text:
Domain of wifi internet test
My router has an adblocker, such that any request to a blacklisted domain is redirected to a port that returns a 1x1 pixel gif (pixelserv). At the moment, whenever my Galaxy S3 (with 4.3 Jelly Bean) connects to Wi-Fi, it asks me to sign-in, but my network requires no sign-in (via webpage redirect). I understand that when connecting, Android connects to a website or domain to ensure that it is not redirected, and that there is an internet connection. I think my adblocker is redirecting this request to the pixelserv, and the device therefore thinks that I must sign in to the network. I want to whitelist whatever IP or domain it is looking for. What is that domain or IP?

Android sends a request to http://clients3.google.com/generate_204, and it expects a 204 response (the HTTP code for "no content").


text:
Cyrillic font not displaying properly in Android
I have installed Evernote on a Lenovo P770 (running Android). The problem is, some Cyrillic text is displayed with strange hardly readable font. At the same time Cyrillic text with another font is displayed correctly. Other applications are having the same problem, so this is not specific to Evernote.
Screenshot below:

The device is not rooted.
Is it possible to replace this font with another in Android? Can I do it without rooting the phone?

All Cyrillic text in that screenshot looks fine to me. Can you clarify exactly what text you're referring to? Edit: do you mean the extra spacing between letters in some of the menu items?

Yes I mean the extra spacing. Note headers, menu items and some labels are displayed with this font. If some note has long header it is hardly readable. I think it is a pecularity of this font so I want to replace it.

The problem was partially solved.

Download .apk file from the device (with AirDroid for example)
Remove assets/fonts directory from the archive
Install the application with modified .apk file

I suspect that this bug appears again with every application update, so this fix has to be repeated after every update

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Batty drain issue on CM10.2.1-yuga / Sony Xperia Z - NFC Service using over 50%
I've recently put CyanogenMod CM10.2.1-yuga on my Xperia Z and I've noticed the NFC server is using an insane amount of the battery.

Even after disabling the service in the App section, the service is still running and continues to drain battery:

And the NFC section of my settings is greyed out

Any idea of what's going on or how to diagnose this further?

Try Calibrating your battery or try freezing nfc.apk and tag.apk. Did you post this in Cyanogenmod forum?

You can try the following:
1.Try Calibrating your battery ( few says it is necessary to calibrate your phone after rom installation)

Charge phone to 100%
Boot in to recovery
Wipe battery stats
Reboot and drain the battery completely ( by playing or media or
normal usage)
After complete drain recharge the phone again to 100%

2.Try freezing or renaming or removing nfc.apk and tag.apk (Instead of removing the apk just try renaming them like nfc.apk.bak)

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


text:
After - Turn on USB storage.... External Card is not accessible
When I turn on USB. Internal memory is accessible but having issues with external card.
Even after turn off. No app is working, installed on External memory.
Rebooting device will make everything normal again.
Please Help.

please post device info

The problem is happening that when you connect your phone to your computer via USB it attaches (mounts) the card to your computer and while that is happening the card is not accessible for android system. This breaks all the applications which are moved to SD card.
This might be device specific to change (if possible at all), so please post your device info.


text:
Problems with Huawei Phone
I have a Huawei Android phone with 512 MB ram and a 1.2 GHz quadcore processor with 4GB internal memory with JellyBean on it. For the past few days no game is running on it. I have tried Riptide GP2, Dead Trigger, World at Arms but to no avail. They install but when I open them they load 20-30% and then it comes back to the menu screen with a wheel rotating.
I thought it was a problem with my ram but I researched that RAM frees itself to run apps. I have 30-40 MB free ram so please tell me what to do as I am really annoyed. I know it has good hardware as its antutu benchmark score is around 14000.
I do not want to root my phone.
I've uninstalled many apps just to make the games work, but it didn't work. I would like to play these games.

Can you tell which exact phone you use? The model name?

30-40MB of free ram is hardly enough to run a game.

i have huawei g520-5000 phone.
|

@edvinas.me i also think that it is enough to run a game.so what should i do to make it enough to play a game.and also ho wmuch is required to run a game like dead trigger.and will i be able to play it?isn,t 512 mb RAM enough?

@iknowitsme Your best bet would be contacting the developers of these games and asking what the minimum hardware requirements are. For example, according to the Riptide GP2's Play Store description, support will refund your purchase if they can't help you with getting the game to run: "We GUARANTEE if we can't fix your problem we'll give you a refund."

and also if anyone can tell me what to do in order to free more ram?

Android already manages RAM on its own fairly well by closing other background apps automatically if more memory is needed. Not much else you can do really.

As others have mentioned in the comments, 512 MB RAM with 30-40 MB free might be insufficient for running newer, resource-hungry games.  Your version of Android (4.1, according to Huawei g520-5000's specifications) already handles memory quite efficiently by terminating background apps when more RAM is required for games and such.
Your best bet would be contacting the game developers over e-mail and asking for help.  Many will provide some support, just be prepared to know how to extract and send over the phone's logs.  Some, such as Vector Unit (developer of Riptide GP2) even go as far as issue a refund if they can't help you with the problem:
Quote from Riptide GP2's Play Store description:

• • CUSTOMER SUPPORT • •
  If you encounter a problem running the game,
  please email the device you're using, Android OS version, and a
  detailed description of your problem to support@vectorunit.com.
  We GUARANTEE if we can't fix your problem we'll give you a refund. But we
  can't help you if you just leave your problem in a review.
  For fastest support on most common issues please visit: www.vectorunit.com/support

hey!these games actually ran on my phone.i checked the free ram and it was round 130-180 mb.i do not how this amount of my ram was free.i guessed that i had some ram issues and i was true.so if you all can suggest some ways of regularly keeping my ram this much free.

The fact is, that your phone is really outdated. In other words, too old to run these games. Even in previous days, the SoC on your phone, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, is a low-end processor, as well as the 512MB RAM being a fairly small amount. I suggest that you should give up attempting to run those games, because even if they launch properly, they would run extremely laggy and will likely end up being irresponsive due to insufficient system resources.


text:
How am I getting anonymous ratings on my app?
I thought that with the integration of Google+ into everything, all ratings were no longer anonymous.
That must not be the case, though.  While some of my app's ratings have a review and username linked to it, I also have unaccounted-for ratings with no review and username - they're just anonymous ratings.
How is this possible?

This skirts close to our "developer concern" off-topic reason, but I think it's okay to stay. I think it's as simple as: not everyone uses Google+, it's not available everywhere, and older devices are probably using older versions of the Play Store.

@AlE. But one can no longer rate an app without signing up for G+ first. I tried, and I failed. (and I won't sign up to that data monster). So the only points might be a) no enforcement on older Play-Store versions (huh? wouldn't they get updated automatically? Or only on "newer" Android versions?) or b) countries where G+ is not available (whom to shoot for bringing it to mine?).

Isn't there an API for app ratings too? Maybe that's it. This is probably something only Google can answer.

An older Google Play version seems like the most likely option. I'm trying to recreate it myself but it doesn't seem possible on my devices or my desktop browser.

Older Google Play, or someone who rated already as a 'Google User', if they update the review it stays as 'a google user'.


text:
Can I enable OK Google in my Nexus 5 even when phone is locked?
I actually like OK Google, and would like to have it available even when the phone is locked / screen is off. Anyway to do that?
Thanks! :)

For this to work, your Nexus 5 will need the "always listening" mode.  It's not supported on this handset officially, but there are community developers working on enabling this feature.  As of this writing, the development is still in a (semi-)working proof of concept stage.


text:
Spotify automatic "offline mode" when no Wifi connection
Is it possible to automatically switch my Android Spotify app to "offline mode" when not connected to Wifi?
I've just had 1.5GB of data downloaded via Mobile data connection which has over maxed out my limit!
I'm not sure why this has happened (I can only assume it's re-downloaded some playlists?), but I would like to prevent this from happening again.

Check on settings that download is available only over wi-fi.

No need to do that, if your device runs at least Android 4.0:

From your homescreen, go to Settings → Data Usage
tick the checkbox to enable data limit
in the graph, move the bars to some level suiting you (can be imaginary high, to not toggle your mobile data off altogether when reached)
scroll down until you find the Spotify app, tap its entry to open details
scroll to the end of that screen, tick the checkbox to "limit background data"

Done. Now, unless Spotify is running in foreground, it should no longer automatically use mobile data.
This setting has no effect to WiFi, so it would perfectly fit your needs: while on WiFi, Spotify feels no restriction. As soon as you switch to mobile data, the app is no longer allowed to automatically transfer anything in background – but should still permit actions you trigger when the app is in foreground.

Go to Settings and untick "Download over 2G/3G".
This way Spotify won't download/update playlists when WiFi connection is not available.
It can however still stream music, so to disable that just tick the "Offline mode" option.
If you leave it ticked it won't stream music anymore and you will be only able to listen to previously downloaded playlists. Also, you settings will be preserved and the next time you start Spotify it will still be in Offline mode, preventing unwanted Mobile data traffic.

On my app, this today reads 'Download using cellular' and defaults to Off - glad to see before heading out of my apartment!

It is not possible to programmatically toggle offline mode (ie, by creating an Intent or with Tasker or something). However you can limit streaming quality over mobile networks, same with downloading of offline playlists.
Spotify is aware of some users having problems with high data usage, and some of the recent 1.x releases have contained fixes for these types of problems. So always make sure that you have the latest version of the Spotify app installed!


text:
Where in the Nexus 4 is the wire wireless charging coil?
I've just received a "smartfox qi" wireless charger as a gift, but it won't charge my Nexus 4 despite its indicator light turning on, and the Nexus 4 says "charging wireless". Still, it doesn't charge, the battery graph shows a power depletion just as if it were just lying on a desk.
It's running stock 4.2.2 without a case.
The charger has the exact same dimensions as the Nexus 4, so I just placed it exactly on top. I'm thinking that the wireless coils didn't match up well enough. So my question is:
Where in the Nexus 4 are those charging coils? How do I have to place it to ensure maximum-efficiency charging?
Bonus questions:

Wireless charging heats up the Nexus 4 a lot. Is this really healthy? Won't it significantly reduce the lifetime of the (non-replaceable!) Nexus 4 battery?
What specific product would be a good recommendation, specifically for the Nexus 4?

