play Store transmit the APK files over HTTPS? And does it verify its checksums after the download before its installed?

Android itself checks the certificate when you update already installed APKs. It's therefore not possible to install a tampered/modified app that would need to be signed with a different certificate. It would throw a certificate mismatch exception.
Using Google Play to install a new APK for the first time is different somehow: It's signed with the developers key, but Google or a man in the middle could tamper the connection, modify it and then send it to you with a new signature. The package installer and android itself doesn't check back with google if the signature matches.
But Google Play implements the security recommendations that google gives for developers: It uses SSL and should be therefore secure. Unfortunately a wrong implementation can lead to flawed security as it happened with many apps that were tested for SSL vulnerability in this study:
http://www2.dcsec.uni-hannover.de/files/android/p50-fahl.pdf
(Not including Google Play)
Still the signature check itself is still vunrenable in 4.4:
http://www.zdnet.com/kitkat-gets-fix-for-android-app-tampering-bug-but-earlier-versions-still-vulnerable-7000022930/

Are the certificates for each app the same during the lifetime of it or can they be changed?

@Nick: They cannot be changed. Once you've uploaded an app for the first time to Google Play, you have to continue using the same signing key for the lifetime of the app. It will not allow you to upload an update that is signed differently.

@eldarerathis And what happens if the signing key is compromised then?

@Nick Then whoever stole it could upload whatever they wanted. The same is true of everything else on the Internet that is "secure", though. The underpinnings of Internet encryption rely on private keys remaining private. If that's an attack vector you're concerned about, then you'd have to basically avoid anything that relies on asymmetric encryption.

So TLDR: Just do the initial installation at home then you're fine

@Underlines, signature check is vulnerable in 4.3, not 4.4. That's what the article you refer to says.


text:
Opening PDF in full-screen mode
I tried to make an HTML and open it in a fullscreen browser, but it doesn't show the PDF.
Is there a way to open a PDF in full-screen, page fit 100% to screen, without blending effects, just the PDF without any menu?

It's much easier to use a dedicated PDF app to do this than try to read PDFs in the browser. For example, you can upload a PDF in Google Play Books via the web interface and then read it in the Play Books app, which on KitKat supports fullscreen mode, even hiding the notification and navigation bars.
Other PDF apps might have similar features, though I know that QuickOffice doesn't.

thx, i tried an ebook reader app for now. not perfect but working. im not allowed to upload that pdf somewhere. its a mockup whick i would like to test on my device.


text:
Whatsapp shows me online when I'm not in the application
What reasons are there that WhatsApp shows me online, although I am neither using the application nor the phone as such. I don't know enough about WhatsApp to explain this to a friend who thinks I am lying. Could connection problems lead to a false status?

Whatsapp shows your device being connected to the Internet with your Whatsapp account signed in. If you left your device on the kitchen table while leaving for a tour, that does not matter to the app/service. Only when it runs out of power, and the device switches off – or it loses network connectivity, or you actively "go offline", it will change "your" status.

@Izzy that's incorrect. Whatsapp shows you 'ONLINE' when you open the app or are actively using the app. If the app is closed - but the phone remains on - the app does not (should not) show you 'ONLINE'.

@Dark_Cyber And if the app is not closed, but running in background, your status is still "online", as I described: "device being connected to the Internet with your Whatsapp account signed in." I didn't write it shows you online when you explicitly closed the app.

I have a workaround for this. May not be ideal but it works 100% for me.
Requirements:
Root
Xposed
[Gravitybox] (http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.ceco.kitkat.gravitybox) ([JB] (http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.ceco.gm2.gravitybox))
Go to Gravitybox > Key Actions > back button and select the action "Kill running app"
Now when you want to go out of WhatsApp and be sure that you won't be online without you knowing just doubble tap or long press the back button (depends on what you chosed). Now WhatsApp will be terminated. You still should get notifications about messages and WhatsApp calls.

Note:
Names of menu entries may vary. My Gravitybox is German and I just translated it.

Whatsapp by default shows your status to your contact list - only. You have the option to show your status to contact list, everyone or nobody. This option can be reached by going to

Settings > Account > Privacy

Based on your question/scenario, it seems that your app is not working properly. Whatsapp only shows your 'ONLINE' when you access the app or are actively on it. If you close the app - but leave your phone on, the app should not show you 'ONLINE'. I would uninstall the app and reinstall it.
Of note, I would use an app like clean master to make sure that all files associated with the application are truly uninstalled to ensure that you have a clean re-install.

I think you are confusing the "status message" with the "online status". The status message is a short message like "in the gym" and you can indeed control who sees that. The online status is shown to everyone, including strangers that have your phone number

I got two explanations:
Apparently after searching, WhatsApp shows you online if the application is open in the background, even if you're not using it.
If you think you closed the app, i can think of only another explanation, WhatsApp servers are loaded and can't possibly update your status real-time.
If you closed the app for some time, let's say 30min? And it still shows you online, then must be another problem, refer to this

The app would need to be frozen or disabled to check this, your first assumption is correct. You are online with a messaging app in the background, therefore you are 'Online'.

@RossC the app is malfunctioning. Whatsapp does not show you 'Online' unless you are actively on it, or leave the app open. If you open other apps, the whatsapp app remains open but it's now running in the background, at which point it would show a 'Last Seen' not an 'Online' status.

@Dark_Cyber Hmmm, mine always has me online once I have an Internet connection. And with that, if I close it it tends to re-open anyway. I've since unistalled it, thanks for the heads up!

@RossC No worries, glad to help. Let me know if that works for you.

