text:
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Bootloop. Cannot format or write data
Model: GSM Galaxy Nexus I9250 Takju Maguro
ROM: CyanogenMod 11 Kitkat
Recovery: Clock Mod
OS: Android 4.4
Basically, my phone has been working fine for the last 2 years. I had only one issue of phone getting slow down. That I fixed by rooting and installing Lagfix. I've been using this CyanogenMod 11 ROM for the last 6 month and it was working fine. Suddenly though, I got the error, "Unfortunately, the process com.google.process.gapps has stopped". Then the phone went into boot loop
I've tried rebooting into recovery, formatting data, wiping cache, davlik cache, system, internal storage. I did the factory reset. When I reboot, nothing seems wiped or erased. I tried using the android toolkit and installing the stock JWR66Y boot image from fastboot mode. When I restart, nothing has changed . No apps or data deleted.
I have pulled all my data via adb pull. It seems i can read data but cannot delete or write data.
I also tried Flash stock + unroot from NEXUS ROOT TOOLKIT 1.8.8. But even though it shows everything completed. All the data is intact in the phone and no new data is written.
I tried locking back the bootloader. Its showed Lock Status: LOCKED after locking. But after a reboot it is again showing Lock Status: UNLOCKED.
It seems I can't write any data at all.
Here is the log after Flash stock + unroot from NEXUS ROOT TOOLKIT 1.8.8
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: PRIMEMD04
Baseband Version.....: I9250XXLJ1
Serial Number........: 0149C2DC16009006
--------------------------------------------
checking product...
OKAY [ 0.011s]
checking version-bootloader...
OKAY [ 0.200s]
checking version-baseband...
OKAY [ 0.013s]
sending 'boot' (4376 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.454s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 2.551s]
sending 'recovery' (4924 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.514s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 4.537s]
erasing 'system'...
OKAY [ 0.017s]
sending 'system' (474180 KB)...
OKAY [ 47.790s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [1611.793s]
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [ 0.040s]
sending 'userdata' (137559 KB)...
OKAY [ 14.088s]
writing 'userdata'...
OKAY [243.999s]
erasing 'cache'...
OKAY [ 0.016s]
sending 'cache' (8832 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.922s]
writing 'cache'...
OKAY [ 14.482s]
rebooting...

finished. total time: 1941.733s

Booting up your freshly flashed stock device...
------------------------------------------------------------------

Wait for your device to finish booting up...

- It may appear to be boot looping; just wait...

- It could take 5-10 minutes; please be patient...

When its finally booted back up, please remember
to re-enable USB debugging if you plan on using
the toolkit to perform other operations.

NOTE: If this process was too quick and your device
is still in bootloader mode, then flashing stock may
have failed or been incomplete. Simply check the
log above: if you notice it skipped steps because it
didn't meet certain requirements, like the bootloader
or baseband version, then consider enabling 'Force Flash'
mode in the toolkits options menu and trying the
'Flash Stock + Unroot' processs again. Cheers.

Press any key to exit...

Anyone knows how to pretty much reset my phone because it seems as if I can't even erase data?
Is there any way to fix this issue?
Is my internal memory dead?
Is there any way to replace the internal memory?

Download this Google app and flash it. Check if does it work?

It is already installed. Had tried reflashing gapps. It didn't worked either.

I am having the exact same problem with my Galaxy Nexus Maguro. This happened to me twice in the past and I was able to recover using "fastboot oem lock" and then "fastboot oem unlock", which wipes the system. You may want to try that. However, that procedure does not work for me anymore, and I am having the same problem where I cannot write or format anything.

So after searching lots of forum, chatting with experts in XDA, I found out that:

Samsung used a cheap substandard emmc.

I have tried everything from adb, Odin to jtag. The emmc just died,no way to fix it.
First there was this awful lag issue : Galaxy Nexus GSM bad eMMC chip type V3U00M phone is almost unusable
Later within 2 years, emmc will die and you will stuck with bootloop issue :
Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 with hardlocked NAND ?!? need help !
Galaxy Nexus S (i9250) stuck in reboot loop - gets to OS loading and restarts
Almost all of us with V3U00M chip and other defective mmc chips would have now got there emmc fried.

What to say, on my side I'm blacklisting Samsung, this phone has been a joke for me since the beginning (the fstrim bug has been a nightmare), if you dare you can try to replace the board.


text:
"Error while downloading <application_name>. There is insufficient space on the device"
When I am downloading the application from the Play Store, I am getting this message.
"Error while downloading <application_name>. There is insufficient space on the device"

I am using Sony Xperia C and I have sufficient space in the internal memory and in the memory card. This message is cracking my brain as it is shown for the application under 2 mb and I have almost half GB free.
I am not able to update the applications too.
Please help me to solve this issue. I am using android 4.2.2.

I've just added the 'insufficient-memory' tag to your question. Please see its tag-wiki to get started. It's important to see where the storage-hog lies: the error only applies to "device storage", and has nothing to do with (internal or external) SD cards.

Sometimes a simple restart would help. Can you add a screenshot of the storage chart?

@Eugine Did you tried moving apps to sdcarD?

Yes, I do. still it is same error.

Clear cache of the apps which you don't use often, that will solve this issue. Also uninstall the apps which you no longer need.
Go to Settings --> Apps --> <App_name> ( scroll down ) --> Clear cache.

If you have tried other methods with no success, you can try rebooting your device into Android System Recovery mode and using the "wipe cache partition" option.
Instructions for a Samsung device are below.  Other manufacturers devices will be similar but some have different keys to get into recovery mode.

Turn off your phone (Make sure it is completely off. If possible take out the battery then place it back in)
With the handset turned off, press and hold the Volume Up key.
While holding down the Volume Up key, press and hold the Home key.
With both the Volume Up key and the Home key held down, press and hold the Power key.
Release all three keys when the Samsung logo appears.
Press the Volume Down key to scroll to wipe cache partition.
With wipe cache partition highlighted, press the Power key.
Once the Cache wipe is complete, press the Power key to select
reboot system now.

The Cache wipe is now complete. The handset will restart.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Running an Android phone as a pure phone - disabling the computer part
This question is not about pre-installed apps but more about apps which are part of Android.
What are all the apps (which come in the factory condition) which I can disable if I am planning to use an Android purely as a phone (i.e. make/receive calls, send/receive texts, store contacts etc).
The phone in question is a Moto E in factory condition. And one of the reasons for doing this is that person using this will not be requiring any app and wants to conserve battery as much as possible.
The phone will not be rooted.

I would just leave the apps alone so, they won't really effect the battery in any meaningful way to be honest, especially if not used. The screen is the real battery killer. Just be aware: Contacts, the Dialer (i.e. the phone) and SMS are all apps themselves! They can just use those apps. Remove the others off the homescreens and leave it at that. You can go in and go to Settings > Applications and then manually Disable as many apps as possible but some simply won't allow this. You could install a custom Launcher and hide all the shortcuts that aren't Phone Contacts or Messages

Why not just get a feature phone, then? They're dirt cheap and you can get days of battery out of them.

@RossC - asking about stuff like Play Store or Google Frameworks - which of those can be disabled?

In theory you can disable both of those, however I've heard many people say it made the battery far WORSE as connected services and broadcasts were trying to call the disabled features over and over. It's better to not disable anything Google that can't be uninstalled in practice I've found. I would return the phone and get something simple that isn't a smart phone.

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


text:
Is it possible to prevent numbers in text from being dialled
If ever I enter a number into an app within Android (4.4.2, Sony Xperia M2), the system seems to interpret it as a phone number.  Therefore, if I try to edit that number, the system tries to dial it.
An earlier, unanswered,  question  suggested that this happens on Google Keep.  However, it also happens on the inbuilt Notes app, on Evernote and others, even numbers displayed on websites in the Chrome browser.  Therefore, it isn't the app, it must be the OS.
This feature means that keeping notes that contain a number is almost impossible. You can't edit a note without the thing trying to call the number.
I can't find a setting that turns off automatic hyperlinking of numbers.  Is there one?  Is there a service running that does it?  If so I'll uninstall the service.
At the moment this one feature is tempting me to scrap the phone and go back to an iPhone.

That's very odd, mine does convert numbers to be dialable but I can edit and type and copy and paste normally with them there in the apps you mentioned. I wonder is Sony being weirdly aggressive with how it handles EditTexts (text boxes) and other UI elements. I'll try and get my hands on an Xperia M2 and see if I can replicate it. It's working fine on a variety of devices here, but none are Sony.

I suspect it's a device-dependent issue; at least I didn't get that issue on Nexus 4. On Google Keep, a number is only interpreted as a telephone number if I add "+" prefix. Other than that, even "telephone number" won't be converted to hyperlink.

I know that this is an old question but would still like to add a comment so that someone else might find this useful. I'm not sure why it happens and I don't think this is what you'd want but a workaround exists. Install another phone app like Skype. So whenever, you click on that phone link,. the system will ask you with which app you want to open this number with. There, you can simply dismiss the popup and prevent the number from being dialed.

This has been traced to the keyboard.
Replacing the stock Sony Xperia Keyboard app with Swype has solved the issue.

Be clear ,which phone do you use, I dint find such sort.Check accessibility settings or if by mistake you might have anabled any developer settings in developers option, if so turnoff developers option.There is no such system interpretation done by default, you might either have installed some application doing this work, or the above change which i mentioned about developer option.

fine, what about in language and input,see if any prediction of text in 'on' some where in overall settings


text:
After Uninstall, Android Device Manager still shows in Device Administrator List
I enabled Android Device Manager a while ago, and then realized it wasn't useful for me so uninstalled it.
I just now noticed that it still is listed in my Device Administrators list despite not being installed on my phone (and if I log in to their website I can STILL track my phone)
Am running Android 4.2.2 on an HTC One X (unrooted)

The Android Device Manager app doesn't control whether your device is tracked by ADM. It simply allows you to see and manage your other Android devices.
You need to go to the Google Settings app, choose "Android Device Manager", and un-check "Remotely locate this device".


text:
How do I create an archive for easy extraction to /data/local/tmp/ in "adb shell"?
Usual shar archives fail to extact in adb shell due to problems with lock directory and temporary files for HERE documents. Zip archives are also not an option.
How do I make an archive that can be easily extracted to /data/local/tmp/ out of the box on unrooted Android without busybox?