Is it a stock N4 (rooted? custom ROM?) Do you use a case, or is it "naked" when you place it on the charging pad? Do you have the charging pad's manufacturer and model number?

Added above: It's running stock 4.2.2 without a case, and Amazon link to exact charger model.

That charger is listed as putting out only 500mA. That is kind of low, seeing how a USB port usually outputs 600mA. Are you actively using the phone while it's on the pad (i.e. screen is on, playing music, etc.?) If so, it's possible that the pad doesn't provide enough "juice". Personally, I would't use any chargers under 1A (example ).

Of course, there's always the possibility that the charging pad is simply defective.

I personally had that charger previously.  It's a piece of junk.  Slow charging and it wouldn't function through any kind of case, even a thin plastic thing.

Thank you @Chahk, it seems it's just a poor product. I'm not using the device while charging. I agree 500mA isn't much.

The charging coil is embedded into the back panel of the phone and is located directly over the battery, as shown in steps 7 and 8 of IFixIt's teardown.
The battery isn't quite non-replaceable, as the above mentioned teardown shows.  It's somewhat involved to replace it (you'll need a Torx screwdriver, a Philips screwdriver, a plastic opening tool, and some patience), but it's perfectly doable.
If you're wanting something that will work for sure, the official wireless charger would probably be your best bet.  However, it's not exactly cheap at $50.  I personally use this charger with my Galaxy S3, which I added a wireless receiver to.  I find it works well and charges right through my lifeproof case.


text:
Python 3 on Android using TerminalIDE
I want to code Python 3 on my Android device. So I went through Lanky Cyril's blog post on using the Terminal IDE to put all that I needed to do code on an Android terminal. For Python 2.X that is installed on the blog, it works like a charm.
So I installed Python 3 using the same instructions. This is what I get when I try to start Python 3:
terminal++:~$ ~/python3
Fatal Python error: Py_Initialize: unable to load the file system codec
LookupError: no codec search functions registered: can't find encoding
Segmentation fault

I made sure:
export PYTHONHOME=/data/data/com.googlecode.python3forandroid/files/python3
export PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONHOME}/lib/python3.2/lib-dynload

I also checked on why python 3 is not loading  on StackOverflow.
So the problem could be the python build. Has anyone worked around this?

I worked out the solution by going to the Python-for-Android (Py4A) home and found the script that allows Python3 to run as a "Stand alone" on Android.
There are 3 ways to do this:

I created the "standalone.sh" script, saved it at "HOME"(export HOME=/data/data/com.spartacusrex.spartacuside/files),
changed its mode to executable, called it and python appeared.
I opened the ~/.bashrc and pasted copied in the code:

 export EXTERNAL_STORAGE=/mnt/sdcard/com.googlecode.python3forandroid
 export PY34A=/data/data/com.googlecode.python3forandroid/files/python3
 export PY4A_EXTRAS=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras
 PYTHONPATH=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras/python3
 PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONPATH}:$PY34A/lib/python3.2/lib-dynload
 export PYTHONPATH
 export TEMP=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras/python3/tmp
 export PYTHON_EGG_CACHE=$TEMP
 export PYTHONHOME=$PY34A
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PY34A/lib
 $PYTHONHOME/bin/python3 "$@"

Note that this means every time you launch Terminal IDE, you will automatically load Python and find yourself at the Python prompt.

To launch Python the normal way, like shown by Lanky Cyril, paste the following code in the .bashrc:

export EXTERNAL_STORAGE=/mnt/sdcard/com.googlecode.python3forandroid
export PY34A=/data/data/com.googlecode.python3forandroid/files/python3
export PY4A_EXTRAS=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras
PYTHONPATH=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras/python3
PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONPATH}:$PY34A/lib/python3.2/lib-dynload
export PYTHONPATH
export TEMP=$EXTERNAL_STORAGE/extras/python3/tmp
export PYTHON_EGG_CACHE=$TEMP
export PYTHONHOME=$PY34A
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PY34A/lib

You will notice that the last line in the second solution has been taken out and put in an executable file "~/python". Here is the code:
  #!/system/bin/sh
  /data/data/com.googlecode.python3forandroid/files/python3/bin/python3 "$@"

I used the second one so that when I launch Terminal IDE, I get my Python prompt instantly. I installed the third solution so that, should I leave the Python prompt, I have a way to get back in the same terminal session.


text:
How can I replace my Nexus 5's broken screen?
So I have the Nexus 5 and unfortunately I drop it and my screen shatter, does anyone knows where or of there's a place where I can send it to get it replace... Also how easy it is to replace? I would like to try to do it myself if it is possible.

First, try to contact Google and/or LG.  If they determine that warranty doesn't cover this, their own repair service might not be as expensive, compared to buying the parts and swapping the screen on your own.
If you are not comfortable with taking apart and putting back together small electronics, I would advise against doing it yourself, as you may end up accidentally damaging the replacement parts, thus wasting your money. See if there are any local electronics repair shops that can do it for you instead. They may cost slightly more, but at least they will have more experience with phones.
If you do decide to go the Do-It-Yourself route, there are many guides and walk-through videos available with a simple Google search.  The parts themselves are also easily found using Google.  Keep in mind that depending on the damage, you may need to buy the LCD with digitizer combination, as opposed to only the glass panel.


text:
How to enable device administrator for specific apps using Tasker?
I would like to make a profile in Tasker to enable device administrator privilegies to "Android Device Manager" when a text message is received. This way I could keep Device Manager disabled, while I can re-enable it remotely (by a text message for example) in case I lost my phone.
Is there any way to do that using Tasker?

Not sure why would you want to do that but you're gonna need root access for sure if you want to enable Android Device Manager as Device administrator in background.
I tried combinations of intent broadcasts to avoid device reboot but with no success, so note that my method requires a reboot.
All the enabled Device administrators are noted in the file /data/system/device_policies.xml. Simply add or remove an app's entries from it, reboot the device and that app would get enabled/disabled as Device administrator.
Any app which shows up under Settings → Security → Device administrator has a receiver meant specifically to meet the requirements of using the Device Administration API and requires the permission BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN. You can check the receiver's name in the Manifest of the app. It is this receiver which is mentioned in the device_policies.xml file.
The simplest way to get the app's device admin receiver's name and the flag is to enable the app as Device administrator, look for the app's entries under device_policies.xml file and then revoke the Device administrator privilege .
For Android Device Manager (ADM; managed by Google Play Services), the entries are:
<admin name="com.google.android.gms/com.google.android.gms.mdm.receivers.MdmDeviceAdminReceiver">
<policies flags="28" />
</admin>

Now, let's make a task to add those entries in the said XML file whenever needed.
Note: First, Busybox is required for the task, but you can do away its need and use Tasker's inbuilt functionality for sorting if you look closely at the action I proposed to enable ADM. Second, my solution is tested on Android 5.0.2 and 5.1.1 but it should work on other Android releases as well with little tinkering.

Create a task named "Enable ADM".
Create the following actions in that task:

Code → Run Shell,

Command:
if [ "$(grep -o '</policies>' /data/system/device_policies.xml)" != "</policies>" ]; then sed -i 's/<policies setup-complete="true" \/>/<policies setup-complete="true" \/>\n<admin name="com.google.android.gms\/com.google.android.gms.mdm.receivers.MdmDeviceAdminReceiver">\n<policies flags="28" \/>\n<\/admin>\n<\/policies>/g' /data/system/device_policies.xml; fi; if [ "$(grep -o 'com.google.android.gms/' /data/system/device_policies.xml)" != "com.google.android.gms/" ]; then sed -i 's/<\/policies>/<admin name="com.google.android.gms\/com.google.android.gms.mdm.receivers.MdmDeviceAdminReceiver">\n<policies flags="28" \/>\n<\/admin>\n<\/policies>/g' /data/system/device_policies.xml; fi

The command may look a bit incomprehensible at first, but it's plain and simple in reality . The whole command consists of two simple conditions and actions. The first if condition is checking whether </policies> string is available in the file or not. If any app is enabled as Device administrator then the app's receiver and flag would show up between <policies setup-complete="true"> and </profiles>. If none of the apps is enabled then </policies>  would not show up so we can easily append ADM's entries into the file.
The second if condition is checking whether ADM is already enabled or not. If not, then add the entries to enable it.
Check Use Root

Code → Run Shell,

Command: setprop ctl.restart zygote
This would soft-reboot the device.
Check Use Root

Instead of soft-reboot, you can opt for normal reboot from System → Reboot → Type: Normal

Create an event profile from Event → Phone → Received Text and set,

Type: SMS
Sender: Choose a number or leave it blank
Content: Specify what should be in the text to trigger the task such as "Yo boy!". Alternatively, you can avoid this stage and leave everything pretty much global but use an action or more in a task for more complexity as well as flexibility.

Assign the task to the profile.

That's it. You can test your profile now. It should work flawlessly. If it doesn't, then I'm not at fault! Keep troubleshooting since you know the concept now.

I have yet to see a plugin or 3rd app that will allow you to do this.
It is still possible to have tasker enable device administrator privileges to "Android Device Manager." The issue becomes in the absence of a plugin you'd most likely have to enable Android Device Manager through a series of simulated tap and swipes. Since a security measure this method isn't at all practical as the person could potentially see what going on.
I would honestly suggest investing in Cerberus. It can hide itself and respond to test messages and commands which can be sent from the web. You can find many stories on reddit about how this app has allowed people to recover their phones.


text:
OTG on my Android
I have rooted Karbonn s1 Titanium running 4.1 Jelly Bean.
When I connect OTG with flash drive, it does not detect the flash drive. (The cable is alright, I verified.)
Is there any OTG driver problem or OTG device requires any hardware support that my device is lacking?

