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Droid X: What are the pros/cons of upgrading to Gingerbread 2.3?
I have a Droid X running Android 2.2.1 (system version 2.3.340.MB810.Verizon.en.US).  I want to upgrade to Gingerbread 2.3 but so far I've read one positive thread where people were happy with gingerbread and the rest is doom and gloom.
I'm not really interested in doing any kind of rooting or custom ROM stuff I just want to know about the plain vanilla OTA update from Verizon (which my phone is currently asking me about).
So should I upgrade?  Or, to put it another way, what are the pros and cons of upgrading?
EDIT
A good answer would be like a bullet list of 5 or so negatives about Gingerbread and 5 or so positives.  A great answer would be an extensive list of the negatives and positives.  An amazing answer would add to that extensive list some anecdotal experience about the upgrade and whether they wish didn't upgrade or are glad they did and why.
I originally title this question "Droid X: Should I upgrade to Gingerbread 2.3?" but in an effort to be less subjective I've reframed the question.

Can you give any criteria?  E.g. battery life, etc.  This question is pretty open otherwise.

This question is not a good fit for this site. There isn't a specific problem to be solved here. Please review the [FAQ].

I disagree.  Reading the FAQ: "I would like others to explain to me the pros/cons of uprgrading to Gingerbread".  I think it falls under the guidelines of http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective/

@Al Everett: What's the difference between my question, which has been closed, and this question: What are the pros and cons to running cyanogenmod?

The closure was not unilateral. While there were no close votes, it was flagged for being subjective. Normally I would suggest you vote to re-open, but I'll just go ahead and do it. Whether it stays that way is up to the community.

I can only speak from personal experience.  I have updated my Droid X and since then I have had many issues with it.

It seems to be unable to send texts or make calls that require a battery pull to fix.  I have to pull the battery at least once a day.
It will not find the GPS, it is constantly searches for GPS.
Any videos I had played previously through the gallery will freeze if I try to skip.  I got the Mobo player and must use Softdecoding in order to play movies where I can ski .

Some positives

I like the darker look of the OS.
The quick text when you are ignoring a call is very nice
It seemed a little faster

Personally I wish I never upgraded.  I am really close to going back to 2.2, but I do not want to go through all the work involved with downgrading.

Thanks!  Do you do any of that rooting/flashing/ROM stuff or are you just on a plain vanilla phone with updates direct from Verizon?  Regarding GPS, I have that issue with my Droid X even now and I haven't upgraded.  Does the "wireless networks GPS" feature work?

@User - not rooting/flashing/ROM stuff.  I am just a plain vanilla phone with updates from Verizon.

Now, to be fair, I never took the official OTA, I was on the leaked gingerbread back in April (or maybe March, I forget).  I never saw a reason to go to the official build.  And now I'm running CM7, which has it's own set of customisations.
Anyway, the downsides from what I've seen (remember that this was an early build):

It seemed like there was less memory to go around.  I would often listen to a podcast while playing a game on Froyo.  Occasionally, in gingerbread, the audio from the podcast would just stop, and I would notice that Android ran out of RAM, and killed google listen.
I found certain bits of the UI to be a bit ugly, namely that menu items where black, but the background if there wasn't a menu was white.  This was really jarring for apps that used listviews as their main interface, expecting black on black, or at least two matching colors.

And now some good things:

It certainly seemed much faster than froyo.  But to be fair, I jumped from the leaked froyo from back in August, to this version of gingerbread.
The built in launcher seemed like it was almost usable (as opposed to the launcher in Froyo and Eclair).  However, I still put ADW on top of it.
More APIs obviously.  While as a consumer you probably won't use it, developers will.  And while there's not too many gingerbread specific stuff out yet, it's coming.  I especially see Game Devs using it more and more, now that they can make games entirely in C/C++, and don't have to touch Java at all.

I never had any problems with the GPS, calling, or texting, like David Basarab seems to have, but I guess those could be side effects of either an app he had installed, or just that he was on a later build than me.


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Should I root before or after activation?
I purchased an evo on Sprint that I'm going to root.  I'm wondering, should I root the phone before or after activation on Sprint's network?  Does it make any difference?

Do it after, just in case.  Rooting shouldn't affect this process, but you never know.  If it fails to activate you'll need to bring it in presumably, and if they see it's rooted they won't honor your warranty.
Installing a custom ROM can definitely screw this up, though, so I wouldn't do that.  The comments on my answer to this question have some insight into that experience (fortunately he got it fixed).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Erronous Low Data Space Error on Droid Incredible
I've see this question asked a lot, but I haven't seen any real answers.
I'm getting the low application data space error, but I have 440MB/750MB free on my internal storage.
With more than 50% free how can I be low on space?
Is there any solution to this other than deleting things?  It seems that the error goes away at around 460MB free, but it's ridiculous that I would have to maintain that much free space to now be "low".
Any thoughts on what I can do about this?

Have you tried any of the suggestions listed here?

This error is not just for the total storage, it is also for specific "mount points" like /data/data, for example, where the applications on the device store their data. If this mount point becomes low on space, because it is not given access to "all the storage", then you will receive that low space message. You can uninstall apps that you no longer need/use or go in to the Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications and clear the data for apps that are using a lot, or you don't use often.

Thanks for this. Also, Cachemate for Root can clear the cache for some apps with the tap of a button. http://www.appbrain.com/app/cachemate-for-root-users/com.aac.cachemate

yes, but I didn't mention that because it requires root. 99% of users are unrooted. but if you have root, its a great app.

99% are sadly missing out...

Thanks Ryan.  Is there a way I can tell which one it's complaining about?
When I run the mount command there are around 20 or so mount points.  Many of them seem to be for the data of specific apps.

If you have root you can run the command line program "df" to get a list of mount locations, blocks used, blocks available, and used percent.  You may also be able to do this with the SDK tools without root, I am not sure.

Occurred only after Android 2.3.4 update for me. I Tried clearing cache for Facebook, Gmail, Internet - worked, but only temporarily.
The only thing that worked was factory reset. I didn't want to do it, but now phone is running well, even with increased battery life.
All paid apps will be saved. Use Verizon backup to back up your contacts before you reset.

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


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Watch dog and grooveshark
I'm using 3G Watchdog to track my 3g traffic and noticed that it does not monitor my Grooveshark app. Do you know why? Got a Sniffer that works better?

Grooveshark might not be using that much data; it keeps a cache of songs you have listened to recently so it doesn't have to re-download them each time. So if you're listening to the same songs all the time, they will probably only be downloaded once, same with offlined songs. To see if the app really sees what data Grooveshark is pulling, go to Grooveshark->Settings->Clear Song Cache. Then go listen to a playlist or two and see what happens :)
P.S. You can also edit the size of the cache on that menu!
If all else fails, i use Phone Usage, and it tracks Grooveshark pretty successfully:

Thought about it and played songs i never heated watch dog says 336 KB

strange. I know Grooveshark uses lower bit-rate files when possible, but there's no way you can get a song for 336K...

@Chen this graph puts Grooveshark at about 30-50 MB, which i would say is pretty accurate.


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Can Galaxy S use 802.11n for tethering?
I have a Galaxy S (GT-I9000) running Darky's ROM 10.1 (Gingerbread 2.3.3). I just noticed that when I use tethering to create a wireless AP, it uses only 802.11g, not 802.11n even though my netbook supports it. Not that I'd need it for the speed, but better signal for crowded places with lots of access points and all the g-channels used.
EDIT: g-channels, not frequencies

I have read, that even though the GT-i9000 claims to support 802.11n, it does not. I even read that if your router is set to 802.11n "only" mode, the SGS will not connect to the access point. This is why you see the device using 802.11g.
I don't think you can change the channel that is used with the "built in" tether, but some of the 3rd party apps look like they let you change the channel.

Good to know. As a sidenote, my Galaxy Nexus uses 802.11n by default, so the situation is better with newer phones.


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Connect with adb to device via network
I want to do some android theming, but I have a question on what the best way is to set up the system.
I have 2 computers here at home. So i was thinking of having the following setup if that is possible.
One one computer I want to set up the whole android SDK plus eclipse and run a device in an emulator. And on the other I want to set everything up so I can push and pull from the other pc. The pc's are connected via ethernet.
Is this type of setup even possible?

Yes.  On your second PC, set the environment variable ADBHOST to the IP address of the first PC and run the adb server and client.  Related steps (more detailed) are here.
Although you're not connecting to a physical device, it is apparently also possible to do so over the network without using USB.  Instructions for that are here.

+1 Sounds great! I'm going to check out the links, and read in a little bit. Ill except when its all set up. Thanks for helping me so far.

I'm not sure I understand the reason for the 2nd PC.  You can push and pull from/to multiple android devices (emulators and physical handsets/tablets) connected to one machine via adb.
Command "adb devices" will return all of the connected physical devices as well as emulated ones, e.g.:
List of devices attached
emulator-5554   device
HT035P90XXXXX    device

Where "emulator-5554" is the emulator, and the other is a physical handset.
From there on you can target a specific device with adb's "-s [serial_no]" switch.
For example:
adb -s emulator-5554 shell

or
adb -s HT035P90XXXXX pull /system/app/Music.apk c:\

or any other adb command.

That emulator lags up my whole pc, it's easier for me to just have it on a separate system.


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How do I prevent auto-mounting of ext2 partition on OSX?
I've created a 512Mb partition on my HTC Desire's (running LeeDroid) SD card to store apps.
When I used Windows, I'd never had a problem with this partition becoming read-only, unreadable or corrupted.
Since I switched to a Mac, this partition got corrupted several times. Somehow, I thought it was LeeDroid's fault, and didn't blame it on the Mac.
I installed Cyanogenmod on the Desire to overcome this problem, but the ext2 partition on the card still kept getting corrupted. I read on the Cyanogen's forums that Linux and OSX automatically mount the ext2 partition when the phone is plugged in, causing the partition to become corrupted, and then this made sense.
Question: Is is possible to prevent OSX from automatically mounting the ext2 partition on Android phone's SD card?