You can install busybox pretty easily on an unrooted Android phone.  Steps:

Grab the file busybox-android from the eponymous github project.
Get it onto your device via scp, adb push, Android File Transfer, etc.  Put it somewhere public that you'll have access to from a Terminal Emulator session.  Just call it busybox.
Start a Terminal Emulator session.  Make a directory ~/bin and copy the busybox file from the public place you put it to that new directory.

Since the cp command is not available in a Terminal Emulator session (!) do it this way: cat $PATH_TO_BUSYBOX/busybox > ~/bin/busybox

Now cd ~/bin and create a symbolic link: ln -s busybox tar.

So now create a tarball using tar czv $FILENAME $ROOT_OF_FILES_TO_ARCHIVE, kick it over to your device, and extract using tar xzv $FILENAME.
tar is also available by default to ssh sessions served by SSHDroid (because SSHDroid provides busybox).  You might need to register it?  Don't remember if that stuff works on the free version.

Is there a tool to create self-extracting archives for Android, to be able to unwrap complex structure (e.g. Valgrind) in /data/local/tmp/ in one move, without preparation step?

If there is, it would likely use the POSIX toolkit provided by busybox.

It can be shellscript+busybox+datafile bundled in one file.

Hmm. How would you extract the busybox from the bundle without the POSIX toolkit?

The bundle can start with #!/system/bin/sh, which will somehow extract busybox from it, then call busybox tar -xf.

Well, yes.  But the "somehow" is really the crux of the issue.  I did just notice that dd is available, so that would be one way.  Maybe you should ask another question to see if somebody has found such a program or is writing one.

There's also an app that installs busybox on an unrooted phone.  Though I guess by "out of the box" you mean "with no applications installed".


text:
SSH server that can be configured to only allow connections over wifi hotspot interface
I shelled out for SSHDroid Pro and am quite disappointed that it can't be configured to allow connections over the Wifi Hotspot interface without also allowing connections from the mobile data interface (i.e. the open Internet).  Is there another SSH server app that can do this and is otherwise relatively feature-complete?

Have you visited the SSHDroid official thread and asked the developer to add the feature? Also, money talks. Have you asked the developer if s/he will refund your money if you will downgrade to the free version?

Did you try my answer, or did you find something much better? Please accept my answer, or post your answer? That would be good for all. :)

I think it looked more complicated than what I need and I didn't want to pay ten bucks for open source software :)

SSHelper provides a standard openssh server in a mini linux environment.  I can specify which network interfaces to allow ssh access on by connecting via ssh and editing the configuration file at /data/data/com.arachnoid.sshelper/etc/sshd_config.  The change to make is pretty straightforward.  If you don't know how to use vi you might have some issues making the change, but I guess you could edit it on a computer over sshfs or by copying the file back and forth or what have you.
As an added bonus, this app solved my problem with not being able to connect to my phone from my Mac using sshfs.  The solution (or workaround) is to use openssh as the ssh server rather than Dropbear, and SSHelper is one of the few apps for Android that does this.

I use Servers Ultimate Pro to limit my server's (SSH/FTP/WebDAV) accessibility to Wifi hotspot's subnet (I use it on wlan0 or rndis0). The server cannot be mapped from internet in this way. Its very easy to use, even a newbie can setup a server on it.

About Servers Ultimate Pro

★★Run over 60 servers with over 70 protocols!★★
Now you can run a CVS, DC Hub, DHCP, UPnP, DNS, DDNS, eDonkey, Email (POP3 / SMTP), FTP Proxy, FTP, FTPS, FTPES, Flash Policy, Git, Gopher, HTTP Snoop, ICAP, IRC Bot, IRC, ISCSI, Icecast, LPD, Load Balancer, MQTT, Memcached, MongoDB, MySQL, NFS, NTP, NZB Client, Napster, PHP, Lighttpd, PXE, Port Forwarder, RTMP, Remote Control, Rsync, SIP, SMB/CIFS, SMPP, SMS, Socks, SFTP, SSH, Server Monitor, Styx, Syslog, TFTP, Telnet, Time, Torrent Client, Torrent Tracker, Trigger, Unison, UPnP Port Mapper, VNC, VPN, Wake On Lan, Web, WebDAV, WebSocket, X11 and/or XMPP server!
Start a server easily on the 'Simple' tab or go advanced and add users, allowed IP's, start/stop rules and more! Multiple servers can be run at the same time! No root needed

authors: عبدألمجيد دعيب


text:
How to hide WhatsApp messages notifications
How can I hide WhatsApp messages in notification panel? I don't want to see incoming message preview on my notification panel.
What utility can let me do this?

Go to settings > Apps > Whatsapp
And Uncheck 'show notifications'.

Hiding Whatsapp messages of targeted contacts is not possible, but if you want to you can hide all incoming message on Whatsapp and activate them again if you have some private time for yourself. Just download Mobiwol and block Whatsapp on it. Messages for you will not be delivered, but you can open Whatsapp. If you have the phone to yourself just unblock Whatsapp and you will receive all messages sent to you in the meantime. I hope this was helpful.

I hope the following image helps you ... once u get to the settings, click notification then u should see this:

If you go to Settings › Sounds & Notifications › Application Notifications, you can define which apps are permitted to send notifications to your notification area. Look for the WhatsApp entry there, and turn it off – and you should be rid of WA notifications, while all others continue to work as intended.

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


text:
Notification symbol that looks like a droplet in a circle - what is it?
Is anyone able to identify this notification symbol for me?

What device and Android version? That might help narrow things down a bit if it's a system icon.

It's a new Galaxy 4 which ships with 4.2.2.

Would be better if you can describe it more: is it persistent (cannot be removed)? is it showing randomly for a moment (might be GPS)?

A friend asked me to research this for them so I don't know all the details... but she said the next day it was gone so it is definitely intermittent.

Could be a GPS or location service as they tend to have similar features.


text:
Why can't I upload binaries to Android Sony Xperia Z?
I recently upgraded my Android to 4.4.4 via 4.3.? When I was on 4.2.* I had no problem either uploading apks and pictures via usb nor via adb install / push.
Symptoms below, any help appreciated. I'd rather not have to root the phone but if I must I must...
Since I upgraded the USB upload has started to act strangely:

I can download any file
I can upload text files
I cannot upload apks
I cannot upload apks renamed to .txt
I cannot upload xml, jpg or anything other than plain text
It is not a size issue I can upload large text files
I've tried both MSC and MTP modes.
I've tried different PC's and cables
If I try to upload a binary from windows 7 copy dialog that stays on screen forever doing nothing or sometimes the storage resets on the phone and it errors.

ADB has stopped working from within eclipse I get:
[2014-10-07 19:14:25 - BluetoothTest] ------------------------------
[2014-10-07 19:14:25 - BluetoothTest] Android Launch!
[2014-10-07 19:14:25 - BluetoothTest] adb is running normally.
[2014-10-07 19:14:25 - BluetoothTest] Performing
uk.co.dossytronics.bluetoothtest.MainActivity activity launch
[2014-10-07 19:14:40 - BluetoothTest] Uploading BluetoothTest.apk onto device 'CB5A1PVTNA'
[2014-10-07 19:14:46 - BluetoothTest] Failed to install BluetoothTest.apk on device 'CB5A1PVTNA': An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
[2014-10-07 19:14:46 - BluetoothTest] java.io.IOException: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
[2014-10-07 19:14:46 - BluetoothTest] Launch canceled!
From the command line:
C:\android-dev\sdk\platform-tools>adb -s CB5A1PVTNA install c:\users\dominic\workspace\BluetoothTest\bin\BluetoothTest.apk
protocol failure
error: device not found

waiting for device -

rm failed for /data/local/tmp/BluetoothTest.apk, No such file or directory

After a lot of messing around I think I've nailed it. It was an application called "Sony Smart Connect". Like most things that contain the oxymoronic phrase "Sony Smart" is anything but smart. Instantly everything went back to working and I can now get on with coding until the next update stops me for a month...
I hope this is of help to someone in the future.
Dom


text:
Deleted OS from my device
I accidentally deleted all data from my htc one s, including the operating system. I tried to delete photos,apps and downloads, but it was still showing a memory issue (my phone has 16 giga memory and the "others" were using 10GB of it so i couldn't download more apps) and my phone was running very slow and even had some black outs.
I have team win on my phone. I went to factory reset which lead me to team win, and I choose to delete everything and didn't realize there was operating system in it too.
How can I reinstall my Android OS?

Download an image of Android for your phone on your sd card, and boot into Team Win.
There you will find Install button, then choose an image you downloaded on your sd card.

So this is how i can istall an operating system back to my phone? :S

Or should i dowload an os to my computer and transfer it? :P

@helen you should download an image on your computer(well, you cannot install from the phone anyways) and copy the image to microsd card(hopefully your phone has it)

@helen also make sure if you have a backup on your phone, search for TWRP folder, make sure you're able to see hidden files & folders as well. If you have a backup file it will ease restoring so much


text:
Connecting HID controller as keybord
I'm about to buy an HID controller(Green Throttle Atlas Single Controller, w/ upd. firmware) and I've heard a lot that most of the games on Android do not support HID controllers, but they do keyboards.
I was wondering if I will be able to remap controller as keyboard layout; that is, make Android see keyboard connected instead of HID controller. Preferably without root. I'm on Nexus 5.

I have a nexus 5. It works fine, havent had an issue with any games so far (that is including play store games and emulators/roms). Once they pair through bluetooth, you can map the keys to what ever you want (in emulators, not play store games).
the only issue i have (and i think you are talking about) is with it working on a computer. the current HID controller driver that it uses seems incompatible with PCs unless updated. i am currently trying to find the correct drivers for it to install but according to what others are saying, ever since google bought green throttle, the firmware+drivers have been removed everywhere.