From what I looked up, the Karbonn s1 titanium does not support OTG.
According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)#Snapdragon_S4
the Karbonn s1 Titanium, is a MSM8625Q chipset. Which does not support OTG
http://www.qualcomm.com/snapdragon/processors/s4/specs


text:
Google Now launches when headphones are plugged in
I recently got a new LG G2 from T-Mobile and it worked perfectly fine but now When ever I plug in my headphones it randomly opens Google Now. It always says "speak to search" or it turns the music or what ever I am listening to maximum volume. And when my device is locked with my password it just repeats "Please unlock the device". Can someone help me?

Are you using the headphones that came with the phone? If not that could be why.
Even if they're genuine Apple EarPods or Beats - it looks as though the main issue is the middle button in the headphone is stuck while pressed in.

SO this has to do with the 3.5mm audio port on thje device.
With special headphones (the ones with controls on the wire) this feature gives you the ability to voice search without taking out the device. but for you (and me) it just bugs out.
basically the male headphone port is brushing up against the designated special area on the female port (top kek) and giving it the signal to do whatever (google now, modify volume, ect)
You cant fix it as of now, but if the device is in sleep mode or whatever google now wont open, and powerAmp has an option to disable volume modification.
and thats about it.

I don't understand how every one is saying this is a headphone jack issue. I've more than 50 apps installed on my phone, some of them with microphone permission too, yet none of them opens when headphone is connected. The problem exists only with Google Assistant/Now app.

I used Titanium Backup to freeze the Google app responsible for Google voice search (I don't use it). Now everything is back to normal again, like I expect it too.

Please take the [tour] of this site. This is not a forum or any discussion platform which means no ranting is allowed. If you have any problem with Android or Google, contact AOSP or Google team. For the time being I've removed fluff and left only the crux.

Go to Settings->Installed Apps. Find Google Now app or Google app (whichever one is annoying you). Either disable the app or deny the microphone permission. Thats it.

authors: วุธธา นะคร้ะ


text:
Do keyboard autocomplete suggestions get transferred?
I used to have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and was using AT&T as my network provider. I lost my Nexus phone and bought and a new Samsung Nexus Mini.
When I installed Facebook and WhatsApp on my new phone, I can see all my keyboard suggestions, though the chat history from WhatsApp was deleted.
How did my phone remember (and transfer) all my keyboard autocomplete suggestions?

There's no such phone as a "Samsung Nexus Mini", but there are several with names of the form "Samsung something Mini". Please check what model of phone you have and [edit] your question to update it.

Are/were you using the default keyboard app, or did you install another such as SwiftKey? Word completions are provided by the keyboard app, not the app you're typing into.


text:
Galaxy S4 and Motorola CS3070, got paired but NOT connected
I am trying to connect my Samsung Galaxy S4 to a Bluetooth scanner Motorola CS3070 unsuccessfully.
Anybody aware of any compatibility issues or fixes?

According to the GS4's specifications, it supports the following Bluetooth profiles only:

PBAP - Phone Book Access Profile
A2DP - Advanced Audio Distribution Profile
AVRCP - Audio/Video Remote Control Profile
HFP - Hands-Free Profile
HSP - Headset Profile
OPP - Object Push Profile
SAP - SIM Access Profile
HID - Human Interface Device Profile
PAN - Personal Area Networking Profile
MAP - Message Access Profile

Your Motorola CS3070 scanner supports the following BT profiles:

HID - keyboard wedge
SPP - Serial Port Profile

I believe the absence of SPP profile support on GS4 could be the reason you cannot properly connect the two devices without additional software.
According to this video, software called "BluePiano" can be used with this scanner model.  In the comments they specifically mention the SPP profile, and that there should be instructions in the scanner's manual on getting it to work with some handsets.


text:
Does Adobe Reader on Android support search-by-whole-word?
I have an Acer Iconia Tab.
I would like to search some PDFs (RPG reference documents) for "whole words", as normal search doesn't properly find short words.
Is it possible with the Adobe Reader on Android? If so, how?
(Note: I just updated it a few days ago, and I can't seem to find any such option.)

Adobe Reader does not seem to have that feature.
Why not try ezPDF Reader? It supports whole word searches.

Thanks that was an excellent recommendation. ezPDF seems faster than Adobe Reader too.


text:
Upgrading Moto G to KitKat broke USB OTG
After upgrading the Moto G to KitKat, USB OTG no longer works. How can I fix this?

Nexus Media Importer can restore USB OTG support. Source.


text:
Apple Earpod one-click/Double-Click not working on Sony Xperia Z1, Android 4.4.2 Kitkat
I have Sony Xperia Z1 loaded with Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. My Apple earpods were working fine on Android Jelly Bean ie one-click will pause/play & double-click will play next song (Volume controls don't work on Android), but after upgrade to Android 4.4.2 Kitkat the one-click doesn't pause/play & double-click doesn't play next song. Please help me out. I don't want to miss the awesome sound from my apple earpods.

Try this:
hold the volume down button in earpod while inserting


text:
Software recognizing phone numbers in documents?
On an iphone I've seen a docx file with some phone numbers in it which you could call by just touching them. Is there any android software doing this?
There is a question here which seemingly implies that apple holds a patent on this feature, but I am still asking in case they allowed somebody to use it with android...
P.S. Answers to another question mention some apps which enable you to call a number from a text file once you have copied it; I would prefer to avoid that extra action...

Have you tried Google's Quickoffice? It detects numbers (and underlining them), and lets you click the number to open the dialer with that number.

Wow, perfect! Thank you very much! I tried several apps with no avail, how come I did not look at this from the very beginning?!

authors: მამუკა ჯიბლაძე


text:
using a theme .zip file for my home screen
I was looking for customize my homescreen and found  this screen attractive.
I have already downloaded the zip file given there, but don't know how to use them.
Please help.

You need to install the software the page links to in the top right: Nova Launcher and Ultimate Custom Widget. The files in the zip include a wallpaper (which you set through the launcher's settings), a theme for Nova Launcher, and settings to use with the widget. Once you've installed the right software and played with its settings, it should become obvious how you need to use the files.

Nova lanucher is a marvelous homescreen replacement, and I recommend it myself. UCCW Widget needs to be installed from the Play Store and also the theme/zip you have there. Place a widget on a homescreen, select UCCW and the size you want e.g. 4x4 or 4x2, then in UCCW itself select the widget you want... that is the zip you have downloaded. UCCW does nothing by itself it uses the extensions/themes/zips that people create for it. The play store has LOADS. Also in Nova/Apex/Quick launcher you can download icon sets too to further skin your device.


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How Do I carry out an Upgrade?
I want to upgrade from Android 4.1 to 4.3 on my Sony Xperia SP smartphone.
Please, how do I go about it to have a successful outcome without losing what I have already on the phone?

There are a number of ways to upgrade your android device.  If your carrier has provided you with an update, you can go under Settings>About Phone>Software Updates.  This will see if there is an update available.  You can then choose to download the update and it will upgrade your device.  I have not heard anything about updates from carriers wiping data.
Method 2 is the unofficial but also beneficial method.  If you are rooted and have an unlocked bootloader you can download stock android 4.3 (or custom ROMs also running on 4.3) and 'flash' the software to your device.  You will need to back up your data before doing this as most ROM developers recommend doing a factory reset when installing.  You can use a number of apps to back up data, but my personal favorite is Titanium Backup.  If you choose to 'flash' a custom ROM, make sure you make a nandroid backup from your recovery before flashing!*

Yep that about covers it. It is worth noting that 99.9% of the time the OTA (over the air) official update will not wipe any data, but the odd glitch can happen. Further, certain devices (including SONY XPeria) have issues after updates that necissitate a factory reset to undo. There are NO guarantees, but every device I own  has updated fine the official way (Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, etc..). I use ROMs myself for the most part and Titanium Backup is a fantastic tool and the paid version restores all my apps and data in about 3 minutes!


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Is it possible to use another system language than the one defined by country
I'd like to use my phone (CM 11, rooted) in English. The only problem I have is that this means that the contacts app doesn't sort names that begins with Å, Ä or Ö in their own separate section, they're shown within the A and O section. I thought that for example setting  locale to en_FI with MoreLocale 2 would solve the problem, but it doesn't. For example, Åsa is still shown between Arne and Atte.
Google hasn't helped, neither did I find answers here. Is it possible to set the language and locale to different values? sounded right but didn't solve my problem.

I have yet to manage this. I have mine set to "English Ireland" but it still has major issues sorting a name like Áine and then to make it worse, each appliction seems to have its own internal method for doing this. Áine is first on my contact list, but last on Facebook for example.

Go to system setting and language & input.
(I also have CM11 but in BAM rom which includes many other roms)

And then what? This is what I have done, but there is no separation between language and country preferences.

Yes it is possible to do that, but you need to write your own logic to sort the names.
Considering plain standard English, the sorting is done using ASCII/Unicode values, and a-z and A-Z come in a sequence, where as the other alphabets like Å, Ä or Ö come later.
So when you use apps that are not specifically targetted for anything other than standard english, you have the problem you are having right now.

This is not true. The applications can sort the names correctly if I choose Finnish or Swedish as system language. If Unicode is used then it would be sorted correctly even with English as UI language


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Applications restore or install from external sd card
I have Samsung Galaxy Duos Trans-S 7562. It had an problem with Wifi, so I sent the phone in for repairs. Before handing the phone over to store, I backed up the applications on the external Sd card.
Now applications can not be restored or installed. Only contacts are backed-up. The error message I get is Applications not downloaded from Google Play store can not be installed.
I used "Super backup-Contact And SMS" application for backing everything up.

