text:
How to stop Viber telling me to update in the notification bar
I am running Viber on Jelly Bean 4.2.2 and when there is an update, Google Play will notify me once.  But once a day until I update the app Viber itself puts an icon in my notification top bar.  How do I stop this?
I dont want to stop knowing about updates from play, nor do I want to buy or install other apps to take care of this issue.  There should be a solution within either jelly bean or viber itself.

Why not update the app, in this case, Viber? :) Usually its best to get them updated in order to fix a glitch or an improvement to the app. Think about this - Windows notifies you to update the system, you oblige! But not with Android apps - why?

@t0mm13b I don't update sometimes because the update makes the app worse, for example Astro File Browser, I don't like the new layout so won't update it.

Similar question

@wbogacz Nope, it's not. OP asks how to stop Viber from putting an additional notification (note: Viber itself puts an icon in my notification top bar), which is not necessarily related to the playstore (app).

@Izzy - Yep, it is similar. I didn't say or mean duplicate. It carries the same sentiment an upgrade is not always needed or desired. This question presents a couple more examples and reasons.

Make that not a duplicate bold uppercase :) I placed that comment to keep others from thinking it's a duplicate, and hence this question would be closed (yepp, there were already votes on that). Full ack that it is related, however.

I added a para to the question to indicate how the other question doesnt help?  Peanuts answer was what I was looking for.  I may decide to update when I want, but being emotionally coerced to upgrade bec of annoying messages is not the way forward.  I also find on some viber installs I need to reverify and all that.  Sometimes just cant be bothered.  Thanks everyone

From DigitalTrends, when an offending notification pops up, simply long press on it and App Info will pop up. Tap on that and you’ll be taken straight to the app management screen where you can uncheck the Show notifications box and stop notifications appearing. You can also get to the app management screen by going to Settings -> Apps and selecting the app from there.
Unchecking the show notifications box does mean that all notifications from that app will be turned off though. As the warning states:

If you turn off notifications for this app, you may miss important
  alerts and updates.

It is Google Play that is sending notification for OP here. If he does as you have suggested he won't get notification for any other app.

@roxan No it's not, read the question again and the comments on it. "But once a day until I update the app Viber itself puts an icon in my notification top bar." Viber is putting the notification there. I'm aware this isn't a great solution as it also stops other notifications from Viber but it was all I could think of.

I guess you're right. Still this will prevent Viber notification as you've mentioned in your answer.

excellent - exactly what I was looking for - thanks.  Re the other comments - This is the only notification viber sends me.  I get the update notification from PLay.  Maybe I wont know if calls are coming in but thats a fight for another day!

Also the answer was Jelly bean related, not viber related, yet my jelly bean tag was edited out!!??


text:
Why did my Galaxy Tab 7.7 suddenly stopped connecting to my Wifi router?
I have Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet running Android 3.2. Recently, I'm having connection problems to my home Wifi router. The device keeps scanning for Wifi access points for long periods. My home Wifi router is shown with a "Not in range" message next to it in the Wifi settings screen. However, sometimes after long period of time, the device randomly connects to the Wifi router.
It is worth mentioning that during the scanning mode the device does not detect any Wifi access point even thought where I live there are many Wifi access points (over 8 access points).
What is the solution to my problem?

I had the very same case a while ago with my HTC Wildfire, after having flashed CM7 over the stock ROM. It solved when I also updated the radio firmware, and now still runs fine with CM9.1. If you made similar changes, this might be worth a try; otherwise I don't know anything apart from a Dalvik Wipe or factory reset.

@Izzy Thanks God. No need for factory hard reset :)

The solution turns out very trivial and surprising. It shows and proves practically that the behavior of complex software systems is unpredictable.
The solution:
Go to Mobile network settings and disable Use packet data. Next, enable Wifi and then go back and enable Use packet data.
Magically, all my problems disappeared after I applied described steps.

Woah! who would have thought of that... Glad it solved that easy, and (even better) did not need a factory reset!

I guess there is some conflict between the code that handles Wifi functions and the code handling 3G networking functions.

I was having the same problem, but I can connect easily at home (automatic) but my problem was at work.  I just changed some of the settings.  Turned connections optimizer (yesterday in order to connect I had to turn it off) and reset wi-fi timer for 7a-5p.  We'll see how that works once I get home.  The settings have been on set for approx. 10 min and I haven't lost the signal.  Decreased but not lost.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
How can I download the backups ClockworkMod creates to my PC?
I do not see them in the /clockworkmod folder when I connect my device to my PC.  I tried using adb pull but adb does not show any devices when the device is in recovery mode (only if it's booted).
Version is 4.2.1; ROM Cyanogen.  Device is MAKO, and my PC is running Windows 7. The drivers for the device have already been added/installed from the android-sdk extras folder.  The folders I see when I connect the device to win7 are different than those I see when I browse on the device itself.
This issue might pertain to the way 4.2.1/4.2.2 creates folders (something about multi-user).

Have you tried using file manager app, and verify if the folder really exist in the phone? It's silly, but better make sure.

Can you grab screenshots to help, particularly The folders I see when I connect the device to win7 are different than those I see when I browse on the device itself

ADB does not work when you are in recovery. Only fastboot does.

adb does not show any devices when the device is in recovery mode -- so why are you in recovery mode?  CWM backups aren't deleted when the device boots.

The ROM Manager app has an option in the Manage and Restore Backups to Download Backups. You might want to try using it to create backups and download those backups to your computer.
(Click image to enlarge)

Choose Download Backups and you will see:

Provided your phone and your computer are logged into the same network you can point your browser to the address shown on the screen and choose which of the backups you would like to transfer to your computer.
It will take a while depending on the size of the backup.
This may be a feature of the Pro Version but the Pro version is worth every penny.
Good Luck.

thanks for that! I've found that using recovery to handle backups to be easier, but this seems to change that.

You can use adb for copy backups:
adb pull /mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/

I'm not 100% sure if the following will solve your Problems, but I had similar problems with my Nexus 4 (mako)
First up: The Backups will probably be stored in "/data/media/clockworkmod" you  probably won't find them somewhere else.
Second Problem: I had the same Problem, with not getting ADB-Access in Recovery Mode what I did was (Windows) going to Device Manager and selected "ADB Composite Interface" for the unknown device. Automatic driver searching did not succeed.

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


text:
How to refresh a web page in Chrome (Ctrl+F5 analogue) on a device without menu button?
I have a Nexus 7 Android device with 4.2.2 and Chrome browser.
How can one perform a deep refresh of a web page - analogue of Ctrl+F5 hotkey on desktops?
Please, notice that the device does not have a menu button.
According to the only related question I've found here, the solution is to clear browser cache completely. I'd prefer more convenient and elegant solution.

How is the menu button (or lack thereof) related?

@eldarerathis, I saw some post on the Net, suggested to press Refresh tool button while holding Menu key.

Ah, interesting. I hadn't heard that one before.

Related on Stack Overflow: How can I force a hard reload in Chrome for Android.

Bypassing per site cache:
This needs a simple javascript code to be run in the address bar for bypassing the cache and fetch contents from the server instead of the browser cache. According to this MDN page on Force reloading the current page from the server,
javascript:location.reload(true)

Enter the above code in the browser address bar and hit Enter key. This will fetch all the contents from the server instead of picking the elements cached in your browser(thus bypassing the browser cache).
Bypass Cache data for all websites(Global cache)
The above javascript work only for a specific website which you have currently opened. To clear all the website cache use the global browser cache data. You find this under,
Settings > Privacy > CLEAR BROWSING DATA

Select the "Cache" Checkbox (and other options like Browser data, Cookies, Password etc if you want) and select "Clear".
Note: While Ctrl+F5 will cause the browser to throw out the cache and request new contents from the server, the server may ignore the no-cache header and serve a server-side cached page. Thus, even Ctrl+F5 may return an old version of the page if the server ignores the no-cache header.
Incognito Mode:
Browsing through incognito mode disables history and cache. So you can visit any site through incognito mode to request fresh content everytime.

For more interesting discussion on the what does Ctrl+F5 or force refresh does,
Read this SO post, What requests do browsers' “F5” and “Ctrl + F5” refreshes generate?

This no longer works in Chrome 47.

Even after clearing browsing data, the deep refresh was not happening. I had to kill and relaunch Chrome in my Android phone to force it to get from cache. (As an afterthought, it looks like even after you clear cache on disk (presumably), the cache in memory is still around. Killing Chrome wipes the memory cache as well.) [PS: By "disk" I mean the permanent non-volatile storage aka flash memory.]

On the left side of the URL, there is an info icon (i) or a lock icon. Click the icon and then [web site configuration].
You will find a trash icon to clear the cache of the current site, and alternatively a "restore preferences" button.
Working on Chrome for Android v71.

Not working on my S9+, Chrome build 73.0.3683.90.  I've hit the Clear & Reset option at least 15 times on a page I control (so I know what the code does quite well).  However, the JS running on the page I am loading is still an old version.

Well, It worked on my S9 perfectly, so I guess there is something going on specific to your case!  Could you please further loot at that?

I've now tried this on two different devices now, one using developer mode (my phone, since I'm a developer), and a friend's.  As well, I have tried on a tablet; no go there+.  As well, I even tried on my corporate iPhone using Chrome, and the same issue is there.  So from my perspective, you  seem lucky, more than I seem to have multiple flawed devices at my disposal.

Of course, the real problem is Chrome's / Android's funky behavior and hyper-aggressive caching.  It is like an incognito mode that does not work (speaking of which...that did not work properly either...)

Just checked that iPhone’s Chrome doesn’t have this option you are saying so I believe we are not speaking of the same thing: whats more there is none “clear & reset” in my Android’s Chrome. To triple check it, have tested my suggestion on a Xiaomi A1 working OK (notice it displays the local cache size of the page in KB). May be you need to close the tab (or try killing chrome). Otherwise I’m wondering what is the “trash button” of one specific site expected to do...?