I'm no Linux buff but this Macworld article seems promising assuming you know the UUID for the volume and don't mind working from the terminal. The article wisely recommends backing up the volume before messing around too much.
Also... Googling for Android+phone+UUID is returning links which are related to programming. Perhaps retrieving the UUID from an Android phone is a separate question for this problem.


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Is the Google Nexus S capable of reading the exFAT file format?
If I backup, reformat the internal memory "disk" of my Google Nexus One (running Android 2.3.4) into the exFAT format (for storage of file sizes over 4GB) and restore the contents, will it spasm and die or will it go on as if nothing had changed?

I just tried this on my HTC Desire HD. Android does not seem to support it. It doesn't report errors though. If you check the SD & phone storage size it says "not available" and if you try to snap a photo it just doesn't do it. But if you put the microSD back into your computer after doing that, Windows will report that the microSD card is not formatted, so Android seems to mess up the format.

Isn't it odd that the exFAT format, which was designed for mobile devices, isn't supported by a modern Linux-based OS such as Android? :-\

@aalaap exFAT is a filesystem from Microsoft, which means you have to pay Microsoft to use it commercially. Linux itself has only beta state support of exFAT. But the times where Microsoft could just set the standards and collect money for it are thankfully over. If they just had released it license free and opened the specs we likely had a portable and wide spread filesystem for mobile storage/flash cards by now

No.
As reported and commented on by various users, there is no exFAT support built in to Android, so the Nexus S will not read the disk.


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How to access the microSD card on Asus Transformer?
Is it possible to access the microSD card on an Asus Transformer or is there some way to mount this so it is accessible remotely?
When connected via USB to a PC the SD card in the keyboard dock is available but the microSD card in the main tablet is not.
I have read some articles for similar Android devices which mention that the microSD card is mounted but I can't seem to see it.
It would be good to not have to remove the microSD from the main tablet every time I want to copy files to it since ejecting it isn't exactly easy!
Edit I've used the rather nice http://code.google.com/p/swiftp/ FTP tool, from this I can't see the microSD card either.
Edit Part Deux I've actually returned the Asus Transformer as there were too many problems with it, whether these were Asus problems or Honeycomb problems I couldn't determine. caveat emptor

I'm not familiar with this device, is the dock required to connect it to the PC?

@Matthew if you mean the keyboard dock then no, this isn't required to connect the device to the PC, both the keyboard dock and the tablet itself have an iPod-esque connector with a USB connector at the other end.

A very simple way (but one that inquires a small cost) is to use something like WiFi File Explorer. The free version allows you to download files from a device on the same network as your PC, the pro version enables uploading and downloading directories.

Wifi File Explorer (click image to enlarge)
As for reading the SD card directly from the computer, i haven't found anything that gives instructions on how to do this. But if i find anything, i'll let you know!

Thanks, I think the problem is that the microSD card is not being offered as a directory at all, I've used the rather excellent http://code.google.com/p/swiftp/ to transfer files, but can't see the micro SD card from this either.

You most likely have to power down and back up for the card to be recognized.  Asus says you don't have to do that but if you don't it will not see the card.  Typical of how terrible Asus is at supporting this tablet.


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What is the recommended way to synchronize music on an Android phone?
I have a server which is on all the time, on a network share I store my music collection. I would like to synchronize this with my phone. If I add new album on my server it should pop up on my phone and vice-versa
What software would I need to support the following requirements to synchronize music to my phone?

Should run on Android 2.3
Should run on Windows 7
Can synchronize over wifi
Should work in the United Kingdom
Two-way sychronization from pc - phone and phone - pc

In general questions that ask for the "best" method or for lists of answers are discouraged.  I would suggest enumerating criteria that would make for a good solution (WiFi sync, two-way sync or something like that, other features) and asking if there is a solution that meets those criteria.

fair point, i'll try and make the question more succinct

Good edit, @Edward.

I'm sure the list is long, but i'll mention what I've found after a brief investigation and from other answers
Syncness

http://www.clayworldsoftware.com/index.php/syncness/

Sync with multiple shares on your home or work network
Sync with mutilple Dropbox accounts
Two way file deletions
Sync when wifi network is detected! - thats very cool
Scheduled sync

Pros

Syncing on detecting the wifi network
Doesn't require a server application running on a PC
Quite cheap $1.99

Cons

Doesn't do media conversion Missing sync does

Google Music

http://music.google.com/music/
Pros
Cons
Only available to users in the United States
Winamp
http://www.winamp.com/android

Seems possible to sync over wifi using both a winamp client on the phone and pc
http://blog.winamp.com/2010/11/30/wirelessly-sync-music-to-your-android-phone/
Pros
Free!
Missing Sync
http://www.markspace.com/products/missing-sync-family.html

Pros
Seems to have quite a comprehensive set of two-way synchronization features. Supports wifi and multiple devices, quite handy as I have an iphone as well
Cons
Cost $39.95

Never got the wifi syncing to work on my phone, and having the wifi option turned on cause my phone to drain its battery within 2 hours. YMMV.

There are various options.
I actually use Windows Media Player.  It actually does a pretty good job syncing, although I'm not fond of the interface in general. I use PowerAmp to play my music, but any player should work.  This does require a cable however.
AirSync syncs your playlist over the air.  It sounds convenient but it costs $4.99, but since you want it over Wifi that may do the job.
You can also use the Amazon MP3 Player if you want to load your music onto the cloud, or one of the other cloud services that have been suggested so far.

+1 for AirSync, I like their implementation.

Google Music
Google Music puts music from your PC onto Google servers which you can access from your phone. It has a save-to-phone option, playlists and other features.

Yep. It works great for those of us up in Canada... :(

It's a paid app but I've found Syncness to be good. It allows multiple sync profiles, sync on connect to particular Wifi networks or time based syncs.

An easier way is to use Style Jukebox.
It's similar to Google Music, only that it's cross-platform and has app for Windows too.
You get Style Jukebox for your computer and any song you add there will be automatically uploaded to your Cloud account. You can upload up to 2000 songs for free.
Then with any device you have (Android, WP or iOS) you can instantly access your music and playlists, from anywhere.
www.get-jukebox.com

Are you affiliated with the developer of Jukebox? If so, please mention that in your answer.


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How can I fix my cheap Android 2.2 phone? Should I root it?
I recently purchased a Samsung Intercept for Virgin Mobile. The problem is that it doesn't work very well. There's a delay when doing almost anything on it, even calling or texting. It also has poor battery life. Is there a way I can get it to work decently? Perhaps by removing apps? Would rooting it get it to work better?

IF you know what you're doing, rooting and flashing a custom rom CAN help. Rooting it will allow you to delete some "system" apps that you don't need, and give you access to more control over your CPU, and some ROMs have ways to help save battery. My sister was forced to get a Droid 2 Global after two faulty replacements of her original Droid 1 which she loved, and she hated the Global. Had problems with battery and the way it was set up and everything. So I rooted it for her and flashed a new rom, and she got an extended battery (VERY USEFUL SUGGESTION), and now she loves it. But as rooting voids your warranty, I wouldn't try it if you don't need to or don't know exactly what you're doing.


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How to fix my multiple account sign-in issues?
I have multiple accounts active on my phone. I started by using my custom domain Google account, because it had my contacts. When I got on Google+, I couldn't use that account, so I had to link my normal Gmail account with my phone. And when I added my YouTube account, it threw that account on there too.
Now, in intervals that range from every few days to every few minutes, i get a notification
that says "Sign In error with account (account name here)", then asks me to enter a capcha-like entry (enter letters of distorted words).
It usually happens to the standard Google account (@gmail.com), but has happened with all three at one time or another. Anyone know why this would be happening?

According to this forum deleting the YouTube account resolves it.

what if i want to upload videos to youtube? would i have to sign in every time and sign out when i'm done?

Guess so. I've don't really upload to YouTube so I'm not really sure.


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Where can I find stock Android apps that are not normally in the Market?
I downloaded a custom ROM for my Samsung Captivate phone that is a variant of 2.2.1.  Its version of the Camera allows me to use the power button to take pictures.  I decided I want the stock camera without this feature.  Is there a site from which the default camera.apk is available for 2.2.1, or for that matter, other apps?

The best way is to the image for the original ROM and extract it.

@Matthew Read - I think you accidentally the verb. ;)

Haha.  Mount!  Mount the image.  Thanks @JonnyP

@matthew, how do I go about doing that?

So I just looked at the firmware for my Samsung Vibrant, you don't actually need to mount the image -- I was thinking of the recovery image or a nandroid backup.  The firmware (ROM) should be in a zip file, which you can open up and go to /system/app/ and grab the camera.apk.  I'd put it on your phone's SD card, then use Root Explorer or similar to copy it into /system/app/ on your device and overwrite the current one (which you may want to back up first).
You can check out my answer to another question for info on mounting, but you shouldn't have to do that :)

Recent stock firmware is here if you don't have it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1145149

Make sure that you are using applications that are compatible. For example, if your custom ROM is CM7, you may not be able to use the camera from a stock TouchWiz ROM. This is because the "core" of these ROM are completely different and could cause some issues. If you are using a ROM that is based on TouchWiz, however, you should be fine.

Thanks.  I just thought about restoring from my Titanium Backup as well, which has my stock apps.  Same idea.

@Chance TB doesn't back up system apps, just their data, at least by default.

@MatthewRead, TB can backup system apps, but you're right, it's not the default, and it's not always recommended across ROMs/phones.