Have you enabled Settings > Security > Allow Unknown Sources? That needs to be enabled to install non google play applications.

Yes,now it is working efficiently

Great, I'll add a full answer, it might help others!

Sure,I will pray from god to please you with some cookies today,you save me from dad's wrath

Cookies sound good :) Glad I helped, and you won't get in trouble. I have been there myself many times before and it is a horrible feeling! I'm off to buy cookies!

This is due to the fact that by default non google-play applications are blocked by default in Android, as a security measure.
To allow these to be installed go to (this may vary in wording across Android Versions)
Settings > Security > Unknown Sources this allows things to be installed that are not form the known (Google Play Store) source.
You can, in later versions, set only the inital install to process or allow any further ones to install.
In android it is similar to this (slight variety in different versions)
http://www.fannsoftware.com/img/UnknownSrc.png
On the Kindle it is slightly different:

(source: bestvpn.com)

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Multiple phone numbers of the same type & Exchange
My company's directory uses the "Business" field to list the internal extension, and the "Business 2" field to list the fully qualified phone number. Obviously my cell phone cannot call the internal extension.
"Business" shows up in my phone as "Work", and "Mobile" shows up too, but "Business 2" does not seem to appear. Now, my phone is pretty new to me so it could be I'm not navigating People correctly.
Has anyone dealt with this before?
Moto G, KitKat. I think I am sync'ing against Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2010.

Whilst the custom fields are synched to the device, the inbuilt contact managers can unfortunately not view, or edit them. I experienced a similar problem on my HTC One.

Well that is incredibly disappointing. Can People be updated as a module, if for example I was able to add support? Or is modifying/improving the core software prohibitively difficult.


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Will wiping data from recovery while flashing ROM on device with non-sd-slot also wipe user data?
I have a noob question. I'm planning to buy an android phone which doesn't include sdcard slot. Only internal memory. I am now using HTC Desire S which include sdcard slot. I change ROM on my phone so often. What I'm worried about is, will formatting data before flashing ROM going to remove all data in internal memory as the one I'm planning to buy rely only on internal memory. Or does HTC make some partition for something like virtual sdcard space that is stay untouched even wiping data from recovery?

This site works best when there is only one question to be answered.  I suggest moving the second part into its own question.

It depends on how the particular recovery you will choose to install handles user data.
Most recent versions of commonly used recovery images (e.g. TWRP and ClockworkMod) recognize the need to keep certain portions of internal memory on devices without removable storage. On such devices the /sdcard mount point is still present, but is pointing to /data/media partition instead. When doing a regular factory reset, this /data/media partition is left untouched. If you really wish to clear that area as well, in ClockworkMod recovery, for example, you would need to navigate to mounts and storage and use the format /data and /data/media(/sdcard) option.

Year later update: at least for version 6.0.5.1 of ClockworkMod doing a "factory reset" claims it is formatting /data, /cache, /sd-ext and /sdcard/.android_secure. However my /sdcard folder (/data/media/) is still in place with all my files.

Terminology is important in this case...
Formatting /data will wipe out your internal /sdcard/ mount.
wiping /data, on the other hand, will usually not erase your sdcard.
Usually you don't need to actually format /data/, and wiping (usually called a "Factory Reset") will suffice.
Technical explaination:
/sdcard/ lives in /data/media. When doing a factory reset, the recovery will delete everything in /data/ except for /data/media/. In fact, when factory resetting, my recovery will tell me "wiping /data, skipping /data/media". However, when formatting, you cannot be selective like that. Formatting will wipe out everything on a mount point.


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Change Phone name on Nexus 4
When I look into the logs of my router, I have trouble identifying my own phone.
How can I change the name of my phone, on my nexus 4 running latest Android OS, without rooting it? Is it even possible?

Do the solutions in How do I change the name of my Android device? work?

I forgot to mention I dont want to root it.

Why don't you identify with your phone MAC Address?

It is still not readable

Developer options > Device Hostname should get you where you need to go.
You may need to mash "build number" in "About phone" a few times to make the Developer Options appear in your settings app...
EDIT: Apparently that's for CyanogenMod only. Without that option, you'll need root...

I didnt find the option "Device Hostname". Im running 4.4

Do you have developer options enabled?

Yes, I do have them on

Huh, evidently that's a CM thing.


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what is the .config_p56 file in sdcard? And do you have this file too?
(sdcard is a symlink to storage/sdcard0)
because it starts with a dot it is hidden.To see it have viewing of hidden files enabled.It contents are empty and its properties say it takes 0bits space.Maybe my phone is compromised with malware?
Please tell me if you have this file too.

please note that storage/sdcard1 is my removable sdcard and that the only google result about this file revealed that the file on the persons phone contained a long string of random characters, possbily encrypted


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Does adb root command survive reboots?
I am little confused by the behavior of my device recently. I tried to push a file into my unrooted device and it did throw "Permission denied on me". i did adb root and then tried to push the file and it seemed to be working fine.
Now, when I rebooted the device, I thought that until and unless I do adb root again, I will be seeing permission denied error. But somehow, but my push command was successful this time.

Does it mean that root command survives the reboots?
If yes, how can I take it back to the state when it was not allowing me to push the files.

I am doing this becuase I am trying to understand the behavior of a device without root access when I automate some commands and unpredictable behavior of my device actually has confused me at this point.

To which location in the device you tried to push ?

/data/data/com.android.gallery3d/shared_prefs/com.android.gallery3d_preferences_camera.xml

No, ADB root does not survive reboots (thankfully, that would be a nice security hole...)
In your case, I'd guess that the permissions on that file got changed, allowing you to push it the second time.


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Why is checking Android filesystem possibly harmful?
I just had an idea to do a filesystem check of all Android partitions when I noticed there is an option to do that for /data /system /cache in STweaks app (which comes also with Dorimanx Kernel) but it warns:
!WARNING! This is a VERY DANGEROUS OPTION![...]
So why is it so dangerous?

It's even riskier than cybersam says. You shouldn't check/repair a mounted filesystem (i.e. when it is in use), on any operating system, because programs might be using the files while you're checking them and possibly making changes. This could cause the checker to think there are errors where there are really no errors; it might cause unexpected behaviour of any program that happens to read or write files during the check; and any files written during the check might be corrupted or completely lost.
On a PC, you can check a non-essential filesystem by unmounting it before the check, or you can check a system partition by booting from a USB stick or CD so that no filesystems from the hard disk need to be mounted. On Android, the closest equivalent is doing it from the recovery: this way, you can check any filesystem other than the one the recovery is on (assuming the recovery doesn't mount the SD card).

(I noticed that chkdsk always unmounts the usb its checking.)So if I check unmounted partitions from recovery is there anything that could go wrong apart from power issues?

@user42276 The only other possibility is a bug in the recovery. You take that risk whatever software you use.

It might be that this option will try to repair any filesystem issues that it finds. If a repair attempt does not do the right thing, or is prevented from completion (say, the battery dies), you could end up with unusable files; or, if the repair attempt failed in the system partition, you could end up with a dead device (but you might be able to recover with a factory reset).

why would the attempt fail? (apart from power issues)


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Why the file path the phone tells me, I couldn't find in `adb shell`?
I used my new Moto X phone, then I encountered a basic problem. It's running Android 4.4.2. I take a photo and want to send it to my PC. The Gallery app tells me the photo is at /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/, but in adb shell I cannot find it.
shell@ghost:/ $ cd /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/
/system/bin/sh: cd: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera: No such file or directory

I find it at /storage/emulated/legacy/DCIM/Camera/
Question 1: Why is the legacy dir 0 dir?
Then I send it to the phone.
Question 2: Is there a convenient way to use adb pull when I am in adb shell?
exit;
➜  ~  adb pull /storage/emulated/legacy/DCIM/Camera/*.*
zsh: no matches found: /storage/emulated/legacy/DCIM/Camera/*.*
➜  ~  adb pull /storage/emulated/legacy/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20140302_105047591_HDR.jpg
5326 KB/s (2746404 bytes in 0.503s)

Question 3: Why can't I use * in adb pull?

* is being processed by YOUR zsh. There's no /storage/... path on YOUR system, where you're running the adb commands. zsh cannot possibly know that you're trying to talk to an Android device, so it's trying to expand the wildcards using local system paths. Since that path doesn't exist, let alone have files in it, it's properly telling you "no matches".
You probably want
adb pull '/storage/emulated/legacy/DCIM/Camera/*.*'

Note the '-quotes. They prevent zsh from seeing the wilcards AS wildcards - they'll be treated like plain text by the shell, and passed in to adb as literal text.

O,thanks!A nice answer.In this way {adb pull '[path]'},the path is only a string.can I use adb push where I use adb shell? If you want to send a file to pc ,how you do ?

Thank you for the explanation. This answer is helping me here. It seems that it doesn't work. For example adb-ls 'IMG*' gives the same list as adb-ls.

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Making Phone Calls from a Different Device
Let's assume that I know my device will fall in the ocean in 6 months, I'm not allowed to buy insurance, and my contract expires in 18 months. I'm also a terrible swimmer, and Michael Phelps won't get it for me.
I would think that you could reverse engineer the code and make your own phone calls from a different device, even without the sim card. You just need to be able to program it.
I'm mostly curious if this has been done before and if it has a name. Are there any similar tricks/ideas?

My advice would be - take the easier route. Improve your dexterity and hold on to the phone.

I can't help it. I'm clumsy.

Sorry, this is off-topic because it has nothing to do with Android.

If something like that should happen, you can just get your carrier to "port" your phone number to a new SIM card, and use that in the replacement/spare device. This is more or less the same process you use to transfer your number to a different carrier, but a lot simpler in this case. After all, they're the ones in control of what phone number goes with what SIM. Ask the carrier for a replacement SIM and they should be happy to oblige.