Chrome Clear & Reset ==> (In Page) ==> Settings -> Site Settings -> All Sites -> Domain/Website -> Clear & Reset
As for what it is expected to do...it is expected to clear the cache and all old data related to that site.  Makes sense, no?

@IncorporealLogic: It may make sense, but the question specifically asked for a 'more convenient and elegant solution'. I certainly don't want to repeat a half-dozen fiddly steps every time I change a CSS file.

I did not get any of these solutions to work. However, I have found a working solution.
First, find out the CSS URL. In my case, it looked like this:
/min/assets/css/style.min.css

Write it in the address field, but also add a GET variable to it:
/min/assets/css/style.min.css?hello

Hopefully, the GET variable is accepted. Because it's a new URL, it forces the CSS to reload. Now, go back to the site and the CSS should have been reloaded.

On my Samsung tablet browsing with Chrome, type this in the address bar:
javascript:location.reload(true)

That should trigger a hard reload using Javascript. Now I do not have to wait for days to observe results of a change of code I made.
A new problem then is that typing on a tablet is not my favorite thing to do.
Instead of typing the above command I also tried to change to desktop mode and then back. That did not deep refresh.

I use a New Incognito Tab. It works on other devices and browsers, as well. It avoids the local cache normally.
Notice that private sessions can still be considered concurrent, so you may have to close all incognito tabs to clear their cache.

In the menu of the webpage, ask for the desktop version of the website. It will pull data from the server and the page will reload. After that, you can come back for the mobile version once again.

Not all websites offer mobile/desktop versions.

The current version of Chrome on Android has the option Request Desktop Site. Whether all sites honour that request or not, it's still an effective option in many cases. Trying this and finding it doesn't work is far easier and faster than clearing caches in settings.

I need a way to clear the current cache or all cache from the same origin domain via JavaScript, so I can make sure the update rollout of my web app arrives without errors.
I also had no success on temporarily changing the cache meta tags in the HTML header.
Only on desktop and not automatable: Ctrl + R. Used to work to force reload to clear the cache. Now you have to press Ctrl + Shift + R or Shift + F5.
I wrote my own workaround forceReload() function that works on Windows Chrome, Chrome for Android, and Chromium:
window.forceReload = function() {
    if (!window.fetch) return document.location.reload(true);
    var els = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
    for(var i = 0 ; i < els.length ; i++){
        var src = "";
        if (els[i].tagName == "A") continue;
        if (!src && els[i].src) src = els[i].getAttribute("src");
        if (!src && els[i].href) src = els[i].getAttribute("href");
        if (!src) continue;
        fetch(src, {cache: "reload"});
    }
    return document.location.reload(true);
};

This function will only reload contents that have been loaded on the current page. You can trigger it once on each of your clients after new updates are on the server, or simply add a working refresh button on your app.

Thanks for sharing the code. Fetch seems still experimental API, then probably another experimental Cache API could be handy as well.

Considering that Android.SE focuses more on issues from end-users, is the forceReload() function possible to be called from the browser directly?

Follow this steps to connect your smartphone to your computer:

Open the Developer Options screen on your Android. See Configure On-Device Developer Options.

Select Enable USB Debugging.

On your computer, open Chrome.

Go to chrome://inspect#devices.

Make sure that the Discover USB devices checkbox is enabled.

Connect your Android device directly to your development machine using a USB cable. The first time you do this, you usually see that DevTools has detected an offline device. If you see the model name of your Android device, then DevTools has successfully established the connection to your device.

If your device is showing up as Offline, accept the Allow USB Debugging permission prompt on your Android device.

(Copied from here here)

Now follow this steps to make Ctrl + F5 reload:

On your smartphone open Chrome and go to your desired web site.

In DevTools tab on your computer click on inspect below the web site url.

In opened windows (where you can see the mobile screen) press Ctrl + F5.

Doesn't work for Chrome 94.0.4606.81 under Android and Linux, except when Network→Disable Cache is ticked.

Another option: install a full keyboard app (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard ), tap the address bar to open the keyboard, then press shift+F5

I usually use a version parameter in the css/js url loaded, since every revisitor might have some problems.
Found this solution in another discussion, but I don't know the url. It worked fine for me :-)

This is similar to Jens Tornell's approach by using the GET parameter with a different value to break the cache, though the problem is how to do it efficiently (and possibly for all resources), because this site focuses on end-users, not developers' POV...

Pull down on a page to reload it, it comes incorporated to Chrome for smartphones.

While this feature is most recently added to Chrome broswers(ver.41 above) it wont be availabe in the older versions. So this feature may or may not work. And more importantly, this does just reloads the page in the normal way but the OP asks for a hard refresh.

It's not specified if the requiered solution is under a point of view of android or coding

Couldn't understand what you mean by that. But this answer doesn't  convice me that it will provide a solution to the OP's problem.

This "answer" is literally just telling people you can perform a regular refresh by pulling down on the page. OP's question however was about doing a "hard refresh",  CTRL+F5 equivalent on the PC.

To the left of the web address window you are visiting is a nearly circular arrow.

I don't believe this does a deep refresh like Stan is asking for.

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


text:
Using external SD Card on LG Optimus
Please tell me how to transfer my data from internal storage to the external SD Card please.... I'm ready to throw this stupid phone out the window.

Can you please explain what data you want to transfer? Hint: without the device being rooted, access to "internal storage" is pretty restricted, if you refer to that.

There are a lot of LG Optimus devices and some of them don't have SD Card slot (E973 for example).
If that is your problem then you can try attaching external SD Card reader to your device using USB OTG to USB adapter.

Lg Optimus series low end phones doesn't have necessary support in kernel for USB OTG support. :(

If your goal is to transfer data from the internal SDCard to the external, you can do so in several ways:

use a file explorer directly on the device (ES File Explorer File Manager is a good choice for this)
attach your device to your computer via USB, and both sdcards should become accessible. Use your favorite file explorer on your PC then to copy/move the files

If, on the other side, you are talking about the internal "phone storage": without root access to your device, your possibilities are pretty limited...

I'm going to assume the following:

You're running the latest Android version (4.1.2).
You want to transfer media (photos/videos/music).

Most Android devices come with a file manager app installed on the device. Take a look at all your applications (press the grid button on the homescreen) and see if you have one (this can be something such as "My Files", "Files", or "File Manager"). If you happen to have one, open it.

Navigate to the media on internal storage.
Do a long press on the item/folder that you wish to move.
Select the destination on the SD card.


text:
Voice App with custom proxy ability
I used to run Siri Proxy on my Mac mini, and it allowed me to build custom commands that Siri would respond to while I was on the same network.

"Turn on the living room lights"
  "Run the sprinklers"
  "Dim the lights for a movie"

Now that I've moved to Android, I'd like to be able to achieve this same goal. Can anyone direct me to a solution whereby I can use some Voice App in combination with a local proxy to achieve this desired result?

Please note that app recommendation questions (Is there an app for X?) are off topic here. For details, please consult our [FAQ].

@Izzy: This looks like "here is a problem I am trying to solve" question to me.

@user267 On a second read, I guess it might be re-phrased such -- you might be right with that, Al. Even not that much to change (replacing "app/proxy combination" by "solution" might do), so I might have been a bit too fast with my conclusion. Chase: In case your question gets closed due to my comment, just ping me, so I can make up for it.

@Izzy I've edited the question to appear less shoppingesque

@ChaseFlorell Thanks. As I wrote in my last comment: In case it gets closed, simply ping me. You'll almost always find me in chat here. Again, my apologies!


text:
What's ADB and why is it used for? How do I install it on my device?
There are mentions about ADB on various questions and answers on this site. I'm not exactly sure what ADB is, what it does, how it works and where I can get it: there's little information on the tag wiki besides the link for ADB on the android developer site.
On the site itself, the language is a bit too technical, and there is no information on how to install it or get it working, only a list of commands. This may seem obvious for a developer but may not be for some users.
What is the purpose, usage and installation procedure for ADB?

ADB is the acronym for Android Debug Bridge, which is part of the Android SDK (Software Development Kit). It uses a client-server-model (i.e. adbd, the ADB daemon, is running on the device and can be connected to), and in most cases is used via an USB connection. It is also possible to use it via WiFi (wireless adb).
There's nothing you need to install on your Android device, as the ADB daemon (adbd) is already integrated into the Android OS. It is usually accessed via a command line interface from the PC, where either the full Android SDK is installed (several 30 MB download archive currently), or a massively stripped-down version for "non-developers", sometimes referred to as "Mini ADB" or "ADB essentials" (for Linux, this is only the adb executable; for Windows it's adb.exe plus two or three .dll files):
adb [-d|-e|-s <serialNumber>] <command>

(serialNumber is only needed if there are multiple devices connected at the same time, so you have to specify the target)
It would become a rather long answer to explain all the options/commands available to adb. So I will only name some of the more important:

adb backup / adb restore: To backup/restore your device, either single apps with/without their data, or data with/without their apps, up to a full backup of all apps and data, including system apps
adb push / adb pull: copy files to/from the device
adb shell: open a shell on the device to execute commands directly
adb logcat / adb bugreport: display the system log or generate a complete bug report including system log, device information and more
adb [un]install: (un) install an app

This is just a small selection. There are additional commands for scripting, and especially adb shell has a lot of options (basically, all Linux and Java commands available on the device can be run through it).
Useful references

Everything about ADB (A reference for everyone at XDA Developers)
ADB for Dummies (again available via SDK Developers. If you miss the guides as I did firstly: The first article is consisting of links only, colorful as they might look :))
Android ADB Quick Guide

On Debian this is available as android-tools-adb.