This issue is very much there its because you just switch to another app or any other area of phone without exiting whatsapp properly.
when it shows you online see your status in any other phone now if you are using Android Keep Pressing the Home Key for 3 Seconds you will see all app running in BG just close all however mainly if you close whatsapp you will immediately see yourself as Last Seen at so and so time in other phone.
Same way in Blackberry also you need to exit the app properly or in any phone you have to click settings and then choose Exit at the end in whatsapp.
This has been happening from past few days.


text:
Access and modify files on the SD card of my mobile using WIFI tethering
I am looking for an application for my Android 2.3.5 Sony Xperia X10i.
I want an app that will mount my phone on my hot spot as eg: http://192.36.02.08 , which will have both download and upload functions.
I want this so that I can quickly transfer files from my computer to my mobile in a hurry, as I have found out that WiFi speeds for file transfers are much faster than that of an USB cable.
Are there any apps that can do it?
I appreciate any help.

You've got quite a few Apps that can do it:
Wifi File Explorer
Wifi File Transfer
3rd: WifiDroid, it doesn't let me post more than two links because of my reputation, but you can search in google.
4th: AirDroid, it allows you to transfer anything, and even control your phone with it.
I've used the first too, both free and pro versions, i like the 2nd more, the 3rd i never used.

The second one only worked, but it can only transfer upto 5MB per file. Is there anything else?

Niether the first nor 3rd worked? That's odd, check WifiShare You can also try AirDroid

Could you please edit your answer to include AirDroid. I transferred a big file to my phone today and it went blazing fast. Only problem is with the security.

With security? I haven't used it in awhile but i believe it does allow password to authenticate and https, or am i wrong?
Anyway i edited the answer ;)

The pro version of WiFi File Transfer allows files of up to unlimited sizes to be transferred. You type the IP of the phone in the URL bar, and it takes you to the root directory of the phone, where you can go to the SD Card, or Internal Storage.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smarterdroid.wififiletransferpro

There are a couple of options:

FTP: Access your phone via FTP. An Allrounder would be ES File Explorer. Use an FTP client on your computer or i.e. the Firefox add-on FireFTP.

Access the mobile Hotspot
Open ES File Explorer > Tools > Remote Manager > Start...
Enter ftp-address in FireFTP to access files from the mobile (no system files!)

Samba: Use the Samba protocol if you rooted your device. Samba Filesharing is a good app. You can than connect your phones storage as a network drive on the computer.
SSH: It is possible to mount the phones storage on the computer using SSHFS. On a rooted Android device, use SSHDroid and on the computer you have to find solutions to support SSHFS, ie. for Windows it is win-sshfs.
It dempends highly on your setup. The difficulty varies between the various OS'es.

I might have misinterpreted your question. How exactly is your setup?


text:
Install All Apps on SD card On Micromax Unite 2
Recently i bought Micromax Unite 2, its a good phone but what problem I am facing is that it comes with internal storage of 4 GB and has external storage and I am using 8GB SD Card.
Under storage it shows free Internal storage of 0.90 GB (free 100 MB), External Storage of 7.47 GB (left 6GB free) and Internal SD card of 1.67 GB (left 1.67 GB free). By default it installs apps on Phone/Internal storage and its getting filled and I am left with only 100 MB and it gets hanged.

What is the difference between Internal SD Card and phone storage?
Can I install all apps on Internal Storage (which is 1.67 GB free)?

For 1) you can think of them like different partitions of a disk. Internal SDCard usually is found at /sdcard (though not always directly mounted there), while internal storage (as referred to) usually goes to /data. More details can be found in our tag-wikis on storage, internal-storage, and file-system.
For 2), most likely not all apps. And if you can do so at all also depends on the Android version used.

Hello I am on Android 4.4 and ho can i install apps on Internal storage as there is no option for it

apps2sd was introduced with Android 2.2. But as far as I understood, changes in 4.4 concerning SDCard handling rendered it inoperable concerning the external card. Apps are generally installed on internal storage, but you should be able to move them between there and the internal SDCard. Please follow the link to our [app2sd tag-wiki]](http://android.stackexchange.com/tags/app2sd/info) for details.


text:
Why isn't device storage an option on my Galaxy S4?
Can anyone tell me how to set up the Galaxy S4 to have " storage to device " as an option to save files and pictures to my sd card? Device storage is an option, but it is not highlighted so I can't use that as an option to store files and or pictures. I got a new phone and do not want to lose my pictures.
Thanks in advance for any advice/help given.
Cyndee

I wonder that "device storage" turns up as an option at all, as it is not intended for direct user interaction. On internal storage, each app gets its "home directory" to write in, where they usually store their data and settings – but not e.g. your photos and documents you might wish to also access with other apps (as basically, on "device storage", each app is limited to its own directory).
Maybe you confuse this with "internal SDCard", which is the user-storage on the device (as opposed to the "external SDCard")? To get some idea on the terms, be invited to our tag-wikis on the terms storage, internal-storage, and file-system.


text:
Customizing the reminder.
Currently, the reminders are carried out by a one-time vibration (which is too easy to miss)
What settings do you go to to make them say, do 5 loud beeps or something?
This is for note 3.

You can add more reminders for one single event.
If you want something more "loud" you should edit the notification sound to something like a longer notifications sound so that it will vibrate for all the sound duration.

Thank you matt95. I appreciate your answer. Could you be specific in how to do that? I got the Google keep app which is totally promising. But the darn reminders vibrate only once. It's a joke - except it is not funny.  It beats the heck out of me that simply being able to change the default behaviour of system reminders/alerts requires me to set up this stack exchange question. How do you reach the reminders setting  (or alerts or whatever it is called on android) so that the system reminders are done the way you want them to be done?