Do you have root?


text:
Google keyboard gestures not working for other languages than English (Moto G, Android 4.4.4)
I can't get gestures ("swype") to work with Google Keyboard for languages other than English (which is my device language).
Gestures are activated in the keyboard settings, I have tried rebooting the phone, but still no luck.

Go to Settings -> Language and input -> Google Keyboard settings -> Add-on dictionaries. Scroll down/hit refresh to show all languages, then click the language you want to install, an "Install" button will appear, click it.
Gestures should now work for any language for which the dictionary is installed.

They actually don't.

The best is still Google keyboard modified by Shaftamle that can be used for all Android versions. I made a personal dictionary large enough so that now it has 2 languages, bilingual, instant shortcuts... No other keyboard has this feature. See this link.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/tutorial-google-keyboard-indonesian-t3215118

Not sure about "all Android versions". Shaftamle mentioned this on their own thread: "You must be on Android 4.0 or higher. It is a requirement of Google Keyboard."

after reinstalling add on dictionaries swipe feature works.


text:
Which Android version/phone can control per-app access permission?
The only reason I am still using an iPhone is due to the fact that most Android phones did not allow control of per-app access permission. The App Ops feature was once there but pulled.
I know some Chinese Android phones, such as XiaoMi and Huawei, provide the app permission feature. Is the feature available in mainstream Android phones, such as the Nexus, Samsung, LG, HTC ... for latest version of Android 4.4.2 or upcoming Android L?

Is it possible to install an app and exclude some of its requested permissions?

No, App Ops is not available on Android any more since Android v4.4.2 and probably won't be reintroduced with Android L but might be resurrected some time later. It was apparently dropped as some apps would stop functioning so the user experience would suffer.
Some optimal solutions:

Find a device that is supported by a Custom ROM like Cyanogenmod. This aftermarket firmware includes a feature called Privacy Guard that works similar to App Ops.
My preferred solution: Buy a phone that is rootable and use the 3rd party solution called Xprivacy. It is an Xposed module that has the most advanced permission control with a very dedicated developer. As long as your device is rooted you will be able to use that tool on any ROM > Android v4.0. Downside: Not easy to handle.
Use one of the other optional methods for permission management listed and compared by the Xprivacy developer here.


text:
ls: <filename>: Cannot allocate memory
I'm having out of memory problems with rsync in CYM11. However, I realized now that the problem is more serious. For some files, when I simply try to list one single file with name somefilename in the terminal emulator, I get:
 $ ls somefilename
 ls: somefilename: Cannot allocate memory

If I do ls over the somefilename parent folder (with 30 files only), I see several files but not somefilename.
But then, after a wile, the error is gone...
Clues? Maybe a card problem?
Thanks!
L.
PS: [rant] I'm having too many problems with CYM11! [\rant]

My first guess would be a bug in the memory management in the OS. Are you using a nightly? Have you tried a different nightly or a more stable build?

I'm honestly at the stage of "CyanogenMod, there's your problem" and the frequency of this is increasing. Maybe another ROM would be an idea, or as Dan said something more stable. (I know they do great work, but I've never tried a build that didn't have something preventing it being a daily driver on ANY device)

@DanHulme: Yes, I'm using a nightly for the Galaxy Note (n7000). I cannot use a stable build, unless I go back to 10.1.3, since there are no M builds for the N7000.

No wonder you're having too many problems then. Nightly builds are not intended for everyday use.

@RossC: Indeed, that's my experience too. Unfortunately, I've experienced several problems with Cyanogenmod, and there is very little support (I've never able to get ANY answer from Cyanogenmod website). Not sure if any other ROM is better, though....?

@DanHulme: But then, which would be a solution? No M builds for the Note, it seems that device has been completely abandoned. I just upgraded to the last nightly, and the problems persist.

@RossC I know people who use stable builds on popular devices without problems. It's just that porting ROMs is hard, and there aren't enough people willing to lend a hand.

@DanHulme yep as I said they do some great work but are really up against it at every turn. Nightly build are a no no for sure, unless you're testing for them

Maybe some of you can point me to a better maintained custom ROM, at least for the Galaxy Note? CYM11 clearly sucks on it.

Cyanogenmod 11 is extremely buggy on the Galaxy Note I (N7000), and this seems to be one more of its bugs. I solved it by reformatting the card to ext4 (reformatting to exfat didn't solve the problem).


text:
Storage space issues
I've changed the default install location from my Galaxy 2 but now I can't use the apps because it says:
"to open Facebook, you need more free storage on your phone. Please uninstall applications or remove other media from your phone to free up additional space"
I literally have deleted everything in my phone to try free up space... apps, messages, media
About to throw this phone against the wall...
What are my options here to try and get apps?

never getting an android again if this can't be fixed..

Have you looked at the Storage screen in Settings?  What does it say?

Using the same steps you applied, Set default  InstallLocation to 0 which means the apps will be defaultly installed whether to phone memory or external SD card or set it to 1 to install apps to phone memory, but honestly I don't believe It's effective way since I didn't notice a big difference after applying that, but
If you root your phone you will be able to use Link2SD Plus app. (they call it Life Saver for those phones that come with small phone memory built in) which incredibly move the whole installed apps to SD using Linking method which makes the system thinks that the files of app you installed are still stored on phone memory but in fact they're in External SD memory saving for you so much memory of your phone. also you can set the default install location so easily through this app or other app requires root "except for some root apps even if you set the installation location to external they will be installed to phone memory eg. "BetterBatteryState" you will have to move them manually :) Or you can force apps to be moved to External using This app or Titanium Backup pro that both need Root privilges to work but Just a part of the app will be moved In other words, Link2SD is your best choice if you want to save a big size of your precious phone memory which obviously cannot be increased.


text:
Asphalt career performance isn't synced between my PC and Android phone
I am playing asphalt 8 airbone on my pc which runs on windows 8.1 pro and on my android smartphone. I connected Asphalt 8 with my same facebook account but it doesn't show same career performance, my car pack, etc. Help me out with this.

Does the game offer cross platform saves? It might be worth asking the developer. Is there cloud saving, any option in game to import a save from the cloud? I doubt it does to be honest, but worth a look.

According to Ryan from Gameloft, writing on the Touch Arcade iOS forum, Asphalt 8: Airborne doesn't sync save games between different platforms:-

no, Asphalt 8 doesn't have cross-platform save functions. You won't be able to play on an iOS device and then load that progress on an Android device.

He's writing about iOS and Android, but it's easy to see why the same would apply to Android and Windows too.

Both are being played on different platforms and machines. Whenever you are playing the game from your PC, the player-specific data would probably come somewhere from Users directory in your C drive, however, for your mobile, it will be stored on your mobile storage in a specific folder. You won't be able to see the same progress since those details are stored locally on the respective storage drives and doesn't get fetched online.


text:
What does it mean by Gradle in Android Studio?
Gradle is not an ordinary English word. Then, what does it mean in Android Studio?

It's the name of a build system for Java programs. Gradle is the build system currently recommended by Google for building Android apps.
To learn more, check out the top item of this list.

I just learned about Gradle an hour ago. It reminds me of "Cradle to Grave" which I thought was a good name for Software Project Manager. After reading your question I googled it's meaning and in December 2011 the inventor said:

My original idea was to call it Cradle. The disadvantages of that name
were:

to diminutive

not very unique

As Gradle is using Groovy for the DSL I went down the G-road and
thought about calling it Gradle. Everyone I asked liked it so that
became the official name. That was about 4 years ago. I’m still very
happy with the name.

So from the author we can gleam the Gradle was invented in 2007.
More to the point
From wikipedia we learn:

Gradle is an open-source build automation system that builds upon the
concepts of Apache Ant and Apache Maven and introduces a Groovy-based
domain-specific language (DSL) instead of the XML form used by Apache
Maven for declaring the project configuration.1 Gradle uses a
directed acyclic graph ("DAG") to determine the order in which tasks
can be run.
Gradle was designed for multi-project builds, which can grow to be
quite large. It supports incremental builds by intelligently
determining which parts of the build tree are up to date; any task
dependent only on those parts does not need to be re-executed.
The initial plugins are primarily focused on Java,2 Groovy and Scala
development and deployment, but more languages and project workflows
are on the roadmap.

In computer old school terms we can say it only compiles objects that have changed in a project when some source code has changed. Thereby saving total compile time from hours to minutes.
In layman's terms we can say it's a project manager that knows all the bits and pieces required to build something.


text:
How to find in page in google chrome mobile?
How to find in page in google chrome mobile? You used to be able to type in the omnibox and an magnifying glass icon would appear on one line.  Clicking on that would enable one to find in page.  In the new version it has disappeared so how does it work now?

If you click the three dots menu you should see a 'Find in page' option which allows you to enter the text to look for.

Duh! Can't believe I missed that.

@DarrynBrisdaz easily done! It's interesting, I haven't been a fan of Google's move away from icons towards the wording, it looks a little too much on a small screen at times.


text:
Is there any virtualization software that will run under Android on an x86 device?
I have an Android device (Dell Venue 8) which runs on an Intel x86 CPU, and I was wondering if there was any application like VirtualBox or VMware that could run a 32-Bit Linux distro, Windows XP 32-Bit, etc, via Virtualization. I'm aware of various emulation software like Qemu and Bochs, but I wanted something that could directly virtualize instead of emulating, since both the host device and the Guest OS are of the same architecture.

I'd love something like this. I've found a couple of qemu ports for Android, but they're all really dodgy and I wouldn't trust them (download apks from mysterious forums)...

Related: How do I run Windows or Linux as a virtual machine on Android?