Note also that you need to enable developer options, and also enable USB debugging (I think). You need to tap on the build info in the phone 7 times to show the developer options as of version 4.4.2. Seriously. On my phone it was Settings -> About phone -> Build number. See http://www.askvg.com/tip-enable-hidden-secret-developer-options-menu-in-google-android-mobiles-phones-and-tablets/

@FaheemMitha .deb: Yes, I know. Wanted to keep it a bit more generic here (gets to much else – but also see: Is there a minimal installation of ADB? and our adb tag-wiki). USB Debug: Yes. And the 7-times-tap is from Android 4.3 up – 4.2 and before didn't hide the developer menu.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S1 Constant Reboot Cycle
I left my Samsung Galaxy S1 charging overnight plugged into my computer (as I usually do) and when I came to use it in the morning, it was turned off (to my surprise).
When I turned it on, it goes into a constant reboot cycle, where it turns on, gets to the home screen and then about half a minute after, just reboots itself again.
I am able to get into recovery mode and download mode and I can keep it stable in safe mode - but have limited access to apps.
My questions are:
(a) does anyone know what would have caused this?
(b) what can I do to stop it?! without the obvious factory reset?
(c) I originally thought it was a battery problem but now that I can sustain it in recovery and safe mode, am I right in saying that the battery is fine and its most probably a software or app malfunction?

As you stated you can go to safe mode fine, the conclusion is clear: One of your apps is causing this issue. If you can remember what you installed lately, immediately before the trouble started, that's the most likely candidate. You can use safe mode to uninstall this malfunctioning app -- that's what's safe mode is for.
To your a-b-c:
a) see above: a mal-functioning app is the most likely candidate.
b) again see above: boot to safe mode, and uninstall the evil-doer
c) yes, absolutely.

Does your sdcard have multiple partitions?
Most recoveries have built-in repair function to scan corruptions in sdcards which prevents your phone from booting properly, it is under Mount -> Repair if you are using CWM.
If it did not help, try removing your sdcard temporarily to check if it boots up properly. If it successfully boots then you need to reformat your sdcard, make sure to backup first.

Thanks for that.
I do have an external SD card, but I'm running a CROM version of Jellybean 4.1.1 on the Galaxy S1 and since installing that, have had no access to the external SD card.
I just played with all the apps in safe mode and found one that kept crashing the system - I deleted it and re-installed it and now the phone booted up properly and seems to be running well..for now!
I'm using Devil Kernel - how can I check for the built in repair you mentioned?

It is part of the CWM recovery. You have to boot your phone in recovery mode and access the mount (or sometimes in advance) menu. You will find the option there.


text:
How do I transfer files in ClockworkMod between my phone and my computer if my phone doesn't have an SD card slot?
So the phone can only boot to "ClockworkMod Recovery" due to unknown reason.
Is there a way to transfer files between my phone's internal memory and my computer? There is no SD card slot on the phone.
I don't have any other ROM in my phone which means I can't flash anything but the official ROM (through download mode) which I think will remove all the files.

This suggestion assumes familiarity with connecting to the phone via ADB
I had a similar situation on my previous phone. I was able to pull the important stuff over ADB when the phone was in recovery. In my case I had to mount some of the filesystems to access everything I wanted to retrieve.
I'm not sure if it is dependent on the phone whether the ADB service is available in recovery. On mine it was available in both recovery and download mode.
If ADB on your computer recognizes and can connect to your phone you should be able to retrieve and save any files you need.
If you aren't familiar with ADB this is a good place to start: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/all-in-one-guide-to-adb/
If you need any help with it let me know, ADB is a whole other topic so keeping it simple here.

Also interesting for an introduction to ADB, providing further links to tutorials etc: What's ADB and why is it used for? How do I install it on my device?

On my CWM I have "mount USB storage" option under the menu "mounts and storage".

but this option does not necessarily working. It may not be responding at all

This video shows you how to do it with links to programs you need to download.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaK5OxUeDKM


text:
Can't take screenshots on Nexus 4
I have a rooted Nexus 4 (totally stock, except for CWM recovery). Yesterday I updated it to the 4.2.2 OTA. Today I discovered that I can't take a screenshot. Holding power + volume down should work, but when I try it the volume gets turned down or the pop-up for power off/airplane mode appears.
Is the timing for taking a screenshot really finicky? Is this a known issue in 4.2.2? (I've had the phone for less than two weeks, so I'm not sure if I tried to take a screenshot in 4.2.1).

As it turns out, the timing is just that finicky. Both buttons need to be pressed & held at exactly the same time to take a screenshot. I was used to a mod on my previous phone that had more relaxed timings so you could hold power and then hit volume down to take a screenshot.

Use one hand and you cannot fail to get a screenshot. :)

I have Nexus 4 with OTA 4.2.2; screenshot works when pressing and holding for 3 seconds the power and volume down button together.


text:
Is it possible to install unmodified, unadulterated and pure Android on a Sony Xperia S?
I'm willing to buy a Sony Xperia S, but in my opinion, the modifications Sony made to Android is just horrible.
So, is it possible to install the last version of Android unmodified? And, if so, how do I do that?

Of course you can
Just pick one from all the available ROMS, you will find some vanilla builds there if you only want the basics. But it requires the knowledge of rooting your ROM and flashing
if you are afraid of flashing but not rooting, then you can just remove the apps that you don't want using Titanium backup.


text:
Silencing a Whatsapp group
I would like to stop receiving new message notifications from a certain Whatsapp group. Is it possible?
Clarifications:

I don't want to leave the group.
I don't want to turn off all Whatsapp notifications. There are other groups from which I still want to get notifications.
I don't want to just mute the notification sound. What I want is to get rid of the group's notifications entirely.

Sounds like something tasker might be able to do.

Since WhatsApp version 2.11.399 and above for Android you can disable notifications when group is muted.
Follow this:

Open your group which you wanna mute.
Now go in 'Options' > 'Mute'.
A dialog box will pop up and as of WhatsApp version 2.11.399 select the max period available to mute your group which is '1 Year'.
Untick the 'Show Notifications' checkbox. Then click 'OK'.

You won't receive any notifications now from this group on your status bar.
(Click image to enlarge)

Great, except it doesn't work for me.

I can confirm that this works. Make sure you are on the correct version.

This does not work. I do have the option and I can uncheck the box, and maybe it disables the popup from the group but still shows notifications in the notification bar. Which is what I do not want.

This doesn't work. Whenever there's a new message, it is still the case that the group chat rises to the top, the green circle thing appears, and I can see the first few words of the latest message.

The only thing you can do is to go into the Whatsapp group you want to mute. Then select Menu > Mute > 1 Year and uncheck Show notifications.

Thanks, but I'm looking for a solution which eliminates the notifications, not just their sound. Eliminating the notifications themselves is crucial for me.

@snakile I figured, but that won't be possible. It's possible to hide all the notifications of an app. But when you want to hide certain notifications of that app, that has to be an option in the app itself. And Whatsapp just doesn't have that...

Since WhatsApp version 2.11.238, its now possible to avoid notification for any respective group when it is muted. For more detail info please refer my answer.

Unfortunately there is no solution where you disable notifications from one group and not the other.
However, if your question was "I want to get notifications only for individual messages and not group messages" (which was my situation that drove me to this page), here is an answer that may be helpful for other people browsing this page:

Disable all WhatsApp notifications from Settings->Apps->WhatsApp.
Open WhatsApp and enable popup notifications for message
notifications (not group notifications).

Now, messages from individuals will appear as popup messages on your phone, so you sure won't miss them. Other than this, WhatsApp won't bug you for anything else, including notifications of group messages.

In iPhone, you can solve the problem. Open group conversation. Click on group icon, then custom notification change for custom notification on. Change to sound silent and no vibration.
In Android, you can't solve the problem; only by turn off all notifications.

In the Group Info page, go to "Custom Notification", then change it to disable sound, and disable Alert.
maybe that will help?

I can't find any "Custom Notification" option in the Group Info page. Could you provide a screenshot please?

It's only available on iOS as of now.

In essence you're asking about how to accomplish something with a specific piece of software that isn't a part of the native functions in that piece of software. It's like asking "how do I log into ICQ with Skype" -- well, it's not going to happen unless you can modify Skype to begin with. Unless Whatsapp is open source and you can hire a developer to write the function you need for you, or there is other software available for accessing the Whatsapp network where this functionality exists or can be added, you're not going to solve this no matter how high of a bounty you set on it.
The most pragmatic and realistic approach is to bug the Whatsapp developers about this until they add the function you want to the software (or stop forcing notifications).

You're right of course. I haven't expected that a huge bounty will magically solve my problem by adding a non-existing feature to whatsapp. What I'm hoping to get here is a workaround. I couldn't think of any but maybe someone else have. Even if a workaround doesn't exist, when this feature will be available on whatsapp, there's going to be an answer here which mentions it.


text:
Why do Linux commands not work properly on Android?
> adb shell
sh-4.1$ ls -F
-F: No such file or directory

-F switch works fine on my Ubuntu.
Why doesn't it work on Android? Is there a way to make it work?

Most shell commands in Android are not GNU versions or a POSIX-compliant implementation, they are either from Toolbox or Busybox and mostly stripped down versions.
A lot of commands in /system/bin are symlinks to /system/toolbox. I haven't found much documentation about it, just the source at https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/jb-mr1-release/toolbox/
Busybox is another implementation of several common shell commands, with more commands and features than the default Toolbox. It's used on other embedded systems too, and some bootable GNU/Linux CDs, so you may already be familiar with it. Because it's open-source, there are several installers available on Google Play: just search for "Busybox".

There is a guide at https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator/wiki/Android-Shell-Command-Reference

Strictly speaking, GNU userland command tools are not "original", they were designed based on existing Unix command tools and POSIX.


text:
Why can't I get root access from shell?
> adb shell
sh-4.1$ su
Permission denied

I have rooted my phone successfully. I know this because I'm able to install apps on SD card and I have a program called SD Maid that is able to operate with root permissions.