I see, Google Keeps unfortunately will let you add only one reminder per task, I'm using the HTC's one and it works great for me. If you want to get more vibration you should migrate to another app. The only thing you could do is, as i said above, set a longer alarm song so that you can at least hear it.

we'll do. could you tell me how I can set that up. under which menu item under the settings do I need to go? On my note 3, I tried device>notif panel. No luck. tried Device > Sound > XXX. no luck.

I've never had a Samsung device, however I suggest you to check out this link here http://www.samsung.com/us/support/howtoguide/N0000006/16522/224697


text:
What exactly gets deleted when removing Google account
When I try to remove my Google account I get the message that messages, contacts and other data from the phone will be deleted.
What does messages include?
Mail messages, SMS, Whatsapp,...?
And what is meant by other data?
All apps, pictures,...?
I'd like to know this for Android 4.4.2 and 4.1.1.
Thank you

What Android version is running on the device? From the message, I assume it must be lower than 4.x – which means, as it is a phone, something like 2.x? Behavior here is different between Android versions.

My phone is 4.4.2 but I'd also like to know it for 4.1.1 which a friend got. Actually wanted to help here by removing her account, but I got the said warning and stopped.

I've never tried myself, but AFAIK with 4.x nothing should get deleted when removing your account except for, umm, your account itself – i.e. name and credentials, sync-options, and the like (on earlier versions, it would delete all data connected to the accounts, such as contacts, calendars, etc). I better leave the answer to somebody having better expertise in this field, though. But one thing for sure: Whatsapp should have nothing to do with it (neither other apps you've installed).

I've recently removed the Google account on phones with Android 4.4.2 and 4.1.1.
As far as I can judge nothing got deleted.


text:
Possible Soft-Brick Fix for my Galaxy S4
So, prior to my stupidity, I made a system.img dump via dd
However, after my stupidity (tried flashing some lib files....), I am now stuck with only stock recovery mode, or download mode.
How can I flash back my system.img?    I tried in download mode with heimdall... but it fails with
root@o7thDev:/media/MediaTwo/MyRom# heimdall flash --verbose --no-reboot --SYSTEM system.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...
  Manufacturer: "Sasmsung"
       Product: "MSM8960"

        length: 18
  device class: 2
           S/N: 0
       VID:PID: 04E8:685D
     bcdDevice: 0100
   iMan:iProd:iSer: 1:2:0
      nb confs: 1

interface[0].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 1
Class.SubClass.Protocol: 02.02.01
   endpoint[0].address: 82
       max packet size: 0010
      polling interval: 09

interface[1].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 2
Class.SubClass.Protocol: 0A.00.00
   endpoint[0].address: 81
       max packet size: 0200
      polling interval: 00
   endpoint[1].address: 01
       max packet size: 0200
      polling interval: 00
Claiming interface...
Attempt failed. Detaching driver...
Claiming interface again...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
WARNING: Control transfer #1 failed. Result: -9
WARNING: Control transfer #2 failed. Result: -9
WARNING: Control transfer #3 failed. Result: -9
WARNING: Control transfer #4 failed. Result: -9
WARNING: Control transfer #5 failed. Result: -9
WARNING: Control transfer #6 failed. Result: -9
ERROR: Failed to receive handshake response. Retrying...
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 SYSTEM
0%
1%
ERROR: Failed to unpack received packet.

ERROR: Failed to confirm end of file transfer sequence!
ERROR: SYSTEM upload failed!

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

so I tried creating an update.zip that I could sideload flash in stock recovery, but that fails as well with
E: footer is wrong
E: signature verification failed

If I could get into adb shell, I'd be set... all I'd have to do is dd the system.img back (been there done that in SafeStrap), but when I try adb shell in stock recovery I just get "error: device not found", and in sideload mode, I get
error: closed

Please help? :crying:

Heimdall is not designed for flashing images backed up with dd. It's a tool for flashing specifically crafted firmware images. I would suggest flashing a custom recovery via Heimdall in download mode.

As far as I know the only custom recovery I can have on this beast is SafeStrap 3.72, which was installed (but of course I can't even get that far).  I'll see if I can find a Heimdall flashable version of it though... I'm on the NC1 locked bootloader...

Is it possible for you to mount your dd image on a Linux PC and create an update.zip from the contents?

Seems u need to use ODIN to get back your phone, You will lose all your data though

Try disabling verification, via safestrap, and try both methods + Sideload again.
I should ask, why heimdall and safestrap? Use Clockworkmod recovery instead of safestrap and ODIN over heimdall. Yes, they require you to get your stuff online beforehand, but clockworkmod has got me out of a lot of soft-bricks
If I was boring, everyone I know would not bother with me :(

had no choice but to use safestrap on my AT&T S4 :), but I've since dumped it for a N900T anyways ;)


text:
Is there any way to sign into Google Play without also signing into Gmail?
I have an android tablet. I would like to sign in into the play store in order to get other apps, but I do not want to sign in gmail/contacts/calenders/g+ etc. This device will be shared among multiple people and I want to keep my information private.
The mere ability to turn of syncing with gmail is not enough - it can be trivially turned back on without a password. And in the time it takes to turn off gmail sync, a fair bit of email still gets synced to the device. I can't find a way to remove it, without also signing out of Google Play.
On iOS, the app store credentials are separate from iCloud credentials, so this isn't a problem.
Is there any way to sign into Google Play without also signing into Gmail?

Do you have a google account? What happens when you sign into the google play with that google account(not gmail).? On Lollipop versions you can add as many users accounts you want and each user sharing different user data(also different gmail accounts) so your information and apps wont be mixed up with your collegues

https://android.stackexchange.com/a/214984/10015 is relevant.