I found myself stumbling in the general vicinity of these forums with some similar questions and decided to share some info on the off chance any other wandering curious computer enthusiast happens to walk on by.
Method #1: EMULATION
A kid managed to get XP running on Android using the tools you mentioned at the beginning. You can see in his comments how there was a significant performance loss. One of the key issues here is an inability to translate drivers. There will also be a lot of bottlenecking that occurs when you sneak in some unsupported stuff.
Method #2: ROOTING AND FLASHING
It required gaining root, unlocking the bootloader, and flashing a custom recovery, among other many other things. I managed to get multiboot from ARM-supported OS's Ubuntu Touch, Cyanogen, and stock. I could probably throw Windows 10 on it if I wanted to.
Method #3: KERNEL VIRTUALIZATION
https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Main_Page
Assuming your hardware supports virtualization, KVM is an option for back-end stuff if you don't need a GUI.
Method #4: BAREMETAL HYPERVISOR
There is a white paper on it, but I can't post the link because of my new account, so here is a copy of the conclusion:

Virtualizing a modern mobile platform involves dealing with devices such as camera, compass, gps, etc, for which PV frontend and backend drivers do not exist today. If only one VM needs access to one of these devices at a time, you can simply assign the device to the VM, remapping the corresponding MMIO regions and interrupts. If multiple VMs need access to the device simultaneously, you have to write a new pair of PV frontend and backend drivers. Fortunately many open source implementations of PV frontends and backends for different class of devices already exist in Linux and other operating systems. Something similar is likely to already exist. The difficulty of writing a new pair of PV frontends and backends increases with the complexity of the device you are trying to share. If the device is simple, such as the compass, writing the new pair of drivers is going to very easy. If the device is complex, such as a 3d graphic accelerator, writing the new pair of frontends and backends is going to be difficult.

Here is another paper on the KVM/ARM dynamic:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210118182924/https://systems.cs.columbia.edu/archive/pub/2014/03/kvm-arm-the-design-and-implementation-of-the-linux-arm-hypervisor/
Seems as though for now we are stuck with what the software developers are willing to write for us, or with what we are willing to write for ourselves. These systems were meant to be largely proprietary, some frustration is to be expected I suppose.

You could try LinuxonAndroid.

So this might actually be an answer to the question. But could you explain why this is an answer? What does linux on android do that would answer this question.

LinuxonAndroid's website appears to have been taken over by malware scammers.

Rooting the phone gives the opportunity to boot several Linux distros. In theory, you should be able to do it with Linux Deploy or similar tools.
However, even without rooting, you will be able to execute Linux binaries & even simulate a Linux distribution. There is a tool called Termux on Google Play Store. But I don't know whether it is available for x86 devices yet. (There are alternatives that too won't require rooting: GNURoot Debian & a bunch of GNURoot Apps by Corbin Champion, Debian No-root, etc.) These are available for ARM Devices and I think they are available for x86 also.
However, if not available, you can do it with a decent time for hacking & a good terminal emulator app. See Proot-me on GitHub - A user-space implementation of chroot that can create fake rootfs where you can install native binaries, using busybox which provides dpkg & rpm.
Terminal emulators are known to work with simple, small binaries like busybox. However, PRoot is how the above-said non-root apps implement Linux package management. Therefore, even if these apps are not available for your platform, it is not very hard for a geek within you to set up a native Linux environment with package management on any platform.
Note: to execute binaries from a terminal shell, it will be necessary to append the $path variable.

How Linux Deploy or GNURoot or Termux are related to full-virtualization environment where you can run Linux or Windows? chroot or proot is a very simple OS-level virtualization which cannot host a full OS. Termux provides no virtualization at all, instead runs binaries built for Android environment.

@IrfanLatif in termux you can run reasonably complete full distro using proot. It's possible to run debian armhf / aarch64 binaries built for real distro like debian without much performance loss. Any other virtualization will be much slower.

Correct. But the proot/chroot solution doesn't address OP's question: "I was wondering if there was any application like VirtualBox or VMware that could run a 32-Bit linux distros, Windows XP 32-Bit, etc, via Virtualization"

Apart from all the options mentioned, one can also try using the UserLand app.
The app is available on Google Play Store for easy download.
It has an easy setup for Ubuntu. Users do not need to have root access to be able to use this app, so that's an advantage here.
For further info, one can go to their product page: https://userland.tech/

OP wants a full-virtualization solution that can host Linux and Windows. You are suggesting a PRoot (non-root chroot; an OS-level virtualization) based solution. They are different things.

Virtualization is now possible on Android, thanks to several upgrades and patches to the SDK. Currently, there is an app that offers virtualization on Android by running multiple "same apps" on a single phone named Parallel. It works without manipulating the system files and without root access.

App cloning has nothing to do with OS-level virtualization or full-virtualization or hardware emulation.

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


text:
Connecting usb to galaxy core I8262
Is there any possible way to connect a usb flash drive or thumb drive to Samsung galaxy core I8262. ....

No. This phone doesn't support usb-on-the-go.

It may support

root your galaxy core i8262
install stickMount

then connect any usb drives on it.


text:
Unable to copy anything to internal storage
my phone is a Xperia Z1 Compact, with Android version 4.4.4 and no SD card in.
It's supposed to have around 1 Gb of free storage left, but when i connect it via USB to my pc i cannot copy any file to it. Windows shows me a "no free space available" dialog.
I recently ran out of space, but after i freed some (yes, i can delete) and cleared caches the problem arised.
Any clues?


text:
VOIP call problems on samsung s4 running 4.4.2
I recently updated my Samsung Galaxy S4 to 4.4.2 and since then my VOIP calls are not going.
Video calls work but audio calls don't. I have tried whilst connected to 2g/3g/WiFi and I have also tried removing "OK Google" but this has not helped.
Also I tried Factory reset.
It worked for first 3 -4 calls and now still facing same problems

What VOIP software are you using?

I tried talkray, skype and we chat

What actually happens when you try to make the call?

call is not connecting


text:
Chrome for Android, Note 10.1 2014: Where is the share web address button?
I'm missing the three-dot button in the right end of the address bar.
I am not sure if it even was there in the first place, but on other Android tablets it is, I just checked at the local Samsung store.
Am I really supposed to share url's by copy-pasting into other apps? If so, is there an extension to bypass this limitation?

On the Note 10.1, and most Samsung devices, you use the physical menu button to bring up the menu instead of the on-screen three-dots icon. You'll find Share... on that menu as usual.

You beat me to the answer. So, I'll just add the screenshot I made for this question. :)

It's a bit all over the place at the moment: the S4 does not have the 3 dot, but the S5 does in Chrome, some HTC (M7 and M8 (to be fair this has soft buttons anyway)) do have it but others don't. It's just down to the version and skin on the particular device. Samsung are moving away from the menu button and making it the 'recent apps' button on the S5 and I'd imagine this trend will continue.


text:
Constant location requests from Facebook - how to turn off?
My location request icon is constantly on. When I hit the location request notification, it tells me that Facebook and Google Play Services are high battery usage. When I force stop Facebook, the location request icon immediately disappears.
How can I stop Facebook from constantly requesting my location? It's killing my battery. I'm not rooted.

Is this for the Facebook app or the Facebook Messenger app?

Facebook app only. I have messenger installed too though, but the location requests stopped only when I uninstalled the FB app. Seems like uninstalling/reinstalling it might have helped a bit?

I've done some testing on this using my phone (I'm rooted on CM11s) and I have the benefit of privacy guard.
What I've noticed is that the Facebook app tends to ask for your location a LOT. Always when you open the app, but even sometimes when I haven't used the app for days...
It's not really an answer, but worth noting.


text:
How can I troubleshoot what is causing 'Android OS' to eat up lots of battery?
Are there steps I can take to rule things out eventually leading to a root cause?
I am currently using the latest Dirty Unicorn ROM on a Nexus 5.
For the same of argument, consider the case where the phone is down to 50% and 'Android OS' was responsible for 25-35% of that drain and the 'Screen' was responsible for the bulk of the remainder.
Typically I would expect to see ~25% Screen drain after a good bit of usage but AOS would not also account for that + some. In my case, I am seeing twice as much drain as I would typically see due to this.
I am suspecting it is due to an always connected VPN but I would like to be able to get definitive evidence. The VPN app process is using a negligible amount of CPU.

What do you mean by a 'lots of battery'? I know that sounds like  a silly qustion, but if you leave your phone with the screen off (and wifi / mobile data etc off) then SOMETHING has to be running on the device, and that is the Android OS that will show on battery stats. A high percentage is not the same as it eating a lot of battery. As in it could use 90% of the battery STATS but since you weren't using it that's not much, and could be only 1% of the actual charge of the battery. It could well be the kernel on that ROM if it is just draining like mad.

Right. Added some specifics. What I am getting at is above average utilization solely by the AOS process (many sub-processes) while also draining the battery at an above idle rate. Regardless of that however, my main question is really about figuring out which sub-process(s) are doing the draining.


text:
Nexus 4 cracked screen touch no longer working and password locked (Android Device Manager)
Can anyone please provide some assistance. I managed to crack my screen yesterday and now can't enter the password to unlock. I tried using adb but get unauthorized error at prompt and can't approve device since i can't get into the device. Usb debugging is enabled on my nexus. Is there a backdoor available to remove/enter password?
Can I use a usb OTG mouse function for nexus 4?
I just want to get all text messages from my phone.

Option 1: You might want to try this unnamed Windows Tool created by k.janku1. You just need to have ADB enabled. The forum has additional info on enabling ADB via kernel or recovery. Once installed,

this tool lets you use your device through your Windows pc even if
  your touchscreen doesn't work or you can't see anything.

Direct download link here.
Option 2: A more complex solution would be to enable USB OTG support by providing you own 5v current and installing a custom kernel. The process is a bit involved and outlined in this XDA forum discussion. A video of a this working solution might also be beneficial to watch.


text:
How can I recover my pictures from Vaulty Stocks
I've lost my phone. Is there any way of getting back my files and pictures which were saved in Vaulty Stocks?

I realize that this doesn't directly answer your question since it appears you don't have a backup, however I have used Vaulty, which looks like the free version of the same app by the same company, so I am assuming the method used to hide your files is the same.
If you are able to find your .vdata files you can easily convert them all back into regular files by the command line without any sort of password/pin.
Make a backup (just in case) and then put all your .vdata files in the same directory and execute:
find . -type f -name "*.vdata" -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i 's/\x6F\x62\x73\x63\x75\x72\x65\x64//'

Poof. There are all your files. This definitely works for Linux, but I'm not sure about Mac. If someone can confirm this for Mac feel free to update this answer or comment and I'll do it myself.
Unfortunately (if you are actually interested in security) Vaulty DOES NOT secure your files at all! If you need real security, you need an app that actually encrypts your files with something like AES encryption. However if you lose your password there, you're sweet out of luck. That's a good thing. Just make sure you don't forget your password.

could you please be more specific? How exactly do I execute that command? Does it work for Windows 7?