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Can CPU intensive apps cause sudden shutdowns?
Lately my Droid Incredible has been shutting down spontaneously when using my GPS for periods over 30 or 45 minutes.  After the shutdown the back of the phone is pretty hot (and that's with a case on it).  I kept my other services to a bare minimum when using the GPS.
Could this be a battery overdraw (or overload with it connected to a charger)? If not, could some services (GPS, CPU-intensive games/apps, etc) or a combo of services cause the CPU to overheat and shutdown (much like a laptop when it gets too hot when the CPU is overworked with no additional cooling)?

It sounds like overheating, for sure.

GPS navigation is an intensive activity, it is charging, uses GPU to render 3D graphics, 3G antenna for downloading map data, the screen is never turned off, and the GPS module is active. While GPS navigating all those heat producing activity happens together.

Yes
Overworking the CPU is what creates the intense heat, this intense heat is detected by the OS and shutdowns the phone to protect your hardware. (A PC works just the same).


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What extra features has the Android Youtube application over the HTML one?
It seems the HTML Youtube application has all the features the Android Youtube application has. I want to remove the Android Youtube application. But I want to make sure that I will not lose any feature.
Do you know if the installed Android Youtube application has any extra features that the web Youtube does not have?

You shouldn't lose any viewing features. The YouTube application is simply a way to make it easier to view and search, without having to load the entire html pages. Probably the only feature you wouldn't be able to take advantage of (and i don't know this for sure) is uploading. You can use the YouTube app to upload videos you've taken to your own YouTube account. And like i said, you might be able to do this through the browser, but the app is just a way to make it easier. Simplification is key.

I also saw that the browser crashes when uploading big videos: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15571

It has one major feature, at least on my phone, I can't watch playlists on the site, but I can from the app. I find that it loads faster and it's interface is much easier to use.


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Issues canceling downloads in Market
All of a sudden a few days ago, I went into the Market for the first time in ages to download a new app. It said the app would be downloaded, but when I went back several hours later, it had not downloaded. I looked in the Downloads section of the market, and there were about 6 updates trying to download (which I hadn't approved - I don't have automatic downloads set, just notification of new updates with manual download). I want to cancel these downloads, but it will not happen. I long-press on the app name and choose Cancel, but nothing happens. I've even rebooted the phone, but the unwanted downloads are still there, saying Starting Download - this is after 3 days.
I've seen this, this, and this, but none of them are exactly the same as my issue. The last two did have answers that I'd like to try - clearing the application data and cache for the market. Unfortunately, I don't see the Market as an app in my Manage Applications section. (I'm running CyanogenMod 5 on a rooted T-Mobile MyTouch G3.)
Is there any way I can access that application to clear the cache? Or any other way I can get the unwanted downloads to stop trying and go away?

I don't know how it works in CM but it has to be there somewhere.  It might be called "CM Market" or something.  Make sure you're not on a "Third-party Apps" tab or anything, since that won't list the first-party Market.

There is no Third-Party Apps tab that I can see; it's just a list of all apps.

You can clear the Market data from the command line like so:
rm -r /data/data/com.android.vending/*

OK, tried that in my terminal app; didn't work. The downloads are still there.

@EmmyS Hmm, strange. I would try ensuring that the Market app is not running, executing the command, and rebooting.  If that doesn't work I'm not sure what else to try.

This will certainly remove your market preferences, specifically any toggles for 'auto-download' that you have made. For me, I have a Droid 3 and all the pre-installed crapware has that on by default, so every time I clear market data, I have to toggle all those apps off. This might not be a big deal to Emmy, but it's something to keep in mind.

If the problem is limited to large apps, maybe the problem is the following:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/17824-google-maps-wont-install/page__p__175751#entry175751
The Market uses the same folder for cache as dalvik does, so you are limited to 5mb apps!

I'm not entirely sure they're all large apps, but I'll take a look at that. Thanks.

Did it solve your problem?

Sorry, it didn't. I ended up reinstalling CyanogenMod.


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Blocking 3rd-party image in Android browser?
For Firefox 4 for Windows, there is a really useful image-block addon for slow connections: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/quickimage/
Unfortunately, Firefox mobile is pretty slow and the addon doesn't exist for it. Most browsers can turn off image loading in options/settings. But often this causes a horrible site look. Blocking only 3rd-party image sources really makes browsing on 64kB/s mobile connections a lot faster. Generally, you don't need things like Opera Turbo Mode, it's not like DSL speed, but sites load within 5-10 sec.
So is there a way to block 3rd-party images by default? Tools like AdBlock don't show images with distinct paths (, but download all images by default?). I'm not looking for something like Opera Mini or Opera Mobile Turbo mode. I know these options.

I found a solution for Firefox (built-in config setting). I keep the question open, as someone may find to do the same thing on Dolphin HD or Opera. Then Dolphin would become my standard mobile browser.

So you don't want to block all images on a webpage, just 3rd party images, i.e. adds?

@chance test the quickimage desktop firefox add-on or try my answer below. I'm aware of adblock, but this is much better for low bandwidth cell phone contracts

Found out that Firefox mobile can do this by going to
about:config

in address bar and setting
permissions.default.images         3

Possible values:

1 = load all images
2 = no images
3 = only images from the current URL

Saves a lot of bandwidth (e.g. user avatars on Stack Exchange are not loaded, while with "no image loading", one doesn't see voting arrows). I just don't like mobile views of sites that much. An add-on would be nice to easily switch this config setting for a single website like the quick image addon on Firefox Desktop.
If Dolphin HD had this, feature it would be unbeatable. Unfortunately, Firefox is lacking the speed and tap gestures of Dolphin.

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


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Does Android tethering support promiscuous mode?
Because my desktop computer doesn't have a wireless card, I'm tethering to my Android to connect to my Wi-Fi network.
I was wondering if Android supports promiscuous mode, so I can monitor my wireless network traffic?

Isn't this more about the radio chipset and drivers than Android?  We probably need to know what device you have.

IIRC you can't put an wireless interface in promiscuous mode when it's used. But this may not be true for all interfaces/chipsets/drivers.
You can install Shark for Root, which is a cut-down wireshark for Android. It does sniff on Layer 2 and above without promiscuous mode, so the results are not the same as sniffing with e.g. kismet. On the other hand you will be able to capture traffic even when tethered. It's maybe possible to set promiscuous mode on some android interfaces. Shark for Root should then be able to capture all packets that your W-LAN antenna receives.

You can't monitor your Wi-Fi network using tethering even if Android supports promiscuous mode for the Wi-Fi chipset.
Reason:
Tethering does NAT internally and assigns you an IP in a 192.168.* private range via a DHCP daemon running on your phone. There's no way you can see pure Wi-Fi traffic this way.
What you can do:
Have a custom firmware installed (e.g. CyanogenMod) and do a tcpdump on your phone itself (if it supports both PROMISC mode and tcpdump)


text:
Fixing "Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card" issue
I recently had a problem that prevented updating any application installed on the SD card. When trying to update the application in the market, the update failed and the following message was given as detailed error:

Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card.

A possible workaround is to move the application back to the phone, update it, and then move it to the SD card again.
How can we fix the error permanently?

A fix I've found and that works is to mount the SD card on a PC, open the *.android_secure* folder and delete a file named smdl2tmp1.asec.
It seems that it's a leftover file from a previous (failed?) installation/update that prevents another update to run correctly.

After moving the app off the SD card to the phone I didn't even have to take the SD card out, it updated fine.
Check with following links
1: http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/19/fixing-the-couldnt-install-on-usb-storage-or-sd-card-problem-on-android/
2: http://www.newbiehelper.net/2011/05/solve-install-on-usb-storage-or-sd-card.html

You can find the file smdl2tmp1.asec in the folder /mnt/secure/asec/. As Dario said erase it :)


text:
How can I make scroll bars always visible?
Android hides scroll bars unless the window is actively being scrolled.  This makes it hard to tell if a window can be scrolled without actually trying it.  Is there a way to force Android to always show scroll bars when there is something to scroll?
I have a Thunderbolt running Android 2.2 (Froyo).

When an activity that can be scrolled opened, the scroll bar should show for a few seconds before fading, therefore you can will know that the page can be scrolled. If you missed the subtle hint, then just slightly swipe the screen to display the scroll bar.
IMO, it wouldn't be a good idea to always display the scroll bar, as the scrollbar is in the content area and may obscure whatever is in the screen.

I know that they show briefly, but I want them to always show.  I don't mind if the content areas are permanently narrower by a few pixels to make room for the always-visible scrollbar.

As @Lie says, this simply isn't possible as a setting. You could possibly take the Android source code and edit it and create a ROM of your own with this change, but as a user, this isn't possible.

Note that it seems that the scroll bar only flashes if android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true" - at least in my experience on ScrollViews w/ 3.0

The scrollbar visibility and fadeout effect can only be defined on the application itself at a programming level, there's no general option to control this.
Developers tend to follow the best practices, regarding small screen devices, since the space is limited. The general concept here is to have scrollbars hidden while not in use, since they appear over the content being presented. This is due to the limited space available, that portable devices tend to have.
Don't know if you ever noticed that scrollbars on smart-phones and tablets appear over the contents, and don't have a designated space as we see on desktop computers:

It's all about the UI, and unfortunately for you, it's the general concept that AFAIK isn't going to change.


text:
Use Android device as a barcode reader for PC
Is there an app that allows your Android device to act as a barcode reader, in such a way that it can send something like keyboard inputs to a computer in real-time?

I made a free alternative: Barcode to PC: Wi-Fi scanner.
It sends realtime keystrokes, no copy&paste required, works everywhere

I tried your app, but for my sorry, phone and server couldnt connect :/
I tried and manual adding server.... the same Android 5.1 / Win 7 64bit

Best one i´ve found after trying about 20 different apps.

@minimiro Did you add the server to windows firewall exceptions? If yes it may be your antivirus that blocks the app.