As pointed out by Hiemanshu you need to do this by using a separate account.
Now, as Android itself doesn't differentiate between Google accounts the question in your use case boils down to: How can I create a Google Account that does not have Gmail (and various other Google services with possible private information on them) associated to the account in question?
I have had similar cases at hand both in work and private use and would advice the following three options:

Create a regular Google account without Gmail. You can do this via https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail . Note that You need to provide some non-Gmail email address to do this but it can be anything and it's only used as a username, ie. it doesn't give access to that email address in any way. (I use guest@myowndomain.com for which I have a catch-all email set up so that I can just invent emails on-the-fly and will get emails pushed to that should anyone ever email to those, but that's another thing).
You can also delete the Gmail address. In essence this will make your whatever@gmail.com Google Account become the same as one created in the prior step. You'll still login with the whatever@gmail.com but you just won't have the Gmail email service active anymore after that. You can do this here. Lastly
You can use a Google apps account and simply limit the services available for the username in question. If you don't have a Google Apps account you can still create one for free even though it's been officially discontinued for some years not. You can find this advice by searching the web for: Techwalls "How to Get Free Google Apps Standard Account for Single User"

I've been using options 1 and 3 myself and they have both worked fine. As a final additional advice I would remind you to pay attention when you are adding the account(s) to the device in question. There are two things to pay attention to, actually:

ALWAYS add the limited account as the very first account on the device. The thing is that (at least on older devices) you can't delete the first account that was added to the device. On shared devices you might very well run into situations (that you don't come to think of now) in which you want to completely remove your personal account when you give the device to someone.
Last but not least, pay attention when adding the non-gmail account that you don't activate the synchronization of any of the Google services (unless you specifically want to).

That's it!

Google Apps have been renamed to G Suite and it costs money since December 6, 2012 there's no free version.

Depending on the version of Android you can create multiple users where each user has its own accounts system. http://www.howtogeek.com/170191/share-your-android-tablet-and-keep-your-privacy-with-a-guest-account/
The only other way to work around this issue is to create a new account just for that device and use play store with it. Most of google apps seems to be really coupled at the moment.

authors: นภัสมินตรา ผาดี


text:
Can't send MMS messages (but can receive)
About a week ago I lost the ability to send MMS messages. I can still receive, and single-recipient SMS works fine. The phone is a Moto X, stock. I did recently install some new apps; could one of them be interfering with the messaging app?
EDIT: the message I get is invalid destination address or could not send message.

Have you checked your MMS APN settings?

Just did. All that's listed is a single radio button, "Verizon Internet," which is selected.

You most likely need another for MMS. Best to check with Verizon.

This may help
i have test Moto G
1.Open Message
2.Choose Attach Option on right side Options(Picture,Capture picture,Videos,Capture Video,Audio,Record audio and Slideshow).
3.Choose Capture Video/Videos,if choose video then we have send small video otherwise its not selected.
4.Then last Send MMS.

I'm accepting this answer because it looks like it ought to work, but as it happens the problem behavior disappeared before I could try it out, and I haven't been able to replicate it since. All very strange.


text:
Turning off LED light for Gmail notifications on Galaxy S4
I have email notifications turned off on Galaxy S4 and I'm still getting the blue LED indicator every time I receive an email from Gmail.  How do I turn that off?

What setting exactly have you turned off? Tell us what app the setting is in and exactly where you found it.

You can use LightFlow to manage all your LED Notifications and use that to turn off LEDs for any programs you want. You can also use it to change notification led colours as well.

You have to just go to Settings > Display > Find here notification light option and disable that.
But keep in mind that all notification light will be turned off, except during charging the phone and low battery indication.

authors: สําราญ ใจเร็ว


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Changed keyboard, now can't enter password
For some reason, I changed my keyboard to Greek, yet my password is in English. I am unable to enter the password to unlock the phone. I can't pair with Bluetooth without unlocking, and there is no option to change the language of the keyboard. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Did you change the built-in keyboard's language, or did you install, activate, and switch to a 3rd-party keyboard?  Also, it would help to know which Android OS version you have installed, and if the device is rooted.

The device is not rooted. It is the default keyboard's language that I changed, so it stays there in safe mode, its on 4.4 KitKat and it's a Sony xperia z.

Does it not allow you to enter your gmail password after a few failed attempts? But i assume you are unable to type that either?

Use android device manager to get past your password, then you will be able to access menus and change the language.

You can Hack the screenlock password by typing this from terminal:
$ adb shell
$ rm /data/system/gesture.key

But I'm not in USB Debugging mode.


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How can I add a custom search engine to Chrome (beta, stable...)?
Call me dumb, but, I don't see an obvious way to do this.
I want to add duckduckgo.com as the main search engine in Google Chrome for Android (beta, stable...)

As of chrome v39, this still can't easily be done; however, you can hack it. From  the XDA post SomeNickName referenced:

Install a Terminal emulator or use adb shell if you're familiar with it.
Change the "last_known_google_url" and "last_prompted_google_url" settings support having a search&q=added to the end. For example, duckduckgo would work with, https://www.duckduckgo.com& -- where the extra ampersand at the end is for converting the "search" text into an additional query sting param.

Here's a shell command for setting the duckduckgo url:
    p='/data/data/com.chrome.beta/app_chrome/Default/Preferences'
    awk '/last_known_google_url/ {sub(/google.com\//,"duckduckgo.com/\\&")}; {print}' ${p} > $p.bak
    awk '/last_prompted_google_url/ {sub(/google.com\//,"duckduckgo.com/\\&")}; {print}' ${p}.bak > ${p}

I get a “permission denied” error on 2nd line — so perhaps a silly question: do I need to root my phone to be able to do it?