Installing apps on SDCard does not necessarily require root, and SDMaid also (partially) works without, so that's no proof. Your quote from the shell, on the other hand, seems to prove you were not successful with your rooting. When checking your installed apps, is there either SuperUser or SuperSU available? Do you get prompts like "SDMaid requested root permissions" which you need to confirm?

@Izzy I get notifications like SD Maid has been granted super root permissions? Besides I just installed https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h3r3t1c.onnandbup&hl=en and it does ask me for super user confirmation which gets granted successfully.

@Izzy I would beg to differ. Installing apps on SDCard does require rooting your phone. Could you point to a contrary example?

Sure: Go to Settings->Apps->Manage Apps, and walk through them. Apps supporting it can simply be moved by tapping the corresponding button. Second: Take a look at AppMonster, right in the first screenshot, below the "moon icon" of "Sleepy Timer": this app supports App2SD, without root. AppMonster can move it (not requiring root), and even will offer to do so. App2SD is supported natively since Android 2.2. Follow the tag FAQ: App2SD

For the previous comment: OK, so full ack that root worked. Again, please check your apps for SuperUser/SuperSU, this time start the app. In its configuration, it should let see you which permissions it has stored; maybe you once accidentally checked "remember" and hit the "deny" button for adb shell. If you find a corresponding entry, simply remove it. Next time you should be asked again, then make sure to hit the correct button :)

@Izzy I have Superuser v2.3.6.3 The settings tab in Superuser does not show any stored permission settings. Besides AFAIK Superuser only confirms root access for applications launched from phone. I'm trying to su from bash shell within adb.

Yes, I understood that (I never checked what SuperUser does in that case, but was assuming "adb" then would be the "requesting app"). No stored permissions still make me wonder, as above you've stated it granted su to SDMaid: Do you always approve that manually, or did you check the "remember" box? In the latter case, there should be permissions stored.

Have you tried running adb as root?  Try issuing the adb root command in the Command Prompt/Terminal.

From here:
You might need to activate adb root from the developer settings menu. If you run adb root from the cmd line you can get:
root access is disabled by system setting - enable in settings -> development options
root access is disabled by system setting - enable in settings -> development options
Once you activate the root option (ADB only or Apps and ADB) adb will restart and you will be able to use root from the cmd line.

This setting is not available in all ROMs (couldn't find it e.g. in my LG Optimus 4X, which of course is rooted). IMHO this is a speciality of CyanogenMod.

what do you know about Android, dude?

root access is disabled by system setting - enable in settings -> development options Once you activate the root option (ADB only or Apps and ADB) adb will restart and you will be able to use root from the cmd line.

Nowadays Magisk is commonly used for rooting.
I've found that on my Oneplus 5 (Oxygen OS, Nougat) it was sufficient to go to Magisk Manager app, open superuser permissions screen and toggle Shell (com.android.shell) to resolve the adb su permission denied problem.

Could not find Shell (com.android.shell) in Magisk. Probably this changed in more recent versions of Magisk, as there's no full list of apps to choose from now.

On my device running LineageOS the option is called Rooted Debugging

There is an app on Google Play called ADBD Insecure by Chainfire. This app lets you run adbd in root mode if your device is rooted when running the devices Stock ROM. I just recently found out about this app.
The version on Google Play is not Free, but there is a free version available. The link to the free version is linked in the description of the application in Google Play.
What is great about this app, it works with Stock ROMs that have been rooted. If you are using a custom kernel, or a custom ROM, you probably won't need this application. But if you are still using a stock rom, just rooted, then you may want to get this application for your device.

adbd Insecure lets you run adbd in root mode if your device is rooted.
  (Note that if you are running a custom kernel, it is likely that it already implements this functionality)
If you are running a stock (made by the phone manufacturer) kernel on your device, chances are adbd is running in "secure" mode, even if you are rooted. This app lets you run adbd in "insecure" mode, which gives you root access in "adb shell", allows access to system files and directories through "adb push/pull", and lets you run the "adb remount" command to make your /system partition writable.

I've tried free ADBD Insecure app from original XDA thread on my Oneplus 5 Nougat rooted with Magisk but it didn't help and also broke MTP connectivity in USB debugging mode until the phone was rebooted.

Enable root access for adb from the developer settings menu. Then connect your usb cable and type:
adb root

It should return
restarting adbd as root

Now relaunch the shell
adb shell

Stock Android provides no "root access for adb" in Dev Options. adb root is only possible on userdebug ROMs: Why “adb root” does nothing?

For rooted Android ROMs without "root access for adb" in Dev Options, there is a Magisk plugin adb_root that provides the equivalent. (Disable when not in use, due to security limitations.)

"adbd cannot run as root in production builds" Getting this error. How to fix this?


text:
How do I check if I have Cyanogenmod on my phone?
Is it possible to check using shell whether or not Cyanogenmod is installed on a device?
In other words, something like uname -a (which tells the system Linux version and architecture).
Can the version be determined as well?

I tried to do uname -a on my CM10.1 (Samsung Galaxy S2) on the built-in Terminal app.
It returns:

Linux localhost 3.0.31-CM-g17c7b6e #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Feb 19 01:11:17
  PST 2013 armv71 GNU/Linux

Kernel version: 3.0.31-CM-g17c7b6e
SMP: Symmetric Multi-Processor support
PREEMPT: kernel preemption is enabled
Kernel date: Tue Feb 19 01:11:17 PST 2013
Processor: armv71

Can you explain the rest of the output? What is g17c7b6e, PREEMPT?

@KshitizSharma See my updates.

Umm, what if Android system is stock but kernel is of CM? Although it is not something we see everyday, I think uname -a might not be perfect but it's quite good! uname -a also might not be best if custom kernel is used and developer decided to tweak the name.

Another way is to simply go to Settings→About phone, where you should see (depending on your CyanogenMod version) an item "CyanogenMod updates", and (with all CM versions) "CyanogenMod-Version":

In my CM12, I can do:
adb shell getprop | grep -i cyanogenmod

and the result it shows is:
[ro.build.host]: [cyanogenmod]
[ro.cmlegal.url]: [https://www.cyanogenmod.org/docs/privacy]
[ro.error.receiver.system.apps]: [org.cyanogenmod.bugreport]
[ro.rommanager.developerid]: [cyanogenmod]

If you don't see cyanogenmod anywhere then either build.prop is deliberately tweaked to not display CM anywhere, or the device isn't running Cyanogenmod at all.

/etc/CHANGES.txt and /etc/CHANGELOG-CM.txt also can be considered.


text:
Disable mobile data during standby
I keep my mobile data (2G/3G) always on, but when the screen turns off (standby), I want it to automatically get disabled. Turn the screen back on, and it should automatically enable itself. Is there a way to tell android to keep mobile data off while the device is in standby?

Yes. There are many applications available in Google Play Store.
The most powerful automation app is Tasker, which I use and recommend to others. You can also try battery saver applications like Juice defender, and Deep Sleep Battery Saver.
In Tasker, define the context as Display off with task Disable net. Then you are done!
If you are in need of more tasker profiles, go here.

Thanks, but I prefer not to run any apps like Tasker (they drain my small and old android's battery fast). Can't afford battery saver apps either since my RAM is limited. I'll be looking for other answers meanwhile.


text:
storage on htc desire
Hi I've put a 4gb SD card in my htc desire but when I try to go on my gallery it says theres no external storage device and I can't get my head around it, also when I go into storage on my settings it only shows internal storage and do sent seem to acknowledge theres an SD card there at all, finally I can't get onto my camera because it says the same thing, can someone help me please ?

Can you access the sd card via a file explorer like Astro? Are you sure that the sd card is fully inserted? Have you tried taking the sd card out and putting it back in? Have you verified with another device that the sd card is functional?

I've tryed all of them but astro so I'll give that a shot. Also when I try to go on my camera it says please mount USB connection and I wonder If that's got anything to do with it ?

Hey just tried astro and even that isn't acknowledging my SD card :/ any thoughts ?

Is your phone connected to a computer?

No not yet, y ?


text:
How can I stream PC desktop, 1:1 pixel ratio, to Android device?
Does anyone have a solution for streaming pc screen content to an Android device with 1:1 pixel ratio? I want to use it to display graphical work directly on the device, and possible for the future to produce quick interactive prototypes.
There is an application for iOS called LiveView which lets you bring up a container on your Mac which streams the content of the container straight to your iOS device.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of any solution for Android that does this?

There is the SplashTop Desktop Streaming Application. The app is free, but has some in-app purchases for more features.
They also have a few premium versions available.

+1 I really like the looks of this. However, I'm not getting it to work. I created an account using the app and then downloaded the PC client. When I tried logging into the PC client it said that there was no account with that email... really weird. so I created the same account again in the PC client, which did go through. But the PC client still doesn't recognize the device. so frustrating, I wonder where it went wrong...

It has been a while since I used it (and set it up). I will try when I get home, unless you figure it out.

http://betanews.com/2012/01/05/turn-you-android-into-a-second-pc-monitor/
try this.
hope it will help you,
cheers

Please add some more information to your answer. See also http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/8259/156683

There is screen stream for Android that seems to do what you are asking.
It streams live the display of the device and has many options.
There is a trial version here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobzapp.screenstream.trial


text:
Debug Samsung Galaxy S3 Blank Screen Freezes
my Samsung Galaxy S3 suffers from the Black/Blank screen freeze. The only remedy is to pull the battery to get the phone to respond again. I'm running Android 4.1.1 and I have done a factory reset. Now the symptoms are back. I would like to figure out a way to get the log of phone after I pull the battery so that I may be able identify which app is causing this issue. I have the Android SDK installed, but so far I can only get the current live log. How can I get a log history with time stamp?
Thanks,
Nick,

Did you have any luck with your problem?