Free and works very well without any configuration necessary. Thanks

@filippo Thank you so much! The app is so well done and works seamlessly. I can't believe it's free! Thank you. You deserve more upvotes.

works, but is actually shareware (even though it's marked GPL). it will ask you to upgrade to the paid version and some features are locked, a bit annoying. i asked the folks from binary eye to implement a similar "ping URL" feature which could be promising...

Bluetooth Barcode Scanner
WiFi Barcode Scanner

Both are paid apps.

See filippo's answer below for a good free alternative.

Install Barcode Scanner. In Barcode Scanner app settings check "copy to clipboard" after scanning.
Install ClipSync

Now your PC should have the info in clipboard so do Ctrl+V.
I haven't tested it myself but it should work, and both apps are free.

Instead of ClipSync I use UniClip! Clipboard Sync. It has support for Win, Mac and Linux.

I made a (free) app that shows scanned codes on webpage, allowing easy copy, updated real-time.
Web Barcode


text:
What steps should I take before giving my phone to be fixed in a lab?
This is similar to I have sold my phone on eBay. What should I do before I send it off?, but in my case I'm just handing my phone off to be fixed.
I don't want to have to completely wipe or reset my phone, since it would be a pain to get everything back afterwards. Is there some middle ground, or another way to make sure some lab employee can't hack my Google account while they have my phone?

Make a full backup, wipe everything, remove memory cards if present, send for repairs, restore backup after you receive.
This is neither difficult nor time-consuming if you use something like NANDROID backup.
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-perform-and-restore-a-nandroid-backup/

Change your passwords before you hand it in.  Then go into settings/applications etc and stop all the apps, clear data/cache etc.  Remove the SD card.


text:
Disable priority inbox on Android Gmail application?
I suspect that there isn't a way to do this, but just in case...
Is there any way to disable Priority Inbox on the Android Gmail application?
I don't use this feature and can disable it in the web based full desktop client(*), but I can't disable this on either the Android Gmail application or the mobile web Gmail client, it's very annoying.

Gmail version v2.3.4.2
Samsung/Google Nexus S
UK / Three network

Not for the first time I find myself wanting "Minimalist for Gmail™" for Android!
edit * after further investigation it would appear that my desktop inbox is set to classic, but I can still see priority inbox esque things in my messages like "Important mainly because of the words in the message." in the details of my messages. It may be that my Priority Inbox is only half-turned off, if that is even possible?
I have removed a (second) work Google Apps account so I only have my personal email account on my phone and I have disabled IMAP on my Gmail account.

I'm confused, I don't use Priority Inbox on the web version, and I don't see priority inbox in the Android app? Didn't think it was possible on the app if it's switched off on the web?

I must just be lucky... it's turned off in the full web version (as opposed to the mobile web version) but it appears in both the mobile web version and the app-on-phone version with no way of turning it off.

I think its a recent thing on the android app... I don't have priority inbox on the web - in fact the first I'd heard of it was when I got this tablet and it appeared on the list. There is no option to switch it off that I can see - only an option to make it default which is ghd opposite of what I want to do Seems to me to be a wholly useless feature - especially as spammers have already worked out how to mark their email as 'priority' Gmail 3.2-150265 (latest)

Menu button -> More -> Settings -> Priority Inbox.  I have it enabled on the web and that option unchecked to disable it in the app.  Latest Gmail v2.3.4.1.

I don't have that option on my Gmail application on my phone unfortunately, I have an option to make the Priority Inbox my inbox which doesn't help. I'm on the most recent version of Gmail on my Nexus S that the application store has offered to me, I don't know how to determine the version number of the Gmail app unfortunately.

@Richard You can check the version via Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications.

@Richard I've since got that update and I now see the option at Menu -> More -> Settings -> username@gmail.com -> Priority Inbox.  You can also check Sync inboxes and labels to make sure all mail is being synced.

Thanks again Matthew, the menu sequence is slightly different on my phone, I don't have the extra accountname@gmail.com step to get to the Priority Inbox checkbox (and the description of this checkbox on my phone is that this is to set the default inbox to the priority inbox, rather than to turn it off?). I've tried two other things, I have removed a work Google Apps account so I only have my personal email account and I have disabled IMAP on my Gmail account. Neither seem to have helped, bah.

I found that by opening the local Gmail app and navigating MENU > MORE > SETTINGS > USERNAME@GMAIL.COM > (Uncheck "Make Priority Inbox your default inbox...") and click on "Sync inboxes and labels" and change the option for "Priority Inbox" to "Sync None".
This seems to work for me. However, I just tested it once and I didn't get the Priority notification so I hope this will help you.

All you need to do is...

Open the gmail app
Go to Settings
If you have multiple accounts, click the specific account for which you want change it
Make sure the Priority inbox check box is unchecked.
In the same page under the data usage look for a 3rd option Manage labels and click that
Click the 2nd option you ll find " Priority Inbox" option click on that and uncheck all the options there.... Now all the features under the priority inbox option will be disabled.....

This absolutely worked for me.....

There is no checkbox for Priority Inbox anymore.
All those answers are not valid for version 2020.05.17...Release. *

Go to

Menu
Settings
Inbox > Inbox type
Select "Ordered Inbox" (German: "Sortierter Eingang" **)

Against my understanding, this brings you back the full inbox.
*) Maybe sooner. Please edit if you know.
**) Please edit the English translation if it isn't correct, else remove the comment.

I couldn't find "Ordered Inbox". The English options for Inbox type are: Default Inbox, Important first, Unread first, Starred first, Priority Inbox.

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


text:
Gingerbread ROM for Nook Color?
Does anyone know a good place to get a Gingerbread mod for Nook Color?

I would search the XDA forums (http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=864).  They have custom ROMS but don't know if any are Gingerbread.

Where have you already looked?

My recommendation, and the ROM I'm running is Phiremod
I can definitely confirm it's Gingerbread, based on Cyanogenmod 7 and built specifically for the Nook Color.

my brother is using this one as well, and it works wonderfully and looks incredible.

I would start with the latest ClockWorkMod Recovery and then the latest build of CyanogenMod 7.1.


text:
Let Android believe it is connected to internet

Possible Duplicate:
How to set up reverse tethering over USB?

Is there a way to do this?
I'm trying to reverse tether my Android phone. I'd like it to use my PC connection. Many guides on the net say that I should root my phone, but I don't want to do that.
What I would like to happen:

connect Android to the Internet via wireless
attach to PC via USB, in "tethering usb mode"
PC is already connected to the Internet in another way (cable)
when I disconnect the wireless connection on the Android phone, then the Android phone uses the connection of my PC

With no internet connection on my phone I can't connect successfully to the PC.
So, I'd like to know if there is a way to let the Android device believe it is connected to the Internet.
I'm using Ubuntu 11.04

I'm interested in this too. It would allow testing applications on mobile without Wi-Fi or network connectivity.

@Audrius: you can do this using android sdk and Eclipse plugin. A "virtual android device" will be created on your PC, so you can test on PC all applications you develop, and you can also use the PC connection. Google to have more informations about :)

That is correct, but I want to test on a multiple physical devices and I can't afford buying multiple SIM cards and/or swapping them around.

I'm voting this question to close, it's difficult to tell how is this different from How to set up reverse tethering over USB?. The OP should clarify whether he just want a reverse tethering or something more.

You haven't specified if you have wireless capability in your computer. Assuming you have one or can manage wireless in your computer then you can take the following steps to share the computer's Internet via ad-hoc wireless connection.
First create an ad-hoc connection in your computer so that your phone can connect to it. You can follow this guide for that.
After that you have to enable Internet connection sharing in your computer. Follwo this guide for that.
Now from your Android phone search for the ad-hoc network you created and connect to it. Internet should work fine.
One more thing I should mention is that when I tried the same for my cousin it didn't work. The phone couldn't see the ad-hoc network. She had Windows 7 in her computer. But after little Googling and using 3rd party software for ad-hoc connection in the computer, everything worked.

it seems that Android isn't able to see ad-hoc wireless connection for security reasons. It is required a rooted phone to do so.

The Replicant Project has a page on how to use USB Networking; you'll need a rooted phone, the scripts there, and a GNU/Linux system to use the scripts with little to no modification.
However, it's a start.

I tried this a while back when I first got an Android phone, but it didn't fully work. In windows 7 I use http://www.connectify.me and that works perfectly, so I never continued with it in Ubuntu.
Try these anyway:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessAccessPoint
http://www.esrun.co.uk/blog/ubuntu-gateway-access-point-server/
Let us know how you get on... would be interesting to know!


text:
Text messaging problems
My phone won't receive or send messages from or to certain people. To some people it works and others it doesn't. What can I do to fix this?

The first thing that comes to mind is to check that reply path is not selected in the messaging settings. This setting means that if you reply to a sms, it uses the sender's messaging center, and usually using another operator's messaging center is not allowed. However, this shouldn't affect your ability to receive messages.


text:
Keep GPS on when screen is locked
Is there a way to prevent GPS from sleeping when I lock the phone even though google maps app is running?

I just got back from a two week family roadtrip, and we used the Android maps and GPS nearly every day.
The simplest solution I found was to use Google Navigation. It kept the GPS active, even if I put the app in the background, powered off the screen, or locked the screen.

I haven't noticed any issues with the Google Navigation app going to sleep either when using it.

The only way I know how to do this is through Tasker. You can use a tasker profile to set the gps to stay on when the screen turns off. You can also use a profile to keep gps running while the app is open. The only draw back is the price tag (I'm pretty sure it's $5.95 on the market), but you will use this app for more than just keeping gps on, I can promise you that.
If you do end up going this route and need help setting up the profile let me know.


text:
All of my texts disappeared, what can I do?
All of my old text messages disappeared. What might I be able to do to recover them?