You might want to make sure that the first line's path actually exists. If it doesn't, then that command would fail. I may have ran this command on a rooted phone, but can't recall for sure (my last two phones haven't been rooted, but this post may have been from the phone before those two)

With newer versions, you need to open the search engine first, do a search, then Chrome will add it on its list.
If you then go to Settings -> Search engine, the search engine you visited will be listed in the Recently visited section.

You can configure the default search engine for the address bar by going to Chrome menu > Settings > (Basics) Search engine.

Search The Web

I don't see any placeholder to add duckduckgo.com as an option over there

? Isn't the option custom for you to type anything? I don't have Google Chrome installed, and i believe it is incompatible with my X8, i can't try for myself... but it should work?

I made the question because obviously I don't see that option

I can't help you much further because my X8 isn't compatible with the app for me to test it, however, if you feel with time and want to read more, these guys Were/Are having the same problem...


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No tap menu in Drive
I am trying to switch accounts in My Drive.
My understanding is that this can be done by tapping on the menu in the top LH corner of the screen, as you would do in the Gmail app etc
However on my phone (Samsung Duos) nothing happens - no menu at all.
I have tried completely uninstalling, then restarting and reinstalling. Same result. Also tried clearing the cache/settings in App manager. No luck there either.
Does anyone have any other ideas I could try? I use Drive heaps for my business and personal use (separate accounts) so it's driving me nuts not being able to switch between them!

SORTED: Not allowed to answer my own question so here is the solution...
Deleted both accounts and recreated them, now it works :)

As soon as the timeout is gone, you can answer your own question and mark it as accepted to show this problem as resolved for future reference for others :)

OK got it sorted... just writing this down incase anyone stumbles across the same issue...
Deleted both accounts and recreated them, now it works :)


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Why is the Android stock browser still alive?
The Stock browser in Android has not been actively supported, and Google Chrome is actively developed and uses modern technologies unlike it's predecessor. Yet, the stock browser still has 22.77% of the market share on mobile devices, which is more than Chrome for Android.
With it's inferior support for modern web technologies and unfairly large market share, the Stock browser is quickly becoming the modern IE6. But for some reason it is still often included as a default browser on new devices.
Are there any advantages this browser has, from the user or business perspective, that might be the reason why it hasn't been phased out altogether in favour of Chrome through the automatic update process, or at least no longer selected as a default browser? Is there any reason for keeping the mammoth alive?

"Android browser" has been replaced by Chrome on Nexus devices: only devices by certain manufacturers still include it. So your question, "Why doesn't Google phase it out" doesn't make sense: they already have.

@onik, I don't think it's opinion based. I'm not asking if it's right or wrong (though I might be biased towards wrong). I'm just asking for reasons or causes why this is happening.

You could clarify the question, because out of the three questions you asked, I assumed the first one was the main point. "Why doesn't Google do x" -questions are opinion-based, unless there's an interview or a blog post from Google that has factual evidence.

@onik, I have partially accepted suggested edit, and edited some more to clarify.

I've reopened the question with the edits

Why is the Android stock browser still alive?

As of June 2014, 15.7% (0.8+14.9) of users still use Android 2.2 and 2.3.x (Froyo and Gingerbread), since Chrome supports only Android 4.0+, these users can't use Chrome for Android.
Also Android 4.0 (ICS), which has 12.3% of users, does not come with Chrome preinstalled.
Moreover, I think the stock browser still comes preinstalled in all Android Jellybean phones (Version 4.1.x , 4.2.x and 4.3.x), which is used by 58.4% (29.0+19.1+10.3) of users.
That means the stock browser is still preinstalled on 86.4% (15.7+12.3+58.4) of Android phones.

The above should be the reason why the stock browser is still being
  widely used. A lot of users don't bother downloading or changing the
  default/preinstalled browser.

There are no technological advantages of using Stock Browser over Chrome for Android.

Google has already phased out the stock browser in Android Kitkat (4.4).

Chrome for Android is licensed from Google, while the Stock browser is not. Also, OEMs can modify the Stock Browser if required but not Chrome.
So from a business perspective, it is actually better for Google, if OEMs use Chrome. But some OEMs don't like being dependent on Google too much. To say more is beyond the scope of this answer. If you want more info go here and here.
Google has been slowly shifting the core of Android from AOSP to it's closed source and licensed Google Apps and the browser is one of the last components in this roadmap.
Update (Jan 2017):
As mentioned by Erwinus in the comments, Stock Browser was used for WebView in Android versions before Kitkat.
Stock browser share is now down to 7.26 %

I would have guessed that it had to do with Chrome its self not being directly open source.  Probably similar the default email and calendar app.

22.77% of mobile users were using the stock browser at the time (June 2014), now it's down to 13.85%  (July 2015). If such a high percentage of users were concerned about using only open source technologies then there would be more users for Firefox Android (0.66%) rather than Chrome for Android (32.09%)  as of July 2015.

Stock browser is used when using in a WebView in an app, am I right?

@Erwinus No, It's currently powered by Chrome - Reference

@JohnSPerayil: Okay, but only when you target your app KITKAT or higher, otherwise it is the stock browser (sort of). The stock browser is awful piece of software, got already some experience with it. See also my question on stackoverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/41403566/strange-redraw-issue-html-app-in-webview-on-android/

@Erwinus Updated.

Where are you getting these stats from?  This tells a different story https://gs.statcounter.com/android-version-market-share/mobile-tablet/worldwide

The answer is from 2014 and last updated in 2017.

Posting this a separate answer from an unrelated edit to an existing answer.
Flash is the reason we continue to use the old, stock browser. The so-called stock browser is small & it supports Flash video, as do a couple of newer browsers. And the Flash .apk is still available from several reputable sites (but not from Google Play) so it's easy to get hooked up.
Until all video streaming sites migrate to HTML5 there will continue to be a demand for browsers that support Flash, security issues or not.