I did a factory reset and I try to not download too many junk apps. It has only happened once since then. My phone has also been upgraded to 4.1.2.

There are several system monitors available you might want to give a try. Some of them log activities while running in the background, so no information is lost when the device has to be rebooted. While these might not directly point out the troublemaker, you could still see at what time the freeze happened, and which apps might have been active then -- so they should bring you at least closer to finding the culprit.
One of those monitor apps is SystemPanel App / Task Manager (it has a free trial version, but that does not log in the background but only allows for "live monitoring"). Some screenshots from the playstore for illustration:

SystemPanel (source: Google Play)
An alternative would be System Tuner, which offers similar functionality.


text:
How to disable USB data connectivity on rooted device
I have a Transformer TF101 and I have Android 4.0. I want to disable the USB data connectivity of it for my purposes. The device is rooted.
How can I do that, and can I change the implementation of the USB driver ?

I tweaked your question to be more about a problem to be solved rather than asking how to implement a solution you've already identified.


text:
Is ZTE Blade compatible with wifi direct?
I've installed Android 4.1.2 on the ZTE Blade (Sapo A5) and i would like to know if ZTE Blade is compatible with wifi direct?? Does wifi direct have any hardware requirement?

Depends on the hardware driver capabilities for the ar6000 chipset. This question should rather be directed at Modaco and ask in there. Is this one of Konstat's builds?

Yes it is: gapps-jb-20121017-KonstaKANG.zip
Thanks for the insight

Well, post it there and someone is bound to answer about this :) Also check the change log/release notes or something there.. :)


text:
Why can't all rooted phones be unlocked?
I enjoy modding my phone with custom roms, kernel patches, and custom bootloaders.
I know that the bootloader/recovery can be overwritten, as can pretty much any partition that exists on the phone. Even the radio can be flashed, though this is not generally an option available since you could permanently brick a phone that way.
My question is how phone companies can lock down a phone (ie tie it to their carrier) if a rooted phone gets access to basically everything? I lack the knowledge in the architecture of how a locked phone works, so I'm guessing there has to be some chip that is not accessible.
Can someone shed some light as to how exactly a phone gets locked?

See also Can I use my device on a different carrier? and What is the difference between: Rooting, Jailbreak, ROM, Mod, etc.? for more info

Most phones have separate AP (application processor) and BP (baseband processor AKA modem AKA radio). "Rooting" results in gaining control over the AP. The carrier "subsidy" lock is residing in BP. Most custom ROMs just include stock (i.e. still locked) BP image as a binary BLOB. Since the BP code is proprietary and never gets released to public.


text:
Google Voice texts delivered hours late/not at all
I use a Google Voice phone number to receive texts, and I have the Google Voice app installed on my device (Atrix, OS:2.3.3).
For some reason lately when someone texts my Google Voice account it's not getting sent to my phone. For example:

I got a text at 9:00 this morning (time is now 1PM)
If I visit voice.google.com, I see I have a text in my inbox.
If I open the Google Voice app on my phone, it does the 'synchronizing' spinning wheel animation for a few seconds and then I get the 'new text' notification, which is now 4 hours late.

In my Google Voice app's options, I have Background data: Enabled. Why isn't it pushing my texts when they are received? I get Gmail messages delivered to my phone near instantly, but I'm not getting the same behavior with GV.
Any ideas?

Have you also enabled auto-sync. It might also be a problem with the network specially if 3G coverage in your area is spotty

I don't recall seeing such an option such as 'auto-sync', can you say where you saw it? The 3G in my area is pretty solid, I've usually got 4 or 5 bars.

It's in the Settings -> Accounts & sync -> Activate auto-sync, just right under Background Data. But if you're on ICS or newer, tap your account and see if data sync for each items are checked

Hmm, you must have a different version than me, because I don't see any such menus. Under settings I just have Accounts, and Battery & Data Manager. Under Data Delivery, I have Background data checkbox, but there's nothing under it called auto-sync. Maybe it's the motorola skin, not sure. Based on the number of other complaints I see about this issue I'll have to guess it's some flaw with the app and not with the android environment, but hard to be sure.

my Settings is AOSP-based so your settings must be running on Moto's skin. Also is this issue just recent?

I have the same problem on my Moto Bionic (running JB 4.1) with Google Voice text and voicemail notifications.

If I recall there was an update recently that addressed this. Is this still an issue for you?

I'm not really sure why it happens, but I've experienced the same issue in the past with the very same phone.  It usually happened when I was travelling, such that once I arrived at a new destination, I'd suddenly get text messages delivered.  The issue did seem to go away when I installed a custom rom (the latest Cyanogenmod at the time).  I've since gotten another phone and have never experienced the issue.  If you're feeling brave, I recommend flashing a newer rom.


text:
ADB does not work in boot loader mode
I have a Galaxy Nexus 'maguro' and a laptop with Ubuntu 12.10. I'm trying to install Ubuntu Touch preview. I installed the adb and fastboot packages, and adb detects the device when it is booted in to Android. But when I do a reboot-bootloader, it no longer turns up in the devices list.

Are you checking adb devices? 'Cause that's not where it will be when it's at the bootloader - you should see it under fastboot devices.

"Boot loader mode" is also known as "fast boot mode" hence you need to use fastboot utility to access the device.  This utility is part of Android SDK, and can be found in the same location as adb - <SDK install location>\platform-tools\


text:
Phantom songs on Cyanogenmod 10.1 phone
I am running Cyanogenmod 10.1 nightly (2013-02-19) on my Samsung Galaxy SII (I9100), and have about 190 songs on it that I listen to with the latest Songbird app.
The strange thing is Songbird thinks there are 380 songs (i.e. two times 190) and shows me a duplicate of each song I have on the phone. For each song, one copy plays fine, and the other copy doesn't play and doesn't show its cover art.
I tried clearing the Songbird data and cache but that didn't help. I also tried to install the JUST PLAYER music app and it showed the same problem!
Does anyone have thoughts as to where these duplicate phantom songs are coming from? Is there some data store or cache in the Android system that I could clear or reset to resolve this issue?
Thank you very much.

It is a problem on your ROM. I also had that issue, until the ROM dev fixed the sdcard mount points. It is because your sdcard has two symlinks (usually @ /mnt/sdcard and /storage or whatever) so your phone thinks that you have 2 sdcards. You can solve this by excluding one of the mounts like I do on MXPlayer before it was fixed. You should inform your ROM dev about this issue so he can fix it.

Thanks for your quick answer! Is there a way to exclude that either in Songbird or another music player? Thanks.

I dont know, I am not a fan of music and I mostly use my phone for movies, anime and games :D try to ask others


text:
unsuccessful VPN connection
I'm unable to connect my phone to VPN, it always say "unsuccessful". I deleted the profile and created it again but it didn't help. What is wrong with it?

are you using a 3rd party VPN or the built-in one?

@forums: The latter.

I'm going to assume you are using Android's VPN client. Have you tried to connect other droids to the VPN and had success?

@forums: I used the connection before successfully(in my smartphone), the issue has appeared recently.

what I mean is can you still access your VPN thru other means? it might be the VPN is down. If that is not the case, did you recently installed a program before you can't connect?

@forums: Yes, I can connect to it from my laptop. And no, I haven't installed any apps on it recently.

The only surefire fix I can suggest is factory reset. But I know it should be your last resort so maybe it can also be fixed by resetting the settings to defaults, without losing data. This method sometimes work with broken wifi, issues with force close, some lagging issue and some others.
First, if you have Titanium Backup or other similar apps, backup your system data (Settings, ApplicationSettings, Settings Storage) because you will be wiping it clean. 2nd, Go to Settings -> Applications -> All, and scroll down until you find Settings. Select it, now you will see some info, scroll down until so see Clear data. Note that clearing data will set your Wifi, Wallpaper, Sound, Network, but not your password and google login, to defaults.
Now after clearing Settings, go back to Applications -> All, and check if you also have VPNservice, and Network Provider there, clear its data too to be sure.
Try to login your VPN now, it should probably work. If not, use whatever last resort you have. But remember to backup first :P

you might try out 3rd party softwares like hot spot shield Hot spot shield Flash VPN


text:
Galaxy Nexus not connecting to router with WEP encryption
My Samsung Galaxy Nexus (I9250) running Jelly bean 4.1.1 has problems connecting to a Wifi router with WEP encryption. I cannot change the WiFi encryption type.
Other devices are connecting to the network and working fine. The Nexus is connecting to other wifi networks properly. I have tried WiFi Manager and other apps to connect.
Anyone facing a similar issue? Any solution to fix this issue?


text:
Block A Number From Leaving Voicemail?
I keep getting spam calls from a number every night at midnight. I've blocked it, but now it just goes to voicemail and I have to delete the voice messages every morning. It's annoying. Is there an option to block it from leaving voice messages, or just automatically answer then hang up? I haven't found one in Android itself (my phone has ICS). I've also tried Mr. Number, which I thought would do this, but it doesn't. It does work, see update below. I've also talked to my carrier about it, but apparently I'd have to add "smart number blocking" or something to my plan for about $5 a month. If possible, I'd rather just get an app answer & hang up than have another fee to pay.
Delayed Update: I followed the directions eldarerathis provided below for Mr. Number and it does what I was trying to do; I must have just done something wrong before. The phone will still ring for a few seconds though, so it may be best to silence it if the call comes at a consistent, inconvenient time like it does for me.

How did you set up Mr. Number? It maintains two block lists, and one should be to answer + hang up immediately (the other is straight to voicemail). I use it exactly like you're describing. What happened when you tried to use it?

It claimed it was blocking the number, but I was still getting voicemails. How did you make it answer & hang up?