Unless you have a previous backup, there's no easy way to recover them.
Use Handcent or GoSMS - they have in-built scheduling to backup SMS to your SD card or to send the backup to an email mailbox you specify.

Maybe you want to correct your "no way" to "no easy way" or "no way without root". But agreed: nothing for the "average user" to easily achieve...

SPOILER: The following does only work on rooted devices!
If they are already gone, in most cases it's too late. However, some chances are left if your device is rooted -- but they are not that easy to achieve: You would need a complete (physical) file system copy from your internal storage, and pull that to your workstation. Once you've achieved that, you can use a process called File Carving to get hold of even deleted files. This might get especially tricky as most devices use YAFFS2 for their internal storage -- a file system rarely used on any workstation.
Some File Carving software solutions include:

Scalpel available for Linux (prefered), Mac OS X, Windows
foremost Linux; can also work on Images created with dd -- so if you were able to create such on your device, the YAFFS2 barrier is gone)
TestDisk supports a lot of operating systems

Concerning this special case (especially with YAFFS2), I'd say the best approach would be to go with a dd image and foremost. As on YAFFS2 things are not that lightly "deleted or wiped" (to prolong the life of NAND-Flash, "stuff" is rather marked deleted and only overwritten when that storage block is needed to store new data), chances are quite good to recover "stuff".
Not everybody's easiest way, I know -- but there's no "easy solution" I could see.

Remark:You might also want to check Recover deleted content from userdata partition?, which especially deals with deleted SMS and offers additional details. Quoting: So it came to pass, that Amanda did have a blonde moment and deleted all her threads in the SMS app by mistake.


text:
Use wifi in HTC Dream behind a proxy
I wish to use wifi network in my university but the network resides behind a proxy server. So, how do I set my proxy settings (requires authentication) on my HTC Dream G1 (Android 1.5)?

possible duplicate of How to set HTTP proxy and proxy authentication credentials in wifi?

Settings -> Wireless and Network -> WiFi Settings, hit the Menu button, and choose Advanced.
However, it appears this doesn't support user authentication. I can't find a solution online, either :(.  The question I marked as a duplicate may be of some assistance, though your version of Android may be too old for any of this.

Will creating an APN and setting it up help? I know that APN is used for GPRS but I am not sure it is used for wifi too or not

You could have a computer rebroadcast the university's WiFi network if you have the appropriate OS/hardware, allowing the computer to manage the proxy settings and the phone to connect blithely through the computer.  Example instructions.

I tried but it didnt work. It detects the wifi network but does not connect to it. My internet access on my laptop is through a LAN connection with static IP address, maybe thats creating problems. Maybe I can do something similar on Ubuntu as it isnt working on Windows 7.

it might be possible to set auth info with the server url, i.e. user:pass@proxy.server.tld. I never tried it myself (not having a proxy to try with), but heard people reporting success this way.


text:
Duplicate Text Messages, Verizon: DroidX2
I have a DroidX2 on Verizon and I always get duplicate text messages and it's super annoying. Is there a simple way to fix this? Or is this a carrier issue?

are you only using the stock sms application?

Yes I'm only using the stock SMS app.

This does sound like a network (carrier) issue, however, do you have any applications that intercept text messages? If so, uninstall it, and see if that helps.
Edit: i just got this issue on an ICS rom. What i think it could be - your network holds the text, and tries to send it if your phone is turned off, or has no signal. It then tries to send them. After it has sent, the network doesn't actually realise it, and sends it again.

Yes this is clearly a carrier issue.
If you are using the stock sms application, I've never come across this apart from carrier forwarding.

Sounds like a carrier issue, as said. However, this could be due to an issue with your connection?
You could possibly do a Factory Default Reset, and see if that alleviates the problem. Could be a faulty installation causing the connection to send twice or something? Not too sure how that works, but it might be worth a shot.
If not, then possibly contact your Carrier, regarding the issue, and they may have an appropriate answer for your query.

My wife had the same problem on her phone and as the resident tech, it fell to mo to resolve it. She has a Blu VIVO XL V0030UU 16GB 4G LTE Unlocked GSM Phone. I tried disabling any apps on the phone that may have been receiving SMS texts and forwarding them on to no avail. Our carrier is Tmobile. What finally worked was going into the settings and disabling "Enhanced 4G LTE mode".
My working theory at this point is that the SMS is transmitted and times out waiting for an ACK and then resends.


text:
Trace GSM packets on HTC Desire?
Is there any way I can log/sniff the GSM packets on a (rooted) HTC Desire ?
(I'm talking about the actual low level GSM packets on the Um interface, not IP packets over a 3g connection.)

Try OpenBTS. You'll need a Faraday cage and a couple thousand dollars in hardware, but you can control all interactions between the phone and your base station.
You will need a license to run a base station outside of a Faraday cage.
Harald Welte's blog is a good one to follow if you're interested in GSM as a low-level protocol.
The "SMS of death" presentation at Chaos Computer Club one year used this sort of setup to test SMS buffer overflows.

But you can sniff GSM traffic without a Faraday cage.

Right, but if you want to broadcast GSM, you either want a license or a way to make sure it's only in a controlled environment. :)

true in most cases, but some of the GSM allocated spectrum is free-for-all in the US for low power broadcasts. No license needed.


text:
Can I remove all these garbage apps without rooting the phone?
I just got a Samsung Galaxy 2 from Docomo in Japan.
The only thing I don't like about it is that it came with about a million pre-installed apps, 99% of which are just garbage that clutter my application list. I'm not just talking about a few that I don't like, I'm talking about so many that I have to scroll through pages to get at the apps I want.
I was unable to uninstall a handful by going to the Market and simply opting to uninstall.
However, with all the rest, the uninstall button is greyed out.
Can I remove these apps without rooting the phone, and if so how?
If I have to root the phone, is that possible with my model?

Also http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/8479/can-i-uninstall-built-in-apps, http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/408/how-can-you-uninstall-an-app-that-you-didnt-install-on-your-droid, http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/6851/how-can-i-uninstall-applications-that-are-locked-by-phone-vendor and http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1559/uninstall-sprint-apps-without-rooting


text:
Can a phone manufacturer's custom interface be changed?
This is related to this question about removing apps, but I thought it was different enough to merit separate focus.
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy 2 S, and it has a custom interface designed by Samsung.
Mostly, it's fine. However, some things bug me. For example, at the bottom of the screen, where there are standard buttons like "Phone" and "Internet" - things I'm likely to access very frequently - they have this stupid "SP Mode" mail app thing that I will never use. Ever.
I'd like to kill it, but after searching options, I don't know if I can make that kind of change.
Is it possible to get different "skins" and load them into the phone? Are existing interfaces modifiable?
Is this another thing that would require rooting the phone?

Your best bet would be to go with either LauncherPro: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcher my personal favorite, or ADW: https://market.android.com/details?id=org.adw.launcher
Both provide customization to the dock (set of icons at the bottom), number of homescreens, transitions, app drawer effects, as well as custom themes and widgets. Note: there are free versions of both, but the paid versions add more features.
While you can cover up some of what Samsung has done, things like the Notification bar and lockscreen aren't affected by these apps. In some cases rooting and/or installing custom ROMs would be required to manipulate them.

Good recommendation. I'm trying it out now and it has removed the offending email from the bottom menu.

There are a number of customized launchers for Android, not just these two. Personally, I prefer Zeam. A search for "home screen replacement" or "launcher" on the Market should give you a good bunch of options.

I think the SGS2 has a newer version of TouchWiz than my original SGS Vibrant, but hopefully you can still customize those icons.  I don't have my phone on me but I believe t The process is:

Open the app drawer
Press the Menu button
Select "View Type"
Choose "Customizable Grid"
Press the Menu button again
Choose "Edit"
 Exit the app drawer (return to the home screen)
You can now drag icons off the dock and drag new ones on

nice, I just put all of the operator's bloatware apps to a "banned" folder and freed up the app drawer


text:
Which are android OS is for tablets and devices?
I am interested to know that which are android OS is for tablets and devices among below listed.
Cupcake:
Android 1.5

Donut:
Android 1.6

Eclair:
Android 2.0, also 2.0.1
Android 2.1

Froyo: (short for "frozen yogurt")
Android 2.2, also 2.2.x updates

Gingerbread:
Android 2.3, also 2.3.x updates

Honeycomb:
Android 3.0, also 3.0.x updates
Android 3.1
Android 3.2

Future Versions:
Ice Cream Sandwich:

So far only Honeycomb is a tablet-only version. Other versions are used on phones, tablets and other devices (TVs, android-x86 etc.).

While there are tablets that were able to munge other versions of Android to be used on a tablet form factor, only Honeycomb (Android 3.x) was designed specifically for tablets. (And, because of some of the kludgey wizardry they needed to do for that, they've not released the source code for Honeycomb.)
Ice Cream Sandwich merged the phone-only and tablet-only codebases.


text:
Can I create a specific ringtone for email from specific people?
Is there any way at all to set it up so that I can have a different notification sound for different email senders?
In other words, if I get an email from Fred, can I have a different notification than an email from Jane?
I know how to set up filters within Gmail, but I can't determine if there is any way to connect that to the notification sound on my phone.
I also know that different ringtones can be set when getting phone calls from different people, based on their entry in the contact list. However, there does not seem to be any kind of option in the contacts interface to do the same thing with emails.
Thank you for any advice.

It is funny you ask this since Gmail just came out today with functionality that allows for different ringtones to be set for different labels (using custom label notifications.)  This might not be perfect since you would need to specify a label per contact to make it work, but it could serve your needs.

Awesome! This looks like it will do what I need. I don't think I really need the granularity of a per-user notification, and grouping with filters will suffice.