No, Windows doesn't have the find, xargs, and sed utilities you need. You can get them by installing Cygwin, but that's quite involved so you should ask a local friend to walk you through it.

If you have lost your phone and do not have a backup of the Vaulty Stocks data then there is no way to recover it. If you have a backup you may be able to install the app on another device and access the data by entering the password you used originally.


text:
Uninstall on android wear
I have an android wear device and I'd like to uninstall apps with sideload.
I already have:
1 adb forward tcp:4444 localabstract:/adb-hub
2 adb connect localhost:4444
3 adb devices
4 adb -s localhost:4444 shell
5. pm list packages
6 adb uninstall [package name]

but there is then -waiting for device-
does anyone know how I can solve this problem or how I can uninstall apps another way with side load?
thanks

We're going to move this question over to the Android StackExchange site where it'll find a community more knowledgeable in this area.

Your instructions are almost correct. The one thing you need to remember is that the command you specified in step 4, namely adb -s localhost: 4444, is to be repeated each time you wish to perform some kind of action towards the Wear device.
Therefore, you simply change step 6 to adb -s localhost: 4444 uninstall [package_name]
Bear in mind that step 5 will produce packages that look something like package:com.google.android.music. Be sure that, in step 5, you simply put com.google.android.music where [package_name] should be.
Hope this helps! More information here.


text:
How to automatically backup everything to a safe location
I would like to discuss the best way(s) to automatically backup all data on a phone including system, data and sdcard to a server or computer. This should be scheduled so that one will loose as little data as possible if the phone or tablet gets lost/stolen.
I don't want to exclude Googles Backup system totally but I personally look for a different solution because I don't want to hand over my data to any cloud service, so if the best way would be the cloud it had to be encrypted.
Incremental Backups would be great but I don't see that happening.
My devices are all rooted, otherwise a system backup wouldn't be possible of course.
Tools that come to mind and their respective disadvantages:

Clockworkmod Recovery / TWRP > cannot be automated
Online Nandroid Backup > would fill up the SDcard because incremental is not supported
Bittorrent Sync > can only sync folders not the whole sdcard (what about App2SD partition?)
Rsync > only works for SDcard and hard to automate (on Windows)
Airdroid > only for SDCard
Titanium Backup > no SDcard backup, only selected data backup

What kind of backup system would you suggest?

This looks a little like a duplicate but he is looking for a one time solution.

I can only suggest Titanium Backup - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup, since I haven't really tried any other apps.
I used to use it when I first got Android after I rooted, I used that to do a backup before installing a new ROM. Was incredible. Don't know about the scheduling though, but that wouldn't surprise me if it had it.

It is a great tool indeed (forgot that one in my list) but does it backuo sdcard as well?

I can't lie to you, I honestly don't remember... I never backed up the card because I had the card when I did a ROM install. Get the demo

I have the pro version and TB does not backup SD, how would it?

@sir_brickalot, If I may ask, what content are you looking to backup? What is on your SD card? Reason I ask is because if it is photos and videos, I have mine automatically backup to the cloud. Was just thinking that maybe there is a solution if you adjust your thoughts around "What do I need to back up?" instead of "How to backup everything?"

Thanks, the reason I want to backup everything is because of things I did NOT think of! I.e. : Did I backup my private key for Threema to SDcard or maybe a textfile somewhere, or an encfs container.

authors: genial بالعربي


text:
How can I send a group sms using my google voice number?
I have tried using the google voice app only to find that it doesn't support group SMS, and instead sends an individual text message to each person (which doesn't allow them to reply-all to the group I originally messages).
I have also tried using hangouts, only to discover that it does NOT use the google voice number.
Is there any way to combine these two features? can I do it from a web-browser interface somehow?
P.S. I would like to avoid signing up for Google+ if I can avoid it.

Google Voice (the service) doesn't support this. Until Google adds this feature there's no way to do it.
This limitation is not specifically noted anywhere official, to my knowledge. However, Voice receives group messages from supported carriers the same way it sends them - as independent messages - and this has been officially stated. Mayur Kamat (the Hangouts product manager) noted this caveat on a Google+ announcement regarding expanded MMS support for Voice:

Group MMS will arrive as individual messages - so you will at least
  not miss messages any more.

The above also requires that the message was sent by one of the carriers Google supports MMS from. Group messages received from unsupported carriers are never delivered.

The big unsupported one currently is Verizon, for those interested.

Verizon is now supported, btw.

Is AT&T supported? Two of my friends have AT&T and I am on T-Mobile when they do group messages, I receive them separate in their own threads but it works with Sprint and T-Mobile.

Actually you can use GV send a copy of the sms to your email.  Once you have received GV's assigned email for this number you can now respond through your email and now you can respond through multiple user's or groups through the email to SMS system setup in GV.  Only caveat is that you have to get a response from your intended subject after you have setup SMS to email in GV to create this GV specific email to SMS email address.  I have not found a way to create these GV specific email address.  Hope this helps because I wanted to do the same and found this was the only fashion to get GV to do what I wanted.

I am unsure if the base Google Hangouts app supports this, but try Hangouts Dialer.  I have both installed, so it's hard for me to tell if the base app incorporated the feature.
Setup
Inside the settings of the app, you will see an entry for "SMS".  You should also have an entry that lists your Google account email address.  If you don't have this portion, you can tap "add account" to make the association.  Once this is done, the Google Voice number should automatically become available.
Test
Create a new message and select your contact.  The app should prompt for "SMS message" and list entries for Mobile (which is your mobile phone number) and Google (which is your Google Voice number).

Voice allows you to send up to 5 recepients at once if you separate the numbers by commas.  Replies to the text are 1 on 1 and not to the group.
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/117108


text:
tablet won't permanently keep or remove apps
I have an 8" android tablet running Android 2.2 (froyo). It works fine, except anything installed will not be retained when you re-start the device. Plus, if I want to remove the one and only app I put on this thing it re-appears after I delete it and re-start the device.
Nothing gets saved and no app gets deleted that is already on there. The app in mention I put on is marble solitaire plus for anyone that wants to know.
I can still find use for the tablet if only I could fix this problem. I have even tried a factory reset and nothing. When I do I get "md5 file error 1. Any ideas would help!

This question is quite long and rambling. You might get more people to read it if you trim out all the unrelated stuff about your other tablets, try to make it easier to see what the problem is, and add a descriptive title.

Can you give us the model of the tablet in question? It is very uncommon for an Android tablet to have 2.2 on it unless it is several years old.

It sounds like you have a tablet with locked system/data. Kind of like a PC with deep freeze, you can make changes but they are reset after a reboot.
You may have just made an unlucky purchase as many cheapo tablets will do this as a sort of self-protection.
What is likely happening is the system reverts to a copy of the image stored in flash so fixing it is going to require finding wherever the source copy is.
The md5 file error likely means the original copy is corrupt. This is the tough way to learn to avoid cheapo tablets because when something goes wrong you are usually SoL.
Depending on the tablet, you may be able to:

unlock the bootloader
install custom recovery
find a compatible rom and flash it

I'd recommend you just cut your losses, sell it as defective on Craigslist or something similar, and use that money to put towards a decent tablet.


text:
Hardware/Software layer of an android device
I need knowing the differences between a PC hardware and a android device (smartphone), because i have some issues understanding somethings about some subjects.
Generally when I have a computer if I have any restriction , like password in bios or special software into EPROM I need to modify it manually for accessing the PC or make it "totally" under my power.
I want to understand how operators blocks the bootloader of a phone, or "lock" it (not other operators SIMCARDS can work into the device), is this in hardware? Or inside EPROM software? Same way with rooting. If I install a Linux OS in any PC I will be root directly, what happens with the hardware inside smartphones?
Can I have a PC with a network card "locked"? The only way of this is having the eprom of the periphery network card specially programmed.
I think that I need a lot of more knowledge about this subject and I am searching for some books or MOOC that can explain me these specs for deeply understanding the hardware/software interface of an android device phone or any phone in general. I think, for perfectly understand the hardware configuration of any phone device (IOS,Android,windows phone or the nokia stone).
Examples of my problem:

I can have a custom rom in a device, but still is locked, sometimes by software we aim to unlock it, maybe it is inside the software of the GPS antenna?
Sony xperia j st26i "bootloader locked", thats mean, I need to manually flash the eprom for installing a bootloader and custom roms?
Android OS Firmware vs Phone firmware?

Thanks for your help.

This question has an answer explaining some information. Essentially, the 'network card' of the phone does have its own processor and is essentially its own computer (hence why you can root a phone but not necessarily unlock it). Similarly with the bootloader and other parts.

I have seen the answer, do you know any book or online content for understand how all this differents parts work all together for making working the entire device, or some mobile device architecture learning for deep understanding??  Thank you a lot for the answer.

Normally, A blocked bootloader means that the bootloader will verify the signature of the installed OS / recovery to be booted. And recovery does not allow you to install a unsigned OS. If you unlock the bootloader, you can "flash" any firmware and the bootloader wont verify the signature. Also, you can now flash a custom recovery that will be able to install from unverified/unsigned sources. Your SIM can be locked at the modem level, bootloader level or at the OS level. It is typically done at modem or bootloader level though.
To unlock a bootloader, you either flash a modified bootloader or switch a flag (as done in nexus devices). root on phone is more or less like sudo.
Android OS firmware may refer to the Android OS (i.e. system, bin, etc. partitions) while Phone firmware is the OS + bootloader + modem and other require bits that are not the part of OS. Things like baseband processor OS, radio drivers,etc are also updated but are not part of android OS.

authors: โฆษิต ว่องธัญกิจ


text:
Trying to search email on exchange server with android phone
I have setup a corporate email account on my android phone and it syncs like it should 1 month's worth of email.  When I search for email, it only returns results for the email that is synced on the phone. How can I search the other email that is on the exchange server?

Which email program are you using?