I appreciate the answer, though I was really trying to create a scenario in which I was forced to do it myself. I apparently failed :).

I believe that would be illegal. Isn't it akin to SIM cloning? It has various security threats and is illegal to prevent terrorism and loss of personal information or identity.

@AdityaSomani Yeah. There are definitely malicious uses for this information. Makes it hard to learn this area of computer science :/.

@MillieSmith That's why your question should tell us exactly what problem you're trying to solve. It's hard to answer a question when it requires a kind of guessing game about what the questioner is really trying to achieve.


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Android: huge thumbdata4 file in DCIM folder
I have recently noticed a huge (>3.5GB) file in the DCIM/.thumbnails folder. I have tried deleting it, but the next time I open the Camera app it rebuilds the file (and locks up the phone, sometimes displaying a "media scanning in progress" message, in the process.)
The total file size of all the (approximately 2,000) photos displayed in the Gallery is around 500MB. There are in addition around 35,000 images in folders which contain .nomedia files to instruct Android to ignore the media therein. The total file size of these is around 1.5GB. The Gallery app is correctly ignoring these images, but I wonder whether the Camera app is misbehaving and actually processing them.
I think this problem has emerged since the ICS upgrade ... either when the phone (Samsung Galaxy Note) was first updated from Gingerbread or at some later date.
Any ideas, please?

the thumbdata file stores a 10kbyte micro thumbnail for each image (ignoring the .nomedia ones) iirc. If it is getting that huge, samsung may have broken something. see MiniThumbFile.java

Hmm MiniThumbFile stores data offset with the id which is a number that is assigned to all files on your device including nomedia files. If you have a lot of files and your images get a high id they will be positioned very late in the minithumbfile. You can maybe get a smaller file if you try to get lower ids for your real images (maybe renaming the folders of the nomedia images to something with Z or so could work - also reset the media db somewhere under system settings > apps > Media Provider or so)

Thanks for your suggestions, zapl. I don't understand why your suggestion about naming the nomedia folders later in the alphabet would help; do higher id numbers take up more space?
Luckily, I seem to have found a workaround. See my Answer below.

Incidentally, I see there was one vote to "close" this question even before it was answered. I don't understand. Does someone think the question was in some way inappropriate?

The question is not programming related and would IMO fit better on [android.se]. Regarding the larger id thing: I am not 100% sure but the thumbfile uses long pos = id * BYTES_PER_MINTHUMB; as position in the file, so the larger the id is the larger the file has to be. 2000 of those thumbs (with ids 0-1999) should need only about 20mb. The part that confuses me is that you have a minithumb4 file while the official source has just a minithumb version 3.

I didn't know about Android Enthusiasts. I don't think I've ever encountered it in my Googling. Thanks for pointing it out. Sorry for posting in the wrong place.
(My thumbdata4 file hasn't changed its size since it was initially rebuilt after I did the factory reset three days ago, so perhaps my problem has been resolved.)

This is normal and usually not a bug.
Usually.
Before you do anything else, try and figure out whether your phone's storage is using a file system that is not FAT or any of its brethren.
If you are not using FAT or similar, then those files report a maximum size, but actually do not take up any significant amount of space, since they are so called sparse files. That means you can just delete them once and they'll be recreated but be of zero size, despite reporting a maximum size of whatever.
If you are using FAT or similar, or the reported size of those files is causing trouble with other applications, follow the instructions in prepbgg's answer, to reset the thumbnail indexing back to zero, an operation which you may wish to repeat occasionally.

on CyanogenMod9 at least, /mnt/sdcard partition if VFAT, so does not support sparse files - trying to create one will instead create REAL huge file filled with zeroes, not sparse file.

This happens when you load many images at one time through third party applications like whats'app or pixlrxperss. The only known solution till now is replacing the .thumbnail file with a small .thumbnail file of same name. There might be utmost 2 such files you might have to replace everytime.

I know the question is old, but I tried to find a solution here and on those android forums. None seemed to work.
Creating a link to /dev/null on .thumbnails solved the problem and now seems so obvious:

Connect your phone to your computer
Find the huge DCIM/.thumbnails folder and delete it
Create a link to /dev/null as root with the folder's name:
$ sudo ln -s /dev/null .thumbnails

This avoids the folder to get created again. I didn't notice anything going wrong in my device, not even with thumbnails on whatsapp or quickpic.

Unfortunately, on at least CynogenMod 9 (android 4.0.4 based) /mnt/sdcard is of VFAT type, so symlinks are not supported (nor other nice things which would work on ext2/3/4 filesystems - like "chown root .thumbnails; chmod 000 .thumbnails; chattr +i .thumbnails")

By googling I have found references to a bug in ICS that may be causing this problem.
Following advice here I have:

Deleted the thumbdata file (in DCIM/.thumbnails)
In Settings->Applications->All->Gallery: cleared data (only a few MB), (I would also have cleared the cache if there was anything there), then "Force stop"
In Settings->Applications->All->Media Storage: cleared data (only about 30MB), (I would also have cleared the cache if there was anything there), then "Force stop"
Restarted the phone

When I next ran the Camera app it was unresponsive for a long time, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes, presumably while it was re-scanning media files. After waiting for this to complete things now seem to be OK:

Camera, Gallery and QuickPic all seem to work
thumbdata4 seems to have settled at about 500MB (still surprisingly large, but manageable).

I spoke too soon. After sticking at the same size for 4 or 5 days the .thumbdata4 file has now jumped to 1.1GB.

Delete the .thumnails folder and create a file with the same name in it's place, this will prevent the folder from being recreated: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318827&page=3

there is a suggested waz to solve this: copy .thumbnail.. file name, delete it and create folder in dcim/thumbnails/ with the same name as the file had. This prevents gallery from making the file again. But I guess after some time it will create it with different name. I have maybe 2GB of photos in the phone. And about 3-4GB of .thumbnail files.. this is rudiculous

@79E09796 It only works until you take another photo or move photos around on your phone.

In Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) the Gallery application was replaced with Google Photos. You should be able to delete the thumbnails folder as I don't think the Photos application uses it.

The only way is to remove the Gallery app and install another app. QuickPic is a replacement application that that doesn't build any thumbnails and is fast and efficient.
The answer given by Andión also works.
Note that you have to disable features among various apps to prevent stacking up. In X-plore file manager, disable the "Show media files" and it wont generate thumbnails. Lastly add some .nomedia files in the image folder you don't normally reach.

Give your videos and images file names that start with ., like .video.
Then no thumbnails will be created in your DCIM folder.
Another solution is to disable your gallery app for you app list in your settings.

Your first suggestion would hide the image and video files completely as well – which is unlikely to be in the OPs interest. And the second one you couldn't mean seriously (at least not without suggesting an alternative the OP could use to view those media – in which case this answer already has it in a better way).

First, delete .thumbnails folder from DCIM folder
Then in DCIM folder create file with name '.thumbnails'

You are done.
Notes: Create a file, not a folder.  If you don't have file manager, then download ES file manager from Play Store for free.


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The process android.process.acore/com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again
This morning I tried to turn on my motorola xt-532 and right after the boot I get this two errors:

"The process android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."
"The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."

I can't do anything, because as soon as I press "force close" they appear again and again..
Any idea?

Did you install any new apps immediately before thus started happening? I would try resetting the phone to factory settings (this will remove all installed apps and customization, but may bring the phone back to working condition.)

No, I tried to first wipe cache, didnt work, then wipe data/reset and it worked

I'll post that at the answer then.

It sounds like something got corrupted on your phone.  Could be a recently installed app.
I would recommend resetting the phone to factory settings via Recovery console:

Turn off the phone.
Turn the phone on, and as soon as you see the Motorola "M" logo, press and hold the Vol Down button.
Once in Recovery console, navigate to the option to factory reset the phone.

Keep in mind that the factory reset will remove your account, any installed apps and customizations.

Go To Settings and open your app manager, then click on the lower left button to open the menu. Click on "Reset app preferences" and the problem is resolved.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. Please edit your answer to not use all CAPS.


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Can't connect Kyocera Event phone to Intel XDK
I'm trying to connect my Kyocera Event phone to Intel XDK, but I only get the No device connected message in Intel XDK.

I have tried turning on USB debugging under Settings>Developer Options and clicking Build 8 times under Settings>About Phone and installing my phone's device drivers on my computer and restarting my phone and computer after making those changes.

What is the phone model?

The phone model is Kyocera event


text:
Get Windows PC Notifications/Updates on Android Mobile
I need a way to get all the desktop taskbar updates/notifications on my Android device.
Example: Someone pings me on my Office Communicator on PC. I need to see that as a notification on my Android Device.
Not looking for screensharing apps such as Teamviewer where I need to connect and check the screen for updates.
What I'm looking for is the exact opposite of Desktop Notifications.
Is there any way to do this? Third-party apps are acceptable.

Sending phone notifications to desktop work because there is a simple framework for the phones, and all your app as to do is listen for that event and echo the message to the desktop.
The reverse is significantly harder because there is simply no unified notification framework yet. Every app handles notifications differently. I haven't written desktop apps for windows at that depths, but notice how most application icons on the taskbar light up when there's an event? (May not always be a valid notification). Well, my first guess is that you'd have to write a listener for that - assuming you're given that kind of access in the OS in the first place. [ Check out this SO answer ].
Once you have a listener in place, you can know when an app receives a notification. However, unless the app exposes a method to see what the notification is though the taskbar, it is unlikely that you can derive the contents ...

The implementation of what you are asking is too application-specific to work well for most computer applications, thus the usual (and possibly only) solution you will find is use some screensharing app. All applications handle such notifications differently, so it would be too hard to make it work for all applications correctly.