Google must be listening :) You ask on July 26 and they release it on July 27.  Good stuff.


text:
How do Android devices receive security updates?
I'm new to Android and I'm thinking about buying an entry-level Android device.
Yesterday I read that Android passwords are stored in plain text. That got me to thinking... how do Android devices get security updates? I know that OS upgrades aren't available to every Android phone, so I was wondering how vulnerabilities like these will be patched. Does it depend on the goodwill carriers?

Please note that the plain text passwords in Android are no different from any other email client that uses standard protocols (IMAP/POP3). They have to store the password in order to function. That's even explained in the article you link to. Still: good question.

Android updates are given three basic classifications: major, minor, security. (I'm looking for a source for this, but I've been unable to find it thus far.)
Security upgrades, at least, are supposed to be part of the core code and have the least disruption to customizations the carrier and/or manufacturer have made.
However, it's still up to the carrier and/or manufacturer to take the update and incorporate it into their particular flavor of the OS. Some are better at it than others.

Hmm, I had gotten the impression that some security updates were pushed out without manufacturer/carrier participation ... similar to how they push out updates for the Market.  Can't find any references though.

For particular apps, sure.

Yeah, I thought the Gingerbreak exploit was fixed with a pushed-out update but it looks like I was confused.

What if you're on a small carrier that doesn't pay any attention to the Android platform? Will I be able to install updates in that case? And why does the manufacturer have to be involved in the Android upgrades? Why can't you just install the latest version of "vanilla" Android no matter which phone you have?

@Pieter: Because it just doesn't work that way. Even the "Google Experience" phones needed to work with the carriers and manufacturers to get an update out when it was done. Granted, it took less time, but carriers and manufacturers have their own customizations to Android that need to be cared for. Microsoft has tried to avoid that with their very strict hardware requirements, but even so Windows Phone updates don't get out to everyone right away.


text:
Nexus S rooting warranty
I know that the Nexus S has an unlockable bootloader and that flashing a custom ROM to it is officially supported, easy and pretty much fail-safe. However, what's the warranty like? Does it get voided if I do this? I'm especially interested if I'm covered in the following situations:

I software-brick my device;
I successfully flash a custom ROM, but then something else fails (that renders me unable to flash the "stock" ROM before taking it to warranty)

Unlocking the bootloader will void your warranty. The first situation isn't covered by the phone's warranty, but the second might, according to your country's laws. For example in Finland, the repair company has to show that the problem is directly caused by flashing in order to deny the warranty claim. It's possible to get the phone repaired, but you have to fight with the repair shop and possibly with Samsung to get it done, and it could get tricky.
Having said that, flashing is pretty easy as long as you follow the instructions to the letter and don't rush. Bricking is pretty rare if you're cautious, so I'd say go for it :)


text:
Does the official Google Plus Android client use HTTPS for automatic photo upload?
I'm at a conference using their (open) wifi.  Normally I don't bother to tunnel my connection because I figure anything I care about (email, banking, etc.) goes over SSL/HTTPS anyway.  It occurred to me, though, that my Plus client is set to automatically upload all my photos anytime it finds wifi.  Are those photos going "in the clear"?

There's nothing in the description for the app in the Market. It may not be using HTTP at all, for all we know. Unless one of the devs chimes in I don't know that anyone can answer this.

I have verified that Google+ version 2.4.1.271037 on Android 4.0.3 uses HTTPS for instant upload.
I did what @shambleh suggested and performed a network trace at my Internet gateway. Enabled instant upload, snapped a picture, and saw a bunch of traffic hitting Google servers (IP address 74.125.226.70, but remember this may change) on HTTP port 443. Using Wireshark, it's clear that the traffic is encrypted.

It is hard to tell which protocol is being used in the G+ app (especially since Google is trying out new protocols like SPDY lately).
This is by no means a guaranteed approach, but you may be able to take some steps to answer this one yourself using information from the SO post Monitor network activity in Android Phones.  They recommend using a tool called Shark for Root which seems to be like Wireshark for Android handsets.  Please note, that if you aren't very network savvy, the output may be difficult to interpret and will probably require an install of Wireshark on a PC to interpret.
Note: If I get a chance in the next few days, I'll try out this approach myself and update the answer.


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Security error when trying to add an Exchange account
I use Zarafa as my private Exchange server and that account works fine with my phone.  When I add a second Exchange account for my company it does install at first and connects to the MS Exchange server, but when synchronizing the connection is refused due to a security error.
How can I fix this? Does it have to do with signature or certificate problems? (I have tried enabling "Accept all certificates")
My phone: Samsung Galaxy S2, Android 2.3.3

You probably need to enable or disable TLS or SSL for the account.


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How can I install custom fonts on Android?
I am trying to display a Powerpoint slide deck on an android tablet, but the slides contain fonts that don't exist in android.
Is there a way to install custom fonts on the tablet?  If so, how?

In general, no. Some apps will let you add extra fonts to your SD card and search for then there, but that's app-specific.
If your device is rooted, you could replace the built in fonts with those of your choosing, but that's a system-wide change.

That leads to a more specific question that I'll ask separately.  Thanks for your help!

As mentioned in this answer, there are several apps which allow you to install custom fonts.  Not all devices support this without rooting, so YMMV.
Font Installer and iFont seem like good options.


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What's the input and output specifications of the Samsung Infuse wall charger?
I want to know if it matches with the Samsung Strive charger so I don't damage the Infuse (I don't have the charger for the infuse at the moment).

If it's a wall charger with plugs that match your outlets, the input range should be covered.
Normal USB chargers are 5 V at up to 1.8 mA.  The voltage is the main concern -- standard USB ports for PCs only go up to 900 mA, which is why they charge slower.  You can see the USB power specs on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb#Power
(In sum, any USB charger that you can trust to do what it says on its specs should work fine.  A crappy no-name charger might lie, but two Samsung chargers should be 100% interchangeable.)

Ok Cool. Thanks for the answer Matt. I do recall both chargers saying 5v but one is 0.7A and the other is 1.0A. So I guess the 1.0 will charge the battery faster. Is it possible that charging the battery too fast could mess it up (or hurt the phone)?

@trusktr They phone shouldn't draw more current than it wants, and that's fairly low anyways, so it should be fine.


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In general, do Android apps use encrypted connections? If so, is public WiFi safer?
I know that connecting to public WiFi carries risks.  I know that much of the risk has to do with sending data over a public connection, allowing it to be intercepted.
So, my question is, do most or all Android apps use SSL or some other secure protocol?  Is SSL forced via Android policy or technical limitations?  Would I only have to worry about websites in my browser that use http?
If an app uses a secure connection, does that mean it is significantly safer to use on a public WiFi network?  I know that people creating their own WiFi network or spoofing others is still a risk, but is there anything else?

There's nothing that forces the use of HTTPS for Android applications. Some data may not make sense to transfer over HTTPS, instead relying on other mechanisms (say, GPG key signature checks) to verify the data.

Your concern is very real.  Most developers and users don't understand the benefits of using SSL and other forms of encryption.
You can guarantee encryption by using an SSH Tunnel, although it will only ensure the stream is encrypted to the exit point (which would be the server to which you're connected).  This is good if you are simply trying to prevent your ISP from spying on you.
Another way would be to use TorProject's Orbot.  This has the same idea in mind, except you will not be required to provide your own tunneling server and benefit from being able to change your exit point at will.  Orbot also uses multiple proxies to help obfuscate your identity.  Of course, you are encouraged to help participate and provide a relay if at all possible.
In order to have 100% stream encryption, neither of these options are fool-proof, but may help you in your endeavor.
This is why it is important (especially now) to use different passwords for different sites, as some sites/services won't provide the same level of security as another.
SSL on a public WiFi, while still much much more secure than non encrypted streams, does not provide 100% failsafe protection.  Unfortunately, Root Certificate Authorities are vulnerable to hacks, and some (Trustwave) have even been caught issuing certificates to companies they knew were not the owners of the website SPECIFICALLY to allow said companies to spy on encrypted connections.  It is also easy to strip SSL out in applications that do not require secure connections.
You do, however, have a few options that will provide you with stronger security.

You can use gpg to encrypt messages and data using your intended target's  public key.
One pass encryption has the highest level of security for certain applications.

TLDR;
Your phone is insecure.  It is up to you to decide what conveniences you need, and how they will impact your security.  There are many practices in which you can become disciplined that will help minimize your risks, but at the end of the day it is your responsibility to safeguard what you deem private.  I would be more worried about the data that each app you have installed is trying to offload to it's servers.  Read through the 'Permissions' of each app you install before you download it, and decide if it really needs half of what it says it does.

Personal VPN was not mentioned, you purchase the service and all traffic flows through a secure connection to the VPN provider, then to the destination site.  VPNs may add anonymity and some can unblock services.


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Why am I unable to turn of USB debugging on my Galaxy Tab 10.1?
I turned on USB Debugging in the settings and am unable to turn it off. Whenever I try to uncheck the option I get "USB is connected. Remove the cable." even though the cable is not connected.
I tried rebooting but nothing. I do not think my device has ever completely turned off. When I try to power down it has a green battery animation of it filling up. I do not know how to completely turn it off.
Anyone know how to fix this?

Looks like your tab thinks it's charging from a USB socket all the time, I'd advise to get it checked under warranty, or you could try to let the battery run completely out and then recharge. Also, check the USB port for debris and clean if necessary.


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Does Android have a task scheduler?
Microsoft Windows has the Task Scheduler Manager to schedule tasks based on time or other events, as far Linux has cron to the same feature, does Android have something like? Could I install cron on Android??

Tasker. This is by far the best automated task scheduler available for android. It does come at a hefty price ($6.50 US), but it is well worth the price.