I opened the app, pressed the blocklist button in the top right (the circle with a line through it) and then it gave me three tabs: "Hang up", "Voicemail" and "Exceptions". Then I pressed the "Hang up on Someone" button on the first tab to add the number I wanted to block. This is on a Galaxy Nexus.

This can also be done with Tasker.

I'll try Mr. Number again--I don't think those were quite the same steps I took before, so I'll give it another go. I would try Tasker too, but $7 seems like a lot...

To keep this phone number from ringing, create a contact for it and then follow one of these options: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-10/tech/29961867_1_ringtone-free-app-android-market.

Why not go to your carrier and ask them to blacklist the number so that it would never reach your voicemail?

@t0mm13b I asked them about that once. "Smart Number Blocking" is $5 a month, Mr. Number is free.

Mr Number is spyware garbage. It's not just an app, but a service; to use it you have to create a Mr. Number account on their site, whereby you agree to their terms of service. Your phone will upload info to the site, like your list of contacts. It is ironic for an app to increase your privacy (block unwanted calls) to compromise your privacy in this way, and from a technical standpoint, the level of complexity is unacceptable, since the problem can be solved locally on the phone without contacting a service.

I have tried numerous applications which claim they can do this, none of which worked. Call Blocker from embware finally seems to be doing it. It has a global setting for the behavior which applies to your entire black list (not per entry). Set it to "answer then hangup" and it does the job. You may have to remove the target number from the phone's built in blocker. Only two numbers leave voice mails, so I will transition them to this app and leave the rest to be handled by the phone's regular app.

@Kaz I don't remember having to make an account, and I can't find anything account-related in the settings. What makes you think it's spyware?

@Zelda64fan  It is spelled out in the Mr. Number terms of service: "You may join Mr. Number and become a “Member” by installing the Mr. Number Mobile App on your mobile phone. The first time you launch the Mr. Number Mobile App, a Caller ID record will be created for you automatically and linked to your phone number. When you use the Mr. Number Mobile App, you will have the opportunity to decide what Caller ID Data that other Members will see when you call or text them."

@Zelda64fan About a year ago they got in hot water with Google. Interestingly, since May of this year, though, Mr. Number has been owned by White Pages, evidently.

Not for Ice Cream Sandwich, but in Marshmallow, the stock call blocking also deletes voicemail.
Phone->Menu->Settings->"Call Blocking"

Calls from these numbers will be blocked and voicemails will be automatically deleted.

This doesn't seem to exist in Nougat on version 11 of the Phone app from Google.

The free App call control works pretty good. You can have a number blocked and set up so it picks it up and hangs up. It doesn't let them leave a message and your phone don't ring. However If you go where you don't have service it will still send it to voicemail, but works great otherwise.


text:
Get data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db from backup.ab
I followed Nikolay Elenkov's method of unpacking backup.ab.
Is it possible to get data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db from backup.ab?

When I saw the title on the front page, I was going to suggest you read Nikolay's blog on the subject. His stuff is always good. He's got a book coming out too: Android Security Internals.

I found a bypass to this problem. Just do a full adb backup including all app data, apk and system data. Then root the phone and restore everything from backup. Then I would be able to access data/data/com.android.browser/databases/webview.db using Root Explorer on my phone.

To extract it in an easier way, take a look at How do you extract an App's data from a full backup made through “adb backup”?. Multiple options available :) Your method was not mentioned there -- and brings us to one more: you could have used the Android Emulator to restore to...


text:
Where does the Play Store store the apps I am currently downloading?
I was downloading Facebook from the Play Store awhile ago when the phone suddenly hanged up so I forcefully shut it down by removing the battery. Now when I re-boot Facebook is no longer in the queue and I need to download it again. Now my question is, where did the Play Store temporarily store it while it was being downloaded? I fear that there's now a rogue incomplete Facebook apk file somewhere that's using up wasted space.

chances are, it is stored in a corrupt format that the phone cannot read. Plug your phone to the PC and do a scan and repair to clear out broken files, that should take care of it.

@forums PCs do not generally have tools to clear incomplete downloads from partitions on Android devices.  /data isn't even accessible without ADB.

ok, I just assumed android automatically scans partitions on reboot and clear out broken files in partitions so its only the sdcard that need scanning. Big files (50mb-up) cannot be stored in phone memory, so when it is interrupted, only scan and repair may be able to reclaim the memory.

The Playstore app usually uses /data/local to temporarily store .apk files while downloading, then installs them from there, and finally removes the temporary download-file (which then went to /data/app). The /data/local directory should be readable by all processes (so no root needed to list its contents), as it is used as a kind of "temporary directory" for a lot of things (you might think of it as a "misnamed" /tmp directory).
This directory should be "cleaned up" on reboot1, so your issue might rather be a broken .apk in /data/app. A new install should solve this anyway. I further recommend using AppMonster Pro -- yes, the Pro version: on each install/update it grabs the .apk file of the installed/updated app and stores away a copy. So in cases like this, you could simply grab a previous version and install it over.
Just for completeness: There seem to be more such "temporary directories" on Android devices. Investigating a dump from a stock 2.2 Motorola Milestone 2, I e.g. also found /data/download. Different devices might use other directories additionally. But that should not affect your Playstore question.

1 I can only base this on one of my devices (Motorola Milestone 2, stock Android 2.2), where I extracted a Nandroid backup stored on my PC. There the init.rc file (which is called during the boot process) a.o. contains the following:
mkdir /data/local 0771 mot_tcmd shell
mkdir /data/local/tmp 0771 mot_tcmd shell
mkdir /data/local/12m 0771 mot_tcmd shell
mkdir /data/local/12m/batch 0771 mot_tcmd shell

Easy to see: the /data/local directory is created during the boot, which suggests it being empty at this point. Same is valid btw. for /data/download

In your opinion it's cleared out?  Do you mean in your experience? :P

I never felt the need to thoroughly check. Whenever I looked, it was empty. But as I never experienced trouble with an aborted install, I cannot say for sure. Not being at my computer when I wrote this, I had no chance to verify what I thought might be behind -- so thanks for the reminder, I'll update my answer...

On my Xperia Ray (ST18i) running ICS, I do not have access to the /data directory. Could the settings be different on Xperia phones or it's an ICS thing?

You don't have full access to the /data directory and its contents unless your device is rooted. Without root, you can access parts of it if you know where they are; you should e.g. be able to directly access the /data/local folder, but might not be able to "browse" the /data folder contents. So with clicky-clicky graphical interfaces, you might have a hard way getting there unless you can input the full path manually :)


text:
Plugged a Bluetooth USB to Tablet but seems not working
I have insert a USB Bluetooth dongle to a Tablet via the USB port and try to turn on the Bluetooth in the Android but fail.
So, how do one know if the USB Bluetooth dongle can be supported for a tablet that have a USB port? (Given that the USB Bluetooth dongle have been tested to work fine in a desktop PC and there is no further information on the tablet manual on which Bluetooth dongle is supported for the tablet.)
The Ice-cream tablet was not rooted yet.
Is there some kind of Android Apps that can check or verify the above scenario?

Most tablets that comes with the Bluetooth share app installed, and have a Bluetooth option in Settings, while not having a built-in bluetooth, typically indicates support for such dongles.
I have used generic Android TV Box (CDR-King brand) with no bluetooth built-in but has a menu for it. Plugging a bluetooth dongle to a usb port activated it. Based on this, your tablet's ROM does not support bluetooth. My advice is to root it, and flash a custom ROM with bluetooth support if applicable.

I kind of suspect is that the tablet firmware that might be the culprit.

but is the bluetooth dongle plug n play (no additional drivers needed) to use? Most branded bluetooth dongle require drivers to run on pc, while generic types (one I use on the TV box) generally use the built-in bluetooth drivers. Does your tablet also comes with a bluetooth toggle?


text:
How to sync non-picasa folder displayed in Gallery app?
I often use Instagram to add effect and frame to my photos.
Then, there is a folder named instagram appearing in Gallery; but that folder won't be synced with my Google account i.e. on another Android device signed in with the same account, I don't see that folder.
So my question is that how I can have it synced?

PhotoSync (Sync to Picasa) might be your choice:

PhotoSync is tool for sync photos to Picasa(Google Photos). though limited, you can sync videos too.You can also sync photos among multi devices via Picasa.

This works nice for me. Bi-directional sync available only in paid version though

Just out of topic quick ask, how would you snapshot your phone? I cannot do that without rooting it :(

That depends on the Android version running on the device. Since 4.0 it's natively built-in, before some devices (e.g. Samsung) already had it. See: How to take a screenshot with an Android device? for examples ;) But most of the screenshots I post here come from the playstore -- I cannot install all apps on my devices just to post them :)

The gallery is showing the Instagram folder cause it scans the whole device and external storages and grab all folders with images. You can't sync that folder but can share once in a while with Picasa so that process will upload images on that folder to Picasa. And then Picasa will sync that folder to your rest of the devices.

How can I share once in a while that Instagram folder JanithaR? I tried to upload it to Picasa but I'm afraid it just create a new album and not synced at all

Just select the whole folder (tap and wait), the share option will popup and chose Picasa. The first time tell Picasa to create a new folder and it will create Instagram folder and upload the files to it. The next time when you have new files to upload simply share again and that time chose the existing Instagram folder in Picasa. :) You can't automate this unless of course there is a third party app built for it.

Thanks for your clear and helpful explanation! I need it automated though.

Alternatively, you might want to take a look at apps like e.g. FolderSync:

FolderSync is a application that enables simple sync to cloud based storage to and from local folders on the device memory card. It currently support multiple SkyDrive, Dropbox, SugarSync, Ubuntu One, Box.net, LiveDrive, HiDrive, Google Docs, NetDocuments, Amazon S3, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV or windows share (Samba/CIFS) accounts, and support for more platforms are planned.