The default email program on the phone.


text:
Show event names on month view in Google Calendar
It's just square dots and lines of your choice of color. Are there any options or ways to get it to show the event's text in the month view as it does in the week/agenda/etc?
Edit:
Apparently month view was stripped out of the latest store version. I don't understand how a calendar could be better without the ability to see the whole month (or at least the option to) as you would on a wall but so be it.

Google Calendar doesn't have that feature.
You can use a 3rd party app like aCalendar instead (paid/free).

I don't consider this an option since it is not free.

@Enigma The free version is aCalendar: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.withouthat.acalendar&hl=en

Oh good. I'll leave this unanswered for a while just in case Google comes through.

Jorte Calendar is a free alternative that offers this functionality. It also synchronizes with Google calendar both ways.
It looks normal by default and the icons only get added if you want them there.

That isn't an option in the Google Calendar app. However, you could:

Open a browser and go to http://calendar.google.com/
Scroll to the bottom and click the "Desktop" link for "View"
Zoom in to see what you want

Note that all the features might not work depending on the browser, but Chrome Mobile seems to do pretty well.

On 23 April 2015, Google Calendar was updated with the return on Month view.

See even more events at a glance with Month view on phones

On top of that, the current version also displays the event name instead of square dots and lines.
Note, however, that it only works on portrait mode. The landscape mode only displays in Week view.


text:
how do I save all my texts before I reset it?
I have an android HTC 660 how do I save all my texts before I reset it? Not for sure how to send to my SIM card

HoverChat has an SMS backup feature. It saves all your SMS in a .ninja file, then you can send it in a mail. You must have HoverChat if you want to restore your backup afterwards.

I have looked up on the web there's a couple of applications such as :

SMS Backup+
G Cloud Backup
SMS backup restore

Personally,I would take a couple of screenshots and send them into my PC(as backup). Then reset my cell phone and re-transfer my pictures into it.
But if you want them as a txt form, use an application to back up them.

Install Superbackup and make backup of contacts , texts and call logs and you can move it local SD card to your inbox.


text:
Wifi, connected but not connected
I have a peculiar problem with my Kobo Arc, which runs on Android 4.1.1.
When this device connects to my Dynex router, it goes through the whole "Authenticating" "Obtain IP address" "Connected".  No problem so far on the Wifi screen.
But now when I go online, I get "drops" almost on a pattern, every few seconds the connection will drop (a Youtube video on Youtube app will load, then run 3 sec then never load again until you constantly refresh or reseek, and sometimes that doesn't even work.)
Wifi connection bar remains full and remains "Connected" throughout the entire time, because Router is right next door, and this happens when I'm sitting right in front of it.  I switched Channals from 1-11, I tried different encryption.  To no avail.
So what's the problem here?  It's not signal, and my desktop computer using a USB wifi thingy don't experience this drop.

Has this device always done this? You might need to contact the manufacturer.

Un-plug your router for 30 seconds and try again. If it still happens then your router might be going out other than that your device might be buggy and you need to get a new one.


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Contacts Sync problem in Android 4.4.2
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S4 with 4.4.2 Kitkat version. Currently my phone is showing that all the contacts (phone numbers) are in sync with my Gmail account, however when I check in Gmail Contacts, I could not find even a single contact synced.
I also checked whether the sync is enabled properly or not, but it is "checked and enabled".
Does anyone know of a solution for this?
Note: All other stuff like photos, calendars, are properly synced and reflected in my Gmail.

How/Where did you check for the "sync" status? In the System Settings or in the "Contacts" app or whatever the name of the specific app.

It could be that the contacts are added to your Google account, but they are not in the "My Contacts" section but rather the "Other Contacts" section.
If you go to contacts.google.com, on the left sidebar is "My Contacts" with groups underneath. At the very bottom, just above "Import Contacts" and "New Group" is a section called "Other Contacts".
These contacts are usually auto-added from Gmail, but they can also be contacts added from your phone that weren't synced quite right. Try looking in there for your contacts. If they are there, you can select all and add to "My Contacts".


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Wanting to use only one email
I have to use 2 emails on my phone at all times cause some apps I purchased on one email and some I got on my other email. Is there a way to put all my purchases on to my primary email so that I don't have to use 2 emails forever?

There is currently no way of doing it. You can download apps again to the same userid account on different devices, but you cannot transfer those licenses to other userids. So you'll have to rebuy the apps on one account which you wish to keep if you want to stop using both accounts.

Im digging further into the matter and contacting Google.

alright best of luck


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Moved Chrome to SD Card and broke it
I have a Sony Xperia C2305 with Android version 4.2.2.
I was trying to free up internal space using Titanium Backup Pro by moving applications over to the SD Card.
I converted Chrome to a user application and then moved it tot he SD Card.
When I run it i now get the following error:
"Critical functionality required to run Chrome is missing; either your Chrome installation is incomplete or not compatible with this version of android".
I attempted to do the following:

Moved back to Internal Memory and Converted to System Application - Same Error
Rebooted - Same Error
Converted to User Application & Uninstalled - Downloaded from Play Store - Same Error
Converted Downloaded & Installed Chrome to System Application - Same Error

How can i get a working version of chrome back on my phone?

After trying the "Quick Fixes", nothing worked.
The Solution was to re ROM the phone with a factory ROM.
In future, use Titanium Backup to first take a full backup, then freeze the application for a week or two and then if the phone is stable, remove the frozen apps.


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Restore SIM Card details to PC
I have my SIM card from the back of my Samsung Galaxy S5. However, I do not have the phone anymore. I will not be getting a new phone for quite sometime.
My question is; is there a way to retrieve the entire contents of my SIM card, without having a phone? Maybe there is a way to download the contents to my pc. Please advise

Can you borrow a phone for a few mins? You could copy all your numbers etc to that phone, then backup to Google or elsewhere? Otherwise you'll need hardware to connect a SIM to the PC.

You can buy SIM card readers for PCs, which will come with Windows software to retrieve any phone numbers and SMS messages from the SIM card. Just search your local Amazon site or eBay for SIM card reader. Be careful not to get an SD card reader by accident!
Do bear in mind that most Android phones don't store contacts on the SIM card by default, but on the phone itself. The SIM card can only store very limited information about contacts: just a name and a number. Unless you're sure you've moved all your data onto the SIM card, you might put a lot of time into finding a reader only to find the SIM card is empty.

Your carrier, if they have a store, should also have the equipment for this and should do it for free.
You can back them up and probably use a dummy phone or gateway to sync them somewhere so this isn't an issue in the future.
If you currently do not have a carrier, they may still do it for free or for a small fee depending.


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How to play YouTube videos at 2x speed?
I use a Samsung Galaxy S5. I'd like to play YouTube videos (or videos anywhere else) at 2x speed, but I can't find any options for that.
Is it possible to find a way to do this on Android?

Update 2017: It is now also possible to change the speed in the YouTube app, by clicking the three dot menu when playing a video, and then selecting Playback Speed

Other ways:
Sharing the video to an external app

Download an external player that lets you control the speed, like BSplayer.

Then in the youtube app when you get to the video you want to watch click the Share button and then select the player you want to use.  The external player will open and it will play the video you want, and you can control the speed in it.

Tip: you can also use this method to skip ads.  If you share the video to a different player you can watch it right away without having to wait if there's an ad.
Edit: I mentioned VLC and Dice Player as other options to control video speed, but looks like I can't share a video from the youtube app to play with them, at least on my phone
.

Using YouTube in a browser app (like Chrome) and running JavaScript
This works for watching videos on m.youtube.com
on the Mobile Chrome browser (probably other browsers as well)
When a video is playing, enter this into the URL bar
javascript: document.querySelector('video').playbackRate = 2

Note: you have to type out the "javascript:" keyword, because the browser might remove it if you paste it
You can use any number for the playback rate, including decimals
Tip: Speeding up videos this way could get laggy if you use a slower phone, and the max speed you are able to watch it smoothly might depend on your device capabilities. For this, you can also select a lower resolution for the video, or in the phone browser select Desktop Mode and then select a lower resolution video.
Saving the code as a Bookmarklet
You can save JavaScript code in a bookmark (called a bookmarklet) so you don't have to enter it in the url bar
Create a bookmarklet, name it something like 'ySpeed', and paste this code into it, I added a prompt so it asks to "Enter the Rate" each time it is run:
javascript: document.querySelector('video').playbackRate = parseFloat(prompt("Enter Rate"));

then on your phone when you're watching a video on m.youtube.com, type 'ySpeed' into the URL bar, don't press enter, you should see your bookmarklet pop up as an option. When you tap it the code will run and you will see a popup to enter your speed (.5, 2.5, 3, etc)
Instructions for Creating a Bookmarklet:
You can create it from your desktop browser or from your phone browser
On Desktop

Right-click the bookmarks bar
Click Add Page
Edit the name, and type the javascript code (including "javascript:") into the URL field
Select your Mobile Bookmarks folder (optional) and then click save

On Mobile Chrome

On any page (that you haven't bookmarked already) click the three-dot menu button next to the address bar
Tap the star
Tap Edit on the popup that shows up on the bottom of the screen. If you missed it then tap on the star again and it will take you to the Edit menu.
Enter the name, select your Mobile Bookmarks folder, and replace the content of the URL field with the javascript code (including "javascript:")

Some more info on bookmarklets: http://www.labnol.org/software/google-chrome-bookmarklets/27894/

The external app is a great suggestion because I can playback with double speed without ads. Also good controls.

Alternative way does not work, the video stops playing.

"use this code" in this answer means: 1. Click 3 dots on top left 2. More Tools -> Developer Tools 3. Paste the above line of code in the "console" tab and press enter.
Works for me.

VLC works for me, although I wonder if I can get a better speech speedup quality with some other app.

@ritratt not sure what your comment is referring to, because Chrome for Android doesn't have Dev Tools, unless you're referring to other browsers.

As of 2014, the YouTube app does not have that feature.
However, it's available if you use a browser in desktop mode. Here's what it looks like on Chrome (on desktop mode):

How do you prevent browser from going into m.youtube.com?