If you have a rooted phone this should do the job:
cron4phone free
I just did a quick and dirty search for "cron" on the market, there could be possibly better apps for your needs


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Display timout resets to 15 seconds occasionally
Hi on my SGT the display timout resets to 15 seconds occasionally. I can't reproduce this behavior but it seems that this reset happens at every reboot at least and sometimes when connecting/disconnecting the powersupply.
Can someone tell me how to have this setting fixed again at 10 minutes?
If it helps, the phone is rooted, but I am not sure if this problem occurred already before root. At least unrooting did not help. Also I have my battery saving software let the settings back to default and then deinstalled, did not help either.

I would make nandroid backup, full titanium backup, wipe data/cache/battery stats, flash stock ROM and see if the problem manifests on stock. If it does, bother the vendor. If not, I would restore one by one all system apps from Titanium Backup to see where the problem settings is.

Running software cannot help save battery, apart from underclocking.  Uninstall crapware, turn the brightness down, exit apps when you're done with them, and turn off the radios when you can ... that's about all you can do.

I suspect that the 'battery saving software' might have caused the issues. Did you experience these issues before installing the app ? There is a couple of ways which might help restore original settings :

A factory reset might set it right.
Alternatively if you have a backup of your original firmware you might want to try reflashing your phone after backing up all data.

ps :  The name of the app you were using might help out.

The Problem is that I tried several of this Apps, but before deinstallation I ever let it set the manipulated settings back to the defaults. The last I used was JuiceDefender, but I dont recal if this Problem was already before. Since the phone is rooted, cant I edit some text-configfile as it would be the way I am used to from linux?

I can only imagine that one of the apps did not do the setting restore properly (maybe corrupted)


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native email client on galaxy S2 does not attach original message when I reply back to the sender?
When i reply back to the sender or people in CC, The email client shows me the original message while i'm typing my reply but somehow it gets removed/deleted when i send the email and it appears to come as a new message to the person.


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Is it possible to program on a Honeycomb tablet?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I do development on my Android device?

I was wondering if there are apps making it possible to program on an Android tablet?
I know it's not the best "work tool" out there, but I was wanting to get one, and was wondering if it's also possible to get some work done with it.

Is there some IDE app available for PHP or JavaScript?
Is it possible to program compiler based languages using some sort of IDE (like C++)?

This is essentially a subset of the dupe, which has more answers, so I think it's best to close this one.  Anyone who posted here should feel free to post their answers on the other question.

You asked for a compiler, or IDE, but I really don't think native code compilation is the way Android apps are intended to mostly work, so you're going against the grain asking for C/C++ compilers.  And since there is no JDK that is self-hosted, Java is probably out of the question too.
That being said you can still do programming, just not compiler based programming:
Part 1. This is kind of a flippant answer, but it's fun, anyways:
You can program in Commodore Basic using the Commodore 64 emulator (Frodo, I think it's called), available in the android market.  Of course you're limited to 38911 basic bytes free, and the syntax of "Commodore Basic 2.0".
It's not an IDE, in the modern sense, it's an interactive line-based BASIC interpreter.  It can be pretty fun though.  Command lines are actually really easy to use once you know what you're doing.
Part 2.  Android Scripting Environment. Much more serious and up to date capabilities including Lua, and perhaps Python.  Perhaps ASE might count as an IDE, depending on how you define IDE.  ASE appears to be pretty simple (a text entry widget, and menus to save and run scripts), but that's all you really need on a small mobile device.  ASE was thought of long before honeycomb tablets though, so the UI is optimized for smartphones, not tablets.

It should be noted that Google has substantially boosted Python support in ASE with their python-for-android project.

There's no fundamental reason why you cannot build a native C compiler for an android device, other than the limited performance and the hassles of adapting the compiler and all it depends on to work with an atypical C library or of bringing along the runtime of a standard C library not normally present on the device.

I didn't know about the scripting environment. Thanks!

Android (despite its Linux roots) is far from capable of running
  Eclipse IDE as is. Not only is the hardware inadequate for supporting
  such a large application, but Android lacks a full Java SE JVM (Dalvik
  is a subset) and SWT (Eclipse UI framework) implementation for native
  Android UI controls does not exist. On Linux, SWT implementations
  exist only for GTK and Motif.
You may be interested in project Orion, which is an effort at
  eclipse.org to create Eclipse-like experience in the browser. I
  understand that people have been able to use Orion from a mobile
  browser on devices such as the one on the iPad.
  Here's the link

This was an answer posted to a similar question on stackOverflow, being more directed at Eclipse, specifically.
It looks like, at this point, there are no IDEs available specifically for Android tablets.
On the other hand, it is possible to do a straight Linux install on most rooted tablets, which would allow you to run the Linux native application for an IDE like Eclipse. Be aware though that Linux is not designed for a tablet, so there are risks.

The best way (I think) is to run a vnc client from the tablet to a Linux/Windows box where you have your  development environnement already setup... I've seen some youtube clips about vnc and it's fast (on wifi at least)...


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How to install an APK on an Android Tablet PC?
I had one normal Android apk. It is working fine on my Android mobile. Now I want to install the same .apk on an Android tablet PC; is it possible? If possible, how can I install it?

There are a few ways to install an app:

Post it online (with something like Dropbox) and navigate to the
URL in your tablet's browser
Use the marketplace if it's listed there
Use adb install to do it

Make sure on the device that you have checked the checkbox listed at Settings > Applications > Unknown Sources if it is not in the Market. This will allow you to install non-Market apps.

You can download apkinstaller from android market and install it. after that just put your application apk in your tablet sdcard, and click on apkinstaller you will get your apk here.   just click on your apk it will b installed .

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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I can not get rid of information about a file transfer
Hi I have HTC phone with Android system. Several days ago I tried to transfer a picture from another phone by bluetooth. Now I can't to delete a notice about transfer.
I mean that when I click on transfer notice and I next click on accept or discard this notice is still visible.
Any suggestion?

i did restart my phone to default settings. This is not solution but it's work ;)

Try clearing all notifications. There is a button, my phone is in Spanish but I guess in English it should say "Clear" or "Remove all" something like that.


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Samsung Infuse is getting really hot when using a Samsung wall charger that came with Samsung Strive. Is this bad?
The output specifications for the Samsung Strive charger match those of the Samsung Infuse charger, so I don't see why the phone is heating up so much.
Also, when charging the Samsung Infuse with this non-stock charger (although it is still made by samsung) while the phone is off, the charging never stops. The display never says (100%) even after a full night of charging. The animated dots keep on moving as if the phone is still charging.
Is all this bad or are we ok here? I wouldn't want to blow a fuse in the brand new Infuse!

The phone should be correctly detecting the charge of the battery even if the charger isn't right.  So it sounds to me more like a phone problem.  Either way I would discontinue this ... if the phone really is trying to charge the battery past its limit you could definitely fry the battery or your device.
Did you ever have an Infuse charger, and if so did it work?
You could try running the battery dry and then charging from that state; I've heard that can help when the battery stats get messed up.  In conjunction you could wipe the battery stats (you'll have to Google how to do that for the Infuse) but that's generally a last resort since it takes quite a few charge cycles for the battery stats to get rebuilt (your phone relies on them to determine the charge of your battery with any accuracy).

Hmmm, yeah I've used the infuse charger before and it seems to work just fine. I'll have to run the battery completely dry and see if that changes anything. It is a brand new phone.
Could it be that there is some sort of mechanism inside the Infuse charger that helps detect when the battery is full and stop charging the phone?

@trusktr There are chargers that do that, but I think mostly ones that charge the battery directly (rather than through the phone) since it would be easy to check the voltage directly. I'm not going to rule it out though.


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Picture Frame widget resized
The size for the picture frame widget originally was 3x3. Now, inexplicably, it is only 2x2. How can I change it back or pick what size a widget should be?
I've created cue cards perfectly readable at 3x3 but at 2x2 too small to view the diagrams/text.

Powering off and back on restored the 3x3 picture size... makes no sense, but it worked.


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Is it possible to switch keyboard language layout on HTC Wildfire?
I am thinking of buying an HTC Wildfire S. Since I will be buying it in Germany, it will have a German keyboard (e.g. Y and Z are interchanged).
Will there be a way for me to switch the keyboard to English and French and back to German with the click of a button as I do on my Windows PC (ALT-shift)?

The built-in Gingerbread keyboard should support multiple languages, they can be selected from the Settings -> Locale and Text -> Gingerbread keyboard -> Input Languages menu. After this, you'll see the current language on the space bar and can roll through the languages by swiping left or right on the space bar.


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How does Android Market DRM work?
I have a bunch of rooted tablets purchased for use on a locked-down WiFi network (for security reasons internet access is not allowed). Using a different network, I purchased an RDP client app from the market. After a while on the secured network the app won't start with the error "This application is not licensed. Please purchase it from the Android Market".
Can someone explain how this works? Android Market apps connect on a periodic basis to check licensing? This seems ridiculously overbearing. Is there anyway I can verify authenticity only at install time so I can run on our secured network?

Some of them do (although I've mostly seen check-once-after-upgrade). Check with the provider(s) of those specific apps you are using.

Verification at install time is barely verification at all, since you can get an app running without using the package installer.  I know the Amazon app store connects periodically to check licensing, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Market did as well.

I can work on my laptop on a plane or at a remote site without apps that I purchased refusing to open because they can't call home. This is frustrating!

@Michael I got "Gentle Alarm" from the Amazon app store and while the alarm service always worked, launching the app (to disable the alarm) required Amazon to check the DRM.  Needing to pull the battery to kill an alarm when you don't have internet is insane.  So I understand your pain ...