If you're using the browser for Flash, the only really trusted location for it is directly from Adobe http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html#Flash%20Player%20archives

Stock browser let's you save HTML for offline reading without hassle = win


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Help to understand working of powerbutton and volume rockers
I want to understand the workings of power button and volume rockers in Android devices, which are associated with the kernel driver of these keys.
What happens in the kernel driver and boot loader when I press a physical key on a device?

The problem with understanding any physical buttons on an Android, is that they are extremely hardware dependent. Usually they're connected to some GPIO port on either the application processor (AP) or cellular processor (CP/modem), and on some devices (MTK,Qualcomm) these are combined in a SoC. In other devices, there is a separate touch screen MCU, that can also be used for some keys. So without knowing your exact hardware and its configuration, it is impossible to answer your question.
Your best chance for success in understanding, is by downloading the sources for your device/kernel and look in there, in combination with finding a service manual that also show some schematics.

EDIT: Here is one block diagram:

And here is another:

I have phone with mt6589 also I have kerenel code for same so where is code of manulplating thoes keys

As I said, it's nearly impossible to tell without a schematic. Or you can search the sources for terms related to keyboard layout/matrix, and so on. And in the worst case thay may even be proprietary code, so are not part of the sources apart as a binary FW blob.


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Is there any custom rom which can be installed on any android device
My question is, whether there are any custom rom's available which can be installed on any device or the rom's are just intended for a specific device. I always read that like custom rom for galaxy note 3, for s4 like that.. are there any roms available which can be installed on any device... if not, can any one explain why we need to design rom's for a specific model.

Because although Device Tree is a thing, it's still not very popular.

For the last part of your question, see Why are there not generic phone installers?

Each model has different hardware, which requires specific drivers. This is why each device has a separate ROM. This is different from desktop OSs because of the disk space constraints. If a ROM was made to support all devices, the drivers would eat all your available storage, and more.

so, the phone manufactures also optimize the android OS for every device.. same OS cant be used.

Yes, exactly. Each ROM, custom or stock, is designed and optimized for that device.

Thank you for the insight, well can we use a rom basing on the hardware details.. like my note3 has exynos processor .. and alcatel one touch has mediatek's octa core version ... i can easily find the roms for my note3.. but can i use a rom which supports mediatek's octa core on my alcatel device..

In theory you could, as long as the hardware configuration is exactly the same. But there's a lot more to the configuration than the SoC (Radio, storage configuration, display, external connections...), which meand you'd have to edit the ROM yourself. And since this site deals with end-user questions, not development questions, you'd be better off asking this on StackOverflow or XDA.

Thank you, it seems i have to study a bit about how these things work..


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Moto E Not Starting Properly After Changing runtime to ART
I have recently bought a MOTO E and it's working cool. Then I have enabled Developer options and changed my runtime from Dalvik to ART. Afterwards I restarted my device. I got the message saying Android is upgraging. After completeing the process I got exceptions like
unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped

Please help me how to get out of this problem. I am getting that message for around 10 times and mobile restarting once again.

As even system apps seem affected (com.android.phone is such), you probably cannot even utilize safe-mode for a remedy (though you might try). So unless somebody knows a trick to revert your runtime change by other means (e.g. via ADB), that probably only leaves a factory-reset. Hope you've made a good backup before changing to ART.

Confirmed problem on Moto G 2014, phone froze when I attempted to turn the screen off. On reboot it is on 'Android is Upgrading' again but however has less apps to upgrade now, perhaps it might work.

/data/property/persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib contains the name of the runtime library you wish to use - libart.so or libdvm.so. So, you can switch back to Dalvik like so:
adb shell 'echo libdvm.so >/data/property/persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib'
Source

thanx but i already did a factory reset

Does this work on non-rooted phones?

My friend had the exact same problem after switching to ART on his Moto E (unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped), and this worked for him:

Power the phone off, then power it back on.
If it gets stuck in a boot loop where it keeps going to the Android is upgrading... screen (possibly showing the wrong number of apps--for my friend it was showing 19 apps), hold down the power button until it turns off, then turn it back on.
At this point it should go back to the Android is upgrading... screen, but this time it should show the correct number of apps, finish successfully, and the phone should work normally.

 Erase userdata and reboot using fastboot.
Resort to this method if you are ok loosing your data.
 Installing Fastboot on your Desktop/Laptop .
Fastboot comes with android-sdk for windows. (make sure fastboot is installed)
 Boot your phone in fastboot mode
Its generally done this way,
press down volume key   then power on button and hold them for 6-7 secs. You will see the notification light after which release the power on button and then the volume down key.
wait for 3-4 secs. Fastboot screen will appear on the phone.
Connect it to your host (via usb) and install the drivers.
 Install fastboot drivers for your phone.
Open device manager in windows , you ll see something like 'fastboot condor'.
rightclick->properties->(select Hardware Ids in details tab)
you ll see something like

USB\VID_22B8&PID_2E80&REV_0100
USB\VID_22B8&PID_2E80

add the following lines in your android_winusb.inf based on the hardware IDs (android-sdk-windows\usb_driver_r03-windows\android_winusb.inf)

%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_2E80
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_22B8&PID_2E80&REV_0100

update your drivers from android-sdk-windows\usb_driver_r03-windows\
check if your device is detected using the command
fastboot devices
in windows cmd
 Erase user data
type
fastboot erase userdata
 Reboot your phone
fastboot reboot
PS: I had a far worse problem. The phone just got stuck (in an infinite loop) with a dialog.