@InquilineKea You either type "https://www.youtube.com" manually into the address bar. OR, request for desktop mode. In Chrome, left-soft-key, then Request desktop site.

doesn't work on android 4.4: note 2 and note 10.1 2014 .I haven't seen this working on any Android.

Unfortunately web player consumes much more cpu. On non top /older smartphones it is laggish.

Didn't work for me, I just don't see that speed option in Chrome for Nexus 7 Android 6.

It's worked for me.

You can download movies and play them with an external player, for example, Dice Player (which has a speed control).
But downloading from YouTube is illegal. Can be done with TubeMate.
Be aware, TubeMate is censored and no Google tool will help you to find the right version.

This is against Google's TOS. I don't think this should be a recommended solution.

I would gladly use any legal youtube client with preloading (with was cut out from android client) and higher playback speed (never worked yet). Without it, most of youtube videos are not essential and available  enough to be watched by me.

The USE of the tool is against Google's terms but not the actual discussion of the tool itself. Educational purposes, right?

For playing YouTube videos on 2x speed, I use the BS Player (available on the Play Store). I open the video on the YouTube app and then I share it to the BS Player, which has speed control. With a good internet connection it should run very smoothly. (I also tried playing it with Chrome on desktop mode, but it has an awful delay for me.)

How to choose quality?

Just in case anyone still has this question, I should probably mention that at least since September 2017, it is now possible to control playback speed in the official YouTube app. Just tap the menu button in the top-right corner of the video and the setting will show up:


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Runaway process named "data5"
I have an issue on an Android TV device from Amlogic. As you can see below there are three important processes: .amlogic.dvb.service and com.amlogic.dvb. These processes are related to the UI of the TV player and the controller of the TV stream.
data5 is very confusing. It does not steal the CPU all of the time. However, when it does, it causes the TV display to become distorted (because there is no longer sufficient CPU power to render correctly, I assume).
Does anyone know what the process data5 is? I think it is probably part of Android itself, however I have yet to find anything on Google relating to it.
User 9%, System 86%, IOW 0%, IRQ 0%
User 53 + Nice 4 + Sys 525 + Idle 21 + IOW 3 + IRQ 0 + SIRQ 2 = 608
  PID PR CPU% S  #THR     VSS     RSS PCY UID      Name
24786  0  48% S    25 741952K  37912K  fg system   .amlogic.dvb.service
 1541  0  42% S     1      0K      0K     root     data5
24743  1   0% S    27 814488K  71752K  fg system   com.amlogic.dvb
 1540  1   0% S     1      0K      0K     root     aml_nftld
25319  1   0% R     1   1228K    520K     shell    top

It's very likely to be specific to your device. Has it always had this problem? If so, you probably need to contact the manufacturer.

I thought so too, but they do not recognize the process either. I will get them to dig deeper. It exists after a clean firmware flash, so it is definitely to do with the firmware.


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Use Android phone as Internet gateway (Not WiFi hotspot)
Just wondering if it is possible to setup Android 4 phone as internet gateway without enabling WiFi tethering?
Use case:

Connect the phone to my WiFi home network.
Set phone in gateway mode (ipv4 forwarding?)
On any other PC in my home network set default gateway to phone IP

In theory Android at this stage would handle outgoing connections for that particular PC.
On the grand scale what I'm thinking about is this:
I have multiple phones that have unlimited 4g plans on them, every time I come back home, phone joins the WiFi network and starts acting as gateway. On my main routing box (pfSense) I setup multiple gateways (for each phone) and a load balancer. So every time phone appears, gateway changes to UP state in pfSense -> Load Balancing via that phone as well. When I leave my house, pfSense detects that gateway is unreachable -> removes it from list of load balancers.

I've written a working answer for the same here. Hope it helps.


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Colour of the letters in contacts?
What is the meaning ot the different colours of the letters in android contacts?
I use Nexus4 with standard 4.4

Nothing Special. Multiple color for single Letter is to differentiate multiple contacts starting with similar letter.


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Can I find out when a rom or recovery was installed?
I have purchased a totally new phone (G2) and when I got it, it was already with a custom ROM with SU and a clockwork recovery. I have a receipt from the purchase with date and time. I need to be able to prove that the ROM and recovery were installed before I made the purchase.

How can I find time of rom or recovery installation?

It will probably be hard to prove without a doubt that you didn't install the ROM. Any timestamps on the phone can be edited with root.

Files are rewrote with updated timestamps as well. I researched for a couple of hours, found a bunch of hooey. Wasn't able to find a conclusive answer for actual system creation time on device.


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Remove In Case Of Emergency association
I was setting up the contacts on my Xperia Z3 (Kit Kat) and entered in my wife as the In Case Emergency contact. However now if I dial her number normally (e.g. from the phone app) it comes up as "In Case Emergency" on the screen. Messages from her in the Messaging app appear as though they have been sent from "In Case Emergency". It appears as though just her mobile number has been associated this way as if I dial her home number then her details are displayed correctly.
I have tried turning off and on, and clearing out the data for the contacts app. I have tried adding and removing her and other contacts from the In Case Emergency contact list.
Given that she is the person I call and send messages to the most it would be nice to have her actual name displayed! Is there any way to fix this?

I just have a regular contact as ICE (name), but no special feature on my phone for designation

The problem was caused by a contact named "In Case Emergency" that was not appearing on my phone but was in my gmail contact lists when I looked on the web client. Removing this contact fixed the problem.


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uninstalling WhatsApp
I want to uninstall WhatsApp from my phone fully so there should not be any data left, as it was preinstalled its not removing fully. I have only 2 options, force stop or disable but they're not helping. I want to remove it with cache memory as while installing WhatsApp its showing error.
Also its showing low internal memory space
My device is Karbonn S2 Titanium  (1.2 GHz Quad Core Processor and 1GB RAM).

You can't remove pre-installed apps without root access. These system apps are stored on the system partition, which is generally mounted as read-only and prevents non-root users from modifying it.
However, the system partition is also usually separate from the user partition where you install apps. That is, the system apps by themselves don't take up any usable space. As long as you clear data (instead of just clear cache), you can disable the app and it won't take up any usable space.

Go to settings > storage> cached data and clean it, also in misc select whatsapp this will erase all images l, audio remember to back up it in other folder first


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android 4.2.2 bluetooth NOT pairing problem (galaxy s4 i9505)
i have an Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE (i9505) with stock rom + root (4.2.2 ME2 build).
i have issues from time to time with Bluetooth pairing. It stopped working a few months ago, then started working again by itself, then last month stopped working again.
When is not working , i have this issue when i try to pair a new device (the problem is with devices that have PIN code, the one without, pairs successfully) : it shows the 'Enter PIN' dialog, but when i finish it doesn't start pairing, it does nothing.
I attach a video to understand the problem, also a Verbose Logcat (logged when this issue happens)
It would be great if somebody finds the problem in the log, because if i can fix it without restoring/changing ROM would be great!

what kind(s) of device are you trying to pair it with?

doesn't work with any device that has PIN for pairing , either Carkit or headset or other Phone, etc, i tried on 10 devices, as you can see in the video, the problem is the phone software, after you enter PIN and press OK, it doesn't do pairing, it does nothing... it should said Pairing... if it was working, it's a bug somewhere and i cannot find it, that's why i posted the Logcat, maybe someone with more Android experience would find it... now it has the same behavior like when you press Cancel on entering PIN


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Location Consent & undo Remeber This Setting
Like many, I found the Location Consent prompts to be annoying. I was excited when Google finally extended the option to 'remember this setting' in the latest update, but dismayed when I could only have the phone remember a 'yes' answer.
Unfortunately, when I handed the phone to a friend to coordinate GPS while driving she checked 'Remember this setting' and consented into the program. I would like to undo this, but cannot for the life of me find where this setting is stored on my phone. It does not appear to be listed in the 'Location' or by clearing the cache of the LocationServices app (which doesn't appear to actually work)
How can this be undone? Phone is a Motorola Razr HD running 4.4.2

geffchang's answer is correct. That said, it is meant for a rooted Android so users of non-rooted Android devices may not find it of much use.
Those users, if willing to sacrifice third-part apps' data associated with their Google account, can consider clearing data of Play services' app as a solution.
Set location mode to Device only for once, disable location mode, launch Settings app → Apps → All apps → Google Play services → Force stop → Manage Space → Clear data → Force stop again → optionally reboot.
Now try enabling the location mode. It should default to Device only and should you attempt to change to High accuracy, that Improve location accuracy? dialog for agreement would be shown to you.

i just had to do this in android 6.0.1. this is confirmed by me as working solution for android 6. there is no loss of data visible to the user.

This solution was suggested for my (duplicate) question and I can confirm it worked in 5.0.2 and it didn't appear to affect my data

I tried this solution and it did not work at first, Tried it a second time and it worked.
The second time I left GPS only enabled with GPS on when I rebooted.
That did the trick. When the phone rebooted GPS was still in GPS only mode and when I turn GPS off then back on I got the "Improve location accuracy prompt again"

The Force Stop option was greyed out for me, so I avoided that step but this process still worked for me.

If you have root access, edit this file:
data > data > com.google.android.gms > shared_prefs > nlp-prefs.xml
Change the value of confirmNlp to true.
<boolean name="confirmNlp" value="false" />
Source.

And I reached this conclusion by matching the file differences in Play services' data directory before and after agreeing for that dialog. That was the only file that was created after agreeing.


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Recommended way to restore transparency about permissions after Google Play store changed rules
It's been quite a time when Google decided to not any more let the customer decide whether or not to let apps access the internet.
(see http://www.xda-developers.com/android/play-store-permissions-change-opens-door-to-rogue-apps/)
I wonder if today people have found a convenient way to regain transparency about which apps might send all data they gather to home.
Do I have to review all permissions of all apps? Is there a way to do this automatically? How can I protect myself against this betrayal?

How can you review permissions automatically? You're the only one who can decide how much you trust each app.

You're right, an app cannot do the job. But for example you could export all programs and permissions to an xml, csv or similar file and then analyze it manually or with a script. This would indeed need an app which does the job but I could easily check whether or not it does what it says.