With this app you can define which folders shall be synced where, thus adapting everything to your very convenience.

(click images to enlarge; source: Google Play)

Would be lovely and meet my need if FolderSync have the Picasa name on the list. Thanks Izzy!

Yeah, it doesn't sync directly to Picasa, it seems. But you might ask the dev, maybe he adds it. As long as it's not there, you can still use it to sync the images across devices. Or take a look at PhotoSync (Sync to Picasa).

Please separate your answer for PhotoSync as a new answer so as to be accepted. Thanks for your help Izzy.

As you wish ;-)


text:
Screen Translation?
How can the text in a running app be translated?
Ideally, I would like it to be automatic, like the translation Google Chrome Desktop does.
Second best solution, If the above is not possible, to be able to translate a screenshot taken from the device (without using a PC, and preferably without internet connection).

I have tried to translate the screenshot with Google Translate and Google Goggles (Thanx @forums), but the former can only work with the camera, and not with a stored file, where as the later does not correctly identify all texts (see comments below).
OS/Device (if that matters): Android 4.2.2, LG Nexus 4

Theres an app called in app translator does this job

I use Google Goggles to scan barcodes, qr codes, objects, and also translate foreign aliens :P
It also has an option to open images from gallery including screenshots. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of any in-app translation app. The developer should be responsible for that matter

Developers are irresponsible here :P. Thanx I will give it a try...

Tried it but I could not set OCR language. Also, it does not recognize all the parts with text. Could not figure out how to manually select area for OCR. But it is a cool App anyway!


text:
mp3 from email to player
I want to download an mp3 from email and listen to it through the google music player.  I currently do it through yahoo mail and jelly bean 4.2.2.  However after downloading I have to turn off and back on phone for it to show in player.  Closing the player and restarting player does not get it to recognise the newly downloaded file.
There must be a better way?

There is. All that has to be done is having the Media Scanner run and update the index. Turning the device off and on again triggers this, but (as you said) is not a very convenient way. Unmounting/mounting the SD card would trigger it as well (and can be done via Settings→Storage) -- already a little better, but still not very user-friendly.
The most easy way would be to have an app like e.g. Rescan Media taking care for it. Rescan SD might be even more convenient, as it offers a widget. Just tap it, wait for the scan to finish, and your MP3 file should be visible from your music players.

sweet.  Im using nexus so there is no sd card.  Rather than install to test - would you know if the rescan sd will also rescan internal GB through widget?

AFAIK all it does is trigger the Media Scanner, which in turn should take care for all locations. Hence the name is a little misleading. Just give it a try (what could go wrong?), and report back so we know for sure next time :)

just tried out the rescan media.  I had to close play, do rescan, and then open play, and there it was. It closes itself so dont see how a widget would improve my life further than the icon.  It works.  Sweet.  Saved so much time....

@Jon I fully agree! It's just that I had not tested either, so I wanted to give you both options :)

I switched to HTC one (m7) and the included HTC player updates its files automatically.  It also has a nice circle round the play button saying how far into the track it currently is.  Google should play catchup.


text:
SGS3 I-9300 Android 4.2 - why can't I disable these system apps?
nb. I can disable them using 3rd party root apps without any discernible negative effects.

Are these networking protocols default? They seem to be harmless but everything I read about sit0 seems to suggest it's no longer used.

This looks like some serious networking issues to my layman's eye. Yes or no?

(click image to enlarge)
I have 100s or 1000s of logcat messages where a request for Neighboring Cell IDs is denied. Is this some kind of worm attempt being blocked by policy?

(click image to enlarge)

The last image, is the Radio event log RILJ which is Radio Interface Layer - methinks there's some jumping to wrong conclusions... :)

"Why" is not a question well suited for our site, as it probably is a speculative question and such off topic (see our [FAQ]). Although, a short technical explanation: The company building your ROM decided such.
"How can I disable them" would be better fitting, and even has answers:
If you cannot disable them from Settings→Apps→Manage Apps, you will need to root your device. Having done that, there are several apps available allowing you to "freeze" unwanted system apps. The most well-known of them is Titanium Backup which, as a side-effect, provides you with a powerful backup solution. Another candidate for that is App Quarantine ROOT/FREEZE.


text:
How to connect Galaxy S2 m250s model via USB?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 that my uncle brought for me from Korea. This model of the S2, for some reason, has connecting issues through USB. The computer does not detect it at all!
I tried connecting it in my Ubuntu OS, and also on a cousin's Windows 8, still no luck at all.
I wish to backup the phone first, it is not rooted, so I need to follow what was said here. And after the backup I have to change its ROM to i9100 from the current m250s, so I can use it properly.
But for all that to happen, it needs be connected to the PC first.
It has ICS 4.0.4.
Additional information collected from the comments:
This is what I get when the phone is not connected:
$ sudo lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

And this is what I get after connecting through the download mode of the phone:
$ sudo lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Which is no change at all. The phone is not even detected there! I also tried different cables, but the situation stays unchanged.

That is a very weird scenario! lsusb is reporting no change... That Samsung Galaxy S2, is it not a cheap fake version? Its just a feeling of suspicious-ness about it...

As you refer to the article utilizing adb backup, you want to use ADB to access your device. So for Windows, you would need to install the corresponding drivers; on Linux, a single line in /etc/udev/rules/50-android.rules will be sufficient.
I'd suggest you read my answer on the question What is ADB..., which (at its end) mentions a few guides to get you started with ADB. For a quick configuration on Linux, follow the steps in my answer on Configuring ADB for Nexus 4 on Ubuntu.
If on the Linux host the device is not turning up in the listing of sudo lsusb, and Windows does not even claim to have found an "unknown device" (as your comments suggest), make sure to rule out the USB cable as a possible troublemaker (try different USB cables; you might even visit a shop to "try before buy", best taking a Laptop with you). In case none of multiple USB cables work, a damaged USB port is becoming the likely cause -- though it might be charging fine, one (or more) of the data pins (or their connections to the board) could be faulty. Which would mean you'd have to turn in your device for service.

@RifazNahiyan It's better to place this information in the original question (I already did so for you, so you might want to remove the comments for more clarity). Confirmed: In this case it looks less like a driver problem, but rather like either a broken USB port or a damaged cable. Have you tried different cables as well?

Yup, bro. I've tried different cables too.
What you said above, might just be the problem, and I may have to resort to sending it to servicing. Thanks.
Any other possible workaround, if available, will be highly appreciated, though.


text:
Can Not Open mmssms.db
I have taken a copy of the mmssms.db from the /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/
I am trying to open this in sqliteman, but the database does not want to load in, I have taken multiple copies and it will still not open.
The Android version is Ice Cream Sandwhich.
Any help will be muchly appreciated as I am running out of ideas! All other databases open fine from the phone.

Any error messages? "Does not open" is a bit vague. What exactly does happen instead? Can you open it with the sqlite command line program?


text:
Is there any way to connect 'Samsung galaxy tab 2 p3100' to a monitor
i want to know how to connect the galaxy tab 2 p3100 to my monitor through hdmi or dvi interface. is it possible or not. i tried google but can't find any solution.

I think it needs samsung's proprietary 11-pin MHL adaptor to output HDMI. Ordinary MHL adaptors won't work as it only has 5-pins. I dont own a galaxy tab so take my suggestion with a pinch of salt

@forums - The Tab 2 uses a stupid Apple-like connector, not a normal microUSB.  The 11-pin thing is for the Galaxy S3.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 does not support any form of video out.  The necessary hardware was not included in the design for cost-cutting reasons.  Only the 10.1 has MHL capability.
source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37032295&postcount=110


text:
Enable location services via ADB or shell
I have a rooted phone. Is it possible to enable location services (GPS or network location) via ADB or Terminal Emulator?

On Android 6.0,
To enable:

GPS: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +gps
Network: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +network

To disable:

GPS: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -gps
Network : adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -network

On Android 11.0,
To enable:

GPS: adb shell settings put secure location_mode 3

To disable:

GPS: adb shell settings put secure location_mode 0

Thanks, it works. Is there anyway we can enable/disable gps and network with one  line adb command. I need it for high accuracy locaton. gps+network =high accuracy

Android location service comes with different options:

High accuracy: gps, network

Enable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +gps,network
Disable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -gps,network

Phone only: gps

Enable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +gps
Disable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -gps

Battery saving: network

Enable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed +network
Disable: adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed -network

location_providers_allowed no longer works for Android 10 (API level 29).
Instead, you can set the location_mode to LOCATION_MODE_HIGH_ACCURACY with a value of 3:
adb shell settings put secure location_mode 3

NOTE: Probably won't work >v29 as this is already deprecated as the docs on Location Mode mention:

This constant was deprecated in API level 28.
  The preferred methods for checking location mode and listening for changes are via LocationManager#isLocationEnabled() and LocationManager#MODE_CHANGED_ACTION.

Don't know what a programmatic way to do this through the shell will be once this constant disappears.

Enable: adb shell settings put secure location_mode 3
Disable: adb shell settings put secure location_mode 0

See Stack Overflow - How to enable/disable GPS location services on Android 9 via ADB commands (not rooted device).

Functions on Android 11.

@user598527, hi! Thanks for the comment. Currently I don't know.

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


text:
How do I set my Android Nexus 4 via bluetooth MAP to get messages in car
I have a Nexus 4 and I am trying to get it to work with my car computer, and for most parts via Bluetooth it works, especially for audio. I cant get the text messaging part to work, and that has to do with MAP profile for bluetooth.
When I had a samsung SIII it worked, but for some reason, with this it doesnt seem to work.. I heard from someone that it may be an issue and you need to install a custom rom. Is that true? Is there any other way around this?

It was broken in 4.2 when Google rewrote the Bluetooth stack.