This will erase all data but if you had a Google account linked to your device, it will allow you to reinstall all Play Store apps you originally had.
You may also hold volume up and power button together and scroll to recovery mode using the volume buttons and then select it with the power button.
After getting in there scroll to wipe data / factory reset.
After it has completed, select Reboot now.
This should help.

I know that this thread is old, but this may help others in the same situation. My mobile is a LG G2 Mini (D618) rooted with Kingo. After I changed it from Dalvik to ART, it took a long time to reboot, while optimizing all the apps. But then, when the UI showed up, I couldn't do anything because several error messages appeared in sequence. After a while touching OK for each message, the mobile would reboot and start it all over again. In fact it rebooted even if left alone.
I re-flashed it with the stock ROM (with the no-data-loss option) but nothing changed other than it becoming unrooted again. Also tried to access it with an ADB Shell but I kept getting an authorization error. Then, after rebooting it around 30 times, it reverted back to Dalvik by itself, and everything was fine again!


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Copy whatsApp Database to my pc
I am using Sony Xperia P and my display is not working. So I am not able to do any thing with my mobile.
Now I want to copy my WhatsApp database to another android phone or PC.But I am not able to do so.And every time I tried to copy database folder of WhatsApp to my PC ,it shows msgdbstore.crypt files in phones storage,but the copied folder is empty.
Thanks in advance ,please give suggestion how to copy database.

What happens if you try to copy just the latest backup file, not the entire folder?

At least related: Transfer Whatsapp chat history to new device / How can I read the chat logs from WhatsApp messenger on my Windows machine? / How to transfer WhatsApp conversations to a new phone?

@Onik not able to copy any files.

What mode are you connecting the phone in? MTP? PTP? Mass storage? ADB?


text:
Is it possible to backup apk from an installed application?
I got some huge games which I don't play regularly but don't want to delete either. Is it possible to backup those apps as apk so that I can install them offline later?
I'm not talking about backing up only the app data, many tools exist for that purpose. I want the ability to install the app again offline at a later time.
Also, this is not necessarily an app suggestion request, any method to achieve this is OK with me.

Android automatically saves all the apk files of installed applications. If you happen to have root access, you should be able to get the APKs from /system/app (system applications) or /data/app/ (user apps)

Download Android assistant app from Play Store. It allows to backup an app as APK.

A very easy way is ES File Explorer from Google Play Store.
Edit: This app ES File Explorer has been removed from Play Store and is no longer available (the app was sold an the new author added malicious code to the app).
You can browse to your

/system/app folder (for system apps)
/data/app folder (for user apps; requires root to be accessed)

and copy them to your /sdcard (or anywhere else).
Copying multiple files with ES File Explorer is very easy. Just long hold one of the files, then put check marks on all the files you want to copy.  Then browse to the folder (on your sdcard) where you want to place them.
Connecting to your computer via your usb cable will allow you to backup your sdcard content to your computer.
Update (Accessing the protected data/apps area):
I notice the /data/ directory is not readable. You can pull any of the content if you know it by name. I'll describe a command-line (cli) solution to get the names and the files. However, the backup tools suggested by Izzy are the easiest way to go.
This is a step by step method to get the list of packages and pull the packages using the commandline:

Download and Install the Android SDK package (or see Is there a minimal installation of ADB? for a solution requiring much less space, if you're not intending to develop Android apps). While you'll have access to just about everything in the world (Android), don't be too overwhimed... just focus on an immediate objective, and all the other features can be for a different day.

Add a path to these two directories of the package install ([installedpath]/tools and [installedpath]/platform-tools for a full SDK installation).

Now, with the Android plugged in via the usb, run this to get the full list of installed apps:
$ adb shell 'pm list packages'
You now have a  list the names of all your install apps.

Use the -f parameter to get the full pathname of a desired package by specifying a search string found in the previous list:
$ adb shell 'pm list packages -f reader'

Now pull the full pathname of the package you want to get with:
 ## adb pull [filepathname] [destination path] ##
 $ adb pull /data/app/com.ebooks.ebookreader-2.apk ~/mybackupdir

The steps might appear to be complicated, but they are easier done than said.  Once you perform it a few times, you'll find it very easy to pull any app from your device.  You can also write a script to do this as your own personal backup utility.
While there are gui alternatives as mentioned in the alternate answer, I strongly recommend looking at the features of the adb commands which includes full backups... the option for users to select precisely what they want backed up and where.
Installing the full Android SDK will give fuller access to components of your android device (from the commandline).
Look at the commands:
$ adb -help

Look at the backup section (of the help screen):
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]

     - write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
     If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
     to "backup.ab" in the current directory.

     (-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
     in the archive; the default is noapk.)

     (-obb|-noobb enable/disable backup of any installed apk expansion
     (aka .obb) files associated with each application; the default
     is noobb.)

     (-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
     shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)

     (-all means to back up all installed applications)

     (-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
     system applications; the default is to include system apps)

     (<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up.  If
     the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
     list is optional.  Applications explicitly given on the
     command line will be included even if -nosystem would
     ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

You can use the Android Backup Extractor to explore the compressed backup file created by the adb utility.
Restoring the backup to the android is a simple "-restore" command:
$ adb restore <file>

The Android Backup Extractor provides a way to explore the backup and pick out individual files (such as the apk's as in the OP's objective) to store or preserve.
The explorer package includes a variety of multi-platform tools, such as Java, perl, and cygwin.
You can extract the backup with (using the java extract opton):
## this line converts the android backup into a tar file ##
$ java -jar abe.jar unpack backup.ab backup.tar

Out side of my initial cli answer, the most precise GUI app to accomplish the OP's specific question is AirDroid.  It's free, extremely user friendly and intuitive to use.
To use, run the app. It gives a local IP address for typing into a web browser.  The link will give you a UI that resembles and Android home screen.  Click on the "Apps" icon and select one or more apps to download.  You can install or reinstall the Apps using the same interface.
There are several other GUI alternatives (graphical user interfaces) available, e.g. QtADB (multi-platform) or, for Windows users, also the excellent Droid Explorer by our member Ryan Conrad (see e.g. Full Backup of non-rooted devices; for more, also see our adb tag-wiki).