There are two types of protection offered by the Android Market.
The original copy protection is now deprecated and is apparently fairly easily circumvented.
Google now recommends that developers implement its licensing service, which requires a bit of effort on the part of the developer.  It requires Internet connectivity and checks whether the Google Account being used on the device has legitimately purchased the app.  How often the app goes online to check the licence is up to the developer.


text:
How do I get my Samsung Galaxy S 2 to connect by USB "normally"?
Note: This question has been edited significantly based on new information, however, I think it still meets the original intent.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S 2. When I plug it into my computer by USB, this application called "Samsung Kies" comes up. It is, as far as I can tell, a proprietary Samsung system for connecting by USB to the computer which requires software on the computer side.
Even if my computer could run their software, I wouldn't want it to. I don't want their proprietary app, I just want to mount the Galaxy as an external USB HD, like Android does with its standard interface.
I can get at the standard interface by doing the following:

Settings -> Wireless and network -> USB Utlities

In that interface, under the heading "USB mass storage", there is a button that says "Connect storage to PC". If I click this button, a notification comes up saying I can now plug in the USB. If I plug in the USB cable at this point, then the usual Android interface comes up (green android with USB arm picture) and then I can press the connect button.
So I can do it, but I have to press the screen 5 times just to connect the USB!
With my previous phone, the HTC Magic, when I plugged in the USB, it automatically showed me the standard USB connect screen, and so with one touch I could connect.
I can't find any way of disabling or removing this unwanted Samsung Kies software, or making the standard Android USB connect the default.
Is this possible, and if so, how?

While the devices show up, they shouldn't be mounted.  To mount internal storage (or the SD card) you need to click the notification on your phone.  This is how it works with my original SGS on Windows, anyways.

try keeping usb debugging on by default.

@Aadi Droid: That answer seems to work. Why don't you post it as an answer and not a comment? I want to test it for a day or so to be sure it works consistently. If it does continue to work, you should be the one to collect the bounty on the answer.

done buddy :) glad it worked.

Keep usb debugging on and it should work fine.


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Download google doc to my phone and view it offline?
Is there a way for me to download google doc to my android so that I can view it off line (i.e. without data connection)?
Thank you.

You can download the file as a pdf and then transfer that file to the phone using something like Awesome Drop.
Then view it on the phone with a pdf reader.

so there is no normal way to download it?


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Samsung Kies: 'This version of the device can not be updated'. Never?
I have and Samsung GT-i5500 (aka Galaxy-europe, aka galaxy-5, ...), running Android 2.1
Some months ago I've returned it for repair because of GPS issues.
Ever since, when I connect it to my computer and start Samsung Kies on my computer, the Firmware Information page says:

This version can not be updated. Current firmware version: PDA:JK3 /
  PHONE:JK3 / CSC:JK3 (CPW)

Does this mean that when (if?) Samsung ever releases Android 2.2 for this model, I will still not be able to update it?
Before the 'repair' it never said that the version could not be updated. It was more along the lines of 'you have the most recent version' or 'no update available' instead of 'this version can not be updated'.

According to this link this message is due to a bad translation from Korean to English (and from that to Dutch, because in Dutch the message has the same meaning).
Original Korean was something like "For this ROM there are not updates available (yet)".


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How can I change the default browser?
I need to change the default browser in my Android device to Opera. Is there any way to do that?

That being said: If you installed Opera and open any link, it should ask you which browser to choose.

Voted to close since this question is actually about how to code an app to open a link with the default browser.

Ugh. If that's the case then the original question on Stack Overflow should be re-opened after more and better detail is added.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/14231/how-can-i-get-a-overview-and-manage-the-default-applications-for-file-types

After installing Opera, when you open a link from somewhere in the system, you should see a popup asking you to choose between the browsers available. That popup should have a checkbox for saving the browser you choose as the default browser.
If you have already set a default browser, you must go to Settings > Applications > Manage applications, find the browser you now have as default and click on "Clear defaults" in the details page, then go through the process described in the first paragraph.

Certainly! Go in your Settings, Manage Applications. Click the All tab, and then select Browser. You must then click the Clear Defaults button.
Now next time that an application requires a browser (say, you click a link in your Twitter app) the Complete action using dialog will pop up and you can select Opera and tick the Use by default for this action box.
Followup: Make sure that you have installed Opera (or any other browser of your choice). If you only have the default browser installed, you will not get the Complete action using dialog. Again, look in  Settings, Manage Applications but this time go in Downloaded to make sure that your preferred browser is there.

I already do this but no result

I want to open a link in opera Through an app

@surendra Are you developing the app?

yes i that i have to open an url in opera browser

@surendra: if you're not getting the dialog when opening a link from your app, there must be something wrong in the way you're doing it (programmatically). In that case you'd better ask your question on Stack Overflow.

while i am trying to open url through my app its opening in android default browser

I'm using Android 2.3 and I couldn't find the stock browser to clear defaults. Then I realized that it is now called "Web" instead of "Browser" under Settings - Applications - Manage applications - "All" tab.

Just as an update, an easier way (on Android 4.0+ ICS) would be to go:
Settings > Apps > App Associations, then tap on "Web URLs" and a box will come up showing all browsers installed, you tap on the one you want to be the default browser. Same way for e-mail address links, phone numbers, etc.

What phone do you have? This isn't an AOSP feature.

+1 I have a htc incredible 2, tried everything, your solution worked!

If you're getting an option to choose which browser to use, select the checkbox to set the default and then tap Opera.
If you're not getting an option to choose a browser to use, then you need to go into your settings and clear the default from the current from the current browser: Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> All -> [Current Default Browser] -> Clear Defaults.  The next time you open a link from outside a browser, you'll be given the option to set the default.

The answer given by @Bushibytes was actually more helpful to me, since I have a Samsung device.
The default browser is called "Internet". I think this was the case on my HTC with Orange (yep, just confirmed that).
I needed to click on "All" as @Bushibytes recommended, and then only can you see all the stock apps.

For Android M:
Settings->Apps->Advanced->Default App Settings
All the default settings can be overridden there.

Xiaomi MIUI - Settings -> App Settings > System Apps / Installed apps -> Defaults (bottom) -> Browser -> change your default browser.

In my opinion Dafault App Manager is the easiest way to configure the default apps (incl. the browser).

Download Opera to your device.
When you try to open something which requires a browser, you will be given the chance to select a browser. Select Opera, and press the Always button.

Go to the default app that is opening on your android now in settings > apps and click on it, then click disable, the next time you try to open the default browser you will be prompted to choose a default browser, and that's how it's done!

This is an option on 4.x and later. But some devices, like samsung devices, do not let you disable things like browser, email, calendar apps.

For kitkat users

Open Settings
Go to Apps
On the All tabs, look for your default browser and tap on it
Under Launch by Default, press the "Clear defaults" button, to reset default browser
Then open a link, you are asked to select a browser, select Opera , select Always.

Your answer doesn't add anything useful as an answer to the question. Most of the answers already covered this step. What's the logic in adding redundancy?


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How To Install Custom ROM In LG GT540?
I rooted my LG GT540 now I want to install custom rom but don't know how to do, so I am looking for some easy steps to do this and also share which custom will be best for this device?

A related question might provide other helpful details: Install custom ROM from Linux on a LG GT540

Backup your phone

this is important if you wish to keep any data from your phone. You will have to restore backed up data (such as apps) after you update. The only way to update to the latest software is to erase your device, so backup whatever you do not want to lose.

Extract the .zip file, which you can download from this AndroidForum thread or this XDA thread. Open the folder and install MSXML 4.0 SP3 Parser (msxml.msi).
Once that has finished, install LGAndroidDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver1.0_All_Win7.exe which are the drivers so your computer will recognize your phone. Windows XP Users download this driver, extract the contents anywhere (e.g. desktop), right-click on the 'android_usb.inf' file and click 'Install'.

Now you have set up your phone to connect to your computer correctly. From here on, it depends on which ROM you wish to install. This is an excellent video tutorial that covers installing custom ROMS and rooting, and as said in the UPDATE, many ROMS with instructions can be found on XDA.
Bricking is always a possibility when modifying software that doesn't come directly through the intended channels
That said, the methods here have been proven to work and your risk is significantly less if you perform these steps correctly.
Let us know if you need any help!
UPDATE: this is a method to install updates to your phone. as far as specific ROMS to install, XDA and google can be very helpful. As soon as you find one you like, go for it :)

thanks will check and tell you whether I success or not.

I follow the steps but whenever I do with fastboot -w its hang on waiting for device.

it sounds like the computer cannot recognize your phone, meaning the drivers were probably not properly installed. can you use the device manager to make sure the drivers you downloaded are associated with your phone?

Now it detects the device using adb command but when I am doing fastboot –w its hang on again waiting for device.


text:
Would a Class 10 MicroSDHC card ever be worth it on a Smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S 2)?

Possible Duplicate:
Is a Class 10 MicroSD overkill or is a Class 6 adequate?

first of all I am aware that there are similar questions, I've read them but they don't totally apply here.
I own a powerful Samsung Galaxy S 2 and I am getting a 32gb MicroSDHC card, however, I'd like to know if class 10 cars are totally useless compared to class 6, or do they ever get useful?
My phone is able to take 8megapixel photos and 1080p videos, is a class 6 way enough or a class 10 would be more appropriate?
I am asking this because that market evolves constantly and the other questions I saw were asking about class 2, 4, etc. As of now, Class 10 cars aren't really expensive so I wouldn't mind paying for it, however if I can't profit from its enhanced performance at all (compared to a sufficient ? Class 6), I will save these extra bucks.

I'm assuming a class 6 came with your device, so that should be enough for videos. L3 video at 1080p is just over 5.5 MB/s so 6 MB/s is sufficient, and I've read that the S2 takes video at up to 3 MB/s with a hack so even a class 4 would work.

"Is it worth it?" is a question only you can answer; everyone else can only offer opinions. This is not the kind of question we prefer here. Please review the [FAQ].

No need for such high class card. This card is used mainly for photography where speed and amount of data to be stored does count. Classic sample, sport photography where you are not taking just single shot, but whole burst of 10-20 shots and later on analyse which is best

That is the kind of information I wanted to know. According to Matthew Read, a class 6 would be perfect, thanks!