There are several utilities to help protect privacy on your phone, provided you have root access. Along with their blocking functions, some have logs or give you instant info about what an app is doing.
XPrivacy
XPrivacy runs on the XPosed framework. It is designed to let you allow, deny, or spoof tons of different android framework calls. For example, you can block a specific app from getting access to your contacts or from acquiring your GPS location.
With recent versions of XPrivacy, the app pops up a dialog box with a 15 second timer (just like a superuser request prompt) for any permission you haven't granted yet. The first time you open an app, it will prompt you for multiple things, but then the settings are remembered for that app later. By default, it only starts asking you about apps you install after it is installed (so that you aren't overwhelmed with dialog boxes the first time you reboot and all your apps start asking for things).
XPrivacy is a great tool for privacy (hence the name). Unlike Permissions Manager, XPrivacy does not cause an app to crash when a requested permission is spoofed/denied. However, XPrivacy is designed specifically for privacy, so it doesn't cover all possible permissions an app can request.
AFWall+
AFWall+ is a firewall, designed to allow or deny network access to individual apps based on what type of network you're connected to. For example, you can block a specific app from ever using cell data, while still giving it wifi access.
Permissions Manager
Permissions Manager lets you deny specific Android permissions that are requested by apps. While similar to XPrivacy, it differs in that Permissions Manager will outright block an app from getting a permission; If the app isn't properly designed to handle a lack of this permission, the app may crash. Also, it only blocks permissions that are requestable, whereas XPrivacy gives you deeper and more fine-grained controls.
Others
There are plenty of other apps designed to give the user control over the apps installed. The ones I listed here are ones I use extensively or have used extensively in the past.

Thanks - XPrivacy seems to be what I'm looking for. But since you're using it - can you answer me a question?
Why do apps use the 'internet/inet' permission when the 'internet' restriction is restricted?
How do I know that the apps don't do exactly what I want to avoid?


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Enable screen auto-rotate for specific applications but not globally?
So I'd like to enable screen auto-rotation for YouTube and Chrome, but not for other anything else. How do I do this?
I use a Galaxy S5.

Have you tried a 3rd-party app like Smart Rotator?

Are you tired of switching auto-rotate setting back and forth? This
  tool can help you auto switching it.
You can set auto-rorate/portrait/landscape setting for each app, when
  you open those apps, it will help you set screen orientation to auto,
  portrait, landscape automatically.


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How can I autoconnect to miracast/chromecast (screen cast) device?
I've seen it in a friends OS though not in most and not in any of the roms I have/am using.
What lets this happen for some but not others? They are all kitkat or later.
Is there any setting or app that lets me do this?
Tasker integration would be a huge plus.

What exactly do you mean by "autoconnect"?

I mean when the miracast device is detected, the android device connects. Sort of a one-shot deal unless it vanishes and reappears.

What I've done that has worked is use tasker to launch the wireless display settings app, then use AutoInput to click on the adapter once it shows up. I was using this in my car, so I had the app trigger as soon as the phone connected to the car's bluetooth.

We expect details. Please consider mentioning them.


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Is there software that will completely wipe your Android device when there are too many pin attempts?
I love the option that your iPhone will wipe itself if someone preforms way to many pin attempts but I do not see that option on Android devices. Is there software that will completely wipe your Android device when there are too many pin attempts?

authors: Оксана Ангелова


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Lost All Contact On My Nexus 4 Device
I decided to make a new gmail and replace it with my old gmail on my phone so i removed account and then what i put my new gmail id all my contacts are lost and in my call log i only see numbers no names. Can anyone please suggest how i can reverse this?

Your contacts might have been synced with the old Google account. You can try doing this:

Login on your computer with the old Gmail. Go to "Contacts" and see if you have all your contacts visible over there. ("Contacts" option will be available on top left, where there is a caption of "Gmail" along with an arrow).
If you find your old contacts in the above step, login to your phone with old Gmail Id. You will probably see all your contacts again.
Export all the contacts to your phone memory.
Login with new Gmail Id.


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Vanilla Android
I hope I don't post this in the wrong place.
It's been known for the life of Android that upgradability of the device is one of main reason when deciding to buy a device. Among the main stream brands, I have owned Samsung Galaxy (the first Samsung Galaxy), LG Optimus G and first generation of (ASUS made) Nexus 7.
Nexus 7 still receives updates until now. I received one or two updates for my Samsung Galaxy and I never got any update on LG Optimus G. According to media, Kitkat update for LG Optimus G is coming (or has come in some countries) but I have not seen it so far.
I have also owned and used few Chinese brand Android devices and they are good for the price but again  the version came with the device is pretty much what you will end up with.
My question is: how hard it is to produce an Android phone that can run Vanilla Android and some future updates (within reasonable time frame). I don't know anything about OS level programming but I would imagine that Google must have some guideline and roadmap about OS Android. If Nexus devices are updatable, why can't other manufacturers choose the same kind of hardware? Can anyone who knows about how OS/hardware working share their knowledge?
It would be awesome if Chinese devices run Vanilla Android and are updatable just as Nexus ones.
[EDIT]
I guess, my other question is: is updatability (or lack of it) more a technical or business reason?
Thanks.

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about why OEMs add their own modifications to Android.

how hard it is to produce an Android phone that can run Vanilla Android

It's not possible at all. Every device (including Nexus devices) needs Android to be ported to that device. This means setting it up, from the source code, with the correct drivers, configured correctly for that device. Even if there are no other manufacturer customizations (such as HTC Sense), it needs to be done to make Android work at all.
Even if the device is similar to or shares some components with an existing device, it still won't be compatible with that device's ROMs.
This work needs to be repeated by the manufacturer for each new Android version. This costs money, and for unbranded devices where repeat custom and reputation aren't important, there's really no advantage for the manufacturer, or way for them to recoup their costs.

Arrgh you beat me to some of the points :) I've modified mine for other details to supplement (hopefully) this answer.

Sure Android needs to be ported to the device (drivers etc) but shouldn't it be about porting it to hardware (CPU, GPU, etc) level rather than manufaturer brands level? I mean, the Android should be ported to Snapdragon or MTK rather than to Samsung or Lenovo for example? Comparing to Linux (desktop), tho the availability and compatibility of drivers are not as good as for Windows but it is usually expectable that we can install the next version of a linux distro to our PC. I suspect that there is no some kind of database for supported driver for Android?

But it's not just about the chipset: it's about all the hardware, and the way it's configured in that particular device. Only if the two devices have the exact same hardware can they share a ROM image, and even then the "product name" needs to be set correctly in the ROM.

Thanks. Referring to your other comment, this was a genuine question even though it sounds like a discussion.

It is a business reason. Each OEM (manufacturer) wants to stand out in the market through their hardware AND their software. The next time you go to upgrade will you consider learning a new OEM overlay or just a shiny new version of what you already know? (A lot of people go for the latter, they don't care about the OS, their phone is a "HTC" or a "Samsung" not an "Android" device.) There is also another, slightly underhanded reason too.
Also note that EVERY device has its own kernel, drivers etc so there isn't really a 100% vanilla android, it must be ported to each device including the Nexus line.
By way of an example: Samsung have their Galaxy S5 flagship running Android, with the Touchwiz overlay. Every Samsung Android device has the Touchwiz Framework. Users get used to the look and feel and general 'Touchwizzyness' of the device. Now in the meantime they develop the Tizen operating system, and skin it to be almost identical to Touchwiz. Now to a user, the underlying operating system is kind of invisible to the user, and functions much the same, except Samsung now have you on their hardware and their own OS.
Here is a Tizen Screenshot
Here is a Touchwiz screenshot
See what I mean?


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Cannot Update or Install Apps from PlayStore
Currently I'm using HTC Flyer. I cannot update or install apps from appstore
and tried resetting the tablet. Still no use.

Device Info:
HTC-Flyer P510e
Android Version : 3.2.1

Any way to resolve this??

What's the error you are getting?

Couldn't find any error. When I try to download an app from store progress bar keeps scrolling..

@Pankaj I also tried with different Account

Are you trying with Wifi/3G?

@Pankaj Yes. WIFI.

Can you add more info regarding the android version you have?

@Pankaj I have updated my question with device info

Can you download from the PlayStore through a browser?


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What doesn't data usage show?
I was recently helping someone try to figure out were the data usage was coming from since recently it has sky rocketed from under 8GB to well over 30GB. Anyway, they went to the data usage under setting (I believe the phone was a Galaxy S 3 or 4) the total data usage essentially agreed with the carriers usage but the apps below did not add up anywhere close to what was said. This was over the phone so maybe I missed something.
Anyway, is there anything that is not shown by the data usage that comes with the Galaxy S III (or any android devices)?
Is there a way to get that info, maybe with a different app?

Usually it won't happen that the total data usage is inconsistent with each app's data usage. However, you may try installing some of the data usage monitor apps on PlayStore:

My Data Usage
Data Usage
Onvao Count


text:
What happens when an APK is installed on SD card?
Say we want to install an APK named x.apk to an Android phone.
By default, at least two things will happen:
1. Copy x.apk to /data/app;

2. Create a package folder under /data/data as the private storage space;

However, if x.apk is to be installed on SD card,
What are the folders corresponding to /data/app and /data/data on SD card?

In addition when an app is installed a folder is created under /data/app-lib/ containing libraries extracted from apk and dalvik cache is created under /data/dalvik-cache. When you install or move an app to sdcard an encrypted filesystem image is created containing apk and something else I can't check right now. That image then is mounted under /mnt/(asec?) sorry i can't check right now because my phone doesn't support moving apps this way.

I can confim /mnt/asec and encrypted image file is under sdcard/.android_secure/


text:
BusyBox crond fails to run scripts with "time disparity" error message
I've installed BusyBox on my Android 4.1.1 phone and when I run crond, after some time it starts to failing to run scripts with message "time disparity of xxx minutes detected". Is there something I can do to make it work properly?


text:
Retrieving a URL from Facebook app
Is it possible to get the URL of a post from the Facebook app and copy it to the clipboard? If so, how to do it?

only way is to open the link in browser and copy the link from the address bar.

This is not an answer to what he asked.