Can i access these folders without rooting the phone?

@BlueFlame Yes.

There are several apps specialized on this topic. The probably best known is AppMonster, which I use (in the Pro version) for years now, very reliable (and very active dev). For alternatives and more details, please take a look at:

Are APK files saved on my device when I install from the Play Store?
IzzyOnDroid App Lists: Backups: Backup Apps

Is AppMonster better than TitaniumBakcup? I backed up an app on my LG G3 and copied the backup to another phone and tried "restoring" it although it didn't belong to the second device and it failed.

@Shayan No. I'd say there's nothing better than TiBu. And I'm not sure whether Grigory is still actively developing AppMonster. I don't use it anymore (though I really like Grigory, knowing him personally).

Everyone is suggesting closed source softwares here which are perhaps Adware. One should rather use Ghost Commander File Manager  which has an Apps section. Copying apps to mounted (accessible in layman terms) storage is pretty straightforward.

For readers: poster did not mention it, neither did I see it fit to edit it, but the app concerned is actually an open source app, so that explains why he argued against closed source softwares.

I've got 'avg antivirus' installed.I just backup files from it and they get stored as apks.

Why not using SD MAID?
I've been using this tools to backup my Android apps so far. It's lightweight, and easy to use to get the apk from installed apps (without root needed).
Step-by-steps :

Download the SD MAID from Google Playstore
Open SD MAID menu, swipe from the left side.
Choose AppControl to show app that installed on your Android phone.
Tap on that application you want
Then tap Exports the .apk menu
You get you want!

BTW, the default location of the output (APK) will saved in Download folder (internal storage).

Reference Bartolab, How to Export APK File From Installed Apps on Android

There's APK Export which is good just for that purpose: it's only 112 kB and it's free with no ads or in-app suggestions to get the pro version.

App link is dead.

@Robert Yep, you're right. You might be able to find it elsewhere (but I cannot guarantee it's the right one), or I can upload it somewhere and share the link.

Based on the answer from Mahesh Hegde, I can confirm that Total Commander can also save the apps's APK. It does not require root or any extra settings.
In the main screen, there is the "Installed Apps" section. Simply select and copy the app to any folder in the other tab.
The app is available as a direct download from the developer or from app stores.

You can use  App Backup & Restore application to get the backup of application as an apk file.

No, it doesn't backup full app. Only the app data. Didn't work for Fifa14

Then back up your app data after that go to Settings->Application->->Clear data(Clear the app data). After that you can able to get the apk for the selected application with the use of APK Share/Send application.

Looks like a great deal: to backup the app, I have to delete my data? Thanks, but I doubt that's a good approach. And why the same answer twice?


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HTC software update causes phone to reboot in the TWRP recovery mode and does not update. How to fix it?
I just rooted my HTC One (M7) according to LINK. It is s-on, and TWRP (teamwin) recovery is flashed.Rooting is successful and everything seems fine. Except:
When I go in the "setting, about, update software" in the phone, it downloads the HTC updates. But when it tries to run the downloaded updates, it reboots, and it goes into "recovery" mode, where TWRP shows up. What should I do from there?
I choose system reboot from TWRP and it phone is up as normal, but the updates are still waiting to be run.
How should I apply updates?
Thanks

Official OTA's from HTC could only be installed if you posses the stock recovery.
You can download the right one for you from XDA here.
When you have downloaded it you can just flash it by typing this (with your phone connected in fastboot mode):
fastboot flash recovery path/to/recovery.img
Disclaimer: Probably the update won't work if you have a custom ROM installed on it (custom ROMs sometimes have different packages that the OTA will corrupt). If you want to update via OTA you should first install a stock HTC ROM too.

Manufacturer OTAs can only be flashed using the recovery that came with your device, which is (more often than not) 3e recovery.
I would recommend that you find a stock recovery.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, then apply the OTA.

Thanks.
Sorry it might be very naive question, I am newbie: Now that my phone is rooted, can I uninstall TWRP recovery and go back to original recovery while keeping the phone rooted?

@cybergeek654 Yes, changing the recovery doesn't affect whether the device is rooted, but the update will probably either unroot or won't apply while the device is rooted.

But it (updating OTA while rooted) won't damage my phone, right? If so, I will try it, if it does not work, I will unroot it as well.


text:
Is voice recognition on Android Wear performed on the device?
The recently announced smartwatches based on Android Wear extensively rely on voice recognition for user interaction.
Is the voice recognition performed on-device, on the paired smartphone, or in Google's cloud? Or is it a mix of those three, e.g. online with an offline fallback?

While I don't have any official source, from testing it's clear that it's cloud based.

Watch paired, handheld with internet connection -> Works.
Watch paired, handheld without internet connection (e.g. airplane mode) -> Doesn't work.
Watch not paired (e.g. handheld turned off) -> Doesn't work.

the voice recognition is performed on device; information of the voice is persisted in Google's cloud

Do you have any sources? What do you mean by "information of the voice is persisted"?

Most likely our good old "language barrier", and what was meant is "recorded voice data is processed", i.e. audio analysis is done on Google servers. I would wonder if it were different, as this is the way it's done on Android phones/tablets as well (and I doubt Wear devices have more power, so they wouldn't need that).