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Error with rotation in Google Now Launcher
I have a Google Nexus 10, 16GB, with Android KitKat, v4.4.2. Yesterday I installed Google Now Launcher and when the launcher is rotated the wallpaper does not fit the screen properly in portrait mode.
Here's the home screen when on landscape:

Click image for larger version
And here's the home screen when on portrait mode:

Click image for larger version
I have tried setting the wallpaper while in portrait, but it still looks the same.
What could be the problem with this?
Thank you in advance.

This is happening due to android trying to keep same aspect ratio of wallpaper when  your device is switching between portrait and landscape modes. What is the size of the wallpaper? For it to fit perfectly, it must be 3966x2560.


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When connecting to PC, App Icons are listed
My boss has a Samsung Galaxy s4 mini and whenever he connects it to his PC via USB to copy pictures he shot, there are also lots of what looks like App-Icons listed in the windows explorer. They return whenever he restarts the phone. Is there something i can do to help him?

Could you be a bit more specific? A screenshot of what you're seeing would help us to see what's going on. Also try to check whether it really is an S4 or something else.

Is he seeing these icons on the phone's screen, or on the PC's screen?

The App-like icons are most probably Thumbnails saved in system for various images. What you can do, is image copy program to only look for image files in specific folders (e.g. DCIM folder on sdcard), as now it seems image program is scanning android phone for all images to copy them.
Other than that, different applications can be creating those thumbnail files and they are here to speedup browsing of image files on your phone. I do not think there is any uniform way of disabling these across android system and applications, thus you should try setting up software which downloads images.


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Wifi scanning for known networks that don't broadcast their SSID
When wifi is enabled, and the phone is not connected to a wifi network, it scans for known networks. I always thought that networks send out their SSID (like StarbucksWifi) and if this SSID is in the list of known networks on the phone, the phone tries to connect.
Recently I found out that the phone actively tries to connect to known networks even if they are not available. Is it possible to block this last behavior?
See another discussion on Information Security about this.

This could be due to ability to have hidden networks, i.e. WiFi networks that don't broadcast their SSID. The phone would never be able to automatically connect to such networks.

Yes I understand. But despite that, can I disable this functionality?

I don't see of a way to do so in stock Android, nor have I seen such functionality in custom ROMs. It should be possible if you change the source code and compile a ROM yourself, unless this scanning is baked into a closed-source driver/kernel module.

I'm surprised by what you are saying, so let me recap.
Yes, most networks send out their SSID (it is called a beacon).  If your wifi is enabled and you haven't disabled scanning then your phone will listen for those beacons and try to match the SSID in the beacon against your phone's list of SSID's.  Depending on your settings it will also use the beacon to determine your current location and possibly even send the beacon's MAC address to google so google can keep its wifi location database up-to-date.
So far this is all passive - it is just listening for beacons.  The phone doesn't need to actively try to connect to networks unless some of the networks don't send out beacons (hidden networks, as mentioned by @Chahk).  But even if you have some hidden networks in your list, I thought that Android did not actively try to scan for those networks (send out probe requests).  Actually, I remember people complaining about this, and 3rd party apps being written to address it, e.g. see "HiddenSSID Enabler" in the play store.
Has this changed?  Can you tell me where you read about this?
If so, the only solution I can think of is to purge hidden networks from your list of known networks.

You're probably right. Recently I read an article in a newspaper about a security expert who had a device that could pick up all devices that were looking for a connection, and it could see the names of networks those devices had connected to. That made me a bit paranoid.

Yes, someone with a wifi sniffer can see the probe requests that your device sends out if it is looking for hidden networks.  On some systems you can go to the advanced configuration of an individual network and tell it to not connect automatically, and then it won't probe for it, but I don't think Android has that, so you need to purge and avoid using hidden networks if you don't others to able to determine that you have connected to that network.


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Is it feasible to install 3000 mAh battery to MMX A89 mobile?
Device : MMX A89
OS : ICS 4.0.4
Battery : 1400 mAh

Is it feasible install 3000 mAh battery to MMX A89 mobile?
As internet is ON on mobile so it's getting drain within 6 to 8 hours and I am not using internet with lot of use. Although battery get drained so quickly.
Any solution?

According to this site, your Micromax A89 Ninja phone has a removable back plate with a replaceable battery.  It should be possible to replace the original 1400 mAh battery with a higher capacity one. However such battery will definitely be thicker in size, so you would most likely need to buy a different back plate to accommodate for the added thickness (see an example for Galaxy S4 here.)
I have not found any online merchant that sells extended batteries for Micromax A89, but you may have better luck with local cell phone dealerships in your part of the world.


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Most apps crashing after Galaxy S4 update to 4.4.2 (with SQLite exceptions)
I just updated my (stock firmware) Galaxy S4 from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2 using Kies and now most apps crash when I start them.
When I look into the stack trace, the reason for all apps is the same: an SQLiteException with the message: "Could not open the database in read/write mode"
Is anybody else getting this, or know a fix?

Have you tried booting into recovery, and clearing the cache and the Dalvik cache?

Yes, it didn't have any effect

Sounds like it could be caused by the userdata partition being mounted read-only, which could be the result of a corrupted filesystem. A factory-reset would fix this if that's the cause.

Well, annoyingly I couldn't figure out how to fix it.
A factory reset did the trick. Thanks Dan Hulme


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Connect my Android phone to a WiFi hotspot from my laptop
I want to connect my rooted HTC Ville to a WiFi hotspot I made with my  laptop, since I don't have WiFi at home. I'm running fedora 20 on my laptop and CM 11 on my HTC One S.
I can see the WEP secured WLAN with my handy but it doesn't connect.
Do you have any ideas why and how to fix it?

Could it be you're talking about an ad-hoc-network? That's not natively supported by Android, sorry (see the link for details).

Stock Android doesn't support ad-hoc WiFi networks.
If you have a rooted device, it's possible to work around this limitation as described here. Basically you can install a custom ROM that has this feature enabled, or manually configure the wpa-supplicant, or if you are feeling adventurous you can compile your own patched copy of wpa-supplicant that fools Android into thinking that ad-hoc networks are regular infrastructure mode access points.

Thank you, I'll try that and hope it helps.
I read that Android can connect to WPA networks but not to WEP ones. After what I read my laptop can only create a WEP hotspot. Is that true?


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Is there a way to completely disable the dialer including emergency calls to make an old phone a "tablet"?
I have a Galaxy Nexus (running 4.2.2 if it matters but I'd presume the rules would apply to most Android OS' in general, it isn't currently rooted but I can root it if necessary) that I've recently replaced with a newer phone.
Now I'd like to give my 5 year old my Gnex as a basic "game/kids app device" that he can mess around with since he was used to playing a few kid games before on it.  I still want WIFI access so airplane mode is out.
However, I'd like to be able to completely remove the PHONE functionality from the phone.  The phone has no service, but can still make Emergency calls and I'm concerned about him possibly doing so before I can explain to 911 that it was an accidental call.
So, is there a way to completely disable:

the phone dialer
the ability to place emergency calls
the contacts/address book

Bottom line:  If you think in Apple terms, I'd like an "iPhone" to become an "IPod Touch", but for my Android.

My question is related. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/35301/can-i-permanently-disable-the-cell-radio-of-my-phone

You can use WiFi in airplane mode: How do you turn off all cellular communication but leave things like bluetooth and wifi enabled?

@eldarerathis - wow good to know.  I've used airplane mode dozens of times and never even bothered to check that you could re-enable wifi and still leave it in airplane mode.  Now to test if airplane mode on the GNex actually disables emergency calling.

@StephenSchrauger - thank you...I searched but must have not found yours.  That helps as well.  Your answer there might be exactly what I'm looking for.  You can feel free to flag this as a dupe of yours if you want.

I'm not sure how to disable emergency dialling, nor am I a parent. However, between two evils, I'd rather deal with a visit from police for a crank call (even with a small fine), than the result of a child who needed police, but had no means. Just my $0.02

@AndrewT - our children are too young to be left alone period, if they were old enough to know how to properly call 911 in an emergency and when not to, this wouldn't be an issue at all.  I would simply say "don't make emergency calls on this unless you need 911 for real".

The reason you can dial 911 / 112 without a SIM-card is that the SIM identifies you as an user of a particular network. The phone can still see the towers with or without the sim. On a normal call, the action is somewhat like "Hi, tower, I'm AT&T user 12345678-123456, may I have my calls routed here, please?", and the tower may or may not answer OK. On emergency call, the action is "Hi tower, give me emergency now!" and the tower complies. The phone does not even pass the number 112 or 911, but a special emergency command, you can dial 911 in a country where the landline emergency number is 11

(continuing Lenne's comment) 2 or vice versa.
You can dial 911/112 from a phone even if it is locked.
On androids, you can add a list of ICE, In Case of Emergency, numbers, like next of kín etc, which can be called without unlocking the phone, useful if you are found unconcious or worse. In this case, you do need a SIM to dial.

This might not be a good answer, but maybe worth mentioning.  If you're not shy about tearing it apart, you can try to physically disconnect the antenna.  You can get teardown instructions for most models from a google search, and usually they give very specific information about each component, so maybe you could just unplug the antenna and then it couldn't make a call if it wanted to.

How about turning on Airplane mode and enabling Wi-fi?

@notengoidea Would that make emergency calls impossible? Does it disable access to contacts, as requested by OP? While it sounds like the obvious easiest approach, it's not safe enough for the purpose: the 5-year-old could just (accidentally) tap the airplane symbol in quick settings, and that's it.

If you root the phone, go into Manage Apps and you can disable the dialer, it will remove it from the home page. Contacts can also be disabled. There are also numerous ways to put the phone in Airplane mode so it's persistent after restart.

Click image for larger version
NOTE: disabling dialer does not disable the emergency dialer, but airplane mode does.

I need emergency dialer disabled as well.  And can't really put it in airplane mode...although if I have zero choice I guess I'll have to.

In airplane mode you can turn Wifi back on.