MAP was never implemented in AOSP, the SIII only had it from Samsung tweaks.


text:
My S3 doesn't have Auto screen off/on option
Hi I'm trying to look for Auto screen off/on during calls but I could not locate it. It's not on my Call Settings. Help please.

Are you using a case? please DO NOT Block the upper part of the screen because the proximity sensor that turns the screen off when on call is located there. There is no option in settings because it is fully automatic


text:
How can I easily find out what has changed in an app after an auto update notification?
When I get a notification about an app update I often wonder what changed in this update. Is there a quick & easy way to find out? (No typing.)
Note: This is with auto-update enabled, when the update is already installed.

Tapping the notification usually brings up teh market link. You will find the changelog for the app there, if developer is diligent enough. Otherwise, you'll need google for answers

@forums Mind placing this as an answer? Looks valid enough for me (you might add a few details, like the tab to look for).

If you want to know the changes made in the app after the update then simply follow this steps.

Slide down the notification bar
Tap the update notification.
This will bring up the market link (unless you set the app to auto-update which will open up the app and not the market link because the update is already installed).
Once you're in, search for the app in question, select it, and there you will find the changelog like this.

Notice that you cannot do this if auto-update is enabled. You must open the Play Store, tap Menu (three dots in upper right of screen), and select My Apps. From there, do step 3.
Take note that not all developers post their changes in the market. For that you will need to google for the answer.

Thanks. I've got auto-update enabled, still useful to be reminded that you can find it through My Apps.


text:
Reinstall OS on Nexus 7
I had unlocked my Nexus 7 and everything was great for months. I came home from work and it was stuck in a boot loop. I somehow managed to delete the OS while trying to fix it. I have access to the Team Win Recovery Project v2.2.1 but nothing else. What's the best way to reload the OS?

XDA is the only place to go.
They have plenty of ROMs to choose from, including stock builds for your Nexus if you want timely updates from big G.

Also look here: Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device?

You could also try downloading the factory image from Google. There are instructions with how to use it on that site too. This will completely wipe your device including your files.


text:
Contacts sync in the opposite direction
I tried to sync my contacts in my phone (Android 4.0.3), and as a result all my contacts in my phone were changed to the old contacts I had in my google accont on the web. For example. if I had changed a phone number to a new one in my cellular phone before the sync, it changed back to the old number that was on the web.
Can I restore the up-to-date numbers that I lost? What could have gone wrong?

Been suffering the same problem with Froyo 2.2 AND Bada OS, had to disable sync, or simply avoid putting my phone online.  Stupid overwriting of phone's updated contact data with old.

I remember having gone through the same problem years back (on a froyo device). Not sure what caused it, but I fixed it as follows:

Exporting ALL your google contacts to a file (make sure everything is in there)
Remove all contacts from google
Remove all contacts from phone
Import the contacts from the file (exported in (1)) to the PHONE
Sync the contacts
Verify whether the sync worked

After doing this two way sync worked perfectly for me. I can not guarantee that this will work for you, but it may be worth a try. Also, make very sure that the export in (1) is complete (check the contents of the file) - also, export to various file formats for safety.
Unfortunately, the changes you made on the phone will have been overwritten and I do not know of a way to revert that. In the future, if the problem persists, you can disable the sync and do it manually using files - it sucks, but at least you won't lose information.


text:
Samsung galaxy S3 screenshot doesn't work
Yesterday I bought a brand new  samsung  galaxy s3. WHen I hold home button and lock button, it doesnt shot the screen. how to fix it?

at the same time?

yes... i know to use it , i had galaxy pocket before

The problem solved. it would meant to be "Home" +  "Back" + "Power".

Hold Volume Down button and Lock button!
You can't take screenshots like on Android 2+.
Using hand motion feature - For this enable Palm Swipe to Capture feature and swipe your hands above the phone to take a screenshot
Using swipe option

For reference look at the guide on How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini

You have to place your palm on the side of the screen and cross it to the other side.

I know this way but I want to use Home button + power button screenshot.

If you are using stovk ROM then you can try this.
From HOME
 1. Click the MENU button and select SETTINGS.
 2. Select MOTION.
 3. Under “Hand Motion” settings, check “Palm swipe to Capture” checkbox.
just swipe your palm horizontally(L-->R/R-->L) over your screen it will capture a screen shot.
OR
HOLD down the POWER button and the HOME button at the same time. (Remember timing is imporatant)


text:
what apps are running?
A few months back I started developing an app that read incoming sms messages and saved them in a db.
A few days ago I went to revisit the app and had a quick look in the db where I discovered the app was still recording my texts!?!
I can't find any mention of my app running on the android apps option under settings or in advanced task killer.
How can I find out if it's running or not? It's bizarre!

Being rather development related, this question IMHO is better fitted on stackoverflow.com.

Izzy I agree, however I started out with best intentions of just finding out a list of apps

Russ, I never implied bad intentions! But the name of this site is too often misunderstood to be related to Android development (which it is not, see our [FAQ]). So most OT questions are asked unaware of that, and we simply give a friendly hint. -- Looks like your accepted answer also proves the direction :)

Sorry, hope my comment didn't come across rude, I meant to agree with you. I was originally hoping for some option somewhere in the os that listed all apps. Thanks again

Don't worry, I understood this ;)

Settings > Apps then swipe left to see the list of running apps.

I had a similar incidence, in my case i left a service open. Please check if any service related, is open ?
To check you can use,
This link from stackoverflow

I didn't do anything with a service. Being told on SO that if I use a broadcast receiver, then it will continually act until uninstalled even if the app isn't running, though I find this very odd

Yes, even broadcast receiver has similar behavior,
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4301111/android-application-is-still-working-after-exit and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3096246/set-broadcastreceiver-to-be-inactive will help for sure.

It seems I don't fully understand how broadcast receivers work.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15040651/is-my-app-still-running


text:
Disabling SwiftKey autocompletion on Asus Transformer Pad
is there any way to disable completely the autocompletion (guess it's called SwiftKey) ?
Especially with the Gmail/Email apps the 'intelligent' autocompletion ends up slowing me down!
Many thanks in advance.

SwiftKey simply is a keyboard app. You might want to check in Settings→Language & Input→Keyboards and Input methods which keyboard is active/checked, and check its configuration. Many keyboard apps allow to turn off autocorrection: so does the default keyboard on my Wildfire (running CM 9.1/Android 4.0.4).
If your keyboard does not support this, you might want to check for an alternative. Hacker's Keyboard is a good choice here (I use it on my tablet), and for sure allows to turn off autocorrection (I use it this way). You still get the word recommendations and can tap words for auto-complete -- but nothing gets replaced anymore without your explicite consense.

Swiftkey allows for disabling of the auto-correct when a physical keyboard is being used.
To Disable Auto-correct during physical keyboard use:

Open Swiftkey's settings

Open the Swiftkey app from your App Launcher
Long press on the Swiftkey Logo/123 button when the Swiftkey keyboard is up

Go To Advanced
Scroll to the bottom
Check the option for Physical keyboard space behavior which will
"Disable autocomplete for physical keyboards.

I just checked on my Droid 3, which has a physical keyboard, and it disabled it. This was checked using Swiftkey version 4.0.0.106.

To Disable Auto-correct in Swift 3 keyboard in ICS:

Go to Settings and then in Language & Input
Go To  Swift 3 Setting
Then Go To  Advanced
Now in Spacebar will select always insert a space.

As of SwiftKey 6:

Open SwiftKey
Go to Typing -> Voice and other Input
Toggle the "Autocorrect" option


text:
How do I find out which number an SMS is from, out of all the numbers associated with the sender?
In the messaging application it says who is the sender of each message, but it doesn't say the phone number the message was from. From each thread I can get to the corresponding contact, but some contacts have several numbers and I don't know how to tell which number the message was from.
I can get the message details, but again only the name of the contact is listed, and not the number.
I am running ICS on a Galaxy S2 device.

In my LG optimus one running gingerbread, I can open a message thread and long press on an message. This pops up a list of options and if I press 'view message details' I get details like from, date, time. The value displayed for from is not the contact name rather it is their number.
Alternatively, instead of long press, short press on the sender's name in the message gives an option to call and when I do so and quickly disconnect, I can see the number which is called, which is the number the message came from.

On my device the message details displays the sender name, and not the number. However, your trick with calling and quickly disconnecting solves the problem :)

If you don't hesitate to use a third-party messaging app, then simply install Go SMS Pro, it shows the exact sender's number below her/his name on top of the thread. I'm not aware of any other messaging app that also does this, but this one has many nice features along with that one.


text:
Delete certain mis-spelled words from Android dictionary (These words were not listed in the "Personal dictionary")
I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini (running Android 4.04). I'm trying to remove a few embarrassing words which show up during typing. I tried through Settings → Language and input → Personal dictionary. When I checked the Personal dictionary, I see that there are no such words listed, though there is an option to add new words to this list. I added a few words and then afterwards I could delete them also. But I couldn't find any way to delete those words which come up during typing messages etc.
I might previously have typed those wrong spellings accidentally, and I think through the Learn new words automatically when typed feature the words have been added to the main dictionary.
Is there any way to remove them from there? I don't want to turn off the auto-complete/suggestions feature completely.

Instead of going into personal dictionary, try all languages, which on my phone is right above the personal dictionaries option. That's where my list of words was.

A screenshot would be nice :)

Quick workaround: You can type similar starting words couple of times to make your phone think they are more frequent. Embarrassing words will not disappear but they will not bother you because new words will be suggested instead.

Sometimes switching what type of english "US->UK" may result in a prediction focus.
I say this because it was driving me NUTS that abd would come up instead of and when I swipe the text in.
Same thing with the word hell, US english doesn't like that word, it will change it to he'll. I thought I could just remove "he'll" from my dictionary, but alas it depends on switching to a more secular language.