There is an app called "Cell Radio Shutoff" which I use on my old phones to disable the cellular radio while ensuring WiFi and Bluetooth are still available. That might be worth looking into. I know it doesn't address removing the emergency call button, but it should help with ensuring the radio doesn't turn back on after a reboot.

On rooted devices, you can disable the following packages to disable all telephony features:

Phone
Dialer
TelephonyProvider
Contacts
Contacts Storage
ContactsProvider

Depending on the device manufacturer and OS version, some of these apps might not exist, or be named differently.

which one disables emergency dialing?

Does it have a removable SIM card?  If so, remove the SIM and it won't have any network connectivity except for Wi-Fi.  That's what I've done to turn my old iPhones into iPods for my kids.

Emergency calls should work even without a SIM card.

This won't work.  The phone has no service currently, but can still make Emergency calls...same as your old iPhone can.

I see that is the case, guess I've just been lucky that it's not been accessed.  This definitely isn't the solution you are looking for.

@BenVoigt How can emergency calls work if the phone has no means to access a cell tower?

@landroni: Everything needed to communicate is in the phone: transmit circuitry, receive circuitry, antenna.  The SIM card is just a memory chip, containing authentication information.  The tower accepts emergency calls whether or not authentication has taken place.

@landroni: The surest way to place an emergency call from a cellphone is to use one without a SIM card inserted - without the SIM card, the phone will request access to the strongest signal available, whereas a phone with a SIM card will try to use the SIM card carrier's network first.

@Piskvor: do you have reference or evidence of that? That the phone will try the home carrier's network first when making an emergency calls?

It will try the current connected network first; let me see if I can find some reference...

You have not mention that you are rooted or not?  If you are rooted then use titanium backup app to freeze three apk's
I hope Samsung has smae named apk as for my s2.
SecPhome.Apk
TelephonyProvider.apk
Contacts.apk
After freeze them your calling and emergency call will be block down,  you can use data connection without any problem from here.
If you are not rooted then first pull them using adb for backup and then delete them for make it safe.

+1 If rooted you can also uninstall the dialer and contacts apks completely. While I haven't tried this myself, logic tells me this would not allow anyone to open the dialer application, therefore making it impossible to dial 911. Also, since you're going to be rooted, you can always make your nandroid backup just in case things go south...

There's definitely not an "official" way to disable emergency calls - if my understanding is correct, that would actually be illegal.
Unofficially, I think the closest you can get is disabling the dialer. I haven't tested it, but even if removing the dialer doesn't disable the emergency calls functionality, it might cause any attempt to call to crash...
If you wish to go that route, you must be rooted. You open up your favorite file manager, navigate to /system/app, and rename dialer.apk (or similar, since you're on Nexus flavored AOSP it should be dialer) to something like dialer.apk.bak. Don't delete it - it's always a good idea to have a backup.
EDIT: Contacts would be the same process, removing contacts.apk
EDIT 2: Evidently it might be TelephonyProvider.apk. Pretty sure I've seen dialer too though. Most file explorers will show a phone icon, like below:

Click image for larger version

You can install a parental control app like Kids Place that limits the apps that the kid can launch. If it set as the default launcher the kid will only be able to access the apps that are defined within the app while full access is protected by a password.

You could replace the radio firmware with one from a drastically phone. Having what would essentially be a "broken" firmware for the radio would prevent any cellular communications in or out of the phone. This link is an example of changing a Nexus's radio firmware (baseband) to another GOOD firmware, but the same process would apply to using a baseband that does not match your phone or your phone's cellular radio chip.

@StephenSchrauger It might not be very complete, but it is a suggestion of how to solve the problem.

@StephenSchrauger This certainly does provide an answer to the question. It directly answers both the title question and the author's "Bottom line".


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web browser exits after a few hours
I wanted to use an Android tablet for a browser-based info frame, displaying an autorefreshing page. I installed a program that disables screen timeout / blanking, I set the webpage as the homepage, I just need to click "browser" on startup and...
...and about 2 hours I'm back to desktop. Browser quits all by itself. The webpage code is fairly trivial, little chance for any memory leaks (simply reloading the target URL of an image inside a function launched with setInterval() ) and there is no manual intervention of any kind or any other activity performed by the tablet.
Is there any way either to keep the browser from quitting, or to have it restarted in case it does?
The tablet runs Android 2.3.3 (or thereabouts) and can't be upgraded to anything newer - it's a fairly obscure model with no rooting procedures available and the manufacturer doesn't provide any higher upgrades.

You might have to install the Android development tools on your desktop machine and look at the log output to see why the browser is quitting.

@DanHulme: I have the dev tools, but where's that log located?

Use adb logcat to see it.


text:
How to traverse camera from device via adb to my Ubuntu?
What is the best way to traverse web camera?
E.g. there is great number of web servers for android with video translations. How to get access to its via adb?
Or wi-fi would be a easiest way?

What exactly are you trying to do?

I'm trying to implement web-camera for Ubuntu from my Android device.

It's not possible to use adb for this, but I'm sure you can find an app for your phone to do this.

@spiffymoo, 1-2 days, I will try it. Could you please put a little answer, I will fill it with complete cites of how-to do web-cam from android device, and will accept your answer. Thank you very much.

@spiffymoo, looks like there is no source code.

Connect the smartphone via USB, start the IP camera server app and use adb port forwarding or usb tethering to access the server from PC.
Then you can connect directly to the mjpeg video stream at http://yourphoneip:8080/video.
This script also creates a v4l virtual device if you need it.
I've measured that the streaming latency is a bit higher than a regular USB camera (<500ms vs <100ms).


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Xposed Framework with KitKat ART?
I have an SGS-I8190 with CM11 from http://maclaw.pl/
I explored the Xposed Framework, but it is not compatible with ART. It switches back to the old buggy and lame Dalvik. XDA says, that ART provides a Bootloop in addition to xposes.
Is a workaround to use both, or do I have to live with either one?

As of this moment, it is a known fact (not necessarily an issue) that the Xposed framework DOES NOT WORK with ART.
So, you either:

Stay with Dalvik runtime, and get the advantage of using Xposed; OR
Uninstall Xposed framework, and get the advantage of using ART

After installing Xposed, the runtime gets reset from ART to Dalvik. Can you stop it please?
You can be glad that I implemented this, otherwise you would be in a
  bootloop know. Xposed isn't compatible with ART (yet). It's a
  completely different architecture with pretty much no documentation.
  Rewriting Xposed for the ART runtime requires understanding the
  concept, the code structure and many details to know how it works. I
  have already spent dozens of hours on that and some things are
  working. But still it's a long way ahead. Don't expect even a test
  version in the near future. So please don't ask when it will be
  available - you will surely know when it is ready. I have nothing else
  to say about that.


text:
Google Play Services and Play Store crashing
I have very little internal memory (user memory 150mb), so after the auto update of Play Service and the Play Store, I took a back up (using ES File Explorer). I have root access, so I pasted those back ups in the /system/app folder. After that I restarted my phone, and that's when the problem started. The Play Store opens but can't see a thing, and Play Services crashes every time.
What I have done:

I installed 3 version of the Play Store. No positive result.
Installed the latest version of Play Services. No positive result.
Searched many blogs. They say it might happen as not com.android.gapps, but I can see the service running. However, after installing Play Services, both Play Services and gapps are crashing.

What can I do?

Ouch...
So, I'm unclear on what exactly you meant by "took a backup"...
This sounds like a Google Play Services mismatch - either mismatched with the Android version you're running or different app versions installed.
I'm gonna need more info to troubleshoot it, but just a couple shots in the dark here:
Play Service and Store don't like being messed around with. Just, in general. That's why they're usually installed via a recovery zip file.
If you moved the latest version of Play Store (vending.apk) and Play Services (gms.apk) from userspace to /system/app, that's most likely what caused this.
Hopefully, you backed up the versions in /system/app. The Play apps usually rely on library files (.so files), which are sometimes updated in userspace. You're probably getting a mismatch between those.
If you backed up the previous copies, recovering from this is simple. Just restore the backups. If you didn't, this may be more difficult. What device are you on? Also, what Android version, and are you running stock or a custom ROM? (if you don't know the answer, you're probably on stock)

I m on stock version. Its ICS (4.0.4).

I had did the same for earlier versions of Play Store and Play Services. So I did not store the earlier backups.

Any time I've integrated Play Services updates into my ROM I've had such crashes.  Clearing the data for Play Services, Play Store, and anything else related fixes the issue.


text:
Why no consistent headset control?
I'm a recent convert to Android (I have a Moto X on AT&T) and I'm running into a problem that I never had with my iPhones: the button on my headset sometimes works; sometimes doesn't. It upsets me greatly, especially since I recently purchased a $300 set of Bose headphones (Quietcomfort 20) that are specifically made for Android devices. I've even tried three apps from the Google Play store that purport to make the inline control work—none of them do, however. Why is this happening and, more importantly, how can I fix this?
07/30/2014 EDIT:
So I've been using this Moto X plus QC20 headphones for several months now, using the recommended Klipsch Control app to allow the button on the QC20 to work better. Well, it only seems to work about 50% of the time.
I have yet to figure out what is causing the interference, but some days, the button works perfectly. Other days, it will work, but it may take anywhere from 0 to 15 seconds before a button press is actually registered by the Klipsch Control app. It just seems to be completely random. Still other days, the button doesn't work at all.
It might have something to do with either the time of day and/or when the headphones are plugged in / removed. For example, one morning, it'll work fine. Then I unplug the headphones and go to lunch. Returning from lunch, I plug the headphones back in and the button no longer works. Or the reverse could be true: The button doesn't work before lunch, but works great after.
Because of this odd behavior, I'm sure you can see why I am fearful of unplugging the headphones for the rest of the day once the button on them starts working. I know that if I unplug them and plug them back in later, I only have a 50% chance of the button working.
I hope this makes sense. More importantly, I hope someone can see some sort of pattern that I have yet to see in this behavior to identify the cause(s) of this problem. Any ideas?

Try the Klipsch Control app. It works for any headphones and has a couple features most other apps don't: it'll check for conflicting apps and will allow you to control the just one or most recently used media app with the button. Also check to see if any of your media apps have their own headset settings (especially Player Pro). Finally, Android only supports one-button headset controls. If you have a 3-button, only one will work.

Thank you for the suggestion, P Fitz.  I had already tried three other "remote control" apps without success, so I wasn't looking for any others.  Nevertheless, it seems your Klipsch app is working for now.  I just hope it actually deals with the underlying problem of the controls not always working.  Also, I knew about the one-button limitation, which is why I purchased the QuietComfort 20 set, which is designed for Android (has only one button), and not the QuietComfort 20i set, which has three buttons for Apple devices.

Oh, and even with the Klipsch app, my button stopped working again just now.  But it'll probably start working again in a couple of hours.

What music player app are you using? Many of the full-featured music-player apps have headset control override settings you may need to turn off.

Just using the built-in Google Play Music app.  I don't think I even have any other music apps.

I have a moto  X also and I recently bought the QC20.
Commands with main button did not work (neither did the micro btw) so I installed Klitch Control and still it did not work.
Then, I looked around and changed the audio settings. I turned the audio effects off, and then it started working... (why? don't know) I uninstalled Klitch Control and it's still working. I've even put the audio effects back on and the button still works..
Hope this helps.
EDIT 05/09
Hey guys, it stopped working almost directly. Today I took care of it, and I finally managed to have something working (and free): headset button controllerTrial APP.
It fixed everything : micro OK, switch OK, only thing you can't change is the long press action which is reserved on Android phones for google now..
Enjoy your QC20!

Thanks, @loic. I'll give that a try over the next several days and see if that seems to take care of it, then accept this as the correct answer if it does. :~)

The headset button controller app allows to direct the headset clicks to any other app that supports it. It has some bugs BTW.

If you press the buttons exactly the same way (maybe iPhone buttons send shorter/longer signals than Android ones) and the pins are connected the same way (maybe not), then perhaps your wire is defective. See whether it stops working if you bend or twist the wire a certain way.

Again, I did not purchase the version of the headphones for iPhone. I intentionally purchased the QuietComfort 20 set, which is designed specifically for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows phones.
The only answer, then, is that, as you say, the wire might be defective. I doubt it only because once the button works, it will continue to work, so long as the headphones are plugged in. (It's also been like this since the day I got them.) Beyond that, I just have a gut feeling that it's software-related.


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Google Hangouts - Can not send or receive MMS
About 2 weeks ago, I updated CyanogenMod on my device, and Google Hangouts, and began experiencing this problem. I did an immediate restore from before my update, and there was no change. I can not send or receive any MMS's on my device. When I get an MMS, I am shown a message containing the details of the message, like the time stamp, and the size of the message, along with a prompt to download the message, however it downloads forever.
When trying to send picture messages, via MMS or Hangouts, connected to either 4G LTE, or WiFi, it sends forever, and never goes through.
In Hangouts, I click Menu -> SMS -> APNs, and the list is empty. Clicking Menu -> Reset to Default does absolutely nothing.
Is there anything that I can do to get support back for sending MultiMedia Messages?

Device: LG G2
  Network: Verizon
  Hangouts Version: 2.0.303
  Android ROM: CyanogenMod 11
  Kernel: 3.4.0-CM+
  Android Version: 4.4.2

A family member also has the same device, and also uses hangouts, so I was able to copy the APN information from him.
For any future reference, I got MMS to work again by adding these recods to the Google Hangouts APN List.

Name: LTE - Verizon CBS
  MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
  MMS Proxy: not set
  MMS Port: not set
  MCC: 311
  MNC: 480

And

Name: EHRPD - Verizon CMS
  MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
  MMS Proxy: not set
  MMS Port: not set
  MCC: 311
  MNC: 480


text:
Tablet screen never turns off
I flashed a custom ROM and didn't liked it some reverted to a recovery using TWRP. Now the screen is always on, even after long periods of inactivity. Even if I press the power button it doesn't turn off (or go to sleep or whatever it is called). Any ideas how I can fix this? Obviously if the device is power off the screen is off.

Which ROM?
Check ROM-Settings -> "Active Display" -> then disable or
Settings -> Display -> "Active Display" -> then disable
I think good chances AOSP handles it in either one of these ways.

what is AOSP?...

^^ AndroidOpenSourceProject. The good guys.

I'm running Android 4.2.2 and only see display under settings.

Hmmm, what a pity. What happens when you wipe cache and dalvik and then try to use the device again? It's like telling Android you did an update of the OS. Maybe this helps.


text:
Semi-dead Tablet - Is this a touch screen trouble or just a software glich?
My tablet is HKC P077A with 8GB ROM, 512 RAM and a 7'' Touch screen (Android 4.0.3). I am having 2 problems

When I switch on the tab, first "HKC" logo comes to screen and then disappears to show "android". This is standard. But after that the thing wont move forward. Just keeps on showing "andriod" with a flashing like thing implying the loading process. But after long wait there is no start screen and nothing changes. It just hangs there....
But if somehow got it to get into normal working(I donno how, but It sometimes boots ok and gets into normal working mode, with home screen and apps and everything). So once I get it right the other problem I am having is that the touch is giving VERY bad response. I have to click at spots multiple times to select that thing. Also the response is very slow. Its like the tablet is hanged. But when I tried connecting a mouse (through OTG) and everything works fine again. Is my touchscreen gone bad..??

I am already done with, reset (from "settings> backup and reset") [I cant find how to do factory reset on this model from "off" state(read below)]
I have tried to get into reset screen by pushing "Power Button+Vol up" button. Then I know the tab gets turned on (I can hear a small white noise from the loudspeaker) but nothing comes to screen. So the "Robot with heart open" is never shown.
I also tried using "power button + Volume down", this takes me to a screen written in chinese.
Now, I don't know Chinese but from the look and feel, its a troubleshooting window, where I can check weather components of my tablet are working (eg. I click one menu(with difficulty), then the front cam turns on, another menu makes loud sounds from speaker and another flashes many colors in screen etc). I found that most are ok except something called "T" (On the screen, its the last item to the right, is it "touchscreen"??)
So, what can I do to get my tab to work smooth again..?
Is the touchpad having trouble..? Need I do any specific troubleshooting..??
Any Ideas on which key combinations to get on to the "factory reset" menu from off state..??
Now, I seems I have lost the ability to boot into Android. So I am now stuck on "problem 1(above)"

Sounds like normal behaviour for a cheap Chinese Android tablet...

Anybody please.....Is this time to dumb the thing...??


text:
Android uninstall app before boot completion
A strange one this. I have got myself into a situation where I think that a single apk is causing boot to fail. I have the same situation on a Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 running 4.4.
Running adb install <com.myapp.package> would hang - then the device would reboot - then would get stuck on Android is upgrading...Optimising app 1 of 1.
I can list packages through adb shell at this point - but uninstalling with
pm uninstall <com.myapp.package>
will just hang - presumably as the current process is doing something with that apk already.
If i try to boot into recovery at this point i get a dead android with a "no command" message.
Fastboot is locked on the device and its not rooted.
My only option at this point i think is to unlock fastboot but was wondering if im missing something.
EDIT: I just wiped via fastboot on one device and it works again - dont really want to do this on other device if poss
Thanks!

Start it in safe mode and remove your app.

@323go "If i try to boot into recovery at this point i get a dead android with a "no command" message."

No. Not recovery. Safe mode. Google it.

Ill admit I have never used safe mode! However it seems you can only access it via a long press on the 'power off' button (on a nexus 4) - which requires you to be able to boot in the first place - which is a bit useless for my purposes

Have you tried it? https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/2852139?hl=en - You can also take a powered-off device and hold volume-down after the logo appears to enter safe mode.

No I couldnt as the device wont get through the boot system. +1 for the getting to safe mode through the boot sequence - I didnt see that info anywhere. I went on the link you provided earlier and someone rang me from the link - they said it was not possible (but they are just reading from a script I guess). Now my device has decided it wont even power up but as soon as it changes its mind (it always does in the end) I will try it out. Thanks for the tip :)

Good luck. It's never fun when they break.

Unfortunately the boot into safe mode (which works on my nexus 7) does not work / does not disable the "optimising app..." step :( seems like a reset is inevitable!

Could that thing happen because of some ART (new 4.4 runtime) issue? Did you do any research in that direction? Just curious, I've never encountered this before..

Yeah I thought of that as I did have ART enabled on one of the devices previously (but 95% I disabled it again) - plus the other device definitely didnt use ART. Plus I can recreate on factory reset devices

The application apk will be stored in /data/app/ or system/app/ you can navigate there and rm .apk, then reboot

that requires root - have updated question to state the device is not rooted


text:
Third Part Device: Get 4G on the "Uncarrier" via Root Permissions
I have a third part device. BLU STUDIO 5.5. I think my carrier (T-Mobile, a.k.a "The Uncarrier") said that this phone is originally an AT&T or Sprint phone, I don't remember. Point is, that it's a 4G capable phone. Not LTE, just 4G. I'm only getting Edge on my device right now. I have followed the APN Settings but no cigar, it was already set correctly.
My device is rooted. Is there any way to get 4G on it?

GSM Arena shows two variants (D610a and D610i), Phone Arena only has one. None supports T-Mobile's main 4G frequency bands (AWS), though the D610a might be able to get on their older (slower) PCS bands if they are in-use in your area. The answer is probably "no" either way, though, since T-Mobile has been refarming the PCS for other things, AFAIK.

That's a bummer, I got this phone being excited. Aside from having WiFi in most places anyway, I still wanted there to be 4G. It's a shame. Not even other ROMS can access different types of networks? I'd assume it's hardware-related, right?